238 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [cwap. xxx1. 
over the edge of the water in the most lady-like and elegant 
manner. Parts of the loch were edged in by old lichen-covered 
rocks; while farther on a magnificent scaur of red stone rose 
perpendicularly from the water’s edge to a very great height. 
So clearly was every object on the opposite shore reflected in 
the lake below, that it was difficult, nay impossible, to dis- 
tinguish where the water ended and the land commenced—the 
shadow from the reality. The sun was already set, but its rays 
still illuminated the sky. It is said that from the sublime 
to the ridiculous there is but one step;—and I was just 
then startled from my reverie by a kind of grunt close to me, 
and the apparition of a small waddling grey animal, who was 
busily employed in hunting about the grass and stones at the 
edge of the loch; presently another, and another, appeared in a 
little grassy glade which ran down to the water’s edge, till at 
last I saw seven of them busily at work within a few yards of me, 
all coming from one direction. It at first struck me that they 
were some farmer’s pigs taking a distant ramble, but I shortly 
saw that they were badgers, come from their fastnesses rather 
earlier than usual, tempted by the quiet evening, and by a heavy 
summer shower that was just over, and which had brought out 
an infinity of large black snails and worms, on which the badgers 
were feeding with good appetite. AsI was dressed in grey and 
sitting on a grey rock, they did not see me, but waddled about, 
sometimes close to me; only now and then as they crossed my 
track they showed a slight uneasiness, smelling the ground, and 
grunting gently. Presently a very large one, which I took to be 
the mother of the rest, stood motionless for a moment listening 
with great attention, and then giving a loud grunt, which 
seemed perfectly understood by the others, she scuttled away, 
followed by the whole lot. I was soon joined by my attendant, 
whose approach they had heard long before my less acute ears 
gave me warning of his coming. In trapping other vermin in 
these woods, we constantly caught badgers—sometimes several 
were found in the traps; I always regretted this, as my keeper 
was most unwilling to spare their lives, and I fancy seldom did so. 
His arguments were tolerably cogent, I must confess. When I 
tried to persuade him that they were quite harmless, he answered 
me by asking—*‘ Then whv. Sir. have thev got such teeth, if they 
