140 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



river, at Kothiemay ; but it is a low structure of rough stone and 

 only acts as an obstruction when the water is low, and when in all 

 probability fish would not in any case be running. The Bogie, on 

 the other hand, is rather badly obstructed by two dam dykes, one at 

 Stephen's Mills, a structure of stone and cement with a very deficient 

 fish pass, and the other at Brander Brothers' Mills, which is a rough 

 stone dyke without a fish pass. In view of the pollution, and the 

 fact that in these upper tributaries gravid fish have to be considered, 

 it is very desirable that easy access to the pure waters above should 

 be possible. 



At Turriff, on the burn of Turriff, a nasty little obstruction exists, 

 which I am afraid must be totally obstructive to fish. It is of 

 smooth cement, is abrupt, and has no pass. The burn has a good 

 run into a fine pool above the road bridge, where, as already described, 

 the river is sharply turned off to the north. It is such a stream as 

 one would expect grilse to take at spawning time, but the dam dyke 

 is only some 500 or 600 yards up. 



In a river such as the Deveron, where much has been done to 

 secure improvement of the salmon fishings, it is highly advantageous 

 that some sort of record be kept either privately, officially, or publicly, 

 showing in general terms the catch of the various sections. So far 

 as I can find, however, no record of the kind exists, and, moreover, 

 some fear of assessment causes rather a repression of results. None 

 the less I think it would be most valuable if, say, the river was 

 divided into three sections and totals for each section were kept, as 

 for instance : 



Banff to Turriff, say - - ^ - 250 fish. 

 Turriff to Huntly, say - - - - 265 

 Above Huntly, say .... 310 



The figures are not actual results of any one year, but they happen 

 to be as near an average of recent years as may be. I venture to 

 prophesy that the first good fishing year will see a total for the river 

 well over 1500 fish; but if no regular record is kept, how are the 

 proprietors to know if their great outlay is being repaid ? Each may 

 know something of his own water, but he probably does not know 

 what results are obtained beyond his next neighbour's section. Per- 

 sonally, I believe the Inspector of Salmon Fisheries in Edinburgh 

 might be persuaded to keep the totals if they are not safe in the 

 district. 



The relative positions of the various fishings will be best under- 

 stood by reference to the accompanying map. 



