| Show WAKE MAhS wanderings london tL oNDON jan 30 1893 1 I wonder tow how many americans americans ever visited the famous Sk elligs s of the southwest coast of ireland they are the most southwesterly extensions of rr ireland elAnd are three fa W number and lie in a direct line fine southwest of portmagee Port Magee the first and the least t t is is called lemon rock it is a anund solid mass rising only a few feet above the water the second and next I 1 lorger berls is called little or lesser Sk ellig add ft i is is a cra craggy grouping of tock pinnacles acles stan standing n n grim bynm a and n d black against the sky ily as though some city of churches with wondrous steeples had been sub merged rearing above the waves their m mighty fl h tyint gothic spires among which millions lions of sea birds had found their desolate homes the third the great Sk ellig is ellse precisely pine nine miles at sea from port portmagee Magee at 0 it is an enormous and precipitous mass of rock rising perpendicularly at nearly all angles to the height of several hundred feet and ancl from thence pushing skyward stupendous lj regula irregular r groups S ff terminating in tw two 0 lofty y v pinnacles the e highest of which reaches reache aan an altitude of vo feet it is said that the ocean soundings around it are far deeper than those in any part of the english channel and at no other point upon u on the whole atlantic are witnessed such awful battles between wave wave and stone the base of the only lighthouse now in use upon a levelled bevelled level led rock feet above the sea and the roof ol 01 of this lofty structure was a few years ago crushed ih and partly carried away aad by y the assaults of the waves which must have been lifted upwards of feet above the sea level to have been dashed upon itt it A determination to land upon and scale great rock is more aas easily 1 l formed than is the p project performs per performed formU I 1 for certain destruction attends attempted landing save when old ocean may be caught napping and for a few hours quite at rest every day for nearly a week with a kerry fisherman friend I 1 arose before day and tramped to the cliffs below port magee for forecast of wind weather and sea at last a propitious day came with my friend and three of his hard hardy y companions we set forth in a strong open boat with the outgoing tide from the tiny pier of the port and without stroke of oar were soon sweeping through the southern entrance of the harbor of valentia the sea was perfectly calm as we left the channel save where imperceptible distant swells massing upon the half hidden bidden ledge that protects the harbor entrance flung flung glittering spume and spray landward behind us over to the west bray head rose precipitously 1000 feet out dut odthe water beyond this innumerable fishers sails blended like a huge oncoming surge at the ed edge of the horizon to the left eft grim hea headlands stretched away in n dark projections to far bolus hea head d and the long regular stroke of the oarsmen oarsman soon sped us past ast puffin island in an hour and a haff haff we were alongside lenion lemon island lying alyin g like some sleeping half hidden in monster ante arto to our dur right and in two hou hours rs time we had come abreast of little Sk ellig here we were favored with a characteristic sight this island is the only one off the irish coast where the puffin haunts and breeds in countless numbers takings taking advantage of the placid sea perhaps three score coastwise folk were were here seeking these fowl within the fissures and clefts of the crags many aerial battles between men slung with ropes from dangerous heights and the birds they were mercilessly seeking were seen in ih progress as we passel passed the eggs and flesh of the puffin are eaten their feathers are dried and sold and a trifling traffic is carried on iri in pickled or cured puffins which are ex changed farl for od potatoes t agoes and with ith thi th country folk ot the iverach iveragh the great wa as reached and we made a liki landing dint without difficulty at the only spot upon khith foot can be set from the sea I 1 beed the boatmen to climb the crags with me but t they shook their heads gravely and refused the reason for this as related b by m my Y fisher friend who con consented confente y to accompany me was on account ol of ci certain ertain portent ious iotis superstitions the gold peasantry ea santry and aind fishermen men tenaciously hold regarding the spot the only h human taman beings ba avig now living upon gree great Sk ellig are afe those having charge of the lighthouse but more than st ft thousand years ago hundreds if not thousands passed their livet lives in religious devotions upon this wild sea mountain for this place was then the st michaels mount of ireland its history was luminous even in the earliest days of christianity in erin A majestic monastery once stood in the little valley between the two lofty peaks of the island from the single landing place 62 stone ostone steps many portions of bf which remain led to the monastery the great cashel the oratories the stone cells the ancient burial place and many unrecorded structures which the incalculable toil and zealous consecration of a remote age grouped within this sacred spot easily traced remains of nearly all these structures still exist and fragments of gigantic crosses here and there push through the strange debris whose contemplation cannot but send a thrill through the least impressive heart far far above this tens of thousands of pilgrims in the intervening centuries have climbed near the top of the highest pinnacle one must squeeze through a narrow orifice called the i needles eye in order to follow their olden painful way just beyond this is a narrow ridge or sa saddle of solid rock one must get astride this and work along with legs and hands until an ascending shelving rock is reached the danger here is terrible one false movement and you are plunged headlong into the sea from either side from this to the highest point any fairly sure footed man may pass pas securely to the slender yard wide summit along which are found rudely sculptured crosses or stations I 1 have been in some eerie spots pots in my travel but never before agave have I 1 stood where such sense of sublimity mingled with awe inspiring insecurity possessed me on three sides you look down a mack black straight line of over fett feet into hito the ocean behind and below youage cuare the solemn ruins of remote ages far ar to the north and east is the weird sea walled toast your own land is 2000 beyond those white specks of fisher boats to the west around and above you are only the palpable clouds and ghostly whistle of bf darting sea birds wing the the solemn grandeur and awful impressiveness of the place are appalling the descent was more dangerous than the climbing climb mg but we accomplished it safely reentered entered re the boat and made for port magee I 1 never wish tor to see great again unless from the deck of an atlantic steamer when a sight of it ii ay as the first glimpse of europe is occasionally had and as we rounded the reef I 1 into nt t the he sa safer f e r ch channel elpel while night was softly descending and the hights from a thousand mackerel gleam ed along the ike western hooton I 1 turned with a sigh of relief from this tremendous and desolate deso lote terror of the deep i to welcoming land as from some hideous phantom of unhappy dreams valletta the chief city of malta is never silent save in the early mornin morning hours then it is like a city of the dea dead but always sweet and cool and winsome at that time if you are abroad alone the silent churches the huge berges auberger au the tremendous ramparts the vast arch ways the dim porticoes coes and the shadowy balconies seem to whisper aneid anew their tales of romance romance old their mysteries of chivalrous and knightly days but soon from this patio from that marrow thoroughfare another silent archway from huge barred doors that open and close with a startling click come funeral forms clad in somber black they glide along with bowed heads their advent has been so sudden and their number is at once so great that you are filled with surprise and dismay but these do not remain for a soft and delicate hand as if by accident with a swift motion changes the folds of the faldetta and the pretty faces of half a thousand maltese maids and matrons matrona are one by one turned roguishly or kindly to yours then you realize that the faithful fair of valetta orvaletta are on their way to early mass and you ou stand there hat in had boursell yourself yo ursell a reverent worshiper mentally blessing one and all for their piety and pretty gracious ways in the vast geography and panorama of travel certain places places and objects take on special and significance at least this is true in my own experience peri ence as a wanderer I 1 never see in any port a little squatty high pooped brig with its two tiny square rigged masts but my mind instantly reverts to barcelona and the sunny harbors of the riviera A basket of eggs in in a grocers window no longer recalls the boyhood farm days but a certain barren led ledge e upon the western sea wall of fi fitful tr ua head blead where beneath the deafening screams of seafowl sea fowl I 1 saw not thousands but millions of seaf seafowl sea f fowl owl eggs the faintest odor of sugar or brings back the screeching of ships wenches as oceans of murky sweets are being stowed in holds in the harbor ot of havana an emigrant russian jew in his quaint patriarchal habit flashes back upon m my mind the dumb suffering of these folz folk in cracow chacow any muffled italian shivering over his charcoal stove and tray of chestnuts wafts to my imagination the odor of the steaming polenta or brings again to sight the fair chestnut groves grove of lombardy and tuscany and ana so on on through an infinite reach react of suggestive seer seeming rung and association zut but the most dreamful mystic almost pathetic suggestive suggestiveness nes always comes with picture or sight of the palm tree cuba spain majorca malta morocco algeria always return with this emblem of dolorous isolation and inexpressible loneliness it hints of the camel the bedouin the desert in art in story in fact it ever suggest the endless hopelessness and impossibility of the barriers between the races that subsist upon an rest beneath it and those who know and love the maple beech and oak 1 wish to ricord record a conclusion from ex tended observation iu in favor of the low losy ly women of scotland cL we have idl all read much in books andin and in the prints where names are not often enough signed to sweeping generalizations regarding ng foreign peoples peoples to the effect that lowly women of scotch towns and cities are all woefully addicted to drink I 1 do not believe it they drink but neither do all mor even any important percentage indulge in in liquor at all those who do often et cheery and no doubt they would beet fe e belter bet ter off olf without it but I 1 have never seen a woman high or low in or oa butof of scotland even in the most wretched and doss doses of edinburgh ar or glasgow approaching that emphatic condition fighting drunk so too I 1 am itic inclined lined to believe that the drinking prowess of scotsmen has been greatly exaggerated exa scotch literature especially that portion giving expression to life and customs of a century ago is certainly full of the humor and pathos of drunkenness perhaps Scotch men were drinkers oj of valor then but there is not a more moderate and well ordered peo people le today the old drinking bouts of te the clan chiefs and later of the small nobility and country notables are no more from the great st andrew feasts down through the countless grades of social festival and cheer to he simple heart lighten ings of the fisher folk beside the wild sea lochs who were once almost savage in their thirst for strong drink guzzling and drunkenness are almost unknown tay and oceans 0 of this the cup that cheer but not inebriates has almost universally displaced the airy of old if a fondness fon duess for liquor lingers in scotland as a class peculiarity it still holds among those children of the mist those impetuous canny though ever winsome highlanders High landers of the th e north in my wanderings among them I 1 have found one curious characteristic jc they are born religious disputants warm up the cockles cackles of their hearts with a drop ot 01 peat whiskey and they are masters of polemics it is then that they th will w ill stoutly assert that adam spoke I 1 gaelic elic and that the bible was originally written in gaelic As asa a highland clergyman of Strath glass once told me one glass makes them doctrinal enthusiasts two sets them expounding every point upon justification adoption and sanctification fi in an ecstacy of argumentative frenzy and I 1 sometimes think with another they would stop on their r wy into heaven beav en and hotly engage st peter himself I 1 many anecdotes are still related in the north of scotland concerning the drinkin drinking habits of the highlanders High landers one olf old shepherd of glen afflic fell ill and was cut down by his physician to an allowance of two ounces of whiskey per day on pain of death if this should be exceeded wholly ignorant of the exact quantity yet ruminatively whimpering in over his misfortune he stealthily called fl ed his grandson to his bedside and asked bobby dye ken yer tables noo ay gran fayr n try me then hoo mickle be conces noo conces bonc conces I 1 hoot I 1 santeen drachms drachma mak tho th once sax times santeen drams adrams ahda th day I 1 I 1 hooted the sick man uproar uproariously ous the lord be praised for sic a keevil dochter another highlander had been brought cohig to his deathbed death bed from exposure and hard bard drinking his tearful family and the min minis liter ter stood by his bedside praying for some token of repentance tandi in his last moment the minister noticing a strange strang 1 light ht 1 in his eyes bent over him and eager eagerly y enquired sandy sandy what hat is the greatest wish of your soul for a kichty loch lommond dommond of the minister was sta staggered ered but almost pitifully continued WIN his d entreaty i with but what is the second oh mon mon remember eternity lk oh ay guid mee nister gasped S sandy andy faintly for anither loch lommond dommond 0 EDGAR L WAKEMAN |
