222 THE ERESH-WATER LOCHS OE SCOTLAND 
rostrata, Equisetum limosum, Phragmites communis, Lobelia Dort- 
manna, and Littorella lacustris are its most abundant plants. 
Descending northwards from Loch Brecbowie for about a mile, 
one comes to Lochs Bradan and Lure, which are connected together 
by a narrow channel. Except for a plantation of conifers about the 
ruins of Craiglure Lodge, these lochs are entirely surrounded by a 
treeless, grassy moor. Their shores are rocky or stony, and the water 
is slightly peaty. On an island in Loch Bradan are the ruins of a 
small castle, but there is now little more to be seen than what is 
presented by a stone sheep enclosure. The vegetation here is very 
scanty, and of the same type as that which occurs in the lochs 
previously mentioned. 
Passing over the hill by way of the little pool — Loch Dhu, 
which contains nothing of particular interest, — one crosses the Girvan 
Water and enters the desolate moor in which are situated Derclach 
Loch and Loch Finlas, connected by a narrow channel, and together 
forming the source of the water supply for Ayr. These lochs present 
nothing of botanical interest beyond a number of the plants common 
to the preceding lochs. They have a small extent of shore, which 
is mostly either rocky or peaty. The water is clear but slightly peaty, 
and the vegetation is scanty. 
Proceeding from the head of Loch Doon towards Loch Enoch, 
by Avay of the glen drained by the Gala Lane, between the two moun- 
tain ranges, of which Merrick on the west and Corserine on the east 
are the highest points, one passes over the site from which Loch Doon 
obtains its chief supply of Molinia caerulea. Here is a stupendous 
bog five miles long by a mile or so wide, almost everywhere treacherous 
to walk upon, and in some places quite impassable. A characteristic 
feature of this bog is the luxuriant growth of Molinia caerulea, which 
is often about 18 inches high. The same grass also dominates the 
hillsides, but there it is much shorter. 
After receiving numerous tributary streams the Gala Lane, for 
the last three miles of its course, is of some considerable size, and 
only in a few places can it be crossed, dry-shod, by jumping with 
alacrity from rock to rock across its bed. Sometimes it passes swiftly 
down a rocky incline ; generally, however, it meanders its tortuous 
course, slow, deep, and wide. In such places flourishes a vegetation 
abundant in quantity but poor in variety, or its bottom may be 
covered with dead grass like that of Loch Doon, in which case no 
living vegetation occurs. Carex rostrata forms a marginal zone of 
varying width, and in the water Potamogeton natans, P. polygoni- 
folius, Castalia speciosa, and Juncus fluitans are the dominant species. 
The last is so abundant that it appears to fill the river in places — 
yet in Loch Doon it is scarce. 
