1 6 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



resided upon the Ohio River. Here Brant hved in a style which, 

 for an Indian, might be called regal magnificence — the idol of his 

 nation and its greatest living warrior, attended by numerous slaves, 

 both of African and of Indian blood. What an elevation for an Indian 

 to attain ! The locality had been selected with that skill and sagac- 

 ity for which the Indian is noted. No place in Canada could have 

 answered the wants of his people so well. The flats of the Grand 

 River were and are proverbial for- their rich soil — the best in the 

 Dominion for the cultivation of Indian corn. Game, wild fowl and 

 fish were abundant, and white settlers had yet scarcely disturbed 

 nature's own handiwork. It was virtually an Indian's paradise. 



One Capt. Campbell, of the Forty-second Regiment, stationed 

 at Niagara in the winter of 179 1-2, relates how himself and others, 

 in two sleighs, made a trip from Niagara to Mohawk and return for 

 the purpose of visiting the great chief The account which he gives 

 throws considerable light upon the condition of the country at that 

 time, and the style in which Brant lived. 



The first night they put up at Squire McNab's, which was more 

 than fifteen miles from the Niagara River ; the second, at Smith's, 

 near the North-west corner of the present King and Wellington 

 streets in this city ; the third, at Paisley's, and next day at Mohawk. 

 He speaks of Burlington Bay as Lake Geneva, and says the Indians 

 called it Ouilqueton. Other writers say it was once called Macassa, 

 possibly by the former occupants of the country, the Kahquas. 

 Himself and party were most hospitably received by Col. Brant, 

 whom he found living in the grand style mentioned before — the 

 table loaded with excellent china and attended by two slaves in silver 

 buckles and ruffles and scarlet dress. The house was supplied with 

 good furniture. Brandy, port and Madeira wines and other Euro- 

 pean delicacies in considerable variety were freely dispensed. Mrs. 

 Brant was dressed in the Indian style, but her costume was made of 

 satin and broadcloth, with blanket of silk. On Sunday all attended 

 church, at which an Indian conducted the service, and Capt. Camp- 

 bell was charmed with the singing of a choir of Indian women. The 

 same evening a great war and serpent dance took place. Chief Brant 

 himself beating a drum. The dance ended with Scotch reels, in 

 which all, the Europeans included, took a hand. He speaks of the 

 excellence of the land and the comfortable habitations of the Indians 

 scattered pretty thickly along both sides of the Grand River ; of the 



