214 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY. 



The military post of Amherstbiirgh is in the township of Maiden, 

 opposite to the Isle au Bois Blanc, to which it furnishes a small 

 detachment, and commands the east channel of Detroit. There is a 

 good and safe anchorage between the island and the main shore, 

 which is 'Well adapted for wharves, and has other conveniences for 

 naval or commercial purposes. In going up the .Detroit, you pass a 

 low, marshy island, called Turk(^y Island, or Fighting Island, nearly 

 four miles long. The channel on the west side of this island is the 

 best; and the town of Sandwich presents itself on a >small plain, close 

 to the bank of the river. This town has beep laid out for the 

 reception of the British merchants who, agreeably to the treaty of 

 amity, commerce and navigation, made their election of remaining' 

 British subjects. It is rapidly increasing. There is a good windmill 

 in front of the town; the Huron Church is at its northern extremity; 

 and the shore is well calculated for the building of wharves and for 

 the security of vessels in the winter. The district gaol and court- 

 house are erected here, and small parks for the convenience of the 

 town are laid out in its rear and given to the builders of the first 

 houses. 



There are several windmills on the Detroit, and an orchard 

 adjoining almost every house. The settlers are numerous, and the 

 improvements handsome and extensive. When the fruit-trees are in 

 blossom, the prospect as you pass through the strait is, perhaps, as 

 delightful as any in the world. 



Leaving it, you pass Hog Island, and enter Lake St. Clair, which 

 is small in comparison, to either Ontario or Erie, and shallow through- 

 out. It receives the waters of Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron, 

 by a long channel from north to south, called River St. Clair; it also 

 receives the waters of the Thames, which fall into the lake on the 

 south-east side. About the mouth of this river are large, extensive 

 marehes, or natural meadows, which, with the exception of small 

 tracts of woodland on the banks of the river, and a few woody- 

 islands, extend about twelve miles up the country, and about four 

 or five miles in depth, affording sufficient hay for a numerous settle- 

 ment, and abundance to spare. 



About fifteen miles up the River Thames is the town of Chatham, 

 sitiiated in a fork of it, on a very desirable spot, so well protected, 

 and so central, that, as the population increases, it will doubtless 

 become a large and flourishing place. A block-house was erected 



