UPPER CANADA. 257 



Maiden lies in north latitude 42° 15', west longitude 82° 45', near 

 the head of lake Erie, on the river Detroit. It is the most southerly 

 town in British America, and is 30 miles north-west of Point au 

 Plai, the southernmost point of Canada. It is defended by fort Ara- 

 herstburg, and contains near 500 inhabitants. 



Queenstown is a flourishing place, on the Niagara river, seven 

 miles south of Newark. Here the principal part of the merchandize 

 and stores, for the upper part of the province are landed. It contains 

 300 inhabitants. 



Chippeway, three miles from the falls of Niagara, and six south of 

 Queenstown, is a thriving village; as is Sandwich, on the Detroit, 18 

 miles north of Maiden, and Elizabethtown, in the district of Johnstown 

 near lake Ontario. 



Trade.. ..A large proportion of the furs of the north-west compa- 

 ny, are now drawn from Upper Canada. They export to Lower Cana- 

 da, flour, salted beef and pork, butter, cheese, pot-ash, and live cattle, 

 besides immense quantities of timber. Their imports are the same 

 as those of the lower province, and pass to them, through Montreal. 

 Before the war with the United States, a brisk trade was carried on 

 between the opposite shores of lake Ontario. 



Government.. ..This is the same as that of Lower Canada, with 

 which it has been described. 



Religion.. .. The methodists form the most numerous religious sect. 

 Next to these are the presbyterians, who are principally from the 

 United States. There are some episcopalians from England, and a 

 few catholics from Lower Canada. 



Language.. ..English is spoken by almost all the inhabitants. There 

 ar>- a few French and Germans. 



History.. .The first fort erected in Upper Canada wa3 that of Ca- 

 tarocony, now the town of Kingston, built by the count de Frontenac 

 in 1672. The settlement at Michilimackinac, which was made the 

 preceding year, is within the territory of the United States. 



The Iroquois, the most formidable of the North American Indians, 

 possessed the country round lake Ontario, and for a long time pre- 

 vented its settlement. M. de Denonville, governor of Canada, made- 

 an expedition into their country in 1687, destroyed a number of their 

 villages, and constructed fort Niagara. Sickness and famine, however, 

 obliged the garrison to abandon the fort before the end of the year. 

 In 1689 the Iroquois made an incursion into Lower Canada, and 

 obliged the French to abandon and destroy the fortress of Catarocony. 

 In 1695 the garrison was re-established by M. de Frontenac. No ac- 

 tual settlements were however made, while Canada remained in the 

 possession of the French. The town of Kingston was commenced by 

 the English in 1784. York the capital was built as late as 1§Q7. 



Vol. II, L L 



