244 THE WILDS OF SUTHERLAND. 



grand," said the weather-beaten coastman, " but 

 we daurna ventur in this easterly swell." 



The cold dull " haar " seemed fairly set in, as 

 there was no change in the night, so we drove 

 down a distance of twenty miles to Scourie, where 

 the island of Handa, with its beetling cliffs, at- 

 tracts the same description of sea-fowl as the rocks 

 below Durness. 



Although the swell on the outward and exposed 

 rocks of Handa would prevent our skirting them 

 unless the wind changed, still the old fisherman, 

 Macleod, assured us that the sheltered creek 

 and bays between Handa and the mainland often 

 attracted curious sea-birds. The old man was 

 familiar with the commoner sorts, had sometimes 

 noticed stormy petrels there, and casually men- 

 tioned what he called " sea-pigeons." We at first 

 thought he meant rock-doves ; but the bird he 

 meant had red feet, a red bill, and dived. Its 

 colour also was black, with a white patch on the 

 wing. The black guillemot, thought I; but then 

 the red bill. " Are you sure of the colour of this 

 bill?" He passed his word that it was bright as 

 vermilion. 



