Sault Saint Marie, August, 1846.
The entire Canadian shore of Lake Superior might be denominated as bold
and rocky, but there may occasionally be seen a line of the smoothest
beach, as if for the very purpose of affording protection to the
voyaging Indians when exposed to the dangers of sudden storms. The
bluffs are generally of a green sandstone, and frequently rise to the
height of five hundred feet above the water, like massive bulwarks,
which seem to have battled with the elements for many ages. The
mountains which skirt the northern shore of Superior, form the dividing
ridge between the streams which run into the Lake and those which take a
northerly direction into Hudson’s Bay. After passing the first and most
lofty range, the country for about fifty miles is mainly made up of low
granite hills, when it settles into a level wilderness, extending, as is
supposed, to the Arctic Sea, and where tamarack swamps may be seen in
their greatest perfection. This entire region produces but little for
purposes of agriculture.
The two most prominent peninsulas on this shore are called Thunder Cape
and Carriboo Point. The former is about fourteen hundred feet high, and
frowns upon the waste of waters, like a crouching lion, which animal it
closely resembles in the form of its outline. When passing near its
base, it looms against the sky in awful grandeur, the seeming lord and
master of the boundless wilderness world around. Carriboo Point is less
lofty, but far-famed on account of the hieroglyphics which have been
painted upon its brow in other years, by an Indian race now supposed to
be extinct. In the vicinity of these bluffs, are found the largest and
most beautiful agates in the world.
The Canadian shore of this lake abounds in rocky islands, but of all
those which I visited there is only one deserving of a particular
notice. It lies in the northeastern part of the lake, and is
unquestionably the greatest natural curiosity in this wilderness,—not
even excepting the Chippeway Falls, the Saint Louis River, or the
Pictured Cliffs on the southern shore of Superior. I visited it with a
party of Indians and miners, and the former informed us, that we were
the first white men who had ever ventured to explore its interior. It is
found about twenty miles from the main coast, and is supposed to be
about a dozen miles in circumference. The shores are of sandstone, and
for the most part rise abruptly from the water to the height of four or
five hundred feet. But the wonder is, that in the centre of this island
lies embosomed one of the most beautiful lakes imaginable. It is about a
mile long, and the perpendicular cliffs which look down upon it, are not
far from seven hundred feet in height. It has an outlet, which is
impassable for a canoe, on account of the rocks and trees that have
blocked up the narrow chasm; and at the opening of this outlet stands a
column of solid rock, which we estimated to be eight hundred feet high.
The base is probably one hundred feet in diameter, and it gradually
tapers off to about twenty feet in thickness, while the summit of this
singular needle is surmounted by one solitary pine tree. The waters of
this inner lake are clear, but have a blackish appearance, and are very
deep. It is so completely hidden from the surrounding world, that the
passing breeze scarcely ever ruffles its tranquil bosom, and the silence
which reigns there, even at noonday, is intense and almost frightful. In
some places the walls which surrounded the lake appear to have been
recently rent asunder, and partly demolished, as there were immense
piles of broken rocks lying at their base; while in other places the
upper points and edges are overgrown with moss, and from their brows
occasionally depends a cluster of fantastic vines, drooping
perpendicularly to the tranquil water, which reproduces the beautiful
pictures in its translucent bosom. The lake, so far as we could
ascertain, is destitute of fish, and the island of animals; but when we
were there gulls of every variety, and in immense numbers, were filling
the air with their wild screams. The entire island seems to be composed
of rocky materials, but is every where covered with a stunted growth of
vegetation. I spent one day rambling over this singular spot, and one
night slumbering by our watch-fire in the shadowy cove at the mouth of
the ravine; and at dawn, on the following morning, we boarded our
feathery canoes and were joyfully skimming “over the deep waters of the
dark blue sea.”
Of the countless Indian legends, which create a kind of classical
interest in the scenery of Lake Superior, the most singular and
universal have reference to a noted personage whose name was Menaboujou;
and as it is a _traditionary_ fact, that he was, owing to his passion
for water, buried in the liquid centre of the island I have described,
it is meet, I ween, that I should devote a portion of this chapter to a
record of his history. He was the Noah as well as the Jonah of this
portion of the heathen world, and is said to have been created by Manito
for the especial purpose of acting as the ruler of all men, and guardian
of Lake Superior in particular; while some affirm that he was Manito
himself. The Indians describe him as a being of immense size—who could
stride across the widest rivers and grasp the lightning in his hands,
and whose voice was like the roar of Superior in a storm. They also
affirm that he excelled in all the arts of war and of the chase, that
the Chippeway nation are his legitimate descendants, and that he died at
the advanced age of one thousand winters. At the mention of his name in
the Indian lodges, the children hush their prattle, and listen with
wonder to the tales which are sure to follow. It is alleged that he was
gifted with the strange powers of the necromancer, could transform
himself into any animal or inanimate object in nature, at a moment’s
warning, and was wont to hold converse with every living creature at his
will. There is not a headland on Lake Superior, or a river emptying into
it, which is not hallowed in Indian story by his wonderful exploits. The
revolving seasons were at his command. He covered the earth with snow,
and fettered the streams in ice. At his mandate the mountains were
covered with verdure, and northern flowers bloomed in surpassing beauty.
He commanded, and the terrible storm-winds broke from their prison
caves, and lashed the mighty plain of waters into pure white foam; and
the zephyr, which scarcely caused a leaf to tremble, or a ripple on the
sleeping waves, was also attributed to his power. In fine, the
qualifications of this noted individual were as numerous as they seem to
us incongruous and heathenish. To the philosopher, however, these
glimpses into the mythology of the aborigines are not without their
value, and this conviction is my only apology for recording them.
The death of Menaboujou was an important era in the history of the
Chippeway nation. During his life the calamities of war and intemperance
were unknown, but the Evil One having challenged him to mortal combat, a
desperate battle was fought between the mighty potentates, which
resulted in the triumph of evil, and the extinction of all good, in the
person of its chief author. The battle occurred in the midst of a
thunder-storm and on the summit of Thunder Cape, the only weapons used
being clubs of immense size, made of the pine and spruce; and when the
result was known, a mournful lamentation was heard throughout all the
land. The entire Chippeway nation attended the funeral of the departed,
and when they were bearing his huge corse to the lake within the
nameless island, a rock was seen to rise out of the water, as a monument
planted there by the Great Spirit, to perpetuate the memory of the
beloved Menaboujou. The rock herein alluded to, rises to the height of
about thirty feet, and bears an astonishing resemblance to a human head.
I took a drawing of this rock, and look upon it as one of my rarest
curiosities.