Fly Fishing for Sea Trout. 93 



duck at the head of the loch in the reeds, or a roe 

 feeding towards evening in one of the clear places 

 in the wood. We pass over the spider bridge 

 spanning the river below a capital salmon pool, on 

 through the fir clump, and what a view breaks upon 

 us ! There lies the loch in all its beauty, its waters 

 a dark blue, a steady breeze ruffling its surface, on 

 one side the mountains (they are more than hills) 

 crowned with basaltic precipices, come sheer down to 

 the water's edge ; on the other, grand boulders 

 covered with lichen and dwarf birch, a sloping 

 wood on one of the spurs of Ben y Hatton, 

 reaches to the shore, the birches and oaks ascending 

 and ascending till lost in moor and rugged rocks, 

 and far above us, among the clouds, the craggy 

 summit of the Ben himself. We reach the boat, 

 everything in readiness, and we push off, and slowly 

 row to the opposite side ; a nice breeze favours us 

 as we drift across, with just enough movement of 

 the oars to keep the boat in position. Two flies 

 are used, and we go to work. After a cast or two, 

 we are both fast in fish. My companion has hold of 

 a big one ; mine is soon in the boat, and in the next 

 cast up comes a whopper, and now comes the fun : a 

 tremendous rush — a grand leap — another and an- 

 other, and he is off. We part company, but not 

 before I had been able to guess his size, nearer four 

 than three pounds. W. has in the meantime landed, 



