Four Years on the Great Lakes, 1813-1816 by Don Bamford & Carroll Paul

Author:Don Bamford & Carroll, Paul
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS000000, HIS038000
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Published: 2009-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

Commander’s House on Drummond Island, circa 1820, artist J.J. Bigsby. It is most likely that there were no permanent buildings at the time Wingfield visited here.

This harbour was formed by several islands belonging to the range called the Manatoulin Islands, which runs along the north shore of the lake from the river Nottawaysauga to Michilimackinac, a distance of 300 miles. As this range is composed of many thousands, some large, some small, and others mere islets, or rocks, numerous bays and harbours are formed, doubtless some very safe and commodious, but the Surprize being the only vessel on the lake, and she not sufficiently large to supply the garrison with their winter stock, my time was entirely taken up with running backward and forward and, though I much wanted to explore some of the bays, and creeks with which the lake abounds, I had no opportunity of devoting any time to that purpose. Indeed though water fowl were here in great abundance I could spare no time for shooting or allow any of the men for that purpose, but employed an Indian to supply the seamen and, though 25 in number, a few hours was amply sufficient to supply them each day with fish, wild fowl and pigeons. The latter appears to migrate from East to West, in June and the early part of July, and return in September, when they fly in such flocks that, though it may appear a la Munchausen,10 of a fine clear day they appear in the distance like a low black cloud, many millions I have no doubt being in a flock. At this time they fly so high that a common gun is useless, but if the morning is lowering and foggy, they fly so low that any number may be killed. There is on the Island of Michilimackinac a very high rock, which, towards the east is perpendicular, and I have it from a good authority that on a foggy morning thousands of pigeon may be picked up, stunned by flying against it.

Hunger it is said is an excellent sauce, and that is the only sauce we had, except pepper and salt, so that our cooking was very simple. Broiled, fried with salt pork, or boiled in the copper, was the only plan we could adapt, but the latter being more convenient [it] was the general method for ducks as well as pigeons, and the sauce aforesaid, and the additional luxury of the latter pungents we never failed to allay a well created appetite, for we had but those hours for rest which darkness afforded.

As the schooner was only employed in sailing from Nottawaysauga River to Drummond Island, the name given to our new military post, it would be uninteresting to enter into minute details of each voyage; I shall therefore only confine myself to those circumstances which occurred during the summer worth noticing.

The latter part of August we sailed from Drummond Island with only four day allowance of biscuit, and two

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