must excuse my errors of description and my want 

 of skill : but thus far, and thus far only, I can 

 venture to say a good word in favour of my rough 

 notes that they are the result of actual and personal 

 observation, and not of hearsay or second-hand in- 

 formation ; and that, therefore, some reliance may 

 be placed in them. 



The present volume consists of extracts from a 

 Journal, written during a wandering excursion through 

 Sutherlandshire, one of the most interesting counties 

 in Scotland, and one of the least known, of a series 

 of field-notes for each month in the year, written 

 during my residence in the pleasant land of Moray, 

 and of a few miscellaneous chapters on matters of 

 interest to the sportsman. Such as they are, I offer 

 them to the public, trusting that they will receive 

 them as the off-hand thoughts and observations of 

 one who is more accustomed to the hill-side than to 

 the study to the gun than to the pen. 



