e but not
obvious" Thinking--Mr. Bremner's mode of making stone Erections
under Water--His exploits in raising foundered Vessels--Aspect of
the Orkneys--The ungracious Schoolmaster--In the Frith of
Kirkwall--Cathedral of St Magnus--Appearance of Kirkwall--Its
"perished suppers"--Its ancient Palaces--Blunder of the Scotch
Aristocracy--The patronate Wedge--Breaking Ground in Orkney--Minute
Gregarious Coccosteus--True Position of the Coccosteus' Eyes--Ruins
of one of Cromwell's Forts--Antiquities of Orkney--The
Cathedral--Its Sculptures--The Mysterious Cell--Prospect from the
Tower--Its Chimes--Ruins of Castle Patrick. 414

CHAPTER XI.

The Bishop's Palace at Orkney--Haco the Norwegian--Icelandic
Chronicle respecting his Expedition to Scotland--His Death--Removal
of his Remain to Norway--Why Norwegian Invasion
ceased--Straw-plaiting--The Lassies of Orkney--Orkney Type of
Countenance--Celtic and Scandinavian--An accomplished
Antiquary--Old Manuscripts--An old Tune book--Manuscript Letter of
Mary Queen of Scots--Letters of General Monck--The fearless
Covenanter--Cave of the Rebels--Why the tragedy of "Gustavus Vasa"
was prohibited--Quarry of Pickoquoy--Its Fossil Shells--Journey to
Stromness--Scenery--Birth-place of Malcolm, the Poet--His
History--One of his Poems--His Brother a Free Church Minister--New
Scenery. 437

CHAPTER XII.

Hills of Orkney--Their Geologic Composition--Scene of Scott's
"Pirate"--Stromness--Geology of the District--"Seeking
beasts"--Conglomerate in contact with Granite--A palaeozoic Hudson's
Bay--Thickness of Conglomerate of Orkney--Oldest Vertebrate yet
discovered in Orkney--Its Size--Figure of a characteristic plate of
the Asterolepis--Peculiarity of Old Red Fishes--Length of the
Asterolepis--A rich Ichthyolite Bed--Arrangement of the
Layers--Queries as to the Cause of it--Minerals--An abandoned
Mine--A lost Vessel--Kelp for Iodine--A dangerous Coast--Incidents
of Shipwreck--Hospitality--Stromness Museum--Diplopterus mistaken
for Dipterus--Their Resemblances and Differences--Visit to a
remarkable Stack--Paring the Soil for Fuel, and consequent
Barrenness--Description of the Stack--Wave-formed Caves--Height to
which the Surf rises.