406 THE SALMON FLY. 



Great alteration is traceable upon some rivers inland, as witness the Spey. 

 Along the valley of this glorious river, once famed for its purity, the 

 geologist meets with many tracts formerly occupied by its waters. 



I wonder whether there was any garreting in those days ! Be that 

 as it may, whatever may have been the cause in ancient times for any 

 such changes as these, whether by subterranean disturbances or by sub- 

 sidence, I have with my own eyes seen two of the best pools a man could 

 wish for, silted up and absolutely ruined by an attempt to garret a rapid, 

 and I wish to emphasise this story. 



Once while watching some boulders as they thundered down stream 

 in a growing flood, I witnessed a sight never to be forgotten. In less time 

 than it takes to write about it an increasing pile of boulders hitched up in 

 a garret at the head of a rapid and backed up the waters until they struck 

 off at a sharp angle, cutting through the banked up stones alongside, and 

 forming through them a new, navigable channel. 



Suddenly, as the river rose, the mass washed away. Two or three 

 days afterwards, the flood having receded, the new watercourse could not 

 be traced, for the bank of stones had assumed its normal condition, 

 and not a vestige of the threatened mischief remained. 



If left to themselves, in the absence of obstruction by artificial agency, 

 rapids rarely spoil fishing, or create any mischief in other respects. But 

 it is not too much to say that, in his endeavour to improve the fishing by 

 means of garrets, the inexperienced workman should never be trusted. 



The safest places for these constructions are unquestionably those 

 broad reaches frequently met with which have remained for years in an 

 unaltered condition reaches invariably shallow and barren of fish. And 

 the best spots in them are those in which a huge boulder, raising its head 

 well out of the water, renders the undertaking not only easy, but safe. 



One of the most noteworthy schemes for fishing rapids is by that 

 known to me as the " hinged platform." No one will deny that this little 

 stage is simplicity itself and a great convenience. It can either rest upon 

 iron feet, or upon an outstanding rock or boulder, and let down for use 

 and raised afterwards by means of a rope running through a pulley fixed 

 on a tree or on a post at a suitable angle. 



In the absence of this contrivance, and in places which, perhaps, are 



