e boatmen, who were probably
the hardy, merry voyageurs, sailing over the placid lake covered with
the purple haze of the Indian summer, camping on the beach at night,
their fires shining through the silent forest where now towns and cities
dot the shore. They passed the mouth of the Cuyahoga in safety, and
steered northward to clear the bold headland covered with evergreens
known as the Point-aux-Pins, when suddenly a gale came upon them,
darkness fell, and, tossing on the furious waves, they knew not where to
steer, even if their frail boats had not become unmanageable in the
storm. Separated from each other, shipping water at every plunge, they
drifted toward the shore, and finding the mouth of Rocky River close
upon them, they made a desperate effort to enter, hoping to find a
harbor where they could obtain shelter. The channel is very narrow, and
but few of the boats succeeded in entering, the rest being cast upon
the rocks, engulfed in the surf or stranded on the bar, where the waves
soon tore them to pieces. In the darkness, amid the roaring of the winds
and waters, the survivors rushed wildly to and fro, seeking to climb the
perpendicular rock wet with spray, and falling headlong in the seething
waves below. The only route to the plateau above was through a ravine
within the point, and when the stormy morning broke, through this gully
the dispirited soldiers climbed to the summit of the cliff, and, making
a fire, dried their clothing and cooked a scanty meal. Here they
remained during the storm, probably for three days, crowded within a
circle of boulders, and relieving each other in the watch on the beach
as the bodies of their drowned comrades came ashore--seventy men and
three officers, Lieutenant Davidson, Lieutenant Paynter, and the
surgeon, Dr. Williams of the Eightieth Regiment. When the storm ceased,
the dead were buried, the remaining boats repaired, and the forlorn band
started back down the lake, unable to render any assistance to the
besieged garrison at Detroit on account of the loss of their ammunition
and arms.

In the fall of the next year, 1764, General Bradstreet with three
thousand men opened a campaign against the Indians on Lake Erie, and
after various successes and defeats started in batteaux from Sandusky
Bay to coast down the lake, his forces consisting of British regulars,
provincials and a large body of Indian allies. It is probable that the
beautiful autumn weather peculiar to the West