70 AKGLiyO SKETCHES 



(in ' A Season in Sutherland ' , that he once found 

 an elegant otter, a w^ell-madc engine of some 

 unscrupulous tourist, h'ing in the bottom of the 

 water on a sunny da}^ At Loch Skene, on the top 

 of a hill, twent}- miles from an\- tou"n, otters arc 

 occasionally found b}" the keeper or the shepherds, 

 concealed near the shore. The practice of otter- 

 ing can give little pleasure to an\" but a depraved 

 mind, and nothing educates trout so rapidh' into 

 ' rising short ' ; \vh}- thc\' are not to be had w hen 

 the)" are rising most \"ehcmentl\-, ' to themseh'es,' 

 is another m)-ster}-. A few" rises arc encouraging, 

 but when the water is all splashing with rises, as a 

 rule the angler is only tantalised. A wind)- da\-, 

 a da)- with, a large ripple, but without white wa^■es 

 breaking, is, as a rule, best for a loch. In some 

 lochs the sea-trout prefer such a hurricane that a 

 boat can hardl)- be kept on the water. I ha\-e 

 known a strong north wind in autumn put down 

 the sea-trout, \\-hereas the salmon rose, with 

 unusual eagerness, just in the shallo-ws where the 

 "\^-aA-es broke in foam on the shore. The best da\' 

 I ever had with sea-trout \\-as mugg)- and gre)-, 



