CHAPTER XXXII 



THE EUCHAR 



Drains some twenty-five square miles of hilly country, and is one 

 more of those charming Uttle rivers of the West Coast which issue 

 from lochs, and have short, rapid runs to the sea. Flowing from 

 Loch Scammadale, for the first three miles it hurries along by banks 

 of heather, bog myrtle, rushes, and bracken, when it tumbles over 

 a fall of several feet, from which point it seems to run with increased 

 speed alongside the high road from Oban to Culfail through a mile 

 of rocky gorge, until it falls into the sea close to the picturesque 

 little shooting-box of Kilninver. 



Except in times of drought the falls are not a serious obstacle 

 to the passage of fish ; they naturally hang about in the pool before 

 making the ascent, and in the old days many a large haul was made 

 here by the net. There are very few brown trout, and those so small 

 that they are not worth catching. 



The river opens on the nth of Februarj', with the usual close 

 time, but no fish make their appearance until the beginning of 

 June, when sea trout enter the river some time between the loth 

 and the 15th ; about ten days later the salmon follow, and then 

 at a like interval come the grilse. The whole of the angling goes 

 with the shootings of Kilninver and Ardmaddy Castle, which belong 

 to Lord Breadalbane. A fourteen-foot rod, or a short, stout, single- 

 handed one will do all the work ; no waders are wanted, and the 

 best flies are small Jock Scots and Doctors, while, if the worm is 

 used, it is often taken freely. From twenty to thirty fish, averaging 

 10 lb., are got in the season. 



Loch Scammadale, a cold, dreary-looking loch about two 

 miles long by a half broad, is twelve miles from Oban and eight 

 from the inn at Culfail. 



As far back as twenty-five years ago this loch had a 

 reputation for its baskets of sea trout ; and incited by local 

 stories of forty, fifty, and even a hundred having been caught 

 in a day, and as at that time I had the small shootings of 

 Ardconnell, near Oban, as soon as permission was kindly given 

 I paid many visits to Loch Scammadale, always hoping to meet 

 with one of these red-letter days, but ever returning disappointed, 

 for in the whole of our trips fifteen sea trout to two rods was 

 the best day, and frequently it was not more than three or four 

 each. 



