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Part 111. — Thirteenth Annual Report 



being found in the vicinity of Cullen, Banffshire. One of five put away 

 twelve miles oast of Wick was similarly recovered on the shore at Portsoy, 

 Banffshire. In none of the cases did they pass westwards or northwards. 

 The distance between Smith Bank and the nearest part of the Banffshire 

 coast where the bottles were found is twenty-nine miles, which was 

 traversed in five days ; the period which elapsed between the throwing in 

 of the bottles and their being found on the shore varying from five to 

 seventeen days. There is thus clear evidence that a current runs in a 

 southerly direction to the eastward of a line between Buckie and Wick, 

 which corresponds closely to the second degree of west longitude. This 

 current, as will be shown below, distributes along the northern coasts 

 of Aberdeenshire and Banff the larval fishes, which are derived in 

 immense numbers from the great spawning areas of Smith Bank and 

 neighbourhood, from fifteen or twenty to thirty or forty miles distant 

 from those coasts. 



The currents in the inner portions of the Firth, to the westward of 

 the line above referred to, take a less regular course. The great southerly 

 stream which comes round Noss Head and impinges on the coasts of 

 Banff and Aberdeen, as already described, appears to be partly deflected 

 westwards about the region of the Spey, forming as it were a great eddy, 

 which passes up the coast of Cromarty and Sutherland. The course of 

 the bottles was therefore in a direction west by south, west, and west by 

 north. All those put into the waters of the Firth at distances of from eight 

 to sixteen miles east by south of Tarbetness travelled westward or west by 

 north towards the Dornoch Firth. It is evident from the circumstances 

 stated that these currents will tend to distribute the larval fishes from the 

 off-shore spawning-grounds throughout the inner reaches of the Moray 

 Firth, and up the coasts of Cromarty and Caithness. 



The experiments on the east coast south of the Moray Firth also fall into 

 two groups, — those relating to the movements inshore in the Firth of Forth, 

 and those relating to the movements further from land. In the latter 

 case all the drift-bottles were found to the south of the places where they 

 were put into the sea, and sometimes at considerable distances. Of 

 twelve thrown into the sea a quarter of a mile from the Bell Rock 

 Lighthouse four were found near North Berwick on the coast of 

 Haddingtonshire, about twenty-six miles distant, three on the seventh 

 and one on the eighth day after being put away. Twelve thrown in eleven 

 miles off Scurdy Ness, Forfarshire, were carried to the same part of the 

 coast, but a little further eastward to the vicinity of Dunbar, having 

 travelled over forty miles in eight days ; one was found at Holy Island, 

 Northumberland, 72 miles distant, on the twenty-fourth day. Others 

 put into the sea 18 and 22 miles east of the Isle of May, near the Bell 

 Rock, and even within St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth, were 

 also carried southwards to the English coast ; none of them were found 

 to the north. Thus one drift-bottle travelled from near Fife Ness to 

 Donna Nook, Lincolnshire, a distance of 208 miles in forty-eight days ; 

 another from the same place to Scarborough, 161 miles away, in forty-seven 

 days; several from the mouth of the Firth of Forth to the coast of 

 Northumberland, distances of over sixty miles in fifteen and even thirteen 

 days. Another bottle put into the sea 18 miles off Stonehaven in 

 Kincardineshire was picked up on the shore near Cullercoats, Northum- 

 berland, fifty-one days after it had been put away. The apparent 

 course taken by the drift-bottles is shown on the chart (PL II.) from 

 which it is obvious that a strong stream passes southwards along the 

 whole extent of the east coast of Scotland, and proceeds at least as far 

 as the Wash. It is noteworthy that 33 of the 84 recovered on the east 

 coast, or over one-third, should have been carried to the English coast, 



