318 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



hole. No sooner had we reached our goal than 

 there was a tremendous fluttering commotion 

 amongst the hip-deep heather clothing the island, 

 and a couple of Wild Geese splashed into the 

 loch and paddled away out to a safe distance. 

 We found three of their young ones about a 

 week old, and after a deal of trouble succeeded 

 in making a photograph of them. 



We saw several pairs of Richardson's Skuas 

 and Red-Throated Divers, and succeeded in finding 

 and photographing a nest and egg belonging 

 to the latter species, but the former defied our 

 best efforts. 



Between four and five o'clock our guide's 

 courage suddenly evaporated as he remembered 

 that there had come to reign over that particular 

 beat a king arrayed in velveteen who knew 

 not Joseph. This was rather awkward, so we sat 

 down to breakfast and a little reflection on the 

 side of a rough turnpike. 



A teetotaler is a real rara avis in those parts, 

 and my brother and I came off rather badly at 

 times in regard to liquids. This may be judged 

 from the fact that one of the serving girls at the 

 hotel did not even know what lemonade was, 

 and there was not a drop in the place. Our 

 " peculiarity " was a lucky thing for our guide, 

 from his point of view, because it made him 

 heir to three shares of " mountain dew" packed 

 away carefully by our thoughtful landlady. 



When we had finished breakfast, I said to the 

 man, "Now, I don't want to get you into any 

 trouble at all, so just sit where you are whilst 

 my brother and I hunt for nests ; and if you see 

 anybody coming, give us a warning whistle, and 

 we'll retreat." He assented, and we proceeded to 



