erican fort of Niagara, the scene of so many conflicts. It was
built by the French in 1751; taken by us in 1759;[51] and, along with
several other frontier posts, ceded to the United States in 1794; and,
though since taken, has again been ceded to the same power. Fort
Niagara, unlike any of the Canadian forts along that frontier, is a
regular fortification, built of stone, on the land side, with breast
works, and every necessary appendage. It mounts between twenty and
thirty heavy pieces of ordnance, and contains a furnace for heating
shot.

The strait of Niagara is about 36 miles in length; and its shores, on
both sides, were, more or less, the scenes of active warfare during the
whole period of hostilities. Lake Ontario, to which the strait leads, is
in length, from west to east, 171, in breadth 50, and in circumference
467 miles. The depth of water varies much, it being in some places three
or four, in others fifty fathoms: towards the centre three hundred
fathoms of line have, it is said, not found the bottom. York harbour
lies on the north side of Lake Ontario; is nearly circular, of about a
mile and a half in diameter, and formed by a narrow peninsula extending
to Gibraltar Point, upon which a blockhouse has been erected. The town
of York, (now called Toronto,) the infant capital of Upper Canada, is in
lat. 43 deg. 35' north, and long. 78 deg. 30' west, and is distant from Fort
George by water about 30 miles. The public buildings consisted of a
government house, the house of assembly, a church, court-house, and a
gaol, with numerous stores belonging to government. Kingston harbour is
situate at the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. It contains good
anchorage in three fathoms water, and was defended by a small battery of
9-pounders on Mississaga Point, and another, of the same metal chiefly,
on Point Frederick. The town, which was the largest and most populous in
the Upper Province, contained about 370 houses; including several
buildings and stores belonging to government. Its distance from York is
145, from Montreal, in an opposite direction, 198, and from Quebec 378
miles. Opposite to, and distant about half a mile from, the town, is a
long low peninsula, forming the west side of Navy Bay, the principal
naval depot of the British on this lake, and where the ships of war were
constructed.

Of the American military posts on Lake Ontario, the principal one is
Sackett's harbour, distant from Kingston, by the ship c