In Foula they drive a small stake or dagger in the soil at the top of the precipice, to which they fasten a fishing line. By this slender assistance they descend to the place where the nests are, which they plunder, and ascend again with amazing intrepidity. This manner of fowling was, by the Norwegian law, considered a species of suicide.
What is still more extraordinary, custom has so hardened the Shetlanders against all sense of danger, that they will wander among the rocks at night, in order to surprise the old fowl upon the nest.
The eggs and young of the black-backed and herring gulls, compose the chief part of the booty acquired in these predatory and desperate attempts.
The seas[5] abound with cod, turbot, haddock, ling, and two certain species of northern fish, called torsk and opah. Lobsters, crabs, oysters, &c. are also very plentiful. At certain seasons vast shoals of herrings visit these shores. In June they appear in surprising columns, and perform the circuit of the islands; after which they totally disappear, especially in time of storm. After they first approach from the north, the appearance of the ocean is materially altered. They are divided into columns of five or six miles long, and three or four broad; and, in their passage, the water is propelled before them like an impetuous current. Sometimes they sink for a little while, then rise again to the surface. When the sun shines, the appearance of this finny tribe is most beautiful, being similar to a spacious field of variegated gems.
They afford a sure subsistence to vast multitudes of birds, of whales, and other fish; and, to complete their destruction, man himself joins in the common chase.
For this purpose, vessels from many nations used to rendezvous in Bressay Sound, to lay in treasures of this useful species.[6]
The fishing business here engrosses the whole attention of the men. To this they constantly resort in all seasons and weathers, in small light skiffs which they get from Norway. These boats go out about noon, and do not return until three, and sometimes six o’clock the following day. During that time they often go twelve leagues from land. The yearly export of fish to foreign markets, particularly those of Spain and Italy, amounts to several hundred tons.
Agriculture, in the Shetland Isles, is at a very low ebb. The land being in general very barren, rocky, and chiefly depending on the tillage of the women, yields but scanty produce. The labour, in the lesser isles, is performed by digging over the soil like a garden. Their spade is narrow, like that used in cutting peats, and not at all similar to that with which they dig in Britain and Ireland.