86 



THE MUSEUM. 



ed with very heavy and hard rocks, 

 with sharp and unworn edges, over 

 which scarcely a score of human feet 

 have trod. Farther up are deep beds 

 of ashes and Hght spongy rocks and 

 cinders, giving evidence of intense heat. 

 Within the crater, as without, the sur- 

 face is entirely covered with volcanic 

 rocks, but here it forms one of the hot- 

 test places on a clear day in August, 

 one could scarcely imagine. Not a 

 breath of air seems to enter, and the 

 hot sun pours down upon thousands of 

 rocksand stones that reflect the rays 

 with an intensity that seems to multi- 

 ply beyond conception. 



Directly north of the island is Floe 

 rock, a grand old sentinel, standing 

 boldy out on the west side of the lake 

 and reaching over 2,000 ft. perpendic- 

 ular. From the top of it you can 

 drop a stone and it will pass down and 

 grow smaller, until your head begins 

 to swim and you see the stone become 

 a mere speck and fade entirely from 

 view, and at last, nearly half a mile 

 below, it strikes the unruffled surface 

 of the water, and sinks forever from 

 sight in the depth of a bottomless lake. 



Soundings of the lake are as follows: 

 The greatest dpeth recorded was 1,996 

 ft. of the whole number made eighteen 

 were over 1,900 ft., thirteen over 1,800 

 ft., eleven over 1,600 ft., and nineteen 

 over 1,500 ft. It was found at the 

 bottom of the northeastern end lies a 

 plain of several square miles perfect- 

 ly level, while south of the center is a 

 cliff about 900 feet high, and west of 

 the center seems to be a cinder cone, 

 nearly 1200 ft. in height, with a crater 

 in the top 250 ft. deep. Its summit is 

 600 feet below the surface of the wat- 

 er. Crater Lake is but a striking mo- 

 mento of a dead past. 



Imagine a vast mountain six by sev- 

 en miles through, at an elevation of 

 8,000 feet, with the top removed and 

 the inside hollowed out, and filled with 

 the clearest water in the world to with- 

 in 2,000 feet of the top. ' Then place 

 a round island in one end 845 feet high, 

 then dig a circular hole tapering to the 

 center like a funnel 100 feet deep and 

 475 feet in diameter, and you have a 

 perfect representation of Crater Lake. 



What an immense affair it must 

 have been ages upon ages ago, when 

 long the hot breath of a volcano soiled 

 its hoary head, standing as a proud 

 monarch with its feet upon the earth 

 and its head in the heavens it towered 

 far, far above the mountaian ranges, 

 aye, looked down upon the snowy 

 peaks of Hood and Shasta and sniffed 

 the air beyond the reach of Everest. 



Then streams of fire began to shoot 

 forth. Great seas of lava were hurled 

 upon the earth beneath. 



The elements seemed bent upon es- 

 tablishing hell upon earth and fi.xing 

 its throne upon the great mountain . 

 At last its foundation gave away and it 

 sank forever from sight. Down, down, 

 down deep into the bowels of the 

 earth, leaving a great black, smoking 

 chasm, which succeeding ages filled 

 with pure, fresh water, giving to our 

 day and generation one of the most 

 beautiful lakes within the vision of 

 man. In conclusion I will say, Crater 

 Lake is one of the grandest points of 

 interest on the earth. Here all the 

 in;,^enuity of nature seem to have been 

 e: rted to the fullest capacity to build 

 01 grand, aue inspiring temple within 

 whch to live and from which to gaze 

 upon ihe surrounding world and say, 

 here would I dwell and live forever; 

 here would I make my home from 



