154 JOTTINGS ABOUT BIRDS. 



in silence ; here and there a benighted Guillemot 

 or a Razorbill was passed, and one or two solitary 

 Fulmars floated Owl-like round the mast-head and 

 then vanished in the twilight. 



As we slowly approached Borreay the island 

 became more and more distinctly outlined against 

 the western sky, whilst beyond again, looming like 

 a huge black shapeless cloud, St. Kilda proper rose 

 weird-like from the sea. We eventually passed the 

 large inaccessible rock called Levenish, which stands 

 sentinel-like at the mouth of East or Village Bay, 

 and finally came to anchor, as it seemed, right 

 under the frow^ning hills at half-past one a.m. on 

 Thursday. Although almost entirely land-locked, 

 the Bay was full of heavy sea, and the night was 

 passed in a weary watch for dawn, our little craft 

 dancing about like an egg-shell in a mill-race, and 

 our ears deafened by the booming of the breakers 

 beating against the rock-bound shore. The natives 

 were in no hurry to convey us ashore, and not until 

 eight o'clock in the morning did they make any 

 attempt to do so. Landing in the smack's boat 

 was out of the question in such a sea, and can 

 rarely be accomplished at all without assistance 

 from shore, owing to the heavy and continuous 

 swell. A large boat manned by half-a-dozen 



