are treeless and barren in
the extreme; while advancing northward they are covered with rich
grasses, which afford support to vast herds of buffaloes, as well as
deer and other animals.

LAKES.

The most remarkable feature in North America is its lake system--the
largest and most important in the world. In the north-west, at the foot
of the Rocky Mountains, are the Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, which
discharge their waters through the Mackenzie River into the Arctic
Ocean. Next we have the Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deer Lakes. In the
very centre of the continent are the two important lakes of Winnipeg and
Winnipegoos,--the former 240 miles in length by 55 in width, and the
latter about half the size. The large river of the Saskatchewan flows
into Lake Winnipeg, and with it will, ere long, form an important means
of communication between the different parts of that vast district
lately opened up for colonisation. At its southern end the Red River of
the north flows into it, on the banks of which a British settlement has
long been established. Several streams, however, make their way into
Hudson Bay. Between it and Lake Superior is an elevated ridge of about
1500 feet in height; the streams on the west falling into Lake Winnipeg,
while those which flow towards the east reach Lake Superior.

We now come to the site of the five largest fresh-water lakes in the
world. Lake Superior extends, from west to east, 335 miles, with an
extreme breadth of 175. Its waters flow through the Saint Mary's River
by a rapid descent into Lake Huron, which is 240 miles long. This lake
is divided by the Manitoulin islands into two portions, and is connected
with Lake Michigan by a narrow channel without rapids, so that the two
lakes together may be considered to form one sheet of water. On its
southern extremity the waters of Lake Huron flow through another narrow
channel, which expands during part of its course into Lake Saint Clair;
and they then enter Lake Erie, which has a length of 265 miles, and a
breadth of 80 miles. It is of much less depth than the other lakes, and
its surface is therefore easily broken up into dangerous billows by
strong winds. Passing onward towards the north-east, the current enters
the Niagara River, about half-way down which it leaps along a rocky
ledge of 100 feet in height, to a lower level, forming the celebrated
Falls of Niagara, and then passes on in a rapid course into Lake
Ontario. Th