The waters of Lake Ontario indicate great depth by their dark green colour. It is reported that a line of 350 fathoms has been let down in various parts without finding a bottom.[165] The islands are low, and covered with small timber, and the shores rocky. Salmon abound in the lake, and in some of its tributary streams.
{296} 19th. Arrived at Kingston, which is situated at the north-eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. This place contains about 3000 people, and is the largest town in Upper Canada. It was here that the warships which navigated the lake during the late war were built, and several vessels of a larger size than any on the ocean, are still on the stocks. An island before Kingston, appears to be strongly fortified.
To the north of Kingston, and towards the Utawas [Ottawa] or Grand River, is the new town of Perth, and the settlement of a considerable body of Scots who emigrated in 1815. One of these people, who was on board the steam-boat, told me that the settlers had succeeded well; and a gentleman who lives in their neighbourhood assured me, that they have already attained to a more comfortable style of living than the French in the older settlements of the lower province.
On the 20th I sailed in a steam-boat for Prescott, which is seventy miles down the river. In immediate continuation with the eastern extremity is an expansion of the river St. Lawrence, which is called the lake of the thousand islands, from the great number of small islands it contains. These are rocky, and covered over with small pine trees, forming a romantic labyrinth, in which it is not always easy to discriminate between islands and the main land. Markings on the rocks show, that the waters rise occasionally to the height of four feet, but these slight floods must be occasioned by winds, rather than the immediate effect of rainy weather.
Brokeville is a new town on the north side of the river. The name is in honour of the British General Broke who fell in the late war.[166] The houses {297} are chiefly of stone, and have a neat appearance. In consequence of the settlements forming to the northward, Brokeville is of some importance as a landing place, and in its trade.
Prescott is a considerable town, with a small fort on the Canadian side of the river. It is a curious fact, that the thriving town of Ogdensburg, on the United States shore, is directly opposite, and though within the range of British cannon, is without defensive works, and without a garrison.
There being a number of rapids in the river between Prescott and Montreal, the intermediate navigation is performed by small flat-bottomed vessels, called Durham boats, which carry about three hundred barrels of flour each. These boats have no other decks than narrow foot-ways round the gunwales, leaving the middle space open, where the cargo is piled up.
On the 21st I left Prescott in a Durham boat,[167] in which there were three passengers besides myself. Two of these were Americans from Arkansaw river, on their way for Quebec, a journey of 2100 miles, and the other an Englishman, who had gone out to see the lands in Upper Canada, and was on his return to England, where he intends to give up a small farm that he holds in lease, and remove his family to the back woods near Kingston. From hearing the swearing and rude conversation of the boat’s crew, I concluded that they were persons of the lowest character.
The waters of the St. Lawrence appear green, on account of the great depth of the river, but when taken up in a vessel, they seem perfectly transparent. The islands below Prescott are of a rich soil, and, like the banks on both sides of the river, are low, and covered with grass almost to the margin of the water. We passed over four rapids on {298} the 21st, viz. the Rifts le Galete, the Flat Rifts, the Long Falls, and the Maligne Rifts. All these run with great velocity; and at the lower end of each, where the stream rushes into waters that run on a lesser declivity, a great swell or heaving motion is produced. We stopped for the night at Cornwall, a considerable village on the Canadian shore. I was there told the river opposite to that place is so deep, that when the people attempted to drag it in search of the body of a man who had been drowned, the bottom was not felt.
On the 22d we passed St. Regis, an Indian town, which is built with stone. Below this place, the boundary line which separates the United States from Canada leaves the river. Lake St. Francis is an expansion of the river that is about thirty miles long, and from four to six miles broad. The banks are low, and the declivity of the neighbouring lands is very moderate. To the south-east, a number of high mountains in New York State are to be seen. Their distance from the river seems to be about thirty miles, and they are covered with trees to their summits.