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Les diagrammes suivants lllustrent la mdthode. by errata ned to lent une pelure, fagon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 FOREST SCENES AKD INCIDENTS, IN THE WILDS OF NORTH AMERICA; BEING A DIARY A WINTER'S ROUTE FROM HALIFAX TO THE CANADAS, ANU DURING FOUR MONTHs' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS ON THE BORDERS OF LAKES HURON AND SIMCOE. BY GEORGE HEAD, ESQ. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCGXXIX. j,.M. Hi 3 O. WOODFALL, ANOKt court, BKIN^fEB STRBST, LONDON. / 4z^/0 ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER. "L^vo That the journal, the substance of which is contained in the following pages, was never originally intended to meet the public eye, is literally and strictly true. — This fact, in jus- tice to myself, I offer without further com- ment. And the few years that had intervened since the period to which it immediately re- lates, had very nearly the effect of suppressing it altogether. But, dwelling with pleasure on the recollections of a country becoming now more interesting every day, and animated by leisure to revise those details written on the spot, which brought the sylvan panorama back to my memory, I found, upon reflection, that there really was much in North America to be described wholly distinct from time or period; perfectly unalterable by change of A 2 IV ADVERTISEMENT. scene and lapse of years. And I was further induced to imagine that, trifling as my own personal adventures might be, as far as they related to myself, still, that the sort of life it was my lot to lead was so unusual, and had in itself so much of the novel and the curious, as not to be wholly uninteresting to the plain reader and the lover of nature. Thus influ- enced, I have dwelt upon the details of the forest life ; while, on the other hand, I have glanced over the account of the beaten roads in a brief and cursory manner ; not wishing to describe what was already sufSciently known, whx has been, and will be again, no doubt, delineated by abler hands. Still the form of a diary, which I had adopted, required that all parts in my journey from Halifax to Lake Huron (a distance of more than 1200 miles) should b^ duly noticed ; nor could any, as an integral part, with reference to tlie whole, have been, at all events with propriety, omitted. If, in this trifling production, I have ever been induced to venture upon matter not strictly conformable with its title, it has been ADVERTISEMENT. V owing to the intimate connection of such mat- ter with my subject, and the irresistible incli- nation I felt at the moment. It is now sub- mitted to the world without any pretension. The anecdotes have been chiefly gleaned in solitude, and under some disadvantages quite unnecessary to relate. But the selection has been such as will, I trust, present to the rea- der at least a simple and faithful completion of " Forest Scenes and Incidents in the Wilds of North America." GEORGE HEAD. Carshalton^ Surrey, 29th May, 1829. CONTENTS. PAGE Advertisement iii A few days' residence at Halifax 1 Journey from Halifax to Presque Isle 19 Journey from Presque Isle to Riviere de Cape ... 108 Journey from Riviere de Cape to York, Upper Canada 146 Residence in the Woods 178 Summer Journey from Lake Simcoe to Quebec, by the Falls of Niagara and the Rapids of the St. Lawrence 320 Concluding Remarks on Emigration 351 a SI *» Sl( FOREST SCENES AKn INCIDENTS, ETC. A FEW DAYS* RESIDENCE AT HALIFAX. It was in the latter end of the month of No- vember, when I disembarked, after a rough passage from Falmouth, at Halifax, the capi- tal of Nova Scotia, and the passage of the river St. Lawrence being already closed for the winter, it became my duty to undertake a journey over land to the Canadas ; I therefore made my arrangements to set out as soon as snow should fall in sufficient quantity to put the roads in good order for travelling in a sleigh. As my stay was not likely to exceed a few days, I went to a sort of hotel and ^H 1 ■ii 2 A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE boarding-house, the only description of inn in the place. The weather, on my arrival, was fine, clear, and generally sunshiny, but accompanied with extremely sharp frost, which had already frozen the ponds in the neighbourhood to a thickness of several inches. Although now on the other side of the Atlantic, I found my- self as it were in an English town, among English people, and every thing else much more Enghsh *a appearance than one would expect to meet with so far distant. But the groups of native Indians were alone sufficient to remind me that I was breathing the mr of another hemisphere. These people attracted my earnest attention, for my imagination had painted in high colours the interesting spec- tacle of man in a state of rugged nature, wild as his native woods, and combining with hu- man intelligence the physical strength of the brute creation. It was not, therefore, with- out considerable disappointment, that I saw a few squalid miserable-looking beings, strag- gling in idle listlessness about the streets, and ■'I ^iJ ^ t^ - UMJ-Jli ^ t* I.. I.- AT HALIFAX. 3 in in ^lear, with ready to a L now d niy- imong much would 5ut the ifiicient 5 air of tracted on had g spec- re, wild nth hu- 1 of the e, with- t I saw s, strag- 5ets, and inferior in point of appearance to the wandering race of gipsies in England. One man, with his squaw and a little boy, were by far more tidy and clean than any of the rest. It was on a market-day, and the parents were both sitting down on the ground with things to sell. The man had the skin of an otter and some par- tridges, and the woman baskets neatly manu- factured of birch bark. The httle boy was using a bow and blunt arrow very dexterously, by shooting at a halfpenny set up on the top of a stick, which he hit at a distance of twenty yards several times successively. The dress of the man consisted of a close bodied coat of coarse blue cloth, made to lap over in front so as to serve at the same time the purpose of waistcoat and breeches, and from his girdle hung a squirrel skin pouch, in which he car- ried his tobacco, &c. Instead of shoes, he wore mocassins, made of soft leather, to fit like a stocking, and on his legs pieces of blue cloth, reaching from the knee to the ancle, sewed on tight with an overlap outside the seam, and evidently intended to remain on B 2 4 A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE till they fell oflP of themselves. His hair, never touched by shears or comb, was as coarse as the mane of a cart-horse, perfectly black, straight, and extremely thick. On such a head, however, he had contrived to stick a coarse felt hat, and, by way of being particu- larly smart, he had tied round it a piece of scarlet ferret, and part of a dirty shirt made its appearance about his throat. The squaw wore the same sort of mocassins and leggings as her husband, and a short blue cloth petti- coat, reaching from the hip to the middle of the leg. Her gown, or rather jacket, hardly reached the petticoat, was carelessly fastened in front, and was made of one of those flaring bed curtain patterns of cotton, full of large red and yellow flowers, birds, pitch-forks, hay- stacks, and cottage scenery. Over her shoulders was thrown a filthy blanket, confined by a skewer instead of a brooch ; a bad substitute, for the blanket seemed ready to tumble off. Her long black hair was smoothed straight backwards, and tied, in a club nearly as thick as a man's arm, with a leathern thong. The AT HALIFAX. O toilet of both the Indian and his squaw had been completed with abundance of grease of the most rancid description, with which their faces were shining. These two people were in their holiday dress, while others, with scarcely any covering, were to be seen grovel- ling on the ground, or reeling in a state of in- toxication about the streets. ^ ^ a* j » But in Halifax a fair specimen of the North American Indian is not to be met with. Far removed from his natural hunting country^, and attracted by the civilized population with- in narrow peninsular limits, he has sunk into idle debauched habits ; and the deleterious effect of cheap rum has destroyed in a very great mea- sure his energies. Notwithstanding these disad- vantages, the strength of his constitution is really prodigious. Indians are to be seen at all times in the winter, even under a temperature below zero of Fahrenheit, lying about the streets asleep and drunk, in the open air, with head, hands, feet, and bosom bare; and such is their hardihood, that they are almost proof against being frost bitten. The slow increase of '1 6 A FEW DATS RESIDENCE '\ their population, proceeding as it naturally does, without any sort of restraint, is a sufficient tes- timony of the numbers who perish in the season- ing. Many are the infants, no doubt, who, like blossoms from a tree, fall under the rigours of a few hours* frost ; while those who arrive at maturity become fortified by a moral prin- ciple which teaches them to consider the en- durance of cold and hunger as the extreme of virtue and heroism. The life and habits of the Indian no doubt counteract the increase of his species, for the climate has indisputably a prolific tendency, and there are proofs which might be mentioned, sufficient to establish that fact beyond all contradiction. They are a cowardly race of people, and submit them- selves readily to Englishmen, who surpass them in bodily strength as to running, wrest- ling, and other gymnastic exercises. When they quarrel and fight among themselves, they pull hair and scratch, having no notion of making use of their fists. Besides their strength of constitution and capability of bearing hunger and fatigue, they I I f i AT HALIFAX. 7 possess one faculty altogether wonderful — that of being able to travel point blank across the forest to any given point, let it be an hundred miles off, or farther still ; guided solely by an in- tuition almost supernatural, or by an acuteness of observation such as the human sense vy^ould hardly be expected to attain. That a people liv- ing continually in the woods should direct their incessant attention to the motions of the hea- venly bodies, and profit largely by experience, is no matter of wonder ; but we have still to learn how it is that by night, or enveloped in fogs by day, they are able to proceed without the help of sun, star, or compass. It is by the texture of the bark of the trees, rendered coarser on the side opposed to the prevailing winds, that they determine their bearings, al- though the differences they thus reason upon are so delicate as to be quite imperceptible to an European eye. We know that the acute- ness of the senses increases with the intensity of their action, and of this there is no want of instances; those of the shepherd, who learns to distinguish the inexpressive counte- iS?i ^ A FEW DAYS* RESIDENCE nances of never so many sheep one from an- other, the touch of the blind, &c. ; but there is certainly none which has been brought to a perfection so nearly allied to animal instinct as the one in question ; and the intellectual powers of the Indians having been wholly unexercised in any other way, the result is, that such is their confidence in themselves, that they are at all times ready to travel alone without the slightest apprehension, and lie down to rest in the woods wherever they may happen to be benighted, n JO . ^ The climate of Halifax does not admit of a ready comparison with that of England, and their summer, which lasts about four months, is not so much hotter as their winter is colder, They have no season like an English spring, nor does their autumn resemble ours *. i I had remained very few days at my hotel. ♦ In order to give a better idea, the following Syl- labus may be useful, to which I should premise that the weather and temperature in the neighbourhood of Lake Huron, which will be des.nbed in the ensuing journal, is not far different from that at Halifax, though 1 ' AT HALIFAX. [ ; / 9 when the weather became overcast, with indi- cations of an approaching fall of snow, which, the range of the thermometer in Quebec is considerably- higher in summer and lower in winter. Syllabus op the Climate of Halifax, - •* Nova Scotia. ' To begin with the months of July and Augitsi. These are the hottest of all, the sun being usually powerful and oppressive. The uniform heat is greater than ours, although a single day in England is now and then nearly as hot as any of theirs. ^ In September^ the evenings become cold, with frosts, increasing in severity to the end of the month. ' In October y the temperature falls perhaps to 25° of Fahrenheit, with rough gales from the north-west, sweeping the frozen continent, and answering lo our easterly winds. The weather however is variable, some days still being very warm. In November, a succession of bright sunshiny days generally prevails, and that month is to the Nova Scotian the best in all the year. The fresh frosty air and bright sun have acquired that season the appellation of the Indian summer. The variation of temperature towards the end of the month is very great ; sometimes as much as 40° in the twenty-four hours. Some days are close and f<^gy; others clear and intensely cold. In December, the snow before the middle of the •#> % 10 A FEW DAYS* RESIDENCE ■i !'M|| •'I . soon beginning to descend in soft broad flakes, continued for many hours, till it lay on the month begins to lie on the ground^ the average tempe- rature being about 20". iS. January may be called the coldest month ; the aver- age temperature being from 10" to 14". It drops some- times 10" or 15" below zero, and remains so for three or four days together. February usually commences with extreme cold, the temperature seldom ranging above 12". Snow-storms are violent and frequent. The sun, however, before the end of the month, shews gradually his increasing power, and icicles are seen hanging from the roofs of houses in sheltered situations. In March, clouds of hail and sleet sweep along the streets with a force hard to be withstood by man or beast. Cold must be endured in all its variety. On one day the ground presents to the eye a surface of deep fresli snow, to wade through which nothing but sheer necessity would drive a man abroad. Before night perhaps a fog sets in, with a rapid thaw. Heavy rain succeeds, and torrents of water and melted snow rush down the steep streets towards the sea. The compact mass or cake of ice with which the whole surface of the ground in the town is covered now begins to make its appearance, and walking becomes even more disagree- able and dangerous than ever. This mass of ice is full two feet thick, and it cracks into fissures, which form. AT HALIFAX. 11 ground to a very considerable depth. The next morning it had drifted so as to render as it were, the beds of little rivers, which discharge the melted snow into the sea. Jn April the weather is severe and variable. Large quantities of snow fall during the month, but the heat of the sun in the middle of the day is too great to al- low it to lie long on the ground. Hardly ;,\vo days are alike. Sometimes the snow is deep and fresh, at others soft and sloppy ; and again covered with a crackling coat of ice. Then the north-west wind rages, and calls forth the powers of the young and active to make way against its force. ■ • In the month of May^ the weather has but little im- proved. The snow falls heavily at intervals, and, melted by the increased power of the sun, mixes with mud till the streets are like a bog, and would be consi- dered in any other part of the world impassable. The variations of temperature are excessive. Keen frosty winds and a warm sun acting together try the weaker constitutions. Nevertheless, rheumatic people do not complain. Those subject to pul!nonary attacks suffer considerably. In the month of June the sun begins to be really powerful, and in the early part is now and then as hot as at any time of the year. Yet, the summer has not arrived, and the trees are only beginning to shew the first tinge of green. Floating islands of ice, which in- 12 A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE many parts of the town impassabl ^U a way had been cleared; and the shopkeepers and their boys, in fur caps and red nightcaps, with canvas sleeves over their arms and broad sho- vels in their hands, were to be seen every where hard at work throwing aside the snow accumulated before their dwellings. It had covered the doors and lower windows of some of the houses, so that the people were obliged ■•» >■* fest the coast at this season of the year^ influence the climate most considerably. Till these gradually recede, and, becoming porous, sink to the water's edge, the weather is never settled and warm. For in the hottest day, whenever the wind happens to blow from the sea, it drives before it a dense chilling fog, like a moving pillar, over the town. There, while it rests, the change of atmosphere is violent in the extreme. The very eyes feel wet and cold ! And the sea-breeze, which in England invites the invalid to the coast to inhale its freshness, drives the Nova Scotian within the walls of his house. This evil however is of short continu- ance, for the ice-islands, on whose gelid surfaces these damp fogs have been engendered, melt by degrees, and, dispersing themselves over the ocean, cease for the re- mainder of the year to interfere with the sun's do- , minion. AT HALIFAX. 13 to burrow their way like moles into daylight ; and one wondered now, at the very beginning of a winter, how the quantities of snow likely to fall during the season could ever be disposed of. The day was particularly fine after the storm ; every body seemed busy and animated, and servants were running backwards and for- wards with bells, straps, buckles, and harness of all sorts, to prepare for sleigh driving. At an early hour the first heavy sleighs, laden with wood, coal, and other articles of merchandize, were to be seen laboriously ad- vancing through the deep fresh snow, which becoming by degrees trodden towards the middle of the day, the fresh painted, lighter vehicles were allured from their summer's rest. Then damsels with pretty chins wrapped in fur bade a short adieu to mammas (not here required by custom as chaperones) to take a seat beside their anxious beaux ; till smiling faces, tingling bells, and trotdng horses were encountered in every comer of the town. Now came the time to look about one : hardly a third part of the space in the street was pass- I u A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE able ; and as the sleighs came dashing by, one thought oneself lucky, at the expense of a jump up to the hips in a snowbank, to escape being knocked over once in every five minutes. Some of the drivers were good, others bad, but all drove fast, so that, notwithstanding people were obliged by law to have a certain number of bells about their sleigh, the eyes of Argus were insufficient ir protect a foot-pass- enger, who, after all possible pains to get out of the way of the carriages, gained nothing more by way of thanks than snowballs kicked in his face off the heels of the horse. I ob- served one young man, evidently an inexpe- rienced driver, who was in the act of passing a comer, while he and his fair partner were flying forwards in the original direction long after the horse had completed his turn ; and such was the centrifugal motion of the sleigh, that an old woman was knocked down, and the horse completely overcome and brought to the ground by its violence. "at « Casualties seemed to be perpetually occur- ring to grave personages, and some of them 4^' AT HALIFAX. 15 sufficiently ridiculous. I saw an old gentle- man carefully poking his way across a steep street with creepers (spikes made to buckle under the sole) on his feet and a pointed walk- ing-stick in his hand, when his heels were in a moment knocked from under him by an ur- chin in a box placed on iron runners, who shot down like a flash of lightning from the top of the hill to the bottom. I picked him up as, covered with snow, he was puffing with rage and growling vengeance against the author of his misfortune. But the old gentleman was not likely to be gratified; for the boy had passed like a meteor, and the moment of col- lision, together with the point of contact, were the only data by which the sufferer could de- termine whence he had come and whither he was gone. It was quite astonishing to see how the young people preserved their equilibrium over parts of the streets covered with ice. The town consists of long parallel streets, with others remarkably steep crossing them at right angles. These latter, in some places where 16 A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE k*" » m^ ■ .III r, the snow had drifted away, were covered with a coat of hard ice, over which the young wo- men especially were venturously running and sliding, in groups of three or four at a time, all holding by each other's arms, down such declinties as apparently to put their necks in serious danger. " - *,.:.:.'. Waggon loads of frozen pigs were exposed for sale, quite hard and stiff, and in a fit state to keep till the spring. They had an un- usually uncouth appearance; for their mouths were generally open, and the last services seemed never to have been properly paid to the defunct. Their limbs were not arranged vnth decent regularity, and they appeared to have given up the ghost in the act of squalling and at ^11 gallop. Some were placed stand- ing at the doors in the streets, like rocking- horses before a toyshop, upon their four legs, just as if they had been alive. This mode of keeping a pig tor a vdnter without giving him a grain of any thing to eat, or being subject to his noisy, illmannerly conduct, — nay, to be enabled to eat him piecemeal without even the { 1 1 ' f^ \ '^ t 'if v '1 , i h 'A m r( 4t f ^^ Fi • II tl ,.:J M ^^ m ^^ M ^' W b( '^yS m id ^.i.. — l^M "*♦ « AT HALIFAX. 17 ered with oung wo- ming and it a time, own such r necks in re exposed , a fit state ad an un- leir mouths tst services :ly paid to )t arranged ippeared to of squalling aced stand- ke rocking- ir four legs, his mode of t giving him eing subject —nay, to be out even the trouble of cutting his throat, is indisputably one advantage of a cold climate. But frozen meat, on the other harid, disappoints the epi- cure, being always tasteless and bad. Notwithstanding the day was extremely cold, an auctioneer had established himself at the corner of a street out of doors, and was haranguing a crowd of eager-looking buyers who hsf\ assembled about him. Altogether, the appearance of the town after the snow had set in, was, from the novelty of the sur- rounding objects, particularly lively and inter- esting to an European. But while winter brings with it festivities to the inhabitants of Halifax, the sufferings of Fea-faring people form a sad reverse. It is indeed an appalling sight to see, in hard wea- ther, a vessel beating up the harbour of HaUfax in the teeth of a north-wester. Perhaps from the West Indies! *** On she glides slowly and gloomily through fhe black waves, her bows and quarters so heavily encrusted with ice, as to be quite disfigured, and weighed down by her head in the water. The sailors^ I I I! !' ^1 18 A FEW days' residence AT HALIFAX. with frost-bitten hands and feet, hanging upon the glassy ropes and rigging, and contending manfiilly against an unrelenting snow-drift. A few days only have elapsed since the same men, now exposed to the dangers of an iron- bound coast, and a temperature, perhaps, of forty degrees below the freezing point, were broiling under a tropical sun: a change, it would be thought, utterly beyond the power of human nature to withstand. ^ i H. IM fi! *^f ;v ;fM^ :m' iV 19 . . J^f." V tt JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX TO PRESQUE ISLE. i^n:. f. On the 7th of December a heavy fall of snow which had lasted the two or three preceding days, induced me to make immediate prepa- ration for my journey. I was happy to leave my hotel, kept by a worthy old lady whom I seldom saw. She had prescribed herself a course of the warmer liquors, and had nearly abdicated her authority in favour of the ser- vants of the house, a set of noisy screaming black women. I separated a few necessary articles of equipment from my baggage, the remainder of which I made arrangements to send to Quebec by the first spring vessels. I hired a sleigh to take me and my servant as far as Annapolis, a distance of 132 miles, for which I was to pay twenty pounds, or eighty dollars, including the expenses of the return of the horse and driver to Halifax. December 8th. At nine o'clock in the c 2 I I I i\ I li f I. , 1 i 1 ■ Lk' ■ 1 II 1 1 i!i 20 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX morning my vehicle came to the door. The snow lay more than a foot on the ground ; besides which, it was still falling heavily. The wind, also, was full in our faces. I had pro- vided myself, according to the custom of the place, with snow-boots made of Brussels car- peting, which buttoned over my boots, reach- ing above my ancles, with soles of rough felt. I was further fortified by a good great-coat and a fur cap with large flaps to cover the ears. The driver had no sooner got into his small seat in front, and urged his horse into a sort of shuffling walk, than it was quite evi- dent that the animal was at the full extent of his pace, considering the heavy draft ; and we accordingly traveUed at an extremely slow rate, being full three hours and a half in per- forming the first fifteen miles. ■ ' ' ^ The soil in the neighbourhood of Halifax is poor and rocky; and the black granite rocks and scrubby trees, which shewed their tops through the snow, looked desolate in the ex- treme. Land, notwithstanding, in the neigh- bourhood, sells high ; for people, so soon as i» TO PRESQUE ISLE. 21 lor. The ! ground ; vily. The had pro- :oin of the ussels car- ots, reach- rough felt. great-coat 3 cover the got into his horse into a ,s quite evi- lU extent of aft ; and we remely slow half in per- of Halifax is rranite rocks d their tops ite in the ex- in the neigh- 5, so soon as <-■[ -;«■ they scrape together a little money by farming, flock to the seaports, and reverse the usual or- der of life by finishing with commerce, instes* J of retirement. Passing through Sackville, (a small cluster of wooden houses,) we left the ex- tremity of the basin, or arm of the sci, parallel to which the road had hitherto led, and com- pleted a heav^ tedious drive of fifteen miles at Mitchell's inn. • rr ?^- The inns in the country are known only by the names of the landlords, to the great dis- couragement of the profession of sign-paint- ers. The people were not at all uncivil ; they allowed me to shake the snow off my clothes in the passage, and proceed unmolested as far as the fire in the parlour ; but nobody seemed at all inclined to stir, till, in answer to my re- peated entreaties, " Mother," said the great girl of the house, in a fretful tone, — '' Mother, don't you hear how the man is calling for something to eat?" and then the mother did begin to move herself, and presently a heavy pile of toast and butter was placed before me, together with tea and beef-steaks. The inn I I'll II 'I III k ^ 1*1 ' :) I. li: If ■ n _ Wt'^ it. "1 22 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX looked like a neat English farm-house. The room was skirted with deal wainscoting, and the furniture was made of the woods of the country. Some articles of birch-wood bore an excellent polish, and those of bird's-eye maple very nearly resembled satin-wood; but the sudden and severe changes of climate had warped them ^all grievously. A few articles of mahogany also had shared a similar fate. And this evil is universal all over the country, in the best houses as well as the worst. No matter how thick the walls, the tables and chairs always suflPer by the weather, . . The sides of the room and mantlepiece, were ornamented with trumpery prints of the four quarters of the world in allegory, and plaster of Paris casts of George the Third, Queen Charlotte, and a green parrot with a cherry in his mouth. Eveiy thing looked EngUsh, and though a Yankee twang rang in the noses of the country people, giving a marked and provincial accent, yet it was hard to believe one had travelled upwards of two thousand miles to detect so slight a difference ib TO PRESQUE ISLE. 23 56. The ting, and ds of the ^ood bore bird*s-eye rvood; but limate had 3W articles milar fate. le country, vorst. No tables and r. nantlepiece, irints of the legory, and the Third, irrot with a hing looked twang rang pie, giving a t it was bard (vards of two t a difference as existed between the people of each side of the Atlantic. ,. .*,.. Two country fellows cauie into the inn while I was eating, and placed themselves at a small table in a corner of the same room. They called for rum, which was given them in a vinegar cruet. Glasses were brought, and then, each passing the back of his hand across a mighty useful set of teeth, bobbed and nobbed the other; and, repeating the ceremony, their little bottle was empty. Cramming their large paws into their breeches pockets, the girl of the house was called to a committee of finance, and, at their request, replenished the cruet. This second dose made them sneeze a little, but it was despatched in as short time as the first. The water now stood in both their eyes. They had paid for the rum ; hardly a word had been expended in conversation, and about five minutes of time had elapsed, when they were out of the house, and again on their way. ., .,^ .^..»^ The Nova Scotian peasant, as to his general appearance, cast of countenance, and accent. 11 l"l i fi) 24 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX SO much resembles the inhabitant of the United States of America, that a stranger would not perceive the difference. They have the same tall, bony, athletic figure; the keen, pene- trating, inquisitive eye. " They guess and they calculate '*, and adopt very many of the same provincial phrases and expressions. Thev are a fine healthy, hardy race of men, in point of stature certainly exceeding Englishmen. But the transparent glow of youth is of shorter duration. Innumerable minute wrinkles (es- pecially about the eyes) appear at a very early period ; perhaps more owing to the increased exercise of those particular muscles, which are brought into a state of contortion by the sensation of cold ; or the dazzling effect of the sun shining on snow for so many months in the year, than from any effect produced upon the constitution. It is, however, very well known, that the teeth decay particularly soon, and this, most probably, is owing to the cold. They do not suffer by rheumatism, or any other disease of that sort. As to clothes, they take no more precautions than we do. Flan- le United vould not the same en, pene- ^uess and ,ny of the «is. Thev 1, in point iglishmen. of shorter inkles (es- very early ; increased les, which ion by the Sect of the months in iuced upon very well ilarly soon, to the cold, m, or any iothes, they do. Flan- TO PRESQUE ISLE. nel is even more rarely worn. The man, for instance, who drove my sleigh, sat on his cold perch in front, with no other defence from the weather than an ordinary great coat, such as soldiers wear ; without boots upon his legs, or gaiters ; merely shoes and worsted stockings. While the horse was baiting, I took an op- portunity of paying a visit to him in the stable; where he was standing in his harness, with the door open behind him, and a rack- ful of miserably bad hay before him. The building was ill contrived for the purpose of keeping out the wind, had the door been shut ; and altogether it was a most comfort- less abode for a poor horse. While I was there, the driver came in from the house, and, without rubbing him down, led him out into the yard, and commenced putting to. We went fifteen miles to Rolls's inn, where the horse was baited again ; and then proceeded twelve miles more to Burdon's inn, where we put up for the night. It was late when I ar- rived, and as I was dreadfully cold (for it had snowed the whole of the day) nothing could !li li i 111 ; 1; III feiH !!!!; , ff: 26 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX equal the hospitable appearance of the fire, which was burning in the room. Enormous logs were piled on each other upon the hearth, with a profusion one is quite unaccus- tomed to in England. Beef steaks were again produced, with tea. I had a clean comfort- able bed, and the next morning was ready to start at an early hour. December 9th. — I proceeded seven miles to Standridge's inn, where I breakfasted. The road was hilly. The day had cleared up, but it had become extremely cold. On both sides of the road, during the whole of the way from Halifax, one could not help remark- ing the small proportion the cleared land bears to that uncultivated. The trees which, in the neighbourhood of Halifax, are scrubby and stunted, now began to assume a different character, being of much larger growth. Thirteen miles to Graham's inn, Horton town- ship, over a hilly road. ^lorton was the largest village I had yet seen, small as it was compared to an English one. Having baited, I proceeded fourteen miles to Sharp's inn. TO PllESQUK ISLE. » f the fire, Enormous upon the e unaccus- Yere again [1 comfort- is ready to even miles asted. The beared up. On both lole of the elp remark- ieared land trees which, are scrubby 5 a different er growth, orton town- )n was the all as it was iving baited. Sharp's inn, ^^ •I Cornwallis townsliip, over a road tolerably level. Here I put up for the night. The infancy of the country, as regards cul- tivation, is most striking; the plough had barely nibbled the edges of the forest, con- fining itself to the borders of lakes and rivers. And it has been truly enough remarked, that by the proportion which the seams of a coat bear to the cloth ; that which exists between the cleared and wooded surface of the land may be exemplified. Industry seemed to pre- vail every where, without any apparent vestige of pauperism. The landlords of the inns were usually occupiers of land; and home- made cheeses and cider, both of an excellent quality, were generally produced at table, ^fi. December 10th. — Ten miles to Crane's inn, Aylesford township, over a level road. Fifteen miles to Parker's, Wilmot township, over a level road. On this stage I passed the country seat of the Bishop of Nova Sco- tia ; a building of very humble elevation, and not exceeding, in point of appearance, a very L .1 In iiiii ;iitt!: Jiil! Ill;;' 28 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX moderate description of English farm-house. Eight miles and a half to Lennard's, Wilmot township, over a level road. And here I put up for the night. The weather had changed considerably. For more than a couple of hours, before arriving at the inn, the snow had become slushy and soft, in consequence of a very rapid thaw. I had barely got under cover, when rain began to fall heavily, and continued till late at night. The bearing of the people at the inns to- wards a stranger, is somewhat difficult at first to understand. They are most of them, as I have observed, occupiers of land as well as inn- keepers ; so, not resting a sole reliance on their inns, they seem to imagine that by admitting a traveller, they confer a favour on him instead of themselves ; at all events, they treat him as their equal. In England, it must be confessed, that civility, however gratifying it may be, is paid for at a good price. Here, though one does not get it, it is not charged for in the bill, and nobody thinks of giving a farthing TO PRESQUE ISLE. 29 to the servants, who, in fact, are most fre- quently the children of the people of the house. December 1 1th. — This morning, on getting into my sleigh, I found the driver beating his hands on his sides, with a short lighted pipe in his mouth. The wind had changed again, and the air was keen and sharp. The frost had set in for some hours, and the roads were improved to a very great degree. Instead of crawhng on at the heavy tiresome rate we had hitherto done, a crack of the whip set the horse off at a running trot, which he kept up nearly the whole of the stage, equal to nine miles an hour, as we went over a level road to Spur's, Annapolis township. The road, for the most part, passed through a low level, calculated for feeding cattle, from the abundance of meadow and marsh on both sides. Passed the Annapolis river, which is here about the breadth of the Thames at Staines. We passed it by a bad wooden bridge. Proceeding along its bank, we ar- rived at the town of Annapolis. The road K 1 30 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX li m I) ¥ :ii! :V 111 was, in many places, exceedingly bad and rough; for large pieces of rock protruded themselves above the soil ; and against these, the runners of the sleigh occasionally came in contact with considerable violence, the snow not being of sufficient depth to protect them. The roads, hardened for so great a part of the year as they are by frost, are less attended to during the short period of summer. Be- sides, the soil is rocky, so that a natural road exists sometimes for many yards together. Throughout the greatest part of the province, deficiency of the material cannot be pleaded in excuse for the bad state of the roads, for good hard granite is in great plenty. Plaster of Paris is found in large quantities in the neighbourhood of Annapolis. ' ' . Annapolis, which is one of the largest towns in the province of Nova Scotia, would hardly merit the name of a town in England, but rather of a good sized village ; but it may be observed, that while the natural features of the country are on a larger scale, the different grades of society exist on a smaller. Captains I' m ^-■r- TO PRESQITE ISLE.i^ 31 and colonels of militia are to be met with carrying on the trade of pubHcans, and that not unfrequently ; and the members of the house of assembly, (the colonial parliament,) instead of rolling into their metropolis on easy springs, make their entr6e without stile or pretension, jolting in country built buggies *, or, perhaps, bumping side by side on the backs of ambling long-tailed cart horses. My sleigh was now discharged, having ar- rived at Annapolis, and I went to Mrs. Craw- ley's inn, where I was comfortably lodged. I found it by no means an easy matter to procure a vehicle for my journey to Digby, a distance of twenty miles, from which place I was to em- bark to cross the bay of Fundy to the town of St. John's. I found myself driven to the ne- * These country gigs possess, nevertheless, nearly the advantage of springs, owing to the body being shmg upon pliant poles, spliced on in continuation of the shafts ; and the construction is at the same dme so extremely simple, that no damage can in probability happen to them, which may not be readily replaced by means of an axe and a few yards of cord. i . /IK m 32 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX ill :,i "t I . I il !'''': .till cessity of making a bargain, an operation not to be effected at Annapolis, without a good many words ; and as every body to whom I applied myself, knew that, as a matter of course, I must go forward, they all hung back, and ^' tried confusions" accordingly. Some objected to the heavy draft, owing to the soft state of the snow, others had work for their horses oii their farms, and so on. At last I came to terms with a man, who said that he would have to send in for his horses, which were several miles from the town ; and agreed to give him four pounds to take me the twenty miles to Digby. I had no sooner, however, concluded the bargain, than the cattle were forth coming, never having been out of his stable, and he was as eager to be off as he had appeared before indifferent to the undertaking. Several other proprietors then came and offered me their sleighs at a more reasonable rate ; however, it was too late. I accepted an invitation to dine with an old gentleman, a Mr. . He was more than eighty years old, had served under Gene- f"j TO PRESQUE ISLE. da eration not ont a good to whom I matter of hung back, o-ly. Some y to the soft >rk for their At last I said that he orses, which ; and agreed ake me the I no sooner, n, than the having been s eager to be ifferent to the >prietors then is at a more s too late. dine with an He was more d under Gene- p. ral Wolfe, and made it a rule to invite to his house all gentlemen in the pubhc service who might happen to pass through the town. He was so perfectly deaf, that it was utterl)r impossible to converse with him, except by means of a few thirsty interpreters, who drank his port wine, and made themselves otherwise serviceable on social occasions. The old gentleman commenced after dinner to give toasts, after which he called upon his guests in turn for others. Then we were asked to give ladies, and after that, sentiments. And all in such quick succession, that, finding it impossible to do justice to the part I was called on to play, I made as speedy a retreat as I could, and sought the quiet of my inn. December 12th. — The weather was ex- tremely unsettled, and a thaw had come on in the night, so that when I started, the snow was sloppy, and the roads in consequence very heavy. The sleigh was drawn by two horses working abreast. The way was also hilly ; and vtithout an extra horse, it would have been impossible to proceed. In- M 34 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX I Jeed the thaw had been so rapid, that the ground in many places was ahnost bare, and I occasionally felt the runners of the sleigh grinding on the bare earth for several yards together, when it required the utmost power of the horses to advance. As it was, they were knocked up before we had gone eighteen miles. On leaving Annapolis in the morning, we had proceeded nine miles to Bitman's, where I breakfasted. This was a small house, on the banks of Moose river, which is a stream emptying itself into the Annapolis river. We then proceeded nine miles to Harris's (making eighteen miles), where we put up for the night. We had gone seven miles out of our way, in order to avoid a horse ford over Bear river. ,j December 13th. — The frost had set in be- fore the morning, and when the sleigh came to the door, the air was extremely sharp and cold. We had a rough hilly drive to the town of Digby, and a chilling fog added a blacker hue to the large forest trees on each side of our narrow route. I was therefore the more gratified by the sudden appearance TO PRESQUE ISLE. 35 of a splendid sun, setting forth to the greatest advantage a rich sea-view, ornamented by a display of magnificent rock and woodland scenery. The bay of Digby is an outlet of the bay of Fundy, which latter is remarkable for its dangerous navigation, caused by the strong currents and extraordinary swell of its tide, which has been frequently known to rise to a height of si> ty feet. Close to the town ap- pears a fine sandy beach, and a regular suc- cession of bluff rocks extend themselves from the head of the bay on both sides tow ards the sea; and on these, shoals of cormorants, as well as other descriptions of the larger wild fowl, are seen sitting during the day. The bay is circular, and the rocky circumference converging towards the sea, two large corre- sponding masses of rock overhang each other, forming natural barriers, which leave a narrow passage between, so that vessels enter at once into smooth water. As the road on its ap- proach to the town was circuitous, I had the more leisure to admire the pleasing change of scenery. So few people had occasion to travel D 2 lid .lOlJRNEY I-nOM IIAIJFAX h 1 ,;.[! ik h i id^iMJ on iho road I had pasHcd, that Holitudc and desolation added to tlic rigors of winter, and the hriliiant wood-fires at the inns were the soh) comfort luul solace of my journey. The long continued exposure to severe cold day after day was a great trial to my patience, though the effects were hy no means other- wise injurious. On arriving at the town, I found the only inn fidl, and was therefore under the necessity of returring three miles on the road 1 had aln ady travelled, and I put up at a neat little inn, recommended at least by its name, which was *' Pleasant Valley." The person who kept the house was a widow, from whom I experienced extreme kindness and attention. Her daughters were well-be- haved and exceedingly pretty, and the house was managed altogether with such quiet regu- larity, that I blessed my stars for the good fortune which had established mo in such quarters during the uncertain period of my sojourn in the neighbourhood of Digby. For the next point in my journey was the town of St. John's, in New Brunswick, to- a TO PHESQUE ISLE. 87 )Ut\i(lc and vintcr, and 18 were the ncy. The cold day ly patience, leans other- the town, I as therefore three miles 3d, and I put ided at least 3ant Valley." svas a widow, ime kindness were well-be- id the house :h quiet regu- for the good me in such period of my • Digby. urney was the Irunswick, to- wards which I was to cross the bay of Fundy in a small packet which was plying backwards and forwards, and at as regular intervals as the difficult navigation would admit. The distance across is thirty-six miles; but owing to the violent currents, swell of the tide, &c. the passage is never attempted unless with a fair wind and moderate weather. The packet, when I arrived, was not in the harbour, not having returned from its last trip to St. John's; 1 therefore made arrangements to be informed so soon as she might arrive ; and^ secure on this point, I made myself quite easy, under all circumstances, at the prospect of being wea- ther-bound under the roof of my kind hostess and her fair daughters. I had the pleasure of seeing what industry and good management could effect in the country ; and a house more tidy and scrupulously clean I never entered in any part of the world I ever visited. I went to a large piece of water in the neigbourhood, where I amused myself by skat^ ig for a few hours before dinner, which was served in a room warmed by an excellent coal fire, and /■ Hi' I fii; I iliill JOURNEY FROM IIALIIAX fufnislicd with every sort of l^iif^lish comfort. My liindlady was provided with preserved fruits of every description af lorded by tlie soil, and these arc sufficiently munerous. There are currants and raspberries, gooseberries, cranberries, strawberries, apples, pears, and quinces ; and of these she was so liberal, that I could not satisfy her kind intentions. She pressed me to eat more of them; " for", said she, stirring my fire at the same time, " you Avill be both cold and hungry before you ar- rive at Quebec." I thanked her heartily for her good-wilL " . . • • t , I was led involuntarily to think favourably of a country, in a state of Georgic simplicity ; where a man can build a house in a week ; where, by the help of his gun and fishing im- plements, there is no chance of his starving ; where, for five shillings an acre, good land may be purchased, capable of growing wheat, buckwheat, barley, oats, maize, rye, turnips, potatoes, &c. I had seen the fiicility with which the countrymen wielded the axe, and had been surprised by the simple mode of 'm hIi comfort. I prcHcrved L by the soil, )ii8. There gooseberries, pears, and hberul, that itions. She ** for", said time, " you fore you ar- • heartily for k favourably ic simplicity; e in a week ; id fishing im- his starving; e, good land •owing wheat, rye, turnips, } fiicility with i the axe, and nple mode of 7^ TO PHE8QUE ISLE. % li9 bringing the land first into cultivjition. It seemed to me almost incredible, that corn could be grown in a forest of stumps for seve- ral succeeding years, merely on the strength of the land, without amendment, except the ashes of the burnt trees ; th?it by merely scratching the surface with a light plough, it could be prepared for the next crop ; and that agricultural operations could be earned on with success for a period of ten or twelve years, till the roots of the trees rotted out of the ground of themselves. What if the life of the husbandman be a laborious one ? If a man be obliged to work hard for his bread, so long as he has youth and strength, and breathes the air of a bracing climate, why should he not ? The neighbourhood of Digby appeared to me particularly eligible; for the town was a thriving Uttle sea-port : boats of a large size were built in her docks, and the sea abounded with several good sorts of fish. A small spe- cies of herring afforded the inhabitants almost a staple commodity. They are extremely 40 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX t'' iillii i!'i ll i: i'' '/ te'^::ili delicate, and are salted in great quantities every year. They have gained the nick-name of Digby chickens, and are exported to dif- ferent parts of the province in barrels. December 14th and 15th. — The packet not having arrived in the harbour from St. John's, I chiefly amused myself by skating during the day. I also unpacked my gun, and took a walk towards the forest; but the snow lay too deep on the ground for walking without snow-shoes, with which articles I was not as yet provided; neither had I any dog.i-. i December 16th. — I received intelligence that the packet had arrived in the harbour ; but upon inquiry learnt that there was no chance of her sailing, unless the wind should happen to change. December 17th to 21st. — The wind still contrary, and the frost steady and sharp. Both these days I made an attempt to shoot wild-fowl, but without much success. As I was following a large cormorant I had winged, over a salt-water creek which the tide had left dry, I sank into a bog of blue mud, con- aJ ai M '":*i* _;"»; ''i ■' TO PRESaUE ISLE. 41 'f sidcrably above my knees. In five minutes the mud was frozen as hard as a stone upon my clothes, so that I had much difficulty in walking. Fortunately I was not wetted to the skin, or I might have suffered from the accident As it was, I was obliged to be thawed when I got home, before I could take off some of my things. As soon as I had dressed I went to the house of a man about a mile distant, to see a dog which had been se- verely wounded by a species of lynx or wild cat, which the natives call the loup-cervier, or, as they pronounce it, the lotisiff^e. The dog was of the Labrador breed, extremely power- ful, and of enormous stature. Notwithstand- ing his shaggy coat and his ferocity, he very nearly lost his life in the conflict, by the teeth and talons of the creature, although the latter was so inferior in point of size ; so much so as not to exceed perhaps ten pounds weight ; and it made its escape, after a struggle of three or four minutes, just as the dog's master had arrived to his assistance. The above de- scription of beast is very scarce. • iiii^« I' ■ > ,^'1 ;"ii' m i;!!ii' .11(1 i*iiiii ',,,ii m:?! 42 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Wolves and bears are in sufficient numbers tlirough all parts of the forests. As to the for- mer, they are shy and cowr.rdly ; for there are enough of deer and other smaller animals to ap- pease their hunger a. d moderate their ferocity. When they are met with, it is generally singly, or in parcels of two or three together, trotting sluggishly along. But while the wolves lead an independent roaming life, the bears keep nearer to the cultivated land, and in conse- quence are not on the most neighbourly terms with the farmers. Whenever one is heard of in the neighbourhood, a posse comitatus sally forth with guns and dogs to destroy him. They wage a continual war with the poultry and pigs ; and a large bear has been known to enter a farm-yard, seize a heavy fat hog in spite of his remonstrances, and carry his noisy prisoner in his forepaws out of his stye, clam- bering over rail-fences, and effectually making lus escape, notwithstanding the clatter and bustle of men in pursuit of him. Now and then a countryman, armed with a club or a pitchfork, has ventured to bring one to single TO PRESQUE ISLE. 48 combat in the woods ; but then he should be, as they cull it, " pretty considerable smart," or the bear will whip his weapon with a jerk out of his grasp and come immediately into close quarters, in which case Bruin is pretty sure to floor his opponent. However, they generally run away from a man, and are only at all formidable when they happen to have young to defend. December 22d. — I was aroused before dayhght by the intelligence of the wind having changed ; it was some time, notwithstanding, before the packet heaved anchor, and it was nearly noon before we set sail with a fine breeze out of the bay. The wind was fair, but we were opposed by a violent head cur- rent, which caused a short chopping sea. The day was foggy, so that we could but just dis- tinguish Partridge Island as we passed it, which is about a couple of miles from St. John's : a fort and lighthouse are built upon it. In about six hours from the time of leav- ing Digby, our little sloop (one of thirty-six tons) cast anchor in the harbour of St. John's. 44 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX '1\ Ml u .:;ii ;;;(';' (l;l ! iiliil On landing, the difference of climate between the latter place and Digby was very percept- ible. In the first place, full half a foot more snow lay on the ground, and the inhabitants themselves estimate a fortnight's difference in the seasons. The town is a good dea\ smaller than Halifax; and the extreme width of the streets, and the irregular form of the houses, give it a very unfinished appearance. As there was no choice of inns, I went to an hotel of the same description with that in Halifax, and kept by an old widow, who re- ceived me with looks as cold as the climate she lived in, — not interesting herself in the least about me, or caring at all whence I had come or whither I was going. It seemed to be with her, as with many others l: her de- scription in the country, (if one were to judge by their looks on arriving at their houses,) entirely a matter of caprice whether one was to be admiHed or not. She gave me the worst bed-room she had, and dreadfully cold it was. . -. ,._; .V,'i,; , . ^ T V. ^ ,; Different people, at the stated hours of cat- C- late between ery percept- a foot more J inhabitants difference in dea\ smaller width of the if the houses, earance. As ; went to an with that in dow, who re- s the climate herself in the whence I had It seemed to jrs t.- her de- were to judge their houses,) lether one was gave me th dreadfully cold jd hours of eat- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 45 iC ing, were in the habit of assembling them- selves from various parts of the town. One or two chewed tobacco ; all spit on the car- pet ; and there was one big man who, I was told, was a lieut.-colonel of the — - militia. He had a way of eating which I shall never forget. Closing his teeth upon his knife, he drew it through his mouth, so as to threaten its enlargement up to his ear ; it was pretty wide fis it was, and as he filled it as full as it would hold, a sympathetic jerk of his goggle eyes marked always, by their involun- tary vibration, the precise moment when each large morsel passed down his throat. After tea, a great basin of hot water was brought to the hostess, in which she washed the tea- cups and saucers ; and then, having deposited her cliiua in a cupboard, she left me and the rest of the gentlemen by ourselves for the evening. The frost set in at night with great severity, and I found the house mi- serably cold. December 23d to 25th. — Sorely against y will I sojourned these three days at Mrs. ^iii I'i II, ^■i i ■ ill' Iliil 46 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX ^*s. Neither entertained nor instructed by my companions, I was most anxious to get away at the expense of cold, solitude, or any other inconvenience. Fortunately, most of the party attended only at their meals, and, having daily business to occupy them in their shops, (or stores, as they call them,) they came in with the first dish and disappeared as soon as the cloth was removed, being obliged, in fact, to eat against time. Indeed, they used admirable despatch, and by blowing into their soup, and picking bones with their fin- gers, they contrived to make dinner a very short business, at the same time devouring full as much as they paid for. The next point in my journey was the town of Fredericton, situated on the river St. John's, and at a distance of eighty-one miles. The usual winter route Wc*s all the way upon the ice of the river, but the season was hardly as yet sufficiently advanced to depend upon its strength ; for however severe the frost may be, the effect of springs and currents is so great, that in large sheets of water there are fi TO PRESQUE ISLE. 4f many particular places most deceitfully un- sound, long after the surface generally haj* attained a very considerable thickness. Nor can any perio(J or degree of intensity of frost suffice to render the travelling upon the rivers perfectly free from accidents, owing to the iuFjcurity of the ice ; for the confined air is continually subject to burst its v/ay from un- derneath, leaving chasms, which, becoming immediately lightly skinned over with a new coat of ice, deceive the traveller by their ap- pearance, and give no warning whatever till the surface breaks in under the horse's feet : and these air-holes, as they are called, are met with at times, no matter what the thick- ness of the ice may be. The weather was particularly oevere, ai-d seemed to indicate thcd of the r the snow, driver rat- j, till they fastest trot. 3 ice and of the perfect ver treated e distinctly r. StUl the hour of the pry much to it he whose joundness of eft off think- 3ven miles to which is in ;rs of a mile Lyon's Creek, which is an arm of Belleislc Bay. We passed along the creek, and the wide expanding shores of the bay appeared in front of us : it is about twelve miles long and three broad, and, owing to the sweeping gusts of wind which had incessantly passed over its surface, it presented to the eye an uniform sheet of clear ice ; and here we were roused to life and animation by a brisk and long- continued gallop, both the horses laying their ears back and biting at each other all the time. After the dull, heavy drag of the first part of the stage through the wood, the change of pace and of scene altogether was in a great degree enlivening; the quick jingle of the bells and the excitement of the horses added a deeper hue to the purple cheeks of the driver, who sat on his seat singing, while, with his whip under his arm, he was striking fire for a fresh pipe ; — and thus we spun along till we came to Wurdon's. And now we had arrived upon the St. John's river, whose course I was to follow for nearly 300 miles. ♦ *- V *•** » m »♦ «r^»^ jpjip E 2 52 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX A dreary and a rugged desolation had hi- therto marked the features of the path I had travelled, — a heavy uninteresting sameness everywhere pervaded the landscape ; but now the scene was varied by bays and creeks, and hour after hour the wide difference in climate and general appearance between North Ame- rica and England became more and more striking. Certainly, there are no two coun- tries more thoroughly different. An inter- minable extent of forest land, covered, with snow during a long and rigorous winter, pre- sents in itself a gloomy view of inanimate life ; a melancholy stillness, totally unlike the cul- tivated face of nature under a more genial climate. It is true, that the slow but increas- ing process of agriculture may work important change ; the axe may level the forest with the earth, and the cheering beams of the sun, admitted to its hidden recesses, may dissipate the masses of snow which now feed the pier- cing winds of winter : but the greater the extent of land laid bare, the greater contrast must necessarily shew itself; as rivers, lakes, i TO PRESQUE ISLE. 53 rapids, and waterfalls everywhere becoming developed, demonstrate an increased scale of grandeur truly worthy of admiration. We travelled eight miles farther to Gold- ing's, the track being the whole of the way on the river. The cold was very intense, and a covering of six inches of snow lay on the ice. The average breadth of the river, subject here to considerable swells and torrents, was about half a mile ; but it became often much wider, and a degree of wildness and irregularity added interest to the appearance of the coun- try as I proceeded on my journey. December 27th. — The weather this morn- ing continued extremely cold ; but we start- ed early, and proceeded along the ice on the bed of the river fourteen miles to Dale's. We saved three miles by leaving the river on our right and pursuing our course overland. The tide is here remarkably rapid, and there are a number of lakes in the neighbourhood : of these, the Grand Lake is thirty miles long and nine broad, and is distant about three miles. I'll I ft4 .IOtiHN}«.V t'KOM n At.n /\\ Having ImiIIviI, \\v \)\^)vovi\v\\ \\n\\\y loiii \\\\\pn \\\) \\w vivnv, \\W\\ tl»r» Irn rv!»'Mti'(l nn npponnnuv iu»t vny f»n(' water uimi» Id Im» ritii in tnrtny ivntw, nn«l I»omh« t^f hroknn lt»0, foirml up 1\v opposite Imnk wuh nhiMuly BMtlU'ietUly l»i'oken to i-ettiler it toleriihly good. 1'he ilrivew theivfoi-e. here iiwny for thr »hou% Nvhieh wo were mnwv time in renehing, l>eing obliged to go ont of oin* way tVecjuently to avoid the weak a»\d \n^iafe phieen. At laN^ when within aht>nt a eonple ofhnndreil yanU fnnn the land, there seenicd a elcar sheet ol u*e» tw^er whioh the driver nrgei>emo!«it Into a hole. We were guing bo fi^st, that I wa.s tl\tng ont a long way elear of th? w ater ; and a,s soon a* I could get up, I ran back to lender my ojisistancc. One of I TO PKP.Ngl'K, IHIih. m 1)0 Bi'^n in i«»o, rovroM \\\y vhUKnl Ion. V'vn^^^ te; Imt tlutl vfty Vol" ibo . in voncbing, iiy fr(Mi\»cntly ci^B. At lft«* ♦ 'lorn* pUcot ol his hovsoM at P ice r<\n\n liiid ulrniily ncrmnlilfMl (Uit, but lhi» nlluM* unfl lyin^ ^'*' ^"^ ^^'^^' ^'^ ^^''' wnlof, >vi(li \\\h \\nu\ «»(n'hlifMl imiI, ovrr flw Cnr- winil rnti (iC llio lioK*, and Rn|i|MMrm^ liiin- prir by lii« "\wvV nnd nil flin pirrn^lli cif liirt iMM'k (in du' ior. Tito Imlc wmr iHMM'ly ronnd, iukI liu' (llinnrtcr ihIIh r mkhc ilinn thr Im/rfh of {\\{) IxirRp; btit up tlip icM? iibmit It wiipi fnll n foot and a lialT (liick, (lio nbVi^li bnd jntTiinrd n( \\\r nilior riid, and IiIfi bind (jnartcrfl wnrn Htipjiortcd by tbe broocbln^. Tbo ])oor crrn- tnro lay wilbont flif'ngf(linf(, allbongb (bn dny wan bitfor cold, and hv bad snnk rh low, (bal biw boati otdy was above tbo Riirraco of (bo waior. tn ibirt dilonnna Ibo drivor, bav- inf^ flood tbo oibor borHO from bis barnrHH, pli|)[>cd a nooHc of ropo round tbo drowning animal'i nook, upon wbtcli wo pnllod till bo BoonKxl noarly Hiranglod : and tbis operation is callod lit tbo country, vory properly, *' cboking." Wbotbor it waM tbat bo floated by moauH of tbo air tbuH forcibly retained in luM lungH, as tbo driver aHHorted, or wbetber our united oifortB caused him to rise, I cannot 50 aOL'UNKY lUOM II AMI AX luiy; but 80 ho dul: and wo hiul not rontinuo<1 to t\ig loiif^, lH'ii)ro out ho nlippod on hli huIo, and, aft or a (vw kioks and stni^gU'H, Ht(KHl frif^htoiunl and «hivoring onoo nu>ro on Km toot on tho ici\ AVo got to tho «horo al\or nil with M)nio ditilculty ; for tho ioo was broken away for j^o givat a distanoo A'oin tht* odgo of tho rivor whoro wo uttonvptod to huul. that it wiw with vory grojit hibour that tho hor«cs could drag tho vthioU^ over tho hard snow and shinglo vhioh obstruotod thoir progress. Al- though tho pOi>r horse haovc nmy Ik^ cited as m\ instam^e of the hanlilu>od of the North American horse, of which less cai*c is taken, notwithstanding the sewrity of the elimate, than in England. The cold, severe as it is, seems to agree with tliem very well, and they are continually kept stiuuling out of doors, without mercy, after being violently heated. The fact is, that Uie a w itj ml IK li TO PRF.nQTTR 1flI«R. 57 continued >n hi» «»dc, HjloH, hUhhX on his ftH^t. c after iill M\s broken the edg*^ of iml. tlmtti the horses (I snow and gress. Ai- rly u quarter nor also was oth soon vc- hatl gone a ;us over, instmico ol' erioan horse, withstanding m England. agree with itinually kept mercy, after t is, that Uie 1 cold kcepA down all tendency to inflammatory attneks. and a Ntriking iuNtanee of tluN occ\irH with regard to flesh wounn, and we met d than usual, len we arrived i m Mm */ TO PRESQUE ISLE. /; at I'elley's, the driver was inclined to proceed ten miles more to Fredericton, the road to wliich place lay all the way on the bank of the river. We did not come upon the ice till we had arrived nearly opposite the town,-— not from the apprehension of its being unsafe, but from the quantity of snow which lay upon it, (it was more than a foot deep,) and would have added so much to the labour of the horses. No snow had fallen, as we were in- formed, during the period we had been on our way from St. John's, notwithstanding it lay so much deeper on the ground here than at the latter place. I had suffered dreadfully from the cold during this day's journey ; and as the people at the inn were in bed and the fires low when we arrived, nothing remained but to ask permission lo go to bed too. A sleepy black woman ushered me into a com- fortless apartment, where the bedclothes and my own buffalo skin together were quite in- sufficient to restore warmth. Every five minutes I lamented my want of covering, while a powerful inclination to slee^i urged 60 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX me to patience in the forlorn hope of rest. The thermometer was about 10® of Fahrenheit. December 28th. — Daylight no sooner ap- peared than I eagerly sought relief; and dressing myself as quickly as my benumbed fingers would allow, I went down stairs to the apartment below, where the fire was just beginning to blaze. I had suffered not only from cold during the night, but from hunger; but now all my miseries were dissipated with the smoke which went up the chimney, and a solid meat breakfast put me completely to rights. Afterwards I took a rapid walk, and on returning to the inn found a card lying on my table from the managers of a subscription assembly, which was to be held the same evening in the town. As a few days* halt for the purposes of equipment for my journey was indispensable, I did not hesitate to ac- cept the invitation, and took measures to hire a sleigh to take me to the assembly-room, about a mile from the inn. Soon after I had dined at an early hour, I got into the sleigh, and in a very few minutes TO PRESQUE ISLE. 61 pe of rest. Fahrenheit, sooner ap- relief; and r benumbed m stairs to [ire was just red not only :om hunger; sipated with mney, and a jmpletely to id walk, and lard lying on subscription id the same ;w days' halt r my journey sitate to ac- isures to hire sembly-room, was conveyed at a rapid pace to the assembly- room, which I found remarkably well lighted, and garnished ^,vith ladies, both old and young, with the usual proportion of card-players, &c. Most of the gentlemen wore boots with heavy iron heels, the noise of which, as they paraded the room in threes and fours between the dances, produced a prodigious effect, and created a wonderfully miUtary appearance. As to the young ladies, they were, as in most parts of the world under similar circumstances, all in their best looks and extremely engaging; but the time of all others when they made the most impression was pt a late hour in the evening, at the general rush into the cloak and bonnet rooms. Hitherto matters had been conducted with- out any very striking difference from similar festivities at home ; but now the jingling of the bells of the sleighs outside the door, and the preparations of the ladies within, began to savour of novelty. All wore snow boots, or list coverings for their feet and ancles, which were buttoned, or laced, or tied, some- r ' ■ u I!' i' ill 62 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX thing after the ?iianner of a lialf-boot; and heaps of these v/ere distributed, by the person who had them in charge, to their fair owners ; who all at once, within a very small space, began to put them on. All these snow boots required fastening, and to fasten them it was indispisnsable to stoop : some had chairs, but most had not ; so that the variety of attitudes in which the female figure was on that occa- sion displayed, I shall not readily forget, — ^much less the dilemma in which I found myself when, standing in the midst, and surrounded by so many fine forms, I was unable to stir an inch to the right or left, backwards or for- wards, without the imminent risk of disturb- ing their equilibrium. But they equipped themselves with great rapidity ; and laden with shawls, plaids, and calashes, sleigh after sleigh received its burden, and away they went with bells jingling and the white smoke from the horses' nostrils shining in the lamps of the remaining carriages. December 29th. — I employed myself this day in procuring several necessary articles for TO PRESQUE ISLE. 63 my ensuing journey. I had now eighty-three miles to Presque Isle, which was the ultimate point passable by any sort of carriage ; the usual route from thence to the St. Lawrence being along the bed of the river St. John's, which is so wide and exposed to the force of the wind, that the depth of the snow is by far too great to pass in any other way than on foot by the help of snow shoes. The traffic, too, is very inconsiderable, as the fatigue of such a mode of travelling deters people from attempting it ; and the communication is kept open by a line of small log-houses, occupied by settlers, to whom grants of land have been ceded for the especial purpose. There is a very small military station at Presque Isle : and across the desolate track above mentioned, extending for upwards of 150 miles, the post is conveyed by native Canadians, who are from time to time accompanied by those per-* sons whom urgent business may, though rarely, induce to undertake the journey. - It was for this route that it was now ne- cessary to equip; for after leaving Fredericton ( '^1 t ,.; I, .si m m I f I. Cri JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX there was no town nor village at which the required articles could be procured : namely, a couple of tobogins, a tobogin bag, a canteen, havresac, some pairs of mocassins, two pairs of snow shoes for myself and servant, together with ether trifling things. A tobogin is a small sleigh, drawn by men, of very simple construction, and capable of conveying from 100 to 140 pounds of clothes or other bag- gage. It is made of quarter-inch plank, about a foot and a half broad and eight feet long ; the forward end is bent upwards, so as the more readily to pass over any obstructing body. A set of small holes are bored on each side ; and the tobogin bag when full is then laced tightly on the machine by means of a cord. The whole thus forms a compact mass, so secure that it may be tumbled and tossed, dragged among stumps of trees, and rolled over and over in the snow, and after all be not a whit the worse at the journey's end. Dogs also are frequently used to draw them. As to the mocassins, the common ones, generally worn by the country people, arc ■: . If: TO PRESQttE ISLE. 65 mnde of ox hide ; and those of a better de- scription, of the skin of the deer. The hide of the moose deer furnislies the very best, but they are scarce ; as the animal, equal in size to the Russian elk, is of a race nearly extinct; a few only are killed every year in the spring, when there is a glassy surface or crust over the snow hard enough to bear the hunters on their snow shoes, while it breaks in under the heavy creature, which i j thus easily tracked by his foot-marks. The mocassins intended for travelling are of a much larger size than the common ones; for,, besides other cover- ings, the foot is wrapped in a piece of blanket cut for the purpose, about fourteen inches long and eight wide, and then thrUst into the mocassin, which is secured firmly by long thongs of soft leather passing round the ancles. As the upper part of the mocassin is com- posed of loose flaps, by this method the foot has an excellent protection, and Is kept warm and fit for the day's journey, either with or witliout snow shoes. A moderate sized snow shoe, being a light r.- >t ^ '■ I J- Mti i! 1 I 4 J i iS[!|!!t f ^ 'i 66 JOURNEY FROM l^ALIFAX wooden frame of an oval shape, is about forty inches long, and eighteen in extreme breadth, and its weight is about two pounds. The whole surface within is formed of a net-work of thong, like that of a racket, but ratlier stouter. A small square aperture, about the size of a man's hand, is left in the net-work, into which the toes sink at ever) r: p, '♦y which means the foot is prevented from Si^^pin. back, and a purchase is given to step from, while the snow shoe, forming an artificial platform, remains still on the ground. The foot is in no way confined to the machine, except by the toes, by which it is lifted, or rather dragged along at each step. Although less previous practice than one would at first imagine is necessary to walk on snow shoes, still a novice commences a journey under very considerable disadvantage. In- deed, so certain is the effect produced by the exercise upon persons not trained to it, that the Canadians have a name for the complaint it brings on. They call \c the '^ mal a ra- quette", which is a violent inflammation and swelling of the instep and ancles, attended TO PRESQUE ISLE. 67 witK severe pain and lameness. A journey on snow shoes cannot, at all events, be undertaken under greater disadvantages than by a per- son newly arrived in a strange country and climate, freah from a sea voyage. Much is said by the natives of the superiority of such a mode of travelling over any other ; but, in spite of all their wonderful stories, a very little practice will put an end to the pleasing anticipation of a journey on snow shoes (un- less a very short one) by way of amusement ; and I never saw any body who, after a rea- sonable trial, was not most heartily glad to kick them off his feet, and at the same time to make up his mind to walk during the remain- ing days of his life without their assistance. '" There was a large Canada stove in the kitchen of the inn, or hotel, where I had taken up my abode, which was, during the day, a favourite resort for the country people and other customers of the house ; and a talk- ative noisy set was constantly kept up by the comers in and goers out. Among the most regular in attendance was an old Indian, who, F 2 ■ (\ ' Ml "n] tm I I' Hi 68 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX leaving his squaw to take care of the wig- wam, which was in the neighbourhood, made this kitchen his morning lounge — his club as it were, where he heard the news, saw how the world was going on, and drank as much rum as the different visitors were inclined to give him. To this man I introduced myself, and, as he spoke English, and understood it very tolerably, I made an appointment with him the next morning. He agreed to come to me at the inn, where I was to treat him with plenty of rum, so as to make him feel quite comfortable, and then we were to take a walk together, he on his snow shoes, and I on mine, as far as the wigwams, a few miles out of the town, where I was to have the honour of being presented to his squaw and family. ^ Novelties, therefore, after much cold, stupid travelling, appeared at last to be on the point of arriving. December 30th. — The old Indian was true to his appointment, and before nine o'clock I had scarcely finished my breakfast, when he walked into my room, saying, " May be mas- !■ ,1 ' ' TO PRESQUE ISLE. 69 ter has got a little rum." Thinking that whiskey probably would do as well I filled a large wine glass which was upon the side- board, and he drank it without coughing or sneezing. Eternal friendship beamed from his small deep-set black eyes. The fire was beginning rapidly to extract the odours of his toilette, and he drew himself closer and closer towards me, while he commenced a narration relating particularly to his own address and bravery during the late American war. The glass of spirits had not been evidently the first which he had swallowed that morning, for his story was frequently delayed by the slaver which flowed from his mouth, and the hido- lent paralysis of his tongue. A buck-shot which he had received from the enemy, and which remained in his thigh, was the leading topic of his conversation, and as his language became more and more indistinct, his gesticu- lations were proportionably violent as he de- scribed his manner of crouching, advancing, and firing upon the foe. I endeavoured to quiet him, and remind him of the purpose of T^-,:fl r !i ^1 \\^ m . .1 70 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX his visit, by shewing him my snow shoes and patting him on the shoulder with heavy thumps, in order to bring him to his recollec- tion. But his subject interested him so warmly, that he would not listen to reason. He raved about his scars and his cuts, and " Look ye ", said he, " Indian man shew mas- ter the buck-shot." At the same time drawing aside the flap of his close bodied coat of coarse blue cloth, he exhibited a thigh so tough and stringy, as might, one would have thought, have been quite shot proof; notwithstanding there lay the object of his boasting, quite visi- ble under the skin. The exhibition was the more simple, inasmuch as he wore no breeches. At last I got rid of him, when, very fortu- nately for me, he encountered the landlady, to whom, in the presence of the little world of the inn, he insisted upon shewing, d-propos to nothing, the buck-shot. This so enraged her, that with a posse comitatus of her maids, black and white, they, by the help of brooms and mops, turned him forthwith out of doors into the street. And now, by the help of TO PRBSQUE ISLE. ^l 71 some men who were' outside, we at last in- duced him to make a virtue of necessity. So, finding that the doors of the house were shut against him, that he couid get no more rum from any body on the spot, and having ob- tained a promise from me of a liberal quan- tity so soon as ever ho should have acquitted himself of his undertaking, he begun with great gravity and silence to tie on his snow shoes, and, Hghting a short black stump of a tobacco pipe, which he took out of his pouch, he commenced walking away with long strides, without looking behind him, and leaving me to follow as well as I could. My snow shoes had been on some time, while I waited with impatience the drunken dilatory loitering of this savage : but now the pace he was going, obliged me to exert myself to the utmost to keep up to him. Puffing and smoking, he walked on, and his gaunt sinewy frame was con- tinually gaining ground on me, when the point of my snow shoe catching in the snow, tripped me up. As 1 found it in vain to rise imme- diately, from the manner in which my feet ■H; if Mr * '^ » ''"ff "W 72 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX ' I '.I m., were hampered, I was obliged to call out to my guide. He returned to my assistance,- but, witii very great difficulty, 1 had contrived tx) get upon my legs before he came up. And this accident occurred three or four times in the first iinile, after which I began to acquire the little pr«ictice necessary to keep upon my feet. Still I found the labour so much greater than I had imagined, that I was almost in- clined to wish I had remained at Halifax till the spring, to have proce>(jded then by the St. Lawrence to Quebec. But now it was too late ; here i was,, and on I must go, couie qui couie. We had left the road at the outskirts of the town, and had proceeded in a straight line for nenrl)'^ tliree miles, when some smoke, which appcjared risiiag at n little distaiK'c, marked the situation oP the wigwams we had come t0 see. There were twenty or thirty of them ; nnd i soon found myself arrived at the duke floiHum of my old guide. In A. wigwam isi like a bundle of hop-poles, M they are piled in England during the sum- Bier ', that is, it is shu|Tec like a cone, ami a i"ffl TO PRESQUE ISLE. 73 little larger than an ordinary tent It is formed of long poles, the ends of which are placed on the ground in the circumference of a circle, the points being brought together and confined at the top. It is thatched from the bottom to within a couple of feet of the top, with tlie boughs of the spruce fir, and large strips of birch bark ; so that, in order for the smoke to escape, an apc^rture is left at the top, tluoui^h winch no s^'^^v enters, from the current of air passing upwards. Rain is not calculated upon in the winter. The wigwam within side, rude as it is fashioned, is exceed- ingly warm, and not paiticularly incommoded with smoke ; for, from its figure, the greater quantity of air being at the bottom, and be- coming heated by the fire, a current is created of sufficient force to oppose the smaller quan- tity towards the top» The fire is made in the middle, and the whole family sleep with their fecjt towards it. Tlie old Indian had been rather out of hu- mour amd sulky ; for lie hud not forgiven the treatment he hud received from the landlady" 74 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX of the inn ; but now arrived at his own fire- side, his heart began to warm again, and I saw, by his gestures, that he was relating to his squaw his own troubles and our adven- tures during our walk from the inn. The squaw seemed to be many years younger of the two, and she was sitting on the ground busily at work, ornamenting a pair of mocas- sins with coloured porcupine quills. Her mo- ther, a very old woman, was swinging a child bound up, hke an Egyptian mummy, in swad- dling clothes, strapped down fast and ♦ight on a board, and suspended on a peg from the upper part of the wigwam. Whenever the child cried, a touch on the board with her hand set it swinging, so as to answer fully the purposes of a cradle. A boy of about ten years old was making a wooden spoon out of a piece of maple, which he hollowed for his purpose with a large, broad, L»quare pointed knife. There were also a little dog and a cat, both of a lean and starved appearance. As to furniture, there was none, except a rusty gun, a rum bottle, and a tin saucepan. The iiii I r k TO PRESQUE ISLt}. 75 family sat upon logs of wood, and slept in their clothes, such as they were. Although the day was exceedingly cold, the inside of this hut was warmer than the room of any house. My guide took me into some of the other wigwams, where we found very tew men at home. The women were invariably employed very busily, some working at their needle, others making brooms, small baskets of birch bark, and other trifles of the same sort. I was, however, very soon satisfied with what I saw, and prepared to return to my inn, being happy to leave the dirty wigwams, glad of the opportunity of walking more leisurely home, and not at all sorry to get rid of a drunken companion. > There is nothing, perhaps, which proves the resources of the country more than the dis- sipated and improvident habits of the native Indian. With no other dependcice than a ten shilling Birmingham gun, a little coarse gun- powder, and some Bristol shot ; his fishing im- plements, and a coa.oC home-made bow and arrows ; he relies upon chance each day for his r If, m r - Ill '. Hi M '£2 ti 76 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX f^ bod. If successful, he gorges ; sometimes he fiidta \ to-morrow never enters into his head ; and whenever, and as often as he possibly can, he gets thoroughly drunk. In spite of all this, the forests and rivers supply him continually with food, and in sufficient profusion ; and a rooted antipathy to every sort of labour, toge- ther with his wandering habits, have hitherto set at defiance all efforts to reclaim his race. If, therefore, the idle and improvident find the means to provide themselves against the wants of nature, surely the hard-working and industrious have even a better prospect of suc- cess* ^ I walked back to my inn, but not without difficulty. I found my way by the foot-marks which remained on the snow, but I felt disap- pointed at the result of my fir i Jay's practice on snow shoes. ff December 31st. — Having now every thing ready, I had to make the best of my way to Presque Isle, so as to arrive there about the time of the postmen, on their way to Quebec. I.preferrecVaccompanying these men to liirhig /"■.■« H^r'' TO PRESQUE I8LE. ». i> etimes he his head ; jsibly can, [)f all this, ^ntiiiually ►n ; and a our, toge- e hitherto 1 his race, ident find igainst the ►rking and ect of sue- ot without foot-marks felt disap- ^'s practice jvery thing ny way to about the to Quebec, ii to liirhig f ix:\ Indian u» a guide, and had at first deter- li^iacd to wait at Fredericton till thev arrived in the town from St. John's. Growing im- patient however, I determined to start the next morning, and at all events to leave Fre- flericton, and get to Presque Isle as quick as I could. 1 accordingly engaged a two horse sleigh from a French inhabitant, who agreed to take me the eighty-three miles, and return with his horse and sleigh at his own expense to Fredericton for eight guineas. January 1st. — It was nearly noon when the man made his appearance with his sieigh, a tardiness which but ill accorded with the state of the roads. With the river on our right, we proceeded along its bank through snow so deep and untrodden, tiiat with the greatest labour and difficulty we advanced, Hte/ally speaking, at a ploughing pace. We reached the bouse of the owner of the sleigh, where we baited. We then proceeded on our jour*. ney, and crawled on six miles more, and put up for the night at Upper French Village. It was near seven o'clock when we arrived, and M - m 78 JOURNEY FROM H/ILIPAX m we had been nearly all the time since noon gcing sixteen miles. The house we were now in for the night was very particularly dirty and comfortless. There were two beds in the room, one for the host, his wife, and four childrctn, (the youngest of which was not more than a few weeks old,) and the other wangy material which, if clean, at least felt otherwise, and for the first time since I had been in the country, I was tormented with fleas. It was impossible to get a wink of sleep ; for, besides my own grievances, there were other causes of disturbance. The child cried i;' lessoAily in spite of all the woman could d*)! to paMfy It. It had, I believe, no- thing at all the matter with it, but seemed, siace noon TO PRESQUE ISLE. 79 from sheer frowardness, to imagine that the little world of our miserable apartment was made for itself. Sometimes the good wife sat up in her bed with the little animal hugged up between her chin and her elbows, hushing and rocking herself and it ; then she patted its back, and still it cried. Then ten times (I dare say) in the course of the night, out of bed got the poor husband, and stood for seve- ral minutes at the stove, with a pair of lean bare legs, and an extremely short shirt, stir- ring something in a saucepan with the broken stump of an iron spoon. A picture of obedi- ence and misery ! Then he got into bed again. Then came a long consultation, and almost a quarrel, about what was best to be done. Then the grand specific was administered, but all without eftect. At last the other children awoke, and the youngest of these began to cry too : and the mother said it was the big one's fault, and beat her. So off she went, and we had a loud concert, till, what with the noise of the children, and the heat, and the dirt, and the fleas, I felt ready to rush ♦ - I i ■t] 80 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX out of doors and roll myself in the snow. But every thing must have an end, and so at last the children became all tired out, and by degrees grew quiet ; and in the morning I found I had been asleep, and got out of bed determined to be off as soon as I possibly could. . u . .i . . . I . . .V. . January 2d. — It was before sun-rise when the sleigh came to the door, and I got into it, happy to exchange the fusty exhalations of this room, for the piercing cold of a Canadian winter's morning. We proceeded ten miles to Ingram's, by a road equally bad with the one we had travelled the day before. The snow was just as deep, and the way not more broken ; therefore our pace was still a slow walk, occasionally delayed by drifts, through which the cattle could only make their way by courage and floundering on with all their might. Sometimes they stopped short, and with distended nostrils, and eyes expressive of fear, they seemed inclined to give it up alto- gether. But they were both high-spirited iinimals, and we were indebted to them for Hi TO PRESQUE ISLE. I * overcoming difficulties, which a person less experienced than the driver would have hesi- tated to set their faces to. Occasionally, during this stage, we encoun- tered some little ravines, or precipitous gul- lies, which crossed the road, and which formed small creeks or outlets of the river. There were several of these which it was necessary to pass, and at the bottom of each was a rude wooden bridge without side-rails, and scarcely broad enough to permit three horses to pass abreast ; notwithstanding which, we went over with our pair always at full gallop : much to my annoyance at first, till I found that the cattle possessed quite as much sense as their driver, and sufficiently understood what they were about. The rannes were so steep, that in order to ascend one side, it was absolutely necessary to rush down the other to gain an impetus ; and the distance from the top to the bottom was about 150 yards. The bridges were composed of pine logs laid loosely toge- ther, which made a rattling and a clatter as the horses' feet came upon them. The Freiifb- ■f:vnl V V nM 1: ■ * -41 fffij 82 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX man drove witli long cord reins, witliout any contrivance to prevent them falling down the horses* sides, and the rest of the tackling was of an equally simple fashion. The cattle were indeed but barely attached to the vehicle ; a matter of little importance during the former part of the journey, but now deserving a little more consideration ; for the horses, so sure as they arrived at the verge of each ravine, seemed to take all sort ot charge upon them- selves, while the driver, yielding to circum- stances, sat still upon his seat. Up went their heads and tails, and, like a pair of hippogrifs, down they went with a dash till they reached the bridge, when, closing together, laying back their ears, and cringing in their backs, they rattled over the logs at full gallop, and up the opposite bank, till the weight of the vehicle brought them to a walk. Now came the turn of the driver ; and as he was per- fect in all thf^ words which frighten horses, he used them with such emphasis, jumping out of ^he sleigh at the same time with considerable activity, while the fenimals dragged it through TO PRESQUE ISLE. 83 the deep snow, that he contrived to keep them to their c«vllar till they had completed the ascent. Some address was required to prevent being thrown out of tlie vehicle by the violence of the motion. It was absolutely necessary to retain fast hold of the side; and then the thumps and jerks were such as cannot be readily imagined. Nothing, in fact, can be worse than the motion of a sleigh on a rough road. There is a grinding sensation which threatens the breaking up of the whole ma- chine. It feels as if parting in the middle and going asunder. The jolts inflicted by lumps of hard snow and other obstacles, may be com- pared to the blows of a short chopping sea upon a boat making head -way against wind and tide. The bones rattle by the concus- sion, as one helplessly submits to discipline as rigid as an unfortunate infant, when violently shaken by a passionate and drunken nurse. Our sleigh was dragged heavily along, while the horses frequently came to a stanti sfiU. • The whole of the distance of this stage, thfc G 2 4 ■I m\ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 1.1 u Hi £ lit ;; lis 12.0 1.8 IL25 ii.4 PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WfST MAIN STRUT WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 872-4S03 84 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX .; W :! • i\mm '■■'|''M: .ill. forest abounded with shumac and hemlock trees; the former well known as an orna- mental shrub in England, and the latter a stately species of fir growing to a large size, with a remarkably small leaf, and the wood particularly adapted to purposes which require it to remain under water. The greater part of the way from Fredericton, the ice would very probably have been sufficiently firm to have borne our sleigh, but we were advancing into inhospitable regions, where the traffic becoming less and less, the road had been but little beaten, and the bed of the river had not been used at all. Houses were now so scarce that the country seemed altogether deserted ; not a bird was to be seen, except now and then a solitary wood-pecker: the only species left to its winter habitation. Had a fall of snow increased our difficulties, recourse must have been had to our snow shoes. The horses were in a continual foam from dead pulls, and floundering out of holes formed under the snow by the roots of trees which had rotted out of their sockets. The cold was intense. vs\ TO PRESQUE ISLE. 85 and the icicles on their noses and under their bellies jingled like beads or bugles. We were obliged to walk during the greater part of the way. . Having, however, arrived at Ingram's, we baited, and with as little delay as possible pro- ceeded onwards on our journey. With equal toil and difficulty the horses completed eleven miles more to Maclachlan's, the whole of which dis- tance I was obliged to walk by the side of the sleigh. We baited again, and the driver, anxious to proceed notwithstanding the fatigue of the horses, brought them out once more. They very soon became quite knocked up, it was perfectly dark, and the cold intense. Al- though we had only travelled four miles from the last house, we had been for many hours during the day exposed to the weather, and after all, having started before sun-rise, had only completed twenty-five miles. However, by good fortune, a light appeared at a little distance from the road, which we found pro- ceeded from a log-house, where the driver pro- posed to remain for the night. With all the fc 86 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Iji'lii ,i";iliii|i| feelings of cold and dreariness that surrounded us, and leaving the man to settle and arrange all matters of etiquette with the owner of the house, I followed and submitted myself to his arrangements. But I need not have put my- self to much uneasiness, for in that part of the country matters of this sort are soon settled. I was rather surprised to see the driver enter the house quite as if it were his own. He hardly said "how do ye do" to the master and mistress, who were quietly drinking their tea; but, throwing a large log which he had dragged in with him upon the fire, and taking a key which was hanging upon a nail in the wall without asking for it, he disappeared for the purpose of putting up his horses. I felt that I was in a private house, and said some civil speech expressing myself ob- liged by being pernutted to remain under the roof for the night. But I was quite at cross purposes ; and I might just as wel? have re- served my apologies for future occasions. At present I had quite enough to do to answer the questions which were put to me about TO PRESQUE ISLE. 87 myself and the ^' old country." I found I was a welcome guest, and as the fire blazed up prosperously, I looked at the boards in front of it as at my place of repose for the night ; for the people had not a bed to give me. As countries become more civilized, the social feeling is proportionably restrained; and hospitaHty and barbarism are, it is said, generally met with together. Still humanity is admirable, which, flowing from the heart, offers shelter to the stranger, who elsewhere might seek it in vain. The circumstances of the country induce a necessity for the exertion of hospitality ; for in a climate so severe, and where houses of public entertainment are not everywhere to be met with, common consent estabhshes a reciprocity of accommodation, where to remain out of doors all night would be the cost of life. Iry fact, a man cannot be said to be master of his own house so as to exclude the visitors whom chance may throw in upon him. Sleeping without any other fastening than a latch to his door, a dozen ?*'.:■ 1 y\ ,13 88 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX I strangers may enter one after another, who, dropping down to rest before the lire, take up their quarters for the night without the cere- mony of asking leave of any body. The poorest person is not the least welcome, nor, in the exercise of hospitality, is any regard paid to condition and appearance. The people have enough to answer their own wants, and, as they are secluded from the world in a man- ner, are remunerated by the news they occa- sionally receive from the passing traveller ; in- deed it is a question, which of the two is the best ofF, the penniless guest or the host himself; who cannot, in his own house, walk across his bed-room after nine o'clock at night, without the risk of disturbing some great fellow stretch- ed out and snoring before his fire, and who, if he happen to be trodden upon, will swear as loudly as if the whole house belonged to him. ' J ni ). My landlord and his wife were both ex- tremely civil, good people. They had cows, pigs, and poultry, and all the requisites of a small farm ; and finding by degrees, in the ■I -I i'f: ♦;! ; t ii . TO PRESQUE ISLE. 89 course of the evening, tliat my stock of provi- sions was expended, they thawed and set be- fore me a frozen goose, which I thought excellent. They listened to me with great apparent satisfaction while I related to them the different little incidents of my journey, such as I thought would amuse them ; and having in return for their goose filled them as full of news as I could, I prepared to stretch myself on the boards before the fire. With my feet towards it, I wrapped myself up in my buffalo skin, and, laying my head upon a log of maple, I listened to the crackling of the large pieces of wood freshly heaped upon it, till I fell sound asleep. I did not awake till the morning ; and how my landlord and his wife got to bed, although they slept in the same room, I really cannot tell. In the morn- ing I had seated myself on my wooden pillow before the happy pair had arisen ; but the ceremonies of the toilet were quickly per- formed by all parties, and a v/arm breakfast completed the preparations for the ensuing day's journey, ; • ^ rj 90 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX I January 3d. — It was scarcely daylight when we were quite ready to proceed ; for the snow lay so deep on the ground, and the difficulty of getting forward was consequently so great as to make our progress quite uncer- tain. Sitting in the sleigh was now out of the question ; the horses had quite enough to do to draw it when empty. Proceeding at a rate of not more than three miles an hour, the driver led the horses ten miles to PhilHps's, which house is situated on the hanks of the river. Having baited, we got on fourteen miles more, walking all the way, and arrived at a house, where, as it was now quite dark, we put up for the night. I got here a very comfortable clean bed. We performed the last three miles of the stage on the ice of the river, which was tolerably clear of snow. About a couple of hours before sunset, a con- siderable change took place in the weather, which, during the whole time since I had left Fredericton, had been intensely cold. It be- came suddenly mild, and before nine o'clock a rapid thaw set in, attended with rain and it^ :'Ai TO PRESQUE ISLE. »1 sleet; the rain, however, lasted for a very short time, and was succeeded by a thick fall of snow. This event seemed entirely to mar our further progress ; for labour greater than the poor animals had already encountered did not appear practicable. Should the v/orst come to the worst, I was now only eighteen miles from Presque Isle, and expected every hour to fall in with the postmen. I felt ra- ther anxious on this head, as I aid not much like to trust to an Indian as a guide. January 4th. — At daylight this morning the snow was still falling in great abundance, so that, what with the state of the weather and of the horses, our doom seemed fixed for this day at least ; we therefore voted expe- dient what was unavoidable, and granted the poor animals a boon which it was not in our power to withhold from them, — that of a day's rest. Bad as the travelling was, it was better than remaining in our present quarters ; for neither quiet nor comfort being within my reach, I found myself more satisfied with fatigue. The driver had established himself 5^' 92 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX by the side of the fire, where, by the aid of his pipe and a bottle of rum, which he had not forgotten to bring with him, he at first began to listen to the conversation of the other persons in the room, and by degrees to become a talker himself, till he made himself perfectly happy and comfortable ; nor did he seem to care at all which way the world went. There were four or five men in the small room we were in, some belonging to the house, and others weather-bound like ourselves ; and these fellows had all got the best places at the fire, drinking and smoking. As their voices be- came elevated, unfortunately the imagination flagged, and they became a noisy set, from whom there was neither entertainment nor in- formation to be derived. And so I had notliing to do, but listening with anxiety to the howling of the wind, which was blowing clouds of snow against the win- dows, to reflect what a forlorn place I was in. I determined to run all risks, by leaving it at daylight the next morning. I walked back- wards and forwards, and fidgeted, — all to no 'ml W' ' '■ ill" i ^ he aid of h he had 5 ai first the other :o become perfectly ! seem to it. There I room we ouse, and and these it the fire, voices be- kagination set, from 3nt nor in- t listening ind, which jt the win- B I was in. TO PRESQUE ISLE. 93 purpose. Every time I opened the door of the house to look out to windward, I was greeted by the execrations of the whole crew within, — perhaps not without reason, for the wind, while it made balloons of tlie women's petticoats, filled the room with a whirlpool of snow, and as it took one's whole strength to close the door against it, it seemed every time that the weather was growing still worse and worse. But at last, about the middle of the day, things began to mend : it suddenly became brighter, the snow ceased to fall, and the change grew more and more evident, till the sun himself gladdened the scene with his presence ; and, flying before him, the heavy full-charged snow clouds in rapid succession rolled away to leeward. As the sky grew clearer and clearer, all our countenances light- ened up also ; and I had not been long en- gaged in reading the congratulatory looks of the driver, who was now in a humour to be pleased with any thing and every thing, when the door opened, and two men on foot, of a tempest-driven appearance, with their clothes m m 94 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX i and caps covered with snow, having each a pair of snow shoes skmg at his back and a large white leathern bag across his shoulder, entered the room. Waiting for a moment on the threshold, they shook the loose snow off their feet by striking the hinder part of the calf of each leg with the great toe of the op- posite foot very rapidly, — a Canadian fashion, as common as making use of a mat in Eng- land, and which becomes so much a habit, that the Indians never enter a room, even in sum- mer, without going through the motion. These men were received with evident marks of cordiahty by every one in the house, and I discovered, to my great satisfaction, that they were the identical persons 1 expected to meet with, — the postmen in charge of the mail-bags from Quebec, whom, on their return thither, I had made up my mind to engage as guides. They were both native French Canadians, one having, to all appearance, a little — or not a little —Indian blood in his veins, being, as is very common in the country, crossed with the savage. I lost no time in commencing a negociation, the the TO PRESQUE TSLE. 05 g each ft ack and a shoulder, loment on s snow off irt of the of the op- an fashion, it in Eng- habit, that ren in sum- otion. dent marks )use, and 1 ti, that they ted to meet le mail-bags urn thither, e as guides, ladians, one jrnotahttle r, as is very li the savage, negociation, which I completed by agreeing to give them fif- teen pounds as guides from Presque Isle across all that tract of country necessary to be traversed in snow shoes ; that ij to say, along the course of the river St. John's by the Madawaska settlement and lake Tamasquatha to the shores of the St. Lawrence ; and they were to draw my baggage on my two tobogins. As they had no means of delivering over the mail bags of which they were in charge, they proposed the house of a Mr. Turner, a^. Presque Isle, (which place was, as I have already observed, eighteen miles distant,) as the pcmt of ren- dezvous. It was uncertain when they would be able to arrive there, for it depended upon their getting rid of the mail-bags. I had a reasonable expectation of not being detained long from the known powers of these men as pedestrians. At all events, they had no sooner completed the arrargement than they prepared to quit the house, and, after having lighted their pipes and taken a dram apiece, they bid us all farewell, and proceeded on their journey in high spirits, keeping up a m 96 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX long light trot till out of sight. These mat- ters being now well off my mind, and the weather appearing once more settled, the house, its inhabitants, and the prospects of my journey assumed " couleur de roser ^■ January 5th. — When we started, at day- light in the morning, we found the country enveloped in a thick fog, — so dense, that we were unable to distinguish any object at more than twenty yards distance ; at the same time it was so intensely cold, that our clothes were, in the space of an hour, frozen stiff with ice. I set out walking : though the state of the roads was better than could be expected, con- sidering the quantity of snow which had fallen, and which lay lightly on the surface; still, however, the travelling was bad enough, so much so, that the horses fell several times during the stage, notwithstanding the ex- tremely slow pace at which they proceeded. All these roads, or rather tracks, have been originally made by the simple operation of chopping down the trees with the axe, gene- rally in the winter season, so that stumps are TO PRESQUE ISLE. 97 left standing in the ground, and a conr.ider- able number of years elapse before they rot and leave a hole. Sometimes th^ horses, in going along, blundered over some of these stumps barely covered mth snow, so that the bottom of the sleigh would have been staved in had we been in it. Now and then their fore feet sank in altogether, and the poor animals would pitch forwards upon their noses ; they were so frosted and bespangled with hoar and ice, that it would have been difficult to say, ten yards off, what description of creatures they were. How their driver got them back, I do not know. I had left off my shoes on leaving Frede- ricton, vnd had adopted mocassins instead. Though I had felt great advantage from the change in walking through the deep snow, this day I experienced an inconvenience which I had not anticipated ; for the hard stumps of the trees were in some places so treacher- ously covered with snow, that I repeatedly struck my toes against them so hard as to put me to considerable pain; at this the driver H 1 * !| 1. 98 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX ,i was much amused ; for, said he, " Monsieur, we call dat in dis country, de dram." He contrived, by habit, to avoid such accidents. Within a few miles of Presque Isle, we came to some places where bullocks had been em- ployed to break the road, and their tracks were visible where they had been driven back- wards and forwards for that purpose. . . :» It was quite dark when we came to the end of the day's journey, and I had had nothing to eat since daylight; so that I was rathe^ ex- hausted when I arrived at an old crazy house, the residence of Mr. Turner. I begged for something to eat, and a few slices of fat pork fried up with chopped potatoes were set be- fore me. I thought, at the time, that no- thing I had ever eaten tasted so well, and the repast being very soon concluded, I began to look a little about me, and at the people in the apartment I was in. I was particularly amused with the appearance of Mr. Turner. My host was, I believe, an American,— a tall, withered, thin man, about sixty years of age, with extremely small legs and thighs, narrow TO PRfiSQUE ISLE. 99 shoulders, long back, and as straight as a ramrod. Innumerable short narrow wrinkles, which crossed each other in every direction, covered his face, which was all the same co- lour — as brown as a nut ; and he had a very small mouth, which was drawn in and pursed up at the corners. His eyes were very little, black, keen, and deep set in his head. He hardly ever spoke ; and I do not think, that while I was in his house I ever saw him smile. He was dressed in an old rusty black coat and trowsers, both perfectly threadbare, and glazed about the collar, cuffs, and knees with grease ; and he sat always in one posture and in one place, — bolt upright on a hard wooden chair. He seemed to me the picture of a man who, from want of interest in the world, had fallen into a state of apathy ; — and yet that would seem impossible, considering that Mr. Turner was the chief diplomatist in thebe parts, — the representative of the commiBsariat depart- ment, charged with the duties of supplying the garrison at Presque Isle, — a man of high importance in his station, invested with local H 2 f Ji' -■i Ih 1 100 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX authority, and in direct communication and correspondence with the higher powers at Quebec. Notwithstanding all this, the ener- gies of Mr. Turner's body and mind were suffered to lie at rest ; for the garrison con- sisted of a corporal and four privates, making in all five men, to supply whom with rations was nearly his whole and sole occupation ; and so he had gradually sobered down into the quiet tranquil sort of person I found him. A daughter, a fine, handsome, bouncing girl under twenty, with sparkUng black eyes and an animated countenance, seemed to bear tes- timony to days gone by, when affairs were somewhat more Kvely ; but the contrast now was sufficiently striking ; for without regard- ing her, any body, or any thing, he kept his place and attitude, sitting always close to the stove. ^ There was a small square hole in the centre of the door, (as there generally is in all Ca- nada stoves,) made to open and shut with a slider as occasion requires : this he kept open for a purpose of his own ; for by long prac- TO PRESQUE ISI^E. 101 tice he had acquired a knack of spitting through this little hole with such unerring certainty, by a particular sort of jerk through his front teeth, that he absolutely never missed his mark. This accomplishment was the more useful to him, as he was in the habit of profusely chewing tobacco, — all the care he seemed to have! — and he opened the door of the stove now and then, to see how the fire was going on. ' ' ■ . * I had been indebted to Miss Turner for my supper, and she had made arrangements to prepare an apartment for me in the house, to which when T retired I found I had made an exchange very much for the worse. The house was ill-built, and my room so miser- ably cold, that to sleep in it seemed a for- lorn undertaking. Several panes of glass were cracked, and others were entirely out of the windows, while the ceiling and walls were also out of repair. They had no bed to offer me, and a hay paillasse was the substi- tute. This I drew as near to the chimney as I could, as soon as Miss Turner had consigned it 109 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX j ;, ■ i f"i| 1 •• , ■ j 11 ■ill "1! Ijll'iPI 10 iiiff i M i llil! ^ 1: Ci ' .■!;■ ■■ 1 J- 'T 1 ||:,:|i 1 ■ jjWi'i ' !' 1 ^K ^BB ||,;.f (■ ■ •i H me to my meditations. Wrapping myself in my buffalo skin, I attempted to go to sleep ; but that was quite impossible, and I never remem- ber to have suffered so severely from the cold, while I was in the country, as on that night. I had no thermometer ; but the temperature, I am sure, was some degrees below zero. On getting up in the night to mend the fire with the tongs, the ;ron froze to my fingers, so as to feel quite sticky, — ai^^ effect of cold I have subsequently experienced on several occasions. I passed a very miserable night, sometimes walking about the room and beating my sides with my arms, and then trying in vain to sleep by the fire. ^ January 6th. — It was no sooner daylight, than I left my room in search of the apart- ment where I had passed the evening, which was, owing to the power of the Canada stove, quite of another temperature. Mr. Turner and his daughter made their appearance, and breakfast was prepared. This refreshment, though great, was not sufficient to remove the degree of cold with which I v;as suffering, TO PRESQUE ISLE. 103 60 I prepared myself for a walk on my snow shoes. I had heard no more of my guides since I had concluded my bargain with them ; therefore was obliged to await with patience their arrival : nothing else would have induced me to remain so long at Presque Isle. Mr. Turner had resumed his place on the wooden chair, and the morning was clear and frosty when I set out. My snow shoes were now more useful than ever, for their weight increased the labour of walking, and so re- stored what I had so much need of — warmth. As soon as I had tied them on, such was the dreary, desolate state of every thing around me, that I never felt more undetermined what course to pursue. The river St. John's, with a covering of four feet of snow on the ice, pursued its course through a ravine at a little distance from the house. The forest, on both sides of its banks, reached the water's edge; and a small square patch of cleared land was all that pointed out to the eye the dominion of Mr. Turner. I descended the bank and crossed the river, entering a little way into m r ,' f ' '. - M ti M' ■ i i { ^ § ■A i 1 1 i ,;/, 'fy i ; '^iif 104 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX the forest. All was silence and solitude ; ani- mals and birds seemed to have deserted the country, — except the squirrel and the wood- pecker, and these at times I could hear a long way off. The squirrel followed me as 1 went along, chattering and jumping from tree to tree among the branches ; — a man of pleasure, eager in the pursuit of the novel and the cu- rious ! — while the woodpecker, hke a steady man of business, hammered and rapped away, less easily allured from his daily occupation. I rested and listened. There was no wind ; even these small sounds pervaded large regions of space ; and, at intervals, the creaking of the old trees, and the heavy lumping fall of tiie clotted snow through the branches, ren- dered the contrast with animated nature still more dismal. I left the wood, and proceeded along the bed of the river, which was of considerable breadth ; and here I walked for upwards of an hour, without seeing a track or footmark of any sort. Had I not known that I was within a short distance of a human dwelling, nothing that I then saw could have TO PRESQUE ISLE. 105 led me to conclude that such had been the case. ^ f ' When I returned to the house, I found that the guides, whom I had engaged on the 4th, had arrived soon after my departure, having travelled a great part of the night ; and they. Miss Turner, and my host, were about to sit down to a mess of fried purk and potatoes, then hissing and sputtering on the top of the stove. I was well prepared to join in the re- past, and we all sat down together. — The society now seemed to be receiving a tone ; and though Mr. Turner still persevered in not saying a word, his daughter's features had received a polish from her office of cooking, and her eyes had increased in brilliancy to nd» small degree of intensity. The guides were boisterous vulgar fellows, who joined loudly in the conversation, intruding upon every body with elbows and shoulders. I frequently withdrew my chair to make way for them ; but found hints were thrown away upon men so nearly related to the aborigines of the country. They, in fact, knew no better. 106 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX spoke bad French, were full of Gasconade, and, while they thus i, rted a miserable in- dependence, it was reali) curious to consider, that these fellows were not only my servants, but my slaves, — rather, my beasts of burden and draft, for they were the next morning to harness themselves and draw my baggage over the snow. With this reflection, I left them to enjoy their prerogative of independence, and became a listener as well as Mr. Turner, whose apathy nothing could disturb, and he still shewed no other symptoms of animation than to spit into the fire through the little square hole, and now and then to rout about in his pocket to find his tobacco box. -'^ The day flagged heavily, and night at last came, when, profiting by past experience, I lay down on the boards before the Canada stove, having taken early possession of what I fancied to be the warmest position for the night. The rest very soon followed my ex- ample ; Mr. Turner and his daughter retired to their several apartments; and at eight o'clock all the house was quiet. -X '^^ TO PRESQUE ISLE. 107 January 7th. — A delay on the part of one of the Canadians prevented our setting for- ward this day on our journey ; and I never remember to have been so anxious to get out of any house I ever was in in my life, as this. To be impatient was of no avail. The half-bred Canadian had disappeared on a visit to his dam Sycorax, or on some other expedi- tion in the neighbourhood, no matter to me whither: we could not go without him, and that settled the question. Late in the evening, however, he returned, with a small bag of provisions he had been to fetch. He lifted up the latch, and, at the first glimpse of his ugly face, feeling all the joys of libera- tion, and heartily tired of being where I was, in the joy of my heart I exclaimed to myself. (( I >» Sic me servavit Apollo I */. 1 2t ctj %'^ 7- f i -» k i ~ * ii. ■ in, .HI, ^'il;--,!!* tii .^ ,» ^ - ; • ■,'. Ti . '" ■ ' ;>■■•'"■• /'•I ■ • • • S I m i i i>r. I 1 Ah ,1 I- ii'il ¥ 108 t J jk * !r % JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. V \A*>t Early in the morning a large mess of fried pork and potatoes was sputtering on the stove, and the party speedily assembled to partake it. I was happy to find the diet agreed with me, seeing little chance of getting any thing else for some time to come. The tug of war had now arrived, and the guides set about busily to prepare for our march. They cut leathern thongs with their knives, tied knots with their teeth, over-hauled the snow shoes, mocassins, and tobogins, and very soon put every thing in perfect order. It re- quired but little time to load the tobogins. All the small articles were put into the tobo- gin bags, the larger things were wrapped up in the blankets and buffalo skin, and then altogether they were laced round with cord, so compact and tight, and fastened to the tobogin, that no accident could possibly dis- 1ft- i ^*-«*««Bb JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE. 109 It turb them. When the tobogins were ready, the men took a broad strap of leather, of which they made a sort of collar, passing over the breast and shoulders, to which a rope being fixed, each man was ready in harness, and able to draw his load with his arms per- fectly at liberty. Our snow shoes were nov/ all on, and at nine o'clock in the morning we marched away in single file, following the leader. We wended our way down the ravine to- wards the river St. John's, which we imme- diately crossed; and the ice, which I had walked upon the day before, fortunately with impunity, not being considered safe, we were obliged to pursue our course through the wood, in a line parallel with this river, where stumps of trees and fallen logs presented im- pediments which added to the difficulty of travelling at this the very beginning of our journey. And thus we proceeded about four miles before we were enabled to go upon the river. Besides myself and servant, three other travellers had joined our *' caravan ", from Mr. I Mf ^Fi ^^i- 110 JOURNEY FROM PRESQTJE ISLE m li.i! Turner's. Our party, therefore, consisted of seven persons, all of whom, with the excep- tion of the guides, were perfectly unaccus- tomed to walking on snow shoes. I had ima- gined that I was matched in a fair handicap with men who were each to pull a laden to- bogin after him, and therefore it never en- tered into my imagination that these fellows would beat me in pace with such odds against them; but here I found my mistake, and saw plainly that the advantage of practice was far more than equivalent to the weight of draft of a little machine, which slipped lightly and easily over the level surface of the snow, and which but very slightly impedes the progress of persons accustomed to draw it. On these fellows walked, without looking at all to the rear, and we all followed in a string, the more extended the farther we went. Added to the weight of the snow shoes them- selves, they became clogged with ice; for there was much water between the surface of the river and the snow, which froze immedi- ately, and produced a most heavy incum- TO RIVIERE DF OAI^E. Ill never en- brance. From the time we started (nine o'clock in the morning) we continued to waUc incessantly till half-past four, the guides occa- sionally halting in order to collect the party together, and allow time to break the ice which adhered to the snow shoes, by beating it off with short sticks with which we had all pro^ vided ourselves for the purpose. Our rate was ^'ess than two miles an hour, although we la- boured hard to proceed, so clogged and im- peded were we by the weight of the snow shoes. i {\ •• '.s -/i- .-T^';,. •-£:», i-'ftij-iiO*} ,A,C-;i?-i/^ :.»# We went on without meeting a single per- son over a tract presenting no change to the eye ; we had one uniform white expanse of snow before us, and we were bounded on each side by the heavy black wall of forest trees* However, at last, at half-past four, the grate- ful appearance of a small patch of cleared land was hailed with infinite gratification, and, one after another, we all entered the small log- house which was to be our place of rest for the night. It was of the most simple con- trivance ; we were altogether in one room ; V ■'.'>. i >•(• 1, ;t*: it* It; -m i itwN 1 , ' "! ' , . ■iij I i lj!il • !ii ■ t i t; ) I' f I I till ^\i Mr f ■t! ! j r||i| 1 >\ [, i '' " li^' ^'j flH:'' '"■•'^ 1 ,i^[ r'. 1 i ||item i Hi'^ 1 wtKKx §'i, ^ wS'v^^i« 1 112 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE a fire composed of enormous logs blazed on the hearth, and a cord went across the ceiling, or more properly the roof, (for ceiling there was none,) above the fire. On this cord the mocassins and stockings of all the party, which were quite wet from the springs we had occa- sionally passed over, were suspended, and no one seemed to usurp more authority in the establishment than another. The host and his family took matters very quietly. Their furniture was such as could not be very readily destroyed, corresponding with the walls of the house, which consisted of entire pine logs, having the interstices filled up with mud and moss. Being arrived and under shelter, the state of rest from fatigue was most particu- larly grateful. As to comfort, I had the means of making myself dry and warm, so I was not at all the worse for my day's work, and could appreciate the hoipely fare which was preparing for me, consisting of salted pork and sliced potatoes. We had travelled only ten miles, according to the computed distance from Mr. Turner's TO RIVTERE DE CAPE. 113 at Presque Isle, but the measurements had been taken from point to point, at a time when the ice was perfectly sound, and were neces- sarily very much exceeded in ki journey thus undertaken at the very beginning of the sea- son, when it was impossible to pursue the nearest and most direct course ; so that the ground traversed, was i great deal more than the measured distance , and, in fact, admitted of no comparison with it. I had felt little in- convenience from the vet during the morning, as it had hardly penetrated the coverings of my feet and legs ; but a very few minutes after arriving in the house, the warmth of the fire caused the glass slippers to thaw, and I be- came thoroughly soaked. Although the dwell- ing of a Canadian peasant may not deser e much praise, too much cannot be said of his fire. An enormous log, so big as to require the strength of two or three men with levers to bring it in, is laid at the back of the hearth, and this the Canadians call the " bilche '* : a large one lasts full forty-eight hours, and ours this night was a brilliant specimen. So that r^ St I i': '■:*■■ lit i ,4. 'ji '"■■!?. !iil ihj: mm ill 114 JOURNEY PROM PRESQUE ISLiS toy lodging was at least good, and I slept soundly on the boards, wrapped up in my Imfialo skin. ' ^ • - -, * • ' January 9th. — It was no sooner day-light than the room was replenished with tobacco smoke, which formed, the preceding evening, a cloud so dense as to render it difficult to distinguish a face across the apartment. I jumped up and found the guides anxious to proceed, so I got my breakfast as soon as I could, and that was with little delay enough, for a slice of pork toasted at the end of a fork was all I had any chance of procuring : nor haid I any tea. On starting, we found that more snow had fallen in the night, which, although it lay soft and light, caused the walking to be, if any thing, worse than before. We passed over many places where water under the snow froze inmiediately from the intense cold, and encrusted our snow shoes with an additional heavy weight of ice. P ir- ticufarly under the heel a large lump was con- tinually forming a material impediment, caus- ing one or other of the party to Yislt every TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 115 ten minutes, in order to get rid of it. At every effort the foot felt as if chained to the ground, such was the tug required to bring along the laden snow^ shoe ; and as the shores of the river were now gradually widening, the feeling of disappointment was added to our labour by the deceptive idea of distance created. The eye was unceasingly directed towards some bluff point, which, after an hour's hard fagging, seemed not much nearer than before ; such was the effect of the dark colour of the trees, contrasted with the whiteness of the snow. A powerfiil wind opposed our progress, and one seemed sepa- rated by interminable space from headland after headland, and gasping, as it were, under a sort of spell-bound influence, such as a dis- turbed dream brings to the imagination. > --' , We had nearly completed fourteen miles to a small log-house, where we were to pass the night, when my servant fell up to his middle into an air hole, which the fresh snow had covered over so deceptively, that had there been a hundred more such in our path, I 2 1 M- i- ] I ; <"1 iM' ( - 'ii ■*::! !f 116 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE we had no means whatever of avoiding them. Fortunately the hole was but small, so that he supported himself by his arms till we pulled him out, with no other injury than a wetting, of which alone the consequences would have been serious from the intense cold, had we not immediately afterwards arrived at the house. After this occurrence, affairs seemed to take a new turn: I had com- pounded for a long and a hard walk over the ice, but had not thought much about tumbhng into holes ; and as to measures of precaution, reason went to convince me that it was to no purpose to think about them, and quite as well to leave the matter to chance ; hoping for a ducking rather than a drowning, should it ever be my own lot to break in. We passed the even- ing much the same as that of the day before, for the guides smoked tobacco, together with some other people, settlers in the vicinity, who had temporarily added to our numbers. One of these entered into conversation with me, and requested me to take charge of a letter to his friends, for his relations lived (he TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 117 told me) in the tc'ii of Ayr, in Scotland ; and whether it was that his letter had mis- carried, or from other causes, he could not say, but he had heard no tidings of them for a very long time. I readily undertook to take care of his letter, which the poor man imme- diately set about to prepare ; but the way he commenced operations was too ludicrous to allow me to look on without being amused at the difficulties he had to contend with. He had seated himself on the ground in a corner of the room; his desk was a plate supported on his knees ; his paper was as bad as well could be; his ink newly thawed and quite pale ; his pen, pulled out of a wild goose's tail, was oily ; his own hand was as hard as the bark of a tree, and his broad black thumb had been smashed by the blow of a hammer or an axe, and had no sort of bend in it. Yet, with such odds against him, he produced a folded epistle, of which I took charge and subsequently delivered to its address. ^Itisq The' difficulties attending the interchange of letters, between settlers in the colonies and ^ . r. ' U ' vis ki • *i- 118 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE their friends at home, are well worthy the at- tention of those desirous to promote emigror tion. The greater the facility of correspond- ence, the more the stimulus to individual ad- venture receives strength. Epistolary inter- course being kept up, the objection: to foreign residence more resemble prejudices : withheld or delayed, they become solid, undeniable ob- jections, and then it is that an emigrant may be considered really an exile. January 1 0th. — When we started tliis morning the light was just beginning to dawn, and we had a heavy day's work before us, before we could arrive at any habitation; however, there was no remedy, but to push on with the rest. The guides to-day seemed particularly considerate, and, as if to give us every assistance, instead of driving recklessly on a-head, as they had been used to do, leav- ing us to follow as well as we could, and grumbhng whenever they halted to collect the party, they now slackened their pace with great apparent good humour, and we all went on close together. However, we had not 'WiM K'' f .■*,:vi,,ii TO RIVIERE D£ CAPE. 119 travelled more than half an hour, before they proposed that we should all walk first by turns. And their object by this arrangement clearly was, in case any of us should break in through the ice, to give us, with themselves, a fair chance of a preference. This was reasonable enough, and although they had undertaken: to be our guides, we could make no objection so far to become theirs ; and so it was settled that we were to exchange places every half hour. The labour was a good deal increased by being the first to break the way, and one thought of nothing else but being relieved from the task. The snow shoe makes a large track, so that the second man has a surface to walk upon which has been pressed down by the first, who, of course, has by far the hardest work of all. /^^. . . . ,... , - And so we fagged on, careless of conse- quences ; for the depth of the snow upon the bed of the river made it quite impossible to pick our way. Our guides prescribed the course from point to point, according to their notion of the safety of the ice, and the line ■ V 4 120 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE r being once determined on, we had only to ad- vance straight forward and trust altogether to good luck. Long circuitous paths became thus indispensable, and the danger of breaking in after all certainly was not trifling. In the mean time we were progressing heavily and slowly, hardly saying a word to each other, except when, at the expiration of each half hour, it became necessary to exchange places with the leading man. And this was not all, for the clouds which had been all the morn- ing unusually dark and lowering, seemed to bear strong indications of an approaching snow storm. At this juncture one of the party, a strong, and apparently athletic young man, began to complain of lameness in his kr 36, which had swollen and had become very painftil. Still, however, we went on, and it grew darker and darker, till a heavy fall of snow, driven by a p'^werful wind, came sweep- ing along the desert track directly in our teeth ; so that, what with general fatigue, and the unaccustomed position of the body in the snow shoes, I hardly could bear up and stand 'r TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 121 against it. The dreary howling of the temp- est over the wide waste of snow rendered the scene even still more desolate ; and with the unmitigated prospect before us of cold and hunger, our party plodded on in sullen silence, each, in his own mind, well aware that it was utterly impracticable to reach that night the place of our destination. '» ' ' v ^;:! :'-' "d But, in spite of every obstacle, the strength of the two Canadians was astonishing ; with bodies bent forward, and leaning on their collar, on they marched, drawing the tobo- gins after them, with a firm, indefatigable step; and we had all walked a little more than seven hours, when the snow storm had increased to such a pitch of violence, that it seemed impos- sible for any human creature to withstand it : it bid defiance even to their most extraor- dinary exertions. The wind now blew a hur- ricane. We were unable to see each other at a greater distance than ten yards, and the drift gave an appearance to the surface of snow we were passing over, Hke that of an agitated sea. \yheeled round every now and M I I r I 122 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE then by the wind, we were enveloped in clouds so dense, that a strong sense of suffocation was absolutely produced. We all halted : the Canadians admitted that farther progress was impossible; but the friendly shelter of the forest was at hand, and the pines waved their dark branches in token of an asylum. — We turned our shoulders to the blast, and comfortless and weather beaten sought our refuge. The scene, though changed, was still not without interest ; the frequent crashes of falling trees, and the cracking of their vast limbs as they rocked and writhed in the tempest, created awful and im- pressive sounds; but it was no time to be idle: warmth and shelter were objects cou- nected with life itself, and the Canadians im- mediately commenced the vigorous applica- tion of their resources. By means of their small light axes, a good sized maple tree was in a very few minutes levelled with the earth, and in the mean time we cleared of snow a square spot of ground, with large pieces of bark ripped from the fallen trees. The fibrous bark of the white cedar, previously rubbed to pow- TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 123 der between the hands, was ignited, and blow- ing upon this, a flame was produced. This being fed, first by the silky peelings of the birch bark, and then by the bark itself, the oily and bituminous matter burst forth into full action, and a splendid fire raised its flames and smoke amidst a pile of huge logs, to which one and all of us were constantly and eagerly contributing. ' r. . Having raised a covering of spruce boughs above our heads, to serve as a partial defence from the snow, which was still falling in great abundance, we sat down, turning our feet to the fire, making the most of what was, under circumstances, a source of real consolation. We enjoyed absolute rest ! One side of our square was bounded by a huge tree, which lay stretched across it. Against this our fire was made ; and on the opposite side towards which I had turned my back, another very large one was growing, and into this latter, being old and decayed, I had by degrees worked my way, and it formed an admirable shelter. The snow was banked up on all sides nearly five 124 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE ' 'I 't w- „#«"■. feet high, like a white wall ; and it resolutely maintained its position, not an atom yielding to the fierce crackling fire which blazed up close against it. .. /.. ... * >.,, ..t- >»t < The Canadians were soon busily employed cooking broth in a saucepan, for they had provided themselves much better with pro- visions than I had. I had relied upon being able to put up with the fare I might meet with, not taking into consideration the want of traffic, and distance from the civilized parts of the province ; owing to which, the scanty provision of the inhabitants could not allow them to minister to the wants of others, although they might be provided with a suffi- ciency for themselves. And I now saw the guides pulling fresh meat out of the soup with their fingers, and sharing it liberally with my servant, whom they had admitted into their mess. The poor fellows seeing that I had nothing but a piece of salted pork, which I had toasted at the fire on a stick, offered me a share of their supper, but this I felt myself bound to decline. My servant had fewer TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 125 scruples, and consequently fared better. In return for their intentions I gave them a good allowance of whiskey, which added to their comfort and increased their mirth. One by one they lighted their tobacco pipes, and con- tinued to smoke ; till, dropping off by degrees, the whole party at last lay stretched out snor- ing before me. Large flakes of snow continued to fall, and heavy clots dropped occasionally upon the ground. Our enormous fire had the effect of making me so comfortably warm, that I had deferred the use of my buffalo skin till I lay down to sleep, and were it not for the volumes of smoke with which I was at times disturbed* and the pieces of fire which burnt holes in my clothes wherever they happened to fall, my lodging would have been, under circum- stances, truly agreeable. I sat for some time, with a blanket thrown over my shoulders, in silent contemplation of a scene alike remark- able to me for its novelty and its dreariness. The flames rose briUiantly, the sleeping figures of the men were covered with snow, the C '1* : '1 'W H' i __& ■ Si ' k ■ i.' i 126 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE wind whistled wildly through the trees, whose majestic forms overshadowed us on every side> and our fire, while it shed the light of day on the immediately surrounding objects, diffused a deeper gloom over the farther recesses of the forest. And thus I remained without any inclination to sleep, till it was near mid- night. A solemn impression, not to be called ^nelancholy, weighed heavily upon me. The satisfaction with which I regarded the fatigue which had gone by, was hardly sufficient to inspire confidence as to what was to come ; and this reflection it was, perhaps, that gave a colour to my thoughts at once serious and pleasing. Distant scenes were brought to my recollection, and I mused on past gone times, till my eyes became involuntarily attracted by the filmy, wandering, leaves of fire, which, ascending hghtly over the tops of the trees, for a moment rivalled in brightness the ab- sent stars, and then — ^vanished for ever ! * * * J[ became overpowered with sleep, and, wrap- ping my buffalo skin around me, sank down to enjoy for several hours sound and uninter- If- :if"- TO niVIERE DE CAPE. ')' 127 hose side> yon fused es of thout mid- called The ■atigue lent to come ; it gave lus and to my times, ;tedby which, trees, the ab- j *** , wrap- down uninter- rupted repose. I slept heartily till day-light, when I awoke feeUng excessively cold, and found the whole party sitting up. The snow had ceased to fall, the sky had brightened, and intense frost had set in. The guides were busy in preparation, and anxious to move on. : i li January llth.— Having breakfasted pre- cisely as I had supped the night before, I was soon, together with the rest, under weigh. On beginning to move I found my limbs stiff with cold, and my ancles especially felt very unpleasantly. The day broke with a clear sun, and the uneven ridges of drift which lay in our path diversified our walk with a pro- portion of bill and dale. Nothing could equal the sparkling whiteness of the snow, disposed as it was (as the sun mounted in the sky) in every form and figure. As I passed over its surface, supported by my snow shoes, in some places where it lay from ten to twenty feet deep, there was a vivid novelty in the scene which aroused the exhausted spirits, while the cheering influence of the sun gave a new tone ' I m ^ ; mm ' ' - ..■I t ..'U 128 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE and elasticity to the wearied limbs. We had walked for six hours, when we arrived at Salmon river, a distance of twenty-two miles from the house at which we had last slept. My limbs felt uneasy and I was restless. Our host was a veteran soldier, whose allotment of land was, as he told us, 105 acres. Towards the evening the weather changed to a thaw, ivith a sleet nearly amounting to rain, but, before nine o'clock, the wind chopped round again to the nw., and the frost set in again as severely as before. * .. .:, January 12th. — Early in the morning we proceeded along the bed of the river to the Grand Falls ; the ice all the way being ex- tremely dangerous, not only from the eflfect of adjacent springs, but from the rapidity of the current, which in this part is very great. One of our guides this day met with a serious ducking : the ice broke in under him, and he fell into the water. 'The day was intensely cold, not only with a severe frost, but a keen pier- cing wind ; and we were a considerable dis- tance from any house. We were immpdiAltely TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 129 summoned to make the best of our way to the bank of the river, where we all as- sisted to kindle a fire ; but, in spite of our best activity, the man's feet were a little frost-bitten before he had the benefit of it. At a moderate distance from it, his compa- nion rubbed them with snow till the circula- tion returned ; and, in a little more than half an hour, he was able to proceed without fur- ther injury. We pursued our way with the utmost caution, the state of the ice being more and more precarious, until we arrived at a track, which, leaving the river, proceeded up a steep acclivity, where we found ourselves, after a walk of four hours, at the house of a Serjeant stationed at the Grand Falls, where, as at Presque Isle, there was a small military establishment kept up for the sake of the communication. As it was about noon when I arrived, I immediately got my dinner, and was treated to the old fare of salted pork and sliced potatoes, — a repast which had, at least, the advantage of occupying Httle time; and as I was anxious to see the Grand Falls, situated K ■■ iy •if' H f' ?p| i -4 ♦ « 130 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE about a mile and a half from the house, I put on my snow shoes, and, accompanied by the Serjeant, proceeded on the way towards them. On arriving at them I was amply remune- rated for my trouble, by the magnificence of the spectacle ; not that the fall was on such a scale of grandeur l: of itself to excite wonder, for it is not larger, perhaps, than the fall of Foyers, in the neighbourhood of Inverness, in Scotland; but the garb of winter gave a character to its features unusually brilliant and pleasing ; for the vaporous mist which arose from it, as from all cascades of any degree of magnitude, was so increased by the intense cold, — the condensation was so extremely ra- pid, — that it is difficult to describe the effect it produced. Volumes of cloud rushed up- wards, propelled from the abyss with most extraordinary force, so as nearly to resemble the escape of steam from the valve of an en- gine. The cascade was bounded on each side by craggy rocks disposed in huge disjointed fragments, and the tops of them were covered with snow, which had been affected by the J^f^'^k! TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 131 action of the spray in a singular manner, and had received, by the constant impression of its finer particles, an appearance exactly re- sembling that of sculptured marble. The dead whiteness of the snow had been changed to a yellowish tinge, and it seemed like fleeces of wool hanging over the rocks as drapery, and arranged in the softest and most elegant foldings. The more distant the more soft they became, and all were fringed at the base with icicles ; some of these, especially those the nearest to the cataract, were of an enor- mous size. The boughs of the trees also in the vicinity were laden with small ones, like beads of crystal; and altogether they reflected the prismatic rays of the sun with magnificent splendour, i ; rv ' j:ni> F y /T vi :?:*ji-j :ot s The scene was charming; for the day, though piercingly cold, was particularly bright, and a clear dark-blue sky enlivened the whole to a great degree. Ore gazed with delight as upon fairy grottoes and the works of magic. Without snow shoes it would have been im- possible to approach ; and, as it was, I . do K 2 i: ^■i ,^^^- m I. r> 132 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE not know whether I stood upon snow sup- ported upon the rocks, or clinging together by adhesion between the clefts. But this con- sideration presented itself to me only after I had been fully contented and gratified with the spectacle, and found myself standing in an advanced position, where I was hailed by the Serjeant. I was very glad to get back, retracing my steps with great caution, and I fancied several times, that the snow felt much softer than it ought to be. I returned to the Serjeant's house, where I lay down on the boards before the fire as soon as I arrived, in order to get as much rest as I could ; for I was uneasy at the thoughts of the mal a ra- quette, which I feared, from the aching sensa- tion about my ancles and insteps, I should not be able to escape. ^^ ' > •^'^ ' ^-^ ^^' • 4: January 13th. — ^We left the seijeant's house very early in the morning, which broke clear and cold. We w^alked a little more than two miles, and then came upon the river, along which we pursued our track. Not a particle of a cloud was to be seen, and that morning's TO RIVIERB DE CAPE. 133 walk exhibited a loveliness of nature peculiar to the Canadian climate, and sufficient to dis- sipate every sensation of pain and weariness ; a rare combination of frost and sunshine, such as, without being seen and felt, can hardly be imagined. The wind was hushed to perfect stillness, and, as we walked along, our hair, our seven days' beards, and the edges of our caps, our eyebrows and even our eyelashes, were as white as a powdering of snow could make them. In the meantime, the warmth of the sun gave a sensation of peculiar purity to the air. . .^ \ .. , . ...... ^.i u; We continued all the way on the river, till we had completed fifteen miles from the Ser- jeant's house where we had slept, and had arrived at the Grande Riviere. We were now at the Madawaska settlement, composed altogether of French Canadians ; a narrow strip of a village, where we sought the house of an aubergiste, Rouen Croix, where I was gratified and surprised to find I was to be treated to a bed. Being perfecth' lame, I was delighted to hear, that I had done with M;t I .«; 134 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE the snow shoes, at least for a day or two, and that for twenty-one miles the snow was suffi- ciently beaten to bear a horse and sleigh, which were to be had in the village. I of course lost no time in engaging one; and, considering the state of extreme necessity I was under, it is worthy of remark, that I found no inclination in the owner to cheat me. I agreed to pay fifteen shillings for the twenty-one miles, — a sum by no means exorbi- tant in the state of the road. I was much re- freshed by a good mess of soup, with the meat in it, besides other ingredients I did not stop to inquire about : with all (sundry pieces of packthread excepted) I was perfectly well satisfied, for I was well persuaded of the pos- sibility of faring much worse. :?v January 14th. — When the driver made his appearance with the sleigh, I found it to be of a different construction from any I had hi- therto seen, and better calculated to pass over deep snow. It was, indeed, nothing more than a wooden box, having the runners or sliders so low, that the vehicle was dragged TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 135 along as much on its own bottom as upon them. The snow was so deep, that it was quite as much as the horse could do to get on^ stumbling and floundering at every step, while the driver, with my servant, walked by the side of the sleigh, driving with long reins. The whole apparatus was so bad, that I would ten times rather have walked ; but I had hopes of recovering from my lameness by rest, and would have submitted to any inconve- nience for the sake of being able to start sound once more. Certainly I was in a help- less condition, and the roads within the limits of this small settlement were so partially broken, that the sleigh was overturned five or six times in the course of the morning, when I lay still and suffered myself to be righted together with the vehicle each time, as the shortest way, lame as I was, of helping my- self. After all, it was a tedious slow drive, and I should have been overturned much of- tener if the driver's strength had not been frequently applied on one side of the sleigh to prevent it. ^v ,' i M M :/ u * < il 1 '■';? ?ii|K'5.1 136 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE The twenty-one miles were at last accom- plished, and we arrived at the house of an aubergiste, where the only spare room was already full o^ people ; so that we were obliged to apply elsewhere, and were finally received into the house of an inhabitant, David Dufour, where two travellers had already established themselves. The room was exceedingly small, but there was no other, and this was to con- tain these two persons, ourselves, and the host and his family. The latter consisted of a wife and six children, all of whom were dreadfully afflicted with the hooping cough. As I was provided with some good mutton broth, I had not much to complain of till night ; but then the crying and coughing of the poor children was very bad indeed. The noise, however, did not deprive me of sleep ; and I awoke in the morning refreshed and even eager to undertake the day's journey. January 15th. — A party of persons had col- lected for the purpose of proceeding with our guides towards Quebec ; and so we all started together. It was with very great satisfac- TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. ' 137 ■|l tion, that I now saw my snow shoes tied fast on the outside of the baggage on the tobogin, having suffered so much by their weight ; how- ever, I very soon found, that the relief had come a Uttle too late, for I was completely lame, and could not move a step without consider- able pain. I contrived, notwithstanding, to keep up tolerably well with the party to the end of the day's journey, which was twenty- four miles. About a mile from the house where I slept we took our leave of the St. John's river, upon which we had travelled Tor so many miles, and, t arning to our right, pur- sued our course along the Madawaska river, which empties itself here into the former. The picture of our caravan was now totally changed. A dozen persons of various descrip- tions had joined our party, some at the end and some at the beginning of their respective journeys. They pelted each other with snow- balls, and sang and whistled, smoking and hallooing. A few were hobbling and limping, being quite sick of walking, and fit for no sort of fun whatever. The guides had procured m :11 ; ■"1 ^ / 138 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE dogs to draw the tobogins, and several of these great creatures, from the coasts of La- brador and Newfoundland, were loose and followed in our train. The noise of the party frightened a Caraboo deer from his lair, and urged him, unfortunately for himself, to cross over the ice of the river just ir; front of us. Immediately thei'e was a general hullabaJoo, and men and dogs all at once gave chase. I quite forgo I was lame, and made a tolerable run too, and to my surprise found that the dogs had come up with their game, which had entangled himself by the horns in the branches of a fallen tree. There they pinned him, till one of the Canadians despatched him with his axe; and we had on<^ /f his haunches the same night cut into steaks for supper, which, although tough, were well-flavoured. Although we had proceeded the whole of the morning without snow shoes, it was, never- theless, extremely bad walking. The traffic in the neighbourhood of the settlement had caused a beaten track to be made ; but the snow lay very deep on the ice, so that of ne- •. ,* a TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 139 cessity men in snow shoes had been the first to pass along it, until, pressed by their feet, it had by degrees assumed a surface capable of bearing people without them. Still it was so soft, that the foot very frequently sank in deep enough to occasion a tumble. Every man walked on as fast as he could, without taking any account of his neighbour ; so that the fatigue of keeping up with the party was not a little increased by running to make up the lost way. J3ut any thing was better than having snow shoes tied to one's feet! Having now walked twenty-four miles, we put up for the night in the house of a veteran soldier, who had received his allotment of land on the line of communication. * « • ' ' -^r? -r January 16th. — Our party had dispersed themselves during the night in other houses in the neighbourhood ; but at an early hour they had all collected themselves in readiness to proceed. We had a journey of twenty-one miles this day before us, and I v/as now so very lame as to make it a serious undertaking. We had, besides, two days more to travel on ' , t a<\ 7 'in i-:'ii SA I*;" I* I raj m '*?.' W ■^''4^1 'i' H ' III! 140 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE foot, before we could by possibility meet with any sort of vehicle. The consideration of a speedy end of the journey was a great induce- ment to proceed, and I determined to go on as long as I could. Our first six miles was along the ice of the Madawaska river ; when, the ice being considered unsafe, the track fre- quently turned off into the forest along the bank. Having passed the head of the river, we came to Lake Tamasquatha, which is about fifteen miles long and from three to six broad. Our track lay over this lake, and we immediately went upon the ice and found the travelling much worse than on the river ; for the wind blew violently against us, and it was as much as ever I could do to keep within any reasonable distance of the guides. We all followed one after another, while the foremost men almost vanished from the sight, and ap- peared like little black dots on the wide waste of snow ahead. Some, however, were behind me as tired as I was, though I never took the pains to enquire about them. At last we arrived at the house of Mr. Long, situ- TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 141 ated at the extremity of Lake Tamasquatha, and on the banks of that portage * which ex- tends from thence to the high road to Quebec without any interruption of water communi- cation. I had no sooner arrived than I threw my- self down on the boards under a full impres- sion, that I should be quite unable to proceed the next day. We found a new set of tra- vellers, who had established themselves in the house ; and these being reinforced by our numbers, a confusion of tongues prevailed in our room which set at defiance all description. We had thirty-?iix persons in it, besides six or eight large dogs belonging to the tobogins. V/(3 were obligeJ to lie on the ground like so many pigs. My next neighbour was a major in the army, whom i never saw before and have never met sirxe; he seemed more fa- tigued than I wc*c., and did nothing but groan all night. The dogs disturbed us ; for they 1 1 1 ■i il • Portage is a French Canadian word, signifying the land over which it becomes necessary to carry the loads from one river or lake to another. ::-: -I kill m '* m ''iii 142 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE ran about and trod upon us ; they growled ; and twice before the morning chere was a battle royal among them, with the whole room up in arms to part them by throttling and biting the ends of their tails. What with the noise, and the shouting, and swearing in bad French, we were in a perfect up > ar. For this Kwofiaxia, the natural remedy, of course, would have been to turn the dogs out ; but the masters would not allow it, as they were of too much use by far on a journey. The gabble of tongues, the smell of tobacco smoke, and the disturbance altogether, was really dreadful ; and there was, besides, a truckle bed in the room, on which two women re- posed, — the mistress of the house and her sister. These females were not silent ; and, no matter who idept, some were sure to be awake and talking. I quite lost all my pa- tience ; sometimes I struck at the dogs as they galloped over me, and I shook one fellow by the collar till he roared, who in the scuffle had trodden on my lame ancles without re- morse. The only satis&ction I had was to TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 143 think, that the pain I was in would alone, without the noise, have been sufficient to keep me from sleeping. :»^ vrj f?> ■; » (v; * January 17th. — At an early hour this morning we commenced our journey over the portage^ and, after travelling the whole day, I arrived, in a state of extreme pain and fa- tigue, at the place where we were to pass the night. We crossed several ravines, and had to climb steep acclivities. Both my feet were now swollen to a great size, attended with in- flammation so acute as to resemble exactly de- termined gout. The Canadians told me I had certainly got the mal a raquette ; whatever it might have been, I lay awake all night in the miserable log house where we had put up, thinking how unlucky I was to have arrived within nine miles of the end of my journey on foot, without being able to accomplish the little that remained. / -^^t ?- » January 18th. — Nine miles were now be- fore me, and if I could complete that distance the journey was done. The usual preparations for departure had no sooner commenced, than ' .-SI ■ . . :Ja I 1 n : I K ti>.-M iM ! ^1.' «'*, t^'l LI '•ft 144 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE I felt it quite impossible to remain where I was, although I could scarcely stand upon my feet ; but as my servant was still strong and able, I relied on his assistance and set forward. I never was put to so severe a trial in all my life. The exertion of walking, and the twists I met with in the holes made in the hard snow by the feet of former travellers, were absolute torture ; so that now and then I was obliged to lie down for a few seconds in the snow to recover myself. The cold was so intense, that almost as soon as I was down I was obliged to get up again, and a piece of bread in my coat pocket was frozen nearly as hard as wood. My servant staid by mo whenever I lay down on the snow, and helped me to rise, and to him I am indebted for performing the short distance of that day's journey. I was eight hours on the way ; but at last reached the village of Riviere de Loup, where I entered a small public house in the true spirit of thankfulness at having accom- plished an undertaking of which I had several times despaired. But I remained there a very TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 145 lere 1 upon strong nd set a trial ar. and in the vellers, id then seconds old was IS down la piece 1 nearly by Hio y, and idebted lat day's ly; but e Loup, in the accom- several a very short time : I found that I was only six miles from Riviere de Cape, where there was a good inn, and that it was possible to procure a conveyance to take me there. ^ '^^a , / i Beset as I was with a set of dirty compa- nions, I ordered a sleigh to be got ready im- mediately, into which I made a last effort to crawl, ready to endure any thing in the world so that I could but free myself of my present coterie. On arriving at Riviere de Cape, I was gratified by the kindest attention from my hostess, who placed before me the first com- fortable meal I had seen for a long time. She provided me with a good arm-chair, and many other seasonable indulgencies ; and it is re- markable, that all pain left me that very even- ing. Never was a change more complete brought about within a few short hours. To think of both past and future created agree able sensations, and the truth of " Forsan et licec olim meminisse juvabW* rushed forcibly to my mind. The apartment and furniture appeargci elegant, my landlady lovely as Hebe, •>f>7 **• n^TiJ mwhtn-:*'* * iii> .n- •i] 'i rj.r 146 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE. my journey on foot was — thank Heaven ! — completed, and the refreshing silence of my room added to the many comforts with which I was now surrounded. ., . '•f ^ ./.l i'f'. <-...; fv Hi VI .s «* t {- v;- 4 ~ ^ * ' 9 ' *• ■^\ ■-\i S.' ■ -t i« -vii- J ■'V, • ! '4 J*,,^«* »-; 4. » <»a .^4' -'*> .t> . ,> .J^ if V* ■•■ -^.v.■^•- .^r,-- (/ » *'.< ..« •■,A** r-.-*. i- . . .-»^:.— a »^ »i ^ »i -«« ,,1 ,. ^.<, ,»>l 4, ,•*■». .»»» wj - < * i .-. ^. t^ *,-• T '•'»*■* V y^ K ^. ^^ * ■ • '^ ;- t < ml— )f my whicli , '*'^ '\'^ -!**'^r 147 • •■ii -.f " f HI * 'V' \-'*« f JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. i^: * -- *- »*' It V » t ' ■?! I WAS now on the high road to Quebec, where the river St. Lawrence breaks upon the view in splendid magnificence. A chain of mountains bounds the opposite side, and a long narrow island, called VIsle de Lievre, is situ- ated mid-channel. The river is here twenty- one miles across, and appeared to be frozen over some miles from the shore. It is at this part quite straight, and the eye commands n reach of very considerable length. A post cariole (or small sleigh drawn by one horse) was to take me on my road to Quebec. I had made a good breakfast, had been kindly treated, had slept well, was relieved from the ragamuffins whose society I had participated so much too long, when I and my servant got into the vehicle. The road was well beaten and good ; the horse started off at a sort of l2 V i f "( ' il: ■"'m |y ; ■ ir^ 4 • If.; : 1 1" , ■ ij ■ if 148 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE shambling run, — a pace irjcy all learn from high calks and the continUv.I Iiabit of moving through snow ; the bells jingled merrily ; the sun shone bright with an intense frost ; and I was not only so much recovered as to be per- fectly free from pain, but the scene altogether produced a buoyancy of spirits, the total re- verse of the heavy-heartedness with which I had only the day before, like an over-driven ox, performed my journey. Although the weather was by far too severe to make travel- ling in an open carriage at all agreeable, the contrast made up for every thing, [f it was cold, I was well wrapped up ; my lameness was getting better every hour, and 1 was sure at least of being well housed. ; . : ' « f > The boy who drove me was a curiosity, — a little wizened ape, hardly twelve years old; but he smoked, and swore, and cracked his whip with all the grimace of a French posr tilion. A huge fur cap almost extinguished his small face ; and he wore a close-bodied coat, witli a red worsted sash round his waist. He had not proceeded far, when he stopped TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 149 Uf,' at a house ; and when I enquired what de- tained him, " C'est mon pipe, Monsieur 1 " Nor would he stir without " mon pipe"; and I was kept waiting several minutes while the people of the house were lighting it. At last he got it, and, giving a few hard whiffs, he crack- ed his whip, called the horse all the names he could think of, while he chattered away and grumbled in bad French, feeling his con- sequence hurt by the manner I had treated him. Changing sleighs at convenient dis- tances, I posted this day sixty miles to Lislet. The charge was fivepence a mile : nothing was demanded for the driver, (which, I sup- pose, gave him the air of independence he assumed,) nor was there any other expense on the road. I found the delays in changing horses considerable. ' ' * ' The manner of driving is singular enough ; for, instead of perpetually flipping the horse with the whip, as in England, they reserve it for greater occasions, — settling the balance of an account of errors by an unmerciful flogging, which lasts some seconds, and serves m if^ vl wl ^^ ;^ 150 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE till the driver's patience is again exhausted. The horses are generally high couraged ; but all seem crippled, owing to the manner in which they are shod, and the rough ground they have at times to travel upon. . , - ^r Changing at short stages, I had travelled the whole of an intensely cold day, the sky having been qmte clear and free from clouds. As evening came on, the glowing tints which suffused the bleak landscape were particularly beautiful,— -such as a winter sunset in Canada can alone produce. The glaring sun became magnified as he touched the horizon. A deep fiery red was reflected from bright tin spires, and blazed from the glass windows of the scattered white houses in the distance. The snow sparkled with purple and varying pris- matic colours ; while large fragments of ice, scattered here and there, completed a picture of winter in all its intensity. I arrived at Lislet half frozen, having travelled some time after dark. ^ '••-'. * - January 20th. — I posted this day fifty-one miles to Point Levi. A fall of snow in the nt ii w TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 161 niglit had made the roads very heavy, so that, although I started early in the morning, it was past ten at night when I arrived at the auberge, — an uncomfortable passage house, situated close to the banks of the river St^ Lawrence, and opposite to the town of Que- bec. The whole of the 111 miles I had tra- velled on this and the preceding day, was through a flat country, nearly parallel with the river. I had heard accounts by no means prepossessing of the mode of crossing over to* Quebec, and of the state of the ice ; but I was tired, and it was too late to make en- quiries ; so, as soon as I had procured a little refreshment, I went to bed, where, after I lay down, I could very plainly hear the roar- ing and splashing of the water. v;»** ^'^^ January 21st. — In the morning, on looking out of my window, which commanded an immediate view of the Great St. Lawrence, there a mile and a half wide, I saw it frozen on each bank at least three or four hundred yards from the shore, and the channel filled with pieces of ice driven forward and V f J' 152 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE backward by the eddies of an impetuous tide ; these were rising one above another, twisting round and round, sinking, labouring, and heaving, by the action of a currciit running at the rate of seven knots an hour. Some- times there was a space of clear water, wherein enormous flakes, of a superficies of three or four thousand square yards, would glide by ; huge lumps, as big as a stage coach and all its passengers, would roll over and over, and tumble in various directions, now and then sinking altogether, and afterwards rising se- veral yards a-head ; large masses would meet, and drive against each other with a tremen- dous crash, piling flake upon flake, and pre- senting a most awful spectacle, — the more in- teresting, as it was my business to cross over that very day : and how that was to be done, I could not possibly, at the moment I have attempted to describe, determine. However, on holding a consultation with my host, I found, that the passage was certainly difficult, but, nevertheless, quite practicable ; that it would probably be attended with considerable M, TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 153 delay, but that there was very little danger. Thus much was satisfactory, and I further understood, that slack water (it was now about half-tide) would be the time to attempt to get over. There was more ice in the ri- ver than had been for the two years last past, owing to a continuation of weather more than ordinarily severe, so that it was expected every day to set; and, whenever that took place, sleighs of all sorts would be able to drive across. Above all, I was recommended to lose no time in engaging a log canoe, un- less I chose to wait for the chance of the ice setting. » . .r., , .J : » / Having no sort of wish to remain where I was, I found out a man who agreed to take me and my servant across for thirty shillings, after a hard bargain, in which he exaggerated the danger, and multiplied difficulties to suit his purpose. I met him by appointment on the bank of the river, about one o'clock, where he had his canoe in readiness to receive me, being attended by five Canadian boatmen, his comrades. The canoe was nothing more than i 'I ■\- : ' I' I I' jii^ ii n (■ 154 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE fourteen or fifteen feet of an entire tree round- ed at both ends alike^ and hollowed by the adze. A piece of rope, six or eight feet long, was fixed at the head, and a similar piece at the stern. Each of the men carried an axe stuck in his sash, and a paddle in his hand ; and thus equipped, they dragged the canoe from the shore along upon the ice, chopping away the last six or eight feet (where it be- came unsound) with their axes, till the head of the vessel was brought close above the water. 'I -''^a;;- m^ fi^ J" The tide was now nearly at the ebb, and its rapidity, of course, much abated ; still the ice was continually in a state of violent mo- tion, and presented a very formidable appear- ance. I now got into the canoe with my ser- vant, and, according to the direction of the boatmen, who were chattering, arguing, and swearing on the subject of their plan of pro- ceeding, we both sat down at the bottom of the canoe, in midships. And here we waited in readiness for a launch. A large fiake fioated by, leaving a clear channel of perhaps TO YORK^ UPPER CANADA. 155 one hundred yards across^ and this was the sigual to begin, I had nothing to do but to sit still. " Tenez firme" they all cried at once, and without farther warning they pushed the canoe off the ice plump into the water with a splash. The fall was about two feet, and she was no sooner in than every one of the fellows, with uncommon activity, were on board and each in his place, paddling with eager haste, in order to avoid a large piece of ice which was bearing down hard upon us, and to gain a frozen surface right a-head. Succeeding in the attempt, they with equal adroitness jumped upon it, and seizing the rope which was fixed at the head of the canoe, drew her by main force out of the water, and, three at one side and three at the other, they pushed her along, running about a hundred and fifty yards across, till a second launch into clear water called again for the paddles. We were less fortunate in this than in the one preceding, for we were splashed all over, and the water almost immediately froze hard on ir: ' Ml m it ii .i 156 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE our CiOthes. But we had not time to shake ourselves, for a large quantity of loose ice, which appeared just to have risen up from the bottom of the river, was bearing down upon us in a very formidable manner. The men paddled, and strained, and abused each other, but all would not do, and we were in a very few seconds hemmed in and jammed on both sides by a soft pulpy mass, together with which we were helplessly carried away by the current sidewise from the point we were en- deavouring to reach. I could not help ad- miring the determination and address of the men at this moment; for they jumped out, above their knees in water, sometimes up to their hips, while they used their utmost strength to drag the canoe forward by the rope. Although the surface gave way conti- nually under their feet, letting them down upon the large slabs of ice which were floating underneath, they managed, by pulling and hauling, and with their axes occasionally cut- ting and breaking away the obstructing blocks TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 157 which stood in their way, to get free of all impediments, and gain once more a channel of clear water. ? While this was going forward, it was ex- tremely annoying to be perfectly helpless in the midst of so much bustle and energy, and when the fellows shouted " hranlez! sacre Dieu, hranlex!'' they meant that we should rock the canoe from side to side as we sat, to prevent her freezing on to the ice ; which disaster was only to be avoided by keeping her in continual motion. If this had taken place, the conse- quences might have been serious, as the day was intensely cold, and we must have floated away with no very great chance of assistance. However, by the skill of the men we avoided it, and the thirty shillings were certainly fairly earned, for they were three or four minutes at this spell in the water, sometimes up to their knees, and now and then nearly up to their middle. It seems almost incredible that men should be able to work at all upon ice so unsound as not to afford a surface capable of supporting the weight of the body; but on l! I! :.:!:(■ ■' M i, A , li" {^ • 7/ ' • ^■' l0^ 158 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE D£ CAPE their part there seemed to be no sort of ap- prehension of absolute danger, owing to the vast thickness of the floating substance, a comparatively small part of which was, as they knew, that which appeared above the water. And there was invariably a lower stratum upon which they were received and supported as often as they sank in. Such was the manner of making the pas- sage across the river St. Lawrence, at the season of the vear and under such circum- stances as it happened to me to undertake it; and I have only to add^ that the time occu- pied in going across was somewhat more than an hour, and that the varieties already cited followed each other in rapid succession, till the moment of our disembarkation at the op- posite shore. At one time we were in clear water ; the next moment struggling through congelated heaps of melted snow; then ra- pidly driven along over sheets of ice, and pushed over obstructing blocks which opposed our progress in ridges seven or eight feet high. The Canadians were, however, inde- TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 159 fatigable. Every obstacle, so soon as encoun- tered, was surmounted in a moment. Hard ice was hewn down with the hatchets. They were active as ants. All was energy, spring, and bustle. They were in the canoe and out of the canoe, paddhng and cutting, pushing with the boaf>-hook, and hauling on the rope, all with instantaneous impulse, and appliance of strength 'n different ways and with the most effective success. ^. « r. / ;: * But notwithstanding all, it was with un- mixed satisfaction that I found myself at last safely landed in the town of Quebec. Al- though I had nearly recovered from my lame- ness, the cold had made me very stiff, so that, in spite of the sun, the keen air had such an effect upon my limbs, that on getting out oS the canoe I was scarcely able to move. The water with which I had been splashed had in- crusted me in a coat of ice; and I was as n)uch like an armadillo as a human being, when I crawled heavily up the steep, narrow, dirty street which leads from the lower to the upper town, bending my steps towards y H.'^ :V. 160 JOURNEY PROM RIVIERE DE CAPE Sturch*s hotel, where I was shewn into the public room, well warmed by a Canada stove, and full of different sorts of people. """' , January 22d to 31st. The weather was all this time exceedingly severe, seldom above zero of Fahrenheit, and now and then several degrees below it. I was one day much amubf 1 bv the effects of the cold upon the faces 01 the people in the streets when the wind blew exceedingly hard, and there was what the Canadians call a *^podre***, which is a sprinkling of the finer particles of the snow from the tops of the houses ; in clouds, which add a lively pang to the keenness of the frost. Indeed the effect is truly ludicrous. The mo- ment a man happens to meet it, he stares aghast; the water bursts from his eyes; in one instant he shews his teeth (if he has any) to all the world ; and his features become dis- torted and agonized. Nothing so miserable is to be seen, except the unfortunate dogs har- * Tlie Canadians have a way of their own of pro- nouncing French : thus, la hache tliey call la hawche, and so on. vv'' ' n:* , ' } '^ *: ?■ ' )fM'> TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 161 nessed in small sleighs, and made to draw barrels of water (which, owing to the cold, smokes as if it were boiling) through the town. The ice set in the St. Lawrence, and the " Pont" was formed on the 31st; an event which had not taken place for two years be- fore. In a very few hours it was compactly wedged together, and covered with horses and sleighs in great numbers, and of the he£ iest description. This may seem extraordinary, but it is a well-known fact, and very easily ac- counted for. For the masses of floating ice have previously attained a very great thick- ness, and are continuing to grow bigger every hour, as they are carried about in the stream by the current, the rapidity of which alone prevents their adhering long be- fore. Sticking together at first by twos and threes, they jostle more and more every tide, till at last a general jam for a moment takes place ; and a moment only does the business. The intense frost eflFects adhesion, and the water below splashing up between the in- terstices of the joints effectually fixes and rivets H ! ! . i m ',»' ■itL \A ^ 162 JOURNEY TTxOll RIVIERE DE CAPE the whole. What from the thickness of the ice itself, and its being supported by the wa- ter, no weight can well be too great to put upon it. As soon as the ice has stopped, the river presents to the eye a wild and noble spectacle. The moment is naturally one of conflict and convulsion; and the throes and struggles of the impinging bodies are truly tremendous. Small islands of ice, pressed on every side till they give way, break in the mid- dle, and, cracking into fragments, these become hurled one upon another in all sorts of gro- tesque forms ; so that " when the hurley-bur- ley 's done", the whole surface of the river be- comes covered, as it were, with Httle hills, houses, and villages. Objects that resemble all these are raised, as by the contrivance of magic, in the space of a few minutes. Some are of such considerable magnitude, that through the whole winter a circuitous track is taken to avoid them. And thus, although the inhabitants may immediately avail them- selves of a passage, it is nevertheless necessary to break a road. Like any other desert track, ^' TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 163 a way must be cleared of impediments ; how- ever, as blocks of ice are easily cut through, much time is not required to put every thing to rights, and then crowds of persons flock to each side, eager to avail themselves of the first opportunity of crossing over. ' ' - - The state of the river immediately before the setting of the ice is of course growing worse and worse every day, until the commu- nication, as regards traffic, may be said to be impeded altogether. The forming of the pont, therefore, is hailed by the inhabitants of both sides with a joyous welcome ; by the country people, owing to the prospect of bringing their produce readily to market; and by those of the town, from the hopes of a reduction in the prices of the articles, the natural consequence of the event. ^ ' ' , • - , — The next point of my destination was the bay of Penetangushene, an outlet of Lake Hu- ron, where it was the object of Government to establish a naval and mihtary post. And as the place to which I was going was far re- moved in the woods, I made some prepara- M 2 I 1^1 I'l "^\n v! i \ M>^ I 164 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE tions in the way of equipment. To this end, I purchased a good buffalo apron, in addition to the one I had before, and some articles of warm clothing. I also provided myself with powder and shot, having brought with me a good double-barrelled gun of Joseph Man- ton's, which had been dragged over the snow with the rest of my things on the tobogins. Thus accoutred, I felt quite ready to leave " the flaunting town", its split logs and hot stoves, to explore the ruder regions of the north-west. February 1st. I posted to Riviere St. Ja- quetiere, where I slept. The whole journey was extremely unpleasant, owing to the fre- quency of the cahots, or trenches in the snow which lay across the road. The driver never pulled up his horses, but seemed to me to rattle over them with unnecessary rapidity, and at the imminent risk of breaking the sleigh. . , February 2d. Posted to Trois Rivieres. February 3d. Posted to a small place within nine miles of Berthier. - • - TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 165 February d-th. Posted to Montreal. As 1 intended to remain two or three days in the neighbourhood, I ordered a sleigh to take me the next morning to St. John's, a small town situated on the River Richelieu, between Lake Champlain and the River St. Lawrence, and distant twenty-seven n.iles from Montreal. * February 5th to 7th. Early in the morn- ing of the 5th, I crossed the St. Lawrence in a sleigh, over a track as well beaten as any part of the streets ; the large slabs of ice which had been removed, as well as heaps of snow, forming a wall on each side for a great part of the way. Turning to the right, the road continued along the bank for about three miles through the neat village of Prairee; thence leaving the river, through a flat coun- try, with inns at short intervals during the whole distance. Having then reached the river Richelieu, I arrived at St. John's, where I was hospitably received by Sir Thomas B , under whose roof I remained until the morn- ing ot the 8th. * February 8th. Having returned to Mont- fT'f ^;-:u-. 16G JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE \M ■f.. real, I made arrangements to leave it the next day, and hired a sleigh with two horses to take me to Kingston. The cppearance of the town was superior to that of Quebec ; the equip- ages, especially, seemed much better appointed. Indeed, a well-built sleigh is a remarkably handsome vehicle. In shape like the Britska, of a dark colour relieved by scarlet, and co- vered with a profusion of rich black bear-skins, it has a striking effect in contrast with the pure White snow. The cold was tliis day more than commonly severe, and for the first timie I perceived an effect of the low tempe- rature, by no means unusual. My clothes, on taking them off*, braces, waistcoat, &c. were so charged with electric fluid, that they crackled and snapped, producing sparks of fire in abun- dainceu Even the comb which I pjussed through my iiair created a similar effect. February 9vh. The driver of the sleigh made his appeararni^e much later than he had proiKiiised, but v/m accompanied by the owner, who, by way of apology, told me that I had *' the l)est span o{ horses in Montreal"' for TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 167 my journey. A " span of horses " means a pair driven abreast, and is one of the many Ame- rican expressions current in this part of the country. Indeed there is so little bar to the communication along this part of the frontier, that a great similarity consequently exists in accent, manners, and general appearance be- tween the inhabitants on both sides. The road led occa? ionally along the bank, and now and then on the bed of the river ; which, ow- ing to the very rapid current, was at parts open in tho middle, the channel being full of small islands and rocks. Although the air was piercingly cold, the sun shone forth with great brilliancy, shewing signs of his increasing power by the icicles which, in many warm and sheltered situations, already fringed the eaves of the houses. As I started late, I proceeded no farther than Point Clair, where I put up for the night. The landlord, a civil, bustling man, replenished the fire, and was extremely active. He said he " abhorred a bad fire", and added, " I guess you'll like a glass of sling after your cold drive." I discovered that J. -'V ♦: M 168 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE ■»f ■■If;' ^* sling" meant gin and water; so a glass of sling I took, and then went to bed. i ^* February 10th. I travelled this day to Point Boudet, along the banks of the St. Law- rence, which here presents an interesting ap- pearance — that of a mighty stream tearing its way through a channel which bears the strong- est marks of some grand convulsion of nature. The foaming rapids, the heavy roaring of the waters, the huge slabs of ice ripped from the summits of the rocks, whose black desolate looking point? formed a striking contrast with the overpowering whiteness of the snow ; — all these were objects which irresistibly rivettcd the attention. One beheld, as it were, with all the accompaniments of nature's subhmity, a contest of the two elements, wherein every inch of ground was furiously disputed. I af- terwards passed these rapids on my journey back to Quebec, as I shall have occasion to describe. The inn at Point Boudet, where I put up for the night, wjis situated close on tlie bank of the river, and extremely tidy and com- fortable. . . ;? ' . i TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 16D February 11th. I proceeded this day to Cornwall, the weather being piercingly cold, with a bright sun. The same man, the ser- vant of the owner of the sleigh, and a Scotch- man, had driven me all the way from Mont- real, and had hardly spoken a word the whole journey. But there was a bottle of " whaskey " which he kept under the seat, just within his reach, to which he now and then had recourse ; and to-day, as the weather was cold, and the sun shone bright, he took a sup from time to time as he felt inclined ; rather often, at every three or four miles perhaps, — till he began to fidget in his seat, and look round to me, as if lie had at last got something to say. There- fore I asked him, d-propos to nothing, whe- ther he thought he would be able to wear the kilt in Canada? '* Na", said he, " the flies wad nap a body." 1 thought it was rather odd he should be thinking of flies at a time when the frost was biting so particularly sharp; but still .■ ** insisted upon it, that the flies, of I he two, were the worst; and he suited the action to the word with such energy, that I ^' :?S '^'^?%.< 170 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE Cr, ('A^B coiiid not doubt his veracity. I tned to civ- gage him further in conversation, but that was impossible; for he was a Highlander, who spoke very little English when he left his own country, and he had been deprived of the small portion he then understood, by a resi- dence of three years in Montreal, where \m fellow-servants all spoke French. This had quite petrified his genius, and had spoiled him as a linguist altogether. February 12th. It was remarkably cold when we started in the morning, and Dou- gall, whether owing to the effect of the whis- key the day before, or the melancholy appear- ance of the empty bottle, had relapsed hito his former tJ?.citurnity, We travelled tw* nty-six miles along the bank of the river, and put up at an inn close to ti vater. . * . February 13th. I travelled twenty-two miles to Prescott, which is opposite to the American village of Ogdensburg. The river here was about half a mile wide, and frozen quite across. Some people at the inn were con- versing on the subject of a lot of cattle which TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 171 had been stolei\ and they seemed to think it almost certain that they had been driven over the ice to the American side. February 14th. I travelled this day forty- two miles to Guananaqui, the road chiefly being out of sight of the river. The weather was fine and clear, but so ccld that the bay horses might have been mistaken for iron- grey, so powdered over were they with frost. February 15th. I had now twenty-four miles to proceed to Kingston, where I arrived early in the day. I went to Thibodo's hotel ; a large, cold, rambling house, the landlord of which was extremely attentive and cwil. February 16th. As I had proposed to re- main a day or two at Kingston, I walked out on the ice to see the ship St. Lawrence, which was frozen in on all sides, quite hard and fast. Two seventy-fours, a frigate, and some gun- boats, were building in the dock-yard; and the above-named ship, (a three-decker, mount- ing 108 guns,) two brigs, and a sloop, were in a state of complete equipment. At King- ston, the magnificence of the River St. Law- M '*W vlt •a* m TM* 172 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE 1>E CAPE rence is purticulariy striking ; for there, at a distance of several huadred miles from the sea, its expanding shores are seen tracing the limits of Lake Ontario. This magnificent fresh-water sea was frozen round the edges to an extent nearly as far as the eye could reacli; the waters in the distance appearing like a black line in the horizon. Tlie ship lay close to the town, with which a constant commui.i- cation prevailed ; as the officers and men were living on board just as if she had been at sea. 81eig!is of all descriptions were driving round her ; country vehicles, mih things to sell, and others ; and two ladies, who had driven them- nehea m a light sleigh drawn by a pony, were holding a conversation under her bows with a gentleman in a cap, which conversation, from its earnestness, might have imparted warmth enough to thaw the icicles which were hanging fiom the cabin windows. Numbers of people \"ere on foot, and the snow was so trodden all roiir.d the ship, that it was really difficult to be:Iie\ c that a depth of water sufficient to float a three-decker was rolling under one's feet. !■ TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 1711 1 found, on returning to my inn, that a ball was to be held in the house in the evening, and that my room had been determined on as one of the card-rooms. The assembly was held in a large corridor, or wide passage, with doors opening into little rooms on each side ; of which latter, mine was one. The company, which was numerous, began to assemble very early, and soon commenced dancing with high glee. Pulling, romping, turning round and round, &c. was the order of the day, and the noise of tongues and feet " pretty considerable loud." What with the good spirits of the young ladies, and the good humour of the old ones, it was past three o'clock in the morning before the house was clear of its guests, when (as the beds had been all taken down for the occasion) I betook myself to a mattress which was spread for me on the floor. ' : ; February 17th. My landlord gave me for dinner some steaks of a moose-deer which ^ad been killed in the neighbourhood ; the meat was of a fine, wild flavour, although extremely coarse and tough. a:*. uCJ^ 174 JOURNEY PROM RIVIERE DE CAP.^- February ISth to 22d. I left Kingston for York in a two-horse sleigh, which I had hired to take me thither, I was five days on the road, leaving ten miles for the last day's jour- ney. The owner of the sleigh drove it, and was an honest-looking, healthy fellow, who wore a good coat, and had the appearance of a substantial yeoman. He told me that he liad lived eighteen years on his present farm of two hundred acres, for which he had origin- ally given three hundred dollars. The road during the journey was heavy, from a recent fall of snow ; but the prospect was enlivened from time to time by views of Lake Ontario, along the shore of which we were travelling. There were several small lakes on the way. Among them. Rice Lake ; so called from the wild rice which grows about it, and which is of a good quality enough, although small and of a brownish colour. I met a couple of Indians dragging along a porcupine, which they had shot, by a long strip of bark, which served as a rope. The woods abounded with a large description of TO YORK^ UPPER CANADA. 174 woodpecker, the size of a small fowl, with black bodies and scarlet heads, and called by the natives cocks of the wood. When within ten miles of York, the cloud of condensed va- pour proceeding from the Falls of Niagara, then perhaps forty miles distant, was distinctly visible. The day was quite clear, without any other cloud in the sky. On arriving at York, I was disappointed at the first si';ht of the ca- pital of Upper Canada, which, although co- vering a large space of ground, was extremely straggling and irregular; and the inn was not by any means prepossessing. I was shewn into a cold and dirty room, without any appearance of comfort, or even the cheering abundance of fire-wood I had been used lately everywhere to meet with. They gave me a dry, black, and tasteless beef-steak for break- fast, which I finished as soon as I could, in my eagerness to get out of a disagreeable apart- ment, and make myself warm by exercise. It being the season of the year when " the presents," as they are termed, are given to the Indians, these; people were walking about the •r li^ <*«» *> 17(> JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE 41 m^ «*■ • streets in crowds, all in their holiday apparel, and animated by the anticipation of what they were to receive — blankets, blue cloth, guns, powder and shot, &c. T could not help re- marking the great difference between the In- dians here and those in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They were al- together a finer race of men, in countenance, carriage, avd general appearance, more robust and athletic, and their faces broader and flatter, and of a deep copper colour. Streaks of red paint ornamented their cheeks; and what seemed the most fashionable bijou of their toilette, was a silver ring in the nose, with a head of the same metal appending to it. There was a look of health about the women, which made many of them appear beautiful in spite of their flat noses. They had good teeth, and eyes of brilliant black, which re- ceived additional lustre from parallel streaks Oi red paint down their cheeks, which seemed, from their breadth, as if they had been laid on by the fore-finger. According to this method of rouging, art might fairly be said to enter f4^ I 1. JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE. 177 into an honest competition with nature; for intermediate stripes of clear skin were always left as a fair sample of the original. I remained in York till the 25th ; during which time my stay was rendered agreeable by the friendly hospitality of Mr. C* , a gentleman of high respectability in the town. I understood, that the station of Penetan- gushene, whither I was going, was still an establishment quite new, and that some of the public officers were already there, and were hutted on the spot ; but that no build- ings of any sort had yet been erected ; more- over, there was no house at all anywhere within thirty miles of the plact;. I was rallied on the nature of my future life and occupa- tions, which, nideed, seemed likely to be suf- ficiently rural. I hardly knew sometimes what to think of it ; but I bought a sack of potatoes and some rice, and prepared to start on the asth, with Mr. C , who, having a wish to see the new c tablishment, proposed to accompany me. /. »• h .*'' ^ i>^ ♦jf< N IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) o 1.0 I.I Urn lit US 1^ l£^ 1^ 12.2 i^ 12.0 1.8 1.25 III 1.4 1.6 ^ ^ — 6" ► V] m "^^^ > *^\v ^;. '^> # #■ 'w '/ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 V ^ 178 '' -II ■ , . ( ~j ■ - • 1 ■'i i RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. On the 25th of February I left York, with Mr. C , in a two-horse sleigh, on our way to Lake Huron. The snow was soft and the draft heavy ; however, the horses were good, and we travelled thirty miles to the village of Newmarket, (which lies about a mile out of the road on the right hand,) and ar- rived a httle after dark. We were hospitably entertained by Mr. Peter Robinson, who pro- vided us with a good supper and comfortable beds. Our ho^t, as well as being a contractor with Government, was an agent of the North- west Company, and held, moreover, sundry provincial appointments. Added to this, he kept a shop in the house where we now were, which was plentifully stocked with all manner of commodities, particularly such as were suited to the wants and taste of the Indians ; it was, in fact, the great mart to which all those in this part of the country resorted, to RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 179 furnish themselves with the different articles of which they stood in need, — flour, cheese, blue cloth, cottons, hardware, &c. ; besides guns, powder and shot, for the men, and all sorts of millinery and ornament for the squaws, such as flaring gown patterns, beads, and rings for their noses. February 26th. — We started very early this morning ; for, as it was our intention to cross Lake Simcoe, we had every reason to expect the ice would be in a bad state, and the draft particularly heavy ; for during the last few days the sun had been extremely powerful for the time of year, so that the snow became always quite slushy after the middle of the day. When we set out, the morning was clear, and the frost had been hard in the night ; so that the snow was crisp and slippery, and we had what might be called an agreeable drive along a very good road to Holland river, (which empties itself into Lake Simcoe,) a distance of eleven miles. There was a sort of public house established at the spot where we had arrived, and which was N 2 ■^r\ M m Jl 180 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. v'W , a ' f m called the Landing, being the point from whence the river was considered navigable in the summer. Here we baited the horses, giving them no more time than was absolutely necessary, owing to the unfavourable reports on the state of the ice in the lake, from which we were now about nine miles distant. Hol- land river afforded to me a novel appearance : instead of the rocks and bluff headlands of the St. Lawrence, this little stream presented more peaceful and tranquil objects to the eye, and seemed to offer an assurance of calm and sequestered retreat. The channel was frozen quite across ; narrow, with a profusion of reeds on each side ; the whole breadth being, perhaps, three or four hundred yards. The sun shone bright, and the dry ratthng flags, which the breeze set in motion, brought a more genial season to the recollection. Our sleigh was soon brought out, and, being launched down the sedgy bank, the horses werf put to; and, having bid adieu to the last house we were likely to see for a distance of thirty-six miles, we pursued our course RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 181 i along the frozen surface of a stream where Fauns and Satyrs might have held their sum- mer revels. But the lively green of spring soon faded in the imagination, opposed to the realities of winter. The snow lay deep on the ice, and, being melted by the sun, the draft was so exceedingly heavy, that the horses could proceed only at a foot's pace, and the sleigh sank so deep, that the water frequently reached the bottom of the carriage. We had overtaken a party of English ship- wrights at the public house we had just left, who were on the way to join the new station at Penetangushene Bay, whither we were go- ing ; (they had been previously employed in building small boats for the navigation of the lake.) These men finding we were going thither also, followed in our train, and, as we travelled slow, tley were enabled to keep up with us on foot. Pursuing the course of the river for about nine miles, the channel by rapid degrees became broader, till a wide sheet of snow appeared a-head, and we found ourselves upon the verge of Lake Simcoe. *J I »»i ■t, 182 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. Inclining to the left, we skirted it, cutting off its lower extremity, and making directly for Kempenfeldt Bay. We then hore about three or four miles up the bay, and put up at a log- house, which had been newly erected on the north bank, and stood almost close to the wa- ter's edge. This log-house had been built for the purpose of the communication to Penetan- gushene. It was very late when we arrived, and we had travelled thirty-six miles from Holland River, in all forty-seven miles that day. The driver was provided with food and clothing for the horses, which were scarcely defended from the weather by the miserable hut which was allotted to them as a stable. They were, I believe, the first pair of horses ever there. They were littered down with the boughs of the spruce-fir and a quantity of moss collected close to the spot. As for ourselves, our fare was equally simple. We made a roaring fire, and roasted some potatoes, which we eat with cold meat, with which we had taken care to provide ourselves ; and this repast occupying but little time, the whole party, shipwrights W''^ ,!■ I?i ' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 183 tting off jctly for ut three at a log- [ on the the wa- built for Penetan- ived, and Holland y. The thing for ded from hich was ' were, I 3r there, oughs of collected our fare ring fire, eat with care to ccupying pwrights and all, each measured his length on the floor before the fire. I now began to think I had had enough of all this, and I did earnestly long to be once more in some place, no matter where, that I could call my home. However, I fell asleep, and continued so some hours, when I awoke, owing to the cold, and found that one of my neighbours (having felt, I take it for granted, cold too) had deprived me of my buffalo skin, which was tightly wrapped round him, while the fellow was snoring as happily as if it belonged to him. The harder I tugged, the harder he held on and snored ; and, as he was a thick-set, strong fellow, I had the more difficulty to recover my property. However, I jumped up, and, invoking the spirit of Archimedes, I placed my foot on his ribs to such advantage, that by one violent, determined pull, I thoroughly uncased and rolled him out on the floor. February 27th. — We had already advanced thirty-six miles from the house on the banks of Holland River, which was the nearest hu- man habitation worthy of bearing the name t S> M 184 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. it! m between the spot where w^e were and the town of York ; and the road we were now about to travel had been newly cut through the fo- rest, so that it was as bad as it could well be. To assist the communication, however, a hut at the distance of twenty miles had been erected, where we intended to pass the night. The way was not better than we had antici- pated, — if any thing, worse ; so that we owed much to the assistance of the shipwrights, who were able auxiliaries : a dozen stout, good- humoured fellows, who helped us out of all our difficulties, and went on whistling and singing as if they were going to a fair. When we reached the hut, we found it nothing more than a few boughs raised up ; of an oblong form, and having one of the long sides quite open to the weather. Fortunately there was but little wind, nor was the night very cold ; so we made a large fire, and lay down in our clothes before it, as we Lad done the imht before. ■, ■ ■ ^ February 28th. — The road was still miser- ably bad, but with the assistance of the ship- I le town 7 about the fo- ivell be. , a hut d been e night. [ anticl- ine owed [its, who ;, good- it of all ing and . When ig more oblong es quite ere was y cold ; in our night 1 miser- le ship- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 185 ' .i I Wrights we were enabled to reach Yeo River, a distance of ten miles. We were frequently obliged to take the horses out of the sleigh for two or three hundred yards together, while the men drew it over trees which had fallen across the road, roots of others which had not been removed, and other such impediments. When we reached the ice of Yeo River, we got on a great deal better^ although, as at Holland River, the melted, slushy snow lay very deep. The banks were sedgy, and I observed frequent hillocks or mounds of snow thrown up, the habitation of the musquash, a species of large water-rat, having a long fur, which serves to make a good coarse felt for hats. We pursued our course till we came upon Gloucester Bay, and from thence we reached that of Penetangushene. We ad- vanced up this bay about three miles, keeping the shore close on our left hand, till a small piece of cleared land, and the signs of human habitations, held forth to us the signal that the hour of rest was at last come. * Here, then, I was arrived ! My residence :r r 18(> RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. .7 2 •ijr :i| was in this very spot to be cstublislied, 1 could not tell for how long. As it wns frrowing lato, no time Wius to be lost : a colunui of smoke was to be seen ascending on the other side of the brow which overhung the beach, and to that I of course made my way. It was at three o'clock hi the afternoon when 1 got out of the sleigh. The distance we had travelled in the day was, ten miles through the forest, and I think fifteen over the ice, — in all, twenty-five miles. On stepping out of the sleigh I was immediately wet through, owing to sinking half way up my legs in melted snow. The driver wishing to get back again the same evening to Yeo River, urged me to have my things taken out of tlie carriage, and was anxious to hurry me to make up my mind where I would have them deposited. All places were then ahke ; so, desiring my ser- vant to strew some spruce boughs on the snow a few yards within tlie forest, my bag- gage w tis placed upon them, and I left him to watch every thing, while I set forth to- wards the place where I had seen the smoke. I RESIDENC IN THE WOODS. 187 1 could i\y; late, smoke side of and to was at got out ravelled e forest, -in all, : of the li, owing , melted ck again id me to ,ge, and my mind d. All my ser- on the my bag- left him forth to- smoke. On entering the wood, 1 ascended a steep acclivity, wliieh I had no sooner surmounted than I found myself amongst a parcel of small huts, made up of a few poles thatched over with spruce boughs, scattered here and there; and from two or three of these it was that tiie smoke issued. There was not such a thing as a log-house to be seen ; but I ob- served, that one of the huts was rather better finished than the rest, and a farther distinc- tion was allotted to it by a flag, which was placed upon the roof. It was evident, that none of them could have been long erected, (he snow was so excessively deep, and the foot-marks so few ; however, I made my way immediately towards the one with a flag, where 1 found Captain C^^-^^-^'-, of the navy ; and I had no sooner entered and introduced myself, than I received a very cordial wel- come. Captain C immediately afforded me the assistance of a couple of men to build me a hut ; and, as it was necessary that it should be ready for me to sleep in the same night, I went back to the place where I had 1- I 1 ■ f 'IS m^^ 188 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. left my servant with the baggage. I told him where I would have the hut built ; and, leaving him to superintend the works and re- move the things, I returned to Captain C , where I was regaled with a fine piece of boiled beef, which I was hungry enough to think excellent, though from its toughness it would hardly remain upon the fork. Captain P and Lieutenant E , the other officers ap- pointed to the establishment, had assembled at the Commodore's hut, and with them I remained till nearly seven o'clock, when I left the party to attend to my own affairs. I had directed my hut to be erected on the summit of the brow which rose close from the bay ; and when I returned to the spot I found my servant busily arranging my different arti- cles of property in an edifice which, if not equal in splendour to the renowned palace of Aladdin, had been, at least, completed nearly in as little time. By the help of a few poles and cedar boughs, I had now, such as it was, a house of my own. There were at least two sides with a back part, and the front was open; RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 189 I told t ; and, and re- C , )f boiled to think it would nP icers ap- ssembled I them I len I left 3. i\ on the roin the I I xound rent arti- n, if not palace of ed nearly few poles as it was, least two was open; hut a brilliant fire was blazing before it, big enough for the kitclicn of the London Tavern, and in itself a world of comfort. The plan of the hut was not of my own contriving ; it was such as local experience had determined upon, and of the following description : the front, where the fire was burning, was six feet high and eight feet broad ; but the roof dipped towards the extreme end, which was only four feet high ; and the length was ex- actly ten feet. The sno\v had been well cleared away from the bottoni, and, being banked up, it helped to support the poles which formed the framework. A bundle of spruce boughs laid across the extreme end, with a sack of potatoes for my pillow, formed my bed ; and if I had no door opposite, all the cold that got in necessarily passed through the fire and smoke. My baggage, — that is, a very small valise, a gun case, and some other little packages, — was easily disposed of within these narrow limits, and every thing was perfectly ready for my repose soon after it was dark. My servant \ had got attached 190 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS, i !«■ A' ' . -M m to tlie shipwrights* mess, — a noisy set of fel- lows, crammed altogether within a very small compass, and among them there were home singers, the sound of whose voices I used fre- quently to hear at night as I sat by myself. March 1st. — Early this morning I provided myself with one of the workmen's axes, and began, by way of practice, to cut down trees; and there were many ways of turning this ex- ercise to account. Of all things, I was the most anxious to keep the smoke out of my hut, and contrived various methods for the purpose, but unfortunately all without effect ; so not succeeding in my first object, I set about making a bedstead. To this end I got four short, upright, forked pieces, upon which I placed poles across, tying them with strips of the bark of the bass tree, which I nlso wove in longwise and across, so as to make a toler^ able substitute for a ticking, on which I might lie before the fire high and dry ; on this 1 placed a mattress of spruce boughs, and alto- gether, with my buffalo skin for a covering, I rested comfortably. — The bass tree bus a '• ^' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 191 roninrknbly tough, stringy bark, which rips civsily from the trunk, and is so strong and ilcxible, that it serves all commuii purposes of rope. The wood, at the same time, is almost as soft as a cabbage-stalk, and very white. My time was so much occupied, that I was hardly sensible of the progress of the day, and I went on chopping and working till late in the afternoon. In the evening a gang of Canadian axe-men arrived from York to place themselves at my disposal ; and this event, in the infant state of the establishment, was a great relief to me. Log-buildings were the first desiderata, to get ourselves under cover and to provide for the reception of stores, utensils, &c., such as in the uncertainty of events might at any future period arrive. These men hutted themselves before night, and some provisions, which had been brought with the party, were well thatched with cedar boughs for temporary security. My own comestibles were scanty; I generally reUed upon being able to fare where others could, and had not provided myself nearly as well as 1. i^ 4 192 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I might. My baggage, with the exception of the very small proportion brought with me, was at Halifax, to be forwarded by the first ships in the spring to Quebec ; and as to see- ing a particle of that, I might rest quite con- tented I should not before the middle of June at the soonest. With most articles of dress I could just now very well dispense ; but I felt fortunate in having with me my double-bar- relled gun, (which had been dragged over the snow on the tobogins,) and was quite ready for the birds of the country, so soon as ever they might make their appearance. None of the feathered tribe were yet to be seen, ex- cept some woodpeckers, and a few packs of snow birds, or '' sna fools," as one of the sliip- wrights, who was a Scotchman, used to call them. ' ' ; >-' ^1 I afforded together d to its ing. To ) the use felling of He can divesting J place in dexterity, with his Id appear ery blow, and care- h (which js of the the trees but to lay lother, or done, the alks in,— ;ch ready, zen panes .1 m m RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 195 of glass in it. Nothing then remains, but to piaster and calk with mud and mo$s pro re natd. ; ' By occasionally overlooking the men ^t work, and by working as hard as I could my- self, I found the day pass quite agreeably, and was fatigued enough always before night. One of the huts in our knot was that of an officer, who commanded a detachment of Ca- nadian fencibles ; another, that of Captain P , of the royal engineers ; besides the Commodore's, with the red flag. But each of us had separate olgects to employ his time ; so that for a few days we saw very Uttle in- deed of each other. Captain C , espe- cially, was generally absent all day, employed in surveying the shores and tjajdng the sound- ings of the bay. ' March 3rd. — The weather, fortunately, was exceedingly fine, and the soft deep gnow diminished sensibly under the influence of a brilliwit sun. At the same time it vvas quite impossible to keep the feet dry, and I was wet through the whple of every day. This, 02 ■Mi: :*■; lOG RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. however, did me no manner of harm ; nor did I ever hear of any one of our party being otherwise than in perfect health, which was the more fortunate as we had no doctor among us. I have no doubt that the warmth kept up by the additional covering worn un- der the mocassins, which I have somewhere before described, was the means of counter- acting the ill effects of the wet ; and I believe that so long as the ft«t can be kept warm, no harm will ever ensue from damp : it is the cold which does the mischief. The most de- licate subject is not afraid of a warm bath ; he never complains of having been wet throuj2:h, though he may have been half an hour in water up to the ears ! I worked all day with my axe, and had al- ready let in a fine view of the bay, which was about a couple of hundred yards below me. My labour was repaid by every tree that fell ; I improved in the use of the axe, and the whole aopect of things seemed more cheerful. Still I had :io bed other than the spruce boughs which I strewed on my newly made RESIDENCE IN TIt£ WOODS. 197 bedstead ; so that there was good room for improvement, and a great deal to be done towards completing my little establishment. March 4th. — The weather this day was much milder than usual, and the sun con- tinued to shine all day. March 5th. — A rapid thaw took place this day, attended with slight showers of rain. I was gratified by the appearance of a couple of crossbills, whose arrival I greeted as the harbingers of spring. The little creatures had probably flown a great way, being so tame from fatigue as to allow me to approach within three or four yards of them. The temperature was now really warm, and the weather seemed to be thoroughly breaking. Large ponds of clear water began to cover all parts of the bay, and the snow was so wet and slushy as to make walking intolerably bad ; at the same time it was so deep that it was difficult to make any progress without snow shoes. A pair hung up in my hut, but I had a horror of them ; and a& I had no im- mediate object to induce me to visit disiunt J , 'm 108 RESIDENCE IN THE WOdD^. spots, I had waited till a change in the sur- face of the ground should render locomotion more practicable. Now there was a prospect of this. A hard frost would lay a crust upon the snow, when I might walk as far as I pleased : and this reflection was not a httle agreeable. In the mean time my log-house was finished, and at a very little distance from my hut ; but, as the weather was warm, I grew so fastidious as to determine not to move into it before it was well covered with shingles, — a sort of covering for the sides and roof, of the same kind, but more effectual than wea- ther boarding. But, as there were no trees quite fit for making these in the immediate neighbourhood, I gave directions to one of the men to go through the woods the next morn- ing in order to find some that would answer the purpose. — In the evening, much to my gratis fication, a sharp frost set in, March 6th. — In the morning the aspect of the country was altogether and totally chang- ed. The snow was covered with a glassy coating of ice, and the whole of the bay was 1 1 11 M 'hi ' I f hesidence in the woods. 199 notion •ospcct t upon r as I a little »-house ce from ^arm, I to move ihingles, roof, of an wea- 10 trees mediate 16 of the t morn- swer the ly gratis V ispect of y chang- glassy bay was nearly frozen over. The pools of clear water the day before had been so large and nume- rous, that an uninterrupted communication from one to the other presented itself to the eye ; and, as there had been no wind in the night, the ice upon them was clear and good. Instead of my mocassins, I put on a pair of shoes, to which I had been for a long time unused, and going down to the bay, sat down upon a large stone to put on my skates. It was a lovely morning ; the sun shone quite bright, while the frost was remarkably keen ; and in a very few minutes I was carried ra- pidly along towards the opposite shore. The glow of exercise, the lively rattle of the skates, and the sensation produced by the fresh air, combined to embellish the novelty of the scene before me, as I ranged with unlimited freedom the clear ice which extended all across the bay. Every object around me was unexplored, while I had the m-eans of be'nff conveyed, as it were on wings, from one to the other. I had been confined for many weeks, either sitting still half frozen in a carriage the whole of the day. ''} 200 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I It or, since my arrival in the forest, completely weather bound. . r a long period I had never been thoroughly ivarm, only barely able to subdue cold, and had seldom during the whole day felt a dry stocking on my foot. My blood was now in full circulation, and the interest I felt in every thing around me was so great, that the sun had nearly reached the tops of the trees before I thought of returning to my dweUing. I had looked almost into every corner of the bay, which was about seven miles long and from two to three across, and was at last quite tired when I discovered an object which attracted my attention. There was, at a distance on the ice, what appeared to be a mound of earth thrown up, — an appearance, under present circumstances, not to be readily accounted for ; so I made towards it that I might see what it was. As I approached within a few hundred yards, I thought I perceived it move a little, and, halting for a moment, I saw that that was really the case. It was of a light-brown co- Jour ; but the figure was so indistinct, that '^n i r ' UESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 201 ipletely I had 3ly able ing the ly foot, and the me was ihed the ^turning lost into IS about 56 across, scovered >n. ce, what own up, [Stances, I made vas. As yards, I |;le, and, that was [rown co- Inct, that while I watched it attentively I could not de- cide what it could possibly be. A bear would liave been blacker, and I knew of no living creature of those regions answering its descrip- tion. But, whatever it might be, there it was, and it was therefore necessary to be a little cautious, as I had no arms, in approach- ing it. I stood for some seconds thinking what I should do, and had almost determined to go home for my gun, when I saw the hide which caused all my speculation thrown sud- denly ahide to make way for the head and shoulders of an Indian, who protruded his rough matted locks into daylight from under it. This solved the problem in a moment, and I saw that the man had been employed in fishing, and had so completely enveloped himself in a large buffalo skin that no part of his body, head, feet, or hands, were to be discovered. He sat over a square hole cut in the ice, with a short spear ready to transfix any fish which might be attracted by his bait. The hole was about a foot square, and the bait was an artificial fish of white wood, with ■4 r 202 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. leaden eyes and tin fins, and about eight or nine inches long. The ice where he had cut it was about three feet thick. Being within a few yards of him, I com- menced a parley by signs, for he did not ap- pear to understand a word of English ; but he seemed to wish me anywhere else, and to be much annoyed at having been interrupted in his occupation. As my object was to pa- cify him, I gave him a small ball of twine I had in my pocket, and with this he was highly gratified ; much more so, however, by my skates, which he viewed with marks of great astonishment. He looked narrowly at the straps which bound them to my feet; but when I made him acquainted with their use, there were no bounds to his delight : at the same time he kept his own interest in view; for he tried to persuade me to give him a piece of a red shirt of flannel which I wore, to make a bait with. This I refused, by shaking ray head and saying " No, no ! " rather loudly ; but he kept on entreating, taking hold of a corner of the collar with his finger and thumb. 4 are RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 203 I persisted in refusing, and kept him off. But he was not so easily answered^ and offered mc his knife, giving me to understand I might cut it from what part of the garment I pleased. So, shaking him by the hand and patting his shaggy locks, I skated away, leaving him to pursue his occupation for the rest of the evening. On my return home I found that some cedar trees, fit for the purpose of making sliingles, had been fixed upon in a part of the forest near the water's edge ; that they had been felled, cut into lengths, and removed by means of small hand sleighs purposely pre- pared for them, and that the operation of split- ting had already been commenced. These shingles are pieces of wood (as I may have already observed) resembling tiles, with which the roofs and sides of the better sort of houses are covered. As to houses, it may be gene- rally remarked, that in these wild parts of the country, talking of a house, one composed simply of logs is understood, and if the idea of a more civilized dwelling is intended to be * * 204 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I"!'. %lt iy expressed, a frame house is the term made use of, which means one made with beams and rafters in the regular way. But to return to the shingles. They are by far better than weather boarding, in which, if a single nail by accident becomes displaced or loose, the evil extends itself more or less the whole length of the board, while the shingle, being less, fits close, and besides is not so liable to warp. March 7 th. — The frost continued, and the cold increased to a very low temperature, the effect of which, upon the extended sheet of ice which covered the bay, was somewhat re- markable. It cracked and split from one end to the other with a noise which might have been mistaken for distant artillery ; but this, when it is taken into consideration that the sheet of ice was of fifteen or sixteen square miles area, and three feet thick, may be easily imagined. Nor was this all; I was occa- jsionally surprised by sounds produced by the wind, indescribably awful and grand. Whe- ther the vast sheet of ice was made to vibrate RESIDENCE IX THE WOODS. 205 ■m and bellow like the copper which generates the thunder of the stage, or whether the air rushing through its cracks and fissures pro- duced the noise, I will not pretend to say; still less to describe the various intonations which in every direction struck upon the ear. A dreary undulating sound wandered front point to point, perplexing the mind to imagine whence it came, or whither it went, whether aerial or subterraneous; sometimes like low moaning, and then sweUing into a deep toned note, as produced by some ^Eohan instrument : it being, in real fact, and without metaphor, the voice of winds imprisoned on the bosom of the deep. This night I listened for the first time to what was then perfectly new to me, although I experienced its repetition on many subsequent occasions, whenever the tempera- ture fell very suddenly. The weather being so excessively severe, I had added an extra covering of spruce boughs to my hut, by means of which, and the profusion of logs which I heaped upon my fire, I was better defended from its effects. Nevertheless, I !•/■ m I ' ' 206 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. was obliged to rise before daylight, and heap on eight or ten more, which lay ready for the occasion, each of them as big as I could con- veniently lift. r March 8 th. — The air continued intensely cold, so that, in spite of the sun, the most violent exercise was necessary to preserve warmth. In the mean time my log house, a palace compared to the hut I was in, was to be ready before night, and the whole of the day I felled trees, cut them into logs, haul- ing them in, and piling them up in my new parlour ; and the next morning I was to take possession. I lay down to rest on my spruce boughs at night, satisfied with my day's work, and pleased with my intended change of dwelling. March 0th. — I rose in the morning exhi- 4ftrated by my projected movement, and the /weigher at the same time seemed to smile upon my operations; for the wind having changed to another quarter, the warmth of the sun so mellowed the air, that it was pof- jsible to stand still and look at surrounding RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 207 objects without feeling inconvenience from the cold. I got every thiug ready, and my pack* ages were soon tied together and distribul^ in separate burdens on the snow at the out- side of my hut. My servant, with two or three of the Canadians, had arrived to carry them off, when an Indian, who carried a pair of snow shoes in his hand, as if he had just concluded a long journey, unexpectedly made his appearance. After some fidgeting, he produced an official letter, (from under his shirt,) which he had brought from York. The cover had been just strong enough for the service it had to perform^ being worn through and through at every corner. I opened my letter and read my instructions to leave the establishment at Penetangushene, wl^re 1 was, and return by the road I had come to Kempenfeldt Bay, aad there await further orders. " Ibi omnis effusus labor." Not a green leaf then should I probably ever see on the banks of Lake Huron. My new dwell- ing and my avenues were to be abandoned. The lyood I had piled willi my own hands I iii 208 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS; h *«h J*-; should never stay to burn, and all that re- mained was to make preparations for my im- mediate departure. The Indian had also brought letters for Captain C and Cap- tain P , conveying similar instructions. The whole establishment was to be broken up, and all parties were to return nearer to- wards Quebec. On communicating together, we all agreed to start at the same time the next morning. The Canadians employed themselves in making more hand sleighs for the conveyance of the baggage of the party over the ice, and as far as the state of the snow, on the road through the forest, might permit. » • j ^ ^ March lOth. — The morning broke with a dry sparkling frost, and an hour after sun- rise, the whole party was ready. The hand sleighs were laden, each to b^ drawn by ORe man, by means of a double trace crossing over the breast. We bid adieu to the hu';s and the log houses, and Captain C j, r . . Lieujt. E — — , and myself, together with the Cana- dians and shipwrights, all walked a?yay over >t F'U] RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 209 the ice, the same way we had come towards the mouth of the bay. After walking some distance, I was enabled to i.':ate for a few miles, and regretted I had not made the ex- periment sooner, for the ice then became so rough that it was impossible. The hand sleighs passed lightly over the hard surface, nd the men who drew them were in the most jovial spirits. They whistled, sang, and ran races with each other along the ice, over- setting some of the sleighs, and breaking others, till a few miles* walk brought them to a more moderate tone of merriment. Such is the natural love of change, that we are made happy by it without knowing why or wherefore! But these men were doomed to receive before long a moral lesson, and la- ment the waste of strength, which they would have been wiser to reserve for the end of their walk. From the sleighs broken in these frolics, the loads had been transferred to others, and the delay occasioned by the acci- dent was m each case made up by a hard run to catch the party, who went, not like a troop S ■i.' 810 UESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. Ml;. . :fc of dragoons, according to the powers of the slowest horse, but on the contrary, every body entering into a quiet sort of determination within himself to walk away from his neigh- bour if he could. And thus, without giving or taking compliments, every body made the best of his way. And this was all very well, so long as the solid rough ice afforded a firm and not a slippery footing. However we came at last to the edge of the forest, where the road was altogether different. The sur- face of the snow was so exceedingly uneven, owing to the soft weather which had pre- vailed for some days before, that it was im- possible to puU the hand sleighs along. During the gambols of the English ship- wrights, the Canadians had kept together, going all the while a steady pace ; and now, for the first time, they and all the party halted. Liberte, a Canadian, a man in whose face the extremes of health and ugUness were com- bined, was the first at this juncture to prepare opposition to the dilemma. Liberte was evidently, in blood, half a savage ; either by RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 211 the father's o* mother's side, he was the son of an Indian. His constitution was strong as that of a bear. Heedless of cold, a known and tried pedestrian, his short, thick figure betokened incalculable strength, and his swar- thy features shewed a tinge too dark and fixed to be discomposed by common causes. He had suffered grievously from the small- pox, and he had only one eye, the other hav- ing been gouged * out about two years before by the thumb of a friend in a drunken squab- ble. This man was in a moment on his knees unpacking the things in the sleighs and tying several of the bundles together, till he made a load as large as himself. This, with the assistance of the other men, he placed on his shoulders, steadying it at the same time by a broad leathern belt which bore on his fore- head. Leaning his head backwards while the ' • * The American practice of " gouging " may not be generally known; it is particularly simple, and very particularly cruel; a man twists his antagonist's hair firmly round his fingers, and having done so, takes the first opportunity afforded in the conflict, of poking out his eye with his thumb. j- '^ ' p2 212 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. !■ ! knot was fixing, as soon as all was ready, with the strength of a two year old bull, he darted it forward with a plunging effort, re- ceiving thus nearly the whole of the weight upon his broad, thick neck ; and then, at a strong shufiling trot, he ha.^ soon advanced many paces away from the party on his route through the forest. A very small portion of time was sufficient for the foregoing operation, and the rest of the Canadians, following the example of Liberte, were not less expedi- tious. The English shipwrights, too, did the same with their baggage ; but, being less accus- tomed to this mode of carrying burdens, they took necessarily some more time to make their arrangements. They made their handker- chiefs serve for the forehead strap, and con- trived to divide the articles among them- selves, so as to leave none behind ; but not- withstanding, things were quite changed since the commencement of the journey. They grumbled and swore whenever one by accident ran against the other, making hhn trip or dis- c. I 1 ,(:r RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 213 IS ready, bull, he ;ffort, re- e weight len, at a advanced his route )ortion of operation, owing the IS expedi- . the same ess accus- ■dens, they nake their handker- and con- ,ng them- but not- nged since y. They )y accident :rip or dis- 'i i composing his load. They were no longer the same boisterous crew, but whenever by accident their cords grew loose and required tightening, and they asked for assistance, it was in a civil, modulated tone that they ad- dressed each other. They strained hard to keep up with the Canadians, and, being all strong athletic fellows, were not left far be- hind, although they laboured grievously to maintain their place in the line of march. At last it became absolutely necessary to keep the men together, for v/hich purpose one of the Canadians was sent a-head to desire those in advance to moderate their pace ; for, unused as the EngHsh shipwrights were to a descrip- tion of labour commonly adopted by the native Canadians in the country, it was soon evident that little progress would be made that day. And it was with great difficulty that, with the frequent delays to adjust the loads, and the very slow pace at best travelled, we were able alto- gether to reach the uninhabited hut where I had slept on my journey up, ten miles from Yeo river. Our party took possession of this, while the Canadians and shipwrights repaired Ml f 21i RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. If, : M to another, which the former had made on their way to Penetangushene, and which was close by ours. It was impossible to sleep a great part of the night, owing to the noise they made. The men it appeared were ca- rousing, and their loud peals of laughter were only interrupted by the songs which they, one after another, were called upon to sing. En- glish and Canadians were unusually harmoni- ous and friendly, and so we allowed them to follow their own devices, hoping that by and by a glance at their bundles might bring them to reason. March 11th. We had twenty miles to go this day to Kempenfeldt Bay, and the travel- ling was not particularly bad. We were aU ready at an early hour, although the ship- wrights were far from lively. They argued about thei.. loads, and the manner of securing them; for some of them were indeed very heavily laden. This was not all; for very few were quite sober. Those who were so- ber, were ill. One looked half asleep, an- other's eyes seemed starting out of his head; and all, it might fairly be said, were setting RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 215 off under most unfavourable auspices. Nature seemed to be sinking witbin tbem, and tbey stopped to rest every quarter of an hour. Big drops of perspiration stood on tbe fore- heads of those who lagged behind, while the foremost, heedless of every thing but them- selves, left them to plod on alone. Thus, during the first two hours of the march, short as the journey was before us, it was by no means evident how long its accomplishment would take, owing to the large bundles, and the former evening's jollification. But by degrees the iron frames of these men overcame all their ailments; they rallied, and cheered up, till some of them joined in chorus with the Canadians, who sang as they travelled, so as to make the forest ring with the sound of their voices. We arrived at Kempenfeldt Bay in very good time. Captain C , Lieut. E , and myself, took possession of the log-house where I had slept on the night of the 26th of February, and the men were disposed of in another building of the same description, which had been erected close by for the pur- pose of depositing stores belonging to the ifU \ ; 1 V i i I 1 It ] t" rr ■ ■ miaftfiir . < 210 UBSIDENCE IN THE WOODS. navy. Lieut. E. was kind enough to lend mc a hammock, of the use of which I availed myself with the more readiness as I had been bleeping every night in my clothes for a long time. The advantage, however, was pur- chased at some cost, for I had a severe fall, hy which I not only cut my head, Init demolislicd a good watch. The latter was at the time the most serious evil of the two. • .» March 12th to 14th. The weather durin/^ these three days was clear and cold ; and us the bay was covered with good ice, I was en- abled to skate over a considerable extent. All parties were waiting their instructiovs, and 1 felt in that state of uncertainty, as to be for the time rather indifferent to every thing. Letters were however received, which decided the fate of my companions. They were or- dered to York, while a private comnmnicatioii gave me reason to expect that I should have to remain a considerable time where I was. March 15th. At an early hour this morn- ing. Captain C , Lieut. E , and the whole party of shipwrights, were ready for their journey to York, leaving mc in the sole nEBIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 217 I to lend I uviiilod httd been for a hwjj; was |)ur- ;re tull,l)y Icmolislicd t the time J. _fc ■ ■ her cluriuf» Id ; and as 1, I was cn- exteiit. All 10 vs, and I 8 to he for cry thing. ich decided y were or- Inuunication hould have Ire 1 was. this niorn- , and the ready foi" in the sole imssossion of the log-house I was in. I ac- companied the party to the beach and a little way over the ice, when, winhing them n good journey, I returned back alone to my solitary demesnes. The fire had been neglected in tlic bustle of (l(;parture, and had got low ; remnants of packages and rubbish lay strewed about ; my Canadiaiis were at work at some dintance in the woods ; and there was nothing to disturb the loneliness and sihaice of the place. The building consisted of a single room of sixteen feet by twelve. The sides were rude logs laid one upon another, and calked in so insufficient a manner, that the light was visible in more places than I was able to count. The door, of thin deal, was too ill fitted to fdl its frame, and the light which entered the apartment was through a small window of four panes of green inferior glass. — A gloomy feeling invariably envelopes the mind, upon finding one's self suddenly deserted, as it were, and alone. Without stopping to think why, the very act of saying " good bye", and turn- ing south while a friend or acquaintance walks away to the norths is always sufficient to pro- r 218 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ^ t ifi • duce this in a slight degree, and at the in- stant I felt inclined to despond. But a re- medy, the best of all others, immediately suggested itself, and I seized my axe, to re- ceive, by a couple of hours' hard work in the woods, the benefit of my prescription, '"'v' ; Returning to my house through the snow, I found my servant had put every thing in order. The fire was replenished, and my simple repast was nearly ready. What was to be done ? I had no books ; and if I had, my house was too cold to sit still in. Read- ing, therefore, was out of the question. I fashioned a couple of forked boughs with my axe, to be fastened with a cord in a warm place over the fire, to support my gun, which I had taken out of its case, and put together; and, confiding in the private communication I had received, I resolved to fancy myself at least settled for some time to come in my pre- sent abode. The house of the Canadians was about 150 yards from mine ; and with these men, my servant, whose services I seldom needed, resided. When I wanted his assist- ance^ I opened my door, and shouted ; and if iMiU I tel. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 219 the wind happened to set the right way, my summons was heard. If not, I was obliged to wade through the slushy snow, to fetch him. Rising soon after daylight, I imme- diately breakfasted ; dined at noon, and supped at sunset. To prepare these meals cost little trouble ; my toilette less ; and the wood for my fire I chopped and piled myself; keeping the latter always alive both day and night. I began to make a bedstead, such as I had at Penetangushene, and spread moss and spruce boughs before the fire to dry, intending to make a bed whereon I could lie undressed, so soon as the bedstead was finished ; for I had, besides my buffalo skin, four small blankets, as many sheets, and a strong rug. These ar- rangements took up nearly the whole of the day, and served to banish the apathy which, in the morning, had made me unwilling to at- tach myself to any sort of occupation. March 16th. Before noon I had perfectly finished my bedstead, and heaped upon it as much spruce boughs and moSii as necessary, confining the whole by a long cord made of strips of bark tied together, which I wound -I I I :!«■: 'Hi •'I 220 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ''^ f4 round and round till the whole was not only tight and compact, but soft withal to lie upon. This done, I laid my buffalo skin on the top, then my sheets and blankets — and all was ready. A large bundle of spruce boughs, confined with strips of bark, made also a good pillow. Having thus provided for my rest, I took my gun off the hooks over the fire, and sallied forth into the forest, in hopes of finding any thing to shoot, no matter what, that would come in my way. The snow had been frozen hard, but the top, thawed by the sun of the morning, was so soft, that sometimes I sank in up to my knees. The walking was exces- sively heavy and difficult, and the solitary ap- pearance of the woods moderated my expect- ation of success. (I wore mocassins during my walk now, as at all other times, except when I was obliged to wear shoes for the purpose of skating.) The tracks of squirrels were abundant, and there were also some woodpeckers which I saw, speckled with white and scarlet ; and I perceived on the sr^ow the track of a larger bird, which, as it was quite fresh, I foUowed for a good way. It turned RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 221 backwards and forwards and round and round, twisting about the trees in such a manner as to make it difficult to follow the track ; and I was on the point of giving up the pursuit, when I heard the sound as of a pheasant rising into a tree close by me. Turning round, I saw the partridge I had been pur- suing, sitting on a bough, and shot him. An unsportsmanhke act, certainly ! but to be jus- tified by the stupid disposition of the bird, which nothing can persuade to fly. Besides, a pound of any sort of fresh meat was then to me a prize not by any iTieans to be neglected. This was a beginning in the way of partridge shooting. With game in the woods, there was an end of solitude ; and so, blowing at the feathers of the bird, and minutely examin- ing his plumage, I put him into my pocket, with the intention of having him, ere long, twirling at the end of a string before my fire. There are two sorts of these birds in this part of the country. The birch partridge, such as the one I had just killed, and the spruce. The former is the larger of the two, and the size ) .1 f4 222 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS* of an English grouse. The bones aro very slight, and the flesh white, and so extremely deUcate as to render it impossible to carry it suspended by the head, as the body literally tears off by its own weight and the motion. The spruce partridge is a little smaller than the birch; the flesh much firmer and darker coloured, and bearing a strong flavour of the spruce fir. Both sorts perch on trees, and are fringed to the feet with feathers, r.,, a I pursued my walk, in the course of which I shot also a squirrel and a woodpecker, fol- lowing the course of a ravine, at the bottom of which the snow lay in some places unusually deep; in others, more exposed to the sun, a stream might be detected gurgling through its deep, hollow channel, while the crackling surface, and the icicles which crowned the points of protruding rocks, bore evidence of the severe alternations of temperature. On the summit of the banks, in the warmest and most sheltered spots, the ground was already quite bare, and the green points of the early succulent plants were preparing to burst forth i % i :'«°w«*ji(fefe ■ V RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 223 into their first leaves. The buds, too, on some of the trees, were distinctly visible. Thus, while the snow was distributed all over the woods in unequal proportion, so as to con- fine one's progress within small limits, the in- creasing power of the sun continued to dimi- nish every day more and more the mass, giving additional strength to the consolatory^ hopes of approaching spring. i-... o March 17th. This ;y as a very tempestuous day. An unusually high wind hurried along clouds of small drifting snow, which pene- trated the sides and roof of my house from top to bottom. Not a dry place was to be found in it ; and upon my table, which stood close to the fire, I could write my name with ray finger in the covering of snow which, like powder, lay upon it. The temperature, too, was exceedingly low. Finding it impossible to stay in the house, I took my axe and went to the most sheltered spot th&t I could find in the forest, where I worked, without stop- ping, till I made myself warm, when I re- turned home to dinner. The partridge had VI f«',«^ I 1 1 224 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. served me for supper the evening befbre, and now the squirrel and woodpecker were put before me in a pudding. The squirrel, being well peppered, tasted like a rabbit, and, I be- lieve, was perfectly good. Something told me, however, that it was not right to eat the little animal, nor could I overcome my scru- ples. As to the woodpecker, I had no such compunction, nor was it necessary that I should. His flesh was his protection, being as black as that of an owl — absolute carrion ! besides being lean and stringy. For that, however, I consoled myself. I was only a loser by the weight he carried on his bones, and that was so little, it did not much signify. March 18 th. This day I walked out again with my gun. I saw a flock of twenty or thirty birds about the size of fieldfares, or a little bigger, and somewhat resembling them in flight and action. They kept together on the tops of one tree after another, and on mj pursuing them were very shy, and persisted in keeping out of distance. At the same time they were extremely noisy, and some of them 4 (fore, and were put rel, being md, I be- ling told to eat the my scru- i no such ry that I ion, being e carrion! For that, ^as only a his bones, ich signify. out again [twenty or Ifares, or a Wing them )gether on id on my persisted same time e of them RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 225 were always chattering, while others whistled. I got near enough to see that their plumage was chiefly blue, and at last shot a straggler, as he flew over my head. I found he was a blue jay, a bird resembling the Enghsh jay in shape, and having also a similar black mark on the jaws. '- v.- > . » v- v -.m. , fm,. . .. , ., New sounds and new colours now tended to enliven the solitary scene around me as each feathered stranger thus established his summer residence in the neighbourhood of my dwelling, ornamenting the forest with his bril- liant plumage. It was beautiful to see the birds welcoming the budding leaf by their happy return from their long winter's banish- ment, while the eye followed their flitting track through the air, and the ear listened to notes lovely in themselves, and till then uti- rj^iiifiiiii'id^'^ji ■*; I f V* -A^«^ «*'■♦*". .''.i-^l^j-t^- ■ Ctrl ■: heard. March 19th. This day I went out shoots- ing, but, owing to the violence of the wind, was actually obliged to return home. Indeed it was a; service of danger to walk, for the dead branches Were tumbling aboiit ttiy eArS I I I" It m m t:l' 226 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. from the tops of the trees so frequently, that I had great difficulty to avoid them. The gale produced serious effects on every side. Some large decayed hmbs fell, newly broken, to the ground, while others, long since se- vered and suspended among the boughs of their neighbours, now loosened their hold. The crash of trees falling around was so fre- quent as to be to me really astonishing. In- deed, in calmer days 1 had often reflected on the subject. Even in the finest weather, hardly a quarter of an hour ever passes in a North American forest, when, if one listens, a tree is not heard to fall to the ground; so often, as, apparently, ill to accord with the extended duration of vegetative life. But the discrepancy is reconciled by drawing an ana- logy with human existence. Sometimes the sweeping hurricane, like a virulent disorder of our race, levels the tenants of the forest pre- maturely with the earth; — but Time ever stalks abroad, closing days and centuries. And if, in the dense assemblage of the woods, where such unnumbered multitudes exist, the^e RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 227 instances of universal mortality should be at all times occurring, the summons, with refer- ence to the numbers within hearing, is no more to be wondered at, than that the village bell should daily toll, unregarded, the knell of more short-lived man. * * * Having returned home to my house, such as it was, I had scarcely arrived when a snow storm set in, which lasted the whole of the day. I had but little occasion for a candle in the evening : if I had, it would not have been possible to keep one burning. My blazing, companion- able fire afforded light for all my present pur- poses, and I heaped on it a pile of maple logs sufficient to set the tempest at defiance ; for winter seemed to have recommenced in all its rigours. March 20th, Very early this morning I was awakened by a scratching at my door ; and on listening attentively, I distinctly heard the feet of some animal which evidently had an intention of making its way into the house. It put its nose to the bottom of the door, snuffling and whining from eagerness, after the manner, as I thought, of a dog. Con- Q 2 ' 1 r 228 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ceiving it might possibly be either a bear or a wolf, without stopping to put on my clothes, I seized my gun, which was ready loaded over the fire, and keeping my eyes upon the door, which was of such very thin deal, and so im- perfectly fastened by a wooden latch, that I could place no confidence whatever in its strength, I remained still a moment or two, not making up my mind exactly what to do. My window was fixed, and the glass so bad, that fight would barel} pass through it. As to distinguishing any object on the other side, that was quite impossible. There was many a hole in the house of which I might have availed myself, but it was scarcely daybreak, and therefore too dark to discern any thing without. So I threw a small log or two upon the fire to blaze up, thinking it best to remain where I was, even in case the creature should happen to break into the house, when I should be sure to have a fair shot at it. Scarcely a minute had now elapsed from the very beginning, when I concluded, from the sound, the perse- verance, and total absence of fear of the ani- mal, that it must be a dog, and nothing else ; ♦ RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 229 r ov ft lothes, d over e door, so im- that 1 f in its or two, it to do. J so bad, 1 it. As ther side, IS many a ;e availed eak, and ^ without. the fire to where 1 Id happen id be sure a minute beginning, the perse- ^f the ani- thingelse; so I opened the door very little and with ex- treme caution, and discovered, to my surprise and satisfaction, that I was right ; for a dog it was; and in an instant, a brown, rough water-spaniel bounced into my room, overjoyed at having reached a human habitation. To account at once for the circumstance: — My house was but little removed out of the line of march of the North-west traders ; to one of which persons (as I afterwards discovered) the dog had belonged ; and having lost his master, had wandered through the forest, till he came by chance to my dwelling. •>jjwp &r " I greeted him with a most cordial welcome, happy to have a companion! an honest friend! whether from the clouds or elsewhere, no mat- ter : so wishing his former master, whoever he might be, all sorts of worldly prosperity, my only hope was, that he might never shew his face in my neighbourhood ; and I put a string round the neck of the dog. The poor fellow was, on his part, jusi as happy to see me as a dog could well be. He frisked and jumped, wagging his tail, and licking my hands, while i 4 J 4 T /{;■■■ r; 230 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. liis eloquent eyes, as plainly as letters engraved on brass, besought me to make trial of the merit*? of one so ready, on his part, to execute a bond of faithful allegiance. I shewed him my gun, holding it down low to his nose ; upon which he held his head back, while a glance of recognition ratified the treaty. Calling imme- diately for my servant, I got my breakfast ; not forgetting my new guest. I had nothing for myself but bread and salt pork, which I shared with him. He ate voraciously, having been, apparently, a long time without food. I tried all the names of dogs, in order to see to which he answered best ; and at last fancied that he attended most to that of Rover. So Rover, at all events, I determined to call him. To sportsmen, at least, it may be readily imagined that no time was expended in use- less preparation, before we sallied forth together, without farther ceremony, in quest of game, into the forest. The snow in the woods was crisp from the night's frost ; the sun was just rising in a clear sky. I, that yesterday had no resource but to track a poor RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 231 unfortunate bird by its footsteps, had now my gun on my shoulder, my dog before me, and tiic best of a fine day unexpended, T^ -^ haunts of a description of game, of whic » was totally ignorant, were evidently familiar to my dog ; and as he quartered his ground from right to left, I felt the most eager inter- est and curiosity in the pursuit. I had walked about half an hour, when he suddenly quested ; and on going up to him, I found him at the edge of a swamp, among a clump of white cedar trees, on one of which he nad evidently tree"^** April 5th. — ^A sudden change in the wea- ther took place, and it became much colder, with frost. This day I received a communi- cation from York, by which I understood that I might for some time consider myself settled where I was, and of this I was by no means sorry,— many a worse situation, might have been devised for me. Some of my Canadians were to be dismissed, and the man who brought my letter had orders to remain and to place himself at my disposal. This man had been accompanied over the ice, which was now un- sound and extremely dangerous, by a respect- able Scotchman, a Mr. F , who brought with him his wife and a young child. Mr. F had been persuaded to proceed thus far on a speculation, founded on the hopes of a military establishment being to be formed 240 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. on the banks of Lake Huron, where he had intended to commence business as a pub- lican, but he had no sooner arrived than he discovered, that whether owing to having list- ened to bad advice, or otherwise, he had already, "in taking the Red Cow, made a devil of a bull." He appeared a sober, indus- trious man, and I really pitied his forlorn pros- pects; for he had been induced to leave a more eligible spot, and had now gone too far to recede. He commenced felling trees for his log house instanter, in the mean time tak- ing up his abode in the house with the Cana- dians. Those who were to depart had al- ready gone oflP in high spirits, at a time when, certainly, although the frost had temporarily improved the state of the ice, a heavy gale of wind, had it chanced to set in, must have broken up every atom of it, and have drowned the whole party. . » .i April 6th. — A tempestuous day with show- ers of sleet, towards the evening rather warm- er, but still windy. Mr. F , in despite of the weather, persevered at his labour. He # RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 241 was a strong, able fellow, and the precision with which the long slashing cuts of his axe followed each other in the same identical line, was extraordinary to look at. 1 April 7th. — A cold and rainy day. ' April 8th. — The weather again warm and foggy. .: ^ '. April 9th and 10th. — Cold windy weather. April 11th. — Large cracks now began to appear in th(j ice, traversing across and the whole length of the bay. By its extreme thickness it nevertheless held together most obstinately. Nearly the whole surface was covered with water. It was now perfectly impassable. I killed a bird about the size of a jackdaw, and very like one, except that he was only grey close round the eyes. I also shot a woodpecker, about as large as a dove, with a black mark on the jaws and a bright scarlet spot on the pole. Large patches of ground, quite clear of snow, now appeared in the woods in those places the most exposed to the sun. . ;,.... ih ^^ i4 /• ^■'f.&i?■ > ^ ■ .. ";■ ' ■:;>'» ■:! j.lV t 242 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I discovered ^ quantity of wild leeks just shooting up out of the earth, of which I ga- thered a good many. I was unfortunate in this, my first essay on vegetable diet, for they heated me to such a degree, that I was for some time afraid they had possessed some de- leterious quality; but the intolerably high flavour of the plant quieted my apprehen- sions. I Was in a burning fever, at the same time quite sure that I had eaten nothing but leeks. Though they abounded all over the woods, for a long time afterwards I was too well satisfied with my first dose ever to try another. I shot some par tridges, also a striped squirrel, a harmless litt e creature, somewhat less than the English squii rel. April 12th. — The length of the days being considerably increased, the forest assumed every hour a more vernal appearance. Still none but the earliest trees, and those only in the warmest situations, were in forward bud. As yet, unrelentless winter had not loosened the ice, which bound up the waters in the „ , - f "* RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 243 hay, and every night destroyed the hopes that each morning had created of an event now most wofully protracted. I had walked this morning, with my gun on my shoulder, some distance from my house, considerably farther than I had ever ventured before, having come upon a spot so clear from snow, as to induce me to extend my ramble, as the day was fine, without thinking of my return. Trusting only to my footsteps, and neglecting all other means of precaution, it was not till I began to attempt to return home, that I perceived I was bewildered and unable to find my way back. I grew very eager, and ran backwards and forwards in the hopes of being able to retrace the path by which I had arrived at the spot where I was, but to no purpose : at last I came quite to a stand still, and very soon became completely puzzled. Very uncomfortable reflections immediately suggested themselves, not at all calculated to assist the dilemma, and they were not much relieved when, having climbed to the top of a high tree, I could see nothing but the waving R 2 ^Ai V \ jfi I I |: Iwf * I r ■•"^-^^iiJ 244 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. summits of trees in all directions. I began to think of my own folly, and the change in my life and prospects thus effected within the space of a few short minutes. I might, by good fortune, find my way back, but should I take a wrong course, the long odds were cer- tainly against me. Not to make a bad matter worse, I thought it as well to sit still and think a little, being moreover as near the summit of the tree as 1 could venture, without the immediate chance of breaking my neck. Having observed the highest spot of ground, and taking the best observation I could of the direction of this point, I descended and made towards it, notching the branches as I went on with my knife. Then making choice of the highest of the trees, I climbed to the top, where I received payment in full and com- pound interest for my trouble, by catching a glimpse of the ice in the bay. I very joyfully made towards it, marking the trees in my way as before, and having arrived at the shore, found I was not more than three miles from my house, to which I bent my steps as straight ■a m tai ani shI fhi RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 245 as possible ; so much so as to toil pretty hard in clambering over the trunks of the huge trees which impeded my progress, and floun- dering through the deep snow. My exertions brought to my mind reflec- tions relating to the scanty way I had pro- vided myself with clothes, for I had not cal- culated upon the extra wear and tear to ^\hich my manner of life subjected my ward- robe. What with working with my axe, moving and piling heavy logj, and such sort of occupations, I had been for sonie days past very much out at elbows ; and whcti I got home, after this morning's adventure, the state of my dress was a matter of serious consider- ation. In climbing the trees, I had really left parts of my things sticking on the branches, from the eagerness with which I went up and down, and now that I came to take a cool survey of myself, I found that I was literally in rags, and that too without a tailor to help me. I had, however, needles and thread in abundance, which nothing but sheer necessity could induce me to use ; but the time was come, and I employed myself >i K* 1 ' V .: »?|i i 246 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. upwards of two hours in the evening, by the hght of the fire, in cutting out patches, and sewing them on as well as I could. April 13th. — I shot one of the large sort of woodpeckers, called by the Canadians " cocks of the wood ", in size rather larger than a carrier pigeon, with a bright scarlet crest. The Indians apply the scarlet feathers of this bird to many articles of ornament. This tlay 1 was very near losing my servant, who had been amusing himself, during my absence from home in the morning, by standing upon the large slabs of ice, wliich, having broken off* from the main body, were floating at the edge of the bay. And he ferried hin»self about, as on a raft, with a long pole ; but the piece he was upon split in the middle, and he had a hard struggle for his life, being per- fectly miabic to swim, and away from all manner of assistance. He was severely bruised, and drank more water than was of service to him, so that he was very ill the rest of the day. i||;. April litli. — I had it in cont<3r^ation some days past, to make my way through tlie KE81DENCE IN THE WOODS. 247 forest to tlie head of the Notawasorga river, on objects connected with the duty on which I was engaged ; and as the weather seemed to-day to favour the expedition, I applied to the Canadian, Liberte, to accompany me thither as a guide. I have already described the land communication from Kempenfeldt Bay, through the forest, to Lake Huron. Another road had, however, been cut, by which the land journey was considerably shortened, but it was in a rude state, being merely a track where the trees had been par- tially felled by the axe, and the stumps even of these very imperfectly removed. This road led from the end of Kempenfeldt Bay, straight to the Notawasorga river, making a l)ortage of eight miles. Thence stores of all descriptions were in the season to be trans- ported in batteaux, or flat bottomed boats, down the river (a narrow sedgy stream) to Lake Huron, and put on board the govern- ment schooners appointed for their convey- ance across the lake to the upper port of Mi- chilimackinac. Thus the line of transport all the way from York was, from thence by 4t 'I n ii , .* U Hi S'.l ;if- 'Mm ,' ilili IfSi 14 1 248 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. land to Holland River, communicating with Lake Simcoe. From Holland River, by water, to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay, an outlet of Lake Simcoe. By land, across tiie portage of eight miles, to the Notawasorga River, and thence by water to Lake Huron. The log house in which I was living, was about three miles from the head of the bay, to which point no road had yet been cut, and I started with Liberte, first keeping along the shore of the bay till we reached the track, and then pur- suing it to the head of the Notawasorga River, nfymf- '■-• 'i ■■ k '> ■'.■*■' Liberte possessed, in common with the In- dians, the faculty of crossing the woods to any point he wished, and proposed to make a straight line in this instance, instead of keep- ing along shore ; but I had but recently ex- perienced the sensation of being lost, and I had no wish to run any unnecessary risk. The distance we had to go ana return was only twenty-two miles, and the Canadian, whatever his confidence in himself might have been, had neither ideas nor words to make me at first feel sure enough of his skill to RESIDENCE iN THE WOODS. 249 trust him. When he talked of the rough sides of the trees as the appearance by which he determined his bearing, I could not but re- mark, that to my view the rough sides of the trees seemed to point half round the compass, and to this objection, urge it how I would, he could say nothing explanatory or convincing. However, during our walk along the track, he related to me so many journeys he had undertaken by himself in this way, that my curiosity predominated, and I determined to allow him, on our return, to strike at once homewards through the forest. Although he had not the means of communicating his fa- culty of finding his road, so as to make him- self at all intelligible, he spoke very reason- ably on the subject of another talent, known to be possessed in a great degree by the na- tive Indians ; that of tracking a man or any animal over all sorts of ground and among dry leaves. And this he was able to account for (to my mind) very satisfactorily as fol- lows. The forests in North America are ge- nerally without brambles or underwood, the soil being little more than rotten wood, a coni- u i-y, (i, ■ , 250 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. }' ' '4 f« H I post which takes the impression of a foot like dough. It is different in England, for there the Httle fibrous roots, creeping through the soil, interlace each other, and form as it were a springy frame-work rising up under the foot of a man, or even of a horse, without leaving any impression. The trunks of trees also, which lie about in such profusion, and are chiefly covered thickly with moss, most materially assist the pursuit, for no animal can proceed without passing over them, and leaving vestiges of its progress by rubbing off the moss. We walked a good pace till we reached the point of our destination, and having remained there a short time, so as to satisfy myself as to the objects I had in view, we commenced our return ; and leaving the track, plunged at once into the recesses of the forest, and were immediately out of sight of the road altogether. Liberte was now in his proper element, and though I follov^ed him as fast as I could, I was often obliged to call out to desire him to moderate his pace. The ground was very unequally covered with snow. In V, ■ I •''^*J !; DS. a foot like d, for there ;hroiigh the 1 as it were under the rse, without iks of trees )fusion, and moss, most no animal r them, and by rubbing reached the \g remained y myself as commenced ck, plunged forest, and Df the road his proper m as fast as call out to The ground snow. In Hesidence in the woods. 251 most places it was quite bare, in some we were obliged to wade above our knees, and in particular parts where it had drifted, we were driven out of our line in order to go round. The huge trees which, after flourish- ing for ages, had been blown down in their decline by the high winds^ crossed our path with such frequency, that the operation of climbing was repeated as often as during a walk through a country enclosed by stone walls in England. But a large tree is not so easily passed as a wall, the passage over it being generally only practicable where the trunk is of large dimensions. And a traveller has no choice, for the roots and branches ex- tend too far on each side to make it worth while to go round, even when they do not come in contact with those of other fallen trees ; and several of these frequently lie ex- tended in the same direction. Liberte, from long practice, vaulted over them with great ease and alacrity, and I, with more difficulty, followed him as well and as fast as I could. But it was impossible to avoid stopping every 252 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 1.: H '^ , ⅈ''i ""' tt now and then to observe the stupendous bulk of some of the trees, the great age of which had rendered them most truly objects of ad- miration. The magnificent outhne of some of these, and the tranquil gloom of the forest altogether, was indescribably impressive and grand. In these wild haunts, neglected, though subservient to the purposes of man, nature seemed to have held for ages her undisturbed reign. Where I stood, perhaps the foot of a civilized being had never before trodden. I contemplated a vegetative world, following in regions of unlimil'^'il space, the laws of creation to maturity, and then sinking in every stage of natural decay, till all mingled again with its parent earth. Here, a tree lay prostrate on the ground perfect in its form and covered with thick moss. Attempt but to pass it and the feet sink deep in rotten wood, while the strength of an infanfs arm might scatter its vast yielding bulk in dust over the land. There what was a giant pine, now a low green mound, sunken by gentle degrees to the :i 9 m* t i I idous bulk 3 of which sets of ad- le of some ' the forest essive and d, though an, nature Lndisturbed e foot of a rodden. I pUowing in of creation jvery stage again with y prostrate nd covered pass it and , while the scatter its the land, low a low rreei'. to the I % i i -1 ■■Si' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 25;{ very level of the earth, recalled to the mind the time, when after a few more short years, all remaining traces of its existence should be obhterated, till like those which in preceding ages had passed away, it should become con- founded together and mixed with the soil. The varying duration of animal life, the re- turn of seasons, the orbits of the planets, even the eccentric course of comets become defined, and familiarized with our ideas of time, by the inquiring spirit and science of man ; but the tree still rears its head towards the hea- vens in defiance of his research, while tradi- tion and conjecture alone mark the span of its existence. Generations after generations of the human race have fallen one after another into the grave, and yet in this enlightened age where is the man who can count the years of the gnarled oak ? Can he mark the day when it burst its acorn with much more certainty than he could define the period when each stream and river first bubbled from the ca- verns of the earth ? How grand is the de- sign of nature presented to the view in these -■/ i \ ¥1 ■f:^^^ ^. 254 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ■■fit ■ \ -I: iS profound forests of North America ! A con- tinent abounding in images, not only calcu- lated to magnify the ideas of time and space, but to exalt in the imagination the Creative power, whose wise ordinances thus hold in preparation so vast a field for the unborn mil- lions destined at some future (perhaps not dis- U nt) day to inhabit a country, commensurate in x'j gigantic features with the ever expand- ing powers of modern improvement. The Canadian continued his line with de- termined precision, and without adopting any visible means of precaution, till we arrived at spots in the neighbourhood of my log-house, which I had visited before and were known to me. We were about an hour's walk from home when we came to a wigwam, where an old Indian and his squaw were roasting part of the flesh of a porcupine before the embers of a fire. The meat was transfixed by a straight stick, and thrust down within a little of one of its ends, which rested on the ground, while the squaw sat away from the fire and turned it round by the other. I wtis anxious RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 255 to try a morsel, which was readily given to me, but it tasted so much of smoke, that I could perceive no other taste in it ; besides, it looked very bad indeed. I observed the way the Indian had made his fire. He had rested the ends of three or four logs, of about six feet long, upon two very short ones, placed across and parallel to each other, and then set fire to the long ones in the middle. So soon as they were burnt through, he co .tinued to keep the lighted ends together till the whole were consumed, replacing then^ with fresh The old Indian was :tremely perse- ones. vering in his demands for something to drink, and I had nothing to give him but a dollar, which he looked at with much discontent. I had no less coin, and it was more than would have been necessary, under other circum- stances, to have contented him ; but to these people, the present hour is every thing ; and one single glass of liquor, to be then and there received, would have purchased the post-obit of a much larger quantity. - - . • . '^ April 15th. — This morning the weather n J |<^-:>. u n.^ 25(i KliSIUENCE IN THE WOODS. \ ■*. r* appeared to have changed altogether. The ground was covered with snow which lay ahout four inches deep. The sun, however, came out with considerable force, and it was melted and had thoroughly disappeared be- fore one o'clock. The ice in the bay still held together, although nearly covered with water. I shot a bird, called by the natives a robin, being the size of a blackbird, and in colour like the redwing, with a yellow bill. April 1 6th. — The weather cloudy but warm. On going out this morning I met with several small green snakes, which were perfectly harmless. There is not, I believe, any sort of noxious reptile in this part of the country. The snakes rapidly increased to such numbers, that in a very few days it was perfectly impos- sible to pursue a morning's walk without treading on one or more of them. Where the sun shone warm, they were sometimes to be met with as numerous as earth worms in England, after a shower of rain. ' April 17th.— A strong wind having set in in the night, blowing directly out of the bay, m RESIDENCK IN THE WOODS. 257 I perceived in the morning all the ice broken in pieces, and floating towards the lake. It was moving slowly away, and a considerable extent of water was already uncovered. This was a joyful sight, for of all things a sheet of water conveys the most lively impressions to the mind, and confined as I was from the impas- sable state of the ice to the shores on one side of the bay, the barrier was no sooner removed than I felt a sensation of liberation, which seemed to be participated by the turbulent waves themselves, as, just risen from their bondage, they rallied as it were and held council together, bubbhng and fretting in their eagerness to press on the rear of their retiring enemy. The wind chased the chilly field before it, which, split into mammocks, was every minute retiring farther from the sight, till about three o'clock in the afternoon, when the lively change was altogether perfect, and Kempenfeldt Bay, so long the type of dreary winter, became a lovely basin of pure water. And, as if to add to the gratifying oc- currence, the ice had no sooner disappeared, s III m 258 RKSIDENCE IN THE WOODS. than the wind lulled, and the sun beamed forth to embellish the natural beauties of a spot in themstVes very much above the common order. As the evening advanced, it was beau- tiful to see the enormous pines with which the banks were fringed, reflected in the water, while the winding shore presented a pleasing variety of sandy beach and bluff, rocky head- land. Nor were the animal creation insensible to the moment : the large fish leaped incessantly high out of the water, and it was scarcely dark before a flock of wild fowl flew round and round in circles, lowering themselves by degrees, till each, one after another, dashed •heavily into the favourite element. A sports- man can readily comprehend how animating it was to listen to the wild sounds which now broke upon the ear, as the feathered troop held their gabbling conversation together, and div- ing and splashing by turns, they commenced every now and then a short flight for the sake of a fresh launch upon the water. Every thing now was new ; Nature had thrown off her homely winter's garb, and was beginning to RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 259 unveil her beauties. My enjoyments were from that day increased, and fish and fowl 'vere added *o my resources. It seemed wonderful to think there should be so few among our poorer classes with energy enough to break the chains ol poverty, and visit a land where pauperism is yet un- known; where youth and strength supply the catalogue of human wants, and where in- dustry must meet its sure reward. The exu- berant abundance of wood for fuel renders the fire-side of the peasant, during the long evenings of winter, a solace equal to that of many a wealthier citizen of the world, and as his children, with united strength, drag in each log to the hearth, he rejoices in the clearance of the encumbered earth, when those of the civilized world pay dearly for the enjoyment of warmth. An emulative feeling stimulates the natural industry of his consti- tution. The rattling clank of a neighbour's axe, the crashing fall of a heavy tree, seem to demand responsive exertion on his part, and give rise to an energy, which, even if the tink- ling frosty air at his fingers' ends fails to re- s2 m m I'l: ft ' W* ■ '■ 'I V Mi I ■■vi I m^t .a 'f 260 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. mind him that he has v/ork on hand, quickly rouses within him the spirit of active labour. The work of his young children is of a value to him, far exceedicg the expense of their maintenance, and he lives in the enjoyment of the consciousness of being able to leave them an inheritance of peace, if not of afflr nee. With facilities of water carriage, fish in abund- ance, and fuel, by the help of his gun, he may complete i;lie necessaries of life, and while the partridge and wild pigeon supply him with variety in food, he has also in store both recreation and amusement. It was long after dark when I returned to my house from the banks of the bay, and the night had far advanced before the various sounds of the diflPerent descriptions of wild fowl had ceased, as they settled themselves in their new do- jmmn. April 18th» — I had made preparation for the wild fowl, by forming ambuscades in se- veral pla(;es on the borders of the bay ; and to one of these I in:iade- my way this morning an hour before daylight. The wild fowl kept themselves in the middle of the bay, but I RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 261 -'1 shot a large sort of kingfisher, slate-coloured, with a black crest, and as large as a pigeon. In going home, I saw the head of a small animal, which I thought was a pole-cat, pro- truded from a hole in an old tree. I took a stick from the ground and killed it, when, to my mortification, I found it was a flying squir- rel with four young ones. . 't The snow migi:t now be said to be en- tirely dissipated in the woods, excepting in the ravines and places where the drift was extra- ordinarily deep. . ^ . , , .xi I was aroused in the night by the yelping of a wolf out of doors, close by my house. As I listened, I heard the sound again farther off, and so on till he went quite away. He had no doubt received intelligence of the breaking up of the ice, and had come to meet with his prey on the shores of the bay. My dog was in the room, but took no notice of the noise, which he must have heard. April 19th. I was up again before day- light, and with better success. I killed nine wild fowl of different sorts before breakfast, '#^ 1 ;« ^p I m i , II : 262 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. not one of which could I eat, the flesh being so black and fishy. I saw a canoe paddled by a couple of Indians advancing slowly along shore, and I hailed them, but they were at first unwilling to attend to me, although I succeeded at last in bringing them to a parley ; and found they had two or three large fish in the bottom of their canoe. I made signs that if they would come a little way with me I would give them something to drink, and that I wanted to buy the fish. One of them, a very oV man, appeared to assent to my proposal, and, taking the fish by the gills, accompanied me to my house. In my way thither I called at the Canadian's house for Li- berte, who spoke the Indian language as well as his own. I was very soon owner of a large salmon; and after proper time had elapsed, (for a bargain takes time all over the world,) and not before the eyes of the Indian began to roll in his head from the liquor I had given him to drink, he agreed to terms for some other articles I proposed to purchase. And I bought of him the canoe, which he had left with his ilfca: I lesh being J of Indians 1 I hailed g to attend in bringing had two or heir canoe, me a little mething to e fish. One to assent to )y the gills, In my way }use for Li- age as well r of a large lapsed, (for vorld,) and jgan to roll given him some other id I bought ft with his RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 26a friend at the water's edge, and a fish-spear. For the fish-spear, the fish, and the canoe, I paid him nine dollars, which Wiis quite as much as the things were worth. When we returned to the canoe, the friend seemed to have no ob- jection to the bargain ; but as I saw that the happy state of the old man was all he envied> I gave him drink enough to make him equally stupid ; and then, tying up the old man's nine dollars tight in the bosom of his coat, left both to complete their adventures in each other's company, and I never saw tliem any more. I was now ready to go out the first calm evening and spear lish with Liberte, wlio told me he understood the art perfectly well. The present day, however, would not answer the purpose; for the slightest possible ripple on the water makes it impossible to see the fish under the surface. Liberte undertook to col- lect the barlw of the birch tree in sufficient quantity for our expedition, whenever the wea- ther should turn out perfectly favourable, and examined the canoe, to see that nothing Wiis wanting. vy 5 April 20th. 1 breakfasted very early on m If ■ii I -i, '264 ll£SID£NC£ IN THE WOODS. m I the remainder of my fish, whlcl; ikad >eeii cut into large pieces and broiled on the embers. It was a large sort of salmon-trout, but nei- ther firm nor high-flavoured. Under circum- stances, it was most thankfully received for better. I went out in quest of wild fowl, and shot several ; among them a species of black duck. The wild fowl, generally, were much more fishy than in England, with tlie excep- tion of this latter species. I saw a troop of saw-bill divers, which had taken possession of a small inlet close to the shore, where their pyebald colour and pert crests looked most inviting. Some craggy land overhung their position, which I gained uoperceived, when they were all below me in a iuinp ; twelve, or upwards, within thirty yards, and in deep wa- ter. On vtjy firing, they disappeared like witchcraft. Not one was hit ; and they were Ko long under water, that I could hardly re- cognize the flock when they re-appeared at a great distance. In my hurry to load again, I found I had lost my powder-horn ; to me then a very serious misfortune. I had no means oi' replacing it, otherwise than by the wretched LH«*»' RESIDENCE IN 'XHE WOODS. 265 substitute cf a small bag, which I m^de of squirrel skins, and a measure cut out of a piece of wood. * April 21st. The evening turned out re- markably fine, and the water was as smooth as a looking-glass. Every thing was ready for my fish-spearing expedition, the preparations for which were extremely simple. The fish-spear consisted of a straight handle about fifteen feet long, to which a couple of barbed iron spikes, of sufficient size to pierce a moderate-sized salmon, were affixed. The birch-bark, for the purpose of light, was prepared in pieces three or four double, each the size of a large quarto book ; and one at a time of these was stuck * in a cleft pole five or six feet long, placed at the head of the canoe, overhanging the water in such a manner that the blazing bark migl sliine upon it. It wa;? no sooner dark t^lan I went to the water's edge, where Liberte and another Canadian were ready with the canoe. As he held the vessel to the shore I steadied myself by his shoulder, stepped in cautiously, and took my seat in the middle. The canoe \ i ? i h '^ m 'i :i 1 1 26t> RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. was a very egg-shell, and as cranky as a wash- ing-tub, mere fitted to carry ghosts than men, while Liberte was as ugly as Charon himself. A boy of twelve years old could have carried it, notwithstanding it was to liold three of us. We had an establishment of tinder and matches, and some pieces of fat pork cut into slips as a substitute for candles. As soon as we embarked, the men paddled away along shore towards the head of the bay; and as soon as we came near some small streams whicli set into the bay, we stopped and the men, having struck a light, kindled the birch-bark in the cleft pole. Crackling like soft fat, the unctuous matter produced a c^ear flame, which lighted up the watery depth be- neath us to the brightness of day. The soft ashes which fell occasionally fr >m the fire caused a ripple, which for a moment confused the objects underneath, but otherwise at a depth of ten feet every thing was clear and resplendent. The slightest form was dis- tinctly visible,— every pebble, even the beetle that crawled on the ground. We passed "•'■'/' 3 X RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 267 IS a wash- than men, n himself, ve carried iree of us. \ matches, shps as a n paddled >f the bay; )me small e stopped lindled the skiing like ced a clear depth be- The soft L the fire , confused •wise at a clear and was dis- the beetle Ve passed ' ■**- --* some perch lying close to the bottom, and soon afterwards a rapid quiver of the water announced the presence of some larger fish. Liberte now became animated, and pointing his spear in the proper direction, made signal to the man in the stern to give way. He struck once, twice, without success ; but the third time brought a large fish up on his spear. It was a sucking carp ; a worthless fish, full of bones, and very watery. How- ever we pursued the remainder, and killed two more. We advanced nearer the head of the bay, and at the same time saw two other lights proceeding from the canoes of Indians who had visited the neighbourhood, and were pursuing the same occupation with ourselves. All of a sudden Liberte again sounded an alarm, and off we were again in pursuit of a fish, which I could not for a long time see ; a fine salmon-trout, but of a nature infinitely wilder than the carp. We chased him like light- ning, turning and doubling in \m wake, till I was obliged to hold both sides of the canoe to keep myself from being thrown out into the 268 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. water. However I caught sight of the fish every now and then, when he was for a mo- ment still ; then he made a dart^ and all again was obscure. We were some minutes after him, having lost him, and come upon him again, but finally he eluded our pursuit, and made his way into deep water, till the glimmer of his silver sides was lost in the lurid yellow gleam that, becoming by rapid degrees more and more opake, confined to its very narrow limits our subaqueous pro- spect. I changed places with Liberte, with some risk of being upset, and I took the spear, kneeling down in the head of the ca- noe. (We had regularly replenished our lights, which burnt out every five minutes or thereabouts.) We went back to where we left the carp, and found them again. I struck at them several times, but without success. 1 found it not only difficult to hit them, from the refraction of the water, but impossible, even had I judged the distance correctly, to drive the spear, by its long bending handle, straight forward. I saw some perch close to iJk;M ? 1 'f' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 269 111 M the bottom, and I speared one of them. We were in about ten feet water, and I found it was necessary to aim a foot at least below the object. I had the less difficulty, as they were not in motion. I also saw at the bottom a hideous looking fish, yellow with black spots, the body like that of a snake, with a large head, about a foot and a half long, and some- what in form resembling the small fish found under stones in running streams in England, and called the miller's thumb. I speared him, and found him so strong, that I verily expected he would have broken the handle of the spear. He was what the Canadians call a cat-fish. In his writhing he had a knack of twisting his supple body like an eel round the spear, and with a force that, considering his size, was quite surprising. He was, of course, not eat- able. ■ i '.: ^ — , . - We remained out upwards of a couple of hours, when, having expended all our lights, we returned home. Besides the salmon, carp, and perch I have mentioned, there were other sorts of fish in the bay. Among the rest, one \i 1 ;■ • in 4; 1 270 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. i I 1 f = or two sorts of bass, a fish thick in shape liko the bream, and a small fresh water herring, such as I have seen taken out of Lough Neagh, in the north of Ireland, and where they are chilled pullen. A small craw-fish was not unfrequent. All the fish however, it must be confessed, were of very inferior quality. April 22d. The weather was now very good, but the trees bore still their winter ap- pearance. It was past the middle of the day, when I was sitting on a bank above the wa- ter's edge, close to the place where I had missed my powder-horn two days before, when I espied it lying at the bottom of the water, and on the v^rge of a cleft rock. The water was quite smooth, and, in the part where it lay, nearly six feet deep : it appeared to be resting so precariously above the cleft, that the slightest touch might put it out of sight. So, as there was nothing else to be done, I took off all my clothes, and taking the water a few yards away from the place, swam round so as to have it between me and the shore ; then diving, I managed to get hold of a piece RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 271 of projecting rock with one hand, while I se- cured my prize with the other. The water I was surprised to find by no means cold, con- sidering it had been so short a time released from its covering of ice. It was, in fact, warmer than it would have been at the same season in England. -^ April 23d. My neighbour, Mr. F , whose arrival I mentioned on the 5th, had hi a very few days, by the help of his axe, settled himself in a very comfortable log-house, a very few hundred yards distant from mine ; and he came to me this morning to request me to lend him my canoe to cross the lake to the landing at Holland River, on his way to York. I could not spare my canoe, it was so import- ant ail article of my establishment ; nor did I like to refuse the poor man; so I determined to go myself and to take him with me. I had several reasons for going to York. Among the rest, my clothes were so torn in pieces that it was almost f matter of necessity to procure a refit ; and T.iberte, together with Mr. F., who was an able hand at a paddle, could. '\ ■.^. ^v, ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I l^|2^ |2.5 ■^ 1^ 1112 2 2,0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -« 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 873-4503 .v'A^ «^< <^ 272 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. s'lilcdu. both together, man the canoe. Mr. F. had intended, I believe, to take his wife v;ith him ; but the present plan did not admit of it, for the canoe would hold no more than three persons. The lady, however, was not pleased at remaining at home, and threw ob- stacles in the way, which the husband over- ruled, and the voyage was determined on for the next day. April 24th. At about two o'clock in the afternoon we all got into the canoe — Mr. F., Liberte, and myself. And the two former, at the head and stern, with each a paddle, pulled hard and steadily, so that, keeping in shore all the way, we were soon clear out of the bay. But we had no sooner got completely out of the lee of the land, than we found the wind, which was against us, much stronger than we had expected; so much so, that it would have been unsafe to attempt to stretch across the lake. We therefore kept in shore for about a dozen miles, and then bawling the canoe on the land, we made a fire, before which v/e broiled some fish, and then lay down RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 273 F. had ■e v;ith dmit of re than N3iS not rew ob- id over- d on for c in the -Mr. F., )rmer, at le, pulled in shore ' the bay. ly out of he wind, jer than it would ^h across hore for ding the before [ay down before it for the night, which was fortunately, though windy, perfectly dry. April 25th. At day-light we launched the canoe, and, stretching across the lake, landed at a house situated on the opposite bank, where I got a very tolerable breakfast ; and embarking again, we had not been more than an hour on our way before the wind began again to blow so fresh that we could not pro- ceed ; and although we were a very little way from the mouth of Holland River, found it impossible to reach it, the waves being so rough. Therefore, in order to wait till the weather should be more calm, we hauled the canoe again on shore ; and there we remained on a bare, unsheltered point of land, with the wind blowing a full gale, till six in the even- ing, when, finding there was no chance of fa- vorable weather, we crept a little way along shore, and prepared again for a bivouac. We were very near the mouth of Holland River, but there was a small bay to cross, too rough for our cranky little vessel. April 26th. We were in the canoe again T 274 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ,• 4 at daylight, and in good time in the morning reached the landing where I had embarked on the 26th of February. This was my first voyage in a birch canoe. The weather was certainly against us, but we had been nearly two days going less than forty miles, and had slept two nights out of doors into the bargain. I had taken my gun with me, and as the wea- ther was very good and the river quite smooth, I shot a few birds on the way. One, a sort of reed-sparrow, the size of a thrush, and of a rich, dead-black plumage ; the shoulders of the wings a brilliant scarlet, tempered off with yellow. Its chirp is particularly musical ; it clings by its feet to the reeds, and has a bob- bing motion of its head and tail when on the wing ; the bill quite black, very thick at the upper part, and sharp as a needle at the point. I also shot a dwarf bittern, in all respects like the common English bittern, as to shape, co- lour, pea-green legs, &c., except as to size, which was very diminutive. As soon as I got out of the canoe I walked eleven miles to Newmarket, where I went to the house of itu- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 275 Homing rked on ny first her was 1 nearly and had bargain, the wea- smooth, 3, a sort and of a ers of the I off with isical; it IS a bob- n on the ck at the the point. )ects Uke hape, co- to size, I as I got miles to house of Mr. Peter Robinson, who was kind enough to endeavour to procure me a conveyance to York. April 27th. — Although I was in the town of Newmarket, I found it was by no means an easy matter to procure a horse, or indeed any other sort of conveyance. I, therefore, determined to start on foot the next morning. April 28th to May 3rd. — Having walked thirty miles to York, I went to the house of Mr. C , where I fared sumptuously during my stay. With regard to myself, nothing had transpired, nor could I get any inform- ation relative to the period I was likely to re- main in the woods ; so, having cased myself in buckram, by the assistance of an honest tailor, I soon became, as far as dress could make me, a better man th^n I was before. I desired Liberte to meet .Tie the next day at Newmarket, and hired a horse to be ready at an early hour. May 4th. — Mr. C accompanied me on horseback to Newmarket, where we both put up at Mr. Peter Robinson's house. Mr. C — T 2 M 276 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. also undertook to supply nie with a good staunch batteau, then lying in Holland River^ to take me to Kempenfeldt Bay, and keep there for my use so long as I should remain. May 5th. — Libert e and I walked together from Newmarket so the landing at Holland River, where I inspected the batteau. It was a sovnd boat, but very heavy; and as I had not seen Mr. F- , since I left him at this very spot, he having remained at York, there was nobody but Liberte and I to paddle her. I had never had a paddle in my hand, but knowing how to handle an oar, and being anxious to get on, resolved not to delay. Be- sides, the wind appeared tolerably favourable, and we had a small sail. So, fastening my canoe (which I left here during my journey to York) astern, we both embarked. The wind helped us a good deal ; but our course was not straight, so that we had a good deal of hard pulling, which made me very tired, not being used to it. However, before sun- set, we arrived at the same house on the banks cf the Lake, where I had breakfasted on the iiM, RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 277 morning of the 25th April. I was shewn into a room with a good fire, which, as the evening had set in rather cold, was by no means disagreeable ; and prepared to take my supper. However, before this meal was produced, which, by the way, consisted of nothing more than rashers of bacon and fried eggs, the ar- rival of an Indian and his canoe was an- nounced ; and in a few minutes after, Mrs. F , the lady whose husband had left her at Kempenfeldt Bay, entered the room. De- termined not to remain at home by herself, she had, it appeared, resolved to follow her husband to York, and had arrived thus far under the care of an old Indian, who had brought her across the Lake in his canoe. She no sooner came into the room, than it was evident, by the way she pulled out her pins and placed her feet upon the fender, that she felt herself perfectly at home where she was. I very soon perceived that American customs were likely to prevail, and that un- less chance should throw in a third person to interrupt the tete-a-tete, we were doomed to 278 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. pass the evening in each other's company. This not only ]>roved to be the case, but our landlady positively disposed of us in separate beds in opposite corners of the same room, where we remained till the morning. I had nothing to do with the usages of other coun- tries, but really could not help thinking the proceeding altogether rather strange. I was awakened early in the morning by the busy sounds of a farm-house* The mis- tress was up, and the maid, and the children, and each had something or other to do. One split logs for the fire, another scrubbed the boards, while the landlady regulated the mo- tions of her troops by scolding and encou- raging by turns. She herself had undertaken to whip out the fowls, which had taken pos- session of the kitchen, and were making their exit with all possible reluctance ; cackling, flapping their wings.-, overturning pewter plates, and finally, after raising all the dust they could, bolting out of the window. May 6th. — The Canadian Liberte, and I, pursued our voyage early in the morning, and RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 279 with the assistance of our sail crossed the lake. We then had a great deal of hard puUing. However, soon after midday we hauled the batteau on shore, made a fire, and broiled a large fish I had purchased of the Indian in the morning, after which, being re- freshed, we re-embarked, and arrived at my log house, at Kempenfeldt Bay, late in the even- ing. May 7th and 8th. — Wishing to explore the woods on the other side of the bay, at sunrise I got into the batteau, taking my gun with me, and having provided myself with provisions for the day, when I had crossed over, sent it back, appointing it to call to take me home at sunset. I rambled about all day, visiting one beautiful and picturesque spot after another, following particularly the course of a small stream unusually romantic. Some- times the stillness of the scene was interrupted by a cascade : a little farther the sound of the rivulet which produced it would die upon the ear, as its banks widened into those of a placid lake. Coming suddenly upon wild -pri.;!) 280 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. fowl every now and then, I was the more al- lured to proceed onwards, and I shot several of different sorts, as well as a few partridges and pigeons. I was at a considerable distance from the bay and had arrived at a sequestered spot, where a basin of resplendent water, almost circular, was sheltered all round by magnifi- cent pines ; when my dog suddenly barked, and turning round, I saw an Indian carrying a canoe on his back, approaching the place where I was. He was accompanied by his squaw, and she led by the hand a fine ani- mated little savage, a boy about six years old. A half starved dog, as wild as a fox, accom- panied the party. This animal no sooner saw me, than he ran cringing and yelping to the rear, with his tail between his legs, nor could he be prevailed upon, for many minutes, to advance a step nearer. The Indian had brought his canoe to this little lake for the purpose of fishing, and I very readily made him understand that I was anxious to witness his operations. In a few seconds the crazy h iS-^'i RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 281 toppling bark was in the water, the squaw holding it by the head while the man got in with his fish spear, and then stepping in care- fully herself, she sat down in the stern with her paddle. The man stood upright, an atti- tude requiring an extreme nicety of balance, considering the cranky nature of these birch canoes. They are really the most ticklish of all possible vessels. Empty, they are alto- gether above the water, and do not draw lite- rally more than a couple of inches. When laden, it is not an unusual accident for a man to be thrown overboard out of the vessel, which slips from under him without upsetting, or taking in a drop of water. However, the squaw paddled gently and steadily round the margin of the basin, while the man occasion- ally struck at fish with his spear. In a few minutes he had taken four or five, for he hardly missed a blow. The direction in which he pointed his spear, and the animated ges- tures accompanying the action, were signals readily understood by the squaw, and she re- gulated the course of the canoe and its rate •I 282 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. accordingly. And this was done with the utmost silence. The child was left on the bank while his father was pursuing the fish, and I took him by the hand endeavouring to engage his attention, but he would take not the least notice of me, following the canoe with his little eager eyes, as if he already longed in his heart for the privileges of man- hood. Every time his father hit a fish, the little fellow could hardly contain himself with joy- The fish were now brought on shore, and a fire was kindled. The poor lean cur had ventured within a few yards (urged by starv- ation) for the sake of the entrails of the fish, which, on being thrown to him, he devoured with a voracity really melancholy to see, for he must have been without food a long time. The fish was cut into junks, and these they broil- ed on the embers, and the dog eat the bones as well as the heads and tails. All was then divided into shares, one for the Indian, an- other for the squaw, and the third for the child, whom they called " Cawhee", and each t', --4W.,t: RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 283 mess was put into a small vessel mcide of birch bark, out of which they fed themselves with their fingers. The great utility of the bark of the birch tree is very remarkable. Not only are the canoes in which the Indians trust themselves on lakes sufficiently boisterous, some miles from the shore, made of it, but also all Forts of small cups and dishes. Besides, it burns like pitch ; splits into threads which serve for twine ; and the filmy part, near the outside, may be written upon in pencil, marking no bad substitute for paper. The family h id no sooner concluded their repast, th .ri the man took the canoe on his back, and the squaw, having made a bundle of the things, followed, leading the little boy, and they were very soon out of sight and hearing. I made ray way again towards the bay, and as I came upon the banks, a white headed eagle was soaring high in the air. As he floated magnificently above me, I could fancy I distinguished the unrelentless ferocity of countenance that marked his race. Display- ing his exr ending wings, he r«>w and then i 284 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS, shook his quills with a noise like the flutter of a silken flag in a gale of wind, and he stretched his neck towards the earth as if in defiance of its inhabitants. I fired at him, but the shot glanced from his shield of feathers, and in a few seconds dropped harmlessly into tlie water. •• ■■ '' '-• ^^ •• ■' > Returning to the spot where I had ap- pointed to meet the batteau, I found it al- ready there, and, pulling across, it was almost dark when I got home. > ? May 9th to 18th. — The weather, during these days, was cold and windy, with frosts generally during the night. Vegetation seemed backward, nor was any tinge of green as yet visible on the trees. Working in the forest with my axe on some days, and on others traversing the woods in quest of game, time passed over m.y head rapidly. , I fell in v/ith an Indian who had three young beavers alive. The little things were the size of pointer puppies of five weeks old, and were juct beginning to eat. I felt much inclination to buy them, but the care they re- quired was more than I had it in my power RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 285 to bestow ; I therefore, although with regret, left them to their fate, which was, no doubt, to be speedily eaten by the Indian and his fa- nuly. \i ' j'l , "r;(» "i ■•_ ~ - •, *.. .1; May 19th. — About three o'clock in the afternoon it began to snow heavily, and the ground was covered the rest of the day. My Canadians asserted that they had never re- membered snow so late in the season. May 20th. — This morning the ground was still quite covered with snow, but towards the middle of the day the sun made his appear- ance and speedily melted it. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the noise of a parcel of wolves, which were yelping close to my house. I was well acquainted with the sound, having once kept a tame wolf for some time, so I listened and found that whatever their object was they were remaining in my neighbourhood. I accordingly dressed my- self, and taking my gun from the hooks over the fire, I loaded one barrel with ball, and calling my dog with me, I stole as quietly as I could out of the house. The moon shone I iei|j^*'V f'}*P' 286 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. bright, and I could have distinguished an ob- ject a long way off; however, when I came towards the place where I had heard them, (not above an hundred yards distance,) I could see nothing at all. I had some trouble to keep in my dog, for he was anxious to follow them ; however, I kept him still, and remained so myself, and in a few minutes I heard them again, yelping just as they did before, about the same distance from me, quite in another direction. Thither I immediately posted, and was again disappointed; and they repeated the same manoeuvre several times afterwards, till it was quite evident that I had no chance whatever of getting a shot at them. They no doubt saw me, and instinctively kept out of shot ; so, before I returned to my bed, I gave them a halloo, upon which my dog dashed forward towards them with the most eager alacrity. I was afraid of mischief, and called him back, but Rover was gone, and I called and whistled in vain. He was absent more than five minutes, and came back pant- ing like a badly broken pointer from coursing RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 287 a hare. I had always believed that dogs had an mstinctive dread of the wilder animals, but the above is an instance to the contrary. This dog, a water spaniel, not above the common size, would have hardly been able to throttle a fox ; but he certainly had no fear, whatever respect he might have paid to a wolf in close quarters; his experience at least told him that his enemy would run, for he pursued at a reckless rate, probably sure of never over- taking his game. May 21st. — Flies, for the last few days past, had been making their appearance in increas- ing numbers ; they were already exceedingly troublesome, so much so that the Canadians had begun to wear gauze veils, with which they were all provided during their hours of work. This was a precaution which had never been suggested to me, and, even if it had, probably nothing short of woeful experience would have convinced me of the necessity of using such things. However, matters looked really serious when I found that the tough skins of my labourers were an insufficient de- 288 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 1 — #*'^'-«rt- fence ; and I called to mind what the high- lander had told me in the winter, ( " that the flies wad nap a body ",) with a regret that I had listened without drawing a moral from the tale. This day, in addition to those be- fore arrived, a small black fly came in clouds, so as to give me neither peace nor rest. The summer, which I had with such eagerness anticipated, was not, I found, about to dis- pense pleasure without alloy, and the attacks of these winged vermin were i grievous evil. The sun shone clear and hot, and they pitched upon my face in thousands. They got into my eyes and down my throat, and my temples were covered with speckles. They were so voracious that they suffered themselves to be killed where they were, rather than take the trouble to fly away. With my hands I swept them off by hundreds, and legions returned to the charge so as to torment me almost out of my life. All the morning it was impossible to attempt to shoot, and to drive them away was the whole occupation of the day. They were the size of a large flea. Their sting RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 289 high- it the hat I from se be- ;louds, The jerness to dis- attacks as evil, pitched lot into emples ere so s to be ike the swept Irned to ost out lossible away They r sting fortunately was not venomous. As the day declined they were less numerous, and two hours before sunset they wholly disappeared. Upon no occasion was I more disheartened than by the grievance I had thus endured. It seemed to threaten so much those little comforts which not only relieved solitude, but even had hitherto rendered my manner of life agreeable. My enemies had no sooner retired, than I took up my gun rather despondingly, hoping to obtain at least a few moments' tranquillity ; and, going to the margin of the bay, I per- ceived a large flock of wild fowl on the water swimming along close in shore, and I sat down, with my dog by my side, to await their approach. But a little villain of a squirrel, on the bough of a tree close to me, seemed to have determined that even now I should not rest in quiet, for he sputtered and chattered with so much vehemence that he attracted the attention of my dog, whom I could scarcely controul. Meanwhile the birds were coming nearer and nearer, chasing the water u : t WH ) n 290 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. insects on their way, stretching forward their necks, splashing, flapping their wings, rubbing their backs with their polls, quacking, flutter- ing half up out of the water, and then, with a comfortable wriggle of the tail, sitting quietly down again. With my thumb on the cock of my gun, I was preparing for a double shot ; but the " vagrant inattention " of my dog was truly mortifyii.g ; he kept his eyes fixed upon the squirrel, now so loisy as to be quite intolerable. With my hand I made a motion to threaten him, but the little beast actually set up his back and defied me, be- coming even more passionate and noisy than before : till, all of a sudden, as if absolutely on purpose to alarm the game, down he let himself drop, plump at once within a couple of yards of Rover*s nose. This was too much for any four-footed animal to bear, so he gave a bounce and sprang at the impertinent squir- rel, who, in one second, was safe out of his reach, cocking his tail and shewing his teeth on the identical bough where he had^sat be- fore. Away flew all the wild fowl, and my RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 291 (1 their •ubbing flutter- jn, with sitting > on the 1 double " of my his eyes as to be made a tie beast me, be- oisy than bsolutely m he let a couple too much ) he gave ent squir- lUt of his his teeth d^sat be- and my sport was completely marred. I could not help excusing the dog's error, but my gun went involuntarily to my shoulder to shoot the squirrel. At the same moment I felt I was about to commit an act of sheer revenge, on a little courageous animal which deserved a better fate. As if aware of my hesitation, he nodded his head with rage, and he stamped his fore paws on the tree ; while in his chir- ruping there was an intonation of sound which seemed addressed to an enemy for whom he had an utter contempt. " What business ", I could fancy he said, *' had I there, trespassing on his domain and frightening his wife and httle family, for whom he was ready to lay down his life ? Could I not find, with- in these wide woods, one other spot without the pale of his smalJ limited estate ? There he would sit in spite of me and mine, and make my ears ring with the sound of his war whoop, till the spring of life should cease to bubble in his little heart." ♦ * * And thus he succeeded in driving me away from the spot, and I left him singing the song of triumph, u2 1 A- 1 'i„ -. .-. '•4 :^'^^ 292 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 1 :' and ever after, as far as I was concerned, in full and complete possession. May 22d. — I was in my house rather later than usual this morning, for I was husy in pre- paring a sort of mask of linen for my face, in order to resist, if possible, the attacks of the flies. For some time I had been think- ing of this, but I had not any gauze or mus- lin that would do for a veil, and I had hardly yet imagined a suitable substitute. Now I could no longer delay. My clothes were full of holes, and the flies had read me a lesson, in which their acute reasoning and pointed arguments had prevailed against farther pro- crastination. As I was just beginning my work, my attention was attracted to the latch of my door, which was lifted up, and at the same moment two very pretty young Indian squaws appeared, by their smiling looks, to be asking admittance to my dwelling. Even in these uncivihzed regions there was nevertheless a spirit of flirtation in their man- ner, which has existed no doubt throughout all ages, even from the day when, upwards of sion RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 293 two thousand years ago, Galatea threw a hard apple at the head of the Roman poet. The minds of both were evidently made up to pay me a visit, though it appeared they were un- determined which of the two ought to walk in before the other ; and so the one pushed her friend by the shoulders. Thus, she that was first could not help being p ashed, and being pushed, could not help being first. Not much time was expended on the threshold, for their scruples, whatever they might have been, were speedily adjusted, and on tip toes, with a cautious step, they commenced an in- quisitive survey of every thing I had, of which my double barrelled gun seemed most to at^ tract their attention. Bound to do the ho- nours of my house, I was equally civil to both, and my civilities had of late been but little in demand. In the wilds where I had lived, civil speeches, compliments, &c. had been frozen up, as it were, like the music in Baron Mun- chausen's French horn, and now I had occa- sion for all at once. I continued to hold aa * 7^ 204 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. It W intelligible conversation, although neither of the damsels could speak a wc of English, and I was equally ignorant of thr.r language. Their quickness of apprehension however was such, that I was readily understood. One of them took the needle and sewed the strings to the mask I had been making, which very much amused them both. And they recom- mended me to rub my face with grease, by way of a certain defence against all sorts of flies. Disagreeable as it may seem, I resolved, in case of the failure of my present plan, to follow their advice. After a sufficiently long morning visit, my guests seemed at last anxious to depart, and I accompanied them to the edge of the bay, where they had left their canoe. They were, it seemed, without other company, and, step- ping hghtly into their little vessel, they paddled away round a point of land between the spot on which I was standing and the head of the bay. They waved their hands as long as they were in sight. I knew nothing of RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 295 their history, and I regretted that I might never see them again. Such, indeed, was the case ! In point of clothes and appearance they were superior to any I had seen of their race, and in face and figure seemed to me really beautiful. They had silver ornaments in their ears, a necklace each of blue beads, and quan- tities of scarlet serge disposed about their dress instead of riband. May 23rd. — During the last two days the trees had changed considerably, owing to the warm weather ; and now, for the first time, they might fairly be said to be green. Seve- ral boat-loads of stores arrived from York, across lake Simcoe, for the post of Michili- mackinac, and were landed at the head of the bay. May 24th. — For reasons connected with my duty, 1 resolved to change my residence to the head of the bay, and therefore set the Canadians at work there to make me a log-house. I spent a great part of the day on the spot, not only in determining the situ- 1 1 < t . ii^ 296 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. ation, but in waiting to see the first logs laid on the ground. May 25th. — As I was out shooting I saw a loon swimming towards a point of land where I could easily conceal myself, so I repaired thither for that purpose. A loon is a very large description of diver, but so cautious and wary, and at the same time so quick in turning himself under the water, that, though I had shot at several, I had never been able to kill one. He is covered with small spots like those of the starling, and is the size of a large goose. He has a wild, anxious gait as he is swimming, constantly turning his head from side to side as if to be upon his guard against an enemy ; and his cry is as wild as his looks, for it exactly resembles the whoop- ing of an owl. I had arrived at the place, and the bird was approaching. Now and then, as he came on, he stretched his long neck for several seconds under the water, looking for small fish ; and when he had nothing better to do, he turned his head round, in order to tickle his tail with his bill. I felt myself sure :4 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 297 of him ; and^ choosing the latter attitude as the one in which he was the most exposed, I let fly when he was within thirty yards of me. My gun went quick as lightning ; but the loon was still quicker, and, scrambling over out of sight, came up again in a few seconds perfectly unhurt, and whooping as if to mock my attempt upon his life. I never again shot at one of these birds. The Indians shoot them frequently; which is very sur- prising, considering that their guns are of coarse Birmingham manufacture, and their powder very indifferent. They kill, never- theless, extremely long shots, putting in a large quantity of powder and very httle shot ; and they have a way of enticing the loons by a call and a red rag at the end of a stick, which they practise with great success. May 26th. — My new log-house was not finished, but I resolved to move my quarters, as the day was fine, at once ; and so, having put all my things into the batteau, I was go- ing to walk along shore through the wood, when I saw an Indian passing by in his canoe. I .1 i 298 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. :l H li^ I i i m and hailed him. He was making his way to- wards the head of the bay whither I was go- ing, and I asked him to take me on board,— not so much for convenience as from curiosity. He pulled in shore immediately, and was amused at my request, seeming particularly entertained at the clumsy manner in which I got in. His family consisted of the squaw, a httle girl of about ten years old, another of six, and a third of four ; and as I was just going to sit down in the bottom of the canoe, the squaw gave me a hard pull by the coat, and, removing a dirty blanket, uncovered the features of a little infant bound, after their fasliion, very securely upon a board : and this made the fourth child of the party. The squaw was going to remove it to where she Eat in the stern, but I gave her to understand that I would nurse it as we went along ; and I took hold of the wooden frame and laid it on my knees. It was admirable to see how well the little thing was secured from harm, and how quiet and contented it seemed in its state of impri- llitri] ^m '4 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 299 sonment. Protected from the weather by clothes in numerous folds, a circular piece of wood formed a guard for its head, and alto- gether it was the same as taking hold of a fiddle, so tight was it bound upon its wooden frame. With its arms and legs in a state of confinement, the little being could only move its wandering eyes, which, together with its tiny trembling lips, told the tale of its tender age. I could not help considering the mode of treating the infant savage, of which I had an example now before me, more worthy than I should have imagined of being placed in comparison with that adopted among civilized people ; and certainly, whatever may be said against it, it possesses some advantages over our mode of nursing. During the first few weeks of infancy, when the very bones have not acquired their proper consistence, and the unclosed skull hangs a dead weight upon the body, the Indians bind, as it were, the tender plant to a stake, to be protected in its growth from that violence of motion, those twists and strains, which with us confessedly lead to some 300 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 1 1 I" '^ ,; i of our most dreadful disorders. Here was a child happy as it could be, and as warm, with- out a pin in its whole dress to torment it, ca- pable of enjoying exercise, and of being moved from place to place over land and water, with- out the slightest stress upon its pliant limbs. The canoe, paddled by the squaw sitting in the stern, glided quietly along within a few feet of the shore ; and the Indian stood up all the time in the head looking out for fish. The sun shone bright upon the water, nevertheless I could not discern one, although he struck at some several times on the way. He killed three bass, turning round the spear each time to the squaw in order that she might extricate the fish. The least unsteadiness on his part might have precipitated the whole party, chil- dren and all, into the water ; but he kept his balance with such extraordinary certainty, that I very soon lost all apprehension of the possi- bility of such an accident, and we arrived at the head of the bay, where we all got out. The Indian and his family were on their route to Lake Huron, and they had now eight RESIDENCE TN THE WOODS. 301 miles to travel to the Notawasorga River, all which distance it was necessary to carry the canoe. He immediately commenced prepara- tions to take it on his back, and for this pur- pose he fixed a broad strip of birch bark to the centre thwart, making the ends fast to each opposite gunwale. The thwart then rested on his shoulders, and, having placed a piece of bark doubled under it to prevent its galling, he contrived to lay the greater part of the weight of the canoe on his forehead by means of the strip of bark, which at the same time kept all steady. The canoe once poised, was nearly horizontal, and on he marched, car- ing little for the weight. Before he set off, however, the squaw stuck his gun and the fish spear under the thwarts, and then made up her own bundle. She carried this, much in the same way, by means of a forehead strap ; and on the top of it the little Aea-fKorrjs rode upon its board, having been first safely tied by the little girl with strips of bark, so that it could not possibly fall off. The three 302 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 1 ijt children brought up the rear, and the whole party soon disappeared. May 27th. — I went out in the evening to spear fish with one of the Canadians. He speared eight fish of different sorts, one of them a remarkably fine salmon trout. I found my canoe grew very leaky for want of the proper sort of turpentine for paying the seams. It was of so delicate a make that it required not only the greatest care on my part, but more than I could give it from want of experience and knowing how to handle it properly. I saw it was approaching towards its end, and in a little time would be good for nothing, and, as the batteau was too unwieldy for my purpose, it was time to think of sup- plying its place; and therefore I resolved to set about making, with the assistance of the Canadians, a log-canoe. May 28th. — I went out into the woods to look for a tree suitable to the object I had in view, and very soon pitched upon one. It was a fine white pine, and its girth, between RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 303 three and four feet from the ground, was ele- ven feet three inches. I began immediately to cut it down with my axe, and was so*ne time about it, working very sharply, and was a good deal tormented all the while by mos- quitoes, for the tree grew in a low, swampy place, where there were a great many. T killed a few )ccasionally upon my face and wrists, though I was too eagerly employed to care much about them. At last the tree fell to the ground, and I left the spot, when I soon found that I had reason to repent my visit to the mosquitoes ; for their bite was so acrid and poisonous, that before the middle of the night I was in a state of actual misery, and felt a degree of inflammatory itching so intense that, bemoaning my hard fate, I was forced to exert my utmost resolution to enable me to endure it. My eyes were closed, and my wrists were knotted and swollen to double their natural size. May 29th. — I got up in the morning a hideous figure, as far as the only piece of looking-glass I had (a circular bit of about a 'I 304 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 'ti" couple of inches' diameter, fixed in the lid of a little box,) could inform me. My eyes were both black, and my cheeks puffed out ; but the pain and heat were gone. These mosqui- toes are attached to particular situations in the woods : they like wet, swampy places, and remain there till some unlucky person visits them ; otherwise they do not go out of their way " en masse " to infest people. This little bit of natural history I have ever since remembered. May 30th. — I had happened to break one of the iron spikes of my fish spear. This day I met an Indian in the woods, who spoke English tolerably well ; so I asked him if he had one that he could sell me. He said, "No; but may be me make one very good : " and so we went together to my house to get the old one, and at the same time he took hold of my double-barrelled gun, and began to examine that. It had met with a trifling ac- cident,— a small piece of wood having been split off between the lock and the barrel ; and the moment he saw it he said, " Master, In- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 305 (lian man mend that too." As I intended to stand by him all the time to prevent his doing mischief, I told him he should. He accord- ingly set to work with great ingenuity. He forged the iron of the spear in my fire, beating it with a hammer against a large stone ; and he made a very neat splice to mend the gun- stock, which he cemented with a sort of glue he carried in his pouch, and made by boiling the bones of fish. I tried to get him to explain how it was that he found his way in the woods ; but, like the rest of these people, let the questions be stated to them how they may, their ideas are so limited, that they cannot be brought to reason upon the most trifling operation of the mind. He told me of a beaver dam, as it is called, in the neighbourhood : a work erected by the animals for the purpose of rearing their young, and where they live in considerable numbers. It was about four miles off, on a small river which crossed the road I had tra- velled towards Lake Huron; so that I under- stood, by the direction he gave me, exactly X 300 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. "..; ; . . £ki» 1 Hi i; I > \f K where to go. I was very curious to see the work of these wonderful creatures, and would have taken the Indian immediately with me as a guide, but he could not stay. In the evening I went by myself, and, when I came to the river, I followed the banks till ]. ^ad nearly, as I thought, arrived at the spot. There appeared what I fancied the remains of an old wooden bridge, made of the trunks of small trees, and broken in the middle. The stream was moderately rapid, and immediately below the bridge there was a turn in the river, so that it formed a still pool of rather large dimensions. I pursued the course of the river for some distance farther, but finding no signs of the beaver habitation I had come to see, I returned home. Upon talking to the Cana- dians, I found that the bridge which I had taken for the work of man was literally that of the beavers ; that the place had been de- serted by them for some years, therefore the remains only of their works were to be seen. The structure was wonderful : the work was carried on under the water as well as above it ; RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 307 and the trees were of such a size, and laid with such ingenuity one upon another to op- pose the current, that one would have thought that nothing short of human skill and science could have contrived it. May 31st. — I went to see the Canadians at work. They were employed in making a sort of wharf, with pine logs, to facilitate the landing of the boats. There was an old man among them, an EngUsh Canadian, whom they called Mr. Weller; a very steady character, but so very grave and free from every thing at all like fun, that he was a continual source of merriment to the rest, while, on his part, nothing at all disturbed his tranquillity. The men had all on their veils, and the flies were buzzing in vast quantities about them, while Mr. Weller alone was without any sort of covering on his face. Accordingly, I told him to trim the pine that lay in the swamp where I had been so miserably stung, and calling him away, accompanied him to the spot. The mosquitoes were in a moment at their post, and I could hardly preserve my x2 4 1 308 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. gravity, as I began, by flattering his skill, to propose to him to fashion the tree into the form of a canoe. He readily acceded to the undertaking, and I left him hard at work. In about a couple of hours I returned to see how he was going on. As the day was exces- sively hot, the situation had one advantage ; that of being cool. Long before T arrived, I heard the blows of Mr. Weller's axe falling steadily one after another, and as I approached him, there he was, without coat, waistcoat, or hat ! His shirt collar was open, and he was slashing away just as if there was no such thing as a mosquitoe in North America, al- though they were swarming about his head like bees, and absolutely standing on his hair. " You are a little troubled here with mos- quitoes, Mr. Weller," said I. So he drew himself up to answer, and after spitting out the little bits of wood that had flown off the point of his axe into his mouth, — " Yes," said he, '*^ they are pretty considerable thick, but they don *t hort me much with their bills, if they didn't keep on wMzzling so about a RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 309 body's head :" and then he looked at his large fore-finger, and seemed to be thinking. He told me " he had been married thirty-five years, that his wife was much respected, and did a great deal of business." " What busi- ness?" said I. "What business?" said he, " why she rides." Still I was in ignorance, till I found, that for an old woman to ride, meant the same as to say, that she practised the profession of a midwife. And so I left Mr. Weller, who worked the remainder of the day without making the least com- plaint. June 1st. — One of the men brought in an animal, which he had killed in the woods, and which he called a wood chuck, or ground hog, about the size of a Chinese pig half grown, and resembling a Guinea pig in shape and species. They burrow in the ground, are particularly fat, and so slow of foot as to be easily overtaken. They are said to be good eating. I shot a bird a little smaller than a thrush, with a red breast and head, and back of a bright blue. The wea- f ll ill 310 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. M- thcr was now moderately cool, and similar in its variety to that in England at the same time of year. Mr. Wellcr had finished the canoe before sunset, and I had her brought down to the water and launched. But she was so lop- sided as to be quite unserviceable in her pre- sent state. To remedy this was found to be no easy matter. Large chips were cut off with the broad axe, which produced various changes of her position on the water ; but the changes were all wrong, and do what we would, we could not lay her quite horizontal. Besides, the wood was green and heavy, and she sunk by far too low. Finally, we nailed a small slab of cedar on her side to produce an equilibrium ; but, after all, she looked so ex- tremely awkward, and the case was so hope- less a one, that I was not only obliged to abandon her altogether, but was at consider- able additional trouble to fill her with large stones and sink her, for she looked so ugly that I could not bear to see her. So I was again obliged to have recourse to my birch RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 311 canoe, the seams of which one of the men contrived to pay tolerably well with turpen- tine, and she became again fit for service. The wild fowl had now nearly all departed, and spearing fish was almost my only amuse- ment. The partridges too were gone. In fact, the birds had all begun to breed. In- stead of my gun, therefore, I generally car- ried my axe in my hand, by means of which 1 made myself tired enough to feel conrfort- able during the very short time I sat still. One or other of the men was frequently bringing in fish caught in various ways, by angling, trolling, &c. I had plenty for breakfast and dinner. With reference to past times, therefore, a comparison natu- rally suggested itself in favour of the pre- sent hour. I found the solitude of my life every day less irksome; and an additional source of interest rose up more and more in the objects around me. In cutting down trees I had learnt to make them fall which way I pleased, and I was continually engaged by thus increasing the natural beauties of my 312 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. situation, and removing the obstacles which blocked up my favourite paths. I extended my walks, by marking the trees in a particu- lar way, as I went, so that I could wander far from my home and in perfect confidence of not losing my way. June 2d. — The weather to-day was clear and warm. I walked a long way from home, and had pursued a straight line, over ground altogether new to me. I came at last to a ravine, where an unusual extent of open space presented itself, covered at the same time with lovely verdure. The charred trunks of the trees bore testi- mony of the cause, and it was evident that the part of the forest I was in had been de- stroyed a few years before by fire. Thus, the large trees had been consumed, and the ashes had given birth to a rich growth of shrubs, now wearing the cheerful green of spring, and enlivened by a profusion of wild flowers, creeping out of the earth, and dis- posing themselves in the delicate arrange- ment of nature everywhere around them. In f^ RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 313 tliis sweet shrubbery, there was the birch and maple, (the token of an improved soil,) while wild currant and gooseberry bushes, in rich abundance, tufted the banks of a little stream of clear water. I naturally stopped to look around me, and sat down quite delighted at so charming a spot. Beautiful birds were drinking, and splashing themselves in the water, and gaudy butterflies, of a very large size, were fanning the air with their yellow and black wings. At tliis mo- ment, a little blazing meteor shot like a glow- ing coal of fire across the glen ; and I saw, for the first time, with admiration and asto- nishment, what in a moment I recognized to be the greatest of Nature's beauties of the feathered race, that resplendent living gem, the humming bird ! Buzzing hke an humble bee, which it exactly resembled in its flight and sound; like it, it sprang tlu'ough the air, by a series of instantaneous impulses, tracing angle after angle, with the velocity of light- ning; till poised above its favourite flower, all motion seemed lost in its very intensity ; and I su RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I5il^. |fi '. the humming sound alone certified to the ear the rapid vibration of wing by which it sup- ported its Httle airy form. 1 was never more excited to wonder than by this httle creature, so unexpected was its appearance, and so much more did it resemble a splendid shining insect than a bird. The plice I was in seemed fairy land com- plete, and it was matter of regret, that nvpo9 17 fiaXepa yvdOos, the voroctous jaw of fire, had not more often, as in the present instance, effected such changes of scenery in the neigh- bourhood of my dwelling ; for it is remark- able, considering every Indian and traveller usually lights his fire against the trunk of some prostrate tree, and leaves it burning, that conflagration should not be more general and irequent. As it is, however, few summers pass away without instances of such accidental combustion, (one, indeed of late years, most serious and fatal in its consequences,) when volumes of smoke, proceeding from a spot dis- tant and unknown, envelope in thick fog the inhj?^bitants of the settled parts of the country, RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 315 who pursue tlieir daily nvocntions without cn- quirinpj^ from whence the winds have wjifted the fi^loomy curtain, althougli the air is oh- scured and darkened as if hy a natural mist. ' June 3rd. — This evening, as the weather was particularly fine, I went out in my birch canoe to spear fish, and narrowly escaped a serious accident. I had taken one of the Ca- nadians with me as well as my servant, and was kneeling down in the bow of the canoe, where I had a large heap of pieces of birch bark split into the proper shape, from which I occasionally replenished the light in the cleft pole which overhung the water. We went on paddling round the margin of the bay, till I had taken two oi three fish. But, some how or other, just as we happened to be making across from one point to another, and were in deep water, a little bit of the fire fell unluckily among the magazine of combusti- bles, and the whole in a moment was in a blaze, together with my check linen shirt, for I had on neither coat nor waistcoat. I soon extinguished the fire which was destroying my f 316 UESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. hi shirt, but not before my hair and eyebrows wore a good deal singed; and working on, by very great exertion I t)nt out the lire altoge- ther. But my liand and right arm were bhs- tered, and I was very near giving uj) the point, and jumping out of the canoe to swim ashore. The whole business occupied but a very few seconds from the time that the fire was blazing twice as high as my head as I knelt, till wc were left glimmering in the dark like an ex- pended Catherine wheel on the water. The fishing was quite put a stop to for the evening, and {IS it was too late to procure iVesh lights instead of those which had been consumed or spoilt, nothhig was left but to paddle home. June 4th, — I saw two very pretty Indian damsels busily employed, broiling fish over a ,fire they had made on the margin of the bay. Each of them carried a gun, and their canoe was fastened to a large stone. A fish spear was lying in the canoe, also a large salmon trout, which apparently had been just taken. They were gaily dressed, and their cheeks marked with stripes of red paint us if they ^"^^u.^ IIESIDKNCE IN THE WOODS. 317 wcro prepared for some festivity. I proposed to buy the fisli, but they were so unaccount- ably shy that 1 could not prevail upon them to hsten to a word 1 had to say ; nor by sign or hieroglyphic could I make the least im- pression. They ran into the forest, leaving the fish to broil by itself. So I went away, and left tliem to their repast. Afterwards I discovered that they were living under the protection of one of the gentlemen of the North-west Company, and that, notwithstand- ing the extreme propriety of conduct for which I had given them credit, they were in fact no better than they should be. A/ter this, I was in the interior of the forest, and I chanced to sit down. My dog was with me, but had wandered away, for I had not my gun with me, and took therefore little pains to restrain him. I heard the sticks crack close behind me and thought it was he, but a moment afterwards saw a large long^ legged wolf which had passed within a few feet of me. With his head and tail low, he was going a lurching, stealthy trot. When I saw bim he had got about ten yards from me I! 318 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. .1 1 »'' ?. r: i "I but he did not look behind him or quicken his pace, but leaped easily over a fallen tree, and was immediately out of sight. Had I my gun with me, instead of my axe, I could have readily shot him. June 5th to 15 th. — The weather, during the whole of this period, was very like that of England; variable, but equally temperate in the extremes. The voracity of the flies, how- ever, was beyond all controul. They were a very plague. Different sorts were ushered into existence, and in a few days replaced by others; bands of unconquerable guerrillas, which harassed and tormented me without mercy. There was a day fly, and a night fly ; for the mosquitoe shouldered his arms as soon as the others went to their rest, making up in his weapon, his deficiency in numbers. So bad, indeed, are the mosquitoes, that I have no doubt whatever, that were a man to be ex- posed to them for the space of an hour with- out his clothes, they would absolutely sting him to death. -;;.:,,; ., >., :; , Boat loads of government stores were now arriving, as well as those of the North-west RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 319 Company, on the way to Lake Huron, and the margin of the bay began to be a scene of active bustle. The house of the Canadians (a member of whose mess my servant had been long since enrolled) was crowded with casual lodgers, and it was with difficulty that I could now keep my own house to myself. I had been in the habit of doing as much as I could for myself; and as I lived almost wholly on fish, I very often cut it into junks and broiled it with my own hands. Still my servant had quite enough to do, for he washed my clothes, baked my bread, cut birch bark in the woods for lights, went out fishing, and led a life, not solitary like mine, but joyous in the extreme. Too much so, though his habi- tual sobriety as yet resisted the deleterious spirits, called whiskey in the country, which the new comers dispensed among the Cana- dian labourers. Long afte^ I had retired to rest at night, I heard the bursts of carousal and joUity, with a regret to think of the total change of affairs, and that my days of tran- quillity had too soon passed away. 320 (. »,/ 4.V i't SUMMER JOURNEY FROM LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC, BY THE FALLS OF NIAGARA AND THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. June 16.— This morning I received letters from York announcing my liberation, and conveying to me instructions to proceed thither on my way to Quebec. The intelligence gave me great pleasure, and I immediately commenced active preparations for my depar- ture. Little, indeed, I had to prepare, and that little was most willingly undertaken. Mr. F had returned some time since, with his wife, from York, and, hearing of my intended movement, came to me to volunteer to take a paddle in the batteau., to which I acceded. The wife again remonstrated, however we left her behind; and this arrangement Mr. F was, I found, upon any reasonable ex- cuse, always ready to agree to. * ;* The man who was the bearer of my letters. BUMMER JOURNEY, ETC. 321 IMCOE [lAPIDS letters )n, and I thither jUigence lediately kr depar- are, and ^n. Mr. with his intended take a Lcceded. 5ver we lent Mr. lable ex- letters. had been sent to take charge of some stores which had been forwarded to Kempenfeldt Bay, and he had brought with him his wife and a little infant child. They had slept out of doors the night preceding, and the woman and baby had both suffered severely from the flies. The poor child's head was miserably swollen, and the good looks of the mother were entirely destroyed by red knobs all over her face. No wonder the poor creature was in a peevish humour, for besides these sufferings, and the loss of beauty, the most severe of all was disappointment ; as she had been quite deceived in the accounts of the place to which her husband had brought her. As I was to be off in two hours, I gave up my house with a good grace to her immediately, but in return she abused every thing in it, so that I was happy to keep out of her way ; and more happy still, when, with Mr. F and one of the Canadians, just before I was stepping into the batteau, I saw, for the last time, her poor husband at the extremity of his wits to find argument to satisfy her remonstrances, and •1 '" ii mm\ 'fi *' 322 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ii r' whip away the flies with a Httle green bough at the same time. It was about four o'clock when we went on board ; the evening was delightfully fine, and the little wind that blew was directly in our favour. We hoisted our small sail, which be- came gently distended before I lost sight of a few honest faces who came to the water's edge to witness my departure. " Bon voy- age" was more than once repeated, I am sure, with sincerity, and more than once I was recalled from my musing by the rude twitch, with which something or other on which I had heedlessly seated myself, was jerked from under me. Moments of sudden excitement are in- variably succeeded by those of seriousness approaching to melancholy, as if the mind had convicted itself of error in having yield- ed to the delusion of happiness; and now in the eager anticipation of change, aided by the exertion of a few hours' active pre- paration, the showers of the rainbow had been forgotten, while the colours alone had *-'Ur» LAKB SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 323 presented themselves to the setises. New scenes of life were before me, and I was at that moment commencing a journey, which would probably finish, and that before any distant period, in England. I was leaving a spot, where, however I might have accom- modated my habits to circumstances, if I had suffered no real grievances, I had unquestion- ably enjoyed but few solid comforts. Variety was before me ; transition from place to place, from object to object ; I was again to mix in that general intercourse with the world, with- out which the choicest gifts of Providence are vapid ; and still, in spite of all this, it was not without feelings of real regret, amount- ing to a depression of spirits, that the well known trees and points of land on each side of the bay, one after another, receded from my view, and gradually, in succession, became lost in the distance. Such is the natural at- tachment to any spot, however rude, which can be called home ! All the difficulties and inconveniences of my life were in a moment forgotten, as my heart whispered adieu to y2 I :* '* ^»tr- 824 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM each particular object, as to a friend or ac- quaintance with whose image the association of happy hour" was intimately blended. Let those learn (and many there are who might profit by the lesson) who, having within their possession home and its enjoyments, know not how to appreciate the blessing ; how possible it is to fly to the forest without finding solitude, and that a lonely uncultivated spot is in itself capable of creating an interest sufficient to dis- pose the mind to true happiness and content. We were soon at the mouth of the bay, and making a good passage across Lake Sim- coc. The sun had set, and as we skirted the shore the fire flies were sparkUng in glittering swarms among the boughs of the trees which overhung the water's edge. Hitherto I had not seen any of these insects in the country, and T thought them larger and more briUiant than any I had met with in other climates. The wind, which had been all along very gentle, now became quite lulled. The men accordingly took to the paddles, and, keeping in shore, pulled on at a steady rate ; and so LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 325 we proceeded smoothly during the silent hours that passed away, while the whooping of the night birds, and the croaking of deep mouthed frogs, bore sole testimony to the existence of animated nature. June 17th. — As the pale light of morning gleamed upon the lake, large water hawks, the colour of herons, were to be seen upon their chosen station, and from the craggy stump of a decayed tree, watching for their prey with eyes intently fixed upon the water. And kingfishers, the size of pigeons, slate- coloured with blacK heads, would plump like stones in pursuit of the small fish that ap- peared upon the surface. As the day broke we approached the mouth of Holland river, disturbing various sorts of wild fowl as we passed along the banks, till the ruddy light of the sun shed a glowing hue upon the sur- rounding objects. It was a fine summer's morning, and I was regretting that my gun was packed up, al- though we had very few miles to proceed to the landing, when a fine mallard, which had t 326 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ^' ■h risen out of the reeds, made its flight suddenly over our batteau. Terrified at the unexpected encounter, he turned suddenly, and at the same instant the report of a gun sounded close by us. Nothing of life remained as he fell hurled, by the impulse of his flight, with in- creased velocity upon the water ! There was something so unlooked for in the fate of the bird, that it was re Jly a subject for reflection; when a canoe, with two young smart squaws in it, darted past us, and one of these imme- diately picked it up. ..ft: They wore men's hats, of shining coarse felt, and jackets and petticoats, of glossy blue cloth, ornamented with red serge. '^.:.d I im- mediately recognized my two friends, whom I had seen a few days before broiling the fish in the woods at Kempenfeldt Bay. Their protector, the North-west gentleman, was I do not know where, while the damsels were pursuing this roaming life, more memorable perhaps on account of its economy than its morality. Here was an establishment wherein the means of conveyance, as well as the poul- '}"- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 327 terer and fishmonger were provided, in the shape of a canoe, a Birmingham gun, and a fish spear. A little brick-dust served the pur- pose of rouge, and sturdy blue cloth super- seded the more flimsy articles of millinery. The men who had been paddling all night were jaded and tired, and the squaw who had killed the mallard, having loaded her gun, took her seat opposite to her companion ; and they pulled their canoe along at an astonish- ing rate, twisting and turning with great velo- city and skill. They were particularly diverted at the appearance of our batteau, which was a heavy unwieldy vessel, and, being in high spirits and full of mischief, they amused them- selves by quizzing the men ; first passing us like a shot, then dropping astern and going round us, till, seeing some object which at- tracted their attention, they left us in eager pursuit towards the lake, and we saw them no more. . . ' Having breakfasted at a house on the banks of the river, I would have hired a horse, or any sort of conveyance, to enable me to pyo- I ill' fi .iifc 328 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ' I 'i I i ; K I: ^« ceed; but that was altogether out of the question: so, leaving my servant with the Canadian who was to carry my baggage, I set out on foot, on my way to York. I was not averse to walking alone, and I went silently off, while Mr. F and the host were driv- ing a hard bargain for a pig. The day be- came intolerably hot, and at the end of twenty- five miles I came to a house which looked so comfortable that I resolved to remain there for the night ; and after the rough life I had been leading, every thing looked particularly neat and tidy. On the way I had picked up a land tortoise, as it was walking slowly across the road, not far from the river. Soon after I had arrived, my servant and the Canadian came in with my baggage, Mr. F not having brought his negotiation to a conclu- sion. June 18th. — I walked (twenty-two miles) the remainder of the way to York, along a wide earthy road, fenced off on each side by the American rail fence, and v;here traffic and a good even substratum of stone were alto- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 329 gether wanting to bring it towards perfec- tion. Although summer had now re-esta- blished her reign, a heavy sameness prevailed over the face of the country, and in the short space between the road and the forest, the naked stumps of trees standing in the ground, gave a desolate appearance to the fields on either side. I saw a number of yellow birds, such as I had not met with in the woods. The common English martin is to be seen here, forming its nest in the hollow trees, of the minute fibres of roots strongly cemented together, so as to make a compact vessel as tight as a China cup. June 19tii to 9Tth. -Previously to proceed- ing to Quebec, I had proposed to myself to \isit the Falls of Niagar-i, and having heard of a vessel about to sdl for Fort George, I engaged a passage .',ii board her, but her de- parture was postponed from day to day, dur- ing which time my stay was made agreeable by the kindness and hospitality of Mr. C , at whose house I resided in the interval. June 28th. — The distance from York, the M 330 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ;i capital of Upper Canada, to Fort George, at the mouth of the Niagara river, is thirty miles. At six in the evening I went on board the Jane, a schooner of fifty tons, and we imme- diately set sail. There was so little wind that we were all night on Lake Ontario, and riie births in the vessel were so bad, that, as the night was mild and fine, I preferred lying on the deck in my clothes, to occupying the best of them. • June 29th. — At nine o'clock in the morn- ing we arrived at Fort George, when Mr. B was not only kind enough to invite me to his house during my stay, but lent me a horse to ride to the Falls of Niagara, now sixteen miles distant. No time was expended in delay, and so soon as I had breakfasted, my foot was in the stirrup. I was scarcely out of the town, when I was surprised and pleased at the totally diiFerent cppearance of the country, to that of any part of North America I had yet visited. That the road to the Falls of Niagara should be one of con- siderable traffic, and better, in consequence, LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 331 than the other roads in the country, is not to be wondered at : I could fancy myself trans- ported to a cultivated country in Europe, and on the high road towards some opulent city. As I rode parallel to the Niagara river, which rolled its course on the left hand below me, through a rich ravine, whose elevated banks were covered with ornamental trees and shrubs, I called to mind the banks of the Ga- ronne in the south of France, to which the country oore a striking resemblance. The rich diversity of foliage which prevailed on every side, w^as a kindly relief to the eye, so long overwhelmed by the prevalence of the dismal black pine, and it now dwelt with grateful delight on the abundant variety of nature, dis- posing in tasteful succession the wild peach, cherry, sassafras, hiccory, aspen, sycamore, &c. - . The roar of Niagara already was distinctly audible, and I saw the cloud of vapour, which, hanging over its verge, like a white pillar in the heavens, pointed towards the chief won- der of the earth! • . ..^ '^ <• I rode on till I came to the inn wliere I m"^ 332 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM . m:. 4 was to leave my horse, and taking a guide with me, proceeded on foot. We descended towards the river, crossing some fields cover- ed with high dry grass, with a rich bottom of clover and thyme. My guide cautioned me to beware of rattlesnakes, which he said were numerous just where we were. None, however, did I see or hear. On our wav towards the Table Rock, we were less than a mile from the Falls, when a sight burst upon the view which I was not prepared to expect — that mighty, rolling mass of water, which above the cascade, rushes on- wards, furiously foaming with a velocity tre- mendously increased to its verge; for the Niagara River, hurried through its lacerated channel, spreads itself over an inclined plane of considerable declivity and magnificent ex- panse. For the space of a mile before it reaches the Falls, islands and shoals obstruct its course, and black rocks protrude their rugged summits in defiance of the surge : monuments to man of an event which the brief span of his memory has failed to re- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 333 cord. That jarring shock, when the river yielding its rived banks to the torrent's force, first bounded from the verge of the preci- pice ! When, with impulse instantaneous, the stupendous cataract, generated in the convul- sion of conflicting torrents, first thundered into being! - With the strongest anticipation of a spec- tacle, the very grandest of Nature's efforts, I was, on my arrival, utterly unprepared for the splendour of the reality. I had reached the Table Rock, and the volume of tumbling waters, their deafening sound, unceasing descent, the reverberation of the mass below, driving to the very skies its steaming vapour, — all com- bined to produce unusual sensations of wonder and awe. Chaos seemed before me ! My ears were confounded ; my sight was dazzled by whirling eddies, and the everduring liquid arch, preserving from generation to generation its palpable figure, formed of particles, my- riads upon myriads of which, for the very minutest portion of a second must have re- m^ed suspended each in its place, to per* ' i ■I si 334 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM . t form its ordained function in the scale of creation. Thus eternity obtruded itself on the ima- gination, wonderfully, infinitely divisible ! Below, and within a very few yards of the abyss, a heavy stillness pervaded the whole surface of the river for a wide extent, as if paralysis had succeeded the violence of the shock ; but the milky whiteness of the water bore testimony to the laboured heavings of the current underneath, hurrying along in an overpowering stream towards Lake Ontario. At a distance of five miles from the Falls, the celebrated whirlpool, attracting the largest floating bodies within its vortex, holds its un- ceasing struggle with the stream, which be- comes afterwards gradually more and more placid. At Queen's Town, which is four miles farther, it is still extremely rapid ; but after a short distance, and before it empties itself into the lake, it has assumed a quiescent and a tranquil course; nor does any turbid ap- pearance remain, to convey the slightest idea of proximity to the cataract of Niagara. ' ' ' LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 335 June 30th. — As it was now my object to proceed to Quebec, by the rapids of the St. Lawrence, I engaged a passage in an Ame- rican schooner, of fifty tons, which was proceeding in ballast to Sodus, (a port 120 miles distant on the American side of the lake,) there to take in cargo, and sail forth- with to Kingston. July 1st. — I got on board at six o'clock in the evening, and we immediately weighed anchor. The births and accommodation were uncommonly good. The weather was mild and temperate, and we had a gentle fa-^ vourable breeze. • July 2d. — At five o'clock in the afternoon we made the port of Sodus, after an extreme- ly pleasant passage. Sodus is a neat country village, situated at the head of a beautiful bay, which forms an excellent harbour for shipping in all weathers. The shores of the lake are hereabouts remarkably bluff, and as the eye glances from the craggy summits of the cliffs to the wide expanse of waters which wash their base, there is no feature in the 'L I iiili !:|;-i 336 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM whole prospect which serves io distinguish a difference between this noble iiesh water lake and the ocean itself. The short, light green wave reminded me of the Bristol Channel and other inland seas. Having landed, I went to the Troopville Inn, kept by Captain Wick- ham, of the United States Militia, and here I was to remain till the vessel should be laden. An unexpected delay, however, seemed likely to take place, for on the 4th of July, the next day but one, was to be celebrated the festival of American Independ- ence, on which occasion a country brll was to be held at Captain Wickham's house, when, as a matter of course, business stood slUL , July 3d. — The vessel had now nearly half her cargo on board; and I prevailed upon the master to lend me his boat, in which, attended by a couple of stout Yankee sea- men, I passed the evening in rowing about in the bay of Sodus. A finer piece of water can hardly be imagined. The most delicate ishrubs fringed its banks to the water's edge, and the winding shore broken by creeks and *ife^ LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 337 inlets, furnished store of incessant variety. We were at one time struggling over shoals and through reeds, then breaking forth again into a wide expanse of clear water, where turtles were to be seen in great numbers, float- ing on the surface. These creatures were extremely wild, always disappearing long be- fore we approached them. Their egg-shells were lying about the sand on the shore in great quantities. July 4th. — Captain W and all his family were in the greatest possible bustle the whole of the morning, in mating preparations for their company. In the mean time I walked out for a few hours over a country, under a degree of cultivation such as I had not seen for a long time, and where the fields, hedges, and stiles made me almost fancy I was in England. On my return, the people of the house, without intending to be uncivil, were extremely rude ; nor could I prevail upon them to prepare any- thing for my dinner. I got a piece of a cold meat pudding, out of which, those who had gone before me had made so judicious a selec- z i' '>, iiilf:. III . tfl ilj '[I 338 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM tion, that very little remained but bones and pieces of fat. However, there was soon some- thing else to think about, for the people began to arrive, consisting of young farmers, dressed in coats of glossy blue cloth, with broad white buttons, and rosy damsels, in white calendered gowns, somewhat rumpled by having been packed too close in their carts or whiskeys during the journey. Some came in these carriages, and others on foot, till a large room below was quite full, and they all began to dance. The fiddler sat on a chair placed upon a large table, playing country dances, and roaring out the figure. T^iere was not an old person in the room to direct the flock, which was noisy and riotous beyond measure. X About three o'clock 1 went down to the water's edge, where there were a great many small vessels made fast to the wharf; and, as they impeded the landing of people from small boats, those parties which were making their way to the ball by water, clambered up and walked on shore over a plank, which was LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 33<]f laid down for the purpose. As I was looking at the people landing in this way one after another, a tidy little woman, not more than thirty years of age, and very smart, was pass- ing the plank, when her foot slipped, and she fell into the water between the vessel and the wharf, and I had a great deal of trouble to pull her out, for she was out of her depth, and I made several snatches at her without effect. With the first good hold, however, I succeeded, but not before her breath was almost gone ; and I supported her on my knee, to allow the water to run out of her mouth. At this moment, her little daughter, (half as old as herself, so much for early mar- riages,) who had just heard of the accident, came flying across the vessels, and seizing her mother by the shoulders, " Mother, mother," said she, " how came you to fall in V* The poor woman's speech had not returned, and the more she gasped for breath, the more the little girl persevered in shaking her, repeating her question with a froward animation pnd eagerness, expressive of the truest affection z2 340 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM It i rr ,1 -. •i|! *. ■*>- 1 > and anxiety. In a few minutes, the woman wa«; quite well, and lamenting her wet clothes. About twelve o'clock at night, some of the company at the ball began to move off, each damsel chaperoned by her partner. Some, perhaps because they were more fa- tigued, or having farther to go, lay down in pairs on the floor at the end of the room, to rest themselves till morning. Before one o'clock, not less than a dozen of the dancers were in this manner recumbent, — and it was all considered proper. " What Mrs. Grundy would say " to it is another matter, . July 5th to 6th. — It was unfortunate that the gentlemen whose business 'u was to load the schooner, had been among tlie principal beaux at the ball the night before, and it was more unlucky, that they required an entire day to recover from their fatigue. The schooner lay at the wharf the whole of the morning of the 5th, quite deserted, without even a boy in a red night-cap to answer inter-^ rogatories. The festival of Independence LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 341 comes only once a-year, and the people of all sorts seem to make the most of it. How- ever, early on the morning of the 6th, barrels were seen trundling merrily towards the water's edge ; and before three in the after- noon, we sailed with a favourable breeze out of the harbour. Before sunset we were quite out of sight of land, and to all appearance as much at sea as if we had been in the middle of the Atlantic. The master of the vessel, as the night came on, determined to lay-to until the morning. Had we made the islands called the False Ducks before dark, we sliould have stood on for Kingston Harbour. July 7th. — At daylight we proceeded on our voyage, and anchored, at nine o'clock in the morning, at Kingston. I heard that Co- lonel P was just about to leave Kingston, in a batteau, for Montreal, and it was pro- posed to me to accompany him ; an arrange- ment which suited me in every way. So, having breakfasted on shore, we were all in the batteau and ready to depart before eleven o'clock. Our batteau was a large flat-hot- 342 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM In p i mi mi If I'll I' if ; tomed boat, pointed at both ends alike, and manned entirely by French Canadians. The wind was favourable, and we had a large sail to assist us; so that we very soon had an op- portunity of hearing a genuine Canadian boat-song. In it there was a vast deal more noise than music, nor of all others that I heard these men sing during the voyage, did the melodies bear the slightest resemblance to any I had heard before. The refrein of one of these songs I happen to recollect, and it is as follows : M fc e^ E iti=pr -^ Sommes nous au mi - lieu du bois. i I »:rz(?: -^ Sorames nous au ri - vage e. This they roared out without mercy, in full chorus, and one at a time sang the song itself, which treated of the hardihood of the Voy- ageurs, the troubles and difficulties they en- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 343 counter, not forgetting their skill and bravery in surmounting them. We had a pleasant voy- age dow^n this noble river, where the " Thou- sand islands " present a prospect of land and water, as if a recent deluge had inundated the country. We went about thirty miles, when we put up for the night at an inn adjoining the shore. July 8th. — We proceeded down the river as far as Prescott. July 9th. — The rapidity of the stream had now so considerably increased, that we might well have expected to encounter the Rapids, towards which we were quickly advancing. At last the roar of the Rapide Plat was dis- tinctly heard ; a heavy sullen sound like that of the sea; and the surface of the water, though gliding onwards with extreme velocity, was level and smooth in the current, but at the same time full of little eddies and whirl- pools. And so we glanced along till we pitched down at once into the Rapid. " A^ terrel' '^ A large,'' was now the cry, as the steersman gave his directions to the men to t I ■>; 344 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ^wl^i li ' • 1 mi *^ keep the heiid of the batteau on or off the land ; and every man tugged hard, and work- ed with great animation till we were through the rough water and again in tranquillity. We afterwards passed the Longue Saut, through a channel so full of rocks and shoals that no vessel but a flat-bottomed boat could possibly have lived in it. Sometimes we seemed on the point of being dashed against the land, till, snatched away by some unseen eddy into another direction, we were twisted down a watery precipice, and carried across a bubbling field of waves and breakers, till once more in open space the lessening roar of waters died upon the ear, and the beauties of the surrounding scenery again burst upon t'je Siglit. :. • . . •. • ^ As our batteau was shooting along at a most rapid rate, we came suddenly upon a point of land where three deer had stepped down to the water's edge to drink. The timid creatures stood quite still and looked at us as we passed within a very few yards of them,— of so little importance, amid the noise and crash LAXE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 345 of water, was a boat with near a dozen men in it! Although none of the considerable Ra- pids can be passed without a severe struggle for a boat, (unless one of large size,) there is no real danger, and accidents are seldom heard of. It is an undertaking which most men would encounter once for the sake of curiosity, but very few would repeat for plea- sure. The scale of things is infinitely large, and the expanse of water so great, that cascades, whirlpools, and bubbling gulfs, are changing places with each other in the uncontrollable variety of an obstructed torrent. Although the main stream remains always the same, the effect produced by the back currents and ed- dies is so different, that boat after boat sub- mits as it were to the caprice of fate, and, like feathers in the air, no two together can ever possibly follow the same identical course. — We proceeded this day as far as Cornwall, where we put up for the night. July 10th. — We had passed Lake St. 246 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM > 4,1 rff 'I 1 (, Francis, the Coteau du Lac, and the Cedar Rapids, and we were carried along not only by the rapidity of the stream, but by the as- sistance of our sail. The wind had been agrinst us, but had now become favourable ; at the same time the clouds seemed to threaten us with a thunder storm. As we had not many miles to proceed to the town of Cedres, the men pulled hard, and we made all the way possible ; at the same time the sky grew blacker, till it almost touched the water, and the wind too increased very considerably. The tempest was hanging on our re?^' as we flew before it, and we arrived at Cedres just in time to run into the inn before the first big drops, which were to be plainly seen falhng a lew hundred yards behind us, had overtaken our batteau. It was a severe storm, and lasted a good while. In the meantime we dined, and in about a couple of hours, the weather having quite cleared up, although the evening was advancing, we re-embarked, intending to pass the night at La Chine. The LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 347 men took some time to arrange themselves in their places ; but in a little while all seemed right, and we were drifting with great velocity towards the verge of the Cascades' Rapid ; and, when it wslb too late to stop, we found that half the men were quite drunk, and the steersman the worst of all the party ; so we were obliged to snatch the oars from these men and do as well as we could for ourselves ; and I never saw a more cowardly set jf ras- cals than the boatmen. They absolutely cried till they roared, and were as helpless as a parcel of children. In the mean time we had got into the middle of the torrent, which was sufficiently ill-treating us ; but, by pulling hard and holding water, we kept the boat's head right so as to get through the Rapid at the expense of a good wetting. But we had wandered altogether out of our course, and had fairly lost our way upon the river, which became extremely wide, and divided by the intervening land into several channels : and thus we pulled on at a venture till it grew ;i'" iiii.';i ^M^ ^v 348 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM ■I I quite dark. We were then on the opposite bank of the river, and gave up all hopes of crossing over back again to La Chine. At last we came to the mouth of the Chateaugay River, which we entered, and found out a miserable house, where we passed the night in our clothes, among swarms of mosquitoes, dirt, and 4 sc 3 of untidiness. July 1 1th. — \) " were glad enough to leave this place, and had crossed the St. Lawrence and landed at La Chine before six o'clock in the morning. Here I got a comfortable breakfast, and, finding I was within nine miles of Montreal, I hired a calash to take me thi- ther. It was a high, clumsy-looking buggy, with head, apron, &c., and built apparently with little regard to weight. The wheels were excessively high, and there was a small seat in front for the driver, who rested his legs on the shafts across the horse's rump. A stout grey cob took us along at a very good pace, and I arrived at Montreal in time to take my place in the steam-boat, which was LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 349 to move at two o'clock the next morning for Quebec, — the passengers to be all on board at eight o'clock. I dined at a table d'hote, and went on board. July 12th to 13th. — We arrived so late at night at Quebec, that none of the passengers went on shore on the 12th ; but on the morn- ing of the 13th I landed under a very dif- ferent temperature than prevailed on the day when I had last crossed the river among ti.e ice, in the log-canoe. On that day, in c.ie winter, the thermometer stood ?it least twelve or fifteen degrees below zero of Fahrenheit ; it was now at ninety-five in the shade. Having got a passage for England on board a transport ship of 200 tons, (the crew con- sisting of six men and a boy,) we weighed anchor on the 29th, and, after tacking about for twenty-four hours in a fog off the mouth of the river, (among a parcel of other ships, all of us ringing bells and beating drums,) and weathering a stiff gale on the Banks of Newfoundland, we made a good passage, and reached soundings on the 27th August. At a, I .11? # air 350 SUMMER JOURNEY TO QUEBEC. daybreak on the 28th we made the island of Guernsey, which the master had mistaken for the Lizard. Laying to for the night off Port- land light-house, we set sail the next morning, the 29th, and I landed safely at Portsmouth about noon. ^ ■Ui.:, 351 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. To liave lived in North America without forming a favourable estimate of the advan- tages possessed by the poor of that country over those of our own, is quite impossible ; nor can it be wondered at, that the condition of the labouring classes should be better in a land where the inhabitants bear so different a pro- portion to the cultivated soil. At the present day, while Nature points out to the dense population of Europe an expanse where her surplus numbers might spread themselves abroad to any degree of extent, the art of man seems to second her efforts, by divesting locomotion of its difficulties ; so that an ab- stract question urges itself more and more every day on the mind, on contemplating the face of the universal globe, why the human race should continue to be distributed with such extreme mequality upon its surface. I '! ■I '!»• 352 CONCLUDING REMARKS Without presiiminp^ to determine on the general expediency of a system of emigration, it may not be amiss to urge one or two brief remarks, founded oa local observation, on some of the objections which at first sight appear to be arrayed against it : and first, as regards the severity of climate. This does, in fact, make age, state of family, constitu- tion, &c., very important considerations to persons intending to undertake the life of a settler ; although, as applied to practical rea- soning, it has been in all probability extremely over-rated and exaggerated. To a traveller, the difference of temperature, under all the disadvantages to which he is subjected on his route, such as the being obliged to inhabit houses hastily raised, huts, &c., and being constantly, from his unsettled habits, ill pro- tected in every way from the weather ; these circumstances, I say, form no fair criterion as to the effect of the temperature on the con- stitution ; and it is quite as unreasonable to institute a comparison between him and the settler, as to compare the life of a soldier in ON EMIGRATION. 353 sight the field with that of a citizen in a populous town. Every climate is unhralthy where men are insuliicicnHy protected from the weather ; on the contrary, the being well housed and pro- vided with fuel is more than an equivalent for extreme severity of cold. To some of tJi3 hardiest animals Nature assigns the warmest habitations. As to the human race, in appre- ciating the value of warmth, we need not go farther than take the peasantry of England and Ireland. Why are the poor of the latter country confessedly more robust, although more ill fed, than the former? Doubtless because the walls of the mud cabin are imper- vious to the weather, while its inmates are provided with sufficient fuel. The cottage of the English pauper is usually a straggling, ill-contrived building ; his fuel is scanty, and the consequence is, that rheumatism reigns the endemic disease of the country. Taking, therefore, into consideration the quantity of timber for firewood at the disposal of the set- tler m the North American colonies, it will A A i u I III II 354 CONCLUDING REMARKS i ■I .