In the course of my residence for four months on board the tender moored off the Rock, I had opportunities of witnessing many proofs of the great necessity which existed for a Light on the Skerryvore; and if I had ever entertained any doubt as to the beneficial effects of such an establishment, the experience of the season of 1839 must have entirely removed it. It often happened that for several days successively, not fewer than five or six vessels of large size, both outward and homeward bound, were visible at distances varying from 3 to 6 miles from the Rock; and much anxiety was often felt by us for the safety of those vessels, several of which approached so near the outlying rocks as to keep us for some time in the most painful suspense. On two occasions, more especially, I was about to direct the steam to be raised, in order that the Skerryvore tender might be sent to warn the masters of vessels of their danger, or if too late for that, to afford them assistance in case of accident. On the 29th of May a large schooner, and on the 13th of June a large brig ran right down upon the western _outlyers_, called FRESNEL’S Rocks (which were covered at the time), and just _put about_ in time to avoid striking; and on the 12th June, a fine foreign barque (apparently a Prussian) passed so close to Bo-Rhua as to leave us for a short time in doubt whether or not she had struck on it. On the 21st of June, also, a large brig came very near the rocks which lie off Tyree, at the base of Ben-Hynish, in trying to avoid Boinshley Rock, which lies about 5 miles to the N.W. of the Skerryvore. Those circumstances, together with the list of shipwrecks already given at page 23, afford strong proofs that the Skerryvore Rock occupies a most fatal position in a great fairway much frequented by large vessels bound to or from ports in the Irish Sea and in the Clyde. There cannot be a doubt that many vessels have been wrecked on the Skerryvore and its numerous _outlyers_, being borne down upon the reef by the strong tide which runs at the rate of between four and five miles an hour at the height of spring tides; and the natives of Tyree have many stories about chains and anchors and hidden treasures, with which their fancy has filled every nook of the Rocks. To what extent those stories, which are often most circumstantially told, may be true, it is not easy to determine; but in the end of July 1839, we succeeded, under the guidance of a native boatman, in raising from a creek in one of the detached shelves to the south-west of the main Rock, an anchor worn by the action of the sea to a mere skeleton, a circumstance which so far corroborates the truth of their traditions. CHAPTER VI. OPERATIONS OF 1840. In describing the progress of the works during the season of 1840, I shall speak of the various departments separately, as in the last chapter, beginning with the workyard at Hynish. ~Hynish Workyard.~