128 EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 



everything along the road, from a luckless wild 

 Hebridean child to a black-faced sheep, as we 

 all clattered along — Johnnie, Dick, and I, and 

 doggies — in that wild exuberance of spirits 

 which mountain and sea air combined, together 

 with the anticipation of wild sport from an otter 

 to a deer, a snipe to an eagle, a brownie to a 

 salmo, alone can produce. 



Arriving at the disembarking point, the ter- 

 riers came to heel. Grouse resumed his senses, 

 and proceeded to traverse the muir in a style 

 seldom surpassed. Great nose, with sound 

 sense and wonderful powers of finding, he 

 passed nothing. I never could find out whether 

 he was best at snipes, woodcocks, or grouse. 

 He was the only dog I ever saw who laughed 

 when he performed some wonderful circum- 

 venting feat. He had a power no other dog of 

 my acquaintance possessed of producing brown 

 owls. This always excited his risible faculties. 

 Once he produced a white one, and then he 

 screamed again, and I thought he would have 

 gone into convulsions. He retrieved every- 

 thing that was wanted to be retrieved, and 

 cared nothing for a loch in the coldest of days. 



Suddenly, perhaps, as we were walking 

 along, one of the terriers would cock one ear, 

 as only a good Scotch hill terrier can (I don't 



