Topographical Sketch of the State of New- York. 91 



rivers, the Owego and the Cayuta creeks, besides several smaller 

 streams, descend to the south, and intersect the principal vallies 

 in a remarkable manner, nearly at right angles to their general 



situated a little south of the line of the Erie canal, and may be 

 traced on the map as forming the water shed, between the heads 

 of streams flowing to the north and the south, in an uninterrupted 

 course, from the Catskill mountains to the head of Seneca lake. 

 Along the summit of this table land, are a number of small, but 

 highly elevated lakes, which give a peculiar character to this re- 

 gion. The first of these, from the east, and the largest of the 

 whole, is Otsego lake, the outlet of which forms the Susquehanna 

 river. It is a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded by high 

 hills ; is nine miles in length, three in breadth, and elevated 1193 

 feet above the surface of the ocean. Tho next is Schuyler's lake, 

 which also gives a branch to the Susquehanna : It is situated a 

 few miles to the west of Otsego lake, in the same county ; its ex- 

 act elevation is^not known, but it cannot be less than 1200 feet. 

 The other lakes worthy of notice on this table land, are Cazenovia, 

 Skaneatelas and Owasco. These are on the northern declivity, 

 and discharge their waters to the north : they are scarcely at 

 much elevated as the two just mentioned ; the first being about 

 900 feet, the second 840, and the last 670 feet above the level of 

 the ocean. It might be supposed, by an inspection of the map, 

 that Cayuga and Seneca lakes were also highly elevated on this 

 table land ; but this is not the case, as the former is only 387 and 

 the latter 447 feet above the level of tide. They in reality occupy 

 two long narrow ravines, which deeply indent the surface of the 

 adjacent country, and are separated from each other by a ridge 

 which rises to the height of more than 800 feet above Cayuga 

 lake. The smaller lakes above mentioned are situated several 

 hundred feet above the highest level of the Erie canal, and form 

 inexhaustible reservoirs to supply it with water. 



It may be here remarked, that this is an advantage possessed 

 by no other canal route in this country, as it is a curious feature 

 in the physical geography of the United States, that except in the 

 swamps along the southern sea coast, no lake is to be found east 

 of the Mississippi and south of the latitude of the southern boun- 

 dary of New- York, while almost every river north of this degree 

 issues from a lake or a pond.* 



