LOCH GARRY 181 



LOCH GARRY. 



This is a beautiful sheet of water, with many birch-clad bays 

 and points, lying also in the direct east and west line of the river. 

 It is five miles long, and has a mean breadth of one-third of a mile, 

 and a maximum breadth of half-a-mile. A considerable stream 

 flows into it on the south side from the glens round Ben Tee, a 

 well-marked conical hill 2936 feet high, but the stream is steep and 

 rocky and unsuited for the ascent of migratory fish. 



The loch is 257 feet above sea-level, the descent of the lower 

 river to Loch Oich being 151 feet. The high barrier of rock which 

 forms the eastern end of the loch is deeply cleft at the narrow 

 outlet of the river, and the fall, already referred to, occurs just as 

 this barrier is past. 



" As in Loch Quoich, there is a large portion at the east end, one 

 mile in length, which is quite distinct from the basin, and is of 

 moderate depth. 



" This eastern part is cut off from the main loch by a large, low, 

 wooded promontory, called the Garbh Eilean (Kough Island) and a 

 sandy island (Eilean Ban), to the south-west of it. An irregular 

 channel, varying from 9 feet to 18 feet in depth, leads to the small 

 eastern basin, which has a small island at each end, and a narrow 

 arm running to the north." l 



The greatest depth is 213 feet, found in the centre of the western 

 basin towards the south shore. The mean depth is 78 feet. 



Salmon are hardly ever taken in Loch Garry, although all fish in 

 their ascent to their natural spawning grounds have to pass through 

 it. This is another example of the manner in which salmon which 

 lie long in waters below an obstacle go off the rise after their ascent. 

 No lochs into which spring fish enter after some months of wait- 

 ing till summer conditions have come round are of much use to the 

 salmon angler. Streams above may be better, because the fluctua- 

 tions of level and the upward movement of the fish seem to act as 

 enliveners of the rising propensity. But in a district such as this, 

 with its all-satisfying combination of beauty and grandeur, one need 

 not always ask for heavy bags. 



1 "Bathy metrical Survey of Fresh- Water Locha of Scotland," by Sir John Murray 

 and Mr. Laurence Pullar. ^Scottish Geographical Magazine, xxiv., No. 5, p. 240. 



