278 LOCH CRERAN. 



colour adorn the back, the largest and darkest between 

 the pectorals, and the others graduated in size and 

 brilliance towards the tail. It remains to be added that 

 the eyes of this dainty little fish have green pupils and 

 brilliant gold iris, so that, however diminutive, he is 

 quite a little beau in his way, evidently a variety of the 

 two-spot sucker. 



The almanacs threatened us with high tides end of last 

 and beginning of this week, and, so far as this particular 

 corner is concerned, they quite come up to the mark. 

 A little after day-break on the roth, with one of the rare 

 calm seas of the last two months, the tide crept steadily 

 up around and far beyond our overturned boat. Except 

 on the occasion of the great November gale of 1881, we 

 have never seen the water so far up on our own shore, 

 although on that occasion it was several feet higher on 

 the other side of our bay, on which the hurricane was 

 impelling it. For a steady rise of tide, without any 

 wave to prevent the exact measurement, this Saturday 

 morning's tide was therefore the one from which we 

 must judge in future, the sea in our own loch being 

 waveless. This does not at all mean that the great rise 

 was not caused by heavy gales, for the continued 

 severity of the weather for such a lengthened period 

 must have forced a vast body of waters upon our 

 western coasts. Each winter we are subjected to such 

 weather that we forget the severity of those past, and 

 declare the present the worst ; but really in this case we 

 must assert that, for incessant continuous assault by air 

 and rain, we have not seen this season beaten. The 

 gales have been only not hurricanes, and we scarcely 

 think this latter term can be withheld from that of 

 Monday night. The accompanying storms of sleet have 



