CUAP. i.] DRAGGING. 



was lost to the view, while on the remaining side was flat moor- 

 land. The whole country round and within view of the lake 

 was picturesque and bold. In the rocks near the water were a 

 colony of wild cats, whose cries during the night deterred the 

 shepherd from passing that way ; while on the highest part of the 

 grey precipice was a raven's nest, the owners of which always 

 kept up a concert with their voices of ill omen whenever they 

 saw a human being near their dominions there they would sit 

 on a withered branch of a tree or a pointed rock, croaking, and 

 playing their quaint antics for hours together. Their nest was so 

 protected by a shelf of rock which projected below it, that I never 

 could get a rifle-ball into it, often as I have tried, though I must 

 have frequently half filled it with the splinters of the rock. 



In dragging this lake we were obliged to restrict ourselves to 

 the two sandy bays, as the rest of the bottom was covered with 

 old tree-roots and broken sticks, which tore our nets, and pre- 

 vented our using them. 



In the quiet summer evenings it was interesting to see my 

 crew of five Highlanders, as, singing a Gaelic song, they rowed 

 the boat in a large semicircle round one of the bays, letting out 

 the net as they went, one end of the rope being held by a man 

 on the shore at the point from which they started. When they 

 got to the other side of the bay, they landed, with the exception 

 of one man, who remained in the boat to right the net if it got 

 fixed in roots or stones. The rest hauled in the net gradually, 

 bringing the two ends together. As it came in, a fine trout or 

 pike now and then would be seen making a dart round the 

 enclosed space within the net, or dashing at the net itself, drag- 

 ging for a moment half the corks under water. The head man 

 of the crew, a little peppery Highlander, invariably got into a 

 state of the most savage excitement, which increased as the net 

 approached the shore ; and if any stoppage occurred from its 

 being caught by a root or stick, he actually danced with excite- 

 ment, hallooing and swearing in Gaelic at the net, the men, and 

 the fish. When all went on smoothly and well, he acted the 

 part of fugleman with no little dignity, perched in the bow of 

 the boat, and keeping the men in proper place and time as they 

 dragged in the net. We generally caught a great number of trout 

 and pike, some of very large size. By the time we had killed all 



