CH. IX.] EMBER-COOKING FISH. 117 



with the hot ashes. When you think he ought to 

 be done, allowing from ten minutes to a quarter of 

 an hour according to his size, partially uncover him 

 and tear off a small piece of his winding-sheet. If 

 his skin comes off with it, he is sufficiently done, 

 and out with him. Should however the paper 

 come off minus the skin, cover him up again, and 

 give him a little more law, until this test shows 

 him to be perfectly done. On being turned out 

 of his envelope, the whole of his skin should ad- 

 here to it. As for his inside, you may disregard 

 it altogether, or opening him, turn it out, which 

 you will find there is not the slightest difficulty 

 in doing en masse. Pepper and salt him, if you 

 have such condiments by you, and you will only 

 be sorry that your own kitchen does not afford 

 you the means of dressing your fish thus at home 1 . 

 This plan was shewn me a year or two ago by a 

 gillie on the shores of Loch Garry, the waters from 

 which flow down the Garry to Loch Oich, the cen- 

 tral one of the chain forming the Caledonian Canal, 



1 I observe that this mode of dressing fish has already been 

 described by Mr Stoddart in his Angler's Companion. As, 

 however, it is possible that these Notes and his excellent 

 work may fall under the notice of different readers, and the 

 "wrinkle" is one worthy of being widely disseminated, I ven- 

 ture to let it stand as I have written it. 



