INTRODUCTION. 



XXXlll 



dance of argillaceous earth which enters into its composition ; hence, these red clay 

 and marl lands are often wet, particularly when defended from the direct rays of 

 the sun, by the dense growth of cedar, balsam, spruce, birch, and hemlock that 

 usually covers them. Still, these lands are not so wet, but that by clearing and a 

 judicious system of husbandry, they would soon become sufficiently dry for most 

 kinds of crops and garden vegetables. They may be compared in quality to the 

 red lands of Maryland and Virginia, which border the Potomac River, in Montgo- 

 mery and Loudon counties, which, by deep sub-soil ploughing and a proper system 

 of drainage, produce wheat crops that can hardly be excelled. The principal draw- 

 back to bringing these lands into cultivation is the difficulty of clearing off the forest, 

 which in many places is exceedingly dense, and the fallen timber of a character 

 little subject to decay. The larger portion of the Lake Superior basin is occupied 

 by these red clay and marl lands. They comprise the extensive plains of the Bad 

 River country, and extend from near the coast to the conglomerate and trap hills, 

 which bound them on the east and south, and which trap range, by reason of its 

 southerly curve, from the Michigan boundary line towards Long Lake, circumscribes, 

 in connexion with the drift ridges of Chegwomigon Bay, a semicircular area, the 

 radius of which will average about twenty-two miles, and contains about twenty- 

 four or twenty-five townships of land. Also, a strip of coast between Apukweyaka 

 and St. Louis Rivers, averaging about six miles in breadth from north to south, and 

 including about six townships, besides a small triangular area of a few sections 

 running up the valleys of Cranberry and Siscowet Rivers ; also a small area on the 

 Apostle Islands, which will probably not exceed two or three townships more. The 

 general elevation of the red clay plains above Lake Superior is about two hundred 

 feet. They are, for the most part, level, with a gentle slope towards the lake, cut, 

 however, into deep, abrupt gullies in the immediate vicinity of the streams. 



The appearance and outline of a portion of the south shore of Lake Superior, is 

 accurately delineated in the following cut, after a sketch executed, at request, by 

 Aindi-bi-tunk, a full-blooded Chippewa Indian. It was taken from a promontory of 

 Madeline Island, and exhibits, in the foreground, the magnificent bay, along the 

 shore of which the beautiful village of La Pointe has sprung up. 



This bay is nearly three miles across, and is capable of containing, at anchor, 

 secure from all winds, a numerous fleet of the largest class vessels. La Pointe was 

 originally selected by the adventurous traders of the Northwest Fur Company, as 

 the most eligible site for a depot and trading-post in the Northwest Territory ; and 

 was, for a long time, their principal rendezvous, and the centre of their extensive 

 and wide-spread operations. It is not only one of the most commanding and acces- 

 sible situations on Lake Superior, but it presents one of the most agreeable and 

 picturesque lake scenes the tourist can well imagine. 



Lake Superior has, at times, not only the varied interest, but the sublimity, of a. 



5 



