Mobile register and journal., 1845-03-21

Taxi RrATL AKEs.-A writer in The Cincinnati
Atlas furnishes some neres,ng particulars of the
vast extent Of our great RpJl,ern Lakes. IL APP
pears from oi Professor Dfaks; Nh" wish
led these lakes asi summer, that they txt'nd oyer
nearly eight aud Il half degrees Of latitude IN breadth
and sixteen degrees of longiiu IN length. The ex-
tent nf their SUI faces il timaed NJ 93, 900 square
miles and tie araa Of country drained by them, Is
computed al 400 ,OUJ square miles.
Their relative sizes are as ioltugsi
Ontario ....-........... o,5Oo =. mles
Erie .................... 9,60O
NJ. Ahir. ............... ooV
Huron. .,.,.,.,..........2o ,4OO
michigan, 49, 1l,1W
~hI,erIor. .FAWpW
The average depth of water in The different Lakes,
is question upon which there Ia no certain ipfprna-
tim Authorities differ. DIR. Drake gives il AS
folows
st Clair. 20 feet.
Erie o.
Dntnri0, ................... 900
supe, ior. ,,,,.,.............. 9OV
Huron ani Michigan, ,.,....... 1000
In our siandard orks, Lake EyIs il D-ally stated
20 have depth nf 1870 feet The deepest soupdings
have b"eu taken ia Lake Huron OfSaginaw Bay
1900 feet Of line have been Gent down without fluid
ing bottom. r...
The attitude OF these lakes varies step bv step from
Ontario to Superior. Lake Ontario is 232 feet n.
bo,e the tide waier Of the ST. Lawrence. Erie l.
333 feet above Ontario. and e65 feet above tide
water at Albany. st. Clair is six feet higher thar
Erie; Huron and Michigan thirteen feet above
81. Clair, and Superior hes Al feet abn,e them.
This shows the curious fact, that while the sur
face Of Huron il GA Ieet aho.e the ese! Of the
ocean. it's holtdm. al Snginnw Bay, is more than
100 feet beloW the snme level
| The waters Of these lakes, With the exception p
Erie and St. Clair, remarkable for their trans
parency AMI delicious flavor. or Lake Huron
| Professor Drake asceriained that the water at The
surface, and two hun,!ied feet below at the same
place, indicated precisely the same temperature, to
wit, fifty ak degrees. His explanation of this lac
is That the waters pure that the rnys Of the
sun meet with no solid matter in suspension TO ar
| rest and retain tue heal. +
The writer adds:
"There is a great curinsity connso,ed with these
lakes about 80 miles from Kingston, near the outlet
of the bay Of Quine. in Canada The writer oil
this visited il few years ago. in company with Pro-
lessor yell of London, VIII, pronounced II one Of
the greatest curiosites Of the kind he II
is what is called IN Scoila"d IA Tarn' or mountain
lake. Ii is situated upon a cunical bill abaut 350
feet high II is circular-aboui half mile in d..
ameter, and occupies nearl the whole surface Of the
hill.
"The lake is consequently entirely without inlet
yet small stream constantly escapes from one edge
Of il, down the side Of the hill, turning the wheels !,
Touring mill, which has been erected near the sum.
init. The leve of the water in The lake is supposed
10 he abont 300 Ell above that Of the hay below
As there high lands within fifty or sixty mile,
OF perhaps greater distance, the curious question
arises, whence coines the supply for this mountain
lake?
"Professor Lyell snpposes i, TO occupy the crater
OF an extinct volcano, and to receive its waters
through hidden syphnns, from great distance; but
did not coincide with the popular belief in the ne gh
borhood, that the iOunia in head was Lake Erie, al.
though is is supposed that they occupy the same lie
vel" rl ~