The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-12-05
PICTURED ROCKS OF LAKE SUPE-
RIOR.

Upon the southern coast of Lake Superb
or, about fifty miles from the falls of St.
Mary, are the immense precpitous cliffs.
called by the voyagers, LIE Portrait and the
Pictured Rocks. This name has been Civ
en- them in consequence of the different ao-
pearance which they present to the travel
Ter. as be passed their base in his canoe. 1t
requires little aid from the Imagination to
discern in them the castellated tower and
lofty dome, spires, and pinnacles, and every
sublime, grotesque, or fantastic shape, which
the genius Of architecture ever invented.
These cliffs are an unbroken mass of rocks,
Using to an elevation of 300 feet above the
level of the Lake, and stretching along the
coast fol fifteen miles. The voyagers new
or pass this coast except in most profound
calm; and the Indians, before they make
the attempt, offe7 their accustomed obla-
tons. to pTopitlate the favor of their Mont
tons. The eye instinctivelv searches along
this eternal rampant for a single place of
security; hut the search is in vain. With
an impossible barrier of rocks on one side.
and an interminable expanse of water on
the other side, a sudden storm upon the
lake would as inevitably insure the destruc-
ton of the passenger in his frail canoe, as
If he were on the brink of tie Cataract of
Niagara. The rock itself is a sandstone,
which is dlsentegrated by the continual ac-
ton OF the water with comparative facility.
There are no broken masses upon which
the eye can rest and find relief The lake
IS so deep That these masses as they are
torn from the preci2ice, are concealed be-
meath It's water until they are reduced to
sand II no nj tho bor A.
mined every projecting point and there the
immense preclpice rests upon arches, and
the foundation is intersected with caverns
in every direction.
When we passed this mighty fabric of
nature, the wind was still and the lake was
calm. But even the slightest motion of the
waves. which, in the most profound calm,
agItates these internal seas, swept through
the deep caverns with the noise of distant
thunder, and died away upon the ear, as it
rolled forward in the dark recesses inacces-
slble to human observation. Nosound more
melancholy or more awful ever vibrated up-
on human nerves. 1t has left an impression
which neither time nor distance can ever
etface. Resting in frai bark canoe upon
the limpiG waters OF the lake, we seemed
almost suspended in air, so pelluci2 is the
element upon which we Hoated. In gazing
upon the towering battlements which i'm.
pended over us, and from which the small
est fragment would have DESTROYED us. we
felt and felt intensely, our own insignia
canoe. No situation can be imagined more
appalling TO the courage, or more humbrng
TO the pride of man. We appeared like {
speck upon the face OF creation. Our whole
party, Indians and yoyagers, and soldiers
officers, and servants, contemplated in mute
establishment the awful display of creative
power, at whose base we hung; and NJ
sound broke upon the ear to interrupt the
ceaseless roaring of the waters. No spIen
did cathedral, no temple built with human
hands, no pomp of worship could ever i'm
press the spectator with such humility, anC
so strong conviction of the immense dis.
lance between him and the Almight,
Architect.
The writer of this article has viewed the
falls of Niagara, and the passage of the Po-
tomac through the Blue Ridge, two of the
most stupendous objects in the natural fea
lures of our country. The impression they
produce is feeble and transient compared
with that Of the Pictured Rocks on Lake
Superior.-Gov. CdSS.