134 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



there for forty years. At length, in the decline of life, 

 he was seized with the Swiss passion — an unconquerable 

 yearning to revisit the land of his sires. Night after 

 night he heard in his dreams the murmuring lapse of 

 the Leader as it glided down his native valley; again he 

 reposed in the sunny dell, and thought of " auld lang- 

 syne ; " then, when the cheerless morn broke forth, and 

 he found himself on a vast continent, far away from 

 the land of his fathers, he felt as one cast out of Para- 

 dise. Gone were the visions of his early scenes and 

 companions ; — lost, long lost, but too well remembered. 

 How distant, alas ! from the bonny copses of Carrol- 

 side! — how far from the silver waters of the Tweed! 



After honourable service he set sail for the shores of 

 Scotland, determined to pass the remainder of his days 

 in comparative privacy and tranquillity. I met him 

 soon after his arrival, and gave him some salmon fish- 

 ing. It was delightful to see how he enjoyed himself : 

 he waded as deep as any of us. And I well remember 

 showing him a favourite seat for a salmon near the 

 point of a cairn : he cast his fly at once in the exact spot 

 to an inch, and threw several times with the same 

 adroitness ; not because he expected to raise a salmon, 

 — for he well knew that if a fish did not come at the 

 first dexterous throw, it was useless to cast a second 

 time for him in the same place, — but because he felt 

 great satisfaction at his renewed dexterity, and he was 

 pleased that anyone should witness it. 



Poor fellow ! his happiness did not last long. The 

 habit of wading at his advanced time of life brought on 

 internal disease, which soon ended fatally ; and he only 

 repassed the seas to lay his bones in the father-land. 



