PERTINACITY OF SALMON. 269 



remote from roads and tracks, the waters of which are seldom 

 or never troubled by the line of the angler. During my 

 search for the breeding places of the osprey and other rare 

 birds in the north of Sutherland, I have come upon lakes 

 situated in those rugged wildernesses, and frequently high 

 upon the mountains, where I am confident no human being 

 ever practised the " gentle craft." The only enemies that the 

 trout have in these lonely lochs are the otters who live on 

 their banks, or the osprey who builds her nest on some rocky 

 islet, safely encircled by the cold depths of the surrounding 

 waters. 



There is also in many of these lakes plenty of char, a fish 

 of mysterious habits, never or seldom taking the fly or any 

 other bait, but at a certain season (about the middle of 

 October, as far as my experience goes) migrating in great 

 shoals from the deepest recesses of the lake, where they 

 spend the rest of the year, to the shallows near the shore. 

 During this short migration they are caught in nets, and 

 frequently in great numbers. 



On the east of Sutherlandshire there are several excellent 

 salmon rivers : amongst the best, if not quite the best, of 

 these is the " Shin," which flows out of an extensive lake of 

 the same name, which is full of most excellent trout. In 

 some parts of this county the propensity of salmon to ascend 

 streams is most strikingly exemplified : nothing can exceed 

 the determination with which they work their way from 

 river to lake, from lake to burn, and so gradually ascending 

 every running stream until at last they reach rivulets so 

 small and shallow that you wonder how two salmon can pass 

 each other in them. Taking advantage of every flood which 

 swells the burns, they work themselves up shallows and 

 narrow places where apparently there is scarcely sufficient 

 water for the smallest trout to swim. When they have 

 fulfilled their spawning duties they drop back during the 

 winter floods to the larger streams and thence to the sea, 

 where they become reinvigorated and increase in size with a 

 rapidity which would be incredible had it not been fully 

 ascertained by frequent and specific experiment. 



On the east coast of Ross-shire, between Sutherland and 

 Inverness-shire, there are few streams of any size or value. 



The Beauly is a noble stream as well for the angler as for 

 the lover of natural beauty, being surrounded with most 

 magnificent scenery. 



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