OF WESTERN CANADA. 33 



The River Maitland affords of itself many important advantages, 

 arising out of the numerous sites it presents for the erection of mills 

 of every description, and likewise for the excellence of the fish with 

 which it abounds. The lake is equally well stored, and yields 

 especially great quantities of sturgeon. The broad expanse of its 

 beautifully transparent waters, whilst it adds to the interest of the 

 locality, and ftivourably influences the atmospheric changes, affords 

 an advantageous means of forwarding and receiving goods to and 

 from the lower extremities of the Province through the straits, lakes, 

 and canals, by which, in fact, an uninterrupted water communication 

 is opened to the Atlantic Ocean." 



The personal appearance of Colonel Bouchette, the author of the 

 work now quoted from, is familiar to most persons from the portrait 

 prefixed to it, which also appeared in the volume of 1815, and has 

 been reproduced in a pamphlet, setting forth the claim of M. 

 Bouchette's heirs to certain sums of money alleged to be due from 

 the Government of Canada. 



Bouchette was the first to lay down with accuracy the outlines of 

 the peninsula which formed the harbour of Toronto. In a reduced 

 plan in his 4to. work, we can see how the peninsula was gradually 

 generated. We can see that there has been (1) a constant drift of 

 materials from the east, and (2) a constant tendency in this drift to 

 be turned northwards, and then back again eastwards by the action of 

 southerly and westerly winds. At one period, the inward tendency 

 was so successful as actually to form a connection with the shore 

 the only interruption in the continuity of the material being the outlet 

 of the Don. Probably at this period the Scarboro' heights extended 

 far out into the lake, and sheltered the sandy embankment which 

 had been formed. After the establishment of this union with the 

 shore, a steady drift from the east still went on, carrying material 

 year after year westward, that material, however, now spreading 

 itself more than before, but still showing a tendency continually 

 to turn in towards the mainland, forming a succession of irregular 

 hooks. 



This remarkable wing-shaped breakwater was the raison d' itre of 

 Toronto. It attracted the eye of the first organizer of Upper Canada, 

 and led him to lay the foundations of the capital of the new province 

 where now it stands. The coolness with which the demolition of 

 this all-important peninsula is beheld by the general public is some- 

 3 



