AMONG THE SOUTHERN UPLANDS 215 



trout. The paddling of the "trotters" does not 

 seem to scare or keep them from taking the hook. 



Countless little springs, without the strength 

 to form a channel or a current to lend them 

 character, sipe through the grass on to the road, 

 to find some hidden way into the stream. Their 

 moist track down the slope is marked by the 

 purple of hairy sedum, by the pink of alpine 

 willow herb, and the yellow of the marsh 

 buttercup. 



The goal is Windlestrae Law the highest 

 hill in the neighbourhood. The peak more 

 than two thousand feet above is, as yet, hidden 

 from sight by intervening ridges. A slope, not 

 very steep in itself, is so beset with shrubs as 

 to put one's endurance to the test. There is 

 no escaping a wide belt of heather. Ling, in 

 this case, certainly deserves its name, being 

 longer than usual. 



Heather, when knee-deep, so that one cannot 

 very conveniently lift each step clear over the 

 top, is very troublesome to walk among. From 

 its recumbent habit, it has a nasty tendency to 

 catch one just above the boot. 



Three feet of ling, two of which are trailing, is 

 not only a drag, but very much of a trap as well. 



