Down the St. Lawrence. 119 



slew and took prisoners all the inhabitants ; then, fas- 

 tening the bell to a long pole, it was carried on their 

 shoulders 150 miles, and buried in the woods near what is 

 now Burlington, Vermont, whence, in the following spring, it 

 was safely conveyed to the belfry built for its original recep- 

 tion. After passing St. Regis, the St. Lawrence flows 

 unrestrictedly through British dominions. At a little distance 

 below Cornwall the river expands into a lake, five and a half 

 miles in width, and twenty-five miles long, called Lake St. 

 Francis. The surface of this lake, especially near the foot 

 of it, is interspersed with a great number of small islands, 

 which add to the beauty of the expanse of waters ; — it is a 

 noticeable fact that at the foot of almost all the rapids, the 

 river widens considerably, as if to show by contrast how 

 smooth and placid its waters might be, after their wild and 

 tumultuous course in the narrow passes. Passing the village 

 of Lancaster^ on the north shore of the lake, about midway, 

 we come to Coteau du Lac, 30 miles from Cornwall, at the 

 mouth of the River Delisle ; this is a small village, and the 

 name as well as style of the buildings denote its French 

 origin. Being, however, at the head of the Coteau Rapids, 

 it is a very pretty stopping-place, and affords excellent fishing 

 and water-fowl shooting. Nine miles from it is the village 

 of " Cedars," which gives its name to a part of the rapids. 

 In fact, the eleven miles of incline here, over which the water 

 rushes, is divided into three sections, called, respectively, 

 Coteau, Cedars, or Split Rock, and Cascades. The latter 

 name probably has been given from the water falling over 

 several ledges of rock one after the other, giving it the ap- 

 pearance of cascade over cascade, and causing a peculiar 

 sensation in coming down it as the vessel glides from ledge 

 to ledge of rock. At the foot of the Cascades on the south 

 bank is the village of Beauharnois, 2'j miles from Montreal, 

 where vessels bound upwards enter the canal to pass round 

 these rapids. The Beauharhois Canal is 1 1 J miles long. The 



