THE LOCHY 337 



I am quite well aware that those who habitually fish Mucomer 

 Pool and the river just below will regard any proposal to open up 

 Mucomer Tall with disfavour. In their view the fish are more 

 valuable in Mucomer Pool than in Loch Lochy or the river Arkaig. 

 To put the matter shortly, the project would in their view ruin the 

 best pool in the Lochy and very largely spoil the Spean above. I 

 admit a certain amount of the argument. The object of a good pass 

 at Mucomer would be to get spring fish up, fish which at present 

 congregate in Mucomer Pool and afterwards ascend the Spean. In 

 my view the question is purely one as .to the best interest of the 

 district as a whole. I would present these arguments for the con- 

 sideration, it may be, of those who are at present opposed to any 

 change : 



(a) The fish which lie long in Mucomer Pool are not the best 



taking fish ; their absence would probably make little 



difference to the angler. 

 (&) The best of passes will still form only a makeshift for a 



river of easy gradient, and a certain check to early fish 



would still result. 

 (c) The distribution of spawning fish would be better than at 



present, the streams of the Arkaig district being made as 



accessible as the Eoy is at present. 



The strong argument, from my point of view, is the increase of 

 stock of salmon which would result, in a few years, from the better 

 distribution of salmon and the fuller use of the fine spawning 

 grounds of the Arkaig district. With this increase secured I do 

 not believe that the fishings of Mucorner and the lower Lochy would 

 be materially affected, although a falling-off might be noticeable for 

 a few years. At the same time new and valuable spring angling 

 would have been brought into existence, and the District Board 

 provided with a new source of revenue for carrying on the policing 

 of a wider area, and for regulating the fishings of the district as a 

 whole. 



THE EIVER SPEAN 



Flows out of Loch Laggan on the confines of Badenoch and Eannoch, 

 a sheet of water 7 miles long and 819 feet above the sea. The 

 divide for the east and west coast drainage occurs a short distance 

 beyond the far end of Loch Laggan, and is curiously shown in the 

 course of the river Pattack, which drains into this end of the loch. 



Y 



