_Lake Erie_ is situated between forty-one and forty-three degrees of north latitude, and between seventy-nine and eighty-three degrees west longitude. It is two hundred and eighty miles long; opposite Cleveland, in the state of Ohio, it is about sixty miles broad, to the eastward it is above seventy. The average breadth is from fifty to sixty miles; and its medium depth from forty to one hundred and twenty feet. The water is pure and wholesome, and abounds with fish; such as sturgeon, white-fish, trout, and perch. The lake does not freeze in the middle, but is frequently frozen on both sides; and sometimes in winter, when the wind is variable, the ice exhibits a singular phenomenon; a south wind blows it all to the Canada shore, and a north wind again dislodges it, and brings it back to the American side. There are a number of islands in the west end of the lake, containing from eight hundred to two thousand acres of land, and the scenery amongst them is charming; but all these islands are so infested with snakes, that in the height of summer it is really dangerous to land. This is the more to be regretted, as the fine timber which grows upon them indicates that the soil must be uncommonly fertile. But, in defiance of the snakes, many of the islands are rapidly settling, and are found to be very healthy and agreeable places of residence. This and the other lakes are navigated by vessels of from seventy to eighty tons, which carry goods and provisions as far as the head of Lake Superior, and bring back furs and peltry. The navigation is good through the whole distance, except in Lake St. Clair, where the water is shallow, and vessels are sometimes obliged to lighten.