106 THE OCEAN. 



Atlantic, clashing against them for ages with, un- 

 broken fury, had undermined their solid foundations, 

 and worn for themselves numerous passages, leaving 

 only columnar rocks of vast height, detatched from 

 one another, though of similar formation and con- 

 struction. Such a rock is the Holm of Noss, appa- 

 rently severed from the Isle of Noss, from which it 

 is about a hundred feet distant; but the cliffs are 

 of stupendous height, and far below, in the narrow 

 gorge, the raging sea boils and foams, so that the 

 beholder can scared v look downward without horror. 

 But stern necessity impels men to enterprises, from 

 which the boldest would otherwise shrink : to obtain 

 a scanty supply of coarse food for himself and family, 

 the hardy inhabitant of the Orkneys dares even the 

 terrors of the Holm of Noss. In a small boat, with 

 a companion or two, he seeks the base of the cliff; 

 and leaving them below, he fearlessly climbs the pre- 

 cipice, and gains the summit. A thin stratum of 

 earth is found on the top, into which he drives some 

 strong stakes ; and having descended and performed 

 the same operation on the opposite cliff, he stretches 

 a rope from one to the other, and tightly fastens it. 

 On this rope a sort of basket, called a cradle, is 

 made to traverse, and the adventurous islander now 

 commits himself to the frail car, and suspended 

 between sea and sky, hauls himself backward and 

 forward by means of a line. And do you ask what 

 prize can tempt man to incur such fearful hazard, 

 lavish of his life ? It is the eggs and 3 r oung of a sea- 

 bird, the fishy taste and oily smell of whose flesh 

 would present little gratification to any whose senses 



