human
My dear boy. said Mr. Wilton,
gpt
I am quite delighted to find you have been so industrious, as it proves most satisfactorily that you are resolved to overcome all obstacles of weariness or difficulty in order to accomplish the great end--the attainment of useful knowledge. I am much, _very much_, pleased with you, my dear boy.
human
Where sail we next?
gpt
The North Sea is the track, dear mamma. I am sorry Mr. Barraud has not come, as he, having been to Scotland, might have helped us considerably. However, Dora is prepared with some particulars, and we need not be idling because of the absence of one member.
human
No, indeed! exclaimed Mr. Wilton,
gpt
And I another, added Charles;
human
The North Sea washes the shores of Scotland, Denmark, and Norway. There are a great many islands in this sea, many more than I can enumerate. Near Scotland there are several little unimportant places of trifling interest, of which I should be glad to gain some information, as at present I know nothing more than that they are there, are inhabited, and tolerably fertile.
gpt
I believe I can enlighten you to a certain extent, Dora, at least so far that you may acknowledge that there are interesting places in the North Sea near Scotland. Ten leagues, or thirty geographical miles, north of the ancient castle of Dunglass (once the head-quarters of Oliver Cromwell) lies the Bell Rock: you can see it in the map, just off the mouth of the Tay, and close to the northern side of the great estuary called the Firth of Forth. Up to the commencement of the present century, this rock was justly considered one of the most formidable dangers that the navigators of the North Sea had to encounter. Its head, merged under the surface during greater part of the tide, at no time made much show above the water. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to keep well clear of the mischief, or, as seamen express themselves, to give the rock a wide berth. Ships, accordingly, bound for the Forth, in their constant terror of this ugly reef, not content with giving it ten or even twenty miles of elbow room, must needs edge off a little more to the south, so as to hug the shore in such a way, that when the wind chopped round to the northward, as it often did, these over-cautious navigators became embayed in a deep bight to the westward of Fast Castle. If the breeze freshened before they had time to work out, they paid dearly for their apprehensions of the Bell Rock, by driving upon ledges fully as sharp and far more extensive and inevitable. The consequence was that from three to four vessels, or sometimes half a dozen, used to be wrecked each winter. Captain Basil Hall in speaking of this place says, 'Perhaps there are few more exciting spectacles than a vessel stranded on a lee-shore, and especially such a shore, which is fringed with reefs extending far out and offering no spot for shelter. The hapless ship lies dismasted, bilged, and beat about by the waves, with the despairing crew clinging to the wreck, or to the shrouds, and uttering cries totally inaudible in the roar of the sea; while at each successive dash of the breakers the number of the survivors is thinned, till at length they all disappear. The gallant bark then goes to pieces, and the coast for a league on either side is strewed with broken planks, masts, boxes, and ruined portions of the goodly cargo, with which, a few hours before, she was securely freighted, and dancing merrily over the waters.' I am happy to add, in conclusion, that this fatal Bell Rock, the direct and indirect cause of so many losses, has been converted into one of the greatest sources of security that navigation is capable of receiving. By means of scientific skill, aided by well-managed perseverance, with the example of the Eddystone to copy from, a lighthouse, one hundred and twenty feet high, has been raised upon this formidable reef, by Mr. Robert Stevenson, the skilful engineer of the 'Northern Lights;' so that the mariner, instead of doing all he can to avoid the spot once so much dreaded, now eagerly runs for it, and counts himself happy when he gets sight of the revolving star on the top, which, from its being variously colored he can distinguish from any other light in that quarter. He is then enabled to steer directly for his port in perfect security, though the night be never so dark.