Second, is now understood to include all the countries from 52° N. on the coast of Labrador, to the extremity of all the rivers falling into Hudson Bay. This portion of Labrador is of little importance, excepting for furs and fisheries; and the coast and bay of Hudson, and the inhospitable regions of the Esquimaux, are of as little consequence; but the rivers which flow into the bay, rising in the south and west, actually include a portion of the United States, and nearly the whole of the Indian territory, in which the old French fur traders and the Montreal Company had forts or trading posts. The latter are now occupied by the servants of the Hudson Bay Company, who may be said to monopolise the whole fur trade of British North America.*

The territory called Ossiniboia, purchased in 1811, by the late Earl of Selkirk, from the Hudson Bay Company, is understood to commence "at a point in 52° 30' N., on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, the line running also west to Lake Winnipegoas, or Little Winnipeg; then south to latitude 52° on the western shore of this lake, thence south to the highlands, dividing the waters of the Missouri and Mississippi from those falling into Lake Winnipeg, thence by those highlands to the source of River La Pluie, and down that river through the Lake of the Woods and River Winnipeg, to the place of beginning." Half of this territory at least, and certainly the better half, is within the boundary of the United States. The whole comprises about 116,000 square miles, or 73,240,000 acres.

At the conquest of Canada, and for a long previous period, the French had posts established in this tract of country, and as far west as the River Saskatchawan; and the North-West Company, who succeeded the French, not only occupied these posts, but established others far beyond them.

The Hudson Bay Company at last claimed the territory through which the Red River flows, as its waters fell into the Hudson. The North-West Company rested their claim on their long possession of the country, as successors to the French, and on their discoveries, as well as on the good-will of the Indian tribes. Which had legal right, let lawyers determine; but in 1812, Lord Selkirk, with, I believe, the most upright intentions, sent Mr. Miles Macdonald, formerly a captain in the Queen's Rangers, to the forks of the Red River, in 57° north latitude, and 97° west longitude, and about 50 miles from Lake Winnipeg, for the purpose of erecting houses, &c., before the arrival of emigrants.

In the following year, about one hundred settlers arrived; and the settlement was named Kildonan, being the name of the parish in Sutherland from whence they came. Eighty or ninety followed them next year. His lordship sent light field-pieces, guns, ammunition, and various stores, up with the first settlers.

The breaking up of this settlement, the brutality of the Bois brulés, (half-breeds,) the massacre of Governor Semple, and of a great number of those with him, have already been fully before the public.

Lord Selkirk went himself afterwards to Red River, with part of De Meuron's and De Watteville's German regiments. He there acted as a magistrate; but he was soon after illegally arrested. On returning from Red River, the great fatigue and the privations he endured no doubt accelerated his death, which happened soon after in France. He was certainly imprudent in attempting to plant and establish an inland colony at so great a distance from a settled country; and particularly until the respective claims of the Hudson Bay and North-West Companies were adjusted; yet his measures were great, and founded on what he considered honourable principles. He on all occasions provided for the comforts of those he sent to his settlements; and the disastrous fate of Kildonan was altogether occasioned by the rivalry of two trading associations now united.

The lands on the banks of the Red River are not covered with trees. The rivers abound with fish; the plains with buffaloes; the neighbouring forests with elk, deer, and various kinds of game. The settlement is still in being, but we have no late accounts of its condition.

The fur traders engaged in these territories are sensual and tyrannical; and their example ill calculated to make the Indians a better people. The Bois brulés, who are the offspring of the traders and Indian women, are now a numerous ferocious race; and in the rencontres which often take place between parties of rival companies, this mixed breed practise the most fiendish brutality.

EES

CHAP. XIII.

INTERNAL NAVIGATION OF UPPER AND LOWER CANADA.GULF AND RIVER OF ST. LAWRENCE. - LACHINE CANALS.NAVIGATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE FROM LACHINE TO KINGSTON, BY THE ST. LAWRENCE AND BY THE OTTAWA. -GRENVILLE CANAL. - RIDEAU CANAL. - LAKE ONTARIO.WELLAND CANAL. - OHIO CANAL. - ERIE CANAL, DETROIT, LAKE HURON. - ST. MARY'S STRAIT, ETC. ETC.

THE navigation of the gulf from the Atlantic to the River St. Lawrence is deep and safe; except during the breaking up of the ice, and the misty weather which attends the chilly north-east winds that prevail for some days about the same period; and during the commencement of winter, when the nights are dark, and the weather generally uncertain and tempestu

ous.

The navigation of the River St. Lawrence below the traverse, and of the whole gulf, at this season, is difficult, and often dangerously terrific. But from the first of May to the middle of November, the weather is not only mild, but heavy gales are much less frequent than on the Atlantic, or in the British and Irish Channels.

The course of the navigation from the Atlantic to the gulf, and from the gulf to Montreal, I have already described in my account of Lower Canada.

The interruption at Montreal has been in a great measure obviated by the Lachine Canal, which was completed by the Provincial Government, although first attempted by the project of a company. The cost of this canal, about 137,000l., has far exceeded the original estimate. The Imperial Government has paid 12,000l. of the expense for the free privilege of sending military stores along it to Upper Canada. It is about eight miles long, twenty-five feet wide, and five feet deep. It is, perhaps, the most substantially built canal in America. The rates of toll are regulated by a legislative act, and the amount collected has been yearly increasing since first opened in 1825. The average of the last two years pays four to five per cent. on the capital.*

The next interruption in the navigation of the St. Lawrence is at the cascades, which is also partially obviated by a canal 500 yards long across a point of land at the confluence of the waters of a stream of the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence; and at Debuisson, another interruption is surmounted by short locks. At the lower end of Lake St. Louis it was found necessary to construct two locks to avoid the rapid; and, from this place, the navigation is uninterrupted to Cornwall, where the dangerous succession of rapids, called the Long Sault, disturb the St. Lawrence, and renders the passage dangerous. Durham boats and bateaux, however, ascend them with great difficulty; and scows and timber rafts are directed down these violent currents. From Cornwall to Johnston, a distance of 39 miles, the descent is about 75 feet; yet the Long Sault, and other