20th), when the storm
descended, the wind blew, and there was great commotion in the
elements, but the next day all was calm and delightful as before. We
have quite a depth of snow on the ground, have had fine sleighing
since the 10th of November. But our bay has not been closed more than
a week at a time this winter, and but a few days in all. It is open
now, and 'the stern monarch of the year,' seems to be melting away
into spring.

"In regard to the healthfulness of Mackinaw, it may be remarked that
the northern regions of the earth are everywhere the most healthy. Yet
there are differences in situation and exposure which make differences
in health. Mackinaw has now been known and settled for two hundred
years, a period long enough to have both tested its healthiness, and
created a permanent reputation. The Jesuit Missionaries, the frontier
traders, and the French voyageurs, have lived and died there; yet we
have never heard of any prevalent disease, or local miasm. It seems to
have been the favorite resort of all the frontiers men, who inhabited
or hunted in the region of the Northern Lakes. In recent years, it has
been visited by men of science, and accomplished physicians, and their
report has been uniformly in favor of its superior healthiness. Dr.
Drake, who visited Mackinaw in 1842, for the express purpose of
examining the climate and topography, says, 'From this description, it
appears, that the conditions which are held to be necessary to the
generation of autumnal fever, are at their _minimum_ in this place;
and when we consider this fact, with its latitude nearly 46 deg., and its
altitude above the sea, from six to eight hundred feet, we are
prepared to find it almost exempt from that disease; and such from
the testimony of its inhabitants is the fact, especially in reference
to the intermittent fevers, which, I was assured by many respectable
persons, never originated among the people, and would cease
spontaneously in those who returned, or came with it from other
places.'

"Speaking of this region as a place of resort for invalids, the same
writer says:

"'The three great reservoirs of clear and cold water, Lakes Huron,
Michigan, and Superior, with the Island of Mackinac in their
hydrographical centre, offer a delightful hot-weather asylum to all
invalids who need an escape from the crowded cities, paludal
exhalations, sultry climates and officious medication. Lake Erie lies
too far south, and is bo