48 BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 



to pump out the water for the purpose of examining the beast, but he 

 failed in drawing off the water. The most probable origin of the rumour 

 about the beast lies in the fact that the moon at a certain time casts the 

 shadow of two stones upon the water, the shadow resembling the outline of 

 an animal. The loch is over one-third of a mile in length by one -sixth of 

 a mile in maximum width, covering an area of about 23 acres, and com- 

 paratively deep, the maximum depth being 35 feet, and the mean depth 

 10| feet. The soundings show no irregularities in the conformation of the 

 lake-floor, the deep water being found towards the east end, while the 

 south-western portion is shallow. Of the total area about 61 per cent, 

 is covered by less than 10 feet of water, and 13 per cent, by more than 

 20 feet of water. The loch was surveyed on August 11, 1902, but the 

 elevation above the sea could not be determined by levelling. The varia- 

 tion in the level of the water is said to be about a foot. 



From the table on p. 47 it will be seen that in the eleven lochs under 

 consideration 1141 soundings were taken, and that the aggregate area of 

 the water-surface is over 7 square miles, so that the average number of 

 soundings per square mile of surface is 161. The aggregate volume 

 of water contained in the lochs is estimated at 11,311 millions of cubic 

 feet. The area drained by these lochs is 111^ square miles, or 15^ times 

 the area of the lochs. 



