78 BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OP 



LOCHS OF THE MELFORT BASIN. 



THE area draining into Loch Melfort "includes a complex series of lochs, 

 eight of which were sounded by the Lake Survey, viz. Lochs Tralaig, 

 Dubh-mor, a' Chaoruinn, a' Phearsain, nan Druimnean, an Losgainn Mor, 

 and Kilchoan (upper and lower). Loch Tralaig, the most important 

 one in the basin, drains by the river Oude into Fearnach bay, the north- 

 eastern offshoot at the head of Loch Melfort, while Lochs Dubh-mor, a' 

 Chaoruinn, a' Phearsain, nan Druimnean, and an Losgainn Mor drain 

 into Loch na Cille, the south-eastern offshoot at the head of Loch 

 Melfort ; the two Kilchoan lochs drain into Kilchoan bay on the northern 

 shore of Loch Melfort near its niouth. These lochs are fairly deep, 

 all but one exceeding 40 feet, and two of them exceeding 100 feet, in 

 depth. The scenery of the district is very fine, and the trout fishing 

 in the lochs is good, some of them having been stocked with Loch Leven 

 trout. 



Loch Tralaig (see Plate XXXI.). Loch Tralaig is situated about 

 3 miles north-east of Kilmelfort, and little more than 2 miles north-west 

 of Loch Avich in the Etive basin. It trends almost east and west, and 

 exceeds a mile in length, with a maximum breadth of one-third of a mile. 

 The loch covers an area of about 149 acres, or nearly a quarter of a square 

 mile, and receives the drainage from an area of about 4^ square miles. 

 The principal inflow is at the eastern end, while several minor streams 

 enter on the southern side; the river Oude flows out at the west end. 

 The volume of water is estimated at 267 millions of cubic feet, and the 

 mean depth at 41 feet. The conformation is rather complex, the loch 

 being divided into two basins, the larger and deeper one in the eastern 

 portion of the loch, separated by a narrow channel from the smaller ana 

 shallower one at the west end. The maximum depth of 117 feet was 

 observed in the centre of the eastern basin, while the deepest sounding 

 taken in the western basin was 53 feet, the depth on the intervening 

 barrier being 13 to 23 feet. Within the eastern basin there is in deep 

 water a slight shoaling covered by 74 feet, with deeper water both to the 

 west and to the east. The following table gives the approximate areas 

 between the contour-lines, and the percentages to the total area : 



