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part of the same field is a straight line of small blocks, taking a 

 seaward direction. What was the purpose of this building it is hard 

 to say, probably they were dwelling houses and not fortifications. 



Having again come upon Wick Bay and the Moul headland, I 

 turned back northwards, keeping between the precipitous flank of 

 Vallafield and the rugged shore. The coast line all along here is a 

 perpendicular cliff, eaten into many romantic little " voes" or creeks, 

 and wherever a bit of beach is exposed it consists of large water-worn 

 pebbles. Fine sections of curved and straight bedded gneiss are seen, 

 its felspar containing yreen stains of a mineral resembling chryso- 

 colla, but whether this is so I have not perfectly ascertained. Fui-ther 

 north the brown heather again takes the place of the grass. Valla- 

 field here attains the height of 697 feet. Passing the holms or 

 insulated slachs of Woodwick, we reach the inlet of that name. Here 

 there are some abandoned fishing booths, and the garnets before- 

 mentioned are found thickly dispersed throngh the rock, while 

 specimens of rose quartz lie scattered about. The sea has at this 

 spot worked some way up a deep and narrow valley which runs 

 towards Balta. This lonely vale, the refuge of the raven and other 

 birds, is separated from the sea by Hevda Hill ; a small dark coloured 

 stream gurgles through its peaty soil in which the Linnea Borealis 

 grows abundantly. Round masses of gneiss close this valley in to the 

 north. A peculiar air of solitude reigns about this desolate shore — 

 the monotony of the wind and waves, the traces of former inhabitants, 

 and the ruins of the deserted chapel mounted on the brow of a path- 

 less hill, form, alto'jether, a scene for the last man. Further onward, 

 in many parts, desolation prevails, and the appearance of the coast 

 may be generally described as wild and sublime. Woodwick to 

 Hermaness may be traversed without seeing a cottage or meeting a 

 human being. Nature, in her weird garb, alone holds sway, the only 

 signs of man being the brands on the sheep which roam about with 

 the wild Shetland pony. These creatures, known by the name of 

 "Shelties," though hardened by a tempestuous atmosphere, are the 

 forewarners of an approaching storm ; before it reaches them, they 

 are seen slowly to follow one another to some sequestered hillside, and 

 when " they are wet with the showers of the mountains, embrace the 

 rock for want of a shelter." (Job xxiv. 8.) The names given to the 

 points along this coast are merely for the use of the chart. Passing 

 two small mountain lakes Tonga Point is I'eached. The cliff's along 

 here, firmly based in the bed of the Atlantic, defy its stoutest sieges, 

 though now and then yielding to it a mass of rock. Rabbits are 

 found about here. A boundary railing is now passed ; and nearly two 

 miles further on, Hermaness. the most northerly point of Her Majesty's 

 home dominions, is reached. This headland is surrounded by bold 

 rocky cliffs, the haunts of many birds. Among these the eagle is 

 said still to linger, and here that rare bird the " Brunxie," or Skua 

 gull (Cataracies Vulgaris), still builds its inaccessible nest. The only 

 other British locality for this gull is on the lonely isle of Foula, 

 eighteen miles off the west of Shetland, and on Rona Hill on the 



