Page:Tupper family records - 1835.djvu/167

 him in believing his statement to be correct ; at the same time, he would be understood as drawing no conclusion from it to the dispa- ragement of the officer in question : he quoted it merely to show the nature of the Indian chieftain's feelings, and the light in which he regarded measures, on the propriety of which the author wishes to be considered as stirring no controversy,"

Note. — The officer alluded to in the preceding preface was not Major* General Sheaffe, the successor of Sir Isaac Brock, but the officer command- ing at Detroit, Amherstburgh, &c. The passages and speech will be given, in the notice of Tecumseh.— - Vide Post.— Ed.

No. 10. Extracts from Howisoris Sketches of Upper Canada. — London, 1821.

" The village of Queenston is beautifully situated at the foot of a hill, and upon the side of the Niagara river, the bank of which is high and precipitous. The imagination is agreeably struck with the first view of the place. On one side of the village is a moun- tain covered with shrubbery and verdure ; — behind, a rich and cultivated plain extends backwards, which is bounded in every direction by luxuriant woods, while in front, the Niagara river glides in majestic stillness, and may be traced, with all its windings, till its waters are swallowed up in the vast expanse of Lake Ontario, The soil around Queenston consists chiefly of a red clay, the bright colour of which, upon the roads and declivities where it is exposed, forms a singular contrast, during summer, with the pure green of the trees and fields in the vicinity.

" The narrowness of the river here, and its suitableness for a ferry, renders this one of the principal channels of communication between Upper Canada and the United States ; consequently, there is a continual interchange of waggons, cattle, passengers, &c. which makes Queenston rather more lively than it would otherwise be. However, all its external attractiveness depends upon the fineness of its situation. The buildings are irregular and inelegant j and an air of depression and inactivity pervades the whole place, to a degree I never saw equalled in any village of the same extent.

" Queenston must infallibly acquire magnitude and importance when the province becomes populous and flourishing, for it is situated at the commencement of a portage, which never can be evaded by any improvement in the navigation, it being rendered necessary by the falls of Niagara ; therefore, all vessels containing goods and stores destined for the western parts of Upper Canada, K

�� �