62 the ornithologist's guide 



pounds. I made use of this boat on both my 

 visits to Orkney, a friend taking charge of her du- 

 ring the time I was at home. I found this a much 

 cheaper plan than hiring a boat, and after enga- 

 ging a pilot for a few trips, we were able to go all 

 round the islands by ourselves, excepting when it 

 was a calm, and then I was obliged to employ men 

 to row; this however is very seldom the case, 

 it more frequently blowing very hard. The tide 

 runs rapidly between these islands, and when the 

 wind happens to be against the tide the sea soon 

 rises to a great height ; in Hoy Sound, at spring 

 tides, the current runs nine or ten knots an hour. 

 The current is occasionally so strong that I have 

 seen a ship with all her sails set come in from the 

 westward with a fine breeze in her favour, and 

 passing through the water at a very rapid rate, 

 forced back again by the tide on arriving at the 

 narrowest part. These are very dangerous situa- 

 tions for a boat and require great care. It is a 

 curious sight to see a boat cross this sound under 

 sail, particularly when the wind is from the east- 

 ward and the tide running to the westward, the 

 boat seems to fly so very rapidly sideways. I 

 was crossing this sound one very foggy night to 

 Stromness, when the current forced us out into the 

 Western Ocean ; it was so dark that we mistook the 

 harbour, and were obliged to remain there until the 



