76 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



convinced several incredulous friends who accom- 

 panied me on purpose to Speyside, by swimming, 

 diving, and floating for nearly a quarter of an 

 hour in a perfect Macintosh equipment, includ- 

 ing a pair of heavy brogues on my feet. 



The popular belief is, that if a person gets out 

 of his depth when wearing this waterproof appa- 

 ratus, the air contained in the legs of the trowsers 

 raises them suddenly to the surface, his head and 

 shoulders instantly sink, and he is quickly drowned ; 

 but, assuming that the dress is properly arranged, 

 this can only occur in cases where the fisherman 

 is unable to swim, or where, if he has never 

 practised swimming in his clothes, the startling 

 novelty of his situation causes him to " lose his 

 head," or, in other words, his presence of rnind. 

 He cries out for help, and in doing so, exhausts 

 the air in his chest, when, naturally, the skull 

 and thorax becoming the heaviest parts of his 

 person, his position is quickly reversed, and every 

 subsequent attempt at inhalation fills his lungs 

 still more with water, and all is soon over. Many 

 fatal instances of this kind have occurred which, 

 of course, have only served to propagate the 

 popular error, but I am inclined to think that the 

 neglect of a very simple precaution, on the im- 

 portance of which it is impossible to dwell too 



