LOCH AWE 143 



amusing on the subject of his gillie ; he considered 

 that the entertainment culled from his society quite 

 counterbalanced his deficiencies as a boatman. 

 Archie used periodically to go to sleep at the oars 

 as the boat drifted along the shore, while he still 

 continued to paddle away with his tiny strokes, in 

 order to keep the boat at the regulation distance 

 from the land. 



On one occasion, as they were fishing the north 

 shore of the Pass, the Major abstained from putting 

 into force any of his usual expedients for waking 

 up his gillie — such as kicking the side of the boat, 

 or firing off a soda-water cork — and permitted him 

 to doze on. At last, as the wind was blowing 

 slightly off the shore, the boat reached a point fully 

 half-way across to the Green Island. The Major 

 then roused Archie up, and drily asked him on which 

 side of the loch they were supposed to be fishing. 



" Cerrtainly, cerrtainly," replied Archie, by no 

 means at a loss for an answer, " perrhaps we are a 

 wee bit too far out from the shore ; but indeed, 

 Major, I hev seen the fesh take fery well here out 

 in the deep waterr." 



One day, the Major decided to go to Dalmally 

 by the early train " to try " for a salmon on the 



