H E
North -Carolina Chronicle ; or? Fay etfevilk Gazette
rNo- 15, cf Vol. II. J
MONDAY, D E C E M B E R 20, 1790.
Total He 67..
ms tort.
CARVER'S TRAVELS.
( CcJiiviued.)
HE ftraights of St. Mane are ahaut
J forty miles long, bearing South
l.a i, bin varying much in thir breadth.
The current between the falls and
L-ke Huron is not fo rapid as might be
e.;clcd, nor do they prevent the navi-
:iin-o"nips of bu den as for up as the
iL vJ of St. Jofeph.
Ik has been obfetved by traTcllers
th.vc the entrance into Like Superior
frc.Ti ihs e ftraihts, affords one of the
rn d pletfing profjccU in the world:
Thr plac ' in which this might be viewed
to th. greateft advantage, is jufl at the
opening on the like, from whence may
hr'eenonthe left, many beutliul littlo
i'.lanis that extend a considerable way be
fore yoa ; and oa the right, an agreea
b fuccciTion of frnall points of land, that
r-eit a little way into the water, and
c ntribire, with the iflands, to render
t'iis delightful bafon (as it might be
trrmei) calm and feourc from the rava
ges of thofe tempeftuous winds b.y which
lite adjoining like is frequently trou
bled. L ike Huron, into which you now en
ter from the ftraights of St. Marie, is the
text in magnitude to Lake Superior. It
lies between forty-two and forty fix d
grees of North latitude, and feventy-nir.j
and eighty-live degrees of Weft longi
tude. Its lhape is nearly triangular, and!
i;s oircumferncc about one thoufand
rcile.
On the North fide of it lies an ifland
that ;s remarkable for being near an hun
tired miles in length, and n more than
e:e;ht niiles broxd. This iiiand is known
lr'tht name of Mana'uh'n, which figni
fi$ a place of fpirits, and is conlidered by
the Indiani a facred as thofe already
mentioned in L:ike Superior.
About the mid lie of the Suth-Weft
fide of this lake i Saaum B it. The
npes tha. fcpar it- this jay fir m rhe lake
r-e abvit eighteen mi'es dHant from
e.ii'i othi'r ; near the midL;l of 'lie inter
rr.:'vz fcaee rtand two ithmds which
.m.1.t tc.i ic fucili-.ati lh- pillVc cf
anocs and fmall veTtls, by affording :
them fhrlter, as "without this fecurity it
would not be prudent to venture acrofsfo
wide a fea j and the coaHing icund the
bay would make the voyage long and te
dious. This bay is about eighty miles
in length, and in general, about eighteen
or twenty miles broad.
Nearly half way between Saganauiri
Bay, and the North-Well corner of thc:
lake lies another, which is termed Thun
der Bay. The Indians, who have fre
quented thefe pxrts from time immemo
rial, and every European traveller that
has palled thrcigh it, have tmanimoufly
agreed to call it by this name, on account
of the continual thunder they hare always
obferved here. The hay is about nine
miles broad, and the fame in length, and
whilft I was palling over it, which took
me up near twenty-four hours, it thun
dered and lightened during the greatcit
part of the tim-e to an exceflive degree.
There appeared to be no viiible reafon
for this that I could difcQver, nor is the
country in general fubjeift to thunder ;
the hill that Hood around were not of a
remarkable heigt, neither did the exter
nal parts of them feem to be covered
with any fulphureeus fubftance. But as
this phxr.omenon muft' originate frcrii
fome natural caufe, I conjecture that the
fhores of the bay, or the adjacent moun
tains, are either impregnated with an urt"
common qaantity of fulphureous matter,
cr contain foifle mental or mineral apt to
attract in a great degree the electrical ar
ticles that are hourly borne over them by
the palTant clouds. But the folution cf
thisi and thofe other philofqphical re
marks which cafually occur throughout
thele pages, I leave to the diicuffion of
abler heads.
The hlh in lake Huron are much the
fane as thofe in lake Superior Sotneof
the land on its backs is very fertile, and
proper for cultivation, but in other parts
it is fandyand barren. The promonto
ry that A;parate this lake from lake Mi
chegan, i ccmpolcd of a raft plain, up
wards of one hundred miles long, but va
rying in its breadth, being from ten to
fif.ecn miles broad. This track, as I
have belore obferved, is divided into al
molt an equal .portion between th: Otto
waw and Cnipcway Indians. At the
Korth-Eaft corner, this lake bits 9. com.
luunication 'with Lake Michegan, by the
fcraights of MichUliinackinae already def
cribed. . ; '' ;-
I had like to have omitted a very ex
traordinary circumfiance relative to thefe
ft mights. According" to obfervatians
made by the French, whilft they vere in
poiTcflion of the fort, although there is no
diurnal flood or ebb to be perceived; in
theft waters, yet, from an exact attention
to their Irate, a periodical alteration in
them !has been difcovered. It was ob
ferved that they rofe by gradual, butal
moft imperceptible degrees, till they had
reached the height of about three feet.
This was acccmplifhed in feven 3 ears and
an half, and in the fame fpace they as
gently decreafed, till they had reached
their former fkuation lb that in fifteen
years (they had completed this inexplica
ble revolution. At the time I waa there
the truth of thefe obfervarions could not
be confirmed by the Englilh, as they lUd
been only a few years in polfeflion of the
fort ; but they all agreed that ibme alte
ration in the limits of the firaights was
apparent; All thefe lakes are fo adVcled
by th winds as fotsetimes to have the
appearance of a tide, according as they
happen to blow, kut thh is onljK tempo
rary and partial. .
A ;great ruaiber of the .Chipeway In
dians livcfcattered aromnd this lake, par
ticulkrly near Saganaum bay. On its
banks are found aa amazing quantity of
the fand cherrirs, and in the adjacet
country marly the 'fame fruits as thofe
that grow about the ether lakes,
From the fa3h cf St. Marie, I leifurely
proceeded back to Michillimackinack and
arrived there the begif nisg cf November
I767,havingbeen fourteen mon h; on this
extenhve tour travelled.near four thou
fand miles, and tinted twelve naticts cf
Indians lying to the weft and north of
this place. The irter feting in foon
afef my arrial, I wa obliged to tarry
there till the June following, the naviga
cn over Lake Hurrn for large veflels
not being open, on account of tl e ice, till
that time. Meeting here v illi frcial o
company, I pniTed thele s:.ors rei y
?gre?ably, and without filial r.g iht hou:
lediiu?. ;