NORTH RONA. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 205 



Sulisker (or Barra) appears to be about half a mile 

 in diameter, having* a grassy slope towards the north, and 

 presenting to the south a bluff face of 300 feet or more in 

 height. It is inhabited only by sea birds, and principally 

 by gannets, the exposed situation and the difficulty of 

 landing, rendering it inexpedient to keep sheep on it, 

 as is clone, with no great profit indeed, in the Flannan 

 isles. During one week in the breeding season it is 

 visited for the sake of the feathers, by the tenant of 

 both the islands, who resides in Lewis. 



The sea running high, I found it impossible to land, 

 but approached sufficiently near to discern without dif- 

 ficulty that it was composed of gneiss traversed by veins 

 of grey and of reddish granite. Whatever else it may 

 contain must remain to reward the labour of any future 

 mineralogist who may meet with better weather than that 

 which fell to my lot. 



Rona is accessible in one spot only, and even that 

 with difficulty, from the long swell which is rarely alto- 

 gether absent in this sea. The landing place is only 

 the face of an irregular cliff, and it is necessary to be 

 watchful for the moment to jump out on the first ledge 

 of rock to which the boat is lifted by the wave. The 

 removal of the sheep is a perilous operation, the animal 

 being slung by the legs round the neck of a man and thus 

 carried down the face of a rock where a false step exposes 

 him to the risk of being either strangled or drowned. To 

 find inhabitants on such an island is a strong proof, 

 among many others, of the value of land in this country 

 compared to that of labour. There are few parts of 

 Britain where Rona would not be abandoned to the sea 

 fowls that seem its proper tenants. 



The length of this island was estimated at a mile and 



I may add that there are some outstanding rocks not laid down in any 

 chart, and, among others, one to the N. W. of Barra at about a mile 

 distance. 



