Hamilton, Scourge, 1813, Lake Ontario

Preserved in the cold and murky depths, shipwrecks are messengers from some of the most fascinating eras of Canada's past. The Scourge was a former Canadian merchant schooner captured by the Americans before the War of 1812 and outfitted for battle. In 1813, it and the Hamilton, an American merchant vessel re-equipped as a gunboat, took part in attacks on York, now Toronto, and on Fort George. On 8 August 1813, they sank in a storm off Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario. The main design elements of the four stamps are the hull of the San Juan, the figurehead from the Hamilton, the wheel from the Breadalbane and the bell from the Ericsson. Each object is evidence of that ship's passage through Canadian waters. Together, they share a common theme - the study of historic shipwrecks. Louis-André Rivard, a Montreal designer, has linked these elements visually by symbolically incorporating the reference grid used in archeological investigations. In the background can be seen the air bubbles so familiar to enthusiasts of the spectacular activity of underwater exploration.