THE FKESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 
91 
LOCHS OF THE BOON BASIN. 
The river Boon, rising among the highest mountains of the south of 
Scotland, drains a considerable mountain mass in the counties of Ayr and 
Kirkcudbright. The elevated southern portion of the valley of the Boon 
includes a number of lochs of moderate size, and Loch Boon, the greatest 
lake of the south of Scotland. There are some small lochs in the lowland 
part of the valley. Six of the lochs in the basin were surveyed. Lochs 
Kegar and Macaterick, the largest in the basin after Loch Boon, Loch 
Enoch, a beautiful loch lying at a great elevation on the east side of the 
Merrick, and a number of smaller lochs, could not be surveyed. The 
superficial areas of the six lochs surveyed added together give a total area 
of 2-6 square miles; their combined volumes amount to 1648 millions of 
cubic feet, and together they drain nearly 60 square miles of country. 
After leaving the mountains near Balmellington, the river Boon flows 
for some 15 miles through fertile lowlands, and enters the Firth of Clyde 
2 miles to the south of the town of Ayr (see Index Map, Fig. 10). 
Loch Boon (see Plate XXXIV.). — This large and beautiful loch is 
situated on the borders of the counties of Ayr and Kirkcudbright, about 
15 miles south-east of the town of Ayr. It lies amid hills, wLich increase 
in height towards the head of the loch till an elevation of 2000 feet is 
reached on the east side ; while to the south the Galloway highlands rise, 
2^eak above peak, culminating in the Merrick (2764 feet) and Corserine 
(2668 feet). The hills of the ui)i)er part of the glen are rugged and dark; 
the lower end is wooded. Here the river, immediately on issuing from 
the loch, rushes as a torrent through Ness Glen, a glen of unrivalled 
beauty. There is much smooth, j)olished rock exposed on the shores, and 
in the form of whale-backed islands. 
The valley occupied by the loch runs north and south, but the axis 
of the loch is strongly curved. In form. Loch Boon is narrow and elongate, 
like the majority of the highland lochs. It measures 5 miles in length, 
in a straight line between the ends, nearly 6 miles following the central 
line. The greatest breadth, at the Ford of Moak, about 2 miles from the 
lower end, is over 1^ miles, and the mean breadth is one-third of a mile. 
The maximum dejjth, 1^ miles from the head of the loch, is 100 feet, and 
the mean depth 27 feet. The superficial area is 2 square miles, and the 
volume of water 1517 millions of cubic feet. The area drained amounts 
