Page:Aristopia (1895).pdf/198

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On the shore of Lake Superior another post, called Fort Neenah, was established and another saw-mill erected. A vessel of about twenty tons was built to ply between Fort Neenah and the mines, where a post called Fort Copper was established.

In this systematic and thorough manner a line of communication was established between the western settlements of Aristopia and the far-off northern mines, which left only two short journeys overland to be made. Thus, before the end of the seventeenth century, the white sails of staunch vessels, manned by English-speaking crews, could be seen on these lonely inland seas, of whose very existence the people of England were ignorant, supposing that in their place rolled the salt waves of the great South Sea.

This extension of the outposts of Aristopia not only supplied the colony with a large amount of copper, but greatly increased its fur trade, by extending it into a new region. In this high northern latitude, too, the furs were of the best quality.

The determination which Ralph Morton took to occupy with his colony the interior instead of the coast region, with the results that flowed