Of these all have
chimneys, and some chimneys have grates.
The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We were
driven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman,
where, after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my
chamber, I found an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine
sheets. The accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and
felt my feet in the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which
a long course of rain had softened to a puddle.
In pastoral countries the condition of the lowest rank of people is
sufficiently wretched. Among manufacturers, men that have no
property may have art and industry, which make them necessary, and
therefore valuable. But where flocks and corn are the only wealth,
there are always more hands than work, and of that work there is
little in which skill and dexterity can be much distinguished. He
therefore who is born poor never can be rich. The son merely
occupies the place of the father, and life knows nothing of
progression or advancement.
The petty tenants, and labouring peasants, live in miserable
cabins, which afford them little more than shelter from the storms.
The Boor of Norway is said to make all his own utensils. In the
Hebrides, whatever might be their ingenuity, the want of wood
leaves them no materials. They are probably content with such
accommodations as stones of different forms and sizes can afford
them.
Their food is not better than their lodging. They seldom taste the
flesh of land animals; for here are no markets. What each man eats
is from his own stock. The great effect of money is to break
property into small parts. In towns, he that has a shilling may
have a piece of meat; but where there is no commerce, no man can
eat mutton but by killing a sheep.
Fish in fair weather they need not want; but, I believe, man never
lives long on fish, but by constraint; he will rather feed upon
roots and berries.
The only fewel of the Islands is peat. Their wood is all consumed,
and coal they have not yet found. Peat is dug out of the marshes,
from the depth of one foot to that of six. That is accounted the
best which is nearest the surface. It appears to be a mass of
black earth held together by vegetable fibres. I know not whether
the earth be bituminous, or whether the fibres be not the only
combustible part; which, by heating the interposed earth red hot,
make a burning mass. The heat is not very strong nor lasting. The
ashes are yellowish, and in a large quantity. When they dig peat,
they cut it into square pieces, and pile it up to dry beside the
house.
