The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

2o8 The Highland Monthly.
in a straight line— the track, generally speaking, is a semi-
circular one, with the convex side to the east, so that at
night the wind or stars afford little or no help ; they are,
on the contrary, very misleading. I may add that adven-
tures in this ford, similar to that I am about to relate, are
not at all uncommon, and they are sometimes, though
fortunately rarely, attended with fatal results.
I have said that we—the driver and myself— left the
inn at Benbecula about half-past one o'clock. I have also
said that the night, or rather the morning, was clear and
starry, with a fresh westerly wind blowing. We discovered
the guiding^stones easily enough, and all went well until we
crossed the Gramsdale ford. Soon after doing so, however,
we lost sight of the stones, but expecting to find them
again before proceeding far we continued our journey for
about half-a-mile over an unbroken plain of sand, but
without seeing either stones or any other object which
would enable us to ascertain whether we were going in the
right direction or not. By this time I observed that the
night was no longer clear, for the stars were not visible,
and a heavy fog was gradually rolling in from the Atlantic.
Still we continued our journey at a smart trot, feeling no
uneasiness, as we hoped to be able to retrace our steps if
necessary to Benbecula, which was still visible through the
darkness and fog, though gradually becoming less distinct.
In a few minutes more we came to a group of scattered
rocks, which the driver carefully examined, but which he
failed to recognise. We wandered among these rocks for
some time endeavouring in vain to find out our where-
abouts. The driver then suggested that we should proceed,
and he confidently remarked that we were undoubtedly
going in the right direction. So proceed we did. It struck
me at this time that we kept too far to the left, or in a
westerly direction (for I had often before now crossed the
ford by day, though never by night), but assuming that the
driver was conversant with all the turns of the ford, I made
no remark. Subsequent events, however, proved that my