It is certain there were sheep in Gairloch centuries before the black-faced sheep were introduced. The original sheep were of small size, and had pink noses and brownish faces; their coat varied in colour; they were kept in houses at night for protection from wolves, and later on from foxes. This original native breed of sheep is now unknown in Gairloch; some of them are still to be seen in St Kilda. The late laird of Dundonell gave me a description of the St Kilda sheep, which exactly agreed with my own observations. He said they were "of every size, shape, and colour, from a hare to a jackass." In the present day the sheep in Gairloch are of the black-faced and cheviot breeds (with some crosses), probably in almost equal proportions. There are twenty-seven farms entered in the County Valuation Roll as at present existing in Gairloch. There are sheep on all of them except one, viz., that attached to the Kenlochewe Hotel, which is a purely dairy farm; all of them have some arable land; several are club farms. Most of the arable land, however, is cultivated by the crofters. Strictly speaking the present system of crofts in Gairloch dates back only to 1845. Prior to that time the "run-rig" system of cultivation prevailed throughout Gairloch. The small tenants, instead of having crofts as now, held the arable land in common; in many cases an oversman was responsible to the proprietor for the whole rent. The arable land was divided into "rigs," and these were cultivated by the tenantry in rotation, sometimes decided by lot. In Appendix XCIX. to the Report (1885) of the Royal Commission on the Crofters and Cottars, is an interesting description of three varieties of "run-rig," communicated by Mr Alexander Carmichael. The new system of crofts was established in Gairloch in 1845 and 1846. The Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch writes:--"Each tenant had a lot or croft of about four acres assigned to him; houses (of which there had before been usually five or six together) were now placed separately on the new lots; and fevers and epidemics, which formerly had spread so fast, ceased to do so. Money was borrowed from government, and a great deal of draining and trenching was done. The surveying, measuring, planning, and mapping near five hundred crofters' lots was very expensive to the proprietor, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, and the trouble of having this change effected was very great; but it has proved of great benefit to the crofters themselves." There are still several small townships where the houses remain in close juxtaposition as under the old run-rig system. "First Coast" and "Second Coast," on the late Mr Bankes's estate, are examples.