﻿58 SHOKES OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 



At Michipicoten River we had a curious illustra- 

 tion of the agency of frost, on the outlet of the 

 stream. During the summer, when the waters are 

 low, the waves of the lake throw a sandy bar across 

 the mouth of the river. In winter this bar freezes 

 into a solid rock and closes the channel, but as the 

 spring advances the stream acts upon it and cuts a 

 passage. At the time of our visit, on May 7th, the 

 river was in flood, and the bar remained hard, but 

 was cleft by a narrow channel with precipitous 

 sides like sandstone cliffs, and a cascade one foot 

 high existed. This fall, which was five or six feet 

 high when the river broke, would, we were told, 

 entirely disappear in a few days. 



The north coast of Michipicoten Bay is the 

 boldest and most rugged of the shores of the lake, 

 and apparently the least capable of cultivation. 

 It rises to the heio;ht of about eio-ht hundred 

 feet, and for twenty-five miles comes so preci- 

 pitously down to the water that there is no safe 

 landing for a boat. On much of the crags the 

 forest was destroyed by fire, many years ago, 

 and with it the soil, presenting a scene of desola- 

 tion and barrenness not exceeded on the frozen 

 confines of the Arctic Sea. The few dwarf trees that 

 cling to the crevices of the rocks, struggling, as it 

 were, between life and death, add to the dreariness 

 of the prospect rather than relieve it, and wreaths of 

 drift snow lining many of the recesses, at the time 



