10 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



slopes considerably from the door at which the 

 people enter to the end at which the pulpit or 

 rostrum stands. The floor, except just beneath the 

 feet of the worshippers, where there is a loose 

 scaffold board, consists entirely of Mother Earth. 

 The aisle is roughly laid with cement, put down by 

 the minister's own hands. We were told a good 

 story about a supply of cement sent to St. Kilda 

 for this purpose by some generous donor. The 

 citizens of Village Bay are never in a hurry, and 

 after the " bags of dust" arrived at the island, they 

 put them down outside the church to wait. When 

 an inquiring friend turned up the following summer 

 and asked how they had got on with the floor- 

 laying, they told him that the " bags of dust" had 

 by a miracle all turned into lumps of rock before 

 they had had time to use them. 



The service was conducted in Gaelic, and con- 

 sisted of reading the Scriptures, singing the Psalms, 

 prayer, and a very long sermon, all of which I 

 flatter myself I sat under for the space of an hour 

 and a half without lowering an eyelid, although I 

 understood not a single word uttered. The collection 

 was taken in two boxes, affixed to long handles. 

 With these the platemen easily gathered the harvest 

 of coppers as they walked up the aisle, without 

 pushing in front of the congregation or bothering 

 anybody for assistance in getting the boxes up and 

 down the pews. They were primitive, but exceed- 

 ingly sensible kind of boxes. 



As soon as the minister had left, the women 

 all filed silently out of church before a man stirred 

 from his place. I was greatly pleased with this 

 custom, thinking it to be a courteous deference 

 shown to the fair sex of St, Kilda, whose industry 

 and modesty render them entirely worthy of it, 



