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Show TI AVELS THROUGH U"PPER CANADA: guineas, and in the ll:eerage one guinea, for each pcrfon : this i by n means dear, confidcring that the captain, for the money, keeps a. table for each refpecrive fet of paffcngers. The cabin table on board this vclfcl wa · really well ferved, and there w::.s ab undance of port and ilierry wine, and of every fort of fpirits, for the ufe of the c:tb in paDcngc rs. The frcjght of goo 1 acrofs the lake is d ·arer in proportion, being thir ty -fix fh illings Britifh per ton, which is nearly as mu b ~s w:1s paid for th tranfportation of a ton of goods :1crofs the Atlantic previous to the prcfent war; it cannot, however, be deemed exorbitant, when the expencc of building and keeping the vcffe ls in repair, and the high wag ·s of the failors, &c. are taken into confideration. On the 7th of September, in the afternoon, the wind became f..t- ,rourable for crofi1ng the lake; notrce w:1s in confequcncc imm diakly fent round to the paGcnger, who were difpe rfed in different parts of the town, to get ready; all of them hurri~d on boa rd ; the vdfel was unmoored, and in a few minutes !he was wafted out into the lake by a light breeze. For the firil: mile and a h alf, in going from Kingfl:on, the profpect is much confined, on account of the many large iflands 011 the left hand f1de; but on weathering a point on one of the iflands, at the end of that diftance, an extenfivc view of the lake fuddcnly opens, which on a il:ill clear evening, when the fun is finking behind the lofty woods that adorn the iliores, i ' extremely granJ and beautiful. Lake Ontario is the moil: eafterly of the four large lakes through which the boundJry line p::t lfes, that fcparat s the United States from the province of Upper Canada. It is two hundred and twcnty miles in length, from eall: to weil:, and ievcnty miles wide in the broadeft part, and, according to calculation, contains about 2 139o,ooo acres. This lake is lefs fubjeet to ftorms than any of the others, and its waters in general, confidering their great cxpanfe, are wonderfu lly tranquil. During the firft evening of our voyage th re was not the leaft curl even on their furface, they were merely agitated by a gentle [well; and during the fubfequent part of the voyage, the waves were at no time fo high as to occafion the flightefl: ficknefs amongfl: any of the paGengers. The depth of the water in the hke is very great; in fomc parts it is un ... fathomable, LAKE' 0 NT A R I 0. f.'1thomable. On looking over the fide of a velfel, the water, owing to its great depth, appears to be of a bhckia1 colour, but it is neverthcle£· very clear, and any white fubftance thrown overboarJ may be difcerncd at the depth of feveral fathoms from the furface; it is, however, by 11 means fo clear and tranfparent as the water of [orne of the other lakes. Mr. Carver, fpeaking of Lake Superior, fays, " When it was calm, and " the fun ihone bright, I could fit in my canoe, where the d pth w;1s " upwards of fix fathom s, and plainly fee huge piles of il:onv at the " bottom, of different 01apcs, fome of \-vhich appeared as if they had " been hewn; the water was at this time as pme and tranfpa rent as air, " and my canoe feemed as if it hung fufpendcd in that element. It wa, " impoffible to look attentively through this limpid medium, at the " rocks below, without finding, before many minutes were elapfcd, your " head fwim, and your eyes no longer able to behold the dazzling " fcene." The water of Lake Ontario is very well tafled, and is that which is conflantly ufed on board the ve!Iels that trave rfe it. It is very confidently aGerted, not only by the Indians, but alfo by great numbers of the white people who live on the 0Jores of Lake Ontario, that the waters of this lake rife and fall alternately every fev nth year; others, on the contrary, deny that fuch a fluctuation does take place; and indeed it differs fo materially from any that has been obferv d in large bodies of water in other parts of the globe, that for my own pnrt I am fomewhat tempted to believe it i merely an imaginary change; neverthelefs, when it is confidered, that according to the belief of the oldcil: inhabitants of the country, fuch a. periodical ebbing and flowing of the waters of the lake take place, and that it has never b en clearly proved to the contrary, we are bound to fufpend our opinions on the fubjetl:. A gentleman, whofe habitation was iituated clofc upon the borders of the bke1 not fcu from Kingll:on, and who, from the nature of his proft:ffion, had more time to attend to fnch fubj ecls than the generality of the people of the country, told me, that he had obferved the fiate of the lake attentively for nearly fourteen yea rs, th at he had r ~f] dcd on the borders of it, and that he was of opinion the waters did not ebb and flow periodically i yet he acknowledged this very rcmark - P p ,,~bk |