TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 143 
remained for a considerable period at each of the different levels before mentioned ; 
at one time 6 or 7 feet above its last level (that is, before its drainage was effected), 
to which it was reduced by three cuts made to feed neighbouring mills, one cer- 
tainly of great antiquity. At 31 feet below the ordinary level there are unmistake- 
able appearances of a former beach, with which the top of the first-mentioned islet 
almost exactly coincides. It is remarkable that though there are many rocky 
eminences in the bed of the loch, none bear token of ever having been used for the 
erection of these dwellings, which seem invariably to haye been based upon the 
soft bottom of the loch, where the intervening mud and water may have afforded 
the inhabitants a greater security from attacks from the shore. I had not time 
to examine fully the shores of the loch; but I was assured by Mr. Chalmers 
that he had examined them carefully without finding traces of other structures. 
On a hill to the south there are remains of a Danish fort * (z. e. a circular entrench- 
ment), and the very ancient ruin called Long Castle is on an adjacent promontory 
on the north side. Since writing the above, a very old man in Sir William Max- 
well’s service told me that in clearing out a channel between a small wooded island 
in Myston Loch, close to Monreith House and the beach, he remembers there bein 
found layers of timbers, piles, and flat stones laid in circles. I have also obtaine 
from a farmer living near Ravenstone Moss a paddle of black oak, 8 feet long, 14 
inches broad, and 1 inch thick, which, with four or five others, he had found in 
that moss, lying close to a mass of timbers about 6 feet from the surface; this, I 
have every reason to believe, formed part of a structure similar to those described. 
I should haye mentioned that, though retaining its shape, the timber is for the 
most part completely decayed, except where it has been protected from the action 
of the mud. Dowalton Loch lies one mile to the left of the high road, halfway 
between Wieton and Port William. The name of the loch is probably derived from 
the Macdowals, formerly lords of this part of the country, and possibly of Irish 
origin, constant communications with the north of Ireland haying taken place from 
the earliest period. Sir William Maxwell suggests as an easy explanation of the 
different fais found in the loch, that the waters originally discharged themselves 
into the sea from the western end of the valley, a portion of them only now finding 
an exit that way, in consequence of the formation of the moss towards the centre 
of the valley, which compelled the remainder to flow into the loch. In this case 
the structures must be supposed to have been formed in the early stages of the 
growth of the moss, whilst the loch was so shallow as to make it easy to raise the 
moss above its waters, and yet deep enough to float canoes, and afford the desired 
security from an enemy. 
On Two Ascents of the Volcano of Misti. By the Hon. R, Marsnam. 
On his Travels towards the Sources of the Nile. By Signor Mrant. 
M. Miani indicated some trifling matters in which he asserted that the geo- 
aphy of the explorers was at fault, and concluded by expressing a hope that the 
mperor of Austria would grant him money to make another expedition to ascer- 
tain whether he or they were wrong. 
On the Tribes, Trade, and Resources around the Shore-line of the Persian Gulf. 
By Colonel Petry. 
On the Antiquities of the Orkneys. By G. Purrie. 
Proposed Interoceanic and International Transit Route through Central 
America. By Captain Beprorp Pin, R.N. 
It is with peculiar pleasure that I introduce my present subject to your notice, 
because I pte believe that the result of the labours of myself and my com= 
* This has subsequently proved, on closer investigation, to be decidedly Roman. A 
Roman fibula in bronze has also been picked up on the larger islet. 
