246 BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 



Loch of Littlester (see Plate CV.) is of somewhat rhomboid form, 

 longest from west to east, where a shallow arm goes off. It is surrounded 

 by low heather-covered hills, except at the east end, where a stretch of 

 flat meadow is covered by crofts. The length is half a mile, by fully 

 a quarter of a mile broad. The basin is flat-bottomed, with a greatest 

 depth of 9 feet, and a mean depth of 5 feet. The surface area is about 

 64 acres, and the volume 13 millions of cubic feet. The drainage area 

 is barely one-third of a square mile. The burn flows east into the 

 stream which also drains Loch Kettlester, and enters Burra Voe. The 

 surface was 34-25 feet above sea-level on August 7, 1903; the Ordnance 

 Survey determined the elevation on September 28, 1876, as being 34'7 feet 

 above the sea. On the first-mentioned date the water was low, and might 

 rise 1J to 2 feet. 



The temperature of the surface water was 56 0< Fahr. 



Loch of Cliff (see Plate CVI.) is in the northern part of the island of 

 Unst, and is the most northerly loch in the British Islands. It is a long 

 and narrow loch, running north and south in the long valley which 

 occupies the whole central part of Unst from north to south. Near its 

 northern end a long arm runs to the south-east. The valley in which 

 the loch lies is at this part very narrow. The hills to the west are high , 

 attaining to 558 feet in Libbers hill, heather-clad in the higher parts, 

 with pasture below. On the east are lower grassy hills; in the bend 

 formed by the eastern arm and the main loch is a domed heather-covered 

 hill, the Ness of Queyhouse. The arm is filled with weeds in its eastern 

 end, and the south end of the loch is also weedy. There is a pile of 

 stones in the centre of the loch, opposite the opening into the eastern 

 branch, and another heap, composed of large stones, at the broadest part 

 of the loch. A bright green flat bars the northern end of the loch, and 

 through this the Burn of Burrafirth cuts a zigzag course into Burra Firth. 

 The length of the main loch, measured in a straight line between the 

 extremities, is 2| miles. This is just a little less than the Loch of Strom. 

 The eastern arm measures over three-quarters of a mile, following the 

 centre. The greatest width in the main loch is a little over a quarter of 

 a mile. 



The Loch of Cliff is relatively very shallow ; the maximum depth of 

 21 feet is in the widest part, and to this the slope is on all sides gradual. 

 In the narrowest part, towards the north end, the depth in the centre is 

 only 13 feet, and north of this it deepens slightly to 16 feet. The eastern 

 arm, except a small portion near the main loch, is less than 10 feet deep. 

 The mean depth is fully 10 feet, the surface area about 256 acres, and the 

 volume of water 118 millions of cubic feet, which is only exceeded by that 

 of the Loch of Girlsta, and is a little greater than that of the Loch of 

 Spiggie. The drainage area of 8J square miles exceeds that of any other 

 loch in Shetland and includes the Loch of Watlee, a fairly large loch 



