HERRING-FISHING IN THE LOCHS. 317 



it easier to pick up the dead fish, whether whole or in pieces, 

 which fall into the water, than to dive after the living ones. 

 The larger gulls eat immense quantities. I was assured that 

 a black-backed gull has been seen to swallow five goodly- 

 sized herrings in rapid succession. He was then so utterly 

 gorged and unable to move that he was caught. All these 

 flocks of birds enliven the scene some, like the gannets, 

 dashing down from a height into the calm water, and almost 

 invariably catching a herring ; others diving and attacking 

 the shoals far down beneath the surface ; while the gulls for 

 the most part feed on the maimed and broken fish. Every 

 bird, too, seems to be trying to scream louder than the rest, 

 and such a Babel-like mixture of sounds can scarcely be 

 heard anywhere else. Altogether it is a most interesting and 

 animated scene, and to see it in perfection it is well worth 

 while to take the trouble of passing a night in a herring-boat 

 instead of in one's bed. In fact I can truly assert that two 

 nights spent many years ago in herring-fishing have kept an 

 honoured place in my memory, and are looked back to as 

 among the most amusing of my out-door adventures. 



A different mode of pursuing this fish is resorted to when 

 the shoals take to the lochs or salt-water inlets on the west 

 coast. The scene is then one of singular interest and beauty. 

 The fishing is carried on in what looks like a calm fresh- 

 water lake, winding far up into the mountains, which, over- 

 hanging the water, echo back with startling distinctness every 

 sound which is uttered on its smooth surface. The pictur- 

 esque rocks, dotted with noble old birch trees, with their 

 weeping branches hanging like ladies' tresses over the deep 

 water of the bay, and the grey mountain slopes above these, 

 add a beauty to the scene which is so unexpected and so 

 unusual an accompaniment to sea-fishing, that to be under- 

 stood it must be seen. Hundreds of boats are actively em- 

 ployed in every direction ; whilst larger vessels lie waiting to 

 get their cargo of fish complete, and then stand out from the 

 bay, winding round its numerous headlands until they can 

 take advantage of a steady wind, blowing from some one 

 certain point, instead of from two or three at once, as 

 mountain winds always do. In addition to these vessels 

 which are bound for Liverpool, Dublin, London, or elsewhere, 

 there is the Government cruiser, distinguishable at once by 

 its symmetry and neatness, lying near the mouth of the loch, 

 with its tall mast and long yards, keeping order amongst the 

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