SEPTEMBER, 1882. 225 



rhubarb, concocted by means of a minimum of boiling 

 water and a maximum of Islay, that gave a ravenous 

 appetite to many wanderers in the remoter north ; but 

 here is a much simpler recipe for those inexcusable 

 people, whose appetites fail them in the vicinity of sloe 

 bushes ! 



Came to us from our poet's corner a little paper parcel, 

 and on opening it, appeared two finely preserved speci- 

 mens of the larger sand launce or sand eel (Ammodytes 

 tobianus) about eight inches long, in their beautiful blue 

 and silver livery. These are the first of this species we 

 have met with here ; but the population do not know how 

 to capture them, nor are our sands quite extensive enough 

 to harbour more than a few small shoals ; although Balure 

 and Ardmucknish Bays may be considered to offer plenty 

 of favourable ground at low water. In our own Loch 

 Creran we have not seen this large species, but so late 

 as yesterday we observed quite a shoal dip and pass 

 under our boat near the Sound of Eriska. Yesterday 

 was indeed one of the finest days of the year, and the 

 water for a time was calm and clear, so that we could 

 hang over the gunwale of the boat and watch the young 

 lythe and saithe, the various species of gobies, and an 

 occasional wrass or rock perch circle around the more 

 luxuriant seaware, and play with the scraps of cheese and 

 biscuits we dropped enticingly into the gaping mouth of 

 the dredge hanging below. There is a magnificent speci- 

 men of the i5-spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus ), the 

 largest we have ever met with, but we sweep the dredge 

 through its thickly-matted seaweed lair in vain. We have 

 had some interesting experience while dredging these 

 days, as we drew up from deep water a Gunnel fish or 

 Butter fish ( Gunnelhts), which is plentiful under stones 



