THE SALMON AND WATER TEMPERATURE 135 



into the river Oich, out of the Oich into Loch Oich, 

 and out of Loch Oich into the famous river Garry, 

 which forms the head waters of the Ness system. 

 The Garry is the spring fishing river of this district. 

 On the west coast we have an analogous condition 

 appearing in the Awe district. Early fish pass 

 through the river Awe into Loch Awe, and are 

 checked in this ascent only after they have entered 

 the river Orchy above the loch. The Garry and the 

 Orchy are rivers of considerable size, although each 

 is some distance from the sea. In each there is a 

 fall, beyond which fish do not commonly pass till 

 about May. Now, why do Tay fish remain in the 

 lower river and loch during the spring months, and 

 Ness and Awe fish ascend to the upper feeders of 

 their districts ? 



In order to ascertain the thermal conditions of the 

 river systems referred to, I arranged for the taking 

 of morning and evening maximum and minimum 

 readings from thermometers kept constantly im- 

 mersed in the Ness and the Garry and in the Awe 

 and the Orchy. At the same time temperatures 

 were taken in the Tay and in one or two smaller 

 river systems. The Garry rod-fishing opens early 

 in February, and at that time each year the river is 

 well stocked, although in exceptionally cold springs 

 there maybe more fish in Loch Oich than in the Garry. 

 In the Awe, fish do not usually ascend till March, 

 and are not expected in any numbers in the Orchy 

 till April. It is highly probable that with a fuller 

 stock of fish in the district more earlier fish would 

 appear. The readings procured from these districts 



