30 - CLINTON ON THE GREAT LAKES. 
he states at only thirteen feet above the present level of the Lake; and he 
says that every spring you may pass up the Chicago River and carry in the 
shoalest place five feet water into the IJlinois, and from thence into the 
Mississippi.” | | 
Mackenzie, in his account of his voyages through the Continent, to the 
Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in 1789 and 1793, says, that ‘along the sur- 
rounding branches of Lake Superior, there are evident marks of the decrease 
of its waters by the lines observable along them. ‘The space, however, be- 
tween the highest and the lowest is not so great as in the smaller Lakes; as 
it does not amount to more than six feet; the former, or highest lines are 
very faint.” 
4. The Lakes are subject to extraordinary swells and risings. On the 
18th of October, 1764, Colonel Bradstreet, who had been on an expedition 
against the Western Indians, broke up his camp at Sandusky to proceed on 
his return to Albany by Lake Erie. _ In the evening, as he was going to land 
the troops, a sudden swell of the Lake, without any visible cause, destroyed 
several of his boats, but no lives were lost. This extraordinary event was, 
however, looked upon as the precursor of a storm, and accordingly one 
soon occurred which lasted several days. Mackenzie, before quoted, states 
that a very curious phenomenon was observed some years ago at the Grand 
Portage in Lake Superior, for which no obvious cause could be assigned. 
The water withdrew with great precipitation, leaving the ground dry that 
had never before been visible ; the fall being equal to four perpendicular 
feet, and rushing back with great velocity above the common mark. — It con- 
tinued thus falling and rising for several hours, gradually decreasing until it 
stopped at its usual height.”’ 
The following occurrence, equally extraordinary, took place on the British 
side of Lake Erie on or about the 30th May, 1823, which is thus described. 
‘« A little after sunset Lake Erie was observed to take a sudden and extra- 
ordinary rise, the weather being fine and clear, and the lake calm and 
smooth. It was principally noticed at the mouths of Otter and Kettle 
Creeks, which are twenty miles apart. At Otter Creek, it came in, without 
the least previous intimation, in a swell of nine feet perpendicular height, as 
