312
ANCIENT SEA-MARGINS.
remains found in them, to have been a former borderof a lake. It is, however, remarkable, that the ele-vation of this deposit above the sea, 538 feet, isnearly the same with that of the Ontario ridge D.There are near this spot indications of an ancientbeach, sloping up from the same height to a point6 feet higher, so that the highest point (544) comesto only about 2 feet above the ridge. There are alsoat this spot fragments of three lower terraces, respec-tively about 513, 523, and 530 feet above the sea.
340. Lake Erie is 565 feet above the sea. AtPoint Abineau, near the east end, there are moundsof sand extending northwards back from the lake,and arresting attention by their massive height,which is not less in some instances than 100 feet.“ In general they are of irregular form; but in someplaces of the greatest altitude, they are so even andstraight, that it appears as if they had been thrownup by the hand of art, and you may almost fancythem the old works of some vast fortification.” *
341. Along the south shore of Lake Erie , there isa range of terraces and ridges of similar character tothose skirting Lake Ontario . They are describedby Colonel Whittesley as, in Ohio state, rangingback from the lake between a quarter of a mile andfive miles, and being in altitude from 90 to 120 feetabove the lake, or from 655 to 685 feet above the