300 



Appeoidices to Fourth Anniud Repm-t 



ladder made by the hand of nature. The Aros and Forsa have no spring 

 run of sea-trout such as there is in the Ba. These fish never ascend 

 them until the end of May or beginning of June, This difference is 

 probably owing to the Forsa having no loch connected with it, and to 

 the Aros being connected with Loch Frisa only by a tributary ; whereas 

 the Ba flows directly from a large loch only a couple of miles from the 

 sea. 



Tlie Ba and Loch Ba. 



From Loch Frisa I drove to the river Ba which flows into Loch-na- 

 Keal after a course of about 2 miles from Loch Ba, the second largest and 

 the most beautiful loch in Mull, lying at the foot of Benmore, and richly 

 fringed with wood on one side. It is about 3 miles long and contains 

 both sea-trout and salmon. The Ba has twice as much water in it as 

 the Aros ; and having but a short course from its parent lake, it remains 

 in good fishing ply much longer. It has a spring and an autumn season, 

 sea-trout running both early and late. They are caught of large size in 

 the lake. The Ba has a free clear exit from the loch, being about 40 

 yards wide where it issues from it. There are some capital pools on the 

 Ba and some good spawning ground. A considerable stream, called the 

 Glencannel Eiver, flows into the head of Loch Ba. 



The Forsa River. 



The next stream I inspected was the Forsa which falls into the Sound 

 of Mull, at a place called Pennygowan, a mile and a haK from the 

 ^^lage of Salen. It has a course of about 6 miles and rises in a grand 

 conical-shaped mountain nearly 2,500 feet high, called Ben Talaidli, 

 which dominates the head of Glenforsa. It is larger than the Aros. 

 Between the bridge on the high road and the sea — a distance of 

 nearly three-quarters of a mile — its bed consists entirely of fine gravel, 

 admirably adapted for spawning purposes, and for a mile above the bridge it 

 is equally good. Close to the sea, however, there is a barrier of rocks which 

 crosses the bed of the river and causes a considerable fall. But eflbrts 

 have been made to do away with this barrier by erecting a concrete dam 

 across the river channel about 80 yards further down. The highest part 

 of this subsidiary dam is 5 feet ; and, between it and the faU there is a 

 splendid pool, deep and spacious, and with a strong stream running into 

 its head on the right and the left bank. Near the left bank a cut has 

 been made in the concrete dam, below which there is a pool from which 

 salmon or sea-trout ought to be able to get into the big pool above, when 

 the river is in such a state as to induce them to run. The construction of 

 this cut in the dam is, however, somewhat faulty and should be amended. 

 It is at present turned the wrong way. That is to say the uppermost 

 opening facing the glen is the widest, and the lowest opening facing the 

 sea is the narrowest ; whereas it should be exactly the reverse. It is 

 also too narrow, being only between 2 and 3 feet wide. It should be double 

 that width. The rocks on the left hand of the fall appear to have been 

 operated on to some extent, but not sufficiently, and the upper part still 

 requires to be blasted out so as to render the gradient easier. Were this 

 done, I believe that salmon and sea-trout would get easy access to the wide 

 area of valuable spawning ground above. The landlord of the Aros Hotel 

 says that he has never heard of anything great in the fishing way having 

 been done on the Forsa. Tet, as before stated, it is mentioned by Dean 



