With nature and a camera

Chapter II. The birds and fowlers of St Kilda

Playing a coalfish

As the boat was too small to carry seven of us with safety we shipped my brother and Mr Mackenzie over to St Kilda, and afterwards the minister, Mr Young, and I went a-fishing for Pollack, or whatsoever else would give us an opportunity of hooking it.

No sooner had we got our troll-lines out, with their little red indiarubber sand-eels spinning bewitchingly at the ends as the men rowed steadily alongside the rocks, than I felt a mighty tug at mine. "A monster, by George!" thought I, and fearful of losing him tightened my hold upon the line. This was a fatal mistake, for it instantly parted, and my fish went off to consider, in the quiet of some dark cave many fathoms below, the baseness of the imitation he had secured.

Fortunately, the minister had a spare line on board, which he kindly lent me. It was baited with a real sand-eel, which had been captured in a despisable trickle of water running from the side of Conagher into the bay, had its skin taken off to make it look conspicuous, and then been lashed with white cotton thread to an artfully-concealed hook.

I had not had this line out more than half a minute before I felt another exhilarating jerk. The fish I had hooked plunged and kicked like a newly-haltered colt. I played him carefully for a while, and when I judged he had run the measure of his strength gently hauled him in. Directly he came alongside the boat, however, he bethought himself of his almost lost liberty, and with an angry slap of his tail rolled over and disappeared beneath the craft. I slacked the line instantly lest he should saw it in two across the keel, and he promptly dived. After another short tussle I worked him back to the side of the boat, where he lay on the surface of the water with his mouth wide open. Holding the line in my right hand I plunged my left into his gills and hauled him on board. He was a Coalfish weighing about twelve and a half pounds.

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Mr Fiddes caught a good-sized Pollack and one Coalfish before a monster of some sort broke his line, and left us with the single one which I was using.

I now requested Mr Young to take a hand at my line; but he would not touch it, declaring that, old sportsman though he was, the fun of watching my boyish pleasure and excitement was more to his liking than even the fishing itself. I caught several splendid fish in quick succession; and Finlay McQuien grew greatly alarmed at the way I was spoiling my clothes by dragging the voracious creatures over the gunwale of the boat. Once I had no sooner disengaged a fish and dropped the bait overboard, than another rose and snatched it before the leaden weight on the line had actually touched the water. Directly he discovered that all things are not quite what they seem he dived with a tremendous rush. The suddenness of the jerk made the line spin through my hand so fast that my fingers were hot with the friction.

By the time we reached the end of the Doon, the bottom of the boat was covered from stem to stern with dead fish of all sizes. My bootless feet and legs were wet and cold to the knees, but I was entirely oblivious of any feeling of discomfort whilst the sport lasted.

After fishing for a little over an hour, we rowed homewards across the bay. I kept the minister's catch separate; and when I counted my own upon the beach, I had seventeen Coalfish of an aggregate weight of something between one hundred and eighty and two hundred pounds.

News was sent up to the village that there was plenty of fish on the beach for everybody, and a number of boys quickly trooped down to the landing place for a share. Before any part of my catch was taken away, however, I sent for my brother, and although it was very late in the evening lie managed to photograph me and my trophies.

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A good catch

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When Sandy Campbell saw the boys dragging the fish past our cottage, he told me that he recollected the time when the St Kildans would not eat it, as they said it had no substance (oil) in it. They simply took the liver out of such as they caught, and either cured the body for exportation or threw it to their dogs.