Volume 3 - Electric Scotland

82 BENBIiCULA.
going' back again to sea, and were at the point where we
had begun. But as all troubles must end at some time, we
did at last find aland passage to the main island : leaving
the boat to shift for itself in its own proper element.
All this would have been provoking enough in bad
weather; but the bright channels glittered in the sun-
shine, and even the grey rocks breathed of spring, as the
sweet western breeze blew over the purple heath that
hung- trailing over them, dipping its blossoms in the po-
lished green sea. Blue skies and bright seas can confer
beauty even on the most barren shores ;
here there were
the additional charms of variety, in the intermixture of
land and water, in the endless and unexpected changes
of form, in the deep quiet bays, the streaming channels,
the bold and various rocky shores, and the islands of all
forms and sizes which, at every moment, came in view
and vanished again. The gay verdure of June, spangled
with blossoms of all hues, scarcely left it necessary to
imagine the whole a watery garden in the ocean, orna-
mented by the hand of industry as disposed by that of
Nature. It required little effort to conceive it decked
with the brilliant produce of a more favoured climate,
adorned with trees and embellished with works of art;
emulating- the flowery islands of Mirza's vision. But, as
if in contempt, Nature, so often uselessly lavish, has here
thrown away on a hopeless climate, that which might
have formed the seats of delight to hundreds. The day
was not far off when the sea would rage, the rains de-
scend, and the winds blow, and when all this bright
scene would reappear in its far more frequent dress, less
enticing than even " the long hollow valley of Bagdad."
Benbecula is about seven miles in length and eight
in breadth, and, with the exception of a single hill of no
great elevation, is nearly a flat. Wia and Grimsa, with