The captain swore great guns at the idea of stopping his ship for one passenger. I agreed with him and recommended him to swear at his directors in London; and verily believe he would have sworn at them if he had had them there to swear at.
A smooth and lovely passage, arriving at Aberdeen about 11 a.m. next morning.
On arriving off the coast of Fife we ran through a school of whales, spouting and tumbling about in the most idiotic manner.
Arrived at Aberdeen I lunched at my friend the innkeeper's, who impressed me with the exceeding merits of my take, and the grouse I should get.
In the afternoon I was away by train to Gartly, and there found my keeper and dogs.
The lodgings were very plain, but good enough, and there, fortunately for me as turned out, also, lodging and shooting a moor rented from my innkeeper at Aberdeen, was that grand old sportsman the late Mr. Ginger Stubbs.
I am pretty certain that, my £50 being in view, that my bit of ground was cut off from Stubbs moor as an afterthought.
Mr. Stubbs was excellent company, and very good-naturedly he taught me a great many useful things that I desired to know about grouse shooting.
My moor was truly small: about an hour in the morning hunted it, and then I let it rest till the afternoon, giving birds time to work back home. The whole bag was about thirty brace of grouse, some grand brown hares, and a few sundries.
One of my dogs, never having been on grouse, until she saw them killed, took no more notice of them than she would of chickens.