4 INTRODUCTION. 



feet. This tameness deserted them on leaving the loch, when the 

 birds only followed in our wake. 



I stopped a night at the Fall of Foyers, which, as far as the 

 amount of water that comes over the rock and used to give the 

 interest and name to the locality, is now a misnomer. Enough 

 to fill a jug certainly trickles down, but the beautiful falls no 

 longer exist. 



How lovely the scenery down the loch is. The big Mountain 

 Mealfourvonie on the west side, on which I have seen and shot 

 many a fine stag, has a peculiar charm, with its purple side, bare 

 rocks, and lower portions sprinkled with birch and Scotch fir. 

 This mountain is a sure find for deer amongst the Glen Urquhart 

 Forests. 



I have visited most of the world since I lived at Aldourie, on 

 the bank of this Scotch lake, and have seen little to beat its 

 beauty, much on a grander scale, but not otherwise. 



II. 



SALMON FISHING. 



THE number of salmon nets and boats I saw between the ferry 

 on the Findhorn and the mouth of the river brought vividly to 

 my mind the following remarks made by my father in 1846 : 



" There is no doubt that salmon are decreasing yearly in most 

 of the northern rivers. With blind eagerness these fish are 

 hunted down, trapped and caught in every possible way ; and 

 in consequence of this reckless destruction, proprietors of 

 most salmon rivers will, before many years have elapsed, lose the 

 high rents which they now derive from letting the right of 

 fishing to sportsmen and speculators. It is perfectly reasonable 

 to suppose that, like other animals, fish must of necessity 

 decrease unless allowed fairplay and time to breed. It is 

 not the rod fisher who thins their number to any injurious 

 extent ; nor, indeed, do I think river fishing to any fair extent 



