Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-09-07
A Trip Through the Chain of
Lakes.

The trip, an account of which l am
about to give, was like a man.o-wars
oruise-there and back again. Where the
there was, we had no idea at the time of
starting. We merely intended to take a
vacation trip TO the West, and let all
minor details take care of themselves.
We left home one morning en- route for
Ogdensburg, N. Y, where we arrived in
due time. Here we crossed the st. Law
renee river to Prescott, the terminus OF
one branch of the Grand Trunk Railroad.
We went from Prescott to Toronto in the
Pullman palace car "Coburg.S We
thought of the familiar lines,
"Hurrah for a ride without jostle or jar,
Hurr- h Tor ride on the iron bar,
Hurrah FOR ride In Pullman Car.
Vivs la Compsgne."
fully seconding every one.
We had occasional glimpses of the
river on our left for few miles. The
country is very rocky and stumpy both
east and west of Toronto. A stump
orator" would have to look farther for an
audience than for a rostrum. We stopped
at Kingston for supper. 1t is quite
large and pretty place, and was formerly
capital of the Dominion. After leaving
Kingston the country was much better.
1t is an unbroken plain with patches of
woodland here and there. The crops are
late and light this year. In the afternoon
we had many glimpses of Lake Ontario.
We arrived at Toronto rather late in
the evening, and stopped at the Queens
Hotel. This Is large and we'll kept
house. Toronto is the third city in size
In the Dominion of Canada,-Montreal
and Quebec alone being larger-and has
a population of nearly! seventy thousand.
1t is the seat of government of the Prov
inoe of Ontario, and has many public edi-
fees, including the parliament buildings,
Lieut. Governors residence, custom house,
etc, besides several colleges and other
educational buildings.
We left Toronto for Port Huron, Mich,
the following morning. We arrived at
Sarnia at three o'clock in the afternoon.
1t ia a newly built town of four thousand
inhabitants, and is situated on the st.
Clair river, opposite Port Huron. The
river is very deep and flows seven miles
an hour, and is only seven hundred feet
wide. 1t connects Lake Huron with
Lake St. Clair.
We crossed the river to Port Huron,
then rode in street car to the main part
of the city, which lies mile away. The
population is six thousand. They have
very good schools in the city. A former
resident of Boston now living in Port
Huron, said that they would compare
favorably with those of the metropolis of
New England. Fort Gratiot is situated
here, and has garrison of sixty men.
On the following morning we took the
steamboat for Duluth, MINI. 1t was the
"Champlain" of Cleveland, the newest
and best boat of the oldest line, that nav.
igates the lakes. She was built last year
for the Northern transportation Co, Yer
mont Central Line, and is one Of the fast
est boats on the lakes.
Although q brisk breeze was blowing
all day, it did not ruffls the water in the
least The next day being Sunday, we
had religious services in the cabin at half
past ten. A sermon was preached by
Rev. Mr.. Hoyt Congregational minister
from Port Huron. Rev. Mr.. Bracken
Unitarian, and Rev. Mr.. Bourncs, Meth
odist, both of Port Huron, assisted in the
service.
At twelve o'clock we entered st. Mary's
River which connects Lake Huron with
Lake Superior. 1t is very wide and con-
tiins many islands and several small
lakes. At five o'clock we entered the
Sault st. Mary's canal. 1t is half mile
long and has two locks. 1t was built ten
years ago to enable vessels to pass the st.
Mary's rapids. There are many Indian
churches on the banks of the river. At
the Sault st. Msry-pronounced $500 st.
Mary,D on the Canada side, there is
post of the Hudson Bay Company. There
10 village named Sault st. Mary on both
the Canadian and American eide, each of
which contains about two thousand in
habitants.
When we entered Lake Superior we
found the water quite rough We were
called early the next morning to see the
Pictured Rocks. These are sandstone
cliffs, varying in hight from fifty to two
hundred feet. Their color is reddish
yellow, merging into brown towards their
base, on account of the action of the wa
ter. Early French travellers called them
"Les Portals" meaning "The Portals" be.
cause of large arched caverns worn by the
endless surf that breaks against them now
as it has for centuries. From Longfel-
lows "Hiawatha" it appears that the In
dams think that Hiawaths caused the
esverns to be opened by the lightning and
tempest. Longfellow says of them
m0n the shores of Gitchee Ounce,
Westward by the Bis-sea water,
Tame unto the rocky besdlands
To the Pictured Rocks Of sandstone
Looking over lake and landscape"
and then goes on to describe the opening
of the caverns. The strange distribution
of colors probably gave them the name of
pictured Rocks"
AT noon we stopped at Marquette,
Michigan. This is we'll situated and
growing city of six thousand inhabitants,
having grown to that number from one
thousand and five hundred in six years.
Iron ore is brought here by rail, and
shipped by boat to the East. At halfpast
seven O'Clock we came to HouRhton. a