108 On (he Oscillation of the Waters in Lake Ontario. 



at several times at about the same interval of 8 or 12 minutes. At the mouth 

 of the Genesee river, 7 miles from the city, the vrater fell two feet below its 

 common level, and soon rose as much above it. At Oswego, 70 miles east of this, 

 a large body of logs moved out into the lake, to the great annoyance of their 

 owner, till he saw them soon returning to their previous location. At Coburg, 

 a little tvest of the Genesee, and on the Canada side of the lake, and distant about 

 60 miles, the same fall and rise were observed to be repeated, the greatest being 

 a little before sunset, when the waters rose to their highest point, or about two 

 feet. At Port Hope, a few miles west of Coburg, the steam-boat. Princess 

 Koyal, ran aground as she attempted to enter the harbour, so much had the 

 water lowered in the port." — Jameson's Edinburgh Journal for April 1847, 

 p. 295. 



Professor C. Dewey attributes the phenomenon above de- 

 scribed to a tornado " about three-fourths of a mile wide, 

 which passed that afternoon over the" centre of the lake, 

 fi'om SW. to NE., attended with waterspouts, " large hail, 

 and lightning and thunder.'' " The power of this tornado 

 (he says) was probably sufficient to withdraw the waters 

 fi'om the shores, so as to produce the efflux and reflux.'' But 

 he does not explain how such an eifect could have resulted 

 from such a cause ; nor does he say why the numerous tor- 

 nadoes and waterspouts which traverse the American lakes 

 do not generally occasion similar oscillations. 



It seems to me much more probable, that during the tor- 

 nado, the upward shock of an earthquake occurred through- 

 out the basin of the lake, whereby a considerable body of 

 water resting on the inclined plain descending from its 

 shores, was driven towards its centre ; thus producing the 

 ejlux with which the oscillation commenced. It is no objec- 

 tion that such supposed shock was unperceived above the 

 level of the lake ; for shocks often " follow the course of the 

 shore,''* without rising to higher levels. Had the oscillation 

 begun everywhere with an influx, it might be accounted for 

 by supposing that the sides of submerged rocks or shoals 

 near the centre of the basin had vibrated, in directions to- 

 wards its circumference, and that the shock, on i*eaching the 

 margin of the lake, caused a quantity of the water there, 

 proportioned to the momentum of the shock, to rush up the 

 beach, in the same manner as a smart blow at the lower 



* Humboldt's Personal Narrative, pp. 222, 22-i. 



