ON THE SOUTH SHOEE OF LAKE SUPEKIOR. 437 



The Apostle Islands. — When the waters of Lake Superior assumed their present 

 level, these islands were doubtless a part of the promontory;, which I have described 

 as occupying the space between Chegwomigon Bay and the Brule River. They 

 are composed of drift-hills and red clay, resting on sandstone, which is occasionally 

 visible. In the lapse of ages, the winds, waves, and currents of the Lake cut away 

 channels in these soft materials, and finally separated the lowest parts of the pro- 

 montory into islands and island-rocks, now twenty-three in number, which are true 

 outliers of the drift and sandstone. A new islet has been separated from the north- 

 eastern point of Pug-a-tau-bau-minnis, or " Fishing-Line Island," since the surveys 

 of Captain Bayfield, in 1824, '25, and '26. 



I found, in passing among the islands, that no map in my possession gave even a 

 good general idea of their size, form, and position. Afterwards, I had the good 

 fortune to examine a copy of Bayfield's map, in the hands of Mr. Armatinger, a 

 Canadian gentleman, which represents them truly, and from which I have taken 

 the islands and adjacent coast. 



I have since seen Farmer's Map of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and find 

 the islands correctly copied from Bayfield. At a distance they appear like main 

 land, with deep bays and points, gradually becoming more elevated to the westward. 

 u He au Chene," or Oak Island, which is next the Detour, is a pile of detached 

 drift, two hundred and fifty and three hundred feet high, and is the highest of the 

 group. Madeline, or " Wau-ga-ba-me" Island, is the largest, being thirteen miles 

 long, from northeast to southwest, and has an average of three miles in breadth. 

 " Muk-quaw," or Bear Island, and Eshquagendeg, or Outer Islands, are about equal 

 in size, being six miles long and two and a half wide. 



They embrace, in all, an area of about four hundred square miles, of which one- 

 half is water. The soil is in some places good, but the major part of it would be 

 difficult to clear and to cultivate. The causes to which I referred as giving rise to 

 thickets of evergreens along the coast of the Lake, operate here on all sides, and 

 have covered almost the whole surface with cedar, birch, aspen, hemlock, and pine. 

 There are, however, patches of sugar-tree land, and natural meadows. On six of 

 them I did not discover the base rock, and conclude that they are composed of 

 clay and drift to the water's edge. 



On all the others, the sand-rock is visible in places on the coast, which I have 

 denoted on the map, and which make a wild, bold, and dangerous shore. The rock 

 is often worn into grottoes, detached pillars and blocks, caverns, arches, and niches, 

 through which the waves resound on the slightest agitation of the water. 



It is upon the northerly and easterly shores that the rocks show themselves most 

 frequently ; in no instances that I have seen, more than forty-five feet above the 

 water. The southerly and westerly sides show red clay and drift, occupying much 

 more than half the coast. 



The waters around the islands afford excellent white fish, trout, and siscowet, which 

 do not appear to diminish after many years of extensive fishing, for the Lower Lake 

 markets. For trout and siscowet, which are caught with a line in deep water, the 

 best ground of the neighbourhood is off Bark Point, or " Point Ecorse" of the French. 

 The estimate of this season was one thousand barrels for the La Pointe fishermen. 



