quarters of a mile in length, but not so impetuous as entirely to obstruct the navigation downward. The southern point of lake Huron runs into a strait, which soon after enlarges into a small lake called St. Claire, from which Funs another strait named Detroit. The latter discharges itself into lake Erie, the distance between which and lake Huron is eighty miles.

LAKE ERIE extends about three hundred miles from west to north-east, and in its widest part is about seventy miles in breadth from north to south. Its navigation is more dangerous than that of the other lakes, on account of many high lands on its borders projecting into the waters, insomuch that, when sudden storms arise, canoes and boats are frequently lost, there not being any place to afford shelter or retreat. Several islands near its western extremity are so infested by venomous snakes, that it is highly dangerous to land on them. It discharges its waters, at the north-east extremity, into lake Niagara.

LAKE MICHIGAN, to the west of lake Huron, is long and narrow, extending nearly two hundred miles from north-west to south-east, and having a breadth of forty miles from north to south. Between these two lakes a peninsula is formed, which runs to a point at the northwest; and on the same side is a straight about forty miles wide, called the GRAND TRAVERSE, within which are several islands inhabited by Indians. This strait leads to a long and narrow bay, called Green Bay, into which flows the Fox River, rising near the Mississippi, and having its banks inhabited by a powerful tribe of Indians.

LAKE ONTARIO is the smallest of the five great Canadian lakes. Its form is nearly oval, its greatest length being from north-east to south-west, and its circumference about six hundred miles. Near to the south-east part it receives the waters of the Oswego river, and on the north-east discharges itself into the river Cataraqui, communicating with the river St. Laurence.

To the eastward of these great lakes, are lakes GEORGE and CHAMPLAIN. The most northern lake visited by the traders, is lake BOURBON, extending to 51° north latitude; and to the south of this is lake WINNEPEEK Communicating with the former by a strait. From this lake a river extends to lake Superior.

In the southern part of the American continent, lake Mayacaybo is the only one deserving a particular notice. It communicates with the gulf of Venezuela, by a strait, on the western coast of which the city of Mayacaybo is situated. This lake is eighty leagues in circumference, and contributes equally to the beauty and convenience of the province of Venezuela, with which it is encompassed.— The gulf of this lake, which terminates in the Caribbean sea, extends about a hundred and ten miles from south to north.

ASIATIC LAKES.

LAKE ASPHALTITES.

THIS Lake is more usually known by the name of the DEAD SEA. It lies in Palestine, and is about fifty miles in length, and twelve or thirteen in breadth. It is surrounded by lofty mountains, and receives the river Jordan. It covers the ground on which stood the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, buried, according to Strabo's report, by an earthquake, accompanied by frequent eruptions of fire, or, according to the scriptural expression, by a rain of sulphur. This lake is rendered remarkable by the great quantity of the bituminous and inflammable substance, called Asphaltos, floating on its surface. This substance, having been thrown up from the bottom in a melted state, by the agency of subterraneous heat, and having become solid by the coldness of the water, is collected on the margin of the lake.

Doctor Clarke, in his recent travels, has removed the superstitious prejudices so long entertained relative to the Dead Sea, of which he gives the following animated description.

"The Dead Sea below, upon our left, appeared so near to us, that we thought we could ride thither in a very short space of time. Still nearer stood a mountain upon its western shore, resembling in its form, the cone of Vesuvius, and having also a crater upon its top, which was plainly discernible. The distance, however, is much greater than it appears to be; the magnitude of the objects beheld in this fine prospect, causing them to appear less remote than

they really are. The atmosphere was remarkably clear and serene; but we saw none of those clouds of smoke, which, by some writers, are said to exhale from the surface of Lake Asphaltites, nor from any neighbouring mountain. Every thing about it was, in the highest degree, grand and awful. Its desolate, although majestic, features, are well suited to the tales related concerning it by the inhabitants of the country, who all speak of it with terror, seeming to shrink from the narrative of its deceitful allurements and deadly influence. Beautiful fruit,' say they, 'grows upon its shores, which is no sooner touched, than it becomes dust and bitter ashes.' In addition to its physical horrors, the region round is said to be more perilous, owing to the ferocious tribes wandering upon the shores of the lake, than any other part of the Holy Land. A passion for the marvellous has thus affixed, for ages, false characteristics to the sublimest associations of natural scenery in the whole world for although it be now known that the waters of this lake, instead of proving destructive of animal life, swarm with myriads of fishes; that instead of falling victims to its exhalations, certain birds make it their peculiar resort; that shells abound upon its shores; that the pretended fruit, containing ashes,' is as natural and as admirable a production of nature, as the rest of the vegetable kingdom; that bodies sink or float in it, according to the proportion of their gravity to the gravity of the water; that its vapours are not more insalubrious than those of any other lake; that innumerable Arabs people the neighbouring district; notwithstanding all these facts are now well established, even the latest authors by whom it is mentioned and one among the number, from whose writings some of these truths have been derived, continue to fill their descriptions with imaginary horrors and ideal phantoms, which though less substantial than the black perpendicular rocks,' around it, 'cast their lengthened shadows over the waters of the Dead Sea.' The ancients, as it is observed by the traveller now alluded to, were much better acquainted with it than are the moderns; and, it may be added the time is near at hand, when it will be more philosophically examined. The present age is not that in which countries so situated, can long continue unexplored. The thirst of knowledge, and the love of travel, have at

tained to such a pitch, that every portion of the globe will be ransacked for their gratification."

THE CASPIAN SEA.

THIS large body of water, improperly called a sea, as it neither ebbs nor flows, nor has any visible connexion with the ocean, is the greatest lake in the eastern hemisphere. It is bounded on the north by the country of the Calmuc Tartars, on the east by Bucharia and a part of Persia, on the south by another part of Persia, and on the west by Persia and Circassia. Its length, from north to south, is about four hundred miles, and its greatest breadth, from east to west, three hundred. Within the last fifty years the water has risen so considerably, that it has made great inroads on the Russian side, both to the east and west of the Volga, and has rendered the adjacent country extremely marshy.

AFRICAN LAKES.

THE only lake deserving of notice in this arid and sandy quarter of the globe, is that of Dambia, in Upper Ethiopia. In describing the Nile, it has already been mentioned that it is considered as the source of that interesting river. This lake contains twenty-one islands, several of which are very fertile, more particularly the largest, called Tzana, the name likewise bestowed by the natives on the lake itself. Its greatest extent, in a north-east and south-west direction, is about ninety miles, and its breadth thirty-six.

EUROPEAN LAKES.

THESE Lakes, although much inferior in size to several of those above described, merit a brief description on account of the phenomena they occasionally present.

LAKE LAGODA, in the western part of the Russian empire, lies between the gulf of Finland and lake Onega, and is one hundred and fifty miles in length, and ninety in breadth. It is the largest lake in Europe; but is so full of quicksands, which are constantly moved from place to place, by the frequent storms to which it is subject, that very dangerous shelves are formed along its course. This led Peter the Great to cause a canal, nearly seventy English miles in rength, seventy feet in breadth, and about eleven feet in

depth, to be cut at a vast expense, from the south-west extremity of the lake to the sea. The completion of this canal, which has twenty-five sluices, or locks, and into which several rivers flow, was a labour of fourteen years. To keep it in repair is the constant employment of a regiment of soldiers, who for that purpose are stationed on different parts of its banks. LAKE ONEGA is situated between this lake and the White Sea, and communicates with the former by the river SwIR. It is one hundred and twenty miles in length, and in breadth between fifty and sixty. Notwithstanding its waters are fresh, it is frequented by

seals.

The other principal Lakes of the north of Europe are the following. LAKE PEIPUS, in Livonia, nearly seventy miles in length, and forty in breadth, runs into the gulf of Finland by the river Narva, and is celebrated for the abundance of fishes with which it swarms.-In Sweden Proper, which abounds with lakes, the most considerable is LAKE MALER, situated between Upland, Sudermanland, and Westmanland. It is seventy two miles in length, and is said to contain not less than twelve hundred and ninety islands. It communicates with the sea by the mouths of the north and south rivers, which enter it near Stockholm, and its banks are in every part beautifully diversified.-LAKE WETTER is the most remarkable of the twenty-three lakes to be found in East Gothland. It is ninety miles in length, fifteen in breadth, and has but one outlet, by the river Motala, although it receives upwards of forty small streams. This lake lies a hundred feet higher than either the Baltic or the North Sea, and is deep and clear, but very boisterous in the winter season. On its banks are found agates, cornelians, and other precious stones.

THE LAKE of CONSTANCE is one of the great boundaries which separate Switzerland from Germany. Its broadest part stretches into Switzerland; while towards Germany it divides itself into two arms, one called THE ZELLERSEE, or Lake of Zell, and the other the Bodmen, or Lake of Uberlingen. In the former is the island of Reichenau, three miles in length, and one in breadth, abounding with fine vineyards, and all kinds of fruit; and in the latter, the small island of Meinau. From Bregentz to Zell this lake is likewise distinguished by two appellations, the part