_Horse Hiring—French Inn—Negro Family—Prairie—Supplied with Oats—Mouth
of the Thames—Elephant—Yorkshiremen—Want of Conveyance—Old
Settler—Prairie—Face of the Country and Soil—Notices of French
Inhabitants and their Agriculture—Huron Indians and their
Agriculture—Royalists and their Agriculture—Notices of
Nature—Detroit River—Amherstburgh—Sandwich—Ferry—Detroit._
My friend C—— sailed from Detroit for Buffalo on the 12th September, and
next day I commenced a tour into the Western United States, from which I
returned again to Detroit, and spent a few days in Canada.
With a view of keeping a connected account of Canada, I shall take up my
proceedings on the 18th October, on the morning of which I crossed from
Detroit to the British side of the river, on which there is situated a
good many houses of different descriptions, with the view of obtaining a
horse to proceed to Chatham on the Thames, a distance of fifty miles.
Being refused by three different people who kept horses for hire, on
what appeared to me frivolous pretences, and thinking they might be
afraid of me leaving the horse, and escaping to the States, I offered to
deposit the value of the horse with the owner before setting out on the
journey. To this arrangement one individual out of the three consented,
but demanded for the use of his horse the same hire as if he himself and
a pair of horses had accompanied me, as he could not employ himself and
the other in my absence. Under these circumstances I returned to
Detroit, where I readily obtained a horse, which I entered at the
customhouse before setting out on my journey, and again on my return, or
rather paid the fees at once. I am not sure if it is absolutely
necessary to enter a horse at the customhouse on crossing the Detroit
river; and at the time suspected it was as much with the view of
obtaining the fees, as complying with law, the owner of the horse
requested me to apply at the customhouse with which he was connected.
The road from the town of Detroit, or rather Sandwich, which is on the
Canadian side of the river Detroit, to Chatham, passes along the margin
of Lake St Clair and the river Thames, and is the chief line of
communication with the most westerly and other parts of Canada; yet
except in the neighbourhood of Detroit and Chatham, I could not obtain
oats or Indian corn to feed my horse. My first application was at the
door of a newly erected house on Lake St Clair, in which I observed two
young men through the window, and a voice answered to come round to the
other door, on tapping at which I was told to come in, and on lifting
the latch I found three men and two women, none of whom rose from their
seats, or could tell me where my horse could be fed. At length I came to
a house near the mouth of the Thames, with a French signpost at the
door, where I stopt for an hour, my horse getting only coarse marsh hay.
This inn is situated on a ridge of sand thrown up by the lake, and about
two feet above its waters; the surrounding country, for miles on all
sides, being a marsh and destitute of inhabitants, another unoccupied
house being a few hundred yards distant. Here a Canadian Frenchwoman of
prepossessing appearance resided, and who spoke the English language
tolerably well. Her husband died the previous year of cholera, and a
young man who assisted her since, died a week or two before my arrival,
of small-pox, and two girls were then just recovering from the same
complaint. She told me a traveller had scarcely entered her door for
seven weeks, and there was no one to fetch her oats and other
necessaries. My poor horse, which was the roughest-motioned creature I
ever bestrode, became tired, and I was anxious to shorten his journey as
much as possible.
I called on Mr John Goose, with whom I travelled to Bear creek a month
before, and who resided on the Thames, four miles below Chatham. He was
in the woods bringing home firewood, and was momentarily expected, so I
gave my horse some of his hay, and walked out to meet him. Mr Goose
readily recognised me; and on learning my intention of wishing to pass
the night at his house, on account of the tired state of my horse, was
informed, he himself would be happy to receive me, but his wife was not
fond of seeing strangers at present when small-pox were rife in the
country, his family never having had the disease, or been vaccinated.
Knowing the situation in which I had been a few hours before, I did not
urge the matter with Mr Goose, although not a thorough disciple of the
school of infection, and taking my wearied horse in my hand, proceeded
onwards.
I called on Israel Williams, in whose stable I left my horse, and walked
on to Mr Cartier’s inn, Chatham, where I passed the night. On enquiring
for Israel’s horses, Pape and Jerry, which carried me round Lake Erie
last month, he told me, that, when swimming Pape across the Thames about
ten days ago in a canoe, he sunk like a stone, and remained under water
two hours, having been, he supposed, seized with cramp. Williams was a
runaway negro from the State of Virginia, a smart, active, stout little
fellow, in good circumstances, having several stacks of wheat, and six
or seven horses of different ages. I was asked to go into his house and
see his wife Juliana, who was as stout and glossy black as any negro
could desire. They had five or six fine curly-haired children of the
same complexion as themselves, none of whom had been at school, as the
teacher could not receive children of colour without displeasing his
white employers.
Next morning, immediately after breakfast, I rode to the plains which I
formerly crossed in a waggon, and, under the guidance of the squatter Mr
Cass, had an opportunity of giving them a hurried examination. The
plains of Chatham are, beyond all doubt, prairie, extending from Lake St
Clair on both sides of the Thames. The east end of the prairie, next to
Chatham, is variable soil, embracing sand of different colours, and clay
of all textures, generally wet, and seemingly capable of being drained
into the river. The wood islands are small, the grass in some parts very
luxuriant, and several of the plants similar to those on the Michigan
prairies. On advancing westward, the soil improves, and some parts are
clay of the first quality. The grass on much of this prairie is four
feet high, and as thick as it can stand; no part of Illinois seems
richer.
No part of this prairie is cultivated; it is so little above the level
of Lake St Clair, that it is doubtful if it can be drained, and much of
it at present indicates wetness. I was anxious to ascertain the
practicability of draining the prairie; but well-informed people at
Sandwich and Detroit told me, instruments for levelling could not be
obtained nearer than New York, and all streams being dry, there were no
means of approximating the point. Some of the farmers on the Thames
maintained there was no difficulty in the matter, and all mentioned Lake
Erie, and not St Clair, as the outlet. I had no opportunity of forming
an opinion on the subject, but if the drainage can only be effected by
Lake Erie, the undertaking will be far too expensive for a private
individual; and, in the present circumstances of Canada, not likely to
repay a company for the outlay.
Lake St Clair, and the other lakes connected with the river St Lawrence,
do not rise and fall by floods and droughts like ordinary collections of
water in other parts of the world, yet it is subject to variations at
distant periods; and this, I believe, has not been satisfactorily
accounted for. The Frenchwoman who keeps the inn at the mouth of the
Thames told me the lake was lower now than she had ever known it, and
had been falling for years past. She said it continued to rise for years
formerly, and drove people from the houses she pointed out, at some
distance on the prairie, and thought it now eighteen inches below its
highest level. This change of elevation on the lake might affect the
prairie, even when drained.
The grass on the margin of the prairie near the Thames, and more
especially in the neighbourhood of French church, six or seven miles
from the junction of the river with Lake St Clair, is of the richest
description, having a large portion of white clover, and cropped as
short as teeth could make it. Yet the animals of all descriptions
roaming on it were small, lean, stunted-looking creatures. This, in some
measure, may have been owing to their respective breeds, but I could not
resist auguring unfavourably of the land from the poverty of the animals
grazing on it.
On leaving the prairie I found my horse getting tired; and on applying
to a farmer on the banks of the Thames, he readily consented to furnish
oats, for which he would not accept of payment. I also was asked into
his house, and partook of his hospitality. I could not with propriety
enquire the gentleman’s name, but learned his farm was Lot tenth, of
Concession first. I need not, through this medium, ask him to accept of
my thanks, however grateful I may feel, as there is little chance of his
seeing or hearing of my lucubrations.
I reached the inn at the mouth of the Thames, where I remained for the
night, getting a clean and good bed, fried pork morning and evening, and
acting as my own ostler. In the morning I walked over a considerable
extent of the shores of Lake St Clair, and the mouth of the Thames. The
soil is exceedingly poor, and so wet that animals cannot walk over much
of it. Here I saw the Thames steam-boat coming down the river from
Chatham, which had a singular appearance when viewed from the prairie,
the river being about two feet below the surface, the ground so
perfectly level, and without an object of any kind, that the vessel
seemed gliding on land.
I left the inn after breakfast, and reached Detroit in the afternoon,
with my horse nearly done up. By the way I met an elephant walking on
the road towards Chatham, covered with canvass, and attended by two men
on horseback. A waggon led the cavalcade, in which I was told there was
a lion and some other animals. The exhibiting of animals must yet be an
indifferent trade in Canada, when population is so thin and poor.
I met many old-country Yorkshiremen at Detroit. The ostler who received
my horse was from that county; a flash fellow, strutting the streets
with a scarlet frock coat, collar and pocketlids of black velvet, with
top boots and buckskins, was a Yorkshire tailor; and a Yorkshireman was
entertaining many listeners in the bar-room of the hotel while dinner
was preparing for me, having arrived after the regular hour. This
character was dressed in his smock-coat, with tight lacing boots and
leggans, as if from his native country a minute before, and was telling
cock-and-bull stories about his shooting feats with Lord Liverpool and
other great men, as their companion. His language, dress, and appearance
formed a striking contrast to the grave, thoughtful-looking Americans,
who did not make a remark or alter an expression of countenance
indicating their opinion of Yorky; yet they seemed to be eyeing him with
a keenness, as if measuring the strength and depth of his character.
After partaking of dinner, I recrossed the river to the Canadian side,
walked over some French settlements, and passed the night at Sandwich.
The hotel was a poor, dirty, ill-finished place, and more especially the
sleeping part of it. Here I met with two gentlemen of the village, whose
conversation was of considerable use to me.
Next morning it was my intention to have visited a new settlement, four
miles to the east of Sandwich, but I was unable to obtain a horse or
conveyance of any kind in this metropolis of Western Canada. The people
of the hotels do not in the least degree interest themselves in the
proceedings of travellers, and knew of no one likely to hire his horses
or waggon. I, however, applied to several French inhabitants without
effect; and the day being wet I had no alternative but to walk down the
banks of the river to Amherstburgh, where, with the assistance of Mrs
Drake, I got the use of a pony from Mr Obrion at a dollar a-day.
Nothing could exceed the wretched equipment of the pony, which was a
good one if it had been in condition. But it had run on the common and
in the wood until caught for my use; its mane was almost a solid mass of
burs, and its hairs so covered with eggs of the bot-fly, that they
almost changed the colour of the animal. It was without shoes; the
saddle, without girths, was held in its position by a belt passing over
it; the stirrups and bridle harmonizing with the saddle.
In the first instance I rode over part of the Huron Indian Reserve with
Mr Clark, who had married a squaw of the Huron tribe, by whom he had a
family, being originally an American, and having lived in comfort, since
the time of his marriage, on the Huron lands. Returning again to
Amherstburgh, I rode down the shore of Lake Erie, after dinner, to Mr
——’s, where I arrived about dusk. There was no stable for my pony, and
it was turned into a field to shift for itself. Mr —— was unfortunately
from home, and not expected for some days. I found this old settler, who
had been born in the country, living pretty much in the style of those
who had recently set themselves down, and I partook of homely fare, and
slept on the floor. Here I met with a military gentleman of
intelligence, whose name is connected with a beautiful island on Lake
Simcoe, and who was in search of a desirable lot of land to fix on, to
which he was entitled by his services. He expressed a wish to have my
assistance in the selection, and offered such terms, that nothing but
want of time, and the advanced period of the season, prevented my
accepting.
Next morning I rose by daybreak, and caught my pony, on which I rode to
the hotel at the shipping place of Colborne iron works, kept by Mr Faux,
from whom I hired a horse, to save my pony, for returning to
Amherstburgh in the afternoon. I rode on Mr Faux’s horse to a prairie
some miles to the east of the iron works, which I had heard spoken of in
high terms, and which I observed at some distance a month before. This
prairie was understood to be for sale, and I called on the proprietor,
who was a kind, well-informed old gentleman, showing me personally over
the land, and regretting my inability to dine with him.
I found the prairie in question to consist of peat earth, about a foot
in thickness, on a wet sandy subsoil, intermingled with marl, which I
was able to distinguish by the aid of a spade, and test by vinegar. It
was of small size, very picturesque, and not likely to repay the expense
of draining.
I again mounted the pony at Mr Faux’s hotel, and reached Amherstburgh in
the evening, having examined four farms that were for sale in course of
my excursion. Time was now pressing me; and being anxious to see an
individual in Sandwich, and a form in the neighbourhood, I engaged Mr
Obrion to take me early in the morning to Sandwich in a cart.
I called Mr Obrion out of bed some time after the hour he appointed to
meet me, and he was so long in getting every thing put to rights, that I
walked over the common on foot. He, however, soon overtook me; but
declining to go beyond a pace faster than I could walk, I leapt from the
cart, and proceeded on foot, breakfasting at a French inn, stopping at
Sandwich two hours, and bidding adieu to Canada, by crossing over to
Detroit about noon.
Having, on my different visits to Canada, passed completely round the
peninsula formed by the Thames river, Lake St Clair, Detroit river, and
Lake Erie, I shall describe the face of the country through which I
passed.
On leaving Chatham for the south, the soil from that place to Lake Erie,
with exception of the plains already noticed, was clay of excellent
quality, the surface level, and apparently wet near the margin. In
passing up the shores of the lake, the soil was variable, being
sometimes clay, and sometimes sand, the latter greatly preponderating.
Some parts of the lake shore were unsettled, and scarcely a recent
clearance was discernible. In the townships of Tilbury and Marsea, some
farms had been deserted, which had a most barren aspect, being overrun
with weeds, and scarcely producing a blade of grass.
The surface in the township of Gosfield, near the iron-works, differs
from any seen in the peninsula, being undulating, and, in the language
of the place, a handsome country. The land is not of the best quality,
and for the first time in Canada, I walked over a gravelly soil.
The townships of Colchester and Maldon are not much above the level of
the lake, and the road passes through a sandy soil generally, and
sometimes thin clay of bad quality. In the former there are oak
openings, the soil of which is poor sand. The soil of Maldon seems
superior to that of Colchester, and improves, on approaching
Amherstburgh, to the finest quality. In both townships there are a good
many people of colour, who generally rent the farms on which they
reside, or obtain so many years’ possession, on condition of clearing a
certain extent of wood. A considerable quantity of tobacco is here
grown, chiefly by the black population.
The country from Chatham to Lake Erie in the township of Tilbury, and
round the lake to Amherstburgh, seems badly watered, not having seen
above two rills passing into the lake. In Colchester and Maldon, there
are occasionally stagnant branches of the lake, like canals or channels
of a stream, jutting into the land to a considerable distance, and which
I was told terminate in swamps, and prove the greatest, if not the only,
natural objection to the country.
About a mile from Amherstburgh, on the river Detroit, commences a tract
of country known by the name of the Huron Reserve, extending seven miles
along the banks of the river, and seven miles back from it.
For the first four miles of this Reserve, in passing from Amherstburgh,
the river, which is here perhaps the most beautiful in the world, is
upwards of twenty feet below its banks, the soil a rich crumbling clay,
and is one of the loveliest spots in Canada. Above this, the banks sink
to the level of the river, and there is an extensive tract, six or seven
miles in length, and two or three in breadth, covered with tall aquatic
plants, which impart a pestilential aspect to the country, and must form
one of the best nurseries in the world for ducks and mosquittoes. On
approaching Sandwich, the banks again rise above the river, and maintain
their elevation until a little above the ferry at Detroit.
From the termination of the Huron Reserve to Sandwich, the soil on the
river is inferior, and the road, on entering the village, passes through
what has originally been an oak opening of poor gravelly soil, and is
still covered with oak bushes, intermingled with inferior pasturage.
Above Sandwich the soil is good on the banks, and continues so as long
as the elevation above the river is maintained. This part of the country
is inhabited by the descendants of the French, and not a trace of the
original forest remains.
A mile or two above the ferry at Detroit, and approaching Lake St Clair,
the banks are low, and tracts of marsh fall back into the country.
Around Lake St Clair there is some tolerable soil, elevated about two
feet above its waters, and a small wet prairie or two, besides that at
the mouth of the Thames. There are few settlers, scarcely a vestige of
cultivation, and one or two recent clearings of insignificant extent.
The banks of the river Thames are nearly on a level with the waters of
Lake St Clair, and gradually rise on approaching Chatham, where they are
fifteen or twenty feet high. They have long been cleared of the forest,
descendants of French settlers residing below, and those of British
Loyalists above. Both classes of inhabitants seem to cultivate only what
is necessary to supply their wants, and have made no inroads on the
forest or prairie for many years. The extent of cultivated land is
limited, and everywhere celebrated in Canada as the best in the world.
The soil on the south banks of the Thames, from Chatham to its mouth,
varies from the finest brown-coloured loam to indifferent sand, the
former being of limited extent. I do not mean to damn this favourite
spot with faint praise, but while I admit there is some loam as good as
man could wish, I contend it is not generally of such a description. No
competent judge of soil need remain long in doubt on this point who
visits the situation, and I shall only particularize a field above Mr
John Goose’s house, which was being fallowed when I was there, and which
I pronounce not good soil. The state of the crops might be adduced in
evidence of my opinion, especially that of Indian corn, which was not
equal to that on some parts of the shore of Lake Erie, more especially
that belonging to John Macdonald.
Of the land in the interior of the Peninsula, I am unable to speak, with
exception of what was seen passing from Chatham to Lake Erie, and which
I found of superior quality. I have already noticed that few running
streams join Lake Erie, and the same remark is applicable to Detroit
river and Lake St Clair. Several rivers are laid down on maps as flowing
into the south side of Lake St Clair, but at the time of my visit the
mouths of all of them, with a single exception, were closed with sand on
the margin of the lake; and I could not determine whether their waters
filtered through the sand bars into the lake, or those of the lake into
the channels or canals running into the land.
The greater part of the inhabitants in and around Amherstburgh and
Sandwich, the banks of Detroit river, Lake St Clair, and the mouth of
the Thames, are descendants of the French who settled in this part of
the country about the year 1670. They still retain the language,
appearance, and many of the customs of their ancestors. Like the Lower
Canadians, they seldom engage in commerce or manufactures, and settle
together on long narrow lots of land, in streets or villages, and cut
down every forest tree. In Lower Canada the French population have no
orchards, except on the sides of the mountain at Montreal, but here
almost every settler on the Detroit river has an orchard. I did not
observe in the gardens of the French a single pear, plum, or peach-tree,
but apples were very abundant, and cider-presses frequently met with.
The inhabitants do not seem so light-hearted or polite a people as those
of the lower province. They do not notice strangers in passing, and I
only observed two boys bow to me at Sandwich, while every man, woman,
and child does so in the neighbourhood of Montreal. The houses are
generally brick, and occasionally frame, but seldom with the stone
basement of the lower province. The beds of the inhabitants are
sometimes without, and sometimes with, posts and curtains, and, in every
case which came under my notice, very clean.
On some parts of the river Detroit, Lake St Clair, and on the Thames,
many people reside literally amongst water, passing to and from their
houses on planks.
The French Canadians are said to be averse to clearing forest land, and
perhaps as population increases, they prefer occupying swamps to
clearing dry land. The appearance of the inhabitants residing in such
situations was unhealthy. Around Lake St Clair, the inhabitants seem to
be employed in preparing firewood for the town of Detroit.
The French inhabitants have a great dislike to service of any kind, and
more especially to females going out as cooks. The women seem
industrious, and often drive the produce of the farm to market in carts.
Some children were seen running about in their shirts, as in Lower
Canada, even when the weather was cold.
The French seem to have little system in their farming, growing wheat,
Indian corn, and grass. They plough with oxen and a driver. The sheep
are similar to those of the lower province, many of them being
black-coloured, with a little white on the face and neck. The oxen are
of different colours, somewhat larger than those of Lower Canada, and
many of them are without horns. The horses are small, and perhaps not
equal to those of Montreal.
In several instances I examined a machine with which the French
inhabitants were thrashing out grain. This was a beam twelve or fifteen
feet in length, with projecting spars like the spokes of a wheel,
resting on the ground at one end, and rising with an elevation to suit
the draught of a horse at the other. The lower end of the beam was
without spars, which increased in length according to the elevation. As
the horse moves in a circle, the beam revolves, which brings the spars
successively in contact with the grain spread on the floor, and by which
means it was beat out from the straw.
This mode of separating grain from straw is evidently the first step
from treading it out by animals, and is, perhaps, as old as the flail.
An economizer of labour would have strewed the gangway of the horse with
grain, so that it might have assisted in the operation, by treading with
its feet. I have not been able to learn if this plan is known in France,
or any other part of the world. It has not been adopted by the Americans
or British Canadians, although it must be an assistance to, if not
calculated to supersede, the treading of animals.
The Huron tribe of Indians, residing near Amherstburgh, are few in
number, extending only to ten or twelve families, and from their long
intercourse with Europeans, most of the present generation seem to have
a mixture of white blood in them. They have long been Christians in
connexion with the Catholic church, and have adopted most of the habits
of civilized life. They have orchards, numerous herds of cattle, horses
and pigs; the cattle being the best I saw in the western part of Canada,
and which I attribute to the superiority of the pasturage. On the 24th
October, I observed a Huron Indian harrowing sown wheat with a
triangular harrow on as well formed ridges as any I saw in Canada.
The Huron Indians were understood to have sold part of their reserve in
the neighbourhood of Amherstburgh to the British Government. Mr M—— had
been appointed to survey the purchase, and with this view was residing
at Amherstburgh during the time of my first visit. The Indians, under
some pretext, would not, however, allow the measurement to proceed, and
Mr M—— got orders from York to delay the survey.
The inhabitants of Amherstburgh are anxious, almost clamorous, to have
the Huron Reserve, in the vicinity of the village, exposed for public
settlement, which would, in all probability, promote its increase and
prosperity. It is not my intention to enter into the merits of the
policy of removing the Huron Indians from their situation on the
southern part of their territory. But in the event of the lands falling
into the possession of the present inhabitants of Amherstburgh and its
vicinity, I question if the change would be for the better, as the
landholders seem incapable of managing or appreciating the great
advantages nature hath placed within their reach. The white man strongly
displays the frailty of his nature in envying this remnant of his
copper-coloured brother’s inheritance, while so many millions of acres
in Canada are unoccupied.
A considerable portion of the inhabitants on Lake Erie, in the townships
of Maldon, Colchester, and the banks of the Thames, are descendants of
the Royalists who left the States at the time of their becoming
independent, and who obtained grants of land in Canada from the British
Government. Like other colonists in this vast continent, who have been
shut out in a great measure from intercourse with the world, they have
been content to live without an apparent desire to improve their
condition. Their extent of clear forest is limited, and few additions
have recently been made. The dwelling-houses and farm-offices are of the
shabbiest kind, and only two brick houses were seen in a distance of
twenty-seven miles, passing from Amherstburgh round Lake Erie. A brick
house is also a rare sight on the Thames, wood being almost the only
building material.
In this part of Canada, farming is as low as in newly settled districts,
and embraces the cultivation of wheat, oats, peas, Indian corn, and
tobacco—wheat and Indian corn being the chief crops. In many instances
wheat had been sown amongst growing Indian corn, and ploughed in between
the drills. This is an excellent plan, the wheat being well advanced
when the Indian corn is reaped. Oxen are employed in ploughing
generally, and all operations are performed in a superficial manner. I
observed a crop of buck-wheat being carried in the township of Gosfield,
on 24th October. Two horses were attached to a sleigh, and two men on
the ground were building small sheaves on the sleigh with their hands,
neither of them having a pitchfork. A trifling load was taken off the
field, attended by the two men already mentioned; and after being upset,
a man and two boys placed it in the barn. The carrying of this crop
would have been effected at one-fourth of the labour in Scotland, where
the division of farm labour is properly understood. Extensive orchards
are everywhere met with, and the crop of apples was immense, so much so,
that they sometimes remained ungathered. The horses, oxen, sheep, and
pigs in this part of Canada are all inferior in kind; and if such a
thing as a good sized horse can be found either for the saddle or
draught purposes, which I very much doubt, it must have come from the
States.
The implements of husbandry are such as are common to the country.
Several grist-mills are propelled by oxen walking on an inclined plane,
and are very poor machines. A good many grist-mills are also propelled
by wind, chiefly amongst the French inhabitants on the shores of Detroit
river and the lakes, and also some by oxen or horses attached to a large
wheel, moving horizontally a few inches from the ground. I was given to
understand a steam-power grist-mill was about to be erected at Sandwich,
by a capitalist lately arrived in the country, and I imagine will be
chiefly employed in grinding wheat from the States.
The trees do not materially differ from those in other parts of Canada,
with exception of sweet chestnut being common on the shores of Lake
Erie. This tree is generally found on poor sandy soil, and seems to
occupy the place of the pine in the districts to the north and east. In
passing round Lake St Clair, I thought I observed the pawpaw growing
near the commencement of Detroit river, but the plants being small, I
could not determine their identity. Future travellers may be better able
to settle this point, as I scattered some seeds of the pawpaw, which
were in my pocket, and which I gathered in Ohio a few days before.
The turkey is said to inhabit this district in considerable numbers, and
the boy who conducted us out of Chatham plains told me he had come on a
hen and her brood a short time before, but this bird was not seen by me.
The pheasant and quail are numerous, and so tame that you may approach
within a few yards of them on open ground. Ducks of various kinds
inhabit the waters, and more especially Detroit river, in vast numbers;
and many of the species are so tame, that, schoolboy like, I pelted them
with stones in open water without their taking wing. Several kinds of
geese also frequent the waters, but it is only in autumn, when they and
ducks congregate in such numbers, preparatory, perhaps, to moving south
for the winter.
Birds of prey are numerous. Near the mouth of the Thames I observed a
bald eagle perched on a decayed tree, and which was the only one I saw
in Canada. Buzzards were seen frequently, gliding gracefully in circles,
and in company, though at considerable distances from each other. Many
hawks of different sizes, and small eagles, were observed on the shore
of Lake Erie, sitting inactive on trees, or fighting with each other
about a favourite resting-place. On one occasion, near Chatham, a hawk
singled out a small bird for its quarry which frequents the banks of the
Thames, without the power of swimming. The little creature was above the
centre of the river when attacked, and avoided a death-blow by diving
under water with a shrill cry. It no sooner, however, left the element
than the hawk made a second swoop, which was again avoided by going
under water, and by a succession of dives and flights, it at last found
shelter amongst some bushes on the banks. There are vast numbers of what
are here called blackbirds, consisting of two kinds, and both highly
destructive to the farmer, devouring almost every species of produce,
and especially Indian corn; they breed amongst reeds, and find the
marshes of the Detroit an excellent cover. There are squirrels of
various kinds, striped, black, and brown; the former live in the ground,
and the two latter are occasionally shot and used as food. Racoons are
often hunted, and valued on account of their skins.
The river Detroit issues from Lake St Clair, and falls into Lake Erie,
after a south-west course of about twenty-eight miles. The waters of the
greatest lakes in the world, Superior, Huron, and Michigan, pass through
the channel of the Detroit, which, at the narrowest point, is about 800
yards wide, and above as well as below this place, expands several miles
in breadth. The current seems to run at a rate of between two and three
miles an hour, and the water is as limpid as that of the purest spring,
except when slightly tinged with earth, caused by the waves during a
tempest. The largest steam-vessels pass up at all times, and navies
might contend on its waters.
The village of Amherstburgh is situated near the confluence of Detroit
river with Lake Erie, opposite to a small island, between which and
Amherstburgh the main body of water passes. The houses are almost
entirely of wood, arranged into streets at right angles with each other,
and almost all bespeaking poverty and meanness. There are Catholic,
Episcopalian, and Presbyterian places of worship, besides schools, and
the population is about 500. Most of the inhabitants are of French
descent. Trade is very limited, and thought to be declining. Every
vessel passing up and down the Detroit comes within 100 yards of the
pier, which is at all times accessible to the largest class. Fort
Maldon, a paltry mud erection, is situated on the banks of the Detroit,
about half a mile from the village, and the military reserve around the
fort, which is the best of pasturage, is occupied as common.
Amherstburgh is one of the oldest places in Canada, situated in its
finest climate, the best British port on Lake Erie, and in beauty and
healthiness of situation, inferior to no place in America; yet every
thing, with exception of two handsome residences below the town, seems
in a state of listless decay. I have no doubt there are better days in
store for Amherstburgh.
Sandwich is also on the Detroit, sixteen miles above Amherstburgh, and
derives its only importance from being the county town. The houses
compose an irregular street, running along the river, and chiefly
occupied by French. The trade of Sandwich is more limited than that of
Amherstburgh, and I do not think it has the same chance of progressing.
About a mile and a half above Sandwich is the ferry at Detroit, at which
there are fifteen or twenty houses on the Canadian side of the river,
and several brick buildings were being erected at the time of my visit.
This place will soon eclipse Sandwich, and may rival Chatham. Detroit is
the great market of Western Canada, and the ferry possesses advantages,
in proximity and access during winter, above every other situation.
Since leaving Montreal, I had seen no place bearing the marks of age and
wealth, and the town of Detroit, situated on the magnificent river of
the same name, ranks next to that city in appearance; and in recalling
old-country associations, forms a striking contrast to the poverty and
lifelessness of Amherstburgh and Sandwich, on the opposite side of the
river. Lofty spires and large brick buildings are seen in the distance;
steam-vessels, and engine-stalks, employed in manufactures, on a near
approach. A fine large steam-boat leaves Detroit daily for Buffalo, and
smaller ones for less distant places on the north and south. Now and
then a steam-boat plys to Chicago and other places on Lake Michigan, and
in course of a year or two it is probable there will be a daily line of
boats. There are three streets running parallel to the river, and many
at right angles. The houses in the principal streets are of brick. The
population exceeds 3000 souls, the greater part of whom are of French
descent.