606 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. Vni., No. 203 



the lakes is nearly east and west. Its height 

 above Lake Itasca at its western base is 10 feet, 

 where it is less than 100 feet wide ; and thus, if 

 each lake were a little higher in elevation, they 

 would at this point be within 100 feet of each 

 other. The highest point on the trail between 

 the two lakes is 12 feet. The ridge extends to 

 the outlet of Elk Lake, from which point Lake 

 Itasca is in full view. Another hill rises to the 

 east of the outlet, leaving an opening 12 feet wide, 

 through which the stream flows with a rapid cur- 



nothing from springs along its route, and its 

 increased width and depth are caused by back 

 water from Lake Itasca. It is a very pretty little 

 stream, and has been cleared out by the Indians, 

 who go there annually and place fish-traps to 

 catch the fish that run between the two lakes. 

 The dift'erence in elevation between the two lakes 

 is 1 foot and 1 inch. The stream between the 

 two lakes falls 6 inches between Elk Lake and a 

 point where it enters the tamarack swamp, in the 

 first hundred feet of its course ; the balance, 7 



rent, in a channel 6 feet wide and 6 inches deep. 

 The balance of the land between the two lakes 

 on either side of the creek, is a tamarack swamp, 

 The outlet of Elk Lake flows nearly north-east 80 

 feet, and enters the tamarack swamp, where its 

 general direction is north for 600 feet, until it 

 reaches a point within 110 feet of Lake Itasca. 

 It then curves back toward Elk Lake, and finally 

 enters Lake Itasca, its whole course from Elk 

 Lake measuring 1,084 feet. Where it debouches 

 into Lake Itasca, it is 7 feet wide and 8 inches 

 deep. We noted its width at numerous places 

 in its course, and found it to vary from 6 to 12 

 feet, and its depth from 2 to 8 inches. It gains 



inches, measures the fall in its pourse through 

 the tamarack swamp of nearly 1,000 feet. 



Leaving this interesting part of the lake for a 

 time, I will give some details in regard to the 

 other feeders of the lake. The stream entering 

 the south-east arm, as above remarked, is evi- 

 dently quite variable in its character. At times, 

 apparently, it is very shallow ; but after heavy 

 rains it is quite a torrent, and drains the lakes 

 which form during the wet season, marked Q, R, 

 and S. When the stream is at its best, it is fully 

 6 feet wide and a foot deep. The stream entering 

 Lake Itasca at a is merely a sluggish creek, drain- 

 ing the marsh to the northward in sections 23 and 



