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thickly peopled, and divided into districts, 

 counties, and townships. The state of New 

 York presents by far the most interesting front 

 along the Great River, Lake Ontario, and part 

 of Lake Erie, comprising the counties of St 

 Lawrence, Jefferson, Oneida, Onondaga, Ca- 

 yuga, Seneca, Ontario, Genesee, and Niagara ; 

 the counties of Erie and Crawford are within 

 the state of Pensylvania; thence westward, the 

 counties of Geauga, Cayahoga, Huron, and the 

 JMiamis Country as far as the southerly hne of 

 the Michigan Territory, are in the state of Ohio ; 

 the Michigan Territory is divided into the dis- 

 tricts of Erie, Huron, and Michilimackinac, 

 composing the county of Wayne and the Chip- 

 pewa country. The rapid progress of popula- 

 tion and agriculture in this extent of six hun- 

 dred miles is surprising, and perhaps stands 

 without precedent in the annals of colonisation. 

 In the year 1796 the whole of it was literally a 

 wilderness, excepting only in the vicinity of the 

 forts and trading establishments, and a very 

 few settlements on the Genesee River. So dif- 

 ferent is the face of the country in the present 

 day, that if a traveller were to view it who had 

 witnessed the state of it at the time mentioned, 

 he would with difficulty trust to the evidence of 

 his own senses. The part of New York border-, 

 ing the waters possesses a soil equal in fertility 

 to almost any district of North America, abounds 



