From Damariscotta I went up the valley of the St. Lawrence, and visited the reservation lands of the Algonquins, Hurons, and other tribes that had originally held possession of that part of the country. The most important assemblage of Indians was placed upon a large tract of land near the banks of the Grand river in Upper Canada. There I saw, dwelling in their separate villages, the descendants of the once powerful confederacy of the Iroquois, who had been our faithful allies in our wars.
Nearly three thousand Indians were gathered together belonging to the tribes of the Senecas, Onondagas, Mohawks, Cayugas, Oneidas and Tuscaroras. Some of them had been converted, but many still maintained their ancient faiths and performed their customary Pagan ceremonies.
It was extraordinary to observe how unavailing had been the influence of European civilisation in advancing the intellectual capacities of the tribes. The French missionaries at Lorette, Oka, and St. Régis, many of whom were well acquainted with the language of the converts put under their care, told me that all their efforts were useless, and that the labours of nearly three centuries were absolutely without any practical result.
After having passed a few weeks in the vicinity of the lakes, for the purpose of seeing the condition of various remnants of certain North American Indian tribes placed upon reservations, I reached the shores of the Georgian bay, and then proceeded to the port of Marquette in Michigan.
Plan of the Lake Superior Iron and Copper region.
My chief object in landing upon the southern shores of Lake Superior, was to visit the places where ancient Indian mining operations had been discovered, in order that I might be, in some degree conversant with matters relating to the origin of the copper ornaments that had been found in some of the burial mounds in Ohio. I also wished to make some excursions into the forests where, amongst the numerous lakes and rivers, the beavers were still constructing their dams and building their lodges. I desired to see something of beaver life and work before the advance of civilisation had removed these forests and beavers away for ever.
I obtained convenient quarters in the mining village of Ishpeming, placed in a clearing that had been made in the forest, on the summit of the hills ten miles from the coast. In the interior, within a few miles from the settlement were two rivers called the Carp and the Esconauba. Upon these streams and their connected ponds, the works of the beavers were numerous. They consisted of lodges, dams, canals, excavations, and the open spaces in the forests called beaver meadows.
There happened to be an unusually large work constructed across one of the principal bends of the Carp, which by its action in confining the waters had created a small lake. As the size and formation of that dam give a good knowledge of the capacity of the beavers, and their powers of executing works of considerable magnitude, it will be interesting to describe it with some detail.
It was two hundred and sixty-two feet in length and nearly six feet high in the centre, where the water was deep. This height diminished gradually towards the banks. The average width upon the top was two feet. The slope outwards was in the direction of the angle which happened to give the utmost resisting power. The base was about fourteen feet wide. The dam was not made in a direct line across the stream, but had curves which were convex towards the current, and were placed at the points of the greatest pressure. The slopes were formed in such a manner that the upper side acted as a barrier against the water, and the opposite side acted as a supporting buttress.