nd in Col.

The general conversation of the Islanders has nothing particular. I did
not meet with the inquisitiveness of which I have read, and suspect the
judgment to have been rashly made. A stranger of curiosity comes into a
place where a stranger is seldom seen: he importunes the people with
questions, of which they cannot guess the motive, and gazes with surprise
on things which they, having had them always before their eyes, do not
suspect of any thing wonderful. He appears to them like some being of
another world, and then thinks it peculiar that they take their turn to
inquire whence he comes, and whither he is going.

The Islands were long unfurnished with instruction for youth, and none
but the sons of gentlemen could have any literature. There are now
parochial schools, to which the lord of every manor pays a certain
stipend. Here the children are taught to read; but by the rule of their
institution, they teach only English, so that the natives read a language
which they may never use or understand. If a parish, which often
happens, contains several Islands, the school being but in one, cannot
assist the rest. This is the state of Col, which, however, is more
enlightened than some other places; for the deficiency is supplied by a
young gentleman, who, for his own improvement, travels every year on foot
over the Highlands to the session at Aberdeen; and at his return, during
the vacation, teaches to read and write in his native Island.

In Sky there are two grammar schools, where boarders are taken to be
regularly educated. The price of board is from three pounds, to four
pounds ten shillings a year, and that of instruction is half a crown a
quarter. But the scholars are birds of passage, who live at school only
in the summer; for in winter provisions cannot be made for any
considerable number in one place. This periodical dispersion impresses
strongly the scarcity of these countries.

Having heard of no boarding-school for ladies nearer than Inverness, I
suppose their education is generally domestick. The elder daughters of
the higher families are sent into the world, and may contribute by their
acquisitions to the improvement of the rest.

Women must here study to be either pleasing or useful. Their
deficiencies are seldom supplied by very liberal fortunes. A hundred
pounds is a portion beyond the hope of any but the Laird's daughter. They
do not indeed often give money with their daughters