206 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1912. 
clan. Two hundred yards from the larger is the smaller island, known 
as Hilean na Clach—the stony island. This only measures 30 feet by 
20 feet, but is clearly artificial, and has always been recognised as 
such. I do not, however, remember seeing any record of its being 
constructed of wood, as we proved it to be on the occasion of my last 
visit. Wherever the iron head of the boat-hook was thrust into the 
foundation, the heavy thud of wood could be heard and even felt, whilst 
in places the wood was so decayed as to come up in small fragments at 
the point of the boat-hook, though we did not succeed in dislodging a 
whole beam. 
Of the two islands in Loch Garry, one shows no traces of wood; 
indeed the natural rock appears amongst the accumulation of stones, so 
that wooden support would have been unnecessary. ’ This island has 
the usual causeway leading to the shore, which, however, is difficult 
to trace in consequence of the loch having risen two or three feet owing 
to the accidental obstruction of the outlet though the falling of several 
large masses of rock. The other island shows wood on all sides; at 
one point four beams can be seen concentrically converging from the 
centre of the island. 
Three miles east of the Loch Garry islands is that on Loch Lundi, 
which bears a close resemblance to the first-mentioned of them, and is 
very unlike the two natural islands in its immediate neighbourhood. 
Perhaps these were too near the shore, or the water between them 
and the shore was too shallow to afford the protection desired. Three 
miles south of Loch Lundi occur the two islands in Loch Oich. 
The last of the islands visited in 1909 was Keppoch’s island in 
Loch Treig, where woodwork can be detected almost at every point. 
This island, like many of the others described in this paper, was used 
as a rendezvous in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but as 
there is no record of its having been constructed at so recent a period, 
it may be safely considered as belonging to the same date as the 
generality of these islands. This is all the more probable when we 
remember how long traditions—such as that of the building of a fort, 
the committal of a murder, or other deed of blood—survive amongst 
the Gaelic-speaking population of these districts. 
The only island investigated by me in 1910 was the one in Loch 
nan Kala, near Arisaig. This proved to be one of that class which are 
composed almost entirely of wood. Some years ago Mr. Astley, the 
proprietor, cut a mill-race from the loch to the sea, and the mill having 
fallen into disuse, the water of the loch was free to flow off to the sea, 
thus lowering the level of the loch fully three feet. The island now 
stands in pasture land of somewhat boggy nature, and is only to be 
visited in fairly dry seasons. At our investigation there were present 
Mr. Nicholson, the present proprietor, and his sister, Dr. Campbell, of 
Arisaig, and Mr. Kerr, the factor. All were greatly pleased to have 
such a good view of the island, which consists of long beams laid 
alongside each other and several layers deep. Under the larger timber 
we found birch, which appeared to be a foot or more in depth. It was 
interesting to note that the birchwood had the bark still on and looked 
