EEMINISCENCES OP THE LEWS. 35 



looked after them to the best of liis power, they 

 poached like fury — at least, they were great 

 fools if they did not. What, then, with the 

 disease and the survey, which went on till 1853, 

 the shooting tenants had not a blooming time 

 of it ; and we often thought and talked about 

 the hardship of putting the country to great 

 expense in surveying such a place as the Lews. 

 I believe that afterwards the land survey was of 

 service to the Admiralty survey of the sea-coast, 

 which was indeed a blessing to those navigating 

 these seas. Be this, however, as it may, never 

 anywhere that I have shot did I see so little to 

 be got as at Aline. I spent the whole winter 

 there, and my diary records the most minute 

 entries. The weather was atrocious, such as 

 one must have inhabited those latitudes to com- 

 prehend. There were very few snipes or wood- 

 cocks, and the only sport I got during the year 

 was when I went down to Stornoway to stay 

 with Burnaby, and shot with him. The best 

 snipe shooting in the island was about Storno- 

 way, very often near the town, and within five to 

 nine miles' distance round. Grouse, too, did not 

 seem to have suffered so much in those regions 

 as about ns. Altogether, as far as sport was 

 concerned, my first season in the Lews was not 

 cheering. 



D 2 



