106 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA t 
lue, of those exported from Montreal; to talk, 
therefore,, of their acquiring possession of three- 
fourths of the fur trade by the surrender of the 
posts on the lakes, is -absurd in the extreme; 
neither is it likely that they will acquire any 
considerable share of the lake trade in general, 
which, as I have already pointed out, can be 
carried on by the British merchants from Mont- 
treal and Quebec, by means of the St. Lawrence, 
with such superior advantage. 
It is worthy of remark, that as military posts, 
all those lately established by the British are far 
superior in point of situation, to those deli¬ 
vered up, The ground on which the new 
blockhouse is building, on the British side of 
Niagara River, is nine feet higher than the top 
of the stone house in the American fort, and 
it commands every part of the fort. The chief 
strength of the old fort is on the land side ; 
towards the water the works are very weak, 
and the whole might be battered down by a 
single twelye-pounder judiciously planted on 
the British side of the river. At present it is 
not proposed to erect any other works on the 
British side of the river than the blockhouse; 
but should a fort be constructed hereafter, it 
will be placed on Mississaguis Point, a still 
more advantageous situation than that on 
which the blockhouse stands, as it completely 
commands the entrance into the river. 
