212 THE FORESTS OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN. [Jan. 



Chippeways have a reservation and village, which is called, in the 

 Algonquin language " Odana." 



On the 6th of Xovemher, at two o'clock in. the morning, our party 

 of four embarked on the Ozaukee, an old tug which was lying at 

 the wharf. The night was dark, and the wind swept mournfully 

 over the gloomy waters of the " great sea," as the Chippeways call 

 Lake Superior. As we slowly steamed out of the bay, the wind 

 freshened, and our frail craft began to toss about in an imcom- 

 fortable manner. There appeared to be no berths, or if there were, 

 no one asked ns to occupy them. In the miserable cabin there was 

 one sofa, which our worthy captain took possession of, leaving us the 

 floor. By daylight we reached " Ironton," which consisted of a 

 single hut built for the purpose of storing' provisions for the use of 

 the mining explorers, who are constantly prospecting for and finding 

 large deposits of iron-ore in the great forests of Wisconsin and 

 Michigan. The shores of Lake Superior from Ashland Bay for a 

 distance of thirty miles to Ironton, close to the mouth of the 

 '■ Montreal " river, which forms one of the boundaries between 

 Wisconsin and Michigan, and the high banks, consist of stiff red clay. 

 Near the mouth of this river, the red sandstone of the Potsdam 

 formation is seen underlying the clay. The banks of the lake are 

 here about 100 feet high. We pitched our tent on a little flat 

 under them ; the farthest point visible to the east of our camping- 

 ground was called " Girl's Point." The growth of wood on this part 

 of the lake shore consisted of white birch and poplar, mixed with 

 scattered pines of no great size. During the afternoon, we walked 

 along- the beach to the mouth of the Montreal, which was about a 

 mile from where our little tent stood. When we had travelled 

 about half of this distance, we fo^md the sandstone dipping to the 

 north at a high angle, showing in one place ripple-marks as plainly 

 as they were ever seen on a sea-beaten shore. The breadth of the 

 Montreal where it entered the lake was not more than fifty feet, 

 but the water was very deep. 



Clambering up the steep lake shore by means of a gullet lined by 

 stunted trees, we reached the summit, breathless with our labours. 



Travelling thence towards the Montreal, over a piece of land 

 intersected by deep hollows in and about which grew many large 

 hemlock spruces, in the distance of about a C[uarter of a mUe we 

 reached the bank of the Montreal, which tumbled and foamed at a 

 depth of about 100 feet beneath us, as it swept over ledges of red 

 rock making a descent of eighty-two feet in the distance of half a 

 mile. The banks were very steep. Holding on to the trees, we took 

 a look into the gorge down which one might possibly have clambered, 

 but it would have Ijeen at the risk of his neck. The channel of the 



