Sarnia to Toronto. 159 



ing the whole of his force. In the year following, the British 

 General Proctor was defeated here, and the Indians, fighting 

 on his side, sustained the loss of their Chief, Tecumseh, 

 distinguished for his bravery and eloquence. The main 

 object of his life had been to unite his followers in a grand 

 confederacy against the Americans. General Proctor was 

 compelled to retreat to Burlington Heights, where he could 

 only rally 200 men. In 1837-8, a party of insurgents seized 

 Fighting Island, and made ostentatious preparations for 

 remaining there. No sooner, however, did the troops ap- 

 proach them than they hurried away, leaving behind them 

 their arms and stores. Ensconcing themselves afterwards 

 in Pt. Pelee Island, they were then compelled either to fight 

 or surrender. Preferring the former, there was a sharp 

 resistance, but most of the insurgents were slain or taken* 

 prisoners. Another invasion from Detroit was made at 

 Sandwich, when the barracks and a steamer were fired, and 

 several persons killed in cold blood, till attacked by Colonel 

 Prince, the invaders were completely routed, and such ring- 

 leaders as were taken were executed, thus putting a stop to 

 these frontier invasions. 



From Windsor, the terminus of the Great Western Rail- 

 way, between which place and Detroit three steam-ferries 

 are constantly plying, the traveller can take rail to London, 

 passing Chatham, the head of navigation on the Thames for 

 vessels of any size, and where numerous lake craft have been 

 built, the greatest part of the distance lying along the valley 

 of the Thames River, through a rich agricultural district. 

 Midway between Chatham and Sarnia is the village of Oil 

 Springs, in the Enniskillen district, a large and thriving 

 place, only laid out in i860, and owing its foundation and 

 progress to the great success that has attended the discovery 

 of petroleum or rock oil in the neighbourhood. There are a 

 large number of refineries in the place, and large quantities of 

 the oil are shipped to England and the United States. The 



