CHAP. xi. QUARRYMEN AND ENGLISH GOLD. 139 



" When I had tied up my bundle I went to the upper 

 end of the quarry a good gunshot off where four or 

 five men were at work. Accosting them, I said, 'Is 

 there any sign of fish with ye ? ' '0 no, boy,' they said, 

 ye're on the wrong scent. But what wad ye gie for a 

 score o' them ? ' 'I don't know,' said I, ' what wad ye 

 seek ?' 'I got five shillings for one' said a buck-toothed 

 man with a long nose. 'Ay,' said I, 'the siller has 

 been plenty.' ' Yes,' said another ; ' he was an English- 

 man ! ' ' Oho,' said I, ' that's the stuff ! Nothing like 

 English gold ! ' Yes,' said he ; ' away wi' yer scabbit 

 Thurso folk ! ' 



" ' But,' said I, growing saucy in my turn, ' they're 

 lying in hundreds at Weydale in hundreds at Hoi- 

 born Head in hundreds at Brims in hundreds at 

 Thurso East!' 'Ay,' said they, with a girn TKESH 

 HEKKING!' 'Not so fast,' said I. 'What then?' 

 ' Fossil bones.' ' Not so good as this ?' said they. 'Yes, 

 far better,' and then I came away. 



"Dirty, greedy vagabonds. I knew them perfectly 

 well. To get a price for a few old bones, they have 

 thrown rubbish on the face of the strata. I had, how- 

 ever, got as many fossil fish as I wanted, no thanks to 

 them. 



" I said I had beat you no harm ! Did you meet 

 with any trace of Coccosteus at Banniskirk ? or did you 

 meet with any trace of a Holoptychius ? I found both. 

 I think, if you had met with any sign of either, you 

 would have mentioned it. The head of the Holoptychius 

 that I found, was about three and a half inches wide ; a 



