TO ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 39 



with one Arctic Gull. After spending some time, 

 we returned towards the boat, but in a different 

 direction ; this I did for the purpose of seeing as 

 much of the country as possible, and of procuring 

 any specimens I could find. When I mentioned 

 to the old boatman my determination to return by 

 a different route, he expressed his disinclination in 

 language by no means suitable to a delicate ear, 

 adding that if I attempted it we should not arrive 

 at home that night, for to his experienced eye, the 

 fog would soon be so thick as to render it impossi- 

 ble for us to find our way, though at that time there 

 was not the smallest appearance of it. Be it as it 

 would, I was determined to proceed in the direc- 

 tion I had chosen ; and sure enough in a short 

 time we were completely enveloped, — not in such 

 fogs as I have witnessed in England, but one so 

 dense and substantial as to make one fancy it might 

 be cut with a knife, or, to use the expression of 

 my guide, " so thick you might sup it with a 

 spoon." As we drew nearer to the bottom of the 

 hill and towards the water, we gradually got clear 

 of the fog, which remained stationary on the hills. 

 On arriving at the water's edge we could distinctly 

 see the land on the other side of the inlet, where 

 the sun was shining very brilliantly, while the 

 tops of the hills there were also covered. It fre- 



