570 The Lake of Arendsee. 



English square miles. It has been formed in a flat country, 

 within the historical times, probably by the superficial strata 

 sinking into an immense cavern excavated by subterraneous 

 currents of water. According to Aimonius, this event 

 appears to have taken place about a thousand years ago. 

 The lake was considered as unfathomable, and within the 

 memory of man it had never been frozen, the great depth of 

 its water preventing the latter to take a sufficiently low tem- 

 perature through that severity and duration of frost which 

 the winters of Northern Germany commonly present. Last 

 winter, however, this rare phenomenon did occur, long after 

 the greatest rivers had been covered with a solid crust ; and 

 after having spent its free caloric in large masses of vapour, 

 which for many days hovered over its surface and banks, 

 the morning of the 31st of January exhibited it all covered 

 with one smooth and polished plate of ice. The thickness 

 of the latter was nine inches, and in a few places not above 

 four or five inches. This was a convenient opportunity for 

 taking accurate measurements of the depth of the lake, and 

 it was then first ascertained that the opinion of its being 

 unfathomable is unfounded. The general depth does not 

 exceed 157 feet, only near the ruins of an old convent, at a 

 distance of 400 steps from the bank, it was found as deep as 

 1 6 1 feet, which may be taken for its greatest depth. Begin- 

 ning from the south bank, at a place where a large piece of 

 ground sunk in 1685, the depth increased within distances 

 of 400 steps each, at the following rate: 42 J feet, 87, 116, 

 137, 157. 



Among the many remarkable phenomena presented by this 

 lake, the one, that it throws out yellow amber is, perhaps, 

 the most striking. This substance is only found on its 

 eastern bank, and the more violently the west winds blow, 

 the more yellow amber is there collected. The size of the 

 fragments does not, however, generally exceed that of a 

 French bean. As the whole tract from Magdeburg to the 

 Baltic Sea is pretty uniform, we may conclude that in one of 

 its strata it contains an almost continuous bed of yellow 

 amber, which on the shores of the Baltic is exposed in a 

 great part of its length, whereas near Arendsee it has been 

 accidentally opened by the sinking of the ground. Many 

 petrifactions of wood and other substances are likewise 

 thrown out. Innumerable fish, as eels, pike, tench, 

 perch, &c. inhabit its waters. The fishery is, however, 

 comparatively little productive, on account of the great 

 depth of the lake. Pikes of the enormous weight of 50lbs., 

 and eels of 15 lbs. are not unfrequently caught. — Id. 



