might be used, or even common lighters dexte- 

 rously managed would prove adequate to the 

 service. The British bank of the Niagara River 

 is generally high, and exhibits a well-cultivated 

 and thickly inhabited country, with roads lead- 

 ing along its course, from which others strike off 

 to almost every part of the district ; in this por- 

 tion of the province agriculture and new settle^ 

 ments have been carried to a great extent, and 

 the amount of its population is surpassed only 

 by the three eastern districts. By the side of 

 the roads that coast the extremity of Lake On- 

 tario there is a continual succession of houses, 

 and many excellent farms. The town of Newark 

 is conveniently and very pleasantly situated at 

 the entrance of the River Niagara from Lake 

 Ontario, and almost fronting Fort Niagara on 

 the American side ; it was begun in 1792, and 

 had increased to about two hundred neat and 

 well-built houses, with a church, court-house, 

 and one or two other public buildings ; but all 

 of these, with the greatest part of the dwelling 

 houses, were destroyed by the Americans in the 

 month of December, 1813, when they evacuated 

 Fort George, which stands on the bank of the 

 xiver, a little above Navy Hall, and had been 

 captured by them a few months before. A few 

 huts are the only remains of this once thriving 

 town, that from its defenceless state had never 



