48 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
This however is a mere conjecture, for Os we* 
gatchee River is but very imperfectly known, 
the country it passes through being quite unin¬ 
habited : but should it be found, at a future 
period, that these rivers are indeed capable of 
being rendered navigable so far up the country, 
it will probably be through this channel that 
the chief part of the trade that there may 
happen to be between New York and the 
country bordering upon Lake Ontario will 
be carried on. It is at present carried on 
between that city and the lake by means of 
Hudson River, as far as Albany, and from 
thence by means of the Mohawks River, 
Wood Creek, Lake Oneida, and Oswego 
River, which falls into Lake Ontario. The 
harbour at the mouth of Oswego River is 
very bad on account of the sand banks; none 
but flat bottomed vessels can approach with 
safety nearer to it than two miles; nor is there 
any good harbour on the south side of Lake 
Ontario in the neighbourhooc©of any large 
rivers. Sharp built vessels, however, of a 
considerable size, can approach with safety to 
the mouth of Oswegatchee River. The Se¬ 
neca, a British vessel of war of twenty-six 
guns, used formerly to ply constantly between 
Fort de la Galette, situated at the mouth of 
that river, and the fort at Niagara: and the 
British fur ships on the lakes used also, at that 
