Oneida Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, twenty miles long and four broad. It is famous for the abundance and excellence of its fish. ‘I made a small excursion along the border of this lake,’ says Mr. Schultz, ‘and although the shore was low, yet I found a firm, dry, white, sandy beach to walk upon; some other parts of it, however, I was informed, were low and swampy. I was much amused in the evening by a singular illumination upon the lake, which I was at first wholly unable to account for. The water at this part of the lake, it seems, is very shallow for nearly half a mile from the shore, and being perfectly transparent, and the bottom a white sand, the smallest object may be readily distinguished. The Indians have a method of taking salmon and other fish by means of an iron frame fixed in the bow of the canoe, projecting forward three or four feet, and elevated about five; upon this they kindle a bright fire of pine knots, and while one person sits in the stern with a paddle to impel the boat forward, another stands in the bow with a sharp spear ready to strike the fish who play about the light. Ten or twelve of these canoes moving about irregularly on the lake, on a fine calm evening, with the reflection of their lights, like so many lines of fire, extending from each object to a centre on which you stand, afford a most pleasing prospect, and far exceeds in my opinion the most brilliant display of artificial fireworks.’
Among the smaller lakes of New York are Onondago, Skeneatiles, Owasco, Canandaigua, Otsego, Caniadebago, Oswegatchie, Cross, Hemlock, Hanyaga, Canesus, Crooked, and Chatauque. The latter is the most western of all these lakes, near the north-east extremity of Lake Erie; it is only eight miles distant from its shore, and the descent to Lake Erie is by an easy slope. From this small lake issues one of the branches of the Alleghany river, called Conewango, which is navigable for small craft in all its extent.
New Hampshire contains several fine lakes, the largest of which is Winnipiseogee, situated east of the centre of the state, and towards the west side of Strafford county. It is a picturesque sheet of water, of irregular form, twenty-two miles in length, and varying in breadth from one to ten miles. Several long capes stretch into it from both sides, almost dividing it into several parts. From the southern extremity of this lake to the north-west corner, there is good navigation in the summer, and generally a good road in the winter; the lake is frozen about three months in the year, and many sleighs and teams, from the surrounding towns, cross it on the ice.
Dr. Dwight has described this lake, as it appears from the top of RedMountain, with his usual felicity. ‘Immediately at the foot of the height on which we stood, and in the bottom of the immense valley below, spread south-eastward the waters of the Winnipiseogee in complete view; except that one or two of its arms were partially concealed by intervening peninsulas. A finer object of the same nature was perhaps never seen. The lakes, which I had visited in my northern and western excursions, were all of them undivided masses, bordered by shores comparatively straight. This was, centrally, a vast column, if I may be allowed the term, twenty-three miles in length, and from six to eight in breadth, shooting out with inimitable beauty a succession of arms, some of them not inferior in length to the whole breadth of the lake. These were fashioned with every elegance of figure, bordered with the most beautiful winding shores, and studded with a multitude of islands. Their relative positions, also, could scarcely be more happy.
Winnipiseogee Lake
‘Many of the islands are large, exquisitely fashioned, and arranged in a manner not less singular than pleasing. As they met the eye, when surveyed from this summit, they were set in groups on both sides the great channel, and left this vast field of water unoccupied between them. Their length was universally at right angles to that of the lake; and they appeared as if several chains of hills originally crossing the country in that direction, had, by some convulsion, been merged in the water so low, that no part of them was left visible, except the oblong segments of their summits. Of those, which, by their size and situation, were most conspicuous, I counted forty-five, without attempting to enumerate the smaller ones, or such as were obscured. The points, which intrude into this lake, are widely different from those of Lake George; bold, masculine bluffs, impinging directly upon the water. These, in several instances, were spacious peninsulas, fitted to become rich and delightful residences of man, often elevated into handsome hills, and sloping gracefully into the lake.’
Umbagog Lake is situated partly in the north-east corner of the state, and is next in size to Winnipiseogee; it lies chiefly in Maine. The others of New Hampshire are Ossipee, Sanapee, Squam, and Newfound.
There are several large, and a vast number of small lakes in the state of Maine. Moosehead Lake, the largest in New England, is the source of the east branch of the Kennebeck, and is fifty miles in length by ten or fifteen in breadth. Sebago Lake, in Cumberland county, is twelve miles long. Chesuncook Lake is twenty miles long and three broad. In Vermont, besides Lake Champlain, which separates this state from New York on the west, there are other lakes of minor importance, deserving of notice. Lake Memphremagog, thirty-five miles in length and three wide, lies chiefly in Canada, and communicates with the St. Lawrence by the river St. Francis. Willoughby Lake, six miles long and one wide, discharges its waters into Memphremagog by the river Barton. This lake furnishes fish resembling bass, of an excellent flavor, weighing from ten to thirty pounds.
A number of small lakes occur towards the sources of the Mississippi. Lake Pepin is an expansion of this mighty river, about one hundred miles below the Falls of St. Anthony. It has been very fully and beautifully described by Mr. Schoolcraft.