166 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 



to drink the health of his majesty the salmon and 

 enable Sandy to recover from his exertions. Then 

 back on the water, and within three casts I was into 

 another fish, which ultimately turned the scale at 

 eight pounds. Sandy worked the boat with the same 

 consummate skill, and enabled me to kill a seven and 

 an eight pound, clean-run salmon on extremely light 

 tackle. When we came to shore with the second fish 

 the old man was dead beat, and so we gave up fish- 

 ing for the day ; but nothing would satisfy him but 

 to let him carry these two fish back to the hotel him- 

 self, five miles over an Hebridian road. Arrived at 

 the hotel, Sandy required a considerable amount of 

 reviving ; but Sandy was a Scotsman ! 



A few days after this was the Sabbath, and so a 

 friend and I started very early on what turned out to 

 be a most entertaining walk. First we went down to 

 the creek, into which the water from the hotel lochs 

 emptied. While lazily lying on the shore I detected 

 an otter at work just across the bay, a distance of 

 some two or three hundred yards. Viewed through 

 field-glasses, we could see him watching the salmon 

 crowded in the water below him ; then he quietly 

 dropped down off a rock into the sea, and in a few 

 seconds came up with his teeth through the shoulders 

 of a struggling fish. Three times did we see that 

 otter dive down into the water and bring up a salmon 

 each time. He appeared to kill the fish and then leave 

 them on the bank. My friend and I walked back to 



