110 THE SIEGE OF DETROIT RAISED. [1763, Nov. 



and contained the disastrous news that the detach- 

 ment under his command had been overtaken by 

 a storm, that many of the boats had been wrecked, 

 that seventy men had perished, that all the stores 

 and ammunition had been destroyed, and the 

 detachment forced to return to Niagara. This 

 intelHgence had an effect upon the garrison which 

 rendered the prospect of the cold and cheerless 

 winter yet more dreary and forlorn. 



The summer had long since drawn to a close, 

 and the verdant landscape around Detroit had 

 undergone an ominous transformation. Touched 

 by the first October frosts, the forest glowed like a 

 bed of tulips ; and, all along the river bank, the 

 painted foliage, brightened by the autumnal sun, 

 reflected its mingled colors upon the dark water 

 below. The western wind was fraught with life 

 and exhilaration ; and in the clear, sharp air, the 

 form of the fish-hawk, sailing over the distant 

 headland, seemed almost within range of the 

 sportsman's gun. 



A week or two elapsed, and then succeeded that 

 gentler season which bears among us the name of 

 the Indian summer ; when a light haze rests upon 

 the morning landscape, and the many-colored woods 

 seem wrapped in the thin drapery of a veil ; when 

 the air is mild and calm as that of early Jupe, and 

 at evening the sun goes down amid a warm, volup- 

 tuous beauty, that may well outrival the softest 

 tints of Italy. But through all the still and breath- 

 less afternoon the leaves have fallen fast in the 

 woods, like flakes of snow ; and every thing betokens 



