Part 10

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.]

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

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

[Sidenote: ISLANDS.]

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

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

[Sidenote: RATTLESNAKES.]