192 BULLETIN OF THE 



Pemadumcook, including Ambejijis, is assigned an extent of sixteen 

 square miles. The whole constituted one lake with two outlets, a case 

 rare in Maine. The formerly connected lakes are now separated by 

 a wide lagoon and a bnsh-grown sand-flat of four rods wide, products of 

 detritus brought down by the river. In times of flood, boats still pass 

 freely from one to the other. Millinoket at present has for its outlet a 

 stream bearing the same name as the lake, which, rising from the east- 

 ern end, flows south into Shad Pond, the lowest lake-like expansion of the 

 Penobscot. The lagoon, through which in 1871 we were barely able to 

 thrust our light boats, was now a broad surface of mud, imjiassable by 

 boat or on foot, and an effectual barrier to the extension of our sound- 

 ings and exploration into Millinoket. That this lake, as to its surround- 

 ings, is not unlike the neighboring ones, we are confident from our 

 recollections of a pretty careful examination of it made in the previous 

 visit. They agree with the statement of Dr. Jackson, that " the islands 

 are composed of the detritus of granite rocks, and the shores are com- 

 posed of the same materials." * Seen from the summit of Ktaadn, the 

 outspread Millinoket presents in a marked degree those flowing outlines 

 of gently rounded bays which distinguish lakes enclosed by detritus 

 from the angular, irregular, and often narrow recesses that are said to 

 characterize lake basins excavated in solid rock. Of the latter class I 

 know not an instance in Maine. 



The following tables register soundings made at intervals in what 

 appeared to be the deepest pai'ts of the lakes we navigated. Casts were 

 made from the two boats, running some distance apart, and commonly in 

 nearly parallel lines. The columns marked A contain the results of 

 soundings taken by myself, with the assistance of Mr. Blake. The col- 

 umns B give soundings made by Mr. C. B. Wilson from Dr. Crosby's 

 boat. The figures show that the lakes represented, with the notable 

 exception of Schoodic, have bottoms that are generally flat ; and noting 

 the nature of the materials that compose the shores, the lake beds would 

 seem to be hollows, which had their origin in irregular accumulations of 

 drift deposited on broad, flattish surfaces, f 



* Second Iteport on Geology of Public Lands, 1838, p. 11. 



t G. W. Taylor, Esq., a resident of Cazenovia, Madison County, N. Y., writes as 

 follows respecting Cazenovia Lake, which is one of the feeders of the Erie Canal, and 

 situated in a valley surrounded by hills : — " Mr. Ledyard, one of the old inhabitants, 

 made many soundings before I came here to reside. The bed of the lake [four miles 

 long by three fourths of a mile wide] is as level as a valley ; about one third of its 

 area varies in depth only from 43 to 46 feet, — the latter being the greatest depth. 

 The south end [the foot] of the lake is quite shallow." 



