38 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



years of age— and "gave suck to their children 

 for two years." 



My l)rother photographed the ancient Lover's 

 Stone, but, unfortunately, a tantalising accident has 

 robbed us of the chance of using the picture in the 

 present work. 



I was telling my friend Captain McCallum, of 

 Glasgow, about hearing the sea make a noise in 

 the caves of St. Kilda one night, like the booming 

 of distant cannon, when he laughed and told me 

 that it reminded him of a great scare the people 

 had some years ago. A woman woke up suddenly 

 one night convinced that she could hear the big 

 ffuns of the dreaded Sassenach or Saxon, of whom 

 they formerly — and, no doubt, with good reason — 

 stood in great awe. She at once aroused everybody 

 in the village, and they all fled to the rocks, where 

 they remained until daylight convinced them that 

 they had had their slumbers broken by a false 

 alarm. An enemy wishing to land on the island 

 would, I am persuaded, have to go about his busi- 

 ness very stealthily. Sandy Campljell, the abhorred 

 piper, told me that he had visited the place seven- 

 teen years in succession as factor's gillie, and landed 

 at all hours of the night, but never once got in- 

 side Village Bay without being seen by someone 

 ashore. The dogs, many of which seem to be 

 always left prowling about outside the houses at 

 night, give the alarm, as I discovered when wan- 

 dering about in the small hours of the morning 

 studying bird-life and habits. 



I could not g(;t aii\' trustworthy information as 

 to the nundjer of sheep and cattle owned by the 

 members of the little island connnonwealth, as it 

 was, or was fancied to be, in their interest to con- 

 ceal the exact figures from llie factor. I sliould 



