It is a poor little post,
situated at the bottom of a sandy cove, which offers nothing agreeable
to the eye. Mr. Frederic Goedike, who resided here, was gone to see what
had taken place at Saut Ste. Marie. He returned the next day, and told
us that the Americans had come, with a force of one hundred and fifty
men, under the command of Major Holmes; and that after having pillaged
that they all considered worth taking, of the property of the N.W.
Company and that of a Mr. Johnston, they had set fire to the houses,
warehouses, &c., belonging to the company and to that gentleman, and
retired, without molesting any other person.[AK] Our canoe arrived from
Fort William in the evening, with that of Mr. M'Gillivray; and on the
morrow we all repaired to Saut Ste. Marie, where we saw the ruins which
the enemy had left. The houses, stores, and saw-mills of the company
were still smoking.

[Footnote AK: The N.W. Company having raised a regiment composed of
their own servants, and known as the _voyageur corps_, and having also
instigated to war, and armed, the Indian tribes, over which they had
influence, had brought on themselves this act of retaliation. Mr.
Johnston also had engaged actively in the war against the United
States.]

The schooner was at the foot of the rapids; the Americans had run her
down, but she grounded on a ledge of rocks, whence they could not
dislodge her, and so they had burnt her to the water's edge.

_Le Saut de Ste. Marie_, or as it is shortly called, _Saut Ste. Marie_,
is a rapid at the outlet of Lake Superior, and may be five hundred or
six hundred yards wide; its length may be estimated at three quarters of
a mile, and the descent of the water at about twenty feet. At the lower
extremity the river widens to about a mile, and here there are a certain
number of houses. The north bank belongs to Great Britain; the southern
to the United States. It was on the American side that Mr. Johnston
lived. Before the war he was collector of the port for the American
government. On the same side resided a Mr. Nolin, with his family,
consisting of three half-breed boys and as many girls, one of whom was
passably pretty. He was an old Indian trader, and his house and
furniture showed signs of his former prosperity. On the British side we
found Mr. Charles Ermatinger, who had a pretty establishment: he dwelt
temporarily in a house that belonged to Nolin, but he was building
another of stone, very elegant, and had j