St. Kildafrom Without. 107 



the law of Nature. The individual must suffer for 

 the benefit of the species. The white tail of the 

 rabbit is an alegory. Its owner affords a clear shot 

 in the dusk that his brothers may be warned of 

 danger before it is too late. 



Of deer, and of rabbits, it is true, as of men, that 

 " None liveth to himself, and none dieth to him- 

 self." 



It was tantalising after three years' planning 

 to have been brought at last within fifteen miles of 

 the Holy Land of one's longings and then to be 

 turned back. But, happily for most of us, in this 

 world of light and shade, the minor trials of life, 

 at least, commonly bring with them the element 

 of compensation which 



" Gives even affliction a grace, 

 And reconciles man to his lot." 



To return to London without having caught a 

 glimpse of the Peak of Conagher was a disappoint- 

 ment. But, perhaps, on the whole, it was well. 



As one gets on in life the pleasant illusions of 

 youth which survive become fewer, and it is some- 

 thing to have spared even one of them. 



If the wind had slept for another day, or if it had 

 awakened in any other quarter, St. Kilda would 

 probably have been now for us a hilly island, 

 inconveniently situated ; disfigured by unromantic 

 cottages with corrugated iron roofs ; with a population 

 a little spoilt by the visits of excursion steamers ; 

 with birds on the cliffs more plentiful even than 

 we had pictured them, but with very little else to 

 distinguish it from many another island more easily 

 to be got at. 



I 2 



