158 ^arnia to loronto. 



and the fertile country on its banks, but, like its upper 

 waters, extremely shallow. At its head lie the towns of 

 Sandwich and Windsor, opposite to Detroit, the central 

 point of the Michigan Railways, and three miles below is 

 Fighting Island, used mostly for grazing, from the rich 

 growth of natural hay found there. After a course of 26 

 miles the Detroit opens into the grand expanse of Lake 

 Erie, remarkable for several projecting promontories, chief 

 of which are Pt. Pelee and Long Point. Near the exit of 

 the river, opposite to Amherstburg, where is a famed chaly- 

 beate spring, whose waters are said to resemble those of 

 Cheltenham, lies the long, narrow Bois Blanc Island, for- 

 merly well wooded, but whose timber was cut down during 

 the insurrection of '37-8, that the forts might better com- 

 •mand the channel on the American side. On the island are 

 three block-houses, and on the south point is a light-house, 

 commanding a fine view of Lake Erie. The country along 

 the whole length of the Detroit River bears a striking resem- 

 blance to Lower Canada. For twenty or thirty miles are to 

 be seen the village form of settlement, the neat church and 

 the habitant. The country is very picturesque, the banks, 

 unlike the St. Clair, high and cultivated, and the eye every- 

 where rests upon fertile fields, well-stocked gardens and 

 orchards, where the finest grapes, peaches, apples and pears 

 grow in profusion. 



The whole of this section of the country was made histori- 

 cally memorable in the war of 18 12 and the insurrection of 

 '37. During the former General Hull crossed over from 

 Detroit with 2,500 men, and invited the inhabitants to join 

 his standard. The British force on the frontier was nominal, 

 and could offer little or no resistance ; but General Brock, 

 hastening westwards from Toronto, caused him to retreat 

 from Amherstburg across the river, and shut himself up in 

 Detroit, where, on the approach of the assaulting British foe, 

 he showed both the white flag and white feather, surrender- 



