LOCH AWfi 



357 



time, except that an iron heck was substituted for a wooden 

 one in 1839. There is one cruive-box, measuring approxi- 

 mately 11 feet across and 7 ft. 6 in. high, at the heck. The 

 up and down stream measurement of the box is 9 feet. There 

 is a considerable drop in the gradient immediately below the 

 box, so that the ascent for fish is steep. As a matter of fact, 

 the cruive does not yield many fish in the year, and now, by 

 agreement, it is not fished during the night. 



The only other artificial structures of note in the Awe are 

 the platforms from which, more especially in the autumn, many 

 of the casts are fished. Owing to the broken nature of the 

 water-flow, the river has in it many spots where the art of 

 reaching the proper lie is difficult, and some spots where a lie 

 on the opposite side cannot be reached, or cannot be fished 

 properly if reached. Under these conditions many pools are 

 much more satisfactorily negotiated by the aid of planks run 

 out to iron frameworks fixed in rocks. With the rapid flow of 

 the stream some of these casting places are somewhat " airy," 

 and not a few fishers new to the Awe have found that they 

 require to cultivate a little confidence in themselves before they 

 can make use of the stagings with much pleasure. Gradually, 

 I suppose, familiarity breeds contempt for their own fears. 

 The Meal Pool has the worst plank. 



The pools of the river from the mouth upwards are : 



1. Palf earn (tidal). 12. Little Otter. 



2. Crubeg. 13. Long Pool. 



3. Race Wall. 14. Yellow Pool. 



4. Grey Pool. 1 5. Cassan Dhu. 



5. Clay Pool. 16. Oak Pool. 



6. Cruive Pool. 1 7. Garraralt. 



7. Upper Cruive. 1 8. Meal Pool. 



8. Errachdt. 1 9. Shepherd's Pool. 



9. Stepping Stones. 20. Yellow Spring. 



10. Red Bank. 21. Colonel's Pool. 



11. Big Otter, 



22, 23, 24. The Three 

 Ash -Tree Streams. 



25. Bothy Pool. 



26. Stone Pool. 



27. PolVerie. 



28. Seal Pool. 



29. Black Pool. 



30. The Shallows. 



31. The Disputed Pool. 



32. The Brander Pool. 



LOCH AWE 



The loch is perhaps more celebrated for its romantic beauty 

 than its salmon, although many resort to it for trout fishing. 

 The fact remains, however, that all the early fish which ascend 

 the river in March (the Orchy fish) necessarily pass through a 



