Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-29

Travels of sand Dunes on the shore
of Like Erie.


An interesting and wonderful feature Of the
natural scenery OF Lake Erie shores are
two immense conically shaped sand forma-
tons in the Township Of Houghton, Norfolk
county, Ontario just west of Long Point.
says the Buffalo Express.
These hills are composed of tho light sill
very sand peculiar to the shores Of the lake.
with the one dissimilarity, that II appears
lighter In bulk than the shore sand and
drifts more readily with the wind They are
situated about mile apart, the one TO the
east being the larger. 1t measures about 200
feet In height from the water level, 1000 feet
In length and 300 feet in width.
When viewed from the surrounding country
It appears like vast symmetrcally formed
giants grave. erected on the lofty promon-
tory which lies high above, and whose pre-
cpitous cliffs wall in the lake for miles. The
perfect and clearcut outlines aud gracefully
rounded summit which towers nobly high ex-
cite in one desire to ascend the steep ac
clivity, Notwithstanding the difficulty of a
climb upon an incline of nearly 60 degrees
from the horizontal. made even more labor
ious by the looseness OF the sand, which the
climber sinks into above his shoe tops at
every step.
But he is right generously rewarded when
the summit is reached, for the prospect is
beautiful. Looking inland, the country un-
folds itself. with its delectable meadows and
the opposite direction the magnificent view
OF Ere's broad eXpanse stretches to the
horizon
These hills. besides their present interest,
have a strange evolutionary history as
| cribed to them, as recorded by some OF the
| early settlers in the vicinity. At one time
| the summit Of the large hill presented a
| circular plateau, with crater opening into
| a vast furnel-shaped chasm with sides nearly
| vertical, which extended down to great
| depth.
| The bottom of this great amphltheater
| was eighty feet in diameter. and upon this
| natural arena the pioneer youths OF many
| years ago played the game of base ball,
with the advantage of requiring no fielders,
for, no matter where the ball was thrown
or batted, upon striking the sides, it would
| fail to the feet of the players. No trace
| whatever is now left of the crater. Many
are the forms the hill has assumed since
! then.
| If 1t is the action of the strong southwest
| erly gales, which, for $50 miles, have an
uninterrupted swoop down the lake upon
| the loose sand of the cliff, why are other
| hills not thus formed by the same force all
along the shore of this locality, where the
| sand appears the same as here? There is a
| sand mound close to the large hill nearly
| forty feet high. which has the appearance
| of growing similar ito the others. II is in
! closed on three sides with thick growth
| of large trees which it is gradually covering
| up.
These hills slowly but really change their
| positions, ever retaining some graceful and
strange shape. The old trees that form a
dense growth near by are gradually swept
| over and completely buried IN the sand. In
| many places their utmost branches only
protrude above the surface of the sides OF
| the ruthless sand monster that smothered
and settled upon them. In time, as the hill
moves on, these trees are again revealed
| broken and dead of course, with whitened
| trunks and manned limbs.
Some twenty years ago the summit of the
| large hill was crowned by the observatory
| of the United States Lake Survey. From
! this observatory, one in the highlands OF
| Pennsylvania, and another on Long Point
a triangle formed, and the most ac-
curate chart of the lake at that time was
issued. At present a beacon is the only
structure on the hill, having been erected
in connection with the survey now being
made of the lake by the Canadian govern
| ment,