leadership of McDonald himself.  Even the attempt to do so would be called exaggerated and untrue; but after witnessing through the open window the surprising actions of the congregation, we turned away, feeling that the half could not be told, for words would fail to portray the scene.  The reader must be content with a meagre description of a visit to the church made many years after the death of the leader, when the excitement was less intense, to which meeting Lancy Gurney and his party are hastening.

There are several churches of this sect in different parts of the Island, but the principal church is in a country place called Uigg.  The yearly sacrament is held at this church, and on these occasions the multitudes of worshippers who come from a long distance to attend this ceremony are almost doubled by the number of sightseers who flock to witness the sight.  At such times the adjacent fences are lined with vehicles of every description, giving the place the appearance of a fair or horse market.  These yearly meetings cannot begin to compare with those held during the lifetime of the leader, but those who never witnessed a meeting conducted by the Rev. Mr. McDonald could scarcely believe they were ever more startling than those held in later years.

With this digression we will return to our young travellers, who, having secured their horse under the sheltering trees by the roadside, and fortified their courage by doing justice to the lunch Mrs. Fremont had prepared for them, now entered the crowded church and stood among the number of observers in the aisle.

The inside of the edifice had an unfinished look, and the arrangement of the seats was uncommon, but to most people the seats themselves formed a most unusual sight, for they were all without backs, the reason of which soon became apparent.

The meeting had commenced, and the minister was preaching, but it must be confessed that there was little heed given to his words, for the attention of the people was attracted to the centre of the church, where a number of people were already under the peculiar influence; but our little party, being at a distance, watched the proceedings with a feeling of safety, yet not unmixed with fear and dread.

Presently a young girl about seventeen or twenty, who sat in a seat quite near, began to be affected, and all eyes were turned in her direction.  She was dressed in what was probably called in her neighborhood the “height of style.”  On her head was a saucer-like bonnet of the “gypsy style,” covered with large artificial flowers, which drooped over a chignon of such remarkable dimensions that it must have required a multitude of hairpins to keep it together; but her bonnet helped to keep it in place, as strings of ribbon were placed at the back, then brought forward under her chin in a flaring knot.