LAKES. 



123 



Avhich together do not exceed the distance of forty 

 miles. The canals of Delaware and Chesapeake 

 open the communication from South Carolina to 

 New Jersey, Delaware, the most populous parts of 

 Pennsylvania, and the midland counties of New 

 York. Were these, and the canal between Ashley 

 and Cooper rivers, in South Carolina, the canals in 

 the northern parts of the state of New York, and 

 those of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, all 

 opened, and many of them are in great forwardness, 

 North America would thereby be converted into a 

 cluster of large and fertile islands, communicating 

 "with each other with ease and little expense, and in 

 many instances, without the uncertainty or danger of 

 the seas. 



There is nothing in other parts of the globe which 

 resembles the prodigious chain of lakes in this part 

 ^ the world. They may properly be termed inland 

 seas of fresh water ; and even those of the second or 

 third class in magnitude, are of larger circuit than 

 the greatest lake in the eastern continent, the Cas- 

 pian sea excepted. Some of the most northern lakes 

 belonging to the United States have never been sur- 

 veyed, or even visited till lately, by white people ; of 

 course we have po description of them which can be 

 relied on as accurate. Others have been partially 

 surveyed, and their relative situation determined* 

 The best account of them which we have been able 

 to procure is as follows.* 



* M»r8c, 



