It is somewhat terrifying
that on what appears to be absolutely firm sand, a few taps of the foot
will convert two or three yards beneath one's feet into a quaking mass.
There is, however, no great danger at the foot of the rocks or
fortifications, but to wander any distance away entails the gravest risks
unless in company with a native who is fully aware of any dangerous
localities. The sands are sufficiently firm to allow those who know the
route to drive horses and carts to Tombelaine, but this should not
encourage strangers to take any chances, for the fate of the English lady
who was swallowed up by the sands in sight of the ramparts and whose body
now lies in the little churchyard of the town, is so distressing that any
repetition of such tragedies would tend to cast a shade over the glories of
the mount.
You may buy among the numerous photographs and pictures for sale in the
trinket shops, coloured post-cards which show flaming sunsets behind the
abbey, but nothing that I have yet seen does the smallest justice to the
reality. Standing on the causeway and looking up to the great height of the
tower that crowns the highest point, the gilded St Michael with his
outspread wings seems almost ready to soar away into the immensity of the
canopy of heaven.
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