SHORT SKETCHES OF THE WILD SPORTS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS. FROM THE JOURNALS OF CHARLES ST. JOHN, Esq.

1846 1st edition. 12mo (130 x 185mm). Ppvi,281 + 16pp publisher's catalogue at rear (dated September 1846). Red cloth of Murray's Home and Colonial Library, blind-stamped boards, spine titled in gilt.

Volume XVIII in the Home and Colonial Library. This is Charles St. John's famous description of the Highlands in the early years of the nineteenth century. "What at present renders (this book) especially valuable is that Scotland and the Scotch fauna have considerably changed during the last half-century. The variety and abundance of wild life here described can never again be seen. Fortunately a true picture of that departed past is preserved in St. John's vivid narratives.. ..Thus many animals and birds which were sufficiently common in St. John's time are now rare and seldom seen". From the preface to the ninth edition. Contains chapters on angling in loch and river for trout, salmon and char; shooting snipe, grouse and pigeon, etc; deer stalking and shooting; wildfowling; poaching and gamekeeping; seal shooting; falconry, etc. The natural history of the region is covered in detail, with descriptions of the habits of life of the various game animals, birds, and fish which dominate the area.