of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



301 



Monro as one of the ' twa guid fresche waters ' in Mull which are ' full of 

 'salmond.' In those days, however, there were probably no sheep drains, 

 and when a spate came down it came down slowly, and the river remained 

 in fishing order for several days, during which fish were running. I^^ow, 

 on the other hand, with the improved system of drainage, rivers rise in a 

 day and fall in a day ; so that though the land is better the fishings are 

 worse, and this, no doubt, has something to do with the deterioration 

 of the Forsa. Then too, in these days, the only nets known were net and 

 coble. Stake-nets and bag-nets were unknown, and fish were not stopped 

 on their way up the rivers. The proprietor of the Forsa writes me as 

 follows about that river and the Aros : — 



I have seen fish up to 18 or 19 lbs. on the Forsa, and have killed 4 in a day 

 with fly, besides a great weight of sea- trout. They are not so numerous now, 

 but they can get up far easier than before the fall was blasted. We used to 

 spear these small rivers in July and August in bright sunny days, and capital 

 sport it was, once in a way, and very difficult and exciting, and quite as 

 legitimate a way as any other of killing fish in season. The laird, tenants, 

 and shepherds used to unite, and it was a very inspiriting sight, and all played 

 the game fairly together with skill, boldness, and courtesy. It was a pity that the 

 law meant to stop night poaching, was so worded as to stop a good old-fashioned 

 Highland sport which is quite fair during the net season; and on small rivers 

 you cannot net, and, except in a spate, they won't take fly or bait, so one is not 

 allowed to kill them at all. I made a loch of 12 acres at the head of the 

 Forsa, with nice burns for breeding running into it about 6 miles from the 

 sea, which would have induced many more fish to go up and breed, but it 

 burst twice. It is a place where concrete cannot well be put, and it is the 

 only place where a loch could be made. Kegarding the Aros Eiver it would 

 be quite easy to let salmon into Loch Frisa. I cannot understand why the 

 lairds don't join. There is also a fall on the main stream which stops fish. 

 The fishing on the Aros has also fallen ofi". 



It is a great pity that the artificial loch above mentioned at the head 

 of the Forsa gave way. Such a loch, with good spawning burns 

 running into it, is the very thing wanted to improve the river. In my 

 last Report to the Board, I recommended the formation of such a loch 

 on the Glenelg River in Inverness-shire, a stream about the same size as 

 the Forsa. 



The Lussa and Coladoir. 



On the 16th July, I drove from Aros to Craignure (14 J miles), and 

 from Craignure to Lochbuie, 15 miles. The latter part of the drive is 

 one of the most beautiful in Mull, from the variety of form in the 

 mountains, the extent of wood, and the picturesque windings of the sea- 

 lochs. On the way I passed the Lussa, the longest and largest river in 

 the island, which falls into Loch Spelve. It is upwards of 8 miles in 

 length. The bridge on the high road crosses it a short distance above 

 its junction with the sea. The proprietors on this river are Mr Guthrie ; 

 Maclaine of Lochbuie ; and Colonel Greenhill Gardyne. There are falls 

 about 2 miles from the sea; and, above the falls, there are 4 lochs belong- 

 ing to Lochbuie, the lowest. Loch Sguibain, the second, Loch-an-Eillein, 

 the third, Crumlochan, and the uppermost and largest Loch Airdeglais 

 There is good sport in these lochs. But it is stated by Lochbuie that, 

 although sea-trout and salmon do get over the falls at present, ten times 

 as many would be able to ascend if the falls were blasted and made more 

 easy of access. One side of the falls belongs to Mr Guthrie, and the 

 other to Lochbuie. They are steepest on the Lochbuie side, so that any 

 improvement could be most easily carried out on Mr Guthrie's side. In 

 his answers to the printed queries, Lochbuie writes : — 



