There arc four narrow avenues connecting this remarkable body of water with the Pacific and the Japan Sea; that on the west, called Shirnonoseki Strait, has a width of 3000 yds., that on the south, known ai Hayarnoto Strait, is 8 m.
The greater part of the James River Valley lies in the bed of the extinct Lake Dakota, which was once a very narrow body of water extending northward from about the latitude of the present town of Mitchell for a short distance into what is now North Dakota.
The Minnesota river has its source in the north-east, and the Big Stone Lake, a body of water about 25 m.
During the rainy season there is a considerable body of water in these channels, but owing partly to rapid evaporation and partly to the porous character of the soil the surface of the country dries rapidly.
The body of water thus formed, Superior and Allouez bays, varies in width from to 14 m., and is 91 m.
