Читать книгу The Isle of Mull. Mull, Ulva, Gometra, Iona and Erraid онлайн

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As the eagle flies, Mull stretches 44.5km (28 miles) from Ardmore Point in the north to Rudh’ Ardalanish in the south, and 49km (30 miles) from Duart Point in the east to the coast overlooking Iona in the west. But such statistics are meaningless in this contorted landscape. At its narrowest, Mull is a mere 4.25km (2½ miles) from Salen Bay to Killiechronan. Around the coast lie numerous islands, for Mull is not so much one island as an island group; some – Ulva, Gometra, Erraid and Iona – have interest for walkers. Others – Treshnish Isles and Staffa – are the stuff of legend, and popular on the tourist and wildlife trails. But Mull and its islands are not a place to be consumed in haste. Even visitors with the most basic interest in matters of natural history will find themselves stopping by the roadside to peer at seals, otters, deer, and the birds of the air.

It is a far cry from the scene that greeted Dr Johnson, who visited the island in October 1773, admittedly on a drab day, and remarked that Mull was ‘a dreary country, much worse than Sky…a most dolorous country!’. His companion Boswell, however, seems to have been rather more discerning, describing the island as ‘a hilly country, diversified with heath and grass, and many rivulets’.