of the Outer Hebrides. 35 



rent is paid principally in wool and feathers. The factor of the 

 island, who lives in Skye, comes every year in June, and remains 

 until August or September, taking away with him all the spare 

 produce of the island ; and as this is the only regular communi- 

 cation with the rest of the world, the people depend on him for 

 everything which they cannot make themselves. The present 

 proprietor, Mr. Macleod, is a very liberal landlord, and the 

 condition of the islanders has improved immensely during the 

 last thirty years, so that they arc now much better housed and 

 fed than most of the Hebridians. 



After visiting a few of the houses, and examining all the ob- 

 jects of interest, I returned to the ' Harpy ' to deposit my birds 

 and eggs, and found most of the older men collected on board 

 begging for tobacco, sugar, and other things, though they did 

 not seem very anxious to give us anything in exchange. 



Some of the man-of-war^s men had been collecting eggs on 

 shore ; and this excited the indignation of the older men, who 

 considered it in the light of stealing their property. After we 

 had pacified them with some small presents of tobacco and 

 sugar, I showed them the pictures in my ' Yarrell,' among 

 others pointing out the Fork-tailed Petrel. This, however, 

 they did not seem to distinguish by any peculiar name from 

 the Stormy Petrel, which is common enough, and is here called 

 " Assilag.^^ The Petrels are too small to be of any use for food, 

 and are probably not much seen by the natives, especially as 

 they only come out at night ; but the pictures of all the other 

 birds which are found here were at once recognized, and the 

 Gaelic names given. The Kittiwake, which is by far the most 

 common of the Larida, is called "Ruideag;^^ the Guillemot, 

 " Lamhaidh " (pronounced " Lavie "), and the PuflSn, "Bougir," 

 are also in countless numbers, and, as food, are esteemed next 

 to the Fulmar and Gannet. The name " Fulmar,'^ which is 

 pronounced here as a word of three syllables, " Ful-a-mair,'' is 

 the only case I know of, besides the Ptarmigan and Capercally, 

 in which our common English name is taken from the Gaelic. 



The Shearwater [Puffinus anglorum), which is here called 

 " Scrapire," is by no means plentiful, and only breeds on Soay, 

 where we were unable to land, owing to the high swell ; but as 



D 2 



