J24 
Excursion to the 
blocks of stone, that my guide and myself were obliged 
to dismount and lead the horses. The distance is about 
five miles. In point of scenery this lake, which may be 
twenty miles in circumference, is not worth the trouble 
and fatigue of a visit. Surrounded by low gloomy eleva¬ 
tions, which form the summits of a portion of the Western 
Range, and fringed nearly throughout its entire margin 
with dead trees, its aspect is of far too repulsive a character 
to cheer the mind or amuse the eye. The shore for 
some distance, on the side where I was, consists of flat 
pieces of rock lying upon a rock that appeared to be per¬ 
fectly level far into the lake itself; but a mile or two 
beyond where I turned back there is a sandy beach 
several hundred yards in extent. In some parts the lake 
had receded more than 200 yards, the water being lower 
than had been known for many years. But in most 
seasons a person can wade a considerable distance into 
it without being above the shoulders. 
This lake is 3388 feet above the sea, and contains great 
numbers of eels. On one occasion so many were driven 
on shore dead, from what cause is not known, that the 
men at the hut I visited were obliged to remove to one 
farther off, and remain there until the odour that arose 
had ceased. There are two kinds of eel, the hamper, 
and Silver Eel, weighing from six to seven pounds, and 
sometimes 3| feet in length. The first of these is not 
eaten, but the other is excellent, though in my opinion 
too rich for people in general. Nearly five hundred weight 
have been caught in a night with a net in the Lake 
River, near Connorville; and from 20 to 30 dozen 
herrings are sometimes taken with a hook and line in 
a few hours. This fish is not, however, the true herring, 
though somewhat resembling it in appearance. It is 
taken from October to May, in which month it descends 
to the sea ; and the eel from December to the end of 
