324 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



Doilate, situated a few miles from Loch Shiel, and 10 feet above 

 its level. About half-way from here to the top of the loch, but on 

 the west side, the Aladale enters, and at the head, through the gap 

 in the direction of Kinlochiel, the Gallop winds its dull, sluggish 

 course round the foot of Meall-a-Bhainne. The Prince Charles 

 monument at the head of the loch is between the mouth of the 

 Callop and the mouth of the Finnan. It is a conspicuous object on 

 the left of the modern railway track to Arisaig and Mallaig. 



The erosion in glacial times has been extreme in this region, and 

 the deeply-cut valleys and lake basins run in curiously diverse 

 directions. The larger section of Loch Shiel lies in the line of 

 chief mountain formation in Scotland, and this is the steep and 

 mountainous section of the loch. To the seaward end, from the 

 narrows onward, the land surface has been more completely cut 

 away and levelled. Up at Glenfinnan, however, the line of valley 

 now occupied by the Mallaig railway is a transverse line of erosion 

 which runs right across from Fort-William to the western sea at 

 Arisaig, by Lochiel (sea) on the east, Loch Eilt in the centre, and 

 Loch Ailoch (sea) on the west. 



The long upper part of the loch is deep, the shorter section, 

 between the narrows and Acharacle, is shallow, but the floor of the 

 loch, as revealed by the Bathymetrical Survey of Sir John Murray 

 and Mr. Laurence Pullar, is very irregular. The greatest depth 

 found was 420 feet, about four miles from the head of the loch, but 

 there are two depressions of more than 400 feet, the second and 

 smaller one being still nearer to the head of the loch. The foot of 

 the loch, on the other hand, is extremely shallow, being little more 

 than one foot at the outlet, and deepening slowly for three miles 

 till the 50 feet line is reached off Langal. Thereafter, as far as the 

 narrows, the 50 feet line takes a sinuous outline in conformity with 

 the shore and approximately in mid-channel. Only at one small 

 spot in this distance do the soundings reach a little over 100 feet, 

 off Rudha Leatham. In the many bays and round the islands the 

 water is fairly shallow. The mean depth of the whole loch is stated 

 to be 81 J feet. "Loch Shiel was surveyed in July 2 to 9, 1902. 

 The elevation of the lake surface above the sea was determined by 

 levelling from bench-mark as being 11 '4 feet; when levelled by the 

 officers of the Ordnance Survey on November 6, 1897, the elevation 

 was found to be 12 feet above sea-level. The water may rise 4 to 5 

 feet higher than the level given above." 1 



l The Geographical Journal, xxv. No. 3, p. 271. 



