96 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
friendly in the extreme not to have permitted 
a few traders to build a house within their ter¬ 
ritory to protect them against the inclemency of 
the seasons: but they Were greatly astonished 
when one so totally different from any that they 
had ever seen before, and from any that they 
had any idea of was completed ■ they began 
to suspect that the strangers had plans in medi¬ 
tation unfavourable to their interests, and they 
wished to dispossess them of their new man¬ 
sion, but it was too late* In the hall of the 
house a well had been sunk to keep it supplied 
with water ; the house was plentifully stored 
with provisions in case of a siege ; and the doors 
being once closed, the tenants remained per¬ 
fectly indifferent about every hostile attack the 
Indians could make against it. Fortifications 
to strengthen the house were gradually erected; 
and by the year 1759 the place was so strong 
as to resist, for some time, the forces under 
the command of Sir William Johnston, Great 
additions were made to the works after the 
fort fell into the hands of the British. The 
stone house is a very spacious building, and 
is now, as it was formerly, appropriated for 
the accommodation of the principal officers of 
the garrison. In the rear of the house is a large 
apartment, commanding a magnificent view^ 
of the lake and of the distant hills of Toronto, 
