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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: fi 1xty mt' l es up and down tl1c St · Lawrence , which was .o ftentimes found to be more tedious than the voyage from Niagara to Kmgfion. . In the nci()'hbourhood of La Galette, on the Ofwcgatchee R1ver. th ere is a vil~ge of the Ofwegatchec Indians, whofe numbers arc efl:i-mated at one hundred warriors. The current of the St. Lawrence, from Ofwcgatchee upwards, is much more gentle than in any other part between Montreal and Lake Ontario, except only where the river is confiderably dilated, as at lakes St. Louis and St. Frans;ois; howcver,'notwithfianding its being fo gentle, we did not advance more than twenty-five miles in the courfe of the day, owing to the numerous fl:ops that we made, more from motives of plea[tue than neceffity, The evening was uncommonly fine, and towards fun-fet a brill{ gale fpringing up, the conductor judged it advifable to take ad\·antagc of it, and to continue the voyage all night, in order to make up for the time we had lofi during the day. We accordingly pro~eeded, but towards midnight the wind died away; this circumll:ance, however,did not alter the determination of the conduCtor. The men were ordered to the oars, and notwithfianding that they had laboured hard during the preceding day, and had had no rell:, yet they were kept clofely at work until day-break, except for one hour, during which they were allowed to fiop to cook their provifions. Where there is a gentle current, as in this part of the river, the Canadians will work at the oar for many hours without inte~miffion ; they feemcd to think it no hard01ip to be kept employed in this infiance the whole night; on the contrary, they plied as vigoroufly _as if they had but juil fet out, finging merrily the whole time. The French Canadians have in general a good ear for mufic, and fing duets with tolerable accuracy. They have one very favourite duet amongfi them, called the " rowing " duet," which as they fing they mark time to with each firoke of the oar; indeed, when rowing in fmooth water, they mark the time of moft of the airs they fing in the fame manner. About eight o'clock the next, and eighth morning of our voyage, we entered the lafi lake before you come to that of Ontario, called the Lake of a Thoufand lfiands, on account of the multiplicity of them whi h it contains. LA K E 0 F A T II 0 U S A N D 1 S L E s. !l75 contains. Many of thefe iflands are icarcely larger than a batca u, and no.n .e of them, except fuch as are fituate<l 'a t the U])pe1• "'" 'nd 1o wer extrc-tnJtLes of the bke, appeared to me to contain tnore tl fi f. E 1· 1 c 1an 1 tc n • nrr 1! 1 acres each. They arc all covered with wood, even to the v ry [1 alle!l . The trees on thcfe lall: arc ll:unte<l in their growth , but the 1a rger 1·n .111 d s produce as fine timber as is to be found on the main Q1ores of the lake. Many of thde iflands arc fituatcd fo clofcly together, that it would be c~fy to throw a pebble from one to the other, notwithfl:anding which CJrcurnll:ance, the pa1T.1.gc between them is perfcc:l:ly fafc and commodious for bateaux, and between fome of them that arc even thus clofc to each other, is water fufFicicnt for a frigate. 1'he water is uncommon! 1 . . . y c car, as 1t IS l1l every part of the river, from Lake St. Francis upwards : between that lake and the Utawas River downwards it is difcoloured, a I have before obferved, by paffing over beds of marl. The iliores of all thefe iilands under our notice are rocky; moil: of them rife very boldly, and fome exhibit per_pendicular maflcs of rock towards the water upwards of twenty feet h1gh. The fcenery prefented to view in failing between thefe iflands is beau6ful in the highell: degree. Sometimes, after palling through a narrow fl:rait, you find yonrfclf in a bafon, land locked on every fide, that appears to have no communication with the Jake, except by the pafl~age through which you entered; you are looking about, perhaps, for an outlet to enable you to proceed, thinking at Jail: to fee fome little channel which will jufl: admit your bateau, when on a fudden an expanded fheet of water opens upCJn you, whofe boundary is the horizon alone; again in a few minutes you find yourfelf land locked, and again a fpacious paffage as fuddenly prefents itfelf; at other times, when in the middle of one of thefe bafons, between a clufl:er of iil:1nds, n dozen different channels, like fo many noble rivers, meet the eye, perhaps equally unexpectedly, and on each fide the iflands appear regularly retiring till they fink from the fight in the difiance. Every minute, during the pa!fagc of this lake, the profpect varies. The numerous Indian hunting encampments on the different iilands, with the fmoke of their fires riling up between the trees, added confiderably to the beauty of the fcenery as we paffcd it. The Lake of a Thoufand Iflands is twenty-five miles in N n 2 length~ |
