A LOCAL PARLIAMENT. 53 



and said that he wouldn't accept anything from 

 me I was one of themselves. 



To sit 011 a boulder of rock in the strangers' 

 gallery of a parliament, where all its members stand 

 and speak at once in an unknown tongue, is a 

 curious experience, which I have had the pleasure 

 of indulging in. The St. Kildans meet every 

 morning either in front of one of their cottages 

 or on the rocks below the storehouse and discuss 

 how they shall go about the business of the day. 

 One or two of the debates, at which I was present, 

 became so animated and the din so prodigious 

 that I thought the matter must inevitably end in 

 blows and bloodshed; but I was greatly mistaken, 

 for after awhile some satisfactory understanding was 

 arrived at, and they all went forth harmoniously 

 to share the toil and danger of the day. 



The cliffs of St. Kilda and the adjacent Isle 

 of Doon are divided into lots, which change hands 

 each year, so that everybody may in due course 

 stand a chance of getting a fair share of birds 

 and eggs. Those of Borrera, Soa, and the rock 

 stacks are common property ; and whenever they 

 are raided the proceeds are divided amongst the 

 members of the community, in order that the 

 aged, widows, and orphans may receive a fair 

 share. The profits of the boat are also shared 

 by all the members of the Commonwealth. 



In several parts of the village we saw relics of 

 bygone days in the shape of quern stones, in 

 which the corn was formerly ground, and my 

 brother photographed one standing, half full of 

 water, on a low wall in front of a cottage. 



In Martin's time they had but one steel and 

 tinder-box in the whole place, and when the men 

 made a journey to Borrera, or Soa, on wool- 



