ve, with wild rocks seen beyond it, on
which, in the year 1707, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, with four of his ships
and two thousand men, were cast away. The body of the admiral, known by
a valuable ring on his finger, was buried on the shore of the cove. It
was afterwards removed to Westminster Abbey.

Papa remarked that the strong current produced by the indraught of the
Irish Channel drifted these ships out of their course, and was the cause
of the catastrophe.

The inhabitants of the islands were once known for their smuggling and
wrecking propensities. A fisherman whom we fell in with--a
venerable-looking man, with white hair streaming under his cap--pointed
out several spots on which ships with rich cargoes had run on shore, and
assured us that coin was still to be picked up in the sand, if people
would but take the trouble to look for it. In former days everybody was
engaged in smuggling, or trusting to salvage from wrecks. There was but
little farming. No potatoes were grown, and there were no gardens,
while their huts were as low and damp as those in the Hebrides. But
when Mr Smith came he changed all that; and now the people live in
comfortable houses, have gardens full of flowers, and the productions of
the islands afford them ample support. Wheat and rye, and every
description of vegetable, are grown; scarlet geraniums flourish, while
fuchsias, and a variety of other magnificent flowers, not only grow in
the gardens, but form hedges several feet in height.

Next morning we got under weigh to take a cruise among the islands.
Passing round on the other side of Hugh Town, we perceived the
narrowness of the strip on which it stands, and sincerely hoped that the
sea would not again--as it once did--break across and inundate the
place. I cannot attempt to describe the numerous rocks and islands we
sighted in our course, there being altogether upwards of three hundred,
large and small. Steering to the south-west, we passed Gorregan and
Rosevean, where our pilot told us that many a stout ship had been lost;
some, striking on the rocks, having gone down and left no sign of their
fate, except some articles thrown up on the shore. Coming to an anchor,
we pulled off in the boat to catch fish, with which the sea literally
swarmed. We could see them swimming about through the clear water. We
were amused by the way in which our pilot, who was a great fisherman,
caught them. Throwing the bait always before their n