Erie_1

Erie, Lake, one of the great group of North American Lakes, lies between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. Its direction is N.E. and S.W., between lat. 41° 30' and 42° 50' N., and long. 78° 53' and 83° 25' W., its southern shore being in the United States and its northern in Canada. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and St. Clair drain into it by way of the Detroit and St. Clair rivers in the S.W., and its own waters flow into Lake Ontario by the Niagara river in the N.E. Of its several islands only one - Point Pele - is inhabited. With an area of 9,600 square miles, it has a length of 265 miles and a breadth of 63 miles in the centre, has an extreme depth of 45 fathoms, is 565 feet above sea level, and 30 feet below the level of Lake Huron. Its navigation is difficult and dangerous in stormy weather, as readers of Fenimore Cooper's Pathfinder will remember. The banks vary in height up to 100 feet, and there is a considerable traffic upon it. The chief harbours are Buffalo, Erie, and Cleveland in the United States, and Port Dover, Port Stanley, and Barwell in Canada.