Chapter III: Part 3

On the 7th of September, in the afternoon, the wind became favourable for crossing the lake; notice was in consequence immediately sent round to the passengers, who were dispersed in different parts of the town, to get ready; all of them hurried on board; the vessel was unmoored, and in a few minutes she was wafted out into the lake by a light breeze. For the first mile and a half, in going from Kingston, the prospect is much confined, on account of the many large islands on the left hand side; but on weathering a point on one of the islands, at the end of that distance, an extensive view of the lake suddenly opens, which on a still clear evening, when the sun is sinking behind the lofty woods that adorn the shores, is extremely grand and beautiful.

[Sidenote: LAKE ONTARIO.]

Lake Ontario is the most easterly of the four large lakes through which the boundary line passes, that separates the United States from the province of Upper Canada. It is two hundred and twenty miles in length, from east to west, and seventy miles wide in the broadest part, and, according to calculation, contains about 2,390,000 acres. This lake is less subject to storms than any of the others, and its waters in general, considering their great expanse, are wonderfully tranquil. During the first evening of our voyage there was not the least curl even on their surface, they were merely agitated by a gentle swell; and during the subsequent part of the voyage, the waves were at no time so high as to occasion the slightest sickness amongst any of the passengers. The depth of the water in the lake is very great; in some parts it is unfathomable. On looking over the side of a vessel, the water, owing to its great depth, appears to be of a blackish colour, but it is nevertheless very clear, and any white substance thrown overboard may be discerned at the depth of several fathoms from the surface; it is, however, by no means so clear and transparent as the water of some of the other lakes. Mr. Carver, speaking of Lake Superior, says, “When it was calm, and the sun shone bright, I could sit in my canoe, where the depth was upwards of six fathoms, and plainly see huge piles of stone at the bottom, of different shapes, some of which appeared as if they had been hewn; the water was at this time as pure and transparent as air, and my canoe seemed as if it hung suspended in that element. It was impossible to look attentively through this limpid medium, at the rocks below, without finding, before many minutes were elapsed, your head swim, and your eyes no longer able to behold the dazzling scene.”

The water of Lake Ontario is very well tasted, and is that which is constantly used on board the vessels that traverse it.

[Sidenote: RISING OF THE WATER.]

It is very confidently asserted, not only by the Indians, but also by great numbers of the white people who live on the shores of Lake Ontario, that the waters of this lake rise and fall alternately every seventh year; others, on the contrary, deny that such a fluctuation does take place; and indeed it differs so materially from any that has been observed in large bodies of water in other parts of the globe, that for my own part I am somewhat tempted to believe it is merely an imaginary change; nevertheless, when it is considered, that according to the belief of the older inhabitants of the country, such a periodical ebbing and flowing of the waters of the lake takes place, and that it has never been clearly proved to the contrary, we are bound to suspend our opinions on the subject. A gentleman, whole habitation was situated close upon the borders of the lake, not far from Kingston, and who, from the nature of his profession, had more time to attend to such subjects than the generality of the people of the country, told me, that he had observed the state of the lake attentively for nearly fourteen years that he had resided on the borders of it, and that he was of opinion the waters did not ebb and flow periodically; yet he acknowledged this very remarkable fact, that several of the oldest white inhabitants in his neighbourhood declared, previously to the rising of the lake, that the year 1795 would be the high year; and that in the summer of that year, the lake actually did rise to a very uncommon height. He said, however, that he had reason to think the rising of the lake on this occasion was wholly owing to fortuitous circumstances, and not to any regular established law of nature; and he conceived, that if the lake had not risen as it had done, yet the people would have fancied, nevertheless, that it was in reality higher than usual, as he supposed they had fancied it to be on former occasions. He was induced to form this opinion, he said, from the following circumstance: When the lake had risen to such an unusual height in the year 1795, he examined several of the oldest people on the subject, and questioned them particularly as to the comparative height of the waters on this and former occasions. They all declared that the waters were not higher than they usually were at the time of their periodical rising; and they affirmed, that they had themselves seen them equally high before. Now a grove of trees, which stood adjoining to this gentleman’s garden, and must at least have been of thirty years growth, was entirely destroyed this year by the waters of the lake, that flowed amongst the trees; had the lake, therefore, ever risen so high before, this grove would have been then destroyed. This circumstance certainly militated strongly against the evidence which the people gave as to the height of the waters; but it only proved that the waters had risen on this occasion higher than they had done for thirty years preceding; it did not prove that they had not, during that term, risen periodically above their ordinary level.

What Mr. Carver relates concerning this subject, rather tends to confirm the opinion that the waters of the lake do rise. “I had like,” he says, “to have omitted a very extraordinary circumstance relative to these straits;” the Straits of Michillimakinac, between lakes Michigan and Huron. “According to observations made by the French, whilst they were in possession of the fort there, although there is no diurnal flood or ebb to be perceived in these waters, yet from an exact attention to their state, a periodical alteration in them has been discovered. It was observed, that they arose by gradual but almost imperceptible degrees, till they had reached the height of three feet; this was accomplished in seven years and a half; and in the same space of time they as gently decreased, till they had reached their former situation; so that in fifteen years they had completed this inexplicable revolution. At the time I was there, the truth of these observations could not be confirmed by the English, as they had then been only a few years in possession of the fort; but they all agreed that some alterations in the limits of the straits was apparent.” It is to be lamented that succeeding years have not thrown more light on the subject; for since the fort has been in our possession, persons competent to determine the truth of observations of such a nature, have never staid a sufficient length of time there to have had it in their power to do so.

[Sidenote: LAKE ONTARIO.]

A long series of minute observations are necessary to determine positively whether the waters of the lake do or do not rise and fall periodically. It is well known, for instance, that in wet seasons the waters rise much above their ordinary level, and that in very dry seasons they sink considerably below it; a close attention, therefore, ought to be paid to the quantity of rain that falls, and to evaporation; and it ought to be ascertained in what degree the height of the lake is altered thereby; otherwise, if the lake happened to be higher or lower than usual on the seventh year, it would be impossible to say with accuracy whether it were owing to the state of the weather, or to certain laws of nature that we are yet unacquainted with. At the same time, great attention ought to be paid to the state of the winds, as well in respect to their direction as to their velocity, for the height of the waters of all the lakes is materially affected thereby. At Fort Erie, situated at the eastern extremity of the lake of the same name, I once observed the waters to fall full three feet in the course of a few hours, upon a sudden change of the wind from the westward, in which direction it had blown for many days, to the east-ward. Moreover, these observations ought not only to be made at one place on the borders of anyone of the lakes, but they ought to be made at several different places at the same time; for the waters have encroached, owing to some unknown causes, considerably and gradually upon the shores in some places, and receded in others. Between the stone house, in the fort at Niagara, and the lake, for instance, there is not at present a greater space than ten yards, or thereabouts; though when first built there was an extensive garden between them. A water battery also, erected since the commencement of the present war, at the bottom of the bank, beyond the walls of the fort, was sapped away by the water in the course of two seasons, and now scarcely any vestige of it remains. At a future day, when the country becomes more populous and more wealthy, persons will no doubt be found who will have leisure for making the observations necessary for determining whether the lakes do or do not undergo a periodical change, but at present the inhabitants on the borders of them are too much engaged in commercial and agricultural pursuits to attend to matters of mere speculation, which, however they might amuse the philosopher, could be productive of no solid advantages to the generality of the inhabitants of the country.

[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]

It is believed by many persons that the waters of Lake Ontario not only rise and fall periodically every seventh year, but that they are likewise influenced by a tide, which ebbs and flows frequently in the course of twenty-four hours. On board the vessel in which I crossed the lake there were several gentlemen of the country, who confidently assured me, that a regular tide was observable at the Bay of Canti; that in order to satisfy themselves on the subject, they had stood for several hours together, on more than one occasion, at a mill at the head of the bay, and that they had observed the waters to ebb and flow regularly every four hours, rising to the height of fourteen inches. There can be no doubt, however, but that the frequent ebbing and flowing of the water at this place must be caused by the wind; for no such regular fluctuation is observable at Niagara, at Kingston, or on the open shores of the lake; and owing to the formation of the Bay of Canti, the height of the water must necessarily vary there with, every slight change of the wind. The Bay of Canti is a long crooked inlet, that grows narrower at the upper end, like a funnel; not only, therefore, a change of wind up or down the bay would make a difference in the height of the water at the uppermost extremity of it; but owing to the waters being concentrated there at one point, they would be seen to rise or fall, if impelled even in the same direction, whether up or down the bay, more or less forcibly at one time of the day than at another. Now it is very seldom that the wind, at any part of the day or night, would be found to blow precisely with the same force, for a given space of two hours, that it had blown for the preceding space of two hours; an appearance like a tide must therefore be seen almost constantly at the head of this bay whenever there was a breeze. I could not learn that the fluctuation had ever been observed during a perfect calm: were the waters, however, influenced by a regular tide, during a calm the tide would be most readily seen.

To return to the voyage. A few hours after we quitted Kingston, on the 7th of September, the wind died away, and during the whole night the vessel made but little way; early on the morning of the 8th, however, a fresh breeze sprang up, and before noon we lost sight of the land. Our voyage now differed in no wise from one across the ocean; the vessel was steered by the compass, the log regularly heaved, the way marked down in the log book, and an exact account kept of the procedures on board. We continued sailing, out of sight of land, until the evening of the 9th, when we had a view of the blue hills in the neighbourhood of Toronto, on the northern side of the lake, but they soon disappeared. Except at this place, the shores of the lake are flat and sandy, owing to which circumstance it is, that in traversing the lake you are generally carried out of sight of land in a very few hours.

[Sidenote: NIAGARA.]

At day-break on the 10th the fort and town of Niagara appeared under the lee bow, and the wind being favourable, we had every prospect before us of getting up to the town in a few hours; but scarcely had we reached the bar, at the mouth of Niagara River, when the wind suddenly shifted, and after endeavouring in vain to cross it by means of tacking, we were under the necessity of casting anchor at the distance of about two miles from the fort. The fort is seen to great advantage from the water; but the town being built parallel to the river, and no part of it visible to a spectator on the lake, except the few shabby houses at the nearest end, it makes but a very poor appearance. Having breakfasted, and exchanged our _habits de voyage_, for such as it was proper to appear in at the capital of Upper Canada, and at the center of the beau monde of the province, the schooner’s yawl was launched, and we were landed, together with such of the passengers as were disposed to go on shore, at Mississaguis Point, from whence there is an agreeable walk of one mile, partly through woods, to the town of Niagara.

[Sidenote: MISSISSAGUIS.]

This point takes its name from the Mississaguis Indians, great numbers of whom are generally encamped upon it. The Mississaguis tribe inhabits the shores of Lake Ontario, and it is one of the most numerous of this part of the country. The men are in general very stout, and they are esteemed most excellent hunters and fishers; but less warlike, it is said, than any of the neighbouring nations. They are of a much darker complexion than any other Indians I ever met with; some of them being nearly as black as negroes. They are extremely dirty and slovenly in their appearance, and the women are still more so than the men; such indeed is the odour exhaled in a warm day from the rancid grease and fish oil with which the latter daub their hair, necks, and faces profusely, that it is offensive in the highest degree to approach within some yards of them. On arriving at Niagara, we found great numbers of these Indians dispersed in knots, in different parts of the town, in great concern for the loss of a favourite and experienced chief. This man, whose name was Wompakanon, had been killed, it appeared, by a white man, in a fray which happened at Toronto, near to which place is the principal village of the Mississaguis nation. The remaining chiefs immediately assembled their warriors, and marched down to Niagara, to make a formal complaint to the British government. To appease their resentment, the commanding officer of the garrison distributed presents amongst them to a large amount, and amongst other things they were allowed no small portion of rum and provisions, upon which the tribe feasted, according to custom, the day before we reached the town; but the rum being all consumed, they seemed to feel severely for the loss of poor Wompakanon. Fear of exciting the anger of the British government would prevent them from taking revenge openly on this occasion; but I was informed by a gentleman in the Indian department, intimately acquainted with the dispositions of the Indians, that as nothing but blood is deemed sufficient in their opinion to atone for the death of a favourite chief, they would certainly kill some white man, perhaps one perfectly innocent, when a favourable and secret opportunity offered for so doing, though it should be twenty years afterwards.

The Mississaguis keep the inhabitants of Kingston, of Niagara, and of the different towns on the lake, well supplied with fish and game, the value of which is estimated by bottles of rum and loaves of bread. A gentleman, with whom we dined at Kingston, entertained us with a most excellent haunch of venison of a very large size, and a salmon weighing at least fifteen pounds, which he had purchased from one of these Indians for a bottle of rum and a loaf of bread[11], and upon enquiry I found that the Indian thought himself extremely well paid, and was highly pleased with having made such a good bargain.

Footnote 11:

Both together probably not worth more than half a dollar.

The Indians catch salmon and other large fish in the following manner. Two men go together in a canoe at night; the one sits in the stern and paddles, and the other stands with a spear over a flambeau placed in the head of the canoe. The fish, attracted by the light, come in numbers around the canoe, and the spearsman then takes the opportunity of striking them. They are very expert at this business, seldom missing their aim.

Lake Ontario, and all the rivers which fall into it, abound with excellent salmon, and many different kinds of sea-fish, which come up the River St. Lawrence; it also abounds with such a great variety of fresh water fish, that it is supposed there are many sorts in it which have never yet been named. In almost every part of the River St. Lawrence, fish is found in the greatest abundance; and it is the opinion of many persons, that if the fisheries were properly attended to, particularly the salmon fishery, the country would be even more enriched thereby than by the fur trade. Sea wolves and sea cows, amphibious animals, weighing from one to two thousand pounds each, are said to have been found in Lake Ontario: of the truth of this, however, there is some doubt; but certain it is, that in sailing across that lake animals of an immense size are frequently seen playing on the surface of the water. Of the large fishes, the sturgeon is the one most commonly met with, and it is not only found in Lake Ontario, but also in the other lakes that have no immediate communication with the sea. The sturgeon caught in the lakes is valuable for its oil, but it is not a well flavoured fish; indeed, the sturgeon found north of James River in Virginia is in general very indifferent, and seldom or never eaten.

[Sidenote: NIAGARA RIVER.]

Niagara River runs nearly in a due south direction, and falls into Lake Ontario on the southern shore, about thirty miles to the east-ward of the western extremity of the lake. It is about three hundred yards wide at its mouth, and is by far the largest body of water flowing into Lake Ontario. On the eastern side of the river is situated the fort, now in the possession of the people of the States, and on the opposite or British side the town, most generally known by the name of Niagara, notwithstanding that it has been named Newark by the legislature. The original name of the town was Niagara, it was afterwards called Lenox, then Nassau, and afterwards Newark. It is to be lamented that the Indian names, so grand and sonorous, should ever have been changed for others. Newark, Kingston, York, are poor substitutes for the original names of these respective places, Niagara, Cataragui, Toronto. The town of Niagara hitherto has been, and is still the capital of the province of Upper Canada; orders, however, had been issued, before our arrival there, for the removal of the seat of government from thence to Toronto, which was deemed a more eligible spot for the meeting of the legislative bodies, as being farther removed from the frontiers of the United States. This projected change is by no means relished by the people at large, as Niagara is a much more convenient place of resort to most of them than Toronto; and as the governor who proposed the measure has been removed, it is imagined that it will not be put in execution. The removal of the seat of government from Niagara to Toronto, according to the plan laid down, was only to have been a preparatory step to another alteration: a new city, to have been named London, was to have been built on the river formerly called La Trenche, but since called the Thames, a river running into Lake St. Clair; and here the seat of government was ultimately to have been fixed. The spot marked out for the site of the city possesses many local advantages. It is situated in a healthy fertile country, on a fine navigable river, in a central part of the province, from whence the water communication is extensive in every direction. A few settlements have already been made on the banks of the river, and the tide of emigration is setting in strongly towards that quarter; at a future day, therefore, it is by no means improbable but that this spot may be deemed an eligible one for the capital of the country; but to remove the seat of government immediately to a place little better than a wilderness, and so far from the populous parts of the province, would be a measure fraught with numberless inconveniencies to the public, and productive apparently of no essential advantages whatsoever.

[Sidenote: NIAGARA TOWN.]

The town of Niagara contains about seventy houses, a court house, gaol, and a building intended for the accommodation of the legislative bodies. The houses, with a few exceptions, are built of wood; those next the lake are rather poor, but at the upper end of the town there are several very excellent dwellings, inhabited by the principal officers of government. Most of the gentlemen in official stations in Upper Canada are Englishmen of education, a circumstance which must render the society of the capital agreeable, let it be fixed where it will. Few places in North America can boast of a more rapid rise than the little town of Niagara, nearly every one of its houses having been built within the last five years: it is still advancing most rapidly in size, owing to the increase of the back country trade along the shores of the upper lakes, which is all carried on through the place, and also owing to the wonderful emigrations, into the neighbourhood, of people from the States. The motives which lead the citizens of the United States to emigrate to the British dominions have already been explained. So sudden and so great has the influx of people, into the town of Niagara and its vicinity, been, that town lots, horses, provisions, and every necessary of life have risen, within the last three years, nearly fifty per cent. in value.

[Sidenote: SICKNESS.]

The banks of the River Niagara are steep and lofty, and on the top, at each side of the river, are extensive plains. The town stands on the summit of the western bank, about fifty yards from the water’s edge. It commands a fine view of the lake and distant shores, and its situation is in every respect pleasing to the eye. From its standing on a spot of ground so much elevated above the level of the water, one would imagine that it must also be a remarkably healthy place, but it is, in fact, lamentably the reverse. On arriving at the town, we were obliged to call at no less than four different taverns, before we could procure accommodations, the people at the first places we stopped at being so severely afflicted with the ague, that they could not receive us; and on enquiring, it appeared that there was not a single house in the whole town but where one or more of the inhabitants were labouring under this perplexing disorder; in some of the houses entire families were laid up, and at the fort on the opposite side of the river, the whole of the new garrison, except a corporal and nine men, was disqualified for doing duty. Each individual of our party could not but entertain very serious apprehensions for his own health, on arriving at a place where sickness was so general, but we were assured that the danger of catching the disorder was now over; that all those who were ill at present, had been confined many weeks before; and that for a fortnight past not a single person had been attacked, who had not been ill in the preceding part of the season. As a precaution, however, each one of the party took fasting, in the morning, a glass of brandy, in which was infused a teaspoonfull of Peruvian bark. This mixture is deemed, in the country, one of the most certain preventatives against the disorder, and few that take it, in time, regularly, and avoid the evening dews, suffer from it.

Not only the town of Niagara and its vicinity are unhealthy places, but almost every part of Upper Canada, and of the territory of the States bordering upon the lakes, is likewise unhealthy. The sickly season commences about the middle of July, and terminates about the first week of September, as soon as the nights become cold. Intermittent fevers are the most common disorders; but in some parts of the country the inhabitants suffer from continual fevers, of which there are different kinds, peculiar to certain districts. In the country, for instance, bordering upon the Genesee River, which falls into Lake Ontario on the southern side, a fever is common amongst the inhabitants of a malignant nature, vulgarly called the Genesee fever, of which many die annually: and in that bordering upon the Miami River, which falls into Lake Erie, within the north-western territory of the United States, a fever of a different kind, again, is common. It does not appear that the exact nature of these different fevers has ever been accurately ascertained. In the back parts of North America, in general, medical men are rarely to be met with, and indeed if they were, the settlements are so far removed from each other, that they could be of little service.

[Sidenote: EMIGRATIONS.]

It is very remarkable, that notwithstanding that medical assistance is so rarely to be had in case of sickness in the back country, yet the Americans, when they are about to change their place of abode, seldom or ever consider whether the part of the country to which they are going is healthy or otherwise, at least they are scarcely ever influenced in their choice of a place of residence either by its healthiness or unhealthiness. If the lands in one part of the country are superior to those in another in fertility; if they are in the neighbourhood of a navigable river, or situated conveniently to a good market; if they are cheap, and rising in value, thither the American will gladly emigrate, let the climate be ever so unfriendly to the human system. Not a year passes over, but what numbers of people leave the beautiful and healthy banks of the Susquehannah River for the Genesee country, where nine out of every ten of the inhabitants are regularly seized, during the autumn, with malignant fevers; but the lands bordering upon the Susquehannah are in general poor, whereas those in the Genesee country are in many places so rich, that until reduced by successive crops of Indian corn, wheat, to use the common phrase, “will run wholly to straw:” where it has been sown in the first instance, the stalks have frequently been found fourteen or fifteen feet in length, two thirds of them lying on the ground.

On the margin of Niagara River, about three quarters of a mile from the town, stands a building called Navy Hall, erected for the accommodation of the naval officers on the lake during the winter season, when their vessels are laid up. Opposite to it there is a spacious wharf to protect the vessels from the ice during the winter, and also to facilitate the landing of merchandize when the navigation is open. All cargoes brought up the lake, that are destined for Niagara, are landed here. Adjoining the wharf are very extensive stores belonging to the crown, and also to private persons. Navy Hall is now occupied by the troops; the fort on the opposite side of the river, where they were formerly stationed, having been delivered up pursuant to the late treaty between his Majesty and the United States. The troops, however, are only to remain at the hall until a blockhouse is erected on the top of the banks for their accommodation; this building is in a state of forwardness, and the engineer hopes to have it finished in a few months.

[Sidenote: NIAGARA FORT.]

[Sidenote: FEDERAL ARMY.]

The fort of Niagara stands immediately at the mouth of the river, on a point of land, one side of which is washed by the river and the other by the lake. Towards the water it is stockaded; and behind the stockade, on the river side, a large mound of earth rises up, at the top of which are embrasures for guns; on the land side it is secured by several batteries and redoubts, and by parallel lines of fascines. At the gates, and in various different parts, there are strong blockhouses; and facing the lake, within the stockade, stands a large fortified stone house. The fort and outworks occupy about five acres of ground; and a garrison of five hundred men, and at least from thirty to forty pieces of ordnance, would be necessary to defend it properly. The federal garrison, however, consists only of fifty men; and the whole of the cannon in the place amounts merely to four small field pieces, planted at the four corners of the fort. This fort was founded by the French, and constituted one link of that extensive chain of posts which they established along the lakes and the western waters. It was begun by the building of the stone house, after a solemn promise had been obtained from the Indians that the artificers should not be interrupted whilst they were going on with the work. The Indians readily made this promise, as, according to their notion, it would have been inhospitable and unfriendly in the extreme not to have permitted a few traders to build a house within their territory to protect them against the inclemency of the seasons: but they were greatly astonished when one so totally different from any that they had ever seen before, and from any that they had an idea of, was completed; they began to suspect that the strangers had plans in meditation unfavourable to their interests, and they wished to dispossess them of their new mansion, but it was too late. In the hall of the house a well had been sunk to keep it supplied with water; the house was plentifully stored with provisions in case of a siege; and the doors being once closed, the tenants remained perfectly indifferent about every hostile attack the Indians could make against it. Fortifications to strengthen the house were gradually erected; and by the year 1759 the place was so strong as to resist, for some time, the forces under the command of Sir William Johnston. Great additions were made to the works after the fort fell into the hands of the British. The stone house is a very spacious building, and is now, as it was formerly, appropriated for the accommodation of the principal officers of the garrison. In the rear of the house is a large apartment, commanding a magnificent view of the lake and of the distant hills at Toronto, which formerly was the officers mess room, and a pattern of neatness. The officers of the federal garrison, however, consider it more convenient to mess in one of the kitchens, and this beautiful room has been suffered to go to ruin; indeed every part of the fort now exhibits a picture of slovenliness and neglect; and the appearance of the soldiers is equally devoid of neatness with that of their quarters. Though it was on Sunday morning that we visited the fort, on which day it is usual even for the men of the garrisons in the States to appear better dressed than on other days, yet the greater part of the men were as dirty as if they had been at work in the trenches for a week without intermission: their grisly beards demonstrated that a razor had not approached their chins for many days; their hair, to appearance, had not been combed for the same length of time; their linen was filthy, their guns rusty, and their clothes ragged. That the clothes and accoutrements of the men should not be better is not to be wondered at, considering how very badly the western army of the States is appointed in every respect; but it is strange that the officers should not attend more than they do to the cleanliness of their men. Their garrisons on the frontiers have uniformly suffered more from sickness than those of the British; and it is to be attributed, I should imagine, in a great measure to their filthiness; for the men are as stout and hardy, apparently, as any in the world. The western army of the States has been most shamefully appointed from the very outset. I heard General Wayne, then the commander in chief, declare at Philadelphia, that a short time after they had begun their march, more than one third of his men were attacked in the woods, at the same period, with a dysentery; that the surgeons had not even been furnished with a medicine chest; and that nothing could have saved the greater part of the troops from death, had not one of the young surgeons fortunately discovered, after many different things had been tried in vain, that the bark of the root of a particular sort of yellow poplar tree was a powerful antidote to the disorder. Many times also, he said, his army had been on the point of suffering from famine in their own country, owing to the carelessness of their commissaries. So badly indeed had the army been supplied, even latterly, with provisions, that when notice was sent to the federal general by the British officers, that they had received orders to deliver up their respective posts pursuant to the treaty, and that they were prepared to do so whenever he was ready to take possession of them, an answer was returned, that unless the British officers could supply his army with a considerable quantity of provisions on arriving at the lakes, he could not attempt to march for many weeks. The federal army was generously supplied with fifty barrels of pork, as much as the British could possibly spare; notwithstanding which, it did not make its appearance till a considerable time after the day appointed for the delivery of the posts. The federal army is composed almost wholly of Irishmen and Germans, that were brought over as redemptioners, and enlisted as soon as they landed, before they had an opportunity of learning what great wages were given to labourers in the States. The natives of the country are too fond of making money to rest satisfied with the pay of a common soldier.

The American prints, until the late treaty of amity was ratified, teemed with the most gross abuse of the British government, for retaining possession of Niagara Fort, and the other military posts on the lakes, after the independence of the States had been acknowledged, and peace concluded. It was never taken into consideration, that if the British government had thought proper to have withdrawn its troops from the posts at once, immediately after the definitive treaty was signed, the works would in all probability have been destroyed by the Indians, within whose territories they were situated, long before the people of the States could have taken possession of them; for no part of their army was within hundreds of miles of the posts, and the country through which they must have past in getting to them was a mere wilderness; but if the army had gained the posts, the states were in no condition, immediately after the war, to have kept in them such large bodies of the military as would have been absolutely necessary for their defence whilst at enmity with the Indians, and it is by no means improbable, but that the posts might have been soon abandoned. The retention of them, therefore, to the present day, was, in fact, a circumstance highly beneficial to the interests of the States, notwithstanding that such an outcry was raised against the British on that account, inasmuch as the Americans now find themselves possessed of extensive fortifications on the frontiers, in perfect repair, without having been at the expence of building them, or maintaining troops in them for the space of ten years, during which period no equivalent advantages could have been derived from their possession. It is not to be supposed, however, that the British government meant to confer a favour on her late colonies by retaining the posts; it was well known that the people of the new states would be eager, sooner or later, to get possession or forts situated within their boundary line, and occupied by strangers; and as there were particular parts of the definitive treaty which some of the states did not seem very ready to comply with, the posts were detained as a security for its due ratification on the part of the States. In the late treaty of amity and commerce, these differences were finally accommodated to the satisfaction of Great Britain, and the posts were consequently delivered up. On the surrender of them very handsome compliments were paid, in the public papers throughout the States, to the British officers, for the polite and friendly manner in which they gave them up. The gardens of the officers were all left in full bearing, and high preservation; and all the little conveniences were spared, which could contribute to the comforts of the federal troops.

[Sidenote: REMARKS]

The generality of the people of the States were big with the idea, that the possession of these places would be attended with the most important and immediate advantages; and in particular they were fully persuaded, that they would thereby at once become masters of the trade to the lakes, and of three-fourths at least of the fur trade, which, they said, had hitherto been so unjustly monopolized by the British merchants, to their great prejudice. They have now got possession of them, and perceive the futility of all these notions.

The posts surrendered are four in number; namely, Fort Oswego, at the mouth of Oswego River, which falls into Lake Ontario, on the south side; Fort Niagara, at the mouth of Niagara River; Fort Detroit, on the western bank of Detroit River; and Fort Michillimachinack, at the straits of the same name, between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. From Oswego, the first of these, we derived no benefit whatever. The neighbouring country, for miles round, was a mere forest; it was inhabited by but few Indians, and these few carried their furs to Cataragui or Kingston, where they got a better price for them than at Oswego, as there were many traders there, and of course some competition amongst them; at the same time, the river, at the mouth of which this fort stands, was always open to the people of the States, and along it a small trade was carried on by them between New York and Lake Ontario, which was in no wise ever interrupted by the troops at the fort. By the surrender of this place, therefore, they have gained nothing but what they enjoyed before and the British government is saved the expence of keeping up a useless garrison of fifty men.

[Sidenote: SURRENDERED FORTS.]

The quantity of furs collected at Niagara is considerable, and the neighbourhood being populous, it is a place of no small trade; but the town, in which this trade is carried on, being on the British side of the line, the few merchants that lived within the limits of the fort immediately crossed over to the other side, as soon as it was rumoured that the fort was to be given up. By the possession of a solitary fort, therefore, the people of the States have not gained the smallest portion of this part of the lake trade; nor is it probable that any of them will find it their interest to settle as merchants near the fort; for the British merchants, on the opposite side, as has already been shewn, can afford to sell their goods, brought up the St. Lawrence, on much lower terms than what goods brought from New York can be sold at; and as for the collecting of furs, it is not to be imagined that the Indians, who bear such a rooted hatred to the people of the States, who are attached to the British, and who are not a people ready to forsake their old friends, will carry their furs over to their enemies, and give up their connexions with the men with whom they have been in the habit of dealing, and who can afford to pay them so much better than the traders on the opposite side of the water.

Detroit, of all the places which have been given up, is the most important; for it is a town, containing at least twelve hundred inhabitants. Since its surrender, however, a new town has been laid out on the opposite bank of the river, eighteen miles lower down, and hither many of the traders have removed. The majority of them stay at Detroit; but few or none have become citizens of the States in consequence, nor is it likely that they will, at least for some time. In the late treaty, a particular provision for them was made; they were to be allowed to remain there for one year, without being called on to declare their sentiments, and if at the end of that period they chose to remain British subjects, they were not to be molested[12] in any manner, but suffered to carry on their trade as formerly in the fullest extent; the portion of the fur trade, which we shall lose by the surrender of this place, will therefore be very inconsiderable.

Footnote 12:

This part of the late treaty has by no means been strictly observed on
the part of the States. The officers of the federal army, without
asking permission, and contrary to the desire of several of the
remaining British inhabitants, appropriated to their own use several
of the houses and stores of those who had removed to the new town, and
declared their determination of not becoming citizens of the States;
and many of the inhabitants had been called on to serve in the
militia, and to perform duties, from which, as British subjects, they
were exempted by the articles in the treaty in their favour. When we
were at Detroit, the British inhabitants met together, and drew up a
memorial on the subject, reciting their grievances, which was
committed to our care, and accordingly presented to the British
minister at Philadelphia.

The fourth post, Michillimachinack, is a small stockaded fort, situated on an island. The agents of the North-west Company of merchants at Montreal, and a few independent traders, resided within the limits of the fort, and bartered goods there for furs brought in by different tribes of Indians, who are the sole inhabitants of the neighbouring country. On evacuating this place, another post was immediately established, at no great distance, on the Island of St. Joseph, in the Straits of St. Mary, between lakes Superior and Huron, and a small garrison left there, which has since been augmented to upwards of fifty men. Several traders, citizens of the States, have established themselves at Michillimakinac but as the British traders have fixed their new post so close to the old one, it is nearly certain that the Indians will continue to trade with their old friends in preference, for the reasons before mentioned.

[Sidenote: LAKE TRADE.]

From this statement it appears evident, that the people of the States can only acquire by their new possession a small part of one branch of the fur trade, namely, of that which is carried on on one of the nearer lakes. The furs brought down from the distant regions in the north-west to the grand portage, and from thence in canoes to Montreal along the Utawa River, are what constitute by far the principal part, both as to quantity and value, of those exported from Montreal; to talk, therefore, of their acquiring possession of three-fourths of the fur trade by the surrender of the posts on the lakes is absurd in the extreme; neither is it likely that they will acquire any considerable share of the lake trade in general, which, as I have already pointed out, can be carried on by the British merchants from Montreal and Quebec, by means of the St. Lawrence, with such superior advantage.

It is worthy of remark, that as military posts, all those lately established by the British are far superior, in point of situation, to those delivered up. The ground on which the new block house is building, on the British side of Niagara River, is nine feet higher than the top of the stone house in the American fort, and it commands every part of the fort. The chief strength of the old fort is on the land side; towards the water the works are very weak, and the whole might be battered down by a single twelve pounder judiciously planted on the British side of the river. At present it is not proposed to erect any other works on the British side of the river than the block house; but should a fort be constructed hereafter, it will be placed on Mississaguis Point, a still more advantageous situation than that on which the block house stands, as it completely commands the entrance into the river.

The new post on Detroit River commands the channel much more effectually than the old fort in the town of Detroit; vessels cannot go up or down the river without passing within a very few yards of it. It is remarkable, indeed, that the French, when they first penetrated into this part of the country, fixed upon the spot chosen for this new fort, in preference to that where Detroit stands, and they had absolutely begun their fort and town, when the whole party was unhappily cut off by the Indians.

[Sidenote: REMARKS.]

The island of St. Joseph, in the third place, is a more eligible situation for a British military post than Michillimakinac, inasmuch as it commands the entrance of Lake Superior, whereas Michillimakinac only commands the entrance into Lake Michigan, which is wholly within the territory of the United States.

It is sincerely to be hoped, however, that Great Britain and the United States may continue friends, and that we never may have occasion to view those posts on the frontiers in any other light than as convenient places for carrying on commerce.

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_LETTER _ XXXI.

_Description of the River and Falls of Niagara and the Country bordering
upon the Navigable Part of the River below the Falls._

Fort Chippeway, September.

[Sidenote: NIAGARA FALLS.]

AT the distance of eighteen miles from the town of Niagara or Newark, are those remarkable Falls in Niagara River, which may justly be ranked amongst the greatest natural curiosities in the known world. The road leading from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie runs within a few hundred yards of them. This road, which is within the British dominions, is carried along the top of the lofty steep banks of the river; for a considerable way it runs close to their very edge, and in passing along it the eye of the traveller is entertained with a variety of the most grand and beautiful prospects. The river, instead of growing narrow as you proceed upwards, widens considerably: at the end of nine or ten miles it expands to the breadth of a mile, and here it assumes much the appearance of a lake; it is enclosed, seemingly on all sides, by high hills, and the current, owing to the great depth of the water, is so gentle as to be scarcely perceptible from the top of the banks. It continues thus broad for a mile or two, when on a sudden the waters are contracted between the high hills on each side. From hence up to the falls the current is exceedingly irregular and rapid. At the upper end of this broad part of the river, and nearly at the foot of the banks, is situated a small village, that has been called Queenstown, but which, in the adjacent country, is best known by the name of “The Landing.” The lake merchant vessels can proceed up to this village with perfect safety, and they commonly do so, to deposit, in the stores there, such goods as are intended to be sent higher up the country, and to receive in return the furs, &c. that have been collected at the various ports on lakes Huron and Erie, and sent thither to be conveyed down to Kingston, across Lake Ontario. The portage from this place to the nearest navigable part of Niagara River, above the Falls, is nine miles in length.

About half way up the banks, at the distance of a few hundred yards from Queenstown, there is a very extensive range of wooden barracks, which, when viewed a little way off, appears to great advantage; these barracks are now quite unoccupied, and it is not probable that they will ever be used until the climate improves: the first troops that were lodged in them sickened in a very few days after their arrival; many of the men died, and had not those that remained alive been removed, pursuant to the advice of the physicians, to other quarters, the whole regiment might possibly have perished.

From the town of Niagara to Queenstown, the country in the neighbourhood of the river is very level; but here it puts on a different aspect; a confused range of hills, covered with oaks of an immense size, suddenly rises up before you, and the road that winds up the side of them is so steep and rugged that it is absolutely necessary for the traveller to leave his carriage, if he should be in one, and proceed to the top on foot. Beyond these hills you again come to an unbroken level country; but the soil here differs materially from that on the opposite side; it consists of a rich dark earth intermixed with clay, and abounding with stones; whereas, on the side next Lake Ontario, the soil is of a yellowish cast, in some places inclining to gravel and in others to sand.