CHAPTER II.

THE SAULT TO MICHIPICOTIN.

June 27th.-The Sault de St. Marie, on the American side, is a long straggling village, extending in all some two or three miles, if we reckon from the outposts of scattered log-huts. The main part of it, however, is concentrated on a street running from the Fort (which stands on a slight eminence over the river,) about a quarter of a mile along the water, with some back lanes leading up the gradual slope, rising perhaps half a mile from the river. Behind this again is an evergreen swamp, from which a rocky wooded bluff rises somewhat abruptly to the height of a hundred feet or thereabouts.

The population is so floating in its character that it is difficult to estimate; some stated it at about three hundred on the average, consisting of half-breed voyageurs, miners waiting for employment, traders, and a few Indians. The chaplain at the Fort, however, estimated the number of inhabitants on both sides of the river at one thousand, of whom the majority belong to the American side.

The most striking feature of the place is the number of dramshops and bowling-alleys. Standing in front of one of the hotels I counted seven buildings where liquor was sold, besides the larger "stores," where this was only one article among others. The roar of bowling alleys and the click of billiard balls are heard from morning until late at night. The whole aspect is that of a western village on a fourth of July afternoon. Nobody seems to be at home, but all out on a spree, or going a fishing or bowling. There are no symptoms of agriculture or manufactures; traders enough, but they are chatting at their doors or walking about from one shop to another. The wide platforms in front of the two large taverns are occupied by leisurely people, with their chairs tilted

back, and cigars in their mouths. Nobody is busy but the barkeepers, and no one seems to know what he is going to do next.

The cause, probably, may be in part the facilities for smuggling brandy from the Canadian side of the river, where it is cheaper than on ours. But the mischief lies chiefly in the unsettled state of things, the irregularity of employment and wages of labor. Money is not earned and spent from day to day, at home, but comes in lumps, and seasons of labor are followed by intervals of idleness. In short, the life of most of the inhabitants is essentially that of sailors, and brings accordingly the reckless character and the vices of that class.

Something also is due to the admixture of Indian blood, which has a fatal proneness to liquor. Whilst we were here a number of Indians arrived with the son of a chief, from Fort William, and after parading about the town with an American flag, speechifying and offering the pipe at all the grog-shops to beg for liquor, they dispersed and devoted themselves to drinking and playing at bowls. In the evening, two of us passing one of the bowling-alleys, saw in front of it, lying on a heap of shavings, a dark object which proved to be the chief's son, extended at full length, dead drunk, with several Indians endeavoring to get him home. The only sign of life he gave was a feeble muttering in Indian, copiously interspersed with the English curse; another instance of the naturalization of John Bull's national imprecation in a foreign tongue. It is said the Indians have no oath in their own language. Finding it impossible to make him walk, they squatted around him on their haunches and remained still for some time, apparently considering what to do. They were all perfectly sober and evidently greatly troubled at the state of their leader. At length, seeing us watching them, they came up and stood staring with their faces close to ours, but without speaking. We did not know exactly what they were at, but my companion by signs explained to them that they should take up the drunken man by the legs and arms and carry him home. The idea struck them as a good one, for they immediately "how, howed," set about it, and bore him off, one to each leg and arm.

The river opposite the village is about a mile wide. Just above are the Upper Rapids, which give the name to the place, nearly three-fourths of a mile in length. There is no very great vertical

descent, but the stream is much compressed and moreover very shallow, whence the great rapidity of the current at this spot. On the opposite bank is a thin, straggling village, and a large building belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company.

Our explorations of the neighborhood showed a great abundance of birds for the season. Prof. Agassiz as usual had got all the fishes of the neighborhood about him; among others several specimens of the gar-pike of Lake Huron, dried or in spirits, were presented to him by the various coadjutors whom he had interested in his favor. One of the most zealous of these was a fisherman whom he had captivated by a distinction (at first stoutly and confidently combatted) between two closely-resembling species. In the evening he unrolled his blackboard and gave us the following account of them:

"The gar-pike is the only living representative of a family of fishes which were the only ones existing during the deposition of the coal and other ancient deposits. At present it occurs only in the United States. The species of South Carolina was described by Linnæus as Esox osseus, from a specimen sent to him by Dr. Garden. But it is not an Esox, though it has the peculiar backward dorsal of that genus. It differs in the arrangement of the teeth, which in Esox are seated on the palatal bones and the vomer, but in this genus, Lepidosteus, on the maxillary and all other bones which form the roof of the mouth. Moreover, the snout of the latter is much longer, the upper jaw bones being divided into ten or twelve distinct pieces. The intermaxillary is a small bone pierced with two holes for the admission of the two anterior projecting teeth of the lower jaw. In Esox the scales are rounded and composed of layers of horny substance, and overlap each other. In Lepidosteus the scales are square and overlap only very slightly. Each scale is composed of two substances; first, a lower layer of bone, forming that part of the scale which is covered by the next; second, enamel, like that of teeth. The scales are also hooked together; a groove in each, with a hook from the next fitting into it. Nothing of this kind occurs in other fishes of the present day. From these peculiarities I have named this family the GANOIDS. Their vertebræ are not articulated together as those

According to Bayfield the total descent is twenty-two and one-half feet, but this probably includes both the Upper and Lower Rapids, as the whole difference of level between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, in a distance of forty miles, is only thirty-two feet.-Bouchette's British Dom. in N. America, I., 128.

of other fishes, but unite by a ball-and-socket joint, as in reptiles. The scales also resemble in some particulars those of the Crocodilean reptiles, which immediately succeeded the fossil Ganoids, during whose epoch no reptiles existed. The embryology of the gar-pike, of which nothing as yet is known, would be an exceedingly interesting subject of investigation, since it is a general law that the embryo of the animals now living resembles the most ancient representatives of the same family. As probably connected with the preservation of this ancient family of fishes in this country, may be mentioned the fact that there was an extensive continent formed in North America at a time when all the rest of the earth was under water. physical conditions have been more unaltered here than elsewhere.

Thus

"The white-fish, (Coregonus albus,) has all the characters of the salmons, but no teeth. Among those I obtained to-day, is a new species, characterized by a smaller mouth and more rounded jaw. To the same family belongs the lake "herring," which is no herring at all. This species has projecting lower jaw and is undescribed. Here is a little fish which on hasty examination would seem to belong to the salmons, but has a projecting upper jaw, and teeth on the intermaxillary, the upper maxillary forming another arch behind, without teeth. It has pectinated scales, like the perch. It is a new genus, allied to the family of Characini of Müller. Fossil fishes of this family occur in great numbers in the cretaceous period; they are the first of the osseous fishes. This again is an instance similar to that of the Lepidosteus. The fish before us presents curious combination of the characters of the Cycloids and Ctenoids. Here is a fish belonging to the Cyprinidæ, but characterized by thick lips and a projecting upper jaw, whence I propose to call it Rhinichthys marmoratus.

"This fish, one familiar with the fishes of Massachusetts would suppose to be a yellow perch, but it differs in wanting the tubercles on the head and operculum. It is Perca acuta Cuv. In the tertiary beds are found Percoids, with thirteen rays in the anterior dorsal; this is also the case in the North American species. Again the variety of minnows found in this country has a parallel in the tertiary epoch."

June 28th.-To-day we made our first acquaintance with the genuine black fly, a little insect resembling the common house-fly, but darker on the back, with white spots on the legs, and two-thirds as large, being about two lines in length. They are much quicker in their motions, and much more persevering in their attacks, than the musquito, forcing their way into any crevice, for instance between

the glove and the coat-sleeve. On the other hand, they are easily killed, as they stick to their prey like bull-dogs.

June 29th.-Among the birds here, the most abundant is the white-throated sparrow, (Fringilla pennsylvanica,) evidently breeding in great numbers in the swamp, for from the top of nearly every dead tree a male bird of this species was pouring forth his loud, striking note, something like the opening notes of the European nightingale. The females were not to be seen, and were doubtless sitting. I found the nest and new-laid eggs of the songsparrow, but could not discover those of the pennsylvanica. In the evening the Professor made the following remarks on the classification of birds:

"Animals have usually been classed merely according to the characters of the adult. In some instances, however, the importance of an examination of the embryonic state also has already been acknowledged by naturalists. For example, the barnacle, though in fact a crustacean, has in the adult state so much the appearance of a mollusk, that its true relation could hardly be recognized without the investigation of the embryo, which has all the aspect of the ordinary crustaceans. Hitherto embryology has been applied principally to the study of functions and organs, and not of classification, but I think it of the highest importance to the right understanding of the affinities of all animals.

"Birds are at present classed according to the form of the feet and bill. They form a very distinct group in the animal kingdom, all having wings, naked bills, and the same general form of feet. Yet no class has puzzled naturalists more.

Great weight has been given to the form of the toes. In one great group, (Palmipedes,) at least three of the toes are united by a web (four in the pelican and gannet,) throughout their whole length. In all other birds the toes are free, though in some the upper joints are united.

"The form of the claws has also been considered of great importance. In birds of prey an agreement in the form of the claws is accompanied by a resemblance in the shape of the bill. In others, however, this is not the case; thus the parrots, with crooked bills, and the woodpeckers with straight bills, have been united as climbers. Again, the passerines, classed together from the shape of the bill, agree very well in other respects; but in the waterbirds, species of very various characters have been brought together.

"Taking all these things together, ornithologists have very generally agreed