It is
somewhat bleak, on the northern shore especially, but is nevertheless
fat in minerals. On the banks of the St. Louis River the soil is
described, by the earliest explorers as well as latest visiters, to be
good. The river itself, though it contains a large volume of water, is
not adapted to navigation, on account of its rapids.
Those who have sailed across Lake Superior to the neighborhood of
Fond-du-Lac appear to have been charmed by the scenery of its
magnificent islands and its rock-bound shores. Most people, I suppose,
have heard of its beautiful cluster of islands called the Twelve
Apostles. One peculiar phenomenon often mentioned is the boisterous
condition of its waters at the shore, which occurs when the lake
itself is perfectly calm. The water is said to foam and dash so
furiously as to make it almost perilous to land in a small boat. This
would seem to be produced by some movement of the waters similar to
the flow of the tide; and perhaps the dashing after all is not much
more tumultuous than is seen on a summer afternoon under the rocks of
Nahant, or along the serene coast at Phillips Beach.
The resources of that part of the territory bordering on the lake,
however, are sufficient to induce an extensive, if not a rapid,
settlement of the country.
