UNSEASONABLE HOUKS. 127 



the Spey, when I could not see my fly drop in 

 the water. 



" Many gentlemen angle all day long when the 

 river is very low and the weather bright and sun- 

 shiny, without taking a single fish. After they 

 return home is the time the natives go to work. 

 I recollect a notorious poaching character show- 

 ing me, one morning early, no fewer than eight 

 salmon, two of which would weigh upwards of 

 twenty pounds apiece, which he told me he had 

 caught with the fly, after eleven o'clock the night 

 before." 



The Avon. — This stream rises in the cele- 

 brated Carngorm hills, and empties itself into 

 the Spey at Ballandallach, near the seat of Sir 

 John M'Pherson Grant. It is one of the most 

 transparent rivers in Scotland. You may see 

 salmon lying at the bottom of pools twelve feet 

 in depth. It is a good angling stream on a dark, 

 cloudy day, and is famous for its sea-trout. The 

 best fly is a small, very dark-bodied one, with teal 

 and woodcock wings. Spinning with the parr, or 

 artificial minnow, may be successfully practised 

 in this river. 



The Spean. — This river runs through the 

 braes of Lochabar, and joins the Lochy below 

 Spean-bridge. About seven miles above this 



