The lakes contain many small islands and peninsulas, which are also called "islands" because of the highly convoluted shoreline and because many of them were islands prior to two extensive drainage schemes in the 1880s and the 1950s which dropped the water level by about 5 feet (1.5 metres). The "Parliamentary Gazetteer" of 1846 stated, "The islands are popularly fabled to be as numerous as the days of the year; but they have been more soberly estimated at 90 in the Upper Lake and 109 in the Lower".