of the, Fishery Board for Scotland. 



75 



not say that theMorriston will be as well stocked as the Garry commonly 

 is, because the entrance to the Morriston is much less attractive than the 

 entrance to the Oicli and Garry, and the natural difficulties of the Mor- 

 riston are much more serious, but if the fish-pass designed by Mr. P. D. 

 Malloch proves attractive, as it should be easy of ascent, I am of opinion 

 that a very fair early fishing should be created. 



The curve representing the temperatures of the Garry is, I have no 

 doubt, exceptionally low. From the middle of December 1901, to the 

 end of March 1902, the mean never exceeds 40°, and in the middle of 

 February, when the river was very low after four weeks of continuous 

 frost, the reading reaches 35°. In the case of the Orchy the reading — 

 after the hiatus — is 33-6°. Mr. George Malcolm, junr., who kindly 

 furnished me with a record of water-level and state of the weather, and 

 also complete barograph records, remarks in a note appended to his report 

 from Invergarry that " within the memory of the oldest inhabitant here, 

 this spring has been without exception the coldest, most wintry and 

 backward season on record." He adds also — " As regards salmon fishing 

 this season has also been about the worst on record." Now it must be 

 recollected that salmon fishing here means exclusively angling wi th fl}'-, 

 and that with a water-temperature between 35 and 40 degrees salmon do 

 not as a rule rise freely, A bad season does not necessarily mean an 

 absence of fish, but a bad rising season. At the same time these excep- 

 tionally low means may have been felt lower down the river system than 

 usual, and fish may therefore have been stopped lower down. 



The Orchy and Awe curves show much more rapid fluctuations than do 

 the Garry and Ness records. The great gap in the country which occurs 

 here, and which forms as it were a funnel for the passage of storms of rain 

 from the western seaboard over North-east Argyll and West Perthshire, 

 may, in all probability, be the cause of the fluctuations. Mr. Fraser of 

 the Dalmally Hotel has kindly furnished me with a list of fish caught 

 during the spring of this year. The first salmon was caught on 22nd 

 March, the next on 2nd April, the third on 22nd April. The latter part 

 of April and the latter part of May yielded the best results. Reference to 

 the chart shoAvs that each of these periods was preceded by a rise of 

 temperature, and that the temperature had become relatively rather high 

 (48 to 49*5) as compared with usual spring river " rising temperatures." 

 At the same time it should not be forgotten that fish are not present in 

 any numbers till about the middle of April. 



For purposes of comparison with the Awe District temperatures, I am 

 able through the kindness of The Maclaine of Lochbuie to give on this 

 chart also a curve of weekly means for the Uisg, the stream flowing from 

 the loch of the same name into the sea at Lochbuie. The instrument in 

 this case is a max. and min. Miller Casella, constantly immersed and read 

 daily. The curve is of interest. It does not approximate to that of the 

 Awe as might perhaps have been expected, but closely follows the curve 

 for the Orchy. Loch Uisg is, however, neither a large nor a deep loch, 

 and is fed chiefly by steep mountain burns. In the Mull records, the 

 floods are also reported. In the case of the Awe and Orchy I have not 

 this information. It does not necessarily follow that floods on the Awe 

 occur simultaneously with floods on the Uisg, but in view of the 

 geographical position the fair presumption is that this is the case. It is 

 noteworthy, therefore, that on 22nd April (when a good spell of fishing 

 began in the Orchy) a flood occurred and was succeeded by a continuance 

 of high temperature till the beginning of May. 



In the Orchy, as in the Garry, there is a fall which acts as an obstruction 

 to the ascent of the spring fish. In this case the fall can only be ascended 

 during high conditions of water. Fish do not commonly go up, I believe, 



