moisture, or contact. These wing-cases, or elytra, are never employed as wings, but remain raised and motionless during the flight of the insect. "In the ORTHOPTERA, the coverings of the wings, or tegmina, instead of being of a horny texture, are soft and flexible. The wings themselves being broader than their coverings, are, when not in use, folded like a fan. "LIBELLULE and ÆSCHNÆ never close their wings, but, when they are not flying, keep them constantly expanded, and ready for instant action. They fly with the greatest ease in all directions, sideways or backwards as well as forwards, and can instantly change their course without being obliged to turn their bodies. Hence they possess great advantages, both in chasing other insects and in evading the pursuit of birds. Bees have often been observed to fly to great distances from their hive in search of food. The humble-bee adopts a very peculiar mode of flight, describing, in its aërial course, segments of circles, alternately to the right and to the left; the velocity with which these insects move through the air, much exceeds that of a bird, if estimated with reference to the comparative size of the animals. "Although the greater number of insects have four wings, there are many, such as the common housefly and the gnat, which have only two. In these, however, we find two organs, consisting of cylindrical filaments, terminated in a clubbed extremity, in the usual situation of the second pair in those which have four wings. They are named the halteres, or poisers, from their supposed use in balancing the body, or adjusting with exactness the centre of gravity when the insect is flying. "The innumerable tribes of butterflies, sphinxes, and moths, are all comprehended in the order Lepidoptera, and are distinguished by having wings covered with minute plumes, or scales. These scales are attached so slightly to the membrane of the wing, as to come off when touched with the fingers, to which they adhere like fine dust. When examined with the microscope, their construction and arrangement appear to be exceedingly beautiful, being marked with parallel stripes, often crossed by still finer lines. The beautiful colours which these scales possess may, perhaps, generally be owing to the presence of some colouring material; but the more delicate hues are probably the result of the optical effect of the lines on the surface. "The forms of these scales are exceedingly diversified, not only in different species, but also in dif. ferent parts of the wings and body of the same insect. Each scale is inserted into the membrane of the wing by a short root, and overlaps the adjoin ing scales and the whole are disposed in rows with more or less regularity; one row covering the next, like tiles on the roof of a house. Many butterflies exhibit, in some parts of their wings, smooth pearly spots, called by entomologists, ocelli, or eyes, which arise from those parts being naturally destitute of scales. The number of these scales, necessary to cover the surface of the wings, must, from their minuteness, be exceedingly great. The moth of the silk-worm, which has but a small wing, contains, according to Lewenhoeck, more than two hundred thousand of these scales in each wing. "Many of the insect tribes are, of course, much timited in the extent of their flights, but this is not the case with all. It is astonishing to what a distance silk-worm moths will fly; some have been known to travel more than a hundred miles in a short time." We cannot, I think, better close this paper, than with the following very pleasing lines from BISHOP MANT'S British Months. D. I. E. Disporting in the foggy air, Light swarms of insects here and there, The instinct strong, the hidden cause, Which ever active, o'er the earth's As I gazed, the air burst into atoms of green fire before my face, and in an instant they were gone: I turned round ten thousands of flaming torches moving in every direcand saw all the woods upon the mountains illuminated with tion,-now rising, now falling, vanishing here, reappearing there, converging to a globe, and dispersing in spangles. No man can conceive, from dry description alone, the magical beauty of these glorious creatures. So far from their effects having been exaggerated by travellers, I can say that I never read an account, in prose or verse, which in the least prepared me for the reality. There are two sorts: the small fly, which flits in and out in the air, and a kind of beetle, which keeps more to the woods, and is somewhat more stationary, like our glowworm. This last has two broad eyes in the back of its head, which, when the phosphorescent energy is not exerted, are of a dull parchment hue; but, upon the animal's being touched, shoot forth two streams of green light, as intense as the purest gas. But the chief source of splendour is a cleft in the belly, through which the whole interior of the beetle appears like a red-hot furnace. I put one of these natural lamps under a wine-glass, in my bed-room in Trinidad, and, in order to verify some accounts which I have heard doubted, I ascertained the hour on my watch in the West Indies. by its light alone with the utmost facility.-Six Months THOUGH the sun scorches us sometimes, and gives us the head-ache, we do not refuse to acknowledge that we stand in need of his warmth.-PHILIP DE MORNAY. TREES, and fruits, and flowers are humanising things, soothing the passions, calling forth only the peaceful energies of the intellect, and attaching mankind to the soil on which they have both grown together. MANNERS are of more importance than laws. Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend. The law touches us but here and there, now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form and colour to our lives. According to their quality, they aid morals, they supply them, or they totally destroy them.-BURKE. his heart. OBIDAH AND THE HERMIT. AN EASTERN STORY. The cheerful sage, when solemn dictates fail, OBIDAH, the son of Abensina, left the caravansera early in the morning, and pursued his journey through the plains of Hindostan. He was fresh and vigorous with rest; he was animated with hope; he was incited by desire: he walked swiftly forward over the valleys, and saw the hills gradually rising before him. As he passed along, his ears were delighted with the morning song of the bird of Paradise, he was fanned by the last flutters of the sinking breeze, and sprinkled with dew by groves of spices; he sometimes contemplated the towering height of the oak, monarch of the hills, and sometimes caught the gentle fragrance of the primrose, eldest daughter of the Spring; all his senses were gratified, and all care was banished from Thus he went on, till the sun approached his meridian, and the increasing heat preyed upon his strength; he then looked round about him for some more commodious path. He saw, on his right hand, a grove that seemed to wave its shades as a sign of invitation; he entered it, and found the coolness and verdure irresistibly pleasant. He did not, however, forget whither he was travelling, but found a narrow way bordered with flowers, which appeared to have the same direction with the main road, and was pleased that, by this happy experiment he had found means to unite pleasure with business, and to gain the rewards of diligence, without suffering its fatigues. He, therefore, still continued to walk for a time, without the least remission of his ardour, except that he was sometimes tempted to stop by the music of the birds, whom the heat had assembled in the shade; and sometimes amused himself with plucking the flowers that covered the banks on either side, or the fruits that hung upon the branches. At last the green path began to decline from its first tendency, and to wind among hills and thickets, cooled with fountains, and murmuring with waterfalls. Here Obidah paused for a time, and began to consider whether it were longer safe to forsake the known and common track; but remembering that the heat was now in its greatest violence, and that the plain was dusty and uneven, he resolved to pursue the new path, which he supposed only to make a few meanders, in compliance with the varieties of the ground, and to end at last in the common road. he was every moment drawing nearer to safety or destruc- Son," said the hermit, "let the errors and follies, the dangers and escape of this day, sink deep into thy heart. Remember, my son, that human life is the journey of a day. We rise in the morning of youth, full of vigour and full of expectation; we set forward with spirit and hope, with gaiety and with diligence, and travel on a while in the straight road of piety towards the mansions of rest. In a short time we remit our fervour, and endeavour to find some mitigation of our duty, and some more easy means of obtaining the same end. We then relax our vigour, and resolve no longer to be terrified with crimes at a distance, but rely upon our own constancy, and venture to approach what we resolve never to touch. We thus enter the bowers of ease, and repose in the shades of security. Here the heart softens, and vigilance subsides; we are then willing to inquire whether another advance cannot be made, and whether we may not, at least, turn our eyes upon the We approach them with scruple gardens of pleasure. and hesitation; we enter them, but enter timorous and trembling, and always hope to pass through them without losing the road of virtue, which we for a while, keep in our sight, and to which we propose to return. But temptation succeeds temptation, and one compliance prepares us for another: we in time lose the happiness of innocence, and solace our disquiet with sensual gratifications. By degrees, we let fall the remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business; immerge ourselves in luxury; and rove through the labyrinths of inconstancy; till the darkness of old age begins to invade us, We then look and disease and anxiety obstruct our way. back upon our lives with horror, with sorrow, with repentance; and wish, but too often vainly wish, that we had not forsaken the ways of virtue. Happy are they, my son, who shall learn from thy example, not to despair; but shail remember, that though the day is past, and their strength is Having thus calmed his solicitude, he renewed his pace, though he suspected that he was not gaining ground. This uneasiness of his mind inclined him to lay hold on every new object, and give way to every sensation that might soothe or divert him. He listened to every echo, he mounted wasted, yet there remains one effort to be made; that every hill for a fresh prospect, he turned aside to every cas- reformation is never hopeless, nor sincere endeavours ever cade, and pleased himself with tracing the course of a unassisted; that the wanderer may at length return after gentle river that rolled among the trees, and watered a all his errors; and that he who implores strength and large region with innumerable circumlocutions. In these courage from above, shall find danger and difficulty give amusements, the hours passed away uncounted; his devia-way before him. Go now, my son, to thy repose; commit tions had perplexed his memory, and he knew not towards what point to travel. He stood pensive and confused, afraid to go forward lest he should go wrong, yet conscious that the time of loitering was now past. While he was thus tortured with uncertainty, the sky was overspread with clouds, the day vanished from before him, and a sudden tempest gathered round his head. He was now roused by his danger to a quick and painful remembrance of his folly; he now saw how happiness is lost when ease is consulted; he lamented the unmanly impatience that prompted him to seek shelter in the grove, and despised the petty curiosity that led him on from trifle to trifle. While he was thus reflecting, the air grew blacker, and a clap of thunder broke his meditation. He now resolved to do what remained yet in his power, to tread back the ground which he had passed, and try to find some issue where the wood might open into the plain. He prostrated himself on the ground, and commended his life to the Lord of Nature. He rose with confidence and tranquillity, and pressed on with his sabre in his hand, for the beasts of the desert were in motion, and on every hand were heard the mingled howls of rage and fear, and ravage and expiration; all the horrors of darkness and solitude surrounded him; the winds roared in the woods, and the rents tumbled from the hills. Thus forlorn and distressed, he wandered through the d, without knowing whither he was going, or whether thyself to the care of Omnipotence; and when the morning calls again to toil, begin anew thy journey and thy life." -Rambler. SILENCE. WHERE dwelleth Silence?—In the cloister'd cell?— Of ev'ning's latest breeze is heard no more? Where, from Creation's birth, no human voice That humbles nature in her sternest mood, LONDON. JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PAN PRICE SIXPENCE. THE PRICE ONE PENNY. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. VOL. VII. DUNROBIN CASTLE, SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 170 SKETCHES OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. PART THE EIGHTH. CAITHNESS; WICK; CHURCH DISCIPLINE; HERRING FISHERY; HEMPRIGGS CASTLE AND STACKS; BERRYDALE. (A. D. 1827.) ON Sunday we attended Divine Service twice, at the Parish Kirk at Wick, which, with Pulteney, of more modern date, together form an extensive town at the mouth of a small river. The church, which contains 1200 persons, was very full: the roof needed the support of scaffolding, as the building, though not of many years' standing, is falling; a proof of the ill-judged economy not unfrequently displayed in erecting churches in Scotland. Another, at present unfinished, calculated for 1800 persons, adjoins it. A parliamentary church is building in this parish, near Keiss Castle. The want of church-room in a parish, the population of which amounts to 7000, and receives annually, during the six weeks' continuance of the herring-fishery, a great additional multitude of persons from all parts of ScotLand and England, will be in a great measure supplied. The minister is indefatigable in the discharge of all his duties, which require two assistants. His living or stipend amounts to 300l. per annum. The congregation was as respectable as numerous. The ceremony of baptism was performed in the afternoon: the parents presented the child; when the minister delivered to them a solemn exhortation, which, expanding gradually, soon embraced the whole audience. The father, then receiving the child from the mother, placed it in the hands of the minister, who sprinkled water over the face, and then returned it to some women who stood by ready to receive it. The public performance of this ceremony is considered as an honour conferred only on the worthiest parents. The ministers in the country parishes complain of private baptisms as forming one of the most burdensome of their duties. The minister of Wick, himself exemplary and popular in the discharge of his office, employs the agency placed under his superintendence to much purpose. He assigns a district to each elder, who reports to him any immoral conduct coming under his notice. In cases of drunkenness or female delinquency, the offender is summoned to the church, and publicly reprimanded, whilst the partner of the woman's guilt is compelled to do penance. An old statue of St. Fergus, once an object of idolatrous worship, found in the ruins of an adjoining chapel, has been removed to the church, where its antiquity procures due respect. The chapel itself, of which the four walls remain, is the cemetery of the Caithness family. The minister considers the strangers, who resort to Wick, during the fishery, a portion of his flock; and preaches in the church-yard in Gaelic, for the benefit of those from the western districts of Scotland. He exerts his utmost efforts to urge the attendance of all at church, and till lately, his injunctions were little heeded by the English, -a circumstance which may be partly accounted for by the difference of the Presbyterian form of worship from their own. The Cornishmen are seldom seen within the sacred walls. The French and Dutch observe no distinction of days in fishing; and the minister has applied for a revenuecutter to enforce the observance of the Sabbath-day, by breaking the nets of delinquents. The small river of Wick divides the towns of Wick and Pulteney; on its bank are a new gaol and town-house, which will soon be completed. The suburb, or rather town, of Pulteney, which contains a population of 2000 persons, was erected, together with the adjacent piers and harbours, by the British Fishing Company on a spot which, less than twenty years ago, was the undisturbed abode of seafowl. It was chosen as a station well adapted for the herring-fishery and the most sanguine expectations of its founders have not been disappointed. To Pulteney may be applied the Dutch historian's observation respecting Amsterdam,-that "it was founded on the bones of her rings." The houses are neat, and occupied almost exclusively by the families of persons employed in the taking or curing of the fish, The fishing seldom lasts more than six weeks, com mencing in July: the number of boats employed in it is very great, and amounted this year to no less than twelve hundred, collected from the coasts of Scotland and England. Ten thousand persons were added to the population of Wick and Pulteney, during the fish-season, by the multitude then brought together, among whom were many from Penzance, in Cornwall. An introduction to the collector of the customs, and other persons, afforded me the means of procuring some informa. tion respecting the state of the fishery. The boats used are large, their keels commonly measuring thirty feet in length; and those built recently are even of greater dimensions. It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the great number of them employed in the fishery, only one was lost this year, and that from its being overladen. About 200,000 barrels were exported last year, of which 50,000 were sent to Ireland, about the same number to Leith, 30,000 to London, and the rest to Bristol, Liverpool, and other parts. The French, though prohibited by their laws from purchasing fish of our fishermen, persist habitually in the practice, hovering about their vessels, and exchanging brandy for herrings. This deference of the French to our fishermen is not confined to this part of the coast: it is well known that they purchased fish of the Brixham trawlers on the coast of Devonshire, till their custom-house officers discovered and put a stop to the practice. The profit which these vessels derived from this illicit commerce was, doubtless, considerable; as, since the enforcement of the prohibitory laws, they have removed the scene of fishing to the coast of Kent, about Dover, on account of the vicinity of the London market, to which they were before comparatively indifferent. The fish, when the boat's cargo is completed, are conveyed to curinghouses erected on the pier. The Dutch mode of curing, recommended so zealously by Donovan, the superiority of which arose from carefully gutting and bleeding the fish, and salting and sorting them according to their different qualities, as well as from performing the process on shipboard, immediately on catching the fish, and from the strictness of their custom-house regulations, was deemed too expensive, and requiring too much care, to be used at Wick. The herrings exported from Wick are chiefly intended for the subsistence of the poorer classes of the Scotch and Irish, and for the slaves in the West Indies, whither they are conveyed from Bristol; and their quality is no doubt sufficiently good for the less-fastidious taste of those people. The certainty of these extensive markets for herrings, cured in the ordinary way, renders the Wick fishermen less anxious to secure a share in the continental market, where the Dutch have taught the people to require an article of superior quality. The Scotch fisheries, which have adopted the Dutch mode, have enjoyed a profitable share in the continental market. The Loch Fyne herrings are superior to those of Caithness, being taken earlier, when they are richer and fatter; but these qualities render the curing more difficult, as it must be more speedily effected. The bounty on well-cured herrings continues, though reduced in amount. The objects proposed by the bounty are twofold: the general encouragement of the fishery, and the improvement of the process of curing the fish*. The apprehension felt here, is lest the bounty should produce a glut of fish, by attracting too great a number of persons to the fishery. The declared object of the bounty is to increase the quantity of fish in the market: its obvious effect will be the diminution of the price. And the persons engaged in the fishery previous to the bounty, though they will share in the advantage to be derived from the bounty itself, will suffer a comparative loss from the diminution of the profits. The government appear to have The opinion entertained at Wick (corroborated by that of the superintendent of a herring-fishery in Sutherlandshire, whom I from that I heard expressed by the general superintendent at Edin afterwards visited,) respecting the policy of such a bounty, differs burgh, perceived the inexpediency of the system, and propose abandoning it. The second object, the encouragement of a better method of curing the fish, might be attained, as I believe it is in Holland, by merely subjecting the barrels to the inspection of proper officers, who might denote their value by proper marks, and by requiring of those officers the vigilant and exact discharge of their duty. The valuation would necessarily determine the comparative price; and, by raising that of the superior article, thus operate as a bounty. The curing is performed at Wick by women, affording employment to about 5,000. The rock-salt of Cheshire is imported from Liverpool. The red herrings bear but a small proportion to the rest, being considered only a luxury; they are prepared in houses for the express purpose, hung up and smoked, deriving from this process their rich golden hue. The harbour was filled with vessels taking in cargoes for exportation. Though commanding every other advantage, it is, unfortunately, accessible to large vessels only at high tide, the depth, at low water, not exceeding six feet. The outer part of the harbour will be rendered safe by the completion of the new pier which is in progress, and will crown the efforts which the company have successfully made, to remove the natural obstructions to the trade of Wick. The expense of this work has been defrayed by harbour dues. The preparation of boats and nets, the fishing, curing, and packing the fish for exportation, afford occupation to the inhabitants of Pulteney during a great part of the year. The land which forms the site of the town is feued of Lord Duffus, at a very high valuation; but infinitely short of that which the noble proprietor would have laid claim to, could he have anticipated the immense profit derived from the letting of the houses. Between the last and the previous census, the population of Caithnessshire, owing partly to the increase of the fishery, was augmented one-third. The sum annually raised and expended on the poor in Wick, is about 707. or 807., which is found sufficient, though but a fraction when compared to the population. English is spoken generally throughout Caithness-shire, excepting only the inland and mountainous parts. In those districts, where the Gaelic prevails, about forty out of one hundred were calculated, in the Report of the Inverness Society, to be unable to read; but this number has gradually decreased, The English part of Caithness-shire resembles the Orkneys very much in the extensive diffusion of education, and proves how clearly the deficiency was confined to the Gaelic districts, and how necessary it became to teach the people in their own language. The residence of the principal landed proprietors of the county on their estates operates as a grand incentive to the progress of all kinds of improvements: and if the western and inland districts of Caithness-shire are boggy and mountainous, the eastern or maritime exhibit a a scene of arable culture creditable to the industry of the farmers, and to the superintendence of their landlords. The prosperity of the county, being closely connected with the growth of the herring-fishery, is much indebted to the foreign capital by which that fishery is supported. Near Wick is Hempriggs Castle, the residence of Lord Duffus: a few trees surround the house, which is large and commodious. The title of Duffus was forfeited by the Dunbar family in the rebellion of 1715, and restored to the immediate predecessor of the present nobleman. The increase of the value of his property, chiefly arising from the growth of the herring fishery, has been very great during the last thirty years. The old residence of the family was Ackergill Castle. The estate belonged originally to Lord Caithness; but was taken from him at the end of the seventeenth century by Lord Breadalbane, who marched into the country, armed with a commission of fire and sword, to recover a debt of which Lord Caithness refused payment. The parties met, and fought a pitched battle. The Sin clairs were defeated: and the event is commemorated in the old well-known song The Campbells are coming, the Sinclairs are running. The adjacent coast, for two miles, exhibits, in a series of bays and coves, much rude grandeur, affording striking proofs of the ravages of the sea; vast fissures, yawning caverns, and insulated rocks: at one spot the sea is seen Doiling within a deep well, called the Caldron, to which it gains access by a passage scarcely perceptible between overhanging rocks. The Stacks, or detached rocks of | Hempriggs, are remarkable for their forms and grouping: one of them is united to the coast by a natural, and another, at the entrance of a small bay, by an artificial, bridge: and on its summit, a summer-house is erected. Another is shaped like a coffin, and penetrated lengthways by a pas sage, through which a boat may make its way. The scenery is highly picturesque. A flock of magnificent goats, perfectly white, were scrambling nimbly along almost invisible paths, on the ledges of the precipices, astonishing us by the extraordinary and desperate agility with which, on being chased by a dog which accompanied us, they descended the steepest cliffs. The coast resumes its ordinary character near the bay of Wick: near this point is the remaining keep of the old Castle of Wick. The road from Wick southward to Berrydale is along the coast. This village is in the mountainous part of Caithness: its situation is happily chosen at the point at which two deep and well-wooded glens unite with the valley, bounded by lofty hills, through which the river Langwell, receiving the streams which descend from the glens, rolls to the neighbouring sea, washing the rocky base of the old ruined Castle of Berrydale. The glen of Langwell is described as very picturesque. From Wick to Berrydale is twenty-seven miles; good farming, and well-built houses, cheer the view. The hill district of Caithness-shire, whose highest ridges form the southern boundary of the county, terminate at the coast in the mountain called the Ord, which presents to the sea an assemblage of lofty precipices, along which the road winds. SUTHERLANDSHIRE; HELMSDALE; PORT GOWER; BRORA; DUNROBIN; GOLSPIE; NEW SYSTEM, FROM the southern and Sutherlandshire side of the Ord, a prospect of a different character opens to the view; a broad well-cultivated valley, bounded on one side by the sca, and on the other by a ridge, diversified by corn-fields and pastures, enclosed by neat fences; excellent farm-houses, surrounded by clumps of tall trees; well-built cottages and gardens; and at the foot of the mountain, the little town of Helmsdale, and principal station of the Marquis of Staf ford's herring fishery, on the river of the same name: a scene which, in the midst of rugged rocks and dreary wilds, reminds the Englishman of his own more favoured land, and affords, when contrasted with the dreary and barren aspect which it presented a few years ago, a striking proof of the magical power of well-directed enterprise, and wellemployed capital. Helmsdale, built on a spot occupied formerly by a few huts, consists of a good inn, several respectable houses and shops, and no less than ten large houses for curing fish. The women were busily employed in the process, preparing with surprising rapidity the cargo for the sible to large vessels only at high water. vessels which lay in the harbour. The harbour is accesAs a fishingstation, Helmsdale is preferred even to Wick. The Marquis of Stafford has a distillery here, and another at Brora, in both of which, the small-still system, producing finer whisky, has been successfully introduced. Port Gower, two miles south of Helmsdale, a long street of tiled cottages, and Brora, between Port Gower, and Golspie, a small town, with neat shops, and a small harbour, date their existence from the same period as Helmsdale: the latter place possesses a small fishery. Near to it some iron founderies have been constructed on the bank of the stream. The coast of Sutherlandshire is low, and the southern prospect is bounded by a long line of coast terminating in the promontory of Tarbet Ness, forming the southern side of the Firth of Dornock. The vista of newly-erected towns, villages, farms, and fishing-establishments, which line the coast, is at length terminated by the policy or park of Dunrobin, in the midst of which, enclosed by forest-trees and rising plantations, stands the castle, the ancient baronial residence of the carls of Sutherland. The success of the Marquis of Stafford's experiment, in removing his tenants from their miserable abodes, and precarious subsistence, in the interior of the country, to the coast, has gradually subdued the animadversions of the opponents of his system. If the transfer produced no benefit either to landlord or tenant, and served only to make a forced display of population and wealth, like the moveable villages which marched with Catherine during her progress through the Russian dominions and were drawn up to receive her when she halted, no *The late Duke of Sutherland. |