PARTING WORDS ON SPORT. 487 



has made the British navy the envy and the dread of the 

 world. 



This passion for the chase and for adventure by sea and 

 land having been transmitted from father to son through many 

 generations, has, I am convinced, had the effect of strength- 

 ening in the highest degree our national constitution. I be- 

 lieve that it has done more, and that we owe the courage and 

 endurance of our character to the same cause. 



As I do not myself profess to do more than observe, cer- 

 tainly not to analyse, what is going on around me, it is as 

 interesting to me to learn the result of those who trace the 

 manner in which different exercises affect our organs, as it 

 is gratifying to be corroborated by them. 



Among the many charming shooting-quarters it has been 

 my happiness to live at, the lodges of several were built on 

 the banks of our romantic Highland sea -lochs, full of the 

 smaller varieties of white fish, and also much frequented 

 by the larger kinds, especially when the herring " skull " 

 returned from their migration. As soon as the screaming 

 of gulls and the dull thud of the solan's dive proclaimed 

 the advent of the moving mass of herring, every clachan, 

 shieling, and even hut, along the base of hills girdling the 

 loch, was rife with bustle and preparation. Nets were spread 

 out, lines prepared for baiting, and every skiff and coble 

 launched that dared be trusted to keep above water, even in 

 a landlocked sea. 



My first effort was to procure herring sufficient to bait 

 three hundred hooks ; and directly the baited line was packed 

 neatly in its creel, we rowed to the fishing-banks. The line, 

 when sunk, was allowed exactly one hour before beginning to 

 haul it ; and if you had hit on a shoal of fish, the excitement 

 of lifting a long line could scarcely be surpassed. Down in 

 the depths you are warned by a heavy struggle to be careful 

 in your "draw." Two-pounders, three -pounders, and even 



