made of. Under the
captaincy of Mr. Alexander O'Driscoll, the volunteers put off to the
wreck, and despite of a sea running high, and the buffeting of a great
storm, saved the lives of the crew, and rendered full salvage. While on
the island, a visit should be paid to the Anglo-American Cable Company's
Station, care being taken beforehand to go through the formality of
applying to the Managing Director (26, Old Bond-street, London, E.C.)
for an order. Every facility is extended by the courteous local
officials.

THE SKELLIGS--ST. MICHAEL'S ROCK.

From Valencia, or from across the channel at Portmagee, where there is a
thriving fish-curing industry, the Skelligs can be reached in favourable
weather. Standing high above the green billows that encircle them with
collars of white foam, they repay every trouble taken to inspect them.
The ~Little Skellig~, a fantastic rock, with a great arch like a flying
buttress under which for centuries the seas have churned deep, is almost
inaccessible. It is a great breeding ground for gannet, with which,
during the breeding season, its sides are white as the waves below.

[Illustration: GE Skellig.]

So unused are these magnificent birds to being disturbed by intruders
that even when within oar's length of them, they remain passive and
unscared. The ~Great Skellig~ swings high its cliffs seven hundred feet
above the water. Clinging to the ridge of its impressive rocks "like
swallows' nests" are the round roofs of the beehive cells which of old
formed a citadel of Christianity. To Saint Michael the Archangel,
guardian against all the powers of darkness, the isle is dedicated. Its
history is of old date, for here Milesius buried the beloved son, Ir,
that the thieving waters robbed of his soul. Here "the slanting,
full-sailing ships" of Daire, on their way to the great battle of Ventry
Harbour, paused in their march along the deep. Here, too, in recording
times, was the great hero-king of the Norse, Olaf Iryggveson, baptized.

A little cove, deep in the recess of a cavern, makes a landing stage,
only to be attempted at favourable times. An easy path leads halfway
round the island; then, mounting a flight of steps, the visitor beholds,
spread before him, a green valley, the one patch of richness on the
desolate rock. This is Christ's Saddle, from which, with reverent
hearts, the "Way of the Cross" may be traversed, ending in the heart of
Skellig-Michael. Each of the fourteen Stations