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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13559-0.txt b/13559-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7956c2f --- /dev/null +++ b/13559-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9358 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13559 *** + +B A C K W O O D S O F C A N A D A +===================================== + + +UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR +THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL INFORMATION + +THE LIBRARY +OF +ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE + +BACKWOODS OF CANADA. + +-------- + + +THE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE + +THE + +BACKWOODS OF CANADA + +BEING + +LETTERS FROM THE WIFE OF AN + +EMIGRANT OFFICER, + +ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF BRITISH AMERICA. + +[Catharine Parr Traill] + +LONDON: +CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE STREET. + +MDCCCXXXVI. + +-------- + +LONDON: +PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, +14, CHARING CROSS. + +-------- + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION + +LETTER I.--Departure from Greenock in the Brig _Laurel_.--Fitting up of +the Vessel.--Boy Passenger.--Sea Prospect.--Want of Occupation and +Amusement.--Captain's Goldfinch + +LETTER II.--Arrival off Newfoundland.--Singing of the Captain's +Goldfinch previous to discovery of Land.--Gulf of St. Laurence.--Scenery +of the River St. Laurence.--Difficult navigation of the River.--French +Fisherman engaged as Pilot.--Isle of Bic.--Green Island.--Regular Pilot +engaged.--Scenery of Green Island.--Gros Isle.--Quarantine Regulations. +--Emigrants on Gros Isle.--Arrival off Quebec.--Prospect of the City and +Environs + +LETTER III.--Departure from Quebec.--Towed by a Steam-vessel.--Fertility +of the Country.--Different Objects seen in sailing up the River.--Arrival +off Montreal.--The Rapids + +LETTER IV.--Landing at Montreal.--Appearance of the Town.--Ravages of +the Cholera.--Charitable Institutions in Montreal.--Conversation at the +Hotel.--Writer attacked with the Cholera.--Departure from Montreal in a +Stage-coach.--Embark at Lachine on board a Steam-vessel. Mode of +travelling alternately in Steam-vessels and Stages.--Appearance of the +Country.--Manufactures.--Ovens at a distance from the Cottages.--Draw- +wells.--Arrival at Cornwall.--Accommodation at the Inn.--Departure from +Cornwall, and Arrival at Prescott.--Arrival at Brockville.--Ship-launch +there.--Voyage through Lake Ontario.--Arrival at Cobourg + +LETTER V.--Journey from Cobourg to Amherst.--Difficulties to be +encountered on first settling in the Backwoods.--Appearance of the +Country.--Rice Lake.--Indian Habits.--Voyage up the Otanabee.--Log- +house, and its Inmates.--Passage boat.--Journey on foot to Peterborough + +LETTER VI.--Peterborough.--Manners and Language of the Americans.-- +Scotch Engineman.--Description of Peterborough and its Environs.-- +Canadian Flowers.--Shanties.--Hardships suffered by first Settlers.-- +Process of establishing a Farm + +LETTER VII.--Journey from Peterborough.--Canadian Woods.--Waggon and +Team.--Arrival at a Log-house on the Banks of a Lake.--Settlement, and +first Occupations + +LETTER VIII.--Inconveniences of first Settlement.--Difficulty of +obtaining Provisions and other necessaries.--Snow-storm and Hurricane.-- +Indian Summer, and setting-in of Winter.--Process of clearing the Land + +LETTER IX.--Loss of a yoke of Oxen.--Construction of a Log-house.-- +Glaziers' and Carpenters' work.--Description of a new Log-house.--Wild +Fruits of the Country.--Walks on the Ice.--Situation of the House.--Lake +and surrounding Scenery + +LETTER X.--Variations in the Temperature of the Weather.--Electrical +Phenomenon.--Canadian Winter.--Country deficient in Poetical +Associations.--Sugar-making.--Fishing season.--Mode of Fishing.--Duck- +shooting.--Family of Indians.--_Papouses_ and their Cradle-cases.-- +Indian Manufactures.--Frogs + +LETTER XI.--Emigrants suitable for Canada.--Qualities requisite to +ensure Success.--Investment of Capital.--Useful Articles to be brought +out.--Qualifications and Occupations of a Settler's Family.--Deficiency +of Patience and Energy in some Females.--Management of the Dairy.-- +Cheese.--Indian Corn, and its Cultivation.--Potatoes.--Rates of Wages + +LETTER XII.--"A Logging Bee."--Burning of the Log-heaps.--Crops for the +Season.--Farming Stock.--Comparative Value of Wheat and Labour.--Choice +of Land, and relative Advantages.--Clearing Land.--Hurricane in the +Woods.--Variable Weather.--Insects + +LETTER XIII.--Health enjoyed in the rigour of Winter.--Inconvenience +suffered from the brightness of the Snow.--Sleighing.--Indian +Orthography.--Visit to an Indian Encampment.--Story of an Indian.--An +Indian Hunchback.--Canadian Ornithology + +LETTER XIV.--Utility of Botanical Knowledge.--The Fire-Weed.-- +Sarsaparilla Plants.--Magnificent Water Lily.--Rice Beds.--Indian +Strawberry.--Scarlet Columbine.--Ferns.--Grasses + +LETTER XV.--Recapitulation of various Topics.--Progress of Settlement.-- +Canada, the Land of Hope.--Visit to the Family of a Naval Officer.-- +Squirrels.--Visit to, and Story of, an Emigrant Clergyman.--His early +Difficulties.--The Temper, Disposition, and Habits of Emigrants +essential Ingredients in Failure or Success + +LETTER XVI.--Indian Hunters.--Sail in a Canoe.--Want of Libraries in the +Backwoods.--New Village.--Progress of Improvement.--Fire flies + +LETTER XVII.--Ague.--Illness of the Family.--Probable Cause.--Root- +house.--Setting-in of Winter.--Insect termed a "Sawyer."--Temporary +Church + +LETTER XVIII.--Busy Spring.--Increase of Society and Comfort.-- +Recollections of Home.--Aurora Borealis + +APPENDIX + +--- + +ILLUSTRATIONS. +1. Falls of Montmorenci +2. Rice Grounds +3. Sleigh-driving +4. Silver Pine +5. Spruce +6. Log-house +7. Log-village.--Arrival of Stage-coach +8. Road through a Pine Forest +9. Newly-cleared Land +10. Chart showing the Interior Navigation of the Districts of Newcastle +and Upper Canada +11. Papouses +12. Green Frogs +13. Bull-frog +14. The Prairie +15. Red-bird +16. Blue-bird +17. Snow-Bunting +18. Baltimore Oriole defending her Nest against the Black Snake +19. Red Squirrels +20. Flying Squirrel + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +AMONG the numerous works on Canada that have been published within the +last ten years, with emigration for their leading theme, there are few, +if any, that give information regarding the domestic economy of a +settler's life, sufficiently minute to prove a faithful guide to the +person on whose responsibility the whole comfort of a family depends-- +the mistress, whose department it is "to haud the house in order." + +Dr. Dunlop, it is true, has published a witty and spirited pamphlet, +"The Backwoodsman," but it does not enter into the routine of feminine +duties and employment, in a state of emigration. Indeed, a woman's pen +alone can describe half that is requisite to be told of the internal +management of a domicile in the backwoods, in order to enable the +outcoming female emigrant to form a proper judgment of the trials and +arduous duties she has to encounter. + +"Forewarned, forearmed," is a maxim of our forefathers, containing much +matter in its pithy brevity; and, following its spirit, the writer of +the following pages has endeavoured to afford every possible information +to the wives and daughters of emigrants of the higher class who +contemplate seeking a home amid our Canadian wilds. [Illustration: +Peter, the Chief] Truth has been conscientiously her object in the work, +for it were cruel to write in flattering terms calculated to deceive +emigrants into the belief that the land to which they are transferring +their families, their capital, and their hopes, a land flowing with milk +and honey, where comforts and affluence may be obtained with little +exertion. She prefers honestly representing facts in their real and true +light, that the female part of the emigrant's family may be enabled to +look them firmly in the face; to find a remedy in female ingenuity and +expediency for some difficulties; and, by being properly prepared, +encounter the rest with that high-spirited cheerfulness of which well- +educated females often give extraordinary proofs. She likewise wishes to +teach them to discard every thing exclusively pertaining to the +artificial refinement of fashionable life in England; and to point out +that, by devoting the money consumed in these incumbrances to articles +of real use, which cannot be readily obtained in Canada, they may enjoy +the pleasure of superintending a pleasant, well-ordered home. She is +desirous of giving them the advantage of her three years' experience, +that they may properly apply every part of their time, and learn to +consider that every pound or pound's worth belonging to any member of an +out-coming emigrant's family, ought to be sacredly considered as +_capital_, which must make proper returns either as the means of +bringing increase in the shape of income, or, what is still better, in +healthful domestic comfort. + +These exhalations in behalf of utility in preference to artificial +personal refinement, are not so needless as the English public may +consider. The emigrants to British America are no longer of the rank of +life that formerly left the shores of the British Isles. It is not only +the poor husbandmen and artisans, that move in vast bodies to the west, +but it is the enterprising English capitalist, and the once affluent +landholder, alarmed at the difficulties of establishing numerous +families in independence, in a country where every profession is +overstocked, that join the bands that Great Britain is pouring forth +into these colonies! Of what vital importance is it that the female +members of these most valuable colonists should obtain proper +information regarding the important duties they are undertaking; that +they should learn beforehand to brace their minds to the task, and thus +avoid the repinings and discontent that is apt to follow unfounded +expectations and fallacious hopes! + +It is a fact not universally known to the public, that British officers +and their families are usually denizens of the backwoods; and as great +numbers of unattached officers of every rank have accepted grants of +land in Canada, they are the pioneers of civilization in the wilderness, +and their families, often of delicate nurture and honourable descent, +are at once plunged into all the hardships attendant on the rough life +of a bush-settler. The laws that regulate the grants of lands, which +enforce a certain time of residence, and certain settlement duties to be +performed, allow no claims to absentees when once the land is drawn. +These laws wisely force a superiorly-educated man with resources of both +property and intellect, to devote all his energies to a certain spot of +uncleared land. It may easily be supposed that no persons would +encounter these hardships who have not a young family to establish in +the healthful ways of independence. This family renders the residence of +such a head still more valuable to the colony; and the half-pay officer, +by thus leading the advanced guard of civilization, and bringing into +these rough districts gentle and well-educated females, who soften and +improve all around them by _mental_ refinements, is serving his country +as much by founding peaceful villages and pleasant homesteads in the +trackless wilds, as ever he did by personal courage, or military +stratagem, in times of war. + +It will be seen, in the course of this work, that the writer is as +earnest in recommending ladies who belong to the higher class of +settlers to cultivate all the mental resources of a superior education, +as she is to induce them to discard all irrational and artificial wants +and mere useless pursuits. She would willingly direct their attention to +the natural history and botany of this new country, in which they will +find a never-failing source of amusement and instruction, at once +enlightening and elevating the mind, and serving to fill up the void +left by the absence of those lighter feminine accomplishments, the +practice of which are necessarily superseded by imperative domestic +duties. To the person who is capable of looking abroad into the beauties +of nature, and adoring the Creator through his glorious works, are +opened stores of unmixed pleasure, which will not permit her to be dull +or unhappy in the loneliest part of our Western Wilderness. The writer +of these pages speaks from experience, and would be pleased to find that +the simple sources from which she has herself drawn pleasure, have +cheered the solitude of future female sojourners in the backwoods of +Canada. + +As a general remark to all sorts and conditions of settlers, she would +observe, that the struggle up the hill of Independence is often a severe +one, and it ought not to be made alone. It must be aided and encouraged +by the example and assistance of an active and cheerful partner. +Children should be taught to appreciate the devoted love that has +induced their parents to overcome the natural reluctance felt by all +persons to quit for ever the land of their forefathers, the scenes of +their earliest and happiest days, and to become aliens and wanderers in +a distant country,--to form new ties and new friends, and begin, as it +were, life's toilsome march anew, that their children may be placed in a +situation in which, by industry and activity, the substantial comforts +of life may be permanently obtained, and a landed property handed down +to them, and their children after them. + +Young men soon become reconciled to this country, which offers to them +that chief attraction to youth,--great personal liberty. Their +employments are of a cheerful and healthy nature; and their amusements, +such as hunting, shooting, fishing, and boating, are peculiarly +fascinating. But in none of these can their sisters share. The hardships +and difficulties of the settler's life, therefore, are felt peculiarly +by the female part of the family. It is with a view of ameliorating +these privations that the following pages have been written, to show how +some difficulties may be best borne and others avoided. The simple +truth, founded entirely on personal knowledge of the facts related, is +the basis of the work; to have had recourse to fiction might have +rendered it more acceptable to many readers, but would have made it less +useful to that class for whom it is especially intended. For those who, +without intending to share in the privations and dangers of an +emigrant's life, have a rational curiosity to become acquainted with +scenes and manners so different from those of a long-civilized county, +it is hoped that this little work will afford some amusement, and +inculcate some lessons not devoid of moral instruction. + + + + +LETTER I. + +Departure from Greenock in the Brig. _Laurel_.--Fitting-up of the +Vessel.--Boy Passenger.--Sea Prospect.--Want of Occupation and +Amusement.--Captain's Goldfinch. + +Brig. _Laurel_, July 18, 1832 + +I RECEIVED your last kind letter, my dearest mother, only a few hours +before we set sail from Greenock. As you express a wish that I should +give you a minute detail of our voyage, I shall take up my subject from +the time of our embarkation, and write as inclination prompts me. +Instead of having reason to complain of short letters, you will, I fear, +find mine only too prolix. + +After many delays and disappointments, we succeeded at last in obtaining +a passage in a fast-sailing brig, the _Laurel_, of Greenock; and +favourable winds are now rapidly carrying us across the Atlantic. + +The _Laurel_ is not a regular passenger-ship, which I consider an +advantage, for what we lose in amusement and variety we assuredly gain +in comfort. The cabin is neatly fitted up, and I enjoy the luxury (for +such it is, compared with the narrow berths of the state cabin) of a +handsome sofa, with crimson draperies, in the great cabin. The state +cabin is also ours. We paid fifteen pounds each for our passage to +Montreal. This was high, but it includes every expense; and, in fact, we +had no choice. The only vessel in the river bound for Canada, was a +passenger-ship, literally swarming with emigrants, chiefly of the lower +class of Highlanders. + +The only passengers besides ourselves in the _Laurel_ are the captain's +nephew, a pretty yellow-haired lad, about fifteen years of age, who +works his passage out, and a young gentleman who is going out as clerk +in a merchant's house in Quebec. He seems too much wrapped up in his own +affairs to be very communicative to others; he walks much, talks little, +and reads less, but often amuses himself by singing as he paces the +deck, "Home, sweet home," and that delightful song by Camoens, "Isle of +beauty." It is a sweet song, and I can easily imagine the charm it has +for a home-sick heart. + +I was much pleased with the scenery of the Clyde; the day we set sail +was a lovely one, and I remained on deck till nightfall. The morning +light found our vessel dashing gallantly along, with a favourable +breeze, through the north channel; that day we saw the last of the +Hebrides, and before night lost sight of the north coast of Ireland. A +wide expanse of water and sky is now our only prospect, unvaried by any +object save the distant and scarcely to be traced outline of some vessel +just seen at the verge of the horizon, a speck in the immensity of +space, or sometimes a few sea-fowl. I love to watch these wanderers of +the ocean, as they rise and fall with the rocking billows, or flit about +our vessel; and often I wonder whence they came, to what distant shore +they are bound, and if they make the rude wave their home and resting- +place during the long day and dark night; and then I recall to mind the +words of the American poet, Bryant,-- + + "He who from zone to zone + Guides through the boundless air their certain flight, + In the long way that I must tread alone + Wilt guide my steps aright." + +Though we have been little more than a week on board, I am getting weary +of the voyage. I can only compare the monotony of it to being weather- +bound in some country inn. I have already made myself acquainted with +all the books worth reading in the ship's library; unfortunately, it is +chiefly made up with old novels and musty romances. + +When the weather is fine I sit on a bench on the deck, wrapped in my +cloak, and sew, or pace the deck with my husband, and talk over plans +for the future, which in all probability will never be realized. I +really do pity men who are not actively employed: women have always +their needle as a resource against the overwhelming weariness of an idle +life; but where a man is confined to a small space, such as the deck and +cabin of a trading vessel, with nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing +to do, and nothing to read, he is really a very pitiable creature. + +There is one passenger on board that seems perfectly happy, if one may +judge from the liveliness of the songs with which he greets us whenever +we approach his cage. It is "Harry," the captain's goldfinch--"the +_captain's mate_," as the sailors term him. This pretty creature has +made no fewer than twelve voyages in the _Laurel_. "It is all one to him +whether his cage is at sea or on land, he is still at home," said the +captain, regarding his little favourite with an air of great affection, +and evidently gratified by the attention I bestowed on his bird. + +I have already formed a friendship with the little captive. He never +fails to greet my approach with one of his sweetest songs, and will take +from my fingers a bit of biscuit, which he holds in his claws till he +has thanked me with a few of his clearest notes. This mark of +acknowledgment is termed by the steward, "saying-grace." + +If the wind still continues to favour us, the captain tells us we shall +be on the banks of Newfoundland in another week. Farewell for the +present. + + + + +LETTER II + +Arrival off Newfoundland.--Singing of the Captain's Goldfinch previous +to the discovery of Land.--Gulf of St. Laurence.--Scenery of the River +St. Laurence.--Difficult navigation of the River.--French Fisherman +engaged as a Pilot.--Isle of Bic.--Green Island.--Gros Isle.--Quarantine +Regulations.--Emigrants on Gros Isle.--Arrival off Quebec.--Prospect of +the City and Environs. + +Brig _Laurel_, River St. Laurence. +August 6, 1832. + +I LEFT off writing, my dear mother, from this simple cause;--I had +nothing to say. One day was but the echo, as it were, of the one that +preceded it; so that a page copied from the mate's log would have proved +as amusing, and to the full as instructive, as my journal provided I had +kept one during the last fortnight. + +So barren of events has that time been that the sight of a party of +bottle-nosed whales, two or three seals, and a porpoise, possibly on +their way to a dinner or tea party at the North Pole, was considered an +occurrence of great importance. Every glass was in requisition as soon +as they made their appearance, and the marine monsters were well nigh +stared out of countenance. + +We came within sight of the shores of Newfoundland on the 5th of August, +just one month from the day we took our last look of the British isles. +Yet though the coast was brown, and rugged, and desolate, I hailed its +appearance with rapture. Never did any thing seem so refreshing and +delicious to me as the land breeze that came to us, as I thought, +bearing health and gladness on its wings. + +I had noticed with some curiosity the restless activity of the captain's +bird some hours previous to "land" being proclaimed from the look-out +station. He sang continually, and his note was longer, clearer, and more +thrilling than heretofore; the little creature, the captain assured me, +was conscious of the difference in the air as we approached the land. "I +trust almost as much to my bird as to my glass," he said, "and have +never yet been deceived." + +Our progress was somewhat tedious after we entered the gulf. Ninety +miles across is the entrance of this majestic river; it seems an ocean +in itself. Half our time is spent poring over the great chart in the +cabin, which is constantly being rolled and unrolled by my husband to +gratify my desire of learning the names of the distant shores and +islands which we pass. + +We are without a pilot as yet, and the captain being a cautious seaman +is unwilling to risk the vessel on this dangerous navigation; so that we +proceed but slowly on our voyage. + +August 7.--We were visited this morning by a beautiful little bird, not +much larger than our gold-crested wren. I hailed it as a bird of good +omen--a little messenger sent to bid us welcome to the New World, and I +felt almost a childish joy at the sight of our little visitor. There are +happy moments in our lives when we draw the greatest pleasure from the +most trifling sources, as children are pleased with the most simple toy. + +From the hour we entered the gulf a perceptible change had taken place +in all on board. The captain, a man of grave, quiet manners, grew quite +talkative. My husband was more than usually animated, and even the +thoughtful young Scotchman became positively an entertaining person. The +crew displayed the most lively zeal in the performance of their duty, +and the goldfinch sung cheerily from dawn till sunset. As for me Hope +was busy in my heart, chasing from it all feelings of doubt or regret +that might sadden the present or cloud the future. + +I am now able to trace distinctly the outline of the coast on the +southern side of the river. Sometimes the high lands are suddenly +enveloped in dense clouds of mist, which are in constant motion, rolling +along in shadowy billows, now tinted with rosy light, now white and +fleecy, or bright as silver, as they catch the sunbeams. So rapid are +the changes that take place in the fog-bank, that perhaps the next time +I raise my eyes I behold the scene changed as if by magic. The misty +curtain is slowly drawn up, as if by invisible hands, and the wild, +wooded mountains partially revealed, with their bold rocky shores and +sweeping bays. At other times the vapoury volume dividing, moves along +the valleys and deep ravines, like lofty pillars of smoke, or hangs in +snowy draperies among the dark forest pines. + +I am never weary of watching these fantastic clouds; they recall to me +the pleasant time I spent in the Highlands, among the cloud-capped hills +of the north. + +As yet, the air is cold, and we experience frequent squalls of wind and +hail, with occasional peals of thunder; then again all is serene and +bright, and the air is filled with fragrance, and flies, and bees, and +birds come flitting past us from the shore. + + +August 8.--Though I cannot but dwell with feelings of wonder and +admiration on the majesty and power of this mighty river, I begin to +grow weary of its immensity, and long for a nearer view of the shore; +but at present we see nothing more than long lines of pine-clad hills, +with here and there a white speck, which they tell me are settlements +and villages to the south; while huge mountains divested of verdure +bound our view on the north side the river. My admiration of mountainous +scenery makes me dwell with more interest on this side the river, and I +watch the progress of cultivation along these rugged and inhospitable +regions with positive pleasure. + +During the last two days we have been anxiously looking out for a pilot +to take us up to Quebec. Various signals have been fired, but hitherto +without success; no pilot has condescended to visit us, so we are +somewhat in the condition of a stage without a coachman, with only some +inexperienced hand to hold the reins. I already perceive some +manifestations of impatience appearing among us, but no one blames the +captain, who is very anxious about the matter; as the river is full of +rocks and shoals, and presents many difficulties to a person not +intimately acquainted with the navigation. Besides, he is answerable for +the safety of the ship to the underwriters, in case he neglects to take +a pilot on board. + +* * * * * * * + +While writing above I was roused by a bustle on deck, and going up to +learn the cause was informed that a boat with the long looked-for pilot +had put off from the shore; but, after all the fuss and bustle, it +proved only a French fisherman, with a poor ragged lad, his assistant. +The captain with very little difficulty persuaded Monsieur Paul Breton +to pilot us as far as Green Island, a distance of some hundred miles +higher up the river, where he assured us we should meet with a regular +pilot, if not before. + +I have some little difficulty in understanding Monsieur Paul, as he +speaks a peculiar dialect; but he seems good-natured and obliging +enough. He tells us the corn is yet green, hardly in ear, and the summer +fruits not yet ripe, but he says, that at Quebec we shall find apples +and fruit in plenty. + +As we advance higher up the river the country on both sides begins to +assume a more genial aspect. Patches of verdure, with white cottages, +are seen on the shores and scattered along the sides of the mountains; +while here and there a village church rears its simple spire, +distinguished above the surroundings buildings by its glittering vane +and bright roof of tin. The southern shores are more populous but less +picturesque than those of the north, but there is enough on either side +to delight the eye. + +This morning we anchored off the Isle of Bic, a pretty low island, +covered with trees and looking very pleasant. I felt a longing desire to +set my foot on Canadian ground, and must own I was a little disappointed +when the captain advised me to remain on board, and not attempt to make +one of the party that were preparing to go on shore: my husband seconded +the captain's wish, so I contented myself with leaning over the ship's +side and feasting my eyes on the rich masses of foliage as they waved to +and fro with the slight breeze that agitated them. I had soon reason to +be thankful that I had not followed my own wayward will, for the +afternoon proved foggy, and on the return of the boat I learned that the +ground was swampy just where the party landed, and they sunk over their +ankles in water. They reported the island to be covered knee-deep with a +most luxuriant growth of red clover, tall trees, low shrubs, and an +abundance of wild flowers. + +That I might not regret not accompanying him, my husband brought me a +delightful bouquet, which he had selected for me. Among the flowers were +fragrant red roses, resembling those we call Scotch burnet-leaved, with +smooth shining leaves and few if any thorns; the blue flower called +Pulmonaria or Lungwort, which I gathered in the Highlands, a sweet pea, +with red blossoms and wreaths of lovely pale green foliage; a white +orchis, the smell of which was quite delicious. Besides these were +several small white and yellow flowers, with which I was totally +unacquainted. The steward furnished me with a china jar and fresh water, +so that I shall have the pleasure of a nosegay during the rest of the +voyage. The sailors had not forgotten a green bough or two to adorn the +ship, and the bird-cage was soon as bowery as leaves could make it. + +Though the weather is now very fine, we make but slow progress; the +provoking wind seems determined to blow from every quarter but the +right. We float up with the flood tide, and when the tide fails cast +anchor, and wait with the best grace we can till it is time to weigh +anchor again. I amuse myself with examining the villages and settlements +through the captain's glass, or watching for the appearance of the white +porpoises tumbling among the waves. These creatures are of a milky +whiteness, and have nothing of the disgusting look of the black ones. +Sometimes a seal pops its droll head up close beside our vessel, looking +very much like Sinbad's little old man of the sea. + +It is fortunate for me that my love of natural history enables me to +draw amusement from objects that are deemed by many unworthy of +attention. To me they present an inexhaustible fund of interest. The +simplest weed that grows in my path, or the fly that flutters about me, +are subjects for reflection, admiration and delight. + +We are now within sight of Green Island. It is the largest, and I +believe one of the most populous we have passed. Every minute now seems +to increase the beauty of the passage. Far as the eye can reach you see +the shore thronged with villages and farms in one continuous line. On +the southern side all are gay and glittering with the tin roofs on the +most important buildings; the rest are shingles, whitewashed. This I do +not like so well as the plain shingled roofs; the whiteness of the roofs +of the cottages and homesteads have a glaring effect, and we look in +vain for that relief to the eye that is produced by the thatched or +slated roofs. The shingles in their natural state soon acquire the +appearance of slates, and can hardly be distinguished from them. What +would you say to a rose-coloured house, with a roof of the same gaudy +hue, the front of the gay edifice being garnished with grass green +shutters, doors, and verandah. No doubt the interior is furnished with +corresponding taste. There is generally one or more of these _smart_ +buildings in a Canadian village, standing forth with ostentatious +splendour above its more modest brethren. + +August 11.--Just below Green Island we took on board a real pilot, who, +by the way, I do not like half so well as Monsieur Paul. He is a little +bit pragmatical, and seems evidently proud of his superior knowledge of +the river. The good-natured fisherman relinquished his post with a very +good grace, and seems already excellent friends with his more able +rival. For my part I was very sorry when the new pilot came on board; +the first thing he did was to hand us over a pamphlet, containing +regulations from the Board of Health at Quebec respecting the cholera, +which is raging, he tells us, like a fearful plague both at that place +and Montreal. + +These regulations positively forbid the captain and the pilot to allow +any person, whether of the crew or passengers, to quit the vessel until +they shall have passed examination at the quarantine ground, under the +risk of incurring a severe penalty. + +This was very annoying; as the captain, that very morning, had proposed +taking us on shore at a lovely spot called Crane Island, to spend the +afternoon, while we waited for the return of the tide, at the house of a +Scotch gentleman, the owner of the prettiest settlement I had yet seen, +the buildings and grounds being laid out with great taste. + +The situation of this island is of itself very beautiful. Around it are +the waters of the St. Laurence, bearing on its mighty current the +commerce of several nations: in the foreground are the populous and +lively settlements of the southern shores, while behind and far, far +above it rise the lofty range of mountains to the north, now studded +with rural villages, pleasant farms, and cultivated fields. The island +itself showed us smooth lawns and meadows of emerald verdure, with +orchards and corn-fields sloping down to the water's edge. After a +confinement of nearly five weeks on board, you may easily suppose with +what satisfaction we contemplated the prospect of spending a few hours +on this inviting spot. + +We expect to reach the quarantine ground (Gros Isle) this evening, where +the pilot says we shall be detained three days. Though we are all in +good health, yet, having sailed from an infected port, we shall be +detained on the quarantine ground, but not allowed to land. + +August 12.--We reached Gros Isle yesterday evening. It is a beautiful +rocky island, covered with groves of beech, birch, ash, and fir-trees. +There are several vessels lying at anchor close to the shore; one bears +the melancholy symbol of disease, the yellow flag; she is a passenger- +ship, and has the smallpox and measles among her crew. When any +infectious complaint appears on board, the yellow flag is hoisted, and +the invalids conveyed to the cholera-hospital or wooden building, that +has been erected on a rising bank above the shore. It is surrounded with +palisadoes and a guard of soldiers. + +There is also a temporary fort at some distance from the hospital, +containing a garrison of soldiers, who are there to enforce the +quarantine rules. These rules are considered as very defective, and in +some respects quite absurd, and are productive of many severe evils to +the unfortunate emigrants. + +When the passengers and crew of a vessel do not exceed a certain number, +they are not allowed to land under a penalty, both to the captain and +the offender; but if, on the contrary, they should exceed the stated +number, ill or well, passengers and crew must all turn out and go on +shore, taking with them their bedding and clothes, which are all spread +out on the shore, to be washed, aired, and fumigated, giving the healthy +every chance of taking the infection from the invalids. The sheds and +buildings put up for the accommodation of those who are obliged to +submit to the quarantine laws, are in the same area as the hospital. + +[* It is to be hoped that some steps will be taken by Government to +remedy these obnoxious laws which have repeatedly entailed those very +evils on the unhappy emigrants that the Board of Health wish to avert +from the colony at large. + +Many valuable lives have been wantonly sacrificed by placing the healthy +in the immediate vicinity of infection, besides subjecting them to many +other sufferings, expenses, and inconvenience, which the poor exile +might well be spared. + +If there must be quarantine laws--and I suppose the evil is a necessary +one--surely every care ought to be taken to render them as little +hurtful to the emigrant as possible.] + +Nothing can exceed the longing desire I feel to be allowed to land and +explore this picturesque island; the weather is so fine, and the waving +groves of green, the little rocky bays and inlets of the island, appear +so tempting; but to all my entreaties the visiting surgeon who came on +board returned a decided negative. + +A few hours after his visit, however, an Indian basket, containing +strawberries and raspberries, with a large bunch of wild flowers, was +sent on board for me, with the surgeon's compliments. + +I amuse myself with making little sketches of the fort and the +surrounding scenery, or watching the groups of emigrants on shore. We +have already seen the landing of the passengers of three emigrant ships. +You may imagine yourself looking on a fair or crowded market, clothes +waving in the wind or spread out on the earth, chests, bundles, baskets, +men, women, and children, asleep or basking in the sun, some in motion +busied with their goods, the women employed in washing or cooking in the +open air, beside the wood fires on the beach; while parties of children +are pursuing each other in wanton glee rejoicing in their newly-acquired +liberty. Mixed with these you see the stately form and gay trappings of +the sentinels, while the thin blue smoke of the wood fires, rising above +the trees, heightens the picture and gives it an additional effect. On +my husband remarking the picturesque appearance of scene before us to +one of the officers from the fort who had come on board, he smiled +sadly, and replied, "Believe me, in this instance, as in many others, +'tis distance lends enchantment to the view." Could you take a nearer +survey of some of those very picturesque groups which you admire, I +think you would turn away from them with heart sickness; you would there +behold every variety of disease, vice, poverty, filth, and famine--human +misery in its most disgusting and saddening form. Such pictures as +Hogarth's pencil only could have pourtrayed, or Crabbe's pen described. + +August 14.--We are once more under weigh, and floating up the river with +the tide. Gros Isle is just five and twenty miles below Quebec, a +favourable breeze would carry us up in a few hours; as it is we can only +make a little way by tacking from side to side when we lose the tide. I +rather enjoy this way of proceeding, as it gives one a close view of +both sides the river, which narrows considerably as we approach nearer +towards Quebec. To-morrow, if no accident happens, we shall be anchored +in front of a place rendered interesting both by its historical +associations and its own native beauty of situation. Till to-morrow, +then, adieu. + +I was reckoning much on seeing the falls of Montmorenci, which are +within sight of the river; but the sun set, and the stars rose +brilliantly before we approached within sound of the cataract; and +though I strained my eyes till they were weary of gazing on the dim +shadowy scene around me, I could distinguish nothing beyond the dark +masses of rock that forms the channel through which the waters of the +Montmorenci rush into the St. Laurence. + +At ten last night, August the 15th, the lights of the city of Quebec +were seen gleaming through the distance like a coronet of stars above +the waters. At half-past ten we dropped anchor opposite the fort, and I +fell asleep dreaming of the various scenes through which I had passed. +Again I was destined to be disappointed in my expectations of going on +shore. The visiting surgeon advised my husband and me by no means to +land, as the mortality that still raged in the town made it very +hazardous. He gave a melancholy description of the place. "Desolation +and woe and great mourning--Rachel weeping for her children because they +are not," are words that may well be applied to this city of the +pestilence. + +[Illustration - Falls of Montmorenci] + +Nothing can be more imposing than the situation of Quebec, built on the +sides and summit of a magnificent rock, on the highest point of which +(Cape Diamond) stands the fortress overlooking the river, and commanding +a most superb view of the surrounding scenes. I did, indeed, regret the +loss of this noble prospect, the equal of which I suppose I shall never +see. It would have been something to have thought on and recalled in +after years, when buried in the solitude of the Canadian woods. + +The opposite heights, being the Point Levi side, are highly picturesque, +though less imposing than the rock on which the town stands. The bank is +rocky, precipitous, and clothed with trees that sweep down to the +water's edge, excepting where they are cleared away to give place to +white cottages, gardens, and hanging orchards. But, in my opinion, much +less is done with this romantic situation than might be effected if good +taste were exercised in the buildings, and on the disposal of the +ground. How lovely would such a spot be rendered in England or Scotland. +Nature here has done all, and man but little, excepting sticking up some +ugly wooden cottages, as mean as they are tasteless. It is, however, +very possible there may be pretty villas and houses higher up, that are +concealed from the eye by the intervening groves. + +The river is considered to be just a mile across from Point Levi to the +landing-stairs below the custom-house in Quebec; and it was a source of +amusement to me to watch the horse ferry-boats that ply between the two +shores. The captain told me there were not less than twelve of these +comical-looking machines. They each have their regular hours, so that +you see a constant succession going or returning. They carry a strange +assortment of passengers; well and ill-dressed; old and young; rich and +poor; cows, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs, fowls, market-baskets, +vegetables, fruit, hay, corn, anything and everything you will see by +turns. + +The boat is flat, railed round, with a wicker at each end to admit the +live and dead stock that go or are taken on board; the centre of the +boat (if such it can be called) is occupied by four lean, ill-favoured +hacks, who walk round and round, as if in a threshing machine, and work +the paddles at each side. There is a sort of pen for the cattle. + +I am told there is a monument erecting in honour of Wolfe, in the +governor's garden, looking towards the St. Laurence, and to be seen from +Point Levi: the inscription has not yet been decided upon*. +-------------------- +[* Since the period in which the author visited Quebec, Wolfe's monument +has been completed. Lord Dalhousie, with equal good feeling and good +taste, has united the names of the rival heroes Wolfe and Montcalm in +the dedication of the pillar--a liberality of feeling that cannot but +prove gratifying to the Canadian French, while it robs the British +warrior of none of his glory. + +The monument was designed by Major Young of the 97th Regiment. To the +top of the surbase is fourteen feet from the ground; on this rests a +sarcophagus, seven feet three inches high, from which rises an obelisk +forty-two feet eight inches in height, and the apex is two feet one +inch. The dimensions of the obelisk at the base are six feet by four +feet eight inches. A prize medal was adjudged to J.C. Fisher, LL.D. for +the following inscription on the sarcophagus:-- + +Mortem virtus communem +Famam Historia +Monumentum Posteritas +Dedit. + +On the surbase is an inscription from the pen of Dr. Mills, stating the +fact of the erection of the monument at the expense of Lord Dalhousie, +Governor of Lower Canada, to commemorate the death of Wolfe and +Montcalm, Sept. 13 and 14, 1759. Wolfe fell on the field; and Montcalm, +who was wounded by the single gun in the possession of the English, died +on the next day after the battle.] +-------------------- + +The captain has just returned from the town. He very kindly brought on +board a basket of ripe apples for me, besides fresh meat, vegetables, +bread, butter, and milk. The deck is all bustle with custom-house +officers, and men unloading a part of the ship's freight, which consists +chiefly of rum, brandy, sugar, and coals, for ballast. We are to leave +Quebec by five o'clock this evening. The _British America_, a superb +steam-vessel of three decks, takes us in tow as far as Montreal. I must +now say farewell. + + + + +LETTER III. + +Departure from Quebec.--Towed by a Steam-vessel.--Fertility of the +Country.--Different Objects seen in sailing up the River.--Arrival off +Montreal.--The Rapids. + +Brig _Laurel_, St. Laurence, below Montreal, +August 17, 1832 + +IT was after sunset, and a glorious evening, when we left Quebec, which +we did in company with a fine steam-vessel, whose decks and gallery were +crowded with passengers of all descriptions. A brave sight she was to +look upon; ploughing the bright waters which foamed and sung beneath her +paddles; while our brig, with her white sails, followed like a butterfly +in her wake. The heavens were glowing with the richest tints of rose and +saffron, which were reflected below on the bosom of the river; and then +came forth the stars, in the soft blue ether, more brilliant than ever I +saw them at home, and this, I suppose, I may attribute to the superior +purity of the atmosphere. My husband said this evening resembled the +sunsets of Italy. + +Our voyage has proved a very pleasant one; the weather moderately warm, +and the air quite clear. We have within the last few days emerged from a +cold, damp atmosphere, such as we often experience in Britain in the +spring, to a delightful summer, moderated by light breezes from the +river. + +The further we advance up the country the more fertile it appears. The +harvest is ripening under a more genial climate than that below Quebec. +We see fields of Indian corn in full flower: it is a stately-looking +crop, with its beautiful feathery top tinted with a rich purple hue, +below which tufts of pale green silk are waving in the breeze. When +fully ripe they tell me it is beautiful to see the golden grain bursting +from its silvery sheath; but that it is a crop liable to injury from +frost, and has many enemies, such as bears, racoons, squirrels, mice, +fowls, &c. + +We saw several fields of tobacco along the banks of the river, which +looked healthy and flourishing. I believe tobacco is cultivated to some +extent in both provinces; but the Canadian tobacco is not held in such +high esteem as that of Virginia. + +There is a flourishing and very pretty town situated at the junction of +the Richelieu river with the St. Laurence, formerly called Sorel, now +called Fort William Henry. The situation is excellent. There are several +churches, a military fort, with mills, and other public buildings, with +some fine stone houses. The land, however, in the immediate vicinity of +the town seems very light and sandy. + +I was anxious to obtain a near view of a log-house or a shanty, and was +somewhat disappointed in the few buildings of this kind that I saw along +the banks of the river. It was not the rudeness of the material so much +as the barn-like form of the buildings of this kind, and the little +attention that was paid to the picturesque, that displeased me. In Britain +even the peasant has taste enough to plant a few roses or honeysuckles +about his door or his casement, and there is the little bit of garden +enclosed and neatly kept; but here no such attempt is made to ornament +the cottages. We saw no smiling orchard or grove to conceal the bare log +walls; and as to the little farm-houses, they are uglier still, and look +so pert and ungraceful stuck upon the bank close to the water's edge. + +Further back a different style of building and cultivation appears. The +farms and frame-houses are really handsome places, and in good taste, +with clumps of trees here and there to break the monotony of the +clearing. The land is nearly one unbroken level plain, apparently +fertile and well farmed, but too flat for fine scenery. The country +between Quebec and Montreal has all the appearance of having been under +a long state of cultivation, especially on the right bank of the river. +Still there is a great portion of forest standing which it will take +years of labour to remove. + +We passed some little grassy islands on which there were many herds of +cattle feeding. I was puzzling myself to know how they got there, when +the captain told me it was usual for farmers to convey their stock to +these island pastures in flat-bottomed boats, or to swim them, if the +place was fordable, and leave them to graze as long as the food +continued good. If cows are put on an island within a reasonable +distance of the farm, some person goes daily in a canoe to milk them. +While he was telling me this, a log-canoe with a boy and a stout lass +with tin pails, paddled across from the bank of the river, and proceeded +to call together their herd. + +We noticed some very pleasant rural villages to the right as we +advanced, but our pilot was stupid, and could not, or would not tell +their names. It was Sunday morning, and we could just hear the quick +tinkling of the church bells, and distinguish long lines of caleches, +light waggons, with equestrians and pedestrians hastening along the +avenue of trees that led to the churchyard; besides these, were boats +and canoes crossing the river, bound to the same peaceful haven. + +In a part of the St. Laurence, where the channel is rendered difficult +by shoals and sand-banks, there occur little lighthouses, looking +somewhat like miniature watermills, on wooden posts, raised above the +flat banks on which they are built. These droll little huts were +inhabited, and we noticed a merry party, in their holiday clothes, +enjoying a gossip with a party in a canoe below them. They looked clean +and smart, and cheerful enough, but I did not envy them their situation, +which I should think far from healthy. + +Some miles below Montreal the appearance of the country became richer, +more civilized, and populous; while the distant line of blue mountains, +at the verge of the horizon, added an interest to the landscape. The +rich tint of ripened harvest formed a beautiful contrast with the azure +sky and waters of the St. Laurence. The scenery of the river near +Montreal is of a very different character to that below Quebec; the +latter possesses a wild and rugged aspect, and its productions are +evidently those of a colder and less happy climate. What the former +loses in grandeur and picturesque effect, it gains in fertility of soil +and warmth of temperature. In the lower division of the province you +feel that the industry of the inhabitants is forcing a churlish soil for +bread; while in the upper, the land seems willing to yield her increase +to a moderate exertion. Remember, these are merely the cursory remarks +of a passing traveller, and founded on no personal experience. + +There was a feeling of anxiety and dread upon our minds that we would +hardly acknowledge to each other as we drew near to the city of the +pestilence, as if ashamed of confessing a weakness that was felt; but no +one spoke on the subject. With what unmixed delight and admiration at +any other time should we have gazed on the scene that opened upon us. + +The river here expands into a fine extensive basin, diversified with +islands, on the largest of which Montreal is situated. + +The lofty hill from which the town takes its name rises like a crown +above it, and forms a singular and magnificent feature in the landscape, +reminding me of some of the detached hills in the vicinity of Inverness. + +Opposite to the Quebec suburbs, just in front of the rapids, is situated +the island of St. Helens, a spot of infinite loveliness. The centre of +it is occupied by a grove of lofty trees, while the banks, sloping down +to the water, seem of the most verdant turf. The scene was heightened by +the appearance of the troops which garrison the island. + +The shores of the river, studded with richly cultivated farms; the +village of La Prairie, with the little island of St. Anne's in the +distance; the glittering steeples and roofs of the city, with its +gardens and villas,--looked lovely by the softened glow of a Canadian +summer sunset. + +The church bells ringing for evening prayer, with the hum of voices from +the shore, mingled not inharmoniously with the rush of the rapids. + +These rapids are caused by a descent in the bed of the river. In some +places this declination is gradual, in others sudden and abrupt. Where +the current is broken by masses of limestone or granite rock, as at the +Cascades, the Cedars, and the Long Sault, it creates whirlpools and +cataracts. But the rapids below Montreal are not of this magnificent +character, being made perceptible only by the unusual swiftness of the +water, and its surface being disturbed by foam, and waving lines and +dimples. In short, I was disappointed in my expectation of seeing +something very grand; and was half angry at these pretty behaved quiet +rapids, to the foot of which we were towed in good style by our faithful +consort the _British America_. + +As the captain is uncertain how long he may be detained at Montreal, I +shall send this letter without further delay, and write again as soon as +possible. + + + + +LETTER IV. + +Landing at Montreal.--Appearance of the Town.--Ravages of the Cholera.-- +Charitable Institutions in Montreal.--Catholic Cathedral.--Lower and +Upper Town.--Company and Conversation at the Hotel.--Writer attacked +with the Cholera.--Departure from Montreal in a Stage coach.--Embark at +Lachine on board a Steam-vessel.--Mode of travelling alternately in +Steam-vessels and Stages.--Appearance of the Country.--Manufactures.-- +Ovens at a distance from the Cottages.--Draw-wells.--Arrival at +Cornwall.--Accommodation at the Inn.--Departure from Cornwall, and +Arrival at Prescott.--Arrival at Brockville.--Ship-launch there.--Voyage +through Lake Ontario.--Arrival at Cobourg + +Nelson Hotel, Montreal, August 21. + +Once more on terra ferma, dearest mother: what a strange sensation it is +to tread the land once again, free from the motion of the heaving +waters, to which I was now, in truth, glad to bid farewell. + +By daybreak every creature on board was up and busily preparing for +going on shore. The captain himself obligingly escorted us, and walked +as far with us as the hotel, where we are at present lodged. + +We found some difficulty in getting on shore, owing to the badness of +the landing. The river was full of floating timbers, between which it +required some skill to guide the boat. A wharf is now being built--not +before it was needed*. [* Some excellent wharfs have since been +completed.] + +We were struck by the dirty, narrow, ill-paved or unpaved streets of the +suburbs, and overpowered by the noisome vapour arising from a deep open +fosse that ran along the street behind the wharf. This ditch seemed the +receptacle for every abomination, and sufficient in itself to infect a +whole town with malignant fevers*. + +[* This has since been arched over. A market has been erected above it.] + +I was greatly disappointed in my first acquaintance with the interior of +Montreal; a place of which travellers had said so much. I could compare +it only to the fruits of the Dead sea, which are said to be fair and +tempting to look upon, but yield only ashes and bitterness when tasted +by the thirsty traveller**. + +.......... + +[** The following description of Montreal is given by M'Gregor in his +British America, vol. ii. p. 504:--"Betwixt the royal mountain and the +river, on a ridge of gentle elevation, stands the town. Including the +suburbs, it is more extensive than Quebec. Both cities differ very +greatly in appearance; the low banks of the St. Laurence at Montreal +want the tremendous precipices frowning over them, and all that grand +sublimity which characterizes Quebec. + +"There are no wharfs at Montreal, and the ships and steamers lie quietly +in pretty deep water, close to the clayey and generally filthy bank of +the city. The whole of the lower town is covered with gloomy-looking +houses, having dark iron shutters; and although it may be a little +cleaner than Quebec, it is still very dirty; and the streets are not +only narrow and ill-paved, but the footpaths are interrupted by slanting +cellar doors and other projections." + +"It is impossible (says Mr. Talbot, in his Five Years' Residence) to +walk the streets of Montreal on a Sunday or holiday, when the shops are +closed, without receiving the most gloomy impressions; the whole city +seems one vast prison;"--alluding to the window-shutters and outer doors +of iron, that have been adopted to counteract the effects of fire.] + +.......... + +I noticed one peculiar feature in the buildings along the suburb facing +the river--that they were mostly furnished with broad wooden balconies +from the lower to the upper story; in some instances they surrounded the +houses on three sides, and seemed to form a sort of outer chamber. Some +of these balconies were ascended by flights of broad stairs from the +outside. + +I remember when a child dreaming of houses so constructed, and fancying +them very delightful; and so I think they might be rendered, if shaded +by climbing shrubs, and adorned with flowers, to represent a hanging- +garden or sweet-scented bowery walk. But nothing of this kind gladdened +our eyes as we toiled along the hot streets. Every house of public +resort was crowded from the top to the bottom with emigrants of all +ages, English, Irish, and Scotch. The sounds of riotous merriment that +burst from them seemed but ill-assorted with the haggard, careworn faces +of many of the thoughtless revellers. + +The contrast was only too apparent and too painful a subject to those +that looked upon this show of outward gaiety and inward misery. + +The cholera had made awful ravages, and its devastating effects were to +be seen in the darkened dwellings and the mourning habiliments of all +classes. An expression of dejection and anxiety appeared in the faces of +the few persons we encountered in our walk to the hotel, which plainly +indicated the state of their minds. + +In some situations whole streets had been nearly depopulated; those that +were able fled panic-stricken to the country villages, while others +remained to die in the bosom of their families. + +To no class, I am told, has the disease proved so fatal as to the poorer +sort of emigrants. Many of these, debilitated by the privations and +fatigue of a long voyage, on reaching Quebec or Montreal indulged in +every sort of excess, especially the dangerous one of intoxication; and, +as if purposely paving the way to certain destruction, they fell +immediate victims to the complaint. + +In one house eleven persons died, in another seventeen; a little child +of seven years old was the only creature left to tell the woful tale. +This poor desolate orphan was taken by the nuns to their benevolent +institution, where every attention was paid that humanity could suggest. + +The number both of Catholic and Protestant benevolent societies is very +great, and these are maintained with a liberality of principle that does +honour to both parties, who seem indeed actuated by a fervent spirit of +Christian charity. + +I know of no place, not even excepting London itself, where the exercise +of benevolent feelings is more called for than in these two cities, +Quebec and Montreal. Here meet together the unfortunate, the +improvident, the helpless orphan, the sick, the aged, the poor virtuous +man, driven by the stern hand of necessity from his country and his +home, perhaps to be overtaken by sickness or want in a land of +strangers. + +It is melancholy to reflect that a great number of the poorest class of +emigrants that perished in the reign of the cholera have left no trace +by which their sorrowing anxious friends in the old country may learn +their fate. The disease is so sudden and so violent that it leaves no +time for arranging worldly matters; the sentinel comes, not as it did to +Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." + +The weather is sultry hot, accompanied by frequent thunder-showers, +which have not the effect one would expect, that of cooling the heated +atmosphere. I experience a degree of languor and oppression that is very +distressing, and worse than actual pain. + +Instead of leaving this place by the first conveyance for the upper +province, as we fully purposed doing, we find ourselves obliged to +remain two days longer, owing to the dilatoriness of the custom-house +officers in overlooking our packages. The fact is that everything and +everybody are out of sorts. + +The heat has been too oppressive to allow of my walking much abroad. I +have seen but little of the town beyond the streets adjacent to the +hotel: with the exception of the Catholic Cathedral, I have seen few of +the public buildings. With the former I was much pleased: it is a fine +building, though still in an unfinished state, the towers not having +been carried to the height originally intended. The eastern window, +behind the altar, is seventy feet in height by thirty-three in width. +The effect of this magnificent window from the entrance, the altar with +its adornments and paintings, the several smaller altars and shrines, +all decorated with scriptural designs, the light tiers of galleries that +surround the central part of the church, the double range of columns +supporting the vaulted ceiling, and the arched windows, all combine to +form one beautiful whole. What most pleased me was the extreme lightness +of the architecture though I thought the imitation of marble, with which +the pillars were painted, coarse and glaring. We missed the time- +hallowing mellowness that age has bestowed on our ancient churches and +cathedrals. The grim corbels and winged angels that are carved on the +grey stone, whose very uncouthness tells of time gone by when our +ancestors worshipped within their walls, give an additional interest to +the temples of our forefathers. But, though the new church at Montreal +cannot compare with our York Minster, Westminster Abbey, and others of +our sacred buildings, it is well worthy the attention of travellers, who +will meet with nothing equal to it in the Canadas. + +There are several colleges and nunneries, a hospital for the sick, +several Catholic and Protestant churches, meeting-houses, a guard-house, +with many other public edifices. + +The river-side portion of the town is entirely mercantile. Its narrow, +dirty streets and dark houses, with heavy iron shutters, have a +disagreeable appearance, which cannot but make an unfavourable +impression on the mind of a British traveller. The other portion of the +town, however, is of a different character, and the houses are +interspersed with gardens and pleasant walks, which looked very +agreeable from the windows of the ball-room of the Nelson Hotel. This +room, which is painted from top to bottom, the walls and ceiling, with a +coarse imitation of groves and Canadian scenery, commands a superb view +of the city, the river, and all surrounding country, taking in the +distant mountains of Chamblay, the shores of St. Laurence, towards La +Prairie, and the rapids above and below the island of St. Anne's. The +royal mountain (Mont Real), with its wooded sides, its rich scenery, and +its city with its streets and public buildings, lie at your feet: with +such objects before you the eye may well be charmed with the scenery of +Montreal. + +We receive the greatest attention from the master of the hotel, who is +an Italian. The servants of the house are very civil, and the company +that we meet at the ordinary very respectable, chiefly emigrants like +ourselves, with some lively French men and women. The table is well +supplied, and the charges for board and lodging one dollar per day +each*. + +[* This hotel is not of the highest class, in which the charge is a +dollar and a half per day. Ed.] + +I am amused with the variety of characters of which our table is +composed. Some of the emigrants appear to entertain the most sanguine +hopes of success, appearing to foresee no difficulties in carrying their +schemes into effect. As a contrast to these there is one of my +countrymen, just returned from the western district on his way back to +England, who entreats us by no means to go further up this horrid +country, as he emphatically styles the Upper Province, assuring us he +would not live in it for all the land it contained. + +He had been induced, by reading Cattermole's pamphlet on the subject of +Emigration, to quit a good farm, and gathering together what property he +possessed, to embark for Canada. Encouraged by the advice of a friend in +this country, he purchased a lot of wild land in the western district; +"but sir," said he, addressing my husband with much vehemence, "I found +I had been vilely deceived. Such land, such a country--I would not live +in it for all I could see. Why, there is not a drop of wholesome water +to be got, or a potato that is fit to eat. I lived for two months in a +miserable shed they call a shanty, eaten up alive with mosquitoes. I +could get nothing to eat but salted pork, and, in short, the discomforts +are unbearable. And then all my farming knowledge was quite useless-- +people know nothing about farming in this country. Why, it would have +broken my heart to work among the stumps, and never see such a thing as +a well-ploughed field. And then," he added, in a softer tone, "I thought +of my poor wife and the little one. I might, for the sake of bettering +my condition, have roughed out a year or so myself, but, poor thing, I +could not have had the heart to have brought her out from the comforts +of England to such a place, not so good as one of our cow-houses or +stables, and so I shall just go home; and if I don't tell all my +neighbours what sort of a country this is they are all crazing to throw +up their farms and come to, never trust a word of mine again." + +It was to no purpose that some persons present argued with him on the +folly of returning until he had tried what could be done: he only told +them they were fools if they staid an hour in a country like this; and +ended by execrating those persons who deceived the people at home by +their false statements, who sum up in a few pages all the advantages, +without filling a volume with the disadvantages, as they might well do. + +"Persons are apt to deceive themselves as well as to be deceived," said +my husband; "and having once fixed their minds on any one subject, will +only read and believe those things that accord with their wishes." + +This young man was evidently disappointed in not finding all things as +fair and pleasant as at home. He had never reflected on the subject, or +he could not have been so foolish as to suppose he would encounter no +difficulties in his first outset, in a settlement in the woods. We are +prepared to meet with many obstacles, and endure considerable +privations, although I dare say we may meet with many unforeseen ones, +forewarned as we have been by our Canadian friend's letters. + +Our places are taken in the stage for Lachine, and if all is well, we +leave Montreal to-morrow morning. Our trunks, boxes, &c. are to be sent +on by the forwarders to Cobourg.--August 22. + +Cobourg, August 29.--When I closed my last letter I told you, my dear +mother, that we should leave Montreal by sunrise the following day; but +in this we were doomed to be disappointed, and to experience the truth +of these words: "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not +what an hour may bring forth." Early that very morning, just an hour +before sunrise, I was seized with the symptoms of the fatal malady that +had made so many homes desolate. I was too ill to commence my journey, +and, with a heavy heart, heard the lumbering wheels rattle over the +stones from the door of the hotel. + +I hourly grew worse, till the sister of the landlady, an excellent young +woman, who had previously shown me great attention, persuaded me to send +for a physician; and my husband, distracted at seeing me in such agony, +ran off to seek for the best medical aid. After some little delay a +physician was found. I was then in extreme torture; but was relieved by +bleeding, and by the violent fits of sickness that ensued. I will not +dwell minutely on my sufferings, suffice to say, they were intense; but +God, in his mercy, though he chastened and afflicted me, yet gave me not +over unto death. From the females of the house I received the greatest +kindness. Instead of fleeing affrighted from the chamber of sickness, +the two Irish girls almost quarrelled which should be my attendant; +while Jane Taylor, the good young woman I before mentioned, never left +me from the time I grew so alarmingly ill till a change for the better +had come over me, but, at the peril of her own life, supported me in her +arms, and held me on her bosom, when I was struggling with mortal agony, +alternately speaking peace to me, and striving to soothe the anguish of +my poor afflicted partner. + +The remedies applied were bleeding, a portion of opium, blue pill, and +some sort of salts--not the common Epsom. The remedies proved effectual, +though I suffered much from sickness and headache for many hours. The +debility and low fever that took place of the cholera obliged me to keep +my bed some days. During the two first my doctor visited me four times a +day; he was very kind, and, on hearing that I was the wife of a British +officer emigrating to the Upper Province, he seemed more than ever +interested in my recovery, evincing a sympathy for us that was very +grateful to our feelings. After a weary confinement of several days, I +was at last pronounced in a sufficiently convalescent state to begin my +journey, though still so weak that I was scarcely able to support +myself. + +The sun had not yet risen when the stage that was to take us to Lachine, +the first nine miles of our route, drove up to the door, and we gladly +bade farewell to a place in which our hours of anxiety had been many, +and those of pleasure few. We had, however, experienced a great deal of +kindness from those around us, and, though perfect strangers, had tasted +some of the hospitality for which this city has often been celebrated. I +omitted, in my former letter, telling you how we formed an acquaintance +with a highly respectable merchant in this place, who afforded us a +great deal of useful information, and introduced us to his wife, a very +elegant and accomplished young woman. During our short acquaintance, we +passed some pleasant hours at their house, much to our satisfaction. + +I enjoyed the fresh breeze from the river along the banks of which our +road lay. It was a fine sight to see the unclouded sun rising from +behind the distant chain of mountains. Below us lay the rapids in their +perturbed state, and there was the island of St. Anne's, bringing to our +minds Moore's Canadian boat song: "We'll sing at Saint Anne's our +parting hymn." + +The bank of the St. Laurence, along which our road lay, is higher here +than at Montreal, and clothed with brushwood on the summit, occasionally +broken with narrow gulleys. The soil, as near as I could see, was sandy +or light loam. I noticed the wild vine for the first time twining among +the saplings. There were raspberry bushes, too, and a profusion of that +tall yellow flower we call Aaron's golden rod, a _solidago_, and the +white love-everlasting, the same that the chaplets are made of by the +French and Swiss girls to adorn the tombs of their friends, and which +they call _immortelle_; the Americans call it life-everlasting; also a +tall purple-spiked valerian, that I observed growing in the fields among +the corn, as plentiful as the bugloss is in our light sandy fields in +England. + +At Lachine we quitted the stage and went on board a steamer, a fine +vessel elegantly fitted up with every accommodation. I enjoyed the +passage up the river exceedingly, and should have been delighted with +the journey by land had not my recent illness weakened me so much that I +found the rough roads very unpleasant. As to the vehicle, a Canadian +stage, it deserves a much higher character than travellers have had the +candour to give it, and is so well adapted for the roads over which it +passes that I doubt if it could be changed for a more suitable one. This +vehicle is calculated to hold nine persons, three back, front, and +middle; the middle seat, which swings on broad straps of leather; is by +far the easiest, only you are liable to be disturbed when any of the +passengers choose to get out. + +Certainly the travelling is arranged with as little trouble to the +traveller as possible. Having paid your fare to Prescott you have no +thought or care. When you quit the steam-boat you find a stage ready to +receive you and your luggage, which is limited to a certain proportion. +When the portage is passed (the land carriage), you find a steam-vessel +ready, where you have every accommodation. The charges are not +immoderate, considering the comforts you enjoy. + +In addition to their own freight, the steamers generally tow up several +other vessels. We had three Durham boats at one time, beside some other +small craft attached to us, which certainly afforded some variety, if +not amusement. + +With the exception of Quebec and Montreal, I must give the preference to +the Upper Province. If not on so grand a scale, the scenery is more +calculated to please, from the appearance of industry and fertility it +displays. I am delighted, in travelling along the road, with the +neatness, cleanliness, and comfort of the cottages and farms. The log- +house and shanty rarely occur, having been supplanted by pretty frame +houses, built in a superior style, and often painted white-lead colour +or a pale pea-green. Around these habitations were orchards, bending +down with a rich harvest of apples, plums, and the American crab, those +beautiful little scarlet apples so often met with as a wet preserve +among our sweetmeats at home. + +You see none of the signs of poverty or its attendant miseries. No +ragged, dirty, squalid children, dabbling in mud or dust; but many a +tidy, smart-looking lass was spinning at the cottage-doors, with bright +eyes and braided locks, while the younger girls were seated on the green +turf or on the threshold, knitting and singing as blithe as birds. + +There is something very picturesque in the great spinning-wheels that +are used in this country for spinning the wool, and if attitude were to +be studied among our Canadian lasses, there cannot be one more becoming, +or calculated to show off the natural advantages of a fine figure, than +spinning at the big wheel. The spinster does not sit, but walks to and +fro, guiding the yarn with one hand while with the other she turns the +wheel. + +I often noticed, as we passed by the cottage farms, hanks of yarn of +different colours hanging on the garden or orchard fence to dry; there +were all manner of colours, green, blue, purple, brown, red, and white. +A civil landlady, at whose tavern we stopped to change horses, told me +these hanks of yarn were first spun and then dyed by the good wives, +preparatory to being sent to the loom. She showed me some of this home- +spun cloth, which really looked very well. It was a dullish dark brown, +the wool being the produce of a breed of black sheep. This cloth is made +up in different ways for family use. + +"Every little dwelling you see," said she, "has its lot of land, and, +consequently, its flock of sheep; and, as the children are early taught +to spin, and knit, and help dye the yarn, their parents can afford to +see them well and comfortably clothed. + +"Many of these very farms you now see in so thriving a condition were +wild land thirty years ago, nothing but Indian hunting-grounds. The +industry of men, and many of them poor men, that had not a rood of land +of their own in their own country, has effected this change." + +I was much gratified by the reflection to which this good woman's +information gave rise. "We also are going to purchase wild land, and why +may not we see our farm, in process of time," thought I, "equal these +fertile spots. Surely this is a blessed country to which we have +emigrated," said I, pursuing the pleasing idea, "where every cottage +abounds with the comforts and necessaries of life." + +I perhaps overlooked at that time the labour, the difficulties, the +privations to which these settlers had been exposed when they first came +to this country. I saw it only at a distance of many years, under a high +state of cultivation, perhaps in the hands of their children or their +children's children, while the toil-worn parent's head was low in the +dust. + +Among other objects my attention was attracted by the appearance of open +burying-grounds by the roadside. Pretty green mounds, surrounded by +groups of walnut and other handsome timber trees, contained the graves +of a family, or may be, some favoured friends slept quietly below the +turf beside them. If the ground was not consecrated, it was hallowed by +the tears and prayers of parents and children. + +These household graves became the more interesting to me on learning +that when a farm is disposed of to a stranger, the right of burying +their dead is generally stipulated for by the former possessor. + +You must bear with me if I occasionally weary you with dwelling on +trifles. To me nothing that bears the stamp of novelty is devoid of +interest. Even the clay-built ovens stuck upon four legs at a little +distance from the houses were not unnoticed in passing. When there is +not the convenience of one of these ovens outside the dwellings, the +bread is baked in large iron pots--"_bake-kettles_" they are termed. I +have already seen a loaf as big as a peck measure baking on the hearth +in one of these kettles, and tasted of it, too; but I think the confined +steam rather imparts a peculiar taste to the bread, which you do not +perceive in the loaves baked in brick or clay ovens. At first I could +not make out what these funny little round buildings, perched upon four +posts, could be; and I took them for bee-hives till I spied a good woman +drawing some nice hot loaves out of one that stood on a bit of waste +land on the roadside, some fifty yards from the cottage. + +Besides the ovens every house had a draw-well near it, which differed in +the contrivance for raising the water from those I had seen in the old +country. The plan is very simple:--a long pole, supported by a post, +acts as a lever to raise the bucket, and the water can be raised by a +child with very trifling exertion. This method is by many persons +preferred to either rope or chain, and from its simplicity can be +constructed by any person at the mere trouble of fixing the poles. I +mention this merely to show the ingenuity of people in this country, and +how well adapted all their ways are to their means*. [* The plan is +pursued in England and elsewhere, and may be seen in the market-gardens +on the western suburb of London. It can only be done when the water is +near the surface.] + +We were exceedingly gratified by the magnificent appearance of the +rapids of the St. Laurence, at the cascades of which the road commanded +a fine view from the elevation of the banks. I should fail in my attempt +to describe this grand sheet of turbulent water to you. Howison has +pictured them very minutely in his work on Upper Canada, which I know +you are well acquainted with. I regretted that we could not linger to +feast our eyes with a scene so wild and grand as the river here appears; +but a Canadian stage waits for no one, so we were obliged to content +ourselves with a passing sight of these celebrated rapids. + +We embarked at Couteau du Lac and reached Cornwall late the same +evening. Some of the stages travel all night, but I was too much +fatigued to commence a journey of forty-nine miles over Canadian roads +that night. Our example was followed by a widow lady and her little +family. + +We had some difficulty obtaining a lodging, the inns being full of +travellers; here, for the first time we experienced something of that +odious manner ascribed, though doubtless too generally, to the American. +Our host seemed perfectly indifferent to the comfort of his guests, +leaving them to wait on themselves or go without what they wanted. The +absence of females in these establishments is a great drawback where +ladies are travelling. The women keep entirely out of sight, or treat +you with that offensive coldness and indifference that you derive little +satisfaction from their attendance. + +After some difficulty in obtaining sight of the landlady of the inn at +Cornwall, and asking her to show me a chamber where we might pass the +night, with a most ungracious air she pointed to a door which opened +into a mere closet, in which was a bed divested of curtains, one chair, +and an apology for a wash-stand. Seeing me in some dismay at the sight +of this uninviting domicile, she laconically observed there was that or +none, unless I chose to sleep in a four-bedded room, which had three +tenants in it,--and those gentlemen. This alternative I somewhat +indignantly declined, and in no very good humour retired to my cabin, +where vile familiars to the dormitory kept us from closing our weary +eye-lids till the break of day. + +We took an early and hasty breakfast, and again commenced our journey. +Here our party consisted of myself, my husband, a lady and gentleman +with three small children, besides an infant of a month old, all of +whom, from the eldest to the youngest, were suffering from hooping- +cough; two great Cumberland miners, and a French pilot and his +companion--this was a huge amphibious-looking monster, who bounced in +and squeezed himself into a corner seat, giving a knowing nod and +comical grin to the driver, who was in the secret, and in utter defiance +of all remonstrance at this unlooked-for intrusion, cracked his whip +with a flourish, that appeared to be reckoned pretty considerably smart +by two American travellers that stood on either side of the door at the +inn, with their hats not in their hands nor yet on their heads, but +slung by a black ribbon to one of their waistcoat buttons, so as to fall +nearly under one arm. This practice I have seen adopted since, and think +if Johnny Gilpin had but taken this wise precaution he might have saved +both hat and wig. + +I was dreadfully fatigued with this day's travelling, being literally +bruised black and blue. We suffered much inconvenience from the +excessive heat of the day, and could well have dispensed with the +company of two out of the four of our bulky companions. + + +We reached Prescott about five the same afternoon, where we met with +good treatment at the inn; the female servants were all English, and +seemed to vie with each other in attention to us. + +We saw little in the town of Prescott to interest or please. After an +excellent breakfast we embarked on board the _Great Britain_, the finest +steamer we had yet seen, and here we were joined by our new friends, to +our great satisfaction. + +At Brockville we arrived just in time to enjoy what was to me quite a +novel sight,--a ship-launch. A gay and exciting scene it was. The sun +shone brilliantly on a concourse of people that thronged the shore in +their holiday attire; the church bells rang merrily out, mingling with +the music from the deck of the gaily painted vessel that, with flags and +streamers, and a well-dressed company on board, was preparing for the +launch. + +To give additional effect, a salute was fired from a temporary fort +erected for the occasion on a little rocky island in front of the town. +The schooner took the water in fine style, as if eager to embrace the +element which was henceforth to be subject to her. It was a moment of +intense interest. The newly launched was greeted with three cheers from +the company on board the _Great Britain_, with a salute from the little +fort, and a merry peal from the bells, which were also rung in honour of +a pretty bride that came on board with her bridegroom on their way to +visit the falls of Niagara. + +Brockville is situated just at the entrance of the lake of the Thousand +Islands, and presents a pretty appearance from the water. The town has +improved rapidly, I am told, within the last few years, and is becoming +a place of some importance. + +The shores of the St. Laurence assume a more rocky and picturesque +aspect as you advance among its thousand islands, which present every +variety of wood and rock. The steamer put in for a supply of fire-wood +at a little village on the American side the river, where also we took +on board five-and-twenty beautiful horses, which are to be exhibited at +Cobourg and York for sale. + +There was nothing at all worthy of observation in the American village, +unless I except a novelty that rather amused me. Almost every house had +a tiny wooden model of itself, about the bigness of a doll's house, (or +baby-house, I think they are called,) stuck up in front of the roof or +at the gable end. I was informed by a gentleman on board, these baby- +houses, as I was pleased to call them, were for the swallows to build +in. + +It was midnight when we passed Kingston, so of course I saw nothing of +that "key to the lakes," as I have heard it styled. When I awoke in the +morning the steamer was dashing gallantly along through the waters of +the Ontario, and I experienced a slight sensation of sickness. + +When the waters of the lake are at all agitated, as they sometimes are, +by high winds, you might imagine yourself upon a tempest-tossed sea. + +The shores of the Ontario are very fine, rising in waving lines of hill +and dale, clothed with magnificent woods, or enlivened by patches of +cultivated land and pretty dwellings. At ten o'clock we reached Cobourg. + +Cobourg, at which place we are at present, is a neatly built and +flourishing village, containing many good stores, mills, a banking- +house, and printing-office, where a newspaper is published once a week. +There is a very pretty church and a select society, many families of +respectability having fixed their residences in or near the town. + +To-morrow we leave Cobourg, and shall proceed to Peterborough, from +which place I shall again write and inform you of our future +destination, which will probably be on one of the small lakes of the +Otanabee. + + + + +LETTER V. + +Journey from Cobourg to Amherst.--Difficulties to be encountered on +first settling in the Backwoods.--Appearance of the Country.--Rice +Lake.--Indian Habits.--Voyage up the Otanabee.--Log-house, and its +Inmates.--Passage boat.--Journey on foot to Peterborough. + +Peterborough, Newcastle District. +September 8, 1832. + +We left Cobourg on the afternoon of the 1st of September in a light +waggon, comfortably lined with buffalo robes. Our fellow travellers +consisted of three gentlemen and a young lady, all of whom proved very +agreeable, and willing to afford us every information respecting the +country through which we were travelling. The afternoon was fine--one of +those rich mellow days we often experience in the early part of +September. The warm hues of autumn were already visible on the forest +trees, but rather spoke of ripeness than decay. The country round +Cobourg is well cultivated, a great portion of the woods having been +superseded by open fields, pleasant farms, and fine flourishing +orchards, with green pastures, where abundance of cattle were grazing. + +The county gaol and court-house at Amherst, about a mile and a half from +Cobourg, is a fine stone edifice, situated on a rising ground, which +commands an extensive view over the lake Ontario and surrounding +scenery. As you advance farther up the country, in the direction of the +Hamilton or Rice Lake plains, the land rises into bold sweeping hills +and dales. + +The outline of the country reminded me of the hilly part of +Gloucestershire; you want, however, the charm with which civilization +has so eminently adorned that fine county, with all its romantic +villages, flourishing towns, cultivated farms, and extensive downs, so +thickly covered with flocks and herds. Here the bold forests of oak, +beech, maple, and bass-wood, with now and then a grove of dark pine, +cover the hills, only enlivened by an occasional settlement, with its +log-house and zig-zag fences of split timber: these fences are very +offensive to my eye. I look in vain for the rich hedge rows of my native +country. Even the stone fences in the north and west of England, cold +and bare as they are, are less unsightly. The settlers, however, +invariably adopt whatever plan saves time, labour, and money. The great +law of expediency is strictly observed;--it is borne of necessity. +Matters of taste appear to be little regarded, or are, at all events, +after-considerations. + +I could see a smile hover on the lips of my fellow travellers on hearing +of our projected plans for the adornment of our future dwelling. + +"If you go into the backwoods your house must necessarily be a log- +house," said an elderly gentleman, who had been a settler many years in +the country. "For you will most probably be out of the way of a saw- +mill, and you will find so much to do, and so many obstacles to +encounter, for the first two or three years, that you will hardly have +opportunity for carrying these improvements into effect. + +"There is an old saying," he added, with a mixture of gravity and good +humour in his looks, "that I used to hear when I was a boy, 'first +creep* and then go.' [* Derived from infants crawling on all-fours +before they have strength to walk.] Matters are not carried on quite so +easily here as at home; and the truth of this a very few weeks' +acquaintance with the _bush_, as we term all unbroken forest land, will +prove. At the end of five years you may begin to talk of these pretty +improvements and elegancies, and you will then be able to see a little +what you are about." + +"I thought," said I, "every thing in this country was done with so much +expedition. I am sure I have heard and read of houses being built in a +day." The old gentleman laughed. + +"Yes, yes," he replied, "travellers find no difficulty in putting up a +house in twelve or twenty-four hours, and so the log-walls can be raised +in that time or even less; but the house is not completed when the outer +walls are up, as your husband will find to his cost." + +"But all the works on emigration that I leave read," replied I, "give a +fair and flattering picture of a settler's life; for, according to their +statements, the difficulties are easily removed." + +"Never mind books," said my companion, "use your own reason. Look on +those interminable forests, through which the eye can only penetrate a +few yards, and tell me how those vast timbers are to be removed, utterly +extirpated, I may say, from the face of the earth, the ground cleared +and burnt, a crop sown and fenced, and a house to shelter you raised, +without difficulty, without expense, and without great labour. Never +tell me of what is said in books, written very frequently by tarry-at- +home travellers. Give me facts. One honest, candid emigrant's experience +is worth all that has been written on the subject. Besides, that which +may be a true picture of one part of the country will hardly suit +another. The advantages and disadvantages arising from soil, situation, +and progress of civilization, are very different in different districts: +even the prices of goods and of produce, stock and labour, vary +exceedingly, according as you are near to, or distant from, towns and +markets." + +I began to think my fellow-traveller spoke sensibly on the subject, with +which the experience of thirteen years had made him perfectly +conversant. I began to apprehend that we also had taken too flattering a +view of a settler's life as it must be in the backwoods. Time and our +own personal knowledge will be the surest test, and to that we must bow. +We are ever prone to believe that which we wish. + +About halfway between Cobourg and the Rice Lake there is a pretty valley +between two steep hills. Here there is a good deal of cleared land and a +tavern: the place is called "Cold Springs." Who knows but some century +or two hence this spot may become a fashionable place of resort to drink +the waters. A Canadian Bath or Cheltenham may spring up where now Nature +revels in her wilderness of forest trees. + +We now ascended the plains--a fine elevation of land--for many miles +scantily clothed with oaks, and here and there bushy pines, with other +trees and shrubs. The soil is in some places sandy, but varies, I am +told, considerably in different parts, and is covered in large tracks +with rich herbage, affording abundance of the finest pasture for cattle. +A number of exquisite flowers and shrubs adorn these plains, which rival +any garden in beauty during the spring and summer months. Many of these +plants are peculiar to the plains, and are rarely met with in any other +situation. The trees, too, though inferior in size to those in the +forests, are more picturesque, growing in groups or singly, at +considerable intervals, giving a sort of park-like appearance to this +portion of the country. The prevailing opinion seems to be, that the +plains laid out in grazing or dairy farms would answer the purpose of +settlers well; as there is plenty of land that will grow wheat and other +corn-crops, and can be improved at a small expense, besides abundance of +natural pasture for cattle. One great advantage seems to be, that the +plough can be introduced directly, and the labour of preparing the +ground is necessarily much less than where it is wholly covered with +wood. + +[Illustration: Rice Grounds] + +There are several settlers on these plains possessing considerable +farms. The situation, I should think, must be healthy and agreeable, +from the elevation and dryness of the land, and the pleasant prospect +they command of the country below them, especially where the Rice Lake, +with its various islands and picturesque shores, is visible. The ground +itself is pleasingly broken into hill and valley, sometimes gently +sloping, at other times abrupt and almost precipitous. + +An American farmer, who formed one of our party at breakfast the +following morning, told me that these plains were formerly famous +hunting grounds of the Indians, who, to prevent the growth of the +timbers, burned them year after year; this, in process of time, +destroyed the young trees, so as to prevent them again from accumulating +to the extent they formerly did. Sufficient only was left to form +coverts; for the deer resort hither in great herds for the sake of a +peculiar tall sort of grass with which these plains abound, called deer- +grass, on which they become exceedingly fat at certain seasons of the +year. + +Evening closed in before we reached the tavern on the shores of the Rice +Lake, where we were to pass the night; so that I lost something of the +beautiful scenery which this fine expanse of water presents as you +descend the plains towards its shores. The glimpses I caught of it were +by the faint but frequent flashes of lightning that illumined the +horizon to the north, which just revealed enough to make me regret I +could see no more that night. The Rice Lake is prettily diversified with +small wooded islets: the north bank rises gently from the water's edge. +Within sight of Sully, the tavern from which the steam-boat starts that +goes up the Otanabee, you see several well-cultivated settlements; and +beyond the Indian village the missionaries have a school for the +education and instruction of the Indian children. Many of them can both +read and write fluently, and are greatly improved in their moral and +religious conduct. They are well and comfortably clothed, and have +houses to live in. But they are still too much attached to their +wandering habits to become good and industrious settlers. During certain +seasons they leave the village, and encamp themselves in the woods along +the borders of those lakes and rivers that present the most advantageous +hunting and fishing grounds. + +The Rice Lake and Mud Lake Indians belong, I am told, to the Chippewas; +but the traits of cunning and warlike ferocity that formerly marked this +singular people seem to have disappeared beneath the milder influence of +Christianity. + +Certain it is that the introduction of the Christian religion is the +first greatest step towards civilization and improvement; its very +tendency being to break down the strong-holds of prejudice and +ignorance, and unite mankind in one bond of social brotherhood. I have +been told that for some time drunkenness was unknown, and even the +moderate use of spirits was religiously abstained from by all the +converts. This abstinence is still practised by some families; but of +late the love of ardent spirits has again crept in among them, bringing +discredit upon their faith. It is indeed hardly to be wondered at, when +the Indian sees those around him that call themselves Christians, and +who are better educated, and enjoy the advantages of civilized society, +indulging to excess in this degrading vice, that he should suffer his +natural inclination to overcome his Christian duty, which might in some +have taken no deep root. I have been surprised and disgusted by the +censures passed on the erring Indian by persons who were foremost in +indulgence at the table and the tavern; as if the crime of drunkenness +were more excusable in the man of education than in the half-reclaimed +savage. + +There are some fine settlements on the Rice Lake, but I am told the +shores are not considered healthy, the inhabitants being subject to +lake-fevers and ague, especially where the ground is low and swampy. +These fevers and agues are supposed by some people to originate in the +extensive rice-beds which cause a stagnation in the water; the constant +evaporation from the surface acting on a mass of decaying vegetation +must tend to have a bad effect on the constitution of those that are +immediately exposed to its pernicious influence. + +Besides numerous small streams, here called _creeks_, two considerable +rivers, the Otanabee and the Trent, find an outlet for their waters in +the Rice Lake. These rivers are connected by a chain of small lakes, +which you may trace on any good map of the province. I send you a +diagram, which has been published at Cobourg, which will give you the +geography of this portion of the country. It is on one of these small +lakes we purpose purchasing land, which, should the navigation of these +waters be carried into effect, as is generally supposed to be in +contemplation, will render the lands on their shores very advantageous +to the settlers; at present they are interrupted by large blocks of +granite and limestone, rapids, and falls, which prevent any but canoes +or flat-bottomed boats from passing on them, and even these are limited +to certain parts, on account of the above-named obstacles. By deepening +the bed of the river and lakes, and forming locks in some parts and +canals, the whole sweep of these waters might be thrown open to the Bay +of Quinte. The expense, however, would necessarily be great; and till +the townships of this portion of the district be fully settled, it is +hardly to be expected that so vast an undertaking should be effected, +however desirable it may be. + +[Illustration: Sleigh driving] + +We left the tavern at Rice Lake, after an unusual delay, at nine +o'clock. The morning was damp, and a cold wind blew over the lake, which +appeared to little advantage through the drizzling rain, from which I +was glad to shroud my face in my warm plaid cloak, for there was no +cabin or other shelter in the little steamer than an inefficient awning. +This apology for a steam-boat formed a considerable contrast with the +superbly-appointed vessels we had lately been passengers in on the +Ontario and the St. Laurence. But the circumstance of a steamer at all +on the Otanabee was a matter of surprise to us, and of exultation to the +first settlers along its shores, who for many years had been contented +with no better mode of transport than a scow or a canoe for themselves +and their marketable produce, or through the worst possible roads with a +waggon or sleigh. + +The Otanabee is a fine broad, clear stream, divided into two mouths at +its entrance to the Rice Lake by a low tongue of land, too swampy to be +put under cultivation. This beautiful river (for such I consider it to +be) winds its way between thickly-wooded banks, which rise gradually as +you advance higher up the country. + +Towards noon the mists cleared off, and the sun came forth in all the +brilliant beauty of a September day. So completely were we sheltered +from the wind by the thick wall of pines on either side, that I no +longer felt the least inconvenience from the cold that had chilled me on +crossing the lake in the morning. + +To the mere passing traveller, who cares little for the minute beauties +of scenery, there is certainly a monotony in the long and unbroken line +of woods, which insensibly inspires a feeling of gloom almost touching +on sadness. Still there are objects to charm and delight the close +observer of nature. His eye will be attracted by fantastic bowers, which +are formed by the scarlet creeper (or Canadian ivy) and the wild vine, +flinging their closely-entwined wreaths of richly tinted foliage from +bough to bough of the forest trees, mingling their hues with the +splendid rose-tipped branches of the soft maple, the autumnal tints of +which are unrivalled in beauty by any of our forest trees at home. + +The purple clusters of the grape, by no means so contemptible in size as +I had been led to imagine, looked tempting to my longing eyes, as they +appeared just ripening among these forest bowers. I am told the juice +forms a delicious and highly-flavoured jelly, boiled with sufficient +quantity of sugar; the seeds are too large to make any other preparation +of them practicable. I shall endeavour, at some time or other, to try +the improvement that can be effected by cultivation. One is apt to +imagine where Nature has so abundantly bestowed fruits, that is the most +favourable climate for their attaining perfection with the assistance of +culture and soil. + +[Illustration: Silver Pine] + +The waters of the Otanabee are so clear and free from impurity that you +distinctly see every stone-pebble or shell at the bottom. Here and there +an opening in the forest reveals some tributary stream, working its way +beneath the gigantic trees that meet above it. The silence of the scene +is unbroken but by the sudden rush of the wild duck, disturbed from its +retreat among the shrubby willows, that in some parts fringe the left +bank, or the shrill cry of the kingfisher, as it darts across the water. +The steam-boat put in for a supply of fire-wood at a clearing about +half-way from Peterborough, and I gladly availed myself of the +opportunity of indulging my inclination for gathering some of the +splendid cardinal flowers that grew among the stones by the river's +brink. Here, too, I plucked as sweet a rose as ever graced an English +garden. I also found, among the grass of the meadow-land, spearmint, +and, nearer to the bank, peppermint. There was a bush resembling our +hawthorn, which, on examination, proved to be the cockspur hawthorn, +with fruit as large as cherries, pulpy, and of a pleasant tartness not +much unlike to tamarinds. The thorns of this tree were of formidable +length and strength. I should think it might be introduced with great +advantage to form live fences; the fruit, too, would prove by no means +contemptible as a preserve. + +As I felt a great curiosity to see the interior of a log-house, I +entered the open door-way of the tavern, as the people termed it, under +the pretext of buying a draught of milk. The interior of this rude +dwelling presented no very inviting aspect. The walls were of rough +unhewn logs, filled between the chinks with moss and irregular wedges of +wood to keep out the wind and rain. The unplastered roof displayed the +rafters, covered with moss and lichens, green, yellow, and grey; above +which might be seen the shingles, dyed to a fine mahogany-red by the +smoke which refused to ascend the wide clay and stone chimney, to curl +gracefully about the roof, and seek its exit in the various crannies and +apertures with which the roof and sides of the building abounded. + +The floor was of earth, which had become pretty hard and smooth through +use. This hut reminded me of the one described by the four Russian +sailors that were left to winter on the island of Spitzbergen. Its +furniture was of corresponding rudeness; a few stools, rough and +unplaned; a deal table, which, from being manufactured from unseasoned +wood, was divided by three wide open seams, and was only held together +by its ill-shaped legs; two or three blocks of grey granite placed +beside the hearth served for seats for the children, with the addition +of two beds raised a little above the ground by a frame of split cedars. +On these lowly couches lay extended two poor men, suffering under the +wasting effects of lake-fever. Their yellow bilious faces strangely +contrasted with the gay patchwork-quilts that covered them. I felt much +concerned for the poor emigrants, who told me they had not been many +weeks in the country when they were seized with the fever and ague. They +both had wives and small children, who seemed very miserable. The wives +also had been sick with ague, and had not a house or even shanty of +their own up; the husbands having fallen ill were unable to do anything; +and much of the little money they had brought out with them had been +expended in board and lodging in this miserable place, which they +dignified by the name of tavern. I cannot say I was greatly prepossessed +in favour of their hostess, a harsh, covetous woman. Besides the various +emigrants, men, women, and children, that lodged within the walls, the +log-house had tenants of another description. A fine calf occupied a pen +in a corner; some pigs roamed grunting about in company with some half- +dozen fowls. The most attractive objects were three snow-white pigeons, +that were meekly picking up crumbs, and looking as if they were too pure +and innocent to be inhabitants of such a place. + +Owing to the shallowness of the river at this season, and to the rapids, +the steam-boat is unable to go up the whole way to Peterborough, and a +scow or rowboat, as it is sometimes termed--a huge, unwieldy, flat- +bottomed machine--meets the passengers at a certain part of the river, +within sight of a singular pine tree on the right bank; this is termed +the "Yankee bonnet," from the fancied resemblance of the topmost boughs +to a sort of cap worn by the Yankees, not much unlike the blue bonnet of +Scotland. + +Unfortunately, the steamer ran aground some four miles below the usual +place of rendezvous, and we waited till near four o'clock for the scow. +When it made its appearance, we found, to our discomfort, the rowers +(eight in number, and all Irishmen) were under the exciting influence of +a cag of whiskey, which they had drunk dry on the voyage. They were +moreover exasperated by the delay on the part of the steamer, which gave +them four miles additional heavy rowing. Beside a number of passengers +there was an enormous load of furniture, trunks, boxes, chests, sacks of +wheat, barrels of flour, salt, and pork, with many miscellaneous +packages and articles, small and great, which were piled to a height +that I thought very unsafe both to goods and passengers. + +With a marvellous ill grace the men took up their oars when their load +was completed, but declared they would go on shore and make a fire and +cook their dinners, they not having eaten any food, though they had +taken large potations of the whiskey. This measure was opposed by some +of the gentlemen, and a fierce and angry scene ensued, which ended in +the mutineers flinging down their oars, and positively refusing to row +another stroke till they had satisfied their hunger. + +Perhaps I had a fellow-feeling for them, as I began to be exceedingly +hungry, almost ravenous, myself, having fasted since six that morning; +indeed, so faint was I, that I was fain to get my husband to procure me +a morsel of the coarse uninviting bread that was produced by the rowers, +and which they ate with huge slices of raw pickled pork, seasoning this +unseemly meal with curses "not loud but deep," and bitter taunts against +those who prevented them from cooking their food like _Christians_. + +While I was eagerly eating the bit of bread, an old farmer, who had eyed +me for some time with a mixture of curiosity and compassion, said, "Poor +thing: well, you do seem hungry indeed, and I dare say are just out from +the _ould_ country, and so little used to such hard fare. Here are some +cakes that my woman (i.e. wife) put in my pocket when I left home; I +care nothing for them, but they are better than that bad bread; take +'em, and welcome." With these words he tossed some very respectable +home-made seed-cakes into my lap, and truly never was anything more +welcome than this seasonable refreshment. + +A sullen and gloomy spirit seemed to prevail among our boatmen, which by +no means diminished as the evening drew on, and "the rapids were near." +The sun had set, and the moon and stars rose brilliantly over the still +waters, which gave back the reflections of their glorious multitude of +heavenly bodies. A sight so passing fair might have stilled the most +turbulent spirits into peace; at least so I thought, as, wrapped in my +cloak, I leant back against the supporting arm of my husband, and +looking from the waters to the sky, and from the sky to the waters, with +delight and admiration. My pleasant reverie was, however, soon ended, +when I suddenly felt the boat touch the rocky bank, and heard the +boatmen protesting they would go no further that night. We were nearly +three miles below Peterborough, and how I was to walk this distance, +weakened as I was by recent illness and fatigue of our long travelling, +I knew not. To spend the night in an open boat, exposed to the heavy +dews arising from the river, would be almost death. While we were +deliberating on what to do, the rest of the passengers had made up their +minds, and taken the way through the woods by a road they were well +acquainted with. They were soon out of sight, all but one gentleman, who +was bargaining with one of the rowers to take him and his dog across the +river at the head of the rapids in a skiff. + +Imagine our situation, at ten o'clock at night, without knowing a single +step of our road, put on shore to find the way to the distant town as we +best could, or pass the night in the dark forest. + +Almost in despair, we entreated the gentleman to be our guide as far as +he went. But so many obstacles beset our path in the form of newly- +chopped trees and blocks of stone, scattered along the shore, that it +was with the utmost difficulty we could keep him in sight. At last we +came up with him at the place appointed to meet the skiff, and, with a +pertinacity that at another time and in other circumstances we never +should have adopted, we all but insisted on being admitted into the +boat. An angry growling consent was extorted from the surly Charon, and +we hastily entered the frail bark, which seemed hardly calculated to +convey us in safety to the opposite shore. + +I could not help indulging in a feeling of indescribable fear, as I +listened to the torrent of profane invective that burst forth +continually from the lips of the boatman. Once or twice we were in +danger of being overset by the boughs of the pines and cedars which had +fallen into the water near the banks. Right glad was I when we reached +the opposite shores; but here a new trouble arose: there was yet more +untracked wood to cross before we again met the skiff which had to pass +up a small rapid, and meet us at the head of the small lake, an +expansion of the Otanabee a little below Peterborough. At the distance +of every few yards our path was obstructed by fallen trees, mostly +hemlock, spruce, or cedar, the branches of which are so thickly +interwoven that it is scarcely possible to separate them, or force a +passage through the tangled thicket which they form. + +Had it not been for the humane assistance of our conductor, I know not +how I should have surmounted these difficulties. Sometimes I was ready +to sink down from very weariness. At length I hailed, with a joy I could +hardly have supposed possible, the gruff voice of the Irish rower, and, +after considerable grumbling on his part, we were again seated. + +Glad enough we were to see, by the blazing light of an enormous log- +heap, the house of our friend. Here we received the offer of a guide to +show us the way to the town by a road cut through the wood. We partook +of the welcome refreshment of tea, and, having gained a little strength +by a short rest, we once more commenced our journey, guided by a ragged, +but polite, Irish boy, whose frankness and good humour quite won our +regards. He informed us he was one of seven orphans, who had lost father +and mother in the cholera. It was a sad thing, he said, to be left +fatherless and motherless, in a strange land; and he swept away the +tears that gathered in his eyes as he told the simple, but sad tale of +his early bereavement; but added, cheerfully, he had met with a kind +master, who had taken some of his brothers and sisters into his service +as well as himself. + +Just as we were emerging from the gloom of the wood we found our +progress impeded by a _creek_, as the boy called it, over which he told +us we must pass by a log-bridge before we could get to the town. Now, +the log-bridge was composed of one log, or rather a fallen tree, thrown +across the stream, rendered very slippery by the heavy dew that had +risen from the swamp. As the log admitted of only one person at a time, +I could receive no assistance from my companions; and, though our little +guide, with a natural politeness arising from the benevolence of his +disposition, did me all the service in his power by holding the lantern +close to the surface to throw all the light he could on the subject, I +had the ill luck to fall in up to my knees in the water, my head turning +quite giddy just as I came to the last step or two; thus was I wet as +well as weary. To add to our misfortune we saw the lights disappear, one +by one, in the village, till a solitary candle, glimmering from the +upper chambers of one or two houses, were our only beacons. We had yet a +lodging to seek, and it was near midnight before we reached the door of +the principal inn; there, at least, thought I, our troubles for to-night +will end; but great was our mortification on being told there was not a +spare bed to be had in the house, every one being occupied by emigrants +going up to one of the back townships. + +I could go no further, and we petitioned for a place by the kitchen +fire, where we might rest, at least, if not sleep, and I might dry my +wet garments. On seeing my condition the landlady took compassion on me, +led me to a blazing fire, which her damsels quickly roused up; one +brought a warm bath for my feet, while another provided a warm potation, +which, I really believe, strange and unusual to my lips as it was, did +me good: in short, we received every kindness and attention that we +required from mine host and hostess, who relinquished their own bed for +our accommodation, contenting themselves with a shakedown before the +kitchen fire. + +I can now smile at the disasters of _that_ day, but at the time they +appeared no trifles, as you may well suppose. + +Farewell, my dearest Mother. + + + + +LETTER VI. + +Peterborough.--Manners and Language of the Americans.--Scotch +Engineman.--Description of Peterborough and its Environs.--Canadian +Flowers.--Shanties.--Hardships suffered by first Settlers.--Process of +establishing a Farm. + +Peterborough, Sept. 11, 1832. + +IT is now settled that we abide here till after the government sale has +taken place. We are, then, to remain with S------ and his family till we +have got a few acres chopped, and a log-house put up on our own land. +Having determined to go at once into the bush, on account of our +military grant, which we have been so fortunate as to draw in the +neighbourhood of S------, we have fully made up our minds to enter at +once, and cheerfully, on the privations and inconveniences attending +such a situation; as there is no choice between relinquishing that great +advantage and doing our settlement duties. We shall not be worse off +than others who have gone before us to the unsettled townships, many of +whom, naval and military officers, with their families, have had to +struggle with considerable difficulties, but who are now beginning to +feel the advantages arising from their exertions. + +In addition to the land he is entitled to as an officer in the British +service, my husband is in treaty for the purchase of an eligible lot by +small lakes. This will give us a water frontage, and a further +inducement to bring us within a little distance of S------; so that we +shall not be quite so lonely as if we had gone on to our government lot +at once. + +We have experienced some attention and hospitality from several of the +residents of Peterborough. There is a very genteel society, chiefly +composed of officers and their families, besides the professional men +and storekeepers. Many of the latter are persons of respectable family +and good education. Though a store is, in fact, nothing better than what +we should call in the country towns at home a "_general shop_," yet the +storekeeper in Canada holds a very different rank from the shopkeeper of +the English village. The storekeepers are the merchants and bankers of +the places in which they reside. Almost all money matters are transacted +by them, and they are often men of landed property and consequence, not +unfrequently filling the situations of magistrates, commissioners, and +even members of the provincial parliament. + +As they maintain a rank in society which entitles them to equality with +the aristocracy of the country, you must not be surprised when I tell +you that it is no uncommon circumstance to see the sons of naval and +military officers and clergymen standing behind a counter, or wielding +an axe in the woods with their fathers' choppers; nor do they lose their +grade in society by such employment. After all, it is education and +manners that must distinguish the gentleman in this country, seeing that +the labouring man, if he is diligent and industrious, may soon become +his equal in point of worldly possessions. The ignorant man, let him be +ever so wealthy, can never be equal to the man of education. It is the +mind that forms the distinction between the classes in this country-- +"Knowledge is power!" + +We had heard so much of the odious manners of the Yankees in this +country that I was rather agreeably surprised by the few specimens of +native Americans that I have seen. They were for the most part, polite, +well-behaved people. The only peculiarities I observed in them were a +certain nasal twang in speaking, and some few odd phrases; but these +were only used by the lower class, who "_guess_" and "_calculate_" a +little more than we do. One of their most remarkable terms is to +"_Fix_." Whatever work requires to be done it must be _fixed_. "Fix the +room" is, set it in order. "Fix the table"--"Fix the fire," says the +mistress to her servants, and the things are fixed accordingly. + +I was amused one day by hearing a woman tell her husband the chimney +wanted fixing. I thought it seemed secure enough, and was a little +surprised when the man got a rope and a few cedar boughs, with which he +dislodged an accumulation of soot that caused the fire to smoke. The +chimney being _fixed_, all went right again. This odd term is not +confined to the lower orders alone, and, from hearing it so often, it +becomes a standard word even among the later emigrants from our own +country. + +With the exception of some few remarkable expressions, and an attempt at +introducing fine words in their every-day conversation, the lower order +of Yankees have a decided advantage over our English peasantry in the +use of grammatical language: they speak better English than you will +hear from persons of the same class in any part of England, Ireland, or +Scotland; a fact that we should be unwilling, I suppose, to allow at +home. + +If I were asked what appeared to me the most striking feature in the +manners of the Americans that I had met with, I should say it was +coldness approaching to apathy. I do not at all imagine them to be +deficient in feeling or real sensibility, but they do not suffer their +emotion to be seen. They are less profuse in their expressions of +welcome and kindness than we are, though probably quite as sincere. No +one doubts their hospitality; but, after all, one likes to see the +hearty shake of the hand, and hear the cordial word that makes one feel +oneself welcome. + +Persons who come to this country are very apt to confound the old +settlers from Britain with the native Americans; and when they meet with +people of rude, offensive manners, using certain Yankee words in their +conversation, and making a display of independence not exactly suitable +to their own aristocratical notions, they immediately suppose they must +be genuine Yankees, while they are, in fact, only imitators; and you +well know the fact that a bad imitation is always worse than the +original. + +You would be surprised to see how soon the new comers fall into this +disagreeable manner and affectation of equality, especially the inferior +class of Irish and Scotch; the English less so. We were rather +entertained by the behaviour of a young Scotchman, the engineer of the +steamer, on my husband addressing him with reference to the management +of the engine. His manners were surly, and almost insolent. He +scrupulously avoided the least approach to courtesy or outward respect; +nay, he even went so far as to seat himself on the bench close beside +me, and observed that "among the many advantages this country offered to +settlers like him, he did not reckon it the least of them that he was +not obliged to take off his hat when he spoke to people (meaning persons +of our degree), or address them by any other title than their name; +besides, he could go and take his seat beside any gentleman or lady +either, and think himself to the full as good as them. + +"Very likely," I replied, hardly able to refrain from laughing at this +sally; "but I doubt you greatly overrate the advantage of such +privileges, for you cannot oblige the lady or gentleman to entertain the +same opinion of your qualifications, or to remain seated beside you +unless it pleases them to do so." With these words I rose up and left +the independent gentleman evidently a little confounded at the +manoeuvre: however, he soon recovered his self-possession, and continued +swinging the axe he held in his hand, and said, "It is no crime, I +guess, being born a poor man." + +"None in the world," replied my husband; "a man's birth is not of his +own choosing. A man can no more help being born poor than rich; neither +is it the fault of a gentleman being born of parents who occupy a higher +station in society than his neighbour. I hope you will allow this?" + +The Scotchman was obliged to yield a reluctant affirmative to the latter +position; but concluded with again repeating his satisfaction at not +being obliged in this country to take off his hat, or speak with respect +to gentlemen, as they styled themselves. + +"No one, my friend, could have obliged you to be well mannered at home +any more than in Canada. Surely you could have kept your hat on your +head if you had been so disposed; no gentleman would have knocked it +off, I am sure. + +"As to the boasted advantage of rude manners in Canada, I should think +something of it if it benefited you the least, or put one extra dollar +in your pocket; but I have my doubts if it has that profitable effect." + +"There is a comfort, I guess, in considering oneself equal to a +gentleman." + +"Particularly if you could induce the gentleman to think the same." This +was a point that seemed rather to disconcert our candidate for equality, +who commenced whistling and kicking his heels with redoubled energy. + +"Now," said his tormentor, "you have explained your notions of Canadian +independence; be so good as to explain the machinery of your engine, +with which you seem very well acquainted." + +The man eyed my husband for a minute, half sulking, half pleased at the +implied compliment on his skill, and, walking off to the engine, +discussed the management of it with considerable fluency, and from that +time treated us with perfect respect. He was evidently struck with my +husband's reply to his question, put in a most discourteous tone, "Pray, +what makes a gentleman: I'll thank you to answer me that?" "Good manners +and good education," was the reply. "A rich man or a high-born man, if +he is rude, ill-mannered, and ignorant, is no more a gentleman than +yourself." + +This put the matter on a different footing, and the engineer had the +good sense to perceive that rude familiarity did not constitute a +gentleman. + +But it is now time I should give you some account of Peterborough, +which, in point of situation, is superior to any place I have yet seen +in the Upper Province. It occupies a central point between the townships +of Monaghan, Smith, Cavan, Otanabee, and Douro, and may with propriety +be considered as the capital of the Newcastle district. + +It is situated on a fine elevated plain, just above the small lake, +where the river is divided by two low wooded islets. The original or +government part of the town is laid out in half-acre lots; the streets, +which are now fast filling up, are nearly at right angles with the +river, and extend towards the plains to the northeast. These plains form +a beautiful natural park, finely diversified with hill and dale, covered +with a lovely green sward, enamelled with a variety of the most +exquisite flowers, and planted, as if by Nature's own hand, with groups +of feathery pines, oaks, balsam, poplar, and silver birch. The views +from these plains are delightful; whichever way you turn your eyes they +are gratified by a diversity of hill and dale, wood and water, with the +town spreading over a considerable tract of ground. + +The plains descend with a steep declivity towards the river, which +rushes with considerable impetuosity between its banks. Fancy a long, +narrow valley, and separating the east and west portions of the town +into two distinct villages. + +[Illustration: Spruce] + +The Otanabee bank rises to a loftier elevation than the Monaghan side, +and commands an extensive view over the intervening valley, the opposite +town, and the boundary forest and hills behind it: this is called +Peterborough East, and is in the hands of two or three individuals of +large capital, from whom the town lots are purchased. + +Peterborough thus divided covers a great extent of ground, more than +sufficient for the formation of a large city. The number of inhabitants +are now reckoned at seven hundred and upwards, and if it continues to +increase as rapidly in the next few years as it has done lately, it will +soon be a very populous town*. + +[*Since this account of Peterborough was written, the town has increased +at least a third in buildings and population.] + +There is great water-power, both as regards the river and the fine broad +creek which winds its way through the town and falls into the small lake +below. There are several saw and grist-mills, a distillery, fulling- +mill, two principal inns, beside smaller ones, a number of good stores, +a government school-house, which also serves for a church, till one more +suitable should be built. The plains are sold off in park lots, and some +pretty little dwellings are being built, but I much fear the natural +beauties of this lovely spot will be soon spoiled. + +I am never weary with strolling about, climbing the hills in every +direction, to catch some new prospect, or gather some new flowers, +which, though getting late in the summer, are still abundant. + +Among the plants with whose names I am acquainted are a variety of +shrubby asters, of every tint of blue, purple, and pearly white; a lilac +_monarda_, most delightfully aromatic, even to the dry stalks and seed- +vessels; the white _gnaphalium_ or everlasting flower; roses of several +kinds, a few late buds of which I found in a valley, near the church. I +also noticed among the shrubs a very pretty little plant, resembling our +box; it trails along the ground, sending up branches and shoots; the +leaves turn of a deep copper red*; yet, in spite of this contradiction, +it is an evergreen. I also noticed some beautiful lichens, with coral +caps surmounting the grey hollow footstalks, which grow in irregular +tufts among the dry mosses, or more frequently I found them covering the +roots of the trees or half-decayed timbers. Among a variety of fungi I +gathered a hollow cup of the most splendid scarlet within, and a pale +fawn colour without; another very beautiful fungi consisted of small +branches like clusters of white coral, but of so delicate a texture that +the slightest touch caused them to break. + +[* Probably a _Gaultkeria_.--Ed.] + +The ground in many places was covered with a thick carpet of +strawberries of many varieties, which afford a constant dessert during +the season to those who choose to pick them, a privilege of which I am +sure I should gladly avail myself were I near them in the summer. Beside +the plants I have myself observed in blossom, I am told the spring and +summer produce many others;--the orange lily; the phlox, or purple +_lichnidea_; the mocassin flower, or ladies' slipper; lilies of the +valley in abundance; and, towards the banks of the creek and the +Otanabee, the splendid cardinal flower (_lobelia cardinalis_) waves its +scarlet spikes of blossoms. + +I am half inclined to be angry when I admire the beauty of the Canadian +flowers, to be constantly reminded that they are scentless, and +therefore scarcely worthy of attention; as if the eye could not be +charmed by beauty of form and harmony of colours, independent of the +sense of smelling being gratified. + +To redeem this country from the censure cast on it by a very clever +gentleman I once met in London, who said, "the flowers were without +perfume, and the birds without song," I have already discovered several +highly aromatic plants and flowers. The milkweed must not be omitted +among these; a beautiful shrubby plant with purple flowers, which are +alike remarkable for beauty of colour and richness of scent. + +I shall very soon begin to collect a hortus siccus for Eliza, with a +description of the plants, growth, and qualities. Any striking +particulars respecting them I shall make notes of; and tell her she may +depend on my sending my specimens, with seeds of such as I can collect, +at some fitting opportunity. + +I consider this country opens a wide and fruitful field to the inquiries +of the botanist. I now deeply regret I did not benefit by the frequent +offers Eliza made me of prosecuting a study which I once thought dry, +but now regard as highly interesting, and the fertile source of mental +enjoyment, especially to those who, living in the bush, must necessarily +be shut out from the pleasures of a large circle of friends, and the +varieties that a town or village offer. + +On Sunday I went to church; the first opportunity I had had of attending +public worship since I was in the Highlands of Scotland; and surely I +had reason to bow my knees in thankfulness to that merciful God who had +brought us through the perils of the great deep and the horrors of the +pestilence. + +Never did our beautiful Liturgy seem so touching and impressive as it +did that day,--offered up in our lowly log-built church in the +wilderness. + +This simple edifice is situated at the foot of a gentle slope on the +plains, surrounded by groups of oak and feathery pines, which, though +inferior in point of size to the huge pines and oaks of the forest, are +far more agreeable to the eye, branching out in a variety of fantastic +forms. The turf here is of an emerald greenness: in short, it is a sweet +spot, retired from the noise and bustle of the town, a fitting place in +which to worship God in spirit and in truth. + +There are many beautiful walks towards the Smith town hills, and along +the banks that overlook the river. The summit of this ridge is sterile, +and is thickly set with loose blocks of red and grey granite, +interspersed with large masses of limestone scattered in every +direction; they are mostly smooth and rounded, as if by the action of +water. As they are detached, and merely occupy the surface of the +ground, it seemed strange to me how they came at that elevation. A +geologist would doubtless be able to solve the mystery in a few minutes. +The oaks that grow on this high bank are rather larger and more +flourishing than those in the valleys and more fertile portions of the +soil. + +Behind the town, in the direction of the Cavan and Emily roads, is a +wide space which I call the "squatter's ground," it being entirely +covered with shanties, in which the poor emigrants, commuted pensioners, +and the like, have located themselves and families. Some remain here +under the ostensible reason of providing a shelter for their wives and +children till they have prepared a home for their reception on their +respective grants; but not unfrequently it happens that they are too +indolent, or really unable to work on their lots, often situated many +miles in the backwoods, and in distant and unsettled townships, +presenting great obstacles to the poor emigrant, which it requires more +energy and courage to encounter than is possessed by a vast number of +them. Others, of idle and profligate habits, spend the money they +received, and sell the land, for which they gave away their pensions, +after which they remain miserable squatters on the shanty ground. + +The shanty is a sort of primitive hut in Canadian architecture, and is +nothing more than a shed built of logs, the chinks between the round +edges of the timbers being filled with mud, moss, and bits of wood; the +roof is frequently composed of logs split and hollowed with the axe, and +placed side by side, so that the edges rest on each other; the concave +and convex surfaces being alternately uppermost, every other log forms a +channel to carry off the rain and melting snow. The eaves of this +building resemble the scolloped edges of a clam shell; but rude as this +covering is, it effectually answers the purpose of keeping the interior +dry; far more so than the roofs formed of bark or boards, through which +the rain will find entrance. Sometimes the shanty has a window, +sometimes only an open doorway, which admits the light and lets out the +smoke*. A rude chimney, which is often nothing better than an opening +cut in one of the top logs above the hearth, a few boards fastened in a +square form, serves as the vent for the smoke; the only precaution +against the fire catching the log walls behind the hearth being a few +large stones placed in a half circular form, or more commonly a bank of +dry earth raised against the wall. + +[* I was greatly amused by the remark made by a little Irish boy, that +we hired to be our hewer of wood and drawer of water, who had been an +inhabitant of one of these shanties. "Ma'am" said he, "when the weather +was stinging cold, we did not know how to keep ourselves warm; for while +we roasted our eyes out before the fire our backs were just freezing; so +first we turned one side and then the other, just as you would roast a +_guse_ on a spit. Mother spent half the money father earned at his straw +work (he was a straw chair maker,) in whiskey to keep us warm; but I do +think a larger mess of good hot _praters_ (potatoes,) would have kept us +warmer than the whiskey did."] + +Nothing can be more comfortless than some of these shanties, reeking +with smoke and dirt, the common receptacle for children, pigs, and +fowls. But I have given you the dark side of the picture; I am happy to +say all the shanties on the squatters' ground were not like these: on +the contrary, by far the larger proportion were inhabited by tidy folks, +and had one, or even two small windows, and a clay chimney regularly +built up through the roof; some were even roughly floored, and possessed +similar comforts with the small log-houses. + +[Illustration: Log house] + +You will, perhaps, think it strange when I assure you that many +respectable settlers, with their wives and families, persons delicately +nurtured, and accustomed to every comfort before they came hither, have +been contented to inhabit a hut of this kind during the first or second +year of their settlement in the woods. + +I have listened with feelings of great interest to the history of the +hardships endured by some of the first settlers in the neighbourhood, +when Peterborough contained but two dwelling houses. Then there were +neither roads cut nor boats built for communicating with the distant and +settled parts of the district; consequently the difficulties of +procuring supplies of provisions was very great, beyond what any one +that has lately come hither can form any notion of. + +When I heard of a whole family having had no better supply of flour than +what could be daily ground by a small hand-mill, and for weeks being +destitute of every necessary, not even excepting bread, I could not help +expressing some surprise, never having met with any account in the works +I had read concerning emigration that at all prepared one for such +evils. + +"These particular trials," observed my intelligent friend, "are confined +principally to the first breakers of the soil in the unsettled parts of +the country, as was our case. If you diligently question some of the +families of the lower class that are located far from the towns, and who +had little or no means to support them during the first twelve months, +till they could take a crop off the land, you will hear many sad tales +of distress." + +Writers on emigration do not take the trouble of searching out these +things, nor does it answer their purpose to state disagreeable facts. +Few have written exclusively on the "Bush." Travellers generally make a +hasty journey through the long settled and prosperous portions of the +country; they see a tract of fertile, well-cultivated land, the result +of many years of labour; they see comfortable dwellings, abounding with +all the substantial necessaries of life; the farmer's wife makes her own +soap, candles, and sugar; the family are clothed in cloth of their own +spinning, and hose of their own knitting. The bread, the beer, butter, +cheese, meat, poultry, &c. are all the produce of the farm. He +concludes, therefore, that Canada is a land of Canaan, and writes a book +setting forth these advantages, with the addition of obtaining land for +a mere song; and advises all persons who would be independent and secure +from want to emigrate. + +He forgets that these advantages are the result of long years of +unremitting and patient labour; that these things are the _crown_, not +the _first-fruits_ of the settler's toil; and that during the interval +many and great privations must be submitted to by almost every class of +emigrants. + +Many persons, on first coming out, especially if they go back into any +of the unsettled townships, are dispirited by the unpromising appearance +of things about them. They find none of the advantages and comforts of +which they had heard and read, and they are unprepared for the present +difficulties; some give way to despondency, and others quit the place in +disgust. + +[Illustration: Log-Village--Arrival of a Stage-coach] + +A little reflection would have shown them that every rood of land must +be cleared of the thick forest of timber that encumbers it before an ear +of wheat can be grown; that, after the trees have been chopped, cut into +lengths, drawn together, or _logged_, as we call it, and burned, the +field must be fenced, the seed sown, harvested, and thrashed before any +returns can be obtained; that this requires time and much labour, and, +if hired labour, considerable outlay of ready money; and in the mean +time a family must eat. If at a distance from a store, every article +must be brought through bad roads either by hand or with a team, the +hire of which is generally costly in proportion to the distance and +difficulty to be encountered in the conveyance. Now these things are +better known beforehand, and then people are aware what they have to +encounter. + +Even a labouring man, though he have land of his own, is often, I may +say generally, obliged to _hire out_ to work for the first year or two, +to earn sufficient for the maintenance of his family; and even so many +of them suffer much privation before they reap the benefit of their +independence. Were it not for the hope and the certain prospect of +bettering their condition ultimately, they would sink under what they +have to endure; but this thought buoys them up. They do not fear an old +age of want and pauperism; the present evils must yield to industry and +perseverance; they think also for their children; and the trials of the +present time are lost in pleasing anticipations for the future. + +"Surely," said I, "cows and pigs and poultry might be kept; and you know +where there is plenty of milk, butter, cheese, and eggs, with pork and +fowls, persons cannot be very badly off for food." + +"Very true," replied my friend; "but I must tell you it is easier to +talk of these things at first than to keep them, unless on cleared or +partially cleared farms; but we are speaking of a _first_ settlement in +the backwoods. Cows, pigs, and fowls must eat, and if you have nothing +to give them unless you purchase it, and perhaps have to bring it from +some distance, you had better not be troubled with them, as the trouble +is certain and the profit doubtful. A cow, it is true, will get her +living during the open months of the year in the bush, but sometimes she +will ramble away for days together, and then you lose the use of her, +and possibly much time in seeking her; then in the winter she requires +some additional food to the _browse_* that she gets during the chopping +season, or ten to one but she dies before spring; and as cows generally +lose their milk during the cold weather, if not very well kept, it is +best to part with them in the fall and buy again in the spring, unless +you have plenty of food for them, which is not often the case the first +winter. As to pigs they are great plagues on a newly cleared farm if you +cannot fat them off-hand; and that you cannot do without you buy food +for them, which does not answer to do at first. If they run loose they +are a terrible annoyance both to your own crops and your neighbours if +you happen to be within half a mile of one; for though you may fence out +cattle you cannot pigs: even poultry require something more than they +pick up about the dwelling to be of any service to you, and are often +taken off by hawks, eagles, foxes, and pole-cats, till you have proper +securities for them." + +[* The cattle are supported in a great measure during the fall and +winter by eating the tender shoots of the maple, beech and bass, which +they seek in the newly-chopped fallow; but they should likewise be +allowed straw or other food, or they will die in the very hard weather.] + +"Then how are we to spin our own wool and make our own soap and +candles?" said I. "When you are able to kill your own sheep, and hogs, +and oxen, unless you buy wool and tallow"--then, seeing me begin to look +somewhat disappointed, he said, "Be not cast down, you will have all +these things in time, and more than these, never fear, if you have +patience, and use the means of obtaining them. In the mean while prepare +your mind for many privations to which at present you are a stranger; +and if you would desire to see your husband happy and prosperous, be +content to use economy, and above all, be cheerful. In a few years the +farm will supply you with all the necessaries of life, and by and by you +may even enjoy many of the luxuries. Then it is that a settler begins to +taste the real and solid advantages of his emigration; then he feels the +blessings of a country where there are no taxes, tithes, nor poor-rates; +then he truly feels the benefit of independence. It is looking forward +to this happy fulfillment of his desires that makes the rough paths +smooth, and lightens the burden of present ills. He looks round upon a +numerous family without those anxious fears that beset a father in +moderate circumstances at home; for he knows he does not leave them +destitute of an honest means of support." + +In spite of all the trials he had encountered, I found this gentleman +was so much attached to a settler's life, that he declared he would not +go back to his own country to reside for a permanence on any account; +nor is he the only one that I have heard express the same opinion; and +it likewise seems a universal one among the lower class of emigrants. +They are encouraged by the example of others whom they see enjoying +comforts that they could never have obtained had they laboured ever so +hard at home; and they wisely reflect they must have had hardships to +endure had they remained in their native land (many indeed had been +driven out by want), without the most remote chance of bettering +themselves or becoming the possessors of land free from all +restrictions. "What to us are the sufferings of one, two, three, or even +four years, compared with a whole life of labour and poverty," was the +remark of a poor labourer, who was recounting to us the other day some +of the hardships he had met with in this country. He said he "knew they +were only for a short time, and that by industry he should soon get over +them." + +I have already seen two of our poor neighbours that left the parish a +twelvemonth ago; they are settled in Canada Company lots, and are +getting on well. They have some few acres cleared and cropped, but are +obliged to "_hire out_", to enable their families to live, working on +their own land when they can. The men are in good spirits, and say "they +shall in a few years have many comforts about them that they never could +have got at home, had they worked late and early; but they complain that +their wives are always pining for home, and lamenting that ever they +crossed the seas." This seems to be the general complaint with all +classes; the women are discontented and unhappy. Few enter with their +whole heart into a settler's life. They miss the little domestic +comforts they had been used to enjoy; they regret the friends and +relations they left in the old country; and they cannot endure the +loneliness of the backwoods. + +This prospect does not discourage me: I know I shall find plenty of +occupation within-doors, and I have sources of enjoyment when I walk +abroad that will keep me from being dull. Besides, have I not a right to +be cheerful and contented for the sake of my beloved partner? The change +is not greater for me than him; and if for his sake I have voluntarily +left home, and friends, and country, shall I therefore sadden him by +useless regrets? I am always inclined to subscribe to that sentiment of +my favourite poet, Goldsmith,-- + +"Still to ourselves in every place consign'd, +Our own felicity we make or find." + +But I shall very soon be put to the test, as we leave this town to- +morrow by ten o'clock. The purchase of the Lake lot is concluded. There +are three acres chopped and a shanty up; but the shanty is not a +habitable dwelling, being merely an open shed that was put up by the +choppers as a temporary shelter; so we shall have to build a house. Late +enough we are; too late to get in a full crop, as the land is merely +chopped, not cleared, and it is too late now to log and burn the fallow, +and get the seed-wheat in: but it will be ready for spring crops. We +paid five dollars and a half per acre for the lot; this was rather high +for wild land, so far from a town, and in a scantily-settled part of the +township; but the situation is good, and has a water frontage, for which +my husband was willing to pay something more than if the lot had been +further inland. + +In all probability it will be some time before I find leisure again to +take up my pen. We shall remain guests with ------ till our house is in +a habitable condition, which I suppose will be about Christmas. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +Journey from Peterborough.--Canadian Woods.--Waggon and Team.--Arrival +at a Log-house on the Banks of a Lake.--Settlement and first +Occupations. + +October 25, 1832. + +I SHALL begin my letter with a description of our journey through the +bush, and so go on, giving an account of our proceedings both within- +doors and with-out. I know my little domestic details will not prove +wholly uninteresting to you; for well I am assured that a mother's eye +is never weary with reading lines traced by the hand of an absent and +beloved child. + +After some difficulty we succeeded in hiring a waggon and span (i.e. +pair abreast) of stout horses to convey us and our luggage through the +woods to the banks of one of the lakes, where S------ had appointed to +ferry us across. There was no palpable road, only a blaze on the other +side, encumbered by fallen trees, and interrupted by a great cedar +swamp, into which one might sink up to one's knees, unless we took the +precaution to step along the trunks of the mossy, decaying timbers, or +make our footing sure on some friendly block of granite or limestone. +What is termed in bush language a _blaze_, is nothing more than notches +or slices cut off the bark of the trees, to mark out the line of road. +The boundaries of the different lots are often marked by a blazed tree, +also the concession-lines*. These blazes are of as much use as finger- +posts of a dark night. + +[* These concession-lines are certain divisions of the townships; these +are again divided into so many lots of 200 acres. The concession-lines +used to be marked by a wide avenue being chopped, so as to form a road +of communication between them; but this plan was found too troublesome; +and in a few years the young growth of timber so choked the opening, +that it was of little use. The lately-surveyed townships, I believe, are +only divided by blazed lines.] + +The road we were compelled to take lay over the Peterborough plains, in +the direction of the river; the scenery of which pleased me much, though +it presents little appearance of fertility, with the exception of two or +three extensive clearings. + +About three miles above Peterborough the road winds along the brow of a +steep ridge, the bottom of which has every appearance of having been +formerly the bed of a lateral branch of the present river, or perhaps +some small lake, which has been diverted from its channel, and merged in +the Otanabee. + +On either side of this ridge there is a steep descent; on the right the +Otanabee breaks upon you, rushing with great velocity over its rocky +bed, forming rapids in miniature resembling those of the St. Laurence; +its dark, frowning woods of sombre pine give a grandeur to the scenery +that is very impressive. On the left lies below you a sweet secluded +dell of evergreens, cedar, hemlock, and pine, enlivened by a few +deciduous trees. Through this dell there is a road-track leading to a +fine cleared farm, the green pastures of which were rendered more +pleasing by the absence of the odious stumps that disfigure the +clearings in this part of the country. A pretty bright stream flows +through the low meadow that lies at the foot of the hill, which you +descend suddenly close by a small grist-mill that is worked by the +waters, just where they meet the rapids of the river. + +[Illustration: Road through a Pine Forest] + +I called this place "Glen Morrison," partly from the remembrance of the +lovely Glen Morrison of the Highlands, and partly because it was the +name of the settler that owned the spot. + +Our progress was but slow on account of the roughness of the road, which +is beset with innumerable obstacles in the shape of loose blocks of +granite and limestone, with which the lands on the banks of the river +and lakes abound; to say nothing of fallen trees, big roots, mud-holes, +and corduroy bridges, over which you go jolt, jolt, jolt, till every +bone in your body feels as if it were going to be dislocated. An +experienced bush-traveller avoids many hard thumps by rising up or +clinging to the sides of his rough vehicle. + +As the day was particularly fine, I often quitted the waggon and walked +on with my husband for a mile or so. + +We soon lost sight entirely of the river, and struck into the deep +solitude of the forest, where not a sound disturbed the almost awful +stillness that reigned around us. Scarcely a leaf or bough was in +motion, excepting at intervals we caught the sound of the breeze +stirring the lofty heads of the pine-trees, and wakening a hoarse and +mournful cadence. This, with the tapping of the red-headed and grey +woodpeckers on the trunk of the decaying trees, or the shrill whistling +cry of the little striped squirrel, called by the natives "chitmunk," +was every sound that broke the stillness of the wild. Nor was I less +surprised at the absence of animal life. With the exception of the +aforesaid chitmunk, no living thing crossed our path during our long +day's journey in the woods. + +In these vast solitudes one would naturally be led to imagine that the +absence of man would have allowed Nature's wild denizens to have +abounded free and unmolested; but the contrary seems to be the case. +Almost all wild animals are more abundant in the cleared districts than +in the bush. Man's industry supplies their wants at an easier rate than +seeking a scanty subsistence in the forest. + +You hear continually of depredations committed by wolves, bears, +racoons, lynxes, and foxes, in the long-settled parts of the province. +In the backwoods the appearance of wild beasts is a matter of much rarer +occurrence. + +I was disappointed in the forest trees, having pictured to myself hoary +giants almost primeval with the country itself, as greatly exceeding in +majesty of form the trees of my native isles, as the vast lakes and +mighty rivers of Canada exceed the locks and streams of Britain. + +There is a want of picturesque beauty in the woods. The young growth of +timber alone has any pretension of elegance of form, unless I except the +hemlocks, which are extremely light and graceful, and of a lovely +refreshing tint of green. Even when winter has stripped the forest it is +still beautiful and verdant. The young beeches too are pretty enough, +but you miss that fantastic bowery shade that is so delightful in our +parks and woodlands at home. + +There is no appearance of venerable antiquity in the Canadian woods. +There are no ancient spreading oaks that might be called the patriarchs +of the forest. A premature decay seems to be their doom. They are +uprooted by the storm, and sink in their first maturity, to give place +to a new generation that is ready to fill their places. + +The pines are certainly the finest trees. In point of size there are +none to surpass them. They tower above all the others, forming a dark +line that may be distinguished for many miles. The pines being so much +loftier than the other trees, are sooner uprooted, as they receive the +full and unbroken force of the wind in their tops; thus it is that the +ground is continually strewn with the decaying trunks of huge pines. +They also seem more liable to inward decay, and blasting from lightning, +and fire. Dead pines are more frequently met with than any other tree. + +Much as I had seen and heard of the badness of the roads in Canada, I +was not prepared for such a one as we travelled along this day: indeed, +it hardly deserved the name of a road, being little more than an opening +hewed out through the woods, the trees being felled and drawn aside, so +as to admit a wheeled carriage passing along. + +The swamps and little forest streams, that occasionally gush across the +path, are rendered passable by logs placed side by side. From the ridgy +and striped appearance of these bridges they are aptly enough termed +corduroy. + +Over these abominable corduroys the vehicle jolts, jumping from log to +log, with a shock that must be endured with as good a grace as possible. +If you could bear these knocks, and pitiless thumpings and bumpings, +without wry faces, your patience and philosophy would far exceed mine;-- +sometimes I laughed because I would not cry. + +Imagine you see me perched up on a seat composed of carpet-bags, trunks, +and sundry packages, in a vehicle little better than a great rough deal +box set on wheels, the sides being merely pegged in so that more than +once I found myself in rather an awkward predicament, owing to the said +sides jumping out. In the very midst of a deep mud-hole out went the +front board, and with the shock went the teamster (driver), who looked +rather confounded at finding himself lodged just in the middle of a +slough as bad as the "Slough of Despond." For my part, as I could do no +good, I kept my seat, and patiently awaited the restoration to order. +This was soon effected, and all went on well again till a jolt against a +huge pine-tree gave such a jar to the ill-set vehicle, that one of the +boards danced out that composed the bottom, and a sack of flour and bag +of salted pork, which was on its way to a settler's, whose clearing we +had to pass in the way, were ejected. A good teamster is seldom taken +aback by such trifles as these. + +He is, or should be, provided with an axe. No waggon, team, or any other +travelling equipage should be unprovided with an instrument of this +kind; as no one can answer for the obstacles that may impede his +progress in the bush. The disasters we met fortunately required but +little skill in remedying. The sides need only a stout peg, and the +loosened planks that form the bottom being quickly replaced, away you go +again over root, stump, and stone, mud-hole, and corduroy; now against +the trunk of some standing tree, now mounting over some fallen one, with +an impulse that would annihilate any lighter equipage than a Canadian +waggon, which is admirably fitted by its very roughness for such roads +as we have in the bush. + +The sagacity of the horses of this country is truly admirable. Their +patience in surmounting the difficulties they have to encounter, their +skill in avoiding the holes and stones, and in making their footing sure +over the round and slippery timbers of the log-bridges, renders them +very valuable. If they want the spirit and fleetness of some of our +high-bred blood-horses, they make up in gentleness, strength, and +patience. This renders them most truly valuable, as they will travel in +such places that no British horse would, with equal safety to their +drivers. Nor are the Canadian horses, when well fed and groomed, at all +deficient in beauty of colour, size, or form. They are not very often +used in logging; the ox is preferred in all rough and heavy labour of +this kind. + +Just as the increasing gloom of the forest began to warn us of the +approach of evening, and I was getting weary and hungry, our driver, in +some confusion, avowed his belief that, somehow or other, he had missed +the track, though how, he could not tell, seeing there was but one road. +We were nearly two miles from the last settlement, and he said we ought +to be within sight of the lake if we were on the right road. The only +plan, we agreed, was for him to go forward and leave the team, and +endeavour to ascertain if he were near the water, and if otherwise, to +return to the house we had passed and inquire the way. + +After running full half a mile ahead he returned with a dejected +countenance, saying we must be wrong, for he saw no appearance of water, +and the road we were on appeared to end in a cedar swamp, as the farther +he went the thicker the hemlocks and cedars became; so, as we had no +desire to commence our settlement by a night's lodging in a swamp-- +where, to use the expression of our driver, the cedars grew as thick as +hairs on a cat's back,--we agreed to retrace our steps. + +After some difficulty the lumbering machine was turned, and slowly we +began our backward march. We had not gone more than a mile when a boy +came along, who told us we might just go back again, as there was no +other road to the lake; and added, with a knowing nod of his head, +"Master, I guess if you had known the bush as well as I, you would never +have been _fule_ enough to turn when you were going just right. Why, any +body knows that _them_ cedars and himlocks grow thickest near the water; +so you may just go back for your pains." + +It was dark, save that the stars came forth with more than usual +brilliancy, when we suddenly emerged from the depth of the gloomy forest +to the shores of a beautiful little lake, that gleamed the more brightly +from the contrast of the dark masses of foliage that hung over it, and +the towering pine-woods that girt its banks. + +Here, seated on a huge block of limestone, which was covered with a soft +cushion of moss, beneath the shade of the cedars that skirt the lake, +surrounded with trunks, boxes, and packages of various descriptions, +which the driver had hastily thrown from the waggon, sat your child, in +anxious expectation of some answering voice to my husband's long and +repeated halloo. + +But when the echo of his voice had died away we heard only the gurgling +of the waters at the head of the rapids, and the distant and hoarse +murmur of a waterfall some half mile below them. + +We could see no sign of any habitation, no gleam of light from the shore +to cheer us. In vain we strained our ears for the plash of the oar, or +welcome sound of the human voice, or bark of some household dog, that +might assure us we were not doomed to pass the night in the lone wood. + +We began now to apprehend we had really lost the way. To attempt +returning through the deepening darkness of the forest in search of any +one to guide us was quite out of the question, the road being so ill +defined that we should soon have been lost in the mazes of the woods. +The last sound of the waggon wheels had died away in the distance; to +have overtaken it would have been impossible. Bidding me remain quietly +where I was, my husband forced his way through the tangled underwood +along the bank, in hope of discovering some sign of the house we sought, +which we had every reason to suppose must be near, though probably +hidden by the dense mass of trees from our sight. + +As I sat in the wood in silence and in darkness, my thoughts gradually +wandered back across the Atlantic to my dear mother and to my old home; +and I thought what would have been your feelings could you at that +moment have beheld me as I sat on the cold mossy stone in the profound +stillness of that vast leafy wilderness, thousands of miles from all +those holy ties of kindred and early associations that make home in all +countries a hallowed spot. It was a moment to press upon my mind the +importance of the step I had taken, in voluntarily sharing the lot of +the emigrant--in leaving the land of my birth, to which, in all +probability, I might never again return. Great as was the sacrifice, +even at that moment, strange as was my situation, I felt no painful +regret or fearful misgiving depress my mind. A holy and tranquil peace +came down upon me, soothing and softening my spirits into a calmness +that seemed as unruffled as was the bosom of the water that lay +stretched out before my feet. + +My reverie was broken by the light plash of a paddle, and a bright line +of light showed a canoe dancing over the lake: in a few minutes a well- +known and friendly voice greeted me as the little bark was moored among +the cedars at my feet. My husband having gained a projecting angle of +the shore, had discovered the welcome blaze of the wood fire in the log- +house, and, after some difficulty, had succeeded in rousing the +attention of its inhabitants. Our coming that day had long been given +up, and our first call had been mistaken for the sound of the ox-bells +in the wood: this had caused the delay that had so embarrassed us. + +We soon forgot our weary wanderings beside the bright fire that blazed +on the hearth of the log-house, in which we found S------ comfortably +domiciled with his wife. To the lady I was duly introduced; and, in +spite of all remonstrances from the affectionate and careful mother, +three fair sleeping children were successively handed out of their cribs +to be shown me by the proud and delighted father. + +Our welcome was given with that unaffected cordiality that is so +grateful to the heart: it was as sincere as it was kind. All means were +adopted to soften the roughness of our accommodation, which, if they +lacked that elegance and convenience to which we had been accustomed in +England, were not devoid of rustic comfort; at all events they were such +as many settlers of the first respectability have been glad to content +themselves with, and many have not been half so well lodged as we now +are. + +We may indeed consider ourselves fortunate in not being obliged to go at +once into the rude shanty that I described to you as the only habitation +on our land. This test of our fortitude was kindly spared us by S------, +who insisted on our remaining beneath his hospitable roof till such time +as we should have put up a house on our own lot. Here then we are for +the present _fixed_, as the Canadians say; and if I miss many of the +little comforts and luxuries of life, I enjoy excellent health and +spirits, and am very happy in the society of those around me. + +The children are already very fond of me. They have discovered my +passion for flowers, which they diligently search for among the stumps +and along the lake shore. I have begun collecting, and though the season +is far advanced, my hortus siccus boasts of several elegant specimens of +fern; the yellow Canadian violet, which blooms twice in the year, in the +spring and fall, as the autumnal season is expressively termed; two +sorts of Michaelmas daisies, as we call the shrubby asters, of which the +varieties here are truly elegant; and a wreath of the festoon pine, a +pretty evergreen with creeping stalks, that run along the ground three +or four yards in length, sending up, at the distance of five or six +inches, erect, stiff, green stems, resembling some of our heaths in the +dark, shining, green, chaffy leaves. The Americans ornament their +chimney-glasses with garlands of this plant, mixed with the dried +blossoms of the life-everlasting (the pretty white and yellow flowers we +call love-everlasting): this plant is also called festoon-pine. In my +rambles in the wood near the house I have discovered a trailing plant +bearing a near resemblance to the cedar, which I consider has, with +equal propriety, a claim to the name of ground or creeping cedar. + +As much of the botany of these unsettled portions of the country are +unknown to the naturalist, and the plants are quite nameless, I take the +liberty of bestowing names upon them according to inclination or fancy. +But while I am writing about flowers I am forgetting that you will be +more interested in hearing what steps we are taking on our land. + +My husband has hired people to log up (that is, to draw the chopped +timbers into heaps for burning) and clear a space for building our house +upon. He has also entered into an agreement with a young settler in our +vicinity to complete it for a certain sum within and without, according +to a given plan. We are, however, to call the "bee," and provide every +thing necessary for the entertainment of our worthy _hive_. Now you know +that a "bee," in American language, or rather phraseology, signifies +those friendly meetings of neighbours who assemble at your summons to +raise the walls of your house, shanty, barn, or any other building: this +is termed a "raising bee." Then there are logging-bees, husking-bees, +chopping-bees, and quilting-bees. The nature of the work to be done +gives the name to the bee. In the more populous and long-settled +districts this practice is much discontinued, but it is highly useful, +and almost indispensable to the new settlers in the remote townships, +where the price of labour is proportionably high, and workmen difficult +to be procured. + +Imagine the situation of an emigrant with a wife and young family, the +latter possibly too young and helpless to render him the least +assistance in the important business of chopping, logging, and building, +on their first coming out to take possession of a lot of wild land; how +deplorable would their situation be, unless they could receive quick and +ready help from those around them. + +This laudable practice has grown out of necessity, and if it has its +disadvantages, such for instance as being called upon at an inconvenient +season for a return of help, by those who have formerly assisted you, +yet it is so indispensable to you that the debt of gratitude ought to be +cheerfully repaid. It is, in fact, regarded in the light of a debt of +honour; you cannot be forced to attend a bee in return, but no one that +can does refuse, unless from urgent reasons; and if you do not find it +possible to attend in person you may send a substitute in a servant or +in cattle, if you have a yoke. + +In no situation, and under no other circumstance, does the equalizing +system of America appear to such advantage as in meetings of this sort. +All distinctions of rank, education, and wealth are for the time +voluntarily laid aside. You will see the son of the educated gentleman +and that of the poor artisan, the officer and the private soldier, the +independent settler and the labourer who works out for hire, cheerfully +uniting in one common cause. Each individual is actuated by the +benevolent desire of affording help to the helpless, and exerting +himself to raise a home for the homeless. + +At present so small a portion of the forest is cleared on our lot, that +I can give you little or no description of the spot on which we are +located, otherwise than that it borders on a fine expanse of water, +which forms one of the Otanabee chain of Small Lake. I hope, however, to +give you a more minute description of our situation in my next letter. + +For the present, then, I bid you adieu. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + +Inconveniences of first Settlement.--Difficulty of obtaining Provisions +and other necessaries.--Snow-storm and Hurricane.--Indian Summer, and +setting-in of Winter.--Process of clearing the Land. + +November the 20th, 1832. + +OUR log-house is not yet finished, though it is in a state of +forwardness. We are still indebted to the hospitable kindness of S------ +and his wife for a home. This being their first settlement on their land +they have as yet many difficulties, in common with all residents in the +backwoods, to put up with this year. They have a fine block of land, +well situated; and S------ laughs at the present privations, to which he +opposes a spirit of cheerfulness and energy that is admirably calculated +to effect their conquest. They are now about to remove to a larger and +more commodious house that has been put up this fall, leaving us the use +of the old one till our own is ready. + +We begin to get reconciled to our Robinson Crusoe sort of life, and the +consideration that the present evils are but temporary, goes a great way +towards reconciling us to them. + +One of our greatest inconveniences arises from the badness of our roads, +and the distance at which we are placed from any village or town where +provisions are to be procured. + +Till we raise our own grain and fatten our own hogs, sheep, and poultry, +we must be dependent upon the stores for food of every kind. These +supplies have to be brought up at considerable expense and loss of time, +through our beautiful bush roads; which, to use the words of a poor +Irish woman, "can't be no worser." "Och, darlint," she said, "but they +are just bad enough, and can't be no worser. Och, but they aren't like +to our iligant roads in Ireland." + +You may send down a list of groceries to be forwarded when a team comes +up, and when we examine our stores, behold rice, sugar, currants, +pepper, and mustard all jumbled into one mess. What think you of a rice- +pudding seasoned plentifully with pepper, mustard, and, may be, a little +rappee or prince's mixture added by way of sauce. I think the recipe +would cut quite a figure in the Cook's Oracle or Mrs. Dalgairn's +Practice of Cookery, under the original title of a "bush pudding." + +And then woe and destruction to the brittle ware that may chance to +travel through our roads. Lucky, indeed, are we if, through the superior +carefulness of the person who packs them, more than one-half happens to +arrive in safety. For such mishaps we have no redress. The storekeeper +lays the accident upon the teamster, and the teamster upon the bad +roads, wondering that he himself escapes with whole bones after a +journey through the bush. + +This is now the worst season of the year;--this, and just after the +breaking up of the snow. Nothing hardly but an ox-cart can travel along +the roads, and even that with difficulty, occupying two days to perform +the journey; and the worst of the matters is, that there are times when +the most necessary articles of provisions are not to be procured at any +price. You see, then, that a settler in the bush requires to hold +himself pretty independent, not only of the luxuries and delicacies of +the table, but not unfrequently even of the very necessaries. + +One time no pork is to be procured; another time there is a scarcity of +flour, owing to some accident that has happened to the mill, or for the +want of proper supplies of wheat for grinding; or perhaps the weather +and bad roads at the same time prevent a team coming up, or people from +going down. Then you must have recourse to a neighbour, if you have the +good fortune to be near one, or fare the best you can on potatoes. The +potatoe is indeed a great blessing here; new settlers would otherwise be +often greatly distressed, and the poor man and his family who are +without resources, without the potatoe must starve. + +Once our stock of tea was exhausted, and we were unable to procure more. +In this dilemma milk would have been an excellent substitute, or coffee, +if we had possessed it; but we had neither the one nor the other, so we +agreed to try the Yankee tea--hemlock sprigs boiled. This proved, to my +taste, a vile decoction; though I recognized some herb in the tea that +was sold in London at five shillings a pound, which I am certain was +nothing better than dried hemlock leaves reduced to a coarse powder. + +S------ laughed at our wry faces, declaring the potation was excellent; +and he set us all an example by drinking six cups of this truly sylvan +beverage. His eloquence failed in gaining a single convert; we could not +believe it was only second to young hyson. To his assurance that to its +other good qualities it united medicinal virtues, we replied that, like +all other physic, it was very unpalatable. + +"After all," said S------, with a thoughtful air, "the blessings and the +evils of this life owe their chief effect to the force of contrast, and +are to be estimated by that principally. We should not appreciate the +comforts we enjoy half so much did we not occasionally feel the want of +them. How we shall value the conveniences of a cleared farm after a few +years, when we can realize all the necessaries and many of the luxuries +of life." + +"And how we shall enjoy green tea after this odious decoction of +hemlock," said I. + +"Very true; and a comfortable frame-house, and nice garden, and pleasant +pastures, after these dark forests, log-houses, and no garden at all." + +"And the absence of horrid black stumps," rejoined I. "Yes, and the +absence of horrid stumps. Depend upon it, my dear, your Canadian farm +will seem to you a perfect paradise by the time it is all under +cultivation; and you will look upon it with the more pleasure and pride +from the consciousness that it was once a forest wild, which, by the +effects of industry and well applied means, has changed to fruitful +fields. Every fresh comfort you realize around you will add to your +happiness; every improvement within-doors or without will raise a +sensation of gratitude and delight in your mind, to which those that +revel in the habitual enjoyment of luxury, and even of the commonest +advantages of civilization, must in a great degree be strangers. My +pass-words are, 'Hope! Resolution! and Perseverance!'" + +"This," said my husband, "is true philosophy; and the more forcible, +because you not only recommend the maxim but practise it also." + +I had reckoned much on the Indian summer, of which I had read such +delightful descriptions, but I must say it has fallen far below my +expectations. Just at the commencement of this month (November) we +experienced three or four warm hazy days, that proved rather close and +oppressive. The sun looked red through the misty atmosphere, tinging the +fantastic clouds that hung in smoky volumes, with saffron and pale +crimson light, much as I have seen the clouds above London look on a +warm, sultry spring morning. + +Not a breeze ruffled the waters, not a leaf (for the leaves had not +entirely fallen) moved. This perfect stagnation of the air was suddenly +changed by a hurricane of wind and snow that came on without any +previous warning. I was standing near a group of tall pines that had +been left in the middle of the clearing, collecting some beautiful +crimson lichens, S------ not being many paces distant, with his oxen +drawing fire-wood. Suddenly we heard a distant hollow rushing sound that +momentarily increased, the air around us being yet perfectly calm. I +looked up, and beheld the clouds, hitherto so motionless, moving with +amazing rapidity in several different directions. A dense gloom +overspread the heavens. S------, who had been busily engaged with the +cattle, had not noticed my being so near, and now called to me to use +all the speed I could to gain the house, or an open part of the +clearing, distant from the pine-trees. Instinctively I turned towards +the house, while the thundering shock of trees falling in all directions +at the edge of the forest, the rending of the branches from the pines I +had just quitted, and the rush of the whirlwind sweeping down the lake, +made me sensible of the danger with which I had been threatened. + +The scattered boughs of the pines darkened the air as they whirled above +me; then came the blinding snow-storm: but I could behold the progress +of the tempest in safety, having gained the threshold of our house. The +driver of the oxen had thrown himself on the ground, while the poor +beasts held down their meek heads, patiently abiding "the pelting of the +pitiless storm." S------, my husband, and the rest of the household, +collected in a group, watched with anxiety the wild havoc of the warring +elements. Not a leaf remained on the trees when the hurricane was over; +they were bare and desolate. Thus ended the short reign of the Indian +summer. + +[Illustration: Newly-cleared Land] + +I think the notion entertained by some travellers, that the Indian +summer is caused by the annual conflagration of forests by those Indians +inhabiting the unexplored regions beyond the larger lakes is absurd. +Imagine for an instant what immense tracts of woods must be yearly +consumed to affect nearly the whole of the continent of North America: +besides, it takes place at that season of the year when the fire is +least likely to run freely, owing to the humidity of the ground from the +autumnal rains. I should rather attribute the peculiar warmth and hazy +appearance of the air that marks this season, to the fermentation going +on of so great a mass of vegetable matter that is undergoing a state of +decomposition during the latter part of October and beginning of +November. It has been supposed by some persons that a great alteration +will be effected in this season, as the process of clearing the land +continues to decrease the quantity of decaying vegetation. Nay, I have +heard the difference is already observable by those long acquainted with +the American continent. + +Hitherto my experience of the climate is favourable. The autumn has been +very fine, though the frosts are felt early in the month of September; +at first slightly, of a morning, but towards October more severely. +Still, though the first part of the day is cold, the middle of it is +warm and cheerful. + +We already see the stern advances of winter. It commenced very decidedly +from the breaking up of the Indian summer. November is not at all like +the same month at home. The early part was soft and warm, the latter +cold, with keen frosts and occasional falls of snow; but it does not +seem to possess the dark, gloomy, damp character of our British +Novembers. However, it is not one season's acquaintance with the climate +that enables a person to form any correct judgment of its general +character, but a close observance of its peculiarities and vicissitudes +during many years' residence in the country. + +I must now tell you what my husband is doing on our land. He has let out +ten acres to some Irish choppers who have established themselves in the +shanty for the winter. They are to receive fourteen dollars per acre for +chopping, burning, and fencing in that quantity. The ground is to be +perfectly cleared of every thing but the stumps: these will take from +seven to nine or ten years to decay; the pine, hemlock, and fir remain +much longer. The process of clearing away the stumps is too expensive +for new beginners to venture upon, labour being so high that it cannot +be appropriated to any but indispensable work. The working season is +very short on account of the length of time the frost remains on the +ground. With the exception of chopping trees, very little can be done. +Those that understand the proper management of uncleared land, usually +underbrush (that is, cut down all the small timbers and brushwood), +while the leaf is yet on them; this is piled in heaps, and the +windfallen trees are chopped through in lengths, to be logged up in the +spring with the winter's chopping. The latter end of the summer and the +autumn are the best seasons for this work. The leaves then become quite +dry and sear, and greatly assist in the important business of burning +off the heavy timbers. Another reason is, that when the snow has fallen +to some depth, the light timbers cannot be cut close to the ground, or +the dead branches and other incumbrances collected and thrown in heaps. + +We shall have about three acres ready for spring-crops, provided we get +a good burning of that which is already chopped near the site of the +house,--this will be sown with oats, pumpkins, Indian corn, and +potatoes: the other ten acres will be ready for putting in a crop of +wheat. So you see it will be a long time before we reap a harvest. We +could not even get in spring-wheat early enough to come to perfection +this year. + +We shall try to get two cows in the spring, as they are little expense +during the spring, summer, and autumn; and by the winter we shall have +pumpkins and oat-straw for them. + + + + +LETTER IX. + +Loss of a yoke of Oxen.--Construction of a Log-house.--Glaziers' and +Carpenters' work.--Description of new Log-house.--Wild Fruits of the +Country.--Walks on the Ice.--Situation of the House.--Lake, and +surrounding Scenery. + +Lake House +April 18, 1833 + +BUT it is time that I should give you some account of our log-house, +into which we moved a few days before Christmas. Many unlooked-for +delays having hindered its completion before that time, I began to think +it would never be habitable. + +The first misfortune that happened was the loss of a fine yoke of oxen +that were purchased to draw in the house-logs, that is, the logs for +raising the walls of the house. Not regarding the bush as pleasant as +their former master's cleared pastures, or perhaps foreseeing some hard +work to come, early one morning they took into their heads to ford the +lake at the head of the rapids, and march off, leaving no trace of their +route excepting their footing at the water's edge. After many days spent +in vain search for them, the work was at a stand, and for one month they +were gone, and we began to give up all expectation of hearing any news +of them. At last we learned they were some twenty miles off, in a +distant township, having made their way through bush and swamp, creek +and lake, back to their former owner, with an instinct that supplied to +them the want of roads and compass. + +Oxen have been known to traverse a tract of wild country to a distance +of thirty or forty miles going in a direct line for their former haunts +by unknown paths, where memory could not avail them. In the dog we +consider it is scent as well as memory that guides him to his far-off +home;--but how is this conduct of the oxen to be accounted for? They +returned home through the mazes of interminable forests, where man, with +all his reason and knowledge, would have been bewildered and lost. + +It was the latter end of October before even the walls of our house were +up. To effect this we called "a bee." Sixteen of our neighbours +cheerfully obeyed our summons; and though the day was far from +favourable, so faithfully did our hive perform their tasks, that by +night the outer walls were raised. + +The work went merrily on with the help of plenty of Canadian nectar +(whiskey), the honey that our _bees_ are solaced with. Some huge joints +of salt pork, a peck of potatoes, with a rice-pudding, and a loaf as big +as an enormous Cheshire cheese, formed the feast that was to regale them +during the raising. This was spread out in the shanty, in a _very rural +style_. In short, we laughed, and called it a _pic-nic in the +backwoods_; and rude as was the fare, I can assure you, great was the +satisfaction expressed by all the guests of every degree, our "_bee_" +being considered as very well conducted. In spite of the difference of +rank among those that assisted at the bee, the greatest possible harmony +prevailed, and the party separated well pleased with the day's work and +entertainment. + +The following day I went to survey the newly-raised edifice, but was +sorely puzzled, as it presented very little appearance of a house. It +was merely an oblong square of logs raised one above the other, with +open spaces between every row of logs. The spaces for the doors and +windows were not then chopped out, and the rafters were not up. In +short, it looked a very queer sort of a place, and I returned home a +little disappointed, and wondering that my husband should be so well +pleased with the progress that had been made. A day or two after this I +again visited it. The _sleepers_ were laid to support the floors, and +the places for the doors and windows cut out of the solid timbers, so +that it had not quite so much the look of a bird-cage as before. + +After the roof was shingled, we were again at a stand, as no boards +could be procured nearer than Peterborough, a long day's journey through +horrible roads. At that time no saw-mill was in progress; now there is a +fine one building within a little distance of us. Our flooring-boards +were all to be sawn by hand, and it was some time before any one could +be found to perform this necessary work, and that at high wages--six- +and-sixpence per day. Well, the boards were at length down, but of +course of unseasoned timber: this was unavoidable; so as they could not +be planed we were obliged to put up with their rough unsightly +appearance, for no better were to be had. I began to recall to mind the +observation of the old gentleman with whom we travelled from Cobourg to +Rice Lake. We console ourselves with the prospect that by next summer +the boards will all be seasoned, and then the house is to be turned +topsy-turvy, by having the floors all relaid, jointed, and smoothed. + +The next misfortune that happened, was, that the mixture of clay and +lime that was to plaster the inside and outside of the house between the +chinks of the logs was one night frozen to stone. Just as the work was +about half completed, the frost suddenly setting in, put a stop to our +proceeding for some time, as the frozen plaster yielded neither to fire +nor to hot water, the latter freezing before it had any effect on the +mass, and rather making bad worse. Then the workman that was hewing the +inside walls to make them smooth, wounded himself with the broad axe, +and was unable to resume his work for some time. + +I state these things merely to show the difficulties that attend us in +the fulfilment of our plans, and this accounts in a great measure for +the humble dwellings that settlers of the most respectable description +are obliged to content themselves with at first coming to this country, +--not, you may be assured, from inclination, but necessity: I could give +you such narratives of this kind as would astonish you. After all, it +serves to make us more satisfied than we should be on casting our eyes +around to see few better off than we are, and many not half so +comfortable, yet of equal, and, in some instances, superior pretensions +as to station and fortune. + +Every man in this country is his own glazier; this you will laugh at: +but if he does not wish to see and feel the discomfort of broken panes, +he must learn to put them in his windows with his own hands. Workmen are +not easily to be had in the backwoods when you want them, and it would +be preposterous to hire a man at high wages to make two days' journey to +and from the nearest town to mend your windows. Boxes of glass of +several different sizes are to be bought at a very cheap rate in the +stores. My husband amused himself by glazing the windows of the house +preparatory to their being fixed in. + +To understand the use of carpenter's tools, I assure you, is no +despicable or useless kind of knowledge here. I would strongly recommend +all young men coming to Canada to acquire a little acquaintance with +this valuable art, as they will often be put to great inconvenience for +the want of it. + +I was once much amused with hearing the remarks made by a very fine +lady, the reluctant sharer of her husband's emigration, on seeing the +son of a naval officer of some rank in the service busily employed in +making an axe-handle out of a piece of rock-elm. + +"I wonder that you allow George to degrade himself so," she said, +addressing his father. + +The captain looked up with surprise. "Degrade himself! In what manner, +madam? My boy neither swears, drinks whiskey, steals, nor tells lies." + +"But you allow him to perform tasks of the most menial kind. What is he +now better than a hedge carpenter; and I suppose you allow him to chop, +too?" + +"Most assuredly I do. That pile of logs in the cart there was all cut by +him after he had left study yesterday," was the reply, + +"I would see my boys dead before they should use an axe like common +labourers." + +"Idleness is the root of all evil," said the captain. "How much worse +might my son be employed if he were running wild about streets with bad +companions." + +"You will allow this is not a country for gentlemen or ladies to live +in," said the lady. + +"It is the country for gentlemen that will not work and cannot live +without, to starve in," replied the captain bluntly; "and for that +reason I make my boys early accustom themselves to be usefully and +actively employed." + +"My boys shall never work like common mechanics," said the lady, +indignantly. + +"Then, madam, they will be good for nothing as settlers; and it is a +pity you dragged them across the Atlantic." + +"We were forced to come. We could not live as we had been used to do at +home, or I never would have come to this horrid country." + +"Having come hither you would be wise to conform to circumstances. +Canada is not the place for idle folks to retrench a lost fortune in. In +some parts of the country you will find most articles of provision as +dear as in London, clothing much dearer, and not so good, and a bad +market to choose in." + +"I should like to know, then, who Canada is good for?" said she, +angrily. + +"It is a good country for the honest, industrious artisan. It is a fine +country for the poor labourer, who, after a few years of hard toil, can +sit down in his own log-house, and look abroad on his own land, and see +his children well settled in life as independent freeholders. It is a +grand country for the rich speculator, who can afford to lay out a large +sum in purchasing land in eligible situations; for if he have any +judgment, he will make a hundred per cent as interest for his money +after waiting a few years. But it is a hard country for the poor +gentleman, whose habits have rendered him unfit for manual labour. He +brings with him a mind unfitted to his situation; and even if necessity +compels him to exertion, his labour is of little value. He has a hard +struggle to live. The certain expenses of wages and living are great, +and he is obliged to endure many privations if he would keep within +compass, and be free of debt. If he have a large family, and brings them +up wisely, so as to adapt themselves early to a settler's life, why he +does well for them, and soon feels the benefit on his own land; but if +he is idle himself, his wife extravagant and discontented, and the +children taught to despise labour, why, madam, they will soon be brought +down to ruin. In short, the country is a good country for those to whom +it is adapted; but if people will not conform to the doctrine of +necessity and expediency, they have no business in it. It is plain +Canada is not adapted to every class of people." + +"It was never adapted for me or my family," said the lady, disdainfully. + +"Very true," was the laconic reply; and so ended the dialogue. + +But while I have been recounting these remarks, I have wandered far from +my original subject, and left my poor log-house quite in an unfinished +state. At last I was told it was in a habitable condition, and I was +soon engaged in all the bustle and fatigue attendant on removing our +household goods. We received all the assistance we required from ------, +who is ever ready and willing to help us. He laughed, and called it a +"_moving_ bee;" I said it was a "fixing bee;" and my husband said it was +a "settling bee;" I know we were unsettled enough till it was over. What +a din of desolation is a small house, or any house under such +circumstances. The idea of chaos must have been taken from a removal or +a setting to rights, for I suppose the ancients had their _flitting_, as +the Scotch call it, as well as the moderns. + +Various were the valuable articles of crockery-ware that perished in +their short but rough journey through the woods. Peace to their manes. I +had a good helper in my Irish maid, who soon roused up famous fires, and +set the house in order. + +We have now got quite comfortably settled, and I shall give you a +description of our little dwelling. What is finished is only a part of +the original plan; the rest must be added next spring, or fall, as +circumstances may suit. + +A nice small sitting-room with a store closet, a kitchen, pantry, and +bed-chamber form the ground floor; there is a good upper floor that will +make three sleeping rooms. + +"What a nut-shell!" I think I hear you exclaim. So it is at present; but +we purpose adding a handsome frame front as soon as we can get boards +from the mill, which will give us another parlour, long hall, and good +spare bed-room. The windows and glass door of our present sitting-room +command pleasant lake-views to the west and south. When the house is +completed, we shall have a verandah in front; and at the south side, +which forms an agreeable addition in the summer, being used as a sort of +outer room, in which we can dine, and have the advantage of cool air, +protected from the glare of the sunbeams. The Canadians call these +verandahs "stoups." Few houses, either log or frame, are without them. +The pillars look extremely pretty, wreathed with the luxuriant hop-vine, +mixed with the scarlet creeper and "morning glory," the American name +for the most splendid of major convolvuluses. These stoups are really a +considerable ornament, as they conceal in a great measure the rough +logs, and break the barn-like form of the building. + +Our parlour is warmed by a handsome Franklin stove with brass gallery, +and fender. Our furniture consists of a brass-railed sofa, which serves +upon occasion for a bed, Canadian painted chairs, a stained pine table, +green and white curtains, and a handsome Indian mat that covers the +floor. One side of the room is filled up with our books. Some large maps +and a few good prints nearly conceal the rough walls, and form the +decoration of our little dwelling. Our bed-chamber is furnished with +equal simplicity. We do not, however, lack comfort in our humble home; +and though it is not exactly such as we could wish, it is as good as, +under existing circumstances, we could have. + +I am anxiously looking forward to the spring, that I may get a garden +laid out in front of the house; as I mean to cultivate some of the +native fruits and flowers, which, I am sure, will improve greatly by +culture. The strawberries that grow wild in our pastures, woods, and +clearings, are several varieties, and bear abundantly. They make +excellent preserves, and I mean to introduce beds of them into my +garden. There is a pretty little wooded islet on our lake, that is +called Strawberry island, another Raspberry island; they abound in a +variety of fruits--wild grapes, raspberries, strawberries, black and red +currants, a wild gooseberry, and a beautiful little trailing plant that +bears white flowers like the raspberry, and a darkish purple fruit +consisting of a few grains of a pleasant brisk acid, somewhat like in +flavour to our dewberry, only not quite so sweet. The leaves of this +plant are of a bright light green, in shape like the raspberry, to which +it bears in some respects so great a resemblance (though it is not +shrubby or thorny) that I have called it the "trailing raspberry." + +I suppose our scientific botanists in Britain would consider me very +impertinent in bestowing names on the flowers and plants I meet with in +these wild woods: I can only say, I am glad to discover the Canadian or +even the Indian names if I can, and where they fail I consider myself +free to become their floral godmother, and give them names of my own +choosing. + +Among our wild fruits we have plums, which, in some townships, are very +fine and abundant; these make admirable preserves, especially when +boiled in maple molasses, as is done by the American housewives. Wild +cherries, also a sort called choke cherries, from their peculiar +astringent qualities, high and low-bush cranberries, blackberries, which +are brought by the Squaws in birch baskets,--all these are found on the +plains and beaver meadows. The low-bush cranberries are brought in great +quantities by the Indians to the towns and villages. They form a +standing preserve on the tea-tables in most of the settlers' houses; but +for richness of flavour, and for beauty of appearance, I admire the +high-bush cranberries; these are little sought after, on account of the +large flat seeds, which prevent them from being used as a jam: the +jelly, however, is delightful, both in colour and flavour. + +The bush on which this cranberry grows resembles the guelder rose. The +blossoms are pure white, and grow in loose umbels; they are very +ornamental, when in bloom, to the woods and swamps, skirting the lakes. +The berries are rather of a long oval, and of a brilliant scarlet, and +when just touched by the frosts are semi-transparent, and look like +pendent bunches of scarlet grapes. + +I was tempted one fine frosty afternoon to take a walk with my husband +on the ice, which I was assured was perfectly safe. I must confess for +the first half-mile I felt very timid, especially when the ice is so +transparent that you may see every little pebble or weed at the bottom +of the water. Sometimes the ice was thick and white, and quite opaque. +As we kept within a little distance of the shore, I was struck by the +appearance of some splendid red berries on the leafless bushes that hung +over the margin of the lake, and soon recognized them to be the +aforesaid high-bush cranberries. My husband soon stripped the boughs of +their tempting treasure, and I, delighted with my prize, hastened home, +and boiled the fruit with some sugar, to eat at tea with our cakes. I +never ate any thing more delicious than they proved; the more so perhaps +from having been so long without tasting fruit of any kind, with the +exception of preserves, during our journey, and at Peterborough. + +Soon after this I made another excursion on the ice, but it was not in +quite so sound a state. We nevertheless walked on for about three- +quarters of a mile. We were overtaken on our return by S------ with a +handsleigh, which is a sort of wheelbarrow, such as porters use, without +sides, and instead of a wheel, is fixed on wooden runners, which you can +drag over the snow and ice with the greatest ease, if ever so heavily +laden. S------ insisted that he would draw me home over the ice like a +Lapland lady on a sledge. I was soon seated in state, and in another +minute felt myself impelled forward with a velocity that nearly took +away my breath. By the time we reached the shore I was in a glow from +head to foot. + +You would be pleased with the situation of our house. The spot chosen is +the summit of a fine sloping bank above the lake, distant from the +water's edge some hundred or two yards: the lake is not quite a mile +from shore to shore. To the south again we command a different view, +which will be extremely pretty when fully opened--a fine smooth basin of +water, diversified with beautiful islands, that rise like verdant groves +from its bosom. Below these there is a fall of some feet, where the +waters of the lakes, confined within a narrow channel between beds of +limestone, rush along with great impetuosity, foaming and dashing up the +spray in mimic clouds. + +During the summer the waters are much lower, and we can walk for some +way along the flat shores, which are composed of different strata of +limestone, full of fossil remains, evidently of very recent formation. +Those shells and river-insects that are scattered loose over the surface +of the limestone, left by the recession of the waters, are similar to +the shells and insects incrusted in the body of the limestone. I am told +that the bed of one of the lakes above us (I forget which) is of +limestone; that it abounds in a variety of beautiful river-shells, which +are deposited in vast quantities in the different strata, and also in +the blocks of limestone scattered along the shores. These shells are +also found in great profusion in the soil of the Beaver meadows. +When I see these things, and hear of them, I regret I know nothing of +geology or conchology; as I might then be able to account for many +circumstances that at present only excite my curiosity. + +[Maps: Charts shewing the Interior Navigation of the District of +Newcastle and Upper Canada.] + +Just below the waterfall I was mentioning there is a curious natural +arch in the limestone rock, which at this place rises to a height of ten +or fifteen feet like a wall; it is composed of large plates of grey +limestone, lying one upon the other; the arch seems like a rent in the +wall, but worn away, and hollowed, possibly, by the action of water +rushing through it at some high flood. Trees grow on the top of this +rock. Hemlock firs and cedars are waving on this elevated spot, above +the turbulent waters, and clothing the stone barrier with a sad but +never-fading verdure. Here, too, the wild vine, red creeper, and poison- +elder, luxuriate, and wreathe fantastic bowers above the moss-covered +masses of the stone. A sudden turn in this bank brought us to a broad, +perfectly flat and smooth bed of the same stone, occupying a space of +full fifty feet along the shore. Between the fissures of this bed I +found some rosebushes, and a variety of flowers that had sprung up +during the spring and summer, when it was left dry, and free from the +action of the water. + +This place will shortly be appropriated for the building of a saw and +grist-mill, which, I fear, will interfere with its natural beauty. I +dare say, I shall be the only person in the neighbourhood who will +regret the erection of so useful and valuable an acquisition to this +portion of the township. + +The first time you send a parcel or box, do not forget to enclose +flower-seeds, and the stones of plums, damsons, bullace, pips of the +best kinds of apples, in the orchard and garden, as apples may be raised +here from seed, which will bear very good fruit without being grafted; +the latter, however, are finer in size and flavour. I should be grateful +for a few nuts from our beautiful old stock-nut trees. Dear old trees! +how many gambols have we had in their branches when I was as light of +spirit and as free from care as the squirrels that perched among the +topmost boughs above us.--"Well," you will say, "the less that sage +matrons talk of such wild tricks as climbing nut-trees, the better." +Fortunately, young ladies are in no temptation here, seeing that nothing +but a squirrel or a bear could climb our lofty forest-trees. Even a +sailor must give it up in despair. + +I am very desirous of having the seeds of our wild primrose and sweet +violet preserved for me; I long to introduce them in our meadows and +gardens. Pray let the cottage-children collect some. + +My husband requests a small quantity of lucerne-seed, which he seems +inclined to think may be cultivated to advantage. + + + + +LETTER X. + +Variations in the Temperature of the Weather.--Electrical Phenomenon.-- +Canadian Winter.--Country deficient in Poetical Associations.--Sugar- +making. Fishing Season.--Mode of Fishing.--Duck-shooting.--Family of +Indians.--_Papouses_ and their Cradle-cases.--Indian Manufactures.-- +_Frogs_. + +Lake House, May the 9th. 1833. + +WHAT a different winter this has been to what I had anticipated. The +snows of December were continually thawing; on the 1st of January not a +flake was to be seen on our clearing, though it lingered in the bush. +The warmth of the sun was so great on the first and second days of the +new year that it was hardly possible to endure a cloak, or even shawl, +out of doors; and within, the fire was quite too much for us. The +weather remained pretty open till the latter part of the month, when the +cold set in severely enough, and continued so during February. The 1st +of March was the coldest day and night I ever experienced in my life; +the mercury was down to twenty five degrees in the house; abroad it was +much lower. The sensation of cold early in the morning was very painful, +producing an involuntary shuddering, and an almost convulsive feeling in +the chest and stomach. Our breaths were congealed in hoar-frost on the +sheets and blankets. Every thing we touched of metal seemed to freeze +our fingers. This excessive degree of cold only lasted three days, and +then a gradual amelioration of temperature was felt. + +During this very cold weather I was surprised by the frequent recurrence +of a phenomenon that I suppose was of an electrical nature. When the +frosts were most intense I noticed that when I undressed, my clothes, +which are at this cold season chiefly of woollen cloth, or lined with +flannel, gave out when moved a succession of sounds, like the crackling +and snapping of fire, and in the absence of a candle emitted sparks of a +pale whitish blue light, similar to the flashes produced by cutting +loaf-sugar in the dark, or stroking the back of a black cat: the same +effect was also produced when I combed and brushed my hair*. + +[* This phenomenon is common enough everywhere when the air is very +dry.--Ed.] + +The snow lay very deep on the ground during February, and until the l9th +of March, when a rapid thaw commenced, which continued without +intermission till the ground was thoroughly freed from its hoary livery, +which was effected in less than a fortnight's time. The air during the +progress of the thaw was much warmer and more balmy than it usually is +in England, when a disagreeable damp cold is felt during that process. + +Though the Canadian winter has its disadvantages, it also has its +charms. After a day or two of heavy snow the sky brightens, and the air +becomes exquisitely clear and free from vapour; the smoke ascends in +tall spiral columns till it is lost: seen against the saffron-tinted sky +of an evening, or early of a clear morning, when the hoar-frost sparkles +on the trees, the effect is singularly beautiful. + +I enjoy a walk in the woods of a bright winter-day, when not a cloud, or +the faint shadow of a cloud, obscures the soft azure of the heavens +above; when but for the silver covering of the earth I might look +upwards to the cloudless sky and say, "It is June, sweet June." The +evergreens, as the pines, cedars, hemlock, and balsam firs, are bending +their pendent branches, loaded with snow, which the least motion +scatters in a mimic shower around, but so light and dry is it that it is +shaken off without the slightest inconvenience. + +The tops of the stumps look quite pretty, with their turbans of snow; a +blackened pine-stump, with its white cap and mantle, will often startle +you into the belief that some one is approaching you thus fancifully +attired. As to ghosts or spirits they appear totally banished from +Canada. This is too matter-of-fact country for such supernaturals to +visit. Here there are no historical associations, no legendary tales of +those that came before us. Fancy would starve for lack of marvellous +food to keep her alive in the backwoods. We have neither fay nor fairy, +ghost nor bogle, satyr nor wood-nymph; our very forests disdain to +shelter dryad or hamadryad. No naiad haunts the rushy margin of our +lakes, or hallows with her presence our forest-rills. No Druid claims +our oaks; and instead of poring with mysterious awe among our curious +limestone rocks, that are often singularly grouped together, we refer +them to the geologist to exercise his skill in accounting for their +appearance: instead of investing them with the solemn characters of +ancient temples or heathen altars, we look upon them with the curious +eye of natural philosophy alone. + +Even the Irish and Highlanders of the humblest class seem to lay aside +their ancient superstitions on becoming denizens of the woods of Canada. +I heard a friend exclaim, when speaking of the want of interest this +country possessed, "It is the most unpoetical of all lands; there is no +scope for imagination; here all is new--the very soil seems newly +formed; there is no hoary ancient grandeur in these woods; no +recollections of former deeds connected with the country. The only +beings in which I take any interest are the Indians, and they want the +warlike character and intelligence that I had pictured to myself they +would posses." + +This was the lamentation of a poet. Now, the class of people to whom +this country is so admirably adapted are formed of the unlettered and +industrious labourers and artisans. They feel no regret that the land +they labour on has not been celebrated by the pen of the historian or +the lay of the poet. The earth yields her increase to them as freely as +if it had been enriched by the blood of heroes. They would not spare the +ancient oak from feelings of veneration, nor look upon it with regard +for any thing but its use as timber. They have no time, even if they +possessed the taste, to gaze abroad on the beauties of Nature, but their +ignorance is bliss. + +After all, these are imaginary evils, and can hardly be considered just +causes for dislike to the country. They would excite little sympathy +among every-day men and women, though doubtless they would have their +weight with the more refined and intellectual members of society, who +naturally would regret that taste, learning, and genius should be thrown +out of its proper sphere. + +For myself, though I can easily enter into the feelings of the poet and +the enthusiastic lover of the wild and the wonderful of historic lore, I +can yet make myself very happy and contented in this country. If its +volume of history is yet a blank, that of Nature is open, and eloquently +marked by the finger of God; and from its pages I can extract a thousand +sources of amusement and interest whenever I take my walks in the forest +or by the borders of the lakes. + +But I must now tell you of our sugar-making, in which I take rather an +active part. Our experiment was on a very limited scale, having but one +kettle, besides two iron tripods; but it was sufficient to initiate us +in the art and mystery of boiling the sap into molasses, and finally the +molasses down to sugar. + +The first thing to be done in tapping the maples, is to provide little +rough troughs to catch the sap as it flows: these are merely pieces of +pine-tree, hollowed with the axe. The tapping the tree is done by +cutting a gash in the bark, or boring a hole with an auger. The former +plan, as being most readily performed, is that most usually practised. A +slightly-hollowed piece of cedar or elder is then inserted, so as to +slant downwards and direct the sap into the trough; I have even seen a +flat chip made the conductor. Ours were managed according to rule, you +may be sure. The sap runs most freely after a frosty night, followed by +a bright warm day; it should be collected during the day in a barrel or +large trough, capable of holding all that can be boiled down the same +evening; it should not stand more than twenty-four hours, as it is apt +to ferment, and will not grain well unless fresh. + +My husband, with an Irish lad, began collecting the sap the last week in +March. A pole was fixed across two forked stakes, strong enough to bear +the weight of the big kettle. Their employment during the day was +emptying the troughs and chopping wood to supply the fires. In the +evening they lit the fires and began boiling down the sap. + +It was a pretty and picturesque sight to see the sugar-boilers, with +their bright log-fire among the trees, now stirring up the blazing pile, +now throwing in the liquid and stirring it down with a big ladle. When +the fire grew fierce, it boiled and foamed up in the kettle, and they +had to throw in fresh sap to keep it from running over. + +When the sap begins to thicken into molasses, it is then brought to the +sugar-boiler to be finished. The process is simple; it only requires +attention in skimming and keeping the mass from boiling over, till it +has arrived at the sugaring point, which is ascertained by dropping a +little into cold water. When it is near the proper consistency, the +kettle or pot becomes full of yellow froth, that dimples and rises in +large bubbles from beneath. These throw out puffs of steam, and when the +molasses is in this stage, it is nearly converted into sugar. Those who +pay great attention to keeping the liquid free from scum, and understand +the precise sugaring point, will produce an article little if at all +inferior to muscovado*. + +[* Good well-made maple-sugar bears a strong resemblance to that called +powdered sugar-candy, sold by all grocers as a delicate article to +sweeten coffee; it is more like maple-sugar in its regular +crystallizations.] + +In general you see the maple-sugar in large cakes, like bees' wax, close +and compact, without showing the crystallization; but it looks more +beautiful when the grain is coarse and sparkling, and the sugar is +broken in rough masses like sugar-candy. + +The sugar is rolled or scraped down with a knife for use, as it takes +long to dissolve in the tea without this preparation. I superintended +the last part of the process, that of boiling the molasses down to +sugar; and, considering it was a first attempt, and without any +experienced person to direct me, otherwise than the information I +obtained from ------, I succeeded tolerably well, and produced some +sugar of a fine sparkling grain and good colour. Besides the sugar, I +made about three gallons of molasses, which proved a great comfort to +us, forming a nice ingredient in cakes and an excellent sauce for +puddings. + +The Yankees, I am told, make excellent preserves with molasses instead +of sugar. The molasses boiled from maple-sap is very different from the +molasses of the West Indies, both in flavour, colour, and consistency. + +Beside the sugar and molasses, we manufactured a small cask of vinegar, +which promises to be good. This was done by boiling five pails-full of +sap down to two, and fermenting it after it was in the vessel with barm; +it was then placed near the fire, and suffered to continue there in +preference to being exposed to the sun's heat. + +With regard to the expediency of making maple-sugar, it depends on +circumstances whether it be profitable or not to the farmer. If he have +to hire hands for the work, and pay high wages, it certainly does not +answer to make it, unless on a large scale. One thing in its favour is, +that the sugar season commences at a time when little else can be done +on the farm, with the exception of chopping, the frost not being +sufficiently out of the ground to admit of crops being sown; time is, +therefore, less valuable than it is later in the spring. + +Where there is a large family of children and a convenient sugar-bush on +the lot, the making of sugar and molasses is decidedly a saving; as +young children can be employed in emptying the troughs and collecting +fire-wood, the bigger ones can tend the kettles and keep up the fire +while the sap is boiling, and the wife and daughters can finish off the +sugar within-doors. + +Maple-sugar sells for four-pence and six-pence per pound, and sometimes +for more. At first I did not particularly relish the flavour it gave to +tea, but after awhile I liked it far better than muscovado, and as a +sweetmeat it is to my taste delicious. I shall send you a specimen by +the first opportunity, that you may judge for yourself of its +excellence. + +The weather is now very warm--oppressively so. We can scarcely endure +the heat of the cooking-stove in the kitchen. As to a fire in the +parlour there is not much need of it, as I am glad to sit at the open +door and enjoy the lake-breeze. The insects are already beginning to be +troublesome, particularly the black flies--a wicked-looking fly, with +black body and white legs and wings; you do not feel their bite for a +few minutes, but are made aware of it by a stream of blood flowing from +the wound; after a few hours the part swells and becomes extremely +painful. + +These "_beasties_" chiefly delight in biting the sides of the throat, +ears, and sides of the cheek, and with me the swelling continues for +many days. The mosquitoes are also very annoying. I care more for the +noise they make even than their sting. To keep them out of the house we +light little heaps of damp chips, the smoke of which drives them away; +but this remedy is not entirely effectual, and is of itself rather an +annoyance. + +This is the fishing season. Our lakes are famous for masquinonge, +salmon-trout, white fish, black bass, and many others. We often see the +lighted canoes of the fishermen pass and repass of a dark night before +our door. S------ is considered very skilful as a spearsman, and enjoys +the sport so much that he seldom misses a night favourable for it. The +darker the night and the calmer the water the better it is for the +fishing. + +It is a very pretty sight to see these little barks slowly stealing from +some cove of the dark pine-clad shores, and manoeuvring among the +islands on the lakes, rendered visible in the darkness by the blaze of +light cast on the water from the jack--a sort of open grated iron +basket, fixed to a long pole at the bows of the skiff or canoe. This is +filled with a very combustible substance called fat-pine, which burns +with a fierce and rapid flame, or else with rolls of birch-bark, which +is also very easily ignited. + +The light from above renders objects distinctly visible below the +surface of the water. One person stands up in the middle of the boat +with his fish-spear--a sort of iron trident, ready to strike at the fish +that he may chance to see gliding in the still waters, while another +with his paddle steers the canoe cautiously along. This sport requires a +quick eye, a steady hand, and great caution in those that pursue it. + +I delight in watching these torch-lighted canoes so quietly gliding over +the calm waters, which are illuminated for yards with a bright track of +light, by which we may distinctly perceive the figure of the spearsman +standing in the centre of the boat, first glancing to one side, then the +other, or poising his weapon ready for a blow. When four or five of +these lighted vessels are seen at once on the fishing-ground, the effect +is striking and splendid. + +The Indians are very expert in this kind of fishing; the squaws paddling +the canoes with admirable skill and dexterity. There is another mode of +fishing in which these people also excel: this is fishing on the ice +when the lakes are frozen over--a sport that requires the exercise of +great patience. The Indian, provided with his tomahawk, with which he +makes an opening in the ice, a spear, his blanket, and a decoy-fish of +wood, proceeds to the place he has fixed upon. Having cut a hole in the +ice he places himself on hands and knees, and casts his blanket over +him, so as to darken the water and conceal himself from observation; in +this position he will remain for hours, patiently watching the approach +of his prey, which he strikes with admirable precision as soon as it +appears within the reach of his spear. + +The masquinonge thus caught are superior in flavour to those taken later +in the season, and may be bought very reasonably from the Indians. I +gave a small loaf of bread for a fish weighing from eighteen to twenty +pounds. The masquinonge is to all appearance a large species of the +pike, and possesses the ravenous propensities of that fish. + +One of the small lakes of the Otanabee is called Trout Lake, from the +abundance of salmon-trout that occupy its waters. The white fish is also +found in these lakes and is very delicious. The large sorts of fish are +mostly taken with the spear, few persons having time for angling in this +busy country. + +As soon as the ice breaks up, our lakes are visited by innumerable +flights of wild fowl: some of the ducks are extremely beautiful in their +plumage, and are very fine-flavoured. I love to watch these pretty +creatures, floating so tranquilly on the water, or suddenly rising and +skimming along the edge of the pine-fringed shores, to drop again on the +surface, and then remain stationary, like a little fleet at anchor. +Sometimes we see an old duck lead out a brood of little ones from among +the rushes; the innocent, soft things look very pretty, sailing round +their mother, but at the least appearance of danger they disappear +instantly by diving. The frogs are great enemies to the young broods; +they are also the prey of the masquinonge, and, I believe, of other +large fish that abound in these waters. + +The ducks are in the finest order during the early part of the summer, +when they resort to the rice-beds in vast numbers, getting very fat on +the green rice, which they eagerly devour. + +The Indians are very successful in their duck-shooting: they fill a +canoe with green boughs, so that it resembles a sort of floating island; +beneath the cover of these boughs they remain concealed, and are enabled +by this device to approach much nearer than they otherwise could do to +the wary birds. The same plan is often adopted by our own sportsmen with +great success. + +A family of Indians have pitched their tents very near us. On one of the +islands in our lake we can distinguish the thin blue smoke of their wood +fires, rising among the trees, from our front window, or curling over +the bosom of the waters. + +The squaws have been several times to see me; sometimes from curiosity, +sometimes with the view of bartering their baskets, mats, ducks, or +venison, for pork, flour, potatoes, or articles of wearing-apparel. +Sometimes their object is to borrow "kettle to cook," which they are +very punctual in returning. + +Once a squaw came to borrow a washing-tub, but not understanding her +language, I could not for some time discover the object of her +solicitude; at last she took up a corner of her blanket, and, pointing +to some soap, began rubbing it between her hands, imitated the action of +washing, then laughed, and pointed to a tub; she then held up two +fingers, to intimate it was for two days she needed the loan. + +These people appear of gentle and amiable dispositions; and, as far as +our experience goes, they are very honest. Once, indeed, the old hunter, +Peter, obtained from me some bread, for which he promised to give a pair +of ducks, but when the time came for payment, and I demanded my ducks, +he looked gloomy, and replied with characteristic brevity, "No duck-- +Chippewa (meaning S------, this being the name they have affectionately +given him) gone up lake with canoe--no canoe--duck by-and-by." By-and-by +is a favourite expression of the Indians, signifying an indefinite point +of time; may be it means to-morrow, or a week, or month, or it may be a +year, or even more. They rarely give you a direct promise. + +As it is not wise to let any one cheat you if you can prevent it, I +coldly declined any further overtures to bartering with the Indians +until my ducks made their appearance. + +Some time afterwards I received one duck by the hands of Maquin, a sort +of Indian Flibberty-gibbet: this lad is a hunchbacked dwarf, very +shrewd, but a perfect imp; his delight seems to be tormenting the brown +babies in the wigwam, or teazing the meek deer-hounds. He speaks English +very fluently, and writes tolerably for an Indian boy; he usually +accompanies the women in their visits, and acts as their interpreter, +grinning with mischievous glee at his mother's bad English and my +perplexity at not being able to understand her signs. In spite of his +extreme deformity, he seemed to possess no inconsiderable share of +vanity, gazing with great satisfaction at his face in the looking glass. +When I asked his name, he replied, "Indian name Maquin, but English name +'Mister Walker,' very good man;" this was the person he was called +after. + +These Indians are scrupulous in their observance of the Sabbath, and +show great reluctance to having any dealings in the way of trading or +pursuing their usual avocations of hunting or fishing on that day. + +The young Indians are very expert in the use of a long bow, with wooden +arrows, rather heavy and blunt at the end. Maquin said he could shoot +ducks and small birds with his arrows; but I should think they were not +calculated to reach objects at any great distance, as they appeared very +heavy. + +'Tis sweet to hear the Indians singing their hymns of a Sunday night; +their rich soft voices rising in the still evening air. I have often +listened to this little choir praising the Lord's name in the simplicity +and fervour of their hearts, and have felt it was a reproach that these +poor half-civilized wanderers should alone be found to gather together +to give glory to God in the wilderness. + +I was much pleased with the simple piety of our friend the hunter +Peter's squaw, a stout, swarthy matron, of most amiable expression. We +were taking our tea when she softly opened the door and looked in; an +encouraging smile induced her to enter, and depositing a brown papouse +(Indian for baby or little child) on the ground, she gazed round with +curiosity and delight in her eyes. We offered her some tea and bread, +motioning to her to take a vacant seat beside the table. She seemed +pleased by the invitation, and drawing her little one to her knee, +poured some tea into the saucer, and gave it to the child to drink. She +ate very moderately, and when she had finished, rose, and, wrapping her +face in the folds of her blanket, bent down her head on her breast in +the attitude of prayer. This little act of devotion was performed +without the slightest appearance of pharisaical display, but in +singleness and simplicity of heart. She then thanked us with a face +beaming with smiles and good humour; and, taking little Rachel by the +hands, threw her over her shoulder with a peculiar sleight that I feared +would dislocate the tender thing's arms, but the papouse seemed well +satisfied with this mode of treatment. + +In long journeys the children are placed in upright baskets of a +peculiar form, which are fastened round the necks of the mothers by +straps of deer-skin; but the _young_ infant is swathed to a sort of flat +cradle, secured with flexible hoops, to prevent it from falling out. To +these machines they are strapped, so as to be unable to move a limb. +Much finery is often displayed in the outer covering and the bandages +that confine the papouse. + +There is a sling attached to this cradle that passes over the squaw's +neck, the back of the babe being placed to the back of the mother, and +its face outward. The first thing a squaw does on entering a house is to +release herself from her burden, and stick it up against the wall or +chair, chest, or any thing that will support it, where the passive +prisoner stands, looking not unlike a mummy in its case. I have seen the +picture of the Virgin and Child in some of the old illuminated missals, +not unlike the figure of a papouse in its swaddling-clothes. + +The squaws are most affectionate to their little ones. Gentleness and +good humour appear distinguishing traits in the tempers of the female +Indians; whether this be natural to their characters, the savage state, +or the softening effects of Christianity, I cannot determine. Certainly +in no instance does the Christian religion appear more lovely than when, +untainted by the doubts and infidelity of modern sceptics, it is +displayed in the conduct of the reclaimed Indian breaking down the +strong-holds of idolatry and natural evil, and bringing forth the fruits +of holiness and morality. They may be said to receive the truths of the +Gospel as little children, with simplicity of heart and unclouded faith. + +The squaws are very ingenious in many of their handiworks. We find their +birch-bark baskets very convenient for a number of purposes. My bread- +basket, knife-tray, sugar-basket, are all of this humble material. When +ornamented and wrought in patterns with dyed quills, I can assure you, +they are by no means inelegant. They manufacture vessels of birch-bark +so well, that they will serve for many useful household purposes, such +as holding water, milk, broth, or any other liquid; they are sewn or +rather stitched together with the tough roots of the tamarack or larch, +or else with strips of cedar-bark. They also weave very useful sorts of +baskets from the inner rind of the bass-wood and white ash. + +Some of these baskets, of a coarse kind, are made use of for gathering +up potatoes, Indian corn, or turnips; the settlers finding them very +good substitutes for the osier baskets used for such purposes in the old +country. + +The Indians are acquainted with a variety of dyes, with which they stain +the more elegant fancy-baskets and porcupine-quills. Our parlour is +ornamented with several very pretty specimens of their ingenuity in this +way, which answer the purpose of note and letter-cases, flower-stands, +and work-baskets. + +They appear to value the useful rather more highly than the merely +ornamental articles that you may exhibit to them. They are very shrewd +and close in all their bargains, and exhibit a surprising degree of +caution in their dealings. The men are much less difficult to trade with +than the women: they display a singular pertinacity in some instances. +If they have fixed their mind on any one article, they will come to you +day after day, refusing any other you may offer to their notice. One of +the squaws fell in love with a gay chintz dressing-gown belonging to my +husband, and though I resolutely refused to part with it, all the squaws +in the wigwam by turns came to look at "gown," which they pronounced +with their peculiarly plaintive tone of voice; and when I said "no gown +to sell," they uttered a melancholy exclamation of regret, and went +away. + +They will seldom make any article you want on purpose for you. If you +express a desire to have baskets of a particular pattern that they do +not happen to have ready made by them, they give you the usual vague +reply of "by-and-by." If the goods you offer them in exchange for theirs +do not answer their expectations, they give a sullen and dogged look or +reply, "_Car-car_" (no, no), or "_Carwinni_," which is a still more +forcible negative. But when the bargain pleases them, they signify their +approbation by several affirmative nods of the head, and a note not much +unlike a grunt; the ducks, fish, venison, or baskets, are placed beside +you, and the articles of exchange transferred to the folds of their +capacious blankets, or deposited in a sort of rushen wallets, not unlike +those straw baskets in which English carpenters carry their tools. + +The women imitate the dresses of the whites, and are rather skilful in +converting their purchases. Many of the young girls can sew very neatly. +I often give them bits of silk and velvet, and braid, for which they +appear very thankful. + +I am just now very busy with my garden. Some of our vegetable seeds are +in the ground, though I am told we have been premature; there being ten +chances to one but the young plants will be cut off by the late frosts, +which are often felt through May, and even the beginning of June. + +Our garden at present has nothing to boast of, being merely a spot of +ground enclosed with a rough unsightly fence of split rails to keep the +cattle from destroying the vegetables. Another spring, I hope to have a +nice fence, and a portion of the ground devoted to flowers. This spring +there is so much pressing work to be done on the land in clearing for +the crops, that I do not like to urge my claims on behalf of a pretty +garden. + +The forest-trees are nearly all in leaf. Never did spring burst forth +with greater rapidity than it has done this year. The verdure of the +leaves is most vivid. A thousand lovely flowers are expanding in the +woods and clearings. Nor are our Canadian songsters mute: the cheerful +melody of the robin, the bugle-song of the blackbird and thrush, with +the weak but not unpleasing call of the little bird called _Thitabecec_, +and a wren, whose note is sweet and thrilling, fill our woods. + +For my part, I see no reason or wisdom in carping at the good we do +possess, because it lacks something of that which we formerly enjoyed. I +am aware it is the fashion for travellers to assert that our feathered +tribes are either mute or give utterance to discordant cries that pierce +the ear, and disgust rather than please. It would be untrue were I to +assert that our singing birds were as numerous or as melodious on the +whole as those of Europe; but I must not suffer prejudice to rob my +adopted country of her rights without one word being spoken in behalf of +her feathered vocalists. Nay, I consider her very frogs have been +belied: if it were not for the monotony of their notes, I really +consider they are not quite unmusical. The green frogs are very +handsome, being marked over with brown oval shields on the most vivid +green coat: they are larger in size than the biggest of our English +frogs, and certainly much handsomer in every respect. Their note +resembles that of a bird, and has nothing of the creek in it. + +The bull-frogs are very different from the green frogs. Instead of +being angry with their comical notes, I can hardly refrain from laughing +when a great fellow pops up his broad brown head from the margin of the +water, and says, "_Williroo, williroo, williroo_," to which another +bull-frog, from a distant part of the swamp, replies, in hoarser +accents, "_Get out, get out, get out_;" and presently a sudden chorus is +heard of old and young, as if each party was desirous of out-croaking +the other. + +In my next I shall give you an account of our logging-bee, which will +take place the latter end of this month. I feel some anxiety respecting +the burning of the log-heaps on the fallow round the house, as it +appears to me rather a hazardous matter. + +I shall write again very shortly. Farewell, dearest of friends. + + + + +LETTER XI + +Emigrants suitable for Canada.--Qualities requisite to ensure success.-- +Investment of Capital.--Useful Articles to be brought out.-- +Qualifications and Occupations of a Settler's Family.--Deficiency of +Patience and Energy in some Females.--Management of the Dairy.--Cheese. +--Indian Corn, and its Cultivation.--Potatoes.--Rates of Wages. + +August 9, 1833 + +WITH respect to the various questions, my dear friend, to which you +request my particular attention, I can only promise that I will do my +best to answer them as explicitly as possible, though at the same time I +must remind you, that brevity in epistolary correspondence is not one of +my excellencies. If I become too diffuse in describing mere matters of +fact, you must bear with mine infirmity, and attribute it to my womanly +propensity of over-much talking; so, for your comfort, if your eyes be +wearied, your ears will at least escape. + +I shall take your queries in due rotation; first, then, you ask, "Who +are the persons best adapted for bush-settlers?" + +To which I reply without hesitation--the poor hard-working, sober +labourers, who have industrious habits, a large family to provide for, +and a laudable horror of the workhouse and parish-overseers: this will +bear them through the hardships and privations of a first settlement in +the backwoods; and in due time they will realize an honest independence, +and be above want, though not work. Artisans of all crafts are better +paid in village-towns, or long-cleared districts, than as mere bush- +settlers. + +"Who are the next best suited for emigration?" + +Men of a moderate income or good capital may make money in Canada. If +they have judgment, and can afford to purchase on a large scale, they +will double or treble their capital by judicious purchases and sales. +But it would be easier for me to point out who are not fit for +emigration than who are. + +The poor gentleman of delicate and refined habits, who cannot afford to +employ all the labour requisite to carry on the business of clearing on +a tolerable large scale, and is unwilling or incapable of working +himself, is not fitted for Canada, especially if his habits are +expensive. Even the man of small income, unless he can condescend to +take in hand the axe or the chopper, will find, even with prudent and +economical habits, much difficulty in keeping free from debt for the +first two or even three years. Many such have succeeded, but the +struggle has been severe. + +But there is another class of persons most unsuited to the woods: these +are the wives and families of those who have once been opulent +tradesmen, accustomed to the daily enjoyment of every luxury that money +could procure or fashion invent; whose ideas of happiness are connected +with a round of amusements, company, and all the novelties of dress and +pleasure that the gay world can offer. Young ladies who have been +brought up at fashionable boarding schools, with a contempt of every +thing useful or economical, make very indifferent settlers' wives. +Nothing can be more unfortunate than the situations in the woods of +Canada of persons so educated: disgusted with the unpleasant change in +their mode of life, wearied and discontented with all the objects around +them, they find every exertion a trouble, and every occupation a +degradation. + +For persons of this description (and there are such to be met with in +the colonies), Canada is the worst country in the world. And I would +urge any one, so unfitted by habit and inclination, under no +consideration to cross the Atlantic; for miserable, and poor, and +wretched they will become. + +The emigrant, if he would succeed in this country, must possess the +following qualities: perseverance, patience, industry, ingenuity, +moderation, self-denial; and if he be a gentleman, a small income is +almost indispensable; a good one is still more desirable. + +The outlay for buying and clearing land, building, buying stock, and +maintaining a family, paying servants' wages, with many other +unavoidable expenses, cannot be done without some pecuniary means; and +as the return from the land is but little for the first two or three +years, it would be advisable for a settler to bring out some hundreds to +enable him to carry on the farm and clear the above-mentioned expenses, +or he will soon find himself involved in great difficulties. + +Now, to your third query, "What will be the most profitable way of +employing money, if a settler brought out capital more than was required +for his own expenditure?" + +On this head, I am not of course competent to give advice. My husband +and friends, conversant with the affairs of the colonies, say, lend it +on mortgage, on good landed securities, and at a high rate of interest. +The purchase of land is often a good speculation, but not always so +certain as mortgage, as it pays no interest; and though it may at some +future time make great returns, it is not always so easy to dispose of +it to an advantage when you happen to need it. A man possessing many +thousand acres in different townships, may be distressed for twenty +pounds if suddenly called upon for it when he is unprepared, if he +invests all his capital in property of this kind. + +It would be difficult for me to enumerate the many opportunities of +turning ready money to account. There is so little money in circulation +that those persons who are fortunate enough to have it at command can do +almost any thing with it they please. + +"What are the most useful articles for a settler to bring out?" + +Tools, a good stock of wearing-apparel, and shoes, good bedding, +especially warm blankets; as you pay high for them here, and they are +not so good as you would supply yourself with at a much lower rate at +home. A selection of good garden-seeds, as those you buy at the stores +are sad trash; moreover, they are pasted up in packets not to be opened +till paid for, and you may, as we have done, pay for little better than +chaff, and empty husks, or old and worm-eaten seeds. This, I am sorry to +say, is a Yankee trick; though I doubt not but John Bull would do the +same if he had the opportunity, as there are rogues in all countries +under the sun. + +With respect to furniture and heavy goods of any kind, I would recommend +little to be brought. Articles of hardware are not much more expensive +here than at home, if at all, and often of a kind more suitable to the +country than those you are at the trouble of bringing; besides, all +land-carriage is dear. + +We lost a large package of tools that have never been recovered from the +forwarders, though their carriage was paid beforehand to Prescott. It is +safest and best to ensure your goods, when the forwarders are +accountable for them. + +You ask, "If groceries and articles of household consumption are dear or +cheap?" + +They vary according to circumstances and situation. In towns situated in +old cleared parts of the country, and near the rivers and navigable +waters, they are cheaper than at home; but in newly-settled townships, +where the water-communication is distant, and where the roads are bad, +and the transport of goods difficult, they are nearly double the price. +Where the supply of produce is inadequate to the demand owing to the +influx of emigrants in thinly-settled places, or other causes, then all +articles of provisions are sold at a high price, and not to be procured +without difficulty; but these are merely temporary evils, which soon +cease. + +Competition is lowering prices in Canadian towns, as it does in British +ones, and you may now buy goods of all kinds nearly as cheap as in +England. + +Where prices depend on local circumstances, it is impossible to give any +just standard; as what may do for one town would not for another, and a +continual change is going on in all the unsettled or half-settled +townships. In like manner the prices of cattle vary: they are cheaper in +old settled townships, and still more so on the American side the river +or lakes, than in the Canadas*. + +[* The duties on goods imported to the Canadas are exceedingly small, +which will explain the circumstance of many articles of consumption +being cheaper in places where there are facilities of transit than at +home; while in the Backwoods, where roads are scarcely yet formed, there +must be taken into the account the cost of carriage, and increased +number of agents; the greater value of capital, and consequent increased +rate of local profit, &c.--items which will diminish in amount as the +country becomes settled and cleared.--Ed.] + +"What are necessary qualifications of a settler's wife; and the usual +occupations of the female part of a settler's family?" are your next +questions. + +To the first clause, I reply, a settler's wife should be active, +industrious, ingenious, cheerful, not above putting her hand to whatever +is necessary to be done in her household, nor too proud to profit by the +advice and experience of older portions of the community, from whom she +may learn many excellent lessons of practical wisdom. + +Like that pattern of all good housewives described by the prudent mother +of King Lemuel, it should be said of the emigrant's wife, "She layeth +her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." "She seeketh +wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." "She looketh well +to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." + +Nothing argues a greater degree of good sense and good feeling than a +cheerful conformity to circumstances, adverse though they be compared +with a former lot; surely none that felt as they ought to feel, would +ever despise a woman, however delicately brought up, for doing her duty +in the state of life unto which it may have pleased God to call her. +Since I came to this country, I have seen the accomplished daughters and +wives of men holding no inconsiderable rank as officers, both naval and +military, milking their own cows, making their own butter, and +performing tasks of household work that few of our farmers' wives would +now condescend to take part in. Instead of despising these useful arts, +an emigrant's family rather pride themselves on their skill in these +matters. The less silly pride and the more practical knowledge the +female emigrant brings out with her, so much greater is the chance for +domestic happiness and prosperity. + +I am sorry to observe, that in many cases the women that come hither +give way to melancholy regrets, and destroy the harmony of their fire- +side, and deaden the energies of their husbands and brothers by constant +and useless repining. Having once made up their minds to follow their +husbands or friends to this country, it would be wiser and better to +conform with a good grace, and do their part to make the burden of +emigration more bearable. + +One poor woman that was lamenting the miseries of this country was +obliged to acknowledge that her prospects were far better than they ever +had or could have been at home. What, then, was the cause of her +continual regrets and discontent? I could hardly forbear smiling, when +she replied, "She could not go to shop of a Saturday night to lay out +her husband's earnings, and have a little chat with her _naibors_, while +the shopman was serving the customers,--_for why?_ there were no shops +in the bush, and she was just dead-alive. If Mrs. Such-a-one (with whom, +by the way, she was always quarrelling when they lived under the same +roof) was near her she might not feel quite so lonesome." And so for the +sake of a dish of gossip, while lolling her elbows on the counter of a +village-shop, this foolish woman would have forgone the advantages, real +solid advantages, of having land and cattle, and poultry and food, and +firing and clothing, and all for a few years' hard work, which, her +husband wisely observed, must have been exerted at home, with no other +end in view than an old age of poverty or a refuge from starvation in a +parish workhouse. + +The female of the middling or better class, in her turn, pines for the +society of the circle of friends she has quitted, probably for ever. She +sighs for those little domestic comforts, that display of the +refinements and elegancies of life, that she had been accustomed to see +around her. She has little time now for those pursuits that were ever +her business as well as amusement. The accomplishments she has now to +acquire are of a different order: she must become skilled in the arts of +sugar-boiling, candle and soap making, the making and baking of huge +loaves, cooked in the bake-kettle, unless she be the fortunate mistress +of a stone or clay oven. She must know how to manufacture _hop-rising_ +or _salt-rising_ for leavening her bread; salting meat and fish, +knitting stockings and mittens and comforters, spinning yarn in the big +wheel (the French Canadian spinning-wheel), and dyeing the yarn when +spun to have manufactured into cloth and coloured flannels, to clothe +her husband and children, making clothes for herself, her husband and +children;--for there are no tailors nor mantua-makers in the bush. + +The management of poultry and the dairy must not be omitted; for in this +country most persons adopt the Irish and Scotch method, that of churning +the _milk_, a practice that in our part of England was not known. For my +own part I am inclined to prefer the butter churned from cream, as being +most economical, unless you chance to have Irish or Scotch servants who +prefer buttermilk to new or sweet skimmed milk. + +There is something to be said in favour of both plans, no doubt. The +management of the calves differs here very much. Some persons wean the +calf from the mother from its birth, never allowing it to suck at all: +the little creature is kept fasting the first twenty-four hours; it is +then fed with the finger with new milk, which it soon learns to take +readily. I have seen fine cattle thus reared, and am disposed to adopt +the plan as the least troublesome one. + +The old settlers pursue an opposite mode of treatment, allowing the calf +to suck till it is nearly half a year old, under the idea that it +ensures the daily return of the cow; as, under ordinary circumstances, +she is apt to ramble sometimes for days together, when the herbage grows +scarce in the woods near the homesteads, and you not only lose the use +of the milk, but often, from distention of the udder, the cow is +materially injured, at least for the remainder of the milking season. I +am disposed to think that were care taken to give the cattle regular +supplies of salt, and a small portion of food, if ever so little, near +the milking-place, they would seldom stay long away. A few refuse +potatoes, the leaves of the garden vegetables daily in use, set aside +for them, with the green shoots of the Indian corn that are stripped off +to strengthen the plant, will ensure their attendance. In the fall and +winter, pumpkins, corn, straw, and any other fodder you may have, with +the browse they get during the chopping and underbrushing season, will +keep them well. + +The weanling calves should be given skimmed milk or buttermilk, with the +leafy boughs of basswood and maple, of which they are extremely fond. A +warm shed or fenced yard is very necessary for the cattle during the +intense winter frosts: this is too often disregarded, especially in new +settlements, which is the cause that many persons have the mortification +of losing their stock, either with disease or cold. Naturally the +Canadian cattle are very hardy, and when taken moderate care of, endure +the severest winters well; but owing to the difficulties that attend a +first settlement in the bush, they suffer every privation of cold and +hunger, which brings on a complaint generally fatal, called the "_hollow +horn_;" this originates in the spine, or extends to it, and is cured or +palliated by boring the horn and inserting turpentine, pepper, or other +heating substances. + +When a new comer has not winter food for his cattle, it is wise to sell +them in the fall and buy others in the spring: though at a seeming loss, +it is perhaps less loss in reality than losing the cattle altogether. +This was the plan my husband adopted, and we found it decidedly the +better one, besides saving much care, trouble, and vexation. + +I have seen some good specimens of native cheese, that I thought very +respectable, considering that the grass is by no means equal to our +British pastures. I purpose trying my skill next summer: who knows but +that I may inspire some Canadian bard to celebrate the produce of my +dairy as Bloomfield did the Suffolk cheese, yclept "Bang." You remember +the passage,--for Bloomfield is your countryman as well as mine,--it +begins: + + "Unrivalled stands thy county cheese, O Giles," &c. + +I have dwelt on the dairy information; as I know you were desirous of +imparting all you could collect to your friends. + +You wish to know something of the culture of Indian corn, and if it be a +useful and profitable crop. + +The cultivation of Indian corn on newly cleared lands is very easy, and +attended with but little labour; on old farms it requires more. The +earth is just raised with a broad hoe, and three or four corns dropped +in with a pumpkin-seed, in about every third or fourth hole, and in +every alternate row; the seed are set several feet apart. The pumpkins +and the corn grow very amicably together, the broad leaves of the former +shading the young plants and preventing the too great evaporation of the +moisture from the ground; the roots strike little way, so that they rob +the corn of a very small portion of nourishment. The one crop trails to +an amazing length along the ground, while the other shoots up to the +height of several feet above it. When the corn is beginning to branch, +the ground should be hoed once over, to draw the earth a little to the +roots, and cut down any weeds that might injure it. This is all that is +done till the cob is beginning to form, when the blind and weak shoots +are broken off, leaving four or five of the finest bearing shoots. The +feather, when it begins to turn brown and dead, should also be taken +off; that the plant may have all the nourishment to the corn. + +We had a remarkable instance of smut in our corn last summer. The +diseased cobs had large white bladders as big as a small puff-ball, or +very large nuts, and these on being broken were full of an inky black +liquid. On the same plants might be observed a sort of false +fructification, the cob being deficient in kernels, which by some +strange accident were transposed to the top feather or male blossoms. I +leave botanists to explain the cause of this singular anomaly; I only +state facts. I could not learn that the smut was a disease common to +Indian corn, but last year smut or dust bran, as it is called by some, +was very prevalent in the oat, barley and wheat crops. In this country +especially, new lands are very subject to the disease. + +The ripe corn is either shocked as beans are at home, or the cobs pulled +and braided on ropes after the manner of onions, and hung over poles or +beams in the granaries or barns. The stripping of the corn gives rise +among some people, to what they call a husking-bee, which, like all the +other bees, is one of Yankee origin, and is not now so frequently +adopted among the more independent or better class of settlers. + +The Indian corn is a tender and somewhat precarious crop: it is liable +to injury from the late frosts while young, for which reason it is never +put in before the 20th of May, or beginning of June, and even then it +will suffer; it has also many enemies; bears, racoons, squirrels, mice, +and birds, and is a great temptation to _breachy_ cattle; who, to come +at it, will even toss down a fence with stakes and riders for +protection, i.e. a pole or cross-bar, supported between crossed stakes, +that surmounts the zig-zag rail fences, for better securing them from +the incursions of cattle. + +Even in Canada this crop requires a hot summer to ripen it perfectly; +which makes me think Mr. Cobbett was deceiving the English farmer when +he recommended it as a profitable crop in England. Profitable and highly +useful it is under every disadvantage, as it makes the richest and +sweetest food for all kinds of granivorous animals, even in its green +state, and affords sound good food when ripe, or even partially ripe, +for fattening beasts and working oxen. + +Last summer was very favourable, and the crops were abundant, but owing +to the failure of the two preceding ones, fewer settlers grew it. Our +small patch turned out very good. The flour makes a substantial sort of +porridge, called by the Americans "_Supporne;_" this is made with water, +and eaten with milk, or else mixed with milk; it requires long boiling. +Bread is seldom if ever made without a large portion of wheaten flour, +mixed with the corn meal. + +With respect to the culture of other grain, I can tell you nothing but +what every book that treats on emigration will give you. The potatoe +instead of being sown in drills is planted in hills, which are raised +over the sets; this crop requires hoeing. + +With respect to the usual rate of wages, this also differs according to +the populousness of the place: but the common wages now given to an +active able man are from eight to eleven dollars per month; ten is +perhaps the general average; from four to six for lads, and three and +four for female servants. You may get a little girl, say from nine to +twelve years, for her board and clothing; but this is far from a saving +plan, as they soon wear out clothes and shoes thus bestowed. I have once +tried this way, but found myself badly served, and a greater loser than +if I had given wages. A big girl will go out to service for two and two +and a half dollars per month, and will work in the fields also if +required, binding after the reapers, planting and hoeing corn and +potatoes. I have a very good girl, the daughter of a Wiltshire emigrant, +who is neat and clever, and respectful and industrious, to whom I give +three dollars only: she is a happy specimen of the lower order of +English emigrants, and her family are quite acquisitions to the township +in which they live. + +I think I have now answered all your queries to the best of my ability; +but I would have you bear in mind that my knowledge is confined to a +small portion of the townships along the Otanabee lakes, therefore, my +information after all, may be but local: things may differ, and do +differ in other parts of the province, though possibly not very +materially. + +I must now say farewell. Should you ever feel tempted to try your +fortune on this side the Atlantic, let me assure you of a warm welcome +to our Canadian home, from your sincerely attached friend. + + + + +LETTER XII. + +"A Logging Bee."--Burning of the Log-heaps.--Crops for the Season.-- +Farming Stock.--Comparative Value of Wheat and Labour.--Choice of Land, +and relative Advantages.--Clearing Land.--Hurricane in the Woods.-- +Variable Weather.--Insects. + +November the 2d, 1833. + +MANY thanks, dearest mother, for the contents of the box which arrived +in August. I was charmed with the pretty caps and worked frocks sent for +my baby; the little fellow looks delightfully in his new robes, and I +can almost fancy is conscious of the accession to his wardrobe, so proud +he seems of his dress. He grows fat and lively, and, as you may easily +suppose, is at once the pride and delight of his foolish mother's heart. + +His father, who loves him as much as I do myself; often laughs at my +fondness, and asks me if I do not think him the ninth wonder of the +world. He has fitted up a sort of rude carriage on the hand-sleigh for +the little fellow--nothing better than a tea-chest, lined with a black +bear-skin, and in this humble equipage he enjoys many a pleasant ride +over the frozen ground. + +Nothing could have happened more opportunely for us than the acquisition +of my uncle's legacy, as it has enabled us to make some useful additions +to our farm, for which we must have waited a few years. We have laid out +a part of the property in purchasing a fine lot of land adjoining our +home lot. The quality of our new purchase is excellent, and, from its +situation, greatly enhances the value of the whole property. + +We had a glorious burning this summer after the ground was all logged +up; that is, all the large timbers chopped into lengths, and drawn +together in heaps with oxen. To effect this the more readily we called a +logging-bee. We had a number of settlers attend, with yokes of oxen and +men to assist us. After that was over, my husband, with the men +servants, set the heaps on fire; and a magnificent sight it was to see +such a conflagration all round us. I was a little nervous at first on +account of the nearness of some of the log-heaps to the house, but care +is always taken to fire them with the wind blowing in a direction away +from the building. Accidents have sometimes happened, but they are of +rarer occurrence than might be expected, when we consider the subtlety +and destructiveness of the element employed on the occasion. + +If the weather be very dry, and a brisk wind blowing, the work of +destruction proceeds with astonishing rapidity; sometimes the fire will +communicate with the forest and run over many hundreds of acres. This is +not considered favourable for clearing, as it destroys the underbush and +light timbers, which are almost indispensable for ensuring a good +burning. It is, however, a magnificent sight to see the blazing trees +and watch the awful progress of the conflagration, as it hurries onward, +consuming all before it, or leaving such scorching mementoes as have +blasted the forest growth for years. + +When the ground is very dry the fire will run all over the fallow, +consuming the dried leaves, sticks, and roots. Of a night the effect is +more evident; sometimes the wind blows particles of the burning fuel +into the hollow pines and tall decaying stumps; these readily ignite, +and after a time present an appearance that is exceedingly fine and +fanciful. Fiery columns, the bases of which are hidden by the dense +smoke wreaths, are to be seen in every direction, sending up showers of +sparks that are whirled about like rockets and fire-wheels in the wind. +Some of these tall stumps, when the fire has reached the summit, look +like gas lamp-posts newly lit. The fire will sometimes continue +unextinguished for days. + +After the burning is over the brands are collected and drawn together +again to be reburnt; and, strange as it may appear to you, there is no +work that is more interesting and exciting than that of tending the log- +heaps, rousing up the dying flames and closing them in, and supplying +the fires with fresh fuel. + +There are always two burnings: first, the brush heaps, which have lain +during the winter till the drying winds and hot suns of April and May +have rendered them sear, are set fire to; this is previous to forming +the log-heaps. + +If the season be dry, and a brisk wind abroad, much of the lighter +timber is consumed, and the larger trees reduced during this first +burning. After this is over, the rest is chopped and logged up for the +second burning: and lastly, the remnants are collected and consumed till +the ground be perfectly free from all encumbrances, excepting the +standing stumps, which rarely burn out, and remain eye-sores for several +years. The ashes are then scattered abroad, and the field fenced in with +split timber; the great work of clearing is over. + +Our crops this year are oats, corn, and pumpkins, and potatoes, with +some turnips. We shall have wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and corn next +harvest, which will enable us to increase our stock. At present we have +only a yoke of oxen (Buck and Bright, the names of three-fourths of all +the working oxen in Canada), two cows, two calves, three small pigs, ten +hens, and three ducks, and a pretty brown pony: but she is such a +skilful clearer of seven-railed fences that we shall be obliged to part +with her. _Breachy_ cattle of any kind are great disturbers of public +tranquillity and private friendship; for which reason any settler who +values the good-will of his neighbours would rather part with the best +working yoke of oxen in the township, than keep them if they prove +_breachy_. + +A small farmer at home would think very poorly of our Canadian +possessions, especially when I add that our whole stock of farming +implements consists of two reaping-hooks, several axes, a spade, and a +couple of hoes. Add to these a queer sort of harrow that is made in the +shape of a triangle for the better passing between the stumps: this is a +rude machine compared with the nicely painted instruments of the sort I +have been accustomed to see used in Britain. It is roughly hewn, and put +together without regard to neatness; strength for use is all that is +looked to here. The plough is seldom put into the land before the third +or fourth year, nor is it required; the general plan of cropping the +first fallow with wheat or oats, and sowing grass-seeds with the grain +to make pastures, renders the plough unnecessary till such time as the +grass-lands require to be broken up. This method is pursued by most +settlers while they are clearing bush-land; always chopping and burning +enough to keep a regular succession of wheat and spring crops, while the +former clearings are allowed to remain in grass. + +The low price that is now given for grain of every kind, wheat having +fetched only from two shillings and nine-pence to four shillings the +bushel, makes the growing of it a matter of less importance than rearing +and fatting of stock. Wages bear no proportion to the price of produce; +a labourer receives ten and even eleven dollars and board a month, while +wheat is selling at only three shillings, three shillings and six pence +or four shillings, and sometimes even still less. The returns are little +compared with the outlay on the land; nor does the land produce that +great abundance that men are apt to look for on newly cleared ground. +The returns of produce, however, must vary with the situation and +fertility of the soil, which is generally less productive in the +immediate vicinity of the lakes and rivers than a little further back +from them, the land being either swampy or ridgy, covered with pines and +beset with blocks of limestone and granite, the sub-soil poor and sandy. + +This is the case on the small lakes and on the banks of the Otanabee; +the back lots are generally much finer in quality, producing hard wood, +such as bass-wood, maple, hickory, butter-nut, oak, beech, and iron- +wood; which trees always indicate a more productive soil than the pine +tribe. + +In spite of the indifference of the soil the advantage of a water +frontage is considered a matter of great importance in the purchasing of +land; and, lots with water privileges usually fetch a much higher price +than those further removed from it. These lands are in general in the +possession of the higher class of settlers, who can afford to pay +something extra for a pretty situation, and the prospect of future +improvements when the country shall be under a higher state of +cultivation and more thickly settled. + +We cannot help regarding with infinite satisfaction the few acres that +are cleared round the house and covered with crops. A space of this kind +in the midst of the dense forest imparts a cheerfulness to the mind, of +which those that live in an open country, or even a partially wooded +one, can form no idea. The bright sunbeams and the blue and cloudless +sky breaking in upon you, rejoices the eye and cheers the heart as much +as the cool shade of a palm-grove would the weary traveller on the sandy +wastes of Africa. + +If we feel this so sensibly who enjoy the opening of a lake of full +three-quarters of a mile in breadth directly in front of our windows, +what must those do whose clearing is first opened in the depths of the +forest, hemmed in on every side by a thick wall of trees, through the +interminable shades of which the eye vainly endeavours to penetrate in +search of other objects and other scenes; but so dense is the growth of +timber, that all beyond the immediate clearing is wrapped in profound +obscurity. A settler on first locating on his lot knows no more of its +boundaries and its natural features than he does of the northwest +passage. + +Under such disadvantages it is ten chances to one if he chooses the best +situation on the land for the site of his house. This is a very +sufficient reason for not putting up an expensive building till the land +is sufficiently cleared to allow its advantages and disadvantages to +become evident. Many eligible spots often present themselves to the eye +of the settler, in clearing his land, that cause him to regret having +built before he could obtain a better choice of ground. But +circumstances will seldom admit of delay in building in the bush; a +dwelling must be raised speedily, and that generally on the first +cleared acre. The emigrant, however, looks forward to some no very +distant period when he shall be able to gratify both his taste and love +of comfort in the erection of a handsomer and better habitation than his +log-house or his shanty, which he regards only in the light of a +temporary accommodation. + +On first coming to this country nothing surprised me more than the total +absence of trees about the dwelling-houses and cleared lands; the axe of +the chopper relentlessly levels all before him. Man appears to contend +with the trees of the forest as though they were his most obnoxious +enemies; for he spares neither the young sapling in its greenness nor +the ancient trunk in its lofty pride; he wages war against the forest +with fire and steel. + +There are several sufficient reasons to be given for this seeming want +of taste. The forest-trees grow so thickly together that they have no +room for expanding and putting forth lateral branches; on the contrary, +they run up to an amazing height of stem, resembling seedlings on a hot- +bed that have not duly been thinned out. Trees of this growth when +unsupported by others are tall, weak, and entirely divested of those +graces and charms of outline and foliage that would make them desirable +as ornaments to our grounds; but this is not the most cogent reason for +not leaving them, supposing some more sightly than others were to be +found. + +Instead of striking deep roots in the earth, the forest-trees, with the +exception of the pines, have very superficial hold in the earth; the +roots running along the surface have no power to resist the wind when it +bends the tops, which thus act as a powerful lever in tearing them from +their places. + +The taller the tree the more liable it is to being uprooted by storms; +and if those that are hemmed in, as in the thickly-planted forests, +fall, you may suppose the certain fate of any isolated tree, deprived of +its former protectors, when left to brave and battle with the storm. It +is sure to fall, and may chance to injure any cattle that are within its +reach. This is the great reason why trees are not left in the clearing. +Indeed, it is a less easy matter to spare them when chopping than I at +first imagined, but the fall of one tree frequently brings down two, +three, or even more smaller ones that stand near it. A good chopper will +endeavour to promote this as much as possible by partly chopping through +smaller ones in the direction they purpose the larger one to fall. + +I was so desirous of preserving a few pretty sapling beech-trees that +pleased me, that I desired the choppers to spare them; but the only one +that was saved from destruction in the chopping had to pass through a +fiery ordeal, which quickly scorched and withered up its gay green +leaves: it now stands a melancholy monument of the impossibility of +preserving trees thus left. The only thing to be done if you desire +trees, is to plant them while young in favourable situations, when they +take deep root and spread forth branches the same as the trees in our +parks and hedge-rows. + +Another plan which we mean to adopt on our land is to leave several +acres of forest in a convenient situation, and chop and draw out the old +timbers for fire-wood, leaving the younger growth for ornament. This +method of preserving a grove of trees is not liable to the objections +formerly stated, and combines the useful with the ornamental. + +There is a strange excitement created in the mind whilst watching the +felling of one of the gigantic pines or oaks of the forest. Proudly and +immoveably it seems at first to resist the storm of blows that assail +its massy trunk, from the united axes of three or even four choppers. As +the work of destruction continues, a slight motion is perceived--an +almost imperceptible quivering of the boughs. Slowly and slowly it +inclines, while the loud rending of the trunk at length warns you that +its last hold on earth is gone. The axe of the chopper has performed its +duty; the motion of the falling tree becomes accelerated every instant, +till it comes down in thunder on the plain, with a crash that makes the +earth tremble and the neighbouring trees reel and bow before it. + +Though decidedly less windy than our British isles, Canada is subject at +times to sudden storms, nearly approaching to what might be termed +whirlwinds and hurricanes. A description of one of these tempests I gave +you in an early letter. During the present summer I witnessed another +hurricane, somewhat more violent and destructive in its effect. + +The sky became suddenly overcast with clouds of a highly electric +nature. The storm came from the north-west, and its fury appeared to be +confined within the breadth of a few hundred yards. I was watching with +some degree of interest the rapid movements in the lurid, black, and +copper-coloured clouds that were careering above the lake, when I was +surprised by the report of trees falling on the opposite shore, and yet +more so by seeing the air filled with scattered remnants of the pines +within less than a hundred yards of the house, while the wind was +scarcely felt on the level ground on which I was standing. + +In a few seconds the hurricane had swept over the water, and with +irresistible power laid low not less than thirty or forty trees, bending +others to the ground like reeds. It was an awful sight to see the tall +forest rocking and bowing before the fury of the storm, and with the +great trunks falling one after the other, as if they had been a pack of +cards thrown down by a breath. Fortunately for us the current of the +wind merely passed over our open clearing, doing us no further damage +than uprooting three big pine-trees on the ridge above the lake. But in +the direction of our neighbour ------ it did great mischief, destroying +many rods of fencing, and crushing his crops with the prostrate trunks +and scattered boughs, occasioning great loss and much labour to repair +the mischief. + +The upturned roots of trees thrown down by the wind are great nuisances +and disfigurements in clearings, and cause much more trouble to remove +than those that have been felled by the axe. Some of the stumps of these +wind-fallen trees will right again if chopped from the trunk soon after +they have been blown down, the weight of the roots and upturned soil +being sufficient to bring them back into their former places; we have +pursued this plan very frequently. + +We have experienced one of the most changeable seasons this summer that +was possible. The spring was warm and pleasant, but from the latter part +of May till the middle of harvest we had heavy rains, cloudy skies, with +moist hot days, and frequent tempests of thunder and lightning, most +awfully grand, but seemingly less destructive than such storms are at +home. Possibly the tall forest-trees divert the danger from the low +dwellings, which are sufficiently sheltered from the effect of the +lightning. The autumn has also proved wet and cold. I must say at +present I do not think very favourably of the climate; however, it is +not right to judge by so short an acquaintance with it, as every one +says this summer has been unlike any of its predecessors. + +The insects have been a sad annoyance to us, and I hailed the approach +of the autumn as a respite from their attacks; for these pests are +numerous and various, and no respecters of persons, as I have learned +from sad experience. + +I am longing for home-letters; let me hear from you soon. + +Farewell, friends. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +Health enjoyed in the rigour of Winter.--Inconvenience suffered from the +brightness of the Snow.--Sleighing.--Indian Orthography.--Visit to an +Indian Encampment.--Story of an Indian.--An Indian Hunchback.--Canadian +Ornithology. + +Lake Cottage, March 14, 1834. + +I RECEIVED your affectionate and interesting letter only last night. +Owing to an error in the direction, it had made the round of two +townships before it reached Peterborough; and though it bore as many new +directions as the sailor's knife did new blades and handles, it did at +last reach me, and was not less prized for its travelling dress, being +somewhat the worse for wear. + +I rejoiced to hear of your returning health and increased happiness--may +they long continue. Your expressions of regret for my exile, as you term +my residence in this country, affected me greatly. Let the assurance +that I am not less happy than when I left my native land, console you +for my absence. If my situation be changed, my heart is not. My spirits +are as light as ever, and at times I feel a gaiety that bids defiance to +all care. + +You say you fear the rigours of the Canadian winter will kill me. I +never enjoyed better health, nor so good, as since it commenced. There +is a degree of spirit and vigour infused into one's blood by the purity +of the air that is quite exhilarating. The very snow seems whiter and +more beautiful than it does in our damp, vapoury climate. During a keen +bright winter's day you will often perceive the air filled with minute +frozen particles, which are quite dry, and slightly prick your face like +needle-points, while the sky is blue and bright above you. There is a +decided difference between the first snow-falls and those of mid-winter; +the first are in large soft flakes, and seldom remain long without +thawing, but those that fall after the cold has regularly set in are +smaller, drier, and of the most beautiful forms, sometimes pointed like +a cluster of rays, or else feathered in the most exquisite manner. + +I find my eyes much inconvenienced by the dazzling glitter of the snow +on bright sunny days, so as to render my sight extremely dull and +indistinct for hours after exposure to its power. I would strongly +advise any one coming out to this country to provide themselves with +blue or green glasses; and by no means to omit green crape or green +tissue veils. Poor Moses' gross of green spectacles would not have +proved so bad a spec. in Canada*. + +[* Oculists condemn coloured spectacles, as injuring weak eyes by the +heat which they occasion. Coloured gauze or coloured shades are +preferable.--Ed.] + +Some few nights ago as I was returning from visiting a sick friend, I +was delighted by the effect produced by the frost. The earth, the trees, +every stick, dried leaf, and stone in my path was glittering with mimic +diamonds, as if touched by some magical power; objects the most rude and +devoid of beauty had suddenly assumed a brilliancy that was dazzling +beyond the most vivid fancy to conceive; every frozen particle sent +forth rays of bright light. You might have imagined yourself in Sinbad's +valley of gems; nor was the temperature of the air at all unpleasantly +cold. + +I have often felt the sensation of cold on a windy day in Britain far +more severe than I have done in Canada, when the mercury indicated a +much lower degree of temperature. There is almost a trance-like +stillness in the air during our frosty nights that lessens the +unpleasantness of the sensation. + +There are certainly some days of intense cold during our winter, but +this low temperature seldom continues more than three days together. The +coldest part of the day is from an hour or two before sunrise to about +nine o'clock in the morning; by that time our blazing log-fires or metal +stoves have warmed the house, so that you really do not care for the +cold without. When out of doors you suffer less inconvenience than you +would imagine whilst you keep in motion, and are tolerably well clothed: +the ears and nose are the most exposed to injury. + +Gentlemen sometimes make a singular appearance coming in from a long +journey, that if it were not for pity's sake would draw from you a +smile;--hair, whiskers, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, all incrusted with +hoar-frost. I have seen young ladies going to evening parties with +clustering ringlets, as jetty as your own, changed by the breath of +Father Frost to silvery whiteness; so that you could almost fancy the +fair damsels had been suddenly metamorphosed to their ancient grannies; +fortunately for youth and beauty such change is but transitory. + +In the towns and populous parts of the province the approach of winter +is hailed with delight instead of dread; it is to all a season of +leisure and enjoyment. Travelling is then expeditiously and pleasantly +performed; even our vile bush-roads become positively very respectable; +and if you should happen to be overturned once or twice during a journey +of pleasure, very little danger attends such an event, and very little +compassion is bestowed on you for your tumble in the snow; so it is +wisest to shake off your light burden and enjoy the fun with a good +grace if you can. + +Sleighing is certainly a very agreeable mode of travelling; the more +snow, the better the sleighing season is considered; and the harder it +becomes, the easier the motion of the vehicle. The horses are all +adorned with strings of little brass bells about their necks or middles. +The merry jingle of these bells is far from disagreeable, producing a +light, lively sound. + +The following lines I copied from the New York Albion for you; I think +you will be pleased with them:-- + +SLEIGH BELLS. + +'Tis merry to hear at evening time +By the blazing hearth the sleigh-bells chime; +To know each bound of the steed brings near +The form of him to our bosoms dear; +Lightly we spring the fire to raise, +Till the rafters glow with the ruddy blaze. + +'Tis he--and blithely the gay bells sound, +As his steed skims over the frozen ground. +Hark! he has pass'd the gloomy wood; +He crosses now the ice-bound flood, +And sees the light from the open door, +To hail his toilsome journey o'er. + +Our hut is small and rude our cheer, +But love has spread the banquet here; +And childhood springs to be caress'd +By our beloved and welcome guest; +With smiling brow his tale he tells, +They laughing ring the merry bells. + +From the cedar swamp the wolf may howl, +From the blasted pine loud whoop the owl; +The sudden crash of the falling tree +Are sounds of terror no more to me; +No longer I list with boding fear, +The sleigh-bells' merry peal to hear*. + +[* This little poem by Mrs. Moodie has since been printed in a volume of +"Friendship's Offering," with some alterations by the editor that +deprive it a good deal of the simplicity of the original.] + +As soon as a sufficient quantity of snow has fallen all vehicles of +every description, from the stage-coach to the wheelbarrow, are supplied +with wooden runners, shod with iron, after the manner of skates. The +usual equipages for travelling are the double sleigh, light waggon, and +cutter; the two former are drawn by two horses abreast, but the latter, +which is by far the most elegant-looking, has but one, and answers more +to our gig or chaise. + +Wrapped up in buffalo robes you feel no inconvenience from the cold, +excepting to your face, which requires to be defended by a warm beaver +or fur bonnet; the latter, I am surprised to find, is seldom if ever +worn, from the nonsensical reason that it is not the fashion. The red, +grey, and black squirrels are abundant in our woods; the musk-rat +inhabits little houses that he builds in the rushy parts of the lakes: +these dwellings are formed of the roots of sedges, sticks, and other +materials of a similar nature, and plastered with mud, over which a +thick close thatch is raised to the height of a foot or more above the +water; they are of a round or dome-shape, and are distinctly visible +from the shore at some distance. The Indians set traps to ensnare these +creatures in their houses, and sell their skins, which are very thick +and glossy towards winter. The beaver, the bear, the black lynx, and +foxes are also killed, and brought to the stores by the hunters, where +the skins are exchanged for goods or money. + +The Indians dress the deer-skins for making mocassins, which are greatly +sought after by the settlers in these parts; they are very comfortable +in snowy weather, and keep the feet very warm, but you require several +wrappings of cloth round the feet before you put them on. I wore a +beautiful pair all last winter, worked with porcupine-quills and bound +with scarlet ribbon; these elegant mocassins were the handicraft of an +old squaw, the wife of Peter the hunter: you have already heard of him +in my former letters. I was delighted with a curious specimen of Indian +orthography that accompanied the mocassins, in the form of a note, which +I shall transcribe for your edification:-- + +SIR, + +Pleas if you would give something; you must git in ordir in store is +woyth (worth) them mocsin, porcupine quill on et. One dollers foure +yard. + +[Illustration: The Prairie] + +This curious billet was the production of the hunter's eldest son, and +is meant to intimate that if I would buy the mocassins the price was one +dollar, or an order on one of the stores for four yards of calico; for +so the squaw interpreted its meaning. The order for four yards of +printed cotton was delivered over to Mrs. Peter, who carefully pinned it +within the folds of her blanket, and departed well satisfied with the +payment. And this reminds me of our visit to the Indian's camp last +week. Feeling some desire to see these singular people in their winter +encampment, I expressed my wish to S------, who happens to be a grand +favourite with the old hunter and his family; as a mark of a distinction +they have bestowed on him the title of Chippewa, the name of their +tribe. He was delighted with the opportunity of doing the honours of the +Indian wigwam, and it was agreed that he, with some of his brothers and +sisters-in-law, who happened to be on a visit at his house, should come +and drink tea with us and accompany us to the camp in the woods. + +A merry party we were that sallied forth that evening into the glorious +starlight; the snow sparkled with a thousand diamonds on its frozen +surface, over which we bounded with hearts as light as hearts could be +in this careful world. And truly never did I look upon a lovelier sight +than the woods presented; there had been a heavy fall of snow the +preceding day; owing to the extreme stillness of the air not a particle +of it had been shaken from the trees. The evergreens were bending +beneath their brilliant burden; every twig, every leaf, and spray was +covered, and some of the weak saplings actually bowed down to the earth +with the weight of snow, forming the most lovely and fanciful bowers and +arcades across our path. As you looked up towards the tops of the trees +the snowy branches seen against the deep blue sky formed a silvery veil, +through which the bright stars were gleaming with a chastened +brilliancy. + +I was always an admirer of a snowy landscape, but neither in this +country nor at home did I ever see any thing so surpassingly lovely as +the forest appeared that night. + +Leaving the broad road we struck into a bye-path, deep tracked by the +Indians, and soon perceived the wigwam by the red smoke that issued from +the open basket-work top of the little hut. This is first formed with +light poles, planted round so as to enclose a circle of ten or twelve +feet in diameter; between these poles are drawn large sheets of birch +bark both within and without, leaving an opening of the bare poles at +the top so as to form an outlet for the smoke; the outer walls were also +banked up with snow, so as to exclude the air entirely from beneath. + +Some of our party, who were younger and lighter of foot than we sober +married folks, ran on before; so that when the blanket, that served the +purpose of a door, was unfastened, we found a motley group of the dark +skins and the pale faces reposing on the blankets and skins that were +spread round the walls of the wigwam. + +The swarthy complexions, shaggy black hair, and singular costume of the +Indians formed a striking contrast with the fair-faced Europeans that +were mingled with them, seen as they were by the red and fitful glare of +the wood-fire that occupied the centre of the circle. The deer-hounds +lay stretched in indolent enjoyment, close to the embers, while three or +four dark-skinned little urchins were playing with each other, or +angrily screaming out their indignation against the apish tricks of the +hunchback, my old acquaintance Maquin, that Indian Flibberty-gibbet, +whose delight appeared to be in teazing and tormenting the little +papouses, casting as he did so sidelong glances of impish glee at the +guests, while as quick as thought his features assumed an impenetrable +gravity when the eyes of his father or the squaws seemed directed +towards his tricks. + +There was a slight bustle among the party when we entered one by one +through the low blanket-doorway. The merry laugh rang round among our +friends, which was echoed by more than one of the Indian men, and joined +by the peculiar half-laugh or chuckle of the squaws. "_Chippewa_" was +directed to a post of honour beside the hunter Peter; and squaw Peter, +with an air of great good humour, made room for me on a corner of her +own blanket; to effect which two papouses and a hound were sent +lamenting to the neighbourhood of the hunchback Maquin. + +The most attractive persons in the wigwam were two Indian girls, one +about eighteen, Jane, the hunter's eldest daughter, and her cousin +Margaret. I was greatly struck with the beauty of Jane; her features +were positively fine, and though of gipsey darkness the tint of +vermilion on her cheek and lip rendered it, if not beautiful, very +attractive. Her hair, which was of jetty blackness, was soft and +shining, and was neatly folded over her forehead, not hanging loose and +disorderly in shaggy masses, as is generally the case with the squaws. +Jane was evidently aware of her superior charms, and may be considered +as an Indian belle, by the peculiar care she displayed in the +arrangement of the black cloth mantle, bound with scarlet, that was +gracefully wrapped over one shoulder, and fastened at her left side with +a gilt brooch. Margaret was younger, of lower stature, and though lively +and rather pretty, yet wanted the quiet dignity of her cousin; she had +more of the squaw in face and figure. The two girls occupied a blanket +by themselves, and were busily engaged in working some most elegant +sheaths of deer-skin, richly wrought over with coloured quills and +beads: they kept the beads and quills in a small tin baking-pan on their +knees; but my old squaw (as I always call Mrs. Peter) held her +porcupine-quills in her mouth, and the fine dried sinews of the deer, +which they make use of instead of thread in work of this sort, in her +bosom. + +On my expressing a desire to have some of the porcupine-quills, she gave +me a few of different colour that she was working a pair of mocassins +with, but signified that she wanted "'bead' to work mocsin," by which I +understood I was to give some in exchange for the quills. Indians never +give since they have learned to trade with white men. + +She was greatly delighted with the praises I bestowed on Jane. She told +me Jane was soon to marry the young Indian who sat on one side of her in +all the pride of a new blanket coat, red sash, embroidered powder-pouch, +and great gilt clasps to the collar of his coat, which looked as warm +and as white as a newly washed fleece. The old squaw evidently felt +proud of the young couple as she gazed on them, and often repeated, with +a good-tempered laugh, "Jane's husband--marry by and by." + +We had so often listened with pleasure to the Indians singing their +hymns of a Sunday night that I requested some of them to sing to us; the +old hunter nodded assent; and, without removing his pipe, with the +gravity and phlegm of a Dutchman, issued his commands, which were as +instantly obeyed by the younger part of the community, and a chorus of +rich voices filled the little hut with a melody that thrilled to our +very hearts. + +The hymn was sung in the Indian tongue, a language that is peculiarly +sweet and soft in its cadences, and seems to be composed with many +vowels. I could not but notice the modest air of the girls; as if +anxious to avoid observation that they felt was attracted by their sweet +voices, they turned away from the gaze of the strangers, facing each +other and bending their heads down over the work they still held in +their hands. The attitude, which is that of the Eastern nations; the +dress, dark hair and eyes, the olive complexion, heightened colour, and +meek expression of face, would have formed a study for a painter. I wish +you could have witnessed the scene; I think you would not easily have +forgotten it. I was pleased with the air of deep reverence that sat on +the faces of the elders of the Indian family, as they listened to the +voices of their children singing praise and glory to the God and Saviour +they had learned to fear and love. + +The Indians seem most tender parents; it is pleasing to see the +affectionate manner in which they treat their young children, fondly and +gently caressing them with eyes overflowing and looks of love. During +the singing each papouse crept to the feet of its respective father and +mother, and those that were too young to join their voices to the little +choir, remained quite silent till the hymn was at an end. One little +girl, a fat brown roly-poly, of three years old, beat time on her +father's knee, and from time to time chimed in her infant voice; she +evidently possessed a fine ear and natural taste for music. + +I was at a loss to conceive where the Indians kept their stores, +clothes, and other moveables, the wigwam being so small that there +seemed no room for any thing besides themselves and their hounds. Their +ingenuity, however, supplied the want of room, and I soon discovered a +plan that answered all the purposes of closets, bags, boxes, &c., the +inner lining of birch-bark being drawn between the poles so as to form +hollow pouches all round; in these pouches were stowed their goods; one +set held their stock of dried deer's flesh, another dried fish, a third +contained some flat cakes, which I have been told they bake in a way +peculiar to themselves, with hot ashes over and under; for my part I +think they must be far from palatable so seasoned. Their dressed skins, +clothes, materials for their various toys, such as beads, quills, bits +of cloth, silk, with a thousand other miscellaneous articles, occupied +the rest of these reservoirs. + +Though open for a considerable space at the top, the interior of the +wigwam was so hot, I could scarcely breathe, and was constrained to +throw off all my wrappings during the time we staid. Before we went away +the hunter insisted on showing us a game, which was something after the +manner of our cup and ball, only more complicated, and requires more +sleight of hand: the Indians seemed evidently well pleased at our want +of adroitness. They also showed us another game, which was a little like +nine-pins, only the number of sticks stuck in the ground was greater. I +was unable to stay to see the little rows of sticks knocked out, as the +heat of the wigwam oppressed me almost to suffocation, and I was glad to +feel myself once more breathing the pure air. + +In any other climate one would scarcely have undergone such sudden +extremes of temperature without catching a severe cold; but fortunately +that distressing complaint _catchee le cold_, as the Frenchman termed +it, is not so prevalent in Canada as at home. + +Some twenty years ago, while a feeling of dread still existed in the +minds of the British settlers towards the Indians, from the remembrance +of atrocities committed during the war of independence, a poor woman, +the widow of a settler who occupied a farm in one of the then but +thinly-settled townships back of the Ontario, was alarmed by the sudden +appearance of an Indian within the walls of her log-hut. He had entered +so silently that it was not till he planted himself before the blazing +fire that he was perceived by the frightened widow and her little ones, +who retreated, trembling with ill-concealed terror to the furthest +corner of the room. + +Without seeming to notice the dismay which his appearance had excited, +the Indian proceeded to disencumber himself from his hunting +accoutrements; he then unfastened his wet mocassins, which he hung up to +dry, plainly intimating his design was to pass the night beneath their +roof, it being nearly dark, and snowing heavily. + +Scarcely daring to draw an audible breath, the little group watched the +movements of their unwelcome guest. Imagine their horror when they +beheld him take from his girdle a hunting-knife, and deliberately +proceed to try its edge. After this his tomahawk and rifle underwent a +similar examination. + +The despair of the horror-stricken mother was now approaching a climax. +She already beheld in idea the frightful mangled corpses of her murdered +children upon that hearth which had so often been the scene of their +innocent gambols. Instinctively she clasped the two youngest to her +breast at a forward movement of the Indian. With streaming eyes she was +about to throw herself at his feet, as he advanced towards her with the +dreaded weapons in his hands, and implore his mercy for herself and her +babes. What then was her surprise and joy when he gently laid the rifle, +knife, and tomahawk beside her, signifying by this action that she had +nothing to fear at his hands*. + +[* It is almost an invariable custom now for the Indians on entering a +dwelling-house to leave all their weapons, as rife, tomahawk, &c., +outside the door, even if the weather be ever so wet; as they consider +it unpolite to enter a family dwelling armed.] + + +A reprieve to a condemned criminal at the moment previous to his +execution was not more welcome than this action of the Indian to the +poor widow. Eager to prove her confidence and her gratitude at the same +time, she hastened to prepare food for the refreshment of the now no +longer dreaded guest; and, assisted by the eldest of her children, put +clean sheets and the best blankets on her own bed, which she joyfully +devoted to the accommodation of the stranger. An expressive "Hugh! +hugh!" was the only reply to this act of hospitality; but when he went +to take possession of his luxurious couch he seemed sorely puzzled. It +was evident the Indian had never seen, and certainly never reposed on, +an European bed. After a mute examination of the bed-clothes for some +minutes, with a satisfied laugh, he sprang upon the bed, and, curling +himself up like a dog, in a few minutes was sound asleep. + +By dawn of day the Indian had departed; but whenever he came on the +hunting-grounds in the neighbourhood of the widow, she was sure to see +him. The children, no longer terrified at his swarthy countenance and +warlike weapons, would gather round his knees, admire the feathered +pouch that contained his shot, finger the beautiful embroidered sheath +that held the hunting-knife, or the finely-worked mocassins and +leggings; whilst he would pat their heads, and bestow upon them an equal +share of caresses with his deer-hounds. + +Such was the story related to me by a young missionary. I thought it +might prove not uninteresting, as a trait of character of one of these +singular people. _Chiboya_ (for that was the name of the Indian) was one +of the Chippewas of Rice Lake, most of whom are now converts to +Christianity, and making considerable advancement in civilisation and +knowledge of agriculture. Hunting and fishing, however, appear to be +their favourite pursuits: for these they leave the comfortable houses at +the Indian villages, and return at stated times to their forest haunts. +I believe it is generally considered that their numbers are diminishing, +and some tribes have become nearly if not totally extinct in the +Canadas*. The race is slowly passing away from the face of the earth, or +mingling by degrees with the colonists, till, a few centuries hence, +even the names of their tribes will scarcely remain to tell that they +once existed. + +[* It is stated that the North-West Company had a census of all the +tribes, and that the whole Indian population of that immense continent +did not now exceed 100,000 souls. In a Parliamentary document of 1834, +the Indians of Lower Canada are estimated at 3,437, and those of Upper +Canada at 13,700, which latter number is stated to include those on the +shores of Lake Huron, and to the westward.-Ed.] + +When next you send a box or parcel, let me have a few good tracts and +hymn-books; as they prize a gift of this sort extremely. I send you a +hymn, the one they sang to us in the wigwam; it is the Indian +translation, and written by the hunter, Peter's eldest son: he was +delighted when I told him I wanted him to copy it for me, that I might +send it across the seas to my own country, that English people might see +how well Indians could write. + +[Illustration: Red-bird] + +[Illustration: Blue-bird] + +The hunchback Maquin has made me a miniature canoe of birch-bark, which +I send; you will prize it as a curiosity, and token of remembrance. The +red and black squirrel-skins are for Jane; the feather fans, and papers +of feathers, for Sarah. Tell the latter the next time I send a packet +home, she shall have specimens fit for stuffing of our splendid red- +bird, which, I am sure, is the Virginian nightingale; it comes in May or +April, and leaves us late in the summer: it exactly corresponds to a +stuffed Virginian nightingale that I saw in a fine collection of +American birds. The blue-bird is equally lovely, and migrates much about +the same time; the plumage is of a celestial blue; but I have never seen +one otherwise than upon the wing, so cannot describe it minutely. The +cross-bills are very pretty; the male and female quite opposite in +colour, one having a lovely mixture of scarlet and orange on the breast +and back, shading into greenish olive and brown; the other more like our +yellowhammer, only it is not quite so bright in colour, though much +softer, and more innocent-looking: they come to our windows and doors in +the winter as familiarly as your robins. During the winter most of our +birds depart; even the hollow tapping of the red-headed and the small +speckled grey and white woodpecker ceases to be heard; the sharp +chittering of the squirrel, too, is seldomer distinguished; and silence, +awful and unbroken silence, reigns in the forest during the season of +midwinter. + +I had well nigh forgotten my little favourites, a species of the +titmouse, that does not entirely forsake us. Of a bright warm, sunny day +we see flocks of these tiny birds swinging among the feathery sprigs of +the hemlocks or shrubby pines on the plains or in the forest; and many a +time have I stayed my steps to watch their playful frolics, and listen +to their gay warbling. I am not quite certain, but I think this is the +same little bird that is known among the natives by the name of Thit-a- +be-bee; its note, though weak, and with few changes, is not unpleasing; +and we prize it from its being almost the only bird that sings during +the winter. + +I had heard much of the snow-bunting, but never had seen it till the +other day, and then not near enough to mark its form or colours. The day +was one of uncommon brilliancy; the sky cloudless, and the air almost +warm; when, looking towards the lake, I was surprised by the appearance +of one of the pine-trees near the shore: it seemed as if covered with +stars of silver that twinkled and sparkled against the blue sky. I was +so charmed by the novelty, that I ran out to observe them nearer; when, +to my surprise, my stars all took flight to another tree, where, by the +constant waving and fluttering of their small white wings against the +sunlight, they produced the beautiful effect that had at first attracted +my observation: soon all the pines within sight of the window were +illuminated by these lovely creatures. About mid-day they went away, and +I have seen them but once since. They never lit on the ground, or any +low tree or bough, for me to examine them nearer. + +Of our singing-birds, the robin; the blackbird, and a tiny bird, like +our common wren, are those I am most intimate with. The Canadian robin +is much larger than our dear robin at home; he is too coarse and large a +bird to realize the idea of our little favourite, "the household-bird +with the red stomacher," as he is called by Bishop-Carey, in a sonnet +addressed to Elizabeth, the daughter of James I., on her marriage with +the unfortunate Frederic Prince Palatine. + +The song of the Canadian robin is by no means despicable; its notes are +clear, sweet, and various; it possesses the same cheerful lively +character that distinguishes the carol of its namesake; but the general +habits of the bird are very dissimilar. The Canadian robin is less +sociable with man, but more so with his own species: they assemble in +flocks soon after the breeding season is over, and appear very amicable +one to another; but seldom, if ever, approach very near to our dwelling. +The breast is of a pinkish, salmon colour; the head black; the back of a +sort of bluish steel, or slate colour; in size they are as big as a +thrush. + +[Illustration: Snow-Bunting] + +The blackbird is perhaps our best songster, according to my taste; full +as fine as our English blackbird, and much handsomer in its plumage, +which is a glossy, changeable, greenish black. The upper part of the +wing of the male bird of full growth is of a lively orange; this is not +apparent in the younger birds, nor in the female, which is slightly +speckled. + +Towards the middle of the summer, when the grain begins to ripen, these +birds assemble in large flocks: the management of their marauding +parties appears to be superintended by the elders of the family. When +they are about to descend upon a field of oats or wheat, two or three +mount guard as sentinels, and on the approach of danger, cry _Geck-geck- +geck_; this precaution seems a work of supererogation, as they are so +saucy that they will hardly be frightened away; and if they rise it is +only to alight on the same field at a little distance, or fly up to the +trees, where their look-out posts are. + +They have a peculiarly melancholy call-note at times, which sounds +exactly like the sudden twang of a harp-string, vibrating for a second +or two on the ear. This, I am inclined to think, they use to collect +their distant comrades, as I have never observed it when they were all +in full assembly, but when a few were sitting in some tree near the +lake's edge. I have called them the "_harpers_" from this peculiar note. +I shall tire you with my ornithological sketches, but must enumerate two +or three more birds. + +The bald eagle frequently flies over our clearing; it has a dark body, +and snow-white head. It is sometimes troublesome to the poultry-yards: +those we have seen have disdained such low game, and soared majestically +away across the lake. + +The fish-hawk we occasionally see skimming the surface of the water, and +it is regarded as an enemy by those who take delight in spearing fish +upon the lakes. + +Then we have the night or mosquito-hawk, which may be seen in the air +pursuing the insect tribe in the higher regions, whilst hundreds of +great dragonflies pursue them below; notwithstanding their assistance, +we are bitten mercilessly by those summer pests the mosquitoes and black +flies. + +The red-headed woodpecker is very splendid; the head and neck being of a +rich crimson; the back, wings, and breast are divided between the most +snowy white and jetty black. The incessant tapping of the woodpeckers, +and the discordant shriek of the blue jay, are heard from sunrise to +sunset, as soon as the spring is fairly set in. + +I found a little family of woodpeckers last spring comfortably nested in +an old pine, between the bark and the trunk of the tree, where the +former had started away, and left a hollow space, in which the old birds +had built a soft but careless sort of nest; the little creatures seemed +very happy, poking their funny bare heads out to greet the old ones, who +were knocking away at the old stumps in their neighbourhood to supply +their cravings, as busy as so many carpenters at work. + +[Illustration: Baltimore Oriole defending her Nest against the Black +Snake.] + +A very curious bird's-nest was given me by one of our choppers; it was +woven over a forked spray, so that it had all the appearance of having +been sewn to the bough with grey thread. The nest was only secured at +the two sides that formed the angle, but so strong was it fastened that +it seemed to resist any weight or pressure of a moderate kind; it was +composed of the fibres of the bass-wood bark; which are very thready, +and may be drawn to great fineness: on the whole it was a curious +specimen of the ingenuity of these admirable little architects. I could +not discover the builder; but rather suspect the nest to have belonged +to my protege, the little winter titmouse that I told you of. + +The nest of the Canadian robin, which I discovered while seeking for a +hen's nest in a bush-heap, just at the further edge of the clearing, is +very much like our home-robin's, allowing something for difference of +size in the bird, and in the material; the eggs, five in number, were +deep blue. + +Before I quit the subject of birds, I must recall to your remembrance +the little houses that the Americans build for the swallow; I have since +found out one of their great reasons for cherishing this useful bird. It +appears that a most rooted antipathy exists between this species and the +hawk tribe, and no hawk will abide their neighbourhood; as they pursue +them for miles, annoying them in every possible way, haunting the hawk +like its evil genius: it is most singular that so small a creature +should thus overcome one that is the formidable enemy of so many of the +feathered race. I should have been somewhat sceptical on the subject, +had I not myself been an eyewitness to the fact. I was looking out of my +window one bright summer-day, when I noticed a hawk of a large +description flying heavily along the lake, uttering cries of distress; +within a yard or two of it was a small--in the distance it appeared to +me a very small--bird pursuing it closely, and also screaming. I watched +this strange pair till the pine-wood hid them from my sight; and I often +marvelled at the circumstance, till a very intelligent French Canadian +traveller happened to name the fact, and said so great was the value +placed on these birds, that they had been sold at high prices to be sent +to different parts of the province. They never forsake their old haunts +when once naturalized, the same pairs constantly returning year after +year, to their old house. + +The singular fact of these swallows driving the hawk from his haunts is +worthy of attention; as it is well authenticated, and adds one more to +the many interesting and surprising anecdotes recorded by naturalists of +the sagacity and instinct of these birds. + +I have, however, scribbled so many sheets, that I fear my long letter +must weary you. + +Adieu. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +Utility of Botanical Knowledge.--The Fire-Weed.--Sarsaparilla Plants.-- +Magnificent Water-Lily.--Rice Beds.--Indian Strawberry.--Scarlet +Columbine.--Ferns.--Grasses. + +July 13, 1834 + +OUR winter broke up unusually early this year: by the end of February +the ground was quite free from snow, and the weather continued all +through March mild and pleasant, though not so warm as the preceding +year, and certainly more variable. By the last week in April and the +beginning of May, the forest-trees had all burst into leaf, with a +brilliancy of green that was exquisitely lovely. + +On the 14th, 15th, and 16th of May, the air became suddenly cold, with +sharp winds from the north-west, and heavy storms of snow that nipped +the young buds, and destroyed many of the early-sown vegetable seeds; +fortunately for us we were behindhand with ours, which was very well, as +it happened. + +Our woods and clearings are now full of beautiful flowers. You will be +able to form some idea of them from the dried specimens that I send you. +You will recognize among them many of the cherished pets of our gardens +and green-houses, which are here flung carelessly from Nature's lavish +hand among our woods and wilds. + +How often do I wish you were beside me in my rambles among the woods and +clearings: you would be so delighted in searching out the floral +treasures of the place. + +Deeply do I now regret having so idly neglected your kind offers while +at home of instructing me in flower-painting; you often told me the time +would come when I should have cause to regret neglecting the golden +opportunity before me. + +You proved a true prophetess; for I daily lament that I cannot make +faithful representations of the flowers of my adopted country, or +understand as you would do their botanical arrangement. With some few I +have made myself acquainted, but have hardly confidence in my scanty +stock of knowledge to venture on scientific descriptions, when I feel +conscious that a blunder would be easily detected, and expose me to +ridicule and contempt, for an assumption of knowledge that I did not +possess. The only botanical work I have at my command is Pursh's North +American Flora, from which I have obtained some information; but must +confess it is tiresome blundering out Latin descriptions to one who +knows nothing of Latin beyond what she derives through a knowledge of +Italian. + +I have made out a list of the plants most worthy of attention near us; +there are many others in the township that I am a stranger to; some +there are with whose names I am unacquainted. I subjoin a slight sketch, +not with my pencil but my pen, of those flowers that pleased me +particularly, or that possessed any remarkable qualities. + +The same plants do not grow on cleared land that formerly occupied the +same spot when it was covered with forest-trees. A distinct class of +vegetation makes its appearance as soon as the fire has passed over the +ground. + +The same thing may be remarked with regard to the change that takes +place among our forests. As one generation falls and decays, new ones of +a different character spring up in their places. This is illustrated in +the circumstance of the resinous substance called fat-pine being usually +found in places where the living pine is least abundant, and where the +ground is occupied by oak, ash, buck, maple, and bass-wood. + +The fire-weed, a species of tall thistle of rank and unpleasant scent, +is the first plant that appears when the ground has been freed from +timbers by fire: if a piece of land lies untilled the first summer after +its being chopped, the following spring shows you a smothering crop of +this vile weed. The next plant you notice is the sumach, with its downy +stalks, and head of deep crimson velvety flowers, forming an upright +obtuse bunch at the extremity of the branches: the leaves turn scarlet +towards the latter end of the summer. This shrub, though really very +ornamental, is regarded as a great pest in old clearings, where the +roots run and send up suckers in abundance. The raspberry and wild +gooseberry are next seen, and thousands of strawberry plants of +different varieties carpet the ground, and mingle with the grasses of +the pastures. I have been obliged this spring to root out with +remorseless hand hundreds of sarsaparilla plants, and also the +celebrated gingseng, which grows abundantly in our woods: it used +formerly to be an article of export to China from the States, the root +being held in high estimation by the Chinese. + +Last week I noticed a succulent plant that made its appearance on a dry +sandy path in my garden; it seems to me a variety of the hour-blowing +mesembryanthium. It has increased so rapidly that it already covers a +large space; the branches converging from the centre of the plant; and +sending forth shoots from every joint. The leaves are rather small, +three-sided and pointed, thick and juicy, yielding a green liquor when +bruised like the common sedums. The stalks are thick and round, of a +bright red, and trail along the ground; the leaves spring from each +joint, and with them a constant succession of yellow starry flowers, +that close in an hour or so from the time they first unfold. I shall +send you some of the seed of this plant, as I perceived a number of +little green pods that looked like the buds, but which, on opening, +proved to be the seed-vessels. This plant covers the earth like a thick +mat, and, I am told, is rather troublesome where it likes the soil. + +I regret that among my dried plants I could not preserve some specimens +of our superb water-lilies and irises; but they were too large and too +juicy to dry well. As I cannot send you my favourites, I must describe +them to you. + +The first, then, is a magnificent water-lily, that I have called by way +of distinction the "queen of the lakes," for she sits a crown upon the +waters. This magnificent flower is about the size of a moderately large +dahlia; it is double to the heart; every row of petals diminishing by +degrees in size, and gradually deepening in tint from the purest white +to the brightest lemon colour. The buds are very lovely, and may be seen +below the surface of the water, in different stages of forwardness from +the closely-folded bud, wrapped in its olive-green calix, to the half- +blown flower, ready to emerge from its watery prison, and in all its +virgin beauty expand its snowy bosom to the sun and genial air. Nor is +the beauty of the flower its sole attraction: when unfolded it gives out +a rich perfume not unlike the smell of fresh lemons. The leaves are also +worthy of attention: at first they are of a fine dark green, but as the +flower decays, the leaf changes its hue to a vivid crimson. Where a +large bed of these lilies grow closely together, they give quite a +sanguine appearance to the waters, that is distinguishable at some +distance. + +The yellow species of this plant is also very handsome, though it wants +the silken texture and delicate colour of the former; I call this the +"water-king." The flower presents a deep golden-coloured cup, the +concave petals of which are clouded in the centre with a dark reddish- +brown, that forms a striking contrast to the gay anthers, which are very +numerous, and turn back from the centre of the flower, falling like +fringes of gold one over the other, in successive rows, till they fill +up the hollow flower-cup. + +The shallows of our lakes abound with a variety of elegant aquatic +plants: I know not a more lovely sight than one of these floating +gardens. Here you shall behold near the shore a bed of azure fleur-de- +lis, from the palest pearl colour varying to the darkest purple. Nearer +in shore, in the shallowest water, the rose-coloured persecaria sends up +its beautiful spikes trailing below the surface; you see the red stalks +and smooth dark green leaves veined underneath with rosy red: it is a +very charming variety of this beautiful species of plants. Then a bed of +my favourite white lilies, all in full bloom, floating on the water, +with their double flowers expanding to the sun; near these, and rising +in stately pride, a tall plant, with dark green spear-shaped leaves, and +thick spike of bright blue flowers, is seen. I cannot discover the name +of this very grand-looking flower, and I neglected to examine its +botanical construction; so can give you no clue by which to discover its +name or species. + +Our rice-beds are far from being unworthy of admiration; seen from a +distance they look like low green islands on the lakes: on passing +through one of these rice-beds when the rice is in flower, it has a +beautiful appearance with its broad grassy leaves and light waving +spikes, garnished with pale yellow green blossoms, delicately shaded +with reddish purple, from beneath which fall three elegant straw- +coloured anthers, which move with every breath of air or slightest +motion of the waters. I gathered several spikes when only just opened, +but the tiresome things fell to pieces directly they became dry. Next +summer I will make another attempt at preserving them, and it may be +with better success. + +The low shore of the lake is a complete shrubbery. We have a very pretty +St. John's-wort, with handsome yellow flowers. The white and pink spiral +frutex also abounds with some exquisite upright honeysuckles, shrubby +plants about three feet in height; the blossoms grow in pairs or by +fours, and hang beneath the light green leaves; elegant trumpet-shaped +flowers of a delicate greenish white, which are succeeded by ruby- +coloured berries. On gathering a branch of this plant, you cannot but be +struck with the elegant arrangement of the flowers along the under part +of the stalks. The two blossoms are connected at the nectary of each in +a singular manner. The Americans call this honeysuckle "twinflower." I +have seen some of the flowers of this plant pale pink: on the whole it +is one of the most ornamental shrubs we have. I transplanted some young +trees into my garden last spring; they promise to live and do well. I do +not find any description of this shrub in Pursh's Flora, but know it to +be a species of honeysuckle, from the class and order, the shape and +colour of the leaves, the stalks, the trumpet-shaped blossom and the +fruit; all bearing a resemblance to our honeysuckles in some degree. +There is a tall upright bush, bearing large yellow trumpet-shaped +flowers, springing from the extremities of the branches; the involucrum +forms a boat-shaped cup that encircles the flowers from which they seem +to spring, something after the manner of the scarlet trumpet- +honeysuckle. The leaves and blossoms of this plant are coarse, and by no +means to compare to the former. + +We have a great variety of curious orchises, some brown and yellow, +others pale flesh-coloured, striped with crimson. There is one species +grows to the height of two feet, bearing long spikes of pale purple +flowers; a white one with most fragrant smell, and a delicate pink one +with round head of blossoms, finely fringed like the water-pinks that +grow in our marshes; this is a very pretty flower, and grows in the +beaver meadows. + +Last autumn I observed in the pine-wood near us a very curious plant; it +came up with naked brown stems, branching off like some miniature tree; +the stalks of this plant were brown, slightly freckled and beset with +little knobs. I watched the progress of maturity in this strange plant +with some degree of interest, towards the latter end of October; the +little knobs, which consisted of two angular hard cases, not unlike, +when fully opened, to a boat in shape, burst asunder and displayed a +pale straw-coloured chaffy substance that resembled fine saw-dust: these +must have been the anthers, but they bore more resemblance to seeds; +this singular flower would have borne examination with a microscope. One +peculiarity that I observed, was, that on pulling up a plant with its +roots, I found the blossoms open under ground, springing up from the +lowest part of the flower-stems, and just as far advanced to maturity as +those that grew on the upper stalks, excepting that they were somewhat +blanched, from being covered up from the air. I can find no description +of this plant, nor any person but myself seems to have taken notice of +it. The specimen I had on being dried became so brittle that it fell to +pieces. + +I have promised to collect some of the most singular of our native +flowers for one of the Professors of Botany in the Edinburgh University. + +We have a very handsome plant that bears the closest affinity to our +potatoe in its floral construction; it grows to the height of two or +three feet in favourable situations, and sends up many branches; the +blossoms are large, purely white, freckled near the bottom of the +corolla with brownish yellow spots; the corolla is undivided: this is +evidently the same plant as the cultivated potatoe, though it does not +appear to form apples at the root. The fruit is very handsome, +eggshaped, of a beautiful apricot colour when ripe, and of a shining +tempting appearance; the smell, however, betrays its poisonous nature: +on opening one of the fruits you find it consists of a soft pulp filled +with shining black seeds. The plant continues in blossom from June till +the first frosts wither the leaves; it is far less coarse than the +potatoe; the flower, when full blown, is about the size of a half crown, +and quite flat; I think it is what you call salver-shaped: it delights +in light loamy soil, growing on the upturned roots of fallen trees, +where the ground is inclined to be sandy. I have never seen this plant +elsewhere than on our own fallow. + +The hepatica is the first flower of the Canadian spring: it gladdens us +with its tints of azure, pink, and white, early in April, soon after the +snows have melted from the earth. The Canadians can it snow-flower, from +its coming so soon after the snow disappears. We see its gay tufts of +flowers in the open clearings and the deep recesses of the forests; its +leaves are also an enduring ornament through the open months of the +year; you see them on every grassy mound and mossy root: the shades of +blue are very various and delicate, the white anthers forming a lovely +contrast with the blue petals. + +The wood-cress, or as it is called by some, ginger-cress, is a pretty +white cruciform flower; it is highly aromatic in flavour; the root is +white and fleshy, having the pungency of horseradish. The leaves are of +a sad green, sharply notched, and divided in three lobes; the leaves of +some of them are slightly variegated; the plant delights in rich moist +vegetable mould, especially on low and slightly swampy ground; the +flower-stalk is sometimes naked, sometimes leafed, and is crowned with a +loose spike of whitish cruciform flowers. + +There is a cress that grows in pretty green tufts at the bottom of the +waters in the creeks and small rivulets: it is more delicate and +agreeable in flavour than any of the land-cresses; the leaves are of a +pale tender green, winged and slender; the plant looks like a green +cushion at the bottom of the water. The flowers are yellow, cruciform, +and insignificant; it makes a very acceptable salad in the early spring, +and at the fall of the year. There are also several species of land- +cress, and plants resembling some of the cabbage tribes, that might be +used as spring vegetables. There are several species of spinach, one +known here by the name of lamb's quarter, that grows in great profusion +about our garden, and in rich soil rises to two feet, and is very +luxuriant in its foliage; the leaves are covered with a white rough +powder. The top shoots and tender parts of this vegetable are boiled +with pork, and, in place of a more delicate pot-herb, is very useful. + +Then we have the Indian turnip; this is a very handsome arum, the root +of which resembles the cassava, I am told, when boiled: the leaves of +this arum are handsome, slightly tinged with purple. The spathe is of a +lively green, striped with purple: the Indians use the root as a +medicine, and also as an esculent; it is often eaten by the settlers as +a vegetable, but I never tasted it myself. Pursh calls this species +_Arum atropurpureum_. + +I must not pass over one of our greatest ornaments, the strawberry +blite, strawberry-bearing spinach, or Indian strawberry, as it is +variously named. This singular plant throws out many branches from one +stem, these are garnished with handsome leaves, resembling in appearance +our long-leaved garden spinach; the finest of this plant is of a bright +crimson, pulpy like the strawberry, and containing a number of purple +seeds, partially embedded in the surface, after the same manner as the +strawberry. The fruit grows close to the stalk, completely surrounding +it, and forming a long spike of the richest crimson berries. I have +gathered branches a foot in length, closely covered with the beautiful +looking fruit, and have regretted that it was so insipid in its flavour +as to make it uneatable. On the banks of creeks and in rich ground, it +grows most luxuriantly, one root sending up twenty or thirty branches, +drooping with the weight of their magnificent burden. As the middle and +superior stems ripen and decay, the lateral ones come on, presenting a +constant succession of fruit from July till the frosts nip them off in +September. + +The Indians use the juice of this plant as a dye, and are said to eat +the berries: it is often made use of as a substitute for red ink, but it +is liable to fade unless mingled with alum. A friend of mine told me she +had been induced to cross a letter she was sending to a relative in +England with this strawberry ink, but not having taken the precaution to +fix the colour, when the anxiously expected epistle arrived, one-half of +it proved quite unintelligible, the colours having faded nearly to +white; so that instead of affording satisfaction, it proved only a +source of vexation and embarrassment to the reader, and of mortification +to the writer. + +The blood-root, sanguinaria, or puccoon, as it is termed by some of the +native tribes, is worthy of attention from the root to the flower. As +soon as the sun of April has warmed the earth and loosened it from its +frozen bonds, you may distinguish a number of purely white buds, +elevated on a naked footstalk, and partially enfolded in a handsome +vine-shaped leaf, of a pale bluish green, curiously veined on the under +side with pale orange. The leaf springs singly from a thick juicy +fibrous root, which, on being broken, emits a quantity of liquor from +its pores of a bright orange scarlet colour: this juice is used by the +Indians as a dye, and also in the cure of rheumatic, and cutaneous +complaints. The flowers of the sanguinaria resemble the white crocus +very closely: when it first comes up the bud is supported by the leaf, +and is folded together with it; the flower, however, soon elevates +itself above its protector, while the leaf having performed its duty of +guardian to the tender bud, expands to its full size. A rich black +vegetable mould at the edges of the clearings seems the favourite soil +for this plant. + +The scarlet columbine is another of my favourite flowers; it is bright +red, with yellow linings to the tubes. The nectaries are more elongated +than the garden columbines, and form a sort of mural crown, surmounted +with little balls at the tips. A tall graceful plant, with its brilliant +waving blossoms, is this columbine; it grows both in the sunshine and +the shade, not perhaps in deep shady woods, but where the under brush +has been removed by the running of the fire or the axe of the chopper; +it seems even to flourish in poor stony soils, and may be found near +every dwelling. The feathered columbine delights in moist open swamps, +and the banks of rivulets; it grows to the height of three, and even +four and five feet, and is very ornamental. + +Of Violets, we have every variety of colour, size and shape, lacking +only the delightful _viola odorata_ of our home woodlands: yet I know +not why we should quarrel with these meek daughters of the spring, +because they want the fragrance of their more favoured sisters. Many of +your wood-violets, though very beautiful, are also devoid of scent; here +variety of colour ought to make some amends for want of perfume. We have +violets of every shade of blue, some veined with purple, others shaded +with darker blue. We have the delicate white, pencilled with purple: the +bright brimstone coloured with black veinings: the pale primrose with +dark blue veins; the two latter are remarkable for the luxuriance and +size of the leaves: the flowers spring in bunches, several from each +joint, and are succeeded by large capsules covered with thick white +cottony down. There is a species of violet that grows in the woods, the +leaves of which are exceedingly large; so are the seed-vessels, but the +flower is so small and insignificant, that it is only to be observed by +a close examination of the plant; this has given rise to the vulgar +belief that it blooms under ground. The flowers are a pale greenish +yellow. Bryant's beautiful poem of the Yellow Violet is descriptive of +the first-mentioned violet. + +There is an elegant _viola tricolor_, that blooms in the autumn; it is +the size of a small heart's-ease, and is pure white, pale purple, and +lilac; the upper petals are white, the lower lip purple, and the side +wings a reddish lilac. I was struck with the elegance of this rare +flower on a journey to Peterborough, on my way to Cobourg; I was unable +to preserve the specimens, and have not travelled that road since. The +flower grew among wild clover on the open side of the road; the leaves +were small, roundish, and of a dark sad green. + +Of the tall shrubby asters, we have several beautiful varieties, with +large pale blue lilac, or white flowers; others with very small white +flowers and crimson anthers, which look like tufts of red down, spangled +with gold-dust; these anthers have a pretty effect, contrasted with the +white starry petals. There is one variety of the tall asters that I have +seen on the plains, it has flowers about the size of a sixpence, of a +soft pearly tint of blue, with brown anthers; this plant grows very +tall, and branches from the parent stem in many graceful flowery boughs; +the leaves of this species are of a purple red on the under side, and +inclining to heart-shape; the leaves and stalks are hairy. + +I am not afraid of wearying you with my floral sketches, I have yet many +to describe; among these are those elegant little evergreens, that +abound in this country, under the name of winter-greens, of which there +are three or four remarkable for beauty of foliage, flower, and fruit. +One of these winter-greens that abounds in our pine-woods is extremely +beautiful; it seldom exceeds six inches in height; the leaves are a +bright shining green, of a long narrow oval, delicately notched like the +edges of a rose-leaf; and the plant emerges from beneath the snow in the +early part of the year, as soon as the first thaw takes place, as fresh +and verdant as before they were covered up: it seems to be a shy +blossomer. I have never seen specimens of the flowers in bloom but +twice; these I carefully preserved for you, but the dried plant will +afford but an imperfect idea of the original. You always called, you +know, your dried specimens corpses of plants, and said, that when well +painted, their representations were far more like themselves. The +flower-stalk rises two or three inches from the centre of the plant, and +is crowned with round crimson buds and blossoms, consisting of five +petals, deepening from the palest pink to the brightest blush colour; +the stigma is of an emerald greenness, forming a slightly ribbed turban +in the centre, around which are disposed ten stamens of an amethyst +colour: in short, this is one of the gems of the floral world, and might +aptly be compared to an emerald ring, set round with amethysts. The +contrast of colours in this flower is exceedingly pleasing, and the +crimson buds and shining ever-green leaves are scarcely less to be +admired than the flower; itself it would be considered a great +acquisition to your collection of American shrubs, but I doubt if it +would flourish when removed from the shade of the pine-woods. This plant +appears to be the _Chimaphila corymbosa_, or winter-green, described by +Pursh, with some trifling variation in the colour of the petals. + +Another of our winter-greens grows in abundance on the Rice-Lake plains; +the plant does not exceed four inches; the flowers are in little loose +bunches, pale greenish white, in shape like the blossom of the arbutus; +the berries are bright scarlet, and are known by the name of winter- +berry, and partridge-berry; this must be _Gaultheria procumbens_. But a +more beautiful little evergreen of the same species is to be found in +our cedar swamps, under the name of pigeon-berry; it resembles the +arbutus in leaf and flower more closely than the former plant; the +scarlet berry is inserted in a scarlet cup or receptacle, divided at the +edge in five points; it is fleshy, seeming to partake of the same nature +as the fruit. The blossoms of this elegant little shrub, like the +arbutus, of which it looks like the miniature, appear in drooping +bunches at the same time the ripened berry of the former year is in +perfection; this circumstance adds not a little to the charm of the +plant. If I mistake not, this is the _Gualtheria Shallon_, which Pursh +likens to the arbutus: this is also one of our winter-greens. + +There is another pretty trailing plant, with delicate little funnel- +shaped flowers, and a profusion of small dark green round buds, slightly +variegated, and bright red berries, which are produced at the +extremities of the branches. The blossoms of this plant grow in pairs, +closely connected at the germen, so much so, that the scarlet fruit that +supersedes the flowers appears like a double berry, each berry +containing the seeds of both flowers and a double eye. The plant is also +called winter-green, or twin-berry; it resembles none of the other +winter-greens; it grows in mossy woods, trailing along the ground, +appearing to delight in covering little hillocks and inequalities of the +ground. In elegance of growth, delicacy of flower, and brightness of +berry, this winter-green is little inferior to any of the former. + +There is a plant in our woods, known by the names of man-drake, may- +apple, and duck's-foot: the botanical name of the plant is Podophyllum; +it belongs to the class and order _Polyandria monogynia_. The blossom is +yellowish white, the corolla consisting of six petals; the fruit is +oblong; when ripe, of a greenish yellow; in size that of an olive, or +large damson; when fully ripe it has the flavour of preserved tamarind, +a pleasant brisk acid; it appears to be a shy bearer, though it +increases rapidly in rich moist woodlands. The leaves come up singly, +are palmated and shade the ground very much when a number of them grow +near each other; the stalk supports the leaf from the centre: when they +first appear above the ground, they resemble a folded umbrella or +parasol, all the edges of the leaves bending downward, by degrees +expanding into a slightly convex canopy. The fruit would make a delicate +preserve with sugar. + +The lily tribe offer an extensive variety from the most minute to the +very largest flowers. The red martagon grows abundantly on our plains; +the dog's tooth violet, _Erythronium_, with its spotted leaves and +bending yellow blossom, delicately dashed with crimson spots within, and +marked with fine purple lines on the outer part of the petal, proves a +great attraction in our woods, where these plants increase: they form a +beautiful bed; the leaves come up singly, one from each separate tuber. +There are two varieties of this flower, the pale yellow, with neither +spots nor lines, and the deep yellow with both; the anthers of this last +are reddish-orange, and thickly covered with a fine powdery substance. +The daffodil of our woods is a delicate bending flower, of a pale +yellow; the leaves grow up the flower-stalk at intervals; three or more +flowers usually succeed each other at the extremity of the stalk: its +height is from six to eight inches; it delights in the deep shade of +moist woods. This seems to unite the description of the jonquil and +daffodil. + +A very beautiful plant of the lily tribe abounds both in our woods and +clearings; for want of a better name, I call it the douri-lily, though +it is widely spread over a great portion of the continent. The Americans +term the white and red varieties of this species, the "white" and "red +death." The flower is either deep red, or of a dazzling white, though +the latter is often found stained with a delicate blush-pink, or a deep +green; the latter appears to be caused by the calix running into the +petal. Wherefore it bears so formidable a name has not yet transpired. +The flower consists of three petals, the calix three; it belongs to the +class and order _Hexandria monogynia_; style, three-cleft; seed-vessel +of three valves; soil, dry woods and cleared lands; leaves growing in +three, springing from the joints, large round, but a little pointed at +the extremities. + +We have lilies of the valley, and their cousins the Solomon's seals, a +small flowered turk's-cap, of pale primrose colour, with an endless +variety of small flowers of the lily tribe, remarkable for beauty of +foliage or delicacy of form. + +Our Ferns are very elegant and numerous; I have no less than eight +different specimens, gathered from our immediate neighbourhood, some of +which are extremely elegant, especially one that I call the "fairy +fern," from its lightness. One elastic stem, of a purplish-red colour, +supports several light branches, which are subdivided and furnished with +innumerable leaflets; each leaflet has a footstalk, that attaches it to +the branch, of so slight and hair-like a substance that the least breath +of air sets the whole plant in motion. + +Could we but imagine Canada to have been the scene of fairy revels, we +should declare that these graceful ferns were well suited to shade the +elfin court of Oberon and Titania. + +When this fern first appears above the ground, it is scarcely to be +distinguished from the decaying wood of the fallen pines; it is then of +a light reddish brown, curiously curled up. In May and June, the leaves +unfold, and soon assume the most delicate tint of green; they are almost +transparent: the cattle are very fond of this fern. + +The mocassin flower or lady's-slipper (mark the odd coincidence between +the common name of the American and English species) is one of our most +remarkable flowers; both on account of its beauty and its singularity of +structure. Our plains and dry sunny pastures produce several varieties; +among these, the _Cypripedium pubescens_, or yellow mocassin, and the +_C. Arietinum_ are the most beautiful of the species. The colour of the +lip of the former is a lively canary yellow, dashed with deep crimson +spots. The upper petals consist of two short and two long; in texture +and colour resembling the sheath of some of the narcissus tribe; the +short ones stand erect, like a pair of ears; the long or lateral pair +are three times the length of the former, very narrow, and elegantly +twisted, like the spiral horns of the Walachian ram: on raising a thick +yellow fleshy sort of lid, in the middle of the flower, you perceive the +exact face of an Indian hound, perfect in all its parts, the eyes, nose, +and mouth; below this depends an open sack, slightly gathered round at +the opening, which gives it a hollow and prominent appearance; the +inside of this bag is delicately dashed with deep crimson, or black +spots: the stem of the flower is thick towards the upper part, and takes +a direct bend; the leaves are large oval, a little pointed and ribbed; +the plant scarcely exceeds six inches: the elegant colour and silken +texture of the lower lip or bag renders this flower very much more +beautiful to my taste than the purple and white variety, though the +latter is much more striking on account of the size of the flower and +leaves, besides the contrast between the white and red, or white and +purple colours. + +The formation of this species resembles the other, only with this +difference, the horns are not twisted, and the face is that of a monkey; +even the comical expression of the animal is preserved with such +admirable fidelity, as to draw a smile from every one that sees the odd +restless-looking visage, with its prominent round black eyes peering +forth from under its covering. + +These plants belong to class and order _Gynandria diandria_; are +described with some little variation by Pursh, who, however, likens the +face of the latter to that of a sheep: if a sheep sat for the picture, +methinks it must have been the most mischievous of the flock. + +There is a curious aquatic plant that grows in shallow, stagnant, or +slow-flowing waters; it will contain a full wine-glass of water. A poor +soldier brought it to me, and told me it resembled a plant he used to +see in Egypt, that the soldiers called the "Soldier's drinking-cup" and +many a good draught of pure water, he said, I have drank from them. + +Another specimen was presented me by a gentleman who knew my +predilection for strange plants; he very aptly gave it the name of +"Pitcher-plant;" it very probably belongs to the tribe that bear that +name. + +The flowers that afford the most decided perfumes are our wild roses, +which possess a delicious scent: the milk-weed, which gives out a smell +not-unlike the night-blowing stock; the purple monarda, which is +fragrance itself from the root to the flower, and even after months' +exposure to the wintry atmosphere; its dried leaves and seed-vessels are +so sweet as to impart perfume to your hands or clothes. All our Mints +are strong scented: the lily of the valley is remarkable for its fine +smell; then there is my queen of the lakes, and her consort, the water- +king, with many other flowers I cannot now enumerate. Certain it is that +among such a vast assemblage of flowers, there are, comparatively, very +few that are gifted with fragrant scents. Some of our forest-trees give +out a fine perfume. I have often paused in my walks to inhale the +fragrance from a cedar swamp on some sunny day while the boughs were +still wet with the dew-drops or recently fallen shower. + +Nor is the balsam-poplar, or tacamahac, less delightfully fragrant, +especially while the gummy buds are just beginning to unfold; this is an +elegant growing tree, where it has room to expand into boughs. It grows +chiefly on the shores of the lakes and in open swamps, but it also forms +one of the attractions of our plains, with its silver bark and waving +foliage; it emits a resinous clear gum in transparent globules on the +bark, and the buds are covered with a highly aromatic gummy fluid. + +Our Grasses are highly interesting; there are varieties that are wholly +new to me, and when dried form the most elegant ornaments to our +chimney-pieces, and would look very graceful on a lady's head; only +fashionists always prefer the artificial to the natural. + +One or two species of grass that I have gathered bear a close but of +course minute resemblance to the Indian corn, having a top feather and +eight-sided spike of little grains disposed at the sidejoints. The +_sisyrinchium_, or blue-eyed grass, is a pretty little flower of an +azure blue, with golden spot at the base of each petal; the leaves are +flat, stiff, and flag-like; this pretty flower grows in tufts on light +sandy soils. + +I have given you a description of the flowers most worthy of attention; +and, though it is very probable some of my descriptions may not be +exactly in the technical language of the correct botanist, I have at +least described them as they appear. + +My dear boy seems already to have a taste for flowers, which I shall +encourage as much as possible. It is a study that tends to refine and +purify the mind, and can be made, by simple steps, a ladder to heaven, +as it were, by teaching a child to look with love and admiration to that +bountiful God who created and made flowers so fair to adorn and fructify +this earth. + +Farewell, my dear sister. + + + + +LETTER XV. + +Recapitulation of various Topics.--Progress of Settlement.--Canada, the +Land of Hope.--Visit to the Family of a Naval Officer.--Squirrels.-- +Visit to, and Story of, an Emigrant Clergyman.--His early Difficulties. +--The Temper, Disposition, and Habits of Emigrants essential Ingredients +in Failure or Success. + +September the 20th, 1834. + +I PROMISED when I parted from you before I left England to write as soon +as I could give you any satisfactory account of our settlement in this +country. I shall do my best to redeem that promise, and forward you a +slight sketch of our proceedings, with such remarks on the natural +features of the place in which we have fixed our abode, as I think +likely to afford you interest or amusement. Prepare your patience, then, +my dear friend, for a long and rambling epistle, in which I may possibly +prove somewhat of a Will-o'-the-wisp, and having made you follow me in +my desultory wanderings,-- + + Over hill, over dale, + Through bush, through briar, + Over park, over pale, + Through flood, through fire,-- + +Possibly leave you in the midst of a big cedar swamp, or among the +pathless mazes of our wild woods, without a clue to guide you, or even a +_blaze_ to light you on your way. + +You will have heard, through my letters to my dear mother, of our safe +arrival at Quebec, of my illness at Montreal, of all our adventures and +misadventures during our journey up the country, till after much weary +wandering we finally found a home and resting-place with a kind +relative, whom it was our happiness to meet after a separation of many +years. + +As my husband was anxious to settle in the neighbourhood of one so +nearly connected with me, thinking it would rob the woods of some of the +loneliness that most women complain so bitterly of, he purchased a lot +of land on the shores of a beautiful lake, one of a chain of small lakes +belonging to the Otanabee river. + +Here, then, we are established, having now some five-and-twenty acres +cleared, and a nice house built. Our situation is very agreeable, and +each day increases its value. When we first came up to live in the bush, +with the exception of S------, here were but two or three settlers near +us, and no roads cut out. The only road that was available for bringing +up goods from the nearest town was on the opposite side of the water, +which was obliged to be crossed on a log, or birch-bark canoe; the +former nothing better than a large pine-log hollowed with the axe, so as +to contain three or four persons; it is flat-bottomed, and very narrow, +on which account it is much used on these shallow waters. The birch +canoe is made of sheets of birch bark, ingeniously fashioned and sewn +together by the Indians with the tough roots of the cedar, young pine, +or larch (tamarack, as it is termed by the Indians); it is exceedingly +light, so that it can be carried by two persons easily, or even by one. +These, then, were our ferry-boats, and very frail they are, and require +great nicety in their management; they are worked in the water with +paddles, either kneeling or standing. The squaws are very expert in the +management of the canoes, and preserve their balance with admirable +skill, standing up while they impel the little bark with great velocity +through the water. + +Very great is the change that a few years have effected in our +situation. A number of highly respectable settlers have purchased land +along the shores of these lakes, so that we no longer want society. The +roads are now cut several miles above us, and though far from good can +be travelled by waggons and sleighs, and are, at all events, better than +none. + +A village has started up where formerly a thick pine-wood covered the +ground; we have now within a short distance of us an excellent saw-mill, +a grist-mill, and store, with a large tavern and many good dwellings. A +fine timber bridge, on stone piers, was erected last year to connect the +opposite townships and lessen the distance to and from Peterborough; and +though it was unfortunately swept away early last spring by the unusual +rising of the Otanabee lakes, a new and more substantial one has risen +upon the ruins of the former, through the activity of an enterprising +young Scotchman, the founder of the village. + +But the grand work that is, sooner or later, to raise this portion of +the district from its present obscurity, is the opening a line of +navigation from Lake Huron through Lake Simcoe, and so through our chain +of small lakes to Rice Lake, and finally through the Trent to the Bay of +Quinte. This noble work would prove of incalculable advantage, by +opening a direct communication between Lake Huron and the inland +townships at the back of the Ontario with the St. Laurence. This project +has already been under the consideration of the Governor, and is at +present exciting great interest in the country: sooner or later there is +little doubt but that it will be carried into effect. It presents some +difficulties and expense, but it would be greatly to the advantage and +prosperity of the country, and be the means of settling many of the back +townships bordering upon these lakes. + +I must leave it to abler persons than myself to discuss at large the +policy and expediency of the measure; but as I suppose you have no +intention of emigrating to our backwoods, you will be contented with my +cursory view of the matter, and believe, as in friendship you are bound +to do, that it is a desirable thing to open a market for inland produce. + +Canada is the land of hope; here every thing is new; every thing going +forward; it is scarcely possible for arts, sciences, agriculture, +manufactures, to retrograde; they must keep advancing; though in some +situations the progress may seem slow, in others they are proportionably +rapid. + +There is a constant excitement on the minds of emigrants, particularly +in the partially settled townships, that greatly assists in keeping them +from desponding. The arrival of some enterprising person gives a +stimulus to those about him: a profitable speculation is started, and +lo, the value of the land in the vicinity rises to double and treble +what it was thought worth before; so that, without any design of +befriending his neighbours, the schemes of one settler being carried +into effect shall benefit a great number. We have already felt the +beneficial effect of the access of respectable emigrants locating +themselves in this township, as it has already increased the value of +our own land in a three-fold degree. + +All this, my dear friend, you will say is very well, and might afford +subject for a wise discussion between grave men, but will hardly amuse +us women; so pray turn to some other theme, and just tell me how you +contrive to pass your time among the bears and wolves of Canada. + +One lovely day last June I went by water to visit the bride of a young +naval officer, who had purchased a very pretty lot of land some two +miles higher up the lake; our party consisted of my husband, baby, and +myself; we met a few pleasant friends, and enjoyed our excursion much. +Dinner was laid out in the _stoup_, which, as you may not know what is +meant by the word, I must tell you that it means a sort of wide +verandah, supported on pillars, often of unbarked logs; the floor is +either of earth beaten hard, or plank; the roof covered with sheets of +bark or else shingled. These stoups are of Dutch origin, and were +introduced, I have been told, by the first Dutch settlers in the states, +since which they have found their way all over the colonies. + +Wreathed with the scarlet creeper, a native plant of our woods and +wilds, the wild vine, and also with the hop, which here grows +luxuriantly, with no labour or attention to its culture, these stoups +have a very rural appearance; in summer serving the purpose of an open +ante-room, in which you can take your meals and enjoy the fanning breeze +without being inconvenienced by the extreme heat of the noon-day sun. + +The situation of the house was remarkably well chosen, just on the +summit of a little elevated plain, the ground sloping with a steep +descent to a little valley, at the bottom of which a bright rill of +water divided the garden from the opposite corn-fields, which clothed a +corresponding bank. In front of the stoup, where we dined, the garden +was laid out with a smooth plot of grass, surrounded with borders of +flowers, and separated from a ripening field of wheat by a light railed +fence, over which the luxuriant hop-vine flung its tendrils and graceful +blossoms. Now I must tell you the hop is cultivated for the purpose of +making a barm for raising bread. As you take great interest in +housewifery concerns, I shall send you a recipe for what we call hop- +rising*. [* See Appendix.] + +The Yankees use a fermentation of salt, flour, and warm water or milk; +but though the _salt-rising_ makes beautiful bread to look at, being far +whiter and firmer than the hop-yeast bread, there is a peculiar flavour +imparted to the flour that does not please every one's taste, and it is +very difficult to get your salt-rising to work in very cold weather. + +And now, having digressed while I gave you my recipes, I shall step back +to my party within the stoup, which, I can assure you, was very +pleasant, and most cordially disposed to enjoy the meeting. We had books +and drawings, and good store of pretty Indian toys, the collection of +many long voyages to distant shores, to look at and admire. Soon after +sun-set we walked down through the woods to the landing at the lake +shore, where we found our bark canoe ready to convey us home. + +During our voyage, just at the head of the rapids, our attention was +drawn to some small object in the water, moving very swiftly along; +there were various opinions as to the swimmer, some thinking it to be a +water-snake, others a squirrel, or a musk-rat; a few swift strokes of +the paddles brought us up so as to intercept the passage of the little +voyager; it proved to be a fine red squirrel, bound on a voyage of +discovery from a neighbouring island. The little animal, with a courage +and address that astonished his pursuers, instead of seeking safety in a +different direction, sprung lightly on the point of the uplifted paddle, +and from thence with a bound to the head of my astonished baby, and +having gained my shoulder, leaped again into the water, and made direct +for the shore, never having deviated a single point from the line he was +swimming in when he first came in sight of our canoe. I was surprised +and amused by the agility and courage displayed by this innocent +creature; I could hardly have given credence to the circumstance, had I +not been an eye-witness of its conduct, and moreover been wetted +plentifully on my shoulder by the sprinkling of water from his coat. + +Perhaps you may think my squirrel anecdote incredible; but I can vouch +for the truth of it on my own personal experience, as I not only saw but +also felt it: the black squirrels are most lovely and elegant animals, +considerably larger than the red, the grey, and the striped: the latter +are called by the Indians "chit-munks." + +We were robbed greatly by these little depredators last summer; the red +squirrels used to carry off great quantities of our Indian corn not only +from the stalks, while the crop was ripening, but they even came into +the house through some chinks in the log-walls, and carried off vast +quantities of the grain, stripping it very adroitly from the cob, and +conveying the grain away to their storehouses in some hollow 1og or +subterranean granary. + +These little animals are very fond of the seeds of the pumpkins, and you +will see the soft creatures whisking about among the cattle, carrying +away the seeds as they are scattered by the beasts in breaking the +pumpkins: they also delight in the seeds of the sunflowers, which grow +to a gigantic height in our gardens and clearings. The fowls are +remarkably fond of the sunflower-seeds, and I saved the plants with the +intention of laying up a good store of winter food for my poor chicks. +One day I went to cut the ripe heads, the largest of which was the size +of a large dessert-plate, but found two wicked red squirrels busily +employed gathering in the seeds, not for me, be sure, but themselves. +Not contented with picking out the seeds, these little thieves +dexterously sawed through the stalks, and conveyed away whole heads at +once: so bold were they that they would not desist when I approached +till they had secured their object, and, encumbered with a load twice +the weight of their own agile bodies, ran with a swiftness along the +rails, and over root, stump, and log, till they eluded my pursuit. + +[Illustration: Red-squirrel] + +Great was the indignation expressed by this thrifty little pair on +returning again for another load to find the plant divested of the +heads. I had cut what remained and put them in a basket in the sun, on a +small block in the garden, close to the open glass-door, on the steps of +which I was sitting shelling some seed-beans, when the squirrels drew my +attention to them by their sharp scolding notes, elevating their fine +feathery tails and expressing the most lively indignation at the +invasion: they were not long before they discovered the Indian basket +with the ravished treasure; a few rapid movements brought the little +pair to the rails within a few paces of me and the sunflower-heads; +here, then, they paused, and sitting up looked in my face with the most +imploring gestures. I was too much amused by their perplexity to help +them, but turning away my head to speak to the child, they darted +forward, and in another minute had taken possession of one of the +largest of the heads, which they conveyed away, first one carrying it a +few yards, then the other, it being too bulky for one alone to carry it +far at a time. In short, I was so well amused by watching their +manoeuvres that I suffered them to rob me of all my store. I saw a +little family of tiny squirrels at play in the spring on the top of a +hollow log, and really I think they were, without exception, the +liveliest, most graceful creatures I ever looked upon. + +The flying squirrel is a native of our woods, and exceeds in beauty, to +my mind, any of the tribe. Its colour is the softest, most delicate tint +of grey; the fur thick and short, and as silken as velvet; the eyes like +all the squirrel kind, are large, full, and soft; the whiskers and long +hair about the nose black; the membrane that assists this little animal +in its flight is white and delicately soft in texture, like the fur of +the chinchilla; it forms a ridge of fur between the fore and hind legs; +the tail is like an elegant broad grey feather. I was agreeably +surprised by the appearance of this exquisite little creature; the +pictures I had seen giving it a most inelegant and _batlike_ look, +almost disgusting. The young ones are easily tamed, and are very playful +and affectionate when under confinement. + +[Illustration: Flying Squirrel] + +How my little friend Emily would delight in such a pet! Tell her if ever +I should return to dear old England, I will try to procure one for her; +but at present she must be contented with the stuffed specimens of the +black, red, and striped squirrels which I enclose in my parcel. I wish I +could offer you any present more valuable, but our arts and manufactures +being entirely British, with the exception of the Indians' toys, I +should find it a difficult matter to send you any thing worth your +attention; therefore I am obliged to have recourse to the natural +productions of our woods as tokens of remembrance to our friends _at +home_, for it is ever thus we speak of the land of our birth. + +You wish to know if I am happy and contented in my situation, or if my +heart pines after my native land. I will answer you candidly, and say +that, as far as regards matters of taste, early association, and all +those holy ties of kindred, and old affections that make "home" in all +countries, and among all nations in the world, a hallowed spot, I must +ever give the preference to Britain. + +On the other hand, a sense of the duties I have chosen, and a feeling of +conformity to one's situation, lessen the regret I might be inclined to +indulge in. Besides, there are new and delightful ties that bind me to +Canada: I have enjoyed much domestic happiness since I came hither;--and +is it not the birthplace of my dear child? Have I not here first tasted +the rapturous delight arising from maternal feelings? When my eye rests +on my smiling darling, or I feel his warm breath upon my cheek, I would +not exchange the joy that fills my breast for any pleasure the world +could offer me. "But this feeling is not confined to the solitude of +your Canadian forests, my dear friend," you will say. I know it; but +here there is nothing to interfere with your little nursling. You are +not tempted by the pleasures of a gay world to forget your duties as a +mother; there is nothing to supplant him in your heart; his presence +endears every place; and you learn to love the spot that gave him birth, +and to think with complacency upon the country, because it is _his_ +country; and in looking forward to his future welfare you naturally +become doubly interested in the place that is one day to be his. + +Perhaps I rather estimate the country by my own feelings; and when I +find, by impartial survey of my present life, that I am to the full as +happy, if not really happier, than I was in the old country, I cannot +but value it. + +Possibly, if I were to enter into a detail of the advantages I possess, +they would appear of a very negative character in the eyes of persons +revelling in all the splendour and luxury that wealth could procure, in +a country in which nature and art are so eminently favourable towards +what is usually termed the pleasures of life; but I never was a votary +at the shrine of luxury or fashion. A round of company, a routine of +pleasure, were to me sources of weariness, if not of disgust. "There's +nothing in all this to satisfy the heart," says Schiller; and I admit +the force of the sentiment. + +I was too much inclined to spurn with impatience the fetters that +etiquette and fashion are wont to impose on society, till they rob its +followers of all freedom and independence of will; and they soon are +obliged to live for a world that in secret they despise and loathe, for +a world, too, that usually regards them with contempt, because they dare +not act with an independence, which would be crushed directly it was +displayed. + +And I must freely confess to you that I do prize and enjoy my present +liberty in this country exceedingly: in this we possess an advantage +over you, and over those that inhabit the towns and villages in _this_ +country, where I see a ridiculous attempt to keep up an appearance that +is quite foreign to the situation of those that practise it. Few, very +few, are the emigrants that come to the colonies, unless it is with the +view of realising an independence for themselves or their children. +Those that could afford to live in ease at home, believe me, would never +expose themselves to the privations and disagreeable consequences of a +settler's life in Canada: therefore, this is the natural inference we +draw, that the emigrant has come hither under the desire and natural +hope of bettering his condition, and benefiting a family that he has not +the means of settling in life in the home country. It is foolish, then, +to launch out in a style of life that every one knows cannot be +maintained; rather ought such persons to rejoice in the consciousness +that they can, if they please, live according to their circumstances, +without being the less regarded for the practice of prudence, economy, +and industry. + +Now, we _bush-settlers_ are more independent: we do what we like; we +dress as we find most suitable and most convenient; we are totally +without the fear of any Mr. or Mrs. Grundy; and having shaken off the +trammels of Grundyism, we laugh at the absurdity of those who +voluntarily forge afresh and hug their chains. + +If our friends come to visit us unexpectedly we make them welcome to our +humble homes, and give them the best we have; but if our fare be +indifferent, we offer it with good will, and no apologies are made or +expected: they would be out of place; as every one is aware of the +disadvantages of a new settlement; and any excuses for want of variety, +or the delicacies of the table, would be considered rather in the light +of a tacit reproof to your guest for having unseasonably put your +hospitality to the test. + +Our society is mostly military or naval; so that we meet on equal +grounds, and are, of course, well acquainted with the rules of good +breeding and polite life; too much so to allow any deviation from those +laws that good taste, good sense, and good feeling have established +among persons of our class. + +Yet here it is considered by no means derogatory to the wife of an +officer or gentleman to assist in the work of the house, or to perform +its entire duties if occasion requires it; to understand the mystery of +soap, candle, and sugar-making; to make bread, butter, and cheese, or +even to milk her own cows; to knit and spin, and prepare the wool for +the loom. In these matters we bush-ladies have a wholesome disregard of +what Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so thinks or says. We pride ourselves on +conforming to circumstances; and as a British officer must needs be a +gentleman and his wife a lady, perhaps we repose quietly on that +incontestable proof of our gentility, and can afford to be useful +without injuring it. + +Our husbands adopt a similar line of conduct: the officer turns his +sword into a ploughshare, and his lance into a sickle; and if he be seen +ploughing among the stumps in his own field, or chopping trees on his +own land, no one thinks less of his dignity, or considers him less of a +gentleman, than when he appeared upon parade in all the pride of +military etiquette, with sash, sword and epaulette. Surely this is as it +should be in a country where independence is inseparable from industry; +and for this I prize it. + +Among many advantages we in this township possess, it is certainly no +inconsiderable one that the lower or working class of settlers are well +disposed, and quite free from the annoying Yankee manners that +distinguish many of the earlier-settled townships. Our servants are as +respectful, or nearly so, as those at home; nor are they admitted to our +tables, or placed on an equality with us, excepting at "bees," and such +kinds of public meetings; when they usually conduct themselves with a +propriety that would afford an example to some that call themselves +gentlemen, viz., young men who voluntarily throw aside those restraints +that society expects from persons filling a respectable situation. + +Intemperance is too prevailing a vice among all ranks of people in this +country; but I blush to say it belongs most decidedly to those that +consider themselves among the better class of emigrants. Let none such +complain of the airs of equality displayed towards them by the labouring +class, seeing that they degrade themselves below the honest, sober +settler, however poor. If the sons of gentlemen lower themselves, no +wonder if the sons of poor men endeavour to exalt themselves about him +in a country where they all meet on equal ground; and good conduct is +the distinguishing mark between the classes. + +Some months ago, when visiting a friend in a distant part of the +country, I accompanied her to stay a few days in the house of a resident +clergyman, curate of a flourishing village in the township of ------. I +was struck by the primitive simplicity of the mansion and its +inhabitants. We were introduced into the little family sitting-room, the +floor of which was painted after the Yankee fashion; instead of being +carpeted, the walls were of unornamented deal, and the furniture of the +room of corresponding plainness. A large spinning-wheel, as big as a +cart-wheel, nearly occupied the centre of the room, at which a neatly- +dressed matron, of mild and lady-like appearance, was engaged spinning +yarn; her little daughters were knitting beside the fire, while their +father was engaged in the instruction of two of his sons; a third was +seated affectionately in a little straw chair between his feet, while a +fourth was plying his axe with nervous strokes in the court-yard, +casting from time to time wistful glances through the parlour-window at +the party within. + +The dresses of the children were of a coarse sort of stuff, a mixture of +woollen and thread, the produce of the farm and their mother's +praiseworthy industry. The stockings, socks, muffatees, and warm +comforters were all of home manufacture. Both girls and boys wore +mocassins, of their own making: good sense, industry, and order presided +among the members of this little household. + +Both girls and boys seemed to act upon the principle, that nothing is +disgraceful but that which is immoral and improper. + +Hospitality without extravagance, kindness without insincerity of +speech, marked the manners of our worthy friends. Every thing in the +house was conducted with attention to prudence and comfort. The living +was but small (the income arising from it, I should have said), but +there was glebe land, and a small dwelling attached to it, and, by dint +of active exertion without-doors, and economy and good management +within, the family were maintained with respectability: in short, we +enjoyed during our sojourn many of the comforts of a cleared farm; +poultry of every kind, beef of their own killing, excellent mutton and +pork: we had a variety of preserves at our tea-table, with honey in the +comb, delicious butter, and good cheese, with divers sorts of cakes; a +kind of little pancake, made from the flour of buck-wheat, which are +made in a batter, and raised with barm, afterwards dropped into boiling +lard, and fried; also a preparation made of Indian corn-flour, called +supporne-cake, which is fried in slices, and eaten with maple-syrup, +were among the novelties of our breakfast-fare. + +I was admiring a breed of very fine fowls in the poultry-yard one +morning, when my friend smiled and said, "I do not know if you will +think I came honestly by them." + +"I am sure you did not acquire them by dishonest means," I replied, +laughing; "I will vouch for your principles in that respect." + +"Well," replied my hostess, "they were neither given me, nor sold to me, +and I did not steal them. I found the original stock in the following +manner. An old black hen most unexpectedly made her appearance one +spring morning at our door; we hailed the stranger with surprise and +delight; for we could not muster a single domestic fowl among our little +colony at that time. We never rightly knew by what means the hen came +into our possession, but suppose some emigrant's family going up the +country must have lost or left her; she laid ten eggs, and hatched +chickens from them; from this little brood we raised a stock, and soon +supplied all our neighbours with fowls. We prize the breed, not only on +account of its fine size, but from the singular, and, as we thought, +providential, manner in which we obtained it." + +I was much interested in the slight sketch given by the pastor one +evening, as we all assembled round the blazing log-fire, that was piled +half-way up the chimney, which reared its stone fabric so as to form +deep recesses at either side of its abutments. + +Alluding to his first settlement, he observed, "it was a desolate +wilderness of gloomy and unbroken forest-trees when we first pitched our +tent here: at that time an axe had not been laid to the root of a tree, +nor a fire, save by the wandering Indians, kindled in these woods. + +"I can now point out the identical spot where my wife and little ones +ate their first meal, and raised their feeble voices in thankfulness to +that Almighty and merciful Being who had preserved them through the +perils of the deep, and brought them in safety to this vast solitude. + +"We were a little flock wandering in a great wilderness, under the +special protection of our mighty Shepherd. + +"I have heard you, my dear young lady," he said, addressing the +companion of my visit, "talk of the hardships of the bush; but, let me +tell you, you know but little of its privations compared with those that +came hither some years ago. + +"Ask these, my elder children and my wife, what were the hardships of a +bush-settler's life ten years ago, and they will tell you it was to +endure cold, hunger, and all its accompanying evils; to know at times +the want of every necessary article of food. As to the luxuries and +delicacies of life, we saw them not;--how could we? we were far removed +from the opportunity of obtaining these things: potatoes, pork, and +flour were our only stores, and often we failed of the two latter before +a fresh supply could be procured. We had not mills nearer than thirteen +miles, through roads marked only by blazed lines; nor were there at that +time any settlers near us. Now you see us in a cleared country, +surrounded with flourishing farms and rising villages; but at the time I +speak of it was not so: there were no stores of groceries or goods, no +butchers' shops, no cleared farms, dairies, nor orchards; for these +things we had to wait with patience till industry should raise them. + +"Our fare knew no other variety than salt pork, potatoes, and sometimes +bread, for breakfast; pork and potatoes for dinner; pork and potatoes +for supper; with a porridge of Indian corn-flour for the children. +Sometimes we had the change of pork without potatoes, and potatoes +without pork; this was the first year's fare: by degrees we got a supply +of flour of our own growing, but bruised into a coarse meal with a hand- +mill; for we had no water or windmills within many miles of our colony, +and good bread was indeed a luxury we did not often have. + +"We brought a cow with us, who gave us milk during the spring and +summer; but owing to the wild garlic (a wild herb, common to our woods), +on which she fed, her milk was scarcely palatable, and for want of +shelter and food, she died the following winter, greatly to our sorrow: +we learned experience in this and in many other matters at a hard cost; +but now we can profit by it." + +"Did not the difficulties of your first settlement incline you to +despond, and regret that you had ever embarked on a life so different to +that you had been used to?" I asked. + +"They might have had that effect had not a higher motive than mere +worldly advancement actuated me in leaving my native country to come +hither. Look you, it was thus: I had for many years been the pastor of a +small village in the mining districts of Cumberland. I was dear to the +hearts of my people, and they were my joy and crown in the Lord. A +number of my parishioners, pressed by poverty and the badness of the +times, resolved on emigrating to Canada. + +"Urged by a natural and not unlawful desire of bettering their +condition, they determined on crossing the Atlantic, encouraged by the +offer of considerable grants of wild land, which at that period were +freely awarded by Government to persons desirous of becoming colonists. + +"But previous to this undertaking, several of the most respectable came +to me, and stated their views and reasons for the momentous step they +were about to take; and at the same time besought me in the most moving +terms, in the name of the rest of their emigrant friends, to accompany +them into the Wilderness of the West, lest they should forget their Lord +and Saviour when abandoned to their own spiritual guidance. + +"At first I was startled at the proposition; it seemed a wild and +visionary scheme: but by degrees I began to dwell with pleasure on the +subject. I had few ties beyond my native village; the income arising +from my curacy was too small to make it any great obstacle: like +Goldsmith's curate, I was + + 'Passing rich with forty pounds a year.' + +My heart yearned after my people; ten years I had been their guide and +adviser. I was the friend of the old, and the teacher of the young. My +Mary was chosen from among them; she had no foreign ties to make her +look back with regret upon the dwellers of the land in distant places; +her youth and maturity had been spent among these very people; so that +when I named to her the desire of my parishioners, and she also +perceived that my own wishes went with them, she stifled any regretful +feeling that might have arisen in her breast, and replied to me in the +words of Ruth:-- + +"'Thy country shall be my country; thy people shall be my people; where +thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, +and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.' + +"A tender and affectionate partner hast thou been to me, Mary," he +added, turning his eyes affectionately on the mild and dignified matron, +whose expressive countenance bespoke with more eloquence than words the +feelings passing in her mind. She replied not by words, but I saw the +big bright tears fall on the work she held in her hand. They sprang from +emotions too sacred to be profaned by intrusive eyes, and I hastily +averted my glance from her face; while the pastor proceeded to narrate +the particulars of their leaving England, their voyage, and finally, +their arrival in the land that had been granted to the little colony in +the then unbroken part of the township of ------. + +"We had obtained a great deal of useful advice and assistance from the +Government agents previous to our coming up hither, and also hired some +choppers at high wages to initiate us in the art of felling, logging, +burning, and clearing the ground; as it was our main object to get in +crops of some kind, we turned to without any delay further than what was +necessary for providing a temporary shelter for our wives and children, +and prepared the ground for spring crops, helping each other as we could +with the loan of oxen and labour. And here I must observe, that I +experienced every attention and consideration from my friends. My means +were small, and my family all too young to render me any service; +however, I lacked not help, and had the satisfaction of seeing a little +spot cleared for the growth of potatoes and corn, which I could not have +effected by my single exertions. + +"My biggest boy John was but nine years old, Willie seven, and the +others still more helpless; the two little ones you see there," pointing +to two young children, "have been born since we came hither. That +yellow-haired lassie knitting beside you was a babe at the breast;--a +helpless, wailing infant, so weak and sickly before we came here that +she was scarcely ever out of her mother's arms; but she grew and throve +rapidly under the rough treatment of a bush-settler's family. + +"We had no house built, or dwelling of any kind to receive us when we +arrived at our destination; and the first two nights were passed on the +banks of the creek that flows at the foot of the hill, in a hut of cedar +and hemlock boughs that I cut with my axe, and, with the help of some of +my companions, raised to shelter my wife and the little ones. + +"Though it was the middle of May the nights were chilly, and we were +glad to burn a pile of wood in front of our hut to secure us from the +effects of the cold and the stings of the mosquitoes, that came up in +myriads from the stream, and which finally drove us higher up the bank. + +"As soon as possible we raised a shanty, which now serves as a shed for +my young cattle; I would not pull it down, though often urged to do so, +as it stands in the way of a pleasant prospect from the window; but I +like to look on it, and recall to mind the first years I passed beneath +its lowly roof. We need such mementos to remind us of our former state; +but we grow proud, and cease to appreciate our present comforts. + +"Our first Sabbath was celebrated in the open air: my pulpit was a pile +of rude logs; my church the deep shade of the forest, beneath which we +assembled ourselves; but sincerer or more fervent devotion I never +witnessed than that day. I well remember the text I chose, for my +address to them was from the viiith chapter of Deuteronomy, the 6th, +7th, and 9th verses, which appeared to me applicable to our +circumstances. + +"The following year we raised a small blockhouse, which served as a +school-house and church. At first our progress in clearing the land was +slow, for we had to buy experience, and many and great were the +disappointments and privations that befel us during the first few years. +One time we were all ill with ague, and not one able to help the other; +this was a sad time; but better things were in store for us. The tide of +emigration increased, and the little settlement we had formed began to +be well spoken of. One man came and built a saw mill; a grist-mill +followed soon after; and then one store and then another, till we beheld +a flourishing village spring up around us. Then the land began to +increase in value, and many of the first settlers sold their lots to +advantage, and retreated further up the woods. As the village increased, +so, of course, did my professional duties, which had for the first few +years been paid for in acts of kindness and voluntary labour by my +little flock; now I have the satisfaction of reaping a reward without +proving burdensome to my parishioners. My farm is increasing, and +besides the salary arising from my curacy I have something additional +for the school, which is paid by Government. We may now say it is good +for us to be here, seeing that God has been pleased to send down a +blessing upon us." + +I have forgotten many very interesting particulars relating to the +trials and shifts this family were put to in the first few years; but +the pastor told us enough to make me quite contented with my lot, and I +returned home, after some days' pleasant sojourn with this delightful +family, with an additional stock of contentment, and some useful and +practical knowledge, that I trust I shall be the better for all my life. + +I am rather interested in a young lad that has come out from England to +learn Canadian farming. + +The poor boy had conceived the most romantic notions of a settler's +life, partly from the favourable accounts he had read, and partly +through the medium of a lively imagination, which had aided in the +deception, and led him to suppose that his time would be chiefly spent +in the fascinating amusements and adventures arising from hunting the +forest in search of deer and other game, pigeon and duck-shooting, +spearing fish by torchlight, and voyaging on the lakes in a birch-bark +canoe in summer, skating in winter, or gliding over the frozen snow like +a Laplander in his sledge, wrapped up to the eyes in furs, and +travelling at the rate of twelve miles an hour to the sound of an +harmonious peal of bells. What a felicitous life to captivate the mind +of a boy of fourteen, just let loose from the irksome restraint of +boarding-school! + +How little did he dream of the drudgery inseparable from the duties of a +lad of his age, in a country where the old and young, the master and the +servant, are alike obliged to labour for a livelihood, without respect +to former situation or rank! + +Here the son of the gentleman becomes a hewer of wood and drawer of +water; he learns to chop down trees, to pile brush-heaps, split rails +for fences, attend the fires during the burning season, dressed in a +coarse over-garment of hempen cloth, called a logging-shirt, with +trousers to correspond, and a Yankee straw hat flapped over his eyes, +and a handspike to assist him in rolling over the burning brands. To +tend and drive oxen, plough, sow, plant Indian corn and pumpkins, and +raise potatoe-hills, are among some of the young emigrant's +accomplishments. His relaxations are but comparatively few, but they are +seized with a relish and avidity that give them the greater charm. + +You may imagine the disappointment felt by the poor lad on seeing his +fair visions of amusement fade before the dull realities and distasteful +details of a young settler's occupation in the backwoods. + +Youth, however, is the best season for coming to this country; the mind +soon bends itself to its situation, and becomes not only reconciled, but +in time pleased with the change of life. There is a consolation, too, in +seeing that he does no more than others of equal pretensions as to rank +and education are obliged to submit to, if they would prosper; and +perhaps he lives to bless the country which has robbed him of a portion +of that absurd pride that made him look with contempt on those whose +occupations were of a humble nature. It were a thousand pities wilfully +to deceive persons desirous of emigrating with false and flattering +pictures of the advantages to be met with in this country. Let the _pro_ +and _con_ be fairly stated, and let the reader use his best judgment, +unbiassed by prejudice or interest in a matter of such vital importance +not only as regards himself, but the happiness and welfare of those over +whose destinies Nature has made him the guardian. It is, however, far +more difficult to write on the subject of emigration than most persons +think: it embraces so wide a field that what would be perfectly correct +as regards one part of the province would by no means prove so as +regarded another. One district differs from another, and one township +from another, according to its natural advantages; whether it be long +settled or unsettled, possessing water privileges or not; the soil and +even the climate will be different, according to situation and +circumstances. + +Much depends on the tempers, habits, and dispositions of the emigrants +themselves. What suits one will not another; one family will flourish, +and accumulate every comfort about their homesteads, while others +languish in poverty and discontent. It would take volumes to discuss +every argument for and against, and to point out exactly who are and who +are not fit subjects for emigration. + +Have you read Dr. Dunlop's spirited and witty "Backwoodsman?" If you +have not, get it as soon as you can; it will amuse you. I think a +Backwoods-woman might be written in the same spirit, setting forth a few +pages, in the history of bush-ladies, as examples for our sex. Indeed, +we need some wholesome admonitions on our duties and the folly of +repining at following and sharing the fortunes of our spouses, whom we +have vowed in happier hours to love "in riches and in poverty, in +sickness and in health." Too many pronounce these words without heeding +their importance, and without calculating the chances that may put their +faithfulness to the severe test of quitting home, kindred, and country, +to share the hard lot of a settler's life; for even this sacrifice +renders it hard to be borne; but the truly attached wife will do this, +and more also, if required by the husband of her choice. + +But now it is time I say farewell: my dull letter, grown to a formidable +packet, will tire you, and make you wish it at the bottom of the +Atlantic. + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +Indian Hunters.--Sail in a Canoe.--Want of Libraries in the Backwoods.-- +New Village.--Progress of Improvement.--Fire-flies. + +HAVING in a former letter given you some account of a winter visit to +the Indians, I shall now give a short sketch of their summer encampment, +which I went to see one beautiful afternoon in June, accompanied by my +husband and some friends that had come in to spend the day with us. + +The Indians were encamped on a little peninsula jutting out between two +small lakes; our nearest path would have been through the bush, but the +ground was so encumbered by fallen trees that we agreed to go in a +canoe. The day was warm, without being oppressively hot, as it too often +is during the summer months: and for a wonder the mosquitoes and black- +flies were so civil as not to molest us. Our light bark skimmed gaily +over the calm waters, beneath the overhanging shade of cedars, hemlock, +and balsams, that emitted a delicious fragrance as the passing breeze +swept through the boughs. I was in raptures with a bed of blue irises +mixed with snow-white water-lilies that our canoe passed over. Turning +the stony bank that formed the point, we saw the thin blue smoke of the +camp curling above the trees, and soon our canoe was safely moored +alongside of those belonging to the Indians, and by help of the +straggling branches and underwood I contrived to scramble up a steep +path, and soon found myself in front of the tent. It was a Sunday +afternoon; all the men were at home; some of the younger branches of the +families (for there were three that inhabited the wigwam) were amusing +themselves with throwing the tomahawk at a notch cut in the bark of a +distant tree, or shooting at a mark with their bows and arrows, while +the elders reposed on their blankets within the shade, some reading, +others smoking, and gravely eyeing the young rival marksmen at their +feats of skill. + +Only one of the squaws was at home; this was my old acquaintance the +hunter's wife, who was sitting on a blanket; her youngest, little David, +a papouse of three years, who was not yet weaned, was reposing between +her feet; she often eyed him with looks of great affection, and patted +his shaggy head from time to time. Peter, who is a sort of great man, +though not a chief, sat beside his spouse, dressed in a handsome blue +surtout-coat, with a red worsted sash about his waist. He was smoking a +short pipe, and viewing the assembled party at the door of the tent with +an expression of quiet interest; sometimes he lifted his pipe for an +instant to give a sort of inward exclamation at the success or failure +of his sons' attempts to hit the mark on the tree. The old squaw, as +soon as she saw me, motioned me forward, and pointing to a vacant +portion of her blanket, with a good-natured smile, signed for me to sit +beside her, which I did, and amused myself with taking note of the +interior of the wigwam and its inhabitants. The building was of an +oblong form, open at both ends, but at night I was told the openings +were closed by blankets; the upper part of the roof was also open; the +sides were rudely fenced with large sheets of birch bark, drawn in and +out between the sticks that made the frame-work of the tent; a long +slender pole of iron-wood formed a low beam, from which depended sundry +iron and brass pots and kettles, also some joints of fresh-killed +venison and dried fish; the fires occupied the centre of the hut, around +the embers of which reposed several meek deer-hounds; they evinced +something of the quiet apathy of their masters, merely opening their +eyes to look upon the intruders, and seeing all was well returned to +their former slumbers, perfectly unconcerned by our entrance. + +The hunter's family occupied one entire side of the building, while +Joseph Muskrat with his family, and Joseph Bolans and his squaw shared +the opposite one, their several apartments being distinguished by their +blankets, fishing-spears, rifles, tomahawks, and other property; as to +the cooking utensils they seemed from their scarcity to be held in +common among them; perfect amity appeared among the three families; and, +if one might judge from outward appearance, they seemed happy and +contented. On examining the books that were in the hands of the young +men, they proved to be hymns and tracts, one side printed in English, +the other the Indian translation. In compliance with our wishes the men +sang one of the hymns, which sounded very well, but we missed the sweet +voices of the Indian girls, whom I had left in front of the house, +sitting on a pine-log and amusing themselves with my baby, and seeming +highly delighted with him and his nurse. + +Outside the tent the squaw showed me a birch-bark canoe that was +building; the shape of the canoe is marked out by sticks stuck in the +ground at regular distances; the sheets of bark being wetted, and +secured in their proper places by cedar laths, which are bent so as to +serve the purpose of ribs or timbers; the sheets of bark are stitched +together with the tough roots of the tamarack, and the edges of the +canoe also sewed or laced over with the same material; the whole is then +varnished over with a thick gum. + +I had the honour of being paddled home by Mrs. Peter in a new canoe, +just launched, and really the motion was delightful; seated at the +bottom of the little bark, on a few light hemlock boughs, I enjoyed my +voyage home exceedingly. The canoe, propelled by the Amazonian arm of +the swarthy matron, flew swiftly over the waters, and I was soon landed +in a little cove within a short distance from my own door. In return for +the squaw's civility I delighted her by a present of a few beads for +working mocassins and knife-sheaths, with which she seemed very well +pleased, carefully securing her treasure by tying them in a corner of +her blanket with a bit of thread. + +With a peculiar reserve and gravity of temper, there is at the same time +a degree of childishness about the Indians in some things. I gave the +hunter and his son one day some coloured prints, which they seemed +mightily taken with, laughing immoderately at some of the fashionably +dressed figures. When they left the house they seated themselves on a +fallen tree, and called their hounds round them, displaying to each +severally the pictures. + +The poor animals, instead of taking a survey of the gaily dressed ladies +and gentlemen, held up their meek heads and licked their masters' hands +and faces; but old Peter was resolved the dogs should share the +amusement of looking at the pictures and turned their faces to them, +holding them fast by their long ears when they endeavoured to escape. I +could hardly have supposed the grave Indian capable of such childish +behaviour. + +These Indians appear less addicted to gay and tinselly adornments than +formerly, and rather affect a European style in their dress; it is no +unusual sight to see an Indian habited in a fine cloth coat and +trousers, though I must say the blanket-coats provided for them by +Government, and which form part of their annual presents, are far more +suitable and becoming. The squaws, too, prefer cotton or stuff gowns, +aprons and handkerchiefs, and such useful articles, to any sort of +finery, though they like well enough to look at and admire them; they +delight nevertheless in decking out the little ones, embroidering their +cradle wrappings with silks and beads, and tacking the wings of birds to +their shoulders. I was a little amused by the appearance of one of these +Indian Cupids, adorned with the wings of the American war-bird; a very +beautiful creature, something like our British bullfinch, only far more +lively in plumage: the breast and under-feathers of the wings being a +tint of the most brilliant carmine, shaded with black and white. This +bird has been called the "war-bird," from its having first made its +appearance in this province during the late American war; a fact that I +believe is well authenticated, or at any rate has obtained general +credence. + +I could hardly help smiling at your notion that we in the backwoods can +have easy access to a circulation library. In one sense, indeed, you are +not so far from truth, for every settler's library may be called a +circulating one, as their books are sure to pass from friend to friend +in due rotation; and, fortunately for us, we happen to have several +excellently furnished ones in our neighbourhood, which are always open +to us. There is a public library at York, and a small circulating +library at Cobourg, but they might just as well be on the other side of +the Atlantic for any access we can have to them. + +I know how it is; at home you have the same idea of the facility of +travelling in this country as I once had: now I know what bush-roads +are, a few miles' journey seems an awful undertaking. Do you remember my +account of a day's travelling through the woods? I am sorry to say they +are but little amended since that letter was written. I have only once +ventured to perform a similar journey, which took several hours _hard_ +travelling, and, more by good luck than any other thing, arrived with +whole bones at my destination. I could not help laughing at the frequent +exclamations of the teamster, a shrewd Yorkshire lad, "Oh, if I had but +the driving of his excellency the governor along this road, how I would +make the old horses trot over the stumps and stones, till he should cry +out again; I warrant he'd do _summut_ to mend them before he came along +them again." + +Unfortunately it is not a statute-road on this side the river, and has +been cut by the settlers for their own convenience, so that I fear +nothing will be done to improve it, unless it is by the inhabitants +themselves. + +We hope soon to have a market for our grain nearer at hand than +Peterborough; a grist-mill has just been raised at the new village that +is springing up. This will prove a great comfort to us; we have at +present to fetch flour up at a great expense, through bad roads, and the +loss of time to those that are obliged to send wheat to the town to be +ground, is a serious evil; this will soon be remedied, to the joy of the +whole neighbourhood. + +You do not know how important these improvements are, and what effect +they have in raising the spirits of the emigrant, besides enhancing the +value of his property in no trifling degree. We have already experienced +the benefit of being near the saw-mill, as it not only enables us to +build at a smaller expense, but enables us to exchange logs for sawn +lumber. The great pine-trees which, under other circumstances, would be +an encumbrance and drawback to clearing the land, prove a most +profitable crop when cleared off in the form of saw-logs, which is +easily done where they are near the water; the logs are sawn to a +certain length, and dragged by oxen, during the winter, when the ground +is hard, to the lake's edge; when the ice breaks up, the logs float down +with the current and enter the mill-race; I have seen the lake opposite +to our windows covered with these floating timbers, voyaging down to the +saw-mill. + +How valuable would the great oaks and gigantic pines be on an estate in +England; while here they are as little thought of as saplings would be +at home. Some years hence the timbers that are now burned up will be +regretted. Yet it is impossible to preserve them; they would prove a +great encumbrance to the farmer. The oaks are desirable for splitting, +as they make the most durable fences; pine, cedar, and white ash are +also used for rail-cuts; maple and dry beech are the best sorts of wood +for fires: white ash burns well. In making ley for soap, care is taken +to use none but the ashes of hard wood, as oak, ash, maple, beech; any +of the resinous trees are bad for the purpose, and the ley will not +mingle with the fat. In boiling, to the great mortification of the +uninitiated soap-boiler, who, by being made acquainted with this simple +fact, might have been spared much useless trouble and waste of material, +after months of careful saving. + +An American settler's wife told me this, and bade me be careful not to +make use of any of the pine-wood ashes in running the ley. And here I +must observe, that of all people the Yankees, as they are termed, are +the most industrious and ingenious; they are never at a loss for an +expedient: if one thing fails them they adopt another, with a quickness +of thought that surprises me, while to them it seems only a matter of +course. They seem to possess a sort of innate presence of mind, and +instead of wasting their energies in words, they _act_. The old settlers +that have been long among them seem to acquire the same sort of habits, +insomuch that it is difficult to distinguish them. I have heard the +Americans called a loquacious boasting people; now, as far as my limited +acquaintance with them goes, I consider they are almost laconic, and if +I dislike them it is for a certain cold brevity of manner that seems to +place a barrier between you and them. + +I was somewhat struck with a remark made by a travelling clock-maker, a +native of the state of Ohio. After speaking of the superior climate of +Ohio, in answer to some questions of my husband, he said, he was +surprised that gentlemen should prefer the Canadas, especially the bush, +where for many years they must want all the comforts and luxuries of +life, to the rich, highly cultivated, and fruitful state of Ohio, where +land was much cheaper, both cleared and wild. + +To this we replied that, in the first place, British subjects preferred +the British government; and, besides, they were averse to the manners of +his countrymen. He candidly admitted the first objection; and in reply +to the last observed, that the Americans at large ought not to be judged +by the specimens to be found in the British colonies, as they were, for +the most part, persons of no reputation, many of whom had fled to the +Canadas to escape from debt, or other disgraceful conduct; and added, +"It would be hard if the English were to be judged as a nation by the +convicts of Botany Bay." + +Now there was nothing unfair or rude in the manners of this stranger, +and his defence of his nation was mild and reasonable, and such as any +unprejudiced person must have respected him for. + +I have just been interrupted by a friend, who has called to tell me he +has an opportunity of sending safe and free of expense to London or +Liverpool, and that he will enclose a packet for me in the box he is +packing for England. + +I am delighted by the intelligence, but regret that I have nothing but a +few flower-seeds, a specimen of Indian workmanship, and a few +butterflies to send you--the latter are for Jane. I hope all will not +share the fate of the last I sent. Sarah wrote me word, when they came +to look for the green moth I had enclosed in a little box, nothing of +his earthly remains was visible beyond a little dust and some pink feet. +I have, with some difficulty, been able to procure another and finer +specimen; and, for fear it should meet with a similar annihilation, I +will at least preserve the memory of its beauties, and give you a +description of it. + +It is just five inches from wing to wing; the body the thickness of my +little finger, snow-white, covered with long silken hair; the legs +bright red, so are the antennae, which are toothed like a comb on either +side, shorter than those of butterflies and elegantly curled; the wings, +both upper and under, are of the most exquisite pale tint of green, +fringed at the edges with golden colour; each wing has a small shaded +crescent of pale blue, deep red, and orange; the blue forming the +centre, like a half-closed eye; the lower wings elongated in deep +scollop, so as to form two long tails, like those of the swallow-tail +butterfly, only a full inch in length and deeply fringed; on the whole +this moth is the most exquisite creature I have ever seen. + +We have a variety of the peacock butterfly, that is very rich, with +innumerable eyes on the wings. The yellow swallow-tail is also very +common, and the black and blue admiral, and the red, white, and black +admiral, with many other beautiful varieties that I cannot describe. The +largest butterfly I have yet seen is a gay vermilion, marked with jet +black lines that form an elegant black lace pattern over its wide wings. + +Then for dragon-flies, we have them of every size, shape, and colour. I +was particularly charmed by a pair of superb blue ones that I used to +see this summer in my walk to visit my sister. They were as large as +butterflies, with black gauze wings; on each pair was marked a crescent +of the brightest azure blue, shaded with scarlet; the bodies of these +beautiful creatures were also blue. I have seen them scarlet and black, +yellow and black, copper-coloured, green, and brown; the latter are +great enemies to the mosquitoes and other small insects, and may be seen +in vast numbers flitting around in all directions of an evening in +search of prey. + +The fire-flies must not be forgotten, for of all others they are the +most remarkable; their appearance generally precedes rain; they are +often seen after dark, on mild damp evenings, sporting among the cedars +at the edge of the wood, and especially near swamps, when the air is +illuminated with their brilliant dancing light. Sometimes they may be +seen in groups, glancing like falling stars in mid-air, or descending so +low as to enter your dwelling and flit about among the draperies of your +bed or window curtains; the light they emit is more brilliant than that +of the glowworm; but it is produced in the same manner from the under +part of the body. The glowworm is also frequently seen, even as late as +September, on mild, warm, dewy nights. + +We have abundance of large and small beetles, some most splendid: green +and gold, rose-colour, red and black, yellow and black; some quite +black, formidably large, with wide branching horns. Wasps are not so +troublesome as in England, but I suppose it is because we cannot offer +such temptations as our home gardens hold out to these ravenous insects. + +One of our choppers brought me the other day what he called a hornet's +nest; it was certainly too small and delicate a piece of workmanship for +so large an insect; and I rather conjecture that it belonged to the +beautiful black and gold insect called the wasp-fly, but of this I am +not certain. The nest was about the size and shape of a turkey's egg, +and was composed of six paper cups inserted one within the other, each +lessening till the innermost of all appeared not larger than a pigeon's +egg. On looking carefully within the orifice of the last cup, a small +comb, containing twelve cells, of the most exquisite neatness, might be +perceived, if anything, superior in regularity to the cells in the comb +of the domestic bee, one of which was at least equal to three of these. +The substance that composed the cups was of a fine silver grey silken +texture, as fine as the finest India silk paper, and extremely brittle; +when slightly wetted it became glutinous, and adhered a little to the +finger; the whole was carefully fixed to a stick: I have seen one since +fastened to a rough rail. I could not but admire the instinctive care +displayed in the formation of this exquisite piece of insect +architecture to guard the embryo animal from injury, either from the +voracity of birds or the effect of rain, which could scarcely find +entrance in the interior. + +I had carefully, as I thought, preserved my treasure, by putting it in +one of my drawers, but a wicked little thief of a mouse found it out and +tore it to pieces for the sake of the drops of honey contained in one or +two of the cells. I was much vexed, as I purposed sending it by some +favourable opportunity to a dear friend living in Gloucester Place, who +took great delight in natural curiosities, and once showed me a nest of +similar form to this, that had been found in a bee-hive; the material +was much coarser, and, if I remember right, had but two cases instead of +six. + +I have always felt a great desire to see the nest of a humming-bird, but +hitherto have been disappointed. This summer I had some beds of +mignionette and other flowers, with some most splendid major +convolvuluses or "morning glories," as the Americans call them; these +lovely flowers tempted the hummingbirds to visit my garden, and I had +the pleasure of seeing a pair of those beautiful creatures, but their +flight is so peculiar that it hardly gives you a perfect sight of their +colours; their motion when on the wing resembles the whirl of a +spinning-wheel, and the sound they make is like the hum of a wheel at +work; I shall plant flowers to entice them to build near us. + +I sometimes fear you will grow weary of my long dull letters; my only +resources are domestic details and the natural history of the country, +which I give whenever I think the subject has novelty to recommend it to +your attention. Possibly I may sometimes disappoint you by details that +appear to place the state of the emigrant in an unfavourable light; I +merely give facts as I have seen, or heard them stated. I could give you +many flourishing accounts of settlers in this country; I could also +reverse the picture, and you would come to the conclusion that there are +many arguments to be used both for and against emigration. Now, the +greatest argument, and that which has the most weight, is NECESSITY, and +this will always turn the scale in the favour of emigration; and that +same imperative dame Necessity tells me it is _necessary_ for me to draw +my letter to a conclusion. + +Farewell, ever faithfully and affectionately, your attached sister. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +Ague.--Illness of the Family.--Probable Cause.--Root-house.--Setting in +of Winter.--Insect termed a "Sawyer."--Temporary Church. + +November the 28th, 1834. + +You will have been surprised, and possibly distressed, by my long +silence of several months, but when I tell you it has been occasioned by +sickness, you will cease to wonder that I did not write. + +My dear husband, my servant, the poor babe, and myself, were all at one +time confined to our beds with ague. You know how severe my sufferings +always were at home with intermittents, and need not marvel if they were +no less great in a country where lake-fevers and all kinds of +intermittent fevers abound. + +Few persons escape the second year without being afflicted with this +weakening complaint; the mode of treatment is repeated doses of calomel, +with castor-oil or salts, and is followed up by quinine. Those persons +who do not choose to employ medical advice on the subject, dose +themselves with ginger-tea, strong infusion of hyson, or any other +powerful green tea, pepper, and whiskey, with many other remedies that +have the sanction of custom or quackery. + +I will not dwell on this uncomfortable period, further than to tell you +that we considered the complaint to have had its origin in a malaria, +arising from a cellar below the kitchen. When the snow melted, this +cellar became half full of water, either from the moisture draining +through the spongy earth, or from the rising of a spring beneath the +house; be it as it may, the heat of the cooking and Franklin stoves in +the kitchen and parlour, caused a fermentation to take place in the +stagnant fluid before it could be emptied; the effluvia arising from +this mass of putrifying water affected us all. The female servant, who +was the most exposed to its baneful influence, was the first of our +household that fell sick, after which, we each in turn became unable to +assist each other. I think I suffer an additional portion of the malady +from seeing the sufferings of my dear husband and my beloved child. + +I lost the ague in a fortnight's time,--thanks to calomel and quinine; +so did my babe and his nurse: it has, however, hung on my husband during +the whole of the summer, and thrown a damp upon his exertions and gloom +upon his spirits. This is the certain effect of ague, it causes the same +sort of depression on the spirits as a nervous fever. My dear child has +not been well ever since he had the ague, and looks very pale and +spiritless. + +We should have been in a most miserable condition, being unable to +procure a female servant, a nurse, or any one to attend upon us, and +totally unable to help ourselves; but for the prompt assistance of Mary +on one side, and Susannah on the other, I know not what would have +become of us in our sore trouble. + +This summer has been excessively hot and dry; the waters in the lakes +and rivers being lower than they had been known for many years; scarcely +a drop of rain fell for several weeks. This extreme drought rendered the +potatoe-crop a decided failure. Our Indian-corn was very fine; so were +the pumpkins. We had some fine vegetables in the garden, especially the +peas and melons; the latter were very large and fine. The cultivation of +the melon is very simple: you first draw the surrounding earth together +with a broad hoe into a heap; the middle of this heap is then slightly +hollowed out, so as to form a basin, the mould being raised round the +edges; into this hollow you insert several melon-seeds, and leave the +rest to the summer heat; if you water the plants from time to time, it +is well for them; the soil should be fine black mould; and if your hills +are inclining to a hollow part of your ground, so as to retain the +moisture, so much the finer will be your fruit. It is the opinion of +practical persons who have bought wisdom by some years' experience of +the country, that in laying out and planting a garden, the beds should +not be raised, as is the usual custom; and give us a reason, that the +sun having such great power draws the moisture more readily from the +earth where the beds are elevated above the level, and, in consequence +of the dryness of the ground, the plants wither away. + +As there appears some truth in the remark, I am inclined to adopt the +plan. + +Vegetables are in general fine, and come quickly to maturity, +considering the lateness of the season in which they are usually put +into the ground. Peas are always fine, especially the marrowfats, which +are sometimes grown in the fields, on cleared lands that are under the +plough. We have a great variety of beans, all of the French or kidney +kind; there is a very prolific white runner, of which I send you some of +the seed: the method of planting them is to raise a small hillock of +mould by drawing the earth up with the hoe; flatten this, or rather +hollow it a little in the middle, and drop in four or five seeds round +the edges; as soon as the bean puts forth its runners insert a pole of +five or six feet in the centre of the hill; the plants will all meet and +twine up it, bearing a profusion of pods, which are cut and boiled as +the scarlet-runners, or else, in their dry or ripe state, stewed and +eaten with salt meat; this, I believe, is the more usual way of cooking +them. The early bush-bean is a dwarf, with bright yellow seed. + +Lettuces are very fine, and may be cultivated easily, and very early, by +transplanting the seedlings that appear as soon as the ground is free +from snow. Cabbages and savoys, and all sorts of roots, keep during the +winter in the cellars or root-houses; but to the vile custom of keeping +green vegetables in the shallow, moist cellars below the kitchens, much +of the sickness that attacks settlers under the various forms of agues, +intermittent, remittent, and lake-fevers, may be traced. + +Many, of the lower class especially, are not sufficiently careful in +clearing these cellars from the decaying portions of vegetable matter, +which are often suffered to accumulate from year to year to infect the +air of the dwelling. Where the house is small, and the family numerous, +and consequently exposed to its influence by night, the baneful +consequences may be readily imagined. "Do not tell me of lakes and +swamps as the cause of fevers and agues; look to your cellars," was the +observation of a blunt but experienced Yankee doctor. I verily believe +it was the cellar that was the cause of sickness in our house all the +spring and summer. + +A root-house is indispensably necessary for the comfort of a settler's +family; if well constructed, with double log-walls, and the roof secured +from the soaking in of the rain or melting snows, it preserves +vegetables, meat, and milk excellently. You will ask if the use be so +great, and the comfort so essential, why does not every settler build +one? + +Now, dear mamma, this is exactly what every new comer says; but he has +to learn the difficulty there is at first of getting these matters +accomplished, unless, indeed, he have (which is not often the case) the +command of plenty of ready money, and can afford to employ extra +workmen. Labour is so expensive, and the working seasons so short, that +many useful and convenient buildings are left to a future time; and a +cellar, which one man can excavate in two days, if he work well, is made +to answer the purpose, till the season of leisure arrives, or necessity +obliges the root-house to be made. We are ourselves proof of this very +sort of unwilling procrastination; but the logs are now cut for the +root-house, and we shall have one early in the spring. I would, however, +recommend any one that could possibly do so at first, to build a root- +house without delay, and also to have a well dug; the springs lying very +few feet below the surface renders this neither laborious or very +expensive. The creeks will often fail in very dry weather, and the lake +and river-waters grow warm and distasteful during the spring and summer. +The spring-waters are generally cold and pure, even in the hottest +weather, and delightfully refreshing. + +Our winter seems now fairly setting in: the snow has twice fallen, and +as often disappeared, since the middle of October; but now the ground is +again hardening into stone; the keen north-west wind is abroad; and +every outward object looks cold and wintry. The dark line of pines that +bound the opposite side of the lake is already hoary and heavy with +snow, while the half-frozen lake has a deep leaden tint, which is only +varied in shade by the masses of ice which shoot out in long points, +forming mimic bays and peninsulas. The middle of the stream, where the +current is strongest, is not yet frozen over, but runs darkly along like +a river between its frozen banks. In some parts where the banks are +steep and overhung with roots and shrubs, the fallen snow and water take +the most fantastic forms. + +I have stood of a bright winter day looking with infinite delight on the +beautiful mimic waterfalls congealed into solid ice along the bank of +the river; and by the mill-dam, from contemplating these petty frolics +of Father Frost, I have been led to picture to myself the sublime +scenery of the arctic regions. + +In spite of its length and extreme severity, I do like the Canadian +winter: it is decidedly the healthiest season of the year; and it is no +small enjoyment to be exempted from the torments of the insect tribes, +that are certainly great drawbacks to your comfort in the warmer months. + +We have just received your last packet;--a thousand thanks for the +contents. We are all delighted with your useful presents, especially the +warm shawls and merinos. My little James looks extremely well in his new +frock and cloak; they will keep him very warm this cold weather: he +kissed the pretty fur-lined slippers you sent me, and said, "Pussy, +pussy." By the way, we have a fine cat called Nora Crena, the parting +gift of our friend ------, who left her as a keepsake for my boy. Jamie +dotes upon her; and I do assure you I regard her almost as a second +Whittington's cat: neither mouse nor chitmunk has dared intrude within +our log-walls since she made her appearance; the very crickets, that +used to distract us with their chirping from morning till night, have +forsaken their old haunts. Besides the crickets, which often swarm so as +to become intolerable nuisances, destroying your clothes and woollens, +we are pestered by large black ants, that gallop about, eating up sugar +preserves, cakes, anything nice they can gain access to; these insects +are three times the size of the black ants of Britain, and have a most +voracious appetite: when they find no better prey they kill each other, +and that with the fierceness and subtilty of the spider. They appear +less sociable in their habits than other ants; though, from the numbers +that invade your dwellings, I should think they formed a community like +the rest of their species. + +The first year's residence in a new log-house you are disturbed by a +continual creaking sound which grates upon the ears exceedingly, till +you become accustomed to it: this is produced by an insect commonly +called a "sawyer." This is the larvae of some fly that deposits its eggs +in the bark of the pine-trees. The animal in its immature state is of a +whitish colour, the body composed of eleven rings; the head armed with a +pair of short, hard pincers: the skin of this creature is so rough that +on passing your finger over it, it reminds you of a rasp, yet to the eye +it is perfectly smooth. You would be surprised at the heap of fine saw- +dust that is to be seen below the hole they have been working in all +night. These sawyers form a fine feast for the woodpeckers, and jointly +they assist in promoting the rapid decomposition of the gigantic forest- +trees, that would otherwise encumber the earth from age to age. How +infinite is that Wisdom that rules the natural world! How often do we +see great events brought about by seemingly insignificant agents! Yet +are they all servants of the Most High, working his will, and fulfilling +his behests. One great want which has been sensibly felt in this distant +settlement, I mean the want of public worship on the Sabbath-day, +promises to be speedily remedied. A subscription is about to be opened +among the settlers of this and part of the adjacent township for the +erection of a small building, which may answer the purpose of church and +school-house; also for the means of paying a minister for stated seasons +of attendance. + +------ has allowed his parlour to be used as a temporary church, and +service has been several times performed by a highly respectable young +Scotch clergyman; and I can assure you we have a considerable +congregation, considering how scattered the inhabitants are, and that +the emigrants consist of catholics and dissenters, as well as +episcopalians. + +These distinctions, however, are not carried to such lengths in this +country as at home; especially where the want of religious observances +has been sensibly felt. The word of God appears to be listened to with +gladness. May a blessing attend those that in spirit and in truth would +restore again to us the public duties of the Sabbath, which, left to our +own guidance, we are but too much inclined to neglect. + +Farewell. + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Busy Spring.--Increase of Society and Comfort.--Recollections of Home.-- +Aurora Borealis + +THIS has been a busy spring with us. First, sugar-making on a larger +scale than our first attempt was, and since that we had workmen making +considerable addition to our house; we have built a large and convenient +kitchen, taking the former one for a bedroom; the root-house and dairy +are nearly completed. We have a well of excellent water close beside the +door, and a fine frame-barn was finished this week, which includes a +good granary and stable, with a place for my poultry, in which I take +great delight. + +Besides a fine brood of fowls, the produce of two hens and a cock, or +_rooster_, as the Yankees term that bird, I have some ducks, and am to +have turkeys and geese this summer. I lost several of my best fowls, not +by the hawk but a horrid beast of the same nature as our polecat, called +here a scunck; it is far more destructive in its nature than either fox +or the hawk, for he comes like a thief in the night and invades the +perch, leaving headless mementos of his barbarity and blood-thirsty +propensities. + +We are having the garden, which hitherto has been nothing but a square +enclosure for vegetables, laid out in a prettier form; two half circular +wings sweep off from the entrance to each side of the house; the fence +is a sort of rude basket or hurdle-work, such as you see at home, called +by the country folk wattled fence: this forms a much more picturesque +fence than those usually put up of split timber. + +Along this little enclosure I have begun planting a sort of flowery +hedge with some of the native shrubs that abound in our woods and lake- +shores. + +Among those already introduced are two species of shrubby honeysuckle, +white and rose-blossomed: these are called by the American botanists +_quilostium_. + +Then I have the white _Spiroea frutex_, which grows profusely on the +lake-shore; the Canadian wild rose; the red flowering raspberry (_rubus +spectabilis_), leather-wood (_dircas_), called American mezereon, or +moose-wood; this is a very pretty, and at the same time useful shrub, +the bark being used by farmers as a substitute for cord in tying sacks, +&c.; the Indians sew their birch-bark baskets with it occasionally. + +Wild gooseberry, red and black currants, apple-trees, with here and +there a standard hawthorn, the native tree bearing nice red fruit I +named before, are all I have as yet been able to introduce. + +The stoup is up, and I have just planted hops at the base of the +pillars. I have got two bearing shoots of a purple wild grape from the +island near us, which I long to see in fruit. + +My husband is in good spirits; our darling boy is well, and runs about +everywhere. We enjoy a pleasant and friendly society, which has +increased so much within the last two years that we can hardly regret +our absence from the more populous town. + +My dear sister and her husband are comfortably settled in their new +abode, and have a fine spot cleared and cropped. We often see them, and +enjoy a chat of home--sweet, never-to-be-forgotten home; and cheat +ourselves into the fond belief that, at no very distant time we may +again retrace its fertile fields and flowery dales. + +With what delight we should introduce our young Canadians to their +grandmother and aunts; my little bushman shall early be taught to lisp +the names of those unknown but dear friends, and to love the lands that +gave birth to his parents, the bonny hills of the north and my own +beloved England. + +Not to regret my absence from my native land, and one so fair and lovely +withal, would argue a heart of insensibility; yet I must say, for all +its roughness, I love Canada, and am as happy in my humble log-house as +if it were courtly hall or bower; habit reconciles us to many things +that at first were distasteful. It has ever been my way to extract the +sweet rather than the bitter in the cup of life, and surely it is best +and wisest so to do. In a country where constant exertion is called for +from all ages and degrees of settlers, it would be foolish to a degree +to damp our energies by complaints, and cast a gloom over our homes by +sitting dejectedly down to lament for all that was so dear to us in the +old country. Since we are here, let us make the best of it, and bear +with cheerfulness the lot we have chosen. I believe that one of the +chief ingredients in human happiness is a capacity for enjoying the +blessings we possess. + +Though at our first outset we experienced many disappointments, many +unlooked-for expenses, and many annoying delays, with some wants that to +us seemed great privations, on the whole we have been fortunate, +especially in the situation of our land, which has increased in value +very considerably; our chief difficulties are now over, at least we hope +so, and we trust soon to enjoy the comforts of a cleared farm. + +My husband is becoming more reconciled to the country, and I daily feel +my attachment to it strengthening. The very stumps that appeared so +odious, through long custom, seem to lose some of their hideousness; the +eye becomes familiarized even with objects the most displeasing till +they cease to be observed. Some century hence how different will this +spot appear! I can picture it to my imagination with fertile fields and +groves of trees planted by the hand of taste;--all will be different; +our present rude dwellings will have given place to others of a more +elegant style of architecture, and comfort and grace will rule the scene +which is now a forest wild. + +You ask me if I like the climate of Upper Canada; to be candid I do not +think it deserves all that travellers have said of it. The summer heat +of last year was very oppressive; the drought was extreme, and in some +respects proved rather injurious, especially to the potatoe crop. The +frosts set in early, and so did the snows; as to the far-famed Indian +summer it seems to have taken its farewell of the land, for little of it +have we seen during three years' residence. Last year there was not a +semblance of it, and this year one horrible dark gloomy day, that +reminded me most forcibly of a London fog, and which was to the full as +dismal and depressing, was declared by the old inhabitants to be the +commencement of the Indian summer; the sun looked dim and red, and a +yellow lurid mist darkened the atmosphere, so that it became almost +necessary to light candles at noonday. If this be Indian summer, then +might a succession of London fogs be termed the "London summer," thought +I, as I groped about in a sort of bewildering dusky light all that day; +and glad was I when, after a day or two's heavy rain, the frost and snow +set in. + +Very variable, as far as our experience goes, this climate has been; no +two seasons have been at all alike, and it is supposed it will be still +more variable as the work of clearing the forest goes on from year to +year. Near the rivers and great lakes the climate is much milder and +more equable; more inland, the snow seldom falls so as to allow of +sleighing for weeks after it has become general; this, considering the +state of our bush-roads, is rather a point in our favour, as travelling +becomes less laborious, though still somewhat rough. + +I have seen the aurora borealis several times; also a splendid meteoric +phenomenon that surpassed every thing I had ever seen or even heard of +before. I was very much amused by overhearing a young lad giving a +gentleman a description of the appearance made by a cluster of the +shooting-stars as they followed each other in quick succession athwart +the sky. "Sir," said the boy, "I never saw such a sight before, and I +can only liken the chain of stars to a logging-chain." Certainly a most +natural and unique simile, quite in character with the occupation of the +lad, whose business was often with the oxen and logging-chain, and after +all not more rustic than the familiar names given to many of our most +superb constellations,--Charles's wain, the plough, the sickle, &c. + +Coming home one night last Christmas from the house of a friend, I was +struck by a splendid pillar of pale greenish light in the west: it rose +to some height above the dark line of pines that crowned the opposite +shores of the Otanabee, and illumined the heavens on either side with a +chaste pure light, such as the moon gives in her rise and setting; it +was not quite pyramidical, though much broader at the base than at its +highest point; it gradually faded, till a faint white glimmering light +alone marked where its place had been, and even that disappeared after +some half-hour's time. It was so fair and lovely a vision I was grieved +when it vanished into thin air, and could have cheated fancy into the +belief that it was the robe of some bright visitor from another and a +better world;--imagination apart, could it be a phosphoric exhalation +from some of our many swamps or inland lakes, or was it at all connected +with the aurora that is so frequently seen in our skies? + +I must now close this epistle; I have many letters to prepare for +friends, to whom I can only write when I have the opportunity of free +conveyance, the inland postage being very high; and you must not only +pay for all you receive but all you send to and from New York. + +Adieu, my kindest and best of friends. + +Douro, May 1st, 1833. + + + +APPENDIX + + +[The following Communications have been received from the Writer of this +Work during its progress through the Press.] + +MAPLE-SUGAR. + +THIS spring I have made maple-sugar of a much finer colour and grain +than any I have yet seen; and have been assured by many old settlers it +was the best, or nearly the best, they had ever met with: which +commendation induces me to give the plan I pursued in manufacturing it. +The sap having been boiled down in the sugar-bush from about sixteen +pailsful to two, I first passed it through a thin flannel bag, after the +manner of a jelly-bag, to strain it from the first impurities, which are +great. I then passed the liquor through another thicker flannel into the +iron pot, in which I purposed boiling down the sugar, and while yet +cold, or at best but lukewarm, beat up the white of one egg to a froth, +and spread it gently over the surface of the liquor, watching the pot +carefully after the fire began to heat it, that I might not suffer the +scum to boil into the sugar. A few minutes before it comes to a boil, +the scum must be carefully removed with a skimmer, or ladle,--the former +is best. I consider that on the care taken to remove every particle of +scum depends, in a great measure, the brightness and clearness of the +sugar. The best rule I can give as to the sugaring-off, as it is termed, +is to let the liquid continue at a fast boil: only be careful to keep it +from coming over by keeping a little of the liquid in your stirring- +ladle, and when it boils up to the top, or you see it rising too fast, +throw in a little from time to time to keep it down; or if you boil on a +cooking-stove, throwing open one or all the doors will prevent boiling +over. Those that sugar-off outside the house have a wooden crane fixed +against a stump, the fire being lighted against the stump, and the +kettle suspended on the crane: by this simple contrivance, (for any +bush-boy can fix a crane of the kind,) the sugar need never rise over if +common attention be paid to the boiling; but it does require constant +watching: one idle glance may waste much of the precious fluid. I had +only a small cooking-stove to boil my sugar on, the pots of which were +thought too small, and not well shaped, so that at first my fears were +that I must relinquish the trial; but I persevered, and experience +convinces me a stove is an excellent furnace for the purpose; as you can +regulate the heat as you like. + +One of the most anxious periods in the boiling I found to be when the +liquor began first to assume a yellowish frothy appearance, and cast up +so great a volume of steam from its surface as to obscure the contents +of the pot; as it may then rise over almost unperceived by the most +vigilant eye. As the liquor thickens into molasses, it becomes a fine +yellow, and seems nothing but thick froth. When it is getting pretty +well boiled down, the drops begin to fall clear and ropy from the ladle; +and if you see little bright grainy-looking bubbles in it, drop some on +a cold plate, and continue to stir or rub it till it is quite cold: if +it is ready to granulate, you will find it gritty, and turn whitish or +pale straw colour; and stiff. The sugar may then safely be poured off +into a tin dish, pail, basin, or any other utensil. I tried two +different methods after taking the sugar from the fire, but could find +little difference in the look of the sugar, except that in one the +quantity was broken up more completely; in the other the sugar remained +in large lumps, but equally pure and sparkling. In the first I kept +stirring the sugar till it began to cool and form a whitish thick +substance, and the grains were well crystallised; in the other process, +--which I think preferable, as being the least troublesome,--I waited +till the mass was hardened into sugar, and then, piercing the crust in +many places, I turned the mass into a cullender, and placed the +cullender over a vessel to receive the molasses that drained from the +sugar. In the course of the day or two, I frequently stirred the sugar, +which thus became perfectly free from moisture, and had acquired a fine +sparkling grain, tasting exactly like sugar-candy, free from any taste +of the maple-sap, and fit for any purpose. + +I observed that in general maple-sugar, as it is commonly made, is hard +and compact, showing little grain, and weighing very heavy in proportion +to its bulk. Exactly the reverse is the case with that I made, it being +extremely light for its bulk, all the heavy molasses having been +separated, instead of dried into the sugar. Had the present season been +at all a favourable one, which it was not, we should have made a good +quantity of excellent sugar. + +VINEGAR. + +By boiling down five gallons of sap to one, and when just a little above +the heat of new milk, putting in a cupful of barm (hop-rising will do if +it be good), and letting the vessel remain in your kitchen chimney- +corner during the summer, and perhaps longer, you will obtain a fine, +cheap, pleasant, and strong vinegar, fit for any purpose. This plan I +have pursued successfully two years. Care must be taken that the cask or +keg be well seasoned and tight before the vinegar is put in; as the +dryness of the summer heat is apt to shrink the vessel, and make it +leak. If putty well wrought, tar, or even yellow soap, be rubbed over +the seams, and round the inner rim of the head of the cask, it will +preserve it from opening. The equal temperature of the kitchen is +preferred by experienced housewives to letting the vinegar stand abroad; +they aver the coldness of the nights in this country is prejudicial to +the process, being as speedily perfected as if it underwent no such +check. By those well skilled in the manufacture of home-made wines and +beer, excellent maple-wine and beer might be produced at a very trifling +expense; i.e. that of the labour and skill exercised in the making it. + +Every settler grows, as an ornament in his garden, or should grow, hops, +which form one of the principal components of maple-beer when added to +the sap. + +HOP-RISING. + +This excellent, and, I might add, indispensable, article in every +settler's house, is a valuable substitute for ale or beer-yeast, and is +made in the following simple manner:--Take two double handfuls of hops, +boil in a gallon of soft water, if you can get it, till the hops sink to +the bottom of the vessel; make ready a batter formed by stirring a +dessert-platefull of flour and cold water till smooth and pretty thick +together; strain the hop-liquor while scalding hot into the vessel where +your batter is mixed ready; let one person pour the hop-liquor while the +other keeps stirring the batter. When cooled down to a gentle warmth, so +that you can bear the finger well in it, add a cup or basinful of the +former barm, or a bit of leaven, to set it to work; let the barm stand +till it has worked well, then bottle and cork it. Set it by in a cellar +or cool place if in summer, and in winter it is also the best place to +keep it from freezing. Some persons add two or three mealy potatoes +boiled and finely bruised, and it is a great improvement during the cool +months of the year. Potatoes in bread may be introduced very +advantageously; and to first settlers, who have all their flour to buy, +I think it must be a saving. + +The following method I found made more palatable and lighter bread than +flour, mixed in the usual way:--Supposing I wanted to make up about a +stone and half of flour, I boiled (having first pared them carefully)-- +say three dozen good-sized potatoes in about three quarts or a gallon of +water, till the liquor had the appearance of a thin gruel, and the +potatoes had become almost entirely incorporated with the water. With +this potatoe-gruel the flour was mixed up, no water being required, +unless by chance I had not enough of the mixture to moisten my flour +sufficiently. The same process of kneading, fermenting with barm, &c., +is pursued with the dough, as with other bread. In baking, it turns of a +bright light brown, and is lighter than bread made after the common +process, and therefore I consider the knowledge of it serviceable to the +emigrant's family. + +SALT-RISING. + +This is a barm much used by the Yanky settlers; but though the bread is +decidedly whiter, and prettier to look at, than that raised in any other +way, the peculiar flavour it imparts to the bread renders it highly +disagreeable to some persons. Another disadvantage is, the difficulty of +fermenting this barm in the winter season, as it requires a temperature +which is very difficult to preserve in a Canadian winter day. Moreover, +after the barm has once reached its height, unless immediately made use +of, it sinks, and rises again no more: careful people, of course, who +know this peculiarity, are on the watch, being aware of the ill +consequences of heavy bread, or having no bread but bannocks in the +house. + +As near as I can recollect, the salt-rising is made as follows:--For a +small baking of two or three loaves, or one large bake-kettle-loaf, +(about the size of a London peck loaf,) take about a pint of moderately +warm water, (a pleasant heat to the hand,) and stir into the jug or pot +containing it as much flour as will make a good batter, not too thick; +add to this half a tea-spoon of salt, not more, and set the vessel in a +pan of moderately warm water, within a little distance of the fire, or +in the sun: the water that surrounds the pot in which your rising is, +must never be allowed to cool much below the original heat, more warm +water being added (in the pan, not to the barm) till the whole is in an +active state of fermentation, which will be from six to eight hours, +when the dough must be mixed with it, and as much warm water or milk as +you require. Knead the mass till it is tough, and does not stick to the +board. Make up your loaf or loaves, and keep them warmly covered near +the fire till they rise: they must be baked directly this second rising +takes place. Those that bake what I term a _shanty loaf_, in an iron +bake-pot, or kettle, placed on the hot embers, set the dough to rise +over a very few embers, or near the hot hearth, keeping the pot or pan +turned as the loaf rises; when equally risen all over they put hot ashes +beneath and upon the lid, taking care not to let the heat be too fierce +at first. As this is the most common method of baking, and the first +that a settler sees practised, it is as well they should be made +familiar with it beforehand. At first I was inclined to grumble and +rebel against the expediency of bake-pans or bake-kettles; but as +cooking-stoves, iron ovens, and even brick and clay-built ovens, will +not start up at your bidding in the bush, these substitutes are +valuable, and perform a number of uses. I have eaten excellent light +bread, baked on the emigrant's hearth in one of these kettles. I have +eaten boiled potatoes, baked meats, excellent stews, and good soups, all +cooked at different times in this universally useful utensil: so let it +not be despised. It is one of those things peculiarly adapted to the +circumstances of settlers in the bush before they have collected those +comforts about their homesteads, within and without, that are the reward +and the slow gleaning-up of many years of toil. + +There are several other sorts of rising similar to the salt-rising. +"Milk-rising" which is mixed with milk, warm from the cow, and about a +third warm water; and "bran-rising," which is made with bran instead of +flour, and is preferred by many persons to either of the former kinds. + +SOFT SOAP. + +Of the making of soft soap I can give little or no correct information, +never having been given any _certain_ rule myself, and my own experience +is too limited. I was, however, given a hint from a professional +gentleman, which I mean to act upon forthwith. Instead of boiling the +soap, which is some trouble, he assured me the best plan was to run off +the ley from a barrel of ashes: into this ley I might put four or five +pounds of any sort of grease, such as pot skimmings, rinds of bacon, or +scraps from frying down suet; in short any refuse of the kind would do. +The barrel with its contents may then be placed in a secure situation in +the garden or yard, exposed to the sun and air. In course of time the +ley and grease become incorporated: if the grease predominates it will +be seen floating on the surface; in such case add more ley; if the +mixture does not thicken, add more grease. Now, this is the simplest, +easiest, and clearest account I have yet received on the subject of +soap-making, which hitherto has seemed a mystery, even though a good +quantity was made last spring by one of my servants, and it turned out +well: but she could not tell why it succeeded, for want of being able to +explain the principle she worked from. + +CANDLES. + +Every one makes their own candles (i.e. if they have any materials to +make them from). The great difficulty of making candies--and, as far as +I see the only one, is procuring the tallow, which a bush-settler, until +he begins to kill his own beef, sheep, and hogs, is rarely able to do, +unless he buys; and a settler buys nothing that he can help. A cow, +however, that is unprofitable, old, or unlikely to survive the severity +of the coming winter, is often suffered to go dry during the summer, and +get her own living, till she is fit to kill in the fall. Such an animal +is often slaughtered very advantageously, especially if the settler have +little fodder for his cattle. The beef is often excellent, and good +store of candles and soap may be made from the inside fat. These +candles, if made three parts beef- and one part hogs-lard, will burn +better than any store-candles, and cost less than half price. The tallow +is merely melted in a pot or pan convenient for the purpose, and having +run the cotton wicks into the moulds (tin or pewter moulds for six +candles cost three shillings at the stores, and last many, many years), +a stick or skewer is passed through the loops of your wicks, at the +upper part of the stand, which serve the purpose of drawing the candles. +The melted fat, not too hot, but in a fluid state, is then poured into +the moulds till they are full; as the fat gets cold it shrinks, and +leaves a hollow at the top of the mould: this requires filling up when +quite cold. If the candles do not draw readily, plunge the mould for an +instant into hot water and the candles will come out easily. Many +persons prefer making dip-candles for kitchen use; but for my own part I +think the trouble quite as great, and give the preference, in point of +neatness of look, to the moulds. It may be, my maid and I did not +succeed so well in making the dips as the moulds. + +PICKLING. + +The great want of spring vegetables renders pickles a valuable addition +to the table at the season when potatoes have become unfit and +distasteful. If you have been fortunate in your maple-vinegar, a store +of pickled cucumbers, beans, cabbage, &c. may be made during the latter +part of the summer; but if the vinegar should not be fit at that time, +there are two expedients: one is to make a good brine of boiled salt and +water, into which throw your cucumbers, &c. (the cabbage, by the by, may +be preserved in the root-house or cellar quite good, or buried in pits, +well covered, till you want to make your pickle). Those vegetables, kept +in brine, must be covered close, and when you wish to pickle them, +remove the top layer, which are not so good; and having boiled the +vinegar with spices let it stand till it is cold. The cucumbers should +previously have been well washed, and soaked in two or three fresh +waters, and drained; then put in a jar, and the cold vinegar poured over +them. The advantage of this is obvious; you can pickle at any season. +Another plan, and I have heard it much commended, is putting the +cucumbers into a mixture of whiskey* and water, which in time turns to a +fine vinegar, and preserves the colour and crispness of the vegetable; +while the vinegar is apt to make them soft, especially if poured on +boiling hot, as is the usual practice. + +[* In the "Backwoodsman," this whiskey-receipt is mentioned as an +abominable compound: perhaps the witty author had tasted the pickles in +an improper state of progression. He gives a lamentable picture of +American cookery, but declares the badness arises from want of proper +receipts. These yeast-receipts will be extremely useful in England; as +the want of fresh yeast is often severely felt in country districts.] + + +APPENDIX B. + +[In the wish to render this Work of more practical value to persons +desiring to emigrate, some official information is subjoined, under the +following heads:--] + +STATISTICS OF EMIGRATION. + +I. The number of Sales and Grants of Crown Lands, Clergy Reserves, +Conditions, &c. +II. Information for Emigrants; Number of Emigrants arrived; with +extracts from Papers issued by Government Emigration Agents, &c. +III. Abstract of the American Passengers' Act, of Session 1835. +IV. Transfer of Capital. +V. Canadian Currency. +VI. Canada Company. +VII. British American Land Company. + +=================================== + +I. SALES AND GRANTS OF CROWN LANDS. + +The following tables, abstracted from Parliamentary documents, exhibit-- + +1. The quantity of Crown lands _sold_ in Upper and Lower Canada from +1828 to 1833, inclusive, with the average price per acre, &c. + +2. Town and park lots sold in Upper Canada during the same period. + +3. The quantity of Crown lands granted without purchase, and the +conditions on which the grants were given, from 1824 to 1833, inclusive. + +4. The amount of clergy reserves sold in each year since the sales +commenced under the Act 7 and 8 Geo. IV., c. 62. + +--------------------------------------- + +CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, LOWER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Table +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Amount of purchase money remitted to military purchasers +within the first year. +Column 6: Amount of quit-rent at 5 per cent on the purchase money +received within the first year. +Column 7: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 20,011 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 11 pence +Column 4: 1,255 pounds, 14 shillings, 10 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 39 pounds, 12 shillings, 6 pence +Column 7: 5,044 pounds, 9 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 31,366 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 2-3/4 pence +Column 4: 466 pounds, 2 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 307 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence +Column 7: 7,469 pounds, 17 shillings, 7 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 28,077 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 8-3/4 pence +Column 4: 273 pounds, 10 shillings, 5 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 322 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence +Column 7: 7,461 pounds, 13 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 51,357 acres +Column 3: 6 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 815 pounds, 19 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 484 pounds, 14 shillings, 7 pence +Column 7: 12,442 pounds, 8 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 24,074 acres +Column 3: 6 shillings, 9-1/4 pence +Column 4: 1,013 pounds, 1 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 555 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence +Column 6: 119 pounds, 2 shillings, 7 pence +Column 7: 6,139 pounds, 0 shillings, 10 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 42,570 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 2 pence +Column 4: 1,975 pounds, 10 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 1,936 pounds, 9 shillings, 3 pence +Column 6: -, -, - +Column 7: 7,549 pounds, 1 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 8 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 197,455 +Column 3: -, - +Column 4: -, -, - +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: -, -, - +Column 7: 46,106 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence + +The conditions on which the land was sold were--on sales on instalments, +to be paid within three years; or on sales on quit-rent, at 5 per cent., +capital redeemable at pleasure. N.B. Sales on quit-rent ceased in 1832. + +--------------------------------------- + +CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, UPPER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Table +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 3,893 acres +Column 3: 15 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 760 pounds, 6 shillings, 10 pence +Column 5: 2,940 pounds, 17 shillings, 3 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 6,135 acres +Column 3: 13 shillings, 8-1/2 pence +Column 4: 1,350 pounds, 16 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 4,209 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 4,357 acres +Column 3: 11 shillings, 3-1/2 pence +Column 4: 1,626 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 2,458 pounds, 1 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 10,323 acres +Column 3: 9 shillings, 1-1/2 pence +Column 4: 2,503 pounds, 3 shillings, 5 pence +Column 5: 4,711 pounds, 2 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 26,376 acres +Column 3: 8 shillings, 9-1/4 pence +Column 4: 5,660 pounds, 8 shillings, 3 pence +Column 5: 11,578 pounds, 19 shillings, 3 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 51,074 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 25,898 pounds, 3 shillings, 11 pence + +Interest is now exacted on the instalments paid. +Three years is the number within which the whole amount of the purchase +money is to be paid. The sales of town lots, water lots, and park lots, +in Upper Canada, are not included in this table, on account of the +disproportionate effect which the comparatively large sums paid for +these small lots would have on the average price per acre. They are +given, therefore, separately, in the following table:- + +--------------------------------------- + +TOWN AND PARK LOTS SOLD IN UPPER CANADA FROM 1828 TO 1833 + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +[TABLE] +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 2 acres +Column 3: 126 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 252 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: - +Column 3: -, - +Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: -, -, - + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 19 acres +Column 3: 10 pounds, 10 shillings, 6-1/2 pence +Column 4: 55 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 20 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 3 acres +Column 3: 8 pounds, 7 shillings, 6-1/2 pence +Column 4: 95 pounds*, 12 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: 25 pounds, 2 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 30 acres +Column 3: 15 pounds, 18 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 81 pounds, 18 shillings, 9 pence +Column 5: 327 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 114 acres +Column 3: 14 pounds, 13 shillings, 9 pence +Column 4: 634 pounds, 8 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 1,674 pounds, 9 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 168 acres +Column 3: -,-,- +Column 4: -,-,- +Column 5: 2,479 pounds, 6 shillings, 8 pence + +There were no sales in 1829. The 63 pounds currency paid that year was +paid as instalments on lots sold in the previous year. + +The whole amount of the purchase money to be paid within three years. + +*Note.--It is so given in the Parliamentary Return, but probably the 9 +should be 1. + +--------------------------------------- + +The following exhibits the quantity of Crown Lands granted, and the +conditions on which the grants were given, from 1823 to 1833. + +[TABLE] + +LOWER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. +Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. +Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. +Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous +descriptions. +Column 6: Total number of acres granted. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1824 +Column 2: 51,810 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 4,100 +Column 5: 34,859 +Column 6: 90,769 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1825 +Column 2: 32,620 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 1,000 +Column 5: 16,274 +Column 6: 49,894 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1826 +Column 2: 3,525 +Column 3: 5,500 +Column 4: - +Column 5: 48,224 +Column 6: 57,249 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1827 +Column 2: 7,640 +Column 3: 6,300 +Column 4: 800 +Column 5: 38,378 +Column 6: 53,118 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 7,300 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 4,504 +Column 5: 9,036 +Column 6: 20,840 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 3,200 +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 5,282 +Column 6: 8,482 + +Row 8 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 81,425 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 2,000 +Column 5: 10,670 +Column 6: 94,095 + +Row 9 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 9,400 +Column 3: 8,273 +Column 4: 3,408 +Column 5: 9,900 +Column 6: 30,981 + +Row 10 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 10,116 +Column 3: 19,000 +Column 4: 4,000 +Column 5: 4,000 +Column 6: 37,116 + +Row 11 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 5,200 +Column 3: 22,500 +Column 4: 1,200 +Column 5: - +Column 6: 28,900 + +Row 12 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 212,236 +Column 3: 61,573 +Column 4: 21,012 +Column 5: 176,623 +Column 6: 471,444 + +_Settler's Conditions_.--That he do clear twenty feet of road on his lot +within the space of ninety days. +Military & Militia conditions.--That he do, within the space of three +years, clear and cultivate four acres of his lot, and build a dwelling- +house thereon. + +--------------------------------------- + +[TABLE] + +UPPER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. +Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. +Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. +Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous +descriptions. +Column 6: Number of acres granted to U.E. Loyalists.* +Column 7: Total number of acres granted. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1824 +Column 2: 11,800 +Column 3: 5,800 +Column 4: 5,500 +Column 5: 134,500 +Column 6: 30,200 +Column 7: 187,800 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1825 +Column 2: 20,300 +Column 3: 5,700 +Column 4: 8,100 +Column 5: 149,060 +Column 6: 45,000 +Column 7: 228,160 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1826 +Column 2: 16,600 +Column 3: 3,100 +Column 4: 4,700 +Column 5: 19,390 +Column 6: 24,800 +Column 7: 68,590 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1827 +Column 2: 10,900 +Column 3: 4,200 +Column 4: 7,200 +Column 5: 33,600 +Column 6: 20,200 +Column 7: 76,100 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 10,800 +Column 3: 900 +Column 4: 3,000 +Column 5: 4,304 +Column 6: 30,800 +Column 7: 49,804 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 5,300 +Column 3: 7,500 +Column 4: 8,400 +Column 5: 3,230 +Column 6: 22,600 +Column 7: 47,030 + +Row 8 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 6,400 +Column 3: 12,500 +Column 4: 12,600 +Column 5: 9,336 +Column 6: 27,400 +Column 7: 68,236 + +Row 9 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 5,500 +Column 3: 58,400 +Column 4: 7,200 +Column 5: 8,000 +Column 6: 34,200 +Column 7: 113,300 + +Row 10 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 19,300 +Column 3: 97,800 +Column 4: 7,600 +Column 5: 6,100 +Column 6: 62,600 +Column 7: 193,400 + +Row 11 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 35,200 +Column 3: 46,000 +Column 4: - +Column 5: 9,100 +Column 6: 135,600 +Column 7: 225,900 + +Row 12 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 142,100 +Column 3: 241,900 +Column 4: 64,300 +Column 5: 376,620 +Column 6: 433,400 +Column 7: 1,258,320 + +_Condition_. - Actual settlement. + +* U.E. Loyalists means United English Loyalists--individuals who fled +from the United States on the breaking out of the American war of +independence. The grants in the above column are mostly to the children +of these individuals. + +--------------------------------------- + +The conditions in force in 1824, the time from which the Returns take +their commencement, were enacted by Orders in Council of 20th October, +1818, and 21st February, 1820, applied equally to all classes of +grantees, and were as follows:-- + +"That locatees shall clear thoroughly and fence five acres for every 100 +acres granted; and build a house 16 feet by 20 in the clear; and to +clear one-half of the road, and chop down, without charring, one chain +in depth across the lot next to road. These road duties to be considered +as part of the five acres per 100. The whole to be completed within two +years from date of the location, and upon proof of their fulfilment +patents to issue. + +"On the 14th of May, 1830, an additional stipulation was made in +locations to discharged soldiers, which required an actual residence on +their lots, in person, for five years before the issue of their patents. + +"On the 14th of November, 1830, the then existing Orders in Council, +respecting settlement duties, were cancelled, and it was ordered that in +lieu thereof each locatee should clear half the road in front of his +lot, and from 10 feet in the centre of the road cut the stumps so low +that waggon wheels might pass over them. Upon proof of this, and that a +settler had been resident on the lot two years, a patent might issue. +Locatees, however, were at liberty, instead of placing settlers on their +lands, to clear, in addition to half the road on each lot, a chain in +depth across the front, and to sow it and the road with grass seed. + +"Upon discharged soldiers and seamen alone, under this order, it became +imperative to reside on and improve their lands three years before the +issue of the patent. + +"On the 24th of May, 1832, an Order in Council was made, abolishing, in +all cases except that of discharged soldiers and seamen, the regulations +previously existing; and which directed that, upon proof of an actual +settler being established on a lot, a patent should issue without the +condition of settlement duty." + +The following extract is taken from "official information" circulated by +Mr. Buchanan, and other Government emigration agents in Canada:-- + +"Emigrants, wishing to obtain fertile lands in the Canadas in a wild +state by purchase from the Crown, may rely on every facility being +afforded them by the public authorities. Extensive tracts are surveyed +and offered for sale in Upper Canada monthly, and frequently every 10 or +14 days, by the Commissioner of Crown lands, at upset prices, varying +according to situation from 10 shillings to 15 shillings per acre, +excepting in the townships of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, where the upset +price of Crown lands is 5 shillings only. In Lower Canada, the +Commissioner of Crown lands at Quebec puts up land for sale, at fixed +periods, in various townships, at from 2 shillings 6 pence to 12 +shillings 6 pence Halifax currency, per acre, payable by instalments. +Wild lands may also be purchased from the Upper Canada Company on very +easy terms, and those persons wanting improved farms will find little +difficulty in obtaining such from private proprietors. On no account +enter into any final engagement for your lands or farms _without +personal examination_, and be certain of the following qualifications:-- +"1. A healthy situation. +"2. Good land. +"3. A pure spring, or running stream of water. +"4. In the neighbourhood of a good, moral, and religious state of +society, and schools for the education of your children. +"5. As near good roads and water transport as possible, saw and grist +mills. +"6. A good title." + +======================================= + +Clergy Reserves sold in each year since the sales commenced under the +Act 7 and 8, Geo. IV. c. 62 + +LOWER CANADA + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase-money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of the purchase-money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 1,100 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 10 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 230 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence* + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 9,956 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 9 pence +Column 4: 543 pounds, 17 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 1,610 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence* + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 11,332 acres +Column 3: 7 shillings, 2-3/4 pence +Column 4: 541 pounds, 7 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 2,665 pounds, 9 shillings, 3 pence* + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 6,873 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 8-1/2 pence +Column 4: 533 pounds, 2 shillings, 2 pence +Column 5: 1,278 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 37,278 acres +Column 3: 8 shillings, 2-1/4 pence +Column 4: 3,454 pounds, 11 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 12,791 pounds, 17 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 66,539 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 18,576 pounds, 1 shillings, 4 pence + +The number of years within which the whole amount of the purchase-money +is to be paid is three. + +* On sales on quit rent, at 5 per cent., the capital redeemable at +pleasure. + +N.B. Sales on quit-rent ceased in 1832. + + +--------------------------------------- + +UPPER CANADA + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase-money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of the purchase-money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 18,014 acres +Column 3: 14 shillings, 8-1/4 pence +Column 4: 2,464 pounds, 14 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 13,229 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 34,705 +Column 3: 13 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 6,153 pounds, 5 shillings, 9 pence +Column 5: 23,452 pounds, 4 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 28,563 acres +Column 3: 12 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 8,010 pounds, 2 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 17,362 pounds, 12 shillings, 1 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 48,484 acres +Column 3: 13 shillings, 3-3/4 pence +Column 4: 10,239 pounds, 9 shillings, 7 pence +Column 5: 32,287 pounds, 19 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 62,282 acres +Column 3: 14 shillings, 4-1/2 pence +Column 4: 14,080 pounds, 16 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: 44,747 pounds, 19 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 8 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 192,049 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 131,079 pounds, 14 shillings, 10 pence + +The whole amount of the purchase-money to be paid in nine years. In +addition to the purchase-money paid, interest has also been paid with +each instalment, a statement of which is as follows:-- + +Interest received in 1829: 1 pound, 7 shillings, 3 pence currency. +Interest received in 1830: 62 pound, 16 shillings, 1 pence currency. +Interest received in 1831: 259 pound, 14 shillings, 9 pence currency. +Interest received in 1832: 473 pound, 17 shillings, 2 pence currency. +Interest received in 1833: 854 pound, 4 shillings, 3 pence currency. + + +======================================= + +II. INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS + +In the year 1832 a little pamphlet of advice to emigrants was issued by +his Majesty's Commissioners for Emigration*, which contained some useful +information in a small compass. The Commission no longer exists. In lieu +of it, J. Denham Pinnock, Esq., has been appointed by Government His +Majesty's agent for the furtherance of emigration from England to the +British Colonies. Letters on the subject of emigration should be +addressed to this gentleman at the Colonial Office, under cover to the +Colonial Secretary of State. One chief object of his appointment is to +afford facilities and information to parish authorities and landed +proprietors desirous of furthering the emigration of labourers and +others from their respective districts, especially with reference to the +emigration clause of the Poor Laws Amendment Act. The following +Government emigration agents have also been appointed at the respective +ports named:-- + +Liverpool ...Lieut. Low, R.N. +Bristol ... Lieut. Henry, R.N. +Leith ... Lieut. Forrest, R.N. +Greenock ... Lieut. Hemmans, R.N. +Dublin ... Lieut. Hodder, R.N. +Cork ... Lieut. Friend, R.N. +Limerick ... Lieut. Lynch, R.N. +Belfast ... Lieut. Millar, R.N. +Sligo ... Lieut. Shuttleworth, R.N. + +And at Quebec, A. C. Buchanan, Esq., the chief Government emigration +agent, will afford every information to all emigrants who seek his +advice. + +[* "Information published by His Majesty's Commissioners for Emigration, +respecting the British Colonies in North America." London, C. Knight, +1832. Price _twopence_.] + +The following is an extract from the pamphlet published in 1832:-- + +"Passages to Quebec or New Brunswick may either be engaged _inclusive_ +of provisions, or _exclusive_ of provisions, in which case the ship- +owner finds nothing but water, fuel, and bed places, without bedding. +Children under 14 years of age are charged one-half, and under 7 years +of age one-third of the full price, and for children under 12 months of +age no charge is made. Upon these conditions the price of passage from +London, or from places on the east coast of Great Britain, has generally +been 6 pounds with provisions, or 3 pounds without. From Liverpool, +Greenock, and the principal ports of Ireland, as the chances of delay +are fewer, the charge is somewhat lower; this year [1832] it will +probably be from 2 pounds to 2 pounds, 10 shillings without provisions, +or from 4 pounds to 5 pounds, including provisions. It is possible that +in March and April passages may be obtained from Dublin for 1 pound, 15 +shillings or even 1 pound, 10 shillings; but the prices always grow +higher as the season advances. In ships sailing from Scotland or +Ireland, it has mostly been the custom for passengers to find their own +provisions; but this practice has not been so general in London, and +some shipowners, sensible of the dangerous mistakes which may be made in +this matter through ignorance, are very averse to receive passengers who +will not agree to be victualled by the ship. Those who do resolve to +supply their own provisions, should at least be careful not to lay in an +insufficient stock; fifty days is the shortest period for which it is +safe to provide, and from London the passage is sometimes prolonged to +seventy-five days. The best months for leaving England are certainly +March and April; the later emigrants do not find employment so abundant, +and have less time in the colony before the commencement of winter." + +From a printed paper, issued by Mr. Buchanan at Quebec, the following +statements are taken: (the paper is dated July, 1835). + +"There is nothing of more importance to emigrants, on arrival at Quebec, +than correct information on the leading points connected with their +future pursuits. Many have suffered much by a want of caution, and by +listening to the opinions of interested, designing characters, who +frequently offer their advice unsolicited, and who are met generally +about wharfs and landing-places frequented by strangers: to guard +emigrants from falling into such errors, they should, immediately on +arrival at Quebec, proceed to the office of the chief agent for +emigrants, Sault-au-Matelot Street, Lower Town, where every information +requisite for their future guidance in either getting settlements on +lands, or obtaining employment in Upper or Lower Canada, will be +obtained _gratis_. On your route from Quebec to your destination you +will find many plans and schemes offered to your consideration, but turn +away from them unless you are well satisfied of the purity of the +statements: on all occasions when you stand in need of advice, apply +only to the Government agents, who will give every information required, +_gratis_. + +"Emigrants are informed that they may remain on board ship 48 hours +after arrival, nor can they be deprived of any of their usual +accommodations for cooking or berthing during that period, and the +master of the ship is bound to disembark the emigrants and their baggage +_free of expense_, at the usual landing places, and at seasonable hours. +_They should avoid drinking the water of the river St. Lawrence, which +has a strong tendency to produce bowel complaints in strangers_. + +"Should you require to change your English money, go to some respectable +merchant or dealer, or the banks: the currency in the Canadas is at the +rate of 5 shillings the dollar, and is called Halifax currency; at +present the gold sovereign is worth, in Quebec and Montreal, about 1 +pound, 4 shillings, 1 pence currency. In New York 8 shillings is +calculated for the dollar, hence many are deceived when hearing of the +rates of labour, &c.--5 shillings in Canada is equal to 8 shillings in +New York; thus 8 shillings New York currency is equivalent to 5 +shillings Halifax currency. + +"Emigrants who wish to settle in Lower Canada or to obtain employment, +are informed that many desirable situations are to be met with. Wild +lands may be obtained by purchase from the Commissioner of Crown Lands +in various townships in the province, and the British American Land +Company are making extensive preparations for selling lands and farms in +the Eastern Townships to emigrants. + +"Farm labourers are much wanted in all the districts of Upper Canada, +and, if industrious, they may be sure of obtaining very high wages; +mechanics of almost every description, and good servants, male and +_female_, are much in request. + +"Emigrants proceeding to Upper Canada, either by the Ottawa or St. +Lawrence route, are advised to supply themselves with provisions at +Montreal, such as bread, tea, sugar, and butter, which they will +purchase cheaper and of _better quality_, until they reach Kingston, +than along the route. They are also particularly cautioned against the +use of _ardent spirits or drinking cold river water_, or lying on the +banks of the river exposed to the night dews; they should proceed at +once from the steam-boat at Montreal to _the entrance of the Canal_ or +Lachine, from whence the Durham and steam-boats start for Prescott and +Bytown daily. The total expense for the transport of an adult emigrant +from Quebec to Toronto and the head of Lake Ontario, by steam and +Durham-boats, will not exceed 1 pound, 4 shillings currency, or 1 pound, +1 shilling sterling. Kingston, Belleville, up the Bay of Quinte, +Cobourgh, and Port Hope, in the Newcastle district, Hamilton and Niagara +at the head of Lake Ontario, will be convenient stopping-places for +families intending to purchase lands in Upper Canada. + +"There is considerable competition among the Forwarding Companies at +Montreal; emigrants therefore had better exercise a little caution +before agreeing for their transport to Prescott or Kingston, and they +should avoid those persons that crowd on board the steam-boats on +arrival at Montreal, offering their services to get passages, &c. +Caution is also necessary at Prescott or Kingston, in selecting regular +conveyances up Lake Ontario. I would particularly advise emigrants +destined for Upper Canada, not to incur the expense of lodging or delay +at Montreal, but to proceed on arrival of the steam-boat to the barges +for Bytown or Prescott. + +"Labourers or mechanics dependent on immediate employment, are requested +to proceed immediately on arrival into the country. The chief agent will +consider such persons as may loiter about the ports of landing beyond +_four days_ after their arrival, to have no further claims on the +protection of his Majesty's agents for assistance or employment, unless +they have been detained by sickness or some other satisfactory cause." + + +--------------------------------------- + +Comparative Statement of the number of Emigrants arrived at Quebec from +1829 to 1834 inclusive:-- + +[TABLE] +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +England and Wales +1829: 3,565 +1830: 6,799 +1831: 10,343 +1832: 17,481 +1833: 5,198 +1834: 6,799 + +Ireland +1829: 9,614 +1830: 18,300 +1831: 34,133 +1832: 28,204 +1833: 12,013 +1834: 19,206 + +Scotland +1829: 2,643 +1830: 2,450 +1831: 5,354 +1832: 5,500 +1833: 4,196 +1834: 4,591 + +Hamburg & Gibraltar. +1832: 15 + +Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, West Indies, &c. +1829: 123 +1830: 451 +1831: 424 +1832: 546 +1833: 345 +1834: 339 + +Totals +1829: 15,945 +1830: 28,000 +1831: 50,254 +1832: 51,746 +1833: 21,752 +1834: 30,935 + +The total number of emigrants arrived at Quebec, from 1829 to 1834, is +198,632. It will be remarked, that the number rose high in 1831 and +1832, and fell very low in 1833. + +--------------------------------------- + +Distribution of the 30,935 Emigrants who arrived at Quebec during 1834:- + +LOWER CANADA. +City and District of Quebec: 1,500 +District of Three Rivers: 350 +District of St. Francis and Eastern Townships: 640 +City and District of Montreal: 1,200 +Ottawa District: 400 +Total to Lower Canada: 4,090 + + +UPPER CANADA. + +Ottawa, Bathurst, Midland and Eastern Districts, as far as Kingston, +included: 1,000 +District of Newcastle, and Townships in the vicinity of the Bay of +Quinte: 2,650 +Toronto and the Home District, including Settlements around Lake Simco: +8,000 +Hamilton, Guelph, and Huron Tracts, and situations adjacent: 2,660 +Niagara Frontier and District, including the line of the Welland Canal, +and round the head of Lake Ontario, to Hamilton: 3,300 +Settlements bordering on Lake Erie, including the London District, +Adelaide Settlement, and on to Lake St. Clair: 4,600 +Total to Upper Canada: 22,210 + +Died of cholera in Upper and Lower Canada: 800 +Returned to United Kingdom: 350 +Went to the United States: 3,485 +[Total:] 4,635 +--------------------------------------- + +Of the number of 30,935 Emigrants who arrived at Quebec in 1834, there +were of:-- + +Voluntary emigrants: 29,041 +Assisted by parochial aid: 1,892 +Number of males: 13,565 +Number of females: 9,683 +Number of children under fourteen years of age: 7,681 + +Emigrants who prefer going into Canada by way of New York will receive +advice and direction by applying to the British Consul at New York +(James Buchanan, Esq.) Formerly this gentleman could procure for +emigrants who were positively determined to settle in the Canadas, +permission to land their baggage and effects free of custom-house duty; +but in a letter dated 16th March, 1835, he says:-- + +"In consequence of a change in the truly liberal course heretofore +adopted at this port, in permitting, without unpacking or payment of +duty, of the personal baggage, household, and farming utensils of +emigrants landing here to pass in transit through this state to his +Majesty's provinces, upon evidence being furnished of the fact, and that +such packages alone contained articles of the foregoing description, I +deem it my duty to make known that all articles arriving at this port +accompanying emigrants in transit to Canada, will be subject to the same +inspection as if to remain in the United States, and pay the duties to +which the same are subjected. I think it proper to mention that all +articles suited to new settlers are to be had in Canada on better terms +than they can be brought out--and such as are adapted to the country." + +The difference between proceeding to Upper Canada by way of Quebec and +New York, consists chiefly in the circumstance that the port of New York +is open all the year round, while the navigation of the St. Lawrence up +to Quebec and Montreal is tedious, and the river is only open between +seven and eight months of the year. The latter is, however, the cheapest +route. But to those who can afford it, New York is the most comfortable +as well as the most expeditious way of proceeding to Upper Canada. + +The route, as given in a printed paper, distributed by the British +consul at New York, is as follows:-- + +"Route from New York and Albany by the Erie Canal to all parts of Upper +Canada, west of Kingston, by the way of Oswego and Buffalo:-- + +New York to Albany, 160 miles by steam-boat. +Albany to Utica, 110 do. by canal or stage. +Utica to Syracuse, 55 do. by canal or stage. +Syracuse to Oswego, 40 do. by canal or stage. +Syracuse to Rochester, 99 do. by canal or stage. +Rochester to Buffalo, 93 do. by canal or stage. + +Total expense from Albany to Buffalo, by canal, exclusive of victuals +for an adult steerage passenger--time going about 7 or 8 days--3 dollars +63 cents; ditto by packet-boats, and found, 12-1/4 dollars, 6 days +going. + +"Ditto do. by stage, in 3-1/2 and 4 days--13 to 15 dollars. + +"Ditto do. from Albany to Oswego by canal, 5 days going, 2-1/2 dollars. + +"Ditto do. by stage, 2 days--6-1/2 to 7 dollars. + +"No extra charge for a moderate quantity of baggage. + +"Route from New York to Montreal, Quebec, and all parts of Lower +Canada:-- + +"New York to Albany, 160 miles by steam-boat, 1 to 3 dollars, exclusive +of food. + +"Albany to Whitehall, by canal, 73 miles, 1 dollar; stage 3 dollars. + +"Whitehall to St. John's, by steam-boat, board included, cabin 5 +dollars; deck passage 2 dollars without board. + +"St. John's to Laprairie, 16 miles per stage, 5 shillings to 7 shillings +6 pence. + +"Laprairie to Montreal, per ferry steam-boat, 8 miles. 6 pence. + +"Montreal to Quebec, by steam-boat, 180 miles, cabin, found, 1 pound, 5 +shillings; deck passage, not found, 7 shillings 6 pence. + +"Those proceeding to the eastern townships of Lower Canada, in the +vicinity of Sherbrooke, Stanstead, &c., &c., will proceed to St. John's, +from whence good roads lead to all the settled townships eastward. If +they are going to the Ottawa River, they will proceed from Montreal and +Lachine, from whence stages, steamboats, and batteaux go daily to +Grenville, Hull, and Bytown, as also to Chateauguay, Glengary, Cornwall, +Prescott, and all parts below Kingston. + +"Emigrants can avail themselves of the advice and assistance of the +following gentlemen:--at Montreal, Carlisle Buchanan, Esq.; Prescott, +John Patton, Esq." + +--------------------------------------- + +Number of Emigrants who arrived at New York from the United Kingdom for +six years, from 1829 to 1834:-- + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1. Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: England. +Column 3: Ireland. +Column 4: Scotland. +Column 5: Total. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 8,110 +Column 3: 2,443 +Column 4: 948 +Column 5: 11,501 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 16,350 +Column 3: 3,497 +Column 4: 1,584 +Column 5: 21,433 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 13,808 +Column 3: 6,721 +Column 4: 2,078 +Column 5: 22,607 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 18,947 +Column 3: 6,050 +Column 4: 3,286 +Column 5: 28,283 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 16,000 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1834* +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 26,540 + +Row 8 +Column 1: Total +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 126,464 + +* The returns for 1834 are made up to the 20th November of that year. + +======================================= + +III. AMERICAN PASSENGERS' ACT. + +The 9th Geo. IV., c. 21, commonly called the "American Passengers' Act," +was repealed during the Session of 1835, by an Act then passed, the 5 +and 6 Will. IV., c. 53. The intention of the new Act is, of course, to +secure, as effectually as possible, and more effectually than the +previous Act did, the health and comfort of emigrants on board of +passenger ships. By a clause of the Act, copies or abstracts are to be +kept on board ships for the perusal of passengers, who may thus have an +opportunity of judging whether the law has been complied with; but the +discovery of any infractions of the Statute may be made at a time when, +in the particular instance, it may be too late to remedy it, so far as +the comfort and even the health of the passengers are concerned. It is +to be hoped, therefore, that the humane intentions of the legislature +will not be frustrated by any negligence on the part of those +(especially of the officers of customs) whose business it is to see that +the regulations of the Act have been complied with before each emigrant +ship leaves port. + +No passenger ship is to sail with more than three persons on board for +every five tons of registered burthen. Nor, whatever may be the tonnage, +is there to be a greater number of passengers on board than after the +rate of one person for every ten superficial feet of the lower deck or +platform unoccupied by goods or stores, not being the personal luggage +of the passengers. + +Ships with more than one deck to have five feet and a half, at the +least, between decks; and where a ship has only one deck, a platform is +to be laid beneath the deck in such a manner as to afford a space of the +height of at least five feet and a half, and no such ship to have more +than two tiers of berths. Ships having two tiers of berths to have an +interval of at least six inches between the deck or platform, and the +floor of the lower tier throughout the whole extent. + +Passenger ships are to be provisioned in the following proportion:--pure +water, to the amount of five gallons, to every week of the computed +voyage, for each passenger--the water to be carried in tanks or sweet +casks; seven pounds' weight of bread, biscuit, oatmeal, or bread stuffs, +to every week for each passenger; potatoes may be included to one-third +of the extent of supply, but seven pounds' weight of potatoes are to be +reckoned equal to one pound of bread or bread stuffs. The voyage to +North America is to be computed at ten weeks, by which each passenger +will be secured fifty gallons of water, and seventy pounds weight of +bread or bread stuffs for the voyage. + +Where there are 100 passengers, a medical practitioner is to be carried; +if under 100, medicines of sufficient amount and kind are to be taken +out as part of the necessary supplies. + +Passenger ships are not to be allowed to carry out ardent spirits as +merchandise beyond one-tenth of the quantity as would, but for this +restriction, be allowed by the officers of the customs upon the +victualling bill of such ship for the outward voyage only, according to +the number of passengers. + +[An important restriction, which ought to be enforced to the letter of +the law. The strong temptation which the tedium of a voyage presents to +numbers pinned up in a small space to resort to drinking, has frequently +made sad havoc of the money, comfort, and health of emigrants, when, +especially, the ship steward has contrived to lay in a good stock of +strong waters.] + +In the enumeration of passengers, _two_ children above seven, but under +fourteen, or _three_ under seven years of age, are to be reckoned as one +passenger. Infants under 12 months are not to be included in the +enumeration. + +Passengers are entitled to be maintained on board for 48 hours after the +ship has arrived at her destination. [Emigrants whose means are limited +may thus avoid much inconvenience and expense, by planning and executing +with promptitude the route which they mean to take, instead of landing, +and loitering in the expensive houses of entertainment of a sea-port.] + +Masters of ships are to enter into bonds of 1,000 pounds for the due +performance of the provisions of the Act. The penalty on any infraction +of the law is to be not less than 5 pounds, nor more than 20 pounds for +each offence. + +[The government emigration agents at the various ports, or the officers +of customs, will doubtless give every facility to passengers who seek +their advice relative to any violation of the provisions of the Act, and +point out the proper course to be taken.] + +If there be any doubt that a ship about to sail is not sea-worthy, the +collector and comptroller of the customs may cause the vessel to be +surveyed. Passengers detained beyond the time contracted for to sail, +are to be maintained at the expense of the master of the ship; or, if +they have contracted to victual themselves, they are to be paid 1 +shilling each for each day of detention not caused by stress of weather +or other unavoidable cause. + +======================================= + +IV. TRANSFER OF CAPITAL. + +It is, of course, of the greatest importance to emigrants that whatever +capital they may possess, over the necessary expenses of the voyage, +&c., should be remitted to Canada in the _safest_ and most _profitable_ +manner. Both the British American Land Company and the Canada Company +afford facilities to emigrants, by receiving deposits and granting +letters of credit on their agents in Canada, by which the emigrants +obtain the benefit of the current premium of exchange. It is unsafe and +injudicious to carry out a larger amount of specie than what will defray +the necessary expenses of the voyage, because a double risk is +incurred,--the danger of losing, and the temptation of squandering. The +emigrant, therefore, who does not choose to remit his money through +either of the before-mentioned companies, should procure a letter of +credit from some respectable bank in the United Kingdom on the Montreal +bank. + +======================================= + +V. CANADIAN CURRENCY. + +In all the British North American colonies accounts are kept and prices +are quoted in pounds, shillings, and pence, as in England. The accounts +are contra-distinguished by calling the former currency, or Halifax +currency, and the latter sterling or British sterling. + +The one pound Halifax currency, or currency, as it is more commonly +called, consists of four Spanish dollars. The dollar is divided into +five parts--called in Spanish pistoreens--each of which is termed a +shilling. Each of these shillings or pistoreens is again subdivided into +twelve parts, called pence, but improperly, for there is no coin +answering to any such subdivision. To meet the want a great variety of +copper coins are used, comprising the old English halfpenny, the +halfpenny of later coinage, the penny, the farthing, the American cent.; +all and each pass as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen or colonial +shilling. Pence in fact are not known, though almost anything of the +copper kind will be taken as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen.* + + +[* The Americans also have their 1 shilling, which is the eighth part of +a dollar, or 12-1/2 cents. It is no uncommon thing to hear the emigrant +boast that he can get 10 shillings per day in New York. He knows not +that a dollar, which is equal to eight of these shillings, is in England +equivalent but to 4 shillings 2 pence, and that the American shilling +is, therefore, when compared with the English shilling in value, only +6-1/4 pence, and consequently, that 10 shillings a day is, in fact, but +ten 6-1/4 pence or 5 shillings 2-1/2 pence. This rate of payment it may +be said is still great; so it is, but it is not often obtained by the +labourer; when it is, it is for excessive labour, under a burning sun in +sea-port towns, during the busy shipping season.] + +At a time when the Spanish dollar, the piece of eight, as it was then +called, was both finer and heavier than the coin now in circulation, its +value at the mint price of silver** was found to be 4 shilling 6 pence +sterling. Accordingly, the pound currency was fixed at 18 shillings +sterling, and 90 pounds sterling was equal to 100 pounds currency, the +rules of conversion being, _add one-ninth to sterling to obtain +currency, and deduct one tenth from currency to find the sterling_. This +was called the par of exchange, and was so then. So long as it continued +correct, fluctuations were from a trifle above, to a trifle below par, +and this fluctuation was a real _premium_ or _discount_, governed by the +cost of the transportation of bullion from the one to the other side of +the Atlantic, an expense which now does not exceed, and rarely equals, 2 +per cent. 4 shilling 6 pence has long ceased to be the value of the +dollar. Both the weight and purity of the coin have been reduced, until +its value in the London market*** is not more than 4 shillings 2 pence, +the pound currency being consequently reduced to 16 shillings 8 pence +sterling and 100 pounds sterling become equivalent to 120 pounds +currency, or 480 dollars, the common average rate now given for the 100 +pounds sterling bill of exchange in England. + +[** The mint price then coincided more nearly with the market price than +at present.] + +[*** It is necessary to use the market price, as the difference between +the mint and the market price is 4 per cent., and as the Spanish dollar +possesses no conventional value, it is only worth what it will bring as +an article of traffic.] + +The Government, however, still sanction, nay, will not change, the old +language, so that the difference is made up by adding what is commonly +termed a _premium_. The difference between the _real_ par, 4 shillings +2 pence, and the nominal par, 4 shillings 6 pence, is 4 pence or eight per +cent. Thus the fluctuations, instead of being from 1 to 2 per cent. +below, to 1 or 2 per cent. above the _real_ par, are from 1 to 2 per +cent. below, to 1 to 2 per cent. above 8 per cent. _premium_ as it is +called on the _nominal_ par, or from 6 or 7 to 9 or 10 per cent. +_premium_ on the par. This leads to gross deception, and the emigrant in +consequence is not unfrequently outrageously cheated by parties +accounting to him for money obtained by sale of bills, minus this or +some portion of this nominal premium. Nothing is more common than to +hear the new comer boast that he has sold his bill on England for 8 per +cent. premium, while in fact he has not received _par_ value. As by the +above changes 100 pounds sterling is shewn to be equal to 120 currency, +or 480 dollars, the rule of conversion, in the absence of a law, where +no understanding to the contrary existed, should be, _add one-fifth to +sterling money, and currency is obtained, or deduct one-sixth from +currency, and sterling is found._ An examination of the exchanges for +ten years has proved this to be correct. + +======================================= + +VI. THE CANADA COMPANY. + +The Canada Company was incorporated by royal charter and Act of +Parliament in 1826. The following are extracts from the prospectus of +the Company:-- + +"The Canada Company have lands for sale in almost every part of the +province of Upper Canada, on terms which cannot fail to be highly +advantageous to the emigrant, as from the Company requiring only one- +fifth of the purchase-money to be paid in cash, and allowing the +remainder to be divided into five annual payments, bearing interest, the +settler, if industrious, is enabled to pay the balance from the produce +of the land. + +"The lands of the Canada Company are of three descriptions, viz.-- + +Scattered reserves: +Blocks or tracts of land, of from 1,000 to 40,000 acres each; +The Huron tract, containing upwards of 1,000,000 acres. + +"_Scattered reserves_. The scattered crown reserves are lots of land of +from 100 to 200 acres each, distributed through nearly every township in +the province, and partaking of the soil, climate, &c., of each +particular township. These lands are especially desirable for persons +who may have friends settled in their neighbourhood, and can be obtained +at prices varying from 8 shillings 9 pence to 25 shillings currency an +acre. + +"_Blocks of Land._ The blocks or tracts lie entirely in that part of the +province situated to the westward of the head of Lake Ontario, and +contain lands which, for soil, climate, and powers of production, are +equal, and perhaps superior, to any on the continent of America. These +are worthy the attention of communities of emigrants, who from country, +relationship, religion, or any other bond, wish to settle together. + +"The largest block of this kind in the Company's possession is the +township of Guelph, containing upwards of 40,000 acres, of which the +greater part has been already sold, and, in the space of a few years +only, a town has been established, containing churches, schools, stores, +taverns, and mills, and where there are mechanics of every kind, and a +society of a highly respectable description. + +"_The Huron Territory_. This is a tract of the finest land in America, +through which the Canada Company have cut two roads of upwards of 100 +miles in extent, of the best description of which a new country admits. + +The population there is rapidly on the increase. + +"The town of Goderich, at the mouth of the river Maitland, on Lake +Huron, is very flourishing, and contains several excellent stores, or +merchants' shops, in which any article usually required by a settler is +to be obtained on reasonable terms. There is a good school established, +which is well attended; a Church of England and a Presbyterian clergyman +are appointed there; and as the churches in Upper Canada are now +principally supported by the voluntary subscriptions of their respective +congregations, an inference may be drawn of the respectable character of +the inhabitants of this settlement and the neighbourhood. The town and +township of Goderich contain about 1,000 inhabitants; and since the +steam-boat, built by the Company for the accommodation of their +settlers, has commenced running between Goderich and Sandwich, a great +increase has taken place in the trade and prosperity of the settlement. +In this tract there are four good saw-mills, three grist-mills, and in +the neighbourhood of each will be found stores well supplied. And as the +tract contains a million acres, the greater portion of which is open for +sale, an emigrant or body of emigrants, however large, can have no +difficulty in selecting eligible situations, according to their +circumstances, however various they may be. The price of these lands is +from 11 shillings 3 pence to 15 shillings provincial currency, or about +from 11 shillings to 13 shillings 6 pence sterling per acre." + +Emigrants wishing to communicate with the Company should address the +secretary, John Perry Esq., St. Helen's-place, Bishopsgate-street, +London, or the Company's agents at outports. + +======================================= + +VII. THE BRITISH AMERICAN LAND COMPANY. + +The British American Land Company state, in their prospectus, that they +have purchased from the British Government "nearly 1,000,000 of acres in +the counties of Shefford, Stanstead, and Sherbrooke," in what are termed +"the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada." These townships comprise "a +tract of country, lying inland, on the south side of the St. Lawrence, +between 45 degrees and 46-1/2 degrees north latitude, and 71 degrees and +73 degrees west longitude. This tract, containing between five and six +millions of acres, is divided into eight counties, and these again are +subdivided into about one hundred townships. These townships enjoy an +important advantage in their geographical position. On the one side, +they are of easy access from Montreal, Quebec, and Three Rivers, the +shipping ports and great markets of the Canadas; on the other, from New +York up the Hudson River and through Lake Champlain, as well as from +Boston and other parts on the seaboard of the Atlantic. By their compact +and contiguous position, facility of intercourse and mutual support are +ensured throughout the whole, as well as a general participation in all +local improvements." + +The terms on which the Company propose to dispose of these lands "vary +according to the situation, quality, and advantages which the different +lots may possess; but in the first instance they will generally range +from 4 shillings to 10 shillings currency per acre, and in all cases a +deposit of part of the purchase-money will be required, viz.:--On the +higher priced lots one-fifth; on the lower priced lots one-fourth. + +"The terms of payment for the balance will be six annual instalments, +bearing the legal interest of the province from the date of sale; but +should purchasers prefer anticipating the payments, they will have the +option at any time of doing so. + +"The price of a building lot at Port St. Francis, for the present season +(1835), is 12 pounds 10 shillings, payable 5 pounds cash down, and the +balance in one year, with interest. + +"Deposits of purchase-money may be made with the Company in London for +lands to be selected by emigrants on their arrival in the country. + +"By the agreement between his Majesty's Government and the Company, +upwards of 50,000 pounds of the purchase-money paid by the latter are to +be expended by them in public works and improvements, such as high +roads, bridges, canals, school-houses, market-houses, churches, and +parsonage-houses. This is an extremely important arrangement, and must +prove highly beneficial to settlers, as it assures to them the +improvement and advancement of this district. The formation of roads and +other easy communications are the great wants of a new country; and the +application of capital on works of this nature, which are beyond the +means of private individuals, is the best mode by which the successful +settlement may be promoted and accomplished. + +"The expenditure of the large sum above mentioned, will offer at the +same time an opportunity of employment to honest and industrious +labourers, immediately on arrival." + +The office of the British American Land Company is at 4, Barge-yard, +Bucklersbury, London: they have also agents at the various outports. + + +======================================= + + +Transcription note: Except for the tables in the Appendix, which have +been reformatted to accommodate the presentation of tables in plain text, +this transcription attempts to faithfully reproduce the text and +punctuation found in the 1836 printed version of the book. As a +consequence, numerous instances of spelling and punctuation may appear +incorrect by current standards. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Traill + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13559 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..520eb58 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13559 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13559) diff --git a/old/13559.txt b/old/13559.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b42015 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13559.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9746 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Traill + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Backwoods of Canada + Being Letters From The Wife Of An Emigrant Officer, Illustrative Of + The Domestic Economy Of British America + + +Author: Catharine Parr Traill + +Release Date: September 30, 2004 [EBook #13559] +[Last updated: August 4, 2013] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS OF CANADA *** + + + + +Produced by E.D. (Tedd) Brien + + + + +B A C K W O O D S O F C A N A D A +===================================== + + +UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR +THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL INFORMATION + +THE LIBRARY +OF +ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE + +BACKWOODS OF CANADA. + +-------- + + +THE LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE + +THE + +BACKWOODS OF CANADA + +BEING + +LETTERS FROM THE WIFE OF AN + +EMIGRANT OFFICER, + +ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF BRITISH AMERICA. + +[Catharine Parr Traill] + +LONDON: +CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE STREET. + +MDCCCXXXVI. + +-------- + +LONDON: +PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, +14, CHARING CROSS. + +-------- + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION + +LETTER I.--Departure from Greenock in the Brig _Laurel_.--Fitting up of +the Vessel.--Boy Passenger.--Sea Prospect.--Want of Occupation and +Amusement.--Captain's Goldfinch + +LETTER II.--Arrival off Newfoundland.--Singing of the Captain's +Goldfinch previous to discovery of Land.--Gulf of St. Laurence.--Scenery +of the River St. Laurence.--Difficult navigation of the River.--French +Fisherman engaged as Pilot.--Isle of Bic.--Green Island.--Regular Pilot +engaged.--Scenery of Green Island.--Gros Isle.--Quarantine Regulations. +--Emigrants on Gros Isle.--Arrival off Quebec.--Prospect of the City and +Environs + +LETTER III.--Departure from Quebec.--Towed by a Steam-vessel.--Fertility +of the Country.--Different Objects seen in sailing up the River.--Arrival +off Montreal.--The Rapids + +LETTER IV.--Landing at Montreal.--Appearance of the Town.--Ravages of +the Cholera.--Charitable Institutions in Montreal.--Conversation at the +Hotel.--Writer attacked with the Cholera.--Departure from Montreal in a +Stage-coach.--Embark at Lachine on board a Steam-vessel. Mode of +travelling alternately in Steam-vessels and Stages.--Appearance of the +Country.--Manufactures.--Ovens at a distance from the Cottages.--Draw- +wells.--Arrival at Cornwall.--Accommodation at the Inn.--Departure from +Cornwall, and Arrival at Prescott.--Arrival at Brockville.--Ship-launch +there.--Voyage through Lake Ontario.--Arrival at Cobourg + +LETTER V.--Journey from Cobourg to Amherst.--Difficulties to be +encountered on first settling in the Backwoods.--Appearance of the +Country.--Rice Lake.--Indian Habits.--Voyage up the Otanabee.--Log- +house, and its Inmates.--Passage boat.--Journey on foot to Peterborough + +LETTER VI.--Peterborough.--Manners and Language of the Americans.-- +Scotch Engineman.--Description of Peterborough and its Environs.-- +Canadian Flowers.--Shanties.--Hardships suffered by first Settlers.-- +Process of establishing a Farm + +LETTER VII.--Journey from Peterborough.--Canadian Woods.--Waggon and +Team.--Arrival at a Log-house on the Banks of a Lake.--Settlement, and +first Occupations + +LETTER VIII.--Inconveniences of first Settlement.--Difficulty of +obtaining Provisions and other necessaries.--Snow-storm and Hurricane.-- +Indian Summer, and setting-in of Winter.--Process of clearing the Land + +LETTER IX.--Loss of a yoke of Oxen.--Construction of a Log-house.-- +Glaziers' and Carpenters' work.--Description of a new Log-house.--Wild +Fruits of the Country.--Walks on the Ice.--Situation of the House.--Lake +and surrounding Scenery + +LETTER X.--Variations in the Temperature of the Weather.--Electrical +Phenomenon.--Canadian Winter.--Country deficient in Poetical +Associations.--Sugar-making.--Fishing season.--Mode of Fishing.--Duck- +shooting.--Family of Indians.--_Papouses_ and their Cradle-cases.-- +Indian Manufactures.--Frogs + +LETTER XI.--Emigrants suitable for Canada.--Qualities requisite to +ensure Success.--Investment of Capital.--Useful Articles to be brought +out.--Qualifications and Occupations of a Settler's Family.--Deficiency +of Patience and Energy in some Females.--Management of the Dairy.-- +Cheese.--Indian Corn, and its Cultivation.--Potatoes.--Rates of Wages + +LETTER XII.--"A Logging Bee."--Burning of the Log-heaps.--Crops for the +Season.--Farming Stock.--Comparative Value of Wheat and Labour.--Choice +of Land, and relative Advantages.--Clearing Land.--Hurricane in the +Woods.--Variable Weather.--Insects + +LETTER XIII.--Health enjoyed in the rigour of Winter.--Inconvenience +suffered from the brightness of the Snow.--Sleighing.--Indian +Orthography.--Visit to an Indian Encampment.--Story of an Indian.--An +Indian Hunchback.--Canadian Ornithology + +LETTER XIV.--Utility of Botanical Knowledge.--The Fire-Weed.-- +Sarsaparilla Plants.--Magnificent Water Lily.--Rice Beds.--Indian +Strawberry.--Scarlet Columbine.--Ferns.--Grasses + +LETTER XV.--Recapitulation of various Topics.--Progress of Settlement.-- +Canada, the Land of Hope.--Visit to the Family of a Naval Officer.-- +Squirrels.--Visit to, and Story of, an Emigrant Clergyman.--His early +Difficulties.--The Temper, Disposition, and Habits of Emigrants +essential Ingredients in Failure or Success + +LETTER XVI.--Indian Hunters.--Sail in a Canoe.--Want of Libraries in the +Backwoods.--New Village.--Progress of Improvement.--Fire flies + +LETTER XVII.--Ague.--Illness of the Family.--Probable Cause.--Root- +house.--Setting-in of Winter.--Insect termed a "Sawyer."--Temporary +Church + +LETTER XVIII.--Busy Spring.--Increase of Society and Comfort.-- +Recollections of Home.--Aurora Borealis + +APPENDIX + +--- + +ILLUSTRATIONS. +1. Falls of Montmorenci +2. Rice Grounds +3. Sleigh-driving +4. Silver Pine +5. Spruce +6. Log-house +7. Log-village.--Arrival of Stage-coach +8. Road through a Pine Forest +9. Newly-cleared Land +10. Chart showing the Interior Navigation of the Districts of Newcastle +and Upper Canada +11. Papouses +12. Green Frogs +13. Bull-frog +14. The Prairie +15. Red-bird +16. Blue-bird +17. Snow-Bunting +18. Baltimore Oriole defending her Nest against the Black Snake +19. Red Squirrels +20. Flying Squirrel + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +AMONG the numerous works on Canada that have been published within the +last ten years, with emigration for their leading theme, there are few, +if any, that give information regarding the domestic economy of a +settler's life, sufficiently minute to prove a faithful guide to the +person on whose responsibility the whole comfort of a family depends-- +the mistress, whose department it is "to haud the house in order." + +Dr. Dunlop, it is true, has published a witty and spirited pamphlet, +"The Backwoodsman," but it does not enter into the routine of feminine +duties and employment, in a state of emigration. Indeed, a woman's pen +alone can describe half that is requisite to be told of the internal +management of a domicile in the backwoods, in order to enable the +outcoming female emigrant to form a proper judgment of the trials and +arduous duties she has to encounter. + +"Forewarned, forearmed," is a maxim of our forefathers, containing much +matter in its pithy brevity; and, following its spirit, the writer of +the following pages has endeavoured to afford every possible information +to the wives and daughters of emigrants of the higher class who +contemplate seeking a home amid our Canadian wilds. [Illustration: +Peter, the Chief] Truth has been conscientiously her object in the work, +for it were cruel to write in flattering terms calculated to deceive +emigrants into the belief that the land to which they are transferring +their families, their capital, and their hopes, a land flowing with milk +and honey, where comforts and affluence may be obtained with little +exertion. She prefers honestly representing facts in their real and true +light, that the female part of the emigrant's family may be enabled to +look them firmly in the face; to find a remedy in female ingenuity and +expediency for some difficulties; and, by being properly prepared, +encounter the rest with that high-spirited cheerfulness of which well- +educated females often give extraordinary proofs. She likewise wishes to +teach them to discard every thing exclusively pertaining to the +artificial refinement of fashionable life in England; and to point out +that, by devoting the money consumed in these incumbrances to articles +of real use, which cannot be readily obtained in Canada, they may enjoy +the pleasure of superintending a pleasant, well-ordered home. She is +desirous of giving them the advantage of her three years' experience, +that they may properly apply every part of their time, and learn to +consider that every pound or pound's worth belonging to any member of an +out-coming emigrant's family, ought to be sacredly considered as +_capital_, which must make proper returns either as the means of +bringing increase in the shape of income, or, what is still better, in +healthful domestic comfort. + +These exhalations in behalf of utility in preference to artificial +personal refinement, are not so needless as the English public may +consider. The emigrants to British America are no longer of the rank of +life that formerly left the shores of the British Isles. It is not only +the poor husbandmen and artisans, that move in vast bodies to the west, +but it is the enterprising English capitalist, and the once affluent +landholder, alarmed at the difficulties of establishing numerous +families in independence, in a country where every profession is +overstocked, that join the bands that Great Britain is pouring forth +into these colonies! Of what vital importance is it that the female +members of these most valuable colonists should obtain proper +information regarding the important duties they are undertaking; that +they should learn beforehand to brace their minds to the task, and thus +avoid the repinings and discontent that is apt to follow unfounded +expectations and fallacious hopes! + +It is a fact not universally known to the public, that British officers +and their families are usually denizens of the backwoods; and as great +numbers of unattached officers of every rank have accepted grants of +land in Canada, they are the pioneers of civilization in the wilderness, +and their families, often of delicate nurture and honourable descent, +are at once plunged into all the hardships attendant on the rough life +of a bush-settler. The laws that regulate the grants of lands, which +enforce a certain time of residence, and certain settlement duties to be +performed, allow no claims to absentees when once the land is drawn. +These laws wisely force a superiorly-educated man with resources of both +property and intellect, to devote all his energies to a certain spot of +uncleared land. It may easily be supposed that no persons would +encounter these hardships who have not a young family to establish in +the healthful ways of independence. This family renders the residence of +such a head still more valuable to the colony; and the half-pay officer, +by thus leading the advanced guard of civilization, and bringing into +these rough districts gentle and well-educated females, who soften and +improve all around them by _mental_ refinements, is serving his country +as much by founding peaceful villages and pleasant homesteads in the +trackless wilds, as ever he did by personal courage, or military +stratagem, in times of war. + +It will be seen, in the course of this work, that the writer is as +earnest in recommending ladies who belong to the higher class of +settlers to cultivate all the mental resources of a superior education, +as she is to induce them to discard all irrational and artificial wants +and mere useless pursuits. She would willingly direct their attention to +the natural history and botany of this new country, in which they will +find a never-failing source of amusement and instruction, at once +enlightening and elevating the mind, and serving to fill up the void +left by the absence of those lighter feminine accomplishments, the +practice of which are necessarily superseded by imperative domestic +duties. To the person who is capable of looking abroad into the beauties +of nature, and adoring the Creator through his glorious works, are +opened stores of unmixed pleasure, which will not permit her to be dull +or unhappy in the loneliest part of our Western Wilderness. The writer +of these pages speaks from experience, and would be pleased to find that +the simple sources from which she has herself drawn pleasure, have +cheered the solitude of future female sojourners in the backwoods of +Canada. + +As a general remark to all sorts and conditions of settlers, she would +observe, that the struggle up the hill of Independence is often a severe +one, and it ought not to be made alone. It must be aided and encouraged +by the example and assistance of an active and cheerful partner. +Children should be taught to appreciate the devoted love that has +induced their parents to overcome the natural reluctance felt by all +persons to quit for ever the land of their forefathers, the scenes of +their earliest and happiest days, and to become aliens and wanderers in +a distant country,--to form new ties and new friends, and begin, as it +were, life's toilsome march anew, that their children may be placed in a +situation in which, by industry and activity, the substantial comforts +of life may be permanently obtained, and a landed property handed down +to them, and their children after them. + +Young men soon become reconciled to this country, which offers to them +that chief attraction to youth,--great personal liberty. Their +employments are of a cheerful and healthy nature; and their amusements, +such as hunting, shooting, fishing, and boating, are peculiarly +fascinating. But in none of these can their sisters share. The hardships +and difficulties of the settler's life, therefore, are felt peculiarly +by the female part of the family. It is with a view of ameliorating +these privations that the following pages have been written, to show how +some difficulties may be best borne and others avoided. The simple +truth, founded entirely on personal knowledge of the facts related, is +the basis of the work; to have had recourse to fiction might have +rendered it more acceptable to many readers, but would have made it less +useful to that class for whom it is especially intended. For those who, +without intending to share in the privations and dangers of an +emigrant's life, have a rational curiosity to become acquainted with +scenes and manners so different from those of a long-civilized county, +it is hoped that this little work will afford some amusement, and +inculcate some lessons not devoid of moral instruction. + + + + +LETTER I. + +Departure from Greenock in the Brig. _Laurel_.--Fitting-up of the +Vessel.--Boy Passenger.--Sea Prospect.--Want of Occupation and +Amusement.--Captain's Goldfinch. + +Brig. _Laurel_, July 18, 1832 + +I RECEIVED your last kind letter, my dearest mother, only a few hours +before we set sail from Greenock. As you express a wish that I should +give you a minute detail of our voyage, I shall take up my subject from +the time of our embarkation, and write as inclination prompts me. +Instead of having reason to complain of short letters, you will, I fear, +find mine only too prolix. + +After many delays and disappointments, we succeeded at last in obtaining +a passage in a fast-sailing brig, the _Laurel_, of Greenock; and +favourable winds are now rapidly carrying us across the Atlantic. + +The _Laurel_ is not a regular passenger-ship, which I consider an +advantage, for what we lose in amusement and variety we assuredly gain +in comfort. The cabin is neatly fitted up, and I enjoy the luxury (for +such it is, compared with the narrow berths of the state cabin) of a +handsome sofa, with crimson draperies, in the great cabin. The state +cabin is also ours. We paid fifteen pounds each for our passage to +Montreal. This was high, but it includes every expense; and, in fact, we +had no choice. The only vessel in the river bound for Canada, was a +passenger-ship, literally swarming with emigrants, chiefly of the lower +class of Highlanders. + +The only passengers besides ourselves in the _Laurel_ are the captain's +nephew, a pretty yellow-haired lad, about fifteen years of age, who +works his passage out, and a young gentleman who is going out as clerk +in a merchant's house in Quebec. He seems too much wrapped up in his own +affairs to be very communicative to others; he walks much, talks little, +and reads less, but often amuses himself by singing as he paces the +deck, "Home, sweet home," and that delightful song by Camoens, "Isle of +beauty." It is a sweet song, and I can easily imagine the charm it has +for a home-sick heart. + +I was much pleased with the scenery of the Clyde; the day we set sail +was a lovely one, and I remained on deck till nightfall. The morning +light found our vessel dashing gallantly along, with a favourable +breeze, through the north channel; that day we saw the last of the +Hebrides, and before night lost sight of the north coast of Ireland. A +wide expanse of water and sky is now our only prospect, unvaried by any +object save the distant and scarcely to be traced outline of some vessel +just seen at the verge of the horizon, a speck in the immensity of +space, or sometimes a few sea-fowl. I love to watch these wanderers of +the ocean, as they rise and fall with the rocking billows, or flit about +our vessel; and often I wonder whence they came, to what distant shore +they are bound, and if they make the rude wave their home and resting- +place during the long day and dark night; and then I recall to mind the +words of the American poet, Bryant,-- + + "He who from zone to zone + Guides through the boundless air their certain flight, + In the long way that I must tread alone + Wilt guide my steps aright." + +Though we have been little more than a week on board, I am getting weary +of the voyage. I can only compare the monotony of it to being weather- +bound in some country inn. I have already made myself acquainted with +all the books worth reading in the ship's library; unfortunately, it is +chiefly made up with old novels and musty romances. + +When the weather is fine I sit on a bench on the deck, wrapped in my +cloak, and sew, or pace the deck with my husband, and talk over plans +for the future, which in all probability will never be realized. I +really do pity men who are not actively employed: women have always +their needle as a resource against the overwhelming weariness of an idle +life; but where a man is confined to a small space, such as the deck and +cabin of a trading vessel, with nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing +to do, and nothing to read, he is really a very pitiable creature. + +There is one passenger on board that seems perfectly happy, if one may +judge from the liveliness of the songs with which he greets us whenever +we approach his cage. It is "Harry," the captain's goldfinch--"the +_captain's mate_," as the sailors term him. This pretty creature has +made no fewer than twelve voyages in the _Laurel_. "It is all one to him +whether his cage is at sea or on land, he is still at home," said the +captain, regarding his little favourite with an air of great affection, +and evidently gratified by the attention I bestowed on his bird. + +I have already formed a friendship with the little captive. He never +fails to greet my approach with one of his sweetest songs, and will take +from my fingers a bit of biscuit, which he holds in his claws till he +has thanked me with a few of his clearest notes. This mark of +acknowledgment is termed by the steward, "saying-grace." + +If the wind still continues to favour us, the captain tells us we shall +be on the banks of Newfoundland in another week. Farewell for the +present. + + + + +LETTER II + +Arrival off Newfoundland.--Singing of the Captain's Goldfinch previous +to the discovery of Land.--Gulf of St. Laurence.--Scenery of the River +St. Laurence.--Difficult navigation of the River.--French Fisherman +engaged as a Pilot.--Isle of Bic.--Green Island.--Gros Isle.--Quarantine +Regulations.--Emigrants on Gros Isle.--Arrival off Quebec.--Prospect of +the City and Environs. + +Brig _Laurel_, River St. Laurence. +August 6, 1832. + +I LEFT off writing, my dear mother, from this simple cause;--I had +nothing to say. One day was but the echo, as it were, of the one that +preceded it; so that a page copied from the mate's log would have proved +as amusing, and to the full as instructive, as my journal provided I had +kept one during the last fortnight. + +So barren of events has that time been that the sight of a party of +bottle-nosed whales, two or three seals, and a porpoise, possibly on +their way to a dinner or tea party at the North Pole, was considered an +occurrence of great importance. Every glass was in requisition as soon +as they made their appearance, and the marine monsters were well nigh +stared out of countenance. + +We came within sight of the shores of Newfoundland on the 5th of August, +just one month from the day we took our last look of the British isles. +Yet though the coast was brown, and rugged, and desolate, I hailed its +appearance with rapture. Never did any thing seem so refreshing and +delicious to me as the land breeze that came to us, as I thought, +bearing health and gladness on its wings. + +I had noticed with some curiosity the restless activity of the captain's +bird some hours previous to "land" being proclaimed from the look-out +station. He sang continually, and his note was longer, clearer, and more +thrilling than heretofore; the little creature, the captain assured me, +was conscious of the difference in the air as we approached the land. "I +trust almost as much to my bird as to my glass," he said, "and have +never yet been deceived." + +Our progress was somewhat tedious after we entered the gulf. Ninety +miles across is the entrance of this majestic river; it seems an ocean +in itself. Half our time is spent poring over the great chart in the +cabin, which is constantly being rolled and unrolled by my husband to +gratify my desire of learning the names of the distant shores and +islands which we pass. + +We are without a pilot as yet, and the captain being a cautious seaman +is unwilling to risk the vessel on this dangerous navigation; so that we +proceed but slowly on our voyage. + +August 7.--We were visited this morning by a beautiful little bird, not +much larger than our gold-crested wren. I hailed it as a bird of good +omen--a little messenger sent to bid us welcome to the New World, and I +felt almost a childish joy at the sight of our little visitor. There are +happy moments in our lives when we draw the greatest pleasure from the +most trifling sources, as children are pleased with the most simple toy. + +From the hour we entered the gulf a perceptible change had taken place +in all on board. The captain, a man of grave, quiet manners, grew quite +talkative. My husband was more than usually animated, and even the +thoughtful young Scotchman became positively an entertaining person. The +crew displayed the most lively zeal in the performance of their duty, +and the goldfinch sung cheerily from dawn till sunset. As for me Hope +was busy in my heart, chasing from it all feelings of doubt or regret +that might sadden the present or cloud the future. + +I am now able to trace distinctly the outline of the coast on the +southern side of the river. Sometimes the high lands are suddenly +enveloped in dense clouds of mist, which are in constant motion, rolling +along in shadowy billows, now tinted with rosy light, now white and +fleecy, or bright as silver, as they catch the sunbeams. So rapid are +the changes that take place in the fog-bank, that perhaps the next time +I raise my eyes I behold the scene changed as if by magic. The misty +curtain is slowly drawn up, as if by invisible hands, and the wild, +wooded mountains partially revealed, with their bold rocky shores and +sweeping bays. At other times the vapoury volume dividing, moves along +the valleys and deep ravines, like lofty pillars of smoke, or hangs in +snowy draperies among the dark forest pines. + +I am never weary of watching these fantastic clouds; they recall to me +the pleasant time I spent in the Highlands, among the cloud-capped hills +of the north. + +As yet, the air is cold, and we experience frequent squalls of wind and +hail, with occasional peals of thunder; then again all is serene and +bright, and the air is filled with fragrance, and flies, and bees, and +birds come flitting past us from the shore. + + +August 8.--Though I cannot but dwell with feelings of wonder and +admiration on the majesty and power of this mighty river, I begin to +grow weary of its immensity, and long for a nearer view of the shore; +but at present we see nothing more than long lines of pine-clad hills, +with here and there a white speck, which they tell me are settlements +and villages to the south; while huge mountains divested of verdure +bound our view on the north side the river. My admiration of mountainous +scenery makes me dwell with more interest on this side the river, and I +watch the progress of cultivation along these rugged and inhospitable +regions with positive pleasure. + +During the last two days we have been anxiously looking out for a pilot +to take us up to Quebec. Various signals have been fired, but hitherto +without success; no pilot has condescended to visit us, so we are +somewhat in the condition of a stage without a coachman, with only some +inexperienced hand to hold the reins. I already perceive some +manifestations of impatience appearing among us, but no one blames the +captain, who is very anxious about the matter; as the river is full of +rocks and shoals, and presents many difficulties to a person not +intimately acquainted with the navigation. Besides, he is answerable for +the safety of the ship to the underwriters, in case he neglects to take +a pilot on board. + +* * * * * * * + +While writing above I was roused by a bustle on deck, and going up to +learn the cause was informed that a boat with the long looked-for pilot +had put off from the shore; but, after all the fuss and bustle, it +proved only a French fisherman, with a poor ragged lad, his assistant. +The captain with very little difficulty persuaded Monsieur Paul Breton +to pilot us as far as Green Island, a distance of some hundred miles +higher up the river, where he assured us we should meet with a regular +pilot, if not before. + +I have some little difficulty in understanding Monsieur Paul, as he +speaks a peculiar dialect; but he seems good-natured and obliging +enough. He tells us the corn is yet green, hardly in ear, and the summer +fruits not yet ripe, but he says, that at Quebec we shall find apples +and fruit in plenty. + +As we advance higher up the river the country on both sides begins to +assume a more genial aspect. Patches of verdure, with white cottages, +are seen on the shores and scattered along the sides of the mountains; +while here and there a village church rears its simple spire, +distinguished above the surroundings buildings by its glittering vane +and bright roof of tin. The southern shores are more populous but less +picturesque than those of the north, but there is enough on either side +to delight the eye. + +This morning we anchored off the Isle of Bic, a pretty low island, +covered with trees and looking very pleasant. I felt a longing desire to +set my foot on Canadian ground, and must own I was a little disappointed +when the captain advised me to remain on board, and not attempt to make +one of the party that were preparing to go on shore: my husband seconded +the captain's wish, so I contented myself with leaning over the ship's +side and feasting my eyes on the rich masses of foliage as they waved to +and fro with the slight breeze that agitated them. I had soon reason to +be thankful that I had not followed my own wayward will, for the +afternoon proved foggy, and on the return of the boat I learned that the +ground was swampy just where the party landed, and they sunk over their +ankles in water. They reported the island to be covered knee-deep with a +most luxuriant growth of red clover, tall trees, low shrubs, and an +abundance of wild flowers. + +That I might not regret not accompanying him, my husband brought me a +delightful bouquet, which he had selected for me. Among the flowers were +fragrant red roses, resembling those we call Scotch burnet-leaved, with +smooth shining leaves and few if any thorns; the blue flower called +Pulmonaria or Lungwort, which I gathered in the Highlands, a sweet pea, +with red blossoms and wreaths of lovely pale green foliage; a white +orchis, the smell of which was quite delicious. Besides these were +several small white and yellow flowers, with which I was totally +unacquainted. The steward furnished me with a china jar and fresh water, +so that I shall have the pleasure of a nosegay during the rest of the +voyage. The sailors had not forgotten a green bough or two to adorn the +ship, and the bird-cage was soon as bowery as leaves could make it. + +Though the weather is now very fine, we make but slow progress; the +provoking wind seems determined to blow from every quarter but the +right. We float up with the flood tide, and when the tide fails cast +anchor, and wait with the best grace we can till it is time to weigh +anchor again. I amuse myself with examining the villages and settlements +through the captain's glass, or watching for the appearance of the white +porpoises tumbling among the waves. These creatures are of a milky +whiteness, and have nothing of the disgusting look of the black ones. +Sometimes a seal pops its droll head up close beside our vessel, looking +very much like Sinbad's little old man of the sea. + +It is fortunate for me that my love of natural history enables me to +draw amusement from objects that are deemed by many unworthy of +attention. To me they present an inexhaustible fund of interest. The +simplest weed that grows in my path, or the fly that flutters about me, +are subjects for reflection, admiration and delight. + +We are now within sight of Green Island. It is the largest, and I +believe one of the most populous we have passed. Every minute now seems +to increase the beauty of the passage. Far as the eye can reach you see +the shore thronged with villages and farms in one continuous line. On +the southern side all are gay and glittering with the tin roofs on the +most important buildings; the rest are shingles, whitewashed. This I do +not like so well as the plain shingled roofs; the whiteness of the roofs +of the cottages and homesteads have a glaring effect, and we look in +vain for that relief to the eye that is produced by the thatched or +slated roofs. The shingles in their natural state soon acquire the +appearance of slates, and can hardly be distinguished from them. What +would you say to a rose-coloured house, with a roof of the same gaudy +hue, the front of the gay edifice being garnished with grass green +shutters, doors, and verandah. No doubt the interior is furnished with +corresponding taste. There is generally one or more of these _smart_ +buildings in a Canadian village, standing forth with ostentatious +splendour above its more modest brethren. + +August 11.--Just below Green Island we took on board a real pilot, who, +by the way, I do not like half so well as Monsieur Paul. He is a little +bit pragmatical, and seems evidently proud of his superior knowledge of +the river. The good-natured fisherman relinquished his post with a very +good grace, and seems already excellent friends with his more able +rival. For my part I was very sorry when the new pilot came on board; +the first thing he did was to hand us over a pamphlet, containing +regulations from the Board of Health at Quebec respecting the cholera, +which is raging, he tells us, like a fearful plague both at that place +and Montreal. + +These regulations positively forbid the captain and the pilot to allow +any person, whether of the crew or passengers, to quit the vessel until +they shall have passed examination at the quarantine ground, under the +risk of incurring a severe penalty. + +This was very annoying; as the captain, that very morning, had proposed +taking us on shore at a lovely spot called Crane Island, to spend the +afternoon, while we waited for the return of the tide, at the house of a +Scotch gentleman, the owner of the prettiest settlement I had yet seen, +the buildings and grounds being laid out with great taste. + +The situation of this island is of itself very beautiful. Around it are +the waters of the St. Laurence, bearing on its mighty current the +commerce of several nations: in the foreground are the populous and +lively settlements of the southern shores, while behind and far, far +above it rise the lofty range of mountains to the north, now studded +with rural villages, pleasant farms, and cultivated fields. The island +itself showed us smooth lawns and meadows of emerald verdure, with +orchards and corn-fields sloping down to the water's edge. After a +confinement of nearly five weeks on board, you may easily suppose with +what satisfaction we contemplated the prospect of spending a few hours +on this inviting spot. + +We expect to reach the quarantine ground (Gros Isle) this evening, where +the pilot says we shall be detained three days. Though we are all in +good health, yet, having sailed from an infected port, we shall be +detained on the quarantine ground, but not allowed to land. + +August 12.--We reached Gros Isle yesterday evening. It is a beautiful +rocky island, covered with groves of beech, birch, ash, and fir-trees. +There are several vessels lying at anchor close to the shore; one bears +the melancholy symbol of disease, the yellow flag; she is a passenger- +ship, and has the smallpox and measles among her crew. When any +infectious complaint appears on board, the yellow flag is hoisted, and +the invalids conveyed to the cholera-hospital or wooden building, that +has been erected on a rising bank above the shore. It is surrounded with +palisadoes and a guard of soldiers. + +There is also a temporary fort at some distance from the hospital, +containing a garrison of soldiers, who are there to enforce the +quarantine rules. These rules are considered as very defective, and in +some respects quite absurd, and are productive of many severe evils to +the unfortunate emigrants. + +When the passengers and crew of a vessel do not exceed a certain number, +they are not allowed to land under a penalty, both to the captain and +the offender; but if, on the contrary, they should exceed the stated +number, ill or well, passengers and crew must all turn out and go on +shore, taking with them their bedding and clothes, which are all spread +out on the shore, to be washed, aired, and fumigated, giving the healthy +every chance of taking the infection from the invalids. The sheds and +buildings put up for the accommodation of those who are obliged to +submit to the quarantine laws, are in the same area as the hospital. + +[* It is to be hoped that some steps will be taken by Government to +remedy these obnoxious laws which have repeatedly entailed those very +evils on the unhappy emigrants that the Board of Health wish to avert +from the colony at large. + +Many valuable lives have been wantonly sacrificed by placing the healthy +in the immediate vicinity of infection, besides subjecting them to many +other sufferings, expenses, and inconvenience, which the poor exile +might well be spared. + +If there must be quarantine laws--and I suppose the evil is a necessary +one--surely every care ought to be taken to render them as little +hurtful to the emigrant as possible.] + +Nothing can exceed the longing desire I feel to be allowed to land and +explore this picturesque island; the weather is so fine, and the waving +groves of green, the little rocky bays and inlets of the island, appear +so tempting; but to all my entreaties the visiting surgeon who came on +board returned a decided negative. + +A few hours after his visit, however, an Indian basket, containing +strawberries and raspberries, with a large bunch of wild flowers, was +sent on board for me, with the surgeon's compliments. + +I amuse myself with making little sketches of the fort and the +surrounding scenery, or watching the groups of emigrants on shore. We +have already seen the landing of the passengers of three emigrant ships. +You may imagine yourself looking on a fair or crowded market, clothes +waving in the wind or spread out on the earth, chests, bundles, baskets, +men, women, and children, asleep or basking in the sun, some in motion +busied with their goods, the women employed in washing or cooking in the +open air, beside the wood fires on the beach; while parties of children +are pursuing each other in wanton glee rejoicing in their newly-acquired +liberty. Mixed with these you see the stately form and gay trappings of +the sentinels, while the thin blue smoke of the wood fires, rising above +the trees, heightens the picture and gives it an additional effect. On +my husband remarking the picturesque appearance of scene before us to +one of the officers from the fort who had come on board, he smiled +sadly, and replied, "Believe me, in this instance, as in many others, +'tis distance lends enchantment to the view." Could you take a nearer +survey of some of those very picturesque groups which you admire, I +think you would turn away from them with heart sickness; you would there +behold every variety of disease, vice, poverty, filth, and famine--human +misery in its most disgusting and saddening form. Such pictures as +Hogarth's pencil only could have pourtrayed, or Crabbe's pen described. + +August 14.--We are once more under weigh, and floating up the river with +the tide. Gros Isle is just five and twenty miles below Quebec, a +favourable breeze would carry us up in a few hours; as it is we can only +make a little way by tacking from side to side when we lose the tide. I +rather enjoy this way of proceeding, as it gives one a close view of +both sides the river, which narrows considerably as we approach nearer +towards Quebec. To-morrow, if no accident happens, we shall be anchored +in front of a place rendered interesting both by its historical +associations and its own native beauty of situation. Till to-morrow, +then, adieu. + +I was reckoning much on seeing the falls of Montmorenci, which are +within sight of the river; but the sun set, and the stars rose +brilliantly before we approached within sound of the cataract; and +though I strained my eyes till they were weary of gazing on the dim +shadowy scene around me, I could distinguish nothing beyond the dark +masses of rock that forms the channel through which the waters of the +Montmorenci rush into the St. Laurence. + +At ten last night, August the 15th, the lights of the city of Quebec +were seen gleaming through the distance like a coronet of stars above +the waters. At half-past ten we dropped anchor opposite the fort, and I +fell asleep dreaming of the various scenes through which I had passed. +Again I was destined to be disappointed in my expectations of going on +shore. The visiting surgeon advised my husband and me by no means to +land, as the mortality that still raged in the town made it very +hazardous. He gave a melancholy description of the place. "Desolation +and woe and great mourning--Rachel weeping for her children because they +are not," are words that may well be applied to this city of the +pestilence. + +[Illustration - Falls of Montmorenci] + +Nothing can be more imposing than the situation of Quebec, built on the +sides and summit of a magnificent rock, on the highest point of which +(Cape Diamond) stands the fortress overlooking the river, and commanding +a most superb view of the surrounding scenes. I did, indeed, regret the +loss of this noble prospect, the equal of which I suppose I shall never +see. It would have been something to have thought on and recalled in +after years, when buried in the solitude of the Canadian woods. + +The opposite heights, being the Point Levi side, are highly picturesque, +though less imposing than the rock on which the town stands. The bank is +rocky, precipitous, and clothed with trees that sweep down to the +water's edge, excepting where they are cleared away to give place to +white cottages, gardens, and hanging orchards. But, in my opinion, much +less is done with this romantic situation than might be effected if good +taste were exercised in the buildings, and on the disposal of the +ground. How lovely would such a spot be rendered in England or Scotland. +Nature here has done all, and man but little, excepting sticking up some +ugly wooden cottages, as mean as they are tasteless. It is, however, +very possible there may be pretty villas and houses higher up, that are +concealed from the eye by the intervening groves. + +The river is considered to be just a mile across from Point Levi to the +landing-stairs below the custom-house in Quebec; and it was a source of +amusement to me to watch the horse ferry-boats that ply between the two +shores. The captain told me there were not less than twelve of these +comical-looking machines. They each have their regular hours, so that +you see a constant succession going or returning. They carry a strange +assortment of passengers; well and ill-dressed; old and young; rich and +poor; cows, sheep, horses, pigs, dogs, fowls, market-baskets, +vegetables, fruit, hay, corn, anything and everything you will see by +turns. + +The boat is flat, railed round, with a wicker at each end to admit the +live and dead stock that go or are taken on board; the centre of the +boat (if such it can be called) is occupied by four lean, ill-favoured +hacks, who walk round and round, as if in a threshing machine, and work +the paddles at each side. There is a sort of pen for the cattle. + +I am told there is a monument erecting in honour of Wolfe, in the +governor's garden, looking towards the St. Laurence, and to be seen from +Point Levi: the inscription has not yet been decided upon*. +-------------------- +[* Since the period in which the author visited Quebec, Wolfe's monument +has been completed. Lord Dalhousie, with equal good feeling and good +taste, has united the names of the rival heroes Wolfe and Montcalm in +the dedication of the pillar--a liberality of feeling that cannot but +prove gratifying to the Canadian French, while it robs the British +warrior of none of his glory. + +The monument was designed by Major Young of the 97th Regiment. To the +top of the surbase is fourteen feet from the ground; on this rests a +sarcophagus, seven feet three inches high, from which rises an obelisk +forty-two feet eight inches in height, and the apex is two feet one +inch. The dimensions of the obelisk at the base are six feet by four +feet eight inches. A prize medal was adjudged to J.C. Fisher, LL.D. for +the following inscription on the sarcophagus:-- + +Mortem virtus communem +Famam Historia +Monumentum Posteritas +Dedit. + +On the surbase is an inscription from the pen of Dr. Mills, stating the +fact of the erection of the monument at the expense of Lord Dalhousie, +Governor of Lower Canada, to commemorate the death of Wolfe and +Montcalm, Sept. 13 and 14, 1759. Wolfe fell on the field; and Montcalm, +who was wounded by the single gun in the possession of the English, died +on the next day after the battle.] +-------------------- + +The captain has just returned from the town. He very kindly brought on +board a basket of ripe apples for me, besides fresh meat, vegetables, +bread, butter, and milk. The deck is all bustle with custom-house +officers, and men unloading a part of the ship's freight, which consists +chiefly of rum, brandy, sugar, and coals, for ballast. We are to leave +Quebec by five o'clock this evening. The _British America_, a superb +steam-vessel of three decks, takes us in tow as far as Montreal. I must +now say farewell. + + + + +LETTER III. + +Departure from Quebec.--Towed by a Steam-vessel.--Fertility of the +Country.--Different Objects seen in sailing up the River.--Arrival off +Montreal.--The Rapids. + +Brig _Laurel_, St. Laurence, below Montreal, +August 17, 1832 + +IT was after sunset, and a glorious evening, when we left Quebec, which +we did in company with a fine steam-vessel, whose decks and gallery were +crowded with passengers of all descriptions. A brave sight she was to +look upon; ploughing the bright waters which foamed and sung beneath her +paddles; while our brig, with her white sails, followed like a butterfly +in her wake. The heavens were glowing with the richest tints of rose and +saffron, which were reflected below on the bosom of the river; and then +came forth the stars, in the soft blue ether, more brilliant than ever I +saw them at home, and this, I suppose, I may attribute to the superior +purity of the atmosphere. My husband said this evening resembled the +sunsets of Italy. + +Our voyage has proved a very pleasant one; the weather moderately warm, +and the air quite clear. We have within the last few days emerged from a +cold, damp atmosphere, such as we often experience in Britain in the +spring, to a delightful summer, moderated by light breezes from the +river. + +The further we advance up the country the more fertile it appears. The +harvest is ripening under a more genial climate than that below Quebec. +We see fields of Indian corn in full flower: it is a stately-looking +crop, with its beautiful feathery top tinted with a rich purple hue, +below which tufts of pale green silk are waving in the breeze. When +fully ripe they tell me it is beautiful to see the golden grain bursting +from its silvery sheath; but that it is a crop liable to injury from +frost, and has many enemies, such as bears, racoons, squirrels, mice, +fowls, &c. + +We saw several fields of tobacco along the banks of the river, which +looked healthy and flourishing. I believe tobacco is cultivated to some +extent in both provinces; but the Canadian tobacco is not held in such +high esteem as that of Virginia. + +There is a flourishing and very pretty town situated at the junction of +the Richelieu river with the St. Laurence, formerly called Sorel, now +called Fort William Henry. The situation is excellent. There are several +churches, a military fort, with mills, and other public buildings, with +some fine stone houses. The land, however, in the immediate vicinity of +the town seems very light and sandy. + +I was anxious to obtain a near view of a log-house or a shanty, and was +somewhat disappointed in the few buildings of this kind that I saw along +the banks of the river. It was not the rudeness of the material so much +as the barn-like form of the buildings of this kind, and the little +attention that was paid to the picturesque, that displeased me. In Britain +even the peasant has taste enough to plant a few roses or honeysuckles +about his door or his casement, and there is the little bit of garden +enclosed and neatly kept; but here no such attempt is made to ornament +the cottages. We saw no smiling orchard or grove to conceal the bare log +walls; and as to the little farm-houses, they are uglier still, and look +so pert and ungraceful stuck upon the bank close to the water's edge. + +Further back a different style of building and cultivation appears. The +farms and frame-houses are really handsome places, and in good taste, +with clumps of trees here and there to break the monotony of the +clearing. The land is nearly one unbroken level plain, apparently +fertile and well farmed, but too flat for fine scenery. The country +between Quebec and Montreal has all the appearance of having been under +a long state of cultivation, especially on the right bank of the river. +Still there is a great portion of forest standing which it will take +years of labour to remove. + +We passed some little grassy islands on which there were many herds of +cattle feeding. I was puzzling myself to know how they got there, when +the captain told me it was usual for farmers to convey their stock to +these island pastures in flat-bottomed boats, or to swim them, if the +place was fordable, and leave them to graze as long as the food +continued good. If cows are put on an island within a reasonable +distance of the farm, some person goes daily in a canoe to milk them. +While he was telling me this, a log-canoe with a boy and a stout lass +with tin pails, paddled across from the bank of the river, and proceeded +to call together their herd. + +We noticed some very pleasant rural villages to the right as we +advanced, but our pilot was stupid, and could not, or would not tell +their names. It was Sunday morning, and we could just hear the quick +tinkling of the church bells, and distinguish long lines of caleches, +light waggons, with equestrians and pedestrians hastening along the +avenue of trees that led to the churchyard; besides these, were boats +and canoes crossing the river, bound to the same peaceful haven. + +In a part of the St. Laurence, where the channel is rendered difficult +by shoals and sand-banks, there occur little lighthouses, looking +somewhat like miniature watermills, on wooden posts, raised above the +flat banks on which they are built. These droll little huts were +inhabited, and we noticed a merry party, in their holiday clothes, +enjoying a gossip with a party in a canoe below them. They looked clean +and smart, and cheerful enough, but I did not envy them their situation, +which I should think far from healthy. + +Some miles below Montreal the appearance of the country became richer, +more civilized, and populous; while the distant line of blue mountains, +at the verge of the horizon, added an interest to the landscape. The +rich tint of ripened harvest formed a beautiful contrast with the azure +sky and waters of the St. Laurence. The scenery of the river near +Montreal is of a very different character to that below Quebec; the +latter possesses a wild and rugged aspect, and its productions are +evidently those of a colder and less happy climate. What the former +loses in grandeur and picturesque effect, it gains in fertility of soil +and warmth of temperature. In the lower division of the province you +feel that the industry of the inhabitants is forcing a churlish soil for +bread; while in the upper, the land seems willing to yield her increase +to a moderate exertion. Remember, these are merely the cursory remarks +of a passing traveller, and founded on no personal experience. + +There was a feeling of anxiety and dread upon our minds that we would +hardly acknowledge to each other as we drew near to the city of the +pestilence, as if ashamed of confessing a weakness that was felt; but no +one spoke on the subject. With what unmixed delight and admiration at +any other time should we have gazed on the scene that opened upon us. + +The river here expands into a fine extensive basin, diversified with +islands, on the largest of which Montreal is situated. + +The lofty hill from which the town takes its name rises like a crown +above it, and forms a singular and magnificent feature in the landscape, +reminding me of some of the detached hills in the vicinity of Inverness. + +Opposite to the Quebec suburbs, just in front of the rapids, is situated +the island of St. Helens, a spot of infinite loveliness. The centre of +it is occupied by a grove of lofty trees, while the banks, sloping down +to the water, seem of the most verdant turf. The scene was heightened by +the appearance of the troops which garrison the island. + +The shores of the river, studded with richly cultivated farms; the +village of La Prairie, with the little island of St. Anne's in the +distance; the glittering steeples and roofs of the city, with its +gardens and villas,--looked lovely by the softened glow of a Canadian +summer sunset. + +The church bells ringing for evening prayer, with the hum of voices from +the shore, mingled not inharmoniously with the rush of the rapids. + +These rapids are caused by a descent in the bed of the river. In some +places this declination is gradual, in others sudden and abrupt. Where +the current is broken by masses of limestone or granite rock, as at the +Cascades, the Cedars, and the Long Sault, it creates whirlpools and +cataracts. But the rapids below Montreal are not of this magnificent +character, being made perceptible only by the unusual swiftness of the +water, and its surface being disturbed by foam, and waving lines and +dimples. In short, I was disappointed in my expectation of seeing +something very grand; and was half angry at these pretty behaved quiet +rapids, to the foot of which we were towed in good style by our faithful +consort the _British America_. + +As the captain is uncertain how long he may be detained at Montreal, I +shall send this letter without further delay, and write again as soon as +possible. + + + + +LETTER IV. + +Landing at Montreal.--Appearance of the Town.--Ravages of the Cholera.-- +Charitable Institutions in Montreal.--Catholic Cathedral.--Lower and +Upper Town.--Company and Conversation at the Hotel.--Writer attacked +with the Cholera.--Departure from Montreal in a Stage coach.--Embark at +Lachine on board a Steam-vessel.--Mode of travelling alternately in +Steam-vessels and Stages.--Appearance of the Country.--Manufactures.-- +Ovens at a distance from the Cottages.--Draw-wells.--Arrival at +Cornwall.--Accommodation at the Inn.--Departure from Cornwall, and +Arrival at Prescott.--Arrival at Brockville.--Ship-launch there.--Voyage +through Lake Ontario.--Arrival at Cobourg + +Nelson Hotel, Montreal, August 21. + +Once more on terra ferma, dearest mother: what a strange sensation it is +to tread the land once again, free from the motion of the heaving +waters, to which I was now, in truth, glad to bid farewell. + +By daybreak every creature on board was up and busily preparing for +going on shore. The captain himself obligingly escorted us, and walked +as far with us as the hotel, where we are at present lodged. + +We found some difficulty in getting on shore, owing to the badness of +the landing. The river was full of floating timbers, between which it +required some skill to guide the boat. A wharf is now being built--not +before it was needed*. [* Some excellent wharfs have since been +completed.] + +We were struck by the dirty, narrow, ill-paved or unpaved streets of the +suburbs, and overpowered by the noisome vapour arising from a deep open +fosse that ran along the street behind the wharf. This ditch seemed the +receptacle for every abomination, and sufficient in itself to infect a +whole town with malignant fevers*. + +[* This has since been arched over. A market has been erected above it.] + +I was greatly disappointed in my first acquaintance with the interior of +Montreal; a place of which travellers had said so much. I could compare +it only to the fruits of the Dead sea, which are said to be fair and +tempting to look upon, but yield only ashes and bitterness when tasted +by the thirsty traveller**. + +.......... + +[** The following description of Montreal is given by M'Gregor in his +British America, vol. ii. p. 504:--"Betwixt the royal mountain and the +river, on a ridge of gentle elevation, stands the town. Including the +suburbs, it is more extensive than Quebec. Both cities differ very +greatly in appearance; the low banks of the St. Laurence at Montreal +want the tremendous precipices frowning over them, and all that grand +sublimity which characterizes Quebec. + +"There are no wharfs at Montreal, and the ships and steamers lie quietly +in pretty deep water, close to the clayey and generally filthy bank of +the city. The whole of the lower town is covered with gloomy-looking +houses, having dark iron shutters; and although it may be a little +cleaner than Quebec, it is still very dirty; and the streets are not +only narrow and ill-paved, but the footpaths are interrupted by slanting +cellar doors and other projections." + +"It is impossible (says Mr. Talbot, in his Five Years' Residence) to +walk the streets of Montreal on a Sunday or holiday, when the shops are +closed, without receiving the most gloomy impressions; the whole city +seems one vast prison;"--alluding to the window-shutters and outer doors +of iron, that have been adopted to counteract the effects of fire.] + +.......... + +I noticed one peculiar feature in the buildings along the suburb facing +the river--that they were mostly furnished with broad wooden balconies +from the lower to the upper story; in some instances they surrounded the +houses on three sides, and seemed to form a sort of outer chamber. Some +of these balconies were ascended by flights of broad stairs from the +outside. + +I remember when a child dreaming of houses so constructed, and fancying +them very delightful; and so I think they might be rendered, if shaded +by climbing shrubs, and adorned with flowers, to represent a hanging- +garden or sweet-scented bowery walk. But nothing of this kind gladdened +our eyes as we toiled along the hot streets. Every house of public +resort was crowded from the top to the bottom with emigrants of all +ages, English, Irish, and Scotch. The sounds of riotous merriment that +burst from them seemed but ill-assorted with the haggard, careworn faces +of many of the thoughtless revellers. + +The contrast was only too apparent and too painful a subject to those +that looked upon this show of outward gaiety and inward misery. + +The cholera had made awful ravages, and its devastating effects were to +be seen in the darkened dwellings and the mourning habiliments of all +classes. An expression of dejection and anxiety appeared in the faces of +the few persons we encountered in our walk to the hotel, which plainly +indicated the state of their minds. + +In some situations whole streets had been nearly depopulated; those that +were able fled panic-stricken to the country villages, while others +remained to die in the bosom of their families. + +To no class, I am told, has the disease proved so fatal as to the poorer +sort of emigrants. Many of these, debilitated by the privations and +fatigue of a long voyage, on reaching Quebec or Montreal indulged in +every sort of excess, especially the dangerous one of intoxication; and, +as if purposely paving the way to certain destruction, they fell +immediate victims to the complaint. + +In one house eleven persons died, in another seventeen; a little child +of seven years old was the only creature left to tell the woful tale. +This poor desolate orphan was taken by the nuns to their benevolent +institution, where every attention was paid that humanity could suggest. + +The number both of Catholic and Protestant benevolent societies is very +great, and these are maintained with a liberality of principle that does +honour to both parties, who seem indeed actuated by a fervent spirit of +Christian charity. + +I know of no place, not even excepting London itself, where the exercise +of benevolent feelings is more called for than in these two cities, +Quebec and Montreal. Here meet together the unfortunate, the +improvident, the helpless orphan, the sick, the aged, the poor virtuous +man, driven by the stern hand of necessity from his country and his +home, perhaps to be overtaken by sickness or want in a land of +strangers. + +It is melancholy to reflect that a great number of the poorest class of +emigrants that perished in the reign of the cholera have left no trace +by which their sorrowing anxious friends in the old country may learn +their fate. The disease is so sudden and so violent that it leaves no +time for arranging worldly matters; the sentinel comes, not as it did to +Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." + +The weather is sultry hot, accompanied by frequent thunder-showers, +which have not the effect one would expect, that of cooling the heated +atmosphere. I experience a degree of languor and oppression that is very +distressing, and worse than actual pain. + +Instead of leaving this place by the first conveyance for the upper +province, as we fully purposed doing, we find ourselves obliged to +remain two days longer, owing to the dilatoriness of the custom-house +officers in overlooking our packages. The fact is that everything and +everybody are out of sorts. + +The heat has been too oppressive to allow of my walking much abroad. I +have seen but little of the town beyond the streets adjacent to the +hotel: with the exception of the Catholic Cathedral, I have seen few of +the public buildings. With the former I was much pleased: it is a fine +building, though still in an unfinished state, the towers not having +been carried to the height originally intended. The eastern window, +behind the altar, is seventy feet in height by thirty-three in width. +The effect of this magnificent window from the entrance, the altar with +its adornments and paintings, the several smaller altars and shrines, +all decorated with scriptural designs, the light tiers of galleries that +surround the central part of the church, the double range of columns +supporting the vaulted ceiling, and the arched windows, all combine to +form one beautiful whole. What most pleased me was the extreme lightness +of the architecture though I thought the imitation of marble, with which +the pillars were painted, coarse and glaring. We missed the time- +hallowing mellowness that age has bestowed on our ancient churches and +cathedrals. The grim corbels and winged angels that are carved on the +grey stone, whose very uncouthness tells of time gone by when our +ancestors worshipped within their walls, give an additional interest to +the temples of our forefathers. But, though the new church at Montreal +cannot compare with our York Minster, Westminster Abbey, and others of +our sacred buildings, it is well worthy the attention of travellers, who +will meet with nothing equal to it in the Canadas. + +There are several colleges and nunneries, a hospital for the sick, +several Catholic and Protestant churches, meeting-houses, a guard-house, +with many other public edifices. + +The river-side portion of the town is entirely mercantile. Its narrow, +dirty streets and dark houses, with heavy iron shutters, have a +disagreeable appearance, which cannot but make an unfavourable +impression on the mind of a British traveller. The other portion of the +town, however, is of a different character, and the houses are +interspersed with gardens and pleasant walks, which looked very +agreeable from the windows of the ball-room of the Nelson Hotel. This +room, which is painted from top to bottom, the walls and ceiling, with a +coarse imitation of groves and Canadian scenery, commands a superb view +of the city, the river, and all surrounding country, taking in the +distant mountains of Chamblay, the shores of St. Laurence, towards La +Prairie, and the rapids above and below the island of St. Anne's. The +royal mountain (Mont Real), with its wooded sides, its rich scenery, and +its city with its streets and public buildings, lie at your feet: with +such objects before you the eye may well be charmed with the scenery of +Montreal. + +We receive the greatest attention from the master of the hotel, who is +an Italian. The servants of the house are very civil, and the company +that we meet at the ordinary very respectable, chiefly emigrants like +ourselves, with some lively French men and women. The table is well +supplied, and the charges for board and lodging one dollar per day +each*. + +[* This hotel is not of the highest class, in which the charge is a +dollar and a half per day. Ed.] + +I am amused with the variety of characters of which our table is +composed. Some of the emigrants appear to entertain the most sanguine +hopes of success, appearing to foresee no difficulties in carrying their +schemes into effect. As a contrast to these there is one of my +countrymen, just returned from the western district on his way back to +England, who entreats us by no means to go further up this horrid +country, as he emphatically styles the Upper Province, assuring us he +would not live in it for all the land it contained. + +He had been induced, by reading Cattermole's pamphlet on the subject of +Emigration, to quit a good farm, and gathering together what property he +possessed, to embark for Canada. Encouraged by the advice of a friend in +this country, he purchased a lot of wild land in the western district; +"but sir," said he, addressing my husband with much vehemence, "I found +I had been vilely deceived. Such land, such a country--I would not live +in it for all I could see. Why, there is not a drop of wholesome water +to be got, or a potato that is fit to eat. I lived for two months in a +miserable shed they call a shanty, eaten up alive with mosquitoes. I +could get nothing to eat but salted pork, and, in short, the discomforts +are unbearable. And then all my farming knowledge was quite useless-- +people know nothing about farming in this country. Why, it would have +broken my heart to work among the stumps, and never see such a thing as +a well-ploughed field. And then," he added, in a softer tone, "I thought +of my poor wife and the little one. I might, for the sake of bettering +my condition, have roughed out a year or so myself, but, poor thing, I +could not have had the heart to have brought her out from the comforts +of England to such a place, not so good as one of our cow-houses or +stables, and so I shall just go home; and if I don't tell all my +neighbours what sort of a country this is they are all crazing to throw +up their farms and come to, never trust a word of mine again." + +It was to no purpose that some persons present argued with him on the +folly of returning until he had tried what could be done: he only told +them they were fools if they staid an hour in a country like this; and +ended by execrating those persons who deceived the people at home by +their false statements, who sum up in a few pages all the advantages, +without filling a volume with the disadvantages, as they might well do. + +"Persons are apt to deceive themselves as well as to be deceived," said +my husband; "and having once fixed their minds on any one subject, will +only read and believe those things that accord with their wishes." + +This young man was evidently disappointed in not finding all things as +fair and pleasant as at home. He had never reflected on the subject, or +he could not have been so foolish as to suppose he would encounter no +difficulties in his first outset, in a settlement in the woods. We are +prepared to meet with many obstacles, and endure considerable +privations, although I dare say we may meet with many unforeseen ones, +forewarned as we have been by our Canadian friend's letters. + +Our places are taken in the stage for Lachine, and if all is well, we +leave Montreal to-morrow morning. Our trunks, boxes, &c. are to be sent +on by the forwarders to Cobourg.--August 22. + +Cobourg, August 29.--When I closed my last letter I told you, my dear +mother, that we should leave Montreal by sunrise the following day; but +in this we were doomed to be disappointed, and to experience the truth +of these words: "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not +what an hour may bring forth." Early that very morning, just an hour +before sunrise, I was seized with the symptoms of the fatal malady that +had made so many homes desolate. I was too ill to commence my journey, +and, with a heavy heart, heard the lumbering wheels rattle over the +stones from the door of the hotel. + +I hourly grew worse, till the sister of the landlady, an excellent young +woman, who had previously shown me great attention, persuaded me to send +for a physician; and my husband, distracted at seeing me in such agony, +ran off to seek for the best medical aid. After some little delay a +physician was found. I was then in extreme torture; but was relieved by +bleeding, and by the violent fits of sickness that ensued. I will not +dwell minutely on my sufferings, suffice to say, they were intense; but +God, in his mercy, though he chastened and afflicted me, yet gave me not +over unto death. From the females of the house I received the greatest +kindness. Instead of fleeing affrighted from the chamber of sickness, +the two Irish girls almost quarrelled which should be my attendant; +while Jane Taylor, the good young woman I before mentioned, never left +me from the time I grew so alarmingly ill till a change for the better +had come over me, but, at the peril of her own life, supported me in her +arms, and held me on her bosom, when I was struggling with mortal agony, +alternately speaking peace to me, and striving to soothe the anguish of +my poor afflicted partner. + +The remedies applied were bleeding, a portion of opium, blue pill, and +some sort of salts--not the common Epsom. The remedies proved effectual, +though I suffered much from sickness and headache for many hours. The +debility and low fever that took place of the cholera obliged me to keep +my bed some days. During the two first my doctor visited me four times a +day; he was very kind, and, on hearing that I was the wife of a British +officer emigrating to the Upper Province, he seemed more than ever +interested in my recovery, evincing a sympathy for us that was very +grateful to our feelings. After a weary confinement of several days, I +was at last pronounced in a sufficiently convalescent state to begin my +journey, though still so weak that I was scarcely able to support +myself. + +The sun had not yet risen when the stage that was to take us to Lachine, +the first nine miles of our route, drove up to the door, and we gladly +bade farewell to a place in which our hours of anxiety had been many, +and those of pleasure few. We had, however, experienced a great deal of +kindness from those around us, and, though perfect strangers, had tasted +some of the hospitality for which this city has often been celebrated. I +omitted, in my former letter, telling you how we formed an acquaintance +with a highly respectable merchant in this place, who afforded us a +great deal of useful information, and introduced us to his wife, a very +elegant and accomplished young woman. During our short acquaintance, we +passed some pleasant hours at their house, much to our satisfaction. + +I enjoyed the fresh breeze from the river along the banks of which our +road lay. It was a fine sight to see the unclouded sun rising from +behind the distant chain of mountains. Below us lay the rapids in their +perturbed state, and there was the island of St. Anne's, bringing to our +minds Moore's Canadian boat song: "We'll sing at Saint Anne's our +parting hymn." + +The bank of the St. Laurence, along which our road lay, is higher here +than at Montreal, and clothed with brushwood on the summit, occasionally +broken with narrow gulleys. The soil, as near as I could see, was sandy +or light loam. I noticed the wild vine for the first time twining among +the saplings. There were raspberry bushes, too, and a profusion of that +tall yellow flower we call Aaron's golden rod, a _solidago_, and the +white love-everlasting, the same that the chaplets are made of by the +French and Swiss girls to adorn the tombs of their friends, and which +they call _immortelle_; the Americans call it life-everlasting; also a +tall purple-spiked valerian, that I observed growing in the fields among +the corn, as plentiful as the bugloss is in our light sandy fields in +England. + +At Lachine we quitted the stage and went on board a steamer, a fine +vessel elegantly fitted up with every accommodation. I enjoyed the +passage up the river exceedingly, and should have been delighted with +the journey by land had not my recent illness weakened me so much that I +found the rough roads very unpleasant. As to the vehicle, a Canadian +stage, it deserves a much higher character than travellers have had the +candour to give it, and is so well adapted for the roads over which it +passes that I doubt if it could be changed for a more suitable one. This +vehicle is calculated to hold nine persons, three back, front, and +middle; the middle seat, which swings on broad straps of leather; is by +far the easiest, only you are liable to be disturbed when any of the +passengers choose to get out. + +Certainly the travelling is arranged with as little trouble to the +traveller as possible. Having paid your fare to Prescott you have no +thought or care. When you quit the steam-boat you find a stage ready to +receive you and your luggage, which is limited to a certain proportion. +When the portage is passed (the land carriage), you find a steam-vessel +ready, where you have every accommodation. The charges are not +immoderate, considering the comforts you enjoy. + +In addition to their own freight, the steamers generally tow up several +other vessels. We had three Durham boats at one time, beside some other +small craft attached to us, which certainly afforded some variety, if +not amusement. + +With the exception of Quebec and Montreal, I must give the preference to +the Upper Province. If not on so grand a scale, the scenery is more +calculated to please, from the appearance of industry and fertility it +displays. I am delighted, in travelling along the road, with the +neatness, cleanliness, and comfort of the cottages and farms. The log- +house and shanty rarely occur, having been supplanted by pretty frame +houses, built in a superior style, and often painted white-lead colour +or a pale pea-green. Around these habitations were orchards, bending +down with a rich harvest of apples, plums, and the American crab, those +beautiful little scarlet apples so often met with as a wet preserve +among our sweetmeats at home. + +You see none of the signs of poverty or its attendant miseries. No +ragged, dirty, squalid children, dabbling in mud or dust; but many a +tidy, smart-looking lass was spinning at the cottage-doors, with bright +eyes and braided locks, while the younger girls were seated on the green +turf or on the threshold, knitting and singing as blithe as birds. + +There is something very picturesque in the great spinning-wheels that +are used in this country for spinning the wool, and if attitude were to +be studied among our Canadian lasses, there cannot be one more becoming, +or calculated to show off the natural advantages of a fine figure, than +spinning at the big wheel. The spinster does not sit, but walks to and +fro, guiding the yarn with one hand while with the other she turns the +wheel. + +I often noticed, as we passed by the cottage farms, hanks of yarn of +different colours hanging on the garden or orchard fence to dry; there +were all manner of colours, green, blue, purple, brown, red, and white. +A civil landlady, at whose tavern we stopped to change horses, told me +these hanks of yarn were first spun and then dyed by the good wives, +preparatory to being sent to the loom. She showed me some of this home- +spun cloth, which really looked very well. It was a dullish dark brown, +the wool being the produce of a breed of black sheep. This cloth is made +up in different ways for family use. + +"Every little dwelling you see," said she, "has its lot of land, and, +consequently, its flock of sheep; and, as the children are early taught +to spin, and knit, and help dye the yarn, their parents can afford to +see them well and comfortably clothed. + +"Many of these very farms you now see in so thriving a condition were +wild land thirty years ago, nothing but Indian hunting-grounds. The +industry of men, and many of them poor men, that had not a rood of land +of their own in their own country, has effected this change." + +I was much gratified by the reflection to which this good woman's +information gave rise. "We also are going to purchase wild land, and why +may not we see our farm, in process of time," thought I, "equal these +fertile spots. Surely this is a blessed country to which we have +emigrated," said I, pursuing the pleasing idea, "where every cottage +abounds with the comforts and necessaries of life." + +I perhaps overlooked at that time the labour, the difficulties, the +privations to which these settlers had been exposed when they first came +to this country. I saw it only at a distance of many years, under a high +state of cultivation, perhaps in the hands of their children or their +children's children, while the toil-worn parent's head was low in the +dust. + +Among other objects my attention was attracted by the appearance of open +burying-grounds by the roadside. Pretty green mounds, surrounded by +groups of walnut and other handsome timber trees, contained the graves +of a family, or may be, some favoured friends slept quietly below the +turf beside them. If the ground was not consecrated, it was hallowed by +the tears and prayers of parents and children. + +These household graves became the more interesting to me on learning +that when a farm is disposed of to a stranger, the right of burying +their dead is generally stipulated for by the former possessor. + +You must bear with me if I occasionally weary you with dwelling on +trifles. To me nothing that bears the stamp of novelty is devoid of +interest. Even the clay-built ovens stuck upon four legs at a little +distance from the houses were not unnoticed in passing. When there is +not the convenience of one of these ovens outside the dwellings, the +bread is baked in large iron pots--"_bake-kettles_" they are termed. I +have already seen a loaf as big as a peck measure baking on the hearth +in one of these kettles, and tasted of it, too; but I think the confined +steam rather imparts a peculiar taste to the bread, which you do not +perceive in the loaves baked in brick or clay ovens. At first I could +not make out what these funny little round buildings, perched upon four +posts, could be; and I took them for bee-hives till I spied a good woman +drawing some nice hot loaves out of one that stood on a bit of waste +land on the roadside, some fifty yards from the cottage. + +Besides the ovens every house had a draw-well near it, which differed in +the contrivance for raising the water from those I had seen in the old +country. The plan is very simple:--a long pole, supported by a post, +acts as a lever to raise the bucket, and the water can be raised by a +child with very trifling exertion. This method is by many persons +preferred to either rope or chain, and from its simplicity can be +constructed by any person at the mere trouble of fixing the poles. I +mention this merely to show the ingenuity of people in this country, and +how well adapted all their ways are to their means*. [* The plan is +pursued in England and elsewhere, and may be seen in the market-gardens +on the western suburb of London. It can only be done when the water is +near the surface.] + +We were exceedingly gratified by the magnificent appearance of the +rapids of the St. Laurence, at the cascades of which the road commanded +a fine view from the elevation of the banks. I should fail in my attempt +to describe this grand sheet of turbulent water to you. Howison has +pictured them very minutely in his work on Upper Canada, which I know +you are well acquainted with. I regretted that we could not linger to +feast our eyes with a scene so wild and grand as the river here appears; +but a Canadian stage waits for no one, so we were obliged to content +ourselves with a passing sight of these celebrated rapids. + +We embarked at Couteau du Lac and reached Cornwall late the same +evening. Some of the stages travel all night, but I was too much +fatigued to commence a journey of forty-nine miles over Canadian roads +that night. Our example was followed by a widow lady and her little +family. + +We had some difficulty obtaining a lodging, the inns being full of +travellers; here, for the first time we experienced something of that +odious manner ascribed, though doubtless too generally, to the American. +Our host seemed perfectly indifferent to the comfort of his guests, +leaving them to wait on themselves or go without what they wanted. The +absence of females in these establishments is a great drawback where +ladies are travelling. The women keep entirely out of sight, or treat +you with that offensive coldness and indifference that you derive little +satisfaction from their attendance. + +After some difficulty in obtaining sight of the landlady of the inn at +Cornwall, and asking her to show me a chamber where we might pass the +night, with a most ungracious air she pointed to a door which opened +into a mere closet, in which was a bed divested of curtains, one chair, +and an apology for a wash-stand. Seeing me in some dismay at the sight +of this uninviting domicile, she laconically observed there was that or +none, unless I chose to sleep in a four-bedded room, which had three +tenants in it,--and those gentlemen. This alternative I somewhat +indignantly declined, and in no very good humour retired to my cabin, +where vile familiars to the dormitory kept us from closing our weary +eye-lids till the break of day. + +We took an early and hasty breakfast, and again commenced our journey. +Here our party consisted of myself, my husband, a lady and gentleman +with three small children, besides an infant of a month old, all of +whom, from the eldest to the youngest, were suffering from hooping- +cough; two great Cumberland miners, and a French pilot and his +companion--this was a huge amphibious-looking monster, who bounced in +and squeezed himself into a corner seat, giving a knowing nod and +comical grin to the driver, who was in the secret, and in utter defiance +of all remonstrance at this unlooked-for intrusion, cracked his whip +with a flourish, that appeared to be reckoned pretty considerably smart +by two American travellers that stood on either side of the door at the +inn, with their hats not in their hands nor yet on their heads, but +slung by a black ribbon to one of their waistcoat buttons, so as to fall +nearly under one arm. This practice I have seen adopted since, and think +if Johnny Gilpin had but taken this wise precaution he might have saved +both hat and wig. + +I was dreadfully fatigued with this day's travelling, being literally +bruised black and blue. We suffered much inconvenience from the +excessive heat of the day, and could well have dispensed with the +company of two out of the four of our bulky companions. + + +We reached Prescott about five the same afternoon, where we met with +good treatment at the inn; the female servants were all English, and +seemed to vie with each other in attention to us. + +We saw little in the town of Prescott to interest or please. After an +excellent breakfast we embarked on board the _Great Britain_, the finest +steamer we had yet seen, and here we were joined by our new friends, to +our great satisfaction. + +At Brockville we arrived just in time to enjoy what was to me quite a +novel sight,--a ship-launch. A gay and exciting scene it was. The sun +shone brilliantly on a concourse of people that thronged the shore in +their holiday attire; the church bells rang merrily out, mingling with +the music from the deck of the gaily painted vessel that, with flags and +streamers, and a well-dressed company on board, was preparing for the +launch. + +To give additional effect, a salute was fired from a temporary fort +erected for the occasion on a little rocky island in front of the town. +The schooner took the water in fine style, as if eager to embrace the +element which was henceforth to be subject to her. It was a moment of +intense interest. The newly launched was greeted with three cheers from +the company on board the _Great Britain_, with a salute from the little +fort, and a merry peal from the bells, which were also rung in honour of +a pretty bride that came on board with her bridegroom on their way to +visit the falls of Niagara. + +Brockville is situated just at the entrance of the lake of the Thousand +Islands, and presents a pretty appearance from the water. The town has +improved rapidly, I am told, within the last few years, and is becoming +a place of some importance. + +The shores of the St. Laurence assume a more rocky and picturesque +aspect as you advance among its thousand islands, which present every +variety of wood and rock. The steamer put in for a supply of fire-wood +at a little village on the American side the river, where also we took +on board five-and-twenty beautiful horses, which are to be exhibited at +Cobourg and York for sale. + +There was nothing at all worthy of observation in the American village, +unless I except a novelty that rather amused me. Almost every house had +a tiny wooden model of itself, about the bigness of a doll's house, (or +baby-house, I think they are called,) stuck up in front of the roof or +at the gable end. I was informed by a gentleman on board, these baby- +houses, as I was pleased to call them, were for the swallows to build +in. + +It was midnight when we passed Kingston, so of course I saw nothing of +that "key to the lakes," as I have heard it styled. When I awoke in the +morning the steamer was dashing gallantly along through the waters of +the Ontario, and I experienced a slight sensation of sickness. + +When the waters of the lake are at all agitated, as they sometimes are, +by high winds, you might imagine yourself upon a tempest-tossed sea. + +The shores of the Ontario are very fine, rising in waving lines of hill +and dale, clothed with magnificent woods, or enlivened by patches of +cultivated land and pretty dwellings. At ten o'clock we reached Cobourg. + +Cobourg, at which place we are at present, is a neatly built and +flourishing village, containing many good stores, mills, a banking- +house, and printing-office, where a newspaper is published once a week. +There is a very pretty church and a select society, many families of +respectability having fixed their residences in or near the town. + +To-morrow we leave Cobourg, and shall proceed to Peterborough, from +which place I shall again write and inform you of our future +destination, which will probably be on one of the small lakes of the +Otanabee. + + + + +LETTER V. + +Journey from Cobourg to Amherst.--Difficulties to be encountered on +first settling in the Backwoods.--Appearance of the Country.--Rice +Lake.--Indian Habits.--Voyage up the Otanabee.--Log-house, and its +Inmates.--Passage boat.--Journey on foot to Peterborough. + +Peterborough, Newcastle District. +September 8, 1832. + +We left Cobourg on the afternoon of the 1st of September in a light +waggon, comfortably lined with buffalo robes. Our fellow travellers +consisted of three gentlemen and a young lady, all of whom proved very +agreeable, and willing to afford us every information respecting the +country through which we were travelling. The afternoon was fine--one of +those rich mellow days we often experience in the early part of +September. The warm hues of autumn were already visible on the forest +trees, but rather spoke of ripeness than decay. The country round +Cobourg is well cultivated, a great portion of the woods having been +superseded by open fields, pleasant farms, and fine flourishing +orchards, with green pastures, where abundance of cattle were grazing. + +The county gaol and court-house at Amherst, about a mile and a half from +Cobourg, is a fine stone edifice, situated on a rising ground, which +commands an extensive view over the lake Ontario and surrounding +scenery. As you advance farther up the country, in the direction of the +Hamilton or Rice Lake plains, the land rises into bold sweeping hills +and dales. + +The outline of the country reminded me of the hilly part of +Gloucestershire; you want, however, the charm with which civilization +has so eminently adorned that fine county, with all its romantic +villages, flourishing towns, cultivated farms, and extensive downs, so +thickly covered with flocks and herds. Here the bold forests of oak, +beech, maple, and bass-wood, with now and then a grove of dark pine, +cover the hills, only enlivened by an occasional settlement, with its +log-house and zig-zag fences of split timber: these fences are very +offensive to my eye. I look in vain for the rich hedge rows of my native +country. Even the stone fences in the north and west of England, cold +and bare as they are, are less unsightly. The settlers, however, +invariably adopt whatever plan saves time, labour, and money. The great +law of expediency is strictly observed;--it is borne of necessity. +Matters of taste appear to be little regarded, or are, at all events, +after-considerations. + +I could see a smile hover on the lips of my fellow travellers on hearing +of our projected plans for the adornment of our future dwelling. + +"If you go into the backwoods your house must necessarily be a log- +house," said an elderly gentleman, who had been a settler many years in +the country. "For you will most probably be out of the way of a saw- +mill, and you will find so much to do, and so many obstacles to +encounter, for the first two or three years, that you will hardly have +opportunity for carrying these improvements into effect. + +"There is an old saying," he added, with a mixture of gravity and good +humour in his looks, "that I used to hear when I was a boy, 'first +creep* and then go.' [* Derived from infants crawling on all-fours +before they have strength to walk.] Matters are not carried on quite so +easily here as at home; and the truth of this a very few weeks' +acquaintance with the _bush_, as we term all unbroken forest land, will +prove. At the end of five years you may begin to talk of these pretty +improvements and elegancies, and you will then be able to see a little +what you are about." + +"I thought," said I, "every thing in this country was done with so much +expedition. I am sure I have heard and read of houses being built in a +day." The old gentleman laughed. + +"Yes, yes," he replied, "travellers find no difficulty in putting up a +house in twelve or twenty-four hours, and so the log-walls can be raised +in that time or even less; but the house is not completed when the outer +walls are up, as your husband will find to his cost." + +"But all the works on emigration that I leave read," replied I, "give a +fair and flattering picture of a settler's life; for, according to their +statements, the difficulties are easily removed." + +"Never mind books," said my companion, "use your own reason. Look on +those interminable forests, through which the eye can only penetrate a +few yards, and tell me how those vast timbers are to be removed, utterly +extirpated, I may say, from the face of the earth, the ground cleared +and burnt, a crop sown and fenced, and a house to shelter you raised, +without difficulty, without expense, and without great labour. Never +tell me of what is said in books, written very frequently by tarry-at- +home travellers. Give me facts. One honest, candid emigrant's experience +is worth all that has been written on the subject. Besides, that which +may be a true picture of one part of the country will hardly suit +another. The advantages and disadvantages arising from soil, situation, +and progress of civilization, are very different in different districts: +even the prices of goods and of produce, stock and labour, vary +exceedingly, according as you are near to, or distant from, towns and +markets." + +I began to think my fellow-traveller spoke sensibly on the subject, with +which the experience of thirteen years had made him perfectly +conversant. I began to apprehend that we also had taken too flattering a +view of a settler's life as it must be in the backwoods. Time and our +own personal knowledge will be the surest test, and to that we must bow. +We are ever prone to believe that which we wish. + +About halfway between Cobourg and the Rice Lake there is a pretty valley +between two steep hills. Here there is a good deal of cleared land and a +tavern: the place is called "Cold Springs." Who knows but some century +or two hence this spot may become a fashionable place of resort to drink +the waters. A Canadian Bath or Cheltenham may spring up where now Nature +revels in her wilderness of forest trees. + +We now ascended the plains--a fine elevation of land--for many miles +scantily clothed with oaks, and here and there bushy pines, with other +trees and shrubs. The soil is in some places sandy, but varies, I am +told, considerably in different parts, and is covered in large tracks +with rich herbage, affording abundance of the finest pasture for cattle. +A number of exquisite flowers and shrubs adorn these plains, which rival +any garden in beauty during the spring and summer months. Many of these +plants are peculiar to the plains, and are rarely met with in any other +situation. The trees, too, though inferior in size to those in the +forests, are more picturesque, growing in groups or singly, at +considerable intervals, giving a sort of park-like appearance to this +portion of the country. The prevailing opinion seems to be, that the +plains laid out in grazing or dairy farms would answer the purpose of +settlers well; as there is plenty of land that will grow wheat and other +corn-crops, and can be improved at a small expense, besides abundance of +natural pasture for cattle. One great advantage seems to be, that the +plough can be introduced directly, and the labour of preparing the +ground is necessarily much less than where it is wholly covered with +wood. + +[Illustration: Rice Grounds] + +There are several settlers on these plains possessing considerable +farms. The situation, I should think, must be healthy and agreeable, +from the elevation and dryness of the land, and the pleasant prospect +they command of the country below them, especially where the Rice Lake, +with its various islands and picturesque shores, is visible. The ground +itself is pleasingly broken into hill and valley, sometimes gently +sloping, at other times abrupt and almost precipitous. + +An American farmer, who formed one of our party at breakfast the +following morning, told me that these plains were formerly famous +hunting grounds of the Indians, who, to prevent the growth of the +timbers, burned them year after year; this, in process of time, +destroyed the young trees, so as to prevent them again from accumulating +to the extent they formerly did. Sufficient only was left to form +coverts; for the deer resort hither in great herds for the sake of a +peculiar tall sort of grass with which these plains abound, called deer- +grass, on which they become exceedingly fat at certain seasons of the +year. + +Evening closed in before we reached the tavern on the shores of the Rice +Lake, where we were to pass the night; so that I lost something of the +beautiful scenery which this fine expanse of water presents as you +descend the plains towards its shores. The glimpses I caught of it were +by the faint but frequent flashes of lightning that illumined the +horizon to the north, which just revealed enough to make me regret I +could see no more that night. The Rice Lake is prettily diversified with +small wooded islets: the north bank rises gently from the water's edge. +Within sight of Sully, the tavern from which the steam-boat starts that +goes up the Otanabee, you see several well-cultivated settlements; and +beyond the Indian village the missionaries have a school for the +education and instruction of the Indian children. Many of them can both +read and write fluently, and are greatly improved in their moral and +religious conduct. They are well and comfortably clothed, and have +houses to live in. But they are still too much attached to their +wandering habits to become good and industrious settlers. During certain +seasons they leave the village, and encamp themselves in the woods along +the borders of those lakes and rivers that present the most advantageous +hunting and fishing grounds. + +The Rice Lake and Mud Lake Indians belong, I am told, to the Chippewas; +but the traits of cunning and warlike ferocity that formerly marked this +singular people seem to have disappeared beneath the milder influence of +Christianity. + +Certain it is that the introduction of the Christian religion is the +first greatest step towards civilization and improvement; its very +tendency being to break down the strong-holds of prejudice and +ignorance, and unite mankind in one bond of social brotherhood. I have +been told that for some time drunkenness was unknown, and even the +moderate use of spirits was religiously abstained from by all the +converts. This abstinence is still practised by some families; but of +late the love of ardent spirits has again crept in among them, bringing +discredit upon their faith. It is indeed hardly to be wondered at, when +the Indian sees those around him that call themselves Christians, and +who are better educated, and enjoy the advantages of civilized society, +indulging to excess in this degrading vice, that he should suffer his +natural inclination to overcome his Christian duty, which might in some +have taken no deep root. I have been surprised and disgusted by the +censures passed on the erring Indian by persons who were foremost in +indulgence at the table and the tavern; as if the crime of drunkenness +were more excusable in the man of education than in the half-reclaimed +savage. + +There are some fine settlements on the Rice Lake, but I am told the +shores are not considered healthy, the inhabitants being subject to +lake-fevers and ague, especially where the ground is low and swampy. +These fevers and agues are supposed by some people to originate in the +extensive rice-beds which cause a stagnation in the water; the constant +evaporation from the surface acting on a mass of decaying vegetation +must tend to have a bad effect on the constitution of those that are +immediately exposed to its pernicious influence. + +Besides numerous small streams, here called _creeks_, two considerable +rivers, the Otanabee and the Trent, find an outlet for their waters in +the Rice Lake. These rivers are connected by a chain of small lakes, +which you may trace on any good map of the province. I send you a +diagram, which has been published at Cobourg, which will give you the +geography of this portion of the country. It is on one of these small +lakes we purpose purchasing land, which, should the navigation of these +waters be carried into effect, as is generally supposed to be in +contemplation, will render the lands on their shores very advantageous +to the settlers; at present they are interrupted by large blocks of +granite and limestone, rapids, and falls, which prevent any but canoes +or flat-bottomed boats from passing on them, and even these are limited +to certain parts, on account of the above-named obstacles. By deepening +the bed of the river and lakes, and forming locks in some parts and +canals, the whole sweep of these waters might be thrown open to the Bay +of Quinte. The expense, however, would necessarily be great; and till +the townships of this portion of the district be fully settled, it is +hardly to be expected that so vast an undertaking should be effected, +however desirable it may be. + +[Illustration: Sleigh driving] + +We left the tavern at Rice Lake, after an unusual delay, at nine +o'clock. The morning was damp, and a cold wind blew over the lake, which +appeared to little advantage through the drizzling rain, from which I +was glad to shroud my face in my warm plaid cloak, for there was no +cabin or other shelter in the little steamer than an inefficient awning. +This apology for a steam-boat formed a considerable contrast with the +superbly-appointed vessels we had lately been passengers in on the +Ontario and the St. Laurence. But the circumstance of a steamer at all +on the Otanabee was a matter of surprise to us, and of exultation to the +first settlers along its shores, who for many years had been contented +with no better mode of transport than a scow or a canoe for themselves +and their marketable produce, or through the worst possible roads with a +waggon or sleigh. + +The Otanabee is a fine broad, clear stream, divided into two mouths at +its entrance to the Rice Lake by a low tongue of land, too swampy to be +put under cultivation. This beautiful river (for such I consider it to +be) winds its way between thickly-wooded banks, which rise gradually as +you advance higher up the country. + +Towards noon the mists cleared off, and the sun came forth in all the +brilliant beauty of a September day. So completely were we sheltered +from the wind by the thick wall of pines on either side, that I no +longer felt the least inconvenience from the cold that had chilled me on +crossing the lake in the morning. + +To the mere passing traveller, who cares little for the minute beauties +of scenery, there is certainly a monotony in the long and unbroken line +of woods, which insensibly inspires a feeling of gloom almost touching +on sadness. Still there are objects to charm and delight the close +observer of nature. His eye will be attracted by fantastic bowers, which +are formed by the scarlet creeper (or Canadian ivy) and the wild vine, +flinging their closely-entwined wreaths of richly tinted foliage from +bough to bough of the forest trees, mingling their hues with the +splendid rose-tipped branches of the soft maple, the autumnal tints of +which are unrivalled in beauty by any of our forest trees at home. + +The purple clusters of the grape, by no means so contemptible in size as +I had been led to imagine, looked tempting to my longing eyes, as they +appeared just ripening among these forest bowers. I am told the juice +forms a delicious and highly-flavoured jelly, boiled with sufficient +quantity of sugar; the seeds are too large to make any other preparation +of them practicable. I shall endeavour, at some time or other, to try +the improvement that can be effected by cultivation. One is apt to +imagine where Nature has so abundantly bestowed fruits, that is the most +favourable climate for their attaining perfection with the assistance of +culture and soil. + +[Illustration: Silver Pine] + +The waters of the Otanabee are so clear and free from impurity that you +distinctly see every stone-pebble or shell at the bottom. Here and there +an opening in the forest reveals some tributary stream, working its way +beneath the gigantic trees that meet above it. The silence of the scene +is unbroken but by the sudden rush of the wild duck, disturbed from its +retreat among the shrubby willows, that in some parts fringe the left +bank, or the shrill cry of the kingfisher, as it darts across the water. +The steam-boat put in for a supply of fire-wood at a clearing about +half-way from Peterborough, and I gladly availed myself of the +opportunity of indulging my inclination for gathering some of the +splendid cardinal flowers that grew among the stones by the river's +brink. Here, too, I plucked as sweet a rose as ever graced an English +garden. I also found, among the grass of the meadow-land, spearmint, +and, nearer to the bank, peppermint. There was a bush resembling our +hawthorn, which, on examination, proved to be the cockspur hawthorn, +with fruit as large as cherries, pulpy, and of a pleasant tartness not +much unlike to tamarinds. The thorns of this tree were of formidable +length and strength. I should think it might be introduced with great +advantage to form live fences; the fruit, too, would prove by no means +contemptible as a preserve. + +As I felt a great curiosity to see the interior of a log-house, I +entered the open door-way of the tavern, as the people termed it, under +the pretext of buying a draught of milk. The interior of this rude +dwelling presented no very inviting aspect. The walls were of rough +unhewn logs, filled between the chinks with moss and irregular wedges of +wood to keep out the wind and rain. The unplastered roof displayed the +rafters, covered with moss and lichens, green, yellow, and grey; above +which might be seen the shingles, dyed to a fine mahogany-red by the +smoke which refused to ascend the wide clay and stone chimney, to curl +gracefully about the roof, and seek its exit in the various crannies and +apertures with which the roof and sides of the building abounded. + +The floor was of earth, which had become pretty hard and smooth through +use. This hut reminded me of the one described by the four Russian +sailors that were left to winter on the island of Spitzbergen. Its +furniture was of corresponding rudeness; a few stools, rough and +unplaned; a deal table, which, from being manufactured from unseasoned +wood, was divided by three wide open seams, and was only held together +by its ill-shaped legs; two or three blocks of grey granite placed +beside the hearth served for seats for the children, with the addition +of two beds raised a little above the ground by a frame of split cedars. +On these lowly couches lay extended two poor men, suffering under the +wasting effects of lake-fever. Their yellow bilious faces strangely +contrasted with the gay patchwork-quilts that covered them. I felt much +concerned for the poor emigrants, who told me they had not been many +weeks in the country when they were seized with the fever and ague. They +both had wives and small children, who seemed very miserable. The wives +also had been sick with ague, and had not a house or even shanty of +their own up; the husbands having fallen ill were unable to do anything; +and much of the little money they had brought out with them had been +expended in board and lodging in this miserable place, which they +dignified by the name of tavern. I cannot say I was greatly prepossessed +in favour of their hostess, a harsh, covetous woman. Besides the various +emigrants, men, women, and children, that lodged within the walls, the +log-house had tenants of another description. A fine calf occupied a pen +in a corner; some pigs roamed grunting about in company with some half- +dozen fowls. The most attractive objects were three snow-white pigeons, +that were meekly picking up crumbs, and looking as if they were too pure +and innocent to be inhabitants of such a place. + +Owing to the shallowness of the river at this season, and to the rapids, +the steam-boat is unable to go up the whole way to Peterborough, and a +scow or rowboat, as it is sometimes termed--a huge, unwieldy, flat- +bottomed machine--meets the passengers at a certain part of the river, +within sight of a singular pine tree on the right bank; this is termed +the "Yankee bonnet," from the fancied resemblance of the topmost boughs +to a sort of cap worn by the Yankees, not much unlike the blue bonnet of +Scotland. + +Unfortunately, the steamer ran aground some four miles below the usual +place of rendezvous, and we waited till near four o'clock for the scow. +When it made its appearance, we found, to our discomfort, the rowers +(eight in number, and all Irishmen) were under the exciting influence of +a cag of whiskey, which they had drunk dry on the voyage. They were +moreover exasperated by the delay on the part of the steamer, which gave +them four miles additional heavy rowing. Beside a number of passengers +there was an enormous load of furniture, trunks, boxes, chests, sacks of +wheat, barrels of flour, salt, and pork, with many miscellaneous +packages and articles, small and great, which were piled to a height +that I thought very unsafe both to goods and passengers. + +With a marvellous ill grace the men took up their oars when their load +was completed, but declared they would go on shore and make a fire and +cook their dinners, they not having eaten any food, though they had +taken large potations of the whiskey. This measure was opposed by some +of the gentlemen, and a fierce and angry scene ensued, which ended in +the mutineers flinging down their oars, and positively refusing to row +another stroke till they had satisfied their hunger. + +Perhaps I had a fellow-feeling for them, as I began to be exceedingly +hungry, almost ravenous, myself, having fasted since six that morning; +indeed, so faint was I, that I was fain to get my husband to procure me +a morsel of the coarse uninviting bread that was produced by the rowers, +and which they ate with huge slices of raw pickled pork, seasoning this +unseemly meal with curses "not loud but deep," and bitter taunts against +those who prevented them from cooking their food like _Christians_. + +While I was eagerly eating the bit of bread, an old farmer, who had eyed +me for some time with a mixture of curiosity and compassion, said, "Poor +thing: well, you do seem hungry indeed, and I dare say are just out from +the _ould_ country, and so little used to such hard fare. Here are some +cakes that my woman (i.e. wife) put in my pocket when I left home; I +care nothing for them, but they are better than that bad bread; take +'em, and welcome." With these words he tossed some very respectable +home-made seed-cakes into my lap, and truly never was anything more +welcome than this seasonable refreshment. + +A sullen and gloomy spirit seemed to prevail among our boatmen, which by +no means diminished as the evening drew on, and "the rapids were near." +The sun had set, and the moon and stars rose brilliantly over the still +waters, which gave back the reflections of their glorious multitude of +heavenly bodies. A sight so passing fair might have stilled the most +turbulent spirits into peace; at least so I thought, as, wrapped in my +cloak, I leant back against the supporting arm of my husband, and +looking from the waters to the sky, and from the sky to the waters, with +delight and admiration. My pleasant reverie was, however, soon ended, +when I suddenly felt the boat touch the rocky bank, and heard the +boatmen protesting they would go no further that night. We were nearly +three miles below Peterborough, and how I was to walk this distance, +weakened as I was by recent illness and fatigue of our long travelling, +I knew not. To spend the night in an open boat, exposed to the heavy +dews arising from the river, would be almost death. While we were +deliberating on what to do, the rest of the passengers had made up their +minds, and taken the way through the woods by a road they were well +acquainted with. They were soon out of sight, all but one gentleman, who +was bargaining with one of the rowers to take him and his dog across the +river at the head of the rapids in a skiff. + +Imagine our situation, at ten o'clock at night, without knowing a single +step of our road, put on shore to find the way to the distant town as we +best could, or pass the night in the dark forest. + +Almost in despair, we entreated the gentleman to be our guide as far as +he went. But so many obstacles beset our path in the form of newly- +chopped trees and blocks of stone, scattered along the shore, that it +was with the utmost difficulty we could keep him in sight. At last we +came up with him at the place appointed to meet the skiff, and, with a +pertinacity that at another time and in other circumstances we never +should have adopted, we all but insisted on being admitted into the +boat. An angry growling consent was extorted from the surly Charon, and +we hastily entered the frail bark, which seemed hardly calculated to +convey us in safety to the opposite shore. + +I could not help indulging in a feeling of indescribable fear, as I +listened to the torrent of profane invective that burst forth +continually from the lips of the boatman. Once or twice we were in +danger of being overset by the boughs of the pines and cedars which had +fallen into the water near the banks. Right glad was I when we reached +the opposite shores; but here a new trouble arose: there was yet more +untracked wood to cross before we again met the skiff which had to pass +up a small rapid, and meet us at the head of the small lake, an +expansion of the Otanabee a little below Peterborough. At the distance +of every few yards our path was obstructed by fallen trees, mostly +hemlock, spruce, or cedar, the branches of which are so thickly +interwoven that it is scarcely possible to separate them, or force a +passage through the tangled thicket which they form. + +Had it not been for the humane assistance of our conductor, I know not +how I should have surmounted these difficulties. Sometimes I was ready +to sink down from very weariness. At length I hailed, with a joy I could +hardly have supposed possible, the gruff voice of the Irish rower, and, +after considerable grumbling on his part, we were again seated. + +Glad enough we were to see, by the blazing light of an enormous log- +heap, the house of our friend. Here we received the offer of a guide to +show us the way to the town by a road cut through the wood. We partook +of the welcome refreshment of tea, and, having gained a little strength +by a short rest, we once more commenced our journey, guided by a ragged, +but polite, Irish boy, whose frankness and good humour quite won our +regards. He informed us he was one of seven orphans, who had lost father +and mother in the cholera. It was a sad thing, he said, to be left +fatherless and motherless, in a strange land; and he swept away the +tears that gathered in his eyes as he told the simple, but sad tale of +his early bereavement; but added, cheerfully, he had met with a kind +master, who had taken some of his brothers and sisters into his service +as well as himself. + +Just as we were emerging from the gloom of the wood we found our +progress impeded by a _creek_, as the boy called it, over which he told +us we must pass by a log-bridge before we could get to the town. Now, +the log-bridge was composed of one log, or rather a fallen tree, thrown +across the stream, rendered very slippery by the heavy dew that had +risen from the swamp. As the log admitted of only one person at a time, +I could receive no assistance from my companions; and, though our little +guide, with a natural politeness arising from the benevolence of his +disposition, did me all the service in his power by holding the lantern +close to the surface to throw all the light he could on the subject, I +had the ill luck to fall in up to my knees in the water, my head turning +quite giddy just as I came to the last step or two; thus was I wet as +well as weary. To add to our misfortune we saw the lights disappear, one +by one, in the village, till a solitary candle, glimmering from the +upper chambers of one or two houses, were our only beacons. We had yet a +lodging to seek, and it was near midnight before we reached the door of +the principal inn; there, at least, thought I, our troubles for to-night +will end; but great was our mortification on being told there was not a +spare bed to be had in the house, every one being occupied by emigrants +going up to one of the back townships. + +I could go no further, and we petitioned for a place by the kitchen +fire, where we might rest, at least, if not sleep, and I might dry my +wet garments. On seeing my condition the landlady took compassion on me, +led me to a blazing fire, which her damsels quickly roused up; one +brought a warm bath for my feet, while another provided a warm potation, +which, I really believe, strange and unusual to my lips as it was, did +me good: in short, we received every kindness and attention that we +required from mine host and hostess, who relinquished their own bed for +our accommodation, contenting themselves with a shakedown before the +kitchen fire. + +I can now smile at the disasters of _that_ day, but at the time they +appeared no trifles, as you may well suppose. + +Farewell, my dearest Mother. + + + + +LETTER VI. + +Peterborough.--Manners and Language of the Americans.--Scotch +Engineman.--Description of Peterborough and its Environs.--Canadian +Flowers.--Shanties.--Hardships suffered by first Settlers.--Process of +establishing a Farm. + +Peterborough, Sept. 11, 1832. + +IT is now settled that we abide here till after the government sale has +taken place. We are, then, to remain with S------ and his family till we +have got a few acres chopped, and a log-house put up on our own land. +Having determined to go at once into the bush, on account of our +military grant, which we have been so fortunate as to draw in the +neighbourhood of S------, we have fully made up our minds to enter at +once, and cheerfully, on the privations and inconveniences attending +such a situation; as there is no choice between relinquishing that great +advantage and doing our settlement duties. We shall not be worse off +than others who have gone before us to the unsettled townships, many of +whom, naval and military officers, with their families, have had to +struggle with considerable difficulties, but who are now beginning to +feel the advantages arising from their exertions. + +In addition to the land he is entitled to as an officer in the British +service, my husband is in treaty for the purchase of an eligible lot by +small lakes. This will give us a water frontage, and a further +inducement to bring us within a little distance of S------; so that we +shall not be quite so lonely as if we had gone on to our government lot +at once. + +We have experienced some attention and hospitality from several of the +residents of Peterborough. There is a very genteel society, chiefly +composed of officers and their families, besides the professional men +and storekeepers. Many of the latter are persons of respectable family +and good education. Though a store is, in fact, nothing better than what +we should call in the country towns at home a "_general shop_," yet the +storekeeper in Canada holds a very different rank from the shopkeeper of +the English village. The storekeepers are the merchants and bankers of +the places in which they reside. Almost all money matters are transacted +by them, and they are often men of landed property and consequence, not +unfrequently filling the situations of magistrates, commissioners, and +even members of the provincial parliament. + +As they maintain a rank in society which entitles them to equality with +the aristocracy of the country, you must not be surprised when I tell +you that it is no uncommon circumstance to see the sons of naval and +military officers and clergymen standing behind a counter, or wielding +an axe in the woods with their fathers' choppers; nor do they lose their +grade in society by such employment. After all, it is education and +manners that must distinguish the gentleman in this country, seeing that +the labouring man, if he is diligent and industrious, may soon become +his equal in point of worldly possessions. The ignorant man, let him be +ever so wealthy, can never be equal to the man of education. It is the +mind that forms the distinction between the classes in this country-- +"Knowledge is power!" + +We had heard so much of the odious manners of the Yankees in this +country that I was rather agreeably surprised by the few specimens of +native Americans that I have seen. They were for the most part, polite, +well-behaved people. The only peculiarities I observed in them were a +certain nasal twang in speaking, and some few odd phrases; but these +were only used by the lower class, who "_guess_" and "_calculate_" a +little more than we do. One of their most remarkable terms is to +"_Fix_." Whatever work requires to be done it must be _fixed_. "Fix the +room" is, set it in order. "Fix the table"--"Fix the fire," says the +mistress to her servants, and the things are fixed accordingly. + +I was amused one day by hearing a woman tell her husband the chimney +wanted fixing. I thought it seemed secure enough, and was a little +surprised when the man got a rope and a few cedar boughs, with which he +dislodged an accumulation of soot that caused the fire to smoke. The +chimney being _fixed_, all went right again. This odd term is not +confined to the lower orders alone, and, from hearing it so often, it +becomes a standard word even among the later emigrants from our own +country. + +With the exception of some few remarkable expressions, and an attempt at +introducing fine words in their every-day conversation, the lower order +of Yankees have a decided advantage over our English peasantry in the +use of grammatical language: they speak better English than you will +hear from persons of the same class in any part of England, Ireland, or +Scotland; a fact that we should be unwilling, I suppose, to allow at +home. + +If I were asked what appeared to me the most striking feature in the +manners of the Americans that I had met with, I should say it was +coldness approaching to apathy. I do not at all imagine them to be +deficient in feeling or real sensibility, but they do not suffer their +emotion to be seen. They are less profuse in their expressions of +welcome and kindness than we are, though probably quite as sincere. No +one doubts their hospitality; but, after all, one likes to see the +hearty shake of the hand, and hear the cordial word that makes one feel +oneself welcome. + +Persons who come to this country are very apt to confound the old +settlers from Britain with the native Americans; and when they meet with +people of rude, offensive manners, using certain Yankee words in their +conversation, and making a display of independence not exactly suitable +to their own aristocratical notions, they immediately suppose they must +be genuine Yankees, while they are, in fact, only imitators; and you +well know the fact that a bad imitation is always worse than the +original. + +You would be surprised to see how soon the new comers fall into this +disagreeable manner and affectation of equality, especially the inferior +class of Irish and Scotch; the English less so. We were rather +entertained by the behaviour of a young Scotchman, the engineer of the +steamer, on my husband addressing him with reference to the management +of the engine. His manners were surly, and almost insolent. He +scrupulously avoided the least approach to courtesy or outward respect; +nay, he even went so far as to seat himself on the bench close beside +me, and observed that "among the many advantages this country offered to +settlers like him, he did not reckon it the least of them that he was +not obliged to take off his hat when he spoke to people (meaning persons +of our degree), or address them by any other title than their name; +besides, he could go and take his seat beside any gentleman or lady +either, and think himself to the full as good as them. + +"Very likely," I replied, hardly able to refrain from laughing at this +sally; "but I doubt you greatly overrate the advantage of such +privileges, for you cannot oblige the lady or gentleman to entertain the +same opinion of your qualifications, or to remain seated beside you +unless it pleases them to do so." With these words I rose up and left +the independent gentleman evidently a little confounded at the +manoeuvre: however, he soon recovered his self-possession, and continued +swinging the axe he held in his hand, and said, "It is no crime, I +guess, being born a poor man." + +"None in the world," replied my husband; "a man's birth is not of his +own choosing. A man can no more help being born poor than rich; neither +is it the fault of a gentleman being born of parents who occupy a higher +station in society than his neighbour. I hope you will allow this?" + +The Scotchman was obliged to yield a reluctant affirmative to the latter +position; but concluded with again repeating his satisfaction at not +being obliged in this country to take off his hat, or speak with respect +to gentlemen, as they styled themselves. + +"No one, my friend, could have obliged you to be well mannered at home +any more than in Canada. Surely you could have kept your hat on your +head if you had been so disposed; no gentleman would have knocked it +off, I am sure. + +"As to the boasted advantage of rude manners in Canada, I should think +something of it if it benefited you the least, or put one extra dollar +in your pocket; but I have my doubts if it has that profitable effect." + +"There is a comfort, I guess, in considering oneself equal to a +gentleman." + +"Particularly if you could induce the gentleman to think the same." This +was a point that seemed rather to disconcert our candidate for equality, +who commenced whistling and kicking his heels with redoubled energy. + +"Now," said his tormentor, "you have explained your notions of Canadian +independence; be so good as to explain the machinery of your engine, +with which you seem very well acquainted." + +The man eyed my husband for a minute, half sulking, half pleased at the +implied compliment on his skill, and, walking off to the engine, +discussed the management of it with considerable fluency, and from that +time treated us with perfect respect. He was evidently struck with my +husband's reply to his question, put in a most discourteous tone, "Pray, +what makes a gentleman: I'll thank you to answer me that?" "Good manners +and good education," was the reply. "A rich man or a high-born man, if +he is rude, ill-mannered, and ignorant, is no more a gentleman than +yourself." + +This put the matter on a different footing, and the engineer had the +good sense to perceive that rude familiarity did not constitute a +gentleman. + +But it is now time I should give you some account of Peterborough, +which, in point of situation, is superior to any place I have yet seen +in the Upper Province. It occupies a central point between the townships +of Monaghan, Smith, Cavan, Otanabee, and Douro, and may with propriety +be considered as the capital of the Newcastle district. + +It is situated on a fine elevated plain, just above the small lake, +where the river is divided by two low wooded islets. The original or +government part of the town is laid out in half-acre lots; the streets, +which are now fast filling up, are nearly at right angles with the +river, and extend towards the plains to the northeast. These plains form +a beautiful natural park, finely diversified with hill and dale, covered +with a lovely green sward, enamelled with a variety of the most +exquisite flowers, and planted, as if by Nature's own hand, with groups +of feathery pines, oaks, balsam, poplar, and silver birch. The views +from these plains are delightful; whichever way you turn your eyes they +are gratified by a diversity of hill and dale, wood and water, with the +town spreading over a considerable tract of ground. + +The plains descend with a steep declivity towards the river, which +rushes with considerable impetuosity between its banks. Fancy a long, +narrow valley, and separating the east and west portions of the town +into two distinct villages. + +[Illustration: Spruce] + +The Otanabee bank rises to a loftier elevation than the Monaghan side, +and commands an extensive view over the intervening valley, the opposite +town, and the boundary forest and hills behind it: this is called +Peterborough East, and is in the hands of two or three individuals of +large capital, from whom the town lots are purchased. + +Peterborough thus divided covers a great extent of ground, more than +sufficient for the formation of a large city. The number of inhabitants +are now reckoned at seven hundred and upwards, and if it continues to +increase as rapidly in the next few years as it has done lately, it will +soon be a very populous town*. + +[*Since this account of Peterborough was written, the town has increased +at least a third in buildings and population.] + +There is great water-power, both as regards the river and the fine broad +creek which winds its way through the town and falls into the small lake +below. There are several saw and grist-mills, a distillery, fulling- +mill, two principal inns, beside smaller ones, a number of good stores, +a government school-house, which also serves for a church, till one more +suitable should be built. The plains are sold off in park lots, and some +pretty little dwellings are being built, but I much fear the natural +beauties of this lovely spot will be soon spoiled. + +I am never weary with strolling about, climbing the hills in every +direction, to catch some new prospect, or gather some new flowers, +which, though getting late in the summer, are still abundant. + +Among the plants with whose names I am acquainted are a variety of +shrubby asters, of every tint of blue, purple, and pearly white; a lilac +_monarda_, most delightfully aromatic, even to the dry stalks and seed- +vessels; the white _gnaphalium_ or everlasting flower; roses of several +kinds, a few late buds of which I found in a valley, near the church. I +also noticed among the shrubs a very pretty little plant, resembling our +box; it trails along the ground, sending up branches and shoots; the +leaves turn of a deep copper red*; yet, in spite of this contradiction, +it is an evergreen. I also noticed some beautiful lichens, with coral +caps surmounting the grey hollow footstalks, which grow in irregular +tufts among the dry mosses, or more frequently I found them covering the +roots of the trees or half-decayed timbers. Among a variety of fungi I +gathered a hollow cup of the most splendid scarlet within, and a pale +fawn colour without; another very beautiful fungi consisted of small +branches like clusters of white coral, but of so delicate a texture that +the slightest touch caused them to break. + +[* Probably a _Gaultkeria_.--Ed.] + +The ground in many places was covered with a thick carpet of +strawberries of many varieties, which afford a constant dessert during +the season to those who choose to pick them, a privilege of which I am +sure I should gladly avail myself were I near them in the summer. Beside +the plants I have myself observed in blossom, I am told the spring and +summer produce many others;--the orange lily; the phlox, or purple +_lichnidea_; the mocassin flower, or ladies' slipper; lilies of the +valley in abundance; and, towards the banks of the creek and the +Otanabee, the splendid cardinal flower (_lobelia cardinalis_) waves its +scarlet spikes of blossoms. + +I am half inclined to be angry when I admire the beauty of the Canadian +flowers, to be constantly reminded that they are scentless, and +therefore scarcely worthy of attention; as if the eye could not be +charmed by beauty of form and harmony of colours, independent of the +sense of smelling being gratified. + +To redeem this country from the censure cast on it by a very clever +gentleman I once met in London, who said, "the flowers were without +perfume, and the birds without song," I have already discovered several +highly aromatic plants and flowers. The milkweed must not be omitted +among these; a beautiful shrubby plant with purple flowers, which are +alike remarkable for beauty of colour and richness of scent. + +I shall very soon begin to collect a hortus siccus for Eliza, with a +description of the plants, growth, and qualities. Any striking +particulars respecting them I shall make notes of; and tell her she may +depend on my sending my specimens, with seeds of such as I can collect, +at some fitting opportunity. + +I consider this country opens a wide and fruitful field to the inquiries +of the botanist. I now deeply regret I did not benefit by the frequent +offers Eliza made me of prosecuting a study which I once thought dry, +but now regard as highly interesting, and the fertile source of mental +enjoyment, especially to those who, living in the bush, must necessarily +be shut out from the pleasures of a large circle of friends, and the +varieties that a town or village offer. + +On Sunday I went to church; the first opportunity I had had of attending +public worship since I was in the Highlands of Scotland; and surely I +had reason to bow my knees in thankfulness to that merciful God who had +brought us through the perils of the great deep and the horrors of the +pestilence. + +Never did our beautiful Liturgy seem so touching and impressive as it +did that day,--offered up in our lowly log-built church in the +wilderness. + +This simple edifice is situated at the foot of a gentle slope on the +plains, surrounded by groups of oak and feathery pines, which, though +inferior in point of size to the huge pines and oaks of the forest, are +far more agreeable to the eye, branching out in a variety of fantastic +forms. The turf here is of an emerald greenness: in short, it is a sweet +spot, retired from the noise and bustle of the town, a fitting place in +which to worship God in spirit and in truth. + +There are many beautiful walks towards the Smith town hills, and along +the banks that overlook the river. The summit of this ridge is sterile, +and is thickly set with loose blocks of red and grey granite, +interspersed with large masses of limestone scattered in every +direction; they are mostly smooth and rounded, as if by the action of +water. As they are detached, and merely occupy the surface of the +ground, it seemed strange to me how they came at that elevation. A +geologist would doubtless be able to solve the mystery in a few minutes. +The oaks that grow on this high bank are rather larger and more +flourishing than those in the valleys and more fertile portions of the +soil. + +Behind the town, in the direction of the Cavan and Emily roads, is a +wide space which I call the "squatter's ground," it being entirely +covered with shanties, in which the poor emigrants, commuted pensioners, +and the like, have located themselves and families. Some remain here +under the ostensible reason of providing a shelter for their wives and +children till they have prepared a home for their reception on their +respective grants; but not unfrequently it happens that they are too +indolent, or really unable to work on their lots, often situated many +miles in the backwoods, and in distant and unsettled townships, +presenting great obstacles to the poor emigrant, which it requires more +energy and courage to encounter than is possessed by a vast number of +them. Others, of idle and profligate habits, spend the money they +received, and sell the land, for which they gave away their pensions, +after which they remain miserable squatters on the shanty ground. + +The shanty is a sort of primitive hut in Canadian architecture, and is +nothing more than a shed built of logs, the chinks between the round +edges of the timbers being filled with mud, moss, and bits of wood; the +roof is frequently composed of logs split and hollowed with the axe, and +placed side by side, so that the edges rest on each other; the concave +and convex surfaces being alternately uppermost, every other log forms a +channel to carry off the rain and melting snow. The eaves of this +building resemble the scolloped edges of a clam shell; but rude as this +covering is, it effectually answers the purpose of keeping the interior +dry; far more so than the roofs formed of bark or boards, through which +the rain will find entrance. Sometimes the shanty has a window, +sometimes only an open doorway, which admits the light and lets out the +smoke*. A rude chimney, which is often nothing better than an opening +cut in one of the top logs above the hearth, a few boards fastened in a +square form, serves as the vent for the smoke; the only precaution +against the fire catching the log walls behind the hearth being a few +large stones placed in a half circular form, or more commonly a bank of +dry earth raised against the wall. + +[* I was greatly amused by the remark made by a little Irish boy, that +we hired to be our hewer of wood and drawer of water, who had been an +inhabitant of one of these shanties. "Ma'am" said he, "when the weather +was stinging cold, we did not know how to keep ourselves warm; for while +we roasted our eyes out before the fire our backs were just freezing; so +first we turned one side and then the other, just as you would roast a +_guse_ on a spit. Mother spent half the money father earned at his straw +work (he was a straw chair maker,) in whiskey to keep us warm; but I do +think a larger mess of good hot _praters_ (potatoes,) would have kept us +warmer than the whiskey did."] + +Nothing can be more comfortless than some of these shanties, reeking +with smoke and dirt, the common receptacle for children, pigs, and +fowls. But I have given you the dark side of the picture; I am happy to +say all the shanties on the squatters' ground were not like these: on +the contrary, by far the larger proportion were inhabited by tidy folks, +and had one, or even two small windows, and a clay chimney regularly +built up through the roof; some were even roughly floored, and possessed +similar comforts with the small log-houses. + +[Illustration: Log house] + +You will, perhaps, think it strange when I assure you that many +respectable settlers, with their wives and families, persons delicately +nurtured, and accustomed to every comfort before they came hither, have +been contented to inhabit a hut of this kind during the first or second +year of their settlement in the woods. + +I have listened with feelings of great interest to the history of the +hardships endured by some of the first settlers in the neighbourhood, +when Peterborough contained but two dwelling houses. Then there were +neither roads cut nor boats built for communicating with the distant and +settled parts of the district; consequently the difficulties of +procuring supplies of provisions was very great, beyond what any one +that has lately come hither can form any notion of. + +When I heard of a whole family having had no better supply of flour than +what could be daily ground by a small hand-mill, and for weeks being +destitute of every necessary, not even excepting bread, I could not help +expressing some surprise, never having met with any account in the works +I had read concerning emigration that at all prepared one for such +evils. + +"These particular trials," observed my intelligent friend, "are confined +principally to the first breakers of the soil in the unsettled parts of +the country, as was our case. If you diligently question some of the +families of the lower class that are located far from the towns, and who +had little or no means to support them during the first twelve months, +till they could take a crop off the land, you will hear many sad tales +of distress." + +Writers on emigration do not take the trouble of searching out these +things, nor does it answer their purpose to state disagreeable facts. +Few have written exclusively on the "Bush." Travellers generally make a +hasty journey through the long settled and prosperous portions of the +country; they see a tract of fertile, well-cultivated land, the result +of many years of labour; they see comfortable dwellings, abounding with +all the substantial necessaries of life; the farmer's wife makes her own +soap, candles, and sugar; the family are clothed in cloth of their own +spinning, and hose of their own knitting. The bread, the beer, butter, +cheese, meat, poultry, &c. are all the produce of the farm. He +concludes, therefore, that Canada is a land of Canaan, and writes a book +setting forth these advantages, with the addition of obtaining land for +a mere song; and advises all persons who would be independent and secure +from want to emigrate. + +He forgets that these advantages are the result of long years of +unremitting and patient labour; that these things are the _crown_, not +the _first-fruits_ of the settler's toil; and that during the interval +many and great privations must be submitted to by almost every class of +emigrants. + +Many persons, on first coming out, especially if they go back into any +of the unsettled townships, are dispirited by the unpromising appearance +of things about them. They find none of the advantages and comforts of +which they had heard and read, and they are unprepared for the present +difficulties; some give way to despondency, and others quit the place in +disgust. + +[Illustration: Log-Village--Arrival of a Stage-coach] + +A little reflection would have shown them that every rood of land must +be cleared of the thick forest of timber that encumbers it before an ear +of wheat can be grown; that, after the trees have been chopped, cut into +lengths, drawn together, or _logged_, as we call it, and burned, the +field must be fenced, the seed sown, harvested, and thrashed before any +returns can be obtained; that this requires time and much labour, and, +if hired labour, considerable outlay of ready money; and in the mean +time a family must eat. If at a distance from a store, every article +must be brought through bad roads either by hand or with a team, the +hire of which is generally costly in proportion to the distance and +difficulty to be encountered in the conveyance. Now these things are +better known beforehand, and then people are aware what they have to +encounter. + +Even a labouring man, though he have land of his own, is often, I may +say generally, obliged to _hire out_ to work for the first year or two, +to earn sufficient for the maintenance of his family; and even so many +of them suffer much privation before they reap the benefit of their +independence. Were it not for the hope and the certain prospect of +bettering their condition ultimately, they would sink under what they +have to endure; but this thought buoys them up. They do not fear an old +age of want and pauperism; the present evils must yield to industry and +perseverance; they think also for their children; and the trials of the +present time are lost in pleasing anticipations for the future. + +"Surely," said I, "cows and pigs and poultry might be kept; and you know +where there is plenty of milk, butter, cheese, and eggs, with pork and +fowls, persons cannot be very badly off for food." + +"Very true," replied my friend; "but I must tell you it is easier to +talk of these things at first than to keep them, unless on cleared or +partially cleared farms; but we are speaking of a _first_ settlement in +the backwoods. Cows, pigs, and fowls must eat, and if you have nothing +to give them unless you purchase it, and perhaps have to bring it from +some distance, you had better not be troubled with them, as the trouble +is certain and the profit doubtful. A cow, it is true, will get her +living during the open months of the year in the bush, but sometimes she +will ramble away for days together, and then you lose the use of her, +and possibly much time in seeking her; then in the winter she requires +some additional food to the _browse_* that she gets during the chopping +season, or ten to one but she dies before spring; and as cows generally +lose their milk during the cold weather, if not very well kept, it is +best to part with them in the fall and buy again in the spring, unless +you have plenty of food for them, which is not often the case the first +winter. As to pigs they are great plagues on a newly cleared farm if you +cannot fat them off-hand; and that you cannot do without you buy food +for them, which does not answer to do at first. If they run loose they +are a terrible annoyance both to your own crops and your neighbours if +you happen to be within half a mile of one; for though you may fence out +cattle you cannot pigs: even poultry require something more than they +pick up about the dwelling to be of any service to you, and are often +taken off by hawks, eagles, foxes, and pole-cats, till you have proper +securities for them." + +[* The cattle are supported in a great measure during the fall and +winter by eating the tender shoots of the maple, beech and bass, which +they seek in the newly-chopped fallow; but they should likewise be +allowed straw or other food, or they will die in the very hard weather.] + +"Then how are we to spin our own wool and make our own soap and +candles?" said I. "When you are able to kill your own sheep, and hogs, +and oxen, unless you buy wool and tallow"--then, seeing me begin to look +somewhat disappointed, he said, "Be not cast down, you will have all +these things in time, and more than these, never fear, if you have +patience, and use the means of obtaining them. In the mean while prepare +your mind for many privations to which at present you are a stranger; +and if you would desire to see your husband happy and prosperous, be +content to use economy, and above all, be cheerful. In a few years the +farm will supply you with all the necessaries of life, and by and by you +may even enjoy many of the luxuries. Then it is that a settler begins to +taste the real and solid advantages of his emigration; then he feels the +blessings of a country where there are no taxes, tithes, nor poor-rates; +then he truly feels the benefit of independence. It is looking forward +to this happy fulfillment of his desires that makes the rough paths +smooth, and lightens the burden of present ills. He looks round upon a +numerous family without those anxious fears that beset a father in +moderate circumstances at home; for he knows he does not leave them +destitute of an honest means of support." + +In spite of all the trials he had encountered, I found this gentleman +was so much attached to a settler's life, that he declared he would not +go back to his own country to reside for a permanence on any account; +nor is he the only one that I have heard express the same opinion; and +it likewise seems a universal one among the lower class of emigrants. +They are encouraged by the example of others whom they see enjoying +comforts that they could never have obtained had they laboured ever so +hard at home; and they wisely reflect they must have had hardships to +endure had they remained in their native land (many indeed had been +driven out by want), without the most remote chance of bettering +themselves or becoming the possessors of land free from all +restrictions. "What to us are the sufferings of one, two, three, or even +four years, compared with a whole life of labour and poverty," was the +remark of a poor labourer, who was recounting to us the other day some +of the hardships he had met with in this country. He said he "knew they +were only for a short time, and that by industry he should soon get over +them." + +I have already seen two of our poor neighbours that left the parish a +twelvemonth ago; they are settled in Canada Company lots, and are +getting on well. They have some few acres cleared and cropped, but are +obliged to "_hire out_", to enable their families to live, working on +their own land when they can. The men are in good spirits, and say "they +shall in a few years have many comforts about them that they never could +have got at home, had they worked late and early; but they complain that +their wives are always pining for home, and lamenting that ever they +crossed the seas." This seems to be the general complaint with all +classes; the women are discontented and unhappy. Few enter with their +whole heart into a settler's life. They miss the little domestic +comforts they had been used to enjoy; they regret the friends and +relations they left in the old country; and they cannot endure the +loneliness of the backwoods. + +This prospect does not discourage me: I know I shall find plenty of +occupation within-doors, and I have sources of enjoyment when I walk +abroad that will keep me from being dull. Besides, have I not a right to +be cheerful and contented for the sake of my beloved partner? The change +is not greater for me than him; and if for his sake I have voluntarily +left home, and friends, and country, shall I therefore sadden him by +useless regrets? I am always inclined to subscribe to that sentiment of +my favourite poet, Goldsmith,-- + +"Still to ourselves in every place consign'd, +Our own felicity we make or find." + +But I shall very soon be put to the test, as we leave this town to- +morrow by ten o'clock. The purchase of the Lake lot is concluded. There +are three acres chopped and a shanty up; but the shanty is not a +habitable dwelling, being merely an open shed that was put up by the +choppers as a temporary shelter; so we shall have to build a house. Late +enough we are; too late to get in a full crop, as the land is merely +chopped, not cleared, and it is too late now to log and burn the fallow, +and get the seed-wheat in: but it will be ready for spring crops. We +paid five dollars and a half per acre for the lot; this was rather high +for wild land, so far from a town, and in a scantily-settled part of the +township; but the situation is good, and has a water frontage, for which +my husband was willing to pay something more than if the lot had been +further inland. + +In all probability it will be some time before I find leisure again to +take up my pen. We shall remain guests with ------ till our house is in +a habitable condition, which I suppose will be about Christmas. + + + + +LETTER VII. + +Journey from Peterborough.--Canadian Woods.--Waggon and Team.--Arrival +at a Log-house on the Banks of a Lake.--Settlement and first +Occupations. + +October 25, 1832. + +I SHALL begin my letter with a description of our journey through the +bush, and so go on, giving an account of our proceedings both within- +doors and with-out. I know my little domestic details will not prove +wholly uninteresting to you; for well I am assured that a mother's eye +is never weary with reading lines traced by the hand of an absent and +beloved child. + +After some difficulty we succeeded in hiring a waggon and span (i.e. +pair abreast) of stout horses to convey us and our luggage through the +woods to the banks of one of the lakes, where S------ had appointed to +ferry us across. There was no palpable road, only a blaze on the other +side, encumbered by fallen trees, and interrupted by a great cedar +swamp, into which one might sink up to one's knees, unless we took the +precaution to step along the trunks of the mossy, decaying timbers, or +make our footing sure on some friendly block of granite or limestone. +What is termed in bush language a _blaze_, is nothing more than notches +or slices cut off the bark of the trees, to mark out the line of road. +The boundaries of the different lots are often marked by a blazed tree, +also the concession-lines*. These blazes are of as much use as finger- +posts of a dark night. + +[* These concession-lines are certain divisions of the townships; these +are again divided into so many lots of 200 acres. The concession-lines +used to be marked by a wide avenue being chopped, so as to form a road +of communication between them; but this plan was found too troublesome; +and in a few years the young growth of timber so choked the opening, +that it was of little use. The lately-surveyed townships, I believe, are +only divided by blazed lines.] + +The road we were compelled to take lay over the Peterborough plains, in +the direction of the river; the scenery of which pleased me much, though +it presents little appearance of fertility, with the exception of two or +three extensive clearings. + +About three miles above Peterborough the road winds along the brow of a +steep ridge, the bottom of which has every appearance of having been +formerly the bed of a lateral branch of the present river, or perhaps +some small lake, which has been diverted from its channel, and merged in +the Otanabee. + +On either side of this ridge there is a steep descent; on the right the +Otanabee breaks upon you, rushing with great velocity over its rocky +bed, forming rapids in miniature resembling those of the St. Laurence; +its dark, frowning woods of sombre pine give a grandeur to the scenery +that is very impressive. On the left lies below you a sweet secluded +dell of evergreens, cedar, hemlock, and pine, enlivened by a few +deciduous trees. Through this dell there is a road-track leading to a +fine cleared farm, the green pastures of which were rendered more +pleasing by the absence of the odious stumps that disfigure the +clearings in this part of the country. A pretty bright stream flows +through the low meadow that lies at the foot of the hill, which you +descend suddenly close by a small grist-mill that is worked by the +waters, just where they meet the rapids of the river. + +[Illustration: Road through a Pine Forest] + +I called this place "Glen Morrison," partly from the remembrance of the +lovely Glen Morrison of the Highlands, and partly because it was the +name of the settler that owned the spot. + +Our progress was but slow on account of the roughness of the road, which +is beset with innumerable obstacles in the shape of loose blocks of +granite and limestone, with which the lands on the banks of the river +and lakes abound; to say nothing of fallen trees, big roots, mud-holes, +and corduroy bridges, over which you go jolt, jolt, jolt, till every +bone in your body feels as if it were going to be dislocated. An +experienced bush-traveller avoids many hard thumps by rising up or +clinging to the sides of his rough vehicle. + +As the day was particularly fine, I often quitted the waggon and walked +on with my husband for a mile or so. + +We soon lost sight entirely of the river, and struck into the deep +solitude of the forest, where not a sound disturbed the almost awful +stillness that reigned around us. Scarcely a leaf or bough was in +motion, excepting at intervals we caught the sound of the breeze +stirring the lofty heads of the pine-trees, and wakening a hoarse and +mournful cadence. This, with the tapping of the red-headed and grey +woodpeckers on the trunk of the decaying trees, or the shrill whistling +cry of the little striped squirrel, called by the natives "chitmunk," +was every sound that broke the stillness of the wild. Nor was I less +surprised at the absence of animal life. With the exception of the +aforesaid chitmunk, no living thing crossed our path during our long +day's journey in the woods. + +In these vast solitudes one would naturally be led to imagine that the +absence of man would have allowed Nature's wild denizens to have +abounded free and unmolested; but the contrary seems to be the case. +Almost all wild animals are more abundant in the cleared districts than +in the bush. Man's industry supplies their wants at an easier rate than +seeking a scanty subsistence in the forest. + +You hear continually of depredations committed by wolves, bears, +racoons, lynxes, and foxes, in the long-settled parts of the province. +In the backwoods the appearance of wild beasts is a matter of much rarer +occurrence. + +I was disappointed in the forest trees, having pictured to myself hoary +giants almost primeval with the country itself, as greatly exceeding in +majesty of form the trees of my native isles, as the vast lakes and +mighty rivers of Canada exceed the locks and streams of Britain. + +There is a want of picturesque beauty in the woods. The young growth of +timber alone has any pretension of elegance of form, unless I except the +hemlocks, which are extremely light and graceful, and of a lovely +refreshing tint of green. Even when winter has stripped the forest it is +still beautiful and verdant. The young beeches too are pretty enough, +but you miss that fantastic bowery shade that is so delightful in our +parks and woodlands at home. + +There is no appearance of venerable antiquity in the Canadian woods. +There are no ancient spreading oaks that might be called the patriarchs +of the forest. A premature decay seems to be their doom. They are +uprooted by the storm, and sink in their first maturity, to give place +to a new generation that is ready to fill their places. + +The pines are certainly the finest trees. In point of size there are +none to surpass them. They tower above all the others, forming a dark +line that may be distinguished for many miles. The pines being so much +loftier than the other trees, are sooner uprooted, as they receive the +full and unbroken force of the wind in their tops; thus it is that the +ground is continually strewn with the decaying trunks of huge pines. +They also seem more liable to inward decay, and blasting from lightning, +and fire. Dead pines are more frequently met with than any other tree. + +Much as I had seen and heard of the badness of the roads in Canada, I +was not prepared for such a one as we travelled along this day: indeed, +it hardly deserved the name of a road, being little more than an opening +hewed out through the woods, the trees being felled and drawn aside, so +as to admit a wheeled carriage passing along. + +The swamps and little forest streams, that occasionally gush across the +path, are rendered passable by logs placed side by side. From the ridgy +and striped appearance of these bridges they are aptly enough termed +corduroy. + +Over these abominable corduroys the vehicle jolts, jumping from log to +log, with a shock that must be endured with as good a grace as possible. +If you could bear these knocks, and pitiless thumpings and bumpings, +without wry faces, your patience and philosophy would far exceed mine;-- +sometimes I laughed because I would not cry. + +Imagine you see me perched up on a seat composed of carpet-bags, trunks, +and sundry packages, in a vehicle little better than a great rough deal +box set on wheels, the sides being merely pegged in so that more than +once I found myself in rather an awkward predicament, owing to the said +sides jumping out. In the very midst of a deep mud-hole out went the +front board, and with the shock went the teamster (driver), who looked +rather confounded at finding himself lodged just in the middle of a +slough as bad as the "Slough of Despond." For my part, as I could do no +good, I kept my seat, and patiently awaited the restoration to order. +This was soon effected, and all went on well again till a jolt against a +huge pine-tree gave such a jar to the ill-set vehicle, that one of the +boards danced out that composed the bottom, and a sack of flour and bag +of salted pork, which was on its way to a settler's, whose clearing we +had to pass in the way, were ejected. A good teamster is seldom taken +aback by such trifles as these. + +He is, or should be, provided with an axe. No waggon, team, or any other +travelling equipage should be unprovided with an instrument of this +kind; as no one can answer for the obstacles that may impede his +progress in the bush. The disasters we met fortunately required but +little skill in remedying. The sides need only a stout peg, and the +loosened planks that form the bottom being quickly replaced, away you go +again over root, stump, and stone, mud-hole, and corduroy; now against +the trunk of some standing tree, now mounting over some fallen one, with +an impulse that would annihilate any lighter equipage than a Canadian +waggon, which is admirably fitted by its very roughness for such roads +as we have in the bush. + +The sagacity of the horses of this country is truly admirable. Their +patience in surmounting the difficulties they have to encounter, their +skill in avoiding the holes and stones, and in making their footing sure +over the round and slippery timbers of the log-bridges, renders them +very valuable. If they want the spirit and fleetness of some of our +high-bred blood-horses, they make up in gentleness, strength, and +patience. This renders them most truly valuable, as they will travel in +such places that no British horse would, with equal safety to their +drivers. Nor are the Canadian horses, when well fed and groomed, at all +deficient in beauty of colour, size, or form. They are not very often +used in logging; the ox is preferred in all rough and heavy labour of +this kind. + +Just as the increasing gloom of the forest began to warn us of the +approach of evening, and I was getting weary and hungry, our driver, in +some confusion, avowed his belief that, somehow or other, he had missed +the track, though how, he could not tell, seeing there was but one road. +We were nearly two miles from the last settlement, and he said we ought +to be within sight of the lake if we were on the right road. The only +plan, we agreed, was for him to go forward and leave the team, and +endeavour to ascertain if he were near the water, and if otherwise, to +return to the house we had passed and inquire the way. + +After running full half a mile ahead he returned with a dejected +countenance, saying we must be wrong, for he saw no appearance of water, +and the road we were on appeared to end in a cedar swamp, as the farther +he went the thicker the hemlocks and cedars became; so, as we had no +desire to commence our settlement by a night's lodging in a swamp-- +where, to use the expression of our driver, the cedars grew as thick as +hairs on a cat's back,--we agreed to retrace our steps. + +After some difficulty the lumbering machine was turned, and slowly we +began our backward march. We had not gone more than a mile when a boy +came along, who told us we might just go back again, as there was no +other road to the lake; and added, with a knowing nod of his head, +"Master, I guess if you had known the bush as well as I, you would never +have been _fule_ enough to turn when you were going just right. Why, any +body knows that _them_ cedars and himlocks grow thickest near the water; +so you may just go back for your pains." + +It was dark, save that the stars came forth with more than usual +brilliancy, when we suddenly emerged from the depth of the gloomy forest +to the shores of a beautiful little lake, that gleamed the more brightly +from the contrast of the dark masses of foliage that hung over it, and +the towering pine-woods that girt its banks. + +Here, seated on a huge block of limestone, which was covered with a soft +cushion of moss, beneath the shade of the cedars that skirt the lake, +surrounded with trunks, boxes, and packages of various descriptions, +which the driver had hastily thrown from the waggon, sat your child, in +anxious expectation of some answering voice to my husband's long and +repeated halloo. + +But when the echo of his voice had died away we heard only the gurgling +of the waters at the head of the rapids, and the distant and hoarse +murmur of a waterfall some half mile below them. + +We could see no sign of any habitation, no gleam of light from the shore +to cheer us. In vain we strained our ears for the plash of the oar, or +welcome sound of the human voice, or bark of some household dog, that +might assure us we were not doomed to pass the night in the lone wood. + +We began now to apprehend we had really lost the way. To attempt +returning through the deepening darkness of the forest in search of any +one to guide us was quite out of the question, the road being so ill +defined that we should soon have been lost in the mazes of the woods. +The last sound of the waggon wheels had died away in the distance; to +have overtaken it would have been impossible. Bidding me remain quietly +where I was, my husband forced his way through the tangled underwood +along the bank, in hope of discovering some sign of the house we sought, +which we had every reason to suppose must be near, though probably +hidden by the dense mass of trees from our sight. + +As I sat in the wood in silence and in darkness, my thoughts gradually +wandered back across the Atlantic to my dear mother and to my old home; +and I thought what would have been your feelings could you at that +moment have beheld me as I sat on the cold mossy stone in the profound +stillness of that vast leafy wilderness, thousands of miles from all +those holy ties of kindred and early associations that make home in all +countries a hallowed spot. It was a moment to press upon my mind the +importance of the step I had taken, in voluntarily sharing the lot of +the emigrant--in leaving the land of my birth, to which, in all +probability, I might never again return. Great as was the sacrifice, +even at that moment, strange as was my situation, I felt no painful +regret or fearful misgiving depress my mind. A holy and tranquil peace +came down upon me, soothing and softening my spirits into a calmness +that seemed as unruffled as was the bosom of the water that lay +stretched out before my feet. + +My reverie was broken by the light plash of a paddle, and a bright line +of light showed a canoe dancing over the lake: in a few minutes a well- +known and friendly voice greeted me as the little bark was moored among +the cedars at my feet. My husband having gained a projecting angle of +the shore, had discovered the welcome blaze of the wood fire in the log- +house, and, after some difficulty, had succeeded in rousing the +attention of its inhabitants. Our coming that day had long been given +up, and our first call had been mistaken for the sound of the ox-bells +in the wood: this had caused the delay that had so embarrassed us. + +We soon forgot our weary wanderings beside the bright fire that blazed +on the hearth of the log-house, in which we found S------ comfortably +domiciled with his wife. To the lady I was duly introduced; and, in +spite of all remonstrances from the affectionate and careful mother, +three fair sleeping children were successively handed out of their cribs +to be shown me by the proud and delighted father. + +Our welcome was given with that unaffected cordiality that is so +grateful to the heart: it was as sincere as it was kind. All means were +adopted to soften the roughness of our accommodation, which, if they +lacked that elegance and convenience to which we had been accustomed in +England, were not devoid of rustic comfort; at all events they were such +as many settlers of the first respectability have been glad to content +themselves with, and many have not been half so well lodged as we now +are. + +We may indeed consider ourselves fortunate in not being obliged to go at +once into the rude shanty that I described to you as the only habitation +on our land. This test of our fortitude was kindly spared us by S------, +who insisted on our remaining beneath his hospitable roof till such time +as we should have put up a house on our own lot. Here then we are for +the present _fixed_, as the Canadians say; and if I miss many of the +little comforts and luxuries of life, I enjoy excellent health and +spirits, and am very happy in the society of those around me. + +The children are already very fond of me. They have discovered my +passion for flowers, which they diligently search for among the stumps +and along the lake shore. I have begun collecting, and though the season +is far advanced, my hortus siccus boasts of several elegant specimens of +fern; the yellow Canadian violet, which blooms twice in the year, in the +spring and fall, as the autumnal season is expressively termed; two +sorts of Michaelmas daisies, as we call the shrubby asters, of which the +varieties here are truly elegant; and a wreath of the festoon pine, a +pretty evergreen with creeping stalks, that run along the ground three +or four yards in length, sending up, at the distance of five or six +inches, erect, stiff, green stems, resembling some of our heaths in the +dark, shining, green, chaffy leaves. The Americans ornament their +chimney-glasses with garlands of this plant, mixed with the dried +blossoms of the life-everlasting (the pretty white and yellow flowers we +call love-everlasting): this plant is also called festoon-pine. In my +rambles in the wood near the house I have discovered a trailing plant +bearing a near resemblance to the cedar, which I consider has, with +equal propriety, a claim to the name of ground or creeping cedar. + +As much of the botany of these unsettled portions of the country are +unknown to the naturalist, and the plants are quite nameless, I take the +liberty of bestowing names upon them according to inclination or fancy. +But while I am writing about flowers I am forgetting that you will be +more interested in hearing what steps we are taking on our land. + +My husband has hired people to log up (that is, to draw the chopped +timbers into heaps for burning) and clear a space for building our house +upon. He has also entered into an agreement with a young settler in our +vicinity to complete it for a certain sum within and without, according +to a given plan. We are, however, to call the "bee," and provide every +thing necessary for the entertainment of our worthy _hive_. Now you know +that a "bee," in American language, or rather phraseology, signifies +those friendly meetings of neighbours who assemble at your summons to +raise the walls of your house, shanty, barn, or any other building: this +is termed a "raising bee." Then there are logging-bees, husking-bees, +chopping-bees, and quilting-bees. The nature of the work to be done +gives the name to the bee. In the more populous and long-settled +districts this practice is much discontinued, but it is highly useful, +and almost indispensable to the new settlers in the remote townships, +where the price of labour is proportionably high, and workmen difficult +to be procured. + +Imagine the situation of an emigrant with a wife and young family, the +latter possibly too young and helpless to render him the least +assistance in the important business of chopping, logging, and building, +on their first coming out to take possession of a lot of wild land; how +deplorable would their situation be, unless they could receive quick and +ready help from those around them. + +This laudable practice has grown out of necessity, and if it has its +disadvantages, such for instance as being called upon at an inconvenient +season for a return of help, by those who have formerly assisted you, +yet it is so indispensable to you that the debt of gratitude ought to be +cheerfully repaid. It is, in fact, regarded in the light of a debt of +honour; you cannot be forced to attend a bee in return, but no one that +can does refuse, unless from urgent reasons; and if you do not find it +possible to attend in person you may send a substitute in a servant or +in cattle, if you have a yoke. + +In no situation, and under no other circumstance, does the equalizing +system of America appear to such advantage as in meetings of this sort. +All distinctions of rank, education, and wealth are for the time +voluntarily laid aside. You will see the son of the educated gentleman +and that of the poor artisan, the officer and the private soldier, the +independent settler and the labourer who works out for hire, cheerfully +uniting in one common cause. Each individual is actuated by the +benevolent desire of affording help to the helpless, and exerting +himself to raise a home for the homeless. + +At present so small a portion of the forest is cleared on our lot, that +I can give you little or no description of the spot on which we are +located, otherwise than that it borders on a fine expanse of water, +which forms one of the Otanabee chain of Small Lake. I hope, however, to +give you a more minute description of our situation in my next letter. + +For the present, then, I bid you adieu. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + +Inconveniences of first Settlement.--Difficulty of obtaining Provisions +and other necessaries.--Snow-storm and Hurricane.--Indian Summer, and +setting-in of Winter.--Process of clearing the Land. + +November the 20th, 1832. + +OUR log-house is not yet finished, though it is in a state of +forwardness. We are still indebted to the hospitable kindness of S------ +and his wife for a home. This being their first settlement on their land +they have as yet many difficulties, in common with all residents in the +backwoods, to put up with this year. They have a fine block of land, +well situated; and S------ laughs at the present privations, to which he +opposes a spirit of cheerfulness and energy that is admirably calculated +to effect their conquest. They are now about to remove to a larger and +more commodious house that has been put up this fall, leaving us the use +of the old one till our own is ready. + +We begin to get reconciled to our Robinson Crusoe sort of life, and the +consideration that the present evils are but temporary, goes a great way +towards reconciling us to them. + +One of our greatest inconveniences arises from the badness of our roads, +and the distance at which we are placed from any village or town where +provisions are to be procured. + +Till we raise our own grain and fatten our own hogs, sheep, and poultry, +we must be dependent upon the stores for food of every kind. These +supplies have to be brought up at considerable expense and loss of time, +through our beautiful bush roads; which, to use the words of a poor +Irish woman, "can't be no worser." "Och, darlint," she said, "but they +are just bad enough, and can't be no worser. Och, but they aren't like +to our iligant roads in Ireland." + +You may send down a list of groceries to be forwarded when a team comes +up, and when we examine our stores, behold rice, sugar, currants, +pepper, and mustard all jumbled into one mess. What think you of a rice- +pudding seasoned plentifully with pepper, mustard, and, may be, a little +rappee or prince's mixture added by way of sauce. I think the recipe +would cut quite a figure in the Cook's Oracle or Mrs. Dalgairn's +Practice of Cookery, under the original title of a "bush pudding." + +And then woe and destruction to the brittle ware that may chance to +travel through our roads. Lucky, indeed, are we if, through the superior +carefulness of the person who packs them, more than one-half happens to +arrive in safety. For such mishaps we have no redress. The storekeeper +lays the accident upon the teamster, and the teamster upon the bad +roads, wondering that he himself escapes with whole bones after a +journey through the bush. + +This is now the worst season of the year;--this, and just after the +breaking up of the snow. Nothing hardly but an ox-cart can travel along +the roads, and even that with difficulty, occupying two days to perform +the journey; and the worst of the matters is, that there are times when +the most necessary articles of provisions are not to be procured at any +price. You see, then, that a settler in the bush requires to hold +himself pretty independent, not only of the luxuries and delicacies of +the table, but not unfrequently even of the very necessaries. + +One time no pork is to be procured; another time there is a scarcity of +flour, owing to some accident that has happened to the mill, or for the +want of proper supplies of wheat for grinding; or perhaps the weather +and bad roads at the same time prevent a team coming up, or people from +going down. Then you must have recourse to a neighbour, if you have the +good fortune to be near one, or fare the best you can on potatoes. The +potatoe is indeed a great blessing here; new settlers would otherwise be +often greatly distressed, and the poor man and his family who are +without resources, without the potatoe must starve. + +Once our stock of tea was exhausted, and we were unable to procure more. +In this dilemma milk would have been an excellent substitute, or coffee, +if we had possessed it; but we had neither the one nor the other, so we +agreed to try the Yankee tea--hemlock sprigs boiled. This proved, to my +taste, a vile decoction; though I recognized some herb in the tea that +was sold in London at five shillings a pound, which I am certain was +nothing better than dried hemlock leaves reduced to a coarse powder. + +S------ laughed at our wry faces, declaring the potation was excellent; +and he set us all an example by drinking six cups of this truly sylvan +beverage. His eloquence failed in gaining a single convert; we could not +believe it was only second to young hyson. To his assurance that to its +other good qualities it united medicinal virtues, we replied that, like +all other physic, it was very unpalatable. + +"After all," said S------, with a thoughtful air, "the blessings and the +evils of this life owe their chief effect to the force of contrast, and +are to be estimated by that principally. We should not appreciate the +comforts we enjoy half so much did we not occasionally feel the want of +them. How we shall value the conveniences of a cleared farm after a few +years, when we can realize all the necessaries and many of the luxuries +of life." + +"And how we shall enjoy green tea after this odious decoction of +hemlock," said I. + +"Very true; and a comfortable frame-house, and nice garden, and pleasant +pastures, after these dark forests, log-houses, and no garden at all." + +"And the absence of horrid black stumps," rejoined I. "Yes, and the +absence of horrid stumps. Depend upon it, my dear, your Canadian farm +will seem to you a perfect paradise by the time it is all under +cultivation; and you will look upon it with the more pleasure and pride +from the consciousness that it was once a forest wild, which, by the +effects of industry and well applied means, has changed to fruitful +fields. Every fresh comfort you realize around you will add to your +happiness; every improvement within-doors or without will raise a +sensation of gratitude and delight in your mind, to which those that +revel in the habitual enjoyment of luxury, and even of the commonest +advantages of civilization, must in a great degree be strangers. My +pass-words are, 'Hope! Resolution! and Perseverance!'" + +"This," said my husband, "is true philosophy; and the more forcible, +because you not only recommend the maxim but practise it also." + +I had reckoned much on the Indian summer, of which I had read such +delightful descriptions, but I must say it has fallen far below my +expectations. Just at the commencement of this month (November) we +experienced three or four warm hazy days, that proved rather close and +oppressive. The sun looked red through the misty atmosphere, tinging the +fantastic clouds that hung in smoky volumes, with saffron and pale +crimson light, much as I have seen the clouds above London look on a +warm, sultry spring morning. + +Not a breeze ruffled the waters, not a leaf (for the leaves had not +entirely fallen) moved. This perfect stagnation of the air was suddenly +changed by a hurricane of wind and snow that came on without any +previous warning. I was standing near a group of tall pines that had +been left in the middle of the clearing, collecting some beautiful +crimson lichens, S------ not being many paces distant, with his oxen +drawing fire-wood. Suddenly we heard a distant hollow rushing sound that +momentarily increased, the air around us being yet perfectly calm. I +looked up, and beheld the clouds, hitherto so motionless, moving with +amazing rapidity in several different directions. A dense gloom +overspread the heavens. S------, who had been busily engaged with the +cattle, had not noticed my being so near, and now called to me to use +all the speed I could to gain the house, or an open part of the +clearing, distant from the pine-trees. Instinctively I turned towards +the house, while the thundering shock of trees falling in all directions +at the edge of the forest, the rending of the branches from the pines I +had just quitted, and the rush of the whirlwind sweeping down the lake, +made me sensible of the danger with which I had been threatened. + +The scattered boughs of the pines darkened the air as they whirled above +me; then came the blinding snow-storm: but I could behold the progress +of the tempest in safety, having gained the threshold of our house. The +driver of the oxen had thrown himself on the ground, while the poor +beasts held down their meek heads, patiently abiding "the pelting of the +pitiless storm." S------, my husband, and the rest of the household, +collected in a group, watched with anxiety the wild havoc of the warring +elements. Not a leaf remained on the trees when the hurricane was over; +they were bare and desolate. Thus ended the short reign of the Indian +summer. + +[Illustration: Newly-cleared Land] + +I think the notion entertained by some travellers, that the Indian +summer is caused by the annual conflagration of forests by those Indians +inhabiting the unexplored regions beyond the larger lakes is absurd. +Imagine for an instant what immense tracts of woods must be yearly +consumed to affect nearly the whole of the continent of North America: +besides, it takes place at that season of the year when the fire is +least likely to run freely, owing to the humidity of the ground from the +autumnal rains. I should rather attribute the peculiar warmth and hazy +appearance of the air that marks this season, to the fermentation going +on of so great a mass of vegetable matter that is undergoing a state of +decomposition during the latter part of October and beginning of +November. It has been supposed by some persons that a great alteration +will be effected in this season, as the process of clearing the land +continues to decrease the quantity of decaying vegetation. Nay, I have +heard the difference is already observable by those long acquainted with +the American continent. + +Hitherto my experience of the climate is favourable. The autumn has been +very fine, though the frosts are felt early in the month of September; +at first slightly, of a morning, but towards October more severely. +Still, though the first part of the day is cold, the middle of it is +warm and cheerful. + +We already see the stern advances of winter. It commenced very decidedly +from the breaking up of the Indian summer. November is not at all like +the same month at home. The early part was soft and warm, the latter +cold, with keen frosts and occasional falls of snow; but it does not +seem to possess the dark, gloomy, damp character of our British +Novembers. However, it is not one season's acquaintance with the climate +that enables a person to form any correct judgment of its general +character, but a close observance of its peculiarities and vicissitudes +during many years' residence in the country. + +I must now tell you what my husband is doing on our land. He has let out +ten acres to some Irish choppers who have established themselves in the +shanty for the winter. They are to receive fourteen dollars per acre for +chopping, burning, and fencing in that quantity. The ground is to be +perfectly cleared of every thing but the stumps: these will take from +seven to nine or ten years to decay; the pine, hemlock, and fir remain +much longer. The process of clearing away the stumps is too expensive +for new beginners to venture upon, labour being so high that it cannot +be appropriated to any but indispensable work. The working season is +very short on account of the length of time the frost remains on the +ground. With the exception of chopping trees, very little can be done. +Those that understand the proper management of uncleared land, usually +underbrush (that is, cut down all the small timbers and brushwood), +while the leaf is yet on them; this is piled in heaps, and the +windfallen trees are chopped through in lengths, to be logged up in the +spring with the winter's chopping. The latter end of the summer and the +autumn are the best seasons for this work. The leaves then become quite +dry and sear, and greatly assist in the important business of burning +off the heavy timbers. Another reason is, that when the snow has fallen +to some depth, the light timbers cannot be cut close to the ground, or +the dead branches and other incumbrances collected and thrown in heaps. + +We shall have about three acres ready for spring-crops, provided we get +a good burning of that which is already chopped near the site of the +house,--this will be sown with oats, pumpkins, Indian corn, and +potatoes: the other ten acres will be ready for putting in a crop of +wheat. So you see it will be a long time before we reap a harvest. We +could not even get in spring-wheat early enough to come to perfection +this year. + +We shall try to get two cows in the spring, as they are little expense +during the spring, summer, and autumn; and by the winter we shall have +pumpkins and oat-straw for them. + + + + +LETTER IX. + +Loss of a yoke of Oxen.--Construction of a Log-house.--Glaziers' and +Carpenters' work.--Description of new Log-house.--Wild Fruits of the +Country.--Walks on the Ice.--Situation of the House.--Lake, and +surrounding Scenery. + +Lake House +April 18, 1833 + +BUT it is time that I should give you some account of our log-house, +into which we moved a few days before Christmas. Many unlooked-for +delays having hindered its completion before that time, I began to think +it would never be habitable. + +The first misfortune that happened was the loss of a fine yoke of oxen +that were purchased to draw in the house-logs, that is, the logs for +raising the walls of the house. Not regarding the bush as pleasant as +their former master's cleared pastures, or perhaps foreseeing some hard +work to come, early one morning they took into their heads to ford the +lake at the head of the rapids, and march off, leaving no trace of their +route excepting their footing at the water's edge. After many days spent +in vain search for them, the work was at a stand, and for one month they +were gone, and we began to give up all expectation of hearing any news +of them. At last we learned they were some twenty miles off, in a +distant township, having made their way through bush and swamp, creek +and lake, back to their former owner, with an instinct that supplied to +them the want of roads and compass. + +Oxen have been known to traverse a tract of wild country to a distance +of thirty or forty miles going in a direct line for their former haunts +by unknown paths, where memory could not avail them. In the dog we +consider it is scent as well as memory that guides him to his far-off +home;--but how is this conduct of the oxen to be accounted for? They +returned home through the mazes of interminable forests, where man, with +all his reason and knowledge, would have been bewildered and lost. + +It was the latter end of October before even the walls of our house were +up. To effect this we called "a bee." Sixteen of our neighbours +cheerfully obeyed our summons; and though the day was far from +favourable, so faithfully did our hive perform their tasks, that by +night the outer walls were raised. + +The work went merrily on with the help of plenty of Canadian nectar +(whiskey), the honey that our _bees_ are solaced with. Some huge joints +of salt pork, a peck of potatoes, with a rice-pudding, and a loaf as big +as an enormous Cheshire cheese, formed the feast that was to regale them +during the raising. This was spread out in the shanty, in a _very rural +style_. In short, we laughed, and called it a _pic-nic in the +backwoods_; and rude as was the fare, I can assure you, great was the +satisfaction expressed by all the guests of every degree, our "_bee_" +being considered as very well conducted. In spite of the difference of +rank among those that assisted at the bee, the greatest possible harmony +prevailed, and the party separated well pleased with the day's work and +entertainment. + +The following day I went to survey the newly-raised edifice, but was +sorely puzzled, as it presented very little appearance of a house. It +was merely an oblong square of logs raised one above the other, with +open spaces between every row of logs. The spaces for the doors and +windows were not then chopped out, and the rafters were not up. In +short, it looked a very queer sort of a place, and I returned home a +little disappointed, and wondering that my husband should be so well +pleased with the progress that had been made. A day or two after this I +again visited it. The _sleepers_ were laid to support the floors, and +the places for the doors and windows cut out of the solid timbers, so +that it had not quite so much the look of a bird-cage as before. + +After the roof was shingled, we were again at a stand, as no boards +could be procured nearer than Peterborough, a long day's journey through +horrible roads. At that time no saw-mill was in progress; now there is a +fine one building within a little distance of us. Our flooring-boards +were all to be sawn by hand, and it was some time before any one could +be found to perform this necessary work, and that at high wages--six- +and-sixpence per day. Well, the boards were at length down, but of +course of unseasoned timber: this was unavoidable; so as they could not +be planed we were obliged to put up with their rough unsightly +appearance, for no better were to be had. I began to recall to mind the +observation of the old gentleman with whom we travelled from Cobourg to +Rice Lake. We console ourselves with the prospect that by next summer +the boards will all be seasoned, and then the house is to be turned +topsy-turvy, by having the floors all relaid, jointed, and smoothed. + +The next misfortune that happened, was, that the mixture of clay and +lime that was to plaster the inside and outside of the house between the +chinks of the logs was one night frozen to stone. Just as the work was +about half completed, the frost suddenly setting in, put a stop to our +proceeding for some time, as the frozen plaster yielded neither to fire +nor to hot water, the latter freezing before it had any effect on the +mass, and rather making bad worse. Then the workman that was hewing the +inside walls to make them smooth, wounded himself with the broad axe, +and was unable to resume his work for some time. + +I state these things merely to show the difficulties that attend us in +the fulfilment of our plans, and this accounts in a great measure for +the humble dwellings that settlers of the most respectable description +are obliged to content themselves with at first coming to this country, +--not, you may be assured, from inclination, but necessity: I could give +you such narratives of this kind as would astonish you. After all, it +serves to make us more satisfied than we should be on casting our eyes +around to see few better off than we are, and many not half so +comfortable, yet of equal, and, in some instances, superior pretensions +as to station and fortune. + +Every man in this country is his own glazier; this you will laugh at: +but if he does not wish to see and feel the discomfort of broken panes, +he must learn to put them in his windows with his own hands. Workmen are +not easily to be had in the backwoods when you want them, and it would +be preposterous to hire a man at high wages to make two days' journey to +and from the nearest town to mend your windows. Boxes of glass of +several different sizes are to be bought at a very cheap rate in the +stores. My husband amused himself by glazing the windows of the house +preparatory to their being fixed in. + +To understand the use of carpenter's tools, I assure you, is no +despicable or useless kind of knowledge here. I would strongly recommend +all young men coming to Canada to acquire a little acquaintance with +this valuable art, as they will often be put to great inconvenience for +the want of it. + +I was once much amused with hearing the remarks made by a very fine +lady, the reluctant sharer of her husband's emigration, on seeing the +son of a naval officer of some rank in the service busily employed in +making an axe-handle out of a piece of rock-elm. + +"I wonder that you allow George to degrade himself so," she said, +addressing his father. + +The captain looked up with surprise. "Degrade himself! In what manner, +madam? My boy neither swears, drinks whiskey, steals, nor tells lies." + +"But you allow him to perform tasks of the most menial kind. What is he +now better than a hedge carpenter; and I suppose you allow him to chop, +too?" + +"Most assuredly I do. That pile of logs in the cart there was all cut by +him after he had left study yesterday," was the reply, + +"I would see my boys dead before they should use an axe like common +labourers." + +"Idleness is the root of all evil," said the captain. "How much worse +might my son be employed if he were running wild about streets with bad +companions." + +"You will allow this is not a country for gentlemen or ladies to live +in," said the lady. + +"It is the country for gentlemen that will not work and cannot live +without, to starve in," replied the captain bluntly; "and for that +reason I make my boys early accustom themselves to be usefully and +actively employed." + +"My boys shall never work like common mechanics," said the lady, +indignantly. + +"Then, madam, they will be good for nothing as settlers; and it is a +pity you dragged them across the Atlantic." + +"We were forced to come. We could not live as we had been used to do at +home, or I never would have come to this horrid country." + +"Having come hither you would be wise to conform to circumstances. +Canada is not the place for idle folks to retrench a lost fortune in. In +some parts of the country you will find most articles of provision as +dear as in London, clothing much dearer, and not so good, and a bad +market to choose in." + +"I should like to know, then, who Canada is good for?" said she, +angrily. + +"It is a good country for the honest, industrious artisan. It is a fine +country for the poor labourer, who, after a few years of hard toil, can +sit down in his own log-house, and look abroad on his own land, and see +his children well settled in life as independent freeholders. It is a +grand country for the rich speculator, who can afford to lay out a large +sum in purchasing land in eligible situations; for if he have any +judgment, he will make a hundred per cent as interest for his money +after waiting a few years. But it is a hard country for the poor +gentleman, whose habits have rendered him unfit for manual labour. He +brings with him a mind unfitted to his situation; and even if necessity +compels him to exertion, his labour is of little value. He has a hard +struggle to live. The certain expenses of wages and living are great, +and he is obliged to endure many privations if he would keep within +compass, and be free of debt. If he have a large family, and brings them +up wisely, so as to adapt themselves early to a settler's life, why he +does well for them, and soon feels the benefit on his own land; but if +he is idle himself, his wife extravagant and discontented, and the +children taught to despise labour, why, madam, they will soon be brought +down to ruin. In short, the country is a good country for those to whom +it is adapted; but if people will not conform to the doctrine of +necessity and expediency, they have no business in it. It is plain +Canada is not adapted to every class of people." + +"It was never adapted for me or my family," said the lady, disdainfully. + +"Very true," was the laconic reply; and so ended the dialogue. + +But while I have been recounting these remarks, I have wandered far from +my original subject, and left my poor log-house quite in an unfinished +state. At last I was told it was in a habitable condition, and I was +soon engaged in all the bustle and fatigue attendant on removing our +household goods. We received all the assistance we required from ------, +who is ever ready and willing to help us. He laughed, and called it a +"_moving_ bee;" I said it was a "fixing bee;" and my husband said it was +a "settling bee;" I know we were unsettled enough till it was over. What +a din of desolation is a small house, or any house under such +circumstances. The idea of chaos must have been taken from a removal or +a setting to rights, for I suppose the ancients had their _flitting_, as +the Scotch call it, as well as the moderns. + +Various were the valuable articles of crockery-ware that perished in +their short but rough journey through the woods. Peace to their manes. I +had a good helper in my Irish maid, who soon roused up famous fires, and +set the house in order. + +We have now got quite comfortably settled, and I shall give you a +description of our little dwelling. What is finished is only a part of +the original plan; the rest must be added next spring, or fall, as +circumstances may suit. + +A nice small sitting-room with a store closet, a kitchen, pantry, and +bed-chamber form the ground floor; there is a good upper floor that will +make three sleeping rooms. + +"What a nut-shell!" I think I hear you exclaim. So it is at present; but +we purpose adding a handsome frame front as soon as we can get boards +from the mill, which will give us another parlour, long hall, and good +spare bed-room. The windows and glass door of our present sitting-room +command pleasant lake-views to the west and south. When the house is +completed, we shall have a verandah in front; and at the south side, +which forms an agreeable addition in the summer, being used as a sort of +outer room, in which we can dine, and have the advantage of cool air, +protected from the glare of the sunbeams. The Canadians call these +verandahs "stoups." Few houses, either log or frame, are without them. +The pillars look extremely pretty, wreathed with the luxuriant hop-vine, +mixed with the scarlet creeper and "morning glory," the American name +for the most splendid of major convolvuluses. These stoups are really a +considerable ornament, as they conceal in a great measure the rough +logs, and break the barn-like form of the building. + +Our parlour is warmed by a handsome Franklin stove with brass gallery, +and fender. Our furniture consists of a brass-railed sofa, which serves +upon occasion for a bed, Canadian painted chairs, a stained pine table, +green and white curtains, and a handsome Indian mat that covers the +floor. One side of the room is filled up with our books. Some large maps +and a few good prints nearly conceal the rough walls, and form the +decoration of our little dwelling. Our bed-chamber is furnished with +equal simplicity. We do not, however, lack comfort in our humble home; +and though it is not exactly such as we could wish, it is as good as, +under existing circumstances, we could have. + +I am anxiously looking forward to the spring, that I may get a garden +laid out in front of the house; as I mean to cultivate some of the +native fruits and flowers, which, I am sure, will improve greatly by +culture. The strawberries that grow wild in our pastures, woods, and +clearings, are several varieties, and bear abundantly. They make +excellent preserves, and I mean to introduce beds of them into my +garden. There is a pretty little wooded islet on our lake, that is +called Strawberry island, another Raspberry island; they abound in a +variety of fruits--wild grapes, raspberries, strawberries, black and red +currants, a wild gooseberry, and a beautiful little trailing plant that +bears white flowers like the raspberry, and a darkish purple fruit +consisting of a few grains of a pleasant brisk acid, somewhat like in +flavour to our dewberry, only not quite so sweet. The leaves of this +plant are of a bright light green, in shape like the raspberry, to which +it bears in some respects so great a resemblance (though it is not +shrubby or thorny) that I have called it the "trailing raspberry." + +I suppose our scientific botanists in Britain would consider me very +impertinent in bestowing names on the flowers and plants I meet with in +these wild woods: I can only say, I am glad to discover the Canadian or +even the Indian names if I can, and where they fail I consider myself +free to become their floral godmother, and give them names of my own +choosing. + +Among our wild fruits we have plums, which, in some townships, are very +fine and abundant; these make admirable preserves, especially when +boiled in maple molasses, as is done by the American housewives. Wild +cherries, also a sort called choke cherries, from their peculiar +astringent qualities, high and low-bush cranberries, blackberries, which +are brought by the Squaws in birch baskets,--all these are found on the +plains and beaver meadows. The low-bush cranberries are brought in great +quantities by the Indians to the towns and villages. They form a +standing preserve on the tea-tables in most of the settlers' houses; but +for richness of flavour, and for beauty of appearance, I admire the +high-bush cranberries; these are little sought after, on account of the +large flat seeds, which prevent them from being used as a jam: the +jelly, however, is delightful, both in colour and flavour. + +The bush on which this cranberry grows resembles the guelder rose. The +blossoms are pure white, and grow in loose umbels; they are very +ornamental, when in bloom, to the woods and swamps, skirting the lakes. +The berries are rather of a long oval, and of a brilliant scarlet, and +when just touched by the frosts are semi-transparent, and look like +pendent bunches of scarlet grapes. + +I was tempted one fine frosty afternoon to take a walk with my husband +on the ice, which I was assured was perfectly safe. I must confess for +the first half-mile I felt very timid, especially when the ice is so +transparent that you may see every little pebble or weed at the bottom +of the water. Sometimes the ice was thick and white, and quite opaque. +As we kept within a little distance of the shore, I was struck by the +appearance of some splendid red berries on the leafless bushes that hung +over the margin of the lake, and soon recognized them to be the +aforesaid high-bush cranberries. My husband soon stripped the boughs of +their tempting treasure, and I, delighted with my prize, hastened home, +and boiled the fruit with some sugar, to eat at tea with our cakes. I +never ate any thing more delicious than they proved; the more so perhaps +from having been so long without tasting fruit of any kind, with the +exception of preserves, during our journey, and at Peterborough. + +Soon after this I made another excursion on the ice, but it was not in +quite so sound a state. We nevertheless walked on for about three- +quarters of a mile. We were overtaken on our return by S------ with a +handsleigh, which is a sort of wheelbarrow, such as porters use, without +sides, and instead of a wheel, is fixed on wooden runners, which you can +drag over the snow and ice with the greatest ease, if ever so heavily +laden. S------ insisted that he would draw me home over the ice like a +Lapland lady on a sledge. I was soon seated in state, and in another +minute felt myself impelled forward with a velocity that nearly took +away my breath. By the time we reached the shore I was in a glow from +head to foot. + +You would be pleased with the situation of our house. The spot chosen is +the summit of a fine sloping bank above the lake, distant from the +water's edge some hundred or two yards: the lake is not quite a mile +from shore to shore. To the south again we command a different view, +which will be extremely pretty when fully opened--a fine smooth basin of +water, diversified with beautiful islands, that rise like verdant groves +from its bosom. Below these there is a fall of some feet, where the +waters of the lakes, confined within a narrow channel between beds of +limestone, rush along with great impetuosity, foaming and dashing up the +spray in mimic clouds. + +During the summer the waters are much lower, and we can walk for some +way along the flat shores, which are composed of different strata of +limestone, full of fossil remains, evidently of very recent formation. +Those shells and river-insects that are scattered loose over the surface +of the limestone, left by the recession of the waters, are similar to +the shells and insects incrusted in the body of the limestone. I am told +that the bed of one of the lakes above us (I forget which) is of +limestone; that it abounds in a variety of beautiful river-shells, which +are deposited in vast quantities in the different strata, and also in +the blocks of limestone scattered along the shores. These shells are +also found in great profusion in the soil of the Beaver meadows. +When I see these things, and hear of them, I regret I know nothing of +geology or conchology; as I might then be able to account for many +circumstances that at present only excite my curiosity. + +[Maps: Charts shewing the Interior Navigation of the District of +Newcastle and Upper Canada.] + +Just below the waterfall I was mentioning there is a curious natural +arch in the limestone rock, which at this place rises to a height of ten +or fifteen feet like a wall; it is composed of large plates of grey +limestone, lying one upon the other; the arch seems like a rent in the +wall, but worn away, and hollowed, possibly, by the action of water +rushing through it at some high flood. Trees grow on the top of this +rock. Hemlock firs and cedars are waving on this elevated spot, above +the turbulent waters, and clothing the stone barrier with a sad but +never-fading verdure. Here, too, the wild vine, red creeper, and poison- +elder, luxuriate, and wreathe fantastic bowers above the moss-covered +masses of the stone. A sudden turn in this bank brought us to a broad, +perfectly flat and smooth bed of the same stone, occupying a space of +full fifty feet along the shore. Between the fissures of this bed I +found some rosebushes, and a variety of flowers that had sprung up +during the spring and summer, when it was left dry, and free from the +action of the water. + +This place will shortly be appropriated for the building of a saw and +grist-mill, which, I fear, will interfere with its natural beauty. I +dare say, I shall be the only person in the neighbourhood who will +regret the erection of so useful and valuable an acquisition to this +portion of the township. + +The first time you send a parcel or box, do not forget to enclose +flower-seeds, and the stones of plums, damsons, bullace, pips of the +best kinds of apples, in the orchard and garden, as apples may be raised +here from seed, which will bear very good fruit without being grafted; +the latter, however, are finer in size and flavour. I should be grateful +for a few nuts from our beautiful old stock-nut trees. Dear old trees! +how many gambols have we had in their branches when I was as light of +spirit and as free from care as the squirrels that perched among the +topmost boughs above us.--"Well," you will say, "the less that sage +matrons talk of such wild tricks as climbing nut-trees, the better." +Fortunately, young ladies are in no temptation here, seeing that nothing +but a squirrel or a bear could climb our lofty forest-trees. Even a +sailor must give it up in despair. + +I am very desirous of having the seeds of our wild primrose and sweet +violet preserved for me; I long to introduce them in our meadows and +gardens. Pray let the cottage-children collect some. + +My husband requests a small quantity of lucerne-seed, which he seems +inclined to think may be cultivated to advantage. + + + + +LETTER X. + +Variations in the Temperature of the Weather.--Electrical Phenomenon.-- +Canadian Winter.--Country deficient in Poetical Associations.--Sugar- +making. Fishing Season.--Mode of Fishing.--Duck-shooting.--Family of +Indians.--_Papouses_ and their Cradle-cases.--Indian Manufactures.-- +_Frogs_. + +Lake House, May the 9th. 1833. + +WHAT a different winter this has been to what I had anticipated. The +snows of December were continually thawing; on the 1st of January not a +flake was to be seen on our clearing, though it lingered in the bush. +The warmth of the sun was so great on the first and second days of the +new year that it was hardly possible to endure a cloak, or even shawl, +out of doors; and within, the fire was quite too much for us. The +weather remained pretty open till the latter part of the month, when the +cold set in severely enough, and continued so during February. The 1st +of March was the coldest day and night I ever experienced in my life; +the mercury was down to twenty five degrees in the house; abroad it was +much lower. The sensation of cold early in the morning was very painful, +producing an involuntary shuddering, and an almost convulsive feeling in +the chest and stomach. Our breaths were congealed in hoar-frost on the +sheets and blankets. Every thing we touched of metal seemed to freeze +our fingers. This excessive degree of cold only lasted three days, and +then a gradual amelioration of temperature was felt. + +During this very cold weather I was surprised by the frequent recurrence +of a phenomenon that I suppose was of an electrical nature. When the +frosts were most intense I noticed that when I undressed, my clothes, +which are at this cold season chiefly of woollen cloth, or lined with +flannel, gave out when moved a succession of sounds, like the crackling +and snapping of fire, and in the absence of a candle emitted sparks of a +pale whitish blue light, similar to the flashes produced by cutting +loaf-sugar in the dark, or stroking the back of a black cat: the same +effect was also produced when I combed and brushed my hair*. + +[* This phenomenon is common enough everywhere when the air is very +dry.--Ed.] + +The snow lay very deep on the ground during February, and until the l9th +of March, when a rapid thaw commenced, which continued without +intermission till the ground was thoroughly freed from its hoary livery, +which was effected in less than a fortnight's time. The air during the +progress of the thaw was much warmer and more balmy than it usually is +in England, when a disagreeable damp cold is felt during that process. + +Though the Canadian winter has its disadvantages, it also has its +charms. After a day or two of heavy snow the sky brightens, and the air +becomes exquisitely clear and free from vapour; the smoke ascends in +tall spiral columns till it is lost: seen against the saffron-tinted sky +of an evening, or early of a clear morning, when the hoar-frost sparkles +on the trees, the effect is singularly beautiful. + +I enjoy a walk in the woods of a bright winter-day, when not a cloud, or +the faint shadow of a cloud, obscures the soft azure of the heavens +above; when but for the silver covering of the earth I might look +upwards to the cloudless sky and say, "It is June, sweet June." The +evergreens, as the pines, cedars, hemlock, and balsam firs, are bending +their pendent branches, loaded with snow, which the least motion +scatters in a mimic shower around, but so light and dry is it that it is +shaken off without the slightest inconvenience. + +The tops of the stumps look quite pretty, with their turbans of snow; a +blackened pine-stump, with its white cap and mantle, will often startle +you into the belief that some one is approaching you thus fancifully +attired. As to ghosts or spirits they appear totally banished from +Canada. This is too matter-of-fact country for such supernaturals to +visit. Here there are no historical associations, no legendary tales of +those that came before us. Fancy would starve for lack of marvellous +food to keep her alive in the backwoods. We have neither fay nor fairy, +ghost nor bogle, satyr nor wood-nymph; our very forests disdain to +shelter dryad or hamadryad. No naiad haunts the rushy margin of our +lakes, or hallows with her presence our forest-rills. No Druid claims +our oaks; and instead of poring with mysterious awe among our curious +limestone rocks, that are often singularly grouped together, we refer +them to the geologist to exercise his skill in accounting for their +appearance: instead of investing them with the solemn characters of +ancient temples or heathen altars, we look upon them with the curious +eye of natural philosophy alone. + +Even the Irish and Highlanders of the humblest class seem to lay aside +their ancient superstitions on becoming denizens of the woods of Canada. +I heard a friend exclaim, when speaking of the want of interest this +country possessed, "It is the most unpoetical of all lands; there is no +scope for imagination; here all is new--the very soil seems newly +formed; there is no hoary ancient grandeur in these woods; no +recollections of former deeds connected with the country. The only +beings in which I take any interest are the Indians, and they want the +warlike character and intelligence that I had pictured to myself they +would posses." + +This was the lamentation of a poet. Now, the class of people to whom +this country is so admirably adapted are formed of the unlettered and +industrious labourers and artisans. They feel no regret that the land +they labour on has not been celebrated by the pen of the historian or +the lay of the poet. The earth yields her increase to them as freely as +if it had been enriched by the blood of heroes. They would not spare the +ancient oak from feelings of veneration, nor look upon it with regard +for any thing but its use as timber. They have no time, even if they +possessed the taste, to gaze abroad on the beauties of Nature, but their +ignorance is bliss. + +After all, these are imaginary evils, and can hardly be considered just +causes for dislike to the country. They would excite little sympathy +among every-day men and women, though doubtless they would have their +weight with the more refined and intellectual members of society, who +naturally would regret that taste, learning, and genius should be thrown +out of its proper sphere. + +For myself, though I can easily enter into the feelings of the poet and +the enthusiastic lover of the wild and the wonderful of historic lore, I +can yet make myself very happy and contented in this country. If its +volume of history is yet a blank, that of Nature is open, and eloquently +marked by the finger of God; and from its pages I can extract a thousand +sources of amusement and interest whenever I take my walks in the forest +or by the borders of the lakes. + +But I must now tell you of our sugar-making, in which I take rather an +active part. Our experiment was on a very limited scale, having but one +kettle, besides two iron tripods; but it was sufficient to initiate us +in the art and mystery of boiling the sap into molasses, and finally the +molasses down to sugar. + +The first thing to be done in tapping the maples, is to provide little +rough troughs to catch the sap as it flows: these are merely pieces of +pine-tree, hollowed with the axe. The tapping the tree is done by +cutting a gash in the bark, or boring a hole with an auger. The former +plan, as being most readily performed, is that most usually practised. A +slightly-hollowed piece of cedar or elder is then inserted, so as to +slant downwards and direct the sap into the trough; I have even seen a +flat chip made the conductor. Ours were managed according to rule, you +may be sure. The sap runs most freely after a frosty night, followed by +a bright warm day; it should be collected during the day in a barrel or +large trough, capable of holding all that can be boiled down the same +evening; it should not stand more than twenty-four hours, as it is apt +to ferment, and will not grain well unless fresh. + +My husband, with an Irish lad, began collecting the sap the last week in +March. A pole was fixed across two forked stakes, strong enough to bear +the weight of the big kettle. Their employment during the day was +emptying the troughs and chopping wood to supply the fires. In the +evening they lit the fires and began boiling down the sap. + +It was a pretty and picturesque sight to see the sugar-boilers, with +their bright log-fire among the trees, now stirring up the blazing pile, +now throwing in the liquid and stirring it down with a big ladle. When +the fire grew fierce, it boiled and foamed up in the kettle, and they +had to throw in fresh sap to keep it from running over. + +When the sap begins to thicken into molasses, it is then brought to the +sugar-boiler to be finished. The process is simple; it only requires +attention in skimming and keeping the mass from boiling over, till it +has arrived at the sugaring point, which is ascertained by dropping a +little into cold water. When it is near the proper consistency, the +kettle or pot becomes full of yellow froth, that dimples and rises in +large bubbles from beneath. These throw out puffs of steam, and when the +molasses is in this stage, it is nearly converted into sugar. Those who +pay great attention to keeping the liquid free from scum, and understand +the precise sugaring point, will produce an article little if at all +inferior to muscovado*. + +[* Good well-made maple-sugar bears a strong resemblance to that called +powdered sugar-candy, sold by all grocers as a delicate article to +sweeten coffee; it is more like maple-sugar in its regular +crystallizations.] + +In general you see the maple-sugar in large cakes, like bees' wax, close +and compact, without showing the crystallization; but it looks more +beautiful when the grain is coarse and sparkling, and the sugar is +broken in rough masses like sugar-candy. + +The sugar is rolled or scraped down with a knife for use, as it takes +long to dissolve in the tea without this preparation. I superintended +the last part of the process, that of boiling the molasses down to +sugar; and, considering it was a first attempt, and without any +experienced person to direct me, otherwise than the information I +obtained from ------, I succeeded tolerably well, and produced some +sugar of a fine sparkling grain and good colour. Besides the sugar, I +made about three gallons of molasses, which proved a great comfort to +us, forming a nice ingredient in cakes and an excellent sauce for +puddings. + +The Yankees, I am told, make excellent preserves with molasses instead +of sugar. The molasses boiled from maple-sap is very different from the +molasses of the West Indies, both in flavour, colour, and consistency. + +Beside the sugar and molasses, we manufactured a small cask of vinegar, +which promises to be good. This was done by boiling five pails-full of +sap down to two, and fermenting it after it was in the vessel with barm; +it was then placed near the fire, and suffered to continue there in +preference to being exposed to the sun's heat. + +With regard to the expediency of making maple-sugar, it depends on +circumstances whether it be profitable or not to the farmer. If he have +to hire hands for the work, and pay high wages, it certainly does not +answer to make it, unless on a large scale. One thing in its favour is, +that the sugar season commences at a time when little else can be done +on the farm, with the exception of chopping, the frost not being +sufficiently out of the ground to admit of crops being sown; time is, +therefore, less valuable than it is later in the spring. + +Where there is a large family of children and a convenient sugar-bush on +the lot, the making of sugar and molasses is decidedly a saving; as +young children can be employed in emptying the troughs and collecting +fire-wood, the bigger ones can tend the kettles and keep up the fire +while the sap is boiling, and the wife and daughters can finish off the +sugar within-doors. + +Maple-sugar sells for four-pence and six-pence per pound, and sometimes +for more. At first I did not particularly relish the flavour it gave to +tea, but after awhile I liked it far better than muscovado, and as a +sweetmeat it is to my taste delicious. I shall send you a specimen by +the first opportunity, that you may judge for yourself of its +excellence. + +The weather is now very warm--oppressively so. We can scarcely endure +the heat of the cooking-stove in the kitchen. As to a fire in the +parlour there is not much need of it, as I am glad to sit at the open +door and enjoy the lake-breeze. The insects are already beginning to be +troublesome, particularly the black flies--a wicked-looking fly, with +black body and white legs and wings; you do not feel their bite for a +few minutes, but are made aware of it by a stream of blood flowing from +the wound; after a few hours the part swells and becomes extremely +painful. + +These "_beasties_" chiefly delight in biting the sides of the throat, +ears, and sides of the cheek, and with me the swelling continues for +many days. The mosquitoes are also very annoying. I care more for the +noise they make even than their sting. To keep them out of the house we +light little heaps of damp chips, the smoke of which drives them away; +but this remedy is not entirely effectual, and is of itself rather an +annoyance. + +This is the fishing season. Our lakes are famous for masquinonge, +salmon-trout, white fish, black bass, and many others. We often see the +lighted canoes of the fishermen pass and repass of a dark night before +our door. S------ is considered very skilful as a spearsman, and enjoys +the sport so much that he seldom misses a night favourable for it. The +darker the night and the calmer the water the better it is for the +fishing. + +It is a very pretty sight to see these little barks slowly stealing from +some cove of the dark pine-clad shores, and manoeuvring among the +islands on the lakes, rendered visible in the darkness by the blaze of +light cast on the water from the jack--a sort of open grated iron +basket, fixed to a long pole at the bows of the skiff or canoe. This is +filled with a very combustible substance called fat-pine, which burns +with a fierce and rapid flame, or else with rolls of birch-bark, which +is also very easily ignited. + +The light from above renders objects distinctly visible below the +surface of the water. One person stands up in the middle of the boat +with his fish-spear--a sort of iron trident, ready to strike at the fish +that he may chance to see gliding in the still waters, while another +with his paddle steers the canoe cautiously along. This sport requires a +quick eye, a steady hand, and great caution in those that pursue it. + +I delight in watching these torch-lighted canoes so quietly gliding over +the calm waters, which are illuminated for yards with a bright track of +light, by which we may distinctly perceive the figure of the spearsman +standing in the centre of the boat, first glancing to one side, then the +other, or poising his weapon ready for a blow. When four or five of +these lighted vessels are seen at once on the fishing-ground, the effect +is striking and splendid. + +The Indians are very expert in this kind of fishing; the squaws paddling +the canoes with admirable skill and dexterity. There is another mode of +fishing in which these people also excel: this is fishing on the ice +when the lakes are frozen over--a sport that requires the exercise of +great patience. The Indian, provided with his tomahawk, with which he +makes an opening in the ice, a spear, his blanket, and a decoy-fish of +wood, proceeds to the place he has fixed upon. Having cut a hole in the +ice he places himself on hands and knees, and casts his blanket over +him, so as to darken the water and conceal himself from observation; in +this position he will remain for hours, patiently watching the approach +of his prey, which he strikes with admirable precision as soon as it +appears within the reach of his spear. + +The masquinonge thus caught are superior in flavour to those taken later +in the season, and may be bought very reasonably from the Indians. I +gave a small loaf of bread for a fish weighing from eighteen to twenty +pounds. The masquinonge is to all appearance a large species of the +pike, and possesses the ravenous propensities of that fish. + +One of the small lakes of the Otanabee is called Trout Lake, from the +abundance of salmon-trout that occupy its waters. The white fish is also +found in these lakes and is very delicious. The large sorts of fish are +mostly taken with the spear, few persons having time for angling in this +busy country. + +As soon as the ice breaks up, our lakes are visited by innumerable +flights of wild fowl: some of the ducks are extremely beautiful in their +plumage, and are very fine-flavoured. I love to watch these pretty +creatures, floating so tranquilly on the water, or suddenly rising and +skimming along the edge of the pine-fringed shores, to drop again on the +surface, and then remain stationary, like a little fleet at anchor. +Sometimes we see an old duck lead out a brood of little ones from among +the rushes; the innocent, soft things look very pretty, sailing round +their mother, but at the least appearance of danger they disappear +instantly by diving. The frogs are great enemies to the young broods; +they are also the prey of the masquinonge, and, I believe, of other +large fish that abound in these waters. + +The ducks are in the finest order during the early part of the summer, +when they resort to the rice-beds in vast numbers, getting very fat on +the green rice, which they eagerly devour. + +The Indians are very successful in their duck-shooting: they fill a +canoe with green boughs, so that it resembles a sort of floating island; +beneath the cover of these boughs they remain concealed, and are enabled +by this device to approach much nearer than they otherwise could do to +the wary birds. The same plan is often adopted by our own sportsmen with +great success. + +A family of Indians have pitched their tents very near us. On one of the +islands in our lake we can distinguish the thin blue smoke of their wood +fires, rising among the trees, from our front window, or curling over +the bosom of the waters. + +The squaws have been several times to see me; sometimes from curiosity, +sometimes with the view of bartering their baskets, mats, ducks, or +venison, for pork, flour, potatoes, or articles of wearing-apparel. +Sometimes their object is to borrow "kettle to cook," which they are +very punctual in returning. + +Once a squaw came to borrow a washing-tub, but not understanding her +language, I could not for some time discover the object of her +solicitude; at last she took up a corner of her blanket, and, pointing +to some soap, began rubbing it between her hands, imitated the action of +washing, then laughed, and pointed to a tub; she then held up two +fingers, to intimate it was for two days she needed the loan. + +These people appear of gentle and amiable dispositions; and, as far as +our experience goes, they are very honest. Once, indeed, the old hunter, +Peter, obtained from me some bread, for which he promised to give a pair +of ducks, but when the time came for payment, and I demanded my ducks, +he looked gloomy, and replied with characteristic brevity, "No duck-- +Chippewa (meaning S------, this being the name they have affectionately +given him) gone up lake with canoe--no canoe--duck by-and-by." By-and-by +is a favourite expression of the Indians, signifying an indefinite point +of time; may be it means to-morrow, or a week, or month, or it may be a +year, or even more. They rarely give you a direct promise. + +As it is not wise to let any one cheat you if you can prevent it, I +coldly declined any further overtures to bartering with the Indians +until my ducks made their appearance. + +Some time afterwards I received one duck by the hands of Maquin, a sort +of Indian Flibberty-gibbet: this lad is a hunchbacked dwarf, very +shrewd, but a perfect imp; his delight seems to be tormenting the brown +babies in the wigwam, or teazing the meek deer-hounds. He speaks English +very fluently, and writes tolerably for an Indian boy; he usually +accompanies the women in their visits, and acts as their interpreter, +grinning with mischievous glee at his mother's bad English and my +perplexity at not being able to understand her signs. In spite of his +extreme deformity, he seemed to possess no inconsiderable share of +vanity, gazing with great satisfaction at his face in the looking glass. +When I asked his name, he replied, "Indian name Maquin, but English name +'Mister Walker,' very good man;" this was the person he was called +after. + +These Indians are scrupulous in their observance of the Sabbath, and +show great reluctance to having any dealings in the way of trading or +pursuing their usual avocations of hunting or fishing on that day. + +The young Indians are very expert in the use of a long bow, with wooden +arrows, rather heavy and blunt at the end. Maquin said he could shoot +ducks and small birds with his arrows; but I should think they were not +calculated to reach objects at any great distance, as they appeared very +heavy. + +'Tis sweet to hear the Indians singing their hymns of a Sunday night; +their rich soft voices rising in the still evening air. I have often +listened to this little choir praising the Lord's name in the simplicity +and fervour of their hearts, and have felt it was a reproach that these +poor half-civilized wanderers should alone be found to gather together +to give glory to God in the wilderness. + +I was much pleased with the simple piety of our friend the hunter +Peter's squaw, a stout, swarthy matron, of most amiable expression. We +were taking our tea when she softly opened the door and looked in; an +encouraging smile induced her to enter, and depositing a brown papouse +(Indian for baby or little child) on the ground, she gazed round with +curiosity and delight in her eyes. We offered her some tea and bread, +motioning to her to take a vacant seat beside the table. She seemed +pleased by the invitation, and drawing her little one to her knee, +poured some tea into the saucer, and gave it to the child to drink. She +ate very moderately, and when she had finished, rose, and, wrapping her +face in the folds of her blanket, bent down her head on her breast in +the attitude of prayer. This little act of devotion was performed +without the slightest appearance of pharisaical display, but in +singleness and simplicity of heart. She then thanked us with a face +beaming with smiles and good humour; and, taking little Rachel by the +hands, threw her over her shoulder with a peculiar sleight that I feared +would dislocate the tender thing's arms, but the papouse seemed well +satisfied with this mode of treatment. + +In long journeys the children are placed in upright baskets of a +peculiar form, which are fastened round the necks of the mothers by +straps of deer-skin; but the _young_ infant is swathed to a sort of flat +cradle, secured with flexible hoops, to prevent it from falling out. To +these machines they are strapped, so as to be unable to move a limb. +Much finery is often displayed in the outer covering and the bandages +that confine the papouse. + +There is a sling attached to this cradle that passes over the squaw's +neck, the back of the babe being placed to the back of the mother, and +its face outward. The first thing a squaw does on entering a house is to +release herself from her burden, and stick it up against the wall or +chair, chest, or any thing that will support it, where the passive +prisoner stands, looking not unlike a mummy in its case. I have seen the +picture of the Virgin and Child in some of the old illuminated missals, +not unlike the figure of a papouse in its swaddling-clothes. + +The squaws are most affectionate to their little ones. Gentleness and +good humour appear distinguishing traits in the tempers of the female +Indians; whether this be natural to their characters, the savage state, +or the softening effects of Christianity, I cannot determine. Certainly +in no instance does the Christian religion appear more lovely than when, +untainted by the doubts and infidelity of modern sceptics, it is +displayed in the conduct of the reclaimed Indian breaking down the +strong-holds of idolatry and natural evil, and bringing forth the fruits +of holiness and morality. They may be said to receive the truths of the +Gospel as little children, with simplicity of heart and unclouded faith. + +The squaws are very ingenious in many of their handiworks. We find their +birch-bark baskets very convenient for a number of purposes. My bread- +basket, knife-tray, sugar-basket, are all of this humble material. When +ornamented and wrought in patterns with dyed quills, I can assure you, +they are by no means inelegant. They manufacture vessels of birch-bark +so well, that they will serve for many useful household purposes, such +as holding water, milk, broth, or any other liquid; they are sewn or +rather stitched together with the tough roots of the tamarack or larch, +or else with strips of cedar-bark. They also weave very useful sorts of +baskets from the inner rind of the bass-wood and white ash. + +Some of these baskets, of a coarse kind, are made use of for gathering +up potatoes, Indian corn, or turnips; the settlers finding them very +good substitutes for the osier baskets used for such purposes in the old +country. + +The Indians are acquainted with a variety of dyes, with which they stain +the more elegant fancy-baskets and porcupine-quills. Our parlour is +ornamented with several very pretty specimens of their ingenuity in this +way, which answer the purpose of note and letter-cases, flower-stands, +and work-baskets. + +They appear to value the useful rather more highly than the merely +ornamental articles that you may exhibit to them. They are very shrewd +and close in all their bargains, and exhibit a surprising degree of +caution in their dealings. The men are much less difficult to trade with +than the women: they display a singular pertinacity in some instances. +If they have fixed their mind on any one article, they will come to you +day after day, refusing any other you may offer to their notice. One of +the squaws fell in love with a gay chintz dressing-gown belonging to my +husband, and though I resolutely refused to part with it, all the squaws +in the wigwam by turns came to look at "gown," which they pronounced +with their peculiarly plaintive tone of voice; and when I said "no gown +to sell," they uttered a melancholy exclamation of regret, and went +away. + +They will seldom make any article you want on purpose for you. If you +express a desire to have baskets of a particular pattern that they do +not happen to have ready made by them, they give you the usual vague +reply of "by-and-by." If the goods you offer them in exchange for theirs +do not answer their expectations, they give a sullen and dogged look or +reply, "_Car-car_" (no, no), or "_Carwinni_," which is a still more +forcible negative. But when the bargain pleases them, they signify their +approbation by several affirmative nods of the head, and a note not much +unlike a grunt; the ducks, fish, venison, or baskets, are placed beside +you, and the articles of exchange transferred to the folds of their +capacious blankets, or deposited in a sort of rushen wallets, not unlike +those straw baskets in which English carpenters carry their tools. + +The women imitate the dresses of the whites, and are rather skilful in +converting their purchases. Many of the young girls can sew very neatly. +I often give them bits of silk and velvet, and braid, for which they +appear very thankful. + +I am just now very busy with my garden. Some of our vegetable seeds are +in the ground, though I am told we have been premature; there being ten +chances to one but the young plants will be cut off by the late frosts, +which are often felt through May, and even the beginning of June. + +Our garden at present has nothing to boast of, being merely a spot of +ground enclosed with a rough unsightly fence of split rails to keep the +cattle from destroying the vegetables. Another spring, I hope to have a +nice fence, and a portion of the ground devoted to flowers. This spring +there is so much pressing work to be done on the land in clearing for +the crops, that I do not like to urge my claims on behalf of a pretty +garden. + +The forest-trees are nearly all in leaf. Never did spring burst forth +with greater rapidity than it has done this year. The verdure of the +leaves is most vivid. A thousand lovely flowers are expanding in the +woods and clearings. Nor are our Canadian songsters mute: the cheerful +melody of the robin, the bugle-song of the blackbird and thrush, with +the weak but not unpleasing call of the little bird called _Thitabecec_, +and a wren, whose note is sweet and thrilling, fill our woods. + +For my part, I see no reason or wisdom in carping at the good we do +possess, because it lacks something of that which we formerly enjoyed. I +am aware it is the fashion for travellers to assert that our feathered +tribes are either mute or give utterance to discordant cries that pierce +the ear, and disgust rather than please. It would be untrue were I to +assert that our singing birds were as numerous or as melodious on the +whole as those of Europe; but I must not suffer prejudice to rob my +adopted country of her rights without one word being spoken in behalf of +her feathered vocalists. Nay, I consider her very frogs have been +belied: if it were not for the monotony of their notes, I really +consider they are not quite unmusical. The green frogs are very +handsome, being marked over with brown oval shields on the most vivid +green coat: they are larger in size than the biggest of our English +frogs, and certainly much handsomer in every respect. Their note +resembles that of a bird, and has nothing of the creek in it. + +The bull-frogs are very different from the green frogs. Instead of +being angry with their comical notes, I can hardly refrain from laughing +when a great fellow pops up his broad brown head from the margin of the +water, and says, "_Williroo, williroo, williroo_," to which another +bull-frog, from a distant part of the swamp, replies, in hoarser +accents, "_Get out, get out, get out_;" and presently a sudden chorus is +heard of old and young, as if each party was desirous of out-croaking +the other. + +In my next I shall give you an account of our logging-bee, which will +take place the latter end of this month. I feel some anxiety respecting +the burning of the log-heaps on the fallow round the house, as it +appears to me rather a hazardous matter. + +I shall write again very shortly. Farewell, dearest of friends. + + + + +LETTER XI + +Emigrants suitable for Canada.--Qualities requisite to ensure success.-- +Investment of Capital.--Useful Articles to be brought out.-- +Qualifications and Occupations of a Settler's Family.--Deficiency of +Patience and Energy in some Females.--Management of the Dairy.--Cheese. +--Indian Corn, and its Cultivation.--Potatoes.--Rates of Wages. + +August 9, 1833 + +WITH respect to the various questions, my dear friend, to which you +request my particular attention, I can only promise that I will do my +best to answer them as explicitly as possible, though at the same time I +must remind you, that brevity in epistolary correspondence is not one of +my excellencies. If I become too diffuse in describing mere matters of +fact, you must bear with mine infirmity, and attribute it to my womanly +propensity of over-much talking; so, for your comfort, if your eyes be +wearied, your ears will at least escape. + +I shall take your queries in due rotation; first, then, you ask, "Who +are the persons best adapted for bush-settlers?" + +To which I reply without hesitation--the poor hard-working, sober +labourers, who have industrious habits, a large family to provide for, +and a laudable horror of the workhouse and parish-overseers: this will +bear them through the hardships and privations of a first settlement in +the backwoods; and in due time they will realize an honest independence, +and be above want, though not work. Artisans of all crafts are better +paid in village-towns, or long-cleared districts, than as mere bush- +settlers. + +"Who are the next best suited for emigration?" + +Men of a moderate income or good capital may make money in Canada. If +they have judgment, and can afford to purchase on a large scale, they +will double or treble their capital by judicious purchases and sales. +But it would be easier for me to point out who are not fit for +emigration than who are. + +The poor gentleman of delicate and refined habits, who cannot afford to +employ all the labour requisite to carry on the business of clearing on +a tolerable large scale, and is unwilling or incapable of working +himself, is not fitted for Canada, especially if his habits are +expensive. Even the man of small income, unless he can condescend to +take in hand the axe or the chopper, will find, even with prudent and +economical habits, much difficulty in keeping free from debt for the +first two or even three years. Many such have succeeded, but the +struggle has been severe. + +But there is another class of persons most unsuited to the woods: these +are the wives and families of those who have once been opulent +tradesmen, accustomed to the daily enjoyment of every luxury that money +could procure or fashion invent; whose ideas of happiness are connected +with a round of amusements, company, and all the novelties of dress and +pleasure that the gay world can offer. Young ladies who have been +brought up at fashionable boarding schools, with a contempt of every +thing useful or economical, make very indifferent settlers' wives. +Nothing can be more unfortunate than the situations in the woods of +Canada of persons so educated: disgusted with the unpleasant change in +their mode of life, wearied and discontented with all the objects around +them, they find every exertion a trouble, and every occupation a +degradation. + +For persons of this description (and there are such to be met with in +the colonies), Canada is the worst country in the world. And I would +urge any one, so unfitted by habit and inclination, under no +consideration to cross the Atlantic; for miserable, and poor, and +wretched they will become. + +The emigrant, if he would succeed in this country, must possess the +following qualities: perseverance, patience, industry, ingenuity, +moderation, self-denial; and if he be a gentleman, a small income is +almost indispensable; a good one is still more desirable. + +The outlay for buying and clearing land, building, buying stock, and +maintaining a family, paying servants' wages, with many other +unavoidable expenses, cannot be done without some pecuniary means; and +as the return from the land is but little for the first two or three +years, it would be advisable for a settler to bring out some hundreds to +enable him to carry on the farm and clear the above-mentioned expenses, +or he will soon find himself involved in great difficulties. + +Now, to your third query, "What will be the most profitable way of +employing money, if a settler brought out capital more than was required +for his own expenditure?" + +On this head, I am not of course competent to give advice. My husband +and friends, conversant with the affairs of the colonies, say, lend it +on mortgage, on good landed securities, and at a high rate of interest. +The purchase of land is often a good speculation, but not always so +certain as mortgage, as it pays no interest; and though it may at some +future time make great returns, it is not always so easy to dispose of +it to an advantage when you happen to need it. A man possessing many +thousand acres in different townships, may be distressed for twenty +pounds if suddenly called upon for it when he is unprepared, if he +invests all his capital in property of this kind. + +It would be difficult for me to enumerate the many opportunities of +turning ready money to account. There is so little money in circulation +that those persons who are fortunate enough to have it at command can do +almost any thing with it they please. + +"What are the most useful articles for a settler to bring out?" + +Tools, a good stock of wearing-apparel, and shoes, good bedding, +especially warm blankets; as you pay high for them here, and they are +not so good as you would supply yourself with at a much lower rate at +home. A selection of good garden-seeds, as those you buy at the stores +are sad trash; moreover, they are pasted up in packets not to be opened +till paid for, and you may, as we have done, pay for little better than +chaff, and empty husks, or old and worm-eaten seeds. This, I am sorry to +say, is a Yankee trick; though I doubt not but John Bull would do the +same if he had the opportunity, as there are rogues in all countries +under the sun. + +With respect to furniture and heavy goods of any kind, I would recommend +little to be brought. Articles of hardware are not much more expensive +here than at home, if at all, and often of a kind more suitable to the +country than those you are at the trouble of bringing; besides, all +land-carriage is dear. + +We lost a large package of tools that have never been recovered from the +forwarders, though their carriage was paid beforehand to Prescott. It is +safest and best to ensure your goods, when the forwarders are +accountable for them. + +You ask, "If groceries and articles of household consumption are dear or +cheap?" + +They vary according to circumstances and situation. In towns situated in +old cleared parts of the country, and near the rivers and navigable +waters, they are cheaper than at home; but in newly-settled townships, +where the water-communication is distant, and where the roads are bad, +and the transport of goods difficult, they are nearly double the price. +Where the supply of produce is inadequate to the demand owing to the +influx of emigrants in thinly-settled places, or other causes, then all +articles of provisions are sold at a high price, and not to be procured +without difficulty; but these are merely temporary evils, which soon +cease. + +Competition is lowering prices in Canadian towns, as it does in British +ones, and you may now buy goods of all kinds nearly as cheap as in +England. + +Where prices depend on local circumstances, it is impossible to give any +just standard; as what may do for one town would not for another, and a +continual change is going on in all the unsettled or half-settled +townships. In like manner the prices of cattle vary: they are cheaper in +old settled townships, and still more so on the American side the river +or lakes, than in the Canadas*. + +[* The duties on goods imported to the Canadas are exceedingly small, +which will explain the circumstance of many articles of consumption +being cheaper in places where there are facilities of transit than at +home; while in the Backwoods, where roads are scarcely yet formed, there +must be taken into the account the cost of carriage, and increased +number of agents; the greater value of capital, and consequent increased +rate of local profit, &c.--items which will diminish in amount as the +country becomes settled and cleared.--Ed.] + +"What are necessary qualifications of a settler's wife; and the usual +occupations of the female part of a settler's family?" are your next +questions. + +To the first clause, I reply, a settler's wife should be active, +industrious, ingenious, cheerful, not above putting her hand to whatever +is necessary to be done in her household, nor too proud to profit by the +advice and experience of older portions of the community, from whom she +may learn many excellent lessons of practical wisdom. + +Like that pattern of all good housewives described by the prudent mother +of King Lemuel, it should be said of the emigrant's wife, "She layeth +her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." "She seeketh +wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." "She looketh well +to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." + +Nothing argues a greater degree of good sense and good feeling than a +cheerful conformity to circumstances, adverse though they be compared +with a former lot; surely none that felt as they ought to feel, would +ever despise a woman, however delicately brought up, for doing her duty +in the state of life unto which it may have pleased God to call her. +Since I came to this country, I have seen the accomplished daughters and +wives of men holding no inconsiderable rank as officers, both naval and +military, milking their own cows, making their own butter, and +performing tasks of household work that few of our farmers' wives would +now condescend to take part in. Instead of despising these useful arts, +an emigrant's family rather pride themselves on their skill in these +matters. The less silly pride and the more practical knowledge the +female emigrant brings out with her, so much greater is the chance for +domestic happiness and prosperity. + +I am sorry to observe, that in many cases the women that come hither +give way to melancholy regrets, and destroy the harmony of their fire- +side, and deaden the energies of their husbands and brothers by constant +and useless repining. Having once made up their minds to follow their +husbands or friends to this country, it would be wiser and better to +conform with a good grace, and do their part to make the burden of +emigration more bearable. + +One poor woman that was lamenting the miseries of this country was +obliged to acknowledge that her prospects were far better than they ever +had or could have been at home. What, then, was the cause of her +continual regrets and discontent? I could hardly forbear smiling, when +she replied, "She could not go to shop of a Saturday night to lay out +her husband's earnings, and have a little chat with her _naibors_, while +the shopman was serving the customers,--_for why?_ there were no shops +in the bush, and she was just dead-alive. If Mrs. Such-a-one (with whom, +by the way, she was always quarrelling when they lived under the same +roof) was near her she might not feel quite so lonesome." And so for the +sake of a dish of gossip, while lolling her elbows on the counter of a +village-shop, this foolish woman would have forgone the advantages, real +solid advantages, of having land and cattle, and poultry and food, and +firing and clothing, and all for a few years' hard work, which, her +husband wisely observed, must have been exerted at home, with no other +end in view than an old age of poverty or a refuge from starvation in a +parish workhouse. + +The female of the middling or better class, in her turn, pines for the +society of the circle of friends she has quitted, probably for ever. She +sighs for those little domestic comforts, that display of the +refinements and elegancies of life, that she had been accustomed to see +around her. She has little time now for those pursuits that were ever +her business as well as amusement. The accomplishments she has now to +acquire are of a different order: she must become skilled in the arts of +sugar-boiling, candle and soap making, the making and baking of huge +loaves, cooked in the bake-kettle, unless she be the fortunate mistress +of a stone or clay oven. She must know how to manufacture _hop-rising_ +or _salt-rising_ for leavening her bread; salting meat and fish, +knitting stockings and mittens and comforters, spinning yarn in the big +wheel (the French Canadian spinning-wheel), and dyeing the yarn when +spun to have manufactured into cloth and coloured flannels, to clothe +her husband and children, making clothes for herself, her husband and +children;--for there are no tailors nor mantua-makers in the bush. + +The management of poultry and the dairy must not be omitted; for in this +country most persons adopt the Irish and Scotch method, that of churning +the _milk_, a practice that in our part of England was not known. For my +own part I am inclined to prefer the butter churned from cream, as being +most economical, unless you chance to have Irish or Scotch servants who +prefer buttermilk to new or sweet skimmed milk. + +There is something to be said in favour of both plans, no doubt. The +management of the calves differs here very much. Some persons wean the +calf from the mother from its birth, never allowing it to suck at all: +the little creature is kept fasting the first twenty-four hours; it is +then fed with the finger with new milk, which it soon learns to take +readily. I have seen fine cattle thus reared, and am disposed to adopt +the plan as the least troublesome one. + +The old settlers pursue an opposite mode of treatment, allowing the calf +to suck till it is nearly half a year old, under the idea that it +ensures the daily return of the cow; as, under ordinary circumstances, +she is apt to ramble sometimes for days together, when the herbage grows +scarce in the woods near the homesteads, and you not only lose the use +of the milk, but often, from distention of the udder, the cow is +materially injured, at least for the remainder of the milking season. I +am disposed to think that were care taken to give the cattle regular +supplies of salt, and a small portion of food, if ever so little, near +the milking-place, they would seldom stay long away. A few refuse +potatoes, the leaves of the garden vegetables daily in use, set aside +for them, with the green shoots of the Indian corn that are stripped off +to strengthen the plant, will ensure their attendance. In the fall and +winter, pumpkins, corn, straw, and any other fodder you may have, with +the browse they get during the chopping and underbrushing season, will +keep them well. + +The weanling calves should be given skimmed milk or buttermilk, with the +leafy boughs of basswood and maple, of which they are extremely fond. A +warm shed or fenced yard is very necessary for the cattle during the +intense winter frosts: this is too often disregarded, especially in new +settlements, which is the cause that many persons have the mortification +of losing their stock, either with disease or cold. Naturally the +Canadian cattle are very hardy, and when taken moderate care of, endure +the severest winters well; but owing to the difficulties that attend a +first settlement in the bush, they suffer every privation of cold and +hunger, which brings on a complaint generally fatal, called the "_hollow +horn_;" this originates in the spine, or extends to it, and is cured or +palliated by boring the horn and inserting turpentine, pepper, or other +heating substances. + +When a new comer has not winter food for his cattle, it is wise to sell +them in the fall and buy others in the spring: though at a seeming loss, +it is perhaps less loss in reality than losing the cattle altogether. +This was the plan my husband adopted, and we found it decidedly the +better one, besides saving much care, trouble, and vexation. + +I have seen some good specimens of native cheese, that I thought very +respectable, considering that the grass is by no means equal to our +British pastures. I purpose trying my skill next summer: who knows but +that I may inspire some Canadian bard to celebrate the produce of my +dairy as Bloomfield did the Suffolk cheese, yclept "Bang." You remember +the passage,--for Bloomfield is your countryman as well as mine,--it +begins: + + "Unrivalled stands thy county cheese, O Giles," &c. + +I have dwelt on the dairy information; as I know you were desirous of +imparting all you could collect to your friends. + +You wish to know something of the culture of Indian corn, and if it be a +useful and profitable crop. + +The cultivation of Indian corn on newly cleared lands is very easy, and +attended with but little labour; on old farms it requires more. The +earth is just raised with a broad hoe, and three or four corns dropped +in with a pumpkin-seed, in about every third or fourth hole, and in +every alternate row; the seed are set several feet apart. The pumpkins +and the corn grow very amicably together, the broad leaves of the former +shading the young plants and preventing the too great evaporation of the +moisture from the ground; the roots strike little way, so that they rob +the corn of a very small portion of nourishment. The one crop trails to +an amazing length along the ground, while the other shoots up to the +height of several feet above it. When the corn is beginning to branch, +the ground should be hoed once over, to draw the earth a little to the +roots, and cut down any weeds that might injure it. This is all that is +done till the cob is beginning to form, when the blind and weak shoots +are broken off, leaving four or five of the finest bearing shoots. The +feather, when it begins to turn brown and dead, should also be taken +off; that the plant may have all the nourishment to the corn. + +We had a remarkable instance of smut in our corn last summer. The +diseased cobs had large white bladders as big as a small puff-ball, or +very large nuts, and these on being broken were full of an inky black +liquid. On the same plants might be observed a sort of false +fructification, the cob being deficient in kernels, which by some +strange accident were transposed to the top feather or male blossoms. I +leave botanists to explain the cause of this singular anomaly; I only +state facts. I could not learn that the smut was a disease common to +Indian corn, but last year smut or dust bran, as it is called by some, +was very prevalent in the oat, barley and wheat crops. In this country +especially, new lands are very subject to the disease. + +The ripe corn is either shocked as beans are at home, or the cobs pulled +and braided on ropes after the manner of onions, and hung over poles or +beams in the granaries or barns. The stripping of the corn gives rise +among some people, to what they call a husking-bee, which, like all the +other bees, is one of Yankee origin, and is not now so frequently +adopted among the more independent or better class of settlers. + +The Indian corn is a tender and somewhat precarious crop: it is liable +to injury from the late frosts while young, for which reason it is never +put in before the 20th of May, or beginning of June, and even then it +will suffer; it has also many enemies; bears, racoons, squirrels, mice, +and birds, and is a great temptation to _breachy_ cattle; who, to come +at it, will even toss down a fence with stakes and riders for +protection, i.e. a pole or cross-bar, supported between crossed stakes, +that surmounts the zig-zag rail fences, for better securing them from +the incursions of cattle. + +Even in Canada this crop requires a hot summer to ripen it perfectly; +which makes me think Mr. Cobbett was deceiving the English farmer when +he recommended it as a profitable crop in England. Profitable and highly +useful it is under every disadvantage, as it makes the richest and +sweetest food for all kinds of granivorous animals, even in its green +state, and affords sound good food when ripe, or even partially ripe, +for fattening beasts and working oxen. + +Last summer was very favourable, and the crops were abundant, but owing +to the failure of the two preceding ones, fewer settlers grew it. Our +small patch turned out very good. The flour makes a substantial sort of +porridge, called by the Americans "_Supporne;_" this is made with water, +and eaten with milk, or else mixed with milk; it requires long boiling. +Bread is seldom if ever made without a large portion of wheaten flour, +mixed with the corn meal. + +With respect to the culture of other grain, I can tell you nothing but +what every book that treats on emigration will give you. The potatoe +instead of being sown in drills is planted in hills, which are raised +over the sets; this crop requires hoeing. + +With respect to the usual rate of wages, this also differs according to +the populousness of the place: but the common wages now given to an +active able man are from eight to eleven dollars per month; ten is +perhaps the general average; from four to six for lads, and three and +four for female servants. You may get a little girl, say from nine to +twelve years, for her board and clothing; but this is far from a saving +plan, as they soon wear out clothes and shoes thus bestowed. I have once +tried this way, but found myself badly served, and a greater loser than +if I had given wages. A big girl will go out to service for two and two +and a half dollars per month, and will work in the fields also if +required, binding after the reapers, planting and hoeing corn and +potatoes. I have a very good girl, the daughter of a Wiltshire emigrant, +who is neat and clever, and respectful and industrious, to whom I give +three dollars only: she is a happy specimen of the lower order of +English emigrants, and her family are quite acquisitions to the township +in which they live. + +I think I have now answered all your queries to the best of my ability; +but I would have you bear in mind that my knowledge is confined to a +small portion of the townships along the Otanabee lakes, therefore, my +information after all, may be but local: things may differ, and do +differ in other parts of the province, though possibly not very +materially. + +I must now say farewell. Should you ever feel tempted to try your +fortune on this side the Atlantic, let me assure you of a warm welcome +to our Canadian home, from your sincerely attached friend. + + + + +LETTER XII. + +"A Logging Bee."--Burning of the Log-heaps.--Crops for the Season.-- +Farming Stock.--Comparative Value of Wheat and Labour.--Choice of Land, +and relative Advantages.--Clearing Land.--Hurricane in the Woods.-- +Variable Weather.--Insects. + +November the 2d, 1833. + +MANY thanks, dearest mother, for the contents of the box which arrived +in August. I was charmed with the pretty caps and worked frocks sent for +my baby; the little fellow looks delightfully in his new robes, and I +can almost fancy is conscious of the accession to his wardrobe, so proud +he seems of his dress. He grows fat and lively, and, as you may easily +suppose, is at once the pride and delight of his foolish mother's heart. + +His father, who loves him as much as I do myself; often laughs at my +fondness, and asks me if I do not think him the ninth wonder of the +world. He has fitted up a sort of rude carriage on the hand-sleigh for +the little fellow--nothing better than a tea-chest, lined with a black +bear-skin, and in this humble equipage he enjoys many a pleasant ride +over the frozen ground. + +Nothing could have happened more opportunely for us than the acquisition +of my uncle's legacy, as it has enabled us to make some useful additions +to our farm, for which we must have waited a few years. We have laid out +a part of the property in purchasing a fine lot of land adjoining our +home lot. The quality of our new purchase is excellent, and, from its +situation, greatly enhances the value of the whole property. + +We had a glorious burning this summer after the ground was all logged +up; that is, all the large timbers chopped into lengths, and drawn +together in heaps with oxen. To effect this the more readily we called a +logging-bee. We had a number of settlers attend, with yokes of oxen and +men to assist us. After that was over, my husband, with the men +servants, set the heaps on fire; and a magnificent sight it was to see +such a conflagration all round us. I was a little nervous at first on +account of the nearness of some of the log-heaps to the house, but care +is always taken to fire them with the wind blowing in a direction away +from the building. Accidents have sometimes happened, but they are of +rarer occurrence than might be expected, when we consider the subtlety +and destructiveness of the element employed on the occasion. + +If the weather be very dry, and a brisk wind blowing, the work of +destruction proceeds with astonishing rapidity; sometimes the fire will +communicate with the forest and run over many hundreds of acres. This is +not considered favourable for clearing, as it destroys the underbush and +light timbers, which are almost indispensable for ensuring a good +burning. It is, however, a magnificent sight to see the blazing trees +and watch the awful progress of the conflagration, as it hurries onward, +consuming all before it, or leaving such scorching mementoes as have +blasted the forest growth for years. + +When the ground is very dry the fire will run all over the fallow, +consuming the dried leaves, sticks, and roots. Of a night the effect is +more evident; sometimes the wind blows particles of the burning fuel +into the hollow pines and tall decaying stumps; these readily ignite, +and after a time present an appearance that is exceedingly fine and +fanciful. Fiery columns, the bases of which are hidden by the dense +smoke wreaths, are to be seen in every direction, sending up showers of +sparks that are whirled about like rockets and fire-wheels in the wind. +Some of these tall stumps, when the fire has reached the summit, look +like gas lamp-posts newly lit. The fire will sometimes continue +unextinguished for days. + +After the burning is over the brands are collected and drawn together +again to be reburnt; and, strange as it may appear to you, there is no +work that is more interesting and exciting than that of tending the log- +heaps, rousing up the dying flames and closing them in, and supplying +the fires with fresh fuel. + +There are always two burnings: first, the brush heaps, which have lain +during the winter till the drying winds and hot suns of April and May +have rendered them sear, are set fire to; this is previous to forming +the log-heaps. + +If the season be dry, and a brisk wind abroad, much of the lighter +timber is consumed, and the larger trees reduced during this first +burning. After this is over, the rest is chopped and logged up for the +second burning: and lastly, the remnants are collected and consumed till +the ground be perfectly free from all encumbrances, excepting the +standing stumps, which rarely burn out, and remain eye-sores for several +years. The ashes are then scattered abroad, and the field fenced in with +split timber; the great work of clearing is over. + +Our crops this year are oats, corn, and pumpkins, and potatoes, with +some turnips. We shall have wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and corn next +harvest, which will enable us to increase our stock. At present we have +only a yoke of oxen (Buck and Bright, the names of three-fourths of all +the working oxen in Canada), two cows, two calves, three small pigs, ten +hens, and three ducks, and a pretty brown pony: but she is such a +skilful clearer of seven-railed fences that we shall be obliged to part +with her. _Breachy_ cattle of any kind are great disturbers of public +tranquillity and private friendship; for which reason any settler who +values the good-will of his neighbours would rather part with the best +working yoke of oxen in the township, than keep them if they prove +_breachy_. + +A small farmer at home would think very poorly of our Canadian +possessions, especially when I add that our whole stock of farming +implements consists of two reaping-hooks, several axes, a spade, and a +couple of hoes. Add to these a queer sort of harrow that is made in the +shape of a triangle for the better passing between the stumps: this is a +rude machine compared with the nicely painted instruments of the sort I +have been accustomed to see used in Britain. It is roughly hewn, and put +together without regard to neatness; strength for use is all that is +looked to here. The plough is seldom put into the land before the third +or fourth year, nor is it required; the general plan of cropping the +first fallow with wheat or oats, and sowing grass-seeds with the grain +to make pastures, renders the plough unnecessary till such time as the +grass-lands require to be broken up. This method is pursued by most +settlers while they are clearing bush-land; always chopping and burning +enough to keep a regular succession of wheat and spring crops, while the +former clearings are allowed to remain in grass. + +The low price that is now given for grain of every kind, wheat having +fetched only from two shillings and nine-pence to four shillings the +bushel, makes the growing of it a matter of less importance than rearing +and fatting of stock. Wages bear no proportion to the price of produce; +a labourer receives ten and even eleven dollars and board a month, while +wheat is selling at only three shillings, three shillings and six pence +or four shillings, and sometimes even still less. The returns are little +compared with the outlay on the land; nor does the land produce that +great abundance that men are apt to look for on newly cleared ground. +The returns of produce, however, must vary with the situation and +fertility of the soil, which is generally less productive in the +immediate vicinity of the lakes and rivers than a little further back +from them, the land being either swampy or ridgy, covered with pines and +beset with blocks of limestone and granite, the sub-soil poor and sandy. + +This is the case on the small lakes and on the banks of the Otanabee; +the back lots are generally much finer in quality, producing hard wood, +such as bass-wood, maple, hickory, butter-nut, oak, beech, and iron- +wood; which trees always indicate a more productive soil than the pine +tribe. + +In spite of the indifference of the soil the advantage of a water +frontage is considered a matter of great importance in the purchasing of +land; and, lots with water privileges usually fetch a much higher price +than those further removed from it. These lands are in general in the +possession of the higher class of settlers, who can afford to pay +something extra for a pretty situation, and the prospect of future +improvements when the country shall be under a higher state of +cultivation and more thickly settled. + +We cannot help regarding with infinite satisfaction the few acres that +are cleared round the house and covered with crops. A space of this kind +in the midst of the dense forest imparts a cheerfulness to the mind, of +which those that live in an open country, or even a partially wooded +one, can form no idea. The bright sunbeams and the blue and cloudless +sky breaking in upon you, rejoices the eye and cheers the heart as much +as the cool shade of a palm-grove would the weary traveller on the sandy +wastes of Africa. + +If we feel this so sensibly who enjoy the opening of a lake of full +three-quarters of a mile in breadth directly in front of our windows, +what must those do whose clearing is first opened in the depths of the +forest, hemmed in on every side by a thick wall of trees, through the +interminable shades of which the eye vainly endeavours to penetrate in +search of other objects and other scenes; but so dense is the growth of +timber, that all beyond the immediate clearing is wrapped in profound +obscurity. A settler on first locating on his lot knows no more of its +boundaries and its natural features than he does of the northwest +passage. + +Under such disadvantages it is ten chances to one if he chooses the best +situation on the land for the site of his house. This is a very +sufficient reason for not putting up an expensive building till the land +is sufficiently cleared to allow its advantages and disadvantages to +become evident. Many eligible spots often present themselves to the eye +of the settler, in clearing his land, that cause him to regret having +built before he could obtain a better choice of ground. But +circumstances will seldom admit of delay in building in the bush; a +dwelling must be raised speedily, and that generally on the first +cleared acre. The emigrant, however, looks forward to some no very +distant period when he shall be able to gratify both his taste and love +of comfort in the erection of a handsomer and better habitation than his +log-house or his shanty, which he regards only in the light of a +temporary accommodation. + +On first coming to this country nothing surprised me more than the total +absence of trees about the dwelling-houses and cleared lands; the axe of +the chopper relentlessly levels all before him. Man appears to contend +with the trees of the forest as though they were his most obnoxious +enemies; for he spares neither the young sapling in its greenness nor +the ancient trunk in its lofty pride; he wages war against the forest +with fire and steel. + +There are several sufficient reasons to be given for this seeming want +of taste. The forest-trees grow so thickly together that they have no +room for expanding and putting forth lateral branches; on the contrary, +they run up to an amazing height of stem, resembling seedlings on a hot- +bed that have not duly been thinned out. Trees of this growth when +unsupported by others are tall, weak, and entirely divested of those +graces and charms of outline and foliage that would make them desirable +as ornaments to our grounds; but this is not the most cogent reason for +not leaving them, supposing some more sightly than others were to be +found. + +Instead of striking deep roots in the earth, the forest-trees, with the +exception of the pines, have very superficial hold in the earth; the +roots running along the surface have no power to resist the wind when it +bends the tops, which thus act as a powerful lever in tearing them from +their places. + +The taller the tree the more liable it is to being uprooted by storms; +and if those that are hemmed in, as in the thickly-planted forests, +fall, you may suppose the certain fate of any isolated tree, deprived of +its former protectors, when left to brave and battle with the storm. It +is sure to fall, and may chance to injure any cattle that are within its +reach. This is the great reason why trees are not left in the clearing. +Indeed, it is a less easy matter to spare them when chopping than I at +first imagined, but the fall of one tree frequently brings down two, +three, or even more smaller ones that stand near it. A good chopper will +endeavour to promote this as much as possible by partly chopping through +smaller ones in the direction they purpose the larger one to fall. + +I was so desirous of preserving a few pretty sapling beech-trees that +pleased me, that I desired the choppers to spare them; but the only one +that was saved from destruction in the chopping had to pass through a +fiery ordeal, which quickly scorched and withered up its gay green +leaves: it now stands a melancholy monument of the impossibility of +preserving trees thus left. The only thing to be done if you desire +trees, is to plant them while young in favourable situations, when they +take deep root and spread forth branches the same as the trees in our +parks and hedge-rows. + +Another plan which we mean to adopt on our land is to leave several +acres of forest in a convenient situation, and chop and draw out the old +timbers for fire-wood, leaving the younger growth for ornament. This +method of preserving a grove of trees is not liable to the objections +formerly stated, and combines the useful with the ornamental. + +There is a strange excitement created in the mind whilst watching the +felling of one of the gigantic pines or oaks of the forest. Proudly and +immoveably it seems at first to resist the storm of blows that assail +its massy trunk, from the united axes of three or even four choppers. As +the work of destruction continues, a slight motion is perceived--an +almost imperceptible quivering of the boughs. Slowly and slowly it +inclines, while the loud rending of the trunk at length warns you that +its last hold on earth is gone. The axe of the chopper has performed its +duty; the motion of the falling tree becomes accelerated every instant, +till it comes down in thunder on the plain, with a crash that makes the +earth tremble and the neighbouring trees reel and bow before it. + +Though decidedly less windy than our British isles, Canada is subject at +times to sudden storms, nearly approaching to what might be termed +whirlwinds and hurricanes. A description of one of these tempests I gave +you in an early letter. During the present summer I witnessed another +hurricane, somewhat more violent and destructive in its effect. + +The sky became suddenly overcast with clouds of a highly electric +nature. The storm came from the north-west, and its fury appeared to be +confined within the breadth of a few hundred yards. I was watching with +some degree of interest the rapid movements in the lurid, black, and +copper-coloured clouds that were careering above the lake, when I was +surprised by the report of trees falling on the opposite shore, and yet +more so by seeing the air filled with scattered remnants of the pines +within less than a hundred yards of the house, while the wind was +scarcely felt on the level ground on which I was standing. + +In a few seconds the hurricane had swept over the water, and with +irresistible power laid low not less than thirty or forty trees, bending +others to the ground like reeds. It was an awful sight to see the tall +forest rocking and bowing before the fury of the storm, and with the +great trunks falling one after the other, as if they had been a pack of +cards thrown down by a breath. Fortunately for us the current of the +wind merely passed over our open clearing, doing us no further damage +than uprooting three big pine-trees on the ridge above the lake. But in +the direction of our neighbour ------ it did great mischief, destroying +many rods of fencing, and crushing his crops with the prostrate trunks +and scattered boughs, occasioning great loss and much labour to repair +the mischief. + +The upturned roots of trees thrown down by the wind are great nuisances +and disfigurements in clearings, and cause much more trouble to remove +than those that have been felled by the axe. Some of the stumps of these +wind-fallen trees will right again if chopped from the trunk soon after +they have been blown down, the weight of the roots and upturned soil +being sufficient to bring them back into their former places; we have +pursued this plan very frequently. + +We have experienced one of the most changeable seasons this summer that +was possible. The spring was warm and pleasant, but from the latter part +of May till the middle of harvest we had heavy rains, cloudy skies, with +moist hot days, and frequent tempests of thunder and lightning, most +awfully grand, but seemingly less destructive than such storms are at +home. Possibly the tall forest-trees divert the danger from the low +dwellings, which are sufficiently sheltered from the effect of the +lightning. The autumn has also proved wet and cold. I must say at +present I do not think very favourably of the climate; however, it is +not right to judge by so short an acquaintance with it, as every one +says this summer has been unlike any of its predecessors. + +The insects have been a sad annoyance to us, and I hailed the approach +of the autumn as a respite from their attacks; for these pests are +numerous and various, and no respecters of persons, as I have learned +from sad experience. + +I am longing for home-letters; let me hear from you soon. + +Farewell, friends. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +Health enjoyed in the rigour of Winter.--Inconvenience suffered from the +brightness of the Snow.--Sleighing.--Indian Orthography.--Visit to an +Indian Encampment.--Story of an Indian.--An Indian Hunchback.--Canadian +Ornithology. + +Lake Cottage, March 14, 1834. + +I RECEIVED your affectionate and interesting letter only last night. +Owing to an error in the direction, it had made the round of two +townships before it reached Peterborough; and though it bore as many new +directions as the sailor's knife did new blades and handles, it did at +last reach me, and was not less prized for its travelling dress, being +somewhat the worse for wear. + +I rejoiced to hear of your returning health and increased happiness--may +they long continue. Your expressions of regret for my exile, as you term +my residence in this country, affected me greatly. Let the assurance +that I am not less happy than when I left my native land, console you +for my absence. If my situation be changed, my heart is not. My spirits +are as light as ever, and at times I feel a gaiety that bids defiance to +all care. + +You say you fear the rigours of the Canadian winter will kill me. I +never enjoyed better health, nor so good, as since it commenced. There +is a degree of spirit and vigour infused into one's blood by the purity +of the air that is quite exhilarating. The very snow seems whiter and +more beautiful than it does in our damp, vapoury climate. During a keen +bright winter's day you will often perceive the air filled with minute +frozen particles, which are quite dry, and slightly prick your face like +needle-points, while the sky is blue and bright above you. There is a +decided difference between the first snow-falls and those of mid-winter; +the first are in large soft flakes, and seldom remain long without +thawing, but those that fall after the cold has regularly set in are +smaller, drier, and of the most beautiful forms, sometimes pointed like +a cluster of rays, or else feathered in the most exquisite manner. + +I find my eyes much inconvenienced by the dazzling glitter of the snow +on bright sunny days, so as to render my sight extremely dull and +indistinct for hours after exposure to its power. I would strongly +advise any one coming out to this country to provide themselves with +blue or green glasses; and by no means to omit green crape or green +tissue veils. Poor Moses' gross of green spectacles would not have +proved so bad a spec. in Canada*. + +[* Oculists condemn coloured spectacles, as injuring weak eyes by the +heat which they occasion. Coloured gauze or coloured shades are +preferable.--Ed.] + +Some few nights ago as I was returning from visiting a sick friend, I +was delighted by the effect produced by the frost. The earth, the trees, +every stick, dried leaf, and stone in my path was glittering with mimic +diamonds, as if touched by some magical power; objects the most rude and +devoid of beauty had suddenly assumed a brilliancy that was dazzling +beyond the most vivid fancy to conceive; every frozen particle sent +forth rays of bright light. You might have imagined yourself in Sinbad's +valley of gems; nor was the temperature of the air at all unpleasantly +cold. + +I have often felt the sensation of cold on a windy day in Britain far +more severe than I have done in Canada, when the mercury indicated a +much lower degree of temperature. There is almost a trance-like +stillness in the air during our frosty nights that lessens the +unpleasantness of the sensation. + +There are certainly some days of intense cold during our winter, but +this low temperature seldom continues more than three days together. The +coldest part of the day is from an hour or two before sunrise to about +nine o'clock in the morning; by that time our blazing log-fires or metal +stoves have warmed the house, so that you really do not care for the +cold without. When out of doors you suffer less inconvenience than you +would imagine whilst you keep in motion, and are tolerably well clothed: +the ears and nose are the most exposed to injury. + +Gentlemen sometimes make a singular appearance coming in from a long +journey, that if it were not for pity's sake would draw from you a +smile;--hair, whiskers, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, all incrusted with +hoar-frost. I have seen young ladies going to evening parties with +clustering ringlets, as jetty as your own, changed by the breath of +Father Frost to silvery whiteness; so that you could almost fancy the +fair damsels had been suddenly metamorphosed to their ancient grannies; +fortunately for youth and beauty such change is but transitory. + +In the towns and populous parts of the province the approach of winter +is hailed with delight instead of dread; it is to all a season of +leisure and enjoyment. Travelling is then expeditiously and pleasantly +performed; even our vile bush-roads become positively very respectable; +and if you should happen to be overturned once or twice during a journey +of pleasure, very little danger attends such an event, and very little +compassion is bestowed on you for your tumble in the snow; so it is +wisest to shake off your light burden and enjoy the fun with a good +grace if you can. + +Sleighing is certainly a very agreeable mode of travelling; the more +snow, the better the sleighing season is considered; and the harder it +becomes, the easier the motion of the vehicle. The horses are all +adorned with strings of little brass bells about their necks or middles. +The merry jingle of these bells is far from disagreeable, producing a +light, lively sound. + +The following lines I copied from the New York Albion for you; I think +you will be pleased with them:-- + +SLEIGH BELLS. + +'Tis merry to hear at evening time +By the blazing hearth the sleigh-bells chime; +To know each bound of the steed brings near +The form of him to our bosoms dear; +Lightly we spring the fire to raise, +Till the rafters glow with the ruddy blaze. + +'Tis he--and blithely the gay bells sound, +As his steed skims over the frozen ground. +Hark! he has pass'd the gloomy wood; +He crosses now the ice-bound flood, +And sees the light from the open door, +To hail his toilsome journey o'er. + +Our hut is small and rude our cheer, +But love has spread the banquet here; +And childhood springs to be caress'd +By our beloved and welcome guest; +With smiling brow his tale he tells, +They laughing ring the merry bells. + +From the cedar swamp the wolf may howl, +From the blasted pine loud whoop the owl; +The sudden crash of the falling tree +Are sounds of terror no more to me; +No longer I list with boding fear, +The sleigh-bells' merry peal to hear*. + +[* This little poem by Mrs. Moodie has since been printed in a volume of +"Friendship's Offering," with some alterations by the editor that +deprive it a good deal of the simplicity of the original.] + +As soon as a sufficient quantity of snow has fallen all vehicles of +every description, from the stage-coach to the wheelbarrow, are supplied +with wooden runners, shod with iron, after the manner of skates. The +usual equipages for travelling are the double sleigh, light waggon, and +cutter; the two former are drawn by two horses abreast, but the latter, +which is by far the most elegant-looking, has but one, and answers more +to our gig or chaise. + +Wrapped up in buffalo robes you feel no inconvenience from the cold, +excepting to your face, which requires to be defended by a warm beaver +or fur bonnet; the latter, I am surprised to find, is seldom if ever +worn, from the nonsensical reason that it is not the fashion. The red, +grey, and black squirrels are abundant in our woods; the musk-rat +inhabits little houses that he builds in the rushy parts of the lakes: +these dwellings are formed of the roots of sedges, sticks, and other +materials of a similar nature, and plastered with mud, over which a +thick close thatch is raised to the height of a foot or more above the +water; they are of a round or dome-shape, and are distinctly visible +from the shore at some distance. The Indians set traps to ensnare these +creatures in their houses, and sell their skins, which are very thick +and glossy towards winter. The beaver, the bear, the black lynx, and +foxes are also killed, and brought to the stores by the hunters, where +the skins are exchanged for goods or money. + +The Indians dress the deer-skins for making mocassins, which are greatly +sought after by the settlers in these parts; they are very comfortable +in snowy weather, and keep the feet very warm, but you require several +wrappings of cloth round the feet before you put them on. I wore a +beautiful pair all last winter, worked with porcupine-quills and bound +with scarlet ribbon; these elegant mocassins were the handicraft of an +old squaw, the wife of Peter the hunter: you have already heard of him +in my former letters. I was delighted with a curious specimen of Indian +orthography that accompanied the mocassins, in the form of a note, which +I shall transcribe for your edification:-- + +SIR, + +Pleas if you would give something; you must git in ordir in store is +woyth (worth) them mocsin, porcupine quill on et. One dollers foure +yard. + +[Illustration: The Prairie] + +This curious billet was the production of the hunter's eldest son, and +is meant to intimate that if I would buy the mocassins the price was one +dollar, or an order on one of the stores for four yards of calico; for +so the squaw interpreted its meaning. The order for four yards of +printed cotton was delivered over to Mrs. Peter, who carefully pinned it +within the folds of her blanket, and departed well satisfied with the +payment. And this reminds me of our visit to the Indian's camp last +week. Feeling some desire to see these singular people in their winter +encampment, I expressed my wish to S------, who happens to be a grand +favourite with the old hunter and his family; as a mark of a distinction +they have bestowed on him the title of Chippewa, the name of their +tribe. He was delighted with the opportunity of doing the honours of the +Indian wigwam, and it was agreed that he, with some of his brothers and +sisters-in-law, who happened to be on a visit at his house, should come +and drink tea with us and accompany us to the camp in the woods. + +A merry party we were that sallied forth that evening into the glorious +starlight; the snow sparkled with a thousand diamonds on its frozen +surface, over which we bounded with hearts as light as hearts could be +in this careful world. And truly never did I look upon a lovelier sight +than the woods presented; there had been a heavy fall of snow the +preceding day; owing to the extreme stillness of the air not a particle +of it had been shaken from the trees. The evergreens were bending +beneath their brilliant burden; every twig, every leaf, and spray was +covered, and some of the weak saplings actually bowed down to the earth +with the weight of snow, forming the most lovely and fanciful bowers and +arcades across our path. As you looked up towards the tops of the trees +the snowy branches seen against the deep blue sky formed a silvery veil, +through which the bright stars were gleaming with a chastened +brilliancy. + +I was always an admirer of a snowy landscape, but neither in this +country nor at home did I ever see any thing so surpassingly lovely as +the forest appeared that night. + +Leaving the broad road we struck into a bye-path, deep tracked by the +Indians, and soon perceived the wigwam by the red smoke that issued from +the open basket-work top of the little hut. This is first formed with +light poles, planted round so as to enclose a circle of ten or twelve +feet in diameter; between these poles are drawn large sheets of birch +bark both within and without, leaving an opening of the bare poles at +the top so as to form an outlet for the smoke; the outer walls were also +banked up with snow, so as to exclude the air entirely from beneath. + +Some of our party, who were younger and lighter of foot than we sober +married folks, ran on before; so that when the blanket, that served the +purpose of a door, was unfastened, we found a motley group of the dark +skins and the pale faces reposing on the blankets and skins that were +spread round the walls of the wigwam. + +The swarthy complexions, shaggy black hair, and singular costume of the +Indians formed a striking contrast with the fair-faced Europeans that +were mingled with them, seen as they were by the red and fitful glare of +the wood-fire that occupied the centre of the circle. The deer-hounds +lay stretched in indolent enjoyment, close to the embers, while three or +four dark-skinned little urchins were playing with each other, or +angrily screaming out their indignation against the apish tricks of the +hunchback, my old acquaintance Maquin, that Indian Flibberty-gibbet, +whose delight appeared to be in teazing and tormenting the little +papouses, casting as he did so sidelong glances of impish glee at the +guests, while as quick as thought his features assumed an impenetrable +gravity when the eyes of his father or the squaws seemed directed +towards his tricks. + +There was a slight bustle among the party when we entered one by one +through the low blanket-doorway. The merry laugh rang round among our +friends, which was echoed by more than one of the Indian men, and joined +by the peculiar half-laugh or chuckle of the squaws. "_Chippewa_" was +directed to a post of honour beside the hunter Peter; and squaw Peter, +with an air of great good humour, made room for me on a corner of her +own blanket; to effect which two papouses and a hound were sent +lamenting to the neighbourhood of the hunchback Maquin. + +The most attractive persons in the wigwam were two Indian girls, one +about eighteen, Jane, the hunter's eldest daughter, and her cousin +Margaret. I was greatly struck with the beauty of Jane; her features +were positively fine, and though of gipsey darkness the tint of +vermilion on her cheek and lip rendered it, if not beautiful, very +attractive. Her hair, which was of jetty blackness, was soft and +shining, and was neatly folded over her forehead, not hanging loose and +disorderly in shaggy masses, as is generally the case with the squaws. +Jane was evidently aware of her superior charms, and may be considered +as an Indian belle, by the peculiar care she displayed in the +arrangement of the black cloth mantle, bound with scarlet, that was +gracefully wrapped over one shoulder, and fastened at her left side with +a gilt brooch. Margaret was younger, of lower stature, and though lively +and rather pretty, yet wanted the quiet dignity of her cousin; she had +more of the squaw in face and figure. The two girls occupied a blanket +by themselves, and were busily engaged in working some most elegant +sheaths of deer-skin, richly wrought over with coloured quills and +beads: they kept the beads and quills in a small tin baking-pan on their +knees; but my old squaw (as I always call Mrs. Peter) held her +porcupine-quills in her mouth, and the fine dried sinews of the deer, +which they make use of instead of thread in work of this sort, in her +bosom. + +On my expressing a desire to have some of the porcupine-quills, she gave +me a few of different colour that she was working a pair of mocassins +with, but signified that she wanted "'bead' to work mocsin," by which I +understood I was to give some in exchange for the quills. Indians never +give since they have learned to trade with white men. + +She was greatly delighted with the praises I bestowed on Jane. She told +me Jane was soon to marry the young Indian who sat on one side of her in +all the pride of a new blanket coat, red sash, embroidered powder-pouch, +and great gilt clasps to the collar of his coat, which looked as warm +and as white as a newly washed fleece. The old squaw evidently felt +proud of the young couple as she gazed on them, and often repeated, with +a good-tempered laugh, "Jane's husband--marry by and by." + +We had so often listened with pleasure to the Indians singing their +hymns of a Sunday night that I requested some of them to sing to us; the +old hunter nodded assent; and, without removing his pipe, with the +gravity and phlegm of a Dutchman, issued his commands, which were as +instantly obeyed by the younger part of the community, and a chorus of +rich voices filled the little hut with a melody that thrilled to our +very hearts. + +The hymn was sung in the Indian tongue, a language that is peculiarly +sweet and soft in its cadences, and seems to be composed with many +vowels. I could not but notice the modest air of the girls; as if +anxious to avoid observation that they felt was attracted by their sweet +voices, they turned away from the gaze of the strangers, facing each +other and bending their heads down over the work they still held in +their hands. The attitude, which is that of the Eastern nations; the +dress, dark hair and eyes, the olive complexion, heightened colour, and +meek expression of face, would have formed a study for a painter. I wish +you could have witnessed the scene; I think you would not easily have +forgotten it. I was pleased with the air of deep reverence that sat on +the faces of the elders of the Indian family, as they listened to the +voices of their children singing praise and glory to the God and Saviour +they had learned to fear and love. + +The Indians seem most tender parents; it is pleasing to see the +affectionate manner in which they treat their young children, fondly and +gently caressing them with eyes overflowing and looks of love. During +the singing each papouse crept to the feet of its respective father and +mother, and those that were too young to join their voices to the little +choir, remained quite silent till the hymn was at an end. One little +girl, a fat brown roly-poly, of three years old, beat time on her +father's knee, and from time to time chimed in her infant voice; she +evidently possessed a fine ear and natural taste for music. + +I was at a loss to conceive where the Indians kept their stores, +clothes, and other moveables, the wigwam being so small that there +seemed no room for any thing besides themselves and their hounds. Their +ingenuity, however, supplied the want of room, and I soon discovered a +plan that answered all the purposes of closets, bags, boxes, &c., the +inner lining of birch-bark being drawn between the poles so as to form +hollow pouches all round; in these pouches were stowed their goods; one +set held their stock of dried deer's flesh, another dried fish, a third +contained some flat cakes, which I have been told they bake in a way +peculiar to themselves, with hot ashes over and under; for my part I +think they must be far from palatable so seasoned. Their dressed skins, +clothes, materials for their various toys, such as beads, quills, bits +of cloth, silk, with a thousand other miscellaneous articles, occupied +the rest of these reservoirs. + +Though open for a considerable space at the top, the interior of the +wigwam was so hot, I could scarcely breathe, and was constrained to +throw off all my wrappings during the time we staid. Before we went away +the hunter insisted on showing us a game, which was something after the +manner of our cup and ball, only more complicated, and requires more +sleight of hand: the Indians seemed evidently well pleased at our want +of adroitness. They also showed us another game, which was a little like +nine-pins, only the number of sticks stuck in the ground was greater. I +was unable to stay to see the little rows of sticks knocked out, as the +heat of the wigwam oppressed me almost to suffocation, and I was glad to +feel myself once more breathing the pure air. + +In any other climate one would scarcely have undergone such sudden +extremes of temperature without catching a severe cold; but fortunately +that distressing complaint _catchee le cold_, as the Frenchman termed +it, is not so prevalent in Canada as at home. + +Some twenty years ago, while a feeling of dread still existed in the +minds of the British settlers towards the Indians, from the remembrance +of atrocities committed during the war of independence, a poor woman, +the widow of a settler who occupied a farm in one of the then but +thinly-settled townships back of the Ontario, was alarmed by the sudden +appearance of an Indian within the walls of her log-hut. He had entered +so silently that it was not till he planted himself before the blazing +fire that he was perceived by the frightened widow and her little ones, +who retreated, trembling with ill-concealed terror to the furthest +corner of the room. + +Without seeming to notice the dismay which his appearance had excited, +the Indian proceeded to disencumber himself from his hunting +accoutrements; he then unfastened his wet mocassins, which he hung up to +dry, plainly intimating his design was to pass the night beneath their +roof, it being nearly dark, and snowing heavily. + +Scarcely daring to draw an audible breath, the little group watched the +movements of their unwelcome guest. Imagine their horror when they +beheld him take from his girdle a hunting-knife, and deliberately +proceed to try its edge. After this his tomahawk and rifle underwent a +similar examination. + +The despair of the horror-stricken mother was now approaching a climax. +She already beheld in idea the frightful mangled corpses of her murdered +children upon that hearth which had so often been the scene of their +innocent gambols. Instinctively she clasped the two youngest to her +breast at a forward movement of the Indian. With streaming eyes she was +about to throw herself at his feet, as he advanced towards her with the +dreaded weapons in his hands, and implore his mercy for herself and her +babes. What then was her surprise and joy when he gently laid the rifle, +knife, and tomahawk beside her, signifying by this action that she had +nothing to fear at his hands*. + +[* It is almost an invariable custom now for the Indians on entering a +dwelling-house to leave all their weapons, as rife, tomahawk, &c., +outside the door, even if the weather be ever so wet; as they consider +it unpolite to enter a family dwelling armed.] + + +A reprieve to a condemned criminal at the moment previous to his +execution was not more welcome than this action of the Indian to the +poor widow. Eager to prove her confidence and her gratitude at the same +time, she hastened to prepare food for the refreshment of the now no +longer dreaded guest; and, assisted by the eldest of her children, put +clean sheets and the best blankets on her own bed, which she joyfully +devoted to the accommodation of the stranger. An expressive "Hugh! +hugh!" was the only reply to this act of hospitality; but when he went +to take possession of his luxurious couch he seemed sorely puzzled. It +was evident the Indian had never seen, and certainly never reposed on, +an European bed. After a mute examination of the bed-clothes for some +minutes, with a satisfied laugh, he sprang upon the bed, and, curling +himself up like a dog, in a few minutes was sound asleep. + +By dawn of day the Indian had departed; but whenever he came on the +hunting-grounds in the neighbourhood of the widow, she was sure to see +him. The children, no longer terrified at his swarthy countenance and +warlike weapons, would gather round his knees, admire the feathered +pouch that contained his shot, finger the beautiful embroidered sheath +that held the hunting-knife, or the finely-worked mocassins and +leggings; whilst he would pat their heads, and bestow upon them an equal +share of caresses with his deer-hounds. + +Such was the story related to me by a young missionary. I thought it +might prove not uninteresting, as a trait of character of one of these +singular people. _Chiboya_ (for that was the name of the Indian) was one +of the Chippewas of Rice Lake, most of whom are now converts to +Christianity, and making considerable advancement in civilisation and +knowledge of agriculture. Hunting and fishing, however, appear to be +their favourite pursuits: for these they leave the comfortable houses at +the Indian villages, and return at stated times to their forest haunts. +I believe it is generally considered that their numbers are diminishing, +and some tribes have become nearly if not totally extinct in the +Canadas*. The race is slowly passing away from the face of the earth, or +mingling by degrees with the colonists, till, a few centuries hence, +even the names of their tribes will scarcely remain to tell that they +once existed. + +[* It is stated that the North-West Company had a census of all the +tribes, and that the whole Indian population of that immense continent +did not now exceed 100,000 souls. In a Parliamentary document of 1834, +the Indians of Lower Canada are estimated at 3,437, and those of Upper +Canada at 13,700, which latter number is stated to include those on the +shores of Lake Huron, and to the westward.-Ed.] + +When next you send a box or parcel, let me have a few good tracts and +hymn-books; as they prize a gift of this sort extremely. I send you a +hymn, the one they sang to us in the wigwam; it is the Indian +translation, and written by the hunter, Peter's eldest son: he was +delighted when I told him I wanted him to copy it for me, that I might +send it across the seas to my own country, that English people might see +how well Indians could write. + +[Illustration: Red-bird] + +[Illustration: Blue-bird] + +The hunchback Maquin has made me a miniature canoe of birch-bark, which +I send; you will prize it as a curiosity, and token of remembrance. The +red and black squirrel-skins are for Jane; the feather fans, and papers +of feathers, for Sarah. Tell the latter the next time I send a packet +home, she shall have specimens fit for stuffing of our splendid red- +bird, which, I am sure, is the Virginian nightingale; it comes in May or +April, and leaves us late in the summer: it exactly corresponds to a +stuffed Virginian nightingale that I saw in a fine collection of +American birds. The blue-bird is equally lovely, and migrates much about +the same time; the plumage is of a celestial blue; but I have never seen +one otherwise than upon the wing, so cannot describe it minutely. The +cross-bills are very pretty; the male and female quite opposite in +colour, one having a lovely mixture of scarlet and orange on the breast +and back, shading into greenish olive and brown; the other more like our +yellowhammer, only it is not quite so bright in colour, though much +softer, and more innocent-looking: they come to our windows and doors in +the winter as familiarly as your robins. During the winter most of our +birds depart; even the hollow tapping of the red-headed and the small +speckled grey and white woodpecker ceases to be heard; the sharp +chittering of the squirrel, too, is seldomer distinguished; and silence, +awful and unbroken silence, reigns in the forest during the season of +midwinter. + +I had well nigh forgotten my little favourites, a species of the +titmouse, that does not entirely forsake us. Of a bright warm, sunny day +we see flocks of these tiny birds swinging among the feathery sprigs of +the hemlocks or shrubby pines on the plains or in the forest; and many a +time have I stayed my steps to watch their playful frolics, and listen +to their gay warbling. I am not quite certain, but I think this is the +same little bird that is known among the natives by the name of Thit-a- +be-bee; its note, though weak, and with few changes, is not unpleasing; +and we prize it from its being almost the only bird that sings during +the winter. + +I had heard much of the snow-bunting, but never had seen it till the +other day, and then not near enough to mark its form or colours. The day +was one of uncommon brilliancy; the sky cloudless, and the air almost +warm; when, looking towards the lake, I was surprised by the appearance +of one of the pine-trees near the shore: it seemed as if covered with +stars of silver that twinkled and sparkled against the blue sky. I was +so charmed by the novelty, that I ran out to observe them nearer; when, +to my surprise, my stars all took flight to another tree, where, by the +constant waving and fluttering of their small white wings against the +sunlight, they produced the beautiful effect that had at first attracted +my observation: soon all the pines within sight of the window were +illuminated by these lovely creatures. About mid-day they went away, and +I have seen them but once since. They never lit on the ground, or any +low tree or bough, for me to examine them nearer. + +Of our singing-birds, the robin; the blackbird, and a tiny bird, like +our common wren, are those I am most intimate with. The Canadian robin +is much larger than our dear robin at home; he is too coarse and large a +bird to realize the idea of our little favourite, "the household-bird +with the red stomacher," as he is called by Bishop-Carey, in a sonnet +addressed to Elizabeth, the daughter of James I., on her marriage with +the unfortunate Frederic Prince Palatine. + +The song of the Canadian robin is by no means despicable; its notes are +clear, sweet, and various; it possesses the same cheerful lively +character that distinguishes the carol of its namesake; but the general +habits of the bird are very dissimilar. The Canadian robin is less +sociable with man, but more so with his own species: they assemble in +flocks soon after the breeding season is over, and appear very amicable +one to another; but seldom, if ever, approach very near to our dwelling. +The breast is of a pinkish, salmon colour; the head black; the back of a +sort of bluish steel, or slate colour; in size they are as big as a +thrush. + +[Illustration: Snow-Bunting] + +The blackbird is perhaps our best songster, according to my taste; full +as fine as our English blackbird, and much handsomer in its plumage, +which is a glossy, changeable, greenish black. The upper part of the +wing of the male bird of full growth is of a lively orange; this is not +apparent in the younger birds, nor in the female, which is slightly +speckled. + +Towards the middle of the summer, when the grain begins to ripen, these +birds assemble in large flocks: the management of their marauding +parties appears to be superintended by the elders of the family. When +they are about to descend upon a field of oats or wheat, two or three +mount guard as sentinels, and on the approach of danger, cry _Geck-geck- +geck_; this precaution seems a work of supererogation, as they are so +saucy that they will hardly be frightened away; and if they rise it is +only to alight on the same field at a little distance, or fly up to the +trees, where their look-out posts are. + +They have a peculiarly melancholy call-note at times, which sounds +exactly like the sudden twang of a harp-string, vibrating for a second +or two on the ear. This, I am inclined to think, they use to collect +their distant comrades, as I have never observed it when they were all +in full assembly, but when a few were sitting in some tree near the +lake's edge. I have called them the "_harpers_" from this peculiar note. +I shall tire you with my ornithological sketches, but must enumerate two +or three more birds. + +The bald eagle frequently flies over our clearing; it has a dark body, +and snow-white head. It is sometimes troublesome to the poultry-yards: +those we have seen have disdained such low game, and soared majestically +away across the lake. + +The fish-hawk we occasionally see skimming the surface of the water, and +it is regarded as an enemy by those who take delight in spearing fish +upon the lakes. + +Then we have the night or mosquito-hawk, which may be seen in the air +pursuing the insect tribe in the higher regions, whilst hundreds of +great dragonflies pursue them below; notwithstanding their assistance, +we are bitten mercilessly by those summer pests the mosquitoes and black +flies. + +The red-headed woodpecker is very splendid; the head and neck being of a +rich crimson; the back, wings, and breast are divided between the most +snowy white and jetty black. The incessant tapping of the woodpeckers, +and the discordant shriek of the blue jay, are heard from sunrise to +sunset, as soon as the spring is fairly set in. + +I found a little family of woodpeckers last spring comfortably nested in +an old pine, between the bark and the trunk of the tree, where the +former had started away, and left a hollow space, in which the old birds +had built a soft but careless sort of nest; the little creatures seemed +very happy, poking their funny bare heads out to greet the old ones, who +were knocking away at the old stumps in their neighbourhood to supply +their cravings, as busy as so many carpenters at work. + +[Illustration: Baltimore Oriole defending her Nest against the Black +Snake.] + +A very curious bird's-nest was given me by one of our choppers; it was +woven over a forked spray, so that it had all the appearance of having +been sewn to the bough with grey thread. The nest was only secured at +the two sides that formed the angle, but so strong was it fastened that +it seemed to resist any weight or pressure of a moderate kind; it was +composed of the fibres of the bass-wood bark; which are very thready, +and may be drawn to great fineness: on the whole it was a curious +specimen of the ingenuity of these admirable little architects. I could +not discover the builder; but rather suspect the nest to have belonged +to my protege, the little winter titmouse that I told you of. + +The nest of the Canadian robin, which I discovered while seeking for a +hen's nest in a bush-heap, just at the further edge of the clearing, is +very much like our home-robin's, allowing something for difference of +size in the bird, and in the material; the eggs, five in number, were +deep blue. + +Before I quit the subject of birds, I must recall to your remembrance +the little houses that the Americans build for the swallow; I have since +found out one of their great reasons for cherishing this useful bird. It +appears that a most rooted antipathy exists between this species and the +hawk tribe, and no hawk will abide their neighbourhood; as they pursue +them for miles, annoying them in every possible way, haunting the hawk +like its evil genius: it is most singular that so small a creature +should thus overcome one that is the formidable enemy of so many of the +feathered race. I should have been somewhat sceptical on the subject, +had I not myself been an eyewitness to the fact. I was looking out of my +window one bright summer-day, when I noticed a hawk of a large +description flying heavily along the lake, uttering cries of distress; +within a yard or two of it was a small--in the distance it appeared to +me a very small--bird pursuing it closely, and also screaming. I watched +this strange pair till the pine-wood hid them from my sight; and I often +marvelled at the circumstance, till a very intelligent French Canadian +traveller happened to name the fact, and said so great was the value +placed on these birds, that they had been sold at high prices to be sent +to different parts of the province. They never forsake their old haunts +when once naturalized, the same pairs constantly returning year after +year, to their old house. + +The singular fact of these swallows driving the hawk from his haunts is +worthy of attention; as it is well authenticated, and adds one more to +the many interesting and surprising anecdotes recorded by naturalists of +the sagacity and instinct of these birds. + +I have, however, scribbled so many sheets, that I fear my long letter +must weary you. + +Adieu. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +Utility of Botanical Knowledge.--The Fire-Weed.--Sarsaparilla Plants.-- +Magnificent Water-Lily.--Rice Beds.--Indian Strawberry.--Scarlet +Columbine.--Ferns.--Grasses. + +July 13, 1834 + +OUR winter broke up unusually early this year: by the end of February +the ground was quite free from snow, and the weather continued all +through March mild and pleasant, though not so warm as the preceding +year, and certainly more variable. By the last week in April and the +beginning of May, the forest-trees had all burst into leaf, with a +brilliancy of green that was exquisitely lovely. + +On the 14th, 15th, and 16th of May, the air became suddenly cold, with +sharp winds from the north-west, and heavy storms of snow that nipped +the young buds, and destroyed many of the early-sown vegetable seeds; +fortunately for us we were behindhand with ours, which was very well, as +it happened. + +Our woods and clearings are now full of beautiful flowers. You will be +able to form some idea of them from the dried specimens that I send you. +You will recognize among them many of the cherished pets of our gardens +and green-houses, which are here flung carelessly from Nature's lavish +hand among our woods and wilds. + +How often do I wish you were beside me in my rambles among the woods and +clearings: you would be so delighted in searching out the floral +treasures of the place. + +Deeply do I now regret having so idly neglected your kind offers while +at home of instructing me in flower-painting; you often told me the time +would come when I should have cause to regret neglecting the golden +opportunity before me. + +You proved a true prophetess; for I daily lament that I cannot make +faithful representations of the flowers of my adopted country, or +understand as you would do their botanical arrangement. With some few I +have made myself acquainted, but have hardly confidence in my scanty +stock of knowledge to venture on scientific descriptions, when I feel +conscious that a blunder would be easily detected, and expose me to +ridicule and contempt, for an assumption of knowledge that I did not +possess. The only botanical work I have at my command is Pursh's North +American Flora, from which I have obtained some information; but must +confess it is tiresome blundering out Latin descriptions to one who +knows nothing of Latin beyond what she derives through a knowledge of +Italian. + +I have made out a list of the plants most worthy of attention near us; +there are many others in the township that I am a stranger to; some +there are with whose names I am unacquainted. I subjoin a slight sketch, +not with my pencil but my pen, of those flowers that pleased me +particularly, or that possessed any remarkable qualities. + +The same plants do not grow on cleared land that formerly occupied the +same spot when it was covered with forest-trees. A distinct class of +vegetation makes its appearance as soon as the fire has passed over the +ground. + +The same thing may be remarked with regard to the change that takes +place among our forests. As one generation falls and decays, new ones of +a different character spring up in their places. This is illustrated in +the circumstance of the resinous substance called fat-pine being usually +found in places where the living pine is least abundant, and where the +ground is occupied by oak, ash, buck, maple, and bass-wood. + +The fire-weed, a species of tall thistle of rank and unpleasant scent, +is the first plant that appears when the ground has been freed from +timbers by fire: if a piece of land lies untilled the first summer after +its being chopped, the following spring shows you a smothering crop of +this vile weed. The next plant you notice is the sumach, with its downy +stalks, and head of deep crimson velvety flowers, forming an upright +obtuse bunch at the extremity of the branches: the leaves turn scarlet +towards the latter end of the summer. This shrub, though really very +ornamental, is regarded as a great pest in old clearings, where the +roots run and send up suckers in abundance. The raspberry and wild +gooseberry are next seen, and thousands of strawberry plants of +different varieties carpet the ground, and mingle with the grasses of +the pastures. I have been obliged this spring to root out with +remorseless hand hundreds of sarsaparilla plants, and also the +celebrated gingseng, which grows abundantly in our woods: it used +formerly to be an article of export to China from the States, the root +being held in high estimation by the Chinese. + +Last week I noticed a succulent plant that made its appearance on a dry +sandy path in my garden; it seems to me a variety of the hour-blowing +mesembryanthium. It has increased so rapidly that it already covers a +large space; the branches converging from the centre of the plant; and +sending forth shoots from every joint. The leaves are rather small, +three-sided and pointed, thick and juicy, yielding a green liquor when +bruised like the common sedums. The stalks are thick and round, of a +bright red, and trail along the ground; the leaves spring from each +joint, and with them a constant succession of yellow starry flowers, +that close in an hour or so from the time they first unfold. I shall +send you some of the seed of this plant, as I perceived a number of +little green pods that looked like the buds, but which, on opening, +proved to be the seed-vessels. This plant covers the earth like a thick +mat, and, I am told, is rather troublesome where it likes the soil. + +I regret that among my dried plants I could not preserve some specimens +of our superb water-lilies and irises; but they were too large and too +juicy to dry well. As I cannot send you my favourites, I must describe +them to you. + +The first, then, is a magnificent water-lily, that I have called by way +of distinction the "queen of the lakes," for she sits a crown upon the +waters. This magnificent flower is about the size of a moderately large +dahlia; it is double to the heart; every row of petals diminishing by +degrees in size, and gradually deepening in tint from the purest white +to the brightest lemon colour. The buds are very lovely, and may be seen +below the surface of the water, in different stages of forwardness from +the closely-folded bud, wrapped in its olive-green calix, to the half- +blown flower, ready to emerge from its watery prison, and in all its +virgin beauty expand its snowy bosom to the sun and genial air. Nor is +the beauty of the flower its sole attraction: when unfolded it gives out +a rich perfume not unlike the smell of fresh lemons. The leaves are also +worthy of attention: at first they are of a fine dark green, but as the +flower decays, the leaf changes its hue to a vivid crimson. Where a +large bed of these lilies grow closely together, they give quite a +sanguine appearance to the waters, that is distinguishable at some +distance. + +The yellow species of this plant is also very handsome, though it wants +the silken texture and delicate colour of the former; I call this the +"water-king." The flower presents a deep golden-coloured cup, the +concave petals of which are clouded in the centre with a dark reddish- +brown, that forms a striking contrast to the gay anthers, which are very +numerous, and turn back from the centre of the flower, falling like +fringes of gold one over the other, in successive rows, till they fill +up the hollow flower-cup. + +The shallows of our lakes abound with a variety of elegant aquatic +plants: I know not a more lovely sight than one of these floating +gardens. Here you shall behold near the shore a bed of azure fleur-de- +lis, from the palest pearl colour varying to the darkest purple. Nearer +in shore, in the shallowest water, the rose-coloured persecaria sends up +its beautiful spikes trailing below the surface; you see the red stalks +and smooth dark green leaves veined underneath with rosy red: it is a +very charming variety of this beautiful species of plants. Then a bed of +my favourite white lilies, all in full bloom, floating on the water, +with their double flowers expanding to the sun; near these, and rising +in stately pride, a tall plant, with dark green spear-shaped leaves, and +thick spike of bright blue flowers, is seen. I cannot discover the name +of this very grand-looking flower, and I neglected to examine its +botanical construction; so can give you no clue by which to discover its +name or species. + +Our rice-beds are far from being unworthy of admiration; seen from a +distance they look like low green islands on the lakes: on passing +through one of these rice-beds when the rice is in flower, it has a +beautiful appearance with its broad grassy leaves and light waving +spikes, garnished with pale yellow green blossoms, delicately shaded +with reddish purple, from beneath which fall three elegant straw- +coloured anthers, which move with every breath of air or slightest +motion of the waters. I gathered several spikes when only just opened, +but the tiresome things fell to pieces directly they became dry. Next +summer I will make another attempt at preserving them, and it may be +with better success. + +The low shore of the lake is a complete shrubbery. We have a very pretty +St. John's-wort, with handsome yellow flowers. The white and pink spiral +frutex also abounds with some exquisite upright honeysuckles, shrubby +plants about three feet in height; the blossoms grow in pairs or by +fours, and hang beneath the light green leaves; elegant trumpet-shaped +flowers of a delicate greenish white, which are succeeded by ruby- +coloured berries. On gathering a branch of this plant, you cannot but be +struck with the elegant arrangement of the flowers along the under part +of the stalks. The two blossoms are connected at the nectary of each in +a singular manner. The Americans call this honeysuckle "twinflower." I +have seen some of the flowers of this plant pale pink: on the whole it +is one of the most ornamental shrubs we have. I transplanted some young +trees into my garden last spring; they promise to live and do well. I do +not find any description of this shrub in Pursh's Flora, but know it to +be a species of honeysuckle, from the class and order, the shape and +colour of the leaves, the stalks, the trumpet-shaped blossom and the +fruit; all bearing a resemblance to our honeysuckles in some degree. +There is a tall upright bush, bearing large yellow trumpet-shaped +flowers, springing from the extremities of the branches; the involucrum +forms a boat-shaped cup that encircles the flowers from which they seem +to spring, something after the manner of the scarlet trumpet- +honeysuckle. The leaves and blossoms of this plant are coarse, and by no +means to compare to the former. + +We have a great variety of curious orchises, some brown and yellow, +others pale flesh-coloured, striped with crimson. There is one species +grows to the height of two feet, bearing long spikes of pale purple +flowers; a white one with most fragrant smell, and a delicate pink one +with round head of blossoms, finely fringed like the water-pinks that +grow in our marshes; this is a very pretty flower, and grows in the +beaver meadows. + +Last autumn I observed in the pine-wood near us a very curious plant; it +came up with naked brown stems, branching off like some miniature tree; +the stalks of this plant were brown, slightly freckled and beset with +little knobs. I watched the progress of maturity in this strange plant +with some degree of interest, towards the latter end of October; the +little knobs, which consisted of two angular hard cases, not unlike, +when fully opened, to a boat in shape, burst asunder and displayed a +pale straw-coloured chaffy substance that resembled fine saw-dust: these +must have been the anthers, but they bore more resemblance to seeds; +this singular flower would have borne examination with a microscope. One +peculiarity that I observed, was, that on pulling up a plant with its +roots, I found the blossoms open under ground, springing up from the +lowest part of the flower-stems, and just as far advanced to maturity as +those that grew on the upper stalks, excepting that they were somewhat +blanched, from being covered up from the air. I can find no description +of this plant, nor any person but myself seems to have taken notice of +it. The specimen I had on being dried became so brittle that it fell to +pieces. + +I have promised to collect some of the most singular of our native +flowers for one of the Professors of Botany in the Edinburgh University. + +We have a very handsome plant that bears the closest affinity to our +potatoe in its floral construction; it grows to the height of two or +three feet in favourable situations, and sends up many branches; the +blossoms are large, purely white, freckled near the bottom of the +corolla with brownish yellow spots; the corolla is undivided: this is +evidently the same plant as the cultivated potatoe, though it does not +appear to form apples at the root. The fruit is very handsome, +eggshaped, of a beautiful apricot colour when ripe, and of a shining +tempting appearance; the smell, however, betrays its poisonous nature: +on opening one of the fruits you find it consists of a soft pulp filled +with shining black seeds. The plant continues in blossom from June till +the first frosts wither the leaves; it is far less coarse than the +potatoe; the flower, when full blown, is about the size of a half crown, +and quite flat; I think it is what you call salver-shaped: it delights +in light loamy soil, growing on the upturned roots of fallen trees, +where the ground is inclined to be sandy. I have never seen this plant +elsewhere than on our own fallow. + +The hepatica is the first flower of the Canadian spring: it gladdens us +with its tints of azure, pink, and white, early in April, soon after the +snows have melted from the earth. The Canadians can it snow-flower, from +its coming so soon after the snow disappears. We see its gay tufts of +flowers in the open clearings and the deep recesses of the forests; its +leaves are also an enduring ornament through the open months of the +year; you see them on every grassy mound and mossy root: the shades of +blue are very various and delicate, the white anthers forming a lovely +contrast with the blue petals. + +The wood-cress, or as it is called by some, ginger-cress, is a pretty +white cruciform flower; it is highly aromatic in flavour; the root is +white and fleshy, having the pungency of horseradish. The leaves are of +a sad green, sharply notched, and divided in three lobes; the leaves of +some of them are slightly variegated; the plant delights in rich moist +vegetable mould, especially on low and slightly swampy ground; the +flower-stalk is sometimes naked, sometimes leafed, and is crowned with a +loose spike of whitish cruciform flowers. + +There is a cress that grows in pretty green tufts at the bottom of the +waters in the creeks and small rivulets: it is more delicate and +agreeable in flavour than any of the land-cresses; the leaves are of a +pale tender green, winged and slender; the plant looks like a green +cushion at the bottom of the water. The flowers are yellow, cruciform, +and insignificant; it makes a very acceptable salad in the early spring, +and at the fall of the year. There are also several species of land- +cress, and plants resembling some of the cabbage tribes, that might be +used as spring vegetables. There are several species of spinach, one +known here by the name of lamb's quarter, that grows in great profusion +about our garden, and in rich soil rises to two feet, and is very +luxuriant in its foliage; the leaves are covered with a white rough +powder. The top shoots and tender parts of this vegetable are boiled +with pork, and, in place of a more delicate pot-herb, is very useful. + +Then we have the Indian turnip; this is a very handsome arum, the root +of which resembles the cassava, I am told, when boiled: the leaves of +this arum are handsome, slightly tinged with purple. The spathe is of a +lively green, striped with purple: the Indians use the root as a +medicine, and also as an esculent; it is often eaten by the settlers as +a vegetable, but I never tasted it myself. Pursh calls this species +_Arum atropurpureum_. + +I must not pass over one of our greatest ornaments, the strawberry +blite, strawberry-bearing spinach, or Indian strawberry, as it is +variously named. This singular plant throws out many branches from one +stem, these are garnished with handsome leaves, resembling in appearance +our long-leaved garden spinach; the finest of this plant is of a bright +crimson, pulpy like the strawberry, and containing a number of purple +seeds, partially embedded in the surface, after the same manner as the +strawberry. The fruit grows close to the stalk, completely surrounding +it, and forming a long spike of the richest crimson berries. I have +gathered branches a foot in length, closely covered with the beautiful +looking fruit, and have regretted that it was so insipid in its flavour +as to make it uneatable. On the banks of creeks and in rich ground, it +grows most luxuriantly, one root sending up twenty or thirty branches, +drooping with the weight of their magnificent burden. As the middle and +superior stems ripen and decay, the lateral ones come on, presenting a +constant succession of fruit from July till the frosts nip them off in +September. + +The Indians use the juice of this plant as a dye, and are said to eat +the berries: it is often made use of as a substitute for red ink, but it +is liable to fade unless mingled with alum. A friend of mine told me she +had been induced to cross a letter she was sending to a relative in +England with this strawberry ink, but not having taken the precaution to +fix the colour, when the anxiously expected epistle arrived, one-half of +it proved quite unintelligible, the colours having faded nearly to +white; so that instead of affording satisfaction, it proved only a +source of vexation and embarrassment to the reader, and of mortification +to the writer. + +The blood-root, sanguinaria, or puccoon, as it is termed by some of the +native tribes, is worthy of attention from the root to the flower. As +soon as the sun of April has warmed the earth and loosened it from its +frozen bonds, you may distinguish a number of purely white buds, +elevated on a naked footstalk, and partially enfolded in a handsome +vine-shaped leaf, of a pale bluish green, curiously veined on the under +side with pale orange. The leaf springs singly from a thick juicy +fibrous root, which, on being broken, emits a quantity of liquor from +its pores of a bright orange scarlet colour: this juice is used by the +Indians as a dye, and also in the cure of rheumatic, and cutaneous +complaints. The flowers of the sanguinaria resemble the white crocus +very closely: when it first comes up the bud is supported by the leaf, +and is folded together with it; the flower, however, soon elevates +itself above its protector, while the leaf having performed its duty of +guardian to the tender bud, expands to its full size. A rich black +vegetable mould at the edges of the clearings seems the favourite soil +for this plant. + +The scarlet columbine is another of my favourite flowers; it is bright +red, with yellow linings to the tubes. The nectaries are more elongated +than the garden columbines, and form a sort of mural crown, surmounted +with little balls at the tips. A tall graceful plant, with its brilliant +waving blossoms, is this columbine; it grows both in the sunshine and +the shade, not perhaps in deep shady woods, but where the under brush +has been removed by the running of the fire or the axe of the chopper; +it seems even to flourish in poor stony soils, and may be found near +every dwelling. The feathered columbine delights in moist open swamps, +and the banks of rivulets; it grows to the height of three, and even +four and five feet, and is very ornamental. + +Of Violets, we have every variety of colour, size and shape, lacking +only the delightful _viola odorata_ of our home woodlands: yet I know +not why we should quarrel with these meek daughters of the spring, +because they want the fragrance of their more favoured sisters. Many of +your wood-violets, though very beautiful, are also devoid of scent; here +variety of colour ought to make some amends for want of perfume. We have +violets of every shade of blue, some veined with purple, others shaded +with darker blue. We have the delicate white, pencilled with purple: the +bright brimstone coloured with black veinings: the pale primrose with +dark blue veins; the two latter are remarkable for the luxuriance and +size of the leaves: the flowers spring in bunches, several from each +joint, and are succeeded by large capsules covered with thick white +cottony down. There is a species of violet that grows in the woods, the +leaves of which are exceedingly large; so are the seed-vessels, but the +flower is so small and insignificant, that it is only to be observed by +a close examination of the plant; this has given rise to the vulgar +belief that it blooms under ground. The flowers are a pale greenish +yellow. Bryant's beautiful poem of the Yellow Violet is descriptive of +the first-mentioned violet. + +There is an elegant _viola tricolor_, that blooms in the autumn; it is +the size of a small heart's-ease, and is pure white, pale purple, and +lilac; the upper petals are white, the lower lip purple, and the side +wings a reddish lilac. I was struck with the elegance of this rare +flower on a journey to Peterborough, on my way to Cobourg; I was unable +to preserve the specimens, and have not travelled that road since. The +flower grew among wild clover on the open side of the road; the leaves +were small, roundish, and of a dark sad green. + +Of the tall shrubby asters, we have several beautiful varieties, with +large pale blue lilac, or white flowers; others with very small white +flowers and crimson anthers, which look like tufts of red down, spangled +with gold-dust; these anthers have a pretty effect, contrasted with the +white starry petals. There is one variety of the tall asters that I have +seen on the plains, it has flowers about the size of a sixpence, of a +soft pearly tint of blue, with brown anthers; this plant grows very +tall, and branches from the parent stem in many graceful flowery boughs; +the leaves of this species are of a purple red on the under side, and +inclining to heart-shape; the leaves and stalks are hairy. + +I am not afraid of wearying you with my floral sketches, I have yet many +to describe; among these are those elegant little evergreens, that +abound in this country, under the name of winter-greens, of which there +are three or four remarkable for beauty of foliage, flower, and fruit. +One of these winter-greens that abounds in our pine-woods is extremely +beautiful; it seldom exceeds six inches in height; the leaves are a +bright shining green, of a long narrow oval, delicately notched like the +edges of a rose-leaf; and the plant emerges from beneath the snow in the +early part of the year, as soon as the first thaw takes place, as fresh +and verdant as before they were covered up: it seems to be a shy +blossomer. I have never seen specimens of the flowers in bloom but +twice; these I carefully preserved for you, but the dried plant will +afford but an imperfect idea of the original. You always called, you +know, your dried specimens corpses of plants, and said, that when well +painted, their representations were far more like themselves. The +flower-stalk rises two or three inches from the centre of the plant, and +is crowned with round crimson buds and blossoms, consisting of five +petals, deepening from the palest pink to the brightest blush colour; +the stigma is of an emerald greenness, forming a slightly ribbed turban +in the centre, around which are disposed ten stamens of an amethyst +colour: in short, this is one of the gems of the floral world, and might +aptly be compared to an emerald ring, set round with amethysts. The +contrast of colours in this flower is exceedingly pleasing, and the +crimson buds and shining ever-green leaves are scarcely less to be +admired than the flower; itself it would be considered a great +acquisition to your collection of American shrubs, but I doubt if it +would flourish when removed from the shade of the pine-woods. This plant +appears to be the _Chimaphila corymbosa_, or winter-green, described by +Pursh, with some trifling variation in the colour of the petals. + +Another of our winter-greens grows in abundance on the Rice-Lake plains; +the plant does not exceed four inches; the flowers are in little loose +bunches, pale greenish white, in shape like the blossom of the arbutus; +the berries are bright scarlet, and are known by the name of winter- +berry, and partridge-berry; this must be _Gaultheria procumbens_. But a +more beautiful little evergreen of the same species is to be found in +our cedar swamps, under the name of pigeon-berry; it resembles the +arbutus in leaf and flower more closely than the former plant; the +scarlet berry is inserted in a scarlet cup or receptacle, divided at the +edge in five points; it is fleshy, seeming to partake of the same nature +as the fruit. The blossoms of this elegant little shrub, like the +arbutus, of which it looks like the miniature, appear in drooping +bunches at the same time the ripened berry of the former year is in +perfection; this circumstance adds not a little to the charm of the +plant. If I mistake not, this is the _Gualtheria Shallon_, which Pursh +likens to the arbutus: this is also one of our winter-greens. + +There is another pretty trailing plant, with delicate little funnel- +shaped flowers, and a profusion of small dark green round buds, slightly +variegated, and bright red berries, which are produced at the +extremities of the branches. The blossoms of this plant grow in pairs, +closely connected at the germen, so much so, that the scarlet fruit that +supersedes the flowers appears like a double berry, each berry +containing the seeds of both flowers and a double eye. The plant is also +called winter-green, or twin-berry; it resembles none of the other +winter-greens; it grows in mossy woods, trailing along the ground, +appearing to delight in covering little hillocks and inequalities of the +ground. In elegance of growth, delicacy of flower, and brightness of +berry, this winter-green is little inferior to any of the former. + +There is a plant in our woods, known by the names of man-drake, may- +apple, and duck's-foot: the botanical name of the plant is Podophyllum; +it belongs to the class and order _Polyandria monogynia_. The blossom is +yellowish white, the corolla consisting of six petals; the fruit is +oblong; when ripe, of a greenish yellow; in size that of an olive, or +large damson; when fully ripe it has the flavour of preserved tamarind, +a pleasant brisk acid; it appears to be a shy bearer, though it +increases rapidly in rich moist woodlands. The leaves come up singly, +are palmated and shade the ground very much when a number of them grow +near each other; the stalk supports the leaf from the centre: when they +first appear above the ground, they resemble a folded umbrella or +parasol, all the edges of the leaves bending downward, by degrees +expanding into a slightly convex canopy. The fruit would make a delicate +preserve with sugar. + +The lily tribe offer an extensive variety from the most minute to the +very largest flowers. The red martagon grows abundantly on our plains; +the dog's tooth violet, _Erythronium_, with its spotted leaves and +bending yellow blossom, delicately dashed with crimson spots within, and +marked with fine purple lines on the outer part of the petal, proves a +great attraction in our woods, where these plants increase: they form a +beautiful bed; the leaves come up singly, one from each separate tuber. +There are two varieties of this flower, the pale yellow, with neither +spots nor lines, and the deep yellow with both; the anthers of this last +are reddish-orange, and thickly covered with a fine powdery substance. +The daffodil of our woods is a delicate bending flower, of a pale +yellow; the leaves grow up the flower-stalk at intervals; three or more +flowers usually succeed each other at the extremity of the stalk: its +height is from six to eight inches; it delights in the deep shade of +moist woods. This seems to unite the description of the jonquil and +daffodil. + +A very beautiful plant of the lily tribe abounds both in our woods and +clearings; for want of a better name, I call it the douri-lily, though +it is widely spread over a great portion of the continent. The Americans +term the white and red varieties of this species, the "white" and "red +death." The flower is either deep red, or of a dazzling white, though +the latter is often found stained with a delicate blush-pink, or a deep +green; the latter appears to be caused by the calix running into the +petal. Wherefore it bears so formidable a name has not yet transpired. +The flower consists of three petals, the calix three; it belongs to the +class and order _Hexandria monogynia_; style, three-cleft; seed-vessel +of three valves; soil, dry woods and cleared lands; leaves growing in +three, springing from the joints, large round, but a little pointed at +the extremities. + +We have lilies of the valley, and their cousins the Solomon's seals, a +small flowered turk's-cap, of pale primrose colour, with an endless +variety of small flowers of the lily tribe, remarkable for beauty of +foliage or delicacy of form. + +Our Ferns are very elegant and numerous; I have no less than eight +different specimens, gathered from our immediate neighbourhood, some of +which are extremely elegant, especially one that I call the "fairy +fern," from its lightness. One elastic stem, of a purplish-red colour, +supports several light branches, which are subdivided and furnished with +innumerable leaflets; each leaflet has a footstalk, that attaches it to +the branch, of so slight and hair-like a substance that the least breath +of air sets the whole plant in motion. + +Could we but imagine Canada to have been the scene of fairy revels, we +should declare that these graceful ferns were well suited to shade the +elfin court of Oberon and Titania. + +When this fern first appears above the ground, it is scarcely to be +distinguished from the decaying wood of the fallen pines; it is then of +a light reddish brown, curiously curled up. In May and June, the leaves +unfold, and soon assume the most delicate tint of green; they are almost +transparent: the cattle are very fond of this fern. + +The mocassin flower or lady's-slipper (mark the odd coincidence between +the common name of the American and English species) is one of our most +remarkable flowers; both on account of its beauty and its singularity of +structure. Our plains and dry sunny pastures produce several varieties; +among these, the _Cypripedium pubescens_, or yellow mocassin, and the +_C. Arietinum_ are the most beautiful of the species. The colour of the +lip of the former is a lively canary yellow, dashed with deep crimson +spots. The upper petals consist of two short and two long; in texture +and colour resembling the sheath of some of the narcissus tribe; the +short ones stand erect, like a pair of ears; the long or lateral pair +are three times the length of the former, very narrow, and elegantly +twisted, like the spiral horns of the Walachian ram: on raising a thick +yellow fleshy sort of lid, in the middle of the flower, you perceive the +exact face of an Indian hound, perfect in all its parts, the eyes, nose, +and mouth; below this depends an open sack, slightly gathered round at +the opening, which gives it a hollow and prominent appearance; the +inside of this bag is delicately dashed with deep crimson, or black +spots: the stem of the flower is thick towards the upper part, and takes +a direct bend; the leaves are large oval, a little pointed and ribbed; +the plant scarcely exceeds six inches: the elegant colour and silken +texture of the lower lip or bag renders this flower very much more +beautiful to my taste than the purple and white variety, though the +latter is much more striking on account of the size of the flower and +leaves, besides the contrast between the white and red, or white and +purple colours. + +The formation of this species resembles the other, only with this +difference, the horns are not twisted, and the face is that of a monkey; +even the comical expression of the animal is preserved with such +admirable fidelity, as to draw a smile from every one that sees the odd +restless-looking visage, with its prominent round black eyes peering +forth from under its covering. + +These plants belong to class and order _Gynandria diandria_; are +described with some little variation by Pursh, who, however, likens the +face of the latter to that of a sheep: if a sheep sat for the picture, +methinks it must have been the most mischievous of the flock. + +There is a curious aquatic plant that grows in shallow, stagnant, or +slow-flowing waters; it will contain a full wine-glass of water. A poor +soldier brought it to me, and told me it resembled a plant he used to +see in Egypt, that the soldiers called the "Soldier's drinking-cup" and +many a good draught of pure water, he said, I have drank from them. + +Another specimen was presented me by a gentleman who knew my +predilection for strange plants; he very aptly gave it the name of +"Pitcher-plant;" it very probably belongs to the tribe that bear that +name. + +The flowers that afford the most decided perfumes are our wild roses, +which possess a delicious scent: the milk-weed, which gives out a smell +not-unlike the night-blowing stock; the purple monarda, which is +fragrance itself from the root to the flower, and even after months' +exposure to the wintry atmosphere; its dried leaves and seed-vessels are +so sweet as to impart perfume to your hands or clothes. All our Mints +are strong scented: the lily of the valley is remarkable for its fine +smell; then there is my queen of the lakes, and her consort, the water- +king, with many other flowers I cannot now enumerate. Certain it is that +among such a vast assemblage of flowers, there are, comparatively, very +few that are gifted with fragrant scents. Some of our forest-trees give +out a fine perfume. I have often paused in my walks to inhale the +fragrance from a cedar swamp on some sunny day while the boughs were +still wet with the dew-drops or recently fallen shower. + +Nor is the balsam-poplar, or tacamahac, less delightfully fragrant, +especially while the gummy buds are just beginning to unfold; this is an +elegant growing tree, where it has room to expand into boughs. It grows +chiefly on the shores of the lakes and in open swamps, but it also forms +one of the attractions of our plains, with its silver bark and waving +foliage; it emits a resinous clear gum in transparent globules on the +bark, and the buds are covered with a highly aromatic gummy fluid. + +Our Grasses are highly interesting; there are varieties that are wholly +new to me, and when dried form the most elegant ornaments to our +chimney-pieces, and would look very graceful on a lady's head; only +fashionists always prefer the artificial to the natural. + +One or two species of grass that I have gathered bear a close but of +course minute resemblance to the Indian corn, having a top feather and +eight-sided spike of little grains disposed at the sidejoints. The +_sisyrinchium_, or blue-eyed grass, is a pretty little flower of an +azure blue, with golden spot at the base of each petal; the leaves are +flat, stiff, and flag-like; this pretty flower grows in tufts on light +sandy soils. + +I have given you a description of the flowers most worthy of attention; +and, though it is very probable some of my descriptions may not be +exactly in the technical language of the correct botanist, I have at +least described them as they appear. + +My dear boy seems already to have a taste for flowers, which I shall +encourage as much as possible. It is a study that tends to refine and +purify the mind, and can be made, by simple steps, a ladder to heaven, +as it were, by teaching a child to look with love and admiration to that +bountiful God who created and made flowers so fair to adorn and fructify +this earth. + +Farewell, my dear sister. + + + + +LETTER XV. + +Recapitulation of various Topics.--Progress of Settlement.--Canada, the +Land of Hope.--Visit to the Family of a Naval Officer.--Squirrels.-- +Visit to, and Story of, an Emigrant Clergyman.--His early Difficulties. +--The Temper, Disposition, and Habits of Emigrants essential Ingredients +in Failure or Success. + +September the 20th, 1834. + +I PROMISED when I parted from you before I left England to write as soon +as I could give you any satisfactory account of our settlement in this +country. I shall do my best to redeem that promise, and forward you a +slight sketch of our proceedings, with such remarks on the natural +features of the place in which we have fixed our abode, as I think +likely to afford you interest or amusement. Prepare your patience, then, +my dear friend, for a long and rambling epistle, in which I may possibly +prove somewhat of a Will-o'-the-wisp, and having made you follow me in +my desultory wanderings,-- + + Over hill, over dale, + Through bush, through briar, + Over park, over pale, + Through flood, through fire,-- + +Possibly leave you in the midst of a big cedar swamp, or among the +pathless mazes of our wild woods, without a clue to guide you, or even a +_blaze_ to light you on your way. + +You will have heard, through my letters to my dear mother, of our safe +arrival at Quebec, of my illness at Montreal, of all our adventures and +misadventures during our journey up the country, till after much weary +wandering we finally found a home and resting-place with a kind +relative, whom it was our happiness to meet after a separation of many +years. + +As my husband was anxious to settle in the neighbourhood of one so +nearly connected with me, thinking it would rob the woods of some of the +loneliness that most women complain so bitterly of, he purchased a lot +of land on the shores of a beautiful lake, one of a chain of small lakes +belonging to the Otanabee river. + +Here, then, we are established, having now some five-and-twenty acres +cleared, and a nice house built. Our situation is very agreeable, and +each day increases its value. When we first came up to live in the bush, +with the exception of S------, here were but two or three settlers near +us, and no roads cut out. The only road that was available for bringing +up goods from the nearest town was on the opposite side of the water, +which was obliged to be crossed on a log, or birch-bark canoe; the +former nothing better than a large pine-log hollowed with the axe, so as +to contain three or four persons; it is flat-bottomed, and very narrow, +on which account it is much used on these shallow waters. The birch +canoe is made of sheets of birch bark, ingeniously fashioned and sewn +together by the Indians with the tough roots of the cedar, young pine, +or larch (tamarack, as it is termed by the Indians); it is exceedingly +light, so that it can be carried by two persons easily, or even by one. +These, then, were our ferry-boats, and very frail they are, and require +great nicety in their management; they are worked in the water with +paddles, either kneeling or standing. The squaws are very expert in the +management of the canoes, and preserve their balance with admirable +skill, standing up while they impel the little bark with great velocity +through the water. + +Very great is the change that a few years have effected in our +situation. A number of highly respectable settlers have purchased land +along the shores of these lakes, so that we no longer want society. The +roads are now cut several miles above us, and though far from good can +be travelled by waggons and sleighs, and are, at all events, better than +none. + +A village has started up where formerly a thick pine-wood covered the +ground; we have now within a short distance of us an excellent saw-mill, +a grist-mill, and store, with a large tavern and many good dwellings. A +fine timber bridge, on stone piers, was erected last year to connect the +opposite townships and lessen the distance to and from Peterborough; and +though it was unfortunately swept away early last spring by the unusual +rising of the Otanabee lakes, a new and more substantial one has risen +upon the ruins of the former, through the activity of an enterprising +young Scotchman, the founder of the village. + +But the grand work that is, sooner or later, to raise this portion of +the district from its present obscurity, is the opening a line of +navigation from Lake Huron through Lake Simcoe, and so through our chain +of small lakes to Rice Lake, and finally through the Trent to the Bay of +Quinte. This noble work would prove of incalculable advantage, by +opening a direct communication between Lake Huron and the inland +townships at the back of the Ontario with the St. Laurence. This project +has already been under the consideration of the Governor, and is at +present exciting great interest in the country: sooner or later there is +little doubt but that it will be carried into effect. It presents some +difficulties and expense, but it would be greatly to the advantage and +prosperity of the country, and be the means of settling many of the back +townships bordering upon these lakes. + +I must leave it to abler persons than myself to discuss at large the +policy and expediency of the measure; but as I suppose you have no +intention of emigrating to our backwoods, you will be contented with my +cursory view of the matter, and believe, as in friendship you are bound +to do, that it is a desirable thing to open a market for inland produce. + +Canada is the land of hope; here every thing is new; every thing going +forward; it is scarcely possible for arts, sciences, agriculture, +manufactures, to retrograde; they must keep advancing; though in some +situations the progress may seem slow, in others they are proportionably +rapid. + +There is a constant excitement on the minds of emigrants, particularly +in the partially settled townships, that greatly assists in keeping them +from desponding. The arrival of some enterprising person gives a +stimulus to those about him: a profitable speculation is started, and +lo, the value of the land in the vicinity rises to double and treble +what it was thought worth before; so that, without any design of +befriending his neighbours, the schemes of one settler being carried +into effect shall benefit a great number. We have already felt the +beneficial effect of the access of respectable emigrants locating +themselves in this township, as it has already increased the value of +our own land in a three-fold degree. + +All this, my dear friend, you will say is very well, and might afford +subject for a wise discussion between grave men, but will hardly amuse +us women; so pray turn to some other theme, and just tell me how you +contrive to pass your time among the bears and wolves of Canada. + +One lovely day last June I went by water to visit the bride of a young +naval officer, who had purchased a very pretty lot of land some two +miles higher up the lake; our party consisted of my husband, baby, and +myself; we met a few pleasant friends, and enjoyed our excursion much. +Dinner was laid out in the _stoup_, which, as you may not know what is +meant by the word, I must tell you that it means a sort of wide +verandah, supported on pillars, often of unbarked logs; the floor is +either of earth beaten hard, or plank; the roof covered with sheets of +bark or else shingled. These stoups are of Dutch origin, and were +introduced, I have been told, by the first Dutch settlers in the states, +since which they have found their way all over the colonies. + +Wreathed with the scarlet creeper, a native plant of our woods and +wilds, the wild vine, and also with the hop, which here grows +luxuriantly, with no labour or attention to its culture, these stoups +have a very rural appearance; in summer serving the purpose of an open +ante-room, in which you can take your meals and enjoy the fanning breeze +without being inconvenienced by the extreme heat of the noon-day sun. + +The situation of the house was remarkably well chosen, just on the +summit of a little elevated plain, the ground sloping with a steep +descent to a little valley, at the bottom of which a bright rill of +water divided the garden from the opposite corn-fields, which clothed a +corresponding bank. In front of the stoup, where we dined, the garden +was laid out with a smooth plot of grass, surrounded with borders of +flowers, and separated from a ripening field of wheat by a light railed +fence, over which the luxuriant hop-vine flung its tendrils and graceful +blossoms. Now I must tell you the hop is cultivated for the purpose of +making a barm for raising bread. As you take great interest in +housewifery concerns, I shall send you a recipe for what we call hop- +rising*. [* See Appendix.] + +The Yankees use a fermentation of salt, flour, and warm water or milk; +but though the _salt-rising_ makes beautiful bread to look at, being far +whiter and firmer than the hop-yeast bread, there is a peculiar flavour +imparted to the flour that does not please every one's taste, and it is +very difficult to get your salt-rising to work in very cold weather. + +And now, having digressed while I gave you my recipes, I shall step back +to my party within the stoup, which, I can assure you, was very +pleasant, and most cordially disposed to enjoy the meeting. We had books +and drawings, and good store of pretty Indian toys, the collection of +many long voyages to distant shores, to look at and admire. Soon after +sun-set we walked down through the woods to the landing at the lake +shore, where we found our bark canoe ready to convey us home. + +During our voyage, just at the head of the rapids, our attention was +drawn to some small object in the water, moving very swiftly along; +there were various opinions as to the swimmer, some thinking it to be a +water-snake, others a squirrel, or a musk-rat; a few swift strokes of +the paddles brought us up so as to intercept the passage of the little +voyager; it proved to be a fine red squirrel, bound on a voyage of +discovery from a neighbouring island. The little animal, with a courage +and address that astonished his pursuers, instead of seeking safety in a +different direction, sprung lightly on the point of the uplifted paddle, +and from thence with a bound to the head of my astonished baby, and +having gained my shoulder, leaped again into the water, and made direct +for the shore, never having deviated a single point from the line he was +swimming in when he first came in sight of our canoe. I was surprised +and amused by the agility and courage displayed by this innocent +creature; I could hardly have given credence to the circumstance, had I +not been an eye-witness of its conduct, and moreover been wetted +plentifully on my shoulder by the sprinkling of water from his coat. + +Perhaps you may think my squirrel anecdote incredible; but I can vouch +for the truth of it on my own personal experience, as I not only saw but +also felt it: the black squirrels are most lovely and elegant animals, +considerably larger than the red, the grey, and the striped: the latter +are called by the Indians "chit-munks." + +We were robbed greatly by these little depredators last summer; the red +squirrels used to carry off great quantities of our Indian corn not only +from the stalks, while the crop was ripening, but they even came into +the house through some chinks in the log-walls, and carried off vast +quantities of the grain, stripping it very adroitly from the cob, and +conveying the grain away to their storehouses in some hollow 1og or +subterranean granary. + +These little animals are very fond of the seeds of the pumpkins, and you +will see the soft creatures whisking about among the cattle, carrying +away the seeds as they are scattered by the beasts in breaking the +pumpkins: they also delight in the seeds of the sunflowers, which grow +to a gigantic height in our gardens and clearings. The fowls are +remarkably fond of the sunflower-seeds, and I saved the plants with the +intention of laying up a good store of winter food for my poor chicks. +One day I went to cut the ripe heads, the largest of which was the size +of a large dessert-plate, but found two wicked red squirrels busily +employed gathering in the seeds, not for me, be sure, but themselves. +Not contented with picking out the seeds, these little thieves +dexterously sawed through the stalks, and conveyed away whole heads at +once: so bold were they that they would not desist when I approached +till they had secured their object, and, encumbered with a load twice +the weight of their own agile bodies, ran with a swiftness along the +rails, and over root, stump, and log, till they eluded my pursuit. + +[Illustration: Red-squirrel] + +Great was the indignation expressed by this thrifty little pair on +returning again for another load to find the plant divested of the +heads. I had cut what remained and put them in a basket in the sun, on a +small block in the garden, close to the open glass-door, on the steps of +which I was sitting shelling some seed-beans, when the squirrels drew my +attention to them by their sharp scolding notes, elevating their fine +feathery tails and expressing the most lively indignation at the +invasion: they were not long before they discovered the Indian basket +with the ravished treasure; a few rapid movements brought the little +pair to the rails within a few paces of me and the sunflower-heads; +here, then, they paused, and sitting up looked in my face with the most +imploring gestures. I was too much amused by their perplexity to help +them, but turning away my head to speak to the child, they darted +forward, and in another minute had taken possession of one of the +largest of the heads, which they conveyed away, first one carrying it a +few yards, then the other, it being too bulky for one alone to carry it +far at a time. In short, I was so well amused by watching their +manoeuvres that I suffered them to rob me of all my store. I saw a +little family of tiny squirrels at play in the spring on the top of a +hollow log, and really I think they were, without exception, the +liveliest, most graceful creatures I ever looked upon. + +The flying squirrel is a native of our woods, and exceeds in beauty, to +my mind, any of the tribe. Its colour is the softest, most delicate tint +of grey; the fur thick and short, and as silken as velvet; the eyes like +all the squirrel kind, are large, full, and soft; the whiskers and long +hair about the nose black; the membrane that assists this little animal +in its flight is white and delicately soft in texture, like the fur of +the chinchilla; it forms a ridge of fur between the fore and hind legs; +the tail is like an elegant broad grey feather. I was agreeably +surprised by the appearance of this exquisite little creature; the +pictures I had seen giving it a most inelegant and _batlike_ look, +almost disgusting. The young ones are easily tamed, and are very playful +and affectionate when under confinement. + +[Illustration: Flying Squirrel] + +How my little friend Emily would delight in such a pet! Tell her if ever +I should return to dear old England, I will try to procure one for her; +but at present she must be contented with the stuffed specimens of the +black, red, and striped squirrels which I enclose in my parcel. I wish I +could offer you any present more valuable, but our arts and manufactures +being entirely British, with the exception of the Indians' toys, I +should find it a difficult matter to send you any thing worth your +attention; therefore I am obliged to have recourse to the natural +productions of our woods as tokens of remembrance to our friends _at +home_, for it is ever thus we speak of the land of our birth. + +You wish to know if I am happy and contented in my situation, or if my +heart pines after my native land. I will answer you candidly, and say +that, as far as regards matters of taste, early association, and all +those holy ties of kindred, and old affections that make "home" in all +countries, and among all nations in the world, a hallowed spot, I must +ever give the preference to Britain. + +On the other hand, a sense of the duties I have chosen, and a feeling of +conformity to one's situation, lessen the regret I might be inclined to +indulge in. Besides, there are new and delightful ties that bind me to +Canada: I have enjoyed much domestic happiness since I came hither;--and +is it not the birthplace of my dear child? Have I not here first tasted +the rapturous delight arising from maternal feelings? When my eye rests +on my smiling darling, or I feel his warm breath upon my cheek, I would +not exchange the joy that fills my breast for any pleasure the world +could offer me. "But this feeling is not confined to the solitude of +your Canadian forests, my dear friend," you will say. I know it; but +here there is nothing to interfere with your little nursling. You are +not tempted by the pleasures of a gay world to forget your duties as a +mother; there is nothing to supplant him in your heart; his presence +endears every place; and you learn to love the spot that gave him birth, +and to think with complacency upon the country, because it is _his_ +country; and in looking forward to his future welfare you naturally +become doubly interested in the place that is one day to be his. + +Perhaps I rather estimate the country by my own feelings; and when I +find, by impartial survey of my present life, that I am to the full as +happy, if not really happier, than I was in the old country, I cannot +but value it. + +Possibly, if I were to enter into a detail of the advantages I possess, +they would appear of a very negative character in the eyes of persons +revelling in all the splendour and luxury that wealth could procure, in +a country in which nature and art are so eminently favourable towards +what is usually termed the pleasures of life; but I never was a votary +at the shrine of luxury or fashion. A round of company, a routine of +pleasure, were to me sources of weariness, if not of disgust. "There's +nothing in all this to satisfy the heart," says Schiller; and I admit +the force of the sentiment. + +I was too much inclined to spurn with impatience the fetters that +etiquette and fashion are wont to impose on society, till they rob its +followers of all freedom and independence of will; and they soon are +obliged to live for a world that in secret they despise and loathe, for +a world, too, that usually regards them with contempt, because they dare +not act with an independence, which would be crushed directly it was +displayed. + +And I must freely confess to you that I do prize and enjoy my present +liberty in this country exceedingly: in this we possess an advantage +over you, and over those that inhabit the towns and villages in _this_ +country, where I see a ridiculous attempt to keep up an appearance that +is quite foreign to the situation of those that practise it. Few, very +few, are the emigrants that come to the colonies, unless it is with the +view of realising an independence for themselves or their children. +Those that could afford to live in ease at home, believe me, would never +expose themselves to the privations and disagreeable consequences of a +settler's life in Canada: therefore, this is the natural inference we +draw, that the emigrant has come hither under the desire and natural +hope of bettering his condition, and benefiting a family that he has not +the means of settling in life in the home country. It is foolish, then, +to launch out in a style of life that every one knows cannot be +maintained; rather ought such persons to rejoice in the consciousness +that they can, if they please, live according to their circumstances, +without being the less regarded for the practice of prudence, economy, +and industry. + +Now, we _bush-settlers_ are more independent: we do what we like; we +dress as we find most suitable and most convenient; we are totally +without the fear of any Mr. or Mrs. Grundy; and having shaken off the +trammels of Grundyism, we laugh at the absurdity of those who +voluntarily forge afresh and hug their chains. + +If our friends come to visit us unexpectedly we make them welcome to our +humble homes, and give them the best we have; but if our fare be +indifferent, we offer it with good will, and no apologies are made or +expected: they would be out of place; as every one is aware of the +disadvantages of a new settlement; and any excuses for want of variety, +or the delicacies of the table, would be considered rather in the light +of a tacit reproof to your guest for having unseasonably put your +hospitality to the test. + +Our society is mostly military or naval; so that we meet on equal +grounds, and are, of course, well acquainted with the rules of good +breeding and polite life; too much so to allow any deviation from those +laws that good taste, good sense, and good feeling have established +among persons of our class. + +Yet here it is considered by no means derogatory to the wife of an +officer or gentleman to assist in the work of the house, or to perform +its entire duties if occasion requires it; to understand the mystery of +soap, candle, and sugar-making; to make bread, butter, and cheese, or +even to milk her own cows; to knit and spin, and prepare the wool for +the loom. In these matters we bush-ladies have a wholesome disregard of +what Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so thinks or says. We pride ourselves on +conforming to circumstances; and as a British officer must needs be a +gentleman and his wife a lady, perhaps we repose quietly on that +incontestable proof of our gentility, and can afford to be useful +without injuring it. + +Our husbands adopt a similar line of conduct: the officer turns his +sword into a ploughshare, and his lance into a sickle; and if he be seen +ploughing among the stumps in his own field, or chopping trees on his +own land, no one thinks less of his dignity, or considers him less of a +gentleman, than when he appeared upon parade in all the pride of +military etiquette, with sash, sword and epaulette. Surely this is as it +should be in a country where independence is inseparable from industry; +and for this I prize it. + +Among many advantages we in this township possess, it is certainly no +inconsiderable one that the lower or working class of settlers are well +disposed, and quite free from the annoying Yankee manners that +distinguish many of the earlier-settled townships. Our servants are as +respectful, or nearly so, as those at home; nor are they admitted to our +tables, or placed on an equality with us, excepting at "bees," and such +kinds of public meetings; when they usually conduct themselves with a +propriety that would afford an example to some that call themselves +gentlemen, viz., young men who voluntarily throw aside those restraints +that society expects from persons filling a respectable situation. + +Intemperance is too prevailing a vice among all ranks of people in this +country; but I blush to say it belongs most decidedly to those that +consider themselves among the better class of emigrants. Let none such +complain of the airs of equality displayed towards them by the labouring +class, seeing that they degrade themselves below the honest, sober +settler, however poor. If the sons of gentlemen lower themselves, no +wonder if the sons of poor men endeavour to exalt themselves about him +in a country where they all meet on equal ground; and good conduct is +the distinguishing mark between the classes. + +Some months ago, when visiting a friend in a distant part of the +country, I accompanied her to stay a few days in the house of a resident +clergyman, curate of a flourishing village in the township of ------. I +was struck by the primitive simplicity of the mansion and its +inhabitants. We were introduced into the little family sitting-room, the +floor of which was painted after the Yankee fashion; instead of being +carpeted, the walls were of unornamented deal, and the furniture of the +room of corresponding plainness. A large spinning-wheel, as big as a +cart-wheel, nearly occupied the centre of the room, at which a neatly- +dressed matron, of mild and lady-like appearance, was engaged spinning +yarn; her little daughters were knitting beside the fire, while their +father was engaged in the instruction of two of his sons; a third was +seated affectionately in a little straw chair between his feet, while a +fourth was plying his axe with nervous strokes in the court-yard, +casting from time to time wistful glances through the parlour-window at +the party within. + +The dresses of the children were of a coarse sort of stuff, a mixture of +woollen and thread, the produce of the farm and their mother's +praiseworthy industry. The stockings, socks, muffatees, and warm +comforters were all of home manufacture. Both girls and boys wore +mocassins, of their own making: good sense, industry, and order presided +among the members of this little household. + +Both girls and boys seemed to act upon the principle, that nothing is +disgraceful but that which is immoral and improper. + +Hospitality without extravagance, kindness without insincerity of +speech, marked the manners of our worthy friends. Every thing in the +house was conducted with attention to prudence and comfort. The living +was but small (the income arising from it, I should have said), but +there was glebe land, and a small dwelling attached to it, and, by dint +of active exertion without-doors, and economy and good management +within, the family were maintained with respectability: in short, we +enjoyed during our sojourn many of the comforts of a cleared farm; +poultry of every kind, beef of their own killing, excellent mutton and +pork: we had a variety of preserves at our tea-table, with honey in the +comb, delicious butter, and good cheese, with divers sorts of cakes; a +kind of little pancake, made from the flour of buck-wheat, which are +made in a batter, and raised with barm, afterwards dropped into boiling +lard, and fried; also a preparation made of Indian corn-flour, called +supporne-cake, which is fried in slices, and eaten with maple-syrup, +were among the novelties of our breakfast-fare. + +I was admiring a breed of very fine fowls in the poultry-yard one +morning, when my friend smiled and said, "I do not know if you will +think I came honestly by them." + +"I am sure you did not acquire them by dishonest means," I replied, +laughing; "I will vouch for your principles in that respect." + +"Well," replied my hostess, "they were neither given me, nor sold to me, +and I did not steal them. I found the original stock in the following +manner. An old black hen most unexpectedly made her appearance one +spring morning at our door; we hailed the stranger with surprise and +delight; for we could not muster a single domestic fowl among our little +colony at that time. We never rightly knew by what means the hen came +into our possession, but suppose some emigrant's family going up the +country must have lost or left her; she laid ten eggs, and hatched +chickens from them; from this little brood we raised a stock, and soon +supplied all our neighbours with fowls. We prize the breed, not only on +account of its fine size, but from the singular, and, as we thought, +providential, manner in which we obtained it." + +I was much interested in the slight sketch given by the pastor one +evening, as we all assembled round the blazing log-fire, that was piled +half-way up the chimney, which reared its stone fabric so as to form +deep recesses at either side of its abutments. + +Alluding to his first settlement, he observed, "it was a desolate +wilderness of gloomy and unbroken forest-trees when we first pitched our +tent here: at that time an axe had not been laid to the root of a tree, +nor a fire, save by the wandering Indians, kindled in these woods. + +"I can now point out the identical spot where my wife and little ones +ate their first meal, and raised their feeble voices in thankfulness to +that Almighty and merciful Being who had preserved them through the +perils of the deep, and brought them in safety to this vast solitude. + +"We were a little flock wandering in a great wilderness, under the +special protection of our mighty Shepherd. + +"I have heard you, my dear young lady," he said, addressing the +companion of my visit, "talk of the hardships of the bush; but, let me +tell you, you know but little of its privations compared with those that +came hither some years ago. + +"Ask these, my elder children and my wife, what were the hardships of a +bush-settler's life ten years ago, and they will tell you it was to +endure cold, hunger, and all its accompanying evils; to know at times +the want of every necessary article of food. As to the luxuries and +delicacies of life, we saw them not;--how could we? we were far removed +from the opportunity of obtaining these things: potatoes, pork, and +flour were our only stores, and often we failed of the two latter before +a fresh supply could be procured. We had not mills nearer than thirteen +miles, through roads marked only by blazed lines; nor were there at that +time any settlers near us. Now you see us in a cleared country, +surrounded with flourishing farms and rising villages; but at the time I +speak of it was not so: there were no stores of groceries or goods, no +butchers' shops, no cleared farms, dairies, nor orchards; for these +things we had to wait with patience till industry should raise them. + +"Our fare knew no other variety than salt pork, potatoes, and sometimes +bread, for breakfast; pork and potatoes for dinner; pork and potatoes +for supper; with a porridge of Indian corn-flour for the children. +Sometimes we had the change of pork without potatoes, and potatoes +without pork; this was the first year's fare: by degrees we got a supply +of flour of our own growing, but bruised into a coarse meal with a hand- +mill; for we had no water or windmills within many miles of our colony, +and good bread was indeed a luxury we did not often have. + +"We brought a cow with us, who gave us milk during the spring and +summer; but owing to the wild garlic (a wild herb, common to our woods), +on which she fed, her milk was scarcely palatable, and for want of +shelter and food, she died the following winter, greatly to our sorrow: +we learned experience in this and in many other matters at a hard cost; +but now we can profit by it." + +"Did not the difficulties of your first settlement incline you to +despond, and regret that you had ever embarked on a life so different to +that you had been used to?" I asked. + +"They might have had that effect had not a higher motive than mere +worldly advancement actuated me in leaving my native country to come +hither. Look you, it was thus: I had for many years been the pastor of a +small village in the mining districts of Cumberland. I was dear to the +hearts of my people, and they were my joy and crown in the Lord. A +number of my parishioners, pressed by poverty and the badness of the +times, resolved on emigrating to Canada. + +"Urged by a natural and not unlawful desire of bettering their +condition, they determined on crossing the Atlantic, encouraged by the +offer of considerable grants of wild land, which at that period were +freely awarded by Government to persons desirous of becoming colonists. + +"But previous to this undertaking, several of the most respectable came +to me, and stated their views and reasons for the momentous step they +were about to take; and at the same time besought me in the most moving +terms, in the name of the rest of their emigrant friends, to accompany +them into the Wilderness of the West, lest they should forget their Lord +and Saviour when abandoned to their own spiritual guidance. + +"At first I was startled at the proposition; it seemed a wild and +visionary scheme: but by degrees I began to dwell with pleasure on the +subject. I had few ties beyond my native village; the income arising +from my curacy was too small to make it any great obstacle: like +Goldsmith's curate, I was + + 'Passing rich with forty pounds a year.' + +My heart yearned after my people; ten years I had been their guide and +adviser. I was the friend of the old, and the teacher of the young. My +Mary was chosen from among them; she had no foreign ties to make her +look back with regret upon the dwellers of the land in distant places; +her youth and maturity had been spent among these very people; so that +when I named to her the desire of my parishioners, and she also +perceived that my own wishes went with them, she stifled any regretful +feeling that might have arisen in her breast, and replied to me in the +words of Ruth:-- + +"'Thy country shall be my country; thy people shall be my people; where +thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, +and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.' + +"A tender and affectionate partner hast thou been to me, Mary," he +added, turning his eyes affectionately on the mild and dignified matron, +whose expressive countenance bespoke with more eloquence than words the +feelings passing in her mind. She replied not by words, but I saw the +big bright tears fall on the work she held in her hand. They sprang from +emotions too sacred to be profaned by intrusive eyes, and I hastily +averted my glance from her face; while the pastor proceeded to narrate +the particulars of their leaving England, their voyage, and finally, +their arrival in the land that had been granted to the little colony in +the then unbroken part of the township of ------. + +"We had obtained a great deal of useful advice and assistance from the +Government agents previous to our coming up hither, and also hired some +choppers at high wages to initiate us in the art of felling, logging, +burning, and clearing the ground; as it was our main object to get in +crops of some kind, we turned to without any delay further than what was +necessary for providing a temporary shelter for our wives and children, +and prepared the ground for spring crops, helping each other as we could +with the loan of oxen and labour. And here I must observe, that I +experienced every attention and consideration from my friends. My means +were small, and my family all too young to render me any service; +however, I lacked not help, and had the satisfaction of seeing a little +spot cleared for the growth of potatoes and corn, which I could not have +effected by my single exertions. + +"My biggest boy John was but nine years old, Willie seven, and the +others still more helpless; the two little ones you see there," pointing +to two young children, "have been born since we came hither. That +yellow-haired lassie knitting beside you was a babe at the breast;--a +helpless, wailing infant, so weak and sickly before we came here that +she was scarcely ever out of her mother's arms; but she grew and throve +rapidly under the rough treatment of a bush-settler's family. + +"We had no house built, or dwelling of any kind to receive us when we +arrived at our destination; and the first two nights were passed on the +banks of the creek that flows at the foot of the hill, in a hut of cedar +and hemlock boughs that I cut with my axe, and, with the help of some of +my companions, raised to shelter my wife and the little ones. + +"Though it was the middle of May the nights were chilly, and we were +glad to burn a pile of wood in front of our hut to secure us from the +effects of the cold and the stings of the mosquitoes, that came up in +myriads from the stream, and which finally drove us higher up the bank. + +"As soon as possible we raised a shanty, which now serves as a shed for +my young cattle; I would not pull it down, though often urged to do so, +as it stands in the way of a pleasant prospect from the window; but I +like to look on it, and recall to mind the first years I passed beneath +its lowly roof. We need such mementos to remind us of our former state; +but we grow proud, and cease to appreciate our present comforts. + +"Our first Sabbath was celebrated in the open air: my pulpit was a pile +of rude logs; my church the deep shade of the forest, beneath which we +assembled ourselves; but sincerer or more fervent devotion I never +witnessed than that day. I well remember the text I chose, for my +address to them was from the viiith chapter of Deuteronomy, the 6th, +7th, and 9th verses, which appeared to me applicable to our +circumstances. + +"The following year we raised a small blockhouse, which served as a +school-house and church. At first our progress in clearing the land was +slow, for we had to buy experience, and many and great were the +disappointments and privations that befel us during the first few years. +One time we were all ill with ague, and not one able to help the other; +this was a sad time; but better things were in store for us. The tide of +emigration increased, and the little settlement we had formed began to +be well spoken of. One man came and built a saw mill; a grist-mill +followed soon after; and then one store and then another, till we beheld +a flourishing village spring up around us. Then the land began to +increase in value, and many of the first settlers sold their lots to +advantage, and retreated further up the woods. As the village increased, +so, of course, did my professional duties, which had for the first few +years been paid for in acts of kindness and voluntary labour by my +little flock; now I have the satisfaction of reaping a reward without +proving burdensome to my parishioners. My farm is increasing, and +besides the salary arising from my curacy I have something additional +for the school, which is paid by Government. We may now say it is good +for us to be here, seeing that God has been pleased to send down a +blessing upon us." + +I have forgotten many very interesting particulars relating to the +trials and shifts this family were put to in the first few years; but +the pastor told us enough to make me quite contented with my lot, and I +returned home, after some days' pleasant sojourn with this delightful +family, with an additional stock of contentment, and some useful and +practical knowledge, that I trust I shall be the better for all my life. + +I am rather interested in a young lad that has come out from England to +learn Canadian farming. + +The poor boy had conceived the most romantic notions of a settler's +life, partly from the favourable accounts he had read, and partly +through the medium of a lively imagination, which had aided in the +deception, and led him to suppose that his time would be chiefly spent +in the fascinating amusements and adventures arising from hunting the +forest in search of deer and other game, pigeon and duck-shooting, +spearing fish by torchlight, and voyaging on the lakes in a birch-bark +canoe in summer, skating in winter, or gliding over the frozen snow like +a Laplander in his sledge, wrapped up to the eyes in furs, and +travelling at the rate of twelve miles an hour to the sound of an +harmonious peal of bells. What a felicitous life to captivate the mind +of a boy of fourteen, just let loose from the irksome restraint of +boarding-school! + +How little did he dream of the drudgery inseparable from the duties of a +lad of his age, in a country where the old and young, the master and the +servant, are alike obliged to labour for a livelihood, without respect +to former situation or rank! + +Here the son of the gentleman becomes a hewer of wood and drawer of +water; he learns to chop down trees, to pile brush-heaps, split rails +for fences, attend the fires during the burning season, dressed in a +coarse over-garment of hempen cloth, called a logging-shirt, with +trousers to correspond, and a Yankee straw hat flapped over his eyes, +and a handspike to assist him in rolling over the burning brands. To +tend and drive oxen, plough, sow, plant Indian corn and pumpkins, and +raise potatoe-hills, are among some of the young emigrant's +accomplishments. His relaxations are but comparatively few, but they are +seized with a relish and avidity that give them the greater charm. + +You may imagine the disappointment felt by the poor lad on seeing his +fair visions of amusement fade before the dull realities and distasteful +details of a young settler's occupation in the backwoods. + +Youth, however, is the best season for coming to this country; the mind +soon bends itself to its situation, and becomes not only reconciled, but +in time pleased with the change of life. There is a consolation, too, in +seeing that he does no more than others of equal pretensions as to rank +and education are obliged to submit to, if they would prosper; and +perhaps he lives to bless the country which has robbed him of a portion +of that absurd pride that made him look with contempt on those whose +occupations were of a humble nature. It were a thousand pities wilfully +to deceive persons desirous of emigrating with false and flattering +pictures of the advantages to be met with in this country. Let the _pro_ +and _con_ be fairly stated, and let the reader use his best judgment, +unbiassed by prejudice or interest in a matter of such vital importance +not only as regards himself, but the happiness and welfare of those over +whose destinies Nature has made him the guardian. It is, however, far +more difficult to write on the subject of emigration than most persons +think: it embraces so wide a field that what would be perfectly correct +as regards one part of the province would by no means prove so as +regarded another. One district differs from another, and one township +from another, according to its natural advantages; whether it be long +settled or unsettled, possessing water privileges or not; the soil and +even the climate will be different, according to situation and +circumstances. + +Much depends on the tempers, habits, and dispositions of the emigrants +themselves. What suits one will not another; one family will flourish, +and accumulate every comfort about their homesteads, while others +languish in poverty and discontent. It would take volumes to discuss +every argument for and against, and to point out exactly who are and who +are not fit subjects for emigration. + +Have you read Dr. Dunlop's spirited and witty "Backwoodsman?" If you +have not, get it as soon as you can; it will amuse you. I think a +Backwoods-woman might be written in the same spirit, setting forth a few +pages, in the history of bush-ladies, as examples for our sex. Indeed, +we need some wholesome admonitions on our duties and the folly of +repining at following and sharing the fortunes of our spouses, whom we +have vowed in happier hours to love "in riches and in poverty, in +sickness and in health." Too many pronounce these words without heeding +their importance, and without calculating the chances that may put their +faithfulness to the severe test of quitting home, kindred, and country, +to share the hard lot of a settler's life; for even this sacrifice +renders it hard to be borne; but the truly attached wife will do this, +and more also, if required by the husband of her choice. + +But now it is time I say farewell: my dull letter, grown to a formidable +packet, will tire you, and make you wish it at the bottom of the +Atlantic. + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +Indian Hunters.--Sail in a Canoe.--Want of Libraries in the Backwoods.-- +New Village.--Progress of Improvement.--Fire-flies. + +HAVING in a former letter given you some account of a winter visit to +the Indians, I shall now give a short sketch of their summer encampment, +which I went to see one beautiful afternoon in June, accompanied by my +husband and some friends that had come in to spend the day with us. + +The Indians were encamped on a little peninsula jutting out between two +small lakes; our nearest path would have been through the bush, but the +ground was so encumbered by fallen trees that we agreed to go in a +canoe. The day was warm, without being oppressively hot, as it too often +is during the summer months: and for a wonder the mosquitoes and black- +flies were so civil as not to molest us. Our light bark skimmed gaily +over the calm waters, beneath the overhanging shade of cedars, hemlock, +and balsams, that emitted a delicious fragrance as the passing breeze +swept through the boughs. I was in raptures with a bed of blue irises +mixed with snow-white water-lilies that our canoe passed over. Turning +the stony bank that formed the point, we saw the thin blue smoke of the +camp curling above the trees, and soon our canoe was safely moored +alongside of those belonging to the Indians, and by help of the +straggling branches and underwood I contrived to scramble up a steep +path, and soon found myself in front of the tent. It was a Sunday +afternoon; all the men were at home; some of the younger branches of the +families (for there were three that inhabited the wigwam) were amusing +themselves with throwing the tomahawk at a notch cut in the bark of a +distant tree, or shooting at a mark with their bows and arrows, while +the elders reposed on their blankets within the shade, some reading, +others smoking, and gravely eyeing the young rival marksmen at their +feats of skill. + +Only one of the squaws was at home; this was my old acquaintance the +hunter's wife, who was sitting on a blanket; her youngest, little David, +a papouse of three years, who was not yet weaned, was reposing between +her feet; she often eyed him with looks of great affection, and patted +his shaggy head from time to time. Peter, who is a sort of great man, +though not a chief, sat beside his spouse, dressed in a handsome blue +surtout-coat, with a red worsted sash about his waist. He was smoking a +short pipe, and viewing the assembled party at the door of the tent with +an expression of quiet interest; sometimes he lifted his pipe for an +instant to give a sort of inward exclamation at the success or failure +of his sons' attempts to hit the mark on the tree. The old squaw, as +soon as she saw me, motioned me forward, and pointing to a vacant +portion of her blanket, with a good-natured smile, signed for me to sit +beside her, which I did, and amused myself with taking note of the +interior of the wigwam and its inhabitants. The building was of an +oblong form, open at both ends, but at night I was told the openings +were closed by blankets; the upper part of the roof was also open; the +sides were rudely fenced with large sheets of birch bark, drawn in and +out between the sticks that made the frame-work of the tent; a long +slender pole of iron-wood formed a low beam, from which depended sundry +iron and brass pots and kettles, also some joints of fresh-killed +venison and dried fish; the fires occupied the centre of the hut, around +the embers of which reposed several meek deer-hounds; they evinced +something of the quiet apathy of their masters, merely opening their +eyes to look upon the intruders, and seeing all was well returned to +their former slumbers, perfectly unconcerned by our entrance. + +The hunter's family occupied one entire side of the building, while +Joseph Muskrat with his family, and Joseph Bolans and his squaw shared +the opposite one, their several apartments being distinguished by their +blankets, fishing-spears, rifles, tomahawks, and other property; as to +the cooking utensils they seemed from their scarcity to be held in +common among them; perfect amity appeared among the three families; and, +if one might judge from outward appearance, they seemed happy and +contented. On examining the books that were in the hands of the young +men, they proved to be hymns and tracts, one side printed in English, +the other the Indian translation. In compliance with our wishes the men +sang one of the hymns, which sounded very well, but we missed the sweet +voices of the Indian girls, whom I had left in front of the house, +sitting on a pine-log and amusing themselves with my baby, and seeming +highly delighted with him and his nurse. + +Outside the tent the squaw showed me a birch-bark canoe that was +building; the shape of the canoe is marked out by sticks stuck in the +ground at regular distances; the sheets of bark being wetted, and +secured in their proper places by cedar laths, which are bent so as to +serve the purpose of ribs or timbers; the sheets of bark are stitched +together with the tough roots of the tamarack, and the edges of the +canoe also sewed or laced over with the same material; the whole is then +varnished over with a thick gum. + +I had the honour of being paddled home by Mrs. Peter in a new canoe, +just launched, and really the motion was delightful; seated at the +bottom of the little bark, on a few light hemlock boughs, I enjoyed my +voyage home exceedingly. The canoe, propelled by the Amazonian arm of +the swarthy matron, flew swiftly over the waters, and I was soon landed +in a little cove within a short distance from my own door. In return for +the squaw's civility I delighted her by a present of a few beads for +working mocassins and knife-sheaths, with which she seemed very well +pleased, carefully securing her treasure by tying them in a corner of +her blanket with a bit of thread. + +With a peculiar reserve and gravity of temper, there is at the same time +a degree of childishness about the Indians in some things. I gave the +hunter and his son one day some coloured prints, which they seemed +mightily taken with, laughing immoderately at some of the fashionably +dressed figures. When they left the house they seated themselves on a +fallen tree, and called their hounds round them, displaying to each +severally the pictures. + +The poor animals, instead of taking a survey of the gaily dressed ladies +and gentlemen, held up their meek heads and licked their masters' hands +and faces; but old Peter was resolved the dogs should share the +amusement of looking at the pictures and turned their faces to them, +holding them fast by their long ears when they endeavoured to escape. I +could hardly have supposed the grave Indian capable of such childish +behaviour. + +These Indians appear less addicted to gay and tinselly adornments than +formerly, and rather affect a European style in their dress; it is no +unusual sight to see an Indian habited in a fine cloth coat and +trousers, though I must say the blanket-coats provided for them by +Government, and which form part of their annual presents, are far more +suitable and becoming. The squaws, too, prefer cotton or stuff gowns, +aprons and handkerchiefs, and such useful articles, to any sort of +finery, though they like well enough to look at and admire them; they +delight nevertheless in decking out the little ones, embroidering their +cradle wrappings with silks and beads, and tacking the wings of birds to +their shoulders. I was a little amused by the appearance of one of these +Indian Cupids, adorned with the wings of the American war-bird; a very +beautiful creature, something like our British bullfinch, only far more +lively in plumage: the breast and under-feathers of the wings being a +tint of the most brilliant carmine, shaded with black and white. This +bird has been called the "war-bird," from its having first made its +appearance in this province during the late American war; a fact that I +believe is well authenticated, or at any rate has obtained general +credence. + +I could hardly help smiling at your notion that we in the backwoods can +have easy access to a circulation library. In one sense, indeed, you are +not so far from truth, for every settler's library may be called a +circulating one, as their books are sure to pass from friend to friend +in due rotation; and, fortunately for us, we happen to have several +excellently furnished ones in our neighbourhood, which are always open +to us. There is a public library at York, and a small circulating +library at Cobourg, but they might just as well be on the other side of +the Atlantic for any access we can have to them. + +I know how it is; at home you have the same idea of the facility of +travelling in this country as I once had: now I know what bush-roads +are, a few miles' journey seems an awful undertaking. Do you remember my +account of a day's travelling through the woods? I am sorry to say they +are but little amended since that letter was written. I have only once +ventured to perform a similar journey, which took several hours _hard_ +travelling, and, more by good luck than any other thing, arrived with +whole bones at my destination. I could not help laughing at the frequent +exclamations of the teamster, a shrewd Yorkshire lad, "Oh, if I had but +the driving of his excellency the governor along this road, how I would +make the old horses trot over the stumps and stones, till he should cry +out again; I warrant he'd do _summut_ to mend them before he came along +them again." + +Unfortunately it is not a statute-road on this side the river, and has +been cut by the settlers for their own convenience, so that I fear +nothing will be done to improve it, unless it is by the inhabitants +themselves. + +We hope soon to have a market for our grain nearer at hand than +Peterborough; a grist-mill has just been raised at the new village that +is springing up. This will prove a great comfort to us; we have at +present to fetch flour up at a great expense, through bad roads, and the +loss of time to those that are obliged to send wheat to the town to be +ground, is a serious evil; this will soon be remedied, to the joy of the +whole neighbourhood. + +You do not know how important these improvements are, and what effect +they have in raising the spirits of the emigrant, besides enhancing the +value of his property in no trifling degree. We have already experienced +the benefit of being near the saw-mill, as it not only enables us to +build at a smaller expense, but enables us to exchange logs for sawn +lumber. The great pine-trees which, under other circumstances, would be +an encumbrance and drawback to clearing the land, prove a most +profitable crop when cleared off in the form of saw-logs, which is +easily done where they are near the water; the logs are sawn to a +certain length, and dragged by oxen, during the winter, when the ground +is hard, to the lake's edge; when the ice breaks up, the logs float down +with the current and enter the mill-race; I have seen the lake opposite +to our windows covered with these floating timbers, voyaging down to the +saw-mill. + +How valuable would the great oaks and gigantic pines be on an estate in +England; while here they are as little thought of as saplings would be +at home. Some years hence the timbers that are now burned up will be +regretted. Yet it is impossible to preserve them; they would prove a +great encumbrance to the farmer. The oaks are desirable for splitting, +as they make the most durable fences; pine, cedar, and white ash are +also used for rail-cuts; maple and dry beech are the best sorts of wood +for fires: white ash burns well. In making ley for soap, care is taken +to use none but the ashes of hard wood, as oak, ash, maple, beech; any +of the resinous trees are bad for the purpose, and the ley will not +mingle with the fat. In boiling, to the great mortification of the +uninitiated soap-boiler, who, by being made acquainted with this simple +fact, might have been spared much useless trouble and waste of material, +after months of careful saving. + +An American settler's wife told me this, and bade me be careful not to +make use of any of the pine-wood ashes in running the ley. And here I +must observe, that of all people the Yankees, as they are termed, are +the most industrious and ingenious; they are never at a loss for an +expedient: if one thing fails them they adopt another, with a quickness +of thought that surprises me, while to them it seems only a matter of +course. They seem to possess a sort of innate presence of mind, and +instead of wasting their energies in words, they _act_. The old settlers +that have been long among them seem to acquire the same sort of habits, +insomuch that it is difficult to distinguish them. I have heard the +Americans called a loquacious boasting people; now, as far as my limited +acquaintance with them goes, I consider they are almost laconic, and if +I dislike them it is for a certain cold brevity of manner that seems to +place a barrier between you and them. + +I was somewhat struck with a remark made by a travelling clock-maker, a +native of the state of Ohio. After speaking of the superior climate of +Ohio, in answer to some questions of my husband, he said, he was +surprised that gentlemen should prefer the Canadas, especially the bush, +where for many years they must want all the comforts and luxuries of +life, to the rich, highly cultivated, and fruitful state of Ohio, where +land was much cheaper, both cleared and wild. + +To this we replied that, in the first place, British subjects preferred +the British government; and, besides, they were averse to the manners of +his countrymen. He candidly admitted the first objection; and in reply +to the last observed, that the Americans at large ought not to be judged +by the specimens to be found in the British colonies, as they were, for +the most part, persons of no reputation, many of whom had fled to the +Canadas to escape from debt, or other disgraceful conduct; and added, +"It would be hard if the English were to be judged as a nation by the +convicts of Botany Bay." + +Now there was nothing unfair or rude in the manners of this stranger, +and his defence of his nation was mild and reasonable, and such as any +unprejudiced person must have respected him for. + +I have just been interrupted by a friend, who has called to tell me he +has an opportunity of sending safe and free of expense to London or +Liverpool, and that he will enclose a packet for me in the box he is +packing for England. + +I am delighted by the intelligence, but regret that I have nothing but a +few flower-seeds, a specimen of Indian workmanship, and a few +butterflies to send you--the latter are for Jane. I hope all will not +share the fate of the last I sent. Sarah wrote me word, when they came +to look for the green moth I had enclosed in a little box, nothing of +his earthly remains was visible beyond a little dust and some pink feet. +I have, with some difficulty, been able to procure another and finer +specimen; and, for fear it should meet with a similar annihilation, I +will at least preserve the memory of its beauties, and give you a +description of it. + +It is just five inches from wing to wing; the body the thickness of my +little finger, snow-white, covered with long silken hair; the legs +bright red, so are the antennae, which are toothed like a comb on either +side, shorter than those of butterflies and elegantly curled; the wings, +both upper and under, are of the most exquisite pale tint of green, +fringed at the edges with golden colour; each wing has a small shaded +crescent of pale blue, deep red, and orange; the blue forming the +centre, like a half-closed eye; the lower wings elongated in deep +scollop, so as to form two long tails, like those of the swallow-tail +butterfly, only a full inch in length and deeply fringed; on the whole +this moth is the most exquisite creature I have ever seen. + +We have a variety of the peacock butterfly, that is very rich, with +innumerable eyes on the wings. The yellow swallow-tail is also very +common, and the black and blue admiral, and the red, white, and black +admiral, with many other beautiful varieties that I cannot describe. The +largest butterfly I have yet seen is a gay vermilion, marked with jet +black lines that form an elegant black lace pattern over its wide wings. + +Then for dragon-flies, we have them of every size, shape, and colour. I +was particularly charmed by a pair of superb blue ones that I used to +see this summer in my walk to visit my sister. They were as large as +butterflies, with black gauze wings; on each pair was marked a crescent +of the brightest azure blue, shaded with scarlet; the bodies of these +beautiful creatures were also blue. I have seen them scarlet and black, +yellow and black, copper-coloured, green, and brown; the latter are +great enemies to the mosquitoes and other small insects, and may be seen +in vast numbers flitting around in all directions of an evening in +search of prey. + +The fire-flies must not be forgotten, for of all others they are the +most remarkable; their appearance generally precedes rain; they are +often seen after dark, on mild damp evenings, sporting among the cedars +at the edge of the wood, and especially near swamps, when the air is +illuminated with their brilliant dancing light. Sometimes they may be +seen in groups, glancing like falling stars in mid-air, or descending so +low as to enter your dwelling and flit about among the draperies of your +bed or window curtains; the light they emit is more brilliant than that +of the glowworm; but it is produced in the same manner from the under +part of the body. The glowworm is also frequently seen, even as late as +September, on mild, warm, dewy nights. + +We have abundance of large and small beetles, some most splendid: green +and gold, rose-colour, red and black, yellow and black; some quite +black, formidably large, with wide branching horns. Wasps are not so +troublesome as in England, but I suppose it is because we cannot offer +such temptations as our home gardens hold out to these ravenous insects. + +One of our choppers brought me the other day what he called a hornet's +nest; it was certainly too small and delicate a piece of workmanship for +so large an insect; and I rather conjecture that it belonged to the +beautiful black and gold insect called the wasp-fly, but of this I am +not certain. The nest was about the size and shape of a turkey's egg, +and was composed of six paper cups inserted one within the other, each +lessening till the innermost of all appeared not larger than a pigeon's +egg. On looking carefully within the orifice of the last cup, a small +comb, containing twelve cells, of the most exquisite neatness, might be +perceived, if anything, superior in regularity to the cells in the comb +of the domestic bee, one of which was at least equal to three of these. +The substance that composed the cups was of a fine silver grey silken +texture, as fine as the finest India silk paper, and extremely brittle; +when slightly wetted it became glutinous, and adhered a little to the +finger; the whole was carefully fixed to a stick: I have seen one since +fastened to a rough rail. I could not but admire the instinctive care +displayed in the formation of this exquisite piece of insect +architecture to guard the embryo animal from injury, either from the +voracity of birds or the effect of rain, which could scarcely find +entrance in the interior. + +I had carefully, as I thought, preserved my treasure, by putting it in +one of my drawers, but a wicked little thief of a mouse found it out and +tore it to pieces for the sake of the drops of honey contained in one or +two of the cells. I was much vexed, as I purposed sending it by some +favourable opportunity to a dear friend living in Gloucester Place, who +took great delight in natural curiosities, and once showed me a nest of +similar form to this, that had been found in a bee-hive; the material +was much coarser, and, if I remember right, had but two cases instead of +six. + +I have always felt a great desire to see the nest of a humming-bird, but +hitherto have been disappointed. This summer I had some beds of +mignionette and other flowers, with some most splendid major +convolvuluses or "morning glories," as the Americans call them; these +lovely flowers tempted the hummingbirds to visit my garden, and I had +the pleasure of seeing a pair of those beautiful creatures, but their +flight is so peculiar that it hardly gives you a perfect sight of their +colours; their motion when on the wing resembles the whirl of a +spinning-wheel, and the sound they make is like the hum of a wheel at +work; I shall plant flowers to entice them to build near us. + +I sometimes fear you will grow weary of my long dull letters; my only +resources are domestic details and the natural history of the country, +which I give whenever I think the subject has novelty to recommend it to +your attention. Possibly I may sometimes disappoint you by details that +appear to place the state of the emigrant in an unfavourable light; I +merely give facts as I have seen, or heard them stated. I could give you +many flourishing accounts of settlers in this country; I could also +reverse the picture, and you would come to the conclusion that there are +many arguments to be used both for and against emigration. Now, the +greatest argument, and that which has the most weight, is NECESSITY, and +this will always turn the scale in the favour of emigration; and that +same imperative dame Necessity tells me it is _necessary_ for me to draw +my letter to a conclusion. + +Farewell, ever faithfully and affectionately, your attached sister. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +Ague.--Illness of the Family.--Probable Cause.--Root-house.--Setting in +of Winter.--Insect termed a "Sawyer."--Temporary Church. + +November the 28th, 1834. + +You will have been surprised, and possibly distressed, by my long +silence of several months, but when I tell you it has been occasioned by +sickness, you will cease to wonder that I did not write. + +My dear husband, my servant, the poor babe, and myself, were all at one +time confined to our beds with ague. You know how severe my sufferings +always were at home with intermittents, and need not marvel if they were +no less great in a country where lake-fevers and all kinds of +intermittent fevers abound. + +Few persons escape the second year without being afflicted with this +weakening complaint; the mode of treatment is repeated doses of calomel, +with castor-oil or salts, and is followed up by quinine. Those persons +who do not choose to employ medical advice on the subject, dose +themselves with ginger-tea, strong infusion of hyson, or any other +powerful green tea, pepper, and whiskey, with many other remedies that +have the sanction of custom or quackery. + +I will not dwell on this uncomfortable period, further than to tell you +that we considered the complaint to have had its origin in a malaria, +arising from a cellar below the kitchen. When the snow melted, this +cellar became half full of water, either from the moisture draining +through the spongy earth, or from the rising of a spring beneath the +house; be it as it may, the heat of the cooking and Franklin stoves in +the kitchen and parlour, caused a fermentation to take place in the +stagnant fluid before it could be emptied; the effluvia arising from +this mass of putrifying water affected us all. The female servant, who +was the most exposed to its baneful influence, was the first of our +household that fell sick, after which, we each in turn became unable to +assist each other. I think I suffer an additional portion of the malady +from seeing the sufferings of my dear husband and my beloved child. + +I lost the ague in a fortnight's time,--thanks to calomel and quinine; +so did my babe and his nurse: it has, however, hung on my husband during +the whole of the summer, and thrown a damp upon his exertions and gloom +upon his spirits. This is the certain effect of ague, it causes the same +sort of depression on the spirits as a nervous fever. My dear child has +not been well ever since he had the ague, and looks very pale and +spiritless. + +We should have been in a most miserable condition, being unable to +procure a female servant, a nurse, or any one to attend upon us, and +totally unable to help ourselves; but for the prompt assistance of Mary +on one side, and Susannah on the other, I know not what would have +become of us in our sore trouble. + +This summer has been excessively hot and dry; the waters in the lakes +and rivers being lower than they had been known for many years; scarcely +a drop of rain fell for several weeks. This extreme drought rendered the +potatoe-crop a decided failure. Our Indian-corn was very fine; so were +the pumpkins. We had some fine vegetables in the garden, especially the +peas and melons; the latter were very large and fine. The cultivation of +the melon is very simple: you first draw the surrounding earth together +with a broad hoe into a heap; the middle of this heap is then slightly +hollowed out, so as to form a basin, the mould being raised round the +edges; into this hollow you insert several melon-seeds, and leave the +rest to the summer heat; if you water the plants from time to time, it +is well for them; the soil should be fine black mould; and if your hills +are inclining to a hollow part of your ground, so as to retain the +moisture, so much the finer will be your fruit. It is the opinion of +practical persons who have bought wisdom by some years' experience of +the country, that in laying out and planting a garden, the beds should +not be raised, as is the usual custom; and give us a reason, that the +sun having such great power draws the moisture more readily from the +earth where the beds are elevated above the level, and, in consequence +of the dryness of the ground, the plants wither away. + +As there appears some truth in the remark, I am inclined to adopt the +plan. + +Vegetables are in general fine, and come quickly to maturity, +considering the lateness of the season in which they are usually put +into the ground. Peas are always fine, especially the marrowfats, which +are sometimes grown in the fields, on cleared lands that are under the +plough. We have a great variety of beans, all of the French or kidney +kind; there is a very prolific white runner, of which I send you some of +the seed: the method of planting them is to raise a small hillock of +mould by drawing the earth up with the hoe; flatten this, or rather +hollow it a little in the middle, and drop in four or five seeds round +the edges; as soon as the bean puts forth its runners insert a pole of +five or six feet in the centre of the hill; the plants will all meet and +twine up it, bearing a profusion of pods, which are cut and boiled as +the scarlet-runners, or else, in their dry or ripe state, stewed and +eaten with salt meat; this, I believe, is the more usual way of cooking +them. The early bush-bean is a dwarf, with bright yellow seed. + +Lettuces are very fine, and may be cultivated easily, and very early, by +transplanting the seedlings that appear as soon as the ground is free +from snow. Cabbages and savoys, and all sorts of roots, keep during the +winter in the cellars or root-houses; but to the vile custom of keeping +green vegetables in the shallow, moist cellars below the kitchens, much +of the sickness that attacks settlers under the various forms of agues, +intermittent, remittent, and lake-fevers, may be traced. + +Many, of the lower class especially, are not sufficiently careful in +clearing these cellars from the decaying portions of vegetable matter, +which are often suffered to accumulate from year to year to infect the +air of the dwelling. Where the house is small, and the family numerous, +and consequently exposed to its influence by night, the baneful +consequences may be readily imagined. "Do not tell me of lakes and +swamps as the cause of fevers and agues; look to your cellars," was the +observation of a blunt but experienced Yankee doctor. I verily believe +it was the cellar that was the cause of sickness in our house all the +spring and summer. + +A root-house is indispensably necessary for the comfort of a settler's +family; if well constructed, with double log-walls, and the roof secured +from the soaking in of the rain or melting snows, it preserves +vegetables, meat, and milk excellently. You will ask if the use be so +great, and the comfort so essential, why does not every settler build +one? + +Now, dear mamma, this is exactly what every new comer says; but he has +to learn the difficulty there is at first of getting these matters +accomplished, unless, indeed, he have (which is not often the case) the +command of plenty of ready money, and can afford to employ extra +workmen. Labour is so expensive, and the working seasons so short, that +many useful and convenient buildings are left to a future time; and a +cellar, which one man can excavate in two days, if he work well, is made +to answer the purpose, till the season of leisure arrives, or necessity +obliges the root-house to be made. We are ourselves proof of this very +sort of unwilling procrastination; but the logs are now cut for the +root-house, and we shall have one early in the spring. I would, however, +recommend any one that could possibly do so at first, to build a root- +house without delay, and also to have a well dug; the springs lying very +few feet below the surface renders this neither laborious or very +expensive. The creeks will often fail in very dry weather, and the lake +and river-waters grow warm and distasteful during the spring and summer. +The spring-waters are generally cold and pure, even in the hottest +weather, and delightfully refreshing. + +Our winter seems now fairly setting in: the snow has twice fallen, and +as often disappeared, since the middle of October; but now the ground is +again hardening into stone; the keen north-west wind is abroad; and +every outward object looks cold and wintry. The dark line of pines that +bound the opposite side of the lake is already hoary and heavy with +snow, while the half-frozen lake has a deep leaden tint, which is only +varied in shade by the masses of ice which shoot out in long points, +forming mimic bays and peninsulas. The middle of the stream, where the +current is strongest, is not yet frozen over, but runs darkly along like +a river between its frozen banks. In some parts where the banks are +steep and overhung with roots and shrubs, the fallen snow and water take +the most fantastic forms. + +I have stood of a bright winter day looking with infinite delight on the +beautiful mimic waterfalls congealed into solid ice along the bank of +the river; and by the mill-dam, from contemplating these petty frolics +of Father Frost, I have been led to picture to myself the sublime +scenery of the arctic regions. + +In spite of its length and extreme severity, I do like the Canadian +winter: it is decidedly the healthiest season of the year; and it is no +small enjoyment to be exempted from the torments of the insect tribes, +that are certainly great drawbacks to your comfort in the warmer months. + +We have just received your last packet;--a thousand thanks for the +contents. We are all delighted with your useful presents, especially the +warm shawls and merinos. My little James looks extremely well in his new +frock and cloak; they will keep him very warm this cold weather: he +kissed the pretty fur-lined slippers you sent me, and said, "Pussy, +pussy." By the way, we have a fine cat called Nora Crena, the parting +gift of our friend ------, who left her as a keepsake for my boy. Jamie +dotes upon her; and I do assure you I regard her almost as a second +Whittington's cat: neither mouse nor chitmunk has dared intrude within +our log-walls since she made her appearance; the very crickets, that +used to distract us with their chirping from morning till night, have +forsaken their old haunts. Besides the crickets, which often swarm so as +to become intolerable nuisances, destroying your clothes and woollens, +we are pestered by large black ants, that gallop about, eating up sugar +preserves, cakes, anything nice they can gain access to; these insects +are three times the size of the black ants of Britain, and have a most +voracious appetite: when they find no better prey they kill each other, +and that with the fierceness and subtilty of the spider. They appear +less sociable in their habits than other ants; though, from the numbers +that invade your dwellings, I should think they formed a community like +the rest of their species. + +The first year's residence in a new log-house you are disturbed by a +continual creaking sound which grates upon the ears exceedingly, till +you become accustomed to it: this is produced by an insect commonly +called a "sawyer." This is the larvae of some fly that deposits its eggs +in the bark of the pine-trees. The animal in its immature state is of a +whitish colour, the body composed of eleven rings; the head armed with a +pair of short, hard pincers: the skin of this creature is so rough that +on passing your finger over it, it reminds you of a rasp, yet to the eye +it is perfectly smooth. You would be surprised at the heap of fine saw- +dust that is to be seen below the hole they have been working in all +night. These sawyers form a fine feast for the woodpeckers, and jointly +they assist in promoting the rapid decomposition of the gigantic forest- +trees, that would otherwise encumber the earth from age to age. How +infinite is that Wisdom that rules the natural world! How often do we +see great events brought about by seemingly insignificant agents! Yet +are they all servants of the Most High, working his will, and fulfilling +his behests. One great want which has been sensibly felt in this distant +settlement, I mean the want of public worship on the Sabbath-day, +promises to be speedily remedied. A subscription is about to be opened +among the settlers of this and part of the adjacent township for the +erection of a small building, which may answer the purpose of church and +school-house; also for the means of paying a minister for stated seasons +of attendance. + +------ has allowed his parlour to be used as a temporary church, and +service has been several times performed by a highly respectable young +Scotch clergyman; and I can assure you we have a considerable +congregation, considering how scattered the inhabitants are, and that +the emigrants consist of catholics and dissenters, as well as +episcopalians. + +These distinctions, however, are not carried to such lengths in this +country as at home; especially where the want of religious observances +has been sensibly felt. The word of God appears to be listened to with +gladness. May a blessing attend those that in spirit and in truth would +restore again to us the public duties of the Sabbath, which, left to our +own guidance, we are but too much inclined to neglect. + +Farewell. + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +Busy Spring.--Increase of Society and Comfort.--Recollections of Home.-- +Aurora Borealis + +THIS has been a busy spring with us. First, sugar-making on a larger +scale than our first attempt was, and since that we had workmen making +considerable addition to our house; we have built a large and convenient +kitchen, taking the former one for a bedroom; the root-house and dairy +are nearly completed. We have a well of excellent water close beside the +door, and a fine frame-barn was finished this week, which includes a +good granary and stable, with a place for my poultry, in which I take +great delight. + +Besides a fine brood of fowls, the produce of two hens and a cock, or +_rooster_, as the Yankees term that bird, I have some ducks, and am to +have turkeys and geese this summer. I lost several of my best fowls, not +by the hawk but a horrid beast of the same nature as our polecat, called +here a scunck; it is far more destructive in its nature than either fox +or the hawk, for he comes like a thief in the night and invades the +perch, leaving headless mementos of his barbarity and blood-thirsty +propensities. + +We are having the garden, which hitherto has been nothing but a square +enclosure for vegetables, laid out in a prettier form; two half circular +wings sweep off from the entrance to each side of the house; the fence +is a sort of rude basket or hurdle-work, such as you see at home, called +by the country folk wattled fence: this forms a much more picturesque +fence than those usually put up of split timber. + +Along this little enclosure I have begun planting a sort of flowery +hedge with some of the native shrubs that abound in our woods and lake- +shores. + +Among those already introduced are two species of shrubby honeysuckle, +white and rose-blossomed: these are called by the American botanists +_quilostium_. + +Then I have the white _Spiroea frutex_, which grows profusely on the +lake-shore; the Canadian wild rose; the red flowering raspberry (_rubus +spectabilis_), leather-wood (_dircas_), called American mezereon, or +moose-wood; this is a very pretty, and at the same time useful shrub, +the bark being used by farmers as a substitute for cord in tying sacks, +&c.; the Indians sew their birch-bark baskets with it occasionally. + +Wild gooseberry, red and black currants, apple-trees, with here and +there a standard hawthorn, the native tree bearing nice red fruit I +named before, are all I have as yet been able to introduce. + +The stoup is up, and I have just planted hops at the base of the +pillars. I have got two bearing shoots of a purple wild grape from the +island near us, which I long to see in fruit. + +My husband is in good spirits; our darling boy is well, and runs about +everywhere. We enjoy a pleasant and friendly society, which has +increased so much within the last two years that we can hardly regret +our absence from the more populous town. + +My dear sister and her husband are comfortably settled in their new +abode, and have a fine spot cleared and cropped. We often see them, and +enjoy a chat of home--sweet, never-to-be-forgotten home; and cheat +ourselves into the fond belief that, at no very distant time we may +again retrace its fertile fields and flowery dales. + +With what delight we should introduce our young Canadians to their +grandmother and aunts; my little bushman shall early be taught to lisp +the names of those unknown but dear friends, and to love the lands that +gave birth to his parents, the bonny hills of the north and my own +beloved England. + +Not to regret my absence from my native land, and one so fair and lovely +withal, would argue a heart of insensibility; yet I must say, for all +its roughness, I love Canada, and am as happy in my humble log-house as +if it were courtly hall or bower; habit reconciles us to many things +that at first were distasteful. It has ever been my way to extract the +sweet rather than the bitter in the cup of life, and surely it is best +and wisest so to do. In a country where constant exertion is called for +from all ages and degrees of settlers, it would be foolish to a degree +to damp our energies by complaints, and cast a gloom over our homes by +sitting dejectedly down to lament for all that was so dear to us in the +old country. Since we are here, let us make the best of it, and bear +with cheerfulness the lot we have chosen. I believe that one of the +chief ingredients in human happiness is a capacity for enjoying the +blessings we possess. + +Though at our first outset we experienced many disappointments, many +unlooked-for expenses, and many annoying delays, with some wants that to +us seemed great privations, on the whole we have been fortunate, +especially in the situation of our land, which has increased in value +very considerably; our chief difficulties are now over, at least we hope +so, and we trust soon to enjoy the comforts of a cleared farm. + +My husband is becoming more reconciled to the country, and I daily feel +my attachment to it strengthening. The very stumps that appeared so +odious, through long custom, seem to lose some of their hideousness; the +eye becomes familiarized even with objects the most displeasing till +they cease to be observed. Some century hence how different will this +spot appear! I can picture it to my imagination with fertile fields and +groves of trees planted by the hand of taste;--all will be different; +our present rude dwellings will have given place to others of a more +elegant style of architecture, and comfort and grace will rule the scene +which is now a forest wild. + +You ask me if I like the climate of Upper Canada; to be candid I do not +think it deserves all that travellers have said of it. The summer heat +of last year was very oppressive; the drought was extreme, and in some +respects proved rather injurious, especially to the potatoe crop. The +frosts set in early, and so did the snows; as to the far-famed Indian +summer it seems to have taken its farewell of the land, for little of it +have we seen during three years' residence. Last year there was not a +semblance of it, and this year one horrible dark gloomy day, that +reminded me most forcibly of a London fog, and which was to the full as +dismal and depressing, was declared by the old inhabitants to be the +commencement of the Indian summer; the sun looked dim and red, and a +yellow lurid mist darkened the atmosphere, so that it became almost +necessary to light candles at noonday. If this be Indian summer, then +might a succession of London fogs be termed the "London summer," thought +I, as I groped about in a sort of bewildering dusky light all that day; +and glad was I when, after a day or two's heavy rain, the frost and snow +set in. + +Very variable, as far as our experience goes, this climate has been; no +two seasons have been at all alike, and it is supposed it will be still +more variable as the work of clearing the forest goes on from year to +year. Near the rivers and great lakes the climate is much milder and +more equable; more inland, the snow seldom falls so as to allow of +sleighing for weeks after it has become general; this, considering the +state of our bush-roads, is rather a point in our favour, as travelling +becomes less laborious, though still somewhat rough. + +I have seen the aurora borealis several times; also a splendid meteoric +phenomenon that surpassed every thing I had ever seen or even heard of +before. I was very much amused by overhearing a young lad giving a +gentleman a description of the appearance made by a cluster of the +shooting-stars as they followed each other in quick succession athwart +the sky. "Sir," said the boy, "I never saw such a sight before, and I +can only liken the chain of stars to a logging-chain." Certainly a most +natural and unique simile, quite in character with the occupation of the +lad, whose business was often with the oxen and logging-chain, and after +all not more rustic than the familiar names given to many of our most +superb constellations,--Charles's wain, the plough, the sickle, &c. + +Coming home one night last Christmas from the house of a friend, I was +struck by a splendid pillar of pale greenish light in the west: it rose +to some height above the dark line of pines that crowned the opposite +shores of the Otanabee, and illumined the heavens on either side with a +chaste pure light, such as the moon gives in her rise and setting; it +was not quite pyramidical, though much broader at the base than at its +highest point; it gradually faded, till a faint white glimmering light +alone marked where its place had been, and even that disappeared after +some half-hour's time. It was so fair and lovely a vision I was grieved +when it vanished into thin air, and could have cheated fancy into the +belief that it was the robe of some bright visitor from another and a +better world;--imagination apart, could it be a phosphoric exhalation +from some of our many swamps or inland lakes, or was it at all connected +with the aurora that is so frequently seen in our skies? + +I must now close this epistle; I have many letters to prepare for +friends, to whom I can only write when I have the opportunity of free +conveyance, the inland postage being very high; and you must not only +pay for all you receive but all you send to and from New York. + +Adieu, my kindest and best of friends. + +Douro, May 1st, 1833. + + + +APPENDIX + + +[The following Communications have been received from the Writer of this +Work during its progress through the Press.] + +MAPLE-SUGAR. + +THIS spring I have made maple-sugar of a much finer colour and grain +than any I have yet seen; and have been assured by many old settlers it +was the best, or nearly the best, they had ever met with: which +commendation induces me to give the plan I pursued in manufacturing it. +The sap having been boiled down in the sugar-bush from about sixteen +pailsful to two, I first passed it through a thin flannel bag, after the +manner of a jelly-bag, to strain it from the first impurities, which are +great. I then passed the liquor through another thicker flannel into the +iron pot, in which I purposed boiling down the sugar, and while yet +cold, or at best but lukewarm, beat up the white of one egg to a froth, +and spread it gently over the surface of the liquor, watching the pot +carefully after the fire began to heat it, that I might not suffer the +scum to boil into the sugar. A few minutes before it comes to a boil, +the scum must be carefully removed with a skimmer, or ladle,--the former +is best. I consider that on the care taken to remove every particle of +scum depends, in a great measure, the brightness and clearness of the +sugar. The best rule I can give as to the sugaring-off, as it is termed, +is to let the liquid continue at a fast boil: only be careful to keep it +from coming over by keeping a little of the liquid in your stirring- +ladle, and when it boils up to the top, or you see it rising too fast, +throw in a little from time to time to keep it down; or if you boil on a +cooking-stove, throwing open one or all the doors will prevent boiling +over. Those that sugar-off outside the house have a wooden crane fixed +against a stump, the fire being lighted against the stump, and the +kettle suspended on the crane: by this simple contrivance, (for any +bush-boy can fix a crane of the kind,) the sugar need never rise over if +common attention be paid to the boiling; but it does require constant +watching: one idle glance may waste much of the precious fluid. I had +only a small cooking-stove to boil my sugar on, the pots of which were +thought too small, and not well shaped, so that at first my fears were +that I must relinquish the trial; but I persevered, and experience +convinces me a stove is an excellent furnace for the purpose; as you can +regulate the heat as you like. + +One of the most anxious periods in the boiling I found to be when the +liquor began first to assume a yellowish frothy appearance, and cast up +so great a volume of steam from its surface as to obscure the contents +of the pot; as it may then rise over almost unperceived by the most +vigilant eye. As the liquor thickens into molasses, it becomes a fine +yellow, and seems nothing but thick froth. When it is getting pretty +well boiled down, the drops begin to fall clear and ropy from the ladle; +and if you see little bright grainy-looking bubbles in it, drop some on +a cold plate, and continue to stir or rub it till it is quite cold: if +it is ready to granulate, you will find it gritty, and turn whitish or +pale straw colour; and stiff. The sugar may then safely be poured off +into a tin dish, pail, basin, or any other utensil. I tried two +different methods after taking the sugar from the fire, but could find +little difference in the look of the sugar, except that in one the +quantity was broken up more completely; in the other the sugar remained +in large lumps, but equally pure and sparkling. In the first I kept +stirring the sugar till it began to cool and form a whitish thick +substance, and the grains were well crystallised; in the other process, +--which I think preferable, as being the least troublesome,--I waited +till the mass was hardened into sugar, and then, piercing the crust in +many places, I turned the mass into a cullender, and placed the +cullender over a vessel to receive the molasses that drained from the +sugar. In the course of the day or two, I frequently stirred the sugar, +which thus became perfectly free from moisture, and had acquired a fine +sparkling grain, tasting exactly like sugar-candy, free from any taste +of the maple-sap, and fit for any purpose. + +I observed that in general maple-sugar, as it is commonly made, is hard +and compact, showing little grain, and weighing very heavy in proportion +to its bulk. Exactly the reverse is the case with that I made, it being +extremely light for its bulk, all the heavy molasses having been +separated, instead of dried into the sugar. Had the present season been +at all a favourable one, which it was not, we should have made a good +quantity of excellent sugar. + +VINEGAR. + +By boiling down five gallons of sap to one, and when just a little above +the heat of new milk, putting in a cupful of barm (hop-rising will do if +it be good), and letting the vessel remain in your kitchen chimney- +corner during the summer, and perhaps longer, you will obtain a fine, +cheap, pleasant, and strong vinegar, fit for any purpose. This plan I +have pursued successfully two years. Care must be taken that the cask or +keg be well seasoned and tight before the vinegar is put in; as the +dryness of the summer heat is apt to shrink the vessel, and make it +leak. If putty well wrought, tar, or even yellow soap, be rubbed over +the seams, and round the inner rim of the head of the cask, it will +preserve it from opening. The equal temperature of the kitchen is +preferred by experienced housewives to letting the vinegar stand abroad; +they aver the coldness of the nights in this country is prejudicial to +the process, being as speedily perfected as if it underwent no such +check. By those well skilled in the manufacture of home-made wines and +beer, excellent maple-wine and beer might be produced at a very trifling +expense; i.e. that of the labour and skill exercised in the making it. + +Every settler grows, as an ornament in his garden, or should grow, hops, +which form one of the principal components of maple-beer when added to +the sap. + +HOP-RISING. + +This excellent, and, I might add, indispensable, article in every +settler's house, is a valuable substitute for ale or beer-yeast, and is +made in the following simple manner:--Take two double handfuls of hops, +boil in a gallon of soft water, if you can get it, till the hops sink to +the bottom of the vessel; make ready a batter formed by stirring a +dessert-platefull of flour and cold water till smooth and pretty thick +together; strain the hop-liquor while scalding hot into the vessel where +your batter is mixed ready; let one person pour the hop-liquor while the +other keeps stirring the batter. When cooled down to a gentle warmth, so +that you can bear the finger well in it, add a cup or basinful of the +former barm, or a bit of leaven, to set it to work; let the barm stand +till it has worked well, then bottle and cork it. Set it by in a cellar +or cool place if in summer, and in winter it is also the best place to +keep it from freezing. Some persons add two or three mealy potatoes +boiled and finely bruised, and it is a great improvement during the cool +months of the year. Potatoes in bread may be introduced very +advantageously; and to first settlers, who have all their flour to buy, +I think it must be a saving. + +The following method I found made more palatable and lighter bread than +flour, mixed in the usual way:--Supposing I wanted to make up about a +stone and half of flour, I boiled (having first pared them carefully)-- +say three dozen good-sized potatoes in about three quarts or a gallon of +water, till the liquor had the appearance of a thin gruel, and the +potatoes had become almost entirely incorporated with the water. With +this potatoe-gruel the flour was mixed up, no water being required, +unless by chance I had not enough of the mixture to moisten my flour +sufficiently. The same process of kneading, fermenting with barm, &c., +is pursued with the dough, as with other bread. In baking, it turns of a +bright light brown, and is lighter than bread made after the common +process, and therefore I consider the knowledge of it serviceable to the +emigrant's family. + +SALT-RISING. + +This is a barm much used by the Yanky settlers; but though the bread is +decidedly whiter, and prettier to look at, than that raised in any other +way, the peculiar flavour it imparts to the bread renders it highly +disagreeable to some persons. Another disadvantage is, the difficulty of +fermenting this barm in the winter season, as it requires a temperature +which is very difficult to preserve in a Canadian winter day. Moreover, +after the barm has once reached its height, unless immediately made use +of, it sinks, and rises again no more: careful people, of course, who +know this peculiarity, are on the watch, being aware of the ill +consequences of heavy bread, or having no bread but bannocks in the +house. + +As near as I can recollect, the salt-rising is made as follows:--For a +small baking of two or three loaves, or one large bake-kettle-loaf, +(about the size of a London peck loaf,) take about a pint of moderately +warm water, (a pleasant heat to the hand,) and stir into the jug or pot +containing it as much flour as will make a good batter, not too thick; +add to this half a tea-spoon of salt, not more, and set the vessel in a +pan of moderately warm water, within a little distance of the fire, or +in the sun: the water that surrounds the pot in which your rising is, +must never be allowed to cool much below the original heat, more warm +water being added (in the pan, not to the barm) till the whole is in an +active state of fermentation, which will be from six to eight hours, +when the dough must be mixed with it, and as much warm water or milk as +you require. Knead the mass till it is tough, and does not stick to the +board. Make up your loaf or loaves, and keep them warmly covered near +the fire till they rise: they must be baked directly this second rising +takes place. Those that bake what I term a _shanty loaf_, in an iron +bake-pot, or kettle, placed on the hot embers, set the dough to rise +over a very few embers, or near the hot hearth, keeping the pot or pan +turned as the loaf rises; when equally risen all over they put hot ashes +beneath and upon the lid, taking care not to let the heat be too fierce +at first. As this is the most common method of baking, and the first +that a settler sees practised, it is as well they should be made +familiar with it beforehand. At first I was inclined to grumble and +rebel against the expediency of bake-pans or bake-kettles; but as +cooking-stoves, iron ovens, and even brick and clay-built ovens, will +not start up at your bidding in the bush, these substitutes are +valuable, and perform a number of uses. I have eaten excellent light +bread, baked on the emigrant's hearth in one of these kettles. I have +eaten boiled potatoes, baked meats, excellent stews, and good soups, all +cooked at different times in this universally useful utensil: so let it +not be despised. It is one of those things peculiarly adapted to the +circumstances of settlers in the bush before they have collected those +comforts about their homesteads, within and without, that are the reward +and the slow gleaning-up of many years of toil. + +There are several other sorts of rising similar to the salt-rising. +"Milk-rising" which is mixed with milk, warm from the cow, and about a +third warm water; and "bran-rising," which is made with bran instead of +flour, and is preferred by many persons to either of the former kinds. + +SOFT SOAP. + +Of the making of soft soap I can give little or no correct information, +never having been given any _certain_ rule myself, and my own experience +is too limited. I was, however, given a hint from a professional +gentleman, which I mean to act upon forthwith. Instead of boiling the +soap, which is some trouble, he assured me the best plan was to run off +the ley from a barrel of ashes: into this ley I might put four or five +pounds of any sort of grease, such as pot skimmings, rinds of bacon, or +scraps from frying down suet; in short any refuse of the kind would do. +The barrel with its contents may then be placed in a secure situation in +the garden or yard, exposed to the sun and air. In course of time the +ley and grease become incorporated: if the grease predominates it will +be seen floating on the surface; in such case add more ley; if the +mixture does not thicken, add more grease. Now, this is the simplest, +easiest, and clearest account I have yet received on the subject of +soap-making, which hitherto has seemed a mystery, even though a good +quantity was made last spring by one of my servants, and it turned out +well: but she could not tell why it succeeded, for want of being able to +explain the principle she worked from. + +CANDLES. + +Every one makes their own candles (i.e. if they have any materials to +make them from). The great difficulty of making candies--and, as far as +I see the only one, is procuring the tallow, which a bush-settler, until +he begins to kill his own beef, sheep, and hogs, is rarely able to do, +unless he buys; and a settler buys nothing that he can help. A cow, +however, that is unprofitable, old, or unlikely to survive the severity +of the coming winter, is often suffered to go dry during the summer, and +get her own living, till she is fit to kill in the fall. Such an animal +is often slaughtered very advantageously, especially if the settler have +little fodder for his cattle. The beef is often excellent, and good +store of candles and soap may be made from the inside fat. These +candles, if made three parts beef- and one part hogs-lard, will burn +better than any store-candles, and cost less than half price. The tallow +is merely melted in a pot or pan convenient for the purpose, and having +run the cotton wicks into the moulds (tin or pewter moulds for six +candles cost three shillings at the stores, and last many, many years), +a stick or skewer is passed through the loops of your wicks, at the +upper part of the stand, which serve the purpose of drawing the candles. +The melted fat, not too hot, but in a fluid state, is then poured into +the moulds till they are full; as the fat gets cold it shrinks, and +leaves a hollow at the top of the mould: this requires filling up when +quite cold. If the candles do not draw readily, plunge the mould for an +instant into hot water and the candles will come out easily. Many +persons prefer making dip-candles for kitchen use; but for my own part I +think the trouble quite as great, and give the preference, in point of +neatness of look, to the moulds. It may be, my maid and I did not +succeed so well in making the dips as the moulds. + +PICKLING. + +The great want of spring vegetables renders pickles a valuable addition +to the table at the season when potatoes have become unfit and +distasteful. If you have been fortunate in your maple-vinegar, a store +of pickled cucumbers, beans, cabbage, &c. may be made during the latter +part of the summer; but if the vinegar should not be fit at that time, +there are two expedients: one is to make a good brine of boiled salt and +water, into which throw your cucumbers, &c. (the cabbage, by the by, may +be preserved in the root-house or cellar quite good, or buried in pits, +well covered, till you want to make your pickle). Those vegetables, kept +in brine, must be covered close, and when you wish to pickle them, +remove the top layer, which are not so good; and having boiled the +vinegar with spices let it stand till it is cold. The cucumbers should +previously have been well washed, and soaked in two or three fresh +waters, and drained; then put in a jar, and the cold vinegar poured over +them. The advantage of this is obvious; you can pickle at any season. +Another plan, and I have heard it much commended, is putting the +cucumbers into a mixture of whiskey* and water, which in time turns to a +fine vinegar, and preserves the colour and crispness of the vegetable; +while the vinegar is apt to make them soft, especially if poured on +boiling hot, as is the usual practice. + +[* In the "Backwoodsman," this whiskey-receipt is mentioned as an +abominable compound: perhaps the witty author had tasted the pickles in +an improper state of progression. He gives a lamentable picture of +American cookery, but declares the badness arises from want of proper +receipts. These yeast-receipts will be extremely useful in England; as +the want of fresh yeast is often severely felt in country districts.] + + +APPENDIX B. + +[In the wish to render this Work of more practical value to persons +desiring to emigrate, some official information is subjoined, under the +following heads:--] + +STATISTICS OF EMIGRATION. + +I. The number of Sales and Grants of Crown Lands, Clergy Reserves, +Conditions, &c. +II. Information for Emigrants; Number of Emigrants arrived; with +extracts from Papers issued by Government Emigration Agents, &c. +III. Abstract of the American Passengers' Act, of Session 1835. +IV. Transfer of Capital. +V. Canadian Currency. +VI. Canada Company. +VII. British American Land Company. + +=================================== + +I. SALES AND GRANTS OF CROWN LANDS. + +The following tables, abstracted from Parliamentary documents, exhibit-- + +1. The quantity of Crown lands _sold_ in Upper and Lower Canada from +1828 to 1833, inclusive, with the average price per acre, &c. + +2. Town and park lots sold in Upper Canada during the same period. + +3. The quantity of Crown lands granted without purchase, and the +conditions on which the grants were given, from 1824 to 1833, inclusive. + +4. The amount of clergy reserves sold in each year since the sales +commenced under the Act 7 and 8 Geo. IV., c. 62. + +--------------------------------------- + +CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, LOWER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Table +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Amount of purchase money remitted to military purchasers +within the first year. +Column 6: Amount of quit-rent at 5 per cent on the purchase money +received within the first year. +Column 7: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 20,011 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 11 pence +Column 4: 1,255 pounds, 14 shillings, 10 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 39 pounds, 12 shillings, 6 pence +Column 7: 5,044 pounds, 9 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 31,366 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 2-3/4 pence +Column 4: 466 pounds, 2 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 307 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence +Column 7: 7,469 pounds, 17 shillings, 7 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 28,077 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 8-3/4 pence +Column 4: 273 pounds, 10 shillings, 5 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 322 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence +Column 7: 7,461 pounds, 13 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 51,357 acres +Column 3: 6 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 815 pounds, 19 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: 484 pounds, 14 shillings, 7 pence +Column 7: 12,442 pounds, 8 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 24,074 acres +Column 3: 6 shillings, 9-1/4 pence +Column 4: 1,013 pounds, 1 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 555 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence +Column 6: 119 pounds, 2 shillings, 7 pence +Column 7: 6,139 pounds, 0 shillings, 10 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 42,570 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 2 pence +Column 4: 1,975 pounds, 10 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 1,936 pounds, 9 shillings, 3 pence +Column 6: -, -, - +Column 7: 7,549 pounds, 1 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 8 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 197,455 +Column 3: -, - +Column 4: -, -, - +Column 5: -, -, - +Column 6: -, -, - +Column 7: 46,106 pounds, 11 shillings, 0 pence + +The conditions on which the land was sold were--on sales on instalments, +to be paid within three years; or on sales on quit-rent, at 5 per cent., +capital redeemable at pleasure. N.B. Sales on quit-rent ceased in 1832. + +--------------------------------------- + +CROWN LANDS SOLD FROM 1828 TO 1833, UPPER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Table +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 3,893 acres +Column 3: 15 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 760 pounds, 6 shillings, 10 pence +Column 5: 2,940 pounds, 17 shillings, 3 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 6,135 acres +Column 3: 13 shillings, 8-1/2 pence +Column 4: 1,350 pounds, 16 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 4,209 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 4,357 acres +Column 3: 11 shillings, 3-1/2 pence +Column 4: 1,626 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 2,458 pounds, 1 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 10,323 acres +Column 3: 9 shillings, 1-1/2 pence +Column 4: 2,503 pounds, 3 shillings, 5 pence +Column 5: 4,711 pounds, 2 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 26,376 acres +Column 3: 8 shillings, 9-1/4 pence +Column 4: 5,660 pounds, 8 shillings, 3 pence +Column 5: 11,578 pounds, 19 shillings, 3 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 51,074 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 25,898 pounds, 3 shillings, 11 pence + +Interest is now exacted on the instalments paid. +Three years is the number within which the whole amount of the purchase +money is to be paid. The sales of town lots, water lots, and park lots, +in Upper Canada, are not included in this table, on account of the +disproportionate effect which the comparatively large sums paid for +these small lots would have on the average price per acre. They are +given, therefore, separately, in the following table:- + +--------------------------------------- + +TOWN AND PARK LOTS SOLD IN UPPER CANADA FROM 1828 TO 1833 + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +[TABLE] +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of purchase money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 2 acres +Column 3: 126 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 252 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: - +Column 3: -, - +Column 4: 63 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: -, -, - + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 19 acres +Column 3: 10 pounds, 10 shillings, 6-1/2 pence +Column 4: 55 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 20 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 3 acres +Column 3: 8 pounds, 7 shillings, 6-1/2 pence +Column 4: 95 pounds*, 12 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: 25 pounds, 2 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 30 acres +Column 3: 15 pounds, 18 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 81 pounds, 18 shillings, 9 pence +Column 5: 327 pounds, 15 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 114 acres +Column 3: 14 pounds, 13 shillings, 9 pence +Column 4: 634 pounds, 8 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 1,674 pounds, 9 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 168 acres +Column 3: -,-,- +Column 4: -,-,- +Column 5: 2,479 pounds, 6 shillings, 8 pence + +There were no sales in 1829. The 63 pounds currency paid that year was +paid as instalments on lots sold in the previous year. + +The whole amount of the purchase money to be paid within three years. + +*Note.--It is so given in the Parliamentary Return, but probably the 9 +should be 1. + +--------------------------------------- + +The following exhibits the quantity of Crown Lands granted, and the +conditions on which the grants were given, from 1823 to 1833. + +[TABLE] + +LOWER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. +Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. +Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. +Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous +descriptions. +Column 6: Total number of acres granted. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1824 +Column 2: 51,810 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 4,100 +Column 5: 34,859 +Column 6: 90,769 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1825 +Column 2: 32,620 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 1,000 +Column 5: 16,274 +Column 6: 49,894 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1826 +Column 2: 3,525 +Column 3: 5,500 +Column 4: - +Column 5: 48,224 +Column 6: 57,249 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1827 +Column 2: 7,640 +Column 3: 6,300 +Column 4: 800 +Column 5: 38,378 +Column 6: 53,118 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 7,300 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 4,504 +Column 5: 9,036 +Column 6: 20,840 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 3,200 +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 5,282 +Column 6: 8,482 + +Row 8 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 81,425 +Column 3: - +Column 4: 2,000 +Column 5: 10,670 +Column 6: 94,095 + +Row 9 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 9,400 +Column 3: 8,273 +Column 4: 3,408 +Column 5: 9,900 +Column 6: 30,981 + +Row 10 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 10,116 +Column 3: 19,000 +Column 4: 4,000 +Column 5: 4,000 +Column 6: 37,116 + +Row 11 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 5,200 +Column 3: 22,500 +Column 4: 1,200 +Column 5: - +Column 6: 28,900 + +Row 12 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 212,236 +Column 3: 61,573 +Column 4: 21,012 +Column 5: 176,623 +Column 6: 471,444 + +_Settler's Conditions_.--That he do clear twenty feet of road on his lot +within the space of ninety days. +Military & Militia conditions.--That he do, within the space of three +years, clear and cultivate four acres of his lot, and build a dwelling- +house thereon. + +--------------------------------------- + +[TABLE] + +UPPER CANADA + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres granted to militia claimants. +Column 3: Number of acres granted to discharged soldiers and pensioners. +Column 4: Number of acres granted to officers. +Column 5: Number of acres granted, not coming within the previous +descriptions. +Column 6: Number of acres granted to U.E. Loyalists.* +Column 7: Total number of acres granted. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1824 +Column 2: 11,800 +Column 3: 5,800 +Column 4: 5,500 +Column 5: 134,500 +Column 6: 30,200 +Column 7: 187,800 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1825 +Column 2: 20,300 +Column 3: 5,700 +Column 4: 8,100 +Column 5: 149,060 +Column 6: 45,000 +Column 7: 228,160 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1826 +Column 2: 16,600 +Column 3: 3,100 +Column 4: 4,700 +Column 5: 19,390 +Column 6: 24,800 +Column 7: 68,590 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1827 +Column 2: 10,900 +Column 3: 4,200 +Column 4: 7,200 +Column 5: 33,600 +Column 6: 20,200 +Column 7: 76,100 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1828 +Column 2: 10,800 +Column 3: 900 +Column 4: 3,000 +Column 5: 4,304 +Column 6: 30,800 +Column 7: 49,804 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 5,300 +Column 3: 7,500 +Column 4: 8,400 +Column 5: 3,230 +Column 6: 22,600 +Column 7: 47,030 + +Row 8 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 6,400 +Column 3: 12,500 +Column 4: 12,600 +Column 5: 9,336 +Column 6: 27,400 +Column 7: 68,236 + +Row 9 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 5,500 +Column 3: 58,400 +Column 4: 7,200 +Column 5: 8,000 +Column 6: 34,200 +Column 7: 113,300 + +Row 10 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 19,300 +Column 3: 97,800 +Column 4: 7,600 +Column 5: 6,100 +Column 6: 62,600 +Column 7: 193,400 + +Row 11 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 35,200 +Column 3: 46,000 +Column 4: - +Column 5: 9,100 +Column 6: 135,600 +Column 7: 225,900 + +Row 12 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 142,100 +Column 3: 241,900 +Column 4: 64,300 +Column 5: 376,620 +Column 6: 433,400 +Column 7: 1,258,320 + +_Condition_. - Actual settlement. + +* U.E. Loyalists means United English Loyalists--individuals who fled +from the United States on the breaking out of the American war of +independence. The grants in the above column are mostly to the children +of these individuals. + +--------------------------------------- + +The conditions in force in 1824, the time from which the Returns take +their commencement, were enacted by Orders in Council of 20th October, +1818, and 21st February, 1820, applied equally to all classes of +grantees, and were as follows:-- + +"That locatees shall clear thoroughly and fence five acres for every 100 +acres granted; and build a house 16 feet by 20 in the clear; and to +clear one-half of the road, and chop down, without charring, one chain +in depth across the lot next to road. These road duties to be considered +as part of the five acres per 100. The whole to be completed within two +years from date of the location, and upon proof of their fulfilment +patents to issue. + +"On the 14th of May, 1830, an additional stipulation was made in +locations to discharged soldiers, which required an actual residence on +their lots, in person, for five years before the issue of their patents. + +"On the 14th of November, 1830, the then existing Orders in Council, +respecting settlement duties, were cancelled, and it was ordered that in +lieu thereof each locatee should clear half the road in front of his +lot, and from 10 feet in the centre of the road cut the stumps so low +that waggon wheels might pass over them. Upon proof of this, and that a +settler had been resident on the lot two years, a patent might issue. +Locatees, however, were at liberty, instead of placing settlers on their +lands, to clear, in addition to half the road on each lot, a chain in +depth across the front, and to sow it and the road with grass seed. + +"Upon discharged soldiers and seamen alone, under this order, it became +imperative to reside on and improve their lands three years before the +issue of the patent. + +"On the 24th of May, 1832, an Order in Council was made, abolishing, in +all cases except that of discharged soldiers and seamen, the regulations +previously existing; and which directed that, upon proof of an actual +settler being established on a lot, a patent should issue without the +condition of settlement duty." + +The following extract is taken from "official information" circulated by +Mr. Buchanan, and other Government emigration agents in Canada:-- + +"Emigrants, wishing to obtain fertile lands in the Canadas in a wild +state by purchase from the Crown, may rely on every facility being +afforded them by the public authorities. Extensive tracts are surveyed +and offered for sale in Upper Canada monthly, and frequently every 10 or +14 days, by the Commissioner of Crown lands, at upset prices, varying +according to situation from 10 shillings to 15 shillings per acre, +excepting in the townships of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, where the upset +price of Crown lands is 5 shillings only. In Lower Canada, the +Commissioner of Crown lands at Quebec puts up land for sale, at fixed +periods, in various townships, at from 2 shillings 6 pence to 12 +shillings 6 pence Halifax currency, per acre, payable by instalments. +Wild lands may also be purchased from the Upper Canada Company on very +easy terms, and those persons wanting improved farms will find little +difficulty in obtaining such from private proprietors. On no account +enter into any final engagement for your lands or farms _without +personal examination_, and be certain of the following qualifications:-- +"1. A healthy situation. +"2. Good land. +"3. A pure spring, or running stream of water. +"4. In the neighbourhood of a good, moral, and religious state of +society, and schools for the education of your children. +"5. As near good roads and water transport as possible, saw and grist +mills. +"6. A good title." + +======================================= + +Clergy Reserves sold in each year since the sales commenced under the +Act 7 and 8, Geo. IV. c. 62 + +LOWER CANADA + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase-money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of the purchase-money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 1,100 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 10 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 230 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence* + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 9,956 acres +Column 3: 4 shillings, 9 pence +Column 4: 543 pounds, 17 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 1,610 pounds, 3 shillings, 0 pence* + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 11,332 acres +Column 3: 7 shillings, 2-3/4 pence +Column 4: 541 pounds, 7 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 2,665 pounds, 9 shillings, 3 pence* + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 6,873 acres +Column 3: 5 shillings, 8-1/2 pence +Column 4: 533 pounds, 2 shillings, 2 pence +Column 5: 1,278 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 37,278 acres +Column 3: 8 shillings, 2-1/4 pence +Column 4: 3,454 pounds, 11 shillings, 6 pence +Column 5: 12,791 pounds, 17 shillings, 5 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 66,539 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 18,576 pounds, 1 shillings, 4 pence + +The number of years within which the whole amount of the purchase-money +is to be paid is three. + +* On sales on quit rent, at 5 per cent., the capital redeemable at +pleasure. + +N.B. Sales on quit-rent ceased in 1832. + + +--------------------------------------- + +UPPER CANADA + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1, Column Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: Number of acres sold. +Column 3: Average price per acre. +Column 4: Amount of purchase-money received within the first year. +Column 5: Whole amount of the purchase-money. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 18,014 acres +Column 3: 14 shillings, 8-1/4 pence +Column 4: 2,464 pounds, 14 shillings, 0 pence +Column 5: 13,229 pounds, 0 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 34,705 +Column 3: 13 shillings, 6 pence +Column 4: 6,153 pounds, 5 shillings, 9 pence +Column 5: 23,452 pounds, 4 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 28,563 acres +Column 3: 12 shillings, 1-3/4 pence +Column 4: 8,010 pounds, 2 shillings, 11 pence +Column 5: 17,362 pounds, 12 shillings, 1 pence + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 48,484 acres +Column 3: 13 shillings, 3-3/4 pence +Column 4: 10,239 pounds, 9 shillings, 7 pence +Column 5: 32,287 pounds, 19 shillings, 0 pence + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: 62,282 acres +Column 3: 14 shillings, 4-1/2 pence +Column 4: 14,080 pounds, 16 shillings, 8 pence +Column 5: 44,747 pounds, 19 shillings, 9 pence + +Row 8 +Column 1: Totals +Column 2: 192,049 acres +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 131,079 pounds, 14 shillings, 10 pence + +The whole amount of the purchase-money to be paid in nine years. In +addition to the purchase-money paid, interest has also been paid with +each instalment, a statement of which is as follows:-- + +Interest received in 1829: 1 pound, 7 shillings, 3 pence currency. +Interest received in 1830: 62 pound, 16 shillings, 1 pence currency. +Interest received in 1831: 259 pound, 14 shillings, 9 pence currency. +Interest received in 1832: 473 pound, 17 shillings, 2 pence currency. +Interest received in 1833: 854 pound, 4 shillings, 3 pence currency. + + +======================================= + +II. INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS + +In the year 1832 a little pamphlet of advice to emigrants was issued by +his Majesty's Commissioners for Emigration*, which contained some useful +information in a small compass. The Commission no longer exists. In lieu +of it, J. Denham Pinnock, Esq., has been appointed by Government His +Majesty's agent for the furtherance of emigration from England to the +British Colonies. Letters on the subject of emigration should be +addressed to this gentleman at the Colonial Office, under cover to the +Colonial Secretary of State. One chief object of his appointment is to +afford facilities and information to parish authorities and landed +proprietors desirous of furthering the emigration of labourers and +others from their respective districts, especially with reference to the +emigration clause of the Poor Laws Amendment Act. The following +Government emigration agents have also been appointed at the respective +ports named:-- + +Liverpool ...Lieut. Low, R.N. +Bristol ... Lieut. Henry, R.N. +Leith ... Lieut. Forrest, R.N. +Greenock ... Lieut. Hemmans, R.N. +Dublin ... Lieut. Hodder, R.N. +Cork ... Lieut. Friend, R.N. +Limerick ... Lieut. Lynch, R.N. +Belfast ... Lieut. Millar, R.N. +Sligo ... Lieut. Shuttleworth, R.N. + +And at Quebec, A. C. Buchanan, Esq., the chief Government emigration +agent, will afford every information to all emigrants who seek his +advice. + +[* "Information published by His Majesty's Commissioners for Emigration, +respecting the British Colonies in North America." London, C. Knight, +1832. Price _twopence_.] + +The following is an extract from the pamphlet published in 1832:-- + +"Passages to Quebec or New Brunswick may either be engaged _inclusive_ +of provisions, or _exclusive_ of provisions, in which case the ship- +owner finds nothing but water, fuel, and bed places, without bedding. +Children under 14 years of age are charged one-half, and under 7 years +of age one-third of the full price, and for children under 12 months of +age no charge is made. Upon these conditions the price of passage from +London, or from places on the east coast of Great Britain, has generally +been 6 pounds with provisions, or 3 pounds without. From Liverpool, +Greenock, and the principal ports of Ireland, as the chances of delay +are fewer, the charge is somewhat lower; this year [1832] it will +probably be from 2 pounds to 2 pounds, 10 shillings without provisions, +or from 4 pounds to 5 pounds, including provisions. It is possible that +in March and April passages may be obtained from Dublin for 1 pound, 15 +shillings or even 1 pound, 10 shillings; but the prices always grow +higher as the season advances. In ships sailing from Scotland or +Ireland, it has mostly been the custom for passengers to find their own +provisions; but this practice has not been so general in London, and +some shipowners, sensible of the dangerous mistakes which may be made in +this matter through ignorance, are very averse to receive passengers who +will not agree to be victualled by the ship. Those who do resolve to +supply their own provisions, should at least be careful not to lay in an +insufficient stock; fifty days is the shortest period for which it is +safe to provide, and from London the passage is sometimes prolonged to +seventy-five days. The best months for leaving England are certainly +March and April; the later emigrants do not find employment so abundant, +and have less time in the colony before the commencement of winter." + +From a printed paper, issued by Mr. Buchanan at Quebec, the following +statements are taken: (the paper is dated July, 1835). + +"There is nothing of more importance to emigrants, on arrival at Quebec, +than correct information on the leading points connected with their +future pursuits. Many have suffered much by a want of caution, and by +listening to the opinions of interested, designing characters, who +frequently offer their advice unsolicited, and who are met generally +about wharfs and landing-places frequented by strangers: to guard +emigrants from falling into such errors, they should, immediately on +arrival at Quebec, proceed to the office of the chief agent for +emigrants, Sault-au-Matelot Street, Lower Town, where every information +requisite for their future guidance in either getting settlements on +lands, or obtaining employment in Upper or Lower Canada, will be +obtained _gratis_. On your route from Quebec to your destination you +will find many plans and schemes offered to your consideration, but turn +away from them unless you are well satisfied of the purity of the +statements: on all occasions when you stand in need of advice, apply +only to the Government agents, who will give every information required, +_gratis_. + +"Emigrants are informed that they may remain on board ship 48 hours +after arrival, nor can they be deprived of any of their usual +accommodations for cooking or berthing during that period, and the +master of the ship is bound to disembark the emigrants and their baggage +_free of expense_, at the usual landing places, and at seasonable hours. +_They should avoid drinking the water of the river St. Lawrence, which +has a strong tendency to produce bowel complaints in strangers_. + +"Should you require to change your English money, go to some respectable +merchant or dealer, or the banks: the currency in the Canadas is at the +rate of 5 shillings the dollar, and is called Halifax currency; at +present the gold sovereign is worth, in Quebec and Montreal, about 1 +pound, 4 shillings, 1 pence currency. In New York 8 shillings is +calculated for the dollar, hence many are deceived when hearing of the +rates of labour, &c.--5 shillings in Canada is equal to 8 shillings in +New York; thus 8 shillings New York currency is equivalent to 5 +shillings Halifax currency. + +"Emigrants who wish to settle in Lower Canada or to obtain employment, +are informed that many desirable situations are to be met with. Wild +lands may be obtained by purchase from the Commissioner of Crown Lands +in various townships in the province, and the British American Land +Company are making extensive preparations for selling lands and farms in +the Eastern Townships to emigrants. + +"Farm labourers are much wanted in all the districts of Upper Canada, +and, if industrious, they may be sure of obtaining very high wages; +mechanics of almost every description, and good servants, male and +_female_, are much in request. + +"Emigrants proceeding to Upper Canada, either by the Ottawa or St. +Lawrence route, are advised to supply themselves with provisions at +Montreal, such as bread, tea, sugar, and butter, which they will +purchase cheaper and of _better quality_, until they reach Kingston, +than along the route. They are also particularly cautioned against the +use of _ardent spirits or drinking cold river water_, or lying on the +banks of the river exposed to the night dews; they should proceed at +once from the steam-boat at Montreal to _the entrance of the Canal_ or +Lachine, from whence the Durham and steam-boats start for Prescott and +Bytown daily. The total expense for the transport of an adult emigrant +from Quebec to Toronto and the head of Lake Ontario, by steam and +Durham-boats, will not exceed 1 pound, 4 shillings currency, or 1 pound, +1 shilling sterling. Kingston, Belleville, up the Bay of Quinte, +Cobourgh, and Port Hope, in the Newcastle district, Hamilton and Niagara +at the head of Lake Ontario, will be convenient stopping-places for +families intending to purchase lands in Upper Canada. + +"There is considerable competition among the Forwarding Companies at +Montreal; emigrants therefore had better exercise a little caution +before agreeing for their transport to Prescott or Kingston, and they +should avoid those persons that crowd on board the steam-boats on +arrival at Montreal, offering their services to get passages, &c. +Caution is also necessary at Prescott or Kingston, in selecting regular +conveyances up Lake Ontario. I would particularly advise emigrants +destined for Upper Canada, not to incur the expense of lodging or delay +at Montreal, but to proceed on arrival of the steam-boat to the barges +for Bytown or Prescott. + +"Labourers or mechanics dependent on immediate employment, are requested +to proceed immediately on arrival into the country. The chief agent will +consider such persons as may loiter about the ports of landing beyond +_four days_ after their arrival, to have no further claims on the +protection of his Majesty's agents for assistance or employment, unless +they have been detained by sickness or some other satisfactory cause." + + +--------------------------------------- + +Comparative Statement of the number of Emigrants arrived at Quebec from +1829 to 1834 inclusive:-- + +[TABLE] +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +England and Wales +1829: 3,565 +1830: 6,799 +1831: 10,343 +1832: 17,481 +1833: 5,198 +1834: 6,799 + +Ireland +1829: 9,614 +1830: 18,300 +1831: 34,133 +1832: 28,204 +1833: 12,013 +1834: 19,206 + +Scotland +1829: 2,643 +1830: 2,450 +1831: 5,354 +1832: 5,500 +1833: 4,196 +1834: 4,591 + +Hamburg & Gibraltar. +1832: 15 + +Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, West Indies, &c. +1829: 123 +1830: 451 +1831: 424 +1832: 546 +1833: 345 +1834: 339 + +Totals +1829: 15,945 +1830: 28,000 +1831: 50,254 +1832: 51,746 +1833: 21,752 +1834: 30,935 + +The total number of emigrants arrived at Quebec, from 1829 to 1834, is +198,632. It will be remarked, that the number rose high in 1831 and +1832, and fell very low in 1833. + +--------------------------------------- + +Distribution of the 30,935 Emigrants who arrived at Quebec during 1834:- + +LOWER CANADA. +City and District of Quebec: 1,500 +District of Three Rivers: 350 +District of St. Francis and Eastern Townships: 640 +City and District of Montreal: 1,200 +Ottawa District: 400 +Total to Lower Canada: 4,090 + + +UPPER CANADA. + +Ottawa, Bathurst, Midland and Eastern Districts, as far as Kingston, +included: 1,000 +District of Newcastle, and Townships in the vicinity of the Bay of +Quinte: 2,650 +Toronto and the Home District, including Settlements around Lake Simco: +8,000 +Hamilton, Guelph, and Huron Tracts, and situations adjacent: 2,660 +Niagara Frontier and District, including the line of the Welland Canal, +and round the head of Lake Ontario, to Hamilton: 3,300 +Settlements bordering on Lake Erie, including the London District, +Adelaide Settlement, and on to Lake St. Clair: 4,600 +Total to Upper Canada: 22,210 + +Died of cholera in Upper and Lower Canada: 800 +Returned to United Kingdom: 350 +Went to the United States: 3,485 +[Total:] 4,635 +--------------------------------------- + +Of the number of 30,935 Emigrants who arrived at Quebec in 1834, there +were of:-- + +Voluntary emigrants: 29,041 +Assisted by parochial aid: 1,892 +Number of males: 13,565 +Number of females: 9,683 +Number of children under fourteen years of age: 7,681 + +Emigrants who prefer going into Canada by way of New York will receive +advice and direction by applying to the British Consul at New York +(James Buchanan, Esq.) Formerly this gentleman could procure for +emigrants who were positively determined to settle in the Canadas, +permission to land their baggage and effects free of custom-house duty; +but in a letter dated 16th March, 1835, he says:-- + +"In consequence of a change in the truly liberal course heretofore +adopted at this port, in permitting, without unpacking or payment of +duty, of the personal baggage, household, and farming utensils of +emigrants landing here to pass in transit through this state to his +Majesty's provinces, upon evidence being furnished of the fact, and that +such packages alone contained articles of the foregoing description, I +deem it my duty to make known that all articles arriving at this port +accompanying emigrants in transit to Canada, will be subject to the same +inspection as if to remain in the United States, and pay the duties to +which the same are subjected. I think it proper to mention that all +articles suited to new settlers are to be had in Canada on better terms +than they can be brought out--and such as are adapted to the country." + +The difference between proceeding to Upper Canada by way of Quebec and +New York, consists chiefly in the circumstance that the port of New York +is open all the year round, while the navigation of the St. Lawrence up +to Quebec and Montreal is tedious, and the river is only open between +seven and eight months of the year. The latter is, however, the cheapest +route. But to those who can afford it, New York is the most comfortable +as well as the most expeditious way of proceeding to Upper Canada. + +The route, as given in a printed paper, distributed by the British +consul at New York, is as follows:-- + +"Route from New York and Albany by the Erie Canal to all parts of Upper +Canada, west of Kingston, by the way of Oswego and Buffalo:-- + +New York to Albany, 160 miles by steam-boat. +Albany to Utica, 110 do. by canal or stage. +Utica to Syracuse, 55 do. by canal or stage. +Syracuse to Oswego, 40 do. by canal or stage. +Syracuse to Rochester, 99 do. by canal or stage. +Rochester to Buffalo, 93 do. by canal or stage. + +Total expense from Albany to Buffalo, by canal, exclusive of victuals +for an adult steerage passenger--time going about 7 or 8 days--3 dollars +63 cents; ditto by packet-boats, and found, 12-1/4 dollars, 6 days +going. + +"Ditto do. by stage, in 3-1/2 and 4 days--13 to 15 dollars. + +"Ditto do. from Albany to Oswego by canal, 5 days going, 2-1/2 dollars. + +"Ditto do. by stage, 2 days--6-1/2 to 7 dollars. + +"No extra charge for a moderate quantity of baggage. + +"Route from New York to Montreal, Quebec, and all parts of Lower +Canada:-- + +"New York to Albany, 160 miles by steam-boat, 1 to 3 dollars, exclusive +of food. + +"Albany to Whitehall, by canal, 73 miles, 1 dollar; stage 3 dollars. + +"Whitehall to St. John's, by steam-boat, board included, cabin 5 +dollars; deck passage 2 dollars without board. + +"St. John's to Laprairie, 16 miles per stage, 5 shillings to 7 shillings +6 pence. + +"Laprairie to Montreal, per ferry steam-boat, 8 miles. 6 pence. + +"Montreal to Quebec, by steam-boat, 180 miles, cabin, found, 1 pound, 5 +shillings; deck passage, not found, 7 shillings 6 pence. + +"Those proceeding to the eastern townships of Lower Canada, in the +vicinity of Sherbrooke, Stanstead, &c., &c., will proceed to St. John's, +from whence good roads lead to all the settled townships eastward. If +they are going to the Ottawa River, they will proceed from Montreal and +Lachine, from whence stages, steamboats, and batteaux go daily to +Grenville, Hull, and Bytown, as also to Chateauguay, Glengary, Cornwall, +Prescott, and all parts below Kingston. + +"Emigrants can avail themselves of the advice and assistance of the +following gentlemen:--at Montreal, Carlisle Buchanan, Esq.; Prescott, +John Patton, Esq." + +--------------------------------------- + +Number of Emigrants who arrived at New York from the United Kingdom for +six years, from 1829 to 1834:-- + +[TABLE] + +[Transcription note: The data presented below was originally in the +conventional tabular row / column format.] + +Row 1. Headings +Column 1: Year. +Column 2: England. +Column 3: Ireland. +Column 4: Scotland. +Column 5: Total. + +Row 2 +Column 1: 1829 +Column 2: 8,110 +Column 3: 2,443 +Column 4: 948 +Column 5: 11,501 + +Row 3 +Column 1: 1830 +Column 2: 16,350 +Column 3: 3,497 +Column 4: 1,584 +Column 5: 21,433 + +Row 4 +Column 1: 1831 +Column 2: 13,808 +Column 3: 6,721 +Column 4: 2,078 +Column 5: 22,607 + +Row 5 +Column 1: 1832 +Column 2: 18,947 +Column 3: 6,050 +Column 4: 3,286 +Column 5: 28,283 + +Row 6 +Column 1: 1833 +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 16,000 + +Row 7 +Column 1: 1834* +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 26,540 + +Row 8 +Column 1: Total +Column 2: - +Column 3: - +Column 4: - +Column 5: 126,464 + +* The returns for 1834 are made up to the 20th November of that year. + +======================================= + +III. AMERICAN PASSENGERS' ACT. + +The 9th Geo. IV., c. 21, commonly called the "American Passengers' Act," +was repealed during the Session of 1835, by an Act then passed, the 5 +and 6 Will. IV., c. 53. The intention of the new Act is, of course, to +secure, as effectually as possible, and more effectually than the +previous Act did, the health and comfort of emigrants on board of +passenger ships. By a clause of the Act, copies or abstracts are to be +kept on board ships for the perusal of passengers, who may thus have an +opportunity of judging whether the law has been complied with; but the +discovery of any infractions of the Statute may be made at a time when, +in the particular instance, it may be too late to remedy it, so far as +the comfort and even the health of the passengers are concerned. It is +to be hoped, therefore, that the humane intentions of the legislature +will not be frustrated by any negligence on the part of those +(especially of the officers of customs) whose business it is to see that +the regulations of the Act have been complied with before each emigrant +ship leaves port. + +No passenger ship is to sail with more than three persons on board for +every five tons of registered burthen. Nor, whatever may be the tonnage, +is there to be a greater number of passengers on board than after the +rate of one person for every ten superficial feet of the lower deck or +platform unoccupied by goods or stores, not being the personal luggage +of the passengers. + +Ships with more than one deck to have five feet and a half, at the +least, between decks; and where a ship has only one deck, a platform is +to be laid beneath the deck in such a manner as to afford a space of the +height of at least five feet and a half, and no such ship to have more +than two tiers of berths. Ships having two tiers of berths to have an +interval of at least six inches between the deck or platform, and the +floor of the lower tier throughout the whole extent. + +Passenger ships are to be provisioned in the following proportion:--pure +water, to the amount of five gallons, to every week of the computed +voyage, for each passenger--the water to be carried in tanks or sweet +casks; seven pounds' weight of bread, biscuit, oatmeal, or bread stuffs, +to every week for each passenger; potatoes may be included to one-third +of the extent of supply, but seven pounds' weight of potatoes are to be +reckoned equal to one pound of bread or bread stuffs. The voyage to +North America is to be computed at ten weeks, by which each passenger +will be secured fifty gallons of water, and seventy pounds weight of +bread or bread stuffs for the voyage. + +Where there are 100 passengers, a medical practitioner is to be carried; +if under 100, medicines of sufficient amount and kind are to be taken +out as part of the necessary supplies. + +Passenger ships are not to be allowed to carry out ardent spirits as +merchandise beyond one-tenth of the quantity as would, but for this +restriction, be allowed by the officers of the customs upon the +victualling bill of such ship for the outward voyage only, according to +the number of passengers. + +[An important restriction, which ought to be enforced to the letter of +the law. The strong temptation which the tedium of a voyage presents to +numbers pinned up in a small space to resort to drinking, has frequently +made sad havoc of the money, comfort, and health of emigrants, when, +especially, the ship steward has contrived to lay in a good stock of +strong waters.] + +In the enumeration of passengers, _two_ children above seven, but under +fourteen, or _three_ under seven years of age, are to be reckoned as one +passenger. Infants under 12 months are not to be included in the +enumeration. + +Passengers are entitled to be maintained on board for 48 hours after the +ship has arrived at her destination. [Emigrants whose means are limited +may thus avoid much inconvenience and expense, by planning and executing +with promptitude the route which they mean to take, instead of landing, +and loitering in the expensive houses of entertainment of a sea-port.] + +Masters of ships are to enter into bonds of 1,000 pounds for the due +performance of the provisions of the Act. The penalty on any infraction +of the law is to be not less than 5 pounds, nor more than 20 pounds for +each offence. + +[The government emigration agents at the various ports, or the officers +of customs, will doubtless give every facility to passengers who seek +their advice relative to any violation of the provisions of the Act, and +point out the proper course to be taken.] + +If there be any doubt that a ship about to sail is not sea-worthy, the +collector and comptroller of the customs may cause the vessel to be +surveyed. Passengers detained beyond the time contracted for to sail, +are to be maintained at the expense of the master of the ship; or, if +they have contracted to victual themselves, they are to be paid 1 +shilling each for each day of detention not caused by stress of weather +or other unavoidable cause. + +======================================= + +IV. TRANSFER OF CAPITAL. + +It is, of course, of the greatest importance to emigrants that whatever +capital they may possess, over the necessary expenses of the voyage, +&c., should be remitted to Canada in the _safest_ and most _profitable_ +manner. Both the British American Land Company and the Canada Company +afford facilities to emigrants, by receiving deposits and granting +letters of credit on their agents in Canada, by which the emigrants +obtain the benefit of the current premium of exchange. It is unsafe and +injudicious to carry out a larger amount of specie than what will defray +the necessary expenses of the voyage, because a double risk is +incurred,--the danger of losing, and the temptation of squandering. The +emigrant, therefore, who does not choose to remit his money through +either of the before-mentioned companies, should procure a letter of +credit from some respectable bank in the United Kingdom on the Montreal +bank. + +======================================= + +V. CANADIAN CURRENCY. + +In all the British North American colonies accounts are kept and prices +are quoted in pounds, shillings, and pence, as in England. The accounts +are contra-distinguished by calling the former currency, or Halifax +currency, and the latter sterling or British sterling. + +The one pound Halifax currency, or currency, as it is more commonly +called, consists of four Spanish dollars. The dollar is divided into +five parts--called in Spanish pistoreens--each of which is termed a +shilling. Each of these shillings or pistoreens is again subdivided into +twelve parts, called pence, but improperly, for there is no coin +answering to any such subdivision. To meet the want a great variety of +copper coins are used, comprising the old English halfpenny, the +halfpenny of later coinage, the penny, the farthing, the American cent.; +all and each pass as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen or colonial +shilling. Pence in fact are not known, though almost anything of the +copper kind will be taken as the twenty-fourth part of the pistoreen.* + + +[* The Americans also have their 1 shilling, which is the eighth part of +a dollar, or 12-1/2 cents. It is no uncommon thing to hear the emigrant +boast that he can get 10 shillings per day in New York. He knows not +that a dollar, which is equal to eight of these shillings, is in England +equivalent but to 4 shillings 2 pence, and that the American shilling +is, therefore, when compared with the English shilling in value, only +6-1/4 pence, and consequently, that 10 shillings a day is, in fact, but +ten 6-1/4 pence or 5 shillings 2-1/2 pence. This rate of payment it may +be said is still great; so it is, but it is not often obtained by the +labourer; when it is, it is for excessive labour, under a burning sun in +sea-port towns, during the busy shipping season.] + +At a time when the Spanish dollar, the piece of eight, as it was then +called, was both finer and heavier than the coin now in circulation, its +value at the mint price of silver** was found to be 4 shilling 6 pence +sterling. Accordingly, the pound currency was fixed at 18 shillings +sterling, and 90 pounds sterling was equal to 100 pounds currency, the +rules of conversion being, _add one-ninth to sterling to obtain +currency, and deduct one tenth from currency to find the sterling_. This +was called the par of exchange, and was so then. So long as it continued +correct, fluctuations were from a trifle above, to a trifle below par, +and this fluctuation was a real _premium_ or _discount_, governed by the +cost of the transportation of bullion from the one to the other side of +the Atlantic, an expense which now does not exceed, and rarely equals, 2 +per cent. 4 shilling 6 pence has long ceased to be the value of the +dollar. Both the weight and purity of the coin have been reduced, until +its value in the London market*** is not more than 4 shillings 2 pence, +the pound currency being consequently reduced to 16 shillings 8 pence +sterling and 100 pounds sterling become equivalent to 120 pounds +currency, or 480 dollars, the common average rate now given for the 100 +pounds sterling bill of exchange in England. + +[** The mint price then coincided more nearly with the market price than +at present.] + +[*** It is necessary to use the market price, as the difference between +the mint and the market price is 4 per cent., and as the Spanish dollar +possesses no conventional value, it is only worth what it will bring as +an article of traffic.] + +The Government, however, still sanction, nay, will not change, the old +language, so that the difference is made up by adding what is commonly +termed a _premium_. The difference between the _real_ par, 4 shillings +2 pence, and the nominal par, 4 shillings 6 pence, is 4 pence or eight per +cent. Thus the fluctuations, instead of being from 1 to 2 per cent. +below, to 1 or 2 per cent. above the _real_ par, are from 1 to 2 per +cent. below, to 1 to 2 per cent. above 8 per cent. _premium_ as it is +called on the _nominal_ par, or from 6 or 7 to 9 or 10 per cent. +_premium_ on the par. This leads to gross deception, and the emigrant in +consequence is not unfrequently outrageously cheated by parties +accounting to him for money obtained by sale of bills, minus this or +some portion of this nominal premium. Nothing is more common than to +hear the new comer boast that he has sold his bill on England for 8 per +cent. premium, while in fact he has not received _par_ value. As by the +above changes 100 pounds sterling is shewn to be equal to 120 currency, +or 480 dollars, the rule of conversion, in the absence of a law, where +no understanding to the contrary existed, should be, _add one-fifth to +sterling money, and currency is obtained, or deduct one-sixth from +currency, and sterling is found._ An examination of the exchanges for +ten years has proved this to be correct. + +======================================= + +VI. THE CANADA COMPANY. + +The Canada Company was incorporated by royal charter and Act of +Parliament in 1826. The following are extracts from the prospectus of +the Company:-- + +"The Canada Company have lands for sale in almost every part of the +province of Upper Canada, on terms which cannot fail to be highly +advantageous to the emigrant, as from the Company requiring only one- +fifth of the purchase-money to be paid in cash, and allowing the +remainder to be divided into five annual payments, bearing interest, the +settler, if industrious, is enabled to pay the balance from the produce +of the land. + +"The lands of the Canada Company are of three descriptions, viz.-- + +Scattered reserves: +Blocks or tracts of land, of from 1,000 to 40,000 acres each; +The Huron tract, containing upwards of 1,000,000 acres. + +"_Scattered reserves_. The scattered crown reserves are lots of land of +from 100 to 200 acres each, distributed through nearly every township in +the province, and partaking of the soil, climate, &c., of each +particular township. These lands are especially desirable for persons +who may have friends settled in their neighbourhood, and can be obtained +at prices varying from 8 shillings 9 pence to 25 shillings currency an +acre. + +"_Blocks of Land._ The blocks or tracts lie entirely in that part of the +province situated to the westward of the head of Lake Ontario, and +contain lands which, for soil, climate, and powers of production, are +equal, and perhaps superior, to any on the continent of America. These +are worthy the attention of communities of emigrants, who from country, +relationship, religion, or any other bond, wish to settle together. + +"The largest block of this kind in the Company's possession is the +township of Guelph, containing upwards of 40,000 acres, of which the +greater part has been already sold, and, in the space of a few years +only, a town has been established, containing churches, schools, stores, +taverns, and mills, and where there are mechanics of every kind, and a +society of a highly respectable description. + +"_The Huron Territory_. This is a tract of the finest land in America, +through which the Canada Company have cut two roads of upwards of 100 +miles in extent, of the best description of which a new country admits. + +The population there is rapidly on the increase. + +"The town of Goderich, at the mouth of the river Maitland, on Lake +Huron, is very flourishing, and contains several excellent stores, or +merchants' shops, in which any article usually required by a settler is +to be obtained on reasonable terms. There is a good school established, +which is well attended; a Church of England and a Presbyterian clergyman +are appointed there; and as the churches in Upper Canada are now +principally supported by the voluntary subscriptions of their respective +congregations, an inference may be drawn of the respectable character of +the inhabitants of this settlement and the neighbourhood. The town and +township of Goderich contain about 1,000 inhabitants; and since the +steam-boat, built by the Company for the accommodation of their +settlers, has commenced running between Goderich and Sandwich, a great +increase has taken place in the trade and prosperity of the settlement. +In this tract there are four good saw-mills, three grist-mills, and in +the neighbourhood of each will be found stores well supplied. And as the +tract contains a million acres, the greater portion of which is open for +sale, an emigrant or body of emigrants, however large, can have no +difficulty in selecting eligible situations, according to their +circumstances, however various they may be. The price of these lands is +from 11 shillings 3 pence to 15 shillings provincial currency, or about +from 11 shillings to 13 shillings 6 pence sterling per acre." + +Emigrants wishing to communicate with the Company should address the +secretary, John Perry Esq., St. Helen's-place, Bishopsgate-street, +London, or the Company's agents at outports. + +======================================= + +VII. THE BRITISH AMERICAN LAND COMPANY. + +The British American Land Company state, in their prospectus, that they +have purchased from the British Government "nearly 1,000,000 of acres in +the counties of Shefford, Stanstead, and Sherbrooke," in what are termed +"the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada." These townships comprise "a +tract of country, lying inland, on the south side of the St. Lawrence, +between 45 degrees and 46-1/2 degrees north latitude, and 71 degrees and +73 degrees west longitude. This tract, containing between five and six +millions of acres, is divided into eight counties, and these again are +subdivided into about one hundred townships. These townships enjoy an +important advantage in their geographical position. On the one side, +they are of easy access from Montreal, Quebec, and Three Rivers, the +shipping ports and great markets of the Canadas; on the other, from New +York up the Hudson River and through Lake Champlain, as well as from +Boston and other parts on the seaboard of the Atlantic. By their compact +and contiguous position, facility of intercourse and mutual support are +ensured throughout the whole, as well as a general participation in all +local improvements." + +The terms on which the Company propose to dispose of these lands "vary +according to the situation, quality, and advantages which the different +lots may possess; but in the first instance they will generally range +from 4 shillings to 10 shillings currency per acre, and in all cases a +deposit of part of the purchase-money will be required, viz.:--On the +higher priced lots one-fifth; on the lower priced lots one-fourth. + +"The terms of payment for the balance will be six annual instalments, +bearing the legal interest of the province from the date of sale; but +should purchasers prefer anticipating the payments, they will have the +option at any time of doing so. + +"The price of a building lot at Port St. Francis, for the present season +(1835), is 12 pounds 10 shillings, payable 5 pounds cash down, and the +balance in one year, with interest. + +"Deposits of purchase-money may be made with the Company in London for +lands to be selected by emigrants on their arrival in the country. + +"By the agreement between his Majesty's Government and the Company, +upwards of 50,000 pounds of the purchase-money paid by the latter are to +be expended by them in public works and improvements, such as high +roads, bridges, canals, school-houses, market-houses, churches, and +parsonage-houses. This is an extremely important arrangement, and must +prove highly beneficial to settlers, as it assures to them the +improvement and advancement of this district. The formation of roads and +other easy communications are the great wants of a new country; and the +application of capital on works of this nature, which are beyond the +means of private individuals, is the best mode by which the successful +settlement may be promoted and accomplished. + +"The expenditure of the large sum above mentioned, will offer at the +same time an opportunity of employment to honest and industrious +labourers, immediately on arrival." + +The office of the British American Land Company is at 4, Barge-yard, +Bucklersbury, London: they have also agents at the various outports. + + +======================================= + + +Transcription note: Except for the tables in the Appendix, which have +been reformatted to accommodate the presentation of tables in plain text, +this transcription attempts to faithfully reproduce the text and +punctuation found in the 1836 printed version of the book. As a +consequence, numerous instances of spelling and punctuation may appear +incorrect by current standards. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Backwoods of Canada, by Catharine Parr Traill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS OF CANADA *** + +***** This file should be named 13559.txt or 13559.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/5/5/13559/ + +Produced by E.D. (Tedd) Brien + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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