1839-40 SCARBOROUGH AND WHITBY 171 



looked, as they cowered together with their lamps 

 close up by the side of the tunnel, like so many 

 gnomes ; the combination of sounds, rattling along 

 at full speed, the rushing of the rapidly displaced 

 air, and the incessant yell-shriek of the steam- 

 screamer, kept up to warn the tunnellers, defies 

 all description. Pitch-darkness, the sparks from 

 the engine darting through the palpable obscure, 

 and the cowering figures, like shadows as we 

 swept past them, left all that imagination could 

 picture of a hurrying off of spirits to Pluto's dread 

 abode far behind. 



' All this while Lord Enniskillen would ride 

 outside, and my apprehensions were lest the engi- 

 neer of the tunnel might not have calculated for 

 outside passengers of his altitude. 3 I could not 

 help stretching out at the window to catch a 

 glimpse of his head, if still in its right place, as 

 soon as we emerged into daylight. There it was, 

 however, and so far both the travellers are all 

 right.' 



On August 6 he writes again to his wife, 

 announcing his visits to Scarborough and Whitby. 

 While at Scarborough he met for the first time 

 Barbara, Marchioness of Hastings, an enthusiastic 

 collector, who in later years sent many fossil 

 remains to Owen for description. His reference 

 to her is characteristic. ' We dined with an old 



3 Owen was six feet in his socks; but Lord Enniskillen was 

 considerably taller. 



