24 BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 



LOCHS OF THE LAXFORD BASIN. 



WITHIN this basin (see Index Map, Fig. 2) five lochs were sounded by 

 the staff of the Lake Survey, viz.. Lochs More, na h-Ealaidh, Stack, na 

 Claise Fearna, and nam Breac. The most important of these are Lochs 

 More and Stack, which drain by the river Laxford into the head of Loch 

 Laxford a sea-loch on the west coast of Sutherland. Loch na h-Ealaidh 

 is directly continuous with Loch More and at the same level, while Lochs 

 na Claise Fearna and nam Breac drain by independent streams falling 

 into Loch Laxford on its southern shore. The area draining into these 

 lochs is about 44 square miles. Lochs More and Stack are situated in a 

 wild, mountainous district, many of the surrounding peaks exceeding 2000 

 feet in height, and are famed for their fishing, which is preserved ; Loch 

 More contains splendid trout, while Loch Stack contains also sea-trout, 

 Salmo ferox, salmon, and char. 



Loch More (see Plate .VIII.). Loch More (see Fig. 29) lies about 

 6 miles from Laxford Bridge, and about 10 miles from Scourie, and 

 approaches to within 2 miles of the head of Loch Merkland, in the Shin 

 basin. The loch trends in a north-west and south-east direction, and 

 exceeds 4 miles in length ; the width of the loch is extremely uniform, 

 so that the mean breadth of the entire loch is very little less than the 

 maximum breadth, which is under half a mile. The superficial area is 

 about 940 acres, or nearly 1J square miles, and the area draining into the 

 loch is only about 12 square miles. The maximum depth of 316 feet was 

 observed approximately near the centre of the loch. The volume of water 

 contained in the loch is estimated at nearly 5000 millions of cubic feet, 

 and the mean depth at 126 feet. The loch was surveyed on September 2 

 to 6, 1902 ; the elevation of the lake-surface above the sea on commencing 

 the survey was determined by levelling from bench-mark as being 127*65 

 feet, but between September 4 and 5 the water rose about 3 inches. 

 When levelled by the officers of the Ordnance Survey on July 1, 1856, 

 the elevation was 127'3 feet above sea-level. 



Loch More is quite simple in conformation, the bottom sloping down 

 on all sides towards the deepest part of the loch without any pronounced 

 irregularity. There is a small basin exceeding 300 feet in depth in the 

 middle of the loch, based on a single sounding in 316 feet. The 200-feet 



