TREATMENT OF WATER. 
305 
improver should take his stand at that part cf the ground 
where th6 dam or head is to be formed, and raising his 
levelling instrument to the exact height to which the 
intended lake will rise, sweep round with his eye upon the 
surrounding sides of the valley, and indicate by placing 
marks there, the precise line to which the water will reach. 
This can easily be done throughout the whole circumference 
by a few changes of position. 
When the outline is ascertained in this way, and marked 
out, the improver can, with the occasional aid of the leveller, 
easily determine where and how he can make alterations 
and improvements. He will then excavate along the new 
margin, until he makes the water line (as shown by the 
instrument) penetrate to all the various bays, inlets, and 
curves of the proposed lake. In making these irregular 
variations, sometimes bold and striking, at others fainter 
and less perceptible, he can be guided, as we have already 
suggested, by no fixed rules, but such as he may deduce 
from the operations of nature on the same materials, or by 
imbuing his mind with the beauty of forms in graceful and 
refined art. In highly polished scenery, elegant curves and 
graceful sweeps should enter into the composition of the 
outline ; but in wilder or more picturesque situations, more 
irregular and abrupt variations will be found most suitable 
and appropriate. 
The intended water outline once fully traced and under- 
stood, the workmen can now proceed to form the banks. 
All this time the improver will keep in mind the supposed 
appearance of the bank of a natural lake stripped of its 
vegetation, etc., which will greatly assist him in his progress. 
In some places the banks will rise but little from the water 
at others one or two feet, and at others perhaps three, four, 
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