Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 8).djvu/201

 command a high price. The numerous emigrations thither produce a scarcity. Along the south shore of Lake Erie the markets will, for some time to come, be very good. Depos of provisions are established here by the farmers of New-York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio; and vessels on the Lake transport them, during the spring and fall, to Detroit and other places. Although the cultivator, in the immediate vicinity of Detroit, meets with every encouragement, agriculture there is very little attended to; the consequence is, that produce to a large amount finds, from abroad, a ready market in that place.

I now consider myself in that part of the state of Ohio which lies west of the Connecticut Reserve.

Of considerable portions of the country, which are situated between the Huron and Sandusky rivers, I entertain a favourable opinion; other parts of it, however, are too swampy for cultivation. There are many fine tracts from the Pennsylvania line to the last mentioned place.

The Deer in the vicinity of the prairies, of which I have been speaking, are very large. Some of them weigh from 150 to 200 pounds. Wild turkeys too, are here numerous, and they sometimes weigh from 20 to 30 pounds. But facts like these unduly affect the imagination. These kinds of game cannot always be found; the toils of the chase are frequently unrewarded; and many who have settled in the west with lively feelings upon this topic, have abandoned this precarious source of profit.

For several days I have been employed in crossing vast prairies. The weather continued moderate, the snow, water, and mud were deep, and wading laborious. I frequently met with considerable freshets, and the banks of the creeks were overflown. Here I saw vast flocks of wild geese flying towards {97} Sandusky Bay. Their hoarse notes, proceeding from the misty air, rendered