48 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. IV 



came so bored and ennuye with this work, that at 

 last I had only to show him my fishing-rod to in- 

 duce him immediately to retire to some hiding- 

 place rather than be asked to accompany me. An- 

 other retriever, on the contrary, always took the 

 most lively interest in my fishing, watching the fly 

 and getting into a state of gi'eat excitement when- 

 ever I hooked a fish : indeed, if allowed to do so, 

 he would go in and land the fish, taking it carefully 

 and delicately by the back in his teeth ; but as he 

 often got entangled in the line and did mischief, I 

 was obliged to stop this. A great treat, however, 

 to this dog was to put some living sea trout into 

 any shallow pool where he could catch them and 

 bring them one by one to whoever carried the 

 fishing-basket. 



I have no doubt that many wild animals, such as 

 the fox, wild cat, polecat, &c., catch numbers of fish 

 during their nocturnal wanderings. Their tracks 

 about the water's edge have frequently convinced 

 me of this : the fish, too, being apt to take to the 

 shallows at night, are easier caught than in the 

 daytime. 



To return, however, to Sutherlandshire. On the 

 7 th of June I arrived at the good town of Tain, and 

 on the 9th was at Lairg Inn. An excellent place 

 of rest, too, is the inn at Lairg, and the situation 



