even mentioned one half that are striking, I must refer briefly to some of the historical characteristics of this vicinity.

During the war of 1812 this was a great battle ground. At Queenston, about seven miles from the Falls on the Canada side, and directly opposite Lewiston, stands a monument to General Brock, who fell there in an engagement between the American and British forces on October 11, 1812. The Canadians point to this monument with a great deal of pride, as it not only represents the deeds of a brave soldier, but signalizes the repulse of the first and only serious invasion of Canadian soil since its unification under the British Crown.

CYRIL: Why do you say serious?

AUNT HARRIET: Because I can hardly dignify the Fenian invasion of 1866 as serious, although in one sense it was so, undoubtedly. It was so utterly chimerical, and withal so futile, that it brought the cause which it was intended to serve into ridicule, though it succeeded in arousing a thoroughly patriotic and military spirit among the Canadians.

MR. MERRIMAN: It was a serious scare for the Canadians too. I was in To ronto at the time of the Fenian invasion on business, and the excitement there was very great. The volunteers met and engaged the Fenian force about ten miles from Fort Erie, on the Welland Canal, at a spot called Limeridge, and the result was not very decisive on either side. The Canadians were inexperienced soldiers, not very well officered, and the Fenians were certainly no better in that respect. Several were killed on both sides, and O'Neil, the Fenian leader, thought it prudent to make his way across the frontier during the following night. Meanwhile the Fenians had also planned an elaborate attack on Prescott, with the view of marching on to Ottawa the seat of the Dominion government, but by this time the American government were aroused to a sense of duty, and nipped the enterprise in the bud. For a long time afterwards Canada was intensely excited over this impudent attack.

ALBERT: Is not Lundy's Lane in the vicinity of Niagara?

AUNT HARRIET: Yes, and that also was the scene of an engagement between the American and British forces on July 25th, 1814. Lundy's Lane is a very short distance from the Falls. On this occasion both sides lost heavily, and both claimed the victory, but the British held possession of the field.

KATE: I am no doubt very ignorant about these matters, but I feel very much. inclined to ask, with little Peterkin or his sister-I forget which—

tion.

"Now tell us all about the war

And what they killed each other for."

AUNT HARRIET: I would like to appeal to our friend John Smith for informa

JOHN: You compliment me greatly, and I can only say that in my judgment, based upon a very moderate amount of historical reading, the war of 1812 grew out of the high-handed way in which the British administration dealt with American interests, commercial and otherwise, towards the close of the Napoleon-French war, when Great Britain was virtually mistress of the seas-fanned as this complaint undoubtedly was by a preponderance of sympathy with France in America, and probably by a desire of the Democratic party, then in power in America, to annex Canada to the United States. America had been bullied a good deal by Great Britain, and she was spirited enough to resent the insults shown her, and to retaliate in kind.

DR. PAULUS: It is strange how soon Christian nations will drift into war with each other for causes which, in the hands of half a dozen impartial and intelligent men, could be adjusted, perhaps, in a single day.

AUNT HARRIET: I am very much of the opinion of the Prussian barber about whom Dr. Russell in "Hesperothen" tells us, who, in reply to a question which seemed to throw a doubt upon his patriotism, said that in his opinion "fighting was nonsense "-very disastrous nonsense, no doubt, but still without sense or reason to justify it.

THE PRESIDENT: What do you say to that, Colonel?

THE COLONEL I quite agree with Miss Victor in the main; but the business of the soldier is to fight whenever his country orders him to do so, and not to go into any reasons for or against.

AUNT HARRIET: I think we are getting a little wide of our subject, and as we have another and a longer journey to take this evening, I think we must bid farewell to Niagara with all its associations, its beauty, and its sublimity.

THE PRESIDENT: It will interest us, however, if you can furnish us with any

more historical points. They contribute largely to the value and the delight of our excursions.

AUNT HARRIET: Let me see. A little west of Lundy's Lane is Chippewa Creek, where, on the 5th of July, 1814, a severe battle was fought between the Americans and the British. This time it was the British who got the worst of it, being driven into their intrenchments. This was about three weeks before the battle of Lundy's Lane. It is but fair to state that the struggle was a very severe one, and that before the winter the Americans thought it prudent to retire across the river to Buffalo.

On the south side of the river the towns of Lewiston and of Niagara were both scenes of warlike operations. Lewiston was captured and burnt by the British, together with Youngstown and Manchester, in the campaign of 1813; while Newark, a Canadian town near Fort George, was burnt by the American General McClure just before these events.

In fact, the whole Niagara isthmus was terribly harassed during this war of 1812-1814. The Indians fought chiefly on the British side, and were valuable and powerful allies.

GILBERT: How did it all end?

AUNT HARRIET: As far as I can understand, both nations grew heartily sick and tired of the war. Commissioners met at Ghent in Belgium in 1814, and, after spending some months in negotiations, signed a treaty of peace. In this treaty not a word was said about the original causes of offense, and its main provisions related simply to some petty matters about boundary lines.

THE PRESIDENT: The war was a disgrace all round. It inflicted untold injuries upon this country, from which our people long suffered in many ways. At the

same time it taught England a wholesome lesson. The only parties that came out of the war with real credit were the Canadians, who, with the assistance of the mother country, kept their territory inviolate, and even profited by the war. England paid her own bills, and also in the main those of Canada.

DR. PAULUS: Let us hope that the good sense of all parties will prevent any such misunderstanding in the future, or that, at any rate, should causes of offense arise, they may be settled by honorable conference or arbitration without bloodshed.

CHAPTER XIV.

LAKE SUPERIOR.

H

LBERT: Away, if you please, up to the northern boundary of the United States, the south coast line of Lake Superior. If we were about to make the tour of the upper lakes, we should probably start from Buffalo, and occupy two weeks going and returning; but on this occasion I invite you to undertake a portion only of this tour.

We can take an aerial flight across the province of Ontario in Canada, over a portion of Lake Huron, leaving the great Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island to our right, and meet the steamer in the St. Mary River, the strait, or stream (it is sixty-two miles long), connecting Lakes Superior and Huron. We avoid the rapids by going through the ship canal, and soon find ourselves on the bosom of this majestic inland sea-the largest body of fresh water in the world. Shall I give the dimensions?

KATE: Certainly.

ALBERT: Lake Superior is 360 miles long, with an average width of eightyfive miles. It has a shore line of 1,500 miles, and an area of 32,000 square miles. It drains a territory of at least 100,000 square miles, and its bottom is 200 feet lower than the level of the ocean. Its depth is about 800 feet in the deepest por

tions.

These, of course, are guide-book facts; but they are necessary to know, if we would have a fair idea of our subject.

The scenery around this lake is rocky and picturesque, and there are not a few associations connected with it which make it very interesting to the tourist.

I have three views only for your inspection, but they are of scenes which, on more than one account, are peculiarly memorable. They show us portions of what are known as the Pictured Rocks. These rocks extend for about five miles along the southern shore at the widest part of the lake, and derive their name from the different colors distributed in regular strata or lines upon their seaward

surface. These bands of brilliant color are produced by the percolation of water through the porous sandstone. The water is impregnated with iron and copper, and on its exposure to the air conveys a tone or tint to the cliff. The rocks themselves are from one to three hundred feet high, and have been buffeted and beaten by the action of the winds and waves into all manner of grotesque and fantastic shapes. They descend precipitously into the water, with little or no intervening beach, so that to inspect them thoroughly one has to land and take a sail or row boat.

Here we have a view of Grand Chapel rocks, which I see the artist has given us with all the surroundings of a thunder-storm. It looks a weird and awful place. The roof of the chapel is arched and supported by beautiful columns, and a broken column inside has the appearance of a pulpit or altar. The roof is crowned with trees and shrubs.

Speaking of thunder-storms I ought to say that Lake Superior is very subject to them, and indeed to storms of all kinds, and that their effect is plainly visible along its coasts and headlands. The imagination of the Indians peopled this region with all kinds of evil spirits, and made it the scene of violent conflicts. Some of the Indian traditions and legends have been gathered skillfully together by Longfellow in "The Song of Hiawatha," of which we may perhaps hear something by and by from another member of this club.

MR. GOLDUST: It is creditable to the person who invented the names for these places that so respectable and pious a title has been selected for the rock we have just been looking at. It is a decided change for the better from the Satanic or Titanic nomenclature one expects to find in such regions as these.

MR. MERRIMAN: We must remember that the region of Lake Superior was early visited by Christian missionaries of the Catholic persuasion, and probably the circumstance you notice may be due to their early presence on the field. I am not a Catholic, but I think there is much to admire, and even to revere, in the missions of the Jesuit Fathers to the North American Indians. We have, among

the many islands of this lake, The Apostles, The St. Ignace, and Pio (or Pius) islands.

ALBERT: My second view is of a picturesque cascade a little to the west of the Chapel. It is a small affair compared with some cataracts we have lately vis