You know that we Off St Abb's sailed from Leith Roads Head, 25th for Holland on Friday July 1817. the 25th July. No party could be more steady with regard to the day fixed for sailing, or more pointed as to the hour of meeting, considering the shortness of the notice given to some of them. The place of rendezvous was at one of those elegant Marine Villas with which the southern shore of the Frith of Forth begins at length to vie with the banks of the Clyde and the Thames. After receiving every possible hospitality and attention here, we found the ship's long boat in waiting, with her boatswain and active crew, clad with characteristic neatness, when we readily embarked. Just as the boat put off from the shore, and friends were mutually bidding adieu, we were informed that the sales of building areas upon the Regent Bridge were likely to yield no less than L. 35,000 or L. 40,000. This very important piece of intelligence, connected with the funds of the splendid improvements begun a few years since in our Scottish metropolis, under much doubt and difficulty with regard to the ways and means, afforded the happiest interlude to the conversation, tending to dispel those reflections which unavoidably break in upon the mind at the moment of leaving home, especially for a foreign country.

That Holland is but a few hours' sail from our nearest shores, you are perfectly aware. Yet, during the last twenty years, that country has really been less visited by the British traveller than even the remotest parts of the world, owing to the state of continental affairs, which so long and so unhappily divided Europe. The boat having soon reached our little ship, the ready attendants, with their man ropes and supporting arms, were found posted on each side of the gangway, at once to welcome and assist the strangers on board. The sails being previously

hoisted, and the anchor hove short, in the course of a few minutes, and exactly at four o'clock P. M., with a fine westerly breeze, we turned round upon our romantic city, and had an interesting view of all its remarkable points. The fore ground of this delightful prospect is finely studded with detached villas, and the fields waving with a rich, though still verdant crop. The whole extent of the city from east to west, being fully in view from the Roads of Leith, the evening sun began to be reflected from the windows, as if by ten thousand mirrors; the top line is also finely broken and varied by many commanding objects, among which may be mentioned the superb dome of St George's, the Castle, St Giles' venerable steeple, and the spire of St Andrew's church, the whole toward the east terminating with the green tufted hill and monument erected to the glorious memory of our departed hero Nelson. The back ground of this beautiful scene is, if possible, still more interesting, especiallyto the admirer of the works of nature upon the great scale. As seen from the Frith of Forth, the city appears to be set down in an immense amphitheatre, encircled by a range of mountains. On the west we have the hills of Corstorphin, which seem to be separated from those of Fifeshire as if by some sudden dislocation, to admit the waters of the Forth to empty themselves more freely into the sea. Towards the south, the Pentland range holds a commanding place, while Salisbury Craigs and Arthur's Seat are seen sloping towards the east, and fall into the sea at the bay of Musselburgh. But I now take leave of this picturesque and beautiful scene, and must confine myself to a few passing remarks on particular objects as we glide along the coast, to our point of departure for Holland. I must, however, be permitted further to observe, after a pretty general acquaintance with British scenery, that there is, perhaps, no other city which presents so many attractions to the man of taste and of science as Edinburgh. Nor can any one be said to know half its beauties who has not seen it from the Roads of Leith, as well as from the New Mall round the Caltonhill.

The very fine breeze with which we were favoured, and the excellent sailing-trim of our ship, enabled us to hold

a course pretty near to the north shore, and passing the Island of Inchkeith, where Dr Johnson, in former times, "made the first experiment of landing upon unfrequented coasts," we open the spacious bay and extensive range of the town of Kirkcaldy, and have fully in view the house of Raith, delight fully situate on the contiguous rising ground. Perhaps on no part of the

It

coast of Great Britain is there so many small but populous towns and villages, as along the shores of Fife; and although the great ports of Leith and Dundee have, like Gog and Magog, almost entirely swallowed up and monopolized the trade of these ancient ports, yet in former times the merchants of Fife were not only extensively concerned in trade at home, but likewise in foreign commerce. is also well known, that, previous to the Union of the British Crowns, these burgh towns were frequently honoured with a royal visit; and on these occasions the kings of Scotland were entertained with great magnificence, according to the ideas of those times. Continuing our course along the north shore, on the left, we have the town and castle of Wemyss; where, in days of yore, the Thanes of Fife are said to have had their abode, and where Mary Queen of Scots first met with Lord Darnly, on the 15th of February 1565. On the right, but at a great distance, we see the shining front of Gosford, the princely mansion of the Earls of Wemyss. After passing many a smoking town and blithsome fishing village, we reach Anstruther, famous as the residence of Maggy Lauder, and from thence stretch across the Frith to the southern shore, leaving on the north, the classic and venerable towers of St Andrews, and a numerous train of places of less note, together with the dangerous Carr Rock and the curious Isle of May, interesting both on account of its ecclesiastical and natural history. Passing the Islets of Fidra, the Lamb, and Craigleith, and town of North Berwick, the natural port of half the shire of Haddington, we sail close past the singular and almost inaccessible island called the Bass, famous as a prison in the reign of Charles the Second, and remarkable for the innumerable crowds of solan geese and other sea-fowl which nestle here. On the right we see perched upon the precipitous rock the

extensive ruin of Tantallan Castle, which deservedly makes so fine a fi gure in Scott's Marmion. As the day closes, we see the mutilated ruins of the Castle of Dunbar, the scene of many exploits connected with the history of Scotland. To landsmen distant objects are now shrouded in a dusky shade, but our far-sighted captain could descry the hoary head of St Abb's, situated on the coast of Berwickshire, just as the party had resolved to take the repose of the night, and for a time bid adieu to the beautiful scenery of the Frith of Forth, the scene of many a youthful gambol, and now doubly interesting from dear family connections, intermixed with the sweetest sympathies of our na ture.

Off the Coquet Isle, Saturday 26th.

I need hardly tell you, that our little vessel, when newly fitted up, was considered one of the most commodious and handsome of her class, though those fine and elegant vessels, which now ply between Leith and London, far outstrip her in the size and gay appearance of their apartments. Yet still our cabins are not to be complained of, for, independently of the births for the officers of the ship, and a place for the servants of the party, there is a fore and after cabin, where each has a state-room, or bed place, with distinct doors. The vessel is also well provided with an attentive and obliging steward, and an excellent cook, with all the necessary furniture of the table. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the change to a landsman, from the manifold apartments and conveniences ashore, together with the retirement and seclusion of the night at home, is so great, that he cannot all at once resign those, even for a short life at sea. Accordingly, when the party came to compare notes in the morning, it did not appear that one good night's rest could be made out, after putting the whole together. Nor was this at all imputable to the unnecessary hollowing out of the crews or the noise by treading and passing upon the deck, so commonly complained of on ship-board, for, in this respect, nothing could be more guarded or circumspect on the part of our ship's company. But still one heard the gurgling of the water along the ship's side; another felt that un

pleasant closeness and confinement, perhaps inseparable from the air of a ship, while the creaking of the spars, and the chirping noise of the bulkheads, or partitions, allowed very transient sleep, with long and tiresome periods for meditation. Impatient, therefore, of this sort of durance, the day and the deck were hailed about the same hour; and, at breakfast-time, it was no unwelcome discovery to find, that the ship, being then about opposite to Holy Island, might just as well go into the harbour there for six hours, during an adverse tide, as keep the sea, from the state of the winds, which were such, as to prevent our getting through the narrow sound, between the Fern Isles and the Castle of Bamborough, without much beating and tacking, for which few of the party had any great inclination.

Holy Island presents little that can interest the curious, or engage the attention of the traveller, if we except the ruin of the monastery of the once famous Lindisfern. This religious house is said to have been founded about the year 651, and was again rebuilt, with considerable additions, in 1014. It still presents some curious arches, and is the subject of some of the very beautiful passages in the poem of Marmion. You will readily suppose that I landed here with considerable pleasure, as a place to which I had attached the fondest ideas of the antiquary, and where I expected to meet with all the neat cleanliness and comfort of an English watering-place, connected with a small fort and garrison. But how was I disappointed upon landing at Holy Island, to find a very paltry and irregular village, at some little distance from the sea, and really without any very favourable or accessible bathingplace.

The chief employment of the inhabitants of this island, said to be about 500 in number, is the prosecution of the fishing, for which it seems to be every way fitted as a most excellent station; but, as the whole process of gutting and curing the fish is conducted close to the village, and as the walls of every inclosure and walk about the place are covered with fish, in proportion to its thriving state as a fishing station, it becomes more unfit for the residence of strangers; for, in what

ever direction you turn, the air is more or less contaminated with noxious and fetid effluvia. Even the very lanes of the village are encumbered with fish garbage. I mention this the more particularly, as Holy Island, under a different system, might not only be extended as a fishing station, but is also particularly well calculated to become a great resort for sea-bathing quarters, were a proper selection made of the grounds for the visitors and the fishers. To obtain this more fully, it would require some attention to be paid to providing a better supply of fresh water, and the establishment of a regular post to communicate over the sands with the mainland.

I was informed, that, independently of the fish caught for the daily consumption of the island, and the supply of the market of Berwick, &c. from 30 to 40 tons of salted cod and ling are annually shipped here for London. These formerly sold at the rate of about L. 40 per ton; but the price has, of late, fallen about one half, perhaps partly from the present dulness of every kind of merchandise, together with the recent introduction of the Dutch fishermen into our market. If the mind happens to be raised with expectation from any particular object, the effects of disappointment in such cases are much more severely felt than if no such hopes had existed.

I, therefore, turned with peculiar pleasure from Holy Island, and, as the wind was favourable, though extremely gentle, we were enabled to land for a short time, in passing, at Bamborough Castle. This is a structure, not only curious as a building, but interesting as a charitable foundation, being, along with a great extent of lands, placed under the direc tion of the Bishop of Durham, by the late Nathaniel Lord Crewe, for pious and benevolent purposes. The castle is understood to have been originally founded in the year 558, and was one of the Roman stations in this part of the country. It is probable that Lord Crewe, during his occasional residence here, had been so much affected with the frequency of shipwrecks, and the distressing scenes inseparable from such accidents, that he established a set of signals here, to forewarn the ma riner of his danger, and amply endowed it for the relief of ships and shipwrecked seamen. Upon entering