172 FISHING IN RIVER, STREAM, AND LOCH 



any amount of trackless jolting. Until, on one occa- 

 sion, being caught by a gust down a gully, the break- 

 boat and its contents came to a sudden capsize ; and 

 the proud owner, being saved, with the sacrifice of his 

 property, by a dangerous swimming-bout across the 

 loch before the storm, condemned his craft forthwith. 

 We do not say that these carriage-boats may not be 

 constructed so as to be safe and reasonably commodious. 

 St. John made his tour in Sutherlandshire in one of 

 them. We merely record a fact which disenchanted us 

 of any special hankering after them. And to return to 

 our loch-fishing, some of our most agreeable memories 

 associate themselves with long days upon Loch Leven. 

 Now the loch is exploitee by fishing-clubs, who put 

 forth in fleets each day through the season. Then 

 there were but a couple of boats available on the water, 

 one of these belonging to the proprietor, and the other 

 to the " tacksman " of his fishings. Perhaps the pike 

 were less persistently netted down than they might 

 have been ; but the trout must have been all the 

 heavier on that account ; and surely they were less shy 

 than they have since become. We know that, wind 

 and weather permitting, we used to make highly satis- 

 factory baskets. And at the risk of being called dog- 

 in-the-mangerish, we maintain that it was a pleasure 

 to have the pick of the expanse before you. The 

 whole circuit of the loch is classic ground, and you 

 might steep your soul in romantic associations while 

 relaxing from your labours on the most exciting of the 

 fishing-ground. Now you were within easy hail of the 



