CHAP. I.] DRAGGING. 8 
was lost to the view, while on the remaining side was flat moor- 
land. 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 pre- 
vented 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 
enclosed space within the net, or dashing at the net itself, drag- 
ging for a moment half the corks under water. The head man 
of the crew, a little peppery Highlander, invariably got into a 
state of the most savage excitement, which increased as the net 
approached the shore; and if any stoppage occurred from its 
being caught by a root or stick, he actually danced with excite- 
ment, hallooing and swearing in Gaelic at the net, the men, and 
the fish. When all went on smoothly and well, he acted the 
part of fugleman with no little dignity, perched in the bow of 
the boat, and keeping the men in proper place and time as they 
dragged in the net. We generally caught a great number of trout 
and pike, some of very large size. By the time we had killed all 
