JANUARY 5 



brother went off in one boat ; their father 

 and I followed immediately in the wake. 

 Tradition has it that, as there is often a 

 long time between bites, it is well to have 

 some subsidiary pastime while trolling on 

 Loch Tay. Venerable gentlemen, much 

 wrapped in rugs, and sometimes with hot- 

 water bottles at their feet, favour novel- 

 reading. The lads, to keep themselves 

 warm and their minds sufficiently engaged, 

 were playing picquet. Suddenly, not more 

 than twenty-five minutes after setting out 

 upon the water, one of their two gillies 

 shouted, "There he is!" Both anglers 

 sprang to their feet, and in a minute or 

 so, after they had fallen over thwarts and 

 been otherwise in some little disorder, we 

 beheld Hubert's rod erect, or as nearly so 

 as a beautiful bend of the upper half 

 permitted. He had a salmon on. 



The fish was no yokel ; at any rate, he 

 did all that could be done to be free. 

 Now and then he rushed towards the boat, 

 seemingly perceiving that, the line being 

 loose, he might have a chance of ejecting 



