n Popular Superstitions in the
Highlands of Scotland_, addressed to Home, author of _Douglas_,
contains some excellent rhetorical passages. Speaking of the
second-sighted seer, Collins represents him as one who

"In the _depth of Uist's dark forest_ dwells."

We may say of Uist what Lord Rosebery said of Caithness, that it
is _entirely delivered from the contaminating influence of
foliage_. The air one breathes there does not suffer
deterioration by coming through any such _dark forest_ as Collins
mentions: it blows from the Atlantic in an absolutely pure and
strong condition.

ST. KILDA.

St. Kilda, the lonely and precipitous island, forty miles west of Lewis,
which Boswell at one time thought of buying, has now, like so many other
islands of the West, a well-furnished library from Paisley. I hope the
minister of the place encourages the reading of the books, and does
everything in his power to broaden the religious views of the people by
healthy secular literature. A luckless inspector of schools crossed over
once to examine the school of this island. His boat arrived late on
Saturday, and was to leave again early on Monday. To suit his own
convenience, the greatly-daring official proposed to examine the
scholars on Sunday. Never was their such indignation among the
islanders. What! examine the school on the first day of the week! Did
the unhappy man wish the wrath of Heaven to fall in fire and brimstone
on the island? The inspector was angrily hooted and denounced. Still, as
he must needs return by his steamer, the islanders agreed to send their
children immediately after Sunday was over, _i.e._, _the bairns were
assembled at midnight_, and parts of speech were bandied about then in
the visible darkness of the tiny school.

St. Kilda belongs to the Macleod, and every spring the factor goes over
to collect the rents. All winter the island is isolated, and has no
outer news save, perhaps, from some stray Aberdeen trawler. For twenty
years the factor went over in a sailing-boat belonging to the chief, but
by some mishap, in which no lives were lost, this boat was
ill-manoeuvred and, with sails full-set, was engulfed in a whirlpool.
He now goes over in the steamer.

The first question propounded to the factor is this: "_Has there been
war anywhere, my dear?_" If the answer is "Yes," a great joy is visible
on every face. "_That's good, that's good: tell us all about it.