gb0551ms-33-15a

Transcription

[Page] 15a
[continued from page 15]

peat reek from the fire being thick about
the roof till it found its way out through
a hole. Windows there were none worthy
the name, but two holes through the thatch
above the wall heads admitted a faint
ray of light. Beyond this room was a bed:
:chamber, also without a window, but into
it I did not penetrate. The peat reek
quite smothers any other smells that
one might expect to encounter in such
an ill-ventilated dwelling, and I have
been in crofters houses elsewhere of a
more advanced standard, which
were much more disagreeable to stay in
than a "black house." Stone built cottages
of two storeys, covered with sheet iron are
rising up in all the townships from
funds sent home by the emigrant sons
and the daughters who have gone to ser:
:vice in the South. They look "genteel"but
I am told lack comfort, for they are hot
in summer, and very cold in winter, for
iron is a poor substitute for thatch when
warmth is desired.
In the North end of the island we visited
many "duns" small stone forts occupying
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