"That will take us there," I answered.
"Oh, yes; but suppose it made a mistake? We should be running on to
some coast or other before we knew where we were."
"We crossed the big sea," observed Nat, "and for days and days together
we did not see any land."
I got out the chart, and showed Dick the point of Ayr, the most northern
part of the Isle of Man, towards which we were now directing our course.
"We shall see it in the course of the morning. If you were to go to the
mast-head, you would probably make out the land to the south of it."
"Are we to touch at the Isle of Man?" asked Dick. "I should _very_ much
like to see some of the places described by Sir Walter Scott."
"Papa says that we have no time," I replied. "If we don't make more
speed than we have hitherto done, we shall not get round England before
the summer is over; and the east coast is not to be trifled with.
Although he says that we shall be unable to see many of the places he
would like to visit, we shall nevertheless obtain a general view of the
country."
I have not said much about Nat. Poor little fellow! He was quite
reconciled to his lot, and had become completely one of us. We had as
much affection for him as if he had been our brother. I took a special
interest in him, as he was my pupil; and I devoted a part of every day
to teaching him. He was very obedient, and always did his best to learn
his lessons; so that it was quite a pleasure for me to instruct him.
Dick was greatly astonished when papa came on deck with the sextant in
his hand, and "shot" the sun, as it is called; that is to say, he
ascertained our exact latitude by observing through the instrument the
height of the sun at noon. Placing it to his eye, he watched it until
it ceased to rise, the indicator showing the number of degrees it was
above the horizon. The _Nautical Almanack_ gives the height it would be
at noon on that day along every parallel so that a few figures enabled
him to ascertain how far north we had sailed. The way to find the
longitude, he explained to us, was by means of the chronometer. An
observation is then taken of the sun, moon, or a star, which would
appear at a certain height above the horizon at that particular hour.
The wind fell before we reached the Isle of Man. In the evening we saw
several bright lights burst forth--some on the Isle of Man, others on
the mainland. On the right we saw a fixed light, which the chart showed
us was Saint Bees' Head; while another shone from the point of Ayr.
Leaving Saint Bees' Head astern, with the light on the point of Ayr on
our port beam, we came in sight of the intermittent light of the Mull of
Galloway. Most of these lights were visible at the same time; and as we
sailed up the channel we could see those on the Irish coast, as well as
those on the coast of Scotland.
When we came on deck the next morning, we were passing along the coast
of Ayrshire, within sight of Ailsa Crag, a fine rock, which stands out
of the sea to a great height. It is a mass of columnar trap of a grey
colour. We steered so as to pass it on our starboard side. We had come
in sight of the southern face, where we could distinguish a square
tower, perched on a terrace, about two hundred feet above the sea. The
ascent to the summit must be no easy matter. As we sailed on, we came
off the north-west side, which is almost perpendicular, and composed of
successive tiers of enormous columns. Here we made out a cave, above
which was a grassy declivity sloping upwards towards the summit. Though
it is at the very mouth of the Clyde, its great height causes it to be
seen at a distance, preventing it being dangerous to vessels bound to
Glasgow. Any person inclined to solitude might take up his abode there,
and live without leaving it, as it is inhabited by numerous flocks of
sea-fowl, with goats and rabbits; while nettles, and a variety of hardy
plants, grow in the interstices of the rocks. I asked Dick if he would
like to remain there, saying that I would get papa to put him on shore,
if he wished it; but he declined the offer, preferring rather to go back
to school at the end of the holidays.
Passing Ayr and Troon, we came off Ardrossan, then stood on to
Port-in-cross, close to Fairlie Head, which forms the south-eastern
point at the entrance of the Firth of Clyde. Opposite, in the distance,
rose the Isle of Arran, with its lofty picturesque hills. We brought-up
off Port-in-cross for the night, as we wished to have daylight for
ascending the Clyde, so as to enjoy the scenery.
Next morning, the wind being fair, we made good progress. The country
on our right, though very smiling and pretty, was not so grand as we
expected; but we saw, far away over the port-bow, blue mountains rising
one beyond the other. Directly after getting under weigh, we passed two
islands, the Lesser Cumbrae, at the entrance of the Firth, and the
Greater Cumbrae, a little higher up.
To our right we saw the village of Largs, celebrated as the scene of a
great battle, won by the Scottish army, under Alexander the Third, over
Haco, King of Norway. To our left was the Island of Bute. We sailed on
nearly due north, until the channel gave a sudden bend, just after we
had passed the town of Greenock, a busy-looking place, with shipbuilding
yards, and smoking chimneys, interesting to us because Watt was born
here; near it we had seen on the opposite shore the village of Dunoon, a
pretty watering-place. The wind being from the southward, we were able,
close-hauled, to stand up the Clyde. We passed Port Glasgow, which was
at one time really the port of Glasgow; but the river having been
deepened by dredges, vessels of large size can now run up to Glasgow
itself.
We appeared to be in quite a labyrinth of lochs, Holy Loch running up in
one direction, Loch Long in another, and Gare Loch in a third, all
joining the Clyde on the north. We were eagerly looking out for
Dumbarton, which stands on a lofty projecting point of rock where the
river Leven runs into the Clyde. The scenery round us was the finest we
had yet beheld. The summit is crowned by bristling batteries pointing
down the Firth. Bringing up, that we might pay it a visit, we at once
pulled towards the Governor's house, which stands on a platform at the
base of the rock. We ascended a flight of steep steps to a space
between two summits, where are erected some barracks and the armoury.
The most interesting object we saw was Wallace's great double-handed
sword, which he wielded with such terrific power against his southern
foes. Of course, as we looked at it, we sang--
"Scots wa' hae wi' Wallace bled."
When the unfortunate Mary was Queen of Scots, in the year 1571, and the
place was in possession of her partisans, it was captured in an
extraordinary manner by Crawford, of Jordan Hill, an officer of the
Lennox. He and a few followers, landing there during the night with
ladders, climbed the cliffs. During the ascent one of the party was
seized with a paralytic fit. As any sound would have aroused the
garrison, the man was lashed by his companions to the ladder. It was
then turned round, and they all ascended, leaving him hanging there
until they had gained the fortress, when he was released.
From this eminence we obtained a magnificent view over the Vale of
Leven, with lofty Ben Lomond in the distance; while the views down and
up the Clyde were such as we had never seen surpassed in beauty.
As papa and Uncle Tom did not wish to take the yachts further, we got on
board one of the steamers running up to Glasgow. During the passage we
passed numbers of steamers, large and small, rushing up and down the
stream at a rapid rate; and sailing vessels of all sizes outward-bound,
or returning home; the former laden with the cotton and woollen
manufactures produced in Glasgow and the neighbourhood, giving us some
idea of the vast amount of trade carried on in the city.
Curious-looking steam dredges were also at work, with wheels ever
revolving, ladling up the mud from the bottom of the river--an endless
task, for fresh mud is constantly being washed down from the upper parts
of the stream. Clouds of smoke and increasing signs of activity showed
us that we were approaching Glasgow.
We took a hurried view of that famed city, wandered through its broad
streets, with stone-built houses and fine edifices, people bustling
about, and numberless tall factory chimneys smoking; drays and carts
carrying merchandise from the quays, and everything wearing an air of
prosperity. We looked into the ancient sombre Cathedral, with its
beautiful modern stained-glass windows, and visited the University, with
its museum and library--the museum bequeathed by William Hunter, the
great surgeon, who gave at the same time 8,000 pounds to erect a
building for its reception.
Uncle Tom told us a story of Hunter's first lecture. Being unknown to
fame, no one had come to hear him. On entering the hall, he found only
Sandy McTavish, the old custos. He was not daunted, however. Bidding
the old man sit down, he brought a skeleton from a cupboard, and having
placed it in front of him, he began to lecture to it and Sandy. First
one student by chance looked in, and, seeing what was going forward,
beckoned to another. In the course of a few minutes another dropped in,
and soon discovered that no ordinary lecturer was speaking. The whole
audience could not have amounted to a dozen; but they soon made a noise
about what they had heard, and the next day the hall was crowded.
Our next visit was to a fine cemetery across a valley above the town;
and Dick declared that it would be quite a pleasure to be buried there.
It was crowded with fine monuments to celebrated persons.
Glasgow owes much of its prosperity to its situation in the midst of a
country producing coal and minerals, and having water communication down
the Clyde towards the west into the Atlantic, and through the great
canal which connects that river with the Forth and German Ocean. We got
back to Dumbarton, where the Dolphin's boat was on the look-out for us,
just at nightfall.
It being moonlight, we sailed down the Clyde, and enjoyed the beautiful
scenery under a different aspect. Had we possessed steam, we could have
run through the channel of Bute, and then up Loch Fyne, passing through
the Crinan Canal into Loch Linnhe; but as that could not be done, we had
to sail round Arvan and the Mull of Cantyre, and then up the Sound of
Jura. We thus lost the enjoyment of much magnificent scenery; but the
shorter route would probably have taken us a far longer time to perform,
as in those narrow waters we could only sail during daylight, and might
be detained by a contrary wind.