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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
74
It
is
perhaps
in
the
Western
Highlands
and
Islands
of
Scotland
that
the
most
trying
conditions
for
the
rural
messengers
present
themselves.
From
Ullapool
to
Coigach
and
Rieff
in
Ross-shire,
for
example,
a
journey
of
twenty-six
miles,
the
messenger
travels
out
one
day,
and
back
again
the
next.
Proceeding
from
Ullapool,
the
main
road
is
followed
for
about
three
miles,
when
the
man
strikes
off
into
the
hills,
and
after
a
time
reaches
a
river.
This
he
is
enabled
sometimes
to
cross
by
means
of
stepping-stones;
but
so
often
does
the
water
cover
these,
that
he
is
generally
obliged
to
ford
it,
and
in
doing
so
gets
himself
thoroughly
wet.
Then
he
pursues
a
course
along
or
over
one
of
the
most
dangerous
rocks
in
Scotland
for
a
distance
of
three
or
four
miles,
the
rock
in
some
places
being
so
precipitous
that
he
is
obliged
to
cling
to
it
for
dear
life.[2]
After
passing
this
rock
he
continues
some
distance
further
over
the
hills,
and
ultimately
regains
the
main
road,
by
which
he
completes
his
journey.
Apart
altogether
from
the
dangerous
character
of
the
road,
the
distance
which
the
post-runner
has
to
walk
day
after
day
must
necessarily
be
severe
and
trying
work.
[2]
Route
changed
since
1885.
From
Lochmaddy
to
Castlebay
there
is
a
chain
of
posts
seventy-five
miles
long,
served
partly
by
foot-messengers,
partly
by
horse-posts,
and
partly
by
boats.
The
line
is
intersected
by
dangerous
ferries,
one
between
Kilbride
and
Barra
being
six
miles
wide,
and
exposed
to
the
full
force
of
the
waves
from
the
Atlantic.
From
Garrynahine
to
Miavaig,
in
the
island
of
Lewis,
there
is
another
dangerous
service,
partly
by
foot-post
and
partly
by
boat,
the
distance
being
seventeen
miles.
The
road
lies
all
through
bog--a
dreary
waste--while
the
sea
portion
is
on
a
most
exposed
part
of
the
coast.
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