FLORA OF SCOTTISH LAKES 
199 
Island — is at the entrance to this bay. It is very small, and is over- 
grown with dwarf trees. The aquatic flora of the bay, although 
extremely abundant, is almost restricted to the following species : — 
Littorella lacustris. Lobelia Dortmanna, Isoetes lacustris, Myrio- 
phyllum alterniflorum, Juncus fluitans, Chara fragilis, var. delicatula, 
Utricularia vulgaris, Nitella opaca, Fontinalis antipyretica, Potamo- 
geton natans, P. lucens, Callitriche hamulata, Sparganium natans, 
Glyceria fluitans, Polygonum amphibium, Menyanthes trifoliata, 
Equisetum limosum, Carex rostrata, and a large number of other 
marsh plants, including Carex elata, which forms tussocks that stand 
up out of the water, as well as assuming a carpeting habit on drier 
ground. 
Leaving this bay, we meet with scarcely any aquatic plants, except 
such as may occur in little bays, until Invermoriston is reached. 
Here again there is a paucity in the variety and quantity of aquatic 
plants, nothing calling for special remark. 
From Invermoriston to Urquhart Bay, a distance of some ten 
miles, there is nothing in the way of aquatic flora to demand atten- 
tion. In Urquhart Bay, however, conditions prevail similar to those 
of Inchnacardoch Bay, the bottom being of firmer sand down to a 
depth of 20 or 25 feet ; but beyond this, mud occurs everywhere. It 
should be noticed that in Borlum Bay, which receives the full force 
of easterly gales, the mud deposit on the bottom only begins at 
depths of from 30 to 40 feet — that is, about 10 feet deeper than in 
the somewhat sheltered Urquhart Bay, where the vegetation is 
similar to that of Inchnacardoch Bay, but the marsh plants are more 
varied in species and grow more luxuriantly. At Urquhart Bay two 
rivers enter Loch Ness : the Enrick, draining the populous and highly 
cultivated Glen Urquhart, and the Coiltie, from Balmacaan Forest, 
which also drains a considerable area of cultivation. The nitrogenous 
substances and the lime from a district north of Glen Urquhart 
brought down by these rivers, undoubtedly to a certain extent, ex- 
tinguish the action of the humic acids over a considerable delta that 
has been formed by these streams, and upon it a dense vegetation of 
the marsh and woodland types has developed. The water of the 
bay, however, owing to the great bulk of the loch, is probably but 
very little, if at all, modified by the rivers ; the similarity of the 
aquatic vegetation to that of other portions of the loch bears out 
this remark. 
Passing out of Urquhart Bay, there is little more, regarding aquatic 
plants, to arrest our attention in Loch Ness. At the north-east end 
of the loch, from Lochend to the lighthouse at the entrance to Loch 
Dochfour, there is a remarkably large, high, stony beach. During 
westerly gales, the waves, gathering strength from the whole length 
