DON. YTHAN. 



the dubbings lightly put on, and occasionally omitted. 

 The wings also are narrow ; and these, too, sometimes 

 dispensed with, in the fabrication of the lure, so that 

 thus reduced, the fly has the appearance of a large 

 palmer-worm. The Tweed and Tay fly-hooks, however, 

 have been found as killing as the local ones. 



As a trouting stream approaching to the first class in 

 point of size, the DON has few equals in Scotland. It 

 has its sources about five miles above Corgarff, and, in- 

 cluding its windings, travels a course of sixty-one miles, 

 emptying itself into the sea near Old Aberdeen. The 

 Don contains trout and a few pike : salmon and sea- 

 trout also ascend it, but not in great abundance, and 

 seldom in their clean state. River trout are frequently 

 killed of the weight of five pounds. On an average, 

 however, they do not weigh more than half-a-pound. 

 The principal tributaries of Don are the Bucket from 

 Glen Bucket, the Esset, and the Ury. Of these, the 

 Ury, as an angling stream, is by far the most celebrated. 

 Trout are sometimes captured in it of three, four, and 

 even six pounds weight. This river takes its rise in 

 Strathbogie, and has a course of about twenty miles, 

 including its bends. It is fed by the Colpie burn, the 

 Kellock, the Shevock, and the Gady. Kintore, Inve- 

 rary, Monymusk, and Alford are good stations for the 

 angler. The flies used on Don are similar to those 

 fished with on Tweed. Salmon were at one time very 

 abundant in this river, within the memory even of many 

 still alive. No fewer than forty of these fish were killed 

 during one season near the bridge at Alford by a single 

 individual, from the same pool, notwithstanding that it 

 was frequented by all and sundries. The large trout of 

 Don are red-fleshed and beautifully shaped. 



The pearl fisheries of YTHAN, the ITUNA of the 



