622 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
tightened as much as possible, so that the buoy was moored under a con- 
siderable strain, and any variation in its position while so fixed was very 
small. At first the buoy was moored at a depth of nearly 700 feet about 
a mile to the north-east of Invermoriston by hemp ropes, but owing to the 
exposed position in the lake in which the buoy was fixed, little but disaster 
attended the observations which were made in that position. Even in 
a moderate breeze the waves in Loch Ness are of considerable size, and in 
a small rowing boat it was found very difficult and not a little dangerous 
to observe in the centre of the lake. The observations were put a stop to 
for a time by the loss, in some unexplained manner, of the compass box ; 
and during the interval which occurred before the lost box could be 
replaced the buoy broke from its moorings and took a journey of some 
sixteen miles, leaving about 2000 feet of rope at the bottom of Loch Ness. It 
was then decided to moor the buoy in a less exposed position in the lake, 
and in a less depth. Such a position was found in about 300 feet of water 
300 yards off Invermoriston pier. At first the buoy was moored as before 
with ropes, and latterly with ordinary galvanised fencing wire, which was 
found more satisfactory and much cheaper. Mr J. Murray Grant of Glen- 
moriston kindly granted the use of his boathouse for housing the boats and 
apparatus, and thus gave material aid to the work. One or two observations 
were also made near Fort Augustus in the position where the Lake Survey 
yacht “ Rhoda ” was formerly anchored {Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xlv. 
p. 410), and also at a point about 400 yards off' Glendoe pier. (See Sketch 
Map, fig. 2, for positions.) For the observations of short duration the meter 
was lowered from a rowing boat attached to the moored buoy. Even when 
all precautions were taken it was found that in strong winds the boat 
swayed a little with the wind, especially if the wind blew broadside on to 
the boat, and to a certain extent the observations are vitiated by this ; but 
the swaying of the boat was slight and slow, and may be neglected in view 
of the complexity of the observations. The variations in direction and 
strength of the currents which were observed were much greater than could 
be explained by the swaying of the boat. Observations were also frequently 
made by attaching the meter directly to the buoy and leaving it overnight ; 
and in such observations, as the buoy did not present a large surface to the 
wind, the effect of swaying with the wind was much reduced. The earlier 
observations were made by Mr E. M. Wedderburn, including a few observa- 
tions in Loch Garry ( Proc . Roy. Soc. Eclin., vol. xxix. p. 98), and those in 
August and September by Mr W. Watson. During the succeeding winter 
a number of observations were made by Mr Wm. Macdonald, who acted as 
boatman throughout, and whose inventive faculty overcame many difficulties. 
