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CANADA. 



Canada. C-ANADA, sometimes called NEW FKANCE, or the 

 v v ** Province of Quebec, is an extensive tract of coun- 

 Situation try in North America ; and is the principal British 

 ant} extent. p OSSess i O n in that quarter of the globe. The rela- 

 tive position of this colony to the United States, and 

 its immense extent of territory ; its growing com- 

 mercial importance, and its ability to supply our 

 West India islands, in the event of interruptions to 

 their intercourse with the Americans ; the circum- 

 stance of its being hitherto little known to the inha- 

 bitants of Great Britain, and of much useful infor- 

 mation having been recently acquired respecting it ; 

 all these considerations justly entitle it to a much 

 larger space than it has hitherto occupied in works 

 of this nature. The name Canada, in its most ex- 

 tended sense, and especially according to the usage 

 of the French geographers, has been applied to the 

 whole of that immense district, which is comprehend- 

 ed between the 43d and 50th degrees of north lati- 

 tude, which reaches from the Atlantic to the Paci- 

 fic ocean, in an inclined direction from north-east to 

 south-west ; but, in its more confined acceptation as 

 a British colony, it is computed to extend about 

 1300 geographical miles, between the 64-th and 97th 

 degrees of west longitude; while its breadth, at a 

 medium, is rated at 200 miles, though its greatest 

 width, from Lake Erie on the south, or lat. 43, to 

 lat. 49,. is about 360 miles. It is bounded on the 

 east by the Gulf of St Lawrence ; on the north, 

 the west, and south-west, by the territories of dif- 

 ferent Indian nations ; on the south and south-east 

 by New York, New England, New Brunswick, and 

 Nova Scotia ; but, except on the east, its precise li- 

 mits are nowhere well defined. Even on the side of 

 the United States, its boundaries are not yet defini- 

 tively fixed ; and have been the subject of much dis- 

 cussion, from the era of American independence to 

 i the present day. According to the treaty of peace 

 between the colonies and the mother country, upon 

 the termination of the American war, the line of 

 division was to run from the north-west angle of No- 

 va Scotia along those high lands which divide the 

 rivers that empty themselves into the St Lawrence, 

 from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the 

 north-westernmost head of the Connecticut river ; 

 along the middle of that river to the 45th degree of 

 north latitude ; along the said latitude, due west, till 

 it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraguy ; along the 

 middle of that river, of Lake Ontario, of Lake Erie, 

 of Lake Huron, of Lake Superior, of the Long 

 Lake (which, however, has no existence), and of the 

 Lake of the Woods ; thence, on a due west course, 

 to the river Mississippi ; and along the middle of that 

 river, till it intersect the northernmost part of the -1st 

 degree of north latitude. 



Division It is divided into two provinces, called Upper and 



fcnd town?. Lower Canada. The former, which is the western 



division, is situated on the north side of the great 



lakes, or sea of Canada ; and is inhabited chiefly by 



English settlers. The latter is situated on the river 



St Lawrence, towards the east, and is peopled by a 

 greater proportion of French inhabitants. The low- 

 er province is divided into twenty-one counties ; 

 Gaspe, Cornwallis, Devon, Hertford, Dorchester, 

 Buckinghamshire, Richlieu, Bedford, Surrey, Kent, 

 Huntingdon, York, Montreal, Effingham, Leinster, 

 Warwick, Saint Maurice, Hampshire, Quebec coun- 

 ty, Northumberland, and Orleans ; 17 of which 

 send two representatives each to the Provincial As- 

 sembly ; and the other four, one each. It contains 

 the following towns, besides a number of large and 

 populous villages : Quebec, the seat of government, 

 situated on a lofty point of land, on the north-west 

 side of the St Lawrence, nearly 400 miles from its 

 mouth, very strong by nature, and completely forti- 

 fied by art, contains about 15..000 inhabitants, and 

 sends four representatives to the Assembly: Montreal, 

 180 miles above Quebec, built on the east side of an 

 island formed by the junction of the St Lawrence 

 with the Utavvas, the boundary between the two pro- 

 vinces, contains 6000 inhabitants, and also sends four 

 representatives : Trots Rivieres, or Three Rivers, 

 nearly midway between Quebec and Montreal, for- 

 merly a place of great resort to the Indians, contains 

 about 250 houses: The Borough of William Henry, 

 (so named in compliment to his Royal Highness the 

 Duke of Clarence), situated in the Seigniory of So- 

 relle, on the south side of the St Lawrence, about 

 45 miles below Montreal, and which was originally 

 laid out by the surveyor-general of the province, is 

 principally inhabited by American loyalists and dis- 

 banded soldiers, who obtained small grants of land 

 at the end of the American war, the Seigniory hav- 

 ing about that time been purchased by the crown, in 

 the view of forming a military position at this place ; 

 contains upwards of 100 houses, a Protestant and a 

 Romish church, a government-house (the only brick 

 building of any magnitude in the province), and a 

 military hospital : the inhabitants are chiefly employ- 

 ed in ship- building. 



In the Upper province, the principal settlements 

 (for they can scarcely yet be called towns), are- 

 Kingston, 385 miles above Quebec, near the egress 

 of the St Lawrence from Lake Ontario, which has 

 increased and improved very rapidly since its founda- 

 tion in 1784, and which contains several commo- 

 dious dwellings built of excellent stone, a barrack, 

 a jail, a court house, a church, an hospital, several 

 extensive store houses, and a naval dock-yard : York t 

 or Toronto, the seat of government in Upper Canada, 

 and about 450 miles aboveQuebec, which was laid out 

 as the site of a town only in 1797, and has already 

 made very considerable advancement : Niagara, or 

 Newark, at the west opening of Lake Ontario, and 

 about 525 miles from Quebec, a very thriving and 

 beautifully situated town: Queenstowm, about eight 

 miles beyond Niagara, a neat, flourishing place, 

 where all the merchandise and stores for the upper 

 province are landed from the vessels in which they 

 have been conveyed from Kingston, to be transport- 

 2 



Canada. 



