of the, Fishery Board for Scotland. 



309 



Of these lochs the largest is Loch Guirm, about 4 miles in circumfer- 

 ence, and the next largest is Loch Finlagan, two -thirds of a mile long by 

 a quarter of a mile wide. 



There are no bag- nets or stake-nets in Islay. At one time there were 

 such nets, but the lessee gave them up, as he found they did not pay. 



Bowmore Pier. 



On the 21st July I drove with Mr Ballingall, factor to Mr Morrison 

 of Islay, to Bowmore, the capital of Islay and the principal port on Loch- 

 in-daal. The bay here, though well-sheltered, is shallow; and at low- 

 water, the present pier is quite dry, so that an extension of it is much 

 wanted in order to improve and develop the fisheries. I saw a plan, 

 according to which it is proposed to carry out a pier upon green heart 

 piles, a couple of hundred yards farther into the bay beyond the end of 

 the present pier. If this plan were executed, there would be a depth of 

 7 feet at low water, so that steamers could call and take away fresh and 

 cured fish, and the largest class of fishing boats would be enabled to lie 

 water-borne, at all times of the tide. The estimated cost of this plan is 

 £3300. 



The Laggan. 



After leaving Bowmore we drove to the Laggan, a beautiful little 

 river, and walked from its mouth up to the bridge on the high 

 road. The river is about the size of tlie Laxay in the Lews, or the 

 Water of Leith at Edinburgh. In the lower part of its course, it flows 

 for a considerable distance through a wide flat. Its entrance into the 

 sea is free and ample, and there is a deep and spacious sea-pool to the 

 head of which the tide flows. Long ago this used to be the best pool in 

 the river, but of late years fish won't rise in it. Indeed, though the 

 Laggan is full of fish in the season, they are as a rule very shy. They 

 are also small, averaging from 7 to 8 lbs. But they have been caught 

 with the net as heavy as 23 lbs. The Laggan has a beautiful gravelly 

 bottom admirably adapted for spawning in the lower part of its course ; 

 and is throughout a fine combination of stream and pool. Between the 

 bridge and the sea there are no stretches of useless, shallow, streamy 

 water. It is all good. There is a pool, called the Kyper Pool, abo^e the 

 sea-pool, and above that again, a long deep pool, with a number of 

 boulders in the bottom of it, termed the Box Pool. It is said to be the 

 best on the river. An eye-witness told me that, about 20 years ago, he 

 had seen 40 salmon, some of them upwards of 20 lbs. weight, taken out 

 of it in a single haul of the net. There are at least 20 nice looking pools 

 in the river, and yet, so far as I could learn, it does not yield above 50 

 salmon to the rod annually, and perhaps 4 times that number of sea-trout. 

 The factor has killed 5 fish in a day on it ; and 40 years ago, takes of 10 

 and 12 fish a day are said to have been not uncommon under favourable 

 circumstances. The river belongs to Mr Ramsay of Kildalton. It is a 

 very late river ; salmon and sea- trout not ascending until the middle of 

 July. August is the best month. 



The Sorn. 



After leaving the Laggan we drove to the Sorn, a river rather more 

 than half its size, which also falls into Loch-in-daal. The fish in this 



