108 SHETLAND. 



Blackened speed, they are heard addressing the passenger! 

 hurriedly, but eargerly and clearly, with " Throw a paper, 

 throw a paper." 



Such an appeal is of course irresistible to every man 

 with a Scotsman in his pocket, and a particle of kindliness 

 in his composition, and the poor Fair Isle boatmen get the 

 benefit of both. Dozens of papers may be thrown over- 

 board, but every one is picked up. The plunge made by 

 the little sharp-pointed boats into the rough waters in the 

 wake of the steamer seems perilous, and resemble! 

 nothing so much as the bobbing up and down of duck! 

 in a very stormy pond ; but the capabilities of the boat! 

 and the skill of the rowers are well known, and have 

 been tried in many a wild sea. 



This little incident causes quite a commotion on board, 

 and those of the passengers to whom it is new are very 

 much interested by it, and receive, I have no doubt, ft 

 livelier impression of the loneliness and isolation of that 

 almost unvisited island than anything else could give 

 them. 



Two or three hours more and we are in Sumburgh 

 roost, and are lucky if we escape a severe tossing. And 

 now with Sumburgh Head in front, and the much grander 

 Fitful Head to the left, we begin to contrast the quiet 

 and comparatively tame beauty of Orkney with the 

 rugged grandeur of Shetland, which for rook scenery is 

 perhaps unsurpassed in Northern Britain. 



A little further on we pass the Island of Mousa, with itf 

 famous Pictish tower, the most complete specimen of 



