the most rare plants of foreign lands. Each villa glories in its floral treasures, of which perhaps the finest collection is found in the hothouses of Mr. Book, an Englishman, known throughout Europe.

Subsequently, in the middle of the day, we sat gaily around a splendid luncheon, which, though served under a thatched roof-a true labourer's cottage, the comforts of which during winter was shared by the cows and the fowls-was not the less savoury and appetisant. This cottage, as are all the cottages in the country of which I write, was remarkable for its cleanliness and order of management, as are similar abodes in the south filthy and uninhabitable.

To close this article, having already, I fancy, overrun the allotted space, I may say we killed about one hundred and fifty hares, and several foxes, who bolted from the underwood.

Thanks to the courtesy of my companions towards a stranger, I was always well placed, and consequently had no great difficulty in making the largest bag.

(To be continued.)

SALMON FISHING.

BY WANDERER.

The Twelfth of August and the first of its subsequent months are days anxiously anticipated by the sportsman; but the first of February bids him terminate his pursuit of partridges and pheasants, while grouse have nearly completed an eight weeks' jubilee. The old adage, "When one door shuts another door opens," is fulfilled to those who reside on or choose to visit "rivers north of Tweed." "The king of the fresh water," as he is justly termed, so frequently the prey of the otter, and whose spawn is destroyed wholesale by the ever-active water-ouzel, must now submit to the attacks of man, from which perhaps he is never wholly protected: but I allude to the legitimate practice of the rod and line in the hands of a fair and honest angler. Various are the localities affording scope for the practice of this noble sport, while the cold and rapid waters of the North are more especially suitable to the habits of the salmon, which despises the sluggish and discoloured rivers of the South. Norway and Sweden have become well-known to many British sportsmen, on account of the amazing number and size of the fish contained in their various waters. But Norway no longer offers the open and unrestricted field to the angler which it presented a few years ago. Englishmen, who will do anything and go anywhere to secure good sport, have rented the rivers, which are consequently closed against strangers, and the glorious Namsen and other waters are no longer free and unpreserved; while, ready as a man may be to rough it, he is required to put up with more than very considerable inconveniences in Norway. The necessary expenses incurred are very heavy, and thus, to the majority of anglers, it becomes forbidden ground. We have, fortunately, plenty of excellent rivers in Britain; and, while "the

Emerald Isle" affords the Shannon, the Moy, the Baun, and a host of others, both North and South Wales have the Wye, the Usk, and various excellent salmon rivers; and to the southron there is one great desideratum connected with the Principality, viz., that it is of easy access. It is my intention, however, to cast a line or two respecting some of our Scottish waters. I must necessarily be brief at present, but I hope in some future numbers to be enabled to recount some of my humble performances during the salmon season of 1858. To those who have tolerable means and leisure, I should recommend some of the northern rivers of Scotland, such as the Thurso, the Naver, the Helmsdale, the Brora, the Kirkaig, the Inver,* which, having a short run, are constantly supplied with fresh fish. The Carron and the Oikel in Rossshire are capital waters, and for fine grilses, up to eight pounds each, are first-rate. The Beauly is an excellent water, as also the Conan and Blackwater in the same county. The Ness is frequently very productive of sport, but, like all others, has both its good and bad seasons. The Garry and Oich, which flow into Loch Oich on the Caledonian Canal, are good waters, but are under strict preservation, except to those who can obtain permission from Lord Ward. The Lochy, near Banavie, is an excellent stream; while the Spey, the Dee, the Awe, and the Orchy, are too far-famed to need any comment upon their merits. We have thus taken a hasty glance at a few of the numerous rivers of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Aberdeenshire, and Argyleshire; the latter county being easy of access from Glasgow, while the more northern waters are too distant to suit those whose time is limited. The pleasure of this noble sport is much enhanced in many of the above waters by the facility of fishing from shore, unencumbered by "the inconvenient convenience" of a boat, which becomes an indispensable requisite in some of the first-class waters. Wooded banks frequently preclude a good cast, which obstacle may be overcome to a certain extent by wading; but great width, accompanied with depth of water, is a matter not so easily got over. Tweed, for instance, in some places may be fished from shore; but the terra firma angler has comparatively but little chance against the nautical one, and the greater portion of the river must be fished from a boat. I have fished some of the best portions of this noble river, which certainly, take it "all in all," may challenge any other in Scotland; not, however, for the size of its salmon, which, though justly prized for their excellent flavour, do not attain the size of the Tay fish, which are, I believe, the largest in the kingdom. Salmon above twenty pounds are by no means common in the Tweed, in which, some years ago, I had the good fortune to secure the largest killed by the rod during the whole season. A fine fresh-run fish he was, of twenty-five pounds and a-half; and bravely he fought, and gave me full occupation for halfan-hour and upwards. I hooked him on the Northumbrian side of the

The

*The charge for salmon fishing on the Inver is 10s. 6d. per day, or £12 per month. The river has been strictly preserved, I believe, for upwards of eight years, during which period neither nets nor cruives have been used on it. The Loch Inver Inn is situate about five hundred yards from the river, and affords," I understand, "good accommodation." "Between Loch Inver and Golspie there is a mail-gig conveyance twice a-week, and a steamer plies from Glasgow." Application should be made to Thomas Mackenzie, Loch Inver Inn, by Golspie.

water; but he dashed away for Scotland, where the fisherman landed me, after some hard pulling. I played him for some time off the Scottish bank; but I was obliged to jump into the coble again, so vigorously did he bear away for the English side, which, however, he never reached; and he died on the northern bank. A finer specimen of

the salmon, in point of symmetry of person, and both external and internal colour, could not be desired either by the angler or epicure; but as regarded weight, he would be by no means a rara avis (if we may apply the term to a fish) in the Tay.

In this noble river, salmon attain the weight of fifty and even sixty pounds, while eighteen, twenty, and even thirty-pounders are by no means rarities. While in London, last August, I saw, amongst many others, a very fine salmon, ticketed "30lbs." (in Hungerford Market), which I thought bore a strong resemblance to a Tay fish; and I found, on inquiry, that he had been killed below Perth-bridge. Well, indeed, might the Romans exclaim, as from the "Moncrieff Hill" they beheld this majestic river," Ecce Tiber! Ecce Campus Martius!" To their Tiber, however, they were paying a high compliment, when they compared its sluggish and dirty water to the deep but crystalline current of the Tay. The Tiber's banks are tame and woodless; whilst, near Perth, the eastern shore of the Scottish river (which is far wider than the Tiber) is clad with sycamores, limes, willows, and other trees, down to the water's edge. Less rapid than the Spey, the Tay, at its mouth, discharges a greater quantity of water than any other river in Britain. The drainage of this river is upwards of 2,280 square miles; while "its mean discharge, below the junction of the Earn, has been ascertained by Mr. David Stevenson to be 273,117 cubic feet per minute." The river Thames is stated to discharge "80,220 cubic feet per minute," which does not amount to one-third that of the river Tay! This mag nificent river, rising in the Breadalbane district under the name of Fillan, and after about eight miles assuming the title of Dochart, then expanding itself into Loch Tay, and afterwards receiving the Lochy, the Lyon, the Tummel, and the Braan, presents a majestic appearance at Dunkeld. Flowing onward to Kinclaven, it receives a most important tributary, the Isla; and after its junction with other streams, it reaches "the fair city," where it is spanned by a fine ten-arched bridge, 300 yards in length. Its last great tributary is the Earn (a good angling water), ere it discharges itself into the sea. In the early part of the season, the Tay is frequently much flooded, owing to the quantity of dissolving snow brought down from the mountains by its numerous tributaries; while during summer it is apt to become too low and clear to suit the angler's purposes. The season of 1846 was a very good one, owing to the constant "spates," which for a long time kept the water in fine order. Last year fell far short of its predecessors; but I hope that the new year may strike a balance in the angler's favour. We have had rain to our heart's content, and very little frost, which would certainly be more seasonable and healthy at the present time. However, we should hope for the best; and I trust that, for others as well as the salmon-fisher, "there's a good time coming." There is a peculiar mode of fishing adopted on the Tay, especially when the water is "heavy," which I shall attempt briefly to describe. Three rods are placed at the stern of the boat, for the butts of which holes

are made in a "stretcher:" three grooves are also provided in the stern, one in the centre, and one at each corner, also for the reception of the rods, which by this means radiate from a centre after the manner of a fan. Soon after leaving shore, the one two or three anglers, as the case may be, seated with their backs to the rowers, begin to let out line to the amount of fifty or sixty yards; a few inches of the line are then drawn from the reel and laid slack, upon which a stone is generally placed, to give notice of a fish when he seizes the lines. The stone under such circumstances is thrown off, and calls the angler's attention. This is the ordinary method adopted, although I am inclined to believe that by keeping the rod in hand, and working the fly after the manner of ordinary salmon fishing, success is better ensured. It frequently happens, however, that but one disciple of Old Isaac has the charge of the three rods, in which case if he work one rod, stones are desirable for the other two. It is common, under such cases, for the angler to attach flies to two of his lines, and a parr or garvie to the third. I cannot say that I think this mode of fishing is to be compared to "casting," while at the same time it is the common practice on the Tay, and certainly a very remunerative one. Early in February, 1854, having obtained permission to fish the Meikleover water, I started on foot from Blairgowrie at nine a.m., rod in hand, and after a six miles' walk reached the scene of action at twenty minutes past ten. I found a boat and two rowers ready to attend me, and after the necessary preliminaries, we embarked immediately under the ruins of Kinclaven Castle, and backwards and forwards we went over excellent pools, without success. The boatmen were astonished that no fish showed himself, but I was not so much surprised, as a change of weather was evidently to take place. At twelve it began to pour a torrent, and I soon hooked a fish, which proved to be a "kelt," of fifteen pounds, which after weighing we consigned again to his element. We had scarcely left the shore on which I landed this fish, than another seized my fly, and a fine fish he was, but a "kelt" again, and so after finding him by the steelyard to be an eighteen-pounder, we returned him to his brethren. To cut a long story short, I landed six fish in an hour and a-half, under one tree, close to the Cargill Railway bridge, over which a rushing train occasionally uttered its thunder, heard but unheeded by myself, wholly absorbed in my avocation. At two o'clock the river had risen eighteen inches since we first embarked, and so "the game was up," and we went ashore, when, after giving the rowers their allowance of "mountain dew," I walked back to Blairgowrie with fifty-two pounds weight of fish in my salmon-bag, and a heavier burden I never carried for six miles. It was light enough for the first two miles, but it began to tell then; but wet, wearied, and tired, I managed to reach my destination, and slept afterwards soundly for nine hours, and rose fresh for other exploits, as I trust many an angler will, in the salmon season of the present year.

That English hospitality and good-nature are often abused few will deny, though, perhaps, the majority of individuals imposed on seldom detect the abusers. A remarkable case of the kind arose out of a laughable sporting adventure, in which some of the parties concerned were personally known to us; our readers may therefore rely on the truth of our narrative.

Two cockney sportsmen, who had attained considerable notoriety at Hornsey Wood, and other localities where shooting matches are held; and who were to all intents and purposes two of the best shots of the day, had often heard of the excellent snipe shooting on extensive marshes in Essex, part of the domain of a venerable, but infirm, English gentleman; and, notwithstanding that the good old squire was quite a stranger to these adventurers, they made up their minds one fine November morning to pay him a visit, and beg a day's snipe shooting. Impudence must certainly have been the ascendant trait in the character of both; though each deserved a fair share of credit for boldness and perseverance in venturing fifty miles upon so uncertain a sporting errand. The anticipation of sport, however, cheered them on; and many and witty were the jokes which fell from their lips on the subject of their hazardous adventure, as they journeyed into Essex, outside the stage-coach. Arrived in the evening at a small town, some ten miles distant from their destination, they immediately inquired for and secured a conveyance by which to drive over early next morning, and introduce themselves to the Squire; and after seeing to the feeding and safety of a valuable retriever they brought with them, the two sportsmen made themselves as comfortable as the inn would allow, and retired to early repose.

By six o'clock next morning they were stirring; and having partaken of a light breakfast, with coffee, were fairly on the road by seven o'clock.

"Glorious morning this!" said one to the other.

"By Jove, it is!" was the reply: "a little frost, a little mist, and the morning after a bright moonlight night!"

"I can't help thinking but we may be going on a wild-goose chase,' said one.

"There is no doubt of that, my friend," said the other; "but we must make use of the most persuasive arguments possible, if we find the old buffer grumpy."

"Just so. But they say he is eccentric; and if so, I am in hopes we can manage him. Well, now about names? We must each have some d-d fine name, just to give the old boy a mouthful on our first introduction."

"As a matter of course," said the other. "He will never be a whit the wiser nor an ounce the smaller, whether we introduce our