442 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



Our own " catch " with two hand-lines was eighty white fish. 



Some years ago there was a natural oyster-bed on the 

 Otter Point, and in the by at Balliemore. It has been 

 nearly harried, however, I am sorry to say, by fishermen and 

 others landing in boats from the opposite side, and carrying 

 off the dainty molluscs in wholesale quantities. Nevertheless, 

 at low tides, they are still scattered along the shores in con- 

 siderable numbers. Our party often made raids on them, re- 

 turning with sometimes ten or eleven to fifteen dozen of this 

 residue. They were hidden in a sheltered creek, and to this 

 depot we were indebted for many an oyster supper. 



From the lack of resting rocks, but few seals are tempted 

 to penetrate upper Loch Fyne. Their only regular haunt is 

 at Minard Bay, about eight miles higher up the loch. The 

 rocks exposed there at low tide give a good station for basking 

 in the sun, according to their wont. They can then be ap- 

 proached easily with a rifle. Several of them have been shot 

 there one by a boy, the son of the proprietor of Minard. A 

 very old male sometimes pays a visit to the bay at Balliemore, 

 but his appearance is so rare and uncertain, and the coast so 

 shallow, that it would be mere waste of time to watch his 

 motions. 



This same seal caused an amusing mistake on a certain New 

 Year's night not a hundred years ago. Two sportsmen were 

 shooting woodcock and ground-game amongst the furze bushes 

 on the heights of Balliemore. They were tempted to prolong 

 their sport till it was almost dark, when one returned by the 

 high ground in order to leave the dogs at the kennel, while 

 the other, followed by a gillie carrying the game, chose the 

 path by the shore. In the bay close to the house a most un- 

 earthly screaming arose to the wintry sky. The gillie assured 

 his principal that he well knew the voice of the seal, and that 

 , he was now at his mercy. As it was by this time quite dark, 

 with no moon in the heavens, the struggling, howling object 

 was easily stalked, and at last detected on the smooth water. 



