ONTARIO 635 Michipicoten, emptying into the bay of the same name ; the Pic, into the N. E. extremity of the lake ; the Nipigon, into Nipigon bay ; the Black Sturgeon, into Black bay ; and the Kaministiquia, into Thunder bay. The prin- cipal falls are those of Niagara, the Chaudiere falls in the Ottawa just above the city of Ot- tawa, and the falls of Kakabika or Cleft Rock in the Kaministiquia, about 30 m. above its mouth. The Kaministiquia here contracts to the width of about 50 yards, and is precipitated down a perpendicular precipice more than 130 ft. high into a deep chasm. The river banks for nearly half a mile below rise perpendicu- larly, and in many places overhang their bases. For about 20 m. below the falls the river forms a continued rapid. There are numerous lakes. From Lake Ontario N. between the Ottawa and Georgian bay, and thence around Lake Superior, the country is studded with them, most of the streams consisting of little else than chains of lakes. Just N. of Lake Ontario, in Peterborough and Victoria cos., is a series of them, which discharge through the river Trent. The largest lakes of the province are Simcoe, 30 by 18 m., S. E. of Georgian bay, into which it discharges through the Sev- ern river ; Muskoka, 15 by 8 m., N. of Simcoe and discharging through the Muskoka river; Nipissing, 50 by 15 m. ; and Nipigon, TO by 50 m., discharging through the river and bay of the same name into the N. extremity of Lake Superior. The watershed of Nipigon lake forms the N. extremity of the province. Lake Te- miscamingue, on the Quebec border (about lat. 47 30', Ion. 79 SO*), is an expansion of the Ottawa river, at the point where it changes from a W. to a S. E. course. The geological formations that occur in the province are the Laurentian, Huronian, Silurian, and Devonian. The region N. of Lakes Huron and Superior is mostly occupied by the lower Laurentian. The shore and islands of the latter, however, from Pigeon river E. to Nipigon bay, consist of the Quebec group of the lower Silurian, while an area of the Huronian occurs in the N. E. angle of Lake Superior. A belt of the Huronian also stretches along the North chan- nel from St. Mary's strait to the N. extremity of Georgian bay, whence it runs N. E. to Lake Temiscamingue. S. E. of this belt the region between the Ottawa river and Georgian bay is occupied by the lower Laurentian, which extends to the St. Lawrence at the Thousand islands. The E. extremity of the province is occupied by the Quebec and Trenton groups of the lower Silurian, which are separated from the lower Laurentian on the west by an irregu- lar line drawn from the St. Lawrence below the Thousand islands to the Ottawa about 25 m. above Ottawa city. The S. W. limit of the lower Laurentian is a line from Kingston to the head of Matchedash bay. The country S. and W. of this line is occupied in succession by belts of the lower, middle, and upper Silu- rian formations, and of the Devonian. These belts have a general E. and "W". tr S. E. and N. W. direction. The middle Silurian extends through the peninsula of Cabot's head and the Manitoulin islands, in which the lower Silu- rian also appears. The mineral wealth of On- tario has been but little developed. Iron is found in large quantities in the region between Georgian bay and the Ottawa, a short distance back from Lake Ontario ; and in the same dis- trict occur copper, lead, plumbago, antimony, arsenic, manganese, heavy spar, calc spar, gyp- sum, marble, and building stone. Gold has been found here, but not in paying quantities, and mica is profitably worked. Building stones also occur in the S. W. part of the province, where there are apparently inexhaustible pe- troleum wells. There are productive salt wells on the E. shore of Lake Huron S. of Georgian bay. Large beds of peat exist in various local- ities, and two companies are engaged in its manufacture into fuel. Apatite or phosphate of lime is obtained in considerable quantities in the E. part of the province. Iron mines have been opened in several places, the prin- cipal of which are at Marmora in Hastings co., yielding from 20,000 to 30,000 tons of ore an- nually. Gold mines have been opened at Mar- mora, but have not yet been profitably worked. N. of Lake Huron, near the entrance of St. Mary's strait, are the Bruce copper mines ; the ore yields 19 per cent, of copper. The pro- duct of ore for four years has been as follows : 1869, 2,180 tons; 1870, 1,945; 1871, 1,852; 1872, 1,214, besides 243 tons of copper pre- cipitate yielding 64 per cent, of copper. Silver is found on the shores of Lake Superior, par- ticularly in the vicinity of Thunder bay, Silver islet in that bay containing one of the richest veins of the metal ever discovered. Mining operations were commenced on the islet about 1870, and the yield to the close of navigation in 1872 was $1,232,438 79, of which $648,132 01 was produced in 1871 and $469,038 20 in 1872. The quantity of petroleum produced during the three years ending June 30, 1873, was as follows : YEARS. Number of refiners. Crude oil used, gallons. Refined oil pro- duced, gallons. 1871 50 17,711,513 11,628,429 1872 45 19,682,181 12,209,182 1873. . 38 25,078,725 14,520,196 The climate is healthy. The winters arc cold, and the heat in summer is occasionally severe. The S. W. portion has the mildest climate, while in the region N. of Lakes Huron and Superior the summers are short and the winters long and severe. The following table gives the most important results of meteorolo- gical observations for 33 years at Toronto (lat. 43 39'), and for different periods at Windsor (lat. 42 20') on the Detroit river, at Pembroke (lat. 45 50') on the Ottawa, at Little Current (lat. 46) on Grand Manitoulin island, and at Fort William (lat. 48 23') on Thunder bay :
Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/649
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