9 
between high- and low-water conditions. in the Station field 
is well shown by several of the plates appended to this re- 
port.* This long-continued low water worked marked changes 
in the topography of the bottomlands adjacent to Havana. 
Phelps Lake+ dried up earlier than it did the preceding year, 
Thompson’s Lake showed a marked diminution, principally at 
the northern and southern ends, long stretches of soft mud or 
matted vegetation in which dead fish were abundant being 
“exposed. This mud, after a few weeks exposure, hardened 
and cracked open to a depth of a foot or eighteen inches, and a 
growth of shore grasses began to spring up on it. Quiver Lake, 
especially along the west shore and in the region known as 
Doetish Lake, was considerably reduced in area, and in the 
absence of any considerable amount of vegetation its depth was 
decreased more than usual. Flag Lake, which in most years is 
a marsh with one to four feet of water filled with rushes, arrow 
leaves, water smartweed, water-lilies, and the lotus, dried up 
early and a wagon road was established across its bed. Havana 
Lake, the expanse of the river above the mouth of Spoon River, 
presented the unusual appearance of a narrow river channel 
flanked on either side by a broad mud bank. ‘The filling in and 
extension of these banks by the deposit of silt during recent 
years has been very marked, and is followed by an extension of 
the swamp willows over the rising banks. 
In a general way the hydrological conditions of 1898 
resembled those of 1897. The rise of the river began in Janu- 
ary and continued through the winter, culminating April 2 at 
eighteen feet, a point equaled or exceeded but twice since 1879, 
at which time records were begun at the Government dam at 
Copperas Creek, eighteen miles above the location of the Station. 
As in 1897, the high water continued during the early summer, 
dropping rapidly in August to the minimum stage. It did not, 
however, reach the extreme condition of the previous year, several 
minor fluctuations having occurred at frequent intervals during 
the fall months. The reduction in the aquatic vegetation begun 
in the previous year has continued. The increased activity in 
the fishing industry has also contributed largely to the removal 
*For these localities see Plate I. : ; : 
+Compare Plates III. and IV., and V. and VI For differences with respect to mid- 
summer vegetation at similar stage of water, see Plates VII. and VIII. 
