LAKE RIDGES. 
357 
What a chapter does this simple process open in the former history of our great lakes, or 
in the present history of these and of the ocean where large rivers are flowing in ! How many 
bars of sand and mud may be thrown down at the mouths of rivers which are beyond the 
reach of waves, and which only become known when the coast is elevated ! By the gradual 
and constant rising of a portion of the continent, a series of such ridges may be formed, each 
of which will be at a lower level than the preceding one, and which, when the whole is ele¬ 
vated, would present an interesting series of parallel roads and ridges, as we may see to some 
extent in the ancient lake ridge, and along the present lake shore. May it not be possible 
that some of those ridges which have been identified as ancient moraines , are ridges which 
have been formed in this or a similar manner? 
The beach before alluded to, between the lake and these ponds, is nearly a mile long before 
coming to the outlet; from fifty to one hundred feet wide, and generally not more than five or 
six feet above the lake. For the last few years it has been wearing away, and the roots of 
large trees growing upon it are becoming exposed, and some of the trees themselves are 
thrown down. 
Farther westward, and along the distance between b and c (see map above), the space 
between the lake and the marsh is five or six hundred feet wide. This is occupied by three 
distinct ridges, running parallel with each other and with the lake. Near the western extre¬ 
mity, these three ridges divide into four, but continue equally well marked. Their summits 
are from six to eight or ten feet above the lake, and the valleys between them are from four 
to six feet lower than the tops of the ridges. The materials of which they are composed are 
similar to the recent lake beaches, consisting of pebbles and sand covered with a light sandy 
loam. They are overgrown with large trees of oak, elm, beech and button-wood, which shows 
their antiquity. Their form is distinct and well-marked, while the cause which gave rise to 
them more than a hundred years since is still active, producing other similar ones before our 
eyes. These associations carry us back to the time when the great ridge was washed by the 
lake; when the same causes were in action over a more extended surface, to produce that 
striking feature, which cannot fail to convince us of the former elevation of waters in the valley 
of Lake Ontario. 
I might go on to illustrate the condition of the beaches and outlets farther west, but these 
few examples are applicable to the whole. The ridge or beach west of Long pond is undi¬ 
vided, and in many places from ten to twenty feet high, showing that a variation of a few 
feet in height can be no objection to the mode of formation. These ponds and marshes, which 
are now only covered with Sparganium and some coarse water plants, are rapidly becoming 
dry ; and the process by which several are drained in one outlet, by keeping open the channel 
from the greater force of water, will tend more certainly to produce the result. During the 
time that these outlets remain closed, the water within the ponds is raised above the level of 
the lake without, and at the same time the mud and silt is brought in and deposited upon the 
bottom; by this process, we see in what manner those marshes now below the level of the 
lake will be raised above it. 
