of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



17 



part of a public park or common, and therefore it is highly necessary that 

 not only an efficient fish-pass should exist, but that it should be situated 

 as far as may, without disadvantage, be possible from points of observation 

 on the banks. But before determining the best position for the gap and 

 fish-pass, the conditions of waterflow at various states of the river's level 

 should be carefully noted. At the road bridge which spans the river a 

 short distance below this weir a most offensive discharge seems to enter 

 the river — it appeared to me to come chiefly from the town's gasworks, 

 though domestic sewage was also present in considerable amount. This 

 point may, however, bo said practically to mark the limit of pollution. 



Old Mills Dam. — This is a peculiarly ancient looking structure of most 

 irregular formation situated near the old Bow Bridge. It forms a sort of 

 moss-grown causeway joining in an elbow-like curve two small islands and 

 the opposite banks. So uneven is the structure in places that the sill is 

 not always the highest part of the weir. It is also extremely leaky, much 

 water escaping between the loose boulders. The height varies from three 

 feet to four feet, and the down-stream face from 12 feet to 20 feet. There is 

 no pass of any kind. The lade passes off from the right bank, and in view 

 of the fact that the Old Mills are meal mills — there is one building with 

 a wheel and a section of the lade on each side — it appeared to me that a 

 very great deal of unnecessary water was taken from the river. This, 

 together with the amount of water leaking through the three sections of 

 the dam dyke, is an important point to be observed as seriously hindering 

 the possibility of fish ascending the river. The lade is unprovided w^th 

 hecks. 



Sheriff Mills Dam, — This again is a most formidable obstruction with 

 several attendant hazards to fish. On the left bank there is a large saw 

 mill with two separate wheels. The intake of the lade contains a great 

 amount of water, and this is divided, a branch going to each wheel and 

 afterwards passing separately into the river. There are no hecks whatever, 

 and each tail race affords a good lead for ascending salmon unable to 

 overcome the weir. On the right bank is an aerated water factory with a 

 lade and water-wheel. Again there are no hecks, but the lade is an 

 insignificant one compared to that of the saw mill opposite. This aerated 

 water factory now occupies the site of the old Sheriff Mill. It and the 

 saw mill belong to the town of Elgin. The dam dyke was completely 

 dry at the date of my visit, and appeared to have been recently repaired. 

 A smooth cement sill, 60 paces long, has the appearance of having been 

 placed upon the top of the old sill \^oide Clause 7, Bye-law G, Salmon 

 Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1868]. The weir may be said to be now fo*ir 

 feet six inches high, with a down-stream face of 23 feet, or a gradient of 

 rather more than one in five. There is no gap and no fish-pass. 



It will be seen, therefore, that the river Lossie, in the neighbourhood 

 of Elgin, has three very serious obstructions, and that none of the weirs 

 and mill lades conform to the requirements of Bye-law G of the 

 Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1868 [31 and 32 Vict. c. 123]. It 

 may also be observed that in several cases the weirs are extremely 

 leaky, and that not only in this way does a great waste of water occur, 

 but that no restriction appears at any time to have been placed upon the 

 abstraction of water through mill lades. The result is that the weirs, 

 badly obstructive in themselves, are rendered still more so through an 

 absence of water. Since the date of my visit a District Fishery Board 

 has been formed under the Chairmanship of the Duke of Richmond and 

 Gordon. With regulation and protection it may therefore be confidently 

 hoped that the stock of fish in this district will be materially improved. 



W. L. CALDERWOOD. 



Wi March 1903. 



