426 COLOXIAL AND TRANSATLANTIC ferry from to La Prairie, the usual route to the United States, was crossed in a wooden canoe. Passengers, horses, and carriages, are at present car¬ ried over in spacious and beautiful steam-boats. The Uttawa, and the lakes of Canada , are also navigated by steam-vessels. A steam-ship, of about 1200* tons, belonging to the Lawrence Steam Naviga¬ tion Company, is nearly ready to navigate the seas between and Quebec , touching at the points marked in the general map. There are two steam¬ boats belonging to the General Mining Company at Pictou ; there is another employed at Halifax ; and three at John's, New Brunswick ,—one of which goes daily between that city and Fredericton , another crosses to Annapolis, from which stage-coaches run to Halifax , and a third plies between John's, Andrew's, and the United States. All this has been done in a few years; and as certainly as the popu¬ lation of our colonies will increase, so will also the number of vessels propelled by steam power. A company was formed in , under an act of Parliament, in 1825, for the purpose of navigating the with steam-packets. In 1826, a great num¬ ber of the shareholders of that year either withdrew or sold out. The fine steam-ship they purchased was also sold, and bought by the Dutch government, who employed it successfully between Holland and Curac ^oa. The American and Colonial Steam Navigation Company then obtained an amended act, when they published a prospectus. The following extracts from * This splendid ship was launched at Quebec in April last (1831.) 2