which fancy has appropriated to Sir Walter Scott. There is here also a very distinct echo thus alluded to by the late John Malcolm, a poet whose elegant taste and gentle manners rendered him the purest gem of these islands of his home, and of his fondest sympathies:

"The circling hills all black and wild

Are o'er its slumbers darkly piled,
Save on one side where far below
The everlasting waters flow;
And round the precipices vast
Dance to the music of the blast."

Birsay Parish, north of Stromness, is the most fertile spot of the Orkneys. Here are the ruins of a palace which must at one time have been of considerable dimensions. It was partly rebuilt and improved by Earl Robert Stewart.

The geological character of the Orkney Islands partakes of that of the adjoining mainland of Caithness. Old red sandstone predominates with gneiss and the micaceous schists. Fossil fishes have been found in considerable abundance in the sandstone. Patches of new red sandstone are found overlying the older rocks in Pomona. Water-fowl resort in great abundance and variety to these islands, and the botanical objects, especially the marine algæ, are interesting.

THE ZETLAND OR SHETLAND ISLANDS.

These are still farther north than the Orkneys, and may well be termed "Ultima Thule." The group consists of at least a hundred, the central island or mainland being by far the most considerable; about thirty are inhabited. Vessels sail from Leith for Lerwick once a fortnight, and in summer other opportunities are frequently afforded of visiting these remarkable islands.

Sumburgh Head is the first point of land that is made where there is a lighthouse. This is the scene

of the novel of the "Pirate."

Lerwick is the capital of Zetland, and is a flourishing bustling little town, much resorted to by merchant vessels. The inhabitants resemble much in manners those of Orkney. They amount to 2750. There is a town-house and a fort. All kinds of provisions are abundant and cheap, and vegetables excellent. There is here, as well as in Orkney, a considerable manufacture carried on of straw plait for bonnets. East of Lerwick is Brassa Sound and the Isle of Noss. The Holm is a perpendicular cliff, the abode of seafowl, and where the daring natives resort to obtain their eggs. The northern islands are occupied by fishermen who are employed in the haaf or deep sea fishing. Papa Stour, the most westerly island, was the seat of some of the early propagators of Christianity. Foula Island or Fowl Island, so called from the innumerable sea-fowl which resort to it, is supposed to have been seen from Orkney by Agricola, and then designated the Ultima Thule.

Granite,

The geology of the Shetland Islands is full of interest. gneiss, slates, red sandstone, serpentine, hornblende, hypersthene, and numerous other minerals, are here found, and from the many natural sections the best opportunities are afforded of studying the relative positions of the strata. Dr Hibbert's account of these islands is most minute and accurate.