The River St. Clair is a broad and noble stream, and impressed us as justifying the highest encomiums bestowed on it by Charlevoix, La Hontan, and other early French travellers. We ascended it thirty miles, which brought us to Fort Gratiot, at the foot of the rapid which marks the outlet of Lake Huron. In this distance, we passed, at separate places, nine vessels at anchor, being detained by head winds, and encountered several Chippewa and Ottowa canoes, each of which were generally occupied by a single family, with their females, blankets, guns, fishing apparatus, and dogs. They evinced the most friendly disposition.
In landing at Oak Point,[ [13] I observed a green snake (coluber æstivus) in the act of swallowing a frog, which he had succeeded in taking down, except the extremity of its hind legs. A blow was sufficient to relieve the frog, which still had sufficient animation to hop towards the river. The snake I made to pay the forfeit of his life.
At Fort Gratiot, we were received by Major Cummins, U. S. A., who occupied the post with sixty men. The expedition was received with a salute, which is due to the Governor of a Territory. Two soldiers who were sickly, were here returned, and five able-bodied men received to supply their places, thus increasing the aggregate of the party to forty persons.[ [14]
The banks of the River St. Clair are wholly alluvial or diluvial. There is not a particle of rock in place. One idea presses itself prominently to notice, in reflecting on the formation of the country. It is the vast quantum of clay, mixed drift, and boulders, which have evidently been propelled, by ancient forces, down these straits, and afterwards arranged themselves according to affinities, or gravitation. At the precipitous banks between the inlet of Black River and Fort Gratiot, this action has been so clearly within the erratic block period of De la Buck, that it has imbedded prostrate forest-trees, and even freshwater shells, beneath the heavy stratum of sand, resting immediately upon the fundamental clay beds, upon which the city of Detroit, and indeed the alluvions of the entire straits rest.[ [15] We again encountered at this place, blocks of the primitive or crystalline boulders, which were first seen at Grosse Point. There are some traces of iron sand along the shore of this river, the only mineral body, indeed, which has thus rewarded my examinations.
We left our encampment, at Fort Gratiot, at eight o'clock next morning. A strong and deep rapid is immediately encountered, up which, however, vessels having a good wind find no difficulty in making their way. On surmounting this, we found ourselves on the level of Lake Huron. The lake here bursts upon the view in one of those magnificent landscapes which are peculiar to this region. Nature has everywhere operated on the grandest scale. Wide ocean expanses and long lines of shore spread before the eye, which gazes admiringly on the broad and often brilliant horizon, and then turns, for something to rest on, along the shore. Long ridges of gravel, sand, and boulders, meet it here. Beyond and above this storm-battered beach, are fringes of woods, or banks of clay. The monotony of travelling by unvaried scenes is relieved by an occasional song of the boatmen, or an occasional landing—by changes of forest-trees—of the wind, or flights of the gull, duck, plover, and other birds; but the traveller, is apt, before evening comes, to fancy himself very much in the position of a piece of merchandise which is transported from place to place. Glad were we when night approached, and the order to encamp was heard. It was estimated we had advanced thirty-five miles.
On passing along the Huron coast about fifteen miles, a bank of dark clay is encountered, which has an elevation of thirty or forty feet, and extends six or eight miles. We soon after came to the White Rock—an enormous detached mass, or boulder of transition,[ [16] or semi-crystalline limestone. It is a noted landmark for voyageurs and travellers, and an equally celebrated place of offerings by the Indians. I requested to be landed on it, and detached some specimens. Geologically, it is a member of the erratic block group, and we must look for its parent bed at a more westerly point. There is no formation of limestone, in this quarter, to which it can be referred. It bears marks of attrition, which shows that it has been rubbed against other hard bodies; and if transported down the lake on ice, it is necessary to consider these marks as pre-existing at the era of its removal.
On embarking in the morning, the wind was slightly ahead, which continued during the forenoon, changing in the after-part of the day, so that we were able to hoist sail. About four o'clock the weather became cloudy and hazy, the wind increasing, at the same time attended with thunder and lightning. A storm was rapidly gathering, and the lake became so much agitated that we immediately effected a landing, which was not done without some difficulty, on a shallow and dangerous shore, thickly strewn with boulders. We pitched our tents on a small peninsula, or narrow neck of land, covered with beautiful forest-trees, which was nearly separated from the main shore. Shortly after our arrival a vessel hove in sight, and anchored on the same dangerous lee shore. We were in momently expectation of her being driven from her moorings, but were happily relieved, the next morning, to observe that she had rode out the storm.
The lake was still too rough on the following day, and the wind too high, to permit our embarking. We made an excursion inland. The country proved low, undulatory, and swampy. The forest consisted of hemlock, birch, ash, oak, and maple, with several species of mosses, which gave it a cold, bleak character. The margin of the forest was skirted with the bulrush, briza canadensis, and other aquatic plants. The whole day passed, a night, and another day, with nothing but the loud sounding lake roar in our ears. A heavy bed of the erratic block formation commences at this point, and continues to Point aux Barques, the eastern cape of Saganaw Bay.
In one of these displaced masses—a boulder of mica slate, I discovered well-defined crystals of staurotide. This formed my second mineralogical acquisition.[ [17] There were, also, some striking water-worn masses of granitical and hornblende porphyry.
It was the 1st of June before we could leave the spot where we had been confined. We embarked at six o'clock, the lake being sufficiently pacific, though not yet settled. But after proceeding about a league, it again became agitated, and drove us ashore, where we lay without encamping. Kewaygushkum was requested to send some of his young men in quest of game. The soldiers and engagees also formed fishing parties, at a contiguous river; but about three o'clock in the afternoon all the parties returned completely unsuccessful. There was neither fish nor game to be had. At the same time the agitation of the lake ceased, the wind springing up from an opposite quarter, which enabled us to hoist sail. This put every one in a pleasant humor, and we proceeded along the coast till evening, and encamped on a small sandy bay, which puts into the land, immediately beyond the promontory of Point aux Barques—an estimated distance of twenty-five miles from our starting-point in the morning.