In these and similar cases the curers are not formally tacksmen, nor indeed do they formally guarantee to the proprietors the rents of the tenants who deliver their fish to them; but it may be said that there is a custom having almost the force of a legal obligation, which makes it unusual for a merchant to refuse an advance for payment of rent even to a man who is indebted to him. An extreme example of this custom as it prevailed in Unst is thus described by a very intelligent merchant, Mr. Sandison:- 'I have here a letter which I wrote in 1860, and which represents my views on that subject, and I may as well read an extract from it:-"If we don't give unlimited advances, we are told the fishermen will be taken from us. I have now been nearly twelve months in this place (that was after I came first to Uyea), and have closely watched the system pursued by proprietors and others, and certainly agree with you that it is a bad one; but I know I have no right to make any remarks or trouble you with my views on that subject, further than to state that I cannot see any good that will result from burdening the tenants with debt to the fish-curers. It has been my desire, ever since I knew anything about Shetland tenantry, to see them raised in the social scale, and made thoroughly independent both of proprietors, fish-curers, and others, and I have felt deeply interested in the -- properties, no doubt from being more in contact with them; but when the poor among them are in terror of the proprietors alike, and bound by forced advances to different fish-curers, alas for liberty! and more offered to any fish-curer who will advance more on them. This is not calculated to raise any tenant in self-respect." '10,025. You speak in that letter of "forced advances:" what were these?-What I meant by that was this: the proprietor's ground officer or agent in the island, for the time being, told the tenant that he might fish for me this year. I found that he had only £2 or £3 to get; and the ground officer told that tenant that if he did not go to me and get an advance for his rent, he would take him from me and give him to any other man who would advance the rent. That looked very like forced advances.' '10,026. That, however, was in 1860?-Yes.' '10,027. Was that a common practice in those times?-I believe that thirteen years ago truck existed ten times as much as it does now.' '10,028. But in 1860 was it a common thing for a proprietor's ground officer to threaten to remove a tenant unless he could get his rent from the fish-curer?-Yes; to threaten to remove him from the ground unless he could pay his rent, or to move him from a fish-curer who would not give him an advance for that purpose, to some other fish-curer who would do so.' '10,029. Have you known instances of fishermen who were treated in that way?-Yes. I was referring to cases of that kind when I was writing that letter. It was my own experience at the time