CH, IV. CURLEWS AND GOLDEN PLOVERS. 57 



cied the inclinations of the fish might he turned at 

 the moment. One day we saw him in his usual 

 position at the head of a rocky pool, and found that 

 he had risen a salmon. After tempting the fish 

 with every fly contained in an old bible, which 

 served as a fishing-book, without success, he told us, 

 as we greeted him in passing, that he loould have 

 the fish before dark : and sure enough, late in the 

 evening, while taking a stroll up the river, we met 

 the old gentleman coming home, and after a little 

 coquetry on the subject, he produced the salmon, 

 wrapped up in a snufiy pocket handkerchief, and 

 crammed into his trousers, where he carried it in 

 order to avoid notoriety on the subject. Not having 

 permission, I fancy, to kill salmon in the river, he 

 had killed the fish with a worm late in the evening, 

 after everything else had failed. 



The first few miles of the drive from Lah-g to 

 Aultnaharrow we skirt the edge of Loch Shin, 

 passing through a beautiful wood of birch, at this 

 season (June) full of singing-birds, woodpigeons, 

 &c. Beyond this we pass for many miles through a 

 desolate and dreary-looking range of hill ground — 

 the more desolate-looking too from the ground 

 being covered with a kind of coarse grass, instead 

 of the rich brown red of the heather. The number 

 of curlews and golden plovers is very great all 



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