Weekly Trinity journal., 1879-05-17
THE BIRTH OF A LAKE.

The Merced river, as a whole, is re
markably like an elm tree, and it requires
but little effort on the part of imsgina-
tion TO picture it standing upright, with
all its lakes hanging upon its spreading
branches, the topmost eight miles in
height. Now add all the other lake
bearing rivers of the Sierra, each in its
place, and you will have a truly glori-
Gus spectacular avenue the length and
width Of the range the long, slender,
gray shafts, the milky way of arching
branches, and the moon like lakes all
clearly defined and shining on the blue
sky. How excite1ly such an addition to
astronomy would bo gazed at ! Yet these
lskeful rivers are still more excitingly
beautiful impressive In their natural po-
stions TO those who have the eyes to see
them as they lie imbedded IN their mead
ows and forests and glacier>sculp lptured
rocks.
When a mountain lake is born-when
like young eye, it first opens to light-it
is an irregular, expressionless crescent,
inclosed in banks of rock and ice-bare
gaciated rock on the lower side, the rug.
ged snout of glacier on the upper. Ir
this condition it remains for many year
until at length, toward the end of some
auspicious cluster of seasons, the glacier
recedes beyond the upper margin, leaving
time thousands Of years after its concep
tion beneath the glacier that scooped it:
basin. The landscape, cold and bare, is
reflected in its pure depths the winds
ruffie its CLASSY surface, and the sun fills
it with throbbing spanges, while ITS
waves begin to lap and murmur around
its leafess shores sun -spangles and stars
its only flowers, the winds and snow its
only visitors. Mean while the glacier
continues to recede, and numerous rills,
still younger than the lake itself, bring
down glacier mud and sand>grains, peb-
bes, giving rise to margnsrings and plats
of soil. To these fresh soil beds come
many waiting plant. First, a hardy
carex, with arching leaves and spike OF
brown flowers then, as the seasons grow
warmer, and the soil-beds deeper and
wider, other sedges take their appo inted
places, and these are Joined by blue gem
tians, daisies, dodecatheons, violets, hon
eyworts and manya lowly moss. Shrubs
also hasten in time to the new gardens,
kalma, with its glossy leaves and purple
flowers, the Arctic willow, making soft
vowed carpets, together with the healthy
bryanthus and cassiope-the fairest and
dearest of them all. Insects now enrich
the air, frogs pipe cheerily in the shall
lows, soon followed by the ousel, which
is the first bird to visit a glacier lake, as
She sedge is the first OF plants.
So the young lake grows in beauty,
becoming more and more humanity Iowa
BILE from century to century. Groves OF
aspin spring up, and hardy pines, and the
Williamson spruce, until richly over
shadowed and embowered. But while its
shores are being enriched, the soil beds
creep out with incessant growth, con-
tracing its area, while the lighter mud
particles deposited on the bottom cause it
to grow constantly shallower, until at
length the last remnant Of the lake vans
ishes-closed forever in ripe apd natural
old age. And now its feeding stream
goes winding on through the new gar
dens and groves that have taken its place
without hating for moment. .-Joh1,
Muir ill iScribHer for Junua1V.