That portion of Upper Canada which has been laid out into townships, extends from its eastern frontier along the north shore of the river St Law rence, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake St Claire, and the communication between it and Lake Huron, in length about 570 miles, and its breadth towards the north varies from 40 to 50 miles. Through the whole of this track the soil is excellent, and is not exceeded by any other part of the American Conti nent. It generally consists of a fine dark loam, mix ed with a rich vegetable mould • but it is so happily varied as to present situations adapted to every spe. cies of produce. For about 170 miles from the east ern frontier of the province to the head of the Bay of Quin* on Lake Ontario, the land is spread out into an almost uniform level of great beauty, which rises only a few feet from the bank of the St Law rence. It is well watered in almost every direction by numerous streams, which are generally navigable for boats and canoes, and which, at the same time, •present the most desirable situations for the erec tion of machinery. From the Bay of Quints, about 40 miles from the eastern shores of .Lake Ontario to its western extremity, runs a longitudinal ridge of no great elevation, and of inconsiderable breadth. Another ridge, called the Queenstown Heights, ex. tends eastward along the southern shores of Lake Ontario, between these and Lake Erie, into the State of New York. This range never _ rises in any part more than 160 yards above the level of the lake. The country which lies between the two lakes of On tario and Erie, and which extends round the western extremity of Lake Ontario to the Bay of Quints, comprehending the Newcastle, the Home, and the Niagara districts, or nearly one-third of that portion of the province which has been surveyed, and laid out into townships, is watered by a number both of large and small streams. The land throughout is uncommonly rich and fertile, and already contains a number of flourishing settlements..
. The remaining part of the tract we have been de ecribing, which extends along the southern shores of Lake Erie, from the river Ouse to the Lake and fiver ofr St Clair, is a complete level, abounding in the most advantageous situations for settlements ; and those places which are already occupied and under tillage, equal any part of either province for the plentiful crops and thriving farms with which they abound. That portion of the country which lies between Lake Ene and Lake St Clair is, perhaps, the most delightful in the whole province. The fel• tility of the soil,—the diversified and luxuriant icene which everywhere opens to the view,—the excellent fish which abound in the rivers, and the profusion of game in the woods, combine to attract a continued supply of new settlers to this highly' favoured tract.
Beyond these cultivated parts of Upper Canada, there are large tracts of land, stretching far to the northward, covered with immense forests, the haunt of wild animals and of wandering savages. But these regions, though they have never been explor ed by the Europeans, are known to spread out into valleys of a rich and fertile soil, more especially in the country skirting the south-west shore of the Ot tawa river. They are also watered by many streams, some of a large size, which flow both into Lake Hu ron, and into the Ottawa river. The course of these rivers is not, however, sufficiently known, to be traced with accuracy on the map. In those unex plored' coentries all sorts of timber are found in the.
greatest profusion. The oak, beech, walnut, ash, hickery, maple, elm, pine, sycamore, birch, and many other sorts, grow to the largest dimensions, which is the best proof of the fertility and vigour of the soil in which they have taken root.
The rivers and lakes of Canada are stamped with a peculiar character of grandeur. The great river St Lawrence issues from Lake Superior, and flow ing successively through Lakes Huroo, Erie, and On tario, falls into the ocean after a course of 2000 miles. Its course is through a long and narrow val• ley, in which, also, are contained the great lakes from which it derives its ample stream. This valley seems to have taken the form of the immense col lection of waters of which it is the depository ; it is closely encompassed on every side, except on that through which the river makes its way to the sea, by different ranges of mountains, which completely en• circle the great lakes at the distance, in some points, of not more than sixty miles, and shutting them up from the interior, form the dividing ridge between the tributary streams of the St Lawrence, and those which flow north and south into Hudson's Bay and the Mississippi. The prodigious volume of water which the St Lawrence rolls into the ocean, and the extent to which it is navigable, give it the pre-emi nence over all the other great rivers of the American Continent. Itstreadth, at its mouth, may be rec koned 90 miles, and at Saguenay river, 260 miles higher up, it is still 18 miles broad. It is navigable with safety for ships of the line 400 miles from its mouth, and, to Montreal, 160 miles further, it is na vigable, with very little difficulty, for ships of 600 tons burden. For vessels of a larger size the nave. (ration is intricate and dangerous. The St Lawrence is diversified by numerous islands, and its shores alternately present the pleasing view of flourish ing settlements, and of sublime and picturesque scenery.
The tract of country which the St Lawrence drains of its waters, is confined, both on the north, and more especially on the south, by ranges of mountains which run along its whole extent; so that there is no adequate space for the formation of such immense tributary rivers. as pour their waters into the Amazons, the Plata, or the Mississippi. It will, accordingly, be found. that the main stream of the St Lawreneeis• bot increased by such vast accessions from' the tributary waters of the territory through which if flows, as those last Intentioned rivers. The principal rivers which it receives from the north, are the Ottawa, the Masquinongt, the St Maurice, the St Ann, the Jacques Cartier, the Saguenay, and the Manicouagan. From the south, it receives the Sal mon river, the Chateaugay, the Chambly or Richlieu, the Yamaska, the St Francis, the Becancour, the Du Chene, Chaudiere, and Du Loup. Of these, the Ottawa and Saguenay are important rivers, and bring a great accession to the stream of the St Law rence. The Saguenay is a broad, deep, and uncom monly rapid river. At its mouth it is only one mile broad, but is said to be of unfathomable depth, attempts having been made to find the bottom with 500 fathoms of line, bat without effect. About two miles higher it has been found to be from 130 to 140 fathoms deep. The Ottawa is also .a large and important river. It has its rise from several lakes in Upper Canada, and, rushing over a bed of remarkable declivity, falls into the St Lawrence a few miles above Montreal.