the ,bottom of then?: are generally found a member of ftnaU.ftones and
p^bblef j^Tbis circumftance j uftities tile; cöndufion-, that atfome former
period tbefe rpcks fortned the bed of a branch of the difcharge of this
lake,($lthpugh fome o f them are upwards of tea* feet above the prefect
fofql of. ÉÜ greateft-height. They are, indeddjit© be feenin
every0laJ(£ apd., river throughout this wide Extended country. The
french ;riv?r f^.yery irregular, , both as to its breadth and form, and is fö
in^frfpfijfcdiWiïhHiflftuds^thatinithe wholp eourféof it the banksJare>fefe
dom yifibfe* O f fts Various ebaBneIs, 'that- whiefcis gehe i^y folloteed
by>fh?: caftoes,■is obftf pfted | by the folfowingl Portages, viz. des Pins;
paees j Jhijtysfixrpaoes;; ' Tarifieririej; onerhdndfed
paces; (Reenet,’ f&tyj#y*gj pacts;:andithe.Petitevdfceaifili^i/iwed^wfiyfe
pae-ds? ; f$n foyeRd parts there -hre guts or cehanhelsi? twhdte tfhd gwater
flows with great velocity, which are'not inoré than twipe ?thé breadth of
a, cauoe. .The jdiftaiïce: to Lake .Huron is eftimated at* twe®iy#ve
leagues, which this river, ehteys ini the fatitode; Iforth^that is, nt
the point of land three or four miles within the lake.. Therevis hardly
a foot of foil to-be feen from one end o f the French river to the other,
its banks confifting pf hills o f entire rock. The coaft of the lake is the
fame, but lower» backed at fomediftance by high-foptls. ; :TheèourfB runs
through numerous; iflai*ds to the North" óf Weft to ;the river Teffalon,
computed! to bo about fifty -leagues from ithe French tóvérpand which I
found to be in latitude 46-.: 12, 21. Nprth; and from thence eroding, from
inland to ifland, the arm o f the lake that receives, the wbter ö£ Lake
Superior (whjch continues the fame cparfe), the iroute changes to the
South of Weft ten leagues to the Detour, paffing the end o f the ifland of
St. Jofeph, within fix miles o f the former place. On that ifland there
has
M g » ! tb havé bêen chiafed by fome > convulfion o f nature, for
mariy o f thfebfla’nds’ difolay a compaction? of lava,'intermixed with
round1 ffonfe^Af the frze’ of -4 pigeon’s egg. The furrounding rock is
generally hard, and óf a dark blue-grey, ' though infrequently has the
appearanpe of iron and Copper. Thê Sphth fide of the lake, from Point
SKagoimigo Faff, ibalmpft a dgMinual flraight line of Tandy beach, in-
térfpër&d-with rocky pree%nqe’s'bf lime-flónê^fö'metimes; riling to an
hundred feet in height,' without a; bay. The. embankments from that
point WeftWardi are; in general,rofflrohgr clay, mixed with ftönes, which
rehflef s^lhe inavigaHqn iukfoihe. andir dangëraüs. - On the tfame fidey
at.the' RiverfTonnagan, ds/I&und a »quantity -of virgin copper. ; The
AinèiScj|iisi foon after théyii^t poieffiön öf;:th'at country, fent an engineer
thithta»! and I fhbuld not ibefurprifed to hear of their employing
people t6*wo»k»the mine. » Indeed; it might rbe well.worthy the attention
of the Britifh fubj.efts %to work .the mines on the North coaft, though
|hey. -afe^not fuppofed to be Jo rich as thofe on the South.
Lake Superior is the Iargeft and-mOft magnificent bódy of frefh water
in the world: it is^tlear and1 pellucid, of gffeat depth, and abounding in
a great variety offifh/ which arfedhernbftexcellent of their kind. % There
gre trouts of three kinds, weighing from, five to* fifty pounds; fturgeon,
.pickerefj-pike,. red and white carp, black baft* herrings, &c. &c. and the-
laft and dbeft of all, the Ticamang, of white fifh, which weighs from,
four to fixteën pounds, and" is of a fuperiof quality in thefe waters.
This lake may?’' be-vdenomina-ted the grand refervoir of the River
St. Laurence^as(inp^gppj^erable riyejrs .ejifeharge themjelves into it.
I The