of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



273 



worked partly by bag and partly by sweep nets, in the whole of the Lews. 

 These are in Barvas Bay ; in Loch Carloway ; outside and to the south 

 of Stornoway Bay ; and in Loch Resort between the Lews and Harris. 

 In Harris, there is no netting at all, so that salmon, grilse, and sea-trout 

 have at all time free access to the rivers and lochs. 



The area of the Lews is 652 square miles, or 417,416 acres; while 

 that of Harris, which is the southern part of the same island, is 191 

 square miles, or 122,500 acres. The length of the whole island is about 

 60 miles, the average breadth 5, and the extreme breadth 30 miles. 

 The population is 25,000. It is a land of moor and loch, the fresh 

 water lakes being almost innumerable. Indeed, according to one 

 authority, the name Lews is derived from the Irish ' Leog' which signifies 

 water lying on the surface of the ground. 



The salmon rivers in the Lews which have had Fishery Districts 

 allocated to them under the Act of 1862, are the Creed, Laxay, Gress, 

 Laxdale, and Tong, on the east coast, and the Grimersta, Blackwater, and 

 Morsgail, on the west coast. But, besides these, there are many other 

 streams, such as the Arnol, Barvas, and Carloway on the north-west ; 

 those in the wide tract of country — over 70,000 acres — known as the Park 

 or Forest between Loch Resort and Loch Seaforth ; and those in Uig ; 

 which contain sea- trout and salmon. 



Some of the best lochs for sea-trout in the Lews, both as regards size 

 and quality, are to be found in the Park such as the Skipnaclet Lochs, 

 the Isginn Lochs, and Loch Lacasdail. In 1874, 150 salmon and 1500 

 sea-trout were killed in the lochs and streams of the Park ; and, in 1882, 

 9 salmon and 1392 sea- trout. 



The Tong. 



The first river I inspected in the Lews was the Tong, or Thunga, 

 which flows into a wide, shallow, sandy basin, dry at low-water, termed 

 the Sands of Tong, which lies about 2 miles to the north of Stornoway. 

 It is a famous place for angling for sea-trout, which are both numerous 

 and heavy. The best time is from half-ebb to low- water. The gamekeeper 

 informed me that, though he had seen numbers of sea-trout caught, he 

 had only seen one grilse captured, and never a salmon. There is a con- 

 siderable fresh-water loch at the head of the Tong, to which salmon as 

 well as sea-trout ascend. Between the Tong and the Gress there are two 

 small rivers called the South Coll and the North Coll, the latter of which 

 has the reputation of being one of the best spawning rivers in the Lews. 



The Gress. 



The Gress falls into a sort of sea-loch or lagoon, dry at low-water. 

 The lower part winds considerably and has a very slight fall. The con- 

 sequence is that the pools are long, still, and deep, requiring wind to 

 make the fish rise. Here the sea-trout fishing is often very good, and, 

 occasionally also, that for salmon. The Gress keeper told me that he 

 had seen 25 sea- trout and 5 salmon taken in this part of the river by a 

 single rod in one day. Above the still water, the river assumes a 

 different character, having a rocky bed and a rapid run. There are some 

 capital pools, however, in this part, especially three lying close together 

 which are about half-way between the head of the still water, and what 

 is said to be the deepest and best pool in the river. A little above this 

 pool, the rocky bed of the stream gives place to gravel which continues 

 for some distance up, and here is the chief and best spawning ground. 



In a good year, according to the Gress keeper, the total take on the 



