PEEIODICAL VISITS OF THE HERRING. 69 



rings discontinued tlieir visits ; but after the lapse of 

 thirty-two years, they returned in the autumn of 1829 

 in considerable quantities ; and in late years the fishing 

 has been frequently abundant, (Stat. Account of Scot- 

 land, vol. xix. p. 252 ; Edin. Phil. Journal, No. xv., 1830). 



We may here state that in 1710 Lewis Island was the 

 general resort of boats from the most distant parts of Scot- 

 land ; and in that year we find that the small town of 

 Easter Anstruther sent as many as thirty boats to the fish- 

 ing at Lewis. (Sir Eobert Sibbald's Hist, of Fife, p. 338.) 



Loch Urn. — A remarkable peculiarity has frequently 

 been observed in the size of the herrings of this loch, they 

 being much smaller than those caught in Loch Duich and 

 on the neighbouring coasts, although Loch Urn is only a 

 few miles westward ; being sometimes as small as class 

 twelve, while the general size of the North- West High- 

 land herrings may range from the sixth to the eighth 

 class. Loch Urn appears to have been often visited by 

 large shoals. One year such great quantities aj)peared as 

 to fill the whole loch from the narrows to the bay-head ; 

 and such a quantity ran on shore that the beach, for four 

 miles round the head, was covered from six to eighteen 

 inches in depth, and even the ground under water, as far 

 as it could be seen at low-water. At a subsequent period 

 another shoal came into Loch Urn, and a similar quantity 

 was left on the beach by the receding tide ; but the great 

 body soon after left the loch, although as many were left 

 behind as to afford good fishing for several weeks. 



Loch Broom. — The quantity of herrings caught in the 

 North- West Highlands varies much, not only on account 

 of the uncertainty of their visits, but also from the de- 

 sultory and irregular manner in which the fishery is 

 generally prosecuted. The fishing in Loch Broom, for 



