/ 
62 TRAVELS f jmbUGH LOWfcft CANADA : 
snow, or by heavy falls of rain, that goods can 
be transported with ease either by the one route 
or the other. 
By far the greater part Of the trade to the 
lakes is at present centered at Montreal; for 
the British merchants not only can convey 
their goods from thence to the lakes for one 
third less than what it costs to convey the same 
goods thither from New York, but they can 
likewise afford to sell them, in the first instance, 
considerably cheaper than the merchants of the 
United States. The duties paid on the im¬ 
portation into Canada of refined sugar, spirits, 
wine, and coffee, are considerably less than 
those paid on the importation of the same com¬ 
modities into the United States; and all British 
hardware, and dry goods in general, are ad¬ 
mitted duty free into Canada, v, hereas in the 
United States, they are chargeable, on impor¬ 
tation from Europe, with a duty of fifteen per 
cent, on the value. To attempt to levy duties 
on foreign manufactures sent into the states 
from Canada would be an idle attempt, as 
from the great extent of their frontier, and its 
contiguity to Canada, it would at all times he 
an easy matter to send the goods clandestinely 
into them, in order to avoid the duties. 
The trade carried on from Montreal to the 
lakes is at present very considerable, and in¬ 
creasing every year. Already are there exten- 
