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voyageurs, to support by their evidence the cause of their masters. The appearance of York on this occasion strongly suggested what is related of Edinburgh, when the rival barons and their followings used to beard the monarch in his capital; and when the brawls of half civilized mountaineers, endangered the lives of the citizens. A very trifling collision between two of these canoemen, might have been no less perilous to the inhabitants of York; for in the remote regions from which they come, no law is known but that of the club or the knife, and no Highland clans could hold each other more at feud, than the companies do each other.

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Probably I lost little by failing to obtain lodg

ings at York, for after rambling about for an hour,

BURNING OF YORK.

111

I believe that I left little unvisited except the garrison. The town consists of one street lying parallel to the lake, and of the beginnings of two or three more at right angles to it. I saw only one church, which had been very much out of repair, but some workmen were employed in putting glass into the windows. The garrison is to the right of the town, and consists of a barrack flanked by a battery and two block houses; they are all of white-washed wood, and have a showy appearance from the water. The harbour of York might be a good one if a well sheltered bay were all that were necessary to form it, but the entrance is narrow and difficult, and in time of war it is completely defenceless.

The burning of York by the Americans during last war, with the public buildings, was the ostensible justification of our conduct at Washington. It certainly sounds like a matter of importance when we hear of the CAPITAL OF UPPER CANADA being destroyed, and the buildings appropriated to the TWO HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT; but when the Capital is found to contain little more than a single small street, and the Parliament house is discovered to have been only a wooden one, the transition is something like that from the sublime to the ridiculous. The conduct of the Americans at York and Niagara cannot be defended-the system was a most savage one, and to them belongs the disgrace of having begun it, but let us know the

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real extent of their outrage, and while we read
that they burned York and Niagara, let us not
forget that we retaliated by burning Lewiston and
Buffalo, long before the attack on Washington was
projected.

After lying at anchor for the night, we next
morning worked out of York bay, and made sail
for Kingston, where we arrived the following day
about one o'clock.

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Kingston enjoys a favourable position both for commercial and warlike operations. It stands at

NATURAL ADVANTAGES-NAVY-YARD.

113

the lower end of lake Ontario, where the waters contract into the commencement of the St. Lawrence; and it is the great concentrating point of intercourse between the upper and lower provinces. The natural advantages of the position have been greatly strengthened by fortifications; the harbour is deep, safe, and commodious, and although York enjoys the rank of the capital, and the presence of the legislature, Kingston will ever be the head quarters of all relating to military, naval, and commercial affairs. Its appearance from the water is very imposing. The town extends about three quarters of a mile, along a point of land at the narrow entrance to a small bay; a peninsula intervenes between this and a second little bay, beyond which is a corresponding projection on the opposite shore.

Within the entrance to the larger bay is the harbour of the town, which is generally crowded with schooners, Durham boats, and batteaux. The intermediate peninsula is occupied by the dockyard, where the frames of two 74 gun ships are seen on the stocks, and beyond them piles of heavy cannon, gun carriages, and shot, with an armoury and various buildings connected with the naval department. In the basin which succeeds, are six or eight ships of war, dismantled and laid up; among which are, one of 102 guns, two frigates of 50, and one of 36. On the brow of the projecting point below this basin, is a strong fort, from

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whose battlements the British colours are displayed. Smaller batteries line the shore in front of the dock-yard and the town, and contribute not a little to the gallant bearing which the settlement exhibits.

Kingston is built partly of dark stone, and partly of wood. The wooden houses predominate, but there are enough of the others to give the town a character decidedly different from that which prevails among those in the United States. Its public buildings consist of a Government and Court House, an Episcopalian and a Romish church, with a market house, jail, and hospital. The inn at which I lodged was a most comfortable one; and in its internal management, the same system prevailed with which travellers are familiar at home.

Finding little to interest me in the town, I crossed by a ferry-boat to the navy-yard. Following a path from the shore I reached a large gate, over which G. R. appeared, in the well known double cypher which was borne, a few years ago, on the front of the soldiers' caps. Two officers, one naval the other military, were walking near it, and on requesting permission to enter, they introduced me to a more elderly gentleman who came up at the moment, and who they informed me was the master-builder. To what country do you belong?' said the old gentleman. To Scotland.' O then you may enter by all means;-I thought

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