1763.] FORT MICHILLIMACKINAC. 323 



his voyage. Passing on his right the extensive 

 Island of Bois Blanc, he sees, nearly in front, the 

 beautiful Mackinaw, rising, with its white cliffs 

 and green foliage, from the broad breast of the 

 waters. He does not steer towards it, for at that 

 day the Indians were its only tenants, but keeps 

 along the main shore to the left, while his voy- 

 ageurs raise their song and chorus. Doubling a 

 point, he sees before him the red flag of England 

 swelling lazily in the wind, and the palisades and 

 wooden bastions of Fort Michillimackinac standing 

 close upon the margin of the lake. On the beach, 

 canoes are drawn up, and Canadians and Indians 

 are idly lounging. A little beyond the fort is a 

 cluster of the white Canadian houses, roofed with 

 bark, and protected by fences of strong round 

 pickets. 



The trader enters at the gate, and sees before 

 him an extensive square area, surrounded by high 

 palisades. Numerous houses, barracks, and other 

 buildings, form a smaller square within, and in the 

 vacant space which they enclose appear the red 

 uniforms of British soldiers, the gray coats of 

 Canadians, and the gaudy Indian blankets, mingled 

 in picturesque confusion ; while a multitude of 

 squaws, with children of every hue, stroll restlessly 

 about the place. Such was Fort Michillimackinac 

 in 1763.^ Its name, which, in the Algonquin 

 tongue, signifies the Great Turtle, was first, from 



1 This description is drawn from traditional accounts aided by a per- 

 sonal examination of the spot, where the stumps of tlie pickets and the 

 foundations of the houses may still he traced. 



