192 ORKNEY. 



minister was from home, I was thrown on the hospita- 

 lity of a farmer, whose genuine kindness I shall not soon 

 forget, and with whom I spent a very happy day and 

 Bight. He is a very ingenious, clever fellow, who can 

 turn his hand to anything, and do everything well. He 

 unites in his own person the varied offices of farmer, 

 watchmaker, smith, carpenter, kelp-maker, and, if I mis- 

 take not, doctor in all of which capacities he is purely 

 self-taught. He has never been further south than Kirk- 

 wall, and has no desire to leave his little world, to which 

 he is passionately attached. He knows all about it ; but 

 his knowledge, like charity, though it begins at home, 

 does not end there. He is thoroughly up in the politics 

 of the day, has a keen sense of humour, is full of anec- 

 dote, and well acquainted with the works of Scott, Thac- 

 keray, and Dickens. 



There is a post once a week to this island ; to West- 

 ray, Sanday, and Rousay twice a week ; and to some of 

 the less remote islands once a day. This is a very dif- 

 ferent state of things from what existed formerly. At 

 the time of the Revolution, a Scotch fisherman was im- 

 prisoned at Kirkwall, in May, 1689, for saying that 

 King William III. had been crowned the previous No- 

 vember; and he was just about to be hanged for the 

 treasonable statement when a vessel arrived to con- 

 firm it. 



I have only to add one word on the people. They are, 

 of course, first-rate sailors. In appearance there is not 

 any very striking indication of their descent, though now 



