178 



NATUKE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



a storm the waters near shore may be beaten 

 brown or yellow by the waves, and in the spring 

 the lake may be turbid with the wash of heavy 

 rains ; but these are only temporary disturb- 

 ances. It soon returns to its normal clearness 

 and purity. 



And purity combined with freshness and 

 wildness, are the characteristics that excite an 

 enthusiasm about lake beauty in the breast of 

 almost everyone. We all feel it. A day spent 

 in coasting the shores in a canoe is not only a 

 revelation of nature but of ourselves. The 

 drift along under the cliff, the coolness and 

 the shade from bank and bush, the mysterious 

 depths with sunken rocks and water-logged 

 tree-trunks, the shoals of sand and pebbles, 

 the little bays with pickerel grass and lily- 

 pads, the mosses of the gorge, wake memories 

 perhaps of an earlier, a simpler, and a nobler 

 life. We are back to the earth again and the 

 elements are around us. The human animal, 

 caged in cities and taught the tricks of civil- 

 ization, can never forget the nature that sent 

 him forth. 



But the mountain-lake has other charms 

 that are perhaps not so superficial or so sen- 

 timental. Its color in particular is of mar- 



