ro8 THE SALMON 



account of the historical flood of the Findhom in 1829, 

 when his gardener caught and killed a fine salmon 

 with his umbrella, at an elevation of fifty feet above the 

 ordinary level of the river. 



An interesting account of the four devastating 

 Highland deluges of 1829, 1849, 1868, and 1892 was 

 published by Mr. Nairne at Inverness in 1895, Dut 

 from a salmon fisher's point of view the most note- 

 worthy feature of such destructive natural phenomena 

 is the way in which they alter pools even in the 

 most rocky channels, and render futile the most 

 elaborate attempts made to construct artificial salmon 

 casts. I remember admiring two beautifully con- 

 structed artificial pools between the Lynn and 

 the junction in the Broom at Braemore. Sir John 

 Fowler had applied his great engineering skill to 

 the improvement of the river which runs through 

 his beautiful Highland home ; and by means of 

 concrete dams and breakwaters consisting of larch 

 piles in a double row filled up between with stones 

 and gravel, had turned a long stretch formerly useless 

 for fishing purposes into excellent and productive 

 salmon casts. Alas ! the great flood of 1892 washed 

 these attempts to ' bridle the stream with a curb of 

 stone ' completely away, and the only traces of the 

 improvements which remain to tell of what had been 



