138 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



greater, than the average depth of the 

 North Sea ; and trout, except occasionally 

 in a dead calm, when they seem to have 

 followed flies that have wandered from 

 the shores, do not rise in the deeps. 

 Lochleven, with fish of matchless beauty 

 teeming, is all shallow. There is only 

 about fifteen feet of water at the deepest 

 part. Thus one can with reasonable 

 hope cast flies anywhere on its surface. 

 Thus, also, it gives scope and verge 

 enough for as many anglers as could be 

 accommodated on a dozen ordinary lochs 

 of the same size, and it is never over- 

 crowded. 



The boats, however, have not dis- 

 tributed themselves at random. Ah, no 1 

 The water is marked out in "drifts." 

 If the anglers in any boat have no 

 preference among these, the chief of the 

 two gillies is sure to state a choice. Just 

 as Queen Mary, when imprisoned on one 

 of the islands, had signallings with trusty 

 Anti-Roundheads on the shore, the gillies 

 have an elaborate system of alignments, 



