Scotland/Scots > Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

184 A JOURNEY TO THE
this world of {tone, fome valuable fpecies
of marble might be difcovered. But nei¬
ther philofophical curiofity, nor commercial
induftry, have yet fixed their abode here,
where the importunity of immediate want
fupplied but for the day, and craving on
the morrow, has left little room for excur-
five knowledge or the pleafing fancies of
diftant profit.
They have lately found a manufadlure
confiderably lucrative. Their rocks abound
with kelp, a fea-plant, of which the afhes
are melted into glals. They burn kelp in
great quantities, and then fend it away
in fhips, which come regularly to pur chafe
them. This new fource of riches has raifed
the rents of many maritime farms ; but the
tenants pay, like all other tenants, the ad¬
ditional rent with great unwillingnefs * be-
caufe they confider the profits of the kelp
as the mere produdt of perfonal labour,
to which the landlord contributes nothing.
How-