THE MYSTERY OF THE CULBIN SANDS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 207, 8 September 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE MYSTERY OF THE CULBIN SANDS.

HOW A RICH ESTATE DISAPPEARED IN THE NIGHT. The Culbin Sands, which lie along ho south coast of the Moray Firth, .1 little to the west oi' the mouth of the River Findhcrn, and almost oppos't* the fine natural harbour and naval baseat Cromarty, are a constant source of Interest to visitors. They are the hauat of picnic parties in summer, and of tourists and sight-seers all the yearround. A more unique, yet dreary and desolate, spectacle could scarcely be imagined. Although anrrpatug an unusual sight, the visitor to the sands for the first time is never quite prepared for the singular phenomenon which meets his eye. He had expected something else, he knew not what exactly, but the reality was not the least Ike it. His imagnat on's picture is completely shattered, and he ftvls a slight disappointment. A Weak desert is the only source of comparison which occurs to him. For miles on every side, as tar as his eye can see, stretches a vast wilderness of pure white, powdery sand, blown into a succession of mounds and h'lls, some of wh'ch. reach the extraordinary height of over one hundred fact. Not a vestige of vegetation is visible except on the very verge where he approached tne sands. He stands spell-bound, listening. Not 'i sound reaches him, net even the shriek of a sea-bird, or the no;se of th e waves. There in the midst of this lake of sand whose surface seems agitated and storm-tossed like the s-nelling billows of some tumultuous ocean .is he stands gazing unconsciously at his shadow reflected in the mirror-like surface of the shining sands, he knows, as never before, what it really means to be alone.

A MOVING BEACH. But the unpleasantness of the first impression soon wears off, and a state of interest siree-pds. Curiosity is aroused and observation takes the place of astonishment. A closer inspection discloses the fineness and lightness of tho pearly sand, which gleams and sparkles like silver dust in the smiling sunlight. Then almost with a tremor the discovery is made that the surface of the sands is in constant motion. This movement, which is hardly discernible on a calm day, becomes fearsome m a westerly gale. Aceordmg to all accounts, the wind simply carries the sand in torrents off the mounds, and whirls it about in tha rrildest confuson. Like an impenetrable mist, it rises from the ground and darkens the atmosphere, converting the day into n'ght. Travellers who have lost then way in these storms have never been heard of again. H uge h;lls disappear m a night, only to reappear again in .• new spot. The story is told of a gang of smugglers who landed a cargo ot tobacco and brandy at the side of one of these large hl!s. In the morning wnen they came in search of it, it wsa nowhere to l>e found. The sands had completely buried it during the uiglit, and so b.ilked the breakers of the law of their illicit booty Many articles of archaeologcal interest are still to be picked up on tho sands. Stone axes ami arrow-heads have been discovered in such numbers thiit it has been thought there must have been a manufactory of such articles in the locality ]at one time or other. Many of these specimens, and other relics of the Stone. Bronze, and Iron Ages, including coins connecting the sands with Scottish, English, and French Sovereigns, are to be seen in the museums at Eigin and Edinburgh. Mr. Bain, edtor of the. "Xainshnv Telegraph." n his book on the Cuibin Sands, announces that he has seen a collection of some sixty coins found bv an industrious lady collector during her visits cxtendng ov.or a couple of seasons. Indeed, the sands are the happiest of hunting grounds for antiquarians of ev<ery kind, and it is sa"d that one man used to make quite a comfortable living by constantly searching for relics there.

As in the cases of other strange phenomena, the Culbm Sands have been the fruitful source of many strange stories and traditions. Legends and superstitions hare grown up in the neighbourhood with the wild profusion of weeds : n a garden. These stories, although all differing in detail from each other, seem to point to the one belief that the catastrophe which laid waste what was at one t : me the richest Estata in the North of Scotland, was due to Divine retribution. A curse, it was believed, had fallen puon the Laird of Cublin, because of a compact which he had made with the Devil, and that one night when they were playing cards together, the calamity fell, the sand drift eame on, .and buried them both beneath ths greatest moiind where they are supposed to remain to this day.