302 



Appendices to Fourth Annual Report 



On the rivers Lussa and Coladoir there are natural obstructions which could 

 easily be overcome with consent of proprietors and money. Magnificent 

 spawning ground above the obstructions. 



The Coladoir River is a considerable stream which rises in Loch Houran 

 on the Lochbuie Estate and falls into Loch Scriden on the west side of 

 Mull. Just before reaching Lochbuie the road skirts along a beautiful 

 fresh water lake called Loch Uisg, about 2 miles long ; and a short stream 

 admirably pooled and arranged so as to facilitate the ascent of salmon and 

 sea-trout connects Loch Uisg with the head of Lochbuie. Close by the 

 sea stands the picturesque old castle of Moy dominated by Beinbuie, a 

 grand isolated conical mountain nearly 2500 feet in height. The castle 

 is still in pretty good repair though it has not been inhabited since 1740. 

 There are bag-nets in Lochbuie which pay a rent of ,£300 a year, and the 

 Messrs Macconochie of Lowestoft have established a productive herring 

 and cod and ling fishery in the Bay and the vicinity. Lochbuie, how- 

 ever, states that the want of a telegraph station prevents the proper de- 

 velopment of all the different kinds of fishing carried on in this part of 

 the island. At present_, the nearest station is at Auchnacraig 12 miles 

 distant. There are sometimes, he says, thousands of herrings lying 

 rotting on the beach for want of the means of telegraphing for a steamer 

 in which to ship them ; and in various other ways the fishings suffer. 



Lochbuie has a well managed hatchery, and can hatch out 60,000 eggs 

 annually. He had some fine healthy fry of the salmo fo7itinalis and of the 

 Great lake trout of Geneva in his tanks when I saw them. He has put a 

 number of the former into some small lochs situated on the peninsula 

 between Eudha-na-Faoileaun and Rudha nam-Fear. These lochs are about 

 4 miles from Lochbuie house, and the American brook trout have thriven so 

 well in them that it is now no uncommon thing to get them 4 lbs. weight. 

 They are a very game and free rising fish. A Great Swiss-lake trout 

 weighing 6 J lbs. was taken in one of the Lochbuie Lochs. Lochbuie does 

 not use glass grills in his hatching boxes, but very fine gravel which is 

 boiled before being put into the boxes. The following account of tlie 

 hatchery at Lochbuie is given by Mr Barker Duncan, Secretary to the 

 Scotch Fisheries Improvement Association, in a paper on Salmon and 

 Trout Hatcheries in Scotland, read before that Association on 26th 

 November 1884 : — 



This Fishery was established in 1878. It is the property of Lochbuie. 

 Upwards of 50,000 ova of salmon, sea, and other varieties of trout {salmo 

 fontinalis, &c.) are annually hatched. The proprietor, every year, imports eggs 

 from Norway, Germany, Austria, and America. There are large ponds for the 

 reception of fry and for keeping breeding stock. The specialty of the 

 establishment is the breeding and rearing of salmon and sea-trout (spawned 

 from the wild fish caught in the rivers on the property), for the re-stocking of 

 the rivers and lakes on Lochbuie estate for sporting purposes. Large sheets 

 of water on the estate, which were utterly untenanted by fish, now teem with 

 splendid varieties, and afford magnificent sport to the angler. The proprietor 

 not only stocks his own waters, but also sells ova, fry, or grown fish. 



Two proprietors of land and of salmon fishings in Mull, both well 

 acquainted, from an experience of many years, with the habits and 

 character of the salmonidse, have favoured me with answers to the printed 

 queries distributed among those interested in or acquainted with the 

 salmon fisheries in the island. One of these gentlemen writes — 



* Since the above was in type, Lochbuie writes me that he has put several thou- 

 sand fry of the American White Fish (Coregonus alhus) into Loch Uisg, and that he 

 has also placed fry of the Black and Striped Bass in some of his hill lochs, which 

 have no connection with waters in which there are salmon. 



