of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



391 



summit in Shetland. Mr Tudor* thus sums up the attractions of Hills- 

 wick : — 



When, as must come sooner or later, proper accommodation shall have been 

 erected throughout the length and breadth of Shetland for the travellers in search 

 of the beautiful, who will flock northwards as soon as the county shall be better 

 known, there will be no spot in all Hjatland, which, in its manifold attractions, 

 will be so popular as ' Grey Hillswick.' 



Island of Yell. — In Yell, the second largest island of the Shetland 

 group, and the most northerly with the exception of Unst, there is excel- 

 lent fishing in stream, loch, and voe, but there is no adequate accommoda- 

 tion to be had for anglers and tourists. It is an extensive island 17 miles 

 from north to south, with a breadth varying from 6 1- to only half-a-mile at 

 the point where Mid Yell Voe and Whalfirth Voe cut it nearly in two. 

 The surface of the island presents a cheerless aspect, being chiefly com- 

 posed of peat moss. The Arisdale Burn, which runs into Hamna Voe in 

 South Yell, is by far the largest stream in the island, and there are 

 upwards of sixty lochs, great and small, most of which contain trout ; and 

 Muskra Water, near Cullivoe in North Yell, is said to contain yellow trout 

 of extraordinary size. 



A gentleman of Mid Yell, who is thoroughly acquainted with the fish- 

 ings in the island, writes me as follows with regard to them, in answer to 

 the printed queries : — 



The bye-laws are apparently a farce. Illegal netting is systematically prac- 

 tised at Hamna Voe, South Yell, and to a less extent at West Sandwick, 

 Whalfirth Voe, Mid Yell, and Vatsetter. I have seen (and destroyed) fixed 

 nets in the following places : — the burn running from the Loch of Gossawater 

 into Basta Voe, North Yell ; the bum running from Bowsetter into Whalfirth 

 Voe. There is no burn in Shetland so much abused by illegal netting as the 

 Arisdale, the largest and best burn in the island. It is a common thing to find 

 a wooden gate or door on any burn running from a fresh water loch to the sea, 

 especially if such a burn is utilised to turn the wheel of a corn mill. I should 

 approve of a close time for trout, say from 1st October to 1st February. The 

 period at which sea-trout run up into the fresh- water lochs communicating with 

 the sea depends on the weather, i.e., heavy rain. Last year, in this district, the 

 majority had run up by the 10th of August. I believe the take of sea-trout 

 has diminished owing to persistent illegal netting. I would fix 1st September 

 as the beginning of the close time instead of 10th September. 



The Island of Unst. — This is the third largest and the most northerly 

 of the Shetland group. Its name is said to mean Eagles' Nest (Ornen 

 nyst). It is between 12 and 13 miles long, and from 5f to 2f miles in 

 breadth. Its highest hill is Valla Field, 7 03 feet ; and it contains the 

 largest loch in Shetland — the Loch of Cliff, 2 \ miles long — besides a num- 

 ber of smaller lochs. The Loch of Cliff is the most northerly loch in 

 the United Kingdom. It fills up a narrow valley between rocks of 

 gneiss and serpentine. The largest stream in the island, called the 

 Mailand Burn, runs into it. This bum rises in the Loch of Watley, the 

 most considerable expanse of fresh water in Unst next to the Loch of 

 Cliff. There is good fishing in both lochs. 



A good many years ago I walked across the island of Unst, from 

 Uyea to Balta Sound. At that time there were scarcely any houses on 

 the latter. But of late years, so rapid and remarkable has been the 

 development of the herring fishery, that there is now, during the fishing- 

 season, a wooden town a mile long, with curing yards, lodging houses, 

 church accommodation, &c. 



* The Orkneys and Shetland, by J. R. Tudor, 1883, Cap. 42. 

 3 D 



