130 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



conveyed. His anxious spouse at length drew from 

 him a reluctant recital of the cause of his uneasiness ; 

 and it is said, that such was the effect of her bitter 

 taunts, and the contempt with which she upbraided him 

 for the want of spirit he had exhibited, that convinced 

 of his previous shortcomings, he became thenceforward 

 a totally altered being. 



" What ! " cried she, " shall ilka stane i' the forest be 

 red wi' the bluid o' deer ? An' will ye bring us a' till 

 poverty an' shame, forby yer ain cowardly heart 

 daresna' do its duty ? " 



That day proved the turning point in Donald's 

 career. Henceforth it became the object of his life to 

 suppress the lawless proceedings at which he had 

 hitherto connived ; and while no one was a more 

 determined foe to the poacher, not only did he rise in 

 the estimation of his employers, but even his enemies 

 could not but respect him for his conscientious dis- 

 charge of duty. Such eventually was the effect of his 

 firm and judicious administration, that poaching 

 gradually ceased, until over those hills which had so 

 lately been infested by these human vermin, the deer 

 at length roamed in security. 



Such are two of the stories with which we were 

 entertained by the fox-hunter, while the weather 

 without was still unpropitious as ever ; and within, but 

 for the warming effects of the toddy, it would not have 

 been much better. Other stories did he recite, but 

 though interesting when told in all the poetry of 

 Gaelic, they would suffer materially by the loss of 

 pathos and expression which a translation fails ade- 

 quately to reproduce. Bnt I could not help thinking 

 how the naturalist must envy the opportunities for 

 observation enjoyed by such an one as the man before 

 me; whose daily occupation requires that his life 



