THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 91 



LOCHS OF THE BOON BASIN. 



THE river Boon, rising among the highest mountains of the south of 

 Scotland, drains a considerable mountain mass in the counties of Ayr and 

 Kirkcudbright. The elevated southern portion of the valley of the Boon 

 includes a number of lochs of moderate size, and Loch Boon, the greatest 

 lake of the south of Scotland. There are some small lochs in the lowland 

 part of the valley. Six of the lochs in the basin were surveyed. Lochs 

 Regar and Macaterick, the largest in the basin after Loch Boon, Loch 

 Enoch, a beautiful loch lying at a great elevation on the east side of the 

 Merrick, and a number of smaller lochs, could not be surveyed. The 

 superficial areas of the six lochs surveyed added together give a total area 

 of 2-6 square miles; their combined volumes amount to 1648 millions of 

 cubic feet, and together they drain nearly 60 square miles of country. 



After leaving the mountains near Balmellington, the river Boon flows 

 for some 15 miles through fertile lowlands, and enters the Firth of Clyde 

 2 miles to the south of the town of Ayr (see Index Map, Fig. 10). 



Locli Doon (see Plate XXXIV.). This large and beautiful loch is 

 situated on the borders of the counties of Ayr and Kirkcudbright, about 

 1 5 miles south-east of the town of Ayr. It lies amid hills, which increase 

 in height towards the head of the loch till an elevation of 2000 feet is 

 reached on the east side ; while to the south the Galloway highlands rise, 

 peak above peak, culminating in the Merrick (2764 feet) and Corserine 

 (2608 feet). The hills of the upper part of the glen are rugged and dark ; 

 the lower end is wooded. Here the river, immediately on issuing from 

 the loch, rushes as a torrent through Ness Gleo, a glen of unrivalled 

 beauty. There is much smooth, polished rock exposed on the shores, and 

 in the form of whale -backed islands. 



The valley occupied by the loch runs north and south, but the axis 

 of the loch is strongly curved. In form, Loch Boon is narrow and elongate, 

 like the majority of the highland lochs. It measures 5 miles in length, 

 in a straight line between the ends, nearly miles following the central 

 line. The greatest breadth, at the Ford of Moak, about 2 miles from the 

 lower end, is over 1^ miles, and the mean breadth is one-third of a mile. 

 The maximum depth, l.V miles from the head of the loch, is K>n feet, and 

 the mean depth 27 feet. The superficial area is 2 square miles, and the 

 volume of water 1517 millions of cubic feet. The area drained amounts 



