208 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



been formed by the gouging away of their sides by torrents and 

 icefloes. The eastern section of the district is already denuded 

 to a low level, and the Cromarty Firth, the present estuary of 

 the Conon district, represents no doubt a portion of the early 

 river course, the opening between the Old Red Sandstone 

 suitors of Cromarty being, as Hugh Miller pointed out, the 

 original mouth of the early river. The line from one suitor 

 to the other is now the limit of the estuary, which estuary also 

 serves for the river Alness. 



The upper estuary and lower river have for many a long 

 year been steadily netted. Twenty-seven shots used to be 

 fished here in three and a quarter miles of water, and since at 

 the top of this netted section the Brahan Castle Cruive dyke 

 exists, which was also fished by two boxes, all other openings 

 being closed, it will be readily understood that a very complete 

 control over all ascending fish was exercised, and, except 

 during floods or the weekly close times, fish had poor chance 

 of reaching the upper waters. In 1907 the nets are said to 

 have secured considerably over 4,000 fish. On the opening 

 day 150 clean fish were got at the first sweep. 



The proprietors of fishings above the cruives have always 

 been anxious to secure a more adequate stock of fish. An 

 arrangement of a private nature by which the cruives were 

 formerly left open was entered into between the late Mr. Stirling 

 of Fairburn and Colonel Mackenzie of Seaf orth, now Lord Sea- 

 forth, for the years 1889 to 1900, and during this period of 

 twelve years the rentals above the cruives steadily rose. 



A rough estimate of the product of the Cromarty and 

 Culloden fishings, which are both situated at the mouth of the 

 river, below the Seaforth fishings, shows that the average 

 annual take amounts to between three and four thousand fish. 

 A further estimate, which was published in the Reports of the 

 Fishery Board for Scotland, showing the total product of the 

 netting and cruives of the whole district as compared with the 

 estimated total product of rods in Conon and the Alness (which 

 enters the same estuary) for four consecutive years is : 



Nets. Rods. 



1892. . . 8,000 730 



1893. . . 14,000 400 



Nets. Rods. 



1894. . . 16,000 650 



1895. . . 27,200 800 



A second arrangement was come to between the upper 



