i8o HIGHLAND SPORT 



afford not to bother himself with questions of economy ; he 

 had got what he wanted, and took care that all else should be 

 in keeping with the luxurious surroundings. 



In this sportsman's paradise then I had been invited to stay 

 for a month, and on my arrival the house was already full of 

 guests, amongst whom were several ladies ; for there was a 

 Mrs. Berks, and a better hostess it would have been hard 

 to find ; also there were some men who did not shoot, while 

 lastly there were the four who did, who with Berks and 

 myself made up the party of six "guns." During dinner 

 I learnt I was a favoured guest, as the other quartette had 

 only been asked to stay till the 25th of the month. However, 

 Tom Berks and I were not only old schoolfellows but fast 

 friends, and he found good-natured pleasure in ministering 

 to my hobbies, for so great was my devotion to the gun, 

 and so well-known to him, that he laughingly used to assert, 

 I should come to my own funeral with a breechloader in one 

 hand and a rod in the other. 



Now, to chronicle the doings of a whole month by such 

 expressions as " on the first day of my visit," " the next day," 

 "the day after this," "the fourth day of my stay," etc., etc., 

 would only at last involve me in a hank : I have thought 

 to escape from the difficulty and to make matters clearer by 

 recording the events of the period in diary form. There 

 is no need to mention the names of all the guests, but suffice 

 it to say that amongst them there was a very pretty Miss 

 Kent, a General Sussex, and a Mr. Thomas Surrey. Com- 

 mencing then with the 12th of August, and, dear reader, 

 do not be alarmed, for I am not about to rhapsodise on the 

 beauties of porridge, mountain air, mountain dew, purple 

 heather, distant hills, feathering sterns, deadly tubes, crowing 

 cocks, long shots, and lunches by babbling burns. Oh, no, 

 my " twelfth " will be done with in a very few words, for 

 here is all my diary records : — 



1 88 1, Wednesday, 12th of August. — Lovely day, started off 



