190 
BATtlYMETRICAL SURVEY OF 
When surveyed, the temperature was uniform, 47°*7 Fahr., from 
surface to bottom, following on a gale of three or four clays’ duration. 
Loch nan Geireann (see Plate LXXII.). — A little tidal loch near 
Lochmaddy, the lowest of the Scadavay basin. It is about two-fifths of 
a mile long by one-fifth of a mile broad. In form it is oblong, with an ' 
arm running towards Loch Skealtar. There are some small islands, and 
the bottom has many large boulders scattered over it, some of which 
project above the surface. It is a simple basin, but the contours are 
irregular, and do not closely follow the shore-line. The maximum depth 
is 31 feet. The stream entering from Loch Skealtar has no appreciable 
length, there being merely a fall of a foot from a little loch intervening 
between Lochs nan Geireann and Skealtar. The outflow is a drain under 
the road into Loch na Ciste, a sea loch. The fauna was that of fresh water. 
Only high tides come in and raise the surface from 1 to IJ feet. The 
height above sea-level, on May 9, 1904, was 7*45 feet. The temperature 
at the surface was 49°*0 Fahr., and at 25 feet only less. 
The Stmmore Basin . — This comprises a chain of three lochs, of which 
Loch an Strumore (tidal) and Loch Fada (fresh) were surveyed, while the 
intermediate little Loch Galtarsay was not sounded. 
Loch an Stmmore (see Plate LXXII.). — Loch an Strumore (or Loch 
an Aastrom) is a pretty large tidal loch of oblong form, situated about 
a mile north-west from Lochmaddy. It is a little more than a mile long, 
and half a mile in greatest breadth. The outline is irregular, with 
many little inlets. There are many islands, the largest near the middle, 
where the loch is much constricted, and lying close to the north shore. 
Kock and stones alternate on the shore. The bottom is almost level, 
about 12 feet deep in the central parts, the bays shallower. There is a 
deeper hole at the east end, near the outflow, with the maximum depth 
of 22 feet. Ordinary tides enter, and the loch is filled throughout with 
fucoids, but juncus also grows abundantly. Level on May 10, 1904, 
when the tide was out, 3*7 feet above the sea. The temperature at the 
surface was 49°*2 Fahr., and at 18 feet 47°*2. 
Loch Fada (see Plate LXXII.). — Loch Fada consists of two portions 
connected by a narrow channel. The north portion is narrow and elon- 
gate from west to east. It is studded with islands, on which large numbers 
of gulls and other birds nest. The greater part of it is less than 10 feet 
in depth. The maximum depth of 26 feet is found close to an island at the 
east end. There is also a very narrow channel, with depths up to 25 feet, 
between the peninsula called Ard Fhada and a chain of small islands. 
The southern portion of the loch is triangular. It is one of the largest 
bodies of open water on the island, but even here there is a heap of stones 
projecting above the surface almost in the centre of the triangle. There 
