TAIN TO INVERNESS. 89 



we had noted the wooden model of "My First Fish/' 

 and all the other paraphernalia of "the merry fisher's" 

 life, we were quite enabled to appreciate the devotion, 

 of another of Sir Joseph Hawley's guests (Lieut. 

 Col. the Hon. Fane Keane), who lingered, heroically 

 dead to all St. Leger joys, four days after that party 

 broke up, simply because a large fish was known to 

 be in the Laggan Pool, and landed it triumphantly 

 after a grand struggle of an hour and five minutes. 

 It proved to be of 33 Ibs. weight, and the largest fish 

 that had been killed in the Ness within living me- 

 mory. It is no slight illustration of the beneficial 

 effect of the new Salmon Act, in increasing the size 

 of the fish, that, in the following year, Mr. Denison 

 landed one of 29 Ibs., and Captain Vivian another of 

 274 IDS. in the same water. 



But we had no hours of idleness on hand, and 

 once more we are on the road in a pouring rain, 

 and bid a respectful good-bye to " the lozenge-stone," 

 as we ride through Inverness, away towards Cullo- 

 den Moor a table-land on the top of a hill, 

 part of which is improved, while the rest will hardly 

 give cattle a living. Nairnshire, which we entered a 

 few miles further on, after leaving Hill .Head to the 

 left, is a lighter and earlier soil than Inverness-shire, 

 and produces an average crop of grass, which is too 

 often sadly cut up during a protracted drought. It 

 has a dry bottom, capital for sheep on turnips and for 

 barley crops, but not very generous for beasts. A 

 large acreage of turnips is taken here for hogging by 



