244 HISTORY OF THE 



Each boat that goes upon the herring fifhery con- 

 tains four men, whole joint ftock is far too fcanty for 

 the expence of fails, ropes, nets, &c. . When the 



fifhing 



On the weft fide of the rock, , are two remarkable large caves, of 

 a conficlerable height : To thelc a valt multitude of lea cormorants 

 retire every 'evening. Here likewife they lay their eggs and foftt-r 

 their young. The method pra'ctiled by the iflanders for catching 

 ibv Is of this kind, while fecured within inch fairneifes, is far frbm 

 being incurious, though abundantly limple ; nor is the paltime at 

 all dilagreeable. A band of young fellows make a. party, and af- 

 ter having provided themfclves with a quantity of it raw or heath, 

 creep with great caution to the mouth of the cave which affords 

 the game, armed with poles light enough to be eaiily wielded : 

 This done, they let fire to the combuftible fluff, and raiie an uni- 

 verfal (bout ; the cormorants, alarmed by the outcry, frightened 

 by a glare ib ftrange, and offended by the fmoke, quit their beds 

 and neils with the greateft precipitation, and fly directly towards 

 the light: Here the fpcrtimen, if alert enough, will knock dowu 

 a conCderable number of them, and, together with the cormo- 

 rants, whole coveys of pigeons. 



At Haw-Skeer we found incredible numbers of wild-fowl eggs. 

 After Ibme of my people had made a great, though unneceiiary 

 acquifition cf theie (unneceiiary furcly to men dertined for St. 

 Kiida) we began to purfue our intended voyage, at ten o'clock at 

 night. The wind was at fir ft extremely favourable, as it blew from 

 the lb\ith-eail, and was little more than a gentle gale. It began 

 to frefhen at the end of half an hour, and was gathering new 

 "flrengtli every moment : Before we had proceeded above four 

 leagues, the whole face of the Iky was overcall with clouds ; \\ hich, 

 after the levered threatnings, burfted afunder and tumbled down 

 "upon us in violent torrents of rain, accompanied w ith flames of 

 lightning and peals of thunder extremely terrible. All this was 

 'fuccesdcd by a hurricane which would have alarmed the moil in- 

 fenfible, and did greatly confound the ftcniteil: fearr.en among us, 

 men who had imagined they had leen thefe fame mighty waters in aU 

 their horrors. '1 o me it was matter of aftonilhment that a veflel 

 fo fmall and frail, a fix-rnred highland boat, could have ftruggled 

 for any time agr.inft iuch enormous billows, without either being 

 overlet or drilled to pieces. 



The tii ft glirnpie of hope my crew had, was from a great flight 

 of fea-fowls, of the diving kind, which was fcon fucceeded by 

 'another, and after fliort intervals by many more, in itill greater 

 numbers. They concluded, from this circumftance, that the 

 hour of their deliverance was at hand ; but we found that our 

 hopes were too ianguine and premature, [Virgil rankp this circum- 

 iL.nce among inauljpicious prognoflics, and experience has convinced 



