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 three 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.
[Sidenote: 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: 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 mount 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 time 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.
[Sidenote: BUFFALO CREEK.]
Opposite 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 thunder, 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 surface 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.
[Sidenote: 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 even 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.
[Sidenote: 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,
situated 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, coarse 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.
[Sidenote: 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 balls, 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 in 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; indeed, 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.
[Sidenote: 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 which 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.
[Sidenote: 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 by 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 the 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.
On 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.
[Sidenote: 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,
owing 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.
[Sidenote: INUNDATION.]