10 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
be of considerable height. We continued to approach 
it until four o’clock in the afternoon, at which time 
it fell calm, the island at that time bearing north- 
east. of us, and distant about five leagues. In order 
to profit as much as possible by the delay caused by 
the weather, the ship’s company turned to, to catch 
fish, at which they were pretty successful, for a con- 
siderable number of cod and coal-fish were taken in 
course of the afternoon. 
On the back and sides of the cod, at least such of 
them as I examined, I observed several small insects 
of two different species, one of the shape of a tad- 
pole with a forked tail, and the other not unlike a 
small shrimp. During the day, we saw several solan 
geese (Anas Bassanus, Lin.), Mallemuckes or Fulmar 
Peterel (Procellaria Glacialis, Lin.), and a bird some- 
what resembling a Rail, which kept at such a dis- 
tance that we were not able to make out with any 
certainty what species it was. 
Thursday, 20th.—Our progress was retarded again 
to-day by calm weather, which continued until six 
o’clock in the afternoon, when we were again favoured 
with a fine breeze from the north-east (comp.), which 
enabled us, in the course of the evening, to get round 
the north end of the Orkneys, some of which were 
in sight the whole day. We had a very disiinct view 
of two or three of them, particularly Ronaldsha, and 
Sandi, on the latter of which there is a light-house. 
The appearance of these islands was well calculated 
to prepare our minds to view the regions we are 
about to visit, with some degree of tolerance ; for if, 
instead of comparing them to the fertile banks of the 
Thames, we compare them to these bleak islands, 
