42 SNOWED UP 



work of his life. Murchison secured it for a hundred 

 pounds, and it may still be seen in the Geological 

 Museum in Jermyn Street. 



Had Robert Dick baked better loaves, his name had 

 borne no significance for this generation; as it is, 

 every foot of the way between Dunnet Head and 

 Morven is enriched with memories of the baker 

 naturalist of Thurso. 



XIX 



Even Avignon is not buffeted more persistently by 

 the winds than Halkirk. If north, south, and west 

 fail to produce a gale, then it blows hard and 

 steady from the east. But when, as happens 

 at times, the fierce cold abates and the biting blasts 

 are lulled, the cloud mantle rolls away, and a truly 

 glorious sun swings overhead. The very bareness of 

 the land, which makes the bitter wind so intolerable, 

 seems to double the amount of sunshine ; the browns 

 of the landscape waken into dull gold, russet, and 

 maroon ; the leaden surface of the pools and winding 

 river change to intense azure, and the distance takes 

 tender tints of violet and pearl. It is then one becomes 

 aware of the splendid quality of the atmosphere, and 

 comes to understand how the hardy men of Caithness, 

 braced and sweetened by actinic virtue, can put in 

 long spells of ferocious weather, enough to knock all 

 courage out of coddled city folk. 



For nine days past (February 1895) the village of 

 Halkirk has been the only part of the universe to 



