CHAPTER XIV. LAKE SUPERIOR. H LBERT: Away, if you please, up to the northern boundary of the about to make the tour of the upper lakes, we should probably start We can take an aerial flight across the province of Ontario in Canada, over a portion of Lake Huron, leaving the great Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island to our right, and meet the steamer in the St. Mary River, the strait, or stream (it is sixty-two miles long), connecting Lakes Superior and Huron. We avoid the rapids by going through the ship canal, and soon find ourselves on the bosom of this majestic inland sea-the largest body of fresh water in the world. Shall I give the dimensions? KATE: Certainly. ALBERT: Lake Superior is 360 miles long, with an average width of eightyfive miles. It has a shore line of 1,500 miles, and an area of 32,000 square miles. It drains a territory of at least 100,000 square miles, and its bottom is 200 feet lower than the level of the ocean. Its depth is about 800 feet in the deepest por tions. These, of course, are guide-book facts; but they are necessary to know, if we would have a fair idea of our subject. The scenery around this lake is rocky and picturesque, and there are not a few associations connected with it which make it very interesting to the tourist. I have three views only for your inspection, but they are of scenes which, on more than one account, are peculiarly memorable. They show us portions of extend for about five miles. what are known as the Pictured Rocks. These rocks along the southern shore at the widest part of the lake, and derive their name from the different colors distributed in regular strata or lines upon their seaward surface. These bands of brilliant color are produced by the percolation of water through the porous sandstone. The water is impregnated with iron and copper, and on its exposure to the air conveys a tone or tint to the cliff. The rocks themselves are from one to three hundred feet high, and have been buffeted and beaten by the action of the winds and waves into all manner of grotesque and fantastic shapes. They descend precipitously into the water, with little or no intervening beach, so that to inspect them thoroughly one has to land and take a sail or row boat. Here we have a view of Grand Chapel rocks, which I see the artist has given us with all the surroundings of a thunder-storm. It looks a weird and awful place. The roof of the chapel is arched and supported by beautiful columns, and a broken column inside has the appearance of a pulpit or altar. The roof is crowned with trees and shrubs. Speaking of thunder-storms I ought to say that Lake Superior is very subject to them, and indeed to storms of all kinds, and that their effect is plainly visible along its coasts and headlands. The imagination of the Indians peopled this region with all kinds of evil spirits, and made it the scene of violent conflicts. Some of the Indian traditions and legends have been gathered skillfully together by Longfellow in "The Song of Hiawatha," of which we may perhaps hear something by and by from another member of this club. MR. GOLDUST: It is creditable to the person who invented the names for these places that so respectable and pious a title has been selected for the rock we have just been looking at. It is a decided change for the better from the Satanic or Titanic nomenclature one expects to find in such regions as these. MR. MERRIMAN: We must remember that the region of Lake Superior was early visited by Christian missionaries of the Catholic persuasion, and probably the circumstance you notice may be due to their early presence on the field. I am not a Catholic, but I think there is much to admire, and even to revere, in the missions of the Jesuit Fathers to the North American Indians. We have, among the many islands of this lake, The Apostles, The St. Ignace, and Pio (or Pius) islands. ALBERT: My second view is of a picturesque cascade a little to the west of the Chapel. It is a small affair compared with some cataracts we have lately vis ited, but it is a pleasant object to see and hear in these watery wilds, and we may do worse than linger for a while within sound of its ceaseless flow. The third view is of what is known as the Great Cave-a very peculiar and striking object. It is a huge rectangular mass projecting some distance from the line of the cliffs. On the lake side there is a beautiful archway, a hundred and CASCADE NEAR CHAPEL ROCKS. fifty feet high, and on the other two sides there are small openings. These lead to an interior apartment, irregular, and strewn with débris, and with smaller caverns, or recesses in the walls. The whole interior is moss-grown. The waves of the lake drive into this cavern during storms with mighty force, working constant changes. There are other natural features of this group of rocks which are worth describing, but I shall not now stop to do so, as our visit must be brief. Do not forget, if you sail among these rocks again, to look out for the Empress of the Lake—a profile not noticeable by day, but which comes out very clearly by moonlight. And now, as I know that my aunt has been quietly reading Longfellow for the last two or three days, I would beg of her to give us some idea of those Indian legends to which I referred a few minutes ago. AUNT HARRIET: Longfellow's poem of Hiawatha is full of them, and some refer to this region. You have all, however, read the poem, doubtless. MR. GOLDUST: I have not. LAURA: I tried to read it, but could not make head or tail out of it, it seemed so absurd. I suppose I must be very stupid. GRACE: I just remember that there is a love story in it between Hiawatha and Minnehaha, or Laughing Water, and that they lived very happily together, until Minnehaha died one winter of fever or famine, or something. |