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Show .34'1 TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: The liquor is taken inwardly, in the quantity of a wine glafs full at once, about three time - a d.ly. No effeCt, more than from taking plain brandy, is perc ived from t king this medicine on the fir!l: day; but at the end of the fecond day the body of the pat ient becomes fuffufcd with a cold i\veat, every one of his j int grow painful, and his limbs become feeble, and !carcdy able to fupp rt hit 1; he grows worfe and wor(e for a day or two, but per[cvcrin,:; in tht.: ufe of the medicine for a few days, he gradually loil:s his pain s, and recovers his wonted firength of body. Many different kinds of !erpents bcGdcs rattlcfi1akcs arc found on tbefi inands in Lake Eric.. I kilkJ icv r.: 1 totally difrcr nt from any that I had ever met with in any other par:t of the country; amongfl: the number was one which I was informed was venomous in the higheft degree.: it was fomcwhat more than thre.e feet in length; its back was perfeCtly black; its belly a vivid orange. I found it amongfl: the rocks on Middle Ifland, and on being wounded in the tail, it turned about to defend itfelf with inconceivable fury. Mr. Carver tells of a ferpent that is peculiar to thcfe iflands, called the hifling Ji1al e: " It is," fays he, " of the fmall fpeckled kind, and about eighteen inches long. When. "any thing approaches it, it flattens itfclf in a moment, and its fpots, " which are of various dyes, become vifibly brighter through rage; at " the f1me time it blows from it mouth with great force a fubtile " wind that is rq ortcd to be of a nau(cous fmcll, and if drawn in witli " the breath of the unwary traveller will infallibly bring on a decline, " that in a few months mull: prove mortal, there being no remedy yet " difcovered which can counteraCt its baneful influence." Mr. Carver does not inform us of his having himfclf feen this fnake; I am tempted therefore, to imagin~ that he has been irnpofed upon, and that th whole account he has given of it is fabulous. I made very particular enquiries refpeCl:ing the exifl:ence of fuch a fi1ake, from thofe perfons who were in the habit of touching at thefe iflands, and neither they nor any other perfon I met with in the country had ever fcen or heard of fuch a fnake, except in Mr. Carver's Travels. Were a traveller to believe all the ftories reipeCl:ing fnakes that arc current in the country, he mu{t D E '1' R 0 I T R I V E R, 343 mnfl: believe that there is fuch a fi1ake as the whip fnake, whi<.h, as it is [aid, purrues cattl<; through the woods and mead ws, la iliing thc:m with its tail, till overcome with the fatigue of running they drop brcath] efs to the ground, when it preys upon tiH.: ir l1el11; he mufl: alfo believe that there is iitch a fi1akc as the hoop fnakc, which has the power of [i ,~ing its tail firmly in a cert in cavity iufide of its mouth, and then of rolling itfclf forward like a hoop or whed with fll h wonc.krful velocity that neither man nor beaf1: can poffjbJy efc, pe from its devouring JRWS. T he ponds and mar01CS in the interior parts o( th fc iGand3 uon r;d with ducks and other wild fowl, and tl.1c lhat·es fwurm with gn-U·. few fmall birds are found in the woods; but I faw none amongfl: them that were remarkable either for their fong or plumage. At fun.fet, on the bfl: day of September, we left the ifland , and the next morning entered Detroit River. The river, at its mouth, is about five miles wide, and continues nearly the fame breadth for a confidcrable difl:ancc. The fi1ores arc of a moderate height, and thickly wooded; uu t there was nothing particularly interefting in the profpect till we ~rrivcd within four or five miles of the new Britifi1 pofi. IIcrc the ban1 s appeared diveriificd with Indian cncampm nts and villages, and beyond them the Britifh fettlcmei!ts were fecn to great advantage. The river was crowded with Indian canoes and bateaux, and feveral pleafnre boats belonging to the officers of the garrifon, and to the traders, that had come out in ~xpeCl:ation of meeting us, were feen cruizing about backwards and forwards. The- two oth r. ve.ffels of. war, which we had left behind us at Fort Erie, as well as the trading ve.ffels, had overtaken us ju1t as we entered the river, and we all fa.iJad up together with every bit of cahvafs, that we could mufter, full fp!ioa~. The day was uncommonly clear, and the fcene altogether was pka.firig and .in-. terefiing. The other vcffels proceeded up the river to the Britiih poft; but ours, which was laden with prefents for the Indians, ca!l: anchor oppofite to the habitation of the gentlemaa in the Indian department, whom I before mentioned, which was fituated in the diftriet of Malden. He gave us. |