8 SALMON FISHING 



drifting down the submerged river from Loch 

 Doine, a strange commotion arose. His Lordship's 

 line cut whizzing through the water round the 

 bow of the boat ; the rod bent violently ; twenty 

 yards off, a great fish leaped into the air. When 

 it crashed into the loch again the rod and the 

 sportsman unbent. A salmon had come and gone. 

 Next season, in the same month, the Judge and I 

 were fishing on Loch Earn. That is a water in 

 which salmon are very rare. The fish are plentiful 

 in the Earn, almost up to its very source, which is 

 the loch; but they are hardly ever found in the 

 still water. Some say that this is because the loch 

 is impregnated with minerals obnoxious to the 

 salmon ; but, as the minerals would go with the water 

 into the river, in which the fish thrive splendidly, 

 that cannot be the explanation. The absence of 

 salmon in the loch is, I believe, accounted for by the 

 excellence of the Ruchil, a stream joining the Earn 

 a little way below the source, as a spawning ground. 

 Instead of taking to the loch, the fish run up the 

 Ruchil. Well, that morning we had not expected 

 heavy baskets. Though April was well advanced, 

 winter lingered. There was a strong wind from the 

 east ; the sky was heavy with a grey cloud ; snow 

 fell persistently. Still, as is often the case in spring, 

 the trout were rising. We could not see any flies on 

 the water; but our own sufficed to raise many a 

 fish. As we were drifting along the south shore, 

 what should I notice, opposite the ancient Keep of 

 Edinample, about fifty yards off? A salmon ! He 



