206 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



Loch Rosque is at present the abode of only trout and char. 

 It is a very straight and regular basin, lying almost due east 

 and west. It is 3 miles long, and has a mean breadth of 

 between a quarter and half a mile. The greatest depth found 

 by the officials of the Bathymetrical Survey is 168 feet, near the 

 centre of the loch. Most of the loch is over 100 feet in depth, 

 and the height of the surface above the sea is 507 to 508 feet. 



Loch Luichart is a considerably larger sheet of water, being 

 five miles long, a maximum breadth of nearly a mile, and mean 

 breadth of one-third of a mile. It is rather famous as a loch 

 in which heavy trout may be caught, although like other deep 

 lochs inhabited by large trout, it is at times very dour or 

 " stiff." I find the surprising statement made in a descriptive 

 account much referred to by sportsmen, that the loch is 8 to 

 10 miles long and one mile broad, and that grilse sometimes 

 penetrate to it in spite of the falls below. I have not yet met 

 the grilse that can climb 28 feet in an almost perpendicular 

 cataract. The Falls of Conon, immediately below the loch, 

 are quite that height, and immediately above the main fall 

 is a lesser one of about 9 feet. The lesser fall would alone be 

 quite sufficient to completely stop grilse, although an athletic 

 summer salmon might perhaps manage this if provided with 

 an aeroplane, or a really good fish-pass by means of which to 

 ascend the big fall below. Invermoriston Fall, in the Ness 

 District, is about 4 feet lower than the larger fall here, and has 

 been provided with a pass which lets a fair number of fish up, 

 and may therefore be described as fairly successful. 



Various proposals have been made for opening up the Conon 

 Falls, from a pass 454 feet long, so as to include both falls, to a 

 complete clearing away of the obstructions by the summary 

 agency of dynamite. I am afraid there would be a big flood 

 to start with if the latter plan was put into execution, since 

 the rocky barriers of crystalline schists at the falls practically 

 hold up Loch Luichart. Up to the present, however, I think 

 the chief difficulties in the way of opening up the falls are more 

 connected with questions of title and proprietary interest than 

 of rock. When the benefit of improving the lower reaches of 

 the river are more fully realised, more hope may be entertained 

 that the upper parts will receive the attention they deserve. 



Loch Luichart has been found to have a maximum depth 



