the person in full enjoyment of health rarely ever appreciates it to the fullness that he will on being deprived of it and have its welcome return.
the bounties of nature are so great and common that they fail to attract our attention to the extent of some trifles that come new into our way from day to day. one of the greatest provisions of nature, as universal as air and earth, is the millions of springs gushing up through the pores of the earth in every country and clime. to make this provision of fresh water ample, needs very large reservoirs for supplies. the amplitude of this reservoir, if the situation is as claimed in this book, it is believed everybody will admit. to prove that this supply comes from such a general source a class of witnesses must be brought out. one of the most important must be the feeding of[56] our great lakes on high altitudes. these great bodies of fresh water are universally credited with enormous depths of pure, clear water, such as never could exist as the result of shed water. many of them practically have no streams feeding them, but, without regard to weather conditions of seasons, pour forth enormous bodies of water without change of volume. lake superior will be taken again as a prominent witness. here is an inland sea, on the highest ground between the ocean and rocky mountains, so large that vessels can sail on it for days out of sight of land. not a river of any importance flows into it, the country around it not admitting the formation of a large stream.
the water during the hottest summer months sustains a uniform temperature of forty-five degrees, and is as clear as crystal.
the outflow from this lake furnishes the great river passing through the sault ste. marie, through which passes a greater tonnage of vessels than through the suez canal, and most of them of very large draft. this river with the combined waters of lake michigan and lake huron passes on through the detroit river and lake erie and over niagara falls. it is also claimed that from lake superior a large subterranean stream flows into lake ontario from[57] which lake the stream in junction with niagara river forms the st. lawrence, the river so copious in its flow as to be immune from floods.
this question is in point: where does this enormous supply of water come from to supply lake superior?
without taking single witnesses, we will call up groups. take the various great lakes of the world, europe, asia and africa, where all great rivers seem to have their sources in some lake.
as to rainfall if that originates these streams, and if so, how is their flow kept so uniform, or is it from a steady, unfailing source, as would come from the inside ocean of supply?
lakes of enormous depth exist in the sierra nevada, and rocky mountains, as pyramid lake, donner, tahoe and crater lakes. in our adirondacks are thousands of lakes, in vermont and new hampshire, and in the white mountain region, throughout the mountain portions of maine, in west virginia, and the carolinas, and in other high and mountainous sections lakes abound. as we come to the low country there are few witnesses to call, as the only body of water worth mentioning is in utah, that lake being salt and below the level of the ocean.
while the subject of this chapter is introduced under the heading of springs, it may seem out[58] of place to bring in these great lakes, assuming that they are of the same class. but there is no doubt whatever of their being nothing more or less than mammoth springs.
next to the great lake system of the world, may be called in evidence the atolls so prevalent in the southern pacific ocean and growing also in other places on the globe. these peculiar features appear to have been built up from the tops of submarine mountains or old craters that have been filled with fresh water, from which structures of coral have grown till they reached the surface. the formation of these atolls being generally elongated, or in chains like mountain ranges, is suggestive of the same influence in their inception as the upheaval of mountain chains on land surfaces by hydraulic pressure.
this may be a good place to ask where the fresh water supply comes from to produce these atolls. that they are produced by fresh water there can be no question, as the work of coral is never performed without an abundance of this element to build through. that the bottom of the ocean has many subterranean rivers nobody will dispute. that nearly every island in the ocean has springs of fresh water, none can deny. where does it come from? many of these islands have thermal springs, like iceland with[59] its geysers of many varieties. some with common fresh water, and nearby springs of mineral water. one familiar to this region is block island with both fresh water and mineral springs, and little lakes on the high ground alive with fresh water fish. are they supplied with rain water?
mount desert is a very good witness to call. here is an island eighteen miles in diameter surrounded by salt water with an elevation of 1,800 feet, and 1,200 feet above the ocean are three fine lakes, eagle lake, crooked lake, and echo lake. in which lakes are trout weighing eight or ten pounds. on this small island are to be found thousands of springs pouring out from every crack and crevice. the water is pure and clear as in all such cases. where does it come from? no more generous gift to man and all animated nature, has been bestowed by providence than the universal distribution of springs all over the world.
within twenty rods of the top of mount washington, the highest peak in the new england states, flows out a copious spring of water. the whole mountain system is full of springs and lakes. the entire adirondack region is in the same condition. it is safe to leave it to the reader who has ever been out of sight of the[60] smoke of his own chimney to think of the abundance of instances where he has seen lakes and springs on the tops of high hills, where no shed water to any extent could reach them, and wonder how they came there.
to assume that rains sink into the ground and form water supplies, seems incredible when the experience of any man who has ever dug a well or sunk a shaft in a mountain, or tunneled under a hill ought to disprove such an idea at once. as we dig down we always meet water, and the deeper we get the more we find. where does the water from the surface turn around to come back? some of the water coming up is salt, some fresh, some hot, but mostly of a uniform coolness of about fifty degrees.
