New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-08-28

of American scenery. These form a range for
some four niles of vast heaps Of sand-drft, rising
like a lofty structure Of marble to the hight oil
$50 or 300 feet, their SUBMITS capped with loose
drifts. No tree or shrub grows on the face OF this
precipice, and only few scanty evergreens here
and there ogertop the bleak and denuded nights.
A narrow strip OF land in,eryencs between their
base and the water.
Mr.. Schoolcraft says these sand-cliffs were inn
aeiped by Indian superstition to be a vast palace
inhabited by powerful spirits as necromancers,
who had only to thrust their hands through the
windows to catch fsh. The savages also pointed
out on the sands the tracks of their fairies. As
cendipg the face of the precipice, singular and
imposing view il obtained from the summit. For
many miles extends the waste Of sand, herbess
desert q northern Sahara" rising into lofty
cones. sw eepipg in graceful curves, hurled INTO
eddying holows, or spread out in broad valleys;
The tops OF haii-bured pines are seen mere ana
there, barkless and ragged and worn by whlrng
dr. fts, like the columns OF some ancient temple.
The surface of the sand is hard as floor, and
strewn with pebbles polished by attrition. Two
miles from the coast, behind this desert track,
timber is found, and y lou may see small lake lar
above the level OF Superior, ITS Wild and sylvan
shores adorned with a rich growth OF oaks and
maple on one slce while the dunes OF shifting
sand stretch away on the other, in a leadess
waste, like immense snow drifts, III the midst oil
(which the traveller seems walking over the undu-
lating pillows of ocean, ng 10 vast hight, or
looking down into deep basins. The scene has
been lkened to a storm among the Alps
Grand Issnd, extensive and rock bound, next
appears and the scenery becomes more varied,
the bulr shores rising TO hills wooded with thick
growth of beech, birch and maple, mingled with
the spruce and concsl fir trees. story cur
rent hereabouts, of Chippewa war party, may
illustrate Indian devotion. Thirteen warriors in
yadpg the Sioux territory, suddenly encountered
a party Of the foe ten times their number Ine
Sioux were inclined to truce, but the Chippewas
insisted on fighting, and were killed, alter having
slain twice as many of their enemies; the youngest
OF them, vino had been directed to stand on a
neighhoIing hight, see the result, and carry the
news 10 their tribe being the only Survivor.
The world nav fairly be challenged FOR so mag
ni6cent display of elevated coast, and such va
ried forms OF architectural ruins bathing theT
massive and coumnar fronts IN the clear waters,
as is presented in the Pictured Rocks. For some
ten miles along the shore these towering masses
of sandstone rise in startling grandeur ifo" the
IaLe, sometimes to the hight OF three hundred
feet, their surfaces exhibiting gorgeous colorlnS
of various huts and forming an unrivaled plnora
ma of precpces and caverns, majestic arches, tow
ers. columns, etc, the tufts OF dark foliage adding
to the wild effect and the whole scene brilliant
with tints that rival the glow Of sunset. " e
Portal" is the entrance to large cavern IN the
most prominent he adland in the range. From the
II outh of this vast office the echo OF the hoarse
waters, as they roll into its jaws is sent back
Ike the roar of volcano. No arched gateway
was ever constructed in such massive proportions.
Entf ring the Gin recesses OF the cnyern by
winding passage, few hundred feet, the visitor
is within a rotunda awful in grandeur; the grim
and massive walls, the lofty stone ceiling sup
ported by pillars sculptured by the hand OF nature
in rude m4gnifceGce, the gigantic archway, a1d
the floor Of clear deep water, form scene 70
which no ariis.'s pencil could DO justice. Tne
lieht from the entraocc softened in the ca1ern tn
dim twilight, is reflected from a reef OF pebbles
at the extremity OF one of the deepest and dark
est passage leading to wide sem'circui Ar curve
of shore, where the walls have been undermine I,
and have falen to the lake in ruinous masses.
The boat may pass out of the cavern by another
entrance than the main one.
All along the shore of the lake. the Islets OF
mCss-cOyeTed granite or fringed with plnes, start
ing abruptly from the deep, are remarkable Tea
tuTe. Sometimes chain OF them extends lar OIt
from pfOmOntOry. Granite Point IS bIuIl Two
hundred feet high, rising from the lake, anu Goa
nected with the man land by a meek OF sandstone
end clus' or of rocky islands. ke~eena Pom;
is described as a beautiful spot. The shore ~
wooded with pine, cedar, aspen and spruce to the
waters edge it is cut into small bay- and broken
and projecting precip.ces; huge masses OF roe <
are lying out in the lake, and high, concal mou l.
tains appear in the distance. Waterfalls are
leaping down from the wooded ellis, and there
are green. and lovely recesses, IN which mas
been found literally "the rose without the thorn
The Indians have tradition, that party passing
round this point and approaching Beaver isllni,
were terrified by the apparitlon OF a gigantic ie-
male form; and for a long tine 10 savage c0u' |
be prevailed ON to trespass on the lnterGctet re.
giOn Alanitou Island is said also to be hGunted
bya demon.
The view from Totosh or Breast Mountain, is
described by SchOOcrat as magnificent. In front
is the boundless expanse of the lake, with its
archipelago OF islands and pennsuias; eastward
appear the white cliffs of Grand Island AMI the
Pictured Rocks; westward the coast as far as the
Huron Islands, embracing succession Of pennsu-
las suimountt by cliffs, the outline of each grow
ing fainter in the d'stance southwark sea OF
granite comes filling up the vista far the eye
can reach. At Copper Har1Or Fort Wilkins is
visible from the water, its flag CvertOpplng tn TO-
liage; near it liz, beautiful lake two hundred
feet above Superior, Swallowed by Il grove OF DARK
evergreens and surrounded by conf :al mountains.
The POrcupme Mountains are said TO be over
thirteen hundred bet in hight, and the Huron
Mountains are nearly lofty. The valley of + ig lie
River is bounded by abrupt overhanging cliff;
some several hundred feet high, and the rock
bound cOast stretches miles onward. Two mile
south of the lake, among the Pocupine Noun
tains, is gorge said to be five hundred feet deep
with small lake Graded in its depths, in the
clear waters Of which g oomy evergreens are re-
Elected. This picturesque sheet of water is the
source of Carp Il yer.
The forests of 'edar and spruce on the rocky
shores Of Isle Royae, with their dark green
boughs interlaced aud wreathed with f.stoons oi
moss, are fine specimens of the growth OF these
Northern woods. But little justice can be done
by description to the varied and sublime scenery
of this inland sea it is of Itself well worth tour
OF observation from the iarthest part of the coat
nent.
The Island Of Macknaw has been called the
diadt on the brow Ut the North Western Lakes,
and IT'S historical asso ciatOns are extremely ia
terestlng. Its highest elevation is about rhree
hundred feet above the level of the lake. From
the water fire view is presented the old tfad.
ing town, the nights with th'ir s-ragsiIng growth