1854.] 



ON THE PERIODICAL RISE AND FALL OF THE LAKES. 



303 



31. 



32 j 



33 1 

 34.' 

 35. 

 36. 

 37. 



38. 



39. 

 1840. 



41. 



42. 



43. 



44. 



45. 



46. 



47. 



48. 



49. 

 1850. 



51. 



52. 



S3.. 



54.. 



COMPARATIVE LEVEL. 



Subsiding rapidly. 



ith minimum, though only down to 



average. 

 Rising. 



2 feet 10 inches below 1838. 



1 " 8 " do. 



" "9 ". do. 



(, bth maximum. 

 ( 5 feet 3 inches above Zero. 

 3 " do. 



ATJTHOEITLES. 



5 

 1 



7 

 8 



11 

 

 

 6 

 2 

 1 

 8 



11 



do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 5th minimum. 

 above Zero, 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 



Rising rapidly. 



6th maximum; very high, as in 1832. 



Whiting, &c. 



5 Whittesley, Higgens. 



Houghton, Higgens, Mather 

 Whiting, Whittesley, Buffalo 

 Advertiser, Canadian Journal 

 &c. 



American Journal of Science 

 Prof. Dewey, Buffalo Express, 

 Niagara Fall's Iris', Chatham 

 Planet, &c. 



MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. 



N.B. — Id contrast to Lake Erie 

 from 1846 to 1852, Lake On- 

 tario was as follows at mouth 

 of Genessee River : — 

 2 ft. 3 in. from top of dock. 



1 

 1 

 9 

 5 

 11 



do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 do. 

 in July, do. 

 do. 



This year Lake Erie fell temporarily between 3 and 4 feet. (See also 1824.) 



By average is meant the mean, or half-way between the two extremes— say 2 feet Q 

 inches below the maximum of 1S38. 



In 1835, Lake considered 1 ft. 8 in. higher than in 1819 ; and afterwards in 1842. 



In 1S36, level the same as in 1830, and subsequently in 1853, and 1 ft. higher than 

 the previous year. JV.S.— The figures in the "Comparative Level " column to 

 1838 from Mr. Higgens. „ ^ , ,. 



In 1S3S, Lake stated by Higgens to be 5 ft. 3 in. above 1S19, and by BufTalo Adver- 

 tiser 5 ft. 4 in. in June, and 5 ft. 9 in. in August -.and according to Dr. Houghton, it 

 might be 6ft,: much land overflowed, and trees of 100 years growth killed. Lake 

 Ontario said to be 6 ft. 10 in. above 1825, Lake Huron higher than for two centu- 

 ries. Michigan ft. hiehfir than in 1820. and Superior said to be 3 ft. higher than 

 usual, and 1 ft. abovelS37. By February, 1S39, Erie had fallen to 3 ft. S in. (see 

 also 1S27), and in 1840 it was higher than for 23 years before, with the exception 

 of 183S. N.B.— The levels in figures from 1S39 to 1851 from Buffalo Advertiser of 



In" 1844'. all the Lakes considered low; but during the night of ISth October, Lake 

 Erie suddenly rose temporarily at Buffalo 13 ft. 8 in. above the harbour Zero, 

 caused by a great storm. In 1S45, a sudden rise and fall of Lake Ontario, caused 

 (according to Prof. Dewey) by a tornado, with water-spout, thunder, and hail. 

 In that year, however, Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan much lower than usual ; 

 and in Lake Superior, a rock at the entrance of Eagle Harbour appeared above 

 water, and next year' was V/, ft. high, and in next year still higher. In 1846, 

 Gull Island (a light-house station in Lake Ontario) reappeared, after having been 

 submerged 7 years. In January, 1847, sudden flux and reflux of Lake Ontario 

 near Cobourg, when the waters receded 350 ft., and returned in an unbroken 

 wave 4 ft. high; repeated 7 or 8 times, till it gradually assumed its usual appear- 

 ance. On 30th March, outlet of Lake Erie temporarily blocked up with ice, so as to 

 leave the Table Rock at Niagara i'alls, and 200 ft. beyond it, dry. On ISt h April. 

 a sudden temporary depression of Lake Erie at Buffalo to 22 in. below Zero' caused 

 by a strong gale from the N.E. In 1851, Lake Erie, at Port Colborne, n"s 3 ft. 

 higher than in 1850 : and in 1862 very little change; and in 1853 level nearly the 

 same as in 1838 and 1S30. In 1852, Lake Ontario 1 ft. 2 in. higher than in 18ol ; 

 and in 1853. 9 in. higher, and calculated to be the same as in 1830 and 1838, and 

 4 ft. o in. above the minimum of 1849. In 1853, the River St. Lawrence generally 

 considered as very high. 



Geieral Remark:— It is estimated that the Lakes subside irregularly, between the great periodical floods, at the rate of about 1 ft. 4 in. per annum ; but that the comparative 

 rapidity of the fall is as about 2 years, to 5 of the rise; and that the waters remain for some time at the mean level. Mr. Murray observes of Lake Huron, in nis Report oi j.wk>, 

 that its waters have sunk considerably below former (perhaps ancient) levels, as indicated by water-marks, to the extent of 4 feet 10 inches. 



While leaving the details of the foregoing Table to speak for 

 themselves, I may be permitted to superadd, that the column 

 of " Comparative level," however imperfect, is as complete as 

 my materials would furnish; and that the greater part of the 

 names there registered will be found among the different writers 

 to whom I have had occasion to refer } or quote from, in the course 

 of the foregoing remarks, besides several other sources of infor- 

 mation to which I may hereafter have to advert; and further, 

 that I have, in the column of "Miscellaneous remarks" taken 

 care to refer to all such information of a loose comparative nature 

 as appeared too indefinite for being admitted into the column of 

 "Authorities," though not altogether to be rejected as without 

 value; as well as to note not only any remarkable temporary 

 derangements in the usual flow of Lake Erie, but any coincidence 

 of level, or other remarkable event, connected with the state of 

 the other Lakes at the same time. From a careful perusal of all 

 details, I am disposed to think it will, in the first place, be satisfac- 

 torily demonstrated that not only there is no regular septennial 

 or other great flood in Lake Erie, or any other of the great Lakes, 

 but that, though in 1838 the whole of our inland waters hap- 

 pened to be simultaneously at an extraordinary height, it is very 

 problematical whether they will always be found in an elevated 

 or depressed state at the same time. For instance, taking it for 

 granted that 1789-90 was really a maximum year, it will be seen 

 by a reference to the Table, that instead of an interval of 14 

 years, the next maximum took place in 10 years, or in 1800-1 ; 

 and that the next great flood was fortuitously in 1815; but that 

 the next was in 1828 ; the next in 1838 ; and the last in 1853 ; 

 and that, as might be reasonably expected, the advent of the 

 mean and maximum periods was still less to be depended on. 

 I am therefore bound to coincide in the more rational, and now 

 generally received opinion, that the intervals at which these 



extraordinary floods occur are, at the best, uncertain, and mainly 

 dependent on the extra amount of rain and snow, and the less 

 degree of evaporation during the summer months, in that par- 

 ticular year ; and that though the rise and fall in the different 

 Lakes may, under ordinary circumstances, be generally simul- 

 taneous, it does not follow that such will always be the case ; or, 

 in other words, that there may sometimes be a rise for a season, 

 or part of a season, in one Lake, altogether independent of the 

 others, arising from temporary obstructions at its outlet — a con- 

 clusion which I have arrived at, after much inquiry, observation, 

 and reflection, in addition to the evidence furnished in the fore- 

 goino- Table, — as will be found more particularly adverted to 

 immediately. 



2ndly. With regard to the annual variations in the level of the 

 Lakes, and their general extent; and how far these also oceur 

 simultaneously, and are likewise owing to the amount of rain 

 and snow compared with that of the evaporation ; or what other 

 cause : — I am free to confess that, cceteris paribus, and in accord- 

 ance with the various authorities adduced, as well as all other 

 information which I have been enabled to obtain, the same 

 observation must apply to these variations as to the septennial 

 fluctuations just noticed ; but that while the extremes between 

 the maximum and minimum range of the great floods may be 

 rated at about 6 feet, the average difference of level during a 

 single year may be between 2 and 8 feet; and that, as already 

 stated, though the rise and fall in all the Lakes may usually be 

 simultaneous, one may sometimes be low while the others are 

 high. As, for instance, it will be seen by a reference to the column 

 of" Miscellaneous Remarks," that in 1795-96, Lake Ontario was so 

 high as to drown trees of many years' growth, while Lake Erie was 

 described as so low that the gravelly beach near Cleveland was used 

 as a public road; and that in 1814, "the upper Lakes were full," 



