The English Period 



ing-place, and knew every thing worth notice of the Fall, better,, 1 . 750 

 than any other person, to go with me, and show and tell me what- 

 ever he knew. A little before we came to the carrying-place, 

 the water of Niagara River grew so rapid, that four men in a 

 light birch canoe, had much difficulty to get up thither. Canoes 

 can go half a league above the beginning of the carrying-place, 

 tho* they must work against a water extremely rapid ; but higher 

 up it is quite impossible, the whole course of the water for two 

 leagues and a half up to the great Fall, being a series of smaller 

 Falls, one under another, in which the greatest canoe or Battoe 

 would in a moment be turn'd upside down. We went ashore 

 therefore, and walk'd over the carrying-place, having besides the 

 high and steep side of the river, two great hills to ascend one 

 above the other. Here on the carrying-place I saw above 200 

 Indians, most of them belonging to the Six Nations, busy in 

 carrying packs of furs, chiefly of deer and bear, over the carrying- 

 place. You would be surpriz'd to see what abundance of these 

 things are brought every day over this place. An Indian gets 

 20 pence for every pack he carries over, the distance being 

 three leagues. Half an hour past 1 in the morning we came 

 to the great Fall, which I found as follows, to the river (or 

 rather strait,) runs here from S. S. E. to N. N. W and the 

 rocks of the great Fall cross it, not in a right line; but form- 

 ing almost the figure of a semicircle or horse shoe. Above 

 the Fall, in the middle of the river is an island, lying also 

 S. S. E. and N. N. W. or parallel with the sides of the 

 river; its length is about 7 or 8 french arpents (an arpent 

 being 180 feet.) the lower end of this Island is just at the per- 

 pendicular edge of the Fall. On both sides of this island runs 

 all the water that comes from the lakes of Canada, viz. Lake 

 Superior, lake Mischigan, lake Huron, and lake Erie, which 

 you know are rather small seas than lakes, and have besides a 

 great many large rivers that empty their water in them, of which 

 the greatest part comes down this Niagara Fall. Before the 

 water comes to this island, it runs but slowly, compared with its 



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