10 



Appendices to Seventh Annual Report 



introduction of pike. The present Marquis of Breadalbane, it is satisfactory 

 to be able to report, has commenced an active crusade against the pike 

 in Loch Tulla aud its tributaries, both by net and lines, which in course 

 of time may either extirpate or greatly thin them in these waters. 



The chief feeder of Loch Tulla is termed the Water of Tulla. It rises 

 in the extreme east of the parish of Glenorchy, at a height of 2700 feet 

 above the level of the sea; has a winding course of lOf miles between 

 lofty mountains to Loch Tulla, through which it flows for upwards of a 

 mile and a half, and then issues from it as tlie Orchy. There is a small 

 loch at the very head of the Water of Tulla to which salmon are said to 

 find their way in large numbers in the end of autumn. The water of Tulla 

 enters the eastern extremity of the loch through a broad bay of yellow sand, 

 above which it winds for a short distance in the direction of the Moor of 

 Kannoch and then takes a bend to the southwards between two lofty moun- 

 tains. At the time I inspected it, it was very low, owing to a long course of 

 dry weather, and only a narrow shallow rill of water was trickling through 

 the sand into the loch, up which not even a sea-trout could have found 

 its way. There are, however, some deep pools above, but the water was so 

 clear at the time of my visit that I could see to the bottom of all of them. 



The Linne-nan-Beathach, which flows into the other extremity of Loch 

 Tulla, is a much smaller stream than the Water of Tulla. But it used 

 to be frequented by trout and salmon in large numbers before the intro- 

 duction of pike into the loch. On the lower part of this river there is 

 a long stretch of deep still water. Farther up, there are several suc- 

 cessive rocky barriers across the river which effectually prevent the pike 

 from having access to Loch Dochard from which the river flows. This 

 loch is about two miles in circumference, and at least one considerable burn 

 (the Alt Dochard), with a large extent of good spawning ground, falls 

 into it. It has a fine bottom and is said to be of considerable depth. 

 At present it contains great numbers of small trout. It seemed to me, 

 from its position and capabilities in various ways, to be a very good 

 place for trying an experiment with the American land-locked salmon. 

 Not far below r the falls, which, fortunately, prevent the ascent of pike 

 into Loch Dochard, there is a round, broad, deep pool in the river which 

 is said to be a favourite haunt of pike ; and, as it probably contains but 

 little else, a charge of dynamite would be far more effectual in getting 

 rid of these pests than either nets or lines. Certainly, if in any case 

 such a strong measure could be justified, it would be here, as Lord 

 Breadalbane is the sole proprietor of Loch Tulla and all its tributary 

 streams and the greatest sufferer from the plague of pike. 



Pike-killing Ajiparatus. — On the long stretch of still deep water in the 

 lower part of the Linne-nan-Beathach, already described, where the pike 

 reign in undisputed supremacy, I saw several specimens of an ingenious 

 apparatus employed by Lord Breadalbane for their capture. This 

 apparatus consists of a wooden pole fixed into the river's bank, a stout 

 cord being attached to the extremity of the pole, the said cord being 

 fixed about a foot below 7 the pole to the apex of a wooden triangle, like 

 an inverted /\. The cord is wound round and round this inverted /\, 

 each limb of which is about five inches in length, and it is then jammed 

 into a cleft in the extremity of one of the arms of the /\. From the 

 cleft the cord hangs down into the water, and within a short distance of 

 the bait, which is generally a small trout, the cord has a piece of wire 

 attached to it to guard against the teeth of the pike. When the pike 

 seizes the bait, he pulls the cord out of the cleft in the one extremity of 

 the inverted /\, gradually unwinds it in his struggles to get away, and 

 is kept sailing about in the water until one of the keepers comes to 



