unge into that cool and
tempting depth, and to be in heaven at once. At Stornoway we spent a
couple of days. The town stands in a bay, perhaps not quite so romantic
as some in which we have sheltered, but very picturesque, nevertheless.
The first object to be distinctly seen as we entered was the fine castle
which Sir James Mathieson has erected for himself, at a cost altogether
of half a million, and the grounds of which are in beautiful order; them
we had ample time to inspect that evening, as in Stornoway the daylight
lasted till nearly ten o'clock. Happily, Sir James was at home, and we
on board the yacht had an acceptable present of vegetables, and cream,
and butter, very welcome to us poor toilers of the sea. Stornoway is a
very busy place, and has at this time of the year a population of 2,500.
In May and June it is busier still, as at that time there will be as many
as five hundred fishing boats in the harbour, and a large extra
population are employed on shore in curing and packing the fish. In the
country behind are lakes well stocked with fish, and mountains and moors
where game and wild deer and real eagles yet abound. But a great
drawback is the climate. An old sportsman writes:--"The savagery of the
weather in the Lewes, the island of which Stornoway is the capital, is
not to be described. A gentleman from the county of Clare once shot a
season with me, and had very good sport, which he enjoyed much. I asked
him to come again. 'Not for five thousand pounds a year,' he replied,
'would I encounter this climate again. I am delighted I came, for now I
can go back to my own country with pleasure, since, bad as the climate
is, it is Elysium to this.'" Let me say, however, the weather was superb
all the time the _Elena_ was at Stornoway.

As a town, Stornoway is an immense improvement on Portree. It rejoices
in churches, and the shops are numerous, and abound with all sorts of
useful articles. The chief streets are paved. It has here and there a
gas lamp, and the proprietor of the chief hotel boasted to me that so
excellent were his culinary arrangements, that actually the ladies from
the yachts come and dine there. Stornoway has a Freemasons' Hall, and,
wandering in one of the streets, I came to a public library, which I
found was open once a week. On Saturday night the shops swarmed with
customers, chiefly peasant women--who put their boots on when they came
into the town, and who took them off