the channel called the Long Sault, which separates the two last mentioned islands from the Lower Long Sault Island; thence westerly (crossing the centre of the last mentioned channel) until it approaches within one hundred yards of the north shore of the Lower Sault Island; thence up the north branch of the river, keeping to the north of, and near, the Lower Sault Island, and also north of, and near, the Upper Sault (sometimes called Baxter's) Island, and south of the two small islands, marked on the map A and B, to the western extremity of the Upper Sault, or Baxter's Island; thence passing between the two islands called the Cats, to the middle of the river above; thence along the middle of the river, keeping to the north of the small islands marked C and D; and north also of Chrystler's Island and of the small island next above it, marked E, until it approaches the northeast angle of Goose Neck Island; thence along the passage which divides the last-mentioned island from the Canada shore, keeping one hundred yards from the island, to the upper end of the same; thence south of, and near, the two small islands called the Nut Islands; thence north of, and near, the island marked F, and also of the island called Dry or Smuggler's Island; thence passing between the islands marked G and H, to the north of the island called Isle au Rapid Plat; thence along the north side of the last-mentioned island, keeping one hundred yards from the shore to the upper end thereof; thence along the middle of the river, keeping to the south of, and near, the islands called Cousson (or Tussin) and Presque Isle; thence up the river, keeping north of, and near, the several Gallop Isles, numbered on the map 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and also of Tick, Tibbet's, and Chimney Islands; and south of, and near, the Gallop Isles, numbered 11, 12, and 13, and also of Duck, Drummond, and Sheep Islands; thence along the middle of the river, passing north of island No. 14, south of 15, and 16, north of 17, south of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 28, and north of 26, and 27; thence along the middle of the river, north of Gull Island, and of the islands No. 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, Bluff Island, and No.39, 44, and 45, and to the south of No.30,31, 36, Grenadier Island, and No. 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, and 48, until it approaches the east end of Well's Island; thence to the north of Well's Island, and along the strait which divides it from Rowe's Island, keeping to the north of the small islands No. 51, 52, 54, 58, 59, and 61, and to the south of the small islands numbered and marked 49, 50, 53, 55,57, 60, and X, until it approaches the northeast point of Grindstone Island; thence to the north of Grindstone Island, and keeping to the north also of the small islands, No. 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78, and to the south of No. 62, 64, 66, 69, and 71, until it approaches the southern point of Hickory Island; thence passing to the south of Hickory Island, and of the two small islands lying near its southern extremity, numbered 79 and 80; thence to the south of Grand or Long Island, keeping near its southern shore, and passing to the north of Carlton Island, until it

arrives opposite to the southwestern point of said Grand Island in Lake Ontario; thence passing to the north of Grenadier, Fox, Stony, and the Gallop Islands in Lake Ontario, and to the south of, and near, the islands called the Ducks, to the middle of the said lake; thence westerly, along the middle of said lake, to a point opposite the mouth of the Niagara River; thence to and up the middle of the said river to the Great Falls; thence up the Falls, through the point of the Horse Shoe, keeping to the west of Iris or Goat Island, and of the group of small islands at its head, and following the bends of the river so as to enter the strait between Navy and Grand Islands; thence along the middle of said strait to the head of Navy Island; thence to the west and south of, and near to, Grand and Beaver Islands, and to the west of Strawberry, Squaw, and Bird Islands, to Lake Erie; thence southerly and westerly, along the middle of Lake Erie, in a direction to enter the passage immediately south of Middle Island, being one of the easternmost of the group of islands lying in the western part of said lake; thence along the said passage, proceeding to the north of Cunningham's Island, of the three Bass Islands, and of the Western Sister, and to the south of the islands called the Hen and Chickens, and of the Eastern and Middle Sisters; thence to the middle of the mouth of the Detroit River, in a direction to enter the channel which divides Bois Blanc and Sugar Islands; thence up the said channel to the west of Bois-Blanc Island, and to the east of Sugar, Fox, and Stony Islands, until it approaches Fighting or Great Turkey Island; thence along the western side, and near the shore of said last-mentioned island, to the middle of the river above the same; thence along the middle of said river, keeping to the southeast of, and near, Hog Island, and to the northwest of, and near, the island called Isle a la Pache, to Lake St. Clair; thence through the middle of said lake, in a direction to enter that mouth or channel of the river St. Clair, which is usually denominated the Old Ship Channel; thence along the middle of said channel, between Squirrel Island on the southeast, and Herson's Island on the northwest, to the upper end of the last-mentioned island, which is nearly opposite to point Aux Chênes, on the American shore; thence along the middle of the river St. Clair, keeping to the west of, and near, the islands called Belle Riviere Isle, and Isle aux Cerfs, to Lake Huron; thence through the middle of Lake Huron, in a direction to enter the strait or passage between Drummond's Island on the west, and the Little Manitou Island on the east; thence through the middle of the passage which divides the two last-mentioned islands; thence turning northerly and westerly, around the eastern and northern shores of Drummond's Island, and proceeding in a direction to enter the passage between the Island of St. Joseph's and the American shore, passing to the north of the intermediate islands No. 61, 11, 10, 12, 9, 6, 4, and 2, and to the south of those numbered 15,13, 5, and 1; thence up the said last-mentioned passage, keeping near to the island

of St. Joseph's, and passing to the north and east of Isle a la Crosse, and of the small islands numbered 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, and to the south and west of those numbered 21, 22, and 23, until it strikes a line (drawn on the map with black ink and shaded on one side of the point of intersection with blue, and on the other with red,) passing across the river at the head of St. Joseph's Island, and at the foot of the Neebish Rapids, which line denotes the termination of the boundary directed to be run by the sixth article of the treaty of Ghent.

Disposition of
Islands.

"And the said Commissioners do further decide and declare, that all the islands lying in the rivers, lakes and water communications, between the before-described boundary-line and the adjacent shores of Upper Canada, do, and each of them does, belong to His Britannic Majesty, and that all the islands lying in the rivers, lakes and water communications, between the said boundary line and the adjacent shores of the United States, or their territories, do, and each of them does, belong to the United States of America, in conformity with the true intent of the second article of the said treaty of 1783, and of the sixth article of the treaty of Ghent.

"In faith whereof we, the Commissioners aforesaid, have signed this declaration, and thereunto affixed our seals.

"Done in quadruplicate at Utica, in the State of New York, in the United States of America, this eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.

"SEAL.

"SEAL.]

Free Navigation of
Channels.

"PETER B. PORTER. "ANTH: BARCLAY."

In connection with this award it is to be observed that by Article VII. of the WebsterAshburton treaty of August 9, 1842, it is "agreed that the channels in the river St. Lawrence on both sides of the Long Sault Islands and of Bernhart Island, the channels in the river Detroit on both sides of the island BoisBlanc, and between that island and both the American and Canadian shores, and all the several channels and passages between the various islands lying near the junction of the river St. Clair with the lake of that name, shall be equally free and open to the ships, vessels, and boats of both parties."

CHAPTER VI.

BOUNDARY FROM LAKE HURON TO THE MOST NORTHWESTERN POINT OF THE LAKE OF THE WOODS: COMMISSION UNDER ARTICLE VII. OF THE TREATY OF GHENT.

Agreement of Arbitration.

By Article VII. of the Treaty of Ghent it was agreed that when the commissioners under Article VI., whose proceedings have just been narrated, should have executed the duties assigned to them under that article, they should be "authorized upon their oaths impartially to fix and determine, according to the true intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two Powers which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, to decide to which of the two parties the several islands lying in the lakes, water communications and rivers, forming the said boundary, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of peace of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three; and to cause such parts of the said boundary as require it to be surveyed and marked." It was further agreed that the commissioners should, "by a report or declaration under their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid, state their decision on the points thus referred to them, and particularize the latitude and longitude of the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods, and of such other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper." Such designation and decision the parties agreed to consider as final and conclusive. In the event of the commissioners differing, provision was made for the reference of the subject to a friendly sovereign or state.

Commencement of
Proceedings.

By the treaty, by the commissions and appointments under it, and by the legislation adopted to carry it into effect, the proceedings under Articles VI. and VII. were treated as one connected

transaction. As soon therefore as Messrs. Porter and Barclay had concluded their proceedings under Article VI., by their award at Utica on the 18th of June 1822, they issued instructions to the surveyors as to the work under Article VII.; and when they adjourned on the 22d of June it was to meet again whenever they should be required to do so by either commissioner, on information received from the surveyors or the agents. No change was made in the personnel of the commission, except that Richard Williams succeeded John Biggsby as assistant secretary.

Instructions to
Surveyors.

By the instructions given to the surveyors they were required, after passing Lake Superior, to ascertain the position of Long Lake, or if no lake of that name was to be found, the chain of waters supposed to be referred to in the treaty by that designation; and if they should discover, as it was said they probably would, that those waters did not communicate with Lake Superior, to ascertain what rivers or bodies of water, divided by a height of land, and emptying, one into Lake Superior and the other into the Lake of the Woods, approximated most nearly to the line intended by the treaty.

Prosecution of
Surveys.

During the summers of 1822 and 1823 the surveyors went over the route from the starting point to the Lake of the Woods. Reporting the results of their operations at a meeting of the board at Albany, in February 1824, they were instructed as early as practicable in the spring to complete the surveys yet required along the water communication from the mouth of Pigeon River to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods. The survey of this part of the line was reported to the board at a meeting at Montreal in October 1824, and there seemed to be a probability that the estuary at the mouth of Pigeon River would be agreed on as the Long Lake, and the route known as the Grand Portage as the line intended by the treaty. But here the commissioners divided and issued separate instructions for further surveys, the British commissioner directing the survey of the Fond du Lac or St. Louis River route to the south of the Grand Portage and the American commissioner taking a route to the north of it, based on the assumption that Dog Lake, on the River Kamanistiquia, was the Long Lake of the treaty.