CHAP, v.] THE RIVER SPEY. 215 



The stream is very rapid, having in its course a fall of twelve 

 hundred feet ; it rushes on in one continuous gallop from its 

 mountain well to the sea, giving rise to the local proverb of 

 their being " no standing water in Spey," although there are 

 pools thirty feet deep. Still, as a rule, the river is shallow, 

 having generally a depth of about three feet ; and there are 

 places which, when the water is a little low, may be crossed 

 by a man on foot. 



I have seen the rafts of wood coming down from the hills 

 at the rate of ten miles an hour ; and the Spey is not only 

 the most rapid, but also the wildest of all our large Scottish 

 rivers. "The cause of this is easily explained. The river 

 drains thirteen hundred miles of mountains, many of whose 

 bases are more than a thousand feet above the level of the sea. 

 The Dulnain, draining the southern part of the Monagh Lea 

 Mountains, runs more than forty miles before entering Spey ; 

 and the Avon, with a course as long, brings down the waters 

 of Glenavon, which lies between the most majestic mountains 

 in Britain. Besides these great tributaries, the Spey has the 

 Truim, the Tromie, the Feshie, the Fiddoch, and other affluents, 

 swelling her volume with the rapidly-descending waters of a 

 mountainous country." The river Spey is an example of a 

 well-managed stream, and in the late Duke of Kichmond's 

 time produced a very handsome revenue. It was well 

 managed, because the duke fished it himself ; and, of course, 

 it was his interest to have it well protected, and to keep a 

 handsome stock of breeding fish. For instance, in the years 

 1858 and 1859 the duke drew on the Spey for upwards of 

 107,000 salmon and grilse, and the fish in that river are 

 as plentiful as ever. On the Spey, however, there is no 

 confusion of upper and lower proprietors to fight against 

 and take umbrage at each other, the river belonging mostly 

 to one proprietor. Other Scottish rivers also yield, or did 

 at one time yield, large annual sums in the shape of rental ; 



