Chapter II: Part I: The Cruise of the Betsey

CHAPTER I.

Preparation--Departure--Recent and Ancient Monstrosities--A Free
Church Yacht--Down the Clyde--Jura--Prof. Walker's
Experiment--Whirlpool near Scarba--Geological Character of the
Western Highlands--An Illustration--Different Ages of Outer and
Inner Hebrides--Mt. Blanc and the Himalayas "mere
upstarts"--Esdaile Quarries--Oban--A Section through Conglomerate
and Slate examined--McDougal's Dog-stone--Power of the Ocean to
move Rocks--Sound of Mull--The Betsey--The Minister's
Cabin--Village of Tobermory--The "Florida," a Wreck of the
Invincible Armada--Geologic Exploration and Discovery--At Anchor. 15

CHAPTER II.

The Minister's Larder--No Harbor--Eigg Shoes--_Tormentilla
erecta_--For the _Witness'_ Sake--Eilean Chaisteil--Appearance of
Eigg--Chapel of St. Donan--Shell-sand--Origin of Secondary
Calcareous Rock suggested--Exploration of Eigg--Pitchstone Veins--A
Bone Cave--Massacre at Eigg--Grouping of Human Bones in the
Cave--Relics--The Horse's Tooth--A Copper Sewing Needle--Teeth
found--Man a worse Animal than his Teeth show him to have been
designed for--Story of the Massacre--Another Version--Scuir of
Eigg--The Scuir a Giant's Causeway--Character of the
Columns--Remains of a Prostrate Forest. 31

CHAPTER III.

Structure of the Scuir--A stray Column--The Piazza--A buried Pine
Forest the Foundation of the Scuir--Geological Poachers in a Fossil
Preserve--_Pinites Eiggensis_--Its Description--Witham's
Experiments on Fossil Pine of Eigg--Rings of the Pine--Ascent of
the Scuir--Appearance of the Top--White Pitchstone--Mr. Greig's
Discovery of Pumice--A Sunset Scene--The Manse and the Yacht--The
Minister's Story--A Cottage Repast--American Timber drifted to the
Hebrides--Agency of the Gulf Stream--The Minister's Sheep. 49

CHAPTER IV.

An Excursion--The Chain of Crosses--Bay of Laig--Island of
Rum--Description of the Island--Superstitions banished by pure
Religion--Fossil Shells--Remarkable Oyster Bed--New species of
Belemnite--Oolitic Shells--White Sandstone Precipices--Gigantic
Petrified Mushrooms--"Christabel" in Stone--Musical Sand--_Jabel
Nakous_, or Mountain of the Bell--Experiments of Travellers at
_Jabel Nakous_--Welsted's Account--_Reg-Rawan_, or the Moving
Sand--The Musical Sounds inexplicable--Article on the subject in
the North British Review. 66

CHAPTER V.

Trap-dykes--"Cotton Apples"--Alternation of Lacustrine with Marine
Remains--Analogy from the Beds of Esk--Aspect of the Island on its
narrow Front--The Puffin--Ru Stoir--Development of Old Red
Sandstone--Striking Columnar character of Ru Stoir--Discovery of
Reptilian Remains--John Stewart's wonder at the Bones in the
Stones--Description of the Bones--"Dragons, Gorgons, and
Chimeras"--Exploration and Discovery pursued--The Midway
Shieling--A Celtic Welcome--Return to the Yacht--"Array of Fossils
new to Scotch Geology"--A Geologist's Toast--Hoffman and his
Fossil. 85

CHAPTER VI.

Something for Non-geologists--Man Destructive--A Better and Last
Creation coming--A Rainy Sabbath--The Meeting House--The
Congregation--The Sermon in Gaelic--The Old Wondrous Story--The
Drunken Minister of Eigg--Presbyterianism without Life--Dr.
Johnson's Account of the Conversion of the People of Rum--Romanism
at Eigg--The Two Boys--The Freebooter of Eigg--Voyage resumed--The
Homeless Minister--Harbor of Isle Ornsay--Interesting Gneiss
Deposit--A Norwegian Keep--Gneiss at Knock--Curious
Chemistry--Sea-cliffs beyond Portsea--The Goblin Luidag--Scenery of
Skye. 105

CHAPTER VII.

Exploration resumed--Geology of Rasay--An Illustration--The Storr
of Skye--From Portree to Holm--Discovery of Fossils--An Island
Rain--Sir R. Murchison--Labor of Drawing a Geological Line--Three
Edinburgh Gentlemen--_Prosopolepsia_--Wrong Surmises corrected--The
Mail Gig--The Portree Postmaster--Isle Ornsay--An Old
Acquaintance--Reminiscences--A Run for Rum--"Semi-fossil
Madeira"--Idling on Deck--Prognostics of a Storm--Description of
the Gale--Loch Scresort--The Minister's lost _Sou-wester_--The Free
Church Gathering--The weary Minister. 123

CHAPTER VIII.

Geology of Rum--Its curious Character illustrated--Rum famous for
Bloodstones--Red Sandstones--"Scratchings" in the Rocks--A
Geological Inscription without a Key--The Lizard--Vitality broken
into two--Illustrations--Speculation--Scuir More--Ascent of the
Scuir--The Bloodstones--An Illustrative Set of the Gem--M'Culloch's
Pebble--A Chemical Problem--The solitary Shepherd's House--Sheep
_versus_ Men--The Depopulation of Rum--A Haul of Trout--Rum Mode of
catching Trout--At Anchor in the Bay of Glenelg. 139

CHAPTER IX.

Kyles of Skye--A Gneiss District--Kyle Rhea--A Boiling Tide--A
"Take" of Sillocks--The Betsey's "Paces"--In the Bay at
Broadford--Rain--Island of Pabba--Description of the Island--Its
Geological Structure--Astrea--Polypifers--_Gryphoea
incurva_--Three Groups of Fossils in the Lias of Skye--Abundance of
the Petrifactions of Pabba--Scenery--Pabba a "piece of smooth,
level England"--Fossil Shells of Pabba--- Voyage resumed--Kyle
Akin--Ruins of Castle Maoil--A "Thornback" Dinner--The Bunch of
Deep Sea Tangle--The Caileach Stone--Kelp Furnaces--Escape of the
Betsey from sinking. 159

CHAPTER X.

Isle Orusay--The Sabbath--A Sailor-minister's Sermon for
Sailors--The Scuir Sermon--Loch Carron--Groups of Moraines--A sheep
District--The Editor of the _Witness_ and the Establishment
Clergyman--Dingwall--Conon-side revisited--The Pond and its
Changes--New Faces.--The Stonemason's Mark--The Burying-ground of
Urquhart--An old Acquaintance--Property Qualification for Voting in
Scotland--Montgerald Sandstone Quarries--Geological Science in
Cromarty--The Danes at Cromarty--The Danish Professor and the "Old
Red Sandstone"--Harmonizing Tendencies of Science. 178

CHAPTER XI.

Ichthyolite Beds--An interesting Discovery--Two Storeys of Organic
Remains in the Old Red Sandstone--Ancient Ocean of Lower Old
Red--Two great Catastrophes--Ancient Fish Scales--Their skilful
Mechanism displayed by examples--Bone Lips--Arts of the Slater and
Tiler as old as Old Red Sandstone--Jet Trinkets--Flint
Arrow-heads--Vitrified Forts of Scotland--Style of grouping Lower
Old Red Fossils--Illustration from Cromarty Fishing
Phenomena--Singular Remains of Holoptychius--Ramble with Mr. Robert
Dick--Color of the Planet Mars--Tombs never dreamed of by
Hervey--Skeleton of the Bruce--Gigantic Holoptychius--"Coal money
Currency"--Upper Boundary of Lower Old Red--Every one may add to
the Store of Geological Facts--Discoveries of Messrs. Dick and
Peach. 192

CHAPTER XII.

Ichthyolite Beds of Clune and Lethenbarn--Limestone
Quarry--Destruction of Urns and Sarcophagi in the
Lime-kiln--Nodules opened--Beautiful coloring of the
Remains--Patrick Duff's Description--New Genus of Morayshire
Ichthyolite described--Form and size of the Nodules or Stone
Coffins--Illustration from Mrs. Marshall's Cements--Forest of
Darnaway--The Hill of Berries--Sluie--Elgin--Outliers of the Weald
and the Oolite--Description of the Weald at Linksfield--Mr. Duff's
_Lepidotus minor_--Eccentric Types of Fish Scales--Visit to the
Sandstones of Scat-Craig--Fine suit of Fossils at Scat-Craig--True
graveyard Bones, not mere Impressions--Varieties of pattern--The
Diker's "Carved Flowers"--_Stagonolepis_, a new Genus--Termination
of the Ramble. 212

CHAPTER XIII.

SUPPLEMENTARY.

Supplementary--Isolated Reptile Remains in Eigg--Small Isles
revisited--The Betsey again--Storm bound--Tacking--Becalmed--Medusae
caught and described--Rain--A Shoal of Porpoises--Change of
Weather--The bed-ridden Woman--The Poor Law Act for
Scotland--Geological Excursion--Basaltic Columns--Oolitic
Beds--Abundance of Organic Remains--Hybodus Teeth--Discovery of
reptile Remains _in situ_--Musical Sand of Laig
re-examined--Explanation suggested--Sail for Isle Ornsay--Anchored
Clouds--A Leak sprung--Peril of the Betsey--At work with Pump and
Pails--Safe in Harbor--Return to Edinburgh. 233