6 



Appendices to Twenty-first Annual Report 



bridge. It is then carried in a direction parallel to the river, and 

 branches are given off to the land beyond, while the eastward limit of the 

 area so treated has a canal running around it for the purpose of conveying 

 the purified effluent, and any flood water which may at times be present, 

 to the river again. The area of the farm is manifestly too small for the 

 amount of sewage to be treated, and although I saw hay and and turnips 

 growing luxuriantly on part, it was also evident that much of the ground 

 was " sewage sick," and there was no suitable provision, owing to the 

 smallness of the area, for the proper alternating of the sewage delivery so 

 as to rest sections of the ground. As a natural corollary, therefore, the 

 canal is found in a particularly foul state, and the effluent to the river 

 giving off a fluid which cannot but be harmful as a deterrent to the 

 entrance of salmonidje. To reduce this it is now proposed to carry the 

 effluent in a pipe through waste land to the east of the sewage farm 

 and to discharge it into the sea. 



Viewing the river Nairn, therefore, in the interests of salmon fisheries, 

 we find that fish, on leaving the sea for the river, have at present first to pass 

 through a short belt of polluted water, and thpn to attempt the ascent of 

 seven weirs, none of which has a salmon-pass, and two of which — viz., 

 Nairn Side Weir and Holme Eose Weir — are distinctly serious obstruc- 

 tions. It is needless to say, therefore, that the distribution of fish is far 

 short of what it should be. The pollution at the mouth is, I have no 

 doubt, considerably modified during each influx of tide, the effect of the 

 sea water being felt to a point well above the effluent from the sewage 

 farm. The pollution, serious in itself, is therefore at a minimum at the 

 time when fish most commonly leave the sea for the river. The weirs, in 

 the same way, are less serious as obstructions when a flood is present in 

 the river. But since floods occur only at long intervals, and since the 

 two weirs I have specially mentioned are quite impassable except under 

 most favourable conditions, it follows, I think, that these latter must be 

 regarded as the factors most prejudicial to the interests of the salmon 

 fisheries. I was particularly struck with the fact that the bed of the 

 river Nairn is, throughout almost its whole course, eminently suited for 

 spawning purposes. But the maintenance of a proper stock of fish cannot 

 be secured in any river unless a proper distribution of spawners is 

 possible, and since no net fishing is carried on in the river itself a very 

 large proportion of every run of fish should in this instance be able to 

 pass up the river if suitable provision existed to enable fish to overcome 

 the weirs. Were suitable fish-passes provided, needless escape of water 

 prevented, and the pollutions of the river mouth abolished, this beautiful 

 little river would not only become of very much greater importance as a 

 breeding ground for salmon and sea trout — thus serving the general 

 interests of the fisheries along a line for which it is peculiarly fitted — but 

 would, in a few years, exhibit in all probability a material rise in sporting 

 value. 



South Harris. 



Like the other islands of the Outer Hebrides, Harris, with its 

 innumerable small lochs and streams, has long been known as an angling 

 resort. Yet, owing largely to the fact that the east side of South Harris 

 is inaccessible for any wheeled conveyance, and that no place of residence 

 other than crofters' and cottars' homes exists between Tarbert and Rodel, 

 at the opposite ends of the island, much of the water has never been 

 fished except on rare occasions. The streams of the west side are fished 

 by the tenant of the deer forest, but the Obe section of the estate at the 

 south end of the island holds without doubt the greatest number of sea 

 trout and salmon, and is perhaps likely to remain the best. 



