64 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



and 17th January, 1909, owing to a rapid thaw after a heavy snow 

 storm, carried away the retaining wall and flooded a considerable 

 stretch of country. Some unfortunate people in neighbouring 

 cottages had to make a hurried flitting in the middle of the night. 

 The Tay at Dunkeld had risen 15 feet, and the Inches at Perth 

 were already covered. The Almond was in very high flood, and the 

 sudden bursting of the dam carried the water over the high banks 

 which protect the fields on the right side, filled up the fields, and 

 poured along the Perth road till the dip at the railway bridge had 

 about 6 feet of water. Some anxiety was felt for the railway em- 

 bankment, but the water poured through a narrow archway uniting 

 fields on either side, and eventually broke down the river banks to 

 find its way back to the Almond and Tay. Some 5 feet of water 

 stood in one of the streets of Perth. 



When the flood subsided the new river channel lay dry and bare, 

 and the proprietor decided not to rebuild the dam. The perpen- 

 dicular concrete wall across the old river channel was therefore 

 taken down entirely, so that the Almond has now reverted to its 

 old bed along the bottom of the erstwhile loch. 



The next dyke is also a comparatively recent addition. It is not 

 a very formidable structure, however, although it supplies water to 

 another fishing loch (trout). It is situated about half a mile or so 

 below Huntingtower, and is faced with cement, but is provided with 

 a serviceable fish pass at the left bank, so constructed that the fish 

 enter close to the foot of the weir, are led in a down -stream direc- 

 tion and then turned upstream to the pool above. 



The two dykes above this are used by Almondbank and Hunting- 

 tower bleach works. The dyke, usually termed Low's Dyke, acts in 

 conjunction with Perth Lade already referred to. The dyke next 

 above sends water to a large bleach work on the left bank. The 

 lade passing through this work re-enters the Almond immediately 

 above Low's Dyke, and so much at an abrupt angle to the river that 

 the water during ordinary levels passes across the Almond above 

 the sill of the dyke and continues its course into the intake of the 

 Perth Lade on the opposite bank. 



Low's Dyke itself has an unusually long slope but no fish pass. 

 Indeed the passage of fish is considerably impeded by a beam which 

 has been placed on top of the sill for the purpose of sending more 

 water into Perth Lade. I have watched fish running this dyke, and 

 many of them seem tired out before they reach the last third of the 

 down-stream face, when, if they succeed in struggling further, they 



