FEBRUARY 47 



' pride of grease ' in August and September, when they 

 are the wariest of all beasts of the chase, that the poor 

 things have been so humbled by starvation, that it is 

 with difficulty they can be kept out of the forester's 

 and farmer's houses. At Ball, on Loch Rannoch, the 

 hinds actually took corn out of the forester's hand, and 

 at Dunalastair stags and hinds crowd down to hay 

 laid close by the public road. 



XXI 



The riverside remains the chief attraction for all 

 forms of life, though very few parts remain unfrozen. 

 Snipe rise before you, flit a few yards, and T n e frozen 

 alight again. This frost, if it continue, means river 

 death to them, for they are already so weak that they 

 cannot make their way to more genial latitudes. Wild 

 geese, generally so plentiful in the meadows between 

 Halkirk and Westerdale, have departed, but mallard still 

 linger on the marshes, and a few mergansers frequent 

 their usual fishing grounds. This morning a brace of 

 wild swans were on the point of alighting on the Manse 

 pool, where I was fishing, when they caught sight of 

 me, and winged their way further up the river. The 

 gillie told me he knew exactly where they would be 

 found, and assured me I could get a fine chance at 

 them. I surprised, and perhaps disgusted, him by 

 saying that if I were to be offered twenty guineas a 

 piece for these lovely creatures, I would never draw a 

 bead on them. 



Fishing, quotha ! Yes ; the contemplative man still 



