34 
HARDY FERNS. 
a huge washhoiTse. " Is that a washhouse ?" you 
ask a poor woman in the road. A washhouse, 
is it ? Yes I think. Is it a washerwoman you 
want? Allow me to recommend you one; it's 
Mistress McFarlane, of Tweedle Street ; she's 
just the most perteeklar woman in fine linen and 
dressing." 
Staffa and lona are done " from Oban, but 
it was just afraid of the water I was ; so I 
watched the departing and returning steamer 
in peace, j)icturing to myself the damp beauty of 
Fingal's Cave ; the ruined cathedral standing out 
against the clear blue sky ; and wondering what 
Columba would have said to the Free Kirk in 
Scotland, and whether any Ferns grew upon the 
weather-beaten island. 
I spent a day on Kerrara, hunting in vain ; but 
it is not time wasted, for the shores of the island 
are very beautiful, and the slopes green and. 
sunny, and many a lesson of life may be learned 
while listening to the quiet music of the waves 
breaking against the shore. 
