148 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



whole scene impressive in the extreme. As I passed 

 along, and marked the moonbeams, now dancing in the 

 spray of some mountain torrent, or anon piercing the 

 mist, which rolled like drapery over the loch, I could 

 well understand how the vivid imagination of the Gael, 

 as he lingered in pensive moments among such scenes, 

 had peopled his native hills with a shadowy world ; 

 how the water-wraith, the kelpie, and the fairy had 

 sprung Minerva-like from his brain, and become almost 

 inseparably entwined with his creed. 



We reached the cottage, just as Murdoch, whom we 

 had sent off in the morning to bring a fresh supply of 

 provisions from the Laird's, had arrived. He brought 

 sufficient for the demands of the night and following 

 morning, but no more ; being the bearer of a message, 

 to the effect that our presence was requested at home 

 on the morrow evening, when our host expected his 

 nearest neighbours (who by-the-bye lived sixteen miles 

 off, a short distance in the Highlands) to partake of his 

 hospitality. 



After making a most vigorous onslaught upon this 

 fresh contribution to our larder, we proceeded over a 

 glass of usquebagh golden coloured from its age in 

 the cask to discuss the merits of our day's perform- 

 ance. It was impossible not to admire the unpre- 

 tending yet skilful manner in which the fox-hunter had 

 done his work in the last stalk ; how he had calculated 

 the scud of the wind, the nature of the ground, and all 

 the many other pros and cons which bore upon the 

 issue. 



I believe it has been said by some great military 

 captain, that he owed all his skill in the ready dispo- 

 sition of his forces, and in quickly seizing upon the 

 advantages of any locality, to the days he had spent 

 among the hills in pursuit of their noblest game. And 



