boundary which was clear and well defined, and adopted the river St. Croix, which has produced so much dissension and discussion. The map clearly shews, that the Ponobscot was the preferable boundary, in every sense of the word; and we have only now to regret the passiveness, and neglect of British interests, which our commissioner displayed on that point. It is equally conspicuous in his consenting that a line, drawn due north from the source of the river St. Croix, to the highlands, should be the boundary; without ascertaining how far that line would be convenient and proper in its whole course. In fact, it has turned out quite the reverse; because the communication between Canada and New Brunswick is completely cut off by it—the route for many miles passing through American territory. This ought to have been looked into, and the line, instead of going directly north to the Mountains, ought to have turned to the westward, so as to allow a free communication between New Brunswick and Canada, along the only route practicable and convenient, viz. by the river St. John, and the lake Timiskuata.

This circumstance is not generally known; but ministers ought to attend to it, and remedy it, if possible; for, in case of any disturbance with the Americans, it may be of very great consequence to preserve a communication between New Brunswick and Canada. Even now, the regular post for the conveyance of mails and dispatches from Nova Scotia to Canada, passing through a part of the American territory, is liable to be stopped by that government, either from political motives, or from any other cause.

The route, at present, from New Bruns wick to Canada, is up the river St. John, in the bay of Fundy, through the woods towards the river St. Lawrence. From St. John's to Frederic Town, the distance is 90 miles; from thence, to the grand falls, 180 miles; from thence, to the settlement of Madawaska, 45 miles; from thence, to the source of the river St. John, the lake Timiskuata, 45 miles; from thence, cross a portage, or tract, in a very rugged country, to the Riviere des Caps, in the St. Lawrence, 36 miles. 36 miles. This last part of the jour

ney must be performed on foot, there be

ing no regular formed road; the previous part of the journey can be performed in canoes. From the Riviere des Caps to Quebec, the distance is 121 miles; there is a good carriage road, and you can travel post.

In many cases, the making a ridge of mountains a boundary betwixt two countries, may be very distinct and well defined; such as the Pyrenees, for instance, where the course of the mountains is continued in one undivided chain; the ground, the water of which runs into France, belongs to France; and the ground, the water of which runs into Spain, belongs to Spain but the highlands, mentioned in the American treaty, are, from every thing I can learn, neither so boldly marked, nor continued in that undivided manner, so as to make them a boundary sufficiently distinct. Such as they are, however, we must abide by them; and it is ever to be regretted, that, since that principle was adopted in one part of the line, it should not have been adopted in another, viz. the borders of Lake Champlain, which discharges itself into the river St. Lawrence, and naturally belongs to Canada.

Had the north side of the Vermont mountains, and the lake, as high as Skeensboro, or even Crown Point, been included in Canada (and which, I have been assured, would have been granted had it been insisted upon), the advantage to Canada now would have been very great; and if, instead of the line 45, the line of boundary had run from Skeensboro, or even Crown Point, due west, it would have included the whole river St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and rendered the river infinitely more valuable to Canada. At present, it is a line of boundary for a considerable way, and would, in case of war, be of no use to either party.

The distance from the mouth of the river St. Croix, to the termination of the line north, in the highlands, separating the waters which run into the St. Lawrence, from those which run into the Atlantic, is from 3 to 400 miles; from thence, south-west, along the line of highlands (for the American geographers have laid down a very pretty chain of mountains in the very course they could wish them to be), to where the Connecticut river crosses the pa

rallel 45, the distance is about 400 miles; from thence, the parallel 45 crosses the lower end of Lake Champlain, and comes to the St. Lawrence a little above Lake St. Francis, a distance of about 150 miles; so that there is a line of boundary of from 900 to 1000 miles between Lower Canada, New Brunwick, and the United States. The line which separates Upper Canada from the United States is continued from the parallel 45, up the St. Lawrence, through the Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, and so on to the north-west, through an immense extent of country, known only to the Indians, who wander through it, and to the North-west Company, who go to trade with them.

It is particularly well known to Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who, with a laudable ambition for discoveries, and a bold and manly line of conduct, accomplished in 1793 a journey to the Pacific Ocean, over a country that had never been trodden by the foot of a European. By this journey, and another which he made to the Northern Ocean, he ascertained two very