A curious custom prevails of electing the most beautiful spinster on the island (^)ueen of St. Kilda. She can, however, only till this exalted functionless office so long as she remains single.

A little while back the inhabitants of a large Northern English town by some means or other got to know that the reigning Queen of Hirta was to be m^arried on a certain date. A crowd of holiday-nuikers straightway chartered a steamer, and departed to witness the sight with something like a Imndred pounds' worth of })resents for the bride; but they were Ijaulked of their pleasure, as the young woman's father w(juld not allow his daughters marriage to Ijc made the subject of entertainment to a mob of vulgar Sassenachs conserpiently the trippers had to return with their presents unpresented and their curiosity unfeasted. Such a wholesome assertion of dignity and denial of selfishness cannot be too highly praised; for from what I saw of the behaviour of some ex-cursionists wdio visited the island whilst I was there, I have small doubt but that the old man's e2

estimate of the real oljject of the weddina-preseiit folks was correct. Whilst we were about on the different islands with the men, those who took;in'thing to driidc in the shape of milk or whey with them in the boat gave us freely of their l)everage if our own supply ran short; and after they came to know

QUERN STONE.

what manner of man J was, some of them would not accept anything for specimen birds which they caught for me. Again, on the morning of my departure from the island, I was rowed to the steamer in the local boat along with a number of ex(;ursionists who had been paying a hiin-ied visit ashore. When we got midway b(^t\i\l llie hind and the vessel, one of the St. Kildnii I'owors took off his bonnet and began to mnke a collection, as payment for the boat and men. 1 was ])utting a shilling into the hat when the man stoj)})('d me

and said that lie wouldn't a('C'C'})t anything from one of tlicniselves.me—I was

To sit on a l)Oulder of rock in the strangers' gallery of a parliament, where all its mendjers stand and speak at onee in an mdvnown tongue, is a curious ex})erienee, which I have had the pleasure of indulging in. The St. Kildans meet every of their cottagesmorning— either in front of one discussor on the rocks below the storehouse—and how they shall go aljout the business of the day. One or two of the debates, at which I was present, became so animated and the din so prodigious that I thought the matter must inevitably end in blows and bloodshed; but I was greatly mistaken, for after awhile some satisfactory understanding was arrived at, and they all went forth harmoniously to share the toil and danger of the day.

The cliffs of St. Kilda and the adjacent Isle of Doon are divided into lots, which change hands each vear, so that evervbodv may in due course stand a chance of getting a fair share of birds and eggs. Those of Borrera, Soa, and the rock stacks are common propertv; and whenever they are raided the proceeds are divided amongst the members of the community, in order that the aged, widows, and orphans ma}' receive a fair share. The jn-ofits of the boat are also shared by all the members of the Commonwealth.

In several parts of the village we saw relics of bygone days in the shape of (piern stones, in which the corn was formerh' ground, and my brother photographed one standing, half full of water, on a low wall in front of a cottage.

In ^lartin's time tliev had but one steel and tinder-box in the whole place, and when the men made a journey to Horrera, or Soa, on wool-

gathering or fowling intent, the the fire- (nvner—for making tools were private to levy an property—used impost, called a " fire pemiy tax,"' of three eggs or one fowl from each man for striking a light. Our author, however, destro^'ed the value of this secret, and astonished the natives bv showing tliein how to get a light by striking the blades of their pocket knives against a piece of " chrystal growing under the rocks.'' They also had to pay a similar tax to the man who took his cooking-pot to these isles for general use.

Amongst other curious traditions rife among the natives is one to the effect that two men, lunued Dugan and Ferchar, whilst |)ulling heather for fuel on Oisaval, plotted a diabolical sclieme to murder the whole of the inhabitants at one fell stroke. They rushed down the steep hillside and ga'e the alarm of an approaching fleet of warsliips, and as soon as all the peoi)le had assembled in the church for safety the two dastards set fire to a quantit^ of dry heather which they had placed against the closed door and smothered every soul exce})t one old woman, who escaped l)y stealth to the rocks, where she managed to eke out an existence^ in it 11 the steward's aveno-ino- boat came the followinii' spring, when she crept forth, to the surprise of the murderers, and divulged their black crime. Ferchar was ])laced on a rock-stack near I^orrera to live on such bii'ds as he could catch, or starve, but he chose to end his miserable career by flinging himself into the sea immediately after the boat that left him rowed away. His fellow-culprit, Dugan, was placed on Soa, where his bleacluMl hones, and a dirk stuck in the ground besidx; them, were afterwards found in the cave repr(;scnte(l in our ])i('ture, which is known to this day as Dugan's Cave.

DUGANS CAVE.

CHAPTER II.

THE IJIKDS AND FOWJ.KHS OF .ST. KILDA.

nnHE cliffs of St. Kilda and its adjacent islands -*- are of the most majestic description. The liig'liest hill, Conagher, stands twelve hundred and twenty feet aljove the level of the sea, and on one side it plmiges almost sheer into the ocean below, thus constituting-, according to t)ne authority, the highest precipice in the British Isles. I sailed or, rather, crawled onunder it twice, and walked-all its edge, and can hardly tell fours— along which was the more wondrous and awe-inspiring-experience.

Whilst climbing up and down some of the gigantic bulwarks of liirta J was several times forcibly reminded of fearful nightmares when a boy, and do what 1 would I could not nuiintain an upright posture in some of the most fearsome jjlaces even when I had a })erfectly safe footing. This fact may be laid hold u])on l)v some student of Evolution as nii interesting instance of an instinctive return to sonu: remote ancestral nu'thod of progression. Anywa-, I can safely aver that it felt a deal moi-e sccui'c. ^^'ll('ll on tlic top of the highest cliff it was impossible 1o hcai' llic siii-i' beating at its foot. Parts of it ai-c iicnci- xisilcd b' llic dai-ing fowlers, for the simple reason that thc\ have no ropes

lung oiioiigli to lu'gotiato them. The St. Kildans are wonderful fellows on the crags, and most of the performances we saw them go through were done without the aid of a rope; but, of course, their l)are feet, thoroughly hardened and inured to the touch of the sharp rocks, give them a great advantage over men who wear hoots and socks every day of their lives. Their heads, too, being used to the dizzyhig heights from childhood are absolutely unaffected by any vertical depths however great.

The following is a list of the birds 1 saw and identified on the islands:—

Fulmar Petrel (Fnhimrus yla- Gannet [Sula hnssana). f'mJis). Eider Duck [Somateria ))ioUis- ]Man.\ Shearwater (P/ijfi/tus an- siina). ylorum). Whimbrel (JiKiiieniiis j^Jucoims). Forked-tailed Petrel (C'l/mo- Oyster-Catcher [Ilccmatopus oscJi rea-lencorrh oa ) trale(jiis). Great Black-backed Gull {Lanis Dunlin ( Trinya alpina). ijiariniis). Raven ( Corvus corax). Lesser P)lack-ljacked (lull (Lanis Hooded Crow {Corvus comix).

J'uscus). Starling (Sfurnus vulgaris). Herring Gull {Larus ((n/eiitattis). Wheatear (Saxicola cenanthe). Connnon Gull (Larus cfinus). Rock Pipit {Anthus obscurus). Pazor-bill (AJca torda). Tree Sparrow {Passer montanus) Guillemot {Uriu bruennichi). Twite {Linota Jlavirostris). Black Guillemot (Uria grijlle). Bunting {Emberiza miliaria). Puffin {Fratercnla arctiai). Swallow {Hirundo rustica). 8hrtg '^Pltdlacrocora.i' (jrarulus). Wren ( Troylodijtps parviilus).

The Barn Swallow visited us once or twice, but only hawked roinid for an hour or so on each occasion and was gone. The Whimljrel was dead, having been stalked by one of the natives and caught with his fowling clever performance indeed when the rod—a verv shv nature of the bird is taken into consideration.

The Tree Sparrows are quite numerous for sueli a small place. I found five or six nests, all containing- young- ones, in holes in the stone walls and cliffs. I noticed one da}', whilst out in a Ixxit, a voung- Tree SpaiTow taking- his hrst lesson in the art of flying. He started from the face of an overhanging crag a couple of hundred feet high, and so weak and ineffectual were his \ving--l)cats that he came down tcjwards the cold l)lue water below, with his affectionate little mother flying-round and round him in a series of spiral curves and greatly alarmed. At last he fell flop into the sea, and I thought it was all over with him. My heart was full of sorrow for the })oor little fellow, as we could not reach the spot in time to save him. Just as I was reflecting upon the dangers to which young birds are subjected on leaving the nest, I was surprised to see the unfortunate fledgling- rise from the crest of a wave, and 1)}' a tremendous effort fly to a jutting rock of safety a few inches above the tide-mark, where his mother joined liini and showed a great deal of anxious solicitati(»n for his welfare. I observed that whenever the sun slioiic, which was not often during our stay, the Tree Sparro^\•s would hop alunit in the grass of the field surrounding the village looking for flies and other winged insects, many of which they caught b}' a short hawking flight a couple of feet or so straight u}) iri the air. After tln-ee or four of these })rett}' little vertical flutters the}' generally flew away to their nests with their j^rey.

Two or three great Black-backed Gulls from Lavenish—a bare rock upon which these birds breed close to the island of St. Kilda—were constantly hanging round Village Bay, waiting- for anytliiiig they

could pick up either on the kitelieii middens of the inliabitants in the very early hours of the morning-before anybodA^ was astir, or on the handljreadth of sandy beach later in the day. The first Sunday evening we were at Hirta I watched one through my binocular make his supper off a dead (lannet which came floating into the bay. His mode of procedure was somewhat odd. He swam round and round the dead bird several times in the most ceremonious fashion, and then went in to the attack with great ferocity. After he had made a hole in the bodA', and torn off several pieces of flesh and swallowed them, he again swam round and con-templated the richness of the treat that had fallen in his way. A few days after this E saw one of these birds trving to secure a sick or injured Puffin for his dinner. He hovered like the shadow of death over poor little " Tanmiy Norie " for a moment or two, and then made a rapid downward swoop towards it. His intended victim, however, apparently underst(Jod his tactics only too well, for directly he came too close the Puffin ])romptly dived and reappeared a considerable distance off. The Gull circled rcnmd and round, and after trying-several times in vain to secure his prey by swooping down upon it, alighted on the water and endeavoured to swim stealthily within reach of the sick bird, but the latter never allowed him to approach too closely, and at last he gave up the chase and flew away. The St. Kildans dislike the Great Black-backs very much on account of their rapacity amongst the eggs and young of useful l)irds.

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