Stranica 26 [26]
OCR
occasionally did the French skirt Lake Ontario, proceed to Niagara, ascend to Lake Erie, and by this means reach the Great West. It is a significant fact that the Indians possessed a knowledge of the route by which a person could by means of canoes proceed from Quebec to the head-waters of the Mississippi, the longest portage being that encountered at the head of the Illinois River, and that only about one mile. "To reach Lake Ontario from New York, it was necessary to ascend the Hudson to a point ten miles above Albany, where that stream receives the waters of the Mohawk. From Fort Stanwix, (Rome, N.Y..,) a branch (Hood Creek) leads towards Oneida Lake, another branch, called Canada Creek, running in the direction of Lake Champlain. From Oneida Lake the descent to Lake Ontario is by the Oswego River. By ascending the west branch of the Hudson, the head-waters of the Oswegatchie could be reached, and a descent made to La Presentation (Ogdensburg). From Lake Champlain, another route was by the Racquette River, which empties into the St. Lawrence in the vicinity of Cornwall. These various routes of travel are of a peculiar interest to Canadians, as they were most commonly selected by the United Empire Loyalists who came to this country at the close of the war. Less frequented routes were those which. brought the traveller to the head-waters of Black River, which empties into the lake at Sacket’s Harbor, or by following the military highway to Lower Canada, via Whitehall, Lake Champlain, Fort Ticondiroga, Plattsburg, and thence to Cornwall. Champlain penetrated the Iroquois country along this line, and shed the first blood of the Indian, which, upon countless battle-fields, in the green glades of the forest—in the settler’s new-made clearing—beside the great lakes, and on their many tributaries, was avenged again and again, with a Sanguinary ferocity which brought sorrow and desolation to many a happy French and English home. hundred years, the tide of battle ebbed and flowed. French marauding expeditions, with savage allies, swept swiftly at night, and skulked by day, down upon the English settlements on the Mohawk, returning with many a gory scalp—bringing, now and then, a few fair prisoners, to be consigned to a fate worse than death. To ascend the St. Lawrence was a weary, as well as a dangerous undertaking, requiring not only patience, but the exercise of much skill. In time, the bark canoe of the Indian gave place to the Gourlay, speaking of Lachine, says that “from Lachine, the canoes employed by the North-west Company in the fur trade, take their departure. Of all the numerous contrivances for transporting heavy burthens by water, these vessels are, perhaps, the most extraordinary; scarcely anything can be conceived so inadequate, from the lightness of their construction, to the purpose they are applied to, and to contend against the impetuous torrent of the many rapids that must be passed through in the They seldom exceeded thirty feet in length, and six in breadth, diminishing to a sharp point at each end, without distinction of head or stern. The frame is composed of small pieces of very light wood; it is then covered with course of a voyage. the bark of the birch tree, cut into convenient slips, that are rarely more than the eighth of an inch in thickness ;: these are sewed together with threads made from the twisted fibres of the roots of a particular tree, and strengthened, where necessary, by narrow strips of the same materials applied on the inside; the joints of fragile planking are made water-tight by being covered with a species of gum that adheres very firmly and becomes very hard’ No iron-work of any description, nor even nails, are employed in building these slender vessels, which, when complete, weigh only about five hundred pounds each.” The, Durham boat was long, shallow, and flatbottomed, being shod with iron to protect it when in contact with shoals. It was propelled by the use of poles, one being used on each side, and handled by two men, the pole for this purpose being crossed by small bars of wood, like the rounds of a ladder. These bars were grasped successively by the boatmen, who thus worked their way from the prow to the stern. The emigrants from the Valley of the Mohawk in many cases brought with them another kind of craft, called the Schenectady boat, which was flatbottomed and rigged with a sail. | Among the earliest traffickers between Albany and the St. Lawrence, was Duncan, of Augusta, who was at one time a Legislative Councillor for Upper Canada. He afterwards removed to the State of New York, and introduced trade between the Mohawk and Buffalo, which, in the end, led to the construction of the Erie Canal. The Jones’, of Brockville, for many years carried on an extensive forwarding business between Montreal and the Upper Province, conveying not only freight, but passengers, with expedition. By the aid of ropes, the rapids were surmounted with greater ease,
