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Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 p] The A wrteyitt sultfeeiti IBM a89i •nnUt y0 Ml mul Sieteketi -•«>»# iutt OS to wha ikemtmlpm , I A SERIES OF LETTERS, DESCRIPTIVE OF PRINCl^ EDWARD ISLAND, IN ^'Rl GULPH OfmT, JfAlTHBNCE, V^> ■ "v».. I ■ /; TO TB^iteT, llittlt^^ i ■ . :•■ *•■?.■' '^ ■,?<:'■■ ■ ■y:l#- ..;..■';..:• .■:itt^f • WALTER JOHNSTONE, . h J- «-.^ Jiyative of the tame County* The Aviker efthme Letteta p^ ottt for the egprei$fwpeeeMS^ ewruyimgl^neeBimerd liiendfandeoUeeting information on WIf sulijeettif BmigraUam Dmin^ tivo Shtmiurt, and erne. Winter ^ he wtu a»9iduomifieeig«lie4in.il^ pr^ieeaiien 0/ 41^ olffeet j and the email Veltime^miai^lim^ bejimkd teeomtain a full and perlieiim;4ii(9emiv^^^ Seii, Naiural Predme- tiont, and. Mode 4^. j ||y %% M^toa»<** *• '^ '«'«»^ i *09*tft«r with Sketches qf i8Mpii,^#)|li»9^ 4re* Ifc; the whole jeing intend^^rJ!^ 0(i4»a0e ^ fwture Emigrants, partienlarif as to what |^| fffiwiifr jwff If^»eefaries it mag heproper teproeide ihemimlvesieitkbff(ri^ir^sinft^^ 1823. %t 1 1 k*ii PREFACE; m . The author of the following Letters is not a learned, but a shrewd and thinldiig man. He became in- teresting to me as being Ae brother of a man whom I have long esteemed, and w^io, amidst the various hardships of his humble lot, fbiind means, by read- ing and reflection, to cultivate ranarkabiy the natu- ral powers of his vigorous and arJ^ jind as a person who, I thought, would likely do credit! to my opinion of his natural sagacity ajid talent.) I have been abundantly repaid for any friendship that I then shewed him, by his addressing his Let- ters to me, and acknowledging my attention to hii in so grateful and flattering a manner. My favourable opiniou of bis mental ability is, ' yiink, fully justified by the specimen of it which ' exhibited in these pages. Thei'e is a meagre " D< scription of Prince JEdward Island* (which I havj seen) published a few years ago at Bristol, and ho noured with the approbation of the late Oovernoil Edmund Fanning, Esq. with a Map of the jslaiij prefixed. But the Descrijition contained in the/ sheets is of a auite different kind, and surpasses ai account whicn I have ever seen of that interestii part of the New World. It is, every thing considej ed, a mentorious production, as it discovers an a curacy of observation, an ingenuity and an acutenc of thought, and an unfettered flow of lively and f cible iiih 1 hav 1, and ho Governoi the Islan k1 in the! rpasses an interestir g conside livers an a in acuten< ely and f< ised and i cription )efore " resque mi ner. The account of the burning forest, of the heat and cold respectively, of summer and winter in the island, of the fire fiies, &c. &c. will be acknowledged by every reader to justify all that 1 have said with respect to these Letters. I'he counsels and direc- tions which the author gives to his countrymen, re- specting emigration to the Island, seem to be saga- cious and sensible, and are not the least valuable part of the publication. Mr Johnstone appears to be, agreeably to his own declaration, entirely disinter- ested and impartial, animated solely by an honest zeal to communicate accurate and useful informa- tion. I had promised to correct any grammatical inaccuracies which might be in the Letters, should they be published, and, in part, have redeemed my pledge ; but the most part of this task has been per- formed by a Gentleman whose name I have not au- thority to mention here, but who was fully able to accomplish what he kindly undertook, anu also to correct the proofs — another obligation which the author ow:es to the same gentleman. A word, now and then, has been changed or placed in a different part of the sentence, but no violent hand has been laid upon the manuscript, or the least alteration made which could at all injure the native racinesn and genuine flavour of the work. JOHN WIGHTMAN. Kirkmahoe Manse, } Feb, 12M, 1832. § ▲ ^ LETTER FIRST. Murray Harbour, May 30th, 1820. JReverend and Dear «Sir, I HAVE now, through the kindness of in- diilffent Providence, reached in safety and in good health my desired haven ; and after pouring out my heart in gratitude to Him •* whom winds and waves obey," it is certainly my bou nden duty, as early as possible, to express my thankiulness to my friends and acquaintance at home, who in such a generous manner, furnished the meuns of transporting me hi- ther. J would therefore beg of them all, should this letter ever reach its destination, to accept the warm- est heartillt gratitude it is in my power to cherish or express. But I have to thank you, ISir, not only as one of my most liberal friends, but as the first who encouraged me, by your extraordinary liberality, to hope that by the help of my other friends, my wants for the voyage might all be supplied : And I have not forgotten the injunction you laid upon me, and which 1 promised to fulfil, namely, that I should write you a fair and unbiassed 1 )escription of this Island — a description which you had the goodness to say, if it appeared worthy of public notice, you would prepare for the press. But that one of my capacity and learning should be capable of writing any thing worthy of such a high honour, is rather beyond my most sanguine expectations. Indeed as to learning, I must candidly confess I know nothing beyond my mother tongue, and that not grammati- cally ; and having no experience in comnnitting my thoughts to paper, you must neither expect dignity of language, nor elegance of description. But 'two things 1 promise, which to perform I shall exert my utmost ability ; namely, to spare no pains in my in- quiries into every thing that falls under my eye, and if possible to yield to no bias in stating the truth. And I am persuaded^ that although much has beon \ iKTTBR F'IRSV. i written concerning this new world, there is yet room for more before the inhabitants of the old countries can have a proper idea of it. It is needless to say such knowledge might be useful in ascertaining dis- tinctly who should emigrate, and who should not ; and might also have a tendency to reconcile the minds oi those who cannot or ought not to travel, to remain more contentedly at home. For the above purposes I shall write you occasionally, as I travel over the Island, when I have collected any thing worthy of your own notice, or that of the public. I shall therelore, without further preamble or a})olog5, begin my Narrative and Description, referring tlie whole of what I may write to your better judgment, whether it deserves to be seen by any other eye than your own. All things being ready on board the brig Dianaj of Dumfries, on '1 uesday the 18th of April, we sail- ed next morning at four o'clock from Carsethoru,. foot of the river Nith. The night had been calm, but towards sun-rise the wind sprung up from the west, directly a-head of us; and while we passed down the 8olway Frith, we had to tack about from side to side. As the day advanced, the breeze in- creased ; and by the agitation of the vessel, all the passengers on board, forty-five in number, became* more or less sea-sick, excepting the young children^, who were never troubled with it during the whole voyage. But one good elfect arose from the uni- versal sickness prevalent at this time ; the pain of body which we felt, left no leisure to= think of the loss of life, which otherwise, from our total unac- quaintance with such a scene, might have been alarm- ing to some of us in no ordinary degree. I said all the ^rown up people were at this time affected with sea-sickness, but the pregnant women were most dis- tressingly so, both now and afterwards, and the young men and women more so than those who were more advanced in years. As to myself, who am fif- ty-five years of age, I never was sick after the fir&t A. 3 • LBTTER FIRST. day ; but I had eaten nothing that day, and sparing- ly the preceding one ; and whether this was the cauae or not I cannot say, l)ut a little giddiness in my hopd \vhor\ the fca run higli, was all the conipluiut 1 had altcrwards. We had two female passengers on board, the one sixty-seven, and the other seven- ty-five years of age; and allowing for the infirmities of advanced years, 1 must say that these two women stood the voyage ob well as the halest of us. Allow i»)e to state, before I drop this part of the subject, that except a little sea-sickness, the passengers in general enjoyed good health. 'l'h(!y had brought no contagious disorder on board with ihem, which was a most material point, and the vessel was certainly one of the healthiest possible. Our beds were dry and comfortable in all weather, and we were able always to keep the hatches open. Our water whs good, being put up in clean new casks, and the sup- ply abundant. The ship was free from all vermin whatever. Our Captain was cheerful and accom- modating in the highest degree ; and to any of the passengers who had need ot cordials, the best his cabin afforded were offered in the most obliging man- Iter possible. The sailors were friendly, and willing to help us at all times, in any thing we were unable to do for ourselves, for which we gave them in return nearly the whole stock of upirits we had laid in; for few of us could swallow any thing stronger than water or beer, our taste was so much altered by the sea air. Every kind of cooking was performed upon the deck, except during four or five days, when it was ra- ther inconvenient trom the roughness of the sea ; and except two or three married women who were preg- nant, and a few sucking children who were unwell with colds, and who also suffered from a Mant of dry clothes,* we were all rather improved in health than ^ otherwise ; and, as there was neither dishonesty nor fci I ■ • Familkes that iiave sucking cliildi«n would do well, to provide a cask of freab water for washing their clothes^ as none is allowed at sen for this purpose. LETTER FIKMT. distrust amongtit us, I mny say with tnit)) that a more comfortable piissagc was never made across the At- lantic. Should any of my conntryiucn, tliorcfore, wiuh to take the same course, I could not recommend to tliem a more clean, iiealthy, and comfortable ship, than the Diana of Dumfries, nor a more kind and obliging Captain than Captain Martin. On the 28th day we saw American land, I sup- pose the south side of Cape Brilon, but the fog war 6o thick we could only discern the shore ; and it be- ing impossible to proceed forward in safety on ac- count of tlie rockyness of the neighbourhood, we had Again to stand out to sea. The fbgg, however, Ktiil" continuing close and thick upon us, we had to steer backwards and forwards upon what are called the Banks of Newfoundland for the space of eight days. This was the most unpleasant part of tlic whole pas- sage ; it was both cold and damp, and the stiils rain* ed down sometimes so heavy as almost to quench the fire we cooked our victuals with. But to our great joy, ut the end of this time it cleared up, and passing by Cape North, we entered the gulph of ^t. Laurence. Next day having little wind, we made small pro- 5res8, but on Friday morning we discovered Prince Cdward Island about nine o'clock, rising like a dark doud from the bosom of the ocean. With a favourable wind we passed along the south-east side of the Island in a westerly direction, and were much surprised at the low appearance of the land» which, from the dark colour and closeness of the wood, looked exactly at a distance like a heath-co- vered plain in Scotland. But passing along, we approached nearer the shore, and soon discovered little clearances here and there next the houses, which we were glad to see look so neat at a distance^ and smoke ascending from a chimney was annouon ced by the first discoverer as an object worthy t|||)r attention of all on board. About three o'clock we had stood so near shore as to require a pilot. — Several shots were fired to invite one on boards when IH 8" LETTER FIRST. three young men came in a canoe cut from the solid tree. As they came alongside, I examined every part of their dress very particularly ; it consisted of jncket and trowsers, which were all of the Island ma- nufacture, and the same as Scotch blanketing, home- dyed blue, some of it variously shaded, the warp from tlie waft- They had niocaskins upon their feet, and upon the whole had rather a rough appearance^ but discovered great agility, polished manners, and spoke the English language as fine as Londoners. Immediately we were conducted into the harbour of 'I'hrce Rivers in safety, and had several visitors on board from the adjacent dwellings that night. The appearance of the country, viewed from the deck of the ship, was so wild and uncultivated, that it struck a (lamp upon us all ; and next day, when some of our comj)any went on shore with their fire- locks in their hands, in order to see what game they could meet with in the woods, and take a nearer survey of the soil, they returned in the evening with rueful countenances, having seen nothing to shoot, and beinr altogether disappointed in their expecta- tions of tiie country. Indeed, it is not possible for one who has been brought up in an old cultivated country to form a correct picture, in imagination, of one that is new and in its natural state ; to under- stand it rightly they must come and see it. But to return ; the forbidding appearance of the country in- duced three families ot our company to go over to No- va Scotia, in the liope of meeting with something more like home ; but in this 1 learnt afterwards, they were completely disappointed. As Murray Harbour was the port we had all tnken our passage to, on the fallowing Wednesday as many as chose to go were 4sent round in a small vessel, a distance oi about four- teen miles by sea. But although we had a pretty i^r and brisk wind at the out-sett heavy rains came on, and it settled down to a perfect calm, so that we could not make our short voyage that days ^^^ had to lodge anotlier night upoj> the fluctuating clement^ . LF/I'TKR FIRST. 9 ma- wet and cold, all without hods*, and some of'us without any shelter whatever. Next morning .is we entered the harbour, we were a little better comlorted with the np))earunce of the stttleinent than tlie one we had left. It is not hirge, but regularly settled and clrnred a con«iderabl(! way back i'rom the watei'n t'd^c; the ground rising with a gentle acclivity on each side the river, or lathcr 1 should call it the bay or creek. The land is all of a i\fy soil, and what was in wheat crop, or in sown grass, was assuming in diflercnt shades a brautiful verdant green. Had it been inclosed with dykes and hedge-rows, it would have equalled in beauty of appearance any part of the old country 1 am acquainted with; but their manner of fencing with wood has rather an un- couth appearance to the eye of a liriton. Hut my pa- per reminds mc 1 must soon close, and I shall only add that while welodged all night upon the water, the yell (for I cannot call it the song) of the frogs, was ♦he only music we lu ard in the adjoining woods ; and as we passed up the bay we saw some Indian females cross before us in two canoes made of birch b:\rk,* • Tlie In linns w,)oi\ ilie iilnn.i are i)i wi.ai i> c-ulUil die Aliok Mat-k tribe Tlney «ire very quirl rmd inotrensive people. Tliey live mostly by flsl)ini(, blinlirii;, (tmi makiiifi; Imskcts of vnriuus kinds. Tli»y live in wigwams nr IjiKs, m.-ide of small poll's pluced in u eiroiilnr form, wide at tiie buttuin, and drctvvii iu)>'ettier a( ilie top, and covered with bircli bark. Tbey are not hindered from pitching liieir biiiis in any part tbey plense. Tbe men generally wear a coul of blue cloth, with sleeves, and so roomy in the itoderpari as (o oveiUp in tbe front, round which they wear a bandn<{e above (he loins, whieb, it is said, titey slacken or make tiglit, us tbey happen lo he full or hun^i^ry. As tiieir upper gnrment ooverH tbeir tUi(clJs, luey seldom bavo trowsers all of a piece. Any old cloth will do for the upper part ; and a piece of better blue cloth hanginj; round tbe legs, and tied above the knee, i.s generally worn by them. Tbey have a straw hat upon their htariegated selvage round the boitom, and the up^ter ^art bouodk 10 LETTER SECOND. ■ii\i whose dress had a curious appearance at a distano«M j\fterwe landed we were shown an empty house of Mr Cambridge's, who is a large proprietor of land here» and very encouraging to new settlers. I'his house had been kindly ordered by his agent for our accom- modation for the present : we were thankful for the unsought favour, and having some cod fish thrown us in compliment as we passed some fishers the day before, we prepai«d for dinner as quickly as possible^ and with the fish and the remainder of our sea-store, of which each contributed a part, we made a hearty meal, having the three necessarjf requisites to such^ namely, health, plenty to eat, and a good appetite. We spent the evening in carrying our luggage from the shore, and making down our neds upon tneflo«r of our new habitation. I am, &c, *^*j*^*^f^^*»^^^*^ LETTER SECOND. !.! (i ' I ■I i! ' 1? ii Murray Harbour, June 27th, 1826. Reverend and Dear Sir, As 1 hope you received my last, I shall not recapitulate any thing that was then said, but pro- ceed to describe new scenes. Indeed every thing is, or seems new about me here. The sun, whose rays are more vertical than in Scotland, appears to have both more light and heat ; the sky is generally so pure that the eye cannot discern the least vapour or cloud to intercept thesun'srays; and being without the least breath of wind to fawn the opening leaf, the air is sultry and enervating in an astonishing degree. When a shower rises, it gently distils its contents, and is gene- rally soon over ; and the greatest rain in summer is round tbe waist like u Higblaodiuaa's kilt. Tiiey ore converted to tiie Romitb faitb, and wear silver crosses bunging down upon tbeir breasts. Tbeir eyes and bait are jet black, tbeircbeek •bones prominent, tbeir skin of a copper or oily colour, and from tbe dlrtineu of tbeir food enl f lotbing, tbey ;a;:U very rank. III! LETTER SECOND. II iistanotH Be of Mr ad here, is hoube ' accom- for the thrown the day possible, ?a-8tore, a hearty bo sucha ippctite. k£re from eflo«r Ui 1820. $ha11 not mt pro- thing is, ose rays to have r so pure or cloud the least •is sultry ^'hen a is gene- tnmer k erted to the leir breasts, inent, tbeir ir food eo4 generally of no long continuance ; neither does it drench thesoil nor swell the streams as in Britain. The soil in lliis island has a uniformity in it, which, I sup- pose, is no where else to be found. The greater part of it is of red sand and clay, but so mixed with sand as instantly to absorb the rain that falls upon it : at the same timethe soil is as fine in its texture as if it had all been pounded in a mortar. The other part of the soil consists of a white sand, so fine as almost to resemble white clay. This is spread over the surface of the whole Island, in some parts more, and some less, but generally it abounds most near t1;e shores and iu what are called swamps. Where the ground is dry, and much of the white sand upon it, it is not reck- oned so good for heavy crops of any kind, but parti- cularly hay and pasture ; but when it is in good heart, in a backward season, it yields the best wheat in quality, in the island. The soil is so mixed with sand, and is so light and free, that there is no clod seea upon it almost any where. The land in its natural state is very poor, and favourable to the production of almost nothing but timber, and where the timber is cut, and not burnt upon the surface, it will even then produce little or no grass, but will soon spring up in new wood, but always of a different kind from what was upon it before. Indeed it has as great a tendency to return to the production of timoer of some kind or other, as the wildest heathy ground in Scotland has to return to heather, even after cultiva- tion has commenced ; for after the land here has been cleared and under cultivation many years, and afterwards left to itself, it is immediately covered anew with some kind of wood, generally of spruce var (silver fir) and white birch. This is verified in all the clearances the French had made upon it more than sixty years ago. The land then cleared has all returnedto its natural state, and now grown up with wood of the above descriptions. Here winter lingers so long that the natives seldom can be^incultivatingthegroundbefbrethe 1st of May, ^d this year^ when we landed at this place, in the 12 LETTER SECOND. Jill ■V,; ^ 1 1 1 1 111 ,1 !! end of that month, their wheat sowing was but finisl),- etl a week or two before; and they were just engaged in putting in their potatoe crop upon their clear land, for setting them in the new burnt wood ground had not yet commenced. They can sow oats as late as the fifteenth of June in hope of reaping a good crop, evei'y thing being favourable ; and I have been well assured ofpotatoes being set upon thenew burnt wood ground as late as the fourth of July, and the crop proved, tho' not the best in quality, yet the largest in quantity of any they had. Even barley sown as late as the seventh of the same month had yielded a pretty good crop ; (this I witnessed myself.) The pr jgress of v(»getation here is uncommonly rapid. Wneat braird, in warm weather, is sometimes above ground in five days, and barley in three ; and I have been told that garden peas have been pulled for the table in little more than forty days from the time they were planted. Their land sown out with grass-seed, for what they call upland hay, is not generally so well covered in the bottom as in Scotland; even that which has been under the scythe several years, where the snow has been swept from the surface, and the frost has had free access to it, is so strong as actually to destroy some of tlie roots of the grass. I have often examined these blainey places, and found the old grass lying withered in the bottom, and little new springing up. Yet when the land has been laid down in good order, and covered well with snow during wmter, very good crops of hay are got for six or eight years successively, without any additional ma- nure whatever. 1 heir implements of agriculture are very deficient indeed ; except a few ploughs that have been imported from Britain, they have not many of their own making that deserve the name. They use a very broad sock or share in the form of the Lothian plough, and sometimes lock the coulter and sock to- gether by making a hole in the bbckside of the form- er, in which the point of the latter is inserted. This is ibr the purpose of ploughiog rooty land. Th^j^ Uiat n 'Ml tETTEK RECOND. 19 pr igress Wheat ground ve been the table bey were seed, for so well at which here the the frost tually to ave often the old ittle new )een laid ith snow [ot for six ionalma- iilture are that have t many of 'hey use a s Lothian d sock to- the form- ed. This d. Ihfjf liiake vsry broad furrows, and I apprehrncl not deep enough, and lay them too fiat. 1 hey set tht.ir po- tatoes in the same irianncr as the ^?cotch people did fifty years a^o ; that is, they plant them in every >•- - cond or third funow, with the (king spread upon the surface before they begin to plough and plant ; and as the ground is often not well cleaned before plant- ing, they have not room to work it and clean it well afterwards. This injures their potatoe crop, and eve- ry succeeding one; yet many of them would persuade themselves that a better way had never been found out, after all 1 could say to tne contrary. They run almost all their cart wheels without any iron round them, the soil being so free from stones or gravel, that bare timber lasts a long time. But they haul, as they call it, every thing in the winter upon sledges or slaves, as they name them, upon which, when they have good snow or ice to go upon, they can carry a great load. ITiey plough mostly with oxen. Their horses are rather small, and light in the make, but uncommonly hardy and spirited. Their black cattle arc all horned, and some of them of a stunted appearance ; but it is no wonder, for they are fed upon wheat straw the greater part of the winter, and often allowed only a scanty portion of the same. — When they have to drive them early in the summer to the woods in their weak condition, they are in danger of getting mired in the swampy places, and in this waj*^ several are lost. They arc obliged to keep all the calveb sucking at home, to entice the cows to return from the woods at night ; but they have to wander so far before the cravings of nature are satisfied, that even this inducement fails to draw them home sometimes for a night or two together. When this happens, their milk is creatly injured, or altogether lost. To remedy this tney hang a bell *o the neck of the one they have mo«t dependence upon, and if she leads the way home, the rest will generally follows This bell serves also another va- Uiable purpose, namely, to find out their retreat in 14 LETTER SECOXU* ' I i'^ii . I f! ;!! St! the'w'oods, "whm the people are obliged to go im search ol tlieni lli em selves. Their sheep are of the white-faced kiiid mostly, but lean and long legged. I'hev are exceedhigly healthy, and produce fine wool, though in sniull quantities. '^I'hey are never laid with tar, and have toiie in the house all win- ter, and to be fed with uplmidliay ; and as their cattle run at large in the woods during sunuiier, theyal<* most all of them keep more stock than they Xiove winter feeding for, consequently all tlieir fodder is eaten up, and their dunghills are not half so big as might be formed fiom tne dung of the same nunmer of cattle in JScotland. Their houi^es are all con- ftructofl of wood, some of squared, and others un- ^luared logs, laid horizontally, and dove-tailed at the corners. Others have the wood set perpendicu* larly, and £xed to beams above and below, pre- viously framed together, the whole size of the build- ing. This is called a frame-house : some are thatch- ed with birch bark, others with boards ; and the olc' settlers generally have tjhem shingled. This is pine split thin, and dressed with a drawing knife like slate, and nailed on in the same manner. 1 his co- vering, when painted, will last long, and looks ex- ceedingly handsome. They cover the walls on the outside, when properly finished, witli dressed boards nailed on horizontally, overlapping one another to keep out the wind and rain ; and wlien they are well done up in this maimer, shingled and painted, they appear both shewy and handsome. h)ome of them are lathed and plastered inside ; but as lime ^" not easily got, the creater part that are finished within «re lined with dressed boards both on the walls and cieling. Their floors are all of boards, with large cellars below, to keep their potatoes in safety from the frost during winter. 1 o these cellars they de- scend by a trap door in the middle of the floor. 1 heir chimneys are built of stone below, and adapt- ed for burning wood ; but the upper part is often finished with wood, and clay mixed with stiaw, or dire upo At poh leai top all, else add in t my 4 tUaw, Of *ER THIRD. '^Scotland by the name of cat ^n^ i^H^Hvx. ^ "®^ g6t*^"g brick prepared up^ on theSPRiriri^^ in all probabiliiy will soon b^ used as a substitute for wood and clay. These houses are uncommonly hot in summer,, and cold in winter, and soon begin to rot at the ground, if not underfooted with brick or stone. Ob- serving thi» I told the Islanders mud walls would be more comfortable in all seasons; that they would last longer, and be less expense in the building, were they once acquainted with the mode of using the excellent clay they possess. As they have no proper paving stones, not only their barns but their stables and byres are all laid with wood, and some- times a part is laid with planks before the hall door ; but many of their houses are done up in the rudest manner* possible — the logs being neither covered with dressed boards inside nor out, and the spaces between them only filled up with moss or fog. This at the best admits a great deal of wind whenever it blows hard, and must make them dismal habitations in winter. The wa3^*of fencing their ground is done in the following manner : they prepare a great number of small poles, called longers, about fourteen feet in length ; of these they lay down a row upon the ground in a zig-zag manner, where they intend ihe fence to be erected— the end of one pole cross- ing over the end of the adjoining one, in a slanting direction ; and thus they pile one course of polls upon another, till it is nearly high enough for a fence. At the part where the poles meet, they fix two other poles in the ground, one on each side of the fence, leaning against it so as to ^ross each other at its top ; and placing a row of their heaviest polls above all, the fence is finished. This puiling, or whatever else it may be called, from its zig-zag form, and the additional stability it receives from the poles fixed in the ground, is a fence capable of turning almost my hewii whatever. Other fences are constructecl B 2 i::l! .fiTTER TRlKtB^^ one in a form somewhat different. Thi^^ in straight lines, or nearly so, with tj course of poles running a little nast tnr aajoimng «ne8 ; at wnich joining, a pole is driven into < he ground on both sides of the fence, close to the hori- zontal ones, and bound together by strong withes ; and when finished, it is much more pleasant to look at than the other. But as it is not near so firm^ it i« little practised but around gardens or on public road tides, where the cattle from the woods are not likely to make their severest attacks. These fences, when constructed of good poles of spruce or var (silver fir) will last, it is said, twelve or fifteen years. Fences ef this kind are erected betwixt farm and &rm alongst the shores, and between the clear ground and the woods ; but they have not begun to subdivide their ground almost any where, nor to erect any earthes dykes, not even round a kitchen garden. Neithev is there a thoru hedge in the whole Island I* I am^ &€• t)^ft*^*^*f*****^»^ LETTER THIBD. :] ' , I Charlotte Town, Oct. 20th, 182a JReverend and Dear Sir, iov will recollect I said, that to have a rfght knowledge of this country, one must come and see it. Kotwiihstandingof this, I find nothing so much want- ing as money and good Ministers, although I cannot indulge the hope that you will cro^s the Atlantic to gratify your cariosity, and instruct the people.— * When I wrote the above, I apprehended thes« assertions were facts V but alter examining the gardens of Charlotte Town more narrowly, 1 found one of tbum with an excellent bed|p;e round it, of British hawthorn^, w bich were thriving as well as tbey do at home ; and on a farm n«ar ttie same place, some British thorns have been injudiciously planted upon the top of the dykes, and for want of mMsture they are thriving very badly. There are also near Charlotte Towo a few earthen dykes on Um rottd sides; wiUtout liedj|;e8} uud wood pdtlling upon the top of tlpm. LETTGR THIRD 17 Having now obtained a pretty extended view of the country myself, I shall, to the best of say ability, in the present Letter, attempt a description of the woods and ffeneral appearance of the country; and, could I do justice to the subject, if my sketch dicl not p.ove interesting to those who are determined to remain at home, it might still, in some measure, be instructive to those who may hereafter come to settle here, by preventing, in a certain degree, that surprise and disappointment which almost all stnin- fers have felt on their first landing upon this iland, or I believe in any part of the western world. I may begin by observing, that the country is one entire forest of wood ; all the exceptions to tne truth of this literally are not much more, even including the present clearances, than the dark spots upon the moon's face, as they appear to the naked eye, com- pared with the brighter parts thereof. This forest the natives distinguish by the names of hard wood and soft wood. Each oi these contains a great va* riety of kinds, such as oak, ash, elm, beech, map- pie, birch, alder, and poplar, with many other kinds which rank among the first division, while pine, hem- lock, spruce var, juniper (larch) rank amongst the latter. Of many of these there is a variety of species also. Of the mapple there is white rock or curly, and bird-eye ; white, yellow, and black of the bircn ; and of the spruce, black, red and white. In some parts the wood is growing in a promiscuous manner; that is, we meet with amixture of hard and soft wood ; in other parts there are clumps of a par- ticular kind found by themselves^ such as hemlock, spruce, birch, and beech.. Amongst the old woods the cause of this is in the soil, upon which these are found, being more congenial to the production of that particular kind than any other;, but w:here tlm old timber has been destroyed by being cleared for cultivation or by fire (for many thousand acres have been destroyed by fire upon the Island) another cause is as&ignuble for a ))articular kind of woqU b(i'* ' B 3 18 LETTRR THIRD. ii m I \ MM M ing fuund in a particular place besides the real nt* ture of the soil. The whole Island, when viewed at a distance at sea, looks as if there was not a tree upon it. The trees crow so close together, and are so equal in height, tiiat in spring their dark colour resembles heath ; but upon a nearer approach to the shore, the wood assumes the appea'ance of strong growing hemp, for it is almost every where in the southern side of the Island choked up with spruce round the shore, as thick in proportion as hemp will grow ; some of it dead and withered, though still standing, and some of it broken by the middle, form- ing a thicket impenetrable almost to the foot of man. Hound the greater part of the Island the flowing tide washes the bottom of a steep bank of various heights, from four to more than twenty feet ; and where the greater part of this bank is not soliil rock, the sea is wasting the land in exposed situa- tions considerably. On the top of this bank, tl>e thicket I have described is found extending to tlic utmost verge of the pix'cipice, and some of the trees liaving lost their roots, are to be seen fallen or fall- ing over. After passing through this stripe of soft wood we find larger trees, ami growing more apart ; but it is still unpleasant walking, for should there be little or no underwood, which is often the case, yet oiKi's way is entirely blocked up by trees fallen down, some broken by the middle, others torn up by the TOots in all the different stages of decay, from the tree newly overthrown to the one nearly assimilated in rottenness to the soil which gave it birth. But there is another impediment to travelling in the woods : many of the trees have been torn up by the roots with high winds, which have raised little hills of earth, which the natives call cradle hills. These render travelling In th« woods additiomdly unplea- sant ; and where they are large, require much la- bour before the land is fully levelled. Of all the different kinds of wood upon the Island, the beech, when growing separate by itself is the most beauti- LCTTER THIIIB. 19 fill. The ground it occupies^ is the freest from un- derwood, or auythin<5 to obNtrnct one's way, while in summer it fui'nishes the most delightfully refresh- ing shade over head of any I have met with. The land where it abounds is the easiest cleared both as to the cutting, burning, and rotting of the stumps ; and the land, wlien cleared, is reckoned the second best in quality of any in the Island. A mixture of haul wood with a small portion of soft wood in it, is next to beech in beauty, easiness to clear, and is also indi- cative of the best soil upon, the Island. Hemlock, a kind of fir that is split into laths in Scotland, grows in clumps. Some of it is found of an amazing size^ being from two to three and a half feet in diameter,, and from fifty to seventy or eighty feet high, with a few puny mutilated branches near its top. Thebc trees are exceedingly heavy to cut and. pile, and very difficult to burn. Tlie stumps will stand undecay- ed in the ground twenty pr thirty years before they can be easdy eradicated.. The soil congenial to the production of this kind of wood, may oe reckoned the third in qutdity upon the Island ; yet in back- ward seasons it will surpass any other description^ of soil in the quality of the grain it produce^. — Pine, which is what we call Scotcli fir at home, is not found but in detached trees, liere and there i^i the woods, and is now all cut every where near the shores. Spruce and var fail next to be noticed. The ground naturally productive of tliese may be ranked as the worst in quality of any in the Island. It is all of a swampy nature ,* that is, a soil with much of the white sand I spoke of upon the surface, and a red clay below, of such an adhesive nature as not to allow the wet to get down to a proper depth. These swamps have not been cleared and cultivat- ed in the country any where, and are avoided as land not worth ciearin^^ and fencing. But I was toltly and I believe it, that some of the gardens in Charlotte Town, which arc of this nature, are the most productive of any, after being drained aiid * ae LETTER THIR». lU ii , i trenched. Some of these swnmps are growing with black spruce, so rank as not to be much more than a foot apart, about the thickness of a pitchfork han- dle, and from fifteen to twenty feet high, with the branches almost all dead, but a few at their top.^- But where the water has not a proper descent from these swamps, a quagmire is sometimes formed, in which the cattle, in their weak state, are in great danger of getting mired and lost. The next tning I shall notice is the barrens. These have few or no trees upon them, but are covered with a kind of shrub, they call myrtle, which overruns tlie sur- face like heath, but resembles galls that grow in the mosses in b'cotland. This land is very dry and sandy, and iii its present state well, deserves the name it obtains. It would be easily cleared, but would require much dung or good soil to make it productive. But excepting in the neighbourhood of ^t Peters, there is little of this upon the Island. I: may next: turn your attention to the burnt woods, which are occasioned by the fire running away from where the people are burning timber to clear the latid. When the fire gets hold of woods much mixed with soft wood, it runs sometimes several miles, and forms in its progress, I am told (and I partly saw it) one of the most awful scenes in nature; flying when the wind is high with amazing rapidity, making a noise like thunder, and involving the neighbourhood in a dense cloud of smoke. It some- times kills cattle and wild beasts in the woods, and alarms new settlers who have small clearances round their houses, and who have to stand with water rea- dy to quench the first spark that may alight upon them, or fly with their children, not knowing where to find safety. More than sixty years ago, a great fire was kindled upon the nortliern side of the Island, it is said by a spark from the pipe of an Indian, which overran the creater part of the nor- thern shore. The ground it overran is still disco- verable, being all sprung up of spruce var, &nd while^ LUTTEK THlliU. fl kirch, of uppurently from forty to fifty years growth. Hut burnt woods are to be MCen in tiio neignbour- hood of almost every settlement, some of them of considerable magnitude. But how to represent to your inmgination a correct picture ot these burnt woods, bailies my skill. They form, in reality, a scene the most ruinous, confused, and disgusting, the eye can possibly look upon. If it is an a- grceaole object for one who admires the beauties of Nature, to behold a tree, or a number of trees, exhibiting all the symptoms of vegetable life and health, firmly rooted in the ground, rising to a dig- nified height, with the bark full of sap, the branches luxuriant, and well covered with foliage, — it must prove the very reverse to see many acres, nay, many s(|uare miles, of standing trees, all dead, leafless* scorched, and going fast to ruin. If sofl wood, and recently burnty its green foliage is all consumed, iH bark half burnt, and covered with a sooty blackness; if hard wood, and viewed at a distance, one would think it did not know that summer was come. But morenarrowly examined, the trunks are found rotting, the bark partly peeled off, the leafless branches falling down, and the whole verging fast to decay. But if a few vears more have elapsed since the fatal flame p^sed through it, a scene more revolting remains yet to be described. Some of the trees are overturn* ed by the roots, with great mounds of earth attached ; others broken at different heights, where most weak- ened by the fire. These all lying upon the ground^ in the most confused manner possible, several coursoi deep, like dead men's bodies ivfter a sanguinary bat- tle, form a confused moss impassable for either man or beast, but with the greatest difticulty. This is a faint representation of what is lying on the ground, but when the eye is turned to what is still standing, we behold truuKs of trees, of various heights, having lost their tops as if they had been cut with chain shot, and here and thei'e a huge pine or hem- lock, a great unsightly object, with a trunk thicks LETTER THIRD. h j m thnn a corn sack, barkless and weather-beaten, rnising its top, perhaps a hundred feet high, into the air, and reaching out a few half wasted branches, as if to im- plore the mercy of the raging winds, every blast of which threatened its final overthrow. If these feeble representations have conveyed any correct idea of the appearance of the burnt woods, 1 must next turn your attention to the bad effects of the burning. If the land is not directly cleared and cultivated, which cannot possibly be the case, a weed they call fire-weed, springs up as rank and strong as hemp, which entirely impoverishes the land. 1 his is followed with fern or rasp bushes on some groundl, and next with wo«d, spruce var, or white birch ; and should none of these spring up immediately* the land ffets so poor and dried with the rays of the sun, which nave now free access to it, that it becomes unfit for any crop, without summer fallowing ; and to produce a succession of crops it must also have dung. From this you will learn, that ground that has been overrun with fire, is damaged in more than one respect. The land is rendered poor, and the woo which 1 have not yet had time to examine properly, and being every day getting better ac- quainted with the Island personally, I shall not enter upon that subject, but proceed to one to which 1 am at present better enabled to do justice, namely, the manner of cutting the wood and clearing the land here. New settlers (who should always be here as early in the spring as possible) begin to cut down the wood 'where they mtend to erect their first house. A s the trees are cut the branches are to be lopped off, and the trunks cut into lengths ot 12 or 14 teet. 1 hit operation they call junKing them ; if they are not junked before fire i§ applied, tliey are much worse to jmik afterw^tfds. I'hus, when the space intended 24 LETTKU FOUllTM, Id Ife r •m- to be cleared is cut down, junked, mid nil lying is a promiscuous uumner over tliewhole surface, fire is ap- )»lied to it in as dry and windy adayascan be selected, and iftbc fire runs well, tbe greater part of the small branches will be consumed, but the trunks will only be scorched. These are next rolled together and made up in piles,, lying flat upon the ground ; then the remaining small branches are gathered up and thrown upon the heavier wood, to help it to kindle for burning a second time. The stronger part of the family then go on to make up more piles, while the weaker part se^ fire to those which are thus prepared. In this way they proceed till the whole of what wafi cut down is gone over; then when the piles go out they are kindled again, and those *^hat continue to burn arc thrust closer together, till uil is consumed. 1 must say this is a piece of work of t,h«^ most dirtjr and disagreeable nature, and when tiie wood is hea- vy, as tiresome as any I have seen in America. 1 have often passed by the settlers when engaged in this em- ployment, and what with smoke, sweat, and the dust of the burnt wood, their faces were little fairer than those of the negroes in the West Indies, while their clothes were much the same as if they had been drag- ged up a sooty chimney. After the wood is all burnt, the stumps are left standing about two feet liigh, scorched black with the first burning, like so many blocks of a blacksmith's anvil. Tlie people then begin planting their potatoes, which is done in the following manner; — with iiheir hoes they scratch or rake little of tho earth to one side, about eight inches square, and after raking a little of the ashes lying upon the surface into this groove, they place four cuttings of seed potatoes in it in a square torm, and then cover them up with earth till it rescLibles a small mole-hill, and still repeating the same ope- ration they go on putting all their seed into the ground by four at a tiine> and when the space cleared 18 all planted it looks as if it were all covered with small mole-hUls. And this is the only labour be- ttTTER FOtPTH. u stowed upon tbepotatoe&till iheyare readyfor raising. But when the time for planting arrives, man, wife, children, and all that can handle a hoe, must work, as the season is short ; and if the crop is not got in to a sufficient extent, want may stare them in the face, when a supply will be difficult to procure, and when there will oe nothing in their pocket to pay for it. — This work of planting with the hoe is very laborious, for there are always a great number of email roots spread over the surface, which they have to cut to pieces with their hoes, otherwise they could not plant it at all. They are also much hurried by rea- son of the wood, which ;vill not burn early in the season, and which, as well as the land, is rendered extremely damp by the melting of the snow. But there is one thing much in their favour ; the heat that the fire leaves in the ground is so great, or some other cause supervenes, to hurry vegetation so rapid- ly, that they can plant potatoes a great deal later on this new burnt land than on any other, and still have a good crop. I have been well assured of their planting upon this kind of land as late as the 12th of July, and after all have little to complain otl 1 ^nay observe, that when the fire runs well the first time it is put to the wood, not only a great i\e&\ of leaves and rmbbish are burnt, but also a part of the surface soil. This enriches the land greatly, and their first crop, as well as the succeeding ones, are, in this case, very luxuriant, I have been credibly informed, that the in- crease has been, in favourable sea&ons, from twenty- five to upwards of tbirty-fold ; but the average may be taken from fifteen to twenty. To proceed, how- ever, after a <;rop of potatoes has been taken next year, the -same ground is sown with wheat and timo- thy grass seed. This crop is generally hoed in or harrowed with a harrow in the form of the letter A, with the point foremost ; after this, if the land is of a good quality, and has been well burnt, they can mow it several years among the stumps, but generally it will not bear to be mowed till the i^tumps are suHi- c 26 LETTER FOURTH. Ih M i^ ciently rotten for stumping. For, if it had been growing with beech it will require five years at the shortest, but more commonly six or seven ; but in cases \rhere there 1ms been a mixture of hard wood, it will require more ; and some of the hard wood, unless cut at a particular season, solar from rottiiig, sprinffs again at the root, and being thus kept alive, must be dug out at last with nearly as much difficulty as at the Hrst. As I hinted above, the greater part of the land here must be turned to pasture, before it can be stumped, and some of it is only (it for pasture all the time, and often is not even good for this purpose, for the cradle-hills I spoke of, where they are high (they are not equally high everywhere), cause all the good earth to fall down into the hollow parts, and the higher parts produce nothing but moss or sorrel. — But, though none of it should produce any grass worth naming, it must remain in this state till it can be stumped or partly so. When only a pact of the stumps are got out, a kind of ploughing is made a- mong them the preceding fall, and next spring it is ploughed again and sown with oats; after the oats are reaped, the remaining stumps are taken out, and it is ploughed in the fall, and next spring potatoes set with dung upon it ; and the following year it is sown with wheat and timothy grass seeds, and laid down for upland hay, as they call it ; then it is mown year after year, as 1 said before, for perhaps eight or nine years without any additional manure whatever. This is the whole history of clearing the land upon this Island. I must now describe their method of taking out the stumps. Poor settlers, who have no oxen, have to dig round them with what they call grubbing hoes, and cut some of the roots upon one side, and then by inserting a lever below, they raise them out ; but those that have oxen put a chain or rope round the stumps, which are generally two feet high, and after the roots are cut upon one side, the oxen will pull LETTER FOURTH. Vf them out. New settlers ns I have already mentioned, begin to cut down the wood where they intend to eret t their first house ; this step is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety oi* the dwelling, and place it beyond the reach of the flames that may arise from the burn- ing of the woods, but their houses are often removed further back aLer they have cleared more land, and can do so with safety. I may observe, that if settlers land in tii.ie, they may have woodcut and a consi- derable quantity of potatoes planted the same season ; but some are too late in coming, and others cannot fix upon a farm till the season tor planting potatoes is quite over. Many pounds will not make up the loss which this untoward circumstance occasions to a large family. By coming late in the season, emi- grants are also prevented from getting a house erect- ed npon their own farm for their lodging in over the winter, and in that case they may be at much expense for a house badly finished, or very burdensome to a friend for their acconniiodation. But another evil no less ruinous is^ when a man with his flimily has landed in time for attending to all these things, and yet who, after casting his eyes upon a scene altogether new to him, is so astonished at the upromising ap- pearance of the country, that his judgment is con- founded, his resolution fails him, and after vainly wishing that it were in his poMc. to return to his na- tive country, he becomes so wavering and dissatisfied- that he cannot bring his mind to fix upon any one spot he has yet seen, but always hopes to find a place better suited to his wants and inclination. Encour- aged by this delusive hope, he is led to wander over the Island, perhaps spending in taverns and travel- ling, his little stock of cash, whicli might have pro- cured himself and family many necessaries, till their new farm had become more productive, whilst his family are doing nothing but eating up the remainder of their provisions or money till the winter comes on ; and before it is over, perhaps some of their clothing must be bartered for more, and next spring he has c 2 28 LETTER FOURTH. -f' t k I to enter upon a farm no better than one he mijfht have entered to the week he landed. Every thing is therefore now to do, and nothing to do it with, unless by contracting debt, which must hang like a mill- stone about hi8 neck many years. This is not an imaginary picture Ihave been drawing, butonc which 1 have seen verified with my own eyes ; tor to hesi- tate in buckling to a farm as quickly as po«sible after landing, is, on the part of the emigrant, to waste his small remaining substance in a fruitless pursuit. — But you will now, I suppose, be ready to put the ques- i tion, *< Are all situations upon the Island so exactly of tlie same value and convenience that no preference need be given to out *^etbre another 7** 1 will not al- together afiirm this. Partial conveniences or incon- veniences may be attached to certain local situations, but, upon the whole, I consider the difference be- tween one situation and another here so triflings that 1 would not esteem it prudent to waste five pounds in making a choice. Front lands have been alwavs most prized by the first settlers ; these afford- ing tnem several privileges, such as conveniency for fishing, which, before the production of grain, or mills tc grind it, constituted a great part of the living of the inhabitants ; ready conveyance by water when there were no roads cut thro' the woods ; an open free pro^ spect, — the privilege of the marshes near them for hay to their cattle which generally lie upon the shores or the banks of rivers or bays ; these, with the plea- sures of society, were the inducements that led them at first to chouse front lands, but these are now nearly all occupied, except upon the west end of the Island, unless it be land that is swampy and not of good (qua- lity. A comparative vie«^ of the different situations here as to local advantages, may fall in my way after- wards ; and all 1 shall observe farther at present is, that the best land upon the whole Island is yet un- occupied. The mor^ we ao back into the woods the land is deeper, richer in the soil, and easier cleared ; and now that the roads are opening everywhere, those LETTER FIPTlf. 29 who have the resolution first to take a farm in the very middle oF the greatest wood they can find, provided a road leads through it, will have the choice of their situation, get their land cheaper to rent or to purchase, and will soon have plenty of neighbours ; and 1 would give it as my best advice, that a man had better settle in any part near to where he lands (for it is very expensive here to remove a fa- mily and luggage either by land or water to any dis- tance), provided he keep out of a swamp, and has plenty of hard wood upon his farm for burning, long- ers for fencing with, and water convenient for his cattle in winter, than wander here and there, wasting his little substance in search of what cannot be found upon the Island. I am, Sir, &c* <»yo»«»o»<^^#o*^r#>r.»#^i»^\»<»<» LETTER FIFTH. Charlotte Town, July 3©th, 1 821* Reverend and Dear Sir, In my last I promised at some future time to give you a more particular description of this Island. I have now travelled over the greater part of it on both the southern and northern shores, from East Point as far west as Bedeque, on the one side, and Malpeque, or Prince Town, on the other. I have also crossed over the Island from the one shore to the other at four differeni parts, and traversed much of it several times over ; and with the help of a good map before me, I shall proceed to make you and the reader acquainted with the situation, extent, general appearance, as well as the particular places worth mentioning upon the Island. It lies near the south- ern boundaries of the Gulph of St Laurence, between 46 and 47 degrees north latitude, and 6i and 64 west longitude, surrounded by that gulph on all sides, with Newfoundland to the north-east, Cape Breton on c3 30 Letter fifth. .>'■' i^- ■« m the east, Nova Scotia on tlie south, New Brunsv^ick and Miramichi to the west, and the Bay of Chalciir and Lower Canada to the north west. It is, I believe, more than a hundred and forty miles long, from Cape Wolfe on the west and east point, but the line laould be a little curved taken in this direction. Jf measured in a direct line from Cape Wolfe, along the middle of the Island, to where it would run out at the Bay of Fortune, it will bo 1 20 miles, or more. The average breadth may be about 30 miles ; but in this respect it is very irregular, as you will liear af- terwards. After the Island was taken by the Britisli, ] believe in the year 1 758, it was divided into lots of about 20,000 acres each, and giver, by Govern- ment in lots, or half lots, to meritorious oiKcers in the army and navy. The soil of the whole Island has been thrown up by water ; it is therefore very fine, and Dearly all of one kind and quality, and is laid upon a bottom of red soft freestone, which in some parts ©n the shores rises no higher than the level of the sea, and in other parts not so high. But where it does rise to a considerable height on the shores, it is so soft and loose in its contexture, that the frost and tide are wasting it in exposed situations considerably. I have not observed the soil less than four feet deep in the banks round the shores, and in many parts it is twelve or fifteen ; and in some inland parts, where wells have been dug, it has been found fully as deep. The land is in general low and level, but there is little of it a dead level, except the marshes on tl>e shores, or in the interior. These are all moss, and where the salt water does not come near them, I believe they will furnish excellent peat or turf for ^he fire, when the wood is all burnt. I said the land is in general low, yet there are gentle rising grounds, but no high hills, at least none deserving the name of mountains. 1 have observed none of it so steep as to render ploughing inconvenient, both up bank as well as down. Irom this you will learn that the whole Island might be cultivated if the wood were destroy- II KETTCR FIITH. 3L ed, except tlic marshes, and I believe even anmc of these only require draining to render them fruitful ; for the land is generally dry, with no rock near the surface, and in few parts even loose stones. 1 must next point out the general shape or form of the island, and for want of a real map, I must liave recourse to an ideal one.. Allow me then to compare it to a stocldng-maker's leg-board, which it resembles very much ; only you must suppose a piece cut from the leg-board, beginning at the hough, and running up in a slanting direction to tlic other side above tie knee. This will make the leg-board, instead of being broadest at the upper end, to ter- minate in a long tapering point above the knee ; and next suppose the board bent a little inwards on the shin, and laid down with this side of tlie board to- the north, a little inclined to the north-east, with the upper end or small point above the knee to the east, and the foot of it to the north west. — I say the leg-board dressed up in this manner, and laid down as directed, will give no very inadequate representation of the form of the Island, and the posture in which it lies, smTounded with the Gulph on all sides ; but lying so near to the main land of Kova Ib'cotia and Cape Breton, as to be easily seen from its soutliern shore all round. You will, by keeping this figure in your mind, be able in some measure to trace my course as I proceed round the shores, pointing out the rivers, bays, &c. I shall begin at the narrow pouit above tlie knee in the fi- fure represented above, called on the Island East ^oint. After leaving this point a little way on the south-east side of the Island, the sea has receded from the land a good way where a large sand ridge is thrown up, and a lon^ lake is formed upon the back of it, where the tide comes and goes by an entrance a considerable way to the south-west. This is called East Lake. Another lake to the west of this, supplied with the flowing tide at the same inlet) is called the West Lake. The land bordering on 32 I.ETTER FIFTH. these lakes is good, and lately settled from Perth- shire. The scenery is beautiful and romantic, but it lies far from market ; the roads are ill opened up, and there is no good harbour for shipping. After we leave these lakes, the land is thinly settled, and the woods at present much infested with mice ; but when the lands iret more cleared, this evil will be less prevalent. The next place we arrive at is call- cd Colville Bay upon the map, but Souris, or Mice, by the French, who are the settlers here. 'Vhe next bay to this is Hollo Bay, also settled with French. The next is Fortune Bay, a beautiful old settlement, with a good deal of clear land on it, and a number of schooners belonging to it that trade to Newfound- land, Halifax, &c. There are several other bays along the coast here, which 1 did not visit, called Eglinton Cove, Howe Bay, Spry Cove, and Bough- ton Bay and River (or Grand River). They are mostly settled with Roman Catholics. There is ex- cellent herring fishing in the month of May here, and the people attend from considerable distances with their nets to catch them. The next place we come to is Cardigan Bay, or Three Rivers. This is the best harbour upon the Island. It has the greatest depth of water, easiest of entrance, the best shelter, earliest open in the spring, and latest in shutting in the fall or winter. One of the three principal towns projected by Government, called George Town, is intended to stand here ; but no man of property and enterprise has yet pitched his tent here so as to give the town and trade of the port a beginning, although it is certainly the most eligible situation upon the Island. A small house or two is all that it can yet boast of. To the west of this about twelve miles, we come to Murray Harbour, which may be enter- ed, it is said, by vessels of nearly 300 tons burthen at high water. This is a very pleasant, thriving, and comfortable settlement. We have now arrived at the broadest part of the Island, so that from the shore a little west from. LETTER FIFTH. 33 Murray Hnbonr, at a }>lace called White Sands, gcruus the iHlund to Suvaoe Harbour on the north shore, it is about thirty-hve miles wide, or more; and taking the leg-board as our only hcl[) to illus- tration, we are now at the end of the slant cut from above the knee to the hough. From White JSands to Wood Itilands, the next place we arrive at, there ure several miles of excellent front land unsettled. l*assing Wood Ishnids, we come to Helle Creek, Flat Kivcr, Jenyns Kiver, or Pinnet. After passing this we come to a point of land that runs out into the Gulph in a westerly direction, called Point Prim. On the north side of this, a large bay called Orwell Bay, runs into the land a long way. On the south kidc of it lies the settlement m Belfast ; the settlers Highlanders, and mostly Protestants. With thk Bay, Pownal, and Hillsborough Bay, all connected, the Island is much cut up where the calf of the leg should have been. At the head of Hillsborough Bay we enter the river of the same name, and the harbour of Charlotte Town, The tide flows up thi« river in a north-easterly direction for nearly twenty- four miles. On the north-west side of this river, about four miles above it.s junction with the bay of the same name, stands the beautiful town of Char- lotte Town, with its streets all regularly laid out. The principal streets (running from the river side) are eighty, and the cross streets forty feet in breadth. There is a large square in the middle of the town, where the Court-house, the High Church, and Mar- ket House stand, with plenty of open ground for drilling the militia, executions, &c. 'i'he houses are all of wood, and those that iire well done up and painted, look very elegant, though neither warm nor durable. Brick would be much better to build with, and this they might have in abundance, and of the best quality, were some of the unemployed brick- makers to come from Britain to make them at rea- sonable prices; for there is only one brick-maker upon the Island, and he must inevitably sell high. Si LETTER riFTn. f. Below Cimrlottc Town, two rivers cmntj' tTicnisclv«§ into tlic Hillbborougli ; the one ciilled York, or North River, the other EJUot, or West Uivtr. As we pass out ut the hurbour's mouth along shore to- wurdb the west, there are few settlers till wc come to u place called Disnbble; then to Crappo, where small vessels load with timber. I'hcse are both new set- tlements, but likely to improve rapidly, as the pro- prietor is said to be liberal, and the agent active, and anxious to make great imi)rovcments. A little to the west of this is Tryon River, a very small river, but the prettiest settlement upon the Island. There are excellent marshes on each side of it a long way. The clearances are large and regular, the arable land rising gently behind tile marshes, and both dry and convenient for all the purposes of agriculture. I have now got so far west as to be a little below the calf of the leg, referring to my old method of illus- tration ; and the Island i!» beginning to narrow much as we proceed on to Cumberland Cove, Augustine Cove, Cape Traverse, and Seven Mile 15ay. A lit- tle further to the west, a large bay, called Halifax Bay, intersects the Island on the southern side, and llichniond Bay on the north, so that I believe the Island is not more than four or five miles in breadth between the head of the one bay and that of the other. The head of this bay is divided into two branches, one of which is called Dunk River ; die other, Wilmot Cove. Around these lies Bedeque, which is truly an excellent well cleared settlement. The settlers, however, are both ignorant and indolentfarm- ers, and much of the land is running wild and barren under their management. Bedeque has a good har- bour for shipping. A little to the west of this the land juts out at what is called Cape Egmont, and recedes at a cove beyond it of the same name, which I may say, lies just above the heel : W^est Cape half way down it, and Cape Wolf at the bottom. But it is all unsettled here, as it is all round the west end of the Island, or sole of the foot ; but at the top of the foot, or North Cape, 1 have been told that there LETTER FIFTH. 3.5 is a farm unilor such good manaffomcnt, that it Is the most productive of auv in the Island. From this the laud la all unsettled till wc conic to Cascumpcque, or Ilollaud Bay. This is at the instep of the loot — Here are great ranges of sand hills along the shore, which arc thrown up to a great height in many places on the northern side ot the Island. We next come to Richmond Bay, which is very large find spacious, with good anchoring for ships ot heavy hurthcn ; but the deep water is often far from the shore. On the west side of this bay there is a good settlement on lott 13, 14, and 1(>. On the eastern side of this bay lies Malpeque, or Prince Town, in- tended as the third county town on the Island, though not a single house of it has hitherto been built, 'i ne lands round it were long since settled, and the fire- wood is nearly all destroyed, and far to haul. To the eastward, we have a long track of shore without any harbour till we arrive at New London, where schoon- ers can enter. The land here is good, and there there are large clearances. A little way from this wc come to Great Rastico, or Harris Bay, which IS said to admit only small fishing schooners. The next settlements are Brackly Foint, and Little Rastico, or Cove Head, which are old and goorvutH)ii, that I am afraid it would u|)|K'ur to you like tniveiling in a stage coach with the windowH darkened ; for however delightful the scenery might be along the road on which you are travelling, you could only, in that cute, obtain a single ricp at the stage, while tlie hornet were changing. TIiIm bringH to my recollection the subject of rouiU, and the process of making them; and 1 nhall therefore proceed to the diHcusKion of that sul)ject at present. — When a new road is to be opened here, a Hurvey is made by one well acquainted with the neighbour- hood ; the trees are then marked with chips along tlie track : this they call blazing them. 1 he next process is to cut down as many trecH as to open a way to ride or walk in. The next step is to cut down as many more, (rooting out the stumps,) as to allow a carryall or slay (sledge) to pass. Next, to level tlie cradle-hills; and lastly, to cast up the earth like anew formed road in Scotland. To cast up tfae«oil from the rib is all that is needful to complete a road here ; no better mottle can be got any where, and no better is generally needful. There is no spouty ground here* and if any of it is swampy and wet, they cut down small soft wood trees, and lay across the bottom as close as one canlieatthe side of another, and by casting earth Irom the sides of tlie road upon these, make it both firm and durable; and from the general dry- ness of both the soil and the atmosphere, I never saw a road that had been made up in this manner a bed one, except, perhaps, for a week or two, when the snow and frost are melting in tlie spring, and a few weeks more before their return in the wmter. Dur- ing this period the roads are all good, and a substan- tial bridge covers all the water. Having said what I think needful on the subject of road^making, allow me next to point out the prin- cipal roads upon the Island. Charlotte Town being the only town yet built, the seat of government, and Centre of trade, 1 shall trace tliem all as they di¥er^i(»^ ts L-ETTlUR «IXTH. f- 1*1! I from this point to c^yery corner of the Island. Tlie one that claims my attention first is the road to St. Peter's. This is the most pul)lic and best finished road upon tlie Island. When it leaves town it is >videand spaciou?, and has some good earthen dykes and ornamental wooden paling on cacli side of it, but no quick hedges. A little way fr-om town, on the iiorth-wefit side, the Attorney Generars house (a very neat commodious builJing) stands upon a fine rising ground, with several beautiful well cultivated inclo- snres aF0UJKl»it. 'Other sabJivkled Farms, under decent management, are to be seen as we pass on to ^2Slr Wright's mil'*. Here is a flour, oat, and barley mill, threshing machine, (brewery, and distillery — \Vhen we wTive at Five Mile House, a road takes off on theJeftto^ove Head, which lies on the northern shor^:. A« we proceed along the main road, occa- sional views on the right are obtained of the majestic river vof Hillsborough, with cpudout* marshes along each of its banks ; at one time forming a broad ancl lengthened slieet of water, witli excellent arable land on Dotli sides, rismg with sufficient acclivity to give security to the mind, witliout having recoUi«ic to tlic decree of the Almighty, thi^t its swelling wav js would there be stayed. But pas'jln'g along, and before another ••iew is obtained, the scene is changed as if by en« chantmcnt; and what a n w hours ago was one extend- ed sheet of water, is now a beautiful green meadow, with a modest streiun intersecting tlie mid/^le of it. At the proper season, tliis meauow, by and b;;e, is all studded with cocks or r» jks of hay, in such multi- tudes, and spread so far and wide, within ^he compass of .one glance, that perhaps the eye of man cannot be gratiticii with a view so captivatiug as ihis any where else. Whilst this plctujcsque scene was occasionally bursting u)>on my sight, with the beautiful rising grounds nnd well cleared farms on the opposite bank of the river, mt feet had trode over more then twenty niHcs. Delighted with tht^se occasional views, I al- most forgot the fatigue uf travelling; and also to no« LBTTER SIXTH, 39 tiof that a road uad Itil off on the left to Tracadle, a tevk' miles backwards. The mam road then bending a little to the left, we lose sight of the beautiful Hills- borought and enter the barrens of St. Peter. But all tliis wav the road is good, and any vehicle may pass it without much danger or difficulty. When we reach 8t. Peter^s the road then turns a little to the right, along the south side of St Peter's Bay, passing over three separate rivers on woixlen bridges, one of which is 145 yards long. At the head of the Bay it crosses the stream upon another bridge of the same materials, and then separates ; the one branch to the right crosses over the IslHiidby Five Houses to the Kay of Fortune ; the other on the letVto the nortliers shore, along which it winds its \ ay to the Fast Point. Another great road leaves ^Charlotte Town, called the Malpeque roa(^> It proceeds at first in a nor- therly direction t'U it crosses the head of the n{>rf h river, and then iQore. westerly. Roads lead off from this on the right to. Great Rastico and New Louden, and on the lett to Tryon and Bedeque. A few years ago this road, was forty miles long through continued woods without a house to shelter or refresh the weary traveller. Lt is now ^ttHng fast,, and several houses are opened, furnish iijgacconimodAtion for both man and horse Another road from town leads across the North River ia a westerly direction, passes on by the head of West River, Dissabble, Crappo, and 'I'ryon ; one branch then on the- right penetrates through 12 miles of wood, to Bedeque, whichis now rapidly set- iling ; and the other branch on the left to Cape Tra- verse and Seven Mile Bay^ A tburth road from town leads across Hillsborough river in a regular ferry, and proceeding in. an easterlj direction through lot iS and part of 4fJI, a branch takes ofi'on the right by Cheny Valley, across Orwel Bay, to Belfast, Flat Rivef, and Wood Islands. TJie main road passing through the remainder of lot 45), to the head of Ver* non Kiver, divides, one branch on the right; leads W Murruv Haibour, through seventeen miles of wood» o 2 40 LtTtElt SIXTH. II I 1 without a house. Here are crystal brooks that never freeze, with the best land along their banks upon the Island, The other branch on the left leads through eleven miles of wood, to George Town or Three Rivers. There is excellent land in the middle of this wood, and settlers are beginning to pitch their tents upon it. Some of the roads 1 have been tracing, are not even well opened and levelled, and till once ^he trees are cut down on each side to a considerable distance, every blast of wind is in danger of filling them with wind fails, as they call them, which greatly obstruct the traveller But tttne will improve them, as every man, from the age of 16 to eo, has to work •hree days in the year, repairing them. Allow me now to take a more partk;u!ar view of their iarms, their stock, crop, artd lyje.'tOi Traauage- ment. Their farms are generally lOv .ticjj, Engnsh measure, half a quarter of A niiie broail, sthd A mil^ and a quarter long. They tfte \tiitd out hurrow, t6 get as many farms upon the sho/e6 or sided of river^ '.IS possible. This will betbond ih the 6i^d an iACOtl^ Tenient form ; but in the oitt^ it does well etiough, a* every new settler is anxious to have a piece of nis front wholly cleared as early as pfo8sibl6« in order to see his neighbour's house> and to be near enough t6 visit him occasionally. And perhaps the first geri^ar^ ation, according to the progress mdny ctf the settlf^rs have made, will not clear more than 20 or 3^ 'jr»rt all their life ; and the distant end of the farm i: r^ t fully kept fur firewood for future generatiotis. /' rtu thus rent is paid tor lands yearly, from which no par- ticular advantage will be derived perhaps for sixty years to come. But their want of steady industrious hiibits, particularly among the youth born upon the Island : stout horses or oxen to work with ; good im- I)lcments of agriculture; lime easily procui'ed; know- iidge how to make and preserve their dmu: j good roads, and remunerattn^ prices for agricuk^i J pro- duce, added to the delight they tuke in fishuig aiul i LETTISH SIXTH. m sooner is any kind of dung or ashes laid upon the land, than it springs up of white clover. This rises ye9!t after year) as long as there is any strength in the soil ; but red clover has been found liot only to {rield an excellent crop of hay, but also to enrich the and greatly ; but they have never as yet had a suffi- cient quantity imported. If rye-grass would stand the winter, it would certainly be a great acquisition ; but it has not hitherto had'a &ir trial. Timothy is the only grass they have upon the Island, and it is very unsuitable, as it impovjerislies the land much when cut for hay, and is not good for pasture. I mu«t ob- serve that, the land hei*e answers tor any kind of wop, better than for pasture ; whatever crop covers the soil early in the season, so as to keep it from drought, }» sure to succeed well. But posture, if it is eaten bare, is in danger of being burnt up; and the soil being of a sandy nature, in that case becomes pro- portionally barren ; and when. allowed to grow rank, it soon shoots and gets so wiry ami hard, that the cattle will not eat it. But thexe is httle clear land occupied for pasture as yet upon the Island. The Islanders have no right method of raising turnips^ although I was told b^^ a Dumfries^shire man, he had raised, that species of crop in great perfection. They have no green feeding for their cattle in winter, for they never think. of giving them a service of potu- toes; and. the swine are so poorly fed^ that if they got hold of a Ibwl they wilt eat it alive. I was even told of a man who luwl a weak cow eaten to death at the stiUce by the pigs^ From the poor way in whiclt thoir cattle are fedclurihg winter, some of them die of weakness, or when driven out to the woods in this state, they are more in. danger of getting mired, as well as of falling, a prey to the wild beasts. This^ and the great travel they have in the woods, cause them to give very little milk, although it is said to yield a good return of butter. I'heir sheep, thougk very healthy and prolific, sometimes fall a prey to &xes and wild cats : as to tli£ number they keep, I •14 LETTER SIXTH. cannot speak with anything like certainty. New settlers^ unless they get marsh hay along with their farms ac first, get slowly on in keeping stock. With many settlers the breadth of land they have in crop is very small. A man told me who had been a set"? tier here since the first American wat, that he never had more white crc^ than two. acres, with other two in potatoes ; all his other clear ground wns kept for upland hay, and mown perhaps eight or ten years till it was entirely done out. What he intended to break up for potatoes yearly, he got the one half mai- nured wiih his cattle lying upon, it at night, in the summer ; and the other half with their dung in win- ter. He cross-ploughed these two acres in the fall, pre^ vious to making it potatoes next year ; and thus one acre was all he- could , manure with the dung of two horses, five or six cows, some young cattle, and perhaps twenty^ ^eep, during the wiiole win^ ter ; and they will never succeed better till they learn to rot down more of their white fodder to dung, and preserve it better from the frost in winter.-^ Yet this old gentleman kept his table better furnish- ed witli good wheaten bread, from the ^Toduce of these two acres, than almost any other settler I found upon the Island. The first settlers after the British got possession of the Island, were mostly . from the Highlands, or- refugees from thte United States.— The former knew nothing about cultivating land, the comforts of a good house, or a well furnished table ; and having procured plenty of fish, potatoes, and rum, they neither wished nor sought for more. The lat- ter were only ac(]uainted with the culture of wheats reckoning outs aiid barley food only for pigs and horses^ nence the Island was designated a wheat country, and the mills were all prepared ior grinding wheat, and nothing' else. Yet I must afiirm that wheat, at Ic-ast summer wheat, is the most unproduc* live crop upon the Island, every thing considered*-— It yields the least substantial food, tor a family, is more impoverishing for the land> while the straw coni» LETTER SEVEStlt. 46 stitntcs the irtost iinnntritivc food for cattle. But better views are beginTiinj^ to be cntcrlainccl and a- dopted, and oat and barley mills are loudly caU- ed for everywhere ; ami I may assert, without the tear of contradict iofi^ that whenever the r)umfriea*s>?ire mode of agricukure, of living, offending cattle and - pigs, is adopted, there will be nothing to hinder the settlers from enjoying all those comforts as to food, which a Scotch farmer, or his family, wished or looketl for forty or fifty years ago. I mean a break- fust and Slipper of good oatmeid, a dinner of pota- toes and pork, or beef and mutton, with potatoes and barley sou]"). Their oats, barley, and potatoes, are sujierior in their quality to almost any in Scot- land. They might alio have a cask of go6d home-- brewed beer to treat a fnend witli» and pteMy of whisky of the sam« manufacture. But Afethinks I hear you, or rather the women \h Scotland, iaying, whf*i they read this, *• What I is there no tea there !" I iM^ure yon it i« fts Utat^ and often denrer, thah at hom^ ; that is, the rij^ht kind, and les^ to pay it wtth^ But such as cannot be contetii with What is mentioned ftboVe, they shoiild hot come here. I must also ob^rve, a fe# yeftr^ mu«>t be spent in persevering industry before thette plan9 can b^ fully adopted^ Or thc^e comforts e^bpect- ed, after eiitering upon a new farm here. I am, Sir, &c. «' #>»##<»»0»irits dancing about in the air. To defend the cut- tle t'roui the Ihes in the night, they kindle a large iir« in their fold or piiii, and the black cattle and slieep will contend who to get nearest the smoke till their hair and wool are soinetiineB singed. Kvery night through the whole ofsunnner, the sonfi; of the fiogg is kept up ill the woods. 1 called it formerly their 1/t'll ; but as 1 heard no bird here sing so Hweet in the iii^ht, I shall give them the dignified name of i^merican Nightingales. But to return. The month of July was much the same as June, warm, with u refreshing shower now and then. About the 20th, hay-making began ; this, in ordinary seasons, is made with the half of the labour it requires in Scotland. About the first of August barley was cut, as I passed the settlement of Bedeque, and towards the middle of the month, reap- ing was pretty general till tlie. middle or towards the end of September. After this they had plenty of time to dig tlicir potatoes, and plough all their ley and stubble proper to be ploughed over winter. About the first of November drizzling rains came on, and then the cold winds begin to blow with sleety showers, occasional frosts, and now and then there was a thoroughly wet day. About the beginning of De- cember, the frost became more serious; and about the 12th, the rivers were all nearly frozen over, and the wind being pretty high, it was very cold and pene- trating, i he snow now began to descend from Mouling clouds, and was drifted about in tlie open S round most furiously. From this to the 1st o£ anuary 1821, some days were so stormy as to ren- der it unsafe to travel far from home ; the snow mea- Muring at this time in the wQods twenty-seven inches lETTEIl SErENTlt. 4d in drpth. The atmosphere then became clear and cttlni, and the sun broke out in sucli ranjtsty and strength, as if it had been sununor in tlie heavens, whilst the land and water were covered every where with tlie cold and shining mantle of wintt/. On tlie cuUnest day the trees were cracking witli the strength of the frost, and when the wind blew hard, they crashed as if a number had been falling together. The cattle being fed in the house at this time, re- ceived nothing green and cooling, and were half fa- mished upon dry wheat straw Tn a calm day they will make their way into the woods in search of newly felled treeti, in order to brouse upon their tops ; and when they hear the sound of an axe, they hasten to the spot, and crowd so close around the man that is using it, that they are in danger of being killed by the falling of the trees. Indeed 1 was told that some have actually been killed, where they were not kept at a safe distance. I have seen a liorse that was black at night, become a light gray before the morning, from its perspiration being frozen to a diy snow upon the top of tne hair. I have also seen the cows, while waiting at the door of their house, with icicles at their beards tlie length of my finger, before they were housed. When the rays of the sun, re- flected from the snow, became oj)presive to the or- gans of vision, I have scmietiines had to shut one of my eyes to ease them a little ; and then I have found the hairs of my closed eyo-lid I'rozen together, tuid have had to rub the ice off before it could be open- ed. Nay, one morning, after sleeping in a room all night without a fire, which was unceiled and very open, 1 found the steam of my breath congealed to hoar frost upon the blankets. The ear-laps are in danger of being frost bitten, if not covered over, and even sonulimes the nose and cheeks. No work can be done out of doors without mitts or gloves upon the hands — not even brirging in a stick of wood to the lire. 1 saw two »r three persons that had lost 60 LETTER SETENTH. their toes by ridincr on horsohuck, in a carryall, or in walking through the snuw with wet feet. I have nowgiven you anipleevidenccof the strength of tlio frost, iillow nie next to uientioa Munie things, in order to relieve your mind from the impreiisionB wliich these btutements, tliough true, are apt to produce. The froiit here striktB upon the skin like fire, and causes a painful sensation like that felt upon the application of a blistering plaster, yet it Joes not go through the body or alllct the lungs like the cold in Britam. The air is so pure, so dry, and bracing, that if t1io body is kept in motion, the skin <;ovcred, -and the feet dry, there is little to be dread* cd from the greatest Irost here. Hundreds may meet at worship who have travelled through several miles of depp snow, and there will not be a cough beard amongst them. I travelled (or could have travelled) myself, the wholp winter over, except about ten days, when the storm first set in. 't\\ often the meanest accommodations, a bed of v, and fre- quently very few blankets — yet I can say with truth, I nave not been so healthy at home during any winter for the last seven years. '1 he settlers generally live long, and arc exceedingly healthy. 1 sawa man of the name of Dingwall, who looked on "while the battle of Culloden was fought, and who, when it was over, car- ried a musket home from the field with him. I met with another, a Frenchman, 93 years old, and born upon the Island, still following his trade of fishing. But to return to the history of the winter. Jan- uary passed over with clear dry frost, with now and then a skifting snow shower. On the first week of February there was a gentle thaw, and in a few days a return of frost, with occasional falls of snow, and a thaw on the 18th. The weather was much the same till the 27t>J, when a fall of snow came on, the heaviest I had seen, while the wind towards the evening became so strong as to unroof several hous- es. It made the trees crack dreadfully as I passed along the St. Peter's road, and some actually fell so BETTER SEVENTH. 51 I met d born ihhing, Jaii- nw and week of ew days >w, and uch the ime on, irds the id hous- [ passed y fell so Hpfif mc tliat I had to keep a sharp look out to avoid uccidcntB, and to remain in, or run to the sal^st place possible, when the gaic raged iu it» utmost height ; yet, after all, I have reason tor thankfulness, I suffer- ed no damage, though 1 travelled 13 mileu that day. March began with lome slight snow-falls till the 10th, when it was a gentle thaw, and ioimediateljr a return to frost, atler which it continued clear and frosty till thc^lst, when the weather became so mild, and the sun shone so strong, as to melt the snow where it was light upon clear ground as well as to extract the frost from some grounds, so as to admit of a few ridges being ploughed on Montague River (Three Rivers) in the end of this month. But on the first of April, the frost became stronger, and some falls of snow coming on, put a stop to any more work of this kind til' near the last week of the month. May was cold and showery, and June dry ; but the warmth was not the nourishing heat of or- dinary seasons, so that the upland hay did not look 60 well as usual, and indeed crops of all kinds were backward. The end of this month, and . beginning of July, were warm, but rather droughty. About hay-making time, the rain became plentiful, and injured it much. August was still more distressing- ly wet, and their tttarsh hay was ve)ry badly got in ; and September being no better, some of their grain was damaged. As the old settlers had been accus- tomed to no such weather, their want of skill and attention was the means of increasing their loss gieatly, yet the crop on the whole was not a* bad one. October was more moderate, with occasional slk)wera till past the middle of the month, when a snow blast came on, and it looked much like a Scotch winter ; but they expected fine weather afterwards. Here I must drop my history of the seasons, having taken my passage home in the brig C'arron, of Mewcastle, by way of Cork, in Ireland. The first summer atid harvest 1 was here, the E 2 'H ^2 LETTER SEVENTH* f weather was what is common upon the I&uind. Tlia winter set in earlier than U8ual» and tlic frost, if not tlie strongest, was the mosl continued of anv that had ever been reinembered ; and as there had been littJe rain in the fall, and tho thaws so few and gentle, many of their mills were ir,^igJ)tfc!^of'iif4^^,a family here. , Indeed, I may ? e to every Eurc^ean, go from where he may ; but the change is greater, and more distressing to an English fami- ly, than to ahnost anj'' other. JSuchofthem ns bring l)ro})erty with them, generally keep up ..leir old mode of living till they are as poor as their neigh- bours, and then they are destitute in the extreme. 1 heir women frequently can spinneither flax nor wool, and many of them are both unable and unwilling to take the hoe, and a;jsist theii Li»sibands in planting 5# li*tTTEB EIGHTH. I the 6CC&, and raising the crop. Some of the IrlsK are in want of steady moral habits, without which no country can make a man comfortable. Many of them, also, emigrate, not only poor, but ill provided with clothing, blankets, and every necessary. In- deed, the mistakes that have been made by multitudes of taniilics in going out, have been many and great. A man, perhaps, who finds his wages not so good, or work not so plenty as usual at hortle, may have a friend or acquaintance in the Island, and this said friend, before he has been two months a settler there, or has had time to feel his own wants, or learn the nature of the country, and who are fit for it, but who is anxious to have his old acquaintance for a neigh- bour, scnda home a flattering letter, encouraging him to emigrate, stating that it is a good poor man^s country, that land is cheap, cropping good ; in short, every thing encouraging. The man, perhaps with a bodily frame that had never been stout for work, with 5 or 6 children, all muier 10 or 12 years of age, and the oldest of them daughters — few clothes and blankets — no money, no meal ; I say, if any do emi- grate to the Island, or any part of America, in such circumstances, they will not, they cannot succeed well there for sometime, nor have it in their power to return home again. If I were to mention the mistakes I h.ive found of this kind, I might fill up all this letter ; but the evil lies in their being advised to leave home, where they were able to earn a more comfortable subsistence than in a new country, at least for a number of years; also ifi their being nnfit and unprovided for beginning the world anew, and in their not making proper allowances for the difficulties that must be encountered, and the priva- tions that must be endured in a new count y. I know a family that went to the Island in these circumstan- ces, and before they wcie two years and a half there, 1 was told they were in ^70 of debt. They will not be out of debt for ten years to come, with the- LETTER EIGHTrt. 67 l)Cftt exertions and economy in their power.* But- having neither intention nor interest in deceiving, as I have no lands upon the Island to sell or let, uoc a wish to advise one friend or countryman to emi- grate there foolishly ; but, on the contrary, to pre- vent all this in future, if possible ; and as I have, in the most attentive manner^ examined the circumstan- ces of a great number of the settWrs, so as to know who had a prospect of doing well, and who had not^ I sliall proceed to give advice upon the sulrject. I would advise none to go there, even though their friends should tnvite them^ who can, by their earnings at home, obtain the common supports of li^'e, though it should be in a homely way ; nor a)iy who are not strong for work, and well inclined to it^ or some of their families; nor any tradesman, who is unwil- ling or unable to put his hand to farm work. Every tradesman in the country there, must have a farm, and do some woiL upon it, especially in the spring and harvest. Any man will be the better of having* a trade, though almost none live wholly by trade there, except in C iiarlotte Town, and some have even left it and gone to farms in the country. House rent» are so high, payment^ often awkward, and some tradesmen are so much'^given to drink, that they can- not prosper there. But to return. Farther, 1 would advise none to emigrate whose love of drinkin^^ blasted their prosperity at home, unless they find « I bsTe often cnutioDed tbe dpw settler to beware of f^ettinj^ into 4ebt. It accuiuulfttes ibere beyond tbe conceptioo of any strao(r«r.~« Tbe settler, wbo bas nu supiilies of bis own, must procure credit, eitber from bis land proprif>tor or bis older neigbboiiring settlers, or botb ; in eitber case be will bave to pay one tliird, or one balf dearer for tbe article, tban if bought for ready money.— This is not ail tbe eril ; after an ^t>en account stands so lunfif unfi(>'*.li!d, according to tbe laws c* tbe island, it bears interest at () per cent, per annum, till paid. Tberefore, all poor settlers ougbt to fro io ^iervice, and fbtfir wives sbould be indusirioiis at borne, or ibcy stiould try to gnl into a farm upon tlie bulfs, as it is eullpd, or tb»y \m\^\\i take a sclioul, till tbey are able to break up a w\\ farm of tiieir own, witbour g:oinj|; into Avbtf v'bicb must iovoivv tbem iu mucii aiit«ry for artuujf' yesm afiarwtirds. ss LETTEH EIGHTH. ■x they can abandon this sotiiah grrtlfication for the sake of future comfort ; nor any who cannot con- tentedly dispense with some of the superfluities of food and dress, tor the sake of o'Waining a more perma- nent security, of enjoying the ahsohitc necessaries for both ; nor any who cannot take a good stock of stout wearing clothes, shoes, and blankets, and as much oatmeal as will serve their families 12 months at least, for supper and breakfast And lastly, all those who have not^ in some measure felt or teared want, should not on any account emigrate there. You will, no doubt, be ready now to say, I advise none to go at all ; this is not my intention, but only to prevent those from emigrating, who^ I am persuaded, will pot better their circumstances by doing so. I shall therefore proceed to point out some chaN acters, who» I conceive, might, after a little time, bet- ter their circumstances and prospects, by emigrating to the Island. Farmers, who, by the depression of markets and high rents, are going fast to ruin, havi^ ing two or three sons near manhood — having no pro- spect before them but the parents going to live m a cot-house, and tlio children to service;^ — if such were to sell off a year before their Landlords would do it for them, and take wrth thejn all their farming uten- sils, with the necessaries mentioned above,— if they should have little or no money when they land, they might get on without going into much debt, and might, in a few years, be pretty comfortable. Ser-« vont men, capable of managing a farm in the best style of modern agriculture, unmarried, or with light families, and well supplied with stout clothes, will meet with encouragement from the old settlers, as servants still ; and may be able, in a few years, to purchase a farm of their own, rent free ; and if their wifes are good spinners and sewers, they will be able to make them great help, if they have not a numer- ous family. I have known men get from j€20 to to j£35. per year^in cash currency, which is 2s. the pound under fiterling value. Good servant maidS V XETTEU lEIGHTft. 5S the are much wanted j they get from £9 to jPl2 yearly : but I cannot advise them so freely to go there unpro- tected. Tradesmen, able bodied, with stout wives and few children, who ^nd they cannot get on well at home, may also succeed pretty well there* with little money, if U. y are careful to keep out of debt. And I would say in the last place, that any man who is low in circumstances, having several sons^ of good moral industrious habits, who sees nothing before his chiUlren but to continue at service while bodily strength lasts, and after that has failed them, to sink into a dependant situation in the decline of life. In these circumstances, I say I would take my own fa- mily (and I may yet take them) in hope of it turn- ing out better for them than the prospect before them at home. I knew a man upon the Island who came from Wales, though originally a Scotchman, who told me, if he had staid another t year in his farm there, he nmst have lost all his property, and himself and fa- mily been forced to go to the parish workhouse. He was 63 years of age, had a young wife and several chil- dren, the oldest of them about 14 or 15. He went to the Island, bought a beautiful well cleared farm, with good houses, drt vW-well, rent free, for little more than ^200, and he was happy, he said, in the choice he had made, for he would now leave the world with nmch less anxiety upon his mind about his family, than he nmst have felt for them in England ; for he said, they might all now eat if they would work. I knew another man who went from the parish of Dal- ton, in this county, a Mr Archd. M*Murdo, who emi- grated to the Island. He had received a letter from an old neighbour then upon the Island, encouraging him to go and be his neighbour still, and mentioning what necessaries to take with him. The wind of ad- versity, I believe, had begun to blow pretty strong in his face at home, and from every probability presented to the eye of human foresight, ihe gale was likely to increase. He quitted his farm here before his pro* 60 LTTTER EIGHTlf. perty was all expended — took all bis agricultural im» pleiiieiiti) aloi^ witli him, and a good stock of cioth'^ ing, &c. His friend lmld irons, ho sold at 5l. and by giving a pound in with the plough, lie got a gooil cow,— - He had as many })otatoes planted the first year as servtHl the lamily till the end of April, and after earning 15l. with victuals, tor sinking a draw well to •a neiglibour, he had ten acres of land ready for crop- ping the second spring he was upon the Island. His wife told uie that the Island would do much better for them than the old country, and that they had only missed one thing, namely, to take as m|ich oat- meal with them as to serve them 12 months; this they could have done she said, if they had known flour was to cost them 3d per lb, there. But as soon «s oat and barley mills are erected over the Island, there will be no further need of this precaution. — lliey may then have plenty of oatmeid and bark^y flour, equal, if not superior, to any in Scotland ; the soil there is so dry and sharp, the air so pure and the warmth so nourishnii'. But why did this family feel themselves so com- fortable, and ai)pear to get on so prosperously ? I will tell you in one word. They were f^uitable for the Island, and the Island for them. At liome there wore larger demands made upon them lor rent, &c. than the utmost exertions of inoustry, with the most rigid e'jonomy, could enable them to meet. They had indulged theiiiselvot> in none oi those rej(inemeiit» LRTTRR BIGIITM, 61 il im* :loth- ke tor d day work I, and •isisted imselli ',v pur- cover ; imself. [. ster- ch had ' giving cow. — - year as id after ' well to Dr crop- d. His Ih better icy had ^ch oat- hs; this known t as soon Island, lution. — id barley and ; the e and the so com- Hisly ? I Itable for onie there rent, &c. the most it. They efiiienients of food and dress which ruin many a family at home, and unlit them for emigrating ; and the darkness of the prospect before this family at home had prepared them for meeting with diiilcukies abroad. And be- ing inured to the most laborious exertions of manual labour in the old country, they find that a little per- severance in the same way in that new world, will immediately procure for them every needful present comfort, and secure, to a certain extent, future inde- pendence. I met with a Mr Donald McDonald, at ' Three Rivers, who had been formerly at the Island several years ; he had then taken a farm, where he had made a good clearance, but he was advised by his bro- dier, in bicotland, to sell it and return home again. Yet when he found the difticulties he had to meet with himself in the old country, as well as the dark prospect presented to his family, he set out a second time to the Island, took a new farm, and is ffoing on most perseveringlv in clearing it. Now here is a man that had tried both countries, and who gtive the preferenc*^ to the Island, after all the difli- culties and deficiencies that attend it. I shall only add further upon this subject, that I found some iJetllenj who told me that when they first saw the Island', that if it had been all their own, they would have given it all in compliment to have been homo dgain^ but who declared they were now glad they were there, since they were sure they were in more comfortable circumstances than there was any likeli- hood they could have been in at home, considering the nature of the times. But if it be a fact, which I have every reason to believe it is« that our country is rapidly increasing in population, some must emigrate, or fare the worse at home. I think it might be a very advisable plan for such as are unfit or unwilling to go themselves, to give assistance to such as are well fitted for and willing to go, but who are not in possession of the re- quisite supplies for such a project. Were farmers to assist fan :ers, tradesmen, tradesmen, and labourers> 62 LRTTEU EI^IITH. I'' labourers, the scheme, I hope, would be found botli prudent and salutary. Those w^o are fit for goln^ abroad, might by this plan be enabled, and would, I huvc no doubt, find their industry and exertions well remunerated there, for which at home they could not find suilleient employment or an ade- qiuite reward ; and those who remain at home would nnd themselves no losers for giving a little help to encourage others to go abroad. I would advise those great land proprietors who are intending to break up their snudl farms in order to form large ones, likewise to lend their helping hand; and those of their snudl tenants or cotters, for whom it would be ininrudent to emigrate, 1 would advise in this case the grant of small lots of land, in suitable cor- ners, at reasonable rents, where they might keej) a cow, and with a little assistance erect themselves neat and comfortable houses to dwell in. These miniature farms and cottages, if handsomely done up, would derogate nothing from the beauty and ornament of their estates, * nor their inmates, if virtuous and in- dustrious, from the cynifort or conveniency of them- selves or their larger tenants. But if they persist in sweeping them ^m their estates in the country, like useless lumber, regardless where they shall find a house to hide their heads in, where shall they go to but to the neighbouring towns, where they can nave no means of living comfortably, and where their chil- dren will be much exposed to a school of vice, which may cause them at a future period, to become the * It must prove bigLly Riutifyingto the feelings of every real pbilnn« (hropist. when trnvelliDg along (he rond, awl surveying the splendid hall of the Lord of the Manor- tbn more modest but pommodioim steading of the extensive farmer— next to cast bis eyes upon the clean and con>- fortable cabin of the humble cottager, v^i(b a small inclosure of land attached to it, capable of yielding a portion of tliese essential comforts of life to a family, namely, milk, meal, and potatoes. Such a person will be ready to exclaim, " Here is u spot of earth, the property of one who has wifely considered the case of the poor, and therefore falls heir to the promise of being blessed, and the humble occupants, though poor, must have vimething commendable about them, for they baye been highly favoured of their kind and cjan^ideraie Master !'' r.LTTEIl NINTH. (j:| posts of society. But I must nsk your pardon for Ifiis digression. Being sealed nt my own fireside while penning this, I ahnost forgot that 1 was writing about emigration, and ii foreign country. I woidd say further, that if government were to employ some of their idle ships and sailors in transporting those that ijii^ht oflfiT themselves as emigrants, free of expense*, to any of the British colonics, I apprehend it would liiive the most salutary ciFect in relieving the public of great numbers who might do much better abroad I hull they possibly can at nonic; but unless assisted, tliey uuist remain as a burthen, both to themselves flucl others. And in the last place, that all due en- couragement should be given to those colonies con- nected with Great Britain, in the way of a reciprocal trade and intercourse, in order to promote their com- fort, and secure their best affections, that they may continue faitliiid and devoted subjects of the mother c^iiuitry. I am, Sir, &c. LETTER MNTII. MaxwelltowN) Feb. 20, 1822'r Reverend and Dear Sir^ I could not crowd in, in my last commu- nication, all the things proper yet to be noticed con- cerning the Island, and also the various articles re- quisite for accommodating the new settler there. — You wiH observe I have not yet taken that notice of the fiili, animals, and fowls, so as to satisfy the inqui- sitive reader; One of my reasons for delaying a par- ticular description of each of these wr^s, my fear that 1 might not have room for inserting what 1 consi- dered more useful matter. But learning from the Printer that there will yet be room for another Letter, within the bounds fixed upon for the size tf the book, I shall continue to write, for 1 have 72 6i LETTER NINTH. alMindnncc of 8ul)jectfl yet to discuss, wliilc there i^ room to print. Uf the finny tribe, 1 begin with tiic herrings. No soouer io the ice cleiired out of the rivers and bnys in the spring, thun great 8hoiil8 of herrings rush in to many of them in various part» of the IsUmd, pruicipally on the north and eastern sides ; tlie KCttlerB catch thoni with netn, and barrel tliem up for family use, all the year round. — But herrings aud potatoes are poor feeding at the bc6t, and their herrings caught in the spring aie jworer in themselves than those of iScotland. The next that make their ajipeoi ance is a very small kind of fishes, fibout the size of oae's finger, called smelts ; these are driven in upon some of the shores with the tide \n such amazing numbers, that with a drag net one might fill severaloarrels with them during one t'ule. The cod fish follow these, and next make their nppearance, end the people continue fishing them the wliole sum- mer over, a little way from the shore, in boats or larger craft, with hooks and lines They make oil from their livers, which they burn in lamj> ; to • light in the winter. Mackerel also occasionally visit their rivers and bays. There are a few salmon in some of the rivers, (although I never saw any cau^rht, except by the Indians) and a smaller kind offish culled snU mon trout, are caught in several places ; I thought them the finest eatmgofall the fish that they had. — There arc also bass, haddock, sturgeon, perch, floun- ders, eels,tomcy-cod, elwives, &c. Many of the natives prize the eels above all the other fish, out 1 never ate them with a good relish, though they are certainly the fattest and strongest fish in Prijice Edward's. — They have great numbers of lob-ters, oysters, a^d various other kinds of shell fish, aiul some seals. — There arc great banks of mu«sels in several of the rivers. The stuff found in thes^ banks, when laid upon the land, brings the best crops €>f any I saw upon the Island, and to have some of these mussel banks ncarone'*s farm isofgreai; advantage. The black cattle have been in part aescribed'-M^ lere is th the oi' I lie oiUb of ariouA unci ti, and und. — lebcfit, jworcr ?xt that fishes, lesc are m guch igkt fill 'he cod !arnnce, }\*^ sum- ^ats or akc oil iv light ibit their Bomc of t, except tiled sal* thought V Had. — n, floun- e natives lever ate certainly irard's. — ters, a^d seali.— il of the fi^en laid ny I saw e mussel y:ibed*-«> LETTER NIKTH. 65 Thcf are degenerating in t izc and weight. One of the old settlers told me the oxen, Rince ne came to tlie Island, were decreased in weight more than 20()lb j and that if any person were to bring a young bull and hciler to the Island, of a very heavy and hardy breed, he would be amply rewarded. Tiie gendering of their cuttle at so early a period, which they cannot prevent, and their poor feeding hi the winter, I ap- prehend, arc the principal causes ofthis decrease ia bulk and weight. 'I'hey would also be better of a jioavier breed of horses. There is not an ass upon the whole Island. 1 believe, (liose that would take out a male und female of this species, of a heavy make^ might procure ] 00 acres of land for them. Their swnie have also tlegcnerated very much. They can (nanage to castrate the males, but the females tliev <'{mnot, and are in great want of a person to teach them tins art. Their sheep would also be better of l)ru)g improved in the breed. 1 he wild animals are bears, red, silver grav, and black foxes, the wild cat^ or lucefee, (it i» as big as a grey hound) nmrtins) minks, musk rats, three different kinds of squirrels, the ground squirrel, the climbing and tlie flying squirrel. I never had the pleasure of seeing the one last mentioned, but the otliers are very plentiful ; and it is very amusing to observe their motions, ami hear their cnirpmg and cooing wlien travelling in the woods. There are hares, but they are small, and their fur is of little value ; they are gray in suni- mer, and white in winter. There is a rei)tile called a snake, but it does no harm. There are two kiiuls of frogs, or, 1 suppose, toads and frogs; they are uf jthe same bulk as in Scotland, but more lively ; and one of the species, which 1 considiir as the real frog, is much brighter and more beautiful in its varieg«ted colours than ours, and will s])ring twice as far at one leap. There are rats and mice the same as at home, and field mice that stay m the woods; but there is not a mole in the whole Island. Having mentioned that there are bears upon the S3 . ^6 iffiTTER NINTH. Island, some will be reatly to say we would not like ,to go to a country where these Icrocious animals are ; wo might be torn to pieces by ihcm. Well, I can , rissure you, I never had the pleasure, or rather the alarm, of seeing one of them alive, after all the soli- tary jou/nies 1 madetixrou^h the largest woods upoji the Island, witli no other instrument of seU-d-efi^ncf but a walking stall. )3ut the truth is. there are a k\v of them yet in the woods, v.hich aie sec.: occasionally by the inhabitants. And nov/ and then in certain solitary place* in the woods, son)e of the black cattle and sheej) are falling a prey to them and the wild cat, while the lambs are also occasionally attacked by foxes. But 1 could never obtain positive cvi- ' dence that one human being had ever been really killed by the bears n})on the Island. I met with se^ \eral, both Indians and others, who had killed one or more of both the bears and wild cats, and a High- Jandmim at the head of 8t. Peter's Bay told me, he bad killed 38 bears in 29 years, by sliooting iheift, and by setting traps of wood which the Ii dians have learned them to construct. He told me he some- times made tl em shoot themselves. I saw the In- dians dissectinjj a very large bt-ar at their camp at Murray Harbour, about the first of June last, on which occasion they had caughttwo of them in wooden traps, and which they esteem excellent eating. I was to)d tliat neither bulls nor horses were ever known to be destroyed by them, but several bulls have been known to destroy them in defence of the cows. I believe they are decreasing in numbers greatly, for there is not near the damage done by them now, that is reported to have been done formerly. In on6 settlement, where I was told they had broke open the byre door, and eaten a beast at the stoke,* they • The circumstance allu led to ubove, happened at a Mr Cjimpbell's, Wonlii^^ue llivcr, (Thric Rivers.) He was awoke out of his hleep one tiight with the roariri«; of a young heifer in the byre ; he got up, pulled, on his trowsers, and ran «>ut to the place fioni which the cry proceeded. lie saw Uk*^ u bluck buusi lyiag in tlie middle of \h-i door ; be put UiS' LETTER NINTH. m lot like lis are ; , I can itT the fie soli- Is U})OM l-etipiK'ft c a fcnf ioiijilly certttiii k cattle lie wild ttacked ve cvi- ; really i'ith se»- leil one High- mc, he [ theift, IS have some- he lii- ump at ast, on ►vooden 1 was lown to e been ws. I tly, for jw, tliat In one )en the * thev impbeH's, i Mleep one up, pulled, iroceedetj. lie puL tils' «re now never seen nor heard of. If I And room for afew anwHlotc'B of rencounters the settlers have had with them, 1 shall insert theui at the bottom of the page, and at present pass on to describe the feath- ery tribe, both tame and wild. 'J'hey hnve tiirkies, geese, ducks and common poul- try, the same t»s in Britain, but thev must all be kept close in the house over winter ; and ihch" out houses iire generally so o]>en and cold^ that if they do lay eggs, they aje generally rent with the frost before they are noticed. 8omo of the farmers keep very large flocks of every kind, and in the suriimer they produce eggs most j)lent»lully. Wild gtn^se, and a Lttnd.s dowB on »?ttch side of il, repeating the word*. " Whal are you d(J in»- Lere T" (namiug tie heifer) uud to his greut surprise he got the bear ill uis arms! Tht? bear had braken the door, (it was likely uutsiroufj) und hud pullfed the heifer as near the door as (hi* rope that it was bound wifh would nllovv. Bruin then laid hiniseU'dowu to fill his belly froib the h.uJ quurlers of the living beu&t ; but he i:o sooner felt himself tu- kea hold of b\ Mr C. than he sprung up aud .«:U'uc>k hini a blow with his fore paw which laid him flat; he got up again and was kno.>ked dowb a hui-ond time { but on bis again getting to his feet, the bear sprung up with iia pawi> upon each of bi& shoulders, and fastening its teeth iu the crown of his bead, it tore a piece of the ilesh from his skull, which, as Le showed me, remains bare to the present day. At this alarming junc- ture, when the bear bad taken bold of him, his wife came out with a l)iece ol burning birch baik in her baud, at sight of which the bear took fright and ran away. -A brother of this Highiaudmau's had a sow and pigs, which had gone a little into the wood ; in the evening they heard the pigs squeaking, and the sow making a great noise. Mr C. was at Lis own duor with an axe in his band ; his dog heard the noise and broke Hwny, tind he followed with the axe ; the dog attacked the bear, but was immediately put to fligiit, and ran back lu his master, the bear follow- ing. Mr C. having the dauntless spirit ol a Highlander, kept bis ground till the bear came close up to him — he drew a stroke, and with one well laid on blow upon the side of the bear's head, he laid bim dead at his ft^et.— 1 heard of another Highlr.ndman who was residing on Lot 49, Who was seised by the bear. The animal got hold of him, and was beariQ/s liim off in its hug, when he recollected in this dileumia that iie had a dirk upon him, and getting one of bis bands (I believe the left one) dis- entangled, so us to dru'.'? the dirk, he thurst a deadly stab to the Ijeart of tiie bear, which brought the animal and himself both to the ground, \xut the bt'ar fell uppermost, and it was said he had great dtflieulty iD disenianglidg himself from the gmsp of (he dying animal. This man I inight have seen if I htid called in time, as I often passed near his house ; but he was dead, 1 heard, before I left the Isluud. Birt^the bears ar» DOW getting much shyer, and are seldom seen or heard of doing uuj da- mage umoug the cattle i»ow any w|»ere, «8 liKTTBR NINTH. wnter fowl they call brant, and various kinds of ducki, visit the Island in the spring and iull, and wild pi- geons in the summer. They have a great, many par- tridges in the woods, but they differ greatly from those in Seotland ; they have long tails like the moor game at home, and they are exceedingly tame when they happen upon them ; but they are not easy to lind in the woods without a dog, and no British pointer will St t them. The dogs they have for this purpose lay their foot upon the tree where they find them sitting, and keep baiking,and the fowls lookingdown at them with contcinpt, till the fowler con)es up and shoots them : and if he is so cautious as to shoot those that are sitting on the lower branches first, the rest will look on till he charge and shoot the whole covey.— They are large, and in the proper season fat, and very fine eating. There are several sorts of plovers and snipes, and some of the species of eagle, differ*- ent kinds of hawks and owls, and a kind of carrion orow. There is a bird called the wood pecker ; this bird lives upon the worms and maggots found below the bark, and in holes and crevices in the trees. It is particularly fitted by nature, both by its claws and bill, for searching for and procuring its food ; itu claws are so amazingly sharp, that it can run per* pendicularly up the trunk of the hardest barkless tree, and its bill so taper as to enter the smallest hole* and at the same time so hard and strong, that it can drive the bark from the trees, making a noise as if the trees were struck with a hammer. It is about the size of a small hawk. They have what they call the robin, but it resembles the robin here in nothing but the red breast ; it is rather larger than the thrush, and sings very sweetly after a refreshing shower in summer ; but it leaves the Island all winter, with many others, which I cannot name. But they have what they call the blue bird, the snow bird, a black bird, and the beautiful humming bird 13 sometimes tbund in the gardens. They export live stogk of all khids, grain and po» LETTEU NINTH. m ifttoPSj to Newfonndlftnd, nnd grain, pork, and po- tatoes, to Minnnichi, and grain and potatoes to Ha* lifax. lint the importation ot'potatocs from Ireland, at Newfoundland, the fall of the price of timber at Miraniichi, and the very low price at which flour from the States is imported at Halifax, has greatly injured their market at all these ports. Indeed, it is m^ opinion, that Great Britain constitutes the fountain- head and heart's blood of the trade af the whole ci- vilized world ; and if she gets faint and low spirited, trade must flag every where in proportion. This has caused great deficiency in their returns from a^ these ports lately. But the Islanders enjoy a privi- lege which many of the labouring classes at home cannot at present obtain ; they may all be employed in cultivating the ground, and the ground, 1 have ^eard it said, is so very grateful, that no man ever yet bestowed prudent labour npon it but it repaid him for his toif. But they have alt need to be taught 'this lesson^ tfiat their success in agriculture must spring from the dunghilL Instead of going a fishing, fowl- ing, or making timber, if they were to repair to the shores to collect the kelp and sea weed — to the mus- sel banks for what is called mussel mud, or to the woods to gather fern to rot down to dung, and to the sides of their marshes to throw up compost dung- hills, in all these ways they might provide good ma- nure for their land. 'J'hey might have to exercise the patience of the husbandman in waiting for their reward, but in proportion to their exertions in this way, they may' depend upon its abundance. Plentj of good manure, if the land it is laid upon is well cultivated, will generally bring good crops, both >vhite and green. A good crop will not only furnish present food for man and beast, but also the means of enriching the land in future (provided tlie dung is taken care ofj as directed), that a continuance of good crops may be expected. By pursuing this plan, they might exchange their nsli and potatoes Uir^ tua^s a day for the good substantial tbod of 70 LETTER NINTH. the old country. Thoy might also grow wool anJ flax in abundance for clothing, as well as raise ex- cellent sowing fliix-seed, which could be exported to Britain as an article of trade; and I have no doubt it would be found to answer better than any brouglit from the United States for that purjiose. They might and ought also to cultivate hemp, for they need a great deal of cordage; and at present this ar- ticle is Doth dear, and dilhcult to be got upon the Island. Their clear land should be divided int» small inclosures, with hedges or stripes of beech planted round them. I'his would keep the snow ly- ing upon the surface all winter, and in that case they might raise excellent winter wheat. An agri^ cultural society should be formed, for the encou- ragement of all those things, and many others, which I have not room to point out. J must now stat#» a few things they have not, and are in great want of. They have not a dyer nor dresser of cloth upon the Ish. nd ; they have not a bookbimler, cutler, nailery hatter, or roper. Brick makers and pipe makers might, I think, all meet with encouragement, for there is plenty of pipe and other clay tor these pur- poses upon the Island* 1 he laws of the Island are the same as those of England.* gel " " The Island is governed hy a Lieutenant Governor, Council, nnd General Asiwjmbly, by whom tUe lnws are enacted : the Council con- sists of six or eigiit Members, who are appointed by the Gov«*rnor, aii4 by the Kin^'^ instruction, are to be proprietors and principal iandbuliW ers. The Members of the General Assembly are 18 in number, vAm are chosen by a majority of the landholders, leaseholders, aad resident housekeepj^rs. A41 laws that respect property, are, by the Kiug's in- struction, to contain, a clause, suspending their operation till they have bPcn sent to England, and receive*! •b** royal assent." The only tax paid upon the Island is a duty of tenpence currency per gallon upoa rum and. wine. This, by the laws of trie Island, ought to be laid out in making roads nnd bridges, and other iiecvssary improvements V but a irery compliunt House of Aasembly transfi^rred, by their vote, the sole manngemt'nt of this fund to a former Governor, without reserving the i.::-' tile Islaoderi^ tks generous iu frivil matters, as his lar fumed breUMt )I an»i ise ex- ited to J doubt fought They they IS ar- il tlie int» beech w Jy- t case agri*. ncou- whitb sfatfRt Hit of. >n the lailer, lakerg it, for &pur- d arc ■R liBTTER NI>TH. n I promised long ago to make some further observ- ations, in order to assist the intending emigrant to make a judicious choice, wh^e to place himself for his greatest present benefit, and also that of his posterity. 1 must say, with regard to the land, it is nearly all able to be called upon to serve on ooe of these juri * doriag the spa«e are atso prevalent^ It has been the sceQc oi' cunteddin|j^ armies, and may again be the same. New ,^ruiiswick» includmg St John s and Miramichi, H)fo9 a soil in general niore sandyt atid \k^i% ^xcept^ l#Ag way «|> 8t John's River, tlmathat^ Pr^llte Edward Island. Nova Scotia and C^ Biel^h have timber as heavy as it is upon the li^kaid ; dpi a^er fhat itrcleared away, the stones found upop many parts rec^nire as much labour as the wood Ip clear the soil, and make it fit foi- agricultu ^^-"-^ " the ^viiin and potatoes are seldom $o good ,. Quality as upon the Island^ and much elidnei* ^ if 1^ crop is to be ^ipect^i fronv the inj(i|-iQU9ilv.._^ dt the togs and blighting damps. Aiid;aitltfe Mbml Ibas the niost. pure and healibiid air, w«ter ef the very bpt duality in numerous i^rini^ or at nt> great 4^th to sink for, a dry pleMai\^ soil for eultitation Vhcn once cleared of the timber^ almoM th(ft whole of it suiBckntlir iev^l fiSI all the pUrpMel olT agricuU lure, and tc^m a &iMi!ig clr6p bm wheil^^ cdlti* vater hlis aimdeU* tb yame for ^^ib tdvii^ iltDfiitioti the raoit eoiivenient for trakiii^ In 411 diltef^tions, 4Bd Aone of the inland fiarts far &bm ^ shore^ pro- tinted- tm al^ sides from ti^> rade inctiriiio^. of a fo^ feign fttt^ abd iiquiHtig only miore ft^tftliE^^ iiibr6 mechamct of ev^y kln^ more dearaH^s^ bitter Toooi and brklget)^ 4Nit doid barley n^tc» &<3< to ren- der it a» pleasant a plaee to^live in arth? climate will Jdmit oi^l mAi^4^^'' •% • h fwa^ itiitor, DtuulriM. :/'.^r iMf I rk(t» both mrts of it io«t every gae; and r «nd can- thte sceQc the same, ifliramichi, ie Bietoii kMd; d^ii mnd upoB le wood ||» Itui *"^-'- tttfe IskntI At no great cultiiiiticn t |h<^ whole ofiBgricnU [l^«!lie ctiltl- il llt«(i[(tioii dUtedtions, shore^ p^o- )nsdjf afo- ee^i bitter SciB< to ten*- rlimate will T|pb|ii|^tQ(iy of - *4 >At jmliMif .•*!:?: