74 



Appendices to Tiuentij-Jirst Annual Report 



The Garry rod fishing opens on 11th February, and on that date each year 

 the river is well stocked. The West Coast river is later. Fish usually 

 pass through the Awe in March, and are not looked for in any numbers 

 in the Orchy till the middle of April. It is possible that with better 

 treatment the runs of the Awe and Orchy might be earlier, and the stock 

 of fish much greater. The earliest date on which a fish has been taken 

 in the Orchy is, I understand, 3rd March, a most exceptional date. The 

 Garry readings were taken above Invergarry by John Embling, under 

 the supervision of Mr. Malcolm, the Chairman of the District Fishery 

 Board. The Ness readings were taken at a point some distance above 

 The Islands by Eden Macdonald, the Superintendent of the Ness District. 

 The Orchy readings were taken, at Dalmally, by Dr. Cameron, and the 

 Awe readings below the Pass of Brander by Alex. Macdonald, salmon 

 fisherman. The records of the last-named observer are unfortunately 

 not quite reliable. In returning the book supplied to him for the entry 

 of readings, Macdonald himself called my attention to his uncertainty. 

 In giving a curve for the Awe I have therefore indicated by a series of 

 dots, above the line, the places which may be regarded as uncertain. At 

 the same time I may say that there is nothing in the general appearance 

 of the curve of weekly means to indicate individual errors of a serious 

 kind. 



It is at once evident from these two sets of curves that the river flowing 

 out of the large loch is in each case much warmer than the mountain 

 stream which sends its waters into the upper end of the loch. We notice 

 also that both Ness and Garry are more uniform, or less quickly fluctuating, 

 than the Awe and Orchy. The Ness during January, February, and 

 March shows, indeed, a wonderfully flat curve in weekly means. We see, 

 therefore, that in each case the fish swim rapidly through an area of com- 

 paratively warm water, and cease this rapid run when they enter the cold 

 upper waters. This is a condition which therefore seems to me to be 

 analogous to that already described for the river Tay. I am inclined to 

 regard the Garry as the best stocked early river in the Ness District, not 

 so much because the fish have some preference for it, and as it were hurry 

 on to reach these head waters, as because the warmer lower waters induce 

 the fish to continue their ascent till the colder waters of the Garry stop 

 them. Fish, therefore, naturally accumulate, during the early months of 

 the year, in the lower Garry. In addition to this river being a com- 

 paratively cold one, there is, however, a marked obstruction in the form 

 of a fall below the outlet of the river from Loch Garry. Another fall 

 lower down the river is from four to five feet high, and is bound to act as 

 a slight check, but the water as it descends forms such an easy swirl that 

 fish appear to surmount the obstacle without difl^iculty. The upper or 

 more serious fall just below Loch Garry is not much higher than the 

 other, but the stream is contracted in a gorge at this point. The fall has 

 three rises, the middle of which presents great difiiculty to ascending fish 

 owing to an upward burst of the falling water striking a large submerged 

 rock as it descends, and thus preventing the fish securing any good " take 

 oW " in their attempted leap. It follows that, as is the case at the falls 

 of Tummel, when the water rises, the fall becomes increasingly difficult 

 to ascending fish. Salmon, therefore, only ascend when the water is low, 

 and when the temperature has lost its wintry condition, usually towards 

 the end of May. 



If this view is correct it would seem to follow that were the falls of 

 Invermorriston successfully opened up for their ascent, spring fish would 

 in like manner accumulate in Glen Morriston. It is especially interesting, 

 therefore, that at the present time a second and most substantial effort is 

 being made to construct a suitable salmon-pass at Invermorriston. I do 



