YOL. XLIII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 46 



The land is wild, barren, and mountainous ; not so much as a tree or bush to 

 be seen. The shores are difficult, and in many places inaccessible, rude, steep, 

 and iron-like ; the sight of which strikes the mind with dread and horror ; and 

 such monstrous precipices, and hideous rocks, as bring all Brobdingnag before 

 your thoughts. 



In winter the sun sets soon after it rises ; and in Summer it rises again soon 

 after its setting ; so that the nights at that season are nearly as light as the day ; 

 as, on the contrary, the day in December is nearly as dark as the night. About 

 the solstice, we see, almost every night, the aurora borealis ; which spreads a 

 broad glaring appearance over the whole northern hemisphere, and looks some- 

 what terrifying to such as are not used to it. 



There are 30 parish-churches, and about 80 gentlemen's houses, besides the 

 towns of Lerwick and Scalloway : it was first inhabited by the Pights or Picts, 

 who were driven out by the Danes. Christian, king of Denmark and Norway, 

 whose daughter Margaret was given in marriage to king James III. of Scotland, 

 in the year 1468, agreed, that the islands of Orkney and Zetland should remain 

 in the possession of the said king James, until he had paid to him 50,000 Rhenish 

 florins for his daughter's dower ; and Christian afterwards, on the birth of a 

 young prince his grandson, called James, renounced his title to the said island^ 

 in favour of King James ; which has ever since belonged to Scotland. 



The land is mountainous and moorish, abounding with moss and heather ; 

 under which they dig peat or turf for firing : under that is hard rock. Their 

 horses are very small, but strong, and well mettled, which they call shelties. Their 

 oxen, swine, and sheep, of which last they have plenty, and their cattle of all kinds 

 are small. The seas abound with most kinds of useful fish ; and the land is fre- 

 quented by most wild fowls, especially the larger sorts. There are very large 

 eagles, which are called earns, which prey on the young lambs, &c. There is 

 a law in force, that whoever kills one of these eagles, is to have a hen out of 

 every house in the parish wherein it is killed. 



An Occultation of Jupiter by the Moon, observed at London. By Dr. Bevis^ 



N° 473, p. 65. 



1744, June 6'' ll*" IS"" 58^ Immersion of Jupiter's centre. 

 35 14 a Serpentaria culminated. 

 43 15 Emersion of the centre. 

 N.B. The clock was too slow by 1"" 25'. 



On the Easiest Method for calculating the Value of Annuities on Lives, from 

 Tables of Observations. By Mr. Abraham De Moivre, F.R.S. N° 473, p. 65. 

 [This paper may well be supplied by the theorem in p. 86 of the author's 



Treatise on Annuities on Lives, being a demonstration and enlargement of that 



part of his book.] 



