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SIR R

LIKL

CANADA

AND

THE CANADIANS.

SIR RICHARD HENRY BONNYCASTLE, Kt.,

LIKUTENANT-COLONEL KOYAL

ENGINEERS AND MILITIA
OF CANADA WEST.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

L O i\ D O N :

HE.XRY COLBUKxY, PUBLISHKR,

CJREAT MARLFJOROUcai STRKKT.

184.9.

■

C, <^ '•'

/^C^/!//li/d-/7^i^^-^

Emig
The]
A Joi
The I

Peneti
Friendly

F. Shoberl, Jim., "lititcr to H.H.H Piiiiw Allieit, Unpcit Street.

Barrie
Nature's
I^fud—R
and the I

CONTENTS

■:«

THE FIRST VOLUME.

It Street.

Page 1

CHAPTER I.

Emigrants and Immigration

CHAPTER 11.

The Emigrant and his Prospects

CHAPTER in.

A Journey to the Westward

CHAPTER IV.

The French Canadian

* •

CHAPTER V.

Penetanguishene-^The Nipissang Cannihals, and a
Friendly Brother in the Wilderness

CHAPTER VI.

Barrie and Big Trees_A new Capital of a new District-
Nature's Canal-The Devil's Elbow-Macadamization and
Mud--Richmond Hill without the Lass-The Rebellion
and the Radicals-Blue Hill and Bricks . , 72

127

Vlll

CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER VII.

Toronto and the Transit — The Ice and its innovations —
Siege and Storm of a Fortahce hy the Ice-king — Newark,
or Niagara — Flags, big and little — Views of American and
of English Institutions — Blacklegs and llaccs — Colonial
high life — Youth very young . . 195

CHAPTER VIII.

The old Canadian Coach — Jonathan and John Eull pas-
sengers — "That Gentleman" — Beautiful River, beautiful
drive — Brock's Monument — (^ueenston — Bar and Pulpit —
Trotting horse Railroad — AanTuI accident — The Falls once
more — Speculation — Water Privilege — Barbarism — Mu-
seum — Loafers — Tulip-trees — Rattlesnakes — The Burning
Spring — Setting fire to Niagara — A eh iritable AVoman
—The Nigger's Parrot — John Bull is a Yankee — Political
Courtship — Lundy's Lane Heroine — Welland Canal 217

CHAPTER IX.

The Great Fresh -water Seas of Canada

200

V(
Motl
finest
an e]
speci
Scotl
absol
chant
subm

Ir
in ai

,'ations —
-Newark,
rican and
-Colonial
105

Bull pas-
beautiful
[ Pulpit-
Falls once
sm — Mu-
e Burning
|e "Woman
Political
nal 217

2 or,

(jANAMA

AND

T II K C A i\ A D I A N S.

(.^HAPTEU I.

Eniii;rants and Inuni^fration.

Very surprising it seems to assert that the
Mother Country knows very little about the
finest colony which she possesses — and that
an enlightened people emigrate from soher,
speculative England, sedate and calculating
Scotland, and trusting, unreflective Ireland,
absolutely and wholly ignorant of the total
change of life to which they must necessarily
submit in their adopted home.

I recollect an old story, that an old gunner,
in an old-fashioned, three-cornered cocked

VOL. I. B

CANADA AND

hat, wlio was my favourite playfellow as a
child, used to tell about the way in which
recruits were obtaijied for the Royal Artil-
lery.

The recruitin*^ sergeant was in those days
dressed much finer than any field-marshal
of this dep^enerate, railway era ; in fact, the
Horse Guards always turned out to the ser-
<^eant-major of the Royal Military Academy
of Woolwich, when that functionary went
periodically to the Golden Cross, Charing
Cross, to receive and escort the young gentle-
men cadets from Marlow College, who were
abandoning the red coat and drill of the foot-
soldier to become neophytes in the art and
mystery of great gunnery and sapping.

"The way they recruited was thus," said
the bombadier. " The gallant sergeant, be-
dizened in copper lace from the crown of his
head to the sole of his foot, and with a swagger
which no modern drum -major has ever pre-
sumed to attempt, addressed a crowd of coun-
try bumpkins.

*' ' Don't listen to those gentlemen in red ;

tlh'ir
liraiiisi
niiivari
bv us
oiilv, ii
firesho

of the
uentlei

flatfoot

pei'ry-f<

shot.
I ever se(

never d
Itlie she]

Isary.
'' ' X.

Woolwi

vou ioi
* ti

sliells ii
Yes!
balloon
Iniade—

Tin: CANADIANS.

\N as ji
; which

,1 Anil-

se days
marshal
act, the
the ser-
cademy
y went
Charing
gentle-
10 were
le foot-
rt and

^," said
mt, be-

of his
[wagger
[er pre-

coun-

\n red ;

thtMi" sarvicc is one whirli no man who has

liiaiiis will ever think of — footini;- it over the

uiiivarsal world ; thov have nsnallv hoen called

•jM hv us the flatfoots. They uses the mnsquet

Hoiilv,and have hands like f(»et, and feet like

fiivsliovels.

" ' Mind mc, gentlemen, the royal regiment

of the lioyal Artillery is a sarvice which no

^ontleman need be ashamed of.

" ' We fights with real powder and ball, the

flatfoots fights with bird-shot. We knows the

perry-ferry of the circumference of a round

shot. Did you ever see a mortar ? Did you

ever see a shell ? I will answer for it vou

I never did, except the poticary's mortar, and

I the shell that mortar so often renders neces-

Isarv.

I '

I " ' Now, gentlemen, at the imperial city of

I Woolwich, in the Royal Arsenal, you may, if

you join the Royal Artillery, you may see

sliells in earnest. Did you ever see a balloon?

1 cs ! Then the shells there are biii-(rer than

halloons, and are the largest hollow shot ever
made — the French has nothing like them.

B 2

CANAUA AM>

*' ' And llic wav \m' uses tlieiii I Wo fiics
lluMii out of tlu! mortars into tlic niciiivV
towns, and stulls them full of red s()i»oi's.
W(dl, they bursts, and out comos tiio Hat foots,
opons the .^Jitcs, and lets the Uoyal Artillerv
in ; and then every man fills his sack with
silver, and gold, Jind precious stones, after ;i
leetle scrimmai'in!'-.

" ' Come alon«i' with me, my hoys, and even
one of you shall have a coat like mine, which
was made out of the plunder; and you shall
have a horse to ride, and a carriage behind
it ; and you shall see the glorious city ot
Woolwich, wdiere the streets are paved with
])enny loaves, and drink is to be bad for ask-

ing.

> '9

So it is with nine-tenths of the emiu:rants
to Canada in these enlightened days ; so it i>
with the eirdgrants from old England, and
from troubled Ireland, to the free and asto-
nishing Union of the States of America and
Texas, that conjoint luminary of the new go-
ahead world of the West.

Dissatisfied with home, with visionary ideas

f I'd

pdon^i
IJesot
agents
ventui
of tlu
and w
their 1
starts
never (
faetor\
hod, t
with hi
l)ort.

Thei
guifle 1
every a
to his
mates,
heads ]
slioop, 1
York
able to
come tl

TIIF, CANADIANS.

We files
cnotiivV

•

(1 sobers.

Hat toots,

Artillery

<ack with

38, after a

and evcrv
lie, Nvliicli
you shall
i»'e beliiiitl
,s city ot
ived with
for ask-

eniii'rants
; SO it i>
and, an<l
and asto-
erica aii<l

e new go-

nary idea^

of Kl Dorados, or starving amidst ph^ity, the
jM)orer ehisses oi)tain no correct inforniati(>n.
IJosot i,^eiierally with agents of companies, with
agiMits of private enterprise, with reckless ad-
venturers, with ignorant priests, or missionaries
of the lowest stamp, with politier.l agitators,
and with miseralde traitors to the land of
their hirth and hreeding, the poor emigrant
starts from the interior, where his ideas have
never ex])an{led beyond the weaver's loom or
factory lahour, the plough or the spade, the
hod, the plane, or the trowel, and hastens
with his wife and children to the nearest sea-
])ort.

There he finds no friend to receive and
guide him, hut ra])acious agents ready to take
every advantaije of his i<;norance, with an eye
to his scanty purse. A host of captains,
mates, and sailors, eager to make up so many
heads for the voyage, pack them aboard like
slioop, and cross the Atlantic, either to \ew
^ ork or to Quebec, just as they have been
able to entice a cargo to either port. Then
come the horrors of a long voyage and short

6 CANADA AND

provisions, and high prices for stale salt junk
and biscuit ; and, at the end, if ilhiess has been
on board, the quarantine, that most dreadful
visitation of all — for hope deferred maketli
the heart sick.

From the first discovery of America, there
has been a tendency to exaggeration about
the resources and capabilities of that country
— a mogniloquence on its natural productions,
which can be best exemplified by referring
the reader to the fac-simile of the one in Sir
Walter Raleigh's work on Guiana,^ now in
the British Museum. Shakespeare had, no
doubt, read Raleigh's fanciful description of
'* the men whose heads do ffrow beneath their

^liouli

' Brevis et admiranda dcscriptio IIEGNI GVIAX.E,
AVRT abundantissimi, in AMERICA, sev novo orbe, sub
linca -ZEquinoctilia siti : quod nuper admodum, Annis ninii-
rum lo94, 1595, ct lo9G per generosum Dominuin
Dr. GVALTIIERVM RALEGH Equitem Anglum do-
tcctum est : paulo post jussa ejus duobus libellis coinprc-
hensa. Ex quibus JODOCVS IIONDIVS TARVLAM
( Tcographicam adornavit, addita explicationc Belgico sermone
scripta : Nunc vero in Latinum sermoncm translata, ct ex
variis authoribus hinc indc declarata. Noriberga;. Inipensi^
LEVINI IIULSII. M.D.XCIX.

THE CANADIANS.

salt junk
s has been
i dreadful
1 make til

•ica, there
on about
t country
)ductions,
referring
►ne in Sir
/ now in
had, no
ption of
ath their

GVIAX.E.

orbe, sub
Annis ninii-
Dominuin
ingliim (Ic-
is com pre -
ABVLA.M
ico sermone
islata, et ex
Impensi^

shoulders," &c. ; for he was thirty-four years
of age when this print was publish od, only
seventeen years before his <leath.

So expansive a mind as Raleigh's un-
doubtedly was, was not free from that uni-
versal credulity which still reigns in the
breasts of all men respecting matters with
which they are not personally acquainted ;
and the glowing descriptions of Cohnnbus and
his followers respecting the rich Cathay and
the Spice Islands of the Indies have had so
permanent a hold upon the imagination, that
even the best educated amongst us have, in
their youth, galloped over Pampas, in search
of visionary Uspallatas. Nor is it yet quite
clear that the golden city of El Dorado is
wholly fabulous, the region in wdiich it was
said to exist not having yet been penetrated
by Science ; but it soon will be, for a steam-
boat is to ply up the Maranon, and Peru and
Europe are to be brought in contact, although
the voyage down that mighty flood has
hitherto been a labour of several months.

The poor emigrant, for we must return to

CANADA AND

liim, lands at New York. Sharks beset him
in every direction, boarding-houses and <»'ro«>-
shops open their doors, and he is frequently
obliijed, from the loss of all his hard-earned
money, to work out his existence either in
that exclusively mercantile emporium, or to
labour on any canal or railroad to which his
kind new friends may think proper, or most
a<lvantageous to themselves, to send him. If
he escapes all these snares for the unwary,
the chances are that, fancying- himself now as
great a man as the Duke of Leinster, O'Con-
nell, the Lord Mayor of Loiidon, or the Pro-
vost of Edinburgh, free and unshackled,
gloriously free, he becomes entangled with a
host of land-jobbers, avJ walks off to the
weary West, there to encounter a life of un-
remitting toil in the solitary forests, with an
occasional visit from the ague, or the milk-
fever, which so debilitates his frame, that,
during the remainder of his wretched existence,
he can expect but little enjoyment of the ma-
norial rights appendant to a hundred acres of
wild land.

Let

States I
and rej
him till
race h
eve, an
The
countr}
Hsh, th
hv the
einigrat
friends
they are
A so
been est
tish em
it may \
wlio are
scend t(
I witnesse
I tised to
\ The e
I terently
The :

THE CANADIANS.

let liim

|uently
earned
tlier in
, or to
licli bis
ir most
m. If
mwavy,
now as
O'Con-
e Pro-
ckled,
with a
to the
of un-
ith an
milk-
that,
tenee,
le ma-

Let no emigrant embark for the United
States unless he has a kind friend to guide
and receive him there, and to point out to
liini the good and the evil ; for the native
race look upon all foreigners with a jealous
oye, and particularly upon the Irish.

The Germans make the best settlers in that
country, perhaps because, not speaking Eng-
lish, they cannot be so easily imposed upon
by the crimps, and also because they seldom
emigrate before they have arranged with their
friends in America respecting the lands which
they are to occupy.

A society of British philanthropists has
been established at New York to direct Bri-
tish emigrants in their ultimate views ; but
it may well be imagined that these gentlemen,
who are chiefly engaged in trade, cannot de-
scend to understand fully, or are constant
witnesses of, the low tricks which are prao
tised to seduce the unwary ones.

The emigrant to Canada is somewhat dif-
ferently situated.

The Irish come out in shiploads every

B .5

CANADA AND

season, and generally very indifferently ])ro-
vided and without any definite object ; nay,
to such an extent is this carried, that hun-
dreds of younir fe?r.aies venture out every
year by themselves, to better their condition,
which betterment usually ends in their reach-
iug as far inland as Toronto, where, or at
other ports on the lakes, they engage them-
selves as domestics.

When we consider that nearly 25,000 emi-
grants leave the Mother Country every year
for Canada alone, how important is it that
they should be informed of every particular
likely to increase their comforts and to con-
duce to their well-being ! This kind of ser-
vice can be but partially rendered by tlio
present publication, which, being intended for
the general reader, cannot be given in a form
likely to reach the class of emigrants who
usually proceed to America otherwise than
throuoh the advice which the reader mav,
whenever it is in his power, kindly bestow
upon them. But it will, I am persuaded, be
extensively useful in that way, and also to

THE CANADIANS.

tly pi'o-
ct; nay,
lat liun-
Lit every
ondition,
Ay reach-
re, or at
re them-

000 eini-
vevy year
5 it tliat
)articulai'
d to coii-
d of ser-
by the
ended for
n a form
lilts who
vise than
Jer may,
y bestow
laded, be
d also to

tlio settlor with a small capital who can atibrd
to consult it.

Learned dissertations upon colonization are
useful only to the politician, and so much
venality has prevailed among those who have
thrust themselves forward in the cause of
Canadian settlement, that tlie public become
a little alarmed when they hear of a work
ex})ressly desifrned for the emigrant.

The verv best informed at home, and the
hauto nohlessc, have been repeatedly taken in.
Dinnerinn^s and lionizimx liave been the order
of tlie day for persons, who, in the colony,
cut a very inferior figure. But this is natural,
and in the end usually does no harm. It is
natural that the colonist, who is a vara avis
in England, should be considered a very extra-
ordinary personage among men who seek for
novelty in any shape ; because those who
lavish favours upon him at one time and
eschew his presence afterwards are usually
ignorant of the very history of which he is
the type. It is like the standing joke of
sendino' out water-casks for the men-of-war

CANADA AND

l)uilt on the fresh-water seas of Caiuuhi, for
thoro. are plenty of rich folks at home who
want only to be filled.

The (lifFerent sorts of people who emigrate
from /foific to the United States or Canada,
may he classed under several heads, like the
ti'avellers of Sterne.

First, the inquisitive and restless, who leave
a goodly inheritance or occupation behind
them, because they liave heard that Tom
Smith or Mister Mac Grogan, very ordinary
folks anywhere, have made a rapid fortune,
which is indeed sometimes the case in the
[-nited States, though rather rare there for
old countrymen, and is still more rare and
unlikely in Canada, where large fortunes may
be said to be unknown quantities.

Settlers of this class usually fall to the
ground very soon — if they settle in Canada,
they become Radicals ; if they return from
the States, they become Tories.

The next class are your would-be aristo-
cratic settlers, youno-er sons of vounoer sons,
cousins of cousins, Union Barons, nephews*

Till- CANADIANS.

l;}

Kiel a, for
)nie who

eniiii'rate
Ctuiada,
like the

,'ho leave

behind

lat Tom

ordinary

fortune,
e in the
here for

are and
mes may

to the
Canada,
rn from

? aristo-
>er sons,
lephews'

nephews of a Lord Mayor, or unprovided
heirs in i)0sse.

These fancy they confer a sort of honour
by selectinn^ the colony as their final restin<(-
phiee, and thj.t a governor and his ministers
have nothini:: in the world to think about but
bow they can provide for such important
units. Hence they frequently end by placing-
themselves in direct opposition to the powers
that be, or take very unwillingly to the la-
bours of a farmer's life. ^Fany of tliem, when
they find that jiretension is laughed at, par-
ticularly if no talents accou'pany it, which is
rarely or ever the case, for talent is modest
and retiring in its essential nature, turn out
violent Republicans or Radicals of the most
furious calibre ; but the more modest portion
work heartily at their farms, and frequently
succeed.

Another chiss is your private gentlemen's
sons and decent voun<>: farmers from Kuirland,
Ireland, or Scotland, who think before thev
leap, have connexions already estal)lishe(l in
Canada, and small capitals to commence

CANADA AND

with. These arc tlio really valuable settlers :
they go to Canada for land and livinii', and
eschew the land and liberty system of the
neighbouring nation. Wherever they settle,
the country flourishes and becomes a second
Britain in appearance, as may be observed in
the London and western districts.

It does not require a very lengthened ac-
quaintance with Canada to form observations
upon the characters of the immiffrants, as the
Webster style of Dr. Johnson will have the
word to be.

The Enoflish franklin and the En'j:lisli
peasant who come here usually weigh their
allegiance a little before they make up n*
minds ; but, if they have been persuaded tha
Queen Victoria's reign is a " hanefiil domina-
tion,'' they either go to the United States at
once, or to those portions of Canada where
sympathy with the Stars and Stripes is the
order of the day/

* That is, to those portions of the London and westeni
district where American settlers ahound, who have so ge-
nerously repaid the fostering care which Governor Simcoc

If t
oonipr
ticians
mate

r>nt

the rei
sionall;
tuate 1
enii:;'ra
idread}
whose
arts of
The
be said
of mec'
labour(
most a
•and on
wages
their e

originall
indebted
locked 1
through
might n(

THE CANADIANS.

1.-)

3 settlers .
vino-, ,111(1
m of the
ley settle,
a second
)serve(l in

lened ac-
'ervations
fs, as the
have the

English
g\\ their
up h'
(led tha
domhia' IJ

ive so ge-
>r Simcoe

If they ho Scotch Radicals, the most un-
compioinising and the most hitter of all poli-
ticians, they seek Canada only with the nlti-
iiiate hope of revolutionizing it.

IJiit the latter are more than halanccd hy
the respectahle Scotch, who emigrate occa-
sionally upon the same principles which ac-
tuate the respectahle portion of the English
emigrants, and hy the hardy Highlanders
already settled in various parts of the colony,
whose proverbial loyalty is proof against the
arts of the demagogue.

The oreat mass of emi^ifrants may however
be said to come from Ireland, and to consist
of mechanics of the most inferior class, and of
labourers. These are all impressed with the
most absurd notions of the riches of America,
and on landing at Quebec often refuse high
wages W'ith contempt, to seek the Cathay of
their excited imaginations westward.

originally extended to tliein. One of those rabid folks
indebted to the British government, who kept an inn, pad-
locked his pumps lately when a regiment was marching
through Woodstock in hot dusty weather, that the soldiers
might not slake their thirst.

CANADA AND

Ff they be Oraii<j^einon, tlioy defy tlie l\)pe
and the devil as heartily in Canada as in
liOndonchM'ry, and are loyal to the backbone.

If they are Repealers, thoy coine here sure
of immediate wealth, to kick up a deuce of a
row, for two sliillin<j^s and sixpence currency
is paid for a day's labour, which two shillings
and sixpence was a hopeless week's fortune
in Ireland ; and yet the Catholic Irish who
have been long settled in the country are by
no means the worst subjects in thic Trans-
Atlantic realm, as I can personally testify,
having had the command of large bodies of
them during the border troubles of 1837-8.
'I'hey are all loyal and true.

In the event of a war, the Catholic Irish, to
a man — and what a formidable body it is in
Canada and the United States ! — will be on the
side of England. O'Connell has prophesied
rightly there, for it is not in human nature to
forget the wrongs which the Catholics have
suffered for the past ten years in a country
profeasi ng universal freedom and toleration.

The AmerieaTis of the better classes with

wlioiii I
dishke

well as

the lar^'c

|iiO(l()nn

; The .^

idiuiis, tl

|iv})oal a

'luit and

Vtlantic.
iiid live
liiive bee
Juiving I
I never sa'
I priest, a
ftion; tl
I more fii
|uhni I
Itluit he V

I the Cal
The Frc

THE CANADIANS.

llO l*OJ)0

a as in
-ckhoiio.
ere sure
lice of a
?urrency
shillings
fortune
ish wlio
y are by
; Trans-
testify,
odies of
1837-8.

[rish, to

it IS in
eon the
phesied
ature to
cs have

ountry

tion.

s with

whom I have convtM'sod admit this, hut their

di^hko of the Irish is rooted and ^leiUMJil

jMiioiii*' all the native race ; and they ft^ar as

well as mistrust them, because, in many of

the lar^'est cities, Xew York for one, the Irish

jiiedominate.

The Americans say, and so do the Cana-

(hiiiis, tliat, for some years back, since the

repeal agitation at home, a few very igno-

jiant and very turbulent priests, of the lowest

iirade, have found their wav across the

Atlantic. I have travelled all over Canada,

'and lived many years in the country, and

have been thrown among all classes, from my

having been connected with the militia. \

never saw but one speciinen of Irish hedge-

i priest, and therefore do not credit the asser-

I tion; this one came out last year, and a

hnore furious biii^ot or a more re])ublican
% " . .

I ultra I never met with, at the same time

f tluit he was as ii>-iiorant as could be conceived.

I Such has not hitherto been the case with

\ the Catholic priesthood of the Canadas.

rrhe French Canadian clergy are a body of

CANADA AM)

pious, cxorn|)l:iry men, not perhaps sliiuin^
in the .i»iil;i\y of sclcnco, l)Ht iino))trusive,
;!:onthMnaMly, juul au honour to the sofffnar
iind cliasnhle.

The priests from Irehmd are not numerous,
for the Irish chapels were, till very hitely,
generally presided over hy Scotch mis-
sionaries ; and I can safely say that, whether
Irish or Scotch, the Catholic ])riesthood of
Western Canada will not yield the pabn to
their Franco-Canadian brethren of the cross,
and that loyalty is deeply inculcated h\
them. T have long and personally known
and admired the late Hishop i\Iac Donell ; :i
worthier or a better man never existed. Tho
highest and the lowest alike loved him.

I saw him bendino- under the wei^'ht of
years, passed in his ministry and in the de-
fence of his adopted country, just before ho
left Canada, to lay his bones in his natal
soil, preside over the ceremony of placing tho
Hrst stone of the Catholic seminary, for which
he had given the ground and funds to the
utmost of his ability.

ilo

iinwirh
lifo of
toiichii
to see
the ar
colonel

This
peace I

Uisf
from pr
ceeded
the wou
in oflicc
hut, dil
I do in
assert t
tion pi
love tlij
the fien
jects \\\
of bene

You
do, to (1

Tin: CANADIANS.

III' was a lar;40, vonoraljlo-loukiiii,^ man,
iMiwiolJy fmiii the infirniitles of a;^^ an<l a
life (jf toil and tiouldc ; and the alleetiii^^ and
toiichin;^' [)ortion of th«^ «)cene hefore us was
to see him supported on his ri<'ht and h'ft hy
the arms of a Preshvteiian cohjnel and a
t'oh)nel of the C'hurcli of Mn^land.

This is true Christianity, true charity —
peace he to his soul I —

His successor was a Canadian, equally free
from pretension and hi^otry ; and he was suc-
ceeded hy an rrishnuin, ^\ hose mission is to heal
the wounds of party and strife. lie is livin-,^ and
in oflicc ; I cannot, therefore, speak of him ;
but, dillering as an Knglishnuui so widely as
I do in religious tenets from his, I can freely
assert that, if clergymen of every denomina-
tion pursued the same course of hrotherly
love that he does, we should hear no more of
the fierce and undying contention ahout suh-
[:- jects which should he covered with the veil
of henevolence and humility.

You cannot force a man to think as you
I do, to draw him into what you conceive to he

CANADA AND

the true i)fitli ; inilrlnoss and conciliation are
much more likely to ctfoct your object than
the Emperor of China's yellow stick. The
(lays of the Inquisition, of Judg'o Jefteries,
and of Claverhouse, are happily ^one hy ;
and the artillery of man's wrath now vents
its harmless thunders much in the same way
as the thunders of the Vatican, or the recent
fulmination of the Archbishop of Paris against
the author of the Wandering Jew ; that is to
say, with a great deal of noise, but without
much damnifying any one, as the public soon
formed a true judgment of ^l. Sue and of the
tendency of his works.

On the other hand, how horrible it is, and
what a fearful view of frail hutnan nature is
opened for a searching mind to observe that
a man, who professes to have abandoned
the pleasures of existence, to have broken
tlirou<»h the very first law of nature, to have
separated himself from his kind, and to have
assumed perfection and infallibility, the attri-
butes of his Creator, devoting die altar at
which he serves to the wicked i)urposes of

i eliurclii]
alike

P Faith w

, critical
and dog

I ciicle of
exists n
moulder
lowed t(
dilFerini]:
to them
however
may be.

The
aware h
tends in

Tin: CANADIANS.

;ion are
ct than
k. The I
oftei'ies,
)ne hv ;
>w vents
me way
e recent
■^ against
liat is to
without
)lic soon
d of the

IS, and
at lire is
■ve that
mdoned

l)roken
to have

to have
le attri-
iiltar at
)oses of

arraying man against nniii, and of eml)ruing
the hands heM uj) ])efore him at prayer in the
bl()o<l of his fellow-mortals I

But such is the inevitahle tendency of the
svstem of " I am better than thou,'' whether
it he practised by a Catholic priest of the
liedge-school, by a fanatic bawler about new
liiilit, or bv a fierce and nncomi)romisin2:
churchman. Faith, hope, and charity, are
alike misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Faith v.'ith these consists in blind or hypo-
critical devotion to their peculiar opinions
and dogmas ; hope is limited to tlie narrowest
circle of ideas; and charity. Divine charity,
exists not ; for even the very relics, the
mouldering bones of the defunct, are not al-
lowed to rest side by side ; and as to those
dilfering in the slightest degree from them,
to them charity extends not, however i)ious,
however sincere, or however excellent they
may be.

The people of England are very little
uware how widely Roman Catholicism ex-
tends in the United States and in Canada.

CANADA ANT)

From accurate returns, it lias been ascer-
tained tliat ill tlie United States there were
last year l,r)()0,000, with 21 hisho])S, 61')
churches, 592 mission stations, and 572
priests otherwise employed in teaching and
travellinii*; 22 colleijes or ecclesiastical esta-
blishments, 23 literary institutions, 53 female
schools or convents for instruction, 84 chari-
table hospitals and institutions, and 220
young students, ])reparing for the ministry ;
whilst we learn, from the Annals of the Pro-
j)aganda, that 1,180,000 francs were appro-
])riated, in May 1845, to the missions of Ame-
rica, or about .€47,000 annually, of which
the share for the United States, including
Texas, w^as 771,164 francs, or about £32,000
in round numbers.

Then again, the greater portion of the In-
dian tribes in the north-west and west, ex-
cepting near the Rocky Mountains or beyond
them, are Roman Catholics ; and their num-
bers are very great, and all in deep hatred,
dislike, and enmity, to the Big Knives.

More than half a million of the Lower

THE CANADIANS.

n ascer-
cro wciv
ops, 01 i)
111(1 572
liino" and
ical esta-
53 female
84 chari-
and 220
ministry ;
f the Pro-
ve appro-
sof Ame-
of whicli
including
£32,000

)f the In-
west, ex-

)r beyond
leiv num-
) hatred,
es.
e Lower

U'iiiiadiaiis are also of the same j)ersuasion,
and th(Mr chundi in Upper Canada is lar^e
fund increasin<»' by every shipload from Ire-
|]:iiid. Even in Oregon, a Catholic bishop has
* just been a])pointed.

ft is more than probable, that in and
y around the United States three millions of
J Roman Catholic men are ever ready to ad-
^vaiice the standard of their faith; whilst
pioxico, weak as it is, offers another Catholic
^liarrier to exclusive tenets of liberty, both of
^conscience and of person.

It is surprising how very easily the emi-

%Tants are misled, and how simply they fancy

|tliat, once on the shores of the New World,

vFortune must smile upon them.

[ There is a British society, as I have already

(stated, for mutual protection, established at

I New York ; and the government have agents

(»f the first respectability at Quebec, at

^lontreal, and at Kingston. But the poorer

classes, as well as those wdiose knowledge

of life has been limited, are sadly defrauded

tind deluded.

CANADA AND

At a recent meeting of the Welsh Society
at New ^'ork, facts were stated, showing the
d:.'pravity and aiKhicity of the crimps at
Liverpool and New York. The President of
the Society said that, owing to the nefarious
practices against emigrants, the Germans
first, then the Irish, after that the Welsh,
and lastly the English residents of the city
had taken the matter in hand by the forma-
tion of Protective Societies.

The president of the Friendly Sons of St.
Patrick observed that in Liverpool the poor
emigrants were fleeced without mercy ; and he
/jave as one instance a fact that, by the repre-
sentations of a packet agent, a large number
of emigrants were induced to embark on
board a packet without the necessary supply
of provisions, being assured that for their
passage-money they would be supplied by the
captain — an arrangement of which the captain
was wholly ignorant.

The president of the Welsh Society exhi-
bited sixty dollars of trash in bills of tlu'
Globe Bank, that had been palmed oft' upon

••m iinsus]

Liverpool

and dec!

scries of

The ex

cioty, Mr

ciimstancc

York. I]

when it (

bitants, ai;

ing in Doc

of nearly

that he coi

of his you

Who, he

g-rant ! am

not charity

,areat mass

Xew York

Ii'ish, and

banded then

tion against

The repu

po'-tionof thi

VOL. I.

THE CANADIANS.

of St.
e poor
and he
re pre -
umber
rk on
supply
their
bv the
iiptain

exhi-
of tho
Ift' upon

;iii unsuspecting Welshman by some rascal in
Liverpool, in exchange for his hoarded gold,
nnd declared that this was only one of a
series of like villanies constantly occurring.

The ex -president of the St. George's So-
ciety, Mr. Fowler, mentioned a curious cir-
cumstance connected with the history of Xew
York. He said that he remembered the citv
when it contained only fifty thousand inha-
bitants, and not one paved side walk, excej)t-
ing in Dock Street. Now it had a population
of nearly 400,000, and had so changed,
that he could no longer identify the localities
of his youthful days.

Who, he asked, had done this? The emi-
grant ! and it was protection they needed,
not charity. He should have added, that the
great mass of the emigrants who have made
Xew York the mighty city it now is, were
Irish, and that the native Americans have
banded themselves in another form of protec-
tion against their increasing influence.

The republican notions which the greater
[)0''tionof the lower classes emigrating from the

VOL. I. c

CANADA AND

old country have been drilled into, lead tlieni
to believe that in the United States all men are
equal, and that thus they have a splendid vault
to make from poverty to wealth, an easy
spring from a state of dependency to one of
vast importance and consideration. The
simple axiom of republicanism, that a plough-
man is as good as a president, or a quarry-
man as an emperor, is taken firm hold of in
any other sense than the right one. What
sensible man ever doubted that we were all
created in the same mould, and after the
same image ; but is there a well educated sane
mind in America, believing that a perfect
equality in all things, in goods and chattels, in
agrarian rights and in education, is, or ever
will be, practicable in this naughty world?

Has nature formed all men with the same
capacities, and can they be so exactly edu-
cated that all shall be equally fit to govern ?

The converse is true. Nature make^
genius, and not genius nature. IIow rarely
she yields a Shakespeare ! — There has been but
one Homer, one Virgil, since the creation

There
Solo mo
attainal
P Look
patriarc
( heon pi
periods,
times its
writ rec
and Jub
men; an
Bezabel,
Hiram,
Hiram, (
was, M-as
^vidow's s

Tliese
,aifted ex
and so are
'("en pica

Coesar,
tator, am
on a par
I'rocul, 0,

TIIK C.VNADIAN8.

I tliein
iicii are
(I vault
.n easy
one of

The;
[)lough- I
quarry- I
1(1 of in
What ^
vvere all
fter the
ted sane
perfect

There ^vas never a second Moses, nor have
Solomon's m isdoni and glory ever again been
attainable.

Look at the rulers of the earth, from the
patriarchs to the present day, how few have
hoon pre-eminent ! Even in the earliest
periods, when the age of man reached to ten
times its present span, the \vonderful sacred
writ records Tubal-Cain, the first artificer,
iind Jubal, the lyrist, as most extraordinary
men ; and with what care are Aholiab and
Bezabel, cunning in all sorts of craft, and
Iliram, the artificer of Tyre, recorded !
Hiram, the king, great as he undoubtedly
was, >vas secondary in Solomon's eyes to the
widow's son.

These men, says the holy record, were
^lifted expressly for their peculiar mission ;
and so are all men, to whom the Inscrutable has
leen pleased to assign extraordinary talent.

Coesar, the conqueror. Napoleon, his imi-
tator, and Nelson, and Wellington, are they
on a par ^vitli the rabble of New York?
Procul, 0, procul este profani !

c 2

CANADA AND

I'lire (lomocracy is an utter mid unattain-
alile iin{)Ossii)ility ; nature has edectually
harred against it. The only thing in the
course of a life of more than lialf a century
that has ever puzzled me ahout it is, that the
Catholic clergy should, in so many parts of
the world, have lent it a helping hand. The
ministers of a creed essentially aristocratic,
essentially the pillars of the divine right of
kings, have they ever been in earnest about
the matter ? Perhaps not !

If that giant of modern Ireland, the paci-
ficator citizen king, succeeded in separating
the island from Great Britain, would he, on
attaining the throne, or the dictatorship, or
the })residency, or whatever it might be, for
the nonce, desire pure democracy ? Jc crois
(jue non, because, if he did, he would reign
about one clear week afterwards.

Look at the United States, see how each
successive president is bowed down before the
JNIoloch altar ; he must worship the demo-
cratic Baal, if he desires to be elected, or re-
elected. It is not the intellect, or the wealth
of the Union that rules. Already they seri-

ously cf
equality
^ion of
eient to
o\'istenc(
fortunate
have mu
circumstr
r*resident
to Jive n
rest of t
indeed a i
When t
I^SS-IS.*^
thus pare
reward of
but in sli
or two, ac
But, no
cracy, thei
balance in
'"iny very
fi'ish, from
"pon, and

THE CVXADIAXS.

1:0

;iun-
uilly

tlic
ituvy
t the
ts of

The
ratic,
jht of
about

paci-
•ating
lie, on
up, or
e, for

reigu

eacli
ive the
Idemo-

or re-
Nvealth

V seri-

ously canvass in the l^npirc State perfect
equality in worldly substance, and the divi-
sion of the lands into small portions, suffi-
cient to aflford the means of respectable
existence to every citizen. It is, perhajx,
fortunate that very few of the office-hoMers
have much substance to spare under these
circumstances ; but, if the President, Vice-
President, and the Secretaries of State, are
to live upon an acre or two of land for the
rest of their lives. Spartan broth will be
indeed a rich diet to theirs.

When the sympathizers invaded Canada, in
1888-1839, the hinds of the Canadians were
thus parcelled out amongst them, as the
reward of their extremely patriotic services,
but in slices of one hundred, instead of one
or two, acres.

But, notwithstanding all this ultra-demo-
cracy, there is at present a sufficient counter-
balance in the sense of the people, to prevent
any very serious consequences ; and the
Irish, from having had their religion trampled
upon, and themselves despised, would be

CANADA AND

very likely to run counter to native
feeling.

If any country in tlio whole civilized
world exhibits the inequality of classes
more forcibly tlian another it is the country
whicli has lately annexed Texas, and which
aims at annexing all the New World.

There is a more marked line drawn between
wealth and pretension on the one hand,
poverty and impertinent assumption on the
other, than in the dominions of the Czar.
JJirth, place, power, are all duly honoured,
and that sometimes to a degree which would
astonish a British nobleman, accustomed all
his life to high society. I remember once
travelling in a canal boat, the most abomi-
nable of all conveyances, resembling Noah's
ark in more particulars than its shape, that
I was accosted, in the Northern States too,
and near the borders, where equality and
liberty reign paramount, by a long slab-sided
fellow-passenger, who, I thought, was goin^ |
to ask me to pay his passage, his appearance
was so shabby, with the following questions :

iJiquirin
was, I
large
I'tica, o|

This
I can bd
amuse t]
Soniei
Canada
uniform.
Bufflilo
^'oniman

THE CANADIANS.

fltlVC

lized
liisses
untry
which

itwecii

hand,

i
311 the '

Czfir. I

\oure<l, I

. ^vould I

ned all ;

;r once

abomi-

Xoah's

pe,

that

tes too,
ity and
ab-sided

IS going
pearancc
lestions :

'•Whore are you from? arc you a Livini»-
stone ?" I told him, for I like to converse
M'ith cliaracters, that I was from Canada.
"What's your name?" he asked. I satisfied
him. lie examined me from head to foot
with attention, and, as he was an elderly man,
1 stood the gaze most valiantly. " Well," he
sai<l, "I thought you were a Livingstone; you
have got small ears, and small feet and hands,
and that, all the world over, is the sign of
gentle blood."

He was afterwards very civil ; and, upon
inquiring of the skipper of the boat who he
was, I found that my friend was a man of
hirge fortune, who lived somewhere near
Utica, on an estate of his own.

This was before the sympathy troubles, and
I can back it with another story or two to
amuse the reader.

Some years ago, when it was the fashion in
Canada for British officers always to travel in
uniform, I went to Buffalo, the great city of
Buffalo on lake Erie, in the Thames steamer,
oommanded by my good friend, Captain Van

CANADA AND

Allon, !iii(I tlio fn-st British Caii:uli;in stoaiii-
ho:it that ever oiitorod that harl)()iir. We
went in "gallantly, with the ihv^ H) in;^- that
*' lias ]>ravo(l a thonsand years the hatth* and
the breeze/* I think the majority of the popii-
hition must have lined the wharfs to see us
come in. They rent the welkin with wel-
comes, and, amon<^' other demonstrations, cast
up their caps, and cried with might and main —
" Long live George the Third !" — Our gra-
cious monarch had for years before bid this
worM good night, but that was nothing ; the
good folks of BulTalo had not perhaps (piite
forgotten that they were once, long before
their city was a city, subjects of King George.
I and another oflicer ii' uniform were re-
ceived with all honours, and escorted to the
Eagle hotel, where we were treated sump-
tuously, and had to run the gauntlet of hand-
shaking to great extent. A respectable gen-
tleman, about forty, some seven years older
than myself, stuck close to me all the while.
I thought he admired the British undress uni-
form,, but he only wanted to ask questions,

nnd, n:

] n.'irne, \

i lie said,

^ I have

; hti\o hai

never \y

inilieard'

/Ingellati

< Ira tic oq

'•inonn'al

trophe, f

lin<l pene

Ionian ed

rt is 1

■ *5iieh feeh

Xevert

a British

the Unite

it with c

,!? rati fled

officer; a

which the

engender

At Ne\\i

THE CANADIANS.

:r3

p:un-

that
e and
)()|)a-
oe us

wcl-
,, ciist j
iiiin — '

g vil-
li this
; tbo
(^uito

ooi'ge.
re rc-
.0 the
sump-
haiul-
3 gcii-
oklei*
\vhile.
ss iini-
stioiis,

and, after sundry answers, he inquired my
name, wlii(di heing courteously eonnnunieated,
lie said, "Well, I am glad, that's ji fjict, that
\ liavo seen you, for many is the whipping I
have had for your book of Algehra." Now I
never was capable of committing s'udi an
inilieard-of cnormitv as hcinir the cause of
flagellation to any man by simple or qua-
dratic equations; and it must have been the
liiiiomial theorem which lunl tickled his catas-
trophe, for it was my father's treatise Avhich
had penetrated into the new world of P>uHa-
lonian education.

Tt is a pity, is it not, gentle rea<ler, that
such feelings do not now exist?

Nevertheless, even now, the designation of
a British officer is a passport in any part of
tlie United States. The custom-house receives
it with courtesy and good-will ; society is
irratified by attentions received from a British
officer; and it is coupled with the feelings
which the habits and conduct of a gentleman
engender throughout Christendom.

At New York, I visited every place worth

c 5

CANADA AND

seeiug ; and, although disliking* gamhling,
races, and debating societies, a outrance, I
was determined to judge for myself of Xesv
York, of life in New York.

On one occasion, I was at a meeting of the
turf in an hotel after the races, where violent
discussions and heavy champagning were
going on. I was then (it was in 1837) a
major in the army, and was introduced to
(•ne or two prominent men in the room as a
Uritish officer who had been to see the race-
course ; this caused a general stir, and the

champagne flew about like I am at a

loss for a simile ; and the health of Queen
Victoria was drunk with three times three.

(3n board a packet returning from Eng-
land, we had several of the leading characters
of the United States as passengers. A very
silly and troublesome democrat, of the Loco-
foco school, from Philadelphia, made himself
conspicuous always after dinner, when we sat,
according to English fashion, at a dessert, by
his vituperations against monarchy and an
exhibition of his excessive love for everything

Americ

men wl

educati(

a true r

disguste

l>ropose<

written

occurrei

commen

5ays, s

They
and bea.
they to (
cliampio;
champioi
English
Two d
of the ta
Ji crowm
Liberty
sign. Tl
tually siL
levelled i
uncultiva

THE CANADIANS.

ice, I
Nesv

3f the
ioleiit
were
S7) a
ed to
n as a
J race-
nd the
1 at a
Queen
ivee.
I Eiig-
racters
A very
:) Loco-
limselt
we sat,
ert, by
iiid an
rytliing

American. The g-entlemen above alluded to,
men who had travelled over Europe, whose
education and manners made them that which
a true gentleman is all over the world, were
disgusted, and, to punish his impertinence,
proposed that a w^eekly paper should be
written by the cabin passengers, in which the
occurrences of each day should be noted and
commented upon, and that poetry, tales, and
essays, should form part of its matter.

They agreed to discuss the relative i)oints
and bearings of monarchy and democracy ;
they to depute one of their number to be the
champion of monarchy ; and we to chuse the
champion of democracy from amongst the
English passengers.

Two drawings were fixed up at each end
of the table after dinner ; one, representing
a crowned Plum-pudding; and the other,
Liberty and Equality, by the well-known
sign. The blustering animal was soon effec-
tually silenced ; a host of first-rate talent
levelled a constant battery at his rude and
uncultivated mind.

CANADA AND

I shall never foriret this voyage, and I
hope the talent-gifted Canadian lawyer who
threw down the gauntlet of Republicanism,
and who has since risen to the highest
honours of his profession wdiich the Queen
can bestow, has preserved copies of the
Saturday's Gazette of The Mediator Ame-
rican Packet-ship.

The mention of this vessel puts me in mind
of one more American anecdote, and I must
tell it, for I have a good deal of dry work
before me.

Crossing the Atlantic once in an American
vessel, we met another American ship, of the
same size, and passed very close. Our cap-
tain displayed the stars and stripes in true
ship-shape cordial greeting. Brother Jona-
than took no notice of this sea civility, and
passed on ; upon which the skipper, after
taking a long look at him with his ^py-glass,
broke out in a passion, " What !" said he,
" you won't show your b — d bunting, your
old stripy rag ? Now, I guess, if he had
been a Britisher, instead of a d — d Yankee,

he woi
he w(
Pliew !
his ciu
was en

But,
tion of
or des]
under t
United
no dou
under
unexpn
preferal
r leans,
I breed,

Catholi(
I safety,
I They \\\
I Toa<
• observeJ
1 I'ant an (I
of this
tijiniiinr

THE CANADIANS.

11(1 I

who
nisin,
ghest
iueen
f the
Ame-

i mind

[ must

work

lerican
, of the
ir cap-
in true
r Jona-
ty, and
after

•y'

■irlass,

said he,

ig, your

he had

Yankee,

lie wouhl not have been ashamed of his flag ;
he would have acted like a gentleman.
Phew !" and he whistled, and then chewed
his ciii'ar viciouslv, quite unconscious that I
WHS enjoying the scene.

But, if it be possible that one peculiar por-
tion of the old countrvmen are more disliked
or despised than another in any country
under the sun, connected by such ties as tlie
United States are with Britain, there can be
no doubt that the condition of the Jews
under King John, as far as hatred and
unexpressed contumelious feeling goes, was
preferable to the feeling which native Ame-
ricans, of the ultra Loco-foco or ultra-federal

i breed, entertain towards the labourinir
Catholic Irish, and would, if they could with

I safety, vent upon them in dreadful visitation.

i They would exterminate them, if they dared.
To account for such a feeling, it niust be

: observed that a large portion of these igno-
rant and mis^ijuided men have brou'^ht much
of this animosity upon themselves ; for, con-
tinuing in the New World that barlt.irous

CANADA AND

tendency to (lemoli!?li all systems and all
laws opposed to their limited notions of ri^ulit
and wrong', and, whilst their senseless feuds
among themselves harass society, they
eagerly seek occasions for that restless poli-
tical excitement to wliich they are accus-
tomed in their own unhappy and regretted
country.

A ])ody of these hewers of wood and
drawers of water, who, when not excited, are
tlie most innocent and harmless people in
the world — easily led, but never to be driven —
get employed on a canal or great public work ;
and, no sooner do they settle down upon
wages which must appear like a dream to
them, than some old feud between Cork and
Connaught, some ancient quarrel of the
Capulets and Montagues of low life, is recol-
lected, or a chant of the Boyne water is
heard, and to it they go pell-mell, cracking
one another's heads and disturbing a peaceful
neighbourhood with their insane broils.

Or, should a devil, in the shape of an ad-
viser, appear among them, and persuade these

oxcita

^^■ages

and bu

J)el con

follow,

quell tl

Tlie I

vast SI

public )

lias bee

hordes I

'iuitted

reach o

been ca

lias bee

accident
riot

been cas
followed
At M
graced I
been em
voters ;
force is

; an

THE CANADIANS.

er IS

111 ad-

tliesc

oxcitaUc folks tliat they may obtain higher
wages by forcing their own terms, bludgeons
and bullets are resorted to, in order to com-
])el .compliance, and incendiarism and murder
follow, until a military force is called out to
quell the riots.

The scenes of this kind in Canada, where
vast sums are annually expended on the
public works, have been frightful; and such
has been the terror which these lawless
liordes have inspired, that timid people have
quitted their prop'^ h'es and fled out of the
reach of the moral pestilence ; nay, it has
been carried so far, that a Scotch regiment
has been marked on account of its having been
accidentally on duty in putting down a canal
riot ; and, wherever its station has afterwards
been cast, the vengeance of these people has
followed it.

At Montreal, the elections have been dis-
graced by bodies of these canallers having
been employed to intimidate and overawe
voters ; and, were it not that a large military
force is always at hand there, no election

CANADA AM)

could 1)0 mado of a luoinbor, whose seat
would be the uiibiasfe<l and free choice of his
constituents.

It is, however, very fortunate for Canada
that these canallers are not usually inclined
to settle, but wander about from work to
work, and generally, in the end, go to the
United States. The Irish who settle are for-
tunately a different people ; and, as they go
chiefly into the backwoods, lead a peaceful
and industrious life.

But it is, njn'ertheless, very amusing, and
affords much insio-ht into the workino-s of
frail human nature to observe the conduct of
that portion of the Irish emigrants who find
that they have neither the means of obtaining
land, nor of n^iitting some large town at
which they may arrive. Their first notion
then is to go out to service, which they had
left Ireland to avoid altogether. The father
usually becomes a day-labourer, the sons
farm-servants or household servants in the
towns, the daughters cooks, nursery-maids, &c.

When tliey come to the mistress of a family

to Iiire,

chair to

manner

ludy of I

,iro out t

fi'inily rr
necessary
tliom wh,
can undo
is anytl;
inaid or
lived in
Jtoct to <>•(
^o's, or S'
The en
Jne, the o
who was
'iinner-pa
joined th(
'liinier; a
was a fine
it appear<
'f^ifsaf/e 01
iinexpecte

THE CANADIANS.

to liirc, they generally sit down on the nearest
chair to the door in the room, and assume a
manner of perfect familiarity, assuring the
lady of the house that they never expected to
ijo out to service iri America, hut that some
fmnily misfortune has rendered such a step
necessary. The lady then, of course, asks
them what hranch of household service they
can undertake; to which the invariahle reply
is, anything — cook or housemaid, child's-
maid or housekeeper, and that indeed they
lived in better places at home than they ex-
pect to get in America, such as Lord So-an<I-
so's, or Squire So-and-so's.

The end of this is obvious ; and a lady told
me, the other day, she hired a professed cook,
who was very shortly put to the test by a
•linner-party occurring a day or tw^o after she
joined the household. Her mistress ordered
•Huner ; and one joint, o^ piece de rc^isf(inct\
was a fine fillet of veal. The professed cook,
it appeared, laboured under a little ma)i(jHe
iTusiatic on two delicate points, for she very
unexpectedly burst into her lady's boudoir

CANADA AND

just as she was dressing for dinner, and ex-
claimed, " Mistress, dear, wliat'll I do with
the vail ?"- *' The veil ?" said the dame, in
horror; "^hat veil?" — "Why, the vail in
the })0t, marni ; I biled it, and it swelled out
so, the divil a get it out can I git it."

So with the farm-servants, they can all do
evervthin^X ; ^nd an Irish <ventleman told me
that he lately hired a young man, an emi-
grant, to plough for him ; and, on asking him
if he un<lerstood ploughing, the good-nature<l
Paddy answered, offhand, " Ploughing, is it ?
I'm the boy for ploughing." — '' Very well,
I'm glad of it," said the gentleman, " for you
are a fine, likely young fellow, so I shall hire
you." lie hired him accordingly at high
wages — ten dollars a month and provisions
and lodging found. The first day he Avas to
work, my friend told him to go and yoke
the oxen. Paddy stared with all his eyes,
but said nothing, and went away. He staul
some time, and then returned with a pair of
oxen, which he was driving before him.
''Here's the oxen, master!" — "Where are

the yok

l)Owers,

('anady '

all his li

The 1

vants in

a. id thro

Caiiadiai

vants th

liberty a

phrenolo

almost a

coiiditioi

desire.

Then t
the Stat(
girl no si
all her
clmrcli f
Nearly oy
has a rid
of spellii
pensive i
bonnet, ":

I ex-
witli
10, ill
111 in
J out

ill do
1(1 me
enii-
^ him
Lture<l
is it ?
well,
r you
1 hire
high
isioiis
vas to
yoke
eyes,
stanl
air of
him.
•e are

THE CANADIANS.

llie yokes, Paddy ?" — ^' The yokes! hy the
powers, is that what they call ])ecf in
( !anady ?" Poor Paddy had been a weaver
all his live-long days.

The Irish are almost exchisivelv the ser-
vants in most parts of the northern states
; id throughout Canada, excepting the onch
Canadians, and very attached, faithful ser-
vants they frequently are ; but notions of
lil»erty and equality get possession of their
j)hrenological developments, and they are
almost always on the move to better their
condition, which rarely happens as they
desire.

Then anotlier crying evil in Canada and in
the States is the rage for dress. An Irish
o^irl no sooner crets a modicum of wa^es than
all her thoughts are to go to chapel or
cliurcli as fine or finer than her mistress.
Nearly every servant-girl in the large towns
has a ridicule (that must be the proper way
of spelling it), a bustle, a parasol, an ex-
pensive shawd, and a silk gow^n, and fine
bonnet, gloves, and a white pocket-handker-

TAN AD A AND

chief. The mcji fire not so aspiriiif?, and
usually (Ion on Sundays a blue coat and brass
I)Uttons, white pantaloons, white gloves, and
a goo<l fur cap in winter, or a neat straw
hat or brilliant beaver in summer. The
waistcoat is nondescript, but the boots are
irreproachable. A cigar has nearly rej)laced
the pipe in the streets.

I will defy a short-sighted person to dis-
tinguish her nursery-maid from her own sister
at a little distance ; and, being somewhat
afflicted that way myself, I frequently nod to
a well-dressed soubrette, thinking she is at
least a leadin": member of the aristocracy of

CI c'

the town ; and this is the more atnusing, as
in all colonial towns mid in the hofftc socicte
of the Republic very considerable magnifi-
cence is allected, and a rage for rank and
pseudo-importance is not a little the order of
the day. " Xothing," says a distinguished
writer upon that most frivolous of all thread-
bare subjects, etiquette, " nothing is more
decidedly the sign of a vulgar-born or a
vulgar-bred person than to be ready to prac-

ti^e the

t!i(' well

of av(>i(

socioiy 1

a- \ wo I

or a cha

guilty

Vou I

(•ooks ai

or chain!

I am li

Ib'unnen
beauties
we have
Canada,
but the 1
creates a

ami
bniss
;, and
straw

Tho
:s are
)lace(l

(lis-
sistcr
ewliat
0(1 to
is at
icy of
ig, as
OL'ieti'
ig-nifi-
c and
ler of
lislied
iread-
more
or a
prac-

TUE CANAIUANS.

ti^e the art of cutting." f therefore how to
t'.ic well-(h'esscd grisettes, upon the principle
of uvoidin;^ to he thought vnl;>'ar in mixed
society by cutting a lady of tremendous rank;
a- \ would rather take a cook for a Countess,
or a chamhermaid for an Honourable, than be
guilty of so much rudeness.

\\)\\ must not smile, <xentle reader, and sav
cooks are often handsomer than Countesses,
or chambermaids prettier than Ilonourables ;
I am like the old man of the Bubbles of
TU'unnen, insensible to anything but the
beauties of nature. Neitiier must you think
we have no Countesses nor Ilonourables in
Canada. The former are in truth rarw ares,
biit the latter — why, every change of ministry
creates a batch of them.

CAN VDA AND

ClIArrKlt IL

The Kinignuit aiul his I'rosptcts.

Tlioso who rcullv wish Cimadii well desire
it to beeoiiieji second IJritain, imd not a mere
second Texas. Those who wish it evil, and
these comprise the restless, unprovided race
of politicians under whose incessant agitation
Canada has so lon,<i- groaned, desire its Texian
annexation to the already overgrown States
in its vicinity.

That it may become a second Britain and
hold the balance of power on the continent of
America is my prayer, and the prayer too of
one who entertains no enmity towards the
people of the United States, but who ad-
mires their unceasing exertions in behalf of
their country, who would admire their insti-
tutions, based as they are upon those of En(»-

TIIL CANAI>IAN!5.

liiiid, if the n-nind dosinn of Wasliin^'ton luid
Ih'OIi carritMJ^ out, aiid perfect freedom of
tliounht Jind of action liad booii secured to
ilie i»eopl(% instead of a slavisii awe of the
iiioh, an absolute drea<l of the uneducatecl
masses, a s()verei;::n c<)iitenij)t of tlie opinion
of the worM in aceoniplishinu^ any design for
the agi^raiidizenient of the Union, the most
despotic and deg'rading oi)pression of all who
presume to hold religious opinions at variance
with those of the masses, md the chtiined
hondsman in a land of liherty !

To i:;uar(l the respectable settler, who has a
character at stake, and a family with some little
ctipital to hiy out to better advantage than he
can at home, ag'ainst the grievous and often
fatal errors which have been propagated for
sinister motives by needy adventurers who
have written about Canada, or who are or
have been agents for the sake only of the
remuneration which it brings, caring but little
for the misery they have entaile<l, I have un-
dertaken to continue an account of this fine
province, where nothing is provided by Nature

CANADA AND

except fei tile soil aiul a liealthy climate ; the
rest she leaves to unremitting Icibour and to
the exercise of judgment by the settler.

As 1 have already inferred, this work will
contain nothing vituperative of the United
States, of that people who are the grandchil-
dren of liritannia, and whose well-being is so
essential tu the peace and security of Christ-
endom.

I shall endeavour to render it as plain and
unpretending as possible, and shall not confine
mvself to studied rules or endeavours to make
a book, taking up my subject as suits my own
leisure, which is not very ample, and resuming
or interrupting it at pleasure or convenience.

It will be necessary to enter more at large
than in my preceding volumes into the re-
sources of Canada, and, for this end, Geolosfv
and other sc'entific subjects must be intro-
duced ; but, as I dislike exceedingly that
heavy and gaudy veil of learning, that em-
broidered science, with wdiich modern taste
conceals those secrets of Nature which have
been so partially unfolded, I shall not have

THE CANADIANS.

le-

3prv

itro-
tliat
em-
taste
pave
liave

frequent recourse to absurd Greek derivations,
which are very commonly borrowed for the
occasion from technical dictionaries, or lent
by a classical friend ; but, whenever they must
occur, the dictionary shall explain them, for
I really think it beneath the dignity of the
lights of modern Geology to talk as they do
about the Placoids and the Ganoids, as the
first created fishlike beinos, and of the Cnetoids
and the Cycloids as the more recent finners. It
always puts me in mind of Shakespeare's mag-
niloquence concerning " the Anthropophagi
and men whose heads do grow beneath their
shoulders, of antres vast and deserts idle,"
when he exhibited his learning: in lanfjuaae
which no one, however, can imitate, and whicl.
he makes the lady seriously incline and listen
to, simply because she did not understand
a word that was said. So it is with the over-
done and continual changing of terms that
now constantly occurs; insomuch that the
terms of plain science, instead of being sim-
plified and brought within the reach of ordi-
nary capacities, is made as uncouth and as

VOL. I. D

CANADA AND

unintelligible as possible, and totally beyond
the reach of those who have no collegiate
education to boast of, and no good technical
dictionary at hand to refer to.

The present age is most prone to this false
estimate of learning and to public scientific
display. If science, true science, yields to it,
learning will very soon vanish from the face
of the earth again, and nothing but monkish
lore and the dark ages return.

There is a vast field open for research in
Canada : it is yet a virgin soil, both as re-
spects its moral and its physical cultivation.
Therefore, plain facts are the best, and those
made as level to the eye as possible ; for the
amusing mistakes which a would-be learned
man makes, after a cursory perusal of any-
thing scientific, only subject him to silent
derision.

A very old casual acquaintance of mine, a
sort of man holding a rather elevated rank,
but originally from the great unwashed, who
had risen by mere chance, aided by a little
borough influence, was talking to me one day

aboi
whi(
Acci
Trea
his

" Mi

grea(
poor
hims(
abou<
tainec
was a
Til
from
presei
Qiiebi
In
land,
appoir
applic
niatioi
ad van t
and on
the trc

THE CANADIANS.

5, a
Ink,
Ivho
Ittle
Iday

about some property of his in Western Canada,
which he fancied had rich minerals upon it.
Accordingly, he had taken a preliminary
Treatise on Mineralogy in hand, and puzzled
his brains in order to converse learncdlv.
*' My land," quoth he, " is Silesia, and has a
great bed of sulphuret of pyrites." The
poor gentleman, who had a vast opinion of
himself and always contradicted everybody
abou^ everything, meant that his soil con-
tained a deal of silica, and that iron pyrites
was abundant in it.

The importance of the annual migration
from Britain is best evidenced by the re-
presentation of the chief emigrant agent at
Quebec, subjoined.

In all the great sea-ports of England, Ire-
land, and Scotland, there are emigrant agents
appointed by tlie government, to whom
application should always be made for infor-
mation, by every emigrant who has not the
advantage of friends in Canada to receive
and guide him ; and these gentlemen prevent
the trouble, expense, loss of time, and fraud,

D 2

CANADA AND

to which the poor settlers are subjected by the
crimps and agents, with whom every sea-port
abounds.

On tlieir arrival in Canada, if ignorant of
their way, they should apj)ly at Quebec to
the government principal agent, who is sta-
tioned there for the lower or eastern part of
Canada, and he will give them either advice
or passage, according to the nature of the case.

It is a pity that a rage exists for going as
far west as possible at first, for this rage
causes distress, and ends frequently by their
being kidnapped into settling in the United
States.

If, however, they are determined to go on
to Western Canada, their course is either to
pay their own way, or to obtain assistance
from the government to send them on to
Kingston, where another government agent for
Western Canada is stationed ; and, as this
gentleman has now acted in that capacity for
many years, he possesses a perfect knowledge
of the country and its resources, and of the
wants and objects of the settlers.

THE CANADIANS.

:lie

There is excellent land, and plenty of it to
be obtained from the British American Land
Coijpany in Lower Canada, in that portion
called " The Townships," which adjoin tlie
states of Vermont and New York ; and, ex-
cepting that the winters are longer, the
climate more severe, it is as desirable as ativ
other part of the province, and, in point of
health, perhaps more so, as it is sufficiently
far from the great river and lakes to make
it less subject to ague ; which, however, more
or less, all new countries in the temperate
zone, well forested and watered, are invariably
the seat of, and wiiich is increased in power
and frequency in proportion to the neighbour-
hood of fresh water in* large bodies, and the
use of whiskey as a preventive.

From a statement of the number of emi-
grants to this colony for the last sixteen
years, compiled by A. C. Buchanan, Esq.,
chief emigrant agent, it appears that, in the
Hve years subsequently to 1829, the emigra-
tion from the British Isles was 165,703.
From other sources, in the three years,

from

CANADA AND

1820 to 1832, the emigration exceeded that of
the previous ten year^ — the numbers being re-
spectively, 125,0G3 and 121,170. In 1832,
the emigrants arrived reached the high number
of 51,74G ; but the cholera of that year was
of so fatal a character on the St. Lawrence,
that the numbers in 1833 fell 22,062. This
epidemic, coupled with the rebellions of '37
and '38, materially checked the increased
emigration commenced in 1836. In 1838,
the number was only 3,266, and in 1839,
7,500. But, since 1840, emigration has
again recovered, and, during the period of
navigation of 1845, it amounted to 27,354,
of whom 2,612 arrived via the United
States.

The United States, however, received by
far the largest proportion of the emigration
from Britain. At the port of New York
alone, from 1st November, 1844, to 31st
October, 1 845, there arrived —

From England and Scotland . . 10,653

Frojii Ireland .... 38,.'J0O

Total at Xew York

4 8,9 J 3

THE CANADIANS.

The number of emigrants landed at the
port of Quebec, in 1845, was 25,375.

NUMBER OF

EMIGRANTS SINCE 1823

Enpjland
Irelaiui
Scotland .
Bntisli Ainc-
Iricanl'rov.&c

'29 to '33

'34 to '38 '39 to '43, "44 to '45

Total.

43,38(>

J02.-_'Gl

20,143

1,904

23,024

04,898
1U,'J98

1,831

30,318

7 1, 98 1
16,289

1,777

16.531
24,201

4,408

377

119,354

2:,!. ,344

51,838

5,589

167,697

96,351 ; 123,860 , 45,517

433,425

Upper Canada would seem to have received
the largest share of the influx of population.
The increase in the number of its inha-
bitants, between 1827 and 1843, is stated at
230,000.

The local government has for some few
years past encouraged, although rather scan-
tily, as Mr. Logan can, I dare say, testify, an
exploration of the natural resources of the
Canadas, as far as geology and mineralogy
are concerned. Its medical statistics, its
botany and zoology, will follow ; and agricul-
ture, that primary and most noble of all
applications of the mind to matter, is

r>C)

CANADA AND

inakin*^ rai)i(l strides, by the formation of
district nnd local societies, uhich will do in-
finitely more good than any system of govern-
ment patronage for the advancement of the
welfare of the people could devise.

The public works have also, for the first
time, been jdaced under the control of the
executive and legislative bodies by the forma-
tion of a board, which is itself also subject
to the supervision of the government.

15ut much remains to be done on this im-
portant head. A melancholy error was com-
mitted in making the President, and conse-
quently all the officers and cmploi/cs, of the
l>oard of Works, partizans of the ministry of
the day ; thus paralyzing the efforts of a
zealous man, on the one hand, by the fear of
(lismissal upon any change of the popu-
la • will, and neutralizing his efforts whilst
in office, by rendering bis measures mere
jobs.

This has been amended under Lord Met-
calfe's administration ; and it is to be hoped
that the office of President of the Board of

THE CANADIANS.

Works will hereafter be one subjected to se-
vere but not to vexatious scrutiny, and at the
same time carefully guarded against political
influence, and only rendered tenable with
honour by the capacity of the person
selected to fill it and of his subordinates.

Canada is, as I have written two former
volumes to prove, a magnificent country. I
doubt very much if Nature has created a finer
country on the whole earth.

The soil is generally good, as that made by
the decay of forests for thousands of years
upon substrata, chiefly formed of alluvion
or diluvion, the deposit from waters, must
be. It is, moreover, from Quebec to the
Falls of St. Mary, almost a flat surface,
intersected and interlaced by numberless
streams, and studded with small lakes, whilst
its littorale is a river unparalleled in the
world, expanding into enormous fresh water
seas, abounding with fish.

If the tropical luxuries are absent, if its
winters are long and excessively severe, yet
it yields all the European fruits abundantly,

D 5

CANADA AND

iukI even some of the troj)ical ones, owinp^ to
the richness of its soil and the great heat of
the summer. Maize, or Tiidian corn, flou-
rishes, and is more wholesome and better
than that produced in the warm South. The
crops of potato, that apple of the earth, as
the French so juf^tly term it, are equal, if not
superior, to those of any other climate ; \\ hilst
all the vegetables of the temperate regions of
lh(^ old world grow with greater luxuriance
than in their original fields. I Ih^ve successively
and successfully cultivated the tomato, the
melon, and the cai)sicum, in the open air, for
several seasons, at Kingston and Toronto,
whicli are not the richest or the best parts of
Western Canada, as far as vegetation is con-
cerned. Tobacco grows well in the western
district, and where is finer wheat harvested
than in Western Canada ? — whilst hay, and
that beauty of a landscape, the rich green
sod, the velvet carpet of the earth, are
abundant and luxuriant.

If the majesty of vegetation is called in
question, and intertropical plants brought

innf

THE CANADIANS.

1(1
in
:e

in
lit

forward in contrast, even the woods and
trackless forests of (iuiana, where the rankest
of luxuriance prevails, will not do more than
coin[)ete with the p:lory of the jjriineval
woods of Canada. I know of nothiii^^ in
this world capahlo of excitinn^ emotions of
wonder and adoration more directly, than to
travel alone tlirou<^h its forests. Pines, lift-
ing their hoary tops heyond man's vision,
unless he inclines his head so lar backwards
as to he painful to his or^jraiiization, with
trunks which require fathoms of line to span
them ; oaks, of the most gigantic form ; the
immense and graceful wee})ing elm ; enormous
poplars, whose magnitude must he seen to he
conceived ; lindens, equally vast ; walnut trees
of immense size ; the beautiful birch, and the
wild cherry, large enough ; make tables an«l
furniture of.

Oh, the gloom and the glory of these
forests, and the deep reflection that, since
they were first created by the Divine fiat,
civilized man has never desecrated them with
his unsparing devastations ; that a peculiar

CANADA AM)

race, born fur these solitudes, once dwelt
junidst their shades, living as Nature's wood-
land children, until a more suhtile bein;j^ than
the serpiMit of Eden crept anionyst them, and,
with his glitterini^ novelties and dangerous
heauty, caused their total annihilation ! I
see, in sj)irit, the red hunter, lofty, fearless,
and stern, stalking in his painted nudity, and
<lisplaying a form which Apollo might have
<Mivied, amidst the everlasting and silent
woods; I see, in spirit, the bearded stranger
from the rising sun, with his deadly arms and
Ids more deadly fire-water, conversing with
his savage fellow, and displaying the envied
wealth of gorgeous beads and of gaudy
clothing.

The scene changes, the proud Indian is at
the feet of his ensnarer; disease has relaxed
his iron sinews ; drunkenness has debased his
mind ; and the myriad crimes and vices of
civilized Europe have combined to sweep the
aborigines of the soil from the face of the
forest earth. The forest groans beneath the
axe ; but, after a few years, the scene again

Tin: CANADIANS.

cliani^^os; f(M'tilc Holds, orcliJir<Is ami «iJinltMis,
(lelii^lit tli(» cyo ; tin* city, iind tlio town, and
the villa<;e spires rise, and where two solitary
wi<;wanis of the red hunter were once alone
occasionally observed, twenty thousand white
Canadians now worship the same Great Author
of the existence of all mankind.

And to increase these fields, these orchards,
these gardens, these viUa<»es, these towns,
and these cities, year after year, thirty thou-
sand of the children of Britain cross the broad
Atlantic : and what seeks this mass of human
beings, braving the perils of the ocean and
the perils of the land? Competei;ce and
Avealth ! The former, by prudence, is soon
attainable ; the accjuisition of the latter un-
certain and fickle.

\o free grants of land are now given, but
the settler may obtain them nj)on easy terms
from the government, or the Canada and
]]ritish American companies.

The settler with a small capital cannot do
better than purchase out and out. Instal-
ments are a bad mode of purchasing ; for, if

CANADA AM)

all should not turn out ri^lil, ins(:ilni(Mily aro
sonit^tiiiH^s (litlicult to iiKH't ; nn«l tlu» very
bt»st laud, in tho bost locations, as W(» shall
luMvalhM- stH\ is to W had tVoin 7>. <>^/., it in
thodoop Bush, as tho forest is called ; to lOv.,
if nearer a market ; or \js. and 'JO.v., if very
eliii'ihly situat(Nl, Thus for two lunulrtMl pounds
a settler can huv two hundnvl acres of i:!:ood
land, can build an excellent house for two
hundreil and iiftv more, and stock his farm
with another iifty, asa beuinniuLi"; or, in other
words, he can commence Canadian life for live
hundred pounds sterling-, with every prospect
before him, if he has a family, of leavini>' them
prosperous and happy. Hut he and they must
work, work, work. Ho and all his sons must
avoid whiskev, that bane of the backwoods, as
thev would avoid the rattlesnake, which
sometimes comes across their path. Whiskey
and wet feet destrov more promisinu: vouno-
men in Canada than au'ue and fever, that
scourue of all well watered woody countries ;
for the auue and fever seldom kill but with
the assistance of the dram and of exposure.

Tin: CANADIANS.

INfcii iHiitunMl in luxury or (unnpctouco at
lionic, us soon as tin? unfailini;- t'litifii arisin^j;
from want of society in tli(^ backwooMs Ix'^iiiiH
to succoimI (lie cxcitcMncnt of s('Ulin<(, too
frtMjUcnlly «lrink, and in many ceases drink
tVoni their WMkini;- hour until they sink at
ni«;ht into sottish sh'cp. This is jx^culiarly tho
(•as(» where tliorc is no viHai^e nor town within
a day's journey; :ind thus many otherwise
estimahle vounif men become hahitual drunk-
ards, and sink from the caste of ^•entleinen
gradually into the dreu^s of society, whilst
their wives an<l families sull'er proportionahly.

Fn Lower Cana<la, this vice does not pre-
vail to the same extent as in the u|)[)er por-
tion of the province. Tho I'rench Canadians
are not addicted to the vice of drinking ardent
spirits as a j)Oople, although tho lund)Grers
and voyageurs shorten their lives very con-
siderably by the use of whiskey. The hnnher-
cr.v, who are the cutters and conveyers of
timber, pass a short and excited existence.

In the winter, buried in the eternal forest,
far, far away from the haunts of man, they

CANADA AND

chop aiid hew ; in the summer, they form the
timber, boards, staves, &c., into rafts, which
are conveyed down the great hikes and the
rivers St. Lawrence and Ottawa to Quebec —
on these rafts they live and have their summer
being. Hard fare in plenty, such as salt pork
and dough cakes ; fat and unleavened bread,
with whiskey, is their diet. Tea and sugar
form an occasional luxury. Up to their waists
in snow in winter, and up to their waists in
summer and autumn in water, with all the
moving accidents by flood and field ; the
occasional breaking-up of the raft in a rapid,
the difficulty of the winter and spring trans-
port of the heavy logs of squared timber out
of the deep and trackless woods, combine to
form a portion of the hard and reckless life
of a lumberer, whose morale is not much
better than his phijsicale.

Picture to yourself, child of luxury, sitting
on a cushioned sofa, in a room where the
velvet carpet renders a footfall noiseless, where
art is exhausted to afford comfort, and where
even the hurricane cannot disturb your peru-

sal
li mi
fresi
whe
and
the (
their
maki
enorn
high
wit ho
swam]
to era
on wan
of ano
mud a
silence
efforts
idea of
a cedar
and dai
Here

toilin
dred

THE CANADIANS.

ts
ill

lie
he

<1,

le
re
:e

sal of this work, a wood rcacliing without
limit, excepting the oceans either of salt or
fresh water which surround Canada, and
where to lose the track is hopeless starvation
and death ; figure the giant pines towering to
the clouds, gloomy and Titan-like, throwing
their vast arms to the skyey influences, and
making a twilight of mid-day, at whose
enormous feet a thicket of bushes, almost as
high as your head, prevents your progress
without the pioneer axe ; or a deep and black
swamp for miles together renders it necessary
to crawl from one fallen monarch of the wood
onwards to the decaying and prostrate bole
of another, with an occasional plunge into the
mud and water, which they bridge ; eternal
silence reigning, disturbed only by your feeble
eflTorts to advance ; and you may form some
idea of a red pine land, rocky and uneven, or
a cedar swamp, black as night, dark, dismal,
and dangerous.

Here, after you have hewed or crept your
toiling way, you see, some yards or some hun-
dred yards, as the forest is close or open,

CANADA AND

before you, a liglit blue curling smoke amongst
the (lank and lugubrious scene ; you hear a
dull, distant, heavy, sudden blow, frequent
and deadened, followed at long intervals by a
tremendous rending, crashing, overwhelming
rush ; then all is silent, till the voice of the
guardian of man is heard growling, snarling,
or barking outright, as you advance towards
the blue smoke, which has now, by an eddy
of the wind, filled a large space between the
trees.

You stand before the fire, made under three
or four sticks set up tenwise, to Avhich a
large cauldron is hung, bubbling and seething,
with a very strong odour of fat pork; a boy,
dirty and ill-favoured, with a sharp glittering
axe, looks very suspiciously at you, but calls
off his wolHsh dog, who sneaks away.

A moment shows you a long hut, formed
of logs of wood, with a roof of branches,
covered by birch-bark, and by its side, or
near the fire, scNcral nondescript sties or pens,
apparently for keeping pigs in, formed of
branches close to the ground, either like a

boa
sty
I

lux
roui
able
road,
you 1
flour,
some
the In
wood I
ballad
gentle
to him
The
hall, ai
presuni
oii^ hal
they re
t::-y hi]
frequen
•suppose
tionally

THE CANADIANS.

I or

ills

led
les,

or
Ins,

boat turned upside down, or literally as a pig-
sty is formed, as to shape.

In the large hut, whicdi is occasionally more
luxurious and made of slabs of wood or of
rough boards, if a saw-mill is within reason-
able distance, and there is a passable wood
road, or creek, or rivulet, navigable by canoes,
you see some barrel or two of pork, and of
flour, or biscuit, or whiskey, some tools, and
some old blankets or skins. Here you are in
the lumberer's winter home — I cannot call him
woodman, it would disgrace the ancient and
ballad-sung craft ; for the lumberer is not a
gentle woodman, and you need not sing sweetly
to him to " spare diat tree."

The larger dwelling is the hall, the common
hall, and the pig-sties the sleeping-places. I
presume that such a circumstance as pulling
off habiliments or ablution seldom occurs ;
they roll themselves in a bhinket or skin, if
t;: y have one, and, as to water, they are so
frequently in it during the summer, that I
suppose diey wash half the year uninten-
tionally. Fat pork, the fattest of the fat, is

CANADA AND

tlic luinljerer's luxury; and, as he lias the
univeisal rille or fowling-piece, he kills a
partridge, a bear, or a deer, now and then.

I was exploring last year some woods in a
newly settled township, the township of
Seymour West, in the Newcastle district of
Upj)er Canada, with a view to see the
nakedness of the land, which had been repre-
sented to me as flowing with milk and honey,
as all new settlements of course are said to
do. I wandered into the lonely but beauti-
ful forest, with a comi)anion who owned the
soil, and who had told me that the lumberers
were robbing him and every settler around of
their best pine timber. After some toiling
and tracing the sound of the axes, few and
far between, felling in the distance, we came
upon the unvarying boy at cookery, the axe,
and the dog.

My conductor at once saw the extent of
the mischief going on, and, finding that the
gang, although distant from the camp-fire,
was numerous, advised that we should retrace
our steps. We however interrogated the boy.

ii.i

THE CANADIANS.

e
a

a
of
of
he
re-

to
iti-
the

•ers
of

ling
md

Line

xe.

of
Itbe

ire,

lace

who would scarcely answer, and pretended to
know nothin<j^. The dopf began to be inqui-
sitive too, and one of tlie do^^s we had with
us venturing a little too near a savoury piece
of pork, the nature of the young half-bred
ruffian suddenly bl{ize<l out, and the axe was
uplifted to kill poor Dash. I happened to
have a good stick, and interfered to prevent
dog-murder, upon which the wood-demon
ejaculated that he would as soon let out my
guts as the dog's, and thetcfore my compa-
nion had to shovv bis gnu; for showing his
teeth would have been of little avail with the
young savage.

The settlers are afraid of the lumberers ; and
thus all the finest land, near rivers, creeks, or
transport of any kind, is swept of the timber
to such an extent that you must go now far,
far back from the Lakes, the St. Lawrence,
or the Ottawa, before you can see the forest
in its primeval grandeur.

This robbery has been carried on in so
barefaced and extensive a manner, that tlie
chief adventurer, usually a merchant or trader.

CANADA AND

who supplies the axe and canoonicn with pay
ill his slioj) goods, cent, per cent, above their
vahic, becomes enriched.

The lumberer's life is truly an unhappy one,
for, when he reach; s the end of the raft's voy-
age, whatev: ' ?.i>iiey he may have made goes
to the fiddle, \h>: t'amale, or the fire-water;
and he starts again a;? poor as at first, living
perhaj)s by a rare chance to the advanced
age, for a lumberer, of forty years.

And a curious sight is a raft, joined toge-
ther not with ropes but with the limbs and
thews of the swamp or blue beech, which is
the natural cordage of Canada and is used for
sea Abiding and packing.

A raft a quarter of a mile long — I hope
I do not exaggerate, for it may be half a
mile, never having measured one but by the
eye — with its little huts of boards, its apo-
lo<ries for fiaj^s and streamers, its numerous
little masts and sails, its cooking caboose, and
its contrivances for anchorin<i: and catchinof
the wind by slanting boards, with the men
who appear on its surface as if they were

wall<

to se

dowi

slide?

Trcui

obser

by no

tionai

gence

Nui

are t(

strean

tempe

and a

a raft

final v(

stinatii

dred ar

throu"-

sea, an

The Tl]

dous ra

the Cec

But

THE CANADIANS.

IS
id

walkiiif^ on the l:ike, is curious cnouf^li ; but
to see it iu drains, or detached portions, sent
down foaminpf and darting alon<2: the tindjer
slides of the Ottawa or the restless and rapid
Trent, is still more so ; and fearful it is to
observe its condncteury who looks in the rapid
by no means so much at his ease as the func-
tionary of tiiat name to whom the Paris dili-
gence is entrusted.

Numberless accidents happen ; the dram^
are torn to pieces by the violence of thr
stream ; the rafts are broken by storm ana
tempest; the men get drunk and fall over;
and altogether it aj)pears extraordinary that
a raft put together at the Trent village for its
final voyage to Quebec should ever reach its de-
stination, the transport being at least four hun-
dred and fifty miles, and many go much farther,
through an open and ever agitated fresh water
sea, and amongst the intricate channels of
The Thousand Islands, and down the tremen-
dous rapids of the Longue Sault, the Gallope,
the Cedars, the Cascades, &c.

But a new trade has lately commenced on

CANADA AND

Lake Ontario, wliich will break up some of
the hardsliips of the rafting. ()1<1 steamboats
of very iar;^e size, when no lon«^er serviceable
in their vocation, are now cut down, an<l per-
haps lenirthened, masted, and riiiijfed as

L])S

barques or ships, and treated in every respect
like the Atlantic timber-vessels. Into these
three-masters, these Leviathans of liake On-
tario, the timber, boards, staves, handspikes,
&c., from the interior are now shipped, and
the timber carried to the head of the St.
Lawrence navi<r:ition.

One step more, and they will, as soon as
the canals are widened, proceed from Lake
Superior to London witliout a raft being ever
made.

That this will soon occur is very evident ;
for a large vessel of this kind, as big as a
frigate, and named the Goliath, is at the
moment that I am writing preparing at To-
ronto, near the head of Lake Ontario, a
thousand miles from tl

opei

voy

aire direct to the West Indies and back airain.
Success to her ! What with the railroad from

TUE CANADIANS.

"Oin

Halifax to Lake Huron, from the Atlantic
Ocean to the great fresh ocean of the West —
what with the electric telegraph now in ope-
ration on the banks of the Niagara by the
Americans — what with the li^j^htinor of vil-
lages on the shores of Lake Erie with natural
gas, as Fredonia is lit, and as the city of the
Fails of Niagara, if ever it is built, will also be,
there is no telling what will happen : at all
events, the poor lumberer must benefit in the
next generation, for the worst portion of his
toils will be done away with for ever.

Settler, never become a lumberer, if you
can avoid it.

But, as we have in this favourite hobby-
horse style of ours, which causes description
to start up as recollections o'^cur, accom-
panied the lumberer on his voyage to that
lumberer's Paradise, Quebec, whither he has
conducted his charge to The Coves, for
the culler to cull, the marker to mark,
the skipper to ship, and the lumber-mer-
chant to cret the best market he can for
it, so we shall return for a short time to

VOL. I. E

CANADA AND

Lower Canada, to talk a little about settle-
ment there.

As I hinted before, f.ower Canada is too
much decried as a country to re-coninience
the world in ; but the An<;lo-Saxon and Mi-
lesian j»oj)idace are nevertheless bep^innin«r to
discover its value, and are veiy rapidly increa-
sing both in numbers and importance. The
French Canadian yeoman, or small farmer, has
an alacrity at standin<; still ; it is only le nutaire
and le inedccin that advance; so that, if emi-
gration goes on at the rate it has done since
the rebellion, the old country folks will, before
fifty more years pass over, outnumber and out-
vote, by ten times, Jean Baptiste, which is a
pity, for a better soul than that merry mixture
of bonhomie and ])hlegm, the French Canadian
is, the wide world's surface does not produce.
Visionary notions oi la gloire de la nation Ca-
nadimne, instilled into him by restless men,
who panted for distinction and cared not for
distraction, misled the bonnet rouge awhile :
but he has superadded the thinking cap since;
and, although ht may not readily forget the

TIIL CANADIANS.

ror

s!i(l lesson lio recoivc<I, vet he luis no more
idea of he'uVfi; annexed to tlie I'nited States
than I have of bein;^^ (J rand Lama, hi fact,
I really helieve that the niereiful policy
which has been sIionmi, and the wise measure
of making Montreal the seat of government,
and thus practically demonstrating the ad-
vantage of the institutit^s of I'Jigland by
daily lessons in the heart of their dear coun-
try, has done more to recall the Canadians
to a sense of the real value of the connexion
with (ireat 1 Britain than all the protocols
of diplomatists, or all the powder that ever
saltpetre generated, could have achieved.

Pursue a perfectly impartial course, as you
ought and must do, towards the Canadians,
and show them that they are as much British
citizens as the people of Toronto are, and
you may count upon their loyalty and devo-
tion without fear. They know they never can
be an independent nation ; that folly has been
dreamed out, and the fumes of the vision are
evaporating.

They now know and feel that annexation

E 2

CANADA AND

to the great Republic in their neighbourhood
will swamp their nationality more effectively
than the red or the blue coats of England can
ever do, will desecrate their altars, will por-
tion out their lands, will nullify their present
importance, and render them an isolated race,
forgotten and unsought for, as the Iroquois
of the last century, who, from being the
children and owners of the land, the true
crifans du sol, are now — where ? The soil, had
it voice, could alone reply, for on its surface
they are not.

We must never in England form a false
estimate of the French Canadian, because a
few briefless lawyers or saddle-bag medical
men urged them into rebellion. Their feel-
ings and spirit are not of the same genre as
the feelings and spirit which animated the
hideous soul of the poissardes and canaille of
Paris in 1792. There is very little or no
poverty in Lower Canada ; f^very man who
will work there, can work ; and it is a nation
rather of small farmers than of classes, with
the ideas of independence which property,

hoN^

hui

whij

T
neid
nati
app
reck
who
thev

T
Frer

fully
alto<
by I
desii
been

It
of I
Eng
the
higl

I
who

THE CANADIANS.

Llll

}r-
nt
;e,

he
ue
ad
ce

se
a
al
1-
la
e
{

however small, invariably generates in the
human breast ; but with that other idea also
which urges it to preserve ancient landmarks.

It is chiefly in the large towns and in their
neighbourhood that the desire for exclusive
nationality still exists, fostered by a rabid
appetite for distinction in some ardent and
reckless adventurers from the British ranks,
who care little what is undermost so long a.^
they are uppermost.

The hostility of the British settlers to the
French is by no means so great as is so care-
fully and constantly described, and would
altogether cease, if not kept continually alive
by Upper Canadian demonstration, and that
desire to rule exclusively which has so long
been the bane of this fine colony.

It reminds one always of the morbid hatred
of France, which existed thirty years ago in
England, when Napoleon was believed, by
the lower classes — ay, and by some of the
higher too — to be Apollyon in earnest.

I remember an old lord of the old school,
whose family honours were not of a hundred

CANADA AND

years, and whose ancestors liad been re-
spectable traders, sayin<^ to me, a sliort time
before he died, that Republican notions had
spread so mncli from our peace with infidel
France, that he should yet live to see those
who possess(Hl tah^nt or enerf^y enouo^h
amon<^ the middle class, take those honours
which he was so i)roud of, and with the titles
also, the estates.

Look, sai<l he, at the absurd decoration
showered on the sarmis of France, J5aron
Cuvier, for instance ; and ho fell into a pas-
sion, and, bt in<>- a French scholar, sang forth,
in a paroxysm of gout, this re/rain : —

'' Triiviiillcz, tnivailkz, bon tonnclier,
IvHconiuiodc/., nicumnuKlcz, ton C'uvicr."

And yet he was by no means an ignorant
man — was at heart a true John Bull, and
had travelled and seen the world. He was
blinded by an un(]uenchable hatred of France,
a hatred which has now ceased in England in
consequence of the facility of inter Hirse,
but which is revived in France against Eng-

THE CANADIANS.

land by those who think la gloire preferable
to peace and honour.

The miserable feudal system in Lower
Canada has kept the French population in
abeyance ; that population is literally dor-
mant, and the resources of the country
unused • a Seigneur, now often anythin^^ but
a Frenchman, holds an immense tract, par-
celled out into little slips amongst a pea-
santry, whose ideas are as limited as their
lands. Generation after generation has tilled
these i)atches, until they arc exhausted ; and
thus tlio few proprietors who have been able
to emancipate themselves from the Seignoral
thraldom sell as fast as they can obtain pur-
chasers ; and the Seignories lapse, by failure
of descent or by cutting o(V the entail, as it
may be termed, under the dominion of
foreigners, to the people.

It is surprising that British capitalists do
not turn their attention more to Lower
Canada, where land is thus to be bought very
cheap, and which only requires manuring, a
treatment that it rarely receives from a

CANADA AND

Canadian, to bring it into heart again, and
where the vast extent of tlic British town-
ships, h.eld in free and common soccage, opens
such a fiehl for the agriculturist.

These townships are rapidly opening up
and improving, and the sales of the Bri-
tish American Land Company may in round
numbers be said to average ^20,000 a year,
or more than 40,000 acres, averaging ten
shillings an acre.

The day's wages for a labourer on a farm
in Lower Canada mav be stated at two shil-
lings currency, about one shillinj^ and eiglit-
pence sterling, with food and lodging ; but,
excepting in the towns and in the ei. ^rn
townships, the labourers arf* Canadians, else-
where chiefly Irish. Li t])e lar^e towns also
they are Irish, an<l two shillings ai d sixpence
is the usual price of a day's w^ork at Mont-
real.

There is a j^reat demand for Eiiirlish or
Scotch labourers in the townships where pro-
visions are reasonable, and the materials for
building, either lime, stone, brick, or wood,

ulsol
dan J
CI
be 1
aboil
dwe
may

THE CANADIANS.

iilso very moderate in price from their abun-
dance.

Cultivated, or rather cleared, farms may
be purchased now near the settlements for
about six pounds per acre, with very often
dwellin^^ and farms on them, and a clear title
may be readily obtained, after inquiry at the
ro^j^istry office of the county, to see whether
any mortgage or other encumbrance exist —
a course always to be adopted, both in Upper
and Lower Canada. A settler must take the
precaution of tracing the original grant, and
that the land, if he buys from an individual,
is neither Crown nor Clergy reserve, nor set
apart for school or any other public pur-
poses. Never buy, moreover, of a squatter,
or land on which a squatter is located, for
the law is very favourable to these gentry.

A squatter is a man who, axe in hand, with
his gun, dog, and baggage, sets himself down
in the deep forest, to clear and improve ; and
this he very frequently does, both upon public
and private property ; and the Government is
lenient, so that, if he makes well of it, he

E 5

CANADA AND

i^^enerally lias a right of pre-emption, or per-
haps pays up only instalments, and then sells
and goes deeper into the hush. Every way
there is difliculty about squatted land, and
very often the squatter will significantly
enough hint that there is such a thing as a
rlHe in his log castle. Squatters are usually
Americans, of the very lowest grade, or the
most ignorant of the Irish, who really believe
they have a right to the soil they occupy.

I do not profess to give an account of the
Kastern Townships ; the prospectus of the
IJritisn American Land Company will do
that, and, as I have never ueen through them
entirely, so 1 could only advance assertion ;
hut I believe that they are admirably adapted
for Knglisli and Scotch settlers, and that,
bounded as they are by the French Canadians
on one side, and by the United States on the
other, with every facility for roads, canals, and
railways, they must become one of the richest
most and important i)ortions of Canada be-
fore half a century has passed over ; but it will
take that time, notwithstanding railways and

THE CANADIANS.

Ift

locomotives, to nuike Jean Baptiste a UHcful
agriculturist ; and the fly must be eradicated
from the wheat before Lower Canada can
ever come within a jjreat distance of com-
petition in the flour market with the upper
province.

Take a steam-boat voyage from Quebec to
Montreal, and you pass through French
Canada; for, although there are very ex-
tensive settlements of the race below Quebec
till they are lost in the rugged mountains of
Gaspesiji, yet the main body of ItabifaNts rest
upon the low and tranquil shores of the
St. Lawrence, for one hundred and eighty
miles ])etween the Castle of St. Lewis and
the Cathedral of Montreal. The farm-houses,
neat, and invariably whitewashed, line the
river, particularly on the left bank, like a
cantonment, and go back to the north for, at
the utmost, ten or twelve miles into the then
boundless wilderness.

The cultivated ground is in narrow slips,
fenced by the customary snake fence, which is
nothing more thtui slabs of trees spilt coarsely

CANADA AND

Into rails, and set up lengthways in a zig-
zag form to give them stability, with struts,
or riders, at the angles, to bind them. These
farms are about nine hundred feet in width,
and four or five miles in depth, being the
concessions or allotments made originally by
the seif/neurs to the censitairesy or tillers of
the soil, livery here and there, a long road
is left, with cross ones, to obtain access to
the farms, much in the same way, but not
near so conveniently, or well done, as the
concession lines in Upper Canada, which
embrace large spaces of a hundred acre or
two hundred acre lots, including many of
these lots, and giving a sixty-six feet or a
fort) foot road, as the case may be, and thus
dividing the country into a series of large
parallelograms, and making every farm ac-
cessible.

Kach Lower French Canadian farmer is an
independent yeoman, excepting as bound to
the sol!; and to certain seignorial dues and
privileges, which are, however, trifling, and
far from burthensome. Taxes are unknown,

and

Tin: CANADIANS.

iind they cheerfully su|)i)ort tlieir priest-
liood.

It is not generally known in England that
the feudal tenure — although very laughable
and absurd at this time of day, and from
which some seigneurs, but never those
of unmixed French bloo<l, are disposed to
claim titles equivalent to the baronage of
England, with incomes of about a thousand
a year, or at most two, and manorial houses,
resembling very much a substantial Bucking-
hamshire grazier's chateau — was originally
established by the French monarchs for wise,
highly useful, and benevolent purposes.

These seigneuries were parcelled out in
very large tracts of forest along the banks of
the St. Lawrence, or the rivers and bays of
Lower Canada, on the condition that they
should be again parcelled out among those
who wouM engage to cultivate them in the
strips above-mentioned. Thus re- granted,
the seigneur could not eject the hahliant^ but
was allowed to receive a nomin;d or feudal
rent from the vassal, and the usual droits.

CANADA AM)

These droits arc, first, the harbjirous '* huls el
rt'nfcs^'" or oiio thirteenth of the money upon
every transfer which the hahitaut makes by
sale only ; hut the ori^nnal rent can never be
raised, whatever value the land may have
attained. The ri<^hts of the mill, that old
European appana^^e of the lord of the soil,
wen; also res(M'ved to the seigneur, who alone
can build mills within his domain, or use the
waters within his boun<laries for mechanical
])urposes ; but he must erect them at conve-
nient distances, and must make and repair
roads. The miller, therefore, takes toll of the
grist, which is another source of seignorial
revenue, although not a very great one, for
the toll is, excepting the miller's thumb
rights, not very large.

The crown of England is the lord para-
mount or suzerain, and demands a tax of one
fifth of the purchase -money of each seignory
sold or transferred by the lord of the manor.

Wy law, the lands cannot be subdivided,
and if a seigneuri( is sold it cannot be sold
in parts, nor can any compromise with the

)

ari«it(

TIIK CANADIANS.

liabituiitH for rent, or .iny other chiiin or in-
cumbrance, be made.

An institution like this j)iiralyzcs the resi-
dent, j>aralyzes tiie settler, and destroys that
ari-^toeracy for whose beueKt it was created ;
for it prevents the lord of the manor from
ever becomin;;; rich, or taking much interest
in the improvement of his domain ; and thus
every thing continues as it was a hundred
years ago. The British emigrant pauses ere
he buys land thus enthralled ; and almost all
the old French families, who dated from
Cliarlemagnc, Clovis, or Pepin, from the
Merovingian or Carlovingian monarchies,
have disappeared and dwindled away, and
their places have been supplied by the more
enterprising, or the unuvenu riche men of the
old world, or by restless, acute lawyers, and
metaphysical body-curers.

It was no wonder, therefore, that, upon the
removal of the seat of government from
Toronto, and the appointment of a governor-
general untrammelled by the lieutenant gover-
norship of Western Canada, over which he had

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TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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I.I

!rll^ m^

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L25 iU ill 1.6

''^A

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Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

l^<

CANADA AND

had before no control, that it should be consi-
dered desirable by degrees to introduce the
English land system throughout Canada, and
that parliamentary inquiry should be made
into the necessity of abolishing all feudal tax-
ation. In Montreal this has been done, and,
{3 the seignoral rights of succession lapse,
" it will soon be done every where, for the
recent enactments have emancipated many
already.

But no sensible or feeling mind will desire
to see the French Canadian driven to break
up all at once habits formed by ages of
contentment ; and, as it does not press upon
them beyond their ready endurance, why
should we, to please a few rich capitalists or
merchants, suddenly force a British popula-
tion into the heart of French Canada ?

Jean Baptiste is too good a fellow to desire
this. On our part, we should not forget his
truly amiable character ; we should not forget
the services he rendered to us, when our
children fought to drive us from our last hold
on the North American continent ; we should

THE CANADIANS.

not forget bis worthy and excellent priest-
hood ; nor should we ever lose sight of the
fact, that he is contented under the old sys-
tem. Above all, we should never forget that
he fought our battles when his Gallic sires
joined our revolted children.

I feel persuaded that, if an unhappy war
must take place between the United States
and England, the French Canadians will
prove, as they did before on a similar occa-
sion, loyal to a man.

All animosity, all heart-burning, v;!l] be
forgotten, and the old French glory will
shine again, as it did under De Salaberry.

Ma foi, nous ne sommes pas perdus, encore;
and some hero of the war has only to rouse
himself and cry, as Roland did,

Suivez, mon panage eclatant,

Fran(jais ainsi que ma banniere ;

Qu'il soit point du ralliement,

Yous 3avez tons quel prix attend

Le brave, qui dans la carriere,

March e sur le pas de Roland.

Mourons pour notre patrie

C'est le sort le plus beau et le plus digne d'envie.

CANADA AND

CHAPTER III.

A journey to the Westward.

We must leave Roucesvalles and La Gloire
awhile, and, instead of riding a war horse,
canter along upon the hobby, or a good ser-
viceable Canadian pony, the best of all hob-
bies for seeing the Canadian world, and on
which mettlesome charger we can much better
instruct the emigrant than by long prosings
about political economy and systematic colo-
nisation.

So, en avant ! I am going to relate the
incidents of a journey last summer to the
Westward, and to give all the substance of
my observations on men and things made
therein.

I left Kingston on the 2()th of June, in the
Princess Royal mail steamer, at 8 p. m., the

THE CANADIANS.

the
[the
of
lade

Ithe
I the

usual hour of startinir bein": seven, for To-
ronto ; the weather unusually cold.

This fine boat constitutes, with two others,
the City of Toronto and the Sovereign, the
royal mail line between Kingston and Toronto.
All are built nearly alike, are first class sea-
boats, and low pressure ; they cond)ine, with
the Highlander, the Canada, and the Gilders-
leave, also splendid vessels, to form a mail
route to Montreal — the latter boats taking
the mail as far as Coteau du Lac, forty-five
miles from Montreal, on which route a smaller
vessel, the Chieftain, plies, wherein you sleep,
at anchor, or rather moored, till daylight, if
going down, or going upwards, on board the
mail boat.

Passengers go from Montreal to Kingston
by the mail route in twenty-four hours, a dis-
tance of 180 miles; a small portion, between
the Cascades Rapi<ls and the Coteau being
traversed in a coach, on a planked road as
smooth as a billiard-table.

From Kingston to Toronto, or nearly the
whole length of Lake Ontario, takes sixteen

CANADA AND

hours, the boat leaving at seven, and arriving
about or before noon next day; performing
the passage at the rate of eleven miles an
hour, exclusively of stoppages.

The transit between Montreal and Kingston
is at the rate, including stoppage for daylight,
the river being dangerous, of eight miles an
hour ; thus, in forty hours, the passenger
passes from the seat of government to the
largest city of Western Canada most comfort-
ably, a journey which twenty years ago it al-
ways took a fortnight, and often a month, to
accomplish, in the most precarious and uncom-
fortable manner — on board small, roasting
steamers, crowded like a cattle-pen — in
lumbering leathern conveniences, miscalled
coaches, over roads which enter not into the
dreams of Britons — by canoes — by bateaux,
(a sort of coal barges,) — by schooners, where
the cabin could never permit you to display
either your length, your breadth, or your
thickness, and thus reducing you to a point
in creation, according to Euclid and his com-
mentators.

)

THE CANADIANS.

)

eel

,he

IX,

3re

)ur

int

Im-

Your compafjfWfis do voijnrjr^ on board a
bateau or Durham boat, whicli was a juondre
bateau, were French Canadian voyageurs, al-
ways drunk and always gay, who poled you
along up the rapids, or rushed down them
with what will be will be.

These happy people had a knack of ex-
amining your goods and chattels, which they
were conveying in the most admirable man-
ner, and with the utmost sang-froid ; but still
they were above stealing — they only tapped
the rum cask or the whiskey barrel, and appro-
priated any cordage wherewith you bound
your chests and packages. I never had a
chest, box, or bale sent up by bateau or Dur-
ham boat that escaped this rope mail.

By the by, the Durham boat, a long decked
barge, square ahead, and square astern, has
vanished ; Ericson's screw-propellers have
crushed it. It was neither invented by nor
named after Lord Durham, but was as ancient
as Lambton House itself.

The way the conductors of these boats
found out vinous liquors was, as brother Jon-
athan so playfully observes, a caution.

CANADA AND

I liave known an instaiico of n cask of wine,
which, for security from climate, liad an outer
case or cask strongly secured over it, with au
interior space for ueutralizin*; frost or heat,
bored so carefully that you could never dis-
cover how it had been ellected, and a very
considerable quantum of beverage extracted.

I once had a small barrel, perhaps twenty
gallons of commissariat AVest India ration
rum, the best of all rum for liqueurs, sucked
dry. Of course, it had leaked, but I never
could discover the leak, and it held any liquid
very well afterwards.

I know the reader likes a story, and as this
is not by any means an historical or scientific
work, excepting always the geological portion
thereof, I will tell him or her, as the case may
be, a story about ration rum.

There was a funny fellow, an Irish auc-
tioneer at Kingston, some years ago, called
Paddy Moran, whom all the world, priest and
parson, minister and methodist, soldier and
sailor, tinker and tailor, went to hear when
he mounted his rostrum.

masi
At 1

to b

goinc

laun;-]

sirjea
Irisli

laugh
was t

ment-
maste
of the
ration
the pr
ladies-
gintler
army ]
think f]
The
at the
You
Ji Lake

THE CANAl)IAN^J.

lay

lie was sellinu" tlic ^oods of a qnartor-
master-gcneral wlio was leavin;;' the place.
At last lie came to the collar and the rum.
"Now, gintlomiii," says Moraii, "I advise you
to buy this rum, 7>'. 6d. a g-allon ! going,
going ! Giutlemin, I was ouce a sojcr — don't
laugh, you oflicers there, for I was — and a
sirjeant into the bargain. It wasn't in the
Irish militia — bad luck to you, liftenant, for
laughing that way, it will spoil the rum! I
was the tip-top of the sirjeants of the regi-
ment — long life to it ! Yes, I was quarter-
master-sirjeant, and hadn't I the sarving out
of the rations ; and didn't I know what good
ration rum v. as ; and didn't I help meself to
the prime of it ! Well, then, gintleniin and
ladies — I mane, Lord save yees, ladies and
gintlemin — if a quarter-master-sirjeant in the
army had good rum, what the devil do you
think a quarter-master-general gets ?"

The rum rose to fifteen shillings per gallon
at the next bid.

You can have every convenience on board
a Lake Ontario mail-packet, which is about as

CANADA AND

larffe as a small fri<»ate, and lias the usual sea
equipment of masts, sails, and iron rigging.
The fare is live dollars in the cabin, or about
£l sterling ; and two dollars in the steerage.
In the former you have tea and breakfast, in
the latter nothing but what is bought at
the bar. Wy paying a dollar extra you may
have a state-room on deck, or rather on the
half-deck, where you find a good bed, a large
lookinir-ii'lass, washinfj^-stand and towels, and
a night-lamp, if required. The captains are
generally part owners, and are kind, obliging,
and communicative, sitting at the head of
their table, where places for females and fa-
milies are always reserved. The stewards
and waiters are coloured people, clean, neat,
and active ; and you may give seven pence-
halfpenny or a quarter-dollar to the man who
cleans your boots, or an attentive waiter, if
you like ; if not, you can keep it, as they are
well paid.

The ladies' cabin has generally a large
cheval glass and a piano, with a white lady
to wait, who is always decked out in flounces

nnd

you

bark

for L

the (

ters

are n

you

are a

J)olic(

cular

presu

with ,

and r

Ik]

of fen

ladies

inland

the Bi

Chippi

The

call th

is verj

room (

VOL.

THE CANADIANS.

•ge

[dy

niid furbelows, and usually (^-ooddooking. All
you have L,rot to do ok euihaikinii^ or on disein-
bai'kiii<( is to sec j)crsonally to your lu^-;4a<^o ;
for leaving it to a servant unaequainted with
the country will not do. At Kingston, mat-
ters are pretty well arranged, and the carters
are not so very impudent, and so ready to push
you over the wharf; but at Toronto they
are very so so, and want regulating by the
police; and in the States, at liuflalo parti-
cularly, the porters and carters are the most
presuming and insolent serviles I ever met
with ; they rush in a body on board the boat,
and respect neither persons nor things.

I knew an American family composed chiefly
of females, travelling to the Falls ; and these
ladies had their baggage taken to a train going
inland, whilst they were embarking on board
the British boat which was to convev them to
Chippewa in Canada.

The comfort of some of these boats, as thev
call them, but which ought to be called ships,
is very great. There is a regular drawing-
room on board one called the Chief Justice

VOIo I. F

f)8

CANADA AND

ulioro T saw, just after tho liorticultuijil show
lit Toronto, i)ots of tlic most rare and hoaiiti-
fiil (lowcM's, arraii;i^(Ml very tastofiilly, with a
l)iaiio, highly-c'oluiirtMl luiutical paintin^j^s and
portraits, and a foitf evsoitihlc, whi(di, wlion
the lamps wore lit, and conversation li^oin*^ on
hctwo(Mi tho ladies and <>entlemen then and
there assembled, made one (piite for<i;et we
were at sea on Lake Ontario, the " IJeautiful
Lake," which, like other beautiful creations,
can be very ani»-ry if vexed.

The Americans have very fine steam vessels
on their side of the lake, but they arc llimsily
constructed, painted f^laringly, white, and
green, and yellow, without comfort or good
attendance, and with a devil-mav-care sort of
captain, who seems really scarcely to know or
to care whether he has passengers or has not,
a scrambling hurried meal, and divers other
unmentionables.

The American gentry always prefer the
British boats, for two good reasons ; they see
Queen Victoria's people, and they meet with
the utmost civility, attention, and comfort.

Thej
liket
no r
time
sj)irit
the V
scran
most-
cans
most
It
board
him a
neglec
flesh,
with (
with a
swallo
jump

Can
digest]
thirty-
parchn
and a

"•: ( ANADIANS.

Tlioy sit down to dinner, or ])n»5ikfast, or ton,
likoCliiistiiiii iniMi and woincMi, wIkmo llioro is
no railwjiv ojitiji'^ and diinkin'*- : wIkmv dn(»
time is sjuMit in rofrcsliin<:^ the body and
spirits; and wliero people Indj) each other, or
llio waiters lielp tlieni, at talde, witiiout a
scramble, like lio<rs, for the bcsi and the
most — a custom which all travelled Ameri-
cans detest and abominate as much as the
most fastidious iMio-lishinan.

It is not unusual at hotel dinners, or on
board steamers, to see a man, T cannot call
him a gentleman, sittin^r next a female, totally
neglect her, and heap his plate with fish, with
flesh, with pie, with pudding, with potato,
with cranberry jam, with pickles, with salad,
with all and every thing then within his reach,
swallow in a trice all this jumble of edibles,
jump up and vanish.

Can such a being have a stomach, or a
digestion, and must he not necessarily, about
thirty-five years of age, be yellow, s])are, and
parchment-skinned, with angular projections,
and a prodigious tendency to tobacco ?

F 2

100

CANADA AND

■f'ii

'' ^^

An American gentleman — mind,! lay a stress
upon the second word — never bolts his victuals,
never picks his teeth at table, never spits upon
tlie carpet, or guesses ; he knows not gin-sling,
and he eschews mint-julep ; but he does, I am
ashamed to say, admire a sherry cobbler, par-
ticularly if he does not get a second-hand
piece of vermicelli to suck it through. Reader,
do you know what a sherry cobbler is ? I will
enlighten you. Let the sun shine at about
80° Fahrenheit. Then take a lump of ice ;
fix it at the edge of a board ; rasp it with
a tool made like a drawing knife or carpen-
ter's plane, set face upwards. Collect the
raspings, the fine raspings, mind, in a capacious
tumbler ; pour thereon two glasses of good
sherry, and a good spoonful of powdered white
sugar, with a few small bits, not slices, but
bits of lemon, about as big as a gooseberry.
Stir with a wooden macerator. Dunk throudi
a tube of macaroni or vermicelli. C'e.st Veau
hcnitc, as the English lord said to the (/arf on
at the Milles Colonnes, when he first tasted
amour.- — C'est I

veal par/a

\ucoup mieiid'

TUE CANADIANS.

101

errv.

1 ^

lough
iTeaff

isted

Mifor^ answered the waiter with a profouml"
reverence.

Gin-sling, cock-tail, mint-julep, are about
as vulgar as blue ruhi and old torn at honie ;
but sherry cobbler is an affair of consideration
— only never pound )our ice, always rasp it.

It is a custom on board the Canadian
steamers for gentlen^on to call for a pint of
wine at dinner, or for a bottle, according to
the strength of the party ; but it is a custom
more honoured in the breacli than the ob-
servance ; for sherry and port are the usual
stock, both fiery as brandy, and costing the
moderate price of seven shillings and sixpence
a bottle, the steward having laid the same in
at about one shilling and eight pence, or at
most two shillings. Why this imposition,
the only one you meet with in travelling in
Canada at hotels or steamboats, is perpetrated
and perpetuated, I could never learn.

Many American gentlemen, however, en-
courage it, and have told me that they do so
because they get no good port in the States.
Ale and porter are charged two shillings and

102

CANADA AND

sixpence a bottle, which is double their worth.
i^e careful also not to drink freely of the iced
water, which is always supplied ad libitum. Few
Europeans escape the effects of water-drink-
in^^^ when they land at Quebec, Montreal,
Kingston, Toronto, &c. There is something
peculiar, wlr'ch has never yet been satisfac-
torily explained by medical men, in the sudden
attack upon the system produced by the
waters of Canada . this is sometimes slight,
but more often lasts several days, and reduces
the strength a good deal. Iced water is worse,
and produces country cholera. The Ameri-
cans use ice profusely, and drink such draughts
of iced water, that I have been astonished at
the impunity with which they did so.

Perhaps the change from a moist sea
atmosphere to the dry and desiccating air of
Canada, where iron does not rust, niay be one
cause of the malady alluded to, and another,
in addition to the water, the difference of
cookery ; for here, at public tables and on
board the boats generally, where black cooks
prevail, all is butter and grease.

THE CANADIANS.

103

But the chano-e of climate is undoubtedly
great. I had been long an inhabitant of
Upper Canada, and fancied myself seasoned ;
but, having returned to England, and spending
afterwards two or three 3^ears in the exces-
sively humid air of the sea-coast of New-
foundland at St. Johns, ^vhere I became some-
what stout, on my return to Upper Canada,
for want of a little preparatory caution in
medicine, although naturally of a spare habit,
I was seized with a violent bleeding at the
nose, which baffled all remedies for several
months, until artificial mineral water and a
copious use of solutions of iron stopped it.
No doubt this prevented the fever of the
lakes, and was owing to the dryness of the air.
I mention this to caution all new-comers, young
and old, to take timely advice and medicine.

There is another complaint in Upper Cannda,
which attacks the settler very soon after his
arrival, especially if young, and that is worms ;
a disorder very prevalent at all times in
Canada, particularly among the poorer classes,
and probably owing to food.

104

CANADA AND

These, \v^ith ague and colic, or country
cholera, are the chief evils of the clime ; few
are, however, fatal, excepting the lake fever,
and that principally among children.

The sportsman should recollect, in so
marshy and woody a country, subject as it
is to the most surprising alternations of tem-
perature, that instead of minding that cele-
brated rule, " Keep your powder dry," he
should read, *' Keep your feet dry." Dry
feet and the avoidance of sitting in wet or
damp clothes, or drinking iced water when
hot, or of cooling yourself in a delicious
draught of air when in a perspiration, are the
best precautions against ague, fever, colic, or
cholera — in a country where the thermometer
reaches 90° in the shade, and sometimes 1 10**,
as it did last summer, and 27° below zero in
the winter, with rapid alternations embracing
such a range of the scale as is unknown
elsewhere.

In the country places, in travelling, you
will invariably find that windows are very
little attended to, and that the head of your

THE CANADIANS.

105

bed, or the side of it, is placed ap^ainst a
loosely-fitting broken sash. The night-fons
and damps are highly dangerous to new-
comers ; so act accordingly.

Fleas and bugs, and ** such small deer,''
you must expect in every inn you stop at,
even in the cities ; for it appears — and in-
deed I did not know the fact until this year
— that bugs are indigenous, native to the soil,
and breed in the bark of old trees ; so that
if you build a new house, you bring the
enemy into your camp. Nothing but clean-
liness and frequent whitewash, colouring,
paint, and soft soap, will get rid of them.
If it were not for the strong smell of red
cedar and its extreme brittleness, I would
have my bedstead of that material ; for even
the iron bedsteads, in the soldiers' barracks,
become infested with them if not painted
often. Red cedar they happily eschew.

Travellers may talk as they please of mos-
quitoes being the scourge of new countries ;
the bugs in Canada are worse, and the black
fly and sand-fly superlatively superior in an-

F 5

lOG

CANADA AND

noyance. The black fly exists in the iicii^^li-
boui'hood of rivers or swiimps, ami attacks
you behind the ear, drawing a pretty copious
.supply of blood at each bite. The sand-fly,
as its name imports, exists in sandy soil, and
is so small that it caimot be seen without
clo^e inspection ; its bite is sharp and fiery.

Then the farmer has the wheat-fly and
the turnip-fly to contend against ; the former
has actually devoured Lower Canada, and the
latter has obliged me in a garden to sow
several successive crops. The melon-bug is
another nuisance ; it is a small winged
animal, of a bright yellow colour, striped with
black bars, and takes up its abode in the
flower of the melon and pumpkin, breeding
fast, and destroying wherever it settles, for
young })lants are literally eaten up by it.

The grub, living under ground in the day-
time, and sallying forth at night, is a fero-
cious enemy to cabbage-plants, lettuce, and
most of the young, tender vegetables ; but,
by taking a lantern and a pan after dark, the
gentlemen can be collected whilst on their

THE CANADIANS.

107

tour, and poultry are very fond of tliein.
Last year, the potato crop failed throu^j^hout
Canada. What a singular dispensation ! — for
it alike suiTcred in Europe, and no doubt the
malady was atmospheric. The hay crop, too,
suffered severely ; but still, by a merciful
Providence, the wheat and corn harvest was
ample, and gathered in a month before the
customary time.

By the word corn I mean oats, rye, and
barley ; but in the Canadas and in the United
States that word means maize or Indian-corn
only, which in Canada, last summer, was not,
I should think, even an average crop. It is
extensively used here for food, as well as
buckwheat, and for feeding poultry.

But to our journey westward. I arrived
at Toronto on the 27th of June, and found
the weather had changed to variable and fine.

On steaming up the harbour, I was greatly
surprised and very much pleased to sec such
an alteration as Toronto has undergone for
the better since 1837. Then, although a
flourishing village, be-citied, to be sure, it

108

CANADA AND

waH not one third of its present size. \ow
it is ji city in earnest, with npwards of twenty
thonsand inliabitants — gas-lit, with good
plank side-walks and macadamized streets,
and with vast sewers, and fine honses, of brick
or stone. The main street, King Street, is
two miles and more in length, and wonld not
do shame to aTiy town, and has a much more
iMiglish look than most Canadian places have.
Toronto is still the seat of the Courts of
Law for Western Canada, of the University
of King's College, of the Bishopric of Toronto,
and of the Indian Office. Kingston has re-
tained the militia head-quarter office, and the
Principal Emigrant Agency, with the Naval
and Military grand depots ; so that the re-
moval of the seat of Government to Montreal
has done no injury to Toronto, and will do
very little to Kin^jston : in fact, I believe
firmly that, instead of being injurious, it will
be very beneficial. The presence of Govern-
ment at Kingston gave an unnatural stimulus
to speculation among a population very far
from wealthy; and buildings of the most

TIIK CANADIANS.

109

frail construction Avere run up in liun(lre<ls,
for the sjike of the rent which they yielded
temporarily.

The plan upon which these houses were
erected was that of niort^nije : thus almost
all are now in possession of one person who
became suddenly possessed of the requi-
site means bv the sale of a larfre tract re-
quired for military ])urposes. 15ut this
species of property seldom does the ow^ner
good in liis lifetime ; and, if he does reclaim
it, there is no tenant to be had now ; so that
the building decays, and in a very short time
becomes an incumbrance. Mortgages only
thrive where the demand is superior and
certain to the investment ; and then, if all
goes smoothly, mortgager and mortgagee
may benefit ; but where a mechanic or a
storekeeper, with little or no capital, under-
takes to run up an extensive range of nouses
to meet an equivocal demand, the result is
obvious. If the houses he builds are of stone
or brick, and well finished, the man who
loans the money is the gainer; if they are of

CANADA AND

wood, indiirorently constructed and of <^reeu
intitenjils, both must sufFcr. So it is a spe-
culation, and, like all speculations, a good
deal of repudiation mixes up with it.

There are two o-ood houses of entertain-
ment for the gentleman traveller in Toronto ;
the Club House in Chewett's Buildings and
Macdonald's Hotel. In the former, a bache-
lor will find himself quite at home; in the
latter, a fixmily man will have no reason to
regret his stay.

But servants at Toronto — by which I mean
attendants — are about on a par with the same
race all over Canada. The coloured people
are the best, but never make yourself de-
pendent on either ; for, if you are to start by
the stage or the steamer, depend on your
watch, instead of upon your boots being
cleaned or your shaving- water being ready.
In the latter case, shave with cold water by
the light of your candle, lit by your own
lucifer match. They are civil, however, and
attentive, as far as the very free and easy
style of their acquirements will permit them ;

Tin: CANADIANS.

Ill

for a cook will leave at a monicnt's notice, if
she can better herself; and any trivial oc-
currence will call ofT the waiter and the
boots. The only punctual peojde arc the
porters ; and, as they wear fjflazed hats, with
the name of the hotel emblazoned thereon,
frigate-fashion, you can always find them.

An excellent arrangement is the omnibus
attached to the hotels in Canada West, which
conveys you cost-free to and from the steam-
boat, and a very comfortable wooden con-
venience it is, resembling" very much the vans
which, in days of yore, ])lied near London.

My f.rst start from Toronto Avas to Ultima
Thule, Penetan<^niishene, a locality scarcely
to be found in the maps, and yet one of much
importance, situate and beini^ north-north-
west of the city some hundred and eight
miles, on Lake Huron.

The route is per coach to St. Alban's, thirty
and three miles, along Yonge Street, of
which about one-third is macadamized from
granite boulders ; the rest mud and etceteras,
too numerous to mention. Yonge Street is a
continuous settlement, with an occasional

112

CANADA AND

sprinkliii'j^ of the ori^^inal forost. Tlio lainl
on cjicli si<le is fertile, aud suj»j)lios Toionto
iiijirket.

It risos gradually by those siiif^uhir stops,
or ridges, formerly hanks or shores of ante-
diluvian oceans, till it reaches the vicinity
of the Holland river, a tortuous, slug-^ish,
marshy, natural canal, flowing or lazily
creci)in«j^ into I^ake Simcoe, at an elevation of
upwards of seven hundred and fifty feet above
Lake Ontario, and emptying itself into Lake
Huron hy a series of rapids, called the
Matchedash or Severn Jiiver.

The first ^juarter of the route to St.
Alban's is a series of country-houses, gentle-
men's seats, half-pay officers' farms, prettily
fenced, and pleasant to the sight : the next
third embraces Thornhill, a nice villa<re
in a hollow ; Richmond Hill, with a beautiful
prospect and detached settlements : the ulti-
mate third is a rich, undulating country,
inhabited by well-to-do (Quakers, with New-
market on their right, and looking for all the
world very like ** dear home," with orchards,
and as rich corn-fields and pastures as may be

seen

etcrn;

larly

A s

ban's,

descei

into h

J3ut

sinij-ul;

which.

from 1

to get

Her

are a 1

occui)i

owner

Lake S

Isto

is still

a stag

Tavern

and th

attenti)

ping b

Till-: CANADIANS.

113

Hcoii :iny wliore, l»;ick<'(l, liowovcr, ])y the
etcnial I'onNt. Ft is pcculiiirly .'iiul particu-
larly Itcaiilifiil.

A short distaiico hoforo rcacliini^ St. Al-
ban's, wliicli is qui to a now villa^^o, tho road
doscouds rapidly, and tho ground is brokoii
into huiinnocks.

lUit r must not forgot Uond's Tiako, a most
siniTular feature of this part of the road,
wliitdi, perhaps, I shall treat of in returning
from Ponotanguisheno, as I am now in a hurry
to got to St. Alhaii's.

Here, whore all was scrub forest in 18.17,
are a little street, a house of some pretonsiou
occupied by Mr. Laughtoii, the enterprisin

owner of the Heaver steamboat, plying on
Lake Simcoe, and two inns.

I stopped for the night, for Yonge Street
is still a tiresome journey, although only
a stage of thirty three miles, at Winch's
Tavern. This is a very good road-side house,
and the landlord and landlady are civil and
attentive. Before you go to roost, for stop-
ping by the way-side is pretty mucdi like

114

CANADA AND

roostiiif^, as you must be up Avitli Chanticleer,
you can just look over jNIr. Laugliton's
palin^^, and you will see as pretty a florist's
display as may be imagined. The owner is
fond of flowers, and he has lots of them, and,
when you make his acquaintance afterwards
in the Beaver, you will find that he has lots
of information also. But I did not go in
the Beaver, which ship " wharfs" some two
or three miles further ahead, at Holland River
Landing, commonly called ** the Landing,"
par excellence. Here flies, mosquitoes, ague.
and other plagues, are so rife, that all
attempts at settlement are vanity and vexa-
tion of spirit.

So, being willing to see what had happened
in Gwillimbury since 1837, I took a w^aggon
and the land road, and went off as day broke,
or rather before it broke, about four a.m., in
a deep gray mist. The waggon should be
described, as it is the best voiture in Wes-
tern Canada.

Four wheels, of a narrow tire, are attached
without any springs to a long body, formed

THE CANADIANS.

115

of strai<>ht boards, like a piano-case, only
more clumsy ; in which, resting on inside
rims or battens, are two seats, with or with-
out backs, generally without, on which,
perhaps, a hay-cushion, or a bufFalo-skin, or
both, are placed. Two horses, good, bad, or
indifferent, as the case may be, the positive
and comparative degrees being the common-
est, drag you along with a clever driver, who
can turn his hand to chopping, carpentering,
wheelwright's work, playing the fiddle, drink-
ing, or any other sort of thing, and is usually
an Irishman or an Irishman's son. For two
dollars and a half a day he will drive you to
Melville Island, or Parry's Sound, if you
will only stick by him ; and he jogs along,
smoking his dudeen, over corduroy roads,
through mud holes that would astonish a
cockney, and over sand and swamp, rocks and
rough places enough to dislocate every joint
in your body, all his own being anchylosed
or used to it, which is the same thing, in the
dictionary.

He will keep you au courant, at the same

116

CANADA AND

time, tell the name of every settler and settle-
ment, and some good stories to boot. He is
a capital fellow, is *' Paddy the driver," ge-
nerally a small farmer, and always has a
contract with the commissariat.

The first place of any note we came to, as
day broke out of the blue fog which rose
from the swampy forest, was Holland River
Bridge, an extraordinary structure, half
bridge, half road, over a swamp created by
that river in times long gone by ; a level
tract of marsh and wild rice as far as the
eye can reach, full of ducks and deer, with
the Hollar. J River in the midst, winding
about like a serpentine canal, and looking as
if it had been fast asleep since its last shake
of the ague.

Crossing this bridge-road, now in good
order, but in 1837 requiring great dexterity
and agility to pass, you come to a slight ele-
vation of the land, and a little village in
West Gwillimbury, which, I should think, is
a capital place to catch lake-fever in.

The road to it is good, but, after passing

a
o

it an

prove

townj

a) on

and

nume

catinr

Taver

it wa

This i

Ihiy

was, V

a sple

and as

you CO

Pro(

Englai

throuiifi

to Bar

of Sim

On
four n
suddeni
was bet

THE CANADIANS.

117

lis

it and turning northwards, is but little im-
proved, being very primitive through the
township of Innisfil. However, we jogged
along in mist and rain, on the 29th of June,
and saw the smoke, ay, and smelt it too, of
numerous clearings or forest burnings, indi-
cating settlement, till we reached Wilson's
Tavern, where, every body having the ague,
it was somewhat difficult to get breakfast.
This is thirteen miles from St. Alban's.

Having refreshed, however, with such as it
was, we A'isited Mr. Wilson's stable, and saw
a splendid stud horse which he was rearing,
and as handsome a thorough-bred black as
you could wish to see in the backwoods.

Proceeding in rain, we drove, by what in
Eno:land would be called an execrable road,
througli the townships of Innisfil and Vespra
to Barrie, the capital hamlet of the district
of Simcoe.

On emero-ino: from the woods three or
four miles from Barrie, Kempcnfeldt Bay
suddenly appears before you, and if the road
>vas better, a more beautiful ride there is not

118

can\da and

in all broad Canada. Fancy, however, that,
without any Ilibernicism, the best road is in
the wat }r of the lake. This is owing to the
swam])y nature of the land, and to the cir-
cumstance that a belt of hard sand lines the
edge of the bay ; so Paddy drove smack into
the water of Kempenfeldr, and, as he said,
sure we were travelling by water every way,
for we had a deluge of rain above, and Lake
Simcoe under us.

But natheless we arrived at Barrie by
midday, a very fair journey of twenty-eight
miles in eight hours, over roads, as the French
say, inco)iccvahIe ; and alighted like river
gods at the Queen's Arms, J. Bingham,
Barrie.

Barrie, named after the late comiiiodore,
Sir Robert Barrie, is no common village, nor
is the Queen's Arms a common hostel. It is
a good, substantial, stone edifice, fitted up
and kept in a style which neither Toronto nor
Kingston, nay, nor Montreal can rival, as far

as its extent ffoes.

I do

assure you, it is a

perfect paradise after the road from St.

Alba

unex

and i

Mrs.

must

Engli

house

are w

neat c

Wli

Barrie

in 18^

Jittle c

ing to

admira

inlet

of ope

settlem

and the

It ha.<

ing Bar

is the

North,'

stead of

THE CANADIANS.

119

|iip

lor

Par

;t.

Alban's; and, as the culinary department is
unexceptionable, and the beds free from bugs,
and all neatness and no noise, I will award
Mrs. Bingham a place in these pages, which
must of course immortalize her. They are
English people; and, when I last visited their
house, in 1837, had only a log-hut : now they
are well to do, and have built themselves a
neat country-house.

When I first saw Barrie, or rather before
Barrie was, as I passed over its present site,
in 1831, there was but one building and a
little clearance. In 1846, it is fast approach-
ing to be a town, and will be a city, as it is
admirably placed at the bottom of an immense
inlet of Lake ►^'imcoe, with every capability
of opening a communication with the new
settlements of Owen Sound and St. Vincent,
and the south shore of Lake Huron.

It has been objected, to this opinion respect-
ing Barrie, that the Narrows of Lake Simcoe
is the proper site for " The City of the
North," as the communication by land, in-
stead of being thirty-six miles to Penetangui-

120

Canada and

sliene, the best liiirbour on Lake Huron, Is
only fourteen, or at most nineteen miles, the
former takin<^ to Cold Water Creek, and the
latter to Stur^^eon Bay ; but then there is a
long and somewhat dangerous transit in the
shallowest part of the Georgian Bay of Lake
Huron to Beiietanguishene.

If a railroad was established between
Barrie and the naval station, this wouhl be
not only the shortest but the safest route to
Lake Huron ; for, if Sturgeon Bay is chosen,
in war-time the transit trade and the despatch
of stores for the government would be sub-
jected to continual hindrance and depreda-
tion from the multitude of islands and hiding-
places between Sturgeon Bay and Penetan-
guishene ; whilst, on the other hand, no saga-
cious enemy would penetrate the country from
Sturgeon Bay and leave such a stronghold as
Penetanguishene in his rear, whereby all his
vessels and supplies might be suddenly cut
oir, and his return rendered impracticable.

Barrie is, therefore, well chosen, both as a
transit town and as the site of naval opera-

tiom
uecG
F
the
angii
soldi
retin
Simc
deal
must
our 1
kept i
artillc
Sin
anyth
gons,
drove
the h(
Wl
it was
great

VOL

HE CANADIANS.

121

tions on Lake Simcoe, whenever they may he
necessarv.

For this reason, <»overnnient comnienced
the military road between Barrie and Penet-
anguishene, and settled it with pensioned
soldiers, and also settled naval and military
retired or half-pay officers all round Lake
Simcoe. But, as we shall have to talk a good
deal about this part of the country, and I
must return by the road, let us hasten on to
our nidit's lodo^insf at the Ordnance Anns,
kept by the ancient widow of J. Bruce, an old
artilleryman.

Since 1837, the road, then impassable for
anything but horses or very small light wag-
gons, has been much improved, and Paddy
drove us on, afterdinner atBingham's, through
the heavy rain a merveille !

When I passed this road before, what a road
it was ! or, in the words of the eulogist of the
"•reat Hiiihland road-maker, General Wade,

" Had you seen tlii'j road, before it was made,

You would have lift up your eyes and bles sed"
General somebody.

VOL. I. G

l^i>

CANADA AND

It was necessary, as late as 1837, to take a
horse; and, placing your valise on another,
mount the second with a guide. My guide
was always a French Canadian named Fran-
rois; and many an adventure in the inter-
minable forest have we experienced together ;
for if Fran(|^ois had lost his way, we should
have i)erhaps reached the Copj)er-mine River,
or the Northern Frozen Ocean, and have
solved the question of the passage from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, or else we should have
had a certain convocation of politic wolves or
bears, busy in rendering us and our horses
invisible ; for, after all, they have the true
receipt of fern seed, and you can walk about,
after having suffered transmigration into their
substance, without its ever being suspected
that you were either an officer of engineers or
a Franco-Canadian guide.

An old and respected officer, once travelling
this bridle road with Francois and myself,
and mounted on a better horse than either of
ours, whicli was lent to him hy the Assistant
Commissary-General stationed at Penetan-

THE CANADIANS.

12.'}

»y'

lit

guislioiie, f>'ot ahead of us considerably, aiul,
}>y some accident, wandered into the gh)omy
pine forest. Missino- liim for a quarter of an
hour, I rode as fast as my horse, which was
not encumbered Avith ba<><>anre, would '•o
ahead, and, observin<»" fresh tracks of a horse's
shoes in the mud, followed them until I heard
in the depths of the endless and solemn woods
faint shouts, wdiich, as I came nearer to them,
resolved themselves into the syllables of my
name. I found my chief, and begged him
never again, as he had never been there before,
to think of leavin": us. Had he '^one out of
sound, his fate would have been sealed, unless
the horse, used as it was to the path, had
wandered into it again ; but horses and cattle
are frequently lost in these solitudes, and,
perhaps being frightened by the smell of the
wild beasts, or, as man always does when
lost, they wander in a circle, and thus fre-
quently come near the place from which they
started, but not sufficiently so to hit the
almost invisible path.

But although the road, excepting in the

G 9.

I?l

CANADA AM)

middle of summer, is still indiflfeient, it is
j)errectly safe, and a lady may now p;o to
renetan^aiisliene comparatively eomfortahly.

Ilriiee's tavern is a respectable lo<^-lionse,
twelve miles from Barrie; and here you can
<jfet tlie usual fare of liam, en^o-s, and chickens,
with occasionally fresh meat from Barrie, and
perhaps as good a hed as can he had in
Canada. We started from Barrie at half-past
two, and arrived at half-past five.

Whiskey, be it known, with very atrocious
brandy, is the only beverage, exce])ting water,
aloni>- the country roads of Canada.

F 'om Bruce's we drove to Dawson's, also
kept by the widow of an old soldier, where
every thing is equally clean, respectable, and
comfortable. It is seven miles distant.

Beyond this is Nicoll's, near a corduroy
swamp road ; and three miles further (which
place eschew), seven years ago, T heard the
voice chidinir a litt

g\]

had

been sent a quarter of a mile for a jug of
water. I beard the same voice aaain in
action, and for the same cause, and a very

of P

J UK CANADIANS.

1^5

dirty urchin {i<;aiii brouglit some very dirty
water. In fact, whiskey was too plentiful an<l
water too scarce.

From Xicoll's to Jeirs Corner is ten lon<(
and weary miles, five or six of which an*
throuo^h the forest. Jotrs is not a tavern, so
that you must p;o to bait the horses to Des
llommes, about two miles further, where there
is no inducement to stay, it bein<r kept by an
old French Canadian, who has a hiroe family
of half-breeds. Therefore, on to the village
of Penetanguishene, which is twenty miles
from Bruce's, or some say twenty-four. We
started from liruce's at half-past three in the
morning, and reached " The Village," as it is
always called, at half-past twelve, on the
80th of June, and the rain still continuing
ever since we left Toronto. Thus, with great
expedition, it took the best portion of three
days for a transit of only 108 miles. This
has been done in twenty-four hours by another
route, as 1 shall explain on my return.

Penetani»uishene is a small villa<]:e which
has not progressed in the same ratio as the

\QG

CANADA ANU

military road to it has done. It is jx'oplod
l>y French Canadians, Indians, and half-breeds,
and is very j)rettily sitiiat^'d at the I)Ottoni of
the harbour. Lieutenant-Colonel Pliillpotts,
of the Royal ]Mi<>ineers, selected this site
after the peace of 1815, when Drunmiond's
Island on Lake Huron was resi^nied to the
Americans, for an asylum for such of the Ca-
nadian French settled there as would not
transfer their allc'^iance. They mi<^*rated in
a body.

This is the nearest point of Western Canada
at which the traveller from Europe can ob-
serve the unmixed Indian, the real wihl man
of the woods, with medals hangin<v in his ears,
as laroe as the bottom of a silver saucej)an,
rinofs in his nose, the sing-le 1 :^t of hair on
the scalp, ea<^le's plumes, a row of human
scalps about his neck, and the other amiable
etceteras of a painted and greased safiraf/e.

Here also you first see the half-breed, the
offspring of the white and red, who has all
the bad qualities of both with very few of the
good of either, except in rare instances.

THE CANADIANS.

127

ClIAPTICR IV.

The French Canadian.

At Ponotann^uislieno you soo the oiijjfiiial
l)ioneer of the West, that inimistakeal)lo
French Canadian, a goochiatured, indolent
man, who is never active but in liis canoe
sinn^in<^', or (i la c///iss(\ a true ro?/ftf/r//)', of
which type of liunian society the marks are
wearing out fast, and the imprint will ere
long be illegible. It makes me serious, in-
deed, to contemplate the Canadian of the old
dominant race, and I shall enter a little into
his history.

Res ardua vctustis novitntem dare ; and
never could an author impose upon himself a
greater task than that of endeavourino: sue-
cinctly to trace such a history, in this pge of
railroads and steam-vessels, or to bring before

128

CANADA AND

the mind's eye events which have long slum-
bered in oblivion, but which it behoves think-
ino' minds not to lose sight of.

Alan is now a locomotive animal, both as
regards the faculties of mind and of motion ;
unless in the schools, in the cabinet, or in
amusing fictions founded on fact, he rarely
iinds leisure to think about a forgotten
people.

Canada and Canadian affixirs have, how-
ever, succeeded in interesting the public of
America and the public of Europe — the
'' go-ahead " English reader in the New
World — because Canada would be a very
desirable addition to the already overgrown
Republic founded by the Pilgrim Fathers and
Europeans; because French interest looks
with a somewhat wistful eye to the race
which at one time peopled and governed so
large a portion of the Columbian continent.
Regrets, mingling with desires, are power-
ful stimulants. An unconquerable and
natural iealousy exists in France that Enofland
should have succeeded in laying the founda-

THE CANADIANS.

IC.O

tions of an empire, which bids fair to per-
petuate tlie <,4orics of the An^lo-Saxon race
in its Transatlantic dominion ; whilst the
true I^riton, on the otlier hand, regards Ca-
nada as tiie ap})le of his eye, and sees with
jdeasure and with pride that his beloved
country, forewarned by the grand error com-
mitted at Boston, and so prophetically de-
nounced by Chatham, has obtained a fairer
and more fertile field for British legitimate
ambition.

Tocqueville, a sensible and somewhat im-
])artial writer, is the only political foreign
reasoner who has done justice to Canada;
but it is par parcnthese only ; and even his
powers of mind and of reasoning, nurtured as
they have been in republicanism, fail to con-
vince fearless hearts that democracy is a
human necessity.

That the American nation will endeavour
to put a wet blanket over the nascent fires of
Spanish ambition in the miserable new States
of the Northern Continent, and to absorb
them in the stars of Columbia, there can be

G 5

130

CANADA AND

110 doubt. California, the most distant of
the old American settlements of Spain, has
felt already the bald eagle's claw ; Texas is
annexed ; and unless European interests pre-
vent it, which they must do, Mexico, Guate-
mala, Yucatan, and all the petty priest-ridden
republics of the Isthmus, must follow, and
that too very soon.

But what do the people of the United
States, (for the government is not a particeps,
save by force,) pretend to effect by their
enormous sovereignty ? The control pro-
bably of the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards is
the grand object, and, to etfect this, Canada
and Nova Scotia stand in the way, and Canada
and Nova Scotia are therefore marked down
as other Stars in the American galaxy.

The Russian empire is cited, as a case in
l)oint, for immense extension being no obstacle
to central coercion, or government, if the
term be more pleasing.

We forget that each individual State of the
present Union repudiates centralization, and
acts independently. Little Maine wanted to

THE CANADIANS.

131

2^0 to war with mighty England on its own
bottom ; and there was a rebellion in Lesser
Rhode Island, which puzzled all the diplo-
matists very considerably. Now let us sketch
a military picture, and bring out the lights
and shades boldly.

Suppose that the United States determines
upon a war with Great Britain, let us look to
the consequences. Firstly, an immense re-
action has taken place in Canada, and a mass
of growlers, who two years ago would perhaps
have been neutral, would readily take arms
now in favour of British institutions, simply
because " impartiality " has been evinced in
ofoverninof them.

Next, the French Canadians have no idea
of surrendering their homes, their laws, their
language, their altars, to the restless and de-
structive people whose motto is *' Liberty !"
but whose mind is " Submission," without
reservation of creed or colour.

Tlien, on the boundless West, innumerable
Indians, disgusted by the unceremoniou-^
manner in which the Big Knife has driven

132

CANADA AND

tlieiii out, are ready, at the call of another
Tecuinseh, to hoist the red-cross flag.

In the South, the negro, already taught
very carefully by the North a lesson of eihan-
cipation, only waits the hour to commence a
servile and horrible war, worse than that
exercised by the poor Cherokees and Creeks
in Florida, which, miserable as were the num-
l)ers, scanty the resources, and indomitable
the courage, defied the united means and
skill of the American armies to quell.

A person who ponders on these matters
deplores the infatuation of the mob, or of the
western backwoodsmen, who advocate war to
the knife with England ; for, should it un-
happily occur and continue, war to the knife
it must be.

American orators have asserted that Eno-
land, base as she is, dare not, in this enlight-
ened age, let loose the blacks. 1 fear that,
self-defence being the first law of Nature,
rather than lose Canada, and rather than
not gain it, both England and the Unite* I
States will have recourse to every expedient

Tin: CANADIANS.

1 o,y

likely to biino- the matter to an issue, and
will abide by that Machiavelian axiom — the
end sanctifies the means.

An abominable outcry was raised during
the last war against the employment of the
savage Indians with our armies ; but the
loudest in this vituperation forgot that the
Americans did the same, as fai" as their
scanty control over the Red M;in permitted,
and that, where it failed, the barbarous back-
woodsman completed the tragedy.

Making razor-strups of Tecumsehs' skin was
not a very CI :' tian emnlovment, in retalia-
tion for a scalp found wrapped up in paper
in the w^riting-desk of a clerk, when the
public offices \\ere sacked at Little York.
The poor man most likely thought it a very
great curiosity ; and J dare say there are
some in the British Museum, as well as
preserved heads of the South Sea islanders.

A war between England and the United
States is a calamity aflecting the whole world,
and, excepting for political interest, or that
devouring fire burning in the breasts of so

134

CANADA AND

many for change, I am persuaded that the
intelligence of the Union is opposed to it.
America cannot sweep England from the seas,
or blot out its escutcheon from The Temple
of Fame. It is child's play even to dream of
it. Enofland is as vitallv essential to the
prosperity of America as America is to the
prosperity of England ; and, although Ame-
rican feelings are gaining ground in England,
by which I do not mean that the President
of the United States Avill ever govern our
island, but independent notions and axioms
similar to those practised in the Union ; yet
the time has not, nor ever will, arrive, that
Britain will succumb to the United States,
either from policy or fear, any more than
that her grandchildren, on this side of the
Atlantic, could pull down the Stars and
Stripes, and run the meteor flag up to the
mast-head again.

The United States is a wonderful confede-
ration, and Nature seems, in creating that
people, to have given them constitutions re-
sembling the summers of the northern portion

THE CANADIANS.

1 :].';

of tlie New World, where she makes things
grow ten times as fast as elsewhere. A grain
of wheat takes a decent time to ripen in I'^ng-
land, and requires the sweat of the brow and
the labour of the hands to bring it to per-
fection ; but in North America it becomes
flour and food almost before it is in ear in
the old country. Nature marches quick in
America, but is soon exhausted ; so her
people there think and act ten times as fast
as elsewhere, and die before they are aged.
The women are old at thirty, and boys of
fifteen are men ; and so they ripe and ri{)e,
and so they rot and rot.

Everything in the States goes at a railroad
pace ; every carter or teamster is a Solon, in
his own idea ; and every citizen is a king
de facto, for he rules the powers that be.
They think in America too fast for genius to
expand to purpose; and as their digestion is
impaired by a Napoleonic style of eating, so
very powerful and very highly cultivated
minds are comparatively rare in the Union.
There is no time for study, and they take a
democratic road to learning'.

136

CANADA AND

Auil yet, ceteris paribus^ the Union pro-
duces great men Jind great minds ; and if
any thing but dolhirs was paid attention to,
the literature of America would soon be upon
a par with that of the Old World ; as it is, .
it pays better to reprint French and English
authors than to tax the brains of the natives.

For this reason, the agricultural popula-
tion of the States are more reasonable,
more amiable, and more original than those
engaged in incessant trade. I have seen an
American farmer in my travels this year, who
was the perfect image of the English franklin,
before his daughters wore parasols and
thrummed the piano. Oh, railways, ye
have much to answer for ! for, although the
prosperity of the mass may be increased by
you, the happiness and contentment of the
million is deteriorating every day.

I am not about to write a history of
Canada at presejit, for that is already done,
as far as its military annals are concerned,
during the three years since I la^t addressed
the public ; but it shall yet slumber awhile
in its box of pine wood, until the time is ripe

THE CANADIANS.

137

for (levelopment : I merely intend here to
put to^a'ther some reminiscences which strike
me as to the part the French Ciimidian has
phiyed, and to show that we shoidd neither
t'or<j^et nor ne<'lect him.

Canada, as it is well known, was French,
both by claim of discovery and by the more
powerful ri<j^lit of i)Osscssion.

Stimulated by the fame of Cabot, and am-
bitious to be pilots of the Meta Incognita,
that visionary channel which was to conduct
European valour to the golden Cathay and to
the rich Spice Islands of the East, French
adventurers eagerly sought the coveted
honours which such a voyage could not fail
to yiehl them, and to combine overflowing
wealth with chivalric renown. France, Eng-
land, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, sent forth
those daring spirits whose hopes were uni-
iormly crushed, either by encountering the
unbroken line of continental coast, or
dashed to pieces amidst the terrors of that
truly CinnneriaiK region, where ice and fog,
cold and darkness, contend for empire.

138

CANADA AND

Of all those heroic navigators, who would
have rivalled Columbus under happier cir-
cumstances, none were successful, even in a
limited sense, in attempting to reach China
})y the northern Atlantic, exceptin<; the
French alone, who may fairly be allowed the
merit of having traversed nearly one half of
the broadest portion of the New World in the
discovery of the St. l^awrence and its con-
necting streams, and in having afterwards
reached Mexico by the Mississipi.

Even in our own days, nearly four cen-
turies after the Columbian era, the idea of
reaching China by the North Pole has not
been abandoned, and is actively pursuing by
the most enlightened naval government in
the world, and, very possibly, will be
achieved ; and, as coal exists on the northern
frozen coasts, we shall have ports established,
where the British ensign will fly, in the
realms of eternal frost — nay, more, we shall
yet place an iron belt from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, a railroad from Halifax to
Nootka Sound, and thus reach China in a
pleasure voyage.

TIIK CANADIANS.

130

1 recollect that, about twelve years au^o, a
person of very strong iiiiinl, who edited the
" Patriot," a newspiiper puhlished at Toronto,
]Mr. Thomas Daltoii, was looked upon as a
mere enthusiast, because one of his favourite
ideas, frequently expressed, was, tlmt much
time would not elapse before the teas and
silks of China would be tninsported direct
from the shores of the Pacific to Toronto, by
canal, by river, by railroad, and by steam.

Twelve years have scarcely passed since he
first broached such an apparently pre[)os-
terous notion, as people of limited views uni-
versally esteemed it ; and yet he nearly lived
to see an uninterrupted steamboat connnuni-
cation from England to Lake Sui)erior — a
consummation which those who lauo-luMl at
him then never even dreamt of — and now a
railroad all the way to the l*acific is in pro-
o*resR of discussion.

Mac Tai>\i^art, a lively Scotch, civil eniiineer,
who wrote, in 1829, an amusino- work, enti-
tled " Three Years in Canada," was even

140

CANADA AND

more sjui^uine on tins suhject ; and, us ho
was a clork of works on the Kideau Canal,
iiatnrally turned Ids attention to the practi-
(^ability of ()peinn<j; a road by water, hy the
lakes and rivers, to Nootka Sound.

Two thousand miles of water road by the
Ottawa, the St. Lawrence, and the WeUand,
has l)een opened in 184.5, and a future <,^ene-
ration will see tiie white and bearded stran<^er
toiling" over the rocky barriers that alone re-
maiM to re|)el his advances between the great
Superior and the Pacific. A New Simplon
and a peaceful Napoleonic mind will accom-
])lish this.

The China trade w^ill receive an impulse;
and, as the arms of England have overcome
tliose of the Celestial Kmj)ire, and we are
colonizing the outer Ikrbarian, so shall we
colonize the shores of the Pacific, south of
Russian America, in order to retain the supre-
macy of British influence both in India and in
(•hina. The vast and splendid forests north
of the Columbia River will, ere long, furnish

the d(
inexli;
merci:
An*
the w
The h;
peneti-
as far
an«l \v
oourai»'
port Ml
wjiich,
gfreater
actualh
much 1
Hut
not of
melled
tliouo'h
the o-loi

«h^sire, ^
tion, an
Norman
he had

Tin: CANADIANS.

Ill

n
h
111

tho 'lockvnnls of tlio Pncific coast witli tlie
inoxliMUstihlo iiioaiis of oxtondiiiLi' our coin-

inorcia

1 mid

our inilitarv niarine.

And who woro tlic pioiioors ? \vlio cleared
the way for this ontorprise? P'reuchmen !
'I'he hardy, tho enduriiijjf, '.ho chivalrous Ganl,
])onotrated from tho Atlantic, in frail vessels,
as far as these fi'ail harks could carry hi

an(

1 wli

(M'(*

leir service ceased, with readv

c()ura'j:o ado]>t(*d the* still more fratjile trans-
j)ort afVordod hy the canoe of the Indian, in
which, singinuf nierril \ , he traversed the
♦jroator ]):irt of the northern continent, and
actuallv discovered all that we now know, and
much more, since lapsed into ohlivion.

l^ut his genius was that of conquest, and
not of permanent colonization ; and, tram-
melled hy feudal laws and observances, al-
thouu'h he extended the national domain and
the o'lorv of France bevond his most ardent
(U^sire, yet betook no steps to insure its dura-
tion, and thus left the Saxon and the Aiiirlo-
Norman to consolidate the structure of which
he bad merely laid the extensive foundation.

1 VJ

CANADA AM)

But, evon now, Mniidstall tlieeiili'iliteiiinent
of tlio Christian nations, tlie descendants of
tlie French in Canada shake oiY the dust of
feudality with painful difficulty ; and, instead
of quietly yieldin^f to a better order of things,
prefer to dwell, from sire to son, the willing
slaves of customs derived from the obsolete
decrees of a des})otic monarchy.

Whether they individually are gainers or
losers by thus adherin<j: to the rules which
guided their ancestors, is another question,
too difficult for discussion to grapple with
here. As far as worldly happiness and simple
contentment are concerned, I believe they
would lose by the change, which, however,
must take place. The restless and enter-
prising American is too close a neighbour to
let them slumber long in contented ignorance.

The Frenchman was, however, adapted, by
his nature, to win his way, either by friend-
ship or by force, among the warlike and un-
tutored sons of the forest. Accommodatinir
himself w^ith ease to the nomadic life of the
tribes ; contrasting his gay and lively tem-

pe
ni(
wii
ab>
rec
equ
can
ada]
pris
Mlie
T
Indi;
conij
child
com
outw
wou
pven
alteri
plent
temp(
forth
toil ai
neers

THE CANADIANS.

143

tlic
:em-

])erameiit with llio solemn taciturnity and im-
moveable plileg-m of the savage ; dazzling him
with the )sj)leiidour of his religious ceremonies ;
abstemious in his diet, and coinciding in his
recklessness of life ; equally a warrior and
equally a hunter; unmoved by the dangers of
canoe navigation, for which he seemed as ^ye\\
adapted as the Red Man himself; the enter-
prising Gaul was everywhere feared and every-
where welcome.

The Briton, on the contrary, cold as the
Indian, hut not so cunning; accustomed to
comparative luxury and ease; despising the
child of the woods as an inferior caste ; ac-
companied in his wars or wanderings by no
outward and visible sign of the religion he
would fain implant; unaccustomed to yieh)
even to his equals in opinion ; unprepared for
alternate seasons of severe fasting or riotous
plenty ; and wholly without that sanguine
temper which causes mirth and song to break
forth spontaneously amidst the most painful
toil and privations ; was not the best of pio-
neers in the wilderness, and was, therefore.

144

CANADA AND

not received with open firms l)y the American
aborioinal nations, nntil experience ha<l tancrht
the sterlinu^ vahie of his character, or, latlier,
until it hecame thoroughly ai)parent.

To this day, where, in the interminable
wilderness, all trace of French influence is
})uried, the Indian reveres the recollections
of his forefathers respecting* tliat gallant race ;
and, wherever the canoe now penetrates, the
solemn and silent shades of the vast West,
the Bois IJrule, or mixed ottspring of the
Indian and the Frenchman, may he heard
awakening the slumher of ages with carols
derived from the olden France, as he paddles
swiftly and merrily along.

Such \vas the Frenchman, such the French
Canadian ; let us therefore give due honour
to their descendants, and let not any feeling
of distrust or dislike enter our minds aijainst
a race of men, who, from my long acquaint-
ance with them, are, I am fully persuaded,
the most innocent, the most contented, and
the most happy yeomanry and peasantry of
the whole civilized world.

VOL.

THE CANADIANS.

145

Inst
nt-

lecl,
iiid
of

I have observed already, in a former work,
hat, as far as my experience of travellini>-
in the wihis of Canada goes, and it is rather
extensive, I should always in future journeys
prefer to provide myself with the true
French Canadian boatmen, or voyageurs, or, in
default of them, with Indians. With either
I should feel perfectly at ease ; and, having
crossed the mountain waves of Huron in a
Canada trading birch canoe with both, should
have the less hesitation in trusting myself in
Liie trackless forest, under their sole guidf.nco
and protection.

Ilonneur a Jean Baptistc !
C'est un si boii entuL't !

VOL. I.

146

CANADA AND

CHAPTER V.

Penctanguishcne — The Nipissang Cannibals, and a Friendly
Brother in the Wilderness.

Penetangnisliene, pronounced by the In-
dians Pen-et-awn-gu-shene, " the Bay of the
White Rolling Sand," is a magnificent har-
bour, about three miles in length, narrow and
land-locked completely by hills on each side.
Here is always a steam -vessel of war, of a
small class, with others in ordinary, stores
and appliances, a small military force, hos-
pital and commiiisariat, an Indian inter-
preter, and a surgeon.

But the presents are no longer given out
here, as in 1837 and previously, to the wild
tribes ; so that, to see the Indian in perfec-
tion, you must take the annual government
trader, and sail to the Grand Manitoulin
Island, about a hundred miles on the northern

pr
ha
blu

OtJ]

the

Gre
bein
lent!

SUC(

deni

call(

tripsl

last

tenti(
her,
fail u II
Stur^
the nl

THE CANADIANS.

147

shore of Lake Huron, where, at Manitoii-a-
wainiing, there is a large settlement of Indian
people, removed thither by the government to
keep them from being plundered of their
presents by the Whites, who were in the
habit of giving whiskey and tobacco for their
blankets, rifles, clothing, axes, knives, and
other useful articles, with which, by treaty,
they are annually supplied.

The Great Manitoulin, or Island of the
Great Spirit, is an immense island, and,
being good land, it is hoped that the benevo-
lent intentions of the government will be
successful. An Indian agent, or superinten-
dent, resides with them; and a steamboat,
called the Goderich, has made one or two
trips to it, and up to the head of Lake Huron,
last summer.

I went to Penetanguishene with the in-
tention of meeting this vessel and going with
her, but fear that her enterprise will be a
failure. She was chartered to run from
Sturgeon Bay, about nineteen miles beyond
the narrows of Lake Simcoe, in connection

U 2

118

CANADA AND

with the mail or sta<]fo from Toronto, and the
lioavor steamboat, plyinii^ on Lake Simcoe.

I^'rom Stur<»eou Bay she went to Penetan-
*»iiishene, and then to St. Vincent Settle-
ment, and Owen's Sound, on Lake Huron,
where a vast body of emigrants are locatinpf.
From Owen's Sound, she coasted and doubled
Cabot's Head, and then ran down three hun-
<lr('d miles of the shore of Lake Huron to
(joderich, Sarnia, Fort Gratiot, Windsor, and
Detroit, with an occasional pleasure-trij) to
iNfaniloulin, St. Joseph's, and St. Mary's ;
so that all the north shore of liake Huron
could be seen, and the passengers mi«>ht take
a peep at Lake Superior, by going up the
rapids of St. Mary to Gros Cap. But Ji
variety of obstacles occurred in this immense
vovaoe, althou<>h ultimately they will no
<l()ubt be overcome.

l>y starting in the Toronto stage early in
the morning, the traveller slept on board the
(Joderich at Sturgeon Bay, a good road
having been formed from the Narrows, al-
though, by some strange oversight, this road

gUlSl

Soui

THE CANADIANS.

14f)

toniiiiiates in si marsh six liundred foot fr >ui
tlio bank to tlio island, on which the wliart'
and storohoiiso built for the steamer are
erected. This caused much inconvenience to
the j)assen;:>ers.

The stage went, or pfocs, once a week, on
Monday, to lloUand Lan<ling, thirty six mile«<,
meets the Beaver, which then crosses l^tike
Sinicoe to the Narrows, a small village,
thriving very fast since it is no longer a
government Indian station, fifty miles, and
there lands the travellers, who proceed by
stage to Sturgeon Bay, nineteen more, and
sleep on board the Goderich, arriving about
eight p.m. The vessel gets under weigh,
and reaches Penetanguishene by six in the
morning: thus the whole route from Toronto,
which takes three days by the land road, is
performed in twenty-four hours.

But there are drawbacks : the Georgian
Bay, between Sturgeon Bay and Penetan-
guishene, is, as I have already observed, dan-
irerous at nii>*ht, or in a foof. At Owen's
Sound, the population is not far enough

150

CANADA AND

advanced to build tlie extensive wharf requi-
site, or to lay in sufficient supjdies of fuel,
and thus great detention was experienced
there. At Penetanguishene, the wharf is not
taken far enough into deep water for the vessel
to lie at, and thus she usually grounded in
the mud, and detention again arose. Then
afrain, after rounding Cabot's Head and
getting into the open lake, the coast is very
dangerous, having not one harbour, until we
arrive at the artificial one of Goderich,
wdiich is a pier-harbour ; for the Saugeen is
a roadstead full of rocks, and cannot be
ap])roached by a large vessel.

If, therefore, any thing happens to the
machinery, and a steamer has to trust to her
sails, the westerly winds which prevail on
Lake Huron and blow tremendously, raising a
sea that must be seen to be conceived of in a
fresh- water lake, she has only to keep off the
shore out into the main lake, and avoid
Goderich altogether, by making for the St.
Clair River.

However, the vessel did perform the voyage

THE CANADIANS.

151

successfully seven times ; and in summer it
may do, and, if it does do, will be of incalcu-
lable benefit to the Huron tract, and the
new settlements of the far west of Canada.

I am, however, afraid that the railroad
schemes for opening the country to the south
of this tract will for some time prevent a
profitable steamboat speculation, althou<;h
vast quantities of very superior fish are
caught and cured now on tho shores of
Huron, such as salmon-trout and white fish,
which, when properly salted or dried, are
equal to any salt sea-fish whatever.

The Canadian French, the half-breeds, and
the Indians, are chiefly engaged in this trade,
which promises to become one of great im-
portance to the country, and is already much
encroached upon by adventurers from the
United States.

The herring, as far as I can learn, ascends
the St. Lawrence no higher than the Niagara
River, but Ontario abounds with them and
with salmon a smaller species of white fish
also has of late years spread itself over that

152

CANADA AND

liikc, and is novv sol-I plentifully in the
Kingston market, where it was never seen
only seven years a^o. It is a beautiful fish,
firm and well tasted, Lut rather too fat.

A farmer on the Penetannuishene road
has introduced English breeds of cattle and
sheep of the best kind. He was, an<l per-
haps still is, coiitractor for the troops, and
his stock is well worth seeing ; he lives a few
miles from l^arrie. Thus the garrison is
constantly supplied Avith finer meat than
any other station in Canada, although more
out of the world and in the wilderness than
any other ; and, as fish is plentiful, the
soldiers and sailors of Queen Victoria in
the Bay of the White Rolling Sand live
well.

I was agreeably surprised to find at this
remote post that only one soldier drank any-
thing stronger than beer or water ; and of
course very little of the former, owing to
the expense of transport, was to be had. The
soldier that did dri)ik spirits did not drink to
excess.

Tlir CANADIANS.

153

How (lid all this ha})i)on in a jduco where
(huiikeniioss had hccn ])roverhial? The sol-
diers, who were of the 82nd regiment, had heen
selected for the station as married men. Their
yonnnr commanding oflicer j)atronized garden-
ing, cricketing, boating, and every manly amuse-
ment, but permitted no gambling, lie formed
a school for the soldiers and their families,
and, in short, he knew how to manage them,
and to keep their minds engaged ; for they
worked and played, rea<l and reasoned ; and
so whiskey, which is as cheap as dirt there,
was not a tem|»tation which they could not
resist. In winter, he had sleighing, snow-
shoeing, and every exercise compatible with
the severe weather and the very deep snow
incident to the station.

I feel persuaded that, now government has
provided such handsoii-e garrison libraries of
choice and well selected books for the sol-
diers, if a ball alley, or racket court, and a
cricket ground were attached to every large
barrack, there would not only be less drink-
ing in the army, but that vice would ulti-

11 5

154

CANADA AND

mately be scorned, as it has been within the
hist twenty years by the ofricors. A hard-
drinking officer will scarcely be tolerated in a
regiment now, simply because excessive drink-
ing is a low, mean vice, being the indulgence
of self for unworthy motives, find beneath the
character of a gentleman. To be brought to
a court-martial for drunkenness is now as dis-
graceful and injurious to the reputation of an
officer as it was to be tried for cowardice,
and therefore seldom occurs in the British
army.

The vice of Canada is, however, drink ; and
Temperance Societies will not mend it. Their
good is very equivocal, unless combined with
religion, as there is only one Father Matthew
in the world, nor is it probable that there will
be another.

Penetanguishene is at present the ultima
Thfdc of the British military posts in North
America. It borders on the great wilderness
of the North, and on that backbone of primary
rocks running from the Alh»ghanies, across the
thousand islands of the St. Lawrence, to the

TIIK CANADIANS.

155

nnknown interior of tlio iiorthorn vor^c of
L;iko Superior.

Peiictanguisheno will not, however, he lon^^
the ultima ThuJv of British military posts in
Western Canada, as a lar'j^e and most im-
portant settlement is making at Owen's Soun<l,
on Lake Huron, connected hy a long road
throii<::h the wilderness with Sau^jeen river,
another settlement on the shores of that lake,
to prevent the necessity of the difficult water-
passage round Cahot's Head; and a steam-
boat has been i)ut on the route y the
Canada Company, to connect Saugeen with
Goderich.

The government, up to the 31st of Decem-
ber, 1845, had sold or granted 54,056 acres
of land at Owen's Sound, of which 1 ,1 68 acres
had been chopped or cleared of the forest last
year alone; and 1,787 acres of wheat and
1,414 acres of oats had been harvested in
1845. There were 483 oxen, 596 cows, 4.S.S
young cattle, and 26 horses; and the popula-
tion was 1,950, of which 759 were males
above sixteen, and 399 males under sixteen,

156

CANADA AND

Avitli 39j females above, and 399 under, the

same a<;e.

In this new colony there were 1,005 Pres-
byterians, 195 Roman Catholics, 173 ^Fe-
thodists, 167 of the Church of England, 67
IJaptists, 8 Quakers. The other sects or divi-
sions were not enumerated with sutticient accu-
racy to detail ; and Owen's Sound, being as
yet buried in the Bush, cannot be visited by
casual travellers, uidess when an occasional
steamer plies from Penetanguishene. There
is yet no post-oflice; but 1,500 newspapers
and letters were received or sent in 1845; and
two flour-mills and two saw-mills are erected
and in use. Three schoonersof a small class ply
in summer to Penetanguishene. The villaffe
is at the head of Owen's Sound, fifteen miles
from Cape Croker, and is named Sydenham,
containing already thirty-six houses. Govern-
ment gives 50 acres free, on condition of ac-
tual settlement, and that one third is cleared
and cropped in four years, when a deed is ob-
tained : another fifty is granted by paying 8.v.
an acre within three years, 9*'. within six

' I

THE CANADIANS.

157

5.V.

lix

yeais, 10^. an acre within nine years. The
soil is good and climate healthy.

North-north-west and north-east of Pcnet-
anguishene, all is wood, rock, lake, river, and
desert, in which, towards the French river, the
Nipissang Indian, the most degraded and help-
less of the Red Men, wan«lers, and obtains
scanty food, for game is rare, although fish is
more plentiful.

An exploring expedition into this country
was sent by Sir John Colborne, in 1835, with
a view of ascertaining its capabilities for set-
tlement. An officer of engineers, Captain
Baddely, was the astronomer and geologist ; a
naval officer the pilot ; with surveyors and a
hardy suite.

They left Lake Simcoe in the township of
Rama from the Severn river, and, going a
short journey eastward, struck the division
line of the Home and the Newcastle districts,
which commences between the townships of
Whitby and Darlington, on the shore of Lake
Ontario, and runs a little to the westwurd of
north in a straight course, until it strikes the

158

CANADA AND

soiitli-oast borders of Lake Nipissaiig, embra-
cing more tlian two degrees of latitude, not
one half of which has ever been fully ex-
plored.

The plan adopted was to cut out this line,
and diverge occasionally from it to the right
and left, until a great extent of uidvuown land
on the east, and the distance between it and
Lake Huron, which contained a large portion
of the Chippewa Indian hunting-grounds, was
thoroughly surveyed.

Li performing so very arduous a task, much
privation and many obstacles occurred — fo-
rests, swamps, rivers, lakes, rocky ridges — all
had to be passed.

To tlie eastward of the main line, and for
some distance to the westward, good land ap-
peared ; and, as the agricultural probe was
freely used, chance was not permitted to sway.
The agricultural probe is an instrument
which I first saw slung over my friend Bad-
dely's shoulders, and of his invention. It is
a sort of huge screw gimblet, or auger, which
readily penetrates the ground by being worked

THE CANADIANS.

159

»5
I

with a long cross-handle, and brings up the
subsoil in a groove to a considerable depth.
Specimens of the soil and of rocks and minerals
were collected, and a plan was adopted which
is a useful lesson to future explorers. A small
piece of linen or cotton, about four inches
square, had two pieces of twine sewed on op-
posite corners, and the cloth was marked in
printers' ink, from stamps, with figures from
1 to 500. A knapsack was provided, and the
specimens were reduced to a size small enough
to be carefully tied up in one of these num-
bered square cloths ; and, as the specimens
were collected, they were entered in the jour-
nal as to number and locality, strata, dip, and
appearance. Thus a vast number of small
specimens could be brought on a man's back,
and examined at leisure.

The toils, however, of such a journey in the
vast and untrodden wilderness are very severe,
and the privations greater. For, in this tract,
on the side next to Lake Huron, there was an
absence of game which scarcely ever occurs
in the forest near the 2;reat lakes. With

IGO

CANADA AND

ice forniinii' and snow connnencin^f, and with
every prospect of bein^^ frozen in, a portion
of the explorers missed their snpplies, and
subsisted for three whole days and nights on
almost nothing ; a putrid deer's liver, hanging
on a bush near a recent Indian trail, was all
the aninuil food they had found ; but this even
hunger could scarcely tempt them to cook.
I was exploring in a more civilized country
near them ; but even there our Indian guide
was at fault, and, from want of proper pre-
caution, our provision failed. A small fish
amongst four or five persons was one day's
luxury.

The Nipissang Indians, a very degraded
and wretched tribe, live in this desolate region,
and, it is said, have sometimes been so reduced
for want of game as to resort to cannibalism.
We heard that they had recently been obliged
to resort to this practice. I was directed,
with my friends, to conciliate these people,
and to assure them that the British govern-
ment, so far from intending to injure them by

THE CANADIANS.

IGI

an examination of thoir conntry, desired only
to ameliorate their sad condition/

We had a council. The astronomer royal,
^vho was also the <j^eolof:^ist, was a fine, portly
fellow, whose bodily proportions would make
three such carcases as that which I rejoice in.
The nation sat in council and the Talk was
held. Grim old savaii'es, filth v and forbiddino-
half-starved warriors, hideous to the eye, sat
in large circle, with the two great Red
Fathers, as they called my friend and myself,
on account of our scarlet jackets. The pipe
passed from hand to hand and from mouth to
mouth, and many a solemn whiff ascended in
curling clouds : all was solemn and sad.

' Some time afterwards, during tlie j)criod in wliich
Lord Gleuclg held the Colonial Office, I was appointed to
report upon the state and condition of the Indians of Ca-
nada, hy his lordship, without my knowledge or solicitation ;
this was never comnuinicated to me hy the then Lieut. -
Governor of Upper Canada, and I only knew of it last
year, hy accidentally reading a rejtort on thesuhject made hy
order of the House of Assemhly, after I left Canada. I do
not know if his lordship will ever read this work, or the
gentleman to whom I helieve I was indehted for the intended
kinihiess ; and, if either should, I heg to tender my thanks
thus puhlicly.

162

CANADA AND

The speech wrs made an<l answered with an
acuteness which we were not prepared for.
But our explanation and mission were at
leni^th received, and the pledf^e of peace, the
wampuni-helts, were accepted and worn hy
the aged chiefs. !My friend jon^i^ed my elbow
once or twice, and thou<>;ht they were eyeing
liini suspiciously, for he was to proceed into
their country. He looked so fat and so
healthy, that he thought their greasy mouths
watered for a roasted slice of so fine a
subject !

But the wampum ple(!ge is never broken,
and we had smoked the calumet of friend-
ship. Thus, although he luxuriated, after a
total abstinence of three days, on the sight
of a decayed deer's liver, which he could not
be prevailed upon to partake of, yet the Xi-
pissang, starving as he must also have been,
never fried my friend, nor feasted on his fat-
ness.

This is not the only good story to be told
of Penetanguishene ; for the American press
of the frontier, with its accustomed adherence

to tri
and s
enorn
steam
necess
fleet c
the ^V
mount
bark c
Tiie
horses
haps ^
great
Brothc
clieapl
clocks
difliciil
Th.
a little
liouse
sum me
at some
as idle
The

THE CANADIANS.

1G3

to truth, (lisoovercd a mare's nest there lately,
and stated that the Hritish o-ovennneiit kept
enormous supjdies of naval stores, several
steam-vessels .i depot of coal, and everything
necessary for the erpiipment of a lari^e war
lleet on Lake Huron, at this little outpost of
the West, and that a tremendous force of
mounted cavaliers were always ready to em-
bark on board of it at all times.

There are now certainly a good many
horses at the village, whereas, in 1837, per-
haps one might have found out a dozen by
great researcli there : as for cavalry, unless
Brother Jonathan can manufacture it as
cheaply and as lucratively as he docs wooden
clocks or nutmegs, it would be somewhat
difticidt to raise it at PenetaniT^uisheiie.

The village is a small, rambling place, with
a little Roman Catholic church and a store-
house or general shop or two, about which, in
summer, you always see idle Indians playing
at some game or other, or else smoking with
as idle villagers.

The garrison is three miles from the village,

IGt

CANADA AND

and is alwjiys cillod " Tlic Kstablisliinont ;'*
and in the forest between the two places is a
new cliurcli, built of wood, very small, hut
sufficient for the Established Church, as it is
sometimes called, of that portion of Canada.
A cler« . n' is constantly stationed here for
the arm , *i: '/, and civilians, and near the
church is a coil .tion of lo;^' huts, w^hi(di I
placed there some years ago by or ler of Lord
Soaton, Avith small })lots of pfround attached
to each as a refui:;e for destitute soldiers who
had commuted their pensions.

This Chelsea in miniature flourished for a
time, and drained the streets of thchirofe towns
of ( 'anada of the miserable objects ; but, such
was the improvidence of most of these settlers
and such their broken constitutions, that, on
my j)resent visit, T found but one old serjeant
left, and he was on the point of moving.

The commutation of pensions was an expe-
riment of the most benevolent intention. It
was thought that the married pensioner would
purchase stock for a small farm, and set him-
self down to provide for his children \vith a

THE CANADIANS.

.'»

1 a

sum of money in li.ind wliicli lie could never
have obtained in any other way. Many did
90, and are now indej)endont; hut the majority,
holj)lcss in their hahits, and givinij: way to
drink, soon got cheattMJ of their dollars and
became beo-frjirs ; so that the government was
actually obliged at length to restore a small
portion of the pension to keej) them fron:*
starvation. They died out, would not wo ;
at the l*enetanguisliene settlement, and hav^
vanished from the thinus that be. Poor ''<d-
lows ! many a tale have they told me of flood
and field, of being sabred by the cuirassiers
at Waterloo, of being impaled on a Polish
lance, and of their wanderings and sufferings.
The military settlement, however, of the
Penetanguishene road is a dilferent afVair. It
was effected by pensioned non-commissioned
officers and soldiers, who had grants of a hun-
dred acres and sometimes more ; and it will
please the benevolent founder, should these
pages meet his eye, to know that many of
them are now prosperous, and almost all well
to do in the world.

I /

1G6

CANADA AND

But we must retrace our steps, and waggon
back ngain hy their doors to JJarrie.

1 left the village at half-past six in the
morning, raining still, with the wind in the
south-east, and very cold. We arrived at the
Widow Mallow's, nineteen mih's, at mid-day ;
the weather having changed to fine Jind blow-
inirhnvd — certainly not pleasant in tlie forest-
road, on account of the danger of falling trees,
to which this pass is so liable that a party of
axemen have sometimes to go ahead to cut
out a way for tlie horses.

We passed through the twelve mile woods
by a new road, which reduces the extent of
actual forest to five, and avoids altogether
the Trees of the Two lirothers, noted in Penet-
anguishene history for the fatal accident,
narrated in a former volume, by which one
soldier died, and his brother was, it is sup-
posed, frightened to death, in the solemn
depths of the primeval and then endless
woods.

Near the end of the five mile Bush, about
a mile from the first clearunce, Jeffrey, the

THE CANADIANS.

107

ess

landlord of tlie inn lit the villa^j^o, lias built
a simill cottage for the refreshment of the
traveller, and in it he intends to place his
son. In the mean time, initil (juitc com-
pleted, for money is scarce and thin;^s not to
be done at railroad pace so near the North
J*ole, he has located here an old well known
black gentleman, called Mr. Davenport, who
was once better to do in the world, and kept
a tavern himself.

Having had the honour of his acquaintance
for many years, I stopped to see how my old
friend was getting on, ])articularly as I heard
that he was now very old, and that his white
consort had left him alone in the narrow
world of the house in the woods. He received
me with grimiing delight, and told me that
he had just left the new jail at Barrio for
selling liquor without a license, which, I
opine, is rather hard law against a i)()or old
nigger, who had literally no other means of
support, and was most usefully stationed, like
the monks of St. Bernard, in a dangerous
pass.

1G8

CANADA AND

Hut tlic wind is tomiKM'od to tlio shorn
lainl), and tlic woolly \\viu\ of old Davenport
had matter of satisfaction in it from a source
that he never dreamed of.

Alone — far II w J) y from the whole human
worhl, in the depth of a hideous forest, with
a road nearly impassahle one half of the year,
— he found an unexpected friend.

For fear of the visits of two-footed and
four-footed hrutes durin<»- the Ion;:: niuhts of
his Uohinson Crusoe solitude, old J)avenport
always shut up his lo^ castle earlv, and re-
tired to rest as soon as daylii^^ht departed ;
for it did so very early in the evenin*^ there,
as the solemn jdnes, with their <(ray trunks
jind far-spreading moss-grown arms and
dismal evergreen foliage, if it can be called
foliage, stood close to his dwelling — nay,
hrusiied with the breath of the wind his very
roof.

liecollect, reader, that this lonely dweller
in the Hush -csided near the spot where the
two soldier brothers perished ; and you may
imaiiinc his thoui»hts, after his castle was

flosei

coidd

bugle

rabia.

ile

the vo

lur noi

l>ody 1

windo'

J''t-bec

.rounds

the wh

^\as w

.'ibout,

aiKJ, a:

forth,

tlian tl

tiirbed.

at last

venture

dow ;

compos
ujj very
a decen

VOL.

Tin: CANADIANS.

1G9

41er
the

may
was

rloso<l at iii^jjt l>y tlio loiio wanlor. No ono
could come to liis assistanco, if he had the
\)U<^\e that roused the echoes of Foiita-
rahia.

\h) had retired to rest early one iiii^ht in
theyoun«j^sj)rin<^-time, when he heard a singu-
lar noise on the outside of Lis house, like some-
hody moaning-, and ruh])in<i^ forcihly under his
win<low, which was close to the head of his pal-
let-bed. Quivering- with fear, he lay, with these
f^cmnds continuiiifif at short intervals, throu!»h
the whole night, and did not rise until the sun
was well up. He then peei)ed cautiously
al)0Ut, but neither heard nor saw any thing;
and, axe in hand and gun loaded, he went
forth, but could not perceive aught more
than that the ground had been slightly dis-
turbed. This went on for some time, until
at last, one fine moonlight night, the old man
ventured to open a part of his narrow win-
dow ; and there he saw rubbing himself, very
composedly, a fine large he bear, who looked
up very affectionately at him, and whined in
a decent nielancholv growl.

VOL. I. I

170

CANADA AND

Davenport had, it seems, thrown some
useless article of food out of this window ;
and J>ruin su])[)0sed, no doubt, that Blaekey
did it (Hit of compassionate feelino- for a fel-
low denizen of the forest, and repeated his
visits to obtain something more substantial,
rubbinii' himself, to get rid of the mosquitoes,
as it was his custom of an afternoon, against
tlie rougli logs of the dwelling. He had,
moreover, become a little impatient at not
being noticed, an<l scratched like a dog to
make the lord of the mansion aware of his
presence. This usually occurred about nine
o'clock.

Davenport, at last, threw some salt pork
to Hruin, which was most gratefully received ;
and every niglit after that, for the whole
summer and autumn, at nine o'clock or there-
abouts, the bear came to receive bread, meat,
milk, or potatoes, or whatever could be spared
from the larder, which was left on the ground
under the window for him. In fact, they
soon came to be upon very friendly terms,
and spent many hours in each other's com-

THE CANADIAN'S.

171

pany, with a stout log-wall between Daven-
port and his brother, as he always calls the
bear.

Wlien the snows of winter, tlie long, severe
winter of those northern woods, at last came,
JJruin ceased his nocturnal visitations, and
has never been seen since, the old man think-
ing that lie has been shot or trai)ped by the
Indian hunters.

I asked Davenport if he ever ventured out
to look for his brother, but he shook his head
and rejdied, " My brudder might have hugged
me too hard, perhaps." The poor old fellow
is very cheerful, and regrets his brother's
absence daily. The bailifls most likely wouhl
not have ])ut him in jail for selling whiskey
to a tired traveller, but would have avoided
the castle in the woods, if they thought ther
was any chance of meeting Bruin.

1 2

172

CANADA AND

CHAPTER VI,

IJarric and Bij^Trccs — A ncwCapital of a new District —
Nature's Canal — The Devil's Klbow — ISIacadaniizatioii and
IMud — Hic'liniond Hill without the I^ass — The Ilebellicm
and the Uadicab — lilue Hill and Ikieks.

We roachod Barric safely that night, and
slept at the Queen's Anns. Next morn in «^, I
liad an excellent oi)j)ortunity of seeing this
thi'ivinix villaofe.

It is very well situated on the shore of
Keniponfeldt Bay, on ground rising gradually
to a considerahle height, and is neatly laid
out, containing already about five hundred
peoj)le.

On the high ground overlooking the place
are a church, a court-house, and a jail, all
standing at a small distance from each other,
nearly on a lino, and adding very r .loh in-
deed to the appearance of the place. The

Tin: CANADIANS.

173

111

lie

deep woods now form a ]);ickgroun(l, but are
gradually disappearing. I went about a mile
into them, and saw several new clearances,
with some nice houses buihling or built ; and
particuhirly one hy Bingham, our hunUord,
a very comfortable, Kiiglisli-looking, large
cottaj^e, with outhouses and an immense barn,
round which the rascally ground squirrels
were phiying at hide-and-seek very fearlessly.

The Court House contains the district
iichool, which appears very respectable, and is
conducted I)y a young Irishman ; it also con-
tains all the district oflices, and is two stories
high, massively and well built, the lower
story being of stone and the upper of brick,
both from materials on the spot.

The church is of wood, plain and neat.
The jail is worth a visit, and shows what
may be done in the foret^t and in a bran-new
district, as the district of Simcoe is, although
I believe about half the money it cost would
have been better employed on the roads ; for
it has never been used, except as a i)lace of
confinement for an unfortunate lunatic.

174

CANADA AND

It is formed in the castellated style, of a
linndsoMie octagonal tower, of very white,
shelly limestone, with a S([uare turreted stone
enclosure, on the top of which is an iron
vhevdH.v dc frize, and which enclosure is
subdivided into separate day-yards for pri-
soners. The entrance is under a Gothic
archway ; and in the centre of the tower is an
intenud space, open from top to bottom, and
preventiny- all access to the stairs from the
cells, which are very neat, clean, and coir-
modious, with a good suj)ply of water, and
excellent ventilation. It is, in short, as
pretty a toy peiutentiary as you could s<h^
anywhere, and looks more like an l»le of
AVight oentleman's i\)vtn'f<s, copied after the
most approved V- yatlV'ih> puttern of btironial
mansion, with a little touch of v^^e card-house.
In short, it is as fine as you can conceive,
and sets off the village wonderfully well.

The red pine, near Barrie and through
all the Penetanguishenc country, grows to
an enormous size. I measured one near
BiUi'ie no less than twenty-six feet in

in tin-
base,
have
stony,
causei

THE CANADIANS.

175

irirtli, and tliis was merely a chance one hy
the path-side. Its hei^j^ht, I thiidi, must have
heen at least two hundred feet, and it was
vii^orously healthy. What was its a^e ?
It would have made a plank ei.ulit feet broad,
after the bark was stripped oft'.

But the woods li^enerally disappoint tra-
vellers, as they never })enetrate them ; and
the luml)erers have cut down all avaiiiihle
pines and oaks within reach of the settle-
ments, exeeptin^^ where they were not worth
the expence of transport. The pines, more-
over, take no deep root ; and, as soon as the
underbrush or thicket is cleared, tliev fall
before the storm. Provident settlers, there-
fore, rarely leave large and lofty trees near
their dwellings for fear of accident.

The pine, in the Penetanguishene country,
has a strange fancy to start out of the eu u
in three, five, or more trunks, all joined at \ lie
base, and each trunk an enormous tree I
have an idea that this has arisen froi the
stony, loose soil they grow in, which has
caused this strange freak of Nature, by

176

CANADA AND

Tn;ikiiii( it dinicult for the young plant to
roar its liead out of tlio ground. Whutever
is the roason, however, all the masts of some
"groat Amiral" might he truly j)rovided
out of a single pine-tree.

But we must leave Harrie, after just men-
tioning Kemj)enfeldt, ahout a mile or so
distant, wliieh was the original village; and,
although at the actual terminus of the land
road, has never flourished, and still consists
of soin(» half dozen houses. The newer Ad-
miral superseded the more ancient one; for
jiarrie did deeds of renown, which it suited
the C-niadians to commemorate much more
thaii the unfortunate Kempenfeldt and \m
melancholy end.

If ever there was an infamou> road hetween
two villages so close together, it is the road
hetween these two places ; 1 ho[)c it will he
mended, for it is hoth dark and dangerous.

I always wondered not a little how it hap-
])encd tlwit i Bingham of Harrie kept such a
good tahle, where fresh meat was as plentiful
as at Toronto. 1 looked for the market-place

TIIK CANADIANS.

177

of the cai>it{il of Simcoe : tliore wiis none.
]]ut the mystery was solved the moment I i)ut
my foot on hoard the Beaver steamer to <;o
hack hy the water road.

What will the reader think of Leadeidiall
Market hein<j^ condensed and floating? Such,
however, was the case; there was a reu^ular
travellin*,^ hutcher's-shop, for the supply of
the settlers around Lake Simcoe ; and meat,
clean and enticing as at the finest stall in the
market aforesaid, where upon regular hooks
were regularly displayed the fine roasting and
hoiling joints of the season. And a very Wur
speculation no douht it is, this pedlar hutclwry.

On the 3rd of July, at half-past twelve, I
left the capital of the Simcoe district, and am
particular as to dates and seasons, hecause it
tells the travelhM* for i)leasure what are the
times and the tides he should choose.

We emharked on hoard the good ship
Beaver, a large steam-vessel, for the Ilollan<l
Landing, distant twenty-eight niiles — twenty-
one of them hy the lake, and S(»ven hy the
river. The vessel sto])s hy the way at several

1 5

178

CANADA AND

seitlcmonts, wlierc luilf-pay oflicers <(enerally
have ])itcliO(l their tents ; and twice a week slio
makes the fj^raiid tour of the whole hike, at an
altitude of upwards of seven hundreil and fifty
feet above Lake Ontario, and not forty miles
from it.

This navip;ation of the Holland river is very
well worth seeing, as it isa natural canaHlowin;»;
thr()U<»h a vast marsh, and very narrow, with
most serpentine convolutions, often doubling
upon itself. — Conceive the dilliculty of steering
a large steandjoat in such a course ; yet it is
done every day in sunnner and autumn, by
means of long poles, slackening the steam,
baeking, &c., though very rarely without
running a little way into the soft mud of the
swamp. The motion of the paddles has, how-
ever, in the course of years, widened the
channel and prevented the growth of flags and
A\eeds.

There is one place called the Devil's Klbow,
a common name iv Canada for a diflicult river
pass, where the sluggish water fairly makes a
double, and great care is necessary. Here the

ente
tried
strai
uf th

CCiMJ,

Why
Jiter.'i
milli(
plete
finish
trill ill

Lake
is ov

tliinov

blish)
to me
tJie []
costs
the fu
seveni
emine
to do
must

THE CANADIANS.

170

entorprisinnr owiior and master of the vc>s(>l
tried to cut a cliannel ; hut, after getting a
straight course through the mud for two-thirds
of tiiii way, he found it too expensive to pro-
ceed, hut dechires that he will j)ersevere.
Whv does not the Hoard of Works, which has
literally the expenditure of more than a
million, take the business in hand, and com-
plete it? One or two hundred j)ounds would
finish the alDiir. l>ut ])erhap8 it is too
trilling, and, like the cut at the Long Point,
Lake Erie, to which we shall come presently,
is overlooked in the magnitude of ^ireater
things.

Of all the unformed, unfinished public esta-
blishments in Canada, it has always a])peared
to me that the Crown Lands department, and
the Board of Works, are pre-emin<'nt. One
costs more to manage the funds it raises than
the funds amount to ; and the other was for
several years a mere i)olitical jol). No very
eminent civil engineer couhl have all'orded
to devote his time and talents to it, as he
nmst have been constantly exposed to be

180

CANADA ANH

tunioil out of office by rjiprico or riipidity.
I <1() !H)t know liow it is now iii;iii;i;:;o(l, but the
political jobl)iii<r is, I believe, at mi en<l, as
the same person pn^sides over the oHice who
held it when it was in very bad odour. Tliis
<»entle?nan must, however, be (piite ade(puxte
to the oflice, as some of the public works arc
magnificent ; but I cannot jx^ so far as to say
that one must approve of all. The St. I Law-
rence Canal has cost the best j)art of a million,
is useless in time of war, and a nuM'c foil at
all times to the llideau navigation, which the
British pfovernment constructed free of any
]>rovincial funds. The timber slides on the
Trent are so much money put into the tim-
ber-merchants' pockets, to the extreme detri-
ment of the neighbouring settlers, whose lands
have been swept of every available stick by
the lawless hordes of woodcutters en<iaired to
furnish this work ; and who, living in the
forest, were beyond the reach of justice or of
reason, destrovin*; more trees than thev could
carry away, and defying, gun and axe in hand,
the peaceable proprietors.

THE CANADIANS.

181

Tt was inteii(lo«l, before i\u) rel>ellioii broke
out, to nnider the river Trent ii!ivi<^able )»}' a
s|)leinli(l canal, which wonld liave opened tho
finest hinds in ('ana(hi for hundrecls of miles,
and eventually to have connected Lake Huron
with Lake Ontario. A larj^o sum of money

as expended on it before the lioard of
Works was constituted, and an experienced
elerk of works, fresh from the Itideau Canal,
was chosen to superintend ; but th(» troubles
coinnienced, and the money was wanted else-

wnere.

When money became afjffiin }dentiful, and
the country so loudly demanded the Trent
Canal, why was it not finished? I shall give
by and by an account of a recent excursion to
the Trent, and then we shall j)erhaps learn
more about it, and why perishinn^ tind»er sli<les
were substituted for a magnificent canal.

But the Devil's I'dbow should be straight-
ene<l by the Hoard of Works jit all events,
otherwise it may stick in the mu<l, and then
nobody can help it; for the marsh is very ex-
tensive, and there would be no Jupiter to cry
out to.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

4^,

<;.

A^y m^

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Photographic

Sciences
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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

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18-2

CANADA AND

Well, however, in spite of all obstacles,
Captain Laui,^liton piloted us safe to Ague
and Fever Landing, where, depend upon it,
we did not stay a moment longer than sufficed
to jump into a coloured gentleman's waggon,
which was in waiting, and in which we were
driven ofT as a coloured gentleman always
drives, that is to say, in a hand-gallop, to
Winch's tavern, our old accustomed inn at
St. Alban's, where we arrived in due time, and
there hired another Jehu, who was an Ameri-
can Irishman (a sad compound), to take us as
far towards Yonge Street as practicable.
We reached Richmond Hill, seventeen miles
from the Landing, at about eight o'clock,
having made a better day's journey than is
usually accomplished on a road which will be
macadamized some fine day ; for the Board
of Works have a Polish engineer hard at work
surveying it — of course no Canadian was to
be found equal to this intricate piece of
engineering — and I saw a variety of sticks
stuck up, but what they meant I cannot guess
at. I suppose they w^ere going to grade it,
which is the favourite American term — a

THE CANADIANS.

183

lies
ock,
1 is
be
)ard
ork
to
of
icks
uess
e it,
— a

term, by the by, by no manner or method
meaning gradus ad Parnassum, or even hiying
it out in steps and stairs, like the Scotch
militr.ry road near Loch Ness ; but Avhich, as
far as my limited information in Webster's
Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon tongue goes,
signifies levelling. I may, however, l)e mis-
taken ; and this puts me in mind of another
tale to beguile the way.

A character set out from England to try
his fortune in Canada. He was conversing
about prospects in that country, on board the
vessel, with a person who knew him, but
whom he knew not. " I have not quite made
up my mind," said the character, " as to what
pursuit I shall follow in Canada ; but that
which brings most grist to the mill will answer
best ; and I hear a man may turn his hand to
anything there, without the folly of an ap-
prenticeship being necessary ; for, if he has
only brains, bread will come — now, what do
you think would be the best business for my
market ?"

" Why," said the gentleman, after ponder-

184.

CANADA AND

iiig a little, " I should Jidvisc you to try civil
engineering ; for tlicy are gettirig up a Board
of Works there, and want that branch of in-
dustry very much, for they won't take natives ;
nothing but foreigners or strangers will go
down."

*^ What is a civil engineer?" said the
character.

" A man always measuring and calculating,"
responded his adviser, " and that will just
suit you."

" So it will," rejoined Character ; and a
civil engineer he became accordingly, and a
very good one into the bargain ; for he had
brains, and had used a yard measure all his
lifetime.

I was told this story by a person of vera-
city, who heard the conversation, but it is by
no means a wonderful one ; for such is the
versatility of talent which the climate of
Northern America engenders, that I knew a
leading member of parliament provincial,
who was a preacher, a shopkeeper, a doctor,
a lawyer, a banker, a militia colonel, and who

und(
the
Uiii
ful

THE CANADIANS.

IcSj

a
laJ
his

the
of
w a
ial,
or,
vho

undertook to buihl a snspeiisioTi bridge across
the cataracted river Niagara, to connect the
United States with Canaihi for .€8,000, hiw-
ful money of the colony ; an undertaking
which liennie would perchance have valued
at about £100,000; but n'i?fiportc, the bill
was passed, and a banking shop set up
instead of a bridge, which answered every
purpose, for the notes passed freely on both
sides until they were worn out.

Behold us, however, at Richmond Ilill,
having safely passed the Slough of Despond,
which the vaunted Yonge Street mud road
presents, between the celebrated hamlet of
St. Alban's and the aforesaid hill, one of the
greatest curiosities of wdiich road, near St.
Alban's, is the vicinity of a sort of Mormon
establishment, where a fellow of the name of
David Wilson, commonly called David, has
set up a Temple of the Davidites, with Virgins
of the Sun, dressed in white, and all the tom-
fooleries of a long beard and exclusive
sanctity. But America is a fine country for
such knavery. Another curiosity is less

186

CANADA AND

pitiable and more natural. It is Bond
Lake, a lar<^e narrow sheet of uater, on tlie
summit between Lake Simcoe and Lake
Oiitario, which has no visible outlet or inlet,
and is therefore, like David Wilson, mysteri-
ous, althouo'h common sense soon lays the
mystery in both cases bare ; one is a freak of
Nature concealing;' the source and exitus, the
other a fraud of man.

The oak ridges, and the stair-like descents
of plateau after plateau to Ontario, are also
remarkable enough, showing even to the most
thoughtless that here ancient shores of an-
cient seas once bounded the forest, gra-
dually becoming lower and lower as the
water subsided. Lyell visited these with
the late ^Ir. lioy, a person little appreciated
and less understood by the great ones of the
earth at Toronto, who made an excellent geo-
logical survt-y of this part of the province, and
\vhose ^\idow had infinite difficulty in obtain-
ing a paltry recompense for his labours in
developing the resources of the country.
The honey wdiich this industrious bee manu-

THE CANADIANS.

187

and
:ain-

factiirod was sucked by drones, and no one
has done him even a shadow of justice, but
Mr. Lyell, who, having no colonial depen-
dence, had no fears in so doing.

But of Richmond Hill, why so called I
never could discover, for it is neither very
liighly picturesque, nor very highly poetical,
although Dolby's Tavern is a most comfort-
able resting-place for a wearied traveller, at
which prose writer or poetaster may find a
haven. Attention, good fare, and neatness
prevail. It is English.

I have observed two things in journeying
tlirougli Upper Canada. If you find neatness
at an hostel, it is kept by old-country peo-
ple. If you meet with indiHerence and
greasy meats, they are Americans, If you
see the best parlour hung round with bad
prints of presidents, looking like ^lormon
preachers, they are radicals of the worst
leaven. If prints from the New York
Albion, neatly framed and glazed, hang on
each side of a wooden clock, over a sideboard
in the centre of the room, opposite to the

188

CANADA AND

windows, tbc said prints ropresenting Queen
Victoria, Lord Nelson, Windsor Castle, or
the New Houses of Parliament, be assured
that loyalty and John BuUism reif^n there ;
and, although you meet with no servility, you
will not be disgusted with vulgar assumption,
such as cocking up dirty legs in dirty boots
on a dirty stove, wearing the hat, and not
deigning to answer a civil question.

Poi*sonally, no man cares less for the mode
of reception, when I take mine ease at mine
inn, than I do, for old soldiers are not very
fastidious, and old travellers still less so ; but
give me sturdy John Bull, with his blunt
plainness and true independence, before the
silly insolence of a fellow, who thinks he
shows his equality, by lowering the character
of a man to that of a brute, in coarse exhi-
bitions of assumed importance, which his
vocation of extracting money from his un-
willing guests renders only more hateful.

We departed from Richmond Hill at half-
past five, and waggoned on to Finch's Inn,
seven miles, where we breakfasted. This is

anothc
count I

I foi'iXi

t ravel 1
rebelli
from
Shop,
the sn
up to 1
of the
Loui
with s
getting
lived u
was, to(
and th(

great

yet liv(
your ui
met wi
luul th<
things,
curbed

THE CANADIANS.

189

half-
Inn,

another excellent resting-place, and the
country hetween the two is thickly settled.
I forgot to mention that we have now been
travelling- through scenes celebrated in the
rebellion of Mackenzie. About five miles
from Holland Landinof is the Blacksmith's
Shop, which was the head-quarters of Lount,
the smith, who, like Jack Cade, set himself
up to reform abuses, and suiiered the penalty
of the outraged laws.

Lount was a misled person, w^ho, imbued
with strong republican feelings, and for-
getting the favours of the government he
lived under, which had made him what he
was, took up arms at Mackenzie's instigation,
and thought he had a call — a call to be a
great general. He passed to his account, so
^reqidcscas in j)ace^ Lount! for many a villain
yet lives, to whose vile advices you owed
your untimely end, and who ought to have
met with your fate instead of you. Lount
had the mind of an honest man in some
things, for it is well know^n that his counsels
curbed the bloody and incendiary spirit of

190

CANADA AM)

jMuckenzio in ni.'iny instimces. The f^ovoni-
ment lias not sequestered bis property,
jiltli(>iiij;-li his sons were cquiilly .u;'nilty with
liiniself.

Wo iilso pass, in f;'oin«^ to Toronto, two
other remarkable places. Fineh's Tavern,
where we breakfasted at seven o'clock, was
formerly the Old Stand, as it was so called,
of the notorious ^Fontu'omery, another ge-
neral, a tavern ^^'cneral of Mackenzie's, Avho
moved to a jdacc about four miles from the
city, where the rebels were attacked in 1837
by Sir Francis Head, and near which the
battle of Gallows Hill was foui>'ht.

!Mont^i]fomery was taken prisoner, sent to
Kingston, and escaped by connivance, with
several others, from the fortress there on a
dark nig'ht, fell into a ditch, broke his le/r,
and afterwards was hauled b} his comrades
over a high wall, and got across the St, Law-
rence into the United States, where he was
run over afterwards by a waggon and much
injured. His tavern was burnt to the
ground by the militia during the action, on

accou

Colon

\\ ho V

blood.

scale ;

nn'tted

coiiiisc

Sue

ment v

is the .

dians ^

Nox

on the

Toront

witli a

river i

where

Ontaric

Mr. Tl

ports f

ment b

which

Red M

others.

THE CANADIANS.

1[)1

it to
with
on a
s leji,
rades
Law-
e ^vas
much
) the
on, on

account of tlic barbarous murder there of
Coh)Mel Moodic, a very obi retireil oflicer,
Avho was kilbnl by Mackenzie's onbn'S in cobl
blood. It is now rebuilt on a very extensive
scale; and he is a^ain there, liavinii" been per-
mitted to return, and his i>roperty, whicli was
confiscated, has been restored to his creditors.

Such were Mackenzie's intended •govern-
ment and the tools he was to govern by ! Such
is tlie British government ! Tiie Tpper Cana-
dians wisely preferred the latter.

Next to Richmond Hill is Thornhill, all
on the macadamized portion of the road to
Toronto. Thornhill is a very ])retty ]dace,
with a neat church and a dell, in which a
river must formerly have meandered, but
where now a streandet runs to join Lake
Ontario. Here are extensive mills, owned by
Mr. Thorne, a w^ealthy merchant, who ex-
ports flour largely, the Yonge Street settle-
ment being a grain country of vast extent,
which not only supplies his mills, but the
Red Mills, near Holland Landing, and many
others.

ID^i

CANADA AND

From Mont<^oinery's Tjiverii to Toronto is
ulinost 51 continued series for four miles of
<j^entlcinen's scats and cottages, and, lioin<]f a
strai<(lit road, you sec the i^reat lake for
miles before its shores are reached. Lar^^e
sums have been expended on this road, which
is carried through a brick-clay soil, in which
the Don has cut deep ravines, so that im-
mense embankments and deep excavations for
the level have been requisite.

Near Toronto, at Blue Hill, large brick
yards are in operation, and here white brick
is now made, of which a handsome specimen
of church architecture has been lately erected
in the west end of the city. Tiles, elsewhere
not seen in Canada, are also manufactured
near Blue Hill ; but they are not extensively
used, the snow and high winds being un-
favourable to their adoption, shingles or split
wood being cheaper, and tinned iron plates
more durable and less liable to accident.

In most parts of Upper Canada, near the
shores of the great lakes, you can build a
house either of stone or brick, as it suits

• the
1(1 a
suits

TIIL CANADIANS.

lf).S

your fjincy, for I)0tli these nuitorials tiro plen-
tiful, pjirticularly chiy ; hut at Toronto tlioro
is no suitahh» huihliii<»'-stoiH' ; phMity of chiy,
however, is found, for tiiere you may huihl
your liouse out of the very excavations for
your celhirs ; and I confess that F prefer a
brick house in ( anaihi to one of limestone,
for the latter material inihihes moisture ;
and if a hiick house has a ^^ood project-
ini,^ roof, it lasts very long, ami is always
warm.

It is surprisino- to observe the ed'ects of the
climate on buildings in this country. A good
stone house, not ten years old, carefully built,
and pointed between the joints of the ma-
sonry with the best cement, requires a total
repair after that perio<l, and often l>efore.
The window-sills and lintels of limestone
break and crack, and the chimneys soon be-
come disjointed and unsafe. Although it
may seem paradoxical, yet it is true that the
woodwork of a house lasts good much longer
than the stone, or rather the cement, which
joins the stone ; but \vood <lecays also

VOL. I. K

194

CANADA AND

very rapidly. A bridge becomes rotten in
ten years, and a shingled roof lasts only
fifteen ; but then wood is never seasoned in
America ; it would not pay.

Ji^'7^'
^•-

i-f ■-

THE CANADIANS.

19.J

CHAPTER VII.

Toronto and the Transit -The ice and its innovations-
Siege and storm of a Fortalice by the Ice-king_Kewark
or Niagara-Flags, big and little-Views of American and
of Lnghsh institutions-Blacklegs and Races-Colonial high
nfe — loutli very youn^.

Behold us again in Toronto at Macdonald's
Hotel; and, as we shall have to visit this
rising city frequently, we sliall say very little
more about it at present, but embark as
speedily as possible on board the Transit,
and steam over to Niagara.

The Transit, a celebrated packet, now get-
tnig old, and commanded by a son of its
well-known owner, Captain Richardson, starts
always in summer at eight a. m. punctually,
and makes her voyage by half-past eleven, at
which hour, on the 5th day of July, we once

K u

190

CANADA AND

more tonchofl the slioiv of Newark, or \ia-
g;irn Town, at the Dock Company''^ wliarf,
wliieli we found had been <iTeatly dnma^^ed in
the sprin'Tf of tlie year by a most extraor-
rlinary ice ])benomenon.

At the breaking-up of the frost, tlie ice in
tbe river Niagara, which came down the
river, packed near its mouth, and (himmed it
lip 80 high at Qucenston, seven miles above
and close to the narrows, that the npper sur-
face of the fields of ice was thirty feet above
the level of the river, there a quarter of a
mile broad or more. The consequence was,
that every wharf and every building under
this level was destroyed and crusbed. Every
edifice on the banks, and among others a
strong stone barrack, ful! of soldiers, was
stormed by tbe frost-king, during the dark-
ness of an awful night, and the front wall
fairlv breached and borne down by the ad-
vancinfi: masses of ice. The soldiers had
barely time to escape from the crashino- and
rending walls; and their cooking-house, a
detached building, some yards from the bar-

THE CANADIANS.

107

rack and Iiiglier up tlio bank, was turned
over, as if it had been a small boat.

In the memory of man, such a scene had
never occurred before, and probably never will
a^-ain ; and I have been told, by those who
beheld it, that a more solemn disphiy of natu-
ral power and irresistible might has seldom
been vvitnessed than that of the gradual
grinding, heaving passage of one great iU)e, or
Held, of thick-ribbed ice over the other, until
that summit was gained which could not be
exceeded.

Then came the disruption, the roar, the
rush, the fury, the foam, the groaning thun-
der, and the river flood ; the plunge and
the struggle between the solid and the liquid
waters.

Truly, the thundering water was well named
by the Indian of old — NE aw GAR AW is very
Greek sounding.

Newark, or, as it is now called, Niagara,
but, as it should be named, Simcoe, is still a
pretty, well laid-out town ; and, although it
has scarcely had a new house built in it for

198

CANADA AND

many years past, is on the whole a very re-
spectable i)lace, and the capital of the dis-
sti'ict of Niagara, celebrated for its apple,
peach, and cherry oi'chards.

It has a i>-ood-lookino' church, and the
living is a rectory. A Roman Catholic
church stands close to the English, and a
handsome Scots church is at the other end
of the town. There is an ugly jail and Court-
ITouse about a mile in the country, and an
excellent market, where every thing is cheap
and good.

Barracks for the Royal Canadian Rifle
regiment stand on a large plain. Old Fort
George, the scene of former battling, is in
total ruin ; and Fort Mississagua, w^ith its
square tower, looks frowningly at Fort
Niagara, on the American side of the estuary
of the Great River. I never see these rival
batteries, for it is too magniloquent to style
thein fortresses, but they picture to my mind
England and the United States.

Mississagua looks cureless and confident,
with a little bit of a flag — the flag, however,

THE CANADIANS.

199

of a thousand years, displayed, only on Sun-
days and holidays, on a staff which looks
something like that which the king-making
Warwick tied his heraldic bear to.

The antiquity and warlike renown of Eng-
land sit equally and visibly impressed on the
crest of the miserable Mississagua as on that
of Gibraltar.

Fort Niagara, an old French Indian stock-
ade, modernized by the American engineers
from time to time, half-lighthouse, half-for-
tification, glaring with whitewashed walls,
that may be seen almost at Toronto, with a
flag-staff towering to the skies, and a flag
which would cover the deck of a first-rate,
displayed from morn to night, speaks of the
new nation, whose pretensions must ever be
put in plain view, and constantly tell the
tale that America is a second edition of the
best work of English industry and of British
valour — a second edition interwoven, how-
ever, w^ith foreign matter, with French fierte
without French politesse, with German mys-
ticism without German learning, with tJK'

^iOO

CANADA AND

lostless and ral)i(l dcniocmcy of the whole
world without the salutary check of venera])le
laws, and with that stran^>'e mixture of free-
dom and slavery, of tolerance and intolerance,
which distinguishes America of the nine-
teenth century.

I Jut it is, nevertheless, a most extraordinary
sjicctacle, to contemplate the rise and progress
of the union in so short a period since the
declaration of independence.

An Irish gentleman, apparently a clergy-
m;;n, last year favoured the public with the
result of an extensive tour in Canada and
the United States, in " Letters from Ame-
rica."

Tie starts in his preface with these remark-
ahle expressions, v.hich must be weW con-
sidered and analyzed^ because they are the
ileliherate convictions of an observant and
well-informed ma:i, who had, moreover, sin-
gular opportunities of reflecting upon the
people he had so long travelled amongst.

lie says that *^ In energy, perseverance, en-
terprise, sagacity, activity, and varied re-

THE CANADIANS.

^iOl

<()Ui'Oos " tho Ain(4'ic{in>? iiiHiiitely siirj)ass the
Hritisli; th.it he never met with ''tistui)iil

Aiuericiiu,

lilt oil I'

eiieiui c

hihl

leii

au'p.iss us not only in oiii" g'ood, but ** in our

This I ciimiot umlei'stand:

1, rii

evil peculiarities
for, surely, it' we li;ive /tfc/tfiarifies, which
there is no denying-, they must by all the
rules of loii'ic be limited to ourselves.

r>ut the writer observes, in a paragraph
too long for quotation, that they exceed us
in materialism ami in utilitarianism ; that
we, a nation of sliopkee[)ers, as Napoleon
>tvled the English, were outdone in the wor-
ship of Mammon by them; that we have re-
jected too much the higher branches of art
und science, and the cultivation of the aesthetic
faculty — what an abominable word iosthetic
is I it always puts me in mind of astlunatic,
for it is broken-winded learnimr.

Is it

not common," savs

he.

((

ill n

lod

England to reject authorities both in Church
an<l State, to look with contempt on the
humbler and more peculiarly christian virtues
of contentment and submission, and to cul-

502

CANADA AND

V ■

■ 1
] !

tivjito the intellectual at the expense of the
moral part of our nature? If these and other
(lan^j^erous tendencies of a similar nature are
at work amon^ ourselves, as they undouhtedly
are, it is useful and interesting to ohserve
them in fuller operation and more unchecked
luxuriance in America.'*

Now, it is very satisfactory, that the Ame-
ricans, a race of yesterday, who have had no
o])portunity as yet of coping with the deep re-
search and master-minds of Europe, should in
half a century have leaped into such a position
in the civilized world as to have exceeded the
Englishman in all the most useful relations of
life, as well as in all its darker and more dan-
gerous features; very satisfactory indeed that
the mixed race peopling the United States
should be better and woi*se than that nation
to which the world, by universal consent, has
yielded the palm of superiority in all the arts
and in all the sciences of modern acquire-
ment.

Wherein do the Americans exceed the sons
of Britain ? In history, in policy, in poetry,

THE CANADIANS.

2()ii

ill matlioniatics, in music, in pailltiui,^ or in
any of tlio gifts of tlio Muses ? Are tliey
more renowned in the dreadful art of war? or
in the mild virtues of peace? Is the fame of
America a wonder and a terror to the four
quarters of the globe ? — We may fearlessly
reply in the negative. The outer barbarian
knows the American but as another kind of
Englishman. It >vill yet take him some cen-
turies to distinguish between the original an<l
the offspring.

It is, in short, as untenable as an axiom in
policy or history, that the American exceeds
the Briton in the development of mind, as it
is that the American exceeds the Briton in the
development of the baser (qualities of our na-
ture.

When the insatiate thirst for dollars, dollars,
dollars, has subsided, then the American may
justly real' his head as an aspirant for historic
fame. Ilis land has never yet produced a
Shakespeare, a Johnson, a Milton, a Spenser,
a Newton, a Bacon, a Locke, a Coke, or a
Rennie. The utmost America has yet achieved

QOi

CANADA AM)

is ji very fjiint imitation of the least renowned
of our great writers, Walter Scott.

Fn (li|)loniaey F (l(}ny also the palm. For
altlionuii Fn<]ia is a case in point, like as
Texas, yet even there wo have never first
plante<l •' po})ulation with the express purpose
of ejectin«>' tlie lawful government, hut have
coiH|uere(l where conquest was not only hailed
hy the enslnved people hut was a positive
benefit, l)y the introduction of mild and equi-
tahle laws instead of brutal and bloody des-
potisms. We have not snatched from a weak
republic, whose principles had been expressly
f(»rmed on our own model, that which ))overty
alone obliged it to relinquish. If the writer,
wlio appears to be an excellent man and a
good christia!!, had lived for several years on
the borders of the eagerly desired Canada, F
very much doubt whether he would have seen
such a cofdeur de rose in the transactions of
the mighty commonwealth, where the rulers
are the ruled, and where education, intellect,
integrity, innocence, and Avealth must all alike
bow before the Juggernaut of an unattainable
perfection of equality.

Tin: CANADIANS.

CO.")

If Ijill Joluisoii, tlio iiKiil roMior and siniiL!:-
i'lor, is us o'ood as William Pitt or any otlior
William of siijx'rior mind, why tlxMi tlio sooner
tlu^ millennium of demoo'acv ai'i'ivos the hotter.
ft is un fortunate for the present ii'eiieration —
what it will he for the next no man can pre-
tend to say — tliat this dehasiui;- principle is
<i-aininL>" ground not only in Canada hut in
biUL»lan(]. A reHectim;- mind has no ohjection
to the creed that all men were created equal ;
hut history, sacred and profane, ])laiidy shows
that mind as well as matter is aftcn'wards, for
the wisest of purposes, very ditlcrently de-
veloped.

Does the meanest white American, the
sweeper of liroadway, if there he such a citi-
zen, believe in this perfection of eipiality
amonirst men as a fundamental axiom of the
ri/^hts of man ? Place a black sweeper of
crossings in juxtaposition, and the question
will verv soon solve itself. Whv, the free
and enliuhtened citizens will not even ])ermit
tlieir black or coloured brethren to worship
their common Creator in the same pew with

!;>U(;

CANADA AM)

tlit»ins('lv(»s — it is lionur, it is (l('<;'rji(latioii !
And }'('t tlicro is a universal outcry about
sacnvl liberty and e([uality all over the Union.
The {in;r(ds ^veep to witness the tricks of men
placed in a little hrief authority. Can such
a state of thin<»s last as that, where the Irish
labourer is treated as an inferior bein<;' in the
scale of creation, and the Negro, or the oil-
sprinn^ of the Ne<»ro and the white, is branded
with the stigma of servile? It cannot — it will
not. Either let democracy assume its true
and legitimate features, or let it cease — for
the re-ac**on will be a fearful one, as dread
and as horribly diabolical as that which the
folly of the aristocracy of old France brought
on that devoted land.

I have said, and I repeat it, that a residence
on the borders of Canada and the United
States for some time will cure a reflectin<«:
mind of many long cherished notions concern-
ing the relative merits of a limited monarchy
and of a crude democracy.

The man who views the border people of
the United States with calm observation will

Tin: CANADIANS.

CO'

'11(1
the

ght

nice
ited

le of
I will

soon C'Oino to the ooiiclusion that Ji >tato of
^ovcninuMit, if it iiiay ho so callo'l, where the
eoimnoiicst ruHiaii assiM'ts j)iivileuies which the
most o<liieate(l and lolined iiiiiid never dreams
of, is not an envial)le order of thin<;s.

In the first fury of a war with Mn;;land,
who were the promoters? the mob on the
borders. Who lioped for a new sympathy de-
monstration, in order to annex Cairida^ the
people of the Western States, who, far re-
moved from the possihilityof invasion, valiantly
resolve to earry fire and sword amoni»- their
unolfendiniif ]>retliren.

The iiitelli^^ence and the wealth of tlu^
United States are passive ; they are physically
weak, and therefore succumb to the dictation
of the rude masses. And what keeps up this
siuijular action, but the constantlv-recurrin<r
elections, the incessant balloting;- and votino-,
the necessity which everv man feels hourly of
saving" his substance or his life from the de-
vouringly rapacity of those who think that all
should be equal !

If the government, acutely sensible that war

208

CANADA AND

is ail evil which must cripple its resources, is
unwilling to eii,i^an^e in it, both from principle
.'111(1 from patriotism, it must yield if the mob
wills it, or forfeit the sweets of oHice and of
power. Hence, few men enter upon the cares
of public life in the States now-a-days who
are of that frame of mind which considers
personal expediency as worthy of deep reflec-
tion. What would Washington have said to
such a system ?

The batteries or fortalices of Niagara and
of Mississagua have led to a digression quite
unintentional and unforeseen, which must ter-
minate for the present with a different view
from that of the author of the Letters above-
mentioned : and let us hope fervently that the
New World has not yet arrived at such a con-
summation as that of surpassing the vices
and crimes of the Old, as we are cpitain
it has not yet achieved such a moral vic-
tory as that of outrunning it iri the race of
scientific or mechanic fame. England is no
more in her dotage than America is in her
nonage. The former, without vanity or want

THE CANADIANS.

209

her

ant

of verity be it spoken, is as i)rc-eminent as
the hitter is honestly and creditably asj)ir-

niii'

The writer above quoted says their ships
sail better, and are manned with fev/er hands.
We grant that no nation excels the I nited
States in ship-buildin;j^-, and that they build

vessels expressly for s;iilin<i^ ; but for one En-
glish ship lost on the ocean, there are three
of the venturous Americans; for one steam-
vessel that explodes, and hurls its hundreds
to destruction, in Eniiland or Canada, there
are twenty Americans.

In England, the cautious, the slow and the
sure plan prevails; in America, the go-ahead,
reckless, dollar-making principle prevails ;
and so it is through every other concern of
life. A hundred ways of worshipping the
Creator, after the christian form, exist in
America, where half a dozen suffice in Eng-
land.

ime IS money m

America : the meals are

hurried over, relaxations necessary to the
enjoyment of existence forbidden — and what

210

CANADA AND

for ? to make money. To what end ? to spend
it faster than it is made, and then to begin
again. You have only a faint shadow of the
immense wealth realized in England by that
of the merchant or the shopkeeper in the
States. Capital there is constantly in a rapid
consumption ; and as the people engaged in
the feverish excitement of acquiring it are in
the latter country, from their habits, short-
lived, so the opposite fact exhibits itself in
England. There are no Rothschilds, no rail-
way kings in America. Time and the man
will not admit of it. John Jacob Astor is an
exception to this fact.

On landing at Niagara, the difference of
climate between it and Toronto is at once per-
ceived. Here you are on sandy, there on
clayey soil. Here all is heat, there moisture.
1 tried hard for several seasons to brino* the
peach to perfection at Toronto, only thirty-six
miles from Niagara, without success ; at
Niagara it grows freely, and almost spon-
taneously, as well as the quince. The fields
and the gardens of Niagara are a fortnight or

;ure.

the

-six

Ipoii-

Lkls

it 01-

THE CANADIANS.

211

more in advance of those of Toronto. Strani>'e
that the passage of the westerly winds across
Ontario should make such a ditlerence !

Niagara is a grand racing-stand, where all
the loafers of the neighbouring republic con-
gregate in the autumn ; I was unfortunately
present at the last races, and never desire to
repeat my visit at that season. Blacklegs
and whitelegs prevail ; and the next morning
tlie course was strewed with the bodies of
drunken vagabonds. It api)ears to me very
strange that the gentry of the neighbourhood
suffer a very small modicum of ephemeral
iiewspaper notoriety to get the better of their
good sense. The patronage of such a race-
course as that of Niagara, so fiir from being
an honour, is the reverse. It is too near the
frontier to be even decently respectable ; nor
is the course itself a good one, for the sand
is too deep. Many a young gentleman of
Toronto, who thinks that he copies the aris-
tocracy of England by patronizing the turf,
tinds out to his own loss and sorrow tliat it
would have been much better to have had his

() 1 ()

TANADV AM)

r.K'iii^- (lunlilicalloiis exhiltited iioanM* liis own
<li)or; and lliere cannot possihly be a urt'Jiter
colonial niistako coniinitttnl than to i'ancy
that <;roonis, stahk^ - hoys, and hhickh\i;s,
aio now tho advisors and conn»anions of our
jiivcMiih^ nohility. — That (hiy htis passed!
It is vory unt'oitiinatc that xcry t'also i(h^as

(;\ist 111 sonu^ o

f tl

10 colonies o

f tl

10 mannors

and customs of hiiih life in I'jinland. The
^rown-up pooi>le often fancy that cold re-
.^oi've, and an assumption of ^reat state, in-
dicate hii^li hirth and brooilinn'. The youn^^-er
branches seem froiiuentlv to think that there
is no such thiiii*' at home as the period of

th)le^cenee

coiisoiiuontlv, vou

1 t 1.

oft

en see a

pert youiiLi* master deliver his unasked opinicMi
and behave before his seniois and superiors as
ihouLih he wanted to intimate that he was
wiser in his o-oneration than they.

In crossing to Niagara, we had a specimen of
the precocious colonist of 1845, The table of
the captain of the boat, like that of his re-
spected father, was good and decorously con-
ducted, and there were several ladies and some

TIIK CANADIANS.

1.U3

:^ a

most ros|)(Tt:il)]o travollcd Aiiiciicaiis at diinior.
A very yoiin^i;" <,n'iilk'maii, who hoasted how
much hv ha<l h)st at the laccs, liow much
they had i^amhhMl, and liow mucli they drank
of* champa;4nc the ni;^ht het'ore — cliamj)a^nie,
hy the hy, is thoui^ht a very aristocrati(; drink

amon^* })suedo-<»reat men, alt!ioui;Ii it is com-
mon as ditch-water in the United States —
eii<;i'ossed the whole conversation (jf tiie
diiiner-tahle, picked his teeth, took up the
room of two, caHed the waiter fifty times.

ana enc

kul h

orderiiiii

le cneeso

to I

placed on the tahle before the pies and
puddings were removed. The company pre-
sent rose before the dessert aj)j>eare(l, tho-
roughly disgusted ; and I afterwards saw

lis w'oul

d-be

man peeping in

to the win-

dows of the hidies'-eabin, and performing
a thousand other antic tricks, cigar in mouth,
for wliich he would in l^^ngland have met
with his deserts.

The precociousness of Transatlantic cliihireii
is not confined to the United States — it is
equally and unpleasantly visible in Canada.

CANADA AND

The Amoi'icjins ^vllo travel, lean safely say,
are not guilty of these inonstrous absurdities.
I have crossed the Atlantic more than once
with boys of from seventeen to twenty, who
have left college to make the grand tour,
without ever observing any thing to find fault
with. The American youth is observant, and
soon discovers that attempting to do the cha-
racter of men before his time in the society
of English strangers invariably lowers instead
of raising an interest.

There is a good caricature of this in an
American book, I forget its title, written some
time ago, to show the simplicity, gullibility,
and vindictivness of our Trollopean travellers.
It is a boy of sixteen, or thereabouts, cigar
in the corner of his mouth, hat cocked on
three curls, and all the modern etceteras of a
complete youth, saying to his father, " Here,
take my boots, old fellow, and clean them."
The father looks a little amazed, upon which
the manikin ejaculates, '' Why don't you take
them? what's the use of having a father?"

There will be a railway smash in this, as

iIIE CANADIANS.

nC)

as well as In the locomotive mania. Re-
juiblicanism towards elders and parents is un-
natural ; the chiM and the man were not born
equal.

I remember reading- in a voluminous ac-
count of the terrors of the French revolution
a remarkable passage : — servants denounced
n)asters, debtors denounced creditors, women
denounced husbands, children denounced pa-
rents, youth denounced protecting age ; gra-
titude was unknown ; a favour conferred led
to the guillotine : but never, never in that awful
period, in that reign of the vilest passions of
our nature over reason, was there one instance,
one single instance, of a parent denouncing
its child.

It is not a good sign when extreme youth
pretends to have discovered the true laws of
the universe, when the son is wiser than the
father, or when immature reason usurps the
functions of the ripened faculties.

I have put this together because I hear
hourly parents deprecating the system of edu-
cation in the greatest city of Western Canada ;

21G

CANADA AND

])Ocanse I licir :unl see ciiildicii of fonrtooii
swa<r(Tci'in;>' 5il)oiit tlio streets witli all tlie con-
sequence of unfled.i^ed men, smoking' ci<4ais,
frequenting- tavern-bars and Idlliard-ioonis,
and no doubt led by sucli unbridled license
into deei)er mysteries and excesses ; because
T bear clerii-ymon lament tbat boys of tbat
a<>e lose tlieir liealtb bv excesses too difficult
of belief to fancy true. Surely a salutarv
cbeck in time may be applied to such an evil.
But liberty and equality, as I said before,
are extendiuii' on both sides of the Atlantic :

and in their train come these evils.

Sim}

)1V

!)ecause liberty and equality are as much mis-
understood as real republicanism and limited

monar

chv

are.

THE CANADIANS.

217

CHAPTER VIII.

The old Canadian Coach — Jonathan and John Bull pas-
sengers — "That Gentleman" — Beautiful Hiver, beautiful
drive — Brock's Monument — Queenston — Bar and I'ulpit —
Trotting horse Railroad — Awful accident — The Falls once
more — Speculation — Water privilege — Barbarism — Mu-
seum — Loafers — Tulip-trees — Rattlesnakes — The Burning
Spring — Setting fire to Niagara — A charitable Woman
— The Nigger's Parrot — John Bull is a Yankee — Political
Courtship — Lundy's Lane — Heroine — Welland Canal.

I can make no stay at Niag'ara for the
present; but, after resting awhile at Howard's
Inn, which is the most respectable one in the
town, proceed in his coach to Queenston.

The old Canadian coach has not yet quite
vanished before modern improvement. It is
a mighty heavy, clumsy conveniency, hung on
leather springs, and looking for all the world
as if elephants alone could move it along ;
and, if it should upset, like FalstafF, it may
ask for levers to lift it up again.

VOL. I. L

218

CANADA AND

Wo had oil )>oar(l llio coach an AiiKMicaii, of
tho species Yankee, a thorough l)lufr, ro\v, her-
culean, Yorkshire fanner, and several highly
respectahle females.

I will not say Jonatlian did not sj)it before
tliein, for he is to the nianiier born ; but, al-
tliou^h of inferior ^rade, if there can be such
a thing mentioned resi)ectiiio' a citizen of the
t'nite<l States, and particularly of "the Knipire
►State," of which he was, to his credit be it
said, he treated the females Avith that cour-
tesy, roui>h as it is, which seems innate with
all Americans.

A stormy discussion arose on the part
of .John Bull, who hated slavery, disliked
spitting, got angry about Brock's monument,
and, in short, looked dowMi with no small
share of contempt upon the man of yester-
day, whose ideas of right and w^rong were
so diametrically opposed to his own, and wlio
very sententiously expressed them.

John told him that the only thing he had
never heard in his travels through the Xorthein
and Western States — where he had been to

THE CANADIANS.

21D

look jit tlie land wltli a view to j)ur('liaso,
either there or in CaiuKhi, as iniLtht he most
advisahle — the only thini;- he had never hoard
was that all the citizens of the United States
wore all "gentlemen."

" I guess you didn't hear with both ears,
then, for you always must have remarked that
whenever one citizen spoke of another, he said
* that gentleman.' "

John laughed outright. " Xo, friend, 1
never did hear your white gentlemen Cvill a
nigger * that gentleman ;' so, you see, all your
folks ain't equal, and all ain't gentlemen.
Here, in Canada, I have heard a blacky called
'that gentleman;' and, by George, if many
more of your runaway slaves cross the border,
they will soon be the only gentlemen in
Canada, for they are getting very impudent
and very numerous."

This is, in a measure, true ; sucli troops of
escaped negroes are annually forwarded to
Canada by the abolitionists that the Western
frontier is overrun already, and the impudence
of these newly free knows no bounds. But

L 2

S>2()

CANADA AM)

tlioy cordially luite hotli the Soutliorn sljivo-
lioldors and tlio abolitionists.

Talkin^^ of slavery, pray read an aceount of
it from an American of the Northern States.

'* Xew Orleans, January QG, 184().
"A man may he no aholitionist — I am
not one; he may think hut little on the
subject of slavery — it has never troubled me
one way or the other : but let him mark
the records of the glorious battles of the He-
volution ; let him notice the Eagle of Liberty,
and all the emblems of Independence, Fhmj-
dom, and the rights of man ; let him muse on
the thoughts they awaken, and then behold
the actualities of life aro "d lii?n. Suddeidv
the sharp rap of an auctioneer's hannnor
startles him, and the loud striking of the hour
of twelve will divert his attention to the
throng of men around him, and the appear-
ance of three or four men on raised stands in
different parts of the Rotunda, who are calliii;^'
the attention of those around him, at the same
time unrolling a hand-bill that the stranger

THE CANADIANS.

221

h;is noticed in tlio most conspicuous places iu
tiie city, printed in I'rcncli iuu\ Mnulisli, an-
ii()uncin;jf the sal«' of a lot of i\\u\ likely slaves;
at the same time, he ohserves maps of real
estates spread out — everythin^^ in fact around
liim denoting- a ' Inisy mart whero men do con-
(^rn.njito,' as it really is.

The auctioneer, making the most noise,
attracts his attention first; joining the crowd
ill front of the stand, he observes twtdve or
fifteen ne;L^roe3 of all a<i;es and both sexes
standin<i^ in a line to the left of the auc-
tioneer; they are comfortably, and some of
them neatly dressed, particularly the women,
with their yellow Madras handkerchiefs lied
uround their heads, and their bright, showy
dresses; but they have a look that irresistibly
causes him to think back for. a comparison to
the objects before him, and it seems strange that
it should brinir to mind some market or field
where he has sometimes seen cattle offered for
sale, whose saddened look seemed to forbode
some evil to them ; but the animal look is
Honiewhat redeemed by the smiles and plays

222

CANADA AND

of the little piccaniiiics, who seem to wonder
why they are tliere, with so many men look-
ing at them. — Now for business.

" * Maria, step up here. There, gentlemen,
is a fine, likely wench, aged twenty-five ; she
is warranted healthy and sound, with the ex-
ception of a slight lameness in the left leg,
which docs not damage lier at all. Stei)
down, Maria, and w\alk.' The woman gets
down, and steps off eight or ten paces, and
returns with a slight limp, evidently with
some pain, but doing her best to conceal
her defect of gait. The auctioneer is a
Frenchman, and announces everything alter-
nately in French and English. * Now, gen-
tlemen, what is bid? she is warranted, elle
est gurantie, and sold by a very respectable
citizen. 250 dollars, deux cent et cinquante
dollars : why, gentlemen, what do you mean !
Get down, Maria, and walk a little more.
275, deux cent soixante et quinze, 300, troi^
cents ! — go on, gentlemen — 325, trois cents
et vingt cinq ! once, twice, ah ! 350, trois
cents et cinquante : une fois ! deux fois '

THE CANADIANS.

OOQ
r^ ^ kj

going-, gone, for 850 clolhirs. A great bar-
gain, gentlemen.'

*' My attention is called to the opposite
side of the room : ' Here, gentlcMnen, is a
likely little orphan yellow girl, six years old —
what is bid? combien? thirty-five dollars,
treiite cinq, fifty dollars, cin(|uante dollars,
thank you.' Finally, she is knocked down at
seventy -five dollars.

*' Why, there is a whole family on that other
stand ; let us see them. ' There, gentlemen,
is a fine lot : Willy, aged thirty-five, an ex-
pert boy, a good carpenter, brickmaker, driver,
in fact, can do anything, il sait faire tout.
His wife, Betty, is thirty-three, can vash, cook,
wait on the table, and make herself generally
useful ; also their boy George, five years old ;
you will observe, gentlemen, that Hetty est
enceinte. Now what is bid for this valuable
family V After a lively competition, they are
bid off at 1,550 dollars, the whole family.

'' As I have before remarked, evnything is
done in French and Fno-lish : even the ne<^roes
speak both languages. I saw one poor old

224

CANADA AND

negro, about sixty, put up, but withdrawn, as
only 270 dollars were bid for liirn. While
waiting to be sold, they arc examined and
questioned by the purchasers. One young
girl, about sixteen or eighteen, was being in-
spected by an elderly, stern, sharp-eyed, horse-
jockey looking man, who sported his gold
chains, diamond pin, ruffles, and cane : * How
old are you ?' * I don't know, sir.' * Do you
know how to eat ?' * Everybody does that,'
she said sullenly.

" Passing up the Esplanade next morning,
(Sunday) I saw some forty or fifty very fine-
looking negroes and negresses, all neatly
dressed, standing on a bench directly in front
of a building, which I took to be a meeting
or school house : walking by, a genteel-
looking man stepped up and asked me if I
wished to buy a likely boy or girl. Telling
him I was a stranger, and asking for informa-
tion, he told me it was one of the slave-mar-
kets ; that they stood there for examination,
and that he had sold 500,000 dollars worth
and sent them off that morning.

THE CANADIANS.

225

*' The above facts are some of the singuhir
features (to a Northerner) of this remarkable
])lace, and I assure you that I ' nothing ex-
tenuate, or set down aught in malice ;' but
may the time come when even a black man
may say, * I am a man !'

" Northrop."

I once relieved a poor black wretch who
was starving in the streets of Kingston, and
told him where to go to get proper advice
and protection : all the thanks I received w ere
that he was sorry he ran away, for he had
been a waiter somewhere in the South, and
got a good many dollars by his situation ;
whereas, he said, Canada was a poor country,
and he had no hope of thriving in it.

The lower class of negroes in Canada, for
there are several classes among even runaways,
are very frequently dissolute, idle, impudent,
and assuming — so difficult is it for poor
uneducated human nature to bear a little
freedom.

The coloured people, if they get at all u]>

22G

CANADA AND

ill the world, assume vast airs, but there
are very iiiaiiy well-conducted people among
them. As yet neither coloured people nor
nenfroes have made much advance in Ca-
nada.

John Cull had visited almost every portion
of the Northern and Western States, was a
shrewd, observing character, and had come to
the conclusion, which he very plainly ex-
pressed, that the state of society in the Union
was not to his taste, that he could procure
lands as cheap and as good for his gold in
Canada, and that to Canada he would briiiu"
his old woman and his children.

-' For/' said he, " in the London or Western
districts of Upper Canada, the land is equal
to any in the United States, the climate
better, and by and by it will supply all
Europe with grain. Settling there, an Eng-
lishman will not always be put in mind of the
inferiority of the British to the Americans,
will not always be told that kings and queens
are childish humbugs, and will not have his
work hindered and his mind poisoned by

THE CANADIANS.

constant elections and everlasting gnisi)in,ir
for oflice.

" While," says John to Jonathan, " 1 am in
Canada, just as free as you are ; I pay no
taxes, or only such as I control myself, and
which are laid out in roads, or for my benefit .
1 can worship r.t'ter the manner of my
fathers, without being' robbed or burnt out,
and I meet no man who thinks himself a h\x
better than myself; but, as I shtdl take care
to settle a good way from republican sym-
pathizers for the sake of my poor property, I
shall always H d my neighbours as proud of
Queen Victoria as I be myself."

Jonathan replied that he had no manner ot
doubt that Miss Victoria was a real lady, for
every female is a lady in the States ; the word
l)eing understood only as an equivalent for
womankind, and that John might like pet-
ticoat government, but, for his part, he cal-
culated it was better to be a king one's-self,
which every citizen of the enlightened re-
public was, and no mistake.

And kings they are, for all power resides

228

CANADA AND

there, in the holy of which he was a favour-
able specimen, but which does not always
show its members in so fair a light.

I do not know any coach ride in British
America more pleasing than that from Niagara
to Queenston. You cross a broad green com-
mon, with the expanse of Lake Ontario on one
side, the forest and orchard on the other; and.
after passing through a little coppice, sud-
denly come upon the St. Lawrence, rolling a
tranquil flood towards the great lake below.

High above its waters, on the edge of the
sharp precipitous bank, covered with trees —
oak, birch, beech, chestnut, and maple — runs
the sandy road, bordered by corn-lields, by
orchards, and occasionally by little patches of
woodland, looking for all the world like Old
England, excepting that that unpicturesque
snake fence spoils the illusion.

Now, bright and deep, rolls the giant flood
onward ; now it is hidden by a turn of the
bank; now, glittering, it again appears between
the trees. Thus vou travel until within a
couple of miks or so of Queenston, when, the

THE CANADIANS.

»» iv i/

road leaving the bank, and tlie river forming
a large bay-like bend, a splendid view breaks
out.

You catch a distant glimpse of that nar-
row pass, where a wall of rock, two hundred
feet high on each side, and somewhat higher
on the American shore, vomits forth the pent-
up angry Niagara. Above this wall, to the
right and left, towers the mountain ridge,
covered with forest to the south, and w^ith the
greenest of grass to the north, where, stately
and sad, stands the pillar under whose base
moulder the bones of the gallant Brock, and
of Mac Donell, his aide-de-camp.

Rent from summit to base, tottering to its
fall, is Brock's monument, and yet the villain
who did the deed that destroyed it lives, and
dares to show his face on the neighbouring
shore.

I cannot conceive^ in beautiful scenery any
thing more picturesque than the gorge of the
Niagara river : it combines rapid water, a
placid bay, a tremendous wall of rock, forest,
glade, village, column, active and passive life.

230

CANADA AND

Quocnston is a poor phice ; it has novel
gained an inch since the war of 1812; but,
as a railroad has been estal dished, and a
wliarf is bllildin^" in connection with it, it
will <To ahead. Opposite to it is Lewiston,
in the United States, less ancient and time-
worn, full of gaudily-painted wooden houses,
and with much more pretension. Queenston
looks like an old English hamlet in decay ;
melancholy and miserable ; Lewiston is the
type of newness, all wliite and green, all un-
tinished and all uncomfortable.

The odious bar-room system of the Xortheni
States is fast sweeping away all vestiges of
English comfort. The practice of lounging,
cigar in mouth, sipping juleps and alcoholic
decoctions in common with smuixii'lers and
small folk, is fast unhin'^inof society. The
j)l;in of social economy in the mercantile
cities is rapidly spreading over the whole
Union, and the fashion of ladies' drawing-
rooms being absorbed into the parlour of an
hotel or boardinit'-house has brouulit about
a chanii'e which the next u'eneration will
lament.

THE CANADIANS.

231

It is the restless ra^'o for politics, the ever
j)resent desire for dollars, whieh has broii<»'ht
about this state of thiun's ; the youii,t»'husl)aiKl
seeks the bar-room as a merchant does the
Cliaii<>*e ; and thus, except in the wealthy
class, or among- the contemplative and re-
tired, there is no such thing as p'' 'ate life in
the northern cities an<l towns. lUige taverns,
real wooden gin palaces, tower over the tops
of all other buildings, in every border village,
town, and city ; and a good bar is a better
business than any other. Thus in Lewiston,
in Buffalo, in short, in every American border
town, the best building is the tavern, and the
next best the meetiuii^-house ; both are fash-
ionable, and both are anything but what they
should be ; for he who keeps the best liquors,
and he who preaches most i)ointedly to the
])revailing taste, makes the most of his trade.
The voluntary system is a capital speculation
to the publican as well as to the parson ; but,
unfortunately, it is more general with the
former than with the latter.

The Niagara frontier is a rich and a fertile

232

CANADA AND

portion of Canada, surrounded almost by
water, and intersected by rivers, and the
Welland Canal, with an undulating* surface
in the interior. It f^rows wheat, Indian
corn, and all the cereal gramina to perfec-
tion, whilst Pomona lavishes favours on it ;
nor are its woods less prolific and luxuriant.
Here the chestnut, with its deep green foli-
age and its white flowers, forms a pleasing
variety to the sylvan scenery of Canada.

It would be, from its healthiness alone, the
pleasantest part of Canada to live in, but it is
too near the borders where sympathizers,
more keen and infinitely more barbarous than
those on the ancient Tweed, render property
and life rather precarious ; and, therefore, in
war or in rebellion, the Niagara frontier is not
an enviable abode for the peaceable farmer or
the timid female.

The ascent to the plateau above Queenston
is grand, and the view from the summit very
extensive and magnificent ; embracing such a
stretch of cultivated land, of forest, of the
habitations of men, and of the apparently

THE CANADIANS.

23S

boundless Ontario, the JJcautiful Lake, that
it can scarcely he rivalled.

The railroad has, however, spoiled a ^ood
deal of this ; it runs from the summit of the
mountain, aloni^ its side or flank, inland to
Chipi)ewa, beyond the Falls; and you are
whirled alon<j:, not by steam, but by three
trotting horses, at a raj)id rate, throui^h a
wood road, until you reach the Falls, where
you obtain just a glimpse and no more of the
Cataract.

On the top of the mountain, as a hill four
or five hundred feet above the river is called,
is a place which was the scene of an awful
accident. The precipice wall of the gorge of
the Niagara is very close to the road, but
hidden from it by stunted firs and bushes.
Colonel Nichols, an ofllicer well known and
distinguished in the last American war, was
returning one winter's night, when the fresh
snow rendered all tracks on the road im-
perceptible, in his sleigh with a gallant
liorse. Merrily on they went ; the night w^as
dark, and the road makes a sudden turn just

234.

CANADA AND

at tlio l)riiik, to dosccnd l)y a circiiituus sweep
the face of tli(* liill into (v^ucoiiston. Either
the <lriver or thohorso niistnok the patli, and,
instead of turniii<]: to the loft, went on cdiiiiiL!'
to tlie ri<;ht.

The next (hiy searcli was made*: tlie marks
of strn^uTmi;' were ohserved on the snow ; ihc
horse laid evidently observed his dan<»'er ; lie
had floundered and dashed wildly about ; bul
horse, sleii>'h, and driver, went down, down,
down, at least two hundred feet into the
abyss below ; and suHicient only remained to
bear witness to the terrific result.

The railroad (three horse power) takes you
to the Falls or to Cliipi)ewa. If you intend
visitin<»' the former, and desire to <^'0 to the
Clifton House, the best hotel there, you are
droi)ped at ^Ir. Lanty Mac Gilly's, where the
four roads meet, one ^"oino- to the Ferry, one
to Drummondville, a villau'c at Lundy's Lane,
now cut off from the main road ; the other
you came by, and the continuation of Mliicli
goes to Chippewa, wdiere a steamer, called the
Emerald, is ready to take you to the city of

Tin: CANADIANS.

iJiiHalo ii) tlio riiitecl States. As I sluill return
hy way of llulDilo from the oxtrcino west of
Canada, wc will say not a wonl ahoiit any
tliinpf further on this ronte at ]>rosont than
the Tails, and perhaps the reader may think
the less that is said ahopt them the better.

But, n^entlc reader, althou^^h it he a well-
worn tale, 1 had not seen the I'alls for live
years, and T wish to tell you whether they are
altered or improved ; and most likely you will
take some little interest in so old a friend as
the Falls of Xiag-ara ; ibr you must have read
about those before you read Robinson Crusoe,
and have had them thrust under your notiee
by every tourist, from Troll()i)e to Dickens.

ley say, on

(lit. I

mean, which is not trans-

latable into Enii^lish, that this is the a<>'e of
Materialism and Utilitarianism. ]>y (jJeor<;e,
you Mould think so indeed, if you had
the chance of seeing the Falls of Niagara
twice in ten years. They are materially
injured by the Utilitarian mania. The Yankees
put an ugly shot tower on the brink of the
Horseshoe at the bcirinninu" of that era, and

236

CANADA AND

they are about to consummate the barbarism,
by throwing a wire bridge, if the Britiish go-
vernment is consenting, over the river, just
below the American Fall. But Niagara is a
splendid " Water Privilege," and so thought
the Company of the City of the Falls — a most
enlightened body of British su])jects, who first
disfigured the Table Rock, by putting a water-
mill on it, and now are adding the horror of
gin - palaces, with sundry ornamental boot! s
for the sale of juleps and sling, all along the
venerable edge of the precipice, so that
trees of unequalled beauty on the bank
above, trees which grow no where else in
Canada, are daily falling before the monster
of gain.

What they will do next in their freaks it
is difficult to surmise; but it requires very
little more to show that patriotism, taste,
and self-esteem, are not the leading features
in the character of the inhabitants of this part
of the world.

If the Colossus of Rhodes could be re-
modelled and brought to the Falls, one leg

THE CANADIANS.

237

standing in Canada, and the other in the
United States, there would he a company im-
mediately formed for hydraulic purposes, to
convey a waste pipe from the tips of the
fingers as far as Buffalo ; and another to light
the paltry village of Manchester, all mills
and mint-juleps, with the natural gas which
would be made to feed the lamp. A grog-
shop would be set up in his head ; telescopes
would be poked out of his eyes, and philo-
sophers would seat themselves on his toes, to
calculate whether the waters of the British
Fall could not be dammed out, so as to turn a
few cotton mills more in Man-chester, as it is
called, which scheme some Canadian worthy
would upset, by resorting to Mr. Lyell's proof
that the whole river might once have flc ved,
and may again be made to flow, down to
St. David's — thus, by expending a few mil-
lions, cutting off Jonathan's chance.

But it is of no use to joke on this subject;
Niao-ara is, both to the United States and to
England, but especially to Canada, a public
property. It is the greatest wonder of the

238

CANADA AND

visible world here below, and should be pro-
tected from the rapaciiiy of private specu-
lations, and not made a Greenwich fair of;
where pedlars and thimble-riggers, niggers
and barkers, the lowest trulls and the vilest
scum of society, congregate to disgust and
annoy the visitors from all parts of the world,
plundering and pestering them without con-
trol.

The only really pretty thing on the British
side is the Museum, the result of the inde-
fatigable labours of Mr. Barnett, a person
who, by his own unassisted industry, has
gathered together a most interesting collec-
tion of animals, shells, coins, &c., and has
added a garden, in which all the choicest
plants and (lowers of North America and of
Britain grow, watered by the incessant spray
of the Great Fall. In this garden I saw, for
the first time in Canada, the English holly,
the box, the heath, and the ivy ; and there
is a willow from the St. Helena stock.

It requires unremitting watchfulness, how-
ever, to keep all this together, for loafers are

SBw^^

THE CANADIANS.

'JSO

rife ill these parts. He had gathered a very
choice collection of co'ns, which was placed
in a glass case in the ^Insouin. A loafer cast
his eye upon them, visited the Museum fre-
quently, until he fully comprehended the
whereabouts, and then, by the help of a com-
rade or two, broke a window-pane, passed
through a ghized division of stufTed snakes,
ike, and bore off his prize in the dead of the
night. Wy advertising in time, and by dint
0^ much exertion, the greater part was re-
covered, but the proprietor has not dared
publicly to exhibit them since.

He is now forming a menagerie, and also
has a collection of fossils and minerals from
the neighbourhood, with a camera obscura.
He is, in short, a specimen of what untiring
industry can accomplish, even when un-
assisted.

There are some tulip-trees near the Falls,
hut this plant does not grow to any size so
far north ; and, although native to the soil,
it is, perhaps, the extreme limit of its range.
The snake-wood, a sort of slender bush, is

240

CANADA AND

found here, with very many other rare
Canadian plants, which are no doubt fostered
by the continual humidity of the place ; and,
if you wish to sup full of horrors,^ Mr. Bar-
nett has plenty of live rattlesnakes.

To wind up all, the Americans are goin^
to put up another immense gin-palace on the
opposite shore ; and, as a climax to the ex-
cellent taste of the vicinage, they are about
to place a huge steamboat to cross the rapids
at the foot of the Manchester Falls. The
next speculation, as I hinted above, must be
to turn the Niagara into the Erie, or into the
Welland Canal, and make it carry flour,
grind wheat, and do the duty which the
political economists of this thriving place
consider all rivers as alone created for.

One traveller of the Utilitarian school bas
recorded, in the traveller's album at the Fall:,

' This puts me in mind of the vulgar received opinion
that my godfather Fuseli supped on pork-steaks, to have
horrid dreams. Originally said in joke, this absurd story
has been repeated even by persons affecting respectability
as writers. His Greek learning alone should have saved
his memory from this.

THE CANADIANS.

241

the number of n^allons of water runnlnir over
to waste per minute ; and another writes,
'* What an almighty splash !"

I went once more to see the Burning
Spring, and have no doubt whatever that the
City of the Falls, that great pre eminent
humbug, if it had been built, might have
easily been lit by natural gas, as it abounds
every where in the neighbourhood, the rock
under the superior Silurian limestone being
a shale containing it, as may be evidenced by
those visitors, who are persuaded to go under
" the Sheet of Water," as the place is called
wliere the Table Rock projects, and purt of the
cataract slides over it ; for, on reaching the
angle next to the spiral stair, a strong smell
i>^ plainly perceptible, something between
rotten eggs and sulphur ; and there you find
a little trickling spring oozing out of the pre-
cipice tasting of those delectable compounds.

A Yankee, with the soaring imagination of
that imaginative race, proposes to set fire to
tlio Ilorse-shoe Fall, and thus get up a grand
nocturnal exhibition, to which tl»e Surrey

VOL. I. M

0,10

CANADA AND

Zoological pyi'oiochny would botir tlio saiiio
ratio as a sky-rocket to Vesuvius.

Tliere is no Gfreat impossibility in tliis f;irt,
if it was " not a fact" that the rush of the
Fall disturbs the superincumbent <j^ases too
much to permit it ; for there can be but little
<loubt that there is plenty of materiel at hand,
and, some day or other, a lighthouse will be
lit with it to guide sleepy loons and other
negligent water-fowl over the Falls. I won-
der they do not get up a Carburetted Hy-
drogen Gas Company there, with a suitable
engineer and railway, so that visitors might
cross over to Goat Island on an atmospheric
line There are plenty of railway stags on
both shores, if you will only buy their stock
to establish it ; and, at all events, it would
improve the City of the Falls, which now
exhibits the dej)lorable aspect of three stuc-
coed cottages turned seedy, and a bare com-
mon, in place of a magnificent grove of
chestnut trees, which formerly almost rival-
led Greenwich Park;

But the crowning glorv of " the Citv" i>

the J
Tabli
^i'Je,
monk

tllOUii

touch
the ^^
follow
that n

THE CANADIANS.

24S

Lint'

not,

tlio

too
ittlo
iiiiul,
11 be
Dtliev
won-

llv-
itJiblt'

vht

lei'ic
s on
tock
would
now
stuc-
coni-
)ve of
vival-

tlio Iloflccting Panfodn, a lliiii<j: ])crclic(l ovor
Table Rock ])aiik, very like a lin,oe pile en-
gine, witli a teii-sliillino: mirror, wliere tlie
monkey should be. l*)lessiiio-s on Time !
tlioiijj^h he is a very thouo-htless roi>Mie, he has
touched this o-rand effort of huuum o-cnius in
the wooden line sli^^htly, and it will soon
follow the horrid water-mill which stood on
that most sino^ular and indescribable freak of
Nature, the Table Rock. I would have for-
tiiven Lett, the sympathizer, if, instead of
assassination and the blowino-up of l^rock's
Monument, he had confined his attentions to
a little serious Guv Fauxiiiff at the ^lill and
the Reflectinf]^ Paooda.

Niaofara — Xe-aw-ofaw-rah, thoii thundering'
water! thy glories are departino- ; the abomi-
nable Railway Times has driven alonu' thv
bonlers ; and, if I should live to see thee
airain ten years hence, verily I should not be
astounded to find thee locke<l-up, and a
station-house starin^y me in the visaoe, from
that emerald bower, in thv most mvsterious
recess, where the vapour is rose-coloured, and

M 2

'M.i

CANADA AN1»

tlio hriiilit rainbow alone now forms tlio luidiic
from (ho Iris l^ock !

I was so (lisoiistod to soo {\w spirit of ]hA\\
(hat oo]ic(Mftration of self, liov(M'in«»' ov<m* oik-
of (ho hist of tho wonders of tlio worhl, that
I nishod to the ThnM^ llorso Uailway, and
soon forgot all mv misery in s('rand)lin<'' for ii
place ; for then* was no alternative. Then*
W(M'e only three earriaii'es and one* open cart
on th(* rail ; the thrcM* aiistoeratic convenicMiees
were fnll ; and tlie coal-hox — for it lookcMJ
very like one — was fnll also, of loafers and
luii'H'aii'O ; so I despaired of qnittini>' the I'alis
almost as mneh, by way of halanee, as I
rejoiced when they once ao^ain met my ken.

But women are women all the world over;
a hlack lady nursed ^lunoo l*ark, when lio
was abandoned by the world ; and a chari-
table she-Samaritan crowdi>ed to make room
for a disconsolate wayfarer.

I felt very much as the nig-ger's parrot at
New York did.

Blacky was selling a parrot, and a gentle-
man asked him Mhat the bird could do. Coultl

lie sp(
all."
peaky,
then, (
*M)h!
So, wli
Jiie in
tliat, w
kindnc!
olfers i
Tlier
vellers
•d fund
occasioi
tiveiie.ss
possess

HH'S il

•'Hid no^

Xew

the fol]

word y

• ^MlgeO!"

^0 that,
«'^fter all

Till-: CANADIANS.

Q I :>

r oiR'

tliat

, juul

i'or u

II cart

ilMU'OS

ookod

rs [intl

' Falls

as 1

von.

over ;

on lu^

cliari-
3 room

rrot at

o-cntlp*
Couia

lie s|)ojik wcin " \o, inassji ; no pojiky at
all/' " (un lio siiiu;?" — " N(), iiiassa; no
jH'aky, no sin^^y/' *' Why, what (;an lir do,
th(Mi, that you ask t\\<'nty dollars for him ? "
*M)li! Hiassa, ^olly, he thiidvy dnjadt'ul niutdi."
So, whon tho dau^^htiM- of Vau made way for
mo in the rail-oar, why I thiidcy vory irnch,
that, whorover a stran<]^<M' moots nnoxjR'otod
kindnoss, it is snro to 1)0 a woman that
tiers it.

There wore tho usual host of American tra-
vellers in the cars ; and as one generally gets
a fund of anecdote and amusement on these
occasions, from their habits of communica-
tiveness, I shall put the lMi<»lish reader in
possession of the meani!!<^ of words he often
sees in the perusal of American newspapers
and novels which I <^atliered.

New York is the Empire State, and with
tlic followin<^ comprises Yankee land, which
word Yankee is most properly a corruption of
Vengeese, the old Indian word for English ;
so that, by parity of reasoning, John Bull is,
after all, a Yankee.

2t()

CANADA AM)

Mas'^achusctts . . . The IJay State, Steady Habits,

liliode Ishuul . . . IMaiitation State.

X'ennont lianner State, or (ireeu Moun-
tain IJoys.

New Ilanipshire . The (Iranite State.

Connecticut .... Freestone State.

Maine Luniher State.

These are the Yankees, par (M'ccIIphcc ; and
it is not polite or even civil for a traveller to
consider or mention any of the other States
as labonrin<j: nnder the idea that they ever
conld, by any possibility, be considere<l as
Vaidcees ; for, in the South, the word ^^'lnk('e
is almost equivalent to a tin pedlar, a sharp,
Sam Slick.

Tennsylvania is Tlic Keystone State.
New Jersey . . The Jersey (pronounced Jar-
say) IJlucs.
Delaware ... . Little Delaware.
Maryland ... . Monumental.
Virginia The Old Dominion, and some-
times the Cavaliers.

. Rip ^'an Winckle.

. The Palmetto State.

. Pine State.

. The IJuckeyes.

. The Corncrackers.

. Alabama.

. The Lion's Den.

NTortli Carolina
South Carolina
(leorgia ....

Ohio

Kentucky . .
Alabama . . .
Tennessee . . .

Tin: CANADIANS.

Missouri . . .
Illinois ....
Indiaiiii . . . .
Micliijjfaii . . .
.Vrkaiisas . . .
I^ouisiana . . .
Mississippi . .

. The Pukes.
. 'riie Suckers.
. The Iloosicrs.
. The Wolverines.
. The Tooth pickers.
. The Creole State.
. The IJorder Beagles.

I Jo not know what ole<,^:int names have
been given to the Floridas, the Iowa, or any
of the other territories, })iit no doubt they are
equally signin'iant. Texas, I su|)i)ose, vv'ill be
called Annexation State.

This information, although it appears fri-
volous, is very useful, as without it much of
the perpetual war of i)olitics in the States
cannot be understood. Yankee in Europe is
a sort of byword, denoting repudiation and
all sorts of chicanery ; but the Yankee States
are more English, more 'ntellecti .1, and more
enterprising than all the rest put together ;
and Pennsylvania should be enrolled among
them.

In short, in the north-east you have the
cool, calculating, confident, and persevering
Yankee; in the south, the fiery, somewhat

218

CANADA AND

jiristornitic, bold, iind iniromjuonii^iii;^ Aiiie-
ricjiii, full of talent, but with his (Mier<j;ie8 a
littlo slackoiiod by his jiroxiiiiity to the o(|Ua-
tor and his habitual use of slave assistance.

In the central States, all is proijfressive ; a
more agricultural i)0])ulation of mixed races,
as energetic as the Yankee, but not ]>ossess-
ing his advantages of a seaboard. The Western
States are the pioneers of civilization, and
have a dauntless, less educated, and mon*
turbulent character, approaching, as you <lra\v
towards the setting sun, very much to the half-
horse, half-alligator, and paving the way for
the arts and sciences of Euroi)e with the rifle
and the axe.

It is these Western States and the vast
labouring population of the seaboard, who
have only their manual labour to maintain
them, without property or without possessions
of any kind, that control the legislature, their
numerical streuijfth beating:- and bearinfj down
mind, matter, and wealth.

Doubtless it is the bane of tbe republican
institution, as now settled in North America,

Tin: CANADIANS.

249

lli!»t every niaii, woinan, and child, in order
to assert their e(|Uality, must meddle with
matters far above the comprehension of a
;;reat majority; for, altlioii^^h the people of
the UnitiMl States can, as (ieor<^-e the Third so
piously wished for the people of iMigland,
read their bihle, whenever they are inclined to
do so, yet it is beyond possibility, as human
nature is constituted, that all can be endowed
with the same, or any thin*,^ like the same,
faculties. Too much learnin;^ makes theni
mad ; and hence the constant dan<^er of dis-
ruption, from opposiiif^ interests, which the
masses — for the word mob is not applicable
here — must always enforce. The north and
the south, the east and the west, are as dissi-
milar in habits, in thought, in action, and in
interests, as Young Russia is from Old Kng-
land, or as republican 1^' ranee w^as from the
monarchy of Louis the Great.

Hence is it that a Canadian, residing, ;is it
were, on the Neutral Ground, can so much
better appreciate the tone of feeling in Ame-
rica, as the United States' people love to call

M 5

MHMMMM

f) '■,

."iO

(ANAPA AM)

tlioir I'oimtry, th.-ni an l^n^•lisllI^:nl, Scolcli-
ni.in, or Irislimaii axu ; for lion^ aiv visiM(>
tlio v(M"v spriiios that roi^iilato tin* niacliiiuM'v,
wliicli arc covonMl and liidddi l)V tlu' vms(
s\yAcc oi'tlio Atlantic. \on can form no idea
of the AiniM'ican (diaractiM* 1)V tlic nicrcliants,
trav(dlinu- ucntry, or diplomatists, wlio visit
London and tlic seaports. Von must liave
Icnui'tlicncd and daily opportunities of ol>-
scrvinu' the pco])lc of a new country, wliert^ ;i
new principle is workimif, hefore you can ven-
ture safely to pronounce an attempt even at
iudu:ment.

Monsieur rocqueville, who is always lauded
to the skies for his philosophic and truly ex-
traordinary view of vVnieriean policy and in-
stitutions, has perhaps heen as imparti;d al-
most repuhlican writers since the days of the
enthusiast Volnev, on the merits or demerits

of the monarchical and democratic system?
yet his opinions

IS are to be listened to vcrv

cautiously, for the leaven was well mixed in
his own cake before it was matured for con-
sumption by the public.

hut
cause
Th
the II
been
them
sioiis.

Till': CANADIANS.

'jr>i

W(*ak jind pn^judiccMl minds nuuMvi* t\ui
iloctriiicH of :i pliilosoplKM* lik(; 'r()(M|iiovill(' as
dictations: he jnonouiicod r,// cdllu'dra liis
doctrines, and it is iKTcsy to li^jiinsay them.
\'(*t, as an ahli^ wiitcr in tliat universal hook,
'' The Times," says, reason and history read
a dillerent sermon.

That democracy is an csscFitial principle,
jMid must sooner or later prevail amon^^^st all
l)e()j)le, is very analogous to the prophecy of
Miller, that the material world is to he rolled
u}) as a garment, and shrivelled in the fire on
the thirteenth day of some month next year,
ov the year after.

These fulminatioiis are very send^lable to
those of the jjopes — harmless corruscations —
a sort of aurora barealis, erratic and splendid,
hut very unreal and very unsearchable as to
cause and elVect.

There can be, however, very little <loubt in
the mind of a person whose intellects have
been carefully developed, and who has used
them (juietly to reason on apparent conclu-
sions, that the form of government in the

i>;"52

CANADA AND

United States has answered a ])urpose liitlierto,
and tliat a wise one ; for the inii)atience of
control which every new-comer from the Old
WorM naturally feels, when he discovers that
he has only escaped the dominion of lon<j^-
established custom to fall under the more
despotic dominion of new opinions, prompts
him, if he dillers, and he always naturally
does, where so many opinions are suddenly
hrought to light and forced on his acqui-
escence, to move out of their sphere. Hence
emigration westward is the result ; and hence,
for the same reasons, the old seaboard States,
whore the force of the laws operates more
strongly than in the central regions, annually
pour out to the western forests their masses
of discontented citizens.

The feeling of old Daniel Boone and of
Leather Stockings is a very natural one to a
half-educated or a wholly uneducated man, and
no doubt also many quiet and respectable
people get harassed and tired of the caucusing
and canvassing for political power, which is
incessantly going on under the modern system

THE CANADIANS.

Qo.i

uf things ill America, and tcike up their hoiise-
hohl gods to seek out the hind llowiiig with
milk jind honey beyond the wihlerness.

No person can imagine the constant turmoil
of politics in the Northern States. The writer
already quoted says, that there is " one sin-
gular proof of the general energy and capacity
for business, which early habits of self-depen-
dence have produced ; — almost every Ame-
rican understands politics, takes a lively
interest in them (though many abstain under
discouragement or disgust from taking a prac-
tical part), and is familiar, not only with the
affairs of his own township or county, but
with those of the State or of the Union ;
almost every ma i reads about a dozen news-
papers every day, and will talk to you for
hours, (tafif hien ijue mal) if you will listen
to him, about the tariff and the Ashburton
treaty."

And he continues by stating that this l>y
no means interferes with his private alfairs ;
on the contrary, he appears to have time for
both, and can reconcile '*the pursuits of a

25i

CANADA AND

))ustlint( politician and a steady man of busi-
ness. Such a union is rarely found in Eng-
land, and never on the Continent."

But what is the result of such a union of
versatile talent ? Politics and dollars absorb
all the time which might be used to advantage
for the mental aggrandizement of the nation ;
and every petty pelting quidnunc considers
himself as able as the President and all his
cabinet, and not only plainly tells them so
every hour, but forces thcuj to act as he wills,
not as wisdom wills. There is a Senate, it is
true, where some of this popular fervour gets
a little cooling occasionally : but, although
tl.ere are doubtless many acute minds in
power, and n^any great men in public situa-
tions, yet the majority of the people of intel-
lect and of wealth in the United States kee})
aloof whilst this oi der of things remains : for,
from the penny-postman and the city sca-
venger 10 the very President himself, tlic
qualification for oflice is popular subservi-
ency.

Thus, when Mr. Polk thunders from the

THE CANADIANS.

iir>r)

Capitol, it is most likely not Mr. Polk's lioait
that utters such warlike notes of preparation,
but Mr. Polk would never be re-elected, if he
(lid not do as his rulers bid him do.

It may seem absurd enough, it is never-
theless true, that this political furor is carried
into the most obscure walks of life, and the
Americans themselves tell some good stories
about it; wdiile, at the same time, they con-
stantly din your ears with " the destinies of
the Great Republic,'' the absolute certainty
of universal American dominion over the Xew
World, and the rapid decay and dovnfall of
the Old, which does not appear fitted to
receive pure Democracy.^

They tell a good story of a political court-
ship in the **New York Mercury," as decidedly
one of the best things introduced in a late
political campaign : —

' One of the speakers aj^ainst time, in a late debate on the
Oregon (jiiestion, quoted those fine lines about " The flag
that braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze,"
and said its glory was departing before the Stars and Stripes,
which were to occupy its place in the event of war, from this
time forth and for ever.

QoC)

CAN A 1 /A AND

*' Iiiasinucli," says the editor, " as all the
States hereabouiM have conchideJ their la-
bours in the presidential contest, we think
we run no risk of upsettin<,^ the constitution,
or treadin^^ upon the most fastidious toe in
the universe, by aifording our readers the
same hearty laugh into which we were be-
trayed.

" Jonathan walks in, takes a seat and looks
at Sukey ; Sukey rakes up the fire, blows out
the candle, and don't look at Jonathan. Jo-
nathan hitches and wriggles about in his
chair, and Sukey sits perfectly still. At length
he musters courage and speaks —

" * Sewkey?'

*' * Wall, Jon-nathan V

*' * 1 love you like pizan and sweetmeats V

*' ' Dew tell.'

** ' It's a fact and no mistake — wi — will —
now — will you have me — Sew — ky?'

" * Jon — nathan llig — gins, what am your
politics ?'

** *rm for Polk, straight.'

*' Wall, sir, yew can walk straight to

Tlir: CANADIANS.

0-, 7

liiim, cos [ won't liiive nobody tli;it aiirt for
Clay ! tliat's a fact.'

" ' Throe cheers for the Miil 15oy of the
SUishes !' sung ^.iit Jonatlian.

'' ' That's your sort,' says Sukcy. ' When
sliall we be married, Jon — nathan V

" ' Soon's Clay's e— lect—ed.'

'* ' Ahem, ahem !'

" ' What's the matter, Sukey ?'

" * Sposing he ain't e — lect — ed ?'

" We came away."

Verily, Monsieur De Tocqueville, yon are in
tiie right — democracy is an inherent princiide.

But the train is progressing, and we are
passing Lundy's Lane, or, as the Americans
call it, "The Battle Ground," where a bloody
ti^dit between Democracy and Monarchy took
place some thirty years ago, and where

" The bones, unburied on the naked phiin,"

s«till are picked up by the grubbers after
curiosities, and the very trees have the balls
still sticking in them.

Here woman, that ministering angel in tln^

Q'>S

CANADA AM)

lioiir of woe, porfoniHMl a pari in the (Immu
which is worth rehitim*-, as the source from
whicli I had the history is from the person
wlio owed so much to her, and whose <»*alhintry
was sc cons^ cuous.

Coloij' 1 1 '^z^^ibbon, then in the 49th re^n-
in*.Mit, ha. :Vig li^^ Ivertently got into a position
where his sword, peepin<^ from under his great
coat, immediately pointed him out as a British
officer, was seized by two American sohliers,
who had been (h'inking in the vilhige public-
house, and would either have been made pri-
soner or killed had not Mrs. Defield come to
his rescue.

Mr. Fitzgibbon w^as a tall, powerful, muif-
cular i)crson, and his captors were a rifleman
and an infantrv soldier, each armed with the
ritle and musket peculiar to their service.
By a sudden etfort, he seized the rifle of one
and the musket of the other, and turned their
muzzles from him ; and so firm was his grasj),
that, although unable to wrest the weapon
from either of them, they couM not change
the position,

THE CANADIANS.

Qji)

The liflemaii, rotjiiiiiiii;' his huhl of his rilh?
with OHO hantl, divw Mr. I''itzi»ihl)()ii's swonl
with the other, juk] Jitteiiipted to stub him in
the side. Whilst w;itchiii<;- his uplifted anii,
with the intent, if j)ossible, of receiving the
thrust in his own iinn, Mr. Fitz<>;il)hon })er-
ceived the two hands of ii woman suddeidy
clasp the rifleman's wrist, and carry it hehin^'
his back, when she and her sister wrench^ !
the sword from him, and ran and hid i^ ^:i
the cellar.

Mrs. Defield was the wife of the kee])e^ <;f
the tavern where this officer happened to have
arrived ; an old man, named Johnson, then
came forward, and with his assistance Mr.
Fitzgibbon took the two soldiers prisoners,
and carried them to the nearest gutird, al-
though at that moment an American detach-
ment of 150 men was within a hundred yards
of the place, hidden however from view by a
few young pine-trees.

I am sure it will please the British reader
to learn that the government granted 400
acres of the best land in the Talbot settle'

^200

CANADA AND

iiioiit to Ivlsviird DeliolcJ, tor his wife's and
sister iii-law's heroic conduct.

Yet, such is the influence of exanijde ui)on
unreflecting^ minds dwelling** on the frontiers
of Upper Cana<hi, that altliou^h in most in-
stances the settlers are in possession of farms
ori<i^inally free <;ifts from the Crown, yet
inanv of their sons were in arms a'^ainst that
Crown in 1837. Anion*:: these mis;^uided
youths was a son of Detield's, who surren-
dered, with tlio bri<^ands commanded by Von
Schultz, in the windmill, near Prescott, in
the winter of 1838. lie had crossed over
from 0<>'densbur<di, and was condemned to a
traitor's death.

From Ccdonel Fitz<^ibbon's statement to
the executive, this lad, in considenition of his
mother's heroism, was pardoned. Mrs. De-
fiehl is still living*.

The three horses en licorne tvot us on, and
we pass Luiidy's Lane, Bloody Run, a little
streamlet, whose waters were once dyed with
;4ore, and so back to Nia<j:ara, where I shall
take the liberty of sayiuij: a few v/ords coii-
cernino- the Welland Canal.

TIIK CANADIANS.

^GI

Tlio WoHiukI CaiiJil, tlio most importjiiit in
a comnicMcinl point of \\v\v of any on the
American continrnt — until tlmt of 'rdmantos-
so<rno, in Mexico, which i was once, in I82r>,
deputed to survey and cut, is formed, or that
other ])rojected throu^^h San Juan de Nica-
rapfua — was orii^nnally a mere jol>, or, as it
was called, a joh at hoth ends and a failure
in the middle, until it passed into the hands
of the local ^•()vernment. If there has been
any job since, it has not heen miide public,
and it is now a most efficient and well con-
ducted work, throu<>h which a very u'reat
portion of the western trade finds its way, iji
despite of that man^nificent vision of De Witt
Clinton's, the Krie Canal ; and when the
Welland is navij>able for the schooners and
steamers of the <>'reat hikes, it will absorb the
transit trade, as its mouth in T.ake I^rie is
free from ice several weeks sooner than the
harbour of Huttalo.

The old miserable wooden locks and bar^e-
way have been converted into splendi<l stone
walls and a ship navigation ; and, to give some

y02

CANADA AM)

l<lo!i of (Iw risiiiix iinport.Miicc of the Wi'lliiiid
CaiKil, I sliall Inirllv state that the tolls in 1 8.SC'
ain(Mmt(Mi to t'l?, t.']'J, in I SI- 1 ha<i risen to
.i'20,'Jl(), and in 1S13 to t2r),r>i:\ .S.v. \0\'/. :
and when the works are fairlv finishtMJ, whicdi
thov nearly aie, this will he trehhvl in the
first year; for it has l>e(Mi carefullv ealeii-
lated that the ^ross anionnt \\hi(di would
have j)assed of tonna^^e of lar^'e sailin*:; craft
only on the hikes, in 181.4, \\as '2(), lOO tons,
out of whieh only 7,000 had hefore heen able
to use the locks.

All the sailinuf vessels now, with the excep-
tion of three or four, can ])ass frocdy ; and
three lartre steam ])ropellers were huilt in
1814, whose a<i-«»'reo'ate toinia;:i'e amounted to
1,900 tons; they have commenced their rei»ular
trips as frei^^lit-vessels, for which they were
constructed, and have heen followed hv th(»

ilmost mcredilde use

lihh

of 1'

ricson s pro

])ropc

To show the Jiritish reader the importance
of this work, comiectiii<r, as it does, with the
St. Lawrence and Rideau Canals, the Atlantic
Ocean, and Lakes Suj)erior and Michigan, 1

TIIK CANAIHANS.

r;.3

slijill, .•iltlion^rh contnirv to n (h'tcrrnin.'ition
\utu\o U) ^ivc iiotliiiiu' in this work Imt tlie re-
sults of personal iiis|)('('ti(m or ol>s(Mvjition, us(»
the scissors and paste for once, and thu- phice
un<h'rvic\va tahleof all the arti(des which ar<»
carried thronuh this main art(M"v of Canadji, 1
which hotli import and export trade mnv I
viewed as in a mirror, and this too heforc tl
canal is fairlv linisjied.

»v

WHiJ.AXI) CANAL.

AMOINT <»K IU01M;KTY i'ASSKI* TlUUilCU, AM) TOLI.^
('(M-LF-.CTKI). 1 844.

Ik'cfand jjork

Asl

our

JC'S

Ikcr and cider

Salt

Whiskey

riastcr

Fruit and nuts

IJuttcr and lard

Seeds .

Tallow

^^'ater-liIl ■ .

ritch and tar

rish .

Oatmeal

Beeswax

barrels, 41,f)7fi|

Empty

do.
do.

lo.

do.

lo.

do.

.3,41 -J
2l;J,212

470
4,(;;{!)i
1,4-J9]
1,1 s-J

I'j

,<>>

1 ;}'j

.3()

3,044

9(U

CANADA AND

Oil

Soap
\'int'giir
Molasses
Caledonia water
Saw logs
Hoards

Scjuare timber
Half Hatted do.
Kouiid do.
Staves, pipe .

Do. W. 1.

Do. flour barrel
Sbiugles
Kails .
Hacked hoo])s
Wheat
Corn
liar ley .
Kye .
Oats .
Potatoes
Peas .
liiitter and lard
Merchandize .
Coal .
Castinj^s
Iron
lobacco
(irindstones ,
Plaster
Hides .
Jiacon and Hams

barrels,

do.

•24

do.

No.

10,411

feet.

7,41)3,574

ibic ieet

, 4!)0,.1-25

do.

13,<>2'2

do.

'J0,H7i)

do.

(i30,()0-J

do.

i,if)7,yH;

do.

1.30,.'500

do.

330,400

do.

1 -2,318

do.

.>!),300

jushels.

•2,1 •22,51)2

do.

73,328

do.

930

do.

142

do.

5,653

do.

7,311

do.

13H

ke<rs,

4,66f)

tons.

11,318 16

do.

1,681) 7

do.

211 6

do.

1,748 10

do.

140 7

do.

151 14

do.

1,491 10

do.

101 15

do.

307

THE CANADIANS.

^65

Bran and sliorts

^VattT'lime

Uajrs

Ikinp

^V()oI .

Leather

Cheese .

Marble

Stone

Firewood

Tan hark

Cechir posts

Hoop tin)her

Knees

Small packages

I'unips

l'assen<ifers

Sleighs

>V}iggons

Pails

Horses

I'longhs

I'lirashing-niachines
(/otton

I'Vuit -trees
Sand

S(!h()()ners
I*ro{)eller8
Scows
I^oats
Uafts .
To image

Amount collected
VOL. I,

tons,

do.

231 11

441 7

do.
do.

500 11
IJ f)

do.
do.

f) 17
1 2

do.

1 10

cords,
do.
do.
do.

738i
3,2.i 1
957

do.

1(>

do.
No.

184
45!)

do.

lOi

do.
do.

3,2(1 li
2

do.

177

do.
do.
do.
do.
hales,

•2
25
18
25

l)undlcs,

'2i]H

uhic yards.
No.

10,778
2,121

do.

484

do.
do.

I,<>71
4

do.

118

327,.') 70
X2.5,.57.l :]s. IQJrf.

966

CANADA AND

CHAPTER IX.

The Great Fresh-water Seas of Canada.

A sentimental journey in Canada is not
like Sterne'sj all alK)ut corking-pins and re-
mises, monks and Marias, nor is it likely, in
this Mtilitaiian age, even if Sterne could bo
revived to write it, to be as immortal ; never
tlieJcss, let us ramble.

The Welland Canal naturally leads one to
reflect on the great sources of power spread
before the Canadian nation ; for, although il
will never, never be la nation Canadienuey
yet it will inevitably so^ne day or other be
the Canadian nation, and its limits the At-
lantic and the Pacific Oceans.

Presi<lent Polk — they say his name is an
abbreviation of Pollok — can u. more divo
into " the course of time" than that poet

THE CANADIANS.

2(37

s not
[id ri'-
ely, in
ikl bi'
never

ine to
isprejul

iw^h it
viriifir,

ler be

iie At-

is an

re <li>'«'

it poet

coukl 'lo, and it is about as vain for bim to
predict tbat tbe American bald ea<^le sball
claw all tbe fisb on tbe continent of tbe New
World, as it is to fancy tbat tbe time is never
to come wben tbe Canadian races, Norman-
Saxon as tbey are, sball not assert some
claim ♦^D tbe spoils.

Canada is now bappier under tbe dominion
of Victoria tban sbc coubl possibly be under
tbat of tbe people of tbe States, and sbe
knows and feels it. Tbe natural resources of
Canada are enormous, and dcve)opin<^ ibem-
selves every day; and it needs neitber Lyell,
nor tbe yet unbeard-of <i;eologists of Canacbi
to ])redict tbat tbe day is not far distant
wben ber iron mines, ber lead ores, ber coj)-
])or, and i)erbaps ber silver, will come into
tbe market.'

I see, in a pai)er lying before mo, tbat Co-
lonel Prince, a person wbo lias already (lou-
risbed before tbe public as an enterprisin^j^

' Since I peiined this, a company in forming to work
viiluiihlo nrj,'ontiterous copiKT-mincs liitcly discovered on
Lake Su])erior. The Americans arc actuiiUy workinjj rich
mines of silver, copper, &c.

N 2

QGS

CANADA AND

Eiif^Hsh fiirmiiifir oontleiiian, ulio conibi?iofl
the long robe with the red coat, has, with a
worthy patriotism, obtained a very lar^^e
^^rant of hinds from the government to ex-
plore the shore of l-.ake Superior, in order to
find whether the Yankees are to have all the
C()|>j)er to themselves ; and that, in searching
a little to the eastward of St. Mary's Kapiils,
a very valuable de])Osit has been discovered,
which has stimulated other adventurers, who
liave found another mine nearer the onth'' of
(he lake and still more valuable, the copj)er
of which, lying near the suiface, yields !".ome-
wliere about seventy-five per cent.^

'^ rooont miiul)cr of " 'liu- Scientific Aiucri'^an," puli-
liflic'd ill New Y>»rk, v>».ii:!i«r< tlie f(ill()\\iiijj^ : — Souk
of tlif British oUiccrs in t'anada have lately made an
important discoverv of sonic of the lichcst coppcr-niiiic*
in the world. 'I'his discovery has created great excitement
Sonic of the ofHcers. rn route to lln<iland, arc now in the
city, and will carry with them s<»me specimens of the ore,
and among them one j)i(.cc ueighing 2,"J()0llis. 'J'he ore
is very ricli, yiilding, as we learn, seventy -two per cent, oi'
pnre copper. Some of the cojiper was taken from the hed
of a river, and some l)rt)ken oti from a dill' on the hanks.
'J'he latter is six feet long, four broad, and six inches thick.

THE CANADIANS.

2G9

AVe know tliiit rich iron ininos exist, and
are steadily worked in Lower Canada; we
know that a vast deposit of iron, one of the
Hnest in the worhl, lias latelvbeen discovered
on the Ottawa, a river in the townshi]) of
]SrXah ; and we know that nothini^ j)revents
the ^[arniora and Madoc iron from heini^
used hut the finishinp^ of the Trent navii>;a-
tion. Lead ahoiinds on the Sananoqni river,
and at Clinton, in the Niai^ara district ;
whilst plumbago, now so useful, is abun<lant
throu<>'hout the line, where the primary and
secondary rocks intei*sect each other. Mr,
J^ou^an, emplo^'ed by the government, <'./• ra-
thritra, says there is no coal in Canada ; but
still it appears that in the Ottawa country it
is very possible it may be found, and that, if
it is not. Cane Breton and the Cas])e land

will furnish it in abundance ; and, as Canad.*
may now fairly be said to be all the Novell
American territory, embraced between 'he
Pacific somewhere about the Columbia river,
Nova Scotia rmd Xew Brunswick, for a politi-
cal union exists between all these provinces,

J270

CANADA AND

if an acknowlcdf^ed one does not, coal will
yet be plentiful in Canada.

Canada, thus limited, is now, dc facto ^ ay,
and de jure, British North America ; and a
fair field and a fertile one it is, peopled by a
race neither to be frightened nor coaxed out
of its birthright.

The advantages of Canada are enormous,
much greater, in fact, than they are usually
thought to be at home.

The ports of St. John*s and of Halifax,
without mentioning fifty others, are open all
the year round to stoamcrs and sea-going
vessels ; and when railroads can at all seasons
bring their cargoes into Canada proper, then
shall we live six months more than during
tlie present torpidity of our long winters.
John Jiull, transported to interior Canada, is
very like a Canadian black bear : he sleeps
six months, and growls during the remaining
gix for his food.

Then, in summer, there is the St. Lawrence
covered with ships of all nations, the canals
carrying their burthens to the far West and

THE CANADIANS.

271

will

then

the great mediterraneans of fresh water,
opening a country of unknown resources and
extent.

These great seas of Canada have often
engaged my thoughts. Tideless, they flow
ever onward, to keep up the level of the
vast Atlantic, and in themselves are oceans.
How is it that the moon, that enormous
blister-plaster, does not raise them? Simply
because there is some little error in the very
accurate computations which give all the
regulations of tidal waters to lunar in-
fluences.

Barlow, one of the mathematical master*
spirits of the age, was bold enough once to
doubt this vast power of suction on the part
of the ruler of the night ; and there were
certain wiseacres who, as in the case of (Ja-
lileo, thought it very religiously dangerous
indeed, to attempt to interfoie with her
privileges.

But, in fact, the phenomenon of the tides
is just as easy of exphuuition by the motion
of the earth as it is by the moon's presumed

272

CANADA AND

flriiikin.Gf propensities, uiul, as slio is fi lady,
lot us hope she has heen belied. The motion
uf the earth would not afVeet such narrow
bodies of water as the Canadian lakes, but
the moon's power of attraction would, if it
existed to the extent su})posed, be under
the necessity of doing' it, uidess she prefers
salt to fresh liquors.

One may venture, now-a-days, to express
such a doubt, })articularly as Madam Moon is
a Pa<j^an deity.

The <^reat lakes are, however, very extra-
ordinary in their way. Let us recollect what
I have seen and thoufj^ht of them.

We will commence with Lake Superior,
Aviiich is 400 miles in length, 100 miles
wide, and 900 feet deep, where it has been
sounded. It contains 32,000 square miles of
water, and it is 628 feet above the level of
the sea.

l^ake Michi^^an is 220 miles lono;, GO miles
wi<le, and 1,000 deep, as far as it has been
sounded ; contains 22,400 square miles, and
is 584 feet above tide-water ; but it is, in

THE CANADIANS.

273

fact, only ;i lar<»o Imy of Lake ITuroi], the
grand lake, wliich is 240 miles lon^i^, without
it avcrai»*inix 8f) miles in width, also averan:in<i^
1,000 feet <lee[), as far as soundinf^s have
heen tried, contains 20,100 square miles, and
is also about 584 feet above the tidal
waters.

OlY Saginaw Bay, in this lake, leads have
been sunk 1,800 feet, or 1,200 feet hohw
the level of the Atlantic, without findin<^
bottom.

(ireen Bay, an arm of Michigan, is in itself
100 miles long, 20 miles wide, and contains
2,000 square miles.

Lake St. Clair, 6 feet above Tiake Erie,
follows Jjake Huron; but it is a mere en-
largement of the St. Lawrence, of immense
size, however, and shallow : it is 20 miles
long, 14 wide, 20 feet deep, and contains
360 square miles.

Then comes Lake Krie, the Stormy Lake,
which is 240 miles long, 40 miles wide, 408
feet in its deepest part, and contains 9,600
square miles. Lake Erie is 56^ feet above

N 5

274,

CANADA AND

tide-water. Its average depth is 85 feet
only.

l.ake Ontario, the Beautiful Lake, is 180
miles long, 45 miles wide, 500 feet average
depth, where sounded successfully, but said
to be fatliomless in some places, find contains
6,300 square miles. It is 232 feet above the
tide of the St. Lawrence.

The Canadian lakes have been computed
to contain 1,700 cubic miles of water, or
more than half the fresh water on the globe,
covering a space of about 93,000 square
miles. They extend from west to east over
nearly 15 degrees and a half of longitude,
with a difference of latitude of about eight
and a half degrees, draining a country of
not less surface than 400,000 square miles.

The greatest difference is observable be-
tween the waters of all tliese lakes, arising
from soil, depth, and shores. Ontario is pure
and blue, Erie pure and green, the southern
part of Michigan nothing particular. The
northern part of Michigan and all Huron
are clear, transparent, and full of carbonic

THE CANADIANS.

27fi

gas, so that its water sparkles. But tlie ox-
traonliiiary transparency of the waters of all
these lakes is very surprisin«if. Those of
Huron transmit the rays of li<'ht to a great
deptli, and consequently, having no prepon-
derating solid matters in suspension, an e(|ua-
lization of heat (occurs. Dr. Drake ascer-
tained that, at the surface in summer, and at
two hundred feet below it, the temperature of
the water was 56".

One of the most curious things on the shal-
low parts of Huron is to sail or row over the
submarine or sublacune mountains, and to
feel giddy from fancy, for it is like being in
a balloon, so pure and tintless is the water.
It is, like Dolland's best telescopes, achro-
matic.

The lakes are subject in the latter portion
of summer to a phenomenon, which long
puzzled the settlers ; their surface near the
shores of bays and inlets are covered by a
bright yellow dust, which passed until lately
for sulphur, but is now known to be the farina
of the pine forests. The atmosphere is so

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Photographic

Sciences
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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80

(716) 872-4503

276

CANADA AND

inipres^nated with it fit tliese seasons, that
Avater-barrels, and vessels hohliiig water in the
open air, are covered with a thick scum of
I riglit yellow powder.

A curious oily substance also pervades the
waters in autumn, wdiich af^olutinates the
sand blown over it by the winds, and floats
it about in patches. I have never been able
to discover the cause of this ; perhaps, it is
petroleum, or the sand is magnetic iron. Sin-
gular currents and differently coloured
streams also appear, as on the ocean ; but, as
all the lakes have a fall, no weed gathers,
except in the stagnant bays.

The bottom of Ontario is unquestionably
salt, and no wonder that it should be so, for
all the Canadian lakes were once a sea, and
the geological formation of the bed of On-
tario is the saliferous rock.

I have often enjoyed on Ontario's shores,
where I have usually resided, the grand spec-
tacle which takes place after intense frost.
The early morning then exhibits columns of
white vapour, like millions of Geysers spout-

THE CANADIANS.

277

mjT lip to the sky, curliiij^, twistiii^^, shoothifv
upwards, gracefully formiiii^ spirals and
pyramids, amid the dark ground of the som-
bre heavens, and occasionally giving a peep
of little lanes of the dark waters, all else
being shrouded in dense mist.

People at home are very apt to despise
lakes, perhaps from the usual insipidity of
lake poetry, and to imagine that they can ex-
liibit nothing but very placid and tranquil
scenery. Lake Erie, the shallowest of the
great Canadian fresli water seas, very sooh
convinces a traveller to the contrary ; for it
is the most turbulent and the most trouble-
some sea I ever embarked upon — a region of
vexed waters, to which the Bermoothes of
Shakespeare is a trifle ; for that is bad enough,
but not half so treacherous and so thunder-
stormy as Erie.

Huron is an ocean, when in its might ; its
waves and swells rival those of the Atlantic ;
and the beautifnl Ontario, like many a lovely
dame, is not always in a good temper. I
once crossed this lake from Niagara to To-

278

CANADA AND

ronto late in November, in the Great Britain,
a steamer capable of holding a thousand men
with ease, and during this voyage of thirty-
six miles we often wished ourselves anywhere
else : the engine, at least one of them, got
deranged ; the sea was running mountains
high ; the cargo on deck was washed over-
board ; gingerbread-work, as the sailors call
the ornamental parts of a vessel, went to
smash ; and, if the remaining engine had failed
in getting us under the shelter of the wind-
ward shore, it would have been pretty much
with us as it was with the poor fellow who
went down into one of the deepest shafts of a
Swedish mine.

A curious traveller, one of " the inquisitive
class," must needs see how the miners de-
scended into these awful depths. He was put
into a large bucket, attached to the huge rope,
with a guide, and gradually lowered down.
When he had got some hundred fathoms or so,
he began to feel queer, and look down, down,
down. Nothing could he see but darkness
visible. He questioned his guide as to how

SsaapT"

THE CANADIANS.

279

live
de-
put
ope,
OAvn.
r so,
own,
LnesR
how

far they w^ere from the bottom, cautiously and
nervously. *' Oh," said the Swede, ** about
a mile." " A mile !" replied the Cockney :
" shall we ever get there ?" — " I don't know,"
said the guide. *' Why, does any accident
ever happen?" — " Yes, often." — '* How long
ago was the last accident, and what was it ?"
— " Last week, one of our women went down,
and when she had got just where we are now,
the rope broke." — " Oh, Heaven !" ejaculated
the inquisitive traveller, " what happened to
her?" The Swede, who did not speak very
good English, put the palm of his right hand
over that of his left, lifted the upper hand,
slapped them together with a clap, and said,
most phlegmatically — " Flat as a pankakka."
I once crossed Ontario, in the same direc-
tion as that just mentioned, in another steamer,
when the beautiful Ontario was in a towering
passion. We had a poor fellow in the cabin,
who had been a Roman Catholic priest, but
who had changed his form of faith. The
whole vessel w^as in commotion ; it was im-
possible for the best sea-legs to hold on ; so

280

CANADA AND

two or three who were not siil)ject to sea-
sickness got into the cabin, or saloon, as it is
called, and grasped any tliin_.»' in the way.
The long dinner-table, at which fifty j)eo[)lo
could sit down, gave a lee-lurch, and jammed
our poor relff/ioncry as Soutbey so affectedly
calls ministers of the word, into a corner,
where chairs innumerable were soon piled over
him. He abandoned himself to despair; and
long and loud were his confessions. On the
first lull, we extricated him, and put him into
a birth. Every now and then, he would call
for the steward, the mate, the captain, the
waiters, all in vain, all were busy. At last
his cries brought down the good-natured cap-
tain. He asked if we were in danger. ** Not
entirely," w^as the reply. *' What is it does it,
captain ? " — *' Oh, said the skipper, gruffly
enough, " we are in the trough of the sea,
and something has happened to the engine."
*' The trough of the sajj ?" — my friend was an
Irishman — " the trough of the say ? is it that
does it, captain ?" But the captain was gone.
During the whole storm and the remainder

THE CANADIANS.

281

it,

ea,

hat
me.
der

of the voyage, the poor ex -priest asked every
body that [)asse(l his refuge if we were out of
the trough of the say. " I know," said he,
" it is the trougli of the say does it." Xo
cooking could be performed, and we should
have gone dinnerless and supperless to bed, if
we had not, by force of steam, got into the
mouth of the Xia^ara river. All became
then comparatively tranquil ; she moored,
and the old Xiagara, for that was her name,
became steady and at rest. Soon the cooks,
stewards, and waiters, were at work, and din-
ner, tea, and suj)per, in one meal, gladdened
our hearts. The greatest eater, the greatest
drinker, and the most confident of us all, was
our old friend and companion of the voyage,
" the Trough of the Say," as he was ever after
called.

Such is tranquil Ontario. I remember a
man-of-war, called the Bullfrog, being once
very nearly lost in the voyage I have been
describing; and never a Xovendjer passes
without several schooners being lost or
wrecked upon Lakes Huron, Erie, and On-

282

CANADA AND

tario ; Avhilst the largest American steamers on
Erie sometimes suffer the same fate. When-
ever Superior is much navi<^ate(l, it will be
worse, as the seasons are shorter and more
severe there, and the shores iron-bound and
mountainous.

Through the Welland Canal there is now a
continuous navigation of those lakes for 844
miles ; and the St. Lawrence Canal being com-
pleted, and the La Chine Locks enlarged at
Montreal, there will be a continuous line of
shipping from London to the extremity of
Lake Superior, embracing an inland voyage
on fresh water of upwards of two thousand
miles. Very little is required to accomplish
an end so desirable.

It has been estimated by the Topographical
Board of Washington, that during 1843 the
value of the capital of the United States afloat
on the four lakes was sixty-five millions of
dollars, or about sixteen millions, two hun-
dred thousand pounds sterling ; and this did
not of course include the British Canadian
capital, an idea of which may be formed from

THE CANADIANS.

283

the confident nsscrtion that tbo Lakes have a
f^reater tonnage entering the Canadian ports
than that of the whole commerce of Britain
with her North American colonics. This is,
however, iin pen fort. It is now not at all
uncommon to see three-masted vessels on Lake
Ontario ; and one alone, in November last,
brouoht to Kinofston a frei(!:ht of flour which
before would have required three of the ordi-
nary schooners to carry, namely, 1500 barrels.

A vessel is also now at Toronto, wdiich is
going to try the experiment of sailing from
that port to the West Lidies and back again ;
and, as she has been properly constructed to
pass the canals, there is no doubt of her
success.

Some idea of the immense exertions made
by the government to render the Welland
Canal available may be formed by the size of
the locks at Port Dalhousie, which is the en-
trance on Lake Ontario. Two of the largest
class, in masonry, and of the best quality,
have been constructed : they are 200 feet
long by 45 wide ; the lift of the upper lock

284

CANADA AND

is 1 1, and of tlio lower, 12, wliicli varios \\\t\\
the level of Lake Ontario, the mitre sill being
12 feet below its ordinary surface. Steamers
of the lari»est class can therefore go to the
thrivin<»' villanfc of St. Catherine's, in the
midst of the granary of Caiiftda.

The La Chine Canal must be enlarged for
ship navigation more effectually than it has
been. I subjoin a list of colonial shipping for
1844 from Sinimonds' "Colonial ^Fagazine."

NUMHKu, Tonnage, and crews of vessels, which he-
longed TO THE SEVERAL BRITISH PLANTATIONS IN THE
YEAR 1844:

Countries.

Vessels.

Tons.

Crews.

Europe —

Malta,

15,326

893

Africa —

liathurst.

1,169

215

Sierra Leone,

1,148

111

Cape of Good

Hope,

Cape Town

3,090

205

Port Elizabeth,

201

Mauritius,

124

12,079

1,413

Asia —

Bombay,

113

50,767

3,393

Cochin,

5,()74

275

Tanjore,

5,070

257

Madras,

5,474

248

TIIK CANADIANS.

285

Countries.

Vessels.

Tons.

Crews.

Malacca,

288

Coiijigii,

3,3S4

126

Sin^faj)()rc,

l,.->43

289

Calcutta,

IMG

.^>,1779

2,004

Ccvlon,

(574

3(),07G

2,<;9G

Prince of Wales Is-

land,

99G

New Holland —

Sydney,

2oa

28,0.31

2,128

Melbourne,

1,240

147

Adelaide,

8G4

Ilohart Town,

103

7,153

724

Launccston,

3,150

257

New Zealand —

Auckland,

305

Wellington,

2G2

America —

Canada, (Quebec,

509

45,.3G1

2,590

" Montreal,

(iO

10,0!)7

55G

Cape Breton, Sydney,

3(i<)

15,048

1,296

" Arichat,

4,G14

335

New Brunswick, Mi-

raniichi,

10,143

509

St. Andrews,

193

18,391

918

St. John,

398

G3,G7G

2,480

Newfoundland, St.

John,

847

53,944

4,5G7

Nova Scotia, Halifax,

l,(Jo7

82,890

5,292

liiverpool.

2,G41

1G3

IMctou,

6,fl29

354

Yarmouth,

146

11,724

G37

J286

CANADA AND

Countries.

Vessels.

Tons.

Crews.

Prince Edward's Is-

tonna

land,

237

13,851

857

equal

West Indies, Antigua,

83S

220

which

I^ilianin,

140

3,2.52

587

1843,

]iarl)iuloe»,

1,640

305

Th(

JJerhice,

8r>4

m 184

IJernnida,

3,523

323

Denienira,

2,353

250

Duininicia,

502

Grenada,

812

198

Jamaica, Port Anto-

nio,

Antonio Bay,

Falmouth,

107

Kingston,

2,65!)

359

did St

^lontego Bay,

849

105

and a

;Morant Bay,

251

pewa,

and S(

Port Maria,

St. Ann's,

Savannah la ^lar,

153

to be

St. Lucca,

poses.

Montserrat,

100

Nevis,

178

Lai

St. Kitts,

546

114

steam

S. Lucia,

013

1.32

only a

St Vincent,

1,164

180

Tobago,

182

the e

Toitola,

277

127

which

Trinidad,

1,832

378

ments
Pro

Total,

7,304

502,839

40,659

THE CANADIANS.

287

It will 1)C ficcn, from the forcgoirij; Htatomcnt, that the
tonnage of the vessels lK.l(>ii^iii^ td our colonics is about
equal to that of the whole of the French mercantile marine,
which in JH41 consisted of 5!)'2,-2(;<) tons — lh42, 5hJ>,o17 —
lH4;i, .J!)!>,707.

The tonnage of the three principal ports of Great Britain
in 1844 was : —

London . . . /UJH/j.ia

Liverpool , . . ;J07,h.V2

Newcastle . . . •25!>,.'>71

Total l,lGJ,!i75

On Lake Erie, the Cjinadians have a splen-
did steamer, the London, Captain Van Allen,
and another still larger is bnilding at Chip-
pewa, which is partly owned by <^overnment,
and so constructed as to carry the mail and
to become fitted speedily for warlike pur-
poses.

Lake Ontario swarms with splendid British
steam-vessels ; but on Lake Huron there is
only at present one, called the Waterloo, in
the employment of the Canada Company,
which runs from Goderich to the new settle-
ments of Owen's Sound.

Propellers now go all the way to St. Jo-

288

CANADA AND

soph's, at the western extremity of Lake
Huron ; and the trade on this hike and on
Michigan is hecomin^^ absolutely astonisliintr.
Last year, a return of Americaii and foreign
vessels at Chicago, from the commencement
of navigation on the 1st of April to the 1st
of Novendjer only, shows that there arrived
151 steamers, 80 propellers, 10 brigs, and 142
schooners, making a total of 1,078 lake-going
vessels, and a like number of departures, not
including numerous small craft, engaged in the
carrying of wood, staves, ashes, &c., and yet,
such was the glut of wheat, that at the hitter
date 300,000 bushels remained unshipped.

Upwards of a million of money will be ex-
pended by the Canadian Government in pro-
tecting: and securin": the transit trade of the
lakes ; and the Canadians have literally gone
ahead of Brother Jonathan, for thev have
made a ship-canal round the Falls of Niagara,
whilst '* the most enterprising people on the
face of the earth," who are so much in advance
of us according to the ideas of some writers,
have been drearains: about it. — So much for

THE CANADIANS.

289

the welfare of the earth being co-equal with
democratic institutions, a la mode Fran-
faise !

TJie American government up to J 844 had
spent only 2> 100,000 dollars on the same ob-
jects, or about half a million sterling, accord-
ing to the statement of Mr. Whittlesey of
Ohio. But that government is actually
stirring in another matter, which is of im-
mense future importance, although it appears
trivial at this moment, and that is the opening
up of Lake Superior, where a new world offers
itself.

They have projected a ship-canal round, or
rather by the side of the rapids of St. Marie.
The length of this canal is said to be only, in
actual cutting, three-quarters of a mile, and
the whole expense necessary not more than
230,000 dollars, or about .€55,000 sterli'ig.

The British government should look in tin>e
to this ; it owns the other side of the Sault
St. Marie, and the Superior country is so rich
in timber and minerals that it is called the
Denmark of America, whilst a direct access

VOL. I. O

290

CANADA AND

hereafter to the Oregon territory and the Pa-
cific must be opened through the vast chain
of lakes towards the Rockj Mountains by way
of Selkirk Colony, on the lied River.

The lakes of Canada have not engaged that
attention at home which they ought to have
had ; and there is much interesting informa-
tion about tbem which is a dead letter in
England.

Their rise and fall is a subject of great in-
terest. The great sinking of the levels of iate
vears, wdiich has become so visible and so in-
jurious to commerce, deserves the most atten-
tive investigation. The American :friters
attribute it to various causes, and there are
as many theories about it as there are upon
all hidden mysteries. Evaporation and con-
densation, woods and glaciers, hav'3 all been
brought into play.

If the lakes are supp^'ed by their own
rivers, and by tlie drainage strean s of tlir-
surrounding forests, and all this is again and
a^ain returned into them from the clouds,
whence arises the sudden elevation or the

THE CANADIANS.

L>91

sudden depression of such enormous bodies of
writer, wliicli have no tides ?

The Pacific and the Atlantic cannot be the
cause ; we must seek it elsewhere. To the
westward of Huron, on the borders of Supe-
rior, the land is rocky and elevat.ed ; but it
attains only enormous altitudes at such a dis-
tance on the rocky Andean chain as to
render it improbable that those mountains
exert immediate influences on the lakes. The
Atlantic also is too far distant, and very
elevated land intervenes to intercept the
rising vapours. On the north, high lands also
exist ; and the snows scarcely account for it,
as the whole of North America near these
inland seas is alike covered every year in
winter.

The north-east and the south-west winds are
the prevalent ones, and a slight inspection of
the maps will suflice to show that those com-
pass bearings are the lines which the lakes
and valleys of Northern America assume.

In 1845, the lakes began suddenly to di-
minish, and to such a degree was this con-

o 2

Tar^yyn ■ ■<■ -- m ^^ 't ^mmmm m t

292

CANADA AND

tinned from June to December, when the hard
frosts be^in, that, at the commencement of
the hitter month, Lake Ontario, at Kingston,
was tliree feet below its customary level, and
consequently, in the country places, many
wells and streams dried up, and there was
during the autumn distress for water both for
cattle and man, although the rains were fre-
([uent and very heavy.

Whence, then, do the lakes receive that
enormous supply which will restore them to
their usual flow? — or are they permanently
diminishing? I am inclined to believe that
the latter is the case, as cultivation and the
clearing of the forest proceed ; for I have
observed within fifteen years the total drying
up of streamlets by the removal of the forest,
and these streamlets had evidently once been
rivulets and even rivers of some size, as their
banks, cut through alluvial soils, plainly indi-
cated.

The lakes also exhibit on their borders,
particularly Ontario, as Lyell describes from
the information of the late ]Mr. Roy, who had

THE CANADIANS.

29.1

carefully investigated the subject, very visible
remains of many terraces which had consecu-
tively been their boundaries.

It is evident to observers who have recorded
facts respectin*^ the lakes, that but a small
amount of vapour water is deposited by north-
easterly winds from the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
the great estuary of that river, of which the
lakes are only enlargements, as the wind from
that region carries the cloud-masses from
the lakes themselves dit-ect to the valley of
the Mississippi. For it meets with no obstacle
from high lands on the western littorale, which
is low. A north-east gale continues usually
from three to six days, and generally without
nmch rain ; but all the other winds from south
to westerly afford a plentiful supply of mois-
ture. Thus a shift of wind from north-east to
north and to north-west perhaps brings back
the vapour of the great valley of the gulf, re-
duced in temperature by the chilly air of the
north and west. If then an easterly gale
continues for an unusual time, the basin of the
Canadian lakes is robbed of much of its

294

CANADA AND

water, which passes to the rivers of the west,
and is lost in the gulf of Mexico, or in the
forest lakes of the wild West.

Perhaps, therefore, whenever a cycle oc-
curs in which north-east winds prevail during
a year or a series of years, the lakes lose
their level, for, their direction being north-
east and south-west, such is the usual current
of the air; and therefore either north-east
or south-westerly winds are the usual ones
which pass over their surface.

The parts of die great inland navigation
which suffer most in these periodical de-
pressions are the St. Clair River and the
shallow parts of those extensions of the St.
Lawrence called Lakes St. Francis and St.
Peter, which in the course of time will cause,
and indeed in the latter already do cause, some
trouble and some anxiety.

The north winds, keen "and cold, do not
deposit much in the valley of the lakes,
wdiose southern borders are usually too low
also to prevent the passage of rain-bearing
clouds.

THE CANADIANS.

90r)

From that portion of the dividing ridge
between the valleys of the St. Lawrence and
Mississippi, only seven miles from Lake Erie,
says an American writer, there is to Fort
Wayne, at the head of the Maumec river, one
hundred miles from the same lake, a gradual
subsidence of the land from 700 to less than
200 feet.

From Fort Wayne westward this dividing
ridge rises only one hundred and fifty feet,
and then gradually subsides to the neigh-
bourhood of the south-west of Lake Michi-
gan, where it is but some twenty feet above
the level of that water.

The basin of the Mississippi, including its
great tributary streams, receives therefore a
very great portion of the falling vapour, from
all the winds blowing from north to north-
east.

The same reasoner agrees with the views
which I have expressed respecting the proba-
bility of the supply to raise the level, which
must be the great feeder derived from the
south and south-westward invariably rainy

'iKimmm fm

296

CANADA AND

winds, when of long continuance, in the basin
of the St. Lawrence, and <i^enerated by the
gulf stream in its gyration through the Mexi-
can Bay, being heaped up from the trade
wind which causes tlie oceanic current, and
forces its heated atmosphere north and north-
east, by the rebound which it takes from the
vast Cordilleras of Anahuac and Panama ; thus
depositing its cooling showers on the chain of
the fresh water seas of Canada, condensed as
they are by the natural air-currents from the
icy regions of the western Andes of Oregon,
and the cold breezes from the still more gelid
countries of the north-west.

The American topographical engineers, as
well as our own civil engineers and savans,
have accuratelv measured the hei^rhts and
levels of the lakes, which I have already
given ; but one very curious fact remains to
be noticed, and will prove that it is by no
means a visionary idea that, from the great
island of Cuba, which must be an English
outpost, if much further annexation occurs,
voyages will be made to bring the produce

THE CANADIANS.

297

to
no
eat
ish
irs,
uce

of the West Tmiies and Spanish America into
the heart of the United States and Canada hy
the Mississippi and the rivers flowing into it,
and by the great lakes ; so that a vessel,
loading at Cuba, might perform a circuit
inland for many thousand miles, and return
to her port via Quebec.

From the Gulf of Mexico to the lowest
summits of the ridge separating the basin of
the Mississippi from that of the St. Lawrence
or great lakes, the rise does not exceed six
Imudred feet, and the graduation of the lan<l
has an average of not more than six inches to
a mile in an almost continuous inclined
plane of six thousand miles. The Americans
have not lost sight of this natural assistance
to form a communication between tlie lakes
and the Mississippi.

My attention has been drawn to the sub-
sidence of the waters of the lakes of Canada
by the unusual lowness of Ontario, on the baidvs
of which I lived last year, and by reading
the statement of the American writer above
quoted, as well as by the fact that in the Travels

1298

CANADA AND

of Ciirver, one of the first English navigators on
these mediterraneans, who states that a small
ship of forty tons, in sailing from the head of
Lake Michigan to Detroit, was unable to pasN
over the St. Clair flats for wjint of water,
and that the usual way of passing them eighty
years ago was in small hoats. What a use-
ful thing it would have been, if any scientific
navio'ators or resident observers had reois-
tered the rise and fall of the lakes in the years
since Upi)cr Canada came into our possession !
An old naval officer told me that it was really
periodical ; and it occurred usually, that the
greatest depression and elevation had inter-
vals of seven years. Lake Erie is evidently
becoming more shallow constantly, but not
to any great or alarming degree ; and shoals
form, even in the splendid roadstead of Kings-
ton, within the memory of young inhabitants.
An American revenue vessel, pierced for, I
believe, twenty-four guns, and carrying an
enormous Paixhan, grounded in the autumn
of last year on a shoal in that harbour, whieli
was not known to tlie ohlest pilot.

SI no-

THE CANADIANS.

299

By the byo, talking of this vessel, which is
a steamer built of iron, and fitted with masts
and sails, the same as any other sea-going
vessel, can it be reciuisite, in order to j)rotcct
a commerce which she cannot control be-
yond the line drawn through the centre of the
lakes, to have such a vessel for revenue i)ur-
poses? or is she noi a regular man-of-war,
ready to throw her shells into Kingston, if
ever it should be required ? At least, such
is the opinion which the good folks of that
town entertained when they saw the beautiful
craft enter their harbour.

The worst, however, of these iron boats is
that two can play at shelling and long shots ;
and gunnery-practice is now brought to such
perfection, that an iron steamer might very
possibly soon get the worst of it from a
heavy battery on the level of the sea ; for a
single accident to the machinery, protected
as it is in that vessel, would, if there was
no wind, put her entirely at the mercy of the
gunners. The old wooden walls, after all,
are better adapted to attack a fortress, as

:u)0

CANADA AND

they can stuiid Ji ^^ood deal of luiiiimeriii;^'
from ))Oth shot aiwl shells.

lUit to revert to iiuitters more germane to
the lakes.

Volney, the first expounder of the system
of the warm wind of the south s'.ipplying the
^reat hikes, has received ample corroboration
of his data from o))servation. The fact that
the deflection of the ^reat trade-wind from
the west to a northern direction by the
Mexican Andes l*opocatepetl, Istaccihuetl
Naucampatepetl, &c., whose snowy summits
have a fri;^id atn>osphere of their own, is
])roved by daily experience.

Whenever southerly winds prevail — and, in
the cycle of the gyration of atmospherical
currents, this is certain, and will be reduced
to calculation — the great lakes are filled to
the edge ; and whenever northern and north-
easterly wands take their appointed course,
then these mediterraneans sink, and the valley
of the Mississippi is filled to overflowing.

But the most curious facts are, that the
different lakes exhibit ditierent phenomena.

tion
dati(

TIIK CANADIANS.

;]0I

lU
llClll

ced
to

irth-
vse,
lley

the

The Jiojinl of Puljlic Works of Ohio stiites
that, ill I8:i7-:JS, th(; (|iijintity of wjitor <lo-
scondiii*; from the jitniosphero did not exceed
one-third of that which was the niiniinuni
(piantity of several [)recedin;if y<»ars.

Ontario, from the re|)orts of professional
persons, has varied not less than ci^ht feet,
and Erie ahout five. Huron and Superior
l>ein<if comparatively unknown, no data are
atlbrded to jud<>e from; but what vast at-
mosjdieric a«i;encies must be at work when
such wonderful results in the smaller hdves
have been made evident !

People who live at the Niagara Falls, and
I anfree with them in observations extendini;
over a period since 182(), believe that these
Falls have receded considerably ; and, al-
thouirh 1 do not enter into the mathematical
analysis of modern geolof^ists respectin<^ them,
as to their constant retrocession, believintr
that earthquake split open the present chan-
nel, yet I have no doubt that the level of Lake
Erie is considerably affected by the diminu-
tion of the yielding slialy rocks of their foun-
dation. Earthquake, and not retrocession,

302

CANADA AND

aj)pears to ino, who have had the singular
advantage, as a European, of very long resi-
dence, to have been the cause of that great
chasm which now forms the bed of the
Niagara, from tlie Table Rock to Queenston,
in short, a rending or separating of the rocks
rather than a wearing ; and this is corrobo-
rated by the many vestiges of great cataracts
which now exist near the Short Hills, the
highest summit of the Niagara frontier, be-
tween Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as by
the great natural ravine of St. David's. But
this is a subject too deep for our present pur-
pose, and so we shall continue to treat of the
Greal; Lakes in another point of view.

Chemically considered, these lakes possess
peculiar properties, according to their boun-
daries. Superior is too little known to speak
of with certainty — Huron not much better —
but Erie, and particularly Ontario, have been
well investigated. The waters of these are
pure, and impregnated chiefly with aluminous
and calcareous matter, giving to the St. Law-
rence river a fresh and admirable element
and aliment.

in
mi

THE CANADIANS.

503

[een
are

LOUS

Law-
heiit

The St. Lawrence is of a fine cerulean hue,
but, like its parent waters of Erie and On-
tario, rapidly deposits lime and alumine, so
that the boilers of steam-vessels, and even
teakettles, soon become furred and incrusted.
The specific gravity of the St. Lawrence
water above Montreal is about 1-00038, at
the temperature of GG"*, the air being then
82" of Fahrenheit. It contains the chlorides,
sulphates, and carbonates, whose bases are
lime and magnesia, particularly and largely
those of lime, which accounts for the ra])id
depositions when the water is heated.

A very accurate analysis gives, at Montreal,
in July, atmospheric air in solution or ad-
mixture 446 per cent; for a quart of this
water, 57 inches cubic measure, evaporated
to dryness, left 2.87 solid residue.

Grains.
Sulphate of magnesia 0-G-i

Chloride of calcium . 0-38

Carbonate of magnesia 27

Carbonate of lime . 1*29

Silica 0'31

2-87

304

CANADA AM)

The waters of the Ottawa, flowing- through
an unexplored couutiy, are of a brown or dark
colour Their specific gn?vity is only (com-
pared to distilled water) as 1*0024 at 60",
the temperature of the air in July being 82".

The 57 cubic inches of this water gave

0'99 sulphate of magnesia.
GO chloride of lime.
r07 carbonate of magnesia.
0'17 carbonate of lime.
0*31 silica.

2-87

The difference of the colours of these
waters is svi great, that a perfect line of dis-
tinction is drawn where they cross each other ;
and there can be no doubt that it is caused
by the reflection of the rays ot light from the
impregnation of diiTerent saline quantities.

Thus as, in the old world, the waters of the
tShannon are brown, and Ireland, speaking
generally, as Kohl says, is a *' brown "
country;^ so, in Upper Canadn, St. Lawrence

* Canada is <i blue country ; for, a very short distance
from the observer, the atmosphere tinges everything blue ;
and the waters are chiefly of that colour, the sky intensely

Lake
HiiJes
Super:
of St.

so.

THE CANADIANS.

305

:he

In
ice

lance

llue ;

isely

and the lakes are blue and green ; and in
Lower Canada, St. Lawrence and the Ottawa
are brown of various shades, a very slight
alteration of the chemical comi)onents reflect-
ing rays of colour as forcibly and i)ercei)tibly
as, in like manner, a very slight change of
component parts develops sugar and saw-
dust. Nature, in short, is very simple in all
her operations.

Before we proceed to the lower extremity
of these wonderful sheets of water again, let
us just for a moment glance at what is about
to be achieved upon their surfaces, and place
the Sault of St. Marie or St. Mary's Eapids,
which separate Superior from Huron, before
an Englishman's eyes. There at present
nothing is talked of but copper mines and
silver or argentiferous copper ores.

The Falls of St. Mary are only rapids of
no very formidable character, the exit of
Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Fifteen
miles from the end of the Great Lake, as
Superior is called, are the American village
of St. Mary and the British one of the same

306

CANADA AND

name, on the opposite bank of the River St.
Mary.

The Americans have so far streng'thened
their position, that there is a sort of fort,
called Fort Brady, with two companies of
regulars ; and in and about the village are
scattered a thousand people of every possible
colour and origin, a great portion being, of
course, half-breeds and Indians. The Ameri-
can Fur Company has also a post at tliis
place, one of the very few remaining ; for the
fur trade in these regions is rapidly declining
by the extirpation of the animals which sus-
tained it.

The American government have projected
a ship canal to avoid these rapids ; and, if that
is completed, a vast trade will soon grow up.

About a mile above the villa^'e is the laiul-
ing-place from Lake Superior, at the head of
the rapids ; there the strait is broad and deep :
but, until steamers are built, sailing vessels
suffer the disadvantage of being moveable out
of the harbour by an east wind only, and this
wind does not blow there oftener than once a

f\l

na
m(

COJ

can

J\frs

Rar

exp

a sk
is si

M'iU

can

liow

same

thin]

himsi

once I

plificl

joun

THE CANADIANS.

307

ccted
that

up.

laiul-

ead of

deep ■

essels
)le out
1(1 tliis
once a

montli. It is probable that a proper harbour
Avill be constructed at the foot of the lake,
fifteen miles above.

These rapids have derived their French
name Sault from their rushing and leai)ing
motion ; but they are very insignificant when
compared to the Longue Sault on the St.
Lawrence, as the inhabitants cross them in
canoes.

I cannot describe them more minutely than
Mrs. Jameson has done in her ** Summer
Rambles." She crossed them, and must have
experienced some trepidation, for it requires
a skilful voyageur to steer the canoe ; and it
is surprising with what dexterity the Indian
will shoot down them as swiftly as the water
can carry his fragile vessel. Tlie Indians,
however, consider such feats much in the
same light as a person fond of boating would
think of pulling a pair of oars, or sculling
himself across the current of a rivulet. I was
once subjected to a rather awkward exem-
plification of this fact. Being on a hurried
journey, and expecting to be frozen in, as it is

308

CANADA AND

called, before I could teniiiiiate it, I hiied an
Indian and his little canoe, just big- enough to
hold us both, and pushed through by-ways in the
forest streams and j)ortages. We were pad-
dling- merrily along a pretty fair stream, which
ran fast, but appeared to reach many miles
ahead of us ; when, all of a sudden, my guide
said, " Sit fast." I perceived that the water
was moving much more rapidly than it had
hitherto done, and that the Indian had
wedged himself in the stern, and was steering-
only with the paddle. We swept along merrily
for a mile, till " The White Horses," as the
breakers are called, began to bob their heads
and manes. " Hold fast !" ejaculated the
Red Man. I laid hold of both edges of the
canoe, firm as a rock, and in a moment the
horrid sound of bursting, bubbling, rushin<»:
waters was in mine ears ; foam and spray
shut out every thing; and a>vay we went,
down, down, down, on, on, on, as swift as
thought, until, all of a sudden, the little
buoyant piece of birch- bark floated like a
swan upon the bosom of the tranquil waters,

knoi
but
tacii
Tl
fishii
are
othej
picti

THE CANADIANS.

30.0

(1-

les

ide

tev

uid

had

L-iug

[•lily

the
eads

the

,hin.i':
pray
^vent,
ft as
little
ike a

aters,

a mile beyond the Fall, for such indeed it
might bo called, the absolute difference of
level having been twelve feet.

When at ease again, I looked at the imper-
turbable savage and said, " What made you
take the Fall ? was not the detour passable ?"
— " Yes, suppose it was ! Fall better !" —
*' But is it very dangerous ?" — Yes, suppose,
sometime!" — " Any canoes ever lost there?"
— " Yes, sometime ; one two, tree days ago,
there !" pointing to a large rock in the mid-
dle of the narrowest part above our heads —
*' Did you come down there?" — " Yes, sup-
pose, did !"

Then, thought I to myself, I shall not trust
my body to your guidance in future without
knowing something of the route beforehand ;
but I afterwards got accustomed to these
taciturn sons of the forest.

The Falls of St. Marie are celebrated as a
fishing place ; and the white fish cauglit there
are reckoned superior to those taken in any
other part of Lake Huron. The fishery is
picturesque enough, and is carried on in

310

CANADA AND

cfinoos, manned usually by two Indians or
lialf-brccds, who paddle up the rapids as
fill' as i)ractieahle. The one in the bow has
a scoop-net, which he dips, as soon as one of
these glittering fish is observed, and lands him
into the canoe. Incredible numbers of them
are taken in this simple manner ; but it re-
quires the canoemanship and the eye of an
Indian.

The French still show their national cha-
racteristics in this remote place. They first
settled here before the year 1 72 1 , as Charlevoix
states ; and, in 1762, Henry, a trader on Lake
Huron, found them established in a stockaded
fort, under an ofllicer of tlie French army.
The Jesuits visited Lake Superior as early as
1600; and in 1634 they had a rude chapel,
the first log hut built so far from civilization,
in this wilderness. At present, the population
are French, Upper Canadians, English, Scotch,
Yankees, Indians, half-breeds.

The climate is healthy, very cold in winter,
with a short but very warm summer, and
always a pure air. Here the Aurora Borealis

THE C WADIANS.

311

'OIX

(led

•my.

y as

ipel,

:ioii,

Ltioii

(tell,

Inter,

and
•ealis

is seen in its utmost glory. In summer
there is scarcely any nioht ; for the twilight
lasts until eleven o'clock, and the tokens of
the returning sun are visible two hours after-
wards.

The extremes of civilized and savage life
meet at St. Mary's ; for here live the edu-
cated European or American, and the pure
heathen Red ^lan ; here steamboats and
the birch canoe float side by side; and
here all-powerful Commerce is already re-
commencing a deadly rivalry between the
Briton and the American, not for furs and
peltry, as in days gone by, but for copper and
for metals ; and here a new world is about to
be opened, and tliat too very speedily.

Here are Indian agents and missionaries,
with schools, both the English and the
United States' government considering the
entrance to the Red Man's country, whose
gates are so narrow and still closed up, to be
of very great importance, both in a commer-
cial and a political point of view; but it is
notorious that, after the French Canadians,

CANADA AND

the Red ^lan prefers his Great Mother beyond
the Great Lake and her subjects to the Presi-
dent and tlie peo})le, who are rather too near
neifi:hbours to be pleasant, and wlio have
somewliat unceremoniously considered the
natives of the soil as so many obstacles to
tlicir anfo^randizement.

I shall end this sketch of the lakes, by a
few observations upon the magnetic pheno-
mena regarding them, and respecting the
variation of the compass.

Fort Erie, near the eastern termination of
Lake Erie, and close to the Niagara river,
presents the line of no variation ; whilst at
the town of Niagara, on the south-west end
of Lake Ontario, not more than thirty-six
miles from Fort Erie, the variation in 1882
was 1" ^0' east.

The line of no variation is marked distinctly
on the best maps of Canada, by the division
line between the townships of Stamford and
Niajjara, seven miles north of Niaofara.

At Toronto in 43° 39' north latitude, and
78" 4" west longitude, twenty-four miles

esi-
lenv
lave
the
s to

by a
iieno-

rr tl\0

on o^
rivev,

list at
it end
ty-siK

anctly
livision
Ird and

TIIK CANADIANS.

313

♦

north-east of Niagara, the variation in 1832
was more than T easterly.

Tlie shore of Lake Huron at Nottawas-
saga Bay, forty miles north-west of Toronto,
is again the line of no variation.

Thus a magnetic meridian lies between
Fort Erie and Nottawassaga.

A magnetic observatory is established by
the Board of Ordnance at Toronto, near the
University, and placed in charge of two
young officers of artillery, which says a good
deal for the scientific acquirements of that
corps. I shall perhaps hereafter advert to
this subject more at large, as the volcanic
rocks have much to do with the needle in
Canada West.

END OF VOL. I.

le, tvi^d
inile^

VOL. 1.

I'lt'ili'iK k Sliuberl, Junior, I'rintttr to HIk Uuyal Iliuiinesiii Prince Albert.
'>!, Hiipert Street, llityiimrkct, Luiidnii,