"When the fleet first appeared before the island, there was only one company of troops in the fort--had Col. Croghan then summoned it to surrender, it would have been given up; but he sailed away, went and burnt the trading-houses at Old St. Joseph's Island, and from thence sent an expedition to the Saut St. Mary, under Major Holmes, who burned the North West Fur Company Houses on the Canada side, and carried away all the personal property of individuals on the American side. Thus ten or twenty days were lost. In the mean time, the Indians had come to the defense of Fort Mackinac, and, on the second appearance of Col. Croghan, they were prepared, and our troops shamefully defeated. "This island, although the bluffs present the appearance of sterility, is covered with a strong soil, which is continually renovated by the spontaneous decomposition of calcareous rock. The common growth of trees on the island are the sugar-maple, beech, birch, white and yellow pine, white and red spruce, balsam fir, white cedar, iron wood, and the poplar; the trees now seen are the second and third growth. On the northwestern part of Mr. Dousman's farm, a few of the old patriarchs of the forest are still standing." CHAPTER VI. Lake Superior -- Scenery -- Transparency of its waters -- Climate -- Isle Royale -- Apostles' Islands -- La Point -- Thunder Cape -- Cariboo Point -- A wonderful lake -- Romantic scenery -- Pictured Rocks -- Rock Castle -- The Grand Portal -- The Chapel -- Fluctuations in the waters of Lake Superior -- Curious phenomena -- Retrocession of the waters -- Mirage -- Iron mountains and mines -- Description of -- Products -- Shipments -- Copper -- Immense boulders -- Produce of the mines for 1857 -- Shipment of copper from the Lake for 1858 -- Centre of the mining country -- Iron Mountains -- Copper mines of Great Britain -- Coal -- Mackinaw, a great manufacturing point -- Key to the Upper Lakes -- Commerce of Lakes -- Growth of cities. Lake Superior, though it possesses not all the vastness of the ocean, is yet equal in sublimity. In gazing upon its surface, whether spread out like a vast mirror reflecting the varying tints of the sky, or ruffled by gently curling waves, or lashed into fury by the tempest, one is impressed with the idea of the Infinite. It is known to be the largest body of fresh water on the globe, being nearly four hundred miles long from east to west, and one hundred and thirty wide. It is the grand reservoir from whence proceed the waters of Michigan, Huron, and Erie. It gives birth to Niagara, the wonder of the world, fills the basin of Ontario, and rolls a mighty flood down the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic.