Mr. Atkinson's Notice of St. Kilda. 225 



sent to the eye an unbroken precipice of nearly 1400 feet in height. 

 If it be remembered that Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh, standing on 

 an uneven surface, and presenting no precipitous boldness of outline, 

 is far from being an insignificant object, yet is only about 800 feet in ele- 

 vation ; let it be conceived, how imposing a mass must be presented by 

 an island in the open sea, rising almost perpendicularly in gigantic gran- 

 deur to a height so much greater, with no other speck of earth to rest 

 the eye on, or interfere with the vastness and independence of these 

 tremendous rocks. Nothing can be more interesting, or more instruc- 

 tive and ennobling, to the mind of man, than the contemplation of the 

 works of his Maker, which are daily before us, but when scenes of such 

 immensity and grandeur present themselves, that even imagination has 

 not pictured them, the soul must indeed be unsubdued which does not 

 bow with admiration and awe. It would be difficult to explain the feel- 

 ing that predominates in the mind in the contemplation of such a scene, 

 but one of conscious insignificance and littleness must arise, when human 

 beings are suspended and crawling among these cliffs, and our faculties 

 are scarcely able to distinguish their diminished forms in the chaos of 

 rocks which surrounds them. 



Whatever I might say on the subject, however, cannot convey an ade- 

 quate idea of the rocks of St. Kilda ; but if in laying before the Natural 

 History Society so imperfect a description of this most unknown part 

 of the British dominions, I am the means of inducing others to visit 

 these islands, with a portion of the satisfaction I experienced in doing 

 so, it will be matter of sincere pleasure to me, and tend to convince me 

 that even this brief notice has not been in vain. 



