Gazette Of The United States

PHILADELPHIA. December 18.

A CORRESPONDENT has lately perused the publication of a letter giving a curious account of the rising of the waters in Lake Ontario, which, from their continual advances, have alarmed the inhabitants around its borders to a great degree, as several buildings which stood at a convenient distance from its ancient boundaries now stand even feet under water. He takes this opportunity to remark that the tide waters in general on the eastern coast of North America seem at present to be gradually gaining on the land, which is most perceivable in high northern latitudes. With a view to ascertain this matter, he has collected a great number of concurring accounts, among which is a certificate, dated 19th of May, 1788, from a certain Joseph Rice, an intelligent man, who was questioned on this account, the same who brought through these States a moose deer, which he caught to the northward, who offered in the presence of several credible witnesses to swear to the truth of his assertions, which are as follow—That he, the said Joseph Rice, when at home, resides on the banks of Annapolis river, in Nova-Scotia, about 35 miles from the mouth thereof—that along this river are large bodies of ground which show the stumps and roots of trees, an incredible space below the common high-water mark—that the waters continue to rise higher every year—that he had often heard an elderly person declare, that they had risen so much there, that the tides extend now 50 miles higher up Annapolis river than formerly.