Arm to the north end of the lake the
distance is about six miles, the greater part being over two miles wide.
The west side is very flat and shallow, so much so that it was
impossible in many places to get our canoes to the shore, and quite a
distance out in the lake there was not more than 5 feet of water. The
members of my party who were in charge of the large boat and outfit,
went down the east side of the lake and reported the depth about the
same as I found on the west side, with many large rocks. They passed
through it in the night in a rainstorm, and were much alarmed for the
safety of the boat and provisions. It would appear that this part of the
lake requires some improvement to make it in keeping with the rest of
the water system with which it is connected.

"Where the river debouches from it, it is about 150 yards wide, and for
a short distance not more than 5 or 6 feet deep. The depth is, however,
soon increased to 10 feet or more, and so continues down to what
Schwatka calls Marsh Lake. The miners call it Mud Lake, but on this name
they do not appear to be agreed, many of them calling the lower part of
Tagish or Bove Lake "Mud Lake," on account of its shallowness and flat
muddy shores, as seen along the west side, the side nearly always
travelled, as it is more sheltered from the prevailing southerly winds.
The term "Mud Lake" is, however, not applicable to this lake, as only a
comparatively small part of it is shallow or muddy; and it is nearly as
inapplicable to Marsh Lake, as the latter is not markedly muddy along
the west side, and from the appearance of the east shore one would not
judge it to be so, as the banks appear to be high and gravelly.

"Marsh Lake is a little over nineteen miles long, and averages about two
miles in width. I tried to determine the width of it as I went along
with my survey, by taking azimuths of points on the eastern shore from
different stations of the survey; but in only one case did I succeed, as
there were no prominent marks on that shore which could be identified
from more than one place. The piece of river connecting Tagish and Marsh
Lakes is about five miles long, and averages 150 to 200 yards in width,
and, as already mentioned, is deep, except for a short distance at the
head. On it are situated the only Indian houses to be found in the
interior with any pretension to skill in construction. They show much
more labor and imitativeness than one knowing anything about t