Topographical Sketch of the State of New- York. 1 01 



The several slopes of the St Lawrence basin, not covered by 

 water, have been estimated to be sufficient to sustain a population 

 of thirty millions of inhabitants. But the most interesting fact 

 connected with this great depression, is the vast quantity of fresh 

 water contained in its several reservoirs. From the data furnish- 

 ed by the above table, which may be -considered as an approxima- 

 tion to truth, we find that the whole amount of water is 10,500 

 cubic miles ; more than one half of the fresh water on the surface 

 of the globe* 



The discharged waters of the upper lakes, in passing from the 

 middle to the lower sub-basin of the St. Lawrence, are precipitated 

 over the great falls of Niagara. This celebrated cataract has been 

 rendered so familiar to almost every person, by the pen and pen- 

 cil of the many travellers who have visited it, that a formal descrip- 

 tion, in this sketch, would be entirely unnecessary. About 20 

 miles below Lake Erie the Niagara river narrows, and the rapids 

 commence : these are of such force and velocity, that their noise, 

 agitation and fury constitute an object of as much curiosity as the 

 falls themselves. On the very brink of the precipice, is situated 

 Goat island, which contains about eighty acres, and extending up 

 the stream, divides the waters. At this place the Niagara river, 

 nearly half a mile wide, and flowing with immense velocity, is 

 precipitated headlong over a perpendicular ledge of rocks, into an 

 almost unfathomable abyss below. The height of the falls, from 

 the surface of the water above to that of the water below, is 151 

 feet on the Canada side, and 164 on the American. The descent 

 of the country from Lake Erie to Ontario, is principally by a step, 

 not at the falls, but at Lewiston, several miles below. The sur- 

 face on each side is a level plain, through which the Niagara river 

 passes below the falls, in a deep chasm, nearly a mile wide, with 

 almost perfect mural sides. In viewing the position of the falls, 

 and the features of the country around, it is impossible not to be im- 

 pressed with the idea, that this great natural race-way has been 

 formed by the continued action of the irresistible current of the 

 Niagara, and that die falls, beginning at Lewiston, in the course 

 of ages have worn back the rocky strata to their present site. 



The distances and descents along the Niagara river, from Lake 

 Erie to Lake Ontario, from actual survey on the American side, 

 are as follows : 



