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1We left Oxford with regret and proceeded to Matlock, which was our next place of rest. The country in the neighbourhood
2of this village resembled, to a greater degree, the scenery of Switzerland; but everything is on a lower scale, and the
3green hills want the crown of distant white Alps which always attend on the piny mountains of my native country. We
4visited the wondrous cave and the little cabinets of natural history, where the curiosities are disposed in the same
5manner as in the collections at Servox and Chamounix. The latter name made me tremble when pronounced by Henry, and I
6hastened to quit Matlock, with which that terrible scene was thus associated. From Derby, still journeying northwards,
7we passed two months in Cumberland and Westmorland. I could now almost fancy myself among the Swiss mountains. The
8little patches of snow which yet lingered on the northern sides of the mountains, the lakes, and the dashing of the
9rocky streams were all familiar and dear sights to me. Here also we made some acquaintances, who almost contrived to
10cheat me into happiness. The delight of Clerval was proportionably greater than mine; his mind expanded in the company
11of men of talent, and he found in his own nature greater capacities and resources than he could have imagined himself to
12have possessed while he associated with his inferiors. "I could pass my life here," said he to me; "and among these
13mountains I should scarcely regret Switzerland and the Rhine." But he found that a traveller's life is one that includes
14much pain amidst its enjoyments. His feelings are for ever on the stretch; and when he begins to sink into repose, he
15finds himself obliged to quit that on which he rests in pleasure for something new, which again engages his attention,
16and which also he forsakes for other novelties. We had scarcely visited the various lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland
17and conceived an affection for some of the inhabitants when the period of our appointment with our Scotch friend
18approached, and we left them to travel on. For my own part I was not sorry. I had now neglected my promise for some
19time, and I feared the effects of the dæmon's disappointment. He might remain in Switzerland and wreak his vengeance on
20my relatives. This idea pursued me and tormented me at every moment from which I might otherwise have snatched repose
21and peace. I waited for my letters with feverish impatience; if they were delayed I was miserable and overcome by a
22thousand fears; and when they arrived and I saw the superscription of Elizabeth or my father, I hardly dared to read and
23ascertain my fate. Sometimes I thought that the fiend followed me and might expedite my remissness by murdering my
24companion. When these thoughts possessed me, I would not quit Henry for a moment, but followed him as his shadow, to
25protect him from the fancied rage of his destroyer. I felt as if I had committed some great crime, the consciousness of
26which haunted me. I was guiltless, but I had indeed drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as mortal as that of
27crime. I visited Edinburgh with languid eyes and mind; and yet that city might have interested the most unfortunate
28being. Clerval did not like it so well as Oxford, for the antiquity of the latter city was more pleasing to him. But the
29beauty and regularity of the new town of Edinburgh, its romantic castle and its environs, the most delightful in the
30world, Arthur's Seat, St. Bernard's Well, and the Pentland Hills, compensated him for the change and filled him with
31cheerfulness and admiration. But I was impatient to arrive at the termination of my journey. We left Edinburgh in a
32week, passing through Coupar, St. Andrew's, and along the banks of the Tay, to Perth, where our friend expected us. But
33I was in no mood to laugh and talk with strangers or enter into their feelings or plans with the good humour expected
34from a guest; and accordingly I told Clerval that I wished to make the tour of Scotland alone. "Do you," said I, "enjoy
35yourself, and let this be our rendezvous. I may be absent a month or two; but do not interfere with my motions, I
36entreat you; leave me to peace and solitude for a short time; and when I return, I hope it will be with a lighter heart,
37more congenial to your own temper." Henry wished to dissuade me, but seeing me bent on this plan, ceased to remonstrate.
38He entreated me to write often. "I had rather be with you," he said, "in your solitary rambles, than with these Scotch
39people, whom I do not know; hasten, then, my dear friend, to return, that I may again feel myself somewhat at home,
40which I cannot do in your absence." Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot of Scotland and
41finish my work in solitude. I did not doubt but that the monster followed me and would discover himself to me when I
42should have finished, that he might receive his companion. With this resolution I traversed the northern highlands and
43fixed on one of the remotest of the Orkneys as the scene of my labours. It was a place fitted for such a work, being
44hardly more than a rock whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely
45affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose
46gaunt and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare. Vegetables and bread, when they indulged in such luxuries,
47and even fresh water, was to be procured from the mainland, which was about five miles distant. On the whole island
48there were but three miserable huts, and one of these was vacant when I arrived. This I hired. It contained but two
49rooms, and these exhibited all the squalidness of the most miserable penury. The thatch had fallen in, the walls were
50unplastered, and the door was off its hinges. I ordered it to be repaired, bought some furniture, and took possession,
51an incident which would doubtless have occasioned some surprise had not all the senses of the cottagers been benumbed by
52want and squalid poverty. As it was, I lived ungazed at and unmolested, hardly thanked for the pittance of food and
53clothes which I gave, so much does suffering blunt even the coarsest sensations of men. In this retreat I devoted the
54morning to labour; but in the evening, when the weather permitted, I walked on the stony beach of the sea to listen to
55the waves as they roared and dashed at my feet. It was a monotonous yet ever-changing scene. I thought of Switzerland;
56it was far different from this desolate and appalling landscape. Its hills are covered with vines, and its cottages are
57scattered thickly in the plains. Its fair lakes reflect a blue and gentle sky, and when troubled by the winds, their
58tumult is but as the play of a lively infant when compared to the roarings of the giant ocean. In this manner I
59distributed my occupations when I first arrived, but as I proceeded in my labour, it became every day more horrible and
60irksome to me. Sometimes I could not prevail on myself to enter my laboratory for several days, and at other times I
61toiled day and night in order to complete my work. It was, indeed, a filthy process in which I was engaged. During my
62first experiment, a kind of enthusiastic frenzy had blinded me to the horror of my employment; my mind was intently
63fixed on the consummation of my labour, and my eyes were shut to the horror of my proceedings. But now I went to it in
64cold blood, and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands. Thus situated, employed in the most detestable
65occupation, immersed in a solitude where nothing could for an instant call my attention from the actual scene in which I
66was engaged, my spirits became unequal; I grew restless and nervous. Every moment I feared to meet my persecutor.
67Sometimes I sat with my eyes fixed on the ground, fearing to raise them lest they should encounter the object which I so
68much dreaded to behold. I feared to wander from the sight of my fellow creatures lest when alone he should come to claim
69his companion. In the mean time I worked on, and my labour was already considerably advanced. I looked towards its
70completion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not trust myself to question but which was intermixed with
71obscure forebodings of evil that made my heart sicken in my bosom. Chapter 20
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