The abundance of flowers drew the bees there, a reason of
itself why he should like the vicinity. Lest the reader should be
misled, however, it may be well to explain that an absence of sward
is characteristic of these Openings, rather than the reverse, it
being, to a certain degree, a cause of complaint, now that the
country is settled, that the lands of the Oak Openings are apt to be
so light that the grasses do not readily form as firm a turf as is
desirable for meadows and pastures. We apprehend this is true,
however, less as a rule than as exceptions; there being variety in
the soils of these Openings, as well as in other quarters.
Nevertheless, the savages were aware that the country around the
burned hut, for a considerable extent, differed, in this particular,
from most of that which lay farther east, or more inland. On the
last a trail would be much more easily detected than on the first,
and a party, under the direction of a particularly experienced
leader, was dispatched several miles to the eastward, to look for
the usual signs of the passage of any toward Detroit, taking that
route. This last expedient troubled Peter exceedingly, since it
placed a body of enemies in the rear of the fugitives; thereby
rendering their position doubly perilous.
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