THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



305 



into the cove, two or three tiny boats, with some men 

 patiently fishing with line and rod." 



Oa the west side of Mainland, some ten 

 miles from Lerwick, lies a group of islands. 

 The east and Avest isles of Burra, and the isles of 

 Hevarn and Papa ; these form unitedly the parish 

 of Burra. The east isle of Burra is some five miles 

 long, the west isle six ; their breadth forms half-a- 

 mile to a mile. The two islands are at one point in such 

 close proximity that they are joined by a rude bridge. 

 The coasts of both isles are rocky. Pasture-ground 

 constitutes the chief part of the isles. Ilevarn isle re- 

 sembles a high rock, access being obtained to the houses 

 perched on the face of the precipice by a romantic creek. 

 (Jliff Sound, which sejiarates the islands from the inain 

 land, is of difficult navigation in stormy weather ; it is 

 half-a-mile broad. 



West from Burra, some 23 or 25 miles, lies the island 

 of Foula, forming, with the islands of Papa-Stour and 

 Vaila, part of the parish of Walls. Foula possesses the 

 highest hill in Shetland— Proness Hill— the height of 

 which is 1,47G feet, and the wildest and grandest sea- 

 cliffs, one of which towers above the waters some 1,200 

 feet — nearly threa times the height of St. Paul's— and 

 many are several hundred feet high ; all are covered 

 with sea-fowl. Foula Island is about three miles in 

 length, and one-and-a-halt in breadth; Papa-Stour, two 

 miles long and one broad, Vaila is a small but valu- 

 able island. 



The north isles are three in number — Yell, Unst, 

 and Fedar. Yell is an oblong island, the soil of 

 which, throughout nearly, is composed of moss. 

 Although situated in a high latitude— 61° N.— the air 

 in winter is remarkably mild, snow rapidly melting. 

 A note taken at the Island of Yell the day before Christ- 

 mas-day, 1832, is corroborative of this : " The turnips are 

 this day as green as they were at Michaelmas. The rye- 

 grass among here stubble measures from 8 to 10 inches 

 of green blade, and among the year-old ryegrass the 

 daisy is everywhere seen in bloom." The east side of 

 Yell being in many places low, with a sandy beach, 

 affords easy access to boats in ordinary weather. The 

 south side affords two good harbours. The north and 

 north-east sides abound in scenery wild and bleak. The 

 diminutive sheep of Shetland are reared in great numbers 

 in Yell, and are famed for the fine wool they yield. 



The island of Unst lies in north latitude 60° 45', west 

 longitude 50°. The length is 12 miles, its mean 

 breadth 3, Blumel Sound, a rapid tideway one mile in 

 breadth, separates it from the island of Yell. Although 

 the most northerly island in Shetland, it is the most 

 densely populated, and possesses a surface of country 

 less rugged and wild in its general aspect — so much so 

 that it may be traversed on pony back from one end to 

 the other without being stopped by any difficult obstruc- 

 tion. It has been called the Bath or Brighton of Shet- 

 land. The surface is diversified by hills of moderate 

 height ; that of Valleyfield — 700 feet high — runs along 

 the west coast, and forms a barrier " against the fierce 

 assaults of the Atlantic, which, notwithstanding, dashes 

 its huge billows against it with such force during a 

 north-west gale, that foam and spray are thrown over it 

 into the valley on its eastern side, and strongly impreg- 

 nate with salt every green herb. This hill terminates 

 in a long projecting headland, called Hermanness (from 

 a hero who is said to have landed in days of old on these 

 shores), the most northern part of the island and of her 

 Majesty's dominions." To the eastern coast a con- 

 spicuous landmark is afTorded by the hill named Saxa, 

 about 933 feet in height, and which rises abruptly from 

 the sea. On the north-east base of this hill — the face 

 of which is whitened with innumerable sea-fowl — 

 there is a magnificent natural arch, in some places 



100 feet high, 300 feet in length, and having a breadth 

 and depth of water flowing under it sufficient to admit 

 of a boat's passage when the weather is propitious. The 

 colours of the rocks forming the roof and sides arc stated 

 to be particularly fine. The north part of the island 

 abounds in rocky scenery of the wildest and grandest 

 description: " Nature in' her wildest moods here reigns 

 in the glory of unbroken solitude — so far at least as man 

 with his turmoil is concerned; and it is in such a scene 

 that a devout mind perhaps best loves to hold commu- 

 nion with his Creator, surrounded only by His work- 

 manship." Here lies the most northerly point in the 

 British Isles ; it is an insulated rock, called the Utsta 

 0/ Oatstack, resembling in outline a gigantic horse, and 

 right over which the wild waves of the Atlantic not un- 

 frequeutly pass. 



The island of Fedar, the only one of the north isles 

 which a notice is yet to be given, is eastward of Yell, 

 from which it is separated by Colgrave Sound. The 

 island is 7 miles in length, and 4 miles in breadth. The 

 coast is much indented with bays or vocs, as they are 

 termed, in the vernacular form, whence is derived the 

 old title of Scandinavian heroes, vikings voc, or bay 

 kings. There is a grand natural arch at the eastern 

 extremity of the island, which extends under a piece of 

 pastuie land. In heavy weather the sea roars and surges 

 through this opening; and even in the finest weather 

 it presents difficulties of passage, which have, we believe, 

 prevented all attempts at forcing it. 



Having given a full an account as our limits will ad- 

 mit of, of the principal islands, and of the variety of 

 Shetland sea-scenery, we no^ proceed to glance at the 

 peculiarities of soil, climate, and of Shetland agricul- 

 ture. 



The prevailing aspect of the interior land is bleak and 

 gloomy ; it is, however, undulatory and varied in cha- 

 racter, hill and dale being pleasingly interspersed. 

 Patches of green pasture, in which a few sheep may be 

 seen picking up a livelihood, the precarious nature of 

 which is evidenced in their miserably attenuated condition; 

 clumps of heather, huge boulders, and wide expanses of 

 black moss alone give variety to the landscape. For the 

 hills, and dales, unlike those of other climes, lack the 

 grace which the charm of trees throws over them. The 

 entire absence of all trees is, indeed, that which more 

 peculiarly strikes the stranger in his first arrival on the 

 islands. With the exception of a few trees grown up un- 

 der the shelter of walls in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 one or two of the houses of the gentry, our eye, during 

 our many wanderings, rested on the foliage of no tree 

 casting its grateful shadow on the grass beneath. Yet 

 it seems pretty well established that trees must have 

 grown to a considerable extent in the island, in former 

 days ; and it appears reasonable to conclude that in the 

 absence of any peculiarity in the soil or climate, which 

 absolutely precludes their growth, that a little trouble 

 expended in rearing timber would be rewarded with suc- 

 cess. Norway, in a higher latitude, abounds in trees, 

 and it is a suggestive fact, that the cones of the silver fir, 

 common in Norway, not indigenous to Scotland, have 

 beefl found in the moors of Orkney. In the absence of 

 all thorough trials, there is as much reason to believe that, 

 under good management, trees suited to the climate and 

 soil will grow, as that they will not. 



The soil of Shetland generally may be classed as 

 mossy ; it is easily worked ; the implement used being 

 a very rudely-shaped spade, of which more hereafter. 

 Along the shores of the bays, and in the numerous vales, 

 alluvial soils of good quality, and capable under good 

 management of yielding favourable results, is met with 

 in considerable quantity. 



Laud is not let by the acre, bat by a conventional 

 measurement, varying in extent in different localitiesi 



