138 THE CRUISE OF THE BETSEY ; OR, 



stones, with the tops of the heath turned upwards to the 

 current. The water rose against the mound for a foot or 

 eighteen inches, and then murmured over and through, occa- 

 sioning an expansion among the hard elastic sprays. Next a 

 party of the islanders came down the stream, beating the 

 banks and pools, and sending a still thickening shoal of trout 

 before them, that, on reaching the miniature dam formed by 

 the bundles, darted forward for shelter, as if to a hollow bank, 

 and stuck among the slim hard branches, as they would in 

 the meshes of a net. The stones were then hastily thrown 

 off, the bundles pitched ashore, the better fish, to the 

 amount not unfrequently of several scores, secured, and the 

 young fry returned to the stream, to take care of them- 

 selves, and grow bigger. We fared richly this evening, after 

 our hard day's labour, on tea and trout ; and as the minister 

 had to attend a meeting of the Presbytery of Skye on the 

 following Wednesday, we sailed next morning for Glenelg, 

 whence he purposed taking the steamer for Portree. Winds 

 were light and baffling, and the currents, like capricious 

 friends, neutralized at one time the assistance which they 

 lent us at another. It was dark night ere we had passed 

 Isle Ornsay, and morning broke as we cast anchor in the 

 Bay of Glenelg. At ten o'clock the steamer heaved-to in 

 the bay to land a few passengers, and the minister went on 

 board, leaving me in charge of the Betsey, to follow him, 

 when the tide set in, through the Kyles of Skya 



