NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 73 



tenant John S. Pierce, U. S. A., a brother of the commanding 

 officer, " and of Franklin Pierce, President of the United States. It 

 consisted of twenty-two men, with a twelve-oared barge. The 

 whole expedition, now numbering sixty-four persons, embarked 

 at ten o'clock on the 15th, with a fair wind, for our first destina- 

 tion, at Detour, being the west cape of the Straits of St. Mary's. 

 The distance is estimated at forty miles, along a very intricate, 

 masked shore of islands, called Chenos. The breeze carried us 

 at the rate of five miles per hour. The first traverse is an arm of 

 the Lake, three leagues across, over which we passed swimmingly. 

 This traverse is broken near its eastern terminus by Goose 

 Island, the Nekuhmenis (literally Brant Island) of the Chippe- 

 was — a noted place of encampment for traders. We did not, 

 however, touch at it. A couple of miles beyond this brought 

 us to Outard Point, where the men rested a few moments 

 on their oars and paddles. This point forms the commencement 

 of those intricate channels which constitute the Chenos group. 

 Our steersman gave them, however, a wide berth, and did not 

 approach near the shore till it began to be time to look out for 

 the mouth of the St. Mary's, After passing Point St. Yitel, a 

 distance of about thirty miles, the guides led into a sandy bay, 

 under the impression that we had reached the west cape of the 

 St. Mary's ; but in this we were deceived. While landing here 

 a few moments, in a deep bay, the animal called Kaug by 

 the Chippewas (a porcupine), was discovered and killed by one 

 of the men, called Baptiste, by a blow from a hatchet. Buflfon 

 gives- two engravings of this animal, as found in Canada, under 

 separate names ; but it is apprehended that he has been misled by 



1814, "for his gallantry and good condvict in defeating the enemy at Plattsburg, 

 on the 11th of September, repelling with 1,500 men, aided by a body of militia and 

 volunteers from New York and Vermont, a British veteran army, greatly superior 

 in numbers," with the presentation of a gold medal, " emblematical of this triumph;" 

 retained, April 8, 1815 ; retained, May 21, as Colonel and Principal Engineer, with 

 Brevets Major-General and General-in-Chief of the Army, May 24, 1828; com- 

 manded the army of Florida 183G ; died June 25, 1841, at his head-quarters, 

 Washington City. — Gardner's Army Dictionary. 



* John Sullivan Pierce (N. H., brother to Colonel Benjamin K. Pierce), Third 

 Lieutenant Third Artillery, April 5, and Second Lieutenant, Maj', 1814; retained, 

 May, 1815, in Artillery; First Lieutenant, Api'il 1818 ; resigned February 1, 1823. 

 — Gardner^s Army Dictionary. 



