The Fund For
These Rewards Is A Tax Of Sixpence In The Pound, Imposed By The
Farmers On Themselves, And Said To Be Paid With Great Willingness.
The beasts of prey in the Islands are foxes, otters, and weasels.
The foxes are bigger than those of England; but the otters exceed
ours in a far greater proportion.
I saw one at Armidel, of a size
much beyond that which I supposed them ever to attain; and Mr.
Maclean, the heir of Col, a man of middle stature, informed me that
he once shot an otter, of which the tail reached the ground, when
he held up the head to a level with his own. I expected the otter
to have a foot particularly formed for the art of swimming; but
upon examination, I did not find it differing much from that of a
spaniel. As he preys in the sea, he does little visible mischief,
and is killed only for his fur. White otters are sometimes seen.
In Raasay they might have hares and rabbits, for they have no
foxes. Some depredations, such as were never made before, have
caused a suspicion that a fox has been lately landed in the Island
by spite or wantonness. This imaginary stranger has never yet been
seen, and therefore, perhaps, the mischief was done by some other
animal. It is not likely that a creature so ungentle, whose head
could have been sold in Sky for a guinea, should be kept alive only
to gratify the malice of sending him to prey upon a neighbour:
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