10 THE ORNITHOLOGIST^ GUIDE 



necessary to keep pace with the improving spirit 

 of the age. 



A stranger walking through the streets of Ler- 

 wick would suppose, from the number of shops, 

 that a great deal of business must be done* 

 There are upwards of fifty persons who are regu- 

 larly licensed to sell spirits, either to be consumed 

 on the premises or to be taken away. They deal in 

 all descriptions of articles, and you will not unfre- 

 quently see those peculiar to the milliner, the gro- 

 cer, the ironmonger, the hatter, and the druggist 

 mingled together in elegant confusion, whilst the 

 background is occupied with several casks, bearing 

 on them the tempting inscription of u Real High- 

 land Whiskey" or " Prime Holland Gin ; M they 

 are sensible enough when they have got a stranger 

 to deal with, and are not at all scrupulous in making 

 their charges ; the country people principally ex- 

 change the home-manufactured goods, such as 

 stockings, gloves, &c, and the produce of the farm- 

 yard with the shopkeepers for tea, sugar, &e. : I 

 am informed that even the professional gentlemen 

 of Lerwick have frequently received geese, fowls, 

 potatoes, &c. as a fee for their professional advice : 

 upon what scale this is regulated I am ignorant. 

 Money with the country people is a scarce article, 

 and when once they have got possession of it, 



