INTRODUCTION 



soil, and comprising districts of the very best partridge- 

 shooting that can be found in Scotland, while the streams 

 and swamps that intersect it afford a constant supply of 

 wild-fowl. As we advance inland we are sheltered by the 

 wide-extending woods of Altyre, abounding with roe and 

 game, and beyond these woods again is a very extensive 

 range of a most excellent grouse-shooting country, reach- 

 ing for many miles over a succession of moderately sized 

 hills which reach as far as the Spey. 



On the west of the Findhorn is a country beautifully 

 dotted with woods, principally of oak and birch, and inter- 

 sected by a dark, winding burn, full of fine trout, and the 

 constant haunt of the otter. Between this part of the county 

 and the sea-coast is a continuation of the Sandhills, inter- 

 spersed with lakes, swamps, and tracts of fir-wood and 

 heather. On the whole I do not know so varied or inter- 

 esting a district in Great Britain, or one so well adapted 

 to the amusement and instruction of a naturalist or sports- 

 man. In the space of a morning's walk you may be either 

 in the most fertile or in the most barren spot of the country. 

 In my own garden every kind of wall-fruit ripens to per- 

 fection, and yet at the distance of only two hours' walk you 

 may either be in the midst of heather and grouse, or in the 

 sandy deserts beyond the bay, where one wonders how 

 even the rabbits can find their living. 



The varieties of the soil and its productions, both ani- 

 mate and inanimate, will, however, be best shown in the 

 extracts from my note-books, with which these pages are 

 filled. My memorandums, having for the most part been 

 written down at the moment, and describing anecdotes 



XXV 



