XIV. — Notes on the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron. 

 By JOHN J. BIGSBY, m.d., f.ls., m.g.s., 



MEMBER OF THE MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, HONORARY MEMBER 

 OF THE AMERICAN GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



[Read Feb. 21, March 7 and 21, 1823.] 



Sect. I. GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF LAKE HURON. 



X-iAKE HURON is the third from the Atlantic Ocean of the great chain of 

 lakes, which occupy the four plateaux of the upper part of the valley of the 

 St. Lawrence. It receives the waters of Lake Superior by the Straits of 

 St. Mary, the small lake George, and, finally, by a series of basins and cur- 

 rents ; the whole connecting channel being about 39 miles long. It discharges 

 into Lake Erie* by the river St. Clair, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River, 

 26, 25, and 24 miles long, respectively. 



Lakes Huron and Michigan are parts of the same body of water, being se- 

 parated only by the strait of Michilimackinac. Their magnitude entitles 

 them to the denomination of independent lakes f . 



The country to the north and north-east of Lake Huron is sterile, rocky, 

 and uneven, full of morasses, creeks, and ponds. It is always hilly, but sel- 

 dom rises more than 500 feet above the level of the lake ; and then in ridges, 

 rarely in cliffs. The higher grounds are naked rocks, with pine and birch 

 springing up in their fissures ; while the borders of the marshes and streams 

 (often of a clayey soil mixed with decayed vegetables) produce a profusion of 

 willows, poplars, shrubs, and long grass. 



In these desolate regions, scanty tribes of Indians exist by the chase, disposing 

 of their furs to the wandering traders who visit them from Lower Canada. 



The tract bordering the southern shore of this lake, and that also which 

 lies between Lake Michigan and the waters of St. Clair and Detroit, is highly 

 fertile. It is low and undulating, with frequent swamps and small lakes, 



* Lake Michigan has no outlet but by the St. Clair : when, however, the waters exceed their 

 usual level by a few feet, a communication takes place with the Mississipi by the Illinois river. 



f Mr. Hutchins, late geographer to the United States, calculated Lake Huron io cover 

 5,009,920 acres, and assigned to Michigan more than double that surface. 

 VOL. VI. 2 A 



