CH. X.] " GREAT SPOTTED LING." 139 



fish, no slight weight at last, and as I was mostly 

 wading, and had no net, I lost a great number. 

 Under favourable circumstances, and fishing the 

 whole day, I have no doubt but that I could have 

 easily doubled, if not trebled, the score. 



The following saying, which is current amongst 

 the fishermen on the western coast of Scotland is, 

 from its originality and grand suggestiveness, not 

 without its merits, and, I think, worthy of pre- 

 servation: "Seven Sprats go to feed a Herring; 

 seven Herrings go to feed a Salmon ; seven Salmon 

 go to feed a Seal ; seven Seals go to feed a Whale ; 

 seven Whales go to feed a Kennan-craw ; and se- 

 ven Kennan-craws go to feed THE GREAT SPOTTED 

 LING, which lives on the other side of the whole 

 world." 



An old gillie in service at our shooting-quarters 

 used to say that the only fish he could eat were 

 Dog-fish and Salmon, "with may be a Sea-Trout," 

 declaring that all the rest made his "skin swell." 

 How this swelling developed itself, whether in 

 head, body, arms, or legs, I never could exactly 

 make out, for he seemed to be rather afraid of 

 being "chaffed" on the point, if he entered more 

 fully into particulars. However, he was evidently 

 quite in earnest, and seemed thoroughly impress- 



