Lakes

“ Just beneath the range of mountains on the east, is the series of lakes which form the most picturesque at — traction of the valley, looking up, like the blue eyes of the turquoise, to the azure heavens above them, whose glory they reflect. ”

“ There are many such of rememberable beauty; living lakes indeed, for they are but pausings of expanded rivers, which again soon pursue their way, and the water-lilies have ever a gentle motion there as if touched by a tide. ”

“ It is much more desirable, for the purposes of pleasure, that lakes should be numerous and small or middle-sized, than large, not only for communication by walks and rides, but for variety, and for recurrence of similar appearances. To illustrate this by one instance: how pleasing is it to have a ready and frequent opportunity of watching, at the outlet of a lake, the stream, pushing its way among the rocks, in lively contrast with the stillness from which it has escaped! ”

“ In the gently undulating plain the eye rests gratefully on the lakes which fill all the deeper hollows; in the highlands or among the loftier mountains the gleaming water-basins are a real ornament to the landscape. It is true that the lake is, in most cases, though not invariably, without the charm of surrounding verdure, often without so much as a fringe of bushes. ”

“ The gleam of lakes afar, giving life to the whole landscape. Much wood, shagging hills and plains. On the west, a hill-country, swelling like waves, with these villages sometimes discovered among them. On the east it looks dim and blue, and affects the beholder like the sea, as the eye stretches far away. ”

“ Fancy a low, level, drowsy point of land, stretching out into the unbroken emerald green of Lake Superior, at the point where a narrow, yellowish river offers its tribute. The King of Lakes is exclusive; he disdains to blend his brilliant waters with those of the muddy river ”

“ The lake is the eye of the mountain, jade green, placid, unwinking, also unfathomable. Whatever goes on under the high and stony brows is guessed at. It is always a favorite local tradition that one or another of the blind lakes is bottomless. ”

“ Below us, as we stand, we can see a broad and sluggish body of water, in places widening into shallow lakes. On either side of this stream, vast forests extend in every direction as far as the horizon, bounded on one side by the distant ocean, clothing each hilly rise, and sending islets of matted trees and shrubs floating down the waters. ”

“ And when the woods cease, what delightful natural lawns of crisp turf sweep in little curving bays to the mere edge, where gently shelving beaches of silvery gravel dip into the shallow waters, and show far out into the lake their clean white bottom beneath its crystal depths! ”

“ Limpid lakes presented themselves to the eye, where not a drop of water was known to exist—as if nature, to preserve a perfect harmony, offered these to the imagination in compensation for the absence of the precious fluid itself. ”

“ There are extensive lakes, always under water, even at the lowest ebb of the inundation. They are of all sizes and every possible configuration, from the complete circle through all the degrees of the ellipse, and not unfrequently in the form of a belt, like the channel of a river running for scores of miles between what might readily be mistaken for banks covered with a continuous thicket of low bushes, which are nothing more than the “spray” of evergreen trees, whose roots lie forty feet under water! ”

“ For those who seek more strenuous exercise, or desire horse-back or camping-out trips another twenty, aye fifty lakes, within a radius of fifty miles may be found, with their connecting creeks, streams and rivers where gamey trout abound, and where flowers, shrubs and trees in never-ceasing variety and charm tempt the botanist and nature-lover. ”

“ Deep lakes furnish a better supply and clearer water than shallow ones. The solid matter brought into the lake by the brooks or rivers which feed it does not remain long in suspension, but soon settles at the bottom, and in this way some lakes acquire the wonderfully clear water and the beautiful bluish-green color for which they are far famed. ”

“ The climate mild and healthful, the country ascertained to be the best of land—with streams and rivers sufficient for all useful purposes—and the upland level, between the two great lakes, chequered with innumerable small lakes, or basins, of one, three, five, and ten miles in circumference, pure and clear as the fountains of Eden, and abounding with fish, as do the rivers. ”

“ The common processes of nature maintain the everlasting and perfect purity of these waters, independent of the care of man. The transparency of the waters, in those upper regions, and in the great lakes, is a marvel—an incredible wonder to those, who have been accustomed only to turbid lakes and turbid rivers. ”

“ There is a succession of fine views, near and distant: of the steamer slipping through the deep blue water within stone’s throw of the crags, for the lake-bed falls in a precipice here; of sheep climbing and grazing on the shelving hillside, and timorously rushing off at our approach; of the swell when a breeze lifts it along, bursting green on the boulders and throwing shimmering spray into the air; of birches in their summer radiance; of thin green shadows of ghylls where rivulets are slipping down to the lake through piles of moss; of the bramble, and the fox-glove and the heather ”

“ Many great lakes, particularly those which we have just been considering, have repeatedly changed their outlets, according as the surface of the land on which they lie has swayed up and down in various directions, or as glacial sheets have barred or unbarred the original outlets of the basins. ”

“ Nor are the lakes which fill glacier-worn rock-basins confined to our own continent, but they form the most common and grandest lakes of temperate latitudes, which might be called the lake latitudes, so completely are the lakes of the world confined to these regions. ”

“ It looks down upon what appears to be an uninhabited wilderness, with mountains fading to the sky in every direction, and where, on a clear day, you may count no less than twenty-four lakes, including Champlain, Horicon, Long Lake, and Lake Pleasant. ”

“ Most of these lakes are encircled by a rim of rock, from which you jump down into knee-deep black slime, and then, if you are a representative lady, you waddle, and squeal, and grunt, and skylark generally on your way to the water in the middle. If it is a large lake you are working, you and your companions drive in two rows of stakes, cutting each other more or less at right angles, more or less in the middle of the lake, so as to divide it up into convenient portions. ”

“ These great lakes, stretching away many thousands of miles, not in a straight line, but with turns and deflections, as if designed to reach, by water communication, the greatest possible number of important points through a region of vast extent, cannot but arrest the attention of any one who looks upon the map. ”

“ The great lakes, that were enlarged during the glacial period and in some cases wholly created—by the scooping out and damming up of the waterways and by piling glacial drift around their shores—have had some of their outlets raised to a higher level, and others have been created anew. ”

“ In ascending any of the principal streams of this region, lakes in all stages of decay are found in great abundance, gradually becoming younger until we reach the almost countless gems of the summits with basins bright as their crystal waters. ”

“ The large lakes of the world, such as the continental lakes of Europe and America, or of our own Lake District, reproduce on a small scale the varied conditions which appertain to the ocean—as in the ocean, we can recognise in these lakes a littoral, a pelagic, and an abyssal region. ”

“ A number of lakes and rivers are interspersed through its plains; while abundant springs, that are never dry, flow from the top of each rock, dashing their rills against the rugged projections of the cliffs below. ”

“ The terms pond, tarn, loch and mere are applied to smaller lakes according to size and position. Some lakes are so large that an observer cannot see low objects situated on the opposite shore, owing to the lake-surface assuming the general curvature of the earth’s surface. Lakes are nearly universally distributed, but are more abundant in high than in low latitudes. They are abundant in mountainous regions, especially in those which have been recently glaciated. ”

“ Up among the heights other little lakes lie—the Lakes in the Clouds, they are called—and sometimes they are in the clouds and sometimes not, and they are coloured like thick opals and moonstones, and you can see {199} the tall, slim firs growing at the bottom as if they were real trees and not only reflections. ”

“ In the summer of 1915 we caught a glimpse of one of these great reserves, that including the wonderful mountains on the line of the Canadian Pacific, from Banff to Lake Louise, and for many leagues around them. The naked or snow-clad peaks, the lakes, the glaciers, the evergreen forest [321] shrouding the mountainsides and valleys, the clear brooks, the wealth of wild flowers, make up a landscape as lovely as it is varied. Here the game—bighorn and white goat-antelope, moose, wapiti, and black-tail deer and white-tail deer—flourish unmolested. ”

“ The lakes to which we have devoted the greatest attention, and which are at the same time the most common and the most interesting, are those which fill glacier-worn rock-basins, to which we hope that, our little article will attract the attention of some one who will give us more light on these wonderful pictures, now but imperfectly illuminated. ”

“ Deep lakes are thus the best sources of water-supply for cities, for in summer they supply relatively cool water and in winter relatively warm water. Besides, the number of organisms in deep lakes is less than in small shallow lakes, in which there is a much higher temperature in summer, and consequently much greater organic growth. The deposits, which are formed along the shores and on the floors of lakes, depend on the geological structure and nature of the adjacent shores. ”

“ Considered from a geological point of view, lakes perform an important function in regulating the drainage of the ground below their outfall and diminishing the destructive effects of floods, in filtering the water received from their affluent streams, and in providing undisturbed areas of deposit in which thick and extensive lacustrine formations may be accumulated. ”

“ In our own country we sometimes find lakes which owe their existence to the industry of the beavers, who often build their dams in our streams, and sometimes form shallow lakes of considerable extent. ”

“ In our last journey we toiled over bleak and barren wastes, across frozen lakes, and marshes, and rivers;—now we shall pass under the shadows of virgin forests, and float lightly upon the bosom of broad majestic streams, whose shores echo with the voices of living nature. ”

“ The primary source of lake water is atmospheric precipitation, which may reach the lakes through rain, melting ice and snow, springs, rivers and immediate run-off from the land-surfaces. The surface of the earth, with which we are directly in touch, is composed of lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, and these interpenetrate. ”

“ Streams bear their burden of gravel, sand, and mud into lakes and leave it there. (3) The winds blow dust and sand into the lakes, and in some places pile the sand up into dunes along the shores. (4) Animals of various sorts live in the lakes, and their shells and bones give rise to deposits comparable to the animal deposits in the sea. (5) Abundant plants grow in the shallow water about the borders of many ponds and lakes, and as they die, their substance accumulates on the bottom. (6) At the outlet the water is constantly lowering its channel. ”

“ Often the lakes are far up the slopes, many thousands of feet above the sea, and sometimes you don't see 'em until you break right through the trees and bushes and come square up against the water. If we keep on, as I intend we shall, it's likely that we'll see a lot of 'em. ”

“ It is likewise evident that as the lakes are everywhere being rapidly filled up by the daily action of wind, vegetation, rain, and streamlets, they must be of geologically recent origin, and that the lake-forming process, whatever it was, must have attained a remarkable maximum of activity at a comparatively recent geological epoch. ”

“ Some indeed have asserted that lakes are to be found on the summit of the highest mountains; but to this no credit can be given, for those found on the Alps, and other elevated places, are all surrounded by much more lofty mountains, and derive their origin from the waters which run down the sides, or are filtered through those eminences in the same manner as the lakes in the plains obtain their sources from the neighbouring hills which overtop them. ”

“ The lakes are also continually operated upon, by the wasting or wearing away of the outlets that form the barriers by which their waters were and are at present stayed, and it is not unlikely that every valley was once a lake, till they were operated upon like those still left, preparatory to their change to dry land. ”

“ When such accumulations of snow finally melt, the vegetation on the place they occupied is much less than along their borders. Year after year such places become more and more depressed, comparatively to the general surface, where vegetable growth is more abundant, and thus give origin to lakes. ”

“ The Flat-Head lake receives a broad and beautiful stream, extending upwards of a hundred miles in a north-western direction, through a most delightful valley, and is supplied by considerable torrents, coming from a great cluster of mountains, connected immediately with the main chain, in which a great number of lakes lie imbedded. ”