CHAPTER VI. 
Lochs on West Coast of Scotland—Animal life—Shell-fish— 
Fish—Plague of Dog-fish—Lobsters—Salmon and Sea- 
trout—A singular trio—Salmon detained in Salt-water 
become diseased—Artificial “ Spate” for Salmon—Salmon 
passively following the line when hooked. 
HE way in which some of the Sea-lochs on 
the West coast of Scotland teem with animal 
life is truly marvellous. The shores are in many 
places literally covered with Shell-fish, which are 
exposed at low-water, while the lochs seem to 
abound with fish almost to an equal extent. The 
Shell-fish mostly consist of mussels, cockles, win- 
kles and oysters, and, when I say that the shores 
are in parts covered with them, I am not in the 
least exaggerating the actual fact. I well remem- 
ber, when I first made acquaintance with that part 
of the country, my surprise at being shewn in Loch 
Creran a dark-blue bank, forming at low water a 
peninsula perhaps a hundred yards long by some 
fifty wide, and being told that the colour of 
this proceeded from mussels. I half thought my 
