The five Great Lakes--Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario--lie between the U.S. and Canada and form the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River system. They cover an area of 94,000 Sq. M. The Great Lakes date back to Glacial period or before, but it is probable that a "warping" of the earth's crust and a consequent reversal of drainage areas have been among the most potent causes of the formation of these great inland seas. Some of the most salient facts about the Great Lakes are given in the following table: The Great Lakes Superior Michigan Huron Erie Ontario Greatest Length (M.) 360 307 206 241 193 Greatest Breadth (M.) 160 118 101 57 53 Deepest Soundings (Ft.) 1,012 870 750 210 738 Area (Sq. M.) 32,060 22,336 22,978 9,968 7,243 Above sea level (Ft.) 602 581 581 572 246 U.S. shore line (M.) 735 1,200 470 350 230 The population of the states and provinces bordering on the Great Lakes is estimated to be 50,000,000 or more. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, south of Lake Erie, there are large coal fields. Surrounding Lake Michigan and west of Lake Superior are vast grain growing plains, and the prairies of the Canadian northwest are constantly increasing the area and quantity of wheat grown; while both north and south of Lake Superior are the most extensive iron mines in the world, from which approximately 55,000,000 tons of ore are shipped annually. The Great Lakes provide a natural highway for the shipment of all these products. BUFFALO TO CLEVELAND 439 M. BUFFALO, Pop. 506,775. (Train 51 arrives 5:30p; No. 3, passes 7:15p; No. 41, 11:45p; No. 25, 11:51p; No. 19, 3:55a. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 11:31p; No. 26, 12:27a; No. 16, 4:35a; No. 22, 7:15a.) French trappers and Jesuit missionaries were the first white men to visit the site of Buffalo, and near here, on the east bank of the Niagara River at the mouth of Cayuga Creek, La Salle in 1679 built the "Griffin," with which he sailed up the Great Lakes to Green Bay, Wis. He also built Ft. Conti at the mouth of the river, but this was burned in the following year. Seven years later the marquis of Denonville in behalf of the French built here another fort, the predecessor of the various fortifications in this locality which were subsequently called Ft. Niagara. [Illustration: Port of Buffalo on Lake Erie, 1815]