Windmill Point, on the St. Lawrence River

The picture on this page, drawn for us by Mr. Kilburn, prints a scene of rare beauty. The broad and brimming river, which mirrors the windmill and the trees, bears on its bosom a variety of water craft, from the swift and elegant steamer that flashes past with the speed of an arrow, down to the clumsy and cumbrous raft which follows the course of the current, a specimen of which is seen in the foreground of our illustration. There are immense numbers of these rafts to be seen at every turn of the river. The broad-built sloop in the foreground is loaded with loose hay, on its way to market. Yet this tranquil scene, the image of rural repose, and seemingly formed for poetic musing or artistic contemplation, was once the theatre of deadly strife. Windmill Point is about a mile below the village of Prescott, in Canada, and here a severe engagement occurred between the Canadian patriots, under the command of Von Schultz, and the English troops, on the 13th of November, 1838. The patriots succeeded in establishing themselves in the windmill and the adjacent stone houses. After fighting three or four days, a few made their escape and the remainder surrendered. The buildings, of which the walls are still standing, were then burned. The beautiful river on which Windmill Point is situated is one of the most important in this country, forming the outlet of the great chain of lakes which lie between the United States and Canada. It may be considered as descending from Lake Superior, and passing through Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a distance of 2000 miles, draining an area of over 500,000 square miles. In some places, comparatively narrow, below Quebec it enters a gulf 100 miles across. It is navigable for ships of the line 400 miles to Quebec, and for ships of 600 tons to Montreal, and onward through a series of ship canals for passing the falls and rapids into the lakes. The Welland Canal, which unites the waters of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie by means of a navigable channel round the Falls of Niagara, is a work of very great magnitude, and constructed at a cost of about $1,000,000. These canals are on the Canadian side, and are the product of British capital and enterprise.