In 1935, Robert Atkinson and John Ainslie set out on an ornithological search for the rare Leach's Fork-tailed Petrel. The search took them from to many of the remote islands off the North West coast of Scotland, to an almost inaccessible North Rona and beyond. Robert Atkinson's account of his twelve year adventure provides a detailed and emotive description of the wildlife and landscape of the Hebridean outlanders. He records the primitive lifestyles of the islanders, their living conditions, traditions and histories. His writing has inspired many of the later accounts of Hebridean travel.