and imports amount to hundreds of millions in value, and are still increasing at a most rapid rate. Since the continuation of the canal round the Sault of St. Mary, the annual value of exports and imports which pass through the Straits of Mackinaw is estimated at one hundred millions of dollars; and this commerce of the great lake will flow on till it exceeds that of the Caspian or the Black Sea, till its shores shall be lined with cities, and the story of Marquette, and the victory of Pontiac, become the classic legends of marveling boyhood. With these facts before us, it is no surprise to find that, while the immediate country around Old Mackinaw is yet a wilderness, an enterprising gentleman has laid out a city on the site of 'Old Mackinaw.' There was one laid out years before at the upper end of Lake Superior, and is now a large town, growing with great rapidity. At the Straits of Mackinaw, as well as the upper end of Lake Superior, there must be large cities to supply the demands of commerce. It is not a matter of speculation, but a necessity of nature. The same necessity has already created Buffalo, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis. The demand for such towns on the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, and especially at the Straits of Mackinaw, whose bay and Lake Michigan flow together, are obviously far greater than those which have already caused the growth of Buffalo and Chicago. They have grown to supply the commerce of comparatively limited districts. One means of testing this, is to apply radial lines to the site of any city existent or proposed, so as to include what naturally belongs to them, and thus compare them with one another. The radial lines of New York and Philadelphia extend across the ocean to Europe on one hand, and across the mountains to the valley of the Mississippi on the other. In looking to this fact, we are no longer surprised that New York has its millions of inhabitants, and Philadelphia its six hundred thousand.

"If we look to the radial lines of Chicago, we find that they are limited on the south by the competition of St. Louis, and on the north by Milwaukee. Yet Chicago, at the southern end of Lake Michigan, has risen to be a large city by a sudden

and extraordinary growth, arising from the rich though limited country about it. Apply these radial lines to Mackinaw, and we find that they naturally include all of Michigan, a large part of Wisconsin, and a large part of Canada West; but in reference to water navigation, no interior site in America is equal to that of Mackinaw. Here concentrate the navigation of eighty thousand quare miles of water surface, which has no common center but that of the Straits of Mackinaw. Two facts must be observed: That a commercial point which concentrates the trade of Lakes Superior and Michigan must lie within the circuit of their coasts; but there is no such point but Mackinaw. The other is, that the point of commerce which offers the shortest distance, and therefore the cheapest, to the great markets of the Atlantic, will be preferred. Mackinaw is five hundred miles nearer to Buffalo than is Fond du Lac, and three hundred miles nearer than Chicago. So it is the same distance nearer to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or the city of New York. It is on the south side only, through the peninsula of Michigan, and toward the States of Indiana and Ohio, that the position of Mackinaw seems deficient in communications. But we no sooner see this than we see also two great lines of railroad progressing from the south through the peninsula, toward Mackinaw. The one passes on the west side from Fort Wayne (Indiana), through Grand Rapids and Traverse Bay. The other through Lansing and Amboy; both terminating on the north at Mackinaw, and both by connection with Indiana and Ohio roads at Cincinnati on the south, whence they will soon be carried to the orange-growing shores of Florida. Thus may some future traveler be borne in a few hours from the soft air of the Southern Atlantic to the keen breezes of the north, and bathe his languid limbs in the clear, cold waters of Michigan.

"Thus briefly have we followed the facts presented by Mr. Strickland, till we find ourselves again standing on the site of 'Old Mackinaw ;' no more the single, lonely spot of civilization amid red warriors and Alpine forests, but just emerging to light, amid a wonderful growth of people, of commerce, of industry,

and art. The forests still stand, scarcely broken; but the sound of the advancing host, which is to level them with the ground, and build up the structures of civil society, can not be mistaken. They come with the heavy tread and confused noise of an army with banners.

"The growth of the American States, as we have said, is from the outer to the inner circles; from the shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific, from the Bay of St. Lawrence and the mouths of the Hudson and the Mississippi, toward the interior. Then we had Boston, New York, Quebec, and New Orleans, long before we had Pittsburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Chicago, which are the second growth when the wave flowed over the Alleghanies. Again the wave is flowing from the valleys of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, into the great central basin of the Lakes, which, lying in the very center of the North American Continent, are the last to receive, as they will ultimately concentrate, the great moving mass of humanity and civilization. The circles are growing narrower, and Mackinaw, which was the center of Indian and of missionary romance, will finally become one of the great centers of commercial growth and social progress, presenting the contrast between the solitudes of nature and the wild life of the Indian, on one hand, with the busy activity of modern society, its multitude of people, and the wonderful arts.

"The steady, uninterrupted growth of our country, which no other nation can now interrupt, affords at once the moral evidence that what we have seen of growth and development in the past will be exhibited in a progressive line through the future till ages have passed away. We have seen from the little settlements at Plymouth and Jamestown their gradual growth inward, till cities arose along our coasts which rival the largest of ancient nations. We have seen them, again, extending along the Ohio and the Mississippi, till great towns, filled with commerce and with arts, arose upon their banks. We have seen them enter the basin of the Lakes, till Buffalo spreads itself along the rapids of Niagara, till Chicago looms up in a day

and St. Paul looks down from the far north-west. Why should not this movement continue? What should interrupt it? We may imagine the beautiful shores of Huron and Superior alive with the chariots of commerce, and gleaming with the spires of beautiful towns. Here, where we have stood on the site of 'Old Mackinaw,' beholding its world of waters, we seem to see, shining in the morning sun, some metropolis of the lakes, some Byzantium, presiding over the seas which lave its shores. Here, perhaps, in those bright days of triumphant civilization, some pilgrim student may inquire for the grave of Marquette, may read the story of Pontiac, and lament the woes of that wild nation who once frequented the shores of Huron, and sung their last songs round the 'Pequod'e'non'ge' of the Indian, the Mackinaw of the whites."

ADDENDA.

For the third time we send forth this little volume to the world in the hope that it may edify and instruct those who are curious to know more about the Mackinac region.

At considerable expense we have added a number of views of various points of interest upon the Island. Arch and Sugar Loaf Rocks are duplicated. The smaller views of these rocks are from pencilings, while the larger are from actual photographs. Both are good. Sugar Loaf Rock is shown from two different points of observation, thus giving the reader a better idea of that wonderful rock than he could otherwise obtain.

Since this volume was first published and stereotyped, many improvements and changes have been made about the Island. The old agency building, described on page 128, and in which the author lived while preparing this work, has been burned down. Several fine new residences have been put up in different parts of the village, and the whole Island considerably improved.

Facilities for reaching the Island are also greatly improved. At one time during our stay upon the Island we were seven long weeks without a mail