SOMETHING ABOUT LAKES.
You remember that in going up a mountain we passed a pretty lake. Would you not like to know something more about lakes? You have all seen ponds left by the rain in hollows of the land. Some of the boys have built rafts and paddled about on these ponds.
A lake is much like a pond only that it is larger. Different lakes have different stories to tell. All these stories are interesting and we will listen to some of them.
Our mountain lake was formed in a river valley. Below the valley the river flowed through a cation with steep, high walls. The falling rain soaked into the cracks on the rocky bank until by and by the rocks were made so 'loose that they were ready to fall. One wet winter the whole hillside slid down and blocked the river. A great mass of rocks and dirt filled up the whole canon.
The river kept flowing into the valley above and soon a large lake filled it. When the water of the lake reached the top of the dam the river flowed on again. It tumbled over the dam and went dashing down the canon as if nothing had happened.
After a time the lake became very pretty. Willows and grasses grew about its shores, and many water animals came to make their homes there.
But the river was not idle. You know how it works a part of the year. It kept bringing down mud, and sand, and pebbles and had no place to leave them but in the lake. The upper end of the lake where the river flowed in began to fill up. At last a marsh took the place of this part of the lake, and then dry land covered with grasses. The land formed in this way we call a delta.
The lake will after a time disappear and a beau tiful meadow fill the whole valley.
There are other kinds of lakes besides the one we have just learned about. The water in our mountain lake is fresh, and good to drink, because it has an outlet. There are lakes with no outlets and these are often very salty. Besides the mud and sand which the streams bring into the lakes there is a small amount of salt, soda, and other minerals. After a time the water becomes so salty that it is not fit to drink. In some places they make salt and soda from the water of such lakes.
Lakes are very- pretty and many people camp by them in the summer. They are also useful, because they store the water of the winter storms which would otherwise run away to the ocean.