SOS 



ON TIIK PERIODICAL RISE AND FALL OF 



LAKES. 



[1854. 



Leaving any further remarks on the foregoing for a future 

 probable opportunity; I may here shortly observe, thai 1 have 

 long been persuaded thai the severity <>{' our winters is militated 

 by the proximity of the Lakes, and is not so much owing to the 

 prevalence of winds from the north-west, as a mere northerly 

 point of the compass, or^to the remarkable curve of the great 

 isothermal line in this part of the globe, as to the winds alluded 

 to sweeping down from a more elevated region^ many parts of 

 the extensive mountainous tract of country stretching in that di- 

 rection being perhaps thousands of feet above the level of Lake 

 .Superior, and ever, the latter not being less than COO feet above 

 that of the ocean. 



Nearly the whole of the conflicting evidence bearing on the 

 various points at issue having been adduced, J proceed to state 

 freely, yet as briefly as possible, the mode of proceeding adopted 

 by me, in my endeavour to arrive at the convictions to which I 

 have been thereby led with respect to each of the three questions 

 to be determined. 



To commence with the first of those, namely, the traditional 

 report of there being a septennial nso and fall in the waters of 

 the great Lakes, &c, I have to remark, that being unwilling to 



•COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE RISE AND 



FOR SIXTY-THREE YEARS, IN SUCCESSION, AS FAR AS ASCERTAIN 



admit any assertions on so interesting and mysterious a pheno- 

 menon without thorough examination and comparison with facts, 

 1, alter much reflection, determined to attempt to form from the 

 materials in my possession a general comparative tabular view 

 of the positively known, and, failing that, generally acknow- 

 ledged periods of elevation and depression throughout the whole 

 of the Lakes during the longest ascertainable series of years; in 

 the hope of thereby arriving at something like an approximation 

 to the real state of the matter; but after labouring long and pa- 

 tiently at the unsatisfactory task, I was at bust obliged to abandon it, 

 and confine my synopsis I" Lake Erie alone, and even then to leave 

 a broad " Column of Remarks'' tor the insertion of any apparent 

 coincidence, or otherwise, in the state of the other Lakes; and in 

 this I continued to persevere till, alter much labour, I so far 

 succeeded, as is shown in the following copious yet imperfect 

 Table, exhibiting not only the various progressive and retrogres- 

 sive annual fluctuations in the level of that particular Lake during 

 a course of sixty-three years, as vouched by the different highly 

 respectable authorities named, but also proving, incidentally, bow 

 far that long-received traditional phenomenon, the rise and fall 

 of the Lakes generally every seven years, is in accordance with 

 the evidence furnished by recorded facts: — 



FALL OF THE WATERS OF LAKE ERIE, 



ED FROM THE BEST SOURCES OF INFORMATION WITHIN REACH. 



hati; 



1790. 



COMPARATIVE LEVEL. 



\st maximum; being 5 ft. 6 in. above 

 lowest level. 



No information regarding these years. 



t st minimum . Level described as low- 

 but not exactly stated. 



Rising, but amount not stated. 



High. 2nd maximum. 



No information whatever. 



Level low. 



Rising. No information. 



'2nd ■minimum. 

 below 1838. 



Waters rising. 



Reported as 6 feet 



3rd maximum, but 2 ft. less than 1838 

 Same as last year, 



Falling. 



3rd rain 



, or Zero. 



Rising rapidly. 



Do., but still low. 



Up to average or mean, 



Gradually rising, to within 2 feet of* 

 maximum of 1838. 



ith maximum, reckoned as high as in 



1815. 

 Still high. 

 As high as in 1828. 



AUTHORITIES. 



MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 



^ Prof. Hall, Higgens, Whittesley 

 I Matjjer, &c. 



5 Weld, Whittesley, &c. 

 Do. do. do. 



Higgens, Houghton, Whiting, &c. 



Whittesley, &c. 



From 1TS8 to 1790, the Lakes generally, and Lake Erie in particular, stated to bare 

 been as high as in 1838, at which time, according to different authorities, com- 

 pared with the lowest level known, it was estimated at 5 ft. 3 in., 5 ft. 4 in., and 

 even 6 ft. : and Prof. Hall mentions evidence of a higher level than in 1838, in 

 ridges and submerged trees. 



During 1705 and 1796. Lake Ontario described as so high as to have drowned orchards 

 near Kingston of 30 years growth, while the graveUy beach of Lake Erie naur 

 Cleveland was used as a road, and continued so for many years afterwards. 



In 1798, Lake Erie reported as higher tban in 1796. 



Waters of Lake Erie, and of the others generally, high from 1800 to 1802; and the 

 level loosely estimated as similar to that of 1827. 



'Do. 



do. 



$ Houghton, Higgens, Dearborn, 

 I Whiting, &c. 



Do. do. do. 



Houghton, Higgens, &c. 



Do., do., and Whittesley 

 Whiting. 

 Do. , do. , do. , Dearborn, M< Taggart , 

 Do. 

 Do. 



{ Houghton, Higgens, Whitine 

 I Dearborn, M'Taggart, &c. 



Level reported, in general terms, as low. 



The level of this year is compared with the floods of 1790 and 188S : which would give 



about 2 ft. 9 in. below the mean level. 

 Gen. Dearborn states, from personal knowledge, that Jjakt Erie was. in 1S14. more 



than 2 feet higher than in 1S13, and that the river Detroit was unusually high 



during that aud the following year, and much laud submerged: Dr. Houghton 



describes the Detroit as high in 1814 and 1815 : and Mr. Higgens the Upper Lakes 



as fall in 1814, and the central and lower Lakes in 1815. 

 In 1815, like previous year. Detroit and St. Clair Rivers unusually full, and the rise 



of Ontario regarded as generally about 2 feet higher than the other Lakes. 

 In 1817 and 1S19, an ebh and flow of from 14 to IS inches, noticed at Green Bay hy 



Major Storrow, and in 1S20 by Mr. Schoolcraft, and in 1827 by CoX Whiting. 



In 1S19 and 1S20, the central and lower Lakes described by Messrs. Higgens and 

 Whittesley as unusually low: while Col. Whiting and Dr. Houghton state that 

 the Detroit River had resumed its usual level. 



Lakes Huron and Erie described as having resumed their usual level during this 

 year. 



This year a rapid rise of 2 feet, from o to 3 feet below 183S. 



In 1824, ice for a time blocked up outlet of Lake Huron, and river Detroit in conse- 

 quence fell rapidly 10 feet: and a great depression took place in Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario, while the pent-up waters flowed back on Lake Huron. In other respects, 

 the Lakes appear to have been in their usual state. In 1831. a similar occurrence. 



In 1S27 and 1828, Lake Ontario (and other Lakes) 2 feet higher than 1S20; and yet, 

 according to Mr. M'Taggart (who estimates extra height between 2 and 3 feet), 

 the rivers flowing out of them did not appear to be affected thereby : while Qt a. 

 Dearborn states that, though Lakes Erie and Ontario were so high. Lake Superior 

 was lower than ever known before. In 1830, the level of Lake Eric rated at 2 feet 

 above 1819. 



