, «> s< ^-^ c^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ! // .'?'> y"^' '^>Brri frri \ CANADA IN 1864. / .r^f CANADA IN 1864: A HAND-BOOK FOR SETTLERS. BY HENRY T. NEWTON- GHESSHYRE, LATE E.N., AWHOE or "HJ^COLLECnONS OF X TIYB XEAES' BESID.^KCB IK NOEVTAT." 'i LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, 14, LUDGATE HILL. 1864 [2%e right of translation is reserved.'] inuKiLa, P^W^R, Lorjpo:f. . i k PREFACE. The encouragement I liave received as to my former small workj entitled " Eecollections of a Five Years' Residence in Norway/' induces me to offer tbis little volume to the public, particularly to those whose thoughts are bent on emigration to Canada, with the idea that my own six years' experience of the country may not be altogether useless to new settlers. The truthfulness and accuracy of the in- formation contained in the book may, I hope, tend to exempt it from harsh and unfriendly criticism as to any deficiencies it may exhibit as a literary production. London, Septemhert 1864, !( li * I CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Those best suited for Canadian settlers — diodes of conTcyance — " Ten reasons for emigrating to Canada" — Difllculties of new settlers much mitigated in the present day — Varietf'^s of characters and of creeds in the backwoods . ... 1 CHAPTER II. Arrival in the backwoods — Building a shanty — Necessaries for the first year and their cost — Cultivation of the land — Beaver Meadow hay — Rates of postage — Postal communication past and present 37 CHAPTER III. Taxes — Duties required of the settler — Volunteers — Naval brigade — Ways of making money in the backwoods — Potash — Berry picking, etc. — The tea-plants of North America— Other vege- table productions — Receipts — Cookery . . . .47 CHAPTER lY. The Red Indians — Sir F. B. Head upon them — Their character — How influenced by association with the white men, and the introduction of ardent spirits among them — Their present condition — Specimens of their legends .... 58 II Viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Trapping and other ways of taking animals in the backwoods, with hints to trappers, and some information as to the relative Taluo of dilTcrent furs 70 CIIAPTER VI. "Fish and fisheries — The settler's occupations proper to each month in the year — Sleighs and sleighing 87 CHAPTER VII. The minerals of Canada 96 CHAPTER VIII. Country taverns — Backwoods verses — Lumbering and lumber-men — The old cook — Mormonism and Mormons — Sects — Camp meetings 123 CHAPTER IX. Amusements — Hydrophobia — Variations of temperature — Lakes — Animals and fish — Increase of population, of commerce, and of general prosperity in the colony— Schools and colleges 135 Concluding REiiAEKS 146 Appendix 153 I < I CAMDA m 18G4. CHAPTER I. Tliose best suited for Canadian settlers — Modes of conveyance — " Ten reasons for emigrating to Canada" — Difficulties of new settlers much mitigated in the present day — Varieties of characters and of creeds in the backwoods. What class of intenJino: emigrants is best suited for Canada_, botli with regard to their own advan- tage, and the benefit of their adopted country ? It may seem almost superfluous to affirm that the indolent^ and those wanting in physical activity and strength,, have no business here ; but the energetic and the temperate man can ahvays obtain a living in this region^ and need seldom fail of attaining an independence. Of many that do come out, it may be said that they are quite unfitted for settlers, and only do injury to themselves and those around them. I will just instance, by way of example, the case of government clerks, accustomed to a sedentary life in town. Many of these unwisely throw up their situations at home, and transport themselves hither 1 Canada in 1864: 1^ 'I' i! I .'i! I 1 II! i h\ : "witlij poi'liaps, a very exaggerated idea of tlieir own importance in tlio colony^ and ajoparently under tlio firm persuasion tliat a fortune is to be acquired without trouble_, or that some lucrative colonial post will bo specidily offered to them. These young men^ disappointed in the fulfilment of tlieir somewhat unreasonable expectations, are but too apt to de- generate into what our Tankee cousins elegantly term ^^ loafers/^ passing from town to town, wasting their time and incurring debts at the taverns, and possibly sinking into confirmed whiskey-drinkers, thus ruining any prospects they might have had of success, and preparing for themselves a miserable end. Nor is this, in my opinion, a suitable country for the reform of the young prodigal. Such an one, banish^ to the backwoods and isolated from society, finds little wherewith to beguile his lonely monoto- nous hours, and will most ]Drobably fly for solace to the fatal whiskey- bottle, always at hand, and staring him in the face at every shanty. But mechanics and labourers of every descrip- tion — indeed all able-bodied industrious men — can almost invariably find employment in Canada;* and as fresh tracts in the far- west are gradually opened out and cleared for colonization, the more will their services bo in request. The preconceived notions of a new settler regarding these parts are generally wide enough of the mark, and experience^ as usual, * See Appendix B, ■. I A Hand-hoolc for Settlers. inust be his practical tcaclier ; but it is better^ at all events^ tliat ho slioulcl be prepared for tlie liard- sliips necessarily iiicideiit to tlic early part of liis? career in tlie backwoods — hardships, however, which may be considerably mitigated by the possession of a strong, healthy wife, capable of household w^ork and cooking. But whether with or without that helpmate and companion, let him steer clear of tlie seductions of whiskey, for here, if anywhere, he will ere long find to his cost, that ^^ it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." By avoiding this temptation, and putting his shoulder resolutely to the wheel, he will, humanly speaking, be almost sure to prosper. The settler of a higher grade must bury his pride, and must endeavour to reconcile himself to hard manual toil, and to many privations which will naturally be more irksome to him than to the labourer or the mechanic. Any assumed superiority of class or rank would be particularly obnoxious hero, where, as in all recent and half- formed colo- nies, equality must to a great extent prevail at first. But such a settler, by adapting himself readily to tliG circumstances and the people among whom ho has cast his lot, will, I think, prove to himself and to others, that in no country in the world is more true kindness and hospitality to be found than in the far West of Canada. Steamers leave Liverpool and Glasgow every 4 Canada in 1864 : r ! i I i|.. ' I I week during tlio season for Quebec_, the average duration of the voyage out being from ten to twelve days. The fare for the steerage passage is £7 ; that for the cabin, £15 and £18. The cost is, of course, considerably more than by sailing-vessel ; but where the means are forthcoming, I think the extra money is well spent to ensure so much safer and better a mode of conveyance, unless in the cnse of a large party going out together. With the exception of some small items, to be enumerated hereafter, I should recommend you, as an emigrant, to encumber yourself as little as possible with luggage, taking with you only a good supply of all sorts of wearing apparel, which you would find it much more expen- sive to purchase in Canada. If intending to settle there, your things will pass free of duty, and an ample allowance of warm woollen clothing will be most desirable. Be careful to mark such nroods as you expect to want during the voyage, or you may be much inconvenienced by the omission of this precaution. Whatever your destination may be, do not linger at Quebec longer than is really needful ; and should you require any assistance or instructions, apply at once at the Government Office, not listening to the numerous land- sharks, in the shape of self-inte- rested counsellors, who will surround you in their anxiety to play the game of ^^ Grab-loo" with you, or any other greenhorn, as a. newly-arrived Enghsh- illi A Hand-boolc for Settlers, 5 man is termed in the city. A train is generally ready to start with emigrants for the West_, and in England you will have been able to procure a ticket to convey you to any station on the Grand Trunk Eaihvay, which traverses Canada to the extent of upwards of a thousand miles. If you are bound for the backwoods or the back couatry^ yoa will on alighting find persons willing to afford you all the information in their power. There is commonly some conveyance running from the towns to the remote villages^ but on this head I refer my readers to extracts from the Government and other pamphlets in the Appendix.* Eailway travelling is cheaper here than in England^ and there is a very good plan of checking every article of luggage, the owner being furnished with the con^esponding number, which, if kept and produced, ensures com- pensation for your property in the event of its being lost. Subjoined is an extract from a Canadian Alma- nack for 1864, which may be useful. ^^ TEN REASONS FOR EMIGRATING TO CANADA. *' The aim of the man who contemplates changing the land of his birth for another, being, generally speaking, the improvement of his condition, the question where the circumstances may be looked for most favourable to the realization of his desire * See Appendix A. i i i I 1'^ ) i ! 6 Canada in 1864 : claims liis best thouglit. Sucli tliouglit lie owes to liimsclf, to liis family if lie lias onCj find to those Jimong whom ho may decide on taking up his abode j because mistake in his choice may in- volve him and those he loves in disappointment and distress, and entail weakness on chose to whom he should bring strength. ^^ In favour of the selection of Canada as his future home,, the attention of the intending emigrant is respectfully invited to the considerations which follo"\r. ^^1. Its acccsslhilify. ^^ Compared with other regions open to him, it may be reached in a very short time (eleven days b}^ steam), at a trifling expense, and with a small amount of inconvenience. '^ In sailing vessels, the rates of steerage passage vary, according to accommodation, from three pounds to four or five pounds sterling. The charge between Liverpool, Londonderry, or Glasgow, and Toronto, by the Montreal Steamship line, is ;^34, including provisions ; between Glasgow and Quebec or Montreal, sS'29. By the Anchor Line, the charge between Glasgow and Quebec is ^25. The Great Eastern charges (8^30 between Liverpool and New York. Its cabin rates are — 1st cabin, i^95 — ;S'135 ; 2nd cabin, ^70 ; 3rd cabin, ^bO. By the Montreal Line, the cabin passage varies, with accommodation, from ^72 — (8^88. The cabin fare between Glasgow I i A Hand'hooJc for Settl ers. and Quebec, by tlio Ocean Line, is ^GS; inter- mediate, jS" 44. By tlio Anclior Line, 4?G0 ; inter- mediate, 5^30. Children arc carried by tliem all at lower rates, generally lialf price. ^^ Once landed at Quebec or ^Montreal, tlic emi- grant may pass on to Toronto, or Hamilton, or any intermediate locality, by steamboat or railway, and thence by railway to the western extremity of the province. The Northern Eailway will take him to any place he pleases on the route between Toronto and Collingwood, Lake Huron, whence he can pass on to Owen Sound and intermediate places by steamer. The cost of tlie passage by deck of steamer and second-class cars is, from Quebec to Toronto, a distance of 500 miles, about ^Oj with ccn^sponding rates for places intermediate; to Windsor, the western extremity of the province, G31 miles from Quebec, S7 l'^\ ; to Barrie, 5G5 miles, jS'G 50; to Collingwood, 593 miles, ^7. The time between Quebec and Toronto is by railway about thirty-six hours, by steamboat a day or two longer. Toronto may bo reached hj railway from Portland, tlie ocean terminus of the Grand Trunk, in from twenty-five to twenty- six hours. ^^ As, moreover, he may return to his ohi homo so mnch more easily, should he for any reason wish to do so, he is less irretrievably committed by coming here than by going elsewhere. A visit to it is also at any timo much more practicable, other things - x ::.-.::— :-.;r--.:sa-ai~-^ J.^ ;-' ■ •Is, i i ; i > I ! ' 8 Canada in 1 864 : being equal. His friends may likewise, if so dis- posed_, follow liim with much less of difficulty — thus renewing associations of which necessity had com- pelled the temporary interruption. '^2. The scojw afforded by its extent, both fur the successful cinjjloyiiicnt of his cajyahilities and the (jroJification of his tastes in the choice of a home. *^ Leaving out the territory to the north-west, tho opening of which may be looked for ere long, Canada occupies a space stretching in a south- westerly direction from the Island of Anticosti in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to the south-western extremity of Lake Erie, of about 1400 miles in lengtli; with a breadth varying from 200 to 400 miles. Including water- surface, it is computed to contain an area of 349,821 square miles — 242,482 exclusive of water. The number of acres com- prised within it is estimated at 160,405,129; 128,659,684 of which are reckoned to Canada East; to Canada West, 31,745,533. '^ * If an area,-* it is remarked in a pamphlet published in 1860, by authority, ^bo traced in Europe, corresponding generally to that occupied by Canada, in America, and the meridian of the most southern part of Canada be supposed to lie upon the meridian of Greenwir^h, in England, the south of France, at the base of the Pyrenees, will represent tho south frontier of Canada ; the south-eastern boundary of this area will stretch through France^ A Hand-hooJc for Settlers. 9 Switzerland, Bavaria, and Austria, to a point in tlio soLitli of Poland, and a lino drawn nortliward to "Warsaw will delineate the mouth of the (Julf of St. Lawrence. The north-western boundary of this area will extend from the south of France, in a northerly direction, towards and beyond Brest ; and a line drawn from near Brest to the British Channel, thence through England, Belgium, and Germany, to Warsaw again, will establish the position of a European area, corresponding to Canada in America. The inhabited and highly fertile portion of Canada is represented in this area by those regions which lie in the south, centre, and south-east of France, and in those parts of Switzerland, Bavaria, and Austria, included within its Doundary. The other portion, although of vast extent, and not so well litt*)d for extended agricultural operations, is highly valuable on account of its timber and minerals. '^^The province of Canada embraces abcut 350,000 square miles of territory, independently of its north- western possessions, not yet open for settlement ; it is consequently more than one -third larger than France, nearly three times as large as Great Britain and Ireland, and more than three times as large as Prussia. The inhabited or settled portion covers at least 40,000 square miles, and is nearly twice as large as Denmark, three times as largo as Switzer- land, a third greater than Scotland, and more than a third the size of Prussia j but such is the rapid 10 Canada in 18G4 : ;i) \: i' I ( I , progress of settlement tlirougli immigration^ that in ten years time tlic settled parts of Canada will bo equal in area to Great Britain or Prussia.^ '^According to tlic Crown Lands Report for 185G, tlie peninsula of Gaspe alone^ wliicli is 175 miles in lengtli^ with an extreme breadth of 90 miles, com- prises an area, after the deduction of a small portion covered by New Brunswick of 11^800 superficial miles, equal to that of the European peninsula of Denmark, which it resembles in form. The Ta- dousac territory, valued as yet chiefly for its timber trade and its fisheries, is there stated to have a coast of GOO miles in leno-th on the Gulf and River o St. Lawrence, with a breadth of IGO miles and an area of probably 65,000 square miles ; more than twice thai; of Scotland. The country drained by the Saguenay includes an area of 27,000 square miles, an extent equal to the Tyrol and Switzerland taken together. The quantity of land in it capable of cultivation is estimated at about 3,000,000 acres. The area drained by the St. Maurice is about 21,000 sujoerficial miles; about one-tenth larger than the mainland of Scotland, and containing about as much arable land. ^ Admirably watered, and inter- sected hj magnificent rivers, with forests of pine alternating with rich tracts of hardwood land, and with that most valuable of all minerals, iron ore, in unlimited quantities, the country wants but the hand of man and the course of a few years to make it A Iland-hooh for Scttlevif. 11 it equal to the most flourishing parts of Canada.* The area of the Ottawa and tracts therewith con- nected is estimated at 82^000 miles ; one-fourth greater than tliat of the New England States. '^ In the Great Maiiitoulin Ishind_, vv'hich contains about 3,000,000 acres, upvrards of 200,000 acres arc expected soon to come into market. On the north sides of Lakes Huron and Superior there remains to be noticed an area of about 48,000 miles ; one- half greater tlian that of the State of Elaine. ^^ Regions so vast afford certainly ample room and verge enough, and will do for some time to come. Should they, however, become too strait, wo havo the North West to fall back upon, one-fifth of which, the Red River and Saskatchewan country, is com- puted to contain a territory exceeding in extent tho empires of France and Austria united. ^^ 3. The iihysical rliar act eristics of the country j its natural resources, and its healthfulness . ^^ The variety of its products and abundance of its harvests attest, where proper care is bestowed on its cultivation, the excellence of its soil. And although in the longer settled parts of the country the best lands may be supposed to be occupied, and therefore attainable only at a considerable advance on the original prices, others quite equal to them aro to be found in tho newer regions which every year is bringing into the market. According to the Crown Land Report for last year, there are now in .1,! ih' 1-1 '% 12 Canada in 186 i : tlio liamis of tlie Clovcmmcnt (surveyed) for disposal 5,008,557 acres in Lower Canada ; in Upper Canada, 2,839,858i ; in all, 8,747,015i, varying in price with situation. ^^In Upper Canada, it is 70 cents per acre for cash, or one dollar when paid in instalments — ono at the time of purchase, and the remainder in four equal animal payments with interest. In Lower Canada, the highest price is GO cents, but the larger quantity is disposable at 30 cents per acre. In the Algoma District, Upper Canada, and in those of Gaspe and Saguenay in Lower Canada, the price is only 20 cents. The condition of settlement is ex- acted in all cases. ^^ Through these newer lands seven great roads have recently been laid out in Upper and five in Lower Canada. The Upper Canada roads are — 1 . ^ The Ottawa and Opeongo Road,^ which runs east and west, intended to be 171 miles in length, and to connect the Ottawa Kiver with Lake Huron ; of this, 02 miles are finished, on which 235 settlers are already located. 2. ^ The Addington Road,^ which intersects the Opeongo Road ; on this, which is about Gl miles in length, there are 178 settlers. 3. ' The Hastings Road,^ running nearly parallel to the Addington Road, and connecting the county of Hastings with the Ottawa and Opeongo Road, 68 miles in length, on which there are 30G settlers. 4. ' The Bobcaygeon Road^' running north from i, A Hand-looh for Settlers, 13 J3obcayj^con, hotwecn tlic counties of Peterboronp^li and Victoria, meant to bo continued to Nipissing; the number of miles completed is 36, the numl)er of settlers, 108. 5. ^ The j^'rontenac and Madawaska Road,' of which the number of miles completed is 3o. 0. ^ The Muskoka lload,' which runs from tho head of the navigation of Lake Coucliiching to tho Grand Falls of Muskoka, where it will intersect what is called Peterson's line, which will eventually meet tho Ottawa and Opeongo Road, now gradually open- ing westwardly. By this road, the intending settler can reach the centre of the county in one day from Toronto, whence he will proceed by Northern Rail- way to Lake Simcoe, and thence by steamer — 21 miles are completed. 7. ^The Sault Ste. Mario Road,' intended to run from Sault Ste. Marie to Gonlais Bay, — four miles of which are completed. 8. ^The Burleigh Road' — 45 miles are finished; thero are nearly 100 settlers. Li two years this line will be completed, to the English Company's townships. ^' The five in Lower Canada are — ' The Elgin Road,' in the county of D'Islot, 88 miles in length, from St. Jean Port Joli to the Provincial Line; ' The Montreal and Cap Chat ;' ' Tho Tache Road,' from Buckland county of Bellechasse, to Kempt Road, Rimouski, about 200 miles; 'The Temis- couata Road,' from River du Loup to Lake Temis- couata ; and ' The Kempt Road,' from Metis to Restigouche. 14 Canada In 18G4 : Mill I I I Hi II ill" t :■ ! I' ! : II J : « I 'I'll ill '•' Along til CSC roiulsj free grants^ not exceeding 100 acres in each case, are given hy the government for tlie purpose of facilitating settlement, on tlio following conditions. ^'1. That tlie settler bo eiglitccn years of age. '^ 2. That he take possession of the land allotted to him within one month. " 3. That ho put into a state of cultivation twelve acres of land in the course of four years. '^ 4. That he build a log-house, 20 by 18 feet, and reside on the lot until the foregoing conditions are fulfilled. *' ' Families may reside on a single lot, and the several members having land allotted to them will be exempt from building and residence on each in- dividual lot. The non-fulfilment of these conditions will cause the immediate loss of the land, which will be sold or given to another. Tho lands thus opened np, and gratuitously offered by the government for settlement, are chiefly of excellent quality, and well adapted, in respect of soil and climate, to all tho purposes of husbandry. ^' ' The reports of the resident agents on these roads, for the past year, convey the most favourable accounts of the prosperity of the settlers thereon, and of the large amount of produce they have raised on the newly-cleared lands. ^ ^^ In the Crown Lands^ Eeport for 1862, similar accounts are given ; though a late statement excepts A Iland'hoolc for Sctilcrs. 15 certain parts of the Opeongo Road, wliicli arc said to be so rocky ns to be incapable of cultivation. "In its mines, in its forests, and in its fislierios, Canada lias stores of nntold, of almost inconceivable "wealth ; which its numerous lakes and rivers supply facilities for conveying to market. '^ Of metallic minerals, the following are enu- merated in a catalogue contained in ' Canada at the Universal Exhibition, in 1855/ to wit. Magnetic Iron Ore, Specular Iron Ore, Limonito (Bog Ore), Titaniferous Iron, Sulphate of Zinc (Hlende), Sul- phate of Lead (Galena), Copper, Nickel, Silver, Gold. Non-metallic — Teranium, Chromium, Cobalt, Man- ganese, Iron Pyrites, Graphite, Dolomite, Carbonate of Magnesia, Sulphate of Baryta, Iron Ochres, Stea- tite, Lithographic Stone, Agates, Jasper, Labrador Felspar, Aventurino, Hyacinthe, Corumdum, Ame- thyst, Jet, Quartzoso Sandstone, Ectinito and Ba- salt, Gypsum, Shell Marl, Phosphate of Lime, Millstones, Grindstones, ^^Hict stones, and Tripoli. Under the head ^ Building Materials,^ are specified Granites, Sandstone, Calcareous Sandstone, Lime- stones, Hydraulic Limestones, Roofing Slates, Flag- ging Stones 'j Clays suitable for the formation of red and Avhite bricks, tiles and coarse pottery ; Moulding Sand, Fuller^s Earth; and Marbles, white, black, red, brown, yellow and black, grey and variegated, and green. Of combustibles — Peat, Petroleum and Asphaltum.^ are named. Some of these are confined 16 Canada in 1864 : li!ii k IIIh i> I illl to a single locality, others to a few places, but the more useful of them ore widely distributed, and their quantities very great. '' Though our ^ ^heries are as yet in their infancy, they employ from 1200 to 1500 boats, with nearly 100 vessels. The annual value of their products is, for Lower Canada, 4^942,528 ; for Upper Canada^ ^8^380,000 ; total, ^1,322,528. "Exclusive of furs, the products of the forest amounted, in 1860, to ^8^11,012,253. " Our climate, notwithstanding the extremes of cold and heat to which it is liable — which, however, are often greatly exaggerated — is eminently favour- able, as the tables of longevity and the habits of the people provO; both to life and enjoyment. " According to Professor Guy, the proportion of deaths to the population is, in ,1 Austria . Denmark Erance . Portugal lin40 1 in 45 1 in 42 1 in 40 Eussia in Europe 1 in 44 Switzerland . 1 in 40 United States . 1 in 74 Lower Canada . 1 in 92 Belgium . . 1 in 43 England . . Norway & Swe- den . . . Prussia . Spain . . Turkey . . . Upper Canada All Canada 1 in 46 lin lin lin 1 in 41 39 40 50 lin 102 lin 98 ^^'The salubrity of the province,^ remarks Mr. Hogan, from whom we have taken the above table, . V : A Hand-booJc for Settlers. 17 its 'ia sufficiently proved by its cloudless skies, elastic air, and almost entire absence of fogs. The lightness of the atmosphere has a most invigorating effect upon the spints. The winter frosts are severe and steady, and the summer suns are hot, and bring on vegetation with wonderful rapidity. It is true that the spring of Canada differs much from the spring of many parts of Europe ; but after her long winter the crops start up as if by magic, and reconcile her inhabitants to the loss of that which, elsewhere, is often the sweetest season of the year. If, how- ever, Canada has but a short spring, she can boast of an autumn deliciously mild, and often lingering on, with its Indian summer and golden sunsets, until the month of December. " ^A Canadian winter, the mention of which some years ago, in Europe, conveyed almost a sensation of misery, is hailed rather as a season of increased enjoyment than of privation and discomfort by the people. Instead of alternate rain, snow, sleet, and fog, with broken up and impassable roads, the Ca- nadian has clear skies, a fine, bracing atmosphere, with the rivers and many of the smaller lakes frozen, and the inequalities in the rough tracks through the woods made smooth by snow, the whole face of the count^'y being literally macadamized by nature for a people as yet unable to macadamize for themselves.' ^^4. The constituents and character of its population » "As a matter of course, its inhabitants share in the 18 Canada in 1864 : iPiii >n ii I iinl! ! |! common characteristics of tlie races whence tliey Lave sprung — whicli include the leading peoples of Europe^ those especially of the British Islands, and France and Germany — and natives of the United States. The circumstances in which they are placed — the constant demand on them for exertion during the earlier period of their residence in the country, the self-dependence the/ are called to exercise, con- nected with the measure in which they are thrown on one another^s sympathy, and the hopes amidst which they work, have a direct tendency to deve- lop not a few of their better quahties. Even the variety of their previous modes of thought and action, though occasioning perhaps for a time some inconvenience, is a gain to them in the end by the contributions which it enables them to make seve- rally to the common stock of ideas, and the habit which it produces of tolerance for unessential diffe- rences, consideration for one another's feelings, and appreciation of each other's virtues. ^^An incidental advantage of no small value, re-^ suiting from the variety of origin to which allusion has been made, is the sympathy which the new comer may look for from his countrymen, with the measure in which the privilege of association with them helps to make him feel himself at home. This is a source of comfort specially open to emi- grants from Britain, France, and the neighbouring States. A Hand-hook for Settlers. 19 (i ^ Among the larger portion of our people thero exists^ alongside of the variety of origin alluded to, a homogeneousness which greatly facilitates their weld^ ing into one community^ imparting to them, while the process is going on, a coincidence of feeling which makes living among them easy and pleasant, and secures their acting together in all matters of special moment. " The beneficial influence mutually exerted by the new comer and the older resident on one another, is well brought out in the following passage r " Mr. Hogan : — '^''It is a remarkable fact that the farmers .of Upper Canada have opportunities of improvement, and of enlarging and correcting their views, beyond what are enjoyed by many of their class even in England. An.d this arises from the circumstance of the population being made up of so many varie- ties. The same neighbourhood has frequently a representative of the best farming skill of Yorkshire, of the judicious management and agricultural expe- riences of the Lothians, and of the patient industry and perseverance of Flanders. In a country so peo- pled, the benefits of travel are gained without the necessity of going away from home. Other coun- tries, in fact, send their people to teach Canadians, instead of Canadians having to go to other countries to learn. A thousand experiences are brought to their doors, instead of their having to visit a thou- •"^ 20 Canada in 1864 : .'lI'Mi t :i.1( i I ! l| sand doors to acquire tliem. Nor is tlie advantage of this liappy admixture of population altogether on the side of the Canadian ; for whilst he gleans from the old countryman his skill and his science, he teaches him, in return, how to rely upon himself in emergencies and difficulties inseparable from a new country ; how to be a carpenter when a storm blows down a door, and there is no carpenter to be had^ and how to be an undismayed wheelwright when a waggon breaks down in the midst of a forest, and there is xio one .either to instruct or assist him. The one, in short, imparts to a comparatively rade peo- ple the knowledge and skill of an old and civilized countr}?-; the other teaches skilled labour how to live in a new land. The consequence is, the old coun- tryman of tact becomes, in all that relates to self- reliance and enterprise, a capital Canadian in a few years ; whilst the Canadian, in all that pertains to skilful industry, becomes an Englishman.^ ^ " The operation of the same fact^ the mixed cha- racter of our population, on the culture of taste is shown in continuance of the above, but our space compels us to leave it unquoted. The principle may be applied more widely than it is by Mr. H. Its power is, in fact, co-extensive with our whole think- ing and working. ^^5. Its institutions, ^ ^^ Nowhere is a more perfect freedom enjoyed than here. Of a state of liberty more complete it would 'v^v-t \ A Hand-hoohfor Settlers. 21 indeed be difficult even to form a conception. We live under laws of our own making or voluntary adoption, administered in courts established by our- selves, and by judges of our own appointing. Tho men by whom our general affairs are managed are chosen by ourselves and responsible to us for their conduct. Our municipal system gives tho people a power in local matters which is supreme, and affords to the more ambitious and intelligent among them an opportunity of preparing themselves for the performance of higher duties, as well as of attracting the notice and securing the respect of the community. Of influence or station, there is nothing among us to which the poorest may not aspire. "The general features of the municipal law of Upper Canada, and which, with some modifications, suited to tho different state of society in Lower Canada, may be stated as the system in force throughout the province, are — ^' The inhabitants of each county, city, town and township, are constituted corporations ; their orga- nization proceeding wholly upon the elective prin- ciple ; and provision is made for the erection of new municipalities, as the circumstances of the country require, by their separation from those already ex- isting. A complete system is created for regulating the elections, and for defining the duties of the municipalities and their officers. Their powers may be generally stated to embrace everything of a ^ 22 Canada in 1864 : t:! IWM 'i? nil: (I .,hW I lH i"" I i il I I i local nature, including tlie opening and maintenance of highways, the erection of school-houses, and the support of common and grammar-schools ; the pro- vision of accommodation for the administration of justice, jails, etc., and the collection of rates for their support, as well as for the payment of petty jurymen ; granting shop and tavern licences ; regu- lating and prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors ; providing for the support of the poor ; preventing the obstruction of streams ; effecting drainage, both in the cities and county ; inspection of weights and measures ; enforcing the due observance of the Sabbath, and protection of public morals; esta- blishing and regulating ferries, harbours, markets, etc.; abating nuisances ; making regulations for and taking precautions against fires : establishing gas and waterworks ; making police regulations ; levy- ing rates upon all real and personal property, in- cluding incomes, for all purposes ; and, for certain objects, borrowing money; together with a great number of minor matters, essential for the good government of a community. ^^In educational advantages we know of no country so young that exceeds us. By few of that class are we even equalled. Our common schools, established on the best principles and taught by well- qualified and honourably- conducted teachers, offer to our outh at large the means of qualifying themselves for the intelligent and efficient performance of the \ A Hand'hooh for Settlers. 23 duties awaiting them in their present social posi- tions, or aiding tliem, if such be then* wish, to raise themselves to such as are higher, either without cost or at a charge little more than nominal. For the obtaining of a still better culture our Grammar Schools, which are rapidly improving in character, offer all reasonable facilities ; while our Colleges and Universities place professional training and in- struction in the higher departments of learning and science within the reach of the possessors of mode- rate means, or such as, in the absence of these, may be disposed to maintain for a time a manly struggle for their own advancement. "From a valuable table (T.) given in Dr. Eyerson^s Eeport for 1861, we extract the fol- lowing particulars, illustrative of the educational progress of Upper Canada between 1842 and 1861. "The number of common schools was, in 1842, 1,271; 1847,2,727; 1852, 2,992; 1857, 3,631; 1861, 3,910. The pupils attending these numbered in 1842, 65,978; 1847, 124,829; 1852, 179,587; 1857,262,673; 1861,316,287. Of Eoman Catholic separate schools there are reported, for 1851, in which year they first appear in the returns, 16; 1857, 100 ; 1861, 109. There were in 1845, 2,860 common school teachers employed ; in 1850, 3,476 ; in 1855, 3,565 ; and in 1861, 4,336. There were paid for salaries of teachers of common and separate m 24 Canada in 1861: scliools, erection and repair of scliool-hoiises, libra- ries and apparatus, in 1850, $410,472; in 1855, $890,272; in 1861, $1,191,413. Of the schools thus reported there were 252 free in 1850; 1,211 in 1855; and in 1861, 2,903. ^*In 1842, there are supposed to have been in existence 25 county grammar schools. They num- bered 32 in 1847; in 1852, 60; in 1857, 72; in 1861, 86. On these schools there were in attend- ance in 1847, 1,000 pupils; in 1852, 2,643; in 1857, 4,073; in 1861, 4,766. The salaries paid the mas- ters were, in 1855, the first year in which they are given separately, $46,255 ; in 1861, $71,034. ^^In 1842, we have reported, in addition to the above, 44 separate schools and academies (a sup- posed approximation) ; in 1847, 96 ; in 1852, 181 ; in 1857, 276; in 1861, 337. The number of pupils in these institutions was, in 1847, 1,831 ; in 1852, 5,684 ; in 1857, 4,073 ; in 1861, 4,766. " We had in operation, in 1847, six colleges, with an attendance of 700 students; in 1852, eight, with 751 students; in 1857, twelve, with 1,335 (approx.); 1861, thirteen, with 1,373 (approx.) " The amounts reported as paid for educational purposes in Upper Canada, were, in 1851, $599,980 ; in 1856, $1,326,992; in 1861, $1,476,107. ^' The following table, by J. G. Hodgins, LL.B., r.R.G.S., taken from 'Eighty Years' Progress,* etc. (p. 524), will give an idea of the educational ^K'l A Hand-hoolc for Settlers. 25 advance of Lower Ca ^nada betw ecn 18o2 an 1861. Year. Educational Institutions Pupils. Aesossments and Fees. of all kinds. tiWA&VA ••• x/ W w • 1853 . . 2,352 . , 108,284 . . $165,848 1854 . . 2,795 . , 119,733 . . 238,032 1855 . . 2,868 . , 127,058 . . 249,136 1856 . . 2,919 . , . 143,141 . . 406,764 1857 . . 2,986 . . 148,798 , . 424,208 1858 . . 2,985 . . . 156,872 . . 459,366 1859 . . 3,199 . . 168,148 . . 498, i36 1860 . . 3,264 . . 172,155 . . 503,859 1861 . . 3,345 . . 180,845 . , 526,219 ^^ As to religious privileges, we are also on the whole favourably situated. The right of judging for ourselves in these matters is universally recog- nized ; and in the eye of the law we stand on an equality. The common denominations have all a place amongst us, so that we may each, if such be our desire, have the opportunity of connection, in the older portions of the country, at any rate, with those among whom we may have beej. brought up, or who may be preferred by us. Fair allowance being made for difference in circumstances, the means of instruction will compare favourably as to character, in the greater part of these bodies, with those enjoyed by them elsewhere. Speaking gene- rally^ the usual forms of Christian exertion — the 26 Canada in 1864 M' III ! ill m iw^- ill Sabbath scliool, Biblo class, Bible, Tract, and Mis- sionary Societies, and kindred organizations — are found in healthful and vigorous operation among them. Notwithstanding their differing views, these denominations, moreover, dwell side by side in peace, treat each other with the courtesies common in other parts of the Christian world, and co-operato with one another for common objects, as much at least as is common in the lands whence they have come. The institutions for the rehef of want and distress in its various forms, which usually follow in the wake of Christianity, have place and are carry- ing on their good work in our midst. ^'6. The union which it offers of the advantages characteristic both of the older and the newer states of society, ^' By selecting as their home the older parts of the country, those whose tastes would lead them to give the preference to the former may secure them in fair measure, provided they bring with them the necessary requisites in character, habits, and means ; while such as are willing to share the usual fortunes of the latter, may calculate on the chances open to them in ordinary circumstances. Growth, with its attendant advantages, is in these chiefly a question of time and patience. At a much earlier age, and with much less of struggle than is requisite in older countries, the diligent and economical may hope to place themselves in a position of independ- A Hand-hoohfor Settlers. 27 enco. As a general tiling, tlio means of com for table support is within the reach of the industrious, on conditions much less onerous than in these. '' 7. Its relations and status, '^ The emigrant to Canada has, in the fact of its forming part of the British Empire, the guarantee of one of the most powerful nations on the earth for his protection against injury from without. In this respect, as in every other, the mother country has of course a right to expect that wo shall make every reasonable effort to help ourselves. Should the necessity arise, this ^vill be done ; and being done, there need be feared on her part no failure. '^Against the risk of any movement from within, which would interfere injuriously with him, he has equal assurance in the hearty loyalty and affectionate attachment of our people to the parent state, which would make them contemplate the prospect of sepa* ration with dislike, rather than pleasure. " The connection of Canada with Britain gives her also a standing which, in addition to its agreeable- ness, is fitted to render important aid in her develop- ment. It tends to operate thus by the feeling of self-respect which it inspires and fosters, by the honours which it holds out to the ambitious the hope of sharing, and by the examples that are felt to be constantly inviting imitation. '' Eetaiuing, as he does, his connection with the land of his birth, the native of the British Islands li ry ' • I "i ', i 1 i 28 Canada in 1864 : who chooses Canada as his homo, is saved from much of tho feeling of expatriation which lie would oxperionce elsewhere. He finds himself but half a stranger, if even that. Ho looks with a pride, of which he was perhaps never previously conscious, on the old flag, as it floats over him ; exults in his country's glories as his own ; and finds a hymn in the National Anthem. ''8. The steadiness and satlsfactorincss of its groiufh. " A few particulars are all our space will admit in illustration of this. " Tho population of United Canada numbered in the year 1800, 210,000. It was in 1825, 581,920 ; by 1851 it had reached 1,842,265. In 1861 it amounted to 2,506,755. The advance in Upper Canada between 1825 and 1861 has been from 581,027 to 1,396,091— not much, less than 800 per cent, in 36 years. ^'In 1831, the number of cultivated acres in the whole of Canada, Upper and Lower, was 2,884,345. It came up in 1844 to 4,968,408 : and in 1851 to 7,300,837. The returns for Lower Canada, for 1861, have not yet been published. In Upper Canada alone, 6,051,619 are reported for that year, ^^ Upper Canada had, in 1851, 99,906 occupiers of land. They numbered, in 1861, 131,983. It pro- ' ducedp in 1851, 12,682,550 bushels of wheat;' \ I ! A Hand-hook for Settlers. 29 11,891,807 of oats; 9,982,18G of potatoes; 3,110,118 of turnips ; of Hax or hemp, 59,080 lbs.; 3,009, 87J» lbs. of maplo sugar. Its produce of these ar- ticles was, in 1801 — wheat, 24,200,425 bushels; oats, 21,220,874 ; potatoes, 15,325,920 ; turnips, 18,200,959; flax or hjmp, 1,225,934. lbs.; maplo sugar, 0,370,005 lbs. The value of the live stock in Upper Canada was, in 1 801, as much as $53,227,480; its agricultural implements, $11,280,347; its farms, $295,102,315. A similar progress will, wo doubt not, be shown in Lower Canada, when its agricul- tural statistics for tho year in question appear. *' In 1808, the value of tho entire trade of Canada was about $8,400,000. Tho value reached, in 1852 —exports, $14,055,973; imports, $20,280,493; total, $34,342,400. In 1801, its imports amounted to $30,014,195 ; exports, $43,040,823 ; total, {^79,001,013. The value of tho trade with the United States alone was, in the last of these years, sS35,455,815 ; the imports from that coun- try reaching (^21,009,388, and the imports to it ^14,380,427. ^' In 1851, the net revenue yielded by tho customs was ^2,808,831 ; in 1801, .^4,411,100. The value of books imported was^ in 1850^ {S243,580; in 1801, *5,050,943. '^ On roads, navigation and railroads, the province has expended as much as $^00,000,000, over and above the interest in the latter of parties out of the .f.>-VrAV^^ 30 Canada in 1864 : f 'i ijlii ii country. There are in use at this moment between 1^800 and 1^900 miles of railway; besides 3,422 of electric telegraph, belonging to the Montreal Tele- graph Company, which had, in 1861, a capital stock of rS'400^000 (to which it had advanced from *60,000, in 1847), employed 400 persons (35 in 1847), and conveyed 300,000 messages; the num- ber conveyed in 1847 having been 33,000. " Our post offices have multipHed from 3, in 1 766, to 69, in 1824; 601, in 1850; and 1,698, in 1860. The number of miles of estabhshed post roads was, in the first of these years, 170 ; in the second, 1992 ; in the third, 7,595; and in the last, 14,202. The miles travelled were, in 1766, 369; in 1824, 616; in 1851, 2,287,000; in 1860, 5,712,000. In 1852, 3,700,000 letters were transmitted; in 1860, 9,000,000. The expenditure of the Post Office was, in the former of these years, ^276,191, and its revenue {^230,629; in the latter, its expenditure was {§"534,681, and its revenue :;^658,451. One hundred and ten thousand dollars additional is paid per annum, by way of subsidy, to railroads; and four hundi'ed and sixteen thousand to steamships. ^' From the above it will be seen that our growth has been rapid, steady, and general ; not coming by fits and starts, or confined in its sphere. ^^ 9. Its prospects, " It cannot fail, without fault on the part of its people, to continue growing and to become strong Y- A Hand-book for Settlers. 31 and prosperous and influential ; for it has in itself, in its geographical position^ and in its relations, all the elements of greatness. But such failure is no^; to be anticipated, as self-respect, interest, and duty, unite in urging us to make the best of our position. The worst part of the struggle is over. To carry us to the height of any reasonable ambition, all that is necessary is perseverance for a moderate time in the self-denial and exertion of the past with the careful avoidance of its errors, as far as they may be discovered. '^ The motive to throw in their lot with us, held out by such a state of things to those who may be contemplating change, is manifest. To witness progress is pleasant, how much more to share in it and to be made partakers of the advantages it yields. ^^10. The common feeling of such as have made trial of the country, " Few who have lived in it for any length of time, possessing the characteristics and pursuing the course necessary to success, would willingly exchange it for the lands whence they came. Nothing is more common than for those who visit their old homes, after a few years' residence therein, to feel impatient till they get back. Numbers who have left it with the intention of remaining at home, have returned to it unable to enjoy themselves there. The freedom reaHzed here from the burdensome restraints of older 1^ iBTi l{ M''^m 32 Canada in 186 i : societies^ and tlio social consideration which the de- serving seldom fail to receive^ help to explain the above state of feeling. In the fact of its existence, the new comer, or the man contemplating coming, has fair promise and assurance that he will, in due time, feel himself one of us, and at homo among us. " The classes to which Canada will bo found spe- cially adapted are — ^^ 1. Farmers, and parties accustomed to agricul- tural pursuits. ^^ These may, if they bring moderate means with them, find cleared or uncleared farms, according to their taste, in most parts of the country, at prices moderate, though of course varying with quality of land, value of improvements, and location. Such as may be without the advantage of means may gene- rally, if prepared to accept of reasonable wages, find employment and comfortable homes among our farmers. By satisfying themselves for a time with these, they gain an acquaintance with the country, the modes of working best suited to it, the most de- sirable locations, prices of land, etc., which will save them much to which they would be in danger other- wise of being subjected, and help them to work at advantage to themselves. ^^ Though not in an equal degree, parties previously unaccustomed to agriculture, if disposed to devote themselves to it, may secure these advantages by the pursuance of the same course. Numbers are found. \l A Hand'hoohfor Settlers, it' all through the country, with good farms, and in comfortable circumstances, who had their knowledge to acquire after their arrival. If possessed of the physical requisites, and the power of adapting them- selves to new circumstances, none who make up their minds to persevere need despair, though, compared with the others, they must labour for a time under disadvantage. '^ 2. Mechanics, those especially of the more com- mon descriptions. '' These may generally find employment in one part or another, indeed in almost any part of the province, at fair wages, and -within a reasonable time. If well-behaved, industrious, and economical, they may hope to attain ultimately a good position both as to comfort and standing. Many of this class are to be met with in our cities, and even smaller towns and villages, living on their savings while yet com- paratively young. Those of trades less common run, of course, more risk, though numbers even of these succeed iu making themselves positions in the cities. T le possessors of spare means. What they may be able and disposed to invest will afford this class much better returns here, with- out the adoption of any course involving wrong, than at home. They may also, if desirous of making thcT selves useful, obtain (provided they possess the nec^i ary requisites) abundant means of doing so in harmony with their habits and tastes. ^ 8 .* t< I 34 Canada in 1864 ct Tlie things needful to success in Canada, with- out whicli none can hope for it^ and with which none need despair of it, are — 1. Fair health, intelligence, and capacity for useful action.. 2. Good principles, and correct, honourable habits. 3. Steady and patient perseverance. 4. A cheerful and hopeful spirit. 5. The blessing of God.'' From the foregoing '^'•^n reasons'' it will be mani- fest that Canada is one oi a healthiest countries in the world. In some of the swampy grounds, near rivers that have been dammed up for the purpose of rafting down timber, ague has been very pre- valent; but as the surrounding parts are cleared and cultivated, the disease vanishes. It may be as well to warn those who are coming out with the idea of at once obtaining one of the free grants of land given by Government, that, as soon as roads are opened, these lots are taken up mostly by old emigrants, and often as a speculation, with a view of reselling them at a profit to the new arrivals. The first settlers must of course encounter diffi- culties, though by no means to the same extent , as was the case in former days, when they had to cut their own tracks through thick forests, and to carry their wheat and other grains on their backs for sometimes more than thirty miles. Now the I iii V- A Hand-boolc for Settlers. 35 Government make good roads and bridges over lae swamps ; and when these are completed, saw-mills, grist-mills, and stores quickly spring up. Tlie great evil in these new settlements is the number of shibeens or whiskey- shanties that are imme- diately erected, the liquor being in general of the worst quality, and adulterated with all sorts of poisonous ingredients. In the backwoods, where laws and licences do not as yet prevail, intoxication is but too common among the mauvais sujets who are sure to be met with. Every shade of character, and many varieties of professions, are here repre- sented. The broken-down gentleman, the retired officer, the young and laborious aspirant to an inde- pendence, perhaps denied him at home, the ruined spendthrift, the desperate gamester, all may be seen in turn. And scarcely less diversified are the forms of religious belief — the EngHsh Churchman, the Romanist, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the- Mormon, cum multis aliis, each endeavouring to raise for himself a home in the wilderness. The Englishman will yearn for the sight of that far-away spire among the trees in the old country village, and vail miss the sweet sound of the bells that have so often summoned himself and his neighbours to the church of their forefathers. But as years roll on, his log-house, however solitary at first, will probably become the centre of a thriving township, perhaps eventually of a populous city; 36 Canada in 1864 and temples will be reared where not long ago the ancient primeval forests stretched far and wide in every direction^ obscuring almost his view of the very sky. Meanwhile, he will be encompassed by the grand old temple of God\s own making, the pathless, illimitable woods, such woods as in the eastern hemisphere suggested to his Teutonic ances- tors the idea of their Gothic piles, and invested their architecture with its distinctive character of vast and noble simplicity. \ \ '*..' ','■ '\' J ■', I •* 'If ' i-i"i4^:}i} % A Hand'hooh for Settlers. 37 CHAPTER II. Arrival in the backwoods — Building a shanty — Necessaries for the first year, and their cost — Cultivation of the land — Beaver meadow hay — Kates of postage — Postal communication past and present. I will now assume that you, the new settlor, have arrived at your destination in the backwoods and taken possession of your allotment of land there. Your next step is to select a spot for your shanty, which should be erected near a running stream, or at all events where water is easily procurable in the immediate vicinity. If you have undertaken Go- vernment duties, your loghouse should measure 16 feet by 20 feet ; if not, you can suit your own convenience, and unless you have a numerous family, 14 feet by 18 feet will be large enough. Having cleared the ground you must then cut your logs ; pine logs are to be preferred if readily attainable, being generally straighter and easier to chop than others. The troughs for the roof should be either of pine or basswood ; the latter is to be recom- mended as the lighter of the two, and consequently easier to handle and to split. A layer of these it ■", I 38 Canada in 1864 : > ii I I !'!■ troughs is placed on the rafters^ and then one in- verted over the edges of two. Having completed the preliminaries as far as possible, go round to your neighbours and ask them to " the Bee/^ i.e., to raise your shanty. You will find them for the most part very ready to respond to your call, and in return you are expected to give them the best you can get. Your female neighbours (if you are for- tunate enough to possess any) will aid you in your hospitable preparations. Unless you are yom'self a good builder, commit the " bossing "^ department to a more skilful hand ; and in a few hours your shanty will be reared with right good will. Your door and a place for your window must of course be cut ; the window itself you should procure before you go into the woods, and also hinges and nails for the door. Should there be no saw mill hard by, temporary boards may be made by splitting bass- wood with an axe : and if you have no stove, a fire- place may be constructed in one comer of flat stones, with a chimney formed of pieces of maple built up square, the bark being first stripped off, that the wood may be less likely to ignite. Or a square hole may be cut in the middle of the roof for the escape of the smoke, and the fire lighted on the floor, which should be raised by heaping clay or other earth upon it. For a large party the latter * The superintendent or head-man is called " Boss," both in Canada and in the States. A Hand-booh for Settlers. 39 contrivance* is the more comfortable^ as all may gather round the blaze, and it does not often smoke. Your dwelling should be lined throughout with moss, which abounds on the ash and various trees in the woods and swamj^s. Do not build too near one of the latter, or you will be constautly pestered by mosquitoes, and annoyed by the croaking of frogs. It may be as well here to insert a table of neces- saries and expenses for a man and his wife for one year : — PROVISIONS. 4 barrels of flour at £1 . . . li „ pork 80 bushels of potatoes at 2s. 14 lbs. of tea at 3s. . 1 barrel of white fish — mackerel or herrings .... Salt Seed. 10 bushels of potatoes at 2s. . 3 „ wheat at 5s. 10 „ oats at 2s. . Other Necessaries. 1 axe ..... . 1 grindstone . 1 shovel ..... £4 2 3 2 2 1 10 5 1 15 1 6 7 6 2 Carried forward p *. £16 7 6 ^\ 'Hi li !;i 40 i t Canada in 1864 : and glass Brought forward 2 lioes at 3s. each 1 brush hook 1 scythe . 1-inch auger 1 hand- saw 2 water-pails 1 window sash 1 bake-oven 2 pots 1 kettle . 1 frying-pan 1 tea-pot 3 tin dishes 6 spoons 6 knives and forks 3 pairs of blankets 2 rugs 2 pairs of sheets* 1 smoothing iron Ipig 1 cow Hay £16 7 6 . 6 . 4 . 5 . 4 6 . 5 6 . 7 6 . 2 6 . 5 . 7 G . 10 . 5 . 3 . 2 6 . 7 G . 1 . 5 Q o 10 . 7 G . 6 . 2 6 £24 15 . 12 G . 4 . 3 £32 7 6 * Sheets are rarely used at present in the far backwoods. I.I ' ; -J. t ■ s -iXi: .. \ A Hand'hooh for Settlers. 41 For the first year you could manage well enough with an open fireplace ; in the second you would re- quire a cooking-stove, which may be purchased with all appliances for £5 sterling, sufficient for your purpose. Should you own any hght carpenter's tools, bring them with you into the backwoods, where every little article may come into use. Of the necessaries enumerated above, the cow may, during the first twelvemonth, be dispensed with, in which case the hay for its use will of course not be required. As to hay, the backwoodsman can, generally speak- ing, collect enough for his cow ; the hay from the beaver meadows is very good, particularly the blue joint. Salt must be strewn over it as it is stacked, and in feeding the cattle or horses, it is advisable to administer to them about a tablespoonful of sul- phur once a week. Some of the beaver meadows* are of great extent, capable of producing many tons of hay ; and it should be one of your first cares to discover and select one not already claimed ; and, if late in the fall of the year, set fire to it and let it burn all over, clearing away the rubbish for mowing. Stack all your hay in one heap if possible, for much of it is lost in the cold season from the lower parts of the small stacks being frozen. Dur- ing the summer and autumn your cattle will find^ * Beaver meadows, i.e., originally beaver ponds ; tliej became meadows from the beaver dams having been destroyed, and grass springmg up where there was formerly water. if 42 Canada in 1 864 : ill excellent browsing in the woods and at the edges of the beaver dams. Sheep must not be left out at night in the new settlements, on account of tho wolves. Cattle will almost weather out the winter alone by browsing on the fallen trees, the bass-tops especially ; and they will light upon many pickings along the roads where lumbering is going on^ and at the feeding places. You will probably find the axe unwieldy at first, but you must not be discouraged by the difficulty, for you ought during the winter to chop four acres, which should be underbrushed before the snow begins to fall. This process of underbrushing is best accom- plished I y means of a brush-hook, a short thick scythe made for the purpose. All the lesser trees and the small stuff are to be chopped and laid in brush heaps; then at the commencement of the winter, chop your high trees, reserving such as you require for logs, or for splitting into rails. Your land being logged and burnt, sow your spring wheat and drag it in, no ploughing being needful the first year. If you are unprovided with oxen for logging, and your timber is too large to lay yourself with the help of only one other man, you must again have recourse to '^a Bee.^' v After a time your drawbacks and troubles will gradually decrease ; meanwhile one piecq of advice I would fain impress upon every new settler, and that is, to keep on good terms with youi^ neigh- ..t A Hand-hooh for Settlers. 43 bours, bearing in mind tho words of tho old song,— • " Lend a helping hand to others, It always bringeth bliss." What is moro or less the caso everywhere, is espe- cially brought home to one in tho l)ackwoods — that man is dependent upon his fellow-man. In all pro- bability you will be repeatedly asked for the loan of all the things you possess — lend them if possible, but always insist on their being returned to you at a stated time. In one of my localities, I happened to own more useful articles than my neighbours, and I was in consequence pestered morning, noon, and night by my borrowing friends. I began by lending almost unconditionally, but I soon dis- covered the necessity of stipulating in the first instance that the things borrowed should be restored to me at such an hour or on such a day, as it might happen ; and by adhering to this rule I was able to oblige others without being deprived for an inde- finite period of the use of my own property. If any one failed to comply with my regulation, I chalked his name on the door with that of the article unduly detained against it, to signify that I should not lend to him again. ., . As soon as anything like a settlement springs up in the backwoods, a school-house is erected, which generally serves also for a place of worship on Sundays. As buildings and inhabitants multiply, a '(' 44 Canada in 1864 local postmaster is appointed, who must find security for the fulfilment of the duties of his office. The following are the rates of postage in Canada : — Letters to any part of Canada, Nova f> )y 33 Scotia, and New Brunswick England by Canadian packets The United States British Columbia 5 cents. 121 10 25 ? 33 33 33 Letters to England must be directed to go '^ by British Packet '^ or '^ by Canadian Steamer." Letters can be registered in Canada for 2 cents, both the postage and the registration fee must in every case be prepaid.* A parcel by parcel post is 25 cents within the province, and 3 cents additional if registered. Handbills, books, etc., 1 cent per ounce. Printed circulars containing prices current, 2 cents each. Books to England, 4 ounces, 7 cents ; 8 ounces, sixpence sterling ; and for every additional 8 ounces sixpence sterling. CANADIAN NEWSPAPERS. PER QFABTEE. For a paper published 6 times a week, 40 cents. 33 33 3 33 33 20 33 33 li 2 33 33 18 33 33 >*> 1 33 33 6i 33 * If not, double postage is charged. '<:i t A Hand-booh for Settlers. 45 Where the postage is not paid in advance, 1 cent is charged on dblivery. Newspapers from England by Canadian packet are free ; by United States, 1 cent on delivery. Periodicals on agriculture, education, temperance, etc., are delivered free of charge. Money orders may be sent, as in England, at the following rates : — 10 dollars . . • 5 cents. 20 .10 40 60 80 100 99 9> >9 }} 20 30 40 50 >y 3) No single order can be issued for more than 100 dollars. Orders payable at any money- order office in Great Britain and Ireland can be obtained at any Canadian money-office. Stamps are sold for the different degrees of postage. The postage law and the misdemeanours connected therewith are the same as in England. Is it not strange to contrast the present state of postal communication, even in the remote and thinly- peopled districts of our colonies, with that which prevailed in Great Britain not a hundred years ago ? The time that was then consumed in the conveyance of a letter or a newspaper from London to Edin- \ \ Ill 46 ^ Canada in 1864 burgh would now suflSce to waft it across half the Atlantic Ocean. Among the many valuable advan- tages that the invention of steam locomotion has bestowed upon mankind, we may reckon as one of the greatest the easy and rapid transmission of news, both public and private, from the mother-country to her most distant possessions. And when we look at the still more recent marvels of the electric tele- graph, which promises ere long to encircle the earth as T^ith a zone, we feel that time and space are thus comparatively annihilated, and our friends and rela- tions in the other hemisphere, or on the further side of the equator, are drawn, as it were, almost within the reach and compass of our daily life by the happy discoveries of those great men whose names will ever adorn the 19th century, and render it a memorable one in the annals of science. 1 1 A Hand-booh for Settlers. 47 CHAPTER III. Taxes — Duties required of the settler — Volunteers — Naval brigade — Ways of making mone^ in the backwoods — Potash — Berrj- picking, etc. — The tea-plants of North America — Other Tcge- table prduoctions — Receipts — Cookery. The taxes in Canada are very light, and a colonist may be settled in tlie backwoods for years before the tax-gatherer calls: my farm was 150 acres in extent, and my taxes never amounted to £2 per ' annum ; but of course much, or all depends on the value of the property. Every resii The Flowemng Dogwood, — The inner bark of this tree is exceedingly bitter, and has proved an excel- lent subetitute for Peruvian bark. It may also take the place of galls in the manufacture of ink ; from A Iland-hooJc for Settlers. 63 the bark of the more fibrous roots the Indians ob- tain a scarlet dye. An infusion of the flowers is used in intermittent disorders. The Sorrel Tree. — The leaves have a pleasant acrid taste, and are known to hunters as a means of allaying their thirst. A decoction is made from them, forming a refreshing beverage in fevers. The branches, when combined with salts of iron, yield a black dye ; in Tennessee they are employed in colour- ing wool. The American Rose Bay Tree. — Although not growing wild so far north as Upper Canada, it may be seen in some pleasure gardens, where, in its early stages, it requires protection during the winter. The leaves are sudorific and narcotic, and have been given successfully in rheumatism. The Mountain Laurel. — The American Indians make small dishes, spoons, etc., from the bark. A decoction of the leaves has been known to be swallowed with a view to self-destruction. They are applied in a pulverized form, internally for fevers, and topically for the relief of cutaneous affections. A few drops of the tincture, which were once poured on the body of a large and vigorous rattlesnake, killed it in a short time. The powder oh the leaves is taken as snuff in some parts of the country. The American Ash. — Shafts, felloes of waggons, frames of carriages, spade and hoe handles, etc., are made from the wood. The inner part of the bark 1^ •'•1 54 Canada in 1864 : imparts a very permanent yellow to skins, and is used with advantage in dyeing wool. The Silvery 'leaved ShepJierdin. — The fruit makes an excellent preserve, and the jelly is thought pre- ferable to currant. The Lobelia. — It grows wild, and an infusion of the leaves acts as an emetic. The Maiden-hair Gapillaria. — This flourishes everywhere ; from it is extracted the excellent Sirop de capillaire. RECEIPTS. For sprains and swellings. — Boil some elder bark, and foment the parts affected. (A concoction of this bark makes a strong emetic.) For had cold. — Steep some small cedar boughs in boiling water, and soak the feet in it at a moderately warm temperature. For those tvho live or worh near marshy, siuampy grounds. — Take equal parts of wild cherry, slippery elm bark, and prickly ash, and pour whisky over. Drink a small wine-glassful before going out in the morning. ' "' " '- - ^*'^ "^ * For exhaustion produced hy over-exertion and fatigue. — Ginseng. It was formerly gathered in quantities by the Indians round Montreal, and much was exported to China. Father Jartout, a Jesuit missionary there, describes its remarkable effects upon himself. His pulse and his appetite were in- creased, and his whole frame was invigorated. M \-. ■? A Hand-book for Settlers. 55 'ly For colds and diseases of tJie lungs. — Tho Iceland or reindeer moss boiled down to a jelly. It is very nourishing ; and in Norway, in times of scarcity, it forms the chief diet of the poorer inhabitants, mashed and boiled with the inner bark of the pine tree. For cuts and luounds, — Pure balsam. On the stem of the tree you will observe the bark raised in the shape of little round heaps, which are full of the balsam. Cut away the bark with a sharp knife, and insert the point to make the gum exude. Cover the injured part therewith, and it will soon heal. For ague, — Cayenne pepper and whiskey are much used by the Indians in this complaint, and, combined with wormwood, they form an excellent remedy. For horses, when hide-hound. — Tamarac bark, pounded and mixed with a bran-mash, is capital. Every store in Canada is full of quack medicines of every variety, professing to cure all tho ills that flesh is heir to. Certainly " Ayer^s Cherry Pectoral '' is much to be recommended for coughs and colds the ingredients are bitter almonds and morphia. Quack doctors abound, and thrive, I believe, more than the regular practitioners ; partly, I fancy, from their charges being lower. In this country the medical man is rarely sent for until the patient is at deatVs door, and then the former is blamed for not making the latter a sound man again. Hops grow plentifully in the backwoods, but they are seldom employed in making yeast. A iff 56 Canada in 1864: bachelor having to manufacture his own bread, will find, in the absence of carbonate of soda, that com- mon salt will answer his purpose. Mix a little flour and salt with some milk, and put it near the fire, and at the end of a few hours you will have a capital substitute for yeast. If you have no oven, which is, of course, the best thing for the purpose, you may bake your bread in a frying-pan, placed in an almost perpendicular position before the fire, and kept con- stantly turning ; or you may bury your dough in a heap of warm ashes. With the help of an iron pot, Norwegian greed can easily be concocted, and famous stuff it is. Put a lump of butter into your saucepan, and when melted, add a little flour, rolling it round to prevent its becoming burnt ; increase the flour gradually until you have a sufficient quantity, adding also milk or water, and stirring all constantly with a spoon ; when it has boiled, or rather simmered, for half an hour, you will have provided yourself with a capital breakfast or supper. ' ju. The Indians generally roast their meat before the fires with forked sticks placed in the ground, and a duck eats better cooked in this way than in any other that I know of. The bird is suspended with its head downwards, the neck being tied up to prevent the escape of the gravy. White French beans, boiled with a bone of salt pork, make excel- lent fare for the backwoodsman, much to be recom- mended before encountering a hard day's work. A Hand'hoolc for Settlers, 57 The bean will grow on any land, and fetcli a good price in the market. Your meat should bo boiled or stewed slowly, with the pot completely covered, or the best part of your food vanishes in thin air. The lower class of English are proverbially bad cooks, frying or boiling their meat to a cinder, and thus wasting much of it. A man intenduig to emigrate to these woods would do well to acquire beforehand a little knowledge of the culinary art, which is at a wretchedly low ebb here ; he should also have some insight into the butchers' trade, in order that he may improve upon the custom now usually in vogue when animals are slaughtered. Directly an ox or a sheep is killed, and while the flesh is still quivering, it is cut, or rather hacked, into all conceivable forms, quite regardless of rule; then the joints (if they may be so called) are pitched into a cask, which is filled up with salt. The sheep's head and trotters are thrown away as useless things ; a sample of the waste and profusion you may often witness among the inmates of a loghouse. -ti 58 Canada in 1864 : CHAPTER IV. The Eed Indians — Sir F. B. Head upon tliem — Tiieir charactor — How influenced by association with the white men, and the introduction of ardent spirits among them — ^Their present condition— Specimens of their legends. Th3 following extract from tlie remarks of Sir Francis B. Head, who, as is well known, was Go- vernor of Canada during the reLullion of 1837, on the Indian race, will, I think, be the best possible introduction to the subject of my present chapter : — ^' The fate of the red inhabitants of America, the real proprietors cf its soil is, without any exception, the most sinful story recorded in the annals of the human race. From what they have suffered from our hands, and the cruelty and injustice they have endured, the mind, accustomed to it own vices, is lost in utter astonishment at finding in the red man's heart no sentiment of animosity again ^t us, no feel- ing of revenge ; on the contrary, that our appearance at the humble portal of his wigwam is to this hour a subject of unusual joy. If the white man is lost in the forest, his cry of distress will call the most eager huntsman from his game ; and among the tribe there ■ .t THE BOY WHO SET A SNARE FOR THE SUN. THE ORIGIN OF THE KUG E BEEN WA KAG, Or DORMOUSE. In the far-off time in which the animals reigned over the earth, they killed all the human beings excepting a girl and her little brother, and these two Hved in fear and seclusion. The boy was a per- fect pigmy, and never grew beyond the stature of an infant ; but the sister increased with her years, so that the labour of providing food and lodging for both devolved wholly on her. She went daily to procure wood for her lodge, and took her little helpless brother with her, in order to protect him if possible from any untoward accident, for he was so tiny that a large bird might have flown away with him. She made him a bow and arrows, and said to him one day, '^ I will leave you behind here ; you must hide yourself, and you will soon see the Gitshee-gitshee gaun, ai seeng (snow birds) come and pick the worms out of the wood which I have been chopping*' (for it was winter time) : " shoot one of the birds * Adapted from Schoolcraft's " Indians." '11 64 Canada in 1864 : and bring it home/* He obeyed her, and tried his utmost to kill one, but had to go home unsuccessful. His sister told him he must not despair, but renew his endeavours the next day, and accordingly sho left him at the place at which she procured wood, and returned without him. Towards nightfall she heard his light footstep on the snow, and in he came, exultingly, throwing down a dead bird. '^ My sister,'* said he, *^ I wish you to skin it and stretch the skin, and when I have shot more birds I will have a coat made of the skins.*' — '^ But what shall wo do with the body ?** she asked, for as yet men had not begun to eat animal food, but lived on vege- tables only. — '^ Cut it in two,*' replied the boy, '' and season our pottage with one half of it at a time.** She did so ; and the brother, persevering in his efforts, managed to kill ten birds, of the skins of which his sister manufactured for him a coat. '^ Sister,** asked he one day, '^ are we all alone in the world ? is there nobody else living ?** The girl told him that those who had destroyed their relations, and whom they had so much reason to fear, dwelt in a certain quarter, and that he must by no means go in that direction. But her words only served to inflame his curiosity, and to excite his ambition ; and soon after he took his bow and arrows, and sought the very spot against which his sister had warned him. After walking a long while with- out meeting any one, he laid down quite tired upon '>■■ A Hand'hooh for Settlers. G5 a knoll^ where the sun had bleached the snow, and fell fast asleep. And the sun's rays beat so hot upon him, that they singed and contracted his bird- skin coat, so that when he awoke and stretched him- self, he felt as if he were bound in it. He looked down, and seeing the damage done to his garment, Hew into a passion, upbraided the sun, and vowed vengeance against it: *'Do you think that you are too high V said he. ^^ Ah ! I shall revenge myself/' On returning home he related to his sister the disaster that had befallen him, and lamented bitterly the spoiHng of his coat. He would not eat ; he lay down as one that fasts, and did not rise, nor even alter his position for ten days, in spite of all the girl's efforts to arouse him. Then he turned round and laid for ten days on the other side, after which he got up and told his sister to make him a snare, for he meant to catch the sun. She said that she had nothing of which to make it, but at length she recollected a piece of dried deer's sinew, left by her father, and from this she quickly manufactured a string suitable for a noose. But the moment she showed it to her brother, he told her that it would not do, but that she must procure something else. She again replied that she had not the wherewithal ; but at last she bethought herself of her hair, and pull- ing some from her head, she converted it into a snare. But the boy said pettishly that neither would lii r y\\ 66 Canada in 1864 : tills answer his purpose, and still he bade her make him a noose. She repeated her former asser- tions, and desired him to leave the lodge. When she was alone, she again took some of her own hair, and plaited it in such a manner as to form a tiny cord. She then called her brother and handed it to him. The moment his eye rested on this curious braid, he was delighted. '^ This will do," he ejacu- lated, and putting it to his mouthy he pulled it through his lips, and as fast as he drew it, it changed into a metal cord, which he wound round his body and shoulders till he had obtained a great number of yards. He then prepared himself, and set out a little after midnight, that he might catch the sun ere it should ascend into the heavens. He set his snare on a spot at which the burning orb of day would strike the land, as it climbed above the earth^s disc ; and, marvellous to relate ! he caught the sun, which, being held fast in the cord, could not rise. The animals, finding that daylight did not ap- pear, were in a great commotion. They called a council, and one was appointed to cut the cord. This was a hazardous enterprise, as the sun^s rays would burn those who approached them. At last the task was undertaken by the dormouse, at that time the largest animal in the world ; and when it stood erect, it looked like a mountain. When the dormouse reached the place where the sun was snared, its back began to burn and smoke with the d Hand-book for Settlers, 67 intensity of the heat, and tlie upper part of its body was reduced to a lieap of aslies. It succeeded, how- ever, in cutting the cord with its teeth, and freeing the sun, but was itself reduced to a very small size, and has remained so ever since. WA WA BE ZO WIN, OR, THE SWING ON THE LAKE SHORE. Once upon a time there was an old hag, who lived with her daughter-in-law and an orphan boy whom the latter was rearing. When the son came home from hunting, it was his custom to bring his wife the lip of the moose, the kidney of the bear, or some other choice bits of different animals, which she would cook crisp, so that when eating them a crackling sound would be heard. This kind attention of the hunter to his spouse excited the old woman^s envy J and in order to possess herself of these luxuries, she finally resolved to make away with her daughter-in- law. To accomplish her purpose, she adopted the following stratagem : — She asked the young woman to leave her infant son in the care of the orphan boy, and to go out and swing with her. She undressed herself, and fastened a leather strap round her body, and began to swing over the precipice. After a short time, she told her daughter to take her place ; the latter obeyed, imi- tating exactly the example of the elder. When the swing was in full motion, so that it cleared the pre- •I' , ! ' I I 11 1 1 ! LI G8 Canada in 1864 : cipico at every sweep, the old woman slyly cut the cords, and the poor creature fell into the lake. '^Pho hag" then disguised herself in her companion's cloth- ing", returned home in the dusk of the evening, and feigned herself to be her son's lost wife. She found and nursed the child. The orphan boy asked her '' where its mother was.'' '' She is still swinging." "I shall go and look for her," he said. When the husband came in at night, he gave the coveted morsel to his supposed wife. He missed his mother- in-law, but made no remark. She eagerly devoured the dainty, and tried to still the child. The man looked astonished at her averted countenanf ', and asked why the infant cried so. Meanwhile, the orphan had reached the sea- shore, and had discovered no traces of the lost woman. He returned, and while the old mother was without cutting wood, he mentioned his sus- picions to her son, and told him all his thoughts. The man at once painted his face black, stuck his spear inverted into the earth, and prayed the Great Spirit to send lightning, thunder, and rain, in the hope that the body of his wife might rise from the water. Then he began to fast, telling the boy to take the child to play on the lake side. After the young woman had fallen in, she was seized by a water-tiger, whose tail twisted round her body and drew her to the bottom, where she found all things ready for her reception, and became ^Art.aaiiijAii.. A Hand-hooh for Settlers. C9 his wife. Wliilo the children were sport iug along the shore, and the elder one was casting pebbles into the lake, a gull emerged from its centre, flew to the land, and assumed a human form, in which he re- cognized the lost mother. She wore a leather belt around her loins and another of white metal, which was in reality the tail of her spouse the tiger. She said, ^^ Come here with the child whenever he cries, and I will nurse him." The father accompanied them, and the gull again appeared, assumed her former shape, and began to suckle her little one. The man struck the chain with his spear, severed the links, and took the trio home with him. When they entered the lodge, the old woman looked up despairingly, and shook her head. A rustling was audible in the lodge, and the next moment she had £ed forth, and was never heard of more. r 1 1 1 ii 1 A ' 1 ! ;! ! i ■' ' il ! , 1;, ■ * il (^ I ' ' ^)i^ '' 70 Canada in 1864 : CHAPTER Y. Trapping and other ways of taking* animals in the backwoods, with hints to trappers, and somo information as to the relative value of different furs. The process of fitting out for trapping is by no means an inexpensive one. Bear traps are seldom used^ being botb costly and unwieldy ; a bear was caught quite lately in a steel one, weighing about 140 Ibs.j tliis lie carried off bodily with the greatest ease, and was not captured until he had been fol- lowed a distance of ^ve miles. Honey had been deposited in different spots in the vicinity of the trap, and heads of Indian corn strewn plentifully around. There arc two sorts of bears in Upper Canada — the brown-nosed and the black ; the latter being the larger of the two. Many of these animals are taken in New Brunswick by means of dead falls with weights sufficient to hold the bear, the weight required being from 700 to 900 lbs., and honey is the best bait. I was told by a Canadian that he had placed a gallon of molasses, mixed with the same quantity of whiskey in one of the sugar-making troughs, and thereby successfully enticed a bear to A Uand-hooh for Settlers. 71 drink of tlio intoxicating draught, wliicli so stupe- fied him that ho was easily despatched. The Canadian bear generally retires to his winter quarters in the latter part of November, and emerges again in April. Last spring I observed numerous tracks as early as the first week in the month, the snow being then about eight inches deep. Beavers abound in most of the back^yoods of Upper Canada, and have been on the increase, as until the last few years they were not destroyed. For a long time the skins only fetched a mere trifle, about sixpence per lb. ; when they were used in the manufacture of hats, they were worth from three to five dollars a pound; but when silk and other materials were introduced in their stead, they fell immediately, and at the present day they are sold at six shillings a pound. A large beaver in spring will weigh perhaps forty-five pounds, and its skin four and a quarter. By some persons the flesh of this creature is esteemed a delicacy, a taste in which I do not concur j however, the tail makes an unde- niable soup, and a capital stew, which is one of the favourite dishes at an Indian feast. The beaver is an easy animal to trap. On all the principal beaver-dams there is one part at which he crosses as he passes on his way to and fro to exa- mine the other dams, or to collect food ; and you should set your trap a little to the side of this track, and in the water where it is about five inches deep. 1 '" 1 r h I;: 1^1 r ih 72 Canada in 1864 : jli: :; ill: ij B It! '; 1 i' ': I'i Make fast a stone, weigliinf^ soine fifteen pounds, to the trap, and tlien attach to id a long piece of wood to float as a buoy. As soon as the beaver feels himself caught, he plunges into deep water, and the weight of the trap with the stone sinks and drowns him, while tlie floating buoy points out to the trapper the spot at which his prey is to be met with. It fre- quently happens that the beaver will break the float or buoy in two, which makes it difficult to find the trap; again, if the latter is not large enough, the little fellow will be caught by the toe, and will burst away. On the shores of the lesser dams you may often observe a small mound called a scent-hill, bearing a near resemblance to an ant-hill ; the male deposits thereon some weeds or mud scented with castor,* as a token to the female where to meet him ; opposite to this, and in the water as befor<.^, set your trap after the same fashion, and with the same precautions indicated above. The beaver- houses are often ten feet in height, and more than seventy in circumference at the base; tho}^ are con- structed of sticks, sand, and mud, interwoven and intermingled so closely ' lat it is almost impossible to break them apart, unless each piece is pulled out separately ; the work of destroying one of the^e huts has taken me nearly a whole day. A man in my neighbourhood, quite a Baron Munchausen in * Oastor {castoreum) is contained in tha glandulous pouches of the male. A Iland-hooh for Settlers. 73 liis way, told me he iiad once killed a gi^eat num- ber of beavers in the following manner : — He went with a good lantern and a club to a beaver dam, which he had broken away by day, and close to which he held the light as soon as it grew dark ; when the beavers came to repair the damage, he slaughtered twelve in succession by knocking them on the head with his club. Many scents are em- ployed to attract the beaver; the c£'cavers will often turn the course of the water, to enable them to float the timber down to it. They generally i \ r I " U- n Canada in 1864 : manage to fell a tree on tlie exact spot clioscn by themselves; still it will sometimes happen that it falls the wrong way and upon a beaver_, but this is not often the case, as a warning is given when the tree is about to descend. The size of some of the trees laid low by these animals is astonishing ; I measured two white poplars more than three feet in diameter. The beaver brings forth from two to five young ones at a birth, and is three years in attaining maturity. The fisher is very difficult to catch, being as wary as a fox. The best bait for him is a piece of the musk-iat, or of fish. When you have made yourself acquainted with his haunt, set your trap, well covered with moss or leaves, hanging your bait about a foot or eighteen inches above the pan ; a spring-pole must be fastened to the trap, or the fisher would soon gnaw ofi' his leg and escape ; this contrivance is soon made by bending a pole over till it nearly touches the ground, then cut a notch in the side of a small tree, or hammer a peg into the earth, so that the end of the pole may bear against it. As soon as the fisher is caught he will struggle violently, and by his pulls upon the trap the spring-pole will be detached from the peg or tree, and your prey then hangs aloft in the air. In the season the fur of the fisher is worth from four to six dollars. In order to get off the skin, make an incision, commencing at the tail, a/d you will be able to turn it inside out ; A Hand-booh for Settlers. 75 it must then bo stretclied on a thin piece of board and dried. The otter, not again, is not very easy of capture. Where he frequents, he is in the habit of making what is called an otter slide, that is, the part of the bank where he slides down into the stream. This is readily to be distinguished, and exactly below where he drops, set your trap with the pan about three inches deep in the water. Be careful not to approach the spot afterwards, nor to touch anything near it, otherwise the otter will scent you, and will take good care to remain at a safe distance. Otters, when met with in the snow, are easily killed ; from the shortness of their legs they are unable to run through it, and the progress they make by means of short jumps is necessarily tardy; hence they are quickly overtaken. The fur of the otter is more valuable than that of the fisher, commonly averaging from six to seven dollars. Both of these animals require for their capture a double spring- trap, and a very strong one. We now come to the mink, at the present time the most valuable fur producer of Canada, in pro- portion to its size, with the single exception of the black fox j this last year a good mink skin being worth four dollars, and even more. There are several ways of trapping the m.ink ; that usually re- sorted to is a steel trap, the size of an ordinary rat- trap, minus the teeth. Construct a small house. 76 Canada in 1864 : I I '1 1 'il m P I! rli ii': i: !i: I oval in shape, and about a foot in diameter, by sticking pieces of wood into the ground at too nar- row an interval to allow of tho mink getting in between them except at the entrance; from this entrance build a passage about one foot in length, likewise of sticks, and sufficiently wide to admit your destined prey ; at the mouth of the oval set your trap fastened by a chain, and covered with leaves, and at its extremity hang upon a stick, somo six inches high, a small trout, a piece of iish, a red squirrel, or, better than all, a bit of musk-rat. Be patient, and the chances are that you will secure the mink a little sooner or later, by adopting this con- trivance. As in the case of the fisher, spring-poles are often used with the steel trap to prevent the mink from decamping with the loss of a foot. Another method of catching the mink is with the dead fall, either by means of the ordinary figure of four, or by the even simpler contrivance of placing a piece of stick under the upright or support of the fall or cross beam ; at the outer end of this stick the bait must be placed, and when the mink pulls at it, the stick turns round, slips from the upright, and the cross- beam falls on the animal's back. I have myself tried, but without success, the following Yankee device, which, however, sounds ingenious : — Nail some boards perpendicularly round the top of an empty flour barrel, deposit your bait at the bottom, throwing in some moss, leaves, etc. ; s >\ SieosSSeQ A Hand-hooh for Settlers. 77 I tlieu place your cask in an oblique position, so finely balanced tliat the additional weight of the mink will cause it to stand upright. When once in the cask, the height of the perpendicular boards will be too great for him to scale, and thus his capture is secured. The mink must be skinned in the same way as the fisher, and the skin stretched as long as possible ; if the inside is black it is not considered prime, and will not fetch half price. The fur is in excellent condition from October until the end of the winter; during the spring, which is the breeding season, it is of little value, and it is then illegal to trap the animal. The scent obtained from the male is the best wherewith to attract his fellows, but oil of rhodium and aniseed are also available. A resident not far from Toronto rears a number of minks, and annually sells their fur to the amount of £100 ; these creatures are easy to bring up, and become as tame as ferrets ; a wire netting round the place of their confinement is a sufiicient security against their escaping. Of martens there are two species inhabiting these regions — namely, the pine and the stone marten. Their habits somewhat resemble those of the fisher, but they are very scarce, and but \vw have been taken in my part of the cimntry. They are trapped in the same niannev as the mink, but their skms are less valuable. I hi $ m III! i s m li I I': i^l 78 Canada in 18 G4 : Foxes arc vciy numcroiis ; tlie cross fox is some- times found, and occasionally a silver one. I have not heard of any black foxes being caught or killed in Canada for some years past, although some are said to exist a few miles further west. The skin of the common fox is worth about two dollars, that of the cross from four to ten, that of the silver about thirty, and the black fox skin has been sold for as much as eighty or a hundred dollars ; robes made of this last being Avorn by the Imperial family of Russia on state occasions. There are various modes both of enticing and of catching: these animals. Some Indians have assured me that they could attract one close to them by imitating the squeaking of a mouse, and one told me that he captured foxes hj putting a mouse into a tuft of grass with its head visible, and placing it on the pan of the trap, which must be covered with ashes and chaff; when the fox perceives the bait, he makes a spring and is caught by the leg. When the snow is on the ground, it is a capital plan to take one of Master Reynard^s pads, and therewith to imprint a number of footmarks round the trap. Another device, and a very successful one, as I am informed, is to combine honey, assafoetida, and the corns from the inside of a horse's leg, and to smear the mixture over the trap, concealed as before by ashes, with the bait thrown around it ; some, how- ever^ prefer to tie the bait to the pan. An old trap- A Hand-booJc for Settlers. 79 per imparted to me another method : — ascertain tlio point at which the fox is wont to cross the neigh- bouring stream, and in all probability there will bo a stepping-stone whereon he puts his foot ; remove this stone, and substitute a trap as nearly as possible resembling it in its place, and the chances are that the next time he passes ho will step on it. It has been remarked by trappers that the fox dislikes wetting his feet. There is rather a noted old character, in his way, partaking of the poacher, the genuine huntsman, and the earth- stopper, who manages, with the aid of half a dozen curs, to kill many foxes, by first running them to earth, setting a trap inside, and then stopping it up air-tight. The same individual once slaughtered a wolf, and carried it about with him to every house in the neighbouring town, until ho had raised a considerable sum; for the dead body emitted such a dreadful effluvium that the people were glad to throw coin to the fellow to get rid of him and the carcase together. By this, and other schemes, he has managed to acquire some money, for he is now independent, and owns a comfortable farm, on which he and his faithful wife Bet* (a Bible Christian teacher) flourish : the old man, among his friends, with his dogs and his horn, seems as happy as a prince, especially when he can prevail on any one i: * Tlie faithful wife Bet died in January of tliis year. II 1 B I , ; : 1 ' i I' ■ . ' % fl : fl ii ■ ill:! in; M III llli ■ ft 80 Canada in 18G4 : to listen to his yarns about poaching, delivered in a strong Cornish dialect. The musk-rat is caught with less difficulty than any of the furry tribe ; out of the season the skin is worth little or nothing, but in the prime (the spring) it fetches about tenpence or a shilling. These crea- tures erect their houses in the fall of the year, at the edges of swamps, in beaver-dams, and on the land overflowed by rivers. Near their building or feed- ing-places may bo observed their tokens on logs floating just above the surface ; by these, score with an axe, or tomahawk a hole wide and deep enough to allow your traps (which should be made fast above) to be just under the water, and even with the log or timber on which the animals sit, and by this means you are sure of catching them. Another plan is to pull down a part of one of their dwellings, and set the trap near the entrance. The rat must be skinned, and the skin stretched in the same way as the beaver^s. The Indians roast and eat the flesh, which they declare to be excellent — first taking out the small bags of musk which are found in difierent parts of the body, and which prodm3e the best scent for enticing the living rats. They inveigle many by moonlight by counterfeiting their squeak, which is not unlike that of the house rat. The houses are made of grass and weeds piled up in the shape of an ant-hill, and some of them are very large. I think that I have now mentioned most of the ' !'Mffl i !t»atii.wMM ' .,. A Hand-book for Settlers. 81 far tribo caught in tho backwoods, with the excep- tions of the wolf and the lynx, and a few others. Wolves abound in tho unsettled townships; in a settled township the Government gives a premium of six dollars a head for each beast slain. The brutes are very cunning, and the only successful method of killing them, with which I am acquainted, is by destroying them with strychnine ; small pills of fat> each containing three grains of this poison, strewn over the carcase of a deer or a horse, are pretty sure to prove fatal to them. The skin is worth about three dollars. One hears wonderful stories of these animals chasing adults, but I have never witnessed any such display of courage on their parts, and I believe them to be arrant cowards. Tho lynx, or catamount, as it is called here, is not very common. It is an enemy to the lambs, and will sometimes attack a cow. A neighbour of mine, in Norway, on one occasion lost ten head of cattle through these beasts tearing the udders of the cows. The skin is not of much value ; and as lynxes are very scarce, the trapper troubles himself but little about them. The weasel and the ermine are caught in this country. The former is in great repute among Irish horse-doctors, who place it in the mangers of horses troubled with certain diseases, while some of the Irish ladi .a reckon it as a charm. , The skunk is one of the most beautiful little 6 82 Canada in 18G4 : I ! Ill ll I!: ii! Ii; animals in Canada ; but woo to him who approaches too near to one caught in a trap^ for the creature possesses the property of emitting by the movement of , 'its tail the most offensive and foetid stench, which will remain on the clothes until they have been buried in the earth for a long while. Among the Irish, skunk oil is supposed to be an antidote to rheu- matism. The marmot, or ground-hog, an animal that lives underground and feeds on clover, is harmless and comparatively worthless, although its skin is said to furnish good whip-thongs, and its carcase to be not bad eating. Black squirrels are very numerous ; the fur is serviceable for caps, and the flesh is excellent in curry. The Canadian hare is about the size of the Eng- lish rabbit, but has much longer legs, and in appear- ance resembles the mountain-hare of Scotland, in winter becoming white like the Alpine variety ; it is caught by snaring with wire and a spring-pole, or by a deadfall made of the bark of the bass-tree soaked in salt and water — the brine inducing the animal to gnaw the bark. The skins arc valueless, and so is the flesh, unless disguised in soups or stews. I have now touched on the different methods of trapping the furry tribe, so far as my own experience goes. The trap for the beaver and the lynx is one MHIH tm A Hand-booJc for Settlers. 83 size larger tlian tliat for the otter and tlie fislicr, and costs two dollars if only one is bought : the beat sort is manufactured by ^^ Newhou.:;e and Co., Oneida Community/^ which words are stamped on the pan of all their traps. The next size (No. 3) is for the otter^ fisher, and fox ; and next in order is the mink trap, which will stand the purchaser in about five dollars the dozen from the same company. There are many imitations of these traps, but they are generally useless, as you cannot set them square and even, and the springs are constantly breaking in severe weather. There is a new invention in America, in which the springs are under the pan of the trap, thus occupying less room an "^ exposing a smaller surface of iron. The big iron tiaps for cap- turing bears are dangerous and almost useless. The wolf trap is also larger in the jaws than that em- ployed for the beaver, 1 more likely to secure its. prey by catchino* him 1' ^ J up in the leg. A trapper^s outfit would be about as follows :— dol. cent. 2 dozen mink traps . 10 1 „ beaver traps . . IG i „ otter traps . 7 Tent .... . 8 Canoe . 7 Axe and tomahawk . 2 Carried forward . . 50 ■^v %, ..>^ <^, '^■■*^"":.^^ *». IMAGIe EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 'SS / A^ wLL U.. ^ ^ V] '//A /: ""h .^ ^>. > A ."'»' (? / 1.0 | £0 '■^™ S Si I.I 1.25 >- u 1.4 m 16 PhotogFaphic Sciences Coiporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 87?-4503 '^ €^., i h. <> k ^ I ''I'- 1; i H AMt I I Ml! ;i;,| Jii ' : i\ r: li - 'i 'J I'l- 'i i : 84 Canada in 1864 : dol. cent Brought forward . . 50 60 lbs. of pork • • i 2 50 00 „ of flour • • . 1 75 2 ,, of tea • • . 2 Powder^ shot, etc. • • a 4 A bake oven, pot, and frying pan . 2 G2 2 o If the trapper has but a fair run of sport in the two months in the fall of the year, he ought to make, even if the skins do not realize the sums previously mentioned, one hundred and fifty dollars. I give a fair average, and quote from the accounts of two (not first-rate) trappers for this last fall: — dol. cent. Eighteen deer . . . . 76 Six fawns . Thirty-five beavers Twenty mink Three otter . Forty musk-rat . 12 125 60 19 10 2)302 151 The expenses in the second year would be very small, as the canoe, tent, etc., would last him a long while^ or he might dispense with the latter by build- A Hand'hooh for Settlers. ing a shanty. Tlio autumn season for trapping and deer-liunting commences with the month of Sep- tember, and closes about the second week in De- comber ; the spring season is from the end of March or beginning of April until the first week in May, when the lakes all open and the hum of the mos- quitoes is heard ; this is followed by the swarming of the black flies, and for some three weeks they render the woods quite unbearable, filling your nose, ears, and mouth, and blackening your face ; it is labour in vain to sweep them off, as myriads are at hand to take their place, and continue the agreeable occupation of sucking your blood. Two or three years since these insects were in such numbers that many cattle were completely devoured by them, and a girl in the next shanty to the one in which I was living, returned from drawing water at about a hun- dred yards' distance with her face and throat in the same condition as if some thousand leeches had been applied to those parts. However, the black flies do not always amount to such a pest, though they are the greatest with \vnichl am acquainted in Canada ; and as fast as the land is cleared they vanish. Dur- ing their season, keep your house dark, and you will not be troubled with them within doors. The mosquitoes, which remain until August or Septem- ber, are nearly as bad. I have never encountered any venomous snake in Upper Canada. I have heard of one rattle-snake Hi I 86 Canada in 1864 : 1^ 'li^iii' m ; ill !':;'• lillil' 1;: til i''. !!i '' I li being seen, and report speaks of tlie existence of the puff-odder, but at all events it is extremely scarce. The garter- snake (harmless) is very common ; and some of the rivers and swampy grounds abound in the black-snake, a hideous reptile, though also inno- cuous ; it will sometimes measure six feet in length, and the thickness that of a man^s wrist. The pigs are deadly enemies to the rattle-snake, so much so that the latter seems to have altogether disappeared. Enough, I flatter myself, has now been said of trapping to enable the settlor to commence opera- tions in that line. I have not referred to partridge and duck shooting, as being the same all the world over. I may, however, mention that the partridge here (of the grouse species) flies up and roosts in the trees. Of these birds there are two sorts, the spruce and the common partridge; and further west you will find the quail, the wild turkey, and the prairie hen ; the latter is to be seen in immense quantities, particularly in the States. ;i-!|r ill ■!!, I 'Pli I ill! A Hand'boolc for Settlers. 87 CHAPTER VI. Fish and fisheries — The settler's occupations proper to each month in the year — Sleighs and sleighing. A LITTLE information about Canadian fisli^ and the best ways of taking tliem^ niay, perliaps, be service- able to the settler. Hooks arc much cheaper in England than in Canada, therefore I should recom- mend him to bring out a good supply of different sizes. For the maskanonge (which much resembles the pike) large cod -hooks will be found to answer best_, the trolling- hooks being generally too slight ; but he will find the latter of use when two or three are soldered together, with a copper or brass eye at the end. Some large and small hooks for trout and bass, some eel-hooks with a bent eye in the shank, some of the smallest size for catching bait ; also a few strong lines for mackerel, and a few fine ones for fly-fishing, will complete the necessary outfit in this department. Many of the rivers and lakes are full of maska- nonge, some of which weigh over fifty pounds. The usual bait for them is a spoon, either of silver, copper, or brass, according to the weather, the state ^-^-XA ■• i*»nw"n i! im lllV ; 88 Canada in 1864 : r 1 ||,^ iff ' I't' 11 !! 'ii ii^ '» i! i'ii:; i-\ ': !;■ :! ■^\ \ ilii ii Iff i;i! of tlio wutcr^ and tlie season ; on a bright day, tliey generally prefer silver, and on a dark one, copper or brass. The boat is pulled at the rate of two miles and a half an hour, the line towing astern some thirty yards ; the metal spinning round attracts the attention of the maskanonge, and numbers are thus caught in some waters. Many Yankees come here from the States for the sake of the sport in Rice Lake, a celebrated resort for fishing, shooting, and whiskey-drinking. Most of them despatch the fish they have secured to the markets in the States; while a few, both sportsmen and gentlemen, give away what they catch, and spend their dollars freely. The bass, which weighs from two to six pounds, is excellent eating, both fresh and salted; there are several species, of which the black is the best. It will often take the spoon-bait, and in July and August will bite freely at worms, clams, or the small cray-fish ; with the first a boy took a couple of bar- rels full one day in the river Trent. In August and September excellent sport with this fish may be had with a white or yellow fly (the latter is preferable), tied on a hook, and towed slowly behind a boat. Many sorts of trout are to be met with; the lesser streams and mill-dams, where there is good water, generally abound in the small speckled species, which are delicious eating ; they have occa- sionally been caught weighing one pound and up- wards. In the streams that run into the largo Ii : i m A Iland-booh for Settlers. 89 IS lakes, the salmon, salmon-trout, the lamprey, and the eel are plentiful. During the spawning season, many salmon are destroyed by spearing at night ; and although this practice is against the law, no notice is ever taken of these nocturnal poachers. Some of the settlers near the Trent gain a livelihood by the sale of eels, so abundant are they in this as in the other large rivers. They are taken with night-lines, and average about 4 lbs. AVhite fish, sturgeon, pickerel, and herring are captured in mul- titudes in Lake Ontario with gill and stake-nets, and near the shore with seines; while long lines are also used for salmon trout. Some of the farmers subsist chiefly by catching the white fish. A friend of mine in this neighbourhood often cures two hun- dred barrels during the season, each barrel being worth about seven dollars. The fresh-water her- rings exceed their salt-water brethren in size, but do not equal them in flavour when cured. There are very extensive fisheries of cod, ling, and mackerel, on the coasts of Labrador and Gaspe, which also swarm with shell-fish. I may remark, in passing, that the land in the Gaspe settlement is sold at a low rate, but I would not advise any emi- grants to select that coast, for the soil is poor, and the winters are very long and severe, as some unfor- tunate ^Norwegians found to their cost three years ago, being nearly starved out. There are very good salmon rivers along the coast of the Bay of Chaleurs, t 90 Canada in 1864 : W ' Li; r fi ,| i ,11, !P|: >;, i!'& lii^; ill, '■ li';' i;' -ii: -■n": i •( il! n^i^i! !iUii|l and also in tlic island of Anticosti, where a sports- man^ who did not mind solitude and ^^ roughing it " for a while, might vaiy his diversion by shooting bears, the only human inhabitants being the inmates of the lighthouse. But more of this anon. I now propose to give a slight sketch of the occupations proper to each month in Upper Canada, thinking it may not be unacceptable to the newly- arrived settler. January. — This is the coldest month in the year in these latitudes, the ground being covered with snow, and generaJly affording good sleighing. Lumbering will be going on at the shanties. You can also employ yourself in chopping for clearing land, and drawing fire-wood ; thrashing your corn, and taking it to market. Also, while the snow is deep is the time to break in your colts, should you possess any; and if you are located near fishing- grounds, you can angle with worms, or spear fish through the ice. February. — The same as in January, with the addition of splitting rails for fences, and preparing for sugar-making by getting troughs ready for con- taining the sap, and the boiling-pots carried on to the ground. Also spills for the sap may be made. March. — ^Lumbering still. Most of the timber will now be drawn on the lakes ready for rafting as soon as the ice breaks up. During this month r^-'^?'''!! l!!: '"!! 'i\ffrwratfiiaiiiini^wiiriMW^^^^^^ ^ A Hancl-bool- for Settlers. 91 is there is some little appearance of spring, the trees beginning to show signs of budding. After the first thaw, commence your sugar-making ; a sunny day and a frosty night will cause tlie sap to run. The spring season for trapping is from the end of this month, or the beginning of the next^ until the first week in May. Ajpril. — The frost begins to leave the ground, and the snow has nearly disappeared, except in the woods. You can generally plough in the middle of the month, and you should get your hotbeds in order for sowing quite early in May. May, — This is a beautiful time here ; the leaves are all out, the flowers are coming into blossom, and towards the latter end of the month the weather is generally very warm, the backwoods swarming with black flies and mosquitoes. The farmer must bo busy sowing his grain; while the fisherman can amuse himself, by no means unprofitably, with fly- fishing or trolling fbr bass and maskanonge. June, — Sheep-shearing usually takes place after the middle of the month ; turnips should be sown, and tomatoes and capsicums planted out, in the beginning, unless you have already done that work in May. Cucumbers will be ripe in the hotbeds. Haymaking begins. July. — Continue getting in your hay ; the wheat harvest commences about the last week in this month. The young ducks are ready for the sports- i I 92 Canada in 1864 : fi . '\U I'll . -if man ; and most of the finny tribo^ both in lakes and rivers, will bite freely. AiKjud. — The wheat harvest is generally over before the end of the month, and the other cereals are ready for in-gathering, with the exception of Indian corn and buckwheat. Deer are in good con- dition, and fish take bait eagerly. I'ho early apples are ripe. This is our hottest month. Septcivher, — The best month for sow^ing fall wheat, harvest peas, and oats^ and for fall ploughing ; also for duck-shooting. Deer are in prime condition. Autumn trapping commences. Octoher. — Indian corn to be harvested ; potatoes and turnips to be taken up towards the end of the month ; the plough is at work throughout the whole of it. Asparagus beds to be covered. Onions to be pulled, and grapes to be gathered; also apples, pears, and other fruit. Venison in season. Trapping continues. November. — This is a cold and windy time ; the leaves are beginning to fall, and the general aspect of nature to assume a desolate appearance. You may commonly plough to the close of the month^ Potatoes and turnips should be potted or housed. There is little rod-fishing, but plenty of trapping. December. — The winter has fairly set in, though it often happens that there is no deep fall of snow before Christmas, and the weather will sometimes be open and mild. Now kill your pigs, and salt down A Iland-booh for Settlers. 93 your pork for homo consumption or sale. Pork sells commonly at about five dollars the hundred pounds. Drawing wood and threshing oufc grain are the prin- cipal employments of this month. Trapping ends with the second week. Sleighing in Upper Canada lasts about two months, from the latter part of December until the end of February, on the roads bordering on Lako Ontario, which are not unfrequently bare of snow ; but this mode of transit is of much longer continu- ance in the woods. The introduction of the snow- plough, used in Norway, and, I believe, in Lower Canada, might be effected here with little trouble, and less expense ; it would greatly improve the sleighing, and also protract its duration. This plough covers about ten feet of ground, and makes a clear, smooth surface, hardening the snow^ and tending to prevent its drifting, as it blows over the track thus prepared, and leaves a space sufficient for the passage of the sleigh, and sufficient likewise to admit of two sleighs passing each other; whereas, in Upper Canada, if your vehicle encounters another, one is obliged to plunge into the deep snow, which is not only unpleasant but apt to be dangerous. One team can, without difficulty, manage ten or twelve miles a day, and the cost of the plough itself would not be more than ten shillings. Indeed, its utility is §0 obvious that it is^ extraordinary the Government n': ?» iX^_ 94 1:1 ;. in 'I'll- im Canada m 1864 ; the Lower Province T l.„i- ^,^''"^°« ^or 76'. Qd. In ?-- of -^ .^ood e Jr?r ': f "^^- ^^° -- about thirty dollars, and tha 'nf ^'^t"''° '^^'fe'"^' » «I«gh is a little ffior^ In7, ^^ 1^ '^""^^« °r I.uaber bn.-lt by the baekwo^ds^^f ,'^''*r'^ *''''J"'"P-r^ "30 ; the runners arc mld;ofT^'' " '" ''°'"'"0'^ "^«tead of being shod S, ." ,' "'" °^ ^^"^ '-ood, -d drawing tim1,er LT / f'^ l"' ^"^'^-'ng consist of two sLort swL T ^ f^^^^I^'^H wLic£ - tl^at they can tu^ts J; t ^LT r^'^^' There ,s another sort of these" r '"'^ 'P^<'«- trmnces in the States somllr. . P'"''*"^ "O'l- rock-ng-horse, the m17^^' ""'''' '"^^ ^^^^^ oU horseback. ^"^ ^''*'°& astride as if on There are few out don «now lasts; but I n.ay" excertTTT' ^^'^'^ *^« ^I at a fl,i,^ ^^-ept th.t f going down the Inian "Tabernac -) a Zl ^f ^"^^^ (from the end. These Tabaugens are Lo *"™''^ "? «* dunng the winter for ct. , ^^"^ ^^^ieeable enabling you to con^ Se fh ''• T ''^ ^'^°-' bear on your back, and^Wth . ^^'^^^ ^"^ ''''"W I introduced the lon^ Norf ^^ ^^ ^^'^ *° ^''"rself. a^d it has afforded sole r'^'"" '"°^-^^°^ ^ere, people; but it is oZLTT"'"'^' *° *^« W httle real use in these regions! A Iland-hooh for Setflcvu. 95 wlicTC tlicrc are no smooth fields or prairies to tra- verse, as in Norway, and wliero a ra})id descent down a declivity is somcwliat perilous, as you may chance to knock against a huge pine stum]!. In tho towns the inhabitants have their skating rinks, cur- ling matches, etc. ; but in tho country we have littlo or no diversion at any season ; nothing but incessant hard work to gather in the dollar, and ^'^go ahead/* To tho more thoughtful and cultivated minds, how- ever, the magnificent aspect of nature, in her alter- nate mantle of tho softest green and the purest white, is a never- failing source of pleasure. ■vi^MaMM in 90 Canada in 1864 h 'fit' ''II i i CHAPTER VII. THE MINERALS OF CANADA. By the kind permission of the members of the Geo- logical Survey, I am enabled to give the following catalogue of the minerals found in Canada : — METALS AND THEIR ORES. IRON. Bog Iron Ore or Limonite. — Deposits of this ore, in greater or less abundance, are spread out in Batches on the north side of the St. Lawrence, and between it and the foot of the Laurentide Hills, all the wav from Ste. Anne des Plaines to Portneuf, a distance exceeding a hundred miles. In this area the ore seems to be most concentrated in the neigh- bourhood of the St. Maurice and Batiscan rivers; and iron has been smelted in the neighbourhood of Three Rivers for upwards of a century. The St. Maurice forges were established in 1737, and con- tinued in operation until 1858. In 1831 from 250 to 300 persons were employed at the establishment ; but the ore and wood becoming exhausted, and the Radnor forges having been erected in the Seigniory A TIand-hoolcfor Settlers, 9? St. of Cap do la Madelaine, on the liivdero au Lard, a tributary of the Champlain River, in a vicinity where the ore and wood are still abundant, the St. Maurice forfjes went out of blast. The ore with which the liadnor furnaces are supplied occurs close to the surface, in a multitude of patches distributed over the country, with a thickness of from three to twenty- four inches. It is brought to the furnaces partly by the workmen of the company, and partly by the various farmers on w^hose lands the ore occurs. The chief manufacture of the company consists of cast- iron car- wheels, the price of w^hich at the forges is 2^ cents per lb. A rolling mill has been erected at this establishment for the rolling of malleable iron of superior quality, such as scythe iron, the price of which is 3 2^ cents per lb., and nail-rod iron, the selling price being 5i cents per lb. The quartzose sandstone, used for furnace hearths, belongs to the Potsdam formation, part of the lowest group of the Lower Silurian series of rocks. Blocks of from twelve to fourteen inches thick, four feet long, and twenty inches wide, do not require renewal oftener than once in two years. The ore is washed at the smelting works, to free it from soil, and it then contains between 40 and 50 per cent, of iron. The quantity used annually is between 4000 and 5000 tons. The bog iron ore is found also in the Seigniory of Vandreuil and at St. YalHer, but it has nevvr been worked. 7 w 98 Canada in 1864 : !:■ ii' M M^ nm:: lit. I 'j '■ uijil : 1$ ' \p I 111 k- The specimens contain about 50 per cent, of iron. Red Hematite or Oligist Ore. — This is found in MacNab. There is an un worked bed of 30 feet thickj containing^ by analysis^ about 58 per cent, of iron. In Sutton this ore yields from 20 to 50 per cent, of iron. It often contains a portion of titanium^ as rutile, ilmenite^ or sphene. Magnetic Iron Ore. — Sutton : A. bed of 12 feet thickj consisting of dolomite, abounding in small crystals of the magnetic oxyd of iron, which equals, in many specimens^ about 56 per cent, of the mass, thus giving an iron ore containing about 38 per cent, of metal. Two other bands of dolomite run parallel with the one mentioned, all in the space of 100 yards, on the projDorty of Mr. Oramcl Stutson. Marmora Iron Mine, Belmont, commonly known as the Big Iron Ore Bed of Marmora. It appears, however, not to be a single bed, but a succession of them (one measuring 100 feet in thickness), interstratified with thin bands of crystalline lime- stone and talcose slate, associated with diallage rock, serpentine, and epidosite. The breadth of the mass is eight chains. The ore contains between 60 and 70 per cent, of iron. Many years ago a furnace was erected at Marmora to smelt it, and iron of superior quality was manufactured. More recently, different companies have, for short periods, renewed smelting operations, with very satisfactory results ;'ii; •!!i!I ^4 Hand'boohfor Settlers. 99 in respect to the quality of the iron produced ; Lut the distance of the pLace from a shipping port has proved a serious obstacle to success.* Newborough^ S. Crosby : A bed of 200 feet thick in gneiss. It is situated on Mud Lake^ a part of the Rideau Canal^ and is the property of Messrs. G. Chaffey and Brothers_, who mine the ore^ and supply it at Kingston for 2 J dollars the ton, to vessels which carry it as back freight to Cleveland_, on Lake Erie ; whence it finds its way to the smelting furnaces at Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, in the State of Pennsylvania. About 4000 tons of the ore were thus exported in 1859. Hull: A bed of abort 90 feet in thicknct^s. Messrs. Forsyth and Co. commenced mining this ore in 1854, for the supply of their own furnaces at Pittsburg. Up to 1858 they had exported about 8000 tons. It contains between GO and 70 per cent, of iron. Grenville : A bed about 10 feet thick in gneiss, on the property of Mr. Thomas Loughran. * Since this report appeared, copper ore and lead ore combined •with silver have been found in this neighbourhood, and the dis<-anco from a shipping port is now lessened, as a steamer can take the ore from Heely's Falls, a distance of only eight miles, up the river Trent, into Eice Lake, whence it can be conveyed by railroad to Coburg, on Lake Ontario. There is not capital enough in the country to carry out the speculation of renewing smelting operations on a sufficiently extended scale ; if any English Company would try the experiment large fortunes might be made in a short time. !i 100 Canada in 1864 : y iiill •r: m iilil Grandison : A bed of about 20 feet thick in gneiss J on Government land. Madoc : A bed of 25 feet thick in gneiss. The ore is very free from sulphur_, and yields to analysis about 70 per cent, of iron ; it is a natural magnet^ displaying strong polarity. South Sherbrooke : Abed of about 12 feet thick in gneiss. The ore contains between 60 and 70 per cent, of iron. Hastings Eoad^ north side : A bed in gneiss. IhnenitCj or Titamferous Iron Ore with llutilc. — St. Urbain^ Bay St. Paul : A bed of 90 feet thick, which is exposed for 300 feet on the strike, and is traceable for about a mile. The ore has yielded to analysis — Oxyd of titanium . . .48*60 Protoxyd of iron . , . 46*44 Magnesia . • . .3*60 98*64 LEAD. Galena J or Suliohuret of Lead, — Gaspe, Indian Cove : A vein wliich rises northward into a hill about 700 feet in height, constituting Gaspo promontory. The vein has a width of about 1 8 inches. About six tons of ore of 60 per cent, have been obtained from a trial shaft of twenty feet in depth. Eamsay Mines, Ramsay : A shaft has been sunk on the lode to the depth of 37 feet, and the working A Hand'hooh for Settlers, 101 of 75 fathoms of groundj in 1858, yielded 2G tons of ore of 80 per cent. A smelting furnace lias been erected, with a fifty-horse-power engine. Lansdowne. Bedford : The distance between the Lansdowne and Bedford lodes is about 25 miles ; they bear for one another, and it appears not at all improbable that the veins in the two localities may be identical, or belong to one group. Though now abandoned, some of these are supposed to be still unexhausted ; and two of them are known, at one period, to have jdelded a great quantity of ore, one of them as much as 142 dollars worth to a fathom. COPPER. 8iilpJiurets of Copper. — Escott, near Brockville : The ore from this bed has yielded 10 per cent, of copper. Bruce Mines, Lake Huron : The main lode, which is worked with another of about the same thickness, is, on an average, from 2 to 4 feet wide. In a careful examination made in 1848, about 3000 square fathoms of these lodes were computed to contain about 6 J per cent, of copper. The quantity of ore obtained from the mine, since its opening in 1847, is stated to be about 9000 tons of 18 per cent. The number of men employed is thirty-four. The ores are in part sent to the Baltimore market^ and in part to the United Kingdom. "Wellington Mine, Lake Huron: The lodes of MHfei 102 Canada in 1864 : I' h-i 'J 11 'I ' this mine are probably a nortb-wcstward continua- tion of those of the Bruce mine. The quantity of ore obtained by the West Canada Mining Company since 1857 is a Kttle over GOOO tons of 20 per cent. In 18G1, the quantity was 1175 tons of 19 per cent., and from the Huron Copper Bay Mine, 1300 tons, making the total quantity obtained in that year about 3000 tons. The number of men employed is 260. All of the ore raised by this Company is sent to the United Kingdom. Acton Mine, Acton : The ore of this mine occurs in masses. In the first few weeks' work in 1859, about 300 tons of ore, containing nearly 30 per cent, of copper, were quarried, in open cuttings, from two of the masses, without making much apparent im- pression on the quantity in sight. The total quan- tity sent from the mine up to the end of 1861 is nearly 6000 tons, holding, on the average, about 17 per cent, of copper. Upton Mine, Upton. Bissonette's Mine, Upton. Wickham Mine, Wickham : An experimental shaft has been sunk to a depth of about 5 fathoms ; about 4 tons of 30 per cent, ore have been obtained from the excavation. Yale's Mine, Durham. Black Eiver Mine, St. Flavien. Harvey's Hill Mine, Leeds : The English and Canadian Mining Company employs about fifty hands. ,:sr.. ill A Hand'hoolc for Settlers. 103 St. Francis Mine, Cleveland. Jackson's Mine, Cleveland. Coldspring Mine, Melbourne. Sweet's Mine, Sutton. Craig's Eange Mine, Cliestcr. Nicolet Branch Mine, Ham. Gartliby : This appears to be a large mass of iron and copper pyrites, running N.E. and S.W. In some parts sulphurct of iron prevails, almost to the exclusion of that of copper, while in others there is as much as 8 per cent, of copper. Some parts assume the aspect of what, among Cornish miners, is termed ^^ bell-metal ore.^' Haskell Hill Mine, Ascot : The quantity of ore obtained from the bed by five men in five months is about 100 tons, yielding 8 per cent, of pure copper. ix. vein on lot 1 7, range 7, of Ascot, -within a mile of Sherbrooke, in addition to the yellow sulphurct of copper, has been found to hold traces of gold. Native Gosper. — Harrison's Location, St. Ignace Island, Lake Superior: The vein is about four or five inches wide, and holds masses of native copper, many of them weighing upwards of 100 lbs., accom- panied by native silver. Michipicoten Island, Lake Superior : The quan- tity of metal is equal to about 5 per cent. Mamainse, Lake Superior : 450 lbs. of native copper in a single sheet, from a vein, was sent as a specimen to the London International Exldbition, I 104 Canada in 1864 : 1802. Ilore are occasionally found the remains of Indian hammers, giving evidence of rude aboriginal attempts at mining many centuries since. Smelted Copper. — Bruce Mines, Lake Huron. KICKEL. Sulpliurei of Nickel. — Orford. SILVER. Native Silver. — Prince's Location, Lake Supe- rior : The location is the property of the British- i\.merican Mining Company, and in a small trial shaft sunk by them, to the depth of between six and seven fathoms, on the mainland, where the lode is four feet wide, several hundred pounds of the vein contained 3 J per cent, of silver.'-^' GOLD. Native Gold. — Fief St. Charles, Seigniory of Aubort de PIsle : Nuggets found here, some of * Extract from a nowspaper of the 20th December, 1863 : — " Evidence of the richness of the silver deposits on Lake Superior seems to be constantly accumulating. George Cummings has opened a vein this week on section 15, township 49, N. of range 26 W., . . . from which , . he brought in some 100 lbs. of extremely rich ore, some of the specimens weighing from 5 to 10 lbs., and almost pm'e. The ore is a bright steel colour, indicating a high per centage of silver. The vein, where the blasting was done, is about two feet wide. The richness with which the veins open is most astonishing, exceeding any deposits of the kind known before.'* Silver is reported to be found in the township of Lake Huron. , A Iland-hooJc for Settlers. 105 of of [3:— ierior lened W., lely and per )OUt tost ce. » tliem weii^liinnr from 10 dwts. to 120dwts., were sent as specimens to tlio London International Exhibition, 1862. Various companies have made trials of auriferous drift in several places, one of the most importaiit having been on the Riviere des Plantes ; but of this it is not easy to procure authentic details. In 1851, the Canada Gold Mining Company commenced a trial of the drift along tl e Liviere du Loup, near its junction with the Chaudiere, which continued three years. The following are the results for the years 1851 and 1852 :— Area washed. Sq. acres. 1851 ^ 1852 i Gold collected, dwts. grs. 2107-11 2880-19 4987-30 Value, dols. 182G-46 2490-69 4323-15 Wages, dols.' 1644-33 1888-35 3532-68 Profit, dols. 182-13 508-34 690-47 Seigniory of Vandreuil, Beauce : In the nugget of 80 dwts. with quartz, sent to the London Inter- national Exhibition, 1862, the proportion of the gold was 64 per cent. Eapids of the Chaudiere, parish of St. Frangois (Beauce) : In an analysis made by Mr. Hunt, in 1 854, a portion of the galena separated by washing, but still containing a small mixture of the blende and pyrites, gave, by assay of 500 grains, 69 per cent, of lead, and 32 ounces of silver to the ton of ore. Another sample of 500 grains, more carefully 106 Canada in 1864 : 1 dressed, gave 37 ounces of silver to the ton. The silver contained a small quantity of gold. Another portion of 500 grains, of the sample which gave 69 per cent, of lead, afforded by cupellation a quantity of silver equal to not less than 2 50 ounces of silver to the ton. PLATINUM AND IRIDOSMINE. Native Platinum. — Grrains of platinum and of iridosmine, in very small quantities, are met with among the drift gold of the Chaudiere. MINERALS APPLICABLE TO CHEMICAL MANUFACTURES. Chromic Iron. — Mount Albert, Shickshock range, Gaspe : Found in masses, the largest weighing about 20 lbs. Ham. Bolton : The ore occurs in masses of from 50 to 1000 lbs. in weight. Molybdenite J or Sidjpliurei of Molybdenum. — Que- tachoo Eiver, Manicouagan Bay, north shore, G ulf of St. Lawrence. Cobaltiferous Iron Pyrites. — Elizabethtown, near Brockville : Assays of the ore have yielded one half of 1 per cent, of cobalt. Dolomite. — In the eastern townships a vast quan- tity of dolomite occurs in bands, which are from 100 to 300 feet thick. Magnesite, or Carbonate of Magnesia. — Sutton, Bolton: The purest specimens contain 80 per : l| i A Iland'hooh for Settlen^, 107 to cent, of carbonate of magnesia, with a portion of carbonate of iron. Tlio most important application of tliid mineral is probably for the fabrication of a cement to resist the action of sea -water. Fetruleumj or Bach OIL — Natural springs of rock oil have long been known in several localities in Western Canada. There are two in the township of Enniskillen. Wells sunk to a depth of from 40 to 60 feet, through the superficial clays, en- counter a stratum of gravel, .^esting on the surfico of the rock beneath, and often filled with oil, giving origin to what are called surface wells. Within an area of four square miles in the first three ranges of the township, there were supposed to be, in August 18G1, about seventy w^ells, yielding more or less oil. Forty of these were surface wells. Some wells bored in July and August, 1861, are stated to have yielded from 400 to 500 barrels of oil in a week or two after having been opened. Two bored wells, belonging to Mr. Williams, yielded together, during some months, from 20 to 25 barrels (of 40 gallons each) daily. Wells bored to a depth of nearly 200 feet have yielded less oil than the surface wells. In Pennsylvania the supply of oil from the flow- ing wells soon diminished, and eventually failed. Tilsonburgh : Near the village of Tilsonburgh, in the township of Dereham, natural oil springs occur. In the townships of Zone, Mosa, and Orford, on the I; !iti 108 Canada in 1864 : u l)}inks of the Tlmmca,oil springs ahound for a distaiico of four miles. Tho oil-bearing limestone underlies an area of 7000 square miles in Western Canada. Bituminous Shale. — Collingvvood. Works were erected in 1859 by Messrs. Pollard and Macdonell, consisting of 21 retorts, capable of yielding about 250 gallons of oil daily, by tlio dis- tillation of from 20 to 30 tons of sliale. The cost of the crude oil was 14 cents (about sevenpence) tho gallon. The works have been repeatedly de- stroyed by fire, and are for the present abandoned. Phos2^hate of Lime {Apnfite). — North Elmsk^y. South Burgess : Tho deposit of phosphate of lime seen in North Elmsley, appears to be continued south-wcstwardly through Burgess. KEFRACTOKY MINERALS. Soapsfone {steatite^ comj)act talc). — Bolton. Sutton. Potstone {compact chlorite). — ^Bolton. Mica. — Found in Grenville, and North and South Burgess. PlumhagOj or Blaclclead, — Pointo du Cheno Graphite Mine, county of Argent euil. Lochaber : The workable beds which have been observed, are chiefly in various townships on tho north side of the Ottawa. Asbestus. — Generally a fibrous serpentine or chrysotile, which occurs in veins cutting the serpen- ine of the eastern townships. A Uand'hoolc for Settlers, 109 ith ;lie Friable Sa7uhto)ie. — Uscil to protect tlio bides aud bottoms of furnaces in iron foundries. Fire-clay. — In Mr. Gartshoro's foundry at Duudas, this day lias entirely superseded the fire- clay formerly imported from the United States. MINEliALS AITLICABLE TO COMMON AND DECORATIVE CONSTllUCTION. Limestones. — Amprior, MacXab. Cornwall. Montreal. Chovroticre. The quantity of stone annually quarried in the vicinity of Montreal is over 00,000 tons. The produce of the quarries of La Chevrotiere has a deserved celebrity in Quebec, where it has been used in the construction of churches and other buildings. Dolomites, or Magnesian limestone, — Owen Sound. Noisy River Falls, Nottawasaga. Rockwood, Eramosa. Guelph. Oxbow, Saugeen River : This is the best dolo- mite which has been discovered in the country. It resembles the Caen stone in the facility with which it can be worked. Sandstones. — Lyn, Elizabethtown. Nepean. Quin's Point, Seigniory of La Petite Nation : 1^ 110 Canada in 1864 : V:. This stone has been used in the construction of the Parh'amcnt huilJings at Ottawa. Pembroke. Hamilton, B; ton. Georgetown^, Esquesing : The stone from here has been used in constructing culverts on the Grand Trunk Eailway, and numerous buildings in Toronto. Nottawasaga, and other places. Lahradorite. — The opalescent variety of Labra- dorite occurs in cleavable masses in a fine grained base of the same mineral character, which forms mountain masses. Where these are thickly dis- seminated in the paste, the stone becomes a beau- tiful decorative material, applicable to arc] Jtectural embellishment, and to articles of furniture. It is worked at a cost beyond that of marble, but not greater than is proportionate to the superior beauty and durability of the material. Gneiss. — St. Charles Reservoir^ Jeuno Lorette : This stone has been used for building the dam and reservoir of the Quebec Water-works, on the St. Charles Eiver. Masses of almost any size can bo blasted out from the rock, and large blocks have been dressed and applied to the masonry work of the reservoir, which will^ no doubt, prove a structure of the most lasting character. Syenite.— GrTBTLYiWe. Barrow Island, River St. Lawrence, opposite Gananoque. A Hand'booh for Settlers. Ill here fctte : and St. bo lave lork a lite Granite. — St. Joseph, Bcauce : This band of granite has been used for millstones, and would yield a strong and durable building stone. Bamston, and other places. MARBLES. Limestones. — Arnprior : Light and dark grey marble. Elzivir : White marble. Grenville : Yellowish- white marble. Augmentation of Grenville : Spotted green and white marble. St. Armand : White marble, and black marble. St. Joseph, Beauce : Eod marble^ veined with white. Caughnawaga : Grey marble, and grey with red spots. St. Dominique : Dove-grey marble. L^ Original : Grey marble with white spots. Pointe Claire : Brownish black, and greenish black. Cornwall : Black marble. Pakenham : Brown marble. Gloucester : Brownish grey marble. Montreal : Grey marble. Dudswell : Cream white marble. Serpentines. — Orford : Dark green serpentine, and dark green striped with light green. Melbourne : Green and white. 112 Canada in 1864 ii«- St. Joseph, Beaucc : Green, veined with white. These rocks, or others immediately near them^ contain the metals iron, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, silver and gold ; with the drift gold, derived from these strata, are found platinum, iridosmine, and traces of mercury. SLATES, FLAGSTONES, LIME, BRICKS, AND DRAIN TILES. Roofinij Slates. — ^Walton Quarry, Melbourne : Mr. Walton commenced opening a quarry in 18G0, and found it necessary to make a tunnel through the serpentine. The cost was 30,000 dollars. Up to a comparatively recent period, the usual coverings of houses in Canada have been wooden shingles, gal- vanized iron, or tin-plate ; but so many destructive fires have occurred from the use of the first of these, that they are now interdicted in all large towns. Slate, as a covering, costs about one-third more than shingles, but one-half less than tin, and one-third less than galvanized iron. In the following table are shown — 1st, the sizes of the slates, in inches ; 2nd, the number of such slates in a square (of 100 square feet) ; and, 3rd, the price per square at which Mr. Walton supplies his slates, placed on the rail- road cars at Eichmond, which is within a mile and a-half of the quarry. A Hand'booh for Settlers. 113 of -nd Sizes. Num- ber. Price. Sizes. Num- ber. Price. Sizes. Num- ber. Price. 24x16 24x14 24x12 22x12 22x11 20X12 20x11 86 98 114 126 138 141 154 $4 00c. 4 00 4 00 4 00 4 00 4 00 4 00 20x10 18x11 18x10 18x 9 16x10 16x 9 16x 8 109 175 192 213 222 216 277 $4 00c. 4 00 4 00 4 00 3 75 3 75 3 GO 14x10 14x 9 14x 8 14X 7 12x 8 12x 7 12x G 262 291 327 374 400 457 533 $3 00c. 3 00 3 00 2 75 2 75 2 50 2 25 To sliow that slate, as a covering, is well adapted to resist tlie influences of a Canadian climate, it ma}' be stated that slates from Angers, in Franco, have been exposed on the roof of a building in Montreal for upwards of 100 years, without any perceptible deterioration. Slate for roofing is also found at Orford^ Tring, Kingsly, Cleveland. Flagstones. — Georgetown, Esquesing : A hard, fine-grained sandstone, which can be split into flagstones. They are used at Toronto and Hamil- ton. Hydraulic Lime, — St. Catherines. Formerly the quantity of cement manufactured, during the construction of railways and other public works, averaged 80,000 bushels annually ; the quantity made now does not exceed one-tenth of the amount. The price now is about a shilling per bushel of 60 lbs. 8 J^ 114 Canada in 1864 : < 1)1 h vif I M r| .1 Walkorton. Limeliouse. Nepean. Rockwood. Magdalen Eiver. Common Lime. — Guelpli : The stone occurs here in unlimited quantities, Walkerton : This remarkably white hme makes a superior whitewash, and a strong cement. Montreal : This limestone yields the best stone for building purposes, and also burns to excellent lime, of which 270,000 bushels per annum are manu- factured at Montreal at 16| cents per bushel. Gommion Brides. — Owen Sound. Walkerton, Brant. St. Jean, County of liotbiniere. Montreal: Messrs. Peel and Compte manufac- ture 6,000,000 common bricks annually, which are sold at from 5 to 6 dollars per 1000. The red bricks of Montreal are manufactured from a blue clay of marine origin, as is proved by the occurrence of sea shells ; all probably the same as species now inha- biting the ocean. The remains of the capeling {Mallotus villosus) and the lump-sucker {Cyclostomus lum'pus) are obtained from the same clays near Ottawa. In one of Messrs. Peel and Compters pits has been found a nearly entire skeleton of the Green- land seal, a species still living in the Gulf of St. Lawrence j from the size of the head^ the animal A Hand-book for Settlers. 1]5 appears to have been six feet long, and full grown. The quantity of bricks manufactured by Messrs. Bulmer and Sheppard is equal to 6,000,000 per annum. In this manufacture they use Boaden's brick-making machine. Toronto : The deposit of clay extends eastward, at least as far as Cobourg. The average annual manufacture of all kinds of bricks is from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000. The price of common red bricks is from 3 dollars to 4 dollars per 1000. Brain Tiles. — North Plantaganet : Tiles are manufactured by Mr. Thomas Gibb, at Treadwell, from a blue clay, which forms a considerable deposit on the banks of the Ottawa. The price of them is 10 dollars per 1000. Quebec : Tiles made by Messrs. W. and D. Bell are used for main sewers and house drains in the city of Quebec, where 151^000 of them have been laid. GRINDING AND POLISHING MINERALS. Wlietstones, — Stanstead, Hatley, Massawippi Lake. Bolton, Kingsey. Collingwood. Nottawasaga. Madoc. irn^ IIG Canada in 1864 : "I; !!■ Hones, — Ottertail Lake, Thessalon Riv'cr. Grindstones. — Nottawasaga : Considerable num- bers of grindstones are made by hand here, and in the township of Mulmur, and are declared by prac- tical men to be superior to those imported. A lathe for turning them could be erected for about £200 sterling. Millstones. — Grenville. Cayuga, north of Talbot Road. Millstones for grinding oats and barley are manufactured by Mr. W. De Cew, of De Cewville, in the county of Haldimand. MINERAL MANURES. Gypsum . — Oneida. York, Grand River. The following is the amount of gypsum raised nnnually from the quarries on the Grand River : — T. Martindale, Oneida . . 3500 tons. F. Donaldson, Oneida . . 1500 A. Taylor, York . . . 3000 Thompson and Wright, Paris 4000 F. Brown, Cayuga . . . 2000 14,000 )j )} The greater part of this gypsum is used for ugricultural purposes, and the prices at which it is sold are as follows : — ■. ,\^ A Hand'hooh for Settlers, 117 ) num- and ill Y prac- i lathe : £200 ey are wville. raised t: — LS. ed for 3I1 it is Plaster^ unground . . • J, ground for the land ,j stucco^ raw calcined yy $2 per ton. $3 to $4 „ G y? Fresh-water Shell Marl. — New Edinburgh. Sheffield. Montreal. Nepean. West Hawkcsbiiry. Brant J north of Durham Road. Carrick. Bentinck. Anticosti. Belleville. St. Armand. Calcareoics Tufa. — Noisy River Falls. MINERAL PAINTS. Iron Ochres. — Ste. Anne de Montmorenci. Cap de la Madelaine. Point e du Lac. In 1851 Messrs. H. A. Monroe and Co., of Now York, made arrangements to prepare the ochres for sale. The prevailing colours are red and yellow, but there occurs also in some parts a beautiful purple ochre, and in others a blackish brown. From these natural tints, eight colours are said to have been prepared. The deposit being but little mixed with sand, the chief impurities consisted of the roots 118 Canada in 1864 : of those plants wliicli had been growing on the sur- face. The blackish brown variety, when purified from roots, without fire, is sold under the name of raw sienna ; when subjected to fire, it assumes a brown of less intensity, and is sold as burnt sienna. Nottawasaga. Owen Sound. Sulphates of Barytes, — Burgess. Lansdowne. In Canada this mineral is as yet applied to no use, but in some parts of the United States it is refined and ground in large quantities, for use as a paint, and also for adulterating white lead. The value of the crude barytes suited for such a purpose is about 10 dollars per ton, while the wholesale price of the paint is 30 dollars per ton. MINERALS APPLICABLE TO THE FINE ARTS. Litliocjra])}dc Stone. — Marmora : One of the beds, which is two feet thick, and of impalpable grain, is a lithographic stone of excellent quality. The band to which the bed belongs extends from Hungerford to Eama, a distance of 100 miles; but though the stone has been highly commended by all the litho- graphers who have tried it, no one has attempted to quarry it for use. Brant. Oxbow, Saugeen Eiver, Brant.* * Splendid lithographic stone is also found on the Burleigh Boad. » .* A Eand'hoohfor Settlers. 119 MINERALS ArPLICABLE TO JEWELLERY. Agates, — Micliipicoton and St. Ignaco Islands^ Lake Superior. Lahradorite. — Grenvillo. Abercrombie. Alhite {Peristerite) . — Bathurst. Orthoclase (Pertlilte) . — Burgess. Jasper conglomerate, — Bruce Miues^ Lake Huron : This beautiful rock consists of wbite quart zite, in ■which are imbedded a multitude of blood- red jasper pebbles, which constitute a material fit to receive the work of the jeweller. The whole rock is capable of being applied to the manufacture of vases and such like articles of virtu. Many boulders of the rock lie scattered along the north coast of Lake Huron, and they are abundant at the Bruce Mines. Ejpidosite, — Shickshock Mountains : This green rock occurs in massive beds, and extends over considerable areas in the Shickshock Mountains, on the south side of the St. Lawrence, in Gaspe. MISCELLANEOUS MINERALS. Feldspar, — Bathurst. Sandstone for glass - malting, — Williamstown, Beauharnois. Moulding Sand, — Dundas. Owen Sound. Durham. Peat, — Chambly. 1 J^^^^Ib' \ ■ li'.;- H 1 i ^^^Hi ^^^^^H! 120 Canada in 1864 : i^H< ill M ^* Peat occurs near Cliarubly, on tho south side of the St. Lawrence, and was some years ago cut, pressed, and sold as fuel by tho late Mr. Scobell. As Canada is deficient in coal, when wood becomes scarce in the progress of settlement, peat will gradu- ally assume some importance as a fuel in many parts cf the country. It occurs in great abundance in many places m the province; about 100 square miles of it extend along the south front of the Island of Anticosti. I must now bring this catalogue of minerals to a close, believing that I have given the settler suffi- cient information to guide him to the different localities in which they are to be found, and where he may obtain a chance of employment, and perhaps even of making a fortune. For fuller particulars I refer my readers to a work published in Canada by the Geological Society. I subjoin, also by the 'permission of the mem- bers of the Geological Survey, a shc^t description of tho crystalline rocks of Canada : — - CRYSTALLINE EOCKS OF CANADA. Boclts of the Laiirenticm System. — The rocks of this system are the oldest known on the globe, and are widely spread in North America, where they are traced from the coast of Labrador to Lake Huron, and thence northward to the Arctic regions. They consist in great part of orthoclase gneiss, with 4A^ A Iland-hoolc for Settlers, 121 quartzites, sometimes conglomerate, and crystalline limestones and dolomites. The total thickness of these strata is estimated at not less than 20,000 feet. Besides these, there is a great formation of anortho- sito rocks. In the Lam'cntian System there is an absence of anything like argillitc or clay-sL'ite. In the gneiss and limestone series, the beds are chietly of magnetic and oligist iron. In the anorthosites the only ones met with are beds of titaniferous iron or ilmenite. Mocks of the Iluronian Scries. — These rest upon those of the Lauren tian System, and are in part made up of the ruins of the latter. The series is met with at Lake Temiscaming, on the Ottawa, and on Lakes Huron and Superior. Its thickness on the north shore of Lake Huron is supposed to bo 18,000 feet. There is but a small amount of car- bonate of lime in it, and also an absence of gneiss. Quartzite may be said to be the predominant rock in the Huronian Series. Its colours are white, grey, brownish, and sometimes greenish or reddish. These quartzites often become conglomerate, from the presence of various coloured pebbles of quartz and jasper. The latter are frequently blood-red in colour, and being imbedded in a white or a green- ish base, con^itute a very beautiful rock. Rocks of the Silurian Series. — The Notre-Damo and Shickshock Mountains are the N.E. prolonga- tion of the great Appalachian chain, which extends 122 Canadix in 18G4 : J I ./J i! from tlio Gulf of St. Lawronco nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. They attain, in some places, a height of more than 4000 feet above the sea. They con- sist of gneiss, anorthosite, diorite, epidosite, garnet- rock, mica-rock, mica-schist, argillites, cLlorito, magnesite, dolomites, and limestones, sandstones, etc., etc. IntrusivG Roclis. — The results of recent geolo- gical investigations in various parts of the world, lead to the conclusion that many rocks, formerly regarded as intrusive or exotic, are really sediments, altered in situ, or indigenous rocks. Such is the case with many granites, syenites, greenstones, amygdaloids, porphyries, and serpentines; all of which are represented among the altered strata of Canada. These sediments at the time of their metamorphism were, however, in such a plastic state that they were sometimes displaced and forced among the overlying and disrupted strata. Intru- sive masses, so far as known, are extremely rare in the Laurentian System, except i -i one small area in the counties of Grenville and Aigentcuil. To the S.E. of the Lower Silurian Mountains, and to the N.W. along the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain, are a series of intrusive rocks, the more characteristic varieties of which' are quartzi- ferous porphyry, trachytes, phonolite dolerite^ and peridotite. lulf A Hand-hook for Settlers. 123 CHAPTER YIII. Country tavoms— Backwoods verses — TiUmbcring and lunibor-meu — The old cook — Mormonism and Mormons — Sects — Camp meetings. In most of tlie small villages in Canada tlio traveller will find two tavemSj where he may have breakfast or dinner for a shilling English, and may occasionally procure a glass of tolerable beer. Strong green tea is the beverage at every meal, black being rarely taken. The whiskey at these country inns is gene- rally of the cheapest and also of the worst descrip- tion, yet on the whole preferable to, and less inju- rious than, the rum and brandy made from it, and only to be known by some decoction added to each liquor to give it its distinctive flavour. At almost every public-house on the road you will see two or three blear-eyed, unkempt individuals, keeping an eye on the too tempting bottle at the bar ; these are tavern-loafers, who live and die on whiskey hanging about the place, chopping wood when sober enough, or watering the traveller's horse. The bill 124 Canada in 1864 : Ism L, W: 1 ■ 9 HH|< 1 : ','ii 1 P' of faro is pretty good ; broiled liam^ pumpkin pie, and tea, with occasionally some fresh meat in the season ; but fried pork and " sarse^^ is the ordinary dish among the lower orders, the sarse being the fat in which the pork is fried. As a delicacy j you are sometimes treated to molasses, called here "lasses fixings/' and a pumpkin or apple tart finishes the repast. The lower classes in Canada are miserable cooks, worse even than in England ; and but little variety in the culinary department, such as made dishes or similar luxuries, prevails among the gentry. It is a common custom with the latter to have a sheep killed at noon, and to dress part of it for the day's dinner ; and the same plan is pursued with turkeys and fowls, thus ensuring their tenderness, as I was informed by a young lady v/hom I ques- tioned on the subject. On the first occasion of my passing the night at a small village tavern in Upper Canada, it was in- timated to me by the landlord, quite as a matter of course, that I was to share the sleeping accom- modation already occupied by a wandering Italian with his hurdygurdy; and on m}' dissenting from this arrangement, mine host was not only irate, but evidently astonished. However, after a little trouble, I succeeded in inducing him to give me a shake- down on the floor. The general amusement at these taverns is card-playing, varied now and then by a A Hand'boolc for Settlers. 125 lioe-dance. Never shall I forget one of these enter- tainments, which took place on the 5th of November. I had just returned, tired and wet through, from the backwoods, and on my asking for a bed, the land- lord (an Irishman) informed me that there was to be an evening party, and that he feared it would prevent my having much sleep. Nevertheless, I crept quickly to my couch in a small hole at the top of the house before the arrival of the guests, but all in vain ! It was an Orange jubilee, and about seven o'clock three fiddles struck up, the dance com- menced, and ended not until seven the next morning ; the shoutings and yellings exceeded anything I have ever heard, and I need hardly add that Morpheus was a stranger to my pillow. No charge, however, was made to me for that night's unrest. One of the company was quite a poet in his way, and he favoured the rest with the following song of his own composition, which I subjoin for the reader's benefit, leaving him to judge of the merits of this bard of the backwoods : — t " Tell me, oh ! where is your star-spangled banner, That you swore would ' lick all creation in fits' ? Is it daub'd in the mud of the Southern Savannah, Or torn by the South into wee little bits ? " Have your stars ceas*d to shine, your eagle ceas'd flying, The bald-headed eagle — that scavenger bird ? Have your people ceas'd boasting, and nations defying ? Was fighting or flying at Bull's Run preferr'd ? m I' 126 Canada in 1864 : m'-c " Yes ! the bald-headed eagle your Franklin* pronounc'd Ib the meanest of birds flying under the sun ; ♦ He perhaps hover'd oyer you when you were trouno'd That glorious day at immortal Bull's Eun. " That star-spangled banner shall blazon no more, And the bald-headed eagle his prey must disgorge j While the stout British lion shall prevail as of yore, While proudly still triumphs the flag of St. George !" The lumber-men lead rather a jovial sort of life in tlio slianties, wliicli it is customary to build far away in the backwoods^ and close to the spot on which the timber is to be cut. These fellows are mostly a roughs wildj heterogeneous set — French from Lower^ English^ Scotch^ and Irish from Upper Canada, often with a half-nautical element in their composition. Their pay is from ten to fifteen dollars a month, but those who hew the timber with the broad axe have from twenty to thirty, and some- times more. Each gang of some half dozen men are under a '^ boss," whose wages are rather higher than theirs. The shanties are well supplied with provisions, such as salt pork and beef, potatoes, and molasses, and tea is drunk ad libitum. Fat pork is the especial glory of the lumber-man, who will fre- quently turn out of his bunk three or four times in the night to devour a lump of it, qualified with a * Eranklin says that the bald-headed eagle is a mean scavenger bird and a coward, and regrets that his countrymen should have adopted it as their national emblem. A Hand-boolc for Settlers. 127 drauglit of tea. Breakfast is over by daybreak, and all hands are off into the woods till noon, when they return to dinner, consisting of pork and peas-soup ; then they work till dark, and after supper the fiddle strikes up, and the evening concludes with a song and a game of chequers. The timber is drawn on sleighs or floated down to the back lakes, thenco to Lake Ontario, and thence to Quebec; about six or seven weeks arc occupied in the entire transit. The lumber-men, of course, need provisions and hay, so the settlors can usually find a profitable market for thoir goods. Lumbering has been on the whole a flourishing trade, and the men have soon made fortunes, though in bad times they have also lost them. In one of the shanties in which I stayed, the boss was a broken-down pawnbroker from Belfast, and in ano- ther the cook had been in two of Sir John Franklin's expeditions. He naturally had many anecdotes to relate of perils and adventures, both grave and gay. Due was to the effect that, after Sir John^s return £v m one of his voyages, he and his crew were walking on Tower Hill, when, in passing an inn, his cocked hat was seized and borne off by a young lady of decidedly questionable character, and two days afterwards it was seen exposed for sale at a pawnbroker's opposite. Many were the hardships that old Mackenzie had endured : once he curried a dog's head as a reserve supply for nearly a fort- 128 Canada in 1864 ^/ I^^^K ^ H| ill ^1 [,| ^H j| H il B^^V%^ night, and he assured me that stewed mocassins were not so bad after all. The poor fellow was in rather reduced circumstances, the Government having prom.ised him a lot of land which, he had never received. Chancing one day, when in the backwoods, to enter a nice clean shanty, decorated with paintings of different lands, I found that the owners had been Mormons, and that they had been long since in company with Brig] -^/n Young. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were intelligent Jple, and she must have been very good-looking in her younger days, when the prophet fell in love with her. From her I learned some interesting particulars cf the sect, and most of her stories tally with those in Mrs. Ward's book, called '^ Life among the Mormons. '' Some years previous to my making her acquaintance, Mrs. Jones had been travelling a^ lady's-maid with an Irish family, who were crossing the Eocky Moun- tains on their way to Utah, with about fifteen hun- dred Mormons, under the appellation of '^ The Hand-barT'ow Company.'' From her account, these poor deluded wretches must have suffered terrific hardships, most of them dying on the road of star- vation ; indeed, the scenes she depicted to me were no less horrible than those described by Josephus as having been witnessed during the siege of Jerusa- lem. To such extremities were these wretched beings reduced, that women ate their own children, and not A lland-hooh for Setilevs, 129 more than one hundred out of the whole number survived to reach the promised land. I have a shrewd suspicion that on Mrs. Jones's arrival at the Great Salt Lake^ she was almost im- mediately promoted to the honour of inhabiting tho palace of the prophet, who at that time mustered about a hundred and seventy wives, with an innumerable offspring. Each wife has two rooms allotted to her, and more, should her family increase largely; all are obliged, as far as outward appearances go, to live on good terms with one another, but the misery of the women in Utah is not to be told ; once there, they are in fact prisoners for life, at all events they cease to be free agents, unless they can manage to effect their escape like Mrs. Jones, and a few others ; but this is next to impossible, for the ^^ minute men " are always on the alert, and ready to start at a minute's notice (hence their name), and daily communication with every part of the country is kept up. Mrs. Jones, with a female companion, once made an unsuccessful attempt on horses to elude their master ; they rode day and night, but were captured and taken back to Brigham Young, wlio put them in prison, where they were kept in close confinement for two months, and were then released on their making professions of repentance. IMrs. Jones enjoyed the reputation of being a skilful doctor among the ladies, and so Jiad many oppor- 9 130 Canada in ISGi : 'I '■•I I ) ll ^va tunitlcs of going' about and learning tlio private affairs of tliis extraordinary community. There are several different degrees among tlio Mormon religionists, and eacL. has its secret tribunal or star-chamber, before which any offender is tried, and, if found guilty, is condemned to the shades below ; he disappears from off the face of the earth, and no further inquiries are made after him — at least, so I was assured by Mrs. Jones. As soon as any one arrives at JJtar (thus she pronounced it), the neophyte is inveigled to purchase something valuable, and to part with all his money, as being useless to him in his new abode ; when the bargain is concluded, the unlucky wight discovers all too late that his acquisition, as he deemed it, is tho property of the Mormon sect. Every Mormon has to contribute a certain portion of his earnings per month, nominally towards the support of immi- grants ; altogether, it is not diflScult to account for the prevailing notion that Brigham Young is the richest man in the world. Mormonism is at present still on the increase, and its votaries have agents in all regions of the globe. A magnificent country and splendid cities are theirs, and they manufacture all their implements of war and of husbandry, their internal resources thus rendering them independent of other people. Provisions for ten years are laid up in the great city, and from their position they can defy an invading army. When the Americans A Hand-book for Settlers. 131 'g sent a force against tliora, they captured all the provisions of their unwelcome visitors, and seized their trains^ so that the Yankees were glad to make off. Indeed, it was wonderful that they were in a condition to do so, for the Mormons had poisoned all the waters ; ])ut my informant told me that the secret was divulged to one of the American soldiers by a freemason. The way in which Mrs. Jones did at last effect her escape was by joining with about twenty others, all pretending that their intention was to settle in some other part of the State ; and so they set off, taking with them articles of household furniture, babies' cradles, and everything that might tend to disarm suspicion. They travelled several miles, guided by one of the band, who had formerly been an interpreter to the Indian tribes, and was ac- quainted with a short cut to the Yankee territory. Having burnt their incumbrances, they made post- haste and got clear of the Mormon country just as they were on the point of being overtaken by the minute men — indeed, a few in the rear were captured. An unsuccessful endeavour to abscond by a man is mostly punished with death by shooting ; a woman is carried back again to Utah to obey the dictates of Brigham Young as his wife, or as that of some ancient elder. A largo Mormon settlement is now in course of formation near Chatham in Canada West. There can be no doubt that Young is a very \ : m II H'-.' P--I 132 Canada m 1864 : clover follow, and Mrs. Jones speaks of liis behaviour as being gallant. I understand that Smith junior proclaims himself to be the true prophet, and should war break out between these two rogues, Mormon- ism will in al^ probability be shattered in the con- flict. It must fall to the ground sooner or later, and the most likely period would seem to be that of Brigham's death, when an awful scene must ensue. But enough of this disgusting and yet wonderful people. As before mentioned, besides Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics, a great di- versity of religious sects exists in Canada. Bible Christians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers, Wesleyans, etc., etc. ; the latter being the most numerous class among the dissenters. Some of the congregations appear to be very pugilistic in their tendencies ; I lately read an account of a fight in a Bible Christian meeting-house, in which one member broke a chair over the head of another; while, in an Episcopalian Methodist meeting, a young lady thrashed a man at his prayers most unmercifully with a bulFs hide, and on his raising his face, she flung a handful of cayenne pepper on it. A very backward state indeed of civilization in some of the regions of the colony is evidenced by these stories. A camp-meeting perhaps discloses more extraor- dinary vagaries than are to be met with in any other Nonconformist rites. In the midst of the forest is I A Rand'hooh for Settlers. 133 erected a barricade, witli some small shanties, like fishermen's huts in England; large fireplaces are built on posts, in ^vllich blazing fires are lighted. The minister jumps to his feet, and opens with a prayer in a soft and gentle tone, in the course of which a few groans are audible from the kneeling assembly ; these become gradually louder and louder; then the women begin to scream, and soon the scene resembles Bedlam — or rather ten Bedlams — broken loose ; the males beat their heads, the females shriek and faint, and this exhibition may continue for an hour or more, till all are quiet from sheer exhaustion. After awhile rises another minister, and the whole programme is repeated over and over again, with only an interval of rest at night, for a week and upwards. The scenes behind the curtain will not admit of being described in detail. At a little dis- tance from the camp, casks and bottles are passed about among the crowed, and intoxication, with its attendant evils, rides rampant among these deluded votaries of a religion that might have dis- graced heathenism. The Baptists in my neigh- bourhood seem to select the winter months for the dipping of their followers, and I was told that the immersion in our climate had proved fatal to several persons. There are a few itinerant Shakers, who reside principally in the States, carrying garden seeds about the country for sale. The Menonists and Tankers are nearly extinct here. !!.!• I 134 Canada in 1864 : I I I ifr,!! As may easily be imagined, a certain amount of rivalry and ill-will sliows itself among some of the members of so many denominations, especially at that season of the year when their time and thoughts arc less occupied with work. However, on the whole, a feeling of good neighbourhood may be said to prevail among the settlers. And let us hope that, as the means of spreading the pure and ennobling worship and teaching of our own Church are multi- plied, these jealousies will gradually subside, and these degrading exhibitions of ignorance and blas- phemy will vanish in the light of Christian truth. ■^r^ •^ A Hand'hoolc for Settlers. 135 CHAPTER IX. Amusements — Hydropliobia — Variations of tcnipcratuiv — Lakos- Animals and Fish — Increase of population, of commerce, and of general prosperity in the colony — Schools and Colleges. As before stated, our country amnsomcnts are not numerous. In the towns, besides the skating riuks and the curHng, a game called ^^ shinning^' is a favourite diversion with the boys ; it is the same, or nearly the same, as our hockey. A trotting match on the ice is an exciting pastime, and one that frequently takes place j and some of the horses are remarkably fast trotters. Speaking of them, I may just observe, en passantj that there is a fine opening in Canada for veterinary surgeons, which class is only represented in the smallest degree ; and in my own neighboui*- hood a broken-down negro was our solo horse- doctor. Yachting is on the decline. When the Prince of Wales visited Canada a few years since, he gave a cup to be contested annually, but it is the cause of so much trouble and expense to the winner, who has to insure it while in his custody, that yachts- men are beginning to tire of it. Both in the larger and smaller class of yachts, American-built crafts have 130 Canada in 18G4 : h \ ■ 1)0011 gaining' cvoryprizo of late; tlic winner in tbo I'onuor class is the property of an English gentleman. Sailing across the ico in ice-boats is capital fun ; they work to windward like a sailing-vessel, and when they go about you will be ])itched overboard, unless you are very careful ; in a strong wind they will glide along for twenty miles or more in an hour. In the summer cricket has been in great force of late years, and most of the small towns can turn out a decent eleven. The billiard tables are generally very poor ; every angle is marked, and the balls and the pockets are too large. The four-balled game is the one principally in vogue. There are many varieties of dogs, but a thorough bred one of any sort is rarely seen ; they are allowed to run about, and the breeds get mixed. The two most useful to the sportsman are the retriever for ducks, and the hound for deer — the latter should not be too finely bred. Hydrophobia is sadly prevalent, and several persons died last year from being bitten. One instance occurred of a man bitten in June, who survived till December. November is the worst month in Canada for this fearful disorder, and tho same is, I believe, the case in England ; in Norway, and Lapland also, dogs are more frequently attacked by madness in winter than in summer. I will now endeavour to convey some idea of the seasons and their temperature ; the two following tables are taken from the Kecords of A Iland'hooh for Settlers. 137 tlio Provincial Magnetic Observatory^ by Professor Kingston : — MEAN MONTHLY AND ANNUAL TEM1»EUATUUK AT TOUONTO, FliOM 1810 TO 1859. 1840 185 S) 1810 1859 Jan. 23-72 Julj. 07^-00 Feb. 22^-83 Murcli. April. 30^-07 41-00 May. 51-38 Juno. Gr-27 Aug. GO -12 Sept. 57'-98 Oct. 45"-27 Nov. 30^-05 Dec. 25'-97 Mean annual temperature, 44^-11. MEAN MONTHLY AND ANNUAL ALL OF RAIN AT TORONTO, FROM 1840 TO 1859. 1840 1859 Jan. In. 1-408 Feb. In. 1-043 March. In. 1-553 April. In. 2-492 May. In. 3-305 June. In. 3-198 i July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. 1840) In. In. In. In. In. 1859 ] 3-490 2-927 4-099 2257 3-109 Dec. In. l-GOG Mean annual fall of rain, 30*859 inches. In 1862, tlie hottest day was August Sth, the tem- perature being 79'- 08 ; the coldest was the 23rd of Januaiy, the thermometer showing 2-42 below zero. The number of days on which rain fell was 118, the total fall being 25-529 inches. Snow fell on 72 days, and the total depth was 85*4 inches ; the 138 Canada in 1864 : 1 , ! F s \ i 1 r i k ■ 1 ir ■' i\ h ^J iri ■ "i i:; greatest dcptli in one day (March 20tli) was 9*0 inclios. There were twenty- four thunderstorms durhig the year. February was the month of the greatest^ May of the least, humidity. November was the most cloudy month ; the least cloudy months being May and August. The inland seas or lakes of North America, com- prising an area of nearly 100,000 square miles, differ in some points from other large lakes. There are no mountain ranges of any considerable altitude at any part of the circumference of their basin; the general aspect of the area is that of a great central plain, with successive terraces or plateaux. Their level has not undergone any extensive change for a considerable time ; and it is a remarkable fact as regards Lake Ontario, that its waters rise to a con- siderable height, and subside again, once in seven years. The water of these lakes is noted for its purity, the principal tributaries flowing over rocky beds ; they exercise a powerful influence ovei* the climate, which they render more temperate. In the winter curling mists are observed overspreading them, when the ice is '^ taking,^^ as it is called. These are caused by the colder air of the surrounding atmosphere condensing the moisture of the warmer air on the surface of the lakes. The prevailing winds are from the north-east and south-west. Occasionally a tornado strikes the lakes, accom"^a- nied by waterspouts. , A Hand-hooJc for Settlers. 139 I J With, regard to the declination and dip of the magnetic needles^ they are subject to very re- markable local variations in many parts of the vicinity of those inland seas, owing no doubt to the iron disseminated through the rocks, and to the massive beds of it which are found within the area of the basins; these variations, however, do not occur in the compass of a vessel on any of the lakes. It is well known that there is an inexhaustible supply of salt water at different depths below the surface of Ontario, especially near Syracuse, St. Catherine, and Grafton. The lakes, which formerly were doubtless all salt, have become fresh (unlike the Caspian and others), by their having outlets in their several communications with each other, and with the main stream of the St. Lawrence, thus allowing the waters of the rivers by which they are fed to flow through tbem. In 1678, a vessel of six- teen tons was launched on Ontario by La Salle, and in 1679 another of sixty tons on Lake Erie. The first trading port was Oswego. None of the indigenous animals are identical with those of the same genus in the Old World, although among some there is a close resemblance, For example, the common deer {Cerviis virginianus) of this land, although, nearly allied to that of Great Britain, yet differs in some points from it. And Agassiz^ the highest authority in icthyology, declares pf'''lfl P"*'t ii '-^^ 'lib 14 T n 'i 'iiu if 1 K-:;4 ■ 1i! L-J 4^ t| .«; 140 Canada in 1864 : that Canada does net possess a single fresh-water fish corresponding exactly with any in the mother country, though many are of the same type. One of our most singular fish is the Lepidosterous or bony- scaled fish, which is found in Lake Superior, and in the Ottawa and other rivers in the north. It is remarkable as being almost the only species now existing which, in the nature of its scales, and its heterocircal tail and other parts of its structure, shows a very strong family likeness to the fossil fishes of the other formations. The furs, and, still more, the fisheries, of the western lakes form a branch of commerce of con- siderable and growing value. White fish, trout, and sturgeon, attain a great size in Lakes Superior and Huron, and from Lake Erie alone the exporta- tion has been enormous. In 1782, the country around the lakes was almost a wilderness. In 1851, the population of Upper Canada was under a mil- lion; by the census of 1861, the numbers were 1,396,091. There are various routes of intercommuni- cation between the lakes and other parts of the continent. No river, except La Plata, in South America, possesses so wide an estuary, and is navi- gable for large vessels to such a distance from its mouth, as the St. Lawrence. Ships of 800 tons go up to Montreal, whence there is a continuous water communication for 2000 miles. But the best route A Uand-booh for Settlers. 141 for export and import from and to tlio Lower Pro- vinces, saving" only during tlie season when the navigation is closed, is by the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. From the following statistics it will be seen to what an extent live stock and farming produce have increased in the last few years, and the growing prosperity of the farming interest in Canada West will be sufficiently apparent : — In 1851 the total number of head of live stock was 2,488,653. By the last census the numbers were — Milch cows . 451,640 Oxen and steers 99,605 Young cattle . . 464,083 Horses, of all kinds . 377,681 Sheep . 1,170,225 Pigs 77(),001 Total . . 3,339,235 In 1851, the wheat crop was 12,692,852 b. >hels, the weight of wool was 2,398,764 lbs. ; bui , >vithout going through the whole of the farm produce for the year 1851, I will give that for the year 1860, merely stating that the items generally show as large an increase as the foregoing : — .:■! 142 Canada in 1864 : i" <;■ if m H i - > ^^^^Bi ■!;i H: Mi 24,620,425 2,821,962 973,1.81 9,601,396 21,220,874 1,248,637 2,256,290 15,325,920 18,206,959 546,971 1,905,598 49,143 61,818 861,844 247,052 6,970,605 1,567,831 3,659,766 26,828,264 2,687,172 1,225,934 777,426 Tlie value of tlie wood of the white pine in 1852 was £1,000,000, and now it is nearly double ; tlie next in order is tlie timber of the red pine, tbe oak, and the elm. The pearlashes, gathered 1 jm the ground in the new clearings in 1852, } elded a Wheat, 1 jushels Barley- )} Bye i3 Peas 3i Oats iy Buckwheat )} Indian Corn 3} Potatoes )> Turnips y) Mangel-wurzel 39 Carrots 33 Beans 33 Clover 33 Hay tons Hops >> Maple sugar lbs. Cider gallons Wool lbs. Butter » Cheese >y Flax and hemp 33 Tobacco a -trat-^; A Hand-hoolc for Settlers, 1X3 return of £232^004. Fur aud skius exported fetclied £25,547. As regards tlie productions of tlie seas and lakes, large quantities of cod, salmon, and lierrino-, from tlie Gulf of St. Lawrence, and white fish and trout from the lakes, are annually dried and pickled for exportation. The worth of the exports in 18'j2 was £74,462. The lake fisheries are at Prince Edward, on Lake Ontario, and on Lake Huron. As has been remarked in the chapter on mine- rals, very little has been done towards developing the peculiar capabilities of Canada for the production of iron, and this is particularly the case with re- spect to malleable iron and steel of the finest quality. The manufacture of fire-engines has been brought to a great pitch of perfection — Mr. Perry, of Mon- treal, having gained the first prize in the London Exhibition. At Melbourne, axes, planes, and other edged tools, with scythes of excellent quality, are manufactured. All kinds of spades, shovels, and nails are made in various places; also ploughs, harrows, cultivators, and threshing and separating- machines, with the latest improvements. Capital types and stereotypes for printing are cast in Mon- treal. The saw-mills in Ottawa and Chicoutimi are, I believe, the largest in the world ; and grist-mills are abundant. The making of surgical and of musical instruments is yet in its infancy, but both have been commenced at Montreal and at Toronto. if- 1> ,1 n : 'M *.» ^1 i 11- ■ 144 Canada in 1864 : Tlic manufacture of cotton is earned on to some extent ; new works have lately been erected at Hastings, in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, and in other parts. Woollen fabrics, and woollen and cotton mixed, for Guernsey frocks, hose, etc., are to be had in plenty in Western Canada, and the quality improves yearly. The blankets from Dundas are highly spoken of, and those made by Mr. Greenwood, in his factory near Grafton, are also deserving of much commendation, and have the additional recommendation of costing only £1 8h\ the pair, and weighing eleven pounds. The manu- facture of leather is carried on to a considerable extent, and hemlock bark is commonly used in tanning. Many other manufactories of different sorts are at work on a large scale at Montreal and Toronto, such as those for writing, printing, and wrapping paper ; flint-glass ; plaster of Paris ware ; bricks and tiles ; soap and candles ; without includ- ing the making of maple-sugar to an enormous amount, sold at fourpence a pound. About forty vessels are annually built at Quebec, of some 800 tons and upwards. Excellent grammar-schools have been estab- lished in most of the provincial towns ; there are colleges at Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, Cobourg, and several other places ; in Brompton (Canada West) there may also be found a Female Eclectic Institute^ and a Female Wesleyan College ; and in (f A Hand'boolc for Settlers. 145 every parish^ or section, are scliools for tlic poorer classes. A law has lately been passed, granting' to the Roman Catholics a free school of their own ; but it does not appear to have been framed in ii judicious manner^ and has given rise to much dis- sension. 1 : ! i 10 w 146 Canada in 1864 : n' ..-m I- ! CONCLUDING REMAEKS. The foregoing sketches do not profess to present more tlian a general outline^ wliicli^ however^ tlio author hopes may not be altogether useless or un- interesting to the emigrant who is about to become a settler in the backwoods. As to the part of Upper Canada that is most to be recommended^ so much must depend on circumstances. For those who purpose going far west^ or into the new townships^ it would be better for a few families to unite and take up their Government lots together; and it would be very desirable that there should be some mechanics in this small society^ for blacksmiths^ carpenters_, shoemakers^ and millwrights are much needed in the woods. In some of the recent settle- ments_, on the erection of a mill by any individual, the legislature has bestowed on him a free grant of land, with other advantages. I am inclined to think, on the whole, that the townships of Peter- borough and Victoria are the best adapted at the present moment for newly - arrived emigrants. Fresh mines are being constantly discovered in dif- ferent localities ; and as lumbering must go on to a considerable extent for many years to come, the A Hand'hooh for Settlers. 147 resent ^r, the or uu- ecome Upper much 3 who iships, e and md it some miths, much settle- ddual, ant of ed to Peter- at the ■•rants, n dif- on to le, the settler will readily find a good market for his pro- duce. In the course of another few years, the country will be opened as far back as the Georgian Bay, and this will enhance the value of the lands. The summer is the most favourable time for the voyage out to Canada — about June especially; before the end of that month the black ihes make travelling through the backwoods all but impossible. August and September are very agi-eeablo here; the roads are good, and the country is in full beauty. From the accounts that have been given of the Island of Anticosti, one may infer that it would not be an undesirable spot to be selected by a few hardy settlers, who are fond of sport, to form a colony for themselves. I have before said that the rivers swarm with salmon, speckled and salmon trout, etc., while the bear, the otter, and the marten abound, and seals frequent the coast in almost incredible numbers: Timber for building purposes is easily procured, owing to the immense drifts of logs, etc., on the shores. A schooner from Quebec visits the inmates of the lighthouse twice annually. I quote the words of Mr. Richardson, avIio has surveyed Anticosti : '^ But such is the condition of the island at present, that not a yard of the soil has been turned up by a permanent settler ; and it is the case that about a million of acres of good land, at the very entrance from the ocean to the province, are 'r^ n I* >, t; li 148 Canada in 18G4 left to lie waste, wLilo great expenses are incurred to carry settlers to the most distant parts of the West. Taken in connection with the fisheries of the St. Lawrence, it appears to me that the estab- lishment of an agricultm-al population in the island would not only be a profit to the settlers, but a great advantage to the province at large.'' Let us now suppose that a party of six wish to go in company to Anticosti, and endeavour thus to calculate their expenses for a year : — The passage to Quebec . £120 A boat (second hand) 30 Nets, traps, etc. 30 Flour 12 Meat . . 12 Tea .... 10 Sundries 20 Furniture, etc. . 25 6) £259 £43 3 4 According to this calculation a man could enjoy a year's sport (shooting, fishing, and trapping) for less than £50 ; and, in all probability., the sale of the fur would cover his expenses, of course leaving the boat, nets, etc., still in hand. A civilian owning a small capital yielding about £100 per annum^ or an officer on half-pay, could A Iland'hoolc for Settlers. l-iO QCiirred of tho 3rios of estab- 3 island , but a wish to thus to ~0 enjoy a ig) for 5 of the ng the about could live well in Canada ; the latter might hire a little place, with a few acres, whereon to feed his horse and cow, drink excellent beer, and smoke first-rato tobacco, to say nothing of enjoying independence, and mixing in good society, while in England his scanty pension will barely make both ends meet, and his poverty keeps him in the backgi'ound. A man in this country may procure capital board and lodging, with washing included, and the occa- sional use of a horse or team if required, at tho rate often shillings a week. Money-lenders, or, in colonial phrase, bill-shavers, often amass large for- tunes, lending their money on safe securities at, perhaps, £50 per cent, per annum on small sums for a short period. Money can be securely invested at £10 per cent., and bank-stock pays £8 per cent, interest. The winters are sometimes tolerably mild ; the first I passed here I lived in a tent without a fire till the middle of January, and last Christmas wo had not more than an inch of snow upon the ground, with a brilliant sun, and the thermometer at noon standing at 50^ in the shade. In the fall (viz., the months of October and November), the woods aro exceedingly lovely, the leaves displaying every con- ceivable variety of tint and colour, and nature is then beheld in one of her grandest aspects. We have little of the dismal foggy weather so famed for inducing the desire of suicide in weak or do- r I !r 1 1 1 1 i I* PI "•.'■ 150 Canada in 1864 : pravod minds, whicli afc certain seasons visits our native isle. We can generally take plenty of exer- cise throughout the year, but I cannot say that our Canadian young ladies in the country exert them- selves much in this way, though in the towns they make a promenade of one or more of the streets. Their beauty is often remarkable, but it is seldom adorned by the rosy blush of their English sisters, probably owing in a great measure to the influence of hot-stoves, and a life spent too much in-doors. However, they are apt to find the temptations of the skating rinks too strong to bo resisted, and theso are indulged in by night as well as by day, with a degree of colonial freedom that might astonish some of our scdater damsels at home. My little work is now at an end. If I have suc- ceeded in awakening a larger amount of sympathy in the breast of any of my readers for this beautiful land, her present condition, and her future prospects ; and if I have, at the same time, been able to convey any useful information to the settler about to seek for himself and his family a new home in the wilder- ness of the Far West, I shall be well pleased. Long may Canada continue to prosper and go forward in the race of nations ! and should the period ever arrive (at present apparently far distant) when the child, having attained to full maturity, should desire to dissolve her union with the mother country, and assume her place in the world as an independent A Hand-hook for Settlers. 151 isits our of cxer- tliat oui' t tlicm- 'na tlicy streets, seldom sisters, afluenco i-doors. s of tlio id theso , witli a ill some ve suc- aipatliy 3autiful spects ; convey :o seek ^vilder- Long ard in I ever 3n the desire Y, and ndent kingdom, may the severance bo peacefully accom- plished, without destroying those feelings of affec- tion and goodwill towards England which are the glory of her colonics, and which have so powerfully contributed to their existing state of greatness and prosperity. H iBHaaMtfi Ui 4 i; IF i » ' r^ 'HI « V 1 it ( APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. EXTEACTS FROM GOVERNMENT PAMPHLETS. COLONIZATIOISr, CEOWN" LANDS. GEOGEAPHICAL POSITION. Canada extends from the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the east, to (according to some authorities) the Eocky Mountains on the west, embracing an area of about 350,000 square miles, or 240,000,000 of acres, independently of its north-western possessions, not yet open for settlement. The Eiver St. Lawrence, and Lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Claii-, Huron, and Superior, with their connecting rivers, form a remarkable natural boundary between Canada and the States of the Union, and a means of communication of surprising extent, and unrivalled excellence. r-v.* . . ^f ( ! Ill Jl*: i M 154 Aiipendix, CONSTITUTION AND GOYEIINMENT. An integral part of the British Eni])irc, Canada enjoys perfect religious, social, and political ficedom. The Governor is appointed by the Crown, and is its representative in the province. He nominates an Executive Council, who are his ad- visers. There are two legislative bodies, called the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, the members of which are elected by the people. All public offices and seats in the Legislature are open to any candidate possessing the confi- dence of the people, holding a certain limited amount of property, and being at the time a British subject. Three years' residence entitles a foreigner to all the rights and privileges of a natural born citizen. Aliens can '^uy, hold, and sell land. MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS. The municipal system of Canada is admirably adapted to the exigencies of a young and vigorous country. In order to comprehend it, it is necessary to state that UpjDcr Canada is divided into counties, forty-two in number ; the counties are divided into townships, the latter being about ten miles square. The inhabitants of a township elect annually five councillors ; the councillors elect out of this number a pre- siding officer, who is designated the Township Eeeve ; the reeves and the deputy reeves of the different townships form the County Council ; this council elect their presiding officer, who is styled the Warden. In each county there is a judge, a sheriff, one or more coroners, a clerk of the peace, a clerk of the county court, a registrar, and justices of the peace, which officers are appointed by the Governor in Council. AU township reeves, wardens, mayors, and alder- men, are, ex officio, justices of the peace. Appendix, loo r. da enjoys Governor \'C in the ire Lis ad- egislative i of wliich ats in the the confi- Linount of t. Three gilts and 3uy, hold, apted to order to Canada conn ties en miles tally five er a pre- )ve; the ps form •e siding lere is a )eace} a of the :nor in alder- CEJWN LAXDS. Several millions of acres of snrveyed lands are always in market, and the prices fixed at which intending settlors can acquire them, upon application to the respective Crown land agents. The names of these agents, their residences, and how to get there, will be found below. The])ricesof Crown lands vary from seventy cents cash, to one dollar, and ono shilling an acre, on time, accordhig to locality. Crown lands in Upper Canada are sold for cash, at seventy cents an acre, and, on time, at one dollar an acre, one-fifth to be paid at the time of sale, and the remaining four-fifths in four equal annual instalments, with interest at six per cent, on the purchase money unpaid. On the north shore of Lake Huron, and at Fort William on Lake Superior, lands are sold on time at twenty cents an acre. All Crown lands in the newly-surveyed territory arc subject to settle- ment duties, and no patent in any case (even though tho land be paid for in full at the time of purchase) shall issue for any such land to any person who shall not by himself, or the person or persons under whom ho claims, have taken possession of such lands, within six months from the time of sale, and shall from that time continuously have been a ho7id Jide occupant of, and resident on the land for at least two years, and have cleared and rendered fit for cultivation and crop, and had under crop within four years at farthest from the time of sale of the land, a quantity thereof in tho proportion of at least ten acres to every one hundi"cd acres, and have erected thereon a habitable house, and of tho dimensions at least of sixteen by twenty feet. Timber must not be cut without license, except for agTicultural pur- poses. There is generally on Crown lands an unlimited supply of the best fuel. The conditions of sale allow the settler to cut and sell from his lot whatever timber he thinks proper. r 1: 156 Appendix. by taking out a license, wliich can be had on application to the Crown land agent. The value of the tinil)er thus cut is applied in payment of the purchase money due to the Crown. Even in burning the timber wliir^h he does not sell, the settler can convert the ashes into potash, which will meet a ready sale at from £7 to £9 currency per barrel. Purchasers of lands, after paying a first instalment, can raise from the land itself and from the timber on it, the means of paying the balance of the purchase money, and by their own exertions, in a short time be possessed of a valu- able property; the pioneer settler thus becoming the inde- pendent farmer. COLOITIZATION" ROADS. Government has opened several great lines of road on which free grants of one hundred acres are given to actual settlers. The conditions of location are : —That the settler be eighteen years of age. That he take possession of the land allotted to him within six months. That he build a log house 16 by 20 feet. That he reside on the lot and clear and cultivate ten acres of land in the course of four years. Mem- bers of a family having land allotted to them may reside on a single lot, thereby exempting them from building and residence on each location. The roads in Upper Canada are :— 1st. The Ottawa and Opeongo Road, which runs east and west, and will connect the Ottawa with Lake Huron. Resident Agent, T. P. French, Clontarf. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway and Ottawa River, or Railway to Ottawa City, thence by stage and steamer to Farrell's Landing. '2nd. The Frontenac Road, running north of Kingston, 'j^nBii, ilppend IX, 157 ition to s cut is to the not sell, ill meet 3nt, can it, the and by a valn- le indc- oad on actual settler of the a log jar and Mem- side on ig and east Luron. |e, by [ilway |rr ell's 'ston, through the county of Frontcnac. Resident Agent, James Spike, Deniston. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Kingston. 3rd. The Addington Road, running north and south, through the county of Addington. Resident Agent, E. l*erry, Tamworth. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Napanee. 4th. The Hastings Road, running nearly parallel to the Addington Road, and connecting the County of Hastings with the Ottawa and Opeongo Road. Resident Agent, M. P. Hayes, Madoc. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Belleville. 5th. The Burleigh Road, running through the tow-nships of Burleigh and Anstruther. Resident Agent, Joseph Graham, Peterborough. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Cobourg and Peterborough. The Burleigh Road to join the Peterson Road will be finished in two years. 6th. The Bobcaygeon Road, running from Bobcaygcon> between the counties of Peterborough and Victoria, north, and intended to be continued to Lake Nipissing. Resident Agents : for southerly portion, R. Hughes, Bobcaygeon; for northerly portion, G. G. Boswell, Minden. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Cobourg and Peterborough, and thence by steamer to Bobcaygeon. 7th. The Victoria Road, running north through the county of Victoria to the Peterson Road. Resident Agent, G. M. Roche, Lindsay. Route, by Grand Trunk Railway to Port Hope and Lindsay. 8th. The Muskoka Road, running from Lake Couchiching to the Grand Falls of Muskoka. Resident Agent, R. J. Oliver, Orilha. Route, by Northern Railway from Toronto to Barrie, thence by steamer to Orillia. By means of these roads access is obtained to townships recently surveyed by Government and now open for settle- ment. They are chiefly of excellent quality, and well 158 Appendix, II'' m 1 I adapted, in respect of soil and climate, to all the purposes of husljandry. Tlic roads in Lower Canada are : — 1st, The Elgin Road, in the county of L'Islet, about thirty-five miles long, from St. Jean, Port Joly, to the pro- vincial line ; and that j)art of the Tacho Road, from the county of Bellcchasse to that of Kamouraska, inclusive, about 100 miles. Resident Agent, S. Drapcau, St. Jean, Port Joly. 2nd. The Matapedia Road, from Flcurian to River Resti- goucho. farty-six miles ; and that part of the Tachc Road, from the county of Kamouraska to that of Rimouski, about 100 miles. Resident Agent, J. B. Lepage, Rimouski. 3rd. The Tcmiscouata Road, from Riviere du Loup to Lake Tcmiscouata. Resident Agent, L. N. Gauvreau, Isle Yerte. DIRECTIOlSrS TO EMIGRANTS AND OTHERS WISHING TO PURCHASE CROWN LANDS. Emigrants and others desirous of purchasing Crown Lands should make application to the respective local Crown Land Agents, who are required by law to furnish all applicants with correct information as to what lands are open for sale. The Government Emigration Agents at Quebec, Mon- treal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, and Hamilton, will afibrd information and advice to emigrants respecting the best means of reaching the localities in which they intend to settle. ! I Appendix, 159 DIKECTIONS TO PARTIES CORRESPONDING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF CROWN LANDS. Applications to purchase wild lands, in newly sun'cycd or thinly settled townships, should bo made to the local agent, and if the lot sought to bo purchased is at his dis- posal, at a fixed price, he will sell under existing regulations. If the lot has not yet been advertised, and placed at the dis- posal of the agent, no sale of it can be made until that is done, unless the applicant is in actual occupation, with valu- able improvements : in that case he may, at his own expense, procure the services of the agent (if the lot be within the jurisdiction of one) to inspect it, or furnish him satisfactory evidence, by affidavits of two credible and disinterested parties, or the report of a sworn surveyor, to enable him to report to the department the following particulars, viz. : — The whole time the lot has been occupied ; hy whom now occupied; the nature and extent of the improvements owned by applicant, and -whether there are any adverse claims, on account of improvements made by any other party on the same piece or parcel of land. If the lot is public land, but not within the jurisdiction of any agent, the application should be made direct to tho department, applicant being careful, in order to avoid delay and prevent unnecessary correspondence, to transmit at the same time the evidence by affidavit or surveyor's report, as above stated. The same rules should be observed by applicants to pur- chase Public Lands situated in the old settled townships, with these additions; that in cases where the applicant occupies improvements made by his predecessors on the lot, he should show by assignment or other evidence, how ho obtained possession of them, and that he is now the hond 160 Appendix, H I 'I -,) II §. fide owner of the same. The present full value of the laud per acre, exclusive of improvements, should also be stated by the agent, the surveyor or deponents, as the case may be. All papers necessary to substantiate the applicant's claim or right to jjurchase, if the application is made direct to the department, should accompany the first application.. All assignments, whether by squatters or purchasers, must be unconditional, to be recognized by the department. Applications for information relative to the dates of })atents and the names of patentees should, invariably, bo made to the provincial or deputy provincial registrar. Parties writing to the department should give their post office, the date and number of the last letter (if any) they received from the department on the subject. They should, if they can, state whether the lots they write about are Crown, Clergy, or School Lands. Each letter should be con- fined to one subject; the signature should bo distinctly written, and the letter addi'essed to " The Honourable the Commissioner of Crown Lands." Every applicant of letters patent for lands, should state his Christian name at length, with his occupation and residence, as these must be stated in the letters patent. iiil: INSTEUCTIOJSrS TO IMMIGEANTS WITH SOME CAPITAL. . Pu>< ill! ! in Immigrants with some capital, desirous of settling on land, and unaccustomed to life in the bush, would do well to purchase a lot with a house, outbuildings, and a few acres of clearance. Lots of this description are always to be found in the newly- settled districts, the title to which is still in the Crown. In such cases a small sum must be given for Appendix, IGl state and [E the right and improvements of the original pnrcliaser. Tlie patent would then be issued on payment of the balance of the purchase money duo to the Crown, and on completion of the required settlement duties. The Crown Land agents will aid immigrants inquiring for improved lots within their agencies, for which patents have not been issued. They will say where such lots are to be found, and they will assist, if requested, in drawing up the necessary assignment to the purchaser, for registration in the department of Crown Lands. I 1 III I on well teres mud U in for 11 !i fn APPENDIX B. EMIGRATION TO CANADA. (From « The Albion" of May 30, 1864.) I The subject of emigration has recently attracted much attention in Canada, and has led to several discussions in the provincial parliament. It would appear from the state- ments of the honourable members that Federal agents arc busy there as in England, attempting to attract newly arri\ ed emigrants from Canada to New York and other Federal cities, with a view to enlisting them in the Federal armies. This drain on Canada had seriously affected the labour mar- ket, and the legislature had under their consideration the best means of putting an end to this system. In the Legislative Council, on the 10th May, the Hon. Mr. Alex- ander moved for a select committee to consider and report upon the best means to be adopted to attract an increased number of immigrants and settlers. At present they had no agents in the United States or on the European Conti- nent, and although they had a department of agriculture iiii.- ''ti gjte^ Aiypendix. 1C3 much ions in state- ats arc irri\ ed ecleral rmies. mar- )n the the Alex- report 'eased y had 'onti- Iture n and cmi^ation, little or nothing had yet been done to pro- mote an influx of settlers. In his opinion they could easily receive and absorlj from IJO.OOO to 40,000 immigrants aimu- ally, all of whom could find comfortable homes and hiring by their labour. Manufactures of various kinds were rapidly springing up ; and he thought that if care was taken with the immigrants on thtir arrival, and the re- sources of the province set before them, they would ])refer ])eaceful Canada to the United Statt^s. The Hon. Mr. Campbell said the province was much indebted to Mr. Alexander for the untiring zeal and energy he displayed on the subject. He begged to second this motion. The motion was carried ncm. dis. In the Legislative Assembly, on the same day, Mr. M'Gee, Minister of Agriculture, moved the second reading of the bill to amend the acts respecting emigrants and quarantine, and proposing to make, at Quebec, one legal landing-place, and that emigrants should be landed at particular hours, with the regulations designed to check the current of further emigration to the Northern States. In the course of his remarks he maintained the right of the various localities to representation by popula- tion. He also maintained that the report of the ex-commis- sioner of Crown Lands, that there were no more lands suitable for cultivation, for appropriation — a statement which must of necessity prove damaging to immigration — was very incorrect, that in a comparatively small district 9400 situations were now open for immigrants immediately on their ai^ival. Several other gentlemen spoke in favour of the bill, and reference was again made to the diverting of the immigration stream to the Northern States, and the importance of such provisions as the bill designed to check it. The discussion was adjourned. Return of the number of male and female servant?, me- chanics, etc., required in Canada, and for which applications 164 I' ' 11 , i Appendix. have been made to the iiilaiid agents : — Farm hibourcrs.G.lOl ; boys over thirteen years of age, 1,115; female ser\-ants, 2,892 ; car])enters and joiners, 1G5 ; masons, 131 ; bricklayers, 57 ; founders, 14 ; coopers, 33; smiths, (30; tinsmiths, 5; shoe- makers, 70 ; tailors, 29 ; muiers, 218 ; tanners, 13 ; saddlers, 16 ; wheelwrijf^hts, 1 ; carriage-painters, 2 ; weavers, 4 ; gar- deners, skilled, 9 ; gi'ooms, 4, — Total, 10,999. Average rate of wages : — Per month, with board (gold and not currency) : — Farm labourers from $7 to $8 ; female servants, §2 to $5 ; ])oys, $2 50c. to $G ; carpenters, §14 to $20 ; tailors, $10 to $14 ; shoemakers, $10 to $16 ; saddlers, $12 to $16 ; black- s^miths, $14 to $20. Per day, without board (gold, and not currency) : — Farm labourers, from 70c. to $1 ; carpenters, $1 to $1 50c. ; tailors, $1 12c. to $1 50c. ; shoemakers, $1 to $1 25c. ; blacksmiths, $1 12c. to $1 50c. ; masons, SI 25c. to $1 50c. ; coopers, $1 25c. to $1 50c. ; tinsmiths, $1 to $1 25c. ; founders, $1 25c. to $1 50c.; bricklayers, $1 12c. to $1 50c. ^^^s^^ 1G5 rs, 0,161; s, 2,892 ; ors, 57; • ; shoc- addlors, 4; gar- 5 rate of Qcy) ;— to $5; , $10 to black- nd not enters, 5rs, $1 U 25c. $1 to 1 12c. VALUE OF ENGLISH COIN THROUGHOUT CANADA. Stebiino. £ s . d. 1 6 1 2 6 5 10 1 5 10 20 50 100 CUEKEXCY. $ cts. 2 25 GO 1 21 2 43 4 86 24 33 4.S ee 97 33 243 33 486 QQ XAsaiLD, PBurxaB, loiroow. ■of' Si**! , WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED. INDLV, AMERICA, AND THE COLONIES. A History of the Discovery and Exploration of Aus- tralia ; or, An Account of the ProgreBS of Geographical Discovery in that Continent, from the Earliest Period to the Present Day. By the Rev. JuuAK E. 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