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Page 30
"Better for the continent and the world that England won," said Vincent.
"Perhaps so," allowed Hugh. "Though we cannot tell what might have been.
But that does not concern this Ulysses and his crew. Onward, voyagers
and voyageresses."
"Your simile is an unfortunate one. Ulysses was wrecked off Circe's
island and at other places. Rather let us be the Argonauts in search of
the Golden Fleece."
"Mercenary wretch!" exclaimed Hugh. "My taste is different. I am going
in search of a dinner."
Hugh Warren's ability for discovering anything of that sort was
proverbially good, so we, having the same disposition, followed him
below to the dining-saloon.
We arrived at Toronto, one hundred and sixty miles from Oswego, a little
before dusk. This city, the capital of the province of Ontario, is
situated on an arm of the lake. Its bay is a beautiful inlet about four
miles long and two miles wide, forming a capacious and well-protected
harbor. The site of the town is low, but rises gently from the water's
edge. The streets are regular and wide, crossing each other generally at
right angles. There is an esplanade fronting the bay which extends for a
distance of two miles. The population of the city has increased from
twelve hundred in 1817 to nearly sixty thousand at present. In the
morning we took a hurried survey of its chief buildings, visited Queen's
Park in the centre of the city, and got round in season to take the
afternoon steamer for Buffalo.
The district situated between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, as it has been
longest settled, so also is it the best-cultivated part of Western
Canada. The vicinity to the two Great Lakes renders the climate more
agreeable, by diminishing the severity of the winters and tempering the
summers' heats. Fruits of various kind arrive at great perfection,
cargoes of which are exported to Montreal, Quebec, and other places
situated in the less genial parts of the eastern province. Mrs. Jameson
speaks of this district as "superlatively beautiful." The only place
approaching a town in size and the number of inhabitants, from the Falls
along the shores of Lake Erie for a great distance, beyond even Grand
River, is Chippewa, situated on the river Welland, or Chippewa, which
empties itself into Niagara Strait, just where the rapids commence and
navigation terminates. One or more steamers run between Chippewa and
Buffalo. Chippewa is still but a small village, but, as it lies directly
on the great route from the Western States of the Union to the Falls of
Niagara and the Eastern States, it will probably rise into importance.
Its greatest celebrity at present arises from the fact of there having
been a great battle fought near by between the British and Americans in
the war of 1812.
The line of navigation by the St. Lawrence did not extend beyond Lake
Ontario until the Welland Canal was constructed. This important work is
thirty-two miles long, and admits ships of one hundred and twenty-five
guns, which is about the average tonnage of the trading-vessels on the
lakes. The Niagara Strait is nearly parallel to the Welland Canal, and
more than one third of it is not navigable. The canal, by opening this
communication between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, has conferred an
immense benefit on all the districts west of Ontario. The great Erie
Canal has been still more beneficial, by connecting the lakes with New
York and the Atlantic by the Hudson River, which the canal joins after a
course of three hundred and sixty miles. The effect of these two canals
was quickly perceptible in the increased activity of commerce on Lake
Erie, and the Erie Canal has rendered this lake the great line of
transit from New York to the Western States.
Lake Erie is the most shallow of all the lakes, its average depth being
only sixty or seventy feet. Owing to this shallowness the lake is
readily disturbed by the wind; and for this reason, and for its paucity
of good harbors, it has the reputation of being the most dangerous
to navigate of any of the Great Lakes. Neither are its shores as
picturesquely beautiful as those of Ontario, Huron, and Superior. Still
it is a lovely and romantic body of water, and its historic memories are
interesting and important. In this last respect all the Great Lakes are
remarkable. Some of the most picturesque and interesting chapters of our
colonial and military history have for their scenes the shores and the
waters of these vast inland seas. A host of great names--Champlain,
Frontenac, La Salle, Marquette, Perry, Tecumseh, and Harrison--has
wreathed the lakes with glory. The scene of the stirring events in which
Pontiac was the conspicuous figure is now marked on the map by such
names as Detroit, Sandusky, Green Bay, and Mackinaw. The thunder of the
battles of Lundy's Lane and the Thames was heard not far off, and the
very waters of Lake Erie were once canopied with the sulphur smoke from
the cannon of Perry's conquering fleet.
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