of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



299 



across in a strait line. There are a vast number of islands, islets, and 

 insulated rocks lying adjacent to Mull, of which the principal are 

 Gometra, Ulva, Staffa, lona, Kerrera, and Lismore. Its rivers seem at 

 one time, to have contained plenty of salmon. Dean Monro, in his 

 account of the island written nearly 300 years ago, says : — 



In this ile there is twa guid fresche watters, ane of them called Ananva, and 

 the watter of Glenforsay, full of salmon d, with uther watters that has salmond 

 in them, but not in sic abundance as the twa forsaid watters. 



And Martin, in his description of the Western Islands, published more 

 than a century and a half ago, says : — ' There are several rivers in the ile 

 that alford salmon ; ' while, in the Statistical Account of Scotland, it 

 is stated that *in all the rivers, salmon, grilse, and sea-trout abound.' 

 The present condition of the MuU Eivers can scarcely be said to bear out 

 these favourable statements. The chief rivers in Mull are the Aros, the 

 Ba, the Forsa, the Lussa, and the Coladoir, and, the principal fresh water 

 lochs are Loch Frisa, Loch Ba, Loch Uisg, Loch Houran, and the chain 

 of lochs belonging to the basin of the Lussa. 



The Aros River. 



On the 14th July I drove from the Aros Hotel to Loch Frisa. The 

 Aros Kiver does not flow directly from Loch Frisa, but is connected with 

 it by a tributary, a large burn with ample water in it after rain to 

 enable migratory fish to reach the loch. Unfortunately, a little below 

 the point where this burn leaves the loch, and immediately behind 

 the only farm house in the vicinity, there is a considerable water-fall 

 which must prevent the passage into the loch of a great number of the 

 ascending fish. The upper part of the rapid on the left bank of the 

 stream should be blasted, or, better still, a subsidiary dam of concrete 

 should be built across the stream at the point where a paling at present 

 slopes down to the water. This dam should be from 3 to 4 feet in 

 height. Loch Frisa is by far the largest sheet of fresh-water in Mull, 

 being 5 miles long and nearly | of a mile wide. The yellow trout in it 

 are numerous and of good quality, but in general small. The landlord 

 of the Aros Hotel, who drove me up to the loch, stated that the fishing 

 in the Aros has greatly fallen off from what it used to be 40 years ago. 

 He said that an old poacher, who died recently at the age of 74, told 

 him that he used, along with others, to spear great numbers of heavy 

 salmon in the Aros and carry them away over the hills. Sea-trout get 

 up to Loch Frisa, but not in great numbers. The lower end of the loch 

 affords the best fishing. The yellow trout on the loch are small — three 

 or four to the pound — but red fleshed and well flavoured. A pound 

 weight is a rare size, and is seldom exceeded. There is much good 

 spawning ground on the Aros. Not being directly supplied by Loch 

 Frisa, it soon runs out after a flood, the River Ba having a great advan- 

 tage over it in this respect. Another day, I made a careful inspection 

 of the Aros Eiver, walking over the hills till I struck it about 3 miles 

 from its mouth, close to where the tributary from Loch Frisa joins it, 

 and then following its course down to the sea. It has a number of fine 

 rocky pools ; and, in the Lews, a river of its size and character would 

 yield annually 60 or 80 salmon and about 300 sea-trout. But the 

 Aros, even in a good year, does not yield a fifth of that number. 

 About 2 miles from the sea, there is a considerable fall which must in 

 certain states of the river, somewhat arrest the upward progress of 

 salmon and sea-trout ; but on the left bank there is a very fair salmon- 



