542 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



The deck passengers having had an opportunity last 

 evening to learn that the cabin was a more comfortable 

 place than the deck, were very anxious for another meet- 

 ing, and so it was arranged that I should deliver an 

 Agricultural lecture, which I did to a very respectable 

 and attentive audience. 



On Tuesday, we were able to make the passage across 

 Lake Huron, the shores of which afford no harbor, and 

 in crossing Saginaw Bay, we were several hours out of 

 sight of land before reaching Thunder-boy Islands, where 

 there is a wood yard and a few settlers, and there are but 

 few others on this coast. Again, to-night, we had another 

 meeting, and as the place was highly appropriate for a 

 cold water lecture, I gave them one upon that subject. 



Early in the morning I found the boat was still, and 

 on looking out saw we were laying at the wharf, and 

 the frowning battlements of Fort Mackinaw looking 

 down upon us. This Fort, upon this high rocky Island, 

 was built to command the Straits; but is said by some 

 to be incompetent to that purpose, and if so, it seems to 

 me of but little use, since we have stolen nearly all the 

 land from the Indians, and since they are more easily 

 subdued with whisky than powder. 



This Island as well as others and the contiguous main 

 land, are very sterile, and were hardly worth the wear 

 and tear of national conscience expended in the getting 

 them out of the possession of the natives that have so 

 long occupied them. There are here some of the finest 

 fisheries in the world, and who that has feasted upon 

 Mackinaw trout, which sometimes weigh 50 pounds a 

 piece, will not say they are most delicious eating. 



Not being able to obtain any wood here, the Captain 

 was under the necessity of removing the deposite which 

 he had stowed away in the hold to meet emergencies, and 

 which was now needed to meet the head wind for some 

 70 or 80 miles to the Manitou Islands. 



These are two Islands some 8 or 10 miles each in cir- 

 cumference, and lying near together, in the north-eastern 

 part of Lake Michigan, mostly composed of sand, are 



