for a moment at the town of Wick, to take our last look at the fisheries of the eastern coast.

Another dangerous harbour! Yet crowded with herring-boats and other larger vessels. Then on

to Duncansby Head, and just beyond it the rocky headland called 'John o' Groat's House,' which is reckoned the extreme, though not quite the most northerly, point of Scotland. Here we rest: do you observe any difference in these far-northern regions from those in the south? The map tells you that you have come a long way north.

'I observe one thing,' says Johnny, rubbing his hands together; 'it is very cold!'

'Yes! It is colder than in England, because we are so much nearer to the North Pole and so much farther from the hottest part of the earth, near the Equator.'

2. 'What is the Equator?' asks Johnny.

'I can't tell you about the Equator just now, Johnny. You must wait till next year's lessons before you can know what it is. Do you observe any other difference?'

3. 'I thought, last night,' says Green, 'that the light lasted longer than it does at home. But, perhaps, that was only a fancy of mine.'

'No! It is really true that, in summer and early autumn, the days are rather longer here than they are in the south of England.'

4. Before continuing our voyage round Scotland, we may go a little out of our way to see something of these groups of islands which lie at its north

east corner, the Orkneys and Shetlands, or Zetlands. The Orkneys seem like bits broken off from Caithness, and their rocks and soil are of the same kind: but, though they are not really far off—it is only about eight miles across to the nearest island -the sea which runs between is one of the stormiest we know, and its 'angry waters form a terrible barrier between them and the mainland.' This is one reason why the inhabitants have always been a people by themselves, unlike in their ways to those in other parts of Scotland. There is also another reason: most of them are not really Scotch, but have sprung from settlers, who came over from Norway, and drove out the old 'Picts' who were there before them. If you look in the map of Europe, you will see that it is no great distance across the German Ocean from Norway to Orkney, and still less to Zetland. The people of Orkney have still many words in common use, in out-of-the-way places, which belong to the language of Norway.

5. We need not stop long in Orkney. The coast is wild but there are no very fine points of land; and, looking inland, all is bare and bleak; for, though 'these islands have less of extreme cold than on the mainland of Scotland, yet it is hardly possible to raise even the commonest vege

tables, unless under shelter of a wall; and as for shrubs and trees, they are entirely out of the question, such is the force of the sweeping seablast.' 1

VI. THE NORTHERN COAST.

1. WE are now so far north, that if we went a little farther, we should be in the Arctic Ocean! So it is time to turn. If we look on the map, across the North Sea, we shall see how near Norway is; and we need not wonder that the people of Zetland and those of Norway should be like each other. In former days, it took a long time to get here from Scotland; and through the winter there were many weeks in which no boat could cross these stormy seas. I remember hearing, that sometimes the best way of getting from Kirkwall to Wick was to go to Leith and back again! Now, steam-vessels make it easier; and as the people of Orkney and Zetland see more of their neighbours on the mainland, old customs will no doubt die out and these islands will become more and more like the rest of the country.

2. From John o' Groat's we now proceed westward through the Pentland Firth to Cape Wrath.

Scott's Pirate, ch. i.

Here we find the stormiest sea and the strongest ocean-stream we have met with. Look to the map, and you may easily tell the reason. You see the open Atlantic Ocean, and you can guess how it must roll round those islands on the West of Scotland, round Cape Wrath, and then rush through the narrow channel between Caithness and Orkney. No wonder that the sea is rough, rougher than we have seen it even at Land's End or round the Isle of Man.

3. Cape Wrath is worth seeing; but we shall do well to keep at a safe distance from it! It stands out boldly, fronting the sea on every side, some parts of it being 600 feet above the water; and round its foot are sunken rocks, over which the waves are always dashing. On the top is a lighthouse, standing as lonely as that on the Eddystone; and well it is for any sailor who is driven this way in the dark, if he catches sight in time of the friendly light! It says to him, 'Keep far off! there is no safety here: the ship that touches me will never see her port again!' No doubt the name Cape Wrath' was given to it, to mark the wrath or anger of the raging sea and the deadly rocks; and to let sailors know that it was their enemy, who would show them no mercy if he got them into his power.