226 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



dale Burn, on the north, rises by various small feeders from the 

 hills which form the right side of Strath Naver at Dalvina, while 

 the south inflow to Loch-nan-Cuinne, the Halmadarie Burn, rises 

 from a considerable height on the hill called Craig-na-Iolaire, which 

 overlooks the Mallart, an important tributary of the Naver, which 

 enters Strath Naver close to the outflow of Loch Naver. 



These feeders to the Badanloch district have, I think, to be 

 regarded as the head waters of the Helmsdale, although on some 

 maps the name Helmsdale is entered against another branch 

 altogether, viz. that which flows out of Loch-an-Ruathair, a sheet of 

 water close to the Highland Railway line, about midway between 

 Kinbrace and Forsinard. Without doubt, however, the main river 

 Helmsdale is formed by the confluence of the streams from Badan- 

 loch and Loch-an-Ruathair at Kinbrace, and it is from this point 

 that the river measures 20 miles to the sea. 



The Helmsdale has ever been famous as a spring fishing river, 

 and amongst all the smaller yet first-class salmon streams of 

 Scotland it has more than any other maintained that reputation. 

 The angling tenants who hold long leases of the shootings and fish- 

 ings in the strath have realised to the full the value of conserving 

 the stock of fish. When bag nets were introduced along the coast 

 in the neighbourhood they bought out the tacksman, and they 

 shortly afterwards secured the removal of sweep nets at the mouth 

 of the river. In addition to this they decided to adopt the system 

 of impounding the head waters, so as to secure a better flow of 

 water during dry weather. This, perhaps more than anything else, 

 has made the Helmsdale famous during recent years, and, if imita- 

 tion be the sincerest flattery, the proprietors and tenants of other 

 districts are now becoming ardent flatterers of the Helmsdale 

 tenants. In 1901 a dam dyke was erected at the Badanloch outlet 

 to raise the water-level six feet, and form a loch of six square miles, 

 and a smaller dyke was also constructed at the Loch-an-Ruathair 

 outlet. At each there are sluices and a fish- pass. The supply of 

 water from Loch-an-Ruathair is made use of in spring if weather 

 conditions require it, and the supply from Badanloch is held up till 

 summer, when in former days the river was apt to run so low as 

 to make fishing hopeless. The Badanloch sluices may not be 

 operated till after 1st June, and the decision as to when the stored 

 water is to be drawn upon rests with the tenants and the estate factor, 

 and must be exercised in the general interests of the river as a whole. 



It has often been said that one of the reasons for the decline of 



