WAVING STREAMS OF SNOW AND HAIL 173 
the height of which is estimated at somewhat more 
than three thousand feet. In despite of hail and 
snow, and the furious whirlwinds or eddying blasts 
that swept the mountain at intervals, I made my 
way, though not without labour, to the summit; 
and well was I recompensed, for there I enjoyed a 
very sublime spectacle. I was on the highest 
pinnacle of that range of islands denominated the 
Outer Hebrides or Long Island, perched, like a 
ptarmigan, on a craggy and precipitous ridge. The 
islands of Uist, Harris, and Lewis lay, as it were, 
at my feet. Toward the east and south, in the 
extreme distance, appeared the mountains of the 
counties of Loss and Inverness, with the pointed 
hills and craggy capes and sloping plains of Skye. 
Westward, a long series of summits, commencing 
with that on which I stood, and forming a broad 
ridge, intercepted transversely by deep valleys, 
extended for several miles. They appeared to be 
much lower than the mountain on which I was, 
and resembled heaps of sand formed by pouring it 
from a vessel. The snow lay rather deep on them 
all, and the whirlwinds that swept along their 
ridges, scattering it in spiral flakes, presented an 
indescribably beautiful and sublime appearance. 
I was enveloped in one, but it did not prove very 
boisterous. The Atlantic was covered with huge 
clouds, that advanced in disorderly groups, nearly 
on a level with my position, but the waving streams 
of snow and hail that poured from them left no 
trace on the stormy waters. Toward the north lay 
