CH.IX.] | ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 127 
the defective state of my gut, the fault in which 
was just at that critical place, made it a mat- 
ter of wonder that I ever succeeded in land- 
ing him. Possibly however the effect of this 
cross-pull may have been advantageous in pre- 
venting him from leaping, had he done which, I 
think we must, in all probability, have parted 
company. 
I should mention that, though there are one 
or two boats, such as they are, on Loch Garry and 
Loch Polery, and those lochs, with the part of the 
river between Loch Kingie and Loch Garry, may 
be fished by any one staying at Tomdoun ; yet a 
boat cannot be got upon Loch Kingie (in which 
the Salmo ferox is said to be more numerous 
than in either of the other lochs) without the ex- 
press leave of Mr Ellice of Glen Coich, who how- 
ever, I believe, obligingly permits rod-fishing from 
the shore. When we were there, Mr Ellice was 
absent from home, and his keeper, who had been 
at some trouble to get the deer down near the 
loch, feared that bringing a boat across might 
disturb them, so we left Loch Kingie without 
giving it a fair trial, for though it is compara- 
tively small, and very deep towards the centre, 
yet as it is rather shallow and weedy on one 
