The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1872-09-06
GOrrespunSeute.
For the Journal.
t. For the Journal.
Down the St Lawrence-Ths Thou
sand Islands-Fhs Rapids-Long
Sault st. Rsgis-La Chine.

- 80 ~ AafNAOnCG AA1 AA0U'
sand Islands-Phs Rapids-Loug
sault St. Regis-La Chine.
! Oswego prides itself upon its tasty
residences and its beautiful and
neatly kept yards, and with reason
too, as our ladies unanimously de-
cided. Our stay here of several
hours filed us with approximations
that we should be Obliged to pass
through the Thousand Islands in the
night, and such proved to be the
case. As we did not reach Cape
Vincent at the mouth of the ST.
Lawrence till near sunset, night
lelosed upon rs shortly after we had
entered upon that long reach of pic
lturesque Islands. which to the num-
Der of 1900 of all dimensions, from
few square rods to many thousands
of acres stud the broad st. Lawrence
to the distance of forty miles. A
magnificent display of the aurora
borealis shortly after lighted up the
whole sky, with a light almost as
bright as that Of the moon, and par
TALLY compensated for the absence
of day. As the gay electric stream
Iers shot upward to the zenith, and
spread themselves out over the
heavens, they relieved the island
Outlines and the long meandering
Tistas of water with weird and
Itremulous light. Having seen these
islands however by the light efnoon-
day, we could but vote this view
very unsatisfactory. The coloring
was gone. The contrast between
their rocky sides and the pines and
Icedars that clothe their surface with
eternal green was lost. The unre-
claimed wildnesss of these islands
strikes the eye with the same rugged
beauty to-day, that it did two hund
red years ago, when Count Frontenac,
the founder Of Kingston, foated his
French fotilla among them to the
waters of Ontario. The earlier
French naVigators, missionaries and
fur traders, those of Champlain's
time and for nearly fifty years there
after were forced to avoid this route
to the west as the Iroquois, deadly
enemies of the Canadian Indians and
of their French allies, made the pas
sage Of the upper St. Lawrence and
Ontario exceedingly dangerous.
Their path was up the Ottawa from
Montreal across to Georgian Bay and
lake Huron, and thence to Superior
and the tributaries of the Missis-
sippi by way of Green Bay, Lake
Michigan, Detroit, and later of Mia
CARA. A few of these islands have
recently been bought up by wealthy
men for summer residences. Late
at night we passed Pullman's
Island, home built after the style of
his palace cars, brilliantly illumina-
ted in honor of President Grant who
was then his guest At Alexandria
Bay our Toledo and Monroe friends
left us for few days sojourn among
the islands, and we retired to wake
lup the following morning in Ogdens-
burg.
At Ogdensburg two alternatives
were presented, either to remain
over two days or 60 down the rapids
on Sunday. Our company rather
reluctantly yet nevertheless unani-
lmously, determined to make the
passage Of the rapids on Sunday.
I'VE accordingly bid adieu to our
american boat, steamed across the
ISt. Lawrence to Prescott, on the Ca
madam shore, and went Immediately
Ion bord the Corinthian, bound down
the Rapids, and for Montreal.
The Corinthian had on board some
1.-TWO hundred passengers, mostly Cana
ldians. We were conscious that we
were in a different atmosphere. We
Immediately appreciated the differ
ence between q passenger and a
transportation boat, both in cOnven-
lience and table fare, although we
have no fault to find in these re-
lspects with the boats of the n. I.
ICo. Line. Canadian politics, as these
were election times, furnished the
staple of conversation. The style
and bearing of everything was Eng
F lish, Of course overdOne.
Immediately afGer leaving Pres
colt, on our left lies the old stone
windmill, fresh with the memorie;
of the Canacian rebellion of 1887, 9
rebellion or American laid so farGial
however, that we find it difficult tC
! be deeply interested in anything con
nected Herewith. All day long we
! are steaming down the St. Lawrence
, 1t is a msjectic river, from one tC
> two miles in width, expanding at FIRE
luuent intervals into beautiful lakes
live miles wide and from ten to
TWENTY-FIVE miles in length-lakes Of
: 1.-THE purest and most translucent wa
ter. Below Quebec it expands to
ten, thirty and one hundred miles in
width. The st. Lawrence, with the
lakes of which it is the outlet, con
., ltains more than One-half the fresh
water on the globe, enough indeed
to cover the whole earth with an en-
,, velope three feet in depth. No won
: der that those early French naviga-
tors, eentemporaneOus with Colum-
bus, thought as they sailed up this
broad stream that they we're on the
great western highway to China, as
| such names as LaChine plainly indi-
cate.
The GaIlopes and the Deplau Rap
lids gave rs, about noon, a fore
taste of what was to come, and
in the course Of an hour we
/, lwere among the white caps
of the Long Sault. This rapid some
nine miles long, is said to have q We
locity Of 20 miles per hour. Four
men are at the wheel and the cap
tain gravely Vigilant. The waters
are at intervals calm and then again
they angrily lash themselves into bill
loWy foam as in an ocean storm
? As the Corinthian rushes headlong
I down the inclined plane of surging
waters, with crowded prov depress-
! led and stern high in air, her keel oc-
casioDally CRATES upon the rocky bed
sendisg a thrill through all her tim
, bers and the nerves oftimorous pas
} lseu0ers.