212 SHETLAND. 



and yet, though it has been in use for two centuries, nfi 

 life has been lost by it. 



Communication with it was first suggested by the 

 innumerable eggs with which it was seen to be covered. 

 The offer of a cow was sufficient to tempt a fowler to 

 scale it. The island being higher than the Holm, the 

 ropes slope a little, and the cradle descends by its own 

 weight. In returning, the passenger must either work 

 his own passage, or be pulled up by his friends, no great 

 efiort being required in either case. The Holm pastures 

 about a dozen sheep. 



Steering our way between the island and the Holm, we 

 come in full view of the Noup, which rises perpendicularly 

 from the sea to a height of about 600 feet. Even after 

 repeated visits it is a very grand sight ; when seen for the 

 first time it is almost overpowering. I saw it first in the 

 month of June, and at that season the face of the rock 

 from bottom to top was literally covered with sea-birds, 

 and had the speckled look which a pretty heavy sprinkling 

 of snow would produce. We fired a gun and a cloud of 

 birds shot out, darkening the air and almost deafening us 

 with the noise. I have a distinct recollection that on 

 that occasion my feeling was more akin to nervousness 

 than I have ever experienced when there was no real 

 cause for fear. At its base there is a natural pavement 

 of considerable breadth, the scene of many a pleasant 

 pic-nic. 



Returning by the way we came, and taking, as we pass 

 beneath it, a last look at the airy cradle, to put a foot in 



