48 
BATHYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 
to pump out the water for the purpose of examining the beast, but he 
failed in drawing off the water. The most probable origin of the rumour 
about the beast lies in the fact that the moon at a certain time casts the 
shadow of two stones upon the water, the shadow resembling the outline of 
an animal. The loch is over one-third of a mile in length by one-sixth of 
a mile in maximum width, covering an area of about 23 acres, and com- 
paratively deep, the maximum depth being 35 feet, and the mean depth 
IQl feet. The soundings show no irregularities in the conformation of the 
lake-floor, the deep water being found towards the east end, while the 
south-western jmrtion is shallow. Of the total area about 61 per cent, 
is covered by less than 10 feet of water, and 13 per cent, by more than 
20 feet of water. The loch was surveyed on August 11, 1902, but the 
elevation above the sea could not be determined by levelling. The varia- 
tion in the level of the water is said to be about a foot. 
From the table on p. 47 it will be seen that in the eleven lochs under 
consideration 1141 soundings were taken, and that the aggregate area of 
the water-surface is over 7 square miles, so that the average number of 
soundings per square mile of surface is 161. The aggregate volume 
of water contained in the lochs is estimated at 11,311 millions of cubic 
feet. The area drained by these lochs is lllj square miles, or 15l times 
the area of the lochs. 
