34 the ornithologist's guide 



excellent appetite. My servant, who received th? 

 second edition, rather grumbled at being disturbed 

 so soon from his meal, and muttered something 

 about impatience, which I think he had little occa- 

 sion to do. Had he sat much longer he would have 

 spared the landlady the trouble of removing either 

 eatables or drinkables from the table, for he was 

 rapidly depositing them into his own larder > how- 

 ever, a glass of spirits prevented all further dispute, 

 and we set off for the boat. We crossed the inlet 

 called Rona's Voe, for the purpose of getting to a 

 celebrated hill named Rona's Hill, which is a fa- 

 vourite breeding-place for sea birds, and of which 

 the Frontispiece is a faithful delineation. It is 

 the highest hill in Shetland, and is said to be 

 3944 feet above the level of the sea, towards which 

 the cliffs are rugged and perpendicular, and being 

 exposed to the force of the Atlantic Ocean, it is ex- 

 ceedingly difficult and dangerous to get to them, 

 It was the fineness of the weather that tempted 

 rne to visit it so early after my arrival ', another 

 inducement was, its being a favourite breeding- 

 place of the Skua Gulls, of which I was particularly 

 anxious to obtain some specimens. We landed 

 and commenced the ascent, the guide leading the 

 way. The ground is very uneven and difficult to 

 travel over, but after two hours' exertion, with 



