Another book of interest, from its fidelity and candid spirit, though
written without vivacity, and by a person neither of large mind nor
prepared for various inquiry, is Carver's Travels, "for three years
throughout the interior parts of America, for more than five thousand
miles."
He set out from Boston in "June, 1786, and proceeded, by way of Albany
and Niagara, to Michilimackinac, a fort situated between the Lakes Huron
and Michigan, and distant from Boston 1300 miles."
It is interesting to follow his footsteps in these localities, though
they be not bold footsteps.
He mentions the town of the Sacs, on the Wisconsin, as the largest and
best built he saw, "composed of ninety houses, each large enough for
several families. These are built of hewn plank, neatly jointed, and
covered with bark so compactly as to keep out the most penetrating
rains. Before the doors are placed comfortable sheds, in which the
inhabitants sit, when the weather will permit, and smoke their pipes.
The streets are regular and spacious. In their plantations, which lie
adjacent to their houses, and which are neatly laid out, they raise
great quantities of Indian corn, beans and melons."
Such settlements compare very well with those which were found on the
Mohawk. It was of such that the poor Indian was thinking, whom our host
saw gazing on the shore of Nomabbin lake.
He mentions the rise and fall of the lake-waters, by a tide of three
feet, once in seven years,--a phenomenon not yet accounted for.
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