not seem to belong to the prehistoric ages, but yield indications of occupation in post-Roman and medieval times.
Authorities.—The materials for the investigation of this singular phase of prehistoric life were first collected and systematized by Dr Ferdinand Keller (1800–1881), of Zürich, and printed in Mittheilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich, vols, ix.-xxii., 4to (1855–1886). The substance of these reports has been issued as a separate work in England, The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland and other parts of Europe, by Dr Ferdinand Keller, translated and arranged by John Edward Lee, 2nd ed. (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1878). Other works on the same subject are Frédéric Troyon, Habitations lacustres des temps anciens et modernes (Lausanne, 1860); E. Desor, Les Palafittes ou constructions lacustres du lac de Neuchâtel (Paris, 1865); E. Desor and L. Favre, Le Bel Âge du bronze lacustre en Suisse (Paris, 1874); A. Perrin, Étude préhistorique sur la Savoie spécialement à l’époque lacustre (Les Palafittes du lac de Bourget, Paris, 1870); Ernest Chantre, Les Palafittes ou constructions lacustres du lac de Paladru (Chambery, 1871); Bartolomeo Gastaldi, Lake Habitations and prehistoric Remains in the Turbaries and Marl-beds of Northern and Central Italy, translated by C. H. Chambers (London, 1865); Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), Prehistoric Times (4th ed., London, 1878); Robert Munro, The Lake-Dwellings of Europe (London, 1890), with a bibliography of the subject. (J. An.)
LAKE GENEVA, a city of Walworth county, Wisconsin, U.S.A., 65 m. N.W. of Chicago. Pop. (1900) 2585, of whom 468 were foreign-born; (1905) 3449; (1910) 3079. It is served by the Chicago & Northwestern railway. The city is picturesquely
situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (9 m. long and
112 to 3 m. wide), a beautiful body of remarkably clear water, fed
by springs, and encircled by rolling hills covered with thick
groves of hardwood trees. The region is famous as a summer
resort, particularly for Chicago people. The city is the seat
of Oakwood Sanitarium, and at Williams Bay, 6 m. distant,
is the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago. Dairying
is the most important industrial interest. The first settlement
on Lake Geneva was made about 1833. The city was chartered
in 1893.
LAKE OF THE WOODS, a lake in the south-west of the
province of Ontario, Canada, bordering west on the province of
Manitoba, and south on the state of Minnesota. It is of
extremely irregular shape, and contains many islands. Its
length is 70 m., breadth 10 to 50 m., area 1500 sq. m. It
lies in the centre of the Laurentian region between Lakes
Winnipeg and Superior, and an area of 36,000 sq. m. drains
to it. It collects the waters of many rivers, the chief being
Rainy river from the east, draining Rainy Lake. By the Winnipeg
river on the north-east it discharges into Lake Winnipeg.
At its source Winnipeg river is 1057 ft. above the sea, and drops
347 ft. in its course of 165 m. The scenery both on and around
the lake is exceedingly beautiful, and the islands are largely
occupied by the summer residences of city merchants. Kenora,
a flourishing town at the source of the Winnipeg river, is the
centre of the numerous lumbering and mining enterprises of
the vicinity.
LAKE PLACID, a village in Essex county, New York, U.S.A., on the W. shore of Mirror Lake, near the S. end of Lake Placid,
about 42 m. N.W. of Ticonderoga. Pop. (1905) 1514; (1910)
1682. The village is served by the Delaware & Hudson railway.
The region is one of the most attractive in the Adirondacks,
and is a much frequented summer resort. There are four good
golf courses here, and the village has a well-built club house,
called the “Neighborhood House.” The village lies on the
narrow strip of land (about 13 m.) between Mirror Lake (about
1 m. long, N. and S., and 13 m. wide), and Lake Placid, about
5 m. long (N.N.E. by S.S.W.), and about 112 m. (maximum)
broad; its altitude is 1864 ft. The lake is roughly divided,
from N. to S. by three islands—Moose, the largest, and Hawk,
both privately owned, and Buck—and is a beautiful sheet of
water in a picturesque setting of forests and heavily wooded
hills and mountains. Among the principal peaks in the vicinity
are Whiteface Mountain (4871 ft.), about 3 m. N.W. of the N.
end of the lake; McKenzie Mountain (3872 ft.), about 1 m.
to the W., and Pulpit Mountain (2658 ft.), on the E. shore.
The summit of Whiteface Mountain commands a fine view,
with Gothic (4738 ft.), Saddleback (4530 ft.), Basin (4825 ft.),
Marcy (5344 ft.), and McIntyre (5210 ft.) mountains about 10 m.
to the S. and Lake Champlain to the E., and to the N.E. may be
seen, on clear days, the spires of Montreal. In the valleys E.
and S. are the headwaters of the famous Ausable river. About
2 m. E. of the village, at North Elba, is the grave of the abolitionist,
John Brown, with its huge boulder monument, and near
it is another monument which bears the names of the 20 persons
who bought the John Brown farm and gave it to the state.
The railway to the village was completed in 1893. The village
was incorporated in 1900.
LAKEWOOD, a village of Ocean county, New Jersey, U.S.A.,
in the township of Lakewood, 59 m. S. by W. of New York city,
and 8 m. from the coast, on the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
Pop. (1900) of the township, including the village, 3094; (1905)
4265; (1910) 5149. Lakewood is a fashionable health and
winter resort, and is situated in the midst of a pine forest,
with two small lakes, and many charming walks and drives.
In the village there are a number of fine residences, large hotels,
a library and a hospital. The winter temperature is 10-12° F.
warmer than in New York. The township of Lakewood was
incorporated in 1892.
LAKH (from the Sans. laksha, one hundred thousand), a
term used in British India, in a colloquial sense to signify a
lakh of rupees (written 1,00,000), which at the face value of the
rupee would be worth £10,000, but now is worth only £6666.
The term is also largely used in trade returns. A hundred
lakhs make a crore.
LAKHIMPUR, a district of British India in the extreme east of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Area, 4529 sq. m.
It lies along both banks of the Brahmaputra for about 400 m.;
it is bounded N. by the Daphla, Miri, Abor and Mishmi hills,
E. by the Mishmi and Kachin hills, S. by the watershed of the
Patkai range and the Lohit branch of the Brahmaputra, and W.
by the districts of Darrang and Sibsagar. The Brahmaputra
is navigable for steamers in all seasons as far as Dibrugarh, in
the rainy season as far as Sadiya; its navigable tributaries
within the district are the Subansiri, Dibru and Dihing. The
deputy-commissioner in charge exercises political control over
numerous tribes beyond the inner surveyed border. The most
important of these tribes are the Miris, Abors, Mishmis, Khamtis,
Kachins and Nagas. In 1901 the population was 371,396,
an increase of 46% in the decade. The district has enjoyed
remarkable and continuous prosperity. At each successive
census the percentage of increase has been over 40, the present
population being more than three times as great as that of 1872.
This increase is chiefly due to the numerous tea gardens and to
the coal mines and other enterprises of the Assam Railways
and Trading Company. Lakhimpur was the first district into
which tea cultivation was introduced by the government, and
the Assam Company began operations here in 1840. The
railway, known as the Dibru-Sadiya line, runs from Dibrugarh
to Makum, with two branches to Talap and Margherita, and
has been connected across the hills with the Assam-Bengal
railway. The coal is of excellent quality, and is exported by
river as far as Calcutta. The chief oil-wells are at Digboi. The
oil is refined at Margherita, producing a good quality of kerosene
oil and first-class paraffin, with wax and other by-products.
The company also manufactures bricks and pipes of various
kinds. Another industry is cutting timber, for the manufacture
of tea-chests, &c.
Lakhimpur figures largely in the annals of Assam as the region where successive invaders from the east first reached the Brahmaputra. The Bara Bhuiyas, originally from the western provinces of India, were driven out by the Chutias (a Shan race), and these in their turn gave place to their more powerful brethren, the Ahoms, in the 13th century. The Burmese, who had ruined the native kingdoms, at the end of the 18th century, were in 1825 expelled by the British, who placed the southern part of the country, together with Sibsagar under the rule of Raja Purandhar Singh; but it was not till 1838 that the whole was taken under direct British administration. The headquarters are at Dibrugarh.
See Lakhimpur District Gazetteer (Calcutta, 1905).
LAKSHMI (Sans. for “mark,” “sign,” generally used in composition with punya, “prosperous”; hence “good sign,” “good fortune”), in Hindu mythology, the wife of Vishnu
