SoLWAv Nature Notes. 167 



ness that great point of rock out from the lighthouse was 

 exposed and was covered with mussels ; but after a time the 

 rocks became sanded up, and the mussels were lost. The 

 Hoods had a good deal to do with the shifting of the sands, 

 as well as the stormy tides. This was a question which might 

 be taken up by the Development Commissioners, and would 

 yield better results than many experiments which had been 

 undertaken. He concluded by proposing a vote of thanks 

 to Mr Armistead for his most interesting paper, and this was 

 cordially awarded. 



Mr Armistead, in his reply, said the shifting of the Solway 

 bottom was a fascinating study and a great puzzle. It was 

 not uncommon in a few weeks for the channel to change a 

 mile or two, and thousands of tons of sand to be heaped up 

 where there was none before. On the other hand, there were 

 certain areas well known to the fishermen which don't change. 

 There was an excellent fishing ground east of the Solway 

 lightship and Allonby Bay, between Silloth and Maryport, 

 which did not change. Fishermen had told him that they 

 heard from their fathers and grandfathers that it had con- 

 tinued the same throughout the whole period of their recol- 

 lection. He had Allonby Bay in his mind as an excellent area 

 for these experiments. And these were all areas where trawl- 

 ing could not be carried on, because of rough bottom or 

 boulders, so that any experiment would not interfere with 

 trawling. Off Maryport there was a larg-e bed several miles 

 long with an environment v/hich suited a particular variety 

 of prawns. As these were caught, others were drawn to that 

 particular bottom, and the chances were that until we ex- 

 hausted the ocean we would not exhaust that small bed of 

 prawns in the Firth. This applied to the cultivation of other 

 varieties of fish. If we cultivated the particular kind of food, 

 the fish which lived on that food would always be available. 



