Note 145 — Chapter III

Lake Ontario, which lies nearest to the Atlantic, is 172 miles in length, about 60 miles in extreme breadth, and 483 miles in circumference. Lake Erie is about 265 miles in length, from 30 to 60 miles in breadth, and 529 miles in circumference; while Lake Huron is 240 miles long, from 186 to 220 miles wide, and 1000 miles in circumference. Michigan, which is connected with Lake Huron by a navigable strait, is 300 miles in length, 75 miles in width, and 920 miles in circumference, having a superficies of 16,200 square miles. But Lake Superior is the largest of all the lakes, being no less than 360 miles in length, and 140 miles in breadth, with a circumference of 1116 miles; the line of coast formed by the margins of these lakes extends to upwards of 4000 miles, while they are all, nearly throughout their entire length and breadth, navigable for vessels of the largest description, their depth varying, except within a short distance of the shores, from 12 to 200 fathoms.