ONTARIO 



4380 



ONTARIO 



two per cent of the people living in cities and 

 towns. But whether they dwell in town or 

 country, nowhere in all the world will be found 

 a people more intelligent, more substantial, 

 more industrious and more thrifty than the in- 

 habitants of this great province' have shown 

 themselves to be. 



7i'( liijion. About one-fifth of the people are 

 communicants of the Roman Catholic Church. 

 The leading Protestant denominations are the 

 Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Anglican, 

 in the order named. The relative rank in 

 membership of the denominations is shown in 

 the accompanying diagram. 



Physical Features and Resources 



Surface and Drainage. Ontario has noithor 

 prairies nor mountains; nevertheless, it is an 

 attractive and a beautiful country. In general, 

 the surface may be characterized as a low 

 plateau crossed by two ranges of hills, or 

 heights of land. The first of these extends from 

 Kingston in a northwesterly direction and forms 

 the watershed separating the streams that flow 

 into the Great Lakes from those that flow into 

 Hudson Bay and the Ottawa River. The bluffs 

 on the north shores of Lake Huron and Lake 

 Superior are a part of this range, which reaches 

 its greatest altitude in the summit of Tip-top 

 Hill (2,120 feet). This is the highest point in 

 the province. The second highest is Isle Saint 

 Ignace (1,864 feet). Mount Collins, in the 

 Nipissing district, is 1,700 feet. The second 

 range, known as the Niagara escarpment, forms 

 the elevation between lakes Erie and Ontario, 

 through which the Niagara gorge has been 

 worn, and extends in a northwesterly direction, 

 forming the hills commonly called the Blue 

 Mountains, at the upper end of Lake Ontario, 

 the tongue of land between Lake Huron and 

 Georgian Bay, and the Manitoulin Islands. 

 The highest land south of Lake Superior is 

 found along this range of hills in Grey County, 

 whose mean altitude exceeds 1,000 feet. 



The region lying between Lake Ontario and 

 the Ottawa River is rolling, with numerous low 

 hills and shallow valleys. The land along the 

 north shore of Lake Erie is low and flat, rising 

 in gentle undulations to meet the height of land 

 to the north. 



The northern part of the province, including 

 New Ontario, is a part of the great Laurentian 

 plateau surrounding Hudson Bay, towards 

 which the surface slopes from the height of 

 land north of Lake Superior. 



Drainage. The most important rivers in the 

 north are the Rainy, forming a part of the 

 boundary between Canada and the United 

 States; and the Albany and the Attawapiskat, 

 flowing into James Bay. The southern part 

 of the province is drained directly into the 

 Great Lakes or into the Ottawa River, which 



flows into the Saint Lawrence. The most im- 

 portant streams in the southern part of the 

 province are the Trent, -flowing into Lake On- 

 tario; the Severn, the outlet of Lake Simcoe, 

 and the Thames, flowing into Lake Saint Clair. 

 Farther north the French River drains Lake 

 Nipissing into Georgian Bay. Most of the 

 streams are small and rapid. They are navi- 

 gable only for canoes and small boats in 

 stretches of quiet water between cascades. On 

 the other hand, these cascades furnish abundant 

 water power, and lend a charm to the land- 

 scape w r hich more quiet waters cannot impart. 

 The two great rivers bordering Ontario the 

 Ottawa and the Saint Lawrence are described 

 under their respective titles. 



Ontario is dotted with hundreds of lakes 

 whose clear waters beautify and enrich the 

 country. Many of these lakes are widely 

 known as favorite haunts of the fisherman and 

 the camper. The largest Simcoe, Nipissing, 

 Nipigon and the Lake of the Woods are de- 

 scribed under their respective titles, as are also 

 the important Muskoka Lakes. Besides its in- 

 land waters Ontario has an extensive water area 

 from the four Great Lakes bordering upon it, 

 and to these must be added Georgian Bay, with 

 its thousands of islands which make it one of 

 the most attractive sheets of water in North 

 America. 



Climate. Owing to its latitude and the in- 

 fluence of the Great Lakes, the southeastern 

 part of Ontario has a mild climate. The win- 

 ters are never extremely cold nor the summers 

 extremely hot. The average winter tempera- 

 ture of Toronto is 23.7 F., and the mean sum- 

 mer temperature is 65.4. In the northern part 

 the temperature is lower, and along the high 

 altitudes the winters are severe, although on 

 account of the dryness of the atmosphere the 

 cold is less penetrating. On the lower altitudes 

 north of the height of land the climate moder- 

 ates, and the winters are less severe than in 

 some of the northern states of the American 

 Union. An abundance of snow and frozen lakes 

 and streams assure good roads for winter haul- 



