our
first collection of flies; the friend who took us with him on his salmon-
fishing expedition, and made men of us with real rods, and "pirns" of
ancient make. The companions of those times are scattered, and live
under strange stars and in converse seasons, by troutless waters. It is
no longer the height of pleasure to be half-drowned in Tweed, or lost on
the hills with no luncheon in the basket. But, except for scarcity of
fish, the scene is very little altered, and one is a boy again, in heart,
beneath the elms of Yair, or by the Gullets at Ashiesteil. However bad
the sport, it keeps you young, or makes you young again, and you need not
follow Ponce de Leon to the western wilderness, when, in any river you
knew of yore, you can find the Fountain of Youth.

LOCH AWE

THE BOATMAN'S YARNS

Good trout-fishing in Scotland, south of the Pentland Firth, is almost
impossible to procure. There are better fish, and more of them, in the
Wandle, within twenty minutes of Victoria Station, than in any equal
stretch of any Scotch river with which I am acquainted. But the pleasure
of angling, luckily, does not consist merely of the catching of fish. The
Wandle is rather too suburban for some tastes, which prefer smaller
trout, better air, and wilder scenery. To such spirits, Loch Awe may,
with certain distinct cautions, be recommended. There is more chance for
anglers, now, in Scotch lochs than in most Scotch rivers. The lochs
cannot so easily be netted, lined, polluted, and otherwise made empty and
ugly, like the Border streams. They are farther off from towns and
tourists, though distance is scarcely a complete protection. The best
lochs for yellow trout are decidedly those of Sutherland. There are no
railways, and there are two hundred lochs and more in the Parish of
Assynt. There, in June, the angler who is a good pedestrian may actually
enjoy solitude, sometimes. There is a loch near Strathnaver, and far
from human habitations, where a friend of my own recently caught sixty-
five trout weighing about thirty-eight pounds. They are numerous and
plucky, but not large, though a casual big loch-trout may be taken by
trolling. But it is truly a far way to this anonymous lake and all round
the regular fishing inns, like Inchnadampf and Forsinard there is usually
quite a little crowd of anglers. The sport is advertised in the
newspapers; more and more of our eager fellow-creatures are attracted,
more an