And now arose the question, "Where are we? What lake is this? Can it be
the Ontario, or is it the Rice Lake? Can yonder shores be those of the
Americans, or are they the hunting-grounds of the dreaded Indians?" Hector
remembered having often heard his father say that the Ontario was like an
inland sea, and the opposite shores not visible unless in some remarkable
state of the atmosphere, when they had been occasionally discerned by the
naked eye, while here they could distinctly see objects on the other side,
the peculiar growth of the trees, and even flights of wild fowl winging
their way among the rice and low bushes on its margin. The breadth of the
lake from shore to shore could not, they thought, exceed three or four
miles; while its length, in an easterly direction, seemed far greater
beyond--what the eye could take in. [Footnote: The length of the Rice Lake,
from its headwaters near Black's Landing to the mouth of the Trent, is said
to be twenty-five miles; its breadth from north to south varies from three
to six.]
They now quitted the lofty ridge, and bent their steps towards the lake.
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