HURON 



2878 



HURRICANE 



injury or insult was a first duty. They were 

 bound to respect the property, dignity and lib- 

 erty of each other, but not necessarily those 

 of another tribe. Although they had a well- 

 defined religion of their own, which embraced 

 the worship of all material objects, they re- 

 ceived kindly the Jesuit priests who estab- 

 lished missions among them. 



After many years of bitter warfare with the 

 Iroquois the Huronswere forced to leave their 

 Canadian home. They fled southward, finally 

 reaching the Mississippi River, from which 

 they were driven back by the Sioux. In 1751 

 they settled on the site of the present city of 

 Sandusky, Ohio, and were there known by the 

 name of Wyandotte. About 300 now reside 

 on a reservation in Oklahoma; a few hundred 

 live in Ontario and Quebec. 



HURON, LAKE, one of the five Great Lakes 

 of North America, between Michigan and 

 Ontario, and forming a part of the boundary 

 between the United States and Canada. Its 

 length from north to south is about 250 miles; 

 its average width is about 155 miles, and its 



LOCATION MAP 



The relative position of Lake Huron in the 

 Great Lakes chain is shown in black in the small 

 corner map. 



area, including Georgian Bay, the principal 

 arm, and North Channel, is 23,800 square miles. 

 It is therefore nearly as large as the state of 

 West Virginia, and almost one-half the size 

 of Pennsylvania. Huron's elevation above sea 

 level is 581 feet, the same as that of Lake 

 Michigan; it is twenty-one feet below the level 

 of Lake Superior, eight feet above that of 

 Lake Erie and 334 feet above that of Lake 

 Ontario (see chart, in article GREAT LAKES). 



The maximum depth of its waters is 802 feet, 

 and the area of its basin including its surface 

 is about 74,000 square miles. It receives the 

 waters of Lake Superior through the Saint 

 Mary's River, and the waters of Lake Michi- 

 gan through the Strait of Mackinac. Through 

 Saint Clair River, Lake Saint Clair and the 

 Detroit River it discharges into Lake Erie. 



The construction of the Sault Sainte Marie 

 Canal (which see) has greatly increased the 

 commercial importance of Lake Huron. The 

 shore line is generally low, but along the south- 

 eastern coast picturesque cliffs rise to a height 

 of 150 feet. The waters are remarkably clear 

 and contain an abundance of fish, of which the 

 most important is whitefish. Of the small 

 islands which dot its surface in the north, 

 Mackinac Island in the United States and 

 Grand Manitoulin in Canada are the most 

 important. Owing to violent storms, the lake 

 is dangerous for navigation from December 

 until May. Cheboygan, Bay City, Mackinac, 

 Alpena, Saint Ignace, Owen Sound and Col- 

 lingwood are among the principal cities and 

 ports along the coast. 



HURRICANE, hur'ikane, a violent and de- 

 structive windstorm of the tropics. Nearly 

 seventy per cent of these storms occur in the 

 West Indies and the China Sea, during the 

 months of August, September and October. 

 Those in the China Sea are known as typhoons 

 (see TYPHOON). The typical hurricanes begin 

 in the warm Atlantic belt north of the equator 

 and sweep across the West Indies to the coast 

 of the United States; some turn to the north- 

 east, and are dissipated in the Atlantic while 

 moving towards Europe, but many pass into 

 the Mississippi Valley by way of the Gulf of 

 Mexico. In the beginning the diameter of the 

 storm area is from 100 to 300 miles, but it 

 may increase to a thousand miles or more. 



The approach of a hurricane is heralded by 

 an ominous stillness in the atmosphere. Then 

 follow light breezes which increase to high 

 winds, and when the storm breaks in all its 

 fury the wind blows at the rate of eighty-five 

 or even a hundred miles an hour, while rain 

 falls in torrents. The wind whirls in a spiral 

 around a center of low pressure, and in that 

 center no wind is perceived, as the current is 

 upward; this area of low pressure is some- 

 times called the eye oj the storm. The in- 

 tensity of the gale is greatest near the place 

 of its origin, and it diminishes as the .diameter 

 of the circle covered increases. Any very se- 

 vere wind is often miscalled a hurricane. 



