322 Ornithological Visit to Shetland and Orkney/, 



you an account of the commencement of my researches 

 through the Islands of Shetland and Orkney, in the summer 

 of 1828, in the ornithological department of zoology ; possibly 

 you may honour it with a place in your pages. 



One of the principal objects that drew me to Shetland was 

 a wish to obtain a specimen of the skua gull (Lestris Catarac- 

 tes), and to have an opportunity of seeing and observing him 

 in his native haunts. Foula, a small and rocky island situated 

 about thirty miles to the westward of Mainland, is the prin- 

 cipal resort of this bird ; and to its high and lofty hills it an- 

 nually arrives for the purpose of incubation. It being then 

 the fishing season, I had some difficulty in obtaining a passage 

 over, as on that depends the Shetlanders' sole existence in the 

 winter. Having, however, through the friendly assistance of 

 Mr. Scot, the proprietor of Foula, at last procured a boat, a 

 fair wind and a few hours brought me to the general landing- 

 place of the island. The accommodations here are miserably 

 bad : two old chairs and a few blankets were the sole apology 

 for a bed ; and, as for food, milk and oat-cake of the coarsest 

 kind can only be obtained, together with a few eggs ; but the 

 ornithologist, with the assistance of his gun, is able to subsist 

 very tolerably upon the wild pigeons and a few snipes. 



Foula is certainly a romantic curiosity, being about three 

 miles in circumference ; a range of lofty hills, presenting their 

 cone-shaped summits, traverse it from south-east to north- 

 west ; and the ascent upon the north-east side is extremely 

 steep, so much so, that, to attain the top, it is necessary to 

 catch hold of the dwarf heather at every step ; on the other 

 side, they gradually slope away to the sea, and, ending ab- 

 ruptly, present the most stupendous and awful precipices. 

 The natives are kind and hospitable, ever willing to lend you 

 all the assistance possible, to guide you through the cliffs, 

 scale the rocks, and brave the most perilous dangers, with a 

 careless indifference ; for, nursed from infancy amid the roar 

 of winds and waves, and the boiling lash of the foaming surge, 

 they traverse, with perfect ease, the most towering and splin- 

 ter-shaped pinnacles of rock, in quest of wild fowl for sub- 

 sistence. - 



The skua gull, called by the natives Buncie, is held and 

 cherished by them with the greatest veneration and kindness ; 

 and nothing hurts their feelings more than to see the death of 

 their favourite bird. I was particularly requested, upon my 

 first arrival, by two or three elderly natives, to spare this bird ; 

 as to the skua were almost entirely trusted the care and pro- 

 tection of their lambs, during the summer months, that are 

 always allowed to wander unrestrained over the island. These 



