-1830] WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. 13 



flowing to the north and the south, in an uninterrupted 

 course, from the Catskill mountains to the head of Seneca 

 lake. Along the summit of this table land, are a number 

 of small, but highly elevated lakes, which give a peculiar 

 character to this region. The first of these, from the east, 

 and the largest of the whole, is Otsego lake, the outlet of 

 which forms the Susquehanna river. It is a beautiful sheet 

 of water, surrounded by high hills; is nine miles in length, 

 three in breadth, and elevated 1193 feet above the surface 

 of the ocean. The next is Schuyler's lake, which also gives 

 a branch to the Susquehanna : It is situated a few miles to 

 the west of Otsego lake, in the same county; its exact eleva- 

 tion is not known, but it cannot be less than 1200 feet. The 

 other lakes worthy of notice on this table land, are Cazenovia, 

 Skaneatelas and Owasco. These are on the northern de- 

 clivity, and discharge their waters to the north : they are 

 scarcely as much elevated as the two just mentioned; the 

 first being about 900 feet, the second 840, and the last 670 

 feet above the level of the ocean. It might be supposed, by 

 an inspection of the map, that Cayuga and Seneca lakes were 

 also highly elevated on this table land ; but this is not the 

 case, as the former is only 387 and the latter 447 feet above 

 the level of tide. They in reality occupy two long narrow 

 ravines, which deeply indent the surface of the adjacent 

 country, and are separated from each other by a ridge which 

 rises to the height of more than 800 feet above Cayuga lake. 

 The smaller lakes above mentioned are situated several hun- 

 dred feet above the highest level of the Erie canal, and form 

 inexhaustible reservoirs to supply it with water. 



It may be here remarked, that this is an advantage pos- 

 sessed by no other canal route in this country, as it is a 

 curious feature in the physical geography of the United 

 States, that except in the swamps along the southern sea 

 coast, no lake is to be found east of the Mississippi and south 

 of the latitude of the southern boundary of New- York, while 

 almost every river north of this degree issues from a lake or 

 a pond,* 



* Gallatin's Report. 



