COUNTIES OF EOSS AND CRO.MARTY. 165 



have abandoned this ancient practice, but still a large number 

 adhere to it. The whole of the older houses on these crofts, as 

 already stated, are minus chimneys, and otherwise they are of a 

 most primitive description. They are long', low, and round in 

 the roof, and in general outward appearance they closely resemble 

 a magnified potato pit. The walls are mostly constructed of 

 turf, and are in some cases 3 or 4 feet thick. The roof generally 

 starts from the inner edge, of the wall instead of projecting 

 beyond it ; and " in this way (says a writer in the Scottish 

 Farmer) I have seen something like a series of terraces extend- 

 ing over half a town or township. One use of them was that 

 when the children became troublesome, or the mother was more 

 than usually busy, the children were disposed of on these 

 terraces or high places ; and it was quite amusing to see the 

 little lohitterets looking down over the wall at what was going 

 on below." The interior of the house is quite as primitive as 

 the exterior. In most cases the people and cattle are all stowed 

 away under one roof, the end at which the only door in the 

 building opens being partitioned off by a box-bed and a press, 

 or a few loose boards for the cattle. The cattle end is about a 

 foot lower than the other end, and in this way they are enabled 

 to leave the whole winter's dung beneath the feet of the cattle, 

 until it is required on the land in spring. Does not this exhibit 

 an instinctive knowledge of chemistry which it would be well 

 for many of our larger farmers to study ? In many parts of the 

 country the farm-yard manure is thrown out from the byres from 

 day to day and allowed to collect in a consolidated heap, by 

 which the very richest properties of the dung are almost entirely 

 lost. Contrast this with the care bestowed by the Lewis fisher- 

 man-crofter on the preservation of his cows' manure ! The fur- 

 niture is usually very ancient and of rustic appearance, while the 

 sleeping accommodation is limited in the extreme. In 

 consequence of the want of a chimney a dense moving cloud of 

 smoke is continually hanging over the people's heads, and when 

 a stranger enters he is invariably invited to " sit doon oot o' the 

 reek ;" if the visitor happens to be a native the gentle command 

 of course is given in the native tongue, Gaelic, which is spoken 

 exclusively among the inhabitants themselves. <hily a very few 

 of the crofters keep horses, and their arable land is cultivated 

 almost entirely by the spade, or in some cases by a " Cas- 

 Chrom," a crooked stick shod with iron, which it may be 

 mentioned was the only plough in use at one time, over almost 

 the whole north of Scothmd. AVith a few excci)tions the cattle 

 kept by the Lewis crofters are of the Highland breed, while the 

 sheep are a nondescript class. ]>oth are of inferior (|uality, 

 though a considerable improvement has taken place within the 

 past ten or fifteen years. The shieling system is still extant in 



