fact, that goods thus transported were sold cheaper at this river, as far down as the Ohio, than goods carried up the Mississippi, owing to the rapidity of the latter river, which is much greater than that of the St. Lawrence1.

The trade of the Illinois country, of great value, will also follow the course of the Potomac. The climate and soil of this region, of which Kaskaskia is the capital, are very similar to those of Provence in France. Captain Hutchins informs us, that certain French settlers, as early as 1769, made a hundred and ten hogsheads of pleasant wine from the grapes of the wild vine. He also states, that the mulberry tree delights in this soil, and the silk-worm thrives. Tobacco and indigo are successfully cultivated. The rivers abound with fish-the woods with game.

2

The Potomac, however, will have two great rival channels of trade. It is proposed by the citizens of Pensylvania to form a communication between Philadelphia and Lake Erie,

I

The mean current of the Mississippi is three and a half miles per hour; and, during the spring floods, it runs at the rate of five miles.

2 Morus rubra.

by uniting the waters of the Schuylkill and Susquehanna with those of the Ohio. The Swetara creek, which empties into the river Susquehanna, is to be united with the Quitapahilla, a distance of thirty-five miles; and the latter to a canal, extending to the Skuylkill, at the mouth of the Tulpehoken, a distance of thirty miles.

By the Juniata river there is an almost uninterrupted communication between the Susquehanna, and the Ohio at Pittsburg-a distance of two hundred and sixty-two miles. The whole length of this route is said to be five hundred and sixty miles, and there are but two postages. The first from Juniata to Conemaugh a distance of eighteen miles; and from Le Bœuf to Presqu'ile, fifteen miles. The navigation of the lower part of the Susquehanna is said to be very difficult, and especially in places where it is impossible to run a canal along its banks.

Another channel of communication has also been proposed-from Lake Ontario to the east branch of the Delaware, and thence to Philadelphia. The Cayuga, or Kioga river is navigable for boats to the distance of fifty miles from its mouth-and its sources to

the north-west are but a few miles from the Chenengo river, which empties into Lake Ontario.

The distances are as follow:

From the mouth of Tioga to Newton
Portage to Seneca Lake

Lock navigation to be formed by Newton
Creek down to Connedessago Lake
Down Seneca, or Onondago river to Oswego
or Ontario.

18

36

86

158 miles:

It is also proposed to connect the head of Seneca Lake with the Tioga branch of the Susquehanna, at Newton; and to pursue the following route to Philadelphia :

From Seneca Lake to Tioga Point

From Tioga Point to Nescopeck on the Sus

39 miles

121

28

45

87

In all 320 miles,

Easton to Philadelphia

of which forty-nine only are by land '.

4

1 See Duane's excellent Treatise on Canals.

Some enlightened and patriotic citizens of the State of New York have proposed to form a channel of communication for the trade of the lakes and the western country by means of a canal, which is to connect the Hudson river with Lake Erie, extending from the Mohawk to Wood Creek; thence to Oneida Lake; along that Lake and Seneca river and Mud Creek to the Genessee river; and thence to the Cataragus, or to the Panawanda Creek, which empties into Lake Erie. Throughout this distance the country is level, and few locks will be necessary. Below the Mohawk the navigation of the Hudson is excellent.Sloops and steam boats of eighty tons ply between Albany and New York, a distance of a hundred and sixty miles. Judge Cooper1 informs us, that if this canal be executed, an inland voyage may be performed of seventeen hundred miles in length; that the surface of Lake Eriehas an elevation of two hundred and eighty feet above the Hudson river at Albany;

'Guide to the Wilderness, or Western Counties of New York, in a Series of Letters addressed to William Sampson, Barrister at Law.

that the productions of the north-eastern ports of this state, transported to Montreal with those of the countries of Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, will be carried to New York-the great emporium of this commerce. the banks of this canal will become a carriage road, and one of the most beautiful in the universe.

He further observes, that

The route from Geneva, at the outlet of Seneca Lake, to New York, is as follows:-

From Geneva to Oneida Lake

From Oneida Lake to Mohawk Falls

From Mohawk Falls to Schenectady

From Schenectady to Albany
From Albany to New York.

of which seventeen only are by land.

90 miles.

109

Captain Williamson1 informs us, that he saw a boat in the Sodus Bay, with several families on board, bound to the Spanish settlements on the Illinois river. Some of them who, the preceding year, had visited this country, observed, that they had yet a thousand five hundred miles to sail!

1

Description of the Genessee Country.