Part 11

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

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

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

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

[Sidenote: VARIOUS SERPENTS.]

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

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

[Sidenote: DETROIT RIVER.]

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

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

_LETTER _ XXXIII.

_Description of the District of Malden.—Establishment of a new British Post there.—Island of Bois Blanc.—Difference between the British and Americans respecting the Right of Possession.—Block Houses, how constructed.—Captain E—’s Farm.—Indians.—Description of Detroit River, and the Country bordering upon it.—Town of Detroit.—Head Quarters of the American Army.—Officers of the Western Army.—Unsuccessful Attempt of the Americans to impress upon the Minds of the Indians an Idea of their Consequence.—Of the Country round Detroit.—Doubts concerning our Route back to Philadelphia.—Determine to go by Presqu’ Isle.—Departure from Detroit._

Malden, October.

MALDEN is a district of considerable extent, situated on the eastern side of Detroit River, about eighteen miles below the town of Detroit. At the lower end of the district there are but few houses, and these stand very widely asunder; but at the upper end, bordering upon the river, and adjoining to the new British post that has been established since the evacuation of Detroit, a little town has been laid out, which already contains more than twenty houses, and is rapidly increasing. Hither several of the traders have removed who formerly resided at Detroit. This little town has as yet received no particular name, neither has the new post, but they merely go under the name of the new British post and town near the island of Bois Blanc, an island in the river near two miles in length, and half a mile in breadth, that lies opposite to Malden.

[Sidenote: DETROIT.]

When the evacuation of Detroit was first talked of, the island was looked to as an eligible situation for the new post, and orders were sent to purchase it from the Indians, and to take possession of it in the name of his Britannic Majesty. Accordingly a party of troops went down for that purpose from Detroit; they erected a small block house on the northern extremity of it, and left a serjeant’s guard there for its defence. Preparations were afterwards making for building a fort on it; but in the mean time a warm remonstrance against such proceedings came from the government of the United States[14], who insisted upon it that the island was not within the limits of the British dominions. The point, it was found, would admit of some dispute, and as it could not be determined immediately, the plan of building the fort was relinquished for the time. The block house on the island, however, still remains guarded, and possession will be kept of it until the matter in dispute be adjudged by the commissioners appointed, pursuant to the late treaty, for the purpose of determining the exact boundaries of the British dominions in this part of the continent, which were by no means clearly ascertained by the definitive treaty of peace between the States and Great Britain.

Footnote 14:

Notwithstanding that the government of the United States has thought it incumbent upon itself to remonstrate against our taking possession of this island, and thus to dispute every inch of ground respecting the right to which there could be the smallest doubt, yet the generality of the people of the States affect to talk of every such step as idle and unnecessary, inasmuch as they are fully persuaded, in their own minds, that all the British dominions in North America must, sooner or later, become a part of their empire. Thus Mr. Imlay, in his account of the north-western territory: “It is certain, that as the country has been more opened in America, and thereby the rays of the sun have acted more powerfully upon the earth, these benefits have tended greatly to soften the winter season; so that peopling Canada, for which we are much obliged to you, is a double advantage to us. First, it is settling and populating a country that must, sooner or later, from the natural order of things, become a part of our empire; and secondly, it is immediately meliorating the climate of the northern states,” &c.

The greatest empires that have ever appeared on the face of the globe have dissolved in the course of time, and no one acquainted with history will, I take it for granted, presume to say that the extended empire of Britain, all powerful as it is at present, is so much more closely knit together than any other empire ever was before it, that it can never fall asunder; Canada, I therefore suppose, may, with revolving years, be disjointed from the mother country, as well as her other colonies; but whenever that period shall arrive, which I trust is far distant, I am humbly of opinion that it will not form an additional knot in that extensive union of states which at present subsist on the continent of North America; indeed, were the British dominions in North America to be dissevered from the other members of the empire the ensuing year, I am still tempted to imagine that they would not become linked with the present federal American states, and for the following reasons:

First, because the constitution of the federal states, which is the bond that holds them together, is not calculated for such a large territory as that which the present states, together with such an addition, would constitute.

The constitution of the states is that of the people, who, through their respective representatives assembled together at some one place, must decide upon every measure that is to be taken for the public weal. This place, it is evident, ought in justice to be as central as possible to every state; the necessity, indeed, of having the place so situated has been manifested in the building of the new federal city. Were it not for this step, many of the most enlightened characters in the states have given it as their opinion, that the union could not have remained many years entire, for the states so far removed from the seat of the legislature, before the new city was founded, had complained grievously of the distance which their delegates had to travel to meet congress, and had begun to talk of the necessity of a separation of the states: and now, on the other hand, that a central spot has been fixed upon, those states to the northward, conveniently situated to Philadelphia, the present seat of the federal government, say that the new city will be so far removed from them, that the sending of delegates thither will be highly inconvenient to them, and so much so, as to call for a separation of the union on their part. In a former letter I stated the various opinions that were entertained by the people of the United States on this subject, and I endeavoured to shew that the seat of congress would be removed to the new federal city without endangering a partition of the states; but I am fully persuaded, that were Canada to become an independent state, and a place were to be fixed on central to all the states, supposing her to be one, that neither she, nor the state at the remote opposite end, would long continue, if they ever did submit, to send their delegates to a place so far removed, that it would require more than a fourth part of the year for them (the delegates) to travel, even with the utmost possible expedition, backward and forward, between the district which they represented and the seat of congress.

Secondly, I think the two Canadas will never become connected with the present states, because the people of these provinces, and those of the adjoining states, are not formed for a close intimacy with each other.

The bulk of the people of Upper Canada are refugees, who were driven from the states by the persecution of the republican party; and though the thirteen years which have passed over have nearly extinguished every spark of resentment against the Americans in the breasts of the people of England, yet this is by no means the case in Upper Canada; it is there common to hear, even from the children of the refugees, the most gross invectives poured out against the people of the states; and the people of the frontier states, in their turn, are as violent against the refugees and their posterity; and, indeed, whilst Canada forms a part of the British empire, I am inclined, from what I have seen and heard in travelling through the country, to think that this spirit will not die away. In Lower Canada the same acrimonious temper of mind is not observable amongst the people, excepting indeed in those few parts of the country where inhabited parts of the states approach closely to these of the province; but here appears to be a general disinclination amongst the inhabitants to have any political connection with the people of the states, and the French Canadians affect to hold them in the greatest contempt. Added to this, the prevalent language of the lower province, which has remained the same for almost forty years, notwithstanding the great pains that have been taken to change it, and which is therefore likely to remain so still, is another obstacle in the way of any close connection between the people of the lower province and those of the states. Even in conducting the affairs of the provincial legislative assembly, notwithstanding that most of the English inhabitants are well acquainted with the French language, yet a considerable degree of difficulty is experienced from the generality of the French delegates being totally ignorant of the English language, which, as I have already mentioned, they have an unconquerable aversion against learning.

Thirdly, I think the British dominions in North America will never be annexed to those of the states, because they are by nature formed for constituting a separate independent territory.

At present the boundary line between the British dominions and the States runs along the river St. Croix, thence along the high lands bordering upon New England till it meets the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, and afterwards along the said parallel until it strikes the River St. Lawrence, or Cataragui, or Iroquois. Now the dominions south of the St. Lawrence are evidently not separated from the United States by any bold determinate boundary line; I therefore suppose that they may, in some manner, be connected with them; but the country to the northward, bounded on the north by Hudson’s Bay, on the east by the ocean, on the south and west by the St. Lawrence, and that vast chain of lakes which extends to the westward, is separated from the United States by one of the most remarkable boundary lines that is to be found on the face of the globe between any two countries on the same continent; and from being bounded in such a remarkable manner, and thus detached as it were by nature from the other parts of the continent, it appears to me that it is calculated for forming a distinct separate state, or distinct union of states, from the present American federal states; that is, supposing, with the revolutions of time, that this arm of the British empire should be some time or other lopped off. I confess it appears strange to me, that any person should suppose, after looking attentively over a map of North America, that the British dominions, so extensive and so unconnected with them, could ever become joined in a political union with the present federal states on the continent. There is more reason to imagine that the Floridas, and the Spanish possessions to the east of the Mississippi, will be united therewith; for as the rivers which flow through the Spanish dominions are the only channels whereby the people of some of the western states can convey the produce of their own country to the ocean with convenience, it is natural to suppose that the people of these states will be anxious to gain possession of these rivers, for which purpose they must possess themselves of the country through which they pass. But there are certain bounds, beyond which a representative government cannot extend, and the ocean on the east and south, the St. Lawrence and the lakes on the north, and the Mississippi on the west, certainly appear to set bounds to the jurisdiction of the government of the United States, if indeed it can extend even so far.

In this particular instance the dispute arises respecting the true meaning of certain words of the treaty. “The boundary line,” it says, “is to run through the middle of Lake Erie until it arrive at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of the said water communication.” The people of the States construe the middle of the water communication to be the middle of the most approved and most frequented channel of the river; we, on the contrary, construe it to be the middle of the river, provided there is a tolerable channel on each side. Now the island of Bois Blanc clearly lies between the middle of the river and the British main; but then the deepest and most approved channel for ships of burthen is between the island and the British shore. In our acceptation of the word, therefore, the island unquestionably belongs to us; in that of the people of the States, to them. It appears to me, that our claim in this instance is certainly the most just; for although the best and most commodious channel be on our side, yet the channel on the opposite side of the island is sufficiently deep to admit through it, with perfect safety, the largest of the vessels at present on the lakes, and indeed as large vessels as are deemed suitable for this navigation.

Plans for a fort on the main land, and for one on the island of Bois Blanc, have been drawn; but as only the one fort will be erected, the building of it is postponed until it is determined to whom the island belongs: if within the British dominions, the fort will be erected on the island, as there is a still more advantageous position for one there than on the main land; in the mean time a large block house, capable of accommodating, in every respect comfortably, one hundred men and officers, has been erected on the main land, around which about four acres or more of ground have been reserved for his Majesty’s use, in case the fort should not be built on the island.

[Sidenote: BLOCK HOUSE.]