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Show 33~ TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: an l that lake is the mofl tr:mquil of any, as ha aln::ady Gcc~l not ice cl. There is a o-rcat deficiency of good harbours along the !bores of 1his Lake. On bit northern fide there are but two places which afford {heltcr to veffels drawing more than (( ven feet water, namely. Long Point and Point Abineau; and theft: only afford a partial fhdtcr. If the wind fhould iliift to the fou.thward whilfl: veffels happen to be lying under them, they are thereby expofed to all the dangers of a. rocky lee fhore. On the fouthern !bore, the firft harbour you carne to 1ll going from Fort Erie, is that of Prefq u' Ifle. Veifels drawing eight f~et water may there ride in perfeCt fafety; but it is a matter of no fmall dtfficulty to get into the harbour, owing to a long fand bar which extehds acrofs the mouth of it. Prefqu' Ifle is fituated at the diftance of about fixty miles from Fort Erie. Beyond thi s, nearly midway between the eaftern and wefiern extremities of the lake, there is another harbour, capable of containing [mall ve!lcl s, at the mouth of Cayahega River, and another at the mouth of Sandufky River, which falls into the lake within the north we!l.ern territory of the States. It is very feldom that -any of thefe harbours are made ufe of by the Briti!h !hips ; they,. j 11deed, trade almoft folcly between Fort Erie and Detroit River ;. and when in profecuting their voyages they chance to meet with contrary winds, againfi which they cannot make head, they for the moil: part return to F0rt Erie, if bound to Detroit River; or to fame of the bays amidfl: the c1u!l:ers of i!lands fituated towards the weficrn extremity of the lake, if bound to Fort Eric. In going up the lake, it very often happens that veH'els, even after they have got clofc under thcfe jfiands, the nearefi of which is not lefs than two hundred and forty miles from Fort Erie, are driven back by fl:orms the whole way to that fort. Jufl: as we were preparing to cafi anchor under Middle !!land, one of the nearefi of them, a fquall fuddenly arofe, and it was not without very great difficulty that we could keep our ftation : the captain told us afterwards, that he really feared at one time, that we .!hould have been driven back to our old quarters. 2 It I S LA N D S I N LA K E E I E. 339 It was about two o' 1o c k on tl 1e t I1 1· rcI d · y 1r rom t 1at o [ our quit-ting Point Abineau, that we reached MiJdk Iiland. 'vVc lay at an~ hor until the next morning, when the wind {hiftcd a few point m our favour, an_d enabled us to proceed fome miles farther on, to a place of greater fafety, !heltered by iiland on all fides ; but beyond this the wind did not permit us to advance for three days. It is very fdJom that vcfiels bound from Fort Erie to any place on Detroit River accomplifh their voyage without flopping amongfi thcfc iflands ; for the fame wind f.wourable for carrying them from the eafl:ern to the wefl:ern extremity of the lake will not waft them up the river. The river runs nearly in a fouth-weft direCtion; its current is very !l:rong; and nnle[s the wind blows frdh, and nearly in an oppofite direction to it, you cannot proceed. The navigation of Lake Eric, in general, is very uncertain; and paifcngers that crofs it in any of the King's, 'Or principal merchant veirels, arc not only called upon to pay double the fum for their palThgc, demanded for that acrofs Lake Ontario, but anchorage money befides, that i , a certain fum per diem as long as the ve!rel remain wind bound at anchor in any harbour. The an. chorage mon y is about three dollars per tby for e:1ch cabin pafienger. The iilands at the wcficrn end of the lake, which arc of various fizes, Jic very clofe to each other, and the fccnery amongfl: them i very pleafing. The largcil: of them arc not more than fourteen miles in circumference, and many would fcarccly be found to admcafure a uiany yards round. They are all covered with wood of fome kind or other, even to the very fmalle!l:. The larger iflands produce a variety of fine timber, amongfl: which are found oaks, hiccory trees, :md red cedars; the latter grow to a much larger 1i%e than in any part of the neighbouring country, and they are fent for even from the Briti(h fcttlements on Detroit River, forty miles difl:ant. None of thefe ifLmd an.: much elevated above the lake, nor arc they diverfificd with any rifing grounds; moil: of them, indeed, are as t1at as if they had been overflowed with water, and in the interior parts of fome of the largcfl of them there are extenfive ponds and madhes. The fine timber, which X 2 thefe |