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WHO INTEND SETTUI^ ABROAD; ^.^ WITB «* THE MJ^ORANDA 0P A SETTLE R^^N CANADA. »• *^i •1 BSINO AN ACCOUNT OP HIS FinST SETTLIMKNtI' 'ai8 'OAIlV OCCITrATIOKfl^ , ♦ ' ■,-:■ ;> ' THK PRXC»I of lAilOURi pilO¥I8tOK8, TIIAVEIXINO, &C. Axn. ;l »T OOVEIINIIB^ AGENT lOll EmGRATiON; OF ** A DE8CAU>tIVS AVQ ffTATISTICAL ACCOUNT Ot CANADA J ft LONDONi CUN;NIIilQHBf% UOWVIUmi^ ABi(.AI»|^^|M^fi'r| / : ^ ' Vv.*'^' i IHE EMIGRANT'S MANUAL. r #'l ^fr tl THE EMIGRANT'S MANUAL: PARTICULARLY ADDRESSED TO THE INDUSTRIOUS CLASSES AND OTHERS WHO INTEND SETTLING ABROAD; TOGETHER WITH *'THE MEMORANDA OF A SETTLER IN CANADA." BEING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRSr SETTLEMENT, DAILY OCCUPATIONS, PRICES OF LABOUR, PROVISIONS, TRAVELLING, &C. ? BY THOMAS ROLPH, ESQ. ' GOVERNMENT AGENT FOR EMIGRATION. AUTHOR OF " A DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF CANADA}'* " CANADA V. AUSTRALIA j" ETC. LONDON: CUNNINGHAM AND MORTIMER, ADELAIDE STREET, TRAFALGAR SQU-ARE. I. 9 - tU^S CONTENTS. *f4 Page Dedication 1 On the choice of a Locality ...... A Brazil and the States of Colombia . • • • 6 Continental America ....••• 7 Texas 8 United States 9 The Canadas .....••• 1^ The Australias 21 The Cape of Good Hope 24 The Voyage and Expenees ..•••• 25 Government Emigration Agents in Great Britain . • 29 „ „ in the Colonies .... 30 Memoranda of the Settlement and Daily Occupations of a Settler in Lower Canada . • . • . 33 Informarion for Emigrants with Capital • 69 Table of Rates of Wages , • . 80 do. Retail prices of Provisions 82 do. Prices of Agricultural Produce and Farming Stock ,83 Expenees of Travelling 84 Information for Emigrants of the Labouring Classes • 89 Analysis of the progress of 724 Emigrants ... 97 h 3 1 "i "1 I I t THE EMIGRANT'S MANUAL, TO THE INDUSTRIOUS CLASSES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. It is at length an acknowledged fact, admitted nearly by the whole commurify, that emigration presents tho most effectual mode of relieving the distress now un- fortunately so preralent through so many districts of the United Kingdom. It is admitted that a very large por- tion of the globe is still untenanted by man, and that whilst many of the countries of Europe are crowded with a starving population, there is abundant room in many regions of America, belonging to the British Crown, for millions of human beings to exist in com- fort and abundance. But notwithstanding all that has been written, and all that is every day said on the sub- ject of emigration, there is still a great want of that in- formatioHj especially among the labouring popu- lation of these kingdoms, which is necessary to enable them to make a proper choice of the land which they shall adopt as a permanent home for themselvesand their children. We frequently see lamentable instances of the more adventurous being misled by the false repre* A • 1 f i. t i n J citation- of land jobbers and speculators ; wbile others nr-elabonring under etjUiilly false impressions and fears as to the dangers and difficn.lties attending a step which their necessities render every day more and more impera- tive upcjnthem. It is well kn wn that I have devoted my humble eff'orts to the diffusion of more correct infi)rma- tion on this impottant suhjei't, and it is with no little pleasure that I reflect on the results that have flowed froirt my endeavours. I have the satisfaction of know- ing that from the simple statements I have made as to the advantages presented l)y British North America,! have preserved many loyal subjects to her Majesty, and have advanced in no slight degree the comfort of the indi- viduals, and tlie prosperity of the provinces. It is from no feelings of vanity that I thus refer to my own efforts, hut rather as an apology for adding another to the many works that have appeared on the subject of emigration. I have endeavoured in person to explain to my fellow-countrymen the benefits they would de- rive, an 1 the difficulties thay would have to encounter in esfablishing themselves in a new country; but the impossibility of extendii g this means of information so fast as the urgency and pressure of the distress now sb unha])pily prevalent through the land would require, has induced me to resort to a publication, sufficiently cheap to be within the reach of the humblest, and so explanatory as to enable the uneducated emigrant to understand the merits of the vast regions oCered tg his choice. ; while others )usand fears as g a step which [1 more impera- ve devoted my )rrect infiirma- with no little it have flowed ition of know- made as to the Lmerica,! liave estv, and have rt of the indi- ces. It is from T to my own ing another to the subject of son to explain ey would de- to encounter ntry ; but the ■ information e distress now -vould require, n, sufficiently blest, and so ted emigrant ns ollered ta The idea of this little vvDrk was first sn^^fry^ted to me by the publication in tlie QMcbec Mercary of" Me- moranda," by "a Settler in Lower Canada, containing some of the most practical and usefid information on this most interesting subject. These Memoranda I republish, adding such other information and such comparisons between the ditTerent countries, as well as our own colonies, as may be reqnisite fv)r C3ming to a fair and advantage )Us decision. I have done this in no invidious spirit, and I court investigation and inquiry. My countrymen shall not be misled if I can prevent it, nor will I voluntarily mislead them myself. In reference to Canada and thij United States, I speak from actual observation and know- ledge ; and when I have had occasion to refer to li^ny of the sister provinces, I have done so oh. undoubted authority. In making any observations on the mare distant dependencies of the British Crown, I have been influenced by the most careful impartiality ; but I do not feel disposed to spare those who, for their own profit, endeavour to allure Englishmen to the tropical re^,i )ns of Panama, or who seek to induce them to exchange the blessings of our ow^n Constitution, and the mild rule of our excellent Q.ueen, for the unsettled democracy of Central America and Texas, and hastily condenui, from some itn or twelve days' inspection, some of the fairest countries in the habitable world. I am most anxious that this publication shall be use- ful to the indasirious classes; for thju;rh many a half- ' CD m A J I <> il I 4 jiay officer and many a gentleman, now strugglittg \v\tU the difficulties of a large family and a circumscribe ^n» come, would find themselves in comparative comfor: :,nil aHuence on the banks of the St. Lawrence, yet they have the means of acquiring more extensive informa- tion for themselves. To the Industrious Classes, there? fore, I dedicate this Manual ; and if it shall succeed in removing one false impression, of inducing one fam- ily to encounter the voyage across the Atlantic, ai>d be the means of placing them in comfort p.nd indepen- dence — which their own indolence qind want of exer? lion can alone prevent them from securing, I shall conr sider that 1 am richly repaid for my labour. To the Farmer, ^the Mechanic, and the Labourer, I dedicate this work, and 1 beg leave to subscribe myself their de- voted friend, THOMAS ROI.PU, I 1! '[! CllAr'i'ER |. 1 shall suppose that the emigrant, baying dcleriiiined Gn leav« ing his native country, is anxiously deliberating on the part of the world to which he shall turn his steps. Ii is very proba- ble he has not the means of access to the various publications of the day, giving the best a,ccoi;nts of the different regions to which enterprise is :^tti acting the population of the older countries, and he is obli«>ed to seek his information from news- papers, and other che^p source^ of knowledge. In every column he finds some new region set ou( in glowing terms, and the superior advantages it is said to possess painted in the mos^ attractive colours. The riches of S6uth America arc spoken of in one, the Uepublic of Texas puts forth its claims in another. One pamphlet cries up tl^e United States as possessing every requisite lo render his futujre life happy and comfortable; the Australias offer certain employment, high wages, and speedy afHuence, and he may perhaps find some intimations, that in the North American provinces belonging to the British Crown, he will find u congenial soil, the institutions of his nat;ive land, and a land in which, if he dees not meet with the realiza- tions of the golden dreams and visionary pro^i ects held out to him by distant schemes of colonization^ he M'ill yet enjoy that comfort and independence, that certainty of competence, and of a provision for his children, which is denied to his anxious efforts in his native land. I shall assist him in his delibera- tions — first, by shortly considering the claims Wfiich foreign iuuds can put in. A 3 i •,)> 6 Wc sluill take Brazil, and the States of Colombia ; whero the acknowledged fertility of the soil yields a return to the husbandman far exceeding the most favourable productions of our Northern climes, where winter is unknown, and the means of subsislance spring up almost spontaneously. Don Pedro the Second being anxious to increase the number of his sub- jects, offers great inducements to emigration, and Englishmen will find no diiTiculty in obtaining grants of land gratuitously from any of the states that may occupy a portion of that im- mense continent. But the prudent emigrant will consider how far atropical climate will suit the health of himself and those who are dear to him — how his constitution will be adapted to labour under a fierce, su'.try, vertical sun — how he and his children are able to submit to the total change of food and habits of life which will there be entailed on them? Various are the disvorders incidental to that country, unknown in thia, which, if not en- demic in the regions I am considering, areof very frequent occur- rence, and if he should be destroyed by any of those causes, what is to become of his family in a foreign land, aniong a people deeply wedded to their own peculiar notions, and look- ing on foreigners, at the least, with jealousy and dislike. That these dangers are not imaginary, he may be convinced by the rate of mortality among our troeps stationed in the most favourable localities in the West Indies, who have not the out-door labour of an anxious settler to encounter. It must also be reircmbered that the skilful ploughman of Europe knows nothing of the culture of the Sugar Gane or the Cotton Plant; that he has his business to learn on his arrival in a new country, with even the language of which he is totally unacquainted. 'Ihefe is another important consideration: in all these countries the ^overnmeiits have been so unsettled, that there is no assurance of the grants of the President of to day being respected by the military chief of to-morrow. Even in the- Brrizils, politi- cal aaoassinations are not uncommon, and violent maaife&ta- \ . \ . tions are often crinccd against those Englishmen who majr become possessed of property, and thus awaken the cupidity of their poorer neighbours. In fact, there is no security fc;r persons or property; and, without this, were the ephemeral governmentft to offer a gratuitous principality to the English cottager, he would make but an indifferent exchange. It is not many months since one of the ofiiters of the English Navy, com- manding some small sloop of war in one of the ports on the South American Coast, found it necessary to sink the vessel of the Admiral of one of these rejiul)lics, in order to show, "by the only arguments the people were capable of comprehending, that aggressions on English subjects were not to be committed with impunity. The same objections apply with equal. If not greater fbrce.to the •ettlement» in Central America. 'J'hcse lands are either in the republic of Guatemala, or in the territories of a black chief- tain, rejoicing in the name of King of the Mosquito shore, or, ts the grantees of his Majesty have softened the name, to Mos- quitia. It was once called Poyais, but as this, as well as the word Mosquito, might give rise to some unpleasant recollec- tions and ideas, Mosquitia has been chosen as a better title. There the emigrant is promised everything — he is to find every production of the earth, from the useless mangrove to the purest virgin gold, offering itself to his service: bat let him take into his calculations the ravages of the yellow fever to which 80 many brave fellows have fallen victims — of the cotip de soleil so fatal to Europeans who may be exposed to the burning rays of the sun. I recommend him, in order to form a correct idea of these dangers, to apply to any of the Assuramo Offices in this country to know at what rate per cent., they will insure the life of a resident on the Mosquito shore. Then comes the question as to the security of his property. He places his confidence in a potentate, who, if willing, would not be able to protect him very cfticieutly even agaiuat-a gunj of pirates, A 4 8 aii run a parallel between their tervitorics and the!pritish North American Colonies in the progress of my future enquiries, aiii therefore, for the present, it will only be necessary to consider tihe more general grounds on which a British emigrant may QOme to a satisfactcvy conclusion. The fi^bt, and most esson- ^1 question, will be thq,t of health. The Southoni States would be objectionable on this ground alone, that they share ^e liability to yellow fever, and other tropical diseases, incom- 5non with the other shoves of the Clulph of Mexico ; and while the ^gae^icans themselves, Avho c&n aflford it, carefylly avoid. New ©gleans and Alabama during the hot months, I trust np. iPiitish emigrant, who (annot periodically remove himself and \i^ family^ oy who must be exposed to daily out-door woik ^r tjieir maintenance, will voluntarily place himself in the fti^Jtry and pestilential marshes of the Miss'ssippi, or its neijjhi llQUring rivers. The same objection applies to almost all the states ^ja.t,h of Visginia. Even in the more northern pails as la^x 4 0' 10 as Kontiicky, Ohio, and Illinois, fevor and aguo oro so pro val(M)t, that tho escape uf the backwoodsman and his fauiilf from their attack is tho exception, instead of the rule, '^'his ii a most important consideration ; but there are others which ought to have equal weight. The existence of Slavery, which isat demoralizing in its effects on the white population, as it is cruel and unjust to the coloured race, ought alone to form a suAicient objection to the choice of a slaveholding state as the home of a Briton. By an Act lately passed in the State of Alabama, any one within the limits of that State may seize upon a free jierson <:f colour found there, and reduce him to irremedial and perpetual slavery. They will not allow him tho wretched pri- vilege of proving his own freedom, and taking his own body away. Again, will the emigrant be a gainer in point of good government, of moral society, or of religion, in adopting this foreign republic for his home ? If we turn to any of the well-authenticated accounts of that country, we find the arm of justice both weak and slow in its operation ; wft find Lynch law (otherwise mob law), as a summary mode of inflicting punishment on the victims, perhaps, of popular clamour, or popular delusion, of very frequent occurrence; wre hear, especially in the Western States, of the bowie knife and rifle forming no inconsiderable portion of the title to landa acquired by the will of the solf-called owner, and held by the accuracy of his aim and the strength of his arm. We find in all, litigation resorted to for the most trifling matters; and though the Superior Courts appear to be inferior to none in the soundness of their law and the talent of their members, yet in those of an inferior class, and in the distant regions to which a new settler would be attracted, local partialities and attach^ ments take the place of law and equity. Throughout the States no impartial witness will deny that an overweaning vanity, a contempt for foreigners, and especially of Englishmen, jfoundcd on extreme ignorance and conceit, is universally pre* 11 vttlent; and with rogjyrd to roligioui* fooling — tlioii^Ti thore hOf Riiil I know thoio aro, very many pious aiul oxcoUcnt men to 1)0 foiuul — yot the groat mass of tlio po©j)le arc far, very far, fcnn-i possessing any fixed principle*. The means of roligious instruction are lamentably doficient. Itinerant preaphors, depondont for ^heir stdjaistenco on chance contributions or on the hospitality of tl^e settlers, are the principal guides afforded to the iynornnt, to whom they are themselves not (ax, superior. Nor docs the so much boasted >eliglouft.ltbert,y really exist. Burlington, the caj>ital of the Stalo «f Vermont, and Charleston, near I5(.titon^ will lf)ng bear witness to the violence and bigotry of these who call themselves re-» I'igious ; and the violent prejudi( es too often taken up in all countries by an excited and i'Miorant mob cannot lauiQ bo re-» attained by the bund of the law, bonce the destruction ©f the convent at Charleston, and that of the layge edifice con» •ccrated to liberty, wbicb was openly burnt at ncou-day by tho sovereign people. It would be impossible to place in stronget parallels the opinions of two deservedly eminent authorities—* tiz., tliose of G.enei:al Scott, of the United States, and the lion. John Beverley, the learned, upright^ and universally be- loved Chief Justice of Western Canada — the one given when soliciting the suffrages of the people to be elected President^ with the view to stay thi?j moral desolation, the other delivered to the Grand Jury of.the district of Bathurst dui:ing the Spring gf the present year :— < On the 3lst' ult. tho lion. Chief Justice- Robinson opened at Perth the As-"»ize3 for the district of Bathurgt ; and ^he fallow- ing is au extract from his cbi^rge to tho Grand Jury, which ought to be made as generally known as possible, conveying, as it does, sentiments truly worthy of the Bench in any country :— ses in this district, the fulal and " When T last held the assise mysteiious disease which had afflicted most countries of tho world, was at that niomi''pcst s, Hn^e- cialyoTi this continent, the tlnctuatit^ns of connneice, r.o-.n vaiions cauies, have withi:! the same period piodnced diiticul.ies and e.nlm lassnuMitsnor mcreiy to me. chants and ni(>n ot wealth, hilt to the community grncaliy, whicli have been loliowed by Ve.y iiijuiious resulis lo the happiness, and, I lea.*, also to the moials ol'llie people. " VViih what leeiings of gratitude, then, ought the people of this couutiy to belH).d themselves at the picsent mome.ii, iiving lit the enj 'yment of tranc^ lidiiy, pc.l'eotly undisvUibi'd tjy any ca'.isc, t'oiei^'n oi* domesiu; in the In. lest secuiity as lega di their pi^rsons and pio^ierty; exempt, as they have been, lOi- a long cou.se oi' years, Ironi the visitations of any m iliguant c\isc.ise ; sn; rounded by an abunduice of all the neuessa. les of life, and possessed of us full a measure of f. ecdom as an\ fu.ni of (iovei nment can bestow, consisien; ly wi h the cnjovment of that Older which is oiseniial to happiness. If We re^iaid the excellence of our cliniate, the fertility of our soil, thep()s>essioii of great na;ional facilities and resources ; the pvoteciion and aid of a poweiiul and genejous nation ; the appi(;ved wisdom cf the constitutions and laws under which we live, and oui e\«uip. tion from oppressive buitlien» of any kind — we cannot, if we are wonhy oi these b.e^sings, refuse to acknowledge ihat thee is scuxely io be found a country whose people have moie ica&oQ to be thankful for their lot, and whom it more becomes to ex- piess, on all fitting occasions, their graiitude to Diviuo i^iovi- deiue for the good they enjoy. '* To perpetuate these advantages, some of which, necessarily, are mo e or less dependent upon human instiiuvi<>n>, and aie therefore li:iL».e to be C!ulangeied by the bad yassions ot mau- kind, and not ie;s by their ca. eless inditTe.ence, ii bi'couus all who desi.e and dese.ve happiness, to piomote, by their ir.llu- tMico and example, the cultivaiion of leligious icoiin^s and piimipie>; to aid the efforts of the public an; lioii ies for dif- fusing educa'ion among all classes of the peopl*-, a ut to eufojce that piomi)t and chee:ful obedience to the laws which (an alone ensure order, and wiihoat which any idea of fieedoiu can be ouiy a de.us:on." The picture of public morals in the United Stales, drawn ly General Soott, then a candidate for the presidency, is ou*; whijh may fill the breasts of those interested in the honour of 13 A'Tierica with u1.\rni. Droadful must bo the static ofthopuMic mind, when a man aoarinu; so hi^h as to ask for the scat of chiol* iimgistr.ite speaks in such languatfo :— *• The rapid increase and sp:eadof popidation ; the growth of natuiul wealth ; the amount of revenue collected and dis- tributed ; the new relations (by the extension of conuuerce) with foreign countries ; the additional appointments at honie and abroad ; the number and value of contracts - all constantly and necessarily on the inciease ; a general decay in m-jrah^ ycr- hnps as frreat in Congress as elsewhere ; the liabit that we Iiavo seen prevail during seveial presidential terms, of filiini» public olHces with but little or no regard to moral standing — have, taken together, already opened to tlio head of tlie (Tovernment ele- (nents of power ana corruption which it was impossible for the framers and adopters of the Constitution to foresee and con- ceive. Wheat that distant day, for example, ever dreamed of the spectacles u'Jiich have recently dis;rusfed every honest citizen^ Of postmasters, mail contractois, mail agents, and census takers covciing the laud with Gove.nnient pamphlets, handbills and extra Gazettes, sufficient (if read) to sap the morals, public and ■private, of an entire generation ? ^ Of the Custom-hiuse merce- naries in th« large cities living on tlie public, neglecting every duty for party meetings cmd the polls, and rendering to power the most bribed worthy services ? Of district attornies and colleotois, rambling missionaries, defending every abuse of ollice —their own the most indecent — in order to maintain power in the hands of their patrons ? All who have rellected on the fore^'oing facts must be ready to affirm, that Executive pationage • has in- creased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.* " Further : It ought to be some couhideration to every loyal British subject, that in becoming a citizen of the United States he abandons the prou(\ name of Briton, transfers his alegianca to a foreign power prejudiced against his native country, and may be called upon to bear arms agaiiTst the land that gave him birth, and even meet his old friends and kinsmen in battle. Such an event cannot be looked uj)on as impossible, however we may deprecate any hostile collision between two nations whose alliance is so mutually beneficial; but the mere posSi- hilify is a weight which ouiht to be thrown into the scale in so momentous a question as that which I have heea debatin;'. , ' 1 I n I If Ma look ut (lie public cliaracterof the Uuitud S(at«>A, 1^'c fiit^ much to rugrct, much to condemn. It may appear of little couse- <|U^ncc to the class I am addressing, that the States of lUinoif or Missouri have repudiated their respective debts — in other words, that they have declined to paj the debts they hayp contracted, on the «core of incdnveu'ence, not int^bility. Wh^t would be said of a private individual, who, if ho became imablc o meet his obligations, instead of u^ing every exertion to disuhurgc them in wl^olo or \n part, coolly told bis i reditors that it was inconvenient to him to give them any > ■ >'■ •.? their demands, t^nd that, therefore, they must do vuthout. It may be^roliftd on, that where the States, thus i-j* anexu nple of "re- pudiation," private indidivuals will rot b^ slow in following it, especially in a country whose various divisions and vast extent render it easy to escape the weak obstacles which the law op- poses to a step so strongly prompted ]^y their inclinations and thoir interest, )Bi\t the (piestion arises as to the advantages hqld out by, tlid country. Js the soil richer? Is employment more plentiful ? Mas the emigrant ^he means of establishing himself moro ppeed^iy, or more comfortably, in the United States than in thq British provinces of Canada i If your views, in emigrating, b^ to become a labourer, look at the daily advertisements in the Canadian newspapers — -consult the emigration agents appointed by the Government, having no interest to mislead, either in the colonies or in this country. They v'ill tell you that a labouring l^an need not be a single day unemployed in ftny id Vf oi ♦^he Car 'in provinces. The; works now in progress, Ai^ae still contemplated, will give extensive employment, while private ij^dividuals are ready to af- ford work to any number who may present themselves. The great complaint, both in the eastern townships and the whole country east of Montreal, is, that all the emigrants pass to the l»i'^t\varii, leaving tliomobt am|»lc means ufenip'.oyment and «ub- u •re* f!.-*tcuco behind thoni. I will quolo a fo'.v wonli from a loll'»r which I have received from an intimate friend residing in Easl- orii Canada, who^o authority may ho iutpUcitly re|ied un, strongly illustriftive of the utate of thhigtt in the Catiadiaii pro- yiiires. He w^ote to me in Juuo last, as follows: — '* Things are looking exceedingly hcII here — -many of our coui^trypien V ho have I eon in the United Stalea lor yeara past have tailed on nic for information about landd in C ..i i^la Wc^t. 1 have no 4oubt that the eniigrat toil this year will ^ >? very largp. The crops jiroinise fair. Wheat brings a good price: the (country is decidedly healthy, and the people a-e all iidii;u '^o their bu8inc§3| instead of troi^bling their he b about pol.tici.*' Nearly undc^ the Qimcdttte I find th( follov ng oiT'cial "notice" from " Her Britannic Majesty's Couaulate at N w York, 7th June, 1842:" — ** From the vast number of ■ ' grants from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelai who cannot, find employment, and reatat to this oflice for ai i reiurn; or to proceed to Canada, 1 deem it my duty to dire t all such por- uons to apply to the C ommissioners of the Al: shoaae, wlwse office is in the rear of the City Hall. As the lu vs require tho masters of vessels bringiujj steerage passGngcr;^ o enter into bone's to preserve the ci'y fi'Om bOcomiiig char, able for tho support of emigrants, on account of which the etnigrants pay what is termed head mon'^y, and they may in justic claim aid ^n case of want, it cannc t therefore be e;Kpccted that relief should be furnished iat th.s office."-7.Let, therefore, any re- flecting emigrant contrast he two. In Canada good labourers are anniously sought for. They are no sooner arriyed than they may be set to work, iigelits arc appointed to afford thorn information, facilitate their progress up the country if they desire it, counsel them by thalr advice and instruct! )n, and do everything to further their vi nvs and interest. The transit is cheap and constant, and tho di;Ucultics few iiiid easily overcome. At New York the poor labourer finds that he hao transl'errcd 16 himself from llio Poor-law union at home to the almshouse abroad — from a parish in which he was known, to a lajid of strangers. Work is equally scarce in both: and if he still entertains hopes of improving his condition by going to the far West, or, if better advised, he determines to seek the Canadian provinces, he has many a weary mile to drag his family, subsisting by the sale of their scanty apparel, or on casual charity. This has been the fate of many a British emi- grant. Some have sunk under it, or from the attacks of fever and ague, consequent on want, and exposure to a climate always unhealthy to I ho newly -arrived emigrant from' Europe. The Rev. Mr. 0*Reilly, Catholic priest, informed me that during three months in the summer of 1837, he had interred u|>wards of 900 Irish labourers who had been destroyed by fever, contracted in the pestilential marshes between Canton and Fecoria, in the State of Illinois. Others have been fortu- nate enough to cross the frontier and to obtain such prosperity and comfort, as to afford an instructive warning and example to their fellow-countrymen. That the compara- tive merits of the United States and British North America are at length beginning to be more justly appreciated, we may gather from the fact that during the present seison at least 20,000 emigrants have retraced their steps, have returned to their own countrymen, their native allegiance, and the mere healthy districts of the British dependencies. The numerous localities yet open where persons of small capital may easily obtain suitable locations, and those more distant tracts which are every day being more accessible by the improvement of rivers and the opening of roads, afford the settler a still more extended choice. Do the adyocates of the United States urge the supe- rior fertility of their soil, or its greater fitness for agricul- tural purposes : On this ground i am ready to meet them, and to show that from the territory of Florida to the State of Maine, from land of he still to the •ek the rag his I, or on ih omi- of fevor climate Europe, ne that intenod yed by Canton n fortu- n such warning jmpara- merica we may at least rned to e mere unerous y easily 3 which )veuient ill more 3 supe-' ai>ricul- 1, and to ne, fro in 17 Rhode Island to Michigan, Wisconsin, or Iowa, the British provinces can succesfully compete with their republican neighbours in offering advantages to the English farmer. True it is that the Canadian has not the rich alluvial soil of Loui* siana or Alabama, nor the rice grounds of Carolina, nor the cotton fiehls of Georgia; but he is free from the yellow fever and other diseases engendered by their pestilential miasma. And as we proceed to the northward, in what produt - ns is Canada inferior ? Tobacco perhaps may be produced in larger quantities and in greater perfection in Maryland or Vir- ginia than in the western province of Canada; but even this is disputed, and remains to be proved. But with regard to the more useful productions of the earth, Canada yields to no country on the face of the globe. Those who were present at the agricultural exhibition for the home district, held in the fjpurishing city of Toronto in October 1841, and that for tba district of Oore, held in the rising town of Hamilton in the monih of Fe!)ruary following, will bear willing testimony to this fact. The wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian corn, potatoes, tur- nips, carrots, mangold-wurtzel, clover-seed, cheese, and butter, and every description of stock, gave ample and demonstrative proof { f the sterling character of the Canadian soil. In the United States, doubtless, there are many extensive traots of excellent land, and so there are also in Canada, Nova- Si otia. New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's Island. Along Yonge-street, leading from the fine British city of Toronto, to the heautiful shores of LakeSimcoe, are many rich, larjio, and highly cultivated farms. I may mention some few only of the districts that como to my recollection or my knowledge, and I make no careful or invidious selection. Around Port Hope, Cobjurg, and Peterboro', is to be seen land as well cul- tivated and as fertile as any in the United States, or Great Bri- tain, i would instance Mr. Burham's farm as a prominent sam- ple. On the banks of the majos-ic Ottawa, tpo, there is much fA fino laiul to 1)0 mot with olthor for tillaijfc or grazing', from Mr. SlioiilT's sottlt.niont at Fitzroy itaibour (o the romantic town of Byetnwn. In Eastern Cana(fii, from the noble city of Mon- treal to Lachine, tho b'^st tilled farms and the most luxuriant crops are presented to the view. In the eastern townships, and on i{\d north bank of the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and KerthioM', and in the line seignories north and west of that town, I had opportunities of witnessing the luxuriance of the crops, and was extremely gratified in observing that tobacco and flax were extensively c'ittiii»ted, that fall wheat and rye wera sown to a very considerable extent, and that the cottntry was entirely and thickly settled throughout. The same serenes dire to he witnessed on the shores of the Rictielieu, and tho coun- try lying between the south shore of the S^t. Lawrence and thcr United States. Nor are the rich pasture', bout Amherst in I^ova Scotia, the luxuriant fields of P»-ince Edward's Island, of the large meadotvs skirting the St. Johns in New Brunswick, \v'holly unworthy our notice. In these neighbourhoods and in many otheva^, to the' new and splendid settlement at Owen's Bay on Lake tluron^ the settlef may mCtet with lands which will an.ply repay him for his labour, notwithstanding the at- tempts of the ignorant or prejudiced who, to adopt the idea of the negro, merely go •* to take watk, and make book.*^' 1 now cnme to the last point of comparison between the "United Sfatos and the iJritish provinces in North America— »• the superi( r CoiiniFttciAL advantages supposed to be possessed by the" forfner. It will not te disputed that New Orleans, near the omboucfiure (-f a mighty rivet whose tributaries per- vade regions yielding every various production of the earth, is, and must continue, the emporium of a tast comtnerce. To what else docs it owe its population cr its extent ? Who Would inhabit its noisome swamps, pregnant with fevers, va- iled with the season < f tho year, whiih, if not equally fatal, lute e(iuaUy doliimental to the con6tituti«)n ? "Who wouUl 10 livratlioitatlampand turbid atmospliero; orslill wo>9e,\v ho would be exposed to its moral contamination, or the hourly dread of the incendiary fire, if it were not for that irresistilile thirst for gold which impels men to every sacrifice, even that of health and life itself for the questionable good of riches? It is not disputed that New York has vast commercial advantages and resources— that the noble stream of the Hudson daily wafts to it the products of an extensive and improving country — that the ranals and railroads which the energy and enterprise of its citizens, aided by British capital, have everywhere established, add most largely, almost indefinitely, to its importance and its traflic. It is not disputed that on their Atlantic sea board, as well as on the Gulph of Mexico, the United States have many porta already possessing, and deservedly possessing, a trade rapidly equalling the secondary ports of the country to which they owe their origin. All this I admit; but L contend that Quebec, and Montreal, and Halifax, are no less favoured by nature than the harbours of the Stripes and Stars — that they are equally calculated for the emporiums of a commerce to every region of the globe — that they are situate on th^ shores of the natural outlet of all the greai. inland Ameiican seas, and that under the protection of their native flag (the proud flag of England,) they possess every advantage which the older children of a common parent may be enabled to boast. The Hudson River and the giant Mississippi present great natural facilities fqr trade ; so does tlie St. Lawrence. Improved as this river has been by the locks and other works near Montreal, and by those now in progress, the produce of the far interior, North, South, and West, can be brought down more cheaply and quickly to the ocean by this channel than by any other. I call the American press to witness, and in the natural jealousy of our neighbours I ground my own proofs. From the vast improvements nnw commenced and contemplated, it may be safely predicted that no very lengthened period will B 20 elapse before the noble Lake Ontario will receive sea-borne steamers on her bosom, and the vast expanse of the Nortli Ame- rican Mediterraneans will be open throughout to the steam - vessel from the ocean. The United States have their Erie Canal, a work well deserving the approbation of all, whether American or European. Canada has also the Rideau and the Wellund Canals, not leas important to general commerce and intercourse. She is daily carrying into effect other improve- ments equally vast, though less prominently obtruded on the public, which will open an enormous extent of country to British commerce and British industry. The projected im- provements on the St. Lawrence will effect all that is necessary to enable vessels of 200 tons burthen to reach the upper lalces, while the tecent surveys of the Ottawa demonstrate the possi- bility of extending steam navigation to almost boundless regions in the northwest, and by connecting the tributaries of this river with the LakeNipissing, of ultimately reaching Lake Huron at little more than half the distance from Montreal by the present route. By these great works, silently and perseveringly per- sisted in, the productions of the prolific West, not only of the western portions of Canada — not only of Michigan, and the north west country extending to the Mississippi, but of enormous tracts still to be peopled, still to be brought under the dominion of the plough, will reach the ocean. The surplus produce will be thus conveyed to distant markets, and the future cities, even now in embryo, will receive their supplies of European and West India merchandise, as well as their yearly additions to their rapidly increasing population. Their very progress will afford employment to the labourer, and their completion will ensureoccupation to the merchant and the clerk. In every point of view Canada and its sister provinces thus present great advantages to the British emigrant who wishes still to continue a Briton, and to retain that provid distinction as well in feeling and in character as in name. CHAPTER ill. It remains for nic to examino the claims which the other British colonies, the Australias and the Cape of Good Hope, present to the British Emigrant as compared with the pro- vinces of British North Anierica. This I shall endeavour to do as concisely as possible, and without the least feeling of ani- mosity. To all these colonies the length of the voyage affords the most serious objection to the poor emigrant. Four months will be occupied in reaching the Australias; and if the emi- grant has young children, the risk to them, amid the privations and inconvenience of a steerage passage of this duration, and arising from the great change of their food and habits, will be considerable. The expense will be four times that of the voyage to Quebec, Montreal, Halifax, or St. John's ; and the money thus expended would establish the family in comfort in these colonies. This consideration ought to have, weight with the class I am now addressing, to whom every pound is of the utmost consequence — but there are others. Arrived at Sydney, he will find the market for labour already overstocked. Lord Stanley, the highest authority 1 can quote, has already empha- tically stated in the House of Commons that it is not desir- able for labourers to procee<|[jk) New South Wales at present. Neither Van Diemen's Land nor South Australia presents a better prospect : the pecuniary distresses of the latter are a bar to improvements and to its rapid progress to prosperity ; and thongli these obstacles may, and doubtless will be overcome by the capitalist, yet the man who relies on the work of his b2 22 I finiids for the daily meal ot" liimsolt' and his children, nrmyf go whore there is an ubaoluto certainty of that labour being productive. Weateni Australia is Btill in too iofant a state to allow of an opinion being formed, but its growth has been Ko slow, and it still remains in so stunted a condition, that unless the poor man ia taken out by his rich neighbour and secured in work and subsistence, he would bo try- ing a very hazardous experiment in selecting it for his future home. Besides, all these colonics labour under some common disadvantages. The banks of the rivers and the vallies, which are well supplied with water, are rich'and fertile; but these tracts are all now occupied, and unless the small settler finds his way far into the interior, he will have to sit down on some sandy desert requiring vast labour and artificial irrigation to render it productive. Suppose he embraces the other alternative, he has a hostile savage population to en- counter, he must be continually on the watch against a subtle though cowardly foe ; and however contemptible the natives may be if opposed to Europeans in an open conflict, yet they have it in their power to inflict serious loss on, and frequently to surprise and murder, the distant and solitary cottager. The Europeans will, without doubt, ultimately prevail, but many years must elaj)se before the aborigines can either be persuaded to lay aside their hostile feeling, or be driven from those ex- tensive sandy wastes which intervene between the thinly scat- tered settlements of the colonists. In New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land there is the additional objection of a numerous convict population — a popu- lation certainly not calculated to improve the morals, or raise the character of those with whom it must in some dogieebe necessarily associated. This would form a powerful objection to most men, were it only from an unwillingness to breed up their children in contact with the refa>e of the eaols of Grcut , * 23 Ithe |)U- lise be lion I up ■Clit Britain. It is iin objoction I wc>uld certainly j.ress homo to the most serious consideration of the intending emigrant, and from which our nearer colonies arc wholly free. It woiUd not be desirable to drag a family 200 or 300 miles into the interior of a country to tend the flock of some wealthy proprietor accompanied by two or three of his convict servants — to have no other society than that of men convicted of most serious crimes, and while there, to bo on the watch by day and by night against the spear of the native. This is the life of the Australian shepherd, and the uncertainty of the crops of corn, and the frequent droughts which have been bo often experienced, render sheep feeding the most profitable employ- ment. To the industrious emigrant, therefore, I would say, contrast this with British North America, where failure is scarcely known, and vs'hero the utmost abundance of every agricultural production has always existed, and then determine on your future plans. New Zealand is not, it is true, a convict settlement, and it is said that there the droughts have not yet blasted the hopes of the husbandman, ^et there we are told by the same authority I have before referred to, that the former great demand for labour no longer exists, and there also we have a native popula- tion half civilized, and therefore more dangerous should any sudden quarrel give them an opportunity and fair pretence for attacking their new neighbours. In every history of infant colonies we have seen such occasions arise, and as no prudence on the part of the Government can always prevent offence being given by some inconsiderate or perhaps interested settler, as we know that in such case it is but too probable that an indis- criminate revenge would be taken by the infuriated and mis- judging native tribe. At all events, from Lord Stanley's declaration, New Zealand docs not at present offer the most b3 ) < h I li '■ \ ^ h < I ) u AuBiiable home for tho Knglish labouror. The Capo of Good Hupc may fairly ho accounted next in advantage to tho pro- vinces of British North America. It is, in my judgment, inferior to tbem, first and principally on account of its greater distance and less frequent communication; and, secondly, from tho small quantity of land capable of cultivation compared with the vast intervening tracts of sand and comparative de- sert. The want of water will always prevent those tracts from being cultivated, and thus the emigrant of small means and slender resources will be isolated from his fellow country- men, deprived of society, and of that assistance which he will find readily extended to him by those who have preceded him in North America. I freely acknowledge that the Cape of Good Hope presents many temptations nearly equal to our more extensive possessions, but for the class I am addressing, at any rate it does not present that moral certainty of buccess, that impossibility of failure to the active, healthy, careful, and industrious, which I can most confidently hold out to the Western emigrant. In South Africa he has new habits to form, new modes of cultivation to learn, and long and expen- sive land journies to encounter. In Canada he goes from one English province to another, he settles among Englishmen, and he finds the same agricultural implements, the same system of husbandry adapted to both. He has the advantage of a vast and daily improving water communication, with large ^cities which afford him markets for his produce, and he has the certainty of an unlimited quantity of excellent land on which his children may hereafter exorcise their industry, and attain, should Pro- vidence bless their united exertions with success, indepen- dence and comparative affluence. Sliould he wish to revisit his father land, or to invite from thence any of the relatives and connections he has loft behind, tho access is easy, and tho f'xpeuso moderate; whilst the success altomVm.L; industry has I (I y t [s Is i 25 licen BO great as already to have enabled numbcrloas B'jttlors to aid, by their func' he removal of their poorer kinsmen wh'.m they left at home. h ' b4 CHAPTER IV. From tho information he may have gathered from the fore - going chapters, I hope the emigrant will be clTcctually dcterrod from removing to a foreign land, and that, on comparison with advantages held out \ y remoter colonioa, his choice will be fixed on one of th% British colonies in North America. Hero he hat certainly a wido field for his selection ; Canada, Nova- Scotia and Cape Breton, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's Island, all present themselves to his view, each possessing some advantage peculiar to itself, but all affording a certain mointe- nance in comfort to the industrious hardworking labourer. In the first place he must be careful not to deceive himself on this point ; in none can he live without labour more than in Great Bri- tain. By the sweat of his brow must he eat bread to whatever clime he may remove; but there is this great difference, that in any one of these colonies, the man willing and able to work is sure of bread and other comforts in abundance for himself and his children, while at home there are many thousands anxiously seeking for even partial employment, and until they can obtain it both they and their familits are subject to absolute priva- tioa of food. In choosing between the respective provinces in British North America, the emigrant will naturally be influenced by the consideration, whether he has any relatives or friends who have preceded him in the voyage to Amorira. Should thie bo the case, ho will be attracted to their neighbourhood, in order m sly sh by ho a? to avail himself of their experio' •' and if ■ stance in his future location. If he has no one able asaiat him, or if they are too distant for his means to enable him to rtuch them, he will do well to consult the agent of the Government at the port when he arrivefl, and implicitly follow the advice he gives, and e»:^- l race the first opporti niiy of employment or settlement offered to him. If he does this he will bo spared much anxiety and trouble, and soon obtain the njeans of making a selection for himself. In leaving thoUnitod Kingdom he should sail from that port the most readily accessible to him, and he can always lenrn, by application, what vessels are likely to proceed to the British ports in North America. It is probable that with the man of very small means this may decide his choice, for a long land journey to an^' of the ports of the United Kingdom would exhaust his resources in a greater proportion, than any benefit he would derive from selecting one particular province in pre- ference to another. If a vessel should be bound for Quebec, Montreal, St. John's, Halifax, Prince Edward's Island, or in^locd Miramichi, or Richibucto, he may in the Spring, which, on every account, is the most desirable time for the voyage, obtain a cheap passage. This, however, varies with the port of embar- kation; it is more expensive from London, cheaper frjm Liverpool, and cheapest from Glasgow and the Irish ports. The admirable regulations ensured by the Colonial Passengers Bill will abundantly secure him from many frightful evils, formerly of common occurrence in emigrant ships, but a little instruction may still be useful. He will either be found in provisions, paying his passage-money accordingly on a scale laid down, or he will take his own provisions, as he may prefer. Including provisions, the passage to either of the ports I have named, will vary from £5 to £8 for each adult, and without victualling from £2 10*. to £4. Children under 1 2 years of age are I Inirged half price. The passengers are allowed, in either case, a necessary supply of water. In provisioning himself anc I IS m B 5 '2% family tho emigrant will bo guitled by hia formor babits of liff. To tboBe unaccustomed to a plentiful Hupply of nninial food, as is tbe case witb many of tho Irish and Scotch, any great change would bo highly prejudicial to thoir health, whilst tho English labourer, particularly from the agricultural districts, would not subsist bo well on potatoes or oatmoal. The scale laid down by Messrs. Carter and Bonus, 11, Lcadonhall-street, istlio best I havo seen, and their arrangements altogether the most satisfactory and desirable. On board ship one of tho greatest requisites is a strict and willing conformity to tho regulations established by the Captain. The necessity for this will bo obvious to all, and no well disposed passenger will be inclined to dispute them, although he may not at first be able to see the object or utility of some restrictions which experience has found absolutely necessary. The next most important rule to be observed, is tho strictest' attention to cleanliness. In the crowded state in which some of these ships are, this is abso^ lutely indispensible to preserve the health of all. Every day the beds and bedding should be brought up on deck and shaken out, and as often as posbible they should be thoroughly aired; and, in fine,' the most rigid attention to every thing pertaining to health strictly heeded. It is probable that tho emigrant, unaccustomed to tbe sea, will have the inconvenience of sea sickness to encounter. This, however, in all probability, will soon bo over, and one of tho best correctives and the most grateful to a person so suffering is a decoction of cloves and ginger. The emigrant cannot better employ the spare time he will have, on his voyage than in attention to those particulars which will best suit him for the new duties he has undertaken. In making choice of a vessel, and indeed in almost all particulars connected with his voyage, he should seek the counsel and avail himself of tho assistance, skill, and practical information of the agent appointed by tho Government for such purposes, if any should be resident at the port from which he takes his dc- 29 11 it id Ic partiiro. Tho followin;;; ia n list of ihoflo who havo born ap- point «mI : — List of GovEiiNMENT Emigration Aqentu in the United Kingdom. Thomas Uolph, Esq., apnciiilly doputod from Canada, Colonial Socioty, St. Jamoa's Scpiaro London. Liout. T4KAN, U.N., London (Ollico, ICast Smithfiold). Liout. IlrNRV, U.N., Liv(iot like that country, because it turned out to correspond, in no single feature, with that paradise he had been led, from the whole course of his enquiries, to expect, and which he was now 80 anxiously in search of. Therefore tho first, and almost the only thing he did in that fine country — for it is a fine country — was to look out for a conveyance to Quebec, to the capital of the Canadas ; at which place he arrived, in a fishing ftloop, in about ten days. But here he was also disappointed, and conscquGiitly pioccedcd on lO lT|)por Cauada, with no better oucceas. Ilia prospects here, however, soouiod to begin to lud wo idomi- le first inter- ;t that ion as )m his ties of face of lire has her bo lou eat ge, and atrimo- w acres oceeds, making ad, and consent ia, as a itry, to he did ond, in om the le was almost a fine to tho fishing )ointGd, butter cam to 35 bri^'htcn, and ho imagiiiod himself in the direct road to the "pro mised land;" bnt it was still "very far off," and this constituted, perhaps, its only attraction. From these provinces, aa he travelled through them, he sent us the following letter, which afterwards appeared in the weekly journal of tjie county town, — a great promoter of emigration, upon political principles, the dignified designation it w.as pleased to bestow upon the discontent and murmuring, it la- boured 80 hard to excite in the public mind, against the then existing Administration. Not that such lucubrations had any effect upon our minds, for we were no politicians, besides, if wo had been, we seldom saw it till at second hand, when it was so bedimned and fretted, thst we could hardly road it. The letter was as follows : — Queenston, Upper Canada, I have just arrived at this place, where, as I must wait two days for a vessel to takeme across thegreat lake, I shall have sufficient leisure, which I have never had before, to give you seme ac- count of my adventures and prospects. I reached Halifax in twenty-three days, and immediately sailed for the Canadas, through a great portion of which I have travelled. I hear such terrible accounts" of their winters as to convince me that these cold and inhospitable regions are not the country for us. Besides, the woods are so thick, as not to af- ford even the slightest degree of pasturage. The length of the winter, too, independent of its severity, must be very disadvan- tageous to farming occupations,. The land, however, is good, and the crops, if I may judge from the little that is yet out, appear to be tolerable. I am determined not to stop till I reach the Ohio country, so fine a description of which is given in Birkbeck's letters. From thence, if I should not like it, I will proceed to the Missouri territory. I feel in much better spirits as I advance into the in- terior. The severity of the climate moderates even in the same latitude, and the whole tide of emigration seems to be flowing in this direction. We may possibly be all wrong, and it may ebb again; but the land is better— the forests easier to clear away —tho communication to New Orleans, always open; whereas the rivers of this country are frozen up nearly naif the year. And although New Orleans is a very distant markot, yet, from its geographical position, it has such easy access to the whole of I '4 'ii'm k 2ii South Anioiica, tho ultimate maikot for almost sill tlio surplus inoduce of this })art of the coutiiuMit, that its distaucn uiakos out little (litlVreuce iu the })ric(\s tho faruiors obtain. iJut I am anticipating my i)iortaiuly a foolish bargain ; but, as 1 hapjxMievl to (all into good haiuls, suf- fered no loss by n»y ini[)rud»Mice, for he gav(» nie, in stock and Bcod-graiii, as much as i could have expeetod, had I stipulated for reg\ilar waj^es. I thought^ like all Knglish farmers, I cou'd teaeU the people everything, and had myself nothing to learn ; but I most now ci)nfess, that I cainiot iielp attributing all n-.y subsequ(«nt success to the knowlodgo and experience I obtained, during this my year of probation. There were many things, it is true, I ron'd have tauuht them» had tliev been as wiUiny: to learn as I was; didence in their t u'lr teacner ; ii ideed, how slu uld but they had no conl they, when ho did not even knmv bow to cut a treedt)v\n, or to ho'? a hill of Indian corn, the very first thing a farmer's boy, in thia country, learns. Ill the following spring, I purchased in that neighbourhood a farm of three hundred acres, about fifty of which were cleared with a log hut, as a dwelling-liouse, and a good frame barn upon it; the price was £300, £ 100 of which was paid at the time, and the remainder I was to pay in annual instalments of £50, with interest after the first year, which was free, at six per cent., being the rate allowsd by law, till the whole was paid. This mode of paying for land is very common througliout every part of North America, and not unfrcquently in the end,, turns out to be more advantageous to the seller than to the buyer ; as farms so sold, after a year's labour or more in improving them, sometimes revert back to the original proprietor from the pur- chaser's inability to complete his payments; when he loses, besides, all he may have paid, such being a general ccndition of the barcai rgj ni. 1 now nought yoke of oxen, £15 or GO dollars; three cowa for £15 ; ten sheep for £5, and a horse for £17, several inn-lc- r 'Il mciilHi)!' husbiuiiliy, Hoino litilo rurnitiui*, a few kitclu'ii uikI (l:iiiy ufiMjsi'Is, pii^s, poultry, ilc. Tin' first sumnuM- wiia npont i.) '^'cttitig in i\ liltic crop, pulliii;^ up iVnr'CH, iind in cloariiig up tliroo un I ji half jk rrs of wo-xl- l;iu(l, which I Bowi'd with \vho;vt in Sopt( iiihiM-, iilYcr my nirlicst cropH wiMO Hjivod; tho roHt of tho autumn (hero iuvariahly calh'd llu^ fall) waa ()ccuj)ie(l v\ith my lat(^ oatw, potutoos and liuliau corn. I thou hir(?d unotiu'r man, and commontu'd cloariiig away the untlerhrusli, and aa soon i\» tho huow came, \ cut tlu; trooa (h)\vn, and into lougtlis of froui twolvo to fifteen feet, for p'dinj; in heaps to burn ; this work by the lOlh of April waa eomi)lotcd upon about thirty airew, bcsided several hundreds of rails eut, split a\id hauled out of iho bush, as the woods pre called, aa well as my winter a\id summer fire-wood; hut as I iufeud to insert a whole year's diary, for 1 have always kept one, and I would advise every farmer in any ci-nutry to do the same, I need not here enter into further partieulava. The produce of my farm this year did not amoutit to more than was sufliciont to j)ay its own expeneea, and keep mo aiid my family, until the following harvest, nor hard y as miieh, aa I had some provisions to buy. In the spring I began to feel rather unsasy about my pro- spects, mv money wasling away very fast;* I had only about * It is necessary to observe that money is always reckoned here in Halifax currency, in which u pound is not f brushwood, wh to precludo the possibility of passing throu'^'h it; and to add to my apprehensions, the rain fell in t(Mront»fur nearly a fort- night, soaking it so completely that I thought it would never dry again, not at least, in tin\e to be burnt over for a crop, and to perplex nic still more my horse died, and two of my sheoj) were killed by the bears or wolves, or perhajja by my neiyh- bo dortttut eV(M»t took |iluct', tlio wi'iithor cliari'd uj), and my prosprcts brighleuiMl with tho brigliti'niii;^ Bun, as it shod its scorching rays upon my Slash, — as tho timber I had out down, is here significantly calb'd — for it was soon dry, when I sot fire to it, and had an excel- lent burn ; all the brush-wood and branches, as well as tho scurf, formed by the accumulation of leaves, small roots, and weeds were completely consumed, and nothintj left but tho heavy timber : I tluMi planted Indian corn among those logs on about twenty acres of it, ; this is done by striking the hoo into the earth, raising it up loaded with soil, then dropping about five grains into tho hole, and covering it up again with the soil taken out (tho holes three or four feet apart as tho logs will permit,) wlien nothing more is neco&sary but to gathsr it in liarvest : half of the remaining ten acres, for it wjll be re- memb( red that there wore thirty in all, I cleared for oats and sprinsj wheat, the latter of which was sown before planting the Indian corn, and the other half I left to be cleared for falj wheat. Other crops upon the old cleared land, though of little con- eoquence compared with those in the new, were all well got in, and while thoy were growing I commenced clearing up the five acres for wheat, in which work I spent th<^ remains of my last £50, depending upon the sale of my "produce, together with gome potash I had made, and intended to make, to meet my next Instalment, which would become due in the following spring; and in order to subject myself to as little risk as pos- sijjh , and my mind to the less anxiety, I turned my oxen into g^ood feed, (after my wheat was s )wn in tho beginning of Sep- tember,) to fatten them for the Montreal market by the latter «nd of winter; but my crops were good, my potash brought a good price ; in short I succeeded so well in everything, that I c4 r 44 was able to purchase another yoke of oxGn, in timo to got out my fire-wood and fencing timber, before the expiration of the winter. In the midst of all my difficulties and distresses, I received the following letter from my brother, who had settled at Car- lisle, in the Illinois State,, which tended, as may well be sup- posed, not a little to increase them : — ** My dear Brother— Your letter of last March only reached me about three months ago ; I am extremely sorry to learn from it that you have purchased a farm, but sell it again imme- diately, at almost any sacrifice, and come here, where you can get as much land as you like, and of the very best quality, for a mere nothing, and what is better still, perfectly free from wood. We can raise upon it, without any other expense than fencing and ploughing, upwards of one hundred busnels of In- dian corn to the acre ; the climate is rather too warm for wheat, though we do raise it in small quantities ; but grazing is our chief dependence. I have already upwards of one hundred head of cattle, which did not cost me much more than half as many pounds. The climate is not so unhealthy as your fears have made it. Europeans, generally, however, are subject, on their arrival, to slight attacks of ague and intermittent fevers. And in order that you may not be disappointed, if you should come, I will give you a faitnful account of the few disadvantages we labour under, which you can balance against those of the country you now live in. The price of farming produce is certainly rather low, while clothing and what ^ou have to buy is very dear ; but then an economical farmer will make his own clothes and live within himself as much as possible. Labour is ^Iso very high ; indeed, such are the facilities for a man to set up the farming business himself, it is hardly to be had at any price. We have also some few taxes, but where is the country without them ? You have certainly one great advantage over us, in having a church in your neighbourhood, as we are, in this respect, to- tally destitute, and the demoralised state of society, 1 confess, is dreadful : but, recollect, we have none of the severities of your hyperborean climate to contend with ; and if our produce fetch but ? small price, it costs but little to raise it, and the market is at our doors, for we find a ready sale for everything, in the vessels as they descend the river to New Orleans ; there- fore, sell everything and come. I have written for Henry, in Ohio, and James, in Uppoi' Cinada,and have little doubt but they will also come, as they got out 1 of the received [ at Car- l be sup- r reached to learn in imme- ( you can ality, for free from nse than (Is of In- or wheat, ng is our red head as many ars have on their s. And Id come, tages we country ertainly is very clothes Iso very up the y price, without laving a ect, to- confess, Iritios of produce nd the ything, ; there- Uppei'' IS they 43 both seem a little dissatisfied with the part of the country they have settled in. I rejoice in the prosnect of our being again united and living comfortably together in this fruitful and happv country; in the full anticipation of so desirable an object, I am, &c. "GEORGE VV ." "Fruitful and happy country!" "none of the severities of your hyperborean winter!" these two remarks struck my fancy very forcibly, and I could think of nothing else, over- looking all the drawbacks of agues, fevers, and the demoralized state of society, &c. What a paradise, I said to myself, and what a fool I was to be so stubbornly bent upon coming to this miserable country ; and, had I met with a purchaser, at almost any sacrifice, I should certainly have taken my brother's advice, had there not been circumstances, with which the reader is ac- quainted that prevented me from exerting myself to accomplish an object otherwise apparently so desirable. I might, it is true, have gathered from his letter quite enough to have deterred me from going there, but my mind was harrassed and perplexed with the difficulties I was just then labouring under, so that at the moment, any change appeared likely to afford relief, but it was well for me I did not take his advice. Shortly after this eventful period in my little history, I was informed that two of my brothers, Robert and Edward, who were also in the far West, had died of those diseases, which George mentioned inhi« letter, and, that I may not subject my- self to the imputation of putting a construction upon it, twisted into accordance with the change in my opinions, I must give his own practical illustration, which I received from him five years afterwards, in the following letter from the same place: — " My dear Brother—l have not written'^to you now for a long time, sorrow, and sickness, and misery, and disappointment, must plead my excuse; and as they must have formed the only subject of my letters, you may the less regret my silence. Indeed I could not find in my heart to mar, with a detail of my own sufferings, so much comfort and happiness as seem to have fallen to your envied lot : my continued silence should still have saved you from the painful commiseration I know you will feel for uio, h:id not the thought struck me that you might c 5 HI 46 possibly bd able to find some one in your neighbourhood who Would exchange farms, &c., with me here, if the raj^c for coming to this fine country has reached you, of which 1 make littlb doubt, as it seems to have reached everywhere, ** If I cannot dispose of my property in s(mie such way (sell- ing it is out of the question), 1 am doomed, 1 was going to say, to live in this country, but rather to die : I have hiui more than a hint of this during the summer : I havd suffered dreadfully— you would hardly know me— I am literally and really an old man ; but this is not all— my farm has been totally neglected, as I could do nothing, and hiring being impracticable ; I have consequently no crops, no hay saved for my cattle, of which I have more than 150 head ; and I cannot sell them — not even at 10s. a piece : bread corn I can get, for my own consumption, as much as I want for nothing, as everyboay who has not been sick all summer like myself, have more than they can sell, even at 7id. a bushel ; I mean, of course, in the ear.* Last year, when it was a little more saleable, 1 had to give fifteen bushels for common cotton cloth enough to make a shirt. We have no money in the country, and our bank notes but ill supply its place ; some of them are at 75 per cent, discount, while others will not even pay a ^ hopeless debt. I oifered three buchels of Indian corn to the postmaster in payment of the postR;^<^ '* yiuv last letter, which he refused to take, and I had to ;: ■ ifti Is. 3d. in hard cash. I was at first entirely carried a\ o.y »vith the fruitfulness of the country, the fineness of its soil— the cheapness of land, cattle, &c., as all Europeans are, without duly considering that they must also sell at such low prices } but the difficulty of selling at all is the principal obstacle. *' I have lately heard from Henry, in the Ohio country, who had just returned from a visit to James in Upper Canada ; they both complain of the unhealthiness of the climate, the want of markets, and the high price of labour. I have often wished to hear from you a detailed account of all the circumstances that led you to make choice of so happy a country, maugre all the prejudices prevailing against it. I am, &c. G. W. 1 will take up neither my reader's time nor my own about this part of the country, longer than to make an observation or two upon the letters he has just read, trusting that lie w 11 al- ready feel convinced that this is not the region of conifoil ami competency he is in search of. jh.i 41 I am fully aware that there is a very different opinion s i generally prevailing as to become, (as my brother terms it) a rage, and people with such a bias, previously entertained, may fancy, on a cursory view of the last letter, which I consider con- clusive, that it is only the ebullition of a mind struggling under disappointment, and sinking under bodily disease ; but let them compare this letter with the former one, and they will find the principal facts mentioned in each, exactly to correspond, — viz. the high price of labour and the low price of farming produce, besides, even the first letter appears to me, and I do not think I judge too unfavourably, to give a clear and comprehensive, although a succinct account of the country, as adapted to farm- ing purposes, evidently framed under a predisposition to view everything in the most favourable light. Still he does look at everything, but miscalculates the chances asainst the fulfil- n^t of his almost unbounded hopes, and the accomplishment of his exaggerated expectations. In his second letter, admit- ting that he was equally predisposed to look at everything in the most unfavourable point of view ; still again "ke does look at everything. The same data are given in both, from which very different deductions are drawn — as different as practical ones are from theoretical in a variety of other causes ; and in none is this diifenerce more manifest, or more frequent than when applied to farming, or settling in America. If I thought this was not sufficient to turn away any emi- grant from that grave of Europeans, I could enlist under my banner a whole host of other evidence: but this having come so im- mediately under my own notice, naturally forming part of these memoirs, I mention it as such ; I would not sully these .sheets with garbled stories, about this or that country, framed perhaps at first, by speculators and land jobbers, to suit some interested purpose, and propagated afterwards by the ignorant and book- making traveller; let not this be construed into an assumption of superior wisdom fo which I prefer no^claim. 48 At the time I rccoived my brother's ,last letter, I could no liojp comparing my circumstances with his ; not only as they th en were, but as they would have beer had aii tae iuie ex- pectations in his former onPj been realized. We had a church and a church of England clergyman, in the ■settlement — not that every settlement has one, though few are leatitute of the labours of a minister of some persuasion or other, and I would strenuously advise all well disposed emi- grants not to overlook this circumstance in deciding upon their location : few there are, if any, who come to this country, hav- ing never been so situated as to be unable to attend the public worship of Gud, however negligent they may have been in availing themselves of the privilege, that would not feel most poignantly if they were deprived of the opportunity ; nor would they see, without some annoyance, so little respect paid to that day, set apart for relaxation and rest from the? cares and labours of life, even admitting they forgot the nobler purpose for which it was intended, and to which it ought to be devoted, because it would at least be a constant witness to him, on its weokly return, that he was, if not a houseless exile, a stranger in a strange land. Indeed, I have myself seen men, whom I know to have seldom entered the precincts of the sanctuary, travel, what in England would be considered an incredible distance, upwards of 20 miles, to attend divine service, or perhaps, to get his children baptised, or the clergyman to visit the sick of his fa- mily, or to '• bury his dead out of his sight," consolino- him- self in his affliction, with the idea, that there was one so near. It is in circumstances such as these, that the heart of the exile yearns after his native land, ; he therefore ought to secure to himself in the home of his adoption, as many of those favour- able features in the home he has left, as can possibly be found, and they will be to him as household gods ; they bring with them associations that beguile into the tale of other years ; and if they do not revive in our memory those scenes of pure ami 40 unmiugled happiness in the bright and buoyant season o youth, they occasionally throw a transient halo of delight over our ex- istence, by leaf ling ua to forget that we are away from them. Every emigrant may feel assured, that however anxious he may bo to leave his native country, and however much it may be to his advantr\ge to do so, he will retain a painful recollection of it, to tho latest hour of his existence ; no one brought uj. in a country like England, where such order and regularity prevail, can form any idea of the demoralized state of society in many por- tions of the United States, whereas the part of the country where I had located myself, might challenge the whole world for its superior in orderliness and morality. My brother mentions, as a disadvantage, some few taxes; I never heard from him a detailed account of these taxes, but I can give one from my other brother, in the State of Ohio, where they arc lower, than in almost any other portion of the Union ; — there is first a tax for the support of the United or General Government; then a State tax ; and a town tax, exclusive of the road duty, which must be a tax everywhere; besides which, he cannot well avoid paying something towards the sa- laries of the minister and school master, amounting, without the last, to about one per cent, upon his whole property, or two shillings in the pound upon his annual income, supposing his property brings him ten per cent, upon his outlay. — I leave it to the emigrant himself to compare this with the taxes he pays at home. In Upper Canada the taxes, to which I shall have occasion to advert hereafter, are much lighter, but in Lower Canada, the case is very different : at this moment I have increased my property by care and industry, under the blessing of an overruling Providence, about nine fold as I con- sidered it worth little less than £3,000, and I might have made it much more, if I had not remitted in my exertions to increase it, and indulged in more of the comforts and luxuries of life than were absolutely necessary ; yet in all the course of V"^l «.l l some large town in which he had resided from his boy- hood, than a Sunday morning's ride into the country would take him ; and he, forsooth, must needs point out to the weary pilgrim, the very spot in this wild wilderness of voods where his foot might rest: there are others still more likely to mislead emi- grants than either of the scribblers 1 have mentioned, who, not satisfied with writing alone, have agents at every port to direct and cajole as many as possible into certain districts where they have large tracts of land for sale at a very cheap rate. The best and only remedy for all such evils would be found in the establishment of a board of emigration, an object no less desirable from other and more important conaiderations. There n Vi \M« J'l is, I trust, another advantige, which this little pamphlet D \i\ II 5C I' 1^ will ))• BSOAH, at hatit ()V(>r sonio of a niuru inipoHing a|ipoarance, urid it will connist in alFording the ointgiant, before he loavort lii8 native country, that which Ik; has hitherlo anxiously sought but in vain, namely, an idea of the every day transactions and occurrences of a settler's life; the common trilles, that have never yet been thought worth mentioninj,' by more learned writers, but which, notwithstanding, constitute the greater por- tion of our employment and occupy most of our time. Indeed, whiit is it that renders the works of the most popular writers so int( sting to men like n»e, but the happy talent they dis- play of describing, so familiarly, the common fireside nothings of real life; but as I neither possess nor pretend to any such excellence, I must make up for the deficiency, as far as such a thing may make up for it, by giving an account of my daily oc- cupalicms,; during the first and most anxious year of my life in the woods of Canada, as noted down by me at the time. Some- times it will be observed that a few days are omitted, this is generally owing to their being no variation in the work, or else that they were forgotten. -' April 10th.* — Returned with my hired man Richard, and a load, with a horse and ox cart from Montreal, 40 miles, two days on the road, which is very bad, the frost not quite out of the ground— my loading all safe, consisting of the following items : a plough 17 ds., 2 axes 8s. each — harrow teeth- Ss. for a bush harrow, in shape of the letter A.- 2 logging chains 10s. each — 2 scythes and stones 98. 8d.— 1 spade 3fc. 1 shovel 4s.— 1 dung fork 2s. 6d.— 2 steel forks 3s. 6d. each,— 3 augers 1, 1^, and 2 inches, ISs. — 1 bbl. pork 20 ds. -1 bbl N. shore herrings .5 ds. 2 hbls flour 27s. 6d. each— 20 apple trees, and 6 plumb trees, at *The 1st of this month may be considered generally as the commencement of the agricultural year. 57 tic loavi'H ly sought ions and liat have 3 learned ater por- Indced, r writi'rs they dis- ! nothings any such as such a daily oc- iny life in 3. Some- h1, this is k, or else ard, and a two days ut of the ng items : for a bush Os. each — ,— 1 dung li, and 2 rings 5 ds. trees, art lllv as the 251. oicli — 16 goosberry bushes and grape vines, at Is. 3di each, aHiounting to £21. 2h. 2d. l*ut my apple trees, ^c., into a hole in the garden - got a good cup of tea, saw my horse and oxen well taken care of, atid went to bod — thus ended the first day of my new mode of life. April ilth : My man Hichard fed and watered the caitle — got breakfast with some dilliculty, owing lo the want of many things we ought to have got in Montreal ; we had no frying pan for instance — herrings superb — being Sunday went to chunh morning and afternoon. April I2th: Up at daylight : reprimanded V, ichard fov beiuL' out too late the night before, planted my apple, plumb trees, &c. in what had been an apology for a gaidew ; mended the fence round it: broke ope our pt k barrel, found it good: had some for dinner: knocked t'> spout olftheninv tea kettle, of conrso cracked before : woise off th m ever for cooking utenisis : bor- I owed a frying ^,.ui and boilod potatoes for dinner in a forty gallon pot : 1 cows calved and a ewe yeaned two liind)S. April I3th : Got a supply of cooking apparatus at a shop in the nc^ighbonring village : commenced ploughing for wheat: making garden, &c. Hired another man for the summer at lOds. a month, same as I gave Richard: another cow calved. This was considered a very early spring, but I have since sown wheat on this day two years consecutively, and might have done so oftener, had it been' otherwise convenient. April 14th : Hired a housekeeper at 4ds. a month : sowed ouioiis, beets, sallad, &c. ; new man Charles, mending fences : drawing rails with the horse and cart : Richard still ploughing with the oxen : myself at the garden : bought 4 cows at I8ds. each : 2 of them calved a month before : made a harrow. April 1.5th : Sowed wheat after washing it with brine and drying it with lime : Charles harrowed it in with the horse: 4 bushels (our measure which is a gallon more than Imperial) upon 3^ acres, according to the custom of the countiy: planted ''I 41 in I ,< II HI ; ! I 58 early peas and sowed garden seeds : Richard »tni ploughing : 2 ewes yeaned. April 16th : Charles and mygelf making fence : one of the new cows calved : ploughing for potatoes amd corn, first time. April 17th same as yesterday, and same to the end of the month, except that we sowed about four acres of oats and pea» mixed. May Ist ; all ai; work on the roads : finished our highway duty. May 2d : Sunday r All to church. May 3d : One of the men churned hefbre Breakfast, with a swing churn : cut up a little fire-wood : too warm to plough with oxen in the middle of the day : all making fences. May 4th and 5th : Wet days : made four rakes and handled and ground the new axes, one having been partially ground and a temporary handle in it before : cleared out and repaired the barn. May 6th : Fine again : land too wet to plough : making fences : Richard went to the mill with a few bu&hels of oats to be made into meal : got the horse shod. May 7th : Very warm and sultry : ploughing for Indian corn by daylight, left off at 10 and commenced again at 4 p. m., con- tinued till dark : carting stones off the corn land : finishing my garden : got home the grist sent away yesterday. May 8th : One of the principle farmers of the settlement killed by a tree falling upon him ; work, same as yesterday until noon, when we all went to assist in raising a wooden building for a barn 40 feet by SO, for one of our neighbours. May 9th : Sunday : All went to church : I need not again mention this, as we never allowed anything to interx'ere with this duty : a tremendous thundei;- storm. May 10th and 11th : drawing manure for Indian com plough- ing it in, &c. May 12th and 13th : Same work as two preceding days : aiid \l »9 planting Indian corn and pumpkins : attended funeral of neighbour killed on the 8th. May 14th and 15th : sowed more oats and finished planting Indian com : killed a fat calf: sold one quarter for 5s and the skin for the same. May 16th : Sunday, May I7th : To end of month clearing up an old " slash^* which term has previously been defined : drawing the logs together with the oxen ; then piling and burning them. One wet day sheered the sheep which were got in before the rain came on. Commenced plantirgcorn on the new clearing, June 1st and 2nd : Sowing 1^ acres of cats on the cleaiing j Eichard ploughing the potatoe land second time ; Charles drawing out manure and spreading it before him ; myself planting potatoes with a hoe after him— It may be here re- marked, that before the stumps are all out, q^ nearly so, it is not possible to drill up land for this crop. June 3d to 15th : Finished the potatoes and ri»ckonod up my crop : stands as follows ; wheat 3^, peas 3, oats 5, Indian corn 6, potatoes 5J : in all 23 acres, meadow 20, pasture 13, partially cleared 20, addec ♦o the 23 makes 76 acres. It may be remem- bered here, that I said my farm contained about 50 acres of cleared laud, whereas I make out 76 acres, buc I did not then take into the account either the 20 acres partially cleared, nor the 6 or 7 1 cleared myself. June 16th to end : Hoeing com and potatoes, excessively hot, thermometer one day 86 in the shade : sowed an acre of turnips on new clearing. July 1st, 2i.d, and 3d : finished hoeing and making fences. July 5th : Wet day : ground scythes and hung them. July 6th : Commenced mowing : continued and finished hay« ing in ten days, without a drop of rain : very hot* July 16th : A fearful thunder-storm : a log bam in the neighbourhood set on fire by the lightning or, as some suppose, the accident happened from a man goin^ into it with a lighted pipe, to prevent which has been a great source of trouble to me d3 n n\ n| w u 60 whenever I have employed Canadian labourers: killed anothei* fat calf. July 17th : Finished off my hay-stacks. July I8th : Sunday: To church ; clergyman absent at a dis- tant settlement : prayers and a sermon read by the school- mas- ter : weather quite cool, as is usual after a violent thunder- storm. July 19th : Commenced hoeing corn the second time : sold 200 lbs. butter at 8d. per lb : cut first cucumber. July 20th to end of month : Finishing hoeing corn and pota- toes : commenced clearing new land, by cutting down the un- der biush, and piling it in heaps ready for burning : this I did upon 30 acres of wood-land during the rest of the summer when I found I could spare a day for that purpose, and in the winter cut down the large trees and then into lengths for piling in heaps to burn. The summer is the best season for commencing to clear land, because the brush is in full leaf, which, when dry, helps to burn it, all M'^hich a person very soon learns when he monies to the country, but he would doubtless like to know something about it before he does come. August 2d i Attending a meeting of the principal inhabitants, about repairing the roof of the church-steeple; gave a dollar towards the ex^unse : bought a pew, £6 : the two men under- brushing : first new potatoes : bought a sickle and a cradle scythe : made the cradle, having had the fingers blocked out before— a very difficult thing to make, August 4th to 7th : Clearing part of the underbrushed land, for winter wheat : same until 10th, when I began reaping and cradling : continued till 21st : finished harvesting, except 1^ acre of the late oats and the Indian corn : cut first melon ; but I am veiy late. August 31st : Resumed clearing land : killed a lamb. September 1st to 10th : Same work, and sowed three acres of winter wheat : commenced making potash from the ashes 1 had saved when clearing the land. September 11th to 22d: At the unde. brushing : continued )k , 61 At the potash till I had made two barrels, which 1 soUl for sottte- thing over £15 : my neighbour's cattle broke into my Indian corn, but did little damage. September 23d: Wot day: threshing and dressing up 1^ bushel of wheat and 8 of oats : sent them to mill at night: oats weighed 48ib8. September 24th: Got home grist : oats produced 2 cwt. qr» 14 lbs, got a certificate from the miller and a farmer of the weight of the oats : 40 lbs. being the general average weight of good oats : made a wooden box as a steamer for my boiler : box con- taining 12 bushels. September 25th : Commenced ploughing: had a cow dried up itndbled, and turned into the best feed to make beef. An ox belonging to my neighbour, which had broken into my corn, died of a surfeit, as was supposed, of such rich succu> lent food as the green corn. This map]/0«e. [ps and cab. more November 21st : First snow : took in all tlio ealtlo. November 22nd : A llmw aiul wel day ; llirashing more grain for tlie liogR, sent It lo ilu* mil'. November 2od to oO>h: Ploiigln'ng again one day: clearing: killed a sheep: haul fiost again, but fine weather called the Iiidiiin Si'.mnier, with a sUgbt smoVy Iniziness :n ihc almos- iihcre, tlivouuh wbieh the s,un is seen with a deadened luslie soniethirg like a I'liU moon. De( ember 1st to 4tli : Indian Summer continues : clearing and chop)) ing. December 5th 1 killed my hogs. l>eceniber (jth : Fall of snow, thrashing", cutting up and salt- ing pojk. Decemi er 7th : Drawing w( od home for fuel, in the log, with the hoiscs and oxen, not being snow enough to draw it on the sled. Doeen ber Sih and 9lh : Made an ox sled : cutting firewood. Deeen.ber Kuh and Utb : D: awing fire\\ocd as en the Jth. Deeember ll]ih : Snow stoiUi : thrashing. December 11th : Diawingin stack of dom stalks to g.d di awing nnt rails !br (Vui es, . iid liu.bcr (n ■ ■.- n.'w barn ; thveJi^ ing and tending the cultlc, J^eltin25 <^^" 'M-ialock logs for the saw mill, for boards for the new barn; drawing tlieui honje, and D 5 i n 64 ■^ making shingles occupied our time all winter, with the excep- tion of my journey to Montreal with butter and a few bushels of grain which I sold, and, with the proceeds, bought some gro- ceries and other necessaries, preparatory to my anticipated change of eircumstancnvs. In the following spring it waa tlte 20th of April before the snow was all off the. grcarid, when v' rotation commenced and progressed witl> a ra; 'sd'ty uaki: wj ' the British Isles; it is indeed n cMsad'/antage 'or the snow to go away earlier. Had thia diary been kept in some other locations, on the Ottawa i'oi instance, the winter rou].* have been much more advantageeusly empioyed, by geUinji; out wood for the Steam- boats, as with a y>kc of oxe qt a pair of horses could easily clear £20 or £30, beaide:* doing the work already mentioned, by being constantly employed and well fed. In that section of the country ther^e ia also a ready market in every village, per- haps the best in America for all kinds of agricultural produce. And now, having brought my. diary to an end, these being ttie last friendly hints I had to give the Emigrant, I must for the present take my leave of him, not, however, without the hope of shortly meeting him again in a more finished and interesting dress. Till then, I would say to him from my heart, in the broadest acceptation of the term, — farewell ! POSTSCRIPT. u ^< -i When an emigrant first attempts to cut down a tree, to make use of a homely but characteristic simile, he sel lorn succeeds, even to his own satisfaction, and I feel that the same may be said of a first attempt at bookmaking, if it should not apply to first attempts at everything else ; and this is my principal reason for promising to revise and improve this, little work against the ensuing spring, from an earnest desire to render it more deserving the reception it has already met with from an indulgent public, and, in accordance with this wish, I must not allow the present opportunity to escape me of correct- ing an erroneous impression, which these memoirs, without such explanation, might produce. I allude to their apparent exclusive recommendation of Lower Canada to the notice of the emigrant. I say apparent, 'because I do equally recommend to his notice, not only both banks of the Ottawa, the left of which is in Upper Canada throughout nearly the whole course of that stu- pendous river, which now forms the best and most commodious communication with the interior, and will doubtless become, at no very distant period, what it has been not inaptly termed, the very back-bone of this mighty Province; but I also speak as favourably of the whole of Upper Canada, below and away from the Great Lakes, whose shores, in some places, are unhealthy. I have said more, it is true, about Lower Canada, where I myself, and others that I know, have succeeded so well ; at the same time I wish to be distinctly understood, that the objects I had in view, '^ere, first, to show that certain portions of Lower Cans,da had as good a claim to the notice of the emigrant, as ny I' I t ' ' fi6 I I ' i IS 11 any portion of Upper Canada; and Bccoiully, to j^rovethat cither had a much better llian any |n ition of ihe Linied Slates tould Jiretend tc, or why do such nnnd'crs of thf ir citlKcus Hock to this foun'ry wliilo so few are found i^ mi^irralo fioni lienco to theirs, and that few, I believe, geneially return, or woi'ld do so ifth( CO uld. This is strikiui'ly illustrated hy the following reflections* from the Bytown Gametic, upon an ohs^rvution of my own, bearing upon this point, supported and stren^tliencd by ex- planatory' facts: — "We tould mention many other instances in which the bUlcst SPtiler even, as well asthesi angceniigrant, have been deceived by either over-colouring the ad\ anta^i.'s of remote sections of the country, or concealing inipoitam objections to which they were liable lor settbnient, W nhin the last nion>h we were lavoured With the perusal of a letter from a family, who were a few years ago allured by these deceptive misrepiesentations, to go from this neighbourhood to the State of Michigan. The father, pretty well advanced in life, has been for some yeais comfor- tably settled on a lot of land (ICOacjCs), on the banks of the Ottawa, had what is termed a good clearing, well stocked with comfortable buildings, within eight miles of this town, the best market for the farmer in British North America, and to which he had access by a good road. The old gentleman paid a §ood share of attention to the cultivation of a small spot of a gar. en, and being generally the earliest in the market commanded the highest price for his garden stuffs, so much so, that he in- formed us in one season he realised £G0 currency, fiom the produce of his garden r 1 jne, besides what his farm yielded him. All this would not do; he had some ?ons grown up, and fear- ing that the extent of his farm would not be sufficient for his family, and flattered by the a< counts of the cheap rate at which lands could be procured in Michigan, and the great returns it yielded, he abandoned all his present flattering prospects and determined to transport himself and family to that country. As might be expected, his property here, by a forced sale, brought a price under value. The whole was however convened into cash, and the unfortunates, as they may be truly called, set out for the land of promise in the Slate of Michigan. It was from this family, being their joint production, that the letter was sent to one of their old neighbours, and with which .v wert favoured with a ])erusal. It was filled with murnruri' nd re- gret* at their having left Canada. Tiue, they obtaiiied land f! T- 67 at what they consitlored a fare rate; highor, however, than it would have cost them in Canada, but they were promised larger returns of ciops from it. When they came to ])urohii.sothe other requisites, it was then theysuffered fioni the exhorbitant charges The soil was of that deep alluvial clay description, that no less than four, or frequently six oxen were recpiired for a plough. The usual price of each yoke was from £40 to £50, and every other description of farming stock high in a like proportion, To procure these, drnined them of all their pecuniary re- sources; and if, as not unfrequently happens with new com- ers, they had been obliged to purchas*? a part of their sfo> k upon credit, many years of hard and almost helpless toil had to be endured before they could be freed from their debt, tlie low price they obtained lor the produce of their land far over- oalancing the larger returns in these crops when compared with the state of these matters in Canada. To similar ills many othois equally deceived, have become the unfortunate victims." J(.hn S. Evans, a native of the State of Vermont, came into this Province, and settled in a seignioiy bordering on the East- . em Townships : as he had no money, he took a wild lot of land* upon which he made, in a few years, rather a valuable improve- ment, and acquired some little stock ; sold out, and returned to the States, un lor the impression, that although this country- was better than hie " ' without a capital, (no mean praise,) yet, wilh a capital t-auU even as his owii, he would do better there ; found out his mistake, and in two yeors returned, no better than he went, to the vicinity of his old ition, and is no'V doing well. The following is a case I feel pleasure^ in recording ; — Elon Lee settled in the Eastern Township, got dissatisfied, sold out and returned to his native country, one of the States I believe Masstt i.uootts — failed in his attempts to establish himself there, got over head and ears in debt, made a mooi.- light flitting again in Canada, came to the banks of the Ottawa, at tli^t time little known, (for this occurred long a^^o,) where he was not likely lo be found, took a wild lot of land, which, by his own exertions with persevering industry, he cleared, built a ' t'l ' ''* I {» ly 1 ';• ; j!| W: 1 I 68 house, bam, &c., upon it, imd then Bold H for s considerahle Bum of money, with which he paid off all his old debts in the States, and had enough to set him up anew. He i- now an old man, well proYided ♦"or during the remnant of his days, which are wearing awav, under the consoling reflection that he has» under great and roluntary sacrifices, acted the part of an upright and honest man. David Gillanders^ came to Quebec in July, 1831, went out to Broughton, bought a lot of land, got dibsatisfied. Bold out, and w»nt to the State of New York-— disappointed — returned and bought another lot, in Broughton^ and is now doing well. John Reinhart left Broughton a^so and went into the State of New York, found by comparison, that all thtnga considered be had changed for the worse, stayed away only a few months, returned to Broughton, bought a lot of land^ and is now one of the most thriving farmers in the neighbourhood, r» of opin- ion, that better places may be found than Broughton, but thinks a man must be very hard to please, who could not be as well sat- isfied with it as he iR. Nicholas Reinhart, brother to the )ve, als' .t»ft Broughton and went to the State of New York, wl.-^re he remained three years ; thought he had tried it long enou^.i, so he returned, and is now doing well. Robert Ross also fancied he could suit himst .t better in the Slates — tried it, and found it was a mistake, and after remain- ing there three years, returned to Broughton, iind is tiow con- tent to rem?^in, and is in a thriving condition. John Koyle went to the States, worked hard for three or four years, found he couM not '« go ahead," returned to Broughton ▼ery poor, is now on land of his own, anJ doing well. This, and the following cases are from the continuation. APPENDIX. FOR THE INFORMATION OF EMIGRANTS WITH CAPI. TAL INTENDING TO SETTLE UPON LAND Questions proposed by the Board of Commissioners for Emigration; and Answers given by the Commission- ers of the Canada Company. 1. What is the smallest quantity of land which can be bought of the Government in ihe colony ? A. or the Canada Company 100 acres. 2. What is the upset price? and if this vary, what is the average 1 A. It is nearly impossible to give any thing like a correct average price of land, inasmuch as it depends upon locality more than the quality of the soil ; but in order to give i I N 10 i 6 a figure, I will say 'Ja. 81. to 3.^i. per acre for wild latulsi nc- eoiding to thoir si' u v ious. 3. What is the average price actually fetched by ordinary lands? A. Answered hy No. 2. 4. What is the average price of land purtially cleared and fenced ? A. This will be ruled by the (juantity cleared and fenced ; no fixed value can be given, as no sides are made except forced ones, throu<»h distress or the individual leaving the country, The cost of clearing and fencing may be stated at jCiJor jCl per acre. 5. Is it easy and not expensive to ascertain the validity of titles to private' lands ? A. Yes, there is no difficulty whatever. There are registrars throughout the province, by whom every transaction, relating to the title or interest in the land, must be registered prior to its being valid. The charge for giving the required informa- tion is Is. 6d, on each " search." 6. What is the cost per acre of clearing waste lands ready for drag or harrow ? A. I cannot better answer this query than by giving a state- ment founded entirely upon the data recently furnished to me by a very intelligent and respectable Englishman from Kent, a yeomiin, settled in the London District. I have reason for supposing that the beneficial results are less than those at which they might be fairly shewn : — Cost of clearing ten ficres of heavj timbered land in the usual Canadian fashion, with an estimate of the crops to be pro* duced thereupon during the first three years after clearing, 71 Dr. Cr. £ B. a. £ 40 3 l.") 2 10 3 15 First Year.— Chopj)ing, clcariii};, uiicl fenc- ing ten acres (7 rails and riders, i. e. a substantial fence at least 8 feot hii .. ..7 t)raggiug and seed .... ... . . . . 6 Harvesting . ^ . . . . 3 10 5 15 15 10 By tWQnty-five bushels wls^^^t to the acre, 250 buBhels, at 3a. dih » . ^ » Second Year of Cultivation. — Plough- ing once, at 78. 6d. , ■, . . . . 3 Sowing and dragging, at 5s. .. .. 2 Seed, 11^ bushels rye per acre, at 33. 9d. 2 16 Harvesting . . . . » . »■. . . ,..3 15 By twenty bushels rye per acre, 3fl. 9d. Rye in Zorra always brings an equal price with wheat for distilling, but say, to bb quite certain, 33. I ^d.. ., k. .. ., Third Year. — To timothy and clover seed, at 2s. 6d. per acre 15 Mowing and taking off hay, at 7s. 6d. 3 15 By 1^ ton of hay per acre, at 6 dollars per ton. . . >, . . . . . . . ...... Balance 33 10 d; I £ 8. d« 3 100 12 6 46 17 ^ 31 5 22 10 100 12 6 Ey balance hroughl down £33 10 3 X'.» 73 5 12 6 10 3 The mode of clearing lands by slashing, although more tedious from having to wait two or three years after the trees are cut, is attended with less personal labour, and all the trees being cut in the height of summer, never again sprout, and the stumps rot out two or three years earlier than by the common mode. The description of crop, too, is more saleable and better for persons who have not capital to buy stock to feed off their hay with. in the foregoing statements, it is not meant to assert that in the back townships cash caa be got for hay, but it is rated at the price mentioned which it is fully worth for feeding cattle. It will be observed, iaa* in these statements no mention is made of the profit to be derived from feeding of cattle ; this is left out purposely, in order to show the actual produce in wheat and hay, taking it under every common disadvantage, would in three years pay for the clearing, &c. It also appears that the clearing of wild land, and thus form- ing what is called in this province a fallow of wheat, is not more expensive than preparing a fallow for wheat in the old country. The farmer who furnished the data upon which these state* ments are made, went into the different items, and satisfactorily proved that three or four ploughings, marling, chalking, or both manuring and otherwise preparing an acre of land in En;^land, so as to make a good summer fallow of it, and insure a profit- able crop of wheat, was, without taking rent, poor's rates, and taxes into consideration, fully equal to the price of clearing ( not taking into account the fencing ) an acre of land in Canada. In both instances the crop is nearly the same; if any differ- ence, the advantage is in favour of Canada, as the average of the wheat crop throughout Canada is considerably greater than the average of wheat crop in England ; and although in Canada the price is much less for the produce, yet there is neither rent, rates, nor taxes, to pay. E \ n I i 74 It must 1)0 borne in miiui, in making a comparison between Canada and Britain, that in the case of the latter a faUow i:;; pre- pared y"ur ^/u.' crop^ or, at most, the crop and the succeeding one ; while in (^^anada, when once an acre of land is cl"eare^it ranks in the farmer's lists of assets for ever at the value of its cost of clearing, as it is in fact so much reclaimed from the forest, which for eight or ten years at least will require scarcely any expense in the way of manure or fencing. The preceding accounts show that the fanner would ha e ten acres of cleared land sub- stantially fenced, the fence of which will last without repair from twelve to fifLeen yearj, 0? I5?tol7?10» Sheep, per score • • • 10? to 25? l()/fol2t.0A- 12? 10s A good milchcow 5? 6? 5? to 5? 10s 4? to 5? A breeding sow- • • * 1? \0s I? 10s to 2? 1? 10 to 2? 5s Pigs, 6 mos. old • • • 15s lyr.oldlos 6mo.oldl5< A cart (not ustd by farmers) . • • • 10? I0?tol2?l0s A waggon . . 14? to 15? 20? 15? S 16? 5? to \ 17? I'^s A plough . . . 2? to 3? . 1. 10s 2? 5s 21 10s A harrow, with nine iron teeth or tines . , • • • 1? 1? H Potatoespr.biishl U'3c? lOc/ to Is3f7 Is Is Si Hops according to the crop, which cannot bedepended on • • • 4s • • • 2s U I < 1 ' I •^* The Prices dollar*— fiv^ sHill stated are in Currency, five shillings to the inffs beinff equal to four shillinss sterlinff. %. %. v^. .0 .. \^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^^ // €f, ^. // 4> J^D^ . I farm-sorvnnta, be should not look upon it as altr»gotlier lost timo. \ j?roat orror is committed by the omij»rant in asking oxorbt- iant wages on his arrival ; and if they would bo contented with 30«. or 40i. per month and their b«)ard, they would get abund- ance of opportunity to engage, but their views are generally by far too extravagant. Many emigrants, on arrival at Quebec and Montreal, have not the means to carry them forward; but tliey find no diificultj in getting work about the coves at Quebec, and are very soon enabled to lay bye suflicient to carry them up the country. They should on no account remain in Quebec or Montreal dur- ing winter, as they will assuredly have much privation and hardship to contend with. However high the wages may be in the busy season, the winter presents to them a barren field. At Kingston there are steamers* and stages for Toronto, dis- tant 170 miles, and for Hamilton, at the head of Lake Ontario, distant from Kingston 210. The time occupied to Toronto is 24 hours ; the deck fare is usually 7<. 6(Z.; last season it was only 5s. for each adult, exclusive of provisions ; two children under 14 years of age are reckoned as one passenger. The dis- tance from Quebec to Toronto is 606 miles; timo occupied in performing it last season about eight days ; and the total ex- pense of each adult, exclusive of provisions (about 9d. ]ier day) £1 Us.6d, At Toronto there are steamers plying daily for Hamilton, dis- tant 40 miles, time occupied three hours and a half. Deck fares 5s., exclusive of a m^al. Emigrants proceeding to the Huron tract or the Western townships, will avail themselves of this route, as it is the cheapest and the quickest. There are stages running daily from Hamilton to London, 83 miles, stop- ping oil night on the road ; time occupied in travelling 20 hours, fare 5h dollars, or 27s. 6d. and also every other day to \ : \ \ I Sfotlier lost ing oxorbi- iMited with l^ot abund* ! generally ill, have not i dilTicultj very soon e country. ntreal dur- vation and OS may be rren field. ronto, dis- ce Ontario, Toronto is ason it was children The dis- ciiplcd in total ex- . i>er day) nilton.dis- iir. Deck ng to the mselves of There are liles, stop- i^elling 20 her day to ro 93 Gait, 26 miles fr .i^K J r k '*>^^i - I-' • ;r 1. ■'' • ♦ ♦ - .» ^ » 1r V i% ' ^'- '/H^ - i) ■ if*".. *» * ,■ ^ ,.; a(^ i*',^'- ; y^- d Hi ^ .. ■%■ t« ; uS ■ j..>. . ^ ,*♦*, , s < ' .■v; .I f f *^ i 4. '~ ' 's' t J . , '*;-'' f' .^ Imperial Pres8, 6, Catherine-strenf, Strand.