248 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



approaching to black. The sounds which predominated 

 were in unison with the scene. The almost measured 

 dash of the waves against the sides of the boat and the 

 faint rustle of the breeze were incessant ; while the low 

 dull moan of the surf breaking on the distant beach, and 

 the short sudden cry of an aquatic fowl of the diving 

 species, occasionally mingled with the sweet, though 

 rather monotonous, notes of a Gaelic song. " It's ane 

 o' the Gairloch fishermen," said our skipper; "puir folk, 

 they're aye singing an' thinking o' the Hielands." 



' Our boat, as the tides were not powerful, drifted 

 slowly over the bank. The buoys stretched out from 

 the bows in an unbroken line. There was no sign of 

 fish ; and the boatmen, after spreading the sail over the 

 beams, laid themselves down on it. The scene was at 

 the time so new to me, and, though of a somewhat me- 

 lancholy cast, so pleasing, that I staid up. A singular 

 appearance attracted my notice. " How," said I to one 

 of the boatmen, who a moment before had made me an 

 offer of his great-coat, " how do you account for that 

 calm silvery spot on the water, which moves at such a 

 rate in the line of our drift?" He started up. A 

 moment after he called on the others to rise, and then 

 replied : ' That moving speck of calm water covers a 

 shoal of herrings. If it advances a hundred yards 

 farther in that direction we shall have some employment 

 for you." This piece of information made me regard 

 the little patch, which, from the light it caught, and the 

 blackness of the surrounding water, seemed a bright 

 opening in a dark sky, with considerable interest. It 

 moved onwards with increased velocity. It came in 

 contact with the line of the drift, and three of the buoys 

 immediately sunk. A few minutes were suffered to 

 elapse, and we then commenced hauling. The two 



