Rockall 63 
IV. Rockall. By J. A. Harvir-Browy, F.R.S.E., F.ZS. 
(Read 20th March 1895.) 
Mr T. E. Buckley and myself included in our treatment 
of the Outer Hebrides! an account of this island or oceanic 
rock, taking the opportunity of telling its history so far as 
it was then known to us. 
At that time we overlooked the relation of Surgeon 
Alexander Fisher, R.N.,? and we have gratefully to acknow- 
ledge the kindness of Mr Miller Christy in directing our 
attention to it. Now we desire to supply the omission. 
Surgeon Fisher says:—“ Monday, 24th [of May 1819].— 
We had a distant view to-day of that remarkable insulated 
rock called Rockall. It looked, at the distance we were 
from it (viz., between four and five leagues), exactly 
like a ship under sail: it was reported, indeed, by the 
person who first saw it to be a strange vessel. Its 
resemblance, not only in form, but also its colour, tended 
to make the deception more complete, for it appeared to 
be perfectly white, a hue most probably produced by the 
excrement of birds. Our distance from it, indeed, was too 
great to enable us to speak with certainty on this head; 
but, from the number of birds we saw in its neighbourhood 
and its insular situation, we may fairly conclude that it -is 
well inhabited by the feathered race, for here they are per- 
fectly secure from the attacks of their greatest enemy—man. 
“Tf we estimated our distance from it at all correctly, its 
situation, as determined by His Majesty’s ship ‘ Endymion,’ 
is very accurately laid down—at least inasmuch as it agrees 
with the mean of the results of the sights taken for our 
chronometers.* In the course of the afternoon, when at 
least forty miles from this rock, we found soundings in one 
hundred and fifty fathoms water, so that it may be regarded 
as the summit of a very extensive submarine mountain, 
1 A Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer Hebrides. Edinburgh, 1888. 
* A Journal of a Voyage of Discovery to the Arctic Regions in Her Majesty’s 
Ships ‘‘ Heckla” and ‘‘ Griper” in the Years 1819 and 1820. By A. F. 
Fourth edition. London. Demy 8vo. 1821. 
3 Lat. 57° 39’ 30” N. and long. 13° 30’ W. 
