the danger of bad company at its worst, to
the alternative of begging your way home." He judged rightly. Before
daybreak we had lost sight of land, and in four days more we could
discern the precipitous shores of Carrick stretching in a dark line
along the horizon, and the hills of the interior rising thin and blue
behind, like a volume of clouds. A considerable part of our cargo,
which consisted mostly of tea and spirits, was consigned to an Ayr
trader, who had several agents in the remote parish of Kirkoswald, which
at this period afforded more facilities for carrying on the contraband
trade than any other on the western coast of Scotland; and, in a rocky
bay of the parish, we proposed unlading on the following night. It was
necessary, however, that the several agents, who were yet ignorant of
our arrival, should be prepared to meet with us; and, on volunteering my
service for the purpose, I was landed near the ruins of the ancient
castle of Turnberry, once the seat of Robert the Bruce.

I had accomplished my object; it was evening, and a party of
countrymen were sauntering among the cliffs, waiting for nightfall and
the appearance of the lugger. There are splendid caverns on the coast of
Kirkoswald; and, to while away the time, I had descended to the shore by
a broken and precipitous path, with a view of exploring what are termed
the Caves of Colzean, by far the finest in this part of Scotland. The
evening was of great beauty; the sea spread out from the cliffs to the
far horizon, like the sea of gold and crystal described by the prophet;
and its warm orange hues so harmonized with those of the sky, that,
passing over the dimly-defined line of demarcation, the whole upper and
nether expanse seemed but one glorious firmament, with the dark Ailsa,
like a thunder-cloud, sleeping in the midst. The sun was hastening to
his setting, and threw his strong red light on the wall of rock which,
loftier and more imposing than the walls of even the mighty Babylon,
stretched onward along the beach, headland after headland, till the last
sank abruptly in the far distance, and only the wide ocean stretched
beyond. I passed along the insulated piles of cliff that rise thick
along the basis of the precipices--now in sunshine, now in shadow--till
I reached the opening of one of the largest caves. The roof rose more
than fifty feet over my head--a broad stream of light, that seemed
redder and more fiery from the surrounding gloom, slant