312 HINTS ON ANGLING. 



narrow its bed or limited its range, is full of line trout; 

 whilst at the same time, the whole country abounds with 

 immense quantities of the varieties of the noble salmon; 

 the fish above all others, best qualified to afford the angler 

 the most heart-stirring and refined amusement to which 

 his art can aspire. 



Scotland, being but a small country, bounded on all 

 sides, but one, by the ocean; and being, moreover, very 

 hilly and mountainous, all the waters which flow from 

 its bosom, have an easy, short, and rapid descent to the 

 sea ; and these circumstances are favourable to the prolific 

 powers of the trout and salmon, and are the cause of those 

 remarkable facilities which the rod-fisher enjoys in every 

 portion of the " land-o'-cakes." There are here no long 

 tracks of flat country, through which drowsy rivers 

 meander with a sluggish motion, and thus become com- 

 paratively unfit for the higher and more skilful species of 

 angling; but every thing is rushing, rapid, clear, and 

 sparkling; from the banks of the Tweed to John-o- 

 Groat's house. In every direction, and in beautiful 

 variety, you fall in with the fine majestic river, the 

 limpid bubbling stream, the mountain torrent, and the 

 silvery rivulet, with their countless millions of salmon 

 and trout, which revel in unbounded freedom in their 

 delicious waters, without a rival, and unconscious of any 

 enemy, save the tyrant, man. 



But, rich as Scotland is in piscatory resources and 

 facilities, this is not her only claim upon the attention of 

 the angler. There is a remarkable degree of ease and 

 pleasure in angling in this country, arising from another 

 source. Scotland affords, in the first place, a comparatively 

 open and free field for the pursuit of this delightful 

 and rational amusement. Impediments arising from 



