TREMENDOUS STOltM. 373 
water among them, I apprehend there are no 
sunken rocks lying at a distance; there appeared, 
indeed, to be a passage for shipping betwixt the 
two largest islands of the group. 
The islands, or skerries, which here and there 
skirt the forbidding coast on the western side of 
the Hebrides, appeared to me, from some hearings 
taken at noon, to lie farther off the main than re¬ 
presented in the charts. This seemed to he par¬ 
ticularly the case with Gashere, which, according 
to my observations, is considerably more in the 
way of the coasting navigator, than he would ex¬ 
pect from the appearance of the chart. 
Towards midnight we encountered heavy 
squalls, with rain, which increased to that degree 
that put us under close-reefed topsails. The 
night was excessively dark; the only object that 
could be seen a ship’s length from u$, was the bro¬ 
ken water, on the tops of the waves, which was ren¬ 
dered visible by its fiery luminousness. The sea 
increased until it became tremendously heavy. 
Two or three seas broke upon deck, and carried 
away our waist-hoards. 
Dreading to fall in with St Kikla in the dark, 
which we were likely to do, because of the wind 
having shifted to SSE, we wore at 1 A. M., and 
stood to the eastward; and at 3 a. m., the wind 
having unfortunately westered, we wore again to 
