feet of a
ladder. The men place themselves at the bow, two on each side, thrust
their poles into the channel, and grasping successively the wooden bars,
work their way toward the stern, thus pushing on the vessel in that
direction. At other times, by the brisk and vigorous use of the oar,
they catch and dash through the most favorable lines of current. In this
exhausting struggle, however, it is needful to have frequent pauses for
rest, and in the most difficult passages there are certain positions
fixed for this purpose, which the Canadians call _pipes_."--H. Murray's
_Hist. Descr. of America_, vol. ii., p. 473.]

[Footnote 144: "From the sea to Montreal, this superb river is called
the St. Lawrence; from thence to Kingston, in Upper Canada, the
Cataraqui or Iroquois; between Lakes Ontario and Erie, the Niagara;
between Lakes Erie and St. Clair, the Detroit; between Lakes St. Clair
and Huron, the St. Clair; and between Lakes Huron and Superior, the
distance is called the Narrows, or Falls of St. Mary. The St. Lawrence
discharges to the ocean annually about 4,277,880 millions of tons of
fresh water, of which 2,112,120 millions of tons may be reckoned melted
snow; the quantity discharged before the thaw comes on, being 4512
millions of tons per day for 240 days, and the quantity after the thaw
begins, being 25,560 millions per day for 125 days, the depths and
velocity when in and out of flood being duly considered: hence a ton of
water being nearly equal to 55 cubic yards of pure snow, the St.
Lawrence frees a country of more than 2000 miles square, covered to the
depth of three feet. The embouchure of this first-class stream is that
part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence where the island of Anticosti divides
the mouth of the river into two branches. According to Mr. M'Taggart, a
shrewd and humorous writer, the solid contents in cubic feet of the St.
Lawrence, embracing Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario,
is estimated at 1,547,792,360,000 cubic feet, and the superficial area
being 72,930 square miles, the water therein would form a cubic column
of nearly 22 miles on each side!"--Montgomery Martin's _History of
Canada_.]

[Footnote 145: "Kinnel Lodge, the residence of the celebrated Highland
chieftain M'Nab, is romantically situated on the south bank of the lake,
about five miles above the head of the Chats Rapids, which are three
miles long, and pass amid a labyrinth of varied islands, until the
waters of the