ERIE, one of the five great lakes which empty themselves by the St. Lawrence, separates Upper Canada on its left front Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its right. It is the most southern of the five, receiving at its south-western extremity the waters of lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron by the river Detroit, anVischarging them at its n.e. by the Niagara into lake Ontario. With a length of 240 m., E. has a breadth varying from 30 to nearly 60 m., with an area of 9,600 sq. miles. It is 16 ft. below the Huron, and 333 and 565 respectively above the Ontario and the Atlantic. At its south-western extremity are several wooded and partly cultivated islands, the largest of which is about 14 m. in circumference. It is by far the shallowest of the five great lakes. Its mean depth is stated at 120 ft. ; and from this comparative shallowness anti the consequent liability to a heavy ground-swell, as well as on account of the small number of good harbors, the navigation is peculiarly difficult and dangerous. The chief harbors on the s., or United States shore, besides the natural harbor of E. itself or Presque
isle, are those of Cleveland, Sandusky City, and Toledo; and ou the n. or Canadian shore, ports Dover, Burwell, and Stanley. Lake E. receives no rivers of any conse quence. Its commercial importance, however, has been largely increased by art. It is connected by one canal with the Hudson, and by more than one with the Ohio; while, on the British side, it communicates with the Ontario by means of a still more available work, the ship-channel of the Welland. Its navigation generally closes in the beginning of Dec., and the lake remains more or less frozen till Mar. or April. The commercial importance of this lake has been greatly enhanced the last few years by the establish ment of numerous lines of railway.conpecting,,its ports-with the interior. The amount of traffic on the lake and on these tailWays Lake E. was the scene of a naval engagement between the British and Americans, Sept. 10, 1813, in which the latter victorious.