THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
of the whole of the Sound of Harris. The tide was only half ebbed, but the 
sight of so many hundreds of green rocks in a waste of sunlit sea was 
wonderful. Wales, Donegal, Shetland and Orkney are remarkable for 
their great precipices and the heavy seas which break on them. The 
Western Islands for their silver sands, Scotland for her mountains and 
rivers, and England for her parks; but nowhere in Great Britain is there 
such a remarkable view of islands as in the Sound of Harris at low water. 
There are hundreds of these, all of bright emerald green in the sunlight, 
and in the evening, when we saw them at low water, the sea was like a 
molten sheet of gold dotted with jewels, whilst in the background were 
the blue hills of Skye and Harris. 
With all this host of resting-places I could not, even with the aid of a 
telescope, make out any seals, till Rorie asked if 1 had found any. I replied 
in the negative. 
“ Well,” he said, ** yer no lookin’ the richt way. D’ye see yon grey rock 
close in shore by they yows ? ” indicating with his finger an unlikely 
looking place near the mainland of N. Uist. “If they’re up anywhere yon’s 
the place.” 
Of course he was right. What a sight filled my glass as I brought it to 
bear on the rock in question — at least, there was no rock visible, for the 
grey object was a mass of seals, all huddled together as thick as swine 
at a country fair. Plans for the stalk were now discussed. It was arranged 
that I should descend the hill and then pass on to the N. Uist shore and get 
far behind the seal rock — that is, under the wind — and come in under 
cover of the peat lands. Rorie explained to me that the distance from the 
main island to the rock on which the seals rested was about eighty yards, 
and that a somewhat deep channel flowed between. He told me that, after 
I had fired my first shot, I must look out for seals appearing in the water 
of this channel, where they were sure to come if I kept out of sight, and 
that if any seals were shot there they could be recovered at low water, and 
he hoped I would shoot several, as the people of Obbe would be glad to 
have them. After arranging these preliminaries, I started off, having a 
walk of three-quarters of a mile before it was necessary to be cautious. 
A spy now showed me that the seals were quite quiet, but it also disclosed 
the unwelcome fact that the sheep, which we had first seen well up on the 
land, had now wandered down in scattered parties all along the line by 
which I hoped to make my final advance. This was somewhat disconcert- 
ing, and particularly so as the wind, which up till now had been fitful, 
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