The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 1&2). George Warburton
or, rather, separating one immense lake into a number of great branches. It seems an interesting question how this northern center of the continent, at the precise latitude of about 50°, should pour forth so immense and overwhelming a mass of waters; for through a great part of its extent it is quite a dead flat, though the Winnepeg, indeed, draws some tributaries from the Rocky Mountains. The thick forests with which the surface is covered, the slender evaporation which takes place during the long continuance of cold, and, at the same time, the thorough melting of the snows by the strong summer heat, seem to be the chief sources of this profuse and superabundant moisture."—H. Murray's Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in North America, vol. ii., p. 459, 1829.
[142] "The statements laid before Parliament thus enumerate and describe the five rapids of the St. Lawrence, which are impassable by steam, and occur between Montreal and Kingston, a distance, by the St. Lawrence River, of 171 miles, and by the Rideau Canal, 267 miles. The rapids vary in rapidity, intricacy, depth and width of channel, and in extent, from half a mile to nine miles. The Cedar Rapid, twenty-four miles from La Chine, is nine miles long, very intricate, running from nine to twelve miles an hour, and in some places only from nine to ten feet water in the channel. The Coteau du Lac Rapid, six miles above the former, is two miles long, equally intricate in channel, and in some places only sixteen feet wide. Long Sault, forty-five miles above the preceding, is nine or ten miles long, with generally the same depth of water throughout. It is intersected by several islands, through whose channels the water rushes with great velocity, so that boats are carried through it, or on it, at the rate of twenty-seven miles an hour; at the foot of the rapid the water takes a sudden leap over a slight precipice, whence its name. From the Long Sault to Prescot is forty-one miles shoal water, running from six to eight miles an hour, and impassable by steamboats. Then the Rapid du Plas, half a mile long, and Rapid Galoose, one and half a mile long, intervene."
[143] "According to Mr. M'Gregor (Brit. Amer., vol. ii., p. 525), the Ottawa, or Grand River, is said to have its source near the Rocky Mountains, and to traverse in its windings a distance of 2500 miles. The more sober statement of Bouchette attributes to the Ottawa a course of about 450 miles before joining the St. Lawrence."—Bouchette, vol. i., p. 187.
"A tremendous scene is presented at the eastern part of Lake St. Louis, where the St. Lawrence and its grand tributary, the Ottawa, rush down at once and meet in dreadful conflict. The swell is then equal to that produced by a high gale in the British Channel, and the breakers so numerous, that all the skill of the boatmen is required to steer their way. The Canadian boatmen, however, are among the most active and hardy races in the world, and they have boats expressly constructed for the navigation of these perilous channels. The largest of these, called, it is not known why, the Durham boat, is used both here and in the rapids of the Mohawk. It is long, shallow, and nearly flat-bottomed. The chief instrument of steerage is a pole ten feet long, shod with iron, and crossed at short intervals with small bars of wood like the feet of a ladder. The men place themselves at the bow, two on each side, thrust their poles into the channel, and grasping successively the wooden bars, work their way toward the stern, thus pushing on the vessel in that direction. At other times, by the brisk and vigorous use of the oar, they catch and dash through the most favorable lines of current. In this exhausting struggle, however, it is needful to have frequent pauses for rest, and in the most difficult passages there are certain positions fixed for this purpose, which the Canadians call pipes."—H. Murray's Hist. Descr. of America, vol. ii., p. 473.
[144] "From the sea to Montreal, this superb river is called the St. Lawrence; from thence to Kingston, in Upper Canada, the Cataraqui or Iroquois; between Lakes Ontario and Erie, the Niagara; between Lakes Erie and St. Clair, the Detroit; between Lakes St. Clair and Huron, the St. Clair; and between Lakes Huron and Superior, the distance is called the Narrows, or Falls of St. Mary. The St. Lawrence discharges to the ocean annually about 4,277,880 millions of tons of fresh water, of which 2,112,120 millions of tons may be reckoned melted snow; the quantity discharged before the thaw comes on, being 4512 millions of tons per day for 240 days, and the quantity after the thaw begins, being 25,560 millions per day for 125 days, the depths and velocity when in and out of flood being duly considered: hence a ton of water being nearly equal to 55 cubic yards of pure snow, the St. Lawrence frees a country of more than 2000 miles square, covered to the depth of three feet. The embouchure of this first-class stream is that part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence where the island of Anticosti divides the mouth of the river into two branches. According to Mr. M'Taggart, a shrewd and humorous writer, the solid contents in cubic feet of the St. Lawrence, embracing Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, is estimated at 1,547,792,360,000 cubic feet, and the superficial area being 72,930 square miles, the water therein would form a cubic column of nearly 22 miles on each side!"—Montgomery Martin's History of Canada.
[145] "Kinnel Lodge, the residence of the celebrated Highland chieftain M'Nab, is romantically situated on the south bank of the lake, about five miles above the head of the Chats Rapids, which are three miles long, and pass amid a labyrinth of varied islands, until the waters of the Ottawa are suddenly precipitated over the Falls of the Chats, which, to the number of fifteen or sixteen, form a curved line across the river, regularly divided by woody islands, the falls being in depth from sixteen to twenty feet."—M. Martin's History of Canada.
[146] See Appendix, No. XIX. (vol. II.)
[147] "At Quebec, the River St. Lawrence narrows to 1314 yards; yet the navigation is completely unobstructed, while there is formed near the city a capacious harbor. About twenty-one miles lower, its waters, beginning to mingle with those of the sea, acquire a saline taste, which increases till, at Kamauraska, seventy-five miles nearer its mouth, they become completely salt. Yet custom, with somewhat doubtful propriety, considers the river as continued down to the island of Anticosti, and bounded by Cape Rosier on the southern, and Mingau settlement on the northern shore."—Bouchette's Top. and Stat. Descr. of Canada, vol. i., p. 164–169.
[148] See Appendix, No. XX. (vol. II.)
[149] "The Falls of the Rideau are about fifty feet in height and 300 in breadth, being, at the time we saw them, more magnificent than usual, by reason of the high state of the waters. It is from their resemblance to a curtain that they are distinguished by the name of Rideau, and they also give this name to the river that feeds them, which again lends the same appellation to the canal that connects the Ottawa with Lake Ontario."—Simpson, vol. i., p. 16.
[150] Modern alluvial accumulations are rapidly increasing on some points of this coast, owing to the enormous mass of fresh water, charged with earthy matter, that here mingles with the sea. The surface of the water at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, where the depth is 100 fathoms, is stated by Bayfield to be turbid from this cause: yet that this discoloration is superficial is evident, for in the wake of a ship moving through the turbid surface, the clear blue waters of the sea are seen below.
CHAPTER V.
Upon the surface of Canada are found manifest indications of that tremendous deluge, the effects of which are so plainly visible in the Old World. Huge bowlder stones[151] abound in almost every part of the province; sometimes they are seen rounded, piled in high heaps on extensive