PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. .7 



after surveyor Mahlon Burwell. At the mouth of the C'atlish is Port Bruce. This 

 stream was formerly called by its French name, Barbet river, and a line drawn 

 due north from its mouth was the western boundary of Norfolk couutv. At' the 

 mouth of Kettle creek is Port Stanley, at first called Stirling. The nan)e of this 

 stream, like the one east of it, has also been anglicised, it having been known in 

 the days of the French occupation as the Chaudiere ri\-er. 



'•Friday 2^1 June. Colonel Talbot engaged William Coyl to go with me at 

 2 per day it being the lowest he could be engaged for. Finding it impossible to 

 get either Provisions, or men enough to constitute my Party at Port Talbot, I set 

 out for Long Point in a Bark Canoe, that I might be at the return of the' Boats 

 from Fort Erie and engage one to take my Provisions to Port Talbot. The 

 Weather somewhat unfavorable, that we only reached Catfish creek. After 

 conversing with Colonel Talbot I found myself much at a loss how to act his 

 wishes differed so very much from the tenor of the Instructions I received from the 

 Surveyor General's office." 



This ditference seems to have been owing to undue haste on Colonel Talbot's 

 part, for the letters show that when he had perused the instructions he did not 

 disapprove the plan. 



'•Saturday 3^ June. Left Catfish Creek early but were soon internii)ted 

 by a head Wind, however we proceeded on to the Three Gun Battery and 

 encamped." 



The Three Gun Battery is not now known as a geographical term on the 

 shore of lake Erie, and I have not found it mentioned elsewhere than in Burwell's 

 journal. It is again referred to iu connection with a ti'averse of the front of 

 Houghton. " Proceeded from Big Otter creek doA\'n to the Three Gun Battery," 

 the Journal of July 4th notes; "here are immense Sand hills above the regular 

 high Banks, from the summit of which is a prospect of all the surrounding- 

 country." Most likely it was a name given to the sand dunes in Houghton, ten 

 miles west of Big creek iu Walsingham, eight miles east of Big Otter creek iu 

 Bayham, and near to the hamlet of Houghton. There are three hills, which 

 extend for three-cpiarters of a mile along the lake, and apparently have been built 

 up with the sand blown by winds from the beach. The largest, which is on lot 

 10 and lies between the other two, is 990 feet long, 300 feet wide, and rises to 

 195 feet above the water's level. The lake bank itself rises to 70 feet, which is 

 about the average height from Port Dover west as far as the county of Kent. Mr. 

 John Alton of Houghton, to whom I am indebted for this description, has for- 

 warded a sample of the sand, and states that the material of the hills and of the 

 beach is as nearly as possible the same. It is composed almost wholly of grains 

 of silica, Avith small percentages of felspar, limestoue and garnet, all finely rounded. 

 "You may wonder from its appearance," Mr. Alton remarks, "why it does not 

 blow away. But it has the peculiar trait of holding moisture well, and during a 

 season of drought one can kick out moist sand at a depth of one or two inches 

 from the surface." The effect is to keep the hills solid and compact, and there 

 has been little change in their form within the memory of the oldest settlers. 

 They command the best view of lake Erie to be obtained at any point along the 

 coast, and a number of tourists visit them every summer. 



" Sunday -Ith ji^iiie. Proceeded on the way, crossed the carrying place, and 

 arrived at Col. Ryerse's at night." 



The carrying place from the lake to the head of Long Point bay at the end of 

 last century was a fiat of sand about eight chains wide, according to Smith, which 

 sometimes Avas sufficiently overfloAvn to be used as a passage for small boats. As 

 late as 1832 there was little or no change in its condition, according to Bouchette, 

 there being a passage for boats through a small brook when the waters were high, 

 and when they were low boats were easily hauled across the slender isthmus. Now 

 Long Point is separated from the mainland by a Avide channel of shallow water. 



"Monday o'-^ June. Went in Quest of a Boat and men to assist me, was at 

 the General Training of the Militia and engaged Cornwall Ellis and his Boat to 

 take my Provisions to Port Talbot. 



"Tuesday Gt'i June. I went to ToAvnsend to hire men to go with me. but 

 did not meet Avith any. 



'•Wednesday 7''' June. I Avas fortunate enough to procure three ^len. by 

 name John Bacon, John Rice and Jesse Millard. I agreed Avith Bacon for 2 (> 

 per Day Avith Rice for 2/, and Avith Millard for 14 per Day. 



