TO ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 35 



great fatigue we arrived at the summit, when the 

 delightful and extensive prospect amply repaid us 

 for the trouble. At one view we could embrace 

 the whole of the Shetland Islands, washed by the 

 Atlantic and German Oceans ', while the land ap- 

 peared to be drawn within a narrow compass, and 

 to lie completely beneath us. The remainder of the 

 island of Northmaven, which is celebrated for the 

 variety and magnificence of its rocky scenery, was 

 poor in comparison. The land is everywhere in- 

 terspersed with lakes, which, as the sun was shin- 

 ing brilliantly at the time, presented a beautiful 

 contrast to the dark scenery around. It is rarely 

 that so favourable an opportunity occurs of viewing 

 the island from the summit of this hill, as it is 

 frequently enveloped for days together in a dense 

 fog, while the lower grounds remain perfectly clear. 

 The upper part of the hill is covered with loose 

 pieces of red granite ; the vegetation is very scanty, 

 and the temperature of the atmosphere differs con- 

 siderably from that of the lower ground. An old 

 building, supposed to have been erected by the 

 Picts, formerly stood on the top of this hill, and was 

 called by the fishermen the " Look-out House;" 

 but some man-of-war's men visiting the place 

 erected a pole, and took the stones of the old 

 building for a pedestal on which to place the staff. 

 There is a kind of cellar still remaining, covered 



