PEWAUKEE LAKE

"PEWAUKEE LAKE, (or Pewaukee-wee-ning "lake of shells,") so named by the observing Indians, on account of the great quantity of small shells found in the sand along the shore. These shells are not snail shells,* and hence Snail lake (as it is sometimes called) is an incorrect translation of the Indian name.

It is four miles and a half long, and has an average width of about three-fourths of a mile. The coast line around it, is eleven and one-sixth miles, and its area is three and one-third square miles, or sections. It lies in the towns of Delafield and Pewaukee, at an elevaion. of two hundred and sixty-three feet above Lake Michigan.

It is supplied almost entirely by springs, and discharges about three hundred cubic feet of water per minute, through the Pewaukee outlet into the Pishtaka river. A dam has been erected, however, at the foot of this lake, which has raised its waters about four feet. It is surrounded by high, well wooded hills, rendering the scenery about it highly beautiful and interesting. Around this lake at many places, as well as on other lakes in Wisconsin, may be observed a singular wall of round stones, or boulders, laid up with such regularity as to suggest the idea of being the work of art. A little further observation, however, will show that these walls are made by the expansion of the ice during the winter, which has a tendency to push them upon the shore. The sandy ridges around many lakes are caused in the same way. The process may be observed in a very cold day in the winter. *Snails are land animals, and not aquatic. The shells found here are bleached and mixed with small particles of white lime-stone. They are species of the genera Paludina, Valvata, Planorbis, Melania, Cycles, and fragments of Anodonta."