Dr. BiGSBY on the Geography and Geology of Lake Huron. 187 



compact body of water, but are excavated with deep and narrow bays obscured 

 by high walls of rock and dwarf pines. 



Its breadth therefore is variable ; sometimes extending more than a league, 

 and occupied by every diversity of island. 



Few American prospects exceed in grandeur and singularity those which 

 are here afforded by groups of long and lofty islets, extending in giant rays 

 from a centre into some dark bay, the clear water reflecting their rugged 

 outlines and wild foliage, amid the solemn stillness pervading these solitudes. 



Two cataracts occur. By one it leaves Lake Nipissing : the other is 20 

 miles below, and is called the Recollet. It is about 10 feet high, and is nar- 

 row. It is divided into three parts by two fragments of rock. The adjacent 

 red feldspathose eminences, and the black crags in the midst of the foaming 

 waters, beset with living and dead pine, impart great beauty to the scene. 



There are many rapids ; the most serious of which is that of Brisson, re- 

 markable for its thirteen wooden crosses, commemorative of as many fatal 

 accidents. 



The current is always strong ; perhaps 2 miles per hour. 



The river Severn, about 25 miles long, and issuing from Lake Simcoe, is \^ 

 mile broad at its mouth near Penetanguishene. It has two falls, and under- 

 goes a total descent of 80 feet from that lake*. 



The St. Clair is the only river of discharge possessed by Lakes Michigan, 

 Superior and Huron, which have a surface of 38^ millions of acres, and are 

 fed by numerous rivers many times larger than the St. Clair, and issuing from 

 lakes of great dimensions. The evaporation must consequently be immense. 

 No hygrometric observations have yet been made. 



The River St. Clair is 300 yards broad at its commencement. It flows 

 through a luxuriant alluvial country, with an average breadth of 1000 yards. 

 It is 26 miles long; with a straight course and smooth and equable current of 

 about 2 miles per hour. At its head there is a rapid for ^ of a mile at the rate 

 of 5 miles per hour. It enters Lake St. Clair by a multitude of shallow change- 

 able mouths. 



The River Saguina (as I am informed by the Rev. Mr. Hudson, missionary 

 to the Saguina Indians,) is 180 yards broad for 24 miles, flowing through a 

 level and heavily timbered district. It then divides itself into three small and 

 very circuitous branches, one of which is called Flint River. The River Sa- 

 guina is 120 miles from Detroit through the woods, and perhaps 220 by water. 



* This calculation places Lake Simcoe more than 400 feet above Lake Ontario, distant 30 

 miles. The ascent is almost imperceptible, as I am informed. 



