334 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



Charles sought to overthrow, sitting and walking about quite 

 privately and peaceably." 



The hills on either side of the head of the loch are 

 extraordinarily steep especially Meall-a-Bhainne and of 

 splendidly bold outline. When seen pouring with many white 

 streams, just as clouds break up after rain and mists rack and 

 vanish, the effect is magnificent. A few minutes after the 

 rain ceases, the little streams cease also, for the water runs off 

 as from a house-roof. 



The loch forms a splendid reservoir, by means of which the 

 river Shiel is enabled to maintain its level better than would 

 otherwise be the case. Yet in June and July, which are about 

 the best fishing months in the district, the rivers often get too 

 low. The head streams in which fish spawn are the Finnan, 

 already mentioned, which has fine spawning ground in its 

 lower reaches ; the Doilate, the largest feeder, which enters 

 the loch about 11 miles from the head on the east side, just 

 before the narrows of the loch are reached. It descends a 

 comparatively even glen, and has a course of nearly 8 

 miles. It is variously called the Hurich when in the glen 

 which has the same name and the Polloch at the mouth, 

 where the course is quiet and sluggish. The name Doilate, or 

 Dilate, is given because it passes through a small loch called 

 Doilate, situated a few miles from Loch Shiel, and 10| feet 

 above its level. About half-way from here to the top of the 

 loch, but on the west side, the Aladale enters, and at the head, 

 through the gap in the direction of Kinlochiel, the Gallop winds 

 its dull, sluggish course round the foot of Meall-a-Bhainne. 

 The Prince Charles monument at the head of the loch is between 

 the mouth of the Gallop and the mouth of the Finnan. It is a 

 conspicuous object on the left of the modern railway track to 

 Arisaig and Mallaig. 



The erosion in glacial times has been extreme in this region, 

 and the deeply-cut valleys and lake basins run in curiously 

 diverse directions. The larger section of Loch Shiel lies in the 

 line of chief mountain formation in Scotland, and this is the 

 steep and mountainous section of the loch. To the seaward 

 end, from the narrows onward, the land surface has been more 

 completely cut away and levelled. Up at Glenfinnan, how- 

 ever, the line of valley now occupied by the Mallaig railway is 



