CH. IV. TRAVELLING FROM EDINBURGH. 45 



CHAPTEE IV. 



Return to Sutherland — Travelling from Edinburgh — Skye 

 Terrier; peculiarities of — Lairg — Loch Shin — River Shin 

 — Reserve of the English — Mr. Young's experiments 

 respecting Salmon ; Anecdotes of Salmon ; Manner of 

 Spawning; Food of Salmon — Drive to Aultnaharrow — 

 Curlews, etc. — Loch Naver — Phalaropes — Widgeon — Green- 

 shank, etc. 



June 9 th. — Having been called suddenly to Eng- 

 land in the midst of my rambles in Sutheiiandshire 

 in May, I did not find myself again in that county 

 till the 9 th of June. Travelling (that is, the mere 

 act of passing along the road) takes up very little 

 of your time nowadays. You go from London to 

 Edinburgh in about thirteen hours, and a good 

 steamer takes the traveller from Granton Pier to 

 Invergordon in Boss-shire quickly and comfortably 

 enough ; that is, I left Granton at 6 a.m. on the 

 6 th, and landed at Invergordon early in the evening 

 of the 7th, accompanied only by a Skye terrier, who 

 from Ms earliest childhood, or rather puppyhood, 

 has always managed to stick closely to me. In 

 wild-fowl shooting, when no dog is required save a 

 quiet retriever, Fred (so was he christened by some 

 of my children) is always allowed to accompany me, 



