346 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and take to the water and be hauled through the surf to 

 the boat. At length, however, a favourable opportunity 

 for a jump occurring, I landed safely in the boat, after 

 a drop of about six feet, and the other men followed suit 

 as soon as a chance presented itself. This was the most 

 difficult re-embarkation I had all the time I was at St. 

 Kilda, and I doubt if any men other than natives of the 

 place would have taken us off the Stack in such a swell 

 as was running, for the danger of smashing the boat on 

 the rocks was by no means a slight one. We continued 

 our row home along the north side of the island, thus 

 completing the entire circuit of the main island and Dun, 

 and having put out fishing lines as we returned we were 

 able to enjoy some delicious fish for supper. 



Three days later I succeeded in landing on Soay Island 

 without the least difficulty ; it was in fact the easiest land- 

 ing I had during' my stay at St. Kilda, which was all the 

 more surprising as Soay is certainly not celebrated for 

 facility of access. There was a very strong wind blowing 

 from the north, and the explanation of the smoothness of 

 the water on the lee side of the island appeared to be that 

 the north wind had smoothed down the swell on the opposite 

 side, so that the landing was more easy than it would have 

 been on a perfectly calm day, when the normal swell would 

 have been able to assert itself. Soay is remarkably pre- 

 cipitous, and the climb up the rocks commences imme- 

 diately on landing. The island is celebrated for its breed 

 of wild sheep, and for the prodigious hordes of Puffins 

 which swarm over its grassy slopes, and tenant also every 

 available nook amongst the rocks and boulders. It is, 

 moreover, the great head-quarters in our islands of the 

 order Tubinares, all the British breeding species of birds 

 belonging to this order nesting there plentifully. Manx 

 Shearwaters are common, though difficult to obtain. Folk- 



