214 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



away its southern end, was connected with the main- 

 land. Two lighthouses stand at its entrance, and 

 guide the night traveller to one of the prettiest ports 

 in this part of the country, while from the bluffs on 

 which the town is built shine myriads of answering 

 lights. The streets are wide and regular and lead to 

 many handsome homes, which they say will bear com- 

 parison with the finest on the Lakes. Several parks 

 relieve the monotony of brick and stone, and add to 

 the sightliness of the place. 



Besides her present importance as representative of 

 her State on the great inland seas, Erie has had her 

 share on the page of history since 1795; among her 

 proudest annals being the departure from her port 

 of Oliver Hazard Perry, who went in 1813 to meet 

 the English in the s{)lendid naval action which has 

 made his name famous. There are many memorials 

 of this engagement among the city's relics, which 

 bring back the reality of those stirring times more 

 forcibly perhaps than the volumes describing them. 



Like Buffalo, Erie's leading enterprises are her iron 

 works, where stoves, machinery and steam engines 

 are made. Large quantities of coal and petroleum, 

 the contributions from Pennsylvania, are sent here 

 for shipment, and form a good share of the varied 

 products which make their way through the large 

 water channels to different parts of the United 

 States. Her educational svstem is excellent and there 

 are nearly half a hundred public schools, which offer 

 quite good advantages to the children who help make 

 her population of nearly twenty-five thousand. Erie 

 undoubtedly has a bright future before her, which her 

 rapid increase in population since 1870 predicts, and 



