ext day on board the _Iona_, I had Maggie
Thomson to Tarbet; Craig, a well-read, pleasant medical, to Ardrishaig;
and Professor, Mrs., and all the little Fleeming Jenkinseses to Oban.

At Oban, that night, it was delicious. Mr. Stephenson's yacht lay in the
bay, and a splendid band on board played delightfully. The waters of the
bay were as smooth as a mill-pond; and, in the dusk, the black shadows
of the hills stretched across to our very feet and the lights were
reflected in long lines. At intervals, blue lights were burned on the
water; and rockets were sent up. Sometimes great stars of clear fire
fell from them, until the bay received and quenched them. I hired a boat
and skulled round the yacht in the dark. When I came in, a very pleasant
Englishman on the steps fell into talk with me, till it was time to go
to bed.

Next morning I slept on or I should have gone to Glencoe. As it was, it
was blazing hot; so I hired a boat, pulled all forenoon along the coast
and had a delicious bathe on a beautiful white beach. Coming home, I
_cotogai'd_ my Englishman, lunched alongside of him and his sister, and
took a walk with him in the afternoon, during which I find that he was
travelling with a servant, kept horses, _et cetera_. At dinner he wished
me to sit beside him and his sister; but there was no room. When he came
out he told me why he was so _empresse_ on this point. He had found out
my name, and that I was connected with lighthouses, and his sister
wished to know if I were any relative of the Stevenson in Ballantyne's
_Lighthouse_. All evening, he, his sister, I, and Mr. Hargrove, of
Hargrove and Fowler, sate in front of the hotel. I asked Mr. H. if he
knew who my friend was. "Yes," he said; "I never met him before: but my
partner knows him. He is a man of old family; and the solicitor of
highest standing about Sheffield." At night he said, "Now if you're down
in my neighbourhood, you must pay me a visit. I am very fond of young
men about me; and I should like a visit from you very much. I can take
you through any factory in Sheffield and I'll drive you all about the
_Dookeries_." He then wrote me down his address; and we parted huge
friends, he still keeping me up to visiting him.

Hitherto, I had enjoyed myself amazingly; but to-day has been the crown.
In the morning I met Bough on board, with whom I am both surprised and
delighted. He and I have read the same books, and discuss Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Flet