Joseph to Niles and Constantine, a distance of 120 miles, to which place the St. Joseph River is navigable. Stages also run to Niles and Dowagiac, connecting with trains on the Michigan Central Railroad.

St. Joseph River rises in the southern portion of Michigan and Northern Indiana, and is about 250 miles long. Its general course is nearly westward; is very serpentine, with an equable current, and flowing through a fertile section of country. There are to be found several flourishing villages on its banks. The principal are Constantine, Elkhart, South Bend, Niles, and Berrien.

NILES, situated on St. Joseph River, is 26 miles above its mouth by land, and 191 miles from Detroit by railroad route. This is a flourishing village, containing about 3,000 inhabitants, five churches, three hotels, several large stores and flouring mills; the country around producing large quantities of wheat and other kinds of grain. A small class of steamers run to St. Joseph below and other places above, on the river, affording great facilities to trade in this section of country.

The Ports extending from Grand Haven to Saginaw Bay are fully described in another portion of this work, as well as the bays and rivers falling into Lakes Michigan and Huron.

TRIP FROM CHICAGO TO MACKINAC AND SAUT STE MARIE.

ON starting from the steamboat wharf near the mouth of the Chicago River, the Marine Hospital and depôt of the Illinois Central Railroad are passed on the right, while the Lake House and lumber-yards are seen on the left or north side of the stream. The government piers, long wooden structures, afford a good entrance to the harbor; a light-house has been constructed on the outer end of the north pier, to guide vessels to the port.

The basin completed by the Illinois Central Railroad to facilitate commerce is a substantial work, extending southward for near half a mile. It affords ample accommodation for loading and unloading vessels, and transferring the freight to and from the railroad cars.

The number of steamers, propellers, and sailing vessels annually arriving and departing from the harbor of Chicago is very great; the carrying trade being destined to increase in proportionate ratio with the population and wealth pouring into this favored section of the Union.

On reaching the green waters of Lake Michigan, the city of Chicago is seen stretching along the shore for four or five miles, presenting a fine appearance from the deck of the steamer. The entrance to the harbor at the bar is about 200 feet wide. The bar has from ten to twelve feet water, the lake being subject to about two feet rise and fall. The steamers bound for Milwaukee and the northern ports usually run along the west shore of the lake within sight of land, the banks rising from thirty to fifty feet above the water.*

The thermometer stood at 700 Fahrenheit, Sept. 26, 1854, the day being thick and foggy with little or no wind.

LAKE MICHIGAN is about seventy miles average width, and 340 miles in extent from Michigan City, Ind., on the south, to the Strait of Mackinac on the north; it presents a great expanse of water, now traversed by steamers and other vessels of a large class running to the Saut Ste Marie and Lake Superior; to Collingwood, Can.; to Detroit, Mich.; to Cleveland Ohio; and to Buffalo, N. Y. From Chicago "to Buffalo the distance is about 1,000 miles by water; while from Chicago to Superior City, at the head of Lake Superior, or Fond du Lac, the distance is about the same, thus affording two excursions of 1,000 miles each over four of the great lakes or inland seas of America, in steamers of from 1,000 to 2,000 tons burden. During the summer and early autumn months the waters of this lake are comparatively calm, affording safe navigation. But late in the year, and during the winter and early spring months, the navigation of this and the other great lakes is very dangerous.

WAUKEGAN, Lake Co., Ill., 3 miles north of Chicago, is handsomely situated on elevated ground, gradually rising to 50 or 60 feet above the water. Here are two piers, a light-house, several large storehouses, and a neat and thriving town containing about 6,000 inhabitants, six churches, a bank, several well-kept hotels, thirty stores, and two steam-flouring mills.

KENOSHA, Wis., 52 miles from Chicago, is elevated 30 or 40 feet above the lake. Here is a small harbor, a light-house, storehouses, mills, etc. The town has a population of about 5,000 inhabitants, surrounded by a fine back country. Here is a good hotel, a bank, several churches, and a number of stores and manufacturing establishments doing a large amount of business. The Kenosha and Beloit Railroad, when finished, will connect at the latter place with a railroad running to Madison, and thence to the Mississippi River.

The City of RACINE, Wis., 62 miles from Chicago and 25 miles south of Milwaukee, is built on an elevation some forty or fifty feet above the surface of the lake. It is a handsome and flourishing place. Here is a light-house, piers, storehouses,

etc., situated near the water, while the city contains some fine public buildings and private residences. The population is about 9,000, and is rapidly increasing. Racine is the second city in the State in commerce and population, and possesses a fine harbor. Here are located the county buildings, fourteen churches, several hotels, and numerous stores of different kinds.

The Racine and Mississippi Railroad, extending from this place to Beloit, 68 miles, will be continued to the Mississippi River at Savanna. The Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad also runs through the town.

The City of MILWAUKEE, Wis., 86 miles from Chicago, by railroad and steamboat route, is handsomely situated on rising ground on both sides of the Milwaukee River, at its entrance into Lake Michigan. In front of the city is a bay or indentation of the lake, affording a good harbor, except in strong easterly gales. The harbor is now being improved, and will doubtless be rendered secure at all times of the season. The river affords an extensive water-power, capable of giving motion to machinery of almost any required amount. The city is built upon beautiful slopes, descending toward the river and lake. It has a court-house, city hall, a United States land-office, the University Institute, a college for females, three academies, three orphan asylums, thirty churches, several well-kept hotels, extensive ranges of stores, and several large manufacturing establishments. The city is lighted with gas, and well supplied with good water. Its exports of lumber, agricultural produce, etc., are immense, giving profitable employment to a large number of steamers and other lake craft, running to different ports on the upper lakes, Detroit, Buffalo, etc. The growth of this city has been astonishing; twenty years since its site was a wilderness; now it contains over 30,000 inhabitants, and of a class inferior to no section of the Union for intelligence, sobriety, and industry.

The future of Milwaukee it is hard to predict; here are centering numerous railroads finished and in course of construction, extending south to Chicago, west to the Mississippi River,

and north to Lake Superior, which in connection with the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, terminating at Grand Haven, 80 miles distant by water, and the lines of steamers running to this port, will altogether give an impetus to this favored city, blessed with a good climate and soil, which the future alone can reveal.

During the past year an unusual number of fine buildings have been erected, and the commerce of the port has amounted to $60,000,000. The bay of Milwaukee offers the best advantages for the construction of a harbor of refuge of any point on Lake Michigan. The city has expended over $100,000 in the construction of a harbor; this needs extension and completion, which will no doubt be effected.

PORT WASHINGTON, Ozaukee Co., Wis., 25 miles north of Milwaukee, is a flourishing place, and capital of the county. The village contains besides the public buildings, several churches and hotels, twelve stores, three mills, an iron foundry, two breweries and other manufactories. The population is about 2,500. Here is a good steamboat landing, from which large quantities of produce are annually shipped to Chicago and other lake ports.

The unfortunate steamer Niagara, while on her passage from Collingwood to Chicago, was destroyed by fire off Port Washington in September, 1856, whereby sixty lives were lost

SHEBOYGAN, Wis, 50 miles north of Milwaukee and 130 miles from Chicago, is a thriving place, containing about 5,000 inhabitants. Here are seven churches, several public houses and stores, together with a light-house and piers; the harbor being improved by government works. Large quantities of lumber and agricultural products are shipped from this port. The country in the interior is fast settling with agriculturists, the soil and climate being good.* A railroad is about being constructed from this place to FOND DU LAC, 42 miles west, lying

*September 27, 1854, the thermometer stood at 60° Fahr., with a light wind from the north.