Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826. v. 1-2. Bernhard

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СКАЧАТЬ nearly exhausted, General Van Rensselaer sent orders to the militia to advance. The general himself hastened to the opposite shore to accelerate their movements; he was answered that they were ready to defend the borders of the United States, but it was contrary to the laws of the country to take them out of it. The troops of the line in the meanwhile, having exhausted their ammunition, were obliged to retreat; they expected to embark, but not finding any boats, they were compelled, after a heroic defence to surrender as prisoners of war. On the place where General Brock fell, the parliament of Canada has erected a monument to the memory of that brave and intrepid soldier. It consists of a lofty column, which may be observed from every part of the adjacent country. It was not yet completed, and wanted the inscription.

      We expected to meet the steam-boat Queenstown at Newark, in order to proceed to Kingston, on the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. We missed it, however, and were afterwards informed that it had been obliged to put in at another harbour on account of repairs. We were compelled, therefore, to remain three days at Newark. Newark is a regularly built town, with several handsome houses; it is situated at the outlet of the Niagara into Lake Ontario, between Fort George and Missagua. Fort Missagua is near the lake; Fort George lies south of Newark, and is in ruins. During the last war, both these forts were occupied by the Americans, and from Fort George towards the town, they had raised a bulwark so as to form a kind of intrenchment. After they had evacuated this position, and were obliged to retreat to the right shore of the Niagara, the commander, General M‘Clure, burnt the town of Newark, an act for which he has been severely censured by his country. Since this occurred, the village has never properly recovered, and its future increase will also be slow, especially as government is digging a canal to the west of Newark, which is to connect Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, which will probably hereafter withdraw all the transitory commerce. Our time passed very agreeably in this town, particularly through the attention of the worthy Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had come hither; the politeness of Major Cob, and the gallant officers of the seventy-sixth regiment, of which four companies were at Newark, as well as the delightful singing of Mrs. Grymes, who remained with her husband, while many others, with whom we had expected to sail, went away.

      We visited Fort Niagara, which is situated on the American shore, and which, in consequence of its white houses, and its waving flag, presents a very handsome appearance. The fort lies on a neck of land; it was erected by the French in the middle of the last century, and was shortly after taken by the British. After the peace of Versailles in 1783, it fell into the possession of the United States, was retaken during the late war by the British, and at the peace of Ghent, was again obtained by the United States. We saw all that was to be seen, and found every thing clean and comfortable. I will only further remark on the present occasion, that the uniform of the United States’ Infantry is very simple, and consists of dark blue cloth, with one row of white buttons, blue lace collars and cuffs of the same, white cord, and leather caps.

      We also visited the village of the Tuscarora tribe of Indians, who reside within the limits of the United States, about three miles from Lewistown. The village consists of single houses, or wigwams, and is handsomely situated in a valley surrounded by forests. It contains a frame church, in which the service is performed by a methodist missionary, who also, during the winter, keeps school for their children. Most of the houses are surrounded by gardens and orchards; and the fields, in which they mostly cultivate Indian corn, appeared to be in a very good condition. We were conducted into the house of an Indian, about forty years of age, who had been educated in one of the schools in New York, who speaks and writes English fluently. We found him in his bed suffering from an attack of rheumatism. He inquired after our native countries, and was pretty well acquainted with their geography. We examined his library, and found that it consisted chiefly of methodist religious books, with a history of the United States. He also had a collection of Indian implements of war, consisting of a club of hickory wood, a battle-axe of stone, bows and arrows, the points of which are flint, very artificially made; an oblong stone, a kind of serpentine, which the savages wear on their breasts during an engagement, and ornaments of glass beads and shells, which they wear around their waists in time of battle. All these articles I wished to buy; but the Indian told me that he kept them for the inspection of strangers, and that they were not for sale. Instead of them, he sold me some mocassins, a kind of soft leather shoe, made of buckskin, which are ornamented with silk and beads, and a small basket. Amongst the Indians, the women are obliged to do all the work, even of the most degrading kind. Mr. Tromp, in order to see several articles more conveniently, had placed his hat on the floor, which was scarcely observed by the Indian, before he desired Mrs. Grymes to put it upon a chair. His grandson, a boy of eleven years, shot very expertly at an apple with his bow and arrow.

      The steam-boat Frontenac, arrived in the evening after our return, and was to sail on the following day for Kingston. We went on board and examined her cabin. Around the dining-cabin there are six chambers, each containing four births. I was shown into one of these, in which I could lie at full length. In the ladies cabin are fourteen births. A great part of the deck was covered by an awning, so that passengers could enjoy the fresh air at the same time that they were protected from the sun or bad weather. The boat carries seven hundred and fifty tons, and has an engine made by Bolton and Watt, at Soho, near Birmingham, of twenty-seven horse-power. Sir Peregrine Maitland conveyed me to this vessel in his carriage. She lay at anchor off Fort George. Sir Peregrine had the great politeness to station one of the companies of the seventy-sixth regiment with a flag, to fire a salute of twenty-one guns; and his attention was still farther shown in sending his son along, that I might have no difficulty in seeing the navy-yard, at Kingston. The Frontenac sailed at half past five o’clock. In a few moments we were on the lake, and in a short time lost sight of land, and were apparently in the open sea. There was but little wind, and the vessel, in consequence of its great size, produced no disagreeable rocking. During the whole evening we were entertained by Mrs. Grymes, by her delightful performance on the guitar, and by her singing French and Spanish songs. The night passed quietly; but it was otherwise at break of day. It rained repeatedly; the wind grew stronger; the vessel pitched, and several persons became sea-sick. Lake Ontario is of an elliptical form, is about two hundred miles long, and fifty-five miles at its widest part. It is everywhere very deep, in some places five hundred feet, and never freezes completely over. It contains several good harbours, and the boundary line between Canada and the United States, divides it into two nearly equal parts.

      In the afternoon we saw a small peninsula towards the west, called Prince Edward’s Island, and passed between a cluster of small islands, called the Ducks. About nine o’clock in the evening we reached Kingston, the British harbour on Lake Ontario. We cast anchor close by the town. I spent the night on board, and in the morning, as I awoke, I found one of the companies of the thirty-seventh regiment, who are here in garrison, marching along the quay, near the vessel, as a guard of honour, accompanied by a band of music. I dismissed them of course immediately, and after having received the visits of a few officers, we rode over the bay to the dock-yard, which lies opposite to Kingston, surrounded by a high wall and protected by a strong guard. By the navy-list I ascertained that there are ten ships here, with three hundred and six guns, in ordinary. It appeared to me, however, that the number of guns was greater, for the St. Lawrence, one of these vessels, carried one hundred and twenty guns, and two which are yet on the stocks, the Montreal and Wolf, have three decks, and ports for one hundred and thirty guns each. According to the stipulation of the treaty of Ghent, they are not permitted to build any ships here during time of peace; so that the soldiers at the arsenal consisted merely of the necessary officers, besides twelve carpenters, who had scarcely any thing to do, but to work at an elegant little schooner, which was shortly to be launched to serve as a yacht. The large vessels on the stocks were uncovered, and appeared to have suffered much from the weather. The St. Lawrence was the largest vessel in the river, and is said also to be in a state of decay; her bottom especially has suffered from the effects of the fresh water and worms. The wharves of the dock-yard are built of wood, and bear marks of the haste in which they were erected; they were in a bad condition. Within a few years they have erected a magazine, three stories high and one hundred and ninety-two feet long, with iron doors and shutters, for the preservation of the sails and cordage. The partitions in the inside are made of wood. Immediately on our entrance into the magazine the large iron door was locked and kept so, СКАЧАТЬ