The Federal mirror — Concord, N.H., 1796-07-26 00:00:00, page 2

the troops, which, by this a&,
are continued on the present
military eftablifhmcnt of the U
nited States.
Sec. 23. And be it further eu
^ed,That the general fta% a§
Muhotized by this a&, shall con:
tinue in service until the fourth
day of next March, and no lon
ger.
Approved —M^y 30, 1796.
(X Washington.
a M<w —ls!. I— M»i»—— iMlmi imhww
— & - : — — : —
,Miscellany.:
FROM THE CENT!NEL.
OF THE WESTERN POSTS^c. "
Mr. RUSSELL, , ,
AS beyond all doubt, the Weftern Posts
are by this time in the po&ffionof the
troops of the United States; and as emi
grations into that part of the Republic will
doubtless be numerous; ifyou would in^
1 Girt in theCENTiNEL the following, you
may do service to some of your fellow-citi
zens ; and*wi!l certainly arrrdfe land inform
others; 1 Your's, }
'CONSTANT
EXTRACTS
>row A JOURNEY into the WESTERN
TERRITORY, in 1794.
" FROM Albany, I proceeded
to Sehene&ady, fifteen miles by
^ge. Schenefydy is a hand
somely situated little town on
the banks of the Mohawk river.
At this place I took an open
b@, [navigated by three men,
in which I passed to Lake Qn
rario, without any other inter
ruption than two ffierfportag
^ one at the little falls of half
a mile, round whi,h they are
now cutting a canal; the other
of one mile, at Tort Sfanvix, a,°
bout one hundred miles weft of
Schenectady; at which place
we leave the Mohawk river, &
drifted the current to Otwego,
one hundred miles more to the
weft, where the British hold a
post at the entrance of Lake Oa
ratio, commanded by a captain.
The high price which hatters'
fur at prefect commanded in the
United States, is't^ only in
ducement I conceive for smug
gling p a st that post, for except
a few articles impffii^
the Eaftindies, 1 fourf&&%e
^il shops at Kingston and Nia
gara, as low, and m^refyd^^
particularly woolens, lower
rhanin the city of Philadelphia.
“-From Ofweg^veffejs ^l
to Niagara, Kingdom, and any
other ports on the lake; but fet
tlets more frequently continue
along the fouth ffiore of the
lake 10 Niagara, about one hun
dred and twenty miles in open
boats ; finding a vessel here rea
dy to fail for Kingston, I em
barked in her for thatfufee, a
bout twelve hours fail."'
^% 1 proceeded
to Niagara,m a schooner ofyp,
^yards of one hundred tons bur
then across this little sea of frefh
water; a sea it m#fyW be
caWed; fa welter© #,fc a t
: iparLofthe time for three dafi,
cut of fight Os the ^^fat#
roem hours- 'we enter the
Niagara river between the fort
I and town called Newark, with a
% beautiful profpea of both.
" The fort Oands in a com*
manding fixation, on a point
r formed by the junction of the
rrcr,%nd take, upon the East
fide of theriyer, and is a regu
lar fortification in good repair,
I and well garrisoned.
" The mouth of this river af
fords a file and copious harbor,
Efficiently large for half the
British navy. 1 ^ '
" The towfrerf Newark is sit
uated in lat 43 north, on the
Weft banks of the river, extend
ing along the lake about a mile,
enjoying in the summer, the
frefh breezes of this little sea, in
almost every direction, plentiful
ly supplied with fifh at all sea
sons of the year. In the win
ter here are caught by feins,
quantities of white fifh, which
seem to be peculiar to the river,
they are generally from two to
fik pounds weight, and are con
sidered the bast fifh in the lakes;
besides these sturgeon, bass, and
many other excellent fifh, are
in great plenty ; salmon are
taken in all the creeks round
the lake ; these varieties of fifh
are not only esteemed a luxury,
but a great assistance to new be
ginners in fopporting their fam.
ilies, many laying in a half doz
en, barrels or more for thek
winter's use.
The lower landing or
Q^eenftoh, is about seven miles
up the riv„ from Newark,
where the vessels discharge their
cargoes, and take in furs col- 1
levied from three to one thou
sand five hundred miles back,
there have I feen b four vessels of
sixty arid one hundred tons bur
then, unloading at the fame
time, and sometimes n®t lets
than sixty, waggons loaded in a
d^ytfwhich loads they carry ten
miles to th^ upper landing place
or Chipawa creek, three miles
past rheg&rfalls. From Chi
pawa the. merchandise is trans
ported in batteaux to fort Bri<
a distance of eighteen toiles &
are Whipped there on board of
vessels for Detroit and Michil
amackinac. Detroit, I was told
was a pleafarit country, though
a !owandmtirfhgfoil, mOTe not
ed for its fur trade, than its ag
rivulture.
“ Niagara is at prefect the
temporary feat of government,
consisting of ^ governor, a leg
islative council, and house of af-'
fembly chdfenr by the people;
here annually in the month of
May, ,theyrmffirfor the; pur
pose of legislation.
Members of the assembly are
cholen for four years, and:have
already fat three feffionsJ :
" The straight,. of.Niagara,
from ks peculiar fauafen, bring
the channel through which all;
the&produce of the Vast country
above must pass, is looked, for-;
wardto asa place of & fitft
,Prifequence, and where a far
mej will foil time, find a mar,
let for,:his produce ; ,he : trans.
port being ease from thence to
the Atlantic. Here have I seem
with amazement that famed ca
tara&,which exceeds every de.
fcription 1 have ever heard of
it, but it would be idle in me?
to pretend to give.you an idea
of it. It flrikes the eye with
more grandeur and sublimity
thaa the pen can convey. A
mongst many other natural cti
riofities, a spring about two
miles above these falls, attracts
the attention of the curious; e
mitting agas, or inflammable
air, which, when confined in a
pipe, and a flame applied to it,
will boil the water of a tea-ket
tle in fifteen minutes: Wheth^
er this may hereafter be appli
ed by machinery, to useful pur
poses, time will determine. It
was lately difeovered by clear
ing away and burning the brush
under the bank of the river, to
ereeft a mill, and was observed
after the brush was consumed to
burn for a few days together, to
the great astonishment of the
inhabitants.
" About three hundred miles
weft of this fort is Detroit situat
ed on the east fide of the
Freights between lake Erie and
Huron, around which, a French
settlement waseftablifhed before
the reduction of the province,
but attending more to the In
dian trade than agriculture,
made but little progress as farm
ers. The Englilh fettle merits
lately begun on the opposite
shore, are already in a higher
Rate of cultivation, however the
French have fine orchards, from
which Niagara is at pre'fent sup
plied with cyder and apples.
" To the northward of de^
troit about three hundred and
fifty miles, lies fort Michili mack+
inac, on an iflind between lake
Huron and Michigan, is about
five miles in circumference, and
an entire bed ofgravel incapa
ble of cultivation, but most remar
kable for being the general depot and
grand randevous of all the Indian
traders, who meet in the month of
June from every quarter, to deliver
their furs and receive their outfits
fofthe enfoing yea/. SpabMh fettle-,
merits many milei down the Miffifip
pi are fopplied with British ^goods
through this channel, tomuch great
er advantage than from Neworleana.
where ^ rapids of the Miffifippi op
pose almost unfarmountable difficul
ties in afeending it.
-" Thia fort, the forts of Detroit,
Niagara, and Ofwego, fell within the
United States, when the lines of rep
aration were drawn, at the treaty of
peace, in the year one rhoofand sev
en hundred and eighty three ; fort
Miami, which was built by the Brit
ish lately, is also within those limits."
#rg:Q.l..-— ra„m6^^ ^ ^^ I,':" 1 '"
PHENOMENON.
FROM EDG ARTOWN, June 28;
“ LEAVING heard various &
', contradictory reports re
fpeding the linking ofa piece
of land, in the Nbith/part of
the .town of Cbilmaffi curiotity
led me to goand view it. The
appearance is hiking, Fc^te
want of inftusmßrisl was uri
'>?F>• . , b 1
^1
able to ascertain the meafura: A
tion z with any degree of accu
racy. Ihe bank before it fe:- |
one hundred feet from high
„a& mark, to the top ; about^
three hundred feet in length, &
two hundred in the wideft|
place, appears to have fettled,
at the weft end of it, about
eighty, feet dee).?, the east end
one foot, the foil not broken,
the grass growing as tho' there
had been no removal, and thq
front appears like ' the front of
the bank which lias not been
moved. This vast body ofl
earth did not fettle in a per
pendicular direction, but ap« 1
pears to have Aid forward about 1
thirty feet, or nearly to high|
water mark ; there appears to
be a body of blue clay, about
the heighth of high water mark ;1
the, shore appears to be of this
kind, covered with gravel, some -I
stone and rocks. 0 From high J
Water mark, to some distance
beow low water mark, there
appears a large body of this
clav, covered ! with gravel,
stones and rocks. This body
is about two hundred feet in
length, thirty wide, and twenty
deep in the de^peft place, and
not less than ten iu any. It
appears to be shaken and has
several apurcures in it; one is
■one foot wide and eleven deep;
A large body of earth has difap
pearsd, and a small one arisen
up; which is difficult to account«
for. Might I hazard a conjec
ture, it would be this : That un
der the body of clay, at the foot'
of the bank, tho water had
made a large cavity, until the
gravity of the body which has
fettled, overcame the adhesion
of the clay, and fettled into it;
and that the water pressed by
this vast body of earth, forcedl
up the body of clay that has a
risen, as it appears in a broken
and Mattered state. Itdoes not
appear to have been forced for
ward into a heap by the body
that has fettled or funk down,
but to have arisen up. The
body that has fettled or funk,
does not touch it. There ap
pears a valley twenty feet deep
between them, and; at the top,
at least fifty feet wide ; and be
sides, if it had been rolled up,
we should not have found the
gravel, stones or rocks upon it,
resembling the other parts of
the beach or shore.",
CONCORD, July 26, 1796.
* ^;.,,. :, ...‘lla.'. UM' r,™'. + ft'
O Wfgive all the Newste can fad.
^
/ : ''-'TT"T'"'F^'"l':--• : V~^, "^ 1 V
>j United Netherlands.
Middlebourg. May 3;
Notwithstanding the different affem- ^
bblie, of troop# in the North cif Ger
many, are said co be for the purpose
of, oc^utaing the line bf/lneuraity, fofo
the Batavian Republic it determined k
to put her frontier# in a better state
of defence. For this purpose there
are to be formed several camp#, me %
of which will be in the neighborMrod