OF NORTH AMERICA; COMPRISING, A Geographical and Statistical VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES, AND OF THE BRITISH CANADIAN POSSESSIONS; INCLUDING A GREAT VARIETY OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION COUNTRY. [By John Falbot.] EMBELLISHED WITH PLATES AND MAPS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LEEDS: PRINTED BY DAVIES AND CO. PERIODICAL PUBLISHERS, NO. 48, VICAR-LANE; AND SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS. 1820. HISTORY SITUATION AND BOUNDARIES.—Between 40 33′ and 45° north latitude, and 3° 43' east, and 2° 43' west longitude. It is bounded on the north by Lake Ontario and Canada; south by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Atlantic Ocean; east by Vermont, Massachussetts, and Connecticut; west by Upper Ca- nada, Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Its greatest length from north to south is 300 miles. Its breadth from the state of Massachussetts to Lake Erie, on the parallel of 42o, is 340 miles. On the east, Lake Champlain is the boundary for more than 100 miles. Along the north-western side, the St, Lawrence river extends 120 miles; Lake Ontario, 200; Niagara river, 40; and Lake Erie, 70 miles. The area, exclusive of islands, is 55,000 square miles. Aspect of the Country and Nature of the Soil.-The country, on the west side of the Alleghany mountains, is generally level, particularly between the Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, and along the borders of the Mohawk river. On the eastern side, the sur- face swells into hills and ridges of various forms, with rich inter- vening vallies, covered, in the natural state, with lofty forests, The coast is sandy, the northern parts rough and mountainous, but the soil of the interior is generally rich, composed of black mould, reddish loam, or friable clays, which yield grain and fruit of an excellent quality, and in great abundance. The low lands, along the Genessee river, embracing a surface of 60,000 acres, are remarkably fertile. The drowned, or marshy lands in Orange county, contain about 50,000 acres, which are overflowed after heavy rains in the spring season. In 1808, a company was incorporated for the purpose of draining them. The soil of-this county is a moist clay, with small stones intermixed, or a gravelly loam. Temperature. In a country, which extends from the ocean, over a space of five degrees of latitude, the climate is naturally colder near the northern extremity, but this effect is found to be modified by the influence of the great waters of the interior. The temperature, near the borders of Lake Erie, is found to be milder than in the same latitude on the Atlantic Ocean, as appears from the growth of the peach, and other fruit trees, which thrive so well, that they are cultivated by all the farmers. The winter usually begins about the 1st of December, and continues till the 10th or 12th of March, though subject to sudden changes; and the cold has sometimes been known to prevail beyond that period. On the 19th of May 1816, snow fell at Plattsburgh six inches in depth, and the inhabitants were seen to travel in sledges; but this is considered an uncommon event. The temperature of the coldest springs near New York is 54° at the depth of thirty feet, and nearly on a level with the ocean. Lakes-The great lakes of this state have been already described in our general description of American waters. Long Island Sound, 140 miles in length, and from three to twentyfive in breadth, communicates with the ocean at each extremity, affording a fine navigation for the largest vessels. New York Bay is nine miles in length, and four in breadth, and opens into the Hudson river on the north. The tide rises about six feet at the city of New York. The smaller lakes will be described in connexion with the rivers which flow through them. Rivers. The chief rivers are the Hudson or North river, and the Mohawk, its great western branch. The Mohawk rises near Oneida lake, eight miles from Black river, and runs a south-east course of about 130 miles, to its junction with the Hudson, 1 |