178 NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
astorm the waters near shore may be beaten 
brown or yellow by the waves, and in the spring 
the lake may be turbid with the wash of heavy 
rains; but these are only temporary disturb- 
ances. It soon returns to its normal clearness 
and purity. 
And purity combined with freshness and 
wildness, are the characteristics that excite an 
enthusiasm about lake beauty in the breast of 
almost everyone. We all feel it. A day spent 
in coasting the shores in a canoe is not only a 
revelation of nature but of ourselves. The 
Lake drift along under the cliff, the coolness and 
aki the shade from bank and bush, the mysterious 
depths with sunken rocks and water-logged 
tree-trunks, the shoals of sand and pebbles, 
the little bays with pickerel grass and lily- 
pads, the mosses of the gorge, wake memories 
perhaps of an earlier, a simpler, and a nobler 
life. Weare back to the earth again and the 
elements are around us. The human animal, 
caged in cities and taught the tricks of civil- 
ization, can never forget the nature that sent 
him forth. 
But the mountain-lake has other charms 
that are perhaps not so superficial or so sen- 
timental. Its color in particular is of mar- 
