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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA: nnqne ionah1y belong to us; in that of the people of the States, to them. It a1 pears to me, that our !aim in this inO:ancc is certainly the mofl: juit; for although the befi and n oO: comm ~li us C~lanll<::_l ~c on our i1dc> yet the ch,wnel on the oppufitc fide of the 1ILtnd. Js fufl1c-~cntly Jeep to admit through it, with p rfc •1: bfcty, t~c br<rcil of tll vefl~ls at prd~nt on the bl·es, and indc d <'J l:uge vci1d · as ;Jrc deemed futtahh.: . for this navigation. Plans for a fort on the mainland, and for one on the iflan,t of Dois Blanc, have been llrawn; but as only the one fort ' ill b~ crL ::t~d, th~ building 0 [ it is p< ilponcd until it i · d ·tcrmined to whom the iiLtnd b~.:l.ongs: if within the Uritiih dominions, the fort\ ·ill be cn:Cl d on the 1flamt as there is a fl:ill more advJ.nta~cous pof)tion for nc there than on tbt.! main h\nd; i1~ the mc.m time a Llrgc blo I· houk, capable of :tccommodating, in every r~fpett comfortably, one !Hu?dtui men and oiJiccrs, has been creCl.cd on the main land, around which. about four acres or more of ground have been r iCrve i for his l\1Jj ·fty's ufc, in cafe the fort ihould not be built on the ifland. A bloc!· hou(c, whi h I have fo frequently mentioned, is a building, whofc walls arc formed of thick [quare pieces of timber. It is ufu~lly built two ftories hicrh, in which cafi..: the uppa (l:ory is made to projeB: about two or three feet beyond the walls of the lower one, and loop holes are left in the floor round the edge of it, {o that if an attempt were made to fl:orm the houfe, the garri(on could fire c.lirctl:ly lown upon the heads of the affitil.tnts. Loop holes arc left alfo in various parts of the walls, fome of which are formed, as is th cafe at this new block houfc at Malden, of a fizc fuilicicnt to admit a fmall cannon to be fired through them. The loop holes arc furni!h d wi 'h large wooden oppcrs or wedges, which in the winter fc.1lon, when there is no dang"r of an attack, are put in, and the interfliccs clofcly caulked, to guard againfl: the cold; and indeed, to render the houfc warm, they arc obliged to take no finall pains in caulking the fcams between the timb r in every part. A block houfc, built on the mofl: approved plan, is fo confirneted, that if one half of it were !hot away, the other half would fiand firm . Each piece of timber in the roof and walls is jointed CAPT A I N E-'s FARM. 349 jointed in fuch a manner as to be rendered independent of the nex t piece to it; one wall is independent of t!H: n :xt wall, anu the roof 1s m a great mcaf'ure independent of all of them, li.> that if a piece of artillery were played upon the hou(c, that bit of timber alone apinfl: " 1ich the ball firucl~ would be di/j)hced, and every other 01 ·• would remain uninjured. A block hou(e is proof ag1infl the hc,tvidl. 1irc of mu( ut.try. As thdt: llouft:s may be ere ted in a very !hot t time, and :1s th -re is (uch an abundan c of tim bcr in e\' TY part of the coun try, \\ hcrewit 1 to builtl them, they arc met with in North Amcrica at :1lmol1 every military outpofl, and indeed in almoit cv ry fortrds throughout the country. There arc fi vcral in the upper to vn of ~cbcc. Arnongfl: the (catt red boufes at the lower end of the cli11riCl: of lVbldcn, there arc icvcral of a refpcc1abh.: appear; nee, and the farms adjoining to them arc very confidcrahle. '1 he hrm belonging to our friend, Captain E , under who!C roof we tarry, conta;ns no I .Is than two thoubnd <1Ct-cs. A very large part of it is cktr'd, a1 d it is cultivat d in a ilylc.: 'vvhich would not bc thought me. nly of cv ·n in I:n r_ land. Ilis hou[e, which is the bcO: in the \',dwk ditlri~_'f, is agrc ·al Iy fitu:Hcd, at the diilancc of about two hundred y.trds from thc tivcr; tl1Lre is a full view of the river, and of the ill.lwl oC 3 is Dl.111c, from th parlour windows, and the iccn tS ontinu:.tlly enlivened h; the number of Indian canoes that pals and rep.us b furc it. ln front of the hou(c thne is a neat little lawn, paled in, and ornamented with dump£> of ttcc.:s, at the bottom of which, not Ltr fr0111 the w.ltcr, fland · a large Indian wigwam, called the council hotlfc, i11 which th.; Indi.ms arc af1i..:m 1l ·d whenever there arc any afii1ir of ill! porta nee to b, tranfa{ h.:d bctw en them and the ofTicers in the 1 ndt:UI ,k;p:lrtm •nt. Great llUtnbL.rS of th r..: pcopl. come from the ifbntl of Bois Bl.lllc, \ here no lcfs than five hundred (unilies of them arc c) .mp ·d, to vifit us daily; and we in our turn go fretltcntly to the ifl.tnd, to hav · an opportunity of obfcrving their native nwmers and cuftotn~. Our friend has told them, that we have croOI:d the big lake, th Atbntic, on purpofe to come and fcc them. This circumfiancc has giwn rhcm a very fav urablc opinion of ns; they approve highly of the und 'li.Jking, and fi.ly |