26 



Table of the Variations in the Level of Lake Erie, at Port 

 Colbome, during the years 1850, 1851, and 1852 : 



Month. 



1 850- 



1851- 



1852- 



- April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September . . 



October 



November 



December 



-January -«.... 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August . 



September 



October 



November _ . 

 December 



-January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



feet. 

 12.25 

 12.32 

 12.05 

 12.16 

 11.98 

 11.82 

 11.74 

 11.45 

 11. TO 

 12.12 

 11.85 

 12.28 

 12.3 

 12.9 

 13.18 

 13.23 

 13. 

 12.57 

 12.73 

 12.6 

 12.74 

 12.2 

 11.8 

 12.1 

 12.8 

 13.6 

 13.8 

 13.5 

 13.35 



feet. 



11.5 



11.83 



11.75 



11.75 



11.25 



10.66 



11.08 



10.75 



9.83 

 11.08 



9.79 

 11.33 

 10.8 

 12.1 

 12.58 

 12.5 

 12.08 

 11.17 

 12.08 

 11.17 

 11.83 



9.75 

 10.9 

 11.17 



9.83 

 13.00 

 12.9 

 12.16 

 13.3 



VARIATIONS IN THE LEVEL OF THE LAKES. [1853 



duce very disastrous results at the eastern extremity of the Lake, 



The levels of Lake Ontario, at Port Dalhousie, are given below, 

 for the years 1851 and 1852 ; they do not indicate the extraor- 

 dinary fluctuations which distinguish the water-levels of Lake 

 Erie. The sheltered situation of Port Dalhousie sufficiently 

 explains this difference. 



Table of the Variations in the Level of Lake Ontario, at Port 

 Dalhousie, during the years 1851 and 1852 : 



CO 



feet. 



12.83 



12.83 



12.50 



12.83 



12.75 



12.41 



13.16 



12.33 



14.83 



15.16 



12.16 



13.16 



13.4 



16.4 



13.84 



14.25 



13.5 



14.25 



14.03 



14.25 



14.6 



13.92 



12.5 



13.66 



14.16 



16.33 



15.00 



14.9 



13.5 



a ^ 



feet. 



1.33 



1.00 



0.75 



1.08 



1.50 



1.75 



2.08 



1.58 



5.00 



4.08 



2.37 



1.83 



2.6 



4.3 



1.26 



1.75 



1.42 



3.08 



2.00 



3.08 



2.77 



4.37 



1.6 



2.49 



4.33 



3.33 



2.3 



2.73 



.5 



O^.S 



feet. 

 0.91 

 0.56 

 0.50 

 0.75 

 0.91 

 1.33 

 1.87 

 0.75 

 4.33 

 4.00 

 1.41 

 0.83 

 2.25 

 3.9 



.75 

 1.35 

 1.17 

 1.75 

 1.6 

 1.75 

 1.66 

 1.5 

 1.08 

 1.66 

 3.16 

 2.5 

 1.08 

 2.75 



.5 



The lowest monthly mean depth of the waters of Lake Erie, 

 on the sill of the lock at Port Colbome, during the interval 

 between April, 1850, and August, 1852, a period of 32 months, 

 appears to have been 11.45 feet, which occurred in November, 

 1850. The highest observed mean was in July, 1852, when the 

 depth appears tohavebeen 1 3.55 feet, giving a difference of 2.1 feet. 



The least depth recorded occurred in January, 1852 — 9.75 

 feet; the greatest depth in May 1851, and in May 1852, when 

 the height of the water was indicated by 16.33 feet, affording a 

 difference of 6\ feet, which was due, without question, to the 

 prevalence of westerly winds. To the same influence we may 

 ascribe the remarkable monthly fluctuations, and to a great 

 extent, the fluctuations during twenty-four hours. The 

 greatest monthly fluctuation recorded is 5 feet; the greatest 

 daily fluctuation is 4- 1 feet. It is a matter of some uncertainty 

 whether the daily fluctuations are due to the influences of winds 

 alone ; it appears probable that local variations in atmospheric 

 pressure may have something to do with this phenomenon. The 

 situation of Port Colborne, at one extremity of Lake Erie, is 

 most favourable for the influence of westerly winds, whose effects 

 upon the coast of Buffalo and other neighbouring localities are 

 well known. The westerly winds are ainoug the most frequent 

 and powerful which affect Lake Erie, and they occasionally pro 



Month. 



1851. 



January ..... 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



Mean yearly difference . 



1852. 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



Mean yearly difference. 



S 



in. 

 8 



10 

 5 



10 

 3 

 4 

 2 



12 

 12 

 12 

 12 

 1 



12 



12 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 14 

 14 

 2 



10 

 5 

 3 

 2 



2 



7 



1 



3* 



6i 



5 



3* 



J3 









C 







43 



to 











«3 



=s "S 



<D 





ft. in. 

 11 8 



11 

 12 

 12 

 13 

 13 

 13 



12 

 13 

 13 

 13 

 13 



12 8 



12 3 



12 3 



12 2 



12 2 



12 1 



12 4 



12 10 



13 6 



14 4 

 14 4 



op 



c^jq 



ft. in. 



11 9 



12 



ft. in. 



13 



12 7 



12 4 



12 3 



12 

 12 



12 9 



13 6 



14 

 14 

 14 



4 



4 



1 



1 



3 

 5 

 8 



io 



3 

 2 



<r. 7i — 



= <*> 



ft. in. 





 1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



The Lock-Master (Mr. Geo. Thompson) at the Burlington Bay- 

 Canal, in his Report to the Secretary of the Board of Works on 

 the subject of the rise and fall of the Lakes, remarks : — ■ 



"As far back as 1836 we had exactly the same high water 

 as we have had this season. I do not remember, in the inter- 

 val of 1 6 years, of ever the water being so high ; the mean of 

 the rise of each year in that interval may, I think, be stated 

 pretty correctly at from 22 to 28 inches ; this season it has 

 risen to 3 feet. Q\ inches above the low water mark that I 

 took in 1848. It had not been as low for several years, 

 and has not been as low since, but it must be remembered that it 

 did not fall to that mark last winter by 6 inches ; deducting that 

 from 3 ft. 6^- inches, we have a dead rise of 36j inches for this 

 season. In March of this year the water was very near up to its 

 old standard, which was rather singular ; it rose rapidly until 

 about the middle of May ; curiosity induced me to measure it, 

 when I found it 3 feet above the low water mark of 1848. I 

 kept measuring it at intervals as follows : — 



May 26th, 3 feet 2 inches above the low water mark of '48. 



June 8th 3 " 3£ " " " " 



" 15th, 3 " 4 " " " " 



" 21st, 3 " 6 " " " " 



" 25th. 3 " 6^- " " " " 



It stood at this until the beginning of August. On the 4th it 

 had fallen 2 inches; on the 15th 6 inches. September 1st, it 



