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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 L LOST AMID THE FOGS. I y< r 1. •^< LOST AMID THE FOGS: SKETCHES OF LIFE IN NEWFOUNDLAND, ENGLAND'S ANCIENT COLONY. I- i I ) ,;■' i- BY LiEUT.-CoL. R. B. M^CREA, THE ROYAL ARTILLERY. " O Thou ! Who sittest far beyond the Atlantic deep, Amid the sources of thy countless streams, A newer page In the great record of the world is thine : Shall it be fairer ? Fear, and friendly hope, And envy, watch the issue ; while the lines. By which thou shalt be judged, are written dowu." LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, & MAKSTON, CROWN BUILDINGS. 188 FLEET STREET. 1869. [All rtgtUa ruerved.j ] 1535 9 235150 EDINBURCIH : FRINTED BY BALLI.ANTYNE AND COMPANY, PAUL'S WORK. CONTENTS. ' INTRODUCTORY, VI 1 CHAPTER I. THE HOME DESTROYED, ... 1 „ II. " ON THE SAD SEA WAVE," ... „ III. IIALIGONIAN, 30 „ IV. INTO THE BREAST OF WINTER, . . 41 „ V. UNDER THE BUFFALO ROBES, . . ")."> „ VI. THE FIRST LIFTS OF THE FOG — THE HOME RESTORED, 72 „ VII. CREDIT AND DISCREDIT, . . . I) I ,, VIII. MARTIAL AND POLITICAL, . . . 105 „ IX. THE KNELL FROM CATHEDRAL HILL, . 123 „ X. THE LAST DUEL IN NEWFOUNDLAND, . 13G „ XL THE ANGLICAN BRANCH OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, ini „ XIL SPRING — THE ARGONAUTS OF THE NORTH, 1 82 „ XIII. THE HARVESTS OF THE OCEAN, . . 204 „ XIV. AUTUMN — THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEASON, 227 „ XV. AUTUMN — A " WITLESS " EXPEDITION, . 241) ,, XVL " THE ODD r CK AND THE RUBBER," . 2G9 „ XVIL FAREWELL, 291 >M ' .1' 1 ) 1 t t tl ri Ii k at 1m hi 1' I I: ,| INTRODUCTORY. fOYAGERS in the great ships, hourly pass- ing between England and America, sight about the sixth day out a black desolate headland connecting two strips of high scarped coast, which from this point fade away towards the distant horizons of the north and west. This is Cape Race, the southern extremity of Newfoundland, famous for telegraphic signals and awful shipwrecks. Beyond, there lies inland a vast stretch of barren, bog, forest, river, and lake, of a total area much about that of Ireland, and stocked with herds of deer preyed on by bears and wolves. Beavers are not extinct ; grouse and wild fowl abundant ; salmon and trout in places to 1)6 found in any quantity. Once these were the happy hunting-grounds of the Red Indian and the Mic-Mac. sT vm Introductory. The former lias entirely disappeared, and the latter will probably soon follow the inevitable law of race. One European only has traversed this pathless in- terior from coast to coast. Could we but take a coup- d'oiil of what this man saw in months of toil, the map beneath would reflect at least one-third of water back to our gaze : while the remarkable feature would also present itself, that with lakes and connecting streams absolutely countless, not a single navigable river could anywhere be found. The cause of this phenomenon lies in the enormous coating of moss spread over the whole region. The masses of descending moisture are always first absorbed by this vast sponge, which slowly yields the produce to the lower levels. Great periodical floods, which would ordinarily deepen the channels of rivers, are therefore almost impossible ; neither have the streams from this cause strength to force the barriers of the hills and unite their waters. Numbers of fishing settlements dot the coast, wherever indeed nooks, bays, or creeks afford shelter. Passen- gers ask few questions about the country, seldom receiving satisfactory replies, as little is known about it. Men button up their peacoats with a shrug, and thank their stars they are passing on to more genial I- Introductory. IX climes. The impression, if any thought is taken on the matter, is that the place may be half-rock, half- wilderness, reeking of unsavoury fishy smells ; that little good ever went to it ; that nothing good ever came out of it. Whether civilisation has ever dawned upon the fishermen ; whether their religion be Chris- tian or Pagan ; whether the fashions be those of the present day or of Eden ; whether the folk eat raw or cooked meat; are subjects of indifference to the brighter, busier world outside the Fogs. My own ideas, before receiving the sudden order to penetrate the girdle of mists, and make myself a citizen of the world within, were not unlike ; my ignorance of all concerning it, profound. I know now that ignorance alone has militated against an interest in the affairs of England's Ancient Colony. Widely different were the facts and bearings of life there to what I had supposed. My lot has been cast in almost every colony of our vast dominion. Not even excepting dear old Corfu, have three happier years than those (perforce at first, and very willingly after- wards) in Newfoundland, been ever spent abroad. Our duties, pleasures, and troubles there, are briefly described in the following pages. They aim at nothing X Introductor?/. greater than to present an idea of the social and poli- tical condition of the colony, with the general tone of its society. Would that in attempting so much, I had the gifts and talents of the chef of the Club, the grave white-bearded Bartoletti, to whom the faintest sketch of your intended hospitality sufficed for a per- fect result. "Bartoletti," said Batty of the Royal Incidentals, " I 've a few friends at dinner to-morrow ; I should like" "Take iced champagne, sir?" said the chef. " Certainly." " Very good, sir ; will you have a little hock in after the fish ? " " Quite so." "Very good, Captain Batty, I understand: you will have a very good dinner." The guests of the following night had never reason to complain that he had not picked up the tone of the intended spread quite correctly. Little is said of the early settlements of the colony ; for of history or story in this respect there is absolutely none to tell of. What its political future is likely to be, is hazardous to venture a guess at under the changes now progressing in the British Possessions of North America. As yet the Ancient Colony has wisely refused to link its fortunes to the new Confederation of the provinces, than which, it is possible, a more unsound 'li XI Introductory^ or impolitic scheme was never promoted. England, unable to defend, with so distant a base, her possessions from the attack of a neighbouring people (who have unexpectedly acquired the knowledge of forming a strong military despotism at short notice, with little scruple in using it), wishes to retire from the chance of seeing the Union Jack lowered from the ramparts of Quebec. But the means adopted under her guidance, in the hope of avoiding an almost similar catastrophe, will probably prove futile. A nation, like a poet, nascitur non fit. It may spring (like the tree from the acorn) from a little nucleus until it becomes in time great and powerful, with the prestige of old traditions and glories to bind men's hearts together in a common cause ; or it may acquire its liberty from bondage in a baptism of blood, equally cementing between man and his brother man. But it cannot be made suddenly out of various heterogeneous })article8 having nothing in common. What do the farmers of Upper Canada care for the fishermen of Nova Scotia one thousand miles away? or the lumbermen of the roaring Ottawa for the amphibious folk of Gaspe? The scheme is nothing but a rope of sand, which the first breath of adversity will disunite and scatter. The *■'* ' 1' flA^\> xii Introductory. inevitable Yankees want the St Lawrence for geogra- phical reasons. "Vy"e lost ourjopj)ortunity for dividing the balance of power on the American continent when Lee, Jackson, and Beauregard made their irnperjslia}3le renown. Before many years we shall have to pay the penalty. Still, with the loss of continental territory, England, for the sake of her commerce, must keep her chain of ocean videttes intact ; and desperate ought to be her efforts in extremity to retain possession of such places as Halifax, and St John's Newfoundland, The strength of Quebec, in its capability for long defence, has pro- bably been over-estimated ; but St John's might be made invulnerable, the extremity of a chain stretching across the Atlantic from the Cape, linked together with St Helena, Bermuda, and Halifax. Within a few years from this, we may see its snug little harbour (holding securely one end of the great ocean alphabet) bristling with batteries and torpedoes, sufficient to uphold our flag, if driven there, like Moore to Corunna, in defence against all attack. Loving that flag, and wedded to its fortunes, who could not wish that towards it the loyalty of those over whom it waves were warm and cherished. Yet here, V Introductory. xiu if indeed in any of our colonies now, it can hardly be so estimated. Men's hearts are not disloyal — they are only indifferent. Nothing is offered to warm the feel- ing in those hearts, and the fire naturally dies out. Talents, and services brilliant in proportion to the situation, are rendered to the State ; yet very little recognition ever reaches the labourers. Year by year passes, and nothing, absolutely nothing, occurs to arouse the love for the prestige of the old country: no honours, no message of interest, no royal visits, or gifts, or prizes for merit, to keep alive feelings worth all else in the moment of danger. How truly experience has proved already the shortsightedness of this policy ! " Why look, yer honner," said a Paddy in Canada, " if the Quane would jist be ordering them to build her a cuppil of pallisses in Oireland, for hersel and the little Quanes about her, and be giving the boys good wages durint the job, it 's little ye 'd hear of Faniism." In a common- sense view, Paddy was near the mark. A pint of beer served out to each soldier of the British army on Her Majesty's birthday, to drink Her gracious health, would be worth more than the cheering done by order at the annual review. Schools, hospitals, good- conduct badges, gardens, libraries, nay, even the sup- A Hi m XIV Introductory. pression of the abominable stoppages, are all capital in their way ; bnt they are not that fillip to loyalty and affection which men in the gap will think of, when the inevitable time for guarding the flag against tremendous odds looms darkly in the future. The true interests of Newfoundland and England are linked together : long may they so remain ! Many would mourn with me should the day come when the old flag waved no longer from the heights of Signal Hill. Even as I write, the fair landscape from my window is every now and then blurred over, and a vision of memories, very dear, revolves distinctly out of it. I see, instead of the sunny and brown, the cold grays and blues of a rocky coast ; instead of the smiling harvest-fields, long stretches of barren and lea, fleckered by the rising covey, or by patches of fruit, God-given freely to all ! Instead of the river laden with the riches of Hindustan and foul with the refuse of a vast city — chain upon chain of lochs and streams of sweet spark- ling waters, ruffled by jealous rocks, and dimpled every- where by disporting fish ; instead of the noble crowns of oak and elm — the pointed cones of the firs and larches cutting sharp against the northern sky ; instead of the balmy air of a semi-tropical summer evening — the ■u Introductory. XV glorious Aurora arching itself as a crown over the throne of the King of winter, whence innumerable angels spread themselves by battalions in battle array over the heavens, moving ever and deploying in front of some foe unseen by us ; instead of the Dundrearys and conventionalists of the old home, — the honest faces, clear eyes, and warm-pressing hands of unforgotten, busy, hard-work- ing friends. To them I send the following feeble descriptions of their lives and adopted country ; re- gretting if there should be ought to offend ; and glad, very glad, if these in any measure recal the times and places wherein we talked or worked, rejoiced or sorrowed together. : :; I /v nnd at kett Eno Jind bact hapj i^'ooc] ing i chief with >t'- .^ S iii i , /v LOST AMID THE FOGS. CHAPTER I. THE HOME DESTROYED. HAT a miserable day it had been : and liow cheerily the fire sparkled as I lay back in my easy -chair one memorable evenings in December 18G1. My wife, chatting and working, was sitting opposite ; the cat, blinking at the merry blaze, purred on the hearth-rug ; the kettle, the sweetest lecturer on social science in all England, was unburdening its views upon the hob ; and on that low but genial throne of love I lay back comfortable and happy. Perhaps the more happy inasmuch as I was tired, not with idleness, but good hard work. All that afternoon I had been assist- ing a day-labourer to clear and tidy a i)ocket-handker- chief of a garden which my predecessors had left i)lanted with bricks, blacking bottles, o Id shoes, and such other 2 Lost Amid the Fogs. Havoury sorts of rubbish. They evidently would have looked with intense scorn on all our digging, clearing, trenching, and manuring ; and would have thought it far clieaper to have stopped the greengrocer's cart eacli morning for a modicum of faded greens, instead of lay- ing in the hope of fresh-cut Brussels sprouts as we did then. Only tl»e week before it had been clearly estab- lished l>y all hands as a sure and ascertained tact that our brigade would not go abroad for another year at least ; and although tlie news about the 2'rent outrage, as the papers called it, was fanning up a very pretty breeze throughout the country, yet somehow or other we all thought it would soon blow itself out. Ho much had it become the fashion with om' rulers to accept kicks on behalf of the old British Lion, that we never expected him to growl and lash his tail on this occasion. So I closed the bargain with my landlord for the house, hired the gardener, laid in a good stock of coals, and Hent for a sister from the Channel Islands to see us well through Lent. I thought of this while the tea was draw- ing, and very comfortable and cosy it all appeared to be. There was a hurried knock at the door, and the ser- vant brought in an official letter. I hate an official letter at any time, especially before meals. One may receive a good many without the appetite being a whit improved. But this one, I perfectly remember, I opened with great nonchalance, although I might have thought that it was an unusual time for that kind of missive to arrive in. But had I not made my preparations, built my little barns, stored them with good things for the ) I I '•.1 The Home Destroi/cd. 3 future, and, above all things, planted my Brussels sprouts? What, then, cared I? Without a shadow of concern I sprang the envelope and read — well, there are some sensations in life one never forgets. " Thou fool, this night" — it flashed through my brain quickly enough. It was worse to tell my wife, who was pouring out tlie tea, and calling Tom to drink his saucor of milk. " What is it, Rob ? Anything to worry you ?" Well ! I forget how I told her : the remembi'ance ot the next half hour is all dizziness. I think she came at last to peep over my shoulder to see what that "stupid official" contained, and tlien she read in the adjutant's handwriting — " j\Iy dear Siu, — The colonel has j'ust come from the Horse Guards ; — telegraphed for by D. A. G. this after- noon. A great deal more shine about that Treiit job than we tliought. We are all ordered off for Canada. You are told off for Newfoundland, and sail next Saturdav in the Liverpool packet. Parade to-morrow at ten for inspection ; all hands. Thought you would like to know as soon as possible. Excuse haste. — Yours, &c., "J. C." " Sail on Saturday for Newfoundland ! and this is Wednesday night ! " As I wrote before, Avhat we said or did that next hour is all a blur and dizziness. I hope we remembered that it was all ordered well and right ; but I am sure that the taste for that pleasant tea \ .1 . siti 4 Lost Amid the Fogs. was gone, and that the kettle sang any longer in vnin lor us. There was indeed no time to be lost, and fifty liours of crashing and smashing succeeded. Household treasures were crushed in boxes or scattered to the four winds of heaven ; when, ah ! when to be re-collected ? Even in handing over the Brussels sprouts to my neighbour over the paling there was a sharpish pang, and a hearty confounding of Captain Wilkes's impudence. Then, far worse, came the tearing of the heart's fibres at the part- ing moment : the wife to go back to her maiden home, tlie sister to her father ; and I on to a new world, where Home to Englishmen is still an unknown word. " 'Twaa ■winter tlioii, and as we parted Tlie dry brown leaf was ru.stliug on the ground, ^lakinj,' the sadness sadder, and the cloud Of the lony farewell deeper in its gloom." In the meanwhile, hastily going backwards and for- wards, here and there, to and fro, in hurried trips to London and down again ; in railways, steamers, shops, private houses, and libraries ; I had been vainly attempt- ing to discover something, no matter how indefinite, about Newfoundland. It appeared really to be what its name imparted, and not the oldest possession of the Crown, for scarce a syllable could I glean respect- ing it. "Newfoundland?" said one of my friends. "To be sure ; know all about it. Fish, you know : tremendous i)lace for salt fish ! " i : I The Home Destroyed. 5 '■ Newfoundland?" r<>plied another travelled monkey. ■' Oh, yes ! certainly ; know it very well. Banks, you know — tremendous banks of mud, and awful fo^'s. Take care of yourself— cold, cough, bronchitis, eh?" ''Newfoundland?" ruminated a third, more honest; " never heard anything of it except they cook evorythini;- in cod liver oil ! Kalher not go there myself. Good-bye; God bless you." Then there was a fourth and a fifth, ay, a twcntietli, who knew only that it abounded in fish, fog, and nuid banks. The picture was, however, sometimes com- l)leted with ice, icebei'gs, stunted pines, seals, whales, and other familiar items of the Arctic picture. At length, wearied of fruitless inquiry, I turned into a well-known chart and map shop in Charing Cross, where they profess to have plans of all the civilised countries of the globe. " Newfo«mdland ? " said the shopman, laying the accent heavy on the middle syllable; "certainly, sir. American, I think ; Northern or Southern ? Oh ! Biitish colonv, is it? Then we sliall find it in this lot." His index-finger travelled down a goodly list, but no, he didn't seem to hit it. He gave a sort of sheepish, hesitating glance round the ample shelves of ma[)S, and said — " I'm half afraid, sir, we have not any maps of New- foundland. I really don't think it has ever been inquired for till now. But stop — by the by, perhaps this will do." He pulled out, from an immense flat drawer full of • w 6 Lost Amid the Fogs. charts, an Admiralty Survey of the coast line about the j^reat banks, with the soundings marked by hundreds all about it. What with the meridians and parallels, compass marks and tracks of ships, it looked as if a spider had dipped his legs in the ink bottle and travelled leisurely about the paper. Moreover, it was a very likely thing to be useful to any one desiring a knowledge of tlie interior of the country : very ! " Ah ! well, sir," he said, " we 've nothing more. I am sorry I cannot accommodate you." It was clearly of no use going further to ask for a " Murray's Guide." So this is all I could scrape together of my future home, with one other little matter that may as well bo told. There was an officer's widow, a lady of mature years, who lived on the outskirts of our great garrison town, attached by long association to its unbucolic habits and sounds, which possess often but little fas- cination for many, condemned, malgre eux, to live by them. I remembered somehow or other, many years back, when a subaltern under her husband, hearing her talk of Newfoundland, and just thought that I would run up and ask her about it. It was the last card, and it certainly did not turn out much of a trump. She laughed at my calling it New-foimdland, and said : " Newfunlan' ? oh, yes ; I was there several years. Colonel C was a captain then. It was when we first married." " Indeed. And did you like it ? " The Home Destroyed. " Like it ? — well, yes, very much. I was veiy linp]iy there." " And what did you do ? " " Do? — well, I don't think we did anythinj^." " I mean, how did you amuse yourself?" " Oh ! there are no amusements. It 's quite out of all that sort of thing, except when the letters arrived once a month or six weeks." " H'ni ! Are there good roads ? " " No. Scarcely any roads at all that can be called roads; but then in winter you .may drive where you like in the sleighs." " And the food ? " " Well, the beef was not bad, and the bread good." " Any fruit or gardens ? " " Oh, no ; nothing of that sort. Indeed, the summer is too short, except for early vegetables. The cabbages, I remember, growing in the ditch of the old fort, were splendid." There was a grain of comfort then, thought I, re- membering my unfortunate s}>ec in Brussels sprouts. " Well, but is there nothing else ? " " Yes ; there 's plenty of salt iish, and pork, and snow, and wild ducks, and Irish Papists. Oii ! I remember now, it's an awful place for wind" '-Wind?" " Yes. It blows terribly, and it was always blowing. We were often and often obliged to walk out tiod two and two together." Mercy on us ! thought I, as I went away quite full in 'f-, . t 8 Lost Amid the Fogs. of valuable information ; and this worthy lady told me she had been very happy there, and yet she can remem- ber nothing of the place but salt pork, wild ducks, snow, Irish Papists, and wind 1 none of which, to the minds of common men, contain the essential elements of happi- ness. It was very clear that her happiness consisted in the home which she formed for herself and its secret inward joys ; and I thought none the less of her for the sweet truth she had unwittingly betrayed, but yet had never spoken in sober fact or word. But what was I to make of it? Why, nothing — really nothing. The spider's legs over the Admiralty chart were just as explanatory ; and I knew no more if I was to take out flannel shirts or strawberry jam, railway books or Victoria druggeting, than I did before. Peoi)le do not usually travel about with barrels of salt pork, so a knowledge of the superabundance of that delicate viand by no means assisted or refreshed my nuisings. So this is why, the reason why, that I, hav- ing now experience of the things wherein the first Fish Colony is a sealed book, an unknown land, a country almost undiscovered, at any rate on the shelves of Mudi(^ or the parlour tables of English homes, have taken pity on future voyagers, to tell them what they will see, and taste, and hear within the rocky barriers which frown upon the white sails hurrying across the misty banks of black, inhospitable-looking Newfoundland. CHAPTER II. i< ON THE SAD SEA WAVE. HE clicks of the noble Cunardcr, in which we were ordered to embark in Liverpool, were crowded with officers and soldiers, together with tr.e few male passengers who had secureich I see thrown overboard. Now, wasn't 1. Charlie, ;. '^'' *' Chatting ..-ji.c-e.).. ><^ '■■ parcel of stuff, eh, Carry? I dare say." " I '11 pinch your arm if you say that again, sir; I will, Charlie. I wasn't talking nonsense of a parcel of stuff. Perhaps you have not seen the great baskets of provisions thrown overboard," she added, turning again to our group. " No, indeed, I could not have supposed it ; perhaps it 's the mere rubbish." " Indeed it is not rubbish. You can have no idea what is in those baskets which are turned into the sea three times a-day. I saw legs of fowls, and wings too, great bits of turbot, slices of beef and mutton, mince pies, cheese-cakes, biscuit, bread, ham, and fifty other things all muddled together, enough to feed a whole village, if properly cleaned, and put on one side. Oh ! it 's so sad to think of such waste, indeed it is ! " On the Sad Sea Wave." 27 " But, my dear Carry, you don't suppose it's done on purpose ; depend upon it the steward would make some- thing of it if he could keep it." " Let's ask him, Charlie; there's a dear: it makes me quite unhappy." " Very good, little woman ; anything to satisfy you : come along." So slipping and sliding along the hurricane-deck, down the corkscrew-ladder, and beyond the bar, we solicited an audience of the great functionary within, and had the gratification of seeing him smile compla- cently, though withal not witliout a touch of pity when our request was made known. " Bless you, ma'am !" he vouchsafed to reply, " we 've a tried it scores of times, both a winter and a summer ; and it isn't to be done. When we first started, the most i)articular orders were given by the owners to save all the good scrai)s for the j)oor at Liverpool and New York ; but the whole mass of it fermented, and smelt, and moulded ; and there was such a quantity that there was no place to keep it ; and, in short, there was no help but to pitch it away, and overboard it goes." " It's very sad," said the tender-hearted girl, " to see such waste." "So it is, ma'am, so it is; but where 's the help?" Here 's some nice, hot, smoking currant buns, just out of the oven. Please help yourself, ma'am ; I thought they'd be just the thing for this miserable day." And thus the chief of the stewards dismissed his pf'titioners with their hands full of cheery, hot brown \ I 28 Lost Amid the Fogs. cake, fragrant with fruit and candied lemon-peel. The young wife ran off with a handful down the cabin- stairs for her sick friend, the old stewardess ; and before one could count twenty she was walking with her hus- band up and down the icy deck again, and exchanging pleasant words all round. A very queen among us she had been the few days of our companionship together, and worthily had she sat upon her throne. There was nothing wonderful in the homage paid her by a large mixed set of officers and travellers ; how one ran for a stool and another for a shawl ; how all waited for her to take her place at dinner, and rose at our end of the table when she gave the signal ; or brought her books to read, and gladly took a lesson in cribbage and back- gammon when the candles were lighted. Nothing wonderful in all this, nothing ; for a woman at all ages may command or take it. She was young, but it was not that ; she was fair to look on and comely, but it was not that ; she was sharp, and quick, and clean, but it was not that: it was, that she was kind, and cheerful, and gentle, and, withal, strong in good common-sense, supported by a total absence of prudery and affectation. Womanly as a woman, she sat among a mingled mass of men who were her servants at any moment, and proud to do a little service at her bidding ; men who knew instinctively that such a woman was able and willing to do them a service should necessity arise ; a woman weak and pliable in sunshine and prosperity, yet one who would arise a lioness under the trials and adversitie" of a Saragossa or a Lucknow. " On the Sad Sea Waver 29 " {'iiss we the long, unvarying' course ; the track, Ol't trod, that never leaves u trace Iteliiud ; Pass we the calm, the }?ale, the change, the tack, And each unknown caprice of wave ur wind ; I'as.s we the joys and soitows sailor.s tind, (.'oop'd in their winged sea-girt citadel — The foul, the fair, the contrary, the kind. As breezes rise and fall, and billows swell — Till, on some jocund morn — lo ! Land ! and— all is well." Next (lay we were off-and-on llie port of Halifax, waiting in a dense fog for a pilot; guns firing each ([uarter of an hour, the captain pacing the bridge ini- l)atiently, and heavy wagers rapidly passing among the ensigns and assistant-surgeons relative to the moment- ous question of peace or war. Suddenly, about mid- day, without warning, the pilot was alongside, and hailing for a rope. There was a rush to the gangway and a cry for news. " Is it war ? — Is it peace ? Oh, ]i)ilot, speak, I do entreat you, speak ! " And so entreated, lliat oracle squirted a mouthful of juice upon the deck, and most poetically replied — " The skunks have gived 'em up. I knowed they would." There was a groan and a shout of dismay among our junior comrades as their vision of glory melted into air. "Who'll buy a revolver?" cried Ensign Sparkles, "going cheap;" and in another hour we were alongside the Cunard wharf at Halifax. m CHAPTER III. HALIGONIAN. TAFF officers by dozens on tlic wharf, and indescribable confusion everywhere for about two liours ; at the end of which time some two hundred officers had received orders for their various destinations, and we had been transferred to the Tuscaloosa, lying at the orders of the Quartermaster- Ceneral, in the harbour. To see the men settle down in their new floating-barrack was the work of another hour, when, as the wind had risen to a contrary gale, and the Tuscaloosa had scarcely any coals on board, the captain decided that he could not start till the next day for Sydney, Cape Breton, where he was to replenish his stock of fuel. This ascertained, a party of us went on shore for the night, partly on business, partly to see the place, or rather so much of it as peeped out of its mantle of pure white, whereby we could count the steeples against the sky, and note here and there patches of dark wood on the hills around. At such a season as this there is little else to be enjoyed, for the snow is no re- specter of nature's features ; be they stern or soft, beau- Haligonian. :u tifiil or tame, varied or monotonous, it covers all alike. But in the bright, gay summer-time, as I saw it after, Halifax has its own share of beauty. Built on the slope of a hill, facing the neck of a magnificent harbour, with abundant room to expand in all directions land- ward, and deep water for ships along the wharves sea- ward, with a fine climate and large trade, the stranger has a right to look for a city with the visible marks of ])ros})crity on its face. Nor is ho disa])pointed. For he can walk some miles through streets with fair houses and good shops, sprinkled here and there with build- ings of more important pretensions and better style of architecture. He will observe the streets to be well laid out, and increasing in breadth as they stretch toward the country ; that there is a style about the greater part of the well-to-do houses bespeaking the substantial comfort of the English home within ; and, lastly, that many of the streets are lined with noble trees, which, not only in the balsamic fragrance of their blossoms in spring, but afterwards in the flickering shadows thrown across the highways, add much to the enjoyment of the citizens. Standing on the crest of the parapet of the citadel, and taking a traveller's glance at all beneath ; the city sloping to the water's edge, with its thirty thousand inhabitants ; the busy wharves crowded with ships ; the lines of broad road stretching on all sides like a giant network into the distance, entangling in the meshes farms and villas often half-hid by wood or thicket ; the blue harbour, island-guarded from the sea, and expanding, as it recedes landward, into a noble I 1 32 Lost A mid the Fogs. i i basin ; or, lastly, as the eye follows the wake of the little steamer to its landing-place at the pretty suburb opposite, and notes the villas and farms concealed upon the hills, as they undulate and deepen in the distance — all is to the outward eye prosperity and advancement. No doubt, as in other human lots, there are cankers within, but the impression gleaned from the sur- face glance leave pleasant things for the memory to dwell on. A large place now, yet the nucleus of a mighty city, the capital of the England of the New World. Yet it is not so long ago, little more than a century, that Lord Cornwallis laid its foundations, and foresaw the })rogress of an empormm commenced within the shelter of such a noble harbour. With a climate fit to work in to the greenest old age ; in which the fruits of the earth ripen abundantly; with its coasts swarming with fish ; with a position conmianding the commerce of two great continents ; with shelters and estuaries in which old ocean ebbs and flows, with daily invitation to build the ships which ride his bosom ; with timbers and cattle, and the bed of the earth replete with coal and minerals beyond all calculation ; with a free government and equality for all religions in the commencement of its career, it is in truth hard to calculate to what state of civilisation and grandeur such a country miglit in years upon years advance. The world has never yet seen such a commencement with such advantages. This is the true England in the New World. Let us hope she may be worthy of her progress and position. Haligonian. :i3 Little did I think, as I made these reflections on descending the hill of the citadel, what an unwilling opportunity I was about to have of seeing the country in its whole length, and, alack 1 present dreariness. It so happened that, on leaving the ship for the shore, I had brought a favourite cat for a run or a little lovemaking with the blue-nosed feline beauties, as Tom might happen to find it. How it came to pass that we two were fellow-travellers through this hard world was in this wise. Five years before this time it was my fate to be quartered at that delectable hole, Port Royal, Jamaica. Built at the extremity of a long sandsi)it running into the sea, with a nigger town on the interior side, and beyond that a huge burying-ground called the " Pali- sades," with neither food to eat, books to read, nor people to speak to, with the thermometer ;, 84", and swarms of sandflies at intervals, — dissolution, disgust, and dreariness, are but feeble names wherewith to describe the existence we submitted to. Now and then there was the sharp shock of an earthquake, often serious enough, as history can tell, in these parts ; but the enemy we dreaded was like the Almighty of old, neither in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire, but in the still small voice which ever and anon whis- pered each morning of death, sudden death to the strongest as well as to the most feeble of our little band of exiles. The archangel who so terribly brooded over our destinies was the fatal yellow-fever of the American tropics. At the moment of which I am speaking, there (J 34 Lost Amid the Fogs. if were living in the barracks facing the little parade thirteen people. Of these, within three weeks, we buried seven, two went to England more dead than alive, three recovered, and one escaped attack alto- gether. Among those who died was the doctor's wife, the kindest creature and the tenderest nurse to all about her. This bereavement, together with the fatigue he underwent, broke the poor doctor down ; and he was ordered to England on sick-leave. I saw him off by the mail- packet one morning at daybreak, and as I looked into his face, I saw in it that unmistakable yellow- leaden hue, too well known as the forerunner of the fatal messenger. I pressed the hand of a dead man in wish- ing him good-bye. The packet, on its return, told us that he was struck by Yellow Jack the next day, and (lied the following evening, after a brief twenty-four liours of intense suffering. A month, and the scourge had passed. I was writing in the afternoon, when suddenly along the verandah I heard the cries of a cat mewing piteously. In another instant a large white -and-gray Tom entered the room, keeping up his cry with increased fervour, and looking rt me with unabashed confidence, just as if I was an old acquaintance. And so I was, for I recognised my visitor as the doctor's favourite, who used to sit on the break- tast-tablo between him and his wife. Now he was a scarecrow, and mewing away at me for his very life, as nuich as to say — "Look at me, your old friend Tom, deserted by his Haligonian. 35 friends — nothing to eat; isn't it shameful? Give us something, for pity's sake." I wondered at first, until I thought of his trials, that the doctor had not found a home for him. Then I sent out my black boy for a little milk, and breaking up some bread into a saucer, put it before Tom. It did me good to see the fellow eat it. Then up he jumped on the table, looked at me steadily, as if to say, " You '11 do for me ;" and, quite regardless of my ink and paper, set to work to lick himself all over, which being accomplished to his satisfaction, he curled up on my blotting-book for a good nap. From that moment he never left the pre- mises, and at the end of a week we were the best ot friends. However, at that period the health-officer of the port paid me a morning visit, and no sooner did he spy Tom, asleep, as usual, on the table, than he exclaimed, "Why, there 's our cat : the doctor gave him to my little Lucy, but he bolted two days after, and we 'vc never seen him .since ; we thought he had gone back to his old quarters and died." I was in great hopes the little girl would not claim him ; but in an hour a little black ncgrcss came running in, crying — " De missy him beg de buckra for her pussy." ^o poor Tom was forcibly collared and carried off. It was a week after this again, somewhere about the middle of a scorching hot night, when I was tossing about panting for cool air, half asleep and half awake, that, all of a sudden, I was startled by a low noise near I ■ 36 Lost Amid the Fogs. my pillow, and immediately felt something very soft and very warm rubbing gently against my head. Just as I was about to give a shout to startle the intruder, it happily flashed across my mind that it was the cat, who had found his way back ; and a cautious glance across the dim light revealed this to be the fact. There ho was behind my pillow, bending forward his great bull head and purring to himself as he butted it upon mine. " Here you are ; I 've found you again." Then he turned his head the other side for another rub. " I 'm so glad to see you ; say the same to me." So he rubbed and purred away until tired. When quite satisfied with his proceedings, he stepped gingerly down to my feet, curled up, and fell asleep. Flesh and blood were not proof against this, though hitherto I had never felt any peculiar marks of affec- tion for the pussy tribe. But it matters very little what it is, whether a child, a dog, a cat, or any other pet ; what the human heart demands for its love is confidence, and confidence in itself soon begets love. Tom, this strange cat, deserted by his old friends, by death also, had shown extraordinary confidence in me, and I deter- mined we should not part in future. So I made a doll- bargain with the young lady, and soon rejoiced in un- doubted ownership of the little animal. He accompanied me to England and to twenty different quarters therein ; and when we had to pay the penalty for Captain Wilkes' bombast, my wife said, " Take Tom, and he will amuse you on board." So he did ; forming an especial friendship with the purser's steward, who vowed, with Haligonian. 37 the execution lie performed on the rats, tliat he " earned liis grub and worked his passage well, he did." Thus it happened that, afraid to leave Tom in a strange ship, where, unknown, he might be ill-used, perhaps chucked overboard by the steward's assistants, I brought him ashore to my friend's house, where the cliildren gave the old fellow a most humorous wel- come, feeding him up to the eyes, and pulling his ears and tail in strict proportions to their hospitality. So we were both of us well entertained, and went to sleep once more on shore rejoicing. The next morning the gale blew more furiously than ever ; and when at ten o'clock my servant said the cap- tain had come ashore and declared he was not going to sea, we all prepared thankfully for another pleasant day together. The misfortunes began by the children run- ning in to say that Tom had gone outside to take a walk, and spying a great hole in the ground had bolted down it. We found that he had gone into an open drain in search of game, and far away underground we heard a faint, pitiful " miew," the only answer all the calling and coaxing could elicit. The weather was bitteily cold ; the thermometer below zero, and threatening to snow hard. " If the snow blocks up the mouth of the drain he'll l)erish to-night," said my friend. " 1 '11 see if I can find a man to dig him out." The pickaxe was well into the ground, when right behind us, from the middle of the harbour, the boom of a gun caused us to turn round (juickly. I 38 Lost Amid the Fogs. " Why, it's from the Tuscaloosa! What does it mean ? She has the Blue Peter flying." "What! it's only an hour ago the captain sent to say he was not going to sea, and it 's blowing harder than ever." The man plied the pickaxe into the frozen ground well ; but, alas ! poor Tom was frightened with the noise, and retreated into channels as we advanced, the pitiful " miews " becoming fainter than before. Bang went another gun from the Tuscaloosa. I began to feel very uneasy. " Oh ! " said my friend, " I '11 tell you what it is : it 's a ruse to get her sailors off. I daresay they were on leave last night, and are drunk about the town." " It 's impossible he can be going to sea ; it's blowing a hurricane dead against him." And again we set to work on the release of the little prisoner. It was beginning to snow, and threatening heavily from the north-west. I encouraged the man with pro- mises of reward, and well he worked for nearly half an hour. We had almost forgotten the Tuscaloosa, when the boom of a gun down the harbour made us turn round again, and we saw the report proceeded from the side of a frigate from which a signal fluttered as well. "Look!" cried W— -, " the Tuscaloosa 's answer- ing ; and, halloa ! what 's this ? she 's got her steam up. 'Pon my soul I think she 's going to sea after all." Could it be possible ? Heavens ! what should I do ? Why should the captain send such a message ? Another gun from her side, and the paddles took a few revolu- Haligonian. 31) tions forward to short-heave the anchor. , W dashed to put to his horse, while I rushed for my carpet-bag and desk. In ten minutes we were down on Cunard's wharf, and thence saw the steamer slowly steaming down the harbour. Not a boat was to be seen ; and in a minute she could barely be distinguished through the whirling, blinding snow. I was horror-struck at the situation — men, bag- gage, command, all gone away, off to Newfoundland, and I left on shore here. I groaned loudly, and consigned the captain freely to Gehenna. " It 's not the captain's fault, I can assure you," said a cheery voice behind. We, turning round, beheld the pleasant face and goodly form of William Cunard, omnipotent in all these matters in Halifax. " Not the captain's fault ! " I exclaimed, in vehement heat; " why, not two hours ago, he " "I know," said the merchant-admiral. " I know all about it. It was the frigate there, which came in about two hours ago, did it. Her captain, who is an awful Tartar, saw the Tuscaloosa lying there ready for sea, and ordered her out at once. There was a tremendous scramble on board ; and I suspect others are left behind besides you." "And are there no means of catching her? " " I doubt if even you could have got off now," he replied; "but I'll tell you what you do. She was to go to Sydney in Cape Breton to coal for England. She'll be a week coalinjr. The mail starts overland to-morrow mornuig. Take a place, and you '11 catch her there." 40 Lost Amid the Fogs. A good straw, indeed, thrown out to a drowning man, and gladly I clutched at it. There was only the proper explanation to be given at headquarters, and obtain leave to carry out my scheme. It was, of course, neces- sary to express great regret at the misadventure, and receive the general's reprimand. These matters officially are always, and very properly, measured by their success or results ; intentions or accidents not being taken into account. However, all 's well that ends well. I made a[)ologie8 and peace, obtaining leave to go overland to Sydney and rejoin the Tuscaloosa. Before reaching my destination I found the penance to pay was amply sufficient. Nearly two hundred and lif'ty miles in an open sleigh across the boundless tracks of ice and snow, with a temperature far below zero ! Most travellers describe countries which they pass through in the prime of summer ; and here I have an opportunity of reversing the medal, and presenting the bleak side to view. Bismallah! let us see it. Che mra sara. CHAPTER IV. INTO THE BREAST OF WINTER. [HE journey from Halifax across the length of Nova Scotia really commences from the little town of Truro, some sixty miles from the capital, to which a rail winds through a level country, round the head of the noble harbour ; through pine-wood clearings, little lakes dammed up ; past farms, sawmills, and the solitary charcoal-burner's hut : all sparsely scattered here and there, as signs of a country still but par- tially occupied by man. These died gradually out as we left Halifax, and commenced again on our approach to Truro. The town itself appeared to be a collection of wooden villas and cottages, of unpretending archi- tecture, the abodes of well-to-do people, by whom the blessings of religion, judging by the various spires dotted among the houses, were by no means neglected. There was a large open square at the end of the street, with the little inn in the corner from which the mail- cars started, and about which — best of all signs — not a >