Perhaps you know this part of the world mostly in connection
with the pretty little shaggy Shetland ponies which feed upon the young
heather, and are brought to England for children to ride; but those who
have visited it can tell very interesting stories about the wild country,
with its warm-hearted kindly fisher-folk, and they often bring home with
them beautiful shawls which the women and girls knit from the soft wool of
their sheep.
They tell us that of the hundred islands, about thirty are inhabited. Some
are large, but others so small that only one or two families live upon
them; and others are little more than rocks--the home of sea-fowl of every
wing.
In the largest island you will soon find Lerwick, the chief town. Now look
to the very south for the lofty cliff called Sumburgh Head, and near it
Grutness Harbour, where they catch the grey fish.
It was from this harbour that a small vessel, the _Columbine_, set sail on
Saturday, January 30th, 1886, intending to make the voyage--rough at all
times, but often very perilous in winter--along the coast to Lerwick.
Many a boat had perished on these cruel shores, even since lighthouses have
been placed to warn the seamen from the most dangerous rocks. If you had
asked the captain of the _Columbine_ about his route, he would have told
you that he must steer past Cape Noness, then close to the Isle of Mousa,
with its ancient castle built in the time of the Picts; Bressay Island
would next come in sight, and then the tall lighthouse which guards Lerwick
Harbour.
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