In times of peace, the intercourse between the whites
and the red men was usually amicable, and seldom led to violence,
unless through the effects of liquor; but, a price being placed on
scalps, a very different state of things might be anticipated, as a
consequence of the hostilities. This was then a matter to be looked
to; and, as evening was approaching, no time was to be lost.
The shores of Michigan are generally low, nor are harbors either
numerous, or very easy of access. It would be difficult, indeed, to
find in any other part of the world, so great an extent of coast
that possesses so little protection for the navigator, as that of
this very lake. There are a good many rivers, it is true, but
usually they have bars, and are not easy of entrance. This is the
reason why that very convenient glove, the Constitution, which can
be made to fit any hand, has been discovered to have an extra finger
in it, which points out a mode by which the federal government can
create ports wherever nature has forgotten to perform this
beneficent office. It is a little extraordinary that the fingers of
so many of the great "expounders" turn out to be "thumbs," however,
exhibiting clumsiness, rather than that adroit lightness which
usually characterizes the dexterity of men who are in the habit of
rummaging other people's pockets, for their own especial purposes.
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