A N A t> A. 



Canada, producing an amazing quantity of currants, straw- 

 w . berries, whortleberries, and raspberries, of extraordi 



ffcefc nary size and delicious flavour. The soil, however, 

 around the greater part of the lake, is extremely bar- 

 ren, yielding indeed abundance of meadow hay, but 

 scarcely bearing any other kind of crop than pota- 

 - toes. It abounds in sturgeon and long trout, from 

 50 to 70 pounds in weight ; and, owing to the un- 

 equalled transparency ot its waters, these fish are seen 

 to an astonishing depth from its surface It is sub- 

 ject to tremendous storms ; and there is a swell upon 

 its coast resembling the flow of the tide. Its waters 

 ,have been observed to vary in their height at parti- 

 cular periods from five to six feet ; which is suppo- 

 sed to be occasioned by the greater or smaller quanti- 

 ty of snow in the adjacent regions, by the dissolution 

 of which its tributary streams are supplied. This 

 lake may be considered as the grand reservoir of the 

 river St Lawrence, as no other large river flows from 

 its bosom ; but as it does not appear that one tenth 

 part of the waters, which are conveyed into it by 40 

 channels, are carried off at this one point of evacua- 

 tion, it remains yet to be ascertained by what cause, 

 whether by evaporation, or by subterranean cavities, 

 the superabundant fluid is removed. It communi- 

 cates with Lake Huron by the Straits of St Mary, 

 which are rendered unnavigable for boats of any bur- 

 <den by the rapids. The North West company, how- 

 ever, have cut a canal along tbe northern bank, for 

 the purpose of facilitating their commerce, and have 

 here a considerable establishment ; but their principal 

 fort and storehouses are situated at Kamenistiquia, 

 upon the banks of a river which flows into the north- 

 west of Lake Superior, and which affords them an 

 easy communication with the interior. 



Of the immense multitude of smaller lakes which 

 cover the inland parts of Canada, it is only a very 

 short view of the most remarkable that can here be 

 given. Farther west are the Lake of the Woods, 

 w.hich has its name from the quantity of wood on its 

 banks, is of an oval form, about 75 miles long and 40 

 broad, with a muddy bottom, and in some places of 

 great depth ; Lake Winipic, or Ouinipique, the reser- 

 voir of several large rivers which discharge themselves 

 into Hudson's Bay, is about 200 miles long and 100 

 broad, full of small islands, and well stored with 

 fish, bounded on the north side with banks of black 

 and grey rocks, and on the south with a low and le- 

 vel country ; Lake Bourbon, formed by the waters 

 of the river Bourbon, which runs a great way south- 

 ward, near to the northern head of the Mississippi, is 

 about 80 miles long, and nearly as much in breadth ; 

 Lake of the Hills, or Lake Athabasca, or Great Slave 

 Lake, from which Mackenzie's river extends its course 

 to the Arctic Ocean, is about 200 miles in length, 

 and 100 in breadth, and scarcely within the bounda- 

 ries of Canada. On the north of the St Lawrence, 

 the principal lakes are, Lake Manikaugamich, at the 

 head of the black river, which falls into the St Law- 

 rence to the east of Saguenay, near the coast of La- 

 brador, and which is about 60 miles in circuit ; Lake 

 St John, on the river Saguenay, about 90 miles in 

 compass, and bordered with pine trees ; Lake Mis- 

 Jassin, at the head of Rupert's river, very irregular 

 in its shape, but nearly 200 miles in circumference; 



Lake Temiscaming, on the Utaw&s river, which Falls Canada. 



into the Cataraqui ; and Lake Nipising, on the - ~v ' 



French river, which runs into Lake Huron, about 



100 miles each in circumference. On the south of 



the St Lawrence, the only one worth mentioning is 



Lake Champlain, at the head of the river Chambly 



or Screl, and almost entirely within the territories of 



the United States. It is 120 miles in length and 15 in 



breadth, well stored with fish, and situated in the 



midst of a beautiful and fertile country. 



The mountains of Canada have never been proper- Mountain* 

 ly examined, either with a view to describe their ran- ar 'd mine. 

 ges, or to ascertain their structure. The principal ra lgy- 

 ridge is in the northern part of the province, in the 

 direction of south-west and north-east, giving rise to 

 many rivers, which flow chiefly to ihe south-east. 

 There are few mountains towards the south west of 

 the colony ; but between Quebec and the sea, they 

 are more numerous. The whole extent of Canada 

 may be "considered as a granitic country, occasionally 

 accompanied with calcareous rocks of a soft texture, 

 and in horizontal strata. The region of the calca- 

 reous stones seems to extend in a line north-west, be- 

 yond Lake Michigan, as far as the sources of the 

 Mississippi, and thence to those of the Saschachawin, 

 joining at length the great chain of the Stony or Chi- 

 pewyan mountains, which again may be considered as 

 a continuation of the Cordillera of the Andes. All 

 the great lakes of Upper Canada are placed in the 

 line ot contact between those two vast chains of gra- 

 nite and limestone. At the narrowest part of Lake 

 Winnipeg, for instance, where it is not more than tvv 

 miles broad, the west shore is skirted by calcareous 

 rocks, about 30 feet high, while, on the opposite 

 shore, there are still higher rocks of a dull grey gra- 

 nite. In the lower province, particularly, the gra- 

 nite predominates. A calcareous stratum, indeed, 

 found under the St Lawrence at the fall of Niagara, 

 seems to proceed along the bed of the river as far as 

 Quebec; the isle, on which the city of Montreal is 

 built, is of a calcareous nature ; the immediate bed of 

 the fay of Montmorency is a horizontal shelf of a 

 black grey limestone, of the kind called primitive or 

 crystallized ; and the banks of the St Lawrence, as 

 also of the other rivers in Lower Canada, are chiefly 

 composed of a schistous substance, generally in a de- 

 cayed and mouldering condition, But still in every 

 quarter, even among these other substances, the gra- 

 nite is found in strata, more or less inclined to the 

 horizon, but never parallel with it. There are veins 

 of lead ore near the bay of St Paul, north-east of 

 Quebec, which yield a few grains of silver. A con- 

 siderable quantity of iron ore is found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Troib Rivieres ; and copper on the south- 

 west of Lake Superior. No coal has yet been dis- 

 covered in Canada, but it is supposed to exist in the 

 environs of Quebec, and is known to abound in Cape 

 Breton. 



The soil of lower Canada consists of a light and Soil ant 

 loose blackish earth, ten or twelve inches deep, lying climatet 

 upon a stratum of cold clay, very fertile, but soon 

 exhausted, unless regularly recruited by a supply of 

 manure. The best of it is generally found on the 

 banks of those rivers, which flow into the St Law- 

 rence, especially the Ouelle, de Sud, Chambly, ami 



