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tourist is often prevented from exploring particular 

 spots of the country possessing great attractions and 

 beauties, and by the necessity he is under, of always 

 looking after his steed, no matter what may be the 

 bent of his movements, he is often compelled to go 

 in one direction when his inclination leads him in 

 another. A horse only bears our burden occasionally, 

 but we have to bear his constantly. 



In passing out of Boss- shire, we meet with the 

 Oikel, which falls into the Darnoch Firth, and which 

 is a first-rate angling water. It springs out of a 

 district the perfect beau ideal of wildncss, loneliness, 

 and chaos ; out, in fact, of Loch Ailsh, which has 

 itself fine trout and pike, and which is surrounded 

 by some of the most striking scenery the eye of man 

 can rest upon. The entire length of the Oikel is 

 thirty miles. There is a good turnpike-road by its 

 banks for full twenty miles of this distance, so that 

 the angler has every facility for traversing its streams 

 in any direction he pleases. The higher up the river, 

 the better it is for trout fishing ; and the number of 

 salmon caught in its waters is often prodigious 

 counted, in the language of Billingsgate market, by 

 hundreds, and by tons weight. 



Not far from the source of the Oikel, and in the 

 vicinity of Een More, is one of its tributaries called 

 the Casley, which springs out of the high grounds 

 in Assint, and has a run of about fifteen miles before 

 it joins the main river. The Casley receives the 

 waters of several burns or rivulets, which are them- 

 selves excellent fishing waters after summer floods. 



