8o SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



lake commenced to flow over the barrier. Before the present level was reached the 

 lake had ceased discharging its water by way of the Mohawk Valley, and discharged 

 by way of the St. Lawrence Valley. Thus, it will be observed, this section before 

 flooding was of a character similar to that of the Adirondack region — rocky, ridgy, 

 and of a generally hilly and broken character. 



When finally flooded, the waters, flowing out and down between hills and ridges, 

 carried with it most of the loose material, and formed what are locally called " chan- 

 nels." Two of these are of sufficient size and depth to permit navigation by vessels 

 of very large size, and form now a part of the water route for freight from Chicago 

 to Montreal and European ports. The passage along the south side of the river 

 is called for convenience the American Channel ; the other one, north of the main 

 body of islands, is called the Canadian Channel. The former hills and ridge.s 

 became islands, and the rocks that were covered b}' water are our present shoals. 



At the foot of Lake Ontario, and at the head of the river, is the town of Cape 

 Vincent, in New York, and the city of Kingston, in Canada. Between these two 

 places at the west, and the village of Brockville in Canada at the cast, are situated 

 most of the Thousand Islands. At the west end the river is fifteen miles across 

 while at Brockville it is one mile from shore to shore. Tiiis body of water is some- 

 times spoken of as the Lake of the Thousand Islands. How many of these islands 

 there may be is a question continually propounded by tourists. y\lthough said to 

 be one thousand in number, some claim to have counted nineteen hundred of them. 

 Now, the exact number of the islands cannot be stated with any degree of accuracy. 

 There are rocks that are mere isolated points projecting above the surface of the 

 water for only a few inches. Technically, these may be called islands. There are 

 other areas of rock and soil only large enough to form a landing place for fishing 

 skiffs. These, also, may be called islands. Many of them are below the surface of 

 the water — weeks at a time — when the river is at its highest: and, on the other 

 hand, the tops of many rocky shoals are out of the water for months when the river 

 is low. Hence, while it is probable that there are not more than a thousand of the 

 islands when the river is high, there may be two thousand of them when the river 

 is low. 



Anent the rise and fall of the St. Lawrence it is noted that the distance between 

 high and low-water mark is about three and a half feet. An interesting fact in this 

 connection is that the seasons seem to have very little, if any, effect on the height 

 of the water. During flood times of all the streams emptying into Lake Ontario 

 from the north and south, and into the St. Lawrence, that river is as liable to be 

 near its low-water mark as otherwise ; and sometimes during protracted local 



