SO TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA t 
rection it had blown for many days, to the east¬ 
ward. Moreover, these observations ought riot 
only to be made at one place on the borders of 
any one of the lakes, but they ought to be made 
at several different places at the same time; for 
the waters have encroached, owing to some un¬ 
known causes, considerably and gradually upon 
the shores in some places, and receded in 
others. Between the stone house, in the fort 
at Niagara, and the lake, for instance, there is 
not at present a greater space than ten yards, 
or thereabouts; though when first built, there 
was an extensive garden between them. A 
water battery also, erected since the commence¬ 
ment of the present war, at the bottom of the 
bank, beyond the walls of the fort, was sapped 
away by the water in the course of two sea¬ 
sons, and now scarcely any vestige of it remains. 
At a future day, when the country becomes 
more populous and more wealthy, persons 
will no doubt be found who will have leisure 
for making the observations necessary for de¬ 
termining whether the lakes do or do not un¬ 
dergo a periodical change, but at present the 
inhabitants on the borders of them, are too 
much engaged in commercial and agricultural 
pursuits to attend to matters of mere specula¬ 
tion, which, however they might amuse the 
philosopher, could be productive of no solid 
advantages to the generality of the inhabitants 
of the country. 
