1763, Mat.] ITS OCCUPANTS. 215 



half-breeds, gathered from the distant forests of 

 the north-west, the whole settlement was alive 

 with dancing and feasting, drinking, gaming, and 

 carousing. 



Within the limits of the settlement were three 

 large Indian villages. On the western shore, a 

 little below the fort, were the lodges of the Potta- 

 wattamies ; nearly opposite, on the eastern side, 

 was the village of the Wyandots ; and on the 

 same side, five miles higher up, Pontiac's band of 

 Ottawas had fixed their abode. The settlers had 

 always maintained the best terms with their savage 

 neighbors. In truth, there was much congeniality 

 between the red man and the Canadian. Their 

 harmony was seldom broken ; and among the 

 woods and wilds of the northern lakes roamed 

 many a lawless half-breed, the mongrel offspring of 

 the colonists of Detroit and the Indian squaws. 



We have already seen how, in an evil hour for 

 the Canadians, a party of British troops took pos- 

 session of Detroit, towards the close of the year 

 1760. The British garrison, consisting partly of 

 regulars and partly of provincial rangers, was now 

 quartered in a well-built range of barracks within 

 the town or fort. The latter, as already mentioned, 

 contained about a hundred small houses. Its form 

 was nearly square, and the palisade which sur- 

 rounded it was about twenty-five feet high. At 

 each corner was a wooden bastion, and a block- 

 house was erected over each gateway. The houses 

 weve small, chiefly built of wood, and roofed with 

 bark or a thatch of straw. The streets also 



