Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

442 KYLE RICH.
Kyle Rich, it is well replaced by the unexpected wild-
ness of this narrow and threatening strait. The rocky
mountains, rising abruptly on each side to a great height,
seem, at first sight, as if they meant to deny a passage.
Even when it is opened by advancing, it is fearfully nar-
row, although the navigation is not attended with either
difficulty or danger to the experienced. The rapid stream
of the tide is, in fact, sufficient to command a passage,
even against the wind ; and the difficulty of steerage,
arising, in calm weather, from want of way through the
water, is removed by keeping a boat or two a-head. Ten
thousand whirlpools adorn the surface, intermixed with
the streaming lines of the currents and eddies ; forming
a sort of Charybdis resembling a powerful and rapid in-
land river rather than an arm of the sea :
yet, with every
sense of security, the passage of this strait, particularly
in baffling winds, is attended with a good deal of excitement,
and some little anxiety ; sensations which much
enhance the romantic effect of the whole scene. Once
past, all tide is at an end for a time, and we find
ourselves in a wide basin and at peace. The change
is effected in a moment ; and the feeling is like that
which follows the sudden subsidence of a storm.
The Caiileach Stone, formerly mentioned, being one
of the best and most frequented anchorages in the pas-
sage of the Sounds, is often full of shipping, and is seldom
indeed without some vessels at anchor; while it is rare
that many ships and boats are not navigating to the north
or the south; producing a very lively scene. This is a
magnificent basin ; and, being land-locked at both en-
trances, has the appearance of an enormous inland lake.
While the Kyle Haken passage lies along the Sky shore,
closed in by the approach of the mainland to the island,
in a manner resembling the Kyle Rich, this wide and
spacious bay, included between them, sweeps away to the