AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 33 
observes that ‘it is the most fertile and beautiful that can 
be imagined,’ ‘As a farming country,’ says he, ‘it unites — 
the fertile soil of the finest lowland prairies with an eleva- 
tion which exempts it from the influence of stagnant waters, 
and a summer climate of delightful serenity.’ The best 
comment upon this description of the climate and soil is the 
fact that with the utmost vigilance on the part of the officers, 
it was impossible for the garrison, consisting of from seventy 
to ninety men, to subsist upon the grain raised in the coun- 
try, although much of their time was devoted to agricultu- 
ral pursuits. The difficulties which the agriculturist 
meets with are numerous; they arise from the shallowness 
of the soil, from its humidity, and from its exposure to the 
cold damp winds which blow from the lake, with great 
force during most of the year. The grain is frequently de- 
stroyed by swarms of insects. There are also a number of 
destructive birds, of which it was impossible for the garri- 
son to avoid the baneful influence, except by keeping, as 
was practiced at Ft. Dearborn, a party of soldiers constant- 
ly engaged in shooting at the crows and black-birds, that 
committed depredations upon the corn planted by them. 
But even with all these exertions, the maize seldom has time 
to ripen, owing to the shortness and coldness of the season. 
The provisions of the garrison were for the most part con- 
veyed from Mackinaw in a schooner, and sometimes they |. 
were brought from St. Louis, a distance of three hundred 
and eighty-six miles, up the Illinois and Des Plaines rivers. 
“The appearance of the country near Chicago offers but 
few features upon which the eye of the traveler can dwell 
with pleasure. There is too much uniformity in the scen- 
ery; the extensive water prospect is a waste, uncheckered 
by islands, unenlivened by the spreading canvass, and the 
fatiguing monotony of which is increased by the equally 
undiversified prospect of the land scenery, which affords no 
relief to the sight, as it consists merely of a plain, in which 
5 
