582 



Among the Thousand Islands. 



into the well instead of carrying them 

 away, has, I believe, never been satis- 

 factorily explained. 



Upon either side, and immediately in front of the bluff upon which 

 the old fort stands, is a pretty little bay, which once doubtless afforded 

 pleasant and easy anchorage for the vessels that lay under its pro- 

 tecting guns. An innocent lumber craft, sunk many years ago in 

 this harbor, has been, through the medium of the romantic atmos- 

 phere that hangs about the place, converted into an audacious 

 smuggler that, blown ashore here, sank with a fabulous amount 

 of moneys, silks, laces, and Canadian brandies hidden beneath the 

 lumber. 



Without doubt, the place was once of considerable importance. 

 The fortress has been built in the most elaborate manner after the 

 system of Vauban, and exhibits a skill of the very highest order in 

 the art of constructing defenses. The fortifications in the rear are 

 semicircular in form ; the trench, four feet deep and twenty broad, is 

 cut through the solid Trenton limestone ; the glacis, which is ap- 

 proached by a gradual elevation, being constructed of the same 

 material to the height of four feet. Directly on the river-front it is 



