76 OUR HIGHLAND QUARTERS. 



spec " for an occasional horse) ; and having committed 

 one of our sea-trout to the tender care of the landlady, 

 with the injunction that she should cook it for us at 

 once, we employed the interval in preparing our tackle 

 for the coming campaign, looking over our fly-books, 

 and discussing the merits of the sundry gaudy-looking 

 formations therein. The culinary department was not 

 of the highest order, and we found the need of a good 

 appetite to make our meal palatable. 



By five o'clock we were down by the bridge, each 

 with an attendant. The extent of water to be fished 

 was not much more than a quarter of a mile, but all of 

 it good, and almost evenly divided by the bridge on 

 which we stood. Alister, therefore, took the upper 

 part, while the lower fell to my share. 



The river was rather too much flooded and the water 

 too dark for good sport ; and though it was a most 

 beautiful stream, and the salmon were leaping in all 

 directions, they were not disposed to take the fly. 

 Occasionally a huge tail flapped on the water, and 

 reminded one of the existence of the fly, but numbers 

 passed unheedingly by. 



Towards evening, however, as the sun went down, 

 matters began to improve. I had changed my fly, by 

 the advice of my attendant, Murdoch; and, stationed 

 on a rock jutting far into the stream, I threw to the 

 opposite bank, and then drew my fly gradually across 

 a likety -looking eddy just below a rapid, to which he 

 had directed my attention. The very first time it 

 danced across the water, I saw six or seven fish rush 

 at it ; but, in their eagerness hindering each other, 

 they all failed to secure the little attractive insect above 

 them. I repeated the attempt, and again there was 

 the same general rush, but not the same result. A fish 



