CH. III. LOCH NAVER — LOCH LAIGHAL. 41 



are once alarmed they dive so suddenly that they 

 are frequently too quick even for a percussion 

 gun. When alone this bird takes wing readily 

 enough, and flies off to some neighbouring lake 

 with a quick and lofty flight. 



We found our luggage safe under the care of 

 the faithful dog, who had never left his charge, and 

 before dark we arrived at the inn of Aultnaharrow, 

 which is situated near one of the finest lakes in 

 the country, Loch Naver. Like all the inns in 

 Sutherland which are under the efficient and 

 liberal management of the Duke's factors, Ault- 

 naharrow is clean and comfortable. 



The following day, leaving my friend to fish in 

 Loch Naver, I drove off in the boat, accompanied 

 by Dunbar and one of Lord Ellesmere's foresters 

 who lives close to the inn, for a loch called Loch 

 Laighal, or, as it is pronounced, Loch Loyal. This 

 is another fine sheet of water several miles in 

 length, with a few islands, the breeding-places of 

 gray geese and numberless gulls. There were 

 vast flocks of that magnificent bird the great 

 black-backed gull (Larus marinus), and also of 

 the lesser black-backed gull {Larus fuscus). The 

 former is a most splendid and beautiful bird, with 

 its pure black and white plumage, and a stretch 

 of wing little less than that of the golden eagle. 



