i84 ANGLERS' EVENINGS. 



of them reach no mean elevations — and in all parts of the 

 country the uplands chiefly consist of rocky knolls, steep 

 hills,abrupt protuberances, craggy cliffs, and dark summits, 

 which are highly picturesque, and occasionally even 

 sublime. 



Such is a brief outline of the lajid features of 

 Kirkcudbrightshire. But while the Stewartry is so 

 largely and beautifully diversified with hill and dale, with 

 mountain and rocky declivity, and whilst it abounds, 

 as might be expected from its undulating configuration, 

 with small brooks or burns, it cannot boast of iimncrous 

 rivers. Its chief streams are the Urr, the Cree, the Fleet, 

 the Ken, the Deugh, and the Dee. 



The Urr, taking its rise in a loch known by that 

 name at the junction of the parishes of Dunskae and 

 Balmaclellan, and receiving a large number of small 

 tributaries on its way, runs for 26 miles in a southerly 

 direction by Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, and then falls 

 into the Sohvay Frith. This river generally, but more 

 especially in damp seasons, carries large volumes of water, 

 and furnishes considerable quantities of salmon, grilse, 

 sea-trout, herling, and burn-trout. It runs through the 

 lands of six different proprietors, and is strictly preserved. 



The Cree rises on the south-east of Carrick, on the 

 borders of Ayrshire, and flowing south by south-east, falls, 

 after a run of some 25 miles, into Wigton Bay. It receives 

 a considerable number of small tributaries in its course, 

 and is reputed as being well-stocked with salmon, grilse, 

 and other ordinary kinds of fish. It is said that the smelt 

 or sparling, which is a very rare fish in Scotland, being 



