THE SOUTHERN SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 353 



line schists, with their intermingling masses of trappean and quartz 

 rocks, richly impregnated with the specular and magnetic oxide of 

 iron, pass into the granite and sandstone rocks, which intervene 

 between the ferriferous formations and the copper-bearing traps of 

 Keweenaw Point, and it is of this very locality that the authors of 

 the report on the geology of the district remark : " It would be diffi- 

 cult to select another spot along the whole coast, where the rocks of 

 so many epochs, from the oldest to the most recent, are represented. 

 It contains an epitome of nearly the whole geology of the district." 

 With the exception of these strikingly marked rocky lines of the 

 coast, the general character of the Southern Shore of Lake Superior 

 is devoid of any very bold features, but consists almost entirely of the 

 same rounded elevations and terraces, with gently sloping shores, or 

 crumbling escarpments of drift, with which we are familiar on the 

 lower lakes ; and covered every where with dense forests down to the 

 water's edge. In no place do the surrounding hills, to be seen inland, 

 rise to such an elevation as to present any very striking general 

 feature in the view, although on landing and exploring the scenery 

 lying beyond the coast line, some bold and striking features in the 

 landscape well repay the toil ; 'as in the magnificent cliffs of trappean 

 rocks running in a southwesterly direction from Keweenaw point to 

 the Montreal Kiver, and presenting their perpendicular sides to the 

 south-east. 



In reference to this character of the Southern Shore, Mr. J. Elliot 

 Cabot, the author of a narrative of the Tour undertaken under the 

 direction of Professor Agassiz in 1848, remarks* " Lake Superior is 

 to be figured to the mind as a vast basin with a high rocky rim, 

 scooped out of the plateau extending from the Alleghanies to the 

 Mississippi Valley, a little to the south of the height of land. Its 

 dimensions according to Captain Bayfield, are three hundred and 

 sixty miles in length, one hundred and forty in breadth, and fifteen 

 hundred in circumference. The mountainous rim is almost unbroken j 

 its height varies from the average of about three or four hundred 

 feet, to twelve or thirteen hundred ; the slopes are gradual towards 

 the north, and abrupt on the opposite side, so that on the north shore 

 the cliffs rise steeply from the water, whilst on the south it is said 

 the ascent is more gentle, the abrupt faces being inland. This dif- 

 ference of formation, joined to the prevalence of northerly winds, has 

 given very diiferent aspects to the two shores ; the southern showing 

 broad sand-beaches and remarkable hills of sand, whereas on the north 

 * " Lake Superior, its Physical Character," ic, i> 123. 



