Clifton College Scientific Society, 101 



Mainland. The Icelandic owl (SIrix nijctea) has also been recorded 

 here. The rocks of gneiss lying north of Hermaness are steep and 

 naked, and on one called the Muckle Flugga, about a mile olf the 

 coast, the Unst lighthouse is erected. Its rock is ascended by an iron 

 ladder, and the light 235 feet high is visible twenty-one miles off. 

 A temporary lighthouse was here built in 1854, but so heavy a 

 sea washed over it in the following winter as to endanger the 

 building ; so it was resolved to raise the lightroora fifty feet above the 

 rock. The light is a fixed diopLic one, and was completed in 1858. 



Following the western shore of Burra Fiord for about two miles, 

 the residence of the lighthouse keepers is passed. Near here there U 

 a small comfortable cottage, which may be regarded as the most 

 northerly habitation of Great Britain. I'he opposite side of the Fiord 

 is a high cliff of mica slate, displaying curvatures of strata, and it is 

 pierced with many caves, one of which is reported to be large enough to 

 admit a boat to the distance of two hundred feet. A trap dyke strikes 

 along the cliff, passing by the head of the North Lake and its valley 

 of limestone. Saxaford Hill is next reachid ; the view from its 

 summit on a clear day embraces the whole Island of Unst. To the 

 south lie barren hills of serpentine, without a bush to soften their 

 sterility, and here and there the smoke issuing from the roof of some 

 primitive cottage lymg far below, reminds us of human habitations. 

 The fleecy bands of cumuli variegate the azure of the sky, but in winter, 

 how changed is the picture 1 Dark indigo takes the place of the bright 

 cobalt of summer, and the Shetlander, confined to his thatched cottage, 

 welcomes the smouldering peat in absence of the yule log. To the 

 north stretches the dismal expanse of a boundless ocean, and the mind 

 is filled with thoughts of the Boreal regions. A five-hour's sail to 

 the east brings us in sight of Norway, and to the west Yell can be 

 seen in the far-off horizon. 



Saxaford is called after Saxe, a giant once supposed to inhabit the 

 island, and Hermaness point likewise receives its name from his brother 

 Herman. On the summit of the hill there are many loose stones, 

 possibly the remains of an ancient watch tower. On the shore around 

 this hill is the place where the alluvial gold is said to be found, and many 

 water-worn pebbles of f ireign rocks are seen, ^ea birds abound on 

 this shore, among which are the liyre bird ( Procellaria fvjjinus), the 

 Tom Narry i Alca arcHca), and the Kittiwake (Lams rissa). The eggs 

 and feathers of these birds used foi'merly to be collected. Off Skaw 

 Point, further eastward, there is a "roost," or opposition of tides, and 

 about here the Cod and the Seethe, or Coal-fish ( Gadus carbonarus) 

 are taken. A cleft-like depression near Skaw is known as " Saxe's 

 kettle." The open bay of Norwick is next reached. Here there are 

 some cottages and the ruins of a kirk ; the shattered remains of an 

 arch are also to be seen. Crossing Niov Hill, more chapel ruins are 

 passed, and the wide Harolds^^^ck Bay (Harold's Bay) is reached, 

 which, like Skaw and Norwick, offers no harbourage. Their buttoms 

 are rocky, and they are deeper than Balta Sound. Haroldswick 

 contains several cottages, some of the most primitive style, the fire 



