The Sea Pool 



is renewed by the strong sunlight; but even in the month 

 of June big rainstorms roll in from the Atlantic, and before 

 the soft westerly wind the grey mists advance to the hills. 

 It is the characteristic of the western coast that rain rarely 

 falls unless it is accompanied by a strong breeze, so that 

 it drives aslant through the glen almost in the form of 

 spray. The storm continues but an hour or two before the 

 hills run water. Water-courses which are usually dry carry 

 to the river of the sea pool rushing torrents, and I know 

 of no grander sight than to watch them emerge from the 

 mist-cap, and — their murmur mingling with the rush of 

 the wind — hurry to join the parent river beneath. 



To the fisherman a June rainstorm must always bring 

 good cheer, for do not the heaviest salmon enter the river 

 during this month ? Curiously enough, a salmon has never, 

 I think, been taken in the sea pool itself; they hurry past, 

 for their instinct leads them westward up to the linn and 

 to the chain of lochs beyond. During June, few sea trout 

 enter the river, but early in the following month they press 

 from the Atlantic into the sea loch through the narrow 

 channel joining it with the ocean, so that on quiet summer 

 nights many of their race may be seen leaping in the salt 

 water of the estuary, and the soft "plosh" of their rising 

 carries far in the still air. 



During these days of midsummer the scent of the bog 

 myrtle is carried far over the loch, for myriads of its plants 

 have their home in the boggy land leading down to the 

 water. A profusion of sea thrift is now in blossom on the 

 shingle lying near the sea pool, so that a tinge of pink is 

 to be seen over all the river estuary. Here oyster catchers 

 have their nests, and with lack of foresight sometimes lose 

 their eggs with a high spring tide. 



From the bushes stonechats sing and call, and with 

 wonderful cunning hide from the intruder the whereabouts 

 of their nests, search he never so carefully. Whinchats are 

 here also, and no less skilled are they than their cousins in 



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