54 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



the stream now known as the Dochart flows 14 J miles to Loch 

 Tay at Killin. 



In June, July, and August, a fair number of salmon may be 

 caught in the Dochart by visitors staying at the Luib Hotel, and 

 the pools in the immediate neighbourhood of Luib are the best. 

 The lowest section of the river is fished from Killin, but falls exist 

 a short distance above Killin, and when salmon leave Loch Tay, as 

 they commonly do from about the third week of May onwards, and 

 ascend the falls, they appear to travel onwards pretty steadily 

 till the Luib pools are reached. The fish are of the heavy Loch 

 Tay class, which have ascended to the loch in the early months of 

 the year, and now average perhaps 16 Ib. to 17 Ib. This ascent at 

 the Killin Falls is governed by the temperature of the water, and is 

 comparable to the conditions found in the Inverness-shire Garry, 

 or the Helmsdale at Kildonan, where also fish do not ascend till 

 the wintry conditions of the water have given way at the approach 

 of summer. 



Glen Dochart is a wide and, for the most part, rather bare glen. 

 From the railway line, which traverses it from Killin Junction to 

 Crianlarich, the river is seen from one end to the other, and, it may 

 be, the tiny-looking train which puffs its way up from Loch Tay 

 to the junction. But the hills on either side rise over three 

 thousand feet, Ben More, on the south side, being 3843 feet. 



Loch Tay, to which more detailed reference will presently be 

 made, is practically 350 feet above sea-level, and from its eastern 

 or Kenmore end the river Tay takes its rise in considerable volume. 

 Here the lower slopes are beautifully wooded, and the extensive 

 parks round Taymouth Castle, the seat of the Marquis of 

 Breadalbane, introduce that sense of the value and care of the 

 surrounding lands which seem to me to distinguish the Tay 

 throughout its course. It is not a river in wild open Highland 

 scenery. The banks and the lower hills are richly wooded with 

 a variety of trees ; beeches, oaks, limes, and conifers are mingled in 

 profusion. The more rugged features of the landscape appear only 

 in the hill tops beyond and above the woods, and from the time 

 the large river leaves its loch at Kenmore to the time when its 

 waters mingle with the tide below Perth, the country is rich in 

 wood, and at more than one spot is peculiarly rich in wood. 



In the upper Tay, and more especially in the defiles through 

 which the Tummel and Garry pass, the grander elements of the 

 country assert themselves and demand admiration ; the wooding 



