Wacousta, Or, the Prophecy (Volume 1); A Tale of the Canadas (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: WACOUSTA. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. A few cursory remarks, illustrative of the general features of the country where the scene of the following events is laid, may not be misplaced at the opening of this volume. Without entering into minute geographical detail, it may be necessary merely to state that the most distant of the northwestern settlements of America is Michilli- mackinae, a name given by the Indians, and preserved by the Americans, who possess the fort even to this hour. It is situated at the head of the Lakes Michigan and Huron, and adjacent to the Island of St. Joseph's, where, since the existence of the United States as an independent republie, an English garrison has been maintained, with a view of keeping the original fortress in check. From the lakes we descend into the River Sinclair, which, in turn, disembogues itself into the lake of the same name. This again renders tribute to the Detroit, a broad majestic river, not less than a mile in breadth at its source, and progressively widening towards its mouth until it is finally lost in the beautiful Lake Erie. From the embouchure of this latter lake commences the Chippawa, better known from the celebrity of its stupendous falls of Niagara, which form an impassable barrier to the seaman, and, for a short space, sever the otherwise uninterrupted chain connecting the remote fortresses we have described with the Atlantic. At a distance of a few miles from the falls, the Chippawa finally empties itself into the Ontario, the most splendid of the gorgeous American lakes. At the opposite extremity of this magnificent and sea. like lake, the far- famed St. Lawrence takes its source; and after passing through a vast tract of country, connects itself with the Lake Champlain, celebrated, as well as Erie, for a signa...