Staffa

Staffa (Scand., 'pillar-island'), a celebrated islet on the west of Scotland, lies 4 miles SW. of Ulva, 6 N. by E. of Iona, and 54 W. of Oban. It forms an oval uneven tableland, rising at its highest to 144 feet above the water, $1\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ mile in circumference, and 71 acres in area. In the north-east, in the lee of the prevailing winds, is a tract of low shore, stretching out in beaches, and forming a landing-place; but elsewhere the coast is girt with flashing and many-coloured lights against the pendant columns, whitened with calcareous stalagmite, that form the roof, and against the pillared walls of the cave. First described (in Pennant's Tour) by Sir Joseph Banks, after a visit in 1772, Staffa has since been frequently visited—among others by Wordsworth, Keats, Scott, Mendelssohn, Tennyson, and (1847) Queen Victoria.