THE PEESH-WATER LOCHS OP SCOTLAND. 
171 
THE LOCHS OF LISMORE. 
The Islaud of Lismore (see Index Map, Fig. 5), lying at the junction of the 
Firth of Lome with the Sound of Mull and Loch Linnhe, some 5 miles north- 
west of Oban, is a long narrow island less than 10 miles in length, trending 
from south-west to north-east, and includes three small lochs which were 
sounded by the Lake Survey, viz. Lochs Baile a’ Ghobhainn, Kilcheran, 
and Fiart. These lochs trend generally in the same direction as the 
island. Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn lying towards the northern end, while 
the other two are situated towards the southern end. Loch Fiart, the 
southernmost, less than 2 miles from the southern extremity of the island. 
The island is on the whole flat, the highest point, Barr Mor, between 
Lochs Fiart and Kilcheran, being only 417 feet above sea-level. The 
lochs, though small (one-half to two-thirds of a mile in length), are 
relatively deep, all exceeding 50 feet in depth, the deepest, Baile a’ 
Ghobhainn, having a depth of 88 feet ; they contain trout, but the fishing is 
preserved. The water of the lochs is impregnated with lime derived from 
the limestone formation of the island, and the plants become thickly 
encrusted with it ; sometimes Myriopliyllum spicatum becomes so weighted 
with lime that the plants are prevented from rising to the surface, and in 
consequence do not bear fruit. 
Loch Baile o' Ghobhainn (see Plate LXV.). — Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn 
(or Balnagowan) is the largest of the three lochs in all respects, but 
its drainage area is very small. The loch is widest and deepest in the 
southern portion, narrowing and shallowing gradually towards the northern 
end. The stones and reeds around the margin are thickly encrusted with 
lime. The length is two-thirds of a mile, and the superficial area about 
33 acres. The maximum depth is 88 feet, the mean depth nearly 39 feet, 
and the volume of w^ater 55 million cubic feet. The soundings show that 
Loch Baile a’ Ghobhainn forms a simple deep basin with steep shore- 
slopes ; gradients exceeding 1 in 1 were observed off the western shore 
towards the southern end, where soundings in 61 feet and 22 feet were 
recorded about 60 feet and 10 feet respectively from the shore, and off the 
eastern shore, towards the northern end, where a sounding in 44 feet 
was recorded about 30 feet from shore. The two ends of the loch are 
comparatively shallow, and hence 41 per cent, of the lake-floor is covered 
by less than 25 feet of water, but the deep basin partakes of a flat-bottomed 
character, since over 17 per cent, of the lake-floor is covered by more than 
