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CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE RIVERS OF THE DORNOCH FIRTH. 



THE OIKEL has its sources in Loch Ailsh, a wild moun- 

 tain lake to the east of Ben-More of Assynt. Its 

 length is about thirty-five miles. The Cassley is its 

 principal tributary, and it meets the Shin at the head 

 of the Dornoch Firth, or what is termed the Kyle of 

 Sutherland. It also receives supplies from the Ross- 

 shire border, but except the Eanaig and Carron, the 

 latter of which enters immediately above Bonar-bridge, 

 none of these merit observation. The v Cassley flows 

 through a lengthened valley of the same name, and the 

 Shin, issuing from Loch Shin, has a course of about 

 six miles. All these rivers afford good salmon fishing. 



In the upper part of the Oikel and Cassley there are 

 numerous lochs, but their contents have been so imper- 

 fectly, if at all, investigated, that I am left with respect 

 to them, void of every source of information. Some of 

 them, however, contain charr, which is ascertained 

 from the circumstance of this fish being found during 

 the spawning months in several of their feeders. On 

 the Cassley, about a mile above Rosehall, there is a 

 salmon-leap of considerable height. 



At the sources of the Carron river also, there are 

 several lochs the most attractive of which, but diffi- 

 cult of access, is Loch Chorrh, containing trout of five 

 or six pounds weight. Loch Shin, out of which the 



