Collingwood to Sarnia, 147 



and children, without exception, have been crystallized into 

 finished geologists. The broken-down merchant, selling 

 whisky to the poor miner, strokes his huge whiskers, and 

 descants upon the black oxydcy the native ore, and the peculiar 

 formation of each hill-side. The great word in vogue among 

 them is "conglomerate," and this term is applied to every- 

 thing indiscriminately as a verb, adjective, noun or epithet. 

 It matters not how limited th^r knowledge of English may 

 be, " conglomerate" will leak out in some way or other. 



The tributary rivers and streams, though none of them 

 are large, pour into the lake a greater volume of water than 

 what forms its exit at the only outlet — the Falls of St. Mary, 

 or, as it is more particularly known, Sault Ste. Marie. 

 This, probably, is owing to the immense evaporation going 

 on, and which would be much greater were it not for the 

 dense covering of wood and the long continuance of frost in 

 this region. The surplus waters of the lake enter near its 

 south-eastern extremity, into St. Mary's channel, which, 

 opposite the village of the same name, is about two miles 

 wide, rushing over a ledge of rocks in great fury, and presents 

 for the distance of nearly a mile a perfect sheet of foam. 

 The entire height of the Sault is about 30 feet ; the want of 

 elevation on either side has permitted the formation of a 

 number of islets, divided by channels, which are narrow o 1 

 the left, but widen on the right hand. After the waters have 

 expressed, in a murmuring roar, their unwillingness to leave 

 the bosom of Superior, they finally hush themselves to sleep, 

 and glide onward, as if in a dream, among the picturesque 

 shores of a lonely country until they mingle with the waters 

 of Lake Huron. The village of Sault Ste. Marie, on the 

 Canada side, is a scattered settlement, where is located a 

 port of the Hudson Bay Company. Indians of the Chip- 

 pewa tribe reside in the vicinity in considerable numbers, 

 they having the exclusive right to take fish in the waters 

 contiguous to the rapids. They also employ themselves in 



