252 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. ;CH. XVIIL 



and for any purpose where ready money is re- 

 quired. 



To the spectator the pursuit of herrings in the 

 magnificent sea -lochs of Sutherland is attended 

 with much that is interesting and beautiful. 

 When the fleet of boats makes its way up a creek 

 running far into the land, and overhung by wild 

 rocky precipices, which protect the boats from every 

 breath of wind, keeping the sea as smooth as glass, 

 and echoing and re-echoing every merry shout and 

 call uttered by the fishermen during their pursuit, 

 no description can give an adequate idea of the 

 romantic beauty of such a scene with all its ac- 

 companiments. This, however, is the bright side 

 of the picture, for many a dangerous gale and many 

 a peril have the poor fellows to encounter who 

 shoot their herring-nets off the bleak eastern coasts 

 of the country, where they are exposed to the 

 sudden gales and rolling seas of the Northern and 

 German Oceans. Frequently, to save their lives, 

 they are compelled to abandon their nets, fish, and 

 all. Sometimes boats with their crews go forth to 

 return no more, nor even to be again heard of in 

 this world ; and at other times they are driven to 

 distant ports for safety, losing their tackle and 

 time, and having to make their way back with 

 scanty supply of provision to the port from which 



