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Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — '^ signifie "A SUiVRb", le symbole V sSgnifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Mre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est (iimi d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas. an prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. rrata o selure, 1 h J 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES OF THE ^ . DIBITS' TOUR OF INSTRUOTIOlf •'> TO MONTREAL, QUEBEC, HALIFAX, AND MINOR PLACES. A work written for the information of the Canadian Public, and forming an interesting supplement to the published Official Reports. By A. G. G. WURTELE, Gkaduate of the Royal Military College, and one of THE Fortunate Ten who formed the Party. QUEBEC : PRINTED AT THE "MORNING CHRONICLE" OFFICE. 1881. fC73 <« «4.'> i i < «4>^ i 1^'^^ 1^ i) TO THE COMMANDANT, AND CADETS TO No. oo— 1 OF THB Eoyal Military Gollege of Canada, THIS WORK IS SINOEEELT AND AFPEOTIOHATELT § I>EIDIO-A.TElID. e^sr »-~. J <, THE PREFACE. (Necessary for a correct understanding of the book ) Although I quite agree with the author of a recent work ; that to compel a writer to start his subject from an apology, openly depreciating what he expects others to read, is both unneces- sary and unjust ; that " A poor Scribe who has done his ' level best^ should not be expected to 'go back' on his own production." " Does the merchant tell you his goods are imperfect, the banker that his bank is insecure, the railroad company that their bonds are worthless, the fishmonger that his fish are tainted," or, I may add, the caterer that his eggs are not fresh ? Yet, the reasons for the publication of these notes being somewhat peculiar, I cannot well omit a few words of explanation without their want being apparent. I am well aware also that but few readers are in the habit of beginning a book nearer to the front cover thau the page headed * Chapter I.' — excepting per- 6 ?l haps, that corner of tho ily-leaf marked in pencil — therefore, to guard against such an error being committed in the present case, and to indicate the great importance of this preface when compared ^vith such articles in general, I have erected the a))Ove linger-post ; and we will now, if the reader has been kind enough to follow its direction, proceed without further delay. What the tour in question, which took place in July, 1880, actually cost the country may be ascertained by a reference to the Public Ac- counts of that year, and a few additional facts may be gathered fi^m the Militia Report ; but these being necessarily of a strictly professional nature, to leave them the only published records of the trip on which the Canadian Public so considerately sent us, is, after all their gene- rosity, to olfer them nothing but two Blue Books from which to ascertain what benefits we, and with us themselves, really derived from their investment ; and how, under their •kind liberality, we secured to ourselves enjoy- ment along with improvement : purposes for which any Blue Book yet printed is surely valueless, except to the most abstract and statistical of philosophers. Among several pages of special orders that were issued at the Military College, to set forth necessary details for our instruction and the conduct of the tour, I observe one reading as follows : " It should be borne in mind, that the coun- try incurs a very laige expense from this tour ; and demands in return, that Cadets take every V ^ I t if I possiMo advantng-o of the liberal opportunilies allbrded then) to improve their knowledge, for the beneilt of the country and lor their own profit." Now, were it not a great pity that any avail- able means of informing the country of such appreciation of their kindness and fullMment of their demands should bo neglected ; and were it not something unutterably worse than a great pity, I may say an irredeemable shame, to refer those lair and charming Daughters of Canada who smiled on us so graciously all along the line, but more especially at a certain Lower St. Law^rence watering place, when we were returning, sun-burnt and travel-worn, our books and heads overflowing with written and unwritten notes, to refer them to the technicali- ties of a Blue Book as the sole record from which they might gain a knowledge of the effects of their encouragement. Sufficient has now been said, I think, to shew that the writing of this work is nothing short of a duty ; and that the said duty must be per- formed by at least one of those Cadets who took part in the trip is evident. I will therefore I)roceed by replying to any one who may be quietly asking the question why the said duty falls Upon myself rather than upon some other member of the party. Well I don't pretend to say it does at all ; every one of them is at liberty to write an account of the trip, if he feels so inclined • and w^hen this one is finished, I shall be only too happy to exchange all round ; but I may also add here in behalf of my own, that being influenced by private considerations, and 8 th«3 encouragvmoiits and Avarniiij^s found in our special orders, I gave great care to the writing of the Professional Report imposed on each of us by the authorities, and my labors were by no means unrewarded. The reader may rely upon the accuracy of all the more serious para- graphs of these Non-professional Notes ; they are not written entirely from memory, for in addition to the Professional ones I have before me a number of private manuscripts, a regular- ly kept diary, and copies of letters sent to friends immediately after we dispersed. A couple more paragraphs to complete this prel'ace ; and after that we shall again join the main road. To those acquainted with the details of Col- lege Lile, we, the actors, will no doubt appear to be a most good and model set of young men ; but remember this work is an account of the Tour itself, not an accurate delineation of the characters of which the party was made up. There is no reason why I should not apply whitewash in place of pitch if I so desire. Yet I do mean to assert that, possibly owing to the fatigues of long days of open air exercise in ad- dition to a considerable amount of head work, or possibly owing to better feelings, our conduct throughout the Tour was excellent. Any dis- sipation that may have gone on was kept quiet iini secret by those who indulged in it : a sure sign that it would not have received the ap- proval of the majority. To the nine others of the ten who were chosen for the trip from the ranks of the Old Eighteen (the Cadets who founded the College), 1- now ficattorodovortho world, from Winnipeg to Malta, I venture to hope the.se }>ages will serve as a slii»lit niemoritd oftlie last davs of our lour years ))r()therhood. Th(3 wittiest of your jokes and good liuniored sayinu's I have endeavoured to record, whether inl'erior or brilliant, th-n' held a steady and copious How through salt air and I'resh ; yet, to avoid exposing to others, by name or through tiU' evidence ot circumstances, those unlucky individuals, Olliccir, Proiessor, or Cadet, who at times were C'luglit in th(> stream, I have christened ye all anew, and ev<^n in some places distributed your deeds ajul sayings with a triile of inaccuracy. END OF THE PKEFACE, xi:xi0 a.m. and left at 4 p.m. by Intercolonial iiy. for Halifax. Halifax. Springhill Coal Mines. Left Halifax at 8. 30 a m. Arrived at Springhill at 3 p.m., and left at 8. '60 p. m. for Metapedia, Que. Metapedia, Que., and Campbellton, KB. Campbellton, N.B, Left Campbellton at 8. 45 a. m. Intercolonial and Grand Tri-n'.: Rya. back to Kingston. The Non-Profsssional Notes of the Cadets' Tour.. CHAPTER I. THE OLD EIGHTEEN AT HOME. had that same month graduated from the Koyal Military College at Kingston, accompanied by one or more of their OfRcers or Professors. As a practical finishing touch to our four years of mere theoretical instruction and train- ing, we were taken round to the places men- tioned, that we might visit and report in writing upon the principal works, Military and Civil, to be found at them. Some seventeen days were thus occupied, and a week or so additional was ^1 xi!Xir(>at steadiiioss and smoothness. The nianaiionient seiMncd perlcct as regards the time kei)t by the train ; though wo cei tainly made railicr rr('(|uent stoppages at small, unimi)ortant places, a fault that seems common to all express tniins in C'aiuida ; hut these stoi)paiies were remarkably short ones compared with those olten made on other roads ; 1 had to get out irom the train at three successive stations jjelore I could obtain one long enough to dispatch a previously written telegram. The scenery along this line, besides lieing naturally very ))eautirul, is much set oil" by the Avhite houses of a large number of thriving little French villages : and a very noticeable peculiarity about it, that w411 not be found in miy guide book, and is prol)ably owing to the road being as yet rather new^ is that the junior male portion of the inhabitants of those villages keep up strange customs of shouting, standing on their heads, throwing their arms about wild- ly, and turning a number of somersets when- ever a train rushes past them, adding a very startling feature to the whole. It was late on Sunday evening wdien I joined the Tour party in Montreal ; 1 found that all had proceeded regularly, and as had been in- tended. They had established themselves at the St. Lawrence Hall ; and on my arrival there, informed me that grave doubts had been expressed during the day as to my reaching them in proper time ; it therefore struck me the next morning, w^hile special orders were being read at seven o'clock, that one paragraph — i I i • W .22 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES m m tip *' Cadets who miss the party en route will not be allowed any expenses for board or travelling" after the date of absence" — had almost a person- al application ; however, no occasion for enforc- ing it ever arose. As soon as the orders came to an end, note books were served out, the paymaster donned his satchel, and all i)roceeded to embark in one of the hotel busses, that had l)een hired for the day to enable us to get more rapidly from one place to another, and thus iinish Montreal und its vicinity by the evening. At last the Professional Tour was actually in progress ; we all rejoiced much over it, but w^ere so impressed with its name, novelty, and importance, that we thought it quite necessary to appear as grave as possible, and to converse only on such subjects as had at least some con- nection with the matters before us. Our Pro- fessor of Civil Engineering, who always enjoy- ed a joke, took advantage of the opportunity, and while we w^ere driving rapidly through some of the principal streets of the city, put forth a few remarks relative to the nature of the work before us, impressing strongly upon us the necessity of the very closest observation of everything that w^as to be placed under our no- tice. He suggested that we should report up- on the nature of the pavements of the streets, and in what state they were kept, on the mate- rials of w^hich the houses were built, &c.. &c. We suddenly came upon a bridge over a canal, or some similar structure, w^hich passed from our view again before many of us had caught a glimpse of it ; our Professor told us to make a OF THE CADETS TOUR. 2a rough sketch of it m our note books, to be care- ful not to omit the length of the span, the ma- terial it was built of, and whether it was a Howe Trr^s, a Pratt Truss, ora AVarren Girder. Some members of the party began looking in a rather bewildered w^ay out of the windows of the bus, trying to learn the names of the streets, and narrowly escaped having their heads shaved off by passing vehicles ; but, the more ambitious drew forth their note books, and after a hasty sharpening of pencils, wrote across the first page the words : " Professional Tour, Montreal, July 5th, 1880." Before anything additional could be recorded though, w^e had stopped at the Canada Marine Works, and the order to leave the bus went forth. These works are situated on the banks of the Lachine Canal, and consist of two dry docks- into which vessels enter for repairs. They are similar to w^hat the Quebec Graving Dock will be when it is finished, but neither so large, nor so expensively built, which is not to be expect- ed, as they are the enterprise of a private indi- vidual, M. A. Cantin. His son was present when w'e arrived, and kindly went over the works wuth us, letting fall much valuable in- formation at the same time, w^hich we now be- gan to record in our books. One of the docks opens into the Lachine Canal ; and the other, opening into the first, forms a sort of inner room, into which vessels are taken when their repairs require a long period of time to carry out. Thev can lie there for weeks, undisturb- ed by the daily fiilijig and emptying of the- other dock. X.",' a 24 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES tffl The outer dock we found full of water, and the vessels had all gone out ; but the inner one was empty and had two vessels lying' in it, which we included in our inspection. The first vessel V as a schooner that had been badly at- tacked by sea-worms while at the port of St. Mary's, Georgia, IJ. S. The wood cut away from her bottom and kp'^ ■ looked more like bits of dried honey-comb than anything else, A member of the party, whom I shall call Carry for convenience, now for the first time display- ed a sort of mania he had for collecting all kinds of relics and specimens ; like Williams' wit, it seemed to develop with his exercise of it. I have often w^ondered that he did not chip a bit off the dock itself ; but, in this first in- stance, he modestly confined himself to two pieces of wood cut from the w^orm-eaten vessel, about the size of ordinary cord- word sticks. He asked M. Cantin's permission to take them, saying that they w^ere required for a museum about to be established at the College ; the re- quest was most politely granted, and two of the workmen w^ere ordered to carry the logs off to the bus. The second vessel was a chain-tug that it was intended to use for the additional purpose of drilling holes, for the insertion of blasting charges, in the rock at the bottom of the channel of the Galops Rapids, about 120 miles up the St. Lawrence from Montreal, a ten mile an hour current, 26 feet deep. Such an undertaking, her Captain informed us, had never yet been at- tempted without the aid of divers in any part of the world. The drilling machinery was -M OF THE cadets' TOUR. 25 being erected within the vessel ; and we were thus enabled to give it a much more minute inspection than if it had been in a complete state, ready for work. Messrs. Gilbert's workshops, where the Do- minion Grovernment are having smooth bore 32 pdr. guns converted into rifled 64 pdrs., situat- ed on the property adjoining the docks, were next visited. These are very extensive works, and we saw there a large number of pieces of machinery, but few of which any of us under- stood. It would have taken days to explain them all, so we turned our attention almost exclusively to those used in converting the guns. This process is carried out after a method very similar to that adopted in England by Sir William Palliser for the same purpose. A wrought-iron tube, in which the rifling grooves have been cut, is fitted inside of the cast-iron gun, a considerable portion of the old metal being pre^nously cut away from the inner part to give sufficient space for it. The guns have- a very peculiar appearance when completed on account of the end of this tube being left projecting about a foot beyond the original muzzle; bat their effectiveness being much in- creased thereby, it has been thought well to sacrifice (esthetic considerations to utility. The wrought-iron tube is manufactured by coilinff f. bar of metal, as fast as it is withdrawn, at a wnite heat from the furnace, round another stonier bar, in exactly the same manner as & cotton thread is wonnd round a spool 8 •f ■: 26 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES }:) i A steam hammer, used in completing the coils, was next examined, and made to give three or four blows on a large piece of red-hot iron in our presence. Showers of red Hakes were scattered through the apartment each time, and like good skirmishers we got under cover behind the objects lying about. The workmen though, did not seem to mind any more than if they were being stiuck by so much snow. I must add that we were greatly disappointed at not seeing, as some author has said, "A mass of several tons playing tap tap on an egg in a wine glass, without cracking the shell;" but in large cities eggs are often scarce, and wine glasses have more direct uses. After nearly every one had been entrusted with the safe-keeping of some specimen by Carry, we boarded the bus, and set forward for the Montreal Water Works Pumping Houses, near Point St. Charles. Those two cord-wood sticks were found safely deposited along the seats on one side, and Refky and Har court, two of our largest men, were compelled to betake ; themselves to the roof. It was a roof made without seats, and from underneath we could almost trace the forms of their bodies bulging in through it All went well enough though, till we came to a j^lace where the road passes under a small viaduct on the line of the Grand; Trunk Railway ; we were then startled by a sudden confusion overhead, and immediately, afterW' ards Refky and Harcourt were observed; hurriedly descending fr'^m the rea): end of out; conveyance) uttering loud exclamations of suxr prise. It seems that being such large men, [5P-^ OF THE cadets' TOUR. 27 they coT^.ld not fit under the vitiduct, and had not discovered the fact till they saw the driver of the bus bobbing his head. They fortunately escaped without injury ; and as we had now arrived at the pumps, work was once more re- sumed. The water for the supply of Montreal is taken from the River St. Lawrence, immediately above the Lachine rapids, about six miles from the city, and led down in an open canal to the point we have now arrived at. After being allowed to settle there in a large pond, it is pumped up into a reservoir on the Mountain, at a considerable height above the city, and thence goes direct to the houses and hydrants. The required piimping power is obtained partly from two wheels, turned by surplus water, and partly from steam engines, for w^hich there are provided two complete sets of boilers and furnaces, one set being held in reserve in case the other should at any time break down. After we had inspected all the pumping works there were shown to us a number of offi- cial plans of the entire system. It is said by some, that extensive as this system is, its capa- cities will soon be found insufficient; and a new one has been proposed, in which the water will be taken from the Laurentian Mountains, and flow into the city under the force of gravity alone, doing away with the use of any pumping power. Our next visit was to be to the enlargement of the Lachine Canal ; so on leaving the pump- ing houses we turned up the lower Lachine Toad, which wunds along the t:inks < " the St. 28 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES . .i M Lawrence. We were determined that through- out our Professional Tour everything should be done in style and with proper deliberation ; but, alas for the weakness of human endeavours, even our assumed gravity was shortly to be irreparably destroyed ; bat that sad incident will be related in due time. As an example of our present feelings, shortly afte:- leaving the water-works a toll-gate was observed ahead, barring our progress ; orders were given to the driver to bring the bus to a stop, the Paymaster interviewed the toll man, and referred his claim to the Treasurer ; the latter having given his approval of the expenditure, the sum demanded was counted out and i)aid, an entry made in the cash book, and the journt^y resumed. After another short halt a lew miles further on to inspect the entrance or head of the water-works canal, before referred to, we at length reached Lachine Village about noon. Besides the enlargement of the Lachine Canal throughout its entire length, we found a second entrance from the St. Lawrence under con- struction at this point. An endless series of cofferdams seemed to extend over the ground in all directions ; and under a hot sun we en- joyed an hour's walking on the tops of the planks of which they were built, a large pool of dirty water on the one side, and a deep mass of puddled clay on the other. At one place thera were several divers in their sub-marine suits, repairing a leak, and we stopped for a while to observe them. The process of pu<;ting on and taking off these suits looks very peculiar when seen for the first time. The last thing to I OF THE CADETS TOUR. 29 go on is a large brass helmet, which must be screwed tightly into a collar of the same mate- rial; during this part ot the toilet the attendant braces both his knees against the diver's body, and twists the helmet round with all his force, making it appear just as if he were twisting off the man's head. One's first impulse is to rush forward to stop him, and shout for the police. We were on the point of continuing our jour- ney again, when one of the more enterprising individuals of the party suggested that a large steam pump, reported to be situated somewhere on the works, should not be left unnoticed ; and nearly all started off in search of it, with- out waiting for orders. lUoxy, Elky, and my- self, however, were of opinion that steam pumps enough had been seen for one morning, and made the best we could of what small shade the roof of the bus afforded us. This pump was not likely to be very different from the others ; and before, at the water works, when surrounded by a great number of closed vessels said to be full of that liquid, it was only with great difficulty that v^e managed to obtain a drink of it. In the present instance the pump was supposed to be high and dry on a bank of earth, where no pool was in sight ; and we na- turally concluded that a visit to it would be an undertaking equal to a crossing of the Sahara desert. After about half-an-hour our com- panions came straggling in, and seemed to have very little to say to a few inquiries we made as to how they had got on. It came out after-r wards though, that the pump had been found fiafely stored away in a shed till required for 30 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES 1^. use ; the Ibreman, who went with them, knew nothing as to what had been done with the ''.ey ; and the only view obtained had been through some cracks in the walls. Orders were now given to the driver to take us straight to the nearest place where lunch might be obtained ; and in a few moments he drew us up in front of Mrs. CNeil's hotel. That excellent landlady was out of her door be- fore the bus could be brought to a stop, and gave us a most cordial welcome. We regarded this adjournment for lunch as a release from heavier duties, and putting aside our profes- -sional gravity, began to indulge in a few jokes. Williams, with several others, requested to be supplied with the necessaries for washing ; they were introduced to the water-butt in the yard, and presented with a basin, some towels, and soap. Mrs. O'N. promptly appeared to apolo- gise for the primitive nature of this accommo- dation, on the grounds ihat her sleeping apart- ments were all occupied, adding that if we had only let her know during the morning of our intention to stop there, we would have had everything of the very best her house could afford. Williams was by this time lathered up to his eyes, but he lifted his head from the basin, and managed to remark : " Sure w^e never intended stopping here at all till we saw such a good-looking woman stand- ing in the door." The good landlady went off' highly delighted ; and, when we sat down to lunch a few minutes later, it was observed that two large plates-full of slices of cold pork pie lay close to Williams' m»i OF THE cadets' TOUR. 31 seat Ably seconded by those who sat round him, he was not lon<>* in making them disap- pear ; and, much to Carry's annoyance, after- wards had several more moved down from the latter's end of the table. A meal thus provided by a fatherly f^overnment has a certain amount of enjoyment about it not to be understood by those who have never undergone a like expe- rience : appreciated all the more on this occa- sion, because we knew that in a few days such care for us would become a thing of the past. All regular meals, as given at the hotels, were provided for out of the general fund ; extras had to be paid for by the individual who order- ed them. When we had started again on our return to Montreal, with an aftectionate exchange of fare- wells, Carry began a discourse on the great folly of expecting to keep cool in hot weather after eating such heavy meals ; and our Pro- fessor, thinking that he also might have a play- ful hit at Williams, remarked : " Never mind, Williams, the Tour will be over in x few days, and then you can come back to Lachine. You are not bound by any anti-matrimonial vows now." At first Williams seemed at a loss to under- stand the meaning of it all ; but when the Pro- fessor went on to inquire : " Come now, what was that you were saying to Mrs. O'Neil out in the yard ?" he very quick- ly recovered his declining prestige by answer- ing : *' I was just telling her, Sir, that we hadn't intended lunching there ; but when Professor I ■ill 1 m :S2 THE N. p. NOTES OF THF CADKTS' TOUR. and Major saw such a good looking 'Woman standing in the doorway, they ordered -us to stop." The Major was upon the roof, out of hearing, and the Professor, singularly enough, very shortly joined him, remarking that in such weather as this the inside of a bus was too hot and dusty for him. Thus it was that the gravity of .our Professional Tour was so rudely swept away ; we continued to perform our duties quite as ettectually as before, but what we had lost was nevermore to be restored ; henceforth laughter resounded amongst us, and held its place till the very end; even when down in Nova Scotia, Oliverbanks was thought to be hopelessly lost at the bottom of a coal mine, no one had the power to look serious On the way to Montreal we stopped and gave the Victoria Bridge a thorough examina- tion ; we much admired the magnitude, sound- ness, and stability of the work, but did not make many notes. This style of bridge has already gone quite out of date, having been su- iperseded by the much lighter constructions of more recent invention. After returning to the city we were dismis- sed for the remainder of the day, under orders .to start for Quebec by boat at seven o'clock. < m I H . CHAPTER III. QUEBEC AND LEVIS. As we sat for a few si)are moments after breakfast in th(* door and windows of the Albion Hotel at Quebec, enjoyincf an early smoke, and knowini^ that it would b(» late in the afternoon before W(^ conld consult our pipes ai^ain, what delightful visions there passed before us. llow our eyes were charmed by the Fair Ones of the city as they went by. Were I a seeker after hidden inlluenccs or a delver in the dark unknown sciences, I should feel strongly inclined, at this poim, to induliij,-(^ in a few remarks as to the mysterious effects beau- tiful scenery has upon the forms and features of the NymphoD dwellinj^ within its view. But let such a theme be left to one of deeper learn- ing ; at the time I kept moving about amongst the groups of my comrades to hear their judge- ments, men who came from far separated parts of our Dominion, and who, in addition to our four-years residence in Kingston, and our visit to Montreal, were familiar with nearly every place in the w^hole Province of Ontario. I heard on all sides the exclamations. "Well, this is a queer old place ; but, by Jingo ! what a lot of pretty Girls there are in it ! Good Heavens! The Town is filled with (them !" I J til h ■* hi Si THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES hi ' ' Elky, an Ottawaite, and our chief Ladies' Man, seemed to have h4s mind quite distracted the whole day long*. I know him to have much enjoyed at knist one flirtation a little later on ; but whether, through his inconstancy or rapid advancement in his profession, it will in time be considered another Lord Nelson affair, must bii left to a future age to decide. The rest of us, •too, seemed iu a thoughtful and abstracted humor, and had frequently to excuse our want of attention on the grounds of fatigue. Our old gravity was not attempted again, but w^ords were scarce, and there was a noted ab- sence amongst us of that easy and humorous exchange oi' ideas w^e so frequently, in true soldier-like sjnrit, engaged in. In consequence I will have little more to record of our first day's experiences in the Ancient Capital, than A few facts learnt during our actual visits of instruction to its world-renowned walls and promenade. It was not long before our Professors issued forth from their after-breakfast discussion of to- day's and to-morrow's programme, and rousing us from our state of quiet enjoyment, bade us repair at once to the Citadel. We set out in 'two parties; the first missed its way, and got lost for a while amid the streets of St. John's suburbs ; the second, under my own guidance, went straight up some steep hills, which took away the breath from those who had never un- dergone a similar experience, and were the first to arrive by several minutes. All reached the 'Citadel at length however, and were most cordially welcomed by our old friends, the I m\ I OF THE CADETS TOUR. 8fr OfticerH of A Battery, who had lelt Kin«stoii only a week or so belore us. Thoy seemed to be now I'uUy established in their new quar- ters, and to have been occupying- themselves in explorinij many old subterranean passages. They did us the honor oi* conducting* us through several not usually opened to visitors, and said that the existence of others was suspected. The Citadel is the largest tort of any kind in Canada, covering about 40 acres of ground ; it forms the innermost line of defence of the whole- position, overlooking all the other lines, which consist of walls round the town, M artel lo towers on the Plains of Abraham, and the new forts at Levis, on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence. After we had gone all over the works, and carefully inspected and noted numerous stores, magazines, barracks, instruments, &c., the officer instructing pointed out from a suitable spot on one of the fronts that overlook the city the pe- culiarities in a military point of view of the position of Quebec, from the Falls of Montmo- renci and the two channels of the St. Lawrence round the Island of Orleans, up to and beyond the mouth of the St. Charles lUver. By this time we had got well into the way of taking down notes and listening to the remarks- and descriptions that were being made at the same moment ; there was yet another practical lesson before us though, in itself worth the whole Tour ; namely, how to select the import' ant parts from a long verbal description of any- object ; tmd how, when no description wa&. given, to get about noting down in writing the sfeeJeton of one for any object or w^ork that might . ; 86 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES be brought before us. How to look at an object even, so that in the briefest inspection of it the greatest amount of knowledge as to its uses and movements or workings is gathered, is a habit that an ordinary mind will take days to acquire^ and then be amazed at the simplicity of what it has been so long in learning ; yet the individual who has passed through such an experience, goes about his work afterwards in as different and comm,on-sensible a fashion as there is be- tween an old fisherman and the boy w^ho lifts a lobster for the first time. How very differently we all approach a mule or a wasp when once we have gained a knowledge of its character- istic. Our inspection of the Citadel being finished, we made a complete tour of the town walls, from Dalhousie bastion to DufFerin terrace. The two new ornamental gates, St. Louis gate and Kent gate, were only half built at the time, and we were therefore unable to form much of an opinion as to their beauty ; but their wide stone f rches afforded us an excellent example of the erection of such kind of masonry structure*; and our Civil Ergineering Professor expressed a very favorable opinion on the workmanship and the quality of the stone. Along the old walls we met with several piece* of scaffolding, &c., relics of the repairs made there immediately before that celebrated political crisis in the year 1878. To a student of fortifi* cation some of these repairs have a most absurd appearance ; but military engineering faults are perhaps of less importance than might be sup* posed r for the line of works running across th» i Ir- t;- ^ OF THE cadets' TOUR. 37 high ground, from the St. Lawrence to the St. Charles cliff, must in future be regarded merely as an historical relic : their resistance to a modern siege would not be worthy of consider- ation In spite of this, if they really are to be preserved, for appearance sake a( least the three buildings that have been erected almost in con- tact with them, should doubtless be removed in course of time. When we arrived at the new Dufferin terrace, having made a short stop for lunch by the way, it was not far from 4 p.m., and we were rejoiced to hear that no heavier work would be required of us for the rest of the day, than the private ar- ranging of our notes up to date. We lingered a moment or so before making off to commence this new task, that we might enjoy the view from the Terrace, the prettiest to be seen from any part of the city. That from the King's bastion of the Citadel is usually shewn to visit- ors first ; but the spectator is there raised so high above his object that it assumes something of a flat appearance ; he is also so close to the edge of a perpendicular cliff, that unless be has good nerves he will soon become dizzy. Seen from the Terrace though, the river banks appear wide enough apart to do away with any idea of a gorge ; and the distant blue mountains, look doubled in height. Quebecers are too familiar with this view to appreciate it ; they use the terrace as a- promenade only, and in their walks on it up and down, from end to end, rarely pause, except it be for rest, or to look down at some unusual occurrence that may be taking piece on the river or in the Lower Town. Many 4 . ■ » ■.( mmmmm 38 THE NON-PROFKSSIONAL N0TE3 n 'I'i' -i-: ?-.:,? an experienced traveller has been known to pro- nounce this view unequalled ; and a stranger may easily be distinguished by his remaining seated, gazing quietly over the railings ; or, if he does happen to get up and walk about, he "will frequently return to the edge for a fresh glimpse. We must except of course in this distinction, those few individuals for whom the beauties of nature have no charms. It was quite interest- ing to notice, that while one member of our party spoke of remaining in Quebec all summer, for the sole purpose of being able Jo daily enjoy such a view. Carry, who evidently thinks him- self to be now an engineer, confined his atten- tions exclusively to the construciion of the Ter- race itself, and predicted for it the short liie of ten years. Could he only see the massive stone wall raised under it since that day, I fear sf pro- fessional opinion would require some modifica- tion. We wrote away quietly at our notes till the that is the good boys did ; and then evening Harcourt, Bloxy and others determined upon having some slight enjoyment befo ^ the day closed. They stepped out and order* i a^eches, that peculiar Quebec passenger vehick , for a drive out into the country. On their return, being in ignorance of the fact that the hire of a cafecfie is only half the usual tariff, they paid their drivers twice as much as was expected ; and long after we had retired for the night we could hear the fellows rejoicing over it out in the street — "Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! I dell you dat man ees crazy for sure ; he give me de same for caleche as for wagon ! " OF THE CADETS TOUR. 39 We set out at our customary hour, seven o'clock, the next morning, and having crossed to the other side of the river, drove up the Levis cliffs in carriages to No. 3 fort, to hasten our move- ments as in Montreal. Williams tried to improve his French all the way by attempting a conver- sation with the driver in that language ; it was very amusing, but I can't say as successful. At lenffth Harcourt got tired and ventured to stop him by saying — "Come now Williams, G-erman is your forte." Williams had recently lost a German prize by one place in a division of two : but he simply asked — "What is your forte, Harcourt?" and then went on talking with the driver as before. Harcourt could only find such expressions in return as — "Now, Williams, that won't do you know." "Before I would try to talk French like that ;" but as we came to the end of our drive, he suddenly brightened up, and looking at the work before us, seemed to think he quite recovered himself by the remark — "There, Williams, that's my fort." Our carriage was the first to arrive ; and during the time we were waiting for the others, Williams continued his lesson by giving the driver particular directions as to our future movements, and the care he should take of his animal till we wanted him again. He succeed- ed this time, L think, in putting the man under the impression that he was telling him some- thing about the city of Kingston : the rest of us did not give much heed to him, as we had found a lot of wild strawberries on the rampai^ts of the fort, and were making a second brea^fa.^t ^ 40 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES It ■ " m w oflf them ; all had soon to turn their attentions to more serious matters. The forts we had come to examine, as we noted yesterday, form the outermost line of the position ; their purpose is to prevent an enemy from approaching within cannon-shot of the city, and shelling it from across the river ; such though has been the increase in the range of modern guns, during the ten years elapsed since they were finished, that it is now more than doubtful whether another line of works should not be constructed beyond them. There are only three forts, all of about the same size and form, and also a curious, half- natural and half-artificial, rock battery on a high mound, some distance to the front ; we could not afford time to go over and give it a closer in- spection, but from No. 3 fort, the one furthest up the river, most of its details are quite visible. At No. 3 and No. 2 we confined our atten- tions to the outward features, and did not go through the casemates, magadnes, &c , under the ramparts ; as to do this once, that is at No. 1, the most extensive, was judged quite suffi- cent. With a peculiar satisfaction we saw, spread out before us in reality for the first time^ those lines, angles, and slopes, that we had before known only on paper, or at best in our imaginations. The explanations of the military position given yesterday from the Citadel, were con- tin>aed at each fort. No. 2 is ou very high ground, about a mile further down the river ; and No. 1 is about two miles beyond it again. i OF THE CADETS TOUR. 41 The road leading from one to the other forms a part of the military works, and is screened on its outer side by a mound of earth. The sides facing the Citadel are closed by a thin stone wall only, so that in case an enemy should succeed in capturing the works, he could still be prevented from occupying them by the fire of the town. So far as they go, no doubt they are excellent forts ; but the total want of guns on their ramparts cannot but make them look most absurd to the eyes of foreigners, and completely frustrates that for- midable aspect all forts are so naturally ex- pected to possess. We completed this Military reconnaissance by an inspection of a small village of wooden huts, built some years ago by the Royal Engineers on what was then their camping ground, and afterwards made our way down to the Graving Dock at St. Joseph de Levis, the first Civil work visited in the vicinity of Quebec. We began operations by all crowding our- selves into a small room, where a table was ob- served at one end, on which the Official draw- ings of the Dock were presently laid out for our inspection, an explanation of theiji being kindly given by the Assistant Engineer. Those who were fortunate enough to be at the other end of the room could not begin to see any- thing of the table ; and of course the description without a view of the plans, was quite unin- telligible. Such accommodation however, was much better than we had any reason to expect,, and had only to be made the best of, which the unfortunates at once proceeded to do by taking 42 THE NON-PROFKSSIONAL NOTES ( i h a quiet and refreshing snooze. It was well far most of us, that we acquired this happy knack of dropping asleep whenever a convenient op- portunity offered, and in whatever posture we might chance to be. After several days spent in rambling* about over rough ground, and nights in hot and dusty railway trains, it often enabled us to get through our work much more effectually ; and was the secret of more than one display of endurance. The most zealous of the party finished with the dock plans at last ; and we w^ent out to inspect the works themselves. The dock will be a large, solid, and handsome structure when finished, to be used for the repairing of injured vessels ; but the work being little more than begun at this time, we could not get any great idea of what its appearance will be like, except from the plans, and I must confess to being^ one of those who w^ere unable to obtain a very o.f^mplete view of the latter. Unfinished work* though, answered our purpose best ; for, besides all that is to be learnt from looking at the actual process of construction, and the steps that have first to be taken in preparing the natural ground, it happens in the greater number of cases that the most iitiportant parts of large engineerings works are forever buried out ol sight when all is completed. As we were about starting on our way back to the ferry, we heard some one calling to us from the river, and Oliverbanks went out on a wharf to see w^hat was the matter. We shortly heard him exclaim — "Say boys, the policemen are here with their boat, and want to take us. CF THE CADETS TOUR. 43= on board." Some advised concealment, and) 8ome resistance ; but on being assured it was- a courtesy extended to all public visitors to the harbour of Quebec, we embarked, and were quickly taken across to the Princess Louise Embankment and Docks, at the mouth of the St. Charles River. These docks, being also under construction,, served as an excellent example of foundations laid under water. They will form a large arti- ficial harbor in connection with tne terminus of the Q. M. O. & O. Ry., which is expected to be- come also that of the Canadian Trans-Conti- nental Line. The Chief Engineer of the Harbor works had now joined our party ; he kindly gave us the benefit of a long discourse on the qualities of hydraulic cements, and when we had seen the docks, took us through the cement testing sheds. As usual, Carry carried off all the specimens he could obtain, and requested others to assist him. We were beginning to feel alarmed as to what we would do with the large number of different articles he gathered, if they continued to accumulate amongst our baggage all through the Tour ; but it was not long before we dis- covered, that ISature, in gifting him in this pe- culiar way, had at the same time guarded against any inconvenient consequences that might re- suit. He never remembered over night what he had picked up the day before ; thus the articles^ in his own keeping, he generally left lying about the hotels ; and I have good reason to suppose that those intrusted to others were oftener dropped in the first convenient spot, I y I Mi- 11, 44 THE N. P. NOTES OF THE CADETS' TOUR. than carried to any distance from where thev were found. ^ The cement sheds were the last of our Quebec wyk ; we regretted that we could not undor. take a visit to the large lumber mills at the Falls ot Montmorenci and a number of other almost equally interesting objects ; but the duration of ^^5 u ^^u^^*^ limited by an unalterable law, and by the following morning our journey to^ wards Halifax, the goal of our travels, had to be resumed. ■.■■i' t ■t I CHAPTER IV. THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY. Thursday morning, July 8tl\, saw this journey of instruction safely resumed again. The wholo day had to be spent on board of the train ; go the* writing of notes and the close inspeciion of fresh objects being barely practicable, we took a holiday, and thoroughly enjoyed it too. Our occupations were of the simplest, and scarcely deserve a notice , we spent most of the time in chatting, reading, sleeping, or looking out at the much varied scenery that is to be found from Quebec to the Bay of Chaleur. Several of our Professors, and Cadet friends who had still one or more years to serve, we found on the train, taking a short run down to the seaside, and were delighted at another day of their companionship. One of the former was to us young college graduates, whose non-marriage- vows were just expiring, a striking warning of the cares that attend such a life. Poor man, he had no rest all day from chasing his youngsters through the car to prevent their running out of Ihat door the pea-nut boy and others were- so constantly opening. An account of a Railway journey is usually opened by a few remarks, comparing that mode- of travelling with the earlier stage-coach method, favorably or unfavorably after the fancy ■M 46 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES ■ >,f i ft !■: n a. iU'i of the writer ; but I purpose to skip all that. It should be remembered, that but very few of the present generation have ever seen a re- gular, old fashioned stage coach ; and, to tell the truth, still fewer of them care to exercise their imaginations over the toils and sufferings their parents or grand-parents are alleged to have once undergone in it. A comparison be- tween the Railway train of ten years ago and that of to-day, would be much more suitable. What a change has come in along with steel rails, air brakes, patent couplers, and Pullman cars ! Even old Major Pendennis would be pleased at the extraction of his back teeth being no longer necessary. "What traveller of ten years ago does not remember being shaken like a pepper-castor all night on rough iron rails ; every time the train had to stop a brakeman would rush through the car, shouting some- thing that was meant for the name of a station, and twist round a creaky wheel out on the platform ; while the extra space there was be- tween the cars made them jolt together as if they would telescope one another. Such a thing as a dining car would have been alto- gether useless ; for even the train hands some- times fell through and got run over, in stepping from one platform to another. When morning came the dust and soot could not be washed away from one's face and hands ; but as a close to all this wandering, I beg to suggest that the next improvement to our travelling conveniences be a barber's chair, so designed that it will adapt itself to the motion of a car with sufficient ease to permit of its use under a skilful operator. OF THE CADETS TOUR. 47 I really hi'lieve that Elky and O'iverbaiiks would have attempted to shave themselves once or twice alter we had been travelling all night, had they only thought the conductor would have allowed it. * For the hrst tew miles out from Point Levi the road runs towards Montreal, ascending the St. Lawrence cliffs, and then circles round into its true direction, entering a long stretch ot level country which extends almost to Riviere-du- Loup, 120 miles distant. Several villages are passed on the way, but there is not generally much of interest to be seen there. We made a great number of very long stops at small stations on the Litercolonial Railway ; most of these occurred on this first section, which is the part bought from the G-rand Trunk Railway, and were necessary on account of the repairs that were being made to the road-bed. "We more than once met at one time as many as three long trains of Hat cars loaded with gravel ; and the loop formed by the double tracks not being long enough to hold them all at once, our train had to wait on one side of it, till they moved past us on the other. This may seem lather an undignified proceeding for an express train to have to submit to ; but since that time I have had the pleasure oi travelling over anon- governmental road, on which, regularly every afternoon, two passenger trains met one another at a certain station where the length of extra track was too short to admit of the whole of either of them standing on it at one time. How trains manage to get past one another under such circumstances, is a problem that I would 4« THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES fi 1 advise the reader, if he feels interested in it, to work out for himself with the aid of a few pieces of card to represent the two trains : the solution is too detailed a maltor to describe here. Having arrived at Riviere-du-Loup soon after mid-day, we changed engines and proceeded on •at a much faster rate, owing to the improved road-way. Few people seem to give much thought to the requisites of things they don't well understand ; I heard a passenger jokingly ask his companion if the engine was tired, that it had to be taken off the train and replaced by another. It never seemed to occur to him that the engine driver was probably very much so ; or that over five hours constant watching and responsibility as the driver of an express train was quite enough w^ork for anv nan at a stretch. Beyond Riviere-du-Loup th ^nery becomes much more interesting ; the long level plain breaks up into a variety of hills and valleys ; and at times the river, w^hose opposite shore is no longer visible, is closely approached by the train, winding its way round the face of steep cliffs, with the water a hundred feet beneath it, or running along stretches of level beach, where the waves almost touch the track. After pass- ing through some hundred miles of summer resorts, rather emj 'y as yet, we turned off from the St. Lawrence about five in the afternoon to cross the high ground that lies between it and the Bay of Chaleur, a wild country, but more interesting than any we had yet gone through. At first the train curves about among a number of deep valleys, and a great part of the road is covered over with snow sheds. A little later, a OF THE CADETS TUUK, 49 high levol pioco of (country is ronchod, k»s8 iiiter- estiiiir, where lor the sake of variation 1 got out, and made my way to the engine, I expected an exciting ride, but was disappointed ; the loniy stretches of level track looked as lonely as an empty street, thoug-h had another traveller over the highway appeared round a distant corner, we would have been too much alarmed to enjoy it; I was not sorry, when a sloppage at a small station in the woods, gave me a chance to return to the cars. What other need there was for stopping, 1 can't make out ; no one was tViere but a station-master and telegraph operator combined in one individual, and not another train was on the line within thirty or forty miles of is; perhaps, in spite of his double cha- racter, the resident desired company. Novelists sometimes say that what happens to a person once is very liable to happen to him again in another form ; and so it was in Carry's case. I had hardly entered the cars be- fore he came w^auderin"' aloniy, and in an ab- stracted sort of a way bestowed upon me several handsful of nuts. At a loss to know w^hat concerned him, I began to thank him for his unexi)ected act of generosity, when he opened his griefs, and breathed into my ears the tale of his troubles. He had lost his baggage checks ; those relics and spe- cimens were about to fall into the sinnshefs hands ! Now on our w^ay from Montreal to Quebec, his trunks had gone astray, and we had overheard him remarking to himself, "1 wouldn't have parted with those trunks for anything ; they contain some most valuable and 5 \ .\ r!r rm 50 THE NON-PUOFESSIONAL NOTES '■few '■H m W '■; III ■'-.Ai m important articles;" but after a little trouble he managed to recover them ; we had per- suaded him to guard against such an accident this time by having them carefully checked, only for Fate to order its recurrence in this se- cond form. How it ended I forgot to inquire, but as no more fuss was heard it must have been to his satisfaction. While eating the nuts after Carry had gone away I observed that most of the party were either reading, or had fallen asleep, and there- fore took to looking out of the window, and me- ditating over the events of the day ; but present- ly awoke from such musings to find that my companions had all gone from the car. They were found on tho rear platform, the Professor of Civil Engineering in their midst delivering a most eloquent lecture on the location of the Railway. The valley of the Metapedia we had now entered begins by two series of scarcely perceptible hills, several miles apart ; and the road was taken over the level ground between them without dilhculty ; but the hills drawing gradually closer together, the valley at length becomes changed into a deep mountain gorge, through which it was not always easy to find room for both railvvay and the waters of the river. At first it was thought necessary to make seven crossings ; but a more extended study of the ground, and the use of the sharpest admis- sible curves, reduced the number to three. In many places the channel has been changed into a new course, and the road carried over the old one, protected from b?ing washed away during floods by timber wharfing and large stones. OF THE cadets' TOUR. 51 Carry giive us the beiieflt of many remarks on the beauties of these latter details, while Elky could not turn his eyes lower than the tops of the mountains ; but the lecture through some unexplained circumLtances coming to a very sudden stop, both were permitted to enjoy them- selves to the full in their own ways till the train reached the end of the valley, and quickly curved round into another, that of the Restigouche Ri- vesr. Such fine scenery is not often to be met with ; but I will leave it for the present, as we spent two full days there a little later. Alter another stop we crossed a long bridge from the Province oi Quebec into New Brunswick ; it soon became quite dark, so to finish up the day before turning in, we all moved forward, took possession of the smoking car and enjoyed ourselves in a great numberofold College songs and choruses, from love ditties to nigger hymns ; while in great astonishment, to which we did not give the slightest regard, the baggage men and other train hands dropped their pipes, and gazed at us vith open mouths. '« > **' Hi went all throiijih it includinjr the barracks and signal station, but the principal advantage gained by our visit was a good general view of the harbor and Bedford basin, ihe features which really give to Halifax its great military and naval importance. It was by this time too lat« in the afternoon to proceed further with our work, so on linishing with the Citadel we went to pay our respects to the Engineer and Artillery officers at their mess, and received the high distinction of being made honorary members during our stay in the city. The next move was a return to the hotel, where it was proposed that the remainder of the day should be devoted to a salt water balh. Inquiries were therefore made both in the hotel and at a barber's shop over the way, as to where this luxury might be obtained with- in a reasonable distance of the city. At both places we were informed that by taking a bus which passed every few minutes, what would be a street car in other places, and proceeding to the Soviih end of the City, an excellent bath- ing place might be reached, provided with towels and all other conveniences. It seems that Halifax did have a street railway once; but the cars have long ago stopped running, and most of the rails are removed or covered up, a few of them still remaining visible in the streets. Five of us started for the swimming place on the next bus that passed, and after going over a mile in a Southward direction w^ere directed by •the driver to some point still further on; he said that the only swimming place he knowed on 'was to be found there. A quarter of an hour's OV THK CADETS TOUR. 68 walk along the shore brought us opposite to a •trange looking raft moored a hundred yards, out in the water with a closed railing run- ning all round it; and as no other object was visible ibr at least a mile we concluded it must be the bathing house. IIow to get out there was the great difficulty ; after a number of methods had been suggested and found imprac*. ticable, we were about going down to the foot of a steep bank where we would be in a se- cluded enough position to take our swim, when one of those lonely looking individuals always to be met with on the outskirts of large towns was observed a short distance off. We made some further inquiries, and gradually drew out of him the information, that no boats could be obtained without returning to the City, and no one was allowed to swim within sight of the shore for at least another mile, that strange looking raft w^as the bathing house, but it was only permitted to be used at six o'clock in the morning. Elky was going to suggest, "Come boys let us go in here anyway, no one will say a word," when Harcourt, w^ho was still con- versing with the lonely looking individual, interrupted him by exclaiming, " Ky Jove ! You are a policeman too, you didn't tell us that before." We were almost caught, but at the first opportunity Harcourt's quick eye had detected a small metal badge under the man's coat. He denied having left the City with any intentions of watching us ; but the sheepish look that came over him on discovery left little room for doubt. i m 4S):-: ^i 111'?, ■■• I'll ji ■ , ■a; It I-U^" p.. 64 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES Determined not to do without our balh, we went back to the nearest boal house, and got a boy to row us out to the middle of the harbor. Harcourt struck up a conversation with ♦he youngster on the way, and among other things told him that Williams was the new Lieutenant- Governor of New Brunswick. Williams assum- ed the honor immediately, and replied, — "Hang it all, Harcourt, what did you giA'e me away like that for ; this boy will expect me to tip him four or five dollars now." The swim w^as found to have several inconveniences attending it ; we had only two towels with us, and sea water is anything but pleasant when allowed to dry on the skin. The water was also swarming with small jelly fish, making it look and feel un- comfortable ; they did not sting us as they are reported to be capable of doing, that is no one felt them if they did, excepting that after Williams had dried himself and was beginning to dress, Harcourt caught one and squashed it on his back, making him spring out of the boat again with a loud yell. There was a statement in the papers a day or so afterwards, sayinjr that on this very after- noon a number of sharks had been seen in the harbor chasing a small boat. Sharks have some times been known to come up there one or two at a time, but a few months afterwards I accidentally found out, that the supposed sharks seen that afternoon had been discovered to be really so many human beings taking a swim. We concluded that on the whole it was better not to swim any more at Halifax, and during the rest of our stay there, aspired to OF THE CADETS TOUR. 65 nothiiig higher than the baths in the cellar of the hotel. The following day being Sunday, was of course observed as a day of rest. Only one or two members of the party were up in time to . attend church in the morning ; but most of us found our way there for the evening service, and met all the Halifax Cadets, wliohti 1 by this time arrived from Kingston. We had now come to the limit of out ^rryels, and four whole days of the next week were given to the Military and Naval Works. I do not propose entering into the usual discussion with the reader as to the way in which his mental food is to be dished up to him : a discussion, in the result of which ho knows perfectly well all the time he will have no voice, for obvious reasons. No, I will not discourse on the merits of the diary or anj other form, but simply state that I am about vo give one chapter to the events of the next ibur days, and to throw them together in v/hatever manner they seem most naturally to fit one another. We were told that Halifax was usually much gayer than it appeared to be while we were there on account of most of the residents being out of town for the summer. Owing to a most lamentable accidental death in the garrison, a grand ball, to which w^e were all invited, had to be postponed for several weeks ; but this is Sunday night, and such thoughts we must put aside. ni^ CHAPTER VII. ll'4i If ''v . ' fl; HALIFAX CONTINUED, H. M. S. "NORTK AMP- TON," ETC. Halifax owes its great military importahce to its harbor, but is also an excellent purely land defensive position, the greater part of the sur- rounding country being so barren and rocky as to be almost impassable even in its natural state. The city is built on a peninsula, a narrow sheet of water, called the North West Arm, on one side and the harbor on the other, Bedford Basin, wide and deep enough to float all the navies of Europe at once, being connected with the upper part of the latter by a strait called the Narrows. The Citadel is the central point of the posi- tion. In addition to it there are six new forts of the most modern type, built between the years 1861 and 1867, all vrell armed with heavy guns ; excepting of the rear faces of one of them, Fort Clarence, on the Dartmouth side, they are examples of that half-marine and half-land-per- tainiiig part of fortification called Coast De- fences, a peculiar branch of the Science, form- ing a connecting link between Naval and Mili- tary warfare : one practical result of this being that the Engineers and Artillery of the garri- son always keep detachments told oft' fcr duties on the water exclusively, dressed in sailor uni- form. m THE N. P. NOTES OF THE CADETS' TOUR. 67 There arc also several old forts, now of little consequence, and a number Martello towers, built about ninety years ago. The latter have been converted into magazines and look out stations, in most cases with striking contrast in- corporated with modern works. The entrance to the hart or is safe and easy enough in its present state, marked out with buoys and light houses ; without them, as it would be in war time, and with the artificial defences brought into action, life wfell, it would offer no slight obstacle to a hostile vessel. To put it briefly ; for a distance ^^ver live miles,, she would have to work ufl^|r a fire of at least thirty of the most modern de^ription of heavy guns, to avoid shoals and islands, and cross several lines of sub-marine mines. Our previous duties had not been carried out in an uii active manner ; but now we soon found under the Commandant's rule no slight in- crease in the occupations of the day. A most systematic and detailed study of the position of Halifax began with Monday morning ; each of the six forts was examined in turn, as well as the "Northamnton," the Torpedo Station, and other places ; hardly a moment was lost till the work was completed; lectures and explana- tions were made to fill up any necessary breaks in the actual inspections ; and lunch was pro- vided for us at whatever place we happened to be about midday. Our first visit was to H. M. Lumber Yard to see the official plans of the forts, and make ar- rangements for a steam yacht to meet us a little later, the use of which had been kindly 68 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES n.vi. y ■ IU7 lit;',' I'f ' ' m |;„4^5l rfJ-iV offered to us by the Royal Engineers of the gar- rison, one of the officers taking charge. Fort ' Ogilvie and Cambridge Battery at Point Plea- sant were next visited ; we met there the Com- mandant of the Forces, and witnessed some Artillery practice from converted 64 pounder guns, the English pattern of the same gun we had seen at Messrs. Gilbert's works in Mon- treal. It was soon observed that while all the forts are of the same general type, each has a peculiar character of its own, our notes to-day being very minute, including even the number and bearings of every gun. The first case of illness in the party had occur- red this morning. I met Carry in the passage of the hotel as I w os on my way to breakfast,^ and in return to "Good Morning" he replied, "Oh ! 1 am so sick ! vOh ! my breakfast ! " He had unsuccessfully begun it, as I lound out on inquiry, by a lemon in its natural state without sugar, w^hich Refky had incautiously or mali- ciously handed to him. The short sea voyage we now took down the harbor, from Point Pleasant to York Redoubt, the furthest work seaward, seemed to do him good, and excepting that he did not gather any specimens, nothing unusual was noticeable for the rest of the day. At Ic ork Redoubt the yacht was ordered off" on unexpected duty by telegraph, and we therefore lost considerable time by having to return to the city on foot. Arriving there, we found another boat waiting lor us and at once went out to George's Island in the centre of the harbor, immediately opposite the city. The fort on that Island, Fort Charlotte, is by far ■P OF THE cadets' TOUE. bV the most extensive of the six ; what was na- turally a low bank of sand^now rises 80 feet above the water in smooth green slopes, under- neath which lies a great mass of masonry, fall of gun chambers and magazines. The torpedo station is at the upper end of the Island, screen- ed by the fort ; we had to put off our visit to it till the next morning on account of time being up. We then found the steam yacht at our service again, and after a short but comprehen- sive lecture on the subject of sub-marine mining warfare, by an officer of the Royal Engineers, and an inspection of the station, we went up in her to H. M. S. "Northampton," which for- tunately happened to be in the harbor, and re- ceived a true seaman's welcome on board. To enter into any description of the many new things we saw would be useless ; the most in- teresting were of course the Whitehead torpe- does. 1 will merely mention that she is one of the best vessels in the Navy, and is chiefly noted for being always supplied with a great number of the most recent improvements and inventions. Carry was as active as usual ;: note-book in hand he managed to corner an old tar between decks, not that he wanted to take^ him away as a specimen, but for the purpose of getting a lot of information out of him. William* remarked that you could easily tell by the twinkle in the old rascal's eyes he was drawing the long bow on him as hard as he knew how. The afternoon was given to a visit to Fort Clarence, leaving the sixth- and last, Ives Point Batttry, for the next morning. A covered gal- lery runs all round Fort Clarence outside of the- 70 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES ">!< ' II; m ^5;1 ditch ; the part of this that faces the harbor is oc- cupied by heavy guns, and is tolerably well light- ed by the embrasures through which they tire ; but the other sides are quite dark, with the exception of each angle of the fort, where there are two guns of a peculiar pattern, firing along the ditch. As we went round the gallery Williams insisted that each pair of these guns were the same ones as w^e had seen first, and that we were thus going hopelessly round in a circle, passing them over and over again. As intended, Ives I^oint Battery on McNab's Island was visited the next morning ; and we afterwards went to some high ground on the same island to obtain a second general view of the position, returning to the hotel for a lecture and dinner early in the afternoon. The rest of the day was spent on the water Betting off" a sub-marine mine of 250 ibs. of gun- cotton. It took a long time to lay the mine itself with a red buoy to mark thi^ spot, and the electric cable by means of which it was to be fired, these operations being carefully ex- plained at the same time ; when all were placed a fuse was fired in the yacht to test the cable, and the proper connections being made, we steamed out of way ready for the final event, the mine 5| f? thorns under water and 7 J from the bottom. On our raising a red flag as a signal, the last connection was at once made at George's Island ; a heavy report followed, the boat shook slightly, and a column of water with the red buoy on its top rose hundreds of feet in the air. An artist was on board with us, and had promised me a sketch of this interesting^ OF THE cadets' TOUR. 71 si^ht to illustrate my notes ; but he was anfor- tunately so excited at the time as to forget to make it. Had he done so, I should certainly have reproduced it here. AVe had not intendod to go fishing that after- noon, but the sappers forming our crew now produced a landing net, and in less than half an hour picked up more than a dozen fish of different kinds which had been killed or stun- ned by the shock, all well over ten pounds in weight. A crew of gunners also came out, having heard that the explosion was to take place; but as their boat was propelled by oars only w^e had ihe advantage of them, and their catch was not so great. The following morning, Thursday, was spent at Cambridge Battery, w^here target practice with 9 inch, guns at 4,100 yards range was being carried on; after that a lecture completed our Halifax work, and the remainder of the dav was given to amusement, or by the more stu- dious, to the writing of notes. Our departure from Halifax took place on Friday morning at half-past eight. Though our stay there in spite of much w^ork had been very agreeable, we were not sorry that the Tour was approaching its end; our memories felt Well crammed with facts and descriptions not yet down in our notes, and we were naturally anxious to get R. M. 0. affairs completed, and begin life for ourselv^es; though, as Sedman remarked, we had felt more like brothers than ever during this trip. Our railway tickets had to be shewn on get- ting our baggage checked at a side door, again B' 72 THE N. P. NOTES OF THE CADETS TOUR. on entering the station, and a third time as soon as we had started, Sedman remarked that if his ticket was going to be taken away from him like that, by having small pieces punched out of it a!) the time, he would have to be given a new one before the trip was over; while Harcourt called out, "Red tape, red take, don't you know it's a (Jovernment road T' 4 it it I ^*! ^f^V i! CHAPTER VIII. SPRINOHILL COAL MINES. After about tour hours travelling' over the same route we had come by, we left the train at Springhill junction, a place situated near the narrowest part of the isthmus which joins Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, our object being to go through some coal mines that are there. It was now past noon, and as we had to wait till nearly three o'clock for another train to take us down from the junction to the mines, about five miles, it was concluded to have dinner first at a small hotel convenient to the station, called the Lome House, kept in the same, or per- haps a trifle belter stylo, than the one we had stopped at in Londonderry the week before, which did not I think boast of any particular name. During dinner we were informed by a young- doctor, who was on his rounds through the country, that our waitress was no one else than Esther Cox, the girl reported some years ago to be possessed. There was so much talk of her at that time that I need not say a great deal on the matter here. All the people living in the vicinity firmly believe in it as a genuine case of demoniacism, and claim that the mani- festations, which ceased with her change of re- sidence, have never been accounted for nor ex- plained in any other way. The girl has gained 7 74 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES f!lt J. ' %:. Ifir Ik .•.■•t It, r. nothiag by it except a certain amount of noto- riety, which she does not seem to care about, Oliverbanks managed to get somewhere a small pamphlet giving an account of the circum- stances ; and as I found it in the train after he had left us, I picked it up and am keeping it for him. It was published at the Dai/i/ News office, St. John, N. B., and written by a Mr. Walter Hubbell, who is a convert to I he spirit theory, and asserts that he "Lived in the house and witnessed the wonderful manifestations," and that his account is free from exaggeration. In that case, the following extract from his in- troduction is a very good enumeration of what occurred, and is much the same as what we were told by L^ople at the hotel : "Some of the manifestations are remarkably devilish in their appearance and effect. For instance, the mysterious setting of fires, th<> powerful shaking of the house, the loud and incessant noises and distinct knocking, as if made by invisible sledge-hammers, on the walls ; also, the strange actions of the house- hold furniture, which moves about in the broad daylight without the slightest visible cause." I find also a good personal description of Miss Esther Cox, I would merely add to it that there is a very visible nervousness, not shyness, in her manner : "In person Esther is of low stature and ra- ther inclined to be stout ; her hair is curly, of a dark brown colour, her eyes are large and grey with a bluish tinge, and an ear- nest expression Her eyebrows and eyelashes are dark and well marked, that is to OF THE cadets' TOUR. 76 say, the lashes are long and the eye-brows verv distinct. Her face is what can be called round, with well shaped features ; she has remarkably handsome teeth, and a pale complexion.' A variety of opinions were expressed among our i>arty a))Out the matter, the l*rofessor of Civil Engineering regretting that the spirit forces could not be made to do some i\seful work, and saying that he would not care whether it was his old grandmother he caught or not ; he would make her work away all she could stand, just the same. It seems a difficult matter to come to any positive conclusion about; but until science can discover some more reasonable explanation than the vague and time-worn one that there is electricity in it, the spirit theory seems the most natural ; possibly, in some of the mines they have dug a little too deep, and disturbed the nest of the author of evil. Our way down from the junction to the mines lay over the Springhill and Parsborough Kail- way. It was a rough enough road throughout, but its curves were the really rem.arkabie parts ; in fact they scarcely deserved that name at all, for in place of the rails having been bent into the exact form the road should have, they were left quite straight, and to change direction each one was thrown a little out of the line of the pre- ceeding, like the corners of a very many sided figure, or what a mathematician might call an unfinished attempt at squaring the circle. The effect on the train may be imagined. Some one wickedly suggested that Government wanted to get rid of us, and had devised the whole Tour for 7« THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES m m m I" !i >* rr.' the purpose of killing us olf, this ride being their last desperate attempt ; but he was of course quickly voted down. The mine proved to bt^ one of the most inter- esting sights of the trip. Our lirst view was a dark passage sloping down into the earth at an angle of 32 degrees; all was very quiet at first, but soon there was heard a rumbling sound far dow n, that approached and increased to a dread- ful roar, till we thought the prince of darkness, followed by all his imps, was coming up to us ; the real cause soon appeared though, in the shape of three trucks loaded with coal, which leaped up from the mouth of the shaft, and ran otf on a side track ; we then prepared to descend in three others, Oliverbanks and Williams being dressed in blue miner's suits. It was remarkable how natural the former looked. We thought him lost in the mine once, though it turned out after- wards he had only gone back before us, and began speculating on how the miners would not believe his story, but would hold him underground till some descendants of ours came on a future tour from the R. M. C, and found him. The des- cent took only a few minutes ; during it we w^ere crammed three or four together in ordinary coal trucks, supplied with a few small oil lamps, and had to look out very sharp that the tops of our heads did not strike the roof of the passage. Arriving at the bottom, we got out to find our- selves in a long, dark passage, that had a line of rails running through it, on which trucks, drawn by horses at what seemed a furious pace on ac- count of the noise they made, w^ere continually moving, crossing one another on side tracks OF THE CADET8' TOUR. 7T like the cars of a single lino street railway, the flame of a lamp in the driver's cap touching the roof. We proceeded on foot, and were in constant dread, lest cars we hoard thundering ji long way off should come up in the dark and run over us, there being scarcely room enough to pass them at the sides. In many places steep passages branched up- wards, provided with hoisting arrangements for taking the trucks up and down. After walking about half a mile, we ascended one of them, and when half way up had to crawl into a nook to allow the cars to come down. The whole mine seemed well ventilated, there being doors guarded by small boys in several places, for the purpose of turning the currents of air. Elky addressed one little fellow as an imp of blackness, and gave him ten cents, which was joyfully received. On returning to the foot of the shaft we ex- amined the underground stables ; the horses are never brought to the surface ; close to them was a large pool, called in miner's language a sumph, into which the whole mine is drained, the water being pumped out from it by a steam pump when necessary. The dimensions of the main level are 8 feet wide by 7 feet high in the centre ; and the greatest depth of the mine is about 440 feet below the mouth of the shaft. For want of space all at the same time could not hear the explanations nor see the objects being explained ; so Williams was picked out as secretary, and his notes copied by the others afterwards. H! ' 78 THE N. P. NOTES OF THE CADETS' TOU?.. mi K m Carry found a large flat stone that looked like a very rough and thick piece of slate ; he said It was the fossil of a crushed tree, and hugged it to his breast in joy. We then ascend- ed in the same way as we had come down, and finished work by examining the machinery for hoisting, and ibr separating the lumps of coal according to their size. Unfortunately the Paymaster had been too ill to go down with us ; besides Carry's his was the only other case that occurred ; it was by far the more serious of the two, and must have been caused by the salt air not agreeing with him, for he <|uito recovered before reaching Quebec. We went b;ick safely over the rough railway in an engine, Carry giving his fossil into the charge of the sick Paymaster ; when we had reached the junction and \vere about to get out, the latter individual, not wishing to climb down with the concern in his hands. Hung it on the platform from the cab window, Carry exclaim- ing, "Oh ! don't do that! You might' break it !" and sure enough it was found split in two when we came to pick it up. One piece was forgot- ten at Metapedia station the next day, and the other left in the train when we got out there and carried on, the conductor being heard to re- mark, that if he could find the person who brought that big stone into the car, he would certainly put him out. As we had now to wait at Springhill junction for some hours, the train not arriving till mid- night, we celebrated the near approaching end of the trip in lemonade. Carry partaking freely of it, and even getting up and proposing the healths of the Commandant and Professors. CHAPTER IX. MKTAPEV>IA, QUE- AND CAMPBELLTON, N. B.— CLOSE OF THE TOTTR. Ai»'aiii pas.sing through the same country by night as on the way down, and theivlbre mi^shig a View of it altogether, w^e came to another halt on Saturday morning, July 17lh, the last work- ing day of the Tour, at Metapedia, the lirst sta- tion in the Province of Quebec, our work being an inspection of the long, wide-span, skew rail- way bridge over the Restigouche river, built on one of the latest American systems. AVe began at once, and made a very detailed ex- amination, including also the snow shed and cutting on the INew^ Brunswick side, and the location of the rail v ay as it passes from the Metapedia into the liestigouche valley, an ex- tremely dilhcult point, as they are both enclosed by high steep hills, and intersect one another nearly at right angles. We were singularly fortunate throughout the trip as regards the weather, not being once in- convenienced by it ; the lirst and only shower of rain we met with, fell this morning after wt* had finished our out-door work and gone back to the railway station to write up notes. There is no hotel at Metapedia ; but towards twelve o'clock a gentleman w^ho resides there came down to the station, and very hospitably invited ua all up to his house for dinner; > > so THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES '•/ll lb I ^'^1 Early in the afternoon we set out for Camp- bellton, thirteen miles distant, in two stages, of which the Paymaster, Refky, three others and myself secured the first. On our way down we had been able to notice from the train that such fine scenery as is to be seen here is not olten met with ; but to gain anything like a fair view of it one must leave the train, and climb the hills, as it was now our good luck to do. From Metapedia to Campbellton, another sta- tion on the Intercolonial as the reader is doubt- less aware, the cart road follows close beside the railway, but unlike it ascends and descends with every hill and valley. The drive presents one continuous picture of high, close lying mountains, endlessly varied in their form, with the wide Uestigouche river, covered with islands and timber, flowing at their feet, the white houses of Campbellton and the waters of the Bay of Chaleur at times visible in the far distance. Elky made us stop once or twice to admire it, and we all felt sorry he was unpro- vided with proper sketching materials, as hiw talents in that way are by no means inferior. The second stage caught up to us, and we in- quired from Carry, who had been in this part of the country before, what hotel was the best to stop at ; he recommended a certain one in the middle of the village, which I shall for con- venience call "The Village House." When we arrived there the second stage had again fallen slightly behind, but we did not enter ; the filthy And dilapidated exterior, with the old landlady smoking a stump of a clay pipe at the front door, held us back ; we waited for Carry to OF THE CADETS TOUR. i reassure us of our havinq: found the right ))lace. He came along- in a moment or so, but could not stop to speak to u^ the landlady recognized him at once, and exclaiming, "Ah ! me aine bonnie boy again," took him off upstairs to her best parlour. Knowing there was yet one more bridge to examine we set off" at once, and li'i't the alt'ectionate scene at the Village House to take care of itself. The last Professional act of the Tour now took place, a thorough examination of the Mill Creek Railway Bridge, half a mile from Camp- bellton, built on the English Warren Girder system ; then with lightened hearts, but not heads, our memories were still burdened, we set otF afresh on our search for a lodging. We were soon taken to a place called West's Hotel by our driver as the sta"'e had been hired there. It looked comfortable, and the land- lady seemed one of ordinary habits, she had room for only four more guests, so we saddled for it. That means that one of the six who w^anted rooms noted two numbers pri- vately, between 1 and 6, and each of the other five in turn made a choice between the same limits, the remaining number going to the first individual, whoever were then found to have taken the two noted numbers being considered the unlucky men. These happened to be the PayniMster and myself; we had therefore to bid the others good-bye, and start on another search . Passing the Village House once more we pi(!l{e/| iM> iiuicourt, he was fleeing from it chased by ('nrry, the latter uttering loud excla- mations of anger at what he called our fastidious- «:2 THE NON-PROFESSIONAL NOTES m 'J ness, but what we called merely selecting the best accommodation to be found at equal prioes. Wo succeeded at length in lindinjr room for three and no more at the Koyal Hotel ; and then, no longer in foar of sharks and poli(3(nnun, Har- €jurt and I, the Paymaster bein<^ us yet too ill, proceeded to have a sail water swim hc^fcire supper, satisfied that our si^lection was iIki best of all both in styli» and situation, as was after- wards proved by its biM^omiiiu' (Iip luMKhjiinrhTs. After supper we saw our l'^iy;liHMM'iMg I'm* fessor and (\i>ur olf in thn Kasteni train, all duties beini>- linished they were allowed to depart, but not w ithout three loud and vigorous cheers There was one more departure from the Village House. Bloxy, after being a momi-nt in his room thi^re, had eome down stairs trem- bling and shuddering ; when asked what was the matter he gave no reply, but quietly pro- ceeded to pay for his *^ea, saying that he had to leave the village thar ght and then wentotf to a fourth hotel some distance from the others ; except that one corner of the bed had been slightly disturbed, nothing peculiar could be seen in his old room. The rest of the evening was spent very pleasantly at a church fair, held by the young Ladies of the place. Elky put on his uniform for it, and is said to have had an adventure on his way. In passing three little girls on the street he happened quite thoughtlessly to look at one rather harder than the others ; hearing the words, " Oh ! Look at Maggie blush ! " im- mediately afterwards, he turned round quickly OF THE CADETS' TOUR. 8a and called out: " Coino hero, me darlin', and rub it off' on my coat, it needs some I'rcBh colouring." Hhe did not refuse, and had her courage rewarded by being taken to the jklt. IIiilcoiiil iniljiiled the Campbellton jjirls into Ihe lilni/iiNh niyHtj'ries <»r (aiiing si|)S of tea nr Hpoonhlul nl' lee (ireani l)efore selling, and llloxy lol|els Ixjiore midnight. Sunday was ii[n'nt in a A^ery quiet way; the Western train arrives in ('ajn|>b<*llton in the morning, aiid lays over there all that day, mak- ing the place peculiar I'or always htfvinj^ a number of hI range vir lil'ty years back, could not unreasonably be expected to remember a great deal of iiis knowledge, and with the asnistance on one or two others of the same standing as himself, to do the work retpiired very fairly. To use a wim- ple metaphor, the Tour acts as the gum on the back of a good postage stamp after the letter has been sent. It might be olijected that other Military Col- leges do not iind such Tours necessary, N"o, they do not perhaps, but then they have, notably Vroolwich, large factories and fortifications near them, in w hich a //raclical class is always i m or TIIB OADBTS TOUR. 8T I being' instructed. It i.s too absurd almost to think of, that for no other purpose than the instruction of our Cadets, we should erect at Kingston such an establishment as Woolwich arsenal ; but by moving them about the country, aftar their theoretical knowlodgo is acquired, why can we not toach them a uriMit part of what may be learned there i Another advantage to be gained is, that as the majority of the Cadets come from small townrt in Ontario and after graduating will never be likely to again find their w^ay further east Ihan Kingston, a trip through the country to Halifax would be very useful in giving them more ex- tended ideas of the Lower Provinces. If they are to be always ready to be called into the public service of the Country in a case of great emergency, it is w^ell that they should have as detailed a knowledge of the whole of it as possible. I have merely to add now, a final farewell to the reader, and a regret that I have been so long unavoidably delayed in completing my work. I conclude these, a year, to the very day, from the time I finished my other notes. THE END.