46 LAKE SUPERIOR. 



" Most of the rocks in this region are Plutonic, that is, they manifest the 

 action of fire. The only sedimentary or aqueous rock found here is sand- 

 stone, the age of which is uncertain, as no fossils have as yet been found in 

 it.* Probably it belongs to the Potsdam sandstone. It passes frequently 

 into quartz and quartzose rock. If quartz were broken up, mixed with clay 

 and lime, and subjected to the action of heat, the forms of metaraorphic 

 rocks would be produced which we see here. Some varieties, however, are 

 quite peculiar, as, for instance, a red felspar porphyry, with numerous 

 specks of dark epidot." 



The canoe from the Sault arrived this afternoon. 



July '2>d. — The air was very chilly this morning, when at about 

 half past five our canoes issued from the little cove into the open 

 lake. But the prospect before us was sufficient to divert our 

 thoughts from any discomfort. On our right was the deep bight 

 of Goulais Bay, terminated by Goulais Point, a high promontory 

 of the character of Gros Cap. Directly ahead rose the fine head- 

 land of Mamainse, (" little sturgeon,''^') distant about thirty miles. 

 We were yet in the shadow of Gros-Cap, and all the shore in sight 

 seemed to have the same mountainous character. Ridge over ridge, 

 distinct at last only by the cutting line against the sky, it had the 

 freedom and play of outhne, which, rather than size, distinguishes a 

 mountain from a hill. So different was the scene from anything 

 on the Lower Lakes, that although I knew in general that the shore 

 of Lake Superior was much bolder and more rocky than that of the 

 others, yet it took me by surprise, and I was disposed io think this 

 part of it an exception, until assured, by one who had been here 

 before, that the grandeur of the scenery constantly increased to the 

 northward. 



Opposite Mamainse stands White-Fish Point on the south shore, 

 and the two approach each other somewhat, repeating on a large 

 scale the feature of Gros-Cap and Point-Iroquois, which is again 

 repeated on a gigantic scale by Point Keewaiwenaw and the land 

 of wliich Otter Head forms the outer extremity. White-Fish Point 

 has the outline of a raven's head, with a projecting sand spit for the 

 bill : the high land above was just visible. We passed this morning 

 Isle Parisien and the Sandy Islands, low, flat islands covered with 



* Remains of chambered shells have been since found in this rock, on the southern 

 ahore of the lake. 



