The morning of Thursday brought a welcome change. The day opened grandly, and the good weather which then set in blessed us during the remainder of the cruise. Those who rose early, of whom our Special Artist was one, were rewarded with a splendid view of the hills behind Portree, and of the bay and harbour. We started soon after breakfast in the ‘Iolanthe’ for Strome Ferry, where several members of the party were to leave us, and where others were to take their places, while all eagerly awaited letters and telegrams.
Scalpa Island—Skye.
Whale blowing—off Skye.
The sail across the Inner Sound was extremely pleasant and exhilarating. Loch Sligachan slept in peace. Scuirna-gillean and Blaven still wore their nightcaps. The island of Scalpa was a blaze of rich colour, heightened by the white sails of a passing yacht. The Islands of Longa and Pabba were emeralds set in a blue sea. Broadford was a picture of self-contained repose. Off Pabba, two large whales—probably truants from the school, a thousand strong, lately reported from the Shetland seas—appeared ever and anon to plough the surface of the water, and one of our photographers succeeded in catching them (in her camera) in the very act of blowing clouds of spray into the air.
Loch Carron—from Strome Ferry.