JULY 169 



Carnach. Ponies had been sent round by land overnight 

 to carry the net, and for the transport of such ladies as 

 did not fancy a tramp over three miles of rough moorland 

 lying between the shore and the scene of operations. 

 The deer on the tops gazed from afar at the motley 

 cavalcade invading their special domain, and a pair of 

 ravens croaked execration on us as they soared far aloft 

 in the azure. The first pool to be drawn was a rocky 

 basin less than forty yards long, with a shelving gravelly 

 bank on one side of the lower end. It was very deep — 

 so deep that although the river elsewhere was reduced 

 to a mere trickle among acres of shingle, and although 

 the water was exceedingly clear, without the faintest stain 

 of peat, the eye could not pierce to the bottom. A guard 

 was set to prevent the fish escaping down stream, the 

 net was quietly slipped in at the top, and as it moved 

 slowly down the greenish depths became agitated by a 

 great multitude of fish rushing about in terror. Presently 

 the net stopped : some obstacle, a great stone, had caught 

 the leads, and failure was imminent. An Etonian present 

 offered to dive to its release ; the ladies withdrew out of 

 sight, and presently, with a magnificent header from the 

 rocks, he was down among the fishes and freed the 

 bottom line. The net was then drawn ashore, with 

 the humiliating result of half a dozen sea-trout. It had 

 been damaged, and all the other fish had escaped through 

 a large hole. They were still in the pool of course, and 

 as I lay on the rocks I could perceive them coursing up 

 and down. Three of four salmon in particular I watched, 

 never still an iastant, now sailing up to the shallows at 

 the top, then, catching sight of an enemy, dashing away 

 in hopeless search of shelter. Thinks I to myself, each 



