592 



RECREATION. 



even the driver's soul was touched by its 

 beauty; and the little child oh the seat 

 beside me clapped her hands in ecstacy, 

 then gazed in open-eyed wonder Natur- 

 alist, child and driver all felt heart thrills 

 as they drank in the beauty and restfulness 

 of the scene. All are poets more or less; 

 only the proper stimulus is needed. 



Soon the lake was reached and, after a 

 clean and wholesome dinner, which the 

 good housewife soon prepared for us, we 

 wended our way across the little meadow 

 and down to the lake. 



Lake Mashipacong is a pretty little body 

 of water nestling among low hills and 

 covering about ioo acres. The shores 

 rise well but gently everywhere except 

 at the head and at the outlet. They are, 

 in most places, well covered with a heavy 

 growth of chestnut, maple, alder, oaks, 

 sassafras, etc. The shores, except at the 

 upper and lower ends, are dry and ad- 

 mirably suited for cottage locations. At 

 the head of the lake is a large cranberry 

 marsh in which I spent most pleasantly 

 an entire afternoon, so many interesting 

 things did it contain. Great beds of soft, 

 yielding sphagnum moss in which one 

 sinks to his knees; ozier willows, button- 

 bushes and other small, bushy shrubs 

 here and there; isolated pitcher plants 

 resting on the sphagnum, the bright green 

 and purple of their leaves contrasting 

 pleasingly with the pale or bleached 

 green of the sphagnum; and then a multi- 

 tude of little cranberry bushes scattered 

 profusely everywhere, their vari-colored 

 berries resting lightly on the soft sphag- 

 num bed. Bright red, blood red, wine- 

 colored, purplish, and waxy or creamy 

 white, with red and purple spots and 

 blotches, they were; jewels in a setting of 

 modest green. And what quantities there 

 were of them! 



The immediate shores of Lake Mashipa- 

 cong are in many places somewhat rocky 

 but low and easily accessible. In the 

 shallow water near shore are some large 

 boulders, gravel and slabs of sandstone; 

 and patches of water-shield and white 

 water lily grow here and there. Near the 

 head of the lake the fragrant, waxy water 

 lilies were still blooming. 



Many soundings were taken and the 

 depth of the lake was determined. One 

 line was run the long way of the lake and 

 as nearly through the middle as possible. 

 A sounding was taken every five oar- 

 strokes, which gave 27 soundings. The 

 depth was found to be uniformly 12 to 15 

 feet. The greatest depth was at the 

 12th, 13th and 14th soundings from the 

 South end. Another line was run nearer 

 the West side and 18 stations were made, 

 the greatest depth found being 14^ feet 

 and the least 12 feet. Of the 45 soundings 

 taken, one was at 11 feet, 13 were at 12 



feet, 10 were at 13 feet, 17 were at 14 

 feet, one was at 14^ feet, and three were 

 at 15 feet. It thus appears that the 

 depth is remarkably uniform. The bot- 

 tom in all the deeper parts is of soft mud 

 or decaying vegetation. 



October first, at 4 P. M., when the tem- 

 perature of the air was 66°, that of the 

 surface of the water was 64 and that of 

 the bottom, at a depth of 10 feet, was 62 . 

 At another station the surface tempera- 

 ture was 64 and the bottom, in 12 feet, 

 62. 5°. 



Animal life in Lake Mashipacong is 

 abundant. Fish food is there in great 

 profusion and the lake can support a 

 great number of such game and food fishes 

 as the large-mouth black bass, pickerel 

 and pike. Some collecting was done and 

 the following species of fishes were found to 

 inhabit the lake: 



1. Common bullhead, Ameiurus nebu- 

 losus. Quite common. 



2. White sucker, Catostomus commers- 

 onii. Said to be common. 



3. Chub sucker, Erimyzon sucetta. Sev- 

 eral young examples obtained. 



4. Roach, Abramis crysolencas. Quite 

 common and excellent food for bass. 



5. Common eel, A nguillachrysypa. Said 

 to be common at times. 



6. Banded pickerel, Lucius americanus. 



7. Common Eastern pickerel, Lucius 

 reticulatus. 



Both of these pickerels seem to be quite 

 common and to reach a good size, the 

 latter often weighing 4 pounds or more. 

 Those usually caught run from £ pound 

 to 2 or 3 pounds. Both are excellent 

 game fish and delicious food when fried 

 or baked. These 2 species may be 

 readily distinguished. The banded pick- 

 erel has usually 12 (11 to 13) branchios- 

 tegal rays, 11 or 12 rays in the dorsal, and 

 11 or 12 rays in the anal; while the com- 

 mon Eastern pickerel has 14 to 16 branchi- 

 ostegal rays, 14 dorsal and 13 anal rays. 



In the former the color is dark green, 

 the side with about 20 distinct curved 

 blackish bars; while the latter is greenish, 

 with many dark curved lines and streaks, 

 mostly horizontal and always more or less 

 reticulated, hence the specific name. 



8. Common sunfish or bluegill, Lepo- 

 mis pallidus. Common. 



9. Large-mouth black bass, Micro p- 

 terus salmoides. A small plant of this 

 important game fish was made in this 

 lake some time ago. The lake is splen- 

 didly adapted to this species and it will 

 no doubt thrive well in it. 



The following species of mollusks were 

 collected in the lake: 



Anodonta cataracta, Planorbis campan- 

 ulatus, Limnaa catascopium, Sphcerium 

 rhomboideum, and Sphcerium striatinum. 

 The first is a fresh water mussel ©r clam, 



