AN UNUSUAL OFFER.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATOR.1 SIR,—Far out in the Atlantic, 184 miles very nearly due west of St. Kilda, and 290 from the nearest part of the mainland of
Scotland, there is a granite stack, which rises to a height of 70
feet above the sea, and at a distance has been mistaken for a vessel under sail. The upper part is inhabited by vast numbers of sea-fowl. The name of the stack is Rockall. The great sand-bank from which it arises abounds with cod. For nearly two years I have been calling the attention of various scientific societies and individuals to the suitability of Rockall for a meteorological station, and have been offering, under certain conditions, to reside there alone for a twelvemonth, and take a series of observations. Some of my learned correspondents admit that it would be an important station for enabling them to study and predict British storms ; others say that, although rather too far to the north of the line of barometric depres- sion, it would be better than no station at all. All of therm seem to think that it would be almost impossible to erect at a moderate expense a house in which an observer could live- securely, and that nothing less substantial and costly than a lighthouse would be fit to resist the fury of the wind and waves in such a situation. It appears to me that they have arrived at this conclusion from reading a short and inaccurate account of the rock contained in Chambers's " Encyclopedia," and that the erroneous impression remains, even after it has been proved, to be so. Rockall is stated, in that work, to be twenty feet in height, and of a rounded form ; whereas in Hall's " Fragments of Voyages" (to which I was referred by the Admiralty), it is said to have an elevation of seventy feet, and to be peaked. All the other encyclopaslias I have consulted ignore the rock and the immense sand-bank around it, although the latter will pro- bably be, at uo distant day, a source of wealth to this or some more enterprising nation. With a fonrdation of seventy feet above the sea, or even less, it seems to me there would be no difficulty in fixing a house upon Rockall which would laugh at the wind and spray. One chamber would do, and it could be made of stout timber locked to ring-bolts, or be built of concrete. If connected by telegraph to the mainland, Rockall would, in my opinion, be an agreeable residence; and even in its isolated state, it would be endurable enough, if the occupant were cheered by the reflection that he was a pioneer in a noble cause- A little money would be well spent in trying to make storm- warnings more reliable than they have been of late. Besides meteorological observations, an observer posted on Rockall might, if properly instructed, be able to throw a little light on oceanic circulation, temperature, &c.
Itrust you will allow ice to lay this project before those who feel an interest in scientific research, and with whom I have not been in correspondence.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Bankhectcl, near Tranent, N.B., September 4th. J. SANDS.
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