1897.] The Sivamps of Ostvego County, JS/. Y. 697 



a general rule, their eastern shore hard, while the others are 

 bordered by moors or by wooded swamps which are but ma- 

 tured portions of a moor. This is true of Mud Lake, Lake 

 Neatahwantah, Paddy Lake, and the small lake in the Lily 

 Marsh, all within twelve miles of Lake Ontario. At one time 

 I thought the scarceness of springs might account for the fail- 

 ure of moors to form. But further observation led me to think 

 their meagre occurrence on this shore the result, rather than 

 the cause, of the absence. 



There is what seems to me sufficient evidence to show that 

 it is the action of the waves upon the eastern shore that pre- 

 vents the formation of bogs there. At Mud Lake I have seen 

 large masses of sphagnum and other plants from the west side 

 of the lake lodged upon the east shore. Instead of taking root 

 and growing they were soon washed to death by the waves. 

 The action of the waves is very vigorous on the east shore of 

 all the larger lakes. It is true also that where lakes are well- 

 nigh filled up and the force of the waves is comparatively 

 slight, the moor will begin to build from the eastern shore, but 

 the belt constructed will be narrow compared with that gn the 

 other shores. This is the condition now existing in the Lily 

 Marsh. Still another consideration points in the same direc- 

 tion. The small lakes in this particular region and the larger 

 ones more remote from Lake Ontario have bogs on all sides of 

 them. 



Anyone who has lived in the region need not be told that 

 prevailing winds are from the west. Their intensity, which, 

 by the way, is often considerable, depends upon the long 

 stretch of open lake to the west, and also, perhaps, somewhat 

 upon the saturated condition of the atmosphere as it is swept 

 in from the lake. The wind from Lake Ontario is so strong as 

 to produce a decided effect upon the trees growing near the 

 shore. They stretch their branches and often, indeed, lean 

 toward the southeast. Another striking illustration of the 

 power of the winds on the lake shore is seen in the great drifts 

 of sand along the shore, sometimes called sand-dunes. Nor is 

 the drifting of sand confined to the immediate shore of the 

 lake. There is a sand hill in the town of Albion near a ham- 



