be copious, compared to its inlet. Springs may, how- 

 ever, produce accessions which are not visible, and 

 this is probable both from the geological character 

 of the country, and the transparency and coolness of 

 the water. 



"The height of this lake, above the sea, is an object 

 of geographical interest, which, in the absence of ac- 

 tual surrey, it may serve the purposes of useful in- 

 quiry to estimate. From notes taken on the ascent, 

 it cannot be short of one hundred and sixty feet 

 above Cass Lake. Adding the estimate of 1330 feet, 

 submitted in 1820, as the elevation of that lake, the 

 Mississippi may be considered to originate at an alti- 

 tude of 1490, say 1500 feet, above the Atlantic." 



It was Rev. \\ r m. T. Boutwell who invented a name 

 for the park by adopting the last syllables of the 

 Latin word "veritas" (the true) and the first syllable 

 of "caput" (head). 



Itasca lake is a narrow body of clear water about 

 four miles long, lying north and south, separating it- 

 self as its southern half into two arms or forks and 

 about three miles apart at their south ends. It is an 

 interesting fact that its waters and Mississippi oultet 

 flow northward for some distance. There are several 

 other pretty lakes in the limits of the Park, including 

 Elk Lake, which is upwards of a mile in length and 

 about three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and their 

 shores have for the most part a handsome forest 

 border. Only about a mile southwest of the State's 

 principal building, Douglas Lodge, is an elevation 1660 

 feet above sea level ; about two miles south of the 

 lodge is an elevation 1620 feet, and another west of 



27 



