LETTERS OK AN ORMTHOl.OUlST. 163 



suspicious dislike to giving information." It is a wonder that such an old 

 sportsman should uot have been acquainted with the talisman which unlocks 

 the cannie lips of old Donald. A little meeshin, or a few inches of tobacco^ 

 at once goes to the heart of the old luountaineer; but it must be given in 

 the right way, not as you Avould throw a beggar a halfpenny, but with such 

 a remark as '^maybe you're out of tobacco to day, Donald," or "try this 

 Sandy, and tell me if it's good or no." The gentle tveed is the great mollifier 

 among the wildest nations; the Arab exchanges pipes on meeting his friend, 

 as an assurance of his good faith, and the American chiefs dispel the impending 

 war cloud by a few whiflfe from the pacific calmut. Had tobacco been discovered 

 in the middle ages, I will answer for it that those warlike barons would 

 have stopped at home and smoked their pipes upon their castle walls, instead 

 of galloping about the country cutting people's throats. 



I am on the eve of starting on a trip to the north-west extremity of 

 Mull, where there is a loch famous for Widgeon and other Ducks I shall 

 take a boat and one hand, touching, if it is possible, at Staffa on the way, 

 for Geese abound there. I wish I could have the pleasure of your company: 

 I have plenty of feathered society indeed, but I would rather, for a companion, 

 have one of Plato's two-legged animals without feathers! The time of my 

 absence will depend entirely upon the wind. 



Letter II. 



lona, March, 1852. 



You will be glad to heau that the charm of the Raven's nest has been 

 broken, that we attempted it last week, and succeeded in liarrying it. It 

 contained five eggs; and I will willingly consign to you my share, though I 

 have a companion who lays claim to half of the plunder. I.^he nest was 

 situated on a very dangerous cliff, not in the same place as the old nest. 

 The beetling crag overhung it so as to make it invisible from above, except 

 from a projecting ledge about a gun-shot further on. The old shepherd had 

 stipulated with me that the Raven was to be shot; but he was so eager to 

 point out the right position for seeing the nest, that he obstructed my aim 

 at the critical moment of the bird's launching herself off the nest. Shepherds 

 of course have a hereditary hatred of Ravens, but I was glad that she 

 escaped, as I have no grudge against her, and I could not have saved her 

 skin^ for she would have fallen into the stormy waves far down beneath the 

 nest. I was disappointed in the size of the eggs, as they are not larger 

 than those of the Hooded Crow; they are of a longer shape, and their colour 

 is a fine deep greenish blue, and with few or no spots. 



I was out walking this evening, since writing the above, and I saw the two 

 Ravens evidently choosing a locality for trying a new nest. One of them had a 

 piece of moss or wool in its bill. They are apparently disposed to try the 

 opposite side of the island for their new habitation. Though I did not go 

 atler them, for fear of frightening them from their intention, yet I have a 



