have been used as mallets. These stones were nearly round, with a score
cut around the tenter, and look as if this score was cut for the purpose
of putting a withe round for a handle. The Chippewa Indians all say that
this work was never done by Indians. This discovery will lead to a new
method of finding veins in this country, and may be of great benefit to
some. I suppose they will keep finding new wonders for some time yet, as
it is but a short time since they first found the old mine. There is
copper here in abundance, and I think people will begin to dig it in a
few years. Mr. Knapp has found considerable silver during the past
winter.'"]

[Footnote 156: Acosta is the first philosopher who endeavored to account
for the different degrees of heat in the Old and New Continents by the
agency of the winds which blow in each, (_Hist. Moral._, lib. ii. and
iii.) M. de Buffon adopted the same theory, and illustrated it with many
new observations. "The prevailing winds, both in Upper and Lower Canada,
are the northeast, northwest, and southwest, which all have a
considerable influence on the temperature of the atmosphere and the
state of the weather. The southwest wind is the most prevalent, but it
is generally moderate, and accompanied by clear skies; and the northeast
and easterly winds usually bring with them continued rain in summer, and
snow in winter; the northwest is remarkable for its dryness and
elasticity, and, from its gathering an intense degree of frigor as it
sweeps over the frozen plains and ice-bound hills in that quarter of the
continent, invariably brings with it a perceptible degree of cold. Winds
from due north, south, or west are not frequent. At Quebec, the
direction of the wind often changes with the tide, which is felt for
nearly sixty miles higher up the stream of the St. Lawrence."--Bonchette,
vol. i., p. 343.

"The northwest wind is uncommonly dry, and brings with it fresh
animation and vigor to every living thing. Although this wind is so very
piercing in winter, yet the people never complain so much of cold as
when the northeast wind blows. The northeast wind is also cold, but it
renders the air raw and damp. That from the southeast is damp, but warm.
Rain or snow usually falls when the wind comes from any point toward the
east. The northwest wind, from coming over such an immense tract of
land, must necessarily be dry; and, coming from regions eternally
covered with mounds of snow and ice, i