San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1886-01-28
GRAPHIC PICTURES OF THE SAN
MARCOS SPRINGS.
The Glories Of Their Sub-Aqueous
Depths.

| Dcpthos
For the benefit of'parties who ofte
desire to send copies abroad, we CON
pile below for our columns, perhap
the three best descriptions of tn
San Marcos River Sprir IS which hav
as yet appeared. Neither gives
complete idea of the scene, but takel
as whole, they probably come q
near doing so as is possible in
written description.
The first was written by the edito
of the FREE PREss-mainly before h
had begun the publication of this pa
perrin the summer of 1873, and wai
communicated to the columns of thu
Richmond, Qnd.) Telegram. We copy
below-as Introductory to the fullel
descriptions which follow--only stop
ping to remark that 30 many year,
ago the utilizing of these springs fol
the water supply of the town and fol
irrigation, as is now realized, is here
clearly predicted:
The San Marcos River is great natura
wonder, well worth going long distance Il
see. About half mile above the town i
surpes up from the rocky base of the noun
tains, q full-born river, as Minerva spranl
armed cap-a-pie from the head of Jupiter
in classic fable Fifty yards above yor
have no trace of its eXistence-the dasty
valley is as silent as was the Highland pas.
ere the whistle of Roderick Dhu filed 1t witt
the serried ranks and waving pennons o.
his clansmen. Descending after passing
several minor springs, you all at once be
hold the river boiling up from tho bowels
of the earth, filling large basin in the hill'
and woods, and then rolling grandly
oceanward. But the half has not been told
the water is the purest spring water, cleal
as the very air, revealing every fish ane
pebble for many feet below. Its depth Ii
seldom found less than midsides to horse
while it is often twenty feet or more. Il
abounds in fine black bass (here improperly
STYLED trout and other fish. 1t affords am
ple power for all sorts of machinery. II
could be used in irrigating the valley below,
and could readily be conveyed to supply the
town with water During the driest season
IL is not often known to fail an iota; on the
contrary, it is said to run stronger in sum
mer than in winter. This, it is conjectured
is owing to the melting of the ice and snow
at its far subterranean .source, but where
=. = ~ l,,k Ra fhot 10 II
NAV, it is certainly an inestimable blessing
to a thirsty land like Texas.
During the coldest days of winter. steam
rs from boiling cauldron rises from the
surface of the water, rs in smaller springs
The finest view of the river is to be hao
by going on boat on its upper waters. The
many -colored flowers, plants and stones or
the bottom give out from its crystal depths
all the varying hues of the kaleidoscope
forming a fairy world of wonders of incom
parable beauty.
The San Marcos is indeed joy, glory
and blessing forevermore, to all the lovely
region round about
Bishop Doggett, of the Methodist
church South, visited San Marcos in
the Spring of 1877, and wrote a letter
to the Richmond (Va.) Christian Ad-
vocate descriptive of q boat trip he
made to the head of tho river, from
which we make the following extracts:
I witnessed at the ford where we crossed,
curious scene, reminding me of the habits
of the hippopotamus. A number of cattle
were feeding in tho stream above us, wadin9
nearly to their backs, plunging their heads
entirely under he water, and gathering the
grass which grows at tho bottom. l was
not aware that horned animals ever INDUCED
in this species of grazing.
After angling with moderate luck in one
of the bayous, in which, on account of the
singular transparency, the fish and the
fishermen were perfectly visible to each
other, we ascended the river in skif TO Its
fountain-h head. 1t has no preliminary or
tributary streams. 1t bursts Immediately
from the limestone ledge at the bottom OF
the ridge, and boils up with immense vol
ume, like vast cauldron underneath the
surface, with violence which agitates the
mass of water, for considerable distance,
and which threw the boat from the ascend
ing column. Its average depth, for the dis
lance specified, ia fifteen or twenty feet, and
its width about fifty yards. Above the
point of emergence, is neither chasm or
depression. The earth is level and culti-
waited up to the mountain out of which il
bursts, laterally and perpendicularly. It's
temperature is uniform, winter and summer,
at about 60o Fahrenheit. The water has
a slight alkaline taste. 1t is as Transparent
as the atmosphere, and one could apparent
ly read an ordinary newspaper at tho bot
tom. Every object is perfectly distinct, as
in an aquarium.
The marvel Of this ,onderful river, how
ever, is not its abrupt origin or its crystal
but the wealth of sub-aquatic veg
citation, Its margin is not only lined with
shrubs and clustering heaps Of
wild crosses; and its surface IN many places,
floating with wavy tresses Of long and silk
en- grass, springing from its depths and
floating ia the current of for twenty or
thirty feet, but its entire bottom is covered
with an almost unbroked tissue Of delicate
ly tinted and beautifully variegated vegeta-
ton blooming beneath the surface, under
whose picturesque foliage the 1.-the and agile
fishes perform their graceful motions; and
whose crystal caves the imaginative Greek
would have peopled with laughing water
nymphs. / doubt If any water-scene Of the
same extent, abOunds with more transcend
ent beauty. Il is genuine, original green
house. II Is natures own conservatory
where her rArest productions are preserved
in AmsrAnthins FRESHNESS, encased in aframe-
work Of rustic grandeur, and seen through
surfaces Of perpetual purity. Coald the
San Marcos natural museum b reprOdnosd
il the Eastern States and in a higher hti-
tude, il would attract The attention Of the
word and arouse ths euth1si-
asm Of rival artists. One must Be incur
ably obtuss 20 look into this mirror % ns-
turs, and not Be trAosPortsd Siih its s1-
q1isits Imagery
A SPLENDID NHW DESCRIPTION.
We are not sure but tie following.