SOURCE OP ST. PETER S RIVER. 239 



The country on the north of Lake Superior, both in re- 

 gard to aspect and character, bears a strong similitude to 

 that of Winnepeek river. The growth is generally stinted, 

 and consists principally of cedar, spruce, white and yellow 

 birch, Hard, aspen, scrub oaks, alder, &c. The lake coast is 

 indented with numerous bays and inlets, and presents an 

 uninterrupted succession of hills, based upon rocks, and 

 faced with precipices. The hills are generally from one 

 hundred and fifty to four hundred feet high ; there are se- 

 veral, however, in the vicinity of Fort William, consider- 

 ably higher, among the largest of which are Fort William 

 Mountain and Thunder Point, rising five or six hundred 

 feet above the lake. These appear to be the remains of a 

 slaty formation which once covered the neighbouring 

 country, and which still appears at the Falls of Kakabikka, 

 forming the precipices of that interesting spot, and at va- 

 rious other places. 



Isle Royaie, which is the largest island of Lake Supe- 

 rior, is about fifty miles long and from two to six broad, 

 and is surrounded by a multiplicity of small grassy islands. 

 It is situated off Kamana bay, between which and the isl- 

 and is a cluster of small islands, called the Pate or Pie isl- 

 ands, based upon x'ock, of a turretted form, flat upon their 

 summits, and elevated between two and three hundred 

 feet. Between Kamana and Michipicotton bays, the mar- 

 gin of the lake is thickly studded with islands and penin- 

 sulas, the shores of which are invariably rocky-bound and 

 precipitous. Michipicotton Island, situated at the entrance 

 of the bay of the same name, is second in magnitude to 

 Isle Royaie. The other islands of the lake are inconsider- 

 able in point of size. Eastward of Michipicotton bay, sand- 

 bars occasionally present themselves, connected with small 

 islands and tracts of flat land, interposed between the hills 



