THE POND IN WINTER. 
309 
puddles after a shower. The amount of it is, the im¬ 
agination, give it the least license, dives deeper and 
soars higher than Nature goes. So, probably, the 
depth of the ocean will be found to be very inconsider¬ 
able compared with its breadth. 
As I sounded through the ice I could determine the 
shape of the bottom with greater accuracy than is pos¬ 
sible in surveying harbors which do not freeze over, and 
I was surprised at its general regularity. In the deep¬ 
est part there are several acres more level than almost 
any field which is exposed to the sun wind and plough. 
In one instance, on a line arbitrarily chosen, the depth did 
not vary more than one foot in thirty rods; and generally, 
near the middle, I could calculate the variation for each 
one hundred feet in any direction beforehand within 
three or four inches. Some are accustomed to speak of 
deep and dangerous holes even in quiet sandy ponds 
like this, but the effect of water under these circum¬ 
stances is to level all inequalities. The regularity of 
the bottom and its conformity to the shores and the 
range of the neighboring hills were so perfect that a dis¬ 
tant promontory betrayed itself in the soundings quite 
across the pond, and its direction could be determined 
by observing the opposite shore. Cape becomes bar, and 
plain shoal, and valley and gorge deep water and 
channel. 
When I had mapped the pond by the scale of ten 
rods to an inch, and put down the soundings, more than 
a hundred in all, I observed this remarkable coincidence. 
Having noticed that the number indicating the greatest 
depth was apparently in the centre of the map, I laid a 
rule on the map lengthwise, and then breadthwise, and 
found, to my surprise, that the line of greatest length 
