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rock, having a natural arch through it, eighty feet in height. We
followed the narrow strip of beach, having the bare crags on one side
and a line of foaming breakers on the other. It soon grew dark; a furious
storm came up and swept like a hurricane along the shore. I then
understood what Horne means by "the lengthening javelins of the
blast," for every drop seemed to strike with the force of an arrow, and
our clothes were soon pierced in every part.
Then we went up among the sand hills, and lost each other in the
darkness, when, after stumbling about among the gullies for half an
hour, shouting for my companions, I found the road and heard my call
answered; but it happened to be two Irishmen, who came up and
said--"And is it another gintleman ye're callin' for? we heard some one
cryin', and didn't know but somebody might be kilt."
Finally, about eleven o'clock we all arrived at the inn, dripping with
rain, and before a warm fire concluded the adventures of our day in
Ireland.

CHAPTER III
.
BEN LOMOND AND THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
The steamboat Londonderry called the next day at Port Rush, and we
left in her for Greenock. We ran down the Irish coast, past Dunluce
Castle and the Causeway; the Giant's organ was very plainly visible,
and the winds were strong enough to have sounded a storm-song upon
it. Farther on we had a distant view of Carrick-a-Rede, a precipitous
rock, separated by a yawning chasm from the shore, frequented by the

catchers of sea-birds. A narrow swinging bridge, which is only passable
in calm weather, crosses this chasm, 200 feet above the water.
The deck of the steamer was crowded with Irish, and certainly gave no
very favorable impression of the condition of the peasantry of Ireland.
On many of their countenances there was scarcely a mark of
intelligence--they were a most brutalized and degraded company of
beings. Many of them were in a beastly state of intoxication, which,
from the contents of some of their pockets, was not likely to decrease.
As evening drew on, two or three began singing and the others
collected in groups around them. One of them who sang with great
spirit, was loudly applauded, and poured forth song after song, of the
most rude and unrefined character.
We took a deck passage for three shillings, in preference to paying
twenty for the cabin, and having secured a vacant place near the
chimney, kept it during the whole passage. The waves were as rough in
the Channel as I ever saw them in the Atlantic, and our boat was tossed
about like a plaything. By keeping still we escaped sickness, but we
could not avoid the sight of the miserable beings who filled the deck.
Many of them spoke in the Irish tongue, and our German friend (the
student whom I have already mentioned) noticed in many of the words
a resemblance to his mother tongue. I procured a bowl of soup from the
steward, but as I was not able to eat it, I gave it to an old man whose
hungry look and wistful eyes convinced me it would not be lost on him.
He swallowed it with ravenous avidity, together with a crust of bread,
which was all I had to give him, and seemed for the time as happy and
cheerful as if all his earthly wants were satisfied.
We passed by the foot of Goat Fell, a lofty mountain on the island of
Arran, and sped on through the darkness past the hills of Bute, till we
entered the Clyde. We arrived at Greenock at one o'clock at night, and
walking at random through its silent streets, met a policeman, whom
we asked to show us where we might find lodgings. He took my cousin
and myself to the house of a poor widow, who had a spare bed which
she let to strangers, and then conducted our comrade and the German to
another lodging-place.
An Irish strolling musician, who was on board the Dumbarton boat,
commenced playing soon after we left Greenock, and, to my surprise,
struck at once into "Hail Columbia." Then he gave "the Exile of Erin,"

with the most touching sweetness; and I noticed that always after
playing any air that was desired of him, he would invariably return to
the sad lament, which I never heard executed with more feeling. It
might have been the mild, soft air of the morning, or some peculiar
mood of mind that influenced me, but I have been far less affected by
music which would be considered immeasurably superior to his. I had
been thinking of America, and going up to the old man, I quietly bade
him