their accompanying him to the Lodge. Seaforth, he informs us, had then in contemplation "to rebuild the church, and erect a gaol and town-house," and Mr. Knox was so taken with the whole surroundings, that he exclaims:-"When the church and spire. shall be built, with a small spire also upon the town-house, and other ornaments which Seaforth's fertile imagination may easily conceive, this place will merit the pencil of the first landscape painter in the kingdom, and be a considerable acquisition to the many beautiful prints which distinguish the present age." From this it would appear to anyone who has visited Stornoway in our time, that Mr. Knox was not difficult to please in the matter of scenery.

He was anxious to visit Loch-Roag, on the west side of the Island, and Seaforth, with a Captain Mackenzie, whom Mr. Knox designates Seaforth's "brother-in-law," and Captain Macleod, at once volunteered to accompany him. A boat, stored with all kinds of provisions, wines, spirits, and malt liquors, was soon got in readiness, and the party, in high spirits, started from Stornoway for the Birchen Isles, from which they were to walk to the head of LochRoag. Having got some distance on their way, it was agreed to go ashore and have dinner upon one of the Islands. A fire was soon kindled; every man taking part in the cooking arrangements, Seaforth himself cutting up, gutting, washing, and putting into the kettle, one of two fine lythe which they had caught on their way. Captain Mackenzie attended to the kettle, and supplied the fire with heather, "which, being dry, made a fine blaze, and facilitated the business on hand." They had also caught a salmon on the trip, of which Captain Macleod took charge, cutting it in slices of about half-a-pound each; and, placing it in paper, he put it on the gridiron, cooking it to the great satisfaction of those who partook of it. Mr. Knox's department was pulling heather to keep the pot boiling. When everything was nearly ready to be served up, "Seaforth spread a large table cloth upon the ground; opened his hampers and canteen; laid the knives, forks, and plates; took out his stores of cold tongue, tame and wild fowl, roast beef, bread, cheese, butter, pepper, salt, vinegar, pickles, etc., also wine, spirits, ale, and porter," upon which, it need hardly be said, the party made an excellent al fresco dinner, During

the night the weather changed from a calm to a perfect storm of wind and incessant rain, so that Mr. Knox and his friends were quite unable to visit Loch-Roag, and had to find their way back to Stornoway, over mosses and moors, rendered almost impassable by the drenching rain and storm.

Even at that time, the fishing industry had become pretty extensive in the Lewis, and at Stornoway Mr. Knox found large piles of cod and ling, well cured. Here, however, the inevitable factor turns up, who has "long monopolized" the fishing of the Island. He "pays the fishermen £13 per ton for the ling, and gets, when sold upon the spot, £18. When to these advantages we add the various emoluments arising from his office, and his traffic in grain, meal, cattle, etc., his place is better than the rent of many considerable estates in the Highlands. The father of the present factor procured a lease of that office, with all its appendages, for a number of years, six or seven of which are yet unexpired; and it is saïd that he retired with a fortune of £20,000, a part of which he has laid out upon an estate where he now resides. Of the black cattle, as well as the white fish, he seems to have had a complete monopoly, as appears from a paper that was put into my hands by one of the tacksmen, formerly in Lewis, but who has since taken a large farm elsewhere. A copy of this curious paper will convey a better idea of the condition of those people, whose lot it is to live under the despotic sway of certain factors, than any declamation which human feelings can incite." So says our author, writing, not in 1886, but in 1786.

We give the documents, which speak for themselves. They are all given in foot-notes by Mr. Knox, and are as follows:

66

Copy Warrant Alex.

66 DONALD,

factor to Seaforth,

"You are to intimate to the whole tenants in your district, who pay rent to the factor, that they must sell no cattle this year, until the rents are paid, to any person who has not the factor's orders to buy; and, if anyone attempt to buy with ready money, you are to arrest these cattle, and not allow them to be carried out of the country, until the whole rents are paid up. This, on your peril, I desire may be done immediately, and any person who dares to sell after these orders are made public, you are to acquaint me thereof. Tell John Morison, in Nether Shathu, that it is expected he will buy up a good many stots and droving cows this year for us.

If he does, it will be obliging, and the service will not be forgot. Write to me when you have obeyed these orders.

"Extracted by John Morison, late tacksman of Little Berneray."

and Harris, from John Morison, Little Berneray, twelve shillings sterling, deducting therefrom three shillings allowed for salvage, as the value of a barrel of tar found at sea by Murdo Cook, in the year 1768. Witness my hand.

"Extracted by John Morison, late tacksman of Berneray."

"That Mr. as factor to Seaforth, was to be kept in firing by the tenants of Lewis, but, in place of this, and, in name of said peats, Mr. served a good many of the inhabitants of Stornoway, to the value of forty or fifty pounds sterling yearly*, is also certified by John Morison, late tacksman of Little Berneray. If Mr. refuse either the warrant or receipt, I shall produce

the principals; and, as to the article of the peats, if he also refuse it, I shall send certificates from the people who have bought the peats of him. You'll please observe that there has been no arrears of rent in the Island since the year 1752, so that there was no proper apology for granting such warrants, as it only meant to secure the cattle to themselves, having forbidden any other person to buy, even with ready money."

At the time of our author's visit, the inhabitants of the Lewis were reckoned at 9,000. He informs us that, forty years before, the then factor farmed the whole Island, for which he paid Seaforth only £1000 per annum! But, at the time at which he writes (1786) "by means of improvements in agriculture, fisheries, and kelp, of which about 200 tons of an excellent quality is made, chiefly on the west side of the Island, with ground-rents of houses, and the rise in the price of cattle, the Island now pays £2500" of rent, besides Church and other dues.

Seaforth, whose principal residence was at Brahan Castle, on the Mainland, resided, for two or three months every summer, in the Lewis, where he enjoyed "more than Asiatic luxury, in the simple produce of his forest, his heaths, and his shores. His table is continually supplied with delicate beef, mutton, veal, lamb, pork, venison, hare, pigeons, fowls, tame and wild ducks, tame and wild

* "Mr. Morison means that, besides the peats used by the factor in his own family, he had a surplus which he sold to the people of Stornoway."

geese, partridges, and great variety of moor fowl. Of the fish kind, he is supplied by his factor with salt cod, ling, and tusk ; and by his own boat with fresh cod, haddock, whiting, mackerel, skate, soles, flounders, lythe," and other kinds. "These are caught in the bay immediately fronting his house, every day except Sunday, and thrown in a heap upon the ground near the kitchen, from which the cook supplies the table, and the rest are given to the poor. In salmon and trout he is supplied from the bay called Loch Tuath, which flows within a mile of his house on the north side." Fish of all kinds seem to have been remarkably plentiful in the Lewis in Seaforth's time. To ascertain its extent, he provided nets, and set out, accompanied by his family and a crowd of people, for the bay, with the following results, copied from a journal kept by himself:

“August 17, 1786.-Hauled only the little pool once. Caught salmon, 29; trout, 128; flounders, 1468.

66

August 18.-Hauled both great and little pool once. Great pool, 139 salmon; 528 trout; a few flounders. Little pool, 5 salmon, about 100 trout, and 500 flounders.

Did not count the

"August 25.-Hauled both pools once. fish separately, but the whole were 143 salmon, 143 trout, and the flounders I did not count, but they were a great heap, about 700 or 800. Every day an immense number of herrings, sprats, and cuddies were caught."

From these he supplied himself, and gave the rest away. But these captures were made after rains that had succeeded a period of dry weather. "Such," with the produce of a garden, says Mr. Knox, "are the articles which a Highland laird or chieftain has at his table at dinner and supper."

He also says that, in the Hebrides and upon the western coasts of the Mainland, a gentleman could entertain at dinner, "twenty people with thirty or forty different articles, at an expense not exceeding fifteen or twenty shillings for eating, which in London would cost twenty pounds," and which only those of the first fortunes in England could command; while even then they could not procure such a variety in equal perfection. "The gentlemen in the Highlands have also the advantage in their wines and spirits, owing, however, in a great measure, to a melancholy cause. Many ships are wrecked and broke in pieces

upon their coasts every year, and the floating part of the cargoes is found at sea, or thrown upon the shore, where it is claimed by the proprietor or his factor." Of course!-they would claim the sun and the moon if they could but fall into the sea, and come ashore on their coasts!

WEST COAST OF ROSS AND SUTHERLAND SHIRES.

Mr. Knox took passage from Stornoway to Poolewe in a packet, which, he says, crossed once a fortnight in ordinary times, but once a week when Seaforth was in the Lewis. The vessel seems to have been in a very bad condition, and on this trip she was driven by a terrific storm to Gairloch, but was not able to get into a safe harbour there. After a good deal of knocking about, and having more than once made up his mind that he was lost, our author ultimately found himself the guest of Mr. Alexander Mackenzie of Lochend, now known as Inverewe, from whom he received much useful information respecting the country, its waters, and fisheries, Mr. Mackenzie was famed from sea to sea for his hospitality and good nature. At the head of Loch-Ewe, he informs us, "are the remains of an ancient furnace, where, as appears by a date, cannon were made in 1668. Mr. Alexander Mackenzie's grandfather lent 10,000 merks to the person or persons who carried on the works, for which he got in return the back of an old grate and some hammers. On the back of the grate is marked, 'S. G. Hay,' being Sir George Hay, who was at the head of a company here during the troubles that succeeded the death of James V." From this district our author found his way, by Loch-Maree and Kinlochewe, to visit Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie of Torridon. The latter part of the journey was commenced under heavy rain, and in the teeth of a strong wind. The track was composed mostly of swamps and gullies, and the horses which Mr. Knox and his companion rode, "about double the size of Lincolnshire sheep," did not appear to be well adapted for the road. Having crossed two rivers in safety, the party found themselves in a swamp, which for a time baffled all their efforts to pass through. "Every movement, as we advanced, required the utmost exertion of the poor animals to raise them