At the end of the open-water season the ships of the squadron rendezvoused at Erie, and eventually, after the war, the _Lawrence_, the _Detroit_, and the _Queen Charlotte_ were sunk in Little Bay in the east end of Presqu’ Isle at Erie, as worthless. The _Niagara_ followed to the same Davy-Jones locker. Then the _Queen Charlotte_ and _Detroit_ were bought and raised, and used for a time as merchantmen. The end of the _Detroit_ came at last when some hotel-keepers at Niagara Falls bought her, put a live bear and some other animals on her, to make a show for gaping fools, and sent her over the falls. The guns from the fleet when last fired served a historical purpose. When the Erie Canal was opened they were stretched along its route at such intervals that the report of one, if fired, could be heard at the next. And so, when the first boat was ready to make its triumphant passage of the great waterway, these guns were fired one after another to telegraph the news ahead, and so it happened that in just two hours from the time when she left Buffalo it was known in New York that she had started. Said Washington Irving in writing of Perry’s victory soon after the event: “In future times, when the shores of Erie shall hum with busy population; when towns and cities shall brighten where now extend the dark and tangled forests; when ports shall spread their arms, and lofty barks shall ride where now the canoe is fastened to the stake; when the present age shall have grown into venerable antiquity, and the mists of fable begin to gather around its history, then will the inhabitants look back to this battle as one of the romantic achievements of the days of yore. It will stand first on the page of their local legends, and in the marvellous tales of the borders.” CHAPTER XV THE WAR ON LAKE ONTARIO THE CAPTURE OF YORK (TORONTO) BY THE AMERICANS--A VICTORY AT THE MOUTH OF THE NIAGARA RIVER--BRITISH ACCOUNT OF THE ATTACK ON SACKETT’S HARBOR--TALES OF THE PRUDENCE OF SIR JAMES YEO AND COMMODORE CHAUNCEY--THE AMERICANS DID SOMEWHAT BETTER THAN THE BRITISH, BUT MISSED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY--SMALL AFFAIRS ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN DURING THE SUMMER OF 1813.