WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



landed, my dog started an old goat and a pair of kids, who 

 dashed immediately at what appeared to bea perpendicular 

 face of rock, but on which they contrived to keep their foot- 

 ing in a way that quite puzzled me. The old goat at onetime 

 alighted on a point of the rock where she had to stand with 

 her four feet on a spot not bigger than my hand, where she 

 stood for a minute or two seemingly quite at a loss which 

 way to go, till her eye caught some (to me invisible) pro- 

 jections ofthestone,up which shebounded,lookinganxious- 

 ly at her young, who, however, seemed quite capable of 

 following her footsteps wherever she chose to lead them. 

 We caught sight also of a badger, as he scuffled along a 

 shelf of rock and hurried into his hole. 



As the eveningadvanced, the cormorants keptcomingin 

 totheirroosting-places in great numbers, and I shot several 

 of them. We saw a good many seals as we approached the 

 stake-nets near the ferry, but did not get any shots at them; 

 and at one place two otters were playing about in the water 

 near the rocks, but they also took good care to disappear 

 before we came within reach of them; and as I wished to 

 get back to Cromarty before it was late, I would not stop to 

 waitfor their reappearance. I was much pleased on the whole 

 with my day's excursion — the beautiful scenery of the rocks, 

 with the harbour of Cromarty, and thedistant hills of Ross- 

 shire and Inverness-shire, forming altogether as magnifi- 

 cent and varied a view as I have ever seen. 



On an excursion along these same rocks I was once near- 

 ly drowned. I had just killed a pigeon that had dropped in 

 the water in a recess between the rocks. We rowed in after 

 it, and just as I was leaning over the bowof the boat to pick 



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