INTRODUCTION. 7 



invariably found this the case, and that I could take a greater weight 

 of trout in a loch where there are pike than where the trout had 

 no natural enemies to keep down their daily increasing numbers. 

 Besides which, though the pike is piscivorous, he is also most 

 decidedly as omnivorous as a pig or an alderman. A great part 

 of the food of a pike consists of frogs, leeches, weeds, &c. Young 

 wild ducks, water hens, coots and even water rats do not come 

 amiss to him. Like the shark, the pike when hungry swallows 

 anything and everything that has the misfortune to come within 

 reach of his murderous jaws. 



" If the fact could be ascertained, I would back a salmo ferox 

 of 10 Ib. weight to kill more trout in a week than a pike of the 

 same weight would in a month. I never killed a large trout 

 without finding the remains of other trout within him, sometimes, 

 too, a size that must have cost him some trouble to swallow. In 

 fact, I am strongly of opinion that pike should be encouraged in 

 all large Highland lakes where the trout are numerous and small. 

 There is no doubt, too, that the large trout, with a due respect to 

 the Lextalionis, feed on the infant pike as freely as the pike feed 

 on the young trout. 



" There are numberless fine lakes in the interior of the 

 Northern Counties situated in wild and sequestered spots remote 

 from roads and tracks, the waters of which the -line of the angler 

 seldom disturbs ; but all are full of trout, and in many are great 

 numbers of that excellent fish the char. This fish, however, very 

 seldom takes the fly, and its presence in a lake is only known by 

 his autumnal migration from the depths of the water to the 

 shallow parts along the shore. During the month of October 

 these migrations of the char generally take place, and they may 

 then be caught in great numbers by nets. In most lakes they 

 never take a bait. 



" On the north and east of Sutherland there are some excellent 

 salmon rivers. Amongst the best, if not quite the best, is the 

 Shin, which flows from the loch of that name. 



" In some parts of this county the ascending propensities of 

 the salmon are most strikingly shown by the determination with 



