In the Upper province. the principal settleineyits (for tilt' can scarcely yet be called towns), arc—Kingston, 38D nib s above Quebec, near the egress of the St Lawrence from Lake Ontario, which has increased and improved very' rapidly since its foundation in 1784, and Which contains several commodious dwellings built of excellent stone, a hayrack, a jail, a court-house, a churn au hospital, set eral extrusive store-houses, and a natal duck-yard:— York, or Toronto, the seat of government in Upper Canada, and about 45U ini•s abut e Quit bee, which was laid out as the site of a tots n only in 1797, and has already made tcry cow-iderable advancement: —Niagara, or .Vework, at the west opening of Lake tario, and about 525 miles from Quebec, a t cry and beautifully situated town :—Quet nstown, about eight miles beyond Niagara, a neat, flourishing place, wi ere all the merchandise and stores for the upper province are landed from the vessels in which they have been conveyed from Kingston, to be transported in waggons to Chippawa, or Port Welland, about ten miles distant, wide], contains several store-houses, two or three ta verns, and a wooden fort, with a garrison of 25 men.
The principal forts or posts arr, Fort Carlton, a little higher up the river, well garrisoned and fortified, and possessing an excellent harbour ; Fort Xiagara, situated at the ingress of the St Lawrence into Lake On tario, and of great importance for the protection of the British Indians; Fort .4nrhurstburgh, between Lake Erie and I luron ; and Fort St Joseph, upon an island at the western end of Lake I luron, and particularly essen tial to the commercial interests of Canada.
The import of the word Canada, and the reason of the country having been so named, arc equally unknown ; and, as a sufficient proof how little certainty there is on the subject, the following account of the matter, more ludicrous than satisfactory, may be submitted to the rea der. A band of Spaniards having landed on the coast in quest of gold, which was then the sole object of pursuit with every voyager to America, and finding that the country yielded none of their favourite metal, frequently exclaimed to one another on their departure, in the pre sence of the natives, ?1ca nada, i. e. here is nothing. Upon the arrival of the French sonic time afterwards, the In dians, with a view to hasten their departure also, repeat edly pronounced the words which they had heard from their former visitors at their re-embarkation ; upon which their new friends, imagining that it was the name of the country, immediately called it Canada.
This country appears to have been first discovered in 1495, by the famous Italian adventurer John Cabot, who sailed under a commission from Henry VII. of England, but who was not permitted by that cautious prince to at tempt any regular settlement on the coast. In the be ginning of the 16th century, it was visited by some French mariners, who were fishing on the banks of New foundland ; and, in 1523, Francis 1. sent four ships under the command of Verazani, a Florentine, to make disco veries in North America ; but, after two unsuccessful attempts. having sailed on a third expedition, he was !WNW heard of more. In 153•, Jaques Cartier, a native
of St Maio, sailing under a commission front the French king, landed at several places on the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence, and took possession of the count v in the name of his sovereign.
In the tear following, lie made a second soyagc, with a more formal commission, and with a much larger force; sailed up the St Lawrence, as for as the island of Orl experienced the most hospitable treatment from the na tives ; and, ..ftcr wi. tering at St Croix, returned to France, Nti ith a flaming account of the fertility of the soil, and the value of the productions, but with no specimens of the precious metals. His failure in the discovery of these last mentioned commodities, brought him into some degree of disgrace ; and in 1540, he was sent out only in the capacity of pilot to M. de Roberval, who was ap pointed viceroy of Canada ; who made various attempts to discover a north-west passage to the East Indies ; who frequently returned to France for new recruits ; and who was lost, with a numerous train of adventurers, in 1749, without any tidings ever being received of his fate. By this calamitous event the government of France was so much discouraged, that, for nearly 50 years afterwards, no measures were employed to support the few French settlers, who still remained in North America. At length, Henry IV. appointed the Marquis de la Roche, lieutenant general of Canada ; but that nobleman, sailing from France in 1598, having injudiciously attempted a settle ment on the isle of Sable, and cruized for some time on the coast of Nova Scotia, without any success, returned home in disgrace, and died of grief. Other governors, however, were more successful in their expeditions ; and by the increasing attractions of the fur trade, were enabled to collect great numbers of settlers, and to form a permanent establishment in Canada, or New France, as it was then designated. One of the most active of these adventurer's was a naval officer called Champlain, a man of considerable enterprize and ability, who com pletely explored the banks of the St Lawrence, discover ed the lake, which bears his name, and built the city of Quebec in the year 1608.* At this period two Indian nations, the Algonquins and Hurons, who occupied the district in which the new colony was planted, happened to be very hard pressed by their inveterate enemies the Iroquois; and, in the hope of procuring important as sistance to their cause, readily welcomed and befriended the new settlers. Champlain, instead of to unite the natives in general in an attachment to France, inconsiderately took a side in their contests ; and thus raised up an enemy, of whose power and ferocity he was little aware, and whose rooted hostility presented per petual obstructions to the luture prosperity of the colony. The Iroquois never forgave this interference on the part of the French ; and kept them in such a state of almost unceasing warfare, that, during a whole century at least, the European residents were never altogether free from alarms; were seldom permitted to reap and sow in safety; and were frequently in hazard of total extermination.