CHAPTER II 

 FALLOW-DEER AT HOME 



IT is a fine warm morning in the early part of 

 September, and, after a pleasant walk across the 

 hill, I have just come in sight of the sea, a narrow 

 part of Loch Craignish lying immediately below 

 me, at a distance of not more than four or five 

 hundred yards. A large fir plantation, sloping 

 down to the shore, clothes the hillside below me ; 

 there is a crisp, fresh feeling in the air, and the 

 whole view is clear as only an Argyleshire land- 

 scape can be. These cliffs of Mull to the west, 

 which look so distinct as they come down sheer 

 to the blue water, are more than twenty miles 

 distant ; and Scarba, upon which one would 

 expect to be able to "spy" the red deer with a 

 good glass, is eight at least, as the crow flies. 

 Below, the loch itself is studded with innumer- 

 able islands, varying in size from the small rocks 

 which are barely visible at high tide, to Righ 

 and Macaskan, which, between them, must attain 

 a length of two miles. To the south-west, across 

 the dreaded whirlpool of " Corrievreken," l a faint 



1 1 adopt Scott's spelling of the name. It is as well to say that 

 my spelling of Gaelic names is in all cases phonetic. The true 



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