 outline and
purity of water it is fully their equal; and in the number and disposition of
its isles and islets much superior to them all together. There are said to be
some hundreds of islands in a sheet of water, less than thirty miles long. The
narrows which connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded with
islands to such a degree as to leave passages between them, frequently of only a
few feet in width. The lake, itself, varies in breadth from one to three miles.
    The state of New-York is remarkable for the number and beauty of its lakes.
One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while Champlain
stretches nearly a hundred miles along another. Oneida, Cayuga, Canandaigua,
Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty miles in length, while those of a
size smaller are without number. On most of these lakes, there are now beautiful
villages, and on many of them steam-boats.
 
25 These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians. They often
address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice, or commending
their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude, or the reverse, in
suffering.
 
26 A dish composed of cracked corn and beans. It is much used also by the
whites. By corn is meant maize.
 
27 The Americans sometimes called their tutelar saint Tamenay, a corruption of
the name of the renowned chief here introduced. There are many traditions which
speak of the character and power of Tamenund.
 
28 William Penn was termed Miquon by the Delawares, and, as he never used
violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation for probity
passed into a proverb. The American is justly proud of the origin of his nation,
which is perhaps unequalled in the history of the world, but the Pennsylvanian
and Jerseyman have more reason to value themselves in their ancestors than the
natives of any other state, since no wrong was done the original owners of the
soil.
 
29 Turtle.
 
30 A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is said, in
the language of the country, to be blazed. The term is strictly English; for a
horse is said to be blazed when it has a white mark.
 
31 The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being little
underbrush, and few tangled brakes. The plan of Hawk-eye is the one which has
always proved the most successful in the battles between the whites and the
Indians. Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami, received
