The most remarkable feature in North America is its lake system--the
largest and most important in the world. In the north-west, at the foot
of the Rocky Mountains, are the Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, which
discharge their waters through the Mackenzie River into the Arctic
Ocean. Next we have the Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deer Lakes. In the
very centre of the continent are the two important lakes of Winnipeg and
Winnipegoos,--the former 240 miles in length by 55 in width, and the
latter about half the size. The large river of the Saskatchewan flows
into Lake Winnipeg, and with it will, ere long, form an important means
of communication between the different parts of that vast district
lately opened up for colonisation. At its southern end the Red River of
the north flows into it, on the banks of which a British settlement has
long been established. Several streams, however, make their way into
Hudson Bay. Between it and Lake Superior is an elevated ridge of about
1500 feet in height; the streams on the west falling into Lake Winnipeg,
while those which flow towards the east reach Lake Superior.
We now come to the site of the five largest fresh-water lakes in the
world. Lake Superior extends, from west to east, 335 miles, with an
extreme breadth of 175. Its waters flow through the Saint Mary's River
by a rapid descent into Lake Huron, which is 240 miles long. This lake
is divided by the Manitoulin islands into two portions, and is connected
with Lake Michigan by a narrow channel without rapids, so that the two
lakes together may be considered to form one sheet of water. On its
southern extremity the waters of Lake Huron flow through another narrow
channel, which expands during part of its course into Lake Saint Clair;
and they then enter Lake Erie, which has a length of 265 miles, and a
breadth of 80 miles. It is of much less depth than the other lakes, and
its surface is therefore easily broken up into dangerous billows by
strong winds. Passing onward towards the north-east, the current enters
the Niagara River, about half-way down which it leaps along a rocky
ledge of 100 feet in height, to a lower level, forming the celebrated
Falls of Niagara, and then passes on in a rapid course into Lake
Ontario. The fall between the two lakes is 333 feet. Lake Ontario is
180 miles long and 65 miles wide. Out of its north-eastern end falls
the broad stream which here generally takes the name of the Saint
Lawrence, and which proceeds onward, now widening into lake-like
expanses full of islands, now compressed into a narrow channel, in a
north-easterly direction. The true Saint Lawrence may indeed be
considered as traversing the whole system of the great lakes of North
America, and thus being little less than a thousand miles in direct
length; indeed, including its windings, it is fully two thousand miles
long. To the north-west of it exist countless numbers of small lakes
united by a network of streams; while numerous large rivers, such as the
Ottawa, the Saint Maurice, and the Saguenay, flow into it, and assist to
swell its current. There are numerous other small lakes to the west of
the Rocky Mountains, a large number of which exist in the Province of
British Columbia, and are more or less connected with the Fraser and
Columbia Rivers. Further to the south are other lakes, many of them of
volcanic origin, some intensely salt, others formed of hot mud. Among
these is the Great Salt Lake, in the State of Utah. To the south of the
Saint Lawrence also is Lake Champlain, 105 miles long, though extremely
narrow,--being only 10 miles in its widest part, narrowing in some
places to half a mile. Near it is the beautiful Lake Saint George, with
several other small lakes; and lastly, in Florida, there is a chain of
small lakes, terminating in Lake Okechodee--a circular sheet of water
about thirty miles in diameter.
We must now proceed more particularly to examine the regions of which we
have obtained the preceding cursory view, but, before we do so, we must
glance at their human inhabitants.