ut you can well
understand that such an extensive country, even though it is thinly
peopled, especially in its cold, northern parts, must yield much that is
valuable to its owners."

"Yes, certainly; so it is in Siberia, where the population is also
scanty."

"Just so. In Canada fields, mountains, forests, and water yield an
immense revenue. Think only of all the agricultural produce which is
shipped from here, not to speak of gold, fish, and furs. The wheat
produced in Canada is alone worth over 22 million pounds sterling a
year. There are also huge areas which are worthless. We get little
advantage from the northern coasts, where the Eskimos live."

"You are quite at home on these lakes?"

"Oh yes. When a man has sailed to and fro over them for ten years, he
knows all about the roadsteads and channels, and about when the ice
forms and breaks up, and when there is a prospect of a storm."

"But the storms cannot be very dangerous?"

"Ah, you do not believe in them. All the same they may be just as
dangerous as in the Atlantic, and when a real hurricane comes, the
skipper will do well to seek shelter, or at the best he will lose his
cargo. You will soon have opportunities of seeing, hearing, and feeling
how the surge beats just as on the coast of the ocean. But then, all
these lakes have an aggregate area more than half as large as the
Baltic, and if we take the depth into account we shall find that the
volume of water is the same as in the Baltic. Lake Superior is the
largest lake in the world. Beyond the point yonder lies Lake Huron. You
must acknowledge that this scenery is beautiful. Have you ever seen
anything to equal this sheet of dark-blue water, the dark-green woods,
and the grand peaceful shores? It is a pity that we do not go to Lake
Erie, for at its eastern extremity is one of the wonders of the world
and the most famous spectacle in North America."

[Illustration: PLATE XXXIII. NIAGARA FALLS.]

"You mean the Falls of Niagara, which I have heard described so many
times?"

"Yes. Think of a steamboat on Lake Erie sucked along by the stream that
flows to Ontario. This lake lies 300 feet lower than Erie, and about
half-way between the two lakes the water passes over a sharp bar and
plunges with a thundering roar into the depth below (Plate XXXIII.). The
barrier itself, which is a thousand yards broad, is formed of a huge
stratum of sandstone, and the rocks under it are loose slates. Erosion
proceeds m