16 



Appendices to Eighteenth Annual Report 



drainage areas may be estimated from the relative number of 

 districts which occur on the three coasts. On the East Coast there are 

 26 districts; on the West Coast, including the Solway, there are 60 ; on 

 the North Coast, 8 districts. On the whole of the West Coast only one 

 really large district exists — the Clyde — and it is unhappily of insignifi- 

 cant value as a district for salmon fishing. The large rivers of the 

 East Coast, draining, as they do in several instances, more than a 

 thousand square miles of land, and having their head-waters in a few 

 cases — Ness, Beauly, Conon, and Kyle of Sutherland — within a few 

 miles of the sea on the west side of the country, offer a very marked 

 contrast to the small and numerous districts of the West. North of 

 the Clyde, therefore, by far the greatest extent of the country is drained 

 to the East, owing to the abrupt water parting caused by the steep 

 hills of the West Highlands. The largeness of the East Coast rivers 

 enables a much larger proportion of fish to enter fresh water and to be 

 retained in fresh water during the year. The water flow of the small 

 rivers and streams of the West Highlands is so slight or so variable 

 that only during floods can many districts be entered by salmon. In 

 addition to this, we have on the East an open coast indented only by a 

 few long estuaries, such as those of the Forth, Tay, Ness and Beauly, 

 Conon, and Kyle, or we have the line of coast practically unbroken 

 where such rivers as Tweed, North Esk, Don, Ythan, Deveron, Spey, 

 and Helmsdale enter the sea. On the West Coast, north of the Clyde, 

 the condition of the latter group of rivers is altogether absent, and we 

 have salt water lochs, the remains of ancient estuaries, where now 

 for the most part streams enter at a considerable distance from the 

 open sea. 



In order that the catching power in coast salmon fishing as it 

 at present exists may be more clearly understood, and a record made of 

 the names of those interested in the industry, whether as lessees or as 

 proprietors, I have prepared the following Table, giving the name of the 

 district, the names of proprietors in the district who lease fishings, the 

 names of those who carry on the operation of fishing by means of 

 fixed engine, the number of nets recently used, together with an 

 estimate of the cost of the fishing and the number of men employed. 

 In cases where a proprietor exercises his own right of fishing his name 

 is entered as a lessee as well as a lessor. The return cannot be taken 

 as complete. In many instances great difficulty has been experienced 

 in obtaining the information, and in one or two cases there is a 

 probability that the number of nets given is inaccurate. If error occur, 

 it will, I think, be on the side of understatement. 



| Table. 



