LAKE ONTARIO. 
75 
board may be discerned at the depth of several 
fathoms from the surface; it is, however, by 
no means so clear and transparent as the water 
of some of the other lakes. Mr. Carver speak¬ 
ing of Lake Superior, says, When it was 
tc calm, and the sun shone bright, I could sit 
in my canoe, where the depth was upwards 
“ of six fathoms, and plainly see huge piles 
<s of stone at the bottom, of different shapes, 
fC some of which appeared as if they had been 
<c hewn ; the water was at this time as pure 
and transparent as air, and my canoe seemed 
* e as if it hung suspended in that element. It 
was impossible to look attentively through 
this limpid medium, at the rocks below, 
without finding, before many minutes were 
elapsed, your head swim, and your eyes no 
“ longer able to behold the dazzling scene/' 
The water of Lake Ontario is very well 
tasted, and is that which is constantly used on 
hoard the vessels that traverse it. 
It is very confidently asserted, not only by 
the Indians, but also by great numbers of the 
white people who live on the shores of Lake 
Ontario, that the waters of this lake rise and 
fall alternately every seventh year; others, on 
the contrary, deny, that such a fluctuation does 
take place; and indeed it differs so materially 
from any that has been observed in large bodies 
of water in other parts of the globe, that for 
