Foula

   FOULA, an island, in the county of Shetland; forming part of the parish of Walls and Sandness, and containing 215 inhabitants. This island lies almost twenty miles distant from any land, and is the most westerly of the Shetlands; it is about three miles in length, and one and a half in breadth, with bold and steep shores, and formed chiefly of three hills of a nearly conical shape, the highest of which attains an elevation of between 800 and 900 feet. There is very little level ground; and the isle has only one landing-place, Ham, on the east side, and even this cannot be approached in bad weather: the island is resorted to as a fishing station, and it affords excellent pasturage for sheep. Dense columns of birds of various kinds hover round it, literally darkening the air at particular seasons; the surface of the hills swarms with plover, crows, and curlews, and the cormorants occupy the lower portions of the cliffs. The minister of Walls makes a periodical visit to the isle, remaining usually for two Sundays; the schoolmaster officiates as a kind of pastor at other times.