Tnc great river of Canada, the St Lawrence, is univer sally regarded as the second, and may even be affirmed to be the first, on the face of the globe. Its length, if reckoned from the egress of lake Ontario, is 700 miles ; hut if computed from lake Superior, is not less than 2500. lint the greatness of its breadth, and the extent to which it is navigable, form its distinguishing charac teristics. It is 90 miles wide at its mouth, where it is di vided into two channels by the island of Anticosti, which is 120 miles long and 30 broad, barren and of little value, and occupied only in winter by a few savages for the purposes of the chase. It is navigable for ships of the line nearly 400 miles from its mouth ; for ships of consi derable sire, as high as Montreal ; while ships of the ingest class may be navigated on the lakes, through N•i,icib it flows, at a distance of 2000 miles from its junc tion %till] the ocean, It receives in its progress an innu merable multitude of smaller rivers, and several of con siderable magnitude. These tributary waters flow chiefly from the north ; and the most remarkable arc, the nay, a very deep and impetuous torrent, about three miles in breadth, except at its mouth, bounded by high and precipitous banks, sometimes 600 and even 1000 feet in height, taking its rise from lake St John, flowing through a course of 150 miles, interrupted by numerous falls in its progress, and falling with a contracted stream, but with a powerful impulse, into the waters of the St Lawrence at Tadoussac ;—the Montmorency, which also flows from the north, abounds in cascades, and meets the St Lawrence, about eight miles to the eastward of Que bec ;—the Chaudiere, which flows from lake Megantic, through a course of 120 miles, and falls into the St Law rence about eight miles to the south-west of Quebec, where its mouth is completely confined by thick woody banks ;—the St Ann, a stream of considerable size flow ing from the north coast, and abounding in falls ;—the Jaques Cartier, which falls in about 30 miles above Que bec, and which sweeps its broken current with great im petuosity over a very rocky bed ;—the Sorel or Chambly, arising from lake Champlain, and flowing through a very fertile tract of country ; the Olaouais, or Utawas, or Grand river, the largest of all these tributary streams, issuing from various lakes in the centre of Upper Cana da, rushing over a bed of remarkable declivity, and pour ing its waters, of a bright greenish colour, into the mud dy bosom of St Lawrence, a few miles above Montreal.
The numerous and magnificent cataracts, which are to be found in this country, are its greatest natural curiosi ties. In most of these falls, there is indeed a considera-' ble similarity in point of effect, as the precipices, over which they are thrown, are nearly perpendicular ; but, still, each of them is distinguished by some peculiar fea tures of the sublime, the wild, and the picturesque. The cascades and rapids are innumerable ; and are to be found, in all the variety of romantic beauty, in almost every stream that flows into the St Lawrence. The fol lowing appear to be the most worthy of particular no tice :—The falls of St Thomas, which are extremely beautiful, and about 25 feet in height ;—of St Narks, a very romantic cataract of 30 feet, near the lake of the same name ;—of Saguenay, at the mouth of that river, about 50 feet high, forming an immense sheet of water, winch is so perpetually broken in its descent, as to as sume a resplendent white appearance ;—of St :luny which are seven in number, very near to each other, the largest of which is about 130 feet high, and is surround ed with remarkably rugged steep woody banks ; of La Puce, the chief of •hicu is 112 feet in height, and is so completely clothed with w ood, to the very summit of the precipice, as to produce a vet-) deep and solemn gloom ; of the Chaudicre, about four miles from the mouth of the river, about 360 yards broad, descending from a height of 120 feet, in three distinct cataracts, surrounded with NV 00 d , and abounding in tne wildest and most picturesque scenes ;—of Montmorency, exactly at the confluence of that river with the St Lawrence, about 200 feet in breadth, falls in one undivided mass from a perpendicular height of 246 feet, arid having few trees on its steep and lofty banks, is more remarkable for grandeur than for beauty ; —.and of Niagara, between lakes Erie and Ontario, 600 yards wide, divided by two islands into three distinct ca taracts. one or wnieh is 1.12 and another 160 feet high, the noise of which is heard to the extent of 15 miles, and the cloud of vapour, which they throw up, is said to lie frequently observable at a distance of 90 miles. Those who have w itnessed this stupendous cataract, declare that no power of words can convey an adequate idea of its sublimity. 4 4 The lofty banks and immense woods," says Mr I I eriot, " which environ this stupendous scene, the irresistible force, the rapidity of motion displayed by the rolling clouds of foam, the uncommon brilliancy and va riety of colours and of shades, the ceaseless intumes cence and swift agitation ()I' the dashing waves below, the solemn and tremendous noise, with the volumes of vapour darting upwards into the air, which the simultaneous re port and smoke of a thousand Callon could scarcely equal, irresistibly tend to impress the imagination with such a train of sublime sensations, as few other combinations of natural objects arc capable of producing." Sec also NIAcIARA, and Weld's Travels in Canada, vol. ii. p. 12:3.
The lakes of Canada are astonishingly numerous, and the waters still cover so large a portion of its surface, as almost to afford a proof of its being more recently desert ed by the ocean, than the rest of the American continent. Those in the direction of the St Lawrence, arc by far the largest ; and the first of these, that meets the navigator, as he ascends the stream, is that of St Peter, which is, properly speaking, nothing more than the expansion of the waters of the St Lawrence, over a level country, which is about 20 miles long, and 15 broad, receives a number of considerable rivers into its bed, and yet is so extremely shallow, that the ship-channel, at some sea sons, is not more in many places than 11 or 12 feet deep.—
Lake Ontario, or Cataraguy, the smallest of the live great lakes, is of an oval ligure, 160 miles in length, and about 450 in circumference. Its depth in many places, is not ascertained ; and it has frequently been sounded with a line of 350 fathoms, without finding the bottom. It con tains an immense number of islands, and is very liable to be agitated by stormy winds. The soil around its bor ders is very much intermixed with rocks, and yields seve ral valuable quarries of a durable NS bite stone. \raviolis volcanic productions are found on its banks ; and this cir cumstance, in conjunction with its immeasurable depth, has given rise to a conjecture, that its basin was once the crater of a volcano. See Volney's View of the United States, p. 120.—Lake Eric, or Oswego, is 300 miles in length, 40 at its utmost breadth, 710 in circumference, and about 50 fathoms at its greatest depth. At its north ern extremity, it is much exposed to violent gales, and its navigation is both tedious and dangerous. It contains, towards the west, a number of beautiful islands, in which are many remarkable caverns abounding in curious sta lactites. These islands arc also full of reptiles, especially rattlesnakes; and the margin of the lake is in many pla ces completely covered, for many acres, with the large leaves of the pond lily, upon which, in the summer sea son, myriads of water snakes are seen basking in the sun. The bottom is a blueish limestone rock, and its banks are clothed with wood, abounding in game and wild animals.— Lake Huron, the second in point of magnitude, is of a tri angular form, 250 miles in length, and 1100 in circum ference. It contains a number of islands, among which, one called Manataulin, signifying the place of spirits, and held sacred by the Indians, is nearly 100 miles long, and 3 in breadth. It has also numerous and extensit c bays, one of w hich, Saguiva, or Saganatn, is 15 miles long, and 18 wide ; and another about 9 miles broad, called Thunder Bay, because it is scarcely ever free from tre mendous thunder storms. The storms on this lake are extremely dangerous, and its both rise higher, and break quicker tleum those of the ocean. It contains abun dance of large white fish, and particularly a rich and de licate trout, sonic of which arc four or five feet in lenzth, and frequently 70Ib. in weight.—Lake 11/(chigan is Situ ted entirely within the American tertitorivs, but as, to gether with lakes Huron and Superior, it forms what ha been called the Sea of Canada, it seems entitled to a sl:or notice in this sketch of the principal lakes of that country. It is about 280 miles long, 70 at its e.1 catest breadth, and 9.15 in circumference. On its eastern ( oast it receives a number of rivers, the banks of which abound in ginNenc On its northern coast is the Green bay , or Lay dee I'uan , 120 miles long and 30 wide, the waters of w hi( 11 hat e considerable flux and rentlX ; and the quantity of mud which they leave behind causing an unpleasant vapour, when exposed to the sun, has occasioned its French num. Puante. Prom this bay there is a short and easy com munication with the Mississippi. It communicates also with Lake Huron, by the straits of Michillimackinac ; and though no diurnal ebb or flow is perceptible in the waters of this passage, yet it is affirmed, that a periodical alteration takes place in their height ; that in the emirs( of seven years and a half, they gradually rise about three feet, while, in the same space of time, they as impercepti bly fall away to their former state.—Lake Superior, Tracey, or Conde, is the largest body of fresh water o• the face of the earth, being 400 miles in length, 100 at its greatest breadth, and nearly 1600 in circumference. 1 receives the waters of nearly 40 rivers, sonic of which arc of considerable magnitude ; and contains a IMMIX!' 01 islands, one of which, Isle Royale, is about 100 miles long and 40 broad. Its bed is covered with large uneven rocks, and is in many places beyond the reach of sound ings. Its northern banks arc very high and rugged, and abound in virgin copper ; but its eastern shore is low and shallow, covered with stunted trees and brambles, and producing an amazing quantity of currants, strawberries, whortleberrics, and raspberries, of extraordinary size and delicious flavour. The soil, however, around the greaten part of the lake, is extremely barren, yielding indeed abundance of meadow hay, but scarcely bearing any other kind of crop than potatoes. It abounds in sturgeon and long trout, from 50 to 70 pounds in weight ; and, owin: to the unequalled transparency of its waters, these fish are seen to an astonishing depth from its surface. It i subject to tremendous storms ; and there is a swell upon its coast resembling the flow of the tide. Its waters hat e been observed to vary in their height at particular periods from five to six feet ; which is supposed to be occasioned by the greater or smaller quantity of snow in the adjacent regions, by the dissolution of which its tributary streams arc supplied. This lake may be considered as the grand reservoir of the river St Lawrence, as no other ka.gc rot er flows from its bosom ; but as it does not appeal that one tenth part of the waters. which arc conveyed into it by 40 channels, are carried of at this one point of et acuation, it remains yet to be ascertained by what cause, whether by evaporation, or subterranean cavities, the supera bundant fluid is removed. It communicates with Lake 11 uron by the Straits of St Mary, which are rendered un navigable for boats of any burden by the tapids. The Norfh-West company, however, hat e cut a canal alone, the northern bank, for the purpose of facilitating their commerce, and have here a considerable establishment ; but their principal fort and storehouses are situated at Kamenistiquia, upon the banks of a river w hiril flow s into the north-west of Lake Superior, and w hich affords them an easy communication with the interior.