Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 9).djvu/329

 Brokeville is a new town on the north side of the river. The name is in honour of the British General Broke who fell in the late war.[166] The houses {297} are chiefly of stone, and have a neat appearance. In consequence of the settlements forming to the northward, Brokeville is of some importance as a landing place, and in its trade.

Prescott is a considerable town, with a small fort on the Canadian side of the river. It is a curious fact, that the thriving town of Ogdensburg, on the United States shore, is directly opposite, and though within the range of British cannon, is without defensive works, and without a garrison.

There being a number of rapids in the river between Prescott and Montreal, the intermediate navigation is performed by small flat-bottomed vessels, called Durham boats, which carry about three hundred barrels of flour each. These boats have no other decks than narrow foot-ways round the gunwales, leaving the middle space open, where the cargo is piled up.

On the 21st I left Prescott in a Durham boat,[167] in which there were three passengers besides myself. Two of these were Americans from Arkansaw river, on their way for Quebec, a journey of 2100 miles, and the other an Englishman, who had gone out to see the lands in Upper Canada, and was on his return to England, where he intends to give up a small farm that he holds in lease, and remove his family to the back woods near Kingston. From hear-*