48 
Shiant Isles, be inclined to pay them a visit, I would strongly 
advise them to leave Tarbert out of their programme, and rather 
endeavour to approach them from any other place on the coast, at 
least until the natives see lit to charge reasonably. 
The Shiants (pronounced Shenfs) are the property of 
Lady Mathieson of The Lews, and are let to Mr. Sellar, 
who grazes them with sheep as part of his farm of Park in 
The Lews. 
Occasionally there have been shipwrecks on the islands, but as 
they are not far from the Long Island, the crews have hitherto 
easily reached The Lews, and found their way to Stornoway, 
which is the nearest post-town, and about 24 miles from 
The Park, from which latter locality communication to the 
islands usually starts. 
The Shiants lie in the track of David Hutcheson and Co.’s 
(now Me Brayne’s) West Coast Steamers, between Stornoway and 
Portree in Skye ; and not much out of the way of vessels passing 
down the coast of the Long Island from Stornoway. The 
proprietors of the “Dunara Castle” s.s. which plies between 
Glasgow and the outer Hebiides, have of late years run the 
“Dunara Castle” once in the' summer season to St. Hilda. It 
might be worth the consideration of either Company to institute a 
similar trip to the Shiants, which only require to be better known 
to be appreciated. Their columnar basalt cliffs are vastly superior 
in height and grandeur to those of Staffa. The statement in 
Lord Teignmouth’s account of the islands— referred to further 
on — that a landing “sometimes can scarcely be accomplished 
during ten days in the year’,” must, I think, be somewhat 
exaggerated, because owing to the double bay on either side of the 
isthmus, there is usually shelter. The landing is infinitely superior 
to that at St. Hilda. 
There has been no very full or connected account of this group 
of islands published that I am aware of. Martin has a few 
remarks upon the islands which ho calls, “ Slant, or as the natives 
call it Island More,” but there is little to be gathered from his very 
superficial description. 
* ‘A description of the Western Isles of Scotland,’ First Edition, 1703 
[Second Edition, which is the one I have consulted, 174G]. 
