118 I\Ii' Johu Eattrav on the 



land on the shores of the Forth, yet an incipient structure of 

 this type is to be found in the south-west corner of the island. 



Tlie water in the vicinity is of a clear green shade of 

 colour and contrasts very markedly with its muddy character 

 further up the Tirth, the river having purified itself during its 

 subsequent seaward course, partly by the deposition of heavier 

 sedimentary matter, and partly, too, by the oxygenation of 

 many complex decomposable organic compounds into simpler 

 chemical unions. As evidence of the purity of the water, it 

 may be mentioned that on one occasion a white disc, having a 

 diameter of 2 feet, was lowered by a sounding-lead from the 

 bow of the steam-yacht "Medusa," and was gradually sunk to 

 a depth of 9| fathoms before it became invisible. The depth 

 of the water in the immediate vicinity of the island varies 

 from 9 to 20 fathoms. 



The waters round the May have long been regarded as good 

 fishing ground, and although at present the only inhabitants 

 on the island are people connected with the lighthouse, his- 

 torians record that formerly fifteen fishermen's families lived 

 there, and that " the want of these families is a considerable 

 loss to the general interests of the fishery in the Firth, for, 

 placed as sentinels at its entrance, they were enabled to descry 

 and follow every shoal of herrings or other fish that came in 

 from the ocean." Again, the wool and fur of the sheep and 

 the rabbits are said formerly to have been of superfine quality 

 — "the fleeces of the coarsest wooled sheep from the worst 

 pastures in Scotland, when put on the island of May, becoming 

 in course of one season as fine as satin ; " but this is no longer 

 so — on the contrary, the wool and fur of these animals are just 

 like other wool and fur. Ants, too, were in former years very 

 abundant. Some years ago, however, the Commissioners of 

 the Xorthern Lights tried in vain to exterminate them, and 

 at present they are very abundant, although no ant-hills are to 

 be seen. Sea-birds, such as skarts, dunters, gulls, and kittie- 

 wakes, are very common, the egg of the skart, which is green, 

 and dotted over with black spots, being much prized by col- 

 lectors. 



Fresh water for the lighthouse employees is now brought 

 from the village of Crail, on the Fifeshire coast, about 6^ miles 

 distant, no permanent supply being found on the island. 



Meteorological. — Mr Alexander Buchan, of the Scottish 



