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TRAVELS
IN
ENGLAND, SCOTLAND,
AND THE
HEBRIDES;
UNDERTAKEN FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXAMINING THE STATE OF
THE ARTS, THE SCIENCES, NATURAL HISTORY AND MANNERS,
IN
GREAT BRITAIN:
CONTAINING
Mineralogical Defcriptions of the Country round Newcaftle ; of the
Mountains of Derbyfhire ; cf the Environs of Edinburgh, Glafgow,
Perth, and St. Andrews ; of Inverary, and other Parts
of Argylefhire ; and of
THE CAVE OF FINGAL.
IN TWO VOLUMES WITH PLATES.
-'■■-^ - . ' . . =s
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
B. FAUJAS SAINT-FOND,
MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, AND PROFESSOR
OF GEOLOCy IN THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL
HISTORY AT PARIS.
VOL. II.
LONDON;
PRINTED f OR JAMES RIDGWAY, YORK STREET, St. JAMES'S SQUARE.
1799.
^-o
[^ 4 AP-<) \^.: 1941 .j?/
:^COS\,
\t^
ERRATA.
VOL. II.
Page 10, line 15, io'c perfpeSinje xtzdi profped. Z9, — 1, iox fetxtzdifat
39, — 7, iox broke rt?iA broken,
40, for M'Q_uaire,\n. the note at the bottom, read M'Quau^, 47, linj I, {o\ tetrahedial x^^ii tetrahedral.
47, — 4, dele the comma after truncature.
47, — 1 8, Inx great xt:'^& greater.
51, — n , for quartrofe read qiiartK-ofe,
64, — 0, for unexpreffible read in'exprejjibu.
"^'j — 3> after race infert fl«^/. 106, — 8, dele as.
117, — 17, dele the comma after fufceptible. 120, — 10, iox ready xcd^A readily. 120, — 12, iox porphyric xf&i. porph\r\\ iz8, — 26, dele the colon after wail:, 128, — 27, irii conjiji Xf3.i. conjijls. 135, — 15, iijx thefe xczA this. i4o, — 5, after pcrfeft inrert/>r//>;w. 141, — 2, iox contribute Xi:3.A contribxted. 145, — 2, iox fc/iijlus xcA<\fchiJii. 151^ — • 23, iox iron xcdiA inn. 154, — 23, for open xea^d opens. 164, — 7, iox ingenious X62.A injitrious. 171, — 7, iox fchifius x&"x.Afciiijious. 186, — 4, for w/i«-if read w/yi^//. 191, — 3, dele the comma after cryftallizatiou. 195, — 10, for «>y'(f//ifc/ read c^d";;.
^305 — 35 of the x\Qtz,iox tranllations xQ-i.dtranJa8ioni, 235, — 10, dele are. 272,- — 21 for 7i2epltils xezi mepkiiis. ■'.72, — 2 of the note, for ^fl.f read ^r^y^i. -173, — 10, ii)X produ^i')n XK^di proJudions. 303, — 4 ofthcnotc,for ^rayy/e-warvread r?t?f/:?/?f7;;,-j;-.s'
9 of the fame, zkexfor infcrt //z.
313? — 26, dtle to akex e.v/iib'ting. 320, — 5, foxfeem xead/remed. 324, — 12, hx friendly read /kindly. 33S, — 6, for <7m^ read ar/i/. 344> — 20> for inflammability read inflammatiot!. ' 3 47 J — laft of the note, after /«?;; intl-rt iAdr attentieyu
348, — 2, iox pojftfs xtc.d po£eJfes.
The reader will perceive tliat the Greek fmgular/a/tj^AVi, xeoUtes^ Vc. are in feveral places ufed inftead of Jlalaaiie, -^eoli^e, csfe. Theie, VfUh Other inadvertencies, are left to his own candid corrc<5l{on.
C ONTEN TS
SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
Z)EPJRtURE from Oban for the IJland of ^^ill, — Pajjage of the Sound of Mull. — Small Ifle of N tort. — Druidical Monuments. — Arrival at Jros. — — , Page i
CHAPTER II.
Road from Aros to Tor loijk.— Stay at Mr. M'-Learfs. "—Accidents zvhich happened to my Fellow-travel- lers during their PaJJage to, and Continuance on, the IfleofStaffa. — — 12
CHAPTER III.
Voyage to Staff a. — . — 28
CHAPTER IV.
Defcription andNaturalHiJlory of the Ifle ef Staff a. — General Views, -- «— 38
CHAP-
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
St.ry at Mr. M'-Lcaiis. — Cnjfoms and Manners of the Inhabitants of the IJIe of Mull. — 63
CHAPTER VI.
Departure from 'Torloijk. — 'Stay at Arcs. — Fift to two zvorlby Farmers and Brothers, the Stuarts of Aros, — Exmrfion to the Mountain of Benmore, the highefl in the IJle of Mull.— Stop at Mr. Camp- beVs, of Knock. — His agricultural Operations. — Curious Lavas. -^Departure from Aros for Achna-
cregs, —
CHAPTER VII.
8S
Natural Hijlory of the Ifland of Mull. -^ 105.
CHAPTER VIIL
The Ifle of Kerr era. — . — 144
CHAPTER IX.
Departure from Oban . — Dalmally . — Tindrum . — >
Lead Ore. — Killin, — River Mnfcle containing
Pearls. — Defcription of thcfe Pearls and their
^origin. — — — 147
CHAPTER X;
Kenmore. — Extraordinary Flux and Reflux of Lock Tay. — — — 170
CHAPTER XI.
Perth , its Harbour and ManifaEiures . — Mr . M' Comity Profeffor of Mathematics j Mr. M'Greggor, Pro-
fejfof
CONTENTS. '-'"^li
fepr of the French Language at the Academy. — Folcanic Mcuntain of KinnouL—The Agates found upon it. — . — i8i
CHAPTER XIT.
5/. Andrezvs Univerfily.— Library.— Old Churches.^ ISlatural Hiftory. — — ^93
CHAPTER XIII.
Departure from St. Andrezvs. — Largo. — Leven, — Dyfart. — Kirkaldy. — Kinghorn. — Leith. — Return to Edinburgh. — — 213
CHAPTER XIV.
Edinburgh. — The Univerjity. — Learned Societies.'—' College of Phyjicians. — College of Surgeons. — Ca- binet of ISlatural Hiflory. — Robertfon. — Smith. — Black.— Cullen, &c. — 222
CHAPTER XV.
Departure from Edinburgh. — Itinerary to Manchef- ter. — Natural Hiflory. — 255
CHAPTER XVI.
Manchejler. — DoElor Henry and his Cabinet. — Cot- ton ManufaBures. — Meffieurs Thomas and Benja- min Potter. — Charles Taylor. — 260
CHAPTER XVII.
Departure from Manchefter. — Buxton j its Mineral Waters \ fine Baths ^ conflru5iedon a Plan byCarr,
at
Vlll CONTENTS.
at the Expence of the Duke of Devonfhire^ thi Proprietor of the Waters. — DoEior Fearjon.—- Manufadure of Vafes and other Articles in Fluor Spar of different Colours. — Cave of Poolers Hole. —^ Toad-Jlone^ compofed of a Bafis of Trappy inter- fperfed with Partidesofcalcareotis Spar ^and cracked into prifmatic Se£lions like thofe of bafaltcs^ though not produced by Fire as the latter has been. 264
CHAPTER XVIII.
CaJlktoH. —-Defcription of the Cave called The De- vil's Arfe. — Mines of Lead and Calamine^ Feins of Fluor Spar. — Lead found in ChanneP or Cat- dirt. — — 309
CHAPTER XIX.
Derby. — Richard Br own ^ a Dealer in Curiofities of Natural Hifiory.—A ManufaBure of Vajes^ and other Workmanfhip^ in Fluor Spar. 334
CHAPTER XX.
Departure from Derby. — Arrival at Birmingham.^-' Its numerous Manufadures. — DoBor Withering. — • Benjamin Wait. — DoBor Priefily—His Houfe, Library, and his chemical Elaboratory. 338
CHAPTER XXI.
Departure from Birmingham . — Coventry.— 'Warwick. — Oxford. — Saint Albans . — Bar net. — L ondon.--^ Return to France. — — 349
TRAVELS
TRAVELS *
THROUGH
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
TO THE
BEBRIDES.
CHAPTER L
t)epav hire from Oh an for the ijland of Mull. — Pqjjagy: of the found of Mv.lL — S^nall ifle of Nivrt,-^ Drtiidical McnuFfi^-its. — Arrival at Aros.
I
HAD finifhed my folitary excurfions in the environs of Oban, and was nearly done with arranging my obfervations when the people of the inn announced the arrival of a traveller^ who, aftonifhed to learn, that there was a Frenchman alone in fo defart a place, begged permiflion to fee me.
He was a young Britifh Officer of the name of McDonald, who had come to wait at Oban for a favourable opportunity of going
' VOL. II, B to
2 TRAVELS THROUGH
I to the ifle of Sky, which was the plac^ of hiS
nativity.
Fie had profecuted his earUer ftudies at the
Scotch college in Paris ; he fpoke the French
language tolerably, and was not deficient in
infojrmation. His arrival was a happy and
acrreeable rencounter for me. I mentioned
o
to him the obje61 of my journey, and my fpeedy departure for the ifle of Mull, where my fel- low-travellers were waiting for me to accom- pany them to the celebrated cave of Fingal, in the ifle of StafFa.
Mr. M' Donald replied, that though his na- tive country was at no great diftance from that ifland, and though he had often heard of the cave of the father of Ofiian, his education in France and his travels had not yet given him an opportunity of yifiting a plac^ la re- markable : butjtliat if I were kind enough to permit him, he would gladly embrace the occalion of accompanying me thither ; aud that he would alfo have the pleafure of being ufefui to mc in the country, as he underflood the Earfe or Celtic language, the only one iifed in the ifles of the Hebrides.
I accepted the obliging Qffers of Mx- McDonald with fo much ^greater pleafure a^id
gfatitude,
ENGLAND AND SCOTLA)^tl, 3
.gratitude, as they appeared to proceed from a man of a fociable difpofition, and were de« iivered in a tone of franknefs and affability which prepofTefled me in his favour : I re- flected alfo that it was in his power to do me fome fervices in the ifle of Mull, where he had leveral acquaintance, particularly Mr. M'Lean^ to whom the Duke of Argyle had given me letters of recommendation. We now waited only for the arrival of the boat which was to carry us ; and which at length entered the harbour in the night of the 23d of Sep- tember.
The crew confifled of no more than two ^ihers from the ifle of Sky, who were clothed in the fafhion of the Hebrides, that is, in the drefs of the Scotch Highlanders. Our veffel had neither decks nor rigging ; flie was of the w^orfl conftrudion ; and drao-o-ed at her ftern a fmall skiff capable of holding at moft only four perfons.
The fare was agreed upon, and it was fettled that we Ihould fet out on the following day ; but from fome capricious motive, our boatmen changed their refoiution, and wifhed to remain for three days longer. It was not without much flattery, repeated remonftances, B 2 and
-4 t RAVELS THROUGH
Rixd a prefent of two bottles of rum, that Mr. M' Donald at lafl prevaikd on them to jnake ready for our departure on the next mornmg.
We left the fhore of Oban, at feven in the morning of the twenty -fourth. The fea, though not tempeftuous, M"ds fomewhat agi- tated; the winds %vere variable, and the cur- rents of the entrance of the found of Mull running in oppofition to the tide, obliged our intrepid filhers to make feveral manoeuvreSj which were exceedingly laborious, as there. were only two of them, and they were defti^ tute of many articles of tackHng. All this, however, was mere fport to men inured to the moft lengthened fatigue, and accuftomed, in the time of tlie herring-fifhery, to brave all the dangers of this frightful fea.
On clearing the harbour, we came in fight of that fuccelTion of iflands which ikirt the ibond, and exhibit a diverfified pidure. The i[!e of Lifemore was at a wtvy fmall diftance on our right ; that of Kerera in the oppofite quarter ; and the Peaks, or as they are called. Paps of Juray towered above the numerous mountains of the Hebrides. Loch-aber, \vhich the largeft veflels may navigate as high
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 5
as Fort William, was left behind us. The ifle of Mull appeared in view *; that of Sky was in the diftance ; and the continued ridge of Morven, fo much celebrated in the fbngs of Offian, and which exhibits lb various and pidlurefque an appearance, bordered the right bank of the channel which we failed along.
In paffing near the extremity of the ifle of Lifemore, I obferved, with the aid of rriy perfpeflive, on a fmall neighbouring ifland^ which was inhabited, one ofthofe monuments of rude ftone known by the Hcbridian appel- lation of Cairn.
This monument, of great antiquity, and ereded in fo defart a fituation, naturally at- tracted my attention. I requefted my com- panion to induce our boatmen to convey us thither; but as this fmall iiland, or rather large rock, was furrounded with breakers, they replied, that it would be impoflible to approach but in the fkifF, and that even in it we ftiould mn a confide rable rilk.
I 'did not underhand a word of the lan- guage of our condudors, but I obferved one of our feamen preparing to enter the fkifF; I confidently followed him, and Mr.M*Donald did the fame. The skifF was fo fmall and fo B 3 very
6 TRAVELS THROUGH
very fhatlow, that there was hardly room to ieat ourfelves in it. The boatman took hold of the oars ; Mr. M'Donald fat at the helm, which confifted of the half of an oar, and we puihed off..
Our curioiity in this inftance prevailed over our prudence; we were borne along by the current with the rapidity of an arrow, to- wards the fmall ifland, which is called Niort; and it required all theaddrefs of our boatman to land us fafely. The ifle is about half a mile in circumference^ and rifes only about twenty-five feet at moft above the water. It may be regarded as a great rock, of which the fummit is flattened into a fmail plain. The fury of the waves of this tempcftuous fea has laid the rock almofl entirely bare, and carried away the fmall quantity of earth which is formed there by time, fo that nothing grows upon it except a few lichens and fome feairvy grafs in the fheltered cavities. The rock is compofed of limeftone, intermixed \\'\{\\ a little clay ; it is of a blackiih grey colour, and only forms a lingle mafs, in which there is no trace either of beds or banks.
ENGLANB AND SCOTLAND* 7
Our attention was much attracted by the kind of ruftic pillar which ftood on this crag. It was nine feet high, three feet broad, and two feet of average thickhefs. It is formed of grey granite, in which quartz and mica are predominant. The felt-fpar is rather difpofed* in fmall ftreaks than in cryftals, and though the texture of the {lone is fome- what iiffile, it is hard a'nd folid in its frac- ture.
Though this column pofTefTes fome regu- larity in its form, it does not bear the flighteft trace of workmanship. It may be confidered as a natural block of a longitudinal fliape, taken from the quarry in its rude ftate, and ere6led on the highefl point of this fmall ifle. It is two feet in the earth, and kept upright by two folid but ruftic ftuds, which give it a very ftable foundation *.
* In fome quarries of granite, and even at times in porphyric rocks, are found fimilar blocks divided into parallelepipeds of various degrees of regularity and length. They are the effedl merely of the contradlion of the matter during the time of the aggregation of the particles. Near the fmall town of Saint Siphorien-de-Lay, within three leagues of Roane, is a porphyric rock divided into large prifms, of which feveral are as remarkable for regu- }2(ri!ty as thofc ©f the laxgfeft and moft perfe<Sl columns of bafaltes.
B 4 Our
$ TRAVELS THE^OUGPf
Our boatman told Mr. M'Donald that he- had often feen this ftone ; that it had been placed there by the hands of Olfian ; and that in feveral other iiles we fliould fee much larger fcones, which had been fet up by th;? fame perfon. For in the mountains of Scot- land, and the Hebrides, every thingthat appears great, extraord-lnary, and wonderful, is uni- formly regarded as the work of Offian.
Whatever may be the prevailing traditions refpeding thefe ancient columns, this one evi- dently difcovers an intention of ere<^ing a fimple but durable monument.
This intention is plainly marked by the kind of flone which has been feledled for the purpofe. One fliould think that it would have been more convenient to employ that of which the iflet itfelf is compofed. 33ut whatever mud have been the motives, whe- ■ ther it was known that the latter was leis durable than the granite ; or whether, froni the nfe of iron being unknown by thofe who ere61ed it, it was impoiTible for them to cut cut a fimple pillar from a calcareous rock which i^ not feparated in banks ; it is never- thelefs true that this ruftic column of gra- nite has been tranfported thither ; an un- dertaking^
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.- 9
dertaking which mnft have been attended with great difficulty to men ignorant of the mechanic arts.
Though we Ipent but a very fhort time in examining this ftone, it was not without- great difficulty that we got back to the vefTel which the currents drove to a confiderable diftance, notwithftanding the efforts that were made to keep near us. We were nearly an hour in regaining her.
We continued our courfe through the found of Mull, with the granitic mountains of Morven ftill on our right. We pafTed very near the old caftle o^ Ardtornifli, built upon a point which commands a view of the whole found. On our left were the black volcanic Vocks of the ifle of Mull. At length, after a navigation of feven hours and a half, wc entered the bay of Aros in that ifland, where we difembarked.
I hardly know by what term to denomi- nate, five or fix houfes in a groupe, and feven or eight others fcattered around, the whole of which taken together, are here called Aros. They can fcarcely be called a town or a vil- lage; they may more properly be termed a hamlet; but by whatever name one may
choofe
lO TRAVELS THROUGH
choofe to diftinguifli them, they are certainly inhabited by very kind and hofpitable people.
The bay of Aros was anciently defended by a ftrong caftle, which formed the refidence of M'Donald of the ifles; the ruins of this fortrefs are ftill extant; and it appears to. have been partly built of bafaltic prifms.
We were received with the moft frank and hearty welcome by an aged gentleman, who is ftyled Campbell of Aros. He lives in philofophic contentment in the modeft habi- tation of his fathers ; v/hich is a gothic build-. ing, {landing on a black volcanic rock, to- tally deftitute of verdure, beat by the tempefls, and yielding no other perfpedive than that of a raging fea abounding in fhipwrecks.
Mr. Campbell, wrapped in the Hcbridian fafliion, in a large mantle of variegated ftuff", introduced us into his houfe, and refreflied us with fome port wine, lea bilciiit, and pre- ferve of myrtil berries. His wife, who was not much younger than himfelf, feemed much aftoniflied at feeing Grangers quit their native country, to vifit a region fo wild, and fo difficult of accefs. Both of them preffed •us very much to remain a few days with them; b\it as I was aaxious to rejoin my
fellow-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, II
fellow-travellers, who were waiting for me at Mr. M'Lean's, of Torloisk, v/e begged the favour of Mr. Campbell to procure us horfes; which he had the goodnefs immediately to provide. The horfes were quite fmall, and had only a piece of rope for a bridle ; but they vvxre pretty ftrong and inured to the rugged roads of the country. We took leave of the old gentleman and his lady, and pur-» fued our journey.
CHAP.
12 TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER IL
Road from Jros to T^orhijh. — Stay at Mr. M'Lean^.. — Accidents which happened to my felloip-trav^Uexs.- during their pnjlage to, and co7iti nuance on, the Iflc;
A HE miles of Scotland, paFticularly thofe ©f the jfles, are nearly double the length of the En^lifh miles. From our i2;n!orance of this difference, we found that we had beeii much decei's'ed when we were told, that from Aros to Torloisk was only eight miles. Ima- gining the computation to be by Englifh miles, as we had fet off at four in the even- ing, we conceived that we could eafily ride that diftance before dark.
1 ought not to forget to mention that Mr. M'^Donald, who accompanied me from Oban with the intention of vifiting the ifle of Staffa, liadno fooner reached Aros than he changed his
o
cirefs. He had travelled before in En2;lilh reo;i- mentalsjbut upon arriving here he opened his portmanteau, and to my great furprife, in about half an hour after^ appeared in the complete r vefture
El^GLAND AND SCOTLAND. IJ
t efture of the inhabitants of the ifles : plaid, jacket, kilt," feathered bonnet, buskin-hofe, -durk, no part of it was omitted. I was fcarcelyable to know him again in this drefs. He told me, that it was the garb of his fa- rthers, that he never appeared in any other when in thefe ifiands, and that the wearing of it was a mark of attachment to his fellow- countrymen, ^^'ith ^^'hich they were much pleafed.
We fet out on our two little horfes, with tv/o perfons to condu£l us and bring theiii back, ignorant that our way lay acrofs ravines, heaths, marfhes and mountains, difficult of accefs, and without any trace of a road,
Whilft day-light remained, we made pretty good progrefs ; oui* guides pulhed forward with fuch fpeed, that they often outran our horfes, though tliey went at a good pace. Thefe two Hebridians were young and handfome ; neither ftreams, pools, bogs, nor mountains, could interrupt their courfe ; and I admired their courage, gaiety, and elegant appear- ance. A blue military bonnet, with a bor- der of red, green, and white, and furmounted with one feather, decorated their heads. A party coloured maiUle or plaid hung from
the
t4 TRAVELS THROUGH
the right iKouldefj and paiTed grlcefuliy over the left arm. They had a waifl:- coat and jacket of the fame ftufF. Their thighs and legs were half naked* A Tartan buskin with a ftout kind of (hoes, covered the lower part of the latter ; and compleated their Roman habit* The poniards in their girdles gave them a military air, and the flicks in their hands, ferved to help them over the waters
Their willingnefs to be ufeftil to us ren- dered them doubly interefting. They always went before to point out the way to us, re- turning however at intervals to carefs and animate our horfes, and to enquire whether we had occafion for their fervices.
They feemed proud and overjoyed at feeing a man of diftindion in the fame drefs as themfelves ; and teftified their fatisfa6lion by approaching Mr. McDonald, and telling him, with a fmile on their faces, in their expref-* five language, that they would follow him to the world's end *.
Night
* Johnfonalfo, in his journey to the Weftern Iflands of Scotland, praifcs two Highlanders whom he had hired as guides on his way from Invernefs.
« Al
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 5
Night now came on, we were yet fcarcely halfway to the place of our deftination. Our guides and our horfes foon flackened their pace ; the road grew deteftable, and we were often obliged to alight, fometimes on the verge of marfhes, and fornetimes in the midjS: of heaths, through which we groped our way with extreme difficulty. At length we completely loll our diredion. The night was {0 dark that our horfes fell repeatedly, and our guides were greatly perplexed. After thus wandering for a long time without any certain courfe, we at laft defcried a lic-Jit on an elevated fituation, to which we dire<^e4 our fteps. We found it to be the caftle of Torloisk, where we arrived at eleven, wora out with fatigue, anxiety, and vexation.
We foon difcovered, as we entered, that we had now reached our place of deflinatioa,
*« At Invernefs," fays he, ^' we procured three horfes " for ourfelves and a fervant, and one more for our bag- " gage, which was no very heavy load.— -We took two « Highlanders to run befide us, partly to fliew us the « way, and partly to take back from the fea-fide the *' horfes, of which they were the owners. One of chemt " was a man of great livelinefs and adivity, of whom hig " companion faid, that he would tire any horfe in Inver- " nefs. Both of them were civil and ready-banded. Ci- « vility feems part of the natiQnal charader of Higb- "* laad«rs»" . ^ '
A do-
XS TRAVELS THROUGH
A domeftic told our guides, that Mu McLean had not yet gone to bed, and that t had been impatiently expeded for feveral days.
We were Ihewn into a parlour, where I found Mr. M'Lean, to whom I gave the letter which I had from the Duke of Argyle. He received me with the moft obliging kind- nefs, and prefented me to his \Vife, daughter, and feveral other ladies and gentlemen, who were occupied in making a little mufical concert.
Mifs M'Lean, a girl of a mofl charming figure, was felted at a harpfichord. On which ihe executed fome excellent Italian mufic. Mr; M'Donald had no need of being intro- duced, his name was already known, and his drefs fvifEciently announced him. We were inftantly overwhelmed with civilities, kind- neffes, and delicate attentions, which di/Tipated all our troul:)les. Every one around us was {o obliging and {o affable, that from that mo- ment we regarded ourfelves as members of the family. ^
How powerfully attractive is this rural po- litenefs, feafoned with expreffions and geC- tures which announce the moft delicate feeling. We were now on the true foil of
hofpi-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I7
liofpltality ; all the inhabitants of the ifland, though it contains a population of fix thou- iand Ibuls, have the fame family-name of M'Lean; they are diftinguifhed by their Chriftian nnmes only, or by that of their refidence* they are almofl all fhepherds or fillers.
We were informed that my fellow-travel- lers had failed at five in the morning of the fame day, to vifit the ifle of StafTa ; that they would have waited with pleallire to make the Voyage in company with me ; but the feafon was already fo far advanced, and particularly the fea was fo boiflerous in this region, that they had determined to take advantage of an interval of calm, which did not promife a long continuance ; fuch was their eager impatience to fee that famous ifle.
They had embarked with a friend of Mr, M'Lean, and their own fervants, in two fmall boats. But they had fcarcely gone four or five leagues, before the weather fuddenly changed, and the fea became tempefluous, Mr. M'Lean thought it fo rough, that he was afraid they had not been able to effed a landing on the ifle of StafFa, on account of the breakers which furround it, and that they
VOL, II, c had
tS TRAVELS THROUGH
Had been obliged to take refuge in the ifle of lona or Ykolmkill, which is fifteen miles from StafFa, and has a fmali creek.
We expelled that the lea would be a little calmer by the next day. We repaired there- fore, at an early hour, along with Mr. M'Lean and his family, to the water fide, which was about a furlong from the caftle, to fee whether the boatmen would venture to come for a fupply of provifions ; but the fea was ftill more dreadful, and totally im- pafTable.
We now began to be very uneafy on their account. They were eight in number, in* eluding the domeftics, and they had only one day's proviilon with them.
The evening arrived without any appear- ance of them ; our anxiety was redoubled, and we pafled a very unhappy night.
On the next day, which was Sunday, and the third day from their departure, I rofe at four in the morning to examine the weather. I difcovered with pleafure that the wind had fomewhat fallen, and that the fea was not fo high. We went, before noon, to take a walk on the bank ; and at length, with the aid of a good glafs, we defcried them at t dHlance.
They
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I9
They arrived at one o'clock^ to their own and our great fatisfa6lion . They were fo emaciated with fatigue, vexation and hunger, \vere fo much in want of food and reft, and fo uneafy, that they entreated us not to difturb them with any queftions until they were ai iittle refrefhed, and particularly relieved from a multitude of lice that tormented them moft cruelly. " Fly ! fly from our ap- " proach,'* faid they, " we have brought fome *' good fpecimens of mineralogy, but oilrcol- " ledion of infers is numerous and horrible.'' We could not keep from laughing at this ad- drefs, their gait, and the reftlefs motion of every part of their body. They were in- ftantly condu(fl:ed to their apartments, where their firft care was to clean themlelves, and^ after eating fomethlng, to take a few hours lepole*
In the evening they returned to the par- lour, where they were received with every demonftration of kindneis. Their appear- ance was now frefh and elegant; but we, notwithftanding, jocularly asked, whether it was yet fafe to approach them. *' We ** have caft off every thing,*' replied they, *' and of all our evils there remains only the C 3 ** itch^
2:0 TRAVELS THROUGH
*' itch, refpe«5ling which, we can fay nothings ** as it has not yet made itfelf felt."
They then recounted the circumftances of their unfortunate paflage. Notwithftanding the fine appearance of the weather on the day of their departure, fcarcely had they pro- ceeded fix miles, when there arofe a violent gale, which worked the fea into the moft terrible commotion. They w^ould have wil- lingly put back, had not the rocks which Ikirt the coaft of Torloisk, rendered it equally dangerous to approach it at that moment ; the currents and the tide were alio unfavour- able to their return. They were, therefore, • obliged to keep the offing, and to brave the impetuoiity of the billows, driven fometimes in one, and fometimes in another diredlion-, and every inftant in danger of being fwal- lowed up, were it not for the addrefs and ex- perience of the boatmen who had been ac- cuftomed to thefe terrible feas from their in* fancy.
Having, at length, after many ftruggles and dangers, reached the ille of StafFa, they found it ftill more difficult to efFed a landing. By the affiftance however of the people of the ifle, who, on feeing their diflrefs, threw
out
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. sr
out fome ropes to them, and by watching a j&vourable wave, they reached the fliore with- out any other accident than that of wetting themfelves to the skin.
The coaft however was too rugged and fleep to admit of hauling up the two boats, which were obhged to put off again, and to take flicker in the ifle of lona or YkolmkiU, about fifteen miles from StafFa.
Our friends, continuing their recital, in- formed us, that the only two families who inhabited this fmall ifland, received them with the moft afFe6ling holpitality, and that the one which was in the moft eafy circum.- ftances invited them to enter their hut, where they were ufhered into the midft of fix children, a woman, a cow, a hog, a dog, and fome fowls..
There was laid out for them a remnant of oaten ftraw which had been ufed to litter the cow for feveral days before. This ferved as their feat, table, and bed. A lire of bad turf, or rather ill-dried fod, lighted in the middle of this cabin, blinded them with fmoak, at the fame time that it dried their clothes ^nd ferved to roaft, in an indifferent manner, feme potatoes, which, with fome milk, were c ^ the
^^ TRAVELS through
the only articles the place afforded, and thof© in very fmall quantities. The provifiona which they had brought with them were con-, fumed at one repaft.
The fea broke upon the ifland with fuch impetuofity, and rufhed into the caves which penetrate its interior with fo much noife, that the hut fhook to its foundation, and our adventurers could get no deep.
On the next day it rained inceffantly until noon. The fea, far from falling, raged with ftill greater fury; fo that the boatmen could not venture to carry any fupply from the ifle of lona.
In the afternoon, the rain having ceafcd, the captives furveyed the ifland and vifited the cave of Fingal. William Thornton took fome views of it with great care ; and they made a colle6tion of the moft curiovis ftones, among which were fome fine zeolites.
In the evening they had the fame recep- tion, the fame fupper, and the fame bed. A new incident, however, occurred : The marter of the cottage, his wife, and children lived in fuch a horrid ftate of filth that the place completely fwarmed with vermin. De- ' t^chments of lice approached on all fides to.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 23
pay their refpe6ls to the new lodgers, who were foou entirely covered over with them. Thefe were their moft cruel tor- ment, and formed the objed: of an occupa- tion which did not allow them a moment's refpite.
On the third day, the fea was foraewhat calmer. Their diflrefs was extreme. They walked repeatedly round the ifland, and afcended the higheft pari of it to look for the approach of the boats, which at length made their appearance, and came to deliver our poor friends from their affliding captivity. After thanking their hofts for their kind offices and hofpitable attention, they took leave of them on their return to Torloisk 5 where we had the happinefs to welcome them with all the ardour of friendfhip. We con- gratulated them on their being fo fortunate as to efcape with fuifering only a few days abftinence. Finding them all fafe, it was not without a hearty laugh, that we heard then; relate their misfortunes, and particularly the diverting epifode of the lice.
Their account brought to my remembf ance,
at the moment, a fimilar adventure which
c 4 happened
24-. TRAVELS THROUGH
happened in the fame ifle, and probably im^ the fame houfe, to Sir Jofeph Banks, who fct out from London in the year 1772, on a voyage to Iceland, in company with So- Jander, James Lind, Gore, Walden, and Troil ; and. In pafling, paid a viHt to the fine cave of Fingal, of which he was the firft who. gave a defcription.
On their arrival at Staffa, they erefted a teiit, to pafs the night under it ; but the only inhabitant then On the ifland pre^Ted Sir Jo- feph fo ftrongly to go to lleep in his hut, that he complaifantly confented, and left the tent to his companions.
On leaving the hut next morning, he difcovered that he was completely covered with lice. He mentioned the circnmllance to his hoft in terms of rnild reproach. Bat the latter, who was touched to the quick, perked himfelf up, and affuming' a tone of confequence, retorted the accufation in a haughty and fomevvhat harfli manner on Sir Jofeph, afferting, that it was he who had im- ported the lice into his ifland, and obferving, that he might as well have left them behind him in England.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 25
The detail of the adventures of my poor friends, did not much encourage me to at- tempt the fame voyage. ]\Ir. M'Lean alfo did not ceafe to imprefs me with the incon- ftancy of the weather, the dangers of difem- barking on the ifland, the advanced period of the feafon, and his apprehenfions left, could we even feize a favourable moment to waft us thither, we fhould not find it equally ealy to return, and left we fliould be obliged to remain there, not only feveral days like our friends, but perhaps for feveral months.
*' I am advanced in years,'* faid Mr. M*Lean; " I have made feveral voyages *' to India, and I am accuftomed to the fea ; ^' but I have never yet, from complaifance to *>^ any of the perfons recommended to my at- *' tention, accompanied them to the ifle of " StafFa, without having occafion to repent " the attempt. During the courfe of my " life I have made this voyage fix times, on " the mo ft favourable days and with skilful *' feamen, and every time I met with fome " dangers, either in going or returning. " Its coaft is fo rocky, and the fea, which fur- *' rounds it, rages in general with fo much " fury, that the landing, even with the fmall-
" eft
2.(5 TRAVELS THROUGH
*^ efl boats, is the mofl: terrible of all^an-
All thefe accounts were not very encourag- ing, elpecially to one, who, like me, is almoft always fick on the water ; but curiolity over- came the fuggeftiens of fear and prudence, What,faid I, inceffantly to mvfeif, fhall I have come in a manner to the very entrance of this renowned cave, and from fuch a diflance too, without enjoying a view of it ? Shall I thus eafily forego the opportunity of obtaining new information and inftrudive fads, on a fubje6l of natural hiftoiy in which I feel fa much intcreil: as that of ancient volcanos? and {hall I not be able to accomplish what my fellow-travellers have performed ? Or,fIiall I hefitate to encounter the fame danger ? All thefe reflexions irrevocably f xed my deter- mination ; and I refolved to fet out at fun- rile next morning, if the fea fhould be any- wife paffable.
I inftantly engaged a boat for the purpofe. Mr. M'Donald faid,that he fhould accompany me ; and my intrepid friend, William Thorn- ton, fcarcely yet recovered from his fatigue,
* " Here," fays Mr. Pennant, «* JEolus may be faid to '« rnnke tiis refidence, and be ever employed in fabricating
•« .WMis; kiualls, and hurricanes.'*
not«
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 27
jiotwithftanding all the dangers he had al« ready met with, told me, that he was slt$ ready to recommence the voyage. This young American had fo ftrong a defire of in- formation, particularly in every thing con- jieded with Natural Hiftory, that nothing was capable of damping his ardour,
CHAP^
• |
|
«8 |
TKAVEtS THROUGif |
•• |
|
CHAPTER IIL |
|
Voyage to Staff a. |
XS EXT morning at four o'clock, on^ of oiir boatmen came to inform us that the wea- ther began to be more moderate, and that it was probable we fliould have a line day. Having made the requifite arrangements on the preceding evening, we were foon ready^ and reached the beach before fun-rife.
Our rowers were four young and bold Hebridians, who appeared to undertake this fhort voyage with pleafare ; for they are fond of every thing which reminds them of Offian, and they feemed to regard it as a happinefa and honour to conduct Grangers to the cave of Fingal. We befides, allotted them a quan- tity of refrefliments, of which, to be prepared againft whatever might happen, we laid in an abundant provifion.
The boat was fo fmall as to be incapable of carrying a fail. Our four feamen fcated themfelves on their benches ; Mr. M' Donald took Hold of the helm, William Thornton
and
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^^9
and myfelf, let down on a bundle of fea-weed, and we proceeded under the aufpices of the genius who prefides over the fcience of Na- ture, and to whom we addrefled a fliort in- vocation. - '-'
In little more than an hour and an half we doubled the point of the ide of Ulva, oppo- fite to that of Mull, near Torloisk, which we had fet out from, and entered on the open fea : we foon found, that in thefe regions, the an- cient and majeftic ocean does not require the influence of the northern blaft to fwell its fur- face into immenfe waves.
Continuing our courfe, we had a view of the volcanic ifles of Bacabeg, and the Dutch- man's Cap, with thofe of Lunga, Sky, Go- metra, lona, &c.
We could not have willied for a more agreeable paffage at fo advanced a feafon. Our feamen, making Mr. M'Donald their interpreter, aflured us, that fo fine a day was very uncommon in that country, and feldom occurred twice in the fame year. To teftify the chearfulnefs with which it infpired them, they began to chaunt in chorus the fongs of Oflian. There is not a native of thefe iflands, from the oldeft to the youngeft, that is not
able
^ TRAVELS THROUGH
able to repeat, from memory, long pafTagea or hymns of that ancient and celebrated bard.
The fongs continued a long time. They Confided of monotonous recitatives, ending in chorufTes equally monotonous. Thsir pre* dominant character v/as a fort of* dignity in- termixed with plaintive and melancholy tones* The oars, which always moved in cadence, tended to make the monotony more complete. I became drowfy, and foon fell into a pro- found fleep.
I know not how long I remained in this ftate ; but I was awaked from it by the mo- tion and noife of the feamen, and I was told that we were now clofe upon the ifle of StafFa, and near fome reefs, which required new manoeuvres. Here I had an opportunity of witnefling, not without dread, the addrefs and intrepidity of our condudoo, who knew how to feize the favourable inftant to avoid being dalhed to pieces, and to choofe the propitious iiirgcs which afford a fafe pafTage over thofe rocks that render it fo dangerous to approach the ifland.
Two of the inhabitants of the ifland fooa made their appearance, and threw down to
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. Jt
ti^ from its craggy height fomc ropes, with the aid of which and a fortunate wave, Wd difembarked amidfl: a cloud of foam.
Thefe two men conducted ourfelves, and our fmall crew, to a level fpot on the higheft part of the ide, v/here there flood twohouleSj or rather huts, conftru6led of large blocks of lavas and mutilated prifms of bafaltcs, they were covered over with green fods, and had no other paflage for the light than the door> which was only three feet high, and the chimney, which confifted of a pyramidat tunnel in the middle of the hut.
The v/omen and. children of the two fa« milies inftantly came out to meet us, and re* quefted that we would enter their habitations : but being already informed of their excef^ five flovenlinefs, we were inflexible to their entreaties ; and juftly preferred to receive their civilities and their compliments in the open air.
Finding, that it was impoffible to prevail with us by the moft obliging geflures, they re- folved to iliew the marks of their refpciSl: for us on the fmall efplanade in front of their
dwellings.
The
52 TRAVELS THROUGH
The men, women, and children, firft formed themfelves in a large circle around us and ourfeamen. Then one of the women^ whofe appearance was rendered moft difgufl:- ing by filth and uglinefs, brought out a large wooden bowl filled with milk, with which Ihe placed herfelf in the center of the circle. She viewed us all round with attention, and immediately came up to me, and pronouncing fome words, presented the bowl with a fort of courtefy. I held out my hands to receive it ; but fhe drank fome of it, before fhe gave it to me. I followed her example, and palTed the vefTel to William Thornton, whd was next to me ; he gave it to Mr* M'Donald; and it thus pafTed from hand to hand, or, more properly, from mouth to mouth, till every perfon had tafted of it. Having made our acknowledgments for this kindnefs, they im* mediately appointed two guides to accompany us to the cave of Fingal, and all the remark* able places of this fmall ille. We ate a morfel of bread, to take off the edge of our appetite during the walk ; as it was agreed upon, that in otder to loofe as little as poflible of fo fa- vourable a day, we fliould poftpone taking our repaft till we were feated in the boat on our
way
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^3
^'P.y back. This aiJowed iis fufficient time to fee ail the curious objedls of the ifland at our 'eafe, and particularly to dired our attention to that remarkable cave which we had come {o far to view, and which we fehcitated our- felves on being enabled to examine on one of the fineft days of the year.
We went to work, therefore, without lofing a moment of time. I foon arrived at •the entrance of this wonderful grotto, which an ancient, but fabulous tradition, regards as the palace of the father of Oflian. I was obliged to put off my ihoes in order to avoid Clipping into the fea, which rufhed in with great noife. There is no other means of going into the cave, but by proceeding with the Utmoft precaution along a fort of cornice on the right iide, about fifteen feet above the furface of the water, and formed of a number of ere6l bafaltic columns, on the broken tops of which one muft ftep with confiderable dex- terity, at the risk of falling into the fea, which extends to the inmoft extremity.
Attention is fo much the more neceflary here, as the ledge upon which the adven- turer treads is entirely perpendicular, in dome places not above two feet wide at moft,
VOL. ir, D and
34 TRAVELS TliROUGll
and confifts folely of unequal prlfms< Vefy flippery, and coiiftaiitly wet with the foam of the waves and the exudations from above. The light, which comes from the grand entrance only, diminifhes gradually as he proceeds in- wards, and thus encreafes the difficulty of his path.
I ceafed not to view, to review, and to me- ditate upon this fuperb monuiiient of nature, the form of which bears fo ftronsr a refem-
o
blance to the work of art, though the latter can certainly claim no fhare in it. I took ail the dimenfions of it, with the affiftanCe of Mr. M'Donaid, whofe fervices were of the greateil ufc to me. I wifhed to obferve the moil: fcrupulous exa<3:ne{s ii. that operation, and he perfedly feconded my intentions.
During this time, my indefatigable friend, William Thornton, took a drawing of the cave, which could be feen in a true point of view from the fea only. This task was neither agreeable nor free from danger ; for it required all the addrefs of our feamen to keep him for a few moments in front of the entrance, amidft the whirlpools and waves of a fea which feemed eager to devour the frail skiff. It was neceflary to return inCefTantly
to
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 35
to the fame point, and to give reft at inter- vals to my dear Thornton, who became fick with her rolHng.
Our ardour and perfeverance were un- ihaken, and nothing was capable of diftradl- ing our attention. We only looked abroad, from time to time, to fee whether the fea Was likely to be equally favourable during the remainder of the day. After noting down all the particulars of the cave of Fingal, after sketching fiich objeds as moft inter efled us^ aiid taking the dimenfions which I was very happy to obtain, I ftill proceeded to examine fome other parts of the ifland ; and I made a colleftion of different lavas, zeolites, and Other ftones, tending to illuftrate the natural hiftory of the place.
I faw with fome rineafincfs that the fiin was now about to leave us, and that it be- came neceflary to withdraw from a place which prefented fcenes fo attractive and vol- canic phoenomena fo remarkable. But the Weather might change in a moment, and we had a long palTage to make ; we therefore prepared for oar departure. We embarked at half paft four in the afternoon, D 2 and
36 TRAVELS THROUGH
and took fome refrefhment on our way, for we were almoft ftarving with hunger. Our indefatigable Hebridians, who felt neither our curiofity nor our tafle, except fo far as xefpe^led the cave of Fingal, for which they entertain a facred veneration, had made 3 hearty repafl on the ifland, and diminifhed the weight of our ftores, while we were occupied in feeing and obferving every thing. They were quite contented, and rowed us alono- with a fpirit and vigour, which were at once a proof of their ftrength and of their habitual capacity for toil. They were com- pletely enraptured with the profpe6l of carry- ino- us back fafe and found, owing; to the finenefs of the day and the calmnefs of the fea. They accordingly continued their fongs till our arrival at nine o'clock at the caftle of Torloisk, where the good Mr. M'Lean, his family, and our friends, were impatiently ex- pe£l:ing us.
I employed myfelf during feveral days in digefting my obfervations on the ifle of Staffa ; and for the fake of greater method and perfpicuity, I thought proper to adopt the following order. -The reader will be
pleafed
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 37
pleafed to recolleifl: that this defcription is principally intended for fuch as employ them- felves in the natural hiftory of ftones and minerals. If it be confidered as rather te- dious by thofe who are not attached to that itudy, it will be eafy for them to- pafs on to pther fubjedlsa.
CHAP-
3? TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER IV,
Dejcription end N atural Hifwry of the JJle ofStaffA,^^. General Fie%vs.-
1 HE ifle of StafFa is fituated in the fifty- feventh degree of north latitude, and fifteen miles weft of the ifland of Mull. Its form is oblong and irregular. Its coafts are f^eep and craggy, furrounded with fliperb br^faltic caufe- ways, and hollowed into different caves, fuch as thofe of Fingal and the Lorijorant. The ifle is accefiible only by a fmall opening or entrance, where the precipice finks into a Hope, but which can admit only a fmall boat, and that in the calmeft weather ; for if there be the fmalleft breeze, it becomes dangerous to attempt landing, and the boat is obliged to, take fheiter in the ifland of lona.
The total circumference of StafFa is little jnore than two miles. The mofl: elevated part of the ifle is over the cave of Fingal, where it is one hundred and fourteen feet above the level of the fea in ordinary tides.
The.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 39
The fides of this vaft rock are entirely bare ; the waves and currents batter and un- dermine them every where. There is on the moft elevated part only, a flat piece of ground covered with a thin dry turf, conti- guous to which is a fmall fpot but newly broke up, where a little oats and a few pota- toes are raifed. It has alfo a fmall pafturage and a fcanty fpring, which would be foor^ dried up, were it not that the climate is Co, rainy.
There is neither tree nor bufli to be feen;' and for firing, the inhabitants are obliged ta make ufe of a bad fbd, which they cut in the fummer feafon in order to dry it. It cannot be called peat ; for it confifls limply of thQ fibrous roots of common grafs, intermixed with earth. It would be impoffible to find a worfe fewel ; but here negeflity reigns with abfolute f\\^ay.
The whole of the ifle belons^s to Colonel" Charles Campbell, of Cambeltown, in Can- tyre. It is let at the rent of twelve pounds flerling ; on account, probably, of its fifhery, for its territorial value ought to be confidere4 »s nothing. ^
D 4 The
40 TRAVELS THROUGH
The total population, at the tuTie when I vifited it, coiififted only of two families, who lived apart in two huts, conftruded of' rude blocks of bafaltes, roofed over with fods, and who amounted, men, women, and children,^ to the number of fixteen*. Belong:incr to. thefe, there were eight cows, one bull, twelve wethers-or fheep, two horfes, one hog, two dogs, eight hens, and one cock.
Buchanan has flightly mentioned the ifle of StafFa and its remarkable columns. But Sir Jofeph Banks, Prefident of the Royal So- ciety of London, is the firft who examined this grand and aflonifliing obje61: of natural hiftory with the eye of an obferver. It has rifen into celebrity by his defcription of it, which was publiflied in the Tour to the He- brides, by Thomas Pennant, accompanied with plates.
* At the time when Sir Jofeph Barks, in 1772, viflted this ifland, along with feveral naturalills, of whom Mr. Troil was one, it belonged to Mr. Lauchkn M'Quaire, and it had only a finglc inhabitant.
" There is only one hut," fays Mr. Troil, *' which is *' occupied by a peaiant, who attends fome cattle that *' pafture there. To teflify his joy for our arrival, he " fung all night over in thcEarfe language, which we did *' not underftand. He regaled us with fifh and with *' milk." — Letters on Iceland^ by Troil, Archbilhop of Linckccping.
Mr.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, 41
Mr. Troil, biOiop of Linckoeplng, one of Sir Jofeph Banks's fellow-travellers, has given a defcription of the iame ifle, and of the cave of Fingal, in a learned and curious work i^pon Iceland*. But as thefe two travellers have principally attended to the pifliirefque fcenes, without entering into thofe details which are more particularly interefting to naturalifts, I conceived that it would give fatisfaction to fome perfons that I fhould purfue the latter track,
pF THE CAVE OF FINGAL, OR AN-UA-VINE.
This fuperb monument of a grand fubter^ raneous combulHon, the date of which has been loft in the lapfe of ages, prefents an ap- pearance of order and regularity fo wonder- ful, that it is difficult for the coldeft obferver, and one the leaft fenfible to the phcenomena which relate to the convullions of the crlobe,
* This work, written in the Swedifli language, has been tranflated into French by M. De Lindholm, and printed at ParisbyDidot-1781, in i vol. 8vo. with plates. It were to be wiflied that the tranflator, to whom the Sciences are indebted for rendering that excellent book into our language, had been more acquainted with natural hiftory ; his notes weuld then have more intereft, and con- tain fewer errors,
not
42 TRAVELS THROUGH
not to be fingularly aftoiiifhed by this pro-^ digy, which may be confidered as a kind of natural palace.
To fhelter myfelf from ail critical obfer^ vation on the emotions which I experienced while contemplating the moft extraordinary of any cavern known, I flia.il borrow the ex- preffions of him who firfl defcribed it. Thofe who are acquainted with the character of this illuftrious naturalift, will not be apt to accufe him of being liable to be hurried away by the force of a too ardent imagination ; but the fcnfation \\'hich he felt at the view of this magnificent fcene was fuch, that it was im- pofiible to efcape a degree of juft enthuiiafm.
*' The impatience which every body felt to " fee the wonders we had heard fo largely de- " fcribed, prevented our morning's reft; every '* one was up and in motion before the break of ** day, and with the firft light arrived at the " S. W. part of the ifland, the feat of the moft *' remarkable pillars ; where we no fooner ar- *' rived than we were ftruck with a fcene of *' magnificence which exceeded our expecla- *' tion, though formed as we thought upon *' the moft ian2:uine foundations : The whole " of that end of the ifland, fupported by
" ranges
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 43
" ranges of natural pillars, moftly above <* fifty feet high, ftanding in natural colo- ^* nades, according as the bays or points of ** lands formed themfelves ; upon a firrn bafis *' of folid unformed rock. In a fhort time *' we arrived at the mouth of the cave, the ♦' moil magnificent, I fuppofe, that has ever
*' been defcribed by travellers
*' The mind can hardly form an idea more ^* magnificent than fuch a fpace, fupported " on each fide by ranges of columns, and ** roofed by the bottoms of thofe that have ** been broke off in order to form it ; be- ^' tween the angles oi which a yellow ftalag- *' mitic matter has exui d, which ferves to ^' de'^ne the angles precifely, and at the, " fame time vary the colour with a great *' deal of elegance ; and to render it ftill '* more agreeable, the whole is lighted from '* without ; fo that the fartheft extremity is " very plainly feen from without, and the *« air within being agitated by the flux and *' reflux of the tides, is perfectly dry and *' wholefome, free entirely from the damp ** vapours with which natural caverns in ge- ?' neral abound.''
Let
44 TRAVELS THROUGH
nLet US alio, for a moment, liflen to Mn, Troil upon the iume fubjeft.
" How Iplendid,." fays this prelate, " do ''- the porticos of the ancients appear in our ^' eyes, from the oftentatious magnificence of *' the defcriptions we have received of them, *' and with what admiration are we feized ** on feeing even the colonades of our mo- '' dern edifices ! But when we behold the " cave of Fingal, formed by nature, in the " ifle of Staffa, it is no longer poflible to " make a compadfon, and we ar& forced to *' acknowledge that this piece of architec- *' ture, executed by nature, far furpaiTes that ^' of the Louvre, that of St. Peter at Rome, *' and even what . remains of Palmira and *:' Peftum, and all that the genius, the tafte, *' and the luxury of the Greeks, were ever *' capable of inventing*,"
Such was the impreflion made by the cave of Fingal on Sir Jofeph Banks, and on the bifliop of Linckoeping. I have feen many aacient volcanos, and I have given defcrip- tions of feveral fuperb bafaltic caufeways and delightful caverns in the midfl of lavas. But
* Letters on Iceland, by Mr, Troil,
I ha\T
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 45
t huve never found any thing which comes near this, or can bear any comparifon with it, either for the admirable regularity of the columns, the height of the arch, the fituation, the forms, the elegance of this produdion of nature, or its refemblance to the mafter-pieces of art : though this has had no Ihare in its confl:ru£lion. It is therefore not at all fur* prifing that tradition fhould have made it the abode of a hero.
This charming monument of nature is thirty-five feet wide at the entrance, fifty-fix feet high, and a hundred and forty feet long.
The upright columns which compofe the frontifpiece, are of the mofl: perfed regularity. Their height to 'the beginning of the curva- ture is forty-five feet.
The arch is compofed of two unequal feg- ments of a circle, which form a fort of natu- ral pediment.
The mafs which crowns, or rather which forms, the roof, is twenty feet thick in its lowefl: part. It confifts of fmall prifms, more or iefs regular, inclining in all diredions, clofely united and cemented underneath and in the joints with a yellowifh white calcareous matter, and fome zeolitic infiltrations, which
give
4^ TRAVELS THROUGH
give this fine ceiling the appearance or rxio- faic work.
The lea reaches to the very extremity of the cave. It is fifteen feet deep at the mouth j and its waves, inceffantly agitated, beat with great noife againfl the bottom and walls of the cavern, and every where break into foam; The Hght alfo penetrates throligh its whole length, diminifhing gradually inwards, and exhibiting the mofl wonderful varieties of colour.
The right fide of the entrance preients, oil its exterior part, a vail: amphitheatre, formed of different ranges of large truncated prifmSj the top of which may be ealily walked along. Several of thefe prifms are jointed, that is^ concave on the one lide, and convex on the other ; and fome of them are divided by fimple tranfverfe interfections*^
Thefe prifms, conlifling of a very durable and pure black bafaltes, are from one to' three feet in diameter* Their forms ard
* Sir Jofeph Banks's draughtfman, very good and ac- curate in other refpedls, has lubiHtuted, probably to give greater effect to the cave, large malles of ftone irregularly piled on each other, on the right fide of the kind of am- phitheatre, which ferves as ; bafis to that part of the grove. But there is in reality nothing there except columns.
trian*
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 47
tiiangular, tetrahedial, pentagonal, and hexa- gonal ; and fome of them have {even or eight lides. I law feveral large prifms on the trun- catures, of which are diftindly traced the outlines of a number of fmaller prifms ; that is, thefe prifms are formed of a bafaltes, which has a tendency to fubdivide itfelf like- wife into prifms. I had before obferved the fame phenomenon in the bafaltic prilins of Vivarais.
The cave can be entered only by proceed- ing along the platform on the right fide, which I have mentioned above. But the way ^rows very narrow and difficult as it advances ; for this fort of interior gallery, raifed about fifteen feet above th^ level of the fea,.is formed entirely of truncated per- pendicular prifms of a great or lefs height,, between which confiderable addrefs is necef- fary to choofe one's fteps, the paflages being fometimes fo ftrait and fo fiippery, owing to the droppings from the roof, that I took the very prudent refolution, fuggefted by our two guides, to proceed barefooted, and to take advantage of their afliftance, elpecially in a particular place, where I had room only to plant one foot, whilft I clung with my right
hand
48 TRAVELS THROUGH
hand to a large prlfm to fupport myfelf, and held the hand of one of the guides by the other. This difhcvilt operation took place at the darkeH: part of the cave ; and one half of the body was at the tim?, fufpended over an abyfs, where the fea dalhed itfelf into a cloud of foami
I Wasdefirousof Derietratuig; to the fartheft extremity, and I accompiifhed my purpofe, though not without confiderable difficulty and danger. I, more than once, found my attention diftrafted from the obfervations which I was happy to have an opportunity of making, to the thought of how I fhould get back a^ain.
o
As I drew near the bottom of the cave^ the bold balcony, on which I walked, ex- panded into a large Hoping fpace compofed of thoiifands of broken vertical columns. The bottom was bounded by a compacl range of pillars of unequal height, and refembling the front of an organ.
It is worthy of remark, that at the time when Mr. Troil vifited the cave, the fea, by one of thofe uncommon chances which do not happen once in ten years, was fo calrri that it permitted him to enter with a boat*
" At
feNOLAND AND SCOTLAND. 49
" At the very bottom of the cave," fays Mr. Troil, " and a little abo\e the furface of the " water there is a kind of fmall cave which " fends forth a very agreeable noife every "*' time that the Water riifhes into it *."
As the fea was far from being completely Hill, when T vifited it, I heard a noife of a xciy different nature every time that the waves, in rapid fucceffion, broke againfl its bottom. This found refembled that which is produced by flriking a large hard body with great weight and force agaihft another hard body in a fubterraneous cavity. The fhock Was fo violent that it was heard at fomedif. tance, and the whole cavern feemed to' fliake with it. Being clofe to the place whence the found iffued, and where the water is not fo deep upon the retreat of the wave, I endea^ voured to difcover the caufe of this terrible collifion. I foon obferved, that, a little be- low the bafis which fupported the organ- fronted colonade, there was an aperture which formed the outlet of a hollow, or per- haps-a, fmall cave. It was impoilible to pe- W^fate irito this cavity, but it may be pre-
* Letters on Iceland. VOL. II. E fumed
5^ TRAVELS TMROtJOH
fumed that the tieniendous noife Was oeca* fioned by a broken rock, driven by the viq* lent Impetuofity of the furge againil its fides^ By the boiling motion of the water, however^ in the fame place, it is evident that there are feveral other fmall paflages, through which it iflues, after rufliing into the principal aper- ture in a mafs. It is therefore not impolTiblej when the fea is not fufficiently agitated, to put the emprifoned rock in motion, that the air, ftrongly compreiTed by the weight of the water, which is in inceflant fluctuation jihould^ on ruihing out by the fmall lateral palTages, pz;oducc a particular ftrange found. It might then be truly regarded as an organ created by the hand of Nature ; and this circum- fiance would fully explain why the ancient and real nanne of this cave in the Earfe lan- guage is, the melodious cave *.
Sir
* Sir Jofeph Banks is the firft who gave the cave of Staffa the name of the cave of Fingal, I made the moft minute enquirlJss offeverd perfons well llcilled in the Earfe, Gaulic, or Celtic language, to know what relation this cave had to the father of O/ticm. And thefe gentlemen, as well as others, aflured me, that the miftakp was owing to the name being equivocal. The following is their expla- nation : The true name of the cave is an-ua-vine. An^ the } ua^ grotto, cave, cavern ; vine^ melodious. The name of Fingal in th^ fame language is fpelled and pro- nounced
ENGLAND AND SCOI'LANDo .^f
"Sit jofeph Saiik's in the Hefcription vA\ich he has given us of the cdxt of Staffa, fay^, that *' between the angles a 3^ellow flalag- " mkk matter has extided, which feemed to "^' define the angles pre'cifbly." That is true, but the karned NaturaUft has, not told us the natiire of this yellowilli matter.
Mr. Troil mentions it alio : He fays, that '" the colour of the columns is a dark grey ; " but th-at the joints are filled with a quart* " rofe flada<5lites5 -^^ hich diftindly marks the ^' feparation of the columns, and which, by '" the V2:fiefy of its tints, has the moft agree- " able effefi: on the eye." There b certainly an error here with regard to the fubfence. On breaking off feveral pieces of it, which it h not very eafy to do, owing to the height of
nounced Fi:n in the nominative. But the Earfe nouns are declinable, and the genitive of Fingal is Fi>ie ; (o that if one wifhed to exprefs the cave of Fingal in the Earfe language, he would write an-un-fine. Thus between the Earfe vine melodious, and the genitive of Fingaiy?;;^, there is no other difterence than the change of the letter i' intoy"; and fome perfon not very well verfedin the Earfe Tangiiage, might have trandated to Sir Jofeph Banks the •words ati-aa-vine by the cave of Fingal^ whiUt the true and literal interpretation is, the jnelodkus cave. In this cafe, the obfervation of Mr. Troil, on the agreeable found' which he heard ifluing from the bottom of the c'ave vv^-\Q.Vi the water rufhed in, is valuable, and comes In fupport of the true denomination.
E % the
5* TRAVELS THROUGH
the vault, I found that it was nothing but a calcareous matter coloured by the decompo- fition of the iron of the lava, and intermixed with a little argillaceous earth. This ftalac- tites has alfo very little adhefion, and is in general of an earthy nature* In feveral of the prifms I found fome globules of zeolites, but in very fmall quantity. I alfo broke off from between two prilms, which were fo far apart as to admit of introducing my hand, an incruftation in which the white and trans- parent zeolites was formed into very perfedl fmall cubical cryftals, feveral of which were coloured red by the ferruginous lime ariling from the decompofition of the lava. But I muft repeat, that zeolites is very rare in this cave, and having myfelf broken off all the fpecimens that I was able to fee, I doubt whether thofe who may vifit the place after me will find any quantity of it.
DIMENSIONS OF THE CAVE OF FINGAL.
Breadth of the entrance, taken at the mouth and at the level of the fea, 35 feet.
Height from the level of the fea to the pitch of the arch, 56 feet.
Depth
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 5^
Depth of the fea, oppofite to the entrance, and twelve feet diftant from it, at noon of the 27th of September, fifteen feet.
Thicknefs of the roof meafured from the pitch of the arch without to its higheft part, twenty feet.
Interior length of the cave from the entrance to the extremity, one hundred and forty feet.
Height of the talleft columns on the right fide of the entrance, forty-five feet.
Depth of the fea in the interior part of the cave, ten feet nine inches ; in fome places eight feet, and towards the bottom fomc-f . what lefs^*
I have given a defcription of the largeft cave, as it is at the fame time the moft re- .markable. But there is another towards the northern part of the ifland, in the midft of a fine
• All the dimenftons were taken with great exaiflnefs with a piece of ihread-tape, painted and waxed, divided into French toifes, feet and inches, and rolling up into a leather cafe. This inftrument, which I caufed to be made in l/ondon, afforded a meafure of 100 feet. If I, there- fore, differ in the leaft from the dimenfions taken by Sir Jofeph Banks, attention muft be had to the difference of the Englilh foot. This naturalifl, befides, ufed a fiftiing line, which, ftretching more, or lefs with the wet, can never give the meafures fufficiently correct.
E 3 colonade.
54 TRAVELS THROUGH
OQloflade. Its name in the Earfe l^ns'iiage i:$; Qita-na-JS carve. It is, however, lefs intereft- ing than the iiril:, and was befides inacceffiblc- at. the time I vifited the illand. There is alfo, i\\ the louthern quarter, and at a fliort diftance frvom the place where we dilembvajlied, ^ fmall cave eprnpofed of compa<fl lava, : f«?iTiffi.int©d \vith a range- of prifms, the total appearance of v,'hich, as is obferved by Sir Jofeph Banks, es^at^Jy-rQferribles.the l^eel of a vefTel having her timbers expofed to view. TWf^^rvature of the pcifms renders the refemblauce of this fiHgirlarfpe6tacle very ftr-iking.
.Mote than one half the eireumfereaee of the iflc is occupied by \'ery handfoin-^ colo- nades, which are completely baie on the fide ilg^t tifie fea-. They reft in general on a cur- rent of gravelly lava, which ferves for theif bafis imd fupport \ and they follow the di~. seflign more or leis inclined, more or Ie(s ho- rizontal of the current. All thefe prifmatic eaufe'v^'ays are covered with a vaft ftream of" lava, more or lefs compa6l, and tending more or }el« to a prifmatic form. The fummit of this covering is Ipead over with a little veget-?, able earth formed by decompofed lava, and
with fome thin common 2;rafs.
Abovf.
ENGLAND AN© SCOTLAND. 55
Above ofte half the ifland therefore is fu^ ported by columns more or lefs perpendicular, and the remaining part entirely conlifts of lavas more or lefs compad, more or lefs dei compofed, more or lefs intermixed with frag* ments of other lavas, zeolitic infiltrations, calcareous ftreaks, and calcedonious droppings, which have in fome places penetrated th^ fubftance of the Zeolites,
One of the eaufeways to the northward of* the grand cave merits the attention of the naturalift by the difpofition, the number, the purity, and elevation of the prifms, which are more than forty-eight feet high, and placed perpendicularly hke the pipes of an organ. This magnificent colonade is fpread over with a current of compadt lava, more than fifty- feet thick, and compofed of innumerable fmall prifms which diverge in all direftions.. It is fupported by a current of black gravelly lava, nine feet thick, the parte of which is an intermixture of different other lavas di-. vided into fmall irregular fragments, and \inited by a natural cement, compofed of caU careous earth, zeolites, and a calcedonious. fubftance. Every thing leads me to regard ^is current as the refuit of a volcanic erup^ 2 4 tion,
56 TRAVELS THROUGH
4tion, in which the water entering into con- conrfe with fire, has mixed all thefe matters in one parte. A part of this current of lava extends under the fea.
, To prevent my defcription from becoming too tedious, I iliall now only fay a few words refpe<51ing what is improperly called the ifle of lio^'-Jha-Ia ; improperly, becaufe the name of ifle can never be given to what evidently forms an appendage of the principal ifle. . Boo-llia-la lies at a fmall diftance from the grand cave, and is feparated from Staffa by a channel which is only a few fathoms wide; its jun6lion with the latter may be eafily traced in the fea. Boo-fha-la itfelf feems to be di- vided into tv/o parts at fpring tides. It is compofed of a number of banks of prifmatic bafaltes of a very pure kind, piled together in fome places, arched in others, and fome- times difpofed in the manner of fleps, which form a paflable, though fleep ftair-cafe. By the lide^of this the columns are vertical, and form by their union and their different de- grees of elevation, a regular conic peak, which is entirely an aflemblage of prifms. This re- markable flrudlu re is not owing to the falling, of large mafles from their former pofition$^
It
^^
isrrf
'<m ^
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 57
It (eems rather to be the efFe£l of a more or lefs gradual cooling ; and the matter in Shrinking appears to have undergone thofe fantaftic modifications and accidents, which may be obferved in cryftallizations on a large fcale ; though I am far from confidering the prifmatic lava as the refult of cryftallization. On the contrary, I reject that opinion ; and the comparilbn which I ufe here is only for the purpofe of making myfelf more intelligi- ble, and has no relation but to the accidental varieties and different difpofitiorj of the forms.
Mr. Thomas Pennant has publifhed, in his Tour to the Hebiides, two engavings of Boo-fha-la, taken from the very corre6t drawinsis of Mr. Banks.
It remains only that I (hould give a lift of the lithological produflions of the ifle of StafFa.
MINERALOGY OF THE ISLE OF STAFFA.
1 . Triangular bafaltic prifms, which arc here, as in other places, very rare.
2. Quadrangular, and equally rare.
3, Pentagonal: | Thefe are the mofl
4, Exagonal ; y common forms.
5, Hepta-
5^ TRAVELS THROUGH
5. Heptagonal, of which a few are foini^ iiere,
6. O£logonal, of a large fize, fbmetimes four feet in diameter, exhibiting in their truncatures the elennents of other fmaller prifms.
7. Articulated prifms, tha-t is, whofe^ fee-. ti<3ns are concave on. one fide and convex on, the other.
• S^. P-ifms cut ftrai':ht without any arti^ culations, fome of them have eight,, ten^ and even twelve feclions.
9. Prifms which ieem to have been czd at oAe time, in one piece ; of thefe, fome are* twelve, fifteen, twenty, and even forty feet liigh.
ID. Prifms curved in an arch of a circle.
I r; Black gravelly compadt lava, which ealily feparates into irregular pieces.
12. Black porous lava. The extingnifhed volcano, in the ifle of Staffa, has been ex- pofed for fo many ages to the fury of a fea full <Vf currents, and agitated with tempefts, that it may well be faid to have left only the ske- leton of a volcanic ifle, much more confider- able in former times ; the fea which attacks \t on every fide having carried away or de-.
ftroyed.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 59
flfoyed every thing that it was capable of Rifling upon. It ought not, therefore, to be a fubjc6l of wonder, that it contains neither the remains of a crater, nor fcoriae, nor light lavas. The fame thing has happeaed to other cxtinfl volcanos which the fea abandoned, after an incalculable lapfe of ages. On ex- amining, however, with attention the fub-« llances which compofe the currents of lava, which fupportmany of the prifmatic eaufe- ways of the ifle, one difcovers fome fra^* ments of a black porous lava. Thefe lavas being mixed and interfperfed among the fragments of other lavas, compa<5l, pulveru- lent or gravelly, compreiTed by the enormous weight of the fuperior mafles, and united by a gluten, partly calcareous and partly zeolitic, ^re thence more prote6led from the a£tion of the waves.
X3, White radiated zeolites, incrufted with bafaltic lava. The fame zeolites incrufted with black lava, much fofter, in round pieces, pval or irregular, and in diverging points* There are fometimes {ecu. on the exterior part of thefe oval piec^, projeding cryflals pf cubical zeolites^
X4, White
^O TRAVELS THROUGH
14, White radiated calcedonious zeolites, 1 obtained from one of the beds oF muddy lava, on which the greater part of the prif- matic lav^ of StafFa repofe, feveral fpbe- rical nuclei of zeolites in diverging rays, luiited to the number of three or four in one group. Several of thefe fmalL balls were completely folvable in the nitrous acid, with which they formed a jelly ; Vv'hilft feveral others adhering to thefe, but femi-tranfparent and of an unduouspolifli, were impervious to. the acid, and even gave fparks with fteel. But on calcining and reducing -the latter to powder, and digelfing them in a glafs vefiel with nitrous acid in a fand bath, the acid dif- folves the zeolites and forms a jelly with it, whilft the calcedonious particles remaining untouched, are precipitated to the bottom, I found fome of thefe fmall balls of the fize of a gall-nut, the one half of which was penetrated by a calcedonious milky juice, and the other by a quartzofe juice extremely cryfralline, and as tranfparent as the purcfl rock cryftal.
15. Cubical v^diite zeolites. There were fome of the mofl fuperb pieces of cubical zeo- lites
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 6t
Ktes in Staffa ; but, in our vifit to that ifle, we took away all that were moft interefting. Before us, dodor Thompfon had alfo made at StafFa a very interefling coUedion ofz-eolites, and among others, a number of large cubic cryflals joined together on a black compadl lava. This fpecimen, the mofl confiderablc and the moft perfeft of its kind, may be feeii at Oxford in the colle6lion of that naturalift.
1 6. Tranfparent cubical zeolites, of a greeniih call:. I found this fpecimen in the interior of the cave of Fingal, in a crevice formed by the feparation of two prifms. It is therefore.very evident that this fmall group of cubical cryftals had been formed in that fifTure in a very flow and infenlible manner, by the juxta-pofition of the zeolitic particles held in folution by the aqueous fluid. The greenifh colour of the latter zeolites is owing to the decompofition of the iron contaiaed in the bafaltes.
17. White femi-tranfparent zeolites in odagonal cryftals.
18. White femi-tranlparent zeolite? in cryftals of thirty facettes.
Such arc the moft remarkable zeolites 'ivhich I have found in the ifle of StafFa. It
is
6i Travels THRouGii
is not improbable that the waves and currents which daily wear away its coafts may after- Wards difcover feme other varieties.
1 9. Granite of a red grdund, and of thd lame textare with that of the ancient Egyptiaii granite, but of a much lefs vivid colour. This red granite is found in rounded ftones of a pretty large fizc among the rolled lavas thfbWii by the fea upon that pa/rt of the ifland whef^ the currents have formed the moil: Gonlider- able breach. As every thing in Staffa is Covci-r pletely volcanic, it is evident tliat thde bloc^ks of granite, which arc not very abundant,, but which have been rounded by fridion, have:- been tranfported from a diftanee by currents ^ for the neighbouring iflands are equally vol- canic. The fe?. mufl: certainly be terribly agitated to raife thefe rounded granites to the height at which they are found on the ifld^ of StafFa, among the bafaltic lavas equally round- ed, which the fea throws up during fprittg' tadesand furious tempers.
CHAP-
ENGI.AN0 AND SCOTLAND- 6J
CHAPTER V.
"^.tay at Mr. M*-Lean''s. — Cii/kms and Mmiiiea'S of the Inhabitants of the Ife of Mull.
Mi
,R. M-LEAN of Torloilk has ereaed a commodious habitation^ in the modern ftile, but without any parade. Its chara^leriftic is an exquilite neatnefs, joined to the mofi attra<51:ive iimpHcity.
It commands a view of the fea, and the ifles of Ulva, Gommetra, StafFa, lona, and numerous chillers of rocks, which reader na- vigation fo dangerous in that region.
This houfe is fituated on a fingle flat emi- nence, deflitute of trees and verdure ; fo that to form a fmall kitchen garden, Mr. M'l^aii has been obUged to dig away part of the vol- canic rock, and fill up the area with tranfport- ed foil; he fhewed me feveral difficult an"?! expenfive operations of this kind which he had eixecuted. On my afking, why he fuf^ fered to remain ftanding upon the place Ji kind of large cottage built of dry flones, co- vered' withdraw, or rather heath, and lighted;
by
^4 TRAVELS THROUGH
by two narrow holes, which fcarcely admitted the rays of the fun.
" It was there,'* faid Mr. M*Lean ,with emotion, " that I was born. >i; That is the *' ancient habitation of my fathers ; and I feel " unexpreffible regard for this modeftmaniion, " which reminds me of their virtues and ^' frugal life." This reply more ftrongly marks the chara6ler of that eflimable man than the moft eloquent defcription which I, could give. It ought to be remarked, that Mr. M'Lean is a man of birth and fortune, that, he has lerved in the Britifh army, per- formed diftant voyages, and is well acquainted , with the world. He has, notwithftanding, preferred his native foil, and an agricultural life, tea refidence in London or Edinburgh, or the moil: fertile plains of England ; fo power- ful is the dominion of our firfh habits, when it recals to our minds the indelible pleafures of infancy.
. Several ladies from Edinburgh, of agreeable converfation, were at Torloilk at the fame time, with me. One of them, a relation of the Melforts, of whom there is a branch fettled in France, was a woman of talents and in- formation. A youngs officer, nephew to .
Mr,
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 6$
Mr. McLean, and two of his friends, were xlfb on a vifit at Torloilk, where all were tinited in the delightful bonds of confidence and friendship.
Mifs M'Lean was an only daughter, of a pleafing countenance, elegant figure, and highly ititcrefting from her talents, her ac- quirements, and her modefly. She played extremely well upon the harpficord, and was in ev-ery refpe<51: the charm of that happy fo- ciety. She had attentively ftudied the lan- guage, poetry, and mufic of the Hebridians.
Mifs M'Lean afTured me, in feveral con- Verfations, with which fhe favoured me upon the fubjed, that to one acquainted with the language, the ufages, and the manners of the country, it was difficult to conceive how the Englifli writers, who were utter Grangers to the Celtic tongue, fliould have fo obflinately perfifted in doubting the exiflence of the ancient poems of Oliian. She admitted, that they are in many places incomplete, and in others altered ; for it cannot be fuppofed that they have not fuflained fome lofs in their tranfmiffion from bard to bard, and from one generation to another. But it is neverthe- Itfs true, that feveral pieces of them have
VOL. ir. F come
66 TRAVELS THROUGH
come down entire, accompanied with fomft remains of the mulic to which they have been fung. This mufic is indeed wild and rude when compared to ours, but poiTefTes the moft powerful charms for the Highlanders, by calling to their minds the combats, vic- tories, loves, and illuftrious anions of their heretic aneeftorsc
No one is more capable of converting thofe v/hu are incredulous upon this point than Mils Ivl'Lean, and I invite her in the name of the iiftcr arts, of poetry and mufic, with ^vhich (he is fo well acquainted, to publilh her refearches refpe^ting the poems and airs of the ancient Caledonians *.
Mr, M' Lean's domeftics, both men and women, are clothed in the Hebridian mode.
* Befsdes what M'Pherfon has fau! upon the fubjeft, John Smith, minifter of Kilbrundon in Argylefliire, has written in favour of the authenticity of the poems of Oflian, Ullin, Onan, &cc. Mr. Nichol, of Lifemore, has alfo treated the fame fubjeit. John Clarke, of Edinburgh, has given a tranflation of feverai of the Caledonian bards. I purchafed alfo at Edinburgh a colledlion of Galic mufic, publifhed by a prefbyterian minifter, and feverai other printed and manufcript pieces relative to this queftion ; which I can communicate to fuch as it particularly in- teretts. But this great queftion being foreign to the prin- cipal objedl of my refearches, I fliall forbear to expatiate upon it in this place,
I hav«
ENGLAND AND SCOtLAND, 67
\ "have already defcribed the drefs of the men, in mentioning the inhabitants of Dalmally. That of the women is miuch lefs complex. Their long flowing hairj which is in general black, forms the only ornament of their heads. Some indeed have it kept back with a fimple woollen fillet ftriped of different colours, among which red and green are im'ariably predominant. From one article of expence they* are entirely free : they wear neither Ihoes nor ftockings. But notwithftanding the length of the winter, and the incelTant humi- dity of the climate, and though they go with . their heads bare, their teeth do not feem to be in the leaft affeded. Their drefs confifls t)f a bodice, or rather a kind of veft, and a petticoat of a woollen fluff chequered with red, green and brown flripes, fliaded with blue. This is the o-eneral and favourite clothing; of the Highlanders, and is ufed alike by the men and women, though it is for the moft part manufadured in the fouthern parts of Scot- land. It is known by the name of Tartan,
The Englifh eat very little bread ; the Scots eat more: there were three different kinds ufed at Mr. M'Lean's table.
F 2 The
68 TRAVELS THROUGH
The firft, which may be regarded as a luxury for the country, is fea bifcuit, which veflels from Glafgow fometimes leave in pafling.
The fecond is ipade of oatmeal formed into an unleavened dough, and then fpread with a rolling pin into round cakes, about a foot in diameter and the twelfth part of an incli thick. Thefe cakes are baked, or rather dried, on a thin plate of iron which is fuf- pended over the fire. This is the principal bread of fuch as are in eafy circumflances.
The third kind, which is fpecially appro- priated to tea and breakfaft, in the opulent families of the ifles, confifis of barley cakes, without leaven, and prepared in the fame manner as the preceding, but fo thin, that after fpreading them over with butter, they are eafily doubled into feveral folds; which render them very agreeable to thofe who are fond of this kind of dainties.
At ten in the morning, the bell announces that breakfaft is on the table. All repair to the parlour, where they find a fire of peat, mixed with pit-coal, and a table elegantly ferved up and covered with the following ar- ticles ;—
Plates.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 69
Plates of fmoaked beef, Chcefe of the country and Englifh cheefc, in trays of mahogany, Frefh eggs. Salted herring. Butter, Milk and cream, A fort of houillie, of oatmeal and water. In eating this bouillie, each fpoonful is plunged into a- bafon of cream, which is always befide it. Milk worked up with the yolks of eggs, fugar and rum. This fingular mixture is drank cold, and without being prepared by fire ;
Current jelly. Conferva of myrtle, a wild fruit that grows among the heath, Tea, Coffee, The three forts of bread above-mentioned ; and, Jamaica Rum. Such is the flyle in which Mr. M'Lean's breakfafl-table was fei-ved up every morning, while we were at his houfe. There was al- ways the fame abundance, with no other dif- F 3 ferencQ
7© TRAVELS THROUGH
ference in general than in the greater or !efs, variety of the difhes *»
Dinner is put on the table at four o'clock^ It confifts in general of the following parti- culars, which I correctly noted in my journal,
I, A large difh of Scotch foup, compofed of broth of beef, mutton, and fometimes fowl,, mixed with a little oatmeal, onions, parfley,. and a confiderable quantity of peafe. Inflead of flices of bread, as in France, fmaU flices of mutton and the giblets of fowls, are throwu into this foup,
* Knox, who, travelled more upon the main land than in the illands, gives the following particulars of the break- fafts of the more wealthy families :—
" A drarn of whiskey, gin, rum, or brandy, plain or ** inTufed with berries that grow among the heath; French <' rolls ; oat and barley bread; tea and coffee; honey in the ** comb, red and black current jellies ; marnalade, con- *' ferves and excellent cream ; fine fl.ivourcd butter, *' frefh and faked; Ciiefhire and Highland cheefe, the laft " very indifferent ; a plateful of /cry frefh eggs; frefh and *' falted herrings broiled ; ditto, haddocks and whitings, ^' the skin being taken off; cold round of venifon, beef *' and mutto^i hams. Befides thefe articles, which are " commonly placed on the table at once, there are gene- *^ rally cold beef and moor-fowl to thofe who choofe to *' call for them. After breakfaft, the rnen amufe them- *' felves with the gun, fifhing,or failing, till the evening; *5* when they dine, which meal ferves with fome families •s' for fupper."
2. Pudding
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. Jl
2. Pudding of bullock's blood 4n4 barley lineal, fealbned with plenty of pepper and
3. Excellent beef-fteaks broiled.
4. Roafted mutton of the beft quality,
5. Potatoes done in the juice of the mutton*
6. Sometimes heath-cocks, wood-cocks or water- fowl.
7. Cucumbers and ginger pickled with vinegar.
8. Milk prepared in a variety of ways.
9. Cream and Madeira wine.
10. Pudding made of barley-meal, cream, and currai^ts of Corinth, done up with fuet.
All thefe various difhes appear on the table at the fame time; the miftreisof the houfe prefides, and ferves all round.
In a very fhort time the toafls commence; it is the bufinefs of the miftrefs to begin the ceremony. A large glafs filled with port- wine is put into her hand ; Ihe drinks to the health of all the company, and pafles it to one of the perfons who fit next to her ; and it thus pro- ceeds from one to another round the whole table.
The fide-board is furniflied with three large
glafles of a fimilar kind ; of which one li ap-
F 4 propriated
72 TRAVELS THROUGH
propriated to beer, anothei to wine, and the third to water, when it is called for in its un- mixed ftate, which is not often. Thefe glaffes are common to all at table ;• they are never rinfed, but merely wiped with a fine towel after each perfon drinks.
The deffert, from the want of fruit, con- fifts for the mofl part, only of two forts of cheefe, that of Chefhire, and what is made in the country itfelf.
The cloth is removed after the deffert, and a table of well poliflied mahogany, appears in all its luflre. It is foon covered with ele- gant glafs decanters of Englifh manufadure, containing port, cherry, and Madeira wines, and with capacious bowls filled with punch. Small glaffes are theti profufely diflributed to. every one.
In England, the ladies leave table the mo- ment the toafls begin. The cuflom is not pre- cifely the fame here. ; they remain at leafl: half an hour after, and jufily partake in the fefli- vity of a fcene, in which formality being laid afide, Scottifh franknefs and kindnefs ha^e full room to difplay themfelves. It is cer- tain that the men are benefited by this iiir tercoufe, aud the ladies, are nothmg the lofers by it.
At
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 73
At Mr. M*Lean's we drank in particular to *- c^ch of the ladies prefent.
To the reft of the guefts, mentioning their pames one by one.
To the country.
To Hberty.
To the happinefs of mankind in general.
To friendfhip.
We, foreigners, drank more than once to cur good friends the Highlanders ; and the company anfwered in full chorus with drink- ing to our friends in France, and in a lower tone, with a glafs of mild Madeira, to our miftrefles.
The ladies then left us for a little to pre- pare the tea. They returned in about half an hour after ; and the fervants followed them with coffee, fmall tarts, butter, milk, and tea. Mufic, converfation, reading the news, though a little old by the time they reach this, and walking, when the weather permits, fill up the remainder of the evening ; and thus the time paffes quickly away. But it is fomewhat unpleafant to be obliged to take one's feat at table again about ten o'clock, and remain until mid-night over a iupper nearly of the fame fare as the dinner, and in no lefs abundance.
Such
74 TRAVrLS THROUGH
Sqch is the life which the richer claffes lead in a country, where there is not even a road, where not a tree is to be feen, the moun- tains being covered only with heath, where- it rains for eight months of the year, and where the fea, is in a ftate of perpetual con- I'uhion.
The winter is cold only about two months in the Hebrides, and the fnow lies but a. very little time on the ground, but, as tempefts and rains prevail din-ing thp greater part of the year, neither wheat nor rye can be brought to perfedion in them. Barley and oats, however, thrive here, and are reaped in the month of Odober, though it is necelTary to dry the grain in kilns to prevent it from ihooting, and to prepare it for being ground,.
The greateft part of the barky is fermented and diftilled, to procure a fpirituous liquor which forms their choice delight. It is called whiskey. Oatmeal is made into cakes for bread.
The ifle of Mull is not much more than from twenty to twenty-two miles long, and fifteen or fixteen broad ; a mile is termed in the Hebrides fcoc. There is nothing like a regular village in the whole ifland; the houfk
being
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 75
being almoft always fcg-'ttered apart, both on the coaft and in the interior. They are con- ftru6led of irregular blocks of bafaltes ranged, without great attention to order, in walls of great thicknefs ; for materials of this kind are very plentiful, and always within reach pf the builders. The height of the walls fcarcely exceeds five feet, and that of the entrance is feldom above three feet. The more wealthy iflanders, adapt a door to it ; but the greater part of the inhabitants are fatisfiedto do with- out any. The roof is often covered with thin pieces of ftone, which is again laid over with turfs. But thofe who can procure a fufficiency of wood for laths ufe a thatch of heath or oaten flraw, faftened and kept down by long ropes of heath to prote£l it ffQjn the impetuofity of the winds.
The fire-place is always in the middle of the hut, and the fmoke efcapes by a hole w. the roof, which is a little to one fide, that the rain may not extinguifh the fire. The Efqui- maux and Laplanders difplay much n^ore art and induflry in providing themfelves with habitations.
The iflanders of Mull go both bare-footed ^nd bare-headed, without any regard to rain
or
■76 TRAVELS THROUGH
or frofl. The father of a family may fome- times have a Scottifh bonnet, and the mar- ■ Tied women a head-drefs of coarfe linen. But all the young folks, both girls and boys, go about with their heads bare, and without flioes or ftockings. It fhould be remembered that I am fpeaking of the common elals of people.
AlmoU: all are fhepherds or fiiliers. Each family has a fmall fpot on which they raift fome barley, oats, and potatoes ; which lat- ter, with milk, forms their principal aliment. Thofe on the fea coaft, or by the fide of lakes, fupply themfelves with fifli. They catch falmon, which they dry in the fmoak, and herrings, which they fell, and fometimes make into oil for their lamps.
Thofe who are better informed, or of a more adventurous fpirit, enter into the Eng- lifh navy, and form robuft, fober failors, fa- miliarly acquainted with all the dangers of the fea.
The population of the ifland is about {even thoufand.
It contains three parifhes, nine regular built ftone houfes, and five fchools ; its inhabitants profefs the Prefbyterian religion.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 77
*rhe women, in general, are fmall, iigly* and ill made ; the natural confequence of toil, bad food, the want of fuitable clothing, and the inclemency of the climate. I faw; two or three who were a little better looked, and whofe figure was even fomewhat agree- able, but thele belonged to famihes in a more comfortable condition. The lim being almoft always covered with clouds, or enveloped iii mifts, their skin would be very white, were it not difcoloured by the peat-fmoke, which, from the want of chimnies, continually fills their huts.
Notwithflanding the wetnels of the cli- mate, I could never perceive that the cuftom of going bare-headed was injurious to the teeth. Both men and women have very fine fets, and are in general, efpecially the men, very healthy. The diforders which might be expected to arife from the frequent rains of this climate, are mitigated by the ex- treme temperance of their life, exercife, and the purity of the air. Their only fuftenance ebnfifts of milk, potatoes, fifh at certain times of the year, and oatmeal made into a houillie or cakes. Their beverage is pure water ; and a few glafsfuFs of whiskey on
their
7^ tRAVELS THROUGH
their feflive days conftitutes their fliprem^ happinefs.
On enquiring fefpeftirig the age of their oldeft men, Mr. M'Lean of Torloisk afiured mfe, that a man of his acquaintance who re- dded in the neighbourhood of Aros, had died about feven years before at the advanced age of one hundred and fixteen years, and that there were feveral Uving above eighty; among thofe, however, it ihould be re* marked, who were in commodious circtim- ftances.
The horfes of the ifland are of a Very di- minitive race ; its black cattle are equally fmall, but very delicate when fattened ; they are generally exported to England, and they form one of the principal revenues of the ifle of Mull. There are alfo in it two kinds of fhcep which I (hall foon defcribe, and a few goats ; but there are no hogs, and only a few fowls, owing to the difficulty of feeding them. At Aros, in a houfe by the water- fide, I faw fome geefe and ducks, and three turkies ; but the heads of the latter were pale, and I doubt whether they will thrive there.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 79
The highefl; mountains produce deer, though few in numb r, and of a fmaller fize than the common kind. Heath-cock, of the greater and leffer fpecies, are very plentiful •; there are ahb fome wood-cocks, but- no hares. The only fmall bird which I faw m. my courle through it was, the ortolan.
The ifland is now denuded of trees, though formerly it mufl have been covered with them. This may be eafily feen by the turberies ; on digging which to a certain depth, it rarely happens that roots and ftumps of beech, pine, and birch are not met with. It is my opinion that were the proprietors to give themfelves the trouble of planting evergreens and birches, they would ftill thrive there. In this opinion I am confirmed from a fmall thicket which I faw at Achnacregs, on the extremity of the ifle oppofite to that of Tor- loifk.
The level country and the mountains are in general covered with heath and fod.
The tides rife to a great height in this part, and the fhores abound with fea wreck, which has for fome time back been burnt for its alkali, which fome of the merchants of Glafgow come to purchafe. But this ufeful
objed:
So TRAVELS THROUGH
t>h]eS: of induftry is exclufively engrofied by the lairds, or a few wealthy perfons. The lea wreck, when frefh, is ufed with fuccefs as a manure.
There are yearly exported from Mull about fifteen hundred head of black cattle ; butj from their fmall fize, they bring only about three pounds fterling eachi
OF THE SHEEP OF SCOTLAND, PARTICULARLT THOSE OF THE ISLE OF MULL.
I Ihall here give an account, in as few words as poffible, of the information which the beft local opportunities enabled me to procure upon this fubjeft, with the intention of being ufeful to thofe, who occupy them- felves with this great branch of national economy.
In the mountains of Scotland, and the He- brides, there are only two kinds of fheep ; the original race of the country, and a kind which has been introduced from England, and which is accordingly called Engli/Iijkeefi.
The wool of the former, or Scottifh fheep, is much fuperior to that of the Englifh flieep> and even approaches the Spanilh wool in fine-
nefs
feNGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 3 1
tl'sfs. But many people prefer the Englifli kind becaiife they yield a fleece double that of the Scottifli race, are fatter and fuller of flefh. They accordingly fell at a much higher price.
An Englifli flieep, in good condition, fells upon the fpot, for half a guinea and often twelve fliillings ; whilft a Scottifli one feldona brings above (ix or feven fliilUngs.
The wool is fold here by a weight of twenty-four pounds, denominated a ftone; this quantity is generally valued at from fix to fevcn fhi) lings. The pound contains fix-> teen ounces.
The flocks of fneep range the mountains or valleys^ both night and day, fummer and w^inter, without any flieltcr ; yet the extreme wetnefs of the climate does not feem to do them the leaft injury.
They never have any fodder during the winter, not even when there is fnow ; but it ihould be oblerved, that, in thefe ifles, though in fo northern a latitude, the fnow does not continue long on the ground. Bv a very rare occurrence, in the winter of 178^, it re- mained upon it about two months ; during which time, the fheep fed upon the tops of a
VOL, II, G tail
Sa TRAVELS THROUGH
taU kind of broom which remained above the fnow. The poor animals^ however, fuifered feverely during that ^^' inter, and "became very meagre. But a much greater number of them died from accident, than from want or difeafe ; and on the reappear- ance of the grais they recruited very faft, and fattened as ufual.
The rams are carefully feparated from the ewes in the month of September, and are not admitted among them again till the twentieth of November, that the iambs may be yeaned onlv HI the beft feafbn.
The ewe brings forth and takes care of her lamb without any affiflance. The fhep- herd, who, from time to time, vifits his nu- merous flocks, to prevent them from ftraying too far, or endangering themfelves amidfl the (focky precipices, takes the number of the young lambs, who loon run after their dams and crop the new fprung herb.
In the third month after parturition the lambs are taken away from their mothers, being then ftrong enough to do without them, and are formed into flocks which are put into feparate enclofores, under the care of a. keeper.
. When
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 8^
When the pafture grounds are contiguous and of great extent, one man and two dogs are fuf- ficient to keep fifteen hundred iheep. But when the paftures are of inconfiderable ex- tent, and it is neceflfary that they lliould feed more regularly, a keeper and two dogs are requifite for every eight hundred.
Nineteen or twenty rams are fufficient for tiight hundred ewes. The keeper repairs every evening to a cottage in the form of a dwelling-houfe, ere«5led in the midft of the pafture ground.
The only diforders to which the fiieep are fubje(fi; here, are the pleurify, which happens but fcldom, and the ftagge s, which turns their heads to one lidcj and always ends in their death. This difeafe is unfortunately very frequent, and often attacks thofe which appear to be the moft healthy *.
The
* This difeafe is the fame as that known in Tufcanv by the name of P^zzz^. The animals afFeiled with it, and which are called in F" ranee mcutons kuras, moutons imh cities^ waddle in their walk. Abbe P ontana, in a letter upon. this fubjeft addrelTed to M. Darcet> and inferted in the Journal de phyfique^ torn. i. page 227, 1784, fays, " it is " very remarkable that the ftieep attacked by it, generally *' fall on one fide, and that the veficle, which occafions it '' is found to be in the lobe of the brain oppolke to the " iidc on which they fall. This obfervation holds good G 2 " .'n.
84 TRAVELS THROUGH
The Hebrldlans never give any fait to theii iheep ; they are not however ignorant of its good cffcd: ; but their flocks being very nu- merous, and the fait, from government duties and carriage, extremely dear, the expence would be too great for their abilities. Were it notfor this hindrance, the inhabitants would undoubtedly uf: it for the fleecy race ; for they are very fenfible that the cows and oxen, who feed upon the herbs wafhed by the fea, thrive -veil, become plump, and have a fleek Ikin.
Here I ought to mention a cuftom ufed in feveral parts of the north of Scotland, parti- cularly in the lower dillridls, though it is not pradifed in the Hebrides or more inland parts of the Highlands, I mean that of fmearing their fheep with tar.
" in all cafes ; and the animals conftantly fall on the fame " fide." The celebrated phyfician oi-" Tufcany, from feveral microfcopic experiments on the liquor contained in thefc veficles or idatides in the brain of fheep, concludes, that ** the particles, which are fcen floating in that liquor, are " real cnimalcules." This new and fmgular difcovery,, fays that learned philofopber, <* may throw light on fome " diforders of the human brain, and even on infanity ; fince " veficles as large as a pea, and fometimes larger, have been ** found in the brains of perfons who have died of that ma- " lady, which is fo terrible and humiliating to human v*« *< nity," page 231 of the fame paper.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND S5
The owners of the numerous flocks of thefe diftri6ls, where the winter is far fe- verer than in the Hebrides, entertain an opinion that the intenfe cold makes the Iheep fcabby ; and as a fecurity againfl: this, they make ufe of the following preiervative :
In the month of November each fhepherd takes two barrels of tar and one barrel of butter ; or a greater quantity of each, ac- cording to the number of the flock, but al- ways in the proportion of two-thirds- of tar to one- third of butter. Thefe two fub- flances are then boiled or melted together.; and after being completely mixed and per- mitted to cool, each flieep is tied up by the feet, ftretched on a hurdle, and nibbed over with the compofition. This operation is performed by feparating the wool into thin flakes that the tar may be applied to the skin with as little injury as poffible to the fleece.
According to the opinion of the fheep- farmers of the country, two advantages refi^lt from this pradlice. The firft is, the preferr- ing of the cattle in a ftate of health ; the feeond, that of making them yield a greater G 3 quantity
86 TRAVELS THROUGH
quantity of wool. The moft wealthy fheep- farmers, whom I had aa opportunity of con- futing upon the rubjeift, afiured me, that the fieece was certainly more abundant when the flieep were tarred ; but they, at the fame time flated, that it fells for nearly one- half lefs than uhfmeared wool, being rendered a great deal heavier than its real weight, by the dirt xvhich adheres to the tar. The operation by ^hich the tar may be taken off, couiifts in ■foaking the fleece after it is fhorn in warm- tC^a'ter, into which butter has been melted. But this procefs muft be expenfive ; and the wool never reaches the quality of its natural ftate.
Five thouTand (heap reqivire twenty barrels of tar, arid one-third that quantity of butter. This expence appears at firfl: much more con- siderable than it really is ; for, on dividing it among five thoufand, it does not amount to five fols a-head. Befides, this compofi« tioH of butter and tar gives the fheep a fet of artificial fat, which fupplies what the ^-igour of the climate deprives them of; and if it tends "to keep thefe ivfeful -^nimals in fetter health, and alfo to endr#afe the qoian-
ENGLAND AMD SCOTLAND. Sj
tity of their wool, however ridiculous, ex- penflve .or difficult to thofe unaccuftomed to it, the practice may at firfl appear, it is yet, perhaps, worthy of profound attention and examination on the part of thofe who are par« ticularly interefted in this important Uranch tif ecoiioinj\
6 4 CHAP-
88 TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER VI,
Departure from 'torloiJJc. — Stay at Aros.-^FiJit to • two worthy ■ Farmers and Brothers^ the Stuarts of Aros. — Excurfion to the Mountain of Benmore, the highefi in the IJle of Mull. — Stop at Mr. Camp- l^J's, of Knock. — His agricultural Operations.—^ Curious Lavas. — Departure from Aros for Achna-. cregs.
I
WAS treated with fuch engaging marks of politene/s and affe6lion by A.r. M*Leaii and all his family, as well as by his vifitors, that it was impoflible for me to leave them without feeling a fentiment of gratitude and regret. I fhould be happy to prove to thena that they will never fade from my remem- brance. This refpedable phi'ofopher kindly accompanied us for feveral miles on our re- turn.
During my flay at Mr. L*Lean's I took a furvey of the volcanic hills in his vicinity, and dire6led my refearches to the right and left of his houfe, along a trad of coafl which the waves have waflied into naked precipices
capable
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 89
capable of affording a complete view of the ftrufture of fubftances formerly aded upon by fubterraneous fire. I fliall give a defcrip- tioii of them in the chapter appropriated to the mineralogy of the ifle of Mull.
We fet off, mounted upon little half-wild horfes, and on the fame day reached Afos. Here we remained the whoie of next day in a very uncomfortable lodging, where we found only fome barley meal, which was made into pottage for us with milk, a little fmoke dried falmon, and a few Iheep-trotters ; no wine nor beer ; but whiiky, which fcalded our mouths, and, to crown all, our beds were of the very worft kind. Our hoft, however, was a good fort of man, and ufed every pof^ fible exertion for our accommodation. With this we exprefled ourfelves fatisfied for the prefent ; and he promifed to procure us fome frefh fi{h bv the next mornins:.
Of thefe, two of my companions were left to enjoy the benefit, for I had determined myfelf to fet out with the firft dawn to vifit the high mountain of Benmore, and William Thornton, who now felt an increafed ardour for the purfuits of Natural Hiftory, refolved to accompany me.
There
^ TRAVELS THROUGH
There are not much more than three mileai from Aros to Knock, along a pretty good foad, which here and there prefents Ibme pic-» turefque landfcapes, of an appearaaee, how- ever, fome what wild.
On a meadow in the bottom of a narrow valley, wafhed by the fea, we obferved one ti thofe columns called Cmrns, of which,, fram the ground being overflowed at the time, I Was unable to procure the dimenfioi^s. But as near as I could judge by the eye, it might be about fourteen or fifteen feet in height; and feemed to confill of grit ftone. There is certainly Something aftoniihing in the frequency of thefe ancient monuments through the Hebrides and the main laiid of Scotland. Popular tradition traces every one of them back to the time of Offian, which is merely to fay, that their origin has bee^n loft m the lapfe of ages.
. The houfe of Mr. Campbel, of Knock* is very agreeably fituated at the foot of a high mwmtain, and not far from an arm of the fea, very plentiful in iifh. Mr. Campbel was gone at this time to Oban, but the miftreis of the houfe received us in the mofl affable panner, and treated us witii tea and rum.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 91
We requefted that fhe would procure us a guide to dire6l our way to the top of Bfen^ more ; but her fon, a youth o£ leventcen or eighteen years old, offered to accompany us himfelf. This young man, who had a very agreeable figure, and was drefled in the He- bridian ftile, immediately prefented us with fowling-pieces, faying, that he had excellent dogs, and that we ihould certainly find fome black-cocks ; for he had no conception that we could wifh to climb fo rugged a mountain, for any other purpofe than the pleafures of the chace, which he paflionately loved him- felf. He was, therefore, much furprifed when I took out my hammers, and told him, that I had come to examine the flones of the place. On receiving that information, he fhewed us immenfe heaps of them which had been taken off a conliderable tra6t which his father had cleared in the mldil: of fome lavas. All thefe fiones, broken into fmall lumps, were afterwards ufed to form enclofures to a piece of ground which required much labour, time and expence, to reclaim. A larger col- ledlion of lavas is feldom met with than this prefented. I Ihall prefently mention its particulars.
As
92 TRAVELS THROUGK .
-As we intended to return to Aros In the evening, we loft no time in beginning to fcale the fteep fides of Ben mo re. In my tra- vels among the high Alps I never experienced fo much difficulty as in this ale en t. An al- moft impenetrable heath, growing upon a marfhy foil, covers the bafis, the middle and the fummit of the mountain, which rifes in the fliape of a fugar loaf. It is impoflible ta .make any progrefs,but by following the fmall gullies which the waters have worn, and walk- ing in the very midft of the flender ftreams, which occupy the bottom of thefe fteep and narrow paths. . The black and bufhy heath fpreads its gloomy veil over thofe ftones, which .might intereft and repay the fatigues of the naturalift. Not a fiiigle plant, nor fo much as a tuft of mofs is to be (een, every thin-^ i& here fmothered by its dcftru6li\'eprogrefs.
The ftones which the moft confiderable gullies have uncovered, and thofe which have been broken off by froft, are all volcanic. But they prefent no variety ; all of them are whitifli-grey lavas, flightly maculated" with zeolite.
We had reached to a confiderable height, when, wearied with feeing only the fame
lavas.
* ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 93
lavas, and meeting with no other plant than the toilfome heath, whence ftarted' from time to timelbme black-cocks, which young Camp- bel brought to the ground with o-reat dex- terity, I refolved to go no farther. But Wil- liam Thornton braving every diiiicultyand de- firous to gain the higheft fummit, proceeded onward. The ftones which he brought down with him afforded no variety. Upon the whole . the mountain of Benmore, notwith- ftanding its height, and a kind of refembiance which it has at a'diftance to mount Vefuvius, does not repay the trouble of afcending it. We gladly returned therefore to reft ourfelves at Knock, vv^here the lavas being much more interefting, I made a colle6lion of fome ipe- cimens. v We then took leave of young Camp- bel and his mother, notwithftanding their prefiing iblicitations to ftop, and proceeded for Aros, where we were expe6ted.
It was determined that we ihould fet off for Achnacregs at ten next morning. This was a diftance of eighteen or twenty miles, which we willingly performed by land, as we fhould thus have an opportunity of examining that part of the ifland,andat the fame time avoid the navigation of the tempeftuous found of Mull ;
fox
§4 TRAVELS THROUGH
for from Achnacreg-s we could next morning eafily reach Oban to breakfaft.
We left Aros at the appointed hour ; but firft had the pleafure of breakfafting, by in- vitation, with the Meffrs. Stuarts of Aros.
Thefe two gentlemen, who are brothers^ occupy a commodious habitation on a fmall hill, which they have brought into cultivation, and rendered produdive of paflurage, barley^ oats, and potatoes. In that modeft afylum, free from care and difturbance, they pais away their days with a happinefs which am- bition has never tafted. Two intelligent and induftrious fifters partake with thejii in the management of their houfehold affairs. Here they enjoy all the gentle delight of rural life 5 I fincerely wifli that they only lived under a more favourable iky, and on a foil capable of exercifing their agricultural tafle and talents to more advantage.
We took leave of them at ten in the morn- ing of the 29th of November.
A few^miles from Aros, near the water- fide, we obferved the ruins of a catholic chapel, where are ftill viiible a gothic bafTo- relieyo in freeftone, rcprefenting the Virgin Mary between two feraphims, and a large
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 95
grave-ftone which exhibits the effigy of a warrior in complete armour, that is, with helmet, bracelet, cuifhes, buckler, and fword. One of our guides told us, that it was the fisure of a hero of the clan of M Lean, Be- fide this fcpulchral relic, we obierved another reprefenting alfo in relievo, a woman of t^l ftature, drefled in the gothic ftyle of the aa- clent ladies of France. The name of the place where we difcovered thefe ruins is Gal- €haylt.
Thence we continued our courfe along- a way, which might be called rather a path than a road, to Lenigorn, Ardmitrail^ and Corinakinijh, It muft not be fuppofed that all thefe names indicate villages, or even hamlets. Alas ! they are applied only to fome huts, fcattered at diftant intervals amidil thefe difmal deferts*
Every thing along this road is volcanic ; but the compact homogeneous grey-coloured lavas which it prefents, are not very intereft- ing. They are belides fo thickly covered with Tnofs or lichens, that it is necefTary to break them before they can be diftinguifhed.
In the vicinity of Ledkirk^ however, I * found fome hard compa(5t lava, difpofed in
flabs,
96 'TRAVELS THROUGH
flabs, which gave me confiderable pleafure* This lava was of a white kind ; and at firfl fight might be taken for a fine limeftone of that colour. But on a more attentive exa- mination, its vitreous appearance proves be- yond doubt that it is merely a bafaitic lava bleached by its contiguity to fome crater, or by remaining long in a fluid inr.pregnated with fome acid. Jt is remarkable that thefe lavas have preferved their magnetic property* I colleded fome fpecimens to compare them with fome of the fame kind which I found on Mount Mezinc, in Vivarais, and to thofe of the extindt volcanos in the environs of Padua, and of the Euganean mountains.
From Ledkirk we palled on to GarmonVi and thence to Scallafdel^ leaving the little fort of Duard on our left. On a green rifing ground, near Scalla^del, we faw a druidical circle, formed of very large pieces of rough granite. We flopped for a moment to examine this altar or temple ; but quitted it haflily and with indignation, on reflecSting that here the cruel priefls, of a ftill more cruel religion, had, perhaps facrificed fome Iphi- genia, thrown by a tempefl upon this new Taurica,
■:^ p vv We
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 97
We arrived in the evening at Achnacregs. This is the name of a fmall creek, where there is only one houfe, wretched and fmoky, of two ftorles however, and v/ith chimnies* From its firfl appearance, it v.as difEcuIt to know whether it v\'as a farm-houfe or an inn 5 we found that it was both the one and the other. The arm of the fea which feparates this part of the ifle of Mull from Oban, the oppofite point of the main land of Scotland, being of inconfiderable breadth, the paiTage is much frequented for the tranfportatlon of cattle ; and this houfe affords Ihelter to thofe who are driven in by bad weather, or who come to the ifland on commercial purfuits. Our entertainment here was in the ftyle of Hebridian frugality ; but, our landlord was a good fort of man, very inquiiitive after news, fomewhat of an antiquary, and had as much veneration for Fingal and Oflian, as the Jews have for Mofes.
A heavy rain detained us within doors the whole of next day ; I employed the time, therefore, in ticketing my fpecimens, and ar- ranging my journal.
On the fucceeding day, the rain was not fo thick and frequent^ but the fea was verv boifterous. We made fosne excurfions in
VOL. II,
9'o TRAVELS THROUGH
the vicinity ; and about half a mile from our lodging obferved a bank of lime-flone ad- joining a bed of free-frone, and both of them inclofed in a current of l?.va.
At a fhoft difiance fiom this bank, we ^ame to a large rough column of free- ftone, lying flat on the ground, and broken lit the middle. On meafuring, I found it to lie twenty-one feet long. Our hoft, who accompanied us at this time, did not fail to excite our admiration of this ancient monu- fiient. ** Never was there a perfon, except *' Offian,"faidhe, "who could move this enor- '* mous {lone. The operation of time, or per- *' haps an earthquake has overthrown it, and " now there is not one in the iiland who can *' fet it up again.''
It rained all the mornins; of the followino; day ; but towards the evening it became fair for a little. Count Andreani, who began to be weary of fo difmal a folitude, and fo bad a lodging, refolved to take advantage of this fhort interval, to crofs over to Oban, where he fhould wait our arrival. The only veffel which the place afforded, was a fmali ildff, very badly equipped, and rowed by two boys, of whom the eldefl was not more than fourteen years. The wiiid was variable, and
the
England and Scotland. 99
the fea not very fmooth. In vain, however, did I reprefent to him that it Were better to wait till the next morning ; nothing could prevail on him to f!:op. He fet off in the ikiff, with his two fervants, at half part four, telling us, that he fhould fleep in a good bed, and eat a better fupper than we, at the houfe of the brothers Stevenfon3,of Oban, where he expc6led to arrive by feven the fame evening-
Lefs adventurous, though perhaps more prudent, than Andreani, I perfuaded Wil- liam Thornton to remain with me at Achna- cregs, till the fea became more moderate- After wifhing our friend a good paxTage, and looking after him as far a,s we could fee him. We flowly returned to our wretched and dreary habitation. I wrote till eight ; we then flip- ped, and I went to bed at ten.
The wind by this time increafed to a vio- lent gale, accompanied with a great deal of rain ; but I was nowife anxious refpedino- the lituation of my companion, whom I imagined fafe in Oban long before.
I had fcarcely fhut my eyes, however, when a loud noife awaked me. I heard a rap- ping and calling at the door ; I rofe, and after informing the people of the houfe, who went and opened it, we faw our poor friend An- u 2 dreani
lOO TRAVELS TMROacH
dreaiii enter with his attendants, as completely drenched, as if they had hccn repeatedly plunged under water. They were over.aken by a ftorm, when h df way over, and though feveral times driven near to Oban, they were unable to make the harbour. The night was fo dark, tlat it w^as almoft inipofiible to know where they were, and it was not without en- counterina; the irreateft dangers, and in a manner by mere chance, that they regained the little haven of Achnacregs.
They were numbed with cold ; our fn-ft care, therefore, was to warm them. A large fire was lighted, rum and tea were given them to drink, and every pofhble means were taken to recover them. Count Andreani was him- felf the hrft to laugh at his adventure ; but his two fervants, who had never before tra- velled beyond the fertile and fmiling fields of Italy, and who, therefore, felt fomewhat auk- ward in their prefent fitiiation, were not fo merrily difpofed. They were fo deeply im- prefTed with the dangers and frightful ap- pearance of a ftormy fea, amidft: the darkuefs of night, that, returning a thoufand thanks to the Blefled Virgin, wdio had heard their in- vocation and brought them fafe to land, they raifed their hands to heaven, and fwore, that
they
ENGI.A^D AND SCOTLAND. lOI
they would never again leave the ifland, barren as it was. " We fhoiild prefer," faid they, " to crop the herbs in this place, to " expolmg onrfehes, a fecond time, to the *' fury of that aboininable lea.'* They then muttered their aifpleaiare at their maimer's . mprudence and folly, in coming to vifit the :nofl: deteftable country in the world. Their pantomimic geftures, the expreffion of their :ountenances, and the ferious tone of their' lamentations, entertained me with a fcene :ruly cOmic.
Repofe during the remaining part of the night, and the appearance of a fine morning, partly effaced the impreffions of the preceding evening. The fea, however, was not yet navigable ; and the beft means of diffipating tedium was to betake myfelf to aiSlive em- ployment.
At iun-rife, therefore, I made one of thofe excurfions from which there is always de- rived fome benefit, either for inftru6lion or health, and in which I always find my ad- vantage, in whatever country 1 may travel.
A vaft black rock, perfectly peipendicular,
and almoft infulated, forced itfelf upon my
attention, ever fince mj arrival at Achna-
H 3 cregs^
■102 TRAVELS THROUGH
cregs. I conjedured that it might be a ba- faltic colonade, and I wiflied to afcertain the truth of this conjedure. After walking about a mile and a quarter, I arrived at the foot of one ^f the moft aftonifliing produdlions of volcanic combuftioii that I ever had an op- portunity of obferving.
It prefented the appearance of an ancient circus, formed of natural walls of bafaltes^ rifing perpendicularly with fo regular a con- fer u6Hon, that at firfi: view, the fpeclator cannot avoid thinking it to be the production of human induftry and art. But the utmoft ftretch of human force, heightened by all the aid of the mechanic powers, could never have been capable of elevating fuch enormous maffes. The Vv^hole muft be regarded as the effed of a vafl: combuftion, which, inflead of deftroying, has here produced appearances analogous to thofe of a creatine power.
This grand natural monument excited a jufl admiration and even enthuiiafm in my mind. I fpent two hours in viewing, fludying, and obferving it over again in different points of view, and I was ftill unwearied of gazing upon it. I went in queft of my companions, who were tranfported v.dth no lefs admira- tion than myfeif at the light of thele vaft
bafaltic
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. lOj
b'4ialtic waUs, ftanding alone, and riling in a bold and perpendicular fabrick around a cir^ cular fpace, which prefented an arena thaf would have been well adapted to the games of the ancients.
It is no lefs 'remarkable, that the accefTory parts of this fingular produftion of fubter- raneous fire feem to have bfeen placed in the vicinitv, as if with the defim of furnifhino; a key to the problem of its forniation.
I meaiured, with the moft fcrivifulous at- tention, the height and thicknefs of the walls, and the diameter of the circular enclofure.
On the 6th day,^ vifited it once more. In the afternoon of that day, the weather be- ginning to alTume a more fettled appearance. Count Andreani laid, that he was refolved to try his fortune a fecond time, and that he fliould fet off at four o'clock ; which he ac< cordingly did. The vvind was at this time favourable, and as the ikifF could not carry us all, we fuffered him to proceed, promifing, that we fhould fpeedily follow him.
He fent back the boat, during the night, with a fupply of eatables, for our cheer had been but very poor and fcanty for fome days before, having exhaufted almofl the whole ilock of Achna,cregs.
H 4 This
T04 TRAVELS THROUGH
This fupply was extremely ufeful, as the florm returned by the next morning, and the fea ran too high for us to trufl ourfelves upon it in fb frail a vehicle. I employed the time in new excurdons, and in arranging my notes, particularly thofe which related to the m.ine- ralogical hiftory of the ifle of Mull. Thefe I have thrown into a feparate feftion, that fuch of my readers as are interefted in that fcience may find the obje6ls which refer to it, united under one head, and that thofe to whom the fubje6l rr^say be indifferent or tire- fbme, may ealily pafs it over. It may not be improper to mention a fecond time, that this is my ordinary mode of proceeding.
At length, on the evening of the 6th of Oftober, whicli was the eighth of our con- finement, a bark havins; come in to Ach- pacregs with a cargo of beeves, which was to return on the morrow, we refolved to em- brace the opportunity of a paflage in her ; we accordingly embarked at fix next morning, not for Oban, but for the ifle of Kerrera, where we landed at eidit. We walked along: the ifle, which is very fmall, and at its ex- tremity found a boat, which conveyed us in lefs than one hour to Oban, where our friend AndreanimofI; impatientlyexpeded our arrival,
CHAP.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 105
CHAPTER VII.
Natural Hijlory of the Ijland of Mull
X HIS ifland, which is one of the largeft of the Hebrides, is not more than from twenty to twenty-two miles in length, and fifteen or fixteen in breadth ; but being of a very irregular form, it may be flated at eighty miles in circumference at lead.
I fhall proceed to defcribe the parts which I vifited, in the order of my journey. Thofc who would wifh to explore the ifland in the fame purfuit, by difembarking at Achnacregs, coming back to Aros, and travelling along the left bank of the found of Mull, will trace my itinerary by commencing where I finifh- ed it.
AROS,
1C06 TRAVELS THROUGH
A R O S.
ROAD FROM AROS TO TORLOISK.
Columns of Bajaltes,, Lavas, compaEf, black, grejy reddiJJj, intermixed zvith Globules of white Zeolite^ Blocks of rounded Granite on the Summit of Joins hajakic Mountains.
The ancient cafhle of Aros, once the reii^ dence of the famous McDonald of the Ifles, now prefents nothing more than a ruin. Its remains ftand on a fmall colonade of bafaltes by the brink s^i the fea, and on the right fide of the entrance of the fmall bay of Aros,
The river of Aros, which might with more propriety be called as a pretty large brook, takes its rife from a marfhy trad, about the middle of the iiland. From its iource to its mouth it runs on a compa6b lava, which va- ries ill colour from a deep black to grey and reddifli. This lava is in general durable and compad ; fome beds of it, however, are found of a gravelly and friable texture.
Thefe compact: lavas contain, in general, fb great a. quantity of knobs of white zeolite, that this lad matter may be faid to form nearly one-third of the weight of the lava.
The zeolite is found here in a globular form, and in general about the bignefs of a
pea.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. loy
pea. Some of the globules are radiated ; but they are mqre frequently cryilalized in a con^ fnfed mrinner, and without any determinate form. I found nothino- of this kind fujffi^
o
ciently interefling for the cabinet of the na- turalift, from Aros to Torloisk. The reafon was obvious. Every thing was fo covered with mofs, lichens and heath, that I was forced to confine my refearches to the bed of the fmall river, and to feme gullies conne£led with it, where the rock was fomewhat ex- pofed.
As we drew near to Torloisk, at the dif- tance of about three miles from the caftle, we came to fome mountains entirely volcanic, and at leafl: two hundred and fifty toifes high. It excited my aftonifliment as I pafTed along their (limmit to obferve fome large blocks of granite, rolled and partly rounded, detached from each other, and refting on the volcanic matter, to which, however, they do not adhere, having been evidently tranfported hither by the effe6l of Ibme convulfion. For adventi- tious bodies of that kind, and of fb sreat bulk, found on mountains and in an ifland where there is no fohd rock of granite, muft have been depofited here by fome very power- ful revolution,
Thefc
Io8 TRAVELS THROUGH
Thefc lumps of granite ir?y have been eje<5led from granitic quarries, which perhaps exifted at great depths under thefe ancient volcanos, by the explolions which took place at the epoch when extenfive combuftions de- vaftated thefe countries, and foriiied groups of iflands which appear to have the fame origin.
It is beiides within the verge of pofTibilitv, that thofe parts of the mountains where they are n.^w fuund, were not at tliat period ele- vated fummits, but rather formed pa^-t of the bottom of thefea ; and that thefe granitic blocks were rolled from a diftance by the currents. It is poffible, that circumftances of fiib- terraneous explofion, equally terrible with thofe which formed the ifle of Santorini, in the Archipelago, or Montenove, in Italy, may have raifed up the bottom of the fea into volcanic peaks ; or, if it fhould appear more plaufible to fome, we may refer to a period when mountains ftill higher were entirely covered with the fea ; a hdc, which cannot be doubted, fince marine bodies arc found in great abundance in beds of lime-ftone or clay, fituated on the Alps or Apennines, at a height three or four times greater. But thefub- jed would require illuftrations,which the nature of this work does not permit me to enter into.
TOR<
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 109
TORLOISK.
Black BafaJteSy with and without Zeolite ; altered Laxja, ivhich has loft its Hardnefs end its Colour y Bafaltes calcined on the Surface of a Blood-red Colour^ and having the Appearance of a clayey Bole.
At a little diftance from Mr. M'Lean's houfe, near the road leading to the fea on the fide oi Rilnynen, is an extent of rugged fteep rocks bounding the coaft, which are beat upon by the waves and by frequent rains. They are eaiily obferved along the whole of that part of the coafl:, being entirely bare.
This craggy trad which pctends as far as Loch-mar i^ is compofed of different currents of bafaltic lava, of a deep black colour. Se- veral of thefe ftreams are formed of irregular mafies, others of tables, and fome have af- fumed a prifmatic form. Here I found fome pretty large fpecimens of fine zeolite, feveral of which were cryftallized into cube?, fome had the appearance of diverging rays, and others were a little calcedonious. They are in general very white, but there are fome * which
tlO TRAVELS THROUGH
which have become fallow from the deconi- pofition of their iron, and feveral alfo have a a light greenifh tint. They are moil; fre- quently feen in large lumps buried in the lava ; but thofe which have adopted the cubical form, are often found in the filTures which feparate the different ftreams of lava.
The traveller flionld not omit vifiting oil the oppofite quarter, that is, towards the path on his left as he proceeds from Mr. M'Lean's houfe to the fhore, a quarry, out of v/hich all the ftoncs of his buildings have been taken. Here there are found feveral lavas which are Worthy of attention. They may be obferved with the fame facility as the preceding; the interior of the volcanic eminence being com- pletely expofed to view by digging away the ilones.
The upper beds of the quarry are formed of a black hard compact lava, containing fome globules of white zeolite.
Thofe immediately below, having been probably a6led upon by the fulphurous acid, have loft a part of their colour and their hard- nefs. They are grey, whitifh, and moft fre- quently of the colour of iron ruft. The zeo- lite which is found buried in it, has preferved
its
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 1 1
lis forms and chymical properties, but has not* withftanding affumed various tints.
Other beds, ftill lower, have fuftained a more confiderable and different kind of alter- ation ; they are of a bright red, and contain, as vi^ell as the lavas over them, fome globules of zeolite, unaltered with refped to their principles, but fofter and a little coloured. The lava itfelf has loft its hardnefs.
The lavas of this quarry, though of the fame texture and compofition, have under- gone different modifications, as well from the exhalations which rife from this burnt foil, as from the adion and elfe«£Vs of long conti- nued fire.
The different craters afford a confl:ant and remarkable example of the aftive operation of the vapours, not only on the colours, but alfo on the grain and hardnefs of the lavas which they decompofe, and form into new combinations of gypfum, iron, allum, ful- phur, ^c. I have proofs, likewife, that the long continued application of fire, will, in certain circumftances, transform the hardeft and blackeft lavas, bafaltes for example, into a ftate of red calx, if I may ufe that expref- iion»
" Thefe
il2 TRAVELS THROUGH
Thefe fuperficially calcined lavas in loiing their firft colour, lofe alfo the elements of their hardnefs ; and there are circnmflances in which they become foft and foapy to the touch like fat clays. I have defcribed a va- riety of this kind in my Mineralogy ofVoU canos, page 395, No. 10.
It is, thereforcj of elTential importance to difHnguifli accurately the tivo kinds of alter- ation which I have mentioned, and of which the one is owing to the a61:ion of acids, and the other to that of long applied heat. Thus the black lavas which compofe the firft beds of the volcanic quarry of Torloisk are nowife altered. Thofe which fucceed them, and which are grey and whitifh, feem to have been difcoloured and altered by acid vapours ; v/hilft the deepeft ftrata, in which the lava is of a blood- red colour and friable texture, appear to derive that modification folely from the long continued adion of fire, and a real calcination of the furface. In this cafe the fire has not been flifliciently violent to change the lava into a vitreous fubftance ; but its prolonged operation has difunited its parts, and rufted and oxidified its ferruginous par- ticles, which have changed to a red colour, like that of the calx of lead, which a very
violene
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. II3
Violent and long applied heat, converts into the mofl: beantiful minium. The globular zeolite which is found in the upper as well lower ftrata of the quarry of Tor- loisk, that is, in the black, grey or whitifh lavas, is the fame. It is the fame alfo in the deepeft beds, where the lava is more al- tered and has become red. This zeolite differs from that of the other beds only in being a little fofter ; but the difference is not v-ery perceptible.
What has happened here as to the zeolite's, has taken place alfo with refpedl to pointed fchorl in a lava of Chenavari in Vivarais. The black fchorl remains almoil untouched in the midfl of a lava altered and turned to a red colour by tJie continued action of a ftrong fire, but which has not been able to vitrify it*.
I have
* The following is the paflage of the Mineralogy of Vol- canos:-"^^ Argillaceous bafaltes of a blood red, with fpecks " of black fchorl in the moft excellent prefervation, *' though the lava itfelf is changed completely into an ** argillaceous matter foft and foapy." — Mineralogy off^ol' frt«oj, page 395, No. 10, in 8vo. Paris, 1784.
I ought to add here, that in faying, that the lava had changed into an argillaceous matter, I did not mean that it had pafled into the ftate of re«l clay. My intention was
VOL, II. I merely
114- TRAVELS THROUGH
I have quoted in the- fame work, which I publlfhed in 1784, on the Mineralogy of Vol^ canos, a daily example of this fuperlicial cal- cirmt'ion cffe6i:ed by art. In Vivarais, and alfo on the other bank of the Rhone, lime- kilns are conftruded with their interior lining of very black nnd ha^d bafaltic lava. The pit-coal few el, with which thefe kilns are con- tinually fupplied, foon vitrifies the whole of the inner llirface, which then runs into one piece. But as the vitrification does not peiie- trate above four or five lines in the blocks of lava, which are feveral ffeet thick, the part in immediate contact with it, being expofed to a lefs decree of heit, pafles at length into a ftate of calcination. Its colour becomes red, its hardnefs is deftroyed, ^nd when the
merely to ftate that the lava thus altered had put on the exterior appearance of clays ; that is, that it was tender, earthy, and foft to the touch. I am the more defirous to explain myfelf upon this fubje^t, becaufe feveral natural- iftsv who have written upon volcanos, have taken thefe fubftances for real clays, regarding them not merely as earthified lavas, but as embodied clays burnt by fubterra- neous files. In thf'fe cafes, however, the fchorls, cryfo- lites, zeolites, and even pieces of porous lava which are found in it, remove every doubt refpeding the identity of thefe altered lavas with thofc which join or cover them, or lie in alternate order with others, and which are per- fectly found,
kilns
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. iI5
kilns are taken down or repaired, it is eafy to obferve through the thicknefs of the lava, the gradual a6lion exerted by a heat lb violent and long continued. The reader v/ill excufc this digreffion, which is by no means foreign to the fubje(5l.
KNOCK.
MOUNTAIN OF BENMORE, THREE MILES FROM AROS.
Lavas in Slabs, prifms, and irregular Majjes^ hard, found, compatl ; internally of a blackijh grey, ex- ternally of a dull white -, decompofed to the Depth of four or five Lines, and exhibiting the primitive Elements of their Compofition j in fame of them me found Globules and Dots ofzvhite Zeolite.
In mentioning the mountain of Benmore, I faid that it was covered with heath fo thick as hardly to permit me to difcover the lava of which it is compofed. But on paffing through feveral hollows formed by the water which runs down its fides, I obferved only one kind of lava, which is grey, hard, compad, and I 2 inter-
1 1 6" TRAVELS THROUGH
intermixed with feveral globules of zeolite. I carefally examined feveral of thefe chafms from the bottom to the top of the mountain, and no where did I meet with any other kind of lava. But, as the way was verv difficult, I was able to vifit the north fide only of this volcanic peak. I therefore invite thofe na- turalifts who may follow me in the fime jour- ney, to attempt the fouth llde of the moun- tain, to difcover whether the lavas there be equally homogeneous.
Knock is the name of the refidence of Mr. Campbel ; and to diftinguifh him from other perfons of the fam.e clan, he is defcribed by the appellation of Campbel of Knock.
His houfe, fituated on an eminence, at the foot of Benmore, has a view on one fide of a delightful valley, covered with flocks, and, on the other, of a fine loch or arm of the fea, navigable, rich in fi(h, and vifited by the her- ring at the time of their migration.
A confiderable trad which he has cleared inthcmidft of the lavas, to obtain the fmall quantity of foil produced by their decompo- fition, mufl have required a labour which nothing but the moft inflexible conftancy, , fupported by the hope of fertilizing and em-
bellilhins:
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND II7
bellifliing the place of his habitation, could have been capable of furmonnting.
This vaft undertaking produced confider- able quantities of volcanic ftones, broken, fpht, and cut in various directions ; from which the ground is cleared by forming them into dry v^alls of great extent and propor- tionate thicknefs. Thefe enclofures, which are very numerous, prelent to the naturalifl: a moft agreeable field of obfe'^vation. The lavas are compa6l, and of a black or rather deep grey colour approaching black. They are frequently difpofed in tables, fometimes in prifms, and at other times in irregular mafTes. Their fra6lure prefents a parte of a homogeneous appearance, of a grain comp?6l, fmooth and fufceptible, of a fine polifli. But a peculiar alteration obfervable on its furface, and which has penetrated a few lines into its interior, merits all the attention of the na- turahft, and renders this kind of lavas very interefting.
This alteration, operated by time, or rather by the different modifications of the air upon the lavas, has difcovered their conftituent principles. It may be regarded as a fort of natural difle^tion, which, by deftroying cer- I 3 ' tain
!lS TRAVELS THROUGH
tain parts, has expofed to view thofe which would otherwife remain concealed, and which no chymical anal)'fis could have ever brought to light. This requires a more par- ticular explanation ; which I proceed to give, with a fpecimen in my hand, that thofe who may have occafion to obferve fimilar lavas, which are very common in the ancient ex- tinfl volcanos of Fi ance, may be better able to corred my errors, if they ftall be of opi- nion that I have commJtted any, or make ufe with me of a m.eans whi<:h may fometimes difcover to what {lone a particular lava be- longed before its fufion.
The lavas in queftion I repeat, appear on being broken, of a hard compact texture, and ef a dark grey colour, approaching to black. Tie particles feem well amalgamated and homogeneous ; nor does the microfcope even difcover any difference between them.
If we proceed to the. examination of their exterior parts, we find their furface grained, unequal, and rugged to the touch, and exhi- biting cryftals and plates of felt fpar, jutting points of black fchorl, fixed often in the felt fpar itfelf, and both the one and the other ftirrounded with fmall cavities, by which
they
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. II9
they are completely infulated, and which prove that the particles, amidfl which the felt fpar and fchorl v/ere inclofed, have beeiv deftroyed.
The white cryftals of felt fpar are flightly touched with a reddifh tint ; which is a little deeper in the interftices where it has been more difficult for the rain-water to infinuate itfelf, and to wafh away the ochreous par- ticles produced by the decompofition of iron.
The naturalift, moil: experienced in litho- logy, on feeing their decompofed furface, cannot avoid regarding them, at firfl view, as real granites. He does not find himfelf em- barraffed, until he examines their fraifi-urQ and their interior texture, and efpecially until he prefents to the magnet the unal- tered part which attra61s it as fliongly as bafaltic lava of the richefl: iron ore ; whilft the exterior crufl: has no impreifion upon it.
It thence refults, that the iron which forms one of the conftituent principles of this lava, has fuftained a complete change of its natural properties, in which it has been accompanied with the earthy particles which were com- bined or united with it.
I 4 - This
120 TRAVELS THROUGH
This connexion being deftroyed, the flib- fiances which eicaped decompoiition, fu.ch as. felt fpar, fchorl, and leveral fmall pieces of quartz have been exhibited to view ; fo that on removing the covering under which they are concealed, it is not very difficult to dif- cover their organization.
Their original ftate appears, therefore, to have been that of a granitic or porphyric f ock. The naturalift will more ready decide in favour of the latter, from the coniidera- tion that the bails of real porphyric is in general petrofilex, Vv'hicih^ whatever be its hardnels or its cc)]' ■ r, is ibmetimes found decom- pofed naturally in the open air, and is alfo capable of being aded upon by fulphurous acid vapours.
But to be affured that this lava owes its cxiftence to a porphyric fubftance, with a bafis of petrofilex, nothing elfe is required than to fufe with the blow-pipe a fmall frag- ment of the foundeft part, that is, the part which has preferved its hardnefs and its black colour, and the refult will foon appear to be a white enamel, which is a charafteriftic mark of petrofilices ; whereas the lava with a horn-ftone bafis produces a fine enamel of a
dee^
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 121
deep black colour. My learned friend, Deo- dat Dolomieii, has fufficiently eftablifhed that diflinftion in his excellent memoirs.
Similar lavas are found at the foot of Mount Mezinc, in the Vivarais, near Pui, in Velai, on the Euganean mountains, and in the iiles of Ponces.
It always prefents itfelf as a fubjc£l of aflo- nifhm.ent, on examining certain lavas, that fubterraneous fires fliould have melted into a ftream, fldnes which now appear of the hardefl: confiftence, and that ^^'ith fcarcely any change in their primitive organization.
LEDIRKILL.
ROAD FROM AR03 TO ACHNACREGS.
White compaEi Lavas which have preferved their hardncjs.
On the road to Ledirkill, I obferved fomc hard compaft and very white lavas. They do not appear to have undergone any altera- tion, either fpontaneoufly, or by means of emanations of gas. Their texture is pretty homogeneous ; but the particles are a little
fcaly.
122 TRAVELS THROUGH
fcaly, and bear a refemWance to thofe of a certain felt fpar.
Their white colour does not feem to an- nounce the prefence of iron* But one would be led into an error by trufting to their firft appearance ; for they have a very fenfiblc adlion on the loadftone. There are fome white mines of very rich ipathofe iron, of which the colour does not exhibit the leaft indication.
The white lavas of Ledirkill have fome re- femblance to ftones of tolfa with this differ- ence, that the btter are nowife magnetic, and that the former produce no allum.
I am therefore induced to confider the lavas of Ledirkill, as naturally white, and as deriving their exigence from'ftoncs of the fame nature as thofe with a petrofiliceous bafe, or a bafe of felt fpar in one mafs *.
ACHNA-
* Deodat Dolomieii, who has fo u-ell obferved the dif- ferent caufes which tend to decompofe or difcolour lavas, thinks with me, that there are fome of them naturally white. *' There are a number of lavas," fays this learned mineralogift, " of a white or whitifli colour, which have *' never been attacked by vapours, and which have not ««fulhined the leaft alteration. This is proved by local « circumltances, by the hardnefs, and the perfeft prcfer- « vatioii of the felt fpar and the micas which they contain. »' 1 could inftance a vaft number of lavas which are na-
« tually
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 23
ACHNACREGS.
Beds of Lime-fione, hetimen two Banks of Free- done^ in the midfi of the LavaSy and liJitb Belem- n/tes in the Lime-fone.
About half a mile from x'\chnacregs, and at no great diflance from the proflrate coluinii which I have mentiojied, aad which the in- habitants regard as the work of Offian, there is by the fea-fide a craggy ridge, upon which the waves beat with fo much fury, that they have torn the volcanic rock in feveral di- re6tions.
By inceflantly attacking this natural mound, for fo many ages, the waves have brought to view a bed of lirae-ftone, that formerly lay- buried under a current of black bafaltic lava, of which the whole coafl: is formed. This bed, which is at a medium, abont fifteen feet broad, is completely uncovered for a fpace of at leaft twenty toifes in length at low water ; and lofes itfelf in the mafs of lavas which rife into hills as they recede from the coaft.
*' turally white ; fuch are thofe of the Euganean moun- *' tains near Padua, named granitello^ feveral lavas of ^tna, " Germany, 8cc." Memoirs on the iflands of Ponces, by Deodat Dolomieu, Paris, Archet, 1788, in 8vo. p. 37.
The
124 TRAVELS THROUGH
The lime-f)"one is grey, hard, and brittle. It is not vt-ry pure, being mixed with a fmall quantity of argillaceous earch ; it is good, however, for making lime. I found fome belemnites in it, the Icrguft of which were five inches in length, and an inch and a half in circumference towards the bafe.
This calcareous ftratum does not adhere diredtly to the bafaltic lava. There is an in- termedium of two pretty thick beds of quart- zofe free-ftone with large grains, united by a cement pariiy c:-Ldreuus. it is to thefe that the lava adhere«= ; and had not the free-ftonc been uncovered by the daily and violent action of the fea, it would never have been imagined that there exifted under thefe enor- mous maffes of bafaltic lava, a layer of cal- careous matter, inclofed itfelf between twa beds of free-flone *.
' * In the i6othand following pages of my Mineralogy of Volcanos, I have mentioned fome analogous, but much more remarkable appearances, which I obferved m the mountains of Chamarelle in Vivarais, near Villensuve de Bery, where there are beds of lime-ftone and bafaltic lavas placed in alternate fuccefiion, and where belemnites are found in the lime-ftone, as in that of Achnacregs In that work I have ftated my conjedturcs^ refpeiting the manner in which thefe different beds might have been formed at the remote period when every part of the ocean was agi- tated by volcanos*
Grand
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, I 25
Grand natural hajaltic Wall reJemUing an ancient Circus.
To the north of ''-<:hnacregs, on the right fide of the road from the houfe, and about fix hundred toifes diftant from it, we obferved, clofe by the fea, a natural platform of a femi- circular ihape, fituated on an eminence which rifes about a hundred and fifty feet above the level of the water, and which is entirely Com- pofed of black lavas of a bafaltic nature. This fmall plain, which has a gentle flope, is bounded on the fouth by a perpendicular vol- canic cliff".
A vaft detached wall lines a portion of the circle, formed by a bafaltic rock which rifes in the oppofite quarter, and there thence re- fults a kind of antique circus that fills one with aftonilhment at the firft glance, and gives this fingular place the appearance of a ruin as extraordinary as pidurefque.
The obje6:s affume a new chara6ler of grandeur in proportion as they are approach- ed ; and the pidure becomes more ftriking when the height of the wall and its aftonifh- ing regularity are viewed from a near fitua- tion.
At
126 TRAVELS THROUGH
At firft, one is loft in confidering how, or from what motive, human beings Ihould have raifed, in a place fo remote and defert, a mo- nument prefenting the image of a Roman circus.
The farther the obferver advances, the more ilirprifing does this kind of arena become. A large angular breach in the midft of the wall permits the eye to diibover the interior of this antique ruin. On approaching the opening he feels a lively curiolity inter- mixed with uncertainty, relpeding the na- ture of the objed prefented to his view. Such at ieaft were the fenfations that my companions and myielf experienced the iirft time that we went to fee this remarkable place, which we conceived, even when quite clofe to it, to be a -monument of art.
There is nothing here, however, but the work of nature, and one of the moft extraor- dinary produ6lions of fubterraneous combuf- tion ; no lefs aftonifhing, perhaps, in its kind, than that which gave exiftence to the cave of Fin gal.
I have mentioned, that a rock of black ba- laltes, cut perpendicularly down, and de- fsribing a natural fegment of a circle, forms
the
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 27
the bottom of the ch-cus. A vaft wall, per- fectly upright, forms the remainder of the inclofure.
This wonderful wall engroffed all our at- tention. It is eighty-nine feet long, perfectly ftraight, and compofed entirely of prifms of black bafaltes, of equal length, and placed horizontally above each other ; that is, all thefe prifms, which are in good prefervation, and pretty equal, laid one upon another, form the thicknefs of this wall which is detached on both fides. Its facings are pretty even, and it ftands ere£t without any buttrefs, though it exceeds twenty-five feet in height. It is connected, at its northern entremity only, wdth a projecting part of the volcanic rock which forms the circular bottom of the am- phitheatre.
The breach in the middle of the wall is fourteen feet four inches wide at bottom, that is, even with the ground, and forty feet at the top. It forms a large obtufe angle, and give a very pi6turefque appearance of a ruin to the whole of the circus. This opening is probably the efFe6l of an earthquake. I counted about forty prifms within the wall which feemed to have belonged to it, and
about
X28 TRAVELS THROUGH
about thirty-nine without. But thefe are no* thing to what would be llill neceffary to fill it up; and it is not very probable that any perfbn carried them away. The fea is at pre- fent a hundred feet diftant from the wall, and forty feet lower than it. It is poffible, how- ever, that the waves may have beat out tiic part at fome very remote period, and carried off the greater portion of the materials which are wanting. This conjedure, will perhaps, appear more probable than the firft, when I Ihall have defcribed other objedls in the vi- cinity of the wall, which are well fitted to throw fome light on the theory of its forma- tion. I fhall Ihortly return to this fubjed. •
Nothing is better calculated to convey an idea of this bafaltic wall than the manner in which the wood for firing is arranged in the wood-yards of Paris. It is well known that thefe pieces are all of the fame lengthy and that they are piled up horizontally above each other. I do not mean thofe enormous piles which over top the houfes, and form vaft mafTes of wood ; becaufe, in that cafe, the pieces are placed longitudinally and crofTwife alter- nately, but I mean thofe kinds of walls: the thicknefs of which confift of the length of a
finglc
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 12^
fingle piece, and which are carried only to the height often or twelve feet^ that the wood may be more at hand for daily file.
I am obliged to ufe this trivial comparifon, in order to make myfelf better underftood. It is not eafy to be perfpicuous, and at the fam6 time to avoid fatiguing the reader with details too minute or imperfedly exprefled^ when it is neceffary to defcribe objects which Nature feems to have produced in her capricious mo- ments, to embarrafs us with aberrations of which fhe exhibits a few examples only.
I am fully confcious of my inability to ex* prcfs all that I faw, or all that I felt, on feeino- the volcanic circus in the vicinity of Achna^ cregs. I therefore entreat the mofi: ample indulgence with refpedl to what I have al- ready faid, and what I have yet to obfei-ve.
The height of the great wall is twenty- five feet ten inches, its thicknefs fevea feet ten inches, and the prifms^ of which it is com- pofed, are confequently of the lame length.
The prifms are pentagonal, hexagonal and feven lided. A very few are quadrangular ; but the moft common are the pentagonal and hexagonal. They are black, hard, found in their fradure, and magnetic.
VOL. ji. K The
13^ TRAVELS THROUGH
The drik eight couries of the upper part of the wall are formed of priliTis of the fame ihape mid iize, in excellent prefervatioii , aiici placed horizantally one above another with- oytany adhefion ; that is, they mi<^ht be eafily taifed one after another. But they lie fo clofe upon each other that there is no vacancy be* tween. thern except merely the lines of fepara- tion which deime the prifms, and give the faCiBgs of this finguiar wall a refeniblance to mosaic wwk.
The priliiis which fucceed the firft eight cowries are like-svife of the fame mould ; but they are cut traniVerfely in fome parts, either from the iiaturai effed of coiitraclion at the time of the lava*s cooling, or from the weight of the incumbent mals at a period long fub- fequent to their formation.
The wall commences towards the weft, where it fupposts itfelf againft a rock of lava. It then takes a fouth-eail: diredion, and turn- ings iiretches along to the north-north-weft, and afterward to the fouth-£buth-e^. It is Bot of an equal height throughout. The higheft part, which is alfo the beft preferved, is twenty-five feet ten inches, as I have ftated already ; the other parts are about twenty- one
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 131
biic feet i&ven inches high. It is detached on both fides, and is, in all, eighty-nine feet in length, including the breach. The greateft diameter of the circus, which is rather of aii oval than circular form,- is fixty-fix feet eight inches ; and to bring all the mealurements into one view, 1 may repeat, that; the wall is a hundred feet diftant from the fea, and ftands on a ground entirely covered with lava, ^nd raifed forty feet above the level of the fea in ordinary tides.
It is doubtlefs very difficult to conceive how the lava, when flowing, could ha\-e formed a wall fo high, of fuch regular confl:ru61:ion, unconne6led with any other mafs and com- pofed entirely of differently fided prifms, placed horizontally by the lido of each other, with fuch order and perfecl fymmetry, that the art of the mofl: able ftone-cutter could never ha^-e arranged them with equal dex- terity.
This problem, however, which is certainly attended with great difficulties, finds, on the fpot itfelf, fome means of folution, arifing from particular circumftances capable of con- veying: fome idea of the manner in which this prifmatic wall was fornjed.
K 2 For
12^ TRAVELS THROUGH
For this purpofe, it is neceffary only to ftep about forty paces towards the foutli-fouth- eaft part of the circus, which is clofe by the fea. There two facts may be difcovered, which ferve to explain this remarkable theory.
I am happy that I continued fo long on the fpot, and that I fo carefully traced all the windings ofthisfmgular volcanic monument ; for, otherwife, this important obfervatioa might have efcaped mc.
Two exteniive excavations naturally formed in the iava itfelf, one of which is twenty-two feet deep, fixteen feet broad, and a hundred and forty- fix feet long, and the other eighty- five long, nineteen broad, and twenty-one deep, at a medium, feem as if they had been delignedly placed there, at no great diftance from each other, to invite the obferver to re- pair thither in order to learn the manner in which nature operates in the coiiftru£lion of fuch walls.
Let the reader imagine to himfelf, for a moment, two ftreams of lava of a con- fiderable thicknefs, which at the time of fome great eruption, have flowed parallel to each other, with an interval of feveral toifes
between
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I337
betr^veen them : The cafe is not without a precedent, at iEtna, the volcano of the ifle of Bourbon, and elfewhere. From thefe two il reams refult a long and deep gallery, or a kind of covert- way, more or lefs ftraight, more or lefs circular or windhig, according to local circumftances, and ths obftacles which might have occurred in their progrefs.
But admitting that .two currents of lava might, by approaching each other, form a gallery, ftill it may be alked, how is it poffible that they fhould affume a direc- tion fo equal and fo parallel as to produce a channel nearly uniform throughout, and of which the interior {urface is perfeclly even ? I might reply, that the cafe may have exifted, fince we have feveral inftances of it^ and I would add, that naturalifts know very well, that in great eruptions, the lava does not flow along with the fame fluidity as melted metals, but in the ftate of a thick pafte, which the air, by cooling the parts expofed to its influence, confolidates in an ere6l polition. This is a fa6i: which may be witneffed in a number of inftances, in which the boiling lava proceeds along flowly, but at the fame time to a great diftance, in ^ flream with per- K 3 pendicular
154 TRAVELS THROUGH
peiidicular fides. What is flill mor;; fur-r. priiing is, that tliefe currents are fometimes feen to divide into two parts, like two branches of a river, on merely meeting with a body which one might fuppoie they could eaiiiy overturn, fuch as a ilone m.oiind, or even a houfe. Sir William Hamilton has accurately obferved, and defcribed this aftonifhing phe- nonienon in his excellent defcription of the eruption of Vefuvius.
Other caufes may contribute to o-ive re2;u-
■I CO
larity and fmoothnefs to the interior facins-s of a gallery formed by two parallel currents of lava.
The volcano, for inftance, may have been fiibmarine, or only in the vicinity of the fea, where thofe at prel'ent in a61ivity are almofl all fituated. We have, then, only to fuppofe two currents of lava, flowing at a fmall dif- tance from each towards the water, and ex- tending!; under it to a certain diftance. The fudden cooling, the refiftance of the fiuid^ the thick and deep flime which generally covers its bottom, a bank of fliifting fand, or other unknown caufes, may give rife to what fo much aftoniflies us, namely, the parallels ifm and eq^uality of the interior furface,
It
ENGLAND .^ND SCOTLANa I55
It is of little importance td know the exa6l and perfect theory" of thefe works of nature. It is fufficient that the fa6t cxiRs^ and that k cannot be doubted, after examining the tw<> large and deep galleries mentioned above, which appear in open view at no great diA tance from the circus, and whicli enable us to explain the formation of the great wall. I have only to entreat the readers' patience and indulgence for the details, already too long and tedious, which I am obliged to enter into in order to make myfelf intelligible Mpoa a fubje6t, dry and difficult in itielf, but cal- culated to entertain with curious fads fuch as are attached to thefe kind of fhidies and ob- fervations.
The firfl of the two galleries was fiich as ftrongly to excite our attention at iird fight. I have already faid that it is eighty-five feet long, nineteen broad, and twenty-one feet of average depth'.. It is wholly uncovered. There i5 no accefs to it,, however, except at one place, where, with a Httle addrefs, and by the aid of fome blocks of lava which have fallen in and form a kind of fteps, one ^lay defcend to tlie bottom.,
K 4 This
136 TRAVELS THROUGH
This long and profound excavation is the cfFed fimply of two currents proceeding in. the -fame diredion, with an interval of fif- teen feet between them. The lava of which they are compofed is black, and of the kind which I have denominated in the Mineralogy cfVolcanas, gravelly lava; that is, '\^'hich has little adhefion and falls naturally into gra- velly fplinters, in the form of knobs of a greater or fmailer bulk having a general ten- dency to feparate in that manner, particularly in the parts expofed to the air and to the alternate effecls of drynefs and humidity.
Matters being in this ftate, and the channel or o-ailery being formed, it then ferved as a mould to a current of bafaltic lava, compact, homo- o-eneous., and of great folidity, which llibfe- quently flowed into it, and thus created a wall fomething fimilar to the cafed walls of the Romans,
As the current of bafaltic lava would pour along the channel in a boiling flate, its fides, that is, the parts in contadl: with the faces of the (^allery muft have neceffarily been the firfl: cooled. The caloric thus efcaping by the fides, the lava would flirink into a fmailer bulk and mufl thence have unavoidably cracked
into
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 37
Into pieces of a'prlfmatic form. The lofs of heat, and the gafeous emanations forcing the matter to contract: itfelf, the refult mufl have been that this fort of caft wall ilionld fplit into horizontal pri 'ms of feveral iides, placed naturally one above another.
The outer walls, which ferved as moulds, and which are compofed of a gravelly earth, need only have been attacked and deftroyed by the water, either gradually during a laple of time, or by fome extraordinary agitation of the fea; and the middle wall, which coniifted of the m.oft folid materials, being thus ftripped of itsmould, wouldappear to bavebeen erefted in a miraculous manner, and to have arifen out of the earth as an amphitheatrical de^ coration.
This is precifely what happened in the prefent cafe, at leaft to fuch a degree as to admit of no doubt refpeding the fad : For, in the middle of the gallery I have mentioned, there appears a perpendicular wall, three and a half feet thick, and eight high, completely diverted of lava, detached on both Iides, and entirely compofed ofprifmatic columns laid horizontally above each other, but preferving ^ certain mutual adhelion, which has pre- vented
I|^ ti^AVELS THROUGH
-Ventei. them from falling, and enabled them to refift the adion of time and the elements, which they could not otherwife have with-. jftood.
I thought I fhoiild never weary of admiring this wail. I could walk round it with eafe ; the whole breadth of the gallery being only nineteen feet, of which the prifmatic wall occupied only four and a half; fo that it ftands nearly in the midft of a vacant ipace of fourteen feet fix inches, having fevei* feet three inches on each fide.
This vacancy v/as probably once filled up tvith the fame gravelly lava of which the fides. of the g-aner}- confifi:. The fea, which rufhes; into the gallery with violence during tern- peftuous weather and j[pring tides, by an aper- ture which communicates with it, mufi: have carried off the gravellous lava wanting, and and ih the center of which the wail was in- €iofed.
It is probable that from the continued adiion of time, rain, hoar-froft, and the fea, on the gravelly lava of the gallery, the wall will one day be entirely ftripped of any inclofiire on either fide, arid that no vefi:ige will remain of the prifrlitive mould to which it owes its formation.
I have
ENGLAND AND SCOTL'ilND. I39
I have now only to 'ment-on its prefent heic-ht, which is no mere than eight feet^ whilit that of the cavity in which it is placed is twenty- one feet.
I reflefted upon this faO. on the fpot, and I think I fliall be able to account for it by fay- ing, that it is probable that the wall was once higher, but that the upper courfes hav- ing been formed of priiliis which did not adhere to each other, the fea muft have un- dermirred and carried them away.
This opinion gains fome ftrength, from an examination of the fecond gallery, which is at a fmall diftance from the fiifi:, and on which I Ihail dwell for a moment only.
This gallery, which is much larger than the other, is a hundred and forty-fix feet long, twenty-two feet deep, and fixteen feet broad. It may be regarded, in one ienfe^ at leaft, as the reverfe of the former. The two parallel purrents, which have ferved to form it, con- lift of black, compaft, very hard lava, in a folid mafs, which has refifted all the injuries of the weather, the adion of the air, and the higheft tides.
A ftream of compa^, homogeneous, lava, occupied alfo the whole length of this vaft
gallery.
14^ thavels through
gr^'Ieiy. But e bafaltic lava of this fecon- dary current confifted of a parte fo imooth and fo well amalgamated, and which had (o great a tendency to divide into regular and peife6t, that they lay horizontally upon each other withou any connexion or adhefion between them, as far as I could judge from a irnallpart of it remaining towards the begin- ning of the gallery, which the fca had not yet reached.
The prifms of this remnant are truly aflonifbing from their excellent flatc of pre- fervation and the complete regularity of their form. They feem as if they had been placed there with all the care and art of human hands : fo very wonderful is the fymmetry and perfection of their arrangement. There is not one of thefe prifms, picked up at ran- dom, which would not figure in a cabinet of natural hiftory.
Their want of adhelion has been the caufe of their gradual demolition ; for the waves meeting the moft obftinate refinance from the fides of the gallery, which are of unfhaken folidity, direded all their fury againfl: the prifms., which they eafily undermined and dragged into the depth of the ocean. Thus hasjihe prifoiatie
wall
ENOLAND AND SCOTLAND. 14I
wall been entirely deftroyed, T^hUft the mould, which contribute to form it remains unimpaired.
Such is the manner in which volcanos, fb frequently the agents of deftru6Hon, are able to create, or rather to imitate, by a luccefiion of accidental circumftances, produ61:ions which cannot be effected by mankind without much labour and a train of tedious and difficult means and combinations *«
From
* I made thefe obfervations on the fpot in the month of October, 1784. Deodat L^olomieu, three years afterwards, that is, in the month of July, 1787, on vifiting the ifles of Ponces difcovered a fimilar wall, but confiftin^j' cf much fmaller prifms. As the comparifoa may be interefting to Naturalifts, I fhall make ufe of the language of my friend : " The fmall balaltes are very numerous in the ifles of Pon- gees. They are found in a multitude of places,but princi- " pally in the rocks of Chiardiluna,to thelsft of the fubter- " raneous gallery. There are thour:nd3 of them on both "fides of the fmall bay of 5t. M^r;., efpe..! aly on the ** mountain in the rear of the houfes. Thefe fmall prif- " matic columns naturally fplit afunder and tall into the " fea. Some of theai are of the iT.oft perfect regularity, " and exhibit all the var ety of forms of which they arc " fufceptible. They are fccn in heaps of different forms, « but more frequently piled horizontally on each other, ** and riling above the ;:round in the form of wails which *' perfe3;y refemble th^fe in the ancient f<ibricks called " opera reticulata. Several rows or walls made of prifms " nearly a foot long, rife one behind another."
DoIomJea
i4i TRAVELS THROU<5H
From the preceding abfervations it would appear that the grand v/all which forms the volcanic circus of Aciinacregs, can have no other than the fame origin. But as the flat tra6l on which it frauds is forty feet above the prefent level of the fca, and the wall itfelf is ftill twenty-five feet ten inches high, it muft follow that the fea has fallen fixty-five feet ten inches in that quarter, unlefs we fup- pofe that the coall: has been elevated by thd incalculable efforts of fcnie vaff fubterraneous explofion.
Mr. Anderfon, who travelled by command of the Englifh governryientj with a view to the fifherie?, through feveral of the Hebrides^ at the time I vifited them, told me, that he faw in the ifle of Iflay , a volcanic wall of the fame kind with that of Achnacregs, refpe6ling which I bad given him fbme details. He fur- ther informed me, that the wall commences to the weft of the ifland in a place called Cove 5 that it defcribes a diagonal line of three hun- dred paces long ; that it is at leaft fifty feet
Dolomieu entertains the fame opinion with me refpe(S^- ing the theory of thefe walls ; he regards them as having been formed by inclofure in the interitices of the lava. Memoire fur les ifles Ponces, by Deodat Dolomieu. Paris 1788, in Svo, 98 and following pages.
hisjh
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 14^
high and four feet thick ; that about one- half of it ilands out of the water, and the other projefts into the fea, where it forms a jutty fo extraordinary and fo much re- fembhng the work of art, that, at the firfl view, it would appear to be the produdion of human labour.
CHAP.
144 TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER VIII.
The IJIe of Kerr em.
T,
HE ides of Mull and Kerrera are feparated by a narrow channel which may be crofTed from Achnacregs in lefs than four hours. Kerrera almoft touches the main land, by a point which runs out towards Oban ; for the flrait on that fide is in fome places not above fifty tojfes broad. I crofled the ifle of Kerrera diagonally in order to get to a fmall ferry-boat) which was at one of its extremities.
A part of the ifland is volcanic. On the coaft fronting Mull there are colle6lions of compa6l lavas difpofed in mafles and in large currents. This bafaltic lava appears fome- times in the form of prifms, which are not very regular, at lead in the places which I had an opportunity of examining. I alfo found fome rocks of micaceous fchiftus of a whitifh colour, and others which were
\a\)^- ^W\
greenifh
BKGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 145
greenifh with a fibrous texture. Thefe fchiftus or kneifs are compofed of quartz, flcatites and fmall fcales of mica.
Near the rocks of micaceous fchiftus there is found common flate of a deep grey colour, approaching to black, the beds of which are almoft even with the ground : quarries might be eafily opened here with great advan- tage to the country. They would' even become an obje<5l of commerce. Among the flate there are found fome brilliant pyrites, the cryflalizations of which arc cubical.
Such were the objects which engrofTed my attention in the ifle of Kerrera, where I obferved a good deal of pafture ground, and fome cultivated parts bearing barley and oats. The cottages were fcattered to the right and left, but they were fev/ in number.
I was only four hours in crofling the whole length of the ifland. I found at its extremity the ferry-boat which I men- tioned above. It was a fmall fkiff manasied by a fingle man. I was fatigued. I made the boatman proceed dire6tly to Oban, where I landed in lefs than an hour, and I
VOL. II. h found
146 TRAVELS THROUGH
found Count Andreani with our carnages, and every thing ready for our departure on. the next day. . In the evening, we made ervQiy neceilary preparation for com- mencing our journey by day-break.
CHAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. $4?
CHAPTER iX.
departure from Oban. — Dahnally.— Tin drum. '^ Lead Ore.—Killin. — Ri%jer Mufcle containing Pearls. — Defcription of thcfc Pearls and their origin.
W3
E left Oban on the 7th of Oaober, at fix in the morning, to proceed to Dalmally. The diftance is about twenty-four miles, along a ftony road, paffing through ravines. We arrived at the place of our deftination about {tvtw in the evening.
Buiih^ve, of which I have already fpoken^ is about midway ; it is a fmall hamlet, built at the union of a branch of Loch Awe, with Loch Etive, which has fufficient water for fmall vefTels, and where falmon abounds.
We vifited an iron foundery, at a fmall diftance from Bunhave. It ftands in a charm- ing fituation, embellifhed around with woods, verdant banks, and cultivated fields, A beautiful avenue led to the Loch, which was at this time covered with velTels, that L 2 rendered
14^ TRAVELS THROUGH
rendered the fcenc fo much the more en- chanting. This delightful fpot formed a flrong contraft with the barren mountains of reddifh porphyry, and the piles of rocky fragments with which it is furrounded.
We were agreeably furprifed to find an eflablifhment of this kind in fo diftant a part of Scotland, where cultivation and the arts have made lb littie progrefs ; we were in- formed that it belonged to an Engliih com- pany who had been induced to ere6l works in this place in confequence of the abun- dance of wood and water and its proximity to the fea.
We waited upon the manager of the works, who received us very politely, and fliewed us fome iron of a very fine quality, the refult of his labours. I exprefled my aftonifhment that this iron fhould be made in a place where there was no indication of ore, and obfervcd to him, that I had not icen the fmalleft vef- tige of any all the way from Oban. He re- plied, that my furprife was very natural, for that the ore ufed in this foundcry was brought in vefTels from Cumberland ; he then ihewed me fome colledions of red hematites, partly decompofed, of an excellent quality and rich in iron.
This
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 149
This eftablifhment appeared to be con- d\i6^ed with equal ikill and economy ; but the wood was beginning to become fcarce, as the neighbouring forefts were not fufficiently ex- tenfive to yield condant and regular Supplies. It is therefore to be feared that this foundery cannot be carried on much longer.
On arriving at Dalmally I had the pleafure of feeing our good friend, Patrick Fiafer, who fupped and pafled the evening with us. He informed me of new refearches he had made with refpe6t to the poetry of Offian, fome fragments of which he had recovered, in the different excurfions he made for that purpofc among the inhabitants of the mountains, and little frequented places of this part of Scot- land. He had alfo enriched his colle6lion with other poems made by the more modern bards of the country. This worthy man, of a mild, modeft chara(5ler, and paffionately fond of literature, was unfortunately placed like an exile in the midfl of thefe barren and melancholy mountains, where, to preferve his exiftence, he was obliged to perform the fundions of a fchoolmafler. I earnelflly wifh that his condition may be ameliorated. The Antiquarian Society, eftabliihed at Edinburgh, L 3 would
150 TRAVELS THROUGH
would do well to employ the knowledge and adivity of Patrick Fraler in relearches refpe^l-
insf the ancient rtate of fcience and literature
o
in Scotr-.'.uL He has the advantage of being perfedly mafler of the original language of his country, which has not the fmalleft re-, lation to t.ie Englifli.
PatricK Frr.ier begged that I would fend him fome French books which he wanted ; and, on np.y return to Paris, I fhall haften to pay to lim this fmall teftimony of my efleem for his tdents, and refpecc for his moral qua^ lities*. '' ] can only," laid he, " in return, *' give you my addrefs, and otsr you my poor *' fervices in this country." I here 'with pleafure traLifcribe this addrefs in Englifh, that thole who may fee^ an interefi: in know^ ing this affable and amiable man may not be ignorant of the place of his rciidence. It was exa6lly as follows : " Patrick, trajer^ •*' ScJioolniafter, ofGlenorchvy by lnvercira)\ *' Scotland:'
* I have fent him fuch books as I thought would be agreeable to him ; but the diftance and the difficulty of communication to this diibnt part of Scotland, have, doubtlefs, prevented me frooi hearing from him ; it is even poITible that he has qeithcr received my letter, nor iiiy packet.
We
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 15 1
We (lept at Dalmally, and proceeded next morning to Tindrum ; the journey was only twelve miles, but we wifhed to arrive in time that we might have an opportunity of examin- ing the lead ore which we were informed was to be feen in the neighbourhood of that place.
The valley of Glenlochy, through which we pafTed, is in fbme places very agreeable. It is (Icirted with hills which are covered with flocks of flieep ; but we found that the mountains clofed as we advanced, and the foil became marfhy and fterile. The turf with which it was covered, gave a very dif- mai hue to the face of the country, which excited in our minds a fenfation of corrcf- ponding melancholy.
The hamlet of Tindi-um confifts of only a few hoafes which are almoft all detached ;. it ftands upon a lowmarlhy piece of ground: a humid and unwholefome vapour renders itb iitaation very difagreeable.
The pkce where the lead ore is found is not far diftant from the iron, but It is very elevaed. ft is neceffary to form the galle- ries in a very high mountain of difficult acceis. They are cut through a grey micaceous fchiftus rock, which is intermixed with a h 4. con-
15^ TRAVELS THROUGH
confiderable quantity of white quartz : the vein of lea>' ore is found in a matrix of the latter fubftance. The ore is ufually accom- panied by pyrites or horn-ftone, and, it is fuf- ficiently abundant. It is fometimes covered with fine cryflals of calcareous fpar. The galleries in general are in a very bad con- dition» and the works are very negligently managed^
When the pieces of ore are extradlcd they are broken with hammers, they are then wafhed tofeparate the ore froni foreign fub- flances, which, v/ben thus prepared, is tranf- ported to a foundery fituated in the valley at the bottom of the mountain : charcoal and turf are ufed in fmelting n ; but 1 do not know in what proportion, becaufe the foun- dery was not worked at this time, on account of fome reparations which were then making in the furnace. Befides, the Englifh, as welt as the Dutch, are very referved in explain- ing their proceffes, even in the moft limple arts, which they always exercife with a kind of myfteiy : It is not fo in France ; there the managers of the moft interefling efta- blifliments, are in general very complaifant, and frankly communicate to a ftranger all the information he can defire.
I obfervcd
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^$3
I obfer\'ed under vafl: ilieds confiderable piles of peats, and near them a heap of pit- coal. From this, I prefumed, that in ufing the peats, a mixture of a fourth or fifth part of coal is added. The latter article muft be carefully huibanded, on account of the dif. lance of the pits, and the dearnefs of land- carriage.
It would be defu-eable for the benefit of our manufadories in which wood begins to be fcarce, that a fimilar mixture of peat and coal fhould be employed, where they can be procured. As I fhould have been happy to fiipport my recommendation with an exam- ple, I begged of one of the fuperintendants of the works to inform me in what proportions the peat and coal were ufed ; but he turned a deaf ear to my requeft, and changed the con- verfation to fome other topic.
It is very eafy, however, to make experi- ments upon the fubjedt, and there is no doubt of their being attended v/ith fuccefs ; parti- cularly if conduced by perfons well acquainted with the quality of the peat and turf which are to be ufed.
It appears that the lead-mines of Tindrum
have formerly been much more produdivc
and valuable.
IMt
154 TRAVELS THROUGH
I left &h pi ce and proceeded to Killiri, hy a road as difmal as uniform in its ap- pearance. 1 much doybt whether another fiich can be found. It is made upon a bot- tom of fpungy turf, which permits the uater to fihrate ealily through its elaftie and moving Hibftance, without however l^ecomirtg^adhy, for carriages pafs over k ¥/ithout any i^iCOii- venience.
But what renders it mGil iniiipportably- tirefome is, that it exteads m this itate for ieveral Ieagties,>etween tvv a clofe mountains, covered with a black turf, on which there- grow nothing but fhort he th and fonie yel- low ill^ nMjlTes, that difdl the water, drop by drop, on all fides.
The mind foon participates in the gloomy hue, and is more and more overcaft with iadnefs, as the traveller advances ; but on reaching the extrerairv of this kind of ibmbrc gallery, the fcenc is fuddcnly changed, the horizon expands, and the fine valley of G/eu Dochart, kicceededby that of Stiafilan, open to his view.
Here limpid and copious ftreams, teeming with f}{h, glide in ferpentine m^eanders, through the fmihno- verdure, and form iflets
ihaded
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^55
fliadcd with wide fpreading trees. On every fide appear neat ruftic habitations, with nu- merous flocks of black cattle and (heep, and the young fhepherds and (liepherdefles who tend them make the air refound with their fongs, and animate the delightful fcene with their dances.
This day we rode twenty-four miles at our full eafe, and reached Killin before night.
Killin, though called a town, is in fad nothing more than a hamlet, confifling of a few fcattered houfes at the extremity of Loch Tay, The inn is very plain in its ap- pearance, but its accommodations are toler- ably good, and the landlord is a very civil man. Over the chimney-piece of a fmall parlour hung feveral native birds, which him- fclf had carefully fluffed with ftraw, among others a white \^ ood-cock, which William Thornton purchafed, as he alfo did fome heath-cocks.
We were about fitting down to table, when I was furprized with hearing a ftranger, who wiihed to fpeak with me, call me by my name : 1 foon perceived from his manner and his lan- guage that he was a Frenchman ; his perfon ^Ifo W45 fomewhat kuown to me. I told
him
15^ TRAVELS THROUGH
him that I thought I had feeii him in Paris, but that I could not at the moment recoiled who it was that I had the honour of ad- dreffing. " I am Bombelles," faid he ; ** I ** travel like yourfelf, for pleafure and in- ** flrudion. I am now on m.y way to Port ** Patrick, where I defign to embark for Ire- *' land." It was from one of our fervants that he heard of my being in the inn, where he had juft arrived himfelf in one of Lord Bredalbane's carriages, at whofe houfe he had gone to fpend a few days.
I had never had any intimacy with M. de Bombelles. But two Frenchmen who meet each other m the wil s of Scotland are not long in forming an acquaintance ; and we had befides Several common friends. From the courfe which M. de Bombelles purfued, as well as from a number of military and other charts which he had along with him, I judged that diplomacy and politics were more fuitable to his tafte than the natural fciences or the arts, and that he was probably charged with fome particular miflion, very foreign from the object of my ftudies. I ought, how- ever, to do M. de Bombelles's talents and j^divity the juftice to fay, that he iiegle<5led
nothing
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 57
nothing which was in any degree interefting to his country. This I had an opportunity of judging from Ibme oftenfible parts of a well-written journal, which he communicated to me at the time, and in which I faw feveral articles relative to rural economy and com- merce, and likewife a curious phyfical fa£t refpe6l:ing a very extraordinary flux and reflux^ which had been recently feen in Loch Tay. I had already heard it mentioned in the Duke of Argyle's, at Inveraray ; and M. de Bom- belles, during his flay at Lord Bredalbane*s, which is dole to the lake, received the beft information that could be procured on the lubjed. I fhall here infert the note which he gave me, as it ferved to direil my enquiries when I vilited the place on the following day.
*' Between the hours of eight and nine in the " morning of the I2th of September (1784) *' the water of the eaftern part of Loch Tay *' retreated to the diftance of more than three '* hundred feet from its ordinary limits, and *' the whole of that (pace, in which it was " generally three feet deep, was left quite ** dry. The water on leaving it, ebbed to- " wards the weft, but met with a contrary
tS% TRAVELS tHROUGtl
** Wave, when the violence of the fhock ** railed both to the height of four feet, ac- " companied with much foam. The waters ** thus rufliiiig in onpolite direcftions, formed '* by their jun<5lion one vail: wave, which ** moved towards the Ibuth, ftill preferving *' a height of more tiian four feet above the " level of the lake, and remained in that " ftate nearly ten minutes. This extraordi- " nary tide then began to fublide gradually j *' and in about an hour and a half entirely ♦' difappeared. It is very fmgular, that during ** this phenomenon^ the fky was perfedly *' ferene, and the air calm, and that there *' was no perceptible motion at the oppofite " extremity of the lake* Tw;o days after, " the fame appearance recurred ; but one " hour later, and riot in fo remarkable a de^ *' gree.'^—Note extracted from the Journal of M. de Bombelles, K^thof OEioher 1784.
M. de Bombelles * took the road to In- veraray ; whilft I made a little longer ftay at Killin, to procure as much information as pof- fible relative to the pearl-filhery of the river
* This is the pcrfon who was fliort'y after appointed Ambaflador to Portugal.
Tay,
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. S59
Tay, which here fails into the lake, to which it gives name.
The mafter of the inn, who obligingly ex- erted himfelf refpeding every thing that could gratify my curiofity, brought me two fifhers, whofe particular employment was iearching for pearls.
They conduced us to the river which runs in a very pure ftream upon a bottom of land or pebbles, and they foon brought up ieveral dozens of fhells, from three and a half to four inches long, and a little more than two inches broad ; their exterior colour was a deep brown, inclining a little to green. The upper ihell was thick, and of a fine mother-of-pearl colour within, (lightly tinged with rofe colour. I regarded tliis fpecies as be- longing to the miapitlorum of Linaeus, or at lead, as very nearly refcmbling it.
The lilhers, in coniideration of a handlbme reward, which we promifed them, engaged to cpen thefe fhells in our prefence upon the bank. But they ftipulated for the refervation of the pearls, if any fhould be found, that they might fell them, to us at a feparate price ; and to this propofition we acceded.
Imagining
x6o
TRAVELS THROUGH
Imagining from this that we fhoiild put a higher value on thofe which might be found, while we were prefent ; thefe artful pradi- tioners brought with them fome pearls, which they dexterouily introduced into feveral of the (hells in opening them. They appeared to be well exercifed in this petty fort of impo- iition, which, however, I detected in a manner that aftonifhed and perplexed them, and that deferves to be mentioned, as it depended upon a memorable fa6l with regard to one of the caufes which contribute to the formation of pearls.
I defired them to open the mufcles before my fellow-travellers, whilft I went to amuic myfelf with fifliing fome, of them ; but they were to inform me when they difcovered any pearls. I was foon called and fhewn a very fine pearl, perfcdly round, and of a good colour. I looked at the fhell and the pearl, and then told them, that the latter was not found in the mufcle fliewed me. The fifhers allured me that it was, and ap- pealed to the teftimony of my companions, who confirmed their aflertion. I afTured the latter, however, that they were deceived, and begged them to watch more narrowly the next
time.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. l'6t
tame, i retired a few fteps, and a minute or two after I heard one exclaim, we have found another. I went up, and on examining the mufcle, I pronounced that the pearl had, for that time alfo, been flipped into the fhell. The pearl was beautiful; but the price Avhich they demanded for it was lix times its value.
The fifhers Exhibited the utmoft degree of aftonifhment ; for, as I was at fome diflance from them, it was clear that I could not have obferved their motions ; my fellow-travellers who attentively watched them, v/ere them* felves deceived, or at moft entertained only a vague fufpicion ; fo well ikilled were thefe ftien in an art which procured them a few additional (hillings from travellers.
My art was fo fupernatural in their eftima- tion, that they confefTed the impolition, and frankly fhewed us feme other pearls which they had in referve for the fame purpofe. They were very anxious to learn my fecret, which would fave them the pains of frequently opening a vaft number of (hells to no purpofe, for they feldom found above one or tw® pearls in a week. But as they knew no other language than the Earfe, and not even fo much as a word of Englilh, I could explain
VOL. II. M , myfelf
l62 TRAVELS THRbUGH
myielf only by figu? and gcftures; a'-iH, though my inflni^tious were not very difficult, I doubt whether thev were completely intel- ligible in a conveyfatJoj^ of this ibrt.
My fecret conlifted merely in exatiilnino; atteptlvely the outiide of the iriiu'cks, and whea ^either of the parts had any cavity or perforation, but prefented a fnrface fmooth and frcQ. from callohrics, I conld pronounce, wkho\iit any apprehcniion of being de- ceived, lliat there was no pearl in iuch a ihell. If, on the contrary, the (hell was pierced with auger- worms, and indented by other worms of the fame kind, there were always found pearls more or lefs valuable, or, at leaft the embryons of pearls.
This, oblervation, which I have found in- variably true hijtherto, was the refult of fome enquiries- in which I had been eng-aged a long time before, refpediAg the formation of that beautiful animal producl. Bouffon in- troduces the iaformation, which I communi- cated to him. upon this fubje6l:, in btis- ajrticle upon pearls, page 125, vol. iv. of the NaturaL Hiftmj of Minerals. At that time I dif- covered that tlue pea^l fi/h is attacked by two claiTes of eaemies. One is a very fmall auger- worm.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 163
Vvofm, which penetrates Into the infide, near the edge of the valve, by working a longitu- dinal paffage between the different lamina that compofe the cover. This fmall channel, on extending to an inch or an inch and a half in length, doubles back in a line parallel to the firft, and feparated from it by a very thin partition of fhelly matter. Thefe two parallel lines difcovcr the direction of the worm in entering and returning ; which is alfo very diftinguifhable on the lurface by two fmall holes, clofe to the edge, and in general near the mouth of the (hell.
The parallelifm of the two pafTages may be demonftrated by introducing a pin into each orifice. At the inner extremity, how- ever, there is a fmall circular portion, formed by the worm in turning round.
As thefe fmall channels or covert- ways arc excavated in the part neareft the mother-of- pearl, or filvery internal coat, the pearly juice fbon extravafat€S and produces protuberances in that direction. Tlie cyhndrical bodies thus formed may be confidered as elongated pearb> adherino; to the internal lining" of the fhelL When feveral worms of this kind penetrate near each other, and unite their labours, the M 2 refult
t-64 ~ TRAVELS THROUGH
tefult is a fort of pearly wen, with Irregular -protuberances, in which the iflues of the paf- fages which they have formed are eafily dif- tinguiihable.
Another Tea -worm, much larger, and of the family of the mulli valvoi^s friCil-filh, at- tacks the pearl iliells in a miich n^.ore ijigenious manner. T his wr rm is a phols s of the fpecies of fea dates, i have in my cabinet an oyfter from the coafl: of Guinea, pierced by one of thefe pholades,' which are fliil as they were found in the heel of the oyfter. The (liells of thefe fingular pholades are hinged in the form of a crooked bill. The fmall hole which they bore refembles the figure of a pear ; and pearls of this fhape are fometimes found, which were in high eftimation among the ancients, and are at prefent very valuable in the Eaft-Indies : I fhall give a more parti- cular defcription of this rare Ipecies of pholades in another work.
There are undoubtedly feveral othe|- kinds of worms which pierce the pearl fliell, and form cavities more or lefs round, in which the juice confolidates into pearls.
It is this obfervation which has no doubt been made by others befides me, that probably
firft
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 1 65
firil: fu^^gefted to fome perfons concerned in the pearl fifliery, the trick of making artificial perforations in the fhells, and thus forcing them to produce pearls. At London I faw fome Ihells brought from China, which mull have undergone this operation : for the arti- ficial hole was filled up with a piece of bra{s wire, rivetted on the outiide of the ihell like the head of a nail, and the part of the wire which pierced the interior fhining coat, was covered with a well ihaped pearl, which feemed as if foldered to its extremity. It is probable, that, with the Chineie, v/ho have been fo long skilled in the arts, and whole aftonilhing and multiplied induftry teaches US, that we are but a comparatively new people, this is not a difcovery of very modem date.
Brouflbnet, with whom T had a converla- tion upon this fubjcd in London, at the houle of Sir Jofeph Banks, told me, that a perfon had alTured him, that there is ftill another method of obtaining pearls. The fhell oa which the experiment is to be made, muft be opened with the greateft care in order to pre- vent the animal from being injured. A Irnali M 3 portioa
1 66 TRAVELS THROUGH
portion of the inner furface is then fcraped off, and in its room is inferted a fpherical piece of mother of-pearl about the fize of a very fmall grain of Jcad-fhot. This globule ferves as a nucleus to the pearly juice, which con- cretes around it, and at a certain diftance of time, produces a fine pearl. He faid, that experiments of this nature had been tried in Finland, and repeated aifo in other coun- tries.
From thefe obfervations it may be inferred that the produdion of pearls depends, per- hafps, iTuc'-^ m.ore upon a-i external and acci- dental caufe, than upon a natur?l fuperabund- ance or extravafation of the juice of which they are formed.
There are very excellent pearls found in the river fhells of Loch Tay, if we may judge from fome which the Efliers of Killin offered to fell us, at more than double the price of thofe which are in current fale. But thefe fine pearls are far from numerous ; on the contrary, a very great number are found, which the jewellers reject, but which, though they may be not well calculated to form de- corations for the ladies, ^re yet very iiitereft-
ENGLAND AMD SCOTLAND. 1 67
ing-forthe cabinet of the Naturaiiil, iince they afford a coniirmatioa of the theory which 1 have now mentioned. The greater part of tr>efe pearls have little or no kitlre ; fome are round, oval, or elongated and cylindrical; others are hemifpherical and releinble a but- ton ; feveral oblong ones have a contra6tion towards the middle which gives them the appearance of two joined together ; others alio are lomewhat conical; and all are of a pretty large iize, and of a pale red or brown colour. The end of the pearl touch^ ing the tegument of the (hell which forms what is called mother-of-pearl, is {o deeply impregnated vv ith the fliining fubftance, that it exhibits a lingular contrail with the fur- roundmg brown colour of th^ other parts» and leems to derive additional iplendour from it. This coating is of an orient bordering on role colour, which is ex^ trembly agreeable to the eye, and is there'-. fore heightened in its effedl by tlie con- traft.
Pearls of this kind are fb feldom met
with, that they might at firfl be t-kcn for
occulated agates prepared for being fet,
M 4 or
iSS TRAVELS THROUGH
or rather for buffonites., particularly thofc^ which have no mother-of-pearl. Their texture is very hard, and yields \yith great difficulty to the file.
The auger-worm,, which occafions the for-, nation of the pearls of Loch Tay, pierces thc< whole thicknefs of the fliell, which is of con- fiderable denfity and of a fallow brown colour ; and as the (helly juice oozes out from all parts of the orifice which the worm has formed, it ncceffarily refults that the pearl muft participate in the quality and colour of the fulftance of the fliell, from the exterior layer to that vvhich lines and embellilhes its inner iurface.
Hence originate thofe rude but fingular gems above-mentioned, whicli have only a thin coating of mother-of-pearl upon one fide. There are, however, Ibme inftances in which the pearl is pure and Drilliant throughout ; proceeding, probably, from an extravafion of the interior coating only ; which may have been occafioned by another kind of auger- worm attacking the fhell folely in the diredion of that coating. It is the province of thofe Naturalifls, whofe at-
tentioq
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 169
tentlon it has more particularly engaged, to iiiveftigate more profoundly this very interefting fubjed, our knowledge of which muft yet be confide red as nothing more than u rude outline.
CHAP-
7^ TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER X.
Kenmore. — Extr u.-. dmary Flux mid Reflux vf Lofh Tay,
W.
^ now took leave of the pearl fidiersand our landlord, who obligingly gave us all the information in is power, and proceeded on our way to Kenmore, along the left bank of the Tay which is Ikirted on both fides by granitic mountains, that confine th^ view within a very narrow compals. The foot of the mountains is tolerably well cultivated ; but the only produce is oats, v/hich are not reaped til dD^^ut the middle of 06i^ober. Thefe oats a r^ very tall ; they were only be- ginning to be cut down at the time I paffed ; I meafured feveral flalks, and found the fliorteft to be four feet high, and the longeft five feet fix inches *.
The
* I do not entirely agree with Knox, who vifited this place fun>ctifne after mc, when he fays, " that its banks »' Inn both fides are fruitful, populous, and finely diverfs- <« fi-.l by the windings of the lake, and the various ap- ** ^^r;auces of the mountains," The views upon both
fi<i;e$
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 171
The lake is about fourteen miles long, and about a mile of mean breadth. I had no certain information of its depth*. It abounds in fifli, and its waters are foft and clear.
The mountains which are neareft the lake, and enclofe it on all fides, are compofed of a fchiftus micaceous rock, intermixed with felt fpar and quartzofe matter ; the latter is moft abundant. In this rock I found a few garnets, of a bad configuration and coarfe texture.
On reaching the fouthern extremity of Loch Tay, we found on a very agreeable fpot a commodious inn, feveral private habita- tions, a new-built .church, and a bridge thrown over a fmall river which ilTues from the lake ; the whole is furrounded with trees, which enliven this fiiT^d little land- fcape. The name of the place is Kenmore.
Here the traveller begins to perceive that he approaches the open country, and is ibon to emersre from the barren mountains of the
D
fides are too confined, and exhibit only the fame dreary afpe£l, and a few fcattered patches of oats, prefent only the image of an ungrateful foil.
* The fame author, fpeaking of the depth of the lake, fays, " that it varies from fifteen to a hundred fathoms j" this appears tQ me very extraordinary,
north
172 TRAVELS THROUGH
north of Scotland. The air which he inhales^ the cultivated face of the foil, the encreafing number of inhabit- nts, every thing conveys the intelligence i and this firffc gradation of change fills his foul with a fentiment of mild delight, which ! cannot better exprefs, than by comparing it to that which we feel on the return of fpring, though at this time it was the end of autumn. But it might be faid that all was wintry, wild, dreary and fterile in the region which 1 had traverfed.
My firft care, on arriving at Kenmore, was to procure the moft exa6t accounts refpe6ting the flux and reflux of the lake, which hap-. peaed on the 12th of the preceding' Sep- tember ; as it was neir this r v.-t the pheno- menon firft took place, and it was here, there- fore, that it could have been obferved with moft advantage.
The mafter of the inn to whom I applied for information, and who underftood Englilh, tranfported with the reputation which that event had conferred on the place of his refl- dence, conceived that I had come from France, for the exprefs purpofe of feeing a country, which was, in his opinion, fo juftly defer ving of celebrity. He, accordingly^
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 73.
gave me the moft cordial reception, for which 1 feel pleafure in this opportunity of expref- fmg my grateful acknowledgment.
*' I cannot myfelf,"' faid he, "have the ^' pleafure of explaining how, what you wifli <* to be informed of, happened, becaufe I ** was abfent from home, on the firfl day of *' the lake's motion. But I can dire6t you ** to two perfons who faw, and attended to, *' the whole of its progrefs, and who will ** ihew on the fpot how it proceeded. One *' of them, in particular, who is a lad of ibmc *' acutenefs, has carefully obferved all the " fa<5ls ; and you will have reafon to be fatis- ** fied with what he may tell you. You may, ** however, examine both ; I fhall go and " order them to accompany you, and to an- " fwer all your enquiries ; for they are both " my iervants.'*
The one was called James Allan, the other John M^Kenzie. The latter was the younger of the two ; but he ieemed to pofTels a greater portion of intelligence, and a fpirit of obfervation more rational, and lefs difpofed to the admiffiou of the marvellous than his comrade.
M*Kenzic
174 TRAVELS THROUGH
M'Kenzietoldme, that-atnine of the morn- ing of the 1 2th of September, the Iky being fe- rene and the air calm,a'pea(imt who had gone to waili his hands in the part of the lake where the river iffues, obferved the water leaving the bank in a very perceptible manner,, which obliged him to advance a few paces farther ; hut it ftill contrinued to retreat from him. This appearance gave him fo m.uch furprize, that he hastened to inform his neighbours of it J one of whom then told him, that, at fun-rife^ having heard a noife fimilar to that of a fudden blaft of wind, he went to the window, when, to his no fmall aftonifhment, he perceived the water receding from its banks^ as if a«5ted on by the impulfe of a violent hurricane ; but finding the air perfeftly calm, his aftonifh- ment rofe to the hio^hefl: de2:ree«
M'Kenzie having told m.e that he had thefe accounts from fihe peafant, I requefted to fee the latter. He was immediately feut for, but he had previoufly fet out for a village fix miles off. Having, therefore, had no opportunity of converfmg witli him myfelf, the details which I am to communicate, can- not be delivered as pofitive fa^Vs. Peafaiats being in general ftrongly inclined to the
mar-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 175
marvellous, the nolfe, which, according to his account, preceded the ebbing of the wa- ters, appeared to me fomevvhiit apocryphal, M^Kenzie entertained the fame opinion.
The latter, continuing his relation, faid that he was not informed of this extraor- dinary motion of the lake until ten of the morning on which it firft appeared. He in- flantly repaired to the brink of the lake, where he remained more than an hour and a half, obferving the fa^s as they occurred with the moft minute attention. During this period, he plainly iaw the water ebb and flow ten times fucceffively ; and the fame alternate motion continued for the whole of that day.
He communicated to me all thefe circum- flances on the edge of the lake, and on the iame fpot upon which he ftood when making his obfervations. He pointed out a large ftone pretty far in the water, as the limit of its re- treat.
As this part of the lake was little more than three feet in depth, I caufed the fpace betw en the ftone and the water's edge to be carefully meafured, and found it one hundred and fifty French feet. But John M'Kenzic
did
ty6 TRAVELS THROUGH .
did not omit to inform me, that when the ■phenomenon happened, the water was not fo high upon the bank by eight feet. To prove this, he pointed to a ftake which he had driven into the ground at the level at which it then ftood, and which was about ^ight feet below its prefent margin. The exa6l mea- furement, therefore, of the fpace abandoned by the water, was one hundred and fifty- two feet. From this, it fhould feem that the ac^ count which M. de Bombelies received at JLord Bredalbane's, ftating this fpace at three hundred feet, requires to be corredted. It ought, indeed J to be obferved, that as M*Ken- 'zie was not on the fpot until an hour after the water began to move, it is not impro* bable that the firfl impulfe, which he did not fee, might have been much ftronger, than thofe which fucceeded it. Lut as there is no proof to fupport this fuppofition, whilfl the fa61 which fell under M'Kenzie's obfer- vation is afcertaincd by precife meafurement, it is more advifeable to adopt his account.
The lake exhibited the fame phenomenon on the following day, and likewife on the third day, but not in fo frequent and regular a manner.
No
fetJGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I77
No body obferved its appearances in the feight; nothing, therefore, is known of what happened during that time.
M'Kenzie faid, that during the ebb, the water receded from the bank without any- violent or flidden agitation, but with the moil: gentle motion, until it reached the large flone, from which it returned to its former verge in the fame flow and gradual manner.
The inhabitants of Kenmore, whom I had accefs to confult, all agree with M'Kenzie in the following fa<5ls :
I ft. The motions of the lake during the fourth day, happened only at very diftant in- tervals. 2dly. On the fifth, fixth and feventh days, there was no ebb of the waters. 3dly„ •On the eighth, the motion appeared for a few hours only ; and this was the cafe during two whole weeks, with intervals of two or three days, entirely motionlefs. 4thly, - The motion abated gradually, and the lake refumed its former flillnefs. fthly. Durino- the whole of this time, there was no vio- lent wind, nor the flighted Ihock of earth- quake.
VOL. II. N Thefe
l-;^ TRAVELS THROUGH
Tbefe are the fads which are moft de- fervlng of credit, and I conceive it not improper to introduce them here, for the purpofe of difpelHng thofe additions of the tnarvelloiis, with ^^^hIch the English papers did not fail to embeiUfli them. Having myfelf carefully colietled the preceding ac- counts on the fpot, they may be fafely con- fided in. This is not a fuitable place for entering into an examination of thef caufes which might have occasioned this wonderful flux and reflux in a lake where fuch a phe- nomenon had never occurred before. Si- milar phenomena have, indeed, taken place in other lakes. But we have not as yet a fufficient number of fa61:s, and thofe which are already known have not been colle6led by perfons fufficiently exercifed in the diffi-' cult art of obfervation, to enable us to form any fatisfa6lory fpeculations upon the fubjeft.
We had fcarcely left Kenmore on our way to Dunkeld, when .we were agreeably furprized to find ourfelves on a road bordered with fine Scottifli and American pines, and other beautiful evergreens, kept in good order,
difpofed
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND- 1/9
difpofed with tafte, and difFufing over the Icene an attractive and enhvening appear- ance, which announced the vicinity of fome io-rcat habitation.
About a mile farther, we came to the verge of a vafi park, decorated with planta- tions of various kinds in the midfl of verdant lawns, and divided through its whole length by the river Tay, over which are thrown two or three bridges of different conftru6lions^ Numerous herds of deer feed in this delight- ful place '; fheep, Hne looking beeves, and horfes of various breeds, give the whole ail air of abundance, ufefulnefs, and tafle, which difplay at once tlie enlarged mind and high fortune of the proprietor. A vaft pile of building, partly in the gothic and partly in the modern ftyle, clofed this magnificent pro- fped. It is the r6fidence of the Earl of Bre- dalbane.
I had heard fo much praife of the cha- tafter of this nobleman, whofe chief occu- pation is to ipread iiiduftry and happinefs around him, that I was extremely forry I had not procured a letter of introduction to him, with which the Duke of Argyle would have certainly obliged me, had I requefted N 2 it*
tSo TRAVELS THROUGH
it. But it did not form part of n:y original plan to pafs through Tindrum or Kenmore; on the contrary, it was my intention to re- turn by Inveraray ; and it was not tintil my fecond arrival at Dalmally, that I refolved to change the order of my journey, with the view of obtaining authentic accounts relpecl- ing the ebb and flow of Loch Tay. I regret the iofs of this opportunity of acquiring a know- ledge of the extenfive improvements in agri- culture and rural economy, conduced with i'o much fuccefs by the Earl of Bradelbane, and of becoming acquainted with a man who enjoys fo excellent a reputation, and is fo ufeful to his country.
We dined at a very good and commodious inn, about a mile from Dunkeld, oppofite to that agreeable little town, and built on emi- nence furrounded with woods and rocks. A vaft ruinous gothic church gives Dunkeld a very pidurefque appearance.
We reached Perth a little late in the evening, by a road extremely rugged afid fatiguing.
CHAP.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. l8l
CHAPTER XI.
Perthy its Harhtrr amlManufadures. — Alr.M'Comit\ ProfeJJbr of Mai hematics ; Mr. M^Greggor, Pro- fejor of the French Language at the Academy. — Volcanic Mountain of Kinnoul.-^'The Agates fowxd
upon it.
Ti
HE frnall city of Perth ftands in a very ao^reeable fituation on the river Tay, which the tide enters to a condderable diftance, and renders ziavigable for fmall veflels. It is in a pretty fiourilhing condition, and contains a population of about twelve thoufand fouls.
The ftone bridge over the Tay was con- ih-ucled by the fame perfon who built that of Blackfriarsj at London. It is very well exe- cuted, but is rather narrow for its length.
William Thornton had an acquaintance at Perth, of the name of M'Comie, who was profefTor of Mathematics in the college, which bears here the title of academy. We paid him a vifit, and fuch was his goodnels and complaifance, that he was conllantly with us during our ftay at Perth, where we re- N 3 mained
I §2 TRAVELS THROUGH
malned nearly a week. We derived the mofl ufeful fervices from him, as well as from one of his colleagues, Mr. M'Gregor, profeffor of the French Language, who had received his firft education at Paris, and who was kind enough alfo to favour us with his com- pany, and to conduct us to feveral manu- factories.
Before the reformation took place in Eng- land and Scotland, the town of Perth, v/here the catholic worlhip reigned in all its fplen- dor, contained fome confiderable religious foundations, befides a number of churches. Of thefe, the greater part have fince been laid in ruins, or converted into churches for the life of the prefbyterians. In feveral of the ftreets are feen fome fine gothic facades, which once belonged to cathedrals, chapter- houfes, monafteries, and nunneries. Thefe remains of monuments, confecrated to a wor- ship which formerly flouriflied fo vigoroufly in the three kingdoms, announce that reli- gions, as well as goveinments, have their pe- riods of inftability and revolution, which in- ceiTantly fucceed each other at intervals of longer or Hiorter extent, but which, when the impulfe is once given, no human power is
able
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I 83
able to arreil: : So true is it, that in morals, as well as in phyfics, there is nothing durable in this world.
Machines for carding and fpinning cotton, had been introduced at Perth only a little be- fore our arrival there. We faw the .firft of them at the manufa6tory of an individual who had caufed them to be conflrufted at Man- chefler. He found it impofiible, however, to convey them out of that town but during the night ; fo jealous are the manufa61:urers of Manchefter of this happy invention of Ark- wright, which has given fuch extenfive cele- brity and immenfe advantages to its com- merce.
The mofl: confiderable manufactures of Perth are fine linen, thread, and flax ; and fome very excellent articles are produced in this line. Here I faw a loom for weavins:
o
very large bed fheets,^ in one piece, by means of a fliuttle fixed on fmall rollers. A pair of thefe fheets, made of very fine linen, cofts from a hundred and fifty to a hundred and fixty livres of French money.
I purchafed at a table-cloth manufactory a
dozen fmall napkins and a breakfaft- cloth.
They were of an excellent quality, and coft
N 4 me
184 TRAVELS THROUGH
me four Louis -d'or. I was happy to have an opportunity of carrying them to France by way of models.
I was alfo fhewn, with an air of myftery, at the houfe of a rich manufacturer of fine lihen, an inilrument as ingenious as ufeful for afcertaining the finenefs of texture with the greateft precifion.
It confifts of a kind of fmall microfcopc of a very fimple confl:ru<5lion, which, inftead of an objed glafs, has a round hole, about three lines or a little more in diameter. The dafs or lens correfponds to that circular aperture at the diftance of the focus. The inftrument is placed upon the cloth, the threads of which are fo magnified by the lens, that the obferver can eafily count how many are contained within the fpace of the hole. It is evident that the greater the number, the finer is the fabric of the ftufF. It likewife (hews whether the thread be too flat or other wife. The artifan who is acquainted with the mode of ufing the inftrument, if he fliould prefent a piece of cloth which he charges as fine, has no admifiible excufe when it is found to be of a coarfer quality, by making himfelf count ihe number of threads with this inftrument,
I'he
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 85
The weavers, therefore, by its means, have become accuftomcd to the greateft precifion.
The wholefale dealers equally employ it in their purchafes. They have, therefore, good reafon not to wifh that every one fhould be acquainted with it ; becaufe, with its affiflance, they can tranfad their bulinefs on a furer foot- ing than thofe who are obliged to depend upon the naked eye. I brought one of thefe in- ftruments to France, where they were fbon multiplied.
VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN OF KrNNOUL, IN THE VICINITY OF PERTH.
The delire of examining the hill ofKinnoul, was what principally determined me to pals through the town of Perth, from which it was only two miles and a quarter diftant. I was therefore able to make feveral vifits to it during the three days that I flaid at Perth.
The lavas and agates which I collefted there were very numerous. I fpent half a day and a whole night in forting and ticket- ing them. The number of thefineftlpecimens were doubled, and in fome cafes tripled, for
the
M TRAVELS THROUGH
the purpofe of diftributing them among my friends. The whole filled a large chefl*.
Scarcely had I crofled the bridge of Perth, where I obferved fome lavas in ft rata, un- formed mafles, and ill-ihaped prifrns. Thele different currents proceeded from feveral eminences forming pa'rt of the mountain of Kinnoul, the balis of which, occupied a very confiderable extent. Purfuino; the road along i|lie,Tay, with the mountain on my left, for two miles and a quarter, I came to a very i^eep and almoft perpendicular rock, nearly £x hundred feet high, and on the very edge of the road. The traveller ought to make diredly for this place, becaufe it is the richeft m agates and other produ£lions worth col- le<^ing.
;: Though the mountain appears extremely ifteep in that quarter, one may,notwithftand-
- * This chefl-, together vAth my wtiole collection df the produdls of Scotland and the Hebrides, which was in the fcelt order, was loft on a fand bank, near Dunkirk. The veflel which cari-ied them from Leith funk, and only the crew wepe faved. By this unfortunate accident, I have loft all. the fruits of a toilfome journey, except a fmall box «>f the moft remarkable articles, which I brought along with nie ia my carriage. But I had carefully copied into one book the lifts. of all my colledions.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 8.7
ing, clamber up to its fummit, with a little precaution. But, for this purpofe, it is ue- cefTary to have a flout flick, armed with an iron fpike ; nor mufl the adventurer hefitate to fcale the craggy rocks. This labour, however, may be fa\'ed by approaching in the direction jufl mentioned, where the forms and different difpofitions of the flrata are in a manner plainly legible in its fide, which is completely expofed to view. The follow- ing is a note of the different articles which I collected :-r-
0'
VOLCANIC MINERALOGY OF KINNOUL,
I. Black bafaltes, of a fine grain and homo- geneous texture, forming an extenfive cur- rent, adhering to a flream of black porphyria lava, with a bafis of trapp, and fo difpofed as to leave no doubt that the bafaltic lava in this ftate derives its origin from porphyria lava. The latter has preferved its cryflals of felt fpar, which are fmall but well defined, whilfl the bafaltic lava has lofl its cryflals, which are amalgamated and blended with the very bafis of the porphyry, either by a fudden and violent, or a long continued combuflion..
On
l88 TRA^'ELS THROUGH
On examining the bafaltic lava with a micro- Icope, fmall cryftals ai-e ftill feen in fomc parts of it, which are not entirely amalga- mated with the lava; their courfe may be pretty well traced, even from their exterior appearance. Small fplinters of the porphyria lava, on being urged with the blow-pipe, afford an enamel of a beautiful black colour ; and the bafaltic lava yield- a vitreous matter or enamel in every refpeft fimilan
2. The fame bafaltic lava, divided into large prifms, very irregular, though well de- fined. Thefe prifms prefent nothing in the fra6lure but an homogeneous lava, without the leafl cryftal of felt fpar.
3. Bafaltic lava of a delicate green colour, very hard, fometimes fbnorous on being flruck, difpofed in a large current. This greenifh lava tranfverfety interfecSls a current of black compa6! lava. Its greenifh colour is owing to a particular modification of iron. I was well acquainted with the earth of Ve- rona, which has its origin from a very re- markable decompofitiou of a volcanic pro- du6t ; but I had never before feen a ftratum of compact, hard, and fonorous bafaltic lava,, which had that greenifh appearance.
4. A qua-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. iSg
4. A quadrangular prifm, well defined, in excellent prefervation, and of an agreeable delicate green colour. I found it among the wreck of a confiderable mafs of lava of the fame colour, which had fallen from the top of the precipice.
5. The iame greenifh bafaltic lava in a tabular form.
None of the green coloured lavas were magnetic.
6. Compact porph>Tic lava, of a black ground, ftudded with a number of cryftals of white felt fpar, which have not undergone any alteration. This lava is ftrongly mag- netic.
7. A quadrangular prifm of blackifh por- 1 phyric lava, magnetic, with a knob of fleili- coloured a2;ate on one of its faces.
8. Porphyric lava, mouldering into gravel, and forming extenfive beds. I have no doubt that if this gravelly lava, which is not very hard, were reduced to powder by the aid of {lamping- mills, like thofe ufed in Holland, for pounding the lavas or tras in the environs of Andernach, it would afford a puzzolano, an excellent cement, of great and indeed in- dilpenfablc ufe for building in water.
9. Compa<Sl
I^O TRAVELS THROUGH
9. Compad porphyric lava, with a ground of deep iron grey inclining to violet, inter- mixed with particles of green fteatites, fome knobs of variegated agate, and a few globules of white calcareous Ipar, difpofed in a large current;
10. Compad porphyric lava, magnetic^ with knobs of white, and fometimes flefh- Coloured alcareous fpar, and globules of the fineft green-coloured fteatites.
ii. Reddifh-coloured compact, porphyric lavaj forming a layer between two cui:rents of bafaltic lava of a delicate green colour, and adhering to them,
12. Black porphyric lava; magnetic, inter- felted, with belts of red porphyric lava, re- femhling the red porphyry of the ancients. This lava, in which both the lavas are united, is very remarkable.
13. A geode of agate, interhally ftudded with fhining cryftals of violet-coloured quartz, in the form of hexagonal pyramids, incrufled with compad porphyric lava, of a dark browa colour, a little inclining to violet, with fbme knobs of white calcareous fpar, and feveral globules of agate and green fteatites.
14. A geode
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. t^S
1 4. A gedde of bright red agate, having ill its interior a brilliant cryftallization, of white quartz of the greateft purity. This <^eode is found in a black porphyria lava, which is magnetic.
15. Eye-fpotted agate of a delicate rbfe colour, incrufted with dark brown compafl: porphyric lava, intermixed with globules of green fteatites. This fpecimen is very agre^-* able to the eye.
• 16. Red ftriped agate, inclofed ia black porphyric lava, ftrongly magnetic. - ' '
17. Semi-tranfparent agate of the moft vivjd red, i^^ ^ porphyric lava inclining to violet, with knobs of white calcareous fpar, and globules of a delicate green coloured fteatites.
18. A geode with a cruft of calcedonious biueifliocculated agate, internally ftudded with cryftals of fparkling quartz. In the interior of the cryftals are feen particles of black lava taken up during the procefs of cryftallization; from which it is beyond doubt that the for- mation of the geodes was pofterior to that of the lava.
19. A lump of white calcareous fpar, fparkling, dilpofed in rhomboidal lamina?,
amidfl
1.92 Travels through
amidfl a. flight envelope of fleatites of a ^ne green Colour. Tlie whole is incrufled in a black compact lava, magnetic, and more nearly refembling baf^ltes than porphyry*
20. A lump of green fleatites, enveloped with a flight covering of white calcareous fpar, in a porphyric lava, of a brown colour, inclining to violet. This fragment is the re- verfe of the preceding.
Siich are the moft interefting articles which I colle61:ed on the mountain of Kinnoul. I have no doubt that a longer i{?Ly would have confiderably augmented my colledlion. But others may perfe6t what I give here as a iketch only. I had neither dire6tion nor guide to regulate my refearches on that moun- tain. It was not even fo much as conjeflured to be volcanic at Perth. All that was known there refpeding it was, that fome Edinburgh lapidaries vifited it from time to time in quefl of agates, which they poliflied and turned to an objed of a petty traffic.
€FIAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 193
CHAPTER :XiI.
^t.AudrcWsUniverJity. — Library. — OldChiirchesr Natural Bijtory.
w,
E fet out from Perth for St. Andrews by way of the fmall town of Cupar in Fife, where we changed horfes. We accomplifhed this journey in feven hours. All the hills on the road are formed of blackifh gravelly lava and bafaltes.
We had letters of recommendation to Mr. George Hill, profelTor of Greek, and Mr. Charles Willbn, profeffor of Hebrew, in the univerfity of St. Andrews. We waited upon thefe gentlemen on the following day, and both of them exerted themfelves with the greateft eagernefs to oblige us, and to procure us fuch information as could gratify our tafle or curiofity.
UNIVERSITY.
This univerfity recommends itfclf to the notice of the traveller by the name of the celebrated Buchanan, who was profeffor of philofophy there.
VOL. II. o There
194 TRAVELS THROUGH
There were formerly * two colleges which are now confolidated into one. There was a profeiTor of the Latin language in each of the colleges ; one of the profefforfhips is now flipprefled, and a chair of Natural Hiftory fubftituted in its ftead. The Greek profeflbr- ihip is aifo of recent erection.
The revenues of the profelTors, who are thirteen in number, amount together to fifteen hundred pounds fterling, which gives a fixed falary of nearly three thoufand French livres for each place.
The names of the profefTgrs are as fol- lows :
Jofeph M'Cormick, Principal ;
James Flint, profelI(:)r of Medicine ;
John Cook, Moral Philofophy ;
George Forreft, Natural Philofophy ;
Nicolas Vilant, Mathematics ;
John Hunter, the Latin language ;
George Hill, the Greek language ;
W. Barron, Logic ;
Hugh Cleghorn, Civil Hiftory ;
* There were formerly three colleges, namely, St. Salvador's, St. Leonard's, and St. Mary'sj the two former of which have been united. Tranflat.
Dr.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 1 95
Dr. J. GiUcfpie, | ^.^.^^.^^. Dr. Henry Spence, ) William Brown, Church Hifliory ; Ch. Wilfon, the Hebrew language.
LIBRARY.
The college library i« open to the public for feven months in the year, during which they are at liberty to enter it every day at ftated hours. There are likewdfe Ibme other days of the year upon which it is opened. The revenues appropriated to the mainten- ance of this eftablifliment arife from fome tythes belonging to an old eccleliaflical foun- dation which were f'eized upon by the crown and afterwards afTigned to this library. Their produce does not amount to more than thirty- iix pounds flerling, a fum nowile ad.equate to the mofl urgent current expences. But fome cafual emoluments from the admillion of cfra- duates increafes the total revenue of the li- brary to the fum of an hundred and fifty pounds fterling. The number of books is not more than eleven or twelve thoufand. They are almoft all modern, with the exception of feveral bibles and fome devotional books, among which there is nothing extraordinary, o a I faw
19^ TRAVELS THROUGH
I faw nothing worthy of notice but a manu- fcript which was fomewhat interefting from its excellent prefervation ; it was a Saint Augullin of the thirteenth century, written on vellum.. There is alfo in the fame apart- ment, as an objetft of curiofity, an Egyptian mummy in a very bad ftate, without even its ancient cafe, and appearing to me to be one of thofe which the Arabians join together of patches and fragments for the purpofe of fellinp- them to fuch as are unable to dete6f
o
the impofition.
ANCIENT CATHOLIC CHURCHES^
This city, during the reign of the catholic religion, poileiTed the archiepifcopal pre-emi- nence. The famous Cardinal Beaton was one of its archbifhops. Vaft and fuperb churches announced the opulence of their founders, and the generous facrifices of a people powerfully attached to their mode of worfhip. The ruins of all thefe monuments, of which there are ftill fome fine remains, give the city an afpe£l of antiquity which forms a fingular contraft with the fimplicity, the modefty, and I had almoft faid, the poverty of the> greater part of its prefent habitations.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. I97
The church of the fecond college, as it is called, which is flill ftanding, appears to be very ancient. The fteeple is a high tower, of a quadrangular form, and of a good and folid conftru6tion. The church is fpacious, and in the o-othic ftile of buiidins; ; it is con- fecrated to the Prefbyterian worfliip, and con- tains the tomb, now partly in ruins, of an archbilhop who founded the univerfity of this city. This monument is built in the wall with ftone of a very common kind, and ex- hibits nothing remarkable. On an occafioii of making fome repairs, there was difco- vered within it * a church mace, of gilt cop- per, four feet long. This enfign of dignity, which I was permitted to examine, is charged with gothic ornaments finely executed, but in a bad tafte. It is covered with fmall ileeples, and niches occupied by monks with cowls on their , heads and in an attitude of prayer. The angles are filled with winged angels placed in pulpits and in a preaching
* The monument here referred to is the tomb ofbifhop Kennedy, within which were found fix maces ; three of them were diftributed among the other S-occh univer- ftties, and (.he remaining three are preferved in that of St. Andrews. Tranllator.
o ^ pgilure.
198 TRAVELS THROUGH
pofture. Gothic medallions are fiifpended all round it by way of ornament ; and the whole is furmounted with a figrure of Chrift on foot, and ftanding upright in a pyramidal niche. This work, to judge by its ftile, may be from two hundred and iixty to three hun- dred years old. It can only ferve to give us an idea of the arts, and of the bad'tafte of the time.
We likewife vifited another church, which, from an infcription on one of its doors, ap- peared to have been built in the year 11 12. In this church we faw a grand maufoleum of white marble, reprefenting an archbifhop, as large as life, kneeling, and an angel placing a martyr's crown on his head. A fpacious baffo relievo, at the foot of this monument, exhibits the fame archbifliop attacked by fome men who afTaffinate him. A vounsi; o-irl in tears, detained by fome other perfons, near a coath, which they have flopped, makes the moft violent ftruggle to go to the affiftance of the archbifhop, in whom flie feems to have the moft tender intereft. Defpair is ftrongly marked in her geftures and her figure.
This fcene inftantly brought to my re- .jy^?mbrance the difaftrous e^^ent \\'hich hap- pened
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 199
pened to Cardinal Beaton *, who was killed on the 29th of May, 1546, by Norman Lefly, eldeft fon of the earl of Rothes, accompanied with fifteen confpirators. Beaton, was doubt- lefs a man of great talents, but at the fame time ambitious, infolent, a cruel enemy of the Reformers, and had the abominable in- humanity ^ caufe the unfortunate George Wilhart to be burnt alive.
I was aftonifhed at feeing; a monument of this fort permitted to remain in a church now applied to the ufe of the reformed religion, which holds Beaton in fjch abhorrence. But my aftonifhment foon ceafed on learning that this monument, the fc?jlpture of which was executed in Holland, had been erefted by the relations of the archbifhop a long time after his death, and that they had appropriated a certain yearly fum for keeping it in repair. It thence refults, that in order to obtain this fum, the maufoleum muft be allowed to exift as a work that has received their complete
* The author's conjefturehas been in this inftance er- roneous. This monument is a reprefentation of the death of archbifhop Sharp, who, in revenge for his cruel perfecu- , tions of their feci, was afTaffinated by nine prefbyterian enthufiafls, on the 3d of May, 1669, on Magus Moor, in the vicinity of St. Andrews. — rranflator.
o 4 fandion.
200 TRAVELS THROUGH
fandlion. But it alfo happens that the monii= ment receives no repairs, though it begins to be greatly in want of them ; and the money is very probably applied to the ule of the church. No part of it, however, will be de- molifhed as long as the yearly allowance fliall continue to be paid : an evident proof that every where, and in every cafe, gold has the power of reconciling the naoft oppofite opinions.
It would appear that the relations of car- dinal Beaton had no wifh to conceal that the holy archbifhop was a father, fince his daughter is reprefented in tears, with her arms extended towarc^s her father, and forcibly held by two of the confpirators, at the mo- ment when the others accomplifh the mur- der. But the folemn Robertfon informs us, in his hiftory of Scotland, that the prelate openly acknowledged this daughter. " Car- " diaal Beaton," fays he, " with the fame *' public pomp, which is due to a legitimate ** child, celebrated the marriage of his natu- " ral daughter with the earl of Crawfurd's *' fon ;" and in a note he fays, " the marriage *' articles, fubfcribed with his owii hand, in " which he calls her my daughter, are
*« ftiU
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 20i
** ftill extant," vol. i. p. 88, of the Svo. edition.
The facade of the church of St. Leonard, though gothic, pofieifes an elegance and gran-^ deur which are very impreffive. This was the chapel of the college which has been dif- folved. Johnfon in his 'Journey to the Wefterii I/lands of Scotland, complains, that he was always by fome civil excule hindered from entering it, and that in fad it had been converted into a oieen-houfe. I w^as not more fortunate than Johnfon. But I found that the area in front and on one fide of the ehapel was turned into a kitchen garden ; and from what I law myfelf, it is not im- probable that the houfe of God has become the houfe of the gardener, and that it affords a fhelter to his carrots and his turnips during the winter.
By way of compenfation, however, I viewed at my eafe, the ruins of the cathedral and the adjoining palace, which formed the refidence of the archbifhop. Both thefe vafl edifices, ftood on an elevated fituation, which commands a full profped of the fea. The palace was, indeed, fo clofe to it, that the
waves
202 TRAVELS THROUGH
waves have under mined a part of its founda- tions.
The cathedral, as far as can be eftimated from its remains, without comprifing fome adjoining chapels, a kind of cloifter, and other fubordinate buildings around it, was three hundred and fifteen feet long, and fixty feet broad. Nothins; can be more remarkable and interefting than this ruin. Not only does it bear the imprefllon of timeandneglecl, but it alfo difcovers the ftrongefl: marks of a re- h'srious and fanatical zeal which rofe to the
o
moft abominable phrenzy.
Towers of the mofl folid conftru6lion overthrown ; columns broken in pieces ; the remains of magnificent gothic windows fuf- pended as it were in the air ; pyramidal ileeples, m.ore than a hundred feet high, of {{:ones fo folidly laid, that it being difficult to demoliili them entirely, they were pierced thro\igh and through and indented in every dire61:ion ; winding flair-cafes which feem to ftand without any foundation ; altars heaped upon altars under the remaining vaults ; frag- ments of friezes, capitals, entablatures, fcat- tered among fepulchral tablets, and mutilated tombs ; the wreck of cloifters, chapels, por- ticos ;
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 203
ticos ; and fome columns ftill maintaining an ere6t pofturc in the midll of fuch wide-fpread havock : fuch is a rapid sketch of the pidure prefented by thefc extcnfive ruins, which flrike the man, who beholds them for the firft time, with dread and aftonifliment.
The traveller is at firft loft in conje61:uring whether a terrible earthquake, a long fiege, or an invafion of barbarians, was the caufe of fo much devaftation. A quadrangular tower an hundred feet high, well conftrufted, and in perfetl prefervation, rifes fingle and unim- paired by the fide of thefe vaft ruins. It is difficult to account for this contraft.
At the view of this fcene one is irrefiftibly led into a train of melancholy reflexions, on the maladies of the mind, which degenerate into madnefs and mortify our reafon. Are thefe frenzies, thefe deliriums of the intelled:, like corporeal difeafes, infepar^le from the condition of humanity ? If the affirmative be true, mankind in the grofs, are the moft fe- rocious, and at the fame time the moft mif- chievous of animals, and one might be tempt- ed to renounce this life at once, were it not for a few -chofen individuals who encourage one to fupport it,
I was
304 TRAVELS THROUGH
I was afTured that the quadrangular tower which ftands entire in the midft of thefe ex- tenfive ruins, has exifted for upwards of eleven hundred years. It was probably a light-houfe in former times ; at prefent it is a memorial only of the feudal rights which the king has over the city ; and on this account it is pre- fcrv^ed with great care. I mounted by an infide ftair-cafe to the highefJ: balcony ; whence there is a view of a wide extent of country.
Biaauve has inferted in his large atlas very exact engravings of the principal monuments of St. Andrews, as they appeared at an epoch when they exifted in all their fplendour. iMr. Cleghorn aiTured me, that the materials which had been furnifhed to Biaauve wer«s very corre6t.
Thefe fame monuments, in their ruinous fl:ate, have i>een carefully engraved in four plates, by Pouncy, from drawings of ftriking effeft, by J. Oli-phant. I faw a coUedion of them at the houfe of the college librarian, who would not agree to fell them for any money. He carefully preferved them in frames of glafs ; he faid they were now very fear jc, and hardly to be met with for fale.
Before
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 205
Before a crowd of fanatics, inflamed to fury by the homicidal fermons of the gloomy Knox, carried the torch of dell:ru£lion to men and things, through that unfortunate city, it was a place of confiderable eminence ; letters and the fciences flourifhed within its walls, and rich and numerous eftahlifliments were dedicated to public inftrudion.
The blow which it received from the hand of barbarians, fuddenly changed its appear- ance. It requires ages to build, but an in- ftant only to deflroy. This city, notwith- ftanding the length of time which has elapfed lince the date of its misfortunes, fliil appears as if it had been ravaged by the peflilence. Its ftreets are large and commodious ; but are every where covered with grafs. All is Tadnefs and fdence. Its inhabitants, ignorant of commerce and the arts, prefent only the image of indolence and lanoTiorv This flate of ina6livity has its corrcfpondent efFe6ls on the population ; for though the place is ftili capable of lodging from fourteen to fifteen thoufand people, it does not contain at moft. above three thou land.
I therefore jain in the opinion ■ of Johnfon, who, indignant at the defolate condition in
which
206 TRAVELS THROUGH
which the EnMifli s;overiiment fuffers cfta- bhfliments confecrated to inftrudion to re- main, exclaims, " It is furely not without " juft reproach that a nation, of which the " commerce is hourly extending, and the " wealth increafing, denies any participation *' of its profperity to its literary focieties ; *' and while its merchants or its nobles are " raifing palaces, fuffers its univerfities to " moulder mto dull."
SOME OBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE ENVIRONS OF ST. ANDREWS.
The rock on which the caflle of this city flood, is in many places at lead: one hundred feet above the level of the fea ; and the place itfelf, though built on a plain, has the fame height above the water.
This huge precipice confifls of beds of white quartzofe free-ftone, croffed at inter- vals with' fmall horizontal layers of black ar- gillaceous fchiflus, foft, a little {hining, and deriving its colour from impalpable particles of pit-coal.
. 111. the part where the free-ftone comes in contad with the fchiftus, the Hi'd is always
divided
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 207
divided into fmall ftrata which eafily feparate, and are themfelves fomewhat tinged with coaly particles. There alfo may be diftin- guifhed fome Imall bits of wood converted into coal.
To thefe alternate beds of free-ftone, co- loured with coal, and of black argillaceous fchiftus, fucceed thick banks of white free- ftone, interrupted in their turn with thin layers of black Ichiftus and coloured free-ftone ; but here the coaly particles are more copious.
In fhort, under the deepeft beds of free- ftone in the part where the fea has uncovered them, are {qch flirata of coal almofl: pure and tit for burning,
Induftry is here in fuch a ftate of ftagna- tion that no perfon has attempted, by follow- ing thefe remarkable indications, to link a pit, or even fo much as to found for a mine of coals which preients itfelf under fuch fa- vourable appearances, and which from its- lituation on the very edge of the fea, would form a fource of riches to the country.
I exprelTed my aftonifhment on the fubjecl to feveral intelligent perfons, who framed ex^. cufes for this negligence, by faying, that three or four miles inland there wxre fome mines
of
208 TRAVELS THROUGH
of coal worked, which were fufficlent for the fupply of the country.
The fea, notwithftandlng the barriers Op- pofed to it by the bold bank of free-ftone on which St. i\ndrews is built, has gained upon the land fo perceptibly^ that, as I was afTured on the ftrongeft authority, within lefs than two hundred and fifty years, it had undermined and worn the rock with fuch activity as to deftroy almofl the whole of the fcite of the ancient arcbiepifcopal caftle. A road which led from the caftle to a mole ftill exiftins^ is entirely carried away, fo that the water com- pletrely intercepts the paffage in a dire61 line ; and it fhould be remarked, that the fpace de- ftroyed between the caftle and the head of the mole is about five hundred toifes. Thus has the fea in fo fhort a period wafted away a very confiderable extent and thicknefs of iolid rock ; and at low water nothing is to be feen but rubbiih and ruins.
From this encroachment, how^ever, we are not to form general conclufions refpedling the advancing or receding of the waters of the ocean. It is a circumftance purely local that has occafioned this accidental invafion, which
I regard
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND- 2O9
I regard as completely unconnefled with any general theory.
By an attentive examination of the fpot, I difcovered fome of the caufes of this 2:reat degradation.
And iirft, the facility which there has al- ways been of drawing large malTes of free- fone from this craggy tra6l on the reflux of the tide, is one caufe, which we will not be apt to reject, if we confider that the immenfe quantity of materials employed in conflru<5t- iiig the cathedral, feveral large churches and convents, the caftle and the j;ioufes of the city, has been taken out of this place. I my- felf faw a great number of workmen em- ployed in cutting out pretty large ftone^ for ibme repairs which were making on the mole.
On the other hand, the pofition of the beds, the various fubftances of which they are com- pofed, and their unequal degrees of hardnefs, tend to accelerate their degradation. The coaftis fofteep that the deep excavation which extends from the caftle to the mole-head, bears the name of the Precipice.
The mafles of free-ftone being placed or^ beds of argillaceous Tchiflus, which is foft,
VOL, II, p pyritous
210 TRAVELS THROUGH
pyritous and flifceptible of being difTolved by water, are liable to ilide from their place and to lofe their balance. The upper beds give a violent concuffion to the others in their fall ; and this pernumt cavife of deftruction, joined to the a61:ion of froll:, the atmofphere, and the chan,2;es of wet and drynefs, muft at length occafion extenfive havock. But what is very remarkable and worthy of attention, is, that all thefe fragments, which are fubjetl: to the powerful a6tlon of the waves and currents of the fea, being dafhed againft each other or rolled upon the hard and rugged bottom, arc foon reduced to powder ; thence there re- ilik confiderable depofites of land which the iea throws up in banks on the beach, and which the wiads form into fmall hills. Thus the waves which tear afundcr the free-ftonc and carr^' it off the coaft in huge folid pieces, throw it back on a neighbouring part in the form of fand, which may in time acquire con- fiftenco and form good foil.
It is eafy to perceive the identity of this fand, which is intermixed with fome coal and clayey matter, with the free-flone, whence it originated. This newly formed tra6t of fand occupies a fpace of four miles long, and half
a mile
ENGLAND And SCOTLAND 21 1
a mile broad *. Such is probably the origin of the greater part of fands, which may in a courfe of tim.e, and with the aid of certain circuraftances, be a fecond time formed into free-ftonei
I ought to have ftated, before difmiffing the fubjed of the Precipice, that the inferior rtrata, which fapport a mafs more than eighty feet thick of fchiftus and free-ftone, are them- felves very remarkable, being com.pofed of very liard free-ftone, and containing pebbles of dif- ferent forms and fizes, and of a reddifli colour in thqir cruft or exterior furface. On breaking thefe pebbles, they are eafily difcovered to confift of black bafaltic lava, ftill retaining their magnetic quality, though their crull has undero;one alteration.
As the rounded lavas thus confined are fcen in great num^ber in the lower beds of free-ftone, and as it is probable that thofe which have been invaded by the fea contain- ed fimilar ones, it is beyond doubt that thefe pebbles exifted prior to the formation of the
* In thefe fands are found feveral living fliell-fifli. The large razor fifh ox jollen, the cardium fenatum of Linnaeus, or bucarde dente of Brugui-re, defcribed in his article on the Natural Hiftory of Worrrs, page 227, of the French Encyclopedia, and the cardium ctllare of Linnaeus, or bucarde f range of Bruguiere, page 2x8 of the fame book, are very common.
V 2 free-
212 TRAVELS THROUGH
free-ftone ; that is to fay-, that they are th« produ61:s of volcanos, and that they have been rounded by the fea before the fandy fubftances became united and confolidated into a mafs of free-ftone.
There is no room for any doubt or helita- tion refpe<?l:ing the quaUty of the fubftances. The bafaltic pebbles are fo many traces of dif- covery and ufeful indications to thofe who en- deavour to perufe the grand volume of nature. But this is not a fit place to expatiate further upon the fubjefl. I (hall only fay, that if ac- cidental circumllances of this kind cannot de- termine to a very nigh degree the time which has elapfed iince the formation of thefe lavas and the free-ftone, in which they are inclofed, they induce us at leaft to believe that both the one and the other muft have taken place at a very remote epoch.
CHAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 213
CHAPTER XIII.
Di-parture from St. Andrews. — Largo. — Leven. — Dyjart — Kirkaldy. —Kingborn. — Lcith. — Return to Edinburgh.
S^
ICARCELY had we left St. Andrews and entered on the road to Largo, when we found the fields fcattered over with very large blocks of bafaltes. The farmers have inclofed their lands with them, and thus afforded to na- turalifts an eafy opportunity of examining them.
Tliey are of a fine black colour, great hard- nefs, and a pure and homogeneous fubflance. I attentively examined a great number of the flones which were but recently broken, to try whether any extraneous body had entered into their internal compofition. But I found their texture in general very pure, and found in a fmgle lump only a few fmall cryftals of black fchorl. The fchorls are in general very rarely met with in the volcanic products of Scotland and the Hebrides.
After a ride of three miles, we reached a
pretty high flat, entirely covered with blocks
p 3 of
214 TRAVELS THROUGH
of baialtes, which feemed to have been fcatr tered about at random, and which very much incommode cultivation, as it would not be an eafy- matter to difplace them. This ele- vated plain is of vaft extent, and yields oats and rye ; though the vegetable mould cannot be much more than five or fix inches in depth.
This cultivated foil repofes on blackidi arg'^laceous fchillus, difpofed in ftrata. Banks, of free-ftone, hke thofe of St. Andrews, fuc-. ceed the fchiftus, and then follow at a confi- derable depth beds of excellent coal. The number of pits w hich are (ecu. along the road, announce that the collieries are worked with great a61:ivity, I counted more than fifteen coal-pits within the fpacr of a mile.
Largo is only a fmall village; we flopped at it to bait our horfes. Banks of free-flone of great thicknefs are expofed to view on all fides ; they are over-topped v^dth enormous, pieces of bafaltes. I had not before feen in the volcanic parts of Scotland, detached mafifes of bafaltes of fo great a bulk. This compact lava is very pure and found, fo that it may be formed into flabs or even .fi:atues.
Leven and Dyfart are pretty large villages, which li^ on the road by the lea-fide. In
their
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 215
their environs are feveral collieries^ which employ a great number of peribns. They are carried on upon a greater fcale than thofe ux the neighbourhood of St. Andrews, and con- du6ted with greater intelligence and more ex-- tenfive means. Thofe of the inhabitants, who are not employed in the collieries apply themfelves to fifhing, in which they are very Ikilful.
Kirkaldy is a confiderable burgh. The; whole of its environs is flrewed with blocks of bafultes ; and this fcattered train of lavas extends from Largo to beyond Kirkaldy, along a fpace of more than twenty- four miles in length, and eight miles in breadth. What terrible convulfioa was it that tranfported thefe bafaltes, and thus rolled and difperfed them over fo vaft a furface ?
I had already (een in Vi\'arais, a rtate of things in every refped limilar; but upon a plain much higher above the coaft of Maire. The maiTes of bafaltes are there equally large and not lefs numerous. They may be traced to the fmall town of Pradelle, through an extent of more than twenty miles long, and four or five miles broad. This refem- blance ought not to efcape coiifideration.
V 4 From
2l6 TRAVELS THROUGH
From Kirkaldy we purfued our road to Kinghorn, a burgh lituated on the water's edsre. The blocks of bafaltes feemed to mul-
o
tiply as ^A'e approached the vicinity of King- horn ; but very near the town we found the bafaltes in imbodied maiTes, that is, difpofed in large currents as it was difcharged by the vol can OS.
Between Kirkaldy and Kinghorn, and at a little diftance from the road, are three up- right rude ftones, which have been ere6led as a memorial of fome event, which it is now impofTible to trace. Thefe monuments con- fift of a rough-grained yellowifh free-ftone. The hidicfl is about fifteen feet above ground, and muft have funk at leaft five feet below the furface ; it is of confiderable thick- nefs : the other two are not fo large. They appear to be of very high antiquity. Have they been erected by the Romans ? This is not very probable ; for, that warlike people, at the time they over- ran England and at- tempted to fubjugate the Caledonians, who gave them the moffc vigorous refiftance, were too familiar with the arts, to raife fuch ruftic monuments which have no infcription, nor any mark of workmanfhip. It is not im- probable
Miimii
iiiiiiiiiiiii
illlillilKil
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 21 7
probable that thefe rude columns were con- fecrated to the fuperftition of the ancient Druids, or that they were ere6led by a war- like people little Ikilled in the arts, in remembrance of fome important events which have not defcended to our know- ledge.
Monuments of this kind are very nu- merous in Scotland and the Hebrides. The natives entertain various and doubtful opi-, nions upon the fubjed. Some call them the altars, temples, or monuments of the Druids ; while others, regarding them as of greater antiquity, fay, that they were ereded in the time of Fingal ; that is, at an epoch indeterminate, and perhaps fabulous ; and another clafs maintain that they are Roman tombs, and contain the aflies of illuftrious warriors, who fell in their combats with the Caledonians. I fhall leave the developement of this enigma to the Edinburgh Antiqua- rian Society, with meiely calling to their recolledlion that fimilar monuments are found in Lower Brittany, and that the lan- guage of its inhabitants has a ftrong refem- blance to that of the H.ebridians, and I enter- tain the hope that they will throw fome
light
2 1 8 TRAVELS THROUGH
light upon a fubjed To worthy of being in- veftigated.
There are twentj-feven miles from St. Andrews to Kinghorn. We were obliged to ufe the fame horfes for the whole way ; there being no ^hce where we could change them. Kinghorn is htuated on the edge of the fea ; and at this place is the ferry for croffins: the Frith cf Forth to Leith, which is within a very ftiort diftance of Edin-. burgh.
The beach of Kinghorn, and, indeed, of the whole coi:fl, is bordered with layers of lava ; fome of them in the form of bafaltes, in an extended raafs, or in prifms, and others in a gravelly and decompofed ftate. Thefe feveral ftreams of volcanic matter repofe immediately on an argillaceous fchiftus under which are frequently found beds of coals.
In the lavas of Kinghorn I found fomc zeolite, and a great deal of calcareous Ipar, adhering to decompofed lavas.
The paflage from Kinghorn to the port of Leith is £cven miles. We performed it in two hours, in one of the ferry-boats, which are tolerably commodious, and fet out regu- larly at certain hours. In the middle of the
Frith
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND- 219
Frith is a very rapid current, which is ob- lervable at all times ; for, where it runs, the fea is always agitated during the greateft calms.
The harbour of Leith, at the time we en- tered it, was filled with veffels, Englifh, Scotch, American, 6ic. I faw feveral velTels belon^ins: to GlafTOW and Leith, which vVere done over with bitumen or tar, extra 6l:ed from pit- coal at the manufa (Stores of Lord Dundonald, who has introduced the making ^nd ufing of this tar on a great fcale in that country. The velTels coated with it appeared of a fine fhining black, which diftinguiflied them from the others. Several fhip-maflers whom I Ipoke to on the fubjeft, and fome of whom had come from the Weft Indies, afTured me that their veiTels which had been covered with this tar, arrived in the beft: poffible condition, and were completely free from worm-holes. Navigation is doubtlefs much indebted to Lord Dundonald, who per- fevered with the moft undeviating conftancy, in bringing to perfe6lion this ufeful produ6t of coal, and alfo in bringing it into general ufe, a thing not eafily efFefted upon every occafion when it is necefiary to change ancient cuf- toms.
We
220 TRAVELS THROUGH
We reached the harbour of Leith about fix in the afternoon of the i6th of 06lober. WiUiam Thornton, who proceeded dire6lly forward from Perth, without accompanying us to St. x^ndrews, waited for us at Edin- burgh. We went from Leith to Edinburgh in lefs than half an hour, along a fuperb road.
Thornton had procured us lodgings at a private houfe, and at a reafonable rate ; for we had determined not to go to Dun's Hotel, where fuch exadions had been pra6lifed on us during our firft ftay in that city. Our new lodgings, for ourfelves and our three domeflicSj coft only eighty-four livres a week.
As we intended to fpend a fortnight at Edinburgh, we made an arrangement with the mafter of a tavern who ferved us with providons, dreffed in the French ftile, ad- dino- a few Scotch dilhes, which were agree- able to us. This man is a native of Bour- deaux, and was brought from France by a Scotch Lord, with whom he refided a long time. He afterwards married and fettled in Edinburgh. He is a very good landlord and full of attention and complaifance. I would recommend his houfe to fuch naturalifts and
others
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND- 221
others as intend to vllit Edinburgh. They have only to afk for the mafter of the French tavern, which is very well known.
At this table, we formed an acquaintance with Baron Hartfield, whofe ordinary refi- dence is at Berlin. He is a man of eftima- tion and talent, and travelled for the purpofes of information. He had pufhed his refearches as far as the Hebrides, and vifited the ifle of Staffa ; in his pafTage to which, he told us, he encountered the mofl imminent danger.
CHAP-
2iZ TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTEP. XIV.
Edinburgh. — The Univerfity. — Learned Societies.-^ ' College of Pbyftcians. — College of Surgeons. -^Ca- binet of Natural Hijlory. — Robertfoiu — Smith.-^ BlacL—Cullen, &c:
E
DINBURGH is fituated in ^s"" Si' ot north latitude, and 3^ 14 of weft longitude, from the meridian of Greenwich. The dif- tance of this city from London is, by the eaft road, through Berwick, 38 S miles; by the middle road, through Wooler, 378 miles; and by the weft road, through Carlifle, 396 miles.
The fciences, literature, natural hiftory, and the arts, being the principal objeds of my journey ; what I fhall have to fay of Edinburgh will chiefly relate to them : topo- graphical defcriptions of this city are to be found in a number of other works.
THE UNIVERSITY.
The following is the eftablifhment of the Univerfity of Edinburgh, with the names of thofe who were at this time its profeffors.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 22^
The King, is the Protedor ;
Do6lor Robertfon, Principal ;
Robert Hamilton and A. Hunter, pro-
feffors of Theology ; Robert Gumming, Church Hiftory ; Doctor J. Robertfon, Hebrew ; A. Dalziei, Greek ; D. Stewart, Mathematics ; A. FergufTon, Moral Philofophy; J. Robifon, Natural Philofophy ; A. Tytler and J. Pringle, Civil Hiftory ; William Wallace, Scottifti Law ; Robert Dick, Civil Law ; A. M'Conochie, the Law of Nature and
Nations ; Hugh Blair, Rhetoric ; John Hope, Botany ; Francis Home, Materia Medica ; William Cullen, Pradice of Medicine; James Gregory, Theory of Medicine ; Jofeph Black, Chymiftry ; Alexander Monro, Anatomy ; Alexander Hamilton, Midwifery ; John Walker, Natural Hiftory.
ROYAL SOCIETY.
The Duke of Buccleugh is Prefident of the
Royal Society ; Henry Dundas, Vice-Prefident.
The
224 - TRAVELS THROUGH
The Prefideiits of the Phyfical and Literary ClafTes, &g. are Baron Gordon ; Lord EiUock ; General H. Campbel ; Adam Smith ; John M'Laurin ; Do6tor Adam FergulTon ; Do6tor Monro ; Dodor Hope ; Do6i:or Black ; Doclor Hutton ; ProfefTor Dugald Stewart ; John Playfair ; ProfelTor J. Robertfon, Secretary.
ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY COLLEGE OF PHY- SICIANS COLLEGE OF SURGEONS MEDI- CAL SOCIETY.
There is a fbciety lately eftabllfhed in this city for the purpofe of colledling and pre- ferving every thing that relates to Scottifh antiquities. The Earl of Bute is the Preli- dent, the Earl of Buchan is Firfl Vice-Prefi- dent, and Lord Gardenftone is Second Vice- J'relident.
Thero
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 22j
There are befides a college of phyficians, a college of furgeons, and a medical fociety.
There is alfo a popular eftablifliment called the Hi^^h School of the City^ which announces that here nothing; conne£led with public iii- ftrucllon is neglected. This fchool is divided into feveral clafTes, the mafters of which are 'employed in teaching the elements of the Latin language to youth.
Thefe inflitutions fhew that the arts, the fciences, and the Belles-lettres are cultivated and efteemed in this city, which is honoured by the diftinguifhed characfters it has produced in every branch of learning. The celebrity of the profellbrs is fo great that vafl: numbers of foreigners come from every quarter of the world to ftudy at the univerfity, and the mo- ney they fpend is a confiderable advantage to the town.
Edinburgh, both from its fituation and its. tranquillity, is a proper place for the fciences. It is not difturbed by the tumult of parlia,-. mentary difcuffions, the buftle of an over- grown commerce, iior the din:ra6ling amufe- ments of London. From, time immemorial the mufes have chofen to refide on the top of a hill near a folitary fountain.
VOL. II. Q^ Mentionlns;
2^6 TRAVELS THROUGH
Mentloiung the mufes, brings to my recol- le<9:k)n an infciiption in their honour, which is placed above one of the gates of the iini- veri:ty. It is ratiier extraordinary :
MUSIS ETCHRISTO.
TO THE MUSES AND CHRIST.
This afibclation may to' fome appear pro- fane, but it is only a little conceit by which the author probably intended to announce that both letters and religion are taught in this building. A mioiilier of the prefbyteriaii. religion, who accompanied me on my xiCit to the univerTity, was very eager to juftify this fiugiihir infcription, which he thought remarkably ingenious: He alked my opi- nion of it.
I replied to him ^^■ith a fmile, that I believed the infcription might be inter- preted in a very favourable manner, if the meaning which I was inclined to give it, were adapted.
It is proper, laid I, that the mules fliould prefide over an eftablifhment which elevates man to the true dignity of his nature by in- ftru<Sling him. They may be here con-fidered
SIS
KNGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 2 2|7
as fupplicating reafon to profcribe the two chairs ©f Theology and Church Hiftory ; and of thofe of Logic, Moral Philofophy, Na^ tural Philofophy^ the Laws of Nature and Nations, Civil La'i"^'-) and Scotch Law, to make only one, which may be called the Profeflbrfhip of the Laios of Nature and, Nations.
On the other hand, the greatell: of moralifts, |)laced by the fide of the mufes, ought to re-, mind the inhabitants of thefe countries that true knowledge is the enemy of fanaticifm and intolerance ; that thofe who have fhed fo much of the blood of Scotland in theolo- gical difputes, were ftrangers to morality as well as to the fpirit of humanity, which be- longs to the religion they pretended to pro^ fefs * ; and that thofe who overthrew and deftroyed the ancient monuments of the na- tion, becaufe they were connected with a re- ligion which they did not approve, were real barbarians, whofc ferocity was only equalled by their ignorance.
* Such as Kaox, who entitled an account of the afTaf- fination of Cardinal Beaton, " The Joyous Narration, " &c." Such as that fanguinary prieft, Beaton himfelf, who burnt hunxan beings alive, becaufe they were what he called heretics.
0^2 CABINET
2i8 TRAVELS THfeOUGIf
CABINET OF NATURAL HISTOST.
Tlie cabinet of natural hifl:ory, in the Bniverfity, is under the diiedloii of Do(3:or Howard. The examination of this coUedion gave me great pleafnre, and interefted me much more than that of the Britifh Mufeum^ in London, though it was far lels confider- able ; but, the ob]e<3:s which compofe it, arc in a more methodical order, particulaily the £i:ones and minerals : Befides, the managers of this mufeum have very properly taken care to colle<9: all the productions of Scot- laud they liave been able to procure.
Thus this mufeum is as inftru£l:Ive and interefting to the natives of Scotland, as it k agreeable to foreio-ners, who are always iTQUch iTsore defirous of feeingr coiie6lions
o
of the natural and local riches of a coun- try, than the multitude of difconne^lcd and inconfequential obj e ds c onftan tly brought from India, and which are repeated over and over in every cabinet.
Some reforms are, however, wanting to the mufeum of the univerfity. The place allotted for it ought to be larger and deco- rated
LNGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 229
rated with more Viiic. The ciafl^hcation fhould alio be exterided to the other parts as well as the minerals. Thefe improvements will certainly one day take place ; that they have not been made already can onlv be j^fcribed to the remaining influence of that erroneous mode of education which in all an- cient univerfities has occafioned natural fcicnce to be too much neglected. It is only lately that a profefTorihip in this important branch of inftrudion was eftablifhed in the college of Edinburgh ; but as a tafte for Jbis dehehtful iludy will, doubtlefs, increale very rapidly in a city where tlie other fciences have- fb lonc^ fixed their relidence, it is to be hoped that this cabinet will fbon be placed in a buildino- more worthy of a nation which is capable of fumi(hing it with the richefl fpecimens. I therefore invite Do<5lor Howard, whopoflefles much knowledge, and who loves his country^ tofolicit from the government the grant of a building fuitable to the colledion he fuper- intends, with grounds fufficiently extenfivc to join the botanical garden to the cabirtet of natural hiilory.
Lithology, and the ftudy of minerals, have
^s yet made little progreis in Scotland. There
0^3 are
230 TRAVELS THROUGH
are therefore few collections of thefe objefts. Dodor James Hutton is, perhaps, the only in-^ dividual in Edinburs:li who has placed in his cabinet fome minerals and a number of agates chiefly found in Scotland ; but I obferved, that he had not been fafficiently careful in collecting the different matrices which con- tained them. I therefore experienced much more nleafure in convcrfins; with this modeft philofopher than in examining his colleClion, which prefented me with nothing new, fince I had feen and ftudied upon a large fcale and in the places where nature had depolited them, almoft all the fpecim.ens of his collection.
DoClor Hutton was at this time bufily em- ployed in writing a work on the theory of the earth *.
* This work, which contains rather general views of the fubject than a body of obfervations, appeared in 1785, in the tranflations of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, for that year, under the following title: *• Theory of the Earth, " or an [nveftigation of the Laws obfervable in the com- " pofition, dilTolution, and reftoration of land upon the «' globe, by James Hutcon, M.D. F.R.S.E. and Member " of the Royal Academy of Agriculture at Paris *."
* This work has fmcc been confiderably enlarged; in 179;, it ■was publifaed in 2 vols. 8vo. under this tide, Theory of the. Earthy 'ivith Proofs and lUuJirations, iiifour/>aris.~Trini[^ior.
Dlu-ing
ENGLAND AND SCOTLA.^JD. 231
Daritto- my residence at Edinburgh I viiked, as often as poilible, the celebrated chjmift. Dr. Black, who in 1 76 igave the firfl analyfis of calcareous earth, in which he demoii- ftrated the exiftence of the aerial acid, com- monly called lixed air. This iHudrious phi- lofopher honoured me with the moft polite and kind attention.
After dining with him one day he (hewed me two pieces of petrified, or more properly, quartzijiccl wood ; for, upon examining them with a microfcope,it appeared that the quartz- ofe juice had penetrated through all their parts, and given them fuch a degree of hard- neis that they ftruck fire with fteel. This wood had been fent to Doctor Black from Ireland. Their colour was brown, and nearly the fame a^ that of the wood of Mahalep when it is worked.
This wood penetrated by quartz in the manner"! have defcribedypoffefTes the following fmgular property : If fmall fragments are broken off with a hammer and thrown on a piece of burning coal, in about a minute an agreeable fmell is perceived refembling that which proceeds from the wood of aloes.
0^4 It
232 TRAVELS THROUGIi
Jt is doubtlefs aftonifhing that the eflentlal odoriferous oil of this wood Ihould have been preferved during the long time neceiTary for transforming the wood into a ftate of qiiartzofe petrifadion ; but fuppofing that fome parti- cular circumftances had accelerated the pe- trification, it is ftill very extraordinary that this wood, which bears all the marks of a vegetable foreign to thefe countries, ihouldbe found on the banks of Lough Neigh in Ire- land.
Doctor Black was pleafed to give me the- two fpecimens he had of this curious wood, informing me at the iame time, that he did not colletSl objefts of this kind, and that he fhould be very happy if I would place them in my cabinet.
This learned chymifl alfo fhewed me the- mechanifm of a portable furnace of his own- invention, which will prove of great utility in the arts, and in chymiftry. It is fo contrived that the heat may not only be gra- dually increafed at pleafure, but carried ta fuch a high degree as to reduce iron nails to a ftate of fufion. This plan may be extended and perhaps even applied to high furnaces in which iron ore is fmelted.
Ifliall
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 233
I {hall defcribe the manner in which the interior of this furnace is formed : for in it the merit of the invention chiefly confiils. It is made of thick iron plates, and differs very little in its fi:ru6fiire from the or- dinary flove. Its form is cylindrical, and a cover is fitted to the top, which is occafionally taken off to fupply the ftove with fuel.
The mode by which the air enters is through holes of different fizes formed in a ring which turns round, fo as to give facility to the ad- miffion of the air in the quantity wanted : but I repeat it, the con-fl:ru6lion is not the great merit of the invention, for I have feen, both in France and Germany, many furnaces, the mechanifm of which is nearly the fame with this, as well with re- fpe6l to the mode of graduating the admiilion of the air as that of raifing the heat to the de-^ gree required.
It is the manner in which the interior is covered, and the fubftances ufed for fuel that do honour to the profound knowledge of Do^or Black.
A quantity of the beft charcoal is reduced to a fine powder, and pafTed through a fieve ; fbme fine clay is alfo reduced to powder : the
colour
234 TRAVELS THROUGH
colour of the latter Is of no importance ; the leaft fufible and the nioil: refra6tible,is the beft.
The clay is foaked in water in a tray, in the proportion of a quart to three quarts of charcoal diifl:. • This .mixture is well kneaded and amalgamated, and the pafte which is formed, is left in a ftate of moif- Siire. If the clay be very glutinous, the proportion of charcoal is encreafed. The infide of the furnace is then plaftered over with a quantity of this compoiition {uf- iicient to form a thin bed, which is llnooth- cd with the hand and rendered every where as equal as poffible. This iirft plafter is made about a line thick, and allowed to dry flowly, without the operation of fire, that it ;riay not be cxpofed to the danger of cracking. When this firit plafter has acquired a fufticient de- gree of hardnefi, a fecond bed is formed; which being allowed to dr;, , a third is laid over it in the fame manner. Thus different beds are formed in fucceilion above each other until the plafler has acquired the thick- nefs of about an inch.
Great attention muft be paid to drying the beds flowly and forming them into one body, to which the fire will afterwards givQ great confillence.
It
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 235
It is well known to experimental philofo- phers and chymilts, that charcoal is one of tire worft conduftors of heat. Founders, blackfmitlis, and other workmen, ha\^e long been acquainted with this facft, tranfmitted from father to fon, and have iifed charcoal dull: to great advantage in many of their ope- rations without thinking of the manner in which it aded. The ufeful efFeds it pro- duces are, however, refult lefs from its combuftible quality than that of its being a bad condu6lor of heat ; or rather that it retains the heat, concentrates it, and pre- vents it from efcaping and lofing itfelf on the furrounding points.
I have been induced to enter into thefe details, becaufe I am of opinion that what has been faid will not prove iniifeful to the arts, an4 that thofe who love and cultivate this particular branch of economy, may make fuccefsful applications of Doctor Black's in- vention. Thefe motives will excufe the length of this article.
I was feveral times in company with Dodlor John Aiken, a private profeflbr of Anatomy, in Edinburgh. He fhewed me a number of ingenious macliines of his invea-
tion:
2^6 TRAVELS THROUGH
tion ; and, among others, one for facilitating difficult births, the ufe of which was not at :A\ dangerous, and in the invention oi which he had followed nature as clofely as poffihle. This inftrument may be compared ta a.. long {lender hand. It is introduced quite- open and without any kind of comprefllon into the womb of the mother. This artificial hand, which is covered with a iine foft fkin, is placed againft the child upon which it is. made to collapfe to the degree of contraftion wanted, by the means of a fcrew in the han- dle, which afts with a gradual and gentle motion. The accoucheur then uhng his right iiand, aided by this point of fupport, may deliver a woman in difficult labour with much more facility than in any other manner, Dodor Aikin affured me, that he had expe-. rienced the grcatefu fuecefs in the u^ of this inflrument.
- The knowledge of whatever may contri-. bute to relieve fuffering humanity, ought to be as widely difFufed as pofhble. I therefore- beo^ged Do61or Aiken to allow me to take a model of this inftrument to France. He rea- dily confented, and -procured an excellent workman, who in a few days executed an
inftru-
EKGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^37
iiiftrumciit perfe£lly fimilar. I packed it up with the intention of bringing it to Paris, and fubmitting it to the examination of our mofl celebrated practitioners in midwifery.
Doctor Aiken alfo fhewed me a lock which he had contrived for great guns, by which they might be eafily made to perform a double difcharge ; but while I admired his inventive genius, I could not. avoid telling him, that I was far better pleafed to iee fb Ikilful a pbylician employed in healing than in deftroying, and that I loved his invention for bringing men into the world, much more than I did that for fending them out of it.
Some days after, I had the pleafure of dining with Doftor Cuilen, who, perhaps, is the oldeft, and certainly is one of the moft cele- brated phyficians of Europe. The fcience of medicine owes him great obligations, and the city of Edinburgh ought never to forget that his reputation has attracted within its. walls a multitude of foreigners who come from all quarters of the world to receive in-, ftrudion in that learned fchool, in the creation of which he has had a principal ihare.
Doaor
238 TRAVELS THROUGH
Do(5lor Cullen lived in the midft of a liii- merous family, who formed around him an amiable circle of friends. Gooil nature and amenity reigned in his houfe. This learned phyfician merited all thefe ad\a[itages, for he poflcired himfelf manners and a difpofition of the moft agreeable kind. I found that he very much rcfembled BoufFon in his behaviour and mode of living, which rendered him doubly interefting to me. His table was plentifully ferved, but without any luxury. I was however aftoniflied to find a profufion of punch brought in between the defert and tea.
This regimen, in the houfe of a phyfician of fuch great reputation, appeared to me very extraordinary. He obferved my furprife, and faid to me with a fmile, that this beverage was not only fuited to his age, but that a long experience had convinced him that when taken with moderation it was very falutary for the inhabitants of Scotland, particularly during the latter part of the autumnal feafon, and in winter, becaufe the cold humidity which then prevails in this climate often checks perfpiration. Punch, he remarked, is a zoann Jlimulant, which operates zoonderfully in
onaii'i-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 239
maintaining that necejfary fccretioni or in rejloring it to its equiUbrium.
This humid and penetrating atmofphere had, for fome time, afFeded me in a very dil- agrecable manner notwithftaiiding the a<3:ive life which I led. I am perfuaded, that it is one of the caufes of that fombre melancholy to which the people of England are fo fre- quently liable. In vain I took exercife, aiid endeavoured to employ my time in a manner perfe6liy fuitabie to my tafte ; I found that the mifts, the frequent rains, the daily winds, paffing luddenly from heat to cold, a fliarp- nefs in the air, which cannot be fo eafily de- fcribed as it is felt ; the abfence of the fun, which fogs or clouds almoft conftantly eclipfe at this feafon, plunged me into an involun- tary melancholy, which I Ihould not have been able to fupport long.
To raife my fpirits, my friends often in- formed me that the fun was about to ap* pear ; but in my bad humour, I was more than once tempted to reply to them, as CaraccioU, the viceroy of Sicily did to an Englifh noble- man, who defired him to look at that luminary in London: " Your Englifh fun, mj lord, " very much refembles our Sicilian moon.*'
This
240 TRAVELS THROUGH
This difagreeable feeling was not to hb endured, and I refolved to adopt the reglmeii of Do6lor CuUen. Each day after dinner I took a glafs of punch, compofed of rum, fugar, lemon juice, a little nutmeg and boiling water^ which foon reflored me to my ufual con- dition *.
1 faw feveral other men diftingulfhed iii various branches of literature, among whon^ were Doctor Anderfon, Sir John Dalrymplcj and the celebrated hiftorian Do61or Williarrt Robertfon, with whom I enjoyed many agreeable converfations.
That venerable philofophcr, Adam Smith j was one of thofe whom I vifited moft fre- quently. He received me on every occafion in the kindeft manner, and lludied to procure for me every information and amufement that Edinburgh could afford.
Smith had travelled in Fl-ance, and refided for fome time in Paris. His colledion of books was numerous and excellently chofen : The beft French authors occupied a diftin-
* That excellent phyfician, Do6lor CuUcn, is no more. He was regretted by his friends, and mourned by the city of Edinburgh which ereiSled a funeral monument to his memory : He was worthy of thj\t honour, and that city was worthy of him.
guiflied
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 24 1
guidied place in his library, for he was very fond of our language.
Though advanced in years he ftill poflefTed !a fine figure. The animation of his coun- tenance was ftriking, when he fpoke of Vol- taire, whom he had known and whofe me- mory he revered, " Reafon," faid he, one day, as he fhewed me u fine bufl c£ this author, *' owes him incalculable obligations ; " the ridicule and the farcafms which he lb ** plentifully beftowed upon fanatics and " hypocrites of all fe6ls, have enabled the " underflandings of men to bear the light of " truth, and prepared them for thofe enquiries '* to which every intelligent mind ought to " afpire. He has done much more for the *' benefit of mankind than thofe grave philo- *' fophers whofe books are read by a few " only ; the writings of Voltaire are made *' for all and read by all,"
On another occafiou he obferved to me, " I cannot pardon the emperor Jofeph 11. " who pretended to travel as a philofpher, " for pafling Ferney without paying homage " to the hiftorian of the Czar Peter I. From " this circumftance I concluded that Jofeph ** was but a man of inferior mind."
VOL. II. R One
242 TRAVELS THROUGH
One evening; while I was at tea with him he Ipoke of RoufTeaii with a kind of religious rcfpe6l, " Voltaire fought to correft the vices " and the follies of mankind by laughing at " them, and fometimes by treating them " with feverity ; RouiTeau conducts the rea- *' der to reafou and truth, by the attra^biou *' of fentiment, and the force of convidion* " His focml corn-part; will one day avenge all " the perfeculions he experienced/*
Heaiked me one day, whether I loved mufic ? I anfvvered, that it formed one of my chief de- lights whenever I was fo fortunate as to hear it well executed. " I am very glad of it," faid he, " I Hiall put you to a proof which will " be very intereding for me ; for I fhall take *' you to hear a kind of mufic of which it is " impolTible you can have formed any idea, '* and it will afford me great pleafure to know ** the im/relfion it makes upon you.**
Next morning at nine o'clock, Smith came to my lodgings. At ten he conduced me to a fpacious concert- room, plainly but neatly decorated, in which I found a numerous audience. I faw, however, neither orcheftra, muficians, nor inftruments. A large fpace was left void in the middle of the room, and
fur-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLANi:). 243
lUffouiided with benches which were occupied by gentlemen only. Ladies and gentlemen were difperfed over the room upon other feats. Adam Smith informed me, that the gentlemen who fat in the middle were the judges of the mufical competition which was about to take place ; they were almoft all, he obferved, inhabitants of the ides or highlands of Scotland and mi2;ht therefore be regarded as the natural judges of the conteft. They were to decree a prize to him who fhould beft execute a favourite piece of High- land Mufic. The fame air was therefore to be played by all the competitors.
In about half an hour, a folding door opened at the bottom of the room, and to my great furprife, I faw a Highlander advance, playing upon the bagpipe. He wasdrelTed in the ancient Rom.an habit of his Country. He \^^alked up and down the empty fpace with rapid fteps and a martial air, blowing his noify inftru- ment, the difcordant founds of which were fufficient to rend the ear. The tune was a kind of fonata, divided into three parts. Smith requeued me to pay my whole attention to the mulic, and to explain to him afterwards the impreffion it made upon me.
R 2 But
244 TRAVELS THROUGH
But I confeis that at firft I could not d\{- tiiiguifii either t\ir or defign in the mufic. I was only ftruck with the piper marching con- tiiiually backward and forward with great ra- pidity, and ftill prefenting the fame warhke countenance. He made incredible efforts with his body and his iingers to bring into p]ay the diiierent reeds of his inflrument, which e'nit:ed founds that were to me al- moft infupportable.
He received however great applaufe, A fecond mulician fucceeded, who was alio left alone in the intermediate area, which he tra- veled with the fame rapidity as the former. His countenance was no lefs dignified and mardal than tliat of his predeceiTor. He ap- peared to excel the iirfl competitor ; and clapping of hands and cries o^ bravo refounded on every fide. During the third part of the air I obferved that tears flowed from the eye$ of a number of the audience.
Having liftened with much attention to eight pipers in fucccflion, I at laft began to difcover that the firll: part of the air was a warlike march : the fecond feemed to defcribc a languinary action ; the mufician endeavour- ing by a rapid fucceifion of loud and difcor-
dant
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 245
dant founds to reprefent the clafhlng of arms, the ihrleks of the wounded, and all the hor- rors of a field of battle. In this part, the per- former appeared cdnvulfed ; his pantomimi- cal 8;eftures refembled thofe of a man en^a?ed in combat. His arms, his hands, his head, his legs, were all in motion. He called forth all the various founds of his inftiTiment at the fame moment, and this iingalar difbrder piade St great impreffion upon the company.
Witlxa rapid try.nfition the piper paffed to the third part, which was m a kind of andante. His convulfive motions fuddenly ceafed. His countenance aiTumcd an air of deep fbrrow. The founds of his inftrument were plaintive, languid and melancholy. They were lamenta- tions for the {lain — the wailings of their friends who carried them from the field of battle. This was the part which drew tears from the eyes of the beautiful Scotch ladies^
The whole of this entertainment was fb, extraordinary, and the impreffion which the founds of this wild inftrument feemed to make upon the greater part of the audience was fo. very different from that which they made upon me, that I could not avoid conceiving that the lively emotions exhibited by the per- R 3 fons
246 TRAVELS TKx'lOUGH
fons around me were not occalionedby the mii- ficalcffe*3: of the air itfelf, but by an affoclation of ideas which conne6led the difcordant founds of the bagpipe with fome hiflorical fa6ls thus brought forcibly to the recolle6lion of the audience *. There are fcarcely any traces of a v/ritten language among the Highlanders^ either in manufcripts or upon their monu- ments ; it may therefore be prefumed that they have had recourfe to fongs to tranfmit to their pofterity the hiftory of the events in which they were deeply interefled. Accuf- tomed to hear thele airs from their infancy, and taught by their parents to connect thenj with tranfaclions which are to them of the greateft impv:!rtance : they never hear them without being ftrongly atfeded. It is not therefore aftonifhing that they ^re fo paflion-
* Johnfon makes the followins ebfervation on an air which he heard at the feat of Sir Ak-xander M'Donald in the ifle of Sky : " As we fat at Sir Alexander's table, we " were entertained, according to the ancient ufage of the *' North, with the melody of the bagpipe. Ever.y thing in ** thofe countries has its bidory As the bjgpiper was *' playing, an elderly gentleman infor,rned, i^?, tiiat in fome *' remote time, the MMJonalds of Glengary haviqg beea' *' injured, or offended by the inhabitants of CuUoden, and *• rcfolving to have juftice or vengeance; came to Cullo- " den on a Sunday, where finding their enemies at wor- " lliip, they fliut them up in the church, which they fet on « fire i and this, faid he, is the tune whiich the piper *' played while they were burning,"
ately
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 247
ately fond of this kind of mufic. They have however another kind which is better adapted to the voice, and conftriifted more according to the rules of art, whicli they ufe in their dances, and their anaorous and convivial fongs : But thev reg-ard this mulic as inferior to the former.
The fame air was plaved by each com- petitor, of whom there was a coniiderable number. There appeared to be no preference given but to talents, and the moft difmtereft- ed applaufe was bedowed on thofe who ex- celled in their art. I conftfs I did not ad- mire any of them. To me they were all equally diiagreeable. 7 he mufic and the in- ftrument conftantly reminded me of a bear's dance.
The CO -.petition was followed by a lively and animated dance, formed by a part of the piper; while the others played fuitable airs, which poffefTed exprellion and charucler ; but the union of fo many bagpipes produced a moft hideous noife.
The competitors aoterwards formed them-
felves into a hue two deep, and m.arched in
that order to the caflle of Edinburgh, which
lb built upon a volcanic rock. There they
R 4 played
2^8 TRAVELS THROUGH
played an air, which was a kind of ballad, in hoac-^ur of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, for whom the Highlanders ftill pre- ferve a warm attachment and religious relped. They fpeak of her with a tender affeftion : They regard her as the innocent victim of the cruel, and impl^.c ibie jealoufy of Eliza- beth. Mary was their Queen. They knew that Ihe was beautiful, mild, affable and generous ; that (he loved the arts ; that flie long languifiied in a paiaful captivity; and that (he died with retignation and courage. Lefs would be fufficient to intereft honeft peaceable men, whom flate policy, and the crimes which it engenders, have not yet cor- rupted, and who abhor the fliedding of blood in any way but for legitimate defence.
I do not know the antiquity of compe- titions of this kind. During my ftay in Mull, 1 wa^- informed that there had been beyond all time of memory a college or lociety of bag- pipers in that ifland. This fchool was not entirely extiiiguilhed in confequence of the death of the famous Rankin, who had the di- re61ion of it for about thirty years. M'Rim- mon kept a fimilar fchool in the ifle of Sky, and each of the principal families of
the
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 249
the Hebrides always kept a piper, whofe office was hereditary.
While I remained at Edinburgh I made fe- veral excurfions for the purpofe of examining the natural hiftory of the environs of that city, and I formed a .lar2;e colle6lion of volcanic fubftances, and other Intereftinor mlneralosri- cal fpecimens. Each article was carefully ticketted, and Do6lor Swediaur kindly took upon himlelf the charge of fending them to France witli the other colle6tions I had made in the Hebrides.
This rich colle^lion, the fruit of fo much pain and fo much pleafurc, was loft, as well as the veflel in which it was embarked, on the coaft of Dunkirk. The crew with diffi- culty faved themfelves in a boat, and I was de- prived in a moment of a treafure to which I attached the greater value becaufe it con- tained a variety of new objeds which would have been highly interefting to naturalifls.
Fortunately, whenever I had Icifure, Iwrotc exacSldefcriptions of the fpecimens I colleded, which have enabled me to give a corre6t ac- count of the lithology of Glafgow, Perth, Staffa, the ille of Mull, and other places. My various engagements at Edinburgh, how- ever.
Z^O TRAVELS THROUGH
ever, did not leave me time to take defcrip- tions of the whole of the Ipeclmens I collected there. This is the only omiffioii of the kind I have to charge myfelf with ; but unfortu- nately it prevents me from giving a complete account of the various and remarkable pro- ductions \^ ith which the hills that are grouped around that city abound, and which have al- mofl: all been a prey to the action of fubter- iraneous fire.
I fhoukl have been the more dsfirous of giving a detail :d account of thefe fpecimens, which left no doubt as to the exigence of ancient volcnos, iince I found the greater part of the learned men of this city obfH- aately prejudiced a^ainft this opinion.
The cadle, which commands the town, is built upon a hill formed of compe61 lava in the form of bafaltes. The black colour of this lava, and the gothjc afpeCl of the caftle which furmounts this volcanic precipice, forms a ftriking and very pleafing contraft with the elegant white houfes, built with great tafte in that part of the city which is called the New Tov/n.
Not far from this there is another emi- Kcnce called the Calton Hill, formed of
greyifh
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 25 1
gieylfh lava, near the top of which there ftands a monument ere61:ed to the memory of a philofopher and an hiftorian — It con- tains the afhes of David Hume. ^
Behind the town there is an elevated chain in a part of which the hills feem piled up one againft the other, and are compofed of bafaltic lava. This fubftance, which, at one time, mufl have been liquefied, exhibits prif^ matic fepta occalioned by the cooling of the lava. There is here, however, none of that aftonifhing regularity difplayed in the prif^ matic columns of the cave of Fingal, or tho Giants Caufeway of Antrim. The rapid mode in which this lava probably cooled, may have prevented this beautiful effed fron^ taking place, or perhaps that regularity is produced by caufes of which we ftill are ig- norant.
One of the hills of this ridge, has a hollow in its fummit, and in the whole of its form fomewhat refembles a chair or gigantic feat. This fpot, in which there is nothing; remarkable but its elevation and its fteepnefs, is known in the Old Chronicles under the latin name of Arthuri Sedes^
and
252 TRAVELS THROUGH
and In Englifh by that of Arthur"* s Seat. It is poffible, howe\'er, that this name may have its orio;in in fome other caufe than the figrirc €\f the top of the h-Il, the tradition of which is loft.
Sibbcild, in his Scotia Illujlrato^ printed in 1684, gives an account of a barometrical obfei-vation made by the mathematician, George Sinclair, on the fammit and at the bottom of a mountain which he calls Sedes Arthuri, 1 here is no doubt but it is the lame as that of which I have been fpeak-. ing*.
I examined the large blocks of bafaltes which are detached from this mountain and lie fcattered about at its bafe, in which I ob- ierved fpots of zeolite even in the centre of the lava. I colleftcd fome very fine fpeci- meus. This zeolite which is white, and
* Yx obfervatione Georgii Sfnclari mathematici noftratis, in virtice illius n ont'iF, cui nomen vulgo jArthuri Sedes, ob id imprimis Celebris, quod civitati Fdinburgi, ob vicinitatem imminet, mercurialis cylin- idii aklcudo repcrta eft 28, digitorum cum quadrante ; 2pud radices autem montis 29. Sibbald, Scotia illuftrata, par I. lib. i. folio lo.
in
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 253
in fome parts clouded with a blueifh tinge, is neither radiated nor cryftallized in a regular manner. It is rather of the Icaly texture of 'white marble. It is hard and fufceptible of the moft brilliant polifh. This is not fur- priling, when it is coniidered that it contains a fmall mixture of quartzofe earth. This gives it fomething of a calcedonious ap- pearance; but it is fufible with the blow- pipe, bubbles in fmeltiag, and has all the pro- perties of zeo'ite.
Behind thele voicanlzed mountains there are beds of quartzofe free-ftone, which has experienced in a very confid^rable degree the a6i:ion of fire, and thereby acqau'ed a reddifli colour. Indeed, the operation of fubter- raneous fire is manifeft every where around Edinburgh, where it exhibits the fame eha- rafteriftic traces as in the environs of Perth, Glafgow, and Dunbarton, and in the ifland of Staffa.
I regret that I am obliged to confine myfelf to this general dcfcription : If my valuable coUedion had not been loft, I Ihould have defcribed a feri s of volcanic produ6lions which would have removed every doubt on this fubje(5t, and demon-
ftrated
254 TRAVELS THROUGH
ftrated that the vicinity of Edinburgh has been the prey of ancient volcanos, {ince it ftill exhibits lavas limilar to thofe of Etna and Vefuvius.
CHAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 255
CHAPTER XV.
Departure from Edinmrgb.'-^Itinerary to Manchef* ter^-^Natural Hijhry
After taking leave of Doaors Black, Cullen, Smith, .and the other refpeclable cha- raders who had treated me with fo much kiiidnefs in Edinburgh, I made preparation! for my return to London ; I determined to take the Carlifle road, which would give mc an opportunity of feeing Manchefter, Derby, Buxton, Cafileton, Birmingham, &c.
When I l-'ft Londun with my fellow-tra- vellers our party confifted of four perfons, on returning from Edinburgh it was reduced to two.
I forgot to mention that M. de Mecies, after vifiting the cave of Fingal, which was the principal object of his journey, left us at Mr. M'Lean's, in the iile of Mull, and fet out for London, where buiinefs required his prefence.
Our other interefting and agreeable fel- low-traveller William Thoniton, intending
to
2^6 ' TRAVELS THROUGH
to pafs fome months with his friends in Ame- rica, determined to remain in Edinburgh, where he had a numerous acquaintance, until he ihould find a veffel to carry him to his native country. We feparated from him with much pain, for his excellent m.oral qua- lities, and his love for the fciences, rendered him truly amiable and worthy of all our at- tachment.
All our bufinefs being at laft arranged, Count Andreani and I left Edinburgh on the 3d of October, taking the Carlifle road.
About a mile and a half from Edinburgh, the lavas and other volcanic fubflances which iurround that city, difappear : they are fuc- ceeded by quartzofe free-ftone, which in fe- veral places cover rich mines of coal. This fandy zone, which is pretty extenfive, difap- pears in its turn, and the face of the country again exhibits volcanic fubftances from LafT- wade to Selkirk, in paffrng through Middle- ton, Bankhoufe, Stagehall, Crofslee, &:c.
The afpe6t of this part of the country is wild and fterile. The black, blueifli, and reddifli brown lavas which we obferved on the road, were almoft all difpofed in tables or plates like flate ; but they had all expe- rienced
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 257
rieiiced the a6lio"n of fire, forae were of the hature of bafaltes ; but othfr^, wliich were iefs hard, exfohated and decompofed in the air.
We proceeded on to Arnfkirk, Hawick, Allanmouth, Binks, Redpath, and JLang- hohn. The mile-ftone at this laft place is marlced 69 from Edinburgh. Volcanic ap- pearances prevail from ArnfKirk to Langholmi • The lavas at Hawick form fteep hills, and ■ are difpofcd in horizontal beds, or rather la- mella, which refemble flate ; their colour, however, is more pale. There is little doubt but that all the hills and mountains in this quarter have experienced the a<^ioii of fire.
Kirk- Andrews, Longtown, Wejilington, Carlijle. — Sand and quartzofe free-ftone of an ochreous red colour— fine cultivation in the neighbourhood of Carlifle — large and excellent ploughs — a number of kilns for making lime, which is ufed for manure. Lime is not only ufed for the meadows j but alfo for the arable land ; fmall heaps are formed which are allowed to flack in the air, and are afterwards fpread over the fields. VOL. n. 8 A flage
258 TRAVELS THROUGH
A ibige before we arrived at Carlifle, wc had a view of Soivvay Frith, which feparatci England from Scotland on the Weft.
Mcm-aby^ Carleton, Lowlie/ketk^ HigheJketL The lame materials as above, that is to fay, fand, redquartzofe, free-ftone, and calcareous ftones.
Perith. At a mile from this town, on the declivity ofa mountain, there are large rounded blocks of baiakic lava, intermixed with mafles of granite, which are alfo roundjsd.
Eunwnt Bridge, Cliflon, Tlirimby. Blocks of reddifh granite of a considerable fize, with fome rounded balaltes, both placed upon beds of calcareous ftone.
Shap, Haufefoot. Here the hills of tabu- la tedand foliated lava re-appear. Someofthem refemble thofe of Mount- Mezcn, in Velai, which I have delcril>ed in my Mmeralogi* des Volca7is.
Kendal, Syzergh. The fame volcanic ap- pearances.
HaverJJiam, Milthorpe, Holme, Burton, Dure'Bridge,Carnf or d, Bolton, Slyne, Lan- cafier. This road is almoft entirely through a calcareous country ; rounded balaltes arc,
however,
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 259
however, fometimes found fcattered in the fields. The country is in general rich in pafture. The meadows are manured with a mixture of lime, dung, and common earth, which forms an excellent compoft.
From Lancafter we proceeded to Man- chefter.
s % CHAP.
i6o TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER XVI.
Mai:chefter, — Dodor Henry and bis Cabinet. — Co/- ton ManufaEinres. — Mcffuiivs 1'bomas and Benja- min Potter^ — Charles T^aslor,
I
T was late wlieri we arrived at Manchef- ter. As I had letters to Doctors White and Percival, I wrote to th.nn next morning, re- queuing to know at what hour it would be convenient for them to fee me, but it happened tlist they \^'ere both obhged to vifit patients at the diitance ofiome miles from the town. DoOor Pcrcival fent a young German of his acquaintance to ftate the regret he felt in confequence of not being able to fee us ; and Do6lor White engaged his friend, Doctor Henry, to wait upon us in his flead. Thefe two gentlemen had the complaifance to offer every fervice in their power, and to- fhew us whatever was remarkable in the town. They paid us the moft polite attention, and never left us during the ftay we made in Manchcller. Manchefler is a large town ; it contains between thirty-fix and forty thoufand inhabi- tants ;
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 261
tnnts ; but if the manufa^lnrers who live in its environs were added to this number, the population would be greatly increafed, and might be ranked with that of nioft cities of the fecoiid order.
The old cathedral is large and well" built. We fiiw alfo fome other ftru-flures of this kind which were not unintereiling : the cot- ton-mills, however, which have enriched this town, were obje(fls (lili nioye worthy of en- gaging ouf attention.
But notwithftaruding the defire of our kind condudlors to oblige us we found it impoffible to fee any thing of the kind. Every attempt was vain. The vigilance of the manufac- turers was ledoubled in confequence of having perfuaded themfelves that a French colonel, who was there fome time before us, wanted to procure plans of thefe machines in order to carry them to France. Since that period no flrangers, not even the mofi: reipedabic citizens of the town we/e permitted to enter the works *.
The
* At this time the machine for carding cotton had al- ready been carried to France and was ufed there. Not long after the mills were introduced by an intelligent s 3 Englifh-
Z62 TRAVELS THROUGH
The largeft of thefe cottoa-mills are moved by water : they fpin the cotton to fo much perfe6:ion, and with fo much economy, that thofe who flrfl erected them have made great fortunes, Arkwright, who invented them, was merely a barber, in the town of Man- cheftcr. The difficulties he mufl have had toTurmount in that fituation, doubtlefs, add to hh merit. He had the oood fenfe to turn
o
his difcovery to profit. He joined in com- pany with manufatlurers whom he enriched, and at the fame time made a great fortune himfelf.
Though I had not an opportunity of feeing the cotton -mills, I was, however, very com- plaifantly fliewn large warehoufes full of ma- nufadured goods. The finefl: pieces were unfolded in order that I might fee the pat-^ terns and the colours. We entered into con- verfation on the chymical proceffes ufed in
Englifhman, who difputed the merit of the invention with ^rkwright. 1 hcfe ingenious n.achines are now erecfled in feveral departments where they are conftantly employ- ed. This manufadure will doubtlefs be carried on with fpirit, undl caprice and faihion return to the ufe of filk, that beauciful and fumpiuous producStion of France, which employed fuch a number of hands and yielded revenues fo iipmenfe,
dying
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 263
dying the colours with very intelligent men, paiticulariy with MefTrs. Thomas and Ben- jamin Potter, and Mr. Taylor, who treated us in the moft affable manner. It is with piea- fure I here exprefs the gratitude I feel for their kindnefs.
We were doiibtlefs indebted to Dodtor Henry for all the politenels that was Ihewn to us in Manchefler. I wifh that I may one day have an opportunity of making a return to his kindnefs in France. He tranflated the works of Lavoifier into Englifh, and ftudies chymiftry much more than natural hiftory. At his houfe, however, I faw fome ilones and minerals ; but that which gave me the greateft pleafure in his coUedion was a fine foilile Os femoris, of the unknown animal whofe bones are found on the banks of the Ohio, and which is perhaps only a loft ipecies of the elephant. This Os femoris, which was in the moft perfed prefervation, weighed forty pounds.
« 4 CHAP-
264 TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER XVII.
Departure from Manchefier. — Buxton ; Its Mineral IVaters ; fine Baths, confiruLledon a Plan by Carr^, at the Expence of the Duke of DevonfimCy the Proprietor of th^ IVaters. — Do^or Pearfon. — Mamfaditre of Vafes and other Articles in Fluor Spar of different Colours. — Cave of Pool/ s Hole. — J^oadfone., compofed of a Bafis of Trapp, inter- fper fed with Particles of calcareous Spar, and cracked intoprijmc'ic SeHions like thofe of ha fait es, though not pro(iuced by Fire as the latter has h^en.
VV E uere received in a very polite man-. ner, asj have already obferved, by Do6lor Henry, and thole to whom he w.s good enough to introduce us. But we did not experience an equally kind treatment from the mafter of the BitWs Head inn, where we had put up. For two fbrry dni- ners he charg;ed us no lefs than fcventeen fhil- lings a -piece, to which we had to add three (hillings to his fervants ; and this Was ex- clufive of the bill for our domeftics. T he heft thing that poor fl:r::ngers can do in fuch a cafe is to pay the money. Travellers are equally liable to this fort of exaOion in Italy,
Germany,
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 265
.Germany, and France, as in England ; but ill neither is it general or derived from na-f tional characler. It nuiit be imputed to a few individuals only, who have loft all feeU ings of delicacy andjuirice, but who make a very wrong calculation with rcfped to their real interefls, as they foon deftroy both their own reputation and that of the houfes they keep. It is a very difficult matter to deviie good regulations of police upon this fubje^:. It is a truth v^'ell known to fuch as are in the habit of travelling, that the charges are al^ wa^ s highefc at thofe inns ^^'here the enter- tainment is the word, it is to be hoped that fome remedy will be found for this abufe ; but in the mean time it will be necefiary for travellers to keep a feparate purfe for thofe pKuidering inn-keepers, as is done in England for thofe gentlemen who rob on the highways, to whom thofe who venture to travel at late hours give without f^ar or danger the fum which is fet apart for them. I muft fay for my part, however, that I pafled through England and Scotland twice, and by different roads, without meeting any of thefe gentle-. men; and that I experienced no extortion but at two places, Duiis Hotel m Edin.r
burgh,
^66 TRAVELS THROUGH
burgh, and the Buirs Head m MancheA ten
From Manchefter to Buxton is twenty-four miles. The road through Derbyshire is neither agreeable nor commodious. It fome- times croffes over craggy mountains, and at others n\ns along narrow, wet and dirty val- leys, and though the turnpikes are numerous and dear, the roads are notwithftanding in a bad condition. They are in general, how- ever, well fupplied with poft-horfes. We left Manchefter at ieven in the morning, and did not reach Buxton till two in the after- noon.
Buxton is remarkable for its mineral wa- ters, for the benefit of which a confiderable afflux of company repair thither in the line fealbn- Buxton, however, is fituated in the midft of the moft difma! ai:id cheerlefs coun- try that I have ever (ctn,_ Its waters may be excellent, but mofl: certainly its atmofphere is impregnated with fadnefs and melancholy. The houfes, almoft entirely of a uniform ap- pearance, but folid conftru6hon, refemblc hofpitals or rather monaftic eftablifhments. A liiperb ftrufture, executed in a grand and beautiful ftile of archite(5hire, which appears
at
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 267
at the bottom of the place, and is appropriated to the baths, might be taken for the palace of the abbot.
We had letters of recommendation for Do£lor Pearfon, a London Phyfician, who be- longs to the eftablixliment of the baths of Buxton, where he generally Ipends fix months of the year. We were fortunate enough to find him there, though it was now pretty late in the feafon. As he was well ac- quainted with the country, and had publifhed an analyfis of the waters, in which he defcribed the ftones and earths that form the foil of Buxton, he kindly and readily offered to con- duct us to the mofl remarkable mines and caverns, the noted beds of lime-ftone, in his opinion, interfe^led with feveral currents of lava, and to the different other places mentioned in his book.
Do6lor Pearfon was very intimate with Whitehurft, and had adopted his opinion re- fpe£ting the beds of toad-flone, which he re- garded as the produd of fubterraneous fire^*. We fixed a day for going'to fee thefe fup-
* Obfervations and experiments on Buxtoti Waters^ ^c, ^y Doctor Pearfon, London^
pofcd
268 TRAVELS THROUGH
pofed remains of volcanos in a country, where, on the contrary, every thing indicates the agency of water ; and he had the goodnefs, in the mean time, to accompany us to the ihopsof feverai artifrs in ftone, who cut, turn, and poHfh the fine Derbyfhlre fiuor or phof- phoric.fpars * of different colours, gypfeou$ alabafters, and fome marbles.
WORKERS IN FLUOR OR PHOSPHORIC SPAR..
Several artifts in this line have fettled at Buxton on account of the numerous and in general opulent vifitants who refort thither for the waters, and whofe fancy or tafle in» clines them to purchafe their produ6tions. The fluor fpars are turned into fmall hollow •r folid vafes, columns, eggs, pears, and watches, and cut into pyramids, pedeftals, &c. As the colours are beautiful and variegated, and the ftone is fufceptible of a fine fhining polifh, it was formerly fold at a very high rate ; but fince it has been found in fo great abundance, the increafe of artificers, and the confequent competition among each other,
* The Fluas cakareus of the new nomenclature of chymiftry, page 172,
have
KNGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 26()
have contributed to dimlnllh very much the price of thcfe articles of ornament. There are very few among the ftone-cutters of Bux- ton who ihew any tafte for the beautiful forms. They have ligns above their Ihop- doors with their names and the addition of petrifaElion-works.
The moft inteUigent of them, in my opinion, was one Noel, who was in eafy cir- cumftances, and had fucceeded well in this branch of trade. He was bi inging up to the fame art a daughter and a fon, who were al- ready almoft as well lltilled in it as himfclf, though the boy was only eight, and the girl nine years of age. It was at his fhop that the beft turned vafes were to be feen.
Samuel Cooper had the befl: ftocked /hop ; but his pieces were dearer than thofe of the others.
John Evans and Motterfhed, are two other artificers who have pretty good aflTort- ments.
It is necefTary to guard againft a number of little contrivances which they make ufe of to repair the accidents which fometimes hap- pen to their produ6lions, and confequently to deceive the purchafers.
They
270 TRAVELS THROUGH
They introduce, for inftance, into the acci- dental cavities or fraftures, which they arc dextrous enough at repairing, quantities of lead in its native ftate, that is, as it comes from the mine. They then polifh it ; and are not wanting in afTurances to the purchafer that it is natural to the Ipar, and enhances it* value.
I remarked alfo, that to give a finer luftrc to their produ6tions, they had always fomc water at hand to plunge them into, on the pretence that it was only to w^alh off the dufl:. But it was eafily feen that the water had a lingular effeft in enlivening the colours, the polilh, and the femi-tranfparency of the {lone.
The fluor fpar, which is fafiiioned atBuxton^ is procured from the lead mines of Caftleton, about ten miles from the former. The only jftones of value found in the environs of Bux- ton, are a very fine gypfeous, white, femi- tranfparent alabailier, which is made into vafes and pedeftals, a black marble emitting a bituminous fmell on being rubbed, and a yellowifh calcareous fpar, both of which are applied to the fame purpofe.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^^l
THE BATH-HOUSE,
This fuperb edifice has more the appear- ance of a palace than that of a place for bathing. It is a vail: fabric, in the fliape of a rotunda, ornamented all round on the out- fide with large pilaflers which fupport a rick cornice crowned with a balluHrade.
This building, in addition to the Ipace oc* cupied by the baths, contains apartments for more than two hundred gentlemen, exclu- lively of the chambers for their domeftics, the perfons employed about the baths and wells, and the different maftcrs of taverns and ordinaries neceffary to provide for fo nu- merous an aflcmblage, and who are the prin- cipal renters of the whole ftrudlure. It con- tains alfo coffee-rooms, gaming-rooms, an(i ball-rooms*
The whole of this vaft fabric was ere£led at the expence of the duke of Devonfhire, upon the plans and under the fuperintendance of the architect Carr« It is executed in an ex- cellent ftile of archite61:ure, uniting to a cha- ra6ler of grandeur an air oftafle, which does honour to the talents of that able artift, whom
I had
^72 TRAVELS THROUGH
i had the pr '^'"e of feeing, nd who was kind enough to :ondu6l me through every part of i\
The baths are difpofed with the fame judg- ment as tl.e other partr, of the work. There are common and private ones for the women ; thofe for the men are in a feparate quartet and pofTefs the Tame conveniencies. There are feveral aUo appropriated to the ufe of the poor;
The mineral waters for drinking run into a large ciftern of white marble, over which is ere£led a neat little temple finely executed in an antique ftile.
The waters of Buxton are rather moderately warm than hot ; as they do not raife the mer- cury in Farhenheits thermometer above eighty- two degrees. Do(5lorPearfon, who has analized them, fays, " that the air which is extricated '* from it in great abundance, does not contain *' any fixed air, but atmofpheric mephits, or " the azotic gas of the new nomenclature *.'* This is a very remarkable fa6l.
The
* The term azot, is derived from the Greek, and figni- fies the privation of life ; but, as other gas produce the fame efFeft, the word is improper. I do not mean to at- ,
tack
Ei^GLAND AND SCOTLAND. 273
The village of Buxton is not very coi>li- derable, and the greater part of the houfes are the property of the duke of Devonshire. They are generally rented by tavern-keepers, and yield him a great revenue. The one neareil; the baths lets for twelve hundred pounds fterling ; and, I was aiTured, that the baths alone produce a yearly rent of at leafh thirty-fix thoufand French livres.
To draw a greater number to the houfes belonging to himfelf, the duke of Deyonfhirc adopted a plan which has met with complete fuccefs. Thofe who are lodged in any of them are charged only ten-pence Englifh a-day, for the waters, whilft fuch as have apartments elfewhere pay a ihilling a-day.
LITHOLOGY OF THE ENVIRONS OF BUXTON*
Buxton is fituated in the midft of a num-. ber of fmall hills, which are quite clofe to
tack the principles of pnumatic c'nymiRry, but its lan- guage only. Ifthis ma'adv, which is :is dreadful to the language of Racine, Fenelon, BouiFon, Voltaire, &c, as the leprofy is to the beauty of a fine woman, gains ground in the other fciences, we fliall foon realize the fable of the tower cf Babel. A ccnfufion of language Vill introduce a confufion of ideas ; and we fhall thus be replunged in the gloom of barbarifm.
VOL» II. T each
274 , *r RAVELS THRO JGH
each other, and the highefl of which does not exceed {ix hundred and fifty feet. The fine river Wye takes its rife at a little diflance from the elegant il:ru<Sli3re of the new baths ; and foon after plunges into a deep chaim, and winds along between two approaching cliffs.
The mo^.iDtains on the road from Buxtou to Mjsn.hefter are coinpofed of banks of free- fone, in foine parts hard and in others foft and friable J and ibmetinies foliated. The hard kiiid, beiides the name of free-ftone, is here called greet ^ grit, and fometimes mill' Jtone-^reet'; the foliated kind is termedjiate. Thefe free-ftones are difpofed fometimes in iar2;e horizontal banks, and at other times in foliated ftrata ; they are in general white or reddifh.
Near theie, and almoft oppofite to them, are hill? entirely formed of lime-ftone in ho- rizontal beds in fome places, and in a con- tinuous uninterrupted mafs in others. Thefe mafles are fometimes divided by perpendicular or diagonal filTures.
This lime-ftone is hard, almoft of a fparry texture, and yields on beiug burnt k lime of a very fine quality. It is ufed,
as
EK'GLAND ANP SCOTLAND. I 75
as well as free-ftone, for making door-cafes, chimney-pieces, pedeftals, and other works. Its colour is in fome quarries whitifh or o-revifh, and in others black. The latter is employed for the fame purpofes as marble ; and it fcarcely contains any marine body. It 'exhales a very difagreeable fm.ell on being rubbed; it may be regarded as a kind of pierrepore.
The grey, on the contrary, contains madre- pores, entrochi, and other marine petrifac- tions. There are alfo found in it fome pieces of {ilex which are full of entrochitae. The grey calcareous ftratum does not pofTefs the fame degree of hardnefs throughout. The foft part emits a difagreeable fmell on being rubbed, not fo flrong, indeed, as that of the black kind, but ftill very fenfible. The harder pieces of the grey ibrt are ufed for feveral domeftic purpofes. I fhall refum.c the coniideration of thefe calcareous beds, which are remarkable for the circumflance of being interrupted with alternate beds of toad-ftone.
There is alfo found in that part of Derby-
{hire called the Peak^ in which is fituated
!Buxton, Matlock, Wirkefvvorth, Middleton,
T 2 Maflbn
276 TRAVELS THROUGH
MafTon Crnmford, Winfter, Caftlcton, Eyam, &c. black argillaceous fchiftus, more or iefs hard, and fometimcs refembling ilate, or as it is here called y7zfl./<? or JJiiver^ black and grey martial argil, more or lefs h?rd, which is not applied to any ufe, and which bears the name of iron-Jlone^ and red and grey marl, befides a brownifli kind of marl of a very fine grain, and loaded with calcareous particles, which is ufed I'ke tripoli for pohihing tin, copper, cryftal, kc. this kind is called rotten-Jlone. In this tracl are alfo feveral mines of coal, which are worked in abundance. They are not however very deep in general ; their roof is a black argillaceous fchifhis, marked with numerous prints of ferns, the greater part of which feem to be foreign. Here are like- wife found pyrites, black marble, grey marble, foft iimc-ftone, free-il:one, compa61:, gypfum, flriated gypfum, floor fpar of the appearance of am.ethyfl:, yellow, red, grey, or white; and a ponderous fine grained white earth which may be cut as eafily as chalk, is faid to abound in gypfeous earth, and is indifferently termed caulk^ calk, cawk, kewel, and keble. iThis matter is one of the moil: common ma- trices of the mines of Derbyfhirc, and is fre- quently
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 277
qncntly fcen adiiering to fiuor ipar *. To the above eninncratioii may be added double pointed rack cryftals, ponderous Ipar, and opake fiuor fpar, in detached cubical cryftals, which three fubftances are found on Diamond Hill, about three miles from Buxton ; calca- reous toifa, with feveral plants incrufted in it, manganefs in kidney-lhaped lumps, lead, copper, calamine, and blende ; the wells of Matlock old bath, Matlock new bath, and Buxton ; the acidulated mineral waters of Quarn, or Quarnden, an intermitting Ipring at Tidefwell, and a number of natural grottos, or caverns, feveral of which penetrate to a great extent, fuch as thofe of Caftleton, Poole's-hole, Elden-hole, Hofen's-hole, Burm- forth-hole, and I.athkill arfe. It is very re- markable that pretty copious flreams of water ilTue from almoft all of thefe caverns.
Such is a brief Iketch of the principal ob- je6ls obferved in the Peak of Derbyshire ; and this aftonifhing variety of fubftances within
* It is thought that the caulk makes the regulus of anti- mony more dudile, and gives it a compad texture. It is ufed at Birmingham in the manufa(5i:ury of yellow cop- per. Some pei/oas imagine that it is for the purpofe of molds, but of this tl;ere is no certainty, the greater part of the procelles being concealed in the Englifli manu- fadlories.
T 3 ,fo
27B TRAVELS THROUGH
fb fmall a compafs, muft certainly aflonid* the raoft experienced oeoloeifts. We ac- ■ cordingly find Mr. Ferber, lb well known for his " Letters on ike Minera'ogy of Italyr^' in the preface to a pamphlet which he has pub-, lifted on that of Derbvfliire, acknowle 2: n>2: that, without the a.d of Mr. Whitehurfl: and Mr. Burdett, who has publiihed a fine map of Derbyfhire, he fhould have been completely bewildered amidft the produ(ftion of fo fni- gular a country.
" I finceiciy acknowledge," fays he, " that
" without the afTiOance of thefe two perfons,
" I fliould have frequently found it Ytry dlffi-
*' cult to explain a great number of phxno-
*■ mena which were quite new to m.e. I
- ' had till then feen only homogeneous moun-
*' tains ; and none of the fiiratified mountains
" which I had examined, and of the intericr
** ftrut^l^ure of which I had perfe6V kno^^ ledge:
f* by vifitlng the mines, furnifhed any in-
*' ftance to be compared with what I faw in
" Derbyfhire. The great diverfity of the
'' ftrata iind their frequently fantaflic difpo-
" (ition which I had never feen any where
?' elfc, ve ry often cmbarraiTed me ; and 1 am
'* perfuaded
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 279.
** perfuaded that the aoleft mineralogies will " experience the lame difficulty *,"
THE CAVE OF PaoI,*r,-IIOLE.
Mr. Ferber, m his '' EJKiy on the OryElo- '■'- graphy of Derhyjhirer t^oes no more than flicrhtlv mention the cave of Poors- hole. *' This cave," fays he, " which is at a little " difcance from Buxton, abounds in flalaclite. *' It is faid to be half an Englifh league in " length, and a very noiiy ilream runs *' through it."
The follovv'ing is a more minute defcrip- tion : — Poofs- hole is about a mile from Buxton ; and it^. entrance is at the foot of a laro-e hill confifting^ of lime-flone, bare on all fides, and prefeutl ng to the view a number of kilns, where the ftorie, which is of an excel- lent qual^y, is burnt into lime. This lime- :ftone contains anumberof eatrochi and other marine bodies, converted for the moll part into calcareous fpar.
Dodor Pearfon wis {o oblijins; as to ac- company us to the cave. Scarcely had we
♦ EJfal fur rOryctographie '.<u Derbyjhlre^ pr wince ff Angkterre^ par M, Ferber, traduciim de f Jllemand,
T 4 arrived
28o
TRAVELS THROUGH
arrived at the mouth of it, which is narrow and of an oblong fhape, when we were joined by feveral women who m.ade briikly up to VIS ; fome of them, to fell us pieces of bad ftaladite and fhining calcareous fpar ; and others to furnifh us with lights, and to offer their fervices in the capacity of guides. We accepted their offers, and entered the cave. Here, as in almoft all natural caves, are gal- leries fometimes narrow, and at others broad, now winding:; and then runnins; in a ffrai2;ht line^ and at intervals expanding into fpacious and lofty chambers. V/e were defired by our guides to ircp when we came oppolite to a very large flaiagmite, which is only an ir- regular and confuled accumulation of cal- careous fpar depofited by the droppings.
This is called by the natives l^ooW s chair. They have heard it termed fo by then* fathers, thofe who fucceed them will give it the fame appellation ; and though this fparry mafs has no more refemblance to a chair than it has to a horfe, the po^^ er of imagination and habit, will concur in maintaining this abfur- dity, and thofe good folks will always have the fatisfa^tion of thinking that they fee Vv'hat they do not fee. Alas ! this is the
cafe
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 28 1
cafe with relped to many other things in this world.
On penetrating into a more profound ca- vity, our condudors were not wanting in teUino- us that this was. Poole s chamber; and a little farther we were fhewn Poole's table^.
The cave is about two thoufand four hun- dred and fifty Englifh feet in length, in- cluding the paffages into it, fome of which are very incommodious. A fmall ftream of water, which becomes more confiderable per- haps in rainy feafons, runs through the whole length of the galleries, and makes the way a little difagreeable. Upon the whole, this cave contains nothing very interefting. We faw in it only a few bad and mutilated fta- la6lites, and thefe ftot in any great quantity. From the fhock of an earthquake, or the loofenefs and weight of the incumbent mals, part of the roof of one of the galleries has fallen in, and the pafTage is almoft entirely blocked up by the number and bulk of the ftones which have tumbled down.
* Credulity has always amufed herfelf with feeing fome- thing marvellous in thefe da'rlc fubterraneous caverns. There is ftill fhewn in the cave of Saflenage, near Gre- noble, the famous table of the fairy MellufuUi
On
iSz Tx^.AV'ELS THROUGFJ
On coming out of the cave, we were anew iurrounded by fome women, who oiFered for fole forae coarfe ; ieces of cryftallized calca- reous fpar, to which they feemed to affix a great value.
We then vifited the numerous quarries of lime-ftone dug on all parts of the hill, which contains the cave of Poole's-hoie. More than a hundred families have been occupied^ from father to fon, in working the quarries and converting the flonss into lime. The confumption of this article muft be extenfive,, and the demand for it very great, for lime- kilns are feeii fm^oking on every iide.
I looked in vain for the habitations of fb many labourers and their numerous families, without being able to fee fb much as one cot- tage, when I at lenojth difcerned that the whole tribe, like fo many moles, had formed their refidence under ground. This compa- rifon is fl:ri61:ly juil: ; not one individual of them lodged in a houfe, or even the hollow of a rock. Their dwellings were in the midft of heaps of cinders and refufe of lime^ which formed fo many fmall mounts, or mole-hills.
Thefe
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 28.3
Thefe materials, which th3» workmen have hollowed into lubterraneous habitations, have been coiilolidated by rain into a compa6l cement which is now impenetrable to the water. As the excavation is not very diffi- cult, thefe families have taken fufficient pre- caution againil cold and wet, by fixing their abode immediately contiguous to the lime-- kilns w^hich communicate to them a comfort-- able degree of warmth.
The greater part of thefe habitations have three or four rooms, almoft all of a round form, for the purpofe of greater folidity. They are lighted by the fide, wlien the pofi- tion is fuch as to admit it ; or merely by the chimney, which is nothing elfe than a round hole pierced through the middle of the roof to allow the fmoke to efcape. Apertures are alfo made by the door of the place to admit a little light. Such is the effe6t of the whole, that when the workmen defcend into their cave, at the hours of repaft, nd a ftranger lees fomany fmali columns of fmoke iffuingout of the earth, he imagines himfelf in the midft of a village in Lapland. I felt much pleafure in vifiting the refidence of thefe troglodytes. Their occupation is certainly not atterulcd
with
284 TRAVELS THROUGH
with much proto as thev are unable to pro- cure trie fmalleft convenience, and though in the midfl: of ^ones and lime, have hi- therto been too poor to erecl walls.
STONES KN WN "^N DERBYSHIRE BY THE NAME OF TOAD-STONE.
As I had now reached the principal fourcc of thefe ftones, fo much talked of by the Eng- lifh Naturalifts, and which furnifhed the bafis of Mr. Whitehurfl's theory, T refolved to ex- amine them with the moft fcrupulous atten- tion. I had the advantage of being accom- panied by a mineralogift of the fchool of Mr. Whitehurft, who was well acquainted with the place, and who, like him, was con- vinced that the different fpecies of toad-ftone were real lavas. I was under a promife, be- fides, of giving an account of my refearches to Mr. VVhitehurft himfelf. Being provided with his book, and Mr. Ferber's eiliiy on the ory6lography of Dcrbyfliire, the only remain- ing preparation requifite was the intruding myfelf in the vocabulary of the miners. The names which they have at all times given this {lone, vary according to its colour^ its hard-
nefs.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 285
ncis, the extraneous bodies found in it, and the difpofition of its flrata. Thefe names are not fcientific, it is true ; but the miners are accuftomed to them, and perfectly underiland them, being derived from their native lan- guage ; and it is not to be fuppofed that they will ever be iilduced to change them.
This ftone derives its name from its re- femblance to the colour of a toad, having a very dark brov*'n and fometimes black, bafis entirely Iprinkled over with fmall particles of white calcareous Ipar. Thefe white fpecks are in general, pretty uniform, and fometimes protuberant. A {lone in every refped fimi- lar is found in the bed of the torrent of Drac, near Grenoble, by which it is hurried along from the high Alps of Champfaur. It is from this fpotted appearance that it has re- -ceived the name of Variolite du Drac. But this term already affixed to a flone of a dif- ferent fort, ought to be rejected, in order to prevent miftakes.
The term toad-ftone is very common at Buxton, Matlock and Winfter, becaufe ftones of this kind are more frequent there than in the other lead or copper mines of Derby- fliire.
At
286 TRAVELS THROUGH
At Tidefweli, the fame (lone, but with feW or no globules of calcareous fpar, and dif- pofed ill thick banks, which alternate with beds of lime-ftone, bears the name of channe
At Alhover, in the mine of Gregori, being of a blacker kind and not io hard, it is called black c:.ay.
At Caftletovvn, the miners have given to a greenifh variety or this ftone, which falls into earth on expofure to the air, the fingular name of cat-dirt.
Mr. Ferber, in his effay on the orydography of Derbyiliire, pages 163 and 168, mentions only the two denominations of toad-Jlone and channel', but he adds, that the fame ftone bears in England die names cf<izi7Z-;y26>7z^ and black-Jlone, and in Scotland, that of whin- Jione. It is certain that the Derbyfliire miners know very well how to apply the four dif- ferent names which they give it, according to its different modifications. This is not the cafe with refpeft to the Englifh term black- jiont^ which may be equally applied to other flones of the fame colour, but of a very dif- ferent nature, fuch as volcanic bafaltes, touch- ftone, black rock-fchorl, horn-flone, certain
fins
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 287
fine orained black granites, &c. This deno- mination is, therefore, too general and vague. The term ivhtn-Jione^ which the Scotch employ, is no lefs obje6lionable. Under this name they comprehend every black ftone, without diftirn^ion, which is hard and rough to the touch. At Edinburgh, when I afked the naturallfts and workmen of the country to (hew me whin-ftone, iomQ of them brought me a black hard (lone of the lame nature with what the Swedes call trapp, which is not in. the leaft volcanic, fome prefented a compact lava of the nature of bafaltes, and others a va- riety of black granite, which hajfuftained the aftion of fubterraneous fire without any alter- ation in its hardnefs, and which makes mofl excellent pavements. The cafe was the fame at Glafgow. This term, then, having like the preceding, a variety of acceptations, which tend to produce confufion in the mind, ought to be rejected on the fame account. A fa<9: \vorthy of remark, and which proves that the colour of flone has been more attended to than any other charaderiftic, is, that in Germany, where the fcience of mineralogy has long flourillied, feveral black hard ftones, of Very
different
288 TRAVELS THROUGH
different natures, are likewife denominated ' black-Jtones^ fchwartz-ftein *.
Mr. Ferber, though profoundly verfed in mineralogy, neither compares the toad-ftone of Derbyfhire to any other flone, gives it any diftindive name, nor takes any notice of the opinion of Mr. Whitehurft, who regards it as a volcanic produd. He contents himfelf with ftating, that " this Itone has an argil- *' laceous bafis more or leis hard ; fome part* " appearing to be merely an indurated elay^ " whilif others approach the jafper in hard- ** nefs ; that it is interfperfed with fmall par- *' tides of calcareous fpar, varying in form ** and fize ; fome of which are fo miiiptc " that to the eye they appear identified with " the black fubflance of the flone itfelf,whilft *' others are of the bignefs of a pea, or even a *' bean." Headds, " that on trying the flone
* In France, as in other places, we have in fevers.! in- ftances given names to mountains from the colour of their rocits J fuch as roche maure for roche noire (black rock) roque brune peire neir^ for roche brune (brown roqk) pierre noire (black flone) Sec. But on every occafion when I have fhewed to peafants of any degree of intelli- gence, pieces of compa6l lava, and blocks or columns of bafakes, and afked them how they termed thofe ftones, they have uniformly replied, that they wQtepierres morles (dead Jlomu )
" with
ENGLAND ANI) SCOtLAND. 289
*^ with acids, they effervefced with and dil^ •* Iblved the portions of calcareolis Ipar with- •^ otit effecting any change in the ba(is of the ** ftone ; which, after the experiment, waS '** ftill hard enondi to fcratch gjlafs, thous:h it ** gave only d few ihconliderable (parks with ** fteel ; and finally, that the fubftance of the *' toad-ftone, when diverted of its calcareous " particles, feemed to him to be refra<5lory to " the blow-pipe, but that with the addition '* of ialt of tartar it was converted into a *' black fcoria, which would feem to indicate a " filiceous principle, though it does not polTefs " the hardnefs of filiceous ftones,"
To enable thole naturalifts, who have not vifited the place, to form a corre<5t notion of this ftone, and to accompany me in the fol- lowing examination, it only remains that I fliould give them a preliminary defcription of the fingukr polition which it occupies in the mountains of the Peak of Derby fhire. A jpart of the details I fhall borrow from Mr. Whitehurft and Mr. Ferber, adding to them what additional circumltances have fallen under my own obfervation.
VOL. II. t: pji-
290 TRAVELS THROUGH
DIFFERENT SUBSTANCES WHICH PRECEDK AND ACCOMPANY THE TOAD-STONE OF THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE.
1. Quartzofe greet, gret, or frec-ftone ; termed mill-ftone by Mr. Whitehurfl from the ufe to which it is applied in fome places ; it varies in its colour, grain, hardnels, and the thick nefs of its ftrata. This naturahft, in in page 147 of his " Inquiry into the original fhte and formation of the Earth, fays, " that *' the bank is 1 20 yards in thicknefs, and com- " pofed of granulated quartz and quartz peb- "bles.* The former retain the fharpnefs of '* fragments newly broken, the latter are " rounded by attrition as ftones upon a fea " beach."
2. Black argillaceous fchiftus of the na- ture of (late, fliale or Ihiver. Its thicknefs, according to Mr. Ferber, who meafured it in the mine of Yateftoop, is from a hundred and fortv to a hundred and fifty feet * ; and ac- cording to Mr. Whitehurft, who meafured it in another place, about a hundred and twenty yards f. As it is ufeful, when giving a local de- fcription, to be acquainted with the nomen- clature of the minerSj it is proper to ftate that
* Page 160. -f Page 14S.
they
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 29 i
they give the toad-ftone feveral denomina- tions according to its greater or lefs hardnefs, or as it is more or lefs penetrable. Hence the various terms o^JkcUe, hard-beds, penny - Jhale, and black-beds.
There are found above this fchiilus at fe- veral places, and, among others, near Wiii- fter, where the high-way is opened through beds of it, which are completely vifible, large frao-ments of black lime-ftone, which on being; rubbed with iron> emits a ftrong fmell of burnt corn.
3. The firfl: bed of iime-ftone, which, in the neighbourhood of Dafhford, is black, very- hard and ufed as marble. It has an ofFenfive fmell on being rubbed, is in fome parts with^ out any marine bodies, and in others abounds in anonyms bivalves-, it fometimes con- tains round knobs of filex, and is inter- fered at intervals with thin layers of a kind of flate. The thicknefs of this bank varies from thirty-five to fifty feet.
4. Firfl: bed of toad-ftone. The thicknefs of this bed varies greatly ; in fome places it is fourteen, and in others fixteen feet, and at Tidefwell it has been dug to the depth of a hundred and fixty feet without reaching its bottom ; though, in the fame mine, at the
u 2 dlflancc
pL<)i TRAVELS THRO^^GH
diibnce of a himdred toiles only from till* fpd^ it is 15 0 more than forty feet ; and thred hundred toifes farther, only three feet. Tbi9 would feem to iliew that the matter which compofes the toad-ftone has accumulated there rather in one vaft depoiit than in r^gu* kr beds.
But let us hear Mr. Whitehurfl, whofs? opinion opon ihis ftone is very explicit: ** Trjad-il-fMne is a blacViih fubftance, very *' hard; c^ntniDs bladder-holes like the fco7'za ** of metals, ^r Iceland lava, and has the fame ** chymical property of relifting acids. Some ** of its bladdei -holes are lilled with [cal- *' carerjiss] fpar, others only in part, and others " again arc quite empty, l^h'isflratuvi is not '* laminated, but cofdifls of one entire Iblid ** mafs, and breaks alike in all directions. It ** does not produce any minerals or figured " ftones reprefenting any part of the animal " or vegetable creation. — Neither does it uni- *' verlally prevail, as the lime-ll:one ftrata, nor *' is It like them equally thick ; but in fomc " iaJl:ances varies in thicknefs from fix feet " to (ix hundred. It is hkewife attended with " other circnmftances, which leave no room ** to doubt of its being as much a lava, as tha^ *' which flows from Hecla, VefiiviusorEtnae"
A fecoii^
LHGLANB AND SCOTLAND 295
A fecond reafon, which imluced the Eng- liOi natiirahft to regard the toadrflone as 3 feal lava of poileiior exlfter^e to the forma-- tioii ol" the calcareous beds:, is, that the veitkal jilTures with which the latter are GCcaiicyiialXy ifiterfe^ted, are filled with {<>ad-ll€oe ; which, neeeffarily itiftirs the prc-exifiersce of thefe iiflureSjand coiifequeixtly that of the calcijreaus ftrata.
5. The iecGiid bed of liiiie-flo-iie. This is shout tkirty-three to.i{es thick, of a grey ap- pearance^ and contains a iiumher af petrified niarine bodies, among which may be diftiti- giiifhed eaines of a large fize, madrepores, &c» The ftone is not in all parts of equal hardnefs* Tlie Ibfter parts, which emit a diiagreeable fmel! on beins: rubhed witli iron, stre iifed for making lime. The harder pa.rts> are exit into fhape, receive a paliih^ mid aniwejr the fame purpofes as maible. Some parti ef it are penetrated with a filiceous matter in which are feveral encrochi.
6* Second bed of toad-ftone, which is forty feet thick. Mr. Ferber fays, ^'^ that in *' the mine of Hubberdale, this ftone dcYiatc? *' fo much from its ordinary hardne:^ that it *' has e p^fect refemblancc to loft clay.** But this altei-ation, which is doxibtlds ob- V ^ ferved
294 TRAVELS THROUGH
ferved in fome pits, is merely local ; and tho toad-ftone of the fecond bed, as Mr. White- hurftjiiftly ftates, is of greater folidity than that of the firft. A circnmftance worthy of attention is, that it contains no cavity, and confequehtly no particles of calcareous fpar.
7. Third bed of lime-flone ; grey, like the fecond, and, according to Mr. Ferber, fe\enty yards thick. Mr. Whitehurft fays, that it contains fewer petrefaftions than the pre^ ceding ones, and that it is thirty fathoms thick.
8. Third bed of toad-ftone, refembling the fecond, and twenty-two feet thick. " In the *' mine of Hubberdale," fays Mr. Ferber, " this flone has the confiftence of a tender *' and foft clay of a green colour, and is filled " with fmall nodules of black clay, and fe- " veral veins of white calcareous fpar. It is *' denominated channel."
9. Fourth bed of lime-ftone. This is grey,, like the preceding, but a little whiter. Its thicknefs is yet unknown ; feveral parts of it having been dug to the depth of forty fa- thoms, without difcovering its bottom. It is therefore uncertain whether this fourth cal- careous bed be again fucceeded by toad- ftone.
The
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 295
The direftioQ of the veins of metal is in general very irregular ; the feam is difl:in6l and well marked; its depth varies, being fometimes feveral feet only, and at others levcral toifes thick.
But what is truly extraordinary and may be regarded as a phenomenon in mineralogy, is, that the veins, which are very rich in the four calcareous beds, always difappear, as they approach theflrata oftoad-ftone, which alter- nate with the former, fo that it is necelTary to penetrate through the v^'hole mats of toad- ftone, however thick, in the direction of the feam, without any trace of the ore, until the calcareous bed be reached, where the miners are fure of re-difcovering it. Thus, for ex- ample, when a vein is exhaufted in the firfl bed, that is, in the firft black lime-ftone, the ore difappears on reaching the toad-ftoncj and no veftige of it is found till the bed of toad-ftone has been entirely dug through. ♦' This phenomenon," Mr. Ferber judly fays, *' is, without contradi(5tion, one of the moft ** rare and fingular in its kind ; and to ac- *' count for it is no lefs diuicult. Another " fingularity refpedtmg the beds oftoad-ftone *' isj that this fubftance fo completeijr feparates u 4 ^' the
2g6 TRAVELS THROUGH
^-' the different ft rata of lime-ftone, that a^ '^' inundation of a gallery in the f rfl bed noT ^* wife difturbs the labours in the fecond, ^* and that the miners may be dry in a lower- *' gallery, whilft all the galleries above it are *^ filled with water.'*
From violent difruptions of the ground, afe periods too remote to be traced, the beds-are found funk to a great depth in fome parts^ while they are much nearer the fui;face in others. New adventitious and ealcareouj fubftances, tranfported by fobfequent convul- fions, have filled up many of thefe chafms, and thus partly concealed the firft rugged- nefs of that wonderful country ; but the deep excavations which the miners have made throuoh a great extent of the elevated flat of the Peak, have furnished the means of ob- taining an cxa6l knowledge of the topography of Derby fhire, of \vhich I ha^•e juft here given a flight fketch. More detailed expla- nations will be found in the work of Mr. Whitehurft, who has given very accurate en- gravings of the plans, and profiles of the moft interefting fedions of the mountains.
Impreffed with the importance of the fub- }e£i:, I had flopped feveral times before i
reached
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. t^f
reached Buxton, at the foot of fome cmgs where the toad-flone was vihble, for the pur- pofe of examining it. With the fame view I now asked Dr. Pearfon, whether, in his work on the mineral waters of Buxton, he had parti- cularized any bed of toad-flone whichwe might vifit together, afluring him, that any information which he could give me would be fo much the more gratifying, as nothing that I had yet leen in that part of Derbyfliire bore the leaft trace qf a volcano ? I further obferved, that a ftone in every refpe(5t the fame as the toad- ftone, which he regarded with Whitehurft as a real ]ava, was found on the high Alps of Champ- faur in Dauphiny ; that it prefented precifbly the fame varieties of toad-ftone, with particles of calcareous Ipar, with empty cellular, and without any fpar, often imporous, fometimes hard and compact, at other times tender, tend- ing to decompofition and changing its colour, and that it was fometimes found in the form of fmall prifms, which led me to think that we plight probably meet with it here in the fame ftate.
I mentioned alfo, that M. De Lamanon, a very eftimabie naturalift, who fell a vi(5lim to h\s ardour for natural hiftory, in a voyage
roufid
29^ TRAVELS THROUGH
round the world with La Peyronie, had writ- ten a pamphlet tending to demonftrate that the ftone of Champfaur was a produ6l of fub- teri*aneou9 fire ; and that he for fome time confidered himfelf the difcoverer of an ex- tinct volcano in the Alps ; though very able natufalifts had affirmed that thofe va'ft tnoun- tains exhibited no veftig^e of volcanic com- bnftion. I added, however, that M. DeLa- manon, whofe opinion I combated, relin- quifhed his error and fuppreffed the whole impreffion of his work, with the referve of twelve copies, to each of which he had the honourable firmnefs to annex a printed re- cantation ; that thofe few were fent to the moft zealous of his opponents as an acknow- ledgment that the ftones which he had taken for lavas were merely trapps, and that he had the goodnefs to fend me one among the reft*,
* See my eflay on trapp-ftones, in which I have traced the itinerary from Grenoble to the mountain of Chaillot- le-vieil, in the Alps of Champfaur, with a defcription of all the varieties of trapp, in every refpeiSl like thofe of Derbyfhire, in a much higher country ; for the mountain Peyre-Nicre (Pierre noire) or Haiti- Ptty^ which is about one thoufand four hundred toifes above the level of the fea, is covered to the top with real toad-ftones, that is to fay, trapps,
Excurjion
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 299
Excurfiou in the Vicinity of Buxton mih DoBor
Pear Jon. — The Stratum of Toad-Jhne which, he
defcribes in his Book on the Mineral lVqters.-—iA
fmall IJle in the River JV.ye formed entirely of
Toad-tone divided into Prifms.
" Let us fet off then," faid Do6tor Pear- fon, " I fhall be very happy to fhew you th^ " bed of toad-ftone that I have defcribedj " and yoii will tell me what you thmk of it.'* We difeeted our courfe to the hollow which forms the bed of the littl'e river Wye, which, if we may judge by the channel which it has worn, fwells into a torrent with rains. Wc ftfcended its banks for nearly a mile towards a corn-mill.
Before reaching the mill, particularly on the right bank, and immediately under the vegetable foil, are fome beds of black fchiftus which vary in thicknefs and exfoliate in fmall pieces on being expofed to the /air. This fchiftus is fometirties covered with a flight efflorefcence of martial vitriol ; it is the lame which the miners t2i\\Q:AJhale ovjhiver. This bed of fchiftus, which is in fome parts three, and in others two feet thick, and which con- ceals itfelf at inteiTals under the vegetable
foil,
5^0 TRAVELS THROUGH
foil, purfues the lame direftion to tke verge of the miM where it entirely difappears.
Here the nature of the ground fuddenl^r changes ; the valley diminifliing into a nar- row ftrait formed by two calcareous hills, ap- proaching each other. Between thefe the mill is erected : the co»ftni(Stion of the channel mufl Tiave fuggefted this as. a very propeif fituatioji-
The calcareou-s- rock is of a grey appear-, ance, and its ftrata incline tc^wards tlie bed of the river on both fides ; but fo "vigorous, is vegetation in this humid region, that, except in a iew places, the rocks are com- pletely covered with moffes., lichens, heath, and other creeping plants.
The road leading to the mill runs abng a natural caufeway formed by the rocks which are entirely bai'e in this deep hollow. A little above this mill the road is crofTed with a bed of toad-ftone feveral feet thick, the black colour of which forms a ftriking con- ti-afl with the grey lirae-ftoae.
This is the bed of toad- flone which Do£lor Pearfon has drawn as alternating with lime- -ftone. But on examining it attentively^ I obferved to this naturalift, that it was diffi- cult
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. ^^i
tvilt to determine whether it was a real be4 or a kind of vein ; the nnmerons [chafmS which muft have formerly exifted in both the hills, from the falling in of the fiirface, and the vegetable earth with which they have been in genei*al filled up again, Scarcely per- mit one to afcertain with any degree of cer- tainty the exa6l and primitive dilpofition of the calcareous beds.
On an infpe{rtion of the parts where the toad-flone is uncovered. It appears rather to interfed tranfverfely than to follow the di- redHon of the calcareous ftrata, a fact, which if fufficiently afcertained, would be com- pletely deftrudive of the Doctor's hypothefis founded on the Gratification of the calcareous beds in alternate order with toad-ftone.
An attentive obfervation, indeed, of this fmall valley or hollow, formed by the fiibfi- dence of the intermediate fpace through which the Wye now flows, warrants the fuppofitiou that the chafms, cavities, and fifTures occa- iioned bv the Ihock and falling in of fuch enormous maffes, have been again filled u^ by a fecondary depofition and alluvion, pro- ceeding from a revolution poflcrior to that which produced them,
Thefg
302 TRAVELS THROUGH
Thefe reflexions I fubmi.tted to the confider- ati-on of Do<5lor Pearfon, Hating, at the lam^ time that my conjecture would have flill greater probability if we fliould find the toad- ftone Iving in a mafs above the lime-ftone^ at the bottom of the valley*
Whilft I was making thefe obfervations, 1 caft my eyes on a fmall ifle of an oblong form, {iLuated in the very center of the place in queftion. " Let us fee," faid I, '* whether that kind of natural mound, " which has by its refiftance, forced the river ** to divide into branches, confifts of the fame " ftone as the neighbouring hills."
Do6lor Pearfon laid, that he had not di- re6ted his enquiries to that fpot. We then repaired to the fmall ifle, which is about a hundred paces long, and from ten to twelve paces broad, but which muft have been much more confiderable, before it was worn away by the water. It riles only a few feet above the river.
With equal pleafure and aftonifhment wc difcovered that it was entirely compofed of a blackifh brown toad-ftone, filled in fome parts with particles of calcareous fpar, and in others thinly maculated, or without any at all. But what I reo;arded as moft remarkable
was-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 36J
waSi that the firft or uppermofl: flratum of toad-ftone, which is about two feet and a half thick, is ill feveral places divided into prifms which form the mofl exa6l reprefentation of a fmall bafaltic caufeway. It is ftill farther •aftonilhing, that it afFecls all the various ap- pearances of the round bails of bafaltes, which are often found befide the prifms, or into which the prifms themfelves are fometim^s changed by the , mouldering of their angles- Thefe balls are formed of concentric layers, and exfoliate in the fame manner as thofe of bafaltes *.
* " Trapp," fays the celebrated Bergmann, " is fome- " times found in the form of triangular prifms, though this *' is a rare cafe. It fometimes has the appearance of im- " menfe columns, fuch, for inftance, as the Tra/llemary at " the foot of the mountain of Hunneberg^ oppofite to Brag- *' num^ which have detached themfelves from the reft of " the mafs. The firft time I faw them, they formed an " angle of eight degrees with a line perpendicular to the " horizon. For almoft all the mounta ins of Weftrogothia " that have a ftratified form, the upper bed confifts of *' trapp. It is important to obferve, that this bed always " repofes on a black alluminous flate. Is it poflible then " that this matter (hould have been in a ftate of fuiion " without the llighieft diminution, even in the point of " contaft, of the blacknefs of the flate below it, though it is " evidently alterable by the heat of our common fires ? We " have a ftiil finer trapp, which generally runs in veins, " and is frequently found in very ancient mountains, in " which not the fainteft marks of fubterraneous fire can " be feen."
Letires de Bergmann a TroiJ, page 448, de la traduction des Lettresfur I' IJIande.
Thef«
J<&4 • TRAVELS tHilOUGH
Thefe prifms and balls are in a ftate of Commencing decompofition ; they are of a brown colour, and fometimes of a yellowiOi iron grey: Their texture is often intermixed with nurheirotis particles of calcareous fpar, the colour of which is frequently ftained with the tints produced by the decompofition of the toad-ftone. This ftone, fo divided into prifms and balls, repofes dii a bed of friablef and gravelly matter, which is in reality no- thing elfe than toad-ftone decompofed an^ reduced to the form of a fandy earth.
It muil: be acknowledged that nothing cart be more volcanic in appearance than this little ifle of toad-flone. A vein of this mat- ter, which has confiderable refemblance to a. current of lava, crofles the calcareous rock which forms the bottom of the mill-road, and then fmks and lofes itfelf iii the Wye, fo as to lead one to imagine that it has given jife to the iflCj which is compofed of ,a fub- ftance, which, in the parts where the particles of calcareous fpar have been deftroyed has the colour and -appearance of certain porous lavas, and is further poffefled of prifmatic and ipherical configurations. There is nothing,
how-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND- 3C5
" ifowever, really volcanic, either in this place X)r its vicinity.
This ferves to (hew the utility of corred local defcriptions to the progrefs of natural hiftory, and the inriportance of having, in cer- tain circumftances, an opportunity of feeing fubflances in their native place.
The fubftance of toad-ftone is a compo- fition of filiceous and argillaceous earths, with a fmall quantity of calcareous earth and fron. The proportions of the component parts differ according to the varieties of the toad-ftone. That of Derbyshire, which is the Hibjeft of our prefent enquiry, has been ana- lyzed by Doctor Withering, who found that in a hundred parts of this Jlone there are Jixly 'three parts of filiceous earthy fourteen of argillaceous earthy andfevejiofphlogijli' catediron.
I myfelf, alfo* analyzed a piece of the lame /lone which was broken off from a part that ' had no calcareous particles ; the refults which I obtained were a little different. From a hundred grains of it the produce was as fol- lows :
^OL. ir. X Siliceous
306 TRAVELS THROUGH
Sil'iceoiis earth - 54 grains,
Argillrsceous earth - 19 Aerated calcareous eaith 8 Aerated magnefia 4
Iron - - 13
Lod: during the proccfs 2
Total I
00
lii making other experiments on flones of the iiame kind, taken from different beds, I always found the fame conftituent principles, but with greater or lefs variations in the re- fuits ; Ibmetinies the iron, and at other tinaes the calcareous or argillaceous earth, being in greateft quantity, in a word, and to con- clude this already too long and fatiguing dif- ciiffion, the toad-ftone of Derbyshire, is en- tirely foreign to volcanos, and is precifely the £me with the Swedifli trapp *.
Some
* If the reader wifti for ftill further information refped- Eng this ftoiie, he may confult page 7, 23, 31, 43, and 53, of the work which I have publifhed on trapp-ftones; where he will find th2it the. a rgil/a martialis indurata of Cronftedt, the fchwartzjielh of the Germans, the toad-Jhne^ channel, cat-dirt^ and black clay^ of Derbyftiire, the whin-Jlone of the Scotch, and the variolite du drac of fome Frenchmen, are nothing elfc than trapp in a greater or lefs degree of hard-
nefs,
England and Scotland. 307
Some may perhaps blame me for wifhing to generalize too much the name given to a flone which is in the clafs of compounds, and which itfelf fcrves as the bails of feveral other ftones. But I have never pretended to affix the denomination trapp, exclufively of all others, to flones, abounding in the matter of trapp, in thole cafes where they are diver- sified by a peculiar charafter. I have not, for 'example, ceafed to nfe the terms porphyry, amygdaloides, variolite, &c. though trapp be the bafis of ail thefe ftones,
I perf e6lly coincide with the opinion of my illuftrious friend, M. de SanlTure, that " when "'* two fofiils exhibit any remarkable difi:er- '^ ence of charader we are not to refrain from " diftinguilhing them by dilferent names, 011 " the pretence that there are intermediate *' varieties which appear to unite them, by *' being equally referrible to either *."
It is with the view of clofely adhering to this principle, that, v/hilfi: I flill preferve the
nefs, and more or kfs altered. This Rone alfo forais the bafis of the moft part ef porphyries, &:c. &c But whilft I wifh to retain the genuine term trapp, I would conjoin with it the different vulgar names which the miners ule to diftinguifli its various modihcations.
* Voyage Dans les Alpts, in 4to. Tom. iv. p. 127. X 2 genuine
30S TRAVELS THROUGH.
gcnume term trappy, which muft be refpe6l^cl^ as it has always been ufed by the mineralo- giils of the iiortli, I would apply it by way of preference, and ipecifically to that ftone in every cafe where it lias the hardiiefs, the co- lour, and the homogeneous appearance which is peculiar to itlcif, and is void of any very diilinguilhable eiitraneous body. But when it contains any particles of calcareous fpar, I — would call it^ with the nniners of Derbyihire^ toad-Jlone. When the trapp^ however pure^ has loft its hardnefs, and its original colour, particularly when it inclines to a green iih colour, and when I at the fame time find it in the form of fmall veins interfering rocks of another nature, would I never hefitate to call it cat-dirty and thus I would proceed with refped: to all the other known modifi- cations a^ often as they are fufficiently dif- tlii6l. This is the mofl fimple manner of making ourfelves underftood, and at the fame time reipe£ling the works and the memory of thofe naturalifls who ha\T cleared for us the thorny paths of fcience.
CHAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 509
CHAPTER XVIII,
Caf.letrn. —Dejcripion of the Cave called TIk De- viPs Arfe. — Mines of Lead and Calamine^ Veini of Fluor Spar. — Lead found in Channel or Cat- dirt.
W]
E rode from Buxton to Caftleton, a dif- tance of twelve miles, on' one of the fineft days of autumn, but along a road as difagrec- able and fatiguing as the worft of winter.
During our ftay in this little place, which is agreeably (ituated in tlie midft of fome mountains, we had an opportunity of feeing the different workmen in fiuor fpar, and vi- litedthe magnificent cavern called the Devil* s Arfe, near Caftleton, and like wife feveral mines in its \icinity. The refult of mj Obfervations is as follows ;
description of the cave of castleton% vulgarly known by the name of the devil's arse.
This cave, regarded at all times as the
principal of the feven wonders of Derbyfhiie,
X 3 has
3IC> TRAVELS THROUGH
has been celebrated by feveral poets. But aSv^ liiice the time of Homer, Virgil, and Ovid,^ who united exteniive knowledge to fublime talents, few poets have pretended to fclentific corredlnefs in theii" defcription of phvlical fa6ts, I fhall not here repeat any of the verfes, with which the Englifli Mufes may have in- fpired thofe who have deicribed this grand work of nature.
I feel more fatlsfa6lion in telling my readers^ that this cave has been honoured with the. vifits of feveral refpeftable men of fcience,, among the lateft of whom were. Sir Jofcph Banks, Prefident of the Royal Society of Lon- don and Dr.Solander, accompanied by Omai, a native of the South. Seas, who was recei\'ed with the moft lively intereft in England, where he remained a confiderable time, and after being loaded with prefents, was gener- oufly conveyed back to his own country.
This cavern is iitnated at the foot of a vafl range of rocks thro^^'n up by nature on the fide of a fleep mountain, upon which ftands an old caftle, built, it is faid, in the time of Edward the black prince.
The principal entrance is 120 Engliih feet iu width, and forty in height ; it forms a cir- cular
INGLAND AND SCOTLANTJ.. 5I I
cular arch which opens in a rock of gr^y, and lomewhat fparr}', lime-ftone, ilifficiently hard to admit a fine polish, and containing a number of marine petrifaflions, among which tile entrochiand fomc afiopj/jjus of a very large fpecies, are the mod common. This ftone, on being mbbed againfl a hard body, gi\'es a fmell fomewhat like that of bimit corn, and fome parts of it, which are of a deeper grey and more fparry grain than the reft, emit fb ftrong a fmell, that it may very juftly be clafTed among the lapides fmllcz or ftinking; ftones.
An inhabitant of the place who gains a fubfiftence by conducing ftrangers into the in- terior of the cave, having lej^mt o\ir arrival, came to wait upon ns. He jBi*fl: prefented each of us with a printed paper containing the moft ridiculous and exaggerated details oP the extraordinary things whi«h were to be Ihown to us, preceded by the following fhort preamble ; " As many perfons have com- *' plained of the exorbitant fums demanded *' by thofe who fhow this cave, it is proper ** the public ihouldbe informed of what ought *' to be given, as thofe who ihew it pay no •' rent to the king. One perfon ought to pay X 4 '• two
312 TRAVELS THROUGH-
*' two flii1 lings and fixpence (about thre© ^' French livrcs) ; and a party at one time, " five {hillings. Thefe prices, however, are *' not fixed ; and the pubHc may give more " or lefs as they choofe. J. Hall/*
J. Hall has adopted in this preamble a very ingenious mode of taxing his cuftomers. But I muft do him the juftice to acknowledge that he is very active and oblis^ino;, antic i- pates every queftion, and does not fail to give the moft minute details Fefpe(5ting thofe ob- je(fts which he conceives defer\ ing of remark. In fhort, he is pcrfeftly mafter of his leflbn, and recites it with a confequential gravity and fometimes with a tone of enthuiiafm, calcu- lated to attradt the attention of thofe who are under his guidance in this darkfome ca-
vern.
A party of Engliflimen joined us, and we, entered the outer porch. It is lighted from without, is forty-two feet high, a hundred and twenty feet wide, and two hundred and forty-fix feet long. The light was pretty ftrong at the entrance of this vaft vault, but gradually diminiflied as wg proceeded inwards, or as the fore parts were broken into projec- tions of a greater or fmaller bulk. T he efFe6l
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 315
is fo much greater as the fcene is enlivened with two manufadories, the one a rope yard, and the other an inkle manufadory, entirely within the place.
All is life and motion in this apparent foli- tude. On the one fide are feen young girls turning their wheels, winding up their threads, and lightening their labours with their fongs, and on the other, men fpinning cords and twifling cables, or forming them into coils. What IS ftill more extraordinary, there are two houfes in this fubterraneous apartment {landing oppofite to each other, entirely fe- parate from the rock, with roofs, chimnies, doors, windows, and inhabited by feveral fa-^ milies.
It is difficult, without having feen it, to conceive the efFe61: produced by the view of two houfes in a fituation of this kind. We were foon furrounded with feveral groups of young girls, fome of whom were very hand- fome.
It appeared that J. Hall here yielded the pre-eminence to the ladies of the place, referving exclulively to himfelf the privilege only of exhibiting to the more profound caverns ; all thele young girls flocked to fhew
us
5H TRAVELS THROUGH
lis the rope and inkle manufactories, and the interior of the two dwelling-houfes ; after which they direcSled our itd:niration to the beauty of the veftibule, the great height of the vault, and the curtains of llaladlite which decorate it.
They called our attention rnqr^ particularly to a ftala6tite of an extraordinary form at the beginning of the principal arch, a little beyond the fartheft houfe, and at the height of about thirty-five £ttt. " See,'' faid they, " the fa- *" mous leg of pork ; obfer\e its excellent ** fhape, and admire this mafter-piece of na- *' ture." But the more -^ve examined this pretended kg of pork the more did v/e find it refemble an object which young girls are not often permitted to examine, and of which they aie ftill more rarely permitted to allow an examination to others. This obje£l was a heart ^x\d not a leg ; but it was a heart of th& iame kind as that of M. de Bouflers. This iliews the facility with which young folks may be periuaded that they fee what they do not fee ; but it is at the fame tii-jae a proof of iheir amiable candour and innocence.. De- ccncv, however, demanded that we fhould ;lerve a o;rave and ferious countenance,
Tefti.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 315
Teftirying our grateful fenfe of their fervices by a fmall prefeat, we took leav of theiTij and proceeded under the aufpices of Hall, who, after diftributing to each of us a lighted flam- J beau, opened the door of a fubterraneous gal- lery at the bottom of the grand veilibule, and deiired us to follow his fteps through tlie d .. R- fome labyrinth of which he willingly held the ] clue.
The way appeared at fir neither agreeable nor eafy. In fome place, we proceeded in an upright and free podure, whilil in others parts the vaults were fo low, that we were obliged to ftoop as we advanced, to avoid ftriking againft t'le protuberances of the rock. This firft gallery is a hundred and forty feet long. Here we obferved a quan- tity of fand accumulated into a fmall oblong eminence. Hall, who was attentive to the minuteft circumftances^ did not forget to ex- cite our admiration at this fand, which was the prQdu(ftion, he faid, of a foiali ftream ifluing from a fubterraneous tank, which we Ihould foon reach. This flream fwells after heavy rains, and carrying along with it con- fiderable quantities of fand, often renders the fave inaccefiible during its overflow^i
Our
$l6 TRAVELS THROUGH-
Our guide, ftill advancing and accompany- ing his obfervations with expreffive geftures, entertained us witli an account ofthe rapidity- of the current, the height of the water, its quality, and the noife which it made ; when a fmall lake, with a Ikifffloatiiigupou it, in- terrupted our progrels. This lake, which is not much more than three feet deep, is wholly inclofed in the folid rock, and ftretches under a very low vault of \\'hich we could not fee the farther end. Here it was neceflary to, ftop.
Wc flood for fome time on the brink, and^ the light of our difmal torches, which emitted a black fmoke, refleding our pale images from the bottom of the lake, we almoft con- ceived that we faw a troop of fhades ftarting from an abyfs to prefent themfelves before us* The illufion was extremely ftriking.
This piece of water v/as about forty-* eight feet broad ; J. Hall gave it th-e name of the firfl water. He informed us, thafe wc muft crols it one by one in the fmall IkitT, ^retching ourfelves at full length, as we had to pafs under the vault which was very low and narrow ; he alTured us, how-
eveTj
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 317
ever, that the paflage was not attended with the leaft danger- Count Andreani embarking firft, ftretclied himfelf flat in the bottom of the little veflel which was furnifhed with fome ftraw. The guide then entered the lake and bending his head almoft to the furface of the water, pufhed forward the skifF with one hand, while he carried his torch in the other.
Five minutes were fufficient to crofs over, and to return for another pafTenger. My turn having arrived, T lay flat on my back like the others ; but in attempting to move as I paffed through this low and narrow tun- nel in order to examine the ftone of whick it is compofed, my hat ftruck againft the roof^ and was thrown into the water. I was fafely landed on the inner bank, where we filently waited the arrival of fome new companions.
It is impoflible for the adventurer, however cheerful his temper may be, not to trace in this fcene a reprefentation of the paflage of the dead in the fatal bark of Charon. The whole retinue being now landed. Hall, after firfl: drying himfelf a little and warming his inflde with a bumper of rum, which he drank
to the health of his followers, called our at- r
tcntion
^i8 TRAVELS THROUGH
tehtion to the fpacious extent of the place which we liad now entered. We found our- felves in a cavern a hundred and twenty feet high, two hundred and twenty feet long, and two hundred and ten broad. It excites real aftonifhment to difcover fuch extenfive na- tural excavations in the centre of the hardeft rock, and one is loft in conjeduring what has become of the materials which mufl have for- merly occupied thofe vail: vacuities.
In a paffage at the inner extremity of this vaft cavern, we again met with Water^ which our guide called the fecond water. But we eafily palled over On a platform running along the fide of this fmall pond, which is only thirty feet in length.
On ifliiing from this paflage we again found ourfelves in a vaft cavern. At the entrance projects a pile of rocks, from the llim- mit of which the water trickles flowly arid depofits a calcareous fediment. This projec- tion has been transformed by the imagination into a houfe, though it has not the fmalleft re- femblance to one, and as the water inceftantly drops from it, the genius of rain is fuppofed to have made it his habitation. It is accord- ingly
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 319
mgly diftingviifhed by the name of Roger Rain's iKXife.
A little beyond this we came to the grand cavern which bears the name of the ChanceL The vaults here are very lofty ; and in their iides are differefit cavities refembling gothic ] portals and wiudovv^s. I^arge ftala6i:ites de- icend from the roof upon the prominent parts of the rock, in the manner of drapery or cur- tains, and produce a very ftriking efFed. The pavement alfo is very fmooth, being formed of folid rock, covered over from time to time with fome flalagmites. The whole has the appearance of a gothic church.
As we advanced our condudor made iigns to us with his hand, and by expreffivc gei^ tures, to preferve filence, as if he wifhed to infpire us with a refpedful awe ; and he par- ticularly defired each of us, in a very low voice, not to look behind until he fhould give notice to do fo. He then affembled his company in a group, and placing himfelf at our head with his face towards us, continued to walk back- wards, as if teaching us the military exercife, ftill making figns and geftuies in order to at- traft our whole attention, and inccffantly re- queflingus to keep our eyes fixed on himfelf,
left
S20 Travels through
left any one fhould be tempted to look behind. Haviiig in this manner reached almoft the inner extremity of the cavern, he defired us to halt. We then heard iWeet and harmonious voices which feem to burft from the loftv roof^ and involuntarily turning round to fee whence the angelic founds proceeded, we obferved in a natural niche at the other end, about forty- eight feet from the bottom, five figures drefled in white, immoveable as ftatues, holding a torch in each hand, and hnging in parts a fublime and melodious air to fome verfes from Shakefpear.
It thus appearcid that Mr. Hall was playing off his grand machinery for our entertain- ment ; he was delighted even to exultation with the furprife which it produced in us. This unexpe^led fcene, indeed, made a very lively and agreeable impreliion on us. It had a melancholy and affecting chara6ter, which might be afcribed lefs perhaps to the air and words than to the profound and remote place where they were fung, and where we feemed to be fecluded from the refl of nature. Thofc of the ancients who fele£led fimilar places for their initiations, appear to have admirably managed their bufinefs. Their grand myfle-
ries
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 32 I
ik§ were never celebrated but m fubter- Vaneous caverns.
Th« cbantrefTes difappeared as {oon as they had finilhed their fong, and we proceeded ill our coiirfe through a lengthened gallery. We had been liftcning to angels, and we had now lo make a fliort vifit to tlie infernal regions. Our mallerof ceremonies, J. Hall, introduced us into what is called the Devil's cellar. Here we faw a great number of names infcribed on the walls. 1 know not whether thofe who wrote them have entered into a compad with the evil fpirit, and whether out of gratitude he has permitted them to drink ail the v/hie in his vaults ; but this much is certain, that the cellar is at prefent very ill provided. How- ever as there is no entering a cellar- without tailing with the butler, efpeciaiiy in England, Mr. Hall pulled out his fmall bottle, fwallowed U glafs of rum, and offered each of us a gla,lij after him, but we begged to be cxcufcd.
On leaving this gloomy m.anlion, which is nothing elfe than a large cavity blackened by the fmoke of lamps and torches, we faddenly came to aheap of quartzofe fand. Here it was neceflary to proceed along a rapid defcent a hundred and fifty feet long, and4inking to
VOL. II. Y ' the
532 TRAVELS THROUGH
the depthipf forty feet below the level of the entrance. On Oi^e fide of this iandy path is £ det-p channel, hollowed hv nature in the falidrock, through which a pretty large ftream, ri&sg at a diftance, gently murmurs along^ tmtii itlofes itfelf, with ioud noife,amidft Ibmc cavenis.
Here J. Hall pla^^ed off upon us one of the little tricks of his vocation. He told us in an emphatic tone, that this fubterraneous brook* notwithfianding the total privation of light, produced fiih, hut of a fpecies which he called black fiih- To give ms a pi oof of his afTertioa, he dcfcended to the water through a narrow paiffage, and after plunging his hand repeatedly into the ftream, held up to our view, at a c»nfiderable diftince, one of his black fifhes. He was about to throw it back into the ^vater to prevent the defl:ru<5tion of the fpecies, which he faid was already become Icarce, when, upon approaching to take a nearer view of it, I foon found it to be a tadpole which he had carried with him for the purpofe of deceiving us, and which was already half dead. He was himfeif the firft to laugh at the cheat, and he candiUly confefled it, as foon as he perceived that it was dete61ed. r^i-v r^
Procefe^ding
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 323
JProcceding forward^ we fooii pajjfed under the arcades, a place fo denominated becaule the rock here forms three diftin6l circular arches, very much refembling thofe of a bridge,
A little beyond this we heard the noife of a diftant cafcade, iind faw a pyramidal mafs of ftalagmite, which is named the Toiver of Lincoln. Here the cavern was formerly thought to terminate ; but, a few years ago, a new gallery was difcovered, which extends four hundred and ninety-two feet farther. This we traced to its inmoft extremity, where the' little river again a,ppeared to our view, iifuing from a natural tunnel as perfectly conftruded as if it had been the work of art^ but fo ftrait and low, that there was no poffibility of pene- trating into it. At the entrance of this fort of aquedud: we favv feveral names engraved in the rock, among which we diftinguiflied thoie of Sir Jofeph Banks and Dr. Solander, and alfo that of Omai, who accompanied them In this fubterraaeous jou/ney.
The entire length of the cavern, frqm its entrance to the place where thefe infcriptiojis are, is at leall two thoufand.feyen ihundredf- and forty-two feet.
Y 2 W^
3^4 TRAVELS THROUGH
'^' -We performed our vifit, which lafted feve- Tal Iiours, without the flightefl accident, and returned equally i'afe. We made a liberal ac- knowledgment for the fervices of our guide, who was much more fatigued than we were, as he was inceflantly occupied in pointing out anddefcribing the various dbje<Sls in our ceurle. He appeared to be as well fatisfied with us as we were with his zeal and obliging readinefs to lerve us ; and though he was a little chagrined at the difcovery of the black fifh, we took leave of each other very friendly.
FLUOR SPARS.
Fluor fpar is an important article of pro- dudion from the lead mines of Caflleton, in which it is found in greater abundance than any where elfe. The violet is the mofl: com- mon kind^ and ferves as the lalband to the white fort* Several other kinds are alfo found there ; fuch as fine yellow topazc coloured, violet blue, violet purple, white in- clining to roie colour, water coloured, &c. There are fbme pieces, in which feveral of thefe colours are qnited and produce a very jigreeable effe<51:.
Fluot
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 325
Fluor fpar would be the moft beautiful of all iubftaaces, if it were only a little harder. This ft one not only forms a confiderable ob- ject of traffic in its rough ftate, between Caf- tleton and Derby, Winder, Matlock, Bux- ton, and other parts in the vicinity, hut is alfo worked on the fpot into vafes. and other articles of ornament, which are fent to Bir- mingham, where they are mounted with gilded copper or any other metal.
The largeft pieces of fluor fpar do not much exceed a foot in thickaefs, and are ver>* rarely found of that bulk.
LEAD MINES,
The lead mines of Caftieton are not very rich, and not more than fixty perlons are cm- ployed in them ; the principal produ6tions of thele mines being the ditterent kinds of fluor fpar above mentioned.
Several mines have been opened in the very fteep calcareous mou^tajn of Ma.nn- Zor.
^ O den mine is at a very littk diftaiiGe from the town, and prefents a very exti-aordinary miacralogical phenomenon, coniifling of a
f Y 3 glitter-
526 TRAVELS THROUGH
glittering galena, which is here called Jlikons-Jides, It is ufually found in large pieces, forming a double vein. The inter- mediate fpace is only a few lines broad, and is filled up with a very white and ponderous gypfeous earth, to which the workmen give tlie name oikehle or caulk.
To break away large pieces of this glitter- ing galena, they make ufe of a fharp iron wedge, which they drive with a hammer into the thin bed of keble that feparates the two Veins.
On performing this operation the miners retire with great hafte to a diftance ; and a few minutes after the veins break afunder, with a terrible noife and a general concufiion, Hvhich muft overturn all the props of the Toof, if they had not careRilly provided againft fuch accidents by ftrengthening the principal beams with Walls formed of thie rubbifh, ahS leaving no vacant fpace. The miners afTert ^hat a hollow noife precedes the explofion, and marks the moment when they rntift fcWi- iult their own fafety by a fpeedy retreat. -"
This terrible' J)henonaehbn takes" platfe Mfo in the niine of Lady Wdjh near the village 'dif '?j'<j?;j, ih thfeftime aiftda of Dcrbylhlre.
Mr.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLANF. 327
Mr. Whitehurft has given a very corre^ delbription of all the circumlftanccs comieeted with this phenomenon. Mr. Ferber, who has likewire mentioned it, lays, that no reaibxi could be affigned to him for this extraordiiiary . efFed ; but that he conceives it to ariie from an effort of the air, which is ftrongly com-^ prefled, efpecially in the narroweft parts of the vein, to procure itfelf a paflage.
But ta be capable of deciding- upon a raat^^ ter of fb much difficulty, it would be nscei^ iary to obferve with attention all the circum^ fiances that precede and accompany the ex^ piofion, to know whether there be any in- flammation or fineU. It^ would be proper alfo to analyze with the minuieft exa6titude the fubftance of the gangue, and the keblc, which is not yet fufficiently known.
. The theory of gas might tend to throw- great light upon this phenomenon. It is known that the phoiphoric acid is fometimes found in union with lead. The effe<5ts of in- flammable gas irxtermixed with phofphorus are likewife well known,, and that it kindles with fuch rapidity by the mere Gonta6l of atmofpheric airj as to produce the^moft violent explotions^ Thk braiKh: of fcience, indeed^ is qow fuflfi- Y 4 cientlj
328 TRAVELS THROUGH
cientlj advanced to enable an inte'lligent ob- ferver, who fliould have an opportunkv of tracing all the circumftances upon the fpot, rto give a fatisfadory explanation of this aftonilhing phenomenon,
TOAD-STONE CONTAINING LEAD ORE*
Mr.Whitehurft and Mr. Ferber affirm,that in all the mines w-hich have been yet opened, the vein of ore is found exclufivelv in the lime- flone, and difappears fo completely on reach- ing the bed of toad-ftone, that not the fmalleft veftige of it is difcoverable in the latter ; btit that on piercing through the toad-ftone, how- ever thick, the vein as certainly makes its re- appearance, and this fact they affirm holds good through every feries of flrata to any depth. This difpofition, however aftonilTiing, is in general true, and thence Mr. Whitehurft con- ceived the opinion that the toad-ftone which thus feparates the calcareous ftrata and inter- rupts' the-GOUfvie of the ore muft be the refult of- different currents of lava. My thoughts upon this fubjed have been already explained, but if there (hould ftill remain any doubt that the toad-ftone is not a product of volcanic
fire.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 329
fire, the fa(5l which I am now going toftate will be lufficient to remove them.
Do(flor Pearfon having fpoken to me at Caftletoa of a miner who Ibid feled fpecimens for the cabinet, we went to pay him a vifit. I purchafed from him a collection of the mofl interefting minerals of Derbyfhire, and fbme fine fpecimens of fluor fpar, the cryftals of which were in the mod perfed prefervation.
In the courfe of convei^fation with him, I afked whether it was true, that no vein,. of ore was ever found in the toad-ftone? he replied, that luch had uniformly been the fad hitherto, and though long employed in the mining bufinefs, he had never heard that the flighted trace of lead had been difcovered in that ftone ; but that he had juft learned to his coft that the rule was not without exception, if not in refpe6l to the toad-flone, at leaft as to the cat-dirt or channel.
On requcfting a further explanation, he told me, that he had been ruined by working on his own account, a vein, which at firfl had the moft promifing appearance, but which, after opening a deep gallery, at a great ex* pence, was loftjn a bed of channel, where,
how*
530 TRAVELS TlIROUGil
bowever. It -was again recovered, but m too poor a ftate to indemnify him.
As the mine was but a little way off,, he crffered to ihew it to tis, eipecially when h? perceived that I doubted his account. Pro- Yiding himfelf therefore with fome mining implements, he defired us to follow him, aiid we willingly complied.
We directed our fteps about a mile to tihe eait of Caftleton, along the fteep fide of the mountain which fronts it, and upon a narrow road about 200 feet above the fubjacent plaiii. The mountain is calcareous, and in fame parts exhibits traces of ftrata ; but its gei:ieral dii|joiition prefents a uniform and continuous mafs like moft calcareous rocks of great ele-. ration. Marine bodies are not very abun-* dant here ; I obferved, however, a few frag- ments of entrochiand fbme terebmtulx. Seve- ral lead mines have been opened in it, and it tMo affords calamine in an ochreous form. ■ 'We foon reached the entrance of the gal- lei-v whicii penetrates in an horizcmtal dircc- tiiC)W,- and opens in the ftratified part of the &.Yka;rBovis rock, in a feam of white cail- cai^otis %nv ^^' hioh prefejits a fmall but yery
diftlntl
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. JJI
di{lin(5l vein of galena intermixed with fluor fpar.
This indication, which was regarded as very promifing in a mountain which contained feve- ral other lead mines, determined Elias Ped- ley and his affociates to commence their ope- ration. But icarcely had they reached the depth of twelve feet w^hen the lime-ftone ter- minated, and they had the misfortune to meet with the channel.
As, till then, there had never been any in- ftance of the moil {lender veins of metal being found in this unprodudive ftone, they would have immediately difcontinued their labours, had not the fame vein of galena, which they traced through the lime-ftone, continued it« courfe in the channel or trapp. This ap- pearance was fo extraordinary and novel, that feduced by it, the miners purfued the ore in the channel to the horizontal depth of ninety feet, in the confiiant hope that the vein, which never exceeded an inch in thicknefs, wcoild .icon enlarge its dimenlions.
But the farther they proceeded they found the trapp become fo hard, and it required fo much labour and expence to cut through it, that Elias Pedley told us, he was on the point
of
352 TRAVELS THROUGfl
of altogether abandoning the work. This bed of trapp was little more than {ev&n feet thick, but it is very probable that it ex- tends a great way into the mountain, when it 3S coniidered that the gallery had been already carried ninety feet in an horizontal line with- out difcovering any appearance of alteration.
This bed of channel, or cat-dirt, is really a greenifh trapp, very hard in the interior of the mine, but upon being taken out of the gallerv and expofed for lome time to the atmofphere, it becomes friable, its colour changes, and it pafTes into an earthy ftate. Jt is probable that this decompofition arifes from fome in- vifible particles of pyrites, which become ef- florefeent and caufe the fubftance to fall inta a detritus.
Here then is a proof that galena has been found in a bed of channel, in which it has been traced in an uninterrupted line of ninety feet, accompanied with a f-nall portion of calcareous and fluor fpar. This inftance ex- hibits a dire(Fl and unequivocal exception to the obier\-ations hitherto made refpeding the mines of Derbylhire. The exigence of lead ore in the trapp is a ccrtainproof that itisnot the product of fire. I know that thofe mine- ralogies
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 333
raloglfts who are converfant in the ftudy of llthology, who have examined the trapp upon the fpot, and are fully acquainted with that ftone and all its varieties, have no need of this proof. But the fadt appeared to be of fo much importance that I conceived it proper to mention it, to do away every doubt upon the fubjed. This confideration, therefore, will form my excufe to thofe who may be dif. pleafed at the minute and tedious details which I have been obliged to enter into, that I might place the queflion in the cleareil poflible point of view. . 'io r^l^ti
CHAp:
534 TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER XIX.
JEterhy .-^Richard Brown^ a Dealer in Curiofities of "i-^atural Hjftory.'-^A Manufa8ure of Fafes, and ,u-Qt^er. fVo)-kma)iJJiip^ in Fluor Spc
yar
OATISFIED with whkt we had feen at Caftleton, we left thatlittle town, andreturned to Buxton, where I put in order the collec- ticin I had made of the mofl renaarkable cu- riofities of Derbylhire.
All our bufinefs being finiOied, we waited upon Dodor Pearfon, thanked him for the kind attention he had paid us, and left Bux- ton next morning for Derby. This journey occupied eight hours, though we had excel- lent horfes and good poftillions, but the road was very bad.
Derby is a commercial town. We faw a number of manufactories of different kinds ; fevcral porcelain works, and common pot- teries. We had been informed that a perfon named Richard Brown, who dealt in natural curiofities, refided here, and that he had in his pofleinon not only the fineft productions of
Derbvihirc^
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 335
Derbyifhire, but minerals from dlfFerent parts of England and Scotland : We vifkcd him. His (hop was well repleniihed with vafes of every form and every liz?, as well as other works in fluor Ipar of different colours, but much better cut and of a finer poliih than thofe fold at Buxton and Caftleton. I pur- chafed a complete colledion of his fpars cut into fmall fquare tablets, in fuch a manner that they might be placed in drawers, which is the beft method of keeping them for ftudy, and the mod convenient arrangement for a cabinet.
We were told that Mr. Brown charged very high for his curiofities, but we found that he fold even thofe which were moll: in- terefting and of the fineft workmanfhip at a very reafonable price. He was far from feek- ing to take advantage of us becaufe we were foreigners ; on the contrary, he was mode- rate in his demands, and treated us with the greateft civility. When he faw that I was fond of lithology, and that ~I named fome flones \\'ith refpe6l to the nature of which he ; was doubtful, he teftified much happinefs at feeing u% and begged that we would flop with him and driiik. to the friends o£. the fcience of • . . nature.
33^ TRAVELS THROUGH
nature. He inftantly ordered glafies and fe- veral kinds of wine to be brought ;' but as we had juft been drinking after dinner, we de- clined this invitation, of the kindnefs of which however we were very fenfible, for Mr. Brown prefTed US with the greateft cordiaHty.
•While we were difputing this point of po- litenefs, a dog, which I hadpurchafed in the highlands of Scotland, fuddenly left me in the ftreet : he differed from the common Ihepherd dog. The Scottifli dog has more ingenuity and manages a flock of (heep better than the ordinary kind. It is alfo excellent for keeping off the fox. I tried, but in vain, to recover this animal : my dog was loft or rather ftolen.
Next day we went to fee another vender of articles of natural hiftory, who was himfelf a worker in fluor fpar and marble. He re- fided at one of the extremities of the town, by the fide of a fmall river, which flowed at a fhort diftance from his houfe.
He was a very intelligent young man. I never any other where faw vafes of fuch per- fed forms, fuch exquifite lightnefs, and fuch fine materials; but his prices were higher and lus manners lefs accommodating than
thofc
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 3^7
tbofe of Mr. Brown ; wifhing, however, to take fomething from him, I purchafed a vafe which charmed me by the beauty of the co- lours of the fpar,, its elegant form, and the deHcate finiih of the workmanfhip. This dealer had alfo fome of the minerals of Der- byfhire for fale, but in his collection of them I found nothino; interefting.
VOL. 11, z CHAP-
33S TRAVELS THROUGH
CHAPTER XX.
Departure from Derby. — Arrlva] at Binmi&ham* — Its mmierousMdniifadures. — Do5ior IVithering.—^ Benjamin Watt. — Docior Priejlly — His Houfe, JLibraryy and his chemical FJahoratory.
w,
E left Derby at noon, but as the roads Were all very bad in this quarter of the coun- try, we had fome difficulty in arriving on the lame day at Birmingham. At nine in the evening we entered an inn in this town, after having crofTed fome black arrid heaths, and pafTed through a favage and dreary region.
We had letters of recommendation to Do61or Withering, the tranflator of the Scia- graphia of Bergman, and a lover of botani- cal and chemical fludies : We waited on him next day. He inhabits a fine houfe, fur- nifhed with tafte and elegance. We had tea With him in company with fome amiable and beautiful ladies, and to complete our good for- tune, we were here introduced to Mr. Watt, a man of lingular merit, one of the moft flcil- ful mechanics of England, and who poffefTes
great
£^GLANlJ AND SCOTLAND. 339
great knowledge in chymiftry and natural hiftory.
The extenfive Commie rce and manufa6lure$ of Birmm2;ham render it one of the moft in- terefting towns in England : Here the tra- veller may have a comprehenfive view of a moft a£live and varied induftry exercifed h\ the different arts of utility, of pleafure, and of luxury.
I know that feme travellers who have not fufficiently reflecled on the importance and advantage of manufa^lures in a country, fiich as England, have difapp roved of extenfive Works of the kind eftablifhed in this town. I know that even Englifhmen who have taken but a hafty and inconfiderate view of thefe magnificent eftablifhments, have obferved that it was difficult for the e>e to be long ipleafed in the midfl of fo many frivolous arts, and where the labours of a hundred men are confined to the making of a tobacCo box*^. But befides that this ftatement is exaggerated, thefe travellers have overlooked the vaft works where fteam engines are made, thefe aftonilhirig machines, the perfe6ting of
* Sec Gilpin's Pi£lurefque Tour; '
2 2 which
34^ TRAVELS THROUGH
which does fo«iuch honour to the talents and knowledge of Mr. Watt ; the manufa<Slories conflantly employed in making Iheet copper for flieathing fhips bottoms ; thofe of plate- tin and plate-iron, which render France tribu- tary to England, and that varied and exten- iive hard- ware manufadure which employs to {o much advantage more than thirty thou- land hands, and compels all Europe, and a part of the new H'orid, to lupply themfelves with thefe articles here, where every thing is made in greater perfeftion, with more economy and greater abundance, than in any other country.
I muft obferve here, what cannot be ro^ peated too often to Frenchmen, that it is the abundance of coal which gives this advan* tage, and produces, in the midfl of a barren defert, a town with forty thoufand inhabitants, who live in plenty, and enjoy all the comforts of civilized life.
The various manufaflures in which thisufe- fiil mineral is employed have covered a fterile and fombre heath with groves of lillies and rofcs, and converted a favage wildernefs into fertile and delicious gardens. The worki eftablifhed by MefTrs. Boulton and Watt, ia which more than a thoufand hands are em- ployed.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 341
ptoyecT, have contributed greatly to promote this change.
The population of Birmingham encrcafed {o much during the American war, that at leaft three hundred new houfes were, during that period, added aimualty to the town. At the conclulion of the peace, this increafe was doubled. The gentleman who made me ac- quainted with thefe fi6bs, and who pofTefled much information, one day ihewed me a new flreet of coniiderable length, in which the conftru6lion of the houfes was juft commenced upon an uniform plan, and the building was carried on with {o much rapidity that there was little doubt but the whole would be finifhed in lefs than two months.
I experienced much pleafure in vifiting Mr. Watt, whofe extenfive knowledge in chymiftry and the arts, rendered his conver- fation very intercfting. His moral q^ialities, and the engaging manner in which he ex- preffed his thoughts, daily encreafed my refpedt for him. He has a number of fine children, who are all diftinguifhed by their information and their talents.
I dined one day with this agreeable family,
when Dodlor Prieflly, who is a relation of
23 Mr*
^4^ TRAVELS THROUGH
Mr, Watt, was prefent ; I had the pleafure of forming an acquaintance with this cele^ brated man, to whom experimental philofo- phy owes fo many obligations, 1 afterwards vifited him in company with Mr. Withering, Dodor Prieftly does not refide in Birming- ham, but at the diftance of about a mile and a half from the town, in a charming houfe, with a fine meadow on the one fi ie, and a de- lightful garden on the other. There was an air of the moft perfe6l neatnefs in every thing connected with this hou^e, both without and within it. I know not how to give a better idea of it than by comparing it to thofe fnug houfes fo often to be met with in Holland, particularly on the road from Harlem to Ley-; den, and from Leyden to the Hague.
Potior Prieftly received me with the great-, eft kindnefs. He prefented me to his wife and his daughter, who were diftinguiihed by vavacity, intelhgence, and gentlenefs of man- ners. The young lady fpoke to me of one of her brothers, who was then finishing his edu- cation at Geneva, and to whom flie feemed \'ery much attached.
The building in which Do£lor Pricftly made his chemical and philofophical experiments
was
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 343
was detached from his houfe to avoid the danger of fire. It confifted of feveral apart- ments on a ground floor. Upon entering it we were ilruck with a fimple and ingenioua apparatus for making experiments on inflam- mable s;as extraded from iron and water re- duced to vapour. The tube, which was thick and long, was made of red copper and caft in one piece to avoid joinings. The part ex-, pofed to the fire was thicker than the refl:. Into this tube he introduced cuttings or filings )0f iron, and inftead of dropping in the water, he preferred making it enter in vapour. The furnace deflined for this operation was fupplied with coak made of coal, which is the befl of all combuftibles for the intenfity and equality of its heat.
By thefe means he obtained a confiderable quantity of inflammable gas of great lightnels and without any fmell He obferved to me, :thatby increafing the apparatus and ufing irou or copper tubes of a larger calibre, aeroftatic balloons might be filled with far lefs trouble and expence than by vitriolic acid. Dodtor Prieftly allowed me to take a drawing of this new appar^itus for the purpofe of communi- % 4 catiiig
544 TRAVELS THROUGH
eating it to the French chymifts who are en- gaged in the fame piirfuit.
The compofition which Do6lor Prieflly tifed to prevent the gas from efcaping, either in this or other experiments, appeared to me fo excellent that I begged of him to tell me how he made it. He informed me, that after a multitude of trials, he had found nothing an- fwer the purpofe fo well as the pafle of al- monds, fuch as it is when the oil is extra£lcd. This moiftened with a little water, in which glue had been dilTolved, made an excellent lute. He obfcrved, however, that the glue might be difpenfed with.
Do6tor Prieftly did not regard the experi- ments inade relative to the decompolition of water as fatisfa6lory. He could not admit the fad to be demonftrated fo long as the gas was only obtained through the medium of iron, a metal which is itfelf fufceptible of inflamma- bility ; but lie waited with impatience for the refult of the experiments of the French chy- mifts, particularly thefe of Lavoifier, who had invented, and caufed to be conftruded, an ex- tenlive apparatus for the fame obje£l.
" The decompofition of water," faid this indefatigable philofqpher, addreffing himfelf
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 345
to me, " is of fo much importance in natural " philofophy, and would occupy fo diftin- " guifhed a place among the phenomena of " the univerfe, that far from admitting the " fadl upon flight evidence, and as it were *' from enthuliafm, it were rather to be wifh- " ed that all objedlions that may be made, and " which will ftill long continue to be made *' againft this theory, were completely refuted: " In the confli6l of opinions, truth may at " kil be obtained. But I have ftill fo many *' doubts upon this fubje6l,and I have fo many " experiments to make, both pro and coUy " that I can as yet regard the queflion as " only ftarted *."
Dodor Prieftly has embellifhed his foli- tude with a philofophical cabinet, which con- tains all the inftruments neceflary for his ex- periments, and a library rendered valuable by a choice of excellent works. The learned
* Mr. Benjamin Watt, who has publiflied fome ex- cellent papers upon the theory of fire, was of the famd' opinion with Dr. Prieftly. " The theory of the decom- " pofition of water is feducing," faid he to me, " as it " would be convenient for explaining the different pheno- " mena of nature ; but the more I refle£l on this delicate *' fubjedtj and upon all that has hitherto been done and *' written relative to it, the more I find it involved in diffi- ♦»culties/'
poflefTor
34^ TRAVELS THROUGH
pofleflbr employs himfelf in a variety of fludies : Hifiory, moral philofbphy, and religion, have all in their turn engaged his pen. An aftive, intelligent mind, and a natural avidity for knowledge, gave him a paffion for experiment tal philofbphy ; but the fenfibiiity and gentle- nefs of his difpoiition have fometimes directed his attention to pious and philanthropic ftu- dies, which do honour to the goodnefs of his heart, iince they always have for their object the happinefs of mankind. Befides his litu- ation as a preacher, renders it often neceffary for him to fpeak in public *.
Next day I had the pleafure of meeting Do£lor Prieftly at Mr. Watt's, where we partook of an agreeable repaft, in company 'tvith feveral amiable and intelligent men.,
* I fliall not here detail the perfecution which this worthy «ian experienced fince the period in which I faw him. His chymical elaboratory, his cabinet of natural philofophy, his library, his charming houfe, were all de- ilroyed by barbarous fanatics. The government has en- deavoured to repair this lofs by proportional indemnities, which amounted to fifteen hundred louis. But wtfhing, as a philofopher, to fly from intrigue and to feek repofe, and defirous of avoiding fimilar dangers, he has retired to the United States of America. Let us hope, that in this afylum, he may proCxute his ftudies with his ufual zea^, and that he will be able to repair in part the lofs of hi;$ valuable manufcripts.
Mr.
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 347
Mr. Watt is a man of great conceptions; Na- ture has endowed him with a very vigorous injnd, and to his other excellent qualities he joins the mildeft and moft prepoflefiing man" ners which interefl: even at firft fight.
Mr. Watt ihewed us a corn-mill, which he had conftruded, and which was let in motion hy a lleam engine. The application of this principle to the mechanifm of a mill is a happy idea, which may be very advantageoufly applied in a country which has few ftreams, and is rich in coal. This firil: attempt will Jead to others, and the principle will foon be applied to a number of vifeful purpofes *.
Mr.
* Since this period fimilar mills have been fuccefsfully erefted at Nantes, and fome at Paris, where fome fteant engints are ufed for ftamping coins. Steam engines were firft eftablifhed in France, by the brothers Periers, who joined much atS^ivity'to a great deal of knowledge: But thefe excellent machines cannot reach the perfedion they have obtained in England, until our government fliall fe- rioufly turn Its attention to the opening of coal mines. Thofe who know the exhaufled ftate of our forefts arc convinced that the moment will foon arrive when we fhall be obliged to work them from neceflity. Thofe who arc acquainted with the negle£ted fituation of our coal mines, tremble, left it Ihould hereafter happen that we (hall want both wood and coal at the fame time. There is fome rea- fon for anxiety on this fubjedl, when we consider that at Paris a weigh of bad coal cofts fix times more than the beft fiid Corns years ago, But if the legiflature were to turn to
the
34^ TRAVELS THROUGH
M^. Watt is fo familiar with sTeat inven-
o
tionSypoflefs fo much knowledge in the higher branches of mechanics, and has brought the means of execution to fo much perfection, that he may juftly be ranked among the men who have chiefly contributed to create the prefent high profperity of the ufeful arts and commerce in England. He is a native of Scotland : A country which has long beeii accuftomed to fupply England with men wha honour it the moft in every fcience and pro-, feffion.
We pafled feveral days at Birmingham^ where we may be faid to have refided in the midil: of the arts and induftry. The fociety of enlightened men and amiable women added new charms to our iituation. Ouj- minds were informed and delighted; our heads were filled with fafls, and our hearts with gratitude. Such were the pleafures we experienced in this town. We left it with
the confideration of this fubjecSl, as well as that of canal's, with the earneftnefs they deferve, it would be found that cur rcfourccs of this kind are as inexhauftible as thofe of another kind, which we have already exhibited ^to tlic aftoniilienent of all Europe.
CHAP-
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 349
CHAPTER XXI.
Departure from Birmingham. — Coventry.'-— P far" wick.. — Oxford. — Saini Albans .-^Baniet . — Lon^ don. — Return to France.
/\S we were preparing to leave Birming- ham, Mr. Watt requefted to know whether we could take under our care one of his fons, who was to go to Paris, and thence to Geneva. We anfwered, Jthat it gave us a great deal of pleafure to be able to afford him a feat in our carriage, in which there was fufficient room for his accommodation, and that we fhould pay every poffible attention to his fon, who was a very engaging young man. Count Andreani and myfelf were extremely pleafed to have an opportunity of juftifying the con- fidence which Mr. Watt repoled in us, and of proving to him how happy we were to be able ■ to give him that fmall mark of efteem and attachment.
On leaving Birmingham we were delighted to fee the country on every fide fi:udded with gentlemens feats poffefling a fimple but ele-
35<5 TRAVELS THROUGH
gant appearance, which was greatly heightened by the efFe£l of the r'ofy colour of the bricks upon the white ground of the ftone worki Every thing here was fo much more ftriking^ as thefe elegant habitations were almofl: newi But fcarcely had we loft fight of them, and pafTed through fome words, when we entered upon an extenfive tra^t of wild and barren heaths.
Between Birmingham dhd Coventry we had a view of an ancient manfion belonging to Lord Aylesford. It is not very agreeably (ituated, but it was eafy to fee that the pro- prietor had employed the affiftance of tafte and art in embellifhing it.
Coventry is a pretty neat little town. The Ipire of the church is feen a great way off* The foil here confifts of broken flints inter- mixed with reddifh earth.
From Coventry to Warwick we pafTed over a flat country, in fome places woody, and in others naked, and with a foil like the pre- ceding.
We {topped at Warwick in order to vifit the church, which is a very fine ftrudlure in the gothic ftile. The chapel where the chiefs of the houfe of Warwick have been interred,
and
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 35 1
and where is feen the tomb of thes earl of Leicefter, is charged with fculptures and go- thic ornaments of the moft finifhed neatnels. Having vifited the other curious monuments of the place, which are defcribed at length in feveral produ<5tions, we proceeded on our way to Stratford, celebrated as the birth- place of the immortal Shakefpeare. We croffed the river Avon by a bridge of four- teen arches, erecled at the expence of one Hugh Clifton, Vho was a mayor of London, and a native of this town.
We next reached Oxford, where we vifited the moft remarkable monuments of fciencp and art. But all thefe are already fo generally known, that it would be fuperfluous to de- fcribe them. I fhould have been happy to have met here with Mr. Thomplbn^ a very excellent naturalift, with whom I had formed an acquaintance at London, whence he had gone to fettle at Oxford. But he was unfor- tunately abfent from home. It would have been not only vei-y agreeable, but alfo very ufeful to us to have {een him, as he could have introduced us to the learned men of the place, to whom, from a reliance upon his prefence, we had not provided ourfelves with any recommendation.
From
352 TRAVELS THROUGH ENGLAND, See.
From Oxford we proceeded to London through Saint Albans and Barnet.
Our flay at London was not long. Hav- ing taken leave of our learned friends, who had kindly gratified us with the numerous ob- jedls of inftrudlion and entertainment, which that city affords, we fet.out for Paris, where we arrived five days after. Count Andreani prepared for his return to Milan, young Watt took the road to Geneva, and I remained at Paris.
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