PREFACE. Xlll 



It will be seen that in the letter-press I have 

 attempted little more than to give a correct and 

 faithfnl account of the manner and spirit in 

 which the sport of salmon fishing is carried on 

 in various ways where the scene is laid, and to 

 bring before the sportsman the characters of 

 such people as he is likely to fall in with in his 

 excursions. 



Among those whom 1 have taken this liberty 

 with, as the type of his class, will be found the 

 late Tom Purdie, Sir Walter Scott's faithful 

 right-hand man, well known to the readers of 

 Mr. Lockhart's delightful Biography, and the 

 genuine parent of the stories here attributed to 

 him. 



Since the following pages have been printed, 

 Mr. Yarrell has put into my hands " The Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History for Feb. 1843," 

 containing an account of IMr. Young's experiments 

 on the growth of salmon. I have inserted an 

 extract in the Appendix, for the benefit of those 

 who are interested in the subject. 



I hope I am correct in saying that, judging 

 from the outline, my statements will agree with 

 Mr. Young's experiments. This, however, -s\all be 

 more accurately seen when the Proceedings of 

 the Royal Society of Edinburgh are published. 



Belgrave Square, 

 April. 1843. 



