268 



BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 



and 21 feet having been found close inshore. Separated from this 

 western basin by an interval of about 600 yards, in which the depth 

 does not exceed 8 feet, lies the central 10 -feet basin, enclosing the 

 maximum depth of the loch (43 feet), and here again the slope is steep, 

 one sounding of 29 feet being recorded close to the southern shore. 

 Separated from this central basin by a short interval, 7 feet in depth, 

 is a small eastern basin, with a maximum depth of 29 feet, and after 

 another shallow interval the water deepens at the exit of the outflowing 

 river, where soundings of 13 feet were taken. Of the entire lake- 

 floor, 75 acres (or 67 per cent.) are covered by less than 10 feet of 

 water, and 7 acres (or 6 per cent.) by more than 25 feet of water. 

 The loch was surveyed on August 11, 1902, when the elevation of the 

 lake-surface was found to be 360'8 feet above the sea. 



Temperature Observations. The following table gives the results of 

 observations taken in Loch a' Chuflinn by Mr. Clark on August 19, 

 1901, and by the Lake Survey on August 11, 1902: 



These observations show that the whole body of water was much 

 warmer in 1901 than at the same season in 1902, the difference amount- 

 ing on the average to about 4 ; the range of temperature was in each 

 case small. 



Loch Fannich (see Plate LIX.). Loch Fannich is the largest within 

 the Cromarty firth drainage-basin, and is surpassed in depth only by 

 Loch Glass. It is situated in Fannich deer forest amid splendid scenery 

 (see Fig. 46), the mountains along the northern shore rising to heights 

 exceeding 3000 feet, including An Coileachan (3015 feet), Meallan 

 Rairigidh (3109), Sgurr Mor (3637), Sgurr nan Clach Geala (3500), 

 Sgurr Breac (3000), and a' Chailleach (3276). The trout fishing is 

 good, the fish being of fair size, but the loch is strictly preserved. 

 The general trend of the loch is east and west, but the two ends have 

 a tendency to bend slightly to the northwards. Loch Fannich is nearly 

 7 miles in length, the maximum breadth exceeding three-quarters of a 

 mile, and the mean breadth is over half a mile. Its waters cover an area 

 of 2300 acres (or over 3J square miles), and it drains an area ten times 



