366 General Description of Lake Erie, 



usually but little above the surface of the lake. From Long 

 Point (wholly sand) to the River Niagara, the shore (5 — 30 

 feet above the water-level, but still swampy) is defended at the 

 outer angles of the indents, by large ledges or floors of lime- 

 stone, while beaches of sand, or shingle very much rolled, line 

 the inner portions ; backed here and there with red clay, which, 

 about five miles east of Grand River, is for a mile and a half 40 

 feet high, and supports a great morass, called the ** Cranberry 

 Marsh." This is replaced on the east to the end of the lake, 

 by mounds and banks of pure sand, which in the western 

 half of this interval often extend a mile or more into the 

 interior, and sometimes rise 100 — 250 feet high, in confused 

 groups^ round backed and conical. The " Sugar- Loaf-Hill," 

 20 miles from Fort Erie, is one of these, and overlooks a great 

 extent of ponds and swamps ; with here and there a patch of 

 ground fit for cultivation. Near the ^ River Niagara the l£|.ke 

 for great spaces is floored with rock. 



For the first ten miles along the south shore, from the 

 north-east end of the lake, shingle and sand prevail in low 

 ridges, which advance 50 or 100 yards into the woods, and are 

 based on red clay. From thence to the village of Erie, rocky 

 clifis, often 40 feet high, with ledges and shingle beaches 

 interspersed, abound, and support the beds of clay, pebbles, and 

 sand, mixed with branches of trees, fresh-water Crustacea 

 and shells, which constitute the level space under the dividing 

 ridge. From the above village to Cleaveland (90 miles) low 

 shores and sand banks are often met with, but accompanied 

 by occasional ledges of rock. Cleaveland itself stands on 

 a lofty scarp of clay and sand at the mouth of the River 

 Cuyahoga, which enters the lake from among an assemblage 

 of picturesque eminences of those materials. Two miles or 

 so west of this town, high calcareous precipices, dipping 

 vertically into deep waters, continue alongshore for many 

 miles, and are succeeded westward by swamps and shingle 

 beaches, from about the Black River to Sandusky; the east 

 face of whose peninsula consists of rocky ledges ; as also do 

 most of the shores of the neighbouring islands. The island 

 named from Point Pel^, not very remote, is a mere swamp, 

 with a belt of sand girding its circumference. From Sandusky 



