ANGLING REMINISCENCES. 103 



whole surface is alive with its bellings, which one 

 would imagine proceeded from so many springs at 

 the bottom. It rises to any colour and size of insect 

 employed, repeating a false snatch until pricked 

 with the barb of the hook. Its dart, however, is 

 not so rapid as that of the trout, and scarcely so 

 true. The char of Loch Achilty generally mea- 

 sures from six to nine inches. It is shaped like the 

 gurnet, and, in proportion to its length, is of small 

 depth and circumference. The head and upper 

 parts are of a grayish-brown colour, marked with 

 whiteish spots ; the belly and lower fins pink, ap- 

 proaching to carmine. At table it is a perfect 

 dainty, having a fine, delicate flavour, superior to 

 that of any trout I ever tasted. One might easily 

 capture three dozen of them among twice as many 

 trout on a favourable day in Loch Achilty. 



Besides the char and trout, this beautiful lake 

 teems with another fish of smaller dimensions, and 

 seemingly a variety of the stickle-back. It swims 

 sometimes in shoals, like the minnow, and some- 

 times alone. Although no doubt occasionally de- 

 voured by the trout and char, I never observed any 

 attacks made upon it by these fish, and am inclined 

 to believe that it is by no means a favourite food of 

 theirs ; yet I cannot affirm that I actually investi- 

 gated this matter with any degree of care or 

 curiosity. Be that as it may, the stickle-back of 

 Loch Achilty is itself a singular production, differ- 

 ing in its habits and appearance from the more 



