WILD GOATS. 73 



the misty air fell heavy and cold, but we pulled along 

 inshore with hearty good will. The cormorants and 

 gulls swept by us, wondering at the intrusion; the 

 former, with outstretched neck and flapping wings, 

 flying in straight lines, as if with some definite point 

 in view, just as men of business press along Cheapside 

 or Mincing Lane ; the latter on easy graceful wing, 

 sweeping round in circles, as if intent only on amuse- 

 ment, as ladies stroll in the parks. Presently came 

 flying by two oyster-catchers, or, as the men call them, 

 sea-pies, conspicuous in black and white plumage, and 

 with beaks and feet as brilliant as red sealing-wax. 



We passed some fine caverns in the cliffs, and on 

 the points of rock far above were seen two or three of 

 the wild goats, of which there is a flock on the island. 

 It was amusing to observe with what fearless ease and 

 precision of footstep they jumped and scampered 

 about the peaks, delighting to come to the very verge 

 of the precipice, and to run along the ledges not more 

 than a few inches wide, or to stand upon the tottering 

 masses, and gaze down upon the sea. 



When we came opposite the half-way wall, where 

 the granite takes the form of ancient masonry, so 

 that one can scarcely help imagining that the cliffs 

 are crowned with the remains of walls and towers, 

 built by fabled giants of the olden time, we began 

 to find ourselves once more in the midst of a dense 

 population of birds. There were plenty of guillemots, 

 speckling the gray rock with their dusky forms in 

 rows of black dots. Their numbers appeared to ren- 



