CHAPTER II. 



THE IJIKDS AND FOWJ.KHS OF .ST. KILDA. 



nnHE cliffs of St. Kilda and its adjacent islands 

 -*- are of tlie most majestic description. The 

 liig'liest hill, Conagher, stands twelve hundred and 

 twenty feet aljove the level of the sea, and on one 

 side it plmiges almost sheer into the ocean below, 

 thus constituting-, accordini>' to t)ne authority, the 

 highest precipice in the British Isles. I sailed 

 under it twice, and walked — or, rather, crawled on 

 all fours — along its edge, and can hardly tell 

 which was the more wondrous and awe-inspiring- 

 experience. 



Whilst climbing up and down some of the 

 gigantic bulwarks of liirta J was several times 

 forcibly reminded of fearful nightmares when a 

 boy, and do what 1 would I could not nuiintain 

 an upright posture in some of the most fearsome 

 jjlaces even when I had a })erfectly safe footing. 

 Tliis fact may be laid liold u])on l)v some student 

 of Evolution as nii interesting instance of an in- 

 stinctive return to sonu: remote ancestral nu'thod 

 of progression. Anywa\-, I can safely aver that 

 it felt a deal moi-e sccui'c. 



^^'ll('ll on tlic top of the highest cliff it was 

 impossible 1o hcai' llic siii-i' beating at its foot. 

 Parts of it ai-c iicnci- xisilcd b\' llic dai-ing fowlers, 

 for the simple reason that thc\ have no ropes 



