358 THE SALMON RIVERS OP SCOTLAND 



section of the loch to get to the head river. With the removal 

 of the Awe nets, the chance of successful salmon fishing in the 

 loch is increased. In the loch none but spring fish may be 

 expected to take in any numbers. 



The main line of the loch is along the main axis of the country, 

 i.e. N.E. and S.W. ; but when one regards the peculiar arrange- 

 ment of this large loch, and the fact that the main inflow and 

 the main outflow are within a few miles of one another, the 

 latter on a deep cross-arm at right angles to the main axis, one 

 naturally wonders how this came about. What one may for 

 convenience call the railway and river end of the loch is by far 

 the most important and by far the most beautiful and attrac- 

 tive. Personally I have never been able to rid myself of the 

 feeling that this is the head of the loch. Yet I know on 

 reflection that what is commonly called the head of the loch is 

 24 miles away at Ford. What seems to me to dominate the 

 head of the loch are the head streams the Orchy, Stray, and 

 Lochy. These pour their waters in by Dalmally, and are 

 certainly the chief feeders of the loch, as they are the rivers up 

 which the salmon ascend, or, shall we say, try to ascend. The 

 far end of the loch in many ways is the low end of the loch, but 

 of this later. 



The length of Loch Awe from Ford to the mouth of the Orchy 

 is practically the same as the length of Loch Ness, including 

 Loch Dochfour (24 miles). The mean breadth is about half a 

 mile, or 2*3 per cent, of the length when the cross-arm to the 

 Pass of Brander is taken into account. The narrowest part 

 is barely a quarter of a mile, while at the cross arm a measure- 

 ment of 2 miles may be obtained. The level above the sea is 

 usually stated as 1 18 feet. The loch was surveyed and charted 

 by naval officers in 1861, and again by Sir John Murray's 

 Bathymetrical Survey in May 1903. During the fourteen 

 days of the latter survey " the level of the water varied to the 

 extent of about 2 feet, the highest level, as measured from 

 bench-mark, being 11 7*9 feet above the sea, and to this level 

 all the soundings . . . have been reduced." 



The bottom of the loch is peculiarly irregular. The deepest 

 part is 4 to 5 miles from the head of the loch where soundings 

 of 306 feet or 51 fathoms were found in four places. The 200 

 feet contour line encloses five separate areas, and the 100 feet 



