"From Galena to St. Peter's, the fare varies from five to six dollars, for cabin passage; two dollars and fifty cents for deck passage; freight, per hundred, twenty-five cents; horses and cattle, per head, four dollars. But families, with considerable freight, are taken at a much lower rate."

NORTH AMERICAN LAKES.

273

CHAPTER XVII.

THE SUPERIOR COUNTRY.

Lake Superior - American

coast

Anchorage Harbors - Danger of navigating the lake Curious phenomena of the lake. Transparency of its waters-The mirage of Lake SuperiorIslands - Isle Royale - Lakes in Isle Royale - Perennial iceEffect of the extreme cold on the growth of the trees - Rock Harbor — Streams emptying into Lake Superior — Appearance of the shore - Iron-works of Carp River - Porcupine Mountains- Table of distances - The La Grande Sables-Pictured Rocks - Ontonagon River Montreal River Sturgeon River-The Iron region - The different beds, etc.- Geologists' opinion of the iron region - Location of good agricultural lands—Advantages of a railroad through the iron regions — The copper region of the Superior country- Lake Superior reverenced by the Indians - The first Englishman who visited the copper region - Extract from his journal — First mining company- Mining companies of Keweenaw Trap rock-Silver among the copper- Cliff mine-Copper Falls mine, rich in silver - Largest mass of copper-Table of the products of foreign mines - Eagle Harbor - Game and speckled trout Fisheries of Lake Superior — Climate, etc.

THE North American lakes, consisting of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, present a watery surface of ninety thousand square miles, of which more than one-third, or thirty-two thousand square miles, is comprised in Lake Superior alone. That vast inland sea lies between the forty-sixth and forty-ninth parallels of latitude, and the eighty-fourth and ninety-second degrees of longitude west of Greenwich. Its greatest length is four hundred miles. Its greatest breadth from Grand Island to Neepigon Bay is one hundred and sixty miles. The surface of the lake is six hundred feet above the

level of the Atlantic Ocean; but its bottom is three hundred feet below; for it has a mean depth of nine hundred feet. The French, who were the first explorers of Lake Superior, fancifully described it as a watery bow, of which the southern shore was the string, and Keweenaw Point, the arrow. The lake discharges through the St. Mary's Strait into lake Huron, which occupies a lower level, by forty-four feet and eight inches. The strait is about seventy miles long; but it is divided into two sections by the Falls of St. Mary, fifteen miles below Lake Superior. The lower section is navigable for small steamboats, and vessels drawing six feet of water. section contains four large islands and several smaller ones; but the principal channel-the westerly one is nearly a mile in width. The Falls of St. Mary, or more properly, rapids, are three-fourths of a mile in length, having a fall, in that distance, of twenty-two feet and ten inches. The two sections are now united by a steamboat and ship canal.

This

Following along the indentations of the southern shore, around the westerly extremity of the lake, to Arrow River, opposite to Isle Royale, will give the extreme length of the American coast, which can not be much less than one thousand miles; a part of which is in Michigan, part in Wisconsin, and part in Minesota. Lake Superior is walled in by rocks, which, in some places, are piled in mountain masses upon the very shore. The waves dash against precipices and beetling crags, that threaten the unfortunate mariner, in a storm upon a lee shore, with almost inevitable destruction. There is tolerable anchorage at the head of St. Mary's Strait. Keweenaw Point has two sheltering bays; viz, Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor. Protection may be found from the surf, under the lee of the Apostle Islands, at La Pointe. St. Louis

River, at the head of the lake, is a good harbor; but the best harbors are afforded by the indentations of the shores of Isle Royale.

"Owing to the lofty crags which surround Lake Superior, the winds, sweeping over the lake, impinge upon its surface so abruptly as to raise a peculiarly deep and combing sea, which is extremely dangerous to boats and small craft. It is not safe, on this account, to venture far out into the lake in bateaux; and hence voyagers generally hug the shore, in order to be able to take land, in case of sudden storms. During the months of June, July, and August, the navigation of the lake is ordinarily safe; but after the middle of September, great caution is required in navigating its waters; and boatmen of experience never venture far from land, or attempt long traverses across bays. Their boats are always drawn far up on the land at every camping-place for the night, lest they should be staved to pieces by the surf, which is liable, at any moment, to rise, and beat with great fury upon the beaches."

One of the most curious phenomena of the lake is the sudden and inexplicable heaving and swelling of its waters, when the air is still. Mr. Schoolcraft, who passed over Lake Superior, in 1820, thus describes it: "Although it was calm, and had been so all day, save a light breeze for a couple of hours after leaving the Ontonagon, the waters near the shore were in a perfect rage, heaving and lashing upon the rocks in a manner which rendered it difficult to land. At the same time, scarce a breath of air was stirring, and the atmosphere was beautifully serene." Now this agitation was observed at the close of the day's voyage, which had carried the party fifty miles from the Ontonagon; and the slight breeze had been blowing only a little while in the morning.

Another noticeable feature of Lake Superior is the extraordinary purity and transparency of the water, through which every pebble may be distinctly seen at the depth of twenty-five feet. When out in a canoe upon its surface, the frail vessel does not seem to be afloat upon a watery element, but suspended in mid-air, with ethereal depths around and below. Those who have visited both Lake George the world-famous Horicon, whose waters were at one time carried to Rome to fill the papal fontsand Lake Superior, affirm that the latter far surpasses the former in clearness and transparency. Indeed, they assure us that, often, while looking down from the hight at which the boat seems suspended, the head will grow dizzy, and a feeling of faintness be superinduced. The water of Lake Superior, like that of lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie, is "hard," and unfit for laundry purposes, without a previous breaking by soda or other means. This can be accounted for only on the supposition that it rolls over calcareous beds in some part of its course, but what part has not yet been ascertained; for the water of all the streams and springs that flow into the lake, so far as they have been examined, is found to be "soft," and so entirely free from earthy or other foreign matter, "that the daguerreotypist finds it better for his purposes than the best distilled water of the chemist."

Not less peculiar is the atmosphere around and over the lake, which plays strange and fantastic tricks in the face of high heaven, seeming to possess a life and spirit strictly in unison with the wonderful expanse of waters that lies spread out below. The mirage of Lake Superior fills the spectator with astonishment. For weeks during the summer, the traveler along the shores of this inland sea may be gratified by a view of the most curious phantasmagoria - images of mountains and islands being