50 LAKE SUPERIOR. 



ocean at Nahant. Above the beach and parallel to it was a terrace 

 of sand about fifteen or eighteen feet in height. Others of the same 

 kind but of various heights we traced during the day, sometimes 

 only by the terracing of the forest on the different levels. 



The cliff, which rose a few hundred yards from the beach, was 

 cloven to the base, presenting a wide chasm of bare, splintered 

 rock, several hundred feet deep, nearly parallel to the shore. The 

 surrounding woods had been burnt, leaving the black stems, some 

 standing and some lying crossed at various angles, like jack-straws. 

 The ground was already covered with the fire-weed, (^Epilohium 

 angustifolium,') striving to conceal the ruin with its showy blossoms. 

 Black flies very numerous and troublesome. They appear to have 

 a fondness for the burnt woods, in which we always found them 

 abundant. 



In the course of the day we passed a deserted mining "location," 

 marked by ruinous log-huts ; and in another place we saw on the 

 rocks- the wreck of one of their bateaux. At about five o'clock 

 we came in together at the Pointe-aux-Mines, or Mica-Bay, as they 

 call it now. This establishment belongs to the Quebec Mining Com- 

 pany, who have already commenced operations here. It is a deep 

 cove, protected on either side by ranges of rocks, with a broad beach 

 at the bottom, and above this a steep bank, on which, at the height 

 of thirty or forty -feet above the water, stands the very neat wooden 

 cottage of Capt. Matthews, the superintendent, and about it the 

 storehouse, the lodgings of the workmen, &c. We were very hos- 

 pitably received by Capt. and Mrs. Matthews, and enjoyed in their 

 house the luxury of a civilized tea, before which, however, we visited 

 the mine, which is about half a mile from the house, by a Brock- 

 en-like wood-path, nearly all the way up hill. 



Capt. M., avoiding the errors of his predecessors on both sides of 

 the lake, spent eighteen months in making his preparations, securing 

 a thorough system of drainage, ventilation, &c., before attempting 

 to get out any ore. The work seemed to be carried on with great 

 method and thoroughness, and to be in very successful operation. 

 The present state of the concern he represented as most promising. 



Jail/ 5th. — The Professor before starting showed us a rock at the 

 south entrance of the bay, which he considered a proof positive of 



