332 WITH NATURE AND A GAMEBA. 



islands. Eobert Darling is a nephew of the famous 

 Grace, whose Bible he possesses, and is the only 

 member of the family now connected in any 

 capacity with the Fames. 



We stayed three days and three nights with 

 him last summer in the ruins of St. Cuthbert's 

 Tower, sleeping in hammocks suspended from our 

 climbing ropes, which were stretched across a 

 haunted room. I had the good fortune to be 

 aroused by the tapping of a ghost the first night, 

 and promptly turned out to investigate, but found 

 nothing for my brother's camera and magnesium 

 ribbon except a huge piece of old oak panelling, 

 from which, I had no doubt, the sounds, though 

 surprisingly loud, proceeded through some atmo- 

 spheric change ; so turned in again without dis- 

 turbing him. 



The lighthouse men keep a large number of 

 tame rabbits, which wander all over the little island 

 and interbreed with the wild ones. Whilst creep- 

 ing up to get a nearer view of some bird, I was 

 on several occasions startled by a black, white, or 

 fawn-coloured bunny darting from the shelter of a 

 boulder of rock or tuft of grass close beside me, 

 and scampering away at the top of its speed either 

 to the ruins of St. Cuthbert's Tower or to the 

 Lighthouse itself. The keepers had taught one or 

 two of them to run after pebbles, just like dogs. 



The grass growing upon the Fame Island itself 

 is coarse and poor, and as much of it is never 

 touched by the rabbits, one year's growth has to 

 force its way through the dead and matted mass 

 of another, until the whole feels like walking on a 

 huge fleece of wool. 



The watchers keep a number of cral)-})ots con- 

 stantly in the sea, whilst they are looking after 



