View of the bending pillars near the Landing place on the Island of Staffa

Based on studies made on the spot, the surprisingly little-known group of drawings of Staffa made by Banks’ draughtsmen accentuate the parallels between the island’s features and architecture. Having travelled for several hours by boat northeast from Iona, Banks and his party had landed on the island in darkness, sheltering in tents and a lice-infested shed until daylight. Despite these hardships, Banks was nearly overwhelmed by the island’s remarkable hexagonal pillars and crystalline sea caves: in his own words, by comparison, the cathedrals or palaces built by man, were “mere models or playthings”.