THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 LOCH CRERAN,
 
 LOCH CRERAN: 
 
 Notes from the West Highlands. 
 
 W. ANDERSON SMITH. 
 
 ALEXANDER GARDNER, 
 PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 
 1887.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THIS continuation of Natural History Sketches appeals 
 to kindred lovers of Nature, and especially to the friends 
 and readers of " Benderloch." 
 
 Rhugarbh, Ledaig, N.6., 
 Feb., 1887. 
 
 871232
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 JUNE, 1 88 1. 
 
 [HE whole country has been looking so gay of 
 late, in the full blaze of the wonderful sunlight 
 we are blessed with, that on sea and shore alike 
 we have an embarras de rich esses of beauty, as well as of 
 life and growth. Two men were for hours hard at work 
 endeavouring to clear a small portion of sea-bottom from 
 the abundant growth of marine annuals, and found the 
 task too hard for them even in a long spring tide. Such 
 an enormous growth partially explains the teeming life of 
 the littoral in the summer time. Now is the time when 
 the few in our district with leisure, and love of that un- 
 Scottish fish, skate, can enjoy an hour's skate-spearing 
 when our flat friends come inshore from the deeper 
 waters, to deposit their strange eggs among the tangle in 
 shallow water. Yesterday one man speared seven in a 
 very short time on a small portion of sea bottom. To- 
 day we found the breeze too rough, and the bottom 
 consequently too much obscured to be able to make use 
 of the iron, so we floated rapidly over the tangle fronds, 
 casting unavailing glances into the general breadth of 
 shaded blacks and browns. The whole bottom was 
 completely obscured by a most unusually prolific growth; 
 even a great stretch, that we had flattered ourselves had
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 been made barren of algae but a month or two ago, 
 showed scarce a yard of bottom. 
 
 What harm can mussels do to oysters ! indeed. Just 
 come round this way; and we take our incredulous friend 
 to the few hundred molluscs lately thrown from the boat 
 at random on the foreshore. On the gravel, of late, a 
 deposit of young mussels has been rapidly maturing, and 
 upon these the large oysters from deeper water had ac- 
 cidentally been thrown. We lift one after another to find 
 the byssus of the mussel firmly attached, and gradually 
 extending over the shells, which are closed for a time at 
 low water. A very few days and a good few of these strong 
 oysters with powerfully developed muscles would have 
 been most effectually choked by the numerous tenacious 
 cords of the mussel having closed the shell too firmly to 
 permit the "spring" of the oyster to expand and open it. 
 What would they not have done to a bed of small, delicate- 
 shelled oysters in a similar position ? It is impossible to 
 estimate the injury done in this way to an oyster bed by 
 a shell fish which grows to a certain maturity with great 
 rapidity. There is a large bank of mussels of a certain 
 size at the mouth of the river Awe that are said to die 
 down every autumn when they reach a certain stage ; so 
 that those about an inch or so in length must be but six 
 months old. At this age an oyster is a delicate helpless 
 creature, while these mussels are capable of forming a 
 bank of such a mass, and so tied together, that nothing 
 has a chance upon it but themselves. 
 
 The young barnacles already cover every possible van- 
 tage ground in countless thousands ; shells, wattling, 
 stones all are alive with the sharp-edged mischiefs. It 
 is interesting to note how the various classes of shells in- 
 termingle, the young of one class seating themselves on
 
 JUNE, 1 88 1. 
 
 the backs of another, and the young of the other return- 
 ing the compliment all in the most indiscriminate man- 
 ner. Great masses of ascidians constantly appear in the 
 dredge, as well as the eggs of cuttle fish in groups. Amid 
 a mass of tangle attachments we found an egg of the 
 Rough Hound, which we tossed into the " live " bucket, 
 thinking to keep it and bring it out. On re-examining it 
 we found several young shells on the back of the egg, of 
 an interesting character, and to obtain these we resolved 
 to destroy the egg. Carefully cutting it open, the 
 occupant was found to be fully formed, and placed in 
 water it immediately uncoiled, and showed signs of life. 
 The eyes were shut like a young puppy's, and it con- 
 tinued breathing through its mouth steadily, as if its gills 
 were not sufficient to supply it. Its vitality was low,, 
 apparently, so we determined to keep it " in good 
 sperrits," like the Polar potentate, and removed it from 
 the water with this object. It now displayed great 
 energy, and struggled most desperately against the pro- 
 posed change. The little fish was the picture of the full- 
 grown dog-fish, and the title of Roussette was even more 
 strongly applicable to the prettily-spotted youngster thaa 
 to the various full-grown specimens we have captured. 
 
 This week we dissected a number of skate, speared on 
 their spawning ground near at hand. Two of them had 
 just been on the point of depositing their handbarrow- 
 like eggs, whose horns were protruding. Another had 
 an egg in process, the tough coating having been already 
 formed, while all had masses of eggs on each side, 
 scarcely discernible from those of hens ere the shells are 
 formed. It would be interesting to ascertain whether 
 they lay an egg daily, as in the case of fowls, and over 
 what period their spawning time extends ? The resem-
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 blance of the egg masses to those of domestic fowls, and 
 the regular attendance of the fish every morning at the 
 " cairn " in the sea, surrounded with tangle and compara- 
 tively shallow, would lead one to expect a daily egg-lay- 
 ing until the proper quantity was disposed of. These 
 fish were mostly fed upon shell fish. Various hermit 
 crabs, some Porcellanidae, one or two gapers or Myae, 
 and a good many cockles seemed to comprise the greater 
 portion of their contents. That they should have been 
 able to withdraw the well-sunk shells of the gapers from 
 their secure position in the clay of the loch's bottom, we 
 did not expect ; but the strong syphon tube of this shell- 
 fish is frequently well protruded, and what is stiff soil at 
 low water is no doubt a much softer material when 
 covered by the sea. At anyrate, shell-fish was the main 
 -dish at their feast. Nor did we see a fragment of fish 
 proper in the stomachs of any of them. 
 
 The tide was low, and we were out at the utmost 
 "verge with our assistants, busily engaged, when one of 
 them pointed to the " fish ripple " on the surface of the 
 advancing tide, and declared the shoal to be one of 
 young herring about seven inches long. This appeared 
 to us unlikely, so as we had been walking in well over 
 our knickerbockers after flounders, we turned stork or 
 heron for the nonce, and walking into the sea stood stock 
 still for some time, until the sea should bring its living 
 burden towards us. Long we watched, and watched in 
 vain ; for although the creatures occasionally played near 
 by, and appeared of small dimensions, we could not get 
 a proper glance to say positively they were not herring. 
 At length, when the water had crept further up our limbs 
 than we had calculated, a splash and ripple behind us 
 told of a portion of the shoal having passed. Carefully
 
 JUNE, 1 88 1. 
 
 changing front, we " herded " the shoal towards the 
 shore, and managed to direct them towards a stream 
 that enters the little bay, and whose waters were now 
 sufficiently brackish before the rising tide. Everything 
 had gone gaily hitherto, and a fine shoal of many hun- 
 dred fish had been ushered into a manageable position ; 
 but on shouting for our assistant on shore to bring 
 a hand net, our instructions were misunderstood by the 
 Gaelic-speaking individual addressed, and only a "graip" 
 was the result of a prolonged absence at our boat-house. 
 But no time was to be lost in a second visit, and with a 
 rush we drove a miserable fragment of the shoal into a 
 corner, and captured them with our hands. There they 
 darted about in the little water courses like, flashes of 
 living silver, and as they came out of the water and 
 glanced in the sunlight, we thought no more beautiful 
 creatures ever danced over the land or through the 
 water. Alas for the eventualities to which investigation 
 is subject ! The delicate beauties were sent to the cot- 
 tage, where they reached the kitchen, and, before a speci- 
 men could be secured for more careful examination, they 
 were actually all "gutted" by our extra-careful domestic ! 
 They proved to be sand smelts (atherind). 
 
 From some fathoms we bring up the spawn of the 
 various nudibranchs, with almost all the inhabitants of 
 the littoral, too, represented, although these are commonly 
 deposited and matured in shallow water. The dredge 
 in some localities comes up actually over-weighted with 
 great pudding-looking ascidians, that must be spread 
 thickly over the bottom of the sea. To the more tough- 
 skinned of these many young of various creatures, oysters, 
 serpulae, barnacles, and various zoophytes are found 
 affixed, and everything seems to be a parasite on every-
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 thing else. It is quite remarkable how often crabs of 
 the less active class such as the long-legged spider- 
 crabs are found quite covered with a growth of sponge, 
 not only impeding their movements, but gradually eating 
 into their flesh. The old-fashioned belief in the good 
 health of wild animals of all kinds will not stand the 
 light of inquiry. Scarce a skate-fish but has a parasitic 
 worm near the edge of its mouth, safely housed out of 
 reach of the unwilling owner. 
 
 On shore the sound of guns in continuous rapid 
 succession tells of a different class of sport to what we 
 are commonly accustomed in a country where our grouse 
 demand a good wholesome tramp. Only the determina- 
 tion to have rook pies, and plenty of them, and the 
 necessity, for the peace of the dwelling as well as the 
 satisfaction of the neighbourhood, to make a clearance 
 among the congregation of blackcoats discussing a case 
 of heresy in high quarters, could account for such objects 
 of slaughter. For a week past disconsolate youngsters, 
 who have failed in their first examination, and tumbled 
 to the foot of the tree in place of flapping among the 
 branches, have been observable day by day. Beautiful 
 creatures they are, too, and not unequal to using their 
 beaks with severity. The farmers, however, find rooks 
 just too plentiful, and so a riddance is made at the only 
 time when a rook is considered a desirable adjunct to 
 our cuisine Properly to make a rook pie, the breasts 
 alone of the youngsters should be used, and these should 
 be steeped in milk previously, in order to remove the 
 strong taste of the natural bird. To our mind they 
 should be skinned, not plucked. 
 
 As we wander down the avenue under the noble 
 beeches, and look up at the rookery and its occupants,
 
 JUNE, 1881. 
 
 a strange effect is produced by the young beech leaves. 
 Each one of these, although but lately introduced into 
 the wooded world, is perforated by numberless minute 
 holes, evidently having already paid the penalty of being 
 young and tender, like the rooks about them, and been 
 perforated by some leaf-eating insect. In vain we search 
 them with our lens, however, as all we note is the brown 
 edging of the perforations, probably the result of dead 
 tissues, as in the autumnal tints. When we note that 
 scores of magnificent trees were thus perforated as, to the 
 leaves, and each leaf drilled with numerous holes, the 
 sudden influx of enemies must have been very great. 
 We fear those trees thus attacked will not carry their 
 foliage far through the summer. The horse chestnuts 
 are th's year the finest objects in the woods. Not only 
 for number but for individual excellence the flowers are 
 notable, as they crowd the trees to the topmost boughs. 
 But why speak of one tree when every tree and bush is 
 this season hanging with bloom. The white thorns are 
 hiding leaves and wood alike ; the holly, that last year 
 was almost barren, is now strewing the pathways with its 
 delicate white stars in myriads ; the rowan is over- 
 weighted with blossom, and must be actually crushed 
 with fruit should it come to maturity. Even the 
 perforated beeches are hanging rich with blossom, and 
 never saw I promise yet of such a coming fruit season. 
 
 Now, we might look for that nest for a week without 
 seeing it ; and yet, now that we know it, our eyes can 
 scarcely be kept from it, and it seems an absolute im- 
 possibility that we could have passed it day by day, only 
 one yard off the public highway, fully open and exposed, 
 and only trusting to the strange peculiarity of colouring 
 on the eggs. Beautifully mottled and blotched, and of
 
 LOCH CRERAX. 
 
 fair size, yet the eye fails to observe them amid the half- 
 dry herbage. Why such a careful and shy bird as the 
 sandpiper should have been induced to select a location 
 within a yard of a frequented road, and place its nest 
 and eggs not under a tuft or overshadowed, but open and 
 exposed, seems unaccountable, except on the supposition 
 that it has been successful in a similar situation before. 
 "A bird has a nest every year in that fork!" says a 
 voice; "there are birds in it already this year;" so to 
 the bifurcated tree we turn, to find, where the two stems 
 part company, a deep cleft about four feet from the 
 ground. Peering in, we find the birds have flown, 
 leaving nothing behind but an addled egg ; so that once 
 again the shrewd selection of this location has success- 
 fully introduced another brood to a world that admires 
 and protects successful shrewdness. The egg looked 
 like that of the blue-tit, a bird smart enough for any- 
 thing, but the original colouring had not been improved 
 by the domestic arrangements of the little family. 
 
 We hava had very hard frost of nights, and now 
 there is wailing in Benderloch, for although most 
 of cur fruits are now sufficiently advanced to resist 
 any such truculent assault in June, yet the potatoes have 
 caught it most assuredly. " Half the potato crop gone," 
 says one lugubriously, but we know this is most likely a 
 great exaggeration, as the wind was blowing smartly in 
 the mornings, and blew the frost off the leaves ere the sun 
 got strong. We understand that in sheltered quarters 
 the plants caught it, however, and a neighbour, who had 
 a number of shaws among his well-brairded grain, where 
 they were protected from the wind, found them all black, 
 while those in the drills close by escaped. 
 
 Traversing the wood on a still day, we lately met quite
 
 JUNE, 1 88 r. 
 
 a large flight of downs, sailing along at all elevations and 
 with considerable speed, shewing there must have been a 
 current of air imperceptible to the senses. They were 
 the plumed seeds of the dandelion emigrating to new 
 locations, where they would have more elbow-room than 
 among their parents. A most determined plant is the 
 dandelion, and gardeners especially wage unequal war with 
 it. Yet the plant is one that is appreciated for its virtues, 
 not only by the schoolboy, who collects it for his tame 
 rabbits, but by more important members of the community. 
 Were it not that it grows so well and universally, and is 
 so readily obtainable, no doubt it would be more highly 
 valued as a table vegetable than it is with us. The leaves 
 make capital greens when young and fresh. Then, how 
 many now-a-days drink dandelion coffee without appreci- 
 ating the fact that they may as well make it as buy it. A 
 friend has recently informed us that he finds the home- 
 made article somewhat more bitter, but certainly more 
 useful, than the purchased. All that is required is to dry 
 the roots and grind them up, when the infusion becomes 
 a beverage that is pleasing to many, and of great service 
 to that section of our animal economy of which so little 
 is yet known the liver. We should like to know more 
 about the liver, and would advise any medical student, 
 who takes up the subject for the benefit of the multitude 
 generally, and returned Indians especially, to go in the 
 first instance where they can get plenty of sound livers to 
 examine ! Why are the sharks, the rays, and the gadidae 
 all so well provided with oil-filled livers ? The vast im- 
 portance of the liver apparently in those fishes, where 
 they occupy such a large proportion of their "room," and 
 monopolise so much of their fighting weight, is a useful 
 subject for consideration and analogical examination.
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Frequently, too, they are diseased, for it is an old-fashioned 
 idea to suppose that wild animals, and fish especially, are 
 free from the ills that flesh is heir to. Many hundreds 
 of livers have we seen in various states of disease, and 
 skates have been found floating on the surface of the 
 water in such a condition from over-production of oily 
 liver that they could not descend, from the floating power 
 of the buoy they had been cursed with. 
 
 We were walking down to the gate with a friend when 
 a fine, bold-looking bird, with a splendid flight, a forked- 
 tail of swallow-like proportions, and a general hawk-like 
 look about the head and eye, sailed past us within a very 
 few yards and disappeared. It was quite unfamiliar to us, 
 and proved to be our first close introduction to Richard- 
 son's skua (Lestris Richardsonii) y the sea hawk, of which 
 and its congeners we hear so many tales. This predatory 
 gull is a very handsome bird, with a fine carriage, and 
 nothing of the sneak in his appearance at any rate. We 
 are given to understand that one or two have been shot 
 in this district in recent times ; but it is not a common 
 bird by any means anywhere, although more abundant in 
 the northern portion of the kingdom. 
 
 She did it quite coolly and with pre-arranged dexterity : 
 that at least was perfectly apparent ! Given a wire fence 
 with too few wires, a well-cropped field on the one side 
 and a well-grown crop on the other, and the necessary 
 stimulus to intelligence and exertion was supplied. So 
 the cow deliberately walked up to the fence, and went 
 through it like a human being. First she slipped her 
 head neatly between the two wires, then she got her fore 
 legs over, and drew her hind legs one by one after her, 
 all in the most systematic manner. There were a lot of 
 companions with her, but not one followed or attempted
 
 JUNE, 1881. 
 
 to follow her. She was alone in her successful foray. We 
 were much struck with this fact, as the animal in all like- 
 lihood had observed and imitated some human being 
 thus crossing the fence; and it is remarkable that so very 
 frequently one animal alone of a group develops, or owns, 
 an intelligence so much superior to its class or com- 
 panions. We appreciated and enjoyed the story of the 
 farmer at the trial of hunters, who scornfully declared to 
 the owner of a horse that " he had a coo that wad jump 
 better." He freely offered to bet on his "coo," and was 
 most anxious for a friend to take charge of the "twenty" 
 he was open to back her for. " Hud yer tongue," observed 
 a friend quietly, " hoo wull ye git yer coo to jump ? " 
 With a quiet nudge of his elbow and a knowing wink, he 
 whispered, "putt her on the wrang side o' a field o' neeps." 
 He had evidently had his trials with that cow ere he dis- 
 covered and acknowledged her powers ! 
 
 The alder trees all over the country here are covered 
 with a white blight, similar to the one that attacked the 
 larch trees last season. In this case, no doubt from the 
 character of the food, the insect seems to be a much 
 larger creature that emerges from amid the white fluff at 
 the roots of the leaves. The larches seem to be free 
 this year as yet, but we have seen that both the beech 
 and the alder have their turn of supporting an insect 
 plague. The whole appearance of these trees is affected 
 by the myriads of creatures whose cottony surrounding 
 whitens the foliage. 
 
 An enthusiastic neighbour recently went over the face 
 of the Falcon's Cliff on the Black Island, and abstracted 
 from the peregrine's nest three young birds. One was 
 killed in the ascent, but the other two are thriving vigor- 
 ously. On the same occasion a nest of sheldrake's eggs,
 
 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 near hatching, were obtained, and the question of how to 
 keep them warm until the young men reached home was 
 cleverly solved by setting the young falcons on them. In 
 this way the eggs were successfully carried, and next day 
 the young sheldrakes made their appearance. As this 
 splendid duck readily accommodates itself to domestica- 
 tion, no doubt they will prove a handsome addition to 
 the surroundings of the mansion house. The peregrine 
 falcon has built upon the same clirf from time imme- 
 morial, and we question if ever its nest was robbed in a 
 similar manner. A boat's anchor and chain were carried 
 to the top of the cliff, and the anchor having been made 
 secure, the chain was thrown over the rock, and down 
 this the ingenious robbers descended to a point of van- 
 tage. We have seen the parent falcons frequenting the 
 neighbouring shores in an unsettled condition since, and 
 we suspect they are fixing upon another site for a home 
 on the mainland, where a fine cliff presents some distinct 
 advantage, although nearer a multitude of enemies than 
 the late location. 
 
 We are actually being dried up, a very remarkable cir- 
 cumstance in our showery west, and water is by no 
 means readily obtainable even by the wandering poultry. 
 We lately observed a cow making most intelligent efforts 
 to reach the water at the bottom of a covered well ; this 
 she had uncovered, but whether she was ultimately suc- 
 cessful in her quest we could not wait to see. A duck 
 was standing on the stone edge of a rivulet, out of which 
 it was drinking the water quite nine inches below it. 
 The manner in which the bird balanced itself on the 
 edge of the stone, while it reached down for a billful of 
 water, swinging back, throwing up its head, and letting it 
 trickle down its throat, was most amusing. A duck is a
 
 JUNE, 1 88 1. 13 
 
 heavy bird at the best, and its legs are set so far back 
 that the whole weight is in front, and how it could sup- 
 port its " too, too solid flesh," hanging thus head down- 
 ward, was difficult to conceive. Its feet must be much 
 more muscular than at first sight appears. We never 
 saw even an awkward duck in a more awkward position. 
 Year after year at a certain time come to our ears the 
 monotonous sound of the cuckoo's note, and immediately 
 thereafter follows the almost equally monotonous story 
 of its eggs and its ways, with numberless disquisitions 
 thereanent. Two years ago we noted the presence of a 
 young cuckoo in a nest near at hand, that had managed 
 to oust its foster brethren in orthodox fashion, and 
 reigned supreme. We were very near permitting a simi- 
 lar murderous proceeding on our other side, but deter- 
 mined in place thereof to purloin the egg of the marauder. 
 The last egg of a cuckoo we purloined was from the nest 
 of a hedge-sparrow, where it is not so strange that a 
 cuckoo could deposit it ; but in this instance the egg 
 was in the nest of a tit lark or meadow pipit (anthus 
 pratensis) which is not properly a lark, but a pipit 
 and how the cuckoo could deposit it there naturally we 
 could not conceive. The nest was most skilfully con- 
 cealed in a small cavity under a piece of bank on the 
 hill, most thoroughly protected from any ordinary eye, 
 and with such a small entrance that we do not believe a 
 cuckoo could have laid it there. The egg is very little 
 larger than that of the meadow pipit, and little different 
 in shade, so we took two of the pipit's five eggs and the 
 one of the cuckoo, to show the proper appearance 
 thereof as it lay in its place among the others. But we 
 did not quite anticipate the result. After blowing one of 
 the pipit's eggs so as to ascertain the condition of the
 
 i 4 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 rest, we found it considerably advanced; and, conse- 
 quently turned to the egg of the cuckoo with great care, 
 so as to secure it uninjured. This was more than 
 we managed, from a most unexpected cause. The young 
 bird was much more completely Jormed in the egg of the 
 cuckoo than in that of the pipit, and the result was some- 
 what disastrous. Is the young bird really more rapidly 
 matured in the egg of the cuckoo than in that of the 
 pipit ? Does it hatch sooner, or remain longer inside in 
 a mature state, gaining strength for the coming attack on 
 its foster brethren ? We cannot answer these questions ; 
 all we know is that the two eggs of the tit-lark were much 
 less mature than that of the cuckoo, and to all appear- 
 ance would be longer of hatching. We should be glad 
 to learn if any one has made a similar observation, or if 
 the young cuckoo has been observed at any time to be 
 hatched before the other occupants of the nest ? There 
 is so much that is strange in this bird that we should not 
 be at all surprised to find that it matures in the egg more 
 rapidly, so as to be more certainly a match for its 
 co-occupants. Our discovery of the advanced condition 
 of the cuckoo's egg was based on no previous theory, but 
 a sudden and unexpected surprise. We have no doubt 
 the cuckoo deposited the egg in this pipit's nest with its 
 bill, as they are said to do, otherwise we cannot conceive 
 how it got there. 
 
 JULY, 1 88 1. 
 
 We have had broken, uncertain weather, but suddenly 
 yesterday the roads were converted into streams, the 
 screams into torrents, and every trickling hill runlet into 
 bounding cascades. The wind shifted from quarter to
 
 JULY, 1881. 15 
 
 quarter, and "herded" the clouds between Ben Breck 
 and Ben Lora, until we had got the full benefit of the 
 storm. The very fields were in streams, and many a 
 grey mare's tail hung from the faces of the hills, until the 
 enormous rainfall had got somewhat away. What a 
 funny figure you cut, my young friend, with your best 
 bonnet as a bustle under your ulster, and a Tarn o' 
 Shanter replacing it above your black eyes, as Dugald 
 good-naturedly carried you on his sturdy shoulders 
 across the pond made by the flooded stream, whose 
 waters were racing across his potato field and through his 
 growing oats in a dozen abounding streams ! We had 
 our laugh notwithstanding, and you were not so wholly 
 taken up with your soaking feet and bedraggled petti- 
 coats that you could not enjoy the gay sides of Ben Lora, 
 with the white spirits of Ossian fleeting through the 
 green. How could any one anticipate or make prepara- 
 tion for such a six hours' visitation, unless he had seen 
 the genius of the rain working under pressure? ,.We 
 sympathised with the stranger who came to a hilly region 
 in the north and commenced bridging the streams across 
 the road on his new lands. An old native passing by 
 remarked quietly, " Wait till the inspector comes roond," 
 and, shaking his head doubtfully, passed on. No 
 inspector came, however, and month after month passed 
 away, and all seemed well. At last a night of rain, such 
 as yestereven, came upon them, and in the early morning 
 a knock at the door, when answered, revealed the old 
 man, who simply said, " The inspector's been roond," 
 and passed on once more. On proceeding along the 
 road, across which the streams were running little beyond 
 their normal volume, the new proprietor found*that the 
 inspector from the hills had strewn his bridges among
 
 1 6 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 the neighbouring fields, the work not having been to his 
 mind ! It is scarcely credible the rapidity with which 
 the streams swell with us ; and the deep descents having 
 hurled the drops from their dripping faces, with one 
 sudden movement apparently, return at once to their 
 customary tranquil, jog-trot existence. In a couple of 
 hours an impassible torrent was a moderate stream. 
 
 A few years ago the sea-swallows fixed upon the little 
 half-islet in front of the cottages as a suitable place for 
 nesting, and built their nests as usual just beyond high 
 water of the big March spring-tides. It so happened 
 that two years in succession the July tides were higher, 
 and on account of heavy gales more destructive, than 
 usual, and overpassed the March marks, so that the 
 nests were unhappily overwhelmed. There was room* for 
 them somewhat higher up on the islet, but the beautiful 
 birds seem to have decided that the locality was unlucky, 
 and so we this year miss entirely their graceful forms from 
 the view in front. They did not return for several years. 
 They nest on one particular islet at the entrance to our 
 loch, and on the islets on Loch Etive. 
 
 The question we have raised as to the cuckoo, 
 seems to us a very interesting one, and deserving of a 
 little more attention ; so we will state the problem more 
 definitely in order that the subject be investigated by 
 other observers. A few days ago we had another 
 cuckoo's egg brought us by a young friend and dexterous 
 bird-nester, who had taken it from the nest of a skylark, 
 in which were three eggs of the owner. This egg proved 
 to be quite fresh, and the chances are that it would be 
 hatched along with the eggs of the lark, and the 
 youngster would be obliged to thrust his companions 
 out. In the case of the egg formerly noted, the cuckoo
 
 JULY, 1881. 17 
 
 would have been hatched first, and would then have 
 tumbled the eggs of the titlark out of the nest to make 
 room for itself, thus explaining the many instances in 
 which the eggs of the owners of nests in which young 
 cuckoos are found lie about the nest outside. It has 
 been stated, seemingly, that the cuckoo has the power of 
 carrying its eggs in its body for some days, until a favour- 
 able opportunity occurs to drop them into a secure 
 resting place, so that it might be partially vivified before 
 being deposited, and thus explain its forward state com- 
 pared with the foster-parent's own. The point to be 
 settled is, whether this has been done, or whether it 
 really matures more rapidly than other small birds ? The 
 former supposition seems the more probable, seeing that 
 the young cuckoo has to be prepared, and is really found 
 prepared, for either emergency. Thus it can either jostle 
 out the foster-brethren, or throw out the unhatched eggs 
 unless this latter proceeding is the work of the parent 
 cuckoo when it finds its egg near the point of hatching, 
 an unlikely event, as the foster parents would not submit 
 to this, unless the young " giant " were there to mono- 
 polise their affection and attention. 
 
 We were plodding along in the steady downfall, en- 
 deavouring to draw amusement from the sloppy 
 surroundings, and, seeing we were in for a thorough 
 soaking, seeking to make the best of it. As we arrived 
 at the long road across the moss the path became a 
 series of rivulets crossing and intersecting the road in 
 all directions. Suddenly we found ourselves making 
 awkward movements to avoid stamping on living 
 creatures, all ready to escape from us if they could, but 
 so numerous we really could scarcely allow them to 
 escape. Some distance was covered ere we could really
 
 i8 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 realise the fact that the whole road was alive with young 
 frogs, so very minute that they could only have divested 
 themselves of their tadpole tails that very day, and yet in 
 active multitudes. They had started apparently on their 
 first terrestrial excursion, and had taken advantage of the 
 aqueous condition of the road to break the transition 
 from the one element to the other, and not put too 
 heavy a strain all at once on their breathing apparatus. 
 We do not recollect seeing such a multitude so very 
 minute ; and well for them that the feathered tribes had 
 all been forced to take shelter, else, had they been caught 
 in such an unprotected position, few would have lived to 
 tell the story of their first experience " on the road." 
 What a joy they would have proved to our ducklings had 
 they been within range ! 
 
 " Donald has been at his drains, and cleared out the 
 one that leads into the sea at the little bay," we say, as 
 we traverse the boggy land. On reaching it we prepared 
 to help our companion across, and, standing astride of 
 the cutting, are perforce obliged to look down at the 
 clear running runlet beneath us. What is that ascending 
 the drain., with the motion of a butter fish, and some- 
 thing of the appearance ? At first we supposed it to be 
 an eel, then that a gunnel fish had been making an 
 effort to acclimatise itself and had entered the fresh 
 water stream. But the prompt glance of our lady 
 companion settled the question, and she at once 
 declared it to be a leech. Now, we have seen scores of 
 leeches in a small, sluggish burn, but, strange to say, we 
 had never before seen a leech on the way up or down a 
 running water, so that it was with much interest we 
 possessed ourselves of a creature that has suffered sadly 
 from the progress of medical science, and is going into
 
 JULY, iSSi. 
 
 limbo with Dr. Sangrado. Not that our capture was a 
 black leech it was only a goodly specimen of the horse- 
 leech dark brown, with dark black bands or markings 
 up the back. We had never heard before of a horse- 
 leech in the district; but here it gave unmistakable 
 evidence of its activity. Strange, we had always seen 
 them curled up in the ungainly position of a slug, and 
 never by any chance had we noticed them on the 
 move, as we had found our prisoner. Placed 
 in a dish in the window, in water, we forgot it, 
 and set about our ordinary avocations, determined to 
 seek a leisure hour in which to be better acquainted with 
 its habits. It at first affixed itself with its broad foot to 
 the bottom of the dish, and then scoured around for 
 food of any description. In this it was unsuccessful, as 
 the water was pure and its armed mouth under " govern- 
 ment control." The amount of attention bestowed upon 
 a matter of that character is not always in unison with 
 the real necessities of the case ; so Mr. Leech, whose 
 relatives had long been such aristocratic individuals, 
 determined to set about a tour of exploration for the 
 purpose of supplying its outrageous appetite. 
 
 Where is the leech ? suddenly became the cry, as the 
 chance of its escape suggested itself. The chances were 
 in favour of its having attached itself to some stationery 
 limb, or sought out such at any rate; but a diligent 
 examination soon disclosed the sluggish-looking creature 
 under our feet beneath the table. Leeches not 
 uncommonly set out from a pond or ditch, and traverse 
 some distance in search of insects, not always a profitable 
 journey, as in the raid of our capture across the carpet. 
 But the adventures of the poor creature were not yet 
 over, as some one with a dim recollection of the ways of
 
 20 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 our youth, covered the jelly can with flannel, without 
 any idea whatever of the necessary perforations, through 
 which the water could be aerated. The result in the 
 morning was a dead leech, whose teeth remained 
 unexamined, and whose life had fallen a sacrifice to 
 ignorance and want of care. 
 
 William led the way to a little door with a quiet smile 
 the other day, and we followed and entered into the 
 small apartment, without any idea of our friends' object. 
 Not until we entered the little place did we appreciate 
 the occupants. For, squatting on a small bundle of straw 
 in a corner, was a splendid specimen of a young golden 
 eagle, little more than a month old, and yet with the 
 making of a magnificent bird. Near by on a hamper, 
 and within the same, three young hawks were disporting 
 themselves, and seeking to act as if that point of the 
 world, at least, was theirs to do what they liked with. 
 One of the three had wandered in its youthful egotism 
 into the immediate proximity of the eagle, only to have 
 one great foot extended, which catching the bold 
 youngster in its grasp, soon drew a quantity of blood 
 from its torn side and wing. The great stretch of wing, 
 while the fluff had not yet disappeared from the plumage 
 of the eagle, the huge and evidently prematurely 
 completed foot, and its asserting its claim to lord it over 
 all minor birds of prey, were noticeable features. The 
 bird was taken from the face of a cliff in Kingairloch, by 
 a young man who went over the edge of the cliff for some 
 1 6 feet one of the eaglets falling out of the nest and 
 perishing on the rocks below. Six lambs had at least 
 been consumed, as the legs of that number were found, 
 along with half a hare, in the nest, so it was easy to 
 understand that while the gamekeeper was desirous of
 
 JULY, 1881. 
 
 encouraging the noble birds, the farmer was quite as 
 anxious to have the nest destroyed. A thrill of pleasure 
 passed through us as we all looked at the beautiful young 
 giant among birds, and king of the grouse lands, and 
 willingly would we have taken it with us but for the 
 feeding part of the programme, no slight consideration. 
 So we were content perforce to have one of the kestrils, 
 and our hands have been quite sore with the onslaughts 
 it has made upon them both with teeth and claws. The 
 latter are the most amusing parts to watch, as the most 
 instinctive movement in the bird is that of endeavouring 
 to clutch at everything in the way, and strike with fearless 
 determination at any supposed antagonist. This action 
 is most powerfully characteristic, and in such a young 
 creature is most amusing. It has no idea of fear what- 
 ever, and very little intelligence apparently, as it does not 
 normally distinguish between friend and antagonist, nor 
 even between those actions that are kindly and those 
 that are questionable. 
 
 We were amused with the gambols of a seal on our 
 way to Appin, as if it had a leaf of tangle in its mouth, 
 with which it apparently enjoyed itself gambolling 
 recklessly around. The people in the vicinity declare 
 this to be no unusual action with him, and that he 
 frequently comes up when in a rollicking mood and 
 disports himself thus, tangle in teeth ? 
 
 The sheldrakes, recently hatched and apparently doing 
 well, were set upon a few days after their advent by two 
 tame gulls, with their strong beaks, and the whole lot 
 killed. 
 
 Later we heard strange tales of his Royal Highness, 
 and desire to know the truth. So we turn the key of the 
 door softly, and enter with our companion. There the
 
 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 kingly prisoner lay on his bundle of straw, or rather half 
 crouched with his back towards us, as he turned his head 
 lazily, and gave the feeble childish cry that is all that 
 emanates from the tribe. He stretches his wings help- 
 lessly as if to deprecate handling, for does not the lady 
 who claims his majesty's allegiance draw them out to 
 exhibit their splendid proportions, as if the golden eagle 
 were a pet turkey fattening for Christmas ! His de- 
 meanour is simply careless and indifferent, and the 
 attitude not noble, so we muster courage to demand an 
 account of his iate gay and lively comrades in captivity, 
 the two young kestrels from his own native Kingairloch 
 cliffs. What answer can he give, indeed ? are not the 
 wing feathers all that remain of the bonny birds that 
 have gone to build up the frame of this King of the 
 Cannibal Islands. No doubt as " falcons " they 
 approached and claimed kinship, and showed a clear 
 record of a life of rapine and reiving on the part of their 
 ancestors to the flood ; but although " corbies will no' 
 pick out corbies' een," a golden eagle in captivity, in 
 place of sympathising with his associates, has not 
 hesitated to devour a brace of kestrels, with rabbit lying 
 alongside ! 
 
 Well for you, my little beauty, that we removed you 
 from the claws of the spoiler, or you would doubtless 
 have shared the fate of } our brothers. Our kestrel is 
 becoming an interesting pet, and no longer attacks those 
 it knows with beak and claw. With a little coaxing it 
 will step upon our hand, and loves to be talked to and 
 taken notice of. We removed it from the kitchen, where 
 it had free quarters, to a roomy cage against the wall 
 outside ; but it did not get sufficient company there, and 
 pined sadly, so it had to be taken in again by the sym-
 
 JULY, 1 88 1. 23 
 
 pathetic servant girl, who has taken a strange fancy for 
 the bold handsome bird, and with whom it is much more 
 familiar than with anyone else. The peculiar telescopic 
 movement, up and down, of the head, seems an instinc- 
 tive action when it is very watchful ; but when quite at 
 rest the head is sunk down upon the bosom as in other 
 birds. 
 
 The peregrine falcons recently captured in the vicinity 
 were balls of fluff when first secured, but are now very 
 handsome birds in fine plumage male and female the 
 latter much the larger, as is commonly the case among 
 the raptores. They have not been sufficiently familiarised 
 with their owners, however, and are not interesting pets 
 in consequence ; while their continual " squeaking " is 
 enough to split one's head. The worst of the raptores, 
 when thus kept in confinement, is the strong and dis- 
 agreeable effluvia they emit. 
 
 We were recently amusing ourselves watching the 
 small black-headed gulls following the steamer in Loch 
 Linnhe, only less interesting and graceful than the sea- 
 swallows. One single herring-gull appeared among 
 them, but had not long been engaged in the same 
 avocation of diving behind the steamer, when it became 
 enraged at one of the blackheads, and followed it with 
 great pertinacity across and across the loch, the smaller 
 bird escaping by constantly " jinking " its pursuer as it 
 pounced upon it. The other blackheads meantime 
 continued careles? and unobservant, but at length one of 
 them seemed to consider the "persecuting" stage had 
 been reached, and set off full flight to help the pursued. 
 This it did just as a school boy would, by running across 
 and across the course of a bully chasing a little boy, the 
 larger bird continuing most pertinaciously until the
 
 24 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 steady persistence of the new comer forced it to desist 
 most unwillingly. It must have been extremely aggra- 
 vated at the bird it first followed, as it never made the 
 smallest effort to touch the interloper. Probably the 
 little miscreant had removed, by greater quickness, a 
 titbit it had marked for its own. 
 
 Passing the poet's garden we learned of a nest 
 and eggs of a character not well known in the district. 
 Through the rustic gates and along the strawberry 
 beds, now richly furnished, and aggravatingly ex- 
 tensive for the most strong-minded to traverse, we 
 pass, until at length, amid the heavily-laden gooseberry 
 bushes, we come to a halt Upon one of these, a foot 
 from the ground, the nest is placed, made of dried grass 
 and with fine greenish speckled eggs, most of the 
 marking being in a circle at the larger end. Our first 
 instinct is to say a "nettle creeper," from our boyish 
 recollections ; but the eggs are not quite the same. The 
 description of the bird is that of a whitethroat, however, 
 and such we have ourselves seen about the neighbour- 
 hood. On more careful consideration, we find it is the 
 nest of the lesser whitethroat (Curruca Sylviella\ the 
 nest of which resembles that of C. Cinerea in being made 
 of hay or very dry grass, from which we understand it 
 derives its name of haychat, under which it is known in 
 some southern counties. The eggs in this nest are quite 
 cold and clearly deserted, and as another similar has 
 been built near by, from which a brood was safely 
 hatched, we all conclude the same pair had removed 
 thither a predacious cat that had haunted this corner 
 having alarmed the parental breast. The sympathetic 
 gardener evidently has considerable misgivings as we 
 remove the deserted nest and eggs, but had he seen us
 
 JULY, 1881. 25 
 
 endeavouring to preserve the said eggs next morning he 
 would have felt amply satisfied. Not only were the eggs 
 full of young birds, but they were rotten into the bargain, 
 and it required a powerful return of our boyish enthusiasm 
 to enable us to finish our task. The whole weight of the 
 nest and five eggs was a fraction over one half ounce. 
 
 While exhibiting this nest and desiring local informa- 
 tion, we found few who were acquainted with either nest 
 or eggs ; but a friend in pur own neighbourhood took us 
 scrambling over a hedge, and through tangled vegetation 
 heavy with rain drops, to a large fuschia bush. Here an 
 empty nest was clearly of the same character, but from 
 its extra size it seemed to us to belong to the whitethroat 
 itself C. Cinerea, a much more common bird than the 
 lesser, and well-known to many school-boys as the nettle- 
 creeper, from frequenting beds of nettles. In a 
 lengthened bird-nesting experience we do not recollect 
 to have met the nest of this bird, the lesser whitethroat, 
 before. 
 
 There must surely be fish in plenty in Loch Linnhe, 
 for the whales have been active of late. One went 
 ashore at the bay near Dunstaffnage, and was killed most 
 ignobly by means of pitchforks ; and another coolly went 
 away with the bag net for salmon from Kingairlochside, 
 the net being discovered some four or five miles off, with 
 four or five grilse and a salmon in it. Had it been loose 
 it might have strangled Mr. Whale, but being fixed it en- 
 abled the animal to tear it clear away, and split it up. 
 Clearly it was not after salmon, a fish even the bottle- 
 nose does not apparently hanker after in the presence of 
 herring, if, indeed, they could eat them at all, which is 
 more than questionable. They must have been led
 
 26 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 astray by some shoal of herring which passed through 
 the large-meshed net. 
 
 See the bird of the hawk tribe hovering over the 
 highest point of the island there, and occasionally stoop- 
 ing, but hitherto unsuccessfully ! It is apparently a kes- 
 tral from its movements, and we watch it as it scarcely 
 moves a wing while we thread the long passage and cross 
 the loch nothing but an occasional flutter all the time. 
 Gently, now, for the tide is low ; and we run the keel on 
 the rough gravel beach. What a rush of dancing petti- 
 coats through the heath of the island as the crowberries 
 and blaeberries attract the eyes of the young, and the 
 saffron butterflies, which are to-day the prevailing species, 
 skip away before the advancing cap. On our last visit 
 the little blue butterfly was the most common, but now 
 it has been replaced, although the blue is still common 
 on the neighbouring Lismore. We hear the grasshoppers 
 chirping, and see the " old men " leaping among the 
 heath for the first time this season ; for they " love the 
 merry, merry sunshine," and do not seemingly make 
 their appearance at all in the muggy weather we have 
 experienced. We want a young black-backed gull, and 
 notice is given accordingly ; but the minds of all are dis- 
 tracted by the many novelties and beauties. A great 
 group of seals are lying on an outlying rock, looking like 
 grey lichen, as the sun has dried them ; they plunge into 
 the water of the narrow strait, and again crawl awkwardly 
 with jerky movements, up the black rocks quite a dozen 
 of the huge fellows. We look in vain for mushrooms 
 where they used to be, but as we are seeking for them 
 we come upon the nests of the terns in multitudes, at 
 the verge of the cliffs and along the ledges of the rocks. 
 Just a little cup-shaped depression in the grass or moss,
 
 JULY, 1881. 27 
 
 with the most remarkable variety in the colouring of the 
 eggs, even in the same nest. This is quite a peculiarity 
 of the tern, and sometimes there is far greater difference 
 between the eggs of a single bird than between those of 
 different species. Late as the tern is of nesting gener- 
 ally, it seems still later this season, very few of the young 
 being more than a day old. " I found a nest with two 
 eggs and a fluffy youngster," says a skirmisher, and his 
 description is that of the bird we are seeking, so we set 
 off in search. The eggs are there lesser black-backed 
 gull but the youngster has taken warning and disap- 
 peared, only to be captured as it nestles into the corner 
 of a rock some yards away, similarly coloured to its own 
 grey fluff. Meantime the eye of a maiden, as quick as 
 it is merry, has discovered the nest of some duck under 
 a rock ; and the eggs have been already abstracted and 
 examined ere we reach the spot and endeavour to re- 
 place them in their den, far under the overhanging 
 boulder, for the eggs are within a day of hatching, and 
 they prove to be those of the sawbill (Merganser), whose 
 young have never been successfully reared in this quar- 
 ter. But oh ! those ladies. Here was another nest of a 
 gull with eggs near maturity, and they have disappeared 
 in a most mysterious manner ! 
 
 In a pool close to the beach we find quite a mass of 
 tadpoles, late enough of appearing, and the excessive 
 restlessness of the sandpipers, and the wild anxiety of an 
 oyster-catcher, point to young ones skulking in the 
 crevices of the rocks or under some sheltering tuft. 
 Everything late this year, but as the whistle is sounding, 
 and the smoke has long been encircling our potato pot 
 in the cave, we must not be late for our welcome meal. 
 We would willingly have lolled and joked longer around
 
 28 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 the snow-white cloth, and watched the peregrine soar 
 away from the invaded premises, and arranged the blae- 
 berries and the hill heather to the best advantage, but 
 Lismore is near, and Tirifour " Castle," that ruined 
 broch, is a novelty to some of the party. 
 
 The beach is rough, the tide low, and the cliffs ragged 
 and steep under the ancient Pictish tower, but the ladies 
 wander round the rough stones of the shore, and strike 
 inland in search of a shop. Actually there is a shop ; 
 but we are obliged to waylay them further shoreward, 
 and delude them back through the long clover of the 
 limestone island to the boat. They will rather face the 
 cliffs than the rude shore again, and we feel like driving 
 a team of unbroken fillies over a mountain road as we 
 gather them shorewards along the rude path. Carefully 
 we hand them down the last rough stage, but a leap is 
 inevitable, and recklessly faced by the merry hearted. 
 What did you think, my friend, as your comfortable com- 
 panion shrieked and fled from your waiting arms ? We 
 own to perturbation, in spite of the laughter mingled with 
 the shrieks of horror. Some frightful calamity, surely ! 
 but it only turns out to be a somewhat rude treatment 
 of the contents of the new patent incubator ! The de- 
 struction has not been so complete or disastrous as was 
 anticipated, and after consigning the broken egg and 
 contained embryonic black-backed gull to the waves, the 
 " patent incubators " seemed still well supplied, and the 
 ladies more careful of any rude approaches. For not 
 only the gull's but the duck's nest had been surreptitiously 
 stolen from, in hopes of successful incubation. Once 
 the ladies had reached home and " unbosomed " their 
 cares, the eggs were placed under a clocking hen, and, 
 no doubt to its astonishment, next morning three goos-
 
 JULY, 1 88 1. 29 
 
 anders made their appearance. Beautiful little creatures, 
 and wonderfully droll they were ; but only one now re- 
 mains alive, and that does not promise a lengthened 
 sojourn among us. This is to be regretted, but the 
 troubles that await pets are innumerable. One was 
 drowned, another was abstracted by the paw of a cat 
 through the wire netting ; and our little black-backed 
 gull, after being a source of pleasure and amusement for 
 several days, as it Coddled about the house and played 
 with the children, at last wandered too far, and was 
 found in a rat trap ; from whence it was removed for the 
 benefit of our tame kestrel, now in full beauty of plum- 
 age. 
 
 The children levy blackmail on Lismore, in the shape 
 of a big bunch of its rich clover for their tame rabbits ; 
 and then we shake up our little sail and stand home- 
 wards. But first, ere we enter our own loch, we run our 
 boat alongside Tern Island, just to see the multitude of 
 nests, and ascertain the progress of the young. None 
 are more than a day or two old, and it is wonderful to 
 note the instinct of the little fluffy creatures, with the 
 bright white spec at the point of their bills, as they cower 
 quietly beside the unhatched eggs, or slip with scarce 
 perceptible movements into the heath alongside, and 
 crouch immoveably under some little tuft. 
 
 No bird is so easy to rear as a gull, but a sea-swallow 
 requires fish, and is most difficult, if not impossible to 
 keep alive, except in very favourable quarters. Gulls 
 will eat anything, and we learn that the other day, as a 
 farmer was ploughing near us, a large gull, presumably a 
 black-backer, swept down before him and went off with 
 a mole ! Rather strange game for a sea-bird, but " all is 
 fish that comes into the net " with that omniverous bird.
 
 30 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 One of the peculiarities of the human mind is a love 
 of dexterous imitation, and this takes various forms. Per- 
 haps the most unpleasant is the imitation of natural 
 objects in unnatural substances, and we acknowledge the 
 same feeling towards an imitation sealskin that a bull is 
 supposed to bear towards a red cloak. Yet the mind is 
 pleased with a dexterous copy all the same, and perhaps 
 the pleasing feeling that we have discovered the analogy, 
 or at least that we fully appreciate it, adds to the agree- 
 able sensation produced by a really beautiful form. 
 
 The Polypodies, known familiarly as the oak and beech 
 ferns, are common enough all about us, and, from being 
 thus common, attract no attention, although none the less 
 beautiful on that account. But the parsley fern (Allosorus 
 crispus), or rock brakes, is less familiar to the eye any- 
 where, and is seldom to be found in Scotland except in 
 confined localities. We have often resolved to hunt up 
 this fine plant in its " native wilds," and as our stout young 
 friend is on the hunting path, we must make up our minds 
 to give a day to the chase. The sun has been shy all the 
 summer, so we cannot expect a dry walk, but will ignom- 
 iniously keep to the road as long as possible ere starting 
 off towards the rock haunts of the pretty plant that has 
 stolen its graceful fronds from our kale yardie and 
 keeps demurely among the hills, as if afraid to be found 
 out. Away up in Glen Dubh, that black glen among the 
 hills, on which an eternal gloom seems settled as we look 
 up from below, and where a heavy mist seems ever hang- 
 ing to damp the spirits of the unhappy visitant, we must 
 seek it. We are traversing a rude road towards the glen, 
 wondering what sort of vehicle can hold together over the 
 rocks and through the bogs, and occasionally forced to 
 consider which road to take when it divides. But we
 
 JULY, 1881. 31 
 
 need not bother, as there is but one way after all, and the 
 double road is occasionally caused by the cart being turned 
 aside in wet weather by a bog, or in the other case in 
 frost by the slippery rocks. Scarce a sound is heard, and 
 the feathered inhabitants of the woodlands seem to have 
 been thoroughly depressed and crushed by the damp sun- 
 less summer. A few chaffinches about the main road, a 
 fugitive blackie slipping off through the brush, and at last 
 the harsh squeaking of a pair of jays is all we meet in the 
 still mist-clad wooding. We have been keeping to the 
 neighbourhood of the small stream near which we left the 
 main road, and now after a long scramble through wood 
 and over boggy land we approach the river Teighl in its 
 higher course, before it plunges along'over the long range 
 of falls and rapids on its way towards Barcaldine Gardens. 
 Here we find a sudden outcrop of civilisation in the shape 
 of two youngsters with a huge rod seeking to emulate 
 Izaak Walton on the skirts of the clouds. Surely no fish 
 can possibly pass these falls, and yet here are plenty of 
 trout of good size playing in the shallows, and lying lazily 
 working their gills in the deeper pools. How came they 
 there ? is more easily asked than answered ; and unless 
 we could positively assert they were never introduced, it 
 is useless to look for other explanations, No doubt trout 
 are capable of very wonderful gymnastic performances, 
 and eggs, too, have been carried in strange ways, but the 
 very extended course of the stream in the glen would 
 naturally lead to its being stocked, if not otherwise 
 supplied. 
 
 Now that we have arrived at the glen proper, we are 
 surprised to find it a fine vale, with a broad, wooded 
 bottom, and steep sides sprinkled with natural wooding, 
 and seamed with wild watercourses. Here is the neat
 
 32 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 cottage of the shepherd whose children we met by the 
 river; and the neat, well-kept place and little garden, with 
 the patch of oats and potatoes, and good stretch of grazing 
 for his cow, show how snug and comfortable thrift and 
 energy can make a family even in a rarely-visited Highland 
 glen. The bog myrtle scents the air as we trample through 
 it, but the heath is everywhere dull, save where the bell 
 heather shows in brilliant purple patches. This heather 
 seems very frequently to spring up when the common 
 heath has been burned down, as if it had been lying perdu, 
 crushed by its more vigorous and prosperous connection, 
 and ready to take immediate advantage of its misfortune. 
 The sphagnum moss is deep and wet, and we have to 
 pick our steps warily; but the whole glen is workable and 
 drainable, and those who live in the moist West cannot 
 look upon it as uninhabitable, in the face, too, of the 
 particularly vigorous dwellers in the cottage by the river 
 Teighl. Quite a fine domain it would make, with a 
 glorious view towards Linnhe and Morven, and Ben Breac 
 looking down with complacent self-satisfaction over the 
 wooded snuggery beneath it. The river still flows free 
 and strong, and we are approaching the very top of the 
 glen, where it is met by the sloping guard of hills. What 
 violent torrents all those streams are in the winter and 
 the rain time, when the cloud king hurls them downward 
 impetuously, with heaps upon heaps of fractured rock in 
 their train. 
 
 At the very top of the glen, on the left hand, there 
 enters one such wild torrent called the " torrent of the 
 cleft " Esnagara, over quite a morain of small boulders ; 
 and up this narrow gulch we keep towards the summit of 
 the hills. Ere we proceed far we have to cross again and 
 again the stream that rushes downward, and so find that
 
 JULY, 1881. 33 
 
 the rocks we have to traverse are of a character such as 
 to try our feet severely. Only those in the very bed of 
 the stream are water-worn, the remainder being sharp 
 edged, as if fresh blasted from the steep cliffs on either 
 hand. Was not this the cliff where Donald captured the 
 eagle, and that where the raven loves to build its nest ? 
 Steep enough all the way, and yet all clothed in greenery 
 of bracken and heath, and young of the birch and moun- 
 tain ash, save where a new, fresh-cut face tells of a recent 
 fall of rock. Huge boulders, water-worn, there are also 
 here and there ; splendid granite of many colours, from 
 cream colour to red, from whence brought or how it 
 would be difficult to say without a careful survey of the 
 neighbourhood. This mass seems similar to the granite 
 of Bunaw, on the other side of the hill ; but that is like 
 nothing we know in the district. What power short of a 
 glacier or an iceberg could have thrown that monster 
 boulder in the middle of the stream, large enough to 
 build a church ? Has it descended from the summit as 
 the stream cut its path under it through the hill, or only 
 been undermined as the gully widened ? 
 
 " Here is one ! " shouts our comrade, and sheltering 
 under a large stone is a little group of the friends we are 
 seeking, and have scrambled so far to obtain. We still 
 clamber up, however, and conjure up the placid smile 
 that would scramble up the cheek of our shoemaker did 
 he but know we were in such quarters. Round a corner, 
 and a wonderful grey mare's tail falls in a side basin, 
 whence a scudding streamlet joins the one we are ascend- 
 ing. Quite a fairy corner, and we half expect an appari- 
 tion of a fairy chieftian in kilt and claymore to demand 
 our credentials and punish our audacity. We have left 
 the stream, and are crawling up the loose and dangerous
 
 34 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 streams of broken rock that a careless step would set rolling 
 indefinitely.- Here is a bit on which the heath has got a 
 partial foothold, and has tied the stones together, and 
 from this vantage ground we can now reach the plants 
 we are in search of, whose fronds in enticing bunches 
 now peer from the loose stones alongside. Plenty of 
 them and to spare, and, by carefully removing the stones 
 around, the whole plant, and all the soil it has gathered 
 about its roots, can be safely carried off. We are very 
 busy, and the rolling stones tell of the whereabouts and 
 the progress of the one to the other. Greedier, too, we 
 grow as we proceed, for no sooner have we removed one 
 plant than another far more beautiful is sure to appear. 
 Oh ! that bird in the bush with the brilliant plumage, 
 while our poor little friend in the cage there is dull as 
 peat water ! As we crawl carefully downward, with our 
 backs well laden, clutching anxiously at the rotten 
 heather, and dragging with us the wild thyme, the blae- 
 berry, and the wild strawberry, we have the consolation 
 of knowing that according as our eyes have been greedy 
 our backs will be bent. What a power is water, and what 
 a water power is there; and what a force, too, is a 
 simple idea, that has dragged us through the muir and 
 over the mountain debris in search of the successful 
 imitator of one of our commonest garden vegetables, 
 known to the initiated as Allosoms crispus, and to lovers 
 of a simply beautiful form by the much more euphonious 
 title of the parsley fern. 
 
 AUGUST, 1 88 1. 
 
 It is odd how one sometimes comes upon a " find " in 
 one or other domain of nature, and blindly, almost with
 
 AUGUST, 1881. 35 
 
 intentional perversity, neglects to take advantage of it. 
 When scrambling over the Black island last month, we 
 came upon quite a number of the brilliant tiger-moths, 
 mostly in a lethargic condition, and apparently unwilling 
 to be disturbed. The female of this species gets the 
 character of being inactive, no doubt this meaning 
 during the day, which might well be anticipated from a 
 night wanderer. Two we placed in a little match box, 
 and on opening the box after our arrival home, we found 
 the metal lid carefully coated with a great array of small 
 circular eggs evenly spread. Another that we pinned 
 down for preservation committed the same indiscretion 
 on the board to which it had been fixed. The brilliance 
 of this moth is most striking, and the manner in which 
 the individuals were openly laid on the hillocks or the 
 out-cropping rocks, showed they trusted all the same to 
 their safety being assured. How could such a number 
 of brilliant creatures be unseen in such prominent 
 positions, and amid quantities of birds ; and what did 
 they specially resemble that diverted the suspicions of its 
 insectiverous enemies ? The marked distinctness of the 
 crimson and black body and wings, and the prominence 
 of the cream-coloured spots on the rich forewings, could 
 scarcely have permitted their escape except from some 
 resemblance not apparent to our eye. Although a 
 nocturnal insect, these specimens were all openly spread 
 upon the turf or the rocks. The tiger moths (Chelonia) 
 are by no means rare, but we understand they are local 
 in the north. A friend made his appearance with a 
 variety, in the shape of a ruby tiger (Arctia fuliginosa), 
 whose more refined construction and smaller dimensions 
 were amply compensated by the intensity of the pink and 
 black hind wings, with the rich, rose-coloured border,
 
 3 6 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 half-concealed by the semi-transparent fore wings. What 
 a field for the young naturalist is this of the moths and 
 butterflies, and how gently it draws him into a proper 
 appreciation of the beauty of structure through admira- 
 tion of the more patent beauty of colouring. No one 
 could long collect moths without wondering where their 
 caterpillars fed, and how they arrived at their particular 
 arrangement of hues, and whether the brilliance of the 
 caterpillars was in accordance with the gorgeousness of 
 the mature insect ! This does not at all seem to be the 
 case ; and so young heavy-head, who has made no great 
 appearance at the school or the academy, who has but 
 managed to scrape through college, draws himself up and 
 promises to do great things when the " ugly duckling " 
 has developed into a swan. Not even botany will more 
 insensibly draw the lover of beauty into love of science 
 than the study of the fleeting flower-petals that dance in 
 the sunlight, or deck with seldom-seen elegance the 
 autumn twilight. 
 
 What a droll fellow ! Quite in a state of excitement 
 over our friendly visit, and determined to show it 
 extravagantly about our legs. A little nondescript dog 
 that has followed us among the gooseberry bushes, and 
 there, sooth to say, follows our example, and freely par- 
 takes of the product of the over-burthened branches. 
 We do not recollect seeing a dog make such liberal use 
 of fruit before, but the little fellow actually demolishes 
 the hanging berries, taking them off with a satisfied snap. 
 A very interesting fact this, showing how sympathy and 
 imitation will direct the original carnivorous instinct into 
 more peaceful channels. No doubt it commenced with 
 the gooseberry jocularly handed to it by kindly hands, 
 just as some dogs will only eat the food from the table
 
 AUGUST, 1 88 1. 37 
 
 of their master, and will even eat obnoxious morsels if 
 from his plate. 
 
 A curious development of an opposite character came 
 under our notice a week ago. The ducklings of a neigh- 
 bour disappeared mysteriously, until our little lady, in 
 her peregrinations, observed a large bird appropriate and 
 devour one of them as it was entering the stream. 
 Watch was kept, and the result was that a large heron 
 was caught red-handed, and gradually appropriated for 
 the keep of our little kestrel, whose stomach requires 
 considerable attention. No doubt a duckling is a mere 
 trifle to such a powerful bird as a heron, but we were not 
 before aware that they become so omniverous as to 
 emulate the gulls in the vicinity of the farm-yard, and 
 thus devour young birds. Indeed, we still believe this 
 to be quite an exceptional and abnormal occurrence, and 
 worthy of being chronicled. 
 
 Our little kestrel grows in interest and increases in 
 beauty of plumage. It makes a very tame pet, and is 
 greatly pleased to be taken notice of by any one passing 
 the cage at the kitchen door. It flies upon the galvanised 
 wire-netting, grasping it and spreading its wings, while 
 crying in the plaintive tone that seems so poor an 
 endowment for such a fine bird. Here comes some one 
 with a carefully-plucked sparrow the idea of plucking 
 anything for such a dextrous stripper of a bird and 
 hands it through the wires. Its feet are occupied, so you 
 see it is forced to take it from the hand with its beak ; 
 but no sooner can it regain its perch than it seizes the 
 bird round the neck with its foot we were almost going 
 to write hand, so like to the action of a hand is the grip 
 of the bird and holding it up as it stands on one leg, 
 tears it to pieces with its beak. Large soft eyes, and the
 
 38 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 curious restless movement of the head out and into the 
 neck, gives the kestrel a strange mixture of gentleness 
 and watchfulness difficult to describe. 
 
 What does it mean? To-day has been comparatively 
 good, but the wind exceedingly changeable, and the sun 
 is going down with a very stormy promise. As \ve 
 strain at the oars against a strong head wind a voice ex- 
 claims "golden plovers," and, sure enough, there is a 
 flock of half-a-dozen skimming down the wind. One of 
 them leaves its companions, and sweeps around till it 
 settles on the grassy slope by the sea, where it peeps at 
 us from the grass while we pass. There is no doubt 
 about it, we are too close to be mistaken, if we could 
 mistake the flight and cry of this graceful bird. The 
 tide is the highest for months, and it is down at the 
 verge where the dark fringe of sea-weed skirts the green 
 bank. What can it mean, this sudden early appearance 
 of a group of winter visitants ? are they driven from the 
 north by promise of a severe winter, or only carried 
 southward by the nor'-wester ! 
 
 On Sunday last we were surprised at the movements 
 of the collected swallows of the district. In place of 
 sweeping gracefully around, they gathered on the beach 
 at low water, flying to and fro like a flight of sparrows, 
 and sitting on the tops of the stakes in the water in a 
 most undignified and common-place way for swallows. 
 The reason for this conduct on this day we scarcely 
 appreciated, for it has not been repeated since. No 
 doubt the weather was very heavy and depressing, and all 
 insects would be in the lower stratum of the atmosphere ; 
 but why settle upon the foreshore and on the seaware, 
 except to demolish marine insects? and if upon this 
 day, why not upon any other day when the tide was low?
 
 AUGUST, 1 88 1. 39 
 
 We have often seen stray swallows skimming over the 
 seaware and nipping up an odd insect ; but quite the 
 swallow colony of the whole district to congregate on the 
 beach, and behave with the reckless disregard of appear- 
 ance of a "family at the coast," was an unusual occur- 
 rence. 
 
 Our loch has been very destitute of life for some time, 
 and gulls more especially are not common with us. On 
 our way in by boat to our little bay, in the dusk this 
 evening, we started a very large flight of small gulls inter- 
 mingled with vociferous curlews, all settling again on the 
 little cairn-covered island near us. They must have been 
 driven in by an approaching gale, and the curlews, too, 
 seem to have already reached the coast for the winter, 
 after incubating among the moors during the summer. 
 
 We so frequently hear of the remarkable force of 
 instinct, and how it triumphs over habit and early train- 
 ing, that it is notable when we find a very marked 
 instance to the contrary, and discover a case where early 
 associations triumph completely over inherited peculiari- 
 ties. The young ducks that take instinctively to the 
 water, to the horror of their hen foster-mother, is within 
 the experience of every keeper of fowls ; but we have an 
 amusing duck that formed part of such a hen-incubated 
 brood, and, while its companions have all joined the 
 other ducks, and daily frequent the sea and the stream, 
 yet it has attached itself to our chickens, from whom it 
 is inseparable. We have in vain sought to drive it into 
 a sense of its wider field of labour, to show that it was 
 born to " conquer the flood ; " it remembers only the kin 
 of the foster-mother ! 
 
 There is a class of fishes not well known even to collec- 
 tors, and seldom found in any quantity by those who are
 
 40 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 interested in noting them. We allude to those that are 
 not deep-sea fish, and within the influence of the beam 
 trawl ; nor foreshore fish within the reach of the rambler; 
 nor such as will take a hand-line bait. They dwell 
 mostly near the coast, but perhaps in rocky ground, or 
 where the seine net alone will reach them, and the nonly 
 casually. We were assisting at the attempted capture of 
 a shoal of " herring " apparently, whose movements 
 rippled the water all about and around where we had 
 carefully spread the seine. Slowly the net came in on the 
 dark beach, with a bit of moonlight occasionally glinting 
 through the clouds, while those around anxiously awaited 
 the arrival of the expected haul. Again and again a hand 
 is withdrawn as sharply as it is lowered, when it finds 
 only the huge armed head of a bull-head (Coitus) in place 
 of a more edible prey. They turn out only to be 
 immature herrings of too small dimensions for the net, 
 only one having been foolish enough to remain entangled 
 in the meshes, accompanied with some small whiting and 
 a few rock cod and flounders. " Only a small flounder," 
 said a voice, as we lifted a little fellow ; but the darkness 
 did not prevent us distinguishing something about our 
 little capture that was not floundery. In the first place, 
 it was round and most remarkably plump ; and next, as 
 we peered at it in the dim light, we observed that its 
 mouth was turned towards the left hand, a sure indication 
 that it belonged to the turbot family, as all the flounders 
 look to the right. Only a little fellow truly, but how 
 plump and beautifully shaped when we come to have a 
 good look at him ! Among those flounders and dabs it 
 looks like the aristocrat it is, the scion of a noble family, 
 one of the genus Rhombus / Why should the fact of a 
 fish looking to the left, like the turbot and the brill, make
 
 AUGUST, 1881. 41 
 
 them superior in flesh, in appearance, and in flavour, to 
 those that look the reverse way ! One thing is notable ; 
 these left-looking members of the flat-fish community 
 have much larger mouths than the flounders proper, and 
 so in all probability have more ample opportunities for 
 filling their stomachs, and this must tell in the struggle 
 for existence. It is soon clear our capture is a top-knot, 
 of which only two species are figured as having the dorsal 
 and anal fins passing under the tail, and both are 
 comparatively rare. Indeed, they have been constantly 
 confused in the minds of naturalists ; and we believe they 
 have been still further rendered difficult to identify 
 through the occasional outcrop of a third species or 
 variety (of which our capture is a specimen). The fish 
 is but a small fellow at the best, not at any time much 
 over 6in.; consequently it is not a very important con- 
 tribution to the national cuisine ; but it is a very handsome 
 species of flat-fish, and consequently an elegant addition 
 to our fauna. 
 
 We have had the dredge plying very frequently of late, 
 having therare fortune ofa companion equally enthusiastic 
 and willing to join in the labour, which to those so inter- 
 ested is a pleasure and no toil. Many a boatload of 
 rubbish have we lifted from depths where it might 
 naturally have expected to sink into oblivion and clay, 
 and much careful sifting have we gone through for very 
 little. What a strange idea one gets of the isolated locales 
 of certain species that do not seem to cross over into the 
 ground wholly devoted to other varieties. One time the 
 dredge comes to the surface full of moving life that makes 
 our lady companion shudder with instinctive repugnance. 
 Now, hand over that dish full of sea- water, and look at 
 our captures more carefully. We pick out of the living
 
 42 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 mass of brittle stars that in thousands fill the dredge to 
 the mouth, several specimens, and place them in the dish. 
 See the beauty of the limbs, the marvellous variety and 
 beauty of colouring, the numberless delicate ray spines 
 and flexible cirri ; just one of those creatures well depicted 
 on a sheet of paper would be charming ; but there is an 
 embarras des richesscs, and the multitude horrifies you. 
 The dredge must have been passing over tangle, and 
 gathering these wriggling creatures from the fronds. Now 
 again the bag is full of the shells of the Turritella, 
 those long pointed shells that must be extremely numerous 
 in the loch, where we have more than once taken several 
 thousand in a single draw of the dredge. When this is 
 the case few other species are found among them, no doubt 
 the carnivorous character of this shell fish sufficiently 
 accounting for the absence of others. 
 
 The ladies ^are shrugging their shoulders ; beauty, 
 indeed, amid such rubbish, and joy over such a creature 
 too ! A miniature elephant's trunk to appearance, we 
 thought, as it came out from the mass ; an elephant's 
 trunk about 7 inches long we think it now as it stands 
 before us in spirits. A sea-leech, or skate-worm, covered 
 over with tubercles and fine hairs, (Pontobdella mnricata) 
 it had settled itself by means of its sucker foot upon the 
 back of an ascidian, and with its sucker mouth was 
 wandering around, extending and retracting, seeking 
 something to catch hold of. To the finger it attached 
 itself with unpleasant sucking action, but showed 
 no sign of teeth, as in the leech proper. What is this 
 inside the ascidian ? Several small shells deeply 
 embedded in the body of the creature, and apparently 
 quite at home in that position, (Modiolaria.} How they 
 breathe is difficult to determine, as they are not at all
 
 AUGUST, 1881. 43 
 
 necessarily in the life currents of the ascidian, but fixed 
 in the stiff gelatinous coating. These shells are of the 
 mussel species a class that frequently seeks to hide or 
 cover itself, and some by means of their byssis succeed 
 in surrounding themselves with quite a little heap of 
 miscellaneous articles. Those in the ascidians are 
 beautifully delicate and daintily marked, and many have 
 evidently taken up their abode in the body of the creature 
 from their earliest infancy, all sizes being found in the 
 same animal. 
 
 Here we are upon sandy bottom again, for the sandstars 
 those fragile-limbed starfish without ray-spines or cirri 
 are wriggling in numbers among the contents of the 
 dredge. Then these little shells, so sober-toned on the 
 outside, where a dull cuticle covers them, and so brilliant 
 inside, where the mother-of-pearl gleams on them like 
 silver, are quite numerous whenever we get into the 
 deeper waters. We come to look upon these nuculae as 
 quite elegant, so plump do they feel, and so careful of 
 their internal charms. We have the "pelican's foot" in 
 the loch, too, and in a living state ; so you need not fear 
 to get a specimen by and bye, my young friend. Thus 
 we continue to prosecute our search, and at length among 
 delicate tellinae, and quaint-looking corbulae, and silver 
 bosomed mtculae, dull, hard working borers, like saxicava, 
 that drill their way into odd corners, and blunt-nosed 
 specimens of mya truncata, we find a solitary pes pelecani, 
 or pelican's foot, with the very carnivorous possessor " at 
 home." Of course, we occasionally obtain Cyprcea, the 
 beautiful little cowrie, and here is one with a dark cuticle 
 all over it. Take care, now ! look closer at the line 
 gradually widening down the back, for the little animal 
 is withdrawing the "mantle " that expands and covers it
 
 44 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 all over, and now it has once more the appearance of an 
 ordinary, neat, ribbed cowrie. It has folded away its 
 cloak inside the shell. 
 
 We have been promised a fine week among our home 
 weather prophets, but the big prophet at the door asserted 
 the contrary, for, with a northerly wind blowing for some 
 days we have had no tide to speak of, a sure sign of 
 unsettled weather. So last eve the little gulls, in a perfect 
 cloud of white wings, made their appearance again before 
 the door, swirling past on their way to the cairn in front ; 
 and these were soon followed by a steadily rising wind, 
 which blew a hard gale all night, and is still blustering 
 savagely, with all the proverbial severity of the " black 
 nor'easter." 
 
 Yet last Sunday we had a pet summer day, such as we 
 have seen few of this year, and we walked down by the 
 sea shore to enjoy, the pleasure of looking into the placid 
 waters. There was an especial abundance of the purple 
 laver seaweed, looking more like a delicate film of oily 
 matter than a vegetable growth ; and despite the extreme 
 placidity there was a general feeling of life and motion 
 that we could not account for at first. Gradually the 
 eyes, as they scanned the depths, discovered the million 
 cirrhi of the barnacles in ceaseless motion, and working 
 with seemingly exceptional energy, for the long waving 
 fans were protruded to a great length, no doubt the 
 calmness and clearness of the water giving the creatures 
 the confidence to work thus, knowing they could more 
 readily catch sight of an enemy in such weather. The 
 effect altogether was very remarkable, and although we 
 have many a time watched the interesting creatures as 
 they swept their delicate branchlets from between their
 
 AUGUST, 1881. 45 
 
 door-plates, they never before appeared as they did that 
 day the prevailing life of the rocky shore. 
 
 In front of us, on the long muddy foreshore at low tide, 
 the traversing stream is at present literally black with 
 minute crustaceans, and all the " dubs " left by the tide 
 are in a similar condition. These belong to the Mysida, 
 and afford just now a most interesting subject for close 
 examination. They are stalk-eyed crustaceans, and the 
 great eyes for such a small creature are the most pro- 
 minent features they have. We sweep the hand net 
 along, and gather a number, but they are very small, so 
 the net is laid flat in the advancing stream of sea water, 
 and soon the larger ones are hurried inward in multitudes, 
 for all life washes shorewards with the entering tide, and 
 they bring activity along with them, too, for it requires a 
 smart movement of the net to gather those that cross over 
 it. A certain number thus collected of those that looked 
 bulkiest in the water we remove to a tumbler, and 
 endeavour to examine them. They are mostly too 
 gelatinous for us to see them properly, but we pick 
 out two with darker markings, and bring a lens to bear 
 upon them. The great eyes are very remarkable, while 
 the long probosci are equally so, and beyond these the 
 delicate antennae stretch so fine as to be scarcely visible 
 under the strong lens. Quite miniature lobsters they are, 
 only the tail flap does not fold under them, but they are 
 doubled-up at the middle like an old man. This gives 
 them the shape ordinarily of a boomerang. Their ciliated 
 legs in front inclosed in many instances a large semi- 
 transparent sac of very tough membrane, and this, when 
 opened, showed a series of strangely shaped objects, not 
 unlike Prince Rupert's drops, or better, as a friend 
 suggested, " like a lot of commas." These proved to be
 
 46 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 eggs of the little crustacean, and in one or two instances 
 they were distinctly eyed. Does this little fellow really 
 carry them about until hatched, and are these minute 
 creatures even more highly organised and better provided 
 than the large crabs and lobsters, obliged to carry their 
 ova in multitudes open under their tail flap ; while the 
 mysis has a select few only, in a secure sac. One 
 peculiarity about this huge appendage is, that it is attached 
 to the chest under the front legs, which close around it, 
 in place of being under the abdomen, as in the larger 
 Crustacea ! 
 
 We were recently carrying out a slaughter of the by 
 no means innocent crabs, whose love for oysters clashed 
 with our idea of the fitness of things. We were on the 
 point of crushing an ordinary-sized common looking 
 fellow (C. moenas) along with his companions, when a 
 peculiar condition of the abdomen attracted attention. 
 The crab could not have been more than a year old at 
 the outside, and yet it had quite a number of very large 
 barnacles securely seated on its carapace, and several 
 smaller ones on the joints of the legs, on which there 
 were also prominent the small green fronds of an ulva. 
 But the poor fellow's troubles did not end here ; under 
 the abdomen, as already suggested, there was a peculiar 
 protuberance forcing it open as if it were heavy wiih 
 spawn ; and this turned out to be two mussels, one of 
 several months' growth, the other smaller, well secured 
 by their byssi, and so placed as to force the false legs 
 apart and askew ! Yet the crab looked healthy and 
 active, while all its sedentary parasites seemed equally so. 
 
 What do we know of the motives of the lower animals 
 after all, and is not the life of some of the commoner 
 creatures around us much more complicated and difficult
 
 AUGUST, 1 88 1. 47 
 
 for man to unravel than he is ahvays willing to admit ? 
 Here we have been rowing up and down the loch at all 
 hours, and yet even at an hour when we were hurrying 
 homeward to bed, and the sun had crept downward in 
 beauty behind the Kingairloch hills, throwing the black 
 firs of the wooded Appin knolls into beautiful relief on a 
 field of silver, the rooks were still sitting silent, and 
 almost motionless, on the same bit of foreshore and 
 gravel beach. Day after day this has been the case, with 
 a regardlessness of strangers, and apparent quiet self- 
 absorption, that is remarkable. Not a dozen or a score 
 of rooks ! but when they rise the air is black with a cloud 
 of wings, and one would say that all the rooks of 
 Benderloch were thus assembled on the Appin beach. 
 So far as we could observe, and they permitted the closest 
 scrutiny, they were not feeding at all, scarcely moving at 
 all, and most notably silent, for their vociferous race. If 
 a rook Parliament, there was no Coercion Bill before 
 them ; and if religious, thay must belong to the Society 
 of Friends ; but really what brings them together daily to 
 the same spot is beyond our ken. 
 
 A very large proportion of jackdaws accompany the 
 rooks whenever they are seen flying overhead ; and, 
 however silent the rooks may be, their smaller friends 
 are sufficiently loud-voiced. But in these silent assemblies 
 we did not see or hear any of the jackdaw race. 
 
 The Lapwings are already banded together, and back 
 from the moors like the golden plover, and no doubt 
 they will soon be on the move to the south. The oyster 
 catchers are also back in a great, bright, band, with their 
 biack and white plumage flashing in the sunlight last eve 
 ere the sun went down. The shores have been dull 
 enough since the departure of these birds.
 
 48 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 One of the most shy and careful birds that enters 
 Loch Crerah is the Saw-bill (Merganser), and yet a mother 
 and four youngsters had entered the stream in front, and 
 passed up nearly to the road yesterday. The young birds 
 were full fledged, but small and backward, having 
 evidently been very late in making their appearance. 
 Indeed we never found the eggs of sea-fowl so late in any 
 season as this. 
 
 Around the farm house the fields of grain are steadily 
 advancing towards maturity, and some days ago, ere the 
 colouring had become so marked as it now is, we noticed 
 near the dykes and close along the hedgerows stretches 
 of oats, whose heads were as white as their neighbour's 
 were green. That birds could cause such an extensive 
 devastation at first seemed impossible, but as these white, 
 grainless heads only bordered the haunts of the sparrows 
 and other smaller fry, we were gradually forced to accept 
 this conclusion. On pursuing the subject, we found a 
 shrewd neighbour cutting his hedges close, in order to 
 drive the birds awa-y, which was successful so far, as they 
 became alarmed at the open unsheltering condition of 
 their haunts, and " went over to a neighbour's ! " It was 
 curious to note how the birds kept mostly to the fringes 
 of the fields, whence they could give a short skip on to 
 the swaying ears, have a good feed, and then skip back 
 again. The ears thus cropped withered in the heat, 
 hence the different shade on the edges of the fields 
 compared with the natural green of the ears. 
 
 Where have you got all those night-moths, and have 
 you been treacling the trees ? we ask a young friend and 
 entomologist. We learn, in reply, that he has not been 
 nearly so successful with treacle as with a natural trap 
 ready to his hand in multitudes in every field about. Me
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 49 
 
 had only to go out in the gloaming to the flowers of the 
 ragwort, and upon these he found the moths in multitudes 
 in a sort of stupified condition, as if the powerful smell 
 of this " stinking-william " was too much for them, and 
 attracted them all the same like so many gin shops. 
 There they were to be found, at anyrate, quite unable to 
 escape, and waiting with stolid indifference to be boxed. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 
 
 They have got to the end of their tether, that is certain, 
 we exclaim, as we observe the stately flowers of the fox- 
 glove nodding their gay heads from the top of the stem, 
 with row after row of withered or empty calices below 
 them. " What a pity the noble plant does not flower all 
 at once," remarks an observer ; while the rest of us think 
 it very advantageous to have it remaining with us so 
 long in flower, and very sensible of it to dole out its 
 treasures in moderation, in place of making a great show 
 and away. Anyway, we are all sorry to see the flowers 
 at last at the very tip-top, and to know that the end is 
 near for it. Interesting it is to note the wide difference 
 between the earliest flowers, with the tapering series of 
 bells above them, each taking up the fallen mantle of 
 those below, and advancing steadily to the summit, com- 
 pared with the rows of departed glories that the topmost 
 bells have to look dolefully down upon. 
 
 But we have been little on the land and much at sea 
 these latter days, wooing what has behaved very cruelly 
 to us, as to many others, that last bitter Thursday night. 
 If ever anyone wants to appreciate properly the derivation 
 of Loch Creran as the loch of " miry clay," according to
 
 50 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 an accomplished neighbour, he has only to attempt to 
 draw up a dredge made of fine cheese cloth from 20 
 fathoms deep. Up it comes, and the eager hands that 
 bring it on board are pretty tired of its thoroughly 
 receptive character ere it comes in over the gunwale. 
 But what cannot enthusiasm endure, and how can you 
 reconcile the fact that those hands sunk well over the 
 wrists in the slime of the bottom belong to very sensitive 
 minds, and are fed by decidedly squeamish stomachs ! 
 With what delight does the investigator draw out from 
 amid the mass some stray specimen of a velutina, and 
 how keenly does he glean the sediment for some hoped-for 
 rarity. The minutest sea-slug is handled with regard and 
 affection, and a shout of joy heralds the appearance of a 
 small webbed star fish. A star fish webbed between the 
 rays, whose presence is, indeed, such a rarity with us that 
 we have never before met with it in Loch Creran. We 
 must draw a veil over its latter end, so far as we are con- 
 cerned, nor say how it managed to be again committed to 
 the briny. I'm afraid, my friend, you thought more of 
 those delicious pectens than of their companions in mis- 
 fortune. 
 
 That last draw was in the dusk, and the contents had 
 to be removed and examined by daylight next morning ; 
 and well that it was so, for how could one be expected to 
 see in a rough examination in a rough boat the two 
 delicate organisms we drag from a branching Sertularia, 
 Minute Crustacea they are, about half an inch long, and 
 not unlike a mantis in their movements and appearance, 
 being extremely fragile and threadlike, (Caprella.} Yet 
 their eyes are comparatively large, their antennae marked, 
 their legs numerous, and they are altogether, from their 
 tenuity and the great hooks at the end of every limb,
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 51 
 
 admirably adapted for clinging on to the deep sea algae 
 or zoophytes, and declining to be washed ashore. Indeed, 
 they become naturally entangled by their hooked limbs 
 in the small glass in which they were deposited, and 
 could with difficulty be disengaged. But what is this ! 
 we caught a gleam of irridescence from the midst of the 
 mud, and we soon drag from its enveloping dull coating 
 a little sea mouse, with its fringe of brilliantly irridescent 
 hairs, that make this one of the most remarkable creatures 
 to the collector. 
 
 How impossible it is to appreciate all the beauties of 
 these annelides with their varied characters, and how 
 strangely they turn up sometimes ! What is that 
 gelatinous creature at the bottom of the empty pecten, 
 we mutter next day, as we bring the lens to bear upon 
 upon what appears to be a gelatinous yet fibrous mass. 
 But the more we examine it the more it sinks from view, 
 until nothing but a little jelly shows on the shell. We 
 return it to the water, and once more the jelly expands 
 into tentacles of most remarkable dimensions, and only 
 the closest investigation shows that there is a minute hole 
 in the shell, behind which an annelid is occupying a 
 serpula tube, from which it thrusts its tentacles through 
 the minute puncture in the shell ! The various serpulae 
 themselves are sufficiently deserving of attention, and 
 not only the houses they build for themselves, but the 
 animals that build them are notable. Why should 
 some of them twist their tubes into endless entangle- 
 ments, while others simply give one curl and curve up- 
 wards like a snake standing on a single coil ? 
 
 In vain we attempt to evade the ascidians of all sizes, 
 they come up in multitudes in spite of us ; and full of 
 riches they are too. Delicate sertularia all over them,
 
 52 LOCH C RE RAX. 
 
 dainty little sea weeds clambering over their rough hides, 
 their bowels invaded with positive multitudes of these 
 delicately-striped and finely-formed mussels, harbouring 
 amid their gelatinous bodies. 
 
 It is getting quite rough as we throw the dredge cnce 
 more to the bottom, and it has just found ground when 
 Philip shouts out, " What is that white thing in the 
 water ?" We can only discern something unusually 
 white a yard or two under the surface of the waves, and 
 half anchored by the dredge, we row round towards it. 
 Overboard goes our anchor, as the only mode of sounding 
 the object, and we then perceive it is a magnificent 
 specimen of a medusa, Rhizostoma, with a glorious 
 purple circlet around the edge. It is too wary, however, 
 to be caught with such a clumsy weapon, so, although we 
 bring it to the surface more than once, it soon discovers 
 our intention, and rapidly descends into the depths. 
 
 Meantime our dredge has got disorganised in the 
 course of our movements, and before we get it into 
 proper position, and once more start on our way, we 
 have thrown ourselves so late that this haul must be our 
 last. Hermit crabs of several kinds ; and why are you 
 fellows without your trousers ? We chuck the largest 
 into a dish, and note that his undefended extremity is 
 tougher than if it had just emerged from a shell, while 
 the claws that enable it to hold on to its habitation are 
 quite in working condition ; so we conclude that it is 
 merely on the look out for a new house, having lately 
 left one on account of being too straitened for room. 
 Bump! why we have been so intent over the tub that the 
 wind has driven us ashore, so we may as well hurry home 
 to dinner. 
 
 We take care that the heads are left upon them this
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 53 
 
 time at any rate, so that we can better judge of the exact 
 character of our captures ; for we have again obtained 
 some dozens of the beautiful little fish that we procured 
 last June, and that appeared to us on a rude examination 
 to be smelts. 
 
 We had exactly the same experience with these as with 
 our former capture, and this is of importance in our 
 estimation of their species ; for although that these are 
 Atherines is unquestionable, are they really Atherina 
 presbyter? They are not at all different in size from 
 what they were last June, and it is quite clear that they 
 are mature fish, although only four to five inches in 
 length to the end of the forked tail. It was again on 
 occasion of a very low tide that we observed them 
 passing inwards towards the stream in front of us, and 
 rippling the whole surface of the water. Not in a mass, 
 but in active, constantly shifting, playing multitudes in 
 broken detachments, breaking the surface of the water 
 from no ostensible cause, as they were not leaping, but 
 only splashing. Their extreme activity, and the peculiar 
 colour of the back of the creature in the water, prevented 
 them being readily observed, even when you were within 
 a few yards of the ripples, so when pressed on shore it 
 took one all the more by surprise to find them to be 
 living strips of silver. The large scales give to the back 
 the appearance of being checkered, the prevailing hue 
 being dark green ; while from the tail to the pectoral fin 
 a band of pure silver, in which all indication of scale is 
 lost, is the most marked characteristic of the fish. The 
 portion between this band and the belly is only less 
 silvery, while the blue-black eye and iridescent cheeks 
 make this little fish a thing of beauty. 
 
 The Atherines are said not to be found on the East
 
 54 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Coast of England, and they are not common in Scotland 
 while they have been captured in the Firth of Forth. Does 
 this not mean that with us our nets are too large to 
 capture such a small fish, and our fishing population too 
 careless of what is set down roughly as " fry " to pay any 
 attention to them ? Again, Couch describes the habits 
 of A. Boieri as being very different from A. Presbyter, 
 which always swims deep in the water; and yet the 
 captures we made, except in being smaller, closely 
 resemble what is falsely termed the smelt in some 
 districts, A. Presbyter ; the proper smelt being a large 
 fish of a different class. Although we only managed 
 with a small hand net to secure a few dozen specimens, 
 we saw them in multitudes at the mouth of the stream ; 
 and others, who were further out in a boat, spoke in 
 exaggerated terms of the number of barrels playing 
 around a half dry rock. It is quite clear that these 
 fishes are now of their full natural size, and they were in 
 really beautiful condition, so that, despite the sharp bones 
 with which they are provided, they proved a most tasty 
 dish when fried and eaten with oat cake. That there 
 are different opinions as to their gastronomic value may 
 be due to the attempt made to include the back-bone in 
 the mouthful; but if this is withdrawn these little 
 Atherines are as delicate as any fish we have ever tasted, 
 fat as herring, without being oily. They were suffi- 
 ciently plentiful, too, to make their capture worth at- 
 tempting, but how can one take such small fish in 
 quantity without a net whose meshes would be in- 
 definitely small ? We fear they will be permitted to 
 afford food to the seals and the sea-birds, and by 
 wandering about the loch delude the dwellers thereby 
 into trying for herring or mackerel. Our attention was
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 55 
 
 first attracted to the fish by the extraordinary splashing 
 and antics of a large diver, whose energies were 
 evidently devoted to reducing the number of the large 
 shoal that was approaching. 
 
 The specimens captured were in milt and roe, and we 
 found that the females were far more numerous than the 
 males, as has been observed in those in the south of 
 England. It is also noteworthy that, when cooked, the 
 silver stripe dividing the fish lengthways was even more 
 distinctly marked than when in the water. It seemed to 
 be more than superficial, and that the flesh underneath 
 was darker along this clearly defined band. 
 
 Meantime, there are two natural questions to ask 
 respecting them. If the same as the common atherine, 
 why are they so small : for even if limited in their range 
 to our own loch, there is a plentiful supply of food in it 
 for any fish ? And, again, why have they departed from 
 the accustomed ways of A, Presbyter, and adopted the 
 peculiarly specific habits of the still smaller and somewhat 
 dissimilar A. Boieri as described by Couch. 
 
 This last tide has been the lowest we have ever known 
 in our loch, and at Connel Falls the force of the current 
 was exceptionally severe, owing to the depth of the tide 
 below the usual level of the water. This gave great 
 facilities for any one desirous of examining the beach at 
 a depth rarely reached, and as the cause of the great ebb 
 was partly the severe north-east wind that blew with 
 severity for some days down Loch Linnhe, it at the 
 same time threw much that was of interest on the shore. 
 Delighted at an easy opportunity of watching the 
 products of the deep, we marched, basket in hand, 
 along the water's edge, and thereby found many objects 
 we do not commonly meet even in our deeper water
 
 5 6 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 wanderings and investigations. We were satisfied, from 
 the numerous large shells of the great pecten, that it must 
 be an inhabitant of the loch ; but notwithstanding our 
 long examination of the neighbouring waters, we never 
 succeeded in discovering a living specimen until during 
 the ebb, when our companion discovered one stranded 
 at low water, with its rows of brilliant eyes seeming to 
 seek for a way to escape, and its many feelers grasping 
 around helplessly. These active fish keep to the deeper 
 waters. Thrown up by the same breeze, no doubt right 
 across the loch, were many fine samples of Solen-ensis, or the 
 razor-fish with the curved shell. These shell-fish are not 
 common in Loch Creran. They are somewhat small 
 compared with those on Loch Linnhe, as is the case 
 with most of our sea productions. Why, we cannot say, 
 as our salt water is little less salt than the Atlantic itself; 
 and we should think there was not less food in the more 
 inland waters. A kind friend has just remembered that 
 there are lovers of razor-fish under our roof, and a 
 dozen beautiful shell-fish have made their appearance 
 from Ardmucknish Bay. These prove to be noble 
 examples of the straight-shelled razor-fish Solen siliqita, 
 and, for beauty of marking, elegance of proportions, 
 clearness of mother-of-pearl, and generally fine growth, 
 we have never seen them surpassed. The quantity of 
 food in one shell is by no means contemptible, and a 
 dozen such shell-fish would represent to most people 
 who could enjoy them, the nourishment contained in a 
 pair of spring chickens. We do not recollect finding S. 
 siliqua in Loch Creran, nor receiving S, ensis from 
 Lochnellside, so that each species appears to retain 
 control of its own locality. 
 
 The disturbance to the equanimity of the foreshore
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 57 
 
 caused by such a sharp breeze at lowest ebb, is further 
 evident from the many shells of myae and astarte, and 
 vemts, all dwellers in the mud and sand, that have been 
 uncovered and thrown shoreward by the wash of the sea. 
 Here, too, is a fine specimen of rose star, and overgorged 
 five-fingers are plentiful enough. We wish we could 
 destroy them without so much trouble, as the only 
 security is to toss them high and dry ; but the foreshore 
 is too far off for 'a starfish to be thrown beyond it, and 
 as for lopping off the limbs of a heartless creature, with 
 sufficient life to exist in a fragment, it is only duplicating 
 the foe. 
 
 In the quieter hollows the mysis is now to be found, 
 with its abdomen enlarged still further, and some of them 
 are quite dark, almost black, in colour. Great blotches 
 of striped red and white gelatine are sea anemones left 
 in the lurch , mostly huge specimens ot crassicornis ; and 
 close beside them are limpets, so rarely away from a 
 meal that they are of exceptional size and very fat, much 
 superior to those near the summit of tide mark. 
 
 Why ! One is continually obliged to ask, why, even 
 concerning the commonest events that are daily occurr- 
 ing around us, and that still remain to our minds 
 unanswered. "Why are those rooks on the road at 
 present ? " asks our friend as the second rook we have 
 passed rises slowly and heavily, and flies unwillingly for 
 a short distance. " For some time back I have observed 
 them singly on the road, and they don't seem to be there 
 for food, and yet when they fly off they return at once to 
 the same spot in an uncomfortable, sickly sort of way. 
 What can be wrong with them ? " We ourselves have 
 observed this peculiar conduct on the part of individual 
 rooks of late, and attributed it to their desire to dust
 
 58 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 themselves, or need for sand and similar matter to 
 counteract their ordinary fushionless diet. Our friend 
 suggests that the birds as a community are just now 
 flying to such great distances ; to Lismore, the tops of 
 the hills, and the further shores of Linnhe, for crow- 
 berries, that they are tired out, and are glad of days of 
 occasional quiet, when they haunt one particular spot, 
 apparently doing nothing, and not even saying much. 
 We have seen them on occasions when we could not 
 thus explain their lethargy or indolence, and no doubt a 
 rook's mind is more complicated than we are generally 
 willing to allow. 
 
 The horse chestnut trees are now well laden with fruit, 
 and we are a little careful when passing under them, as 
 the nuts dropping from a high tree top give no trifling 
 knock to any civilised head. The crop is exceptionally 
 good, and we lazily pick up some of the large thorny 
 articles, and cut through the thick rind to the inner 
 kernels, still white and bean-like amid their matrix. 
 Why is the nut of this tree covered with prickles, we ask 
 ourselves, as we thrust the jaggy little ball into the hand 
 of the astonished youngster who demanded it ? That 
 there is some good practical reason for them we do not 
 doubt, but what is it ? If the tough, thick rind were to 
 remain closed until it was decayed, and thus throw free 
 the inner kernels, we could understand the prickles were 
 to prevent it rolling away, and so obliging it to lie and 
 rot amid the decaying herbage. But when ripe the stout 
 husk opens and permits the escape of the kernels, so we 
 must suppose some other reason. Perhaps they saved 
 the nuts from persecution by some horse-chestnut eating 
 animal until the escape of the kernels to the ground gave 
 some of them a chance of taking root. Indeed the
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 59 
 
 chances are that Nemo me impune lacessit, thus strongly 
 adopted as a motto, meant some foe of a most distinct 
 and persecuting character at no distant date ; if not in 
 some other habitat even at the present day itself. 
 
 This has been the week of the Oban Games, in which 
 the athletes of the district turn out in force. We cannot 
 help being astonished at the marked deficiency of the 
 neighbourhood in men of physical mark. This is the 
 more to be noted as there are certain local families who 
 would be remarkable anywhere in the world for the 
 magnificence of their physique, more especially among 
 the well-to-do class. But the great proportion of the 
 original inhabitants, although hardy and sturdy, are of 
 the small, dark, so-called Iberian race, incapable of 
 comparing favourably with the men of the East Coast or 
 many parts of the Hebrides. Athletics are also of quite 
 recent introduction, and have not taken firm root or 
 grown kindly as yet among a population who are too 
 hard pressed to acquire mere subsistence to have much 
 energy left for special culture. 
 
 We stop the children and empty their pockets of the 
 pods of the laburnum, which are always understood to be 
 most injurious. Yet the friend at our elbow asserts he 
 has eaten at least a whole pod with impunity, while his 
 school fellow ate still more. Are they really as dangerous 
 as they are supposed to be, or will some youthful stomachs 
 defy the most outrageous treatment ? 
 
 Curving high over the road is a fine tree, graceful and 
 uncommon, and, looking upwards, we discover it to be 
 laden with russet-cheeked fruit of a very tempting appear- 
 ance. We will tempt the children with the gay apples of 
 the wild apple tree, or crab, we say ; and a stick tossed 
 upwards brings down quite a shower of little beauties.
 
 60 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 Sharp teeth are driven into them as we reach home, but 
 the task is too severe even for the youngsters, and our 
 native apple is voted a delusion and a snare. But what 
 a crop the tree bore; while another tree in the garden we 
 have just left, is equally weighted for the first time. In 
 more than one garden about, there are trees this year 
 yielding abundantly that never before showed more than 
 a handful of pears or a pocketful of apples. This is, no 
 doubt, our legacy from last year's fine summer; but what 
 can we expect from next season after this heatless year ? 
 The water in the sea was cold enough yesterday for the 
 month of January. 
 
 This morning the loch is as calm as crystal, and the 
 mist is 1'fting from the water and the fields, and creep- 
 ing along the face of the hills with weird-like stateliness 
 that contrasts strangely with the previous day ; for our 
 stocks, that were in capital condition for leading, were 
 suddenly scattered by the severe southerly gale, and then 
 deluged by the succeeding torrents that continued 
 throughout the day. A day of such a character accounts 
 for a vast deal of the difference between the actual 
 returns to the farmer and the natural expectation from 
 the seed sown. A careful husbandman, and skilled 
 observer informs us that he has frequently counted the 
 grains on a single stalk of oats here, and found that the 
 average was not under twenty-five, while we are content 
 in this part of the world with about four returns. 
 Where is this vast difference between four and twenty- 
 five to be looked for ? No doubt a large number of 
 seeds are unfertile, many more have the vital part of the 
 seed destroyed by insects before it can sprout, and birds 
 must be credited with another proportion; while grain 
 that is thoroughly ripe and has got thoroughly wet, when
 
 SEPTEMBER, i8Si. 61 
 
 it dries again shakes out of the cars in quantity at every 
 movement. Were it not that the straw is of more con- 
 sequence to us here in a way as farmers than the 
 grain, we would look to much more careful cultivation 
 doing for oats what has been done in special instances 
 for wheat, namely, create a class of large-grained, strong 
 stemmed grass more readily controlled, that would be 
 planted like potatoes in place of sown broadcast. This 
 is a result not at all difficult to obtain, as has been shown 
 in the case of wheat thus treated ; but the single stems 
 are so thick and glazed with silica, that it would not suit 
 the primary object of our straw, as wintering for our 
 stock. To those who look to a peasant proprietory 
 living upon their agricultural produce, however, this is a 
 direction in which important results may be looked for, 
 as enabling the husbandman to obtain a more reasonable 
 proportion of the possible and natural return. 
 
 Young frogs of the size of small beetles continue to 
 make their appearance after every fresh outbreak of wet 
 weather here, and yet they cannot have been produced 
 from fresh thrown spawn, we fancy, for we have seen 
 none since the spring, and are consequently led to 
 suppose the tadpoles have, through untoward circum- 
 stances and surroundings been prevented completing 
 their transformation until later, and remained longer in 
 the tadpole state. We saw one year a quantity of tad- 
 poles in a dark, dull pool in the wood near this in the 
 month of November, and supposed their change had been 
 arrested through want of sunlight. 
 
 We saw fresh dog-roses in flower at Barcaldine two 
 days ago, along with the hips of the former crop, and 
 very much out of place they looked in a landscape whose 
 brightest colouring is now obtained from the fast fading
 
 62 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 berries of the rowan and its still more brilliantly and 
 variously coloured leaves. Indeed, as we passed up 
 towards the falls on the little river that sweeps so grace- 
 fully by Barcaldine garden, we feasted our eyes on the 
 rowan trees, gleaming in shades from the palest yellow to 
 the richest carmine, in which the moisture still glistened ; 
 while through between the branches the eye still rested 
 on the cool green fronds of luxuriant ferns in the 
 sheltered nooks on the banks. Where a few weeks ago 
 we could stand on the little wooden bridge, with greenery 
 all about us, and peep through varied summer tints at 
 the cups and the curves, the poised boulders and the 
 trembling undermined rocks of the bed of the wild 
 mountain torrent that dashs beneath our feet, to-day it 
 only impresses our friend with sadness, as the water sings 
 a doleful dirge over the waning year, and a brilliant leaf 
 of carmine from the rowan slips from its hold and circles 
 downward into the waters like a sympathetic tear. We 
 have no such feelings, but think only of the bold embryo 
 that has pushed its predecessor off, telling it jocularly 
 that it has had its swing, and has departed gracefully 
 from the scene ! What more can any of us do ? We 
 look in upon our friend at the garden, who surprises our 
 companion by showing him all the latest novelties and 
 improvements in agriculture, at which he is an adept. 
 Any one who is only acquainted with old fashioned times 
 and old world ways, must be surprised at the progress. 
 made of late, and no improvement effected is more 
 ingenious or effective than the supply of artificial combs 
 for the bees to work upon, and save their time and 
 energies gathering wax ; for one pound of wax is said to 
 cost more labour than 2olb. of honey. A number of 
 dead bees lie outside one of the hives, where they have
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1881. 63 
 
 been killed when seeking to make their way in, for they 
 were aliens and belonged to a neighbouring community ! 
 The bees look large, for they are crossed with the 
 Ligurian, but they have not managed to do any good this 
 year, when few indeed are the days on which they could 
 have worked outside ; and flowers, even when somewhat 
 plentiful, were deficient in honey from the lack of sun- 
 shine. It is very interesting to find the latest beehives, 
 supplied with artificial combs and a queen-bee screen, in 
 our somewhat isolated locality, and we should much like 
 to see this industry developed more extensively among 
 us. 
 
 Two wounded stags, after a somewhat severe chase, 
 took to the water ; but one was sorely stricken, and the 
 pursuing dog, on reaching it, with surprising courage and 
 intelligence, got upon its head and sat there, despite its 
 struggles, until the animal was drowned. Its purpose 
 was quite clear, and carried out with resolution and 
 success, and seems worthy of note as an instance in an 
 animal of shrewdly considering how best and most easily 
 to attain a definite object. 
 
 We were sitting in a beautifully-situated farm-house, 
 with the wild and graceful bay curving before us, and, 
 nearer still than the splendid beach and the bathing-tent 
 on the green, a well-filled and well-ordered garden. 
 With patriotic devotion to the national emblem, a nobly- 
 grown thistle thrusts its sturdy head before the window, 
 and we listen with amusement to the discussion that 
 proceeds as to whether this is really a Scotch thistle or 
 not. We never before had the question suggested, nor, 
 indeed, evei doubted that a "Scotch" thistle was a 
 specific variety of the most readily recognised character. 
 No one could suppose that a sow thistle or a ground
 
 64 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 thistle was our national emblem, except in so far as the 
 prickles went ; but that there should be a possibility of 
 such great divergence of opinion as to the particular 
 species of carduus that properly represented " Caledonia 
 stern and wild," we never imagined. We find, however, 
 that these great thistles in cultivated gardens are not, 
 properly speaking, the true Scotch thistle, which is a 
 Cnicus, or plume thistle, and not a carduus at all ; so that 
 in future we shall remember that we are only properly 
 represented by Cnicus lanceolatus, the true Scotch thistle, 
 as it is also one of our most common species. We yet 
 believe all the same, that such a cosmopolitan race may 
 be sufficiently represented by any thistle, so long as it is 
 hard enough in the prickles and sturdy enough. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1881. 
 
 We are informed of a remarkable instance of the mirage 
 in Glen Creran on Sunday last about sun-down. Our 
 informant and his family all witnessed the various displays 
 of castellated towns and towers, while it was accompanied 
 by a still more unusual phenomenon in the infinite mul- 
 tiplication of the sun to the eyes of the whole party, various 
 coloured "suns" being visible on the rocks, the herbage, 
 and the persons of the party. We were along with a friend 
 on the shore of Loch Creran, about the same hour, and 
 saw nothing unusual in the sunset, so that the atmospheric 
 condition must have been peculiar to the glen itself. The 
 sun went down in a red glare, and the contracted, 
 mountain-embosomed glen may have been better supplied 
 with moisture than our wider landscape. From the 
 description the vivid appearance of the various-coloured
 
 OCTOBER, 1881. 65 
 
 multiplied suns seemed to be more external optical 
 phenomena than simply in the eyes of the observers from 
 the glare of the sun itself. 
 
 Instances of affection in animals during captivity are 
 sufficiently numerous, but it is not so often that we find 
 them rendering themselves mateless through unbridled 
 passion. The pair of young peregrines that were removed 
 from the Black Island in the summer grew apace, and 
 became very handsome birds; but some time since, either 
 from quarrelling over their food, or from their naturally 
 pugilistic tempers being aggravated through continual 
 confinement, they had a domestic jar, which ended in the 
 female depriving herself thenceforward of the company, 
 as well as the rivalry, of her male companion. The hawk 
 tribe are rare examples of female superiority in size and 
 strength, so that Mrs. Peregrine was merely asserting her 
 natural prerogative when she put a tragic end to the 
 weaker vessel. The crime does not seem to rankle in the 
 mind of the survivor. 
 
 We found ourselves the other day introduced to a novel 
 mode of exterminating small birds. In a friend's garden 
 the sparrows have become a nuisance, as they are 
 so frequently found to be whereever they can get a foot- 
 ing ; and as shooting them is a costly and troublesome 
 operation, the members of the household resorted to a 
 very simple and effective mode of thinning the ranks of 
 what had become a common enemy in the fruit season. 
 On the gable of the house the ivy was thickly growing, 
 and in this, every evening at dusk, the gathering sparrows 
 sought shelter, keeping up a continuous chatter for some 
 time, ere all had found their allotted corners in which to 
 spend the night. Ivy is always a great haunt of small 
 birds, and, more especially after the nesting season is over,
 
 66 LOCH CRERAfr. 
 
 young broods and old birds cuddle together under the 
 thick evergreen leaves, particularly if the gable covered 
 thereby is warmed from a good snug room inside. Know- 
 ing all this, no sooner had the birds thoroughly settled 
 down for the night, and got well into their first sleep, than 
 one or other member of the household, armed with a long 
 stick or hoe, slipped outside and commenced to beat the 
 ivy from top to bottom. The birds are too startled all to 
 rush out on such an occasion, but so many always seek 
 to hide, and remain to die. The havoc made on some 
 occasions is considerable, and only the stretches of grain- 
 less oats and the devastated garden can still the conscience 
 when the morning light reveals the dire result. 
 
 Yesterday morning was bitterly cold and frosty, and all 
 are crying that winter is upon us. The day before had 
 been warm in the sun, and many butterflies were abroad, 
 and so next day they also started for a ramble and en- 
 deavoured to shake their frosted wings. Those we met 
 in the shelter of the trees, where the atmosphere was 
 milder and where they had protection from the wind, 
 were sufficiently lively notably quite a number of North- 
 ern browns, but one of the same species we met in the 
 open was so benumbed that it could only stagger insanely 
 about the side of the road. Butterflies have all been very 
 scarce this summer, owing to the low temperature and 
 exceptional moisture, so that with the advent of dry 
 weather, albeit somewhat severe, they are making a last 
 effort to flutter among the leaves, now equally brilliant 
 with themselves. 
 
 A huge box it is heavily laden with bivalves and gravel, 
 and outwardly stayed with heavyweights so we endeavour 
 at low water to lift it from the ground and fix it to the 
 stout boat, meaning to float it into shallow water as the
 
 OCTOBER, 1881. 67 
 
 tide rises. But the rope declined to stand the strain of 
 the waterlogged and water-filled box, and it returned with 
 a tilt to the bottom. So a fresh day saw us with a new 
 manila rope, a very low tide, a peaceful sea, and fresh 
 sinews, with the needful appliances for reaching the 
 breeding apparatus that had for months been lying 
 fathoms deep. The boat is anchored, the ropes, after 
 long manipulation, affixed to the mass, and we are on 
 the point of bearing on the anchor when we observe a 
 slow ungainly motion, a dark, stealthy figure among 
 the sea-ware, and then a show of white as it turns up its 
 wing. A skate, close at hand too. This was too much 
 to let pass ; so the boat is slewed round as far as the ropes 
 will permit, the split handle of the iron graip brought to 
 bear, and a bold thrust and a dexterous toss sends a deli- 
 cate thornback into the boat. 
 
 Once more we tackle our object, and with toil 
 and labour draw it shoreward. What will have 
 settled upon it during these months we seek eagerly 
 to know, that some idea of the seasons in which 
 the young of marine creatures are thrown may be 
 obtained ; for no subject is more difficult, or absurd to 
 dogmatise upon, seeing the seasons may be more than 
 one, and are frequently very extended, while the varia- 
 tion of temperature doubtless affects marine creatures to 
 as important an extent as those on shore. Here, at -any 
 rate, are a vast number of ascidians of various species, 
 many of them very well grown indeed ; several pectens of 
 larger growth than we should have anticipated in the few 
 months the box has been in the water, several purple sea- 
 weeds in many individual bunches, and a patch of 
 serpulae of quite recent attachment, showing they are late 
 of spatting this year, as last. We are glancing hurriedly
 
 68 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 over the many ascidians, and detach one beautiful trans- 
 parent specimen, and admire the perfect purity of the 
 gelatinous body ; some delicate foreign matter apparently 
 moves inside, or is it merely the natural flow of liquid 
 from the entrance to the exit moving some portion of 
 the organism ? A more careful inspection discovers a 
 most interesting fact, that inside this simple organism, by 
 some means or other, a fragile specimen of the mantis- 
 like crustacean we have formerly described (Leplomerd) 
 was circulating. The ascidian itself had grown to its 
 present dimensions in a few months at most, even if de- 
 posited so soon as the box was sunk ; so if the crustacean 
 was drawn into the orifice as spawn, it must have matured 
 rapidly ; while if it entered accidentally there was nothing 
 to prevent its exit when it pleased. On the whole we 
 are inclined to suppose that this extremely fragile and 
 delicate creature sought shelter within the secure and 
 tender body of the lower organism, whose constantly 
 circulating water supply brought to the parasite the 
 necessary nourishment; as the larger and coarser ascidians 
 shelter, and apparently provide for, the embedded mussels 
 so frequently found in them. Is it not possible that these 
 ascidians may yet prove admirable hunting grounds for 
 various classes of sheltering creatures, as an entomologist 
 exults over a toad that has made a heavy mear upon rare 
 nocturnal insects ? 
 
 Like those suddenly stricken with fear or sorrow, our 
 mountains have turned grey in a night, and this morning 
 the snow is creeping down the heights, and peeping into 
 the gullies all around us. To-day, although Loch Creran 
 is " folding her arms across her breast " and composing 
 herself, she showed another sight yesterday, with the 
 whole waters curled into foam, and the bursts of sleet
 
 OCTOBER, 1 88 1. 69 
 
 and hail scudding over it in mad revelry. The hail was 
 such as we rarely see in this country, the average being 
 of the size of large peas, and so hard frozen that they 
 came dancing down our chimney, over a good fire, into 
 the middle of the room, and even after some time could 
 be picked up and found as hard as chips of ice. The 
 effects of such a gale as we have had, when it strikes 
 upon shallow water, is scarcely conceivable in the 
 rapidity with which it raises heavy waves. We were 
 watching a series of concrete ponds of only a foot or two 
 in depth and twelve yards long, on the foreshore in front 
 of our dwelling. Over this short range the wind tore in 
 fitful gusts, sending the accumulated wavelets dashing 
 over the further wall in a constant heavy wash. To 
 appearance it seemed as if they would have been emptied 
 entirely in a very short time ; and in reality they were 
 very rapidly reduced in depth of water, although the 
 wind veered continually, blowing from the south to north- 
 west and back again, throughout the three nights and two 
 days' gale. The very short duration of the gusts that 
 characterised this storm gave but little time for the growth 
 of heavy waves, but they seemed to make up in virulence 
 for the short time each lasted. One could better appreci- 
 ate the fact that a shallow sea like the German Ocean 
 gives especial facilities for the growth of a rough sea in a 
 short spell, after glancing at these vicious white fringes to 
 ponds but thirty-six feet long. No wonder that a shallow 
 sea is a dangerous one, and our Eastern coasts so 
 frequently and sorely tried. 
 
 During the gale, which was especially bitter and keen 
 when from the north-west, various birds entered our loch, 
 and displayed unwonted familiarity. A large cormorant 
 was actually disporting at the mouth of the burn about
 
 7 o LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 eighty yards from our door, although one can rarely get 
 within shot of them on Loch Creran at any time, they 
 are so wary but the unexpected severity of the weather 
 so early in the year appealed to the feelings even of this 
 hardy bird. This was followed by several sawbills, 
 neither so rare nor so shy, but yet careful enough ; and 
 yesterday, about mid-day, half a dozen wary youngsters 
 skipped and played in the most contemptuous manner, 
 still nearer to us. " They are quite close, you must go 
 and shoot them," were the orders given, as the ladies han- 
 kered after the breasts of the little beauties ; for are they 
 not all grebes, with delightful delicate plumage, and have 
 they not thrust themselves providentially into the hands 
 of the fowler? We smile sarcastically as we fill a 
 tube with No. 6, and with the utmost dexterity reach a 
 point of vantage. All down ! that is strange, for whoever 
 saw every one of a band of a half a dozen grebes by any 
 chance dip together when in proximity to danger ? The 
 fact is suspicious, and we are still more careful in our 
 movements, but soon a little head bobs up well out in 
 the middle of the bay, followed by another and another, 
 until all the little creatures are skipping and diving 
 together in a compact band well out of harm's way. 
 They are so uncommonly sharp, and so readily catch the 
 smallest movement, that the chances of coming upon 
 them thus is very small. 
 
 Why do bees desert their homes occasionally without 
 notice given, not only when they may have nothing 
 wherewith to pay their rent, but even when they are well, 
 supplied with the needful to meet the stern tax-gatherer 
 and rent-collector who fails not to call upon them ? A 
 friend has more than once suffered from such a " mid- 
 night flitting " on one occasion the hive was between
 
 OCTOBER, 1 88 1. 71 
 
 others, and when it was examined it proved to have about 
 nineteen pounds of honey in it, while, except a few 
 plunderers from other hives who had discovered the store, 
 not a bee remained therein. Why did not the other 
 hives quit, if the complaint was one of situation ; it could 
 not have been of starvation, or a bad year, and a special 
 objection should surely have been discovered earlier ? 
 A mouse or a toad would have annoyed all as well as 
 one. We suppose bees are as much troubled with 
 " fancies " as other living creatures, and such a dense 
 community will no doubt act as hurriedly under the 
 influence of unreasoning panic, or equally unaccountable 
 fancies, as the occupants of human hives ; indeed probably 
 more so, from the still closer communion, and greater 
 likelihood of " mesmeric" infection. 
 
 What is it? We look at one another as the ghostly figure 
 looms above the bank in the dark night, and then 
 simultaneously we recognise a portion of an old white 
 horse, where no white horse should be. This portion 
 soon resolves itself into the whole animal, that had 
 dragged out its tethering pin, and wandered off into better 
 pasturage. We possess ourselves of the tether, and lead 
 it through the darkness to a stookless portion of stubble, 
 and on the way our friend informs us of a horse that 
 could roll itself up to the peg in the ground to which the 
 tether was attached, and then easily hoist it straight out of 
 the ground, a most intelligent performance ; while we are 
 equally interested to learn from our experienced companion, 
 that many horses can free themselves by steadily bringing 
 a strain to bear at the full stretch of the rope on the one 
 side, and then by a sudden rush to the opposite extremity, 
 sending the pin flying out with the recoil. And yet we
 
 72 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 are told this is only " instinct, " and that a horse cannot 
 reason ! 
 
 At low tide this week we ransacked a pool in the rock to 
 see if any small fishes had taken refuge therein. A pure 
 white doris, or nudibranch mollusc, was sheltering under 
 the seaware, and as we proceeded in our search we 
 brought to light five different species of fishes in that one 
 small rocky pool. Several beautiful gobies two-spotted 
 bore the palm for beauty and interest, while a young 
 pipe-fish (syngnathus), several butter-fish (Gunnellus), a 
 fifteen-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus), and a small fresh- 
 water eel, kept up the interest of the natural aquarium. On 
 our way home we could have added a good sized sea eel, 
 several flat fish, another species of goby, and a shoal 
 of two-spined sticklebacks to the collection of the morn- 
 ing, over a stretch of a few hundred yards. 
 
 During the day the wind gradually recommenced from 
 the south, wore round to the north-west by the evening, 
 and blew a vicious gale from the north-east all night, so 
 that this morning (Friday) there is plenty of jetsom on 
 the shore, as what rational marine construction could 
 stand such a long strain hammering at them from all sides 
 of the compass. Our sailing boat has " gone into winter 
 quarters " early, and against our will, while the gale still 
 continues without any sign of weakness or hesitation. 
 A "depression" has crossed not only the Atlantic, but 
 the minds of those who "do business on the great 
 waters." 
 
 It is now nearly a fortnight since the stormy weather 
 commenced, and we have only had one day's calm 
 since. Wednesday was as severe with us as almost any 
 day since the commencement, and last night was quite 
 on a par with the disastrous night of Thursday last week.
 
 OCTOBER, 1881. 73 
 
 The peculiarity of this series of gales is that they have 
 steadily progressed round the compass. They com- 
 menced with south and south-west, and after days devoted 
 to the different "airts" of north-west, north, north-east, 
 and easterly, finished with the bitter south-east gale of 
 last night. As we write the howling of the blast has 
 ceased for a time, but we don't feel at all secure, although, 
 after such a complete occupation of "a' the airts the 
 wind can blaw," we are hoping the week may finish more 
 peacefully. 
 
 The succession of gales have ended, so far, as they 
 began, with an exceptionally intermittent display of 
 energy ; the squalls being constant throughout, and 
 whether from south-west, north, or south-east, equally 
 bitter and disastrous. While driving along by the shores 
 of Ardmucknish Bay yesterday morning, we were surprised 
 to see the Oban fishing boats skimming along in the then 
 increasing gale, and settling down to the whiting fishing, 
 well out in the exposed bay. The rising gusts, after a time, 
 drove them off one by one, until about the middle of the 
 day the last boat bundled and went, having delayed until 
 it had the utmost difficulty in escaping from the white 
 squalls then beginning to churn Loch Linnhe into spin- 
 drift. Shortly after mid-day no sail could with any 
 rational hope be hoisted in our surrounding waters. We 
 sat wondering what was to be the end of such a long- 
 continued spell of rough treatment, and watching the 
 "black and white squalls succeeding each other, and racing 
 madly seaward from the beautifully-situated loch with a 
 southern aspect on whose beach one sailing boat lay 
 bottom up, with the scantiest likelihood of ever again 
 dipping her bow in the briny sea after Thursday night's 
 treatment, when a crash outside announced a further
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 catastrophy. A heavy wooden roof, with plenty of exit 
 for the entering wind, and no rational excuse on account 
 of extreme youth for indulging in such vagaries, took a 
 flight heavenward and fell with a crash on the lawn near 
 by. It was not in a corner, it was heavily timbered, and 
 was simply a wanton piece of recklessness on the part of 
 the squalls, and proof of their sheer strength. The stones 
 along the sands on which sea-weed was hanging were 
 rolled about by the wind with the greatest ease, even up 
 to very heavy weights ; and we are not so much surprised 
 at our disasters as amazed that the list is so small 
 
 Yesterday morning, before the gale came on in its 
 severity, the rooks were circling about in great multitudes 
 overhead at an exceptional height, corroborating the 
 popular faith ; while to-day, now that the gale is upon us, 
 they are skimming hurriedly and anxiously close to the 
 waves. Before the evening closed in a great flight of sea- 
 gulls made their appearance in front, to their favourite 
 haven in a gale, so that we were justified in concluding 
 that the storm was not yet over. After an hour's lull it 
 once more howls around us, and throws the loch into 
 breakers against our shores. 
 
 While traversing the beautifully-wooded vicinity of 
 Lochnell's ruined mansion it relieved the eyes to turn them 
 from the sea, in mad revelry, to the wondrous beauty of 
 the foliage and the exceptional display of berries. The 
 great thorn hedges were in rich crimson garb from the 
 masses of haws, while the rowans were here still in per- 
 fection, although about Barcaldine shores they have long 
 been withered, and valueless for purposes of display or 
 preservation. One tree greatly attracted our attention. 
 The leaves had entirely fled, and the berries hung still in 
 rich masses, fresh and unwrinkled, while every branch
 
 OCTOBER, 1 88 1. 75 
 
 was coated with a luxuriant growth of grey moss, against 
 and amongst which the gay berries hung strangely, like 
 the bright cheeks of wholesome age when their owner's 
 locks are like the snow. We continue peering into the 
 foliage, when we come suddenly upon what to our eyes 
 is a novelty. We rarely, indeed, recollect finding berries 
 growing freely on the yew tree, but here on some magnifi- 
 cent old yews of Lochnell we find the dark green foliage 
 all dotted over with the beautiful, quaint red berries. 
 These are certainly somewhat " fushionless," but we 
 believe quite innocuous, and many eat them with im- 
 punity, while a preserve is made from them by others. 
 Seldom, however, are they procurable in such multitudes 
 as on these noble trees this season, and we are quite 
 charmed with the elegance of the dark branches, with 
 their finely-coloured drops of luscious-looking jelly hang- 
 ing underneath the foliage. Here and there a number 
 of small " acorns " hung alongside the gayest berries, 
 caused by the undeveloped disc of the female flower 
 having taken the appearance of the cup of an acorn, in 
 place of completing its growth into the surrounding jelly. 
 We were forcibly reminded of the interesting transforma- 
 tion witnessed by Gill in the mountains of Thibet and 
 Northern China, where the holly ran into the oak and 
 the oak into the chesnut, for here was the yew with imi- 
 tation oak berries alongside its more perfect fruits, show- 
 ing how slight is the difference in development between 
 them. 
 
 Can a rational pig swim, or an ordinary pig swim 
 rationally ? That is the question ! We are crossing the 
 ferry in the aristrocatic company of four good pigs, and 
 as we approach the landing-place the growing excitement 
 of the porcine mind culminates when we are still within
 
 76 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 a few yards ; so, despite its tethered limb, one plunges 
 overboard. With the customary contrariety of the clan, it 
 goes right under the boat, and starts for the centre of the 
 current, just then racing for the entrance of Loch Etive 
 with great speed. Of course there was an excess of excite- 
 ment, and great waste of eloquence, while there was row- 
 ing in hot haste after the half-mad animal, now rapidly 
 commiting suicide in the midst of the current. For it 
 never managed to Jifr its nose above the water, but con- 
 tinued to propel itself with considerable speed just on a 
 level with the surface of the water. Had it simply tilted 
 up its nose one inch or two it could have gone on 
 merrily ; but, as it was, before the stern chasers had 
 reached it and slipped a rope over it so as to keep its 
 head above the water, the current had swept them well 
 nigh through the Falls of Connel, and they could only 
 land it exhausted on the shore it had left. The pig was 
 fat, and the ordinary belief that a fat pig cuts its throat 
 in swimming would perhaps have sooner or later been 
 realised ; but does a pig in its senses, and without an 
 undue excess of flesh, really drown itself through stupi- 
 dity ? We cannot suppose so, and must put down this 
 fellow's action to the debasing influence of civilisation 
 and an over-paternal government ! 
 
 We are all in the position of the Welsh electoral dis- 
 trict, when their member promised the electors whatever 
 weather they all agreed upon as suitable! The ferry- 
 men and seafarers were in sullen despair up till Monday 
 afternoon, while the groups hurrying on their potato digg- 
 ing were chuckling over the gales, even when these were 
 stripping their roofs ; for so long as the high winds con- 
 tinued the dreaded frosts that were threatening would be 
 kept off, and the rains that might equally suspend
 
 OCTOBER, 1 88 1. 77 
 
 operations would only be sampled in showers. Cart 
 after cart, heavily laden with rushes, and strongly-growing 
 marsh grass, have been passing from Barcaldine to thatch 
 the now completed stacks, and repair the old-fashioned 
 roofs of the cottages and byres, for our population is 
 gradually awakening to the value of their straw to an ex- 
 tent never before displayed ; and so far as this wild pro- 
 duct of the Barcaldine woods can be procured and 
 utilised, to that extent is the artificially grown product 
 saved as winter fodder and bedding for their stock. 
 This woodland and upland growth, however, can only be 
 obtained through the courtesy of the shooting tenant, 
 and at such times as the game will be least disturbed ; 
 and considering this, and the ordinary lethargy of the 
 neighbourhood over small savings, it was quite remarkable 
 the promptitude and wide spread energy displayed by 
 those who could make use of the thatching. The shores 
 of our seas have been so severely handled all the season 
 that little was thrown up during these gales, partly, no 
 doubt, because the tides were varying so little at neap. 
 All along the shores of Loch Creran the " waning of the 
 year " was of the most marked description, and the line 
 of seaweed that marked high water during the gales was 
 rolled into a huge rope, with a line of parti-coloured 
 leaves just beyond, succeeded again by a band of yellow 
 needles from the fir trees, and yet again by an infinitely 
 finely-ground "olla podrida " from the particles of crushed 
 leaves broken up in the war of elements. Along the stretch 
 of beach we traversed, the whole was swept as with a 
 mighty besom ; and a series of mussel beds, lying with the 
 peculiar vicious propensity of this shellfish on the out- 
 look for naked feet, and with their sharpest points upper- 
 most, were severely handled for their perverse peculiarity.
 
 78 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 For the gale, probably driving before it a stretch of gravel 
 when the water was shallow over the beds, had nipped 
 the points of whole stretches of these mussels, of course 
 destroying them utterly, as they not only lay exposed to 
 the driving sand and small gravel that soon silted in and 
 choked the already sadly bruised mollusc, but they were 
 thrown open to the restless, oyster catcher, now delighted 
 to have an open feast without wearing down still further 
 their hard bills. 
 
 The rapidity with which the cold weather has painted 
 the landscape is more like a transformation scene in a 
 pantomine. Our walk through the thinning woods last 
 Sunday was almost overpowering in the lavish wealth of 
 colouring. The rich blue of the hills, with the sunlight 
 gleaming over them, and hiding in the richer light the 
 scattered patches of snow ; the dark waves, as the terrific 
 squalls swept down the glens and whipped the dark sea 
 into white waters, swirling the gay leaves in myriads 
 before them as they crossed the charming " water-colour 
 exhibition " between the hill-side and the shore ; the 
 dark, stern silver firs, erect yet swaying amid the nodding 
 and crouching foliage of the birch and other deciduous 
 trees, presented a succession of scenes as exquisitely 
 beautiful as the mind could conceive. How often do 
 we say still, as we have already said, you who come to 
 the " somber north " cannot have the wildest conception 
 of the lavish beauty of Bonnie Scotland, until you see 
 her in the Queen of Months, when she holds her drawing- 
 room on the mountain side, or in the woodland glade, 
 and gathers the beauty and fashion of her gay world 
 " for a few days only," to dazzle the beholder with the 
 splendour of her court. 
 
 That hillside has been a source of delight to many a
 
 OCTOBER, 1881. 79 
 
 jaded Southerner, and must have thrust itself with per- 
 sistent determination among visions of gay dresses in 
 many a brilliant ball-room, when the tired eyelids fell 
 upon tired eyes, and wholesome thoughts thrust them- 
 selves thrust themselves that bunch in the hedge is 
 never natural ! It has thrust itself so persistently upon 
 our mind, that we are forced to withdraw our eyes even 
 from the heaven-tending hills, and examine it more 
 minutely. The hedge has been getting bare these latter 
 days, and so has rendered this knot somewhat more 
 apparent, otherwise it would not have been noted even 
 by our practised eyes ; for it belongs to a little builder 
 that is as dexterous in its choice of a locality as it is 
 skilful in the use it makes of it. Here is this low hedge, 
 not three feet high at the most, crushing into the road, 
 for there is no footpath, and threadbare at the best, even 
 when in its fresh toggery. Yet where our coat must 
 have brushed against its encircling twigs, and the stamp 
 of our passing foot have shaken the youngsters in their 
 snug retreat, a common wren had built its nest, with the 
 moss thoroughly interwoven amid encircling twigs of 
 thorn. Even a ringer can scarcely be inserted, but the 
 little troglodytes had been gliding in a^id out amid the 
 thorns, and yet evading the eyes of the schoolboys and 
 the passing wayfarers until its snuggery was completed in 
 a most workmanlike fashion. There is no doubt that a wren 
 can secure a dwelling-place from ordinary human obser- 
 vation in a manner such as no other bird can pretend to, 
 and we have found half-a-dozen of their nests in the 
 thinned hedge, 50 yards long, in which our most careful 
 and by no means unskilful scrutiny could not make sure 
 of one, when the mother's heart was panting and 
 " summer was green."
 
 LOCH CRERAfr. 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 
 
 " Ichabod ! Ichabod ! the glory is departed," we ex- 
 claim, while traversing the woods, now nearly cleared of 
 their brilliant apparel. But there are lovely peeps to be 
 had still, although the wind, with the bitterness of jealousy, 
 is swirling even the tenacious leaves of the oak tree after 
 those of the plane tree, the horse-chestnut, the lime, and 
 the birch. The beeches still hang on to their bunting in 
 the sheltered nooks, but the larches have almost been 
 stripped, except where their delicately-pale yellow needles 
 have been well protected. In such cases, the effect of a 
 cluster of young larches around the rich uninjured green 
 of the graceful Douglas pine is most charming ; for this 
 pine, like the spruce, defies alike the teeth of the frost 
 and the sharpened scissors of the east wind. 
 
 Our winter prospects are rather cheerless, for already 
 the snow has crept down to near the foot of Ben Breac 
 not with the surreptitious movement of a visitor, but 
 with the quiet, self-satisfied confidence of a boarder that 
 meant to make itself comfortable; so no wonder the 
 brackens have completely struck their colours, and are 
 retreating into the heath, while the varied ferns are pale 
 with dread, and hang, cold, bleached, and shivering, 
 awaiting the end. How beautiful is death, as it creeps 
 upon them stealthily, and spreads its delicately-graduated 
 tints from drooping frond to frond ! 
 
 " What is it they are talking about ? " asks a friend, as 
 unwonted animation and earnestness pervades the faces 
 of the natives. What indeed, but about the most serious 
 question of the hour. How are your potatoes? Did 
 the June frost hurt them much ? Has the muggy weather 
 of August and September done still greater damage by
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 81 
 
 fostering the fungus that produces disease ? Many are 
 the possibilities of injury to potatoes between the first 
 planting and the placing in pits, and even thereafter, ere 
 they are converted into food or cash for the cultivator. 
 Fortunately we are far better off than those in happier 
 districts (for ordinary cultivation) are to-day, for most of 
 the potato crop of Benderloch is secured. But disease 
 has not wholly avoided them, and those few muggy days 
 of early autumn have secured their prey; while the few 
 days' frost in June have simply left certain sheltered 
 portions of ground entirely clear of shaws or tubers, so 
 far as edible quality or size goes. One peculiarity of our 
 hardy blue potato is that it can be pitted during wet 
 weather with impunity, a valuable quality in our moist 
 climate. 
 
 Alongside a fair potato harvest for the majority of our 
 cultivators, we have a most unusually successful supply 
 of the second great constituent of a true Highland break- 
 fast viz., herring. Fish trains have been regularly dis- 
 patched from Oban for the South, freighted from the 
 immediate vicinity with large fine herring; and Bender- 
 loch was not without a proportion of the harvest of the 
 sea. But it was not so well prepared to take advantage 
 of this uncertain produce as it ought to be, and, while 
 we understand from a reliable observer, that Loch Linnhe 
 was alive with a great herring "school," such as our 
 venerable informant had never seen before, no boats 
 from our quarter were able to participate in the fishery. 
 A detachment, however, found their w r ay into Ardmuck- 
 nish Bay, and provided amply for those in the vicinity, 
 as the poor fish were actually pressing on to the rocks of 
 the shore, and were readily captured with the seine net. 
 No sooner was this generally known than a rush of boats
 
 82 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 took place to the limited bay from all quarters, where 
 they ranged themselves during daylight, thus effectually 
 scaring the fish from the confined quarters, where 
 judicious management might have kept them until the 
 bulk were secured. The want of public spirit and co- 
 operation of classes is ever a serious detriment to success 
 in the Highlands, where, in the fisheries especially, there 
 is utter want of foresight or regard for to-morrow. This 
 is to be found even in long-established stations, and is 
 not confined to the comparatively unskilled and ignorant 
 landsmen, who alone prosecute our shore fisheries in the 
 West. Still our people have participated somewhat in 
 the good gift of the sea, and the few days the herring 
 were hurrying shoreward will have helped to enrich a 
 good many breakfasts among us : we should like to know 
 that many more had been prepared to profit by such a 
 rare opportunity. One night's fishing repaid the whole 
 cost of a new net and left something over, and this ought 
 to stimulate others to invest in a like venture. We are 
 perhaps indebted to the severe gales, still howling around 
 our neighbourhood, for these herring shoals, driven in- 
 ward from their usual haunts around the shores of Mull. 
 
 The rooks have a busy time of it just now, as they make 
 use of their nests throughout the year, and these have 
 been so severely handled in the already severe " winter " 
 that the poor birds were actively engaged repairing, these 
 latter days, whenever the gales allowed them to carry 
 their burdens. This has not been often, however, and 
 some pairs we observed very disconsolate over their nests, 
 whose fragments were being swirled over the sward 
 below the trees. The poor birds will no doubt have to 
 roost in the open until gentler breezes blow. 
 
 They were digging potatoes near Achnacloich, close to
 
 NOVEMBER, 1 88 1. 83 
 
 the Oban line, on the southern shore of Loch Etive, 
 when an unusually stately figure stepped out into the 
 open, and slowly sauntered up towards the copsewood 
 near the house. A potato digger lifted his eyes in 
 amazement at the sight. No haunt of the red deer 
 within ten miles, with the populous district of Bonaw 
 between, and yet here was a stately stag in splendid con- 
 dition. There was racing and chasing on the shore of 
 Etive, for the sportsmen did not fail to hurry forth on 
 such a rare occasion, and the wounded animal took to 
 the loch, and started for the opposite shore near Achnaba, 
 in one of the roughest days of the October gale. A 
 small boat was launched and followed, landing as soon 
 as possible, for the loch was excessively rough, and the 
 crossing more dangerous than amusing. The stag yet 
 managed to swim the distance, nearly two and a half 
 miles, but was so exhausted that it was forced to land in 
 the teeth of its pursuers. It proved to be a fine animal, 
 that had apparently summered among the plantations of 
 the district without being observed. Whether it had 
 crossed through the populous district in the dark, or had 
 swam Loch Etive before on its way to Lochnell district, 
 would be difficult to say ; but a stag of the same character 
 was observed about our own hills a year ago, and may 
 have crossed over from the same quarter that it sought 
 when wounded. Its horns were hard, black, and peculiar, 
 and its venison more like good ox beef. In all likelihood 
 it had been driven forth from some herd in the Black 
 Forest, or near the head of Loch Etive. 
 
 A good observer comes to trust to his eyes, and grows 
 dubious about those of other people. No doubt this 
 accounts for the onslaught of a keen-eyed correspon- 
 dent on our " wonder of the world," Connel Falls. He
 
 84 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 must not expect it to get up an exhibition of its powers 
 at all times or any time, and if one passes the ferry at 
 slack water or neap tides, there is nothing particular to 
 tell of the wild torrent that empties itself seaward in a 
 big spring-tide at low-water. Add to this a heavy gale 
 with the tide, and the ferry is then impassable ; while a 
 heavy gale against the tide is even worse to go through. 
 "Circumstances alter cases," as the school line says. 
 We recollect looking at a coal miner stripped to the 
 waist, picking coal as he lay on his side in a narrow 
 aperture, and being surprised at our guide asserting he 
 " was six feet high and had bones like a horse." Connel 
 can show well when its mane is up and the tide is low. 
 
 On Monday evening (yth) about half-past six we saw the 
 finest meteor it has ever been our fortune to note. We 
 had just stepped outside, when it swept down the 
 heavens in a slight curve from the west, like a great 
 " drop " of fire ; and went out when due north from our 
 position, in a brilliant violet flame. This occurred just 
 as it had apparently entered the margin of a fleecy cloud, 
 in which it appeared as it extinguished, as a flambeau 
 would when thrust into vapour. 
 
 With a beautiful evening and a rising glass, the 
 prospects of a good morrow were fair, but on our 
 return homeward a little after ten, a splendid circle 
 surrounded the moon and blasted our hopes. It 
 was a more sensitive glass than the mercury, and 
 a thoroughly wet day followed. The whole week, 
 indeed, has been mild, but even before the more genial 
 weather set in we were led forth in the evening, armed 
 with a box of matches to supplement the moon, and 
 employed in eagerly hunting the gooseberry bushes that 
 the owner had discovered to be in blossom. They were
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 85 
 
 not the outcome of the sudden mild weather, any more 
 than the row of primroses along our hedge with a 
 northern and western exposure, the daisies blooming as 
 in early summer, the brilliant blue flowers of the 
 periwinkle as vigorous as in spring, the auriculas, 
 hepaticas, and candy tufts forgetful of the months, and 
 the Christmas roses with a mass of fresh buds hurrying 
 forth to join the gay and untimeous assembly. Here 
 comes a fresh growth of bean stem hanging with blossom, 
 but not with the vigorous scent of the summer, any more 
 than the freshly-plucked head of the mignonette we have 
 just had held beneath our nostrils. Roses, red and 
 hardy or pale and delicate, are all around us, and we are 
 wondering, like all the rest of "the world," what has 
 driven them all forth at this time of the year, as if scoffing 
 at the prophets who are predicting a severe winter. 
 
 When wading in the sea a few days ago we were 
 satisfied the water was no milder than usual, yet our 
 ponds were newly coated with a luxuriant growth of sea- 
 weed, both ulna and edocarpus, the latter an annual that 
 has disappeared some time since from its usual habit, 
 and been thrown ashore in decaying heaps. So this is 
 quite a fresh and unanticipated crop to defile the smooth 
 sides of the concrete ponds, and the sea is quite as 
 determined to be bizarre and singular as any bit of land 
 about. Here, too, as we row along, is a bit of floating 
 wood to mark and buoy a submarine structure we lowered 
 to its place just a month ago. It looks dirty as we 
 approach, and proves to be covered with a floating beard 
 of seaweed already several inches in length ! This, 
 although at least three weeks of the month it has been 
 there have been occupied by a succession of almost 
 unprecedented gales, for the most part accompanied by
 
 86 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 very cold weather. So that we cannot look to the shelter 
 and security of the ponds as the cause of the growth upon 
 them, seeing this piece of doubly-exposed wood, thrashed, 
 and tossed, and washed by every breeze, is at least as 
 well occupied as the concrete. 
 
 The water is somewhat warmer as it deepens, so coming 
 shorewards our feet are doubly chilled in the shallows, 
 as we skirt the water's edge. There are some odd white 
 blotches on that stone, a few inches deep in the coldest 
 water. What are they ? We approach carelessly, expect- 
 iug to find a lump of quartz or some other simple white 
 object, when we meet three dog whelks busily employed 
 depositing their spawn in this same month of November. 
 We have noted this in former years, and supposed it 
 abnormal, but must come to the conclusion that the 
 spawn of these and other marine creatures are thrown 
 more or less throughout the year. The great ocean 
 progeny could scarcely be else supplied with food, unless 
 some one or other class of creatures were to throw the 
 needful embryo throughout the various seasons. The 
 young of the little Mysis have been only lately expelled, 
 and now throng the seaweed and the shallows in countless 
 multitudes, a store, no doubt, for the winter subsistence 
 of higher and more vigorous organisms. Young gobies, 
 also, now shelter amid the seaweed-edged rocks and 
 boulders in active little colonies, hanging continually 
 about the same limited area. 
 
 The cry of " herring in the loch " has been so frequently 
 repeated, that the sight of a flight of gulls actively 
 engaged near the supposed frequented area, sent us over 
 to watch their operations. We were soon satisfied that 
 they were occupied with very much smaller fry, but not 
 having taken our weapons with us could not certify the
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 87 
 
 exact character of the prey over which they made such a 
 very great fuss. Three large herring boats returned 
 empty from our waters this week, so we need not have 
 cast aspersions on the character of the seals and the 
 dookers for not having given us notice of an arrival that 
 was wholly imaginary. There are herring in our loch, 
 but these are probably few in number and local, remain- 
 ing with us all the year ; as they do to a small extent in 
 most of our western lochs. We have seen few seals 
 lately, but one was art and part in the onslaught made 
 by the gulls, whatever may have been their prey. He 
 was so intent upon his meal that he allowed us to 
 approach very close, and watch him plunging not 20 yards 
 from shore. But as one swallow will not make a summer, 
 one seal and a pair of guillemots will not make a shoal 
 of fish. 
 
 We had just donned our waterproofs in the afternoon, 
 and started for Ledaig to see how a south wind treated 
 the long sweep of bay, when the weather put on an extra 
 spurt, and we had not gone half a mile ere every weak 
 point had been discovered and made the most of by the 
 rain, driven along as it was with the utmost fury. We 
 had heard a distant grumble some time before, but, dis- 
 satisfied with the .result of soaking our extremities, the 
 " Clerk " began striking matches broadly across the land- 
 scape to see if he could peer more successfully down the 
 chinks of our muffled neck. The flashes of lightning for 
 a time were very fine, and would have been magnificent 
 but for a stretch of sky towards the north-west that 
 remained comparatively clear, and so prevented the 
 gloom that would otherwise have prevailed. This led us 
 to predict a change of wind in that direction, which
 
 88 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 followed next day, along with a marked change of tem- 
 perature now that the stars are out. 
 
 The thunderstorm was overhead for a time, but kept to 
 the hills, and passed on between us and Cruachan towards 
 Glencoe. Despite the assault we still stumbled along to- 
 wards the Ledaig beach, but before we reached it the 
 gloom of the weather was creeping into the gloaming of 
 these short days, and we could only spend a few minutes 
 on the strand, listening to the rolling and the rattling of 
 the small boulders, as they were tossed about in the 
 mighty swing of the breakers. How they played with the 
 beach, and swirled the boulders into cairns, while the rest- 
 less sea made its bed for the winter, and threw ashore in 
 heaps knee-deep the rich masses of discarded bedding. 
 
 Looking out on the masses of furious living waters, we 
 decided that now was an opportunity for obtaining a 
 supply of large specimens of Helcion pelhicida, the 
 beautiful streaked limpet-like shell fish that haunts and 
 subsists upon the tangle (palmatus), so to-morrow we deter- 
 mined to pay a morning visit, and meantime, in the 
 waning light, drew out two large tangle stems from the 
 mass of seaware, and made homeward. After a rough 
 transit, on examination one of them proved to have a 
 specimen of the desired little mollusc well buried, shell 
 and all, in the stem while it is something remarkable 
 that next morning, after two hours' careful examination 
 of hundreds of stems, we did not find another specimen ! 
 So that our shot at a venture in the dark might have fairly 
 and reasonably misled us into supposing we had merely 
 to go and pick up a stem to find the mollusc in question. 
 
 Now, we had a definite and distinct object besides the 
 mere gathering of specimens of what, although pretty 
 enough, is by no means a rare shell, and that was the
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 89 
 
 careful examination of the stems of those tangles thrown 
 ashore, to see if they were generally much weakened by 
 the pellucida, or sufficiently so to account in most cases 
 for their having yielded to old Ocean's notice of ejectment. 
 There were a goodly number of cases in which the stout, 
 tough stems were wholly uninjured by mollusc or any 
 other foe, except the error of its youth in laying hold of 
 a foundation incapable of supporting its manhood. In 
 these cases, the whole attachments had come away, 
 bringing with them the masses of barnacles (balani} to 
 which they had originally clung, and which had now failed 
 them in their hour of need, and left the stones clear alike 
 of barnacles and tangle. But by far the greater number 
 of stems were eaten into a narrow point at the base of 
 the portion thrown ashore, and this was often apparently 
 well up the stem eaten into great ruts, or eaten into the 
 distinct hole that showed the dimensions of the limpet 
 above alluded to. Many of these assaults were of a 
 character that scarcely admitted of the explanation that 
 they had been perpetrated by any shell-bearing mollusc, 
 more especially a circular excavation in the very centre 
 of the stem, and several inches deep, where the depreda- 
 tors had completely destroyed the power of the stem by 
 eating away the central base. The molluscs, for the 
 most part, where their assaults were distinctly traceable, 
 had confined themselves to the former portion just inside 
 the " bark ;" but these others ate the soft tender parts in 
 the interior. For long we failed to catch any individual 
 that could give a clue to the ravager until we came upon 
 a group of whitish grubs among the attachments of a stem 
 that was thrown well up the beach. Having finished 
 our examination we came upon another individual with 
 two curious dark eyes lying in the trench he had excavated.
 
 90 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 Cutting off a good piece of the stem with the grub 
 attached, we placed it in sea water, in which it has been 
 so busy that we cannot now bring our lens to bear upon 
 it, as it has disappeared in the new "cutting" it has 
 eaten its way into. 
 
 We found we were rather late on the ground this 
 morning, as it was already occupied by a large flight of 
 gulls, equally aware of the fact thai a turbulent ocean- 
 mother cast its children ashore. These masses of tangle 
 and other roots are admirable hunting-grounds on 
 ordinary occasions, so we went over a great number to 
 see if we could obtain, an insight into the dredging-ground 
 outside. In almost every instance a goodly-sized mussel 
 (inodiolus) formed the nucleus, and these the gulls had 
 invariably broken up, devouring the animal. The tide 
 was coming in, so they had a long spell, and had gone 
 over the length of the beach religiously. 
 
 The storm having come at neap tide had not swept 
 the proper laminarian zone, but merely thrown ashore 
 what could be readily reached in a good spring tide. So, 
 little had reached us from deep water ; nor did we see a 
 single fish thrown ashore or stranded in the multitudinous 
 rock pools where Dun Mac Uisneachan divides the roll- 
 ing beach with its rugged sea-fretted base. 
 
 A capture was a specimen of a common barnacle, from 
 a tangle stem, to which a serpula tube was attached ; and 
 thinking the occupants dead we removed them as 
 specimens, in the dearth of something more remarkable. 
 As we sat at our paper a short time after, we were disturbed 
 by a sound of such a marked and distinctive character 
 that we were forced to endeavour to trace it. A drop of 
 water falling sharply from a height, or the sudden with- 
 drawal of the tongue from between the teeth, was the
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 91 
 
 likeliest sound we could think of, and it took us a minute 
 or two to trace it across the room to an omnium gatherum 
 of our specimens, and thereafter to the individual members 
 of them. Judge of our surprise to find the sound 
 proceeded from the barnacle, r whose cilise were being 
 extruded and withdrawn sharply as in its ocean home, 
 but with a result that could scarcely accompany the 
 movement in its natural element ! Prompt transfer to 
 sea water was an immediate cure. 
 
 " Disaster 
 Followed fast, and followed faster, till his songs one burden bore.' 
 
 We have hitherto calculated from the Tay Bridge gale, 
 on which occasion the tide in Loch Linnhe was said to 
 have risen higher than at any time since 1799, and con- 
 sequently we have considered ourselves absolutely secure 
 if our belongings were beyond the mark of this gale. But 
 Monday night (the 2ist) has changed all that. "The 
 Tay Bridge gale destroyed my boats this time," exclaimed 
 our stalwart friend amid the ruins of his many craft. For 
 he had foreseen a storm, and drawn all beyond the furthest 
 
 mark of that gale, and yet The fact is that the now 
 
 celebrated gale that made such havoc with us in Decem- 
 ber, 1879, only lasted a few hours, however severe; while 
 that of Monday night lasted until Tuesday evening with 
 steady fury, varied with intermittent blasts of greater fero- 
 city, when the breaking of the thunder clouds deluged us 
 'with rain and hail. Blowing thus so long from the 
 southerly quarter, the water was driven up our western 
 coast lochs to an unprecedented extent rising five feet 
 higher perpendicularly in Loch Creran than on the 
 previous occasion, and carrying devastation into all 
 buildings near the sea. The result of such a rise, in the
 
 92 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 darkness, accompanied with all the fury of a thunder- 
 storm, is scarcely to be conceived ; and as we looked at 
 the complete wreck of the dwellings across our little 
 sheltered bay, from which the inmates had escaped in 
 time through the howling of their dog, the mind was en- 
 abled to attain some dim conception of what the sea was 
 doing in Ardmuchnish Bay. Our friend's dog has a horror 
 and great physical dread of lightning; and the vivid flashes 
 had alarmed him so that he wakened his master in time; 
 for the highest of the tide was not due until six, while the 
 water was inside his house by four ! At daybreak our 
 first sight was a little grebe diving in the sea on the grass 
 a few yards from our gaje ; while the boats, securely 
 moored close by, had disappeared about the same time. 
 The darkness, and the fury of the hurricane rendered all 
 efforts vain, and the wreckage that now strews the 
 beaches around Benderloch, tells many a tale of sorrow. 
 "You can gather potatoes by the cart-load in Ardmuchnish 
 Bay," says one ; and a neighbouring farmer has had 200 
 barrels of them carried off from his pits, although an 
 observer would have accounted these absolutely safe from 
 the sea. 
 
 The gale still blows fiercely as we proceed up Loch 
 Creran, and seek the vestiges of departed boats and the 
 belongings of ourselves and friends, which the now re- 
 ceding tide has left ; for if the gale had continued an 
 hour or two longer the tide of Tuesday evening would 
 have been again as high, and it was necessary to save at 
 once what was possible. A timber vessel loading logs had 
 added to the destruction, as these had been carried all 
 over the loch, and employed dexterously as battering 
 rams by the infuriated waves. We stoop and pick up an 
 oyster from a heap of leaves under the trees, whither it
 
 NOVEMBER, i8$i. 93 
 
 had been carried by the sea, and alongside and now 
 hopelessly stranded are multitudes of annelids borne off 
 from their deep water beds by the scour of the water. 
 
 " Worms for bait, indeed," we exclaim, as these 
 appear in great coils along the path. For the sea water 
 has been as impartial in its dealings towards the land 
 annelids as towards its own children ; and while it flings 
 its own ashore, it has drowned the others out to keep 
 them company. What a chance for Darwin to count the 
 product per square yard ! for wherever the sea has 
 reached the worms lie in dead coils. Where are all the 
 ducks and sea fowl? ask those further up the loch, for is 
 this not an unusually rich feast for them ! We left all the 
 gulls in our little bay, but have seen no ducks whatever, 
 these having no doubt sought the inland waters. 
 
 We pass the newly-erected concrete breastworks, torn 
 into fragments and strewed along the beach, and havoc, 
 in deadly earnest, skirting every little bay. Here, trees 
 are rocking in the wind, with their roots in the air for the 
 most part, for the earth and rock they cling to have been 
 swept away others have their trunks all scored, for the 
 stones and boulders of the beach have been washing 
 about their stems by the hour ; and others, again, have a 
 good supply of seaweed hung among their boughs to 
 replace the vanished leaves. This is the manner in which 
 the wire-fencing has been swept away, when one would 
 have supposed it could not possibly have presented 
 sufficient obstruction to the rush of the waves. These 
 first festooned it with seaware until it became so heavy 
 as to weigh down the wires, and strain the posts, and 
 then the obstruction was sufficient to enable the next rush 
 to carry all away. 
 
 Those in front are excited and interested, as they stand
 
 94 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 shivering in the storm of hail at Cregan Ferry, where the 
 evidences of desolation are sufficiently distinct. Ere we 
 reach the ground one of the interesting strangers they 
 have been attracted by has disappeared towards the head 
 of the loch, but the other is still to be seen battling with 
 the waves in the teeth of the storm. Actually a little 
 stormy petrel at Cregan ! With what pluck the little 
 fellow fights his way down in the face of the gale, dodging 
 behind the waves, and taking advantage of every possible 
 shelter they could afford. He actually makes progress, 
 too, despite the fury of the blast that forces us all to leave 
 the unsheltered promontory, and turn homeward. 
 
 Only once before has the old keeper seen this bird in 
 Loch Creran, even in a time of gales. We had a porpoise 
 in the loch on Saturday a rare visitor in our so concealed 
 loch. We were watching a little smack coming down the 
 loch in the gale of Saturday flying like a racer, with main- 
 sail and two jibs up, and every wave washing her from 
 stem to stern. Rather anxiously we noted her lower her 
 jib and reef her mainsail while she still staggered on, half 
 the time under water, when the " pellock," coming down 
 in the same course, but nearer us, met some of our marine 
 constructions, and went skipping over them in two great 
 leaps. It did not again show itself until it passed our 
 point of sight. 
 
 We have crossed to the Ledaig shore. Carefully now ! 
 the breast wall opposite the smith's forge is away, and 
 the stiffest neck in Benderloch could not stand a drop 
 there. There is the famous rock of Ledaig still standing 
 at any rate, although seldom in its " career " could it have 
 looked out upon a wilder scene ; and here is the poet's 
 garden well ! at least half of it ! The hedge and the 
 other half 20 years of toil and care and affectionate
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 95 
 
 tendance Ay de mi! what good can they do to men or 
 gods at the bottom of Ardmucknish Bay ? 
 
 My good friend, I'm afraid our foresight in laying in 
 such a stock of sparrow-hail for eventual rare feathered 
 visitors will not avail us if this weather continues. Here 
 has the glass gone down on Sunday morning as low as 
 ever we have seen it, and now all day the wind and the 
 rain are merrily sweeping over our devoted heads, lashing 
 the water into fury, and rendering our ferries impassable 
 once again. So we are pleased to think we have stolen 
 yesterday from amidst the waste of desert days, with its 
 wedge of frost driven in between the wet and storm, and 
 its moonlight blink through the dreary branches of the 
 desolate woods. How busy the squirrels were amid the 
 tree tops, and how well they showed among the bare 
 branches, with here a grey tail curled over a brown back, 
 and there a dark tail over a grey back, as they sit on the 
 stripped larches. For it is upon the larches they are 
 mostly to be found at present, and we could not think 
 what they could be doing upon them, until lately, when 
 we took shelter one rough day last week under the still 
 covered head of a neighbouring Scotch fir. ' From the 
 mosses under our feet, at present so rich and green, our 
 eyes wandered to the high over-arching trees, and there 
 at the end of a branch appeared a nest of a contour that 
 set our wits to work to decipher the builders. We 
 watched it long without success, when suddenly the 
 " nest " tilted over and dropped head first to the next 
 branch, there to continue in motion ere again assuming 
 the stationary position. The squirrel, for such it was, 
 had been intent upon its labours in the midst of the 
 severe rain, with its umbrella tail yielding such protection 
 as it might ; and our further observation proved that it
 
 96 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 was really busy among the many small cones, now con- 
 spicuous on the larches through the absence of the leaves. 
 We scarcely expected them to be at this work so early 
 in the year, and are the more surprised seeing that 
 friends who partook of a squirrel pie lately described them 
 as not at all turpentine tasted. No doubt the aroma of 
 beech-nuts and acorns was not yet eradicated. Of these 
 last the supply here is not very important, as although 
 the climate and soil is well suited to the oak, and these 
 trees prove most valuable timber in Barcaldine, yet the 
 fruit is very small and badly grown compared with that 
 of more favoured districts. The finest acorns we have 
 lifted in this region would not approach in size or flavour 
 those of eastern Perthshire, let alone more southern 
 counties. 
 
 We stroll along noting the abnormal growths among 
 the trees, and particularly interested in that graceful 
 vegetable product that occasionally plays such ungraceful 
 antics the birch. No one who has peeped much amid 
 our forest foliage but must have noted and wondered at 
 the bunches, like nests, that appear on the birch, to which 
 we have formerly alluded, and which are formed of mul- 
 titudes of twigs intertwined. Here is a small specimen, 
 with a small-sized enormity, and we examine it closely, if 
 perchance some younger and less complex production 
 will furnish us with a clue to its origin. We find a less 
 and a lesser, until we come to a very young bunch 
 indeed, being merely the growth of a season. The 
 branchlet has forked, as 'tis its nature to, and one end 
 bud has seemingly been broken off. This has caused 
 additional energy and flow of sap to the wound, and 
 been followed by a number of buds, that have succeeded 
 in growing twigs some inches long. The branch has
 
 NOVEMBER, 1881. 97 
 
 not been strong enough to support more than one or two 
 there, and the others have died down ; the wood conse- 
 quently thickens with the increasing power of the branch, 
 and a fresh lot of buds crop out over it and grow to a 
 certain length of twig, a proportion again dying down, 
 and aggravating the original habit of expanding the knot 
 by multiplication of twigs. The result is a congeries of 
 twigs dead and alive, interminably interlaced around a 
 thickening stem, and a bundle of exaggerated bud- 
 bearers. Here are two conterminous birches, veterans 
 of their race, the one graceful and delicately drooping as 
 a birch should be, the other stiff and knuckly all over 
 its branches, even to the furthest rigid, ungraceful twig. 
 There is not a single " bunch " of twigs upon it. Yet 
 its stem and its branches have surrounded themselves 
 with a continually increasing aggregation of excrescences, 
 in the shape of knots, that become hard and finely 
 grained, and, when " skinned " and polished, make 
 beautiful ornaments. This peculiarity of the woody fibre 
 seems quite to have absorbed the extra vitality of the 
 tree, and, while the twigs and branches are alike 
 foreshortened, it is free from the other deformity. The 
 appearance of the two against the sky is so dissimilar 
 that they could scarcely be recognised as the same 
 species. 
 
 We come upon a magnificent silver that has fallen to 
 Tuesday's gale (the 22nd), falling with its forked stem on 
 either side of a large beech, and stripping it of branches 
 until brought up tightly wedged. It is impossible to 
 separate them, and they must go together. The enor- 
 mous roots of the silver have stretched far, but they 
 have been completely undermined by the rabbits, and 
 these have unquestionably weakened the hold of the giant 
 
 G
 
 9 8 LOCH CR&RAN. 
 
 upon the river bank, and helped to complete the 
 destruction of an enormous mass of vegetable matter. 
 
 The tide of Monday the 28th, although a neap, was as 
 high, but not so rough, as that of the Tay Bridge night, 
 so that we could well understand our venerable friend 
 suggesting that the land may be really sinking to meet 
 the waters. After the subsidence, two oyster catchers, 
 with unexampled daring, sported but a few yards in front 
 of our door, as they anxiously and hurriedly devoured 
 the sickening earth-worms that had escaped the former 
 inundation, only to succumb before this fresh and 
 uncalled-for assault. Yesterday the little coletits in 
 numbers were busy in terrible earnest, and regardless of 
 our presence in the woods, probably anticipating last 
 night's storm. 
 
 The most interesting and important stranger that has 
 lately fallen to the gun in our district is a phalarope shot 
 at Barcaldine. This proved to be a red-necked phalarope 
 ( Phalaropus hyperboreus ). These rare lobe-footed 
 swimmers are of a remarkably tame and confiding 
 character, apparently little used to human neighbourhood. 
 We have only observed one before in this district, when 
 it flew about our boat in such a confiding manner that 
 we did not shoot it, although pressed to do so. 
 
 We observed on this occasion, as after the former 
 severe storms, that the pheasants were afraid to trust 
 themselves off their legs, having become thoroughly 
 demoralised after the tempest. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 
 
 " Not bad weather for the country, " says one, with 
 emphasis ; " very good weather indeed," says another,
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 99 
 
 sententiously, as we pass along in the pitiless rainfall, in 
 a blink between the hurricanes. For old-fashioned gales 
 have departed with old-fashioned tides, and it is hard to 
 judge now whether the wind or the tide is to further 
 transcend its ordinary movements. This week the tide 
 was again as high as that of December, 1879, although 
 nothing approaching that of the 22d November, which 
 has burthened the Lome Roads with ^1800 of damages ! 
 When we consider that the wholesale destruction of boats 
 will necessarily throw more work upon the roads, the 
 ordinary wear and tear will in all probability be above 
 the average for a considerable time. But the weather is 
 good for "the country!" What is the country? Are 
 those portions of our palmated coast subjected to those 
 watery influences not part of the said country, and are 
 those who go down to the 4 sea in small boats, and reap 
 their harvest, in part or in whole, from the waters, not 
 part and parcel of the country ? It seems a paradox to 
 say that what is bad for us is good for " the country ; " 
 yet there is still a picking for stock on the half-green 
 hills, and the labours of the husbandmen may be con- 
 ducted with ease where last winter all labour was frozen. 
 Certain it is that rain and mild weather have combined 
 to make the mosses of all kind simply perfect. The 
 brown leaves have been swept off the sward under the 
 trees by the savage gales, and the undergrowth of moss 
 and fern is so rich and green that one almost fancies the 
 green leaves have simply dropped en masse from the 
 boughs for a pic-nic under. Here is the fine bole of an 
 old oak, with widespreading branches, that is in itself a 
 field for the mycologist, with its bark completely hidden 
 under lichen, moss, and fungus, and grey fronds of poly- 
 podium here and there, where they have obtained a
 
 too LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 precarious foothold. We are "wreckers" among the 
 mass of sea-driven spoil far over ordinary highwater mark, 
 and yet the mosses are gay and exquisitely constructed 
 far below the banded seaware. There is a beautiful grey 
 lichen creeping over the rocks, upon which a little red 
 fungus has settled, sprinkling it all over with vermillion 
 spots of various sizes ; and, indeed, scarce a spot they 
 can get a hold upon but is covered with some cryptogamic 
 plant of beauty that will well repay gathering for closer 
 inspection. See those green puckered d'oyleys, with 
 grey beads, hung all over that other tree stem ! Some 
 young ladies' boarding school in the vicinity has been 
 holding an exhibition apparently but no, they are only 
 the leathery lichens, growing in a circular form all over 
 the bank. Green, and slate, and purple, to rich black, 
 they are festooning or adorning the trees around. Now, 
 why is it that the fir tribe are mostly in happy ignorance 
 of this rich adornment ? for, except a sapless grey lichen 
 on the branches of the larch, all are upon the deciduous 
 trees. The oak is perhaps richest in specimens if not in 
 species, while the beech has some especial beauties upon 
 its dead logs, and no small display upon its living stem. 
 The birch, too, is in no want of extraneous clothing, and 
 yet the beech and birch more especially are smooth- 
 stemmed trees, and give no more foothold to the spores 
 of these plants than the various pines, nor anything like 
 the facilities of the wrinkled hides of well-grown larches. 
 We want "more light" on this subject ere risking a 
 theory of any sort. It may be that these " foreigners " 
 are too recent interlopers to have created or adopted a set 
 of hangers-on of their own, while trees like the British 
 oak have been so long acclimatised that a numerous 
 family of dependants, have been created to flourish
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 
 
 around them, and add grandeur and richness to their 
 "giant boles." Can the presence of turpentine be an 
 objection to these growths, and protect the pines from 
 their hampering clasp ? Yet in the Mycologia Scotica 
 there is no lack of fungi growing upon pines, and we are 
 forced to seek elsewhere for a reason. These woods, in 
 all likelihood, were originally composed of our native 
 deciduous trees; and the cryptogamic flora flourishing 
 upon them must have consequently been of the class 
 more particularly belonging to these various trees. When 
 the larch, silver, and other pines were introduced some 
 century and a half ago, in a very young condition, the 
 seeds of the fungi belonging to them would not have 
 been present; or could not exist under the changed 
 conditions, until the growth of the trees prepared a 
 matrix for them. It would be interesting to know 
 whether the rule held good, that deciduous trees scattered 
 in a pine forest were comparatively free from cryptogamic 
 plants, and pines of species scattered in a deciduous 
 forest equally free on their part ? 
 
 Well ! now, look here, Donald. How did these come 
 here? A good number of limpet shells among the moss 
 well up the rocky bank, and not showing any sign of 
 having been brought there by birds. The oyster-catcher 
 would have devoured them on the rocky shelf from 
 whence they were taken, and never sought to fetch them 
 here. No boy has been at these, so far as our judg- 
 ment goes, and we do not think the crow would tackle a 
 limpit ; although it is very hard to say what a cunning 
 grey crow, that so often frequents the beach at this 
 season, would not do for a meal. Yet we are not 
 satisfied that these look like the work of crows. What 
 do you suppose they are, or it is, that has brought these
 
 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 shells from the beach ? " If not birds they must be 
 rats," is the reply. Rats ! Did you ever hear of rats 
 eating limpets, now ? "Yes, I have often heard of them 
 eating limpets." This leads to close questioning of our 
 careful and shrewd friend, and we find that a friend of 
 his found a rat on one occasion with its lip caught by a 
 limpet shell, under which it had slipped when pushing it 
 off its hold. It seems absurd to fancy such a strong 
 animal as a rat could be held by a small shell-fish, but 
 the strength of hold of those molluscs is so great that 
 3olb. to 4olb. can be held hanging on to the shells with- 
 out dragging it off; and once the shellfish gets notice of 
 your attack, you may kick the toes off your boots or the 
 shell to pieces before it will give way. So, little chance 
 would a rat have with its lip in the grip of the creature. 
 " I once landed on the Island of Dunstaffnage to cut 
 grass, and it was so full of rats that I was afraid to go on ; 
 and the grass was so full of limpet shells that I could 
 scarcely use the scythe, and had to keep sharpening it all 
 the time," adds our informant. This was the place where 
 the limpet had played at " pull baker, pull devil," with 
 the rat, and had the best of it; so no doubt the rats had 
 been driven by stern necessity to capture the only food 
 available. It is very questionable, however, if ordinary 
 rats have sufficiently studied the habits of the mollusca 
 to be able to obtain a meal in this way! 
 
 With all the wind we have had of late sufficient, if 
 stored in an accumulator, to keep us in power for years 
 the country is a huge sponge, and the rain still falling 
 in "buckets." This evening, however, it came as sleet, 
 and the hills around are white we hope a harbinger of 
 frost and quiet. 
 
 A long-delayed excursion to the head of the loch was
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 103 
 
 entered upon on Monday without the smallest misgiving, 
 but about two miles up we came upon a belt of ice that 
 stretched across the very broadest part of the loch, and 
 impeded further progress without an amount of damage 
 to boat and oars that was not to be thought of. Here 
 we saw quite a number of heads of seals in the loch, along 
 the verge of the ice bank, giving a most Arctic character 
 to the wintry scene. Why they should have deserted the 
 loch lower down to congregate here we do not understand, 
 unless we are to conclude these were properly the ordinary 
 occupants of the portion of water covered by the ice 
 about \\ miles wide by i mile deep ; for once we had 
 landed and journeyed by the Appin shore to Cregan 
 Ferry, we found the water there quite clear of ice, and 
 the dwellers on shore unaware of its vicinity, until the 
 crashing of a steam yacht on its way through drew their 
 attention thereto. We attributed this ice phenomenon 
 to the enormous rainfall of the period preceding the frost, 
 which had found its way with a rush into the loch, there 
 to float and freeze upon the surface. This had already 
 helped to clear the water, by removing the fresh water 
 from the depths for we have rarely seen the loch so 
 clear after so great a rainfall. But the weather was 
 evidently still unsettled, as the seafowl and migratory 
 ducks were excessively wild ; and we peeped down at the 
 sea bottom with the wistful gaze of one who had been 
 long a stranger, and feared to be soon estranged again. 
 Our time was short, and all we did was to bring to the 
 surface a strange crab from a fathom or two that had 
 especially attracted our attention. It proved to be 
 only a hermit, apparently the common Bernhardus, 
 under peculiarly unhappy circumstances ; for he had out- 
 grown his dwelling, the dog-whelk shell which now only
 
 io 4 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 covered his tail, and into which he could not withdraw 
 his shell-clad body. He knew well his awkward position, 
 for no sooner did we bring him aboard than he bolted 
 out of his stolen abode, and tried the " injured innocence " 
 trick. But his appearance was decidedly against him, 
 like the battered nose of a prize-fighter, as he had lost 
 pieces not joints off two of his legs, while one of his 
 big claws had also been torn off. This last had just 
 commenced to grow again, about three-sixteenths of an 
 inch long, while the other nipper was two inches long. 
 We picked up a bundle of barnacles on Saturday last 
 that proved to be on an old whelk shell, while well 
 inside the aperture a serpula tube was growing with the 
 live annelid in it. On our return home we found the 
 further presence of a hermit crab that had seemingly left 
 the worm in possession as a " blind " to hermit hunters. 
 
 Last week we noted a crab with a plentiful supply of 
 roe, another instance, if more were required, of the 
 almost continuous " seedtime " of some marine creatures. 
 
 The herring have once more paid a visit to our 
 southern shores, and yielded a second harvest to the 
 more enterprising residents on Ardmucknish Bay ; but 
 coming in the midst of severe weather, the success of the 
 fishermen was not so pronounced as it might have been. 
 Many of these herring were in roe in various stages of 
 progress some almost ready to be thrown, and some 
 not in a state to be deposited for a month or two. The 
 herring were also of all sizes, one that we assisted in find- 
 ing safe quarters for, measuring i3in. long and 3in. deep- 
 We were lately discussing the " great herring question " 
 with a venerable and experienced fisherman, more 
 especially with reference to the name of garvies. He 
 described the herring sile as being occasionally driven
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 105 
 
 ashore on Loch Linnhe side, and on one occasion he 
 witnessed them thus thrown on the rocks by the assault 
 of a great shoal of saithe. The fish not only forced them 
 out of the water but actually risked being stranded them- 
 selves, so far inwards did they pick the herring off the 
 rocks. Among these small fry were a good many of a 
 larger size the size of garvies that went by the name 
 of Garavack or Garvock, or " or big little ones " as our 
 informer sought to explain. What more particularly 
 interested us was his account of the grey crows hastening 
 to the prey, and hurrying off to the hills with several of 
 the larger ones in their beaks, not to devour but to hide, 
 returning to supply their immediate wants. So that if 
 this keenest of crows has not yet arrived at salting herring, 
 they have, at least, got the length of storing gannes. 
 
 These saithe, that prey upon the herring in their 
 hobledehoyhood, equally stick by them in their maturity, 
 as the multitude of coal-fish or steinlock the full grown 
 saithe that follow herring shoals and devour the herring 
 in myriads, is almost incredible. We have heard of one 
 man in Barra who declared he could catch a ton weight 
 of them at a spell, if his hands could stand the strain of 
 the line ; and we have seen 1 5 full-grown herring taken 
 out of one of them ! Yet with all their delicate feeding, 
 and what more delicate feeding than herring for all 
 classes of fish ? the coal fish is one of the coarsest and 
 least oily that comes out of the water. Black, as its 
 name implies, large flaked, and fibrous, it is a standing 
 protest against the theory that you can possibly feed a 
 coarse nature into a fine one. 
 
 Talk of desolate homes ! Just fancy the poor sand 
 martins returning to their cliffs at Shian, once more to 
 occupy the nests in their sandy faces. All gone at a
 
 106 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 sweep, and only the very back ends of one or two left to 
 show where they once had been, for the sea has cut the 
 bank away for several feet back. The boat circles round 
 the stony point into the still more exposed bay of 
 Ardtinny, and our attention is too much occupied with 
 the force and direction of the wind, and whether we shall 
 risk a more extended journey with that threatened storm 
 held over us, to see all that has taken place of late. 
 What of those sand cliffs riddled with rabbit warrens, 
 and that other great bank, that was little but a cliff, 
 turned into a thicket with bushes and brambles? All 
 completely cut away ; and if poor, little fudfud were at 
 home, the whole colony must be buried under the tons 
 of sand, and gravel, and the bushes that have fallen en 
 masse into the sea, when the foundation was undermined 
 by the lash of the waves. What consolation could it be 
 to the most philosophical rabbit to think that he is to be 
 unrocked by some very post-diluvian geologist beside 
 himself with joy at discovering such a rich find of 
 skeletons in the Old Red Sandstone of the period? 
 Meantime, if the rabbits have really perished as com- 
 pletely as their warren, it will be a lucky wind for the 
 neighbouring farmers. 
 
 "The world belongs to him that can wait," but when 
 you have to wait three months for a calm day at low tide, 
 a few years more or less must appear of little consequence 
 when attending mightier eventualities. It has come at 
 length this morning, with a light frost and no breeze, and 
 we quite hopefully watched the darkening shore creep 
 seaward, and the active figures of the oyster catchers 
 follow the water-line, while the voices of curlews receded 
 further and further from the door. Quite an unaccustomed 
 appearance has the loch in front to-day, for the eye has
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 107 
 
 become so used to the rush of the waves, and the howl 
 of the wind has been so familiar that, like the historical 
 miller when his water-wheel stops creaking, the stillness 
 of a normal day comes like the stoppage of a great pulse. 
 There is a sudden break in the smooth surface of the sea, 
 a white streak gleams along the water, and a huge figure 
 appears defiantly conspicuous several hundred yards off. 
 The atmosphere gives it an unduly prominent appearance, 
 and as the Northern Diver for such it is rises and 
 flaps its wings, it appears far more important than it 
 usually does in its "native element." Only on Sunday- 
 last, before service, when the sea outside was sadly ruffled 
 in temper, and bipeds ashore were in an equally unbe- 
 coming state of mind, a large specimen of the Great 
 Northern Diver was disporting itself at a few yards' dis- 
 tance from the shore in front of our dwelling. But this 
 is a week day, and the weather is fine, so we need not 
 expect such a display, and therefore content ourselves 
 with seeking the edge of the water like the seafowl, and 
 looking like them for unconsidered trifles cast up by the 
 late boisterous days and nights of bluster. 
 
 We have not far to go until we meet an ungainly but 
 interesting figure in a very forlorn plight ; for once again 
 a huge-headed, gaping object, with its formidable array 
 of teeth prominently displayed, and its fishing apparatus 
 much out of repair, has been left hapless by the incon- 
 siderate force of the waves and thoughtless hurry of the 
 receding tide ! A fishing-frog (Lophius), with the "bait" 
 torn off its angle, and a series of holes driven into its soft 
 but tough skin by crabs and buckies, is now before us, 
 and we proceed to draw it shoreward with our boat-hook, 
 that we may examine it at leisure. We have never before 
 met such a large, fine liver in any of the specimens we
 
 io8 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 have examined, and it bore every evidence of being in a 
 capital condition the liver weighing not less than i^lb. 
 Why are you thus, my friend, and wherefore were you 
 left lamenting, as so many of your species so often are ? 
 Not a ventriloquist, it yet must speak from its stomach, 
 so we cut out this organ in quest of the answer to our 
 question. As in almost every case that has come 
 under our inspection, when thus stranded it had 
 come into shallow water in pursuit of skates, and 
 in this creature, 3ft. 3in. long, we found a skate- 
 fish 2ft. long and i6in. across the wings. The skate 
 was uninjured by the formidable teeth of the creature, 
 and yet it was curled up in the huge sack of a stomach, 
 with its tail turned back and its wings folded over its 
 back, just as if the angler had carefully packed it 
 for immediate despatch. That the devourer had not 
 been injured by the nature of its prey was 'clear from the 
 fact that the remains of a second skate, consisting of the 
 teeth and jaw-bones, with a few of the vertebrae, lay .along- 
 side the other ; so its career of usefulness had been cut 
 short apparently simply through being stranded. The 
 only other contents of the stomach were of a character to 
 demand consideration in any less gluttonous fish, but in 
 such a gormandiser the presence of a handful of withered 
 Zostera marina and a large blade of sacharina seaweed 
 might mean nothing but that they had been swallowed 
 by the omnivorous creature, along with its more legitimate 
 prey, blindly and without intent. 
 
 It so happened that the skate in question was not the 
 only one that came into our hands to-day, one of more 
 notable dimensions having fallen to the skilled hands of 
 Donald; and as we are at the "table. of contents," we 
 may note the result of a post-mortem just concluded.
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 109 
 
 Big crab, little crab, crab of a middle size, seven of them 
 all in a row, one nip and a gobble, and there was an end 
 of it. What is this now ? Coming in among the crabs 
 it is conspicuous, and very soon proves to be a Mya 
 Arenaria, the large bivalve shellfish that burrows in the 
 clay and mud at low water. You have been more suc- 
 cessful than we were to-day, old fellow, for have we not 
 been wandering, three-pronged graip in hand, seeking to 
 dig up a nice set of Mya valves, mostly without success ! 
 We were at a loss to understand how a skate fish could 
 capture a Mya, but on carefully examining the object, we 
 came to the conclusion that it had caught hold of the 
 end of the long siphon tube, and torn only so much of 
 the creature out of its shell. 
 
 Now, skate fish abound in our loch, and we have 
 examined many of them, yet what is it that makes this 
 one so very interesting to-day ? The fact is that it con- 
 tains multitudes of eggs in various stages of progress, and 
 quite overturns any theory of breeding months we might 
 be tempted to entertain. In fact, we scarcely ever capture 
 a female skate fish in the loch that is not well supplied 
 with embryo eggs. In this instance none were ready for 
 emission; nor, indeed, were any provided with the horny 
 gelatinous shell ; but there was really no difference be- 
 tween the condition of this fish and one captured in the 
 summer. The eggs so closely resembled those of hens in 
 embryo that we determined to try whether they were 
 edible, they looked so tempting on the plate. So, half-a- 
 dozen or more were boiled in milk, with butter, flour, and 
 condiments in addition, but although the result was quite 
 palatable, and without the strong taste we anticipated, yet 
 the eggs were so doughy that our experiment merely 
 proved that skate eggs may be eaten with satisfaction
 
 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 when you are hungry, and nothing more delicate is at 
 hand. Even this is something, and may be considered 
 sufficient result to justify the by no means disagreeable 
 experiment on our vile body. We present the information 
 to those whom it may concern. 
 
 It is curious how certain scientific ideas or observa- 
 tions become public property, and the rough general 
 conception comes to be accepted without question by the 
 multitude, while others rap in vain for admittance 
 into the category of their faiths. The population have 
 come to talk as glibly about the Gulf Stream as if they 
 had been occupied with the thermometric readings along 
 its lengthened course. Must we really look to some 
 marked alteration of its course for the comparatively 
 high temperature of our western sea this winter, and the 
 consequent increase of activity in the reproductive 
 organs of marine creatures ? It would not be unreason- 
 able to suppose that, apart from the cosmical influences 
 whose action directs the prevailing currents of the ocean, 
 the local result of an exceptionally severe winter in 
 certain Arctic regions might partially divert the warm 
 stream from the Gulf, through earlier contact with the 
 cold Arctic current. The importance of this stream to 
 Arctic explorers north of Europe has been repeatedly 
 acknowledged, and the wide difference in its effects from 
 year to year upon the ice of the Arctic seas is probably 
 due both to changes in its movements and its temperature. 
 For no doubt if the prevailing winds, when it is travers- 
 ing the temperate seas, are from the northwest, it will 
 arrive upon our coasts not only somewhat farther south, 
 but vastly colder than if it had been subjected through- 
 out its course to the warm hurricanes from their cradle 
 in the Gulf of Mexico. We should thus anticipate that
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 
 
 when, as last winter, we had a prevalence of northerly 
 gales, the influence of the Gulf Stream would be reduced 
 to a minimum ; while this season, with our succession of 
 south-westerly hurricanes, its influence upon our waters 
 should be increased to a maximum. Certain it is that 
 our short notes of surprise at the spawn of various marine 
 creatures must be accentuated since we have had at 
 length an opportunity of traversing the littoral during a 
 really low tide. Never in our experience of the sea shore 
 have we witnessed, winter or summer, such a display of 
 spawn, more especially of whelks, as we did during last 
 week, when over a great stretch of shore dotted with 
 stones at verge of low tide these were literally white 
 with whelk spawn mostly newly deposited. We could 
 have collected bushels of it from a very limited area, so 
 that the excessively wet season we owe to these same 
 south-westerly winds might be naturally looked upon as 
 the cause of the unexpected whelk harvest to follow. 
 
 Although the local temperature of the air can have 
 little influence upon our seas, yet the same prime cause 
 the prevailing mild southerly gales has influenced 
 our gardens and woodlands, probably to their early 
 sorrow. For not only have the leaves pushed themselves 
 well forward on the sanguine woodbines, but the rose 
 bushes have themselves been deceived into showing 
 strong buds. Still more unusual and much less accep- 
 table, if persisted in, was the lively assemblage our friend 
 met on the highway this week. For the sun was playing 
 mildly on a bosky corner, and had enticed thence quite 
 a lively band of gnats, ignorant of the unkind trick the 
 great luminary had stopped to indulge in. The Great 
 Shadow would not be long of overtaking them, however ; 
 and no doubt they would all soon be ready for the
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 simple and natural little epitaph, " Since I "am so early 
 done for, I wonder what I was begun for ? " and not a 
 single swallow in Benderloch to answer the pertinent 
 question ! 
 
 With what charming readiness mankind throws names, 
 and sticks to them persistently ! One class of mind is 
 foolish because it differs from ours, and all manifestations 
 of intellect out of the accepted groove are ignored, when 
 they are not stigmatised as mechanical. Thus we have 
 come to talk without further consideration of the mental 
 action of animals as instinct, although we might probably 
 with equal reason treat the ordinary intellectual displays 
 of average humanity as similarly mechanical. Yet seldom 
 can one pass a day without noting little deviations from 
 the ordinary course of life among birds and beasts, that 
 can only be accounted for by intelligent adaptation. A 
 little dog that plays presistently and harmoniously with a 
 half-grown kitten, worrying and teasing it to an amusing 
 extent in a neighbour's parlour, shows how surroundings 
 and upbringing eradicate a supposed instinct on the part 
 of the dog ; while the fact that the cat will hunt the 
 doggie all about in order to have a romp with it, speaks 
 to equal alteration of mechanical aversion into sensible 
 regard. In similar lines ran our thoughts as we tramped 
 along the road in the rain, and scarcely glanced at the 
 dreary moorland alongside. As we came down upon 
 the loch the dull hue of the ploughed land was here and 
 there marked with the darker specks where the rooks were 
 busy ; but what was our surprise to note, a hundred 
 yards from the water, carefully hunting the same ploughed 
 land, a large flight of a bird livelier alike in colour and in 
 action ! A flock of oyster-catchers were busy, along with 
 the rooks, well away from the water side. We had thought,
 
 DECEMBER, 1881. 113 
 
 after the great storm of November, that an oyster-catcher 
 eating the drowned-out worms was a novelty even a few 
 yards from the water, but here was a great band quite in 
 their element. We have never taken anything but shell- 
 fish from their stomachs, and have certainly never before 
 seen a similar determination to have a share of what was 
 forthcoming further inland. Have the birds been driven 
 by failing supplies, now the tides are getting small ; or 
 have they reasoned that, if the rooks persistently find 
 nourishment along the foreshores, they may in return 
 invade with satisfaction the hunting grounds of the rooks ? 
 Limpets are, no doubt, the ordinary diet of oyster-catchers 
 with us ; but if they find a soft diet of worms is easier for 
 even their strong bills, they may in time somewhat alter 
 their characteristics. We suspect the younger members 
 even now fight shy of the more difficult and vigorous 
 species of limpets, for last Friday (2 3rd) during the best 
 of the tide, we observed a flock of these birds busily 
 engaged among the stones on a gravel spit that runs well 
 out into the loch. Although much frequented by them, 
 we did not believe they were feeding much, and so 
 carefully examined one that fell to the gun on this same 
 ground. Its stomach was certainly full of limpets, but 
 they were so small that the bird had eaten shell and fish 
 together in every case, while in the larger specimens they, 
 of course, only eat the fish. The beak of this bird was 
 not worn down, so we concluded it was this year's 
 growth, and had not yet reached the necessary skill to 
 succeed with the colossi of the limpet tribe, for the meat 
 contained in one good limpet would have far surpassed 
 the contents ot all the shells in the stomach of our speci- 
 men, and would have attracted its attention at low water 
 had it been capable of detaching one such. 
 H
 
 ii 4 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 
 
 What a pretty picture they made, to be sure, in the 
 comfortable room with the cheerful surroundings and 
 every evidence of affectionate interest in the animal 
 creation around them. Cats you call them ? you say, as 
 soon as you have recovered from the natural start as one 
 huge barred animal leaps upon the table and another 
 awaits with impatience, but with dignity, the proffered 
 morsel. Cats, indeed ! tigers that have become domesti- 
 cated, so far as size and appearance goes. Just look at 
 their large soft eyes, however, and the extremely gentle 
 ways of the beautiful creatures, and you will be better 
 able to appreciate the fact that they have descended in 
 the same family for generations, and both by inheritance 
 and culture are thoroughly civilised and cultivated. 
 Perhaps you are inclined to doubt the statement until 
 one impatiently notifies its desire for a share of the meal, 
 and with well-bred grace removes the Brussels sprout from 
 the lady's fork, and continnes to " look for more " until 
 the whole are consumed. We have all seen a cat eat 
 grass, but one with a passionate love for such vegetable 
 delicacies as Brussels sprouts is surely a rare creature to 
 meet. Yet both these large, gentle carnivora showed a 
 marked partiality for this vegetable, even from the midst 
 of the plate full of well-fattened turkey. We are all 
 wonderfully accommodating when food that more 
 especially suits us is scarce ; but it by no means follows 
 that we should become more especially enamoured of a 
 food not naturally suited to our ordinary physiological 
 condition. But these cats had become almost vegetarians 
 in their preference for a delicate sprout to a piece of 
 turkey. 
 
 " I don't like the way the rooks are flying," says our
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 115 
 
 driver, while the white-tipped waves are hurrying shore- 
 ward opposite the Poet's Nook. Terribly restless are 
 rooks and sea-birds,but we blame the actual more than 
 the prospective weather for their conduct, and pass on- 
 wards to our destination. 
 
 We skirt the edge of a young plantation of evergreen 
 pines, in which scores of the trees have been " browned " 
 by the wind, almost as if burnt the continuous severity 
 even of the comparatively mild south-west gales having 
 at length affected their vitality, perhaps by shaking loose 
 their foothold in the peat. The snow is only in isolated 
 patches on Cruachan, as we skirt the Etive shore, and 
 the ever-increasing violence of the gale shows that the 
 rooks had good reason to be restless and anxious. We 
 are keeping a sharp look out for that finely-growing speci- 
 men of Pinus nobilis, to learn if it has stood the con- 
 tinuously severe weather, and happily the straight, grace- 
 ful, trim figure comes in sight by the old church, as dis- 
 tinctive as a redcoat in a crowd. We should like much 
 if this beautiful pine were to thrive generally in this 
 country, as it would add a most remarkable figure to the 
 landscape, and give a style to ordinary plantations that 
 many seem to lack. Here is the palace. We descend 
 to shake hands with " The Queen," the most noted figure, 
 as it is also the best known and most buxom presence, 
 in Benderloch. She details with quiet good-humour 
 how her hens were carried off by the terrible gale, and 
 shows the corner whence she escaped from her garden, 
 while we look with interest on the specimens of fowls 
 with reversed feathers, so rare now-a-days in Scotland. 
 They all look as if they had got such a blast in November 
 that their feathers had never recovered their normal 
 position. Yet they really belong to a curious and 
 interesting variety of the ordinary fowl. As we pluck
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 from the stakes alongside her palace garden a few beauti- 
 ful fungi, nicely scolloped and elegantly coloured, we find 
 the dye come off at once upon our fingers, and wonder 
 more is not done with these various cryptogamic plants 
 in the way of extracting their often brilliant hues. Even 
 the most sober-hued were largely used in former times as 
 sources from which to extract most useful and durable 
 colours, far surpassing the more fugitive or native dyes 
 that have nearly driven them alike from our knowledge 
 and our memory. On this southern side of the hills the 
 fungi are more abundant still than with us, as the clouds 
 first strike this face and pour their contents down the 
 cheeks. Even the broom and the gorse, dry as are their 
 stems, and hard in the grain as is their wood, are hang- 
 ing with pink and yellow clusters of brilliant-hued fungi. 
 This side of the hills is also the one to which the hares, 
 and game generally, more especially resort in the winter, 
 as they are perfectly aware that the mild winds, rain-laden 
 though they be, keep it clear of snow and frost, if at al\ 
 possible. But our eyes have been twice on the loch for 
 once they have been on the paper this last hour, watch, 
 ing with anxiety the progress of the four-oared boat in 
 the teeth of the gale, and as it has borne its burden 
 shorewards at last in safety, we breathe more freely and 
 lay down our pen. 
 
 It has long ceased to be a question of how many years 
 have passed since we have had such and such a storm. 
 Now it is, whether to-day's storm or yesterday's was the 
 most violent. So far as our own feelings went (and we 
 passed during Friday over the greater part of the region 
 specially exposed to its visitation), we should have said 
 the gale of 22d November was the more severe. But 
 the consensus of opinion is everywhere against us, and
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 117 
 
 the injury done to vegetation is in favour of the superior 
 virulence of Friday's tempest. Unfortunately, it seems 
 difficult to obtain reliable scientific data, and the widely 
 differing figures, from places close together, lead us to 
 acknowledge the very variable and local character of the 
 more specially bitter squalls. Crossing by rail from West 
 to East during the height of the storm from 1 1 to 1 2 
 the clouds seemed to be travelling at the rate of the train, 
 say 40 miles an hour no doubt an estimate far under the 
 speed of the exceptionally energetic bursts. We sought 
 in vain to arrive at some conclusion respecting the direc- 
 tion of these more severe assaults, but the trees had been 
 snapped in twain and overthrown in equal progression 
 from the south round to the west, and the fact that they 
 fell apparently as readily when under the northern shelter 
 of a hill-side as when they faced the south-western gale 
 on a brae face, showed the uncertainty of any ordinary 
 calculation. It cannot for a moment be maintained that 
 the weakest have fallen before an exceptional strain, for 
 we have just returned from an examination in which we 
 found many of the best rooted and best protected from 
 position among the slain, while others, without the same 
 advantages, and close alongside, were quite uninjured. 
 These pointed to sharply-defined narrow bands of concen- 
 trated fury, and these lines were occasionally clearly indi- 
 cated by a row of trees, not brought down the one by the 
 other, but lying quite clear, the top of the one as it lay 
 being some yards from the upturned roots of its fellow in 
 misfortune. Weaker trees on either side in many such 
 cases had escaped unhurt. Again the storm seemed to 
 swirl over the hill top and pounce down upon some 
 particular tree in the centre of a group, either cutting its 
 head sharply off or levelling the whole. Here, for
 
 n8 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 instance, is a well-rooted birch-tree surrounded by 
 occasional exposed evergreens. Yet the latter have been 
 spared, while the leafless, widely rooted, small branched 
 birch has lifted its enormous foot almost as high as its 
 late summit. Individual opinions under such circum- 
 stances can be of little value, and observations over a 
 wide area are necessary to arrive at any conclusions. 
 Fortunately for the West Highlands, the tide was ebbing 
 ere the storm reached its height, or the record of disaster 
 would have far exceeded anything previously recorded. 
 As we are apparently threatened with other severe gales 
 at high spring tides, it behoves us all to be prepared for 
 them, and avoid as much as possible leaving removeable 
 property within their influence. In Loch Creran no one 
 living ever saw such a sea, the loch being one sheet of 
 spindrift, through which the squalls cut lanes in the 
 excess of their fury. But we are not, and have not been, 
 cold. No sooner does the traveller cross the snowy ridge 
 about Killin than he begins to enter a black land, sharply 
 defined from the white region he is leaving. The south- 
 west winds have warmed and blackened all the land up 
 to the hill-tops, save where this wet, warm season has 
 greened all the slopes with grass and sphagnum. As we 
 left the road this evening, and wandered off under the 
 lonely trees and around their fallen fellows, we could 
 scarcely credit our eyesight at the presence of multitudes 
 of delicate green trefoil leaves, strewn all among the 
 dingier but still cheerfully coloured mosses. Even in our 
 northern exposure, too, our friends hand us a beautiful 
 opening flower of rhododendron, and we naturally expect 
 animal life to be as plentiful with us as the vegetable. 
 In place of this, there never was such a scarcity of life at 
 this period of the year ; and except the multitudes of gulls
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 119 
 
 keeping shoreward from the constant succession of storms, 
 there is no novel bird-life about. No doubt they are 
 keeping to their summer haunts in the North, as we learn 
 that even the redwing a constant winter visitor to Ledaig 
 has this year refrained from taking winter lodgings 
 beneath the kindly shadow of the famous rock. 
 
 " A mouse or a rat ? " said he just at our feet, the 
 impudent, fearless creature ! It has run under that stone 
 on the pier-edge, so we step over to examine it carefully, 
 when pop ! out goes the creature, and slips under 
 another, within a foot or two of where we are. There is 
 no fear, no haste, no undue excitement, and yet the 
 sober-hued animal that suggests a mouse or a rat is 
 simply a bird, and no other than our constant attendant 
 the quietest, most reliable, "common object of the 
 seashore." A mudlark you call it in the South, because 
 it always frequents sandy, muddy shores to prey upon 
 the minute insects. A rock-pipit it is properly called, as 
 it not only constantly hops about the rocky seaboard, but 
 it is really difficult to imagine a portion of our rough 
 coast without this active little bird, scarcely observable, 
 it is so like in colour to the ground it affects. In Scotland 
 it is often misnamed the " shore lark," of brilliant plumage, 
 not uncommon on some parts of the East Coast of 
 England, but extremely rare as a rule in this country. 
 The rock pipit (Anthus Aquaticus) is both very common 
 and very familiar, and its gentle little chirp, as it suddenly 
 alights in your immediate neighbourhood, is frequently 
 the only cause of your discovering its proximity. 
 
 An observant correspondent asks us what is the so- 
 called "cheepuc" that occasionally startles the quiet 
 fisherman, as he sits in his boat on the bay, or off the 
 silent shore in the dusk? Can any one suggest any
 
 120 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 other creature, marine or terrestrial, that is likely to make 
 night alarming or interesting, and would answer to the 
 peculiar name of " cheepuc." It is unnecessary to name 
 snipes, beetles, or any of the fish called gurnets, that are 
 well known as being musically inclined. 
 
 We are quite "at sea" this week, revelling in the 
 unexpectedly fine weather, and unable fully to comprehend 
 the extent of our beatitude. We had come naturally to 
 hum the verse 
 
 " The weather is not as it used to wis, 
 
 The nights are terribly damp, 
 And I always his the rheumatiz- 
 Except when I have the cramp." 
 
 But we are still in the middle of the winter in moist 
 Benderloch, although it is almost impossible fully to credit 
 the fact. Now that the weather is calm and dry, the 
 extreme mildness tells more forcibly. It is not enough 
 that primroses are full blown all around our dwelling, 
 that the birds in the stricken woods are singing as merrily 
 as in the opening spring time, but all nature is out of 
 joint and staggering about, like a schoolboy awakened 
 during a moonlight night and told that it is morning. 
 About a month ago we saw what we fancied a bird issue 
 from a shed and skirt the edge of a house, but our 
 companion declared it to be a bat. We had discredited 
 his sight, and forgotten the incident, when two days ago 
 in early dusk we found ourselves the centre for the 
 gyrations of an unmistakable bat, that continued to hunt 
 as steadily as in the summer time. It had evidently been 
 awakened by the mild temperature from an attempt at 
 hybernation, and finding its stomach awakening at the 
 same time, had gone forth to seek its prey. It is now
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 
 
 some time since we mentioned a flight of gnats, and 
 small flies are not uncommon, so perhaps Mr. Leather 
 Wings, as the children call him, may actually find its 
 customary food. Indeed, a friend just informs me he 
 saw another bat " on another shore " in the gloaming, 
 and, what is more to the purpose, saw actually a trout 
 leaping in Loch Nell mill-dam yesterday ! What would 
 a trout leap at except at a fly, and if there are flies for 
 trout why not for our friend the bat ? At any rate, the 
 fact that a trout has been leaping at a fly; and a bat on 
 the hunt for gnats in the gloaming, and duckweed in 
 green splatches all over the ditches, points to a most 
 extraordinary condition of nature in January. Notwith- 
 standing the gloomy damp weather at the end of last 
 week, the clouds seemed to have broken at one point 
 over "The Craig," and upon this hill, so beautiful in 
 sunshine, the sun poured down a subdued wealth of light, 
 that showed it up with all the hues of early summer ; for 
 it is even now well clothed with grass and mosses, and 
 stealthily disports itself in all the borrowed livery of May. 
 On Monday the wind was still blowing smoothly, and a 
 cormorant perches on an uncovered rock in the water, 
 extending its wings as to make a cross, and allowing the 
 wind to blow steadily under its plumage. "It is facing 
 more east, and the wind will go round in that direction* 
 says a voice at our elbow," " for we say that the cormorant 
 will always face the way the wind is going to blow." 
 Very rarely do we note a cormorant in such close proxi- 
 mity, and we half expected the promised gale in conse- 
 quence ; but next day there was the same bird again, in 
 the same position, and facing still more east. Still 
 another day found the bird imitating the orthodox scare- 
 crow figure, and yet more to the east did it face ; and
 
 I22 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 certainly the wind has not been less easterly than before 
 this stray meteorologist made its appearance, no doubt 
 having been sitting at the feet of Mr. Wragge and Ben 
 Nevis during the summer. 
 
 Most sportsmen know how a non-aquatic bird behaves 
 when it is either suddenly forced to take to the water or 
 falls there to the gun. Not only does it make a terrible 
 splashing and sputtering, but appears really alarmed for 
 its safety in this unknown and dreaded element. No 
 class of birds is less aquatic than the gallinaceous birds 
 of the wood and the heath, the rock and the mountain. 
 Yet even these birds seem to accommodate themselves to 
 circumstances in a remarkable way, as the following 
 occurrence will testify : The plantations have not been 
 shot over for black cock for some weeks ; but the other 
 day a wounded bird was encountered that had evidently 
 been subsisting during the intervening period without being 
 able to take flight. When pursued it eventually took to the 
 stream at a deep portion, and not only swam steadily and 
 freely, with its wings close to its side, but actually went 
 under the bank and took refuge in a hole, as a wild 
 duck would do. As the bird was captured in this position 
 there is no doubt about the species, and a very fine 
 specimen of a black cock it was, in beautiful plumage. 
 Unable to escape from ordinary danger by flight, it had 
 acquired the art of swimming, and took naturally to the 
 very arts that specially appertain to water hens or coots. 
 That birds of this class are particularly helpless on the 
 water is abundantly evident from the dislike of our 
 domestic fowls to entering or encountering water; and 
 the case of a hen with ducklings is often referred to as 
 an instance thereof, not even its affection for its apparent 
 offspring inducing it to leave the shore. A still more
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 123 
 
 definite measure of incapacity was met with last autumn, 
 by a shooting party on Loch Creran. They could not 
 imagine what strange objects they were approaching near 
 the middle of the loch,and were more than surprised to 
 find a brace of hen pheasants with their heads down and 
 feet in the air ; exactly in the same condition as the poor 
 little page, who got no quarter, but who was found " with 
 his heels in the air and his head in a water butt." Not 
 a sign of shot or other violence was to be found upon 
 them, and as they were quite warm, it was supposed they 
 had just attempted to fly across the loch, and, having 
 over-estimated their powers, fallen into the water to perish 
 helplessly. For the pheasant is an unwieldy bird, and of 
 no great power of flight. Yet it is scarcely credible that 
 any bird in its ordinary state should be unable to keep 
 itself afloat for a reasonable time, and the seemingly 
 sudden surrender together of two hen pheasants is as 
 remarkable in its way as the intelligent adaptation of the 
 black cock to its altered circumstances. 
 
 A very simple and natural explanation, surely ! The 
 oyster-catchers have continuously been frequenting 
 ploughed land, and we received the very sensible reply 
 to our query, " Why are these birds forsaking the shores 
 and taking to wandering with the rooks and seagulls ?" 
 that the shore had really been so cleared of food by the 
 long-continued and severe gales that no shore bird could 
 readily obtain its usual prey. There must be something 
 in this, and the numbers of limpet-shells we noted on the 
 foreshore to-day seemed to tell of greater loss than the 
 usual wear-and-tear of a shore existence. 
 
 Our boat has been skulking in a corner all these weeks, 
 fearing to follow the fate of its many fellows ; but the 
 tide had been told it would be a big one, and evidently
 
 124 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 thought so to, and took a good race down for the upward 
 leap. Such a display of seabottom had not been vouch- 
 safed us for long, so we were not slow in mustering for a 
 scamper on the loch. The sail has said goodbye to the 
 yard in the gale, and the mast is looking for wreckage 
 since November, so we must fain trust to our oars for a 
 run down to Aird's Point. Unaccustomed hands settle 
 down to oars with satisfaction, and after a preliminary 
 canter, to see if a small flock of widgeon would await 
 closer inspection, we turn seawards. The morning is 
 beautiful, but just as we get well clear of the point and 
 out into the open water, a sharp sniff comes from the 
 south-west, and we look at one another questioningly. 
 The American gale predicted to-day, and the "chart" 
 threatening all sorts of evil, are we wise to proceed ? 
 Trusting in the fine tide as a sure indication of good 
 weather outside in the Atlantic, despite the white horses 
 now rapidly rising, we venture on. The loch is found to 
 be full of widgeon all as wild as possible, and even 
 mallards are not scarce, although they frequent more the 
 head of the loch. Down we go easily, for we are follow- 
 ing the tide, and soon arrive among the struggling waters, 
 and turn to cross towards the islets in the midst of the 
 turmoil of the current The tide turns sooner here, and 
 we suppose it is near slack tide, but are soon undeceived, 
 and have a desperate struggle ere we slip behind the 
 banks of half-submerged tangle and reach a rocky haven. 
 It is months since we could have landed here, and long 
 since we have done so, and we can scarcely credit our 
 eyes at the lavish prodigality of growth everywhere mani- 
 fest. Our lady comrade is wild with delight at the 
 brilliant-hued multitudes of Trochus Zizyphinus that 
 crimson-tinted spiral shell so finely shaped crawling
 
 JANUARY, 1882. 12$ 
 
 everywhere upon the rocks. The tangle seems never to 
 have ceased growing, and is a perfect forest of great 
 stems and magnificent fronds, and were it not that we 
 are seeking other treasures we could well spend the few 
 half-hours that the ocean can afford us on this rock in 
 studying the various capers of this vegetable growth. 
 Here is one fine stem that has actually coiled round upon 
 itself, and formed a granny knot, afterwards spiralling off 
 towards the frond in a remarkable manner, considering 
 the usually straightforward growth of this great seaweed 
 Fucus palmatus. Again, as we proceed, remarking upon 
 the quite exceptional character of such conduct the like 
 of which we have never before met, we come upon a 
 beautifully spiralled stem of Saccharinus, like a great 
 corkscrew. Only in such an ocean corner could similar 
 growths be found, for here the currents meet and fight, 
 and whirlpools swirl perpetually, and no doubt these 
 stems have received their youthful bias in some such 
 turmoil. We scramble over the rocks, and hunt the pools 
 deep with sand from broken shells, with quite childish 
 delight, so long have we been cornered and cabined 
 by the gales, but nothing except the hardiest growths 
 reward our exertions. Here and there a brilliant sun- 
 star is found by the edge of the water, strangely beautiful, 
 and with none ot the repugnant appearance of the equally 
 interesting and wonderful five fingers. Little five fingers 
 are all about, and as they appear curled up on some 
 object, the gazer cannot fail to corroborate the naturalist 
 who finds the sea-urchin is but a star-fish with its toes 
 together. The common doris is as numerous here as are 
 the big buckies, and both are spawning as vigorously as 
 in the heat of summer. The strangely and beautifully 
 spiralled spawn of the nudibranchs is, indeed, in masses
 
 i26 LOCH CRERAti. 
 
 all about the shore, and all had an inkling of the desti- 
 nation of a large proportion of it in an individual of the 
 dog-whelk tribe, that in one case had set itself calmly 
 down to devour the freshly-deposited offspring of the 
 higher class mollusc. 
 
 One unmistakable result of the mild season was the 
 fact that the hermit crabs, whether in barnacle-covered 
 houses of the whelks, or brilliant-zoned Zizyphinus, or 
 rough old dwellings of the buckies, were always in pairs ! 
 Fancy two hermit crabs making love to one another ! 
 They put one more in mind of Diogenes in his tub, 
 or two scolds abusing one another from contiguous 
 cottage doors. We are carefully picking the animals 
 from the interior of some specimen of Zizyphinus, when 
 a poor boiled hermit crab answers the summons of an 
 inserted pin. Ay ! and here is the result of the Gulf 
 stream bringing tropical manners into the sedate winter 
 seas of the North, for you are as well supplied with roe 
 comparatively as the finest berry lobsters ! Sticking here 
 and there about the rocks on the very verge of the lowest 
 tide, are a lot of fine rock oysters, not too close to interfere 
 with one another's dinners, and so all fat, and fresh, and 
 flourishing. The late Frank Buckland started the 
 question as to what side it was natural for the oyster to 
 lie upon whether the concave or flat side should be 
 downmost. No doubt these oysters you find lying free 
 in mud or sand are usually with the flat side downmost, 
 because that is the natural side on to which they would 
 be rolled. But those oysters found sticking to rocks on 
 to which they have attached themselves in their transition 
 state, have invariably the concave side downmost. This 
 is only as one would predicate, because the oyster of our 
 shores, being an inhabitant of the foreshore, and, conse-
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 127 
 
 quently, obliged to be occasionally out of water at spring 
 tides, can keep a supply of water in the concave shell, 
 but with the flat side downward scarcely any moisture can 
 be retained. We do not recollect ever having seen an 
 oyster attached to a stone or rock by the flat side. 
 
 No sooner do we get clear of Eriska Sound with the 
 entering tide than the cry of " the Yankees are upon us " 
 rises to every lip, but after a desperate pull to the shelter 
 of the " old wife's rock," the fitful blast has shifted and 
 permits us to dodge home, with a prospect of dreaming 
 of endless tangle stems, and tangle fronds covered with 
 pellucidce, and surrounded by crimson barred trochi ; 
 while dog-whelks and great sea anemones and multiform 
 and many coloured zoophytes, gleam through the waters 
 around. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 
 
 We have had a charming day ending in a beautiful 
 moonlight night, and the whole of Benderloch has looked 
 its best under the double smile of sun and moon. To- 
 morrow is full moon, and we are hopefully looking 
 forward to decent weather, although a most unwelcome 
 radiance surrounds the moon to-night, as if it had the 
 will but not the way to form a warning halo ; and the 
 peculiar snakes in the sky as the sun went to its rest 
 seemed also to presage wind. In the meantime we have 
 enjoyed a thorough summer day, as we wandered through 
 the low-lying land " between the lochs ;" and not only 
 were the gnats busy at mid-day about the roadsides, but 
 the bees themselves were afoot, and there was no reason 
 whatever to prevent them finding some little honey in
 
 128 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 the unseasonable flowers. Everything seemed out of 
 place and time, so we stopped in our path across the still 
 growing sward, and watched the movements of a young 
 horse, half-hoping half-fearing to see it strangle itself on 
 the wire of the fence. Will it put its foot through the 
 lower wires and complete its entanglement, will a stray 
 dog scare it and disorganise its movements, or does it at 
 all appreciate its danger? With its head between the 
 highest and second wire it cooly scratches itself, first on 
 the one wire, then on the other, regardless of our presence, 
 and with unhurried assurance. When satisfied, the head 
 is straightened and withdrawn with ease and celerity, 
 when he at once turns and proceeds to the application 
 of an a posteriori argument against the utility of wooden 
 stobs and ordinary iron wire ! If a young horse had a 
 very little more intelligence it would never become an 
 old drudge ; and the result of severe labour on horse as 
 upon man is to divert power from the brain into the 
 muscles, and stimulate the little intellect that is left more 
 to avoid imposed labour than to perform it skilfully. 
 
 " I'm so glad you left the stone circles," said the 
 enthusiastic archaeologist, to the improving farmer on 
 whose land we are now, regardless of the fact that the 
 trouble of removing so many great stones was the only 
 safeguard they possessed. We pass close by them, now 
 little raised above the moss, and seek the summit of the 
 serpentine mound near at hand, from whence we look 
 towards Loch Creran on the one hand and Ardmucknish 
 Bay on the other. A serpent mound, most unmistakably 
 some would say, for it winds along from the moss near 
 the foot ot the hills, and with a few simple gaps continues 
 along under our feet, and around behind the old castle 
 until its diminishing and still more twisted tail ends in
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 129 
 
 the moss towards the shores of Loch Linnhe. But one 
 portion of the mound is solid rock, and a great portion 
 water-worn gravel, and another portion of still larger 
 water-worn stones ; and to suppose the moveable portion, 
 however symmetrical, to be artificial, is to imagine our 
 ancestors to be more numerous than the ignorance and 
 folly required to erect such a supposed artificial mound 
 could have possibly enabled them to be. No one can 
 stand where we now do, and look from sea loch to sea 
 shore, without concluding that the great moss between 
 did not always interrupt the waves of the one from 
 washing into the other, the level even now being but 
 little above the sea. Between us and Ledaig two clear 
 beaches cross the country, that evidently mark the retro- 
 gression of the waters through the elevation of the land ; 
 and the broken snake on which we now stand is most 
 likely a still prior beach, on which the billows tossed 
 pebbles of all sizes, here and there breaking through the 
 softer portions, and rolling through that dip into Loch 
 Creran. For our friend has pushed a fishing rod 18 feet 
 down through the peat moss of that narrow depression 
 between firmer ground, by which the waters no doubt 
 rolled into Creran through the break alongside, ere they 
 retired to form the next beach about a mile distant, 
 leaving an uncommonly good snake to crawl across 
 several miles of Benderloch. There is almost sufficient 
 evidence of design and workmanship in its regularity to 
 bolster up a theory of a Roman fortification, if such were 
 not absurd. 
 
 As we approach the stream, swollen by last night's 
 rain, we find the stepping-stones unapproachable, and yet 
 an hour's labour with a spade would divert it into its old 
 course, at present silted up with sand from landward and
 
 1 30 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 seaward. This is to be done " to-morro v .v ; " and to- 
 morrow, if it comes seldom in the Lowlands, never 
 arrives in the Highlands. Cockles were lying all about, 
 for the disturbed sea has dislodged them from the 
 sand, and they too, will be preparing for maternal 
 arrangements at unseasonable and unreasonable times, 
 no doubt deluded by this troublesome weather. For we 
 cannot suppose that it is really normal to find even 
 mollusca spawning at all seasons of the year ; but we 
 must place them on the same footing as unusual flowers. 
 A huge horse mussel (Modiola) that we brought from 
 Loch Linnhe last week proved to have i ^oz. of meat in 
 it, and of this weight about half was spawn in a condition 
 almost ready for throwing ; while oysters are already 
 as forward as they should be in May. We are 
 proud of our potatoes in Benderloch, and usually they 
 do well for us, but this year no smacks seek our coast 
 with open holds, and the mild weather is sending the 
 pitted roots into a dangerous state of restless activity, 
 that will force our farmers to sell them in the shape of 
 beef and dairy produce. " It never rains but it pours," 
 and what with acres of our finest seaward land covered 
 with gravel by the storm, and heaped with sand still 
 further inland, even the farmers as they progress with 
 their spring work, and look with satisfaction at the pick- 
 ing even now on the hills, consider we have no more 
 reason to murmur on sea than they have on shore. How 
 can a wind damage a stretch of agricultural land ? we 
 asked ourselves, and here is the answer in covered acres ; 
 while our friend tells us dolefully of a year in which the 
 wind blew seaward with such fury that, on the light sandy 
 soil of Ledaig, all the seed was blown from the fields into 
 the sea, and might be seen floating for days on the top
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 131 
 
 of the water. The sea water is no doubt injurious to 
 agricultural land, but, on the other hand, the evidence 
 is in favour of its action on pasture. On lands close to 
 the sea that are covered every spring tide, the produce 
 of butter is improved, and we learn of a dairy-woman who 
 always noticed a marked improvement in the first churn- 
 ing after every spring tide ! This could not arise from 
 its action on the grass, so much as upon the cattle them- 
 selves, the salt no doubt acting as a stimulant to their 
 secretions, as cows are always fond of, and advantaged 
 by, a proportion of salt. 
 
 We were wandering yesterday along the edge of the 
 stream where it cuts its path through the blue clay, and 
 where the sea was soon to rise several feet deep. Here 
 and there the shells of Myarenaria were sticking tenant- 
 less out of the clay that had been cut away from about 
 them, and the smaller but still large My a truncata, that 
 other siphon shell fish, were scattered all about, either 
 emptied by the long bills of the curlews, or the owners 
 having given up the struggle in disgust. Suddenly the 
 bed of the stream was obscured for many yards by a 
 moving curtain of a hazy character, and we stopped to 
 examine the phenomenon more closely. Why, the 
 My sis were casting their young in August and September, 
 and yet here are absolute myriads of them about a quarter 
 of an inch in length, thronging every corner of the stream, 
 and filling all the pools in the clay foreshore. What is 
 the meaning of this ; and is it a quite exceptional infliction 
 upon our waters ? We know that this small class of 
 crustacean forms a most important portion of the diet of 
 the very largest marine animals, and it is more than 
 presumed that the herring also obtains a large proportion 
 of its food from among the same class : is there any con-
 
 132 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 nection between the two ? There are two herring invasions 
 into our western lochs, one in the autumn and another 
 in the spring, and on both occasions they come prepared 
 to breed ; but also many come with no such parental 
 object in view. Do they time their visits to suit the 
 spawning periods of these small Crustacea and other such ? 
 At the same time it must be noted that we never 
 observed such a quantity of young of this creature at this 
 season of the year on any former occasion, and it may be 
 quite exceptional. For we have observed many classes 
 of Crustacea spawning this winter ; not only the ordinary 
 green crabs, C. mtenas, but among the hermits scarcely a 
 Bernhardus turns up without a plentiful crop of 
 " berries." 
 
 A fresh bag on the dredge, we push out into the loch 
 and try for scallops on the best scallop ground we know 
 of. For have we not a lady on board who has the sense 
 to appreciate these delicate bivalves, and who looks to 
 be rewarded for wet feet and a seat in the cold wind by a 
 delicious repast ! The wind blows us sharply off the 
 shore and across the swiftly running currents, so the 
 dredge is hard to keep in proper trim, and do we not 
 wickedly take advantage of the said wind to allow our 
 boat to drift into deeper water than that in which the 
 Pecten opercularis is mostly found ! The tow-rope is out 
 to the last inch, and we are punished by vainly dragging 
 the dredge through soft mud and bringing it aboard 
 through all the extra fathoms without the smallest result. 
 But the wind again favours the naturalist more than the 
 " gourmet " or the pot-hunter, and we once and again 
 drag up evidences that the iron has been deeper than the 
 primary object of the expedition warranted. 
 
 At last the dredge comes up heavily weighted, and
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 133 
 
 evidently straining the linen bag to the utmost, so we 
 confidently anticipate we have gone deep among the blue 
 clay, and expect to see a bucket of this very aggravating 
 material that escapes but slowly through the close bag 
 come up to demand careful manipulation in the sieve. 
 But, no ! We have actually reached the ladies' treasure- 
 house, and a good supply of Pecten opercularis, as 
 beautiful as they are delightful, have arrived on board. 
 Now that we have struck the ground, we cannot possibly 
 escape our responsibilities, and soon the bucket is well 
 supplied with the chattering, restless beauties, and the 
 mass of life is too great for us to examine between times. 
 But one thing is apparent to the meanest observer, and 
 that is the gregarious character of many of the creatures 
 brought on board. The P. opercularis came up in a body 
 when we hit the proper ground, and the turritella shells 
 in many hundreds when we hit their proper muddy 
 habitat, while scarcely a single ascidian is met on their 
 ground. We move a little further out of the course of 
 the current, and lo ! the social tunicates appear in great 
 bunches, not one being obtainable from the ground in 
 the vicinity. Each class seems to monopolise to a great 
 extent the ground it affects. We have clearly not been 
 much among the tangle, for only one specimen of P. 
 varius shows itself, and this partially prickly and more 
 elongated species sticks mostly to the rich fronds of the 
 larger seaware by means of a byssus like a mussel, and 
 thence spreads its delicate double fringe of cilise into the 
 surrounding water. Whew ! as we dive into the last 
 bagful, is there not a fine specimen of P. maximus, all 
 alive O ; the second only we have rescued from oblivion in 
 the mud, although the empty shells in numbers are found 
 on shore. Deeply cupped on one side and flat on the
 
 134 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 upper, this large species is clearly accustomed travelling 
 for they are very active on the convex side, for the 
 flat side in this instance is heavily freighted with the 
 domiciles of serpulae and barnacles while the other is 
 rubbed clean. Another proof of the steady use of the 
 lower shell for standing the brunt of locomotion is its 
 superior strength, not only of form but of construction, 
 while the flat shell is almost invariably of more or less 
 bright colouring, the other being dull and colourless. 
 This would naturally be the result of continuously facing 
 the light in the one case, and being debarred from it in 
 the other, as we see in the back and belly of a flat fish. 
 Plenty of growing Opercularis, from half an inch to an 
 inch and a-half, are there, and the shrewd provider, with 
 much foresight, is tossing them into the briny sea for 
 future attentions. We are just in the nick of time for 
 not all small pectens are necessarily young ones and we 
 rescue two fine specimens of a small species(/ > . tigrinus], 
 beautifully marked, and one of them quite an inch in 
 length and the same in breadth a large specimen of 
 this gracefully-shaped pecten or scallop. These, too, are 
 darker and more richly coloured on the one side, and a 
 few delicate and minute whirls of serpula? (Spirorbis) are 
 attached to the side least subjected to friction. 
 
 The lamp is lit and the tub lifted on to the table while 
 we examine carefully the various heaps of trash, lest 
 something of interest may have been omitted in our rude 
 prior examination. Only a little fellow, but a welcome 
 one, for you are the second we have met in Loch Creran 
 of the " web footed " starfishes (Pahnipes) ; so you are 
 carefully transferred to a roomy aquarium. Again the 
 search is rewarded by the discovery of a sea-mouse of 
 moderate dimensions, and with its irridescent "hairs"
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 135 
 
 very dull indeed. It must have got sadly squashed in 
 the passage of the heavy bag through the water, with its 
 load of pectens on the top of it. This is a visitor from 
 the mud ; and so is the next on the list, a live specimen 
 of pes-pelicani or pelican's foot shell, and it is also 
 transferred to the receptacle for the temporary wanderings 
 of creatures whose future lot has been undecided. 
 Alas ! for the careless act. When we went to seek our 
 small palmipes it had disappeared, and not a single 
 possible adversary, but the pelican's foot was within the 
 bounds of habitation. The myriads of turritelli and 
 other uninteresting specimens have been run over, and 
 we have lifted the last handful of muddy sediment to run 
 it through the finer seive, when in doing so we find a 
 lump that has somehow escaped us, amid the mud in 
 our hand. A novel species of sea-anemone most 
 certainly, we exclaim, and once it is washed clean and 
 transferred to a transparent glass our surmise is to us a 
 surety. This also is the first specimen of the interesting 
 Adamsia that we have met with here, and we watch its 
 reawakening life with much satisfaction. " Send for me 
 when it has shown its character," says our friend ; and 
 seeing we have been so long over this bucketful, we will 
 set it aside, and indulge in a supper of P. opercularis, 
 which we are thankful you are not here to rob us of, 
 as the smell would overcome your severest prejudices, 
 and the beauty of the dishful undermine your most 
 unselfish instincts. 
 
 Stories of nests coming from all sides, we were 
 wondering whether those birds that nest earliest in 
 ordinary seasons would also be deluded into starting 
 operations, like the redbreast and the sparrows. So, 
 finding ourselves in the vicinity of the heronry we
 
 136 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 wandered through the sphagnum, that is gradually re- 
 asserting its sway over the fields these moist years, until 
 we arrived under the fir trees, where the long-limbed 
 birds do annually congregate for nesting purposes. The 
 heron is one of the first birds to commence building, but 
 not a sign of herons or nests was to be seen, and even 
 those of last year had, without exception, been blown to 
 the last twig out of the trees. It was quite clear they 
 had no intention as yet of setting to work ; and the gales 
 that have once more returned, to whistle all the day and 
 shriek all night through the woods, are not such as to 
 induce these unwieldy birds to fly about with over-balanc- 
 ing sticks among the tree tops. At anyrate, both herons 
 and rooks, regardless of blooming primroses and wonder- 
 fully green hillsides and fields, await with dignified 
 patience the proper time, so that they must have an 
 almanac to go by, of which we poor mortals have not 
 been able to discover the secret. 
 
 The huge tree is leaning across the road, and its roots 
 will carry a stretch of paling along with them should they 
 turn up to the heavy gale, so the saw is hard at work 
 through the tough roots of the beech where they have 
 buttressed up the stem. Ominous cracks come suddenly : 
 and as the blast strikes with a warning howl and a ' sough,' 
 the mass is toppled over, and falls with a crash that gives 
 a schoolboy-surge of delight to the most callous onlooker. 
 Enormous branches, like young monarchs themselves, 
 stretch onward in a circle eight or ten feet from the 
 ground, and two of them are bound indissolubly together. 
 A good foot through is the joining, and it is hard as 
 heart of oak ; for the beech is a hard tree of itself, and 
 this portion is particularly so. We stand and watch the 
 axe playing upon the joining, curious to observe how the
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 137 
 
 junction is effected, for it is a type of many similar 
 vagaries in the forest. Well ! the smaller branch, some 
 four to six inches in diameter, has simply grown straight 
 through the larger one, and still retains its bark, although 
 deeply embedded in the hard wood. Yet, outside, the 
 barks overlap, and there it was really impossible to say 
 exactly how the junction had come about. On this great 
 tree there is scarcely a straight stick, although it may 
 represent twenty carts of wood, for every few inches 
 along the branches there are knots like the fist, apparently 
 caused by insects distorting the growth. These micros- 
 copic mites exercise a great influence upon forest trees. 
 
 We lay down our axe and step under the shelter, for 
 the blast is bitter and hail-laden. A group of High- 
 land cattle are standing in the field, where the storm 
 lately cast some great branches from that stately oak tree. 
 They have not left a single twig of it, and are now busily 
 engaged chewing the branches assiduously. We should 
 have supposed that oak bark thus partaken of would 
 have had a very injurious effect on the interior arrange- 
 ments of the cows; but perhaps they feel the lack of 
 fodder at this season of the year, and find a dose of 
 astringent bark act successfully in reducing the undue 
 summer capacity of their stomachs ! 
 
 Just like children ! we mutter, as, looking out of our 
 little window, we note the sheep on the foreshore. The 
 tide is coming in, and the stream, so lately a comparative 
 driblet, is now several feet deep with the brackish water. 
 Sheep, " of course," don't think, and only act from instinct 
 and "follow my leader." Down the gravel bank comes 
 the foremost sheep, walks steadily into the water, and 
 swims across to the grass on the other side, followed by 
 all the rest, except one ! This fellow comes quietly
 
 138 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 down the bank, walks just over its feet in the water, looks 
 at the grass at the other side, peeps through the water 
 before it, casts a half glance backwards at the grassless 
 gravel as if ashamed of itself, takes another step forward, 
 and tries to look as if it merely went in to cool itself. 
 " I'm not the least afraid, and I can swim as well as you," 
 it says to those already over; then quietly turns and 
 walks sedately ashore ! Now, why did it not follow its 
 neighbours ? It evidently decided that " the game was 
 not worth the candle," and said, " I'm not such a sheep 
 as I look," as plainly as possible. We have been lately 
 amused with the habits of our ducks compared with the 
 fowls. It is the custom with us to give them a feed in 
 the morning ere they start on their peregrinations, but 
 the ducks will rather want their matutinal meal than take 
 it before they have a swim, while the hens will rush at it 
 with energy. No matter although the food is at their 
 feet the ducks have a plunge inthe sea and a good swim, 
 and return " hot foot " to what may be left. 
 
 Yes ! the disappearance of our webbed starfish was a 
 mystery ; and next morning the soap would not lather, 
 and we thought our hands must be salt from dabbling in 
 the salt water. But neither glycerine nor brown Windsor 
 would do, and the more we rubbed the less chance there 
 seemed of ultimate success. So we hurriedly tried the 
 soap direct upon our persons, but the water would not 
 take it off, and it gradually dawned upon our awakening 
 senses that there was a reason more potent than badly 
 made soap. Our damsel had transferred a ewer of sea- 
 water from our stock aquarium to our bed-room ; and 
 although she looked as innocent as a sucking dove, we 
 have a strong suspicion that the enemy that so struck at
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 139 
 
 our domestic arrangements had no especial affection for 
 starfish, webbed or otherwise. 
 
 We had a share of the gale of Saturday last, and by 
 Sunday it had gone round to the N.W., with the result 
 that unexpectedly the lowest spring tide we have known 
 for years was experienced. Stretches of sea-bottom were 
 exposed to the vulgar gaze that had not seen the sky, 
 except through water, for an indefinite period. The 
 consequence of such a low tide, along with the severe 
 gale, was soon to be seen in masses of seaware along the 
 beaches, and among some of it we were surprised to 
 note quite heaps of skate eggs, looking so fresh that we 
 supposed them newly thrown on the neighbouring cairn. 
 On investigation, however, they were all empty, either 
 through the exit of the mature fish, or, as in some 
 instances, through having been devoured by some small 
 borer. As we strolled along it was remarkable to observe 
 how clean the beach was, the gale having thrown loose 
 all freely-growing seaware ; and we could well appreciate 
 the joke of our shrewd friend, who insisted that his 
 companion was so lazy he had not cut the seaware on 
 the foreshore allotted to him for so long, that when he 
 went to it, hook in hand, there was none to cut, the gales 
 having swept it all off and thrown it up on his neighbour's 
 beach. Suddenly, we came upon a long-necked shell- 
 fish, with its protruding black siphon tube, and imme- 
 diately thereafter we foundthese in heaps that would have 
 made barrow loads. Now this is an admirable shell-fish 
 to eat (Mya trnncata), and vast quantities of delicious 
 food was here being lost, but no one could help it. 
 They must have become so numerous on the sand that 
 this lost its coherence, and the dash of the waves at the 
 lowest of ebb had flung them all in helpless masses out
 
 140 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 of their holes. A similar result has followed the great 
 increase of the razor fish (Solen), which were thrown 
 ashore one year in Ardmucknish Bay in great quantities. 
 So that in the case both of the seaweed and the shellfish 
 the onslaught of humanity, when not excessive, is a pro- 
 tection to the species. 
 
 Ha ! you rascal ! That is the way you manage is it. 
 Here is a large star-fish with its arms around a shell-fish 
 (tapes), or rather the shell-fish fixed at the angle of two 
 of its rays, and despite the dash of the waves it is busily 
 occupied, having already sucked a great part of the fish 
 out of the shell. 
 
 If it is Sunday, said everybody, what does it matter ? 
 to-morrow is the second day after the moon, and the 
 tide ought to be better still. But Monday came, and 
 the wind was again stiff from the south-west, and the 
 waters elected not to face it, but to remain quietly in the 
 loch ! The tide is passed, and we have missed it, now 
 said our little world, dolorously ; but we will make the 
 most of what little there is, and enjoy a day at the 
 " shore " on Loch Linnhe. The boat is supplied, and 
 we turn seawards, while all the morning anxious eyes 
 have watched "the carry," if perchance there might 
 come north in the wind. North it is distinctly, and when 
 we reach the islets off Aird's Bay it is clear that the 
 waters have made a bolt of it out to the Atlantic, for 
 such a tide we have rarely seen. All the littoral ocean 
 world is caught napping, as foot after foot is exposed, 
 and we revel in the wonderful profusion of life displayed 
 amid these current-haunted rocks. Life creates life ; 
 evidently here it is a "London town" with the higher 
 life grazing on the lower, and a score of currents bring- 
 ing nourishment from many a varied foreshore and sea-
 
 FEBRUARY, 1882. 141 
 
 bottom. The great horse mussels are as thick as they 
 can lie in the shade of the great tangle fronds. These 
 are 6ft. long in the great stem, with an equal length of 
 frond, and this does not at all represent their absolute 
 stretch, for other tangles grip with their roots the upper 
 portion of the stem, and add greatly to the length, this 
 occurring in some instances several times, so that the 
 end of the last frond must have been quite 2 oft. from 
 the original attachment. This original stem had 
 correspondingly strengthened to hold it, and was some- 
 times quite 3in. in diameter. Our hands are scored 
 among the barnacles, and we can scarce keep our feet 
 among the slippery tangles ; but down, down goes the 
 tide, and the islet we have lately landed on by boat is 
 now to be reached from its larger neighbour. With 
 some care though, and as we cross and recross with our 
 feminine burden, just to let her eyes behold the wonders 
 under " that rock," we stagger like a giant in drink. But 
 what a sight ! The wonderful colonies, rich in orange 
 or yellow, or delicately white, known as dead men's 
 fingers, are no longer fingers, but are hanging from the 
 roof of the little ocean cave in masses like the closed 
 hand and wrist. Yellow, and purple, and orange, and 
 violet, sponges almost cover the rock of the most varied 
 texture are they too, and all exceedingly beautiful ; star- 
 fish, from the huge bloated fellows 1 3 inches and upwards 
 in diameter, to the delicate, fragile, brittle stars, are crush- 
 ing themselves into the crevices ; while the suns, in 
 many-hued beauty, are lying at the bottom of the pools 
 scoffing at the great original that threatens so soon to 
 burn us up. But what are those moving their beautiful 
 limbs; all about are little creatures, rosy tinted, gripping 
 on to the rock above them with their tentacled centres,
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 and awaiting the return of the water that never before so 
 left them in the lurch? " Encrinites," we exclaim, as 
 for the first time in our experience we come upon quite 
 a haunt of the beautiful Comatula rosacea, the only 
 British species of crinoid. How beautiful they look thus 
 at home, although restless under their waterless condition ; 
 quite a score of them among the rock oysters, the lovely- 
 tinted Zisyphinus shells, and the other wonders that 
 embellished the little cave; while close alongside, 
 attached to the tangle stems, grew masses of purple dulce, 
 richly toned and glancing in the light. 
 
 We suddenly make a plunge at an object that especially 
 interests us, wedged in at the bottom of a pool. This is 
 a scallop or pecten of a particular species. Should we 
 meet with certain species we know, the chances are they 
 are from a considerable depth, while another is generally 
 attached by its mussel-like byssus to the tangle fronds at 
 low water of springs ; and another small species is a free 
 swimmer from whatever depth our dredge can reach. 
 But we did not know exactly whence to say Pecten pusio 
 came. Unlike all the other pectens, it attaches itself 
 like an oyster to the rock or some other hard attachment, 
 and grows its commonly rough, twisted, and contorted 
 shell, while remaining firmly fixed in some secure corner 
 where it is not easily got at. We no sooner find one 
 than others are forthcoming, and we discover that it is 
 not uncommon even so far up towards the foreshore as is 
 reachable this day. The wide range of action of the 
 Pecten family is thus remarkable, from the active, beauti- 
 fully-shaped deep-water P. Maxitnus and opcrcularis to 
 the lightly attached P. Varius and the securely anchored 
 P. Pusio the most degenerate in appearance and 
 character of all the tribe.
 
 MARCH, 1882. 
 
 The rush of a wave startles us in the midst of our 
 cogitations, and it is clear we must leave the haunts of 
 the sea nymphs for an indefinite period. "Stop the 
 boat a moment." Our boat hook is swept out, and in 
 comes a sun indeed quite 6^ inches in diameter, as 
 large as a dinner plate, and tinted with all the glories of 
 the sunset. Murmurs of admiration break from all. 
 " Back the boat," we call, as we seek to stay it in the 
 current, "and examine the fragments of the feast Mr. Sun 
 was engaged upon." "Flowers of the sea, or delicate 
 sea-weeds !" you exclaim. Well, the cannibal was 
 actually devouring its own kind. No wonder it was a 
 sun, for it was building itself up on the rays of a star-fish, 
 large as our finger each of them ! 
 
 MARCH, 1882. 
 
 We were coming up the Sound of Eriska, and were 
 then a good mile from the Appin shore, when one of our 
 crew observed that there was a weasel on the shore. We 
 smiled at the idea, for to see a brown weasel on a dusky 
 foreshore at a mile distant was a feat we believed no eyes 
 in the boat could accomplish, and even our own are 
 fairly telescopic. However, there was really no mystery 
 whatever, and the most ordinary vision could discern 
 the Stoat in its winter robe of white, in a state of intense 
 activity among the seaweed at low water. What it was 
 about remained unknown, but it continued for a length of 
 time to chase something all about the seaware, and may 
 have been hunting some of the smaller fry, such as mice. 
 We do not suppose the tribe eat crabs, at least we never 
 heard of it, and the greater probability is that the
 
 144 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 exceptional tide may have induced the smaller mammalia 
 to emulate the larger, and have a constitutional feed 
 among the marine herbage. How conspicuous the 
 creature was even at that great distance, and how its 
 natural protection in an ordinary winter betrayed it when 
 thus exposed to our mild season. 
 
 The rooks, it seems, have really been betrayed into 
 commencing operations a fortnight ago in our neighbour- 
 hood, and quite little heaps of sticks are growing on the 
 trees. The last three days' gale stopped their labours, 
 but this morning they are again busy; so the great 
 bunches of primroses, the yellow daffodils, the bushes of 
 flowering currants gay with strong-scented flowers, with 
 the apple-blossom showing in some corners, and all the 
 gooseberry bushes getting green, have started these wise 
 birds, despite their ordinary almanac. We wonder if that 
 sparrow's nest on the side of the public road, evidently 
 already filling, had anything to do with it ? The rooks 
 are so much earlier than all small birds that they must 
 first have grown bewildered, then ashamed of their 
 delay, and finally aggravated at the impertinent sparrow's 
 progress, and rushed, regardless of consequences, into 
 the matrimonial market and the building trade. 
 
 Well ! a tortoise is nothing to you. We have had you 
 for a week at least, and you have not succeeded in walk- 
 ing round the tumbler. Pycnogonum liltorale they call 
 you, too, and of all living creatures with which the 
 ordinary world is best acquainted you resemble the active, 
 industrious, self-reliant, and determined spider. It is, 
 however, only in a very superficial way that you bear any 
 likeness to an insect, for you are really a crustacean of 
 sedentary habit parasitic upon cetacea, say the best 
 authorities. Now, where the cetacean came from or
 
 MARCH, 1882. 145 
 
 went to, that you were originally, or intended to be 
 ultimately, attached to, it would be difficult to say, 
 although it is certain you are intended by Nature, and 
 your parents, to obtain your living without too great an 
 effort. The little pig-like snout and the half-dozen limbs 
 will scarcely take the trouble to turn or move, and if you 
 draw all the limbs out one by one you can finish the 
 operation before the one with which you commenced 
 has drawn itself half-way back again. And yet most 
 ordinary Crustacea are especially active in your condition, 
 for you have a great deal to look after, a little bag with 
 many hundred eggs covering the whole under surface of 
 your body. At the end of every limb is a long sharp 
 claw, and the main purpose of its existence is clearly to 
 get a hold of a fat sinecure and hold on to it tenaciously. 
 We should suppose that seals are the most likely bodies 
 in which these parasites exist, and the only two we have 
 seen here seem to have been brought on oyster shells 
 from Linnhe Loch. But what chances and possibilities 
 of existence must surround such a creature ? By what 
 likelihood is it ever to meet a seal, seeing it is incapable 
 of hunting for them ; and the seal met, and found desir- 
 able, how about the likelihood of getting a hold of a 
 quiet, retired croft at the junction of some of the flippers 
 with the body, where it would do as little as it could 
 except at meal-times, and be quite safe from the evicting 
 habits of the Laird ? Then such snug corners must be 
 scarce even on the larger cetacea ; and what would be- 
 come of them if all these eggs of this little crustacean 
 were to mature would be a serious question. Indeed, 
 the question between the parasite and the animal it seats 
 itself upon is altogether a most interesting one, and no 
 doubt the lethargic habit of the body of most parasites
 
 i 4 6 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 enables them to do a great deal in the way of patient 
 waiting for "something to turn up," seeing they are un- 
 able to do much in the more natural way of hunting 
 suitable pastures. We have been told of the amazing 
 quantities of fleas that suddenly appear in desert places 
 on the advent of humanity or any warm-blooded animals ; 
 and, therefore, these more active parasites must have a 
 similar power of waiting for a godsend. 
 
 There have frequently appeared accounts of the dex- 
 terity of observing travellers, in determining the points 
 of the compass from the growth of mosses and lichens on 
 the stems of trees. The principal involved in their 
 calculation is a sufficiently simple one, and appeals at 
 once to the reason as a most natural reading of a very 
 likely fact. The prevailing wind of a cold country is, 
 say, from the north, and in consequence the side exposed 
 to such severe blasts must be quite denuded of the 
 surplus coating that so freely gathers on the bark of trees 
 in sheltered nooks and crannies. On the other hand, 
 one would naturally suppose that in a district where the 
 prevalent wind is from the south-west, the side exposed 
 to these genial moisture-bearing winds would be certainly 
 well supplied with the damper mosses, fostered by the 
 warmth and the moisture. Keeping these views before 
 us, we have been examining for some time back the 
 woods here, deep and sheltered, and the copse there, 
 narrow and exposed, the rough-barked trees with plenty 
 of hold and freedom of lodgment for the spores, and the 
 smooth-barked with hardened surface, and facing without 
 protection the fiercest winds that blow; but not a single 
 fraction of difference can we perceive in any one of them 
 in any direction, north, south, east, or west, except for 
 some merely individual reason, to be quite ignored by
 
 MARCH, 1882. 147 
 
 the one close alongside. We were somewhat surprised 
 at this result of our observations, as we fancied the long 
 continued gales from the south-west would have had a 
 distinct effect in this locality, both in the bent of the 
 trees themselves and in their coatings. It seems not. 
 
 As our loch had turned its back on the heavy gale, 
 and was racing for Appin at a mad gallop, while the out- 
 look was dour and drumly, we resolved to turn our back 
 on the loch and seek the racing streams. For these, 
 too, had given over dancing and frolicking, and were 
 heedlessly hurrying to the sea. On the road itself we felt 
 sufficiently disturbed in our ideas of seasons, for here 
 was a redbreast sitting on a bough and piping manfully 
 its breast, in all the glow of its spring uniform, rising and 
 falling with the swelling notes. There, close alongside, 
 at the end of the winter, with the buds breaking forth all 
 about, is a holly tree well supplied with brilliant red berries 
 still. Surely no hungry-bellied songsters have been in 
 your neighbourhood, most seductive-looking repository 
 for seed-eating birds ! We turn aside from the highway, 
 and there are the well-grown plants of the foxglove, green 
 and vigorous, as if they would soon be entering the field 
 as the observed of all observers. The roe-deer are all 
 about us, and very regardless of our presence ; and, even 
 to the sharp whistle we give to startle the graceful crea- 
 tures into activity, they only take a few elegant leaps and 
 turn round inquiringly. Such a mild-eyed, staff-encum- 
 bered wayfarer will not disturb their equanimity, so they 
 recommence grazing with delightful nonchalance. 
 
 Here is another dweller in the woods ! He lives 
 amid the silvers and labours among the flowers, and we 
 know by his face he has something to tell us. Of course 
 he has ; is there not a fine owl in the house that he cap-
 
 148 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 tured last evening before it got dark ! The poor bird 
 only flew a short way when he secured it, and although 
 it refused nourishment, and finally died before morning, 
 still it is " a beautiful corpse," and he is sure would 
 interest us. 
 
 We have not seen any but the white barn owl in the 
 neighbourhood, so follow our leader to his home under 
 the beautiful many-armed silver fir, that proves a sort of 
 sword of Damocles to the household during these con- 
 stantly recurring and terrible gales. For all around them 
 have fallen silver and beach of loftiest and most luxuriant 
 growth ; and why should not this vegetable giant some of 
 these nights, when the furies are afoot, also bow to cir- 
 cumstances and persistent onslaughts, or even throw off 
 a mighty limb to the destruction of a household ? To 
 us there is an air of solidity about him, and we enter the 
 doorway without forboding. Not so fast ! You imp of 
 Satan ! Are you the mute at the funeral, or can you be 
 vociferous as well as mute ? " Not a moment stopped 
 or stayed he," but toddled back and forward with one 
 eye turned upwards at the intruder, and looking what he 
 most certainly was, an impudent, tag-rag specimen of the 
 most impudent and interesting of pets a tame jackdaw. 
 You are living enough, at any rate, despite your ragged 
 appearance ; but where is the poor owl. " Forth they 
 bring our warrior dead," whether from the result of 
 violence at capture, or from some complaint, is not quite 
 apparent ; but when it is lifted up it is so very light that 
 inability to obtain food or make use of it is the most 
 natural explanation. Beautiful indeed is a white barn 
 owl, Strix fiamniea, yellow owl, as it is termed ; with its 
 snowy breast, exquisitely-tinted back, and wings of a 
 prevailing yellow ochrish tinge, finely marked with darker
 
 MARCH, 1882. 149 
 
 shades and deeper colours. Only a barn owl, we say, 
 just as we'd remark as we lift some odd volume, only 
 Burns, while perhaps we expect some of our latest novels. 
 Only, indeed ! and where can you find such another bird 
 for delicate downy beauty ? What novelty and curiosity- 
 hunters we all are, to be sure. The last time we handled 
 one of the species alive was on the occasion of finding it 
 dying in a hedge in the evening, into which it had seem- 
 ingly thrust itself to escape persecution from small birds, 
 and out of which it could not extricate itself. 
 
 As we tramp up the hill, we find the rivulets running 
 full, and all about the mosses are of exceptional growth. 
 Into the luxurious beds we sink up to the knees, many 
 of them at present with dainty seed vessels ripe and full. 
 At this time last year the same mosses were all richly 
 dyed with varying shades up to the deepest red, this 
 season they are still as green as the meadows in May. 
 Here and there, if we look carefully, we may catch a 
 peep of yellow, or a suspicion of cinnamon, but the eye 
 as it rests on the cool soft patches finds nothing but 
 what is fresh and invigorating. We have been tramping 
 downwards, still kneedeep, when we come in view of the 
 rushing green waters of our river, green that is to the 
 eye, for the prevailing colour of the bottom so reflects 
 the light to-day a very delicate slate-coloured green, 
 with sparkles through it where the ripples leap and go. 
 Ho ! Miss Woodbine. So we have caught you at your 
 toilet on the quiet, before you come forth to delight the 
 beholder with your full adornment. What a knowing 
 trick to play, and what a quiet spot to come to. There 
 she had climbed up the leafless limbs of that blackthorn 
 over the river, and from her point of vantage can arrange 
 her tresses, and titivate herself in the mirror of the water.
 
 150 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Your raiment is still a little scanty, but you do look 
 charming in that delicate green Hem ! Nobody heard 
 us, my dear, and we would'nt for the world let out the 
 secret of your toilet. We cover our eyes with our hand, 
 and peer through our fingers, as we turn down the 
 stream. 
 
 Winding round picturesque rotten old stumps, crowned 
 with ferns and mosses, we are scrambling along under 
 the budding trees when we are arrested by the plaintive 
 cry of " whitow, wheetow," constantly repeated. At last 
 it irritates us somewhat from its persistent melancholy, 
 and we mutter, little widow, little widow, supposing you 
 are a little widow, why make such a row about it. Could 
 you not for any sake borrow a leaf from the Japanese, 
 and tie up your feathers to show your widowhood, and 
 whether it is an absolutely inconsolable widowhood, or 
 one open to conviction ! We follow the sound up the 
 hill, and come upon a colony of titmice of various 
 species, all actively engaged among the twigs of a group 
 of alders. These stand out bare and hard against the 
 skyline, with their living fruit hanging all ends up from 
 the various branchlets. For a few minutes we stand 
 under a neighbouring oak, on which a pair of brown 
 creepers are desperately busy, and then quietly but openly 
 walk over to the alders and stand underneath. Our 
 intention was to examine the condition of the trees, 
 never anticipating the usually-vigilant coletits would 
 remain, but most of them went on with their labours, 
 which consisted, as we expected, in examining the various 
 buds now thrusting forth their purple tops in search 
 of insects. Nearer and nearer they came to us, branch 
 after branch was denuded of buds, until at length several, 
 were hard at work a few feet from us. What a charming
 
 MARCH, 1882. 151 
 
 sight it was to see the little creatures, their feathers tossed 
 to and fro in the hard breeze, as they poised themselves 
 on a branch end, and with a dexterity and rapidity that 
 was almost incredible, stripped every bud on almost 
 every twig. How the little sharp bill went, now a light- 
 ning dab, now a strip of the mandibles, and the branch 
 had been examined by the sharpest little eyes, and the 
 sharpest little beak imaginable. 
 
 Did we not catch sight of a bullfinch as we came up 
 the wood, in splendid spring livery too ; and if he makes 
 as thorough an investigation of every bud as the tits did, 
 the statement that these being insect feeders are only 
 supposed to attack those buds in which insects are 
 secreted is, we fear, an unreliable one. They are much 
 too busy to bother over minute examination, and don't 
 trouble their little heads about a handful of buds more 
 or less. 
 
 ' I love the merry, merry spring time, and here it is," 
 sang Cock Robin, as we stepped out at the door. There 
 he was in his rosy waistcoat, piping his bravest on the 
 tuft of an Austrian, while his sober little sweetheart was 
 hopping about on the sward near by. " I'm not so sure 
 of that," said she, pushing her gentle head through the 
 hedge, and smelling a "bite" in the air that made her 
 shiver "it was pretty sharp frost this morning." He 
 paid no attention to the statement, but proceeded to sing 
 something like "Come under my plaidie, my ain bonnie 
 lady," to his own great satisfaction. She was not to be 
 cajoled, however, and insisted that no one else was 
 preparing, and Mrs Grundy Redbreast would vote them 
 a pair of fools to think of beginning housekeeping so 
 early. " Why, the first frost all the grubs and worms 
 will be deep in the earth, and wherever will we get what
 
 152 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 will keep us going, much less what will be sure to come, 
 you know," and her face almost emulated his waistcoat 
 for a moment. " Pooh ! nonsense ! Why, the sparrows 
 have their nests finished already, and the rooks are long 
 done building, and just look how the bushes are pushing 
 on, they'll be covered with caterpillars before before 
 I mean by the time they're wanted, said he. Sparrows, 
 indeed ! nice birds to imitate ! and I'm not a rook to 
 drive my bill down ever so far in the hard ground after 
 the worms." He dropped down on a lower bush, and 
 found himself half choked with the heavy scent of the 
 flowering currant when he opened his bill. " Just look 
 here," he gasped, "and the gooseberries are flowering, 
 and the midges and gnats are both in regular swarms 
 along the side of the plantation ; and what do you think 
 of the bees, too ? you can't say they're stupid ! and they 
 were very busy yesterday ; the snowdrops are quite over, 
 and the primroses are as beautiful and plentiful as ever 
 was on a bridal morn." "But the frost always comes, 
 you know, Robin, and my toes were so awfully cold last 
 year, and everybody says it's sure to be cold yet, and 
 they'll all laugh at us," she whispered, as a crowning 
 argument against the proposed folly. " Do you know 
 dear," he said, " that I saw two gowans to-day growing 
 in a ditch, and all the world knows they are sensible, 
 reliable flowers, and not to be humbugged." Just then 
 he flew across to her other side, and ruffled his plumes, 
 and strutted manfully ; it was clear there was another 
 arrival, and here he is with a skip and a hop. 
 
 " Ha ! Jenny, my darling," sings the new-comer, " the 
 pear trees are blooming at Ardchattan, and the apple 
 trees in Glen Creran ; and, what do you think ? As I 
 came across the hill I saw a nice soft place, left by the
 
 MARCH, 1882. 153 
 
 water going down, and thought the worms must be easily 
 got at, and so went flop down without looking, for I was 
 very tired ; and it nearly turned my stomach." " What 
 did !" said Jenny, looking interested just to spite the first 
 comer. "What did?" repeated he. " My dear, I was 
 actually up to the knees in frog spawn ! the awfulest lot 
 of it, and there I was right in the middle ; so you 
 
 see ," he whispered. " No ; I dont see at all," said 
 
 Jenny ; " a nice lot of fools. What were the frogs doing 
 throwing their spawn on the water when they ought to 
 have known it would only be there for a day or two, and 
 pretty fellows to tell whether it was really spring, when 
 they didn't know a day's puddle from a regular bog. 
 The cold-blooded wretches, too, what can they care about 
 weather, or know about a mother's cares I mean 'a lady's 
 considerations?'" she corrected, with a little toss of her 
 head. 
 
 All this time No. i was edging round the new comer, 
 and now asked him if he saw the bat last evening, and 
 noted how busy he was ? " Spoke to him some nights 
 ago before going to bed," he replied haughtily ; "wasn't 
 looking strong," he added carelessly, " said he had been 
 confined to his bed for some time." " Hungry enough, 
 I'm sure," said Jenny, mischievously, " and he will be 
 'confined to his bed' for a while yet before the new moon's 
 old." " Has a very nice time of it," said the first Robin, 
 "always takes to his bed in hard times, and says he 
 never felt last winter at all." "Blinking fool," said No. 
 2, " didn't recognise me although I had on my new waist- 
 coat," and he smoothed it with an air of conquest ; "and 
 never thanked me, although I told him where the nicest 
 lot of gnats were to be had. But he has a nice easy time 
 of it."
 
 154 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 " Better go and keep him company if you like that 
 style of thing so much," said Jenny in a fret ; " neither 
 of you will have a ' nice easy time of it ' with me." And 
 with a flick she was off, and the two others were left to 
 settle the dispute that arose in the orthodox Robin Red- 
 breast fashion, and with a vehemence that sadly spoiled 
 the serenity of their new waistcoats. 
 
 You don't believe it, perhaps, but it's all quite true. 
 
 We can't exactly make out the rooks. We have always 
 been under the impression that rooks paired, that the 
 pair built a nest, that the said nest was a private affair, 
 and that no others interfered with it. Like the apparent 
 simplicity and real complexity of some savage tribes, 
 however, it is quite possible a rookery is more a 
 " commune " than in the mere fact of their living in 
 community. For it is certain that more than two rooks 
 are constantly found building at the same nest, whatever 
 further arrangements may be made. Do the different 
 pairs find it facilitate progress to combine in the mani- 
 pulation of the large sticks they use in their building 
 operations ? 
 
 Wednesday the 2zd was a pet day, with a sharp north 
 wind blowing over the white carpet of snow, and teaching 
 Miss Redbreast how wise it was of her to delay the event. 
 So we put "our best foot foremost" and hurried off to 
 examine a part of the shore we had persistently neglected. 
 
 Look at this rocky corner now, thrust out into the 
 midst of the great bay, and well grown with sea-wrack. 
 This is a great nursery, and seems as much a haunt of 
 dog-fish ( Squale Rovssette) as the cairn at the upper part 
 of the loch is a haunt of skate-fish. They have ap- 
 parently agreed to keep each to their own ground. For 
 rarely do we find a dog-fish egg at the cairn, and we have
 
 MARCH, 1882. 155 
 
 not seen a skate egg here. The dog-fish seeem to be of 
 a most cautious, unbelieving character, as well as to have 
 a powerful instinct to provide for the secure hatching of 
 their young, as the way these eggs have their long 
 tendrils wound round and round the seaware is most 
 remarkable. It would take some minutes to unwind the 
 tendrils of one egg, so as to free it from its hold ; and 
 we have no doubt the ware is much more frequently 
 thrown ashore to which it is attached than the egg itself 
 thrown loose from its hold. The seaweed chosen is 
 usually a short, tough, strong species, and not the long- 
 fronded, weak-stemmed classes that are commonly found 
 among the gathering on shore. 
 
 We came at length to a grand sweep of the fine bay, 
 which has now been so left by the sea that a graceful 
 curve of green Zoster a marina borders it, tying the sandy 
 stretch together, and making a pleasant path to-day. 
 Here and there scattered along it are to be seen bunches 
 sticking up out of the grass, as if a small branch had 
 been washed ashore and caught in the mud and grass. 
 These turn out to be bunches of serpulae tubes, from six 
 inches to near a foot in height, growing straight up, or 
 with but a slight curve from the stone or shell to which 
 they have attached themselves. They have clearly taken 
 possession of this locality, and monopolise it to the 
 exclusion of most other life, as we find to be so 
 commonly the case with every class of creatures. We 
 must have a nice bunch to watch its progress, so we 
 gather bunch after bunch, only to discard them in 
 succession as a finer one comes in view. Their foot- 
 holds being sunk in the mud, we do not see them until 
 dragged forth, and several of the finest bunches prove to 
 be affixed to well-buried >nodiol ) or large horse mussels,
 
 156 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 which decline to leave the beds they have made for 
 themselves, and anchored themselves to with their 
 strong byssus ; and so the tubes are removed in isolated 
 patches. The whole green sloping bank where the grass 
 has emerged from the deep is, for several hundred yards, 
 specially occupied by this most interesting " crop," and 
 at length we observe a finer specimen than any we have 
 yet procured thrusting its head above the waves at the 
 water's edge. This we catch hold of with care, and 
 draw slowly towards us, in hopes that the foothold is of 
 a movable character. A stone ! no, a mussel ! no, well 
 yes, it is actually an oyster, face down as we should say, 
 for it is lying on its flat, with this huge bunch of living 
 creatures, in their homes, standing on its back. They 
 are very delicately affixed to the shell ; and no wonder, 
 standing thus upright with a weak grip, these bundles of 
 separate tubes are so frequently found lying on shore 
 broken up. But they have so many points by which to 
 catch hold, and are so incapable of rolling, that only 
 fragmentary patches are usually obtainable. We carry 
 our capture home gently, and set it in one of the ponds, 
 where it soon expands into the wonderful little community 
 that is quite past our comprehension ashore. Just come 
 along and look at it. Gently, now ! for the creatures 
 may not see, but they either feel the concussion or notice 
 a difference in the light, and there they go ! The 
 crimson corollas of the serpulae were all ablaze^a second 
 ago, but one after another they shut up like a flash, and 
 leave the sober-tinted tubes on the sober-tinted oyster as 
 dull as a room with the fire out. 
 
 But we had more than that to carry homeward, as any 
 one who had met us on the way would have seen. 
 Oysters on stones, oysters on mussels, and of all shapes
 
 MARCH, 1882. 157 
 
 and peculiarities ; gathered for their droll modes of 
 hanging on to their little world. Crabs in all sorts of 
 wonderfully ornamented shells ; and, poor fellow, are you 
 on your way to the comfortable rascal near you to beg 
 for enough to take you across the ferry ? A hermit 
 crab in a whelk shell, but such a shell ! Far too big for 
 the occupant, to start with, it is worn through in many 
 places, and covered with barnacles and serpulae. Its un- 
 covered tail shows clearly through the end, an equally 
 indecent and dangerous exposure, and its claws in vain 
 try to stop a rent half-way up towards the proper aperture. 
 You are busy ! we suppose, and object to walk home with 
 us ! Well ! if you were similarly laden, we would be 
 busy somewhere else too ! 
 
 With the rain in absolute sheets for days, and the 
 gales continuous for weeks, the world is desperately busy 
 in spite of it all. The enemy is upon us with a rush, 
 and soon scarce a portion of the lower foreshore, and the 
 sea bottom (to a depth of one or two fathoms) but will 
 be covered with the slobbery annual melanospermous 
 seaware that we have long voted an intolerable nuisance, 
 except when expanding its filaments in a dish of water. 
 A few days has done it all, and now the foreshores are 
 rapidly covering with it, hiding everything of interest in 
 its slimy embrace. The hardest and finest ground gets 
 covered with it as surely as the muddiest, and even more 
 certainly ; so that no spat of oyster could possibly find 
 room for attachment. It is at least six weeks sooner 
 than one naturally anticipates, and so will account for 
 the non-increase of certain classes of shell fish, whose 
 embryos demand hard ground on which to attach them- 
 selves. For the growth is so rapid, and the consistence 
 so soft, of this seaweed, that no attempt to form an
 
 158 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 attachment could be made. What purpose does this 
 growth serve in the economy of the foreshores, or rather 
 how does it influence the balance of life on the shallower 
 seas ? 
 
 Let us walk across by this bit of wooding while we 
 consider the subject, for to-day the north wind has come 
 unexpectedly, and although yesterday we could scarcely 
 have moved across the grass, much less over the moss, 
 without going over the boots, to-day has dried the 
 country marvellously. What a deluge has fallen, to be 
 sure, and see what a large pond has gathered in the hole 
 left by that overturned tree-root ! We step behind the 
 moss-clad mass that towers above us, while we shelter 
 from the driving sleet and hail that still comes at 
 intervals. Peering around at the pool of water, we 
 watch the active water beetles flash as they traverse the 
 home they have already discovered. That one has dis- 
 appeared in a moment under under why ! a lot of 
 bright "slobbery stuff!" Here is, indeed, a fresh- water 
 alga of a cognate character to the black-spored shore 
 weed, and it, too, has suddenly made its appearance, 
 and is making rapid progress under the warm southerly 
 winds, despite the almost entire absence of sunlight. 
 Have we not thus a means of judging of the utility to ocean 
 life, as well as fresh water life, of this easily penetrated^ 
 but with difficulty traversed, alga ? May it not, indeed 
 must it not, be a source of security and a readily-reached 
 asylum for the multitudinous embryos of all classes of 
 life thrown during the spring and summer ; into which 
 they can slip, and under which they may remain hidden, 
 until with the autumn it departs and leaves them of 
 sufficient vigour and growth to fight the battle for them- 
 selves. We are satisfied that whatever safety a tangle
 
 APRIL, 1882. 159 
 
 forest, with its magnificent fronds, may secure to certain 
 classes of life, the extraordinary growth of these masses 
 of fine filaments that cover the foreshores in summer, 
 must ensure far greater security to masses of fish spawn, 
 and still more delicate organisms, that could scarcely 
 otherwise escape the onslaught of crabs and starfish, &c. 
 For although it is certain that a proportion of fish spawn 
 floats on the surface of the water, it is equally certain 
 that other classes of fish deposit their eggs in gelatinous 
 masses on stones and stems of seaware on the foreshores. 
 
 As we crossed the softer ground, we found the iris 
 shooting up strongly, and spring sitting up, after rubbing 
 its eyes, all along the hillside. Next week he will bestir 
 himself with a rush, unless this somewhat keen norther 
 from the Bens should benumb his awakening faculties. 
 
 Seed ! certainly, scattered among the moss, but such 
 as never grew on a Scottish hillside, nor was stored in a 
 Scottish stackyard. We lift the Indian corn that has 
 been thrown here and there, and the truth flashes across 
 us. The squirrels ! for only their teeth could have 
 punctured each corn with a dean hole through the ger- 
 minating end so as to prevent their growth when stowed 
 away. The little rascals have been robbing the pheasants 
 of the winter provinder put down in netted enclosures for 
 them, and storing it away among the trees, for the evil 
 day that has not yet come this year. Good teeth and 
 good heads to guide them, ere they could show so much 
 intelligence as well as foresight ! 
 
 APRIL, 1882. 
 
 Although we have had the north and north-east winds 
 for most of this week, drying up the country most
 
 160 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 thoroughly, they have not had their usual effect in giving 
 us low tides, so we conclude there is some south in the 
 wind elsewhere, and this we find is the case from the 
 weather report. Walking around the shore therefore 
 produced little of interest, and it is just too early on the 
 whole to find much novelty on land. We turn away from 
 the little bay and cross the bit of moor, when something 
 light and bright and lively flicks across before us and 
 alights on the bordering fence. This is the first wheatear 
 we have seen this season, and it continues to flit about as 
 restlessly as if it had already something to conceal. What 
 is that overhead, asks our companion, and we scarcely 
 wonder at the question, as the twitter of the descending 
 skylark is not sufficiently distinctive to enable us naturally 
 to compare it with its summer self. Still it is the skylark, 
 and it has been soaring heavenward, evidently as a sort 
 of preliminary canter. Left in the lurch, you are ! we 
 mutter, as we come upon a stretch of iris, shooting vigour- 
 ously from what has been a muggy spot for months ; but 
 now it is as dry and solid as could be desired, and the 
 chances are that the gay flowers of the " fleur de Us " will 
 never reach maturity. A very remarkable change this 
 spell of easterly wind has produced upon the country 
 after the long duration of leaden skies and constant down- 
 pour. Everything that could carry a lichen or a fungus 
 was laden with them. The very small branches of the 
 young larch, in damp, sheltered localities, were covered 
 with a species resembling blobs of half-cold glue ; every 
 paling-stob had circling rows of frills, or other class of 
 fungus, and a new vegetation of this description seemed 
 to have sprung into life in order to take advantage of the 
 new and suitable conditions. Now these are curling 
 everywhere into tinder, and what was really a charming
 
 APRIL, 1882. 
 
 botanic garden to the mycologist has in a few days become 
 a hortus siccus without either beauty or interest, for the 
 innermost juices have been dried up, and scarce a sem- 
 blance of their former selves left. 
 
 You can't do much on the water in a succession of 
 gales, but we did make an attempt to lower a dredge 
 these last two days, and the result was more agreeable to 
 the naturalist than to the " gourmet." Following upon 
 this we had swarms of specimens in odd dishes endea- 
 vouring to examine them singly, and careful that no 
 inveterate enemies should come together. In one small 
 dish was a specimen of Adamsia, sea anemone, in a shell 
 inhabited by a fine (Pagurus Prideauxii) hermit crab. 
 This we were carefully keeping for the anemone, looking 
 upon crabby as a very subsidiary party. At the last 
 moment we picked up another rare prize with us, in the 
 shape of a Fissurella Graeca, a limpet shaped shell with 
 a hole in the apex, and the whole creature much more 
 exposed to assault than the shore limpet, as the shell does 
 not properly cover the animal, whose curtain stands up a 
 good quarter of an inch all round clear of it. It so hap- 
 pened that this was dropped hurriedly into the dish with 
 the sea anemone, and other cares occupied the minds of 
 those interested. Later in the evening we were passing, 
 candle in hand, and took a view of the scattered creatures 
 in their various domains, so that we might catch them at 
 their more natural movements in the dark. The natural 
 movement of the hermit crab was at least apparent, as 
 the poor limpet was clinging despairingly to the side of 
 the dish, and the great claw of the crab had already made 
 a deep hole in the curtain as he tore the creature from 
 its hold. These fissured limpets are beautifully shaped, 
 but they have, of course, no security against depredators
 
 i6z LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 like the common limpet, and although the curtain can 
 cling strongly to the article on which it may be at the 
 time, the presence of the hole in the apex and distance 
 of the verge of the shell from the edge of the foot prevents 
 its house being its castle. This is the first we have taken 
 in our own loch. 
 
 " One more draw of the dredge on the scallop ground," 
 asks a companion; and over it goes, while we glance 
 roughly at the spider crabs, starfish, and other ordinary 
 products of [a haul, with here and there a little cypraea, 
 always so interesting, or a milligrana (Trochus) ; and 
 there, sliddering in among the larger specimens, is a small 
 Ophiocoma ncglecta> a specimen of which diminutive brittle 
 starfish we have not yet been successful in preserving. 
 But the iron is again upon the stern of the boat, and as 
 the contents are turned into the tub we hurry shoreward; 
 for little do we expect, beyond these lively scallops from 
 the grounds frequented by them, some six or eight fathoms 
 deep. Ere we cease rowing, however, it is plain that 
 another of these large scallops, Pecten maxtmus, is among 
 the crowd of shells of P. opercularis, similarly adorned to 
 the last we took on the same ground. So there are a few 
 about alive, but what a crowd of freshly-opened shells of 
 the smaller pecten ! When they are dredged in quantity 
 we generally find little else, but here are regular piles of 
 starfish, and they have evidently been at work, and busy 
 too, among these delicious bivalves. For although a P. 
 maxtmus can close his shell tight, there are always two 
 unarmed holes at each side of the hinge of P. opercularis 
 into which a strong limb of the wriggling wretches can 
 be readily inserted. 
 
 But we turned our eyes from the tub too soon. What 
 is that brilliant gleam of crimson fringe ? A rude glance
 
 APRIL, 1882. 163 
 
 took the shell for a mussel, but there is a fine specimen 
 of lima, with its splendid show of crimson ciliae, the first 
 of its kind also we have ever had the opportunity of 
 dragging to light from Loch Creran. What a mass of 
 colour, and what an interesting creature it is, but we should 
 think its means of defence are few, and chances of injury 
 numerous, for the hand brushing lightly against it brought 
 away the touched ciliae clinging like little suckers to the 
 skin. We have not yet exhausted that last tub, but could 
 we exhaust even a lima itself in a pamphlet much less a 
 letter ? 
 
 From the first of the month the sheep are returning 
 from their wintering grounds to their companions left 
 among the hills ; and very loath they are, even in this 
 mild season, to go back to hard rambling among the 
 rocks in place of being able to gain a comfortable liveli- 
 hood in the richer nooks lower down. So now commences 
 the troubles of the shepherds and the various Highland 
 railways. It is an interesting fact that for six months 
 after the opening of the Callander and Oban Railway the 
 damage to fencing by sheep, and the number of sheep 
 killed by the trains, was very great, but thereafter kept 
 constantly decreasing with the increasing knowledge of 
 the various flocks. Periodically, however, with the return 
 of the young sheep from the Lowlands, an excess of the 
 average destruction follows, until the damage by the trains 
 to unsettled sheep with visions of recent plenty is lost sight 
 of in a new danger of even a more pressing and less easily 
 obviated character. This is the inquiring nature of the 
 playful lambs now appearing, who soon discover the 
 sweeter qualities of the forbidden fruit inside the wires, 
 and wriggle through accordingly. This is bad ; but if the 
 mothers remained outside, their youngsters would answer
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 to the warning call of the alarmed mammas, and skip 
 with ungainly haste out of danger. Nothing of the sort, 
 of course ; for what mother will not seek to follow the 
 reckless and frivolous children that delude them so play- 
 fully, and so the frantic parents follow the little brats on 
 to the line, to the deep regret of all concerned. The 
 ewes won't go of their own accord, for they know the 
 danger and are aware of the difficulty, but nothing will 
 keep them out from their youngsters. The question is 
 whether the season of comparative freedom from accidents 
 of this class is the result of education, so that the flocks 
 have acquired a real knowledge ; or is merely a sort of 
 settling down and general sobriety, so frequently the 
 result of a routine existence, and aided as it would be by 
 the early discovery that the game was not worth the 
 candle. At present the ground that is best worth feed- 
 ing on is exceedingly dirty with the regular winter's stock, 
 and it is not to be wondered at that the returning hoggs 
 are willing to risk a good deal in order to " better their 
 position in life." 
 
 Whether is a hare or a rabbit the most intelligent ? is 
 one of those questions readily asked, and as a general 
 rule most difficult to answer. Yet we think we have 
 obtained some data that will help towards a solution of 
 this query, and at any rate they are still more interesting 
 simply as facts. Unlike the sheep, that seem to gain a 
 kind of acquaintance with the trains, the hares are always 
 more or less getting in the way, and don't seem to have 
 their wits about them sufficiently to enable them to get 
 out of it. In the early morning, along the line, dead 
 hares are by no means uncommon, and in certain quarters 
 are numerous occasionally. This is quite what one 
 would expect from a hare. It looks by no means bright
 
 APRIL, 1882. 165 
 
 of intellect, with its great eyes ; and although an adept 
 at doubling, and able to make the best of a mountain or 
 country-life, must feel like a country lad in Glasgow when 
 it comes within range of the iron horse. Who has not 
 seen a shrewd country farmer able to hold his own at 
 kirk or market when within range of the breeze from Ben 
 Nevis, yet behave like a cow before a conveyance on a 
 public road so soon as he finds himself obliged to cross 
 the street at the Trongate or the Jamaica Street Bridge. 
 He is not sharp enough for the city-bred inhabitant. 
 The same seems to be the case with the hare and rabbit. 
 The hare cannot make up its mind to advance or retire, 
 and probably ends in that " middle course " in which we 
 are told is safety, but which before an express train 
 means disaster. The rabbit, on the other hand, is rarely 
 killed on the line, and this might seem the more remark- 
 able, as they throng the stony and sandy embankments 
 along the railway, and slip through the confining wires to 
 their matutinal and vesper meals among the railway 
 grazings. But they have their wits about them, and no 
 doubt have always the one clear, definite idea to their 
 minds in danger, to make if possible a bee-line to their 
 holes. Certain it is they manage to exist in multitudes 
 on the verge of the destroyer's path, while the hares seem 
 to be unable to visit the same grazings without imminent 
 danger. So that the question of intellect after all is one 
 between the occasional visitor and the habitue, who has 
 been bred with greater experience if not with greater 
 intelligence. We suspect the rabbits have both. 
 
 Under a rocky scaur in the Pass of Brander, we 
 observe one little lamb lying, with its mother grazing 
 near, on ground where scarce one would expect conies 
 to find pasture and provender ; and if there is any
 
 1 66 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 excuse for the formation of deer-forests, it is surely to be 
 found in such districts, where many acres of scarce 
 traversable land are required to feed a single blackface. 
 The great distance between the dwellings and the wild 
 nature of the intervening ground, must make these quar- 
 ters very isolated ; and the inhabitants must gradually 
 acquire some of the self-dependence and shrewd hardi- 
 hood of the blackfaces and the collies with whom they 
 mainly associate. Many of these farmers, in the wildest 
 districts, have wrestled in the thickest of the fight in the 
 struggling mercantile world ; and consequently appre- 
 ciate the advantages, while they are greatly saved from 
 the manifest disadvantages, of the situation ; and when 
 this is considered, and it is known how many purely 
 Teutonic names yearly seek a calm haven " out of the 
 hurly-burly," it appears more and more absurd to talk of 
 the Highlands as peopled by Celts, and subjected to the 
 domination of the " brutal Saxon," as we have been so 
 often told of late. This constant intermixture has gone 
 on at all times, and many of the most thoroughly 
 Highland families are Scandinavian, Saxon, and Norman 
 by descent as thoroughly as they are in appearance. 
 Many of these outsiders have been partially baffled in 
 their contests with their compeers ere they retire to these 
 solitudes, where they recuperate their exhausted nervous 
 systems, and, if not in their own persons, at least in their 
 descendants, are better fitted, physically and mentally, 
 through their struggle with wild nature, to return and 
 once more enter the too-often fatal lists with human 
 nature and civilisation. Such stern solitudes are there- 
 fore training schools for the nation ; and it is almost a 
 pity to see them steadily narrowing. Yet as we look at 
 the stalwart shepherds ascending the rugged hill-faces on
 
 MAY, 1882. 167 
 
 the way, the consolation remains with us that the hills 
 are not to be levelled, and that the heart strengthens as 
 the knee-joints stiffen, and the mountains in all ages are 
 justified of their children. 
 
 The bushy-tailed collies, with the easy step and 
 graceful carriage bred of the hills, are skirting the slopes 
 and scouring the corries ; and there, although it is so far 
 away, you can see the expression of delinquency on that 
 lowered countenance, as with depressed tail it skulks 
 down the bottom of the ravine. Have you been on the 
 rampage, you rascal, or have you been sent home in dis- 
 grace for incompetence ? There it goes at a hard gallop, 
 leaving its master standing a solitary figure on the distant 
 hill ! Every hundred yards of those apparently barren 
 hills is a picture, every hut and homestead a living novel 
 of intense interest ; and we pass them all with a yawn of 
 ennui at the lagging train, and with the nerves of the 
 brain made callous by custom, the sensitive plates 
 spoiled by exposure, and the photographic " artist " 
 there are no photographers nowadays dozing under his 
 black hood inside, and incapable of taking cognisance of 
 the myriad-minded creation, telling its complicated story, 
 with its ever-varying features. 
 
 MAY, 1882. 
 
 The cuckoo was calling bravely this day week as we 
 passed southward ; and still more willingly should it call 
 to-day, with Loch Etive a sheet of silver, and the splen- 
 dour of sunlight over all not hazy, but crisp, bright, 
 life-stirring sunlight, such as we have not seen for a
 
 1 68 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 twelvemonth. How gay is the scene as we sit under the 
 ear-splitting rookery, and peer through the many-tinted 
 trees at the loch beneath us ; while we listen to the tales 
 of the doings of rooks, under the peculiar circumstances 
 of the late season. These birds had completed their 
 nests under the natural impression that the mild, early 
 spring was to continue, and they were conducting them- 
 selves with sobriety, and with the peculiar solemnity and 
 decorum that approaching " paterfamiliarity " seems to 
 give to the most undignified of beings, and that sits so 
 well upon his sable rookship. But suddenly there came 
 a change, and the bitter east wind swept down upon 
 them, and the snow fell thickly for a day or two, and all 
 the vicinity looked as if Nature had made a mistake, 
 and sent the spring first, to be now followed by the bitter 
 season. The rooks at first were thoroughly demoralised, 
 for were not their nests built open, and of the rudest 
 sticks, without a fraction of warmth, or the smallest 
 claim to comfort and snugness ! How were their young, 
 just on the point of emerging, ever to sit in such exposed 
 quarters, without an effort by the parents to hap them 
 from the wind? Now, rooks have built their nests of 
 sticks since ever a rookery was established, we suppose, 
 and it is so commonly understood that birds act from 
 " instinct," and are incapable of introducing a new style 
 of architecture or a new mode of construction, that any 
 change at this time of day is absurd to expect ! Yet 
 what do those sable birds do under the unusual circum- 
 stances ? Do they sit close in the nests in a half-frozen 
 condition, and endeavour to impart their own vitality to 
 the coming young, regardless of the personal cost, or fly 
 about in a disconsolate condition, bewailing in guttural 
 accents the untoward weather ? No ! The first morn-
 
 MAY, 1882. 169 
 
 ing after the storm the lawn is covered with active 
 multitudes all in a state of determined activity whether 
 the result of a council of peace, or led by an inventive 
 genius that had risen to the occasion, we know not ; and 
 the birds were tearing great bunches of moss up through 
 the snow and flying off with it, in order to render their 
 nurseries better suited to the strange freak of a season 
 they had hitherto found so kind. Now, we do not 
 suppose these birds will continue to use moss in future 
 any more than they have done in the past, as their 
 simple style of structure skilful as it is in a way is 
 quite sufficient for their purpose in ordinary circum- 
 stances ; but it is a remarkable proof of the capacity of 
 birds to rise up to the occasion when they could thus 
 promptly augment the chilly nests in the tree-tops with a 
 warmer and hitherto unemployed material. It seems to 
 us, indeed, that for a rook to thus suddenly make use of 
 moss is on a par with the American weaver bird that 
 sewed its nest with wire from a blacksmith's shop. It is 
 certain that birds are as capable of suiting themselves to 
 circumstances in the matter of material and form as most 
 savage nations, and we know how almost impossible it is 
 to get an orthodox African savage to build his hut other 
 than circular. 
 
 We have been wandering this morning in a land of 
 wonders until the time has slipped through our fingers, 
 and we found it most difficult to return from the labyrin- 
 thine mazes. Here are glorious trees of strange cactus 
 form reaching across the mouths of the mammoth cave- 
 like entrances. Carefully we descend into the abysses 
 and get lost in the dark recesses, down which stretch 
 beautifully formed greenish branches, turning brown in 
 the drier winds we have had. We are threading our
 
 ryo LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 careful way over an apparently-burned grey stem when 
 our heart fails us, and we creep slowly backward afraid 
 of the rotten footing. So we turn into this great lime- 
 stone-like cave, like a bit of Derbyshire, almost feeling as 
 if we slipped on the white marble-like footing, and were 
 suddenly arrested by the gleam of sunlight on an iridescent 
 surface. This proves to be a rich film spread across the 
 inner mouth of the cavern, and reflecting the rays in rain- 
 bow tints ; while all around are the huge cottony tufts of 
 of what ? Well, you see we have been in fairyland a 
 land anyone can enter at the very smallest cost, and 
 where they will find such endless sources of amazement 
 and interest that they may employ themselves for weeks 
 without moving very far, and not only add to their own 
 knowledge, but the knowledge of the world. For there 
 are explorers in all departments of nature, and all we have 
 done is to bring our lens to bear on a few big tree trunks, 
 and the great cotton tufts are the cocoons of a small 
 insect on the trunks of the spruce, and the same in char- 
 acter with the blight we have observed so frequently on 
 the branches of the larch in the summer. The brilliant 
 opalescence, stretching from mouth to mouth of the 
 cavernous depths of the cracked bark, is simply the shiny 
 track of a small mollusc, that little knew of the beauty 
 and wonder it had left behind to tell of its progress. The 
 whitish marble pavements are smooth lichens, and the 
 burnt branches are grey lichens, while the lovely greenish 
 ones are those of the more feathery mosses, covering the 
 wrinkled hides of the vegetable giants. You cannot walk 
 far, my friend, to enjoy nature and you grieve over your 
 deprivation ! You, my little fellow, are too poor to travel 
 into far lands ; and our gentle sister there cannot handle 
 the geologist's hammer, or tug at the rope of a heavy
 
 MAY, 1882. 171 
 
 dredge ! ' Then sit down for an hour or two per day 
 under the shadow of a great tree or even a little one 
 and tell us one-half the wonders a pocket lens will bring 
 before you, and study the ways of one-half the creatures 
 whose world goes little beyond the one " planet " com- 
 prised in an oak-tree, or a larch, and you will never weary 
 for want of a subject to think about, or an object to 
 examine. We are obliged to turn away startled at the 
 embarrass des richesses^ and unable properly to appreciate 
 the immensity of our ignorance. 
 
 Quietly now ! just come up this garden walk to the 
 side of the sparsely clad beech hedge. Never mind the 
 bee-hive ; pass it quietly, gently, and confidently, for there 
 is nothing like haste or excitement to alarm any living 
 creature, wild or tame. Here, now ! just behind the hive 
 in the hedge, and don't be exuberant. Her eye glints 
 up at you so deprecatingly as she sits there "hoping, 
 fearing," with a look as if to say " I'm only a weak, little 
 she-blackie, very foolish, and only too confiding ; please 
 don't !" Of course we " please to don't " and slip away, 
 for we know there are three callow nestlings under her, 
 and an unhatched egg still an object of hope. Just 
 about three feet from the ground, three feet from a bee- 
 hive, in an open hedge and a fine fruit garden ! Such 
 a tempting of Providence, and yet she escapes with her 
 young brood. The redbreast at Ledaig garden, too, has 
 already added to the bird life of the district, and the 
 cosy nests of the chaffinches have for some time been 
 seen in snug situations on bush and tree. We have 
 already come upon two wren's nests about finished. 
 One is very badly concealed in an upturned root of a 
 tree, and will probably never be occupied if the shrewd 
 little bird takes note of its surroundings ; while the other
 
 172 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 is on the top of a furze bush, scarcely distinguishable 
 from the thorny accretions that gather on the forks. We 
 should think this one of their most successful situations, 
 as, although we know their favourite corners, we but 
 seldom manage to find them there. Year after year a 
 pair of coletits build in a hole under the roof of a cottage 
 at Barcaldine, and already this year they are hard at 
 work ; but whether it is exactly the same pair or some of 
 their progeny, would require a lengthened experiment to 
 discover. There seems little reason to doubt that the 
 same pair exactly will return for a considerable time to a 
 suitable nesting situation, and we have no doubt that, 
 in the event of misfortune overtaking them, others will 
 be ready promptly to take advantage of the vacancy. 
 
 The last dredge has been taken, and we are rowing 
 quietly in the vicinity of the " Cairn," with unexpectedly 
 calm water around it. Just one glance to see if the skates 
 are coming in, although a skate-spear is no part of our 
 dredging armament. The boat drifts slowly back and 
 forward above the waving taminaria, and we peer 
 through the water for the dusky forms above the still 
 darker seaweed. We are about to leave, when a dark 
 grey figure floats across the field of view, and an unfail- 
 ing hand has sent the handle of a graip well through it 
 before the others are properly aware of its presence. 
 " Catch it by the tail ! " says the captor eagerly ; but our 
 acquaintance with skates is of ancient date, and our 
 hands are not sufficiently horny to handle a thornback 
 with impunity. Even the scales of the skin are sharp 
 enough to score the hands of an ordinary person severely, 
 and a knife is the only implement we can improvise with 
 which to gaff them. Another and another now come with- 
 in sight, evidently coming in cairn-wards as the evening
 
 MAY, 1882. 173 
 
 advances ; and most exciting does the pursuit become, 
 carried on as it is at a disadvantage from want of a barb 
 to hold on the fish, even when it is transfixed with the 
 tapering graip handle. More than one drops an egg as 
 it finds itself struck, and we have only to examine the 
 bottom carefully to see how numerous are those eggs 
 already deposited in this favourite spawning ground. 
 Five fine thornbacks are soon in the boat; and as we 
 have an interesting tubful brought up by the dredge still 
 to examine, we hie away home with our varied plunder. 
 In almost every case these skates are on the point of 
 depositing eggs, having just arrived from deeper water 
 for this purpose. Down each Fallopian tube an egg is 
 on the way, with the tough gelatinous coating complete, 
 and the end horns curved towards each other to enable 
 the egg to pass. No other egg was coated even partially, 
 and it seemed as if the fish deposited two eggs, one after 
 the other, about the same time, before it commenced to 
 secrete the coating for the next pair. The undeveloped 
 eggs lie alongside the kidneys in two groups, from whence 
 they pass into the Fallopian tubes in pairs. In no case 
 did we find a single egg ready to be deposited, except 
 when we had seen the other dropped as the fish was 
 struck. We always find the eggs of the skate of all sizes, 
 like those in a laying hen, and the period over which the 
 spawning extends must be many months ; a great security 
 against any sudden destruction that might overtake a 
 spawning-bed through a specially low tide, a shifting 
 sandbank, or other eventuality. It is somewhat remark- 
 able to find a highly organised fish like the skate so 
 prolific of eggs, and these so strongly protected by a 
 coating as tough as leather, and not nearly so readily 
 penetrated as a hen's. Yet there must be some reason
 
 174 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 for this prolific production of eggs, and it may probably 
 be found in the lower class life of the sea, such as preda- 
 tory mollusca, which will penetrate to the embryo and 
 devour it. 
 
 He is " in chancery," and no doubt about it ! But 
 whatever was he doing in that gulley ? We had been 
 trampling the mossy tree trunks and enjoying to the full 
 the charming weather, to which we have been so long 
 unused, when our eyes caught sight of the wizened head 
 bones of a departed woodcock, which we lifted and 
 glanced at. This was the prison-house and here was the 
 prisoner. But what, we again ask, was he doing there ? 
 A small mollusc with a whorled shell a species of 
 clausilia had endeavoured to pass from the large eye 
 orbit through the opening into the brain, and again from 
 the brain cavity through to the other orbit. Had it gone 
 wholly into the brain cavity first and then out at the other 
 side this might readily have been managed ; but the shell 
 would not take the necessary bend, and the deep suture 
 above the aperture of the shell kept it from returning, 
 the slight osseous band that divides the entrance to the 
 brain catching and retaining it. We learn from Jeffreys 
 that these molluscs are vegetable feeders ; and the brain 
 of a woodcock is not commonly chosen to lay out a 
 kitchen garden in ! Was it merely taking a short cut to 
 a choice bit of greenery, and thought that when its head 
 got through it was all right, like a schoolboy with his 
 head between iron railings ? Appearances are against 
 him, and if he was really a brain sucker, like so many 
 others in higher walks of life, he has been born " to be 
 made an example of," and we had better all take warning 
 in time. 
 
 Less than a yard off the road the earthy side of an up-
 
 MAY, 1882. 175 
 
 turned tree root met our view, and struck us as a likely 
 spot for a robin or a wren to build ; so we took the one 
 step necessary to glance under it, and as we stooped our 
 most prominent feature nearly met the point of a red- 
 breast's bill, as it sat solemnly and immovably on its little 
 nest. We remained stooping and looking at it for some 
 time, and at length left without it moving. A fact 
 explained, as we again peeped in an hour afterwards, and 
 found that the poor thing was in the same circumstances 
 as the old women that lived in a shoe. We would never 
 have observed it had the mother not been on the nest ; 
 and, indeed, redbreast's nests are rarely discovered until 
 the demands of the offspring make the place more 
 frequented. 
 
 Nests of all kinds are now more numerous, and we 
 saw other two this week that were as boldly placed close 
 to a frequented path as the nests of the redbreast itself. 
 These two were in trees, against which passers-by were 
 brushing their shoulders daily, and both were so low that 
 a glance aside enabled the snuggery with its speckled 
 contents to be readily noted. The one was that of the 
 large tit (Parus major), the other that of P. cczrulius or 
 smaller tit, and the nests were placed in the hollows made 
 by the bifurcation of the tree stems near the root. P, 
 major was most plucky and determined, and swore at us 
 lustily while we were removing a sample egg, by means 
 of a toddy ladle at the end of a stick. The little blue tit 
 was in a narrower cavity, and we had to substitute an 
 " egg spoon " for the ladle ere obtaining the desired 
 specimen. We stood for some time looking down at the 
 sitting mother in the deeper hole, but the tit is a bold 
 and fearless bird, be it large or small, and although we 
 could see the palpitations of the little bosom the eye
 
 176 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 met ours unflinchingly. Leaving the nest of the larger 
 tit we stroll through the neighbouring garden, and stop 
 short in our walk, for beautifully placed in an espalier 
 apple tree is the compact nest of a chaffinch, so dexterously 
 worked into the gnarled branch with grey lichen that only 
 a practised eye can detect it. We have lately had our 
 attention called to the alleged fact that there is always a 
 chaffinch's nest in the vicinity of a missel thrush's, but 
 this we are not aware of ; and this year nor last have we 
 seen a missel thrush's nest anywhere in the district. 
 What can have become of this daring and predatory bird, 
 so unlike in character to our gentle mavis ; and what 
 possible " paction " could it make with the little " shilfa ?" 
 The seals have once more become common 'in both 
 Creran and Etive, and their splashing and dashing may 
 be heard these still evenings as they play upon the row 
 of boulders off the Cairn Rocks. They are both numer- 
 ous and fearless at present, and are no doubt able to feed 
 luxuriously without much labour, as our lochs are all full 
 of saithe. One boat caught upwards of 300 with the 
 rods in less than two hours, and one fisherman with the 
 rod caught 160 in less than an hour at Connel. So the 
 seals are lolloping about in playful companies, and 
 gambolling close inshore to our delectation. We were 
 amused with the movements of some mergansers in Loch 
 Etive, that had not completed their summer arrangements 
 last week. The duck was swimming quietly and uncon- 
 cernedly in the water near the shore, while two drakes 
 were careering around, making strenuous efforts, the one 
 to retain, the other to gain, possession of the coveted fair 
 one. Whether she had any partiality or no could not be 
 discovered, although she may have cast occasional glances 
 of encouragement at the new comer, who stuck so per-
 
 MAY, 1882. 177 
 
 sistently to his purpose of superseding the previous 
 engage. No doubt she enjoyed the idea of being 
 contended for, and would despise, even if she did pity, 
 the beaten admirer, and welcome the conqueror, as a 
 product of " natural selection " should. 
 
 Every one knows the little pools between the hillocks 
 of the lug worms on the sandy shores at low ebb. Walk- 
 ing across the sands just now, little flitting shadows may 
 be seen in these pools, that only their own movements 
 would enable the eye to perceive. Examine the pools 
 closely, and you will find that they are thronged with 
 small flat fish about the size of elongated threepenny bits ; 
 a proportion being still smaller, and so very gelatinous 
 as to be transparent. We fill a test-tube with about a 
 dozen of them and examine them closely, when most of 
 the specimens bear unmistakable signs of being young 
 plaice, the spots even in most cases being apparent. 
 Every ray of the delicate fins, every bone of the trans- 
 parent body, is clearly visible, and beautifully delicate 
 objects they appear against the light. Here is a youngster 
 you can only see when it moves, and its movement is 
 most irregular. Watch it closely, and you will observe 
 that, as it lies flat against the glass, you can only see one 
 eye, while it almost swims on its edge, and its mouth 
 has not the twisted look that the ordinary fish has. The 
 fact is that in the earliest stage the eyes of the flat fish 
 are normal like other fishes, and only become twisted 
 round to suit their existence on their sides as they 
 mature. Here they are, however, in plenty not half an 
 inch in length, and yet regular chips off the old block 
 twisted mouths, spots, goggle eyes, and all. Every 
 stomach, too, is filled to the full, the only gross, worldly, 
 untransparent portion of the tender little shavings.
 
 178 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 We described the young plaice as being numerous in 
 the little pools of the foreshore, and remarked upon the 
 extreme difficulty of discovering them except from their 
 own movements. They sink into the mud until nothing 
 but the two minute eyes are out, with the contour of the 
 head shown, just as in the case of the full-grown flounder 
 kind ; and even in their case it demands an experienced 
 eye to note the whereabouts of a flounder when spearing 
 them from a boat overhead. It has often been a source 
 of wonder to us how any of the very young of certain 
 fishes escape their many enemies ; but we suspect even 
 heavier gaps are made in their ranks further on, when 
 they are more worthy the attention of the water-fowl, for 
 it is really wonderful what large flat fish a duck itself will 
 swallow with apparent satisfaction. At the same time 
 we do not doubt that our ducks are making havoc among 
 these little fellows even now, as they seem to have the 
 faculty of scooping along with their bills among the mud, 
 allowing the mud and water to escape at the sides, and 
 swallowing what is appetising, in place of having to pick 
 up each minute article separately, like a common fowl. 
 It was clear that, despite their number, they had been 
 sadly thinned in the still earlier stages, and yet no other 
 fish were about at that time ; so we resolved to hunt 
 further out, if perchance among the boulders of the 
 rougher bordering ground their enemies had found shelter. 
 As the edge of the furthest ebb was reached, we kept a 
 sharper look-out, and were repaid by glimpses of little 
 black specs, like very minute tadpoles, that cut into the 
 seaweed at the approach of our shadow. Soon one, then 
 another, delicately-transparent gobies appeared, as they 
 flitted to another portion of the ground, where they were 
 almost equally hidden with the young plaice, so closely
 
 MAY, 1882. 179 
 
 did they resemble the ground in hue. We have no 
 doubt these gobies, so numerous in our little bay, would 
 account for a considerable percentage of the eggs and 
 young. The ground roughens meanwhile, and we roll 
 over a large stone, under which we observed a brilliantly- 
 coloured object to glide. Not to be seen ! As we gently 
 turn to the one next it, a flop in the water tells of some- 
 thing dropping off the upturned stone, and we have just 
 time to catch a glimpse of a reddish-yellow fellow that 
 we recognise and appreciate ; for he has been lifted up 
 along with the stone, while we expected to find him 
 cutting from under it. In fact, it is a pretty and interest- 
 ing specimen of a Cornish Sucker Fish (Couch) ; and we 
 have not gone far when we meet a companion to it, 
 equally bright, and with beautiful eyes ; but not nearly so 
 active in its movements or difficult to capture as the 
 Two-spotted Sucker Fish that also frequents our loch. 
 But these are mature specimens, of two to three inches 
 long, and stout build, and what we are seeking are fry ; 
 for other fishes must of a certainty be spawning already 
 this season. Stone after stone is carefully upturned, and 
 nothing shows but the ordinary Butter Fish (Gunellus), 
 so we decide that our eyesight, and not the season, is at 
 fault. Lower we drop, and gently move the smaller 
 stones and gravel we have uncovered, and soon we are 
 in the midst of the little world we are seeking. Not 
 under the large stones, but under the little ones beneath 
 them, are numbers of little black and grey specs, not to 
 be mistaken for anything but the young of the two species 
 of Coitus^ those big-headed, thorny customers that 
 frequent the rocky foreshores. Plaice are there, too, and 
 little slips of yellow, half transparent, that prove the 
 gunnel fish has been some time spawning ; and there,
 
 i8o LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 jerking into view as we continue our inquiries, come the 
 minute imitations of the two-spot goby ; while that quaint 
 little crustacean, the Mysis, is in myriads in the brackish 
 water, and a proportion have strayed in here among the 
 sea-weed protected boulders. Suddenly, as we lift this 
 other stone, there is a gleam of purple and silver, and a 
 beautiful creature, covered with opalescent plates that 
 work across each other strangely as it progresses, crosses 
 our field of view. Gently ! gently ! or the plates will all 
 come off, and leave it nothing but a gelatinous worm. 
 You have shrunk from it, my friend, and so, because it 
 is an annelid or seaworm, you will lose the wondrous 
 beauty with which it is endowed. No doubt it too is a 
 factor in keeping down the over-swarming of the smaller 
 fishes. We have nothing on land, unless it is the cater- 
 pillars of the different moths, that can vie in beauty of 
 colouring and wonderful organisation with these various 
 marine annelids. They are almost all possessed likewise 
 of properties that produce phosphorescence in a very 
 high degree ; indeed, higher than any class of marine or 
 land creature with which we are acquainted, excepting 
 the glow-worm itself. 
 
 Will the same pair of birds produce a nest of young 
 twice in a season ? This is a question we have frequently 
 asked ourselves respecting the common hedge-row birds, 
 and although satisfied that they might occasionally, 
 under favourable circumstances, we could never positively 
 assert that they did. Now we have an admirable oppor- 
 tunity of seeing this at Ledaig, where the poet's tame 
 redbreast produced a brood of nestlings early this season, 
 and is now busy with a new nest, which it will no doubt 
 fill in due season. The weather has been especially 
 favourable for nesting purposes, and we hope to find
 
 JUNE, 1882. 181 
 
 that this season has filled up the serious gaps made in 
 our community of small birds of recent years. We have 
 not known so many nests since we came to this part, 
 about our own place ; and it is a curious fact that the 
 most shy birds will crowd about the immediate vicinity 
 of a dwelling to nest probably from protection against 
 hawks and weasels while the redbreast, our most 
 familiar bird, is the shyest when nesting, and the most 
 secretive ! 
 
 JUNE, 1882. 
 
 The sandy bottom we have been rowing over is covered 
 with a forest of a peculiar character. This is composed 
 of the leathery tubes of annelids with their waving tufted 
 crowns, and yet the character seems strangely changed ! 
 We peer down at them once or twice ere we understand 
 the transformation ; for the annual seaweeds have attached 
 themselves by their spores to the tubes, and are now 
 waving their dark olive fringes above and around the 
 obtruded inmates. Anything that will permit of a spore 
 settling, in strong salt water, is in danger of having a 
 great growth to carry, beyond its own individuality, and 
 the tough noses of Mya truncata the burrowing shell" 
 fish whose siphon tube does not get properly accommo- 
 dated inside the shell frequently carry a tough frond of 
 some of the fuci. This, although apparently inconvenient, 
 is yet a distinct security, and makes the bearer more 
 difficult to be discerned on the foreshore. 
 
 We are pushing off the boat with the skate-spear on 
 board, when the water alongside is rippled and dimpled 
 by many little noses, and it is obvious we have again 
 been visited by the little atherines or " sand smelts " that
 
 1 82 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 we have noted once or twice previously in our bay. But 
 our little net is not in order, and we are otherwise resolved, 
 so we leave them until " to-morrow," and set off for the 
 cairn. While the boat progresses over a sandy stretch, a 
 dark object is observed at the bottom, but before the 
 boat is checked and the spot reached the skate has 
 escaped our sight. How lazily we skirt the rocky shore 
 with one eye on the algse-covered bottom ! for although 
 the sun is fast sinking behind the Kingairloch hills, the 
 sinking tide is shoaling the water on our fishing ground, 
 so that the bottom will be nearer us and not more 
 difficult to examine, although the light may be less. 
 
 It is not so easy to hit the cairn with a fathom and a 
 half of water still over it, but we ought to know every 
 inch of ground here, and we don't go far off it. At last 
 the boat is over the top stone, all covered with mussels 
 as it is, and we continue to circle about it, awaiting the 
 advent of skates from the deep. Here is a dark form 
 among the algae, and see, as it is covered by the shadow 
 of the boat it turns and hastens into deeper water. A 
 few yards and it will be beyond us, for the cairn rises 
 suddenly and with little slope, so the long spear is thrown 
 at it, there is a white gleam as the belly shews, and then 
 the handle comes up to the surface and enables us to 
 hoist it on board a nice thornback of a nice size. 
 Hold ! now, steady ! and the boat halts as another comes 
 in from the deep straight towards us, and with a desperate 
 protest is at once in the boat. Between times the boat 
 circles about a moderate space of ground, covered with 
 a great growth of fuci, and these again wearing a yellow 
 beard of more delicate annuals. Now and again a saithe 
 or lythe crosses under the boat unregarded, and we are 
 too intent on skate even to note that the sun has dis-
 
 JUNE, 1882. 183 
 
 appeared, until the diminished radiance warns us that 
 the time must be made the most of. Ha ! he has crossed 
 our bows and is off. The spear is launched after him 
 with apparent success, for as the handle bobs to the 
 surface some yards away, the wriggling, and struggling, 
 white figure shows the skate is pinned below. But it 
 has had just a second too long to itself, and when we 
 again secure the handle one last jerk frees it. For a 
 skate, by folding itself back, and giving a great jerk, will 
 manage to chuck itself off the end of even the barbed 
 prongs of a spear. Eyes require to be sharp, and the 
 thruster skilful now, as the bottom is but very faintly 
 illuminated, but there is a dark form hurrying into 
 deep water in advance of the boat. The spear is flung 
 vigorously after it, and for a minute disappears. What 
 has happened ? Has the fish gone away with it, or has 
 it stuck among tangle fronds and stems at the bottom ? 
 Suddenly, as we sit looking about us, the handle bobs up 
 several yards away in an unexpected direction, and a 
 desperately struggling skate still at the end of it. By 
 this time the sharpest eyes are getting overstrained, and 
 the dissipated looking moon, half ashamed of itself, is 
 peering over the fir tops behind us, so we slip past the 
 varied foliage of beech and silver, and seek our own 
 beach in the moonlight, with eight fine thornbacks on 
 board, "as much as any one ought to take at a time," 
 says every one, although we had taken advantage of 
 every moment of daylight to increase the slaughter. 
 
 We are often surprised at the impunity with which 
 certain classes of marine life support existence in fresh 
 water, which is yet certain poison to the great majority 
 of marine creatures. When passing over the little bridge 
 across the neighbouring stream, at high water, during
 
 1 84 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 which time the tide comes a good way up the stream 
 towards it, we observed a profusion of life in the fresh 
 water pool below, and great activity among a few small 
 trout that usually inhabit it. It turned out that these 
 were the little crustaceans (My sis), that so swarm in the 
 sea outside as well as in the brackish water, but this was 
 the first time we had observed them to have penetrated 
 to the pure fresh-water pools of the burn. Walking 
 further down, examining the teeming multitudes of large- 
 eyed, curved-backed creatures, we suddenly met a lively 
 party evidently in a most unaccustomed element. 
 Working assiduously, and with all its ciliae, fringing the 
 curtain, in active motion, a medusa was advancing up 
 the perfectly fresh water with apparently as much vigour 
 as if in the sea outside. Its every effort, too, was being 
 made to advance against the current up the stream, and 
 it must have been for some hours in nearly fresh water 
 ere we noticed it. It does not at all depend upon 
 simplicity of structure or low ness of organisation whether 
 a creature can endure the transfer from sea water to fresh, 
 and vice versa, as the starfish succumb at once to a fresh 
 water bath, which acts like a dose of prussic acid to these 
 simple organisms. On the other hand, the very beautiful, 
 intelligent, and highly-structured little gobies, even those 
 species taken in pure sea water, are apparently indifferent 
 as to the change ; and the same to an extent, and for a 
 time, may be said of the fifteen-spined stickleback, that 
 clever nest-building little fish that dodges you among the 
 more luxuriant seaware on a rocky shore. The simplest 
 way to procure these delightful objects for an aquarium 
 is one we have frequently made use of with success. A 
 little hand-net with a long handle is swept through the 
 sea-weed in a likely place, and if the spot is properly
 
 JUNE, 1882. 185 
 
 chosen and the net rightly held a prisoner will be found 
 in it of the character desired, besides the multitudes of 
 small shrimp-like crustaceans mostly Palcemonidce and 
 My sis that are sure to throng the bottom of your muslin 
 or cheese-cloth net after such performances. A fish that 
 is occasionally to be found in similar localities to the 
 above is the pipe-fish (Syngnathus Acus) one of a class 
 fully more interesting than the nest-builder, if that is 
 possible. We found one lying stranded in a little pool, 
 and looking foolishly conscious, when out at farthest low 
 water some days ago. On lifting it, the reason for its 
 uncomfortable position and want of energy appeared in 
 the shape of the swollen sides, that extended towards the 
 tail from the vent for about four inches, looking like two 
 wings in a small way when seen from behind. Aware of 
 the tenacity of life of the race generally, we sought to 
 carry it home in a basket we had, well wrapped in damp 
 seaware and constantly dipped in water for some minutes 
 at a time, while we continued our search for another class 
 of objects. But whether its condition rendered it more 
 necessitous of water, or whether it had been poisoned by 
 the brackish water near which we found it, is uncertain : 
 at any rate, we could not take it the few hundred yards 
 alive. These fish are said to be very readily affected by 
 fresh water, and this being a male " in the family way," 
 must have been more especially susceptible, for, the 
 interesting part of the history of these fish is, that the 
 female lays the eggs and the male hatches them out in 
 his marsupial pouch, where he is said to give them asylum 
 from enemies, even after they have been sufficiently 
 matured to swim about alongside. It would be most 
 interesting to learn what constitutes the peculiarity of 
 any organism that can endure the transfer from salt water
 
 1 86 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 to fresh, or the reverse, with equanimity ; and what it is 
 that causes it to act almost as a poison upon creatures 
 apparently closely allied to those that are invulnerable. 
 
 The land that was greatly washed by the sea last 
 severe winter is now blooming under a crop of ryegrass, 
 and showing very well indeed already, despite the salting 
 the soil received. But there is a line curving along, 
 occasionally in the middle and sometimes on the verge, 
 that looks as if the track of a fiery dragon has passed 
 along and left all barren behind it. Its irregularity and 
 peculiar appearance prevented us at one discovering the 
 cause, which, however, was simple enough. At the 
 highest swing of the tide during the November gale the 
 storm left a line of straw and seaware and other floating 
 debris at the highest point reached, and this had acted 
 as a complete destroyer of vegetation, nothing whatever 
 coming up where it had lain. No doubt it had " burned " 
 the soil ; whereas, had it been distributed, the result 
 would have been advantageous. 
 
 We have had bursts of severe weather and storms of 
 hail, with "glimpses that have made us less forlorn" 
 between. As we return laden with mollusca from a sea- 
 ward ramble, a shout from our comrade informs us that 
 a " flounder " was in one of our ponds ; so, armed with 
 our i8in. "spatula," we approached, in hope of securing 
 a nice fresh supper. The captive turned out to be a 
 plaice in wretched condition, and quite covered with a 
 whitish fungus ; and the poor fish had evidently retired 
 to the quiet of the pond to ponder over the great question 
 of how to recuperate, leaving the more important 
 consideration of whether the fungus had been induced 
 by its low physical condition being incapable of throwing 
 off the disease, or whether the low state of body was
 
 JUNE, 1882. 187 
 
 primarily caused by the fungus, to be discussed by those 
 less immediately interested. We have little doubt our- 
 selves that vigorous fish, with plenty of nourishment and 
 well oxygenated water, will not yield to the assault of 
 any fungus as a rule ; and certainly in the case of this 
 plaice the system must have been lethargic and incapable 
 of secreting sufficient mucous, or else the spores would 
 have been thrown off from its back in the ordinary slimy 
 secretion usually so plentiful in the flat fishes. 
 
 The hail was dashing violently in our face, and the 
 waves rolling with a rush and a roar up to our feet, as 
 we skirted Ardmucknish Bay, wondering if aught of the 
 secrets of the deep were to be thrown in our path. The 
 elegant white, almost circular, shells of Venus exoleta 
 were plentifully strewn along the gravel, so common that 
 their exquisite symmetry was almost lost sight of; and 
 many elegant sea-weeds were tossed in from the deeper 
 water outside. But only one vegetable product of the 
 deep could attract our attention to-day. It was no use 
 for the tangle to throw its smooth leaves of richest and 
 darkest brown in complicated heaps upon the beach 
 when close at hand those magnificent fronds of Saccharina, 
 the Icelandic sugar ware, were spreading themselves full 
 along the water's edge. Our thoughts were otherwise 
 engaged, but even the absent eye is brought suddenly 
 home in the presence of such luxuriance. Here is one 
 by itself, so we stretch it out and pace its length, good 
 15 feet, although a considerable portion of the ribbon- 
 like end has been broken off, while for a large proportion 
 of its length it is from a foot to 18 inches wide. Verily, 
 no such leaf can we produce from the soil of Benderloch, 
 and we must go to the Banana-decked tropics to find any 
 comparable frond, washed by an air in place of a water
 
 1 88 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 sea. Now we are at the sea verge, we diligently dig out 
 towards the end of the seaward tending promontory, now 
 turning up a razor shell, now a cockle, a venus, or a tapes, 
 until we come to the region of the mushkinfJ/j'fl truticata), 
 which is considered one of the best of our edible shell- 
 fish, and is readily distinguished by its long, black, 
 leathery nose, that is promptly withdrawn on the approach 
 of danger. All these shellfish are to be found at this 
 time of all sizes, small by degrees and beautifully less, as 
 a rule, the nearer we dig to the shore. They have 
 consequently been spawning for some time, as we find 
 them so graduated up to maturity. The question 
 suggests itself how these seemingly sedentary shellfish, 
 living in the gravel or mud, can progress seaward as they 
 mature ; for this they must do, or otherwise the full-grown 
 specimens would be found among the small fry inshore ! 
 Although we seldom see them in motion, yet these shell- 
 fish, provided with strong " feet," can push themselves 
 along vigorously, and no doubt will take advantage of 
 the reflux of the tide to remove to more suitable premises. 
 This is a very difficult matter to understand in the case 
 of Mycs, with their large shells so deep in the ground ; 
 but it seems as if we could come to no other conclusion 
 to account for their distribution. It is with many of 
 these shellfish as with other common creatures, their very 
 multitude and universality has prevented their receiving 
 that attention less interesting but rarer forms receive. 
 And so it is that their spawning seasons and mode of 
 increase is so little understood, although thousands of 
 tons of cockles, those most delightful of the edible 
 bivalves scarcely excepting the oyster are annually 
 consumed. The only distinct statement the inspectors 
 could elicit concerning them from the fishermen was
 
 JUNE, 1882. 189 
 
 that very minute specimens of cockles made their 
 appearance in June, and yet the livelihood of thousands 
 of the coast population mainly depended upon under- 
 standing them and their ways. We are satisfied that 
 although certain seasons find the larger proportion of 
 shellfish, as of true fish, spawning, yet they spawn in our 
 warm seas almost all the year, and so are independent 
 of any sudden untoward occurrence at the spawning 
 season of the majority. The quantity of " food" we 
 dug up in a foot or two was most remarkable, and how a 
 cockle manages not only to get so fat but deposits such 
 a quantity of lime in the short time at its disposal is a 
 mystery. The My<z also are most vigorous, and form 
 large and strong shells, each valve occasionally reaching 
 5 inches by 3, in favourable positions with us ; although 
 this is much beyond their customary dimensions else- 
 where. These latter shellfish, although rarely taken by 
 the people about, do not consequently increase the more ; 
 but the cockles that are steadily hunted more or less the 
 year through before our door, are as numerous and as 
 large as we have ever seen them ! This itself would 
 point to regular relays of sizes growing up to take the 
 place of those removed, and at the same time shows the 
 advantage to a species to have the larger individuals 
 regularly removed, just as the Fijians " clubbed " their 
 fathers ! 
 
 The sea-farer and sea-labourer have not found the days 
 so kind, but you did steal one happy day, my friend, to 
 probe the sea-bottom, and endeavour to decipher more 
 of its story than you previously knew ; and all, too, were 
 lucky enough to tumble on board at the right time, as 
 the strong-winded launch puffed across to the deepest 
 water to be had inside the Atlantic. We know that if
 
 1 90 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 the land were to rise or the sea recede a hundred fathoms, 
 all the German Ocean, the English Channel, the sea far 
 to the West of Ireland and the outer Hebrides, as well 
 as around the Orkney and Shetland Islands, would 
 become dry land ; but even then there would be a few 
 lakes left, and some of the very few deeper spots within the 
 sea-line mentioned are in our neighbouring Linnhe Loch. 
 What will the water swirl into such pits, or what purely 
 pelagic forms will take up their permanent residence in 
 these deeper quarters ? we ask ourselves as the dredge is 
 already over a hundred fathoms from the deck. We 
 have found from experience in our own loch that the 
 deepest pit is mostly a receptacle for the dead shells of 
 the ordinary mollusca of the loch, or at least it has rarely 
 yielded us anything else but we are hopeful of some- 
 thing more interesting here. The little capstan creaks 
 as the line strains around it bringing up an evident burden, 
 for the dredge has been biting well, and its " pulse " has 
 been favourable, as our hearty friend remarks, and the 
 wildest enthusiasm animates the hunters as its contents 
 are tumbled out for investigation. Keep it quite clear 
 of the stuff from paltry sixty fathoms, although we did 
 dive with delighted alacrity at the splendid keyhole 
 limpets and Hungarian's caps that came up from that 
 depth. 
 
 Well ! well ! and what have we got ? Did you ever 
 see such clumps of Sertularia, those beautiful plant-like 
 zoophytes, as we have here; and the masses of Tere- 
 bratula of the most splendid proportions will force ur to 
 talk of these interesting shells in future with regal in- 
 difference. Here are two beauties, almost white, with 
 their serpent heads (Caput-serpentis), seated on the living 
 shells of Modiola or horse-mussels. Set them in water
 
 JUNE, 1882. 191 
 
 and you will observe that, although fixed to the shell of 
 the mussel by a strong muscular attachment, beyond 
 their power of voluntary removal, yet they revolve upon 
 it in the most curious fashion, half forcing one to look 
 for eyes, so serpent-head like dotheyappear as they revolve. 
 These are really finely-grown specimens, far beyond any- 
 thing we have in our own loch, yet they are affixed to 
 and have reached maturity upon living Modiolce of a very 
 moderate size compared with those to be found at a 
 fathom or two in the laminarian zone. This is surely 
 proof enough that the large mussel is better suited for 
 shallow water, while the Terebratulce are clearly better 
 grown in the depths. This is evidently the case with 
 various other species, and we go on passing the material 
 through our hands, now tumbling two varieties of 
 Holothuritz into water, now chucking little bits of sticks, 
 with remote resemblance to crustaceans, into other recep- 
 tacles, until what with hermit crabs with beautiful green 
 eyes and jackets like boiled partans, and large Porcellani 
 crabs, Munida rugosa, mixed up with fragments of 
 mutilated Norwegian lobsters, Nephrops Norvegicus, our 
 receptacles are getting filled with a motley collection. 
 The sea urchins are represented by large fellows, bigger 
 than the fist, but still inferior to those we have taken in 
 shallow water; and the little curious flat creatures, scarcely 
 larger round than peas, with mouth and vent on same 
 side and the spines only observable with the lens, 
 Echinocyamus pitsillus, are they not called, with the 
 customary contrariness of naturalists, whose nomenclature 
 increases at an inverse ratio to the size of the creature 
 named. 
 
 As we come to examine the contents of our jars, we 
 find that the little stick-like, or rather straw-like,
 
 1 92 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 crustaceans are really the quaint looking Arcturus, with 
 claws at the end of two feet-like antennse ; but whether 
 they chose such a deep quarter to reside in from dread 
 of that 100 fathom rise in the land, or because their 
 attenuated bodies were little affected by depth or conse- 
 quent pressure, we do not mean to decide. Here is a 
 shell of Venus casina so covered with a growth as to be 
 of as brilliant green as a copper salt, and sitting in the 
 middle thereof, turning about its droll head, is a small 
 terebratuld) wondering into what inhospitable world it 
 had been dragged from its home more than TOO fathoms 
 deep. The dredge has meantime been jumping along a 
 rocky bottom at a lesser depth, and when it appears over 
 the gunwale the principal product is a cluster of barnacles. 
 You have all seen our barnacle-covere'd sea coast with 
 the myriad cilise of the owners waving in the water, and 
 no doubt suppose that double or triple the size would be 
 a reasonable increase for a deep water barnacle to reach. 
 But what do you say to them when they would contain 
 as good a dram as the most exacting Highland throat 
 could desire? 
 
 Slowly our nervous system gets settled from the excite- 
 ment of expectant Columbus's, and settles back into the 
 more sober tone of mind represented by gloating over 
 and arranging our garnered riches. And our friend 
 dispenses his treasures with most uncollector-like gener- 
 osity, and we promise to search the deepest pits in 
 fraternal association, and we look forward to a new 
 species of mermaid and a particular variety of sea-serpent ; 
 but alas ! for our wayward clime, the wind blew and the 
 waters rose, and the dredge and its owner have once 
 more changed positions, the latter to labour and the 
 former to play ! But, perhaps, it is scarcely to be called
 
 JUNE, 1882. 193 
 
 play bringing in a dredge from a hundred fathoms even 
 by the partial aid of a steam winch, laden with the spoil 
 of a course along a gravelly bottom, travelled with a 
 "good pulse." 
 
 The sun has just sunk behind the Kingairloch hills, 
 and the loch is richly bathed in cross lights as the moon 
 swings lazily over the summit of Ben Breac. We are 
 turning homeward with but one skate to reward our long 
 watch around the cairn, and as we tug at the oar our 
 attention is once more attracted to what a shower of 
 rain or of flies ? One glance at the serene heavens dis- 
 pels any idea of rain drops, and neither midges nor flies 
 are troubling us, so we are forced to seek in the water 
 itself for an explanation of the peculiar appearance as if 
 sharp drops were striking the surface and spreading a 
 multitude of wave lines all around. On closer examina- 
 tion the explanation is sufficiently simple. The water is 
 teeming with sea-blubbers (Meditsce) just on a level with 
 the surface, and at each pulsation the centre is lifted 
 over the surface so as to cause a break, in the very same 
 way as any object, be it rain drop or insect, that struck 
 the surface from above would do. The great multitude 
 of these jelly-fishes all breaking the surface gave a most 
 remarkable appearance to the water, and as we passed 
 through them with the boat, the infinity of waving cilise 
 invested the sea with new interest, these creatures being 
 as beautiful in the water as they appear slobbery, unin- 
 teresting masses, when out of it. 
 
 Suddenly, as we proceed, " there is a sound of revelry 
 by night," and hundreds of sable musicians of the most 
 dismal character commence "We won't go home till 
 morning," or its equivalent among dissipated rooks. 
 These birds have all been roosting on a low tree by the 
 
 N
 
 i 9 4 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 sea-shore, and indeed, almost on the sea beach, for it 
 over-hangs the gravel. Whether they had chosen this 
 particular spot as the most suitable one near to their 
 hunting ground, and so as to be able to commence opera- 
 tions after the few hours of semi-darkness had dispersed, 
 or because it was more comfortable than if it had over- 
 hung the grass, we know not. It is probable that the 
 radiation from the gravel would keep them warmer than 
 if they were sitting over the dew-distilling grass, and 
 rooks are sufficiently intelligent to know how to make 
 themselves snug. 
 
 We have not seen many skates these nights, and our 
 most dexterous spearman has only struck small ones, so 
 he asks the pertinent question whether they may not be 
 coming by relays, and the older fish having deposited 
 their eggs are now followed by younger brethren ? We 
 do not profess to understand the spawning of skate nor 
 properly to appreciate the length of time required for the 
 maturity of the egg either inside the fish or after depos- 
 ition. We have already called attention to the fact that 
 thornbacks caught in November or December are found 
 supplied with well-developed eggs, although they do not 
 make their appearance at the spawning-grounds until 
 May or June. After this they disappear from these 
 grounds, and yet they are at this time full of eggs at all 
 stages of development. This would mean either that 
 these eggs take a long time to be covered with their 
 final capsule, or that the fish go elsewhere to spawn as 
 the season advances. 
 
 We this week secured in shallow water a species that 
 we have not hitherto met in our loch namely, the 
 cuckoo-skate (Raia miraletus), of Couch. The pale 
 yellow colour and large darkly marked spot or eye on
 
 JUNE, 1882. 195 
 
 each wing are quite distinctive, more especially when 
 accompanied by the numberless minute hooked prickles 
 on the surface of the skin. Now, this species is said to 
 throw its eggs in December, and yet this specimen was 
 supplied with eggs in various stages, the larger being 
 wholly developed, with the exception of the enveloping 
 capsule of tough fibrous gelatine that apparently takes 
 so long to form. We have never succeeded in hatching 
 out skate eggs, probably from impatience of results being 
 so long delayed, but when removing several for experi- 
 ment the other day, we were surprised at the marked 
 difference between the eggs as removed from the fish 
 and the same egg as it appears when a short time out of 
 water.* The fish seems to throw out a stringy mucous 
 of the most tenacious character, with which the egg at- 
 taches itself to whatever it is deposited upon, and 
 so far from being thrown at random as some na- 
 turalists assert, we believe the spawning ground to be 
 carefully chosen, and the eggs that are thrown ashore are 
 the victims of the turbulence of the sea and not of the 
 stupidity of the fishes. If these carefully protected eggs 
 are never found in the stomachs of fishes, they are cer- 
 tainly punctured by some borer, notably the dog whelk, 
 so that they do not escape the dangers that await all 
 embryos. The cuckoo ray, whether from its small size 
 or intrinsic quality, proved to be the most delicate of the 
 class we have ever tasted, and certainly superior to the 
 thornback in its present condition. Only once have we 
 procured a small fish fry from the stomach of a skate 
 
 * We succeeded at various times in hatching out the thornback, 
 six months being about the time required to absorb the umbilical 
 sac.
 
 [96 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 here, the usual contents being Crustacea and mollusca, 
 no doubt a good proof of the dearth of fishes in the loch. 
 
 We had recently sent us the contents of the stomachs 
 of a number of sea-trout taken in salt water, away from 
 rivers, and these proved to consist mainly of small cuttle- 
 fish (Loligo media ?) with a few annelids and half-digested 
 fry. The presence of these small cuttles in such numbers 
 on our coast was unknown to us, as we have rarely 
 captured them, but no doubt they frequent the laminarian 
 zone more than the deeper water usually traversed by 
 our dredges. 
 
 When examining a number of large ascidians lately 
 in order to extract the Modiolaria or delicate mussel-like 
 shells that take up their abode in the thick surrounding 
 integument, and live upon the juices of this low-class 
 pseudo-vertebrate, we were surprised on two several 
 occasions to find a crustacean quite three-eighths of an 
 inch long make its appearance, upon pressure, from the 
 entrance orifice. These proved to belong to the family 
 of Gammaridct, not unlike in general appearance to the 
 familiar shore-flea. The sluggish organisation of the 
 ascidians seems to present especial facilities to unwel- 
 come guests to quarter themselves upon it. 
 
 The familiar green lintie of the south ( Coccothraustes 
 Moris) is by no means a common bird here, but we were 
 sorry when we lately came upon a nest in our garden 
 most skilfully concealed, and with the five dainty eggs 
 we know so well, to find them cold and evidently deserted. 
 We hope the little mother was more successful elsewhere, 
 and that it had not paid the penalty of over-familiarity, 
 and fallen a victim for we keep no cold-blooded assassin 
 in feline shape about our premises. In consequence of 
 this all birds are friendly, and we had the pleasure this
 
 JULY, 1882. 197 
 
 week of watching a gold-crest, our smallest British bird, 
 performing its antics on the hedge two yards from our 
 window for several minutes, regardless of our presence. 
 Its movements were more like those of a tit, as it passed 
 along the hedge sprouts, and the plumage spoke of 
 immaturity, but the brilliant crest of Regulus cristatus 
 was its unquestionable patent of nobility. 
 
 JULY, 1882. 
 
 We peered in vain into the hole in the shed in which 
 our factotum had placed the rat trap, but at length a ray 
 of light enabled us to observe that the trap was sprung, 
 and yet nothing observable in it. We had just come to 
 this sage conclusion, and decided to let other hands with- 
 draw and re-set it when shortly thereafter the trap was 
 pulled out with an empty rat-skin in it ! Clearly its 
 brethren had declared in favour of rat pie, and "drew 
 the line " at the skin and tail. " The horrid cannibals," 
 said everybody, "the brutes will eat anything!" But 
 they would not, you see, and left the skin ; being in this 
 far superior to the Irish savage who used to exhibit him- 
 self before a delighted audience of roughs, in the charm- 
 ing occupation of eating up a raw live rat. Why should 
 we scoff at rats because in the absence of other savoury 
 food they should inter their benighted companion in 
 friendly and sympathetic sepulchres ? Is it not, indeed, 
 a further instance of their exceptional intelligence thus 
 to rise above all paltry sentiment and utilise the body of 
 their defunct comrade ; perhaps even led thereto by the 
 humane desire to put an end to its sufferings ? Certain 
 it is that the rat is one of the most intelligent of living
 
 198 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 animals, while the cannibal races of the old and new 
 worlds, whether Fijians or Maoris, Niam-Niam or Caribs, 
 have been the most vigorous, intellectual, and respectable 
 savages that our advanced civilisation has come in 
 contact with. So that we are forced to conclude there 
 must be some connection between intelligence and 
 cannibalism, and that as we ascend in the scale of being 
 as a rule we feed upon still higher class organisms than 
 the order beneath us, and consequently it might be 
 advisable to consider whether whether we seem to 
 have lost the thread of the argument ! 
 
 A lobster ! said one, as we stood by the shore in the 
 dusk. A beast that bites ! remarked another in explan- 
 ation. But there are quite a lot of them flopping about, 
 so we soon gather them together and ascertain that we 
 have got a lot of cuttle-fish. These are the largest we 
 have seen in the loch, for although we have met the eggs 
 of the creature in a forward state of development, we 
 have never yet obtained full-grown samples of Loligo 
 vulgaris. These fellows are about a foot long, without 
 their tentacles. Ere we manage to transport them to our 
 domicile, the receptacle in which they are placed is 
 swimming in the black ink which they throw, in place of 
 the brown liquid of the Sepias. So the youngsters gather 
 round to see the Sea-Clerk dissected, and its ink-bottle 
 taken out, followed by the quill pen of a back bone, so 
 delicately transparent, and such an exact reproduction in 
 its way of the old goose-quill. The mandibles of the 
 parrot beak, too, so characteristic of the octopi, are keen 
 enough to prove that they are really " beasts that bite," 
 even if we had not been foolish enough to prove the 
 ability of the tribe, and be sharply bitten by little creatures 
 two or three inches long. Their stomachs are well filled,
 
 JULY, 1882. 199 
 
 and the contents at once show the difference between 
 them and ordinary vertebrate fishes. The fry in the 
 stomachs of sea trout are nearly whole, and but little 
 bruised, showing enough to satisfy us that they consist 
 at present of small herring fry and sandlaunces ; while 
 those in the cuttle are so finely comminuted with their 
 parrot beaks that only the crushed bones and scales are 
 evidence of their fishy character. Here, then, are 
 Nature's paths crossing. The low-class mollusc (for, 
 although highly developed, the cuttles are mollusca) eats 
 the vertebrate fishes on the one hand, while the larger 
 vertebrates, in the shape of the sea trout, are eating the 
 smaller cuttles alongside. 
 
 We recently procured a lot of small fishes that are 
 rarely caught on the Scottish coast, simply because they 
 do not take the ordinary baits employed, or come within 
 the ordinary engines of destruction. We refer to the 
 Wrass family, which frequent rocky coasts or algae-covered 
 boulders, and have very small mouths, that no usual 
 haddock hook could enter. It is very rarely that any 
 one fishes them with fine hooks, as they are of little value 
 for the table, and give little sport to the angler unless he 
 uses extremely fine tackle, and in consequence, they are 
 little known among us. The common Wrass, or Ballan 
 Wrass (Labrus macttlatus), is a very brilliantly marked 
 fish, red and blue streaks and marking covering him all 
 over, more especially vivid about the head. The soft 
 lips, which are a special characteristic of the family, no 
 doubt enable them to feel their food among the dark 
 fronds of the laminaria, where little light can penetrate 
 at times. Among the more brilliant specimens, an 
 example of the Green Wrass (Labrus lineatus), came 
 ashore. This fish is scarcely acknowledged as a species
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 by Couch, and is considered a variety, owing its colour 
 to the difference of ground ; but here we have both 
 caught within a few yards, a fact which distinctly militates 
 against the ground theory in this case. There seems as 
 good reason to make it a species, notwithstanding 
 structural similarity, as there is for many others which 
 have been separated out. Several specimens of the little 
 Corkwing ( Crenilabrus cornubicus), one of the commonest 
 of the family on our coast, were captured along with the 
 above, so that we do not seem to be deficient in species, 
 if we only devoted a little attention to their elucidation 
 and capture. In fact, the abundance of seaware on our 
 coast ought to be a surety that these rock and luxuriant 
 algse haunters are not uncommon. 
 
 We have several times amused ourselves by endeavour- 
 ing to secure various wrasses and sea perch that frequent 
 a rocky islet out off the shore, employing a hand-net with 
 a long handle, but they are much too knowing to be 
 enticed therein, and, when disturbed from among the 
 seaweed fronds, they at once bolt seawards. The fifteen- 
 spined stickleback and various gobies, may, with patience, 
 be thus taken, but a crick in the neck and benumbed 
 hands are our usual reward whenever we seek thus to 
 add to our knowledge of the wrasses. That the green 
 wrass may well be a modified ballan wrass we must not, 
 however, deny, as we have always held that colour is 
 greatly influenced by the ground, and although captured 
 close together it is quite possible they may have grown 
 up in conterminous haunts of sufficiently distinct character. 
 
 Scrambling up the front of our dwelling, and twining 
 across the top of the door, a vigorous Troptxolum has 
 established itself by the help of a stout cord. Although 
 starting annually from the ground, it has already traversed
 
 JULY, 1882. 
 
 an extensive range, and the show of blossom of a brilliant 
 red hue is something startling. In the short space across 
 the top of the doorway the flowers are to be counted by 
 hundreds, to the complete exclusion of any green and 
 all these, it must be remembered, have to be supplied 
 with vigor, and life, and beauty through a stem like a 
 piece of small cordage. It is difficult to realise the speed 
 with which the sap must course upwards, in order to feed 
 such a magnificent display ; not to speak of the fresh 
 progress made daily and the daily new supply of flowers. 
 We look upwards with an idea that there is a secret to 
 be unravelled here, and that a dexterous experimenter 
 might arrange an experiment by which the speed of the 
 flow of sap would be measured. This beautiful and 
 graceful plant grows with the utmost luxuriance with us, 
 and yet it is exceedingly difficult to establish in a new 
 quarter. Many plants have been sent to the warm south 
 without success, and the more anxious the recipients 
 have been to secure it, the more obstinately has it declined 
 to be coddled. It especially affects a gravelly soil, and 
 whenever it takes a fancy to a district and it is left alone, 
 it will spread with marvellous rapidity, and threaten to 
 choke all other vegetation about it. 
 
 Surely there is no other plant like this American exotic, 
 to send the sap scudding upwards through a minimum 
 of stem, we mutter, as we traverse the burn side with the 
 blue harebells in dainty groups nodding at us from the 
 wall on our dexter hand, and the white digitalis in studied 
 groups close alongside. We are at the garden gate under 
 a 2o-foot wall, and our attention is called to something 
 on the top of a tree, by the side of the stream a hundred 
 yards away. Quite a gay group on the tip top of the 
 tree, and the tree well nigh soft, over the stream. Your
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 favourite flower, my dear, but we're not going there to 
 pluck them, so you must e'en sniff the evening air, and 
 fancy the odours from the wild honey-suckle are wafted 
 hitherwards, and that you are better to leave the daring 
 flowers in their point of vantage, where the dwellers in 
 the woodland can enjoy their fragrance. Yon are 
 suggesting stiffened joints and youth departed ; but we 
 are only contemplative, we assure you, and are startled 
 at thus discovering our simple, hardy, native plant, with 
 its wrinkled, cordage stem, feeding its honey-laden head 
 at a height to which the bright stranger we have been 
 discoursing about cannot yet aspire, with us. 
 
 The deer eat the Tropceolum, as they eat almost every 
 other green thing, and what they do not eat the rascals 
 destroy with their feet and horns, out of apparent mischief. 
 Not always do they come by a righteous retribution ; but 
 that black fellow that hopped so lightly over that wire 
 fence, and waxed so fat on forbidden turnips, and seemed 
 to flourish, in despite the direst anathemas, what became 
 of him that he ceased to "lard the lean earth" as he sped 
 along to his daily meal ? Perhaps the dogs that enjoyed 
 the venison know best, as the " black fellow " hung with 
 his heels on the wires and his nose in the little swamp 
 alongside, out of which position he could not extricate 
 his fat carcase. How he must have bemoaned his weak- 
 ness for cultivation and turnips, and wished he had stuck 
 to the hillside and the heather ! We turn from the 
 stream, with the lycopodium growing far up the stems of 
 the trees on its banks, and revel in the rich hay crop, 
 with as much on one acre as last year showed on three. 
 For if the year has been uncertain and backward in the 
 eyes of pleasure-loving humanity, the crops as a whole 
 look remarkably well, and all vegetation flourishes, even
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 203 
 
 the bunches of hazels having caught what sun was about 
 and tinted their cheeks therewith. 
 
 A plague in the shape of midges, so we did not stop 
 to examine the results of our dredging, but fled ignom- 
 iniously from the field. That is the reason that little fish 
 happened to be left stranded on the bottom of the boat, 
 without the slightest attention being paid to it, although 
 a glance is sufficient to assure us we have not taken any 
 of his kind hitherto in Loch Creran. We have often 
 wondered at the absence of weever fish, and here at last 
 is a young specimen, about zin. long, of the larger weever, 
 Trachinns draco, with long dorsal and anal fins, and the 
 black fin over the head in which the dangerous weapon 
 is concealed that procures for it the name of sting-bull. 
 These fishes, when more mature, are really most venomous 
 customers, and the wound they inflict is very poisonous. 
 As they bury themselves in the sand with the sting out, 
 naked feet most frequently are apprised of their truculent 
 presence. Although said to be not uncommon on the 
 Scottish coast, we have only once known of their capture 
 before, over a lengthened experience of Scottish sea-fish- 
 ing. Does any reader know of their frequenting the 
 coast elsewhere ? 
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 
 
 That we behaved like a fool we acknowledge, but we 
 have been quite unable to decide wherein our excessive 
 folly lay ! To stand, hat in hand, at a corner of Buchanan 
 Street, in the busiest part of the day, and make half-furtive 
 and consequently abortive attempts with this instrument 
 to capture the object of our attention, is so self-evidently 
 foolish to you that you cannot understand our difficulty.
 
 204 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Well, the fact is, we scarcely agree that the act in question 
 was so foolish as was our weakly refraining from following 
 up the attempt until it had been a success. For the first 
 time in our experience, amid the throng of business, a 
 really magnificent dragon-fly was jerking its unaccustomed 
 way up our principal street. Now it swerved aside from 
 a tram only to meet the danger of a highly-poised hansom- 
 cabman. Here it almost fled into the face of a police- 
 man, only to rebound under the nose of a cab horse. 
 Up it soared, to remove from the turmoil, but the din 
 and bustle seemed to disorganise its intelligence, and 
 once more it is only avoiding by rebounding movements 
 the trams, cabs, and hurrying foot-passengers of our most 
 thronged of thoroughfares. We pretend to be absorbed 
 in ruminating whether or not to remove our various 
 deposits from the Limited Scotch banks to the Bank of 
 England, and assume the sternly contemplative expression 
 of a great financier, as we conceive him to be, while we 
 follow the flight of the stranger from the country up and 
 down, round and across, in its wayward wanderings. 
 No one else in all that crowd could find an eye for the 
 beautiful interloper, and we amused ourselves for a time 
 watching whether any of the faces into which it nearly 
 popped over and over again, took any notice of it. But 
 not one seemed even to note its presence, or surely the 
 eye would have changed expression, and the swamp with 
 the groves of iris, and the pond with the water lilies of 
 their boyhood, been tossed for one vivid moment before 
 their mental sight. Whence and how could this brilliant 
 son of a water-nymph arrive in the centre of a great city, 
 to pursue his excited, jerky existence ? Our only explan- 
 ation pointed to the vegetable and fruit shops of the 
 vicinity, to which it must have been brought when at
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 205 
 
 rest in the early morning, the heat of the day and the 
 city sending it forth on its fruitless errand among the 
 flowers of the ladies bonnets. It could not have come 
 in embryo, as the dragon-fly is matured as it issues from 
 the water, and so in all likelihood it had simply passed 
 the night in some vegetable, to find itself in a new world 
 in the morning. A friend informs us of a very fine speci- 
 men having been captured in Buchanan Street some years 
 ago. 
 
 We lately observed a decision that has impressed us 
 with a high opinion of the general knowledge of natural 
 history in the North. A man caught inflagrante delictu 
 with a poached salmon in his possession, declared he 
 did not know a trout from a salmon, and thereupon drew 
 down upon his head the stern rebuke of the judge, 
 promptly followed by his committal. We should much 
 like to know how many in Glasgow can tell a salmon 
 when they see it ; ay ! even how many in the country 
 can tell a salmon from a grilse and a sea trout, all, say, 
 about 7lb. weight ? And then, if by salmon the speaker 
 talks comprehensively of all the salmonidae^ we could 
 confront him with members of the family only to be 
 acknowledged by a thorough specialist. We have no 
 doubt that roughly speaking the judge was right, but it 
 is also quite possible that, technically speaking, the 
 poacher was also right, and that he could not tell a trout 
 from a salmon. What relationship is there between a 
 brown trout and a sea trout ? and if brown trout took to 
 salt water, would they become silvered like the parr when 
 it becomes a smelt ? Many such questions that would 
 once have appeared absurd are now put most seriously 
 by men well qualified to judge whether they are serious 
 or no. We have taken brown trout in very brackish
 
 206 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 water, and off all our small streams local shoals of small 
 sea-trout are to be found ; sea-trout that have bred in 
 these same streams. These shoals are quite distinct from 
 the quantities of large sea-trout, strongly marked occasion- 
 ally, and at other times with quite delicate markings, 
 that throng towards the larger rivers from the deeper sea, 
 in time to make havoc among the smolts and younger 
 salmon fry. It will one of these days become a grave 
 question whether sea-trout should not be confined to 
 these smaller streams, leaving the larger rivers to the 
 salmon, as we look upon the voracious sea-trout as a 
 great enemy to its nobler congener, and to attempt to 
 stock a river with both appears to us very like the con- 
 duct of the boy that wished both to eat his cake and keep 
 it. 
 
 We have had occasion before to refer to the growth on 
 the shells of univalves (Hydractina echinata, is it not, my 
 friend ?) and one of these shells we were keeping by us 
 to watch the movements of the associated Polyzoae in the 
 water. A pretty little grove they appeared, and we were 
 wondering what the creature could assimilate, and 
 whether any but the lowest life would ever be brought 
 within their power. Into the dish we popped a beautiful 
 annelid, its many segments iridescent in the light, and 
 the creature itself moving like a railway train round a 
 curve. In its excitement it traversed the dish over and 
 over again, until at length in a thoughtless moment it ran 
 over the hydractina-covered shell. It had not gone far, 
 however, despite its activity of movement, until the end 
 of its tail got seized among the creatures, and after the 
 most desperate struggles and efforts to relieve itself it was 
 forced to sacrifice a portion of its extremity in order to 
 secure the safety of the remainder, only escaping with its
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 207 
 
 life from these determined communists, whose union was 
 strength. Had the community been a little more exten- 
 sive, and the creature had delayed in ridding itself of the 
 portion seized, it would have all gone to form a meal to 
 these strange coralline-like growths. 
 
 It is interesting to learn from "W. L. H." that instances 
 of dragon-flies in cities are more common than we 
 imagine ; at the same time we cannot bring ourselves to 
 believe that these insects willingly traverse the smoke- 
 freighted city of their own accord. Still it must be 
 recollected that these larger species of Libellula are more 
 like swallows, for power and speed of flight, and their 
 carnivorous character might induce them to follow, say, a 
 butcher's cart even into what must appear to them an 
 African desert of city. We in vain endeavoured to follow 
 a fine specimen to-day in its swift progress over a stretch 
 of mossy ground, its large eyes scanning the neighbour- 
 hood for living prey ; for these predacious insects may be 
 called the Raptores of the insect world. The neighbour- 
 hood or immediate surface of water is their customary 
 hunting-ground, water being the element in which their 
 eggs are laid, and in which their nymphs emerge from 
 the pupa case and develop their wings. It is therefore 
 impossible to believe them developed in the city, and we 
 are forced to suppose them carried thither accidentally 
 rather than traversing the streets like insect Livingstones. 
 Their life history is a strange one, well worthy the atten- 
 tion of youthful naturalists, who might " choke " them 
 with a drop of paraffin on the complicated tail, through 
 the end of which they breathe ! 
 
 In passing along the highway these last days every 
 step has been accompanied by the most reckless slaughter, 
 for it was quite impossible to proceed without destruction,
 
 208 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 owing to the myriads of ants traversing the path. On 
 Tuesday, however, we came upon a variation of this 
 spectacle, for these ants, wingless, busy, purpose-like as 
 they appeared, had given place to vast multitudes of 
 winged specimens, fushionless, helpless, purposeless, and 
 that seemed to flop about in the dazed fashion of young 
 birds too early driven from the nest. On examination 
 they were the well known winged ants of our boyhood 
 that we so well knew to be destitute of stings or power 
 of inflicting vengeance, and that came and went like a 
 visitation. They are the gentlemen ants, whose services 
 are no longer required by the community, with a sprink- 
 ling of pregnant females, not yet captured by the working 
 ants to continue the life of the ant hill. The males very 
 soon die, being as unfit to feed and support themselves 
 as they are unable to defend themselves ; and the females 
 soon rid themselves of their useless glittering appendages, 
 as a young mother throws aside her frippery and settles 
 down to maternal cares. The season seems to have been 
 most suitable for the propagation of the insect world, and, 
 certainly, if " every lad had his lass " among the ants, 
 there should be no lack of ant hillocks in the neighbour- 
 hood, nor need the barren workers have gone far to 
 secure the certainty of the continued existence of their 
 community. 
 
 Scarcely have we left the bright winged insects behind 
 us when we come upon a prettily marked reptile basking 
 in the sun in the middle of the road, evidently enjoying 
 the change from a muggy vegetation to the dry and warm 
 dust of the highway. We soon secure the fine specimen 
 of a blind adder, the only snake-like reptile we have yet 
 found in Benderloch, despite the stories of "adders" 
 that, when investigated, generally prove to be examples
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 209 
 
 of this timid and harmless member of the family. It 
 seemed so thoroughly overcome with the dolce far niente 
 of the hot afternoon that it made no effort to escape, 
 although fully alive and uninjured. 
 
 The eaves of our cottage can be reached with the 
 hand, and yet, although close to the road and dotted 
 with windows, so confident are some of our native birds 
 that nests are actually built in the Cottonia that hugs the 
 front of the dwelling. A foot or two from the windows, 
 a few feet from the ground, and in the way of being almost 
 rubbed by the passing shoulder, the wren (troglodytes) 
 had commenced one nest and finished two others, all 
 within a radius of a yard or so. The charming little 
 domiciles had apparently never been occupied, whether 
 from her mate declining to entrust his precious existence 
 so close to humanity, or from her ladyship being herself 
 dissatisfied with her workmanship or site. It is quite 
 possible she was only practising house-building, and that 
 last having been quite a little masterpiece, she may have 
 removed herself and her skill to more suitable quarters. 
 Yet the plentiful greenery of the neighbourhood of our 
 doorway must provide a sufficiency of insect food, and 
 we yesterday observed a little blue tit clambering among 
 the escalonia and cottonia, and devouring the insects, as it 
 hung, all ends up, within a foot or two of our door and 
 ourselves ; whilst a redbreast in the pursuit of flies entered 
 the open window of our sanctum, and getting between 
 the two panes, had to remain imprisoned securely until 
 we liberated its panting bosom. 
 
 Some one has been endeavouring to explain on 
 Darwinian principles why the greater proportion of flowers 
 are yellow, although we can scarcely consider the effort 
 successful. On similar lines, can it be explained why
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 the greater proportion of individual butterflies are white ? 
 At present it is quite an exception to see a dark-coloured 
 one, while the white of various species are legion. That 
 a white butterfly is as readily observed by a bird as any 
 other, we are as satisfied as we are that it is more readily 
 noted by the human eye ; so it cannot be to escape its 
 enemies. Is it really from a wholly opposite necessity 
 that of being observed by its fellows ? This is, perhaps, 
 more than probable; and as they jerk along over the 
 heath, or flutter so jauntily and aberrantly over the fields 
 of oats until they recognise their " affinity," you conclude, 
 as they tumble together into the vegetation, that it is 
 more important for the race, with us, to be readily 
 recognised, than to be specially fitted to escape obser- 
 vation. 
 
 Very frequently we have brought up in the dredge, a 
 smooth species of sponge, in which a hermit crab is en- 
 sconced, and we have wondered how and why it should 
 have selected such a situation. The peculiar shape of 
 the sponge at length satisfied us that it must have origin- 
 ally started from a shell, but again and again no shell has 
 been found inside. We find, however, that it does seem- 
 ingly start as a growth upon a miniature shell, in which 
 the crab has placed itself, and gradually the sponge has 
 eaten away the shell, but had no effect upon the movable 
 body of the crab. Nothing could better prove the effect 
 of sponges upon shells than this case, in which it ends 
 by entirely removing all evideuce ot there ever having 
 been a shell at all. Other sponges seem to act more 
 slowly, as those upon oyster and scallop shells, but even 
 these puncture holes all over the shell, and gradually 
 disintegrate as they continue to penetrate. 
 
 The evening is remarkable still, the tide very high, and
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 
 
 the slightest sound is carried readily across the water. 
 Suddenly we are startled by regular splashing from the 
 direction of the sea-surrounded cairn, and conclude that 
 the seals are at their games again, although we have seen 
 but few of them about recently, since rifle balls from 
 youngsters " on the rampage " have been ricochetting too 
 freely over the waters. But the steady regularity of the 
 sound demands another explanation, when we discover 
 that the cattle, usually browsing on the little rocky islet 
 in front, have remained so long at their posts that they 
 are obliged to walk along the narrow ridge towards the 
 shore, quite shoulder high in the water, while the accom- 
 panying calves have little but their uplifted heads out of 
 the water. Had the water been rough the feat would 
 have been almost impossible to the calves, and only habit 
 could have bred the confidence and self-reliance necessary 
 to induce them to attempt such a passage homewards 
 unbidden. A strange, weird, and picturesque sight did 
 they appear as they passed in single file shoreward through 
 the water. 
 
 The islands of Loch Linnhe are now quite cleared of 
 their vociferous inhabitants, with the exception of a 
 scattering of lesser black-backed gulls. These have still 
 a few young, half or three-quarters grown, and, as the 
 boat approaches, the young birds start swimming seawards 
 in another direction. The terns, nesting latest of all, 
 were last week nearly over with their summer labours, 
 although a young one still fluttered into the water from 
 the rocks on our approach, while overhead the screech- 
 ing parents circled, except when their silence was enforced 
 by the mouthful they were bearing to their young. This 
 provender proved as usual to be herring sile, about 2 
 inches long, showing that these fish must spawn in the
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 neighbouring waters, as we scarcely ever find these birds 
 without such food at this season in Loch Linnhe. 
 Herring have been taken in the above loch of late, but 
 in no great numbers, while mackerel in shoals have also 
 been visiting their occasional haunts in Ardmucknish Bay. 
 These latter fish are small but are still large enough to 
 prove a great boon to the locality. Sea trout are still 
 appearing in Oban in considerable quantities, the result 
 of the poaching raids of the Oban trawlers ; but the fish 
 are not nearly so large as they were early in the season, 
 and are no doubt local products from the various smaller 
 streams. 
 
 As the rowers toiled against the stream, that curiously 
 interesting phenomenon, the combinations of the dockers 
 andthe gulls voluntary or accidental to make an assault 
 upon a shoal of fish, again came under our notice the 
 dockers below keeping the fish towards the surface, and 
 together, while the gulls and terns had a chance at them 
 above. On these occasions the frightened fish crowd to- 
 gether like sheep, so that the whole tragedy is confined 
 within very narrow limits. Doubtless the dookers merely 
 look to their own convenience, keeping the fish from 
 sinking too deep for them, and the screaming, gobbling 
 sea fowl are accidental jackals. 
 
 At the islands we hear a sudden reverberation, and 
 shortly thereafter we are surprised to find it was a shot 
 from one of the party, the nature of the sound and the 
 real distance wholly concealed by the peculiar state of 
 the atmosphere, which must have now all the character 
 of a light fog from the quantity of moisture in suspension, 
 although the day was otherwise clear, warm, and fine. 
 Long before darkness, however, a heavy rainfall of long- 
 continued duration partly explained the atmospheric
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 213 
 
 conditions. The result of this shot was a large cormorant 
 ( ' phalacrocorax carbo), still alive and not greatly injured. 
 Had we possessed facilities for a regular supply of fish in 
 our poorly-inhabited loch, we should have sought to keep 
 his lordship, for they will live and recover from most 
 severe wounds, and are by no means delicate in any way. 
 The eye is bold and piercing, and the head has a some- 
 what fierce and aquiline appearance. But there is 
 another shot, and a blue rock pigeon is dashing Lismore- 
 wards from the island. As it reaches the water edge it 
 decides not to attempt the crossing, but turning, makes 
 a valiant effort to regain the cliff whence it started. It 
 is wonderful that it did not fall at once, considering how 
 badly it was hit, and as it comes down with a sudden thud 
 it is clear no great suffering could have been endured, all 
 the nervous energy of the poor bird having been perforce 
 concentrated into that final effort. 
 
 You would rather have had that blue hawk, my friend, 
 which has so often just escaped your gun. How it must 
 scoff at slinking humanity skirting the cliff on careful 
 feet, while it sweeps outward from an unexpected corner 
 and soars seawards, the monarch still of the little domain ! 
 Rarely is the Black Island without a pair of these ever 
 beautiful and now comparatively rare, peregrine falcons. 
 Here we are on the bare summit, the hard rock for a 
 yard protruding through the heath-clad hill top blown 
 bare, or worn bare ; for here is the gathering ground of 
 black-backed gull and other seafowl, where they sit and 
 devour their tidbits, and yet can keep an eye on the 
 hunting-grounds around for anything else that may turn 
 up. Around the summit are numberless bleached limbs 
 of small crabs, and these must surely have been borne 
 hither by the gulls ; although our friend mentions that
 
 2i 4 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 where the cormorant was perched a dozen small crabs 
 were lying with the carapaces broken through. We are 
 not aware that cormorants are eaters of Crustacea, and 
 are more inclined meantime to suppose that some gull 
 or other had borne the crabs thither. 
 
 The wild bees were very numerous on the island, but 
 we did not see a byke, and believe these to have come 
 from the island of Lismore, as no sooner did they suck 
 around a little than they dashed oif at a tremendous 
 speed to some other distant ground, a mode of proceed- 
 ing that no local bees with a limited pasturage would ever 
 adopt. Those we saw were the white-ended bees the 
 strongest of the wild bees, and we should think the most 
 capable of flight. Grasshoppers were quite plentiful, and 
 must have been local, while butterflies were represented 
 by one white that we could not capture, and a great 
 number of a small yellow, that found abundant facilities 
 for hiding among the heath. The caterpillars of the tiger 
 moths were numerous all over the island, but of the moth 
 itself we saw no example. The most common of our 
 coloured butterflies at present is the northern brown 
 (Ercbia Mtdia), with the meadow brown (Epinephele 
 Janita) among the grassy hills and pastures. These are 
 very sober-tinted, and when they drop to rest with their 
 wings together, are scarcely observable, nor will the sun 
 throw much light upon them, the rays being absorbed, 
 and not reflected. 
 
 " A story of partridges !" said the veteran keeper ; " the 
 strangest I have ever known ! We had brought partridge 
 eggs from the South, and hatched out a young brood 
 under a hen, and these were doing well, and looking 
 flourishing. Well, just the night before the i2th what 
 should appear at the hen's crate but a pair of old partridges,
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 215 
 
 and there they took up their abode with the youngsters. 
 When anyone approaches they retire to some little 
 distance, but at once return as soon as the intruder leaves." 
 In fact, they have recognised the kinship of the little 
 ones, their want of parents to properly understand their 
 feelings and sympathise with their wilder yearnings, and 
 these birds of the wilderness have consequently felt it 
 their duty to take upon themselves the serious responsi- 
 bility of introducing the young strangers from a far 
 country among their brethren of the hillside. Descend- 
 ing to dull prose, the chances are that these are barren 
 birds, or a pair that have lost their brood ; but the remark- 
 able fact remains that they have recognised their kinship 
 with the little strangers, and overcome their fear of and 
 repugnance to human vicinage in their determination to 
 father them. When we consider the readiness with which 
 a hen will charge herself with ducks there is even a 
 turkey at South Connel with about a score of young 
 ducks small birds with cuckoos, and other still stranger 
 connections, it is a most valuable per contra fact to have 
 such a remarkable instance of acknowledgment of relation- 
 ship. 
 
 Were it not that birds, as a rule, are rather oblivious 
 of distinctions, whether in a wild or domesticated state, 
 neither the cuckoo nor the henwife could play so many 
 pranks. A young nephew of ours, with a dry humour 
 and a shrewd turn for natural history, carried out a series 
 of rather novel experiments upon the credulity of birds 
 this year, and as they have a distinct bearing upon the 
 question before us, as well as helping to solve another 
 problem which seems still to require proof for some 
 observers, we will note them here. Having discovered 
 a sparrow-hawk's nest with two eggs, he removed one of
 
 2i6 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 them, and turning a piece of wood in imitation thereof, 
 he painted it so as roughly to resemble the real egg. 
 This he put back in the nest, and by means of it induced 
 the bird to continue laying until she had placed six eggs 
 at his disposal. This was more than her complement, 
 and she must have matured and laid one or two eggs 
 more than she would have done had she been permitted 
 to follow the natural course of incubation. About the 
 same time he discovered another hawk's nest, and one 
 belonging to a wild pigeon. Painting the pigeon's eggs 
 in imitation of the hawk's he took away the originals from 
 the nest of the hawk and replaced them with thehypocrites, 
 leaving them to be hatched out by the bird of prey, 
 should it not discover the deception. In due time the 
 youngster repaired to the hawk's nest on which the poor, 
 deceived mother was sitting so closely that he was 
 enabled to ensconse himself among the branches and 
 watch her conduct. She was pecking sharply at some- 
 thing under her, which turned out to be the eggs just 
 chipping, the occupants of which she was assisting to 
 make their exit Unfortunately he was not able to see 
 the finale, as, although the young birds were there next 
 day, they had entirely disappeared the following again. 
 The disgust of the rapacious birds must have been ex- 
 treme to find their choicest morsels rejected by the little 
 seed-eaters, and they may have ended by devouring the 
 ungrateful creatures that could not accommodate them- 
 selves to their altered circumstances, and pined under 
 the "burden of an honour unto which they were not 
 born." 
 
 Here were these wild, keen-witted birds deceived like 
 barn-door fowls by a bit of painted wood, and the rudely 
 painted eggs of their faint-hearted neighbours !
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 217 
 
 When out with our boat the other evening the sea was 
 calm as glass, for a marvel this summer : and all about, 
 even in the course of the swift current, patches of slaty 
 gravel were floating on the surface of the water ! The 
 slightest splash at once sent them to the bottom, but the 
 small stones of which they were composed were some- 
 times as large as the thumb nail, and the patches from 
 the size of a hand to that of a hat. The tide was rising, 
 and they must have been floated off the beach by the 
 gently rising water, so quietly that the layer of air between 
 the gravel and the water would not be moved. The 
 phenomenon was a most interesting, and to us quite a 
 novel, one on such a scale. The water would be about 
 ten fathoms deep at the place, and our best scallop ground 
 just under, so we left off agitating the water to see the 
 sudden descent of the unwonted sailors, and turned to 
 the dredge. When the first haul had been thrown into 
 the tub, what was our astonishment to find what appeared 
 to be an actual spider (Amchnida), caught by a leg, in 
 the mouth of a sea-urchin. How a land spider could 
 have got into such a corner defied us to conjecture, and 
 a sea-spider was a thing to us unknown. The specimen 
 was evidently defunct, however, and we turned to other 
 interesting contents of the dredge. Thus engaged we 
 discovered a second specimen of the same species, with 
 the soft sac-like body of the spider, quite different from 
 the plate-clad body of the small spider-crab, that is so 
 unmistakably a crustacean. This second specimen 
 proved to be alive, and we thus were apparently furnished 
 with data to show it lived at the bottom of the sea! 
 Had it not been at the bottom, how could the urchin 
 have obtained it, and did not one come up from the 
 bottom alive ? We were greatly interested, and much
 
 2i8 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 exercised, over our captures, and endeavoured to prove 
 to our satisfaction that they were really spider-like crus- 
 taceans ; but it would not do. Sitting on shore ponder- 
 ing over the problem, we noted the vicinity of a veritable 
 spider of a class that is common about the beach, and its 
 very distinct markings being exactly similar to those 
 obtained in the dredge, we secured it and carried it home 
 with us. The most natural thing to do under the circum- 
 stances was to place it in sea-water and see if it would 
 retain its life and activity; but so soon as it was put 
 under water it displayed the utmost helplessness, and 
 soon ceased from troubling or being troubled. Clearly 
 these spiders could not accommodate themselves to an 
 ocean career, and we came at last to the conclusion that 
 a number had been carried off the beach along with the 
 floating gravel, and by a strange coincidence one had 
 been captured as the prey of a sea-urchin, and another 
 perhaps taken from the surface as the dredge came on 
 board ! an instance of the readiness with which we may 
 deceive ourselves by accepting as facts appearances that 
 are capable of being otherwise explained. Have we not 
 all heard of the authentic case of the learned Glasgow 
 Professor, who had discovered a new mullusc of a remark- 
 able character, until a shrewd observer and thorough 
 naturalist, still to be found in the vicinity of Gilmorehill, 
 suggested that a common Limnrea had tumbled into a 
 ditch! 
 
 We have lately been watching a set of key-hole limpets, 
 Fissurella Graeca, in a dish of sea water, but have failed 
 to see that they are other than very lazy and unenterpris- 
 ing. If turned on their backs or sides they are incapable 
 of regaining their feet, nor have they shown any capacity 
 for withdrawing entirely into their shells, as stated by
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 219 
 
 Jeffreys. The elegantly-fringed mantle becomes inflated 
 like the delicate texture of a sea-anemone, and they 
 mostly remain with their shell perched on the top, their 
 foot firmly pressed upon the dish, and their inflated 
 mantle spreading around them. One we placed on the 
 edge of the dish actually crept out, apparently in search 
 of water, and too stupid to find it, although within an 
 inch or two. Another crept down until its head alone 
 was in the water, where it remained for a day or two, 
 seemingly quite satisfied for a time with its breathing 
 tube in the air. This fringed-tube emerges from the hole 
 in the apex of the shell, but does not communicate with 
 the foot, and so presents no difficulty to the mollusc in 
 the way of preventing the sucker action of the foot ; for 
 these creatures stick as firmly as a common limpet 
 (Patella). Although commonest on our coast in ten 
 fathoms, they exist at low water mark in some districts, 
 which seems.quite in keeping with their power of living 
 comfortably half out of the water. 
 
 Two feet from our study window the sweet peas are 
 growing luxuriantly on the hither side of a rustic, wattled 
 fence, and on this fence all the day long the birds come 
 and go. Are they, too, lovers of the beautiful flowers, 
 or do they fancy the papilionaceous plants are carrying 
 butterflies ? Is it an aesthetic development, as in the 
 case of the Bower bird, or do very earthly considerations 
 mix themselves up with the various feathered visitors 
 that come to nod, and hop, and go again from the many- 
 coloured flowers ? Do not various flies and bees linger 
 about them, and form a point of attraction to these 
 shrewd entomologists, who all know well the customary 
 habitats of moth and fly ! Here is a little wren " sewing " 
 its way along the fence, for it dodges along first on one
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 side then on the other, nipping an occasional insect in 
 its passage. Jenny has scarcely left when Cock Robin 
 takes her place, his bosom no longer aglow with the 
 passions of the spring, but with sober breast, as he thinks 
 of the troubles of paternity. He lands on the fence full 
 face to the window, then hopping up turns round with 
 his back to view, performing this simple piece of gym- 
 nastics again and again, as he passes the sweet pea region, 
 now diving at a fly or a gnat, but always with a bright 
 eye fixed upon the window. Chaffinch after chaffinch 
 comes, for they are legion, and the way they cling to the 
 swaying heads of oats, and strip the grains therefrom, is 
 most interesting to the onlooker across the little fence, i 
 although scarcely so amusing to the farmer. The gay \ 
 wing seems to flash as it comes and goes, for although so 
 extremely common and familiar, it is much more 
 suspicious and restless than our next visitor, Mr. Sparrow, 
 who feels really at home, his nest being among the ivy 
 overhead, and who simply rests his well-filled corporation 
 in a quiet, sedate, self-satisfied manner, as he contemplates 
 the ripening grain, upon which he has been levying black- 
 mail these weeks past, to his great comfort and consola- 
 tion. He actually looks in with an expression Uf 
 curiosity, seems to take a sniff at the sweet peas, turns 
 lazily round his back to the window without hopping, 
 and without the constant backward glance of the bright 
 eye, as in the case of the redbreast ! and then with 
 confidence in human magnanimity, and consciousness of 
 special immunity from the ordinary cares of bird life, 
 ruffles his feathers, and settles himself down to an after- 
 dinner dose on the fence. Bang comes a bigger fellow, 
 as if he were thrown at the fence from a distance, and 
 stares in stupidly for a moment, like a country bumpkin,
 
 AUGUST, 1882. 221 
 
 as he is. He is fresh from the moor above a common, 
 sober-suited, well-fed bunting and, after shifting from 
 one foot to the other, goes off in a series of rainbow 
 curves. For he is one of the jerky fliers, as if his body 
 were too heavy for his power of flight, and obliged him 
 to progress by spurts. 
 
 Suddenly our observations are interrupted by our name 
 being called, while our attention is directed to the cack- 
 ling of a hen on the little wooded knoll, and we are 
 implored to discover the nest of the errant fowl. Now 
 this is one of the penalties of greatness, we sigh, as we 
 emerge from our den and seek the hillside. Were it not 
 that some one of a shrewd, sensible turn of mind could 
 turn dilettante qualities to practical use, what value would 
 they be to the world ? And so a sound head, having 
 discovered that we are not unskilful bird-nesters, sends 
 us forth to utilise our faculty in a manner directly 
 advantageous to the breakfast table ! The voice of the 
 voluble bird soon gives us a general direction as to the 
 whereabouts of the nest, but the moment we are observed 
 approaching the hen slops its music and skulks silently 
 through the brushwood. You silly creature, if your 
 instincts have led you to such a natural and sequestered 
 nook for your nest, what purpose can your cackling serve 
 but to undo your otherwise secretive tendency ? Or is 
 the secretive instinct derived from wild ancestors, and 
 the proud proclamation of having delivered an egg the 
 result of human intercourse, and an evidence of domestic 
 slavery? We are not aware whether any wild gallina- 
 ceous fowls cackle under similar circumstances, but, from 
 the silence observed by all wild birds on the nest, we 
 should scarcely expect the peculiarity to be other than 
 the result of love of admiration, and a self-satisfied
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 declaration of success. At any rate, to us the two in- 
 stincts seem wholly antagonistic, although some birds 
 more cunning than others reconcile them so far as to 
 skulk off some distance from the nest ere starting their 
 announcement. The nest we find well filled and cunn- 
 ingly hidden, or in all likelihood the grey crows would 
 not have left an egg in it ; and a day after our discovery 
 another wanderer appears with a brood of ten, that she 
 has successfully hatched out under trying conditions. 
 We think there is here an interesting direction in which 
 the earlier and later acquired instincts might be studied 
 to advantage, as well as the extent to which the intelli- 
 gence of the individual bird may reconcile them when 
 opposed. This question of individual intelligence, com- 
 pared with the average intellect of the mass of a species, 
 is too frequently overlooked in experiments upon the 
 lower creation, and this we note even in such careful 
 observers as Sir John Lubbock and other workers in the 
 school of ants, bees, and wasps. The bulk of the lower 
 class of men act in accustomed grooves, and display 
 singular lack of capacity when moved out of them, quite 
 as much in a way as the ants experimented upon by 
 Lubbock. We must observe specially intelligent fowls, 
 as well as the ordinary silly creatures, in order to do 
 justice to our inquiries. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1882. 
 
 We saw the northern lights last week, and although 
 the sword of the Frost King has not yet swept along the 
 hillsides of Benderloch, he has flung his javelin freely 
 here leaving its track marked by gay bunches of dead
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1882. 223 
 
 leaves on the birch, or bronzed bunches on the oaks. 
 Elsewhere the hillsides have been more severely handled, 
 and as we yesterday traversed the shores of Lochiel and 
 the road up Glen Nevis, the sharp winds from the King 
 of Bens had spread a golden hue over the bracken-covered 
 slopes, and everywhere a wealth of gold and bronze on 
 the sward and amid the tree tops evinced the immediate 
 vicinity ot royalty. 
 
 Not a sloe in our district, says one observer, and 
 the hazel nuts are nil. But we shortly come upon 
 a blackthorn-covered bank, and to our delight, in spite 
 of the seasonal dearth of wild fruits, we discover 
 this to be covered with the richest clusters of sloes we 
 remember to have seen. The delicious bloom on the 
 sloe berries, with their rich blue ground, contrasts beauti- 
 fully with the dark-green leaves, not too numerously 
 spread, and the fine, almost black, stems, of the bushes ; 
 so, as we gaze our eye-hunger increases, and a prickly 
 bough is carefully detached and borne to " our special 
 artist," with the request to transfer it as it stands to an 
 imperishable canvas. Once inside the door it still looks 
 lovely, but no longer has it the glory of the hillside, and 
 we soon "accept the situation," and acknowledge that 
 no art can give the surroundings, with the sun playing 
 bo-peep among the bushes, and the young oak-trees 
 nodding overhead, and the lowly brambles underneath 
 (whose coherts are even now " gleaming in purple and 
 gold," like the levelled hosts of the Assyrians). In our 
 hands, also, the treasures of the waning year have been 
 fast accumulating. The seedling birches have yielded 
 delicious lemon-colour leaves without a speck upon them ; 
 the young oaks are liberal with their treasures of delicate 
 bronze, running into a sober yellow ; while before and
 
 22 4 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 beyond all the brambles are resplendent in the richest 
 array of colours, from the deepest chocolate, through all 
 the variations, to the tenderest hues of yellow, and 
 mingled yellow, pink, and green. The sweet-peas, still 
 gay and vigorous, are not more really brilliant than these 
 leaves, and they so readily lend themselves to make a 
 trophy, in which the tints are retained with success, that 
 those who are not too much oppressed with the feeling 
 of decay, that seems to make autumn and its miracles of 
 colour a source of deep sadness to many, ought to cull 
 and arrange autumn leafery that they may recollect how 
 great is the power of Nature to confer pleasure on the eye. 
 It will lead them to look forward to the "fall of the leaf" 
 as an artistic revel, in which the bracken on the hill, the 
 ferns in the nooks, and the trees by stream and fell don 
 their ball dresses for one glorious " gathering in Brussels " 
 before their Waterloo. 
 
 " I am glad to hear that you have sloes on your side," 
 remarked our friend, "for I feared that they would be a 
 complete failure this year, and we should get none at all. 
 Now I mean to have a hunt after them the first 
 opportunity." A hunt after sloes, we thought, as we 
 looked at the grave and reverend seignior, who had bellies 
 to fill with more substantial viands ; and so you have 
 preserved a boyish love for a woodland ramble, or a 
 particular fancy for sloe jelly ! There was a knowing 
 smile of satisfaction on the face, however, as the word 
 "bitters" escaped him, and we were fully prepared to 
 accept his statement that sloes made an admirable tonic 
 with a due proportion of whisky, with a snap " that 
 cleaned the mouth." Hitherto we have had pleasant 
 memories of a famous teapot, with a dexterous admixture 
 of camomile and gentian, and a suspicion of Turkey
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1882. 225 
 
 rhubarb, concocted by means of a minimum of boiling 
 water and a maximum of Islay, that gave a ravenous 
 appetite to many wanderers in the remoter north ; but 
 here is a much simpler recipe for those inexcusable 
 people, whose appetites fail them in the vicinity of sloe 
 bushes ! 
 
 Came to us from our poet's corner a little paper parcel, 
 and on opening it, appeared two finely preserved speci- 
 mens of the larger sand launce or sand eel (Ammodytes 
 tobianus) about eight inches long, in their beautiful blue 
 and silver livery. These are the first of this species we 
 have met with here ; but the population do not know how 
 to capture them, nor are our sands quite extensive enough 
 to harbour more than a few small shoals ; although Balure 
 and Ardmucknish Bays may be considered to offer plenty 
 of favourable ground at low water. In our own Loch 
 Creran we have not seen this large species, but so late 
 as yesterday we observed quite a shoal dip and pass 
 under our boat near the Sound of Eriska. Yesterday 
 was indeed one of the finest days of the year, and the 
 water for a time was calm and clear, so that we could 
 hang over the gunwale of the boat and watch the young 
 lythe and saithe, the various species of gobies, and an 
 occasional wrass or rock perch circle around the more 
 luxuriant seaware, and play with the scraps of cheese and 
 biscuits we dropped enticingly into the gaping mouth of 
 the dredge hanging below. There is a magnificent speci- 
 men of the i5-spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus ), the 
 largest we have ever met with, but we sweep the dredge 
 through its thickly-matted seaweed lair in vain. We have 
 had some interesting experience while dredging these 
 days, as we drew up from deep water a Gunnel fish or 
 Butter fish ( Gunnelhts), which is plentiful under stones
 
 226 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 at half tide and low water. This was very near the same 
 place that we once obtained a similar fish from the mouth 
 of a guillemot, and is additional evidence to prove that 
 these birds really dive down 10 fathoms in search of prey. 
 A i5-spined stickleback likewise came up from 10 or 12 
 fathoms, but did not long survive its transfer to the tub. 
 We have always found these to be most sensitive, nervous 
 fishes, and unable, either from fear or a demand for ex- 
 cessive aeration, to stand carrying about. A peculiarity 
 of this fish that we do not recollect noting in any other 
 is the facility with which it can swim straight back. You 
 will constantly see them advancing inquiringly, and then, 
 as if alarmed or dissatisfied, shoot straight back. This 
 is performed mainly by a peculiar circular movement of 
 the pectorals, always a marked peculiarity of this fish, 
 which "handles" them with seeming dexterity. The 
 nervous-like jerk with which they dart back or shoot for- 
 ward, their intelligent skill as nestbuilders, and their 
 watchful care of their young, as well as the large eyes 
 and head, all point to this as a fish whose intelligence is 
 worthy of more attention, and one well qualified to be 
 experimented upon in respect of natural capacity, capa- 
 bility of education, and comparative constitution of the 
 principal nervous ganglia as against terrestrial and aerial 
 creatures. Still another fishy inhabitant of our tub 
 appears in the amusing shape of a small lump-sucker 
 ( Cyclopterus lumpus), the first of the kind we have met 
 with us, and a very small specimen he is exactly one 
 inch in length, but with all the unmistakable peculiarities 
 of the parents, even to the general rich blue tint, the eyes 
 being quite remarkably bright. 
 
 Most of those who have visited the sea-shore are well 
 acquainted with the pretty little cowrie, perhaps the most
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1882. 227 
 
 favourite shell with children. The animal contained in 
 it is most active; with a mantle that comes out and 
 covers the whole shell, or rather, might we not more 
 justly say, a shell into which it draws its otherwise en- 
 circling body ! This little mollusc has a congener, with 
 a shell as smooth as glass, and in fact of quite a vitreous 
 appearance, and it also, when scrambling about, has its 
 shell inclosed within its mantle. Two of these clear little 
 shells, (Marginella laevis), have recently fallen into our 
 hands, and one is now actively scrambling out of the 
 water in the basin and up the sides. Let us examine it, 
 and we will be surprised to find that the mantle is all 
 barred exactly as the shell is in the cowrie, and under 
 the lens, even the clear glassy surface has wave-like 
 indications, as if our delicate little friend were making 
 an effort to reach the simpler, stronger, more durable 
 formation of Cypraea, This may well have been the 
 intermediate development of the cowrie, whose shell, by 
 being ribbed or corrugated externally, is thereby in- 
 definitely strengthened, and fitted to cope with the very 
 varied positions in which this widely-spread shell is found. 
 
 We have not hitherto met with such fine specimens of 
 the web-footed starfish, (Palmipes), as in our loch here. 
 We recently procured a brilliantly tinted specimen, 4| 
 inches in diameter ; the upper surface not only nicely 
 marked with pink, but a beautiful pink border extending 
 for a quarter of an inch along the edge of the lower side ! 
 We so seldom find colour on the under side of flat mud 
 frequenters, that this exception appears to us worthy of 
 attention. 
 
 A tale of starfish ! a long tail too, for they are spread 
 along the whole way we have been traversing to-day, of 
 extraordinary dimensions and in equally remarkable
 
 228 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 numbers. At low tide, occasionally on shore, among the 
 seaware, but more commonly a yard or two out, they 
 were so remarkably comfortable and well grown, as well 
 as numerous, that our curiosity was aroused, and we 
 wondered where and how they obtained the required 
 nourishment to sustain their important-looking corpora- 
 tions. Here is one doubled up like a sea-urchin, brilliant 
 of hue, and when spread out quite 16 inches in diameter; 
 where, and oh where, can you obtain a prey ? The hoe 
 we carry is thrust out and the mass dragged shorewards, 
 when the rascal disgorges two large dogwhilks he has 
 been in the process of devouring. We feel a comfortable 
 glow of satisfaction to think that this enemy of our oyster- 
 beds is also the enemy of our other enemy, this carnivor- 
 ous borer. Here, quite close alongside, is another, only 
 inferior in size, and we drag him ashore likewise, to find 
 that the fellow has actually had the courage and audacity 
 to suck the contents out of a large horse mussel (modiola) 
 the strong muscle alone remaining undevoured. We 
 proceed along but a short way when we meet with still 
 another in the curled up condition in which they gorge 
 themselves, and as we drag it shorewards the shell of a 
 tapes pulastra drops from the relaxing grasp of the ogre. 
 Slowly the extended stomach returns to its place, and 
 the monster settles back to an uncomfortable after-dinner 
 siesta on a large exposed boulder ; for the star-fish wraps 
 its turned out stomach around the prey it has secured, 
 in place of attempting to devour the limey covering in 
 which most of its game is protected. Once the mouth 
 of the shell is enclosed in the stomach of the star-fish, 
 the creature soon sickens, the hinge spring relaxes its 
 hold, and the shell opening permits the star-fish to suck 
 out the gelatinous contents, and cast free the calcarious
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1882. 229 
 
 skeleton. No wonder the star-fish are many and 
 corpulent on this stretch of sea-weed covered shore, for 
 the shell-fish are numerous and fat, the tide ever bringing 
 them a plentiful supply of nourishment. As we toss 
 monster after monster shoreward we are apt to look 
 contemptuously at any under a foot as poor wretched 
 creatures, until at length we are constrained to examine 
 a moderate seven-inch fellow, who has the temerity to 
 endeavour to aggrandise himself with only four rays to 
 aid him, in place of the orthodox five. It is bad enough 
 to differ from your fellows among mankind, but to 
 attempt idiosyncrasies among animals is certain annihila- 
 tion, if you come within cognisance of the higher animal. 
 So we take possession of the novelty only to find it is a 
 cripple from its birth, not a proper abnormality, for there 
 is the embryonic indication of a fifth limb one-eighth 
 inch long, that from some unexplained reason has been 
 arrested in development, leaving the other four to carry 
 on the sub-division of the disc among them. 
 
 Not with starfish alone have we met on our shoreward 
 ramble, however, for this is the district in which the 
 famous white scallop dwells, and the tide is low enough 
 to have stranded quite a number of small ones ; and if 
 you use your eyes well you will note a number of mature 
 size among them. These latter have no connection in 
 colour with the little white beauties, perhaps you con- 
 clude, as you observe the deep green colour; indeed, 
 almost black, it is so deep. A closer examination will 
 satisfy you that the number of ribs, the general contour, 
 and the whole character of the dark shell is similar to the 
 white, and the fact that no small dark shells are found 
 will enable you to divine the reason of the difference. 
 The white pectens are almost invariably discovered
 
 230 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 affixed by a byssus to the tangle fronds, which are rich 
 in tone and smooth and bright in surface, so as to reflect 
 the light, and altogether suited to promote the purity 
 and brilliance of the white covering. The young retain 
 their whiteness for a time anywhere ; but after a long 
 sojourn on the fronds of the black seaware, such a.sfuaes 
 serratuS) dark in hue and dull in surface, they gradually 
 assume richer tones and lose their pristine purity. 
 Further out, among the tangles all will be found white ! 
 
 Stumbling along over the stones and seaware we met 
 a fresh-looking crab, that is, nevertheless, quite empty as 
 to shell. It has been thoroughly cleaned out by some 
 skilful operators ; and, concluding that some small 
 crustaceans have done the work, from the neat manner in 
 which the membranes of the joints have been penetrated, 
 we take possession of the specimen and carry it along 
 with us. During the evening we resolve to complete the 
 preparation by soaking in fresh water, so as to remove 
 the corrosive salts, but no sooner had we placed it in the 
 tub than a great commotion ensued, and soon from joint 
 after joint there issued quite a multitude of small 
 Crustacea white, grey, and pink whose energies had 
 been up till then absorbed in cleaning the specimen, 
 until they were forced to enter a protest against the fresh- 
 water invasion. Just as we anticipated, the sea ants 
 whose labours we so rudely interrupted were the small 
 sand-hoppers, of several species, so active among the 
 stranded seaweed, so we will know of a certainty again 
 to apply to them for well-picked marine skeletons. 
 When we consider the trouble involved in properly 
 preparing a specimen of the smaller crustaceans, the 
 value of these still minuter species in cleaning out the 
 limbs is apparent.
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 231 
 
 Wagtails are more or less constant residents with us 
 the year through, but we rarely see more than one pair 
 at a time. Last week, however, as we stood gazing forth 
 of our doorway leading into our sanctum, we observed a 
 pair of grey wagtails alight near our back door and show 
 a disposition to quarrel over the treasure trove still left 
 by the fowls. They were in the midst of a mild alterca- 
 tion when another arrived, and ere long we actually 
 counted seven together at a time. They were not long 
 of quarrelling savagely over the easily gathered store, and 
 we soon lost sight of them as they tumbled pugilistically 
 over the roof. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 
 
 " I don't like the rooks congregating on the shore like 
 that," says the many-wintered observer, whose eyes have 
 scanned the drift of the cloud over the deer in the corrie 
 more than half a century ago. We, too, object to the 
 movements of the sable meteorologists, but seek to know 
 the reasons of our friend for the faith that is in him. 
 "They should take to the hill, but it is too wet, and 
 there is too much moisture in the air." It was clear from 
 their movements throughout the day, never getting higher 
 than the scrubby knoll, where they hung about and loafed 
 ignominiously, that they were in no humour for an 
 important flight Was the atmosphere too heavy for them, 
 were they depressed in spirit despite the high barometer, 
 or were they waiting until the enormous rainfall of these 
 latter days and nights should drain somewhat, and 
 permit the half-drowned worms to throw their earths 
 once more on the terraced slopes of the hills ? 
 
 The day is really strangely mild, close, and oppressive,
 
 2 3 2 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 notwithstanding the barometer, and as we climb the hills 
 towards the distant wooded gullies our companion 
 protests against the exertion and the heat ! Yes ! positive 
 heat in October. And there is a butterfly busily 
 employed about mid-day on the hillside, and the black- 
 berries only blackening in places; while what are ripe 
 are either tasteless from the continuous soaking or else 
 from the recent touch of frost. All the same, it is a 
 summer day, and even the grasshoppers are chirruping 
 merrily, yet with a subdued mirth, as if their souls were 
 oppressed with the thought that they had no whisky to 
 counteract the continual soak. We have heard them 
 but seldom this season, and the exceptional rainfall must 
 have most seriously discomposed them. Not one have 
 we seen leap, so suppose that they are merely airing their 
 damp bed-clothes at the mouths of their holes, for we 
 watch for them in vain to-day. The sun has at length 
 come forth bravely, and that rocky, mossy corner of the 
 broken hill, with the patch of well-grown timber, looks 
 quite gay. Stop a bit, and glance along the surface, and 
 you will be surprised to find the sun glinting on bright 
 streaks of silver here and there amid the moss. What a 
 time they have been having ! a carnival of the mollusca ! 
 and why should they not have their turn ? The bank is 
 strewn with fungi of all shades, from the deepest, 
 deadliest crimson, to black, yellow, and white ; and over 
 and about every one of them, of whatever hue, the snails 
 have been crawling and feasting, leaving a slimy, silvery 
 film to tell the story of their morning's labours. They 
 seem to have no preference, but have attacked all alike, 
 and that bank alone is proof positive that no reliance 
 can be placed upon the snail tribe as prior tasters of the 
 banquet prepared for humanity.
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 233 
 
 We have got up among the birches, and the dancing 
 streams with their courses filled to overflowing, 
 the steep banks heavily clothed with lichens, the 
 ferns decked in yellow and gold, and the bracken 
 lying in rusty masses. Here a solitary digitalis lurks 
 in a quiet corner, a few gowans meet us on the green 
 slope above; and no sooner do we emerge from the 
 darkness of the gorge than the eye sweeps outward 
 over placid lochs and isles of beauty, with the 
 dreamy clouds drifting across the sun, and turning the 
 whole wondrous scene into a giant kaleidoscope, as the 
 play of light and shade alters the diversified landscape, 
 and plays bo-peep with a thousand nooks and crannies, 
 slopes and gullies, from Morven to the peaks of 
 Ballachulish. The ground is soppy, indeed, or we would 
 willingly have reclined under the rosy-leaved birches in 
 the blinking sun, and seen whether the " beauty born of 
 the murmuring sounds " about us would " pass into our 
 face," even for the passing hour. But visions of 
 rheumatism dispel any such illusion, and the " old fool " 
 of our more youthful companion, anxious about temporal 
 requirements, warns us that, like " every dog," we have 
 had our day ; and the " murmuring sounds " of those 
 waiting for dinner are not conducive to human beauty 
 or felicity. 
 
 Wednesday night was exceptionally dark, and we chose 
 it, perversely, in which to traverse the wood for a couple 
 of miles or more. As we stumble along, starting the 
 fallow deer and the roebuck, to send them plunging 
 madly through the night, and occasionally startled our- 
 selves by the shriek of a belated heron on its way home 
 over the tree tops, we were again interested in noting a 
 very brilliant light in the moss under the trees, so bright
 
 234 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 that we were led by it about 50 yards to where it shone, 
 and then picked up what proved to be a piece of fir 
 bark, the inside lining of which displayed the phosphor- 
 escent gleam in question. It was damp, which may 
 have added to the brilliance of the effect ; but this is 
 only another example of what we observed previously in 
 the case of a fresh cut piece of fir wood. This time it 
 was the inner lining of the bark that shone as brilliantly 
 as a fresh herring, or even as a basket of herring. What 
 is the cause of this peculiar effect, which is by no means 
 evanescent, for we carried it some miles, showing 
 brilliantly like a small lantern all the way ? 
 
 " Did you observe the gossamer threads the other 
 morning?" asks our artist friend, whose eye had caught 
 the beauty and delicacy of the myriad lines as they floated 
 in the morning air. We had not been so early afoot on 
 the moors, but in the forenoon we had found the un- 
 frequented paths crossed and intercrossed to an 
 exceptional extent with these airy creations, whose 
 whereabouts were only observable by the sunlight glanc- 
 ing from the fairy fabrics. There tenacity is most 
 remarkable, and as the wind puffs them with a graceful 
 curve from the heath to the bramble, or from the grass 
 stem to the bog myrtle, the little spinner hangs on to the 
 end and is borne along by the breeze. Here is one 
 hanging from the roof of a shed to the end of a very 
 delicate line, with no perceptible line beneath it. We 
 breathe heavily upon it from a little distance, and the 
 creature instantaneously drops to the ground. Our first 
 conclusion is that the spider loosened its hold and 
 dropped clean away ; but very soon it reappears, coming 
 up the thread " hand over hand." Just where it loosened 
 its hold a white little puff is observable on the line, and
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 235 
 
 as it once more approaches this we again breathe upon 
 the thread and spider. The proceeding is repeated, the 
 spider dropping like a flash, and the spot where it left 
 being again represented by a little white puff. The 
 creature evidently is quite aware of the effect of wind to 
 send its web floating through the air, but being resolved 
 on this occasion to remain where it was, it at once went 
 down to the ground and held the line taut. The light 
 was such that we saw every strain upon the line as the 
 spider ascended, for these little puffs bobbed up and 
 down as if the line were india-rubber, exemplifying the 
 very elastic character of the thread. We have generally 
 found these webs most numerous on those mornings 
 when the air was calm and the atmosphere somewhat 
 heavy just such weather as precedes rain and wind. 
 The reason for this may be that gnats and flies are all 
 low among the grass and amid the vegetation at such 
 times, and also because the light "airs" that are then 
 abroad float the threads gently, while stronger or more 
 severe whiffs of wind would blow them to fragments. 
 
 We find a tangle with the bottom cupped away, and 
 in the very centre of the depression a specimen of the 
 peculiar variety of Helcion called Icevis. This is the first 
 we have obtained, and we had been informed it was 
 mainly an East Coast variety, although Jeffrey says it is 
 composed of the older individuals who had descended the 
 tangle and given themselves up to a life of laziness and 
 gormandising. Clearly, it was a lazy vagabond, and 
 ho ! of course it is, and here is the result, for has it not 
 proved an asylum for a parasite who has at least shared 
 its "mantle," if it has not sucked its juices? A little 
 crustacean of the sandhopper class comes reluctantly
 
 236 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 forth, and has apparently also degenerated terribly 
 through a life of luxurious ease. 
 
 Why does that interesting shell, covered with wrinkled 
 protuberances (Murex erinaausj, only appear in dead 
 specimens? One of these we have obtained in Loch 
 Linnhe, and Northern specimens are said to be invariably 
 dead. We may conclude that they are alive somewhere 
 about, and are only difficult to obtain from their rocky 
 habitats, like some other mollusca; we subsequently 
 obtained various live specimens under stones at low 
 water. 
 
 In front of the newly-extended pier at Port Appin 
 the black ware has already grown several feet long, 
 although but a few months have the piles been down. 
 
 We were rowing down towards Eriska when we 
 observed two very large herons coming hurriedly along, 
 evidently on very bad terms with each other. In a 
 minute or two they became engaged in a fratricidal 
 struggle, and, interlocking, came down all of a heap with 
 a splash into the water, as no doubt " the nations' airy 
 navies" of the future will do, when they presume to 
 grapple " in the central blue." "I saw two herons off 
 Eriska diving for fish into the sea the other day," remarks 
 our observant companion, and we all agree that the 
 circumstance was most remarkable ; for these waders are 
 seldom seen to emulate the divers or swimmers, although 
 they can swim well when they fall wounded into the 
 water. 
 
 Having landed at low water on a small islet to hunt 
 the finely grown and coloured specimens of Zisiphiuus 
 shell, and the many specimens of the striped variety 
 of Littorina, we have again returned to the boat, and, 
 while sitting waiting for our companions to enter, glance
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 237 
 
 carelessly into the waving tangle fronds now gradually 
 being lifted higher and higher by the rising tide. On 
 the top of a rich frond a little creature is nestling, and 
 we call attention to his successful imitation of the colour 
 of the sea ware, supposing the visitor to be a specimen 
 of the two-spotted sucker fish, so common about our 
 shores. But their eyes have not caught the little fellow, 
 and we slip our hand-net under it and bring it on board, 
 when to our surprise it proves to be a female of the 
 Montague Sucker Fish (Liparis Montagui). This fish 
 has the dorsal and anal fins and tail prettily marked with 
 dark spots, in lines, in the female ; while the sucker on 
 the breast is much smaller than and of a different, 
 character from, those of our other little sucker fishes. It 
 proves extremely active and restless in captivity. Still, 
 when it might have escaped into the waters of Loch 
 Linnhe, it trusted to its resemblance to the marine 
 vegetation around it, and made no effort to elude capture. 
 Although we have not met with an example hitherto 
 and it is said to be very rare in Scotland we yet may 
 only be unaware of its presence through want of attention 
 to the minuter frequenters of our coasts. We afterwards 
 found them not uncommon at certain seasons. 
 
 If " circumstances alter cases," similar circumstances 
 produce remarkably similar results in widely different 
 " elements." We all know how the Sygnathus or Pipe- 
 fish has pouches like a Kangaroo for the reception of its 
 young, and we find here, amid these fronds from the 
 deeper waters, the homes of annelids, exactly similar in 
 character to those of many terrestrial caterpillars. Here 
 they are with nests made of the seaweed fronds curled 
 round, and bound, or agglutinated together with tough 
 gelatinous threads. They might be caterpillars on the
 
 238 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 leaves of a tree, only they are beautifully organised 
 marine worms from 10 or 12 fathoms. Veritable silk 
 worms in their way, for their threads are very tenacious, 
 but, like most of such marine productions, so soon as 
 they dry they become brittle, having little of a fibrous 
 nature. But for this we might some day have met with 
 a marine annelid to enable us to compete with the 
 dexterous spinners of the south and east. What a 
 delightful industry it would be to cover our shores with 
 seaweed gardens, full of busy multitudes of thread manu- 
 facturers, like a long-drawn-out Paisley ! 
 
 Who first invented india-rubber ? What a remarkable 
 idea it was, and how clever we were to find out its use ! 
 Indeed ; you lay the flattering unction to your soul 
 that you belong to the terrestrial race of superior intelli- 
 gence because you draw it from a plant and employ it, 
 when there before our eyes in that bucket are scores of 
 manufacturers, who know its value and use it continually. 
 No paltry rubber to rot and decay for a little damp, but 
 capable of preserving all its snap and spring under the 
 trying ordeal of a continuous marine immersion. You 
 are incredulous ; but lift that Pecten and look at the hinge. 
 Ho! you try to drop it, as you have carelessly and 
 stupidly lifted it by placing your finger inside the half- 
 open valves, and they have closed with a snap that 
 enables you now to raise it with one finger. Dip the 
 whole into this cup of boiling water, and the wondrous 
 diamond eyes are extinguished for ever, and gradually 
 the strong muscle that held the valves close relaxes, and 
 you have but to wait a minute or two more and the poor 
 animal, now completely apart from the shells, comes out 
 in a contracted little blob of matter. You lift the empty 
 valves, now wide apart, and mechanically press them
 
 OCTOBER, 1882. 239 
 
 together ; when, the moment your pressure is removed, 
 they spring apart, for the hinge that binds the valves 
 together is a perfectly composed and exceedingly strong 
 elastic spring of black india-rubber, or at least something 
 that serves the same purpose and has the same appearance. 
 It is arranged for the water, however, like the worms' 
 thread ; and, dried, becomes as brittle as the elastic spiral 
 anchors of a dog-fish egg. You affix your india-rubber 
 spring to keep your door shut, the Pecten has it placed 
 to keep the valves open, the natural position, and the one 
 assumed the moment the strong muscle, that closes the 
 valves against an enemy, is relaxed. 
 
 Here is the seaweed growing luxuriantly about some 
 stones in the midst of the muddy expanse, well out on 
 the foreshores ; so we stoop to sweep it away and expose 
 the scuttling dwellers under its shade. As we do so, 
 our face comes in contact with yes, with ! we rise and 
 draw carefully from our beard the unwonted object, and 
 scarce believe our eyes when we find it to be the 
 gossamer web of a spider! "Blown out to sea," we 
 mutter, " but no doubt the little spinner secured a safe 
 retreat long ere the fated thread was carried hitherwards 
 by the breath of the frosty morn." We turn once again 
 to the eel, seeking to escape by burrowing dexterously 
 and rapidly under the nearest stone where has it gone ? 
 A moment more, and the least movement in the world 
 is perceptible at the other corner of the imbedded stone 
 from that on which it entered ! An eel must breathe, 
 and just as a seal must come to the surface for air, an 
 eel must have its snout out of the mud or else it would 
 be choked, so the poor eely has betrayed itself, notwith- 
 standing its cunning. Cunning indeed, for it chose a 
 corner under the shadow of the stone, and only brought
 
 240 LOCH CRERAN, 
 
 its nostrils to the edge of the surface, the gentle displace- 
 ment of the sand alone betraying it. As we scan the 
 environs of the eel's hiding-place carefully, we catch sight 
 of a little fellow in a tremendous hurry. A novel 
 crustacean? we would once have observed, but, as 
 burned children dread the fire, our experience with the 
 dredged spider has rendered us cautious. Clearly 
 another spider, we will pass it by! Just then we 
 recollected of the negro who passed a guinea contemp- 
 tuously because he had lost some shillings on a light one 
 he found before; and, stooping, we captured the 
 wanderer with difficulty. Here is actually the little 
 gossamer spider itself to which the web belonged that we 
 have just destroyed ! It was racing full speed on a bee 
 line for the shore, swimming the pools of water even 
 more rapidly than it traversed the intervening muddy 
 hillocks thrown up by the lug worms. We place it upon 
 our -hand, and blow it sharply through the air for some 
 yards into the centre of a pool of water, when it at once 
 starts without being the least disconcerted, and hurries 
 shorewards once more. Whether it ever arrived at the 
 goal, which was several hundred yards off, or how it 
 behaved if overtaken by the tide, we could not wait to 
 see. 
 
 On a solitary hunt a few yards off the shore at low 
 water we had an excellent opportunity of examining 
 the inhabitants of what is ordinarily several fathoms 
 under medium tide, and while thus wandering along in 
 the bright sun and the clear water of a crisp frosty day, 
 we came unexpectedly upon a colony of scallops, pecten 
 opercularis. We had never seen them " on their native 
 heath" before, and looked down upon them with especial 
 interest. The ground they affect is a mixture of stones
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 241 
 
 and mud, in the latter of which they lie with open mouth 
 upwards. Although active enough when stirred, they 
 seemed very lethargic, and required to be roused with 
 the long pole ere they commenced their droll peregrina- 
 tions ; while many allowed themselves to be dragged into 
 the boat with the long graip without an effort at escape. 
 This will account for their becoming a prey to star-fish, 
 which otherwise could scarcely pretend to follow them 
 through the water. We have so frequently examined 
 them in buckets of water, and seen their mode of 
 progression, that we never had a doubt but what we 
 knew all about it. They have so frequently squirted the 
 water in our faces from the bucket, that they might 
 thereby shunt themselves backward, that we had 
 concluded this was their customary mode of motion, and, 
 like the historic crab, they " advanced backwards." Yet 
 here in their native element, with plenty of searoom, at a 
 depth of 2^ fathoms, their proceedings were quite the 
 reverse. In fact, they shot themselves forward, evidently 
 by gulping the water and expelling it through the two 
 orifices, one at each side of the hinge ! This was quite 
 a new revelation to us, and accounted to an extent for 
 the presence of these openings, which were otherwise 
 inexplicable. 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 
 
 What peculiar fancy could have taken possession of 
 those birds, we wonder, as we pass down the avenue 
 under the finely-grown trees with any number of good 
 roosting places around. Trees to right of them, trees to 
 left of them, palings and outhouses behind them, and 
 yet there are two good fat turkeys, actually squatting for 
 Q
 
 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 the night on the wire fencing. As we approach in the 
 dusk we think to set them swaying, like a clumsy boy 
 walking on a paling, but they sit with perfect steadiness 
 and composure, only flying off a little way after we have 
 repeatedly tried to startle them. We cannot account for 
 such a position being chosen, as these birds require 
 plenty of footing, and even hens do not like small foot 
 spars, which cause their feet to become contorted. 
 
 Wading at lowest tide among beds of Zostera marina^ 
 amid bouldery and ware-grown surroundings, we had 
 a particularly good opportunity for observing a class 
 of life we have not hitherto noted much "at home." As 
 we advanced, a little fish apparently would skim or skip 
 along the surface of the water with great dexterity, and 
 we had some difficulty in procuring a specimen. It then 
 proved to be a species of palsemon, a crustacean with a 
 prawn-like bend in its back, and these were plentiful and 
 most active. While amusing ourselves stirring them up 
 and watching their active movements, we suddenly came 
 upon a gleam of purple and silver, and looking up at us 
 through the water were a pair of brilliant eyes at the end 
 of footstalks, which appertained to an ysop prawn, that 
 large, brilliantly-marked species, with long barred 
 antennae, whose humped back and intelligent appearance 
 have procured for them the name of the old fabulist. 
 They not unfrequently come up in the dredge, but here 
 were a few " at home," and the rapidity and dexterity 
 with which they escaped through the Zostera fronds was 
 most amusing. It was quite clear that these same sea- 
 wrack beds were favourite haunts of Crustacea, so, going 
 seaward with a large hand-net, we swept it rapidly 
 towards the shore through the grass. A few palaemons 
 and many mysis, and nothing more. Nothing more !
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 243 
 
 say all the sharp-eyed ones around ; and yet there is a 
 number of bits broken off the sea-grass. We are about 
 to empty it, when these startle us by leaping hither and 
 thither as we sink the net in the water, and soon it 
 dawns upon us that we have about a score of exquisite 
 green Crustacea, exactly the tint of the Zostera itself. 
 The wonderful transparency of the delicate tint, and the 
 extreme activity of the creature in the water, wholly hid 
 it from our eyes ; and, although we have been wading 
 through long stretches of grass, with here and there a 
 tail-spot goby flashing off before us, and myriads of little 
 mysidae skipping around, "we had not really caught sight 
 of a single one ot these living chips of Zostera marina. 
 
 " Weather " enough and to spare, indeed, we have had 
 of late, and the provoking part of it all is that the season 
 is exceptionally mild, and no excuse for complaining of 
 ordinary severity of weather. We have been repeatedly 
 assured that the season is not severe, but with a gale 
 blowing two days out of three, and rain in such floods as 
 can scarcely be credited in a temperate clime, what more 
 " severe " weather could be forthcoming ? On the gth we 
 sought to traverse Glen Salloch, and view the land 
 through as cheerful spectacles as we could muster, for 
 the hillsides had still a subdued beauty on the now 
 gently intermingling tints of the sobering deciduous 
 leaves, great portion of which yet hung upon the trees, 
 even under the shadow of Ben Breac, down whose misty 
 shoulders the snow was creeping for the first time this 
 season. If the tints in the woods were so subdued, 
 those around the dull-hued loch were still more so 
 Appin and Eriska, drenched and sulky, bounding a com- 
 monly boundless view, and Loch Creran resembling 
 nothing so much as those mirror ponds our grandmothers
 
 244 LOCH CRERAfr. 
 
 loved to insert in the model landscapes that delighted 
 the wondering eyes of our youth. Near at hand the 
 masses of rushes are black on the soaking reaches of the 
 shoulders of the hills, and the new black heads and 
 stems of gay " Highlanders' bonnets " stand starkly out 
 against the grey and yellow ochre, picked out with silver, 
 of the rain-wearied meadow hay. Nearer still the cup- 
 mosses and hepaticae are exceptionally green, and scarce 
 a post by path or stream but carries a gracefully curving 
 arrangement of delicate edged fungi, that declare as 
 boldly as any meteorological register that the season has 
 been most unquestionably " moist," to say the very least 
 of it. Along the hillsides the most distinguished figures 
 are the holly trees, richly green, and having apparently 
 repaired the breach made in their costumes in the early 
 spring, when so many lost their leaves. All evergreens, 
 indeed, are unusually fresh ; and, with no northern 
 visitors to speak of among the bays of Loch Creran or 
 Etive, we fear the winter will be again " open," which 
 means stormy and wet. 
 
 " Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and 
 although we have again and again failed to enjoy a quiet 
 time with the dredge on Loch Etive, we last week made 
 a further attempt in the midst of the usual wind and rain, 
 whbh we have come to consider especially Loch Etive 
 weather. We cannot return empty-handed again, and 
 say that the Demon from Cruachan Ben presides over 
 the waters, and guards them from prying eyes ; else we 
 would much rather sit in the charming home amid the 
 pines, far above and yet alongside the waters, with art 
 striving to surpass in perfection the natural beauty 
 around, and 
 
 Steam is up ! the little vessel at our service, and we
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 245 
 
 are soon in the rush of Etive's tide, with mud coming in 
 up to our elbows, and fresh water above and salt water 
 below sorely trying our enthusiasm. Suddenly we dive 
 into the argilaceous mass, and no longer fear the " bit 
 shower," for has not a Peden Septemradiatus come up, 
 one of those strong-ribbed, handsome scallops, not one 
 of which has hitherto met us in the surrounding waters 
 of Benderloch ? The tentacles are shorter and the ocelli 
 smaller than in our other pectens, but it is a handsome, 
 finely marked, and finely coloured shell, and the only 
 important British species we had hitherto looked upon 
 as absent from our waters. 
 
 Now we feel the strong beat, beat, as the iron travels 
 over rough ground, and when the contents are once 
 more emptied we are again rewarded with notable shells. 
 Those who seek the wonders of the deep are ever 
 anxious to obtain the strong-shelled limpet, with a rich 
 nacreous lining and a deep silt in the margin, known as 
 Emarginula crassa. This beautiful and interesting 
 mollusc frequents rocky or rough ground, on which it is 
 difficult to work any instrument that would bring up the 
 inhabitants, without great risk of said instrument of what- 
 ever kind being broken or lost. So a creature that may 
 be common enough on natural ground is rarely captured, 
 and consequently becomes the more eagerly sought after. 
 Living on the same ground and coming up along with 
 him, we find several fine specimens of that Cornucopia- 
 shaped shell the " Hungarian's Cap," which reaches 
 such size and beauty on the South Coast of England ; 
 while numerous specimens of Astartt, that richly toned, 
 finely marked, northern shell, come up to reconcile us 
 to our own fauna. 
 
 The sea bottom after all is just like our woods and
 
 246 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 moors, on which special classes of animals have a wide 
 range, while others are wholly local and strangely limited 
 in habitat. A small species of this same Astarte, A. 
 compressa, with numerous very graceful lines upon it, 
 is so comparatively rare that we have only procured two 
 specimens in our extensive dredging in our own loch. 
 Suddenly we come upon their haunt, and a dozen or two 
 are procured in Loch Etive in a single haul ! 
 
 As we gather our treasures in the evening in our snug 
 retreat on the hill, amid sympathetic and all-enduring 
 onlookers, f we find the fragments of a pennahtla, or sea 
 pea, with its myriad polyps still capable of expansion, 
 although the stem has been broken into fragments. 
 Into the porcelain dish that the sun artist has graciously 
 loaned we toss a few sea slugs or sea cucumbers, whose 
 uncouth, snail-like form is sufficiently forbidding. When 
 morning dawns, what a contrast they form to their even- 
 ing appearance ! The one has thrown out a splendid set 
 of crimson suckers, beautiful in colour, arrangement, and 
 form ; the other large fellow has spread his delicate, 
 almost transparent, tentacles tastefully divided at the 
 extremities far across the dish in search of food ; while 
 the little hermit crab that had chosen the summit of the 
 sluggish creature as a point of vantage the evening before, 
 had evidently thought better of it, and was racing with 
 incessant and by no means intelligent activity around the 
 dish again and again. These Holothuroids are very 
 interesting marine forms, and will repay any one who 
 can overcome his repugnance to their slug-like appear- 
 ance, which is soon lost sight of in the beauty of their 
 expanded crowns. 
 
 About 6.15 on Sunday the i2th we witnessed a 
 really remarkable display of aurora borealis. Not only
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 247 
 
 were the streamers of the most brilliant character, 
 but the auroral bow was quite complete, and bounded 
 the lights that streamed upwards from the north. This 
 was the first really satisfactory auroral bow we remember 
 to have seen in this latitude, and although the light was 
 of the pure silvery character peculiar to our " Northern 
 Lights," without any of the colour we see figured in 
 Arctic displays, the general effect was similar. As we 
 rose betimes on Monday morning to find the tail of the 
 comet streaming in a brilliant curve over the southern 
 sky, it distracted our attention from the north and 
 monopolised our eyes for a time. It was now almost 
 exactly twelve hours since we had gazed on the Aurora, 
 and when we again turned from the comet to the 
 opposite point of the compass, what was our delight to 
 find the streamers now reaching almost to the zenith, 
 and where the lights crossed the arc of the Aurora, the 
 fine delicate blues and reds were most distinctly visible. 
 Only the blue and red of the lunar rainbow, however, 
 was anywhere displayed, and we could not satisfy our- 
 selves that there was any regularity or certainty in their 
 distribution. The most notable fact in these displays 
 was that the auroral arc was pure in colour when un- 
 crossed by the lights streaming from the horizon ; but 
 when these streamed through the arc the result of the 
 cross lights was the production of the red and blue bands 
 we have referred to. As may be imagined, it is not 
 often that our sober skies are at one and the same time 
 lighted up at opposite quarters by such a brilliant pair of 
 strugglers for popular admiration, and the lines of Blanco 
 White appeared exceptionally applicable to the night in 
 question :
 
 248 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 " Who could have thought such glory lay concealed 
 Beneath thy beams, oh sun !" 
 
 And yet what numbers of magnificent "night landscapes 
 there must be, " while you and I and all of us " fall 
 down, and wretched gaslight triumphs over us ! 
 
 So thought we on the previous evening, as our boat 
 rippled through the darkening water under the daintily 
 copse-clad rocks, near Cregan Ferry, and we watched the 
 woods of Barcaldine in the growing evening haze. 
 " There are the three smokes all close together ! " some 
 one remarks ; and sure enough they are close enough 
 from here, and only a mile or two apart in reality. 
 What are the three smokes, you ask ! and how can they 
 be distinguished? Just look up there over all those 
 woods to the hillside above, and the clear grey smoke of 
 the wood fires streams dreamily over towards Glen 
 Salloch. Quite a poetical, hazy smoke, just such a 
 misty, ghostly enveloping of the habitation as might have 
 gathered over the Bower of Deirdre, by Etive shore. 
 There, again, in the centre of the woods, rises the harsh 
 black smoke of our higher civilization, gathered at the 
 cost of our lower civilization, that so painfully drags out 
 the bowels of the earth to toast the benumbed souls of a 
 thankless generation. It drifts across the pine tops to 
 the shoulders of Ben Breac like an underbred ghost that 
 thought it unnecessary to wash itself or purge its 
 neglected raiment. Down near the shore, again, with a 
 humble deferential air about it, hangs the skin of the 
 Benderloch soil, unwilling to rise too far above it. The 
 smoke of the dissipated turf has a homely blueish-brown 
 hue of comfort, and one feels as if it alone could be 
 reasonably called "reek," and allowed to cover the
 
 NOVEMBER, 1882. 249 
 
 sanitary sins of the people with a disinfectant mantle of 
 kindly security. 
 
 But here we are at Cregan, and we may land in the 
 gloaming at the little bay, and stroll up by the Ferry 
 House. The mountains are now as if close beside us. 
 Those of Glencoe are virgin snow-capped, with etherial 
 blue sides shading into delicate pink above in the after- 
 glow. Nearer, the white tops glide downwards into deep 
 black, thence into rusty yellow or russet brown. The 
 shadow of the shapely Craig beside us is shivering in 
 the loch, and every birch stands out clearly on its well- 
 defined ridge. But how describe the innumerable 
 shades and indefinable shading of the yellows and 
 browns upon its sides, with little gullies of deeper tints 
 that slip from the gold-tipped summit to the solemn- 
 visaged base ? We turn aside hopeless of speech, and 
 only receptive of beauty, and gaze towards the sun, now 
 far beneath the horizon. A single cormorant sits like a 
 sentinel on the little rocky islet whose top is just above 
 the waves ; and the gleam of brilliant yellow above the 
 rich blue-grey banks of cloud throws the little peninsula, 
 with its birchen knolls, into delicate relief against the 
 Appin background. 
 
 A breeze has stolen down the hillside, and is curdling 
 the waters seaward ; with a sharp bite in it too from the 
 snows of Glencoe, that bids us hie away home. The 
 night was so bright that we lost sight of the heavens in 
 the new lights thrown by them upon our little bit of 
 earth. There is the smoke curling from Barcaldine 
 Gardens, where they recently trapped a buck in a novel 
 manner. These animals frequent the garden environs in 
 numbers in the winter, and one had made frequent inva- 
 sions of the bulb house, where it had regaled itself with
 
 250 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 the choicest flower bulbs, being carefully gathered and 
 stored for the winter. To prevent the door being open 
 so as to invite entrance, a spring had been fastened upon 
 it lately, and next morning a buck was captured ; having 
 pushed its way in to find an invisible enemy close the 
 door behind it ! It had created quite a shindy in its 
 endeavours to get out, and had even sought to escape 
 through the window ! A buck in a bulb-house, with the 
 door shut, must be a close approximation to a bull in a 
 china shop. 
 
 There is the light of the cottage blinking over the 
 port-bow, so we slip over the seaware bordering our little 
 stream, and soon beach our craft before our door, 
 satisfied that a cruise by moonlight is not at all a bad 
 substitute for a day excursion, and that beauties un- 
 imagined crowd upon the sight, and filter into the soul, 
 under the light of a frosty sky. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 
 
 We had traversed the neighbouring stream a week ago 
 without seeing a single finny inhabitant, and again 
 yesterday we met our shrewdly-observing friend, and 
 asked him where the trout went to from our streams in 
 the winter ? To the sea ! was the reply ; and still un- 
 convinced we followed his stream from the seaweed 
 verge, poking under every stone, progging every bank 
 where, in the "merry, merry sunshine," the spotties 
 would flash and go in twos and threes. Not a fin shows 
 from bank or boulder, from rippling shallow or quiet 
 pool, and our search to-day corroborates our previous 
 hunt in the other stream, where equally the absence of 
 fibh was remarkable in lower and upper courses. Are
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 251 
 
 the fish in these uncertain, short-coursed mountain 
 streams, with a sea exit, afraid of being frozen up towards 
 the upper course of the stream in the winter, and, having 
 no important pools or ponds to congregate in for security, 
 do they really seek the warm, deep water of the 
 contiguous sea for the winter months ! If this is so, it 
 greatly complicates our ideas of the ways of Salmofario, 
 and may account for certain appearances among local 
 shoals of sea trout that greatly exercise us, and demand 
 further elucidation. 
 
 Do squirrels throw down their nests ? we are asked, as 
 we turn from the stream towards the road, and pass 
 under the trees lately tenanted by unmistakable nests of 
 the squirrel, built under the watchful eye of our friend. 
 There on the sward lies the complete nest of a squirrel, 
 not a summer nursery, it appears to us, but a lately re- 
 lined winter snuggery. It had been tumbled holus-bolus 
 out of the tree, whence it could not have been blown, 
 and where no boy about, had there been any, would 
 have disturbed it. Only built originally this summer, it 
 could not have become intolerable through the increase 
 of parasites, and the lining was fresh ! Are any others 
 down ! is the natural query, and we examine the tree but 
 a few yards away, where another nest is still standing. 
 Is it ? look again ; it is really almost out, having been 
 clearly dragged from its position in the fork of the fir. 
 Other two nests further along, but apparently not 
 interfering with the hunting grounds of each other, or 
 stepping beyond the unwritten forest code of Mr. Squirrel, 
 remain as they were. The natural conclusion is that 
 there has been a little jealousy, or a great deal of ill- 
 feeling; and that, remembering the shrewd remark of the 
 Indian to be " near to the far, and far to the near," they
 
 252 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 of the two closely contiguous nests have been a little too 
 " distant " to one another, and ended by having a battle- 
 royal among the tree-tops ; endeavouring to topple each 
 other's domiciles out of their secure positions, and 
 forcing the shivering wretches these last nights to wish 
 they had listened to Watts's hymns. How else to 
 account for the destruction of two nests so close together, 
 and safe from gales ? 
 
 How differently did the two cows underneath behave 
 last year, and what a lesson might you not have taken 
 from your bucolic neighbours, you sillikins ! Did not 
 "Maggie" make her appearance at the gate at an 
 unreasonable hour, in an excited condition, butting at 
 the gate and bellowing plaintively, while refusing to be 
 driven away until aid was brought to her companion in 
 the ditch hard by, into which it had tumbled helplessly. 
 And did not the wise Maggie restrain her annoyance at 
 the stupidity of her comrade, and disgust at the snubbing 
 her first efforts met with, until her sympathy was no 
 longer required ; when she gave her liberated comrade a 
 proper butting, to relieve her mind and tail-off her ex- 
 hausted sympathies ! A most sympathetic, wise, and 
 considerate animal Maggie, when she might have so 
 quietly punished the other for all the stolen mouthfuls, 
 and had a quiet half-hour by herself among the titbits. 
 One almost fancies that such an incident could only 
 occur among well-fed animals, where there was plenty of 
 everything, and that it is a homologous growth to the 
 amazing sympathy for everyone suffering, be they knave 
 or fool, evinced by the well-fed comfortable classes in 
 England to-day. 
 
 We have been getting up our Christmas pantomimes 
 in the neighbourhood, and the private view we obtained
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 
 
 on the 1 4th was quite delightful, with promise of greater 
 things to come. Special invitation to the members of 
 the press on condition that the public should know 
 nothing whatever of what is going on, of course ! So 
 we rambled up the little stream, and past the ruined 
 dwellings, and under the cluster of beeches hiding the 
 ivy-clad cliff and moss-covered rocks. That fallen tree 
 makes a capital bridge across the now gullying course of 
 the stream, but it is covered with a slight coating of 
 rime, and we decline to trust ourselves along it to-day. 
 Here in force the stream jumps over a few feet, before 
 which an apron of ice is spread, and we only hear the 
 murmur of the water as it trundles along underneath the 
 new white dimity. We clamber up the little fall, and 
 find the banks of the stream deepening into moss- 
 covered walls, with rocky projections. Slow music ! 
 gently ushering us into the front seats close to the 
 maundering orchestra. Silver icicles are hanging in 
 gleaming masses from the rocks all around, and the lilt- 
 ing stream now and again popping its head out of its 
 covering like a clown through a trap-door, the crimping 
 mosses and clustering ivy scrambling along the little 
 slopes over the silvered faces ot the rocks, all deck the 
 approach to the stage. The shivering lady birches in 
 the scantiest of costumes occupy every point of vantage, 
 and right in front of us we find our progress barred with 
 the splendid drop scene ! never more to be painted by 
 Sam' Bough, but still a wondrous scene. 
 
 The beautiful fall has been completely covered with a 
 heavy coating of ice, and at its foot a mass of frozen 
 foam, several feet high, hides the dark pool where the 
 " leading lady " now sings gaily as the waters dance down 
 from the ledge above. What has the dexterous draughts-
 
 254 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 man meant to represent ? A portly alderman with a 
 resplendent white waistcoat and napkin devouring a 
 large ice-cream ! Alas ! what a degrading comparison, 
 when this might be the gate into the Nevada silver land 
 or the diamond mines of Golconda. A fringe of brown 
 leaves on the young oaks up among " the gods," and 
 scanty discoloured napkins here and there waving 
 hurrahs for the opening scene from the side galleries 
 occupied by the copsewood, represents the audience. 
 
 Where is the genius of the still-life picture ? is there 
 really nothing else animate around to move the scenery ? 
 
 A pair of mild eyes look down upon us from the slope 
 above, and a lamb browsing on the scanty herbage must 
 be the transformed Fairy Queen. Our eyes turn half 
 sadly to the dead tree lying, with its roots in the pool 
 and its poor head buried in the mossy bank where the 
 last winter had tossed it from the summit, when the clip 
 of a wing catches our eyes and a blackie skips over the 
 bank above, only to disappear in a moment with another 
 flick when it finds a strange intruder on the scene. By- 
 and-by a " tweet, tweet " directs us towards a flock of 
 coletits, restlessly busy among the mosses, hunting for 
 insects with the most preternatural rapidity ; but they 
 too pass rapidly on and leave us alone, when we re- 
 collect that the scene-shifters may be kept waiting, and 
 we slip quietly back again into the outer world, where 
 we can peep through tree stems to the quiet loch and 
 the snow-clad hills on the one hand, and the white-crusted 
 mosses on the other, like the curly fleeces of whitefaced 
 sheep. 
 
 Down by the shore the high tides have left our long 
 foreshores black, that during the neaps were covered 
 with plates of crackling ice. As the tide rose to the
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 255 
 
 highest it met a keen temperature, and, although but a 
 short time stationary, when it fell it left the grasses on 
 the seaturf with little icy tablets, beautifully engraved, 
 sitting on their summits. Such lots of them too, like the 
 little groups of white marble-topped tables on a Parisian 
 boulevard ; the fairies will no doubt be coming there for 
 a cold " chop " as they emerge from the pantomime. 
 For there are such preparations for Christmas festivities, 
 and so many wonderful drop-scenes. A beautifully deli- 
 cate rose-pink slid over the mountains all around this 
 afternoon, with a winking haze over the purplish 
 shoulders of the hills. The foreground is lightly dusted 
 with snow, with now a black foreshore shading into 
 purple, and then breaking suddenly into grayish blue on 
 the further waters. 
 
 Mussels have been very frequent on the hills of late, 
 and we wondered whether future naturalists would 
 consider them as evidence of the recent elevation of the 
 land. Times are bad, and the crow kind have been 
 obliged to take largely to the shore supply of viands, so 
 they frequently carry mussels to the hills to break upon 
 the rocks and devour at their leisure. Potatoes also are 
 not infrequent, showing how important birds are in the 
 spreading of vegetation when such large roots are borne 
 lengthened distances into the wilds. 
 
 He is dead ! In spite of comfortable quarters and 
 care he has given up the struggle in disgust, and we have 
 just been transferring his remains to the spirit world. 
 And so the question is not yet quite settled to our satis- 
 faction, how long a skate takes to arrive at that condition 
 of maturity represented by the complete absorption of 
 the umbilical sac, and consequent readiness to commence 
 life as an aggressive unit in the animal world.
 
 25 6 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Our experiment has been a lengthened one, and full 
 of interest. In June last, when the thornback skates 
 came inshore to throw their eggs, we speared several 
 thus ripe, with the pair of matured eggs on the way down 
 the fallopian tubes. These eggs we placed in our ponds, 
 so that the water might have constant play about them ; 
 but, at the same time, that the creature when born might 
 not escape our observation. After waiting 70 days we 
 opened one to see if the fish would ever really be ready 
 for exit, and to our surprise found a fine healthy young 
 skate, with the wings just commencing to curve outward 
 from the dog-fish-looking framework. The fish was so 
 evidently immature, with the venous system circulating 
 powerfully around the very large umbilical sac, that we 
 decided to give the next another month before examin- 
 ing its progress. At 100 days we therefore again opened 
 an antiquated-looking hand-barrow, to see if the 
 inhabitant had not reached an age when it might be 
 reasonably expected to go into society, and be introduced 
 to the real cares of life. Again the fish was found with 
 a large umbilical sac, but with the wings fairly developed, 
 so that it measured one inch across and three inches to 
 the end of its very skaty tail. The sac was yet an 
 important factor in its existence, and it could by no 
 possible dodge have hidden its meal-bag under its body. 
 Yet the creature was an unmistakable skate, and as lively 
 as if it had no encumbrance. Only one egg of a satis- 
 factory kind remained to us, and we anxiously awaited 
 the appearance of the fish therefrom, making daily 
 pilgrimages to its shrine and with difficulty keeping our 
 hands from asking the question ever on our lips, is it still 
 alive, we wonder? The months passed, and our 
 patience had gradually filtered away, when after one
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 257 
 
 hundred and fifty days no sign of any youngster was 
 visible. We were aware that young skates frequently 
 make their appearance on the east coast with the sac 
 still attached, evidently as tired of waiting inside 
 as we were of watching outside ; so in order to 
 note exactly when the sac was absorbed, we decided 
 to open our remaining skate egg on the 15 3d 
 day, and see what stage of progress had been reached. 
 The result although most interesting, has on the whole 
 proved unfortunate, as we ought to have displayed still 
 more patience after having waited so long. After 153 
 days, the youngster was not quite mature, having a 
 considerable sac still to come and go on ; but it was in 
 vigorous health, three and a half inches in length, and 
 two broad across the wings. He was now tumbled into 
 a basin of water, where he seemed quite at home, 
 occasionally floundering around, but for the most part 
 remaining quiescent and receptive. In order to prevent 
 the light being too strong we covered over a portion of 
 the basin with brown paper, and here the little fellow 
 lived for three weeks longer, slowly engaged in absorbing 
 what remained of the sac, and apparently quite satisfied 
 with his position in life. By this time he had reached 
 the age of 174 days since the deposition of the egg, and 
 yet it should be well noted that he had still some weeks 
 of existence before him ere he could have absorbed his 
 patrimony, and be said to exist as a breadearner on his 
 own account. By some means his sac got a twist at this 
 time, causing him great uneasiness, and forcing him to 
 lift one wing back as if relieving the sac of undue 
 pressure; and the following day, at the age of 175 days 
 a few days under six months he entered his only
 
 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 protest against the cruelty of fate, and ceased the 
 graceful movements of his tapering tail 
 
 There had been no apparent retardation of the process 
 of incubation, and consequently it must be allowed that 
 these cold-blooded sluggish fish are extremely leisurely 
 in all their movements from the beginning, and that as 
 the eggs take so long to incubate when excluded, it is 
 more than probable our conjecture was correct, and that 
 the embryo eggs found in the fish in November are not 
 capsuled and ready for deposition until the usual spawn- 
 ing time in May and June. No wonder neither Couch 
 nor ourselves could incubate them before, seeing we 
 looked upon six or eight weeks as the time probably re- 
 quired, in place of as many months. 
 
 When noting the various mosses to-day in their beauti- 
 fully-luxuriant development, we came upon the smooth 
 face of a rock up which the cushiony sphagnum had set 
 itself to climb. It was quite interesting to observe the 
 complete change in its apparent character, resulting from 
 the changed conditions of the physical problem it had 
 set itself to face. The soft moss had stretched itself out 
 to the utmost, clinging like ivy to the face of the rock, 
 and appearing as if pressed in a scrap book, so closely 
 did it spread itself on the stone. Several species had 
 behaved similarly under similar conditions, and the 
 extreme tenuity of the stems, as they strained upwards, 
 had extended to every filament, with the result that, 
 dusted as they were with a light moisture, they presented 
 a most ethereal appearance, and were in marked contrast 
 to their commonplace fellows pursuing the even tenor 
 of their uneventful, unambitious, gregarious ways. No 
 doubt these lower forms are less readily injured, and
 
 DECEMBER, 1882. 259 
 
 more accommodating in their habits, than others of 
 higher organization. 
 
 Mankind is steadily developing an extraordinary desire 
 both to eat its cake and have it. Why does the River 
 Awe no longer send shiploads of salmon away, as it used 
 to do in the old days, when a vessel was regularly des- 
 patched to Spain with noble kippers ? This question is 
 continually asked. There is far more conservation, both 
 in the river and outside, and we know what is annually 
 obtained ; and yet the resultant catch approaches not in 
 importance to those "good old times," that were too 
 stupid to know how happy they were. Now, no one can 
 suppose that a salmon hangs about the mouth of its 
 native river until the time for spawning comes round; 
 and the natural question to be asked in this, as in many 
 other instances, is, where is the gauntlet through which 
 they must run on their annual return ? That they go to 
 distant feeding grounds is undoubted, and one proof of 
 this is the mistakes they make in returning homeward. 
 Great shoals of salmon coming inwards from the Atlantic 
 strike the south-eastern portion of Mull, and are there 
 met by the usual preparations for their capture. Those 
 escaping proceed north by Kerrera, where fresh fisheries 
 have been established of recent years, and heavy con- 
 tributions are there paid for permission to pass. In fact, 
 ere they reach the mouth of Loch Etive the shoals have 
 suffered similarly to an East African expedition, and left 
 three-fourths of their number on the danger-lined path. 
 On arriving near Connel they are met by a colony of 
 seals, and another sacrifice has to be offered. About 
 this quarter the salmon of the various rivers must part 
 company the Loch Awe fish entering the turbulent 
 rapids of Connel, while those for the Garry and in-
 
 260 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 termediate rivers proceed onwards to their destination. 
 It is sufficiently remarkable how well they manage to 
 discover their home rivers without supposing them never 
 to make blunders. Indeed, how the fish for the River 
 Creran succeed in the difficult task of slipping past 
 Eriska Island is an interesting question, and yet we are 
 assured by those who know both fish thoroughly that 
 River Awe fish find their way into Loch Creran 
 occasionally along with the native fish. We say into 
 Loch Creran, where they have been captured, showing 
 that they have been travelling with the same body of fish 
 as the Creran salmon, and missed the mouth of the loch. 
 But we understand they are never taken in the River 
 Creran, so that they must discover their error and return 
 to seek their own river ! 
 
 This seems to us an interesting fact, if it is as reliable 
 as we believe it to be ; going far to prove that this 
 instinct of returning to the native river is largely founded 
 on observation, capable of rectifying blunders when 
 made. Again, the fish of the River Nant, adjoining the 
 Awe, will enter the mouth of the latter river during low 
 water, and await a spate in their own stream just as a 
 woman would go into her neighbour's lobby and await 
 the return of her absent damsel to open her own door, 
 declining absolutely, however, to go "ben the hoose." 
 Is this not a comparatively sensible movement ? 
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 
 
 We brought in the New- Year, as well as Christmas, by 
 a forenoon's dredging, and, strange to say, the weather 
 was most propitious, and enabled us fully to enjoy the 
 beauty of mountain and loch, the first just sprinkled with
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 261 
 
 snow and the latter speckled with sunlight, with here a 
 lonely sea-bird or passing gull, and there a seal on the 
 look-out for its Christmas or New- Year dinner. Frost 
 to-day, rain to-morrow, and frost to follow, with the wine- 
 cups of the inebriated gods running over the evening 
 skies, shading into watery greys as the glorious-tinted 
 liquors met the tears of the goddesses weeping over the 
 follies of their mad mates. The festive season, unreliable 
 as it ever is socially and physically, has been especially 
 uncertain during the past days, and we quite sympathise 
 with the desperate attempt of two of those in the vicinity 
 to follow the unreliable weather, and combine Good 
 Templarism with " Ne'er 's-day." One good-humoured 
 son of Benderloch, who desired us to sacrifice to the 
 presiding genius of the day, and swallow a molten fiery 
 furnace, displayed a blue ribbon in his coat ; and upon 
 our suggesting the absurdity of the combination of his 
 offer and his button hole, he coolly explained that he 
 carried the inevitable bottle all the same, but that he 
 and a crony having resolved to meet an hour after, 
 decided that the only security for their doing so was for 
 them to be Good Templars till they met again? We 
 feel as if the novel idea were stolen from the fields and 
 moorlands about. Two days ago they were " soaking," 
 next day after an evening's frost they were firm and 
 secure, but they were only awaiting the southerly breeze 
 that had gone round the corner, and to-day they are 
 again scarce traversible. 
 
 But the loch was traversible, and we enjoyed 
 thoroughly the varied hauls that brought new wonders to 
 view. New, that is, absolutely new, no reasonable being 
 expects much of nowadays, but relatively novel gatherings 
 are ever coming to cheer the lover of Nature, for
 
 262 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 " Whenever the way seemed long, 
 
 Or his heart began to fail, 
 She would sing a more beautiful song, 
 Or tell a more marvellous tale." 
 
 Aye, even to the humblest of her votaries. We have 
 never hitherto met with a noble shell with large umbones 
 and heart-shaped, hence named Isocardia cor, that has 
 been taken about lona. Two dead valves of a single 
 specimen came up in one draw of the dredge, and 
 seemed to us a most remarkable coincidence, as they 
 had evidently long been separated, growing a huge bunch 
 of barnacles on one edge, large Anomice, or false oysters, 
 nestling in the snuggest corner of the inner side, with 
 strong serpulse tubes crossing the hinge-joint, and 
 altogether showing a complete divorce without the least 
 apparent likelihood of ever coming together again. 
 That the small dredge travelling in the middle of the 
 loch should pick up both seemed to be beyond the 
 ordinary laws of chances, but yet " the unexpected," we 
 are told, "always," or at least often, "happens." This 
 most interesting, but apparently rare, shell seems then to 
 have lived in our enclosed loch if it does not do so 
 now and there is a prospect of our obtaining some day 
 a perfect specimen. For we need not consider the 
 chances of it having been borne inward from the outer 
 waters, as it is a deep-water and not an active animal ; 
 and our waters are wholly out of the track of ocean waifs. 
 One can scarcely imagine it possible for the open- 
 edged unprotected scallop, P. opercuZaris, to exist amid its 
 numberless enemies, but the tangle fronds dragged up 
 to-day contained large numbers of minute young stick- 
 ing all over them, showing that the creatures managed 
 to reproduce their kind in safety and abundance. Their
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 263 
 
 very small size, along with the gradations of sizes 
 dredged by us at present, point to a very elastic breeding 
 season, which may extend for many months. The 
 Crustacea of the shrimp class (Palcemou, &c.), whether 
 rich green or deep crimson, are full of spawn as 
 they arrive on board, and seem also to exhibit far 
 greater vitality under the circumstances than they do 
 usually. Is this a powerful instinct to preserve and 
 continue the species ? If so, it is quite at variance with 
 some other species whose muscles relax, and whole 
 physical system shows marked incapacity for the usual 
 struggle for existence, when in spawn ! 
 
 We have had the usual three-days gale, this time, for 
 the first time this season, commencing from the nor'-east 
 and working very slowly round to the south, whence it 
 now blows stiffly, throwing a fresh coating of snow on the 
 higher hills and scuds of rain on the low lands. But it 
 has been a remarkable dry gale, cold and cutting until 
 to-day, and only adds fresh inducement to the vegetation 
 to continue its vagaries. Three times within the last few 
 months have the mild spells induced the firs alongside to 
 throw out fresh sprouts, only to be nipped ere they had 
 got further than an inch on their journey; while the 
 primroses are struggling to emerge from budhood, and 
 the bunches of rosebuds along our cottage front are in a 
 most uncertain and unsatisfactory frame of mind, as if a 
 " worm i' the bud " were preying on their scorbutic- 
 looking cheeks. 
 
 In spite of the excessive severity of the weather last 
 evening, when the gale was at its worst and the ferries on 
 one side were almost, and on the other altogether, 
 impassable, a goodly gathering from all the clachans 
 around met to spend an evening together. Quite a
 
 264 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 hundred from our sparsely-peopled vicinity arrived, and 
 this although a visit from the " Great King " to an aged 
 neighbour had kept many kindly faces from the throng. 
 Nothing illustrates the extreme sympathy that pervades 
 a Highland district more than such an incident, as death 
 will not only keep the immediate friends of the deceased 
 from the place of mirth, but the immediate neighbours, 
 otherwise wholly unconnected, who consider it unfeeling 
 to enjoy themselves visibly under the circumstances. 
 This sensibility underlies the Highland character, and 
 accounts for much that the sterner temper of the Low- 
 lander finds quite incomprehensible in their everyday 
 existence. It is both a source of strength and weakness, 
 for while it enables a prosperous Highlander to be a 
 gentleman, it is apt to prevent an unsuccessful one from 
 playing the man. 
 
 We are far from cities, in a comparatively poor district, 
 a large proportion being crofters, and a stranger naturally 
 expects that the result of a promiscuous gathering from 
 hill and shore will result in a rough-and-tumble sort of 
 meeting. Enter the school-house during the evening, 
 and you first find the whole tastefully decorated by the 
 young men and maidens with admirable effect, and by 
 the aid of the very simplest means. Branches of ever- 
 greens from the nearest plantations are tacked on to the 
 walls in simple patterns, while garlands of holly, ivy, and 
 other evergreens are stretched across in front of the rude 
 platform, over which a plaid is spread for a carpet. A 
 Gaelic welcome in leaves of variegated holly gives life to 
 a graceful meeting-place, while a few paper flowers give 
 the needful touch of colour. All a very simple matter, 
 representing a few hours' merry work of the young people, 
 and no expenditure except of willing labour. The
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 265 
 
 entertainment consists of the customary tea and fancy 
 bread of a town soiree, while an hour or two passes 
 pleasantly with the agreeable and gratuitous aid of the 
 ringing wild native airs, sung without affectation by the 
 young men. The simple programme over, the room is 
 cleared, the pipes tuned, and perhaps a score of couples 
 of all degrees join in the vigorous Highland dances. 
 All this may be seen anywhere, but we question if any- 
 where out of the Highlands can such a well-conducted, 
 kindly, merry, well dressed and well mannered company 
 be drawn together from the same social scale. Certain 
 we are that the poorest and humblest cottars are not less 
 actuated by that good feeling and " sympathy " that 
 breeds good manners than the most well-to-do ; and 
 while we sit and scan the pleasant faces and the comely 
 figures as they wind vigorously through the national 
 dances, we wonder if all this must gradually give way 
 before the hard work and prosaic chase of success so 
 much desiderated for the Highlands ? Whether it will 
 really be impossible for those classes in the " civilised " 
 condition to be gentle and kindly, as well as " merry and 
 wise," without forfeiting the other necessity of being also 
 "honest and true," is a question. Meantime we cry 
 " parley " with this terrible taskmaster " progress," and 
 would fain for a time be gentle barbarians. 
 
 " It is a notable fact the sin of suicide is conspicuous 
 by its absence among the canine race" thus a last 
 week's leader. The question thus cursorily settled is, 
 nevertheless, one we are by no means willing to admit 
 as capable of being so readily shelved. We have 
 ourselves had recently a considerable controversy on the 
 subject of the suicide of animals with a most redoubtable 
 antagonist, and while unable to crow triumphantly over
 
 266 LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 our success, the impossibility of " proving a negative " in 
 such a case befriends us. A friend and neighbour assures 
 us of the suicide of his terrier at one time when in 
 distemper, the animal simply going off and drowning 
 itself, and we firmly believe that in an extremity of pain 
 and fear, an animal will destroy itself "if it has the 
 means and opportunity." One argument adduced 
 against this is that it pre-supposes a knowledge of death 
 on the part of the animal, and mankind, as a rule, have 
 come to act as if animals could not have any mental fear 
 or anxiety about death, because they could not foresee it 
 or know of it Now, this is a very simple way of cutting 
 the Gordian knot, and a Gordian knot it is ; indeed, it 
 leads to some of the greatest of psychological problems. 
 But, that an animal knows death, may be pre-supposed 
 from the fact that many of them will simulate it, and do 
 this with the most marvellous verisimilitude. Perhaps 
 the best-known cases are those of the landrail or corn- 
 craik and the rat, to choose two widely-separated classes 
 of animals j to which we would wish to add the crab, a 
 creature that will on all occasions simulate death 
 admirably, when it cannot see any possible means of 
 escape otherwise. Under these circumstances the 
 animals will permit themselves to be handled like 
 corpses, and we have known a rat almost succeed in 
 deceiving a whole household, where it lay on the dung- 
 hill as it was thrown from the trap, keeping up the 
 deception for hours, as it knew that it was watched. 
 At length one eye was slowly opened, and ere those 
 watching its movements could prevent it, the knowing 
 creature had escaped with a rush. A creature that could 
 thus imitate death so admirably, must perfectly well 
 understand that such a state must exist for it, equally as
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 267 
 
 for its victims, and prefer such an apparent " rest for its 
 banes," rather than torture, or something horribly 
 indefinite. It would be interesting to obtain a well- 
 authenticated series of cases of apparent "suicide by 
 animals." 
 
 We have last week dredged our finest specimen of the 
 key-hole Limpet, Fissitrella Graeca, and thus satisfied 
 ourselves that they attain the ordinary size in our loch. 
 This proved to be a specimen of distinct interest, as both 
 in form and colour it far more approximated to the 
 variety gibba than to the ordinary form. As gibba is 
 figured of small dimensions, and we have specimens of 
 all intermediate shades of form between these two 
 varieties, we are satisfied that the two forms are merely 
 the customary variations of the one species, which, 
 although not so given to extremes of variation as our 
 common shore limpet, yet alter widely from the ordinary 
 accepted form. This must point to them as much more 
 common than their comparatively rare appearance in the 
 dredge would suggest, because we find that the more 
 numerous a species is the more widely will it vary within 
 certain limits. This is what would also be naturally 
 expected from the data on which the Theory of 
 Evolution of Species is based. 
 
 " There is a black sheep in every flock " is an 
 old saying that we have heard variously interpreted. 
 Besides the obvious one that no large body of sheep 
 could be together without a black one, and no large 
 family without a scapegrace, we have been assured 
 that the black sheep meant "the dog" or "the 
 shepherd," and how we have a fresh notion imported 
 into the serious discussion. " What is there about a 
 black sheep," asks our friend, " that makes it not only
 
 268 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 look exceptionally wicked and mischievous, but also act 
 up to its semi-demoniac appearance ? " " Just look at 
 those two fellows !" and we note their peculiar expression 
 of wild intelligence, as the small group to which they are 
 attached run through two gates and traverse two 
 supposed fences, as if they were not. See that fellow as 
 he stops and turns on the summit of the rock what an 
 " other world " appearance of extra knowingness there is 
 about it and yet we cannot readily believe there is any 
 real difference except in colour. Just let us suppose, 
 however, that a black fellow arrived in a white family, 
 would he not be looked upon as something uncanny, 
 would he not be inclined to arrogate to himself the 
 claims so willingly accorded, and gradually develop a 
 character which at first might be foreign to him ? Are 
 we sure sheep will not act somewhat similarly, and 
 gradually assert a position in a flock that at first was ac- 
 corded to their abnormal appearance ? For it must not 
 be supposed that because sheep, from their naturally 
 defenceless and timid character, are capable of being 
 controlled by sheep dogs, that they are necessarily less 
 intelligent than these most intelligent of dogs. In a 
 recent article on brains, apropos of Gambetta's, it was 
 remarked that a sheep's brain being larger comparatively 
 than a dog's brain, was an evidence against the supe- 
 riority of large brains over small ! We cannot recognise 
 the value of such evidence, and are inclined to believe in 
 the high intelligence of our Highland sheep at anyrate, 
 and would not be startled to find that they looked upon 
 dogs as specially designed to protect them against foxes 
 and other carnivora, and to keep them from straying into 
 danger. On our way homeward we pass another little 
 demon black fellow, whose leg was broken when a pet,
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 269 
 
 and so far healed as to enable it to be a most inveterate 
 thief and unconscionable vagabond about the autumn 
 fields and the winter kail-yard. It is a thorough rogue 
 in appearance, and almost forces us to acknowledge the 
 truth of our friend's assertion, that there is something 
 peculiarly mischievous and wicked about a "black 
 sheep." 
 
 During the tempestuous weather of last week we 
 observed on several occasions a remarkable effect in 
 cloudland. For several days a great mass of clouds 
 had lain across from Ben Breac to the head of 
 Glen Creran, in an immovable bank, while the storm 
 had been raging both above and below. Suddenly a 
 light cloud, advancing from the south-east, was found to 
 be circling, not vertically but horizontally, as if an 
 irregular roller had been dragged across the sky, the 
 revolutions being frequent, turbulent, and extending 
 to a considerable distance. Later in the day, towards 
 Glenure, we observed what seemed somewhat explana- 
 tory of the phenomenon. A stiff gale was blowing from 
 the south-east, above the bank of clouds before men- 
 tioned, whipping off the edges, and whirling them out- 
 ward away from the mountain tops, while another gale, 
 more southerly, but apparently blowing under the cloud 
 bank, met these cloud patches at an upward-tending 
 angle, given by the mountains it had met and slanted 
 over ; and thus they were carried across the sky in the 
 embrace of the horizontally-cyclonic breeze. The sky 
 was very disturbed, and seemed to point to severe gales, 
 turned in different directions from the mountain range 
 stretching from Cruachan to Glencoe ; but as to why the 
 great bank of cloud should have so long remained out- 
 side their influence we could not satisfy ourselves.
 
 270 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 All through the long-continued gale of last week the 
 barometers of the district had kept steadily rising, and at 
 last Monday, 22nd, dawned with a mild, cheerful, promis- 
 ing countenance, and the glass over 30 inches. The boat 
 was taken over to the " Port " ere the sea should leave it 
 half a mile inland these spring tides, and our friend was 
 hailed for a day on the water. Fine morning, high glass 
 rising, too, through a gale, as if to promise a fine spell 
 all looked hopeful for a pleasant day. And yet we 
 shook our heads and spoke ominously. The gulls are in 
 a group in front of the cottage, and are evidently "out of 
 their ordinary," and we cannot rid ourselves of the belief 
 that something severe is coming. They have not scattered 
 since the last gale, suggests an authority, and that does 
 not appear unreasonable, for its tail has just brushed the 
 dead leaves into the ditches, and their rustle has scarcely 
 died upon the ear. But we still shake our heads as we 
 step on board and pull across the loch. 
 
 We have not been long away when the clouds begin 
 to bank gloomily towards the South, and a strange weight 
 gathers around the sky; while we have no sooner reached 
 the other side than the wind sharpens, and rises with a 
 vicious touch in it that looks as if it meant something. 
 " The glass over 30 inches, and rising, this morning ! " 
 we repeat, as we find the widgeon and the mallard, the 
 golden-eye and the cormorant, as excited and restless as 
 the redshank-sandpiper and the oyster-catcher we left on 
 our own shore ! But by the time we have been an hour 
 away it is clear that the birds were right and the baro- 
 meter wrong, and that the spirit of the storm is marshall- 
 ing his batallions from every side. A great gloom is over 
 the loch as we hurry homeward in the teeth of the now- 
 rising gale, and we scarce dare halt to pick up the poor
 
 JANUARY, 1883. 271 
 
 rotche, whose white breast is lifted on the white breakers, 
 while a torrent of crimson flows into the waters around. 
 As we step chilled on to the beach, we half resolve to 
 burnish the glass face of our barometer so that it may 
 see better, and hang it outside to take a lesson from the 
 seafowl, not one of which, gull or sandpiper, but knew of 
 the coming tempest ! That night the wind blew a gale, 
 which continued all Tuesday, the glass in the interval 
 still rising to 30^3 only commencing to fall the next 
 night, when the gale increased to a tempest. " Never 
 prophesy unless you know," exclaims the Yankee hum- 
 orist, and the barometers in this quarter seem resolved 
 to be "cocksure" before they implicate themselves, leaving 
 all forecasts of value to the seafowl. 
 
 We some time ago calculated the quantity of limpets 
 eaten by the oyster-catchers, and looked upon these 
 as the principal food of our seapiets. Although they 
 are constantly and actively at work on sand or mud 
 banks in front of our cottage, we accused them more 
 of driving their bills into the sand after annelids 
 than seeking other shell-fish. Our neighbour, however, 
 found quite a handful of cockles in the stomach of an 
 oyster-catcher the other day, and this led to a discussion 
 as to how they opened them, for we did not suppose that 
 they knew the trick of opening them by placing the 
 um bones of two together and giving them a dextrous 
 twist ! The next day after our discussion, our friend, on 
 returning from a stroll, made a rush for his coat pocket 
 in such a state of triumph that we anticipated the pro- 
 duction of gold-laden quartz. The production of an 
 opened cockle dispelled this illusion, and we then learned 
 that he had come upon a gull devouring it, and forced 
 the bird to drop it that he might examine it carefully.
 
 272 LOCH CRERAtt. 
 
 No sign of injury appeared on the shell, and the muscular 
 attachments were still sticking to the valves, showing that 
 the animal had been alive and well, and that the shell 
 had not been found empty. Nor could we find that the 
 shell had been mouthed by the gull, so as to sicken the 
 cockle, and force it to leave hold. It seemed most reason- 
 able to suppose that, feeding on the borders of the tide, 
 both gull and oyster-catcher seized their prey when the 
 siphons were exserted, and then cleaned the shell, as no 
 broken shells, such as would lead to the supposition of 
 rough usage, are visible on the beach, which is otherwise 
 thronged with freshly-devoured cockle shells. We could 
 scarcely have believed that cockles could thus be caught 
 in multitudes unprepared. 
 
 When traversing an upland farm with a considerable 
 extent of cultivated land we noted one field fast relapsing 
 into sphagnum and lichen. This, we learned, had been 
 the direct result of an extra dose of moisture in our ordi- 
 narily "damp" climate. The field had been carefully 
 grass-sown before a very wet summer, and the seeds had 
 been washed into patches, where they had not been alto- 
 gether swept away, enabling the original hill vegetation 
 to assert itself, while the cultivated grasses contended for 
 bare existence in little grass "forts" scattered here and 
 there. But what is this on the contiguous field ? A 
 good-sized stone on which an unmistakable serpula tube, 
 or series of tubes, has been affixed, and has stood the 
 contest of elements almost unimpaired. That mussel 
 and other shells should be borne to the hills by birds ; 
 or that Crustacea in a ruined condition should strew the 
 elevated neighbourhood of a cormorant's seat, is simple 
 enough ; but why should a large stone with the home of 
 a sea-worm upon it appear in such a position ? Look
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 273 
 
 carefully around : there are several smaller stones with 
 miniature tree-roots sticking upon them, but in such a 
 manner as no terrestrial plants ever do, and no difficulty 
 need be found in allocating these also to the seashore. 
 Has the ground actually been raised a couple of hundred 
 feet above the present sea-level within a quite recent 
 period, in which the tangle attachments and serpulae have 
 not been worn off the stones ? No ! it is Mohammed 
 who has gone to the hill, not the hill to Mohammed; and 
 the cartloads of tangle and other seaware which have 
 been taken from the shore and laid down as manure have 
 borne along with them many goodly stones to which the 
 seaware has been attached ; and thus a fresh condition 
 will be imported into the geological problem of the future, 
 as no doubt many a similar uncalculated condition has 
 found its way into the geological formations which are 
 the problems of to-day. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 
 
 This last severe weather has set all the small birds 
 flocking again, and brought down to us from the higher 
 grounds, and in from the further moors, flights of 
 buntings of various species. One would naturally expect 
 that for convenience of finding feeding, birds would 
 rather keep separate in severe weather than throng 
 together, as it can be no easy matter to find provender 
 for these large bands of finches and buntings. No 
 doubt safety from birds of prey and other enemies is one 
 cause of their banding together, and they will also cover 
 a larger area in hunting for supplies, which in the case of 
 these seed-eaters will be found in quantity as a rule when 
 found at all. The several species do not necessarily
 
 274 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 keep together, and we counted four species of bunting 
 in one flock that had perched upon the trees of a small 
 plantation. Unless we were mistaken and a bird in 
 the tree is not satisfactory to an ornithologist the only 
 Ctrl Bunting we have seen here was in this flock. The 
 Black-headed Bunting is represented by one or two pairs, 
 and they are very local in their habitat, principally 
 affecting a short stretch of ground near the Moss of 
 Ledaig. We saw the Whinchat also a few days ago in 
 its district near Culcharran Moss, where it may be met 
 all the year in one or more pairs. A fine flock of Field- 
 fares is with us, that beautiful thrush that winters 
 throughout the country, and is so constantly mistaken 
 for the Missel Thrush ; or rather, properly speaking, the 
 Missel Thrush is mistaken for it. Whenever anyone 
 talks of a Fieldfare's nest, he is scoffed at as having mis- 
 taken the Missel Thrush's nest therefor. In colouring 
 they are much alike, but the Missel Thrush is a much 
 more vociferous fellow. Do the Missel Thrushes really 
 leave us when the Fieldfares come, and return as they 
 leave, thus helping to continue the mystification ? For 
 the Missel Thrushes that frequent our neighbourhood 
 have not been seen this winter ! 
 
 What is a deer fence ? We used to think we knew, 
 and supposed a 6ft. fence, with wires a foot apart, was 
 quite sufficient. But we have known deer to get over 
 such a fence, and we have heard of them going under 
 such a fence ; and now we know of a two-year-old buck 
 going right through a stiff split rail fence less than gin. 
 between the spars. Caught in a garden, it went straight 
 at the fence, slipped its head sideways between the spars, 
 and went through it like a cat. A very slight wire fence 
 is frequently sufficient to restrain red deer, but these
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 275 
 
 wild fallow deer seem to have developed that contempt 
 of humanity and its devices born of familiarity. 
 
 This is the first evening since Saturday last that we 
 can be said to have anything like calm, and the room, 
 as we light the lamp and draw down the blind, seems 
 deathly still, so accustomed has the ear become to the 
 continuous howl of the tempest. But the gales we have 
 just found relief from, for the time, would be better 
 described as a succession of terrific squalls, with strange 
 unexpected lulls between. We do not suppose they are 
 yet over, as our ducks were flying this evening like wild 
 mallards to and from the stream in front. 
 
 Saturday was a reasonable day, and as our dredge had 
 lain idle for exactly a month, we resolved to have an 
 hour on the water at the scallop ground. It seems fairly 
 reasonable to conclude that these pectens are migratory, 
 like the larger P. Maximus, for we had been at work 
 but a short time when we had secured a plentiful supply, 
 although of late our success has been by no means 
 satisfactory. We are tossing aside the empty shells with 
 still an eye on possibilities, when we catch sight of a 
 something at the bottom of a half valve of rough scallop 
 (P. pusio). Empty shells, exactly speaking, unless but 
 lately tenanted, are rarely to be found, as mud, sand, or 
 gravel gets silted into them, or a sea annelid will have 
 built its tube of sand or broken shells neatly coiled 
 therein. So, amid a mass of debris, it is not peculiar to 
 find a rough, dirty looking object in a half shell. But 
 the eye becomes educated in a peculiar way, and it is 
 wonderful how little of interest or novelty will escape one 
 even in a hasty glance through a mass of " stuff," and 
 thus it is that a fine Fissurella Graeca, or keyhole limpet,
 
 276 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 is readily pounced upon, however obscured by mud and 
 hidden in a corner. 
 
 Having obtained our supply of scallops, we leave their 
 ground and strike across the loch, and as the rope 
 lengthens out to a score of fathoms on softer ground, sly 
 allusions are made to the little palmipes that disappeared 
 from the boat on a certain occasion, the first that had 
 met our gaze in our loch. Why ! the fairies are about 
 to be sure. The next haul of the dredge in the middle 
 of the loch, and from the depths of another half pecten 
 pusio we drag another little web-footed starfish, neatly 
 ensconced, and exactly similar to the former much- 
 mourned individual. A little wobbling fish, too, among 
 the debris so we chuck it carelessly into a dish. Only 
 one or two edible scallops here, and grumbling deep 
 proceeds from the utilitarians; but the dredge is once 
 more at the bottom, and the oarsman toiling slowly for 
 the Appin shore. There is something in it this time, 
 that is certain, but the disgusted expression oi the toiler 
 at the rope tells at least of no pectens, and we are 
 greatly amused to find that into the comparatively small- 
 mouthed dredge a large sea-urchin, five inches in 
 diameter, has been entrapped ; and a splendid fellow he 
 is. What a delicate morsel he would have proved in the 
 Mediterranean, where the roe is more especially prized. 
 We have only once taken one of similar size at low tide 
 outside in Loch Linnhe, and the splendid set of grinders 
 he has to show explains his facility in filling his capacious 
 body, which will hold quite 21^ oz. of water. 
 
 Here are quite a row of little pea crabs that have 
 gradually succumbed since their withdrawal from the 
 water, and if you look at them carefully you will be sur- 
 prised to find that a proportion of them indeed a
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 277 
 
 considerable proportion of them are "humpbacked," 
 the carapace being swollen from the inside. Here and 
 there we find the carapace is being lifted off, and one is 
 apt to conclude that the creature has " burst itself" to an 
 extent. Ha ! what is this we have here ? Half 
 emerging from under the tilted carapace is a little 
 yellow-bodied scoundrel, backing out like a burglar from 
 a bedroom window ; and here, again, is another that has 
 wholly emerged from its stranded host, only to find itself 
 in an equally uncongenial element. Why, those lumps 
 under the carapace are actually parasites, and the burst- 
 open carapaces have been hoisted apart by them in their 
 endeavours to escape from the dwelling that circum- 
 stances " over which poor crabby had no control " has 
 rendered inhospitable. Small we have called these 
 fellows, but they are relatively enormous, and if one 
 could fancy a man carrying about a living hare in his 
 stomach he would be somewhat similarly burdened to 
 those weight carrying little crustaceans ! 
 
 Where is our little fish all this time ? Bring forth the 
 fish ! The fish was brought, and proved to be of the 
 sucker class. A delicately organised creature compared 
 with its congeners, with extremely fine fibrous fins, 
 resembling those of the gobies more than its own genus, 
 with a brilliant general tone on back and sides, only to 
 be imitated by adding a large dash of rose to Indian 
 red, and of an almost gelatinous consistence, the little 
 stranger of but i 3-ioths of an inch in length was a 
 source of greater interest than if it had been a salmon of 
 as many yards. The dorsal fin has 6, anal 4, and tail 
 13 rays, in this closely resembling the two-spotted 
 sucker ; but otherwise the appearance of these two fishes 
 is quite distinct, and three beautiful spots of a richer
 
 278 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 colour adorn the back, the largest and darkest between 
 the pectorals, and the others graduated in size and 
 brilliance towards the tail. It remains to be added that 
 the eyes of this dainty little fish have green pupils and 
 brilliant gold iris, so that, however diminutive, he is 
 quite a little beau in his way, evidently a variety of the 
 two-spot sucker. 
 
 The almanacs threatened us with high tides end of last 
 and beginning of this week, and, so far as this particular 
 corner is concerned, they quite come up to the mark. 
 A little after day-break on the roth, with one of the rare 
 calm seas of the last two months, the tide crept steadily 
 up around and far beyond our overturned boat. Except 
 on the occasion of the great November gale of 1881, we 
 have never seen the water so far up on our own shore, 
 although on that occasion it was several feet higher on 
 the other side of our bay, on which the hurricane was 
 impelling it. For a steady rise of tide, without any 
 wave to prevent the exact measurement, this Saturday 
 morning's tide was therefore the one from which we 
 must judge in future, the sea in our own loch being 
 waveless. This does not at all mean that the great rise 
 was not caused by heavy gales, for the continued 
 severity of the weather for such a lengthened period 
 must have forced a vast body of waters upon our 
 western coasts. Each winter we are subjected to such 
 weather that we forget the severity of those past, and 
 declare the present the worst ; but really in this case we 
 must assert that, for incessant continuous assault by air 
 and rain, we have not seen this season beaten. The 
 gales have been only not hurricanes, and we scarcely 
 think this latter term can be withheld from that of 
 Monday night. The accompanying storms of sleet have
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 279 
 
 been of the most violent and bitter character, and these 
 were accompanied last evening by a short but virulent 
 and brilliant thunderstorm. The sky had cleared and 
 looked favourable, deluding weak mortals out after a 
 tempestuous and bitter day ; when, with a hop, skip, and 
 jump came a black thunder-cloud round the shoulder of 
 Ben Breac and the heights of Ben Lora ; the darkened 
 landscape was lit up with a sheet of lurid flame, and as 
 the hail fell in an almost impenetrable mass, the thunder 
 seemed to shake the hills. Just a hop, skip, and jump, 
 and the storm demon passed over us, sending three 
 blinding flashes at intervals as his heels struck fire from 
 the granite of Ardchattan, the trap of the Scaur, and the 
 white quartz rock of Appin. And to day we feel at 
 peace, although the blast has still a choice selection of 
 Sheffield cutlery, that the rapid extirpation of the African 
 elephant and the consequent advance in ivory has alone 
 prevented it hafting ! 
 
 We have been visited by a flock of interesting 
 bullfinches these latter days in the little plantation along- 
 side, and most charming fellows they are to watch. We 
 fully sympathise with our friend who wept when he slew 
 his first cock bully, and thought it a wonderful chaffinch. 
 Here they come one, two, three flop among the 
 chaffies on the bare larches ; but, unlike the chaffies, 
 they are restlessly active, worrying around heads over 
 heels with the spirit of investigation newly awakened 
 within them ; and we, too, watch them keenly at a few 
 yards' distance. How gay you are in your beautiful 
 waistcoats as you draw your heads on one side and 
 squint sharply at the under side of the branchlets ! 
 Now, what are you after ? We have always considered 
 that bullfinches are not so injurious to a garden as they
 
 2 8o LOCH C RERAN. 
 
 are represented, so we watch them sharply. They are so 
 very busy and so inquiring with their bills that we come 
 to the conclusion they must really be nipping off the 
 buds and devouring them, so we note exactly the 
 branches and twigs that are visited and overhauled by 
 them, with the intention of having our turn of investiga- 
 tion. It is quite a reasonable supposition, as has been 
 suggested to us, that constant nibbling of buds after 
 imprisoned insects might lead the birds to devour the 
 buds themselves, " as a vegetable adjunct to their insect 
 diet," so we go up to see. There were half a dozen 
 bullies, at anyrate, on this small larch, and on three 
 several days have they paid marked attention to it, yet 
 not a bud do we see nipped from the twigs or branches 
 that we " marked down." It is clear that here, at 
 anyrate, the insects have been scarce, and the buds 
 themselves offered no inducement to the bonny birds. 
 
 Squirrels have been increasing at a great rate these 
 last few years, and one even streamed across the little 
 trees of the plantation at our door the other day ; while 
 they have penetrated up the beautiful glen, of the same 
 name, at the head of our loch. At the same time our 
 wild fruit harvest has been almost nil, our fir cone 
 harvest distinctly poor, and all the bellies of these active 
 beauties to be filled. Will they become carnivorous in 
 sheer desperation, is a question we have long asked 
 ourselves, but although we have kept our eyes open for 
 indications in this direction, we have found none. Our 
 friend from the beautiful glen, however, asked us lately 
 the pertinent question, " Why so many young birds were 
 lying dead last year with their heads crushed and the 
 brains devoured, and who were the murderers?" We 
 had not observed the facts, and could vouchsafe no reply.
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 281 
 
 On the faith of a professional bird-catcher who visits the 
 locality, our querist answered his own question, by stating 
 that the squirrels were the aggressors, that they attacked 
 the young birds in the nests, only biting the tops off 
 their heads and eating the brains ! We do not think 
 this at all unreasonable or unlikely ; the temptation to 
 these sharp-toothed tree hunters is great and ever present, 
 and it comes, too, at the end of the winter when forest 
 provender is scarce. Last year we were particularly 
 struck with the absence of nests, contemporaneously 
 with the absence of a batch of birdnesters; and if 
 the increase of squirrels is to be bought at the price of a 
 serious decrease in our feathered favourites, the price is 
 too high to pay. This may only be the "tiger's first 
 victim," and if these creatures develop a refined taste for 
 the brains of birds, there is no saying to what extent they 
 may carry it. They are getting very hard pressed at 
 present, for although our primroses are aflower the severe 
 weather since New Year has kept most vegetation from 
 any abnormal advance. 
 
 The barometer going up, and now at 30-3, the usual 
 hurricane rushing ventre a terre across the country, and 
 fierce squalls spitting bitter showers with hasty fury as 
 they shout at the heels of those before them. A cheerful 
 morning to be abroad among the tree tops or the tree 
 bottoms, even amid the thickest evergreens ! There is a 
 flop among the branches of the small larch just over our 
 head, and without observing our presence a squirrel, with 
 really less fuss than a bullfinch, is busy in the bare boughs 
 of the larch within two or three yards of our eyes. What 
 is the little fellow about that he is so desperately busy 
 and pre-occupied as not to perceive us? He passes along 
 the branch almost as lightly and quickly as a bird, and in
 
 282 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 his case there is no mistake. Quick as thought as he 
 progresses the tips of the little larch buds are nipped off, 
 now on the top, now on the side, and anon round on the 
 bottom. The movements as well as the occupation of the 
 creature are more that of a bird than of a quadruped, and 
 he clears branch after branch of larch with a dexterity 
 and persistence evidently born of long practice. Caught 
 in flagrante delicto, that is certain, my dear ! and, however 
 unwilling we are to declare your delinquency, we are sorry 
 to acknowledge that before you have filled your stomach 
 with such minute provender, and supplied the requisite 
 caloric to your active limbs, these keen days, you will 
 have retarded and weakened the growth of a considerable 
 number of trees to an appreciable extent. That you made 
 havoc of the fir-cones, and when hard-up ate a few young 
 fir sprouts, we were well aware, but that you made such 
 a wholesale onslaught on the coming vegetation of the 
 firs we were scarcely prepared to find. It is clear in a 
 winter when all fruit is extremely scarce, such a large 
 population of squirrels as now inhabit our woods must do 
 a serious amount of injury. 
 
 We formerly discussed the question as to whence the 
 squirrels came, and how they reached our isolated locality, 
 now about five years ago. It seems they have long been 
 located strongly at Inverawe, amid the beautiful woods 
 near the mouth of the river Awe, at the other side of 
 Loch Etive ; and it is quite possible that many may have 
 crossed the loch when it was frozen over a few miles 
 above, during some of these severe winters. This seems 
 to us the most likely supposition, as the years they 
 appeared were severe enough to enable them to adopt 
 this mode of emigration, without resorting to the " piece 
 of bark with tail for sail " that is so frequently brought
 
 FEBRUARY, 1883. 283 
 
 forward to account for their passage across sheets of 
 water. 
 
 Our tropiolum, that in ordinary seasons dies down to 
 the root to start afresh in the spring, has never really gone 
 to sleep this season, or at least has early awakened, and 
 is now alive far up, and throwing out strong, fresh sprouts, 
 evidently stimulated to unusual exertions by the masses 
 of strong snowdrops below and the primroses blooming 
 under the neighbouring hedge. We should not have 
 considered this almost unprecedented season of storm 
 and rain to have been so mild as this indicates ; but let 
 us stroll round to the back garden and we shall find 
 otherwise. The scrambling tendrils of the bramble have 
 wandered within a couple of months or so from the foot 
 of the enclosing dyke, and have reached quite 10 feet in 
 length during the winter ! Not sickly, weakly sprouts, 
 but strong, vigorous growths demanding vigorous mea- 
 sures to eradicate. These are sufficiently remarkable 
 evidences of the forcing character of the season. 
 
 What is sympathy ? and is there really a mental and 
 physical necessity created for the presence of a kindly 
 piece of animated nature to which we are accustomed ? 
 Of this class of feeling must be that desperate home-sick- 
 ness felt so keenly by many, as if even inanimate nature 
 and its associations bound their spirits by an indissoluble 
 bond. An old and kindly crofter, whose old horse has 
 long been his constant companion on the farm and the 
 road, recently fell sick, and after he had been a few days 
 in bed, a friend met the old horse with its head in at the 
 door, neighing a sympathetic query as to the why and 
 wherefore of his master's detention. " Why tarrieth your 
 weary foot, and wherefore is your friendly voice heard no 
 more in the stable ? " it seemed to ask, The incident
 
 284 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 was quite affecting, but we hope the old couple will jog 
 along many a summer day together yet. 
 
 MARCH, 1883. 
 
 Two belated wanderers on the southern shore of 
 Benderloch have just come in, bringing with them a 
 goodly array of ocean treasure trove. A mass of delicate 
 pink fish spawn belongs to the " Cockpaidle " or Lump 
 Sucker (Cydopterus lumptts), and another of the contents 
 of the pail they carried proved to be our second specimen 
 of Montague's sucker fish, with its beautifully marked 
 fins, back, belly, and tail. But what a jump our heart 
 gave as we glanced at the companion fish : not for years 
 have we seen a specimen of what was a common shore 
 fish in the further North, so that the sudden appearance 
 of the Motella quinquedrrhata or five-bearded Rockling, 
 with its elegant, if somewhat ling-like shape, and rich 
 chocolate-brown, golden-syrupy colouring, was enough 
 to bring before us the bleak cliffs and rolling moorlands 
 of the Long Island. We have once taken a beautiful 
 specimen of its congenor, the three-bearded Rockling, 
 here, but this is the first time of our meeting with this 
 smaller more sober-coloured species. 
 
 Under the stones in front of our dwelling, where the 
 ground is muddy, you cannot help meeting with young 
 eels of varied lengths in multitudes; while under the 
 stones along the rocky shore the gunnel fish are just now 
 equally numerous, driven shoreward seemingly for 
 spawning purposes. Under one large stone we found a 
 sickly-looking specimen, and close alongside a large 
 bunch of the delicate ova, opalescent when fresh. These 
 eggs, however, were all " eyed," and evidently deposited
 
 MARCH, 1883. 285 
 
 for a day or two, so we took them off in hopes of being 
 able to hatch out the slippery fellows. We have always 
 noticed that these fishes are most careful of their spawn, 
 and although they do not show the constructive skill and 
 maternal instincts of the Rocklings and Sticklebacks, 
 they are yet not without great care for the welfare of 
 their ova, which are frequently deposited in knowing 
 corners, in which the mother remains to watch over them 
 for a time. 
 
 The tides were so low and good for a foreshore observer, 
 that we determined to see what could be obtained on the 
 outer islands of Loch Linnhe, and set out at near the 
 half tide so as to get through the narrow passage on the 
 south side of Eriska Island, before the ebbing waters 
 should leave the whole passage dry. " If you can get 
 the boat through inside of Sgeir-na-Caillach, it will get 
 down the Doirlinn," says one authority, but we shake 
 our heads dubiously as we look at the racing waters and 
 the narrowing passage. We are sadly tempted to move 
 aside to various objects of interest, but it is now clear 
 that the water will be low enough ere we get through, 
 and we hurry down the shallowing stream of water with 
 an uncomfortable feeling. A warning bump, a long 
 grating sound upon the banking sea-bottom, and we 
 glance at one another and the mile of intervening shoal 
 with an uneasy feeling creeping up our backs. But 
 every moment increases the difficulty, for no ordinary 
 tide is upon us to-day, and we will be left high and dry 
 in a quarter of an hour. There is no help for it ; the 
 wind is bitterly cold, the water equally so under a north- 
 east wind on the shallows ; and the first out of the boat 
 up to the knees is the first to jump in again with a pecu- 
 liarly unheroic dexterity. Feet that can scarcely crawl
 
 286 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 up a gravel beach must struggle along without halt or 
 hesitation over the great shoal, as we drag the boat sea- 
 wards ; and only after half-an-hour at the galley do we 
 thrust our craft on the outer waters, and hop on board 
 shivering for a dram, as we endeavour externally and 
 internally to bring back life and vigour into benumbed 
 extremities. Over this great extent of sandy, muddy, 
 semi-gravelly shoal we did not start a single flat-fish, so 
 that they must have anticipated the rapidly approaching 
 ebb and fled seaward, although until this last week such 
 an ebb tide had not visited the Doirlinn flounders for 
 six months, perhaps not for years. 
 
 Quite a demand now arose for the oars in our spin 
 across to the Black Island, where we soon beached our 
 craft and started to explore its nooks and rocky caves at 
 low ebb tide. It proved to be remarkably bare, as if the 
 great and continued gales had swept it as they have 
 swept all other exposed quarters. Just at the verge of 
 lowest ebb, however, we come upon first one then 
 another Montague Sucker Fish, until we have in all 
 about half a dozen, between the island and its outlying 
 reef of rocks. Its congener the Cornish Sucker also sup- 
 plied a few specimens, but none of the two-spotted 
 Suckers showed themselves ; and thus our find proved 
 that this fish (Liparis Montagui\ so rarely found in the 
 West of Scotland, is comparatively common in its chosen 
 haunts. The scarcity of the Cornish Sucker here was 
 the more remarkable, as the very next day we came upon 
 a pair of these droll suckers, with their great flat heads, 
 under almost every stone we lifted on a stretch of rough 
 boulder-clad foreshore on Loch Creran. Sometimes 
 three or four were under one stone, and we must have 
 seen at least a hundred during a stroll of a couple of
 
 MARCH, 1883. 287 
 
 hundred yards. But we have not met the active Mon- 
 tague Sucker in our own loch ; so that the more sluggish 
 fish frequent our quieter waters, leaving the storm-lashed 
 outer islands to the stronger and more lively species. 
 
 In our shore scrambles among the islands of Linnhe 
 this last week we have at least found that the greater 
 proportion of shore fishes are spawning ; t and our ex- 
 temporised incubators are now occupied with brilliant- 
 hued ova of various species, among some of which the 
 eyes are already well developed, and displaying interest- 
 ing peculiarities. Here is a crowd of delicate ova, lately 
 glutinous, closely cemented, and almost a homogeneous 
 mass. Gradually the eggs have moved away from each 
 other, leaving interstices for the entrance of more and 
 more water as the increasing vitality of the occupants 
 has demanded greater oxygenation. Now some of the 
 more forward ova are connected with the mass by the 
 very slightest cementation or agglutination, the eggs per- 
 ceptibly moving and working away from their neighbours, 
 as if the internal struggles of the embryos produced the 
 same effect as the mother hen does, who daily turns her 
 eggs with her beak. We frequently wondered whether 
 most of such eggs would incubate naturally, or if the in- 
 terior ones were really debarred from any sufficiency of 
 contact with the life-giving water. Here is a bunch from 
 which scores of youngsters in the pond, now progressing 
 vigorously, have incubated, so we lift it up anticipating 
 that it is wholly exhausted, as it looks dead and dingy, 
 and we break it across. Within a few minutes of this 
 performance we find the hitherto imprisoned youngsters 
 wriggling out into the tablespoon in which we have 
 placed the spawn for convenience of examination, several 
 days after their brethren have been enjoying an energetic
 
 288 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 existence. But for our aid we do not believe these poor 
 little fellows could ever have emerged from their place 
 of sepulture, so that no doubt in our calculations of the 
 prolific character of certain fishes we do not generally 
 sufficiently allow for those non-vitalised, non-incubated, 
 and perpetually imprisoned. 
 
 We have frequently referred to the Fissurella Grceca 
 as a shell that is not uncommon on certain grounds; 
 but living among rocks like our common limpet they 
 were naturally difficult to procure. When turning over 
 the larger stones on one of the islands, we were agree- 
 ably surprised to find quite an number of the younger 
 members of this family, so closely resembling the 
 barnacle-covered stones on which they crept that it was 
 very difficult to observe them. We cannot wonder at 
 the rarity with which this keyhole limpet is captured by 
 the dredge when it occupies such a secure position 
 amid the largest boulders. 
 
 We have had a vague feeling of inconstancy hovering 
 about us as we found ourselves first flirting gaily and 
 then gradually sliding into more serious attentions 
 towards the Etive Loch. For ten days we have been 
 seizing every opportunity of peering into her secrets, in 
 spite of the bitter blasts occasionally sweeping over her 
 restless waters ; and when our raids were being made 
 from a snug corner alongside the fine old priory, and in 
 company with a most amiable and sympathetic com- 
 panion, it is natural that " out of sight was out of mind," 
 and our affection was almost alienated from our own 
 Loch Creran. One of the three earliest priories of Scot- 
 land, charmingly situated, and with a wealth of story, 
 Ardchattan has given its name to a parish of vast extent, 
 and including every character of scenery, all Benderloch
 
 MARCH, 
 
 being within its bounds, while it stretches up to Loch 
 Awe. 
 
 Any wind in such a loch as Etive must be a dangerous 
 one at times, and it is well remarked that no boat should 
 sail it with any other sail than a plaid on a stick. Those 
 accustomed with ordinary squalls on ordinary waters 
 may laugh at this, but to see it as we did on the i4th 
 would have verified the saying. Over Durnish came the 
 wind with a savage rush, and dropped into the loch 
 opposite Aird's Bay House where the genial Dr. 
 Norman Macleod used to bathe his weary eyes in Etive 
 as straight as if it had been a falling block of granite. 
 The squalls struck the waters absolutely perpendicularly 
 at times, and spread out on every side like the ripples 
 from a stone tossed into the water. Those acquainted 
 with the loch are frequently only advised of the coming 
 burster through the sough of the wind among the trees 
 on the hillsides. Under these circumstances, oars were 
 naturally our most usual means of progression ; and the 
 marvellous variety of diseases, from lumbago to rheu- 
 matism and spinal disorder, were the equally natural 
 result of huge bags of mud dragged unwillingly from the 
 slimy depths of Etive. 
 
 This noble stretch of water receives so much fresh 
 water into it, and has to be filled with its quota of salt 
 water through such a narrow entrance, that its specific 
 gravity, as a rule, is much less than that of Creran ; 
 while the unsteady temperature caused by the great 
 supply of cold fresh water occasionally, followed by 
 seasons of comparative absence of such supply as at 
 present causes it to support a somewhat different fauna 
 from Loch Creran, which has otherwise many points in 
 common. While the oyster flourishes naturally through-
 
 2 9 o LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 out Loch Creran, it seems unable to obtain a foothold 
 in Etive, and we have never succeeded in obtaining a 
 single specimen of the common pecten, Pecten opercularis, 
 from it. Indeed, during all our dredging experience in 
 it we have never succeeded in obtaining a single speci- 
 men of any of our species of scallops edible or minute 
 except the one species, P. septemradiatus^ which 
 appears to be favourable to lochs with much fresh water, 
 such as Loch Fyne. Even this is rarely taken in the 
 dredge so that it must be a very active species, as we do 
 not believe it to be rare, although to a large extent local. 
 But Etive is great in mud, as all our coadjutors soon dis- 
 cover ; and the courtesy of the hospitable manse is 
 strained severely with tubs and buckets full of most non- 
 artistic material. 
 
 What is there beautiful there ? A rich slime, so 
 tenacious as scarce to pass through the ^in. sieve, may 
 be very good material for the bottom of a loch, but 
 might as well remain there. Gently ! gently ! " I never 
 knew there were any Razor-fish (Soleri) in Etive," says 
 someone. No doubt the fine shell-fish of Ardmucknish 
 Bay could find their way up Etive if so desirous, but 
 Ha ! a Solen ; and here is another, and yet another. 
 We almost hear the smacking of lips at thought of the 
 rich dainty, as the owners hurry over to witness the grate- 
 ful arrival. How many of these would make a supper, 
 we wonder ! The largest about an inch in length (Solen 
 pellucida), the smallest a quarter of an inch ; the im- 
 pudent little imitations of the seven inch by one and a 
 quarter inch we have lately been demolishing seem so 
 afraid of becoming fashionable as a dish, that they con- 
 ceal themselves in the mud at a score of fathoms deep. 
 Quite right, too. There is a soupcon of nightingales'
 
 MARCH, 1883. 29 i 
 
 tongue about the dainty little beauties, and one or two 
 for supper would be a fit finish to the day of the delicate 
 beauty who began it with a "shrimp." Little cockles 
 of various species are numerous, and as they find them- 
 selves " on land " under the lamplight, they throw out 
 their long foot, several times the length of the shell, until 
 scarce a fraction remains inside, and thus toss themselves 
 about with a great display of muscular vigour. Nuculae, 
 with the mother-of-pearl lining and beautiful comb hinges, 
 are numerous and of fine proportions from the bag full 
 of mud here ; while Corbula, with its unequal-valved 
 shell, and delicate pink-tinted species, are jostling one 
 another in the mass over there. None are too small to 
 have enemies, and some of these little spiral rascals with 
 the rasp tongues have perforated the shells of many, of 
 all kinds, with a neat, well-drilled hole, through which 
 the occupant is reached. 
 
 Here, too, come a lot of stupid fellows, dull, slimy, 
 and sluggish, without a redeeming feature apparently. 
 Chuck them into that basin of water and leave them 
 for a time ; ay ! even those little dusky quarter-inch and 
 eighth-inch slugs, with the rough flat foot on one side of 
 the body. By-and-by, first one and then another of the 
 creatures throws out a beautiful branching set of tenta- 
 cles ; here rich purple, there rich crimson of feathery 
 form and most delicate consistency. You thought to 
 deceive us into tossing you back into the loch, did you ! 
 and declined to display your finery until you thought you 
 had escaped. Well, you are indeed dainty slugs, and 
 we expend an infinitude of the patience of our host in 
 our endeavours to transfer you in a proper ostentatious 
 mood to the lovely spirit land, where you now look like 
 peripatetic sea-anemones in full flower.
 
 292 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 Loch Etive has actually smiled upon us, and enabled 
 us to probe its secrets peacefully then, you ask. Of 
 course at least it blew a little, you know, and you 
 need not tell anybody that the net we sunk with the 
 dredge rope attached to it as a buoy, has heard of 
 Manitoba and the North-West and gone in for emigration ! 
 Perhaps we will be able to tell you in our next if there 
 are any fish in Etive, like the farmer from our side who 
 set his herring-net opposite Achnacree and found it a 
 day or two after at Island Ferry. " No herring in the 
 loch," was the sententious remark ; " my net has swept 
 the whole of it and did not get a fish!" Loch Etive, 
 you see, is of a lively turn, and its terrific currents have 
 their own ideas as to where a net should be cast ! 
 
 There has been an exceptionally rich show of marine 
 worms of late on the foreshores, and only those who have 
 the courage to inquire into this peculiar class of life can 
 have any idea of the beauty to which it can attain. Turn- 
 ing up a large stone at low water, we came upon a wriggl- 
 ing mass of iridescence, blue and green struggling for the 
 mastery in the display, and the play of colour of the opal 
 glancing along its shimmering rings, Polynoe viridis. Each 
 side showed a row of what could only be termed bangles, 
 resembling nothing so much as the glancing plates so 
 freely employed in a pantomime; and the whole squirming 
 mass would naturally have been taken for a colony of 
 beautifully-coloured marine creatures of an elongate form. 
 A point of a stick inserted into the mass finds a place of 
 support for a portion of the creature, and as we lift it up 
 the extraordinary colony gradually develops before our 
 eyes into one single worm upwards of four feet in length. 
 But it has been slightly injured from bearing its whole 
 weight on one part of its slippery body, and when placed
 
 MARCH, 1883. 293 
 
 in a tumbler in order to display its wonders, the water at 
 once becomes dyed a rich dark-green from the " blood " 
 of the wounded creature. Three or four waters are in 
 turn dyed in a similar manner, without at all destroying 
 the rich appearance of the body of the worm. Such a 
 quantity of colouring matter from one slight annelid 
 seemed extraordinary, and we could only wonder at the 
 aesthetic development of this low class life, if this exquisite 
 creature has been evolved out of the admiration of its 
 progenitors for heavenly colours and spangled forms! 
 There are few more interesting classes of marine life 
 than the worms with their many novel tubes ; and one of 
 the commonest of these tubes, made of beautifully 
 cemented silicious sand, is lying in quantities on the 
 sandy foreshores, so tenacious are they, although their 
 constructors and late occupiers are no longer there to 
 care for them. 
 
 A correspondent at Ness, in the Lews, sends us an 
 interesting account of a number of stranded herring of 
 small size, found upwards of 300 yards from the sea, 
 during recent stormy weather, near the Butt of Lewis. 
 These fish have been caught up in a sort of whirlwind 
 and carried inland, as so frequently happens in tropical 
 regions, but why the youngsters were so near the surface 
 in such weather is the question. We have heard of a 
 similar fall in Sutherland being taken for a thunderbolt, 
 and no one daring to go near the spot for some days, 
 until one bolder than the rest discovered the unfortunate 
 waifs. During our recent visit to the Black Island we 
 obtained both a young haddock and a diminutive whit- 
 ing, of sizes rarely procured, about two inches, that had 
 been flung up on the rocks high and dry, no doubt 
 during the previous very stormy weather.
 
 294 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 We have had a very striking onslaught of measles in 
 Benderloch, so peculiar as to be worthy of note. On 
 the Saturday, the pupils of Ledaig school were all 
 present without a case of the disease apparent among 
 them, while by Monday the children of 30 families were 
 laid up. The attack was so sudden and so general as to 
 appear to be almost atmospheric, just as the blight falls 
 on the potato under certain climatic conditions. No 
 doubt the disease has been in the surrounding districts 
 for some time, but it is not supposed to be a class of 
 disease whose germs can be conveyed except by contact. 
 
 APRIL, 1883. 
 
 When at the Black Island three weeks ago, our 
 companion fired at a raven that was nesting on the usual 
 raven's clifF. On finding itself an object of undue 
 interest, the female set off with the utmost speed for her 
 companion, and shortly afterwards made her appearance 
 with her indignant lord. The result of his indiscreet 
 valour was a rapid descent with a broken wing, after a 
 most gallant struggle in mid air with his manifest destiny. 
 He proved to be a noble specimen, with his glorious 
 blue-black uniform and intelligent bearing, and we felt 
 exceedingly sorry that his habits were really so extremely 
 repugnant to our modern ultra humanitarianism that we 
 could not plead for his life. We did not know in time 
 that the female was sitting on eggs, else we should have 
 made an effort to descend the cliff; so no doubt she will 
 succeed in introducing her young family into an 
 unsympathetic world. It is only three years since the 
 same nest was turned into a tomb, the mother and family
 
 APRIL, 1883. 295 
 
 having been shot upon the top of it, and their bones left 
 to bleach where they died. The following year no nest 
 was built by any of these birds on the island, but now 
 they have returned to this particular corner, which 
 appeals to their intelligence or instinct (?) as more 
 especially suited for them. Now that the male has been 
 destroyed and removed, we do not doubt that after the 
 manner of their kind the female will obtain another mate 
 directly and without loss of time. This is another fact 
 that to our mind is quite unaccountable! A place 
 becomes noted as a resort of a particular pair of birds> 
 and these birds are captured or destroyed ; by another 
 season at the furthest, another pair of the same species 
 of birds has come and taken the vacant stance, just as a 
 young medical in a busy town would pounce upon the 
 dwelling of a removing or departing successful practitioner. 
 Do they look upon the vicinity as supplying a con- 
 stituency, and hasten to keep up the necessary calls? 
 "Howsoe'er these things may be," they never permit a 
 favourable position to remain long vacant. Then, let 
 any one of a pair be shot, and within a few days it is 
 supplied with a mate. Neither ravens nor peregrine 
 falcons are plentiful birds now-a-days, and, indeed, we 
 should call both very scarce in most places, and yet 
 neither seem to have the least difficulty in obtaining a 
 comrade and replacing a departed mate. Whence do 
 they come, and where do they put up in the meantime ? 
 Perhaps some correspondent can suggest where there 
 may be an " Ornithological Matrimonial Arrangement 
 Agency," where sudden bereavement is promptly and 
 suitably solaced. 
 
 These birds have got well on with their domestic 
 arrangements, and are now sitting very closely. During
 
 296 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 the severe weather recently, when snow was but a prelude 
 to bitterly cold winds, the rooks set about gathering moss 
 with great energy, in order to line their nests and fill the 
 crevices between the very open stick framework. This 
 showed an intelligent appreciation of the increased 
 necessity for comfortable quarters, and a series of severe 
 springs might end in a marked improvement in the 
 dwellings of this sapient bird. It was quite pathetic to 
 look out upon the nests close to the windows of our 
 friend's house, and note the male birds bring food to the 
 sitting hens, and feed them so considerately. We 
 observed the mouth of one lady open sympathetically, 
 while she turned to her husband, as if she anticipated a 
 similar attention to that bestowed on his dame by the 
 gallant bird before us. 
 
 In complete antagonism to the above picture of 
 Arcadian bliss is the story told us by the many-wintered 
 keeper respecting the rook's congener, the jay. That it 
 is a rapacious rascal we are well aware, and we are open 
 to convict it of any reasonable atrocity ; yet, but for the 
 reliable source from whence it comes, we should view 
 the tale with suspicion, as the result of a misunderstand- 
 ing. A jay had built its nest in a low tree by a stream, 
 and had deposited eggs therein, so the keeper determined 
 upon shooting the old bird or birds upon the nest, and 
 lay in wait accordingly. What was his amazement to see 
 a jay make its appearance near the nest, and then coolly 
 thrust its beak into each egg in succession and suck it 
 dry ! Whether it had discovered that its nest was 
 watched, and so destroyed it ; or whether it was a stranger 
 bird simply exercising its prerogative of living upon bird's 
 eggs, regardless of that embryonic or degenerate honesty, 
 " honour among thieves," we could not learn. " Corbies
 
 APRIL, 1883. 297 
 
 will no' pike oot corbies' een," but their jay-plumaged 
 relatives apparently have to answer a serious charge of 
 devouring their own embryo families or those of their 
 immediate connections. 
 
 The difficulty of discovering a duck's nest is proverbial, 
 and the reason is that the bird always covers up the eggs 
 before it leaves them, unless forced to do so in a 
 desperate hurry. Strange to say, tame ducks retain this 
 peculiarity, and will always throw straw or grass over 
 their eggs after laying, if they have opportunity. But it 
 is certain that our ducks are not far removed from the 
 wild state, whereas our fowls are of Eastern origin and 
 of an ancient civilisation : for the most part, they have 
 forgotten this little trick, if they ever employed it. 
 
 Long ere we reach our destined goal at low water, the 
 tangle fronds have emerged from the water, showing by 
 the deep, rich fringe to the tide that the water is reced- 
 ing rapidly and far; while further along on the sandy 
 stretch the Zostera marina is exposed for 20 yards, with 
 its inhabitants. These, however, are few, except several 
 fine specimens of the Trochus magus, or large whorled 
 trochus, whose shell when exposed loses the common- 
 looking outer coating, and appears resplendent in 
 opalescent mother-of-pearl underskirt. The butterfish 
 (Gunnellus) are many, and in most cases they encircle 
 their ova, fast approaching maturity. Of late we have 
 noted more especially that the spawn of this fish is 
 scarcely ever found apart from the parent fish, which 
 refuses to leave it. In two cases this week we picked 
 up from them their masses of eyed ova, and placed them 
 in a dish. The sun was warm, and the eggs were not 
 long exposed to the heat ere they all commenced to 
 wriggle into life, so that ere we had proceeded far the
 
 298 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 dish was alive with little gelatinous, huge-eyed fellows 
 from both swarms ; while before we reached home not 
 half-a-dozen eggs remained out of the two lumps of 
 spawn. Only two or three were nonfertilised or dead. 
 This seemed the more remarkable to us, as the deposits 
 were apparently of very different ages ; at least, the one 
 lot had separated widely apart, as the eggs gradually do 
 before incubating, while the other had not apparently 
 made any advance towards seeking greater elbow-room. 
 There seems little question that warmth has a remarkable 
 effect in facilitating the incubation of the ova of seafishes. 
 The quaint cases of the dogfish are twined among the 
 seaware along this boulder-clad spit of beach, and we 
 note that several of them have already been penetrated 
 and the contents devoured. The holes were neatly 
 punctured, as we had previously observed in the case of 
 the similarly-constituted tough skate eggs. Splashing 
 across to the exposed boulders further seaward, we set 
 down our various receptacles and look around. Our 
 eyes are for a time distracted by here a rock oyster 
 under the shadow of a stone, there one dragged from the 
 farther deep by the tangle fronds that are clinging to it 
 by their roots now there is a big fellow skulking under 
 the black ware, lying so flat that it looks like a splash of 
 lime, while on turning over this heavy stone another is 
 discovered firmly attached to the bottom thereof. 
 Whew ! you are too late, my friend, so you can wait till 
 we return from this rich crimson object over here. The 
 crimson object proves to be a mass of beautiful ova, 
 presumably of the "lump sucker," or cock and hen 
 paidle. 
 
 So we return to our chance acquaintance of a minute 
 since, who has stuck his nose between two stones and
 
 APRIL, 1883. 299 
 
 remains otherwise uncovered, with the sunlight gleaming 
 upon the rich bluish greys of the young conger's skin. 
 This is the second we have met to-day about a foot in 
 length, so we slip him into our bag, and on arrival at 
 home foolishly toss him into a bucket full of razor-fish, 
 (Solen Siliqua). Scarcely had we turned our backs 
 when the inevitable quack ! quack ! told of enemies nigh 
 at hand, and we rush back only to find that the whole 
 young conger had already passed down the gullet of one 
 of the ducks. How it got on there, and how the host 
 managed to arrange for the stranger, we cannot imagine. 
 Not a nest yet visible, we say. But we hear of a wren 
 building in one corner, a sparrow carrying material in 
 another, while all the woodland rings with melody this 
 fine evening after the storm of these later days. On 
 Wednesday week we drove up the glen on as fine a day 
 as could be anticipated in the merry month of May, with 
 nothing but the backward state of vegetation to speak of 
 spring. The air was mild, the sun warm, the landscape 
 bright and beaming, and we felt, like lotus-eaters, solely 
 bent upon enjoying existence. This was followed next 
 day by a sharp wind, and by the end of the week we 
 had fresh snow down to the foot of the mountains, with 
 a severe thunderstorm and howling hailstorms on the 
 1 4th, and violent gales all this week. The birds were so 
 taken aback that they once more packed as if for winter, 
 and seemed to have made up their minds to give up all 
 " galavanting." To-day what a change ! Have the pairs 
 gone back to the same mates, we wonder, or have they 
 taken advantage of the little interlude to reconsider the 
 subject and exercise anew their right of selection ! On 
 the whole, we are inclined to believe in the steadfast 
 character of a bird's affection so long as the same mate
 
 3 oo LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 is procurable, although no doubt the most of them are 
 readily reconciled to the inevitable. 
 
 MAY, 1883. 
 
 Our pen naturally indites the familiar name, although 
 at present at a considerable distance from the familiar 
 scenery. London beds are gay with many-coloured 
 tulips, and the orchards of Merry England are rich with 
 their heavy show of blossom ; and yet on the whole the 
 vegetation of Kent and Middlesex or Hereford and 
 Gloucester is not further forward than that of Benderloch 
 a fortnight ago. So we shrug our shoulders as we travel 
 on the gth of May through the richer counties of England 
 to find ourselves in one of the combs running from the 
 Cotswold, with a bitter chill in the air and a Scotch 
 mist, followed by an English drizzle, and succeeded by 
 a cosmopolitan rainfall, reminding us of the comparatively 
 balmy Western Highlands. 
 
 We sit and look out on the land of flint chips, Roman 
 remains, and modern manufactures, and wonder if the 
 rest of those foxes have been captured in our isolated 
 homeland. Our friend's lambs have been disappearing 
 mysteriously, and three of reynard's cubs have paid the 
 penalty, while the "old folks from home" have been 
 waited for patiently. They have many foxes on the 
 Muckairn side, and perhaps a score have been slain there 
 in a year by one keeper, but with us they turn up rarely, 
 and receive due attention on their arrival. 
 
 " Oh ! foxes. We have lots of them here in this hunt- 
 ing country," says our host. There was a cow in that
 
 MAY, 1883. 301 
 
 paddock with the high wall on the top, and one day the 
 hounds in pursuit of the fox forced it to make for the 
 wall through the field. No doubt the animal would 
 have got over the wall had it had time, but the cow 
 joined in the pursuit, and tossed the fox right over the 
 wall on her horns. This strange incident was repeated 
 some time afterwards, the cow a second time throwing 
 the jaded fox over the wall, having evidently entered 
 with the greatest excitement into the attack. " Was it 
 not an effort to save the fox?" we ask; but are assured 
 that the foxes are so numerous about, and the onslaughts 
 made by them so serious, that the cow was quite in 
 earnest in its enmity. 
 
 " Paid for!" says a voice, as the little dog sits patiently 
 waiting for the expected word, with the lump of sugar 
 on its nose. So long as it is placed there with the 
 assurance that it is wholly "on trust," the little fellow 
 will quietly await its release from the moral restraint 
 thus imposed ; but the moment the magic words " paid 
 for " are repeated, that instant the poor fellow claims his 
 due. You are no doubt of opinion that he merely knows 
 the words mean " you are free to go ahead," and is afraid 
 of getting no more unless he awaits them, and that an 
 animal, after all, can really be taught no moral lesson. 
 The tiger-barred cat with the white breast knows a great 
 deal better, as she sits quietly with nothing but a wriggle 
 of her sympathetic tail, on the fender stool. For that is 
 the wonderful pussy that killed the chicken from the 
 brood brought out in the yard. She was caught in the 
 act, brought before the resident authority, and by 
 alternately slowly showing her the result of her great 
 impudence and thereafter applying the cane, she was 
 brought to a thorough appreciation of the nature of her
 
 302 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 crime, and the heinous character thereof. " No more 
 kill the chicken " will be the verdict, no doubt, as pussy 
 has had her lesson, you say. Quite a mistake, however ; 
 she has learned a great deal more than this, for she soon 
 returned with another chicken alive in her mouth from a 
 distant quarter, not only returning it to the yard, but 
 taking it to the very hen from which the other was 
 removed. 
 
 It is seldom we see a lobster in the seas around us, 
 and yet they must be by no means scarce in some 
 quarters, more especially on the rocky Kingairloch coast. 
 A friend informs us they are like many animals of 
 terrestrial habit in their fondness for certain corners; 
 just as a bird will keep year after year to the same nest- 
 ing place, and if it is killed another takes its place in 
 all probability that having been the cradle of the new- 
 comer. Again, every sportsman knows that year after 
 year he may kill his bird or his hare about the same 
 corner, and so it is with lobsters. Our informant assures 
 us he has taken a lobster of large size at law spring tide 
 year after year from the same snug rocky cleft ; and this 
 either means that the place appeals to the home instinct 
 of the lobster kind, who will not permit it to remain 
 unoccupied, or else that some of the progeny of the 
 former occupants are about, waiting to slip into the 
 home of their infancy. At anyrate, there must be a 
 considerable number of these Crustacea about the 
 neighbouring waters, and our alter ego writes us that a 
 goodly specimen of the cod kind brought news of a 
 lobster-inhabited neighbourhood last week. For upon 
 inquiring at the well-filled fish he was found to be as 
 garrulous as Tennyson's Oak, and not only explained 
 what he delighted to subsist upon, but displayed three
 
 MAY, 1883. 303 
 
 fane specimens of the lobster kind that he had carefully 
 sampled. Although the aggregate size was considerable, 
 they were yet individually under the regulation 
 dimensions ; and as it was very necessary to make a 
 severe example of those contravening the Act, it was 
 relegated to the pot. Now, what can a fish preserver, 
 interested in Acts of Parliament, do with incorrigible 
 miscreants, without a regulation guage, that takes three 
 lobsters at a gulp ? This question lies at the bottom of 
 all our fish legislation. We want many classes of fish 
 that prey upon one another, and we have no definite 
 notions of how we are to regulate their mutual inter- 
 change of incivilities. The simplest, most direct, and 
 most intelligible mode of keeping up the supply of many 
 comparatively antagonistic species, is to incubate them 
 in quantities, and turn their fry into the sea in suitable 
 quarters, either confined or free, as appears best. We 
 have no doubt that in this way lochs deserted by the 
 herring of recent years could be re-stocked, and many 
 comparatively barren stretches of sea bottom be supplied 
 with suitable varieties of fishes; but in such areas of 
 water living food must be bred as well as fish. 
 
 In the court of our relative's farm-yard there is a 
 trough supplied with water by means of a tap, requiring 
 several revolutions to turn on the supply. It was found 
 that the tap was being regularly turned and the yard 
 overflowed with water. On watching the evil-doer, it 
 turned out to be one of the horses that with its mouth 
 turned the tap until the water flowed, as it thereby 
 obtained a fresh supply, all horses being extremely 
 particular as to the purity of the water they drink. This, 
 to our imagining, was a highly intelligent horse ; but we 
 are assured its neighbour is far ahead of it, for not only
 
 36 4 LOCH CRERAtf. 
 
 does it regularly turn the tap and drink, but, when 
 satisfied, /'/ turns the tap back again and shuts off the 
 supply. We are assured the household, in hiding, have 
 witnessed this performance a considerable number of 
 times ! 
 
 We were sitting in a comfortable apartment lately, 
 after luncheon, talking over the intelligence of jackdaws, 
 two of which, belonging to our host, were in the habit of 
 teasing a sickly pigeon that owed its weakness greatly to 
 their satanic attention. Whether the idea originated 
 directly and was then arranged between the two darkies, 
 or whether it gradually dawned upon them from dragging 
 each a wing of the persecuted bird, is not known ; but 
 they suddenly started off into the air with the pigeon, 
 each supporting a wing and carrying the terrified bird 
 into the empyrean, returning with it in safety, however, 
 to the garden. 
 
 The door opens, and in bounces a beautiful dog. 
 "Shut the door, sir!" and at once the door is closed. 
 He can and does carry messages to and from stable or 
 gardeners, and a spaniel is jealous of his responsibility 
 and the confidence reposed in him. So it too is 
 despatched with a note to the stable. It returns very 
 rapidly with a piece torn off the paper the usual voucher 
 from the recipient; but such promptitude arouses 
 suspicion. The letter is found to be undelivered, and 
 the discovery is made that this sharp youngster, thinking 
 the object was to obtain the piece of paper back, had 
 really taken the letter just out of sight, torn a piece off of 
 the customary size, and returned therewith ! " Oh ! that 
 is nothing to what the large dog did the other day," 
 when But, really, although our informants are quite 
 serious and most thoroughly reliable, we have just caught
 
 MAY, 1883. 355 
 
 an incredulous smile creeping over the cheek of our 
 reader ; so we can only assure him that, although we 
 have not seen what we state as having occurred, we can- 
 not do other than believe it ! 
 
 What a change the last month has made over the face 
 of the country, and how much our relative position has 
 changed during that time ! Whereas five weeks ago we 
 were really further advanced than they were in the South 
 of England, to-day we are much behind in many depart- 
 ments of vegetation, although our braird is as vigorous 
 as any. Three weeks ago the apple orchards of England 
 were heavy with bloom; to-day the apple trees of our 
 locality are only now at their best. The heavily-freighted 
 standards under the shadow of the scaur are very dainty, 
 but just see those three old veterans in the schoolhouse 
 garden ! In one the mass of pink and white bloom 
 entirely conceals the wood and leaves, and Millais would 
 have despaired of depicting one tithe of the brilliant 
 bunches of blossom. 
 
 Still the craik or landrail must feel itself like a 
 precocious genius creking before its time in a backward 
 world ; and as its harsh voice reaches us now from the 
 more vigorous undergrowth of a young plantation, now 
 from the longer grass of a protected bank, we feel 
 inclined to stroll over and mention casually that we con- 
 sider such precocity to be youthful folly unable to read 
 the signs of the times. Why should you come before 
 the vegetation is ready to hide you, as your gentle eye 
 glints over the top of the braird above which you are 
 peering on tiptoe ? You little fool, keep to the heavily- 
 clad ditches or the luscious south, and don't announce 
 your unmelodious message until the world is ready to 
 receive you and it ! 
 
 u
 
 306 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 We noted the destruction of a litter of cubs that had 
 been discovered under the neighbouring scaur, after a 
 large number of lambs had been found dead. The 
 attempt to secure the parents did not prove successful, 
 as the weather was bitterly cold, and those lying in wait 
 did not keep to the highest point of the scaur. So the 
 fox, as is customary with this wise animal, sought the 
 point of vantage in order to scan the vicinity, and, peep- 
 ing over, discovered its adversaries in time to make 
 good its retreat. But what exercises the minds of those 
 interested is, the tails of the lambs killed were alone 
 taken to the young cubs, so far as could be seen. This 
 is looked upon as an endeavour to provide playthings 
 for the youngsters for the young of foxes, dogs, and 
 cats all play with the tails of themselves or their parents ; 
 and the supply of extraneous appendages are supposed 
 to have been provided by the knowing Reynards for the 
 purpose of withdrawing the youngsters' attention from 
 their own brushes, or else amusing them when the old 
 folks were from home. 
 
 JUNE, 1883. 
 
 Everything tending towards fruiting; and there is a 
 row of stately cabbages running to seed ! " Come and 
 see this peculiar growth on the cabbage," we call to the 
 partner of our wanderings, who loveth " all things, both 
 great and small." Down the row until we come to one 
 of the larger growths, and, looking down upon a knot on 
 the stem apparently, there meets our gaze two upturned 
 bills, with the mandibles stretched to the uttermost, as
 
 JUNE, 1883. 307 
 
 the little wretches rise on tiptoe full of the great expecta- 
 tions of hopeful ignorance. A chaffinch's nest upon a 
 cabbage ! Surely a most unusual occurrence. We do 
 not credit them with sufficient intelligence to suppose 
 that, when they saw these cabbages flowering, they anti- 
 cipated their being left for seed, and can only conclude 
 that they saw a snuggery apparently suitable and entered 
 into possession. If success is to be the sole test of in- 
 telligence, we must give these birds the credit for wisdom ; 
 under ordinary circumstances, however, we would have 
 considered them a pair of little fools ! The constructive 
 and secretive power of the chaffinch is yet so marked 
 that we must acknowledge their superior abundance to 
 be partly due to their superior dexterity in the breeding 
 season. 
 
 We watch their progress down the rough piece of graz- 
 ing ground with interest, the question " fun or earnest " 
 formulating itself as they proceed. A young dog and a 
 pig of the same size as itself. The dog is clearly in fun 
 its tail twirling, and its antics unmistakable. Verbal 
 speech may be given to conceal our thoughts, but such 
 natural language is not to be misunderstood. The pig 
 is clearly more amused than annoyed, and soon enters 
 fully into the spirit of the puppy, and with its tail twirling 
 and its stiff little carcase attempting similar evolutions, 
 the game is kept up between them. All this time the 
 dog does not lose sight of the fact that he is driving this 
 particular pig and its companions off the ground ; while 
 the pig equally understands this fact, but is determined 
 to enjoy a romp on the way. Who that watches 
 domesticated animals but must acknowledge to a far 
 greater amount of sympathy between opposing species 
 than is conceivable under natural conditions. Remove
 
 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 the bitterness and keenness of the struggle for food, and 
 the hereditary feelings thereby generated, and all animals 
 above the lowest display these touches of nature that 
 show their physical kinship and their mental inter- 
 sympathy. 
 
 A little pond on -the slope of the hill suitable for a 
 small fish-pond. So it is cleaned out, frogs in multitudes 
 are removed, and the bottom thoroughly purified, and 
 all prepared for the reception of the lately hatched 
 youngsters. The umbilical sac is scarcely absorbed ere 
 the pond begins to fill with fresh water algae, notwith- 
 standing a constant run. The warders now have to 
 remove vigorous young eels with a " penchant " for still 
 younger trout ; water newts in numbers have to be 
 removed ; and the deadly water beetles are still upon the 
 ground. It is curious to note how rapidly these various 
 foes of the fishculturist make their appearance in a care- 
 fully constructed reservoir, and how much life a little 
 dribbling rill from the hillside can supply when a suitable 
 store of nourishment entices it. Indeed, the first 
 practical result of any effort to increase the supply of 
 man's food is to instil into a multitude of wild creatures 
 the belief in such supply being specially provided for 
 them. It is both cruel and troublesome to disillusionise 
 them ; have mankind not frequently entertained similar 
 peculiar fancies as to Providential provision? 
 
 Life is now rampant this " merry month of June," and 
 as the weather is mild and the ground well moistened 
 with genial showers, everything animate is revelling in 
 the unaccustomed combination of plenteous warmth, 
 and yet sufficiency of moisture. We are strolling along 
 enjoying to the full the splendour of our woodland 
 vegetation, when our attention is called to an object
 
 JUNE, 1883. 309 
 
 dangling in the air about a yard above the grass. At 
 first it looks like a head of dried grass hanging on a 
 gossamer thread, but we have seen similar gymnastics 
 performed before by a caterpillar too frequently to be 
 misled, and so we seek by tickling the little fellow to get 
 him to wind himself up again, a very ingenious perfor- 
 mance that we used to enjoy observing. But this one 
 is determined to go down, and refuses to climb, and we 
 petulantly sweep the long grass we are using across this 
 rope, tossing the grass from us when we have done so. 
 Cruelty, you will say, to destroy his rope ladder, and 
 cast him friendless among the long grass ! Wait a bit ! 
 Not only does he not come to grief, but, to our surprise, 
 the slender gossamer line carries grass stem and cater- 
 pillar both, rudely as the former was added to its burden. 
 The tenacity of this line, that is scarcely perceptible 
 unless the light falls upon it in a certain direction, must 
 be great, and the caterpillar must have prepared it against 
 emergencies, when an additional weight, quite equal to 
 the creature itself, driven violently against it, and hanging 
 on to it, fails to destroy it. We left the double burden 
 dangling and swinging in the breeze, the caterpillar still 
 seeking to reach the grass by a steady descent. 
 
 Those fellows are making a most unconscionable row, 
 and we always start them about the same place on the 
 knoll. It is clear they must have a nest about, although 
 by this time it is late for eggs. Thus we reason ; and 
 partly stimulated by pride as a nester, partly stirred to it 
 by their continual iteration, we beat the ground steadily 
 without result. We find what we would consider the 
 empty cavity that had formed the simple nest of the 
 birds, but they go on piping as vigorously as if we had 
 robbed them of their treasure. Amused at their
 
 310 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 pertinacity, we follow them as they mislead us further 
 and further, until a little knoll intervenes, when, leaving 
 one to pipe and shout at us, the other drops quietly from 
 the hilly point seawards, and with the peculiar sand- 
 pipery flutter skims off in a wide circle to the old spot. 
 We hurriedly mark it down, and again go over the 
 ground without success when ! the piping gets more 
 tremulous and uncertain, halts altogether, and there we 
 have the secret. Still as a mouse, and not unlike one as 
 it squats on the rocky moor, nor making the slightest 
 motion as we place our hand upon it ; but the young 
 piper has obeyed its parent's orders, and trusted to its 
 moorland hue and diminutive size. A beautiful creature, 
 as the young of all the class are always, with its light 
 coloured breast and dark brown line down the back, the 
 down rich and feathery, the eye bright, and the whole 
 trim little figure most engaging. We lay it down on the 
 grass field within reach of the parents' excited piping, 
 and watch it as it hurries off with the nervous, dodgy- 
 stagger of the genus. 
 
 A little further over on the hill are the nests of a rock 
 pipit our shore-frequenting lark and a titlark. Both 
 are representative nests, just where those birds are always 
 in the habit of building. The pipit, on a rocky point 
 over the shore, has coiled the dry grass in a knowing 
 nook ; while the titlark has chosen a little hole on a 
 bankside on the summit of the point. The eggs of both 
 birds are rich dark brown, and aid in effecting conceal- 
 ment on the moor. Whiff! Out goes from the very edge 
 of the cliff, where a little heather and dried grass form a 
 projecting eve, a little lintie, and we know that this is also 
 a favourite nesting-place of the twite. The concealment 
 of the nest is perfect, and we would scarcely have
 
 JUNE, 1883. 311 
 
 discovered it had we not caught sight of half a dozen 
 delicately-speckled bluish-white eggs. Had the eggs 
 been brown, like the others, we should scarcely have 
 noticed the whereabouts of the nest. We are acquainted 
 with no more dexterously-concealed nest than that of 
 this little linnet ; and it has been almost always through 
 accident that we have found it. But why should the 
 eggs be coloured as they are ? 
 
 Scratching itself? No, it is too steadily persistent and 
 exact in its movements. What is the little fellow about ? 
 He has on the muzzle with a row of iron spikes, so 
 frequently placed on Highland calves to prevent them 
 sucking their mothers. But this effort of man's is very 
 often a vain one a Highland cow's skin being tough, 
 and a calf s ingenuity wonderful. We have even heard 
 of cows that lay down and rolled over, so that the 
 youngsters could obtain a drink without progging it. 
 The muzzle is carried back and tied round the neck with 
 a small rope in this case, and the calf has discovered a 
 fallen tree with the stump of a small branch standing up 
 at right angles. This it is endeavouring to insert between 
 the cord and its neck, so as to tear the latter off, and 
 during our somewhat lengthened observation of the fuzzy 
 fellow it did not vary in its consistent and intelligent en- 
 deavour to release itself of the muzzle. It clearly 
 understood that the neck cord, and not those about its 
 head, was the main difficulty to be overcome ; and, 
 having found this suitable projecting stump, it would no 
 doubt keep steadily at it until the cord gave way. We 
 were much struck with the intelligence displayed in 
 going direct to the heart of its grievance, and never 
 wavering in its confidence in its own perspicuity. It is
 
 312 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 very difficult, indeed, to circumvent a Highland cow and 
 calf. 
 
 We have come to look "upon Meteorology so much as 
 a matter of barometric and thermometfic readings, that 
 it is quite refreshing to come upon a more liberal render- 
 ing of the term. Thus we muttered to ourselves as we 
 turned over- the little eight-page pamphlet' with in whose 
 modest bounds the Archaeological and Physical Society 
 of Bute has published the interesting observations of Mr. 
 James Kay on the natural phenomena and seasonal 
 changes noted by him at Rothesay. The importance of 
 the booklet is infinitely beyond- its unpretending appear- 
 ance, and if every district in the country were to provide 
 itself with an equally careful and intelligent observer, and 
 an equally cheap and sensible abstract of observations, 
 we should soon be in possession of a series of recorded 
 notes on natural subjects within the reach of moderate 
 purses and prepared for ready comparison. Not only 
 have we wind and rainfall, thunder, auroras, halos, and 
 rainbows, but the return of the seasons is indicated in 
 the most interesting way by the date of flowering and 
 leafing of trees and shrubs, and progress of vegetation 
 generally; and the date of arrival of certain birds of pass- 
 age. It is curious to note that the corncraik has only 
 varied over seven years from the 4th May to the i5th ; 
 while the swallow has varied in its arrival from i4th April 
 to 8th May, and the cuckoo from 22d April to 3d May. 
 The corncraik and cuckoo thus varied in their arrival 
 eleven days, while the less certain swallow varied twenty- 
 four days. One can scarcely fancy a more useful work 
 than this in connection with our latest and least advanced 
 science, and a series from properly selected centres
 
 JUNE, 1883. 313 
 
 throughout the country would be invaluable to the 
 student of more than one branch of natural phenomena; 
 
 If white-coloured petals are an evidence of retrogres- 
 sion and a sign of ".dissipated energy," there are an ex- 
 ceptional number of such decking the country at present'. 
 One hillside is beautifully shaded by means of the white 
 masses of May thorn, more' than sprinkling the green 
 foliage of the copsewood ; the \Vhite .clover is especially 
 abundant. The rowan tree blossom has been also most 
 luxuriant, and we are having a foretaste of that coming 
 world of colourless blossoms we are threatened with. 
 Will your eyes by that time be so cultivated as to distin- 
 guish such a multitude of gradations in the whites that 
 the refinement of shades will quite compensate for the 
 loss of the ruder and more primitive hues ? It is scarce- 
 ly possible to imagine an ugly natural world the Black 
 Country is not Nature's making as it is or one from 
 which a cultured eye could not draw nourishment for its 
 artistic colour-sense. 
 
 It is most aggravating ! There is shouting and wail- 
 ing in front and behind, for the fine array of ducklings 
 have been sadly weeded out. Every day finds a victim, 
 and perhaps two, and the drove that lately followed their 
 hen mothers has got " small by degrees, and beautifully 
 less." At least one of them was seen to disappear in the 
 maw of a heron that is a steady visitor to the stream in 
 front ; but the bulk of them have been pounced upon 
 when in the upper course of the stream by one or other 
 of a pair of blackbacked gulls. The hens on these occa- 
 sions seem rather pleased than otherwise, and make no 
 effort to beat off the marauders, but cluck the remainder 
 together and drive them home before them, the little 
 fellows getting a tremendous scare that lasts for an hour
 
 3 i4 LOCH CRERAN. 
 
 or two only. Hens fight so desperately for their chick- 
 ens, and a gull is such a cowardly brute, that we could 
 not account for the foster mother's calm acceptance of 
 the situation, unless they were so aggravated at the deter- 
 mined partiality of the youngsters for the water, that they 
 resolved to let them " take it." We do not believe a 
 wild duck would have lost a bird under such circum- 
 stances, for we have seen a mother and fifteen youngsters 
 frequent the bay in front, undiminished in numbers until 
 all were quite large. 
 
 It was a superlatively fine day as we tumbled into our 
 boat and prepared for a holiday to the Eilean Dhu a 
 day that comes once in a twelvemonth, with the tide just 
 right and the sea peacefully calm, and only a whiff in 
 our favour to cool the rowers and calm the exuberant 
 spirits of the excited youngsters ; for the boat is well 
 filled with " a mixed lot " as to size, and an equally 
 " mixed lot " as to provender. 
 
 It ought to be too late for the bird world, as we have 
 delayed our visit too long ; but the season all round is 
 backward, and we are hopeful of showing to the rising 
 generation at least a rising generation of seafowl if 
 nothing else. In spite of the lesson they received 
 during the gales and high tides, the sandmartens are 
 busy on the sandbank at Shian, where they have perfor- 
 ated it afresh with their burrows, to take the place of 
 those flung ruthlessly into the sea. A ring plover crosses 
 with its sharp cry, and some one suggests a nest on the 
 gravel spit. Far too late in the year we assert positively, 
 as we have taken their nests in April : but our boatman 
 has a nest with young birds, and another with eggs, close 
 beside our home, so Sir Oracle is obliged to subside on 
 this occasion. The late spring has thrown everything
 
 JUNE, 1883. 315 
 
 behind, and anything in the way of incubation is still 
 possible. Three porpoises are disporting in our own 
 loch ere we leave it, and as they have been there for 
 some few weeks must be finding fish of some sort. Sea 
 trout have been leaping occasionally of late, but very few 
 on the whole, "and they must be up at the head of the 
 loch lying near the mouth of the rivers, which have been 
 too low to admit of their ascent. A shoal of small fish 
 dashed past our keel the other evening, which appeared 
 to be the larger species of sand eels (Ammodytes) ; and 
 skate are still falling to the spear as they come shoreward 
 to spawn. A few razor-bills are swimming in Loch 
 Linnhe, having evidently finished their labours of incuba- 
 tion, as we know no place in the neighbourhood where 
 they breed. 
 
 What a shout ! and wild with excitement the boys 
 almost tumble headlong into the sea in their efforts to 
 be first to play Robinson Crusoe on this desert isle, with 
 the wild goats on the edge of the cliffs and the sea birds 
 screaming at the invaders. What a disenchantment 
 when an old she goat actually came up to inquire the 
 meaning of the frantic rush at her kid by a youngster 
 that had succeeded by superhuman exertions in getting 
 hold of its tail. Alas for Robinson Crusoe, the pursuit 
 of wild goats has to be exchanged for a butterfly net. 
 We scramble round the shore to find the nests of the 
 gulls mostly inhabited by a rotten egg, or a bundle of 
 animated fluff. " Bring me a young gull " is the last 
 request we heard ere our boat left the shore, and here 
 are several of the little fellows, still as death, lying in 
 crevices of the rock, which here is all on end in thin 
 laminous strata. A halt is called again and again as we 
 passed a gravel bank or rocky promontory. Look care-
 
 316 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 fully. There are three little fuzzy balls among the 
 stones. At last the eye rests upon them, and as the 
 owner's hand follows his sight, and seeks to secure one 
 of the little fellows, the creature sets off at a hard 
 stagger. These are young oyster catchers, and are not 
 unlike the young of the plover genus. Another 
 companion calls to us as he stands at the edge of the 
 gravel with a droll smile on his face. Beneath him 
 three dead ( !) gulls are lying, one in the nest just out of 
 the egg, the other two having tumbled out of the nest 
 into odd corners where their hue admirably aids in 
 hiding them. Crossing another gravel strand we laugh 
 outright at the spectacle presented. Two young gulls 
 on the rampage had heard our advancing steps, and 
 there they were some yards apart, with their heads thrust 
 into hollows in the gravel, imagining themselves, or 
 hoping that they were, concealed. Stupid wretches, you 
 mutter ! but how about the fact that they very nearly 
 succeeded in eluding our sight, although they are but a 
 day or two old, while you and I have played at hiding 
 in a still more imbecile way at as many years of age. A 
 child at a few years is like a young bird, and fancies that 
 perfect stillness freedom from movement and sound 
 is the main element in concealment ; and both are right, 
 as nothing catches the eye like the smallest movement, 
 while a large dull immovable object will escape our 
 observation. 
 
 Not a merganser, not a sheldrake to be seen ; what is 
 the meaning of this ? First one egg, then another, then 
 a group of eggs, followed by group after group all sucked 
 empty as we proceed around the islet. What can be the 
 cause of this? The grey crows have steadily robbed 
 ever}' nest of sheldrake, sawbill duck, and wild duck in
 
 JUNE, 1883. 317 
 
 the island, and these seem to have taken their departure 
 in disgust We regret this result sincerely, as these are 
 about the only haunts of the sheldrake inside Mull that 
 we know of, and this noble duck is becoming scarce. 
 The grey crow's passion for eggs is excessive, and doubt- 
 less it is the only way it can obtain an easy and luxurious 
 living at this time. We are surprised to see scarcely any 
 terns about, as these birds claim a certain portion of the 
 island as their nesting-place, and they should now be in 
 full fling, seeing they succeed the gulls. We come upon 
 one nest with eggs all cold, and begin to suspect that 
 these rascally grey crows have driven away the dainty 
 terns for fear of their nests being robbed like the ducks. 
 We do not recollect of seeing anywhere such destruction 
 of eggs, and two pair of crows are flying overhead to 
 account for it. 
 
 First one skeleton, then a second and a third picked 
 clean, tell of the presence of the peregrine in the isle, 
 although we have only seen a kestrel dash away from the 
 face of the cliff. On examination we find that the Blue 
 Hawk has actually been living upon Razorbills for some 
 time back, as at least half-a-dozen of these birds have 
 been eaten by them. We did not think in the first place 
 that a peregrine could readily capture a " dooker," nor 
 in the second that he would condescend, except in 
 extremity, to eat such fishy birds. 
 
 They are gathering round the potato pot, and all tell- 
 ing at once of the wonders they have seen. We 
 don't recollect getting a butterfly in the island, but 
 moths are plentiful and elegant. The large clouded 
 buff with its beautiful marking and brilliant edging goes 
 dancing over the brackens; the six-spotted burnet in 
 black and crimson is poised in conscious splendour on
 
 318 LOCH C RE RAN. 
 
 the curled heads of -these still unexpanded fronds ; while 
 the emerald moths, like gems from the mine, are 
 resplendent for a'moment in the sunshine, to sink and 
 lose themselves the __ next among the verdure. What a 
 wonderful fund of beautiful life is around us, and the 
 youth wax eloquent over the beauty of spiders and the 
 surpassing voracity of young black-backed gulls. No 
 wonder our ducklings disappear in the maws of the 
 parents. 
 
 In vain the human chickens are clucked together. At 
 the last moment the two youngest have levanted after 
 some treasure at the far end of the Isle. Where can 
 they be ? is our anxious question. As if there could be 
 any question. We go straight to those young black- 
 backed gulls, and sure enough excited voices and flushed 
 faces, and a carefully tended handfull, tell of another 
 pet added to the household ; and two boys, oblivious of 
 time and distance, tide, and coming darkness, and of all 
 except the pulses of the summer and a vigorous nature 
 filling their hurrying veins, wonder mightily at an 
 anxiety they cannot understand, in face of an untrimmed 
 world akin to their unbroken spirits.
 
 INDEX.' 
 
 Abnormal growths on beech, 
 
 136 
 
 Cannibals, 198 
 
 Acorns, 
 
 96 
 
 Caprelli, 50 
 
 Adamsia, pallatia, ... 135, 
 Angler, 
 
 161 
 
 107 
 
 Capturing specimens, ... 184 
 Carnival of Mollusca, ... 232 
 
 Annelids, ... ... 180, 
 
 181 
 
 Cats, ... 114 
 
 and Caterpillars, ... 
 and Hydractina, ... 
 
 237 
 206 
 
 Cat and dog, 112 
 Cat and chicken, 301 
 
 Ants, 
 
 208 
 
 Caterpillar, (Hanging) ... 209 
 
 Apiculture, 
 
 62 
 
 Cattle in sea, 211 
 
 Apple trees in blossom, 
 
 35 
 
 Cattle and oak branches, ... 137 
 
 Ascidians, ... 5,51,67,68, 
 Atherina, Sandsmelts, 181, 
 
 182 
 
 Chaffinch's nest in cabbage, 306 
 Cheepuc, 120 
 
 Atmospheric effect, 
 
 269 
 
 Cirl Bunting, 274 
 
 Aurora borealis, 
 
 246 
 
 Cockles, 188 
 
 Autumn Tints, 
 
 224 
 
 Coletits, ... 98, 150, 172, 254 
 
 
 
 Collie 167 
 
 Barnacles, 2,44,91, 
 
 192 
 
 Comet, 247 
 
 Bats, 
 Bees, 70, 127, 
 
 1 20 
 214 
 
 Conger (young), 299 
 Connel Falls, 84 
 
 Beech leaves, 
 
 7 
 
 Corkwing, 200 
 
 Birds flocking, 
 
 273 
 
 Cormorant, 121,213 
 
 Birds and flowers, 
 
 219 
 
 Cottus, 40 
 
 Birds and oats, 
 
 48 
 
 Cow, 10-12, 252 
 
 Birch, 
 
 96 
 
 Cowrie, 43, 227 
 
 Blackcock, .. 
 
 122 
 
 Crab and sponges 6 
 
 Blackbird, 
 
 171 
 
 Crab apples, 59 
 
 Black sheep, 
 
 207 
 
 Crab with ova, 104 
 
 Blackberries, 
 
 26 
 
 Craik, 305 
 
 Blight on alder 
 
 II 
 
 Cregan, 249 
 
 Blind adder, 
 
 208 
 
 Crowberries, 26 
 
 Blossom 
 
 7 
 
 Crows and mussels, 255 
 
 Blue-rock pigeon, 
 
 213 
 
 Crustacea spawning, ... ... 263 
 
 Blue-tit nest, 
 
 g 
 
 as scavengers (small), 230 
 
 Brittle star, 42, 
 
 162 
 
 Cryptogerms,... 100, 116, 146, 160, 
 
 Buck in bulb house, 
 
 249 
 
 170, 244 
 
 Butterfly, 26, 66, 
 
 232 
 
 Cuckoo, 13, 16, 167 
 
 Bullfinches 151, 
 
 279 
 
 Cuttlefish 198
 
 320 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dandelion-downs, ... 
 
 9 Grebes, 70 
 
 Deer, 63, 83, 
 
 202, 274 
 
 Grey crows, 105, 316 
 
 Destruction of shore-life, 
 
 123 
 
 Green Crustacea, ... ... 243 
 
 Dog, intelligence of,... 
 
 304 
 
 Greenfinch, 196 
 
 Dog and gooseberries, 
 
 36 
 
 Growth of sea ware, . . . 236 
 
 Dog-roses, 
 
 61 
 
 Gulf stream, no 
 
 Doirlinn (stranded in the) . 
 
 286 
 
 Gulls, 23, 26, 28, 29, 211, 272, 313, 
 
 Dookers and gulls, ... 
 
 212 
 
 3i6, 318 
 
 Douglas pine, 
 
 80 
 
 Gunnellus, 72, 179, 214, 226, 284, 297 
 
 Dragonfly in Glasgow, 
 
 204, 207 
 
 ( See Transactions of Natural History 
 
 Dredge in Loch Etive, 
 
 244 
 
 Society of Glasgtnv, 1885, on 
 
 Duck, 39, 
 
 138, 275 
 
 " Domestic Habits of Butter- 
 
 Duck drinking, 
 
 12 
 
 fish)." 
 
 Duck's nest, 
 
 297 
 
 
 
 
 Haddock young, 293 
 
 Eagle and kestrels, ... 
 
 . 20-22 
 
 Halo round moon, 84 
 
 Echinus 
 
 .191-276 
 
 Hare or rabbit, ... ... 164 
 
 Eel, ... . 
 Emarginula crassa, .. 
 Encrinites, 
 
 239 
 245 
 142 
 
 Hawk and pigeon eggs, ... 216 
 Hay crop, 202 
 Helcion pellucidal?evis and 
 
 Esnagara, 
 
 3 2 
 
 parasite, ... 88, 235, 236 
 
 Etive Loch, 
 mollusca, 
 
 288 
 291 
 
 Hen in wood cackling, ... 221 
 Heron and ducklings, ... 37 
 
 squall, ... 
 
 . 28 9 
 
 Herring, 81, 86, 104, 131, 212 
 
 no oysters, 
 
 290 
 
 blown inland Lewis, 293 
 
 
 
 Hermit crabs, ... 52, 104, 126 
 
 Fieldfare, 
 
 274 
 
 Hermit and Fissurella Grceca, 161 
 
 Fields reverting, 
 Fish food, 
 
 272 
 303 
 
 Highland calf, 311 
 Highland farmers, 1 66 
 
 Fish fry 
 
 179 
 
 High tide, 228 
 
 Fish-pond, 
 Fissurella Graeca, 218, 267, 
 
 308 
 275, 288 
 
 Hinge of pecten, 238 
 Holothurise, 191, 246, 291 
 
 Fisheries, 
 
 82 
 
 Horse, 128, 283, 303 
 
 Floating gravel, 
 
 217 
 
 Horse chestnuts, 7, 58 
 
 Flowers, late, 
 
 85 
 
 Horse beech, 18 
 
 Foliage 
 
 74 
 
 
 Food of skate, 
 
 4 
 
 Ice and seats, 103 
 
 Fox, 
 
 300, 306 
 
 Ice tablets, 155 
 
 Foxglove, 
 
 49, 147 
 
 Incubators-patens, ... ... 28 
 
 Frogs, 
 
 61 
 
 Individual intelligence, ... 222 
 
 
 
 Iris, 160 
 
 Gale, ... 73, 91, 116, 
 
 130, 263 
 
 Isocardia cor. 262 
 
 Gnats, 
 
 112, 127 
 
 
 Gobies, 
 
 178 
 
 Jackdaws, 47, 148, 304 
 
 Goldencrest, ... 
 
 197 
 
 Jay eating Jay's eggs, ., 296 
 
 Golden plover, 
 
 38, 47 
 
 
 Gooseberry in blossom, 
 
 85 
 
 Kay's Meteorology of Bute, 312 
 
 Gossamers, 
 
 234 
 
 Kestrel, 37, 317 
 
 Grasshoppers, ... 26, 
 
 214, 232 
 
 Killing sparrows, ... ... 65
 
 INDEX. 
 
 3 21 
 
 Laburnum, ... 59 
 Lapwings, 47 
 Lima, 163 
 Liver, The 9 
 Lobsters, 302 
 Low tide, 141 
 Lumpsucker, and ova, 226, 284, 298 
 
 Mackerel, 212 
 Measles, ... 294 
 
 Parsley fern, ... ... ... 30 
 Peacrabs and parasites, ... 277 
 Pectens, 56, 67, 133, 142, 162, 229, 
 240, 245, 262, 275, 290 
 Peregrine, .. n, 23, 65, 213, 317 
 Pes-pelicamis, 135 
 Phalarope, red-necked, ... 98 
 Pheasants, 98, 123 
 Phosphorescence, ... 180, 234 
 Pinus nobilis, ... ... ... 115 
 
 Medusae pulsations 193 
 Medusa in fresh water, ... 184 
 Mergansers, ... ... ... 176 
 Meteor 84 
 Midges, 203 
 
 Pipe-fish, 72, 185 
 Pig-swimming, 75 
 Plaice with fingers, .187 
 Polynoe viridis, ... ... 292 
 Pontobdella, 42 
 
 Mirage, .. 64 
 Mosel thrush, 274 
 and chaffinch, ... 176 
 Modiolaria, 43 
 Mollusc in woodcock skull, 174 
 Mollusca, gregarious, ... 133 
 Montague sucker fish, 237, 284, 286 
 Mosses, 149 
 Moths, 35, 48, 317 
 Mussel, 90, 130, 191 
 Mussel and oyster, ... ... 2 
 Murex erinaceus, 236 
 Mya truncata, ... 139,181,186 
 Mysis, 45, 86, 131, 180, 184 
 
 Nesting, 299 
 Northern diver, 107 
 Northern lights, 223 
 Norwegian lobster, ... ... 191 
 Nudibranchs, S, 72, 125 
 
 Oban games, 59 
 October colouring, ... ... 78 
 Oysters, 2, 126, 156 
 Oyster-catchers, 27, 47, 98, 112, 271 
 Owl, 148 
 
 Porcelain crabs, 191 
 Porpoise, 94, 315 
 Potatoes, 8, 80 
 Puppy and pig, ... "... 307 
 Pycnogonum littorale, ... 144 
 
 Queen of Benderloch, ... 115 
 
 Rabbits 106 
 Rats eating rat, ... .. 197 
 Rats and shell-fish 102 
 Ravens, 294 
 Razorbills, 315 
 Razor fish, 56 
 Redbreast, 151, 171, 175, 180, 209 
 Redwing, 119 
 Returns from cereals, ... 60 
 Rhizostoma, 52 
 Ringplover 314 
 Rockling.r 284 
 Rockpipit, 119-210 
 Roe-deer, 147 
 Rooks, 6, 47, 57, 74, 82, 114, 144, 
 154, 168, 193, 231, 296 
 Rough Hound egg, ... 3 
 
 Painted eggs, 216 
 Palaemonidae, 242 
 Palmipes membranaceus, ...5> I 34> 
 227, 276 
 Partridges, 214 
 Parasites, 5-6 
 on crab, 46 
 
 Rotche, 271 
 
 Saccharina frond, 187 
 Saithe, 105, 176 
 Salmonidae, 205,259 
 (See paper on Salmonida at Sea in 
 Appendix to 1886 Report of 
 " Scotch Fishery Board" and
 
 3 22 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Report of " Scotch Fisheries 
 Improvement Association)." 
 
 Sandeels, ... ... 
 Sand-martins, 
 
 Sand-smelt 
 
 Sandpiper, 
 
 Sap in plants, 
 
 Scotch thistle, 
 
 Seals, 
 
 Sea anemones, 
 
 Sea fish in fresh water, 
 
 Sea grub, 
 
 Seamouse, 
 Sea-swallows nesting, 
 
 Sea trout, 
 
 Sea water and pasture, 
 
 Sea- weed, 
 
 Serpent-mound, 
 
 Serpulse, 
 
 Serpuke on hill, 
 
 Sertularia, 
 
 Sheep in water, 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Sheldrakes, 
 
 Silver fir, 
 Skate, l 
 
 245. 315 
 
 105,314 
 
 - 5, S3 
 
 ...7,8,310 
 
 2OI 
 
 6 3 
 
 ... 21, i;6 
 
 ::: ,11 
 
 88 
 
 ... Si. 34 
 ... 16, 26 
 
 196, 212 
 
 ... 186 
 
 ... 85, 157 
 
 128 
 
 155 
 272 
 190 
 137 
 163 
 
 21 
 
 97 
 
 , 3, 67, 108, 139, 160, 172, 
 182, 194, 255, 315 
 Skua Richardson's, ... lo 
 
 Sloes, 223, 224 
 
 Smokes (The Three), ... 248 
 
 Social gathering, 264 
 
 Solen pellucida, 290 
 
 Sparrow's nest, 144 
 
 Spawn, 158,159 
 
 Sphagnum abnormal growth, 258 
 Sponge and hermit, ... 210 
 
 Spider, 217, 239, 240 
 
 Squirrels, ... 95, 159, 251, 281 
 and young birds, 280 
 
 Squall Roussette, 154 
 
 Starfish food, 228 
 
 and tapes, 140 
 
 Sticklebacks, 72 
 
 Stoat, 143 
 
 Storm, 278,281 
 
 Stormy petrel, 94 
 
 Sucker fish, ... 179, 276, 277, 286 
 Suicide of animals, ... ... 265 
 
 Sunstar, 143 
 
 Swallows, 38 
 
 Tangle, 125 
 
 Terebratulse, 190 
 
 Thatch, ... 77 
 
 Thunderstorm, 87 
 
 Tits, 175.209 
 
 Titlark, 210 
 
 Top-knot, 40 
 
 ( See Transactions of Natural History 
 
 Society of Glasgow, 1884, paper 
 
 on " The Top-knots." 
 
 Trout, enemies of, 208 
 
 in winter, 250 
 
 31, 121 
 
 Trochus magus, 297 
 
 zizyphinus, ... ... 124 
 
 Turkey and clucks, 215 
 
 Turkeys on wire fence, ... 241 
 Twite, 310 
 
 Vegetation, ... 118,233,263,283 
 
 Velutina laevigata, 50 
 
 Venus casina, ... ... 192 
 
 Wagtails, 231 
 
 Weather prophets, 270 
 
 Weever fish (Trachissus draco), 203 
 
 Whale, 25 
 
 Wheatear, 160 
 
 Whilk, 125 
 
 spawn, 86, in 
 
 Whinchat, 274 
 
 White butterflies, 210 
 
 White flowers, 313 
 
 White horse, 71 
 
 White throat (Curruca cinerea), 25 
 
 lesser 24 
 
 Whiting, young, 293 
 
 Winter scene, 253 
 
 Wind on water, 69 
 
 Woodbine, 149, 201 
 
 Worms drowned out, ... 93 
 
 Wrass, 199 
 
 Wrens, 171, 209 
 
 Yellow flowers, 
 Yew berries, ... 
 Young flat-fish, 
 Young frogs, ... 
 
 209 
 75 
 
 177 
 18
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 6a. 
 
 BENDERLOCH. 
 
 BY W. ANDERSON SMITH. 
 
 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 'TIMES." While Mr. Anderson Smith does not neglect the scenic aspects of 
 Nature, he devotes most of his space to sympathetic pictures of the life that 
 abounds on land and in sea. He is evidently a well-informed naturalist. 
 
 'MORNING POST." The lovers of natural history will be charmed with 
 this interesting book. Mr. Smith is equally entertaining and instructive. 
 
 'SATURDAY REVIEW. "-There can be no manner of doubt that these 
 "unpretending notes," as Mr. Smith modestly designates them, were well 
 worth reprinting ; amd we should have lost much had they been left buried 
 out of memory. 
 
 ' THE FIELD." The interest is continuous to the close. His style is lively, 
 without any affectation of fine writing. 
 
 'THE ACADEMY." We cannot fancy a book which would prove more use- 
 ful and interesting to every poet-naturalist who uses his eyes and ears. 
 " Benderloch " is, in many respects, a charming book. 
 
 'GRAPHIC. "-Had Gilbert -\Vhite lived beside Eenderloch, he would have 
 given us something very like Mr. Anderson Smith's " Notes from the 
 Western Highlands." 
 
 'DAILY REVIEW." The "Notes" will be read by few people by whom 
 they will not be enjoyed. 
 
 'GLASGOW HERALD." Almost every page shows how much a loving, 
 patient, and intelligent searcher can find worth noting in the commonest 
 natural phenomena, and how much interest can be thrown round such re- 
 searches, or even the most casual observations, by the manner in which they 
 are described. 
 
 'QUIZ." I admire Mr. Smith's style ; you seldom see such pure English in a 
 
 'EDINBURGH COURANT." The papers are very attractive. 
 
 DUNDEE ADVERTISER."-Mr. Smith thoroughly understands his matter, 
 and he writes so freshly that the work will be found a pleasant guide to the 
 Fauna of the West Highlands. 
 
 ' BRECHIN ADVERTISER." Hundreds who never had the opportunity of 
 reading them before will join in expressing to Mr. Smith their obligations 
 for putting within their reach such a series of sketches, hardly excelled in 
 interest by anything of the same kind known to us at the present time. 
 
 'OBAN TIMES." There is all the grace and attractiveness of a racy and 
 full style wedded to a fund of information. 
 
 Uniform with " Benderloch.'" Crown 8uo, cloth, price 6s 
 
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 BY W. ANDERSON SMITH, 
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 "ACCORDING TO COCKER:" 
 
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 EARLIEST TIMES. 
 
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 and other old works on the subject. 
 
 BY W. ANDERSON SMITH,
 
 Crown 8uo, price 6d. 
 
 SEA-SIDE ECONOMY. 
 
 By W. ANDERSON SMITH, 
 
 Corresponding Member of Natural History and Geological Societies of Glasgoie. 
 
 PRIZE ESSAYIST. 
 Norwich, 1831. 1. Pisciculture as a Source of National Wealth. 
 
 2. Oyster Culture. 
 Edinburgh, 1882. 1. Various Methods of Oyster Culture. 
 
 2. Oyster Culture in Scotland. 
 
 3. The Utilisation of Fish Offal. 
 
 4. The Fish Supply of Great Cities. 
 
 5. Various Means of Curing and Preserving 
 
 Fish at home and abroad. 
 
 London, 1883. 1. Best appliances for breaking the force of the 
 sea at the entrance to Harbours and else- 
 where. 
 2. On Salmon Disease. 
 
 Highland and Agricultural Society. 
 
 1. Oyster Culture. 
 
 2. Marine Highland Industriei. 
 
 "Sea-side Economy" should be read by all who go to the coast. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8uo, cloth, with Illustrations, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 LEWSIANA. 
 
 By W. ANDEESON SMITH. 
 
 GLOBE. " Lewsiana " is a very clever hook. Mr Smith understands well the 
 feeling of those brought up by the sea-shore in the neighbourhood of 
 wild moors and desolate mountains, and in some introductory verses 
 renders the feeling with considerable pathos and grace. His descriptions 
 of the people, with their mingled simplicity and shrewdness, are quite as 
 good as his remarks on the country. 
 
 WORLD. We are satisfied that Mr Anderson Smith is a veracious chronicler, 
 who has taken great pains thoroughly to master his subject ; who writes 
 in a light, agreeable, and graphic style, and, to judge from the illustra- 
 tions which accompany his letter-press, has the gift of pencil as well 
 as pen. 
 
 SPECTATOR. It is true that Mr Anderson Smith's papers in the Glasgow 
 Herald had the precedence in point of time of Mr Black's novel ... he 
 has therefore done wisely to reprint them, with many others, in a 
 separate volume, one which is really of considerable interest, bringing, 
 as it does, most distinctly before us the lives of the inhabitants of these 
 little-known islands, and grouping together graphically, yet succinctly, 
 much information concerning their flora, their fauna, and their ancient 
 history. 
 
 INVERNESS COURIER.--MT Smith writes in the spirit of one who appreciates 
 the humble virtues and understands the peculiarities of these isolated 
 islanders. He does not come, like so many strangers, merely to wonder 
 and smile. We can commend the book. 
 
 STIRLING JOURNAL. The author is always ready to do justice to the many 
 good qualities of his Hebrideans, whom he likes well ; and he is enthusi- 
 astic in his praises of the good points in the wild scenery, which he is 
 never tired of exploring. His otf-hand sketches are quaint, graphic, 
 vivid, instinct with qualities which could not exist apart from truth-
 
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