Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic MarvelsBuel, James W. (James William)
History
Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic Marvels
Buel, James W. (James William)
United States -- Pictorial works
NIPIGON RIVER, FLOWING INTO LAKE SUPERIOR.—Nipigon River and Lake are
famous fishing and hunting resorts in the British possessions north
of Lake Superior. They are also celebrated for their fine scenery,
which attracts many tourists to that region during the summer
months. There are numerous rapids in the river, where salmon and
trout of a superior quality abound in such quantities as to fully
satisfy all lovers of the piscatorial sport who visit this region.
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[Illustration: SAND ISLAND ARCH, LAKE SUPERIOR.]
“It is beyond the power of the pencil,” says a recent traveler, “to
represent the effect of the reflected light in the roof as seen from the
rear. Especially when the sun is toward the west the bright light is
reflected from the waves into the cavern, and undulates like a sea of
light overhead; a picture in living colors, so tender, so quiet—
luminous, pearly grays, bright flashes, cool, high lights, all warmed by
the yellow sandstone, dripping with water, on which the effect is
thrown.”
“At the mouth of Miner’s River the coast makes an abrupt turn to the
eastward, and just at the point where the rocks break off and the sand
beach begins, is seen one of the grandest works of nature in her rock-
built architecture, which is known as ‘Miners’ Castle,’ from its
singular resemblance to the turreted entrance and arched portal of some
old castle. The height of the advancing mass, in which the form of the
gothic gateway may be recognized, is about seventy feet, while that of
the main wall forming the background is about one hundred and forty. The
appearance of the opening at the base changes rapidly with each change
in the position of the spectator, and on taking a position a little to
the right of that occupied by the sketcher, the central opening appears
more distinctly, flanked on either side by two lateral passages, making
the resemblance to an artificial work still more striking. The chapel,
if not the grandest, is among the most grotesque of nature’s
architecture here displayed. Unlike the excavations before described,
which occur at the water’s edge, this has been made in the rock at a
height of thirty or forty feet above the lake. The interior consists of
a vaulted apartment, which has not inaptly received the name it bears.
An arched roof of sandstone, from ten to twenty feet in thickness, rests
on four gigantic columns of rock, so as to leave a vaulted apartment of
irregular shape, about forty feet in diameter, and about the same in
height. The columns consist of finely stratified rock, and have been
worn into curious shapes. At the base of one of them an arched cavity,
or niche, has been cut, to which access is had by a flight of steps,
formed by the projecting strata. The disposition of the whole is such as
to resemble, very much, the pulpit of a church; since there is,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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