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172
AMERICAN PORTAGES
sinking a batteau in the gap, and stopping the water with sods and paddles, he raised the water.
"Lay in the wood this night. Wolves very numerous hereabout.
October 31. Returned to the camp at the Portage.
November 1. Left landing with seven batteaus and three pirogues loaded with provisions, and proceeded to the dam, which we opened and yet found the water so scanty that it was with the greatest difficulty we passed the chemin couvert. At the end of this narrow pass came to the swamp called les Volets, from the water lilies in it.[1] The batteaus frequently
- ↑ Under this date Hamilton wrote to Haldimand from "Camp at Petite Riviere," concerning the portage path from the Maumee to Little River, as follows: "This carrying place is free from any obstructions, but what the carelessness & ignorance of the French have left, & would leave from Generation to Generation. An intelligent person at a small expense might make it as fine a road as any within 20 miles of London. The Woods are beautiful, Oak, Ash, Beech, Nutwood, very clear & of a great growth. . . in a ridge near the road I found a sea fossil, to find Marine productions on this hauteur des terres is to my mind more curious than their being found in the Alps—there are no mountains in view from Detroit to this place so that these appearances
