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    RAMBLES NORTHWARD. 255

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    •*— The Road From Melvich To Tongue Skir...

    Cape Wrath , distant nearly fourteen miles from the inn at Durin , is somewhat difficult of accessthe Kyle of Durness intervening ,

    , sidering across which 1 that there the headland is a ferry is for eleven man miles but from not for the beast ferry ; , and and , con that

    there are no inhabitants on the Cape Wrath side but a few shepherds and the lone dwellers in the lighthouse , this is an awkward fact for

    the traveller whose pedestrian powers are limited . In our case , however , Mrs . Ross undertook to smooth the way ,

    so starting early in the morning from her hospitable door , under the guidance of a " laddie / ' furnished with warm wraps and provisions ,

    we walked the two miles and a half to the ferry , and , taking boat , found waiting our arrival on the other side , a shepherd ' s stiff little

    cart and a " sheltie , " with shock mane and straight legs , innocent of bit or bridlehis onlhead-gear a halter . Sweet fresh hay and

    , y pillows in snow-white cases , provided by the ferryman ' s wife , rendered our primitive vehicle comfortable ; and , with a sturdy old man

    for charioteer and guide , we set off at a foot pace for the eleven miles of hill and moor road to Cape Wrath .

    It was a bright sparkling morning , beautiful to behold , but oh ! the keen east wind that penetrated through plaid and blanket , flesh and

    bones , to one's very marrow , whistling its way through nose and ears to the braina littering subtle wind that crisped and curled the

    nervesand wilted , g and withered the vital energies ; would that our experience , that day had been the experience of Charles Kingsley ,

    ere he indited that Ode to the North-East Wind which makes one shiver on a hot Julday !

    ties Sp in ite the of thi shape s bitt of y er sea wind rock , however and , moor the road that offered our necessaril so many y beau slow

    -, , , peregrination cuts " on foot was while full the of enjoyment and cart , enhanced wound slowl by scrambling y around " the short la- ¦ •'

    _Tborious ascent . The road pony follows the coast for a little while , bearing no small resemblance to the famous Cornice road ; it then strikes

    inland for four or five miles across the high moor of the valley , over which the lofty mountains of Fashbein and Skrisbein stand guard , "

    till , emerging again on the coast , and affording glimpses of curious isolated rocks , it finally brings the visitor in view of a vast expanse

    of ocean , and of what at first sight has the appearance of a fortification rather than of a lihthousethe low square turretted

    buildings being surrounded by g a strong , wall . Well may the building which has to withstand the fierce gales of that exposed sitxiation

    be low and strong and shielded on all sides by granite walls . Wild work do the elements make there , and wild work is it for the hardy

    men whose vocation it is , night by night , week "by week , month by monthand year after yearwhile youth merges into manhood and

    manhood and exposed , into points age , to of stand the , coast lone . watchers Watchers at , all with the whom most dangerous a few

    moments' lapse of duty might consign souls innumerable and wealth

    untold to the hungry depths of ocean .

    Rambles Northward. 255

    RAMBLES NORTHWARD . 255

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1859, page 255, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121859/page/39/