Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/269

Rh Scotland. It was “originally a small basin in the rock, with which the sea communicated by means of a natural tunnel; but as the bottom was very little below the medium level of the sea, it was nearly dry at low water. It having occurred to Colonel M‘Dowall that by increasing the size and depth of this basin he might, at all times and seasons of the year, have a constant supply of sea-fish, he quarried and blasted the rocks both at the sides and bottom, till he had formed a circular excavation of about fifty feet in diameter; and there is now, I believe, at low tide about eight feet of water left; so that the fish have an ample allowance of their native element at all times, and a fresh supply every flood-tide, which rises in the pond about six feet. There is a high wall built on the upper edge of the rock surrounding the pond, to prevent poaching in this unusual preserve; and a grating is fixed before the tunnel to prevent the escape of the fish, and below high-water mark the sea-weed clings to the rocks, giving them in that respect a perfectly natural appearance. A cottage, in which the female keeper and her son reside, adjoins the pond.…

“The door opens to a small landing-place at the top of a flight of steps which leads to the water's edge, where there is a platform of rock, which, at that time, was only about two inches above the level of the water; and below the ledge on which I was standing was another, about a foot under water—less or more. No sooner did the party make their appearance at the top of the stairs than there was a general commotion among the fish, and they rushed towards the platform, pushing and jostling each other in their