THE CONON DISTRICT 195 



is a very straight and regular basin, lying almost due east and west. 

 It is 3J miles long, and has a mean breadth of between a quarter 

 and half a mile. The greatest depth found by the officials of the 

 Bathymetrical survey is 168 feet, near the centre of the loch. Most 

 of the loch is over 100 feet in depth, and the height of the surface 

 above the sea is 507 to 508 feet. 



Loch Luichart is a considerably larger sheet of water, being five 

 miles long, a maximum breadth of nearly a mile, and mean breadth 

 of one-third of a mile. It is rather famous as a loch in which 

 heavy trout may be caught, although, like other deep lochs 

 inhabited by large trout, it is at times very dour or " stiff." I find 

 the surprising statement made in a descriptive account much re- 

 ferred to by sportsmen, that the loch is 8 to 10 miles long and one 

 mile broad, and that grilse sometimes penetrate to it in spite of the 

 falls below. I have not yet met the grilse that can climb 28 feet in 

 an almost perpendicular cataract. The Falls of Conon, imme- 

 diately below the loch, are quite that height, and immediately 

 above the main fall is a lesser one of about 9 feet. The lesser fall 

 would alone be quite sufficient to completely stop grilse, although 

 an athletic summer salmon might perhaps manage this if provided 

 with an aeroplane, or a really good fish-pass by means of which to 

 ascend the big fall below. Invermoriston Fall, in the Ness District, 

 is about four feet lower than the larger fall here, and has been 

 provided with a pass which lets a fair number of fish up, and may 

 therefore be described as fairly successful. 



Various proposals have been made for opening up the Conon 

 Falls, from a pass 454 feet long, so as to include both falls, to a 

 complete clearing away of the obstructions by the summary agency 

 of dynamite. I am afraid there would be a big flood to start with 

 if the latter plan was put into execution, since the rocky barriers of 

 crystalline schists at the falls practically hold up Loch Luichart. 

 Up to the present, however, I think the chief difficulties in the way 

 of opening up the falls are more connected with questions of title and 

 proprietary interest than of rock. When the benefit of improving 

 the lower reaches of the river are more fully realised, more hope 

 may be entertained that the upper parts will receive the attention 

 they deserve. 



Loch Luichart has been found to have a maximum depth of 164 

 feet, and a mean depth of 67 feet, 1 but this floor is irregular, there 



1 " Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh- Water Lochs of Scotland," by Sir John Murray 

 and Laurence Pullar. Scottish Geographical Magazine, xxi. No. 9, p. 471. 



