SUTHERLAND. 141 



by the tenant of the adjoining shootings, for whom 

 another lodge is in course of erection overlooking Loch 

 Shin. From Lairg, three times a week, mail gigs start 

 for Lochinver and Scourie, respectively in the west and 

 north-west of the county, and to Tongue in the north. 

 There is another grand route available by sea to Loch- 

 inver, which will be referred to further on. 



Lairg is situated at the foot of Loch Shin, close to 

 where the river makes its exit. This loch, one of the 

 largest in Scotland, and the largest in Sutherland, is 

 upwards of eighteen miles long. At the Lairg end, the 

 fishing is at present only moderate, and in that part it 

 has for several years past lost the prestige formerly 

 acquired by the size and number of trout found there. 

 At the other end there is the fishing station of Overskaig, 

 to which I shall presently refer. Loch Beannach (Blessed 

 Loch), a small loch about four miles from Lairg, is 

 daily resorted to by anglers, and very fine baskets of 

 trout are got. They generally rise freely to the fly. 



The finest angling loch at Lairg is Loch Craggie, and 

 in a less degree Loch Doula, both close together, 

 and about three miles from Lairg. Loch Craggie has 

 deservedly the reputation of being one of the finest, for 

 the quality, as well as for the size of its trout (5. farid). 

 Neither of these lochs is open to the public. They 

 belong to the neighbouring estate of Achany, and 

 are rented with the adjoining shootings, at, it is said, 

 £ 100 a year. Permission was obtained by a favoured few 

 to fish here during our two or three days' stay at Lairg, 

 at. the end of last August. On that occasion two rods 



