xxvi DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



impute the landscape part to them : this it was 

 unfortunately necessary that some one should 

 undertake who was acquainted with the scenery, 

 and I must hold myself in a great measure responsible 

 for such portion of the plates. 



It will be seen that in the letter-press I have 

 attempted little more than to give a correct and 

 faithful account of the manner and spirit in which 

 the sport of salmon fishing is carried on in various 

 ways where the scene is laid, and to bring before 

 the sportsman the characters of such people as he is 

 likely to fall in with in his excursions. 



Among those whom I have taken this liberty 

 with, as the type of his class, will be found the late 

 Tom Purdie, Sir Walter Scott's faithful right-hand 

 man, well known to the readers of Mr. Lockhart's 

 delightful Biography, and the genuine parent of the 

 stories here attributed to him. 



Since the following pages have been printed, 

 Mr. Yarrell has put into my hands The Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History for February, 1843, 

 containing an account of Mr. Young's experiments 

 on the growth of salmon. I have inserted an extract 

 in the Appendix, for the benefit of those who are 

 interested in the subject. 



I hope I am correct in saying that, judging from 

 the outline, my statements will agree with Mr. 

 Y r oung's experiments. This, however, will be more 

 accurately seen when the Proceedings of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh are published. 



BELGRAVE SQUARE, 

 April, 1843. 



