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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPI ·R Ct NADA: Th.; four ·h pofl:, Michi llimachin1ck, is a Cmall i1oc l~1d o d fort, f1t~11ted . ., · ·1, ·l rl ,1 •• n 1. ~ rh • 'J1 .. a, acnts oC th e !'~ orth-w..:fl: C01np.1ny of m<: rcn, nts at ;\fo n tr c;~] , aml a few in ckpend ·~ nt trJd..:rs, rdi ied within the limits of the fort, nd b:1rtacd g 00,~o; tlLrc for fllr~ brought in by di rT\..'r nt t ribes f I nd ians, who 41 n.: the (ole inh~1 1it.1 nts of the neigl. bouring cot ntry. On evacuatinJ; this place, another poll was imn c~lia tcly t.fl:ablifhed, at no gn.:at difhncc, en the !hnd of t. JoC.: 1b, J 1 the Straits f St. 1\Lrv, between bkcs ,' llj'erior :urd I hroP, an! a frn all garrifon 1 :f t there, -which lus 1irKc bccil augtncnle.l to upwJrd ~ o~- t1Cty ;nen . 'c\cr.11 trader., citizens of tl c ~'t: tcs, han: db )li{hcd th ·mC· ves :1 t Mic:hillimal inac j but as the Lri ti01 trader.; bav fi .. cd their nc .v poil: fu clofe to the old one, it is ncar1 ccr. 1in th.tt the n li .ms will co.Hinnc 18 trad<.: with their old fi.·iends in prd~·rcnc , f~Jr the r '.lfons before mentioned. From this {htcmcnt it appe.1rs cviJc!1t, tlut ·he people of the St:ttes car: only acquire by their n~w poffe!Iion a fin aU p nt of one bra!1ch 0 f the fur trade, namely, of that which is carried on on one of the 11rarer lakes. The furs brou;ht down from tlw lil1.a.nt regions in the north- vc11 to the gr.md por <lgc, and from thence in canoe& to r..-Iontreal along the Utaw:~. Ri er, arc what conftitute by far the principal part, both as to qu:.mtity arH..l value, of thofc exported from M ntreal; to talk, therefore, of their acquiring pof1cl1ion of threefourths of the fur trade by the furrcnder of the F ofl:s on the lakes is n.b it.JrJ in the extreme; neithr:r is it likely that they will acquire any ~onfiderablc f1n re of the lake trade in general, which, as I have already pointed out, can be carried on by the BritiG1 merchants from Montreal and ~eb c, by means of the St .. Lawrence, with fnch fuperior ad v::ntagc. It is worthy of remark, that as military pofi:s, all thofc lately efi:abliilieJ hy the Britiili are far fuperior, in point of fituation, to thofe d 'livered up. The o-round on which the new block houfc is building, on the Uriti!11 fide Q . of Niagara River, is nine feet higher than the top of the ilonc houfe in the America 1 fort, and it commands every part of the fort. The chi f firength of the o1d fort is on the land fide ; towards the water the works are very weak, and the whole might be battered clown by a fingle twclv.e SUPERIORITY OF Till~ :BRI'I'I II IJOSTS. 3 7 twcl\'e pounder j Hlicioufly planted on the l3riti{h fide of tl e river. .1\ t prdc nt it is not prop fed to crct1: any other works on the.:: Britifh fide.: of tl1e river tlun t!Jc block houfe; but f110uld a fort be con!1r 1 led hcrcaft r, it will be placed on MifTitlao-uis Point, a ill more advantag~uw. fituat ion th.ln that on whi ·h the block houfe ibnds, as it completcly commands the CJ tran ce in to the river. The new pofl: on Detroit River commnnds the channel much more effct1ually tl an the old fort in the town of Detroit; vetiels cannot go up or down rhe llver with ut pafling within a very few yard of it. It is r markable, indeed, that the French, wh · 11 they firfl: penetrated into this part of the country, fixed upon the fpot ho{( n fo r thi new fort, in prdcrencc to that \-vherc Detroi t Hands, anJ they had abfolutt:ly begun th ir fort and town, '"hen the whole party was unhappily cut off by the lnd i<1ns. The ifhnd of St. Jofcph, in the third place, is a more eligible fitua tion for a Uritif11 military poll than M ichillirnakinac. , inalmuch as jt commands the entran e uf Lake 'upcrior, whcrc:1. JVfichiilimaki 1ac: only commands the entrance into Lake lVI ichigan, which is wl oily wilhin the territory of the United States. It is finccrdy to be.:: hoped, however, that Great Britain and the United States may cor1ti n·1e fJ iencl , nnd tl1:lt we 1rcver may have occaGon to ,·iew t hof~ poftc on the ii-ontiers in any other light th ~ n as convenient places for carrying on commetce . R r 2 |