Cliflon College Scientific Society. 99 



doz^n of them ; they seem to bear no relation to each other in position. 

 I was told that hnman bones have been found on this island. 



Having done with the central parts of Unst, the coast line of the 

 northern half alone remains to be visited. Leaving Balta to the west 

 and crossing the river that waters a fertile vallej, the dreaiy hill of 

 Vallafield is ascended. As before noticed, this is a ridge of gneiss, 

 covered with peat bogs, which, though very valuable to the inhabitants, 

 have a cold and bleak appearance. 



The western side of this hill is abrupt and precipitous, and in the 

 section looks like an escarpment. At its foot lies the plain of 

 Collaster, which, in spite of its close proximity to the sea, is a beauti- 

 fully-gi-een grass plot. Collaster is rather the name of a place than of a 

 village, but it contains three small cottages, and a veritable Shetland 

 water mill. Of these primitive constructions several remain through- 

 out the island, but a« they are all built alike, the description of one 

 will suffice for all. It consists of a few large loose stones laid on one 

 another, uncemented by mud or mortar, till an oblong hut is formed, 

 on which a roof of tuif is laid, the whole ei-ection being no higher 

 than an ordinary man's shoulder, and about eleven feet long. The 

 door is only four feet high. Part of the floor is smooth, on which the 

 flour is collected. The axb of the wheel is vertical and therefore the 

 stream runs directly under the mill, through a narrow gutter, and in 

 its passage forces round a small paddle, for it can hardly be called a 

 wheel. The lower millstone is fixed, and the upper one connected 

 with the axle. The grain is heaped in a deep square trough, and is 

 let out by an aperture, which hangs over the centre of the millstones ; 

 to keep the grain steadily running, the trough is made to rub against 

 the moving stone, and by this means the corn is shaken out at a 

 constant rate. A means is also provided for grinding coarse or fine 

 meal ; the axle of the millstone rests below the paddle on a horizontal 

 beam, which, by raising or lowering, alters the space between the 

 grinding surfeces. 



A little south of Collaster lies the village of Newgord, overlooking 

 Wick Bay. Here, on a slope facing the sea, are the remains of some 

 ancient buildings, probably of the time when the Scandinavians held 

 the island. They might have been separate huts, but appear rather 

 to have been a square enclosure, divided into small oblong compart- 

 ments. These remains consist of straight lines of large stones, some 

 erect and some prostrate. There are two distinct gi'oups or squares 

 of these ; the fii-st and most northerly contains sixteen stones, and 

 encloses an area of forty-five feet square. In one corner, a large slab 

 of gneiss forms the side of a small square cell, and this stone ajtpears 

 to have been shaped, and stands erect five leet, is six long, and two 

 feet thick. The others that stand at right angles to it are about half 

 its size. The rest of the stones that form this enclosure are prostrate 

 blocks, but some of large size. The second group lies a few feet off, 

 and forms another square of smaller size but more compact. It 

 contains eight stones, the highest being three feet nine inches, and 

 the longest is four feet six inches : these are not shaped. In another 



