A Book of the United States. Various
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at the depth of eight or ten feet.
‘In passing though Lake Pepin, our interpreter pointed out to us a high precipice, on the east shore of the lake, from which an Indian girl, of the Sioux nation, had, many years ago, precipitated herself in a fit of disappointed love. She had given her heart, it appears, to a young chief of her own tribe, who was very much attached to her, but the alliance was opposed by her parents, who wished her to marry an old chief, renowned for his wisdom and his influence in the nation. As the union was insisted upon, and no other way appearing to avoid it, she determined to sacrifice her life in preference to a violation of a former vow, and while the preparations for the marriage feast were going forward, left her father’s cabin, without exciting suspicion, and before she could be overtaken threw herself from an awful precipice, and was instantly dashed to a thousand pieces. Such an instance of sentiment is rarely to be met with among barbarians, and should redeem the name of this noble-minded girl from oblivion. It was Oola-Ita.’
Cassina or Red Cedar Lake derives some importance from having been designated as the true source of the Mississippi river. It is about eight miles long and six in breadth, and presents a beautiful sheet of transparent water. On its banks are elm, maple, and pine trees, fields of Indian rice, rushes and reeds; in other places there is an open beach of clean pebbles. Pike, carp, trout and cat-fish are caught in its waters. Towards its western extremity is an island covered with trees, from which it derives its name, though no red cedar is found around its shores.
Turtle Lake, Little Winnepeg Lake, Leech Lake, Swan Lake, Sandy Lake, Muddy Lake, Lake Peckagama, and White Fish Lake, are all near the source of the Mississippi. A narrow belt of high land separates Turtle Lake, the most northern source of the Mississippi, from Red River Lake, one of the sources of the Red river which runs into Hudson’s Bay. Otter Tail Lake is the most southern source of Red river; and from thence is a portage of only half a mile to a branch of Raven river, which falls into the Mississippi. The whole tract of high country, at the sources of the Mississippi and Red river, is full of marshes, morasses, and small lakes, whose waters afford never failing supplies to these streams.
The Lake of the Woods is of a circular figure, with a cluster of islands in the centre. The navigating course through the lake, is seventy-five miles; but, in direct distance, it is not above two-thirds of that extent in diameter. Its scenery is wild and romantic in a high degree. Its surface is covered with islands. From this lake there is a long succession of small lakes, and numerous portages, to the north-west end of Lake Superior, the chief of which is Rainy Lake. Two small lakes, Lake Biddle, which gives rise to the Big Horn river, and Lake Eustis, which is the source of the Jaune, or Yellow Stone river, are situated amongst the Rocky Mountains, in west longitude one hundred and twelve degrees, and north latitude forty-two degrees.
In the state of Louisiana are the lakes of Maurepas and Pontchartrain. The first of these is of a circular figure, twelve feet deep, and fourteen miles in diameter. In the time of high floods, it has a communication with the Mississippi, by means of the river Amité, or Ibberville; and this inundation, which lasts only four months annually, occasions what is erroneously called the island of New Orleans, to be then an island in fact, for at no other time is it environed with water, the city of New Orleans being situated on a peninsula.21 Lake Maurepas communicates with Lake Pontchartrain, by a stream seven miles long, and three hundred yards wide, and divided by an island extending from the lake to within a mile of Pontchartrain, into two branches, of which the southern is the safest and deepest. Lake Pontchartrain is nearly of a circular form, forty miles in its greatest length, and thirty miles in its greatest breadth, and eighteen feet deep. From this lake to the sea is ten miles, by a passage called the Regolets, four hundred yards wide, and lined with marshes on each side.
On the west side of the Mississippi are the lakes of Great and Little Barataria. The Catahoola Lake, sixteen miles long, and four broad, is the source of a stream of the same name, which, uniting with the Washita and Bayou Tenza rivers, form the Black river. This lake, during the dry months, is covered with the most luxuriant herbage; and is then the residence of immense herds of deer, and water-fowl, which feed on the grass and grain. The other lakes of Louisiana are Calcasin, Borgne, and Bistineau.
GENERAL REMARKS ON LAKES.
Extensive accumulations of water, surrounded on all sides by the land, and having no direct communication with the ocean, or with any sea, are called lakes. Lakes are of four distinct kinds. The first class comprehends those which have no issue, and which do not receive any running water. These are generally very small, and do not merit much attention. The second class comprises those lakes which have an outlet, but which do not receive any running water. These lakes are fed by a multitude of springs; they are naturally on great elevations, and are sometimes the sources of great rivers. The third class of lakes is very numerous, consisting of all such as receive and discharge streams of water. Each of the lakes of this class may be looked upon as forming a basin for receiving the neighboring waters; they have in general only one opening, which almost always takes its name from the principal river which flows into it. These lakes have often sources of their own, either near the borders, or in their bottom. The great lakes of North America are of this class, which in point of extent resemble seas, but which, by the flow of a continual stream of fresh river water, preserve their clearness and sweetness. The fourth class of lakes present phenomena much more difficult to explain. We mean those lakes which receive streams of water and often great rivers, without having any visible outlet. The most celebrated of these is the Caspian Sea; Asia contains a great many others besides. South America contains the Lake Titicaca, which has no efflux, though it is the receiver of another lake. These collections of water appear to belong to the interior of great continents; they are placed on elevated plains, which have no sensible declivity towards the sea, and thus afford no outlet. With respect to those situated in a hot climate, evaporation is sufficient to carry off their excess of water.
The physical phenomena which certain lakes present, have always excited the astonishment of the multitude. Those of the periodical lakes are the most common. In Europe these are nothing but pools, but between the tropics these pools sometimes cover spaces of several hundred leagues in length and breadth. Such are the famous lakes of Xarages and Paria, inscribed on maps of America, and expunged from them by turns; it is probable that Africa contains a great many of this description. The depth of lakes varies infinitely, and cannot form a subject of general physical geography. The popular opinion, however, that there are lakes without a bottom, is erroneous. Those which have been considered as such, owe this character solely to the existence of currents which carry along with them the lead attached to the sounding line. The waters of lakes, being derived from springs and rivers, partake of their different qualities. There are some lakes, whose waters are extremely limpid, such as the lake of Geneva, and that of Wetter in Sweden; in the latter, a farthing may be perceived at the bottom of the lake, at one hundred and twenty feet depth; but the lakes whose waters are motionless, saline, or bituminous, may be looked upon as equally unwholesome with those of marshes.
| COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE MOST CELEBRATED LAKES. | |
| WESTERN HEMISPHERE. | |
|---|---|
| Surface. | Square miles. |
| Lake Superior | 22,400 |
| Lake Michigan | 12,600 |
| Lake Huron | 15,800 |
| Lake Erie | 4,800 |
| Lake Ontario | 4,450 |
| Great Slave Lake | 12,000 |
| Great Bear Lake | 4,000 |
| Winnepeg Lake | 7,200 |
| Lake Maracaibo | 6,000 |
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