Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-01-27
A LONELY ISLAND.
1T is A BRITISH POSSESSION IN TIE
ATLANTIC. OCEAN.

Known as RockaII. and No Human BE-
ing Has Ever LauIed Upon It-Prob-
ably the Cause of Nany Disasters-Loolss
Like Ship Under Full sail.
Perhaps the loneliest island in the
Atlantic Ocean is a British possession
known on the map as Rockall. Where
is it? Rockall is IA lonely pyramdal
rock, some 20 feet in height and $50
feet in circumference, rising sheer out
of the wild Atlantic waves, about 1874
miles west-half-south from st. Kilda,
in the outer Hebrides, 300 miles from
the nearest point OF the Scottish main
land and 260 miles northwest from the
nearest point on the Irish coast.
More exactly, its position-at least,
as nearly as this has been ascertained
is latitude 81 deg. 80 min. north,
longitl de 10 deg. AZ min. west There
is neither soil upon it nor sandy beach
round it, the depth of water close up
to it being twenty tr thirty fathoms.
rock" thereto e it must be called
rather than an islal d. or even an islet;
and of all the rock and islands, great
and small smroCr ding our shores it
is at once Tic NOS. remote, the most
desOlate, the least / nCwr. and in many
respects the most = emarkable.
Not only has it ever boosted a hui
man inhabHuj, bat no holiday tripper
or spor,smsU hrs ever Sc, foot on its
shores, and ONLY CA one or two occa-
sions is it even In own to have been
landed upon. Only in Che finest wealth
err is it possible tc land upon ID; in
Winter the ocean waves IL. ovcrtop
its summit. This Mui; can Only be
reached, even when landing has been
effected, by an as ent on tho north
eastern face of the 'ock, so PERCEPTIONS
are its other sides.
Close to the ma n rock. and with
deep water between them. lies a dan
gerous reef, exposed at low tide known
as Lakewood Rock while a mile and
a half southeast lies another similar
rock known as Helens Reef, from
vessel of that name whose wreck upon
it first made it known.
To the mariner lIockall presents it.
self as a serious danger. Neither the
main rock nor the surroun ding reef
has even been either lighted, belled or
buoyed. Yet, though not in the main
line of cross-Atlantic traffic, there can
be no doubt that they have frequently
proved fatal to vessels. There are
several actual records of wrecks upon
them, the earliest being in 1856, and
it is probable that they are partly ac-
co.ntabe for some of the disappear
ances of well-found vessels which are
reported annually from the Atlantic.
Even in broad daylight the main rock
is a menace, for with its steep, tall
sides, and its pointed top, always whit
ened by the deposits of sea birds, it is
invariably at first sight taken for a
ship in full sail.
! Mr.. j. A. Harvie- Brown, an eminent
Scottish naturalist; Mr.. r. NJ. Bar
rington, leading Irish naturalist, and
two other gentlen en-, undertook not
long ago a scien life expedition to
Rockall, under the auspices of the
Royal Irish Academy. Twice was the
rock approached, but on each occa-
sion the swell around it rendered a
landing impossible, and the expedition
had at last to return, baked of its
main object. Nevertheless it brought
back some very interesting results, OBJ
tanned chiefly by DIR edging on the bank
and by observing the birds flying
around the rock.
Ornthologists have long awaited
with keenest interest information re-
latng to the bird population of the
rock, and have imagined it a possible
breeding place OF several interesting
sea birds. But the recent expedition,
during which no fewer than twenty
species were observed round the rock,
proved that in all probability no spe-
cies breeds upon it except the common
guilemOt.
In many other ways the rock is Of
much scientific interest, and any
yachtsman or others who may hereaf-
ter be fortunate enough to effect a
landing upon Rockall will certainly
obtain results of much interest to nat
uralists.