GAMSBTT.] TOPOGEAPHT ^YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 473 



YELLOWSTONE LAXE. 



In one essential respect the scenery of the Yellowstone Park differs 

 from that of nearly all other parts of the Cordilleras, in possessing the ele- 

 ment of beauty, in presenting to the eye rounded forms, and soft, bright, 

 gay coloring. The type of Cordilleran scenery is grand, awful, dull 

 with even a touch of the repulsive. The prevailing colors, gray and 

 brown, weary the eye by their unifL)rmity. Water, which forms so essen- 

 tial an accessory to a beautiful landscape, is, in the West, usually want- 

 ing. Here, however, the country is dotted with lakes, great and small, 

 while the comparatively moist climate has i:)revented rapid erosion by 

 keeping the land well clothed with forests, and thus preserving rounded 

 forms. 



Among these lakes, Yellowstone is the largest and by far the most im- 

 ]X)rtant. It is the largest lake, at a great elevation, in North America. 

 It has an extremely irregular outline. It has been likened to the human 

 hand, with the fingers outstretched, and, with certain amendments, this 

 simile may serve for purposes of description. The western arm may be 

 represented by the thumb, if we suppose the thumb so telescoped that 

 its thickness greatly exceeds its length. Delusion Lake may represent 

 the forefinger, detached, separated from the hand b.y one-third of its 

 length, and shriveled to one- tenth its normal size. The Flat Mountain 

 arm corresponds in position, but in no other respect, to the middle finger. 

 It, too, supposes a miraculous degree of shrinkage. The south arm has 

 the position of the third finger, and requires little or no change to make 

 the likeness good; while the southeast arm, into which flows the Upper 

 Yellowstone, must represent the little finger. This, on the supposition 

 that the hand is that of a base-ball player, and has been hardly used, 

 may support the simile. The upper joint has evidently been bent over 

 and the whole upper part of the finger badly swollen; indeed, the whole 

 finger is considerably swollen, as it is evidently the largest of all. 



The length of the lake from the head of the southeast arm to the foot 

 of the lake, a direction nearly northwest, is 20 miles, and its breadth, 

 from its eastern shore, in a westerly direction to the head of the west 

 arm, is 15 miles. Its area is 150 square miles. It contains a number of 

 small islands: Stevenson's, near its foot; Dot and Frank's in the middle, 

 if so irregular a lake can be said to have a middle; Mollie Island and 

 a small companion, near the head of the southeast arm; Peale's Island 

 and a companion, in a corres])ondiug position in the south arm; Carring- 

 ton's in the west arm, and a rock known as Pelican Eoost, just off Steam- 

 boat Point. 



The lake was sounded on a number of lines by Mr. James Stevenson, 

 in 1871, giving a very good idea of its depths. The results of these 

 soundings have been transferred to the accompanying map. 



The shores of the lake are nearly everywhere densely wooded with a 

 large, fine growth of coniferoe. In some places the live growth stands 

 above and among a cobwork of fallen timber, placed like an abattis of 

 Dame Nature to prevent man's trespassing. The slopes to the lake are 

 for the most part gentle, easy descents, with a mud or pebble beach. 

 Such they are from the outlet to the head of the south arm, broken only 

 in two or three places by bluff' or rocky points. The broad projection 

 between the west and Flat Mountain arras is very low, but little 

 above the level of the lake, and very marshy, being dotted, especially 

 at times of high water, with many ponds. Of these, the largest, and, 

 indeed, almost the only i)ermanent one, is Delusion Lake, so long sup- 

 posed to be an arm of Yellowstone Lake. Indeed, there is no certainty 



