The farms are said to consist of one hundred acres each, and as they extend from the lake back to the woods, they are long narrow stripes of land, each having the dwelling-house, barn, &c. almost close to the bank. The houses are white-washed, and externally very neat. Their being almost completely uniform in size and appearance, might cause any stranger to believe that their owners are nearly on a parity in wealth.
At the east end of the lake are the falls of St. Francis. These are furious rapids, and a canal {299} for avoiding them has been cut at the village Cotu du Lac, but as the cut is not deep enough, the work is of very little use. Of the falls of St. Lawrence river, it may be remarked generally, that as there are no high floods, and as the banks are low, there can be no great difficulty in improving the navigation. There is a very small Fort at the Cotu du Lac, which is garrisoned by about half a dozen of soldiers.
On the 23d we took in a pilot, who conducted us over the Cedar Rifts, the Thicket Falls, and Le Trou Falls. The former of these rapids runs with tremendous fury. The two latter canals are cut, but, like that at the Cotu du Lac, they are too shallow to admit loaded boats. The Cedar village is most delightfully situated on the north side of the river.
The Utawas, or Grand river, forms the division line between Upper and Lower Canada, and falls into the St. Lawrence by two mouths, one above and the other below the island of Montreal. The great magnitude of the former river is manifested by the dark colour of its waters, which are sufficient to give a tinge to the Lake St. Louis, in which the two rivers meet. On this lake a new steamboat has lately begun to ply.
