I may here more particularly notice Lake Ontario. Its length is about one hundred and seventy miles, and its breadth about sixty miles. It contains a great many islands, nearly all of which are situated at the easterly end of the lake. The principal islands are Amherst, Wolf, Gage, and Howe. The land on the north-east coast of this lake is low, and in some places marshy; near Lake Champlain, however, the country is somewhat mountainous.
One of the islands in the river Niagara, of which I have spoken as contributing to a division of the falls, is called Goat Island. It belongs to Judge Porter, and contains about eighty acres.[[74]] Its soil is excellent, and its timber valuable. From the main land to this island a bridge has recently been built; and I understand, that a hotel is soon to be erected on the island, for the accommodation of those who may visit the falls.
The whole length of the river Niagara is about thirty-eight miles. Its width is various. From Lewistown to the falls it is very narrow, its banks high, and its bed consists of solid limestone. Above the falls the river, in some places, is three miles wide, and contains several large islands. Here its banks are low. At the ferry, about two miles from Lake Erie, the river is only about one mile wide; and near the falls it again contracts, and thereby so compresses the water as greatly to increase its velocity. The average depth of the river is from twenty-five to thirty feet. The rapidity of its current, from the ferry to within a short distance of the falls, is about six miles an hour; but just above the former its motion is much quicker. The navigation of the river, above the falls, is very dangerous.
The principal of the islands just mentioned are [81] Navy, Grand, and Buck-horn. The growth of timber upon them is principally hard wood, and their soil is of a superior quality. Grand island is fifteen miles in length.
From the falls of Niagara I proceeded to Buffalo. The distance from the former place to Black Rock, is about twenty-two miles.[[75]] The way to it is through a gloomy wood, between the trees of which one may occasionally see the river. Here the aspect was dreary. The snow was still very deep; the weather cold, windy and wild; the river presented a green appearance, was partially covered with masses of ice, and violently agitated by the spirit of an approaching storm. In this situation I met three Indians. We were thinking of a shelter.—We passed each other, only with a mute and sympathetic glance.
In the vicinity of the Lakes Ontario and Erie deeper snows fell, during the last winter, than had ever been known there; and the severity of the cold was without a parallel. Many people on the Lakes, and in the woods were frozen to death. A hunter, who went into the wood for an afternoon, was so frozen as to render necessary the amputation of his feet; and it was not uncommon, in the upper part of the state of New-York, to see men, in consequence of the frost, moving upon crutches.
It may be well for me here to mention some additional facts, in relation to the country through which I have passed since leaving Vermont. The face of it, from the Green Mountains to Niagara River, is rather level than mountainous; there are, however, many high and steep hills. On both sides of the Mohawk north and south, and from sixty to one hundred miles west from Albany, there are a number of considerable hills. In the vicinity of these, particularly near Scoharie, the soil is of an inferior [82] quality. West of this to Lake Ontario is an extensive level, interspersed with gradual and gentle swells. Some of the slopes are extensive, and result in spacious flats, many of which are very rich. This is particularly the case on the Genessee. The north-easterly part of the State is hilly, and even mountainous; but some portions of this section of the country, especially near Black River, is very fertile. West of the Genessee, and more decidedly so in the vicinity of Buffalo, the soil is not remarkably good; but on both sides of the river, along Lake Ontario, the land is much better. In various other parts of the state the soil is almost inexhaustibly rich; but, as is the case in all extensive tracts of country, there are here some poor lands. Generally speaking, the state is of immense force in point of agriculture; and the means of conveying it to market are ample. North and South, the Hudson, possessing a deep stream and gentle current, extends from New-York, the great maratime depo of the state, to the mountains between Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence. From about the centre of this river, north and south, the Mohawk reaches to within a very short distance of Lake Ontario; and between Lake Champlain and Lake Erie, east and west, there are a great many small lakes and rivers, which tender their waters to the public spirit of the state. It is the object of New-York to draw to herself the trade of Vermont and the Canadas.
The western part of this state, was, during the revolution, inhabited by the Six Nations of Indians, among whom were the Mohawks, a fierce and powerful tribe. Most of these nations aided the British during this great contest; and the state, in many places, suffered much from their ravages.[[76]]
The land in this state is generally well timbered. The principal growth is the several kinds of oak, [83] sugar and curled maple, walnut, beech, black and white ash, birch, hickory, bass, sassafras, and several other kinds. One cannot but regret the loss of so much excellent timber, as is destroyed in our new settlements by clearing.
All the western waters are well stored with fish and fowl. Those of the former in Lake Ontario are principally white fish, and black bass; and in some of its tributary streams, there are salmon; but they are of an inferior quality. In the west too, large quantities of sugar are made from the sap of the maple; and in the woods are found bee hives containing an almost incredible quantity of honey. A kind Providence has also provided for our brethren of the west, innumerable salt springs, which produce fine white salt. This article can, in some cases, be bought at the works, at twenty cents a bushel.