View of the Isle of Staffa

Among the well-known contemporary scientists suspecting that the basalt of Staffa – as made famous through Pennant’s 1772 Tour – may indicate its volcanic origin, the French naturalist Barthélemy Faujas de St Fond journeyed to the Western Isles in 1784. A full account of his tour was published in 1797, together with two views of Staffa, clearly copied from those published by Pennant. In the second edition of the account issued in 1804, they were replaced by two engravings by Michel Picquenot.