8 ANGLING & ART IN SCOTLAND 



of the water and sky — of their colour — of the forms 

 which they take. There is joy to him in the 

 breeze on a lake as it gently bends the reed. Not 

 an insect is too insignificant for him to examine 

 in his search for wider knowledge ; not a ripple 

 nor oily swirl of the river that has not a meaning 

 for him. Without peering into it, his trained eye 

 can tell in a moment the varied depths of a pool, 

 which to the casual observer would merely repre- 

 sent a sheet of ruffled water — in short, nothing 

 escapes his attention. Such constant observation 

 engenders a sympathy, an intimacy with Nature, 

 hardly to be gained by any but a sportsman, and 

 leaves an unconscious impression on the mind's 

 eye never to be eradicated. 



Galloway is in parts extremely wild, and very 

 sparsely inhabited ; and in the valley of the Ken, 

 which I have mostly to do with, in few places 

 does one see many signs of arable land, for the 

 district is given over to sheep and cattle — the 

 pasturage being very rich. The whole country 

 conveys the impression of great age and immu- 

 tability. The whitewashed houses, dotted about, 

 seem to fit into the landscape as though they had 

 always been there ; and it is easy, amongst the 



