gained the broad Clyde, drifted into mid-stream, and there, lying on our
oars, had patiently waited until the great puffing steamer of the
Hutcheson line, from Glasgow, hove in sight. Then, raising one oar as a
signal, we had hailed the monster, which, condescendingly relaxing her
speed, had suffered our boat, tossing like a feather on the steamer's
mighty swell, to come in palpitating, timid fashion under the shadow of
her paddle-box, where the strong arms of men stationed on the portable
ladder let down from her side had caught our skiff by the prow and held
the inconstant thing for one instant firmly enough to suffer us to
spring to their precarious stairway and so secure our passage to
Ardrishalg. Thence, after two hours' sail by track-boat through the
Crinan Canal, and a second passage by steamer,--literally an ocean
passage, for it took us out into the deep Atlantic,--we had bent our
course awhile among the islands that lie nearer the rocky shore, and had
at length, just at nightfall, gained the little land-locked harbor of
Oban,--sweet, smiling Oban, nestling securely within her rocky bulwarks,
the glistening curve of her white sea-wall, her little fleet of safely
moored vessels, her clustering cottages, her neat tempting inns, all
challenging our wonder and delight, as, skirting the headland which had
hitherto jealously hidden the mimic seaport, the entire picture flashed
instantaneously on our view.

Nothing in this hospitable spot turns its back on the voyager who there
seeks refuge. The sea-wall curving like a half-moon round the bay, and
the pebbled esplanade above it, occupy all the foreground. The principal
street of Oban skirts this artificial quay, where the shipping of the
place lies at anchor, and on its farther side the buildings all front
the sea. Thus the whole place smiles a welcome; its white garniture--for
everything in Oban seems freshly whitewashed--reflects the last rays of
the western sunlight, or, if night has already clothed the neighboring
islands and headlands in gloom, the lights from the numerous windows of
the dwelling-houses, shops, and hotels, which face you as you make the
port, excite a glad surprise, and promise the weary traveller, what he
is sure to find, shelter, comfort, and good cheer in Oban.

More than these _I_ found there; for, leaving the spot always in the
morning to pursue our excursions, and returning on successive occasions
at nightfall, the charm of the place grew u