30 A HIGHLAND LAIRD 



of Auchnaclosky ; the landlord of the inn at the mouth 

 of the Ernan pays him a handsome price for the salmon 

 and sea-trout fishing there ; while he disposed of some 

 outlying hills at what was then deemed a fabulous 

 price, although already he regrets his precipitation in 

 parting with them. In fact, for his many square 

 leagues of rock, heath, and bog, interspersed with 

 patches of mountain grazing, he draws the income 

 of a fine property in the most fertile of the English 

 counties. But with all that he has not stinted himself 

 and his friends in the amusements to which he is 

 keenly devoted. He has kept in his own hands an 

 ample range of the woods and the heather that stretch 

 away from immediately around the house ; and he 

 can boast of as pretty a shooting in every sense as 

 any gentleman of his means in the Highlands. 

 Probably rather by chance than from design the 

 house was set down in a charming situation ; and, 

 thanks to the modern additions he has made, it is 

 as roomy and comfortable as he could wish, though 

 by no means architecturally attractive. It stands in 

 the middle of feathering birches on the romantic banks 

 of Lochlyle ; and out of the broken ground that 

 extends behind it rises a range of bold, heathery 

 uplands that lose themselves high overhead in a 

 mountainous jumble of rocks and precipices. In a 

 creek below you may see the masts of the little cutter 

 that transports him easily to his more distant beats ; 

 while half a dozen of broad-bottomed boats in the 

 boat-house are eloquent of excellent fishing. Although 



