of Lake Superior. 13 



rising by interrupted ledges, or in slopes covered with foliage, 

 or in vertically-fissured precipices terminating in debris ; the 

 greater part wooded with slender pines and poplar. The imme- 

 diate shores are chiefly defended by ledges of rock, which rise 

 rapidly to from 100 to 500 feet high. At Cape Choyye, for more 

 than a mile the rocks are precipitous, and are furrowed by narrow 

 and deep ravines : — but along the greater bays of this vicinity there 

 are extensive deposits of sand and bowlders. All this neighbour- 

 hood is very picturesque, but especially the bay south of Cape 

 Maurepas, a broad and steep mass of rocks. The shores of this 

 bay abound in great irregularities of surface. On the south of its 

 extreme depth, there is a beautiful cascade, in the distant woods, 

 pouring a ribbon-like stream from one height to another, and so 

 finally into the lake. This spot reminded me of some scenes in 

 the Cape de Verd Islands. 



The inner third of this side of Michipicotan Bay is compara- 

 tively straight, often in scarps, and very high in the interior. 

 Three or four miles from the bottom there is a cape from which 

 canoes usually cross to Point Perquaquia on the north side of the 

 bay ; — a headland projecting a mile from the usual line of coast, 

 and about 400 feet high. 



The bottom is principally sand, which passes a considerable 

 way inland, as indicated by the smooth appearance of the country. 

 The river (of which I know only that it is large, long, and the short- 

 est route to Moose Fort, in Hudson's Bay) enters at its middle. 



The north side preserves a pretty straight western direction ; 

 but is full of petty indentures, exclusive of the larger near Point 

 Perquaquia. Its hills do not differ from those just noticed, except 

 that they are further apart, and are not quite so steep. From the 

 last-mentioned point to the Dog river (about 14 miles) the shore 

 consists very frequently of sand-banks, always deep and extensive, 

 and near this river, gravelly, 40 feet high and passing inland a 

 short way. At its mouth the Dog river is 30 feet wide, being con- 

 fined, at its entrance into Lake Superior, by rocks on one side, 

 and a large bank of gravel on the other ; but it immediately widens 

 to 100 yards within that bank ; again contracting in a short dis- 



