THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 



99 



of the loch, and (2) in the deepest part of the northern portion of the 

 loch, with the following results: 



These observations indicate a lower temperature throughout the deeper 

 water in the northern half, as compared with the shallower water in 

 the southern half of the loch ; the range of temperature in the 40 feet 

 of water near the southern end amounts to l-5, as compared with a 

 range of 2-2 in the 75 feet of water in the northern portion of the loch. 



Loch nan Eun (see Plate XXVIII.). Loch nan Eun (or na-Nean), 

 a beautiful but lonely little loch at the head of Glen Taitneach (or the 

 Pleasant Glen) amid extremely wild scenery, is well stocked with trout 

 said to be as fine as in any river or loch in Scotland. It flows into the 

 Shee water at the head of Glenshee. It is surrounded by high hills with 

 rounded tops, and grey with bare rock or screes. Its shores are peaty, 

 with many small stones and a few large ones. Loch nan Eun trends in 

 a north-east and south-west direction, and is very peculiar in outline, 

 consisting of a subcircular body with a broad arm, in which are two 

 comparatively large islands, and a short narrow arm extending towards 

 the north-east. It is nearly half a mile in length, and nearly a quarter 

 of a mile in maximum breadth, the mean breadth being one-eighth of a 

 mile, or 28 per cent, of the length. Its waters cover an area of about 

 37 acres, and it drains an area five times greater, or about one-third of 

 a square mile. Over 50 soundings were taken, the maximum depth 

 observed being 50 feet. The volume of water is estimated at about 

 34,459,000 cubic feet, and the mean depth at 21 J feet, or 43 per cent, 

 of the maximum depth. The length of the loch is 47 times the maximum 

 depth, and 110 times the mean depth. Loch nan Eun is comparatively 

 deep, considering its superficial area, and the soundings reveal some 

 interesting irregularities of the bottom ; for instance, the line of 

 soundings taken across the widest and deepest part of the loch from 

 west to east shows that the bottom sinks gradually off the western shore 

 to 15, then 46, and then 50 feet (the maximum depth of the loch, 

 situated about 300 feet from the western shore), thence rising rapidly 

 to 29 feet, sinking gradually to 32 and 33 feet, then rising sharply 

 again to 12 feet, and finally sinking to 26 feet at a distance of about 50 



