1911] Bissell,— A Day at Congamond Lakes. 53 
A DAY AT CONGAMOND LAKES. 
C. H. BISSELL. 
ONE hot clear morning in September, Mr. R. W. Woodward and 
the writer took a train for Congamond, the little station near the 
Congamond Lakes which are entirely within the town of Southwick, 
Massachusetts, mostly in that curious little notch extending southward 
into what would naturally be Connecticut territory, and marking a 
relic of the boundary in colonial times. The lakes form a practically 
continuous strip of water, extending for about three miles in a north 
and south direction, and broken only by two roadways. The width 
is ordinarily from a quarter to a half mile, but the outlines are quite 
irregular. In former days the canal boats making the trip between 
Northampton and New Haven passed through these lakes, which 
supplied much of the water for the operation of the canal. The state 
boundary, on the east side of the notch just mentioned, follows the 
eastern shore of the lakes, so the land adjoining the lakes on that 
side for about two thirds of their length is in Connecticut, and it 
was this part that we planned to visit. The country here is a sandy 
plain, the general level of which is considerably higher than that of 
the lakes, and in many places this plain extends quite to the shore, 
forming a kind of sandy bluff. The water of the lakes is clear and blue 
and there is a fine view from these bluffs, westward across the lakes to 
the hills of Granby. The beauty of the spot is beginning to be appre- 
ciated and in some places many summer cottages fringe the edge of 
the wooded bluff. 
Leaving the train, we followed the highway across the strip of Massa- 
chusetts, despised as far as our collecting was concerned, to the cause- 
way, crossing which we were again on good Connecticut soil and ready 
for work. Turning to the right through an old pasture, we struck the 
lake and followed the sandy strand southward under a bluff of white 
and yellow sand. Along the strand were some of the sedges that delight 
in such a situation: Cyperus dentatus, mostly in the sterile form with 
leaves instead of scales; Cyperus aristatus, of which the fragrant speci- 
mens are a delight to handle in the herbarium, was occasional, while 
the dainty button-like tufts of Hemicarpha showed here and there on 
the sand. Before long the bluff ended and a long cove, stretching 
