KINGSTON, a flourishing town of Canada West, on the
N.E. shore of Lake Ontario, county of Frontenac, 177
miles E.N.E. of Toronto. It is substantially built, chiefly
of stone, and contains, among other public institutions, a
handsome market-house (containing town-hall, &c.), a Pres-
byterian college, a mechanics' institute, an hospital, &c.
Several weekly papers are published. The harbour, which
is sheltered by several islands, and protected by two bat-
teries, affords good anchorage up to 3 fathoms. The trade
of the port is considerable, and increasing. The value of
imports in 1854 was £276,397, of exports £96,570, rank-
ing it fifth among Canadian ports, their order being Mon-
treal, Quebec, Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston. It is in the
line of the Grand Trunk Railway, and at the head of the
Rideau Canal and Cataract River, here crossed by a bridge
1800 feet long. On the opposite bank is Fort Henry.
As a military position Kingston commands the source of
the central St. Lawrence; and the neighbouring inlet of
Navy Bay is the principal naval station on the lake. Pop.
(1842) 11,585.