A Book of the United States. Various
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outlines on the sky beyond them.
‘The best view of this scene, is a few rods from the base of the lower fall. These cascades are both of them in a direct line, and by standing in this position can be united in one. By raising your eyes, a fall of four hundred feet appears precipitated from the precipices above, apparently ready to overwhelm you, while the rocks above overhang the abyss in wild sublimity, threatening you with destruction.
‘The appearance of the upper cascade, in the middle of winter, is very interesting. The rock over which the stream descends, projects in such a manner, that the icicles, which form in that season, meet with no interruption in their descent towards the base of the fall. The water, which strikes the rocks below, begins to congeal and rise (between the column of water and the rock) towards the icicles above. These project towards the base, increasing in magnitude from day to day, while the column from below is greatly enlarged by the water and the spray, which, immediately congealing, in a short time surround the stream. A column of ice, resembling a rude cone, of between two and three hundred feet, is thus formed, through the centre of which the stream pours its current, dwindled, by the congelation of its waters, to one tenth its common size. When illumined by the rays of the sun, it presents a transparent column glowing with brilliancy, reflecting and refracting its rays in such a manner as to present all the colors of the prism. It remains some weeks, a striking example of the power of hoary frost, when, partly dissolved by the genial warmth of spring, it falls, scattering its thousand fragments on the rocks around it.’
GENERAL REMARKS ON CATARACTS AND CASCADES.
Rivers which descend from primitive mountains into the secondary lands often form cascades and cataracts. Such are the cataracts of the Nile, of the Ganges, and some other great rivers, which, according to Desmarets, evidently mark the limits of the ancient land. Cataracts are also formed by lakes, and of this description are the Falls of Niagara; but the most picturesque falls are those of rapid rivers, bordered by trees and precipitous rocks. Sometimes we see a body of water, which, before it arrives at the bottom, is broken and dissipated into showers, like the Staubach; sometimes it forms a watery arch, projected from a rampart of rock, under which the traveller may pass dry shod, as the Falling Spring of Virginia; in one place, in a granite district, we see the Trolhetta, and the Rhine not far from its source, urge on their foaming billows amongst the pointed rocks; in another, amidst lands of calcareous formation, we see the Czettina, and the Kerka, rolling down from terrace to terrace, and presenting sometimes a sheet and sometimes a wall of water. Some magnificent cascades have been formed, at least in part, by the hands of man: the cascades of Velino, near Terni, have been attributed to Pope Clement VIII.; other cataracts, like those of Tunguska in Siberia, have gradually lost their elevation by the wearing away of the rocks, and have now only a rapid descent. The Falls of Staubach are the highest ever known, being nine hundred feet according to trigonometrical measurement.
CHAPTER VI.—LAKES.
Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the world, being four hundred miles in length, one hundred at its greatest breadth, and, according to the most moderate computation, over twelve hundred miles in circumference. Its shores are rocky and uneven, and it has a rocky bottom. Its waters are pure and transparent, and it has been remarked, that, although during the summer, the waters on its surface be warm, nevertheless, by letting a cup down about a fathom, water may be taken up nearly as cold as ice. It abounds in fish, particularly sturgeon and long trout, many of which are from fifty to seventy pounds weight, and constitute the principal food of the Algonquin Indians on its borders. This lake has five large islands,17 one of which, called Isle Royal, is not less than a hundred miles in length, and in some places forty in breadth. More than forty rivers discharge themselves into it, the two largest called the Nipegon and the Michipicooton, from the north and north-east sides. A small river which runs into it, not far from the Nipegon, falls from the top of a mountain more than six hundred feet perpendicular; appearing at a distance, to use Mr. Carver’s homely comparison, like a white garter suspended in the air. On the banks of one of the rivers which fall into its south side, virgin copper has been found. The storms which occur on this lake are felt as severely as on the Atlantic, the waves run equally high, and the navigation is perhaps more dangerous.18 When the wind blows from the east, the waters are driven against the high rocks of the northern and western shores, where they form a thick vapor resembling rain; and this action of the wind creates an irregular ebb and flow. This never exceeds ten or twelve inches; but the strong traces of the water on the rocks of the shore show, that, at no very remote period, they were elevated six feet above the present level. Mackenzie states, that some years ago the waters suddenly withdrew near the Great Portage; then rushed back with great velocity above the common mark; and, after rising and falling during several hours, they settled at their usual level.
Notwithstanding its being fed by so many rivers, Lake Superior has but one outlet by the Straits of St. Mary. At the upper end of these straits, there is a rapid which cannot be ascended, but has sometimes been descended, although the descent requires both skill and caution, and perhaps not a little good fortune. A canal has been cut by the North-West Company, along the northern banks, for the purpose of facilitating their commerce, and they have here a considerable establishment; but their chief fort and storehouses are situated at Kamenestiquia, on the banks of a river which flows into Lake Superior, on the north-west side, and affords an easy communication with the interior. The Strait of St. Mary, it is supposed, does not discharge one tenth of the waters which the lake receives from its numerous rivers; part of the remainder escapes by evaporation, but how the whole is discharged is yet a secret. It does not appear, however, that an exact calculation has hitherto been made, either of the quantity discharged or the quantity received. This lake lies between forty-six and fifty degrees north latitude, and eighty-four and ninety-three degrees west longitude.
Lake Huron, into which you enter by the Straits of St. Mary, is next in magnitude to Lake Superior. It lies between forty-three and forty-six degrees north latitude, and between eighty and eighty-five degrees west longitude; in shape it is nearly triangular, and its circumference is about a thousand miles. On the Canada side of this lake is an island one hundred miles in length, and no more than eight in breadth; it is called Manataulin, signifying a place of spirits, and is considered as sacred by the native Indians. About the middle of the south-west side of the lake is Saginaw Bay, about eighty miles in length, and twenty broad; Thunder Bay, so called from the continual thunder heard there, lies about half way between Saginaw Bay and the north-west corner of the lake: it is about nine miles across either way. The fish are the same as in Lake Superior. The promontory that separates this lake from Lake Michigan is a vast plain, more than one hundred miles long, and varying from ten to fifteen miles in breadth. At the north-east corner, this lake communicates with Lake Michigan by the Straits of Michilimackinac. It is very remarkable, that although there is no daily flood or ebb to be perceived in the waters of these straits, yet from an exact attention to their state, a periodical alteration in them has been discovered. It has been observed that they rise by gradual, but almost imperceptible degrees, till in seven years and a half they had reached the height of about three feet; and in the same space of time they gradually fell to their former state; so that in fifteen years they had completed this revolution. This, however, is not well established.19
Lake Michigan, formerly called Lake Illinois, and Lake Dauphin, extends from the western angle of Lake Huron in a southerly direction, and is separated from Lake Superior by the tongue of land which is described above. It lies wholly within the territory of the United States, between the parallels of forty-two and forty-six degrees. Its waters are said to be unfathomable. At the southern extremity of Lake Michigan is Chicago Creek, by which, in the rainy season, the head-waters of the Illinois communicate with the lake; but the bar at the mouth of the creek does not admit boats drawing above two feet of water. A number of streams flow into the lake, on both the western and the eastern sides. It abounds, like the others, with excellent fish.
‘Lake Michigan,’ says Mr. Schoolcraft, ‘from its great depth of water, its bleak and unguarded shores—and its singular length and direction, which is about four hundred miles from north to south,