THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 



413 



volume of its water 309 millions of cubic feet. It has a drainage area 

 of nearly 3 square miles. Only a few very small burns go into it, 

 and the Allt Mor, its natural outflow at the north end, flows into the 

 river Ness 2 miles above the town of Inverness. 



Loch Ashie forms a simple basin, with all the contours following 

 the line of the shore, and the sides everywhere with a uniform gentle 

 slope. The maximum depth of 51 feet is in the centre of the loch. 

 The mean depth is 21 feet. 



The surface on April 14, 1903, was 717-75 feet above sea-level, the 

 water just lipping the sill of the sluice at the north end ; the Ordnance 





i 



FIG. 68. LOCH ASHIE FROM THE NORTH-EAST, LOOKING SOUTH-WEST, SHOWING 



BARREN FLAT AND STONY SHORK. 



(Photoyraph bi/ Mr. <f. tt'c.<t. From " Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin.," bij permwion of the Council.) 



Survey, on April 6, 1871, found the level to be 716'0 feet above the sea. 

 On the date of the survey the temperature from surface to bottom was 

 41-8 Fahr. 



The details regarding the lochs in the Ness basin are collected 

 together in the table on pp. 414-415 for convenience of reference and 

 comparison. From this table it will be seen that in the thirty-three 

 lochs about 4400 soundings were taken, and that the aggregate area 

 of the water-surface is 34J square miles, so that the average number 



