Notice of the Peninsula of Michigan. 313 
corallata, the Virginia thyme, with many of the sunflowers 
and hawk weeds. 
Panthers have been rarely seen in Michigan. Wolves are 
numerous ; bears and deer are not abundant. Otters, minks,. 
foxes, muskrats, raccoons, opossums, and black squirrels, are 
common; beavers are taken near remote waters. Swansin 
large flocks frequent the numerous islands in the northern 
part of Lake St. Clair; they are all white, and twice the size of 
the wild goose. ‘They are a very shy bird; their meat is 
tough and black; the Indians hunt them for ther valuable 
down. Eagles, hawks, turkey-buzzards, numerous black- 
birds and crows, herons, geese, ducks, pigeons, turkeys, par- : 
tridges, are observed among the birds that frequent the Pe- 
ninsula. Wild bees are diffused through the country. 
Black bass, pike, pickerel, perch, sunfish, and catfish, 
abound in the lakes and streams; white fish and salmon are 
taken in the rivers Detroit and St. Clair. 
Black and checkered rattlesnakes are very frequently met 
with ; we killed several of both varieties, adjacent to the road, 
in travelling in Oakland and St. Clair counties, and heard the 
warning rattle of others. In dry seasons, the wet natural 
meadows and thickets are much infested by these dangerous 
reptiles; they seldom exceed three feet in length. A poi- 
sonous serpent inhabits some of the waters. 
Indians were formerly numerous and warlike in the Penin- 
sula, but are fast diminishing by emigration and disease. 
They will probably, ere long, be removed beyond Lake Mi- 
chigan, and finally swept from our rich borders into the in- 
clement wilds of the north, or the barren region of the west, 
by the irresistible tide of population that is incessantly rolling 
from the east. 
In character, the aborigines of Michigan differ little from 
other northern tribes. By intercourse with traders and set- 
tlers, they have contracted habits of intemperance. Within a 
recent period, numbers from remote tribes of the north-west 
territory, visiting the settlement at Green Bay, have refused 
ardent spirits, as it had not been rendered agreeable by use. 
The Indians of the Peninsula exhibit a little of the vivacity 
observed among the tribes of Lower Canada, probably derived 
from the French population. They are indolent, impro- 
vident, and uncleanly, and have a great aversion to agricul- 
tural pursuits. Occupying the richest part of the terr:ory, 
they are much of the time dependent on traders for supplies 
Vor. X.—No. 2. 39 : 
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