since I left England. The breakfast was excel
lent, and we were served with much consideration ;
but the place was so full, and the accommodations
of Detroit are so insufficient for the influx of people
who are betaking themselves thither, that strangers
must patiently put up with much delay and incon
venience till new houses of entertainment are
opened. We had to wait till near one o clock be
fore any of us could have a room in which to dress ;
but I had many letters to write, and could wait ;
and before I had done, Charley came with his
shining face and clean collar, to show me that ac
commodation had been provided. In the afternoon,
we saw what we could of the place, and walked by
the side of the full and tranquil river St. Clair.
The streets of the town are wide and airy ; but the
houses, churches, and .stores, are poor for the
capital city of a Territory or State. This is a
defect which is presently cured, in the stirring
northern regions of the United States. Wooden
planks, laid on the grass, form the pavement, in all
the outskirts of the place. The deficiency is of
stone, not of labour. Thousands of settlers are



ECONOMY. 233

pouring in every year ; and of these, many are
Irish, Germans, or Dutch, working their way into
the back country, and glad to be employed for a
while at Detroit, to earn money to carry them
further. Paving-stones will be imported here, I
suppose, as I saw them at New Orleans, to the
great improvement of the health and comfort of
the place. The block-wood pavement, of which
trial has been made in a part of Broadway, New
York, is thought likely to answer better at De
troit than any other kind, and is going to be
tried.

The country round Detroit is as flat as can be
imagined ; and, indeed, it is said that the highest
mountain in the State boasts only sixty feet of ele
vation. A lady of Detroit once declared, that if she
were to build a house in Michigan, she would build
a hill first. The Canada side of the river looks
dull enough from the city; but I cannot speak
from a near view of it, having been disappointed
in my attempts to getfover to it. On one occa
sion, we were too late for the ferry-boat ; and we
never had time again for the excursion.

A cool wind from the northern lakes blows over
the whole face of the country, in the midst of the
hottest days of summer ; and in the depth of
winter, the snow never lies deep, nor long. These
circumstances may partly account for the healthi
ness of the row of faces at the table of the Ame
rican.

The society of Detroit is very choice ; and, as it
has continuecT~so since the old colonial days,
through the territorial days, there is every reason
to think that it will become, under its new digni
ties, a more and more desirable place of residence.
Some of its inferior society is still very youllTiuTr
a gentleman, for instance, saying in the reading-
room, in the hearing of one of our party, that,



234 ECONOMY.

though it did not sound well at a distance, Lynch
ing* was the only way to treat Abolitionists: but
the most enlightened society is, I believe, equal to
any which is to be found in the United States.
Here we began to see some of the half-breeds, of
Avhcm w r e afterwards met so many at the north.
They are the children of white men who have married
squaws ; and may be known at a glance, not only
by the dark complexion, but by the high cheek
bones, straight black hair, and an indescribable
mischievous expression about the eyes. I never
saw such imps and Flibbertigibbets as the half-breed
boys that we used to see rowing or diving in the
w r aters, or playing pranks on the shores of Mi
chigan.

We had two great pleasures this day ; a drive
along the quiet Lake St. Clair, and a charming even
ing party at General Mason s. After a pilgrimage
through the State of New York, a few exciting
days at Niagara, and a disagreeable voyage along
Lake Erie, we were prepared to enjoy to the utmost
the novelty of a good evenitig party ; and we were
as merry as children at a ball. It was wholly un
expected to find ourselves in accomplished society
on the far side of Lake Erie ; and there was some
thing stimulating in the contrast between the high
civilisation of the evening, and the primitive scenes
that we were to plunge into the next day. Though



* It is possible that this term may not yet be familiar to some
of my English readers. It means summary punishment. The
modes now in use among those who take the law into their own
hands in the United States, are tarring and feathering, scourging
with a cow-hide, banishing, and hanging. The term owes its
derivation to a farmer of the name of Lynch, living on the Mis
sissippi, who, in the absence of court and lawyers, constituted
himself a judge, and ordered summary punishment to be inflicted
on an offender. He little foresaw the national disgrace which
would arise from the extension of the practice to which he gave
his name.



ECONOMY. 235

we bad to pack up and write, and be off very early
in the morning, we were unable to persuade our
selves to go home till late; and then we talked over
Detroit as if we were wholly at leisure.

The scenery of Lake St. Clair was new to me.
I had seen nothing in the United States like its
level green banks, with trees slanting over the
water, festooned with the wild vine ; the groups of
cattle beneath them; the distant steam-boat, ^ arcely
seeming to disturb the grey surface of the still
waters. This was the first of many scenes in Mi
chigan which made me think of Holland ; though
the day of canals has not yet arrived.

15th. An obliging girl at the American provided
us with coffee and biscuits at half-past five, by
which time our " exclusive extra" was at the door.
Charley had lost his cap. It was impossible that
he should go bare-headed through the State ; and
it was lucky for us that a store was already open
where he was furnished in a trice with a willow-hat.
The brimming river was bright in the morning
sun ; and our road was, for a mile or two, thronged
with Indians. Some of the inhabitants of Detroit,
who knew the most about their dark neighbours,
told me that they found it impossible to be roman
tic about these poor creatures. We, however, could
not help feeling the excitement of the spectacle,
when we saw them standing in their singularly
majestic attitudes by the road-side, or on a rising
ground : one, with a bunch of feathers tied at the
back of the head ; another, with his arms folded in
his blanket ; and a third, with her infant lashed to
a board, and thus carried on her shoulders. Their
appearance was dreadfully squalid.

As soon as we had entered the woods, the roads
became as bad as, I suppose, roads ever are. Some
thing snapped, and the driver cried out that we
were " broke to bits." The team-bolt had given



230 ECONOMY.

way. Our gentlemen, and those of the mail-stage,
which happened to be at hand, helped to mend the
coach ; and we ladies walked on, gathering abun
dance of flowers, and picking our way along the
swampy corduroy road. In less than an hour,
the stage took us up, and no more accidents hap
pened before breakfast. We were abundantly
amused while our meal was preparing at Danvers-
ville. ^One of the passengers of the mail-stage
took up a violin, and offered to play to us. Books
with pictures were lying about. The lady of the
house sat by the window, fixing her candle-wicks
into the moulds. In the piazza, sat a party of
emigrants, who interested us much. The wife had
her eight children with her ; the youngest, puny
twins. She said she had brought them in a wagon
four hundred miles ; and if they could only live
through the one hundred that remained before
they reached her husband"^ lot of land, she hoped
they might thrive ; but she had been robbed, the
day before, of her bundle of baby things. Some
one had stolen it from the wagon. After a good
meal, we saw the stage-passengers stowed into a
lumber wagon ; and we presently followed in our
more comfortable vehicle.

Before long, something else snapped. The
splinter-bar was broken. The driver was morti
fied; but it was no fault of his. Juggernaut s car
would have been " broke to bits" on such a road.
We went into a settler s house, where we were
welcomed to rest and refresh ourselves. Three
years before, the owner bought his eighty acres of
land for a dollar an acre. He could now sell it for
twenty dollars an acre. He shot, last year, a
hundred deer, and sold them for three dollars
a-piece. He and his family need have no fears of
poverty. We dined well, nine miles before reach
ing Ypsilanti. The log-houses, always comforta-



ECONOMY. 237

ble when well made, being easily kept clean, cool
in summer, and warm in winter, have here an air
of beauty about them. The hue always harmonizes
well with the soil and vegetation. Those in Mi
chigan have the bark left on, and the corners
sawn off close ; and are thus both picturesque and
neat.

At Ypsilanti, I picked up an Ann Arbor news
paper. It was badly printed ; but its contents were
pretty good ; and it could happen nowhere out of
America, that so raw a settlement as that at Ann
Arbor, where there is difficulty in procuring decent
accommodations, should have a newspaper.

It was past seven before we left the inn at Ypsi
lanti, to go thirteen miles further. We departed on
foot. There was a bridge building at Ypsilanti;
but, till it was ready, all vehicles had to go a mile
down the water-side to the ferry, while the pas
sengers generally preferred crossing the foot-bridge,
and walking on through the wood. We found in
our path, lupins, wild geraniums, blue-eye grass,
blue iris, wild sunflower, and many others. The
mild summer night was delicious, after the fatigues
of the day. I saw the youngest of golden moons,
and two bright stars set, before we reached Wal
lace s Tavern, where we were to sleep. Of course,
we were told that there was no room for us ; but,
by a little coaxing and management, and one of
the party consenting to sleep on the parlour-floor,
everything was made easy.

Itjth. We were off by half-past six; and, not
having rested quite enough, and having the prospect
of fourteen miles before breakfast, we, with one
accord, finished our sleep in the stage. We reached
Tecumseh by half-past nine, and perceived that its
characteristic was chair-making. Every other house
seemed to tye a chair manufactory. One bore the
inscription, " Cousin George s Store:" the meaning



238 ECONOMY.

of which I do not pretend to furnish. Perhaps the
idea is, that purchasers may feel free and easy, as
if dealing with cousin George. Everybody has a
cousin George. Elsewhere, we saw a little hotel
inscribed, " Our House f a prettier sign than
" Traveller s Rest," or any other such tempting in
vitation that I am acquainted with. At Tccumseb,
I saw the first strawberries of the season. All
that I tasted in Michigan, of prairie growth,
were superior to those of the west, grown in
gardens.

Charley was delighted to-day by the sight of
several spotted fawns, tamed by children. If a
fawn be carried a hundred yards from its bush, it
will follow the finder, and remain with him, if
kindly treated. They are prettiest when very
young, as they afterwards lose their spots.

We fairly entered the "rolling country" to-day:
and nothing could be brighter and moce flourishing
than it looked. The young corn w r as corning up
well in the settlers fields. The copses, called
" oak-openings," looked fresh after the passing
thunder-showers; and so did the rising grounds,
strewed with wild flowers and strawberries. " The
little hills rejoiced -on every side." The ponds,
gleaming between the hills and copses, gave a park-
like air to the scenery. The settlers leave trees
in their clearings ; and from these came the song
of the wood-thrush ; and from the dells the cry of
the quail. There seemed to be a gay wood-pecker
to every tree.

Our only accident to-day was driving over a poor
hog : we can only hope it died soon. Wherever
we stopped, we found that the crowds of emigrants
had eaten up all the eggs; and we happened to
think eggs the best article of diet of all on a jour
ney. It occurred to me that we might get some
by the way, and carry them on to our resting-



ECONOMY. 239

place. All agreed that we might probably pro
cure them : but how to carry them safely over such
roads was the question. This day we resolved to
try. We made a solemn stir for eggs in a small
settlement ; and procured a dozen. We each car
ried one in each hand, except Charley, who was
too young to be trusted. His two were wrapped
up each in a bag. During eight miles of jolting,
not one was hurt ; and we delivered them to
our host at Jonesville with much satisfaction. We
wished that some of our entertainers had been as
rich as a Frenchman at Baltimore, who, talking of
his poultry-yard, informed a friend that he had
" fifty head of hen."

At Jonesville, the ladies and Charley were fa
voured with a large and comfortable chamber. The
gentlemen had to sleep with the multitude below ;
ranged like walking-sticks, or umbrellas,on a shop-
counter.

17th. The road was more deplorable than ever
to-day. The worst of it was, that whenever it was
dangerous for the carriage, so that we were obliged
to get out, it was, in proportion, difficult to be
passed on foot It was amusing to see us in such
passes as we had to go through to-day. I gene
rally acted as pioneer, the gentlemen having their
ladies to assist ; and it was pleasant to stand on
some dry perch, and watch my companions through
the holes and pools that I had passed. Such hop
ping and jumping; such slipping and sliding; such
looks of despair from the middle of a pond ; such
shifting of logs, and carrying of planks, and hand
ing along the fallen trunks of trees ! The driver,
meantime, was looking back provokingly from his
box, having dragged the carriage through; and
far behind stood Charley, high and dry, singing or
eating his bit of bread, till his father could come
back for him. Three times this day was such a



240 ECONOMY.

scene enacted; and, the third time, there was a

party of emigrant ladies to be assisted, too. When

it was all over, and I saw one with her entire feet

cased in mud, I concluded we must all be very

wet, and looked at my own shoes : and lo ! even

the soles were as dry as when they were made !

How little the worst troubles of travelling amount

to, in proportion to the apprehension of them !

What a world of anxiety do travellers suffer lest

they should get wet, or be without food ! How

many really faint with hunger, or fall into an ague

\ with damp and cold? I was never in danger of

( either the one or the other, in any of the twenty-

1 three States which I visited.

At one part of our journey to-day, where the
road was absolutely impassable, we went above a
mile through the wood, where there was no track,
but where the trees are blazed, to serve as guide-
posts, summer and winter. It was very wild. Our
carriage twisted and wound about to avoid blows
against the noble beech-stems. The waters of the
swamp plashed under our wheels, and the boughs
crunched overhead. An overturn would have been
a disaster in such a place. We travelled only forty-
two miles this long day; but the weariness of the
way was much beguiled by singing, by a mock ora
tion, story-telling, and other such amusementsf The
wit and humour of Americans, abundant under
ordinary circumstances, are never, I believe, known
to fail in emergencies, serious or trifling. Their
humour helps themselves and their visitors through
any Sloughs of Despond, as charitably as their in
finite abundance of logs through the swamps of
their bad roadsj

We did not reach Sturgis s Prairie till night.
We had heard so poor an account of the stage-
house, that we proceeded to another, whose owner
has the reputation of treating his guests magnifi-



ECONOMY. 241

eently, or not at all. He treated us on juste milieu
principles. He did what he could for us ; and that
could not be called magnificent. The house was
crowded with emigrants. When, after three hours
waiting, we had supper, two full-grown persons
were asleep on some blankets in the corner of the
room, and as many as fifteen or sixteen children on
chairs and on the floor. Our hearts ached for one
mother. Her little girl, two years old, had either
sprained or broken her arm, and the mother did
not know what to do with it. The child shrieked
when the arm was touched, and wailed mournfully
at other times. We found in the morning, how
ever, that she had had some sleep. I have often
wondered since how she bore the motion of the
wagon on the worst parts of the road. It was
oppressively hot. I had a little closet, whose door
would not shut, and which was too small to give
me room to take off the soft feather-bed. The
window would not keep open without being propped
by the tin water-jug; and though this was done, I
could not sleep for the heat. This reminds me of
the considerate kindness of an hotel-keeper in an
earlier stage of our journey. When he found that
I wished to have my window open, there being no
fastening, he told me he would bring his own
tooth-brush for a prop, which he accordingly did.
18th. Our drive of twelve miles to breakfast
was very refreshing. The roads were the best we
had travelled since we left New York State. We
passed through a wilderness of flowers; trailing
roses, enormous white convolvulus, scarlet lilies,
and ground-ivy, with many others, being added to
those we had before seen. Milton must have tra
velled in Michigan before He wrote the garden
parts of "Paradise Lost." Sturgis s and White
Pigeon Prairies are highly cultivated, and look
just like any other rich and perfectly level land.

VOL. I. M



242 ECONOMY.

We breakfasted at White Pigeon Prairie, and saw
the rising ground where the Indian chief lies
buried, whose name has been given to the place.

The charms of the settlement, to us, were a kind
landlady, an admirable breakfast, at which eggs
abounded, and a blooming garden. Thirty-seven
miles further brought us to Niles, where \ve arrived
by five in the afternoon. The roads were so much
improved that we had not to walk at all; which
was well, as there was much pelting rain during
the day.

Niles is a thriving town on the river St. Joseph,
on the borders of the Potowatomie territory,
Three years ago, it consisted of three houses. We
could not learn the present number of inhabitants ;
probably because the number is never the same
two days together. A Potowatomie village stands
within a mile ; and we saw two Indians on horse
back, fording the rapid river very majestically,
and ascending the wooded hills on the other side.
Many Indian women were about the streets ; one
with a nose-ring ; some with plates of silver on the
bosom, and other barbaric ornaments. Such a
tremendous storm of thunder and lightning came
on, with a deluge of rain, that we were prevented
seeing anything of the place, except from our win
dows. I had sent my boots to a cobbler, over the
way. He had to put on India rubbers, which
reached above the knee, to bring his work home :
the street was so flooded. We little imagined for
the hour the real extent and violence of this storm,
and the effect it would have on our journeying.

The prairie strawberries, at breakfast this morn
ing, were so large, sweet, and ripe, that we w r ere
inclined for more in the course of the day. Many
of the children of the settlers \vere dispersed near
the road-side, with their baskets, gathering straw
berries ; they would not sell any : they did not



ECONOMY. 243

know what mother would say if they went home
without any berries for father. But they could
get enough for father, too, they were told, if they
would sell us what they had already gathered.
No; they did not want to sell. Our driver ob
served, that money was "no object to them." I
began to think that we had, at last, got to the end
of the world ; or rather, perhaps, to the beginning
of another and a better.

19th. No plan could be more cleverly and con
fidently laid than ours was fbr this day s journey.
We were to travel through the lands of the Poto-
watomiesj and reach the sliores of the glorious
Lake Michigan, at Michigan City, in time for an
early supper. We were to proceed on the morrow
round the southern extremity of the lake, so as, if
possible, to reach Chicago in one day. It was
wisely and prettily planned : and the plan was so
far followed, as that we actually did leave Niles
some time before six in the morning. Within three
minutes, it began to rain again, and continued,
with but few and short intervals, all day.

We crossed the St. Joseph by a rope ferry, the
ingenious management of which, when stage-coaches
had to be carried over, was a perpetual study to
me. The effect of crossing a rapid river by a rope-
ferry, by torch-light, in a dark night, is very strik
ing; and not the less so for one s becoming fami
liarized with it, as the traveller does in the United
States. As we drove up the steep bank, we found
ourselves in the Indian territory. All was very
wild; and the more so for the rain. There were
many lodges in the glades, with the red light of
fires hanging around them. The few log huts
looked drenched ; the tree-stems black in the wet ;
and the very wild flowers were dripping. The soil
was sandy ; so that the ugliest features of a rainy
day, the mud and puddles, were obviated. The

M 2



244 ECONOMY.

sand sucked up the rain, so that we jumped out of
the carriage as often as a wild-flower of peculiar
beauty tempted us. The bride-like, white convol
vulus, nearly as large as my hand, grew in trails
all over the ground.

The poor, helpless, squalid Potowatomies are
sadly troubled by squatters. It seems hard enough
that they should be restricted within a narrow ter
ritory, so surrounded by whites that the game is
sure soon to disappear, and leave them stripped of
their only resource. It is too hard that they should
also be encroached- upon by men who sit down,
without leave or title, upon lands which are not in
tended for sale. I e:;joyed hearing of an occasional
alarm among the squatters, caused by some threat
ening demonstrations by the Indians. I should
like to see every squatter frightened away from
Indian lands, however advantageous their squatting
may be upon lands which are unclaimed, or whose
owners can defend their own property. I was glad
to hear to-day that a deputation of Potowatomies
had been sent to visit a distant warlike tribe, in
consequence of tlio importunities of squatters, who
wanted to buy the land they had been living upon.
The deputation returned, painted, and under other
hostile signals, and declared that the Potowatomies
did not intend to part with their lands. We
stopped for seme milk, this morning, at the " loca
tion" of a squatter, whose wife was milking as we
passed. The gigantic personage, her husband,
told us how anxious he was to pay for the land
which repaid his tillage so well ; but that his In
dian neighbours would not sell. I hope that, by
this time, he has had to remove, and leave them
the benefit of his house and fences. Such an esta
blishment in the wild woods is the destruction of
the game, and of those who live upon it.

At breakfast, we saw a fine specimen of a set-



ECONOMY. 245

tier s family. We had observed the prosperity and
cheerfulness of the settlers, ail aloni> u, 3 road; but
this family exceeded the besi;. I j^rver saw such
an affectionate set of people, liiey, like many
others, wore from one of the southern States : and
I was not surprised to find all emigrants from North
and South Carolina well satisfied with the change
they had made. The old lady seemed to enjoy her
pipe, and there was much mirth going on between
the beautiful daughter and all the other men
and maid c .s. They gave us an excellent breakfast in
one of the two lower rooms ; the table being placed
across tin*, foot of the two beds. No pains were spared
by them to save us from the wet in the stage : but the
rain was too pelting and penetrating for any defence
to avail long. It streamed in at all corners,
and we rave the matter up for the clay. We were
now entering Indiana; and one of our intentions
had bee i to cee the celebrated Door Prairie; so
called from exquisite views into it boin;." opened
through Intervals in the growth of wood with which
it is belt "d. I did obtain something like r.n idea of
it through the reeking rain, and thought that it was
the first MT.irie that I had seen that answered to