142 THE GANNET 



thousand young and old [Solan Geese] in their little 

 stone Houses."* 



Secondly, in 1758 there is the testimony of Kenneth 

 Macaulay that 20,000 Gannets, including the young ones, 

 which no doubt formed the bulk of the spoil, were still taken 

 annually by the islanders. As Macaulay is known to have 

 been to St. Kilda he presumably obtained his information 

 first hand, even though it may have been (as was sub- 

 sequently asserted) Macpherson who wrote most of his 

 book for him when he came back.t If we accept Macaulay's 

 figures as an independent testimony, and not as being merely 

 copied from Martin's " Voyage " by his editor Macpherson, 

 they afford tolerable confirmation of what Martin tells us, 

 being only 2,600 short of his figures. 



Thirdly, we have also the statement of the then minister 

 on St. Kilda to Mr. James Wilson, made apparently prior 

 to 1827, that 15,000 Gannets had been captured there in 

 a few weeks, + but that is 7,600 less than Martin's estimate 

 of what were taken in a year. 



At first sight one is inclined to credit Martin's figures, 

 corroborated as they are by Macaulay, and partially by 

 Wilson, but great doubt has been thrown on them by one 

 who is entitled to speak with authority, the Rev. Neil 



* p. 281. t See p. 127. 



+ "Voyage, round the Coast of Scotland," 1842, II., p. 59. 



