GENERAL GOWDIE 121 



the sunny dell, and thought of " auld lang syne " ; 

 then, when the cheerless morn broke forth, and he 

 found himself on a vast continent, far away from 

 the land of his fathers, he felt as one cast out of 

 Paradise. Gone were the visions of his early scenes 

 and companions ; — lost, long lost, but too well 

 remembered. How distant, alas ! from the bonny 

 copses of Carrol-side ! — how far from the silver 

 waters of the Tweed ! 



After honourable service he set sail for the 

 shores of Scotland, determined to pass the re- 

 mainder of his days in comparative privacy and 

 tranquillity. I met him soon after his arrival, and 

 gave him some salmon fishing. It was delightful 

 to see how he enjoyed himself : he waded as deep 

 as any of us. And I well remember showing him a 

 favourite seat for a salmon near the point of a cairn : 

 he cast his fly at once in the exact spot to an inch, 

 and threw several times with the same adroitness ; 

 not because he expected to raise a salmon — for he 

 well knew that if a fish did not come at the first 

 dexterous throw, it was useless to cast a second 

 time for him in the same place 1 — but because he 

 felt great satisfaction at his renewed dexterity, and 

 he was pleased that any one should witness it. 



Poor fellow ! his happiness did not last long. 

 The habit of wading at his advanced time of life 

 brought on internal disease, which soon ended 

 fatally ; and he only repassed the seas to lay his 

 bones in the fatherland. 



1 This is doctrine which it is strange an experienced salmon fisher 

 should utter. Many, many times may a fish disregard the fly, and 

 yet suddenly leave his lair and seize it. — Ed. 



