from Cincinnati to Lake Erie. His course was through Warren, Clinton,
Highland, Ross, Pickaway, Fairfield, Licking, Knox, Richland, Huron,
and Erie counties. The principal points touched were Lebanon in Warren,
Lancaster in Fairfield, Newark in Licking, and Mansfield in Richland.
He reached Lake Erie at the present Huron, at the mouth of Huron River.
His roundabout tour brought him through some of the very best portions
of the state.--ED.
[147] Reading was first settled in 1794 by Abraham Voorhees, who
laid out the town four years later. It was for some time called
Voorheestown, but rechristened out of compliment to some of the early
settlers who came from Reading, Pennsylvania.--ED.
[148] The Kentucky religious awakening of 1800, spreading into southern
Ohio, caused such a state of religious excitement that the Shakers of
New Lebanon, New York, thinking it a profitable field in which to plant
their doctrines, sent three missionaries to Warren County in 1805. They
found many converts among the excited people, and Union Village, or
Shakertown, soon sprang up. They were called Shakers not so much from
the dancing, as from the handshaking, head shaking, and other bodily
contortions in their religious exercises.--ED.
[149] The four proprietors, who were also the only settlers on the site
of Lebanon, laid out the town in 1802. Becoming the county seat of
Warren County, it thereafter grew rapidly, and in 1809 was chosen as
the site for Miami University.--ED.
[150] The road crossed the Little Miami near the border line between
Warren and Green counties.--ED.
[151] For the Pickaway Plains, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our
series, note 143.--ED.
[152] For the early history of Lancaster, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume
iv of our series, note 145.--ED.
[153] Newark was settled and laid out in 1802 by William Schenck, of
Newark, New Jersey. In the fall of that year a considerable colony came
from Pennsylvania. It was incorporated in 1826.--ED.
[154] Mt. Vernon, the seat of Knox County, was laid out in 1805, and
named after Washington’s home on the Potomac, its early settlers having
come from Virginia and Maryland.--ED.
[155] James Hedges, a government surveyor, laid out the town of
Mansfield in 1808, naming it in honor of Colonel Jared Mansfield,
surveyor-general of the United States. In 1820 it contained about 250
inhabitants.--ED.
[156] Ethan Allen Brown was elected governor of Ohio in 1818. He
resigned his office to accept a seat in the United States senate.--ED.
[157] For the early history of Portland, see Buttrick’s _Voyages_,
volume viii of our series, note 34.--ED.
[158] Plunder is a cant term used in the western country, signifying
travelling baggage.--FLINT.
{287} LETTER XXIV[159]
Passage on Lake Erie--Presque Isle--Buffalo--The Falls of
Niagara--Kingston--Youngstown--Newark--Passage on Lake Ontario--Scotch
Settlement in Upper Canada--Descend the River St. Lawrence--Thousand
Islands--Brokeville--Prescott-Ogdensburgh--Rapids--St. Regis--Lake
St. Francis--Falls--Cotu-du-Lac--The Cedar Falls and Village--Lake
St. Louis--La Chine--Cachnewaga--Montreal--Passage down the St.
Lawrence--Sorel--Lake St. Peter’s--Trois Rivieres--Settlements
in Lower Canada--The Falls of Richelieu--Quebec--Heights
of Abraham--Lorete--Indians--Remarks on the People--Lumber
Trade--Government--Climate.
_Quebec, Nov. 9, 1820._
Since writing my last letter to you I have removed from the head
of Lake Erie to this place--a very considerable distance; but as I
proceeded most of the way by water, I had very little communication
with the shore, and very scanty means of making myself acquainted with
the country.[160]
On the 14th I went on board the American steam-boat
_Walk-in-the-Water_, a fine vessel of 330 tons burden, with two
masts, and rigged, for taking advantage of the winds in the manner
of sea-craft.[161] The interior of this vessel is elegant, and the
entertainment is luxurious. There were twelve cabin passengers of
genteel appearance and polite manners, and about an equal number
of persons in the steerage; the whole indicating a degree {288} of
intercourse and refinement which I did not expect to see on Lake Erie.
The southern bank only was in sight. It is low, and many cleared
patches were to be seen at intervals amongst the woods. Probably the
time is not far distant when the anticipation of Campbell will be
realized,
“There shall the flocks on thymy pasture stray,
And shepherds dance at summer’s op’ning day;
Each wand’ring genius of the lonely glen
Shall start to view the glittering haunts of men.”
There are numerous islands in the lake, which are all covered with a
growth of timber, and were then beautifully variegated with the tints
of the season. These are the islands in which rattle-snakes and other
reptiles are said to be so numerous that it is dangerous to land on
them.
During the afternoon, and a part of the night, we experienced the most
severe gale that our mariners had felt on the lake. The swell rose to a
great height, and occasionally immersed one of the wheels deeply, while
the other was almost entirely out of the water, causing the vessel
to heave and flounce very disagreeably. Most of the passengers were
affected by the same kind of sickness, similar to that which prevails
at sea.
_Nov. 15._ We continued in sight of the United States side of the lake,
but without enjoying a single peep of the Canadian shore. The summit
of the country between the lake and the Ohio was in sight. It is high
land, but what may be called a flat ridge of the most evenly contour,
without any pointed hills or conspicuous prominences. Land birds
perched on the rigging. The water appeared to be green, showing that
its depth is considerable. In some parts it has been sounded and found
to be thirty-five fathoms deep. Altogether, {289} the lake presents
much of the phenomena of the ocean.
Erie, formerly called Presque Isle, is a small town. Before this
place, the British squadron captured during the late war, is sunk for
preservation. Some of our people who went ashore here, were told that a
schooner with eight men was lost in the storm of the preceding night.
The numbers of water-fowl seen in the lake is truly astonishing. These
migrate to the southward in the winter.
Late on the evening of the 16th, we anchored off Buffalo, and on the
morning of the 17th dropped two miles down the river, to Black Rock.
Buffalo is a thriving town in the State of New York. Coaches pass from
thence to Albany, which is on the route to the city of New York. When
the great canal between Hudson River and New York is completed, Buffalo
must become a place of considerable importance.[162]
The New York canal is a work not only interesting to a large portion
of the United States, but also to Upper Canada. Already ninety miles
of the line is completed and in operation, and the continuance of the
present exertions must in a short time finish the whole. Should the
government of Britain continue to neglect the improvement of the inland
navigation of Canada, and persist in excluding the colonies from the
advantages of a free trade, and give their grain a nominal preference
in the British market, while that market is in reality shut against
it, a new interest must arise in the upper province. England may still
give Canadian lands gratis, and garrison the frontier posts with an
idle soldiery, but she cannot shut the eyes of her subjects against the
facilities to be derived {290} from an uninterrupted navigation to the
port of New York, which is free to the flags of all nations, and open
to the sea at every season of the year.
Opposite to Buffalo is Port Erie, on the Canadian side of the
river,--pleasant situation, but apparently without any thing like the
bustle that animates the southern shore.
At Black Rock, the river Niagara is about a mile in breadth, and runs
at the rate of eight knots per minute, and its greatest depth is said
to be about ten fathoms.[163] The lake, forming an extensive reservoir,
greatly equalizes the discharge of water, particularly as this river is
without the floods that characterize most other streams.
One of the passengers on board the steam-boat, a Captain of the United
States army, on his way to Fort Niagara, agreed to travel along with
me. We hired a two-horse waggon to carry ourselves and baggage. The
actual portage to the falls of Niagara is only seven miles; but as we
found that there was no boat in readiness to sail from Black Rock, we
resolved to proceed the whole way by land, which is thirty-four miles.
The gentleman with whom I travelled was on his return from Green Bay,
an inlet of Lake Michigan, where he had gone with some soldiers who
were banished to that place. Green Bay is a place of exile, so far
removed from the other settlements of the United States, that culprits
have it not in their power to escape from thence.
Our journey down the southern bank of the river was extremely pleasant.
The banks are low {291} and verdant to the water’s edge, and the
margin, in most parts, forming fine curves, smooth as if finished by
art. The islands are also low and covered with luxuriant timber. It
is the extent of water-prospect, bounded in every direction by woods,
that constitutes the grandeur of this part. At the lower extremity of
Grand Island, the sheet of water seems to be about three miles broad.
The soil is good, and yields better pasturage and hay than the lands of
the more southern parts of the continent. A happy compensation for the
severity of the northern winter.
On approaching within two or three miles of the falls, a cloud of spray
is to be seen rising 600 or 700 feet into the air. At that distance,
the noise of the waters has something like the effect of a strong wind
among the trees of a forest.
Immediately above the precipice, there is an island beautifully wooded,
with a mixture of white cedars and other evergreen trees, which divides
the river into two unequal parts, leaving the principal channel toward
the Canadian shore. The head of this island, and the beach of the
United States side of the river, are connected by a rude wooden bridge,
which must have been constructed with great difficulty, as the bottom
is of rock, and the water runs with great velocity. On both sides of
the island the declivity is great, and the furious stream is broken
at intervals by falling over shelving rocks. The division of the
rapids toward the Canadian side, would have been remarked as highly
interesting, had it been situated somewhere else than immediately
adjoining to the great falls of Niagara.
The stranger, on arriving at the point of land close at the head of
the cataract, and that juts over {292} the tremendous abyss, is in a
moment arrested by the awful grandeur of the scene, or if he is at all
inclined to motion, it is to recede from the precipice. The sight of
an immense volume of water poured over a perpendicular cliff, situated
almost under his feet,[164] into the chasm below, and the thundering
noise, are calculated to excite a degree of astonishment that borders
on dismay.
The part of the river which passes between the island and the
south-easterly shore, falls over the abrupt edge of a precipice that
has a few small gaps in it; the water discharged is necessarily deep
in these, and forms green columns, which descend twenty or thirty feet
before they assume the whiteness that is uniform over other parts of
the sheet that here spends its fury on a heap of large blocks which
have been undermined and detached from the rocks above. A vast body
of dense spray deflected from those large masses of stone, flies off
horizontally, and in every other direction, and completely obscures the
bottom of the fall, and a considerable portion of the chasm adjoining.
The chasm, from the falls downward, is bounded on both sides by
perpendicular cliffs. After descending seventy or eighty feet by a
wooden stair, the way to the water’s edge is down a steep foot-slope,
amongst large blocks of stone, and small trees of white cedar which
line the banks, and add much to the beauty of this grand ravine.
A small skiff is kept for the convenience of those who would have
a view of the falls from below. Sailing here sometimes exposes the
traveller to {293} have his clothes wet from the falling vapours, the
waters being so much agitated; but as the commotion is nothing more
than the heavings of an eddy that comes into contact with the stream,
no danger whatever is to be apprehended, and I am apt to believe that
few visitors will forego the pleasure of crossing at this place.
It was not till I got afloat on the river that I obtained a
comprehensive view of the whole cataract. The part between the island
and the north-western shore, forms a hollow curve that is called the
Horse-shoe Bend. It is in the inmost recess of this bay that the
greatest quantity of water is precipitated, and from this part the most
deep toned sounds seemed to proceed. The great body of water which
dashes from the summit of the Horse-shoe Bend, is evidenced by the
majestic curve that the liquid forms, where it rolls over the top of
the rock, and by the green colour that it retains till the vast column
is concealed by the waters which rise in revulsion from the vortex
below. It is also over the Horse-shoe Bend, that the vapour ascends in
the thickest cloud, and to the greatest height.
On the margin of the river, I observed some logs of timber, that
had been put ashore by the eddy. They were large round trees, which
appeared to have been cut across at the lengths of twelve and sixteen
feet, such as are cut into boards at saw-mills. Several of them were
split asunder throughout their whole length. Others of them had some
of the annular layers of the timber peeled off, and the remaining
surfaces bruised and marked, as if they had been beat all over with
a weighty hammer or a blunt axe. The ends of the logs were round,
somewhat resembling a parabolic figure.
{294} The ascent of the northern bank, is performed by climbing the
steep foot-slope by a rugged path that winds amongst large stones,
and ultimately surmounting the cliff by a wooden stair;--a fatiguing
task, but one which is amply repaid by the commanding situation of
the high ground on the Canadian side. As the cascade runs obliquely
across the river, and exposes the concavity to the northward, the
spectator is here, as it were, placed a little beyond the focus of the
grandest amphitheatre. It is also in his power to approach close to the
extremity of the pitch, and overlook the smoking Horse-shoe Bend, and
peer down on the awful but indescribable convulsions that agitate the
foaming bay.
The falls of Niagara are much visited by strangers, as during our short
stay there we met with several persons who were examining them. There
is a large tavern on each side of the river, and in the _album_ kept at
one of these, I observed that upwards of a hundred folio pages had been
written with names within five months.
Immediately before reaching Kingston, we descended a steep ridge or
step in the country. Opposite to this place is Queenstown, on the
Canadian side of the river. Both these towns are at the lower end of
the portage of Niagara. The chasm through which the river runs from the
falls to this place, renders it highly probable that the cataract once
poured itself over the ridge just noticed, and that it has subsequently
made its progress upward to its present place. It would be interesting
to ascertain the relative levels of the ridge above Kingston, and the
old beach of Lake Erie, that has been observed in the great prairie.
Late in the evening we stopped at Youngstown, a small village near the
confluence of the river {295} Niagara with Lake Ontario. At this place
I heard the noise of the falls, which were eighteen miles distant.
On the 18th, I crossed the river to the town of Niagara, now called
Newark. On the United States side of the mouth of the river stands
the old fort Niagara; on the Canadian side is Fort George, of later
erection. The 18th was a day of much parade there; the governor of the
upper province being engaged in reviewing the troops of the garrison.
The banks of the river Niagara are, at its mouth, about sixty feet
high, and the ground in the neighbourhood forms a delightful plain, but
the people are said to be much afflicted with ague, a complaint common
to both sides of the river.
In the afternoon I went on board a large steam-boat, called Fronteniac,
which then sailed for Kingston. Toward evening we saw the spray
over the falls of Niagara. It did not then appear to be a blue
smoky-coloured, and almost transparent vapour, as when I was near it
on the 18th, but a dark-coloured dense cloud. This fact agrees well
with the opinion that asserts the vesicular formation of clouds, and
with the observation familiar to every one, that clouds appear to be
dark-coloured and opaque at a distance, and that when they actually
approach and fall in the form of rain, their dark colour and opacity
disappear.
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.
On the northern bank of Lake St. Francis, is a settlement of Canadian
French. It extends to the length of seven or eight miles, and is only
about one mile broad. The farms are said to consist of one hundred
acres each, and as they extend from the lake back to the woods, they
are long narrow stripes of land, each having the dwelling-house,
barn, &c. almost close to the bank. The houses are white-washed, and
externally very neat. Their being almost completely uniform in size and
appearance, might cause any stranger to believe that their owners are
nearly on a parity in wealth.
At the east end of the lake are the falls of St. Francis. These are
furious rapids, and a canal {299} for avoiding them has been cut at
the village _Cotu du Lac_, but as the cut is not deep enough, the work
is of very little use. Of the falls of St. Lawrence river, it may be
remarked generally, that as there are no high floods, and as the banks
are low, there can be no great difficulty in improving the navigation.
There is a very small Fort at the _Cotu du Lac_, which is garrisoned by
about half a dozen of soldiers.
On the 23d we took in a pilot, who conducted us over the Cedar Rifts,
the Thicket Falls, and Le Trou Falls. The former of these rapids runs
with tremendous fury. The two latter canals are cut, but, like that
at the _Cotu du Lac_, they are too shallow to admit loaded boats. The
Cedar village is most delightfully situated on the north side of the
river.
The Utawas, or Grand river, forms the division line between Upper and
Lower Canada, and falls into the St. Lawrence by two mouths, one above
and the other below the island of Montreal. The great magnitude of the
former river is manifested by the dark colour of its waters, which are
sufficient to give a tinge to the Lake St. Louis, in which the two
rivers meet. On this lake a new steam-boat has lately begun to ply.
La Chine is a small town on the Island Montreal, and at the head of
the falls of St. Louis. In consequence of this interruption to the
navigation, La Chine is at the head of a portage over which a great
portion of the produce and goods that pass upward of Montreal are
carried. The inhabitants of this place are Canadian French, many of
whom are employed as carters between the landing place and the city,
which is about seven miles distant. Cachnewaga, on the opposite side
of {300} the river, is an Indian town, built of stone, and of a neat
appearance.