We had at last a good dinner, or rather supper, and were very wellsatisfied with our entertainment.WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13.Col called me up, with intelligence that it was a good day for a passageto Mull; and just as we rose, a sailor from the vessel arrived for us.We got all ready with dispatch. Dr. Johnson was displeased at mybustling, and walking quickly up and down. He said, 'It does not hastenus a bit. It is getting on horseback in a ship[831]. All boys do it; andyou are longer a boy than others.' He himself has no alertness, orwhatever it may be called; so he may dislike it, as _Oderunt hilaremtristes[832]._Before we reached the harbour, the wind grew high again. However, thesmall boat was waiting and took us on board. We remained for some timein uncertainty what to do: at last it was determined, that, as a goodpart of the day was over, and it was dangerous to be at sea at night, insuch a vessel, and such weather, we should not sail till the morningtide, when the wind would probably be more gentle. We resolved not to goashore again, but lie here in readiness. Dr. Johnson and I had each abed in the cabin. Col sat at the fire in the fore-castle, with thecaptain, and Joseph, and the rest. I eat some dry oatmeal, of which Ifound a barrel in the cabin. I had not done this since I was a boy. Dr.Johnson owned that he too was fond of it when a boy[833]; a circumstancewhich I was highly pleased to hear from him, as it gave me anopportunity of observing that, notwithstanding his joke on the articleof OATS[834], he was himself a proof that this kind of _food_ was notpeculiar to the people of Scotland.THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14.When Dr. Johnson awaked this morning, he called _'Lanky!'_ having, Isuppose, been thinking of Langton; but corrected himself instantly, andcried, _'Bozzy!'_ He has a way of contracting the names of his friends.Goldsmith feels himself so important now, as to be displeased at it. Iremember one day, when Tom Davies was telling that Dr. Johnson said, Weare all in labour for a name to _Goldy's_ play,' Goldsmith cried 'I haveoften desired him not to call me _Goldy[835].'_Between six and seven we hauled our anchor, and set sail with a fairbreeze; and, after a pleasant voyage, we got safely and agreeably intothe harbour of Tobermorie, before the wind rose, which it always hasdone, for some days, about noon. Tobermorie is an excellent harbour.An island lies before it, and it is surrounded by a hilly theatre[836].The island is too low, otherwise this would be quite a secure port; but,the island not being a sufficient protection, some storms blow very hardhere. Not long ago, fifteen vessels were blown from their moorings.There are sometimes sixty or seventy sail here: to-day there were twelveor fourteen vessels. To see such a fleet was the next thing to seeing atown. The vessels were from different places; Clyde, Campbelltown,Newcastle, &c. One was returning to Lancaster from Hamburgh. Afterhaving been shut up so long in Col, the sight of such an assemblage ofmoving habitations, containing such a variety of people, engaged indifferent pursuits, gave me much gaiety of spirit. When we had landed,Dr. Johnson said, 'Boswell is now all alive. He is like Antaeus; he getsnew vigour whenever he touches the ground.' I went to the top of a hillfronting the harbour, from whence I had a good view of it. We had here atolerable inn. Dr. Johnson had owned to me this morning, that he was outof humour. Indeed, he shewed it a good deal in the ship; for when I wasexpressing my joy on the prospect of our landing in Mull, he said, hehad no joy, when he recollected that it would be five days before heshould get to the main land. I was afraid he would now take a suddenresolution to give up seeing Icolmkill. A dish of tea, and some goodbread and butter, did him service, and his bad humour went off. I toldhim, that I was diverted to hear all the people whom we had visited inour tour, say, _'Honest man!_ he's pleased with every thing; he's alwayscontent!'--'Little do they know,' said I. He laughed, and said, 'Yourogue[837]!'We sent to hire horses to carry us across the island of Mull to theshore opposite to Inchkenneth, the residence of Sir Allan M'Lean, uncleto young Col, and Chief of the M'Leans, to whose house we intended to gothe next day. Our friend Col went to visit his aunt, the wife of Dr.Alexander M'Lean, a physician, who lives about a mile from Tobermorie.Dr. Johnson and I sat by ourselves at the inn, and talked a good deal. Itold him, that I had found, in Leandro Alberti's Description of Italy,much of what Addison has given us in his _Remarks_[838]. He said, 'Thecollection of passages from the Classicks has been made by anotherItalian: it is, however, impossible to detect a man as a plagiary insuch a case, because all who set about making such a collection mustfind the same passages; but, if you find the same applications inanother book, then Addison's learning in his _Remarks_ tumbles down. Itis a tedious book; and, if it were not attached to Addison's previousreputation, one would not think much of it. Had he written nothing else,his name would not have lived. Addison does not seem to have gone deepin Italian literature: he shews nothing of it in his subsequentwritings. He shews a great deal of French learning. There is, perhaps,more knowledge circulated in the French language than in any other[839].There is more original knowledge in English.' 'But the French (said I)have the art of accommodating[840] literature.' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir: wehave no such book as Moreri's _Dictionary_[841].' BOSWELL. 'Their_Ana_[842] are good.' JOHNSON. 'A few of them are good; but we have onebook of that kind better than any of them; Selden's _Table-talk_. As tooriginal literature, the French have a couple of tragick poets who goround the world, Racine and Corneille, and one comick poet, Moliere.'BOSWELL. 'They have Fenelon.' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, _Telemachus_ is prettywell.' BOSWELL. 'And Voltaire, Sir.' JOHNSON. 'He has not stood histrial yet. And what makes Voltaire chiefly circulate is collection; suchas his _Universal History_.' BOSWELL. 'What do you say to the Bishop ofMeaux?' JOHNSON. 'Sir, nobody reads him[843].' He would not allowMassilon and Bourdaloue to go round the world. In general, however, hegave the French much praise for their industry.He asked me whether he had mentioned, in any of the papers of the_Rambler_, the description in Virgil of the entrance into Hell, with anapplication to the press; 'for (said he) I do not much remember them.' Itold him, 'No.' Upon which he repeated it:--'Vestibulum ante ipsum, primisque in faucibus orci,Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus,Et metus, et malesuada Fames, et turpis Egestas,Terribiles visu formae; Lethumque, Laborque[844].''Now, (said he) almost all these apply exactly to an authour: all theseare the concomitants of a printing-house. I proposed to him to dictatean essay on it, and offered to write it. He said, he would not do itthen, but perhaps would write one at some future period.The Sunday evening that we sat by ourselves at Aberdeen, I asked himseveral particulars of his life, from his early years, which he readilytold me; and I wrote them down before him. This day I proceeded in myinquiries, also writing them in his presence. I have them on detachedsheets. I shall collect authentick materials for THE LIFE OF SAMUELJOHNSON, LL.D.; and, if I survive him, I shall be one who will mostfaithfully do honour to his memory. I have now a vast treasure of hisconversation, at different times, since the year 1762[845], when I firstobtained his acquaintance; and, by assiduous inquiry, I can make up fornot knowing him sooner[846].A Newcastle ship-master, who happened to be in the house, intrudedhimself upon us. He was much in liquor, and talked nonsense about hisbeing a man for _Wilkes and Liberty_, and against the ministry. Dr.Johnson was angry, that 'a fellow should come into _our_ company, whowas fit for _no_ company.' He left us soon.Col returned from his aunt, and told us, she insisted that we shouldcome to her house that night. He introduced to us Mr. Campbell, the Dukeof Argyle's factor in Tyr-yi. He was a genteel, agreeable man. He wasgoing to Inverary, and promised to put letters into the post-office forus[847]. I now found that Dr. Johnson's desire to get on the main land,arose from his anxiety to have an opportunity of conveying letters tohis friends.After dinner, we proceeded to Dr. M'Lean's, which was about a mile fromour inn. He was not at home, but we were received by his lady anddaughter, who entertained us so well, that Dr. Johnson seemed quitehappy. When we had supped, he asked me to give him some paper to writeletters. I begged he would write short ones, and not _expatiate_, as weought to set off early. He was irritated by this, and said, 'What mustbe done; must be done: the thing is past a joke.' 'Nay, Sir, (said I,)write as much as you please; but do not blame me, if we are kept sixdays before we get to the main land. You were very impatient in themorning: but no sooner do you find yourself in good quarters, than youforget that you are to move.' I got him paper enough, and we parted ingood humour.Let me now recollect whatever particulars I have omitted. In the morningI said to him, before we landed at Tobermorie, 'We shall see Dr. M'Lean,who has written _The History of the M'Leans'_. JOHNSON. 'I have no greatpatience to stay to hear the history of the M'Leans. I would rather hearthe History of the Thrales.' When on Mull, I said, 'Well, Sir, this isthe fourth of the Hebrides that we have been upon.' JOHNSON. 'Nay, wecannot boast of the number we have seen. We thought we should see manymore. We thought of sailing about easily from island to island; and sowe should, had we come at a better season[848]; but we, being wise men,thought it would be summer all the year where _we_ were. However, Sir,we have seen enough to give us a pretty good notion of the system ofinsular life.'Let me not forget, that he sometimes amused himself with very slightreading; from which, however, his conversation shewed that he contrivedto extract some benefit. At Captain M'Lean's he read a good deal in _TheCharmer_, a collection of songs[849].We this morning found that we could not proceed, there being a violentstorm of wind and rain, and the rivers being impassable. When Iexpressed my discontent at our confinement, Dr. Johnson said, 'Now thatI have had an opportunity of writing to the main land, I am in no suchhaste.' I was amused with his being so easily satisfied; for the truthwas, that the gentleman who was to convey our letters, as I was nowinformed, was not to set out for Inverary for some time; so that it wasprobable we should be there as soon as he: however, I did not undeceivemy friend, but suffered him to enjoy his fancy.Dr. Johnson asked, in the evening, to see Dr. M'Lean's books. He tookdown Willis _de Anima Brutorum_[850], and pored over it a good deal.Miss M'Lean produced some Erse poems by John M'Lean, who was a famousbard in Mull, and had died only a few years ago. He could neither readnor write. She read and translated two of them; one, a kind of elegy onSir John M'Lean's being obliged to fly his country in 1715; another, adialogue between two Roman Catholick young ladies, sisters, whether itwas better to be a nun or to marry. I could not perceive much poeticalimagery in the translation. Yet all of our company who understood Erse,seemed charmed with the original. There may, perhaps, be some choice ofexpression, and some excellence of arrangement, that cannot be shewn intranslation.After we had exhausted the Erse poems, of which Dr. Johnson saidnothing, Miss M'Lean gave us several tunes on a spinnet, which, thoughmade so long ago as in 1667, was still very well toned. She sung alongwith it. Dr. Johnson seemed pleased with the musick, though he owns heneither likes it, nor has hardly any perception of it. At Mr.M'Pherson's, in Slate, he told us, that 'he knew a drum from a trumpet,and a bagpipe from a guittar, which was about the extent of hisknowledge of musick.' To-night he said, that, 'if he had learnt musick,he should have been afraid he would have done nothing else but play. Itwas a method of employing the mind without the labour of thinking atall, and with some applause from a man's self[851].'We had the musick of the bagpipe every day, at Armidale, Dunvegan, andCol. Dr. Johnson appeared fond of it, and used often to stand for sometime with his ear close to the great drone.The penurious gentleman of our acquaintance, formerly alluded to[852],afforded us a topick of conversation to-night. Dr. Johnson said, I oughtto write down a collection of the instances of his narrowness, as theyalmost exceeded belief. Col told us, that O'Kane, the famous Irishharper, was once at that gentleman's house. He could not find in hisheart to give him any money, but gave him a key for a harp, which wasfinely ornamented with gold and silver, and with a precious stone, andwas worth eighty or a hundred guineas. He did not know the value of it;and when he came to know it, he would fain have had it back; but O'Kanetook care that he should not. JOHNSON. 'They exaggerate the value; everybody is so desirous that he should be fleeced. I am very willing itshould be worth eighty or a hundred guineas; but I do not believe it.'BOSWELL. 'I do not think O'Kane was obliged to give it back.' JOHNSON.'No, Sir. If a man with his eyes open, and without any means used todeceive him, gives me a thing, I am not to let him have it again when hegrows wiser. I like to see how avarice defeats itself: how, whenavoiding to part with money, the miser gives something more valuable.'Col said, the gentleman's relations were angry at his giving away theharp-key, for it had been long in the family. JOHNSON. 'Sir, he values anew guinea more than an old friend.'Col also told us, that the same person having come up with a serjeantand twenty men, working on the high road, he entered into discourse withthe serjeant, and then gave him sixpence for the men to drink. Theserjeant asked, 'Who is this fellow?'. Upon being informed, he said, 'IfI had known who he was, I should have thrown it in his face.' JOHNSON.'There is much want of sense in all this. He had no business to speakwith the serjeant. He might have been in haste, and trotted on. He hasnot learnt to be a miser: I believe we must take him apprentice.'BOSWELL. 'He would grudge giving half a guinea to be taught.' JOHNSON.'Nay, Sir, you must teach him _gratis_. You must give him an opportunityto practice your precepts.'Let me now go back, and glean _Johnsoniana_. The Saturday before wesailed from Slate, I sat awhile in the afternoon, with Dr. Johnson inhis room, in a quiet serious frame. I observed, that hardly any man wasaccurately prepared for dying; but almost every one left somethingundone, something in confusion; that my father, indeed, told me he knewone man, (Carlisle of Limekilns,) after whose death all his papers werefound in exact order; and nothing was omitted in his will. JOHNSON.'Sir, I had an uncle who died so; but such attention requires greatleisure, and great firmness of mind. If one was to think constantly ofdeath, the business of life would stand still. I am no friend to makingreligion appear too hard. Many good people have done harm by givingsevere notions of it. In the same way, as to learning: I never frightenyoung people with difficulties; on the contrary, I tell them that theymay very easily get as much as will do very well. I do not indeed tellthem that they will be _Bentleys_!The night we rode to Col's house, I said, 'Lord Elibank is probablywondering what is become of us.' JOHNSON. 'No, no; he is not thinking ofus.' BOSWELL. 'But recollect the warmth with which he wrote[853]. Are wenot to believe a man, when he says he has a great desire to see another?Don't you believe that I was very impatient for your coming toScotland?' JOHNSON. 'Yes, Sir; I believe you were; and I was impatientto come to you. A young man feels so, but seldom an old man.' I howeverconvinced him that Lord Elibank, who has much of the spirit of a youngman, might feel so. He asked me if our jaunt had answered expectation. Isaid it had much exceeded it. I expected much difficulty with him, andhad not found it. 'And (he added) wherever we have come, we have beenreceived like princes in their progress.'He said, he would not wish not to be disgusted in the Highlands; forthat would be to lose the power of distinguishing, and a man might thenlie down in the middle of them. He wished only to conceal his disgust.At Captain M'Lean's, I mentioned Pope's friend, Spence. JOHNSON. 'He wasa weak conceited man[854].' BOSWELL. 'A good scholar, Sir?' JOHNSON.'Why, no, Sir.' BOSWELL. 'He was a pretty scholar.' JOHNSON. 'You haveabout reached him.'Last night at the inn, when the factor in Tyr-yi spoke of his havingheard that a roof was put on some part of the buildings at Icolmkill, Iunluckily said, 'It will be fortunate if we find a cathedral with a roofon it.' I said this from a foolish anxiety to engage Dr. Johnson'scuriosity more. He took me short at once. 'What, Sir? how can you talkso? If we shall _find_ a cathedral roofed! as if we were going to a_terra incognita_; when every thing that is at Icolmkill is so wellknown. You are like some New-England-men who came to the mouth of theThames. "Come, (say they,) let us go up and see what sort of inhabitantsthere are here." They talked, Sir, as if they had been to go up theSusquehannah, or any other American river.'SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16.This day there was a new moon, and the weather changed for the better.Dr. Johnson said of Miss M'Lean, 'She is the most accomplished lady thatI have found in the Highlands. She knows French, musick, and drawing,sews neatly, makes shellwork, and can milk cows; in short, she can doevery thing. She talks sensibly, and is the first person whom I havefound, that can translate Erse poetry literally[855].' We set out,mounted on little Mull horses. Mull corresponded exactly with the ideawhich I had always had of it; a hilly country, diversified with heathand grass, and many rivulets. Dr. Johnson was not in very good humour.He said, it was a dreary country, much worse than Sky. I differed fromhim. 'O, Sir, (said he,) a most dolorous country[856]!'We had a very hard journey to-day. I had no bridle for my sheltie, butonly a halter; and Joseph rode without a saddle. At one place, a lochhaving swelled over the road, we were obliged to plunge through prettydeep water. Dr. Johnson observed, how helpless a man would be, were hetravelling here alone, and should meet with any accident; and said, 'helonged to get to _a country of saddles and bridles_' He was more out ofhumour to-day, than he has been in the course of our Tour, being frettedto find that his little horse could scarcely support his weight; andhaving suffered a loss, which, though small in itself, was of someconsequence to him, while travelling the rugged steeps of Mull, where hewas at times obliged to walk. The loss that I allude to was that of thelarge oak-stick, which, as I formerly mentioned, he had brought with himfrom London[857]. It was of great use to him in our wild peregrination;for, ever since his last illness in 1766[858], he has had a weakness inhis knees, and has not been able to walk easily. It had too theproperties of a measure; for one nail was driven into it at the lengthof a foot; another at that of a yard. In return for the services it haddone him, he said, this morning he would make a present of it to someMuseum; but he little thought he was so soon to lose it. As hepreferred riding with a switch, it was entrusted to a fellow to bedelivered to our baggage-man, who followed us at some distance; but wenever saw it more. I could not persuade him out of a suspicion that ithad been stolen. 'No, no, my friend, (said he,) it is not to be expectedthat any man in Mull, who has got it, will part with it. Consider, Sir,the value of such a _piece of timber_ here!'As we travelled this forenoon, we met Dr. McLean, who expressed muchregret at his having been so unfortunate as to be absent while we wereat his house.We were in hopes to get to Sir Allan Maclean's at Inchkenneth, to-night;but the eight miles, of which our road was said to consist, were so verylong, that we did not reach the opposite coast of Mull till seven atnight, though we had set out about eleven in the forenoon; and when wedid arrive there, we found the wind strong against us. Col determinedthat we should pass the night at M'Quarrie's, in the island of Ulva,which lies between Mull and Inchkenneth; and a servant was sent forwardto the ferry, to secure the boat for us; but the boat was gone to theUlva side, and the wind was so high that the people could not hear himcall; and the night so dark that they could not see a signal. We shouldhave been in a very bad situation, had there not fortunately been lyingin the little sound of Ulva an Irish vessel, the Bonnetta, ofLondonderry, Captain M'Lure, master. He himself was at M'Quarrie's; buthis men obligingly came with their long-boat, and ferried us over.M'Quarrie's house was mean; but we were agreeably surprized with theappearance of the master, whom we found to be intelligent, polite, andmuch a man of the world. Though his clan is not numerous, he is a veryancient Chief, and has a burial place at Icolmkill. He told us, hisfamily had possessed Ulva for nine hundred years; but I was distressedto hear that it was soon to be sold for payment of his debts.Captain M'Lure, whom we found here, was of Scotch extraction, andproperly a McLeod, being descended of some of the M'Leods who went withSir Normand of Bernera to the battle of Worcester; and after the defeatof the royalists, fled to Ireland, and, to conceal themselves, took adifferent name. He told me, there was a great number of them aboutLondonderry; some of good property. I said, they should now resumetheir real name. The Laird of M'Leod should go over, and assemble them,and make them all drink the large horn full[859], and from that timethey should be M'Leods. The captain informed us, he had named his shipthe Bonnetta, out of gratitude to Providence; for once, when he wassailing to America with a good number of passengers, the ship in whichhe then sailed was becalmed for five weeks, and during all that time,numbers of the fish Bonnetta swam close to her, and were caught forfood; he resolved therefore, that the ship he should next get, should becalled the Bonnetta.M'Quarrie told us a strong instance of the second sight. He had gone toEdinburgh, and taken a man-servant along with him. An old woman, who wasin the house, said one day, 'M'Quarrie will be at home to-morrow, andwill bring two gentlemen with him;' and she said, she saw his servantreturn in red and green. He did come home next day. He had two gentlemenwith him; and his servant had a new red and green livery, whichM'Quarrie had bought for him at Edinburgh, upon a sudden thought, nothaving the least intention when he left home to put his servant inlivery; so that the old woman could not have heard any previous mention