129 
THE FliESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND. 
LOCHS OF THE ANNAN BASIN. 
The large area drained by the river Annan (see Index Map, Fig. 14) 
is remarkably devoid of lochs, apart from a group of half a dozen small 
lochs clustered near the town of Lochmaben, four of which were sounded 
by the Lake Survey. The only other loch is the little Loch Skeen, 
situated far to the north, on the borders of Dumfries- and Selkirk-shires, 
near the source of the Moffat water, a tributary of the Annan. Loch Skeen 
lies at an elevation of nearly 1750 feet above the sea, while the Lochmaben 
lochs are all less than 200 feet above sea-level. The deepest lo ch is Mill 
Loch, with a maximum of 55 feet ; Loch Skeen coming next with a maximum 
of 36 feet ; then Kirk Loch, with a maximum of 25 feet ; while Castle Loch 
and Hightae Mill Loch are less than 20 feet in depth. The trout-fishing 
in Loch Skeen is sometimes very good, but variable, while the Lochmaben 
lochs are remarkable for their variety, Castle Loch, for instance, being said 
to contain ten different species, including pike, perch, roach, bream, chub, 
loch-trout, and vendace — the last mentioned a rare fish, peculiar to Castle 
Loch and Mill Loch, which takes no lure, but is caught with the net. 
Lofh Skeen (see Plate XLVIl.). — Loch Skeen lies about 9 miles north- 
east from Moffat, and only 5 miles from St. Mary’s Loch in the Tweed 
basin. When engaged on the survey of St. Mary’s Loch, our surveyors 
were informed that there was no boat on Loch Skeen ; but one of them 
went up to study the geology, taking a boatman with him, when they 
found a boat without oars. With oars improvised from a broken fence, 
they made a zigzag the whole length of the loch, a strong wind preventing 
them from running transverse lines of soundings. The loch is elongate 
in outline, trending from north-west to south-east, and three-quarters of 
a mile in length, the maximum breadth being one-fifth of a mile. The 
superficial area is about 69 acres, and the drainage area less than a square 
mile. The deeper water is centrally placed, the maximum depth of 36 feet 
being recorded rather nearer the northern than the southern end. A 
sounding in 24 feet was taken near the northern end ; and a sounding in 
26 feet off the central part of the eastern shore shows a steep slope in 
that position. The mean depth is estimated at 18 feet, or one-half of the 
maximum depth, and the volume of water at 53 million cubic feet. The 
loch was surveyed on May 7, 1905, but the elevation above the sea could 
not be determined. 
K 
