■■i'%t:... THE DISCOVERY — OF- Witli some Accounts of the Aborigines of the Province of Ontario and the State of New York. "j^p ■' "."■■> r'-'i ' '«!•-,-! ■;■; i>f'-t'\ greater waterway of the Upper St. Lawrence. LakeH Ontario, Erie, &o., was for a long period entirely unknown. This is to be aooonnted for in the fact that these forming as they did, the dividing line between those two hostile nations, were too dangerous to be used as a thoroughfare. , , Some four or five of those Jesuit miBsion- aries had for several years been laboring among the numerous Huron towns along the east coast of the Georgian bay, then known as the Great Fresh Sea, with very indifferent success, but with a zeal and courage under hardships and cruelties worse than death, and even martyrdom itself, that won respect even from their tormentors. They were in the habit of sending home periodically to their superiors in France, reports, or relatians, as they are called, of all their transaotions, giving the moat oiroumskantinl details of every event which came under their notice, even to the snrrepekitious baptizing of an event of an unfriendly savage. These Jesuit relations, many of which have been published, afford us the earliest gUmpses of the birth of Oan- adian history. The missionaries to the Huruns, though accustomed to make exourx sions in various directions up and down through the northern country, do not seem to have penetrated nearer to the ground upon which we now stand than Lake Simooe, that being the southern limit of the Huron lands, for lying to the south of the Hurons and along the north shore ef Lake Erie, between the Niagara and Detroit nvera, was the small tribe called by the Frenoh the A regular meeting of the Hamilton asso- ciation was held on Jan. 12th, in the council chamber. City Hall, the President, Dr. Mc- Donald, in the chair. There was a large attendanoo of members and visitors. After the transaction of routine business, Mr. B. E Oharlton read the following paper, entitled as above : Two and a half centuries ago, or to be more correct say about the year 1634, a glance at this portion of the continent of Nortb America, finds the French reestab hshed at Quebec, and also in a small way at Hochelsga, now Montreal. And the Dutch at New ilolland and Manhattan, now respect- ively Albany and New York. Of the Indian tribes, the two prominent nations were the Hurons, allies of the French, in the north, extending from lake Simcoe around the Georgian bay and along the French and Ottawa rivers ; and, on the other hand, the fierce Iroquois to the south, ex- tending eastward from the Niagara river, and south from lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. The former trading with the French at Mon- treal and Quebec, by way of the Ottawa ; the latter trading with the Dutch en the Hudson, but hostile to everybody, their hand being against every man. Thus it occurred that while the Jesuit missionaries, those indom- itable pioneers of discovery, became familiar (through following the return of Indian bands from their trading expeditions), with the great northern waterway of the Ottawa and French rivers on the one hand, and lake Ohamplain, the Hudson and Bioh- oliea rivers on the other, the now DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. Nenters. Tbie tribe, thouRb considered a small one, had forty populons towns and villages. Situated as tbey were, however, between the greater nations of the Hurond on the one side, and the Iroquois on the other, and fearfal of giving offense to either, thoy rejected most decidedly all recorded attempts of the Jesuits to penetrate thoir country. The intrepid Champlain, too, had made an excursion up the Ottawa and along the shores of the Georgian Bay, and being persuaded to join the Hurono in a foray against the Iroquois passed with the Indian army from Lahe Simooe through the chain of lakes in the vicinity of Lindsay along the Trent river to its month, through the Bay of Quinte, dis> covering Lake Ontarl j, and crosging ihe same in canoes to the Iroquois country, landing near Oswego, where they laid siege to an Indian town surrounded with a triple stock- ade, upon which we^c mounted galleries for warriors, who fired arrows and stones and poured water upon fires buiU upon the out- side, and defended their works generally with such courage that their assailants had to retire discomfited. But some years later than the date above given, the Iroquois, becoming more formid- able, burst across the Niagara river and Lake Ontario with a fierceness which nothing could withstand. They captured one Huron town after another, slaujjhtering, torturing and sometimes eating their captives, till finally in 1649 a general massacre took place, endiiit? in the destruction of the whole nation with the exception of two small bands, one of which went westward and became absorbed in the powerful tribps abont Lake Superior, and the other followed the Jesuits to Quebec. Atube present day, at the Indian village of Lorette, some few miles from Quebpo, may be found the sole survivors of the once mighty Huron" nation. S >me unpublished manuscripts, having reference to explorations in America, have lately been discovered in the Bibliothpque Nationale, in Paris, among which was a journal giving an account of an expedition in 1669 by La Salle, whose nnrae stands almoHt, if not quite, at the head of the intrepid explorers of this continent, and two Sulpioian missionaries, who started from Montreal in canoes, passed up the St. Lawrence, along the south shore of Lake Ontario, and made a short stay on the shore of Burlington bay. I shall beg leave to introduise to your at- tention this evening an extract from the journal in question as the basis of my present paper. The map annexed to the journal forms an interesting illustration of the know- ledge acquired by tbe party of the form and size of the North American lakes during their long pioneer voynge from Montreal to Bault fate. Marie. A copy of the original, which is in the possesHion of a gentleman of Buffalo, measures 4^ feet in length by 2^ feet in breadth, and I am bappy to say that I am in possession of a tracing of a small portion ther' of, showing tho localities of this vicinity exactly as they appear in tbe original The map is covered with annotations in the French language. The missionaries attached to the expedition '■ were Francois Dollior de Casson, and Eene de Brebart de Galinee, both attached to the order of St. Sulpice. The former had been a calvary officer under Marshall Tusenne, and was at the date of the expedition superior of the seminary belonging to the order at Mon- treal. His strength was so prodigious that he was said to be able to carry two men sitting one on each hand. Oaliuee, the historian ,of the enterprise, had no little reputation as a surveyor and astronomer. Both priests were ardent and zealous for the conversion of the heathen to the Boman faith, and had long been waiting for some favorable opportunity to penetrate for that purpose tho vast and unexplored regions of the west. La Salle, thea 26 years of age, had resided in Canada three years, and had not yet acquired the renown which his subsf qucnt adventures and explorations affixed to his nfime, but the opportunities which he had enjoyed for in- tprcourse with the Iroquois and other west- ern tribes, who were accustomed to visit Mon- treal for the purpi'se of trade, had not been negk oted. From them he had hoard of the Ohio, the Misfiissippi and of the boundless foresffand prairies through which they flowed. Tbej had told him of the vast laken as yet unnavigated save by their frail canof's, on the borders of which were inexhaustible mines yielding the richest ores of iron and copper. His imagiuaton kindled at the re" cifal and so great was his ambition to accom- plish his favorite object, that ho sold the possessions he had acquired in Canada to realize the means of defraying the expences ©f an expedition to tost the truth of the In- dian narrations. He resolved to ai?cend the St. Lawrence, and pftseiug through the chain of western lakes, to seek for the great river, that, having its source in the Iroquois country flowed, according to Indian authority, into a far distaut sea, and which Champlain and L'Escarbot had conifidenlly hoped migtit be the westerly road to China and Japan. In the summer of 1669 La Salle organized with the two Sulpioiaus, a joint expedition to accomplish their several purposes— the for-> DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. mer to prosecute bis diaoovrrieB in the west, and the miBsionariea to baptise the Nopbytes they should stioure amoriK the triben found in the valley of the Ohio, the Miseissippi and the lakes. When everything was ready for a speedy departure, the unfortunate asflaasina- tioQ of an Iroquoia chief by thieo Fr«noh Boldiera at Moutreal, detained them fifteen days, and threatened a renewal of the war between the Iroquoia and French, which had just then happily terminated. The execu- tion of the guilty soldiera propitiated the offended Iroquoia, All fear of reprisals being allayed, the party atarted on the Gth day of July — La Salle with fifteen men in four canoes, and Du Caeson and Galinee with seven men in three canoea. They ascended tbe St. Lawrence, threading the intricate channels of tbe Thousand Islands, carrying their canoes and effects around the numerous and dillioult portages they met by the way, and at length after twenty-seven days of in- ceasaut toil, in which they suffered severely from sickness and exposure, they reached the broad expanse of Lake Ontario. Coasting along its southern shore they lanJed on the 10th of August at the mouth of Irondoquoit bay, four miles east of the Gennessee river, their intention being to procure a guide from the Indian town of Gaunagaro, on what is now known as Bruughton Hill, ju»t south of Victor station, on the New York Central railway, and midway between Hoches- ter and Canandaigusa. In the translation of the journal of Gp.linee, which follows the original, haa been adhered to as closely as the obscure and antiquated French in which it is written would admit. BXTBAOT FBOM THK JOURNAL OP GALINEE. "After 35 days of very difficult navigation we arrived at a small river called by the Indiana Karontagonat (the Iroquois name for Irondoquoit Bay), which is the nearest point on the lake to Sonantouan, and about one hundred leagues southwest of Montreal, i took the latitude of this place on the 26th of August, 1669, with my jacobataff. As I had a very line horizon on the north, no land, but the open lake, being visible in that direction, I took the altitude on that side as being the leaat liable to error. We had no sooner arrived at this place than we were visited by a number of Indians, who came to make us small presents of Indian corn, pumokina, blackberries and whortle>^ berries, fruits of which they had abundance. We made presents in return of knives, awla, needles, glass beada, and other articles which they prize, and with which we were well pro> vidt i. - . Our guides urged us to remaia in this place till the next day, as the chiefs would not tail to come in the evening with provisions to escort ua to the village. In fact, night had no sooner come than a large troop of Indians, with a uumbur of women loaded with provisions, arrived and encamped near by, and made for us bread of Indian corn and fruit. They did not desire to speak to us in regular council, but told ua we were expected in the village, to every cabin of which word had been aent, to gather all the old men at the council, which would be held for the pnrpoae of ascertaining the object uf our visit. M. Dollier, M. de La Salle and myself con- sulted together in order to determine in what manner we should act, what we should offer for presents, and how we should give them. It was agreed that I should go to the village with M.de La Salle for the purpose of obtain- ing a captive taken from the nation which we desired to visit who could conduct us thither, and that we should take with us eight of our Frenchmen, the rest to remain withM. Dollier in charge of the canoes. This plan was car- ried out, and the next day, August 12, had no sooner dawned, than we were notified by the Indians that it was time to set out. We started with ten Frenchmen and forty or fifty Indians, who compelled us to rest every league, fearing \ve bUould be too l "b fa- tigued. About half way we found another company of Indians who had come to meet us. They made us presents of provisions and accompanied us to the village. When we were within about a league of the latter the halts were more frequent, and our com- pany increaaed more and more, until we finally came in aight of the great village, which is in a large plain, about two leaguea in circumference. In order to reach it we had to ascend a small hill (now Broughton Hill) on the edge of which the village is situated. As soon au we had moimtud the hill we saw a large company of old men aeated on the grass, waiting for us. They had left a con- venient place in front, in which they invited us to sit down. This we did, and at the same time an old man, nearly bhnd, and so infirm that he could hardly support himself, arose, and in a very animated tone, delivered a speech, in which he declared hia joy at our arrival ; that we must conaider them as our brothers ; that they would regard ua as theirs ; and in that relation they invited us to enter their village, where they had prepared a cabin for as nntil we were ready to disclose our purpose. We thanked them for their civilities, and told them through our interpreter that we would on the next day declare to them the DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. object of oar expedition. This done, an In" dian, who officiated as maflter of ceremonies, oame to conduct ub to our lodgings. We followed him and he led us to the largest cabin in the village, which they had prepared for our residence, giving orders to the women belonging to it not to let us want for anything. In truth they were at all times very faithful during our Bojourn, in preparing our food and in bring the wood neoossary to afford us light over night. This village, like those of the Indians, is nothing but a collection of cabins, surrounded with palisades 12 or 13 feet high, bound to- gether from the top and supperted at the base, behind the palisade, by large masses of wood at the height of a man. The curtains are not otherwise flanked, but form a simple enclosure, perfectly square, so that these forts are not any protection. Besides this, the precaution is seldom taken to place them on the bank of a stream, or near a spring, but on some hill, where ordinarily they are quite distant from water. On the evening of the 12th we saw all the other chiefs arrive so as to be in readiness for the council which was to be held next day." Here follows an interesting account of the council meeting, and of their stay of ten days in the village, but too lengthy for this paper. He says ' daring this interval the Indians obtained some biandy from the Dutch at New Holland, and many times the relatives of the person who had been killed at Mon- treal a few days before we left there, threat- en ad in their intoxication to despatcli us with their knives. In the meantime we kept so well on our guard that we escaped all injury. During this interval I saw the saddest spectacle I had ever w.'tnessed. I was in- formed one evening that some warriors had arrived with a prisoner, and had placed him iri a cabin near cur own. I went to see him and found him seated with three women who vied with each other in bewailing the death of a relation who had been killed in the skirmish in which the prisoner had been captured. He was a young man 18 or 20 years old, very well formed, whom they had clothed from head to foot since his arrival. I thought, therefore, that I would have an opportunity to demand him for our guide, as they said he was one of the Tongenhas (probably from Ohio). I then went to M. de La Salle for that purpose, who teld me that these Indians wtre men of their word, that since they had promised us a captive they weald give aa one, that it mattered little whether it was this one or another, and it was aseless to press them. I there- fore gave myself no farther trouble about it. Night came on and we retired. The next day no sooner dawned than a large company entered our cabin to tell us that the captive was about to be burned, and that he had asked to see the Frenchman. I ran to the public place to see him , and found he was already on the scaffold, where they had bound him band and foot to a stake. I was surprised to hear him utter some Algon- quin words which I knew, although from the manner in which he pronounced them they were hardly recognizable. He made me compre- hend at last that he desired his execution should be postponed until the next day. I conversed with the Iroquois through our in- terpreter, who told mn that the captive had been given to an old woman in the place of her son who had been killed, that she could not bear to see him live, that all the tamilf took such a deep interest m his suLi'eriug that they would not postpone his toiture. The irons were already in the fire to torment the poor wretch. On my part I told the interpreter to de-* mand him in place of the captive they had promised, and I would make a present to the old woman to whom he belonged, but he was not at any time willing to make the pro> position, alleging that snch was not their custom, and the affair was of too serious a nature. I even used threats to induce him to say what I desired, but in vain, for he was as ob- stinate as a Dutchman and ran away to avoid me. I then remained alone near the poor suf- ferer who saw befora him the instruments of his torture. I endeavored to make him un- derstand that he oould^ave no recourse but to God, and that he should pray to him thus : " Thou, who bast made all things, have pity on me. I am sorry not to have obeyed Thee, but if I should live, I will obey Thee in all things." He understood me better than I expected. In the meantime I saw the principal relatives of the deceased approach him with a gun barrel, half of which was heated red hot. This obliged me to withdraw. I retired, therefore, with sorrow, and had scarcely turned away when the barbarous Lroquois ap- plied the red hot gun barrel to the top of his feet, which caused the poor wretch to utter a loud cry. This turned me about and I saw the Iroquois, with a grave and sober countCK nance, apply the iron slowly along his feet and legs, and some old men who were smok- ing around the scaffold, and all the young DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. people leaped with joy to witness the contor- tions wbiol) the severity of the heat caused in the poor snfferer. While these events wore transpiring, 1 re- tired to the cabin where we lodged full of sor- row at not being able to save the poor captive, and it was then that I realized, more than ever, the importance of not venturing too far among the people of this country, without knowing their language, or b«in,s' certain of obtaining an interpreter. As I was in my cabin, praying to God, and very sad, M. de La Balle came and told me he was apprahensive that, in the excite- ment he saw prevailing in the village they would insult us — that many would become intoxioiited that day, and he had finally re- solved to return to the place where we had left the oanofs, and the rest of our people. We told the seven or eight of our people who were there with us, to withdraw for the day to a small village, half a league from tbe large one where we were, for fear of some insult, and M. de La Salle and myself went to find M. Dollier, six leagues from the viU lage. There were some of our people barbarous enough to be willing to witness, from begin- ning to end, the torture of the poor prisoner, and who reported to us the next day, that bis entire body had been burned with red hot irons for the space of six hours ; that there was not the least spot left that had not been roasted. After that they had r» quired hiut to run six courses past the place where the Iroquois were waiting for him, armed with burning clubs, with which they goaded and beat him to the ground when he at- tempted to join them. Many took kettles full of coals and hot ashes, with which they covered him, as soon as, by reason of fatigue and debility, he wished to take a moment's repose. At length, after two hours of this barberous diversion, they knocked him down with a stone, and throwing themselves upon him, cut his body in pieces. One carried ofi his head another an arm, a third some other member, which they put in the pot for a feast. Many offered some to the Frenchmen, telltr ing them there was nothing in the world better to eat, but no one desired to try the experiment. During our stay at that village we enquired particularly about the road we must take in order to reach the Ohio river, and they all told UB to go in search of it from iSonnon- ♦ The route they proposed to take was proba- bly up the Geuossee river to one of its sources crossin^^ from thence to the head waters of the Alleghany Biver. taoun. That it required six day's journey by land.* This induced us to believe that we could not possibly reach it in that way, as we would hardly be able to carry, for so 1< ng a journey, our neceni'R.ry proviwionH. much Iohh our baggage. But Uioy tokl ua at t'uf. name time, that in going to find it by way of Lake Erie in canoes, we would have only a thrie days' portage before arriving at that river. We wern relieved from our diinouliies in regard to a guide, by the arrival from the Dutch of an Indian who lodged in our cabin. He belonged to a village of one of the five Iroquois nations, which is situated at the end of Lake Ontario, for the convenience of hunt- ing the deer and the bear, which are abac dant in that vicinity. This Indian assurdd UH that we would have no trouble in ilnding a guide — that a number of captives of the nations we desired to visit were there, and he would very cheerfully conduct us thither. After departing we found a river f one eighth of ia league broad and extremely rapid, forming the outlet or communication from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The depth of the river (for it is properly the St. Lawrence), is at this place extraordi- nary, for, on sounding close by the shore, we found fifteen or sixteen fathoms of water. This outlet is forty leagues long, and has, for ten or twelve leagues above its embrouobure into Lake Outario, one of the finest cataracts, or falls of water in the world, for all the Indians of whom I have enquired about it, say, that the river falls at that place from a rock higher than the tallest pines, that it is about two hundred feet. In fact we heard it from the place where we were, although from ten to twelve leagues distant, but the fall gives such a momentum to the water, that its velocity prevented our ascending the cur- rent by rowing, except with great difiiculty. At a quarter of a league from the outlet where we wer( , it grows narrower, and its channel is confined between two very high, steep, rooky banks, inducing the belief that the navigation would be very difficult up to the cataract. As to the river above the falls, the current very often sucks into this gulf, froia a great distance deer, and stags, elk and roebucks, that sufier themselves to be drawn from such a point in crossing the river, that they are compelled to descend the falls, and to be overwhelmed in its frightful abyss | + Niagara. JGaliuee's df^scription ef the falls is probably the earliest on record. His account which is wholly derived from the In ians, is remarkably correct. If they had beou visited by the Jesuits, prior to the time of this expedition, they have failed to relate the fact, or. to discribe them in DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. Oar desire to reach the village called OtiDaouBtaoua prevented our going to view that wonder, which I oonnider aa bo much the grertter in propnrtiou aa the lliver St. Lawrence la one of the largest in the world. I will luavu you to jud(;e if that in not a tino cataract iu which all tlie water in Xih&t river, having its mouth three leaguen broad, t; falla from a b^^ight of 200 feet, with a noiao that is heard not only at the place where we were, 10 or 12 leagueu diHtnnt, but alao from the other aide of Luke Ontario, opposite its mouth, where M. Trouvo told me he had heard it. We passed (bo river, r.nd finally, at the end of five dii>s travel, arrived at the extremity of Lake Ontario, where there ia a fine large sandy bay, at the end of which ia an outlet of another small lake, which is there diss charged. iuio ihia our guide conducted us about half a league, to a point nearest the villatre, but diatant from it some 6 or b leagues, and where w« unloiidecl our oanoea.|| We waited here until the chief of the vii** lage came to meet ua with some men to carry our effects M de La Sullu waa aoized whilo huntiug with a nevero fever, which in a few daya reduced him very low. Some said it was caused by the sight of three large rattlesnakes which he bad en- ocuutered on his way while aaceuding a rooky eminence. At any rate it is certain that it is a very ugly apeoiacle, for those auimalu are not timid like other aerpenta, but firmly wait for fi person, quickly aaauming a defensive attitude, coiling balf the body from the tail to the middle as if it were a large cord, keeping the remainder entirely straight, and darting torwurd, Hometimea 3 or 4 paces, all the time makiiii^ a loud uoine, with the rattle wbicii it O'^ries at the end of ita tail. There are many '< this place as large aa the arm, aix or aeven feet long, and entirely black. It vibrates its tail very rapidly, mak- ing a aound like a quantity of melon or gourd seeds shaken in a box. At length after waiting three days, the ohiefa and some fifty Indians and squaws from the village came to see us. We gave presents to obtain two captive slaves, and a third for carrying our effects to the village. The savages made ua two presents. The first of fourteen or fifteen deerskins, to assure us they were going to conduct ua to their village, the second of their journals. The Niagara river is alluded to under the name of Onguiaehra, as the celebrated river of the Neuter uation, but no mention is made of the catarxct. §;At the Gull of St La\vreuce. 1 Oakiauds. about 5,000 shell beads, and afterwards two captives for guides. One of them belonged to the CodanoH (Shawueea), and the other to the Nez Porces. They were both uzoellent hunters and seemed to be well diMposod. Conducted by the Indians we proceeded to to the village of Otinaouataona, arriving there ou the 2 Ith Sept., lUGU." Dropping the journal of (iulinee at this point I might say that at this place, then but a small Iroquois village though twenty years before an important Neuter town, the mis- sionaries had received such a hearty welcome as made one of them think seriously of spend- ing the rent of his days there. While therr tliey provided their captive guide (the ono allotted to the priests) with a coat, blanket, pot and kni^e, aa equipment for their future journey An Indian arrived, however, from the Dutch with a keg of brandy, and it waa soon discovered that the said guide had sold or pledged his coat for ten mouthfuls. This greatly annoyed the wor'.tiy Father Galinee, who immediately seiized the hypothecated coat and discharged *hti guide. The latter expressed great oon^^ trition, but finding iiehad no chance of being restored to favor, brought back ail the things vihich had baen given him, and intro- duced a fellow captive from the same tribe, who was accepted in his stead. As the affair made a good deal of stir in the village, the chiefs held a council and presented the miS" sionaries with two thousand beads in order to cause them to forget the matter, and farther made a great feast. This Indian village appears to have been situated on the borders of a small lake in the township of Nelson, about 10 miles from Hamilton, linown as Lake Medad, not far beyond Waterdown. Some seven years ago the writer having learned that an ancient Indian ossuary or bone pit had been discov- ered at this point, through the burrowing of a small animal called a woodchuok, had the curiosity lo visit the place, and found it a most interesting one. The lake itself, a pretty sheet of water of some eight acres in extent ia fed by abundant natural springs. On one side beneath an abrupt rocky bank, and from a rocky baain which may have been widened and cleared of loose atones agea ago, bursta out a noble apring of clear cold water, aufiioient in capacity to supply the wants of a small city. A steep pathway out deeply into the rock and earthly embankment by the feet of both wild animals and Indians in prehiatorio times, leads from the spring up to a sloping plain of considerable extent, on which as yet but little modern caltivaiion has been aooom. DISCOVERY OF BURLINGTON BAY. pliflbed. Ton oan lee aoattered over this slope ourioUB rounded heaps of about forty to one hundred ftrH. In their wars with the Indians of Michigan thoy acted with more ferooiouH cruelty then even the Huron or Iroquois, roasting and eating their priRoners of war of both Hcxes. The men going without clothing of any kind in summer. Their time of deRtruotion how- ever followed quickly upon that of the Hurons, for after the slaughter of th(> In tier, the Iro- quois turned all their fury upon tho Neuters and left no survivers whatever. Proceeding to the highest point of the plain quite at one oide of the clusters of ank heaps, were discovered the OsHuarics. They con- sisted of three pits One meaHuring forty feet long by eeventeen wide and five in depth, and the two otherH circular about 12 feet in diameter and 7 feet in depth. Upon the former were two large pine stumps, the rinf'H or growths of the larger numbering 125. All tbcBO pits were situated V7ithin a few yards of each other. In them were lound partially deopytd bonee of several bun-, dreds of persona of all ages, together with many ourions articles, such as aomo 30 copper and brass kettles, varying in size from 8 to 26 inches in ditimotor, containing in one case two skeletons ; in another a small bronze spoon, in several others the dust of a wooden spoon ani traces of food. Also 8 or 10 large tropical shells, brought probably from tho coast of Florida, and evidently used in tho manufacture of antique shell beads or wam- pum. Many hundreds of these fihcll beads were also obtained, together with beads made from porcelain, glass, stone, baksd clay, obsidian, shale, etc., t-ome rouud, others square, others oblong and several inches in length, of all sizes imaginable. With these were found antique pipes of stone ana clay, many of them bearing extraordinary devices, figures of animals, and of human heads wearing the comical cip, noticed on similar relics found in Mexico and Peru. There were also found the remains of several axes of tbe old French pattern ; speci- mens of Indian pottery in tbe shape of vaKes or pots, made of coarse sand and clay, well baked and constructed evidently with tho view of being suspended over a fire. Two very handsome ones were obtained entire. In portiono of the pits, skeletons were found en- tire or nearly to, and nlacod somewhat regu- larly, not only side by side but in layers upon each other ; but in other purts all tlie small bones appeared to be wanting, and skulls and latge bones mingled in the greatest possible confusion. It seems quite clear that the«o pits were places of ancient Indian sepulture, and that on this spot were celebrated one or morn of those great ceremonies oalhd Feasts of the Dead whiuh the Huron and other Indian tribes were in the habit of performing once in ton or twelve years. One of thene feasts was witnessed by Father Brebeuff, a Jesuit missionary, in the year 1C3G at the Indian town of OssoHsane, a little east of Colling- wor)d. lie describes it in tho following lan- guage. " At each village the ct>rpsca wero lowered from their ssaffoldn and raised from tht ir graves. Their covfii i-.gs were removed and tho hideous relics am- iged in a row sur- rounded by the weeping, iirieking, howling concourse. Thus were gcJiered all the vil- luL^e dead for the last 12 >ears. Each family reclaimed itn own, and immediately addrenHed itself to removing what remained of flesh from the bones. These wore wrapped in Hkins, and, together with the recent corpses — which were allowed to remain entire, but which wore also wrapped carefully in fura — were now carrifd to one of the largest cabins, and hung to the numerous cross poles, which, like rafters, support the roof. Hi^re the concourf!ued the crowd below, while other functionaries were lining the grave throuurliout with rich robes of boaver skin. Three large copper kettles were next placed in the middio and then ensued a scene of hideous oimfusion. The bodies which had been left entire were brought to the edge of the grave, flung in and ar- ranged in order at the bo torn by ten or twelve Indians stationed there for that pur- pose, amid the wildest excitement and the uproar of many hundred mingled voices. When this part of the work was done night was fast closing in. The con- course bivouacked around the clearing and lighted their camp tires under the brows of the forest which hedged in the scene. We withdrew to the village, when an hour before dawn we were aruuaud by a terrible clamor. Cue of the bundles of bones, tied to a pole on thu scaffold, had chanced to fall into the grove. This accident precipitated the clos- ing act and perhaps increaned its frenzy. Gui ed by the unearthly din, and the broad glare of flames, fed with heaps of fat pine log>4, we soon reached the spot and saw what seemed to us an image of pandemonium. All around blazed countless fires, and the air resounded with discordant outcries. The naked multitude, on, under and around the scaffold were flinging the remaina of their dead, pell mell into the pit, where we discovered men who, as the ghastly Bhower fell around them, arranged the bones in their places with long poles. All was soon over ; earth, logs and stones were cast upon the grave, and th9 clamor subsided into a funeral chant, dreary and lugubrious." Such was thf» origin of those numerouB and strange sepulohreB which have been the wonder and perplexity of the early settlers of the county of Simcoe. similar in every itHpect to the one at Lake Medad where stood the Iroquois village visited bv La Salle as before mentioned in the year 1609. Briefly in closing I might add, that La Salle finding the season far advanced, and seeing before him the uninviting prospect of a winter camp in the woods, parted from the Sulpiciana at Otinaoutawa after solemn mass ard pro- bably returned to Montreal. We hear of him nine years later, in company with Father Hennepin, building the " GnlBo " above the Falls of Niagara, the first schooner which floated on Luke Erie. The misBionaries having parted from La Salle, left Otinaoutawa on the Ist. Ooiober with their retinue, accomplished the remain- der of the portage to thT Grand river, which thev rt^ached about Gait, and descended its diflicult and tortuous channel. In fourteen d».VB they reached its mouth and encamped on the northern shore of Lake Erie, which they describe as a " vast sea tossed by tem- pestuous winds." They built a camp for the winter at or near the mouth of the river and employed their time in bunting game and drying the flesh of the larger animals for subsiHtenoe on their journey. To this they added 70 bushels of nuts of vari us kinds, and apples, plums and grapes, (all wild of course.) They spent the winter at ttiis place, and six months afterwards on March 23d 1670 thev erected a cro»B bearing the arms of LouIh XIV of France, and took formal pos- session of the country in the name of tnat king. Three days afterwards they resumed their voyage to the west, and while encamped upon Long Point a violent gale in the night arose, destroying the contents of one of their canoes. They denlored the loss of their powder and lead, but most of all of their holy chapel, without which the Eucharist could not be celebrated. They proceeded onward, however, through Lake Erie, Detroit river, and Lake Huron even to Sault de Ste. Marie, but becoming discouraged returned thenoe to Montreal by way of the French and Ottawa rivers. An immense distance truly to be paddled in open oanoes.