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Show TRAVELS THROUGH UPPER CANADA2 fay that we have employed our time to a good purpofe. No people on earth have a higher opinion of their own confequence; indeed, they cfieem themfelves fuperior to every other race of men. We remained for a iliort time in fv1alden, and then fet off for Detroit in a neat little pleafure boat, which one of the traders obligingly lent to us. The river between the two places v::tries in breadth from two mile to h alf a mile. The banks are m fl:ly very low, and in fome places large ma1 G1e extend along the iliores, and far up into the country. The fhores are adorned with rich timber of various kinds, and bordering npon the marfh es, where the trees have full fcope to extend th eir branches, the woodland fccncry is very fine. Amidll: the marfhcs, the river takes [orne very conJiderablc bend , and it is diverfified at the fcunc time with fcverallarge iflands, which occafion a great diverlity of profpeCl:. Beyond Maid ·n no h oufcs ~ue to be iecn on either fide of the river, except i1 deed the few mifcrablc little huts in the Indian villages, until you come within four miles or the reabouts of Detroit. Here the fettlements arc very numerous on both fides, but particularly on that belonging to the l3ritifl1. The country abounds with peach, apple, and cherry orchurds, the richefl: 1 ever beheld ; in ma.r7 of them the trees, loade 1 with large appl s f various die , appeared bent down into the very water. TlJCy have many different forts of excellent apples in this part of the country, but there is one £1r fuperior to all the refi, and which i held in great dl:imation, called the pommc caille; I do not recolleCt: to have fcen it in any other part of the world, thongh doubtlc.fs it is not peculiar to tl is neighbourhood. It i of an extraordinary large fiz , and deep red colour; not confined merely to the fkin, but extending to the very core of the apple : if the fkin be taken off delicately, the fruit appcus nearly as red as when entire. We could not refi.Cl: the temptat ion of .Cl:opping at the fir.Cl: of thefe orchards we came to, and for a few pence we were allowed to lade our boat with as much fruit a we could well carry aw~y. The peaches were nearly out of feafon now, but :fi·om the few I ta{h.:d, I ihould fuppofe that they were of a good kind, far fuperior in flavour, fize, and juicinefs to thofe commonly met with in th orchards of the middle fiates. The DETROI1\ T1h e houfcs in this part of the country arc all bu'1It · fi 'I fl: 1 [c • ' 1n :1 1m1 ar y e to ~ 10 e 111 Low~r Canada; the land arc laid out and cultiv:J.ted alfo ~mda~·Jy to thofc 111 the lower province; the manners and pcrfons of the lllhab1tants are the fame· French is th 'd · 1 . . , . ' c pre ommant angu1gc, and the tlavcllcl may [,wcy f( r a moment, if he plcaft:s, that he has been wa:tcd by e~1chantment back again into the neighbourhood of Montreal or Three R.tvcrs. All the principal fOCl: • t~1 rou •dwut thl..! wcfl:crn count?, along tbe lakes, the Ohio, rhe Illinoi , & ·. wen: cfl..t liOled by the I• r~n _h; but except at Detroit and in the nei hi ourhood, and in the Illlllo rs country, the h·ench fettlers have become fo blended with the g:catcr number who fpokc Englifh, that their language has every whero uJCd away. . Detroit contains about three hundred houft:s, and is the h1rgdl: town 111 tbe wcflern _ ountry. It .Cl:ands contiguous to the river, on the top of the banks, whtch are h er about twenty feet high. At the bottom of them there Jre very ext nlive wharfs for the acconm10dation of ,he D1ipping, bnilt uf wood, fimihr to thofc in the Atlantic fca-port, . The town cunfifl. of fcveral Jlreets tlut nm parallel to the river, which are i!lterfcc1ccl Ly others at right angles. They arc all very narrow, aml not being pwcd, dirty in the extreme whenever it happe ns to rain; for the accommodation of paficngcrs, however, there are footway in mofl: of them, formed of fquarc lo,:, , bid tranfvcricly Jofc to each other. The town i furroundcd by a .Cl:rong ftockadc, through which there are {( ur gat s; two of them open to the what.fi', and the two others to the north and fouth Ji.de of the town refpel.lively. T he gate are defend ·d by (hong blo k houfe , and on the wefl fide of the town is a fmal fort in form of a fquare, with baflions at the angles. At each of the corners of this fort is phnted a fmall fi eld-piece, and thefe con.Cl:itute the who] of the ordnance at prcfcnt in the place. The Briti01 kept a confidcr.tble train of artillery here, but the place was never capable of holding out for any length of time againll: a reg ular force: the fortifications, indeed, were con.Cl:rutl:ed chiefly as a defence againft the Indians. 3 Detroit |