ST. KILDA AND ITS BIRDS. 335 



shilling is paid to tlie landlord for each sheep grazed. On 

 Soay there is a breed of perfectly wild sheep 'belonging to 

 the Chief, but of this more anon. The sheep are, of course, 

 valuable for food, and in the spring the ewes are milked 

 and a coarse sort of cheese made from the produce ; but 

 their chief value lies in the wool from which a good sort 

 of light tweed is made, of similar class to the well-known 

 Harris tweeds. The sheep are not shorn in the ordinary 

 way, but the fleeces are cut off in very primitive fashion 

 by means of a pocket knife. The whole process of manu- 

 facturing the wool into cloth is carried out on the island, 

 and spinning and weaving constitute the chief winter 

 occupation of the inhabitants. As soon as the Fulmar 

 harvest is over, towards the end of August, the looms are 

 got out and put in order by the men, and all who can do 

 so are busily engaged working from early morning till 

 late at night at this, their staple occupation. Part of the 

 cloth is given to the landlord in payment of rent, or 

 exchanged for meal and groceries ; but they have now an 

 independent sale for it, which is a sensible factor in the 

 increasing prosperity of the people. 



The improved economic conditions resulting from the 

 development of the cloth industry and from the fishing 

 which is now done, have rendered the produce of the birds 

 of less account than formerly, but this is still an important 

 factor. Up to about twenty years ago enormous quantities 

 of feathers were exported as payment for rent, or in 

 exchange for meal and other necessaries, and immense 

 numbers of birds were killed for the sake of their feathers 

 alone. The young people of both sexes used to camp out 

 for weeks on the subsidiary islands during the summer 

 months, and would catch hundreds, and even thousands, 

 of birds, chiefly Puffins, in a day, the carcases of which, 

 after plucking, were thrown into the sea. Stacks Lii and 

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