4 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. I. 



out as many miles as we could, or in other words 

 to advance as far as possible into the mountainous 

 Xjart of Sutherlandshire. Bonar Bridge is situ- 

 ated on what is called the Kyle of Sutherland, a 

 narrow estuary formed by the confluence of the 

 Shin, Oykel, Casselis, and Anak rivers, all of which 

 streams, a short distance above Bonar Bridge, meet 

 the salt water of the Dornoch Firth. In winter this 

 water abounds with wild-fowl, but now (May 14) 

 all these birds had gone to their breeding-places 

 with the exception of a solitary godwit or two, who 

 seemed to have been left behind the rest of their 

 comrades, this bird not breeding in Scotland. The 

 woods about Piosehall, or rather that portion of them 

 which the axe has spared, used to abound in many 

 kinds of interesting hawks, and also in marten and 

 wild-cats, but keepers and trapping combined seem 

 to have entirely swept all these animals away. 1 

 looked in vain for buzzards on a high rock which 

 some few years back was invariably tenanted by 

 them, but it seemed that they had long since been 

 destroyed. As I passed through the remains of 

 the woods too I caught a glimpse here and there 

 of passes where different stags had fallen to my rifle, 

 and many a happy day spent in the greenwood 

 was recalled to my recollection, with all its accom- 

 panying incidents. I called on the old Highland 



