Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1880 — Manitoba Lake. [ARTICLE]

Manitoba Lake.

Manitoba lake, which has given name to the province formed out of the Red river region, is called after a small island, whence, in the stillness of the night, issue strangely sweet, mysterious sounds. The Ojibway Indians who dwell in that neighborhood believe the island to be the home of Manitoba, the speaking God, and will not land on or approach it for any consideration, thinking they would desecrate or profane it, and that they would meet with some terrible fate for their impiety. The sound is caused it has been ascertained, by the beating of the waves on the Large pebbles along the shore. These, with fragments of fine-grained, compact limestone-that have fallen from the cl i fib above, are rubbed together by the action of the water, and! give out a tone like that of distant church bells. The natural music is heard when the wind blows from the north, and as it subsides, low, plaintive notes, resembling voices of an invisible choir, are beard. It has been compared to the chaut of the nuns at the Tnnita de Monti in Rome, with which all travelers are familiar. The effect is impressive, Tourists have been awakened at night in the vicinity under the impression that chimes of bells were ringing afar off; and that their tones were rippling over the lake. The mystic bells oi Manitoba have acquired rooh reputation that travelers are not satisfied unless they are heard, and often spend days there waiting for the blowing of the north wind. The Oiibwnys have a number of poetic legends about their speaking Goo, whom they profoundly revere.