He Rose
Again, But Could Not Sustain A Long Flight, And Coming To The Ground
Again, Was Caught, After A Spirited Chase, Amidst A Wild Clamor Of Of The
Sea-Fowl Over Our Heads.
Not far from the Noup is the Holm, or, as it is sometimes called, the
Cradle or Basket, of the Noss.
It is a perpendicular mass of rock, two or
three hundred feet high, with a broad flat summit, richly covered with
grass, and is separated from the island by a narrow chasm, through which
the sea flows. Two strong ropes are stretched from the main island to the
top of the Holm, and on these is slung the cradle or basket, a sort of
open box made of deal boards, in which the shepherds pass with their sheep
to the top of the Holm. We found the cradle strongly secured by lock and
key to the stakes on the side of the Noss, in order, no doubt, to prevent
any person from crossing for his own amusement.
As we descended the smooth pastures of the Noss, we fell in with a herd of
ponies, of a size somewhat larger than is common on the islands. I asked
our guide, a lad of fourteen years of age, what was the average price of a
sheltie. His answer deserves to be written in letters of gold -
"It's jist as they're bug an' smal'."
From the ferryman, at the strait below, I got more specific information.
They vary in price from three to ten pounds, but the latter sum is only
paid for the finest of these animals, in the respects of shape and color.
It is not a little remarkable, that the same causes which, in Shetland,
have made the horse the smallest of ponies, have almost equally reduced
the size of the cow.
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