THE BEAULY DISTRICT 199 



back to the sea and reascend at a later period. That the 

 habit is fairly common has been believed for many years by 

 observant netsmen, but very little reliable information exists. 

 The best recapture of a marked clean fish showing a descent 

 and reascent comes from the river we are now considering. 



When fish were being netted in order to secure ova for the 

 hatchery, on 9th December, 1907, a clean fish of 22 Ib. was also 

 captured. It was marked with label No. 4054s. The place 

 of capture was the Castle Pool below the Cruives. This fish 

 on 19th March, i.e., in 90 days, was recaptured on the rod in the 

 river Ness at Dochfour, six miles up. It was then a fish of 

 only 20 Ib. I am inclined to think it was a Ness fish which had 

 wandered into the Beauly. 



Two other clean Beauly fish were recaptured, one in 52 days, 

 the other in 115 days, but neither had left the river in the 

 interval ; the recaptures were both made in the Beauly. The 

 case of the fish migrating, when clean, from the Beauly to the 

 Ness is, so far as recaptures go, quite unique, although some 

 four fish in the kelt state have been recorded as having changed 

 their rivers. The rivers Beauly and Ness have, of course, a 

 common estuary, and the distance from the mouth of the 

 one to the mouth of the other is only about 10 miles. Whether 

 or not clean fish which ascend many miles up a river do 

 commonly return as this fish did, remains, I hope, to be 

 ascertained in the future, but it is not easy to believe that fish 

 in the Ness district which have ascended to the Garry, descend 

 again. A clean fish marked in December has been recovered 

 in the same high pool in June. We have taken marked Garry 

 fish after they have remained in Loch Oich for a considerable 

 time. Moreover, the Garry has no summer or autumn run of 

 fish, and the same class of fish which are found there in the 

 spring are seen ascending the falls in May and June, and are 

 found spawning in the high tributaries in the early winter. 

 If we could suppose for a moment that the Kilmorack Fall 

 the Red Fall was blown sky high, the chances are that a con- 

 siderable rapid would be produced in the river just above. 

 Near Eilean Aigas a considerable rapid already exists. We 

 would, therefore, have two strong rapids instead of one big 

 fall and one rapid. The thermal conditions of the water could 

 not be altered, but the physical difficulty of ascent would be 



