August 



XLV 



EVERY solitude in these islands has been searched, 

 rue every corner pried into, every yard of its 



Locif ter f surface ransacked by busy specialists ; there 

 Arkaig remains very little of that mystery which it 

 is the pride of science to dispel. I confess that in the 

 past I have been superciliously incredulous in regard 

 to a shadowy monster known as the lake-horse that is 

 reported to exist in certain sheets of water in the High- 

 lands. The Celt is famous for his agile imagination. 

 It is interesting to listen to the yarns of stalkers and 

 fishermen; but stories of the Witch of Ben-y-gloe, of 

 water-kelpies and bogles, of fairies, dreams and warn- 

 ings, appeal but feebly to the coldly calculating Saxon. 

 Viewing the lone waters of a Highland loch, the southern 

 traveller is far more apt to speculate on the best pattern 

 of fly or minnow wherewith to capture the trout in its 

 depths, or to calculate the water power available for 

 the creation of electric instalments, than to ponder on 

 the legends of abnormal creatures peopling its depths. 

 Nevertheless, a friend of my own, far above suspicion 

 of exaggeration, whether intentional or unconscious, 



