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The sea in the neighbourhood of the islands of Shetland is more

than commonly abundant in fish, which makes a great part of the

subsistence of their inhabitants. But, in order to profit by the

produce of the water, they must have a habitation upon the

neighbouring land. The rent of the landlord is in proportion, not

to what the farmer can make by the land, but to what he can make

both by the land and the water. It is partly paid in sea-fish;

and one of the very few instances in which rent makes a part of

the price of that commodity, is to be found in that country.

The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the

use of the land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all

proportioned to what the landlord may have laid out upon the

improvement of the land, or to what he can afford to take, but to

what the farmer can afford to give.