From Uig the road is carried round the northern point of Trotternish by Duntulm Castle, Aird Point, and Loch Staffin.* Instead of returning by Uig, pedestrians or those with ponies may join this road at the comfortable little inn

hamlet on the west coast of the peninsula of Trotternish, and six miles from Quiraing. A guide and refreshment, and a pony and cart, may be got at the small inn at Uig, and the average time occupied by the excursion (when a vehicle is employed), is eleven hours. The road is comparatively uninteresting. About midway between Portree and Uig we pass the house of Kingsburgh (Donald Macleod), where Dr. Johnson and Boswell were entertained by Flora Macdonald in 1773.

The old Kingsburgh mansion, which sheltered Charles Edward in 1746, and afforded entertainment to Pennant and Johnson, has, we regret to say, been removed, but some venerable plane-trees mark the square of a large garden that was attached to the house. One of these grew close to the house, and at the time of our inquiries the respectable tenant of Kingsburgh (Mr. Macleod) was sending part of the timber to a lady in England, to be made into a frame for a picture of Flora Macdonald. This may be considered part of the bright reversion of fame which has waited on the memory of the Celtic heroine. Flora had seven children, five sons and two daughters; the sons all became officers in the army, and the daughters officers' wives. She died on the 4th of March 1790, aged sixty-eight, and was interred in the churchyard of Kilmuir, in a spot set apart for the graves of the Kingsburgh family. Her funeral was attended by about three thousand persons, all of whom were served with refreshments, in the old Highland fashion. One of the sons (the late Colonel Macdonald, of Exeter) sent a marble slab, suitably inscribed, to be placed near his mother's remains to point out the spot; but it was broken before it reached Skye, and the whole has since been carried off piecemeal by tourists. Thus the grave of Flora Macdonald remains undistinguished within the rude inclosure that holds the dust of so many of the brave Kingsburgh family.-Boswell's Tour to the Hebrides-Edited by Robert Carruthers.

We are indebted for the view, and part of the description of Quiraing, to the late Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., who kindly allowed the writer the use of his interesting sketch-books, and the perusal of his MS. Journal.

* Diagram of the geological structure of Trotternish. a, Lias; b, inferior oolite; c, middle oolite; d, imperfectly columnar basalt; e, estuary shales; f, Oxford clay; a, amygdaloidal trap.

of Steinscholl, situated at the head of Loch Staffin, which is 2 miles from Quiraing, 8 from the Storr, and 16 from Portree; from this to Portree the road is very rough, and impassable by carriages, and to perform the journey this way a guide is necessary, as the track over the moor is scarcely discernible, and very fatiguing.

Duntulm Castle, nine miles from Uig by the road that leads directly northwards, was the ancient residence of the Macdonalds. It stands upon a high and rocky, almost seagirt point, and in remote times must have been nearly impregnable. Previous to its erection into a lordly mansion by the Clan Donuill, in the twelfth century, it is believed to have been a dun or fort, inhabited by one of the Vikinger or Island kings, a pirate race who had subdued the Western Isles prior to the great Norwegian Conquest in the days of Harold Harfager.

DUNVEGAN CASTLE,

the residence of the Macleods of Macleod, is 22 miles from Portree, and 25 from Sligachan. There is very little to interest the tourist in either of the roads, and even the castle itself will hardly repay the time and expense of visiting it. It is situated on the shore of Loch Follart, in the district of Vaternish, very near the northern extremity of the island. The most ancient portion is said to have been built in the ninth century; another portion, consisting of a lofty tower, was ing for irregularity any other rocky landscapes in Britain, and as truly wonderful scenery.

Loch Staffin indents the coast nearly opposite to the bay of Uig, and derives its name (in common with the island of Staffa) from the lengthened staff-like aspect of the rocky ribs by which it is surrounded. To the south-eastward of the loch the floetz rocks are seen above and below the columnar forms. Single sea-girt rocks raise their dark gigantic shapes in advance of the more solid and unbroken coast; natural arches present themselves from time to time; narrow chasms cut by the descending waters furrow the enduring precipices with deepening lines; and gloomy caverns, blackening the bases of the cliffs, open their horrid jaws as if insatiate of the ocean's foam. Loch Miaghailt, a small sheet of fresh water, makes its way to the sea through a subterranean channel, and near the spot where it debouches from a precipice, a rock is seen so resembling a Highlander in his "garb of old Gaul," that it is known under the name of Creag-na-féile, the Rock of the Kilt. Many of the headlands in this part of the coast are extremely fine, but it is almost as easy to scale them as to know their names, especially when pronounced by the liquid and accommodating tongues of natives.

added a few hundred years afterwards by Alastair Crotach, or the Humpbacked son of William, slain at the battle of the Bloody Bay, who was the head of the family in 1493. The lower and more lengthened edifice which conjoins these two was the work of Rory Mòr, who was knighted in the time of James VI. Various additions have since been made in later ages, and the whole is now a large, massive building. By a pathway round the bay, the castle is approached by a wooded ascent, and its more immediate precincts are gained by crossing a bridge which now spans a narrow chasm, but which would have been of more consistent character had it been a drawbridge. From this side also the castle is seen to greatest advantage. Though the general pile is imposing from its size and situation, from its dark rocks below, surrounded partly by the ocean, and its massive square towers, in part thickly mantled by luxuriant ivy, yet it is less picturesque than might be expected, chiefly from some of its more modern additions not harmonizing with the prevailing character of the older building.*

The Castle contains a Hebridean drinking-cup, and the horn of Rory Mòr and the fairy flag, mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in the diary of his Hebridean Voyage, and more particularly described in the Notes to the Lord of the Isles.

This quarter of Skye was at one time famous for its hereditory race of pipers of the name of Macrimmon, who were also musicians to the Macleods of Dunvegan. The family became so celebrated, that pupils were sent from all parts of the Highlands, and at length a regular piping college was established on the farm of Borcraig, on the opposite side of Loch Follart.

* From Dunvegan the tourist may go to Uig and Quiraing as follows:-Drive to Grishinish, eight miles. There take a boat to Uig across Loch Snizort, the expense of which is 4s., and from Uig walk or take a pony to Quiraing, eight miles. The distance by road all the way to Uig is 28 miles. If the weather is not favourable for sailing, it will be better to proceed to Portree and visit Quiraing from it. The distance from Dunvegan to Portree is 22 miles.

The use of a cart can be had at Dunvegan, holding two besides the driver. Charge from Dunvegan to Portree by this conveyance, 20s.

THE RETURN FROM SKYE.

PER MAIL BY KYLE AKIN, LOCH CARRON, AND DINGWALL.*

PORTREE TO KYLE AKIN, by mail gig (uncovered), 334 miles. Kyle Akin to Jeantown, 20 miles. Jeantown to Dingwall, 50 miles.

Tourists are advised to return from Skye per mail by Kyle Akin, Loch Carron, Jeantown, and Dingwall. This excursion is one of great beauty-the country passed through displaying a most agreeable diversity of scenery.

The first stage from Portree to Sligachan (9 miles) has already been described.

The distance from Sligachan to Broadford is 16 miles. The road passes through a picturesque country intersected by glens with numerous torrents. For the first three miles we skirt the southern shore of Loch Sligachan. At Sconcer Inn we commence to cross the Mol of Trotternish, a point of land projecting eastwards towards the island of Scalpa, and at the southern side of which are Loch Ainort and the sound of Scalpa, a noted rendezvous of herring boats. At Kyle Akin,

where there is a good hotel (the King's Arms), passengers cross the one mile ferry at the mouth of Loch Alsh to Reraig Inn, where they book again on to Dingwall (70 miles). On a projecting point of land to the east of Kyle Akin, and seen when crossing the ferry, are the slender ruins of Castle Moil. The drive from Reraig Inn to Jeantown (20 miles) is very beautiful, and displays scenery of the wildest and most picturesque description. One is particularly struck with the vegetation and wood which appears fresh and profuse after the stern rocks and barren moors of Skye. The road follows the northern shore of Loch Alsh, on which are the inn and house of Balmacarra (Alex Matheson, Esq.), beautifully situated. Two and a half miles beyond this is Dornie ferry, by which the tourist may reach Shiel Inn and Loch Duich. This route is described in connection with Inverness going westwards.

* The route per steamer has been already described, page 488. There is a choice of the other two routes already referred to, by Shiel Inn to Invermoriston or Invergarry.