The current of the St. Lawrence, from Oswegatchee upwards, is much more gentle than in any other part between Montreal and Lake Ontario, except only where the river is considerably dilated, as at lakes St. Louis and St. François; however, notwithstanding its being so gentle, we did not advance more than twenty-five miles in the course of the day, owing to the numerous stops that we made, more from motives of pleasure than necessity. The evening was uncommonly fine, and towards sun-set a brisk gale springing up, the conductor judged it advisable to take advantage of it, and to continue the voyage all night, in order to make up for the time we had lost during the day. We accordingly proceeded, but towards midnight the wind died away; this circumstance, however, did not alter the determination of the conductor. The men were ordered to the oars, and notwithstanding that they had laboured hard during the preceding day, and had had no rest, yet they were kept closely at work until day-break, except for one hour, during which they were allowed to stop to cook their provisions. Where there is a gentle current, as in this part of the river, the Canadians will work at the oar for many hours without intermission; they seemed to think it no hardship to be kept employed in this instance the whole night; on the contrary, they plied as vigorously as if they had but just set out, singing merrily the whole time. The French Canadians have in general a good ear for music, and sing duets with tolerable accuracy. They have one very favourite duet amongst them, called the “rowing duet,” which as they sing they mark time to with each stroke of the oar; indeed, when rowing in smooth water, they mark the time of most of the airs they sing in the same manner.
ISLANDS.
About eight o’clock the next, and eighth morning of our voyage, we entered the last lake before you come to that of Ontario, called the Lake of a Thousand Islands, on account of the multiplicity of them which it contains. Many of these islands are scarcely larger than a bateau, and none of them, except such as are situated at the upper and lower extremities of the lake, appeared to me to contain more than fifteen English acres each. They are all covered with wood, even to the very smallest. The trees on these last are stunted in their growth, but the larger islands produce as fine timber as is to be found on the main shores of the lake. Many of these islands are situated so closely together, that it would be easy to throw a pebble from one to the other, notwithstanding which circumstance, the passage between them is perfectly safe and commodious for bateaux, and between some of them that are even thus close to each other, is water sufficient for a frigate. The water is uncommonly clear, as it is in every part of the river, from Lake St. Francis upwards: between that lake and the Utawas River downwards it is discoloured, as I have before observed, by passing over beds of marl. The shores of all these islands under our notice are rocky; most of them rise very boldly, and some exhibit perpendicular masses of rock towards the water upwards of twenty feet high. The scenery presented to view in sailing between these islands is beautiful in the highest degree. Sometimes, after passing through a narrow strait, you find yourself in a bason, land locked on every side, that appears to have no communication with the lake, except by the passage through which you entered; you are looking about, perhaps, for an outlet to enable you to proceed, thinking at last to see some little channel which will just admit your bateau, when on a sudden an expanded sheet of water opens upon you, whose boundary is the horizon alone; again in a few minutes you find yourself land locked, and again a spacious passage as suddenly presents itself; at other times, when in the middle of one of these basons, between a cluster of islands, a dozen different channels, like so many noble rivers, meet the eye, perhaps equally unexpectedly, and on each side the islands appear regularly retiring till they sink from the sight in the distance. Every minute, during the passage of this lake, the prospect varies. The numerous Indian hunting encampments on the different islands, with the smoke of their fires rising up between the trees, added considerably to the beauty of the scenery as we passed it. The Lake of a Thousand Islands is twenty-five miles in length, and about six in breadth. From its upper end to Kingston, at which place we arrived early in the evening, the distance is fifteen miles.
The length of time required to ascend the River St. Lawrence, from Montreal to Kingston, is commonly found to be about seven days, if the wind should be strong and very favourable, the passage may be performed in a less time; but should it, on the contrary, be adverse, and blow very strong, the passage will be protracted somewhat longer; an adverse or favourable wind, however, seldom makes a difference of more than three days in the length of the passage upwards, as in each case it is necessary to work the bateaux along by means of poles for the greater part of the way. The passage downwards is performed in two or three days, according to the wind. The current is so strong, that a contrary wind seldom lengthens the passage in that direction more than a day.
THE MISSISSIPPI.
The Mississippi is the only river in North America, which, for grandeur and commodiousness of navigation, comes in competition with the St. Lawrence, or with that river which runs from Lake Ontario to the ocean. If, however, we consider that immense body of water that flows from Lake Winnipeg through the Lake of the Woods, Lake Superior, &c. down to the sea, as one entire stream, and of course as a continuation of the St. Lawrence, it must be allowed to be a very superior river to the Mississippi in every point of view; and we may certainly consider it as one stream, with as much reason as we look upon that as one river which flows from Lake Ontario to the sea; for before it meets the ocean it passes through four large lakes, not indeed to be compared with those of Erie or Superior, in size, but they are independent lakes notwithstanding, as much as any of the others. The Mississippi is principally to be admired for the evenness of its current, and the prodigious length of way it is navigable, without any interruption, for bateaux of a very large burthen; but in many respects it is a very inferior river to the St. Lawrence, properly so called. The Mississippi at its mouth is not twenty miles broad, and the navigation is there so obstructed by banks or bars, that a vessel drawing more than twelve feet water cannot ascend it without very imminent danger. These bars at its mouth or mouths, for it is divided by several islands, are formed by large quantities of trees that come drifting down from the upper country, and when once stopped by any obstacle, are quickly cemented together by the mud, deposited between the branches by the waters of the river, which are uncommonly foul and muddy. Fresh bars are formed, or the old bars are enlarged every year, and it is said, that unless some steps are taken to prevent the lodgments of the trees annually brought down at the time of the inundation, the navigation may in a few years be still more obstructed than it is at present. It is notorious, that since the river was first discovered, several islands and points have been formed near its mouth, and the different channels have undergone very material alterations for the worse, as to their courses and depths. The River St. Lawrence, however, on the contrary, is no less than ninety miles wide at its mouth, and it is navigable for ships of the line as far as Quebec, a distance of four hundred miles from the sea. The channel also, instead of having been impaired by time, is found to be considerably better now than when the river was first discovered; and there is reason to imagine that it will improve still more in process of time, as the clear water that flows from Lake Ontario comes down with such impetuosity, during the floods in the spring of the year, as frequently to remove banks of gravel and loose stones in the river, and thus to deepen its bed. The channel on the north side of the island of Orleans, immediately below Quebec, which, according to the account of Le P. de Charlevoix, was not sufficiently deep in the year 1720 to admit a shallop of a small size, except at the time of high tides, is at present found to be deep enough for the largest vessels, and is the channel most generally used.
NAVIGATION.
The following table shews for what vessels the St. Lawrence is navigable in different places; and also points out the various breadths of the river from its mouth upwards:
Names of Places. | Distances in miles ascending. | Breadth in miles. |
|---|---|---|
| ─── | ─── | ─── |
| At its mouth | 90 | |
| At Cape Cat | 140 | 30 |
| At Saguenay River | 120 | 18 |
| At the lower extremity of the Isle of Orleans | 110 | 15[[5]] |
| At the bason between the Isle of Orleans and Quebec | 30 | 5[[6]] |
| From Quebec to Lake St. Pierre | 90 | |
| Lake St. Pierre | 30 | 14 |
| To La Valterie | 10 | 1 |
| To Montreal | 30 | 2 to 4[[7]] |
| To Lake St. Louis | 6 | –¾ |
| Lake St. Louis | 12 | 4 |
| To Lake St. Francis | 25 | ½ to 2 |
| Lake St. Francis | 20 | 5 |
| To the Lake of a Thousand Isles | 90 | ¼ to 1 |
| Lake of a Thousand Isles | 25 | 6 |
| To Kingston, on Lake Ontario | 15 | 2½ to 6 |
| ─── | ||
| 743 | ||
| ═══ |
[5]. This island is 25 miles in length and 6 in breadth, the river on each side is about 2 miles wide.