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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Letters from Muskoka - -Author: Harriet Barbara King - -Release Date: September 3, 2016 [EBook #52972] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM MUSKOKA *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - - LETTERS FROM MUSKOKA. - - BY - AN EMIGRANT LADY. - - [Illustration] - - LONDON: - RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, - Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. - 1878. - - [_All Rights Reserved._] - - - - -PREFACE TO THE “LETTERS OF AN EMIGRANT LADY.” - - -In laying before the public a sketch of our “Bush” experiences during -the first year after our arrival in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, I desire -to state the reasons which prompted us to such an imprudent step as -emigration, without even the moderate capital necessary for any one who -would start with the slightest chance of success. The Franco-German War -in 1870 was the means of breaking up our happy home in France, which, -with one short interval, had been the shelter of my family and myself -during fifteen years of widowhood. - -The commencement of the war found us living in the outskirts of St. -Pierre-lès-Calais, a suburb of Calais, and a busy place, full of lace -factories. Our house and grounds, quite open to the country at the -back, fronted the canal which communicates with the sea at Calais. - -When the war had made some progress, and the German army appeared to -be steadily advancing through France, we found ourselves in a most -unpleasant dilemma--in fact, literally between fire and water! - -The civic authorities made known that, in case of the approach of a -German army, it was their fixed intention to cut the sluices, and to -lay the adjacent country under water for a distance of ten miles, and -to a depth of seven feet. Our large, rambling, convenient old mansion, -which shook with every gale of wind, and had no cellarage nor secure -foundation of any kind, we felt would surely be submerged. - -Moreover, the military commandant notified that in case Calais were -threatened with siege, all houses and buildings within the military -zone would be blown up, to allow free range for the cannon on the -ramparts. This was pleasant intelligence to people in the direct line -of fire, and with a certainty of very short notice to quit being given. -Still, we took the chances, and stood our ground. - -We felt the deepest sympathy for the French, and would willingly have -helped them to the extent of our very limited means, but could only do -so by lending beds and bedding for the wounded, which we did, and which -were all scrupulously returned at the close of the war. - -At this time I had a married daughter residing at Guiñes, where her -husband was mathematical professor in the principal English school, -conducted by a French gentleman. In the middle of August, about -midnight, we heard a carriage drive to the door, and found that my -son-in-law had thought it more prudent to bring his family to a safer -place than Guiñes, which, being quite an open town, was at any time -liable to incursions from the dreaded Uhlans. He was obliged to return -to his employers, who could not be left with the sole responsibility of -a numerous school consisting mostly of English scholars. - -A few days afterwards, on an alarm that the Germans had entered Amiens, -we all took refuge in Calais, where, as soon as the war broke out, -I had taken the precaution to secure apartments. We had most of our -property hastily packed up and placed in store. In Calais we remained -till nearly the beginning of winter, when my son-in-law took his family -back to Guiñes and we returned to our house. In fact it began to be -recognised that Calais was too far out of the way, and presented too -little temptation to a conquering army to make it likely we should be -molested. - -The spring of 1871 brought great changes, both public and private. The -war ended, but France was no longer the same country to us. My eldest -son had left us to take a situation in London in the office of the kind -friends who had known him from boyhood, and whose father, recently -dead, had been our neighbour for fifteen years, his beautiful garden -and pleasure-grounds joining our more humble premises. - -Before the summer was over, my son-in-law, whose health suffered from -his scholastic duties, made up his mind to emigrate to Canada, and -to join my youngest son who, after many misfortunes, had settled on -the “free-grant lands” of Muskoka, and who wrote frequently to urge -other members of the family to come out before all the good land near -his location was taken up. At this time he was himself thriving, but -immediately after suffered great reverses. He had a rheumatic fever -which lasted many weeks, and threw him back in his farming; he lost one -of his two cows from the carelessness of a neighbour, and most of his -crops from the dry season and their being put in too late, and was only -beginning to recover when his sister and her family arrived, having -with them his affianced wife. - -My eldest daughter and myself were thus left alone in France, and were -obliged to give up our cherished home, my reduced income being quite -insufficient to maintain it. - -Virulent small-pox and other epidemics, the result of effluvia from -the battle-fields, broke out, and I had dangerous illness in my -own family. Provisions rose to an enormous price, taxation greatly -increased, and the country bid fair to be long in an unsettled -condition. Under these circumstances we, too, began to think of -emigration; and finding that my eldest son, always accustomed to a -domestic circle, was very dull in London without one, and at the same -time not disinclined to try farming, being fond of an outdoor active -life, we came to the decision to emigrate. - -He relinquished his excellent situation, his employers behaving -with the greatest kindness and liberality. We read up a few books -on emigration which invariably paint it in the brightest colours, -and being quite ignorant of the expense of so long a journey, of the -hardships of the “Bush,” and of the absolute necessity for a sum of -money to begin with, we came out hoping in our innocence that strong -hearts, willing hands, and the pension of an officer’s widow would be -inexhaustible riches in the wilderness. - -The problem remains to be solved whether we can continue our farming -without capital, or whether we shall be compelled to go to one of -the large towns in Canada or the “States,” to seek for remunerative -employment. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - PREFACE v - - LETTERS FROM AN EMIGRANT LADY 1 - - PART II.--LETTERS WRITTEN TWO YEARS AFTERWARDS 153 - - A WEDDING IN MUSKOKA 187 - - ANECDOTES OF THE CANADIAN BUSH, THIRTY YEARS AGO 233 - - TERRA INCOGNITA; OR, THE WILDS OF MUSKOKA 261 - - A PLEA FOR POOR EMIGRANTS 279 - - - - -LETTERS FROM AN EMIGRANT LADY. - - - - -LETTER I. - - -You ask me, my dear child, to give you a few particulars of our voyage -across the Atlantic to Canada, our journey from Quebec to the Bush of -Muskoka, and our residence here as emigrant farmers for the last year. -As in my diary I have only chronicled the bare events of each passing -day, you must only expect outlines of Bush life, and not well filled up -pictures. I pass over the anguish of my separation from you and your -dear ones, and can only say that when I thought of the attached circle -of friends we were leaving behind us, both in France and England, whom -probably we should never see again, I felt strongly tempted to remain; -but the fact that others of the family had preceded us, and would be -expecting our arrival, that our baggage was already shipped, and that -your brother had taken leave of his friendly employers, who to the last -counselled him to retain his situation, had weight enough with me to -prevent any change of plan. We went on board the good ship _T----s_ -lying in the Thames, at least twenty-four hours too soon, and lay awake -the whole of the first night, as the carpenters never ceased working, -the ship having met with an accident on her previous voyage. - -The next morning I was greatly grieved to find that your brother had -only engaged _two_ first-cabin berths for your sister and myself; -and finding that our purse was very scantily filled, had, with his -usual self-denial, taken a steerage passage for himself, and got a -good-natured quartermaster to take charge of our dear French dog old -“Nero,” who forthwith became a _stowaway_, and was smuggled out of -sight. - -When the vessel was ready, we dropped down the river to Gravesend, and -having taken in more passengers and emigrants, we started for Plymouth. -We remained there for a few hours, and I pointed out to your brother -and sister the beautiful spot called “Drake’s Island,” where, long -before _they_ were born, I had passed a delightful summer and autumn -with your dear papa and my two babies. Our regiment was then stationed -at Plymouth, and your papa commanded the guard placed on the island for -the protection of the powder magazine. - -The weather was beautiful when we left Plymouth, and was expected to -remain so till the end of the voyage; but after a few days, when well -out in the Atlantic, a tremendous gale set in which lasted for several -days and nights. - -I had been in storms two or three times off the Irish coast, but -confess that I never felt so frightened as when at every roll our ship -gave (and she _was_ a _roller_), we heard a horrid grating sound which -we shrewdly suspected to be caused by part of our cargo of iron which -had shifted its place, and kept moving with every motion of the ship. -We were told on arriving at Quebec that this unexpected storm was -occasioned by a hurricane in the West Indies. Most of the passengers, -as well as ourselves, were possessed by the demon of sea-sickness, and -your sister was hardly able to get up during the whole passage. - -The tedium of our confinement was, however, much relieved by the -pleasant society and kindness of two most amiable English ladies, who -were going out to reside with a near relative at Montreal. Every day, -after the saloon dinner, they came to our cabin, which they christened -the “drawing-room,” and our pleasant conversations there laid the -foundation of a friendship which I trust will ever remain unbroken. Our -nights from various causes were weary and sleepless, but in the early -morning and for some hours we had a diversion, which the proximity of -our cabin to the steward’s pantry procured for us. Almost as soon as -it was light, _Jupiter thundered from Olympus_, or in other words our -black steward, who was punctiliously addressed as “Mr. H----s,” began -the day’s proceedings by having the crockery and glass broken during -the night by the rolling of the ship removed, and every order was given -with a dignified pomposity which was most amusing. - -We gave him and his assistants the sobriquet of “Jupiter and his -satellites!” Mr. H----s was a portly negro of an imposing presence, -and a benign expression of countenance which a little reminded one -of “Uncle Tom” in Mrs. Beecher Stowe’s celebrated work. He exacted -implicit obedience, but he was a very good man, strictly honest to -his employers, and very considerate to those over whom he had any -authority. Not once during the voyage did we hear from his lips an oath -or an unseemly word. - -The stewardess told us that he had a very pretty wife in London, a -young Englishwoman, with a remarkably fair complexion. She also told us -an amusing anecdote of Mr. H----s as steward of a troop-ship going out -to India. One Sunday afternoon the young officers, tired of playing off -practical jokes on each other, and half dead with _ennui_, applied to -Mr. H----s to lend them a book to read. - -“You know the sort of book we want, H----s,” said they; “plenty of -love and fighting, and battles, and all that sort of thing!” - -“I understand, gentlemen,” said Mr. H----s, and presently returned with -a _large Bible_ which he placed before them. “There, gentlemen, you -will find in that book all you want--beautiful love stories, fierce -wars, and plenty of battles!” - -His colour, however, was somewhat against him, and I could hardly keep -my countenance when a young under-steward, to whom we were indebted for -much attention, said to me with quite an injured air, “You know, ma’am, -it does take it out of a feller to have to say ‘sir’ to a nigger!” - -Of the young friend C. W., who came out with us, we saw but little, for -though he had a first-class berth, he was a great deal in the steerage -with your brother, who was a veritable “Mark Tapley” among the poor -emigrants. He helped the minister in charge to keep order among them, -he procured all manner of little extra comforts for the sick women from -the surly cooks, and was the delight of all the children, who followed -him in troops. He managed to be a good deal in our cabin when we were -too ill to move, and also came to us on deck when we were able to crawl -there. He was a favourite with all our fellow-passengers, and every -lady knew she might depend upon his gentlemanly attentions if required. -This comforted me a little for his being in such a disagreeable -position. - -The sea continued very rough indeed even after we were in the Gulf of -St. Lawrence, and though I thought the _real blue water_ which I saw -for the first time very beautiful, yet I could by no means join in the -raptures of my fellow-passengers, but strictly averred, that although -a passionate admirer of “Old Ocean,” it was most decidedly when I -viewed it from _terra-firma_. I will not weary you with minute details -of our slow passage up the beautiful St. Lawrence, nor dilate upon the -interest I felt in watching, first the thinly-scattered white huts, -and afterwards the thickly-clustered villages of the “habitants,” with -their curious churches and shining spires, backed by the dark pine -forests, and behind them ranges of blue-capped mountains, compared with -which the hills of my own dear England were as hillocks. - -We landed at Quebec and went to the Victoria Hotel, where your sister -and I passed a few miserable hours of suspense and anxiety. We found -ourselves at the very beginning of an immense journey utterly without -means to carry us on beyond the first few stages. The little extra -expenses paid on leaving the ship, and the clearing our baggage as far -as Toronto, had all but emptied our purse. We were rich in nothing -but delusive hopes and expectations, doomed, like the glass basket of -celebrated “Alnaschars,” to be shattered and broken to pieces. - -We half expected to find a letter with a small remittance waiting -for us at the Quebec P. O. Our young friend C. W. was in the same -strait, as his money-order was only payable in a bank at Toronto. Both -the gentlemen left us and crossed the water to the town of Quebec, -where, finding on due inquiry no letter of any kind, your brother was -compelled to pledge his gold watch and seal, upon which, though so -valuable, he could only get five pounds advanced. This unavoidable -delay lost us the mid-day train to Montreal, by which we saw our kind -friends depart after taking a most affectionate leave and engaging -us to correspond with them. When our two gentlemen returned we were -nearly starving, as we did not like to go to the _table-d’hôte_ without -them, and the dinner had long been over. We all sallied forth, and -found in a small wayside tavern a homely but excellent meal, and best -of all, a private room to take it in. From thence we went to the -station and started by the seven p.m. train for Montreal, being quite -thankful that our journey had at length begun. - - - - -LETTER II. - - -My last letter left us starting from Quebec in the seven p.m. train for -Montreal. Our party consisting of four people, we had a compartment -to ourselves, but were some time in settling comfortably, as our old -dog “Nero” had to be smuggled in and kept quiet under your sister’s -waterproof-cloak, for fear the vigilant guard should consign him to the -luggage-car, where he would infallibly have barked himself to death. - -I noticed very little in the neighbourhood of Quebec, being too much -occupied with my own sad thoughts, and regrets for those I had left -behind; but I did observe that the cows, horses, and pigs all appeared -very small and manifestly inferior to the cattle in England. - -During this journey I could not help contrasting the mode of travelling -in Canada with the same in the “old country,” and giving a decided -preference to the former. It would be almost impossible for either -murder, robbery, or any kind of outrage to be perpetrated where the -compartments are all open, and the supervision of the guard walking -up and down incessant. It is also a great alleviation to the fatigue -of travelling to have the refreshment of iced water to drink, and the -option of washing faces and hands. Towards night we were beguiled into -“Pullman’s” sleeping-cars, little imagining how greatly it would add to -the expense of the journey. Sleep, however, I found to be impossible -in these close boxes, tier above tier, and towards midnight, half -smothered, I made my way to the carriage we had occupied before -retiring. - -About this time the train came to a sudden stop, and at last I asked -the guard why we were so long stationary. He told me that a train which -ought to have been in before us was missing, that men had gone out with -lanterns to look for it, and that for fear of being run into we must -wait till it came up. A most dreary four hours we passed before we were -released. We were at a small station in a barren spot of country, where -nothing was to be seen in the dim light but a few miserable-looking -wooden houses scattered about. It was a cheerless prospect, and we were -thankful when at length we went on. - -We passed the morning more agreeably, as the guard, a quiet, -intelligent man, entered into conversation with us. He was telling -us of a curious and erudite book about to be published at Boston, -Massachusetts, compiled by one of his relations, from numerous records -and papers treasured in the family, and handed down from one generation -to another, beginning with the first landing of the “Pilgrim Fathers.” - -His ancestor, with his family, came out in the _Mayflower_, and from -that time to the present they had had an unbroken succession of godly -ministers, who in the early times of their settlement were called, in -the old Puritan phraseology, “sons of thunder.” In the spring of 1871, -he had attended the annual family gathering at Boston, to which the -remotest connections, if possible, came. I regret much that I did not -take down his name. - -In consequence of our long delay in the night, we did not arrive at -Montreal in time for the early train, but had to breakfast there, and -remain a few hours. When we started, we found that we had a hot and -dusty journey before us. I greatly admired the environs of Montreal, -particularly some pretty villa residences, perched, as it were, in -terraces one above the other. - -An incident occurred in the course of the day which afforded me a few -moments of exquisite satisfaction, which every mother will understand. - -While our train was drawn up before a small station, an emigrant -train, going to some distant part, went past. Numbers of the emigrants -were there who had been steerage passengers on board our vessel from -England. As your brother was standing, with C. W., on the steps of one -of the carriages, he was recognised, and they immediately vociferated, -“Mr. K.! Mr. K.! three cheers for Mr. K.!” Then arose three deafening -cheers, which died away in the distance; but not before your sister -and I, looking out of the window, saw an indefinite number of -pocket-handkerchiefs, of all colours and dimensions, fluttering from -the windows in token of recognition. - -Towards the evening of this day, as we were nearing Toronto, another -stoppage occurred, similar to the one of the night before. A -baggage-truck had got off the line, and might be expected at any moment -to run into our train. - -On this occasion I could not but think our situation most alarming. We -were drawn up on a narrow bridge over a foaming torrent, with jagged -rocks sticking up from the bottom, suggesting a not very pleasant -fate had we been rolled over. Here we remained for four hours and a -half. Luckily I was so much occupied with my own thoughts, that I did -not hear a gentleman in an adjoining compartment recounting to his -horrified audience an accident on the Boston Railway, in which he had -been a reluctant participator, the week before, and which occurred -to a train in a similar position to ours. This train waited for many -hours, _was_ at last run into, and twenty-five of the passengers were -killed. Your sister heard every word, but took care not to disturb my -meditations. - -This accident detained us so long, that it was past midnight when we -got into Toronto, and, hiring a carriage, were driven to a respectable, -cheap family hotel, strongly recommended to your brother by a kind and -gentlemanly Canadian, who was our fellow-passenger from England. - -Unfortunately they were full, from garret to cellar, and could not -take us in. Our driver, left to his own devices, took us to the -“Rossin House,” where we remained till the next day, most _supremely -uncomfortable_, in a rambling hotel of immense extent, where I lost my -way every time I left the saloon; where, from not knowing the hours, -we were all but starved; and where it was hardly possible to obtain a -civil answer from any one of the attendants. - -We started from Toronto at three p.m. the next day, leaving our young -friend C. W. behind, who, having drawn his money, was going back to -Montreal, to pass a little time there before joining us in the Bush. -He had also to present letters of introduction to Judge J----n, who -was _known_ to be _able_ and _presumed_ to be _willing_, to assist the -views of the son of his old friend. - -The farther we went from Toronto, the more barren and ugly the country -appeared, and the hideous stumps in every clearing became more and -more visible. By degrees also the gardens by the roadside became more -denuded of floral vegetation, till at last my eyes rested for miles on -little but holly-hocks and pumpkins. Towards dusk, the lurid glare of -the burning trees in the far-off forest became appalling, as well as -magnificent. I was told that the season had been exceptionally dry, -no rain having fallen for three months, and that in different parts -the fires had been most destructive. In almost every case these fires -have been the natural result of some incidental carelessness. Some -wayfarer, far from his home, and camping out for the night, leaves the -smouldering ashes of his fire to be blown into a flame by a sudden -breeze, or flings the ashes of his pipe into the adjacent brushwood; -in leaving the place of his temporary halt, he little imagines the -loss of property, and even of life, which may be occasioned by his -thoughtlessness. - -We slept that night at Belle Ewart, a rising town on Lake Simere, and -the next morning took the steamer to Orillia. This passage across the -lake was the most beautiful part of our journey. The day was bright -and clear, the water blue, and the scenery most beautiful. All was -changed when we landed at Orillia. We had to leave our nice, roomy, -well-appointed steamer for a filthy, over-crowded little boat, where we -had hardly standing-room. - -I now saw, for the first time, _real live Indians_, both men and women, -some of each being on board the boat. Their encampment on the lake -was likewise pointed out to me. Alas for my enthusiasm! Alas for my -remembrance of youthful delight over Cooper’s enchanting novels! I was -never more disappointed in my life than when I first took notice of -these degenerate samples of “Red Men!” - -The men appeared to me undersized and sinister-looking, the squaws -filthy and almost repulsive. No stretch of imagination could bring -before me in the persons of these very ordinary mortals the dignified -and graceful “Uncas,” or the stately and warlike “Chingachook!” We -landed at Washage, and after standing for more than an hour on the -quay, took the stage-wagon for Gravenhurst, the vehicle being so -crowded that even the personal baggage most essential to our comfort -had to be left behind. Oh! the horrors of that journey! The road was -most dreadful--our first acquaintance with “corduroy” roads. The -forest gradually closed in upon us, on fire on both sides, burnt trees -crashing down in all directions, here and there one right across the -road, which had to be dragged out of the way before we could go on. -Your brother with his arm round me the whole way (I clinging to the -collar of his coat), could hardly keep me steady as we bumped over -every obstacle. In the worst places I was glad to shut my eyes that I -might not see the danger. Your poor sister had to cling convulsively -to the rope which secured the passengers’ baggage (ours was left -behind and we did not see it for weeks) to avoid being thrown out, -and for long afterwards we both suffered from the bruises we received -and the strain upon our limbs. At last, long after dark, we arrived -at Gravenhurst, where we were obliged to sleep, as the steamer to -Bracebridge could not start before morning on account of the fog. -The steam-boat had no accommodation for sleeping, but we had a good -supper on board, and a gentlemanly Englishman, a passenger by the stage -and well acquainted with Muskoka, took us to a small hotel to sleep. -The next morning we went to Bracebridge, and there we found a letter -from your brother-in-law advising me to go before the commissioner of -crown-lands and sign for my land. The papers for my free grant of a -hundred acres had gone to France, but had missed me, as I had already -left. Unfortunately our means were too exhausted to allow of our -remaining even one day in Bracebridge, and we thought it more prudent -to start early in the stage-wagon, as the magistrate’s office would not -be open till ten a.m. - -The not being able to sign at once lost me the power of selling my -pine-trees, the new law (a most unjust one) coming into operation -before I was able to come in again. We were at the N. A. Hotel, and the -mistress of it, herself an Englishwoman and not long from Devonshire, -told me afterwards how sincerely she pitied us, and said to her husband -when we were gone, “That poor lady and her daughter little know what -hardships they are about to encounter in the ‘Bush!’” The drive from -Bracebridge to Utterson, the nearest post-town to our settlement and -distant from it six miles, was a long and fatiguing stretch of fifteen -miles, but unmarked by any incident of consequence. The forest fires -were burning fiercely, and our driver told us that a week before the -road had been impassable. At times when the trees were burning at -each side of the narrow road we felt a hot stifling air as we passed -rapidly along. It was a gloomy afternoon, with fitful gusts of wind -portending a change of weather, and we were almost smothered in -clouds of Muskoka dust, much resembling pounded bricks. When we got -to Utterson we were obliged to remain for two hours to rest the poor -horses, as no fresh ones were to be got. While at the little tavern we -heard that your brother C. had been married a few weeks before, as we -expected, and that your dear sister F., with her husband, children, and -the _fiancée_, had rested there on their way to the “Bush,” six weeks -before our arrival. We were more easy in our minds after this. We were -near our journey’s end, the dear ones who had preceded us were all -well, and the marriage which for four years I had been endeavouring -to secure for your youngest brother had been happily accomplished. -_I_ alone of all our party felt a hopeless depression of spirits, a -presentiment of long months of unhappiness. Our drive from Utterson was -short, but we went slowly, and it was late in the day before we turned -into the “Bush.” Our driver called the path we were going a “road;” -I saw nothing but a narrow track with frightful stumps, over which -our wagon jolted in a manner to endanger our limbs; indeed, though -more than three miles from your brother-in-law’s, we soon insisted -on walking, thinking it safer. We found the thick undergrowth of -“ground-hemlock” very trying to walk upon, as it caught our feet in an -alarming manner. Our path was intersected by deep gullies, the sides of -which were precipitous. I must say that the horses of this country, -like the mules of Spain, seem wonderfully sure-footed, and the drivers, -who mostly appear as reckless and daring as Irish carmen, guide them -very safely, and accidents rarely occur. - -After we had crossed the second gully, our driver said he could go no -farther, as it would be dark before he got out of the “Bush,” a thing -much dreaded here. Accordingly your brother paid and dismissed him, -and we were left with all our packages by the roadside to find our way -as best we could. Luckily we came upon a very respectable settler, -working on a part of his clearing near the path, who most kindly left -his work and piloted us to your brother-in-law’s lot, where we found -a very small “clearing,” and a log-house in the middle of it. Your -sister F. and the dear children came running out to meet and welcome -us, and after the first warm congratulations, F. and your brother went -to fetch the newly-married couple, who at once came back with them. -There was much to hear and to tell, and you may judge how great was our -dismay to find that those we had come to burthen with our presence, -were for the time being as penniless as ourselves, and that weary and -fatigued as we were, the only refreshment my dear child could offer us -was linseed tea without sugar or milk, and sour, doughy bread which I -could not persuade myself to swallow. Our sleeping arrangements were of -the most primitive description. A scanty curtain shaded off a corner of -the room, where your dear sister made a regular shake-down of all her -little stock of bedding. Here your two sisters, your sister-in-law, the -two children and myself found an ark of refuge. The three gentlemen lay -down in their clothes before the fire; and thus passed our first night -in the “Bush” of Muskoka! - - - - -LETTER III. - - -The next morning, after a brief and very unsatisfactory toilet, and a -breakfast which needs no description, your brother C. and his wife left -us to return to their own log-house, entreating me to go and see them -as soon as I should have recovered from the fatigue of the journey. You -will perhaps wonder that they should have remained the night with us, -over-crowded as we were; but the fact is, when we first came here, the -forest-paths between our lots were so indistinctly marked out and so -little trodden, that to be out after dark was not safe; and, indeed, -it is a rule among the settlers here, that should any one be out after -dark, the nearest neighbour must afford him a shelter till the morning. -To go astray in the “Bush” is dreaded above everything. - -I cannot describe how greatly we were shocked at the changed appearance -of your youngest brother. In spite of his present happiness as a -married man, he bore in his whole appearance the marks of the hardships -he had gone through. He had left us, only a year before, in France in -high health and spirits, expecting to find in America, and especially -in New York, an El Dorado where he might easily employ his little -capital to advantage. We found him now fearfully thin, his handsome -face pinched and worn, and looking certainly ten years older than his -brother, fully five years his senior. In some future letter I must give -you a sketch of his many misfortunes, his failure in New York, and -subsequent settlement in Muskoka, together with the amusing account of -his marriage given me by your sister F. - -My first employment in the Bush was to write to my lawyer, entreating -a further advance of money, and to some kind friends who had already -helped us for the same purpose. - -As soon as this necessary work was finished, I began to look about me, -both outside and inside of the log-house. I found that it was placed -in the centre of a very small “clearing” of not more than half an -acre; and the very sight of the dense forest circling us all round, -with hardly any perceptible outlet, gave me a dreadful feeling of -suffocation, to which was added the constant alarm of fire, for the dry -season had made every twig and leaf combustible. - -Had it not been for these drawbacks, I should greatly have admired -the situation. An amphitheatre of rock behind the house, wooded to the -very top, and the trees tinged with the glowing hues of autumn, was -very picturesque; and the house itself, built upon an eminence, seemed -likely to be dry and comfortable. The house inside was simply one -tolerable-sized room, which, like the cobbler’s stall in the nursery -ballad, was - - “Kitchen, and parlour, and all!” - -It was built of rough, unhewn logs, chinks of wood between the logs, -and the interstices filled up with moss. There were two small windows, -and a door in the front. The size of the house, eighteen feet by -twenty-five. - -When your brother-in-law’s logs for his house were cut, he called a -“raising bee,” which is the custom here. Fourteen of his neighbours -responded to the call. This is for building up the walls of the -log-house. Strength and willingness are most desirable at “bees;” but -for the four corners, which have to be “saddled,” skill is likewise -requisite, and, therefore, four of the best hands are always chosen for -the corners. - -“Saddling” is cutting out a piece at the corner of each log, so that -the end of each succeeding log, when it is raised, rests in the niche -prepared for it, and thus the building, when finished, is as firm as -a rock. Nothing is paid for the assistance given, but good meals are -expected; and sometimes these “bees” are quite festive meetings, where -the wives and daughters of the settlers wait at table, and attend -to the wants of the hungry visitors. At a “bee” which your brother -attended some time ago, all the young women were in their Sunday attire. - -At your brother-in-law’s “bee” the female element was entirely wanting, -and two or three little things went wrong; but excuses are always made -for the ignorance of a new settler, and in subsequent meetings the fare -has been better, and full satisfaction given. - -In the centre of each log-house stands out, hideously prominent and -ugly, a settler’s stove, with a whole array of pots, pans, and kettles -belonging to it, which, when not in use, are mostly hung up on the -walls, certainly not conducing to their ornamentation. Your sister, -always fertile in expedients, hangs a curtain before these unseemly -appendages; but my lively imagination pierces behind the veil, and -knowing they are _there_, gives me a feeling of irritation and disgust -which I cannot describe. - -I may truly call the stove a voracious monster, for in the very cold -weather it takes nearly the whole day’s chopping of one person to keep -it filled up night and day. - -You must not suppose that we had come into a furnished house. There -had as yet been neither time nor means to get furniture of any kind. -Dear F. had herself only been in possession a fortnight, and we were -only too glad to sleep on the floor, to sit on upturned boxes, and to -make our table of the top of a large chest. When at length, after many -weeks’ waiting, our baggage arrived, for some days we could hardly turn -round; but we were most thankful for the excellent bedding and the good -warm blankets we had brought from France, carefully packed in barrels. -All woollen goods are extremely dear in Canada, and, as contrasted with -our English manufactures, very poor in quality. - -You know that, from boys, both your brothers have been excellent -amateur carpenters, and this fact they have turned to good account in -the “Bush.” As soon as time could be found, your eldest brother made a -bedstead for his sister’s confinement, and stools, and benches, which -we found most useful. For a long time after our arrival in the “Bush,” -and even after your brother-in-law and myself had received remittances -from England, we were in imminent danger of starvation from the coarse, -bad food, and the difficulty of procuring it from a distance. - -At the time of which I write, the autumn of 1871, there was neither -store nor post-office nearer to us than that at Utterson, fully six -miles from our land. I have already told you what kind of a road we -found it on coming in. The gentlemen of our different families had to -bring all provisions in sacks slung upon their shoulders and backs, no -light work I can assure you. - -The staple food of the settlers consists of hard salt pork, potatoes, -oatmeal, molasses, rice, and flour for bread, which every family makes -for itself. According to the “rising,” employed instead of yeast, the -bread was either bitter, sour, or salt, and we only began to get good -bread when our clergyman from Bracebridge, months after our arrival, -recommended us to use the “Twin Brothers’ yeast,” which we found answer -very well. With regard to other articles of consumption, such as tea, -sugar, coffee, etc., I was then, and still am, decidedly of opinion -that we were using up the refuse of all the shops in Toronto. The tea -was full of sloe-leaves, wild raspberry-leaves, and other natural -productions which never grew in China; and it was so full of bits -of _stick_ that my son informed the people at the store that we had -collected a nice little stock for winter fuel. - -My chemical knowledge was not sufficient for me to analyse the coffee, -which we really could not drink, but it was a villanous compound, of -which the coffee-berry was the smallest ingredient; in short, we were -fain to fall back upon and take into favour real chickory or dandelion, -which, with a little milk and sugar, is tolerably nice, and as the -roots are plentiful among the potato-hills in autumn, many of the -settlers prepare it for their own use. - -You know what a simple table we kept in France, but there our plain -food was well cooked and prepared, and was the best of its kind. - -We found the change terrible, and very injurious to our health, -and, what was worse, the store was often out of the most necessary -articles, and our messengers were compelled to return, weary and -footsore, without what we wanted. We are much better off now, having -a post-office and store belonging to the settlement only three miles -away, kept by very civil and intelligent Scotch people, who do their -best to procure whatever is ordered. - -We suffered much also from the want of fresh meat, for though at times -some one in the neighbourhood might kill a sheep, yet we seldom heard -of it before all the best parts were gone. We also greatly regretted -that in a country where even the smaller lakes abound with fish, we -were so far away from any piece of water that we could not obtain what -would have been a most agreeable change from the much-detested salt -pork. - -I come now to speak of a delusion which is very general in the “old -country,” and in which I largely shared. I mean with regard to the -great abundance of venison and game to be found in these parts. This -fallacy is much encouraged by different books on emigration, which -speak of these desirable articles of food as being plentiful, and -within the reach of every settler. - -I certainly arrived with a vague notion that passing deer might be shot -from one’s own door, that partridge and wild-duck were as plentiful as -sparrows in England, and that hares and rabbits might almost be caught -with the hand. These romantic ideas were ruefully dispelled! There is -little game of any kind left, and to get that good dogs are wanted, -which are very expensive to keep. - -None of our party have caught the most distant glimpse of a deer since -we came, except your two brothers, who once saw a poor doe rush madly -across the corner of C----s’ clearing, hotly pursued by a trapper’s -deer-hound, at a season when it was against the law to shoot deer. Your -sister-in-law once, venturing from C----s’ clearing to ours without an -escort, was much alarmed at hearing a rustling in the “Bush” quite -near her, and a repeated “Ba--a, ba--a!” We were told that the noise -must have come from an ancient stag which is said to have haunted for -years the range of rock near us. This mythical old fellow has, however, -never been seen, even by the “oldest inhabitant.” - -Your brothers have now and then shot a chance partridge or wild-duck, -but had to look for them, and the truth must be told that when -settlers, gentle or simple, are engaged in the daily toil of grubbing, -and as it were scratching the earth for bread, it is difficult to -find a day’s leisure for the gentlemanly recreation of shooting. -Your youngest brother was pretty successful in trapping beaver and -musk-rat, and in shooting porcupine; of the two former the skins can -be sold to advantage, but as to eating their flesh, which some of our -party succeeded in doing, your eldest brother and myself found that -impossible, and turned with loathing from the rich repasts prepared -from what I irreverently termed vermin! - -I must now tell you how our lots are situated with regard to each -other. C----s, having come out a year before the rest of us, had -secured two hundred acres of free grant land, one lot in his own name, -and one in the maiden name of his present wife, who came out from -England to marry him, under the chaperonage of your sister and her -husband. This has enabled him, since the birth of his little boy, to -claim and obtain another lot of a hundred acres, as “head of a family.” -His land is good, and prettily situated, with plenty of beaver meadow -and a sprinkling of rock, and also a very picturesque waterfall, where, -in coming years, he can have a mill. I have the adjoining hundred -acres, good flat land for cultivation, but not so picturesque as any of -the other lots, which I regret, though others envy me the absence of -rock. My land lies between C----s’ and the two hundred acres belonging -to your brother-in-law, whose very pretty situation I have already -described. - -I am sorry to say that the two hundred acres taken up before we came, -for your eldest brother and sister, are at a distance of five miles -from here; your brother, who went over to see about clearing a portion -of them, says the landscape is most beautiful, as in addition to rock -and wood there are good-sized lakes, which make the lots less valuable -for cultivation, but far more beautiful to the eye. - -When we had been here about three weeks, our young friend C. W. came to -us from Montreal, where he had not succeeded in getting any situation, -though he brought letters of introduction to Judge J. It is quite -useless for young _gentlemen_, however well educated, to come out -from the “old country” expecting situations to be numerous and easily -attainable; all introductions from friends of _yours_ to friends of -_theirs_ are for the most part useless, unless indeed addressed to some -commercial firm. The best and surest introduction a man can have is to -be a steady and skilful workman at some trade, and then he can command -employment. - -To return to C. W. He arrived, in fact, in the dusk of a chilly -evening, and was near losing his way in the “Bush,” having to pass -across my land, which was then almost untrodden. Fortunately as he -advanced he betook himself to shouting, and luckily was heard and -answered by C----s, who was just going indoors for the night. They soon -met, and C----s took him home, and with him and your sister-in-law he -boarded and lodged during the whole of his stay, for at your sister’s -we were already over-crowded. - -As the autumn advanced, we began most seriously to give our attention -to building my log-house, hoping that I might settle my part of the -family before the winter set in. Accordingly an acre of my land was -cleared, and the logs for a house cut and prepared, a skilful workman -being hired to help; and when all was ready, we called a “bee,” and -took care to provide everything of the best in the shape of provisions. - -Our well-laid plan was a signal failure, partly because settlers do -not like coming to a “bee” so late in the year (it was November), and -partly because some of the invitations had been given on Sunday, which, -as most of the settlers near us were Scotch and strict Presbyterians, -caused offence. Only three people came, and they were thanked and -dismissed. - -The very next day (November 11th), snow-storms and hard winter weather -began; but in spite of this our four gentlemen, seeing my deep -disappointment at being kept waiting for a residence, most chivalrously -went to work, and by their unassisted efforts and hard labour actually -managed in the course of a fortnight to raise the walls and place the -rafters of a log-house not much smaller than the others. Their work was -the admiration of the whole settlement, and many expressed themselves -quite ashamed of having thus left us in the lurch. - -After raising the walls, however, they were reluctantly compelled to -stop, for the severity of the weather was such, that shingling the -roof, chinking, and mossing became quite impossible. As it was, E. -nearly had his hands frost-bitten. We were thus compelled to remain -with your sister till the spring of 1872. We greatly felt, after we -came into the Bush, the want of all religious ordinances; but we soon -arranged a general meeting of all the members of the family on a Sunday -at your sister’s, when your brother-in-law read the Church of England -service, and all joined in singing the chants and hymns. Sometimes he -was unavoidably absent, as the clergymen at Bracebridge, knowing him -to have taken his degree at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and to be -otherwise qualified, would ask his assistance, though a layman, to do -duty for him at different stations in the district. - -We found in our own neighbourhood a building set apart for use as a -church, but too far off for us to attend either summer or winter. Here -Church of England, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan ministers preached in -turn, and thus some semblance of worship was kept up. I hardly dare -describe the miserable change we found in our employments and manner -of life when we first settled down to hard labour in the Bush. It was -anguish to me to see your sisters and sister-in-law, so tenderly and -delicately brought up, working harder by far than any of our servants -in England or France. - -It is one thing to sit in a pretty drawing-room, to play, to sing, to -study, to embroider, and to enjoy social and intellectual converse with -a select circle of kind friends, and it is quite another thing to slave -and toil in a log-house, no better than a kitchen, from morning till -night, at cleaning, washing, baking, preparing meals for hungry men -(not always of one’s own family), and drying incessant changes of wet -clothes. - -I confess, to my shame, that my philosophy entirely gave way, and that -for a long time I cried constantly. I also took to falling off my -chair in fits of giddiness, which lasted for a few minutes, and much -alarmed the children, who feared apoplexy. I felt quite sure that it -was from continual fretting, want of proper exercise, the heat of the -stove, and inanition from not being able to swallow a sufficiency of -the coarse food I so much disliked. Fortunately we had brought out some -cases of arrow-root, and some bottles of Oxley’s Essence of Ginger, -and with the help of this nourishment, and walking resolutely up and -down the clearing, where we kept a track swept for the purpose, I got -better. Your eldest sister likewise had an alarming fit of illness, -liver complaint and palpitation of the heart, doubtless brought on by -poor food, hard work, and the great weight of the utensils belonging to -the stove. I was much frightened, but after a time she, too, partially -recovered; indeed we _had_ to get well as best we might, for there was -no doctor nearer than Bracebridge, eighteen miles off, and had we sent -for him, we had no means of paying either for visits or drugs. - -Christmas Day at length drew near, and as we wished to be all -together, though our funds were exceedingly low, dear C----s insisted -on contributing to our Christmas-dinner. He bought a chicken from a -neighbouring settler who, in giving him a _scare-crow_, did not forget -to charge a good price for it. He sent it to us with some mutton. Your -sister has told me since, that while preparing the chicken for cooking, -she could have shed tears of disgust and compassion, the poor thing -being so attenuated that its bones pierced through the skin, and had -it not been killed, it must soon have died of consumption. In spite -of this I roused my dormant energies, and with the help of butter, -onions and spices, I concocted a savoury stew which was much applauded. -We had also a pudding! Well, the less said about that pudding the -better. Nevertheless, I must record that it contained a _maximum_ of -flour and a _minimum_ of currants and grease. The plums, sugar, spice, -eggs, citron, and brandy were conspicuous by their absence. Still, the -pudding was eaten--peace to its memory! - -We all assembled on Christmas morning early, and had our Church service -performed by your brother-in-law. Cruel memory took me back to our -beloved little church in France, with its Christmas decorations of -holly and evergreens, and I could almost hear the sweet voices of the -choir singing my favourite hymn: “Hark! the herald angels sing!” There -was indeed a sad contrast between the festive meetings of other years, -when our little band was unbroken by death and separation, and when out -of our abundance we could make others happy, and this forlorn gathering -in a strange land, with care written on every brow, poverty in all -our surroundings, and deep though unexpressed anxiety lest all our -struggles in this new and uncongenial mode of existence should prove -fruitless. For the sake of others, I tried to simulate a cheerfulness -I was far from feeling, and so we got over the evening. We had a good -deal of general conversation, and some of our favourite songs were sung -by the gentlemen. - -It was late when our party broke up; your brother C----s with his wife -and C. W. actually scrambled home through the forest by moonlight, a -track having been broken by snow-shoes in the morning. - -A great grief to me at this time was the long interval between writing -letters to the “old country” and receiving the answers, an interval -which my vivid imagination filled up with all kind of horrors which -_might_ have happened to the dear ones we had left behind. - -The close of the year silently came on, and I finish this letter with -a “Sonnet to the Pines,” my first composition in the Bush, written -partly to convince myself that I was not quite out of my wits, but had -still the little modicum of intellect I once possessed, and partly to -reassure your brothers and sisters, who were always predicting that I -should bring on softening of the brain by my unceasing regrets for the -past, and gloomy prognostications for the future. - -SONNET TO THE MUSKOKA PINES! - - Weird monarchs of the forest! ye who keep - Your solemn watch betwixt the earth and sky; - I hear sad murmurs through your branches creep. - I hear the night-wind’s soft and whispering sigh, - Warning ye that the spoiler’s hand is nigh: - The surging wave of human life draws near! - The woodman’s axe, piercing the leafy glade, - Awakes the forest-echoes far and near, - And startles in its haunts the timid deer, - Who seeks in haste some far-off friendly shade! - Nor drop ye stately Pines to earth alone. - The leafy train who shar’d your regal state-- - Beech, Maple, Balsam, Spruce and Birch--lie prone, - And having grac’d your grandeur--share your fate! - - - - -LETTER IV. - - -New-Year’s Day of 1872 was one of those exceptionally beautiful days, -when hope is generated in the saddest heart, and when the most pressing -cares and anxieties retire for at least a time into the background of -our lives. The sky was blue and clear, the sun bright, and the air -quite soft and balmy for the time of year. We had had some bitter -cold and gloomy weather, and we found the change most delightful. As -in France we were in the habit of making presents among ourselves on -this day, I looked over all my stores with a view to keeping up the -same pretty custom here; but alas! in the absence of all shops I was -sorely puzzled. At last I made all right by giving pencils and paper -for scribbling to the children; Eau de Cologne, sweet-scented soap, -and pots of pomatum to the elders of the party; and finished off with -a box of Bryant and May’s “ruby matches” to C. W., who considered them -a great acquisition. Your brother E. came over for the whole day. He -now boarded and lodged with C----s, to make a little more room for your -sister F.’s confinement, which we expected at the end of the month. I -watched E. with delight as he felled an enormous birch tree in honour -of the day; but though placed in perfect safety myself, I could not -avoid a thrill of fear for him, as this monarch of the forest came -crashing down. Fatal accidents very seldom occur, but new settlers, -inexperienced and unused to the axe, sometimes give themselves serious -cuts. Your brother and brother-in-law have had many narrow escapes, but -fortunately, as yet, are uninjured. Your brother C----s before we came -gave himself a very severe cut, which prevented his chopping for some -weeks. One of the settlers told your brother that when he first began -chopping he had given himself a most dangerous wound, the axe having -glanced from the tree on to his foot; for weeks after the accident he -stood in a washing-tub for security while chopping his fire-wood. This -account much amused us, and E----d made a neat little caricature of P. -in his tub chopping. - -I was greatly disappointed in the Canadian forest, and did not think -it half as beautiful as I had been led to expect, for though there are -certainly some very tall pines, and these of a considerable girth, yet -being so closely packed together and hemmed in with small trees and a -thick undergrowth of brushwood, they always seem cramped, and their -lofty tops unable to spread out to their full size. Hurricanes here are -of frequent occurrence, and at these times it is not unusual for full -half an acre of trees to be entirely laid flat, giving the greatest -trouble to the settler when he wants to clear. At times the “windfall,” -as it is called, is a narrow belt of uprooted trees extending for -miles, and distinctly marking the path of the hurricane through the -forest. I was less astonished at the constant fall of the trees after -examining an enormous pine lying on C----s’ land, which was blown down -last year. The roots of this tree seemed to have formed an enormous -web or network under the surface of the ground, and only a few large -fibres here and there appeared to have gone to any depth. I missed the -umbrageous oaks, elms, and beeches of our own parks, and also the open -forest glades which so greatly enhance the beauty of our woodland -scenery. I am told that the trees in the States are much larger and -finer, but of this I am of course incompetent to judge, never having -been there. The most beautiful tree here is certainly the “balsam,” -a slender, delicate tree whose feathery branches droop gracefully to -within a few feet of the ground. - -We found the winter fearfully cold, the thermometer being at times -forty degrees below zero. We had great difficulty in keeping ourselves -sufficiently clothed for such a season. All people coming to the -Bush bring clothes far too good for the rough life they lead there. -In coming out we had no means of providing any special outfit, and -therefore brought with us only the ordinary wardrobes of genteel life. -We soon found that all silks, delicate shawls, laces and ornaments, -are perfectly useless here. Every article we possess of that kind is -carefully put away in our trunks, and will probably never see daylight -again, unless indeed that, like Mrs. Katy Scudder in the “Minister’s -Wooing,” we may occasionally air our treasures. What we found most -useful was everything in the shape of woollen or other thick fabrics, -winter dresses, warm plaid shawls, flannels, furs, etc.; of these we -had a tolerable stock, and as the cold increased we put one thing -over another till we must have often presented the appearance of -feather-beds tied in the middle with a string. Indeed, as our gentlemen -politely phrased it, we made complete “guys” of ourselves, and I must -say that they were not one whit behind us in grotesque unsightliness -of costume. Your brothers sometimes wore four or five flannels one -over the other, thick jerseys and heavy overcoats when not actually at -work, and pairs upon pairs of thick woollen socks and stockings, with -great sea-boots drawn over all; or in deep snow “moccasins” or else -“shoe-packs,” the first being made by the Indians, of the skin of the -moose-deer, and the second mostly of sheep-skins. The great mart for -these articles is at the Indian settlement of “Lachine” on the St. -Lawrence, near Montreal. They also wore snow-shoes, which are not made -like the Laplanders’ with skates attached for sliding, but simply for -walking on the surface of the deep snow. They consist of a framework -of wood three feet long by one and a half wide, filled up with strips -of raw deer-skin interlaced, and in shape resembling a fish, more like -a monstrous sole than any other. We ladies, too, were thankful to lay -aside our French kid boots and delicate slippers, and to wrap our -feet and legs up so completely that they much resembled mill-posts. -Had you or any of our dear friends seen us in our Esquimaux costume, -you would certainly have failed to recognise the well-dressed ladies -and gentlemen you had been in the habit of seeing. To crown all, your -brother-in-law and C----s had goat-skin coats brought from France, real -Robinson Crusoe coats, such as are worn by the French shepherds, and -these they found invaluable. We were very sorry that E----d had not one -likewise. - -Our occupations were manifold; hard work was the order of the day for -every one but me; but all the work I was allowed to do was the cooking, -for which I consider that I have a special vocation. A great compliment -was once paid me by an old Indian officer in our regiment, who declared -that Mrs. K. could make a good curry, he was sure, out of the sole of a -shoe! - -At other times I read, wrote letters, and plied my knitting-needles -indefatigably, to the great advantage of our little colony, in the -shape of comforters, baby-socks, mittens, Canadian sashes and -petticoats for the little children. Sometimes I read to the children -out of their story-books, but _their_ happiest time was when they could -get your sister P----e to give them an hour or two in the evening of -story-telling. You know what a talent she possesses for composing, -both in prose and verse, stories for little people, and with these she -would keep them spell-bound, to the great comfort of the elders of the -party, and of their poor mother especially, who towards night felt much -fatigued. - -Dear children! they required some amusement after the close confinement -of the winter’s day. Meanwhile the gentlemen were busy from morning -till night chopping down trees in readiness for burning in spring. This -is mostly done in mid-winter, as they are reckoned to chop more easily -then. - -You must not suppose that all this time we had no visitors. By degrees -many of the settlers scattered over the neighbourhood came to see -us, some, doubtless, from kindly motives, others from curiosity to -know what the strangers were like. I found some of them pleasant and -amusing, particularly those who had been long in the country, and who -could be induced to give me some of their earlier Bush experiences. -A few of them seemed to possess a sprinkling of higher intelligence, -which made their conversation really interesting. - -One very picturesque elderly man, tall, spare, and upright, came to -fell some pine-trees contiguous to the house, which much endangered -its safety when the hurricanes, so frequent in this country, blew. He -had begun life as a ploughboy on a farm in my beloved county of Kent, -and had the unmistakable Kentish accent. It seemed so strange to me at -first, to be shaking hands and sitting at table familiarly with one of -a class so different from my own; but this was my first initiation -into the free-and-easy intercourse of all classes in this country, -where the standing proverb is, “Jack is as good as his master!” - -I found all the settlers kindly disposed towards us, and most liberal -in giving us a share of their flower-seeds, plants, and garden produce, -which, as new-comers, we could not be supposed to have. They were -willing also to accept in return such little civilities as we could -offer, in the shape of books and newspapers from the old country, -and sometimes medicines and drugs, which could not be got in the -settlement. There might be a little quarrelling, backbiting, and petty -rivalry among them, with an occasional dash of slanderous gossip; but -I am inclined to think not more than will inevitably be found in small -communities. - -As a body, they certainly are hard-working, thrifty, and kind-hearted. -Almost universally they seem contented with their position and -prospects. I have seldom met with a settler who did not think his own -land the finest in the country, who had not grown the _largest turnip -ever seen_, and who was not full of hope that the coveted railway would -certainly pass through his lot. - -At this time I felt an increasing anxiety about your sister’s -confinement, which was now drawing near. That such an event should -take place in this desolate wilderness, where we had no servants, no -monthly-nurse, and not even a doctor within reach, was sufficiently -alarming. To relieve my mind, your brother-in-law went about the -neighbourhood, and at last found a very respectable person, a settler’s -wife, not more than three miles off, who consented to be our assistant -on this momentous occasion, and he promised to go for her as soon as -dear F----e should be taken ill. - -We had been made a little more comfortable in the house, as your -brother-in-law and brother had made a very tolerable ceiling over our -bed-places, and your brother had chopped and neatly piled up at the -end of the room an immense stock of fire-wood, which prevented the -necessity of so often opening the door. - -We felt now more than ever the want of fresh meat, as the children -could not touch the salt pork, and were heartily tired of boiled rice -and dumplings, which were all the variety we could give them, with the -exception of an occasional egg. In this emergency your brother C----s -consented to sell me a bull calf, which he intended bringing up, but -having also a cow and a heifer, and fearing to run short of fodder, he -consented to part with him. Thus I became the fortunate possessor of -an animal which, when killed, fully realised my misgivings as to its -being neither veal nor beef, but in a transition state between the two. -It had a marvellous development of bone and gristle, but very little -flesh; still we made much of it in the shape of nourishing broth and -savoury stews, and as I only paid seven dollars for it, and had long -credit, I was fully satisfied with my first Bush speculation. - -The 18th of January arrived. The day had been very cold, with a -drifting, blinding snow; towards evening a fierce, gusty wind arose, -followed by pitch darkness. The forest trees were cracking and crashing -down in all directions. We went to bed. At two a.m., having been long -awake, I heard a stir in the room, and dear F.’s voice asking us to -get up. What my feelings were I leave you to imagine--to send for -help three miles off, in such a night, was impossible, for even with -a lantern your brother-in-law could not have ventured into the Bush. -Fortunately, we had no time to be frightened or nervous. We removed the -sleeping children to our own bed, made the most comfortable arrangement -circumstances would admit of for dear F----e, and about three a.m., -that is to say, in less than an hour after being called, our first Bush -baby was born, a very fine little girl. - -Your sister P----e, who had been reading up for the occasion, did all -that was necessary, with a skill, coolness and self-possession which -would have done honour to “Dr. _Elizabeth Black_!” - -I did indeed feel thankful when I saw my child safe in bed, with her -dear baby-girl, washed, dressed, and well bundled up in flannel, lying -by her side, she herself taking a basin of gruel which I joyfully -prepared for her. God “tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.” - -We could well believe this when we found your sister recover even -more quickly than she had done in France, where she had so many more -comforts and even luxuries; nor was she this time attacked by ague and -low fever, from which she had always suffered before. - -This sudden call upon our energies made me glad that my wandering life -in the army had rendered me very independent of extraneous help, and -that I had taught you all from childhood never to call a servant for -what you could easily do with your own hands. The very first thing -people _must_ learn in the Bush, is to trust in God, and to help -themselves, for other help is mostly too far off to be available. - -At the end of this month, when I felt that I could safely leave dear -F----e, I determined to go to B----e and sign for my land. The not -having done so before had long been a cause of great anxiety. - -I had been more than four months in the country, had begun to clear and -to build upon my lot, and yet from various causes had not been able to -secure it by signing the necessary papers. These having been sent to -France, and having missed me, had been duly forwarded here. Till the -signing was completed, I was liable at any moment to have my land taken -up by some one else. Accordingly your brother wrote to B---- for a -cutter and horse, and directed the driver to come as far into the Bush -as he could. - -We started on a very bright, cold morning, but I had walked fully three -miles before we met our sledge, which was much behind time. I never -enjoyed anything in the country so much as this my first sleighing -expedition. The small sleigh, or cutter as it is sometimes called, held -only one, and I was nestled down in the bottom of it, well wrapped up, -and being delightfully warm and snug, could enjoy looking at the very -picturesque country we were rapidly passing through. I did, however, -most sincerely pity your brother and the driver, who nearly perished, -for sitting on the front seat they caught all the wind, which was -piercing. We stopped midway at a small tavern, where we dined, and I -can truly say that in spite of the dirty table-cloth and the pervading -slovenliness and disorder of the house and premises, I found everything -enjoyable, and above all the sense of being for a few hours at least -freed from my long imprisonment in the woods. - -It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at B----e, where we -went to the N. A. Hotel, and were made very comfortable by its kind -mistress. The next morning at ten a.m. we went to the magistrate’s -office, where I signed for my one hundred acres, and of course came -away with the conscious dignity of a landed proprietor. - -I was charmed with the kind and courteous manners of Mr. L----s. He -reminded me more of that nearly extinct race--the gentleman of the -old school--than any one I had seen since leaving England. His son, -who is his assistant, seems equally amiable and popular. Seeing from -my manner that I considered Muskoka, even at the present time, as the -_Ultima Thule_ of civilisation, he told us some amusing anecdotes of -what it had actually been when his grandfather first became a settler -in Canada. The towns and villages now called the “Front,” had then no -existence; all was thick forest, no steamers on the lakes, no roads of -any kind, and barely here and there a forest-track made by Indians or -trappers. From where his grandfather settled down, it was sixty miles -to the nearest place where anything could be got, and the first year -he had to go all this distance on foot for a bushel of seed potatoes -for planting, and to return with them in a sack which he carried on his -back the whole way. - -We left B----e to return home at one p.m., but it was nearly dark when -we turned into the Bush, and quite so when we were put down at the -point from which we had to walk home. Here we were luckily met by your -brother C----s and C. W., with a lantern and a rope for our parcels, -according to promise. C----s took charge of me, and led the way with -the lantern. I tried to follow in his steps, but the track was so -narrow, and the light so uncertain, that I found myself, every few -moments, up to my knees in soft snow, if I diverged only a step from -the track. - -I became almost unable to go on, but after many expedients had been -tried, one only was found to answer. C----s tied a rope round my waist, -and then round his own, and in this safe, but highly ignominious -manner, I was literally towed through the forest, and reached home -thoroughly exhausted, but I am bound to say almost as much from -laughter as from fatigue. I found all well, and the children were -highly pleased with the little presents I had brought for them. - - - - -LETTER V. - - -The first months of this year found us very anxious to get the -log-house finished, which had been so well begun by our four gentlemen, -and as soon as the weather moderated a little, and our means allowed -us to get help, we had it roofed, floored, chinked, and mossed. It was -necessary to get it finished, so that we might move before the great -spring thaw should cover the forest-paths with seas of slush and mud, -and before the creek between us and our domicile should be swollen so -as to render it impassable for ladies. - -When the workmen had finished, we sent to the nearest town for a -settler’s stove; and as the ox-team we hired could bring it no farther -than the corner of the concession road which skirts one end of my lot, -your brothers had the agreeable task of bringing it piecemeal on their -backs, with all its heavy belongings, down the precipitous side of my -gully, wading knee-deep through the creek at the bottom, and scrambling -up the side nearest here. It was quite a service of danger, and I felt -truly thankful that no accident occurred. - -About this time our young friend C. W. left us, and we were very sorry -to lose him, for more particularly in “Bush” life the taking away of -one familiar face leaves a sad blank behind. He could not, however, -make up his mind to remain, finding the life very dull and cheerless, -and suffering moreover most severely from the cold of the climate. He -went to Toronto, and at last got a tolerably good situation in a bank, -where his thorough knowledge of French and German made him very useful. - -Another important event also took place, and this was the christening -of our dear little “Bush” girl, who by this time was thriving -nicely. Our Church of England clergyman at B----e very kindly came -over to perform the ceremony, but as no special day had been named, -his visit took us by surprise, and the hospitality we were able to -extend to him was meagre indeed. This christening certainly presented -a marked contrast to our last. It was no well-dressed infant in a -richly-embroidered robe and French lace cap like a cauliflower ring, -that I handed to our good minister, but a dear little soft bundle -of rumpled flannel, with just enough of face visible to receive the -baptismal sprinkling. - -We all stood round in our anomalous costumes, and a cracked slop-basin -represented the font. Nevertheless, our little darling behaved -incomparably well, and all passed off pleasantly. With our minister -afterwards, a very kind and gentlemanly man, we had an hour’s pleasant -conversation, which indeed was quite a treat, for in the Bush, with -little or no time for intellectual pursuits, for the practice of any -elegant accomplishment, or indeed for anything but the stern and hard -realities of daily labour; conversation even among the well-educated is -apt to degenerate into discussions about “crops” and “stock,” and the -relative merits of _timothy_ or _beaver hay_. - -We saw but little of your brother Edward at this time, for he was fully -occupied in the log-house, where he lit a large fire every day that -it might be thoroughly aired for our reception, and then engaged in -carpentering extensively for our comfort. He put up numerous shelves -for the crockery and kitchen things, made two very good and substantial -bedsteads, a sofa fixed against the wall which we call the “daïs,” and -a very comfortable easy-chair with a flexible seat of strips of cowhide -interlaced--an ingenious device of your brother Charles, who made one -for his wife. - -At last the house being finished, quite aired enough, and otherwise -made as comfortable as our very slender means would permit, we resolved -to move, and on the 7th of April we took our departure from dear -F----’s, who, however glad to have more room for the children, sadly -missed our companionship, as we did hers. The day of our exodus was -very clear and bright, and the narrow snow-track between our lots was -still tolerably hard and safe, though the great thaw had begun, and the -deep untrodden snow on either side of the track was fast melting, and -every careless step we took plunged us into two or three feet of snow, -from which we had to be ignominiously dragged out. It was worse when -we sank into holes full of water, and the narrow path treacherously -giving way at the edges, we had many of these falls. All our trunks, -chests, and barrels had to be left at F----’s, and we only took with -us packages that could be carried by hand, and our bedding, which was -conveyed on the shoulders of the gentlemen. - -Of course we travelled in Indian file, one after the other. - -When we finally departed, your brother-in-law and Sister P----e -preceded me, laden with all manner of small articles, and every few -yards down they came. I followed with a stout stick which helped me -along considerably, and as I was not allowed to carry anything, and -picked my way very carefully, I managed to escape with comparatively -few falls, and only two of any consequence, one when I pitched forward -with my face down flat on the ground, and another when my feet suddenly -slipped from under me and sent me backwards, rolling over and over in -the snow before, even with help, I could get up. The effects of this -fall I felt for a long time. - -At length we arrived at our new home, but in spite of the magic of that -word, I felt dreadfully depressed, and as we were all thoroughly wet -and weary, and on looking out of the windows in front saw nothing but a -wall of snow six feet deep, which encircled the house and quite hid the -clearing from our eyes, I need not say that we were anything but a gay -party. Your kind brother-in-law, to console me a little, went home and -brought back in his arms, as a present for me, the little cat of which -I had been so fond at his house. I cheered up immediately, and had so -much trouble to prevent little Tibbs from running away and being lost -in the snow, that it was quite an occupation for me. One member of our -party made himself at home at once, and from the moment of our entrance -took possession of the warmest place before the stove. This was dear -old Nero, who, as a “French seigneur,” had great privileges, was much -admired in the settlement, and was always called the “Frenchman!” His -chief delight seemed to be incessantly barking at the squirrels. - -The thaw continuing, we were quite prisoners for some weeks, and as to -our property left at your sister’s, it was nearly three months before -we could get it, as your brother-in-law with your brothers had to cut -a path for the oxen between our clearings, and to make a rough bridge -over his creek, which, though not so deep as the one on my land, was -equally impassable for a wagon and team. - -Happy would it have been for us, and for all the new settlers, if, when -the snow was quite melted, which was not till the second week in May, -fine dry weather had ensued. This would have enabled us to log and -burn the trees felled during the winter, and to clear up the ground -ready for cropping. Instead of this, drenching rain set in, varied by -occasional thunder-storms, so that even after the logging was done it -was June before we could venture to fire the heaps, the ground being -still quite wet, and even then the clearing was such a partial one that -by the 15th of June we had only three-fourths of an acre thoroughly -ready, and on this your brother planted eight bushels of potatoes, -happily for us regardless of the prognostics of our neighbours, who all -assured him that he was much too late to have any chance of a return. -He had, however, an excellent yield of eighty bushels, which fully -repaid him for his perseverance and steady refusal to be wet-blanketed. -He also, however late, sowed peas, French beans, vegetable-marrows, and -put in cabbages, from all of which we had a good average crop. - -We had, of course, to hire men for our logging, with their oxen, and to -find their meals. I could not but observe how well they all behaved, -washing their faces and hands before sitting down to table, and also -scrupulously refraining from swearing, smoking, or spitting, while in -the house. A man who hires himself and his oxen out for the day, has -two dollars and food for himself and his beasts; and should he bring -any assistants, they each have seventy-five cents and their food. You -should have seen the gentlemen of our party after a day’s logging! They -were black from head to foot, and more resembled master chimney-sweeps -than anything else. Most of the settlers have a regular logging-suit -made of coarse coloured stuff; anything better is sure to be spoiled -during such work. - -Our fire, though a bad one, was very picturesque. It did not burn -fiercely enough to clear off the log-heaps still wet from the late -rains, but it ran far back into the forest, and many of the tall trees, -particularly the decaying ones, were burning from bottom to top, and -continued in flames for some days and nights. During the logging I -sincerely pitied the poor oxen, who are yoked together and attached -by a heavy chain to one immense log after another, till they are all -brought into position, and the log-heaps are arranged for burning. It -is most distressing to see these patient animals panting after their -exertions, and too often, I regret to say, beaten and sworn at in a -most outrageous manner. - -Great care is required to prevent accidents during logging, and fatal -ones sometimes occur. I was in conversation with the reeve of an -adjoining township this summer, and he told me that two years ago he -lost his eldest son, a young man of great promise, in this melancholy -way. The poor fellow made a false step while driving his team, and fell -right before the oxen who were coming on with a heavy log, quite a -tree, attached to them. Before it was possible to stop them, they had -drawn the tree over him and he was literally crushed to death. - -Not having been able to get the land ready for corn of any kind, -and our only crops being the potatoes I have mentioned, and a few -garden vegetables, your brother thought it best to give his whole -attention to fencing our clearing all round, and putting gates at -the three different points of egress. This was the more necessary as -your brother Charles had a cow and heifer with a large circle of -acquaintances among our neighbour’s cattle, who came regularly every -morning to fetch them away into the Bush, where they all fed till -night. Your brother made three gates on the model of French ones, which -are both solid and simple in their construction, easy to open and easy -to shut. - -Wonderful to say, some of the old settlers condescended to admire these -novelties. Your brother Charles worked with him till this necessary -labour was concluded, and we were glad enough when our four and a half -acres were securely protected from the daily inroads of stray cattle. -Before the fence was up, your sister and I spent half our time in -running out with the broom to drive away the neighbour’s cattle, and -protect our cherished cabbage plants, and the potatoes just coming up. -Two audacious steers in particular, called Jim and Charlie, used to -come many times during the day, trot round the house, drink up every -drop of soapy water in the washing-tubs, and if any linen was hanging -on the lines to dry, would munch it till driven away. - -Two oxen and two or three cows used to come early every morning, and -cross our clearing to fetch their friends from your brother Charles’. -We used to hear the ox-bells, and after they had passed some time would -see them returning in triumph with Crummie and the heifer, and after -your brother-in-law got a cow, they would go for Dolly likewise, and -then the whole party would go off and feed together in the Bush till -night. - -Fortunately, all the cattle in this part wear bells to prevent their -being lost. One day your sister and I went to bring F----e and the -children back to tea, when suddenly her own cow, Mistress Dolly, with -a neighbour’s oxen called Blindy and Baldface, came rushing down -the path we were in, and we had just time, warned by the bells, to -scramble out of the way with the children and get behind some trees, -while F----e, always courageous and active, drove them in an opposite -direction. - -The being able to turn the cattle (a settler’s riches) into the Bush -during the whole summer, and thus to feed them free of all expense, -is a great boon to the settler; but this Bush-feeding has its -disadvantages, for the cattle will sometimes stray with what companions -they gather on the road, miles and miles away, to the great discomfort -of their masters who have to hunt for them. - -All through the past summer, after his hard day’s work, we used to see -your youngest brother pass with a rope in one hand and his milk-pail -in the other, from our clearing into the Bush, to look for Crummie -and the heifer. Sometimes he would return with them, but much oftener -we had to go without the milk he supplied us with, as Crummie would be -heard of far away at some distant farm, and occasionally she and her -companion strayed as far as the Muskoka Road, many miles off, which -of course necessitated great loss of time and much fatigue the next -day in hunting her up. Both your brothers and your brother-in-law are -excellent at making their way through the Bush, and as each carries a -pocket-compass, are in little danger of being lost. - -Just before we came here the whole settlement had to turn out in -search of a settler’s wife, who had gone to look for her cow one fine -afternoon with two of her own children and two of a neighbour’s, who -coveted the pleasant scrambling walk, and the chance of berry-picking. -As evening came on and they did not return, much alarm was felt; and -when the night had passed, it was thought best to call out all the -men in the immediate neighbourhood. Accordingly twenty men were soon -mustered, headed by a skilful trapper, who has been many years here, -and knows the Bush well. They made a “trapper’s line,” which means -placing the men in a straight line at considerable distances from each -other, and so beating the Bush in all directions as they advance, -shouting and firing off their guns continually. At length, towards the -afternoon, the trapper himself came upon the poor woman and the four -children, not many miles from her home, sitting under a tree, utterly -exhausted by hunger, fatigue, and incessant screaming for help. Her -account was, that she had found her cow at some distance from home, -had milked her, and then tried to return, but entirely forgot the way -she came, and after trying one opening after another became utterly -bewildered. - -The forest in summer is so unvarying that nothing is easier than to go -astray. As night came on, she divided the can of milk among the poor, -hungry, crying children, and at length, tired out, they all slept -under a large tree, the night providentially being fine and warm. In -the morning they renewed their fruitless efforts, getting farther and -farther astray, till at length they had sunk down incapable of longer -exertion, and unable to stir from the spot where they were found. - -I conclude this letter with remarking, that instead of the spring which -I fondly anticipated, we burst at once from dull gloomy weather and -melting snow, to burning hot summer and clouds of mosquitoes and flies -of all kinds. - - - - -LETTER VI. - - -Summer and mosquitoes! Inseparable words in Canada, except in the large -towns, where their attacks are hardly felt. - -In the Bush, the larger the clearing the fewer the mosquitoes. It is, -above all things, desirable to avoid building a log-house near swampy -ground, for there they will be found in abundance. - -We have four acres and a half quite clear, but unfortunately our -log-house, instead of being placed in the middle, is at one end, with -a well-wooded hill and a portion of dense forest at the back and at -one end; delicious retreat for our enemies, from whence they issued in -myriads, tormenting us from morning till night, and all night long. - -This Egyptian plague began in the end of May, and lasted till the end -of September. We being new-comers they were virulent in their attacks, -and we were bitten from head to foot; in a short time we felt more -like lepers than healthy, clean people, and the want of sleep at night -was most trying to us all, after our hard work. Our only resource was -keeping large “smudges” continually burning in pans. These “smudges” -are made of decayed wood, called “punk,” and smoulder and smoke without -flaming. - -When I went to bed at night (my only time for reading) I used to turn -a long trunk end upwards close to my bolster, and place a large pan of -“punk” on it, so that myself and my book were well enveloped in smoke. -Many times in the night we had to renew our pans, and from the first -dawn of day the buzzing of these hateful insects, who seem then to -acquire fresh liveliness, prevented all chance of sleep. Nor were the -mosquitoes our only foes. Flies of all kinds swarmed around us, and one -in particular, the deer-fly, was a long black fly frightful to look at, -from its size and ugliness. Still, as the flies did not circle about in -the air as the mosquitoes did, we could better defend ourselves against -them. - -We derived little or no benefit from the numerous remedies recommended -by different settlers. In one only I found some alleviation--a weak -solution of carbolic acid, which certainly deadened the irritation, and -was at least a clean remedy compared with the “fly-oil” with which most -of the settlers besmear themselves unsparingly. - -Towards the end of June I entered upon an entirely new phase of -Bush-life, which was anything but pleasant to a person of a nervous, -susceptible temperament. This was my being in perfect solitude for many -hours of every day. Your sister-in-law expected her first confinement, -and we were so anxious that she should have proper medical advice, -that it was thought advisable to place her in lodgings at B----e till -the important event took place. Her brother coming to pay her a visit -entirely agreed in the necessity of the case, and as he kindly smoothed -away the money difficulty it was carried into execution. She could not -go alone, and therefore your eldest sister accompanied her, and thus I -lost for a time my constant and only companion. - -I undertook now to keep house for both your brothers, as in his wife’s -absence Charles could have little comfort at home. I only saw them at -meal-times, and though your eldest brother came home always before -dusk, yet I could not but be very nervous at being so much alone. - -The weather became so hot, that the stove was moved into the open air -at the back of the house, and to save me fatigue your brother cut a -doorway at the back, close to where the stove was placed. Unfortunately -there was a great press of work at this time, and moreover no lumber on -the premises, and therefore no door could be made, and the aperture, -which I had nothing large enough to block up, remained all the summer, -to my great discomfiture. - -At first I was not so very solitary, for a settler’s daughter, who had -worked for your sister-in-law, came to me three times a week, and went -on the alternate days to your sister F----e. We liked her very well, -were very kind to her, and under our training she was learning to be -quite a good servant, when an incident occurred which occasioned our -dismissing her, which gave me great pain, and which has never been -cleared up to my satisfaction. - -Our poor dog Nero, who was an excellent guard, and quite a companion, -was taken ill, and we fancied that he had been bitten by a snake in -Charles’ beaver meadow, where he had been with your brothers who were -hay-making. We nursed him most tenderly, you may be sure, but he got -worse and worse suffered agonies, and in less than a week I was obliged -to consent to our old favourite dog being shot. He was taken from my -bed well wrapped up, so that he knew nothing of what was coming, while -I walked far away into the wood, and your brother with one shot put the -faithful animal out of his pain. Two days before he died a large piece -of poisoned meat was found near the pathway of our clearing, and as -from before the time of his being ill no one but this servant girl had -gone backwards and forwards, as her father had a kind of grudge against -your brother for driving his cattle off the premises, and as she never -expressed the slightest sympathy for the poor beast, but seemed quite -pleased when he was dead, we could not but fear that she had been made -the medium of killing him. We found that he had been poisoned with blue -vitriol, but we knew this too late to save him. - -We buried him honourably, and I planted a circle of wild violets round -his grave, and was not ashamed to shed many tears besides, which was a -well-deserved tribute to our old and faithful _friend_. - -After the girl was dismissed I found more than enough of occupation, -for though your brother made and baked the bread, which I was not -strong enough to do, yet I cooked, washed for them, and did the -house-work, which I found sufficiently fatiguing, and was very glad -after dinner to sit down to my writing-table, which I took good care to -place so as to face the open door, never feeling safe to have it at my -back. - -Your dear sister F. was so kind, that at great inconvenience to -herself, on account of the heat and the flies in the forest, she -managed to come nearly every day at four p.m. with the children, and -remained till your brother came back for the night. - -He was occupied for many weeks in making hay with your brother and -brother-in-law in the beaver meadow, a large one and very productive. -They make a great deal of hay, and put it up in large cocks, but a -great deal of it was lost by rotting on the ground, from not being -carried away in proper time. The delay was occasioned by none of us -having oxen of our own, and from not having the means of hiring till -the season was passed. - -The not getting money at the proper epochs for work is the greatest -drawback to the new settler. If it comes too soon it is apt to melt -away in the necessities of daily life; if it comes too late he must -wait for another year. - -I fully realised during this summer, that solitude in the Bush is not -privacy. Though in case of any accident I was out of reach of all human -help, yet I was liable at any moment of the day to have some passing -settler walk coolly in, and sit down in my very chair if I had vacated -it for a moment. I got one fright which I shall not easily forget. I -had given your two brothers their breakfast, and they had started for -their hay-making in the distant beaver meadow. I had washed up the -breakfast-things, cleared everything away, and was arranging my hair in -the glass hanging in the bed-place, the curtain of which was undrawn on -account of the heat. My parting look in the glass disclosed a not very -prepossessing face in the doorway behind, belonging to a man who stood -there immovable as a statue, and evidently enjoying my discomfiture. - -I greeted him with a scream, which was almost a yell, and advanced pale -as a ghost, having the agreeable sensation of all the blood in my body -running down to my toes! His salutation was: - -“Wall, I guess I’ve skeered you some!” - -“Yes!” I replied, “you startled me very much.” - -He then came in and sat down. I sat down too, and we fell into quite an -easy flow of talk about the weather, the crops, etc. - -How devoutly I wished him anywhere else, and how ill I felt after my -fright, I need not say, but I flatter myself that nothing of this -appeared on the surface; all was courtesy and politeness. - -At length he went way, and finding your brother in the beaver meadow, -took care to inform him that he “had had quite a pleasant chat with -his old woman!” - -I knew this man by sight, for once in the early part of the summer he -came to inquire where Charles lived? On my pointing out the path, and -saying in my politest manner, - -“You will have no difficulty, sir, in finding Mr. C. K.’s clearing,” he -coolly replied: - -“I guess I shall find it; I knows your son well; _we always calls him -Charlie_!” - -I had visitors during the summer, who were much more welcome. Two nice -intelligent little boys with bare feet and shining faces, the children -of an American from the “States,” settled in the Muskoka Road, used -to come twice a week with milk, eggs, and baskets of the delicious -wild raspberry at five cents a quart. While they were resting and -refreshing themselves with cold tea and bread-and-butter we used to -have quite pleasant conversations. They were very confidential, told -me how anxiously they were expecting a grandmother, of whom they were -very fond, and who was coming to live with them; of their progress and -prizes in the Sunday-school some miles from here, which they regularly -attended; of their garden and of many other little family matters; and -when I gave them some story-books for children, and little tracts, they -informed me that they would be kept for Sunday reading. They never -failed, with the things they brought for sale, to bring me as a present -a bunch of beautiful sweet-peas and mignonette, and occasionally a -scarlet gladiolus. - -When they were gone I used to sit down to my letter-writing; and after -all my grubbing and house-work, I felt quite elevated in the social -scale to have a beautiful bouquet on my writing-table, which I took -care to arrange with a background of delicate fern leaves and dark, -slender sprigs of the ground-hemlock. The very smell of the flowers -reminded me of my beloved transatlantic home, with its wealth of -beautiful plants and flowering shrubs, and every room decorated with -vases of lovely flowers which I passed some delicious morning hours in -collecting and arranging. - -When the fruit season had passed, I lost my little visitors, but -was painfully reminded of them at the beginning of the winter. Your -brother-in-law was called upon, in the absence of the clergyman, to -read the burial service over an old lady who had died suddenly in the -settlement. This was the grandmother of my poor little friends. She had -always expressed a wish to spend her last days with her daughter in -Muskoka, but put off her journey from the “States” till the weather was -so severe that she suffered much while travelling, and arrived with a -very bad cold. The second morning after her arrival she was found dead -in her bed. - -I remained all the summer strictly a prisoner at home. The not being -able to shut up the log-house for want of the second door of course -prevented my leaving home, even for an hour; for the Bush is not -Arcadia, and however primitive the manners and customs may be, I have -failed to recognise primitive innocence among its inhabitants. - -As to the berry-picking, which is the favourite summer amusement here, -I would sooner have gone without fruit than have ventured into the -swamps and beaver meadows, where the raspberries, huckleberries, and -cranberries abound. My fear of snakes was too overpowering. Charles -killed this summer no less than seven; and though we are told that in -this part of Canada they are perfectly innocuous, yet your brother -pointed out that three out of the seven he killed had the flat -conformation of head which betokens a venomous species. - -In the meantime our news from B----e was not too good. After a -residence in the lodgings of five weeks, your sister-in-law had been -confined of a dear little boy, and at first all had gone well, but -after a week she became very ill, and also the baby; and as he had to -be brought up by hand, and there was great difficulty in getting pure, -unmixed milk in B----e, it was thought better, when he was five weeks -old, to bring the whole party back. That memorable journey must be -reserved for another letter. - -I noticed this summer many times the curious appearance of our clearing -by moonlight. In the day the stumps stood out in all their naked -deformity, as we had no “crops of golden grain” to hide them; but at -night I never beheld anything more weird and ghostly. The trees being -mostly chopped in the winter, with deep snow on the ground, the stumps -are left quite tall, varying from five to seven feet in height. When -these are blackened by the burning, which runs all over the clearing, -they present in the dim light the appearance of so many spectres. I -could almost fancy myself in the cemetery in the Dunkirk Road, near -Calais, and that the blackened stumps were hideous black crosses which -the French are so fond of erecting in their churchyards. - -They have in America a machine called a “stump-extractor;” but this is -very expensive. By the decay of nature, it is possible, in two or three -years, to drag out the stumps of trees with oxen; but the pine stumps -never decay under seven or eight years, and during all that time are a -perpetual blot on the beauty of the landscape. - -I was much interested in a sight, novel to me, namely, the fire-flies -flitting about in the tops of the tall trees. They seemed like so many -glittering stars, moving so fast that the sight became quite dazzled. -In the cold weather, too, the aurora borealis is most beautiful; and -it is well worth being a little chilly to stand out and watch the soft -tints melting one into the other, and slowly vanishing away. But for -these occasional glimpses of beauty and sublimity, I should indeed have -found existence in the Bush intolerably prosaic. - -I very much missed the flocks of birds I was accustomed to in Europe; -but as I always forbade any gun being fired off in my clearing, I -soon made acquaintance with some. It was a treat to me to watch two -audacious woodpeckers, who would come and nibble at my stumps, and let -me stand within a few feet of them without the least fear. There was -also a pretty snow-bird, which knew me so well that it would wait till -I threw out crumbs and bits of potato for it; and once, when we had -some meat hanging in a bag on the side of the house, which your brother -tied up tightly to prevent depredation, this sagacious creature perched -on the shed near, and actually looked me into untying the bag, and -pulling partly out a piece of the pork, upon which it set to work with -such goodwill, that in a few days some ounces of fat had disappeared. - - - - -LETTER VII. - - -All journeys to and from the Bush are prosecuted under such -difficulties, that it is very fortunate they are few and far between. -Indeed, few of the better class of settlers would remain, but for the -near prospect of Government granting roads in the township, and the -more distant one of the different companies for buying the pine-wood -bridging over the deep gullies on the lots to facilitate their taking -away the timber. When one of the expectant members for Muskoka paid us, -in the course of the summer, an election visit, this was the point on -which we mainly insisted. Our courteous visitor promised everything; -but as his subsequent election was declared null and void, we have as -yet reaped no benefit from his promises. - -Towards the end of August, I was compelled to pay my half-yearly visit -to B----e, for the purpose of getting my pension-lists signed and -duly forwarded. Your brother likewise had to take in two settlers in -the vicinity, to swear off some land before taking it up. At first we -thought of making our way to the post-office, three miles off, and -from thence taking places in the mail-cart; but as we had to take -in our settlers, and to pay all their expenses to and from B----e, -your brother thought it best to send to the town for a wagon and team -expressly for ourselves. This arrived; but, alas! in the afternoon -instead of the morning, which had been specially mentioned. - -On this day we fully proved the glorious uncertainty of the Canadian -climate. The morning had been lovely, but towards three p.m. a soft, -drizzling rain began to fall, which increased in volume and power till -it became a drenching torrent. - -Your brother-in-law took charge of me, and assisted me in scrambling -over the different gullies; but by the time I considered it safe to get -into the wagon, I was already wet through. The horses were so tired, -having come from a distant journey, that we travelled very slowly, and -it was dark when we drew up at the half-way house, where we were to -have tea and to rest the poor animals. Here we remained for two hours; -and when we again started it was pitch dark, with torrents of rain -still falling, and the addition of occasional peals of thunder and -flashes of lightning. - -I have heard and read much of the tropical rains of India and other -southern countries, but it would be impossible to imagine a more -persistent drenching than we got on this unlucky afternoon. The whole -eight miles from the half-way house the horses could only walk very -slowly, the night being unusually dark. We greatly need in this country -such a law as they have in France, where it is enacted, under a heavy -penalty, that no carriage, cart, or wagon shall travel after dark -without carrying a good and sufficient light to prevent dangerous -collisions. I should have been very nervous but for my implicit faith -in the sagacity of the horses, and the great care of the driver, whom -we only knew under his sobriquet of “Canadian Joe.” He was a quiet, -careful man, a French Canadian, who beguiled the way by singing very -sweetly, and with whom it was pleasant to converse in the language we -loved so well. He took us safely into B----e, with the addition to our -party of two travellers we overtook on the road, and upon whom we had -compassion. - -When we got in, the hotel was about closing for the night; the fires -were out, and the landlady had gone to bed ill; but the master -bestirred himself, showed me to a comfortable bedroom, and made me some -negus, which your brother, himself wet to the skin, soon brought me, -and which at least warmed me a little after so many hours of exposure -to cold and wet. - -The next morning, as soon as we could get into thoroughly-dried -clothes, we went to see our invalids. Your poor sister-in-law was still -suffering much, but her dear baby (a very minute specimen of humanity) -was improving, and, after more than two months’ absence, I was thankful -to see your sister only looking very pale, and not, as I expected, -utterly worn out by her arduous duties and compulsory vigils and -anxieties. Your brother was obliged to return to the Bush on Saturday; -but I remained to come home with your sister and sister-in-law the next -week. - -In the meantime, having been to the magistrate’s office and transacted -all our business, I greatly enjoyed with your brother walking about -the neighbourhood. It was, indeed, a treat to walk on a good road, and -to see signs of life and progress everywhere, instead of the silent -monotony of the forest. - -We noticed an amazing change for the better in this “rising village -of the Far West,” which we had not seen for six months. The hotels -and stores seemed to have quadrupled themselves, good frame-houses -were springing up in every direction, and a very pretty little church, -since opened for Church of England service, was nearly finished. These -lumber-houses are very ugly at first, on account of the yellow hue of -the wood; but this is soon toned down by exposure to the weather, and -climbing-plants and pretty gardens soon alter their appearance, and -make them picturesque. - -The dull, primitive life of the Bush certainly prepares one to be -pleased with trifles. I revelled like a child in the unwonted stir and -hum of life about me, and felt half ashamed of the intense amusement I -derived from the lordly airs of an old gander, who marshalled his flock -of geese up and down the road all day long. I felt quite angry with a -young man at the breakfast-table of the hotel, who complained loudly -that this old gentleman’s cackling and hissing had kept him awake all -night. I too, in the intervals of sleep, had heard the same sound, but -to me it was sweet music. - -On Sunday morning I had a treat for which I was quite unprepared. The -Rev. Morley Punshon, head of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada, -came to B----e, to lecture on the “Life and Writings of Lord Macaulay.” -On Sunday morning he preached in the open air, to accommodate the many -who could not have found room in the Wesleyan Chapel. A little secluded -dell, some distance from the main road, was thoroughly cleared of wood -and underbrush, and rough benches were placed in profusion for seats. I -was astonished at the numbers assembled--six hundred I was afterwards -told. After the benches were full, the hill-sides were densely -packed; and it was impossible not to go back in thought to the Scotch -Covenanters and the heathery hills, so often sprinkled with their -blood. All here was calm and peaceful; it was a lovely Sabbath morning, -the air indescribably balmy and fragrant, the service very simple and -impressive, the singing singularly sweet, and the discourse delivered -by the gifted minister full of fervid eloquence. - -He preached from Psalm xlii. 4. My feelings nearly overcame me; it was -the very first time since I left England that I had had the opportunity -of publicly joining in worship with my fellow-Christians; and it -appeared to me a matter of very small importance that most of those -present were Wesleyans, while I was Church of England. The lecture on -“Macaulay” was duly delivered the next day, and was much liked; but I -did not go, preferring to pass the time with our poor invalid. - -On Tuesday, September 2nd, your brother Charles came in and made -arrangements to take his wife, child, and your sister, back on the -following day. I made up my mind to go back with them, and again we -took care to secure Canadian Joe and his team. It was a perilous -journey for one in so much physical suffering, but it was admirably -managed. We laid a soft mattress in the bottom of the wagon, with -plenty of pillows, and on this we placed your sister-in-law with the -baby by her side. Charles sat with them to keep all steady; your sister -and I sat with the driver. Canadian Joe surpassed himself in the care -he took of the invalid; every bad piece of road he came to he walked -his horses quite softly, looking back at Charles with a warning shake -of the head, as much as to say, “Take care of her now!” - -We travelled slowly, but by his great care arrived safely, and at -the cleared farm nearest to mine we were met by your brother and -brother-in-law, who had skilfully arranged a ship’s hammock on a pole, -and made of it a very tolerable palanquin. Into this your sister-in-law -was carefully lifted, and two of the gentlemen carried her, the third -relieving them at intervals. They got her safely over all the gullies, -and carried her past my log-house to her own home, where she was at -once put to bed, and in a very few days began to recover. Your sister -and I took charge of the dear little baby, and after a most fatiguing -walk and much dangerous scrambling with such a precious load, we got -him safely here, where he has remained our cherished nursling ever -since, and has thriven well. His dear young mother, having quite -recovered, comes every day to be with her little treasure. - -We only just arrived in time; the rain began again and continued for -some days. We had much trouble with the rain drifting in through the -clap-boards of the roof. What would _Mr. Punch_ have said could he have -seen two ladies in bed with a baby between them, and a large umbrella -fixed at the head of the bed to save them from the roof-drippings! - -We had two visits this autumn from which we derived much pleasure. One -from our old friend C. W., and one from a friend and connection of -your sister-in-law’s family, her eldest brother having married one of -his sisters. H. L. was quite an addition to our working party. More -than six feet high, strong and active, he fraternised at once with -your brothers, and cheerfully helped them in their daily labours. Your -brother hired a team of oxen for some days, and had the remaining -trees lying in our clearing logged up, and watched for the first -fine dry day to complete the burning begun in spring. Our two young -friends assisted him in his labours, and they managed so well that the -regular day’s work was not interfered with. Every evening they set -fire to some of the log-heaps, and diligently “branded” them up till -they were reduced to ashes. As we could not admit our friends into -the house after a certain hour in the evening, and as their vigils -extended far into the night, your brother used to provide the party -with plenty of potatoes, which they roasted in the ashes and ate with -butter and salt, with a large pot of coffee and an unlimited supply -of tobacco--they being all inveterate smokers. As they had all fine -voices and sang well together, the gipsy party was not a dull one, -and the forest echoed with their favourite songs. Fortunately there -was no one in our solitary neighbourhood to be disturbed from their -slumbers, and provided they did not wake the baby, we rather enjoyed -the unwonted noise, knowing how much they were enjoying themselves. -Perhaps the most amusing time of all was the Saturday afternoon, -when what we ladies called the “Jew trading” invariably took place. -I really think that every article belonging to our young men changed -hands at these times, and the amusing manner in which the stores of -each were laid out for public admiration and regularly haggled for, -cannot be forgotten. In this manner your eldest brother’s celebrated -chassepot gun, picked up on the field of Sedan, gave place to a Colt’s -revolver and a small fowling-piece; his heavy gold seal (a much-coveted -article) took the more useful form of corduroy trousers and heavy -boots; in like manner both your brothers gladly bartered their fine -dress shirts, and handkerchiefs, and satin ties, for coarser garments -better fitted for the Bush, of which both C. W. and H. L. had a good -stock now quite useless to them, as neither could make up his mind to -a Bush life. These amusing transfers of property came to a close at -last, after some weeks of incessant trafficking, with your brother’s -solemnly asking my permission to hand over to H. L., as a make-weight -in the scale, a large woollen comforter which I had knitted for him. -Some of the bartering went on at “Pioneer Cottage,” your brother -Charles’ place, a name most appropriately given, as he was the first -of our party in the settlement. I called my log-house “Cedar Lodge” at -first, and headed some of my letters to England with that elegant name, -understanding that I was the happy owner of a number of cedar trees, -but finding that my riches in cedar consisted in a small portion only -of a dirty cedar-swamp, from which not one tree fit for building could -be extracted, I dropped the grandiloquent nomenclature, and simply put -for heading to my letters, “The Bush--Muskoka.” - -We felt quite dull when our friends left, but they correspond with both -your brothers, and H. L. is not far from us, having married and settled -at Toronto. - -A very grave subject of consideration has arisen among us on the -subject of domestic servants. Should any providential improvement -in our circumstances take place, or our farms become even moderately -thriving, we should certainly once more require these social -incumbrances, but where to find them would be a question. Certainly -not in the settlement to which we belong. Not one of the ladies in our -three families has a special vocation for cooking and house-tidying, -though all have done it since we came here without complaint, and have -done it well. Indeed, a most respectable settler, who, with other men -and a team of oxen, was working for some days on our land to help -your brother, remarked to his wife that he was quite astonished that -a young lady (meaning your eldest sister), evidently unaccustomed to -hard work, could do so much and could do it so well. He had noticed how -comfortably all the different meals had been prepared and arranged. -Your sister F----e too, in spite of the hindrance of three little -children, has always given great satisfaction to the workmen employed -by her husband. We should of course hail the day when we could have the -help in all household matters we formerly enjoyed; but we must surely -seek for it at a distance from here. - -The children of the settlers, both boys and girls, know well that on -attaining the age of eighteen years, they can each claim and take up -from Government a free grant of one hundred acres. They naturally -feel their incipient independence and their individual interest in -the country, and this makes them less inclined to submit to the few -restrictions of servitude still sanctioned by common sense and general -observance. They serve their temporary masters and mistresses under -protest as it were, and are most unwilling to acknowledge their title -to these obnoxious names. They consider it their undoubted right to be -on a footing of perfect equality with every member of the family, and -have no inclination whatever to “sit below the salt.” - -When your sister-in-law returned from Bracebridge, her health was for -some time too delicate for her to do any hard work, and we, having -charge of the baby, could give her no assistance. Your brother Charles -looked about the settlement for a respectable girl as a servant. He -found one in every way suitable, about sixteen, and apparently healthy, -strong, willing, and tolerably competent. He liked her appearance, -and engaged her at the wages she asked. She entered upon her place, -did her work well, and gave entire satisfaction. Everything was done -to make her comfortable, even to the extent of giving her the whole -Sunday to herself, as she was in the habit of attending the church -some miles off and also the Sunday-school. In little more than a week -she suddenly left, assigning no reason but that she was “wanted at -home,” which we knew to be a falsehood, as she had two or three sisters -capable of assisting her mother. We were greatly puzzled to find out -her true reason for leaving. After a time it was made clear to us by -a trustworthy person who had it from the family themselves. The young -lady had found it _intolerably dull_, and it was further explained to -us that no settler would allow his daughter to be in service where she -was not allowed to sit at the same table with the family, and to join -freely in the conversation at all times! - - - - -LETTER VIII. - - -I begin this letter with a few observations in support of my -oft-repeated assertion that poor ladies and gentlemen form the worst, -or at least the most unsuccessful, class for emigration to Canada. I -must give you a slight sketch of the class of settlers we have here, -and of the conditions they must fulfil before they can hope to be in -easy circumstances, much less in affluent ones. Of course I am speaking -of settlers from the “old country,” and not of Canadians born who -sometimes find their way from the front to try their fortunes in the -backwoods. The settlers in this neighbourhood, for a circuit of about -eight miles, are all of the lower classes; weavers from Scotland, -agricultural labourers from England, artisans and mechanics from all -parts. Whatever small sum of money a family of this class can collect -with a view to emigration, very little of it is spent in coming over. -They are invariably steerage passengers, and on landing at Quebec are -forwarded, free of all expense, and well provided for on the road, -by the Emigration Society, to the part where they intend settling. -Say that they come to the free-grant lands of Muskoka. The intending -settler goes before the commissioner of crown-lands, and (if a single -man) takes up a lot of a hundred acres; if married and with children, -he can claim another lot as “head of a family.” He finds the conditions -of his tenure specified on the paper he signs, and sees that it will -be five years before he can have his patent, and then only if he has -cleared fifteen acres, and has likewise built thereon a log-house of -certain dimensions. He pays some one a dollar to point out his lot, -and to take him over it, and then selecting the best site, and with -what assistance he can get from his neighbours, he clears a small -patch of ground and builds a shanty. In the meantime, if he have a -wife and family they are lodged and boarded for a very small sum at -some near neighbour’s. When he and his family have taken possession, -he underbrushes and chops as much as he possibly can before the winter -sets in; but on the first approach of the cold weather he starts for -the lumber-shanties, and engages himself to work there, receiving from -twenty to twenty-five dollars a month and his food. Should he be of any -particular trade he goes to some large town, and is tolerably sure of -employment. - -It is certainly a very hard and anxious life for the wife and children, -left to shift for themselves throughout the long dreary winter, too -often on a very slender provision of flour and potatoes and little else. - -When spring at last comes, the steady, hard-working settler returns -with quite a little sum of money wherewith to commence his own farming -operations. One of the most respectable and thriving settlers near us -is a man who began life as a sturdy Kentish ploughboy. He is now an -elderly man with a very large family and a good farm. He has thirty -acres well cleared and under cultivation, has thirteen head of cattle -and some fine pigs, has the best barn in the place, and has just -removed his family into a large commodious plank house, with many rooms -and a very fine cellar, built entirely at odd times by himself and his -son, a steady, clever lad of eighteen. - -This man for several years has gone at the beginning of the winter to -one of the hotels in Bracebridge, where he acts as “stable-boy,” and -makes a great deal of money besides his food, which, in such a place, -is of the best. He could very well now remain at home, and reap the -reward of his thrift and industry, but prefers going on for a year or -two longer, while he still has health and strength. - -Now it is obvious that ladies and gentlemen have not, and cannot have -these advantages. The ladies of a family cannot be left unprotected -during the long winter, and indeed are, for the most part, physically -incapable of chopping fire-wood, drawing water, and doing other hard -outdoor work; I speak particularly of _poor_ ladies and gentlemen. -Should people of ample means _choose_ to encounter the inevitable -privations of the Bush, there are of course few which cannot be at -least alleviated by a judicious expenditure of money. - -It may well be asked here, who is there with _ample means_ who would -dream of coming to Muskoka? I answer boldly, none but those who are -entirely ignorant of the miseries of Bush life, or those who have been -purposely misled by designing and interested people. - -Here the settlers’ wives and daughters work almost as hard as their -husbands and fathers--log, burn, plant, and dig; and, in some -instances, with the work adopt the habits of men, and smoke and chew -tobacco to a considerable extent. This, I am happy to say, is not the -case with all, nor even, I hope, with the majority; but nearly all the -women, long before attaining middle age, look prematurely worn and -faded, and many of the settlers themselves bear in their faces the -unmistakable signs of hard work, scanty food, and a perpetual struggle -for existence. - -I have not yet mentioned the subject of wild beasts, but I may truly -say that ever since I came out here, they have been a complete bugbear -to me, and my dread of them is still unconquerable. I have been much -laughed at for my fears, but as it is well-known that there _are_ -wild animals in the recesses of these woods, and as they do sometimes -show themselves without being sought for, I cannot consider my fears -groundless. - -I have been told by one settler, who has been here for many years, -and has often “camped out” all night in the woods, that he has never -seen anything “worse than himself;” but another settler, the trapper -mentioned in a former letter, kills some wild animals every year, and -two or three times he has been met going over our lots in search of -some bear or lynx which had escaped him. - -We are told that when the clearings are larger, and more animals kept, -especially pigs, that our visits from Bruin at least will be more -frequent; and since your brother Charles, some months ago, got two fine -pigs, he has repeatedly found bear-tracks in his beaver meadow, and -even close up to the fence of his clearing. To say the least of it, the -pleasure of a solitary walk is greatly impaired by the vague terror -of a stray bear confronting you on the pathway, or of a spiteful lynx -dropping down upon your shoulders from the branch of a tree. - -The morning before H. L. left us for Toronto, he went to the -post-office, but before he got to the end of our clearing, he saw at -some distance a grey animal, which at first he took to be a neighbour’s -dog; long before he got up to it, it cleared the fence at one bound, -and vanished into the Bush. He thought this odd, but went on; returning -in the twilight he was greatly astonished to see the same animal again -in the clearing, and this time he might have had a good shot at it, -but unfortunately he was encumbered with a can of milk, which he had -good-naturedly brought for me, and before he could bring his gun to -bear upon it, the creature was again in the depths of the Bush. - -Much conversation ensued about it; some thought it must have been a -chance wolf, but Charles, whose opinion we all looked to, was more -inclined to the idea of its being a grey fox; he hardly thought that -any other wild animal would have come so fearlessly into the clearing. - -H. L. went to Toronto, and in a few days your brother received a letter -from him saying that he had just seen a lynx newly killed which had -been brought into the town, and that in colour, shape, and size, it -exactly resembled the animal he had seen in my clearing. It has since -been supposed that this might be the lynx the trapper said he was -tracking when he passed near here in the spring. - -I have often spoken of the broad deep gully at the end of my lot near -the “concession” road. We had an old negro located on the strip of land -between for more than five weeks. One fearfully cold day last winter, -during a heavy snow-storm, your brother Charles came upon the poor old -man “camping” for the night on the road near here. He talked to him a -little, gave him all the small change he happened to have about him, -and coming home and telling us, we made a small collection, which with -a loaf of bread, he took to the old man next morning before he went -away. - -Before the close of this autumn, Charles again met his old -acquaintance, looking more ragged and feeble than ever. He had with him -only his axe and a small bundle. He said that he was making his way -to a lot which he had taken up eight miles off, where he was going to -locate himself and remain. He spoke too of having friends in the front -who would give him some assistance, and at least send him some flour. - -Again he camped out for the night, and we held a family consultation -about him. Your brothers proposed going with him to his lot, and -helping him to build his shanty. They talked of taking provisions and -being out for some days. They also spoke of taking him food twice a -week during the winter for fear he should starve, as he complained that -his neighbours were very unkind to him, and did not want him located -among them. - -We all loudly protested against this plan as being altogether quixotic, -and reminded them that to carry out their plan they must periodically -neglect their own work, leave us alone, and run the risk of being often -weather-bound, thus causing injury to their own health, and much alarm -to us. We suggested an expedient, to let poor Jake settle himself near -my gully for the winter; your brothers to build him a shanty there, and -to take him every day sufficient warm food to make him comfortable. -Charles promised to join with us in giving him so much bread and -potatoes every week. I paid one visit to the old negro, whom I found -dirty, and with only one eye, yet not at all repulsive-looking, as he -had a very pleasant countenance, and talked well and intelligently. - -He agreed to our plan, and your brothers soon raised the logs of a good -shanty, and till it was completed he built himself a wigwam, Indian -fashion, which he made very warm and comfortable. We told him also that -if he liked to make a small clearing round his shanty, we would pay -him for his chopping when he left. The winter soon came, and the snow -began to fall. The first very frosty night made us anxious about our -old pensioner, and your brother went to him early the next morning with -a can of hot tea for his breakfast. What was his astonishment when he -crossed the gully to hear loud voices in Jake’s little encampment. - -On reaching it he asked the old man who was with him. He significantly -pointed to the wigwam, from which a woman’s voice called out: - -“Yes! I’m here, and I’ve got the hagur!” (ague). - -A few minutes afterwards the owner of the voice issued from the hut, -in the person of a stout, bold-looking, middle-aged woman, (white), -who evidently considered old Jake, his shanty, his wigwam, and all his -effects, as her own undoubted property. We found that this was the -“Mary” of whom Jake had spoken as being the person with whom he had -boarded and lodged in the front, and who had found him out here. In -the course of the day both your brothers paid the old man a visit, and -signified to him that it would be as well if he and his companion took -their departure, as we knew he was not married to her, and we had a -wholesome dread of five children, whom Jake had incidentally mentioned, -following in the wake of their mother. - -We gave them leave, however, to remain till the Monday following, as -we did not wish to drive any one out precipitately who was suffering -from the “hagur.” Till they went, we supplied them with provisions. -On the following Monday they departed. Your brothers gave poor Jake -two dollars for the little bit of chopping he had done, and we gave -him some bread, coffee, and potatoes, as provisions for his journey. -Your brothers saw him and Mary off with all their bundles, and returned -home, leaving my gully as silent and solitary as ever. - -We heard afterwards that Jake did not go to his own lot, as he seemed -to intend, but was seen with his companion making his way to the main -road out of the Bush. A settler overtook them, and told us they were -quarrelling violently for the possession of a warm quilted French -counterpane, which we had lent to old Jake to keep him warm in his -wigwam, and had allowed him to take away. - -We were disappointed this year in not having a visit from the old -colporteur of Parry’s Sound. He came last year during a heavy storm -of snow, with a large pack of cheap Bibles and Testaments, and told us -he was an agent for the Wesleyan Society, and had orders to distribute -gratis where there was really no means of paying. In answer to some -remark of mine, he said that “the Bible must always follow the axe.” - -I recognised more than ever, how, by the meanest and weakest -instruments, God works out His mighty designs. This poor man was -verging towards the decline of life; had a hollow cough, and was in -frame very feeble and fragile, yet he was full of zeal, travelled -incessantly, and dispensed numbers of copies of the Word of God as he -passed from settlement to settlement. I bought two New Testaments for -eight cents each, well printed, and strongly bound. - -I am at work occasionally at my pleasant task of recording Bush -reminiscences. My labours have at least kept me from vain and -fruitless regrets and repinings. - -“_Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrate!_” How often have I repeated -these dismal words to myself since I came into the Bush, and felt them -to be the knell of hope and happiness! But time flies whether in joy or -sorrow. We are now in the middle of our second winter, those dreadful -winters of close imprisonment, which last for nearly seven months, and -which your sister and I both agree, form the severest trial of Bush -life. My aspirations, in former years, were manifold; but were I asked -now what were the three absolute essentials for human happiness, I -should be tempted to reply, “Roads to walk upon, a church to worship -in, and a doctor within reach in case of necessity!” All these are -wanting in the Bush; but as we have incessant daily occupation, an -extensive correspondence, and as providentially we brought out all -our stock of cherished books, we manage to live on without too much -complaining. - -Your brother Charles is doing pretty well, and hopes to bring his few -animals safely through the winter. Your brother-in-law also is making -progress, and is expecting from England a partner (a young relation of -his own) whose coming will probably insure him success. We remain just -as we were, striving, struggling, and hoping against hope, that success -may yet crown our endeavours. Our farm stock is easily counted, and -easily taken care of: your brother’s dog, with three very fat puppies; -my pretty cat “Tibbs,” with her little son “Hodge,” and a magnificent -tom puss, whose real home is at “Pioneer Cottage,” but who, being of -social habits and having a general invitation, does me the honour to -eat, drink, and sleep here. - -My sketches of Bush life are an occupation and an amusement to me, but -I can truly say that they very faintly portray our sufferings and our -privations. - - - - -LETTERS FROM AN EMIGRANT LADY. - -Part II. - -WRITTEN TWO YEARS AFTERWARDS. - - - - -LETTERS FROM AN EMIGRANT LADY. - -PART II. - - -In my former letters I spoke in a tone of mingled hope and fear as to -the result of our efforts to make Bush-farming succeed without capital, -and without even the means of living comfortably while trying the -experiment. - -It is needless to say to those who know anything of Muskoka, that the -misgivings were fully realised, and the hopes proved mere delusions, -and melted away imperceptibly as those airy fabrics too often do. We -were certainly much deceived by the accounts given of Muskoka; after -a four years’ residence I am inclined to think that from the very -first the capabilities of its soil for agricultural purposes have been -greatly exaggerated. - -It will require years of extensive clearing, and constant amelioration -of the land by means of manure and other applications, before it will -be capable of bearing heavy grain crops; it is a poor and hungry soil, -light and friable, mostly red sandstone loam and if a settler chances -to find on his lot a small patch of heavy clay loam fit for raising -wheat, the jubilant fuss that is made over it shows that it is not a -common character of the soil. - -The only crops at all reliable are oats and potatoes, and even these -are subject to be injured by the frequent summer droughts and by the -clouds of grasshoppers which occasionally sweep over Muskoka like an -Egyptian plague. - -For years to come the hard woods on a settler’s lot will be his most -valuable source of profit; and as the railroad advances nearer and -nearer, the demand for these woods for the lumber market will greatly -increase. - -But to return to our domestic history. The autumn of 1873 saw the first -breaking-up of our little colony in the final departure from the Bush -of my dear child, Mrs. C----, and her young family. My son-in-law, -Mr. C----, soon found his Bush-farming as wearisome and unprofitable -as we did ourselves. Having formerly taken his degree of B.A. at St. -John’s College, Cambridge, and his wishes having long tended to the -Church as a profession, nothing stood between him and ordination but a -little reading up in classics and theology, which he accomplished with -the assistance of his kind friend the Church of England clergyman at -Bracebridge. - -He was ordained by the Bishop of Toronto in October, 1873, and was at -once appointed to a distant parish. The final parting was most painful, -but it was so obviously for the good of the dear ones leaving us that -we tried to repress all selfish regrets, and I, in particular, heartily -thanked God that even a portion of the family had escaped from the -miseries of Bush-life. - -Our small community being so greatly lessened in number, the monotony -of our lives was perceptibly increased. None but those who have -experienced it can ever realise the utter weariness and isolation of -Bush-life. The daily recurrence of the same laborious tasks, the want -of time for mental culture, the absence of congenial intercourse with -one’s fellow-creatures, the many hours of unavoidable solitude, the -dreary unbroken silence of the immense forest which closes round the -small clearings like a belt of iron; all these things ere long press -down the most buoyant spirit, and superinduce a kind of dull despair, -from which I have suffered for months at a time. - -In conversation once with my daughter-in-law, who was often unavoidably -alone for the whole day, we mutually agreed that there were times when -the sense of loneliness became so dreadful, that had a bear jumped in -at the window, or the house taken fire, or a hurricane blown down the -farm buildings, we should have been tempted to rejoice and to hail the -excitement as a boon. - -And yet, strange as it may appear, I dreaded above all things visits -from our neighbours. It is true they seldom came, but when they did, -every one of them would have considered it a want of kindness not -to prolong their visit for many hours. Harassed as I was with never -ceasing anxiety, and much occupied with my correspondence and other -writing, I found such visits an intolerable nuisance, particularly -as after a little friendly talk about household matters, knitting, -etc., where we met as it were on common ground, there was invariably -a prolonged silence, which it required frantic efforts on my part to -break, so as to prevent my guests feeling awkward and uncomfortable. -On these occasions I was generally left with a nervous headache which -lasted me for days. - -One well-meaning, but especially noisy and vulgar individual was a -continual terror to me. She more than once said to my eldest son: - -“Your pore ma must be that lonesome and dull, that if it warn’t for the -children I would often go and cheer her up a bit.” - -My dear boy did his best to save his “pore ma” from such an -infliction, and was thankful that the children presented an obstacle -which fortunately for me was never got over. - -In my estimation of the merits and agreeable conversation of our -neighbours I made one great exception. Our nearest neighbour was an -intelligent, well-conducted Englishman, who lived a lonely bachelor -life, which in his rare intervals of rest from hard work he greatly -solaced by reading. We lent him all our best books and English -newspapers, and should have been glad to see him oftener, but he was -so afraid of intruding that he seldom came except to return or change -his books; at such times we had much really pleasant conversation, -and often a stirring discussion on some public topic of the day, or -it might be a particular reign in Cassell’s “English History,” or one -of Shakespeare’s plays, both of which voluminous works he was reading -through. - -He had been head clerk in a large shop in Yorkshire, and was slightly -democratic in his opinions, my tendencies being in the opposite -direction; we just differed sufficiently to prevent conversation being -dull. A more intelligent, hard-working, abstemious and trustworthy man -I have seldom known, and we got to consider him quite in the light of -a friend. For three winters, whether we had much or little, Mr. A----g -was our honoured guest on Christmas Day. - -One great solace of our lives was the number of letters we received -from the “old country,” but even these were at times the cause of -slight annoyance to my ever-sensitive feelings. All my dear friends and -relations, after warm condolences on the disappointments we at first -met with, would persist in assuring me that the _worst_ being over, we -were sure to gain ground, and meet with more success for the future. -From whence they gathered their consolatory hopes on our behalf it is -impossible for me to say, certainly not from my letters home, which, -in spite of all my efforts, invariably fell into a melancholy, not to -say a grumbling tone. _I_ knew too well that, however bad things might -be, the _worst_ was yet to come, and with a pardonable exaggeration of -feeling under peculiar circumstances, often said to myself: - - “And in the lowest deep, a lower deep, - Still threatening to devour me, opens wide.” - -The autumn and winter of 1873 passed away with no more remarkable event -than our first patch of fall wheat being sown, from which, in a burst -of temporary enthusiasm, we actually expected to have sufficient flour -for the wants of at least _one_ winter. 1874 having dawned upon us, we -by no means slackened in our efforts to improve the land and make it -profitable; but we found that although our expenses increased, our -means did not. The more land we cleared, the more the want of money -became apparent to crop and cultivate it, the labour of one individual -being quite insufficient for the purpose. - -To remedy this want, my son resolved to do what was a common practice -in the settlement--go out to work for his neighbours, receiving from -them return work, instead of any other payment. Our only difficulty -in this matter was the having to provide sufficient food, even of the -plainest kind, for hungry men engaged in logging; but even this we -managed during the first half of the year. 1874 seemed to be a year of -general want in our settlement; for when my son came home from his day -of outside toil, our usual question was, “Well, dear, what did you have -for dinner?” To which the reply mostly was, “Oh! bread-and-treacle and -tea,” or “porridge and potatoes,” etc. And this in the houses of the -better class of settlers, who were noted for putting the best they had -before any neighbours working for them. In fact, there was so little -of the circulating medium in the place, that all buying and selling -was conducted in the most primitive style of barter. A settler having -hay, corn, or cattle to sell, was obliged to take other commodities in -exchange; and more than once, when we wanted some indispensable work -done, my son, finding that we could in no way provide a money payment, -would look over his tools or farm implements, and sometimes even his -clothes, and part with whatever could possibly be spared. - -I have mentioned our fall wheat sown in the autumn of 1873. Alas for -all human expectations! The crop was pronounced to be a magnificent -one by experienced judges; but when it came to be threshed, every -grain was found to be wizened, shrivelled, and discoloured, and fit for -nothing but to feed poultry. The crop had been winter-killed; that is, -frozen and thawed so often before the snow finally covered it, that it -was quite spoiled. We suffered at intervals this year more severely -from the want of money than we had ever done; and had even long spells -of hunger and want, which I trust have prepared us all to feel during -the remainder of our lives a more full and perfect sympathy with our -destitute fellow-creatures. In vain did we hope and wait, like Mr. -Micawber, for “something to turn up;” nothing did turn up, but fresh -troubles and increased fatigues. - -Had it not been for the exceeding kindness of our friendly lawyer in -London, and of a very dear friend of my early years (himself a lawyer), -who sent us occasional assistance, we must have sunk under our wants -and miseries. I did my very best to keep the “wolf from the door” by -my literary efforts, and met with much kindness and consideration; -but after unceasing industry, long continued, got to know that a few -articles inserted at intervals in a fashionable American magazine, -however much they might be liked and approved of, would do but little -towards relieving the wants of a family. I became at last quite -discouraged; for so much material was rejected and returned upon my -hands, that I was fain to conclude that some frightful spell of dulness -had fallen upon my once lively pen. - -The work of this year appeared to us all to be harder than ever, and my -eldest son’s health and strength were evidently on the decline. It is -true that nearly every day he did the work of two men, as, in addition -to the cultivation of the land, he had to chop all the fire-wood for -daily use, to draw the water, and to do various jobs more or less -fatiguing to insure anything like comfort to the family. He became so -attenuated and cadaverous-looking, that we often told him that he would -make his fortune on any stage as the lean apothecary in “Romeo and -Juliet.” - -It was with scarcely-suppressed anguish that, night after night, we -saw him so fatigued and worn-out as to be hardly able to perform his -customary ablutions and toilet before sitting down to the reading and -writing with which he invariably concluded the day, and which was the -only employment which linked us all to our happier life in former days. -Indeed, both my sons, in spite of hard work and scanty fare, managed to -give a few brief moments to study, and both at intervals wrote a few -articles for our local paper, which at least showed an aptitude for -higher pursuits than Bush-farming. Both my sons at times worked for and -with each other, which was a most pleasant arrangement. - -At this time my youngest son was going through, on his own farm, the -same struggles as ourselves, and was, I am bound to say, in every -respect as hard-working and energetic as his elder brother. His family -was fast increasing, as he had now two little boys, in addition to -the one of whom we had charge; and before the end of the year, he was -thankful to accept the situation of schoolmaster at Allunsville, which -added forty pounds a year to his slender means. - -On one occasion, when he was working on our land with his brother, and -when four other men were giving my son return-work, and were logging a -large piece of ground near the house, having brought their oxen with -them, we had half an hour of the delicious excitement of which my -daughter-in-law and myself had talked so calmly some time before. - -It was a bright sunny day, and my daughter and myself were busily -engaged in cooking a substantial dinner for our working party, when, -chancing to look up, my daughter exclaimed, “Mamma, is that sunlight -or fire shining through the roof?” I ran out directly, and saw that -the shingles below the chimney were well alight and beginning to blaze -up. Calling to my daughter in passing, I flew to the end of the house -and screamed out “Fire! fire!” in a voice which, my sons afterwards -laughingly assured me, must have been heard at the post-office, three -miles off. It had the immediate effect of bringing the whole party to -our assistance in a few seconds, who were met by my daughter with two -pails of water, which she had promptly procured from the well. - -My two sons, both as active as monkeys, were immediately on the roof; -one with an axe, to cut away the burning shingles; the other with -water, handed up by men, to keep the fire from spreading. In ten -minutes all danger was over; but it left us rather frightened and -nervous, and I must confess that I never again wished for excitement of -the same dangerous kind. - -In the summer of this year I went to Bracebridge, on a visit to my -daughter, Mrs. C., whose husband had lately taken priest’s orders, and -been appointed by his bishop resident Church of England minister in -that place, a change very agreeable to him, as he was well known, and -much liked and esteemed by the inhabitants. - -When I left the Bush to go into Bracebridge, it was with the full -intention of never returning to it, and all my family considered my -visit to Mrs. C. as a farewell visit before leaving for England. I -had made great exertions to get from my kind lawyer and a friend an -advance of sufficient money to take one of us back to the dear “old -country,” and all agreed that I should go first, being well aware that -my personal solicitations would soon secure the means of bringing back -my eldest son and daughter, who, being the only unmarried ones of the -family, were my constant companions. - -Having, unfortunately for my plans, but quite unavoidably, made use of -part of the money to leave things tolerably comfortable in the Bush, -I waited anxiously till the deficit could be made up, which I fully -hoped would soon be the case, a work of mine, in fifteen parts, having -been forwarded to a publisher in New York, with a view to publication -if approved of. What was my distress at receiving the manuscript back, -with this observation appended to it: “The work is too English, -local, and special, to be acceptable on this side of the Atlantic”! -Other articles intended for the magazine I sometimes wrote for were -also returned upon my hands about the same time. I draw a veil over my -feelings, and will only say that disappointment, anxiety, suspense, -and the burning heat of the weather gave me a very severe attack of -illness, which frightened my dear child Mrs. C. most dreadfully, and -left me so weak, feeble, and completely crushed, that I was thankful -to send for my son, and to go back ignominiously to the hated Bush, to -be tenderly nursed by my dear children, and to grieve over the loss of -money so utterly thrown away. - -The year wore slowly away, and Christmas Eve came at last; the snow had -fallen in immense quantities, and the roads were nearly impassable from -the deep drift. Our worthy friend Mr. A----g was away at the lochs, -eight miles off, where he had taken a job of work, and we therefore -felt pretty sure that he could not pay us his customary Christmas -visit. We felt almost thankful, much as we liked him; for we had been -literally without a cent for two months, and all our provision for -Christmas festivities consisted in plenty of potatoes and a small -modicum of flour. - -But we were not to escape the humiliation of having nothing to put -before our invited guest. Long after dark a well-known knock at the -door announced Mr. A----g, who came for the key of his house, of which -we always had the charge, and who had walked the whole way from the -lochs to keep his tryst with us, over roads deep in snow and quite -dangerous from snow-drifts at either side, which were so many pitfalls -for unwary travellers. He came in, and we made him directly some hot -tea--a welcome refreshment after his cold and fatiguing tramp of six -hours. - -When he was gone, we held a committee of ways and means; but as -nothing could be done to alter the state of affairs, and as there was -absolutely a ludicrous side to the question, we laughed heartily and -went to bed. - -Having edified the public with an account of our first Christmas dinner -in the Bush, I cannot resist the temptation of giving the details of -our last, which certainly did not show much improvement in our finances. - -On Christmas morning, 1874, we very early heard a joyous shout, and -saw dear Charles advancing triumphantly with two very small salt -herrings (the last of his stock) dangling in one hand, and a huge -vegetable-marrow in the other, these articles being the only addition -he could make to our Christmas dinner, which for the three previous -years he had been mainly instrumental in providing. - -What could we do but laugh and cheerfully accept the situation? -Charles promised to bring his dear wife and the two babies down on the -ox-sleigh as early as possible. We borrowed, without hesitation, some -butter from our friend Mr. A----g, who had a stock of it, and my eldest -son went himself to fetch him before dinner, fearing that delicacy -would prevent his coming, as he could too well guess the state of the -larder. - -Our guests assembled and dinner-time arrived, I placed on the table a -large and savoury dish of vegetable-marrow mashed, with potatoes well -buttered, peppered, salted and baked in the oven; the two herrings -carefully cooked and a steaming dish of potatoes, with plenty of -tea, made up a repast which we much enjoyed. When tea-time came, my -daughter, who had devoted herself for the good of the community, -supplied us with relays of “dampers,” which met with universal -approbation. - -In compliment to our guest, we had all put on what my boys jocosely -term our “Sunday go-to-meeting clothes!” I was really glad that the -grubs of so many weary weeks past on this day turned into butterflies. -Cinderella’s transformations were not more complete. My daughter -became the elegant young woman she has always been considered; my -sons, in once more getting into their gentlemanly clothes, threw -off the careworn look of working-day fatigue, and became once more -distinguished and good-looking young men; and as to my pretty -daughter-in-law, I have left her till the last to have the pleasure -of saying that I never saw her look more lovely. She wore a very -elegant silk dress, had delicate lace and bright ribbons floating about -her, a gold locket and chain and sundry pretty ornaments, relics of -her girlish days, and to crown all her beautiful hair flowing over -her shoulders. I thought several times that afternoon, as I saw her -caressing first one and then another of her three baby boys, that -a painter might have been proud to sketch the pretty group, and to -throw in at his fancy gorgeous draperies, antique vases and beautiful -flowers, in lieu of the rude coarse framework of a log-house. - -I could not but notice this Christmas Day that no attempt was made at -_singing_, not even our favourite hymns were proposed; in fact the -whole year had been so brim full of misfortune and trouble that I think -none of our hearts were attuned to melody. Ah! dear reader, it takes -long chastening before we can meekly drink the cup of affliction and -say from the heart, “_Thy will be done!_” Let you and I, remembering -our own shortcomings in this respect, be very tender over those of -others! - -Our party broke up early, as the children and their mother had to be -got home before the light of the short winter-day had quite vanished, -but we all agreed that we had passed a few hours very pleasantly. - -Very different was our fare on New Year’s Day of 1875--a sumptuous wild -turkey, which we roasted, having been provided for us by the kindness -of one whom we must ever look upon in the light of a dear friend. - -The “gentlemanly Canadian,” mentioned by me in my Bush reminiscences, -read my papers and at once guessed at the authorship. Being in Muskoka -on an election tour with his friend Mr. Pardee, he procured a guide -and found us out in the Bush. He stayed but a short time, but the very -sight of his kind friendly face did us good for days. Finding that I -had never seen a wild turkey from the prairie, he asked leave to send -me one, and did not forget his promise, sending a beautiful bird which -was meant for our Christmas dinner, but owing to delays at Bracebridge -only reached us in time for New Year’s Day; which brings me to 1875, an -era of very important family changes. - -I began this year with more of hopefulness and pleasure than I had -known for a long time. My determination that this year should see us -clear of the Bush had long been fixed, and I felt that as I brought -unconquerable energy, and the efforts of a strong will to bear upon -the project, it was sure to be successful. I had no opposition now to -dread from my dear companions; both my son and daughter were as weary -as myself of our long-continued and hopeless struggles. My son’s health -and strength were visibly decreasing; he had already spent more than -three years of the prime of his life in work harder than a common -labourer’s, and with no better result than the very uncertain prospect -of a bare living at the end of many years more of daily drudgery. His -education fitted him for higher pursuits, and it was better for him to -begin the world again, even at the age of thirty-two, than to continue -burying himself alive. - -We had long looked upon Bush life in the light of exile to a penal -settlement without even the convict’s chance of a ticket-of-leave. All -these considerations nerved me for the disagreeable task of getting -money from England for our removal, in which, thanks to the unwearied -kindness of the friends I have before mentioned, I succeeded, and -very early in the year we began to make preparations for our final -departure. It required the stimulus of hope to enable us to bear the -discomforts of our last two months’ residence in the Bush. - -After the turn of the year, immense quantities of snow continued to -fall till we were closely encircled by walls of ice and snow fully -five feet in depth. The labour of keeping paths open to the different -farm-buildings was immense, and the unavoidable task of cutting away -the superincumbent ice and snow from the different roofs was one of -danger as well as toil. I was told that we were passing through an -exceptional winter, and I must believe it, as long after we were in -Bracebridge the snow continued to fall, and even so late as the middle -of May a heavy snow-storm spread its white mantle on the earth, and hid -it from view for many hours. - -The last day at length arrived, we sat for the last time by our -log-fire, we looked for the last time on the familiar landscape, and -I, at least, felt not one pang of regret. My bump of adhesiveness is -enormous; I cling fondly to the friends I love, to my pet animals, -and even to places where I have lived; in quitting France I could have -cried over every shrub and flower in my beloved garden. How great then -must have been my unhappiness, and how I must have loathed my Bush -life, when at quitting it for ever, my only feeling was joy at my -escape! - -At the time we left, the roads were so dangerous for the horses’ legs -that my son had the greatest difficulty in hiring a wagon and team for -our own use--all our heavy baggage had been taken in by ox-sleighs. -He succeeded at last, and in the afternoon of the 2nd of March our -exodus began. My son and the driver removed all but the front seat, -and carefully spread our softest bedding, blankets and pillows, at -the bottom of the wagon, and on these my daughter and myself reclined -at our ease with our dear little charge between us. My favourite cat -Tibbs, of “Atlantic Monthly” celebrity, was in a warm basket before me, -and her companion Tomkins, tied up in a bag, slept on my lap the whole -way. My son sat with the driver, and Jack, our black dog, ran by the -side. We slept at Utterson, and in the morning went on to Bracebridge, -where my son had secured for us a small roadside house. - -When we were tolerably settled Edward started for Toronto and Montreal -in search of employment, taking with him many excellent letters of -introduction. In Montreal he was most kindly and hospitably welcomed -by two dear friends, ladies who came out with us in the same ship from -England, who received him into their house, introduced him to a large -circle of friends, and did much to restore the shattered health of the -“handsome emigrant,” as they had named him in the early stages of their -acquaintance. Eventually finding nothing suitable in either place, our -dear companion and protector for so many years decided to go on the -Survey, his name having been put down by our kind friend, the donor of -the wild turkey, on the Staff of his relation, Mr. Stuart, appointed by -Government to survey the district of Parry Sound. Severe illness of our -little boy, followed by illness of my own which still continues, was my -welcome to Bracebridge, but still I rejoice daily that our Bush life is -for ever over. - -Here I finally drop the curtain on our domestic history, and make but -a few parting observations. I am far from claiming undue sympathy for -my individual case, but would fain deter others of the genteel class, -and especially elderly people, from breaking up their comfortable homes -and following an _ignis fatuus_ in the shape of emigration to a distant -land. - -I went into the Bush of Muskoka strong and healthy, full of life and -energy, and fully as enthusiastic as the youngest of our party. I -left it with hopes completely crushed, and with health so hopelessly -shattered from hard work, unceasing anxiety and trouble of all kinds, -that I am now a helpless invalid, entirely confined by the doctor’s -orders to my bed and sofa, with not the remotest chance of ever leaving -them for a more active life during the remainder of my days on earth. - - - - -A WEDDING IN MUSKOKA. - -An Incident of Life in the Canadian Backwoods. - - - - -A WEDDING IN MUSKOKA. - - -I freely acknowledge that I am a romantic old woman; my children are -continually telling me that such is my character, and without shame -I confess the soft impeachment. I do not look upon romance as being -either frivolous, unreal, or degrading; I consider it as a heaven-sent -gift to the favoured few, enabling them to cast a softening halo of -hope and beauty round the stern and rugged realities of daily life, -and fitting them also to enter into the warm feelings and projects -of the young, long after the dreams of love and youth have become -to themselves things of the past. After this exordium, I need hardly -say that I love and am loved by young people, that I have been the -depositary of many innocent love secrets, and have brought more than -one affair of the kind to a happy conclusion. I feel tempted to record -my last experience, which began in France and ended happily in Muskoka. -The parties, I am happy to say, are still living, to be, I doubt not, -greatly amused at my faithful reminiscences of their past trials. - -Just seven years ago I was in France busily working in my beautiful -flower-garden, when I was told that visitors awaited me in the -drawing-room. Hastily pulling off my garden-gloves and apron, I -went in and found a very dear young friend, whom I shall call John -Herbert; he asked my permission to present to me four young ladies -of his acquaintance, all sisters, and very sweet specimens of pretty, -lady-like English girls. The eldest, much older than the rest, and -herself singularly attractive, seemed completely to merge her own -identity in that of her young charges, to whose education she had -devoted the best years of her early womanhood, and who now repaid her -with loving affection and implicit deference to her authority. It was -easy for me to see that the “bright, particular star” of my handsome, -dashing young friend was the second sister, a lovely, shy girl of -sixteen, whose blushes and timidity fully assured me of the state of -matters between the two. - -The mother of Mary Lennox (such was my heroine’s name) lived in France, -her father in England, and in this divided household the care of the -three younger girls had been entirely left to their eldest sister. John -Herbert had made their acquaintance in that extraordinary manner in -which young ladies and gentlemen do manage to become acquainted, as -often in real life as in novels, without any intercourse between the -respective families. For two or three months he had been much in their -society, and the well-known result had followed. I have rarely seen a -handsomer couple than these boy and girl lovers, on whom the eldest -sister evidently looked with fond and proud admiration; and when, after -a protracted visit, they took leave of me, I felt fully disposed to -treat them with the warmest kindness and friendship. - -In subsequent interviews, poor Herbert more fully opened his heart to -me, and laid before me all his plans and projects for the future. The -son of an old officer who fell during the Crimean war, he had neither -friends nor fortune, but had to make his own position in the world. -At this time he was twenty-one, and having just entered the merchant -service was about to sail for Australia. - -He told me also of the fierce opposition made by every member of Mary’s -family, except her eldest sister, to their engagement. I was not at -all surprised at this, and told him so; for could anything be more -imprudent than an engagement between two people so young and so utterly -without this world’s goods? - -Mary, like himself, had neither fortune nor prospects. She was going -to England to a finishing school with her two sisters, with the fixed -idea of qualifying herself for a governess. Herbert entreated me to be -a friend to these dear girls in his absence, to watch especially over -his Mary during their brief holidays which were to be spent in France, -to be his medium of correspondence with her while away, and above all -to watch for every incidental opening to influence her family in his -favour. - -To all his wishes I at last consented, not without seriously laying -before him that his carrying out this wish of his heart mainly depended -upon his own steadiness, good conduct, and success in his profession. -He promised everything, poor fellow, and religiously kept his promise. -A few hurried interviews at my house were followed by a tearful -farewell, and then, for the first time, the young lovers drifted apart. -Herbert sailed for Australia, and Mary and her sisters crossed the -Channel and went to school. - -I shall try briefly to sketch the appearance of my two young friends -at this momentous epoch of their lives. Mary Lennox had large, soft, -grey eyes full of expression, with very beautifully pencilled eyebrows -of dark-brown, the colour of her hair, of which she had a great -abundance. She had a very handsome nose, and a well-formed face, with -a colour varying with every shade of feeling. In height she was rather -below than above middle size, with a pretty, slight figure, girlish -and graceful. In complexion she was a fair brunette, which suited well -with the colour of her eyes and hair. A great charm to me was the shy, -downcast look of her pretty face, partly arising from the natural -timidity of her character, and partly from the novelty of her position. - -After a confidential intercourse of some weeks, I found her possessed -of considerable character and steady principles, and her early -engagement seemed to have given her far more serious views of life and -its duties, than could have been expected in one so young. While her -more mercurial sisters were romping in my garden, and chasing my pussy -cats, she would mostly sit with her hand confidingly in mine, while -her eldest sister and myself talked of books, music, and all the topics -of the day. - -As to John Herbert, none could look upon him and not acknowledge that -he was as eminently handsome as his young lady-love. Not above middle -height, his figure was slight and elegant, but well knit and muscular, -giving promise of still greater strength when more fully developed. -His merry laughing eyes were a clear hazel, with yellow spots, very -uncommon and very beautiful. His features finely cut, and delicately -chiselled, would have been perfect, but that critics pronounced his -nose to be a trifle too long. His eyebrows were dark and rather thickly -marked, giving great expression to his eyes. A beautiful head of dark -curly hair, and a soft short moustache completed the appearance of one -of the handsomest boys I have ever seen. - -At this time he was full of energy, life, and determination, fond of -active, outdoor employment, with a presence of mind and a dauntless -courage which never failed him in moments of danger, and which enabled -him in after years to extricate himself and others from scenes of -imminent danger. Indeed, his sister averred that such was his presence -of mind, that should his ship be wrecked, and every one on board be -lost, Herbert would surely be saved if with only a butter-boat to cling -to. He was truly affectionate and kind-hearted, but at this early age -slightly imperious and self-willed, having been greatly flattered and -spoilt in childhood; but contact with the world does much to smooth off -the sharpest angularities and poor Herbert had a rough future before -him. - -After Herbert had sailed for Melbourne, and Mary and her sisters -had gone to school, more than a year elapsed, during which time -letters duly arrived, which I carefully forwarded; and soon after the -expiration of that time, he and his ship arrived safely at Liverpool. -Having with some difficulty obtained from the owners a few days’ leave, -he hurried over to France to see and reassure his anxious and beloved -Mary. Fortunately it was the Christmas holidays, and as soon as I could -notify his arrival to Miss Lennox, she brought all the dear girls down -to me. - -Then ensued, for the lovers, long walks up and down my garden, in spite -of the cold; for us all a few pleasant tea-parties; and then another -separation, which this time was to extend over more than three years. - -I am by no means favourable to long engagements, but these two were so -young that I have always considered the years of anxiety and suspense -they passed through, as an excellent training-time for both. They -certainly helped to form Mary’s character, and to give her those habits -of patience and trusting hopefulness which have been of so much benefit -to her since. Nor was she ever allowed to think herself forgotten. -Fond and affectionate letters came regularly every month, and at rare -intervals such pretty tokens of remembrance as the slender means of -her sailor lover could procure. Perfumes and holy beads from India, -feathers from Abyssinia, and a pretty gold ring, set with pearls of the -purest water, from the Persian Gulf. - -Later came the pleasing intelligence that John Herbert had passed an -excellent examination to qualify him as mate, and was on board one -of the ships belonging to the company which took out the expedition -for laying the cable in the Persian Gulf. On board this ship, called -the _British India_, he met with a gentleman, whose influence over -his future fate has long appeared to us all providential. This person -was Major C----, the officer in command of the party sent out. They -had many conversations together; and cheered and encouraged by his -kindness, Herbert ventured to address a letter to him, in which he -stated how much he was beginning to suffer from the heat of India; how -in his profession he had been driven about the world for nearly five -years, and still found himself as little able to marry and settle as -at first; that he had no friend to place him in any situation which -might better his position, and that his desire to quit a seafaring life -was increased by the fact that he was never free from sea-sickness, -which pursued and tormented him in every voyage just as it did in the -beginning. - -The kind and gentlemanly Major C---- responded warmly to this appeal; -they had a long interview, in which he told Herbert that he himself -was about to return to England, and felt sure that he could procure for -him a good situation in the Telegraph Department in Persia. He gave him -his address in London, and told him to come and see him as soon as he -got back from India. - -John Herbert lost no time, when the expedition was successfully over, -in giving up his situation as mate, and in procuring all necessary -testimonials as to good conduct and capacity. Indeed, he so wrought -upon the officials of the _British India_, that they gave him a free -passage in one of their ships as far as Suez. The letter containing -the news of his improved prospects and speedy return occasioned the -greatest joy. - -I had some time before made the acquaintance of Mrs. Lennox, and from -her manner, as well as from what Mrs. Lennox told me, I saw with -joy that all active opposition was over, and that the engagement was -tacitly connived at by the whole family. It was in the beginning of -April that John Herbert arrived, his health much improved by absolute -freedom from hard work and night watches. He had to pay all his own -expenses from Suez, and just managed the overland journey on his little -savings of eighteen or twenty pounds. - -The “lovers’ walk” in my garden was now in constant occupation, and the -summer-house at the end became a permanent boudoir. After a few days -given to the joy of such an unexpected and hopeful reunion, Herbert -wrote to Major C---- to announce his arrival, and to prepare him for -a subsequent visit. He waited some days in great anxiety, and when he -received the answer, brought it directly to me. I will not say that -despair was written on his face--he was of too strong and hopeful a -temperament for that--but blank dismay and measureless astonishment -certainly were, and not without cause. The writer first expressed his -deep regret that any hope he had held out of a situation should have -induced Herbert to give up his profession for a mere chance. He then -stated that on his own return to England he had found the Government in -one of its periodical fits of parsimony, and that far from being able -to make fresh appointments, he had found his own salary cut down, and -all supernumeraries inexorably dismissed. Such were the contents of -Major C----’s letter. It was indeed a crushing blow. John Herbert could -not but feel that his five years of tossing about the world in various -climates had been absolutely lost, so far as being settled in life was -concerned, and he could not but feel also that he had again to begin -the great battle of life, with prospects of success much diminished by -the fact of his being now nearly twenty-six years of age. - -Many long and anxious conversations ensued on the receipt of this -letter. Both Herbert and Mary bravely bore up against the keen -disappointment of all their newly-raised hopes. If the promised and -coveted situation had been secured, there would have been nothing to -prevent their almost immediate marriage; now all chance of this was -thrown far into the background, and all that could be done was to trace -out for Herbert some future plan of life to be begun with as little -delay as possible. At the death of a near relative he would be entitled -to a small portion of money amounting to five hundred pounds. This -he now determined to sink for the present sum of two hundred pounds -tendered by the Legal Assurance Society, in lieu of all future claims. - -It was the end of July, 1870, before the necessary papers were all -signed, and with the money thus raised, Herbert resolved at once to -start for New York, where he proposed embarking his small capital in -some business in which his thorough knowledge of French might be useful -to him. He prudently expended a portion of his money in a good outfit -and a gold watch. - -Soon after his arrival in New York he wrote to tell us that at the same -hotel where he boarded he had met with an old French gentleman recently -from Paris, that they had gone into partnership and had opened a small -establishment on Broadway for the sale of French wines and cigars. He -wrote that they had every hope of doing well, numbers of foreigners -buying from them, Frenchmen particularly coming in preference where -they could freely converse in their own language. Just at this epoch -the French and German war broke out, and stretching as it were across -the broad Atlantic, swept into its ruinous vortex the poor little -business in New York on which dear friends at home were building up -such hopes of success. Herbert and his partner found their circle of -French customers disappear as if by magic, the greater part recalled -to their own country to serve as soldiers. No German would enter a -French store, the English and Americans gave them no encouragement, and -amid the stirring events which now occupied the public mind, the utter -failure of the small business on Broadway took place without exciting -either notice or pity. - -Herbert saved nothing from the wreck of affairs but his gold watch -and his clothes. It was about this time that a casual acquaintance -mentioned to John Herbert the “free-grant lands” of Muskoka, pointing -them out as a wide and promising field for emigration. He told -him that he knew several families who had located themselves in -that distant settlement, and who had found the land excellent, the -conditions on which it was to be held easy of fulfilment, and the -climate, though cold, incomparably healthy. - -This intelligence, coming at a time when all was apparently lost, -and his future prospects of the gloomiest kind, decided John Herbert -to find his way to Muskoka and to apply for land there. He found a -companion for his long journey in the person of a German who had come -over with him in the same ship from Havre, and who, like himself, had -entirely failed in bettering his condition in New York. - -This poor young man had left a wife and child in Germany, and now -that the war had broken out, having no vocation for fighting, he was -afraid to venture back. Herbert sold his gold watch (for which he had -given twenty pounds) for fifty dollars, and his companion being much -on a par as to funds, they joined their resources and started for -Muskoka. After a very fatiguing journey, performed as much as possible -on foot, but latterly partly by rail and partly by boat, they arrived -at Bracebridge, where the German took up one hundred acres, Herbert -preferring to wait and choose his land in spring; and it was agreed -that during the winter, now beginning with great severity, they should -work together and have everything in common. - -Having engaged a man who knew the country well to go with them and -point out the land they had just taken up, they bought a few necessary -articles, such as bedding, tools, a cooking-stove, and a small supply -of provisions, and started for the township in which they were about -to locate. Once upon the land they set to work, cleared a spot of -ground, and with some assistance from their neighbours built a small -shanty sufficient to shelter them for the winter. It was when they -were tolerably settled that Herbert began to feel what a clog and a -hindrance his too hastily formed partnership was likely to be. Feeble -in body and feeble in mind, his companion became every day more -depressed and home-sick. At last he ceased entirely from doing any -work, which threw a double portion upon Herbert, who had in addition -to do all commissions, and to fetch the letters from the distant -post-office in all weathers. - -Poor Wilhelm could do nothing but smoke feebly by the stove, shudder -at the cold now becoming intense, and bemoan his hard fate. He was -likewise so timid that his own shadow frightened him, and he could -not bear to be left alone in the shanty. Herbert had a narrow escape -of being shot by him one night on his return, rather late, from the -post-office. Wilhelm, hearing footsteps, in his fright took down from -the wall Herbert’s double-barrelled gun, which was kept always loaded, -and was vainly trying to point it in the right direction, out of the -door, when Herbert entered to find him as pale as death, and with limbs -shaking to that degree that fortunately he had been unable to cock the -gun. - -It was indeed hard to be tied down to such a companionship. Herbert -himself suffered severely from the cold of the Canadian climate, coming -upon him as it did after some years’ residence in India, but he never -complained, and his letters home to Mary and all of us spoke of hopeful -feelings and undiminished perseverance. He has often told us since -that he never left the shanty without a strong presentiment that on -his return he should find it in flames, so great was the carelessness -of his companion in blowing about the lighted ashes from his pipe. -For this reason he always carried in the belt he wore round him, night -and day, his small remainder of money and all his testimonials and -certificates. A great part of his time was occupied in snaring rabbits -and shooting an occasional bird or squirrel with which to make soup for -his invalid companion. He used to set his snares overnight and look -at them the first thing in the morning. One bitter cold morning he -went out as usual to see if anything had been caught, leaving Wilhelm -smoking by the stove. He returned to find the shanty in flames and his -terrified companion crying, screaming, and wringing his hands. Herbert -called to him in a voice of thunder, “The powder!” The frightened fool -pointed to the half-burnt shanty, into which Herbert madly dashed, and -emerged, half smothered, with a large carpet-bag already smouldering, -in which, among all his best clothes, he had stored away his entire -stock of gunpowder in canisters. He hurled the carpet-bag far off into -a deep drift of snow, by which prompt measure he probably saved his own -life and his companion’s, who seemed quite paralysed by fear. He then -attempted to stop the fire by cutting away the burning rafters, but -all his efforts were useless; hardly anything was saved but one trunk, -which he dragged out at once though it was beginning to burn. - -The tools, the bedding, the working-clothes, and most of his good -outfit were consumed, and at night he went to bed at a kind neighbour’s -who had at once taken him in, feeling too truly that he was again a -ruined man. - -One blessing certainly accrued to him from this sweeping misfortune. -He for ever got rid of his helpless partner, who at once left the -settlement, leaving Herbert again a free agent. Necessity compelled -him now to do what he had never done before--to write home for -assistance. His letter found his eldest sister in a position to help -him, as she had just sunk her own portion in the same manner that he -had done, not for her own benefit, but to assist members of the family -who were in difficulties. She sent him at once fifty pounds, and with -the possession of this sum all his prospects brightened. - -He left the scene of his late disaster, took up one hundred acres of -land for himself and another one hundred in the name of Mary Lennox, -making sure that she would eventually come out to him. He set hard to -work chopping and clearing a few acres, which, as the spring opened, he -cropped judiciously. He then called a “bee,” which was well attended, -and raised the walls of a good large log-house, the roof of which he -shingled entirely himself in a masterly manner. For stock he bought -two cows and some chickens; and then wrote to Mary, telling of his -improved prospects, and asking her if, when he was more fully settled, -she would consent to share his lot in this far-off corner of the earth. -At this time Mary was on a visit to me, having been allowed, for the -first time, to accept my warm invitation. All her family were at the -sea-side in England, having left during the French war. - -I have often said that a special Providence certainly watched over -Herbert and Mary. It did seem most extraordinary that just at this -particular time a married sister of John Herbert, with her husband and -children, had suddenly determined to join him in Muskoka. The reason -was this: Mr. C----, her husband, was the classical and mathematical -professor in a large French academy; but years of scholastic duties and -close attention to books had so undermined his health, that he was -quite unable to continue the exercise of his profession; indeed, the -medical men consulted by him gave it as their opinion that nothing but -an entire change of climate and occupation, and a complete abstinence -from all studious pursuits, together with an outdoor life, would give -him the slightest chance of recovery. Herbert was written to and -authorised to take up land for them near his own, and it was settled -that they were to sail in the end of July. - -Now came my time for persuasion and influence. I opened a -correspondence with Mary’s father, who had recently received an -explicit and manly letter from Herbert, with which he was much pleased. -I represented to Mr. Lennox that this was no longer the “boy-and-girl -love” (to quote his own words) of five years ago, but a steady -affection, which had been severely tested by trouble, difficulty, -opposition, and separation; that no future opportunity could ever be -so favourable as the present one for his daughter going out to her -future husband under the protection and guardianship of a family soon -to become her relations, and who would, in everything, watch over her -interest and comfort. In short, I left nothing unsaid that could make -a favourable impression, willingly conceding to his paternal feelings -that it was, in a worldly point of view, a match falling short of his -just expectations for his beautiful and accomplished child. - -When two or three letters had passed between us, we agreed that Mary -should go over at once to her family, and join her personal influence -to my special pleading. - -I waited with great anxiety for her answer. At length it came. Her -family had consented. Fortunately she was just of age; and as she -remained steadfast in her attachment, they agreed with me that it would -be best for her to go out with her future sister-in-law. Mary wrote -to Mrs. C----, gratefully accepting her offer of chaperonage, and we -despatched the joyful news to Herbert; but unfortunately named a date -for their probable arrival which proved incorrect, as their vessel -sailed from London two or three weeks before the expected time. This we -shall see was productive of much temporary annoyance. - -I pass over all the details of their voyage and subsequent journey, -and now take up the narrative in Mrs. C----’s words, telling of their -arrival at Mary’s future home: - -“It was about noon of a burning day in August when the stage-wagon in -which we came from Utterson turned out of the road into the Bush. After -going some little way in a dreadful narrow track, covered with stumps, -over which the wagon jolted fearfully, we were told to get down, as -the driver could not go any farther with safety to the horses; and we -therefore paid and dismissed him. - -“We soon came to a shanty by the roadside, the owner of which met us -and offered to be our guide. He evidently knew to whom we were going, -but the perplexed and doubtful expression of his face when he caught -sight of our party was most amusing. He looked from one to the other, -and then burst out, in quite an injured tone, ‘But nothing is ready for -you; the house even is not finished. Mr. Herbert knows nothing of your -coming so soon; he told me this morning that he did not expect you for -three weeks! What will he do?’ The poor man, a great friend and ally -of Herbert’s, appeared quite angry at our ill-timed arrival; but we -explained to him that we should only be too thankful for any kind of -shelter, being dreadfully wearied with our long journey, and the poor -children crying from heat, fatigue, and the attacks of the mosquitoes. - -“Charles now proposed going in advance of us, to prepare Herbert for -our arrival. He walked quickly on, and, entering the clearing, caught -sight of Herbert, hard at work in the burning sun, covered with dust -and perspiration, and, in fact, barely recognisable, being attired in a -patched suit of common working-clothes, which he had snatched from the -burning shanty, with his toes also peeping out of a pair of old boots -with soles partly off. - -“On first seeing his brother-in-law, every vestige of colour left his -face, so great was his emotion, knowing that we must be close at hand. -To rush into the house, after a few words of explanation, to make a -brief toilet, greatly aided by a bucket of water and plenty of soap, -to attire himself in a most becoming suit of cool brown linen, and, -finally, to place on his hastily-brushed head a Panama hat, which we -had often admired, was the work of little more than a quarter of an -hour; and, to Charles’ great amusement, the scrubby, dirty-looking -workman he had greeted, stepped forward in the much-improved guise of a -handsome and aristocratic-looking young planter. - -“In the meantime, our guide having brought us within sight of the outer -fence, hastily took his leave, hardly waiting to receive our thanks. -Mary and I have often laughed since at his great anxiety to get away -from us, which we know now was partly from delicate reluctance to -intrude upon our first interview, but a great deal more from his horror -at the state in which he knew things to be at the house. - -“Poor Herbert, when he reached us, could hardly speak. After one fond -and grateful embrace of his darling, and a most kind and affectionate -welcome to the children and myself, he conducted us to the house. -Although his neighbour had prepared us for disappointment, yet I must -own that we felt unutterable dismay when we looked around us. - -“The house was certainly a good large one, but it was a mere shell; -nothing but the walls and the roof were up, and even the walls were -neither chinked nor mossed, so that we could see daylight between all -the logs. The floor was not laid down, but in the middle of it an -excavation had been begun for a cellar, so that there was a yawning -hole, in which for some weeks my children found a play-closet and a -hiding-place for all their rubbish. - -“Furniture there was none, the only seats and tables being Herbert’s -one trunk, partly burned, saved from the fire, and a few flour-barrels. -There was no semblance of a bed, except a little hay in a corner, a few -sacks, and an old blanket. Some milk-pans and a few plates and mugs -completed the articles in this truly Irish cabin, of which Herbert did -the honours with imperturbable grace and self-possession. He made no -useless apologies for the existing discomforts; he told us simply what -he meant the house to be as soon as he could get time to finish it; -and in the interim he looked about with as much satisfaction as if his -log-house had been Windsor Castle, and we the crowned heads to whom he -was displaying its glories. - -“We found the larder as scantily-furnished as the house; but Herbert -made us a few cakes and baked them in the oven; he boiled some -potatoes, and milked the cow, so that we were not long without some -refreshment. - -“For sleeping we curtained off a corner of the room with our -travelling-cloaks and shawls, and made a tolerable bed with bundles of -hay and a few sacks to cover us. We had brought nothing with us but -our hand-baskets, so were obliged to lie down in most of our clothes, -the nights beginning to be very chilly, and the night air coming in -freely through the unchinked walls. We were, however, truly thankful -this first night to put the children to bed quite early, and to retire -ourselves, for we were thoroughly wearied and worn out. The two -gentlemen lay down, just as they were, in the far corner of the room on -some hay; and if we were chilly and uncomfortable, I think they must -have been more so. - -“The first night we were undisturbed; but on the next, we were hardly -asleep when we were awoke by a horrid and continuous hissing, which -seemed to come from the hay of our improvised bed. We all started up -in terror, the poor frightened children crying loudly. The gentlemen, -armed with sticks, beat the hay of the beds about, and scattered it -completely. They soon had the pleasant sight of a tolerable-sized snake -gliding swiftly from our corner, and making its escape under the door -into the clearing, where Herbert found and killed it next morning. We -must indeed have been tired to sleep soundly, as we all certainly did, -after the beds had been re-arranged. - -“The next day Mr. C---- proposed walking to Utterson, to purchase a few -necessary articles of food; and Herbert went on to Bracebridge, to look -for a clergyman to perform the marriage ceremony between him and Mary. -As to waiting for our luggage, and for the elegant bridal attire which -had been so carefully packed by loving hands, we all agreed that it -would be ridiculous; and dear Mary, like a true heroine, accepted the -discomforts of her situation bravely, and, far from uttering a single -complaint, made the best of everything. - -“Both Mr. C---- and myself had fits of irrepressible vexation at the -state of affairs; but as we could in no way help ourselves, we thought -it best to be silent, and to hurry on the building of a log-house for -ourselves, which we at once did. - -“The very day after our arrival, Mary and I undertook the work of -housekeeping, taking it by turns day and day about. We found it most -fatiguing, the days being so hot and the mosquitoes so tormenting. -Moreover, the stove being placed outside, we were exposed to the -burning sun every time we went near it, and felt quite ill in -consequence. - -“When Herbert returned from Bracebridge, he told us that the Church of -England clergyman being away at Toronto, he had engaged the services of -the Wesleyan minister whose chapel he had sometimes attended, and that -gentleman had promised to come as soon as possible, and to bring with -him a proper and respectable witness. - -“The day of his coming being left uncertain, Mary and I were kept in a -continual state of terror and expectation, and at such a time we felt -doubly the annoyance of not being able to get from Toronto even the -trunks containing our clothes. In vain we tried to renovate our soiled -and travel-stained dresses; neither brushing, nor shaking, nor sponging -could alter their unmistakably shabby appearance, and it required some -philosophy to be contented. It was worse for poor Mary than for any one -else; and I felt quite touched when I saw her carefully washing and -ironing the lace frill from the neck of her dress, and then arranging -it again as nicely as possible. - -“Two days passed, and on the afternoon of the third we had put the poor -children to sleep, and were lying down ourselves, quite overcome with -the heat, when my husband entered hastily to tell us that the Rev. Mr. -W---- had arrived to perform the marriage ceremony, and had brought -with him as witness a good-natured store-keeper, who had left his -business to oblige Herbert, with whom he had had many dealings. - -“Herbert, who had dressed himself every day, not to be taken by -surprise, was quite ready, and kept them in conversation while Mary -and I arranged our hair, washed the children’s faces and hands, and, -as well as we could, prepared the room. When all was ready they were -summoned, and in making their introductory bows, both our visitors -nearly backed themselves into the yawning cavern in the middle of the -floor, which, in our trepidation, we had forgotten to point out. - -“Very impressively did the good minister perform the marriage service; -and at its close he addressed to the young couple a few words of -serious and affectionate exhortation, well suited to the occasion. - -“He begged them to remember, that living as they were about to do in -the lonely forest, far from the public ordinances of religion, they -must give the more heed to their religious duties, and to the study of -the Word of God, endeavouring to live not for this world only, but for -that other world to which young and old were alike hastening. - -“Herbert looked his very best on this momentous occasion, and, in -spite of all disadvantages of dress and difficulties of position, dear -Mary looked most sweet and beautiful, and created, I am sure, quite a -fatherly interest in the heart of the good old clergyman, himself the -father of a numerous family. We could offer the clergyman and witness -no refreshment; and when they were gone, our wedding-feast consisted of -a very salt ham-bone, dough dumplings, and milk-and-water.” - -So ends Mrs. C----’s narrative, to which I shall append but few -observations. All went well from the day of the wedding, and on -that day the sun went down on a happy couple. Doubt, anxiety, -separation--all these were at an end; and, for weal or woe, John -Herbert and Mary Lennox were indissolubly united. Trials and troubles -might await them in the future; but for the present, youth, health, -hope, and love were beckoning them onward with ineffable smiles. - -The luggage soon arrived, and comfortable bedding superseded hay and -snakes. Mr. and Mrs. C---- removed as soon as possible into their own -log-house, leaving our young couple to the privacy of their home. - -Herbert worked early and late to finish his house, and partitioned off -a nice chamber for Mary, which was prettily furnished and ornamented -with cherished books, and gifts, and keepsakes from dear and distant -friends. The wealthier members of Mary’s family sent substantial tokens -of goodwill, and many pretty and useful gifts came from the loving -sister, who begins to talk of coming out herself. - -Mary’s parents, cheered and comforted by the happy and contented -tone breathed in her letters, ceased to regret having sanctioned -the marriage; and, to crown all, a little son in due time made his -appearance, to cement still further the love of his parents and to -concentrate a very large portion of it in his own little person. - -Here let the curtain drop. From time to time I may have had -misgivings, but have long been fully satisfied that a blessing has -rested on my well-meant endeavours to secure the happiness of two young -and loving hearts. - - - - -ANECDOTES OF THE CANADIAN BUSH, THIRTY YEARS AGO. - -TOLD ME BY THE WIFE OF AN OLD SETTLER. - - - - -ANECDOTES OF THE CANADIAN BUSH. - - -Thirty years ago, when I went into the Bush, quite a young girl, with -my newly-made husband, the part in which we settled was a complete -wilderness. Our lot was taken up about thirty miles east of Belle -Ewart, now quite a flourishing village, with the railway passing -through it. - -Our small log-house was perfectly isolated, as at that time we had -not a single neighbour nearer to us than twelve miles; all was dense -forest, with but a very faint imperfect track leading by degrees to -the main road. Here I passed the first years of my married life, -encountering many hardships and enduring many troubles. By degrees my -husband cleared and cultivated as much land as would supply our wants, -though he never took heartily to the farming, not having been used to -it, being by trade a gunsmith. - -After several years, neighbours began to gather round us at the -distance of two or three miles, and in time quite a settlement was -formed. By one of these neighbours a few miles off I was invited to -a wedding when my first baby was about a year old. My husband had a -strong serviceable pony, but no buggy, and it was settled that I should -ride on the pony with baby on my lap, and my husband walk at the side. - -When we were within a mile of our destination we noticed a tree fallen -across the path, which was a narrow track with forest on both sides, -and we also saw that the tree had a bushy green top to it. We arrived -at our friend’s, partook of the wedding festivities, and started on our -return home at ten o’clock on a bright starlight night. - -As we approached the fallen tree over which the pony had stepped quite -quietly in the morning, the poor animal began to shiver all over, to -snort, to caper about the road in a most extraordinary manner, and -appeared too frightened to move on. - -I whispered to my husband that I saw the green top of the tree moving, -and that I had better get off with the baby for fear of the pony -starting and throwing us off. He took me down, and we stepped across -the tree, dragging the pony after us with the greatest difficulty; -hardly had we got to the other side when from the bushy head of the -tree out walked a great brown bear, who certainly looked very much -astonished at our little party. - -We were terribly frightened, expecting him to attack the pony, but he -stood quite still. We thought it better to move on, slowly at first, -and afterwards more quickly as we got nearer home. He followed us for -more than a mile, indeed till we were quite in sight of our own door, -then finding himself near a human habitation he gave one fearful growl -before gliding off into the forest, and we lost sight of him. - -When we were safely housed, and the poor pony well fed and locked into -his little shed, I felt nearly dead with terror and fatigue. - -My next interview with Bruin was in a buggy, three years afterwards, in -which I was being driven homeward by my husband. This time we had two -children with us, and had been to a considerable distance to purchase -articles at a newly-established store, which could not be procured -nearer. We were more than six miles from home, when the pony (the same -mentioned before) began to be greatly agitated, refused to go on, then -tried to start off, and gave loud snorts of distress. - -My husband got out and stood at the pony’s head, holding him firmly -to prevent his starting. The light was very dim in the shade of the -Bush, but we both saw something large creeping along the edge of the -forest next to where my husband stood; he had no weapon with him but -his woodman’s knife and a thick stake picked up from the roadside. -Presently a bear came slowly out of the forest, and advanced into the -middle of the road at some distance from us, as if preparing for fight. -I was terribly frightened, but my husband stood quite still, holding -in the horse, but keeping in full view the bear, knowing what a terror -they have of man. - -After steadily looking at each other for at least five minutes--minutes -of suspense and agony to us, Bruin evidently understood the -difficulties of his position, and quietly slunk away into the Bush on -the other side of the road; and we were glad to get home in safety. - -At another time, I had a visit from a lynx; but as I certainly invited -him myself, I could not be surprised at his coming as he did, almost -close to my cottage door. My husband had been gone for two days on -important business to a village a long way off, and on this particular -evening I fully expected him home. - -We were living in quite a small shanty till we could build a larger -house; it had a fireplace on the floor, and an open chimney; the room -was very low, and easy of access from the outside. I was living then -with my three little children and a young sister of fourteen who helped -me to take care of them. As it was getting dusk I thought I heard a -human voice distinctly calling from the forest, “Hallo!” I went to the -door and immediately answered in the same tone, “Hallo!” making sure -that it was my husband, who finding the track very faint from the gloom -of the forest, wanted our voices to guide him right. The voice replied -to me. I hallooed again, and this went on for some minutes, the sound -drawing nearer and nearer, till at length advancing from the edge of -the forest, not my husband, but a good-sized lynx, attracted by my -answering call, stood quite in front of the cottage--nothing more than -the width of a broad road between us and it. - -The children, most fortunately, were playing inside, but my sister and -myself distinctly saw the eyes of the creature like globes of fire, and -in the stillness of the evening we could hear its teeth gnashing as if -with anxiety to attack us. Fortunately, through the open door of the -shanty the savage animal could see the blazing fire on the hearth, and -came no nearer. - -We hastily shut the door, and my poor little sister began to cry and -bemoan the danger we were in: - -“Oh! the roof was so low, and it would clamber up and drop down the -chimney, or it would spring through the window, or push open the door,” -etc. - -I begged her not to frighten the poor children who were playing in a -corner, but at once to put more wood on the fire and make a good blaze. -I now found that we had hardly any wood without going to the stack -outside, which luckily was very close to the door, and fearing that my -husband might at any moment return, and be pounced upon unawares, I -made my sister light a candle, and opening the door placed her at it, -telling her to move the light about so as to bewilder the lynx. Still -the dreadful animal remained, uttering cries at intervals, but not -moving a step. As quickly as I could I got plenty of wood, as much as I -thought would last the night, and very gladly we again shut the door. -We now piled up wood on the hearth till there was a great blaze, and no -doubt the showers of sparks which must have gone out at the chimney-top -greatly alarmed the lynx; it now gave a number of fierce angry cries -and went off into the forest, the sound becoming fainter and fainter -till it died away. - -My husband did not return till the evening of the next day, and he had -seen nothing of our unwelcome visitor. - -At the time I speak of, the woods of Muskoka were quite infested with -wolves, which, however, were only dangerous when many were together. A -single wolf is at all times too cowardly to attack a man. My husband -knew this, and therefore if he heard a single howl he took no notice, -but if he heard by the howling that a pack was in the forest near at -hand, he went on his road very cautiously, looking from side to side so -as to secure a tree for climbing into should they attack him. - -The Canadian wolf has not the audacity of the prairie wolf; should it -drive a traveller to the shelter of a tree it will circle round it all -night, but at the dawn of day is sure to disappear. - -A neighbour’s child, a boy of twelve years old, had a narrow escape -from four or five of them, having mistaken them for dogs. It was his -business to feed the animals, and having neglected one morning to cut -the potatoes small enough, a young calf was unfortunately choked from a -piece too large sticking in her throat. The dead calf was laid under a -fence not far from the shanty, and the boy having been severely scolded -for his carelessness, remained sulkily within doors by himself. - -He was engaged in peeling a long stick for an ox-whip, when he heard, -as he thought, the barking of some dogs over the dead carcase of the -calf; he rushed out with the long stick in his hand, and saw four or -five animals busily tearing off the flesh from the calf; without a -moment’s reflection he ran in among them, shouting and hallooing with -all his might, and so valiantly laid about him with his stick that they -all ran off to the covert of the forest, where they turned; and he -heard a series of yells and howls which made his blood run cold, for he -knew the sound well, and saw that they were wolves and not dogs whose -repast he had interrupted. He said, that so great was his terror that -he could hardly get back to the shanty and fasten the door. - -All the Canadian wild animals are timid; they only begin to prowl -about at dusk; they never attempt to enter a dwelling, and have a -salutary dread of attacking a man; if attacked themselves they will -fight fiercely, and a she-bear with cubs is always dangerous. - -Since the time I speak of, the settlements all over the district -have become very numerous, and the quantity of land cleared up is so -great that the wild animals keep retreating farther and farther into -the recesses of the forest; and even the trappers by profession find -their trade much less lucrative than it was, they have so much more -difficulty in finding game in any quantity. - -It is hardly possible to make people understand, who are unacquainted -with Bush-life, what the early settlers in Muskoka and other parts -had to suffer. Young creatures with their babies were left alone in -situations which in more settled countries call for the greatest care -and tenderness, and in desolate solitudes where they were far from all -human help. - -Three weeks before the birth of my fourth child I became so ill with -erysipelas that my husband thought he had better go to the place where -my parents lived--more than twenty miles off, and bring back one of -my sisters to nurse me. He started after breakfast, and soon after he -left I became so dreadfully ill that I could not lift my head from the -pillow, or indeed turn myself in the bed. - -My children, of the respective ages of two, four, and six, were -playing about, and as I lay watching them my terror was extreme lest -one of them should fall into the fire; I can hardly tell how they fed -themselves, or got to bed, or got up the next morning, for by that time -I could move neither hand nor foot, and was in dreadful pain. Thus I -lay all day, all night, and all the next day till the evening, when my -husband returned with one of my sisters. After that I became delirious, -and had hardly recovered when my child was born. - -As soon as our land was well cleared up and a good house built, my -husband sold the property and bought a piece of ground at Belle Ewart, -where we have lived ever since, as his health would not allow him to -continue farming. - -I was always afraid when living in the Bush of the children being lost -when they began to run about. The Bush at that time was so wild, and so -few paths through it, that there was every fear of children straying -once they turned off the narrow track. - -A poor little boy, of eight years old, living some miles from us, was -lost for more than a week, and only by a miracle was found alive. -There was a windfall caused by a hurricane, not very far from his -father’s shanty. It was not very broad, but extended in length for -more than twenty miles, distinctly marking out the path of the tempest -as it swept through the Bush. All this windfall was overgrown with -blackberry-bushes, and at this time of year (the autumn) there were -quantities of fruit, and parties used to be made for picking them, with -a view to preserving. - -Our poor little wanderer having strayed alone one morning and reached -the windfall, began to eat the berries with great delight, and kept -going about from bush to bush, till when it got late he became so -bewildered that he could no longer tell in which direction his home -lay. Days went by; he was missed and hunted for, but misled by some -imaginary trace the first parties went in quite a wrong direction. - -The child had no sustenance but the fruit; at length he became too -much exhausted to pick, and, as he described it, only felt sleepy. -Providentially, in passing an uprooted tree, he saw underneath a large -hole, and creeping in found it warm, soft, and dry, being apparently -well lined with moss and leaves. Here he remained till found by a party -who fortunately took the direction of the windfall, accompanied by a -sagacious dog used to tracking bears and other game. - -The parties searching would have passed the tree, which was a little -out of the track, and many others of the kind lying about, but seeing -the dog suddenly come to a stop and begin sniffing and barking -they made a careful examination; they found the poor child in his -concealment almost at the point of death, and so scratched by the -brambles and stained by the juice of the berries as to be scarcely -recognisable. They had had the precaution to take with them a bottle of -new milk, and very carefully they put down his throat a little at a -time till he was able to swallow freely. - -Now comes the extraordinary part of the story. The nights were already -very chilly; when asked on his recovery if he had not felt the cold, -he replied, “Oh no!” and said that every night at dusk a large brown -dog came and lay down by him, and was so kind and good-natured that it -let him creep quite close to it, and put his arms round it, and that -in this way he slept quite warm. He added, that the brown dog went -away every morning when it was light. Of course, as there was no large -dog answering to this description in any of the adjacent settlements, -and as the poor child was evidently in a bear’s den, people could not -but suppose that it was a _bear_ who came to his side every evening, -and that the animal, moved by some God-given instinct, refrained from -injuring the forlorn child. Years afterwards this boy used to talk of -the “kind brown dog” who had kept him so nice and warm in his hole in -the tree. - -My last fright from a bear was only a few years ago, when I was driving -a married daughter home, who had been with me to pay a visit to a -friend in the Bush twelve miles off. We had one of her little children -with us, and were driving slowly, though the road was a good one, as -the horse had been many miles that day. - -It was getting dusk, and the road, being narrow like all Bush roads, -was very gloomy. We were talking quietly of the visit we had just paid, -when from the thick top of a tree overhanging the roadside, dropped -down a large bear, who just grazed the back of the buggy in his fall. -I had but a glimpse of him, as hearing the noise I turned my head for -an instant; my daughter’s wild shriek of alarm as she clutched her -little one firmly, added to the growl of the bear, so frightened our -horse that he dashed off at full speed, and providentially meeting with -no obstacle, never stopped till he reached the fence of my husband’s -clearing. Even when locked into the house for the night we could hardly -fancy ourselves in safety. - -The respectable person to whom I was indebted for the above anecdotes, -and who was in the capacity of nurse-tender to the mistress of the -hotel where I was staying, was much to my regret suddenly called away -to a fresh situation, by which I lost many more of her interesting -experiences, for as she truly said, numberless were the expedients -by which the wives of the early settlers protected themselves and -their little ones during the unavoidable absences of their husbands. -The pleasant gentlemanly host of the hotel where I was staying at -Bracebridge told me of his sitting entranced, when a little child, at -the feet of his old grandmother, to hear her stories of the wild beasts -which abounded at the time of her first settlement in the Canadian -wilderness. - -Her husband belonged to an old and wealthy family in America, who, -remaining loyal during the war of Independence, were driven over into -Canada and all their property confiscated. They settled down, glad -to be in safety in a wild unfrequented part; and whenever provisions -were wanting, it was an affair of some days for the husband to go and -return, the nearest settlement being fifty miles off. - -Packs of wolves used to prowl about the log-hut as evening came on, -and during the night the barking and howling was dreadful to hear; -the only thing to keep them off was a large fire of pine-logs which -his grandfather used to light of an evening as near the house as was -consistent with safety. It depended on which way the wind blew at -which end of the log-hut the fire was made. When he went away on an -expedition, he used to take out a large chink at each end of the house -and leave his wife an immense pointed pole, with which, putting it -through the chink-hole, she was enabled in safety to brand up the fire, -that is to draw the logs together so as to last through the night. - -Wolves have long disappeared into the depths of the forest; a chance -one may now and then be heard of, but rarely in the vicinity of large -clearings. The visits of bears are becoming more and more frequent, for -Bruin is very partial to young pig, and does not disdain a good meal of -ripe grain. The barley-patch in my clearing, as the corn began to ripen -this summer, was very much trodden down by a bear whose tracks were -plainly to be seen, and he was supposed to be located in a cedar-swamp -on my land, as every now and then he was seen, but always coming to -or from that direction. One night we were roused from our sleep by a -fearful noise of cattle-bells outside of the fence, and when we went -out we found that there was a regular “stampede” of all the cattle in -the immediate neighbourhood; cows, oxen, steers, were all tearing madly -through the Bush towards a road at the other side of a deep gully near -the edge of my lot. They were evidently flying from the pursuit of some -wild animal. - -Presently on the still night air rose a horrid fierce growl which -was repeated at intervals two or three times, getting fainter in the -distance till it quite died away. We all recognised the noise we had -recently heard in France from the bears in a travelling show, only -much fiercer and louder. My son, fully armed, started in pursuit, -accompanied by a young friend armed also, but though, guided by the -noise, they went far down the road, they caught but one glimpse of -Bruin in the moonlight as he disappeared down a deep gully and from -thence into the Bush, where at night it would not have been safe to -follow him. - -Hoping that towards morning he might, as is usually the case, return -the same way, they seated themselves on a log by the roadside close to -the edge of the forest that they might not be palpably in the bear’s -sight, and there they remained for some hours till the cold of the -dawn warned them to come home, being very lightly clad. The very next -evening my son and his friend were pistol-shooting at a mark fixed on -a tree at the end of the clearing, when “Black Bess,” the dog, gave -tongue and rushed into the forest on the side next the cedar-swamp. -Guided by her barking the two gentlemen followed quickly, and this -time had a full view in broad daylight of a large brown bear in full -flight, but never got within shooting distance. Unluckily the dog, -though a good one for starting game, was young and untrained, and had -not the sense to head the animal back so as to enable her master to get -within range. This bear baffled all the arts of the settlers to get at -it, and settlers with cows and oxen were mostly afraid to set traps for -fear of accidents to their cattle. - -A short time ago a settler living on the Muskoka Road was returning to -his home by a short cut through the Bush, when he came suddenly upon a -she-bear with two cubs. He had no weapon but a small pocket-knife, and -hoped to steal past unobserved, but in a moment the beast attacked him, -knocked his knife out of his hand and tore his arm from the shoulder -to the wrist. He would probably have been killed but that his shouts -brought up a party of men working on the Government road at no great -distance, and Mrs. Bruin was only too glad to get safe off with her -progeny into the depths of the Bush. - -Two or three bears and a lynx were killed in the fall of 1873, in the -vicinity of Bracebridge, and one within a mile of the village, on the -road to the “South Falls,” one of my favourite walks when I was staying -there. There is, however, but little danger of meeting any wild animal -in the broad daylight. The words of David in the 104th Psalm are as -strictly true now as they were in his time: “The sun ariseth, they -gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.” - - - - -TERRA INCOGNITA; - -OR, - -THE WILDS OF MUSKOKA. - - - - -THE WILDS OF MUSKOKA. - - -In reading the history of newly-settled countries and the rise and -progress of mighty states, nothing is more interesting than to trace -the wonderful and rapid results which spring from the smallest -beginnings. In changing the wilderness into a fruitful land, we notice -first the laborious efforts to raise the rude and coarse necessaries of -daily life, then the struggles for convenience and comfort, then the -gradual demand for the luxuries of a higher civilisation. These last -can only be obtained by the growth and encouragement of the ornamental -as well as useful arts; then comes the dawning of political power, till -at length we see with amusement that the scattered hamlet has become a -thriving village, the village a populous town, and the town expanded -into a stately city, carrying wealth, commerce, and civilisation to the -remotest parts of what a few years back was simply unbroken forest. - -Such is the future which, under the fulfilment of certain conditions, -we may confidently predict for the free-grant lands of Muskoka, to -which the Canadian Government are making strenuous efforts to draw -the tide of emigration. Nothing can well be more picturesque than the -tract of country already embracing twelve townships which constitutes -the district of Muskoka, so called, not from the poetical tradition of -“clear skies,” “no clouds,” which is by no means applicable to this -variable climate, but more probably from Musquoto, the name of a -Chippewa chief, which has been handed down to the present time, though -every trace of Indian occupation has long been effaced. - -Hill and dale, wood and water, a winding river, tributary streams, -rapid waterfalls breaking the solitude with their wild music, the large -Muskoka lake, smaller lakes on many of the lots; all these charms -combine to form most beautiful scenery. Unfortunately the settlers, -looking upon the trees as their natural enemies, hew them down with -inexorable rancour, quite ignoring the fact that if they were to clear -more judiciously, leaving here and there a clump of feathery balsams, -or a broad belt of pine, spruce, maple, and birch, they would have some -shelter for their crops from the destroying north-west wind, and some -shade for their log-houses during the burning heat of summer. - -Having been located in the township of Stephenson for more than two -years, I am able to make some observations on the subject, and I find -that as most of the settlers in my neighbourhood belong to the lower -classes, they have but little sense of the beautiful in any shape, and -no appreciation whatever of picturesque scenery. A settler of this -class is perfectly satisfied with his own performance when he has -cleared thirty or forty acres on his lot, leaving nothing so large as a -gooseberry-bush to break the dreary uniformity of the scene. - -The London of Muskoka is the pretty thriving town of Bracebridge. I say -pretty, advisedly, for its situation on the river Muskoka is beautiful, -the scenery highly varied, the environs abounding in lovely walks and -choice bits of landscape which an artist might delight to portray. - -Ten years ago the first adventurous settler built his log-hut on the -hill south of the present town between the pretty falls at the entrance -and the South Falls at three miles’ distance. All was then unbroken -forest, its solitude only disturbed by occasional visits from a few -scattered Chippewa Indians or lonely trappers in pursuit of the game, -more and more driven northward by the advancing tide of civilisation. - -A few statistics of Bracebridge at the close of the present year (1873) -will show what progress has been made in every department. - - Population 800 - Children attending public schools 250 - Children attending four Sunday schools 200 - Number of churches 4 - Clergymen 6 - Medical doctors 2 - Barristers, attorneys, conveyancers 7 - Stores 15 - In course of erection 5 - Hotels 6 - Printing-offices 2 - Saw-mills 4 - Grist and flour mill 1 - Carding mill and woollen factory 1 - Shoe shops 3 - Butchers’ shops 3 - Blacksmiths’ shops 4 - Bakers’ shops 4 - -Besides these are many wheelwrights, carpenters, joiners, etc. The -gentleman who wrote to the _Daily News_ in England from Huntsville -in this neighbourhood, most unduly disparaged the little town of -Bracebridge, but as he visited Muskoka in exceptionally bad weather -at the close of a long-continued rainy season, and as his stay in the -district was limited to a few days at most, his opinion can hardly be -received as gospel truth. His dismay at the mud in the streets and the -general badness of the roads was very natural in a stranger to this -part of Canada. We certainly are greatly in want of assistance from -some McAdam, and we have every hope that improvement in our roads, as -in everything else, will reach us in time. - -The climate of Muskoka is most favourable to health, even to -invalids, provided they have no consumptive tendencies. For all -pulmonary complaints it is most unsuitable, on account of the very -sudden atmospheric changes. The short summer, with its inevitable -accompaniment of tormenting mosquitoes, is burning hot, and the winter, -stretching sometimes over seven months of the year, is intensely cold, -and both these extremes render it a trying climate for consumptive -patients. The air, however, is pure, clear, and bracing, and nervous -and dyspeptic invalids soon lose many of their unpleasant sensations. -A gentleman who formed one of our little colony when we came out in -1871, has to thank the air of Muskoka for the entire renovation of -his health. His constitution was very much shattered by over-working -his brain during a long course of scholastic pursuits, and as his only -chance of recovery, he was ordered an entire change of climate and -outdoor occupation instead of study. - -The Bush-life and the pure air worked miracles; his recovery was -complete, and he has been now, for some months, in holy orders as -a clergyman of the Church of England. He is able to preach three -times every Sabbath day, and to perform all the arduous duties of an -out-station without undue fatigue or exhaustion. The same gentleman’s -eldest child has derived as much benefit as his father from the change -of climate. At five years old, when he was brought to Muskoka, he was -most delicate, and had from infancy held life by a most precarious -tenure; but at the present time he is a very fine specimen of healthy -and robust childhood. - -The twelve townships of Muskoka are increasing their population every -day, from the steady influx of emigrants from the old country. It -is most desirable that an Emigrant’s Home should be established in -Bracebridge for the purpose of giving gratuitous shelter and assistance -to the poorer class of emigrants, and sound and reliable advice to all -who might apply for it. In my “Plea for Poor Emigrants,” contributed -to the _Free Grant Gazette_, I earnestly endeavoured to draw public -attention to this great want, and I still hope that when the necessary -funds can be raised, something of the sort will be provided. Government -has thrown open the free-grant lands to every applicant above the -age of eighteen years; each one at that age may take up a lot of one -hundred acres; the head of a family is allowed two hundred. The -person located is not absolute master of the land till the end of five -years from the date of his or her location, when, if the stipulated -conditions have been fulfilled, the patent is taken out, and each -holder of a lot becomes a freehold proprietor. The conditions are -simply that he shall have cleared and got under cultivation fifteen -acres, and have raised a log-house of proper dimensions. - -Government found that some restrictions were absolutely necessary, -as unprincipled speculators took up lots which they never meant to -cultivate or settle on, but for the fraudulent purpose of felling and -selling off the pine timber, and then leaving the country. - -When a person has it in view to come to Muskoka, let him as much as -possible abstain from reading any of the books published on the -subject. Without accusing those who write them of wilfully saying the -thing that is not, I must say that the warmth of their colouring and -the unqualified praise they bestow greatly misleads ignorant people. - -The poor emigrant comes out to Muskoka firmly believing it to be a -veritable “Land of Promise” flowing with milk and honey, an El Dorado -where the virgin soil only requires a slight scratching to yield cent. -per cent. His golden visions speedily vanish; he finds the climate -variable, the crops uncertain, the labour very hard, and Bush-farming -for the first four or five years very uphill work. If, however, -instead of yielding to discouragement he steadily perseveres, he may -feel assured of ultimately attaining at least a moderate degree of -success. It is also necessary for a settler in Muskoka to get out of -his head once and for ever all his traditions of old-country farming. -Bush-farming is different in every respect; the seasons are different, -the spring seldom opens till the middle of May, and between that time -and the end of September, all the farm-work of sowing, reaping, and -storing away must be completed. The winters are mostly occupied in -chopping. The best way for obtaining an insight into Bush-farming is -for the newly-arrived emigrant to hire himself out to work on another -person’s ground for at least a year before finally settling upon his -own. - -This is his wisest plan, even should he bring out (which is not -generally the case) sufficient capital to start with. We sadly feel the -want in our settlement of a few farmers of better education, and of a -higher range of intelligence, who, having a little experience as well -as money, might leaven the ignorance which occasions so many mistakes -and so much failure among our poorer brethren in the Bush. It has been -said that “a donation of a hundred acres is a descent into barbarism,” -but few would be inclined to endorse this opinion who had witnessed, -as I have done for two years, the patient daily toil, the perseverance -under difficulties and privations, the self-denial, the frugality, -the temperance, and the kind helpfulness of one another, found in the -majority of our settlers. A black sheep may now and then be found in -every flock, and it is undeniable that the very isolation of each -settler on his own clearing, and the utter absence of all conventional -restraint, engenders something of lawlessness, of contempt for public -opinion, and occasionally of brutality to animals, but only I am bound -to say in the ungenial and depraved natures of those whose conduct -_out_ of the Bush would be equally reprehensible. - -After all the pros and the cons of emigration to Muskoka have been -fully discussed, one fact stands prominently forward for the -consideration of the labouring classes of Great Britain. - -The free grants offer an inestimable boon to the agricultural and the -manufacturing population. The workmen in both these classes spend the -prime of their health and strength in working for others, and after -suffering with perhaps wives and families incredible hardships from -cold and hunger, which cannot be kept away by insufficient wages, have -nothing to look forward to in their declining years but the tender -mercies of their parish workhouse, or the precarious charity of their -former masters. In emigrating to Muskoka they may indeed count upon -hard work, much privation, and many struggles and disappointments, -but they may be equally certain that well-directed energy, unflagging -industry and patient perseverance, will after a few years insure them a -competence, if not affluence, and will enable them to leave to their -children an inheritance and a position which would have been almost -impossible of attainment in the old country. - - - - -A PLEA FOR POOR EMIGRANTS. - - - - -A PLEA FOR POOR EMIGRANTS. - - -During a visit of some weeks to Bracebridge, at the close of last -winter, I was much interested in watching the different parties of -emigrants who came into the town, many of them with wives and families, -some without, but all looking more or less weary and travel-worn. I -noticed also in the countenances of many of the men a perplexed and -uneasy expression, as if they hardly knew where to go or what to do -next. - -Who but must feel the deepest sympathy with these poor wayfarers, -whose troubles, far from ending when they have safely crossed the broad -Atlantic, seem to begin afresh and to gather strength during the long -and wearisome journey from Quebec to Muskoka. - -All along the line are paid agents, who strive to turn the tide of -emigration in any other direction than this district of Muskoka, and -who perplex the tired traveller with recommendations to various places, -and with no end of unsought advice. - -Till very lately, Muskoka was but little known, and as a fitting place -for emigration was greatly undervalued. I remember with some amusement -that during my journey with my family from Quebec to Bracebridge, two -years ago, it was sufficient in conversation to utter the cabalistic -word “Muskoka,” for us to be immediately treated to admonitory shakes -of the head, shrugs of the shoulders, uplifted hands, and very clearly -expressed opinions that we were rushing to certain destruction. - -Now, _we_ emigrated with a definite purpose in view. We were bound -to a specific locality, and were in fact coming to join members of -the family who had preceded us; but the remarks addressed to us -were anything but cheering, and it may be imagined what an effect -similar discouragements must have upon the poorer class of emigrants, -whose slender resources have been taxed to the utmost to bring them -out at all--who feel that poverty renders the step they have taken -irretrievable, and who arrive at Bracebridge full of doubts and fears -as to their comfortable settlement and ultimate success. - -Happy would it be for the emigrant, married or single, if his -difficulties were ended by his safe arrival at Bracebridge; but such -is not the case. As in all communities there will be an admixture -of worthless and designing characters, so in our thriving little -town are to be found a few who lie in wait for the unwary, and throw -temptation in the path of those who are not fortified by strong -religious principle. Should an unmarried emigrant, a young man from -the “old country”--with apparently a tolerable stock of money and -clothes--arrive, he is at once followed and courted with professions of -friendship, and on the plea of good fellowship is tempted to drink at -the bars of the different hotels, and to join in the low gambling which -seems unfortunately to be the special vice of Muskoka. Not till his -money is all expended is the victim left to himself; and too often he -has to begin his Bush-life penniless, or thankfully to engage in some -job of hard work which will at least secure his daily bread. - -The married emigrant likewise is often deceived and misled by people -as ignorant as himself, who give him altogether false impressions of -the value of his land, the price of labour and provisions, the tools -he ought to buy, the crops he ought to put in, and many other details -essential to his success in Bush-farming. - -I speak from experience in saying that nothing can exceed the kindness -and urbanity of the Commissioner of Crown Lands to all and every one -going to his office for the purpose of taking up land; but it would -be obviously impossible for this gentleman, and incompatible with the -public duties of himself and his assistants, to enter minutely into the -wants and requirements of each individual emigrant, or to give that -detailed advice and assistance which in many cases is so absolutely -necessary. - -Could not much be done, and many evils be obviated, by the -establishment of an “Emigrant Home” in the town, to which all incoming -emigrants might be directed by large printed cards conspicuously hung -up in the bar of every hotel? - -The superintendent of the home ought to be a man of some education, of -sound common sense, of large Christian sympathy, one who would feel it -a pleasure as well as a duty to smooth the path of the weary travellers -who accepted the gratuitous shelter provided for them. Surely for such -a desirable object as the one in view, the sanction and co-operation of -the Dominion Government might be obtained, and a sum of money granted -to establish the home, which might then be kept up by small annual -subscriptions from the wealthier inhabitants of Bracebridge, whose -commercial prosperity must so greatly depend upon the settlements -beyond and about it. Numbers of emigrants come in every year who have -left behind them in the old country dear friends and relations, who -only wait for their favourable verdict upon the promised land, to come -out and join them. - -Would it not be well that emigrants should be enabled to write home -truthfully and gratefully that they were met on their arrival at -Bracebridge with brotherly kindness, Christian sympathy, shelter for -their wives and families, sound reliable advice as to their future -course, and help and encouragement suited to their especial need? It -may be urged that pecuniary assistance and gratuitous shelter for his -wife and children would impair the self-respect of the emigrant, and -place him in the light of a pauper to himself and others. - -I do not think this would be the case. It appears to me that an -emigrant, arriving as too many do with his means utterly exhausted -and with little but starvation in view for his family and himself, -would have his British feelings of sturdy independence considerably -modified, and would be willing to accept of the help tendered to him, -not as a charitable dole from those above him in rank, but as a willing -offering from those who for their Saviour’s sake acknowledge a common -brotherhood with every suffering member of the great human family. -Nor would the establishment of such a home at all interfere with the -legitimate profits of the hotel-keepers. - -From personal observation, I can testify that in numerous cases they -are called upon to give, and do most liberally give, food and shelter -gratuitously to those who cannot pay. Of course such a plan as this -would have to be matured and carried out by wise heads and efficient -hands. I can only humbly offer a suggestion which seems to me worthy -of consideration, and I cannot end my few observations better than -with the refrain of a deservedly popular song: - - “Then do your best for one another, - Making life a pleasant dream; - Help a worn and weary brother - Pulling hard against the stream.” - - THE END. - - BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, SURREY. - - _S. &. 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