82 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



in great glistening beads. The St. Kildan visitors 

 sleep on a raised platform covered with straw. 



The position of the fire-pit, which is considerably 

 below the level of the floor of the house, is very 

 ingeniously contrived so as to admit of a certain 

 amount of light and heat and yet not have the 

 burning fuel unduly interfered with by the wind. 

 The fire is practically outside the house, but the 

 earth is so piled up around that it rises above the 

 aperture in the wall and forms a kind of chimney, 

 thus preventing the smoke in ordinary weather 

 from being blown inside the house. 



There is a somewhat similar structure in St. 

 Kilda known as " The Strong Man's House," on 

 account of the fact that it was built in a single 

 day by the unaided efforts of one man, whose 

 great physical strength is testified to by the huge 

 stones he used in its construction, and whose 

 handiwork is a treasured wonder of all the St. 

 Kildans. 



Whilst exploring the interior of one of these 

 temporary dwellings a young man pulled an old 

 worm-eaten wooden ladle from a hole in the wall, 

 and explained that it was used for dividing porridge 

 amongst those who came to work on the island for 

 a while. The condition of the utensil did not set 

 me longing madly after Borrera porridge. 



As we sat chatting in semi-darkness it suddenly 

 occurred to Finlay McQuien to ask me, through 

 a younger man who could speak English, to tell 

 them something about London. As they are all 

 so good in St. Kilda I knew it was of no use 

 entering the great metropolis in a competition 

 of that kind, so went at once to the opposite 

 extreme and told the most dreadful stories I 

 could remember or invent of pickpockets and 



