Toronto of Old, H. Scadding. D.D.

XXX. THE HARBOUR - ITS MARINE, 1800-1814

ON the 15th of May, 1800, Governor Hunter arrives again in York Harbour. The Gazette of Saturday, the 17th, 1800, announces that "on Thursday evening last (May 15th), his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of this Province, arrived in our harbour on board the Toronto; and on Friday morning about 9 o'clock landed at the Garrison, where he is at present to reside." On May 16th in the following year Governor Hunter arrives again in the Toronto, from Quebec. "Arrived this morning, Saturday, May 16th, 1801," says the Gazette, "on board the Toronto, Captain Earl, his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, his Aid-de-Camp and Secretary, from Quebec. We hear," continues the Gazette, "that his Excellency has ordered the Parliament to meet on the 28th instant for the actual despatch of business."

In the Gazette of Aug. 29th, in this year (1801), we have the appointment of Mr. Allan to the collectorship for the harbour of York. Thus runs the announcement: "To the Public.- His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased to appoint the subscriber Collector of Duties at this Port, for the Home District: as likewise Inspector of Pot and Pearl Ashes and Flour. Notice is hereby given that the Custom House for entry will be held at my store-house at the water's edge, and that I will attend accordingly, agreeably to the Act. W. Allan, York, 25th Aug., 1801"

In this year, it is noted in the Niagara Herald (Nov. 18th, 1801), the people of Niagara saw for the first time flying from Fort George the British Flag, as blazoned after the recent union of Great Britain and Ireland. "On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 12 o'clock," the Herald says, "we were most agreeably entertained with a display from Fort George, for the first time, of the flag of the United Kingdom. The wind being in a favourable point, it unfurled to the greatest advantage to a view from the town. Its size, we apprehend, will subject it to injury in the high winds that prevail here." It was possibly the Royal Standard.

In the following year, 1802, Governor Hunter arrives at York on the 14th of May, and again in the Toronto. "It is with infinite pleasure," (such is the warm language of the Gazette of May 15th, 1802), " we announce the arrival of his Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of this Province, and suite, in a very short passage from Quebec. His Excellency arrived in the harbour late yesterday evening (May 14), on board the Toronto, and landed at the Garrison at 9 o'clock. We understand be left Quebec the 27th ult." The officer in command at York on the occasion of Governor Hunter's visit in 1802 was Captain Aeneas Macdonell. We have before us a note from him, dated York Garrison, May. 15th, to Lieut. Chiniquy at Fort George, in which he speaks of this visit. " General Hunter appeared off this harbour," he says, cc at 4 o'clock yesterday, with a Jack at his main-top-mast head. A guard of two sergeants, two corporals, and thirty men," Capt. Macdonell continues, "was soon ready to receive him, which I had the honour to command; but I had not the pleasure to salute him, as he could not land before 9 o'clock last night." (At the close of his note, Capt. Macdonell begs Mr. Chiniquy to send him over from Niagara some butter,-such a luxury being, as we must suppose, difficult to be procured at York). "If you will be good enough to take the trouble," Capt. Macdonell says, "to procure me a few pounds of butter and send it over, I will willingly take the same trouble for you when in my power."

In the Gazette of the preceding April a boat is advertised as about to make trips between York and the Head of the Lake. This is the advertisement: " The subscriber will run a boat from York to the Head of the Lake once a week. The first departure will be from York the 31st instant (on Wednesday), and from the Head of the Lake on Saturday, every week. Any commands left with Messrs. Miles and Playter, and Mr. Beaman at York, and at the Government House, Mr. Bates; and Richard Beasly, Esq., at the Head of the Lake, will be attended to with confidence and despatch. Levi Willard, York, 30th March, 1802."

So early as Jan. 18, in this year (1802), the following notice appeared in the Niagara-Herald:- "The sloop Mary Ann will sail from this town (Niagara) on first favourable day." - In August of this year a young Scotchman falls from the sloop and is drowned. The Niagara Herald of Aug. 21, 1802, notes the incident:- "On Monday last, James McQueen, a native of Scotland, aged about 20, fell from the Mary Ann and was drowned. The vessel being under sail, with wind and current in her favour, could not put about in the very short time he remained above water."-In 1802, " Skinner's Sloop" was plying occasionally between York and Niagara. We have a letter before us from Capt. Aeneas Macdonell to Ensign Chiniquy, dated York Garrison, 28th March, 1802, acknowledging a budget of news received by "Skinner's Sloop."

In 1803, on the 13th of May, the arrival at York of a Government vessel named the Duke of -Kent, with troops, is announced in the Gazette. "This morning arrived at the Garrison the Duke of Kent from Kingston, having on board a detachment of His Majesty's 49th regiment, which is to do duty here in place of the 41st regiment, ordered to Lower Canada." This same vessel arrives again in the harbour on the 27th of the following July. She now has on board "The Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec" - "On Thursday, the 27th," says the Gazette of the 29th of July, 1803, "arrived here (York), the Duke of Kent, having on board the Right Reverend Jacob, Lord Bishop of Quebec. We understand," the Gazette adds, " his Lordship intended first to visit Detroit, but, owing to contrary winds, was necessitated to postpone his journey. His Lordship will leave town for Niagara shortly after the Confirmation, which will immediately take place."

We hear of casualties on the Lake towards the close of the year. We read in the Gazette of Nov. 16, that "it is currently reported, and we are sorry to add with every appearance of foundation, that the sloop Lady Washington, commanded by Capt. Murray, was lately lost in a gale of wind near Oswego, on her passage to Niagara. Pieces of the wreck, and her boat, by which she was recognized, together with several other articles, are said to have been picked up. It is yet uncertain," the Gazette says, "whether the crew and passengers are saved; among the latter were Messrs. Dunn and Boyd, of Niagara." Again: the Gazette of Dec. 10, 1803, reports that " a gentleman from Oswego, by the name of Mr. Dunlop, was on Wednesday last accidentally knocked from on board a vessel near the Highlands by the gibbing of the boom, and unfortunately drowned."

The disappointment occasioned to merchants sometimes by the uncertainty of communication between York and the outer world in the stormy season, may be conceived of from a postscript to an advertisement of Mr. Quetton St. George's in the Gazette of Dec. 10, 1803. It says: "Mr. St. George is very sorry, on account of his customers, that he has not received his East India Goods and Groceries : he is sure they are at Oswego; and should they not arrive this season, they may be looked for early in the spring." It was tantalizing to suppose they were so near York as Oswego, and yet could not be had until the spring.

The principal incident connected with the marine of the harbour of York in 1804 was the loss of the Speedy. We give the contemporary account of the disaster from the Gazette of Saturday, Nov. 3, 1804.

"The following," the Gazette says, "is as accurate an account of the loss of the schooner Speedy, in His Majesty's service on Lake Ontario, as we have been able to collect. The Speedy, Capt. Paxton, left this port (York) on Sunday evening, the 7th of October last, with a moderate breeze from the north-west, for Presqu'isle, and was descried off that island on the Monday following before dark, where preparations were made for the reception of the passengers, but the wind coming round from the north-east, blew with such violence as to render it impossible for her to enter the harbour; and very shortly after she disappeared. A large fire was then kindled on shore as a guide to the vessel during the night; but she has not since been seen or heard of; and it is with the most painful sensations we have to say, we fear is totally lost. Inquiry, we understand, has been made at almost every port of the Lake, but without effect; and no intelligence respecting the fate of this unfortunate vessel could be obtained. It is, therefore, generally concluded that she has either upset or foundered. It is also reported by respectable authority that several articles, such as the compass-box, hencoop and mast, known to have belonged to this vessel, have been picked up on the opposite side of the Lake. - The passengers on board the ill-fated Speedy, as near as we can recollect," the narrative goes on to say, "were Mr. justice Cochrane; Robert J. D. Gray, Esq., Solicitor-General, and Member of the House of Assembly; Angus Macdonell, Esq., Advocate, Member of the House of Assembly Mr. Jacob Herchmer, Merchant; Mr. John Stegman, Surveyor. Mr. George Cowan, Indian Interpreter; James Ruggles, Esq. Mr. Anderson, Student in the Law; Mr. John Fisk, High Constable, all of this place. The above named gentlemen were proceeding to the District of Newcastle, in order to hold the Circuit, and for the trial of an Indian (also on board the Speedy) indicted for the murder of John Sharp, late of the Queen's Rangers. It is also reported, but we cannot vouch for its authenticity, that exclusive of the above passengers, there were on board two other persons, one in the service of Mr. Justice Cochrane, and the other in that of the Solicitor-General; as also two children of parents whose indigent circumstances necessitated them to travel by land. The crew of the Speedy, it is said, consisted of five seamen (three of whom have left large families) exclusive of Captain Paxton, who also had a very large family. The total number of souls on board the Speedy is computed to be about twenty. A more distressing and melancholy event has not occurred to this place for many years; nor does it often happen that such a number of persons of respectability are collected in the same vessel. Not less than nine widows, and we know not how many children, have to lament the loss of their husbands and fathers, who, alas, have, perhaps in the course of a few minutes, met with a watery gave. It is somewhat remarkable," the Gazette then observes, " that this is the third or fourth accident of a similar nature within these few years, the cause of which appears worthy the attention and investigation of persons conversant in the art of ship-building."

Two of the disasters to vessels probably alluded to by the Gazette were noted above. In 1802 the Lady Washington, Captain Murray, foundered in the Lake, leaving scarcely a trace. And three years previously, the York, in command of the same Captain Murray, was lost at the point known as the Devil's Nose, not far from the entrance to the River Genesee. And again, some years earlier, in 1780, before the organization of the Province of Upper Canada, the Ontario, Capt. Andrews, carrying twenty-two guns, went down with all on board, while conveying troops, a detachment of the King's Own, under Col. Burton, from Niagara to Oswego. One hundred and seventy-two persons perished on this occasion, Capt. Andrews was, at the time, First Commissioner of the Dock Yard at Kingston, and Commodore of the small flotilla maintained on the Lake, chiefly for transport service. (For several of these particulars we are indebted to Capt. Andrews' grandson, the Rev. Saltern Givins.)

As to the apparent fragility of the government vessels, on which the Gazette remarks, the use of timber insufficiently seasoned may have had something to do with it. The French Duke de Liancourt, in 1795, observed that all the vessels which he saw at Niagara were built of timber fresh cut down and not seasoned and that, for that reason, "they never lasted longer than six or eight years. To preserve them for even this length of time," he says, "requires a thorough repair: they must be heaved down and caulked, which costs, at least, from one thousand to one thousand two hundred guineas. The timbers of the Mississaga," he says, " which was built three years ago, are almost all rotten."

A particular account of the homicide for which the Indian prisoner, lost in the Speedy, was about to be tried, and of his arrest, is given in a subdivision of one of our chapters, entitled "Some Memories of the Old Court House."

Of the perils encountered by early navigators of Lake Ontario we have an additional specimen furnished us by the Gazette of Sept. 8th, 1804. That paper reports as follows: "Capt. Moore's sloop, which sailed from Sackett's Harbour on the 14th July for Kingston with a load of pot and pearl ashes, struck on Long Point near Kingston in a gale of wind; and having on board a number of passengers, men, women, and children, be was under the necessity of throwing over forty-eight barrels of ashes in order to lighten the vessel." It is then briefly added: "She arrived at Kingston."

We hear of the Toronto Yacht in 1805, casually. A boat puts off from her to the rescue of some persons in danger of drowning, near the Garrison at York, in November of that year. "On Sunday last, the 10th," says the Gazette of Nov. 16th, 1805, "a boat from the River Credit for this place (York), containing four persons, and laden with salmon and country produce, overset near the Garrison, at the entrance of this harbour; and notwithstanding the most prompt assistance rendered by a boat from the Toronto Yacht, we are sorry to add that one person was unfortunately drowned, and a considerable part of the cargo lost." At this date, the Toronto Yacht was under the command of Capt. Earl.

In December, 1805, a member of the Kendrick family of York was lost in a vessel wrecked on the New York side of the Lake. "We understand," says the Gazette of Feb. 15th, 1806, "that a boat, sometime in December last, going from Oswego to Sandy Creek, was lost near the mouth of Salmon river, and four persons drowned. One of the bodies, and the articles contained in the boat, were driven ashore ; the remainder, it is supposed, were buried in the sand. The persons who perished were - John McBride (found), John Kendrick of this place (York), Alexander Miller and Jessamin Montgomery." - In November of this year (1805), Miss Sarah Kendrick was married. It will be observed that her taste, like that of her brothers, of whom more hereafter, lay in a nautical direction. "Married, on Tuesday, the 12th inst., by licence," records the Gazette, "Jesse Goodwin, mariner, to Miss Sarah Kendrick." (This is the Goodwin from whom the small stream which ran into York Bay at its eastern extremity used to be called Goodwin's Creek.)

In the Gazette of Oct. 11th, 1806, it is noted that Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara in little more than four hours. The vessel is not named. Probably it was the Toronto Yacht.

In 1807, Governor Gore crossed from York to Niagara to hold a levee, on the King's birthday. The vessel that conveyed him again is not named. The following notice appears in the Gazette of May 16th, 1807: "Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. The Lieut.-Governor will hold a levee at the Commanding Officer's Quarters at Niagara, at 2 o'clock on Tuesday, the 4th of June. Wm. Halton, Secretary." Then follows a second notice: " Government House, York, 16th May, 1807. There will be a Ball and Supper at the Council House, Niagara, on his Majesty's Birthday, for such ladies and gentlemen as have been presented to the Lieut. Governor and Mrs. Gore. Wm. Halton, Secretary."

An accident to the Toronto Yacht is reported in the Gazette of Oct. 17th, 1807. That paper says: " The Toronto Yacht, in attempting her passage across on Wednesday or Thursday last, met with an accident that obliged her to put back to Niagara, which port, we understand, she reached with difficulty."

The Gazette of October 31st, 1807, speaks of the inconveniences to itself, arising from the irregularity in the communication between York and Niagara. "The communication with Niagara by water," it says, " from being irregular lately, has prevented us receiving our papers this week. The Indian Express," the Gazette then adds, "having commenced its regular weekly route, our publishing day will be changed to Wednesday. We have nothing of moment or interest. Should anything occur we will give an extra sheet." On the 18th of November the Gazette appears printed on blue paper, such as used to be seen on the outside of pamphlets and magazines. An apology is offered. "We have to apologize to our readers for the necessity of publishing this week on an inferior quality of paper, owing to the non-arrival of our expected supply." The same kind of paper is used in a succession of numbers. It is curious to observe that the effect of time has been to produce less disfigurement in the bright appearance of the pages and print of the blue numbers of the Gazette, than in the ordinary white paper numbers, which have now assumed a very coarse, dingy, inferior aspect.

In 1808 the important announcement is made in the Gazette of March 16th, that a lighthouse is about to be immediately established on Gibraltar Point, at the entrance of York Harbour. "It is with pleasure we inform the public," the Gazette says, "that the dangers to vessels navigating Lake Ontario will in a great measure be avoided by the erection of a Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, which is to be immediately completed, in compliance with an Address of the House of Assembly to the Lieutenant-Governor."

We have understood that a lighthouse was begun at the point of York peninsula before the close of the last century; that the Mohawk was employed in bringing over stone for the purpose, from Queenston - and that Mr. John Thompson, still living in 1873, was engaged in the actual erection of the building. It was perhaps then begun. In 1803 an Act was passed by the Provincial Legislature for the establishment of lighthouses "on the south-westernmost point of a certain island called Isle Forest, situated about three leagues from the town of Kingston, in the Midland District; another upon Mississaga point, at the entrance of the Niagara river, near to the town of Niagara - and the other upon Gibraltar point." It was probably not practicable to carry the Act fully into effect before 1806. According to the Act a fund for the erection and maintenance of such lighthouses was to be formed by levying threepence per ton on every vessel, boat, raft, or other craft of ten tons burthen and upwards, doubling the point named, inward bound. That lighthouse duty should be levied at ports where there was no lighthouse, became a grievance ; and in 1818 it was enacted that "no vessel, boat, raft or other craft of the burthen of ten tons and upwards shall be liable to pay any Lighthouse Duty at any port where there shall be no lighthouse erected, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."

Mr. Cartwright (Judge Cartwright) built in 1808 two vessels on Mississaga Point at the mouth of the Cataraqui, one for himself, the Elizabeth; the other for the North-West Company, the Governor Simcoe. The North-West Company had previously a vessel on the lake called the Simcoe, which was now worn out.

In June, 1808, Governor Gore departs from York for a tour in the western part of the Province. The Gazette seems mildly to rebuke him for having swerved from his first design in regard to this tour. He had intended to proceed via Lake Huron; that is, by the Yonge Street route, but he had finally preferred to go via Lake Ontario. "His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor left this place, York," the Gazette announces, "on the 15th instant, on a visit to Sandwich, etc. We are sorry," the editor then ventures to observe, "that he did not, as he originally destined, proceed by Lake Huron, according to his amiable intention and view of promoting, the first interests of this province."

In the Gazette of October 22nd, in this year, we hear once more of the Toronto Yacht. -Governor Gore has returned to York in safety, and has left again for Niagara in the Toronto. "On the I 7th instant," the above-named Gazette reports, "his Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and Major Halton sailed for Niagara in the Toronto Yacht. It was his Excellency's intention to have gone there on Monday last." The Gazette says: "He embarked for the purpose, and received an honorary salute from the Garrison. Excessive gales and a succession of violent head winds delayed his proceeding until Thursday morning."' (He returned in the Toronto on Tuesday, the 6th of November.)

On the 14th of December in this year, the editor of the Gazette again announces a change in the day of publication, in consequence of the suspension of water communication between York and Niagara. "The suspension of our water communication with Niagara at the present season obliges us to alter the day of publication, which will now be on Wednesday. John Cameron."

A postal notice issued in the Gazette of Jan. 4th, in the following year, 1809, is interesting now. It reads thus : "For General Information. The winter mail will be despatched from Quebec for Upper Canada on the following days : Monday, 2nd Jan., 1809: do. 6th Feb.: do. 6th March: do. 3rd April. Each mail may be looked for here (York) from 16 to 18 days after the above periods. The Carrier from Kingston (the Indian Express probably of which we have heard already) is to go on to Niagara without making any stay (unless found necessary) at this place; so that all persons will have time to prepare their letters by the time he returns from Kingston again. W. Allan, Deputy P.M., York, 2nd Jan. 1809." The mail between Montreal and Kingston was carried on the back of one Anderson. Between these two places the postage was ninepence.

Between 1809 and 1812 we do not light upon many notices of vessels frequenting York Harbour. In 1810, a schooner called the Lady Gore or the Bella Gore, commanded by Captain Sanders, and plying to Kingston, was a well known vessel. (It may be noted that in 1811 Governor Gore left York for England, on leave of absence, and was away during the four eventful years that followed.) In 1812, and previously, a sloop commanded by Captain Conn was running between York and Niagara. From some peculiarity in her contour, she was popularly spoken of as "Captain Conn's Coffin." Another sloop, commanded by Captain Grace, was plying between York, Niagara and Kingston about the same time.

The Government vessels with whose names we have become familiar were now either unseaworthy or wrecked. The Mohawk, the Onondaga, the Caldwell, the Sophia, the Buffalo, are no longer heard of as passing in and out of the harbour of York. It had been the fate of the Toronto Yacht, while under the command of Capt. Fish, to run on the sands at Gibraltar Point through a mistake as to the position of the light. Her skeleton was long a conspicuous object, visited by ramblers on the Island. This incident occurred just before the outbreak of the war.

Most of the vessels which had been engaged in the ordinary traffic of the Lake were, during the war, employed by the government in the transport service. Captain Murney's vessel, the Prince Edward, built, as we have already heard, wholly of red cedar, and still in good order in 1812, was thus employed.

In the fleet on Lake Ontario in 1812-14 new names prevail. Not one of the old titles is repeated. Some changes made in the nomenclature of vessels during the contest have created confusion in regard to particular ships. In several instances which we shall specify immediately, in the following list, two names indicate the same vessel at different periods of the war. The Prince Regent, the commodore's ship, (Capt. Earl), the Princess Charlotte, the Montreal, the Wolfe, the Sir Sidney Smith, the Niagara, the Royal George, the Melville, the Star, the Moira, the Cherwell, the Gloucester (Capt. Gouvereau), the Magnet, the Netley, the St. Lawrence; and the gunboats Cleopatra, Lais, Ninon, Nelly, Regent, Thunderer, Wellington, Retaliation, Black Snake, Prescott, Dreadnought. In this list the Wolfe and the Montreal are the same vessels; as also are the Royal George and the Niagara the Melville and the Star; the Prince Regent and the Netley; the Moira and the Cherwell; the Montreal and the Wolfe; the Magnet and the Sir Sidney Smith.

The Moira was lying off the Garrison at York when the Simcoe transport came in sight filled with prisoners taken on Queenston Heights, and bringing the first intelligence of the death of General Brock. We have heard the Rev. Dr. Richardson of Toronto, who at the time was Sailing Master of the Moira, under Captain Sampson, describe the scene.-The approaching schooner was recognized at a distance as the Simcoe: it was a vessel owned and commanded, at the moment, by Dr. Richardson's father, Captain James Richardson. Mr. Richardson accordingly speedily put off in a boat from the Moira, to learn the news. He was first startled at the crowded appearance of the Simcoe's deck, and at the unwonted guise of his father, who came to the gangway conspicuously girt with a sword. 'A great battle had been fought,' he was told, 'on Queenston Heights. The enemy had been beaten. The Simcoe was full of prisoners of war, to be transferred instanter to the Moira for conveyance to Kingston. General Brock was killed !' - Elated with the first portion of the news, Dr. Richardson spoke of the thrill of dismay which followed the closing announcement as something indescribable and never to be forgotten.

Among the prisoners on board the Simcoe was Winfield Scott, an artillery officer, afterwards the distinguished General Scott. He was not taken to Kingston, but, with others, released on parole.

The year following (1813), York Harbour was visited by the United States fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels. The result other pages will tell. It has been again and again implied in these papers. The government vessel named the Prince Regent narrowly escaped capture. She had left the port only a few days before the arrival of the enemy. The frames of two ships on the stocks were destroyed, but not by the Americans. At the command of General Sheaffe, they were fired by the royal troops when beginning the retreat in the direction of Kingston. A schooner, the Governor Hunter, belonging to Joseph Kendrick, was caught in the harbour and destroyed but as we have understood, the American commander paid a sum of money to the owner by way of compensation. - At the taking of York, Captain Sanders, whom we have seen in command of the Bella Gore, was killed. He was put in charge of the dockyardmen who were organized as a part of the small force to be opposed to the invaders.

We can imagine a confused state of things at York in 1813. Nevertheless the law asserts its supremacy. The magistrates in sessions fine a pilot £2 15s. for refusing to fulfil his engagement with Mr. McIntosh. "On the 19th October, 1813, a complaint was made by Angus McIntosh, Esq., late of Sandwich, now of York, merchant, against Jonathan Jordan, formerly of the city of Montreal, a steersman in one of Angus McIntosh's boats, for refusing to proceed with the said boat, and thereby endangering the safety of the said boat. He is fined £2 15s. currency, to be deducted from wages due by Angus McIntosh."

It was in May the following year (1814), that Mr. Richardson, while Acting Master on board the Montreal (previously the Wolfe), lost his left arm in Sir James Yeo’s expedition against Oswego.-The place was carried by storm. After describing the mode of attack and the gallantry of the men, Sir James Yeo in his official despatch thus speaks in particular of the Montreal: "Captain Popham, of the Montreal," he says, "anchored his ship in a most gallant style; sustaining the whole fire until we gained the shore. She was set on fire three times by red-hot shot, and much cut up in her hull, masts and rigging. - Captain Popham," he then proceeds to say, "received a severe wound in his right hand; and speaks in high terms , of Mr. Richardson, the Master, who from a severe wound in the left arm, was obliged to undergo amputation at the shoulder joint."

The grievous mutilation thus suffered did not cause Mr. Richardson to retire from active service. Immediately on his recovery he was, at his own desire, appointed to a post of professional duty in the fleet. In October, when the great hundred-gun ship, the St. Lawrence, was launched at Kingston, he was taken by Sir James Yeo on board that vessel, his familiarity with the coasts of the Lake rendering his services in the capacity of Acting Pilot of great value.

In the record of disbursements made by the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada in 1815, we have the sum of One Hundred Pounds allotted on the 22nd of April to "Mr. James Richardson, of the Midland District," with the following note appended: "This gentleman was first in the Provincial Navy, and behaved well: he then became Principal Pilot of the Royal Fleet, and by his modesty and uncommon good conduct gained the esteem of all of the officers of the Navy. He lost his arm at the taking of Oswego, and as he was not a commissioned officer, there was no allowance for his wounds. The Society, informed of this and in consideration of his services, requested his acceptance of £100."

By a curious transition, instances of which are now and then afforded in the history of individuals in every profession, Mr. Richardson became in after years an eminent minister in the Methodist Society; and at the age of 82 was known and honoured far and wide throughout Upper Canada as the indefatigable bishop or chief superintendent of that section of the Methodist body which is distinguished by the prefix Episcopal.

In 1814 it would appear that Commodore Chauncey and his fleet were no longer dominating the north shore. The Netley, formerly the Prince Regent, is mentioned as being again in the harbour of York. On the 24th of July she took over Lieut.-General and President Drummond, when on his way to support General Rial at Lundy's Lane. "I embarked," General Drummond says in his despatch to Sir George Prevost describing the engagement at Lundy's Lane; "I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner Netley, at York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant (July), and reached Niagara at daybreak the following morning." He then pushed on from Niagara to Lundy's Lane with 800 rank and file, and was the undoubted means of preventing a hard-contested fight from ending in a defeat.

On the 24th of December in this year the Treaty of Ghent was signed, by which, to adopt its own language, "a firm and universal peace was re-established between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and people of every degree, without exception of persons or places."