AURORA— CAYUGA LAKE. 19 



LETTER IV. 



Aurora, 9th June, 1820. 

 My Dear Sir, 



In passing from Aurora, along the eastern 

 bank of the Cayuga Lake towards the bridge, I 

 met with several objects of great interest, and I 

 much regretted that my time did not admit of a 

 visit to a distinguished naturalist of the society of 

 Friends, David Thomas, who lives in this vicini- 

 ty. Whether these interior lakes have been form- 

 ed from the retreat of the ocean, and are in a state 

 of gradual subsidence ; or whether they have 

 been produced by springs and deposits of water 

 in great cavities, enlarging gradually their dimen- 

 sions by breaking down the feeble barriers of 

 schist with which they are surrounded, are still 

 points subjudice. As I proceeded on the banks 

 of this lake, which exhibit a grandeur and beauty 

 of scenery, far transcending any thing of the kind 

 I have seen in Europe, I frequently came to the 

 seats of ancient Indian nations, selected as such 

 for their abundance of vegetable subsistence, fishes, 

 birds and beasts. I was utterly astonished when 

 I reached the Union Springs, formed by thejunc- 

 tion of exuberant fountains springing up from the 

 earth, and forming instantaneously a water power 



