THE FRESH- WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 213 



artificial dam depths of 37 and 35 feet were obtained, and these would 

 seem to point to the fact that down to here the " river " is nothing 

 more than an arm of the loch, with a current flowing along it to the 

 outfall. That this place is the beginning of the river was evidently 

 the opinion in past time, for it was here that the old iron-workers 

 built their dam to obtain water for working "A Cheardach Ruardh" 

 (The Red Smiddy). 



The length of the loch as thus defined is 13 J miles, and the 

 maximum breadth rather over 2 miles. The mean breadth is nine- 

 tenths of a mile, being 7 per cent, of the length. Its waters cover an 

 area of over 11 square miles, and the islands nearly 1 square mile. 

 Loch Maree has a large shore development, i.e., the length of the 

 shore-line is much greater than the circumference of a circle whose 

 area is equal to that of the loch. The shore development is 3'15, being 

 greater than that of any other large loch in Scotland. The drainage 

 area is 171 square miles, or 15 times the area of the loch. 



Twelve hundred soundings were taken in Loch Maree, and the 

 greatest depth obtained was 367 feet, in the middle of the loch to the 

 south-west of Rudh' a' Ghuibhais ; the bottom of the loch here is thus 

 337J feet below sea-level. The volume of water is estimated at over 

 38,500 millions of cubic feet, and the mean depth at 125 feet (34 per 

 cent, of the maximum depth). The breadth of the loch at the position 

 of the deepest sounding is seven times the depth. 



Loch Maree is divided into three main basins (1) that extending 

 from Isle Maree to the south-east end of the loch, which may be called 

 the " Ghruididh basin;" (2) that lying to the south of the islands, 

 which may be called the ' ' Slattadale basin ; ' ' and (3) that extending 

 from the north-east of Eilean Ruairid Mor to the north-west end of the 

 loch, which may be called the "Ardlair basin. " 



(1) The Ghruididh basin. This basin is the largest and deepest of 

 the three. The 200-feet area extends from a quarter of a mile to the 

 east of Isle Maree to about half a mile from the south-east end of the 

 loch, and has a length of 6J miles, its average width being about three- 

 quarters of a mile. The main 300-feet basin has a length of 2 miles 

 and a mean breadth of about a quarter of a mile ; it extends from south 

 of Coppachy to north of milestone 3 miles from Kinlochewe. There is 

 another smaller 300-feet area a little to the north-west of the main 

 area. The 350-feet basin has a length of one mile and an average 

 width of one-sixth of a mile ; it extends from north of milestone 5 miles 

 from Kinlochewe to north of milestone 4 miles from Kinlochewe. 



The greatest depth is 367 feet, this depth being obtained in the 

 middle of the loch to the south of Rudh' a' Ghuibhais. The deepest 

 part of the loch thus lies between the two faults shown on the Geological 

 Map, one of which cuts the loch a little to the south-east of the river 

 Ghruididh on the south-west shore, and the other where the stream from 



