To Mountain Tarn 



of his possessions, and an interested observer, 

 he knew his Argyllshire and much that lay be- 

 yond. No creature could be there that he did 

 not hear about. " Wild cats all gone, but within 

 my memory." This was written to me on the 

 3Oth April, 1895. His memory dated back for 

 sixty years. 



In the time of Colquhoun, roughly the middle 

 of last century, the wild cat was fast disappear- 

 ing over the Grampian range. The concurrent 

 testimony of the Duke of Argyll bears much the 

 same date for the west coast. There were giants 

 in those days, and such were the giants. Small 

 men living in corners might correct some of the 

 details. But it is usual to rely on the great 

 authorities, as in the main right. 



And though it lingered on in Sutherland, it 

 was only for a while. Ewen Campbell, living in 

 the latest district of the north-west, the vanishing 

 area of our wild life, takes the dearth back for 

 more than a quarter of a century. One meets 

 with those who have heard of a forest, which still 

 retreats on the approach. Such are unprofitable. 

 Safer far to listen to reticent men, who keep 

 within their experience. 



One of life's little ironies, chiefly affecting 

 naturalists, is the eagerness to secure trophies 

 of vanishing or vanished forms, with a view of 

 proving that they are still alive, and to take it 

 as a personal insult if the genuineness be called 



37 



