Passing the Point of Sleat, at the southern end of Skye, we sailed up the wild and grand Loch Scavaig.  Rising up abruptly from the water are rugged mountains of a dark and gloomy aspect,--the bare rocks alone are seen without a particle of vegetation.  Their metallic appearance arises from their being composed of a mineral called hypersthene.  On either side rose sharp peaks, one called the Shouting Mountain, another the Notched Peak; while a small island at the foot of another height, called the Hill of Dispute, goes by the name of the Island of the Slippery-Step.  From its appearance no one would wish to land there. Not a tree was to be seen.