Steamer Zillah at the "Thumb" Pier, Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A.

Nowhere in the world is there a more beautiful body of water than Yellowstone Lake. We obtain our first glimpse of this lovely sheet of water at Lake View, when the road starts its descent from the Continental Divide to the Yellowstone Plateau. And can one ever forget that view? There, nearly three hundred feet below us, stretch the silvery waters of the lake, the deep blue sky and fleecy clouds mirrored in its bosom, the dark green pine forests on all sides, and far in the distance the snow-capped mountains of the Absaroka Range. Yellowstone Lake is nearly one and a half miles above the level of the sea, and has the largest area of any lake of that altitude in the world, covering nearly 140 square miles. The shore line is very irregular, and was thought to resemble the human hand in outline but this resembalnce is not very perceptible. Including indentations its shore line is about 95 miles in length. Its waters are deep having an average depth of 30 feet and its greatest depth being 300 feet. The lake is supplied with water from streams of the Absaroka Range, and has but one outlet, the Yellowstone River. One can see to great depths in the water as it is very clear and it is icy cold. The water abound with the finest trout, and large flocks of waterfowl, particularly pelicans, gulls, terns, and ducks skim over its blue surface, dive into its transparent waters or soar gracefully above in the bright sunlight. Almost every day in the summer the winds from the northwest cause quite a swell, and there are often quite severe storms. No pen nor brush can do justice to this lake which is excelled in beauty by no other in the world, not even by the celebrated Italian lakes.