DUMB-FOUNDERED. 95 



apathetic man. He touched his bonnet to me ; and if he 

 did not eye me with approval, at least he did not look 

 envious or sarcastic. 



" Well, Sandy," said he to his piscatorial friend, my 

 new acquaintance, " what luck the morn ?" 



" I canna speecify that I hae had muckle ; for they 

 hae bin at the sheep-washing up bye, and she is foul, ye 

 ken. But I hae ta'en twa saumon, — ane wi' Nancy*, and 

 the ither wi' a Toppyf, — baith in Faldon-side Burn fut." 



And twisting round a coarse linen bag which was 

 slung at his back, and which I had supposed to contain 

 some common lumber, he drew forth by the tail a never- 

 ending monster of a salmon, dazzling and lusty to the 

 view ; and then a second, fit consort to the first. Could 

 you believe it ? One proved to be fifteen pounds, and 

 the other twelve ! At the sudden appearance of these 

 whales I was shivered to atoms : dumb-foundered I 

 was, like the Laird of Cockpen when Mrs. Jean refused 

 the honour of his hand. I felt as small as Flimnap the 

 treasurer in the presence of Gulliver. Little did I say ; 

 but that little, I hope, was becoming a youth in my 

 situation. 



I was now fairly vaccinated. By dint of snuff and 

 whiskey, I made an alliance with the tenant of the 

 water ; and being engaged for that year to join my 

 friends at Edinburgh, and go on a shooting excursion to 

 the Hebrides and the north of Scotland, I resolved to 

 revisit the Tweed the summer following. 



* A fly so called from Nancy Dawson, who was born on the 

 Tweed, near Little Dean Tower. 



f The Toppy will be described hereafter. 



