ns, but they did not catch it. Several porcupines were
seen."

On the 6th they reached the Mohawk village, crossing the river at a
different place and by a nearer route than before. The Indians had met
the Governor with horses at "the end of the plain, near the Salt Lick
Creek." The party finally arrived at Navy Hall on the 10th day of March.

At this period the overland route from Detroit to Niagara was apparently
well known. There was an annual "Winter-express" each way, which Simcoe
met on his westward journey on the 12th February and on his homeward
route on the 5th March. Littlehales mentions a Mr. Clarke as being with
it on each occasion. On their first meeting, the express was accompanied
by a Wyandot and a Chippawa Indian. The second time, Mr. Augustus Jones,
the surveyor, was either with or following it. He surveyed the
north-west part of Southwold in the following year. On the up trip, the
Governor's party met one man, who afterward proved to be a runaway thief
from Detroit. They were also overtaken by a traveller, who, as they were
subsequently informed, had got himself supplied with provisions and
horses to the Grand Rivet, and a guide from thence to Detroit, by the
false representation that he had despatches for the Governor. "He
quitted us under the plausible pretence of looking for land to establish
a settlement."

It appears that immediately after the capture of Niagara by Johnston in
1759, merchants from New England and Virginia had rushed in to
participate in the fur-trade, which until that time had been largely
monopolized by the French. As might be expected, many lawless acts were
committed by these adventurers, and various proceedings were adopted by
the Government to check and control them. After the American Revolution
land-hunters came into the peninsula and undertook to purchase lands
directly from the Indians. These purchases were ignored by the Land
Boards, who always repudiated the idea that the Indians were proprietors
of the land. No steps were taken however to locate settlers until the
Indian title by occupancy was surrendered to the Crown. Even then,
Simcoe's first step was to procure surveys for the purpose of
establishing military roads, fortified posts, dockyards, etc., in order
that when the settlers came they might be easily defended against
hostile attacks, whether from the Indians, the United States troops, or
the French or Spanish, who it was believed might invade the province b