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32X

■ !

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Afar in the Forest;

.■•v.

i \

OR,

PICTURES OF LIFE AND SCENERY

IN THE

WILDS OF CANADA.

Author of " The Canadian Crusocs" ifc.

LONDON:

T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.

1869.

|E have much pleasure in placing before our
readers a New and Revised Edition of a
book which was formerly popular under
the title of " Lady Mary and uer Nurse." The
present edition has been considerably improved, so
as to increase its attractions for the young. It
contains much pleasant information, and many in-
teresting anecdotes respecting the plants and animals
of our great Canadian Colony, and not a few lively
details of the habits and customs of the Indians, now
fast disappearing before the encroachments of Euro-
pean civilization. Both girl and boy may find
amusement and instruction in these pages, whoso
perusal will advantageously occupy a leisure hour,
and store their minds with many useful facts about
the wild animals and natural curiosities of North
America.

i¥^

3^ "^^ —

V '■-

CHAPTER I.

The Flying Squirrel— Its Food— Story of a Wolf— Indian Village
— WiiaUico ; ®

CHAPTER II.

Sleighing— Sleigh Robes— Fur Caps— Otter Skins- Old Snow-
storm— Otter Hunting— Otter Slides— Indian Names— Re-
marks on "Wild Animals and their Habits 2G

CHAPTER III.

Part I.— Lady Mary reads to Mrs. Frazer the First Part of the
History of the Squirrel Family 30

Pabt II.— Which tells how the Gray Squirrels fared while they
remained on Pine Island— How they behaved to their poor
Relations, the Chitmunks— And what happened to them in
the Forest • ^^

Part III.— How the Squirrels got to the Mil) .t the Rapids—
And what happened to Velvet-paw d

CHAPTER IV.

Squirrels— The Chitmunks— Docility of a Pet One— Roguery of
a Yankee Pedlar —Return of the Musical Chitmunk to his
Master's Bosom— Sagacity of a Black Squirrel 83

CHAPTER V.

Indian Baskets— Thread Plants— Maple Sugar-Tree— Indian Or-
namental Works— Racoons ^

• . . ft*

,*^

Viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Cantulian Birds — Snow Sparrow — Robin Rudbroiwt -CiinniHiin
Flowers — Amuricun rorcupino 108

CHAPTER VII.

Indian Bag— Indian Embroidury — Beaver's Tail — Beaver Arclii-
tccturo — Habits of the Beaver — Beaver Tools— Beaver
Meadows llj)

CHAPTER VIII.

Indian Boy and his Pets — Tame Beiver at Home — Kitten, Wild-
flre-^Pet Racoon and the Spaniel Pnppies —Canadian Flora . . 132

CHAPTER IX.

Nurse tells Lady Mary about a Little Boy who was eaten by a
Bear In the Province of New Brunswick — Of a Baby who was
carried away, but taken alive — A Walk in the Garden — Hum-
ming- Birds — Canadian Balsam-s i;{!)

CHAPTER X.

Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, most frequently seen in
northern Climates — Called Merry Dancers— Rose Tints — Tint-
like Appearance — Lady Mary frightened 150

CHAPTER XL

Strawberries — Canadian Wild Fruits — Wild Raspberries— Tlie
Hunter and the Lost Child-^Cranberries — Cranberry Marshes
— Nuts 1C3

CHAPTER XIL

Gartor-snakes — Rattle-snakes — Anecdote of a Little Boy — Fisher-
man and Snake — Snake Charmers — Spiders — Land-Tortoise . . 178

CHAPTER XIIL

Ellen and her Pet Fawns — Docility of Fan — Jack's Droll Tricks
— Affectionate Wolf — Fall Flowers — Departure of Lady Mary
— TheEnd ISO

119

132

i.-'.a

15G

1C3

ISO

■I

AFAR IN THE FOREST.

CHArTER I.

THE FLYING SQUIRKET, — ITS FOOD — STORY OF A WOLF —
INDIAN VILLAGE — WILD RICE.

u •i-iwi.^XJRSE, what is the name of that pretty
creature you have in your hand ? What
bright eyes it has ! What a soft tail —
just like a gray feather ! Is it a little beaver ? " asked
the Governor's little daughter, as her nurse came
into the room where her young charge, whom we
shall call Lady Mary, was playing with her doll.

Carefully sheltered against her breast, its velvet
nose just peeping from beneath her muslin necker-
chief, the nurse held a small gray-furred animal, of
the most delicate form and colour.

" No, my lady," she replied, " this is not a young
beaver ; a beaver is a much larger animal. A
beaver's tail is not covered with fur ; it is scaly,
broad, and flat ; it looks something like black leather,

. - ■•;*.

- ' tl S ffft^^fSI—

AN EXCKLLENT DISH.

THE FLYINO SyilUllEL.

not very unlike that of my seal-skin slippers. The
Indians eat beavers' tails at their great feasts, and
think they make an excellent dish."

■*i

riie
and

THE FLYINO SQUIRRKI^

'• Tf thoy aio black, and look like leather hIjocs,
I um very sure I hHouUI not like to cat them ; ro,
if you please, Mrs. Frazer, do not let mo liavc any
heavers' tails cooked for my dinner," said tlio little
lady, in a very decided tone.

" Indeed, my lady," replied her nurse, smiling,
" it would not be an easy thing to obtain, if you
wished to taste one, for beavers are not brought to
our market. It is only the Indians and hunters who
know how to trap them, and beavers are not so
plentiful as they used to be."

Mrs. Frazer would have told Lady Mary a great
deal about the way in which the trappers take the
beavers, but the little girl interrupted her by saying,
" Please, nurse, will you tell me the name of your
pretty pet ? Ah, sweet thing, what bright eyes j^ou
have!" she added, caressing the soft little head
which was just seen from beneath the folds of the
muslin handkerchief to which it timidly nestled,
casting furtive glances at the admiring child, while
the panting of its breast told the mortal terror that
shook its frame whenever the little girl's hand was
advanced to coax its soft back.

" It is a flying squirrel, Lady Mary," replied her
nurse ; " one of my brothers caught it a month ago,
when he was chopping in the forest. He thought it
might amuse your ladyship, and so he tamed it and
sent it to me in a basket filled with moss, with some
acorns, and hickory-nuts, and beech -mast for him to
eat on his journey, for the little fellow has travelled

WHAT ARK HICKORY-NUTS ?

a long way : he came from the beech-woods, near
the town of Cobiirg, in the Upper Province."

" And where is Coburg, nurse ? Is it a large city
like Montreal or Quebec ?"

" No, my lady ; it is a large town on the shores
of the great Lake Ontario."

" And are there many woods near it ?"

" Yes ; but not so many as there used to be many
years ago. The forest is almost all cleared, and there
are fields of wheat and Indian corn, and nice farms
and pretty houses, where a few years back the lofty
forest grew dark and thick."

" Nurse, you said there were acorns, and hickory-
nuts, and beech-mast in the basket. I have seen
acorns at home in dear England and Scotland, and
I have eaten the hickory-nuts here ; but what is
beech-mast ? Is it any part of a Canadian ship ?"

The nurse smiled and said, " No, Lady Mary ; it
is the name that is given to the fruit of the beech-
tree. You have seen the beech-tree in England; the
nuts are enclosed in a rough and somewhat prickly
husk, which opens when it is ripe at the top, and
shows two or more three-cornered shining brown
seeds, in a smooth, tough, leathery skin ; these fall
when the branches are shaken by the wind in
autumn. Hogs fatten upon these nuts ; and squirrels
and dormice and wood-chucks gather them into
their granaries for winter stores ; and wild ducks and
wild pigeons come from the far north at the season
when the beech-mast fall to eat them ; for God

A CRUEL BITE.

IP.

teaches those, his creatures, to know the times and
tlie seasons when his hounteous hand is open to give
tliem food from his boundless store. A great many
other hirds and beasts also feed upon tlie beech-mast.''

" It was very good of your brother to send me
this pretty creature, nurse," said the little lady ; '' I
will ask papa to give him some money."

" There is no need of that, Lady Mary. My
brother is not in want ; he has a farm in the Upper
Province, and is very well off."

" I am glad he is well off," said Lady Mary ;
" indeed, I do not see so many beggars here as in
England."

" People need not beg in Canada, if they are well
and strong and can work ; a poor man can soon earn
enough money to keep himself and his little ones."

" Nurse, will you be so kind as to ask Campbell
to get a pretty cage for my squirrel ? I will let
him live close to my dormice, which will be pleasant
company for my dear little squirrel, and I will feed
him every day myself with nuts and sugar, and sweet
cake and white bread. Now do not tremble and
look so frightened, as though I were going to hurt
you ; and pray, Mr. Squirrel, do not bite. Oh ! nurse,
nurse, the wicked, spiteful creature has bitten my
finger ! See, see, it has made it bleed ! Naughty
thing ! I will not love you if you lite. Pray, nurse,
bind up my finger, or it will soil my frock."

Great was the pity bestowed upon the wound by
Lady Mary's kind attendant, till the little girl, tired

WHERE ARE ITS WINGS 1

of hearing so much said about the bitten finger,
gravely desired her maid to go in search of the cage
and catch the truant, which had effected its escape,
and was clinging to the curtains of the bed. The
cage was procured — a large wooden cage, with an
outer and an inner chamber, a bar for the little
fellow to swing himself on, a drawer for his food,
and a little dish for his water. The sleeping-room
was furnished by the nurse with soft wool, and a fine
store of nuts was put in the drawer ; all his wants
were well supplied, and Lady Mary watched the
catching of the little animal with much interest.
Great was the activity displayed by the runaway
squirrel, and still greater the astonishment evinced
by the Governor's little daughter at the flying leaps
made by the squirrel in its attempts to elude the
grasp of its pursuers.

" It flies ! I am sure it must have wings. Look,
look, nurse ! it is here, now it is on the wall, now
on the curtains ! It must have wings ; but it has no
feathers ! "

" It has no wings, dear lady, but it has a fine
ridge of fur that covers a strong sinew or muscle
between the fore and hinder legs ; and it is by the
help of this muscle that it is able to spring so far
and so fast ; and its claws are so sharp, that it can
cling to a wall or any flat surface. The black and
red squirrels, and the common gray, can jump very
far and run up the bark of the trees very fast, but
Jiot so fast as the flying squirrel.''

PINING FOR LIBERTY.

At last Lady Mary's maid, with the help of one
of the housemaids, succeeded in catching the squirrel
and securing him within his cage. But though
Lady Mary tried all her words of endearment to
coax the little creature to eat some of the good
things that had been provided so liberally for his
entertainment, he remained sullen and motionless at
the bottom of the cage. A captive is no less a
captive in a cage with gilded bars and with dainties
to eat, than if rusted iron shut him in, and kept him
from enjoying his freedom. It is for dear liberty
that he pines and is sad, even in the midst of plenty !

" Dear nurse, why does my little squirrel tremble
and look so unhappy ? Tell me if he wants anything
to eat that we have not given him. Why does he not
lie down and sleep on the nice soft bed you have
made for him in his little chamber ? See, he has
not tasted the nice sweet cake and sugar that I gave .
him."

" He is not used to such dainties. Lady Mary. In
the forest he feeds upon hickory-nuts, and butter-
nuts, and acorns, and beech-mast, and the buds of
the spruce, fir and pine kernels, and many other seeds
and nuts and berries that we could not get for him;
he loves grain too, and Indian corn. He sleeps on
green moss and leaves, and fine fibres of grass and
roots, and drinks heaven's blessed dew, as it lies
bright and pure upon the herbs of the field."

" Dear little squirrel ! pretty creature ! I know
now what makes you sad. You long to be abroad

IKMMMNMVi

THE HOME OF YOUTH.

among your own green woods, and sleeping on the
soft green moss, wliich is far prettier than this ugly
cotton wool. But you shall stay with me, my sweet
one, till the cold winter is past and gone, and the
spring flowers have come again ; and then, my pretty
squirrel, I will take you out of your dull cage, and
we will go to St. Helen's green island, and I will
let you go free ; but I will put a scarlet collar about
your neck before I let you go, that if any one finds
you, they may know that you are my squirrel. Were
you ever in the green forest, nurse ? I hear papa
talk about the * Bush ' and the ' Backwoods ; ' it
must be very pleasant in the summer to live among
the green trees. Were you ever there ? "

" Yes, dear lady ; T did live in the woods when I
was a child. I was born in a little log-shanty, far,
far away up the country, near a beautiful lake called
Rice Lake, among woods, and valleys, and hills
covered with flowers, and groves of pine, and white
and black oaks."

" Stop, nurse, and tell me why they are called
black and white ; are the flowers black and white?"

" No, my lady ; it is because the wood of the one
is darker than the other, and the leaves of the black
oak are dark and shining, while those of the white
oak are brighter and lighter. The black oak is a
beautiful tree. When I was a young girl, I used to
like to climb the sides of the steep valleys, and look
down upon the tops of the oaks that grew beneath,
and to watch the wind lifting the boughs all glitter-

(211)

'■»•

I-.

NIGHT IN THE WOODS.

< 1

to
)k

^ 1

.'. i

ing in the moonliglit ; they lookcil like a sea of
ruffled green water. It is very solemn, Lady Mary,
to be in the woods by night, and to hear no sound
but the cry of the great wood-owl, or the voice of
the whip-poor-will, calling to his fellow from the
tamarack swamp, or, may be, the timid bleating of
a fawn that has lost its mother, or the howl of a
wolf."

" Nurse, I should be so afraid ; I am sure I should
cry if I heard the wicked wolves howling in the dark
woods by night. Did you ever know any one who
was eaten by a wolf?"

" No, my lady ; the Canadian wolf is a great
coward. I have heard the hunters say that they
never attack any one unless there is a great flock to-
gether and the man is alone and unarmed. My uncle
used to go out a great deal hunting, sometimes by
torchlight, and sometimes on the lake, in a canoe
with the Indians ; and he shot and trapped a great
many wolves and foxes and racoons. He has a gi*eat
many heads of wild animals nailed up on the stoup
in front of his log- house."

" Please tell me what a stoup is, nurse?"

" A verandah, my lady, is the same thing, only the
old Dutch settlers gave it the name of a stoup, and
the stoup is heavier and broader, and not quite so
nicely made as a verandah. One day my uncle was
crossing the lake on the ice ; it was a cold winter
afternoon ; he was in a hurry to take some food to
his brothers, who were drawing pine-logs in the

(211) 2

A GALLANT ENCOUNTER.

AOVENTUBE WITH A WOI,F.

bush. He had, besides a bag of meal and flour, a
new axe on his shouhler. He heard steps as of a

lour, a
IS of a

THE WOLF KILLED.

dog trotting after him ; he turned his head, and
there he saw, close at his heels, a big, hungry-looking
gray wolf; he stopped and faced about, and the big
beast stopped and showed his white sharp teeth.
My uncle did not feel afraid, but looked steadily at
the wolf, as much as to say, ' Follow me if you dare,'
and walked on. When my uncle stopped, the wolf
stopped ; when he went on, the beast also went on."

" I would have run away," said Lady Mary.

" If my uncle had let the wolf see that he was
afraid of him, he would have grown bolder, and have
run after him and seized him. All animals are
afraid of brave men, but not of cowards. When the
beast came too near, my uncle faced him and showed
the bright axe, and the wolf then shrank back a few
paces. When my uncle got near the shore, he heard
a long wild cry, as if from twenty wolves at once.
It might have been the echoes from the islands that
increased the sound; but it was very frightful and
made his blood chill, for he knew that without his
rifle he should stand a poor chance against a large
pack of hungry wolves. Just then a gun went off;
he heard the wolf give a temble yell, he felt the
whizzing of a bullet pass him, and turning about,
saw the wolf lying dead on the ice. A loud shout
from the cedars in front told him from whom the
shot came ; it was my father, who had been on the
look-out on the lake shore, and he had fired at and
hit the wolf when he saw that he could do so without
liurting his brother."

AN INDIAN WIGWAM.

" Nurse, it would have been a sad thing if the gun
had shot your uncle."

" It would ; but my father was one of the best
shots in the district, and could hit a white spot on
the bark of a tree with a precision that was perfectly
wonderful. It was an old Indian from Buckhorn
Lake who taught him to shoot deer by torchlight
and to trap beavers."

" Well, I am glad that horrid wolf was killed,
for wolves eat sheep and lambs ; and I daresay they
would devour my little squirrel if they could get
him. Nurse, please to tell me again the name of
the lake near which you were born."

"It is called Rice Lake, my lady. It is a fine
piece of water, more than twenty miles long, and
from three to five miles broad. It has pretty wooded
islands, and several rivers or streams empty them-
selves into it. The Otonabee River is a fine broad
stream, which flows through the forest a long way.
Many years ago, there were no clearings on the
banks, and no houses, only Indian tents or wigwams ;
but now there are a great many houses and farms."

" What are wigwams?"

" A sort of light tent, made with poles stuck into
the ground in a circle, fastened together at the top,
and covered on the outside with skins of wild animals,
or with birch bark. The Indians light a fire of
sticks and logs on the ground, in the middle of the
wigwam, and lie or sit all round it ; the smoke goes
up to the top and escapes. Or sometimes, in the

"11

" HOME, SWEET HOME !"

INDIAN WIQWAMa.

warm summer weather, they kindle their fire without,
and their squaws, or wives, attend to it ; while they
go hunting in the forest, or, mounted on swift horses,
pursue the trail of their enemies. In the winter,
they bank up the wigwam with snow, and make it
very warm."

" I think it must be a very ugly sort of house,
and I am glad I do not live in an Indian wigwam,"
said the little lady.

" The Indians are a very simple folk, my lady,
and do not need fine houses like this in which your
papa lives. They do not know the names or uses of
half the fine things that are in the houses of the
white people. They are happy and contented without

"WATER OATS.

them. It is not the richest that are happiest, Lady
Mary, and the Lord careth for tlio poor and tlio
lowly. There is a village on the shores of Rice Lake
where the Indians live. It is not very pretty. The
houses are all built of logs, and some of them have
gardens and orchards. They have a neat church,
and they have a good minister, who takes great pains
to teach them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The poor Indians were Pagans until within the last
few years."

" What are Pagans, nurse ? "

" People, Lady Mary, who do not believe in God
and the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour."

"Nurse, is there real rice growing in the llicu
Lake ? I heard my governess say that rice grew
only in warm countries. Now, your lake must be
very cold if your uncle walked across the ice."

" This rice, my lady, is not real rice. I heard a
gentleman tell my father that it was, properly speak-
ing, a species of oats * — water oats, he called it ; but
the common name for it is wild rice. This wild rice
grows in vast beds in the lake in patches of many
acres. It will grow in water from eight to ten or
twelve feet deep ; the grassy leaves float upon the
water like long narrow green ribbons. In the month
of August, the stem that is to bear the flower and
the grain rises straight up above the surface, and
light delicate blossoms come out of a pale straw
colour and lilac. They are very pretty, and wave

* Zizania, or water oats.

,.|

-:*t

AN USEFUL ri,ANT.

in the wind with ti rustling noise. In the month of
October, when the rice is ripe, the leaves turn
yellow, and the rice-heads grow heavy and droop ;
then the squaws — as the Indian women are called —
go out in their birch-bark canoes, holding in one
hand a stick, in the other a short curved paddle with
a sharp edge. With this they bend down the rice
across the stick and strike off the heads, which fall
into the canoe, as they push it along through the
rice-beds. In this way they collect a great many
bushels in the course of the day. The wild rice is
not the least like the rice which your ladyship has
eaten; it is thin, and covered with a light chaffy
husk. The colour of the grain itself is a brownish-
green, or olive, smooth, shining, and brittle. After
separating the outward chaff, the squaws put by a
large portion of the clean rice in its natural state for
sale ; for this they get from a dollar and a half to
two dollars a bushel. Some they parch, either in
large pots, or on mats made of the inner bark of
cedar or bass wood, beneath which they light a slow
fire, and plant around it a temporary hedge of green
boughs closely set, to prevent the heat from escap-
ing; they also drive stakes into the ground, over
which they stretch the matting at a certain height
above the fire. On this they spread the green rice,
stirring it about with wooden paddles till it is
properly parched ; this is known by its bursting and
showing the white grain of the flour. When quite
cool it is stowed away in troughs, scooped out of

J. ■♦

" MULTUM IN PARVO."

butter-nut wooil, or else sewed up in slicets of birch-
bark or bass-mats, or in coarsely-niado birch-bark
basketK."

" And is tlie rice good to eat, nurse?"

" Sonic people like it as well as the white rite of
Carolina ; but it does not look so well. It is a
great blessing to the poor Indians, who boil it in
their soups, or eat it with maple molasses. And
they eat it when parched without any other cooking,
when they are on a long journey in the woods, or on
the lakes. I have often eaten nice puddings made
of it with milk. The deer feed upon the green rice.
They swim into the water and eat the green leaves
and tops. The Indians go out at night to shoot the
deer on the water ; they listen for them, and shoot
them in the dark. The wild ducks and water-fowls
come down in great flocks to fatten on the ripe rice
in the fall of the year ; also large flocks of rice bunt-
ings and red wings, which make their roosts among
the low willows, flags, and lilies, close to the shallows
of the lake."

" It seems very useful to birds as well as to men
and beasts," said little Lady Mary.

" Yes, my lady, and to fishes also, I make no
doubt ; for the good God has cast it so abundantly
abroad on the waters, that I daresay they also have
their share. . When the rice is fully ripe, the sun
shining on it gives it a golden hue, just like a field
of ripened grain. Surrounded by the deep-blue
waters, it looks very pretty." t^

.■I

80MF.T1IINO WORK TO COMK. 25

" I am very jnuch ol.ligod to you. imrso, for tell-
ing me m mucli about the Indian rite, and I will
ank mamnui to let me hav§ some one day for my
dinner, that I may know how it tastoM."

Just then Lady Mary's pfoverness came to bid lier
nurso dress her for a slei.s-h-ride, and so for tho
present wo shall leave her; but wo will toll our
little readers something more in another chapter
about Lady Mary ami her flying squirrel.

CHAPTER 11.

SLEKilllNG — SLEIGH KOBKS — FUll CAPS — OTTEU SKINS — OLD

SNOW-STOKM^OTTEJl HUNTING OTTEE SLIDES — INDIAN

NAMES — KEMARKS ON WILD ANIMALS AND THEIK HABITS.

URSE, we have liatl a very nice sleigh-
drive. I like sleighing very much over
the white snow. The trees look so
pretty, as if they were ''ovcred with white flowers, and
the ground sparkled just like mamma's diamonds."
" It is pleasant, Lady Mary, to ride through the
woods on a bright sunshiny day, after a fresh fall of
snow. The young evergreens, hemlocks, balsams,
and spruce-trees, are loaded with great masser. of the
new-fallen snow; while the slender saplings of the
beech, birch, and basswood (the lime or linden) are
bent down to the very gi-ound, making bowers so
bright and beautiful, you would be delighted to see
them. Sometimes, as you drive along, great masses
of the snow come showering down upon you ; but it
is so light and diy, that it shakes off without wetting
you. It is pleasant to be wrapped up in warm
l)lankcts, or buffalo robes, at the bottom of a lumber-
sleigh, and to travel through the forest by moon-

THE MKRllY, MERRY SLEIGH.

light; the merry bells echoing tlirough the silent
woods, and the stars just peeping down through the
frosted trees, which sparkle like diamonds in the
moonbeams."

" Nurse, I should like to take a drive through the
forest in winter. It is so nice to hear the sleigh-bells.
We used sometimes to go out in the snow in Scot-
land, but we were in the carriage, and had no bells."

"No, Lady Mary; the snow seldom lies long
enough in the old country to make it worth while
to have sleighs there; but in Russia and Sweden,
and other cold Northern countries, they use sleighs
with bells."

Lady Mary ran to the little bookcase where she
had a collection of children's books, and very soon
found a picture of Laplanders and Russians wrapped
in furs.

" How long will the winter last, nurse?" said the
child, after she had tired herself with looking at the
prints; "a long, long time — a great many weeks? —
IX great many months ? "

" Yes, my lady; five or six months."

"Oh, that is nice — nearly half a year of white
Bnow, and sleigh-drives every day, and bells ringing
uU the time ! I tried to make out a tune, but thoy
only seemed to say, ' Up-hill, up-hill ! down-hill,
down-hill ! ' all the way. Nurse, please tell me
what are sleigh-robes made of?"

" Some sleigh-robes. Lady Mary, are made of
be."v-skins, lined with red or blue flannel ; some are

mmm

A NOVEL IIEAD-DRKSS.

of wolf-skins, lined Avith bright scarlet cloth ; and
some of racoon ; the commonest are buffalo-skins ; I
have seen some of deer-skins, but these last are not
so good, as the hair comes off, and they are not so
warm as the skins of the furred or woolly-coated
animals."

" I sometimes see long tails hanging down over
the backs of the sleigh and cutters — they look very
pretty, like the end of mamma's boa."

" The wolf and racoon skin robes are generally
made up with the tails, and sometimes the heads of
the animals are also left. I noticed the head of a
wolf, with its sharp ears, and long white teeth,
looking very fierce, at the back of a cutter, the
other day."

" Nurse, that must have looked very droll. Do
you know I saw a gentleman the other day, walking
with papa, who had a fox-skin cap on his head, and
the fox's nose was just peeping over his shoulder, and
the tail hung down his back, and I saw its bright
black eyes looking so cunning. I thought it must
be alive, and that it had curled itself round his
head ; but the gentleman took it off, and showed
me that the eyes were glass."

" Some hunters. Lady Mary, make caps of otter,
mink, or badger skins, and ornament them with the
tails, heads, and claws."

" I have seen a picture of the otter, nurse ; it is a
pretty, soft-looking thing, with a round head and
hlack eyes. Where do otters live? "

INDIAN NAMES.

" The Canadian otters, Lady Mary, live in holes
in the banks of sedgy, shallow lakes, mill-ponds,
and sheltered creeks. The Indian hunters find their
haunts by tracking their steps in the snow ; for an
Indian or Canadian hunter knows the track made
by any bird or beast, from the deep broad print of
the bear, to the tiny one of the little shrewmouse,
which is the smallest four-footed beast in this or any
other country.

" Indians catch the otter, and many other wild
animals, in a sort of trap, which they call a ' dead-
fall.' Wolves are often so trapped, and then shot.
The Indians catch the otter for the sake of its dark
shining fur, which is used by the hatters and furriers.
Old Jacob Snow-storm, an old Indian who lived on
the banks of the Eice Lake, used to catch otters ;
and I have often listened to him, and laughed at his
stories."

" Do, please, nurse, tell me what old Jacob
Snow-storm told you about the otters ; I like to hear
stories about wild beasts. But what a droll sur-
name Snow-storm is ! "

" Yes, Lady Mary; Indians have very odd names;
they are called after all sorts of strange things.
They do not name the children, as we do, soon after
they are born, but wait for some remarkable circum-
stance, some dream or accident. Some call them
after the first strange animal or bird that appears to
the new-born. Old Snow-storm most likely owed
his name to a heavy fall of snow when he was u

"■S fel^H t W lll Ul Bp

>-*6«**5

^V^ATS IN A NAME?

haby. I knew a chief named Musk-rat, and a
pretty Indian girl who was named ' 13adau'-bun ' — ■
Lifjht of the MornirKj."

" And what is the Indian name for Old Snow-
storm?"

" ' Be-clie-go-ke-poor,' my hidy."

Lady Mary said it was a funny sounding name,
and not at all like Snow-storm, which she liked a
great deal better; and £ihe was much amused while
her nurse repeated to her some names of squaws and
papooses (Indian women and children); such as
Long Thrush, Little Fox, Running Stream, Snow-
bird, Red Cloud, Young Eagle, Big Bush, and many
others.

" Now, nurse, will you tell me some more about
Jacob Snow-storm and the otters ? "

" Well, Lady Mary, the old man had a cap of
otter-skin, of w^hich he was very proud, and only
wore on great days. One day as he was playing
with it, he said: — ' Otter funny fellow; he like play
too, sometimes. Indian go hunting up Ottawa, that
great big river, you know. Gro one moonlight
night ; lie down under bushes in snow ; see lot of
little fellow and big fellow at play. Run up and
down bank; bank all ice. Sit down top of bank;
good slide there. Down he go splash into water ;
out again. Funny fellow thoso ! ' And then the
old hunter threw back his head, and laughed, till
you could have seen all his white teeth, he opened
his mouth so wide."

ALL ABOUT THE OTTKRS.

THE OTTERS.

Lady Mary was veiy much amused at the comical
way in which tlie ohl Indian talked.

" Can otters swim, nurse?"

" Yes, Lady Mary; the good (^lod who has created
all things well, has given to this animal wehhed
feet, which enable it to swim; and it can also dive
down in the deep water, where it finds fish and

A BEAST OF PREY.

mussels, and perhaps the roots of some water-phmts
to eat. It makes very little motion or disturbance
in the water when it goes down in search of its
prey. Its coat is thick, and formed of two kinds of
hair; the outer hair is long, silky, and shining; the
under part is short, fine, and warm. The water
cannot penetrate to wet them, — the oily nature of
the fur throws off the moisture. They dig large
holes with their claws, which are short, hut very
strong. They line their nests with dry grass, and
rushes, and roots gnawed fine, and do not pass the
winter in sleep, as the dormice, flying squirrels,
racoons, and bears do. They are very innocent and
playful, both when young, and even after they grow
old. The lumberers often tame them, and they
become so docile that they will come at a call or
whistle. Like all wild animals, they are most
lively at night, when they come out to feed and
play."

" Dear little things ! I should like to have a
tame otter to play with, and run after me; but do
you think he would eat my squirrel? You know
cats will eat squirrels — so mamma says."

" Cats belong to a very different class of animals ;
Ihey are beasts of prey, formed to spring and bound,
and tear with their teeth and claws. The otter is
also a beast of prey, but its prey is found in the
still waters, and not on the land ; it can neither
climb nor leap. So I do not think he -^ ouid hurt
your squirrel, if you had one.'*

GOD IN CREATION.

'* Soc, iiurso, my dear little squirrel is still where
I left him, dinging to the wires of the cage, his
bright eyes looking like two black beads.'

" As soon as it grows dark he will begin to be
more lively, and perhaps he will eat something, but
not while we look at him — he is too shy for that."

" Nurse, how can they see to eat in the dark?"

" The good God, Lady Mary, has so formed their
eyes that they can see best by night. I will road
you, Lady IMary, a few verses from Psalm civ. : —

" * Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons : the sun knoweth
his going down.

" ' 20. Thou makcst darkness, and it is niglit : wherein all the beasts
of the forest do creep forth.

" '21. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat
from God.

"'22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay
them down in their dens.

" ' 23. Man goetli forth unto his work and to his labour, until the
evening.

" ' 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou
made tliem all : the earth is full of thy riches.'

" Thus you see, my dear lady, that our heavenly
Father taketh care of all his creatures, and provideth
for them both by day and by night."

" I remember, nurse, that my dormice used to lie
quite still, nestled among the moss and wool in their
little dark chamber in the cage, all day long ; but
when it was niglit they used to come out and frisk
about, and run along the wires, and play all sorts
of tricks, chasing one another round and round, and
they were not afraid of me, but would let me look
at them while they ate a nut, or a bit of sugar; aud

(211) 3

.»

> ■ V ••

■

now TIIR DORMICE FRED,

I.ADT MARV SLEialllNO HER DOLL.

'^/^/^^^

„,„ dear little things wonW rtrink out of thelv little
white saucer, and ^va* their faces and ta,ls-,t was

«o pretty to see *';«'"'•" ^^^ ,!„„,;,«

"Bid you notice, Lady iuaiy, no\>

held their food ? "

DOLLY S SLEIGII-RIDE.

.9r.

/ f/

" Yes; they sat up, and hold it in their fore-paws,
whicli looked just like tiny hands."

*' There are many animals whose foro-feet rescmhle
hands, and these, generally, convey their food to
their mouths — among these are the squirrel and
dormice. They are good climbers and diggers.
You see, my dear young lady, how the merciful
Creator has given to all his creatures, however
lowly, the best means of supplying their wants,
whether of food or shelter."

" Indeed, nurse, I have learned a great ileal about
squirrels, Canadian rice, otters, and Indians ; but, if
you please, I must now have a little play with my
doll. Good-bye, Mrs. Frazer; pray take care of my
dear little squirrel, and mind that he does not fly
away." And Lady Mary was soon busily engaged
in drawing her wax doll about the nursery in a little
sleigh lined with red squirrel fur robes, and talking
to her as all children like to talk to their dolls,
whether they be rich or poor — the children of peas-
ants, or governors' daughters.

little
t was

irmice

V|bB»f"

-i

CTIAPTEll III.

LAUY MAUY ItKADS TO MI!S. FUAZEU TlfK r'HtST V\UV 01'" THli
inSTORV OF THE .SCiUIllUEL FAMILY.

NE tlay Lady Mary came to her nurse, and
putting lier arms about lier n.x'k, wliis-
pored to her, — '' Mrs. Frazer, my dear
good governess has given me something — it is in
my hand," and she slily held hw hand behind her —
" will you guess what it is?"'

" Is it a book, my lady ?"'

" Yes, yes, it is a book, a pret'} book ; and see, here
are pictures of squirrels in it. i»irs. Frazer, if you
like, I will sit down on this cushion by you and read
some of my new book. It docs not seem very hard."

Then Mrs. Frazer took out her work-basket and
sat down to sew, and Lady Mary began to read the
little story, which, I hope, may entertain my little
readers as much as it did the Governor's daughter.

^iirt i.

TUn niSTORY OF A SQUIRREL FAMILY.

It must be a pleasant thing to be a squirrel, and
live a life of freedom in the boundless forests ; to

SQUIUIirX 1,1 FK.

here
you

read

ird.
and
the
ittle

and
; to

■

loap and bound among the branches of the tall trees;
to gambol in the deep shade of the cool glossy
leaves, through the long warm summer day ; to
gather the fresh nuts and berries; to drink the
pure dews of heaven, all bright and sparkling

LAKY MAliy READING IIEU nOTD RK-IJUOK.

from the opening flowers; to sleep on soft beds
of moss and thistl6-down in some hollow branch
rocked by the wind as in a cradle. Yet, though
this was the ha})py life led by a family of pretty
gray squirrels that had their dwelling in the hoary

' *

THE IIEUO OF THK TALK

branch of an old oak-trco that grew on ono of the
rocky islands in a beautiful lake in Upper Canada,
called Stony Lake (because it was full of rocky
islands), these little creatures were far from being
contented, and were always wishing for a change.
Indeed, they had been very happy, till one day when
a great black squirrel swam to the island antl paid
them a visit. He was a very fine handsome fellow,
nearly twice as large as any of the gray squirrels ;
he had a tail that flourished over his back, when he
set it up, like a great black feather; his claws were
sharp and strong, and his eyes very round and
bright; he had upright cars, and long, sharp teeth,
of which he made good use. The old gray squirrels
called him cousin, and invited him to dinner. They
very civilly set before him some acorns and beech-
nuts; but he proved a hungry visitor, and ate as
much as would have fed the whole family for a week.
After the gray squirrels had cleared away the shells
and scraps, they asked their greedy guest where he
came from, when Blackie told them he was a great
traveller, and had seen many wonderful things; that
he had once lived on a forked pine at the head of
the Waterfall, but being tired of a dull life, he had
gone out on his travels to see the world; that he
had been down the lake, and along the river shore,
where there were great places cut out in the thick
forest, called clearings, where some very tall creatures
lived, who were called men and women, with young
ones called children; that though they were not so

A L'UNNINO FKLLOW.

Itretty as 8(iuiirelH — lor tlicy luul no lur on tliein,
,'Mid were obliged to make clothes to cover tlieni tind
keep them warm — they were very useful, and sowed
corn and planted fruit-trees and roots for K([uirrels
to eat, and even built large grain stores to keep it
safe and dry for them.

This seemed very strange, and the simple little
gray squirrels were 'cry much pleased, and said they
should like very much to go down the lakes too, and
see these wonderful things.

The black squirrel then told them that tliere were
many things to be seen in these clearings; that there
were large beasts, called oxen, and cows, and sheep,
and pigs; and these creatures had houses built for
them to live in; and all the men and women seemed
to employ themselves about, was feeding and taking
care of them.

Now this cunning fellow never told his simple
cousins that the oxen had to bear a heavy wooden
yoke and chain, and were made to work very hard ;
nor that the cows were fed that they might give
milk to the children; nor that the pigs were fatted
to make pork; nor that the sheep had their warm
fleeces cut ofi' every year that the settlers might
have the wool to spin and weave. Blackie did not
say that the men carried guns, and the dogs were
fierce, and would hunt poor squirrels from tree to
tree, frightening them almost to death with their
loud, angry barking; that cats haunted the barns
and houses; and, in short, that there were dangers

:«.

TIR TAKRS IITS LEAVE.

US well as pleasures to be met with in these clear-
ings; and that the barns were built to shelter the
grain for men, and not for the benefit of squirrels.

The black squirrel proved rather a troublesome
guest, for he stayed several days, and ate so heartily,
that the old gray squirrels were obliged to hint that he
had better go back to the clearings, where there was
so much food, for that their store was nearly done.

When Blackie found that all the nice nuts were
eaten, and that even pine-kernels and beech-nuts
were becoming scarce, he went away, saying that he
should soon come again.

The old gray squirrels were glad when they saw
the tip of Blackie's tail disappear, as he whisked
down the trunk of the old oak; but their young
ones were very sorry that he was gone, for they liked
very much to listen to all his wonderful stories,
which they thought were true; and they told their
father and mother how they wished they would
leave the dull island and the old tree, and go down
the lakes, and see the wonderful things that their
black cousin had described.

But the old ones shook their heads, and said they
feared there was more fiction than truth in the tales
they had heard, and that if they w^ere wise they
would stay where they were. " What do you want
more, my dear children," said their mother, " than
you enjoy here ? Have you not this grand old oak
for a palace to live in ; its leaves and branches
spreading like a canopy over your heads, to shelter

BE CONTENT WITH THE PRESENT.

you from the hot sun by day and the dews by night ?
Are there not moss, dried grass, and roots beneath,
to make a soft bed for you to lie upon ? and do not
the boughs drop down a plentiful store of brown
ripe acorns ? That silver lake, studded with islands
of all shapes and sizes, produces cool clear water for
you to drink and bathe yourselves in. Look at
those flowers that droop their blossoms down to its
glassy surface, and the white lilies that rest upon
its bosom, — will you see anything fairer or better if
you leave this place? Stay at home and be con-
tented."

" If I hear any more grumbling," said their father,
" [ shall pinch your ears and tails." So the little
squirrels said no more, but I am sorry to say they
did not pay much heed to their wise old mother's
counsels ; for whenever they were alone, all their
talk was how to run away, and go abroad to see the
world, as their black cousin had called the new
settlement down the lakes. It never came into the
heads of the sillv creatures that those wonderful
stories they had been told originated in an artful
scheme of the greedy black squirrel, to induce them
to leave their warm pleasant house in the oak, that
he and his children might come and live in it, and
get the hoards of grain, and nuts, and acorns, that
their father and mother had been laying up for
winter stores.

Moreover, the wily black squirrel had privately
told them that their father and mother intended to

PLOTTING AN ESCAPADE.

; I

tuiii theui out of tlie nest very soon, and make pro-
vision for a new family. This indeed was really the
case ; for as soon as young animals can provide for
themselves, their parents turn them off, and care no
niore for them. A^ery different, indeed, is this from
our parents ; for they love and cherish us as long as
they live, and afford us a home and shelter as long
as we need it.

Every hour these little gray squirrels grew more
and more impatient to leave the lonely little rocky
island, though it was a pretty spot, and the place of
their birth ; but they were now eager to go abroad
and seek their fortunes.

"Let us keep our own counsel," said Nimble-foot
to his sisters Velvet-paw and Silver-nose, " or we
may chance to get our tails pulled ; but be all ready
for a start by early dawn to-morrow."

Velvet-paw and Silver-nose said they would be
up before sunrise, as they should have a long voyage
down the lake, and agreed to rest on Pine Island
near the opening of Clear Lake. " And then take
to the shore and travel through the woods, where,
no doubt, we shall have a pleasant time," said
Nimble-foot, who was the most hopeful of the
party.

The sun was scarcely yet risen over the fringe of
dark pines that skirted the shores of the lake, and a
soft creamy mist hung on the surface of the still
waters, which were unruffled by tlie slightest breeze.
The little gray squirrels awoke, and looked sleepily

AN AMERICAN LANDSCAPK.

out from the leafy screen that shaded their mossy
nest. The early notes of the wood-thrush and song-
sparrow, with the tender warbling of the tiny wren,
sounded sweetly in the still, dewy morning air ;
while from a cedar swamp was heard the trill of the
green frogs, which the squirrels thought very pretty
music. As the sun rose above the tops of the trees,
the mist rolled off in light fleecy clouds, and soon
was lost in the blue sky, or lay in large bright drops
on the cool grass and shining leaves. Then all the
birds awoke, and the insects shook, their gauzy
wings which had been folded all the night in the
flower-cups, and the flowers began to lift their heads,
and the leaves to expand to catch the golden light.
There was a murmur on the water as it played
among the sedges, and lifted the broad floating
leaves of the white water-lilies, with their carved
ivory cups ; and the great green, brown, and blue
dragon- flies rose with a whirring sound, and darted
to and fro among the water-flowers.

It is a glorious sight to see thS sun rise at any
time, for then we can look upon him without having
our eyes dazzled with the brightness of his beams ;
and though there were no men and women and
little children, in the lonely waters and woods, to
lift up their hands and voices in prayer and praise
to God, who makes the sun to rise each day, yet no
doubt the great Creator is pleased to see his crea-
tures rejoice in the blessings of light and heat.

Lightly running down the ruggea bark of the old

THE TRUANTS ON THE LAKE.

oak-tree, tlie little squirrels bade farewell to their
island home — to the rocks, mosses, ferns, and flowers
that had sheltered them, among which they had so
often chased each other in merry gambols. They
thought little of all this, when they launched them-
selves on the silver bosom of the cool lake.

" How easy it is to swim in this clear water ! "
said Silver-nose to her sister Velvet-paw. " We
shall not be long in reaching yonder island, and
there, no doubt, we shall get a good breakfast."

So the little swimmers proceeded on their voyage,
furrowing the calm waters as they glided noiselessly
along; their soft gray heads and ears and round
black eyes only being seen, and the bright streaks
caused by the motion of their tails, which lay flat
on the surface, looking like silver threads gently
floating on the stream.

Not being much used to the fatigue of swimming,
the little squirrels were soon tired, and if it had not
been for a friendly bit of stick that happened to
float near lier, poor Velvet-i)aw would have been
drowned ; however, she got up on the stick, and,
setting up her fine broad tail, went merrily on, and
soon passed Nimble- foot and Silver-nose. The
current drew the stick towards the Pine Island that
lay at the entrance of Clear Lake, and Velvet-paw
leaped ashore, and sat down on a mossy stone to dry
her fur, and watch for her brother and sister : they,
too, found a large piece of birch-bark which the
winds had blown into the water, and as a little

]•

KxNEMIES ON S1I0K15.

breeze had sprung up to waft them along, they were
not very long before they landed on the island.
They were all very glad when they met again, after
the perils and fatigues of the voyage. The first
thing to be done was to look for something to eat,
for their early rising had made them very hungry.
They found abundance of pine-cones strewn on the
ground, but, alas for our little squirrels ! very few
kernels in them ; for the crossbills and chiccadees
had been at work for many wcf^ks on the trees ; and
also many families of their poor relations, the chit-
munks or ground squirrels, had not been idle, as our
little voyagers could easily guess by the chips and
empty cones round their holes. So, weary as they
were, they were obliged to run up the tall pine ami
hemlock trees, to search among the cones that grew
on their very top branches. While our squirrels
were busy with the few kernels they chanced to find,
they were started from their repast by the screams
of a large slate-coloured hawk, and Velvet-paw very
narrowly escaped being pounced upon and carried
off in its sharp-hooked talons. Silver-nose at the
same time was nearly frightened to death by the
keen round eyes of a cunning racoon, which had
come within a few feet of the mossy branch of an
old cedar, where she sat picking the seeds out of a
dry head of a blue flag-flower she had found on the
shore. Silvy, at this sight, gave a spring that left
her many yards beyond her sharp-sighted enemy.
A lively note of joy was uttered by Nimble-foot,

4fi

OUT IN THE WORLD.

for, perched at his case on a top branch of the hem-
lock-tree, he liad seen the bound made by Silver-nose.

" Well jumped, Silvy," said he ; " Mister Coon
must be a smart fellow to equal that. But look
sharp, or you will get your neck wrung yet ; I see
we must keep a good look-out in this strange
country."

" I begin to wish we were safe back again in our
old one," whined Silvy, who was much frightened
by the danger she had just escaped.

"Pooh, pooh, child; don't be a coward," said
Nimble, laughing.

" Cousin Blackie never told us there were hawks
and coons on this island," said Velvet-paw.

" My dear, he thought we were too brave to be
afraid of hawks and coons," said Nimble. " For
my part, I think it is a fine thing to go out a little
into the world. We should never see anything
better than the sky, and the water, and the old oak-
tree on that little island."

" Ay, but I think it is safer to see than to be
seen," said Silvy, " for hawks and eagles have strong
beaks, and racoons sharp claws and hungry-looking
teeth ; and it is not very pleasant. Nimble, to be
obliged to look out for such wicked creatures."

" Oh, true indeed," said Nimble ; " if it had not
been for that famous jump you made, Silvy, and,
Velvet, your two admirers, the hawk and racoon,
would soon have hid all your beauties from the
world, and put a stop to your travels."

IN SEARCH OF A DINNER.

" It is very well for brother Nimble to make
light of our dangers," whispered Velvet-paw, " but
let us see how he will jump if a big eigle were to
pounce down to carry him off."

" Yes, yes," said Silvy ; " it is easy to brag before
one is in danger."

The squirrels thought they would now go and
look for some partridge-berries, of which they were
very fond, for the pine-kernels were but dry husky
food after all.

There were plenty of the pretty white star-shaped
blossoms, growing all over the ground under the
pine-trees, but the bright scarlet twin-berries were
not yet ripe. In winter the partridges eat this fruit
from under the snow ; and it furnishes food for
many little animals as well as birds. The leaves
are small, of a dark green, and the white flowers
have a very fine fragrant scent. Though the run-
aways found none of these berries fit to eat, they saw
some ripe strawberries among the bushes ; and,
having satisfied their hunger, began to grow very
merry, and whisked here and there and everywhere,
peeping into this hole and under that stone. Some-
times they had a good game of play, chasing one
another up and down the trees, chattering and
squeaking as gray squirrels only can chatter and
squeak, when they are gambolling about in the wild
woods of Canada.

Indeed, they made such a noise, that the great
ugly black snakes lifted up their heads, and stared

WEARY OF READINr..

at tliem with their Avicked spiteful-looking eyes,
and the little ducklings swimming among the water-
lilies gathered round their mother, and a red-winged
blackbird perched on a dead tree gave alarm to the
rest of the flock by calling out, Gcck, gcck, ycck, as
loudly as he could. In the midst of their frolics.
Nimble skipped into a hollow log — but was glad to
run out again ; for a porcupine covered with sharp
spines was there, and was so angry at being dis-
turbed, that he stuck one of his spines into poor
Nimble-foot's soft velvet nose, and there it would
have remained if Silvy had not seized it with her
teeth and pulled it out. Nimble-foot squeaked
sadly, and would not play any longer, but rolled
himself up and went to sleep in a red-headed wood-
pecker's old nest ; while Silvy and Velvet-paw
frisked about in the moonlight, and when tired of
play got up into an old oak which had a large
hollow place in the crown of it, and fell asleep,
fancying, no doubt, that they were on the rocky
island in Stony Lake ; and so we will bid them
good night, and wish them pleasant dreams.

Lady Mary had read a long while, and was now
tired ; so she kissed her nurse, and said, " Now.
Mrs. Frazer, I will play with my doll, and feed my
squirrel and my dormice."

The dormice were two soft, brown creatures, almost
as pretty and as innocent as the squirrel, and a great

MORE ABOUT THE TRUANTS.

(leal tamer; and they were called Jeannctte and Jean-
not, and would come when tliey were called by their
names, and take a hit of cake or a lump of sugar out
of the fingers of tlieir little mistress. Lady Mary
had two canaries, Dick and Pet ; and she loved her
dormice and birds, and her new ])et, the flying
squirrel, very much, and never let them want for
food, or water, or any nice thing she could get for
them. She liked the history of the gray squirrels
very much ; and was quite eager to get her book
the next afternoon, to read the second part of the
adventures and wanderings of the family.

Satt ii.

WHICH TELLS HOW THE OKAY SQUIRRELS GET ON WHILE
THEY REMAINED ON PINE ISLAND — HOW THEY BEHAVED TO
THEIR POOR RELATIONS, THE CHITMUNKS — AND WHAT
HAPPENED TO THEM IN THE FOREST.

It was noon when the little squirrels awoke, and,
of course, they were quite ready for their breakfast :
but there was no good, kind old mother to provide
for their wants, and to bring nuts, acorns, roots, or
fruit for them ; they must now get up, go forth,
and seek food for themselves. When Velvet-paw
and Silver-nose went to call Nimble-foot, they were
surprised to find his nest empty ; but after searching
a long while, they found him sitting on the root of
an up-turned tree, looking at a family of little chit-

(211) 4

r>o

UNCOrRTEOUS HI II AVIOUK.

"^f^fi:

11- \

"'^'/r .

THE GRAY SQUIKREL AND TIIK CHITMUNKft.

nmnks busily picking over the pine-cones on the
grountl ; but as soon as one of the poor little fellows,
with great labour, had dug out a kernel, and was

--<«>;

RAT OR SQUIRRFL?

fit

propariiijL,' to oat it, down leaped Nimble-foot and
carried off the prize; and if one of tlic little cliit-
nninks ventured to say a word, lie very uncivilly
gave liim a scratch, or hit his ears, calling him a
mean, shabby fellow.

Now the chitniunks were really very pretty.
They were, to be sure, not more than half the size
of the gray squirrels, and their fur was short,
without the soft, thick glossy look upon it of the
gray squirrels'. They were of a lively, tawny
yellow-brown colour, with long black and white
stripes down their backs ; their tails were not so
long nor so thickly furred ; and instead of living in
the trees, they made their nests in logs and wind-
falls, and had their granaries and winter houses too
underground, where they made warm nests of dried
moss and grass and thistledown ; to these they had
several entrances, so that they had always a chance
of refuge if danger wcro nigh. Like the dormice,
flying squirrels, and ground hogs, they slept soundly
during the cold weather, only awakening when the
warm spring sun had melted the snow.*

The vain little gray squirrels thought themselves
mudi better than these little chitmunks, whom they
treated with very little politeness, laughing at them
for living in holes in the ground, instead of upon
lofty trees, as they did ; they even called them low-

■

^ It is not quite certain tliat the chitfnunk is a true squirrel, and
lie is sometimes called a striped rat. This pretty animal seems, in-
deed, to form a link between the rat and squirrel.

. J:. ..

^VIIAT THE ClllTMUNKS SAID.

bred fellows, and wondered why they did not imitato
their higli-breediiig and behaviour.

Tlio ehitmunks took very little notice of their
rudeness, but merely said that, if being high-bred
made people rude, they would rather remain liunible
as they were.

" As we are the head of all the squirrel families,"
said Silver-noso, " we shall do you the honour of
breakfasting with you to-day."

" Wo breakfasted hours ago, while you lazy
fellows were fast asleep," replied an old chitnmnk,
poking his little nose out of a hole in the ground.

" Then we shall dine with you ; so make haste and
get something good for us," said Nimble-foot. " I
have no doubt you have plenty of butter and hickory-
nuts laid up in your holes."

The old chitmunk told him he might come and
get them, if he could.

At this the gray squirrels skipped down from the
branches, and began to run hither and thither, and
to scratch among the moss and leaves, to find the
entrance to the chitmunks' grain stores. They
peeped under the old twisted roots of the pines and
cedars, into every chink and cranny, but no sign of
a granary was to be seen.

Then the chitmunks said, " My dear friends, this
is a bad season to visit us; we are very poor Just
now, finding it difficult to get a few dry pine-ker-
nels and berries; but if you will come and see us after
harvest, we shall have a store of nuts and acorns."

LEFT IN TIIR LURCH.

*' Pietty follows you are!" repliod Niniblo, "to
put UH oft' with promises, when we are so hungry;
wo might Htarvo hetween this and harvest."

** If you leave tliis island, and go down the lake,
you will come to a mill, where the red squirrels live,
and where you will have fine times," said one of the
chitmunks.

"Which is the nearest way to the mill?" asked
Velvet-paw.

" Swim to the shore, and keep the Indian path,
and you will soon see it."

But while the gray squirrels were looking out for
the path, the cunning chitmunks whisked away into
their holes, and left the inquirers in the lurch, who
could not tell what had become of them ; for though
they did find a round hole that they thought might
be one of their burrows, it was so narrow that they
could only poke in their noses, but could get no
further — the gray squirrels being much fatter and
bigger than the slim little chitmunks.

"After all," said Silvy, who was the best of the
three, " perhaps, if we had been civil, the chitmunks
would have treated us better."

" Well," said Nimble, " if they had been good
fellows, they would have invited us, as our mother did
Cousin Blackie, and have set before us the best they
had. I could find it in my heart to dig them out of
their holes and give them a good bite." This was all
brag on Nimble's part, who was not near so brave as
he wished Silvy and Velvet-paw to suppose he was.

■^

THINKING OF llOMK.

After spending some time in hunting for i.c jrns,
they made up their minds to leave the island, and as
it was not very far to the mainland, they decided on
swimming thither.

" Indeed," said Silver-nose, " I am tired of this
dull place ; we are not better off here than we were
in the little island in Stony Lake, where our good
old mother took care we should have plenty to eat,
and we had a nice warm nest to shelter us."

" Ah, well, it is of no use grumbling now ; if we
were to go back, we should only get a scolding, and
perhaps be chased off the island," said Nimble. " Now
let us have a race, and see which of us will get to
shore first ; " and he leaped over Velvet-paw's head,
and was soon swimming merrily for the shore. He
was soon followed by his companions, and in half an
hour they were all safely landed. Instead of going
into the thick forest, they agreed to take the path
by the margin of the lake, for there they had a
better chance of getting nuts and fruit ; but though
it was the merry month of June, and there were
plenty of pretty flowers in bloom, the berries were
hardly ripe, and our little vagrants faied but badly.
Besides being hungry, they were sadly afraid of the
eagles and fish-hawks that kept hovering over the
water ; and when they went further into the forest
to avoid them, they saw a great white wood-owl,
noiselessly flying out from among the close cedar
swamps, that seemed just ready to pounce down
upon them. The gray sq^uirrels did not like the

A NARROW ESCAPE.

look of tlie owl's groat round shining eyes, as they
peered at them, under tlie tufts of silky white
leathers, which almost hid his hooked hill, and their
hearts sunk within them when they heard his holh vv
cry, ''Ho, ho, ho, ho!" '' Wauyh, ho!" dismally
sounding in their ears.

It was well that A\'lvet-paw was as swift afoot as
slie was soft, for one of these great owls had veiy
nearly caught her, while she was eating a lilbert that
she had found in a cleft branch, where a nuthatch
had fixed it, while she pecked a hole in the shell.
Some bird of prey had scared away the poor nut-
hatch, and Velvet-paw no doubt thought she was in
luck when she found the prize ; but it would have
been a dear nut to her, if Nimble, who was a sharp-
sighted fellow, had not seen the owl, and cried, " Chit,
chit, chit, chit !" to warn her of her danger. " Chit,
chit, chit, chit ! " cried Velvet-paw, and away she
flew to the very top of a tall pine-tree, springing
from one tree-top to another, till she was soon out
of the old owl's reach.

"What shall we do for supper to-night?'* said
Silver-nose, looking very pitifully at Nimble-foot,
whom they looked upon as the head of the family.

" We shall not want for a good supper and break-
fast too, or I am very much mistaken. Bo you see
that red squirrel yonder, climbing the hemlock-tree ?
Well, my dears, he has a fine store of good things in
that beech-tree. I watched him run down with a
nut in his teeth. Let us wait patiently, and we

THIEVES ARE ALWAYS COWARDS.

shall see him come again for anotlier ; and as soon
as he has done his meal, we will go and take ours."

The red squirrel ran to and fro several times, each
time carrying off a nut to his nest in the hemlock ;
after a while, he came no more. As soon as he was
out of sight. Nimble led the way and found the
hoard. The beech was quite hollow in the heart ;
and they went down through a hole in the branch,
and found a store of hazel-nuts, with acorns, hickory-
nuts, butter-nuts, and beech-mast, all packed quite
close and dry. They soon made a great hole in the
red squirrel's store of provisions, and were just
choosing some nuts to carry off with them, when
they were disturbed by a scratching against the
bark of the tree. Nimble, who was always the first
to take care of himself, gave the alarm, and he and
Velvet-paw, being nearest to the hole, got off safely ;
but poor Silvy had the ill luck to sneeze, and before
she had time to hide herself, the angry red squirrel
sprang upon her, and gave her such a terrible cuffing
and scratching, that Silvy cried out for mercy. As
to Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw, they paid no heed
to her cries for help ; they ran away, and left her to
bear the blame of all their misdeeds as well as her
own. Thieves are always cowards, and are sure to
forsake one another when danger is nigh.

The angry red squirrel pushed poor Silvy out of
her granary, and she was glad to crawl away and
hide herself in a hole at the root of a neighbouring
tree, where she lay in great pain and terror, licking

THE TREACHEROUS RACOON-. 6/

her wounds and crying to think how cruel it was of
her brother and sister to leave her to the mercy of
the red squirrel. It was surely very cowardly of
Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw to forsake her in such a
time of need ; nor was this the only danger that
befell poor Silvy. One morning, when she put her
nose out of tlie hole to look about her before ventur-
ing out, she sa;v seated on a branch, close beside the
tree she was under, a racoon, staring full at her with
his sharp cunning black eyes. She was very much
afraid of him, for she thought he looked very hungry;
but as she knew that racoons are very fond of nuts
and fruit, she said to herself, " Perhaps if I show
him where the red squirrel's granary in the beech -
tree is, he will not kill me." Then she said very
softly to him, " Good Mister Coon, if you want a
very nice breakfast, and will promise to do me no
hurt, I will tell you where to find plenty of nuts."

The coon eyed her with a sly grin, and said, " If
I can get anything more to my taste than a pretty
gray squirrel, I will take it, my dear, and not lay a
paw upon your soft back."

" Ah, but you must promise not to touch me,
if I come out and show you where to find the nuts,"
said Silvy.

" Upon the word and honour of a coon ! " replied
the racoon, laying one black paw upon his breast ;
" but if you do not come out of your hole, I shall
soon come and dig you out, so you had best be
quick ; and if you trust me, you shall come to no hurt."

THE INDIAN TENT.

IMien Silvy thought it wisest to seem to trust the
racoon's word, and she came out of her hole, and
went a few paces to point out the tree where her
enemy the red Sjuirrel's store of nuts was; but as
soon as she saw Mister Coon disappear in the hollow
of the tree, slie bade him good-bye, and whisked up
a tall tree, where she knew the racoon could not
reach her ; and having now quite recovered her
strength, she was able to leap from branch to branch,
and even from one tree to another, whenever they
grew close and the boughs touched, as they often do
in the grand old woods in Canada ; and so she was
soon far, far away from the artful coon, who waited
a long time, hoping to carry off poor Silvy for his
dinner.

Silvy contrived to pick up a living by digging
for roots and eating such fruits as she could find ;
but one day she came to a grassy cleared spot, where
she saw a strange-looking tent, made with poles
stuck into the ground and meeting at the top, from
which came a bluish cloud that spread among the
trees ; and as Silvy was very curious, she came
nearer, and at last, hearing no sound, ran up one of
the poles and peeped in, to see what was within side,
thinking it might be one of the fine stores of grain

Is, as her cousin

people

squi

IJhickie had made her believe. The poles were
covered with sheets of birch-bark and skins of deer
and wolves, and there was a fire of sticks burning in
the middle, round which some large creatures wore

#«

C.VUOIIT IN A TRAP.

#»

sitting on a bear's skin, eating something tliat smelt
very nice. They had long black hair and black eyes
and very white teeth. Silvy felt alarmed at first ;
but thinking they must be the people who were kind
to squirrels, she ventured to slip through a slit in
the bark, and ran down into the wigwam, hoping to
get something to eat ; but in a minute the Indians
jumped up, and before she had time to make her
escape, she was seized by a young squaw, and popped
into a birch box, and the lid shut down upon her ;
so poor Silvy was caught in a trap, and all for
believing the artful black squirrel's tales.

Silver-nose remembered her mother's warning
now when it was too late ; she tried to get out of
her prison, but in vain ; the sides of the box were
too strong, and there was not so much as a single
crack for a peep-hole. After she had been shut up
some time, the lid was raised a little, and a dark
hand put in some bright, shining hard grains for her
to eat. This was Indian corn, and it was excellent
food ; but Silvy was a long, long time before she
would eat any of this sweet corn, she was so vexed
at being caught and shut up in prison ; besides, she
was very much afraid that the Indians were going to
eat her. After some days, she began to get used to
her captive state ; the little squaw used to feed her,
and one day took her out of the box and put her
into a nice light cage, where there was soft green
moss to lie on, a little bark dish with clear water,
and abundance of food. The cage was hung up on the

SICK AND SULKY.

bough of a tree near the wigwam, to swing to and
fro as the wind waved the tree. Here Silvy coukl
see the birds flying to and fro, and listen to their
cheerful songs. The Indian women and children
had always a kind look or a word to say to her ; and

THE PET SQUIRREL.

her little mistress was so kind to her, that Silvy
could not help loving her. She was very grateful
for her care ; for when she was sick and sulky, the
little squaw gave her bits of maple-sugar and parched
rice out of her hand. At last Silvy giew tame, and

A BREAK IN THE STORY.

would suffer herself to be taken out of her house to
sit on her mistress's shoulder or in her lap ; and
though she sometimes ran away and hid herself, out
of fun, she would not have gone fur from tlic tent of
the good Indians on any account. Sometimes she
saw the red squirrels running about in the forest, but
they never came very near her; but she used to watch
all day long for her brother Nimble-foot, or sister
Velvet-paw ; but they were now far away from her,
and no doubt thought that she had been killed by
the red squirrel, or eaten up by a fox or, racoon.

" Nurse, I am so glad pretty Silvy was not killed,
and that the good Indians took care of her."

" It is time now, my dear, for you to put down
your book," said Mrs. Frazer, " and to-morrow we
will read some more."

" Yes, if you please, Mrs. Frazer," said Ludy
Mary.

JPart lil.

now THE SQUIRRELS GOT TO THE MILL AT THE RAPIDS-
WHAT HAPPENED TO VELVET-PAW.

-AND

NiMBLE-FOOT and Velvet-paw were so frightened by
the sight of the red squirrel, that they ran down the
tree without once looking back to see what had
become of poor Silver-nose ; indeed, the cowards,

TFIK MILL AT TIIK RAPIDS.

;

instead of waiting for their poor sister, fled tlirougli
the forest as it' an army of red squirrels were behind
them. At Last they reached the banks of the lake,
and jumping into the water, swam down tlie current
till they came to a place called the " Narrow," where
the wide lake poured its waters through a deep rocky
channel, not more than a hundred yards wide ; here
the waters became so rough and rapid, that our little
swimmers thought it wisest to go on shore. They
scrambled up the steep rocky bank, and found them-
selves on a wide open space, quite free from trees,
which they knew must be one of the great clearings
the traveller squirrel had spoken of. There was a
very high building on the water's edge that they
thought must be the mill that the chitmunks had
told them they would come to ; and they were in
good spirits, as they now expected to find plenty of
good things laid up for them to eat, so they went in
by the door of the mill.

" Dear me, what a dust there is ! " said Nimble,
lookirg about him ; " I think it must be snowing."

" Snow does not fall in hot weather," said Velvet;
" besides, this white powder is very sweet and
nice ; " and she began to lick some of the flour that
lay in the cracks of the floor.

" I have found some nice seeds here," said Nimble,
running to the top of a sack that stood with the
mouth untied ; " these are better than pine-kernels,
and not so hard. We must have come to one of the
great grain-stores that our cousin told us of. Well,

WONDERS UPON WONDERS.

I am sure the people are very kind to liavo laiil up
so many good things for us squirrels."

When they had eaten as much as they liked, they
began to run about to see wiiat was in the mill.
Presently, a man came in, and they saw him take
one of the sacks of wheat, and pour it into a largo
upright box, and in a few minutes there was a great
noise — a sort of buzzing, whirring, rumbling, dash-
ing, and splashing — and away ran Velvet-paw in a
terrible fright, and scrambled up some beams and
rafters to the top of the wall, where slie sat watching
what was going on, trembling all over ; but finding
that no harm happened to her, took courage, and
after a time ceased to be afraid. She saw Nimble
perched on a cross-beam looking down very intently
at something ; .so .she came out of her corner and ran
to him, and asked what he was looking at.

" There is a great black thing here," said he, " I
cannot tell what to make of him at all ; it turns
round, and round, and round, and dashes the water
about, making a fine splash." (This was the water-
wheel.)

" It looks very ugly indeed," said Velvet-paw,
" and makes my head giddy to look at it ; let us go
away. I want to find out what these two big stones
are doing," said she ; " they keep rubbing against
one another, and making a great noise."

" There is nothing so wonderful in two big stones,
my dear," said Nimble ; " I have seen plenty bigger
than these in Stony Lake. '

THE MILLER S DOO.

'' i^iit they did not move about as these do ; and
only look hero at the white stuff that is running
down all the time into this great box. Well, we
shall not want for food for the rest of our lives ; I
wish poor Silvy were with us to share in our good
luck."

They saAv a great many other strange things in
the mill, and they thought that the miller was a
very funny-looking creature ; but as they fancied
that he was grinding the wheat into flour for them,
they were not much afraid of him ; they were more
troubled at the sight of a black dog, which spied
them out as they sat on the beams of the mill, and
ran about in a great rage, barking at them in a
frightful way, and never left off till the miller went
out of the mill, when he went away with his master,
and did not return till the next day ; but whenever
he saw the gray squirrels, this little dog, whose name
was " Pinch," was sure to set up his ears and tail,
and snap and bark, showing all his sharp white teeth
in a very savage manner.

Not far from the mill was another building : this
was the house the miller lived in ; and close by the
house was a barn, a stable, a cow-shed, and a sheep-
pen, and there was a garden full of fruit and flowers,
and an orchard of apple-trees close by.

One day Velvet-paw ran up one of the apple-
trees and began to eat an apple ; it looked very good,
for it had a bright red cheek, but it was hard and
sour, not being ripe. " I do not like these big, sour

{

SWKKT AUTUMN-TIMK

G.1

lieiiii's," saiil she, making' wry facrs as slio trie<l to
got the l»atl tasto out of her moiitli hy wiiung lier
tongue oil her forc-i>a\v. Niinhle hail founil some
rl[)0 currants ; so lie only huigljod at poor Velvet for
the trouhle she was in.

These little gray S(|uirrels now led a merry life ;
they found plenty to eat and drink, and would not
have had a care in the world, if it had not been for
the noisy little dog Pineh, who )et them have no
(piiet, barking and baying at them whenever he saw
them ; and also for the watchful eyes of a great tom-
cat, who was always prowling about the mill, or
creeping round the orchard and outhouses ; so that
with all their good food they were not quite free
from causes of fear, and no doubt sometimes wished
themselves safe back on the little rocky island, in
their nest in the old oak-tree.

Time passed away — the wheat and the oats were
now ripe and fit for the scythe, for in Canada the
settlers mow wheat with an instrument called a
" cradle scythe." The beautiful Indian corn was in
bloom, and its long pale green silken threads were
waving in the summer breeze. The blue jays were
busy in the fields of wheat ; so were the red- winged
blackbirds, and the sparrows, and many other birds,
great and small ; field-mice in dozens were cutting
the straw with their sharp teeth, and carrying off the
grain to their nests ; and as to the squirrels and chit-
munks, there were scores of them — black, red, and
gray — filling their cheeks with the grain, and laying

(jr;

mki':tin(j with iiklations.

it out oil till! rail fences and on tlio to[) of tlio stmnps
to (liy, liefoio they carried it away to tlieir storc-
lioiises. Ami many a Itattlo the red and the bhick
s«|uirrels had, and Hoinetimes tlie gray joined wiUi
tlie red, to heat the hhick ones off the /j^round.

Nlnihlo-foot and liis sister kept out of these
(|uurrels as iiiucli as they could ; but oiico they got
a severe beating from the red squirrels (or not help-
ing them to drive olf the saucy black ones, which
would carry away the little heaps of wheat, as soon
as they were dry.

" We do not mean to trouble ourselves witli
laying up winter stores," said Nimble one day to his
red cousins ; " don't you see Peter, the miller's man,
has got a great waggon and horses, and is carting
wheat into the barn for us?"

The red S(|uirrol opened his round eyes very wide
at this speech. "■ Why, Cousin Nimble," he said,
'• you are not so Ibolish as to think the miller is
harvesting that grain for your use. No, no, my
friend ; if you want any, you must work as wo do,
or run the chance of starving in the winter."

Then Nimble told him Avhat their cousin Blackie
had said. '' You were wise fellows to believe such
nonsense ! " said the red squirrel. " These mills
and barns are all stored for the use of the miller and
his family ; and what is more, my friend, I can tell
\at men are no great friends to

you

poor

squirrels, and will kill us when they get the chance,
and begrudge us the grain we lielp ourselves to."

MAKK HAY IN HIJNNY WKATHKH.

(i7

do,

ickio
ucli
liUs
and
tell
poor
ance,

" Well, tlmt is very Ktiiigy," said Vulvct-puw ; " [
am sure tlicro is enough tor men and squinvls too.
However, 1 suppose all must live, so we will let
them luive what we leave ; I shall help uiysell' alter
they have stored it up in yonder barn."

*' You had better do as wo do, and make hay
while the sun shines," said the red sipiirrel.

" I would rather play in the sunshine, and eat
what I want here," said idle Velvet-paw, setting up
her fine tail like a leather over her baek, as she ate
an ear of corn.

" Vou are a foolish, idle thing, and will conic to
no good," said the red s(purrel. " I wonder where
you were brought up ? "

I am very sorry to relate that Velvet-paw did not
come to a good end, for she did not take the advice
ol" her red cousin, to lay up provisions during the
liarvest ; but instead of that, she ate all day long, and
grew fat and lazy ; and after the fields were all
cleared, she went to the mill one day, when the mill
was grinding, and seeing a quantity of wheat in the
feeder of the mill, she ran up a beam and jumj)ed
down, thinking to make a good dinner from the
grain she saw ; but it kept sliding down and sliding
down so fast, that she could not get one grain, so at
last she began to be frightened, and tried to get up
again, but, alas! this was not possible. She cried
out to Nimble to help her ; and while he ran to look
for a stick for her to raise herself up by, the mill-
wheel kept on turning, and the great stones went

NTMBLE-FOOTS HOUSR.

round faster and faster, till poor Vol vet- paw was
crushed to death between them. Nimble was now
left all alone, and sad enough he was, you may
suppose.

" Ah," said he, " idleness is the ruin of gray
squirrels, as well as men, so I will go away from
this place, and try and earn an honest living in the
forest. I wish I had not believed all the fine talcs
my cousin the black squirrel told me."

Then Nimble went away from the clearing, and
once more resolved to seek his fortune in the woods.
He knew there were plenty of butter-nuts, acorns,
hickory-nuts, and beech-nuts, to be found, besides
many sorts of berries ; and he very diligently set to
work to lay up stores against the coming winter.

As it was now getting cold at night. Nimble-foot
thoucrht it would be wise to make himself a warm
house ; so he found out a tall hemlock-pine that was
very thick and bushy at the top : there was a forked
branch in the tree, with a hollow just fit for his nest.
He carried twigs of birfh and beech, and over these
he laid dry green moss, which he collected on the
north side of the cedar trees, and some long gray
moss that he found on tho swamp maples, and then
he stripped the silky threads from the milk-weeds,
and the bark of the cedar and birch-trees. These he
gnawed fne, and soon made a soft bed ; he wove
and twisted the sticks, and roots, and mosses to-
gether, till the walls of his house were quite thick,
and he made a sort of thatch over the top with dry

TIIK LONELY SQUIRilEL

loaves and long moss, with a round liole to creoi^ in
and out of.

Making this warm liouse took liini many days'
labour ; but many strokes will fell great oaks, so at
last Nimble-foot's work came to an end, and he had
the comfort of a charming house to shelter him from
the cold season. He laid up a good store of nuts,
acorns, and roots : some he put in a hollow branch
of the hemlock-tree close to his nest ; some he hid
in a stump, and another store he laid under the roots
of a mossy cedar. When all this was done, he began
to feel very lonely, and often wished, no doubt, that
he had had his sisters Silvy and Velvet-paw with
him, to share his nice warm house ; but of Silvy he
knew nothing, and poor Velvet-paw was dead.

One fine moonlight night, as Nimble was frisking
about on the bough of a birch -tree, not very far from
his house in the hemlock, he saw a canoe land on
the shore of the lake, and some Indians with an axe
cut down some bushes, and having cleared a small
piece of ground, begin to sharpen the ends of some
long poles. These they stuck into the ground close
together in a circle ; and having stripped some
sheets of birch-bark from the birch trees close by,
they thatched the sides of the hut, and made a fire
of sticks inside. They had a dead deer in the canoe,
and there were several hares and black squirrels, the
sight of -which rather alarmed Nimble ; for he
thought if they killed one sort of squirrel, they
might another, and he was very much scared at one

BnOTIIER AND SISTER.

of the Indians firing off a gun close by him. Tlie
noise made him fall down to the ground, and it was
a good thing that it was dark among the leaves and
grass where the trunk of tlie tree threw its long
shadow, so that the Indian did not see him, or per-
haps he might have loaded the gun again, and shot
our little friend, and made soup of him for his
supper.

Nimble ran swiftly up a pine-tree, and was soon
out of danger. While he was watching some of the
Indian children at play, he saw a girl come out of
the hut with a gray squirrel in her arms ; it did not
seem at all afraid of her, but nestled to her shoulder,
and even ate out of her hand ; and what was Nimble's
surprise to see that this tame gray squirrel was none
other than his own pretty sister Silver-nose, whom
he had left in the hollow tree when they both ran
away from the red squirrel.

You may suppose the sight of his lost companion
was a joyful one ; hq waited for a long, long time,
till the fir'^ went out, and all the Indians were fast
asleep, and little Silvy came out to play in the
moonlight, and frisk about on the dewy grass as she
used to do. Then Nimble when he saw her, ran
down the tree, and came to her and rubbed his nose
against her, and licked her soft fur, and told her
who he was, and how sorry he was for having left
her in so cowardly a manner, to be beaten by the
red squirrel.

The good little Silvy told Nimble not to fret

A FfAPPY MKFTINO.

noso
her
loft
the

fret

NIMBLE HECOVERTNG IflS SISTEIt.

ahout what was past, aiul then slie asked him for ],or
lister Velvet-paw. Nimble had a Ion- sorrowful
tale to tell about the death of poor Velvet ; and

A LIFE OF FIlFKDOAr.

Silvy was much grieved. Then in her turn she tohl
Nimble all her adventures, and how she had been
caught by the Indian girl, and kept, and fed, and
tamed, and had passed her time very happily, if it
had not been for thinking about her dear lost com-
panions. " But now," she said, " my dear brother,
we will never part again; you shall be quite welcome
to share my cage, and my nice stores of Indian
corn, rice, and nuts, which my kind mistress gives
me.

" I would not be shut up in a cage, not even for
one day," said Nimble, " for all the nice fruit and
grain in Canada. I am a free squirrel, and love my
liberty. I would not exchange a life of freedom in
these fine old woods, for all the dainties in the world.
So, Silvy, if you prefer a life of idleness and ease to
living with mc in the forest, I must say good-bye to

you."

" But there is nothing to hurt us, my dear Nim-
ble — no racoons, nor foxes, nor hawks, nor owls, nor
weasels ; if I see any hungry-looking birds or beasts,
I have a safe place to run to, and never need be
hungry ! "

*' I would not lead a lifelike that, for the world,"
said Nimble. " I should die of dulness ; if there is
danger in a life of freedom, there is pleasure too,
which you cannot enjoy, shut up in a wooden cage,
and fed at the will of a master or mistress. — Well, T
shall be shot if the Indians awake and see me ; so
I shall be off."

ft-

SlLVy AND NIMKLE.

::\

Silvy looked very sorrowful ; she did not like to
part from her newly-found brother, but she was un-
willing to forego all the comforts and luxuries her
life of captivity afforded her.

" You •will not tell the Indians where I live, I
hope, Silvy, for they would think it a fine thing to
hunt nic with their dogs, or shoot me down with
their bows and arrows."

At these words Silvy was overcome with gri(;f, so
jumping off from the logon which she was standing,
she said, " Nimble, I will go with you and share all
your perils, and we will never part again." She
then ran into the wigwam ; and going softly to the
little squaw, who was asleep, licked her hands and
face, as if she would say, " Good-bye, my good kind
friend ; T shall not forgot all your love for me,
though I am going away from you for ever."

Silvy then followed Nimble into the forest, and
they soon reached his nice comfortable nest in the
tail hendock-trce.

" Nurso, I am glad Silvy went away with Nimble ;
are not you ? Poor Nimble must have been so lonely
without her ; and then you know it must have seemed
so hard to him if Silvy had ])rcrerred staying with
the Indians to living with him."

" Tho.:f \vho have been used to a life of case do
not willingly give it up, my dear lady. Thus you
s(>e l()\e for her old companion was stronger even

PRKPARINO FOR WINTKIJ.

than love of solf. But I think you must have tired
yourself witli reading so long to me."

" Indeed, nurse, I must read a little more, for I
want you to hear how Silvy and Nimble amused
themselves in the hendock-tree."

Then Lady Mary continued reading as follows : —

Silvy was greatly pleased with her now honn?,
which was as soft and as warm as clean dry moss,
hay, and fibres of roots could make it. The sf[uirrels
built a sort of pent or outer roof of twigs, dry leaves,
and roots of withered grass, which was pitched so
high that it threw off the rain and kept the inner
house very dry. They worked at this very dili-
gently, and also laid up a store of nuts and berries.
They knew that they must not only provide plenty
of food for the winter, but also for the spring months,
when they could get little to eat beside the buds and
bark of some sort of trees, and the chance seeds that
might still remain in the pine-cones.

Thus the autumn months passed away very quickly
and cheerfully with the squirrels while preparing for
the coming winter. Half the cold season was spent,
too, in sleep ; but on mild, sunny days the little
squirrels, roused by the bright light of the sunbeams
on the white and glittering snow, would shake them-
selves, rub their black eyes, and after licking them-
selves clean from dust, would whisk out of their
house, and indulge in merry gambols up and down
the trunks of the trees, skipping from bough»to

SNOW ON TIFR « ROUND.

bough, ami frolicking ov<n- the liard, crisp snow,
which scarcely sliovved on its surface tlic delicate
])rint of their tiny feet and the sweep of their fine
light feathery tails. Sometimes they met with some
little shrewmice running on the snow. These very
tiny things are so small, they hardly look bigger
than a large black beetle. They lived on the seeds
of the tall weeds, which they might be seen climb-
ing and clinging to, yet were haidly heavy enough
to weigh down the heads of the dry stalks. It is
pretty to see the footprints of these small shrewmice
on the surface of the fresh fallen snow in the deep
forest glades. They are not dormant during the
winter, like many of the mouse tribe, for they are
up and abroad at all seasons ; for however stormy
and severe the weather may be, they do not seem to
heed its inclemency. Surely, children, there is One
who cares for the small tender things of earth, and
shelters them from the rude blasts.

Nimble -foot and Silver -nose often saw their
cousins, the black s.|uirrels, playing in the sunshine,
chasing each other merrily up and down the trees
or over the brush-heaps ; their jetty coats and long
feathery tailc forming a striking contrast with the
whiteness of the snow above which they were sport-
ing. Sometimes they saw a few red squirrels too,
but there was generally war between them and the
black ones.

In these lonely forests everything seems still and
silent during the long wintry season, as if death had

ifl

TIIK RETURN OF SPRING.

spread a \vliite pall over the earth, and liushcd evcMy
livnig thing into silence. Few sounds are heard
through the Avintor days to break the deathlike silence
that reigns around, excepting the sudden rending
and cracking of the trees in the frosty air, the fall
of a decayed branch, the tapping of a solitary wood-
pecker — two or three small species of which still
remain after all the summer-birds arc flown — and
the gentle, weak chirp of the little tree-creeper, as
it runs up and down the hemlocks and pines, search-
ing the crevices of the bark for insects. Yet in all
this seeming death lies hidden the life of myriads
of insects, the huge beast of the forest asleep in
his lair, with many of the smaller quadrupeds and
forest-birds, that, hushed in lonely places, shall
awake to life and activity as soon as the sun-beams
once more dissolve the snow, unbind the frozen
streams, and loosen the bands which held them in
repose.

At last the spring, the glad, joyous spring, returned.
The leaf-buds, wrapped within their gummy and
downy cases, began to unfold ; the dark green pines,
spruce, and balsams began to shoot out fresh spiny
leaves, like tassels, from the ends of every bough,
giving out the most refreshing fragrance ; the crim-
son buds of the young hazels and the scarlet blossoms
of the soft maple enlivened the edges of the streams ;
the bright coral bark of the dogwood seemed as if
freshly varnished, so brightly it glowed in the morn-
ing sunshine ; the scream of the blue jny, the song

SUMMRR IN THK FOUKST.

of the I'oLiii aiul woodtlimsli, tlic merry note of tin;
cliiccadcc aiul plaintive ery of the plieobe, with loud
hammering strokes of the great reil-hcaded wood-
pceker, mingled with the rush of the unbound
forest streams, gurgling and murmuring as their
water flowed over their stones, and the sighing of
the breeze playing in the tree-tops, made pleasant
and ceaseless music. And then, as time passed on,
the trees unfolded all their bright green leaves — the
buds and forest flowers opened ; and many a bright
bell our little squirrels looked down upon, from
their leafy home, that the eye of man had never
seen.

It was pleasant for our little squirrels, just after
sunset, in the still summer evenings, when the small
silver stars came stealing out one by one in the blue
sky, to play among the cool dewy leaves of the grand
old oaks and maples ; to watch the fitful flash of the
fireflies, as they glanced here and there, flitting
through the deep gloom of the forest boughs, now
lost to sight, as they closed their wings, now Hashing
out like tiny tapers, borne aloft by unseen hands in
the darkness. "Where that little creek runs singing
over its mossy bed, and the cedar-boughs bend down
so thick and close that only a gleam of the bright
water can be seen, even in the sunlight, there the
fireflies crow^l, and the damp foliage is all alive with
their dazzling light.

In this sweet, still hour, just at the dewfall, the
iTish of whirring wings may be heard from the islands,

I ' I

THE BULL-FUOO.

or ill the forest, horclcring on the water's cdgo ; ami
out of hollow logs and hoary trunks of trees come
forth the si)ecklcd night-hawks, cutting the air with
their thin, sharp, wide wings and open beak, ready
to intrap the unwary moth or mus([uito that float so
joyously upon the evening air. One after another,
sweeping in wider circles, come forth these bii'ds of
prey, till the whole air seems alive with them ; dart-
ing hither and thither, and uttering wild, shrill
screams, as they rise higher and higher in the upper
air, till some are almost lost to sight. Sometimes
one of them will descend with a sudden swoop to the
lower regions of the air, just above the highest tree-
tops, with a hollow, booming sound, as if some one
were blowing in an empty vessel.

At this hour, too, the bats would quit their homes
in hollow trees and old rocky banks, and flit noise-
lessly abroad over the surface of the quiet, star-lit
lake : and now also would begin the shrill, trilling
note of the green-frog, and the deep, hoarse bass of
the bull- frog, which ceases only at intervals, through
the long, warm summer night. You might fancy a
droll sort of dialogue was being carried on among
them. At first a great fellow, the patriarch of the
swamp, will put up his head, which looks very much
like a small pair of bellows, with yellow leather
sides, and say, in a harsh, guttural tone, " Go to bed,
go to bed, go to bed." After a moment's pause,
two or three will rise and reply, " No, I won't ; no,
I won't ; no, I won't." Then the old fellow, with

GOINO ON A .TOURNr.Y.

u p^iowl, ropllen, " Got out, i,'et out, got out." And
foithwitli, with u rush, and a splufsh, and a dasli,
llioy niiso a olioruH ol" wliinin]L]^, grating, growling,
grunting, whistling sounds, whioh mako you stop up
vour oars. Whou all this hubbub has lastod sonio
minutos, there is a po[) and a splash, aud down go
all tlu! heads under the weeds and uiud ; and after
another jvause, up eonies the aged father of the frogs,
and begins again with the old story, " Go to bed,
go to bed, go to bed," and so ou. During the heat
of the day the bull-frogs are silent ; but as the day
declines and the air becomes cooler, they recomnienco
their noisy cliorus.

T suppose those sounds, though not very i)leasant
to the ears of men, may not be so disagreeable to
those of wild animals. I daresay neither Nimble
nor Silvy were in the least annoyed by the hoarse
note of the bull-frog, but gambolled as merrily
among the boughs and fresh dewy leaves as if they
were listening to sweet music or the songs of the
birds.

The summer passed away very happily ; but
towards the close of the warm season the squirrels,
Nimble and Silvy, resolved to make a journey to
the rocky island on Stony Lake, to see the old
srpiirrcls, their father and mother. So they started
at sunrise one fine pleasant day, and travelled along ;
till one cool evening, just as the moon was beginning
to rise above the pine-trees, they arrived at the little
rocky islet where they first saw the light. IJut

A llOUKIh 1)1.1* OWL.

when tlioy oiigcrly ran up tliu trunk ol' the old oak
tree, expnctin^tj to liiivo sc(Mi tlicir old fatlior and
motlior, tlioy wcro surprised and terrified l)y seeing
a wood-owl in tlio nest.

As soon as she es[)icd our little s<[uirrels slio sliook
her leathers and set u[) her cars — for she was a loni^^-
oared owl — and saiil,—

" What do you want here? — ho, ho, ho, ho !"

" Indeed, INIrs. Owl," said Nimble, " we conic
hither to see our parents, whom we left here a year
ago. Can you tell us where we shall find them?"

The owl peered out of her ruff of silken feathers,
and, after wiping her sharp hill on her breast, said, —

" Your cousin, the black squirrel, beat your lather
and mother out of their nest a long time ago, and
took possession of the tree and all that was in it ;
and they brought up a large family of little ones, all
of which I pounced upon one after another, and ate.
Indeed, the oaks hero belong to my family ; so,
finding these impudent intruders would not quit tin;
premises, I made shoi't work of the matter, and took
the law into my own hands."

" Dili you kill them ?" asked Silvy, in a trembling
voice.

" Of course I did ; and very nice, tender meat they
were," replied the horrid old owl, beginning to
scramble out of the nest, and eyeing the squirrels at
the same time with a wicked look.

"But you did not eat our parents too?" asked
the trembling squirrels.

i'.>

THK KNl) OF TIIK STORY.

'^1

" Yes, I did. 'J'licy were very tougli, to bo sure ;
l»iit I am not very particular."

The gray squirrels, though lull of grief and vain
regret, were obliged to take eare of themselves.
There was, indeed, no time to be lost; so they nuide
a hasty retreat. '^J'hey crept under the rcjots of an
oUl tree, where they lay till the morning. They
were not much concerned for the death of the
treacherous black squirrel who liad told so many
stories, got possession of their old nest, and caused
the death of their parents ; but they said, " We will
go home again to our dear old hemlock-tree, and never
leave it more." So these dear little squirrels returned
to their i'orest home, and may be living there yet.

" Nurse," said Ludy Mary, " how do you like the
story ?"

Mrs. Frazer said it was a very pretty one.

" Perhaps my dear little pet is one of Nind)le or
Silvy's children. You know, nurse, they might
have gone on their travels too, when they were old
enough, and then your brother may have chopped
down the tree, and found them in the forest."

" But your squirrel, Lady Mary, is a flying
bquirrel, and these were only common gray ones,
which belong to a different species. Besides, my
dear, this history is but a fable."

" I suppose, nurse," said the child, looking up in
her nurse's face, " squirrels do not I'calhj talk."

(211) G

WHAT IS A FABLE?

" No, my dear ; tlioy have not tlic use of speech
as we liave. But in all ages people have written
little tales called fables, in which they make birds
and beasts speak as if they were men and women, it
being an easy method of conveying instruction."

" My book is only a fable, then, nurse ? I wish
it had been true : but it is very pretty."

'Ay-ii

eel I
ten
rds

,it

/isli

CHAPTER IV.

SliUritllELS — THE CIllTMUNKS — DOCILITY OF A PET ONE —
ItOGUEUY OF A YANKEE I'EULAK — KETURN OF THE
MUSICAL CHITMUNK TO HIS MASTEK's BOSOM — SAGACITY
OF A BLACK SQUIKUEL.

RS. FRAZER, are you very busy ju^t
now ? " asked Lady Mary, coming uj) to
the table where hei- nurse was ironing
some lace.

" No, my dear, not very busy, only preparing
these lace edgings for your frocks. Do you want
me to do anything for you? "

" I only want to tell you that my governess has
promised to paint my dear squirrel's picture, as soon
as it is tame, and will let me hold it in my lap,
without flying away. I saw a picture of a flying
squirrel to-day, but it was very ugly — not at all
like mine ; it was long and flat, and its legs looked
like sticks, and it was stretched out, just like one of
those muskrat skins that you pointed out to me in
a fur store. Mamma said it was drawn so, to show
it while it was in the act of flying ; but it is not
])rctty — it does not show its beautiful tail, nor its
bright eyes, nor soft silky fur. I heard a lady tell

MOKK AJJOUT HQUIKRICLS.

mamma about a nest full of dear, tiny little iiying
S([uirrcls, that her brother once found in a tree in the
forest ; he tamed them, and they lived very happily
together, and would feed from his liand. They
nlept in the cold weather like dormice ; in the day-
time they lay very still, but would come out, and
gambol and frisk about at night. But somebody
left the cage open, and they all ran away except one;
and that he found in his bed, Avhcre it had run for
shelter, with its little nose nnilcr his pillow. He
caught the little fellow, and it lived with him till
the spring, when it grew restless, and one day got
away, and went off to the woods."

"These little creatures arc impatient of confine-
ment, and will gnaw through the woodwork of the
cage to get free, especially in the spring of the year.
Doubtless, my dear, they pine for the liberty which
they used to enjoy before they were captured by
man."

" Nurse, I will not lol my little pet be unhaj^py.
As soon as the warn, uiiys come again, and my
governess has taken his picture, I will let him go
free. Are there many squirrels in this part of
Canada?"

" Not so many as in Upper Canada, Lady Mjiry.
They abound more in some years than in others.
I have seen the beech and oak woods swarming
with black squirrels. My brothers have brought
in two or three dozen in one day. The Indians
used to tell us that want of food, or very severe

THE WISDOM OP THE CREATOR.

weather setting in in the nortli, cliivo these little
animals from their haunts. The Indians, who ob-
serve these things more than we do, can generally
tell what sort of winter it will he, from the number
of wild animals in the fall."

" What do you mean by the fall, nurse ? "

" The autumn in Canada, my lady, is called so
from the fall of the leaves. I remember one year
was remarkable for the great number of black, gray,
and flying squirrels ; tlie little striped chitmunk
was also plentiful, and so were weasels and foxes.
They came into the barns and granaries, and into
the houses, and destroyed great quantities of grain ;
besides gnawing clothes that were laid out to dry ;
this they did to lino their nests with. Next year
there were very few to be seen."

" What became of them, nurse ? "

" Some, no doubt, fell a prey to their enemies,
the cats, foxes, and weasels, which were also very
numerous that year ; and the rest, perhaps, went
back to their own country again."

" I should like to sec a great number of these
pretty creatures travelling together," said Lady Mary.

" All wild animals, my dear, are more active by
night than by day, and probably make theii- long
journeys during that season. The eyes of many
animals and birds are so formed, that they see best
in the dim twilight, as cats, and owls, and others.
Our heavenly Father has fitted all his creatures for
the state in which he has placed them.''

. l\

A CLEVER FEAT.

((

Can squirrels swim like otters and beavers,
nurse ? If they come to a lake or river, can they
cross it?"

" I think they can, Lady Mary ; for though these
creatures are not formed, like the otter, or heaver, or
rnuskrat, to get their living in the water, they are
able to swim when necessity requires them to do so.
I heard a lady say that she was crossing a lake,
between one of the islands and the shore, in a canoe,
with a baby on her lap. She noticed a movement
on the surface of the water. At first she thought
it might be a water-snake, but the servant lad who
was paddling the canoe said it was a red squirrel,
and he tried to strike it with the paddle ; but the
little squirrel leaped out of the water to the blade
of the paddle, and sprang on the head of the baby,
as it lay on her lap ; from whence it jumped to her
shoulder, and before she had recovered from her sur-
prise, was in the water again, swimming straight for
the shore, where it was soon safe in the dark pine
woods."

This feat of the squirrel delighted Lady Mary,
who expressed her joy at the bravery of the little
creature. Besides, sho said she had heard that gray
squirrels, when they wished to go to a distance in
search of food, would all meet together, and collect
pieces of bark to serve them for boats, and would
set up their broad tails like sails, to catch the wind,
and in this way cross large sheets of water.

" I do not think this can be true," observed Mrs.

A LESSON OF FORETIIOUOIIT.

I'' razor ; " for the squirrel, when swimming, uses
his tail as an oar or rmldor to help the motion, the
tail lying flat on the surAice of the water; nor do these
creatures need a boat, for God, who made them, has
given ihcm the power of swimming at their need."

" Nurse, you said something about a ground
squirrel, and called it a chitmunk. If you please,
will you tell me something about it, and why it is
called by such a curious name ? "

" I believe it is the Indian name for this sort of
squirrel, my dear. The chitmunk is not so large as
the black, red, and gray squirrels. It is marked along
the back with black and white stripes ; the rest of
its fur is a yellowish tawny colour. It is a very
playful, lively, cleanly animal, somewhat resembling
the dormouse in its habits. It burrows under-
ground. Its nest is made with great care, with
many galleries which open at the surface, so that
when attacked by an enemy, it can run from one to
another for security. For the squirrel has many
enemies ; all the weasel tribe, cats, and even dogs
attack them. Cats kill great numbers. The farmer
shows them as little mercy as he does rats and mice,
as they are very destructive, and carry off vast quan-
tities of grain, which they store in hollow trees for
use. Not contenting themselves with one granary,
they have several in case one should fail, or perhaps
become injured by accidental causes. 'J'hus do these
simple little creatures teach us a lesson of provi-
dential care for future events."

UNCLES CHITMUNK.

" How wise of these little chitmunks to think of
such precautions ! " said Lady Mary.

" Nay, ray dear child, it is God's wisdom, not
theirs. These creatures work according to his will ;
and so they always do what is fittest and best for
their own comfort and safety. Man is the only one
of God's creatures who disobeys him."

These words made Lady Mary look grave, till her
nurse began to talk to her again about the chit-
munk.

" It is very easily tamed, and becomes very fond
of its master. It will obey his voice, come at a call
or a whistle, sit up and beg, take a nut or an acorn
out of his hand, run up a stick, nestle in his bosom,
and become quite familiar. My uncle had a tame
chitmunk that was much attached to him ; it lived
in his pocket or bosom ; it was his companion by
day and by night. When he was out in the forest
lumbering, or on the lake fishing, or in the fields
at work, it was always with him. At meals it sat
by the side of his plate, eating what he gave it ;
but he did not give it meat, as he thought that
might injure its health. One day he and his pet
were in the steam-boat, going to Toronto. He had
been showing off the little chitmunk's tri''ks to the
ladies and gentlemen on board the boat, and several
persons offered him money if he would sell it ; but
my uncle was fond of the little thing, and would
not part with it. However, just before he left the
boatj he missed his pet ; for a cunning Yankee

(

A FEARLESS LITTLE FELLOW.

8f)

pedlar on board had stolen it. My uncle knew that
his little friend would not desert its old master ; so
ho went on deck where the passengers were as-
semLled, and whistled a popular tune familiar to the
chitmnnk. The little fellow, on hearing it, whisked
out of the pedlar's pocket, and running swiftly along a
railing against which he was standing, soon sought
refuge in his master's bosom."

Lady Mary clapped her hands with joy, and said,
"I am so glad, nurse, that the chitmunk ran back to
his old friend. I wish it had bitten that Yankee
pedlar's fingers."

" When angry these creatures will bite very
sharply, set up their tails, and run to and fro, and
make a chattering sound with their teeth. The red
squirrel is very fearless for its size, and will some-
times turn round and face you, set up its tail, and
scold. But they will, when busy eating the seeds of
tlie sunflowor or thistle, of which they are very fond,
suffer you to stand and watch them witiiout attempt-
ing to run away. When near their granaries, or the
tree where their nest is, they arc (iiivvilliiig to leave
it, running to and fro, and uttering their ani,^^ notes ;
but if a dog is iio.ir they make for a tree, and as soon
as they are out of his reach, turn round to chatter
and scold, as long as he remains in sight. When
hard pressed, the black and Hying sc^uirrels will take
prodigious leaps, springing from bough to bough, and
from tree to tree. In this manner they baffle the
hunters, and travel a great distance over the tops

\i i

WINTER STORES.

of the tvoca. Onco I saw my uncle and brothers
chasing a hirgc hhick S([uirrcl. lie kept ont of reach
of tlie clogs, as well as out of sight of the men, hy
passing round and round the tree as he went up, so
that they could never get u fair shot at him. At
last, they got so provoked that they took their axes,
and set to work to chop down the tree. It was a
largo pine tree, and took them, some time. Just as
the tree was ready to fall, and was wavering to and
fro, the squirrel, that had kept on the topmost hough,
sprang nimbly to the next tree, and then to another,
and by the time the great pine had reached the ground,
the squirrel was far away in his nest among his little
ones, safe from hunters, guns, and dogs."

"The black squirrel must have wondered, I think,
nurse, why so many men and dogs tried to kill such
a little creature as he was. Do the black squirrels
sleep in the winter as well as the flying squirrels and
chitmunks?"

" No, Lady Mary ; I have often seen them on
bright days chasing each other over logs and brush-
heaps, and running gaily up the pine trees. They
are easily seen from the contrast which their jetty
black coats make with the sparkling white snow.
These creatures feed a good deal on the kernels of the
pines and hemlocks ; they also eat the buds of some
trees. They lay up great stores of nuts and grain
for winter use. The flying squirrels deep much, and
in the cold season lie heaped upon each other, for the
sake of warmth. As many as seven or eight may be

I>J THE HARVEST FIELD.

found in one nest asleep. They sometimes awaken,
if there come a succession of warm days, as in the
January tliaw; for I must tell you that in this
country we generally have rain and mild weather for
a few days in the beginning of January, when the
snow nearly disappears from the ground. About
the 12th, the weather sets in again steadily cold;
when the little animals retire once more to sleep
in their winter cradles, which they rarely leave till
the hard weather is over."

" I suppose, nurse, when thi-y awake, they are
glad to eat some of the food they have laid up in
their granaries ? "

" Yes, my dear, it is for this they gather their
hoards in mild weather ; which also supports them
in the spring months, and possibly even during the
summer, till grain and fruit are ripe. I was v/olk-
ing in the harvest field one day, where my brothers
were cradling wheat. As I passed along the f(3nce,
I noticed a great many little heaps of wheat lying
here and there on the rails, also upon tlie tops of the
stumps in the field. I wondered at first who could
have placed them there, but presently noticed a num-
ber of red squirrels running very swiftly along the
fence, and perceived that they emptied their mouths
of a quantity of the new wheat, which they had been
diligently employed in collecting from the ears that
lay scattered over the ground. These little gleaners
did not seem to be at all alarmed at my presence, but
went to and fro as busv as bees. On taking some of

THE EYE OF THE SEED.

tho grains into my hand, I noticed that the germ or
eyo of tlio kernels was bitten clean out."

"What was tliat for, nurse ? can you tell mo ? "

^'My dear young lady, I did not know at first, till,
upon showing it to my father, ho told me that tho
squirrels destroyed the germ of the grain, such as
wheat or Indian corn, that they stored up for winter
use, that it might not sprout when buried in the
ground or in a hollow tree."

"This is very strange, nurse," said the little girl.
"But I suppose," she added, after a moment's thought,
" it was God who taught the squirrels to do bo. But
why would biting out the eye prevent the grain from
growing ? "

" Because the eye or bud contains the life of the
plant; from it springs the green blade, and the stem
that bears the car, and the root that strikes down to
the earth. The flowery part, which swelis and be-
j^mes soft and jelly-like, serves to nourish the young
plant till the tender fibres of the roots are able to
draw moisture from the ground."

Lady Mary asked if all seeds had an eye or germ.

Her nurse replied that all had, though some were
so minute that they looked no bigger than dust, or a
grain of sand; yet each was perfect in its kind, and
contained tho plant that would, when sown in the
earth, bring forth roots, leaves, buds, flowers, and
fruits in due season.

" How glad I should have been to see tho little
g(iuirrel8 gleaning the wheat, and laying it in the

)

SOCIAL (illTMUNKS.

!):i

llltlo heaps on tlio rail foncc. Wliy did (licy not
carry it at once to their nests? "

" They hiid it out in tlie sun and wind to dry ; for
if it had heen stored away while damp, it would have
moulded, and have been spoiled. 'I'ho 8([uirrels were
busy all that day ; when I went to sec them ai^ain,
tlie grain was gone. I saw several red squirrels
running up and down a large pine tree, wliicli had
been broken by the wind at the top; and there, no
doubt, they had laid up stores. '^Fhese squirrels did
not follow each other in a straight line, but ran round
and round in a spiral direction, so that they never
hindered each other, nor came in each other's way :
two were always going up, Avhile the other two were
going down. They seem to work in families ; for
the young ones, though old enough to get their own
living, usually inhabit the same nest, and help to
store up the grain for winter use. They all separate
again in spring. The little chitmunk does not livd^
in trees, but burrows in the ground, or makes its nest
in some largo hollow log. It is very pretty to see
the little chitmunks, on a warm spring day, run-
ning about and chasing each other among the moss
and leaves; they are not bigger than mice, but look
bright and lively. The fur of all the squirrel tribe
is used in trimming, but the gray is the best and
most valuable. It has often been remarked by the
Indians, and others, that the red and black squirrels
never live in the same place; for the red, though the
Kmallest, beat away the black ones. The flesh of the

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COING OUT ON BUSINESS.

black squirrel is very good to eat; the Indians also
eat the red."

Lady Mary was very glad to hear all these things,
and quite forgot to play with her doll. " Please,
Mrs. Frazer," said the little lady, " tell me now
about beavers and muskrats." But Mrs. Frazer was
obliged to go out on business; she promised, how-
ever, to tell Lady Mary all she knew about these
animals another day.

also

mgs,
ease,
now
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lOW-

ihese

CHAPTER V.

INDIAN BASKETS — THREAD PLANTS — MAPLE SUGAR-TREE —
INDIAN OUNAMENTAL WORKS — RACOONS.

? was some time before Lady Mary's nurse
could tell her any more stories. She
received a letter from her sister-in-law, in-
forming her that her brother was dangerously ill,
confined to what was feared would prove his death-
bed, and that he earnestly desired to see her before
ho died. The Governor's lady, who was very kind
and good to all her household, readily consented to
let Mrs. Frazer go to her sick relatioB.

Lady Mary parted from her dear nurse, whom she
loved very tenderly, with much regret. Mrs. Frazer
told her that it might be a fortnight before she could
return, as her brother lived on the shores of one of
the small lakes, neai the head waters of the Otonabee
river, a great way off; but she promised to return as
soon as she could, and, to console her young mistress
for her absence, promised to bring her some Indian
toys from the backwoods.

The month of March passed away pleasantly, for
Lady Mary enjoyed many delightful sleigh-drives

'•5 -,-

AN INDIAN UASKIiT.

with licr papa and mamma, who took every oppor-
tunity to instruct and amuse her. On entering her
nursery one day, after enjoying a long drive in the
country, great was lier joy to find her good nurse ait-
ting quietly at work hy the stove. She was dressed
in deep mourning, and looked much thinner and paler
than when she had last seen her.

The kind little girl knew, when she saw her
nursc'p black dress, that her brother must be dead ;
and with the thoughtfulness of a true lady, remained
very quiet, and did not annoy her with questions
about trifling matters: she spoke low and gently to
her, and tried to comfort her when she saw large
tears falling on the work which she held in her hand,
and kindly said, " Mrs. Frazer, you had better lie
down and rest yourself, for you must be tired after
your long, long journey."

The next day Mrs. Frazer seemed to be much
better ; and she showed Lady Mary an Indian basket
made of birch-bark, very richly wrought with coloured
porcupine-quills, and which had two lids.

Lady Mary admired the splendid colours, and
strange patterns on the basket.

"It is for you, my dear," said her nurse; "open
it, and see what is in it." Lady Mary lifted one of
the lids, and took out another small basket, of a dif-
ferent shape and pattern. It had a top, which was
sewn down with coarse-looking thread, which her
nurse told her was nothing but the sinews of the
deer, dried and beaten fine, and drawn out like thread.

..^

CARRYING INFANT3.

Then, taking an end of it in her hand, she made
Lady Mary observe that these coarse threads could
be separated into a great number of finer ones, sufK-
ciently delicate to pass through the eye of a fine needle,
or to string tiny beads.

" The Indians, my lady, sew with the sinews of
the wild animals they kill. These sinews are much
stronger and tougher than thread, and therefore are
well adapted to sew together such things as moccasins,
leggings, and garments made of the skins of wild
animals. The finer threads are used for sewing the
beads and quill ornaments on moccasins, sheaths, and
pouches, besides other things that I cannot now
think of.

" Oh yes, I must tell you one thing more they
make with these sinews. How do you think the
Indian women carry their infants when they go on a
long journey ? They tie them to a board, and wrap
them up in strong bandages of linen or cotton, which
they sew firmly together with their stoutest thread,
and then they suspend the odd-looking burden to
their backs. By this contrivance, they lessen the
weight of the child considerably, and are able to walk
many miles without showing signs of fatigue. It is
also much more pleasant and healthy for the child
than to be uncomfortably cramped up in its mother's
arms, and shifted about from side to side, as first
one arm aches, and then the other.

"The Indian women sew some things with the
roots of the tamarack, or larch ; such as coarse birch-

(211) 7

WAH-TAP DESCRIBED.

INDIAN SQUAW AND BABY.

baskets, bark canoes, and the covering of their wig-
wams. They call this 'wah-tap'* (wood-thread),

• Asclepia parviflora.

INDIAN HEMP.

i^/i'>
,/~^

Vlg-

ad),

and they prepare it by pulling off the outer rind and
steeping it in water. It is the larger fibres which
have the appearance of small cordage when coiled up
and fit for use. This *wah-tap' is very valuable to
these poor Indians. There is also another plant,
called Indian hemp, whidh is a small shrubby kind
of milk-weed, that grows on gravelly islands. It
bears white flowers, and the branches are long and
slender; under the bark there is a fine silky thread
covering the wood; this is tough, and can be twisted
and spun into cloth. It is very white and fine, and
does not easily break. There are other plants of the
same family, with pods full of fine shining silk; but
these are too brittle to spin into thread. This last
kind. Lady Mary, which is called Milk-weed flytrap,
I will show you in summer."*

But while Mrs. Frazer was talking about these
plants, the little lady was examining the contents of
the small birch-box. "If you please, nurse, will you
tell me what these dark shining seeds are?"

"These seeds, my dear, are Indian rice; an old
squaw, Mrs. Peter Noggan, gave me this as a present
for ' Governor's daughter; '" and Mrs. Frazer imitated
the soft, whining tone of the Indian, which made
Lady Mary laugh.

" The box is called a ' mowkowk.' There is an-
other just like it, only there is a white bird — a
snow-bird, I suppose it is intended for — worked on
the lid." The lid of this box was fastened down

^Asclepia Syriaca.

•i^u

100

A SHEATH FOR SCISSORS.

with a narrow slip of deer-skin; Lady Mary cut the
fastening, and raised the lid — " Nurse, it is only
yellow sand; how droll, to send me a box of sand ! "

"It is not sand; taste it. Lady Mary."

" It is sweet — it is sugar ! Ah ! now I know what
it is that this kind old squaw has sent me; it is
maple-sugar, and is very nice. I will go and show
it to mamma."

"Wait a little. Lady Mary; let us see what there
is in the basket besides the rice and the maple-sugar."

"What a lovely thing this is, dear nurse! what can
it be ? "

"It is a sheath for your scissors, my dear; it is
made of doe-skin, embroidered with white beads,
and coloured quills split fine, and sewn with deer-
sinew thread. Look at these curious bracelets."

Lady Mary examined the bracelets, and said she
thought they were wrought with beads ; but Mrs.
Frazer told her that what she took for beads were
porcupine quills, cut out very finely, end strung in a
pattern. They were not only neatly but tastefully
made ; the pattern, though a Grecian scroll, having
been carefully imitated by some Indian squaw.

" This embroidered knife-sheath is large enough
for a hunting-knife," said Lady Mary, "a ^couteau de
chasse,^ — is it not ? "

" This sheath was worked by the wife of Isaac Iron,

an educated chief of the Mud Lake Indians ; she gave

it to me because I had been kind to her in sickness."

" I will give it to my dear papa," said Lady

LADY MARY 8 TREASURES.

101

Mary, " for I never go out hunting, and do not wish
to carry a large knife by my side ; " and she laid the
sheath away, after having admired its gay colours,
and particularly the figure of a little animal worked
in black and white quills, which was intended to re-
present a racoon.

" This is a present for your doll ; it is a doll's
mat, woven by a little girl, aged seven years, Rachel
Muskrat; and here is a little canoe of red cedar,
made by a little Indian boy."

" What a darling little boat ! and there is a fish
carved on the paddles." This device greatly pleased
Lady Mary, who said she would send Rachel a wax
doll, and little Moses a knife or some other useful
article, when Mrs. Frazer went again to the Lakes ;
but when her nurse took out of the other end of the
basket a birch-bark cradle, made for her doll, worked
very richly, she clapped her hands for joy, saying,
" Ah, nurse, you should not have brought me so
many pretty things at once, for I am too happy ! "

The remaining contents of the basket consisted f
seeds and berries, and a small cake of maple-sugar,
which Mrs. Frazer had made for the young lady. This
was very different in appearance from the Indian
sugar ; it was bright and sparkling, like sugar-candy,
and tasted sweeter. The other sugar was dry, and
slightly bitter: Mrs. Frazer told Lady Mary that
this peculiar taste was caused by the birch-bark
vessels, which the Indians used for catching the sap,
as it flowed from the maple-trees.

102

MAPLE-SUGAR.

" I wonder who taught the Indians how to make
maple-sugar?" asked the child.

" I do not know," replied the nurse. " I have
heard that they knew how to make this sugar
when the discoverers of the country found them.*
It may be that they found it out by accident. The
RUgar-maple when wounded in March or April,
yields a great deal of sweet liquor. Some Indians
may have supplied themselves with this juice, .when
pressed for want of water ; for it flows so freely in
warm days in spring, that several pints can be ob-
tained from one tree in the course of the day. By
boiling this juice, it becomes very sweet ; and at
last when all the thin watery part has gone off in
steam, it becomes thick, like honey ; by boiling it
still longer, it turns to sugar, when cold. So you
see, my dear, that the Indians may have found it
out by boiling some sap, instead of water, and letting
it remain on the fire till it grew thick."

" Are there many kinds of maple-trees, that sugar
can be made from, nurse?" asked the little girl.

" YeSjt my lady ; but I believe the sugar-maple
yields the best sap for the purpose; that of the
birch-tree, I have heard, can be made into sugar;
but it would require a larger quantity ; weak wine,
or vinegar, is made by the settlers of birch-sap.

* However this may be, the French settlers claim the merit of con-
VQrting the sap into sugar.

t All the maple tribe are of a saccharine nature. Sugar has been
made in England from the sap of the sycamore.

USES OF THE MAPLE-TREE.

103

which is very pleasant tasted. The people wlio live
in the backwoods, and make maple-sugar, always
make a keg of vinegar at the sugaring off."

*' That must be very useful ; but if the sap is sweet,
how can it be made into such sour stuff as vinegar?"

Then nurse tried to make Lady Mary understand
that the heat of the sun, or of a warm room, would
make the liquor ferment, unless it had been boiled a
long time, so as to become very sweet, and somewhat
thick. The first fermentation, she told her, would
give only a winy taste; but if it continued to ferment
a great deal, it turned sour, and became vinegar.

" How very useful the maple-tree is, nurse ! I
wish there were maples in the garden, and I would
make sugar, molasses, wine, and vinegar ; and what
else would I do with my maple-tree ? "

Mrs. Frazer laughed, and said, — " The wood
makes excellent fuel; but is also used in making
bedsteads, chests of drawers, and many other things.
There is a very pretty wood for furniture, called
* bird's-eye maple ; ' the drawers in my bedroom
that you think so pretty are made of it ; but it is
a disease in the tree that causes it to have these
little marks all through the wood. In autumn, this
tree improves the forest landscape, for the bright scar-
let leaves of the maple give a beautiful look to the
woods in the fall. The red or soft maple (Acer
rubrus), another species, is very bright when the
leaves are changing, but it gives no sugar."

Then I will not let it grow in my garden, nurse ! "

-''Sfe'^

104

EAR AND KYK.

" It is good for other purposes, my deftr. Tlio
settlers use the bark for dyeing wool ; and a jot
black ink can bo made from it, by boiling down the
bark with a bit of copperas, in an iron vessel ; so
you see it is useful. The bright red flowers of this
tree look very pretty in the spring ; it grows best by
the water-side, and some call it 'the swamp-maple.' "

This was all Mrs. Frazer could tell Lady Mary
about the maple-trees. Many little girls, as young
as the Governor's daughter, would have thought it
very dull to listen to what her nurse had to say
about plants and trees ; but Lady Mary would put
aside her dolls and toys, to stand beside her to ask
questions, and listen to her answers ; the more she
heard the more she desired to hear, about these
things. " The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, arc
two things that are never satisfied," saith the wise
king Solomon.

Lady Mary was delighted with the contents of
her Indian basket, and spent the rest of her play-
hours in looking at the various articles it contained,
and asking her nurse questions about the materials
of which they were made. Some of the bark-boxes
were lined with paper, but the doll's cradle was not,
and Lady Mary perceived that the inside of it was
very rough, caused by the hard ends of the quills with
which it was ornamented. At first she could not
think how the squaws worked with the quills, as
they could not possibly thread them through the
eye of a needle ; but her nurse told her that when

INDIAN HANDIWORK.

105

they want to work any pattern in biruli-bark, they
trace it with Home sharp-pointed instrument, such
aR a nail, or bodkin, or even a sharp thorn, with
which they pierce holes close together round the
edge of the leaf, or blade, or bird they have drawn
out on the birch-bark ; into these holes thiiy insert
one end of the quill, the other end is then drawn
through the opposite hole, pulled tight, bent a little,
and cut off on the inside. This any one of my
young readers may see, if they examine the Indian
baskets or toys, made of birch-bark. " I have seen
the squaws in their wigwams at work on these
things, sitting cross-legged on their mats, — some
had the quills in a little bark dish on their laps,
while others held them in their mouths — not a very
safe nor delicate way ; but Indians are not very nice
in some of their habits," said Mrs. Frazer. "The
prettiest sort of Indian work is done in coloured
moose-hair, with which, formed into a sort of rich
embroidery, they ornament the moccasins, hunting-
knife, sheaths, and birch-bark baskets and toys."

" Nurse, if you please, will you tell me what this
little animal is designed to represent ? " said Lady
Mary, pointing to the figure of the racoon worked in
quills on the sheath of the hunting-knife.

"It is intended for a racoon, my lady,"' replied
her nurse.

" Is the racoon a pretty creature like my squir-
rel?"

"It is much larger than your squirrel ; its fur is

106

HABITS OF THE RACOONS.

not nearly so soft or so fine ; the colour being black
and gray, or dun; the tail barred across, and
bushy, — you have seen many sleigh-robes made of
racoon-skins, with the tails looking like tassels at
the back of the sleighs/'

" Oh yes, and a funny, cunning-looking face peep-
ing out too ! "

" The face of this little animal is sharp, and the
eyes black and keen, like a fox ; the feet bare, like
the soles of our feet, only black and leathery;
their claws are very sharp; they can climb trees
very fast. During the winter the racoons sleep in
hollow trees, and cling together for the sake of keep-
ing each other warm. The choppers find as many
as seven or eight in one nest, fast asleep. Most pro-
bably the young family remain with the old ones
until spring, when they separate. The racoon in its
habits is said to resemble the bear ; like the bear,
it lives chiefly on vegetables, especially Indian corn,
but I do not think that it lays by any store for
winter. They sometimes awake if there come a few
warm days, but soon retire again to their warm,
cozy nests."

" Racoons will eat eggs ; and fowls are often
taken by them, — perhaps this is in the winter, when
they wake up and are pressed by hunger."

Her nurse said that one of her friends had a ra-
coon which he kept in a wooden cage, but he was
obliged to have a chain and collar to keep him
from getting away, as he used to gnaw the bars

ai
c

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.

lo;

asunder ; and had slily stolen away and killed some
ducks, and was almost as mischievous as a fox, but
was very lively and amusing in his way.

Lady Mary now left her good nurse, and took
her basket, with all its Indian treasures, to show to
her mamma, with whom we leave her for the pre-
sent.

I I

CHAPTER VI.

CANADIAN BIRDS — SNOW SPARROW — ROBIN REDBREAST-
CANADIAN FLOWERS — AMERICAN PORCUPINE.

PRINO

IS coming, nurse — spring is
coming at last ! " exclaimed the Gover-
nor's little daughter, joyfully. " The
snow is going away at last ! I am tired of the white
snow ; it makes my eyes ache. I want to see the
brown earth, and the grass, and the green moss, and
the pretty flowers again."

" It will be some days before this deep covering
of snow is gone. The streets are still slippery with
ice, which it will take some time, my lady, to
soften."

" But, nurse, the sun shines, and there are little
streams of water running along the streets in every
direction. See, the snow is gone from under the
bushes and trees in the garden. I saw some dear
little birds flying about, and I watched them perch-
ing on the dry stalks of the tall, rough weeds, and
they appeared to be picking seeds out of the husks.
Can you tell me what birds they were?"

" I saw the flock of birds you mean, Lady Mary.

THE SNOW-SPARROWS.

109

•

WATCHING THE BIKPS.

They are the common snow-sparrows* — almost our
earliest visitants, for they may be seen in April,
mingled with the brown song-sparrow,t flitting

Fringilla nivalis.

t Fringilla melodia.

110

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

about the garden fences, or picking the stalks of the
tall mullein and amaranths, to find the seeds that
have not been shaken out by the autumn winds ;
and possibly they also find insects cradled in the
husks of the old seed-vessels. These snow-sparrows
are very hardy ; and though some migrate to the
States in the beginning of winter, a few stay in the
Upper Province, and others come back to us before
the snow is all gone."

" They are very pretty, neat-looking birds, nurse ;
dark slate colour, with white breasts."

" When I was a little girl I used to call them my
Quaker-birds, they looked so neat and prim. In the
summer you may find their nests in the brush-heaps
near the edge of the forest. Tliey sing a soft, low song."

" Nurse, I heard a bird singing yesterday when I
was in the garden; a little, plain, brown bird, nurse."

" It was a song-sparrow. Lady Mary. This cheer-
ful little bird comes with the snow-birds, often before
the robin."

" Oh, nurse, the robin ! I wish you would show
me a darling robin redbreast. I did not know they
lived in Canada."

" The bird that we call the robin in this country,
my dear, is not like the little redbreast you have
seen at home. Our robin is twice as large. Though
in shape resembling the European robin, I believe it
is really a kind of thrush.* It migi'ates in the fall,
and returns to us early in the spring."

* Turdus migratoria.

A ROBIN S NEST.

it
II,

" WLat is migrating, nurse ? Is it the same as
emigrating ? "

" Yes, Lady Mary ; for when a person leaves his
native country, and goes to live in another country,
he is said to emigrate. This is the reason why the
English, Scotch, and Irish families who come to live
in Canada are called emigrants."

" What colour are the Canadian robins, nurse ? "

" The head is blackish ; the back, lead colour ;
and the breast is pale orange — not so bright a red,
however, as the real robin."

" Have you ever seen their nests, nurse ? "

" Yes, my dear, many of them. It is not a pretty
nest. It is large, and coarsely put together, of old
dried grass, roots, and dead leaves, plastered inside
with clay, mixed with bits of straw, so as to form a
sort of mortar. You know, Lady Mary, that the
blackbird and thrush build nests, and plaster them
in this way ? "

The little lady nodded her head in assent.

" Nurse, I once saw a robin's nest when I was in
England. It was in the side of a mossy ditch, with
primroses growing close beside it. It was made of
green moss, and lined with white wool and hair.
It 'was a pretty nest, with nice eggs in it ; much
better than your Canadian robin's nest."

" Our robins build in upturned roots, in the
corners of rail fences, and in the young pear-trees
and apple-trees in the orchard. The eggs are a
greenish-blue. The robin sings a full, clear song ;

( I

112

FLIGHT OF WILD-FOWL.

indeed, he is our best songster. We have so few
singing-birds that wo prize those that do sing very
much."

" Does the Canadian robin come into the house in
winter, and pick up the crumbs, as the dear little
redbreasts do at home ? "

" No, Lady Mary ; they are able to find plenty of
food abroad when they return to us, but they hop
about the houses and gardens pretty freely. In the
fall, before they go away, they may be seen in great
numbers, running aoout the old pastures, picking up
worms and seeds."

" Do people see the birds flying away together,
nurse ? **

" Not often, my dear ; for most birds congregate
together in small flocks, and depart unnoticed.
Many go away at night, when we are sleeping ; and
some fly very high on cloudy days, so that they are
not distinctly seen against the dull, gray sky. The
water-birds — such as geese, swans, and ducks — take
their flight in large bodies. They are heard making
a continual noise in the air ; and may be seen
grouped in long lines, or in the form of the letter V
lying on its side (>•), the point generally directed
southward or westward, the strongest and oldest
birds acting as leaders. When tired, these aquatic
generals fall backward into the main body, and are
replaced by others."

Lady Mary was much surprised at the order and
sagacity displayed by wild-fowl in their flight ; and

BIRDS AS BUILDERS.

113

y are
The

■take
king
seen
erV
icted
dest
atic
are

and
and

Mrs. Frazer told her that some other time she would
tell her some more facts respecting their migration
to other countries.

" Nurse, will you tell me something about birds'
nests, and what they make them of ? "

" Birds that live chiefly in the depths of the
forest, or in solitary places, far away from the
haunts of men, build their nests of ruder materials,
and with less care in the manner of putting them
together. Dried grass, roots, and a little moss,
seem to be the materials they make use of. It has
been noticed by many persons, my dear, that those
birds that live near towns and villages and cleared
farms, soon learn to make better sorts of nests, and
to weave into them soft and comfortable things, such
as silk, wool, cotton, and hair."
" That is very strange, nurse."
"It is so, Lady Mary ; but the same thing may
also be seen among human beings. The savage
nations are contented with rude dwellings made of
sticks and cane, covered with skins of beasts, bark,
or reeds ; but when they once unite together in a
more social state, and live in villages and towns, a
desire for improvement takes place. The tent of
skins or the rude shanty is exchanged for a hut
of better shape ; and this in time gives place to
houses and furniture of more useful and ornamental
kinds."

" Nurse, I heard mamma say that the Britons
who lived in England were once savages, and lived

(211) 8

THE FIRST BLOOM.

in caves, huts, and thick woods ; that they dressed
in skins, and painted their bodies like the Indians."

" When you read the history of England, you will
see that such was the case," said Mrs. Frazer.

" Nurse, perhaps the little birds like to see the
flowers, and the sunshine, and the blue sky, and
men's houses. I will make my garden very pretty
tliis spring, and plant some nice flowers, to please
the dear little birds."

Many persons would have thought such remarks
very foolish in our little lady. But Mrs. Frazer, who
was a good and wise woman, did not laugh at the
little girl ; for she thought it was a lovely thing to
see her wish to give happiness to the least of God's
creatures, for it was imitating his own goodness and
mercy, which delight in the enjoyment of the things
which he has called into existence.

" Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me which
flowers will be first in bloom ? "

" The very first is a plant that comes up without
leaves."

" Nurse, that is the Christmas-rose.* I have
seen it in the old country."

" No, Lady Mary ; it is the colt's-foot.f It is a
common-looking, coarse, yellow-blossomed flower :
it is the first that blooms after the snow. Then
comes the pretty snow-flower, or hepatica. Its
pretty tufts of white, pink, or blue starry flowers
may be seen on the open clearing, or beneath the

* Winter Aconite. t Tussllago farfara.

" VIOLETS, SWEET VIOLETS !'

115

shuJe of the half-cleared woods or upturned roots
and sunny banks. Like the English daisy, it grows
everywhere, and the sight of its bright starry blos-
soms delights every eye. The next flower that comes
in is the dog's-tooth-violet." *

" What a droll name ! " exclaimed Lady Mary,
laughing.

" I suppose it is called so from the sharpness of
the flower-leaves (petals), my lady ; but it is a beauti-
ful yellow lily. The leaves are also pretty ; they
are veined or clouded with milky white or dusky
purple. The plant has a bulbous root, and in the
month of April sends up its single, nodding, yellow-
spotted flowers. They grow in large beds, where
the ground is black, moist, and rich, near creeks on
the edge of the forest."

" Do you know any other pretty flowers, nurse ? "

" Yes, my lady ; there are a great many that
bloom in April and May : white violets, and blue
and yellow of many kinds. And then there is the
spring beauty,t a delicate little flower, with pink
striped bells ; and the everlasting flower ; J and
saxifrage ; and the white and dark red lily, that the
Yankees call * white and red death.' § These have
three green leaves about the middle of the stalk,
and the flower is composed of three pure white or
deep red leaves — petals my father used to call them :
for my father. Lady Mary, was a botanist, and knew

* Erythronium.
t Claytonia.

t Graphalium.

§ Trillium, or Wake Robin.

mf^>:

116

THE MOCCASIN FLOWER.

the names of all the flowers, unci I learned them
from him. The most curious is the moccasin flower.
The early one is bright golden yellow, and has a bag
or sack which is curiously spotted with ruby red,
and its petals are twisted like horns. There is a
hard, thick piece that lies down just above the sack
or moccasin part ; and if you lift this up, you see a
pair of round, dark spots like eyes, and the Indians
say it is like the face of a hound, with the nose and
black eyes plain to be seen. Two of the shorter,
curled, brown petals look like flapped ears, one on
each side of the face. There is a more beautiful
sort, purple and white, which blooms in August.
The plant is taller, and bears large, lovely flowers."

" And has it a funny face and ears too, nurse ? "

" Yes, my dear ; but the face is more like an
ape's : it is even more distinct than in the yellow
moccasin. When my brother and I were children,
we used to fold back the petals, and call them baby
floweiTS : the sack, we thought, looked like a baby's
white frock."

Lady Mary was much amused at this notion.

" There are a great number of very beautiful and
also very curious flowers growing in the forest," said
Mrs. Frazer. " Some of them are used in medicine,
and some by the Indians for dyes, with which they
stain the baskets and porcupine quills. One of our
earliest flowers is called the blood-root.* It comes
up a delicate, white-folded bud, within a vine-shaped

* Sanguivaria.

THE AMERICAN TORCUPINE.

117

leaf, which is veined on the under side with orange
yellow. If the stem or the root of this plant be
troken, a scarlet juice drops out very fast. It is
with this the squaws dye red and orange colours."

" I am glad to hear this, nurse. Now I can tell
my dear mamma what the baskets and quills are
dyed with.**

" The flower is very pretty, like a white crocus,
only not so large. You saw some crocuses in the
conservatory the other day, I think, my dear lady."

" Oh yes ; yellow ones, and purple too, in a funny
china thing, with holes in its back, and the flowers
came up through the holes. The gardener said it
was a porcupine.

" Please, nurse, tell me of what colours real por-
cupine quills are ? *'

" They are white and grayish-brown.**

Then Lady Mary brought a print and showed it
to her nurse, saying, —

" Nurse, is the porcupine like this picture ? "

" The American porcupine, my dear, is not
so large as this species : its spines are smaller
and weaker. It resembles the common hedgehog
more nearly. It is an innocent animal, feeding
mostly on roots * and small fruits. It burrows in
dry, stony hillocks, and passes the cold weather in
sleep. It goes abroad chiefly during the night.

* There is a plant of the lily tribe, upon whose roots the porcupine
feeds, as well as on wild bulbs and berries, and the bark of the black
spruce and larch. It will also eat apples and Indian corn.

118

A DAINTY DISH.

Tho spines of tho Canatliaii porcupine are mucli
weaker than those of the African species. Tl»e
Indians trap these creatures, and eat their flesh.
They bake them in their skins in native ovens —
holes made in the earth, lined with stones, whicli
they make very hot, covering them over with
embers."

Mrs. Frazer had told Lady Mary all she knew
about the porcupine, when Campbell, the footman,
came to say that her papa wanted to see her.

CHAPTER VII.

INDIAN BAG — INDIAN EMBROIDERY — BEAVEK S TAII, —
BEAVER ARCHITECTURE — HABITS OF THE BEAVKK —
BEAVEU TOOLS — BEAVER MEADOWS.

I HEN Lady Mary went clown to her father,
ho presented her with a beautiful Indian
1131 bag, which he had brought from Luke
Huron, in tlie Upper Province. It was of fine doe-
skin, very nicely wrought with dyed moose-hair, and
the pattern was very pretty; the border was of
scarlet feathers on one side, and blue on the other,
which formed a rich silken fringe at each edge.
This was a present from the wife of a chief on Mani-
toulin Island. Lady Mary was much delighted with
her present, and admired this new-fashioned work in
moose-hair very much. The feathers, Mrs. Frazer
told her, were from the summer red-bird or war-bird,
and the blue-bird, both oi \'hich Lady Mary said
she had seen. The Indians use these feathers as
ornaments for their heads and shoulders on grand
occasions.

Lady Mary recollected hearing her mamma speak
of Indians who wore mantles and dresses of gay

120

FATHERS PRESENT.

THE PRESENT FROM FATHER.

featliers. They were chiefs of the Sandwich Islands,
ahe believed, who had these superb habits.

THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

121

"You might tell me something about these Indians,
nurse," said little Mary.

" I might occupy whole days in describing their
singular customs, my dear," replied Mrs. Frazer,
" and I fear you would forget one half of what I told
you. But there are numerous interesting books in
reference to them, which you will read as you grow
older. You would be much amused at the appear-
ance of an Indian chief, when dressed out in the
feathers we have been speaking of ; his face covei'ed
with red paint ; his robe flowing loose and free ; and
his calumet, or pipe, gaily decked with ribbons. The
Indians are great oratore, being distinguished by
their graceful gestures, their animated air, and their
vigorous and expressive style. They are tall, well-
made, and athletic; their complexion of a reddish
copper colour ; their hair long, coarse, and jet-black.
Their senses are remarkably acute, and they can see
and hear with extraordinary distinctness. They will
follow up the track of a man or animal through the
dense woods and across the vast plains by trifling
signs, which no European can detect. Their tem-
perament is cold and unimpassioned ; they are capable
of enduring extreme hunger and thirst, and seem
almost insensible to pain. Under certain circum-
stances they are generous and hospitable, but when
once roused, their vengeance is not easily satisfied.
They will pursue a real or supposed foe with a hatred
which never tires, and gratify their lust of cruelty
by exposing him, v.hen captured, to the most hor-

;

122

THEIR HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

INDIAN CHIEF ADDRESSING HIS TRIBE.

rible torments. They support themselves by fishing
and on the spoils of the chase ; and though a few
tribes have become partially civilized, and devoted

■

A DRIED BEAVER S TAIL.

123

themselves to the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, the
majority retire further and further into the dense
forests of the west as the white man continues his
advance, and wander, like their forefathers, about
the lonely shores of the great lakes, and on the banks
of the vast rolling rivers."

" Thank you, nurse ; I will not forget what you
have told me. And now, have you anything more
to say about birds and flowers ? I can never weary
of hearing about such interesting objects."

" I promised to tell you about the beavers, my
lady," replied Mrs. Frazer.

" Oh yes, about the beavers that make the dams
and the nice houses, and cut down whole trees. I
am glad you can tell me something about those
curious creatures ; for mamma bought me a pretty
picture, which I will show you, if you please," suid
the little girl. "But what is this odd-looking, black
thing here ? Is it a dried fish ? It must be a black
bass. Yes, nurse, I am sure it is."

The nurse smiled, and said : " It is not a fish at
all, my dear ; it is a dried beaver's tail. I brought
it from the back lakes when I was at home, that you
might see it. See, my lady, how curiously the
beaver's tail is covered with scales ; it looks like
some sort of black leather, stamped in a diaper pat-
tern. Before it is dried it is very heavy, weighing
three or four pounds. I have heard my brothers
and some of the Indian trappers say, that the animal
makes use of its tail to beat the sides of the dama

i s
i

124

THE BEAVER S DAM.

and smooth the mud and clay, as a plasterer uses a
trowel. Some people think otherwise, but it seems
well suited from its shape and weight for the pur-
pose, and, indeed, as the walls they raise seem to
have been smoothed by some implement, I see no
reason to disbelieve the story."

" And what do the beavers make dams with,
nurse ? "

" With small trees cut into pieces, and drawn in
close to each other; and then the beavers fill the
spaces between with sods, and stones, and clay, and
all sorts of things, that they gather together and
work up into a solid wall. The walls are made
broad at the bottom, and are several feet in thick-
ness, to make them strong enough to keep the water
from washing through them. The beavers assemble
together in the fall, about the months of October
and November, to build their houses and repair their
dams. They prefer running water, as it is less likely
to freeze. They work in large parties, sometimes
fifty or a hundred together, and do a great deal in a
short time. They work during the night."

" Of what use is the dam, nurse?"

" The dam is for the purpose of securing a con-
stant supply of water, without which they could not
live. When they have enclosed the beaver-pond,
they separate into family parties of eleven or twelve,
perhaps more, sometimes less, and construct dwell-
ings, which are raised against the inner walls of the
dam. These little huts have two chambers, one in

,Wf*^.

A REMAKKAr.LE EDIFICE.

1-25

11 . ^v
.1'

■ <!} i-

'dm

■=^'

i^&^'^

BEAVERS MAKING A DAM.

which they sleep, which is warm and soft and dry,
lined with roots and sedges and dry grass, and any
odds and ends that serve their purpose. The feed-

126

" THE OLD HOUSE AT HOME."

■

ing place is below ; in this is stored the wood or the
bark on which they feed. The entrance to this is
under water, and hidden from sight ; but it is there
that the cunning hunter sets his trap to catch the
unsuspecting beavers.

" A beaver's house is large enough to allow two
men a comfortable sleeping-room, and it is kept very
clean. It is built of sticks, stones, and mud, and is
well plastered outside and in. The trowel the beaver
uses in plastering is his tail ; this is considered a
great delicacy at the table. Their beds are made of
chips, split as fine as the brush of an Indian broom ;
these are disposed in one corner, and kept dry and
sweet and clean. It is the bark of the green wood
that is used by the beavers for food ; after the stick
is peeled, they float it out at a distance from the
house. V Many good housewives might learn a lesson
of neatness and order from the humble beaver.

" In large lakes and rivers the beavers make no
dams; they have water enough without putting
themselves to that trouble ; but in small creeks they
dam up, and make a better stop-water than is done
by the millers. The spot where they build their
dams is the most labour-saving place in the valley,
and where the work will stand best. When the
dam is finished, not a drop of water escapes ; their
work is always well done."

" Nurse, do not beavers, and otters, and musk-
rats feel cold while living in the water ; and do they
not get wet ? "

THE WISE BEAVERS.

127

■

" No, my dear ; they do not feel cold, and cannot
get wet, for the thick coating of hair and down keeps
them warm ; and these animals, like ducks and geese,
and all kinds of water-fowls, are supplied with a bag
of oil, with which they dress their coats, and that
throws off the moisture ; for you know. Lady Mary,
that oil and water will not mix. All creatures
that live in the water are provided with oily fur, or
smooth scales, that no water can penetrate ; and
water-birds, such as ducks and geese, have a little
bag of oil, with which they dress their feathers."

" Are there any beavers in England, nurse ?" asked
Lady Mary.

" No, my lady, not now ; but I remember my
father told me that this animal once existed in num-
bers in different countries of Europe ; he said they
were still to be found in Norway, Sweden, Russia,
Germany, and even in France.* The beaver abounds
mostly in North America, and in its cold portions ; in
solitudes that no foot of man but the wild Indian has
ever penetrated — in lonely streams and inland lakes —
these harmless creatures are found fulfilling God's
purpose, and doing injury to none.

" I think if there had been any beavers in the
land of Israel in Solomon's time, that the wise king
who spake of ants, spiders, grasshoppers, and conies,t
would have named the beavers also, as patterns of

* The remains of beaver dams in Wales prove that this interesting
animal was once a native of Great Britain,
t The rock rabbits of Judaea.

128

PATIENCE AND PKRSEVKRANCE.

gentleness, cleanliness, and industry. They work
together in bands, and live in families, and never
fight or disagree. They have no chief or leader;
they seem to have neither king nor ruler ; yet they
work in perfect love and harmony. How pleasant
it would be. Lady Mary, if all Christian people
would love each other as these poor beavers seem
to do."

" Nurse, how can beavers cut down trees ; they
have neither axes nor saws?"

" Here, Lady Mary, are the axes and saws with
which Grod has provided these little creatures ; " and
Mrs. Frazer showed Lady Mary two long curved
tusks, of a reddish -brown colour, which she told her
were the tools used by the beavers to cut and gnaw
the trees ; she said she had seen trees as thick as a
man's leg that had been felled by these simple tools.

Lady Mary was much surprised that such small
animals could cut through anything so thick.

" In nature," replied her nurse, " we often see
great things done by very small means. Patience
and perseverance work well. The poplar, birch, and
some other trees, on which beavers feed, and whicli
they also use in making their dams, are softer and
more easily cut than oak, elm, or birch would be :
these trees are found growing near the water, and in
such places as the beavers build in. The settler
owes to the industrious habits of this animal those
large open tracts of land called beaver meadows,
covered with long, thick, rank grass, which ho cuts

HECOLLKCTIONS OF HOME.

129

uts

down and uses as hay. Tliese Leaver meadows have
the appearance of dried-up hdvcs. Tlie soiris black
and spongy ; for you may put a stick down to the
depth of many feet. It is only in the montlis of
July, August, and September, that they are dry.
Bushes of black alder, with a few poplars and twin-
ing shrubs, are scattered over the beaver meadows,
some of which have high stony banks, and little
islands of trees. On these are many pretty wild-
flowers ; among others, I found growing on the dry
banks some real hare-bells, both blue and white."

" Ah, dear nurse, hare-bells ! did you find real
hare-bells, such as grow on the bonny Highland hills
among the heather ? I wish jiapa would let me go
to the Upper Province to see the beaver meadows,
and gather the dear blue-bells."

" My father, Lady Mary, wept when I brought him
a handful of these flowers ; for he said it reminded
him of his Highland home. I have found these
pretty bells growing on the wild hills about Rice
Lake, near the water, as well as near the beaver
meadows."

" Do the beavers sleep in the winter time, nurse?"

" They do not lie torpid, as racoons do, though
they may sleep a good deal ; but as they lay up a
great store of provisions for the winter, of course
they must awake sometimes to cat it."

Lady Mary thought so too.

" In the spring, when the long warm days return,
they quit their winter retreat, and separate in pairs,

(211)

130

SOMETHING ABOUT INSTINCT.

living in holes in tlio bankn of lakes and rivers, and
do not unite again till the approach of the cold calls
them together to prepare for winter, as I told you."

"Who calls them all to build their winter houses?"
asked the child.

" The providence of God, usually called instinct,
that guides these animals ; doubtless it is the law
of nature given to them by God.

" There is a great resemblance in the habits of the
musk-rat and the beaver. They all live in the
water ; all separate in the spring, and meet again in
the fall to build and work together ; and, having
holpe<l each other in these things, they retire to a
private dwelling, each family to its own. The ottei-
does not make a dam, like the beaver, and I am not
sure that, like the beaver, it works in com[>anies : it
lives on fish and roots; the musk-rat on shell -fish
and roots ; and the beaver on vegetable food mostly.
Musk-rats and beavers are used for food, but the
flesh of the otter is too fishy to be eaten."

" Nurse, can people eat musk-rats ? " asked Lady
Mary, with surprise.

" Yes, my lady ; in the spring months the hunters
and Indians reckon them good food. T have eaten
them myself, but I did not like them ; they were too
fat. Musk-rats build a little house of rushes, and
plaster it ; they have two chambers, and do not lie
torpid ; they build in shallow, rushy places in lakes,
but in spring they quit their winter houses and are
often found in holes among the roots of trees. They

A TAME BEAVBU.

131

livo oil mussels and shell-fisli. The fur is used in
inakin^ caps, and hats, and fur gloves."
" Nurse, did you ever see a tame beaver? "
" Yes, my dear; I know a squaw who had a tamo
bcavor, which she used to take out in her canoe with
her, and it sat in her lap, or on lior shoulder, and
was very playful." Just then the dinner-hell rang,
and as dinner at Government House waits for no one,
Lady Mary was obliged to defer hearing niore about
beavers until another time.

the

jady

CHAPTER VIII.

INDIAN BOY AND U\H PF.TH — TAMK BKAVKIl AT IIOMR —
KITTEN, Wri-DPI UK — I'liT RACOON AND THE Hl'ANIEL I'UIM'IES
— CANADIAN KI.OUA.

UllSE, you liavo told mo a great many
nice stories ; now I can tell you one, if
you would like to hear it ; " ami the
Governor's little daughter fixed her bright eyes,
beaming with intelligence, on the face of lier nurse,
who smiled, and said she should like very much to
hear the story.

" You must guess what it is to be about, nurse."

" I am afraid I shall not guess right. Is it 'Little
Ked Riding Hood,' or ' Old Mother Hubbard,' or
'Jack the Giant-killer?'"

" Oh, nurse, to guess such silly stories ! " said the
little girl, stopping her ears. " Those are too silly
for me even to tell baby ! My story is a nice
story about a darling tame beaver. Major Pickford
took me on his knee and told me the story last
night."

Mrs. Frazer begged Lady Mary's pardon for
making such foolish guesses, and declared she should

MFE IN TIIK lUJHil.

I'M]

like voiy mnoh to hoar Mjijor Pickfoid's story of tlio
taiiu; Lotivor.

" Well, nuiso, you must know tlioro was onoo n
gontlcniau who lived in the busli, on the banks of a
huuill lake, somewhere in Canada, a h»n^, long way
from Montreal. He lived all alone in a little log-house,
and spent his time in fishing and trap})ing and
hunting ; and he was very dull, for he had no wife,
and no little child like mo to talk to. The only
l)eo[)lo whom ho used to sec were some French
lumberers ; and now and then the Indians would
como in their canoes and fish on his lake, and make
their wigwams on the lake-shore, and hunt deer in
the wood. The gentleman was very fond of the
Indians, and used to pass a great deal of his time
with them, and talk to them in their own language.

" Well, nurse, one day he found a poor little Indian
boy who had been lost in the woods, and was half
starved, sick, and weak ; and the kind gentleman
took him home to his house, and fed and nursed him
till he got quite strong again. Was not that good,
nurse? "

" It was quite right, my lady. People should
always be kind to the sick and weak, and especially to
a poor Indian stranger. I like the story very much,
and shall be glad to hear more about the Indian
boy."

" Nurse, there is not a great deal more about the
Indian boy; for when the Indian party to which he
belonged returned from hunting, he went away to

l?A

KOY AND I3EAVL:R.

his own home ; but I forgot to tell you that the
gentleman liad often said how much he should like
to have a young beaver to make a pet of. He was
very fond of pets ; he had a dear little squirrel, just
like mine, nurse, a flying si^uirrel, which he had
made so tame that it slept in his bosom and lived in
his pocket, where he kept nuts and acorns and apples
for it to cat ; and he had a racoon too, nurse — only
think, a real racoon ! and IMajor Pickford told me
some+hing so droll about the racoon, only I want
first to go on with the story about the beaver.

"One day, as the gentleman was sitting by the
fire reading, he heard a slight noise, and when he
looked up was quite surprised to see an Indian boy
in a blanket coat, with his dark eyes fixed upon his
face, while his long black hair hung down on his
shoulders. He looked quite wild, and did not say a
word, but only opened his blanket coat, and showed
a brown-furred animal asleep on his breast. What
do you think it was, nurse ? "
" A young beaver, my lady."
" Yes, nurse, it Avas a little beaver. The good
Indian boy had caught it and tamed it on purpose
to bring it to his white friend, who had been so good
to him.

" I cannot tell you all the amusing things the
Indian boy said about the beaver, though the Major
told them to me ; but I cannot talk like an Indian,
you knew, Mrs. Frazer. After the boy went away,
the gentleman set to work and made a little log-hoilse

WORK AND MISCHIEF.

135

for his beaver to live in, and set it in a corner of the
shanty ; and he hollowed a large sugar-trough for
its water, that it might have water to wash in ; and
cut down some young willows and poplars and birch-
trees for it to eat. And the little beaver grew
very fond of its new master ; it would fondle him
just like a little squirrel, put its soft head on his
knee, and climb up on his lap. He taught it to eat
bread, sweet cake, and biscuit, and even roast and
boiled meat ; and it would drink milk too.

" Well, nurse, the little "beaver lived very happily
with this kind gentleman till the next fall, and then
it began to get very restless and active, as if it were
tired of doing nothing. One day its master heard
of the arrival of a friend some miles off, so he left
the beaver to take care of itself, and went away ;
but he did not forget to give it some green wood,
and plenty of water to drink and play in. He
stayed several days, for he was very glad to meet
with a friend in that lonely place ; but when he came
back, he could not open his door, and was obliged
to get in at the window. What do you think the
beaver had done ? It had built a dam against the
side of the trough, and a wall across the door ; and
it had dug up the hearth and the floor, and carried
the earth and the stones to help to make its dam,
and puddled it with water, and made such work I
The house w\as in perfect confusion, with mud, chips,
bark, and stone ; nnd oh, nurse, worse than all that,
ife had gnawed through the legs of the table and

136

A FRISKY KITTEN.

chairs, and they were lying on tlie floor in sucli a
state ; and it cost the poor gentleman so much trouble
to put things to rights again, and make more chairs
and another table ! and when I laughed at the pranks
of that wicked beaver — for I could not help laughing
— the Major pinched my ear, and called me a mis-
chievous puss."

Mrs. Frazer was very much entertained with the
story, and she told Lady Mary that she had heard of
tame beavers doing such things before ; for in the
season of the year when beavers congregate together
to repair their works and build their winter houses,
those that are in confinement become restless and
unquiet, and show the instinct that moves these
animals to provide their winter retreats, and lay up
their stores of food.

. " Nurse," said Lady Mary, " I did not think that
beavers and racoons could be taught to eat sweet
cake, and bread, and meat."

" Many animals learn to eat very different food to
what they are accustomed to live upon in a wild
state. The wild cat lives on raw flesh ; while the
domestic cat, you know, my dear, will eat cooked
meat, and even salt meat, with bread and milk and
many other things. I knew a person who had a
black kitten called 'Wildfire,' which would sip whisky
toddy out of his glass, and seemed to like it as well
as milk or water, only it made him too wild and frisky."

" Nurse, the racoon that the gentleman had would
drink sweet whisky punch ; but my governess said

-:i^'

A RACOON S TRICKS.

137

it was not right to give it to him ; and Major
Pickford laughed, and declared the racoon must have
looked very funny when he was tipsy. Was not the
Major naughty to say so ? '"

Mrs. Frazer said it was not quite proper.

" But, nurse, I have not told you about the racoon.
He was a funny fellow. He was very fond of a little
spaniel and her puppies, and took a great deal of care
of them. He brought them meat, and anything nice
that had been given him to eat ; but one day he
thought he would give them a fine treat, so he con-
trived to catch a poor cat by the tail, and drag her
into his den, where he and the puppies lived together.
His pets, of course, would not eat the cat, so the
wicked creature ate up poor pussy himself ; and the
gentleman was so angry with the naughty thing that
he killed him and made a cap of his skin, for he was
afraid the cunning racoon would kill his beaver and
eat up his tame squirrel."

" The racoon, Lady Mary, in its natural state, has
all the wildness and cunning of the fox and weasel.
He will eat flesh, poultry, and sucking pigs, and is
also very destructive to Indian com. These creatures
abound in the "Western States, and are killed in great
numbers for their skins. The Indian hunters eat
the flesh, and say it is very tender and good ; but it
is not used for food in Canada. The racoon belongs
to the same class of animals as the bear, which it
resembles in some points, though, being small, it is
not so dangerous either to man or the larger animals.

3E*r

B>i

138

A ro;^Y OF WILD-FLOWERS.

" And now, my dear, let me show you some pretty
wild-flowers a little girl brought me this morning
for you, as she heard that you loved flowers. There
are yellow-mocassins, or ladies'-slippers, the same
that I told you of a little while ago ; and white
lilies, crane-bills, and these pretty lilac geraniums ;
here are scarlet cups, and blue lupines — they are all
in bloom now — and many others. If we were on
the Rice Lake Plains, my lady, we could gather all
these, and many, many more. In the months of
June and July those plains are like a garden, and
their roses scent the air."

" Nurse, I will ask my dear papa to take me to the
llice Luke Plains," said the little girl, as she gazed
with delight on the lovely Canadian flowers.

■■'■^^^^t-.

CHAPTER IX.

NURSE TELLS LADY MARY ABOUT A LITTLE BOY WHO WAS
EATEN BY A BEAR IN THE PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK —
OF A BABY THAT WAS CARRIED AWAY, BUT TAKEN ALIVE
— A WALK IN THE GARDEN— HUMMING-BIRDS — CANADIAN
BALSAMS.

URSE," said Lady Mary, "did you ever
hear of any one having been eaten by a
wolf or bear ? "

" I have heard of such things happening, my dear,
in this country ; but only in lonely, unsettled parts,
near swamps and deep woods."

" Did you ever hear of any little boy or girl
having been carried off by a wolf or bear ? " asked
the child.

" No, my lady, not in Canada, though similar
accidents may have happened there ; but when I was
a young girl I heard of such tragedies at New
Brunswick — one of the British provinces lying to
the east of this, and a cold and rather barren country,
but containing many minerals, such as coal, limestone,
and marble, besides vast forests of pine, and small
lakes and rivers. It resembles Lower Canada in
many respects; but it is not so pleasant as the

140

THE CANADIAN WOODS.

province of Upper Canarlta, neither is it so produc-
tive.

" Thirty years ago it was not so well cleared or
cultivated as it is now, and the woods were full of
wild beasts that dwelt among the swamps and wild
rocky valleys. Bears, and wolves, and catamounts
abounded, with foxes of several kinds, and many of
the fine-furred and smaller species of animals, which
were much sought for on account of their skins.
Well, my dear, near the little village where my aunt
and uncle were living, there were great tracts of
unbroken swamps and forests, which of course
sheltered many wild animals. A sad accident
happened a few days before we arrived, which
caused much sorrow and no little fright in the place.

" An old man went out into the woods one
morning with his little grandson to look for the
oxen, which had strayed from the clearing. They
had not gone many yards from the enclosure when
they heard a crackling and rustling among the
underwood and dry timber that strewed the ground.
The old man, thinking it was caused by the cattle
they were looking for, bade the little boy go forward
and drive them on the track ; but in a few minutes
he heard a fearful cry from the child, and hurrying
forward through the tangled brushwood, saw the
poor little boy in the deadly grasp of a huge black
bear, which was making off at a fast trot with his prey.

" The old man was unarmed, and too feeble to
pursue tlie dreadful beast. He could only wring his

A PATHETIC STORY.

141

•

hands and rend his gray hairs in grief and terror ;
but his lamentations could not restore tlie child to
life. A band of hunters and lumberers, armed with
rifles and knives, turned out to beat the woods, and
were not long in tracking the savage animal to his
retreat in a neighbouring cedar swamp. A few
fragments of the child's dress were all that remained
of him ; but the villagers had the satisfaction or
killing the great she-bear with her two half-grown
cubs. The magistrates of the district gave them a
large sum for shooting these creatures, and the skins
were sold, and the money given to the parents ot
the little boy ; but no money could console them for
the loss of their beloved child.

" The flesh of the bear is eaten both by Indians
and hunters ; it is like coarse beef. The hams are cured
and dried, and by many thought to be a great dainty."

" Mrs. Frazer, I would not eat a bit of the ham
made from a wicked, cruel bear, that eats little
children," said Lady Mary. '• I wonder the hunters
w^ere not afraid to go into the swamps where such
savoge beasts livied. Are there as many bears and
wolves now in those places ? "

" No, my lady ; great changes have taken place
since that time. As the country becomes more
thickly settled, the woods disappear. The axe and
the fire destroy the haunts that sheltered these wild
beasts, and they retreat further back, where the deer
and other creatures on which they principally feed
abound."

142 THE INDIAN HUNTERS.

" Do the hunters follow them ? " ♦r

"There is no place, however difficult or perilous,
where the hunter will not venture in search of
game."

" And do they pursue the graceful deer ? They arc
so pretty, with their branching antlers and slender
limbs, that I should have thought no man could bo
so cruel as to slay them."

" But their flesli is very savoury, and the Indian,
when tired of bear's meat, is glad of a dish of fresh
venison. So with his gun — if ho has one — or with
his bow and arrow, he lies in wait among the foliago
and brushwood of the forest, or behind the rocks on
the bank of some swift torrent, and when the
unsuspecting stag makes his appearance on the
opposite crag, ho takes a careful aim, lets fly his
rapid arrow, and seldom fails to kill his victim ;
which, dropping into the stream below, is borne by
the current within his reach."

" They are brave men, those hunters," said Lady
Mary ; " but I fear they are very cruel. I wish they
would only kill the furious bears. That was a sad
story you told me just now, nurse, about the poor
little boy. Have you heard of any other sufferers ;
or do people sometimes escape from these monsters ? "

■* '" I also heard of a little child," continued nurse,
" not more than two years old, who was with her
mother in the harvest-field, who had spread a shawl
on the ground near a tall tree, and laid the child
upon it to sleep or play, when a bear came out of

■f,^

-^^N*.m^^.-f

HUNTING THE DEER.

TFIE BRAR AND THE BAUY.

145

TIIK IIAKVEST-i'lKLD.

the wood and carried her off, leaping tlie fence with
her in his arms. But the mother ran screaming after
the beast, and the reapers pursued so closely with
their pitch-forks and reaping-hooks, that Bruin, who
was only a half-grown bear, being hard pressed,
made for a tree ; and as it was not easy to climb
with a babe in his aims, he quietly laid the little one
down at the foot of the tree, and soon was among
the thick branches out of the reach of the enemy.
I daresay baby must have wondered what rough

(211) 10

140

MEMS. ADOUT UKUIN.

nuiwo liml taken lier np ; Imt hIio was uiiliurt, ami is
alive now."

" [ am so glad, nurse, the dear baby was not hui;-
god to death by that Iionid black bear ; and I li(t[»o
he was killed."

" I daresay, my lady, he was shot by sonic of the
men ; for tliey sehloni worked near the forest with-
out having a gun with them, in case of seeing deer,
or pigeons, or partridges."

" 1 shouhl not like to live in that country, Mrs,
Frazei' ; for a bear, a wolf, or a catamount might
eat me."

" I never heard of a governor's daughter being
eaten by a bear," said Mrs. Frazer, laughing, as she
noticed the earnest expression on the face of her
little charge. She then continued her account of
the ursine family.

" The bear retires in cold weather, and sleeps till
warmer seasons awaken him. He does not lay up
any store of winter provisions, because he seldom
rouses himself during the time of his long sleep ;
and in the spring he finds food, both vegetable and
animal, for he can eat anything when hungry, like
the hog. He often robs the wild bees of their honey,
and his hide, being so very thick, seems insensible
to the stings of the angry bees. Bruin will sometimes
find odd places for his winter bed, for a farmer,
who was taking a stack of wheat into his barn to be
threshed in the winter time, once found a large black
Dear comfortably asleep in the middle of the sheaves."

TIIK BEAU liN THE llOO-rKN.

)S till
lyup
ildom
sleep ;
ie and
r, like
loiiey,
Insible
jtimes
irmer,
to l)e
black
iaves."

" How couM the boar have got into tl»<» stack »>f
wheat, nurse? "

"The elau's of this animal are so strong, and ho
makes so mueh use of his [)aws, whieli are almost
like liands, that he must liavc piiUed the sheaves out
and so made an entrance for lilmself. His skin and
flesh amply re[)aid the farmer for any injury the grain
had reeeivod. I remember seeing the bear brouglit
homo in triumjih on the top of tho load of wheat.
IJears often do great niisehief by eating the Indian
corn when it is ripening; for besides what they de-
vour, they spoil a vast deal by trampling the plants
down with their clumsy feet. Tiiey will, when
hard pressed by hunger, como close to tho farmer's
house and rob the pig-sty of its tenants. Many
years ago, before the forest was cleared away in the
neighbourhood of what is now a largo town, but in
those days consisted of only a few poor log-houses,
a settler was much annoyed by the frequent visits of
a bear to his hog-pen. At last ho resolved to get a
neighbour who was a very export hunter to come
with his rifle and watch with him. Tho pen where
the fatling hogs were was close to the log-house ; it
had a long, low, shingled roof, and was cjuefully fas-
tened up, so that no bear could find entrance. Well,
tho farmer's son and the hunter had \\ utched for two
nights, and no bear came ; on the third they were
both tired, and lay down to sleep upon the floor of
the kitchen, when the farmer's son was awakened by
a sound as of some one tearing and stripping the

148

THE BITKR BIT.

CAUGHT AT LAST.

fihinft'les from the pen. He looked out; it was
liioonliglit, and there he saw the dark shadow of

CAUGHT AT LAST.

IV.)

some tall figure on the grouiul, and spied the great
black Lear standing on its hinder legs, and pulling
the shingles off as fiist as it could lay its big Llack
paws upon theni: The hogs were in a great fright,
screaming and grunting with terror. The young
man steppeil hack into the house, roused up the
hunter, who took aim from tho doorway, and shot
the bear dead. The head of the huge beast was
nailed up as a trophy, and the meat was dried or
salted for winter use, and great wee the rejoicings
of the settlers, who had suffered so much from
Bruin's thefts of corn and pork."

" I am glad the hunter killed him, nui-se ; for he
might have eaten up some of the little children,
when they were playing about in the fields."

"Sometimes," continued Mrs. Frazer, " the bears
used to visit the sugar-bush, when the settlers were
making maple sugar, and overturn the sap-troughs,
and drink the sweet liquid. I daresay they would
have been glad of a taste of the sugar too, if they
could have got at it. The bear is not so often met
with now as it used to be many years ago. The fur
of the bear used to be worn as muffs and tippets,
but is now little used for that purpose, being
thought to be too coarse and heavy ; but it is still
made into caps for soldiers, and used for sleigh-
robes."

This was all Mrs. Frazer chose to recollect about
bears, for she was unwilling to dwell long on any
gloomy subject, which she knew was not good for

150

A HUMMING-BIRD.

young minds : so she took her charge into the gar-
den to look at the flower-beds, and watch the birds
and butterflies ; and soon the child was gaily run-
ning from flower to flower, watching with childish
interest tlie insects flitting to and fro. At last she
stopped, and holding up her finger to warn Mrs.
Frazer not to come too near, stood gazing in wonder
and admiration on a fluttering object that was hover-
ing over the full-blown honey-suckles on a trellis
near the greenhouse. Mrs. Frazer approached her
with due caution.

" Nurse," whispered the child, " look at that curi-
ous moth with a long bill like a bird ; see its beau-
tiful shining colours. It has a red necklace, like
mamma's rubies. Oh, what a curious creature ! It
must be a moth or a butterfly. What is it ? "

"It is neither a moth nor a butterfly, my dear.
It is a humming-bird."

" Oh, nurse, a humming-bird — a real humming-
bird! — pretty creature ! But it is gone. Oh, nurse,
it darts through the air as swift as an arrow ! What
was it doing — looking at the honey-suckles ? I
daresay it thought them very pretty ; or was it
smelling them? They are very sweet."

" My dear child, he might be doing so ; I don't
know. Perhaps the good God has given to these
creatures the same senses for enjoying sweet scents
and bright colours as we have ; yet it was not for
the perfume, but the honey, that this little bird came
to visit the open flowers. The long slender bill.

NATURES LACE-WORK.

151

which the humining-bird inserts into the tubes of
the flowers, is his instrument for extracting the
honey. Look at the pretty creature's ruby throat,
and green and gold feathers."

" How does it make that whirring noise, nurse,
just like the humming of a top?" asked the
child.

" The little bird produces the sound, from which
he derives his name, by beating the air with his
wings. This rapid motion is necessary to sustain his
position in the air while sucking the flowers.

" I remember. Lady Mary, first seeing humming-
^,-^- ds when I was about your age, while walking in
"/>)' ;i rden. It was a bright September morning,
aiijl tae rail-fences and every dry twig of the brush-
wood were filled with the webs of the field-spider.
Some, like thick white muslin, lay upon the grass ;
while others were suspended from trees like forest
lace-work, on the threads of which the dewdrops hung
like strings of shining pearls; and hovering round the
flowers were several ruby-throated humming-birds,
the whirring of whose wings as they beat the air
sounded like the humming of a spinning-wheel. And
I thought, as I gazed upon them, and the beautiful
lace webs that hung among the bushes, that they
must have been the work of these curious creatures,
which had made them to catch flies, and had strung
the bright dewdrops thereon to entice them — so little
did I know of the nature of these birds. But my
father told me a great deal about them, and read me

152

TOUCH-ME-NOT.

some very pretty things about Imnmiing-birds ; and
one day, Lady Mary, I will show you a stuffed one
a friend gave me, with its tiny nest and eggs not
bigger than peas."

Lady Mary was much delighted at the idea of
seeing the little nest and eggs, and Mrs. Frazer said,
"There is a wild-flower* that is known to the
Canadians by the name of the Humming-flower, on
account of the fondness which those birds evince for
it. This plant grows on the moist banks of creeks.
It is very beautiful, of a bright orange-scarlet colour.
The stalks and stem of the plant are almost transpar-
ent. Some call it Speckled Jewels, for the bright
blossoms are spotted with dark purple; and some,
Touch-me-not."

" That is a droll name, nurse," said Lady Mary.
" Does it prick one's finger like a thistle ? "

" No, my lady; but when the seed-pods are nearly
ripe, if you touch them they spring open and curl
into little rings, and the seed drops out."

" Nurs( , when you see any of these curious flowers,
will you show them to me ? "

Mrs. Frazer said they would soon be in bloom,
and promised Lady Mary to bring her some, and to
show her the singular manner in which the pods
burst. " But, my lady, " said she, " the gardener
will show you the same thing in the greenhouse. As
soon as the seed-pods of the balsams in the pots be
gin to harden they will spring and curl, if touched,

* Noli me tangcre, Canadian Balsam.

AVINGED JEWELS.

153

and drop tho seeds like the wild plant; for they be-
long to the same family. But it is time for your
ladyship to go in."

When Lady Mary returned to the schoolroom, her
governess read to her some interesting accounts of the
habits of the humming-bird.

" ' This lively little feathered gem — for in its hues
it unites the brightness of the emerald, the richness
of the ruby, and the lustre of the topaz — includes
in its wide range more than one hundred species.
It is the smallest, and at the same time the most
brilliant, of all the American birds. Its head-
quarters may be said to be among the glowing
flowers and luxurious fruits of the torrid zone and
the tropics. But one species, the ruby-tliroated, is
widely diffused, and is a summer visitor all over
North Amei'ica, even within the arctic circle, where,
for a briet space of time, it revels in the ardent heat
of the short-lived summer of the north. Like the
cuckoo, it follows the summer wherever it flies.

" ' The ruby-throated humming-bird * is the only
species that is known in Canada. With us it builds
and breeds, and then returns to summer skies and
warmer airs. The length of the humming-bird is
only three inches and a half, and four and a quarter
in extent from one tip of the wing to the other.
When on the wing the bird has the form of a cross,
the wings forming no curve, though the tail is de-
pressed dui'ing the time that it is poised in the act

* Trochihis rubiis.

154

A FIERY TEMPER.

of sucking the honey of the flower. The tongue is
long and slender; the bill long and straight; the legs
arc very short, so that the feet are hardly visible
when on the wing. They are seldom seen walking,
but rest on the slender sprigs when tired. Tiie flight
is so rapid that it seems without effort. The hum-
ming sound is produced by the wing, in the act of
keeping itself balanced while feeding in this position.
They resemble the hawk-moth, which also keeps up
a constant vibratory motion with its wings. This
little creature is of a temper as fierce and fiery as its
plumes, often attacking birds of treble its size ; but
it seems very little disturbed by the near approach of
the human species, often entering open windows, and
hovering around the flowers in the flower-stand; it
has even been known to approach the vase on the
table, and insert its bill among the flowers, quite
fearless of those persons who sat in the room. Some-
times these beautiful creatures have suffered them-
selves to be captured by the hand.

" ' The nest of the ruby-throated humming-bird
is usually built on a mossy branch. At first sight
it looks like a tuft of gray lichens, but when closely
examined shows both care and skill in its construc-
tion, the outer wall being of fine bluish lichens ce-
mented together, and the interior lined with the silken
threads of the mi Ik- weed, the velvety down of the
tall mullein, or the brown hair-like filaments of the
fern. These, or similar soft materials, form the bed
of the tiny young ones. The eggs are white, two in

A MEXICAN NAME.

155

number, and about the size of a pea, but oblong in
shape. The parents hatch their eggn in about ten
days, and in a week the little ones are able to fly,
though the old birds continue to supply them with
honey for some time longer. The Mexican Indians
give the name of Sunbeam to the humming-bird,
either in reference to its bright plumage or its love
of sunshine.

" ' The young of the humming-bird does not attain
its gay plumage till the second year. The male dis-
plays the finer colours — the ruby necklace being
confined to the old male bird. The green and cop-
pery lustre of the feathers is also finer in the male
bird.'"

Lady Mary was much pleased with what she had
heard about the humming-bird, and she liked the
name of Sunbeam for this lovely creature.

ii.^«^

■j :

CJIAFTEU X.

AURORA 130REALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS, MOST FREQUENTLY
SEEN IN NORTHERN CLIMATES — CALLED MERRY DANCERS
— ROSE TINTS — TINT-LIKE AI'I'EARANCE — LADY MARY
ERIUHTENED.

NE evening, just as Mrs. Frazer was pre-
paring to undress Lady Mary, Miss Camp-
bell, her governess, came into the nursery,
and taking the little girl by the hand, led her to the
window, and bade her look out on the sky towards
the north, where a low dark arch, surmounted by an
irregular border, like a silver fringe, was visible.
For some moments Lady Mary stood silently regard-
ing this singular appearance; at length she said, "It
is a rainbow. Miss Campbell ; but where is the sun
that you told me shone into the drops of rain to
make the pretty colours ? "

" It is not a rainbow, my dej^r; the sun has been
long set."

" Can the moon make rainbows at night ? " asked
the little girl.

" The moon does sometimes, but very rarely, make
what is called a lunar rainbow. Luna was the

(

tup: nortiikun lights.

THE AUUOllA BOREALIS.

anoiciit name for the moon. But the arch you now
see is caused neither by the light of the sun nor of
tlie moon, but is known by the name of Aurora
]5orealis, or Northern Lights. Tlie word Aurora

m '■

168

THE creator's handiwork.

means morning or dawn ; and Borcalis, northern.
You know, my dear, what is meant by the word
dawn ; it is tlie light that is seen in the sky before
the sun rises."

Lady Mary replied, " Yes, Miss Campbell, I liave
often seen the sun rise, and once very early too,
when I was ill, and could not sleep ; for nurse lifted
me in her arms out of bed, and took me to the
window. The sky was all over of a bright golden
colour, with streaks of rosy red ; and nurse said, * It
is dawn ; the sun will soon be up.' And I saw the
beautiful sun rise from behind the trees and hills.
He came up so gloriously, larger than when we see
him in the middle of the sky ; and I could look at
him without hurting my eyes."

" Sunrise is indeed a glorious sight, my dear; but
He who made the sun is more glorious still. Do
you remember what we read yesterday in the
Psalms ? —

" Verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of Gtod : and the firmament
sheweth His handywork.

2. One day telleth another : and one night certifleth another.

3. There is neither speech nor language : but their voices are heard
among them.

6. Ih them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun : which cometh forth
as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his
coiuse.

" The Northern Lights, Lady Mary, are frequent-
ly visible in Canada, but are most brilliant in the
colder regions near the North Pole, where they serve
to give light during the dark season to those dismal
countries from which the sun is so many months

^ \

A LUMINOUS ARCH.

150

absent. Tlio light of tlio Aurora IJorcalia is so soft
and beautiful, that any object can bo iliHtinetly seen;
though in those cold countries there are few human
beings to bo benefited by this beautiful provision of
Nature."

" The wild beasts and birds nnist be glad of the
pretty lights," said the child thoughtfully ; for Lady
Mary's young heart always rejoiced when she thought
that God's gifts could be shared by the beasts of
the field and the fowls of the air. as well as by
mankind.

" Look now, my dear," said Miss Campbell, direct-
ing the attention of her pupil to the horizon ; " what
a change has taken place whilst we have been speak-
ing ! See, the arch is sending up long shafts of
light ; now they divide, and shift from side to side,
gliding along among the darker portions of vapour
like moving pillars."

" Ah, there, there they go ! " cried the little girl,
clapping her hands with delight. '' See, nurse, how
the pretty lights chase each other and dance about !
Up they go, higher and higher ! How pretty they
look 1 But now they are gone ! They are fading
away. I am so sorry," said the child, despondingly,
for a sudden cessation had taken place in the motions
of the heavens.

" We will go in for a little time, my dear," said
her governess, "and then look out again. Great
changes take place sometimes in these aerial
phenomena in a few minutes."

u;o

ADOUT ELRCTRICITV.

"I suppoHO," said Lady Mary, "those liglits nro
the same that tlio pcasantn of Noitlieru Knghuid and
Irehiud call tlio Merry Dancers ?"

" Yes, they are tlie same ; and tliey fancy tljat
tlicy are seen when war and troubles are about to
))reak out. IJut this idea is a very ignorant one;
for were that the case, some of the cold countries of
the world, where the sky is illumined night after
night by the Aurora Borealis, would be one continual
scene of misery. I have seen in this country a suc-
cession of these lights for four or five successive
nights. This phenomenon owes its origin to elec-
tricity, which is a very wonderful agent in nature,
and exists in various bodies, perhaps in all created
things. It is this that shoots across the sky in the
form of lightning, and causes the thunder to be
heard ; circulates in the air we breathe ; occasions
whirlwinds, waterspouts, earthquakes, and volcanoes,
and makes one substance attract another.

" Look at this piece of amber. If I rub it on the
table, it will become warm to the touch. Now I
will take a bit of thread and hold near it. See, the
thread moves towards the amber and clings to it.
Sealing-wax and many othei" substances when heated
have this property. Some bodies give out flashes
and sparks by being rubbed. If you stroke a black
cat briskly in the dark, you will .see faint flashes of
light come from her fur ; and on very cold nights in
the winter season, flannels that are worn next the skin
crackle and give sparks when taken off and shaken."

1 on the
[o\v I
^ec, the
to it.
heated
flashes
a black
lashes of
lights in
Ithe skin
Lhaken."

CHANGES or COLOUR.

IGl

Tlieso things astonished Lmiy Mary. Slie tried
tlie experiment with the amher and tl»read, and was
much amused by seeing the tlircad attracted ; and she
wanted to see the sparks from the cat's back, only
there happened, unfortunately, to be no black cat or
kitten in Government House. Mrs. Frazer, however,
promised to procure a beautiful black kitten for her,
that she might enjoy the singular sight of the electric
sparks from its coat ; and Lady Mary wished winter
were come, that she might see the sparks from her
flannel petticoat and hear the sounds.

" Let us now go and look out again at tlie sky,"
said Miss Campbell ; and Lady Mary skipped joy-
fully through the French window to the balcony,
but ran back, and flinging her arms about her nurse,
cried out, in accents of alarm, " Nurse, nurse, the
sky is all closing together ! Oh, Miss Campbell,
what shall we do?"

" There is no cause for fear, my dear child ; do
not be frightened. There is nothing to harm us."

Indeed, during the short time they had been
absent, a great and remarkable change had taken
place in the appearance of the sky. The electric
fluid had diffused itself over the face of the whole
heavens; the pale colour of the streamers had changed
to bright rose, pale violet, and greenish-yellow. At
the zenith, or that part more immediately overhead,
a vast ring of deep indigo was presented to the eye ;
from this swept down, as it were, a flowing curtain
of rosy light, which wavered and moved incessantly,

^211) 1 1

162

GLOUY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST !

as if agitated by a gentle breeze, though a perfect
stillness reigned through the air. The child's young
heart was awed by this sublime spectacle ; it seemed
to her as if it w^ere indeed the throne of the great
Creator of the world that she was gazing upon ; and
she veiled her face in her nurse's arms and trembled
exceedingly, even as the children of Israel when the
fire of Mount Sinai was revealed, and they feared to
behold the glory of the Most High God. After a
while, Lady Mary, encouraged by the cheerful voices
of her governess and nurse, ventured to look up to
watch tho dilver stars shining dimly as from beneath
a veil, and she whispered to herself the words that
her governess had before repeated to her : " The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
sheweth his handvwork."

After a little while, Mrs. Frazer thought it better
to put Lady Mary to bed, as she had been up much
longer than usual, and Miss Campbell was afraid lest
the excitement should make her ill ; but the child
did not soon fall asleep, for her thoughts were full
of the strange and glorious things she had seen that
night.

'/ ,.

JCt

ng
led
•eat
and
bled
the
id to
ter a
oices
up to
neath
8 that
"The
anient

hetter
much
aid lest
child
ere iuU
en that

CHAPTER XI.

STRAWBERRIES — CANADIAN WILD FRUITS — WILD RASP-
BERRIES — THE HUNTER AND THE LOST CHILD — CRAN-
BERRIES — (JRANBEKRY MARSHES — NUTS. •

|NE day Lady Mary's nurse brought her a
small Indian basket, filled with ripe red
strawberries.

" Nurse, where did you get these nice straw-
berries?" said the little girl, peeping beneath the
fresh leaves with which they were covered.

" I bought them from a little Indian squaw in the
street ; she had brought them from a wooded meadow
some miles off, my lady. They are very fine ; see,
they are as large as those that the gardener sent in
yesterday from the forcing-house ; and these wild
ones have grown without any pains having been
bestowed upon them."

" I did not think, nurse, that wild strawberries
could have been so fine as these ; may I taste them?"

Mrs. Frazer said she might. " These are not so
large, so red, or so sweet as some that I have
gathered when I lived at home with my father,"
said the nurse. '' I have seen acres and acres of

164

WHENCE COME THE SEEDS ?

strawberries, as large as the early scarlet that are
sold so high in the market, on the Rice Lake plains.
When the farmers have ploughed a fallow on the
Rice Lake plains, the following summer it will be
covered with a crop of the finest strawberries. I
have gathered pailsful day after day; these, how-
ever, have been partly cultivated by the plough
breaking up the sod ; but they seem as if sown by
the hand of Nature. These fruits and many sorts of
flowers appear on the new soil that were never seen
there before. After a fallow has been chopped,
logged, and burned, if it be left for a few years, trees,
shrubs, and plants, will cover it, unlike those that
grew there before."

" That is curious," said the child. " Does God
sow the seeds in the new ground?"

" My lady, no doubt they come from Him, for He
openeth His hand, and fiUeth all things living with
plenteousness. My father, who thought a great
deal on these subjects, said that the seeds of many
plants may fall upon the earth, and yet none of them
take root till the soil be favourable for their growth.
It may be that these seeds had lain for years, pre-
served in the earth till the forest was cleared away,
and the sun, air, and rain caused them to spring up ;
or the earth may still bring forth the herb of the
field, after its kind, as in the day of the creation ;
but whether it be so or not, we must bless the Lord
for His goodness and for the blessings that He giveth
us at all times."

THE WILD GOOSEBERRY.

160

" Are there many sorts of wild iruits fit to eat,
nurse, in this country? Please, will you tell me
all that you know about them?"

" There are so many, Lady Mary, that I am afraid
I shall weary you before I have told you half of
them."

" Nurse, I shall not be tired, for I like to hear
about fruits and flowers very much ; and my dear
mamma likes you to tell me all you know about the
plants, trees, birds, and beasts of Canada."

"Besides many sorts of strawberries, there are
wild currants, both black and red, and many kinds
of wild gooseberries," said Mrs. Frazer. " Some grow
oil wastes by the roadside, in dry soil, others in
swamps ; but most gooseberries are covered with
thorns, which grow not only on the wood, but on
the berries themselves."

"I would not eat those disagreeable, thorny
gooseben'ies ; they would prick my tongue," said
the little girl.

" They cannot be eaten without first being scalded.
The settlers' wives contrive to make good pies and
preserves with them, by first scalding the fruit and
then nibbing it between coarse linen cloths. I have
heard these tarts called thornberry pies, which, I
think, was a good name for them. When emigrants
first come to Canada and clear the backwoods, they
have little time to make nice fruit-gardens for them-
selves, and they are glad to gather the wild berries
that grow in the woods and swamps to make tarta

166

CURRANTS AND RASPBERRIES.

I «

and preserves ; so that they do not even despise the
thorny gooseberries or the wild black currants. Some
swamp-gooseberries, however, are quite smooth, of
a dark red colour, but small, and they are very nice
when ripe. The blossoms of the wild currants are
very beautiful, of a pale yellowish -green, and hang
down in long graceful branches ; the fruit is harsh,
but makes wholesome preserves. But there are
thorny currants as well as thorny gooseberries ; these
have long, weak, trailing branches ; the berries are
small, covered with stiff bristles, and of a pale red
colour. They are not wholesome ; I have seen
people made very ill by eating them ; I have heard
even of their dying in consequence of having done so."

" I am sure, nurse, I will not eat those wild cur-
rants," said Lady Mary ; " I am glad you have told
me about their being poisonous."

" This sort is not often met with, my dear ; and
these berries, though they are not good for man,
doubtless give nourishmer.u to some of the wild
creatures that seek their food from God, and we have
enough dainties and to spare without them.

" The red raspberry is one of the most common
and the most useful to us of the wild fruits. It
grows in abundance all over the country — by the
roadside, in the half-opened woods, on upturned
roots, or in old neglected clearings ; there is no place
so wild but it will grow, wherever its roots can find
a crevice. With maple sugar, the farmers' wives
never need lack a tart nor a dish of fruit and cream.

-■-vwini M»tf M<B /*>i^v-

A DISH FOR A BEAR.

107

The poor Irish emigrants' children go out and gather
pailsful, which they carry to the towns and villages
to sell. The birds, too, live upon the fruit, and
flying away with it to distant places, help to sow
the seed. A great many small animals eat the ripe
raspberry, for even the racoon and great black bear
come in for their share.'

" The black bears ! nurse ! Mrs. Frazer ! "
exclaimed Lady Mary, in great astonishment.
" What ! do bears eat raspberries ? "

" Yes, indeed, my lady, they do. Bears are fond
of all ripe fruits. The bear resembles the hog in all
its tastes very closely ; both in their wild state will
eat flesh, grain, fruit, and roots.

"I'here is a story about a bear and an Indian hunter,
which will show how bears eat berries. It is from
the Journal of Peter Jacobs, the Indian mission-
ary :—

" ' At sunrise, next morning,' he says, * we tried
to land, but the water was so full of shoals, we could
not without wading a great distance.

" ' The beach before us was of bright sand, and the
sun was about, when I saw an object moving on the
shore : it appeared to be a man, and seemed to be
making signals of distress. We were all weary and
hungry, but thinking it was a fellow-creature in dis-
tress, wo pulled towards him. Judge of our surprise
when the stranger proved to be an enoraious bear !

" 'He was seated on his hams, and what we thought
his signals, were his raising himself on his hind legs

•I

108

SAUCE FOR BRUIN.

to pull down tiie berries from a high bush, and with
his paws full, sitting down again to eat them at his
leisure.

" ' Thus he continued daintily enjoying his ripe
fruit in the posture some lapdogs are taught to assume
while eating. On we pulled, and forgot our hunger
and weariness : the bear still continued break-
fasting.

" ' We got as close on shore as the shoals would
permit, and John (one of the Indians), taking my
double-barrelled gun, leaped into the water, gun in
hand, and gained the beach. Some dead brushwood
hid the bear from John's sight, but from the canoe
we could see both John and the bear.

" ' The bear now discovered us, and advanced to-
wards us; and John, not seeing him for the bush,
ran along the beach towards him. The weariness
from pulling all night, and having eaten no food,
made me lose my presence of mind ; for I now re-
membered that the gun was only loaded with duck-
shot, and you might as well meet a bear with a gun
loaded with pease.

" ' John was in danger, and we strained at our
paddles to get to his assistance ; but as the bear was
a very large one, and as we had no other firearms,
we should have been but poor helps to John in the
hug of a wounded bear. T^ie bear was at the other
side of the brush-heap ; John heard the dry branches
cracking, and he dodged into a hollow under a bush.
The bear passed, and was coursing along the sand,

>imth*tiiMlMi!^«f-

THE BEAR AS AN ANGLER.

169

but as he passed by where John lay, bang went the
gun. The bear was struck.

" 'We saw him leap through the smoke to the very
spot where we had last seen John. We held our
breath ; but instead of the cry of agony we expected
to hear from John, bang went the gun again — John
is not yet caught. Our canoe rushed through the
water — we might yet be in time ; but my paddle
fell from my hand with joy, as I saw John pop his
head above the bush, and with a shout point to the
side of the log on which he stood, 'There he lies,
dead enough.' We were thankful indeed to our
Great Preserver.'

" Though fruit and vegetables seem to be the
natural food of the bear, they also devour flesh, and
even fish — a fact of which the good Indian mission-
ary assures us, and which I shall tell you, Lady
Mary, in his own words : —

" ' A few evenings after we left the Bock, while
the men were before me ' tracking ' (towing the
canoe), by pulling her along by a rope from the
shore, I observed behind a rock in the river what I
took to be a black fox. I stole upon it as quietly
as possible, hoping to get a shot; but the animal saw
me, and waded to the shore. It turned out to be a
young bear fishing. The bear is a great fisherman.
His mode of fishing is very curious. He wades into
a current, and seating himself upright on his hams,
lets the water come about up to his shoulders ; he
patiently waits until the little fishes come along and

■PW

170

A BERRY FOR A BEAR.

rub themselves against his sides ; he seizes them in-
stantly, gives them a nip, and with his left paw
tosses them over his shoulder to the shore. His left
paw is always the one used for tossing ashore the
produce of his fishing. Feeling is the sense of which
Bruin makes use here, not sight.

" ' The Indians of that part say that the bear
catches sturgeon when spawning in the shoal-water,
but the only fish that I know of their catching is the
sucker. Of these, in the months of April and May,
the bear makes his daily breakfast and supper,
devouring about thirty or forty at a meal. As soon
as he has caught a sufficient number, he wades
ashore and regales himself on the best morsels, which
are the thick of the neck, behind the gills. The
Indians often shoot him when thus engaged.'

" There is a small red berry in the woods that is
known by the name of the bear-berry,* of which they
say the young bears are particularly fond.'*

" I should be afraid of going to gather raspberries,
nurse, for fear of the bears coming to eat them too."

" The hunters know that the bears are partial to
this fruit, and often seek them in large thickets
where they grow. A young gentleman. Lady Mary,
once went out shooting game, in the province of New
Brunswick, in the month of July, when the weather
was warm, and there were plenty of wild berries
ripe. He had been out for many hours, and at last
found himself on the banks of a creek. But the

* Arbutus uva ursi. — " Kinnikinnick "' is the Indian nam&

the
she
for
day

THE LOST CHILD.

171

bridge he had been used to cross was gone, liaving
been swept away by heavy rains in the spring. Pass-
ing on a little higher up, he saw an old clearing full
ot bushes, and knowing that wild animals were often
to be met with in such spots, he determined to cross
over and try his luck for a bear, a racoon, or a young
fawn. Not far from the spot he saw a large fallen
swamp elm-tree, which made a capital bridge. Just
as he was preparing to cross, he heard the sound of
footsteps on the dry crackling sticks, and saw a move-
ment among the raspberry lushes. His finger was
on the lock of his rifle in an instant, for he thought
it must be a bear or a deer ; but just as he was about
to fire, he saw a small, thin, brown hand, all red and
stained from the juice of the ripe berries, reaching
down a branch of the fruit. His very heart leaped
within him with fright, for in another moment he
would have shot the poor little child that, with wan,
wasted face, was looking at him from between the
raspberry bushes. It was a little girl, about as old
as you are. Lady Mary. She was without hat or
shoes, and her clothes were all in tatters. Her hands
and neck were quite brown and sun-burned. She
seemed frightened at first, and would have hid her-
self, had not the stranger called out gently to her to
stay, and not to be afraid ; and then he hurried over
the log bridge, and asked her who she was, and where
she lived. And she said ' she did not live anywhere,
for she was lost.' She could not tell how many
days, but she thought she had been seven nights out

172

WATCHED OVER BY ANGKLS.

in the woods. She had been sent to take soine
dinner to her father, who was at work in the forest,
but had missed the path, and gone on a cattle track,
and did not find her mistake until it was too late,
when she became frightened, and tried to get back,
but only lost herself deeper in the woods. The
first night she wrapped her frock about her head,
and lay down beneath the shelter of a great upturned
root. She had eaten but little of the food she had
in the basket that day, for it lasted her nearly two.
After it was gone she chewed some leaves, till she
came to the raspberry clearing, and got berries of
several kinds, and plenty of water to drink from the
creek. One night, she said, she was awakened by a
heavy tramping near her, and looking up in the
moonlight, saw two great black beasts, which she
thought were her father's oxen ; and so she sat up
and called, ' Buck,' ' Bright,' — for these were their
names ; but they had no bells, and looked like two
great shaggy black dogs. They stood on their hind
legs upright and looked at her, but went away.
These animals were bears, but the child did not
know that ; and she said she felt no fear, for she said
her prayers every night before she lay down to sleep,
and she knew that God would take care of her, both
sleeping and waking."

"And did the hunter take her home?" asked
Lady Mary, who was much interested in the story.

" Yes, my dear, he did. Finding that the poor
little girl was very weak, the young man took her on

wii

sa(

LOST AND FOUND.

17:i

THE LOST CHILD A>fD THE BEARS.

his back. Fortunately he happened to have a little
wine in a flask, and a bit of dry biscuit in his knap-
sack, and this greatly revived the little creature.

\ I

174

A LESSON OF GRATITUDE.

Sometimes she ran l)y liis side, wliilo holding by Iiis
coat, talking to her new friend, seemingly quite happy
and cheerful, bidding him not bo afraid even if they
had to pass another night in the wood ; but just as
the sun was setting, they came out of the dark
forest into an open clearing.

" It was not the child's homo, but a farm belong-
ing to a miller who know her father, and had been
in search of her for several days ; and he and his
wife were very glad when they saw the lost child,
and gladly showed her preserver the way. They
rejoiced very much when the poor wanderer was re-
stored safe and well to her sorrowing parents."

" Nurse," said Lady Mary, "I am so glad the
good hunter found the little girl. I must tell my
own dear mamma that nice story. How sorry my
mamma and papa would bo to lose me in the
woods ! "

The nurse smiled, and said, " My dear lady, there
is no fear of such an accident happening to you.
You are not exposed to the same trials and dangers
as the children of poor emigrants ; therefore you
must be very grateful to God, and do all you can to
serve and please Him ; and when you are able, be
kind and good to those who are not so well off as
you are."

" Are there any other wild fruits, nurse, besides
raspberries and strawberries, and currants and goose-
berries?"

" Yes, my dear lady, a great many more. We

ALL ABOUT BERRIKa.

ITfj

\\\\\ begin with wild plums : tlicso we often preserve;
tind when the trees are planted in gardens, and taken
care of, the fruit is very good to cat. The wild
cherries are not very nice; but the bark of the black
cherry is good for agues and low fevers. The choke
cherry is very beautiful to look at, but hurts the
throat, closing it up if many are eaten, and making
it quite sore. The huckle-berry is a sweet, dark
blue berry, that grows on a very delicate low shrub :
the blossoms are very pretty, pale pink or greenish
white bells : the fruit is very wholesome ; it grows
on light dry ground, on those parts of the country
that are called plains in Canada. The settlers' chil-
dren go out in parties, and gather great quantities,
either to eat or dry for winter use. These berries
are a great blessing to every one, besides forming
abundant food for the broods of young quails and
partridges ; squirrels, too, of every kind eat tliem.
There are blackberries also. Lady Mary ; and some
people call them thimble-berries."

" Nurse, I have heard mamma talk about black-
berries."

" The Canadian blackberries are not so sweet, I
am told, my lady, as those at home, though they are
very rich and nice-tasted ; neither do they grow so
high. Then there are high-bush cranberries, and
low-bush cranberries. The first grow on a tall bush,
and the fruit has a fine appearance, hanging in large
bunches of light scarlet among the dark green
leaves ; but they are very, very sour, and take a

i I

176

GATHERING CRANBERRIES.

great deal of sugar to sweeten them. The low-bush
cranberries grow on a slender, trailing plant ; the
blossom is very pretty, and the fruit about the size
of a common gooseberry, of a dark purplish red,
very smoolli and shining ; the seeds are minute, and
lie in the white pulp within the skin : this berry is
not nice till it is cooked with sugar. There is a
large cranberry marsh somewhere at the back of
Kingston, where vast quantities grow. I heard a
young gentleman say that he passed over this tract
when he was hunting, while the snow was on the
ground, and that the red juice of the dropped berries
dyed the snow crimson beneath his feet. The
Indians go every year to a small lake called Buck-
horn Lake, many miles up the river Otonabee, in
the Upper Province, to gather cranberries ; which
they sell to the settlers in the towns and villages, or
trade away for pork, flour, and clothes. The cran-
berries, when spread out on a dry floor, will keep
fresh and good for a long time. Great quantities of
cranberries are brought to England from Russia,
Norway, and Lapland, in barrels, or large eartlicn
jars, filled with spring water ; but the fruit thus
roughly preserved must be drained, and washed
many times, and stirred with sugar, before it can be
put into tarts, or it would be salt and bitter. I will
boil some cranberries with sugar, that you may taste
them ; for they are very wholesome."

Lady Mary said she should like to have some in
her own garden.

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■' j P U P' ,- '?' ^^*"'*'" ^

GOOD THINGS IN CANADA.

177

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" The cranberry requires a particular kind of soil,
not usually found in gardens, my dear lady ; for as
the cranberry marshes are often covered with water
in the spring, I suppose they need a damp, cool soil,
near lakes or rivers; perhaps sand, too, may be good
for them. But we can plant some berries, and
water them well ; in a light soil they may grow, and
bear fruit, but I am not sure that they will do so.
Besides these fruits, there are many others, that are
little used by man, but are of great service as food
to the birds and small animals. There are many
kinds of nuts, too — filberts, with rough prickly
husks, walnuts, butternuts, and hickory-nuts ; these
last are large trees, the nuts of which are very nice
to eat, and the wood very fine for cabinet-work, and
for fire-wood : the bark is used for dyeing. Now,
my dear, I think you must be quite tired with hear-
ing so much about Canadian fruits."

Lady Mary said she was glad to learn that there
were so many good things in Canada, for she heard
a lady say to her mamma that it vras an ugly country,
with nothing good or pretty in it.

" There is something good and pretty to be found
everywhere, my dear child, if people will but open
their eyes to see it, and their hearts to enjoy the
good things that God has so mercifully spread abroad
for us and ail his creatures to enjoy. But Canada is
really a fine country, and is fast becoming a great

one.

-■»>■

(211)

CHAPTER XII.

OAIiTER-SNAKES — KATTLK-SNAKES — ANECDOTE OE A LITTLE
BOY — FISHERMAN AND SNAKE — SNAKE CirAKMERS — SPI-
DERS — LAND-TORTOISE.

URSE, I have been so terrified. I was
walking in tlie meadow, and a great
snake — so big, I am sure" — and Lady
Mary held out her arms as wide as she could —
" came out of a tuft of grass. His tongue was like
a scarlet thread, and had two shrip points ; and, do
you know, he raised his wicked head, and hissed
at me. I wn^ so frightened that I ran away. I
think, Mrs. Frazer, it must have been a rattle-snake.
Only feel now how my heart beats " — and the little
girl took her nurse's hand, and laid it on her heart.

'' What colour was it, my dear? " asked her nurse.

" It was green and black, chequered all over; and
it was very large, and opened its mouth very wide,
and showed its red tongue. It would have killed
me, if it had bitten me, would it not, nurse? "

" It would not liave harmed you, my lady; or even
if it had bitten you, it would not have killed you.
The chequered green snake of Canada is not poison-

mamm

A NUTTING ADVENTURE.

170

ous. It was more afraid of you than you were of it,
I make no doubt."

" Do you think it was a rattle-snake, nurse ? "
" No, my dear ; there are no snakes of that kind
in Lower Canada, and very few below Toronto.
The Avinters are too cold for them. But there are
plenty in the western part of the Province, where
the summers are warmer, and the winters milder.
The rattle-snake is a dangerous reptile, and its bite
causes death, unless the wound be burned or cut out.
The Indians apply different sorts of herbs to the
wound. They have several plants, known by the
nam esof rattle-snake root, rattle-snake weed, and snake
root. It is a good thing that the rattlesnake gives
warning of its approach before it strikes the traveller
with its deadly fangs. Some people tliink that the
rattle is a sign of fear, and that it would not wound
people if it were not afraid they were coming near
to hurt it. I will tell you a story, Lady Mary, about
a brave little boy. He went out nutting one day
with another boy about his own age ; and while they
were in the grove gathering nuts, a large black snake,
that was in a low tree, dropped down and suddenly
coiled itself round the throat of his companion. The
child's screams were dreadful ; his eyes were start-
ing from his head with pain and terror. The other,
regardless of the danger, opened a clasp-knife that
he had in his pocket, and seizing the snake near the
head, cut it apart, and so paved his friend's life, who
was well-nigh strangled by the tight folds of the rep-

180

WELL-NIGH STRANGLED.

tile, which wa8 one of a very venomous .species, the
bite of which gencvally proves fatal/'

MWIIJHI

THE GARTER-SNAKE.

181

l;x5%?

the

" What a brave little fellow ! " said Lady Mary.
" You do not think it was cruel, nurse, to kill the
snake?" she added, looking up in Mrs. Frazer's
face.

" No, Lady Mary, for he did it to save a fellow-
creature from a painful death ; and we are taught hy
God's Word that the soul of man is precious in the
sight of his Creator. We should be cruel were we
wantonly to inflict pain upon the least of God's crea-
tures ; but to kill them in self-defence, or for neces-
sary food, is not cruel : for when God made Adam,
He gave him dominion, or power, over the beasts of
the field, and the fowls of the air, and every creeping
thing. It was an act of great courage and humanity
in the little boy, who perilled his own life to save
that of his helpless comrade, especially as he was
not naturally a child of much courage, and was
very much afraid of snakes : but love for his friend
entirely overcame all thoughts of his own personal
danger.*

" The large garter-snake which you saw, my dear
lady, is comparatively harmless. It lives on toads
and frogs, and robs the nests of young birds, and also
pilfers the eggs. Its long forked tongue enables it
to catch insects of different kinds; it will even eat
fish, and for that purpose frequents the water as well
as the black snake.

" I heard a gentleman once relate a circiimstance

* A fact related to me by a gentleman from the State of Vermont,
as an instance of impulsive feeling overcoming natural timidity.

II ^

182

EASTERN SNAKE-CHABMER9.

to my father that surprised me a good deal. lie
was fishing one day in a river near his own house,
hut, being tired, he seated himself on a log or fallen
tree, where his basket of fish also stood ; when a
large garter-snake came up the log, and took a small
fish out of his basket, which it speedily swallowed.
The gentleman, seeing the snake so bold as not to
mind his presence, took a small rock-bass by the tail,
and half in joke held it towards it, when, to his
great surprise, the snake glided towards him, took
the fish out of his hand, and sliding away with its
prize to a hole beneath the log, began by slow de-
grees to swallow it, stretching its mouth and the
skin of its neck to a very great extent; till, after a
long while, it was fairly gorged, and then it slid
down its hole, leaving its head and neck only to be

seen

" I should have been so frightened, nurse, if I had
been the gentleman, when the snake came to take
the fish," said Lady Mary.

" The gentleman was well aware of the nature of
the reptile, and knew that it would not bite him.
I have read of snakes of the most poisonous kinds
being tamed and taught all manner of tricks. Thore
a.e in India and Egypt people that are called snake-
charmers, who contrive to extract the fangs con-
taining the venom from the Cobra da capella, or
hooded snake ; which then become quite harmless.
These snakes are very fond of music, and will come
out of the leather bag or basket that their master

THE POWER OF FASCINATION.

183

carries them in, and will dance or run up his arms,
twining about his neck, and even entering his mouth!
They do not tell people that the poison-teeth liave
been extracted, so that it is thought to be the music
that keeps the snake from biting. The snake has a
power of chaniiing birds and small animals, by fixing
its eye steadily upon them, when the little creatures
become paralyzed with fear, either standing quite
still, or coming nearer and nearer to their cruel
enemy, till they are within his reach. The cat lias
the same power, and can by this art draw birds from
the tops of trees within her reach. These little
creatures seem unable to resist the temptation of
approaching her, and, even when driven away, will
return from a distance to the same spot, seeking,
instead of shunning, the danger which is certain to
prove fatal to them in the end. Some writers assert
that all wild animals have this power in the eye,
especially those of the cat tribe, as the lion and tiger,
leopard and panther. Before tliey spring upon their
prey, the eye is always steadily fixed, the back low-
ered, the neck stretched out, and the tail waved from
side to side ; if the eye is averted, they lose the
animal, and do not make the spring."

" Are there any other kinds of snakes in Canada
nurse," asked Lady Mary, " besides the garter-
snake ? "

" Yes, my lady, several ; tlie black snake, which
is the most deadly, next to tlte rattle-snake, is some-
times called the puff-adder, as it inflates the skin of

'9i

184

SNAKES AND INDIANS.

tlie head and neck when angry. The copper-bellied
snake is also poisonous. There is a small snake ot
a deep grass-green colour sometimes seen in the fields
and open copse-woods. I do not think it is danger-
ous; I never heard of its biting any one. The stare-
worm is also harmless. I am not sure whether the
black snakes that live in the water are the same as
the puff or black adder. It is a great blessing, my
dear, that these deadly snakes are so rare, and do so
little harm to man. Indeed I believe they would
never harm him, were they let alone ; but if trodden
Tipon, they cannot know that it was by accident, and
so put forth the weapons that God has armed them
with in self-defence. The Indians in the north-west,
I havo been told, eat snakes, after cutting off their
heads. The cat also eats snakes, leaving the head ;
she will also catch and eat frogs — a thing I have wit-
nessed myself, and know to be true.* One day a
snake fixed itself on a little girl's arm, and wound
itself around it. The mother of the child was too
much terrified to tear the deadly creature off, but
filled the air with cries. Just then a cat came out
of the house, and quick as lightning sprang upon
the snake, and fastened on its neck ; which caused the
reptile to uncoil its folds, and it fell to the earth in
the grasp of the cat. Thus the child's life wv^ saved,
and the snake killed. Thus you see, my dear, that
God provided a preserver for this little one when no

* I once saw a half-grown kitten eat a live green frog, which she first
brought into the parlour, playing witli it as with a mouse.

mm*

««■

PARENTAL AFFECTION.

185

help was nigli. Perhaps the child cried to Him for
aid, and He heard her and saved her by means of
the cat."

Lady Mary was much interested in all that Mrs.
Frazer had told her. She remembered having heard
some one say that the snake would swallow her own
young ones, and she asked her nurse if it was true,
and if they laid eggs.

" The snake will swallow her young' ones," said
Mrs. Frazer. " I have seen the gart^r-snake open
her mouih and let the little ones run into it when
danger was nigh. The snake also lays eggs : I have
seen and handled them often. They are not covered
with a hard, brittle shell, like that of a hen, but
with a sort of whitish skin, like leather : they are
about the size of a blackbird's egg, long in shape ;
some are rounder and larger. They are laid in some
warm place, where the heat of the sun and earth
hatches them. But though the mother does not brood
over them, as a hen does over her eggs, she seems to
take great care of her little ones, and defends them
from their many enemies by hiding them out of sight
in the singular manner I have just told you. This
love of offspring, my dear child, has been wisely given
to all mothers, from the human mother down to the
very lowest of the insect tribe. The fiercest beast of
prey loves its young, and provides food and shelter for
theai; forgetting its savage nature to play with and
caress them. Even the spider, which is a disagree-
able iusect, fierce and unloving to its fellows, displays

180

ANECDOTES OF SPIDERS.

the tendcrcst care for its brood, providing a safe re-
treat for them in the fine silken cradle she spins to
envelop the eggs, which she leaves in some warm
spot, where she secures them from danger : some
glue a leaf down, and overlap it, to insure it from
heing agitated by the winds, or discovered by birds.
There is a curious spider, commonly known as the
nursing spider, which carries her sack of eggs with her
wherever she goes ; and when the young ones come
out, they cluster on her back, and so travel with her;
when a little older, they attach themselves to the
old one by threads, and run after her in a train."

Lady Mary laughed, and said she should like to
see the funny little spiders all tied to their mother,
trotting along behind her.

" If you go into the meadow, my dear,"8aid MrG.
Frazer, "you will see on the larger stones some
pretty shining little cases, quite round, looking like
gray satin."

" Nurse, I know what they are," said Lady Mary.
" Last year I was playing in the green meadow, and
I found a piece of granite with several of these satin
cases. I called them silk pies, for they looked like
tiny mince pies. I tried to pick one off, but it stuck
so hard that I could not, so I asked the gardener to
lend me his knife ; and when I raised the crust it
had a little rim under the top, and I slipped the
knife in, and what do you think I saw? The pic
was full of tiny black shining spiders ; and they ran
out, such a number of them, — more than I could

THE LAND-TORTOISR

187

count, they ran so fast. I was sorry T opened tho
crust, for it was a cold, cold day, and the little 8i)iders
must liavo been frozen, out of their warm air-tight
house."

" They are able to bear a great deal of cold. Lady
Mary — all insects can; and even when frozen hard,
so that they will break if any one tries to bend them,
yet when spring comes again to warm them, they
revive, and are as full of life as ever. Caterpillars
thus frozen will become butterflies in due time.
Spiders, and many other creatures, lie torpid during
the winter, and then revive in the same way as dor-
mice, bears, and marmots do."

"Nurse, please will you tell me something about
tortoises and porcupines ? " said Lady Mary.

" I cannot tell you a great deal about the tortoise,
my dear," replied her nurse. "I have seen them
sometimes on the shores of the lakes, and once or
twice I have met with the small land-tortoise, in the
woods on the banks of the Otonabee river. The
shell that covers these reptiles is black and yellow,
divided into squares — those which I saw were about
the size of my two hands. They are very harmless
creatures, living chiefly on roots and bitter herbs :
perhaps they eat insects as well. They lie buried in
the sand during the long winters, in a torpid state :
they lay a number of eggs, about the size of a black-
bird's, the shell of which is tough and soft, like a
snake's egg. Tlie old tortoise buries these in the
loose sand near the water's edge, and leaves them to

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188

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION.

be hatched by the heat of the sun. The little tor-
toise, when it comes out of the shell, is about as big
as a large spider — it is a funny-looking thing. I
have heard some of the Indians say that they dive
into the water, and swim, as soon as they are hatched ;
but this I am not sure of. I saw one about the size
of a crown-piece that was caught in a hole in the
sand : it was very lively, and ran along the table,
making a rattling noise with its hard shell as it moved.
An old one that one of my brothers brought in he
put under a large heavy box, meaning to feed and
keep it; but in the morning it was gone: it had lift-
ed the edge of the box and was away, nor could
he find out how it had contrived to make its escape
from the room. This is all that I know about the
Canadian land-tortoise."

U 4M > *■« » »■*■«»

)r-
I

CHAPTER XIII.

KLLEN AND HER PET FAWNS — DOCILITY OF FAN — JACK's
PROLL TRICKS — AFFECTIONATE WOLF — FALL FLOWERS —
DEPARTURE OF LADY MARY— THE END.

NE day Lady Mary came to seek her nurse
in great haste, and describe to her a fine
deer that had been sent as a present to
lier father by one of his Canadian friends. She said
the great antlers were to be put up over the library
door.

" Papa called me down to see the poor dead deer,
nurse ; and I was very sorry it had been killed : it
was such a fine creature. Major Pickford laughed
when I said so ; but he promised to get me a live
fawn. Nurse, what is a fawn ? "

" It is a young deer, my lady."

*' Nurse, please can you tell me anything about
fawns ? Are they pretty creatures, and can they be
tamed ; or are they fierce, wild little things ? "

" They are very gentle animals ; and, if taken
young, can be brought up by sucking the finger like
a young calf or a pet lamb. They are playful and
lively, and will follow the person who feeds them,

190

ON THE BRINK OF THE RAPID.

like a dog. They are very pretty, of a pale dun or
red colour, with small white spots on the back like
large hailstones ; the eyes are large, and soft, and
black, with a very meek expression in them ; the
hoofs are black and sharp : they are clean and deli-
cate in their habits, and easy and graceful in their
movements.

" I remember," continued Mrs. Frazer, " to have
heard of a sad accident which was caused by a
fawn."

" Oh, what was it, nurse? Do tell me, for I
don't see how such a timid pretty creature could
hurt any one."

" A party of Indians were rowing in a canoe on
one of the great American rivers. As they passed
a thick clump of trees, a young fawn suddenly sprang
out, and, frightened by their cries, leaped into the
water. For some days the rain had been heavy ;
the river was therefore running with a wild, impetu-
ous current ; and the fawn was carried along by the
rushing tide at a tremendous rate. The Indians, de-
termined to capture it, paddled down the stream
with eager haste, and in their excitement forgot that
they were in the neighbourhood of a great rapid, or
cataract ; dangerous at all times, but especially so
after long-continued rains. On, on, they went !
Suddenly the fawn disappeared, and looking behind
them, the startled Indians found themselves on the
very brink of the rapid ! Two of their countrymen,
standing on a rock overhanging the foaming waters,

r^m*m^fm jlJ ilipi I jiM<

A PERILOUS SITUATION.

ini

GOING DOWN THE RAPIIW.

saw their peril, and by sliouts and gestures wanied
them of it. With vigorous efforts they turned the
prow of their canoe, and endeavoured to cross the

192

THE FAWN AND HER DAM.

river. Tliey plied their paddles with all the despera-
tion of mer. who know that nothing could save them
but their own exertions, that none on earth could
help them. But the current proved too strong. It
carried them over the fall, and dashed their bark
broadside against a projecting rock. A moment, and
all was over ! Not one of them was ever seen again 1 "

" Oh, what a sad story 1 " cried Lady Mary; " and
all those men were killed through one poor little
fawn ! Still, nurse, it was not the fawn's fault ; it
was the result of their own impatience and folly.
Did you ever see a tame fawn, nurse? "

" I have seen many, my dear, and I can tell you
of one that was the pet and companion of a little
girl whom I knew several years ago. A hunter had
shot a poor doe, which was very wrong, and contrary
to the Indian hunting law ; for the native hunter
will not, unless pressed by hunger, kill the deer in
the spring of the year, when the fawns are young.
The Indian wanted to find the little one after he
had shot the dam, so he sounded a decoy whistle, to
imitate the call of the doe ; and the harmless thing
answered it with a bleat, thinking no doubt it
was its mother calling to it. This betrayed its hid-
ing-place, and it was taken unhurt by the hunter,
who took it home, and gave it to my little friend
Ellen to feed and take care of."

" Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me what sort
of trees hemlocks are ? Hemlocks in England are
poisonous weeds."

((

spec

i nm w , i|f'^yi"i|Wj ipyni ;»^<< H ' ,

THE INDIAN HUNTER.

103

sort
Id are

THE INDIAN HUNTER.

" These are not weeds, but large forest trees — a
species of pine. I will show you some the next time

(211) 13

194

THE STORY OF POOR FAN.

we go out for a drive — they are very handsome
trees."

" And what are creeks, nurse? "

" Creeks are small streams, such as in Scotland
would be termed * burns,' and in England * rivulets.' "

" Now, nurse, you may go on about the d*^ar little
fawn ; I want you to tell me all you know about
it."

" Little Ellen took the poor timid thing, and laid
it in an old Indian basket near the hearth, and put
some wool in it, and covered it with an old cloak
to keep it warm ; and she tended it very carefully,
letting it suck her fingers dipped in warm milk, as
she had seen the dairy-maid do in weaning young
calves. In a few days it began to grow strong and
lively, and would jump out of its basket, and run
bleating after its foster-mother : if it missed her
from the room, it would wait at the door watching
for her return.

" When it was older, it used to run on the grass
plot in the garden : but if it heard its little mistress's
step or voice in the parlour, it would bound through
the open window to her side ; and her call of ' Fan,
Fan, Fan,' would bring it home from the fields near
the edge of the forest. But poor Fan got killed by a
careless boy throwing some fire- wood down upon it,
as it lay asleep in the wood-shed. Ellen's grief was
very great, but all she could do was to bury it in
the garden near the river-side, and plant lilac bushes
round its little green-sodded grave."

KLI-KN AND UFM PKTS.

195

" I am so sorry, nurse, that this good little girl
lost her pretty pet."

" Some time after the death of ' Fan,* Ellen had
another fawn given to her. She called this one
Jack, — it was older, larger, and stronger, but was
more mischievous and frolicsome than her first pet.
It would lie in front of the iiie on the hearth, like a
dog, and rub its soft velvet no'^e against the hand
that patted it very affectionately, but gave a good
deal of trouble in the house : it would eat the car-
rots, potatoes, and cabbages, while the cook was pre-
paring them for dinner ; and when the housemaid
had laid the cloth for dinner. Jack would go round
the table and eat up the bread she had laid to each
plate, to the great delight of the children, who
thought it good fun to see him do so.

" Ellen put a red leather collar about Jack's neck,
and some months after this he swam across the rapid
river, and went off to the wild woods, and was shot
by some hunters, ■. o^reat many miles away from his
old home, being known by his fine red collar. After
the sad end of her two favourites, Ellen would have
no more fawns brought in for her to tame."

Lady Mary was much interested in the account of
the little girl and her pets. " Is this all you know
about fawns, nurse ? "

" I once went to call on a clergyman's wife who
lived in a small log-house near a new village. The
youngest child, a fat baby of two years old, was
lying on the rug before a large log-fire, fast asleep ;

196

A HOME IN THE FOREST.

■J:

its little head was pillowed on the back of a tame
half-grown fawn that lay stretched on its side, enjoy-
ing the warmth of the fire, as tame and familiar as a
spaniel dog. This fawn had been brought up with
the children, and they were very fond of it, and
would share their bread and milk with it at meal
times ; but it got into disgrace by gnawing the bark
of the young orchard-trees, and cropping the bushes
in the garden ; besides, it had a trick of opening the
cupboard, and eating the bread, and drinking any
milk it could find. So the master of the house gave
it away to a baker who lived in the village ; but it
did not forget its old friends, and used to watch for
the children going to school, and as soon as it caught
sight of them, it would trot after them, poking its
nose into the basket to get a share of their dinner,
and very often managed to get it all ! "

" And what became of this nice fellow, nurse? "
" Unfortunately, my lady, it was chased by some
dogs, and ran away to the woods near the town, and
never came back again. Dogs will always hunt
tame fawns when they can get near them ; so it seems
a pity to domesticate them only to be killed in so
cruel a way. The forest is the best home for these
pretty creatures, though even there they have many
enemies besides the hunter. The bear, the wolf, and
the wolverine kill them. Their only means of de-
fence lies in their fleetness of foot. The stag will
defend himself with his strong horns ; but the doe
and her little fawn have no such weapons to guard

\"^rr5-

THE POWER OF KINDNESS.

10/

themselves when attacked by beasts of prey. The
wolf is one of the greatest enemies they have."

" I hate wolves," said Lady Mary ; " wolves can
never be tamed, nurse."

" I have heard and read of wolves being tamed,
and becoming very fond of their masters. A gentle-
man in Canada once brought up a wolf puppy, which
became so fond of him that when he left it to go
home to England, it, refused to eat, and died of grief
at his absence ! Kindness will tame even fierce
beasts, who soon learn to love the hand that feeds
them. Bears and foxes have often been kept tame
in this country, and eagles and owls; but I think
they cannot be so happy shut up, away from their
natural companions and habits, as if they were free
to go and come at their own will."

" I should not like to be shut up, nurse, far
away from my own dear home," said the little girl,
thoughtfully. " I think, sometimes, I ought not to
keep my dear squirrel in a cage — shall I let him go?"

"My dear, he has now been so used to the cage,
and to have all his daily wants supplied, that I am
sure he would suffer from cold and hunger at this
season of the year if he were left to provide for him-
self ; and if he remained here the cats and weasels
might kill him."

" I will keep him safe from harm, then, till the
warm weather comes again ; and then, nurse, we
will take him to the mountain, and let him go, if he
likes to be free, among the trees and bushes."

108

SADNESS OF AUTUMN.

It was now tlio mitldlo of Outoher ; the rainy
Beason that usually comes in the end of September
and beginning of October in Canada was over. The
soft, hazy season, called Indian summer, was come
again ; the few forest leaves that yet lingered were
ready to fall — bright and beautiful they still looked,
but Lady Mary missed the flowers.

" I do not love the fall — I see no flowers Jiow,
except those in the greenhouse. The cold, cold
winter, will soon bo here again," she added sadly.

"Last year, dear lady, you said you loved the
white snow, and the sleighing, and the meny bells,
and wished that winter would last all the year
round."

" Ah, yes, nurse ; but I did not know how many
pretty birds and flowers I should see in the spring
and the summer ; and now they are all gone, and I
shall see them no more for a long time."

" There are still a few flowers. Lady Mary, to be
found ; look at these."

" Ah, dear nurse, where did you get them ? How
lovely they are ! "

" Your little French maid picked them for you, on
the side of the mountain. Rosette loves the wild-
flowers of her native land."

" Nurse, do you know the names of these pretty
starry flowers on this little branch, that look so light
and pretty ? "

" These are asters ; a word, your governess told
me the other day, meaning star-like. Some people

FLOWERS IN THE WASTE.

100

cull these flowers Michaelmas dnisies. These lovely
lilac asters grow in light, dry ground ; they are
among the prettiest of our fall flowers. These with
the small white starry flowers crowded upon the
stalks, with the crimson and gold in the middle, are
dwarf asters,"

" I like these white ones, nurse; the little branches
look so nicely loaded with blossoms ; see, they are
quite bowed down with the weight of all these
flowers."

** These small shrubby asters grow on dry gravelly
banks of lakes and rivers."

*' ]?ut here are some large dark purple ones."

" These are also asters. They are to be found on
dry wastes, in stony, barren fields, and by the corners
of rail -fences ; they form large spreading bushes,
and look very lovely, covered with their large dark
purple flowers. There is no waste so wild, my lady,
but the hand of the Most High can plant it with
some blossom, and make the waste and desert place
flourish like a garden. Here are others, still brighter
and larger, with yellow disks, and sky-blue flowers.
These grow by still waters, near mill-dams and swampy
places. Though they are larger and gayer, I do not
think they will please you so well as the small ones
that I first showed you ; they do not fade so fast,
and that is one good quality they have."

" They are more like the China asters in the gar-
den, nurse, only more upright and stiff ; but here is
{mother sweet blue flower — can you tell me its name?"

200

THE EVERLASTING FLOWEK.

" No, my dear; you must ask your governess."

Lady Mary carried the nosegay to Miss Campbell,
who told her the blue flower was called the Fringed
Gentian, and that the gentians and asters bloomed
the latest of all the autumn flowers in Canada.
Among these wild-flowers, she also showed her the
large dark blue bell-flowered gentian, which was in-
deed the last flower of the year.

" Are there no more flowers in bloom now,
nurse ? " asked the child, as she watched Mrs.
Frazer arranging them for her in a flower-glass.

"I do not know of any now in bloom but the Golden
Rods and the latest of the Everlastings. Rosette
shall go out and try to get some of them for you.
The French children make little mats and garlands of
them to ornament their houses, and to hang on the
little crosses above the graves of their friends, because
they do not fade away like other flowers."

Next day, Rosette, the little nursery-maid, brought
Lady Mary an Indian basket full of Sweet-scented
Everlastings. This flower had a fragrant smell ; the
leaves were less downy than some of the earlier sorts,
but were covered with a resinous gum that caused it
to stick to the fingers; it looked quite silky, from
the thistle-down, which, falling upon the leaves, was
gummed down to the surface.

" The country folks," said Mrs. Frazer, " call this
plant Neglected Everlasting, because it grows on diy
wastes by road-sides, among thistles and fire-weed ;
but I love it for its sweetness ; it is like a true friend

A WREATH FOR CHRISTMAS.

201

— it never changes. See, my dear, how shining its
straw-coloured blossoms and buds are, just like satin
flowers."

" Nurse, it shall be my own flower," said the little
girl ; " and I will make a pretty garland of it, to
hang over my own dear mamma's picture. Rosette
says she will show me how to tie the flowers together;
she has made me a pretty wreath for my doll's straw
hat, and she means to make her a mat and a carpet
too."

The little maid promised to bring her young lady
some wreaths of the festoon pine — a low creeping
plant, with dry, green, chaify leaves, that grows in
the barren pine woods, of which the Canadians make
Christmas garlands; and also some of the winter
berries, and spice berries, which look so gay in the
fall and early spring, wi<^h berries of brightest scar-
let, and shining dark-green leaves, that trail over the
ground on the gravelly hills and plains.

Nurse Frazer brought Lady Mary some sweetmeats,
flavoured with an extract of the spicy winter-green,
from the confectioner's shop ; the Canadians being
very fond of the flavour of this plant. The Indians
chew the leaves, and eat the ripe mealy berries, which
have something of he taste of the bay-laurel leaves.
The Indian men smoke the leaves as tobacco.

One day, while Mrs. Frazer was at work in the
nursery, her little charge came to her in a great state
of agitation — her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes
were dancing with joy. She threw herself into her

202

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE.

arms, and said, " Oh, dear nurse, I am going home
to dear old England and Scotland. Papa and mamma
are going away from Government House, and I am
to return to the old country with them. I am bo
glad — are not you ? "

But the tears gathered in Mrs. Frazer's eyes, and
fell fast upon the work she held in her hand. Lady
Mary looked surprised, when she saw how her kind
nurse was weeping.

" Nurse, you are to go too ; mamma says so. Now
you need not cry, for you are not going to leave
me."

" I cannot go with you, my dearest child," whis-
pered her weeping attendant, " much as I love you ;
for I have a dear son of my own. I have but him,
and it would break my heart to part from him ; "
and she softly put aside the bright curls from Lady
Mary's fair forehead, and tenderly kissed her. " This
child is all I have in the world to love me, and when
his father, my own kind husband, died, he vowed to
take care of me, and cherish me in my old age, and
I promised that I would never leave him ; so I cannot
go away from Canada with you, my lady, though I
dearly love you."

" Then, Mrs. Frazer, I shall be sorry to leave
Canada ; for when I go home, I shall have no one to
talk to me about beavers, and squirrels, and Indians,
and flowers, and birds."

"Indeed, my lady, you will not want for amuse-
ment there, for England and Scotland are finer places

A BUSY TIME.

203

and
iady

than Canada. Your good governess and your new
nurse will be able to tell you many things that will
delight you ; — and you will not quite forget your poor
old nurse, I am sure, when you think about the time
you have spent in this country."

" Ah, dear good old nurse, I will not forget you,"
said Lady Mary, springing into her nurse's lap and
fondly caressing her, while big bright tears fell from
her eyes.

There was so much to do, and so much to think
about, before the Governor's departure, that Lady
Mary had no time to hear any more stories, nor to
ask any more questions about the natural history of
Canada ; though, doubtless, there were many other
curious things that Mrs. Frazer could have related,
for she was a person of good education, who had seen
and noticed as well as read a great deal. She had
not always been a poor woman, but had once been a
respectable farmer's wife, though her husband's death
had reduced her to a state of servitude ; and she had
earned money enough while in the Governor's service
to educate her son, and this was how she came to be
Lady Mary's nurse.

Lady Mary did not forget to have all her Indian
curiosities packed up with some dried plants and flower
seeds collected by her governess; but she left the
cage with her flying squirrel to Mrs. Frazer, to take
care of till the following spring, when she told her
to take it to the mountain, or St. Helen's Island,
and let it go free, that it miglit be a happy squirrel

5SB-^

204

" LAST SCENE OF ALL."

once more, and bound away among the green trees
in the Canadian woods.

When Mrs. Frazer was called in to take leave of the
Governor and his lady, »fter receiving a handsome
salary for her care and attendance on their little
daughter, the Governor gave her a sealed parchment,
which, when she opened, was found to contain a
Government deed for a fine lot of land, in a fertile
township in Upper Canada.

It was with many tears and blessings that Mrs.
Frazer took leave of the good Governor's family ;
and, above all, of her beloved charge, Lady Mary.

trees

APPENDIX.

The Indians, though so stolid and impassive in their general
demeanour, are easily moved to laughter, having a quick
perception of fun and drollery, and sometimes show them-
selves capable of much humour, and even of wit.

The following passage I extract from a Hamilton paper,
Canada West, which will, I think, prove amusing to my
readers :—

At a missionary meeting in Hamilton, which took place a
short time since, John Sunday, a native preacher, was par-
ticularly happy in addressing his audience on the objects of
the meeting, and towards the close astonished all present
by the ingenuity and power of his appeal to their liberality.
His closing words are too good to be lost. I give them as
they were spoken by him : —

" There is a gentleman who, I suppose, is now in this
house. He is a very fine gentleman, but a very modest one.
He does not like to show himself at these meetings. I do
not know how long it is since I have seen him ; he comes
out so little. I am very much afraid that he sleeps a great
deal of his time when he ought to be out doing good. His
name is Gold. — Mr. Gold, are you here to-night, or are
you sleeping in your iron chest? Come out, Mr. Gold.
Come out and help us to do this great work — to preach

206

APPENDIX.

the gospel to every creature. Ah, Mr. Gold, you ought
to be ashamed of yourself, to sleep so much in your iron
chest. Look at your white brother, Mr. Silver. He does
a great deal of good while you are sleeping. Come out, Mr.
Gold. Look, too, at your little brown brother, Mr. Coppei*.
He is everywhere. Your poor little brown brother is run-
ning about doing all he can to help us. Why don't you
come out, Mr. Gold ? Well, if you won't show yourself,
send us your shirt — that is, a bank-note !

" This is all I have to say."

Whether the witty appeal of the Indian had the effect of
bringing forth Mr. Gold from his hiding-place is not said,
but we hope it mofed some of the wealthy among his hearers
to contribute a few sovereigns or gold dollars to the mis-
sionary work of converting the poor Indians in the far west
regions of Canada.

LIST OF INDIAN WORDS.

A-da-min, ...

Ah-meek,

Ajidamo,

Be-dau-bun, ...

Chee-ma-in-iii,

Chee-to-waik,

Dah-hinda, ...

Gitche Manito,

Ish-koo-dah,

Kah-ga-gee,...

Ktlw,

Kaw-win,

Keen-o-beek,

... The strawberry.

... The beaver.

... The red squirrel.

. . . Dawn of the morning.

... Birch canoe.

... The plover.

... The bull-frog.

f Giver of life.

■■■ I The Great Spirit.

... Fire.

... The raven.

... No.

... No, no, indeed.

... Serpent. .'

}

i/^ '

APPENDIX.

207

Mad-wa-bska,

Mun-a-gah, ...
Misko-deed, ...
Nee-chee,
Nap-a-nee, ...
Nee-me-no-che-sbah,
Omee-m5e, ...
Opee-che6, ...
O-wais-sa, ...
Peta-wan-ooka,
Shaw-shaw, ...
Spook,
Ty-yah!
Wai-wassa, ...
Wah-ho-no-miu,

{Sound of waves.
Murmur of the waves.

. Blue-berry.

. Spring-beauty.

. Friend.

. Flour.

. Sweetheart.

. The wild pigeon.

. The robin.

. The blue-bird.

. The light of the morning.

. The swallow.

. Spirit.

. An exclamation of surprise.

. The whip-poor-will.

. A cry of lamentation.

Many of the Indian names have been retained in Canada,
for various rivers and townships, and are very expressive of
the peculiar qualities and features of the country.