714 APPENDIX. 



But, whether they were led to this practice by oriental tradi- 

 tion or spontaneous ingenuity, it is a very remarkable circum- 

 stance in the history of as remarkable and heroic a race as ever 

 existed. 



" Then — to return to the Piebald Raven — May it not have 

 been a peculiar variety of Raven, and not the common, which 

 was thus made use of? and this might have been the Piebald. 

 This hypothesis might plausibly account for his frequent occur- 

 rence in Foero or Iceland, and his absence here. In Shetland 

 he would naturally at first be less frequent, for, as it lies com- 

 paratively near Norway, and from thence is easy to be found, 

 little necessity would after its first discovery have existed for 

 letting loose such feathered pilots. Moreover, Shetland has 

 been longer and more numerously peopled, it is nearer other 

 countries, and Piebald Ravens would attract more attention, 

 would be more easily captured, or more apt to wander. Al- 

 most every voyage to Iceland or Foero on the other hand, in 

 these early and rude, though daring, periods of navigation, 

 would seem to have required such advanced guards. 



" Another inquiry is this : — We read in many of the Sagas 

 of Ravens as inseparable companions, as unquestionably they 

 were appropriate emblems, of the devastating progress of the 

 Sea Kings. The Raven was the sacred standard of the great 

 Odin. Whence were the supplies of these birds derived ? As 

 they seem to have been at certain periods essential to the North- 

 men in their piratical or exploratory voyages, and many would 

 of course be necessary, they must have trusted to other sources 

 of supply than the precarious and scanty ones of the nests of 

 the wild birds, which at best, from the constant habits of the 

 species, are, even when found, of all others the least accessible. 

 The probability is that they were kept by them in a semi- 

 domestic state, as w^e observe Storks, Carrier Pigeons, Eider 

 Ducks, &c., in certain instances ; and if they were so for many 

 generations, this may seem to account for the sporting of colour, 

 for the habits and other specific characters of the Black and the 

 Piebald appear alike. One of the latter I kept tame for seve- 

 ral months, but could detect no peculiarity. If they are origi- 

 nally the same, the great permanence of the Piebald variety 



