LOCHS OF THE BRORA BASIN. 



WITHIN this basin (see Index Map, Fig. 1), the principal loch is Loch 

 Brora, which was the only one surveyed. The numerous small hill-lochs 

 could not be sounded at the time of the visit of the Lake Survey for lack 

 of boats. The area drained by the river Brora and its tributaries is very 

 large, extending from the mouth of the Brora, on the east coast of Suther- 

 land, to the flanks of Ben Armine on the north and of Meall a Fhuarain 

 on the west, and exceeding 120 square miles, nearly the whole of which 

 drains into Lech Brora. 



Loch Brora (see Plate I.). Loch Brora is situated about 3 miles from 

 the shores of the North Sea at Brora, amid beautiful scenery ; the Carrol 

 Rock overlooking the central part of the loch is very steep, and forms a 

 fine object. It contains salmon and trout. An island in the southern part 

 of the loch (Eilean nam Faoileag) was formerly used as a stronghold, and 

 the ruins of several Pictish towers are to be found in the neighbourhood. 

 The loch is divided into tkree portions by the alluvium brought down by 

 the streams, and the Allt Smeoral is rapidly pushing out its alluvium into 

 the loch to form another barrier. The general trend of the loch is in a 

 N.N.W. and S.S.E. direction, but the axis is slightly sinuous, so that the 

 lower portion runs almost north and south, while the upper portion runs 

 north-west and south-east. Loch Brora is over 3| miles in length, with a 

 maximum breadth towards the head of the loch of nearly half a mile, the 

 mean breadth being less than a quarter of a mile. Its waters cover an 

 area of about 560 acres, or nearly one square mile, and, as already stated, 

 its drainage area is very large, nearly 140 times the area of the loch. 

 The maximum depth of 66 feet was observed near the middle of the loch, 

 about 1-i- miles from the head, and about 2 miles from the foot, of the 

 loch. The volume of water contained in the loch is estimated at 553 

 millions of cubic feet, and the mean depth at over 22 J feet. The loch was 

 surveyed on October 22, 1902, when the elevation of the lake-surface above 

 the sea was determined by levelling from bench-mark as being 92*9 feet ; 

 when visited by the officers of the Ordnance Survey on July 25, 1870, the 

 elevation was found to be 91'3 feet above sea-level. The highest drift- 

 mark observed on the date of the survey was 7-2 feet above the surface of 

 the water, and the water may fall about 2 feet below the level on that date, 

 giving a variation in level exceeding 9 feet. 



