282 A VANISHING FOOD PISH 



him to express. Anyhow, he is in fine plumage, and 

 continues to take his meals regularly, whereas the loss 

 of eyesight would have condemned him, had he sur- 

 vived to his present age in a state of liberty, to a 

 lingering death by starvation. 



1 Twice the life of a horse, once the life of a man ; 

 Twice the life of a man, once the life of a stag ; 

 Twice the life of a stag, once the life of an eagle.' 



So runs the old Highland saw, though I forget whether 

 the stag or the eagle is credited with the longer exist- 

 ence. Anyhow, no insurance company ought to accept 

 risks according to this table ; for the Cairnsmore eagle 

 offers, perhaps, the only datum for fixing ' expectation 

 of life' in his kind, and, at what a man reckons but 

 middle age, this bird is only kept alive by the daily 

 ministration of his attendant. 



P.S. Since this note was written, the Cairnsmore 

 eagle last of an immemorial race has passed away, 

 in May 1900, at the ripe age of eight-and-forty. 



LXVI 



The salmon-fishing seasons of 1898 and 1899 must be 



reckoned of culminating leanness among a 

 A vanish- 

 ing Food number of lean years. In fact, our goose 



of the golden eggs seems to be approaching its 

 last gasp. Except in a few rivers like the Usk, the Aber- 



