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782 KERGUELEN’S VOYACE TO TH2 NORTH.
tention toit: Fair-ifle is placed on the chart of M. Bellin, engravedin 1757, in lat. 59°
30’. According to my obfervations it is 3/ more foutherly. Thisifland is pretty high,
it may be feen ten leagues off in fine weather ; it is fafe, particularly towards the fouth
and eaft. Onthe north and weit fide there are fome rocks, but they are near the fhore.
On my fecond voyage I coafted this ifland, a fhort league from fhore, on its fouth fide,
and remarked a beautiful verdant plain and feveral houfes, the latter of which were dif-
tinguifhed by their whitenefs. It appeared to me that it is in this fpot, at the foot of
the hill, that the anchorage is as marked in the Dutch charts; for the coaft goes fhelv-
ing in in this place, fo that a veflel mu(t neceflarily be fheltered from all winds from
the N. W. round to the N. E. Fair-ifle may be about fix leagues round. The houfes
which I faw on this ifland announce its being inhabited ; and fea-faring men have aflured
me that finding themfelves in fine weather within a league of fhore, the inhabitants
had come off in boats to the privateer, on board which they were to fell them eggs and
fowls, and offering them fheep very cheap. We know befides that Fair-ifle is fertile in
barley, and in good paftures. According to my obfervations, the variation at Fair-ifle
was 19° and its long. welt of Paris 3° 29’.
North of Fair-ifle are fituated the Shetland ifles, which are but feven or eight leagues
diftant. ‘Vhefe are very lofty ; they are varioufly laid down in the Dutch, French, and
Englifh charts, fo much fo as to agree in no fhape one with the other. Many days are
required to be pafled upon the coafts in examining them, in taking their bearings, and
in making obfervations of latitude and longitude, in order to appreciate the defects of
their different plans, and make corrections of the iflands. I was not able to effect thefe
purpoles, having a diftin& miffion to attend to; but from fuch remarks as I was enabled
to make, and the converfations I have had with different navigators, whofe accounts I
have compared with the notes of M. Bellin, and thofe of Routier the Dutchman, I have
been able to give fome infight to the navigation of the coa{ts, and the entry of the dif-
ferent ports. As to the difference in refpect of the pofition and figure of the iflands,
according to the French Neptune and the Dutch chart, I fhall remark that the French
chart is more exact in the latitude; but that I give the preference to the Dutch for the
reprefentation of the figure, and bearings of the land, of as many as I had the opportu-
nity of feeing. Neverthelefs Fulo is very ill placed in the Neptune of 1757, with refpect
to its latitude. This ifland is there laid down in 60° 19’; and from three fucceilive
obfervations, made in fight of and very near the land, I found it lay in lat. 60° 3’.
Fulo ifland is ten miles weft of the Shetland iflands; it is very high, we defcrying it at
fixteen leagues diftance. . It is the moft remarkable and beft land-mark of all the Shet-
land iflands : when feen at eight or ten leagues diftant, it has the refemblance of a flip-
per; itis very healthy, and a veflel may boldly pafs between it and the other Shetland
iflands, for in the channel there is more than two leagues to luff up in. On this ifland
I obferved the variation of the needle was 18° 30’. Eighteen leagues welt of Fulo I
have met with eighty fathoms water, with bottom of large fand, of a grey colour, with
black fpots: as you approach the land, the fand is more mixed with gravel and ftone ;
and at four leagues from the ifland there are feventy fathoms water, bottom gravel and
black ftones. aft of this ifland are the Shetland iflands, on the number of which au-
thors do not agree ; but there are only three large ones, the principal of which is called
the Mainland. ‘he climate of thefe iflands is fimilar to that of the Orcades; the land
produces equally well both barley and oats; the paftures are very good. Fifhing, herds
of cattle, flocks of fheep, and cows, make up the wealth of the inhabitants. Thefe
iflanders are of Norwegian origin. Their language is a Gothic dialect, partaking of the
Danifh, and particularly of the Englifh language. They make turf-fires, as there is ne
13 woo
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