238 BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 



1876, viz. 149-4 feet ; the water was low at the time of the survey, and 

 might rise about 3 feet. 



The temperature at the surface was 56-0 Fahr., and at 25 feet 55'4. 



Loch of Aithness (see Plate C.) is a small loch of triangular form, 

 draining eastward into Aith Voe. The surrounding land is low, but 

 on the north the hill rises steeply to 100 feet above the loch. The 

 loch is half a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad. It forms a 

 simple basin, with the bottom sloping evenly on all sides to the centre, 

 and slightly steeper on the north. The maximum depth is 57 feet, and 

 the mean depth 19 feet. The superficial area is about 58 acres, and 

 the volume of water 46 millions of cubic feet. The area draining into 

 the loch is about two-thirds of a square mile. The surface of the water 

 was 33-7 feet above sea-level on August 29, 1900, when the loch was 

 visited by the Ordnance Survey; when visited by the Lake Survey on 

 July 13, 1903, it was fully 2 feet higher, viz. 35*9. 



The temperature at the surface was 55'0 Fahr., at 25 feet 54-6, at 

 55 feet 54-4, a total range of only 0-6. 



Loch of Vaara (see Plate C.) is a fairly large loch in Aithsting, of 

 oblong form, with its long axis running east and west. The surrounding 

 moorland rises to no considerable elevation ; hills of a little over 200 feet 

 lie to the west and south-east. The shores are in part stony, but rock is 

 exposed at various parts, and at the outflow at the north-west corner, 

 whence the Vaara burn runs for a quarter of a mile northward into Loch 

 Clousta. The loch is nearly a mile long and half a mile in greatest 

 breadth. It forms a shallow basin of flattish bottom, with gently sloping 

 sides, and the maximum depth of 25 feet almost in the centre. Towards 

 the shores at various parts many stones and some points of rock show 

 above the surface. The mean depth is more than half the maximum depth 

 (or 13J feet). The superficial area is about 128 acres, and the volume of 

 water 80 millions of cubic feet. The area drained is about 1J square 

 miles, the chief inflow coming from the south-east by the Mouldry burn. 

 The surface level on the date of the survey, July 13, 1903, was 25'95 feet, 

 identical with the level determined by the officers of the Ordnance Survey 

 on August 22, 1900, viz. 26-0 feet above the sea. The water was low at 

 the time of the survey, and might rise 3 to 4 feet. 



The surface temperature was 54*4 Fahr. 



Loch of Clousta (see Plate C.) is a pretty large loch of rhomboid 

 form, longest from north to south. The surroundings are moorland 

 the shores of the loch chiefly rock. There are many islands of stones 

 or rock, and many boulders and points of rock, some of them just 

 submerged. The loch is nearly a mile long, and half a mile broad 

 at the north end. It is constricted in the middle, where it is only 



