Copper, in the more remote parts of Upper Canada, is found in much greater abundance than iron, and as it may be extracted from the earth with considerably less trouble than any of the iron ore that has yet been discovered, there is reason to imagine, that at a future day it will be much more used than iron for every purpose to which it can be applied. On the borders of a river, which falls into the south-west side of Lake Superior, virgin copper is found in the greatest abundance; and on most of the islands on the eastern side it is also found. In the possession of a gentleman at Niagara I saw a lump of virgin copper of several ounces weight, apparently as pure as if it had passed through fire, which I was informed had been struck off with a chisel from a piece equally pure, growing on one of these islands, which must at least have weighed forty pounds. Rich veins of copper are visible in almost all the rocks on these islands towards the shore; and copper ore, resembling copperas, is likewise found in deep beds near the water: in a few hours bateaux might here be filled with ore, and in less than three days conveyed to the Straits of St. Mary, after passing which the ore might be laden on board large vessels, and conveyed by water without any further interruption as far as Niagara River. The portage at the Straits of St. Mary may be passed in a few hours, and with a fair wind large vessels, proper for traversing Lakes Huron and Erie, may come down to the eastern extremity of the latter lake in six days.
Not only the building and fitting out of vessels on the lakes is attended with considerable expence, but the cost of keeping them up is likewise found to be very great, for they wear out much sooner than vessels employed commonly on the ocean; which circumstance, according to the opinion of the naval gentlemen on the lakes, is owing to the freshness of the water; added to this, no sailors are to be hired but at very high wages, and it is found necessary to retain them at full pay during the five months of the year that the vessels are laid up on account of the ice, as men cannot be procured at a moment’s notice. The sailors, with a few exceptions only, are procured from sea-ports, as it is absolutely necessary on these lakes, the navigation of which is more dangerous than that of the ocean, to have able and experienced seamen. Lake Ontario itself is never frozen out of sight of land, but its rivers and harbours are regularly blocked up by the ice.
The day after that on which we reached Kingston, we took our passage for Niagara on board a schooner of one hundred and eighty tons burthen, which was waiting at the merchant’s wharf for a fair wind. The established price of the passage across the lake in the cabin is two guineas, and in the steerage one guinea, for each person: this is by no means dear, considering that the captain, for the money, keeps a table for each respective set of passengers. The cabin table on board this vessel was really well served, and there was abundance of port and sherry wine, and of every sort of spirits, for the use of the cabin passengers. The freight of goods across the lake is dearer in proportion, being thirty-six shillings British per ton, which is nearly as much as was paid for the transportation of a ton of goods across the Atlantic previous to the present war; it cannot, however, be deemed exorbitant, when the expence of building and keeping the vessels in repair, and the high wages of the sailors, &c. are taken into consideration.
FREIGHTAGE.
On the 7th of September, in the afternoon, the wind became favourable for crossing the lake; notice was in consequence immediately sent round to the passengers, who were dispersed in different parts of the town, to get ready; all of them hurried on board; the vessel was unmoored, and in a few minutes she was wafted out into the lake by a light breeze. For the first mile and a half, in going from Kingston, the prospect is much confined, on account of the many large islands on the left hand side; but on weathering a point on one of the islands, at the end of that distance, an extensive view of the lake suddenly opens, which on a still clear evening, when the sun is sinking behind the lofty woods that adorn the shores, is extremely grand and beautiful.
LAKE ONTARIO.
Lake Ontario is the most easterly of the four large lakes through which the boundary line passes, that separates the United States from the province of Upper Canada. It is two hundred and twenty miles in length, from east to west, and seventy miles wide in the broadest part, and, according to calculation, contains about 2,390,000 acres. This lake is less subject to storms than any of the others, and its waters in general, considering their great expanse, are wonderfully tranquil. During the first evening of our voyage there was not the least curl even on their surface, they were merely agitated by a gentle swell; and during the subsequent part of the voyage, the waves were at no time so high as to occasion the slightest sickness amongst any of the passengers. The depth of the water in the lake is very great; in some parts it is unfathomable. On looking over the side of a vessel, the water, owing to its great depth, appears to be of a blackish colour, but it is nevertheless very clear, and any white substance thrown overboard may be discerned at the depth of several fathoms from the surface; it is, however, by no means so clear and transparent as the water of some of the other lakes. Mr. Carver, speaking of Lake Superior, says, “When it was calm, and the sun shone bright, I could sit in my canoe, where the depth was upwards of six fathoms, and plainly see huge piles of stone at the bottom, of different shapes, some of which appeared as if they had been hewn; the water was at this time as pure and transparent as air, and my canoe seemed as if it hung suspended in that element. It was impossible to look attentively through this limpid medium, at the rocks below, without finding, before many minutes were elapsed, your head swim, and your eyes no longer able to behold the dazzling scene.”
The water of Lake Ontario is very well tasted, and is that which is constantly used on board the vessels that traverse it.
RISING OF THE WATER.
It is very confidently asserted, not only by the Indians, but also by great numbers of the white people who live on the shores of Lake Ontario, that the waters of this lake rise and fall alternately every seventh year; others, on the contrary, deny that such a fluctuation does take place; and indeed it differs so materially from any that has been observed in large bodies of water in other parts of the globe, that for my own part I am somewhat tempted to believe it is merely an imaginary change; nevertheless, when it is considered, that according to the belief of the older inhabitants of the country, such a periodical ebbing and flowing of the waters of the lake takes place, and that it has never been clearly proved to the contrary, we are bound to suspend our opinions on the subject. A gentleman, whole habitation was situated close upon the borders of the lake, not far from Kingston, and who, from the nature of his profession, had more time to attend to such subjects than the generality of the people of the country, told me, that he had observed the state of the lake attentively for nearly fourteen years that he had resided on the borders of it, and that he was of opinion the waters did not ebb and flow periodically; yet he acknowledged this very remarkable fact, that several of the oldest white inhabitants in his neighbourhood declared, previously to the rising of the lake, that the year 1795 would be the high year; and that in the summer of that year, the lake actually did rise to a very uncommon height. He said, however, that he had reason to think the rising of the lake on this occasion was wholly owing to fortuitous circumstances, and not to any regular established law of nature; and he conceived, that if the lake had not risen as it had done, yet the people would have fancied, nevertheless, that it was in reality higher than usual, as he supposed they had fancied it to be on former occasions. He was induced to form this opinion, he said, from the following circumstance: When the lake had risen to such an unusual height in the year 1795, he examined several of the oldest people on the subject, and questioned them particularly as to the comparative height of the waters on this and former occasions. They all declared that the waters were not higher than they usually were at the time of their periodical rising; and they affirmed, that they had themselves seen them equally high before. Now a grove of trees, which stood adjoining to this gentleman’s garden, and must at least have been of thirty years growth, was entirely destroyed this year by the waters of the lake, that flowed amongst the trees; had the lake, therefore, ever risen so high before, this grove would have been then destroyed. This circumstance certainly militated strongly against the evidence which the people gave as to the height of the waters; but it only proved that the waters had risen on this occasion higher than they had done for thirty years preceding; it did not prove that they had not, during that term, risen periodically above their ordinary level.