y miles more
by the fertile district of Prince Edward, an island of great extent,
and one of the oldest of the British settlements in Upper Canada,
where Pomona and Ceres reign paramount; for all is fertility.

The Bay of Quinte, in fact, on both the main shore and on Prince
Edward, is one unvaried scene of the labours of the husbandman; for
the forest is rapidly disappearing there, and the luxuriance of the
scenery in harvest can only be compared with the best parts of
England. It is indeed a glad and a rich country.

The Lake of the Mountain and the Indian village of Tyandinaga are the
lions of this route: the former, a singular crater full of the purest
water, on the summit of a hill of some altitude, without any apparent
source, but overflowing in a stream sufficient for mill purposes and
very deep; the latter the seat of a portion of the Mohawks already
mentioned.

The vessel calls at several small settlements, and stops for the night
at Hallowell or Picton, for the village has both names. This is a most
picturesque locality, in a nook of the bay, with undulating hills and
sharp ravines, a handsome church and other public edifices, and a
large and thriving population. But we must for the present keep on
board the steamer, and, after sleeping there, go on to Belleville,
leaving Fredericksburgh, Adolphus Town, and many others in the
Midland, to coast the Victoria district, and enter the charming little
retreats in this pleasant bay to be described more at leisure.

Belleville, the county town of the Victoria district, is situated on
the shores of this bay, and, from an insignificant village in 1837,
has risen in 1846 to the rank of a large and flourishing town, the
main street of which surprised me not a little by its extent, the
beauty of its buildings, and the display of its shops. I mounted the
hill-side which overlooks it, and there saw three fine churches, the
English, Roman Catholic, and Scotch places of worship, a large well
built court-house and jail, and some pretty country-houses. I should
think that Belleville has nearly four thousand inhabitants; and, as it
is the outlet of a rich back country, and on the main road from
Kingston to Toronto, it will increase most rapidly. The worst feature
about Belleville in 1837 was that it was the focus of American
saddle-bag preachers, teachers, and rebelliously disposed folks; but I
am told that most of these uneasy loafers have left it, and that its
character ha