190 THE MONSTER OF LOCH ARKAIG 



three pounds, and to my own rod has fallen one of 

 the respectable figure of seventeen pounds and a half. 

 Pike also there be, reputed of important size, but of 

 these the fastidious angler takes little heed, mai guarda 

 e passa. Beyond and besides these, which might build 

 the reputation of any vulgar lake, the few dwellers on 

 these shores profess to have knowledge of a monster, 

 rarely seen, of dread proportions and mysterious powers 

 the each-locha or lake-horse. 



The account given by my friend of what he saw is as 

 follows (and let me repeat, he is an old friend, and of that 

 nature, character, and unemotional temperament that no 

 degree of scepsis scientifica affects implicit belief in what 

 he says). It is as though I had seen the thing myself. 



Well, on a fine evening lately he was returning down 

 the loch in a steam launch. Not a breath was stirring, 

 the water was perfectly calm, when, on the starboard 

 bow, about ten yards out of the boat's course, he saw 

 a creature come to the surface, struggling, apparently, 

 with something which was not visible to him. 



1 What 's that ? ' he asked two persons who were be- 

 side him; they saw the object distinctly, but could not 

 answer his inquiry. He then called to his host, the 

 tenant of the forest, who crossed from the port side just 

 as the boat came abreast of the animal. He did not 

 see it, for at that moment it disappeared beneath the 

 surface, but he saw the waves caused by its movement, 

 which crossed those caused by the launch. 



That is the whole story ; but I submit that, having in 

 mind the unimpeachable character of the narrator, his 



