THE KING OF BIRDS. 45 



slight detour to give Walter one more chance of finding 

 a deer in a lone glen which we had not yet disturbed, 

 and to which they occasionally resorted when driven 

 from their more frequented haunts. Having thus 

 settled the proceedings of the morrow, and disposed of 

 our parting tumblers of usquebaugh, we severally 

 sought our pillows. When we again awoke to con- 

 sciousness, the "rosy-fingered morn " had long ushered 

 in the day; and a lovely day it was. The sun was 

 rising high in the heavens, not a speck or cloud visible 

 in the whole sky, the swollen burns of the previous day 

 had nearly returned to their ordinary dimensions, pre- 

 senting a lace-like appearance as they spread their 

 diminished waters over the cliff, where but yesterday 

 were broad sheets of foam stretching down the moun- 

 tain-sides wherever a channel could be found. We 

 left the cottage shortly before noon, and, giving the 

 rifle to Donald, betook ourselves across the moors, gun 

 in hand, for Glen-nam-haidh (the heavenly valley), 

 where Donald thought there was a possibility of finding 

 a deer for Walter. On the way we brought down 4^ 

 brace of grouse, 2^ falling to Walter's gun, and 2 to 

 mine. As we were descending a brae I saw some 

 dark-looking object swiftly stealing over the ground 

 beneath us, which I could not distinctly make out. It 

 soon came nearer, when Donald announced it to be a 

 golden eagle. As it sailed steadily along, our vicinity 

 seemed to cause no alarm ; but at length, when within 

 perhaps 100 yards, it rose rapidly in the air, wheeled 

 majestically round and round as it soared higher and 

 higher, until at last, when almost lost to view, we saw 

 it joined by its mate, and then both struck off in a 

 straight line towards some mountain summits in the 

 distance. 



This was my first introduction to the king of birds 



4 



