ssable by
steam, and occur between Montreal and Kingston, a distance, by the St.
Lawrence River, of 171 miles, and by the Rideau Canal, 267 miles. The
rapids vary in rapidity, intricacy, depth and width of channel, and in
extent, from half a mile to nine miles. The Cedar Rapid, twenty-four
miles from La Chine, is nine miles long, very intricate, running from
nine to twelve miles an hour, and in some places only from nine to ten
feet water in the channel. The Coteau du Lac Rapid, six miles above the
former, is two miles long, equally intricate in channel, and in some
places only sixteen feet wide. Long Sault, forty-five miles above the
preceding, is nine or ten miles long, with generally the same depth of
water throughout. It is intersected by several islands, through whose
channels the water rushes with great velocity, so that boats are carried
through it, or on it, at the rate of twenty-seven miles an hour; at the
foot of the rapid the water takes a sudden leap over a slight precipice,
whence its name. From the Long Sault to Prescot is forty-one miles shoal
water, running from six to eight miles an hour, and impassable by
steamboats. Then the Rapid du Plas, half a mile long, and Rapid Galoose,
one and half a mile long, intervene."]

[Footnote 143: "According to Mr. M'Gregor (_Brit. Amer._, vol. ii., p.
525), the Ottawa, or Grand River, is said to have its source near the
Rocky Mountains, and to traverse in its windings a distance of 2500
miles. The more sober statement of Bouchette attributes to the Ottawa a
course of about 450 miles before joining the St. Lawrence."--Bouchette,
vol. i., p. 187.

"A tremendous scene is presented at the eastern part of Lake St. Louis,
where the St. Lawrence and its grand tributary, the Ottawa, rush down at
once and meet in dreadful conflict. The swell is then equal to that
produced by a high gale in the British Channel, and the breakers so
numerous, that all the skill of the boatmen is required to steer their
way. The Canadian boatmen, however, are among the most active and hardy
races in the world, and they have boats expressly constructed for the
navigation of these perilous channels. The largest of these, called, it
is not known why, the Durham boat, is used both here and in the rapids
of the Mohawk. It is long, shallow, and nearly flat-bottomed. The chief
instrument of steerage is a pole ten feet long, shod with iron, and
crossed at short intervals with small bars of wood like the