The Lake That Became a Cornfield

Transcript

Lake Cirknitz, in Illyria, appears in Jane Loudon’s 1848 account as both lake and field. She reports that in early June its water disappears through fissures. Peasants then sow and reap corn on the exposed basin, carrying away the crop around the end of September. Around mid-October, Loudon says, water surges back through openings in the ground. At other times, she writes, the lake grows deep enough to float a vessel of considerable size. This is Loudon’s historical report: one basin described first as farmland, then as water deep enough for a vessel.