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The vast number of small lakes, for -which Michigan is so remarkable, 

 are due to the same causes. They occupy generally, deep hollows, seem- 

 ingly scooped out of the mass of diluvium, and are fed by the living 

 springs that percolate through it. The number of these peninsular 

 lakes is stated by the State Topographer, at not less than three thou- 

 sand; being in proportion of one acre of water to every thirty-nine of 

 dty land. 



Another striking feature of the Peninsula landscape, is the number 

 and extent of wet prairies or marsh. Of these the proportion is much 

 larger than of the lakes, and they often cover many miles of surface. 

 These have their origin also from springs, issuing from the diluvium ; 

 aided often, by the artificial dams of the beaver, and from being origi- 

 nally mere pools or shallow lakes, in time they become receptacles for 

 beds of marl and peat. From the very tolerable hay which these prai- 

 ries afford, and the very early supply of tender "feeding" for cattle in 

 the spring, these apparently waste places have been an invaluable aid 

 to the settlement of the country. The primitive settler came hither, not 

 to a desert waste or a "howling wilderness," but to lands cleared without 

 aid from the woodman's axe, and verdant with unsown crops. He did 

 not wait to provide pasture, but brought his herds and flocks with him, 

 and the mai-shes fui'nished them ample sustenance throughout the year. 

 And we hazard nothing in saying that these marshes, waste as many of 

 them are now suffered to be, are destined to become still more valuable 

 in sustaining the failing vigor of the country whose youthful prosperity 

 they promoted. Their successful drainage is no longer a matter of 

 experiment. Scarcely a marsh of much extent exists, which is not 

 capable of thorough drainage, with comparatively small expense, and 

 wben thus subdued, of fui-nishing a rich soil almost beyond comparison. 

 The literally exhaustless beds of marl and peat, with which these marshes 

 abound, constitute another item of value no less important. But the 

 consideration of these may more properly be referred to the head of 

 Recent Alluvions. 



But though affording a medium for the absorption of rain waters and 

 their percolation through strata of gi-avel or quicksand, the diluviums are 

 rendered sufficiently retentive, by the alumine contained in them, and 

 by seams of cemented gravel and sand. Were it not for this, the 

 moisture absorbed by our light, sandy soils, would soon be drained ofi 



