DISCOVERY - The Lighthouse - page 39

proviso that at the end of twelve months a report was to be sent to them showing how
efficientthesignallingcommunicationwas,toaidthemincalculatingtheaveragenum-
ber of days on which it was used.
The system of signalling itself was by use of discs which were hung on poles from
either side of the balcony on top of the lighthouse tower. The signals were differen-
tiated by one or more discs being hung from different sides of the lighthouse tower.
TheprimarypurposeofthesignallingsystemwastoenableMackenzie,andtherebythe
NLB, to be informed when assistance was required by the lighthouse.
A powerful telescope 8 which had originally been presented to the Lighthouse Com-
missioners (as the NLB were also known) by Lloyds was sent to Mackenzie, who offi-
cially started his observation duties on 1 February 1900, ten and a half months before
the tragedy.
The failure of the Archtor 's agents, Henderson and McIntosh, to notify the NLB of
CaptainHolman'sobservationsandconcernsuntiltheirletterdated28December1900,
plus no notification from Roderick Mackenzie on Lewis, meant that all was assumed to
be well at the Eilean Mor Lighthouse up until 26 December 1900 (Captain Holman had
passed the Flannan Islands on 15-16 December and reported to the Archtor's owners
on18December1900).Therewasthereforeaten-daygapbetweenCaptainHolmanin-
forming Henderson and McIntosh, and them in turn informing the NLB headquarters.
Eilean Mor was one of a number of the NLB's stations and lighthouses which were
replenished by a relief vessel named the Hesperus. 9 On this occasion, the arrival of the
Hesperus at the Flannan Isles was delayed slightly by bad weather. The vessel had left
its Oban base on Monday 24 December 1900 (Christmas Eve) and made her way up
to Loch Roag on Lewis to collect supplies and the relief lightkeeper, Joseph Moore,
and take them out to Eilean Mor. There was bad weather in the area over this period
with very strong gales, described in some accounts as a storm, over 17-21 December
1900. On 26 December 1900 the Hesperus finally left Loch Roag and made her way
over to Eilean Mor. The first indication that something was wrong was the lack of the
lighthouse flag on Eilean Mor which would show the relief vessel was expected. At
first, those on the Hesperus assumed the lightkeepers had not seen them arriving so the
steamer's horn was sounded, but there was no response. A signal rocket was fired from
the Hesperus andafterthehornwassoundedagainwithstillnoresponsefromthelight-
house, Captain Harvey decided to land a boat with a group of men including the relief
keeper Moore. When the boat reached the west landing, Moore went ashore first, leav-
ing McCormack and the others in the rowing boat while he went to investigate. Moore
made his way up the steep steps of the west landing to the top of the cliff and on up
to the lighthouse. When he arrived at the entrance gate to the lighthouse, he found it
closed. He then went to the entrance door leading to the kitchen and stores and it too