FIFTH DAY.] SCOTCH RIVERS. 127 



have fished in two parts of it, but it was in bad 

 seasons. In the Don I have seen salmon rise, and 

 hooked one, but never killed a fish. In the Spey I 

 enjoyed one of the best day's sport (perhaps the very 

 best) I ever had in my life : it was in the beginning 

 of September, in close time ; the water was low, and 

 as net fishing had been given over for some days, the 

 lower pools were full of fish. By a privilege, which I 

 owed to the late Duke of Gordon, I fished at this 

 forbidden time, and hooked twelve or thirteen fish in 

 one day. One was above 301bs., but it broke me by 

 the derangement of my reel. I landed seven or eight, 

 one above 201bs., which gave me great play in the 

 rapids above the bridge. I returned to the same spot 

 in 1813, the year after: the river was in excellent 

 order, and it was the same time of the year, but just 

 after a flood, I caught nothing ; the fish had all run 

 up the river ; the pools, where I had such sport the 

 year before, were empty. I have fished there since, 

 with a like result, but this was before the 12th of 

 August, the close day. In the Sutherland and 

 Caithness rivers, many salmon, I have no doubt, may 

 still be caught. The Brora, Sutherland, in 1813 and 

 1814, was an admirable river: I have often rode 

 from the mansion of the princely and hospitable lord 

 and lady of that county, after breakfast, and returned 

 at two or three o' clock, having taken from three to 



