ifest
reference to Galinee and Dollier de Casson's sojourn in 1669-70--the
River a la Barbue (Catfish Creek), the River Tonty (Kettle Creek) a
little east of P'te au Fort (Plum Point or else Port Talbot) and the
River aux Cedres (M'Gregor's Creek in Essex). The Thames is described as
a "River unknown to all geographers, and which you go up eighty leagues
without finding any rapids (_saults_)." The Chenail Ecarte is indicated
as the only outlet of the Sydenham river the map-makers assuming that
Walpole Island was part of the mainland. The mouths of four or five
streams are shown between Long Point and "the Little Lake" (Rondeau),
and the shore is marked "The High Cliffs." "The Low Cliffs" were
between the Rondeau and Point Pelee. In one of Bellin's maps of 1755 in
the present writer's possession Long Point is shown as a peninsula, and
the streams now in the County of Elgin are marked "Unknown Rivers," but
the map firstly mentioned and published in the same year, is more
complete, represents Long Point as an island, and names the Barbue and
Tonty rivers and Fort Point, (_P'te au Fort_) which are not named in
the other. The Tonty, moreover, is represented as an inlet by way of
distinction from the other streams (including the Barbue) which appear
as of equal insignificance. The naming of Kettle Creek after the great
explorer and devoted lieutenant of La Salle indicates its consequence.
Its harbor was of paramount importance to the navigation of these early
days, but no doubt the portage route extending from its mouth to the
Thames, exalted the little river in the eyes of the explorers who
honored it with Tonty's name.[9]

[9] General John S. Clarke, of Auburn, N.Y., in correspondence
with the present writer, dwells upon the importance of the Kettle
Creek portage route in the seventeenth century. He is a
recognized authority upon the subject of Indian trade routes.

THE INDIAN TITLE.

On July 19th, 1701, the Iroquois ceded to the British the entire
country between the lakes, "including the country where beavers and all
sorts of wild game keep, and the place called De Tret,"[10] but this
appears to have been a mere formality as no possession was taken by the
purchasers.

[10] History of Middlesex County, p. 17.

The Ojibways have a tradition that they defeated the Iroquois (called by
them the Nottawas or Nahdoways) in a succession of skirmishes, ending in
a complete victory at the