STORAGE AND PASSES 277 



done there, as has been indicated, is <not a groping 

 in the dark. 



The Helmsdale, in the northern part of Suther- 

 land, rises at Badanloch and falls into the sea at the 

 village which bears its name. It is "good water" 

 throughout practically its whole twenty miles, ten 

 of which are above Kildonan Falls and ten below. 

 On the Helmsdale the storage system is already 

 established. Mr. J. B. Taylor, Sherfield Manor, 

 Basingstoke, who took a share in the improvement, 

 has kindly stated particulars, from which it will be 

 perceived that the system is astonishingly successful. 



We begin with a general account of the interest- 

 ing river. 



The right of angling belongs to the sporting 

 tenants of Badanloch, Auchintoul, Borrobol, Suisgill, 

 Kildonan, and Torrish. The proprietors of the 

 lodges there having formed themselves into a body, 

 the river is fished under rules and regulations drawn 

 up by them. It is divided into twelve beats, six of 

 which are below the Falls and six above. These are 

 fished by the tenants in rotation. 



In 1899 the angling tenants found that the bag 

 nets on the east coast of Sutherland were seriously 

 reducing the stock of fish and threatened to ruin 

 the Helmsdale as an angling river. They resolved 

 to buy off the nets on the east coast and to lease 

 the river-mouth nets from the Duke of Sutherland. 

 They made an agreement accordingly. The right 

 to net the river has not since been exercised, and 

 there is abundant evidence that the stock of fish has 



