io8 ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT FISHERIES 



trout-ground, and those of Derwentwater are no 

 exception to the rule. 



" The floating island was visible during our stay, 

 exactly in the position which Mr. Symons assigns 

 to it in his book, The Floating Island in Derwent- 

 water. Only a small area of the weed-covered 

 carpet of the lake had risen to the surface like a 

 large blister, and the surface was not solid enough 

 to land on. The water between the floating island 

 and the shore to east and south was in no place 

 more than 3 feet deep, and usually considerably 

 less. Probing the margin of the island, we found 

 that a boat-hook could easily be driven in 5 feet 

 6 inches without meeting a solid foundation. On 

 its withdrawal it was followed by a rush of gas 

 smelling slightly of sulphuretted hydrogen, but, as 

 the wind was high and rain falling at the time, it 

 was impossible to find whether it would burn. My 

 observation of the island inclines me to believe in 

 Mr. Symons' theory of its formation by the buoy- 

 ing effect of gas entangled in the vegetable felt. I 

 would meet his difficulty as to why the peaty 

 carpet should not be thick enough to form ' bob- 

 bing islands' in other parts of the lake, by the 

 observation that in no other part is the floor of the 

 lake so flat for a large area, and that, in the bay 

 where the floating island lies, the current of the 

 Derwent and the Watendlath Beck probably give 

 rise to an eddy which promotes the accumulation 

 of fine sediment, the aeration of the water, and the 

 healthy growth of water-plants." x 



Derwentwater has its origin in Sprinkling and 

 Styehead Tarns. 



1 H. R. MILL, in The Bathymetrical Survey of the English 

 Lakes. 



