FAREWELL TO THE HIGHLANDS. 51 



moss-spotted boulders, was difficult to discern. For 

 many minutes I looked in vain for the bird, though 

 it was within twenty yards of me ; but at length 

 I espied it. I had a fair chance as it took wing, but 

 missed it, and the ptarmigan, rising high in the air, 

 vanished from my gaze. It was the last twenty 

 yards of that tall climb that incapacitated me from 

 taking good aim. I could with difficulty keep my 

 balance ; I had to take care that I did not shoot the 

 keeper, or my friend and the gillies, whom we met 

 at this point. No wonder that I missed the bird; 

 the wonder was that I was there to miss it, for it 

 was the roughest walk I ever took in pursuit of any 

 game. 



Then we rested for a few minutes beside one of the 

 countless bright, clear, cold springs that trickled down 

 the mountainsides, and refreshed ourselves with the 

 pure water, necessarily qualified with whisky. Then 

 we resumed our sport, and my companion, stout of 

 limb and full of vigour, soon was amongst the 

 ptarmigan, adding largely to the bag; though the 

 birds were wild and could only be got at when 

 scattered and rising singly. After my friend I toiled, 

 with difficulty holding my own, until the trysting- 

 place was reached and the luncheon-basket opened. 

 Having had half-an-hour's rest we started again, my 

 companion suggesting that I should climb another 

 mountain, higher than any I had yet ascended, in 

 order to see the view, as well as to follow the ptarmigan, 

 which he had marked down on its height. Accom- 

 panied by Ramsay, I wended my way up Cairn Yourn, 

 being well rewarded for the trouble of mounting its 

 steep side by the view of the grand scenery around it. 



D 2 



