Excerpt from The North British Review, Vol. 40: February May, 1861<br><br>A youth of this nature was not likely to endure the restraint of a public Office in London, - the life appointed for him by his family, - and he soon emancipated himself, got down among the solitudes of Sutherland, had the fortune to find a wife there, and continued ever after to lead the life of a sportsman and naturalist, his choice of residence only partly modified by the convenience of his family, and their education.<br><br>In due time, writes his biographer, he discovered the region best suited to his taste and happiness, in the laigh' of Moray, a fertile and well-cultivated country, with dry soil and bright and bracing climate, with wide views of sea and mountain, within easy distance of mountain sport, in the midst of the game and wild animals of a low country, and with the coast indented by bays of the sea and studded with frequent fresh-water lakes, the haunt of all the common wild-fowl and of many of the rarer sorts.<br><br>What an advantage to a district to attach to it a writer like St. John! The whole land, its rivers, lakes, hills, and valleys, become classical, and that which before was only known as a good wheat-growing champaign is henceforward familiar in the mouths of naturalists and that larger class, the lovers of nature and sport.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.