I40 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



Having hired a boat and crew, we started from Cromarty 

 at the first of the ebb on a bright calm day, with the little wind 

 that there was coming from the west. If the slightest east 

 wind comes on, the roll of the sea from the German Ocean is 

 so heavy on these rocks that it is impossible to approach them. 

 This is also the case for some days after an east wind has been 

 blowing, as there still remains a considerable swell. On nearing 

 the west end of the rocks, which are several hundred feet high, 

 we disturbed a good many cormorants, who were resting on 

 some points of the cliff, and basking with open wings in the 

 morning sun. Some parts of the rocks were quite white with 

 the dung of these birds. In the ivy-covered recesses, far up, 

 were every here and there a pair of small hawks, and rabbits 

 hopping about high over our heads, along narrow paths on the 

 face of the rock. I shot a rabbit at a great height with a rifle, 

 and he came tumbling over and over, till he finally fell right 

 into a hawk's nest, to the great astonishment of the young birds. 

 Innumerable jackdaws breed in every crevice. As we rowed 

 farther on, we came opposite a large cave, which the boatmen 

 told me was a great place of resort for the pigeons. So, stop- 

 ping our course, the men shouted, and out came a large flock 

 of these birds, flying directly over our heads. I killed two or 

 three, and the rest flew on, winding round the angles and head,- 

 lands of the coast with inconceivable rapidity. Having picked 

 up the birds, I landed with great difficulty on the rocks, and 

 making my way over the slippery seaweed, got into the cave, 

 which extended some distance under the cliffs. There were 

 several pigeons' nests, though none that I could get at ; but I 

 shot a couple of young ones that had left the nest. The rever- 

 beration that succeeded the report of the gun in the arched 

 cave nearly deafened me. 



Soon afterwards we landed at another point ; and here, 

 following the example of one of my crew, I crept through a 

 small aperture on my hands and knees, which led into a large 

 and nearly dark cave, said to be the abode of otters. Before I 

 could set fire to some dry fir-roots, which we brought with us, 

 my dog was barking furiously, some distance within the cave, 

 We got our light and went to examine what he had. By the 

 tracks, he had evidently come on an otter, which had made his 

 escape into a small hole that seemed to go into the very heart 



