(P.5) IN the month of October, A. D. 1834, Francis Monroe and myself, (we being residents of Ontario county, State of New York,) came to the territory of Michigan, for the purpose of buying land. We purchased in township three north, of range four east, and then returned. In the month of May, 1835, my brothers, Villeroy E. Smith and John W. Smith and myself, emigrated to the above mentioned town.

ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY

     The woods were open, there being but little underbrush, owing to the ravages of fire. Right here allow me to digress, for a moment, to speak of a most peculiar and curious feature of the section of which I especially treat. About twenty rods east and six rods south of the quarter post on the west side of section twenty-two, was a spot of ground about fifteen feet in width, twenty in length, and eight or ten inches in depth, the consistence of which was elastic, its color a light brown, and its weight comparatively small. On being exposed to fire, it changed to a reddish brown. Its composition was unknown to men who were best informed in the science of Geology. It was barren, and was in proximity to mar], sand, gravel, and stone of various colors, through which was emitted a disagreeble odor.