THE WILLOW ISLANDS. 



9 



of the air at sunrise, 51°, of lake 59°. The west coast 

 for a few miles is elevated from five to six feet above the 

 lake ; here and there a low beach of limestone gravel, 

 sand, and a few granite boulders, is fringed with a belt of 

 tall aspens which grow within twenty feet of the water's 

 edge. Behind the belt of aspens is a marsh, then another 

 belt of aspens also followed by a marsh. This succession 

 continues for a distance of about three miles before good 

 land supporting heavy aspens is to be found in large areas. 

 Near to the spot where we breakfasted, an excellent illus- 

 tration of the prevailing character of the west coast, thus 

 far, occurs. A sandy beach covered with shingle had 

 separated a former bay from the main body of the lake. 

 On this beach, which was not twenty feet broad, or more 

 than five above the lake level, willows, dogwood, and 

 grasses were growing ; a large pond lay inside, fringed 

 with rushes ; it was tenanted by hosts of duck. In the 

 rear of this pond a narrow strip of land clothed with 

 aspen, separated a marsh from it, which had doubtless 

 once been a bay of the lake, then a pond, and finally a 

 marsh. 



At 11 a. M., a vast quantity of confervas appeared in 

 clusters on the surface of the lake, resembling in every 

 particular a similar organism noticed in extraordinary 

 profusion on the Lake of the Woods in August, 1857. 

 The sudden appearance of this " weed," indicated a cahm 

 according to the experience of our voyageurs. A calm 

 did occur for a short time, soon, however, followed by rain 

 in the north, which fortunately did not reach us. 



Inland ponds cut off from the lake by low beaches 

 appear as far as the Willow Islands, where we arrived in 

 the afternoon. These islands were found to consist of a 

 few small sandy areas and one long narrow strip of sand 



