ANGLING REMINISCENCES. 115 



ranged, and prodigious as to quantity. I found this 

 latter water in a very exhausted state, and conse- 

 quently met with little success. I am informed, 

 however, that, when flooded, the angling is very 

 superior. I was more fortunate by many degrees 

 on the Carron, the lower pools of which being in 

 prime condition, and full of fish, afforded me as fine 

 sport as I ever before experienced. Had I been 

 provided with good tackle, I might easily have mas- 

 tered above a hundred weight of salmon and grilses. 

 As it was, having only a trouting-wand, and slen- 

 derly-dressed flies, the execution made by me 

 among the larger sorts of fish was greatly limited, 

 and I had chiefly to content myself with the demo- 

 lition of some scores of sea-trout and finnocks. The 

 former of these gave excellent play, being fresh-run 

 and generally well-sized, averaging from one to 

 three pounds in weight. 



There are several fresh-water lochs in the district 

 of Loch Carron, but I cannot greatly commend them, 

 save that they are somewhat picturesque. Salmon 

 which have surmounted the cruive-dyke above New- 

 Kelso are, however, occasionally to be caught in 

 the lowermost. 



Passing to Loch Alsh, and from thence to Loch 

 Duich, a beautiful and superbly wooded arm of the 

 sea, I fell in with the Croe and Shiel waters, both of 

 which, when in a flooded state, are reckoned excel- 

 lent. My success at the mouth of the latter was 

 fair, but by no means equalled what I met with on 



