111 An fîtjîorîcal Journal of 



The firlî: of Augujly after having failed crofs a Bay that îs thirty 

 Remarks on the -^^^^^^^ deep, I left on the Right the Illes 

 . ' .of Caftor^ which appeared to be very well 



Ri'vers ^e meet j r f r .i. i. 



^itb in this Route ^^^^^^ ' feme Leagues further, on the 

 Left, I perceived on an Eminence of Sand a 

 Kind of Bufh, which, when we are over againft it has the Shape 

 of an Animal lying down. The French call it Upurs qui dort 

 (the JleepingBear)^ and the Savages the Bear lying dcnvn, I went 

 twenty Leagues that Day, and encamped in a little Illand, 

 4^ 30^ North Latitude ; this is nearly the Latitude of Montreah 

 'rom the Entrance of Lake Michigan to this Ifland, the Coaft 

 is very fandy, but if we go a little Way into the Country it ap- 

 pears to be very good, at leaft to judge of it by the fine Forefls 

 with which it is covered. On the other Hand, it is well watered, 

 for we went not a League without difcovering either fome large 

 Brook, or fome pretty River, and the farther we go South, the 

 Hivers grow larger, and have a longer Courfe, the Peninfula^ 

 which feparates Lake Michigan from Lake Huron, growing wider 

 it advances to the South. Neverthelefs, the greateft Part of 

 théfè Rivers are but narrow, and lhallow at their Mouths ; but 

 they have this Singularity, that they form Lakes near their En- 

 trance of two, three, or four Leagues round. This proceeds, 

 îiO Doubt, from the Quantity of Sand which they bring down : 

 Thefe Sânds being driven back by the Waves of the Lake, 

 which' almoll always come from the Weft, gather at the Mouths 

 of the Rivers, whofe Waters being ftopt by thefe Banks, which 

 they pafs over with Difficulty, have made themfelves by Degrees 

 thefe Lakes, or Ponds, which prevent the Inundation of the 

 whole Country when the Snows melt. 



On the third I entered Father Marquette^ s River to examine if 

 1? // TV/T what I had heard of it was true. It is at 

 yi^n^R' ^^^^ ^ ^took, but fifteen Paces higher, 



q es i'ver. which is near two Leagues round, to make a 

 Paffage for it into the Michigan^ one would think they had dug 

 away with Pickaxes, a great Hill, which we leave to the Left 

 at the Entrance, and on the Right the Coaft is very low for the 

 îerigth of a good Mufket-Shot ; then all at once it rifes very 

 high. It had been thus reprefented to me ; concerning which, 

 this is the conftant Tradition of all our Travellers, and 

 \vhat I have heard from fome an tient Miffionaries. 



Father Jofeph Marquette, a Native of Zr^?^» in P/V/sir^, where 

 his Family ftill holds a diftinguifhed Rank, was one of the moft 

 illuftrious Miffionaries of Nenv France ; he travelled over almoft 

 all Parts of it, and made many Difcoveries ; the laft of which 

 was the MiJJîJJippi, which he entered with the Sieur Joliet in 

 1^673. Two Years after this Difcovery, of which he publiihed 

 ' — ' ai^ 



