Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

NORTH RON A. 301
NORTH RONA. BARRA.
Years had passed in vain attempts, and still we had
not reached North Rona. Nothing seemed to have been
attained while that remained to be done. Like Pyrrhus,
we were then to sit down to our wine and be happy.
Such is happiness; always at the end of the rainbow ; or
like a pig with his tail greased, at a country fair ; it may
be apprehended, but still it escapes " sceleratus, vincula,
Proteus." Nevertheless, we reached this long-sought
land at last.
To Scotland at large, the very names of these islands
were unknown : among the Western Isles, they were
spoken of as we speak of the islands in the South Sea;
remote lands, placed " in climes beyond the solar road,'*
" far from the sun and summer gale ;
" objects in which
no one could feel any interest. Nor could we discover
aught of their history, except the general belief that they
were inhabited by several families. The statistical wri-
ters had never heard of them ; the map-makers had
forgotten them, and the manufacturers of longitudes and
latitudes had tabulated them, each according to his own
fancy or belief. It was difficult to imagine that we were
actually inquiring after an integrant portion of the
British empire; and our intended visit was spoken of as
we should have discussed an expedition to the dominions
of Prester John, or a journey to investigate the sources
of the Nile ; countries placed where Homer has wisely
placed his Elysian fields, and Swift his Laputa, about
the vua