148 Eruption of Long Lake a/nd Mud Lake, in Vermont. 



bed of the lake whose waters had occasioned it, we should not 

 be disappointed. 



Having engaged a dinner at a sorry substitute for an inn, we 

 turned to the south, and ascended Barton River, about four 

 miles. In order to see the ravages of the flood more perfect- 

 ly, we left the usual path on the left bank of the gulley, and ^ 

 rode all the way in its bed, over ground regularly ascending, 

 until we came upon the northern shore of Mud Lake. This 

 lake was originally the source of Barton River, and lay directly 

 in the path along which the waters of Long Lake flowed, at the 

 time of its evacuation. Here, of necessity, we left the gulley, 

 and rode along the eastern shore of Mud Lake, until we had 

 passed it; when, resuming our route in the bed of the gulley, 

 we found the ground ascending very rapidly, until we entered 

 the bed of the discharged lake. Having rode about half its 

 length, we tied our horses, and pursued our way on foot, through 

 the middle of its bed to the southern end. Here, ascending the 

 bank to the original water-level, we could survey the whole bed 

 of the lake, with its shores and surrounding scenery. 



From my own personal observation, and from minute inquiries 

 made of several individuals who were concerned in letting off* 

 the water, and of several gentlemen who were present at the le- 

 gal investigation which it occasioned, I possessed myself of the 

 fpllowing facts. 



Long Lake, before it was drained, was a beautiful sheet of 

 water, about a mile and a half in length from north to south, 

 and, where largest, three-fourths of a mile in breadth. For 

 about ^ve hundred yards from the southern extremity, the lake 

 was very narrow ; and, to this distance, its water was shoal, ha- 

 ving been nowhere more than ten or twelve feet deep. Here 

 there is a sudden and steep descent in its bed, to the depth of 

 100 feet. Here also the lake opened rapidly to the breadth of 

 half a mile, and then more gradually to three-fourths of a mile. 

 The depth also increased, in the broadest part, to 150 feet, and 

 did not diminish until within a small distance of the northern 

 extremity, where the lake was about half a mile wide. 



The eastern and western shores were bold, and rose imme- 

 diately from the surface into hills of moderate height. These 

 hills gradually subsided into plains, as they converged near the 

 two ends of the Uke, to form the northern and southern shores. 



