S T A 
S T A 
510 
would keep the sea. The landing being once made, the far from possessing that geometric regularity which accom« 
great cave is accessible at all states of the tide except that of panies all the views of it hitherto published. The columns 
extreme high water with a heavy sea rolling into it; a cir 
cumstance which rarely happens to the tourist, since a boat 
will seldom be out in that sea which would render access to 
it impossible. But it cannot be thoroughly seen unless en¬ 
tered in a boat, except by expert climbers; nor can the two 
caves situated at the south-west side be visited in any other 
manner, since they admit of no access from above. The 
visit to these two caves is, like that to the former, made an 
object of terror by the native boatmen ; partly from a desire 
to avoid trouble, and partly from want of skill and know¬ 
ledge of the ground. The boat cave indeed cannot, on 
account of its very small size, be entered at all, except in 
calm weather and at high water, as its mouth is obstructed 
by rocks. In entering any of these caves it is necessary that 
the boatmen on each side should be provided with boat¬ 
hooks or short poles; as, for want of room, the oars cannot 
be used in guarding against the surge which washes into 
them. These hints will not be misplaced if they save 
those who are desirous of a complete knowledge of Staffa, 
from the disappointment they must otherwise experience in 
consequence of the laziness and fraud of the boatmen who 
ply in the port of Ulva. 
A considerable portion of the precipitous face of Staffa 
presents a columnar disposition. The highest point of this 
face lies between the Great cave and the Boat cave, and is, 
by the plummet, 112 feet from the high-water mark. It be¬ 
comes lower in proceeding towards the west, the height near 
Mackinnon’s cave being only 84 feet. From this it extends 
with some variation to the nor th, where it subsides into a 
flat rocky shore, elevated but a few feet above the sea. Here 
it again rises, and after continuing precipitous for a short 
are frequently broken and irregularly grouped, so as to catch 
a variety of direct and reflected tints, mixed with unexpected 
shadows, that produce a picturesque effect which no regu¬ 
larity could have given. The ceiling is various in different 
parts of the cave. It is deeply channelled in the middle by 
a fissure parallel to the sides, and prolonged from the point 
of the exterior arch to the end. That portion which lies on 
each side of this fissure toward the outer part of the cave, is 
similar to the upper incumbent bed, being formed of a 
minutely fractured rock. In the middle it is composed of 
the broken ends of columns, which produce an ornamental 
and somewhat architectural effect; while at the end, a portion 
of each kind of rock enters into its formation. From 
attending only to one or other of these portions, different 
observers have described the ceiling in a different manner; 
and each party has accused the other of misrepresentation. 
The surfaces of the columns above, are sometimes distin¬ 
guished from each other by the infiltration of carbonate of 
lime into their interstices. As the sea never ebbs entirely 
out, it forms the only floor to this cave; but the broken 
range of columns which produces the exterior causeway, is 
continued on each side within it. This range is most perfect 
at the eastern side, and admits of access over the broken 
summits to the further end, provided the water be not too 
high ; but on the western, they terminate at some distance 
from the extremity. The lower portions of the last columns 
lose at length their regularity of form, and coalesce into a 
rude mass of rock. “ It would be no less presumptuous 
than useless,” says Mr. Maculloch, “ to attempt a descrip¬ 
tion of the picturesque effect of that to which the pencil 
itself is inadequate. But if this cave were even destitute of 
space, declines into that irregular rocky shore on which the that order and symmetry, that richness arising from nniltipli- 
small beaches forming the landing place are situated; whence 
it once more gradually rises, till, becoming again vertical 
beyond the crooked cave, it returns to the point from which 
we commenced this description. 
The cave of Fingal, which fronts the south-west, is 
celebrated by all travellers who have visited it, in terms of 
unbounded admiration. “ The mind can hardly form an 
idea (says Sir Joseph Banks) more magnificent than such a 
space, supported on each side by ranges of columns, and 
roofed by the bottoms of those which have been broken off 
city of parts combined with greatness of dimension and 
simplicity of style, which it possesses; still, the prolonged 
length, the twilight gloom half concealing the playful and 
varying effects of reflected light, the echo of the measured 
surge as it rises and falls, the transparent green of the water, 
and the profound and fairy solitude of the whole scene, 
could not fail strongly to impress a mind gifted with any 
sense of beauty in art or in nature.” 
There are other caves, namely, Mackinnon’s, or the Scart 
or Cormorant’s cave, and the Boat cave. The height of 
to "form it; between the angles of which, a yellow stalagmitic Mackinnon’s cave from the water, at a quarter ebb, is 50 
matter has been exuded, which serves to define the angles 
precisely, and at the same time with a great deal of elegance; 
and to render it still more agreeable, the whole is lighted from 
without, and the air is perfectly free from the damp and 
noxious vapours with which natural caverns in general 
abound.” The outline of the aperture of this cave, when 
viewed in such a light as to shew it distinctly, is perpendi¬ 
cular at the sides, and terminates above in a species of 
Gothic arch. The height from the top of the cliff to the 
feet, and its breadth 48, so that it presents a large square 
opening, which, from its depth, catching dark shadows, 
produces a powerful effect, equal perhaps to that of the 
Great cave, although neither attended by the same symmetry 
nor elegance of design. The length is 224 feet, and the 
interior dimensions throughout are nearly equal to the 
aperture; excepting at the extremity, where the roof and 
walls approach a little, and a beach of pebbles is thrown up. 
The next cave is situated more to the eastward, and is known 
top of the arch is 30, and from the latter to the surface of the by the name of the Boat cave, apparently because it is 
water at mean tide, 66 feet. On the western side the pillars accessible only by sea. However insignificant in dimen- 
which bound it are 36 feet high, while at the eastern they 
are only 18, although their upper ends are nearly in the same 
horizontal line. This difference arises from the height of the 
broken columns which form the causeway on the eastern side, 
and which cover and conceal the lower parts of those belong¬ 
ing to the front. The breadth at the entrance is 42 feet, as 
nearly as it is possible to ascertain it; since the gradual 
variation of the surfaces, as the curve retires on each hand, 
sions, it is far from being so in picturesque effect, since the 
symmetry of the columnar range in that part of the face 
under which it lies is even greater than near the cave of 
Fmgal. Its height is from 14 to 16 feet above the high- 
water, the undulation of the sea preventing greater pre¬ 
cision in the measurement, and its breadth is 12 feet. 
The roof and sides are smooth, and the whole interior pre¬ 
sents a long parallel opening like the gallery of a mine. 
prevents the adoption of a very precise point of measure- without interest or beauty. The length is estimated to be 
ment. The height of the cave within diminishes very soon 150 feet. 
to a mean measure, varying from 50 to 44 feet; which latter, 
in the same state of the tide, is also the altitude at the 
extremity. The mean breadth is equal to that of the 
aperture, till near the innermost part; but at the extremity it 
diminishes to 22 feet; preserving, as will be seen by these 
measures, a considerable degree of regularity throughout. 
The length is 227 feet. The sides of this cave are, like the 
front, columnar, and in a general sense perpendicular; 
STAFFARDA, a small town in Piedmont, near which 
the French, under marshal Catinat, defeated the duke of 
Savoy in 1690; 3 miles north of Saluzzo. 
STAFFELSEE, a small lake of Bavaria, near Murnau. 
It is about 2 miles square, and has in the middle a small 
island, with a church. 
STAFFELSTEIN, a small town of Bavarian Franconia, 
on the Maine, with 1200 inhabitants; 19 miles east of 
though, when accurately viewed, they are, in the same way, Culmbach, and 27 north of Nuremberg. 
STAFFIELD, 
