EFFECTS OF WINTER SPATES. 101 



nearly exhausted. Higher up still is the farm 

 of Burnside, and heyond it the lands and de- 

 mesne of Orton. 



Until a few years ago one of the hest salmon- 

 pools in this part of Spey was at Burnside 

 immediately opposite the gorge of Alt Derg at the 

 other side of the river. I never knew it in its 

 palmy days, before the annual encroachments of 

 the stream had gradually eaten away so much 

 valuable land that it became necessary at last to 

 undertake a serious war of defence against these 

 winter torrents, and to call into play all the 

 engineering skill and resources that were avail- 

 able. On such occasions, where the ground is 

 sufficiently firm, huge crates, strongly constructed 

 and filled with large boulders, are found to be the 

 best protection ; these, placed closely alongside of 

 each other and securely fastened together, consti- 

 tute an admirable though expensive bulwark. On 

 the other hand, where the devastation is usually 

 greatest, the section of the bank reveals a loose 

 boulder clay, and a different and comparatively 

 economical plan of defence is adopted, but espe- 

 cially execrable in the eyes of a salmon-fisher. 

 During the heats of summer and early autumn, 

 when the river is at its lowest, numbers of young 

 trees foliage, branches, and all are laid down at 



H 



