THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 
55 
was found to be 1153'4 feet above the level of the sea; it is thus one of 
the most elevated of the larger Scottish lochs. It is known to anglers 
as the home of large Salnio ferox, as well as of trout said to be equal 
in quality to those of Loch Leven. It trends in a north-east and 
south-west direction, and is broadest near the southern end, narrowing 
gradually towards the northern end. It is over 14^ miles in length, 
and over one mile in maximum breadth; the mean breadth is about 
half a mile, being per cent, of the length. Its waters cover an area 
of over 4600 acres (or nearly 1\ square miles), and it drains an area 
seven times greater, or over 32,000 acres (nearly 50 J square miles). 
The total number of soundings taken in Loch Ericht was 488, which 
show that it is a comparatively deep loch, the greatest depth observed 
being 512 feet. The mass of water contained in the loch is estimated at 
38,027,000,000 cubic feet, and the mean depth at 189 feet, being 37 
per cent, of the maximum depth. The length of the loch is 150 times 
the maximum depth, and 405 times the mean depth. 
The deepest part of the loch is in the southern broader portion, 
where, about 3J miles from the foot of the loch, there is a small central 
depression, about one-third of a mile in length, and covering about 
58 acres, in which the depths exceed 500 feet, the maximum being 
512 feet. There are two 400-feet depressions, the larger, about three 
miles in length, reaching to about 1^ miles from the southern end, 
and enclosing the 500-feet depression. Separated by about a quarter 
of a mile from the northern end of the large 400-feet depression is 
the second smaller isolated depression, in which the maximum depth 
is 410 feet. There are two 300-feet depressions, the larger in the 
southern portion of the loch, the smaller in the northern portion. The 
southern depression is over 4^ miles in length, and encloses the deepest 
water in the loch. The northern smaller depression is under one mile in 
length, with a maximum depth of 314 feet, and approaches to Avithin 
2J miles of the head of the loch. There are two 200-feet depressions; 
the larger runs from within a mile of the southern end to more than 
half-way towards the northern end, being over seven miles in extreme 
length. It is separated from the northern 200-feet depression by an 
interval of 2| miles, in which the depth varies from 127 to 194 feet. 
The northern 200-feet depression is nearly 2j miles in length, approach- 
ing to within about IJ miles from the northern end, and enclosing the 
small northern 300-feet depression already mentioned. The 100-feet 
depression is a continuous area extending from within less than half a 
mile of the southern end to within less than a mile of the northern end, 
and is about 13 J miles in total length. The 50-feet depression follows 
approximately the contour of the loch. Opposite Loch Ericht Lodge 
an isolated sounding of 44 feet was observed between the 50- and 100- 
feet lines, and about IJ miles farther down, opposite the entrance of 
the Allt Camus nan Cnamh, another isolated sounding of 20 feet was 
taken, surrounded by deeper water. 
