12 THE NORTH ISLES. 



There is a number of ruins, chiefly on the nesses or headlands 

 of the coast, which are supposed to be the remains of Scandinavian 

 buildings, such as broughs or forts, round towers, and tumuli, 

 many of which have never been examined. 



There are no trees or bushes here except in gardens, and these 

 grow only as high as they have shelter, owing to the sea-spray, 

 which, in a storm, either injures them or kills them altogether. 



For the foregoing account we are largely indebted to Mr. Harvey 

 of Lopness, who has also very kindly furnished us with an account 

 of the fauna of the island, of which he has a very good knowledge. 



To Mr. Harvey's account we may add, that in the New Statistical 

 Account, published in 1842, it is said that "for at least thirty or 

 forty years back every farmer who had the opportunity was 

 inclined to take in the waste land in the parish of Lady (the eastern 

 portion of the island). Before that time it was considered imprac- 

 ticable, but now it seems as if in a few years' time there will be no 

 waste land in the parish." 



One of the things that struck us most as we passed along the east 

 coast of Sanday was the dazzling whiteness of the sand, which was 

 quite different from many parts of the east coast of Scotland which 

 we have visited, and where the sand is much browner. We anchored 

 the yacht in Otterswick, which is well sheltered from nearly every 

 wind that blows ; in the bay we saw what we took to be a Black- 

 throated Diver, a rare bird in these islands. We walked through 

 all the north-east end of the island, the road running behind the 

 sand-hills, which here fringe the sea-coast. The Start Lighthouse 

 is situated on a peninsula, which is joined to the island by a slightly 

 raised gravelly beach. On interviewing the lighthouse-keeper, and 

 asking him if he received the Migration Schedules, he said he did, 

 but so few birds struck the light they were not worth recording. 

 He complained, however, of the number of Starlings, which made 

 a filthy mess of his lights. He put down the paucity of bird-life 

 there to the fact that the light is fixed red. He told us that many 

 Sandgrouse had been about, but that all had left ; however, we sub- 

 sequently saw some ourselves there, flying south-east. 



With the exception of some shallow lochs, some of which were 



