AND ANGLING SONGS. 55 



Stay'd as he browses by the hunter's horn, 



I stand perplex'd, half-dreading the career 



Of coming whirlwind ; then, with conquer'd fear, 



Advancing slowly through a screen of thorn 



From edge of horrid rock, abruptly bold, 



Rushing through conduit vast, swart Findhorn I behold. 



I find it recorded in my diary, 13th June 1836, that I took 

 with the fly, on the Findhorn, thirty-four trout, a number of which 

 were herring-sized, but none exceeded half a pound in weight. 



Loch Belivat, a singularly situated sheet of water, about a 

 mile in circumference, starts up into recollection when I look 

 back upon my stay at Nairn. I obtained leave to fish it from 

 the proprietor, Mr. Brodie of Lethen, and was given to under- 

 stand that it contained trout of remarkable size and beauty. 

 One of the peculiar features of this lake lies in its having no 

 visible outlet a peculiarity shared by Loch Achilty, in Ross- 

 shire, from which, however, in other respects it completely differs. 

 It is surrounded, notwithstanding, by attractions of its own, and 

 these chiefly consist in its being the resort, during the breeding 

 season, of immense numbers of sea-fowl. The period of the year 

 when I visited it (May 3d, 1837), was that of their incubation ; 

 and one end of the lake, of a swampy character, which it was 

 impossible to find footing on, and even with the assistance of a 

 boat gain proper access to, was covered to the extent of several 

 acres with birds. As I approached the water's edge they rose 

 in a vast cloud, saluting me with their discordant screams, and 

 exposing to the eye many thousands of eggs all of them safely 

 guarded by the quaggy nature of the nursery instinct had se- 

 lected. Of the promised trout I secured only two or three sorry 

 specimens, but from the exposed situation of the loch, and the 

 hitherto want of geniality in the weather, I came to the conclu- 

 sion that I had made trial of it too early in the season. 



