82 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



in great g-listeiiing- beads. The St. Kildan visitors 

 sleep on a raised })latform covered with straw. 



Tlie position of the fire-pit, which is considerably 

 below tlie level of the floor of the house, is very 

 ingeniously contrived so as to admit of a certain 

 amount of light and heat and yet not have the 

 burning- fuel unduly interfered with by the wind. 

 The fire is practically outside the house, Ijut the 

 earth is so jjiled up around that it rises above the 

 aperture in the wall and forms a kind of chimne}', 

 thus preventing the smoke in ordinary weather 

 from being blown inside tlie house. 



There is a somewhat similar structure in St. 

 Kilda known as " The Strong Man's House," on 

 account of the fact that it was built in a single 

 day by the unaided efforts of one man, whose 

 great pliysical strength is testified to by the huge 

 stones he used in its construction, and whose 

 handiwork is a treasured wonder of all the St. 

 Kildans. 



Whilst exploring the interior of one of these 

 temporary dwellings a young man ])ulled an old 

 worm-eaten wooden ladle from a liok' in the wall, 

 and explained tliat it was used for dividing porridge 

 amongst those who came to work on the island for 

 a while. The conditi(Mi of the utensil did not set 

 me longing madly after Borrera porridge. 



As we sat chatting in semi-darkness it suddeidy 

 occuii'cd to Finlay JMcQuion to ask m(\ through 

 a \()unger man who could speak iMiglish, to tell 

 them something' about i^ondon. As they are all 

 so good in St. Kilda I kn(>\v it was of no use 

 entering the great metro[)()lis in a conijx'tition 

 of tliiit kind, so went at once to the opposite 

 extvcnic and tol<l the most dreadful stories I 

 could i-('iMeinl)('r or invent of pickpockets and 



