1 68 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



occasionally depicted in Punch, and more serious 

 periodicals, under the heading, " A Week in the 

 Highlands." It rained well - nigh incessantly. 

 But a man is not, or ought not to be, the 

 weather's slave; and I was as much abroad as 

 the circumstances allowed, drying my single suit, 

 in the intervals, at the kitchen fire. As the only 

 concession to usage, I kept a certain shelter over 

 my head, and went to sleep to the sound of 

 the same two drops. After the first night, the 

 battle royal on the other side of the wooden 

 partition no longer disturbed me ; so readily do 

 we adapt ourselves to circumstances. 



The loch stretched out in front of the small square 

 window, and was separated from the cottage only by 

 a narrow scrub of alders. It lay jn the course of a 

 mountain burn, coming down a wild glen ; filled the 

 usual stony basin, surrounded by the weeping hills ; 

 and gave rise to a very considerable tail-stream. 



In common with all the other Perthshire waters, 

 except the few in the extreme south-west corner, 

 which form the romantic Forth system, this one 

 found its way into the river Tay ; and, like all the 

 other Perthshire Highland lochs, except the same 

 inconsiderable Forth system, this formed one of 

 the group around Loch Tay. 



