'lo WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



one as pre-eminent. In Inverness-shire there are many lovely 

 lakes, and many an hour and day have I passed in fishing on 

 some of these. There was one beautiful lake to which I used 

 sometimes to take net and boat, as well as rod. It was a piece 

 of water about foui- miles long, and one or two broad ; at one 

 end were two sandy bays, forming regular semicircles, with their 

 beaches covered to a width of a few feet with small pebbles. 

 Between these two bays was a bold promontory running into 

 the lake, and covered with fine old pine trees. Along one 

 side was a stretch of perhaps three miles of grey pre- 

 cipitous rocks nearly coverqfl with birch and hazel, which 

 hung over the water, casting a dark shade on it. The other 

 end of the lake was contracted between the rocks till it was 

 lost to the view, while on the remaining side was flat moorland. 

 The whole country round and within view of the lake was 

 picturesque and bold. In the rocks near the water were a 

 colony of wild cats, whose cries during the night deterred the 

 shepherd from passing that way ; while on the highest part of 

 the grey precipice was a raven's nest, the owners of which 

 always kept up a concert with their voices of ill-omen whenever 

 they saw a human being near their dominions — there they would 

 sit on a withered branch of a tree or a pointed rock, croaking, and 

 playing their quaint antics for hours together. Their nest was 

 so protected by a shelf of rock which projected below it, that I 

 never could get a rifle-ball into it, often as I have tried, though I 

 must have frequently half-filled it with the splinters of the rock. 



In dragging this lake we were obliged to restrict ourselves 

 to the two sandy bays, as the rest of the bottom was covered 

 with old tree-roots and broken sticks, which tore our nets, and 

 prevented our using them. 



In the quiet summer evenings it was interesting to see my 

 crew of five Highlanders, as, singing a Gaelic song, they rowed 

 the boat in a large semicircle round one of the bays, letting out 

 the net as they went, one end of the rope being held by a man 

 on the shore at the point from which they started. When they 

 got to the other side of the bay, they landed, with the exception 

 of one man, who remained in the boat to right the net if it got 

 fixed in roots or stones. The rest hauled in the net gradually, 

 bringing the two ends together. As it came in, a fine trout or 

 pike -now and then would be seen making a dart round the 



