CHAPTEE II. 



cliffs of St. Kilda and its adjacent islands 

 are of the most majestic description. The 

 highest hill, Conagher, stands twelve hundred and 

 twenty feet above the level of the sea, and on one 

 side it plunges almost sheer into the ocean below, 

 thus constituting, according to one authority, the 

 highest precipice in the British Isles. I sailed 

 under it twice, and walked or, rather, crawled on 

 all fours along its edge, and can hardly tell 

 which was the more wondrous and awe-inspiring 

 experience. 



Whilst climbing up and down some of the 

 gigantic bulwarks of Hirta I was several times 

 forcibly reminded of fearful nightmares when a 

 boy, and do what I would I could not maintain 

 an upright posture in some of the most fearsome 

 places even when I had a perfectly safe footing. 

 This fact may be laid hold upon by some student 

 of Evolution as an interesting instance of an in- 

 stinctive return to some remote ancestral method 

 of progression. Anyway, I can safely aver that 

 it felt a deal more secure. 



When on the top of the highest cliff it was 

 impossible to hear the surf beating at its foot. 

 Parts of it are never visited by the daring fowlers, 

 for the simple reason that they have no ropes 



