RAINY LAKE AND THE LAKE OF THE WOODS. 49 



succession of bays, capes, and islands. This lake outflows by Water Hen 

 Lake and River to Lake Manitoba, and has an elevation of 19 feet above 

 the latter, as determined by surveys for the Canadian Pacific Railway, or 

 828 feet above the sea. 



, Rainy Lake. — Two bodies of water of considerable size, namely. Rainy 

 Lake and the Lake of the Woods (PI. XI), lie on the northern boiindary 

 of Minnesota, within the eastern part of the area of Lake Agassiz. The 

 length of Rainy Lake is slightly more than 50 miles, trending from east- 

 southeast to west-northwest, and its average width is about 5 miles, g'iving' 

 it an area of 250 square miles, approximately. It is extremely diversified 

 by projecting points, numerous bays and narrow arms, and plentiful islands. 

 Its height above the sea is about 1,117 feet, and its maximum depth, 

 according to soundings by Dr. A. C. Lawson, is 1 1 feet. 



Lake of the Woods. — The Lake of the Woods has a very irregular 

 form, nearly surrounding a large peninsula in its northern part, and 

 including many bays on the north and east, some of them connected with 

 the main lake only by narrow channels. A multitude of islands, large and 

 small, dot its sm-face, excepting in its southwest part, called Sand Hill 

 Lake, where it adjoins Minnesota. Measured from north to south or from 

 east to west, its maximum extent in either direction is 60 miles approxi- 

 mately, and its area is about 1,500 square miles. Its elevation, determined 

 by the Canadian Pacific Railway survey, is 1,060 feet above the sea, and 

 the maximum depth of its northern part, called Clear Water Lake, is stated 

 by Dr. G. M. Dawson to be 84 feet. 



Red Lake. — The largest lake lying wholly in Minnesota is Red Lake 

 (PI. XII), situated in the southeast edge of the area of Lake Agassiz, at a 

 distance of about 50 miles south from the Lake of the Woods. Its eleva- 

 tion, as determined by the Duluth and Winnipeg Railroad survey, is 1,172 

 feet above the sea, being about 40 feet below the adjacent portion of the 

 highest shore-line of the glacial lake. A strait about three-fourths of a 

 mile wide divides Red Lake into two nearly equal parts, which trend from 

 east to west. The length of each part is somewhat more than 20 miles, 

 and of both together about 30 miles, while the maximum width of each is 

 about 10 miles. Its area is approximately 440 square miles. This lake 

 MON XXV 4 



