THESE unpretentious sketches, based on contributions to the Ross- shire
Puma!, contain more sense about the real and lasting problems
of the Highlands than many more ambitious surveys. Mr. MacDonald was born on a croft, and worked on it till he was twenty-six ; then he was given the chance of taking an agricultural degree at Aberdeen, and becoming County Organiser in the
Hebrides. In this capacity he saw a good deal of Leverhulme's schemes in Lewis ; there is a first-rate account of " the wee soap-
mannie " being cheered after addressing a supposedly hostile meet- ing. He was delighted at having converted .them ; Mr. MacDonald had to explain that they were applauding the cleverness of his speech, but still disagreed with every word. The returned soldiers and sailors wanted crofts, not the steady work and steady pay that Lever- hulme offered, and when they didn't get crofts the land-raiding began. Mr. MacDonald shares their standard of values, but he is most sensible about reformers who demand the re-peopling of High- land straths : the way to do that, he says, is not to preach or gush, but build roads and houses, and turn local power into electricity for local use.
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