ABERDEENSHIKE. 87 



I shall begin with the first river in this county 

 that I fished in, viz. : 



C|j 011:. 



The Don has its source about five miles above 

 Corgarff. Its tributaries are the Bucket, Esset, 

 and Ury, fed by burns Colpie, Kellock, Shevock, 

 and Gady. It is nearly a quarter of a century 

 since I first cast a fly on its streams. At that 

 time the usual way of getting from London to 

 its banks was per steamer, or by smack ; and 

 many happy and pleasant days have I spent in 

 the voyage. It is fished much in the same way 

 as Tweed ; but, seven or eight miles from Aber- 

 deen, you have a large volume of water, and the 

 banks are not so shelving as the Tweed from 

 Melrose to Peebles. Generally your flies are of 

 a large kind ; and nearly all the salmon flies here, 

 as well as on the Spey, are made of the heron 

 hackle. This, no doubt, makes the fly lively in 

 the water, and, generally, of a large kind, the 



removed in the morning. The money was actually paid ; 

 but when he came at the matin bell, with his horse and 

 cart to take them away, the laughter and his dismay, may 

 be well conceived, for it cannot be described. 



