Volume 2 — LETTER XXXII.

Description of Fort Chippeway.—Plan in meditation to cut a Canal to avoid the Portage at the Falls of Niagara.—Departure from Chippeway.—Intense Heat of the Weather.—Description of the Country bordering on Niagara River above the Falls.—Observations on the Climate of Upper Canada.—Rattlesnakes common in Upper Canada.—Fort Erie.—Miserable Accommodation there.—Squirrel hunting.—Seneka Indians.—Their Expertness at the Use of the Blow-gun.—Description of the Blow-gun.—Excursion to the Village of the Senekas.—Whole Nation absent.—Passage of a dangerous Sand Bar at the Mouth of Buffalo Creek.—Sail from Fort Erie.—Driven back by a Storm.—Anchor under Point Abineau.—Description of the Point.—Curious Sand Hills there.—Bear hunting.—How carried on.—Dogs, what Sort of, used.—Wind 136changes.—The Vessel suffers from the Storm whilst at Anchor.—Departure from Point Abineau.—General Description of Lake Erie.—Anecdote.—Reach the Islands at the Western End of the Lake.—Anchor there.—Description of the Islands.—Serpents of various Kinds found there.—Rattlesnakes.—Medicinal Uses made of them.—Fabulous Accounts of Serpents.—Departure from the Islands.—Arrival at Malden.—Detroit River.

Malden, October.

FORT CHIPPEWAY, from whence my last letter was dated, is a small stockaded fort, situated on the borders of a creek of the same name, about two hundred yards distant from Niagara River. Had it been built immediately on the latter stream, its situation would have been much more convenient; for the water of the creek is so bad that it cannot be drank, and the garrison is obliged to draw water daily from the river. The fort, which occupies about one rood of ground only, consists of a small block house, inclosed by a stockade of cedar posts about twelve feet high, which is merely sufficient to defend the garrison against musquet shot. Adjoining to the fort there are about seven or eight farm houses, and some large stone houses, where goods are deposited preparatory to their being conveyed up 137the river in bateaux, or across the portage in carts, to Queenstown. It is said that it would be practicable to cut a canal from hence to Queenstown, by means of which the troublesome and expensive process of unlading the bateaux and transporting the goods in carts along the portage would be avoided. Such a canal will in all probability be undertaken one day or other; but whenever that shall be the case, there is reason to think that it will be cut on the New York side of the river for two reasons; first, because the ground on that side is much more favourable for such an undertaking; and, secondly, because the state of New York is much more populous, and far better enabled to advance the large sums of money that would be requisite for cutting a canal through such rugged ground as borders upon the river, than the province of Upper Canada either is at present, or appears likely to be.

FORT CHIPPEWAY.

About fifteen men, under the command of a lieutenant, are usually quartered at Fort Chippeway, who are mostly employed in conducting, in bateaux from thence to Fort Erie, the stores for the troops in the upper country, and the presents for the Indians.

After we had gratified our curiosity in regard to the wonderous objects in the neighbourhood, at least as far as our time would permit, we were obligingly furnished with a 138bateau by the officer at Fort Chippeway, to whom we carried letters, to convey us to Fort Erie. My companions embarked in it with our baggage, when the morning appointed for our departure arrived; but desirous of taking one more look at the Falls, I staid behind, determining to follow them on foot in the course of the day; I accordingly walked down to the falls from Fort Chippeway after breakfast, spent an hour or two there, returned to the fort, and having stopped a short time to rest myself after the fatigues of climbing the steeps about the falls, I set out for Fort Erie, fifteen miles distant from Chippeway, accompanied by my faithful servant Edward, who has indeed been a treasure to me since I have been in America. The day was by no means favourable for a pedestrian expedition; it was intensely hot, and we had not proceeded far before we found the necessity of taking off our jackets, waistcoats, and cravats, and carrying them in a bundle on our backs. Several parties of Indians that I met going down the river in canoes were stark naked.

The banks of Niagara River, between Chippeway and Fort Erie, are very low, and covered, for the most part, with shrubs, under whole shade, upon the gravelly beach of the river, the weary traveller finds an agreeable resting place. For the first few miles from 139Chippeway there are scarcely any houses to be seen; but about half way between that place and Fort Erie they are thickly scattered along the banks of the river. The houses in this neighbourhood were remarkably well built, and appeared to be kept in a state of great neatness; most of them were sheathed with boards, and painted white. The lands adjoining them are rich, and were well cultivated. The crops of Indian corn were still standing here, which had a most luxuriant aspect; in many of the fields there did not appear to be a stem less than eight feet in height. Between the rows they sow gourds, squashes, and melons, of which last every sort attains to a state of great perfection in the open air throughout the inhabited parts of the two provinces. Peaches in this part of the country likewise come to perfection in the open air, but in Lower Canada, the summers are too short to permit them to ripen sufficiently. The winters here are very severe whilst they last, but it is seldom that the snow lies longer than three months on the ground. The summers are intensely hot, Fahrenheit’s thermometer often rising to 96°, and sometimes above 100°.

INTENSE HEAT.—SNAKES.

As I passed along to Fort Erie I killed a great many large snakes of different sorts that I found basking in the sun. Amongst them 140I did not find any rattlesnakes: these reptiles, however, are very commonly met with here; and at the distance of twenty or thirty miles from the river, up the country, it is said that they are so numerous as to render the surveying of land a matter of very great danger. It is a circumstance strongly in favour of Lower Canada, that the rattlesnake is not found there; it is seldom found, indeed, to the northward of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude.

Fort Erie stands at the eastern extremity of Lake Erie; it is a small stockaded fort, somewhat similar to that at Chippeway; and adjoining it are extensive stores as at Chippeway, and about half a dozen miserable little dwellings. On arriving there I had no difficulty in discovering my companions; I found them lodged in a small log-house, which contained but the one room, and just sitting down to a supper, they had procured through the assistance of a gentleman in the Indian department, who accompanied them from Chippeway. This habitation was the property of an old woman, who in her younger days had followed the drum, and now gained her livelihood by accommodating, to the best of her power, such travellers as passed by Fort Erie. A sorry habitation it was; the crazy door was ready to drop off the hinges, and in all the 141three windows of it not one pane of glass was there, a young gentleman from Detroit having amused himself, whilst detained in the place by contrary winds, some little time before our arrival, with shooting arrows through them. It was not likely that these windows would be speedily repaired, for no glazier was to be met with nearer than Newark, thirty-six miles distant. Here, as we lay folded in our skins on the floor, the rain beat in upon us, and the wind whistled about our ears; but this was not the worst. In the morning we found it a difficult matter to get wherewith to satisfy our hunger; dinner was more difficult to be had than breakfast, supper than dinner; there seemed to be a greater scarcity of provisions also the second day than there was on the first. At last, fearing that we should be famished if we remained longer under the care of old mother Palmer, we embarked at once on board the vessel of war in which we intended to cross the lake, where although sometimes tossed about by the raging contrary winds, yet we had comfortable births, and fared plenteously every day.

FORT ERIE.

Ships lie opposite to Fort Erie, at the distance of about one hundred yards from the shore; they are there exposed to all the violence of the westerly winds, but the anchorage is excellent, and they ride in perfect safety. Three vessels 142of war, of about two hundred tons, and carrying from eight to twelve guns each, besides two or three merchant vessels, lay wind bound whilst we remained here. The little fort, with the surrounding houses built on the rocky shore, the vessels lying at anchor before it, the rich woods, the distant hills on the opposite side of the lake, and the vast lake itself, extending to the farthest part of the horizon, altogether formed an interesting and beautiful scene.

SQUIRREL HUNTING.

Whilst we were detained here by contrary winds, we regularly went on shore after breakfast to take a ramble in the woods; oftentimes also we amused ourselves with the diversion of hunting squirrels with dogs, amongst the shrubs and young trees on the borders of the lake, thousands of which animals we found in the neighbourhood of the fort. The squirrels, alarmed by the barking of the dogs, leap from tree to tree with wonderful swiftness; you follow them closely, shaking the trees, and striking against the branches with poles. Sometimes they will lead you a chace of a quarter of a mile and more; but sooner or later, terrified by your attentive pursuit, make a false leap, and come to the ground; the dogs, ever on the watch, then seize the opportunity to lay hold of them; frequently, however, the squirrels will elude their repeated snaps, and 143mount another tree before you can look round you. I have seldom known them to be hurt by their fall, notwithstanding that I have many times seen them tumble from branches of trees upwards of twenty feet from the ground.

In our rambles we used frequently to fall in with parties of the Seneka Indians, from the opposite side of the lake, that were amusing themselves with hunting and shooting these animals. They shot them principally with bows and blow-guns, at the use of which last the Senekas are wonderfully expert. The blow-gun is a narrow tube, commonly about six feet in length, made of a cane reed, or of some pithy wood, through which they drive short slender arrows by the force of the breath. The arrows are not much thicker than the lower string of a violin; they are headed generally with little triangular bits of tin, and round the opposite ends, for the length of two inches, a quantity of the down of thistles, or something very like it, is bound, so as to leave the arrows at this part of such a thickness that they may but barely pass into the tube. The arrows are put in at the end of the tube that is held next to the mouth, the down catches the breath, and with a smart puff they will fly to the distance of fifty yards. I have followed young Seneka Indians, whilst shooting with blow-guns, for hours together, during which 144time I have never known them once to miss their aim, at the distance of ten or fifteen yards, although they shot at the little red squirrels, which are not half the size of a rat; and with such wonderful force used they to blow forth the arrows, that they frequently drove them up to the very thistle-down through the heads of the largest black squirrels. The effect of these guns appears at first like magic. The tube is put to the mouth, and in the twinkling of an eye you see the squirrel that is aimed at fall lifeless to the ground; no report, not the smallest noise even, is to be heard, nor is it possible to see the arrow, so quickly does it fly, until it appears fastened in the body of the animal.

The Seneka is one of the six nations which formerly bore the general name of the Iroquois Indians. Their principal village is situated on Buffalo Creek, which falls into the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, on the New York shore. We took the ship’s boat one morning, and went over to visit it, but all the Indians, men, women, and children, amounting in all to upwards of six hundred persons, had, at an early hour, gone down to Fort Niagara, to partake of a feast which was there prepared for them. We walked about in the neighbourhood of the village, dined on the grass on some cold provisions that we had taken with us, and in the evening, returned.

BUFFALO CREEK.

145Opposite to the mouth of Buffalo Creek there is a very dangerous sand bar, which at times it is totally impossible to pass in any other vessels than bateaux; we found it no easy matter to get over it in the ship’s long boat with four oars on going into the creek; and in returning the passage was really tremendous. The wind, which was westerly, and of course impelled the vast body of water in the lake towards the mouth of the creek, had increased considerably whilst we had been on shore, and the waves had begun to break with such fury over the bar, that it was not without a considerable share of terror that we contemplated the prospect of passing through them: the commodore of the King’s ships on the lake, who was at the helm, was determined, however, to cross the bar that night, and accordingly, a strict silence having been enjoined, that the crew might hear his orders, we boldly entered into the midst of the breakers: the boat now rolled about in a most alarming manner; sometimes it mounted into the air on the top of the mighty billows, at other times it came thumping down with prodigious force on the bar; at last it stuck quite fast in the sand; neither oars nor rudder were any longer of use, and for a moment we gave ourselves over for lost; the waves that rolled towards us broke on all sides with a noise like that of 146thunder, and we were expecting that the boat would be overwhelmed by some one or other of them every instant, when luckily a large wave, that rolled on a little farther than the rest without breaking into foam, let us again afloat, and the oarsmen making at that moment the most vigorous exertions, we once more got into deep water; it was not, however, until after many minutes that we were safely out of the tremendous surf. A boat, with a pair of oars only, that attempted to follow us, was overwhelmed in an instant by a wave which broke over her: it was in vain to think of attempting to give any assistance to her crew, and we were obliged for a time to endure the painful thought that they might be struggling with death within a few yards of us; but before we lost sight of the shore we had the satisfaction of beholding them all standing in safety on the beach, which they had reached by swimming.

After having been detained about seven days at Fort Erie, the wind veered about in our favour, the signal gun was fired, the passengers repaired on board, and at half an hour before sun-set we launched forth into the lake. It was much such another evening as that on which we left Kingston; the vast lake, bounded only by the horizon, glowed with the rich warm tints that were reflected in its unruffled 147surface from the western sky; and the top of the tall forest, adorning the shores, appeared fringed with gold, as the sun sunk down behind it. There was but little wind during the first part of the night; but afterwards a fresh breeze sprang up, and by ten o’clock the next morning we found ourselves forty miles distant from the fort: the prosperous gale, however, did not long continue, the sky became overcast, the waves began to roll with fury, and the captain judging it advisable to seek a place of shelter against the impending storm, the ship was put about, and with all possible expedition measured back the way which we had just made with so much pleasure. We did not return, however, the whole way to Fort Erie, but run into a small bay on the same side of the lake, about ten miles distant, sheltered by Point Abineau: by three o’clock in the afternoon the vessel was safely moored, and this business having been accomplished, we proceeded in the long boat to the shore, which was about two miles off.

POINT ABINEAU.

Point Abineau is a long narrow neck of land, which projects into the lake nearly in a due south direction; on each side of it there is an extensive bay, which affords good anchorage; the extremity of the point is covered with rocks, lying horizontally in beds, and extending a considerable way into the lake, nearly 148even with the surface of the water, so that it is only in a few places that boats can approach the shore. The rocks are of a slate colour, but spotted and streaked in various directions with a dirty yellow; in many places they are perforated with small holes, as if they had been exposed to the action of fire. The shores of the bays, on the contrary, are covered with sand; on digging to the depth of a few feet, however, I should imagine that in most parts of the shore the same sort of rocks would be found as those seen on the extremity of the point; for where the sandy part of the shore commences, it is evident that the rocks have been covered by the sand which has been washed up by the waves of the lake: the northern shore of the lake abounds very generally with rocks of the same description.

REMARKS.

On the western side of Point Abineau the strand differs in no wise, to appearance, from that of the ocean: it is strewed with a variety of shells of a large size; quantities of gulls are continually seen hovering over it; and during a gale of wind from the west, a surge breaks in upon it, as tremendous as is to be seen on any part of the coast of England. The mounds of sand accumulated on Point Abineau are truly astonishing; those next to the lake, that have been washed by the storms of late years, are totally devoid of verdure; but others, 149situated behind them, towards the center of the point, seem coeval with the world itself, and are covered with oaks of the largest size from top to bottom. In general these mounds are of an irregular form; but in some places, of the greatest height, they are so even and straight that it appears as if they had been thrown up by the hand of art, and you may almost fancy them to be the old works of some vast fortification. These regular mounds extend in all directions, but chiefly from north to south, which demonstrates that westerly winds were as prevalent formerly in this part of the country as they are at the present day. I should suppose that some of these mounds are upwards of one hundred feet above the level of the lake.

The ground on the eastern side of the point is neither so much broken nor so sandy as that on the opposite one, and there we found two farm houses, adjoining to each of which were about thirty acres of cleared land. At one of these we procured a couple of sheep, some fowls, and a quantity of potatoes, to add to our store of provisions, as there was reason to apprehend that our voyage would not be speedily terminated: whilst the men were digging for the latter, the old woman of the house spread her little table, and prepared for us the best viands which her habitation afforded, namely, 150coarse cake bread, roasted potatoes, and bear’s flesh salted, which last we found by no means unpalatable. The haunch of a young cub is a dish much esteemed, and we frequently met with it at table in the upper country; it is extremely rich and oily, nevertheless they say it never cloys the stomach.

Towards evening we returned to the vessel, and the storm being much abated, passed, not an uncomfortable night.

BEAR HUNTING.

At day-break the next morning I took the boat, and went on shore to join a party that, as I had been informed the preceding evening, was going a bear hunting. On landing, I found the men and dogs ready, and having loaded our guns we advanced into the woods. The people here, as in the back parts of the United States, devote a very great part of their time to hunting, and they are well skilled in the pursuit of game of every description. They shoot almost universally with the rifle gun, and are as dextrous at the use of it as any men can be. The guns used by them are all imported from England. Those in most estimation carry balls of the size of thirty to the pound; in the States the hunters very commonly shoot with balls of a much smaller size, sixty of them not weighing more than one pound; but the people in Canada are of opinion that it is better to use the large 151balls, although more troublesome to carry through the woods, as they inflict much more destructive wounds than the others, and game seldom escapes after being wounded by them. Dogs of a large size are chosen for bear hunting: those most generally preferred seem to be of a breed between the blood hound and mastiff; they will follow the scent of the bear, as indeed most field dogs will, but their chief use is to keep the bear at bay when wounded, or to follow him if he attempt to make off whilst the hunter is reloading his gun. Bears will never attempt to attack a man or a dog while they can make their escape, but once wounded or closely hemmed in they will fight most furiously. The young ones, at sight of a dog, generally take to a tree; but the old ones, as if conscious of their ability to fight a dog, and at the same time that they cannot fail of becoming the prey of the hunter if they ascend a tree, never do so, unless indeed they see a hunter coming towards them on horseback, a sight which terrifies them greatly.

The Indians generally go in large parties to hunt bears, and on coming to the place where they suppose these animals are lurking, they form themselves into a large circle, and as they advance endeavour to rouse them. It is seldom that the white hunters muster together 152in sufficient numbers to pursue their game in this manner; but whenever they have men enough to divide themselves so, they always do it. We proceeded in this manner at Point Abineau, where three or four men are amply sufficient to hem in a bear between the water and the main land. The point was a very favourable place for hunting this year, for the bears, intent, as I before mentioned, upon emigrating to the south, used, on coming down from the upper country, to advance to the extreme end of the point, as if desirous of getting as near as possible by land to the opposite side of the lake, and scarcely a morning came but what one or two of them were found upon it. An experienced hunter can at once discern the track of a bear, deer, or any other large animal, in the woods, and can tell with no small degree of precision how long a time before, it was, that the animal passed that way. On coming to a long valley, between two of the sand hills on the point, a place through which the bears generally passed in going towards the water, the hunters whom I accompanied at once told how many bears had come down from the upper country the preceding night, and also how many of them were cubs. To the eye of a common observer the track of these animals amongst the leaves is wholly imperceptible; 153indeed, in many instances, even after the hunters had pointed them out to me, I could but barely perceive the prints of their feet on the closest inspection; yet the hunters, on coming up to the place, saw these marks with a glance of the eye.

BEAR HUNTING.

After killing a bear, the first care of the hunters is to strip him of his skin. This business is performed by them in a very few minutes, as they always carry knives about them particularly suited for the purpose; afterwards the carcase is cut up, an operation in which the tomahawk, an instrument that they, mostly, carry with them also, is particularly useful. The choicest parts of the animal are then selected and carried home, and the rest left in the woods. The Indians hold the paws of the bear in great estimation; stewed with young puppies, they are served up at all their principal feasts. On killing the animal, the paws are gashed with a knife, and, afterwards, hung over a fire, amidst the smoke, to dry. The skins of the bears are applied to numberless uses, in the country, by the farmers, who set no small value upon them. They are commonly cured by being spread upon a wall or between two trees, before the sun, and in that position scraped with a knife, or piece of iron, daily, which brings out the grease or oil, a very considerable quantity of 154which oozes from them. Racoon and deer skins, &c. are cured in a similar manner. The Indians have a method of dressing these different skins with the hair on, and of rendering them at the same time as pliable as a piece of cloth; this is principally effected by rubbing the skins, with the hand, in the smoke of a wood fire.

Towards the middle of the day, the hunt being over, the party returned to the habitation on the point. On arriving there I found my companions, who had just come on shore, and after having strolled about the woods for a time, we all went on board the ship to dine.

BIRDS.

The sky had been very gloomy the whole of this day; it became more and more so as the evening approached, and the seamen foretold that before morning there would be a dreadful storm. At no time a friend to the watery element, I immediately formed the resolution of passing the night on shore; accordingly having got the boat manned after dinner, I took with me my servant, and landed at the head of the bay on the eastern side of the point. Here being left to ourselves, we pitched our tent by moonlight, under the shelter of one of the steep sand hills; and having kindled a large fire in the front of it, laid down, and were soon lulled to repose 155by the hollow roar of the wind amidst the tall trees of the surrounding forest. Not so my companions, who visited me at an early hour the next morning, and lamented sorely that they had not accompanied me on shore. There had been a tremendous sea running in the lake all night; the wind had shifted somewhat to the southward, and Point Abineau, in consequence, affording but little protection to the vessel, she had rolled about in a most alarming manner: one of the stancheons at her bow started by her violent working; the water came pouring in as from a pump; a scene of confusion ensued, and the sailors were kept busily employed the greater part of the night in stopping the leak. The vessel being old, crazy, and on her last voyage, serious apprehensions were entertained lest some worse accident should befal her before morning, and neither the crew nor the passengers felt themselves at all easy until day-light appeared, when the gale abated. We amused ourselves this morning in rambling through the woods, and along the shores of the lake, with our fowling pieces. On the strand we found great numbers of gulls, and different birds of prey, such as hawks, kites, &c.; here also we met with large flocks of sand larks, as they are called by the people of the country, in colour somewhat resembling 156the grey lapwing; their walk and manner also are so very similar, that, when on the ground, they might be taken for the same bird were they but of a larger size; they are not much bigger than a sparrow. In the woods we fell in for the first time with a large covey or flock of spruce partridges or pheasants, as the people call them in this neighbourhood. In colour, they are not much unlike the English partridge, but of a larger size, and their flesh differs in flavour little from that of the English pheasant. They are different in many respects both from the partridge and pheasant found in Maryland and in the middle states, but in none more so than in their wonderful tameness, or rather stupidity. Before the flock took to flight I shot three birds singly from off one tree, and had I but been acquainted with the proper method of proceeding at the time, it is possible I might have shot them all in turn. It seems you must always begin by shooting the bird that sits lowest on the tree, and so proceed upwards, in which case the survivors are not at all alarmed. Ignorant, however, of this secret, I shot at one of the uppermost birds, and the disturbance that he made in falling through the branches on which the others were perched put the flock to flight immediately.

157On returning from our ramble in the woods to the margin of the lake, we were agreeably surprised to find the wind quite favourable for prosecuting our voyage, and in a few minutes afterwards heard the signal gun, and saw the ship’s boat coming for the purpose of taking us from shore. We got on board in time for dinner, but did not proceed on our voyage until midnight; so high a sea still continued running in the lake, that the captain thought it imprudent to venture out of the bay before that time. In the morning we found ourselves under the rich bold lands on the southern side of the lake; the water was smooth, the sky serene, and every one felt pleased with the voyage. It was on this day that we beheld the cloud over the Falls of Niagara, as I before mentioned, at the great distance of fifty-four miles.

LAKE ERIE.

Lake Erie is of an elliptical form; in length about three hundred miles, and in breadth, at the widest part, about ninety. The depth of water in this lake is not more than twenty fathoms, and in calm weather vessels may securely ride at anchor in any part of it; but when stormy, the anchorage in an open part of the lake is not safe, the lands at bottom not being firm, and the anchors apt therefore to lose their hold. Whenever there is a gale of wind the waters immediately become turbid, 158owing to the quantity of yellow sand that is washed up from the bottom of the lake; in calm weather the water is clear, and of a deep greenish colour. The northern shore of the lake is very rocky, as likewise are the shores of the islands, of which there are several clusters towards the western extremity of the lake; but along most parts of the southern shore is a fine gravelly beach. The height of the land bordering on the lake is very unequal; in some places long ranges of steep mountains rise from the very edge of the water; in others the shores are so flat and so low, that when the lake is raised a little above its usual level, in consequence of a strong gale of wind setting in towards the shore, the country is deluged for miles.

INUNDATION.

A young gentleman, who was sent in a bateau with dispatches across the lake, not long before we passed through the country, perished, with several of his party, owing to an inundation of this sort that took place on a low part of the shore. I must here observe, that when you navigate the lake in a bateau, it is customary to keep as close as possible to the land; and whenever there is any danger of a storm, you run the vessel on shore, which may be done with safety, as the bottom of it is perfectly flat. I before mentioned the peculiar advantage of a bateau over a keel boat in this respect. The young gentleman alluded 159to was coasting along in this manner, when a violent storm suddenly arose. The bateau was instantaneously turned towards the shore; unfortunately, however, in running her upon the beach some mismanagement took place, and she overset. The waves had already begun to break in on the shore with prodigious impetuosity; each one of them rolled farther in than the preceding one; the party took alarm, and instead of making as strenuous exertions as it was supposed they might have made, to right the bateau, they took a few necessaries out of her, and attempted to save themselves by flight; but so rapidly did the water flow after them, in consequence of the increasing storm, that before they could proceed far enough up the country to gain a place of safety, they were all overwhelmed by it, two alone excepted, who had the presence of mind and ability to climb a lofty tree. To the very great irregularity of the height of the lands on both sides of it, is attributed the frequency of storms on Lake Erie. The shores of Lake Ontario are lower and more uniform than those of any of the other lakes; and that lake is the most tranquil of any, as has already been noticed.

There is a great deficiency of good harbours along the shores of this Lake. On its northern side there are but two places which afford shelter to vessels drawing more than 160seven feet water, namely, Long Point and Point Abineau; and these only afford a partial shelter. If the wind should shift to the southward whilst vessels happen to be lying under them, they are thereby exposed to all the dangers of a rocky lee shore. On the southern shore, the first harbour you come to in going from Fort Erie, is that of Presqu’ Isle. Vessels drawing eight feet water may there ride in perfect safety; but it is a matter of no small difficulty to get into the harbour, owing to a long sand bar which extends across the mouth of it. Presqu’ Isle is situated at the distance of about sixty miles from Fort Erie. Beyond this, nearly midway between the eastern and western extremities of the lake, there is another harbour, capable of containing small vessels, at the mouth of Cayahega River, and another at the mouth of Sandusky River, which falls into the lake within the north-western territory of the States. It is very seldom that any of these harbours are made use of by the British ships; they, indeed, trade almost solely between Fort Erie and Detroit River; and when in prosecuting their voyages they chance to meet with contrary winds, against which they cannot make head, they for the most part return to Fort Erie, if bound to Detroit River; or to some of the bays amidst the clusters of islands situated towards the western extremity of the 161lake, if bound to Fort Erie. In going up the lake, it very often happens that vessels, even after they have got close under these islands, the nearest of which is not less than two hundred and forty miles from Fort Erie, are driven back by storms the whole way to that fort. Just as we were preparing to cast anchor under Middle Island, one of the nearest of them, a squall suddenly arose, and it was not without very great difficulty that we could keep our station: the captain told us afterwards, that he really feared at one time, that we should have been driven back to our old quarters.

ISLANDS.

It was about two o’clock on the third day from that of our quitting Point Abineau, that we reached Middle Island. We lay at anchor until the next morning, when the wind shifted a few points in our favour, and enabled us to proceed some miles farther on, to a place of greater safety, sheltered by islands on all sides; but beyond this the wind did not permit us to advance for three days. It is very seldom that vessels bound from Fort Erie to any place on Detroit River accomplish their voyage without stopping amongst these islands; for the same wind favourable for carrying them from the eastern to the western extremity of the lake will not waft them up the river. The river runs nearly in a south-west direction; its current is very strong; and unless the wind blows 162fresh, and nearly in an opposite direction to it, you cannot proceed. The navigation of Lake Erie, in general, is very uncertain; and passengers that cross it in any of the King’s, or principal merchant vessels, are not only called upon to pay double the sum for their passage, demanded for that across Lake Ontario, but anchorage money besides, that is, a certain sum per diem as long as the vessel remains wind bound at anchor in any harbour. The anchorage money is about three dollars per day for each cabin passenger.

The islands at the western end of the lake, which are of various sizes, lie very close to each other, and the scenery amongst them is very pleasing. The largest of them are not more than fourteen miles in circumference, and many would scarcely be found to admeasure as many yards round. They are all covered with wood of some kind or other, even to the very smallest. The larger islands produce a variety of fine timber, amongst which are found oaks, hiccory trees, and red cedars; the latter grow to a much larger size than in any part of the neighbouring country, and they are sent for even from the British settlements on Detroit River, forty miles distant. None of these islands are much elevated above the lake, nor are they diversified with any rising grounds; most of them, indeed, are as flat as if they had 163been overflowed with water, and in the interior parts of some of the largest of them there are extensive ponds and marshes. The fine timber, which these islands produce, indicates that the soil must be uncommonly fertile. Here are found in great numbers, amongst the woods, racoons, and squirrels; bears are also at times found upon some of the islands during the winter season, when the lake is frozen between the main land and the islands; but they do not remain continually, as the other animals do. All the islands are dreadfully infested with serpents, and on some of them rattlesnakes are so numerous, that in the height of summer it is really dangerous to land: it was now late in September; yet we had not been three minutes on shore on Bass Island, before several of these noxious reptiles were seen amongst the bushes, and a couple of them, of a large size, were killed by the seamen.

RATTLESNAKES.

Two kinds of rattlesnakes are found in this part of the country; the one is of a deep brown colour, clouded with yellow, and is seldom met with more than thirty inches in length. It usually frequents marshes and low meadows, where it does great mischief amongst cattle, which it bites mostly in the lips as they are grazing. The other sort is of a greenish yellow colour, clouded with brown, and attains nearly twice the size of the other. It is most commonly 164found between three and four feet in length, and as thick as the wrist of a large man. The rattlesnake is much thicker in proportion to its length than any other snake, and it is thickest in the middle of the body, which approaches somewhat to a triangular form, the belly being flat, and the back bone rising higher than any other part of the animal. The rattle, with which this serpent is provided, is at the end of the tail; it is usually about half an inch in breadth, one quarter of an inch in thickness, and each joint about half an inch long. The joint consists of a number of little cases of a dry horny substance, inclosed one within another, and not only the outermost of these little cases articulates with the outermost case of the contiguous joint, but each case, even to the smallest one of all, at the inside, is connected by a sort of joint with the corresponding case in the next joint of the rattle. The little cases or shells lie very loosely within one another, and the noise proceeds from their dry and hard coats striking one against the other. It is said that the animal gains a fresh joint to its rattle every year; of this, however, I have great doubts, for the largest snakes are frequently found to have the fewest joints to their rattles. A medical gentleman in the neighbourhood of Newmarket, behind the Blue Mountains, in Virginia, had a rattle in his 165possession, which contained no less than thirty-two joints; yet the snake from which it was taken scarcely admeasured five feet; rattlesnakes, however, of the same kind, and in the same part of the country, have been found of a greater length with not more than ten rattles. One of the snakes, which we saw killed on Bass Island, in Lake Erie, had no more than four joints in its rattle, and yet it was nearly four feet long.

The skin of the rattlesnake, when the animal is wounded, or otherwise enraged, exhibits a variety of beautiful tints, never seen at any other time. It is not with the teeth which the rattlesnake uses for ordinary purposes that it strikes its enemy, but with two long crooked fangs in the upper jaw, which point down the throat. When about to use these fangs, it rears itself up as much as possible, throws back its head, drops its under jaw, and springing forward upon its tail, endeavours to hook itself as it were upon its enemy. In order to raise itself on its tail it coils itself up previously in a spiral line, with the head in the middle. It cannot spring farther forward than about half its own length.

The flesh of the rattlesnake is as white as the most delicate fish, and is much esteemed by those who are not prevented from tasting it by prejudice. The soup made from it is said to be delicious, and very nourishing.

166In my rambles about the islands under which we lay at anchor, I found many specimens of the exuviæ of these snakes, which, in the opinion of the country people of Upper Canada, are very efficacious in the cure of the rheumatism, when laid over the part afflicted, and fastened down with a bandage. The body of the rattlesnake dried to a cinder over the fire, and then finely pulverised, and infused in a certain portion of brandy, is also said to be a never failing remedy against that disorder. I conversed with many people who had made use of this medicine, and they were firmly persuaded that they were indebted to it for a speedy cure. The liquor is taken inwardly, in the quantity of a wine glass full at once, about three times a day. No effect, more than from taking plain brandy, is perceived from taking this medicine on the first day; but at the end of the second day the body of the patient becomes suffused with a cold sweat, every one of his joints grow painful, and his limbs become feeble, and scarcely able to support him; he grows worse and worse for a day or two; but persevering in the use of the medicine for a few days, he gradually loses his pains, and recovers his wonted strength of body.

VARIOUS SERPENTS.

Many different kinds of serpents besides rattlesnakes are found on these islands in Lake Erie. I killed several totally different from 167any that I had ever met with in any other part of the country; amongst the number was one which I was informed was venomous in the highest degree: it was somewhat more than three feet in length; its back was perfectly black; its belly a vivid orange. I found it amongst the rocks on Middle Island, and on being wounded in the tail, it turned about to defend itself with inconceivable fury. Mr. Carver tells of a serpent that is peculiar to these islands, called the hissing snake: “It is,” says he, “of the small speckled kind, and about eighteen inches long. When any thing approaches it, it flattens itself in a moment, and its spots, which are of various dyes, become visibly brighter through rage; at the same time it blows from its mouth with great force a subtile wind that is reported to be of a nauseous smell, and if drawn in with the breath of the unwary traveller will infallibly bring on a decline, that in a few months must prove mortal, there being no remedy yet discovered which can counteract its baneful influence.” Mr. Carver does not inform us of his having himself seen this snake; I am tempted, therefore, to imagine, that he has been imposed upon, and that the whole account he has given of it is fabulous. I made very particular enquiries respecting the existence of such a snake, from those persons who 168were in the habit of touching at these islands, and neither they nor any other person I met with in the country had ever seen or heard of such a snake, except in Mr. Carver’s Travels. Were a traveller to believe all the stories respecting snakes that are current in the country, he must believe that there is such a snake as the whip snake, which, as it is said, pursues cattle through the woods and meadows, lashing them with its tail, till overcome with the fatigue of running they drop breathless to the ground, when it preys upon their flesh; he must also believe that there is such a snake as the hoop snake, which has the power of fixing its tail firmly in a certain cavity inside of its mouth, and then of rolling itself forward like a hoop or wheel with such wonderful velocity that neither man nor beast can possibly escape from its devouring jaws.

The ponds and marshes in the interior parts of these islands abound with ducks and other wild fowl, and the shores swarm with gulls. A few small birds are found in the woods; but I saw none amongst them that were remarkable either for their song or plumage.

DETROIT RIVER.

At sun-set, on the last day of September, we left the islands, and the next morning entered Detroit River. The river, at its mouth, is about five miles wide, and continues nearly the same breadth for a considerable distance. The 169shores are of a moderate height, and thickly wooded; but there was nothing particularly interesting in the prospect till we arrived within four or five miles of the new British post. Here the banks appeared diversified with Indian encampments and villages, and beyond them the British settlements were seen to great advantage. The river was crowded with Indian canoes and bateaux, and several pleasure boats belonging to the officers of the garrison, and to the traders, that had come out in expectation of meeting us, were seen cruizing about backwards and forwards. The two other vessels of war, which we had left behind us at Fort Erie, as well as the trading vessels, had overtaken us just as we entered the river, and we all sailed up together with every bit of canvass, that we could muster, full spread. The day was uncommonly clear, and the scene altogether was pleasing and interesting.

The other vessels proceeded up the river to the British post; but ours, which was laden with presents for the Indians, cast anchor opposite to the habitation of the gentleman in the Indian department, whom I before mentioned, which was situated in the district of Malden. He gave us a most cordial invitation to stay at his house whilst we should remain in this part of the country; we gladly accepted of it, and accordingly went with him on shore.

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