CHAP 1.] ARTIFICIAL OTTER. 15 
deer-stalker ever passes near their clear waters without going 
out of his way to look along the margin, or to refresh himself by 
gazing over the cool surface. 
When you are shooting, too, there is the inducement of 
hoping to find a brood of ducks or teal, which few hill-lakes 
are without. I have sometimes found great numbers of 
these birds, collected in some quiet pool on the hills, in August 
or September, before they have descended to feed on the corn in 
the low country. 
Many a Highland lake has a legend attached to it, and how- 
ever improbab.e the tale may seem to the incredulous Sassenach, 
the Highlander believes firmly in the truth of it. 
Some person, endowed doubtless with a prominent organ of 
destructiveness, has within the last few years invented an im- 
plement for fishing the lakes, called the otter; and though it is 
rather a poaching sort of affair, still I consider it quite a fair 
way of catching trout in some of the mountain lochs, where a 
rod could be used to no good effect, and where it would be im- 
possible to launch a boat. Its principle of motion is exactly 
similar to that of a boy’s kite. Acted upon by the resistance of 
the water, the otter, which consists of a small thin board, about 
fourteen inches by eight, and leaded on one edge so as to swim 
nearly upright, carries out a long line, which is attached to it by 
four short strings, and is wound ona large reel. To this line 
are fastened a dozen flies on short lines, which, being carried 
along by the board, rake the surface of the water; and in windy 
weather I have caught numbers of trout in this way, where the 
rod would have been of no use whatever. 
Many a grilse, and salmon too, have I killed in Loch Ness 
with the otter. There are, however, some great drawbacks to the 
merits of this implement. The fish are very apt to escape after 
being struck by the hooks, and, being thus wounded and fright- 
ened, become shy, and unwilling to rise again. Also, ifa large 
fish is hooked very near the board, there is a great risk that he 
will break your fly off, and go away with it sticking in his mouth. 
For these reasons, the otter, though of great use in certain lo- 
calities, should never be used in waters where the rod can be 
brought into play. Though exciting enough in an unknown and 
