FATE ISLE AND FOUL A. 211 



by boat, we pass round the south end of Bressay, where 

 there is some grand rock scenery, in some places quite 

 precipitous, and rising to a height of 300 or 400 feet. 

 The action of the sea on some softer parts of the rock has 

 cut out several large arches, through which I have passed 

 in a boat without lowering sail. One immediately under 

 the lighthouse is like a handsome bridge with an almost 

 symmetrical arch. Another, called the giant's leg, also 

 affords passage for a boat. The leg rises up from the sea 

 like a flying buttress, as if to prop up the huge rock 

 against which it leans, which certainly seems to need no 

 such propping. And now we are in sight of Noss, though 

 as yet we see only the landward grassy side of the peak. 



After a tack or two we get round the end of the 

 island, and a view that for rugged grandeur can hardly be 

 surpassed is presented to us. Close to the island lies the 

 Holm of Noss, a huge solid rock cut off from the island 

 by a chasm or passage which seems, in comparison with 

 the height, a mere fissure, but which affords a good 

 wide berth for a boat. The Holm is quite inaccessible, 

 except by the apparently perilous but experimentally 

 safe enough passage by what is known as the " cradle." 



The chasm is about 100 feet wide and under 

 200 deep. Across it, the cradle, a box large enough to 

 contain a man and a sheep, is slung by rings on two 

 parallel ropes, which are fastened to stakes on either side 

 of the chasm. 



This is the only mode of communication with the Holm, 

 and it seems a dangerous one, a fall being certain death; 



