The grey Cuillins

---

We'd read that, unless you climb the Cuillin hills on Skye, one of the best places from which to see them is Elgol. There are Red and Black Cuillins. From the rocky beach, in high winds, they appeared as looming grey silhouettes in mist and cloud. As we climbed the steep, winding road and followed a footpath to a good vantage point, the sky began to clear to the west, and the island of Rum emerged above a strip of white light on the water.

Just off Elgol is Soay. A sign in a small car park overlooking the harbour told us that Gavin Maxwell bought this tiny island in 1944 and set up a commercial fishery, a "short-lived" venture in which he harpooned basking sharks for oil from their livers and glue from their cartilege. The flesh was used for fertiliser or food. Basking sharks, it says, are now protected by law.

---