Hard work it was , and mortally slow ; but in about an hour of kicking and splashing , I had got well in between the points of a sandy bay surrounded by low hills . The sea was here quite quiet ; there was no sound of any surf ; the moon shone clear ; and I thought in my heart I had never seen a place so desert and desolate . But it was dry land ; and when at last it grew so shallow that I could leave the yard and wade ashore upon my feet , I can not tell if I was more tired or more grateful . Both , at least , I was : tired as I never was before that night ; and grateful to God as I trust I have been often , though never with more cause . CHAPTER XIV THE ISLET With my stepping ashore I began the most unhappy part of my adventures . It was half-past twelve in the morning , and though the wind was broken by the land , it was a cold night . I dared not sit down -LRB- for I thought I should have frozen -RRB- , but took off my shoes and walked to and fro upon the sand , bare-foot , and beating my breast with infinite weariness . There was no sound of man or cattle ; not a cock crew , though it was about the hour of their first waking ; only the surf broke outside in the distance , which put me in mind of my perils and those of my friend . To walk by the sea at that hour of the morning , and in a place so desert-like and lonesome , struck me with a kind of fear . As soon as the day began to break I put on my shoes and climbed a hill -- the ruggedest scramble I ever undertook -- falling , the whole way , between big blocks of granite , or leaping from one to another . When I got to the top the dawn was come . There was no sign of the brig , which must have lifted from the reef and sunk . The boat , too , was nowhere to be seen . There was never a sail upon the ocean ; and in what I could see of the land was neither house nor man . I was afraid to think what had befallen my shipmates , and afraid to look longer at so empty a scene . What with my wet clothes and weariness , and my belly that now began to ache with hunger , I had enough to trouble me without that . So I set off eastward along the south coast , hoping to find a house where I might warm myself , and perhaps get news of those I had lost . And at the worst , I considered the sun would soon rise and dry my clothes . After a little , my way was stopped by a creek or inlet of the sea , which seemed to run pretty deep into the land ; and as I had no means to get across , I must needs change my direction to go about the end of it . It was still the roughest kind of walking ; indeed the whole , not only of Earraid , but of the neighbouring part of Mull -LRB- which they call the Ross -RRB- is nothing but a jumble of granite rocks with heather in among .
At XXXXX the creek kept narrowing as I had looked to see ; but presently to my surprise it began to widen out again .
Earraid ISLET Mull Ross XIV first fro hour morning night