166 MARVELS OF FISH LIFE 
to drink the health of his majesty the salmon and 
enable Sandy to recover from his exertions. Then 
back on the water, and within three casts I was into 
another fish, which ultimately turned the scale at 
eight pounds. Sandy worked the boat with the same 
consummate skill, and enabled me to kill a seven and 
an eight pound, clean-run salmon on extremely light 
tackle. When we came to shore with the second fish 
the old man was dead beat, and so we gave up fish- 
ing for the day; but nothing would satisfy him but 
to let him carry these two fish back to the hotel him- 
self, five miles over an Hebridian road. Arrived at 
the hotel, Sandy required a considerable amount of 
reviving; but Sandy was a Scotsman ! 
A few days after this was the Sabbath, and so a 
friend and I started very early on what turned out to 
be a most entertaining walk. First we went down to 
the creek, into which the water from the hotel lochs 
emptied. While lazily lying on the shore I detected 
an otter at work just across the bay, a distance of 
some two or three hundred yards. Viewed through 
field-glasses, we could see him watching the salmon 
crowded in the water below him; then he quietly 
dropped down off a rock into the sea, and in a few 
seconds came up with his teeth through the shoulders 
of a struggling fish. Three times did we see that 
otter dive down into the water and bring up a salmon 
each time. He appeared to kill the fish and then leave 
them on the bank. My friend and I walked back to 
