Dr. BiGSBY on the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron. 179 



Opposite the centre of the harbour, and behind the village, at a short di* 

 stance, is an eminence called Blockhouse Hill, which has the form of an em- 

 bankment, and is composed of sand and rolled pebbles of various rocks. 



There is a gentle ascent from the water's edge to the distance of from 30() 

 to 500 yards. A sudden rise of from 20 to 30 feet then takes place at an angle 

 of 65°, forming the bluff in question, which presents to the west a front 150 

 yards broad, and then retires, widening on either side, until after some yards 

 it is lost in the generally increased height of the ground. Its base is strown 

 with masses of primitive rocks, and its summit is covered with large slabs of 

 the limestone of the island. Nothing can be more harsh and desolate than 

 the aspect of this station on a near inspection. The village itself is encum- 

 bered with debris of rocks, so numerous and sharp-edged as to render walk- 

 ing very difficult. The sterile vicinity is bristled with black stumps and half- 

 consumed pines *. 



At the bottom of a large cul-de-sac in Collier's Harbour, a narrow stream, 

 which falls from a small height in the Lake, communicates with a chain of 

 small lakes running into the interior of the island. The first of these is a 

 mile long, half a mile broad, and is surrounded by a dense forest, growing 

 among reeds and rushes. To the east of this is an opening leading to a se- 

 cond lake, and that to a third. 



Drummond Island is separated from the Little Manitou by the False Detour, 

 a strait so called from its being frequently mistaken for the True. It is from 

 8 to 10 miles long, and its greatest breadth is from 3 to 6 miles. Its depth in 

 the middle is seldom less than from 30 to 40 fathoms. As you enter it from the 

 south the opening is spacious and bold, with three fine capes on the west, and 

 one on the east. On the angle of Little Manitou is a shoal, with a mass of 

 white rocks in the centre : a short way within the strait, close to the last island, 

 are three low marshy isles crowded together. At the northern outlet the 

 shores are very rounded, with precipices on the west, and woody steeps to the 

 east. In front is the open lake, studded with a few islets in pairs, and termi- 

 nated in the distance by the mis-shapen hills of the northern main. On the 

 north-west is a blue waving line of the heights of St. Joseph, and on the 

 north-east the looming of the isles about La Cloche is just visible. 



Little Manitou observes an eastern course. It is of a rounded form, with 

 a diameter of 7 or 8 miles. Its features are the same as those of Drummond, 

 but it is perhaps higher. Frequent conflagrations have destroyed almost all 



* In 1820 this post only escaped destruction, by a fire spreading from the woods, through the 

 great exertions of the inhabitants and a body of Indians. 



