FEBRUARY 43 



which we have had access, or, indeed, with which we 

 have had any intercourse, except by telegram. It 

 happens so seldom that the even tenor of the mail 

 bags and daily papers is interrupted in these islands, 

 that one feels the exponent of a novel series of sensa- 

 tions. Not one of the old people in the village can 

 testify to a severer ' lying storm ' than that which we 

 are now experiencing. Not that it is the actual weight 

 of snowfall that has brought about our isolation ; but 

 for drifting, the average depth would not greatly exceed 

 eight inches. It was the furious wind that did the 

 mischief, piling the snow into wreaths twenty and 

 thirty feet deep. For the last five days, a hundred 

 men have been cutting away at one such drift, about 

 five miles long, on the line between Altnabreac and 

 Forsinard. Every shovelful of snow has to be lifted 

 three times, for the only way to clear the cutting is in 

 a triple tier of stages. Two trains were imbedded there 

 for several days, and when the men reached them 

 yesterday, it was found that the wheels were all frozen 

 hard, and the carriages were as immovable as ever. 

 These surfacemen themselves were in considerable 

 jeopardy, for they were working many miles from any 

 shelter or supplies ; a train of provisions, sent up from 

 Helmsdale, got snowed up in a fresh drift near 

 Kinbrace, and the poor fellows suffered severely from 

 hunger and exhaustion before they could be relieved. 



Meanwhile we, who are not yet on short commons, 

 find our lot not without alleviation. The tempest 

 which brought the snow has passed away, and the 



