Connecticut western news., 1915-08-26
TWIN LAKES NAMES
lContinued from page II

which obstructed its course. Owing to expansion and contraction the ice he- came filled with clefts. After a long | time there came slowly another change in the climate and streams from melt ing snows pouring into these rents, tunnelled through the great ice sheets, sweeping out the debris left from the grinding of the glacier. Time passed and the ice disappeared from even the lowest valleys and with the receding ice, again the region became clothed with verdure, and animal life re- turned.
 In some of the excavations made by the action of the ice and water the Twin Lakes rest.
 When the Indians came iuto this region they gave these lakes names. Now every unwritteu tongue through natural surroundings is subject to great variation. AS a tribe increases in numbers, it splits up. These tribes wander apart. and in time split again and again. and having no intercourse after a while all trace of the origin al | tongue disappears and in time the origin of a name becomes obscure; also when persons foreign to tongue, try to reproduce the word sound in written characters, errors are very often made.
 Now by philologists these lakes are known-the larger one as "Pahnahe- konnock'-the smaller as "Hokonko- mok." As to the meaning of these names, MT. J. H. Trumbull states that the first name apparently signifies large enclosed space, and that the meaning of "Hokonkomok'' is obscure. i Of course this is a surmise, may we not also conjecture, bearing in mind that the Indian gave names to these waters from some natural character istic. An author has written of one of { the northern lakes "Green air thy waters, green as bottle
 glass, they lay stretched thar;
 Fine muscalonee and Oswego bass are
 ketched thar.
 Onct, the wild Indian had here his de. lights, fished, fit and bled; Now the inhabitants is mostly whites,
 with nary red. i"
 These lines with little variation ap. ply well to the Salisbury lakes.
 In the language of the tribes which inhabited this region, "pahke" means "clear or pure" and "togquonswog"- "twins. !" Forming compound word of these we have "Pahetoguonswog" from which the termination. log, signifying water, Pahnahekonnok might well have been derived.
 Now as to the smaller of these lakes, "Hokonkcmok large part of this lake is shoal, and being well filled with reeds and weedy growth, furnishes an ideal feeding ground for water fowl. The Indian name for the wild goose was "Honck, the plural being "Honckock," Honck being plainly derived from the "call" of the goose. "Paug" in compound words signifies water-connecting these words we have Honckoskapaug, meaning "wild goose lake" which we'll describes a characteristic of this lake.
 Pondering upon the changes which these lakes have seen, in a hazy, may day of summer, 1 am resting upon the banks of Hokonkomock; along its shores rushes creep into its waters. On the further banks, here and there pines and hemlocks cast deep green re- f1ections into its still waters. Except for the droning of some insect no sound strikes my ear. The day is a lazy one and fall asteep and dream
 Again the lake is before me, all its shores are darkened with stately pines, hemlock and spruce. Here and there a hardwood; it's foliage, reddened by the frost, gives color to the evergreens and brightens their reflections. Late Au- tumn is here. The sun is low in the sky and evening approaches, the north ern sky darRens with an approaching snow furry. and with the change the water takes on deeper hue,
 Now snow flake falls, and as it strikes the water-"O One moment white then gone forever"-another and an- other follow, until the full squall breaks. The reeds bend their heads from the gathering snow. Look something stirs in that heavy bank ot reeds. An Indian in his canoe pushes cautiously toward its border. Faster and faster the snow falls; a wild duck swjms close to the reeds, unnoticed. "Honk, honk." The Indian raises his eyes toward the sky. "Honk, honk. |" Wild geese are nearing in their south ern flight 'Honk, and with a clat- ter and a splash the flock clashes into the water.
 Cautiously the Indian moves his hand to his shoulder, draws an arrow from its sheath, silently fixes it to the bowstring and raises his bow. "Honk ! Honkp' What tremendous noise, as from the throats of an hundred geese.
 With a start I walken. The scene has changed. The hazy, mazy day is here again. The lake is before me, but the Indian, canoe, geese, all have vanished. "Honk l' I turn at the sound and realize that the sound I heard was not the "call of the wild goose descending" but the warming