THE FRESH- WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 325 



12'3 feet above sea-level. The highest drift-mark observed was 9 feet 

 above the surface of the water on the date of the survey, and, according 

 to the local ghillie, the water might fall 2 feet lower, giving a total 

 range in level of about 11 feet. 



The floor of Loch Hope is somewhat uneven. Proceeding from the 

 lower (northern) end of the loch for a quarter of a mile, one meets with 

 a small 25-feet area, based on soundings of 26, 30, and 32 feet, whence 

 the bottom rises in the vicinity of the reputed old castle already 

 mentioned, which lies toward the eastern shore ; off the opposite shore 

 in this locality there were many boulders in the water. Thence pro- 

 ceeding to the southwards, the water rapidly deepens until it attains 

 a depth of 104 feet opposite the entrance of the Allt an Ruighein, 

 about 1J miles from the foot of the loch. Thence for a distance of 

 about three-quarters of a mile the bottom rises again until the depth 

 in the centre is 44 feet, with deeper water on both sides. This shoal 

 coincides with a narrowing in the outline of the loch, whence to the 

 south the loch broadens out and the water deepens so rapidly that at 

 a distance of little more than half a mile from the 44-feet sounding the 

 maximum depth of the loch (187 feet) is met with. A section across 

 the loch in the position of the deepest sounding is shown in cross- 

 section C-D on the map. From this position the bottom rises gradually, 

 though irregularly, towards the head of the loch. A section down the 

 centre of the loch along the axis of maximum depth is shown in 

 longitudinal section A-B on the map, which brings out the salient 

 features in the conformation of the lake-floor, but gives no indication 

 of some of the minor irregularities. For instance, the 44-feet shoal 

 already referred to is not shown because a depth of 56 feet occurs 

 nearer the western shore, nor another shoaling covered by 117 feet of 

 water to the south of the deepest sounding. The offshore slope is in 

 some places rather steep for instance, along the eastern shore, where 

 off the entrance of the Allt a' Mhuilinn a sounding in 53 feet was taken 

 about 60 feet from shore, and off the entrance of the Allt a' Phris Ghil 

 a sounding in 28 feet was taken about 30 feet from shore ; also along 

 the western shore about 1J miles from the head of the loch, where a 

 sounding in 25 feet was taken about 30 feet from shore. The following 

 table gives the approximate areas between the contour-lines at equal 

 intervals, and the percentages to the total area of the loch : 



Oto 50 feet 723 acres 



50,, 100 .474 

 100,, 150 218 



Over 150 , 91 



1506 , 100-0 



Temperature Observations. A series of temperatures was taken at 



