LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands. By W. Anderson Smith. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free.
"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's Benderloch will welcome from the same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western Highlands entitled Loch Creran.... The influences of free moorland air and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or the habitat of the pipe-fish (Sygnathus), the progress of Myæ in the refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and force."—Saturday Review.
"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant book."—Literary World.
"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."—Scotsman.
"Students of natural history who read Benderloch, by Mr. W. A. Smith, will give a cordial welcome to Loch Creran, another and even more attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work itself."—Dundee Advertiser.
"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's Benderloch, no introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new book, Loch Creran. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which Benderloch is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."—Scottish Leader.
"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's Selborne, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is worthy of the author of Benderloch, a book which, it may be hoped, is already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he explains what he has seen and done without waste of words."—Illustrated London News.
"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."—Times.
"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in Loch Creran they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of information. There is an air of leisureliness about Loch Creran. Month by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the heedless."—Graphic.
"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."—Perthshire Constitutional and Journal.