Johnson wrote to Mrs. Thrale:'We saw the isle of Skie before us, darkening the horizon with its rocky coast.

My[201] desire now from the skie of starres.

We were to cross part of Skie on horseback; a mode of travelling very uncomfortable, for the road is so narrow, where any road can be found, that only one can go, and so craggy, that the attention can never be remitted; it allows, therefore, neither the gaiety of conversation, nor the laxity of solitude; nor has it, in itself, the amusement of much variety, as it affords only all the possible transpositions of bog, rock, and rivulet.