CRAP.].] ARTIFICIAL OTTER. 15 



deer-stalker ever passes near their clear waters without going 

 out of his way to look along the margin, or to refresh himself by 

 gazing over the cool surface. 



When you are shooting, too, there is the inducement of 

 hoping to find a brood of ducks or teal, which few hill-lakes 

 are without. I have sometimes found great, numbers of 

 these birds, collected in some quiet pool on the hills, in August 

 or September, before they have descended to feed on the corn in 

 the low country. 



Mahy a Highland lake has a legend attached to it, and how- 

 ever improbable the tale may seem to the incredulous Sassenach, 

 the Highlander believes firmly in the truth of it. 



Some person, endowed doubtless with a prominent organ of 

 destructiveness, has within the last few years invented an im- 

 plement for fishing the lakes, called the otter ; and though it is 

 rather a poaching sort of affair, still I consider it quite a fair 

 way of catching trout in some of the mountain lochs, where a 

 rod could be used to no good effect, and where it would be im- 

 possible to launch a boat. Its principle of motion is exactly 

 similar to that of a boy's kite. Acted upon by the resistance of 

 the water, the otter, which consists of a small thin board, about 

 fourteen inches by eight, and leaded on one edge so as to swim 

 nearly upright, carries out a long line, which is attached to it by 

 four short strings, and is wound on a large reel. To this line 

 are fastened a dozen flies on short lines, which, being carried 

 along by the board, rake the surface of the water; and in windy 

 weather I have caught numbers of trout in this way, where the 

 rod would have been of no use whatever. 



Many a grilse, and salmon too, have I killed in Loch Ness 

 with the otter. There are, however, some great drawbacks to the 

 merits of this implement. The fish are very apt to escape after 

 being struck by the hooks, and, being thus wounded and fright- 

 ened, become shy, and unwilling to rise again. Also, if a large 

 fish is hooked very near the board, there is a great risk that lie 

 will break your fly off, and go away with it sticking in his mouth. 

 For these reasons, the otter, though of great use in certain lo- 

 calities, should never be used in waters where the rod can be 

 brought into play. Though exciting enough in an unknown and 



