LETTER XV.

NIAGARA TOWN-FORT GEORGE-FORT NIAGARA-THE KALEIDOSCOPE-JAIL-LAKE ONTARIO-YORK-KINGSTON - NAVY YARD-EVENTS OF LAST WAR-BANK-DURHAM BOATS AND BATTEAUX-LAKE OF A THOUSAND ISLES-CANADIAN BOAT SONGS-FARM HOUSE- PRESCOTT

OGDENSBURGH-PASSAGE

DOWN THE RAPIDS-LONG SAULT-TIMBER RAFTS-LAKE ST. FRANCIS-NARRATIVE OF A SHIPWRECK-PILOT-RAPIDS OF COTEAU DE LAC-CEDARS-SPLIT ROCK-CASCADES - LAKE ST. LOUIS LA CHINE

CALASH

MONTREAL.

Montreal, November, 1818.

NIAGARA, the little town from which my last two letters were dated, is built upon the British side of the river, close by its entrance into Lake Ontario. Map-makers and travellers persist in calling it Newark, but that name is not acknowledged by the inhabitants. Fort George, a turf intrenchment of considerable extent, garrisoned at present by part of the 70th regiment, stands close by the town. During last war it was captured by the Americans and held for a considerable time. Niagara enjoys an excellent situation for commerce, but the inhabitants have not yet recovered from the vicissitudes of th elate struggle.

On the opposite bank of the river and close upon

the edge of the lake, is the American garrison of fort Niagara, a stone fortification which was built originally by the French, but which has been considerably improved and strengthened, particularly since the conclusion of last war. After the British had recovered Fort George, they crossed the river and carried Fort Niagara by assault, and kept possession of it till the peace. At present its republican owners are busily employed in improving their defences, particularly towards the lake, where a strong breast-work is thrown up to resist the encroachment of the water, which was threatening to undermine the whole fabric.

Travellers have said that Fort Niagara is lower than Fort George, and commanded by its fire, but the very reverse is the case; no part of the American fort is under the level of the British one, but most of it considerably above it. It is said that our government has in consequence determined to level the present works, and erect a strong fort closer to the lake; where there is already a small one called fort Mississaga.

An accidental introduction to one of the American officers procured me an invitation to dine at fort Niagara. A fortress must be a dull place in the time of peace, and I could not help pitying the young men who are cooped up here, with little else to do than change guard and call the muster roll. A friendly intercourse with the officers on the opposite side of the river would be useful and

KALEIDOSCOPE-JAIL.

107

pleasant to both parties; but I thought that some incidental remarks implied a want of this.

The Kaleidoscope became a topic of conversation after dinner; the first which has been seen in fort Niagara produced a prodigious sensation in the garrison. A private soldier had brought one from New York, where they are sold at a very cheap rate; the officers after gazing through it for hours, vainly endeavouring to guess at a theory which could account for its singular phenomena, prevailed on the soldier to sell it to them for ten dollars, forty five shillings sterling, that they might have it dissected. Probably it did not cost the soldier more than a tenth part of the sum, but they knew not how to value an instrument containing gems of such singular beauty and variety. The bargain was no sooner concluded than all crowded round a table, to explore the interior of the magical tin tube, their curiosity wound up to the highest state of breathlessness-but what was their astonishment, on the ends being taken off, to see that nothing came out but a few beads and pieces of broken glass! They had an opportunity soon after of showing it to an Indian; and as some compensation for their own disappointment, they had the pleasure of seeing him turn it round and round for nearly a whole day, wondering when it would get back again to the figures which he had first

seen.

Niagara is possessed of a court house and jail;

both under the same roof. The jail is on the lower floor. The cells, both for criminals and debtors, surround and open from the hall, which leads to the court room, and the guilty or unfortunate inmates are exposed to the gaze of every one, whom curiosity or idleness induces to enter. The partitions and doors of the various cells are composed of strong pieces of oak firmly bolted together; the doors are about nine inches thick, consisting of two thicknesses of wood with sheet iron between them. Some of the debtors' apartments have a small window to the the outside, but the criminals have no light but from a small semicircular opening in the door. The debtors have fire places, but the criminals have only the miserable comfort of looking out at a stove in the middle of the hall, from which no perceptible warmth can reach their dismal abodes. It must be truly dreadful to pass a Canadian winter in such a place. How miserably does this prison contrast with those in the United States!

I did not spend a sabbath in Niagara, and therefore can give no account of the theology which emanates from the single church of which it is possessed; but I fear much that it is of a lifeless kind. I was informed however that a sabbath school was about to be attempted ;—all good attend it.

A large three masted steam boat, called the Frontenac, now navigates lake Ontario, but neither on this nor the former occasion did her time of sailing suit me. In May I made my passage in a

LAKE ONTARIO-YORK.

109

schooner, which conveyed me in two days and a half to Prescott, sixty seven miles below Kingston; and on the present occasion I availed myself of one which touched at York, the capital of the upper province, thirty six miles from Niagara, and then landed me at Kingston about 120 miles below.

Lake Ontario is nearly 170 miles long, and at the widest part about 60 miles broad. Its depth varies from 3 to 50 fathoms, except about the middle, where it is said that no bottom has been found even with 300 fathoms of line. Though a fresh water lake, its navigation requires almost all the precautions which are necessary at sea. The helmsman steers by the compass, and in his Majesty's vessels the log is regularly thrown. Lake Ontario is liable to sudden and violent storms, and though I happily escaped sharing in any thing that deserved that appellation, yet the swell was very great, and I became as thoroughly sea sick as if I had been on the Atlantic. We were out of sight of land for more than twenty four hours, although going for a considerable time at the rate of seven knots.

I had intended to disembark and spend a day or two at York, but the town was so completely filled with the retainers of the two rival fur companies, that I could not obtain lodgings. A trial was about to take place, of some individuals in the employment of the North-West Company, for alleged outrages on some of Lord Selkirk's people, and each party had mustered a host of agents and