CHAPTER X 



THE SEA POOL 



In the mist-shrouded Island of Mull, and lying in the 

 shadow of big hills on which ptarmigan nest and the eagle 

 has his ihome, is the sea pool of which I write. The small 

 river which forms the pool has its source in a chain of lochs 

 lying within six miles of the sea, yet its tributaries are many, 

 and by the time the stream reaches the sea pool its waters 

 are not unworthy of the silvery salmon, and the sea trout, 

 exulting in its strength. 



The pool is not deep — when the water is at its average 

 height the deepest hole is not more than six feet — yet at 

 certain seasons of the year it holds many fish in its clear 

 waters. An average tide from the still sea loch into which 

 the river runs does not reach it, but at the full of the 

 "springs" the sea enters the pool, and dams back its waters 

 so that at times they overflow the adjoining rough pastures 

 where the green plover scream and wheel during the season 

 of their nesting. At such times, swimming in with the salt 

 water, many sea trout, and perhaps a few salmon also, enter 

 and populate the pool. 



The season of the fishing falls late in these parts; there 

 is no early show of fish when the ground is still frost-bound 

 and the hills are deep in snow : indeed July is usually more 

 than half gone before the great " run " of salmon and sea 

 trout ascend the river. The pool, it is true, is peopled 

 throughout the winter by a few small sea trout or "finnock," 

 and when the frost grips the countryside, and the pool is 

 held firm beneath a sheet of black ice, these small fish 

 may be seen swimming in the waters beneath, but they 

 are not worth the taking until they have returned to 



52 



