of the, Fishery Board for Scotland. 



283 



7 miles. Any one who has seen Harris from the sea, must have noticed 

 what a mountainous country it is ; and the name Harris is said to be 

 derived from the Gaelic '!N"a Hardibh,' meaning 'the heights.' Several 

 considerable islands belong to the parish of Harris, 7 of which are in- 

 habited, namely, Bernera, Ensay, Killigray, Pabbay, Scalpa, Scarp, and 

 Tarransay. The population in 1881 was 4360. The mountain ridges 

 in Harris culminate in Cleisham (2622 feet). But most of the summits 

 in the deer forest of North Harris are 2000 feet and upwards. The scenery 

 in the deer forest is wild and impressive, and in it are to be found the 

 best lochs and streams in Harris for salmon and sea-trout, such as Loch 

 Scoorst, Loch Yoshimid, and Loch Uladale, and the rivers Meavaig, 

 Resort, Halladale, and others. There are no nets on the sea coast of 

 Harris. The rivers and lochs, both in the Lews and Harris, are late, 

 salmon and sea-trout not ascending until the month of July ; but they 

 appear at one time to have been earlier, as Martin, in his Description of 

 the Western Islands, published more than a century and a half ago, writes 

 as follows of the salmon fishings in Harris : — 



Fresh-water lakes abound in this island, and are well stored with trout, eels, 

 and salmon. Each lake has a river running from it to the sea, from whence 

 the salmon conies about the beginning of May, or sooner if the season be warm. 



It is worthy of notice that, not only are the salmon and the sea-trout 

 late in the Lews and Harris, but likewise the deer and the grouse. The 

 author of Twenty Years' Reminiscences of the Lews tells us that ' stags are 

 * not fit to shoot on Lews, as far as heads are concerned, until at least a 

 'month after the mainland — the same with grouse.' As regards grouse, 

 however, there is this compensation that they don't pack and may be 

 shot over dogs to the end of the season. 



After passing the first shooting lodge on the Harris ground, the road 

 is for a long way very steep. The last lodge on the Lews ground and 

 the first on Harris are not above a mile apart ; both being situated on 

 the shores of Loch Seaforth, which penetrates the Harris and Lews land 

 for fully 13 miles. On the descent towards Tarbert Hotel in Harris, I 

 noticed that dams and sluices were being placed at the outlet of two 

 lochs belonging to the basin of the Ballanachist River, and that cuttings 

 had been made in the rocks below, with the view of enabling salmon and 

 sea-trout to surmount the falls farther down the stream. 



Next day, in company with Mr Hornsby of the Tarbert Hotel, and 

 Malcolm Macaulay, the Ground Ofiicer and Head Fisherman, I drove up to 

 inspect the lochs where I had noticed the dams and cuttings the evening 

 before. The lochs are two in number, consisting of Loch-na-Morcha, which 

 is fully a mile round, and a smaller loch further down. A pretty bay 

 3 miles from Tarbert Hotel leads up to the mouth of the Ballanachist 

 River, and salmon come in considerable numbers to the foot of the first 

 waterfall which is about 20 feet high. The embankment at the outlet of 

 Loch-na-Morcha is composed of stones and turf, and is very solid and sub- 

 stantial. It is fully 6 feet high and 120 feet in length. At the sluices, 

 it is 12 feet in thickness. There are two sluices occupying an opening 6 

 feet by 6. At the outlet of the lower loch the sluices are put up, but 

 the embankment is not yet completed. Between these two lochs, there 

 is a small lochan or enlargement of the stream, which would form a nice 

 lie for salmon and a good cast, if they were enabled to ascend to it. 

 The highest cutting made in the stream is about 50 yards in length, and 

 the lowest and most important one, which is intended to enable fish to 

 pass round the principal fall, is 350 yards long. Both are situated 

 below the wooden bridge on the high road. Between the sluice at 

 the outlet of the lower loch, and the uppermost cutting, seveial pools 



