38 ON THE GRAMPIAN HILLS. 



a ripple being necessary for successful angling.. 

 However, a brief space only elapsed ere my fair 

 companion hooked a fish, and by the aid of her 

 landing-net secured one of nearly a pound weight, 

 the most beautiful specimen of the pink trout I have 

 ever seen, spotted all over, and when just out of the 

 water showing the most brilliant colours of divers 

 hues. 



Our attention then is attracted to a double shot,, 

 which echoed over the hills, and we see our friend at 

 the top of one of the steep eminences which surround 

 us. He is well among the ptarmigan, and we note 

 that the covey escapes, but in diminished numbers,, 

 for a brace has fallen to his well-directed shot. The 

 difficulty of shooting over such a beat as my friends 

 had chosen, covering as it did the hillsides of Glen- 

 taitneach and the hills above the loch, must be seen 

 to be appreciated. Even after the performances I 

 have witnessed, I was astonished to see the work they 

 performed, bagging over forty brace even on such 

 trying ground. 



Still we continued to float tranquilly on the bosom 

 of this exalted loch, catching more of the finny tribe, 

 and rendering the weight of our basket heavier for 

 the downward than it was for the upward journey. 



Grand in the extreme is the view from Loch Na- 

 Nean, as you look upon the Grampian Hills and the 

 extensive deer forests of Attonaur, the property of the 

 Earl of Fife, on the one hand ; and Fealar, belonging 

 to the Duke of Athole, on the other. It is upon the 

 two bright green islands in the middle of the loch that 

 innumerable gulls resort to lay their eggs and rear 

 their young. A transformation scene of an unusual 



