The purchaser and new owner of Eigg was one Dr. Hugh MacPherson, and for a while island society carried on normally. The Scottish geologist and writer Hugh Miller visited the island in the 1840s and wrote a long and detailed account of his explorations in his book "The Cruise of the Betsey" (published in 1858). Miller was a self-taught geologist; so the book contains detailed observations of the geology of the island, including the Scuir and the singing sands. He described the islanders of Eigg as ""an active, middle-sized race, with well-developed heads, acute intellects, and singularly warm feelings"". He described seeing the bones of adults and children in family groups with the charred remains of their straw mattresses and small household objects still in Massacre Cave; Sir Walter Scott was so appalled and moved on hearing about this, that he started a fund for a Christian burial, which resulted in their removal.