The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

2 14 1^^^ Highland Monthly.
lay quite uncovered with one end of the rein tied round
his arm to prevent the horse, which stood a few feet from
him, from running off without, at anyrate, giving warning
of his intentions. I could not help envying the youth
sleeping so contentedly in such a situation. But his
snoring became intolerable, so I got up and walked backwards
and forwards, for I felt chilled. I produced my
whisky flask and found it empty, and I at the same time
remembered that I had the previous evening emptied my
tobacco pouch into that of a friend who had travelled a
part of the road with me. I awakened the driver, and
asked him if he smoked and had any tobacco, and in reply
he produced from what was evidently a very deep receptacle
in his trousers a long piece of black " twist." I filled my
brier pipe, and I am bound to say that, though a great
lover of the weed, I never enjoyed a pipe as much as I did
that one.
The wind soon increased in force, and the fog was
gradually rising. The grey light in the east indicated
the approaching dawn. After the lapse of about half-
an-hour, there was light enough to enable us to dis-
tinguish land on both sides of the ford. This was about
five o'clock. It would not be high water till half-past
eight, and we could not attempt to leave the rock for four
hours more. Sleep was now out of the question, so I
wrapped myself once more in my rug, lay down under my
former sheltering rock, and watched the tide rising gradu-
ally higher and higher, covering one part of the rock, on
which we had taken refuge, after another. I perceived
several gulls hovering over the sands, and occasionally
pouncing down on a sand eel that was rash enough to
expose itself. These gulls always follow in the track of
conveyances crossing the sands, to pick up sand eels that
may be dislodged by the wheels or the horses' feet.
Slowly and wearily the hours passed till it was high water,
and almost immediately the tide began to ebb. About
nine o'clock a small boat, containing three men, sailed past,