NOTES ON BRITISH SALMONID/E 19 



runs of fish, and they are apt to run in far greater numbers 

 than Salmon." l 



I entirely agree with all he says ; and I think that 

 these few facts alone, and unattended with many others in 

 different directions, are enough to warrant some endeavours 

 to fill in blanks in the histories of many (if not all ?) of our 

 salmon and sea-trout rivers. 



The following notes are, for the most part, confined to 

 the two small rivers, and their " catchment basins," of 

 Ailort and Loch Eilt, and of the Morar and Loch Morar. 



The rivers Ailort and Morar are two short rivers of 

 the west coast of Inverness-shire. The distance between 

 them, along the coast-line, approximately as the fish swim, 

 is about twenty miles measured by means of a " Wheelo- 

 mephna." To the southward of the river of Ailort there are 

 no sea-nets nearer than Eilean Shona, close to the mouth 

 of the River Shiel, and, to the northward of the river of 

 Morar there are no sea- nets nearer than Torridon on the 

 mainland, and the Sound of Sleat in Skye. It cannot be 

 said, therefore, that these two rivers are nearly so severely 

 depleted by net-fishing as most other west coast rivers are. 



The Ailort river is about i^ miles long, and flows from 

 Loch Eilt. There is a widening of the river into a dark 

 deep lochlet called Dhuloch, about 300 yards below the 

 outflow of Loch Eilt Between the two lochs is a fall 

 pool or a resting pool for the ascending fish, and well 

 known as a deadly trap if fished in an unsportsmanlike 

 way. The Ailort has many good " catches " and temporary 

 resting pools below the Dhuloch, where fish rise to the 

 artificial fly. On the deep Dhuloch, except where the 

 stream runs in, and where it runs out, salmon and sea-trout 

 rarely move to either flies or minnows. The keeper has 

 seen it tried with the latter, but never knew of a fish killed 

 upon that bit of water, which goes down to depths of from 

 14 to 24 feet. When the sea-trout get into the fall pool, 

 coming from the sea at their regular seasons, they will not 

 look at a fly nor take any lure except a worm, but that 



1 In connection with these remarks, it may serve a good purpose to study 

 an article lately published at the Government Printing Bureau at Ottawa, 

 written by H.M.I, of the Canadian Fisheries (vide "Special Appended Reports," 

 iii. p. 27), ' On the Habits and Life History of Canadian Salmon.' 



