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HAMILTON'S "ELEMENTS OF QUATERNIONS," '1 Author of "Scenes from the Lite of a Planter's Daughter," " Dippings from a Diary," Descrip- tions of Muskoild ine that Muskoka whs ii barren \vith deer, wild fowl, otters, lakes, ! '>vil(len,esH, and Hial T co;ild not f,'et respectably lu-ominciil rocks, \v;ii,.|- 'Hf-u^ih soil on the rocks to pi mt p..- fidls ami ravines, lu.d having a>..iitioii ' tators in, till I li^id saved up a year's ill attaactioiis of bears, wnlvef-- and ; '^"''^ '*''ives and floor ihisl to cloth-e tiie ]j,.,ivers — such was my first dim idea of ■ '•ock. Tiiis worried nu; n l-oou deal the Canadian Higljhmds, as of a land ' and I read and rD-read tlie guvi-rn- only needing a few centuries of aoti(;! | nient circular.s, and McMnrray's and poetry U^ become the M'"cea ot ; ['aniphlet a^'aio and aj^'uin, without the tourists of the world. i letting peace, 1 wiib determined to Then the piaciical side inriied up | ^'o, and like all intendinijf cmiirrauts, with equally aliuriog fascination, ll!... 'we.s judf^in.^' oetweeii the Pn.s. and was a chance lo beconn- a hiiided pro- ! Con^. witli a stron*,' bias towar 1- the prietor of u!;r hundred itcies free Lrr;uil. I tf^J'nnr. J.n this state of oi'i-p . x.ity, Just tancy "wuii.-.:, in fee simple, | and siro.liiij,' ah i;u Queen ^^-tr.'et, b(-'i;i<,' absilute UMiiarch of ov.u- four ; !'"i<'!>t'>, 1 saw in the \\niil;'w..i a millions ot square fuet of .the earth's} iitiie lat l>u!e,\ drugi^ist. who oivued a surface, to say nothiug of liie uu- ' M»-koka farm, a hu.i,"^ r.-und reil beet, know miiK-rnl ir<'asuri's beneath. True > >;o!hi'iir like it had I ever seen even there «vereaf..w preliminary coiiditbu,«!,^^ horticultural shows m England. \ Inuise, lCx2() iicl, had lo be erected, ,, , . , ■ i i , " ,, ' , 1 • ,. Aiv last scruple vanished, c-i;(iu.;i-. .i and tilteen aLin-s cleiired II) five years, " t i i the latter .^tipuiatio , of conse mean- { '^^' '^ '""''•' '"^'' ^ ^^''^'^^ '"' '^i>' '^'•'"' '" in^' only a little f4en!l- txereise. to j s«><'l-: the Noi'iiern wil(bine:-s of mdk, drive iiwav lazine:;';. Tiie drawback ' pota'oes ii,ih1 luniey, at. tue lirst noji- of cold winters never t>ave me a mo- ! venient opportunity. Thu did not >c- ment's tri uble. 1 li:ui braved the , cur for some time, Imt I niaiie a niovi: snowst(nMns ami cold snups of the 1 in the dii cctit.n of my future houn . by Eastern Township-, ijin] felt uiv^elf mif.^ratin;.? to MeaTord, a verv eiijoya'nle f" '-cown, but the black silk to wh:'ther he rihoiill su • the pump i i>"'"1 '^ "'» 'ts white fur lining, was maker, who as lie beli.vd remov. d I "'if'^i^i'^i'iable. esjiecially the hag per- the fence, or the to-.vn of ileuford. The mental ellort exlntusted him, and he fell asluep. N'\t morning, m the grey dawn, some pa::;siiig lifdiermeu, from the battlom ols of i\\c bridge, dimly traced the outlines of what to their iJuperstitious eyes, seemed a marine monster. However the sup- posed Merman groaned with such a l\nma!i moan, 'hat tliey plucked up t-iining to it. At list one of them hit on an exr-hination which seemed to satisfy !!i,. c<*'»wd. '•! guess that's wore he puts liie collection after he has got Ihrougii with his lecture." If the reader has pardoned these digressions, he may now imagine mo nine years ago in the fall, on board the Waubano, bound from Collingwood to Parrv Sound. An agent for a MUHKOKA HLRTCU. Toronto fur ewttibliaiimfnil, and a l)iir- ly North of Ireland J)yijamiter Wiire the only other paaseiigfa'a of whom my memory retains any traces. I do not use the word Dynamiter in its modern senbe. The gentleman — Mr. Fulmen will do for hia name — was thorouglilv loyal, and an agtujt to introduce Dynamile for blab'ing pnr- poBos into the Parry Sound district. I showed him one curious fact about the Tynamite, that although a lump of it would not explode, bur oiily burn like damp powd;TC'». Parry tSouud vv:ii; a very ilit'ftiieiil placo from what i liad ima;^iir.'(l it to be. 1 looked for u dull villu;.iv' of log shanties, but lustcad, I ^a,w bome oxcellcut stonirt lu'dudiui,' ouc; where five ciorks 'vcre busily eii^ni^'ecl. Thero •wero also some very laij^i in: lis, notably one operated liy .1. C. .\lilli;r, M.P.P. He and l-ieally si;o.ued to be the two k\U'^^- of P.'rry Souiid. JJeatty was a teetotaler, of the pronounced kind. When I'e sold a lot lie lotro- dncod teitiperanei' clauses ii.to the couveyauoo, of tlu» most stri;," nt na- ture. I don't ri.'niember tlie details very accurately, l)Ut the purchaser of a Boatty lot was bound not to sell or m any way trfiffic in iiqnor during hi.s life and the liv( ^ of Her Majosty and of the Uoyal children and c:i'an(ichil- dron, and a year and a niontii and a day after the docyase of all tlusr f^rent pertio'ii-^. The limits of Parry Sruind village were thu.-; und.r ti absolute per- fi'.iual proiiibition, s'> f^ir as tii;> liquor traffic \',:i,=t concerned, tlie barter ol a pii; for lis equivalent in wiiiskey being forbiihleu. Tlu! village became tiius an interesting study for temperance legis- lator.'i. Across the river, however, a tavern tlouruslied as ii [>art of the nucleus of the rival vilhme, then called Carrington. "(roin;,' across the bridge" v.as then lookud on as a sus- picious act, in a tbetotaler, and equiva- lent lo going out of a concert to "see a man," or in plain words, to "take a horn." There were, h^jwever, a >-ur- prifting number of ti-etoial tiorists in Parry Sound, who visited Carrington, either boldly lu brc.ad dayligin or aurtiptiti.*usly rowing acroiis th;i liar- bor ovor its moonlit ripples, but in either case, to consult the landlord of the Carrington tavern as to the best plan of striking cuttings of pinks. The visitira hid in the shade of friendly pines, if Mr. Bealty, of vvliom they seemed in mortal dread, was seen in the distance. The most striking in- stance, whicli 1 saw of Mr. Beatty's power was at an I. O. G. T. evening entertainment, at which he appeared in full regaha, and when souin of the unruly village' youths g't up a aide sliow of their own, so as to drown the recitations, Beatty just said, " 1 wish our young friends near the door would not bn so demorastrative," and funeral siiencf , unbroken by a sneeze, pre- vailed. 1 had picked up, from an Eng- lish newspaper, tirt mistaken idea tiiat Musktdia was peopled wholly, by English laborers, who had risen to indepondencH on the free grants, i ■^oou fouiei that the district was full of rat-n who had hold most excellent positifHis in the old country, retired I army >)fiicers, professional men, and ■capitalists. With one sucli settler I chummed at Kirkman's hotel ia the Sound. He was from the fa.-diionable quarter of London (England), and I having no very definite aims in life, i other than banjo- playing, amused him- self by firing with a revolver from an upjier window at the clothes line, hoping to bring ita precious load to the ground, but sometimes piercing mys MUHKOKA HKICTI'M. terious feminino garments, much to tl)0 disoomfituru of tho laiullonrH oomoly daughters. Ho and I uaed to chat in the sitting room about Loudon society and congenial topics, till tho exhaustion of the wood in the stove froze us out. One evening, while in tho full flow of talk, an apparition, from tho adjoining bedroom, into to which a groat crowd of shantymon were tightly packed in sleep, startled us, saying, " I'll call my mates, so vou shut up or fight." Another night, with the mercury condensed into tho spherical glitter of tho bulb, a teu'ific report vvok-a up every inmate of the house, and Mrs. K. ru&hed out pale as a ghost and too tliinly clad for com- fort. Everybody cross-oxaminiHl every- body else, we were suspected as being the last up, but the noise was from the the sitting room, and we were asleep in our several bedrooms, when this roar, more terrilno than thunder, roused the awe-struck family of the host. A regular Guy Fawkes search for concealed explosives followed, but in vain, and we all went back to bed, not to sleep, but to wait for the next crack of doom. Morning revealed the maytery in tho shape of the mutilated banjo.which had been strung above con- cert pitch and had cracked bridge and all by the intense frost. Only one other thing do I want to say just now about Parry Sound. The post-master I found to be a pearl among P. M'a, He often opened the office at 11 p.m. to give me a registered letter, and acted as my banker, on a small but trouble- Homu scale, receiving a sum of cash for me and paying it out as 1 gave orders on him. I dovetail these notes on Parry Sound rather out of sequencn of time, because they will interrupt the story IttSH hero than elsewliere. Let me go back : I had no sooner jumped off the steamer on to solid land when up comes " happy Jack." I did not know him from Adam, but ho evidently knew me, j.::'i all about my plans as tvell as I did myself, "Are you Mr. Ignotus, the gentleman who is going to take up land near McKellar ?" Utterly potritii^d, at this astounding penetration of my deHign. I began to think how the wizard could have got tho cue. Only with tho captain, the fur ageut, and the Dynamiter, had I spoken while coming across from Meaford. Tho fur-man had told me with suppressed awe, that the credit of the Parry Sound Lumber Co. ''was unlimited." 1 had nearly talked the Dynamite agent to death, and all on tho ciiouiistry of nitroglycerine, of wnich he seemed profoundly ignorant, but to none of this trio of worthies, had my native modes! ty allowed me to reveal my ambition to become a landed proprietor in Muskoka. Yet "happy Jack," not only knew the last fact, but was right about my intended destination being near McKellar. During an instant of speechless astonishment, I mentally photographed Jack as being two yard? vertically, with broad shoulders, swing- ing athletic stride, pock-marked face, regular features, unkempt hair, and i cash ^'avo I'iirry Unus story UH) fro 1' the comes liiin w m(», * I (lid s, tlio [) land led, at f my the Only MI'KKOKA HKKTCII. ocular rostlosHnnss which luiapoke one who had draim^d many a midnight bowl and would aL;aiii. I'ho whole thing was nn weird nnd Htrango, that I l)fcamo a fataiipt, ro-igning myself to Jack as to my dosluiod j^nide. "Aro you Ignotus, sr.. '?". "Y aftor some failures, he tlirewa water-fu^e into the harhor, with a Dyiiamitf! cartiidge attached, after whioli and the lap^e of a few minutes whioli gave us a chance to get out of reach i)f the explosion, a pcjculiar sub-aqueous thud was heard, then an enormous boehive-shaped wave in the /r.iddlo of tiie glassy water, and then a multitudo of stuniuHl and seem- ingly dead tish. s of all sizes and shapes, enough to dine our party of HcvoM at a hearty meal under the pine trees, and leave plenty over I'or the Indians. After getting back from this pic-nic, and glancing at the beautifully situated village erected by Beatty for the use of the I'xhorters and visitors to the annual camp-meeting, I witnessed the experiment of the Dynamiter. An auger hole was bored half through the side of a living pine tree ; the ex- p'osivo cartridge, vvith ignited fuse attached, was introduced, and away wont some twenty feet of that part of the tree above the cartridge. Then experiments on stumps were tried in a large sloping field crowded with villagers and Indians. 'Vhr hitter happened to stand dangerously near to the explosion, but were too dignfieil to do more than walk away with state, ly step, whilu the heavily built and rather obese Dynamiter devel.ip(.d in- credible activity in rtiimiui' over lix's and stumps. The Dynamite was a decided success in blasting rock. After supper, as a precaution, the use of which will soon appear, I bought two tallow caudles and two buuches of matches at Beatty'e Htor(>, and awaited the coming of happy Jack in stern re- signation. Soon the lumbering and springless waggon, with two horses, whose principal endowments were skin, bone, moderate muscle and patience, arrived, and I jumped in. Away v,e went, smoothly at first along a good bit of road with pretty glimpses of water through the tieeson the right. Soon darkness and trouble overtook us. The road was now narrow, crook- ed, and actually studded here and with stumps, which it was possible, and just possible, to dodge. After coming to a deadlock several times, and wedging the wheels against these obstructions, thA back strap broke. Hero my pro- vident purchase of candles oame into use. It was raining, pitch dark, and our only neighbors were bears, which last named amiable pets, whatever books may say to the contrary, do oc- casionally eat people, when berries are out of season, in Muskoka. I lit my candle, and must have presented an intensely ludierous figure to any pass- m Mt'SKOKA SKETCH. iufi owl. I litiu ;Ui uiiuruious rauama that on, v.-liicli I brought from the isthmus. Oroiiclun^' dowi), ^o that tho liat becjvuie an umbroUa to ivoep iIjc caucllw from the rain, and with my kiH'vs covered witli taUow dnp- l)iug3, i throw the light 80 that liappy Jack yaw what part of the harness ijad broiven, and after consuhation with a teamster behind uh, he started Hway into the busL, antt ruturued very soon Willi the bariv of namo peculiar tree, sometliing hke tlie Wiicapeo of tho Province of Quebec. With this, he soon made a cord and mendod thu iiarness. On we went again — Ijang went the wlioel against a stump. I ht the caudle again, but a gust of rain struck it, and wo were lu hopeless dariiUPss. Jack, who liad owl's eyes, 80on found the seat of the trouble aud mended the fracture with the same bark-striug. Tina thing at last became monotonous, and we left the waggon in thu road, i think I got to McKellar in the hiud waggon. I know I did not ride on horseback, but 1 may have walked. However, I re- joiced when 1 saw the tavern at McKellar. Jack's modesty had pre- vented me from learning that he was the redoubtable owner of the building, all but two end rooms tenanted by a grass widow, of whom more anon. Next morning Jack talked straight business, thus : "Mr. Ignotus, you're going to takj land up land near Mc- Kellar, you're at McKellar now, I don't want to presume to dictate, but i know a very hno free grant lot on the great Noith road near here, a splendid lot, of course you'll fiiui it looks a little rough on the road front, but ilier:^'s some splendid Jand, beau- tiful clay loam, a; fli'- biick." Ignotus: "Is It in till.' market?" Jack: "Well, it IS and it isn't, you see." "Ignotus: "Uowv' " Jack: "Well you soe, of course you can go to I'arry Sound aud uet located f(u- it, but poor little Molly" -iu-re liis voice taileroci and with a swift lateral luoveniei!; of tli'> sleeve, he wiped both eyi;s. ignotus, affected sympathetically, "Uestrain your feeliugs, who's Molly '^" " Ah, ah, she's my neice — she's a (daim on the lot — not a legal claim of course, but a gentleman* like yen from the old country is not like thesi Yaukies you'v.: some honor about you, you can feel for her Herman li>cared for that lot, that very desirable lot, ho W(nj her yonng affections. Herman, the linnter, won them. He left, he is gone, no on'.* knows where. Vcv- hap.s the red tooth of the bear has mangled his shapely neck, but before he l(;ft he bequeathed the io^ to poor little Molly, that she might locate tor it when of legal age — poor thing its the only property the chid has — would you take it from hor ? though its little good it will do her — poor thing. Shea's eating her heart out fretting for Herman. " "Why do you want me to locate for the lot then, if you want to keep it for Molly ? There are thousands of acres to be had elsewhere," said I. " Oh, but you see th^ poor thing might part with it fur a MtlSKOKA RKETCH. S0(.', (if I - ahem-consideriition, " How much ?, "I don't Know, como over and we will see her." Away we trudged some seven or eight jiiies, and enloring a log liouse, saw Molly, a fine looking hand- Homo girl, by no moau.s cotisumptivo, and looking as it Herman's departure had aat very lightly on lur feelings. She referred us to her mother, and gracefully poising herself, carried out a swill pail to the pigr^. Mamma was all straight business, and said $35. "It's a swindle," said Jack indignant- ly — "Come on Mr. Iguoius, we'll go home, we can get plenty of better lots." Away wo walked. Mamma stopped us, "What will you givo men ?" "$20," said Jack, and not a cent more." Finally $25 was fixed on, as the exact value of Molly's broken heart plus the lot, and next dav we went down to Parry Sound, having previously picked up another man bo.".ides Jack to aflfa- davit a variety of tilings about ihe lot, such as the amount of rock and swamp in it, and other particul.irs. I got located at the Crown Law office, with- out any trouble, and handed Jack his $25, for Molly, getting a receipt, bar- ing her her heirs and assigns from any claim in law or equity on the estate, I at once returned to McKellar, while Jack brought the material for a cheap cotton dress for Molly, auc spent the balance of the $25, very much to his own satisfaction, "over the bridge." Pending his return, I made a private and somewhat mora minute inspection of the lot. It was a gore lot with various ridges of rock, running in par- allel lines through it. The valleys there formed might be very rich, though crumbled debris of rock dis- guised the fact somewhat. I was mainly interested in finding out the prospects of forming a road through it. It was quite clear that if you could onco get an ox- waggon into any one end of any of the valleys, you could travel to the other end, but the pro- blem was how to get crosswise from the road to one of the valleys and then to the other. I c^nfesed to myself that blasting or tunolhng through the rock, was the only resource. How- ever I waited for Jack's return to get engineering light thrown on the subject. He came, pooh-poohed ray puzzle, and said that I must not have found the true corner post of the lot, as if so, I would have seen that nature had happily lefr a low swampy level which by proper corduroying could form a pathway from valley to valley. We sallied forth to the land, and Jack very speedily evolved the corner post, for which I had in vain hunted, out of a vast I lie of over-lying brushwood. Though he did not charge for this operation, I may remark that hiding corner posts and finding them again for a consideration, used to be a com- mon pastime with some of the Muskoka nativeb, when time hung very heavily on their hands. By this time. Jack had become very familiar, and called me no longer "Mr. Ignotus," but "William," a mode of fraternal address, first adopted in his moments of a spasmodic inspiration. 10 MUSKOKA SKETCH. but which ffterwardp became stereo- typed. Jack suggested that I had better let him the job of clearing live acres at $20 per acre, of course cxpectiug m^ to follow the example of other green hor';s, and idvauce him $10, to get flour, «'uot that he wanted it, of course, only that flour was specially low-priced just then, and it would be all the same to me of course, and I W(Uild be so mucli money ahead, when I came to make my fiual settlement, of course." In- stead of doingall this, for I was getting my eyes rapidly opened. I got him to clear one quarter of an acre, at the rate of $14 p. a,, payment to be made when the work ^as done, and not a cent to be advanced for flour. Jack winced, but seeing my features sternly set, drew his sleeve pensively across both eyes as he had done when open- ing out the story of poor Molly's vanish- ed sweetheart. Having done this, h(> enticed various boys, by promise.', of chewing tobacco and other forbidden luxuries, to help him to underbrush and limb, and I followed, axe in hand. Jack hated work with a holy and per- fect hatred, but being forced to labor, the next best thing was to do as little as possible. Hence he became at once used sore beset to contrive excuses to avoid chopping a huge pine standing in the quarter acre and which lowered tc a height of 120 feet while it was four feet through at the base. Thus he plied me with irresistible logic. "If I cut that tree it will fall over the road, and it will take five men and two loams to remove it in time to clear the road for traftic. Over the road is the only way it can fall." I agreed with a groan, and he, to cheer me up, suggested an adjournment of the work, for a partridge-hunting expedition. Away we went, preceded by a mongrel dog of some peculiar Muskoka brei d, yet a uog which knew a thing or two about partridge, and had aca[iiicit; for living on nothing and avoiding por cupines. The cur soon treed a cov. y of partridges, which allowed themselves to be shot one after the other in a uu st stupid way. We passed over som3 beaver meadovvs — lovely little piairio gums, most grateful to the eye with their briuht groeu relieving tlie monotonous darkness of the pines, and also by their flatness (deasing the eye tire i with continual hills, rocks and ravines. Safely ensconced in Jack's free grant shanty, we made .soup of the partridgCLi, but the meat was so frosli, that it defied ordinary tectii. It was a refinement on the tortures of Tantalus. Hero we had duiicious huge plump white partridge.s cooked to all appearance, and yet o( a liard- ness intermediate between white ash and hickory. However we were as hungry as bears shaking their slia;.'gy sides after their winter's sleep. Tlie Muslioka climate serves a uot'ice to quit on dyspepsia, indigestion, bilious- ness and all their numerous cousins, rhe whole tribe has got to go, and a h althy stomach and ravenous ap- petite take their place. Wlieu 1 landed at Parry Sound, I loathed fat. Now I could make oily Western pork, even MIIHKOKA SKETCH. 11 Till without becanw, disappoar as quickly as a shantymau. Att(;r a few liays ot Ijac- baric life, dining ott' logs, and drinking water out of swamps wliicli tliough dark was pure being fed by springs. I thought 1 would spend no moie money on the lot, and deemed my experience cheaply bought, compared with the losses Of others Just then I met George Kelcey. He had l)een driven out of England by luad, not by a bnlKt but by lead poisoning or painter^' colic, winch is the curse of his tradt. The doctor told him as he lay on his side- bed, that he must quit his busitn'ss oi- prepare to tenant a very nairow and perpetually dark house in six months. Not having any taste for the under- takers' style ot arcliitecture. he left for Parry Sound and was settled on an excellent block of land, with a bettir farm at Whitestoue lake, still further to the North, and about 80 miles North of Parry Sounu. From where he lived the unearthly howl of a wolf was often heard in the far off Northern wilderness, and was reechoed in vari ous tones by the pack as they circled s(Mne lake in search of [)rey. Ktilcey was a good sampb' of a suc- cessful settler. He had picked out two good tracts of excellent clay loam, free from any quantity of stone sufficient to interfere with ploughing. He had thoroughly learned back woods work of all kinds, CTuld log, liew and chop witii the best of them, and was a good "corner man" which is saying a great deal. Besides this he traded largely in furs, and sold oats to Beatty, in Parrv hound. I found that 1 had just missed it in my selection of a lot ; an quarter of a mile further North, and 1 should have been off the pine ridges and on the clay loam. 'When in his company I drove to Wliitestone lake, 1 noted a marked improvements in the soil, and in the standing timber which began to consist moro and mjre of maple and beech, which the clearings were larger, and the rock less visible. Whitestone Lake consists of two bodies of water connected by a narrow natural canal, easily crossed by a bridge ot the "Great North road," which went on beyond the lake to the North Pole for all I know or cared. Anything pret- tier than tiie situation of Kelcey's house at the narrow near this bridge. It would be difficult to conceive. His boat house was built near a rock of crystallized limestone, rounded to a dome-like lop by the weather, and shining in its translucent whiteness like Parian marble. We took boat here, and rowing through the narrows with a lovely evergreen clump on the lijfi, si'on emerged into the lake, near which there was a noted runway where tweuty-five deer had been seen at one time. On the joung trees by the waters' side, could be seen the line marking the highest places where the ihdv could reach when browsing from the winter's ice. 8o abundant were these animals, that their bones being knawed by mice into sharp points, rendered walking in the bush very un pleasant for the moccasmed Indians. On the margin of the lake [ saw a 12 IIUSKOKA SKETCH. piece of land, gently sloping to the water, some 60 acres I think, in area, free from stone or rock, all tillable except four acres of which two could be reclaimed by drainage. For this I took preliminary steps to re-locate in the Crown lands office in Parry Sound, but got tired of the solitude of the country and left it in the following March, for Bracebridge. I stayed with Mr. Kelcey during the winter, and the diet was in marked contrast to the tr&ditional fat pork, with oi without beans, so common in settlers' houses. Prime beef from througbred cattle, delicious vension, chicken and turkey of the best, home cured Lams, all vegetables which could I e grown in the country and stand cellarage, with ex- cellent tea, cream and eggs — such was the diet of Ignotus. The only approach to an adventure, which I enjoyed, in the house, was one night when several teamsters, in the employ of the noted lumber merchant, big Dill, of Byng Inlet, (so called in contrast with "little Dill," of Brace- bridge), were benighted and I shared my bed with one of them. The night was very cold, and we had a mountain of clothes on us, which with blankets, coverlids and an English rug, must have been eight inches in thickness. There was another bed in the room, and after we had fallen asleep, up came two teamsters, shivering, and quickly undressing. Over their bed was one thin blanket. I am afraid I must plead guilty to having stripped the bed before they came up, One of them went to sleep quietly enough, but he the got up with a crowd of strong adjectives in his mouth, "I'll make the boss give us covering or I'll tear the house down." Then, lighting a match, and seeing our mountain of bed clothes, he shouted at me, "com- rade, comrade, come, come, shell out some of these blankets." By vague hints of a revolver being under the pillow, I quieted him down, and he went back shivering and swearing. It was very selfish, I admit, but the cteli- cious eight inches of wool were too good to be given away. I g'jt some curious glimpses into Indian life, while at Kelcey't. Their mode of trading is peculiar, and a storekeeper who does not understand it, can do no business with them. They come into the store with otter, fisher, musk and other furs. Tli« storekeeper asks the price. It is out- rageous, and such as to kill all chance of hi8 re-selling at a profit. He must not grumble or try tohit^gle, but must figure up the total amount wnich the Indian asks for the furs, and thou finding out how much flour, tea &c., the dusky one requires, he must charge such prices for these goods as will equalise the furf so as to leave him a profit. Both parties are then satisfied having got three to five times the current prices of their wares. One instance of tlie Indian's coolness when his life hangs by a thread — Kelcey was going home, and along a piece of corduroy road across a swamp. It was just light enough 'o make out MUflXOKA 8XBTCH. 18 a dibtant outline. At the edge of the awainp, be thought he saw a bear crouohiug and he levelled hia rifle on the Buppoi^ed Brum. Auothei ueoond and a dead ludiau would have been ripe for a Coroner'8 inqueHt but in that second, the Indian stood erect and threw up his hands. Mark the ttaga- city of the savage. If he hiid shouted, Eelcey might have not known where the sound came from, on account of tiie echoes of the rook, and taken it lor the encouragement of a brother sportsman. He knew that when he held his hands out, K. could distinguish him even by the dim light from a bear. Two parties of Indians, frelonging to different tribes, but friendly to each Qth(>r, were in the district, and the first band left a record to guide the aeoond as to the whereabouts and route of the former. This was all shown on a sheet of white birch baxk, pinned to a tree, and on which was an accurate sketch map of the roads and lakes together with marks to identify the first baud, and arrows to show where they were going. In company with K., I visited an Indian camp in the bush. He traced the path by minute tomahawk notches at intervals on the trees. The camp was cunningly constructed to escape the biting H. W. blast. The tent was to the 8. E. of a huge bowlder, between which and a rook, the fire was flaming so that the teot enjoyed not only its direct heat but that reflected from tho rock. They were actually warmer in tho bush than we in our hewed log house. The venison was hung up out of the dogs' reach, beautiful deers' heads wUh symmetrical antlers were lying on the ground gnawed by the canines. The venison when cut up ready for market, was wrapped in deerskins, with tho grain of the hair so arranged as to slide along without catching the snow, and so hauled dome twenty miles, CO Parry Sound, by Indians, harnessed singly each to his load. The amount of victuals which one of these Indians can put out of sight passes beiiei. One day, K. asked a Penetan- guishene Indian, not pure bred, to have some dinner. He had feature^^ repulsive through disease and tlie hostess involuntarily gave him a look ot disgust, which he inwardly noticed and after eatiner about four heaping platesfuls of turkey, beef and ham, get up with a satisfied grunt, looking at her, chuckling and muttering to him> self, "squaw mad," after he had bolted euough to feed a. good sized family. Kelcey had brAins, new ideas and energy, and among the improvements which he introduced amidst the settlers, was the practice of building roofs of ho«se with a elope of at least 1^ to 1, instead of a square pitch, as here' tofore. The luxury of a steep roof, consisted in the earlier sliding away of the snow in the spring. One great nuisance, aggravated when stationary eavetroughs were used, wa>* the form* ation of great cakes of ioe at tlie bottom of the xoot, and caused by alternate thawing and free&ing of the snow. This ice was haid to break ofif 14 MU8K0KA SKETCH. without tearing the shingles and in the spring the water backed up against it and leaked through the ceilings of the house. The snow was five feet deep on the level during a large part of this winter, and of course of indefinite depth in drifts. Travel was sometimes quite blocked. Before Dill, of Byng Inlet, planned a journey to the South, he sent some of his lumber teams to break the road, and the settlers watched their arrival, and followed them with their ox teams. There were no snow ploughs as in the lower Province,, to clear the way. There was just one narrow track, which some horses seem- ed to know by instinct, and it was easier to get off it than on again. I travelled the twenty-three miles of road to Parry Sound several times through blinding snow storms, and got so hardened to the weather that I seem- ed frost-proof* The description of one of these trips may auffice. The first seven miles were comparatively easy, till we reached McKellar, owing to the road, being well travelled by farmers going to that village for their sui plies. Froto- McKellar, five miles to a place, the name of which I wish to forget as it recalls an abominable dinner and cold house, but which I think was call- ed the 'Junction,' was gone over in five hours. When we saw h team coming towards us, K. and the opposite team- ster got out, and began tramping the snow to an easy down grade from the road, so that the sleighs could pasti each other. It required judgment to select the crossing place, as otherwise if too narrow^ the runners would get locked, and if the up grad« was too steep, the sleigh could not get on again to the road without being unloaded. The road itself, that is the beaten part of it, was so narrow, that there wero only three or four inches sometimes of margin to come and go upon, and if the horses made the least slip, down tlney went perhaps seven or eigiit feet. During tliis journ'jy from McKellar, one of tiicm broke off the road and al'tei desperate plunging and being un- hitched from the sleigh, iustuad of getting up, related in the hole whicli lie had made in the snow as if lie wavS going to die there. At last ho juinpetl up and Very sensibly made a bolt for home. Fortunately I stojjped hiui.but he seemed to dread the hole where he had struggled, and it was some fifteen minutes before we could get him hitch- ed to the sleigh again. When we got to the Junction (of what with what I never could make out unless of miset-y with company), we expected a good dinner to warm us up, and got notliing but a little withered budly cooked dry pork witii some still more vvietcht d tea, and a poor fire. Still, anything scLun- ed better than facing the storm and I did my. best to coax K. to stop for th(! night, but he was determined to go on, and as I thought if it went on drifting, tiiat I would run less risk of starvation in Parry Sound, 1 went with him. A loaded team liad passed through Lalf an hour before we started, but all traces of its runners were c >mpl(!fely MUBKOXA SKETCH. 16 covered by the snow. Between this miserable Junction and tho Sound, were strewn along the roadside, furni- ture, lumber, &c., wliich the teamsters had thrown oft' to light-.n their load. The long straight stretch of road uoar the Sound, gave a full scope tc u ki-eii breeze, which nearly used up our re- maining powers of liolding out, and thankful were we indeed wlien wc gol into Kirkman's and using our jemain- ing strength to fill tlie stove, became gradually tha»veil out and fit for Hupppr. Luuicrous iucidei.ts cropped up for travellers sometimes, that winter. A man up country had advertised his wife in the Parry Sound newspaper as having left Lis bed and board, and in the usual legal form. She retcrted with a similiar advertisomunt auun<.r team- ster saw nothing but the outer eiicle of a crinoline and a pair of Balmorals, with tlie toes convulsively pi'inting towards Arcturus, while lipr iiivisii)le spine directed itself towards the island of St. Paul. Meanwhile piteous sobe a»id groans for help came tlirough six feet of snow with inarticulate and mufflt-d appeals to which he yielded so soon as he could get the laugh- ter out of his system. In March, 1875, in company with Slade who was on iiis road for Eng- land. I k-ft Piirry Sound in a spltMidid .-.lei;.>h, driV' n by fast horses (or at least by horses who wanted to l)e fast when the road let them) to Bracebrulge, We pjssed through some very deep cuttings in the sn<»vvdrifts where tlie lumbermen had she. veiled ou' roadn and stopped at liosseiiu, at the house of the inevitable Pratt. Him 1 had heard off long before as an in- corrigibl'jjoker, and one whom it was necessary to pay off in iiis own coin. 'Hlw deep is your house ?" said I. "A quarter of a mile.', ''It gtretohos likt! your bill when a traveller's leav- ing." "One for you, are yon his- torically acquainted with an mter- cliange of idias which once took pluco between the governors of North aiid Sonlh (Varolii. a ?" I cv/ned to it, dim mi mory i f tlie matter. Wo adjounjeii to anolii(!r room. After this c.iuu! dinner, includiiig a superb hi;. ' I" si.aii, suberby cook'd, a gem U> be set in I ins culinary .mmory of the futui'e, iheu \v(! made a third adjourument to Mnok-i real Haviinnas. (aiuld it be [(Ostiblo that W'> had !};ot into luxurious eiv- ilizati. n again ? It wa.; tootluiome to recall that horrid Junction witii its IrMithsoni" toa, by way of a dark back- ii ni HUSKOKA SKETCH. ground, to bring out the beauties of this gem among hotelH. Pratt, the landlord, is an American, and with the far- fleeing speculR^ion of his country- men, picked out this beautiful site on Lake Roa'aeau, for a tourist hotel on a very large scale. His inveterate joking proclivities have made him some enemies, but I always found him very pleasant and reasonable in his charget. Once, among his guests, was an Eng- lishman verging on the Dude wpeoies, a grade Dude, in fact. ''Aw have you ?" began he to Pratt. "Yes, said the landlord. "We have everything here which you can call for." Inwardly and long reflected the Dude, determin- ed to seek for something not to be had. Finally he asked for a bottle of "double Selzaw wataw" — something; rarely in the cellar, even of English hotels. "Certainly," said Pratt," called th« waiter and soon the genuine No. 2, Seltzer appeared. It was from a oonsignment sent by mistake from Toronto, but the sight of it caused the Dade to wonder and collapse. Some- times however the joke was the other way. D. F. McDonald, a Government wood ranger, had brought sixteen dogs to Bracebridge, on their way to Parry Sound, to be used by Bowers with dog sleighs in the following winter to com- vey the mails across the ice to Algoma. He telegraphed Pratt, "Prepare bed- room accommodation in your stables for sixteen guests." Pratt knowing that Government parties and other tourists of note often sought his hotel, and taking (be "stable part" of (he meHBuge, hh faoetioue, immediately went to a good deal of trouble in pre- paring sixteen of his beut bedrooms for the viBitoru. When he saw MoDoi>sial walking up from the hotel wharf with a yelping pack of sixteen harneused do<,'y, his feelings were too ntrong for utterance, other than the expectoration of violent adjectives. Bbaoebridoe. Whsn we got into Bracebridge, we were cheered and surprised l)y the sight of a fine brick block, but Jepress- ed proportionately to find it all shut up, as were also several other builuiitgs in the village, and as I landed on the verandah of the North American hotel, o le end of which was nearly hidden from the other by a snow drift, I felt strongly diuposed to take the stage next day, and get into the outer world of railways and great cities. Of noiae equal to that of & large city, we had enough, from a fifty foot water fall in the vil- lage; from another still higher one, four miles o£f, in certain states of the wind, the sound came as if of a vast train of oars. Sleep was difficult at first from these causes. On inquiry from Markle, the landlord, I found that the village was just beginning slowly to recover from (ho rea«tion following the McMurray boom. MoMurray had a great deal of the live go-ahead yankee dealing about him, and m ad- dition to running a newspaper, real estate, and other "irons in the fire," he kept a general store in this brick block which he seem to have built regardless of expense, with very large MtTSKOKA BKKTOn. 17 thu plates of gliisH in tlui windows, liigh ceilings, a cashier's box in the ceiitrul part of the store, :iii(l a [irivato office 24 feet long, witli lofty glass partition. The building was about 00x60 feet, with a very large one storey addition at thb rear for a printing office. Five clerks were employed :n the store, and the proprietor had a splemlid villa, beautifully located on the residential part of the village. All this remember, in a backwoods hamlet, \\hich when ho flourishbd, had a population equal to that of the famous light brigade, before they were "stormed at with sUot and shell." Mac became finan- ciiilly "busted," and his downfall knocked the bottom out of the institu- tion of Braeebridge. The village, however, recovereil and mj>do wonder- ful strides before I left it in 1880. A firo engine was purchased, and a fire- company established and uniformed. Two launc'fi(!s were mni.ing, to one. of which $2,000 bonus and ten years exemption from tuxes were "granted. This latter tised up 1,000 hides from China, South America, Nicaragua. Ac, in a fortnight, cost some $30,000 for buildings, and required over 3.000 cords of hemlock bark per R.nnum. A brick school house was built at a cost of some $7,00C, and a brick R. C. Church, another brick block was erected and a most substantial lock-up and registry office. In the two last, hard burnt brick of a very peculiar clay dug in the village, was used, with basement course of Muskoka stone, hard as iron, and which if the curses of the stone cutters muttered over their swiftly blunted chisels cannot blast it, will last till the crack of doom. Side- walks were laid down, and ma' y other betterments which 1 forget. There was a groat deal of enterprise among th(» business men, one proof of which was given when B«ardmore was in tho village prospecting for a site for his tannery. He was wavering between Braeebridge, Peuetanguisheno and Graveniiurst, tho great object being to get near the supply of bark. I was present when a meeting of tho leading merchants and village o )uncil- lors was called to see him, and in an hour or so after tho idea was broached, a rough draft of the agreement was sketched and tho enterprise captured for Braeebridge. There was as a general thing much of bustle and life in the village, owing to the lumber traffic, and the large numbers of emigrants who stopped on their way way to locate on free grants, or to pur- chase farms. There were four good hotels in Braeebridge, all making money. The "British Lion" seemed to be the aristocratic place to rest. Here tho Dnke of Manchester, after having walked up the hill, pursued by the brass band who here determined to serenade him, actually slept. The rumpling of the sheets the next morn- ing showed that notwithstanding his exalted rank, he went to bed like ordinary commoners, and the couch was fondly glanced at, and shown to the curious, as a link joining Braeebridge to tho House of Lords. A long list of 18 MUPKOXA BXETCR. distinguished visitors including Lord Dufforin, might be given, and hence anything so commonplace as a mere M. P. P. or Toronto alderman, hardly htirrod a ripple in the social world of the Muskoka capital. There was cultured society in Bracebridge. The Anglican incumbent. Rev. T. S. Cole, was one of the graduates of Cambridge, England, and author of an admirable pamphlet on the teaching of geometry. His mother-in-law, was on the regular staflf of the contributors to the Atlantic Monthly, and author of a noted book on Muskoka, published by Kouteldge, London (England). The Brownings, of an old family from Newcastle (Eng.) especially J. B., were a highly cultiva- ted family and thoroughly posted in ■aodern literature from Herbert Spencer's theories is the latest novel, Aubrey White, the Crown Lands agent was gifted with a phenomenal memory and could tell the names of the sitting members of all the parliaments great and small of Canada, their ante- cedents and their constituencies, to- gether with the dates of the various by-elections since Confederation. W. E. Foot, the fishery inspector, was from Dublin, where he had filled an important position in connexion with one of the leading railway companies. He was an accomplished musician, and amateur actor, having in the lat- ter capacity inherited histrionic talent from his celebrated ancestor of tUe same name. Before my arrival. Col. (afterwards General) Maude was another Muskoka settler, who had land in Diaper and after leaving Muskoka was made Her Majesty's consul general fur Poland. He was covered with medals for campaigns in India and elsewhere, and received tho Victoria cross. Another settler alfio before my time was Sir William Collen, who located on the Muskoka river. Across the guUey which ran through my lotH, lived Mr. G. Eddington, son of Col. Eddington, Argyifbliiie, and we used to signal each other by flags, when we were at home. Eddington spent five years in Demerara, and had a most interesting journal of his travels, illus* trated by graphic sketches of Indian life and tropical scenery. His namo receives honorable mention in a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society in London, and from tho pan of Mr. Flint, who witli him was one of tho few white men, except Sir R.Schoin- berg, who visited the Rorhiina moun- tain, which is a square faced rook of great extent, 1,0()0 feet high, on tho top of which vegetation and probably insects if not animals, diti'erent from those in any other part of tlie earth are believed by scientists to flourish. Eddiqgton,I believe discovered a feasi- ble path to the top, which so far as wh know has never boon pressed by hu- man foot. Portions of the "Merchant of Venice" and other Shakes^ erian Dramas were acted in the village so as to satisfy severe' critics, though of course tho stage was denuded of those costly scenic adjoints, which metropolitan theatres enjuy. There was also an HU8K0XA SRRTCtl. 10 I ezo«llent ohesH oliib in wliicli a near relative of Mt- Muiitz, the member for Birmingham wan a noted phiyor. To turu for a moment to the dark side of MuBJioka hfe lot us sketch the land swindler. A landshark's own definition of him- self is a "philinthropiHt, whose heart is bursting to oardiao apoplexy with affection for the moneyed settler and who burns with desire to seltlo him in a happy home." A hawk plucking a pigeon to the last piufeath(>r, is the image which he leaves on his custo- mer's mind by and by. If the victim be not only a green but a fussy Eng- lishman, his doom is sealed. Now enters on the stage of this sketch, A. Shark, Esq. He is the leading actor. He is Canadian born, but with a good dash of yankto descent. In early life lie was foolish enough to go in for hard work, but he was a young philos- pher, and his reading brought him across the motto of the old barons, "Tbou sliall't want ere I want." How to work practical fruit out of tnis motto, in the 19th century, was the great problem. He could not eiisconca himself in a castle and ravage the plains below. In the first place he had no castle, and if he had, the strong police of the day would nip his plans in the bud. Picking pockets suggested itself, but was dismissed as being vulgar, unintellcctual and a highway to the Central Prison. Being wholly callous to the •goads of conscience, the maxim of the Tiohborne claimant fell into liis mind as on prepared soil. there to fructify an hundred fold— ••some have money and no brains, the men who have money and no brains, were made for men who have brains and no money." From this time, he avoided so far as he could, all manual work which he hated with a holy and perfect hatred. He saw the rich harvest which landsharks reaped without toil- i'l'g or spinning, with an oily tongue as the sole implement, and out of tha plerhorio purses of innocent emigrants. He also saw that bia chanoeM of success would be swelled immensely, if he could pass off as a veritable John Bull. Just in this frame of mind he accepted a cliance to go to Liverpool with cat* tie, and meeting all nationalities in that city, he developed his natural power of mimicry, so that he could have a father in York or a mother in Dublin, or rhapsodize on Scott's monument in Edinburgh, just as the victim's origin might require. Thui prepared for the work, fate landed him in Muskoka, where he got hold of laud. His unkempt and hay colored hair hung in bunches oyer a low fore- head indented by small pig-like eyes which shrunk from the direct glance of another, and over which training h id oast an air of sleepy innocence. Nature had cast bis features in a vulturine mould and beaked curves could be detected not only in the nose, but under the lower lip and in the mean receding chin. Instinctively aware of the twin deformity of bis ears, which were large flaps requiring close inspection to difference tbem from bad- 10 MTIRKOKA 8KRTCH. :'!I1 ly cooked pancakoH, he wore a oloso mufilor in all woathers. Few mtn however have no redeeming feature, acd his teeth being while, perfect and symmetrical were frequently laid bare by the mechanical umiling muscles of a thin and cruel strip of human parch- ment called an upper lip. Snow is on the ground, a matter of four feet on the level. (!an such a trifle stop the anxious homo-aeeker ? Out he sallies, spade in hand, and is conducted across a spot over which an ancient stable, with its floor never cleansed, once 'stood till time gave the timbers to the wood pile. The fleecy veil is dug away, and mother oartli appears. John Bull digs yet deeper^ and brings up a dark spadeful of soil, which seems downright inky, neiir tlie bright snow. A. Shark, Fsq., tak(!S a handful of the real estate, He smells it — delicious, he con'd cat it — did Egypt or Illinois ever see such lovely soil ? Millions in it, only wai^- ine: to be tickled it to existence by the plough ! Bull s nells it. TI16 by- standers smell it Chorus : "Wiiat soil?" "Fat as b-itter !" "What an iddt Shark is to sell it !" "I wouldn't, take $80 an acre for it, by thun'^er." In a i»tage whisper, "Tell Jake to bid on it." A. Shark, Esq. ; "No, I'm a man of honor, I've offered it to Mr. Bull at $20 pi. acre, and I'll stick to my bargain." "Are you going to let a black stranger ride over Jake's head and take the best farm in the township from an old settler ? I wish these Engliahmen wouldn't come here, snap- ping up the best lands," Shark : "KugliKhmeu are the very men wo want to makefile country go ahead." Diw- interested bystander, to Bull, "You'd better clinch the thing, give him $50 to bind the bargain, of couist! its no business of mine." Bull looking at the "snug log house sniluble for a small family," grumbles audibly, "why its all full of h*y." "() yes, you can have it at a valuation, the hay crop was so heavy, w(! had to store it in the house." Bull ascends to (lie top of the hay and looking up, says, "why there's a slate off I" "We doi.-'t use slates here, but shingles," "Well then there's a shingle off," "Impossible." "But I see light through a hole in the roof." "Nonsense, its a silver pine shingle, as we call them, which reflect light," "Let me look again." — Here Bull slips through th(! hay, scratchcK his shin on a pitch fork, and the suhject drops, "Where's the spring of living water," he asks, "you told me alxnit inside the house," Shark ri'Mioves aluo^jc board andshowri him a pool of turbid water. "But its Jill muddy." "Well so it is, the children have mnddii^d it, the little pests, throwing clods in." Here Jake is seen tearing over the fencing on snowshoes, and roaring, "stop the sale, stop the sale." Bystander whispering to Bull, 'you'd better be quick and slip Shark the deposit." Bull does so, and says *,o Bystander, "would you — I really feel delicate to ask vou — but would you feel hurt by my offering you $10 for your trouble ?" "Well I really hate taking money but I'll i n i MURKOEA BKXTCU. 21 1 i koep it for tho poor." Momiwliile Jjiko has como pa.)tinf,' imd cursing : "Shark, you Hcouiidrol, yoii promised to HoU mo tliis land, T muHt have it or I'll Htaiul a Huit on it. 1*11 pound vou to pioces." Jal(o .strips for a fi,t,'lit. IJull dooH ditto, and orders liim otT tho f^round. Jalt, and llie Bisl'op, becoming a teni; oral guide as We'll as a spiritual leader, struck a course wiiicli brought him out within a few chains of the dosir^'d place of ( xii. The Bishop who Inid promptly given up brilliant i)rospects in his native France for Canadnni missionary life, reiained the brilliant sjiarkh' and wit of his countrymen. While .sleep- ing at a settli'r's house m the bush. s(Mne juiserable wrctcli cut oil" th<' tail of Jiis horse. The woman of the; house went out in the morning to the barn, and --iiw the mutilatc^d steed. She canii- \\\ trembling to the Bishop : "Your Lordsip, they've cut" — she blushed and stammered. — He re-as- sured her and asked her to go on — "the tail of your Imrse," she said, "that is, the mane of the tail. I don't know what's to be done." He toou it Su twi sizt use ma sul) chi yon are app .$2f say wa.s StU(l fxp| fro 11 """wrr. 4 MUSKOKA HKKTrn. quit" cooly, saying' k1t*t ho iniist sub- mifc unlfls-^ sho cuikl mako a wi^' for the tail. During ono of r,!»r> Bisli ip's sermons, ho proachod in English, earnostly on tho fall «>f our first paront.s, ami on ih-.it iialv't'ui Icjacn oi sin thus bcques'thed to us. A Fn'uch- man was sitting in iront I'f nif ciill*'cl Legasc, with the accent on tlio last "e". Anotiitr Fronchman not understand- ing English, and catching the s^nntl of tlie name, as he thought, rcitcatrd in severe tones by his Lordsliip. looked hard at the suppos"d deliuquen!, and for some time, the latter wha supposed to have rec(>ived a stron-^ reprimand from the pulpit tor his supposed peccadillos. Tlu' Koman Catholics had an admirable system •!' managing missions, rhe "prrsbytery" was the residence of the Bishop and t!io prie-t, Father (Jodv. Tiie two front roims were joined by folding doors, which r.n Sunday were thrown o[)en, so tiiat the two chambers together formed a good sized meeting room, which could be used also for secular gatoerin^'s. After mass on Sunday, tiie liishop CiiJled a businiss meeting, and introduced the subject of the proposed ne.v brick ohurcli by a series of quesiions. "Do you want a new church ?" All hands are raisei, and i\U'. W. W. Groom appointed s(;cretary. "Wlio says $200?" Dead silence. "I say $200," says the Bisiiop, wl«o bv the way was supporting ajid educating five students for the priesthood at hi.s own expense. Like sunbeams burstinj? from a cloud and gilding t!ie dark pine tops, smile •! 'rjorifv the congregation's faces, \vhih> the seeretary's pen scratches like fury. "Who says $100?" Sil nee again, but not so dead. Several had almost decided to grive this sum, but modesty of course kept tliem dumb. "Put Father Cody down for $100, he's away, but whenever I am from home, if he o;ives $5 he always puts me down lor $10, and its a poor rule that does not work both ways," says the Bishop. A gen(fral lau'^h followed with intense enjoyment at Father Cody's expense. Soon a number signed for $100, and so the list went on the descending scale, till a limit of $95 was reached, after which it closed for the day. The congregation, largelv from the country came down handsomely, and liberal contributir-ns flowed in from protes- tants, chiefly Anglicans. Before very long the new brick church was dedica- ted and consecrated and opened with all the impressive splendor, which the Roman ritual bestows. Arch- bishop Lynch, supported by a large staff of Cathedral and ether clergy, officiated, and afterwards I was pre- sented to his grace by Bishop Jamot. in our short conversation, I found the Archbishop, who was very affable, thoroughly posted as to the men of note in Ireland both in and out of his ciiurch, and the manner and matter of his pulpit discourse were very fasci- nating. It was a great treat to spend an evening with Bishop Jamot and listen to his varied experiences ia Europe and in Oauada. After dinner, one day the conversation turned on the 2A MU8K0KA BKETCn. coutinentiil prouunciabion of Latin, and to illustrate the fallacy of the popular idea that it was uniforna, the Bishop r'jcited for me the Paternoster in Italian, and other languages, showing very marked differences in sounding the same words. Father Cody, the resident priest, was thoroughly Irish and racy of the soil. I had bought three village lots, built a small house for myself and was "keeping batcli." The priest felt very much for my lonely state, and was always afraid that I would get cramps and die in the night, without help. He offered to call on me and iiscuas' mixed points in theology, an exercise in which, with becoming humility, I expressed my inabillity to contend with him. It was a little curious that the two bishops under whose charge, in the Eoman and Anglican systems respec- tively, Muskoka with Algoma were placed, were French or of French descent. I saw a good deal of the then Anglican chief pastor of Algoma, the late Bishop Fauquier, during his annual visits to the district. A b-shop's work through such a country, is not to be done by a feather-bed soldier of the church aiilitant, and he had his trials piiysical as well as mental during iiis journeys. Once his vehicle broke down, and he had to walk to the nearest place of shelter, some four n.iles, carrying a heavy valise. He was a skilful sleigh- driver and could go the p&ce down hill without aooident. He was a man of niassive and commanding appearance, very dignified and grave in manner, and somewhat melancholy, us well he might be when he thought of tht? enormous extent of his diocese, iargo enough for a European Kingdnm, and only ministered to (in our church) by a little handful of pastors, wnohc salaries could not be guarantei;d for a single quarter. He often spok(! tn m> without making the least sound. One very cold night iu winter, I was coiled under a buflfalo-robe, dreaming of the sunny south, when I felt something furiously shaking and striking the "buffalo," which I throw to the bottom of the bed, lit the lamp, and realized my narrow escape from strangulation by owl's claws. Wild animals tamed and untamed were common village pets. A pet deer had the run of the streets and strange to say, was let alone by the doga which perhaps had a whole- some dread of its deadly forefeet. One Sunday, this deer got into a prmt- ofilce where I was sole occupant. I tried to coax it out, but the gentle looking creature, with its beautiful soft eyes, had a will of its own, like somp of the mild members of the fair sex. It was determined to stay and go just where it liked. A hint of forci- ble ejection, made it show fight in a way which threatened to pi tbe type in the cases and make havoc generally. The congregation were passing the office glass door on their way from church. The lower part of the glass was covered, and one lady looking up and seeing the large eyes of the deer looking through the window, while the rest of the body was hidden, was almost terrified into a fit. Once I saw an exhibition of savage ferocity which few have ever witnessed — a bear just from the woods, getting his first taste of prison life. He was full grown, an old fighter. One eye had been torn out in some bygone battle. He he bad been caught iu a deadfall, and chloroformed, after which ho was lifted into a packing case, just high enough and narrow onoagh to hold him while flatteuing his back. In some wonderful way, he had managed to turn round in the box before he reached Bracebridge. A very strong eollar had been put around his nock, and to this, two thick chains were attached. The box was carried on the top of a wide stretch of flat rock, near the bridge. He w as a mur- derous looking bruin and glared even through the holes iu the packing case, at the crowd, as if he wondered MITSKOKA SKETCH. 27 emerge like animated snowballs, screaming with laughter. They went barefooted, late in autumn, when town children were shivering with cold feft, and in the summer, their bare h^ads defied sunstroke. Muskoka, in the future, will he an invaluable recruiting field, should Canada evar unhappily need a regular army,andiri the meanwhile Reform and Conservative administraiious at Ot- tawa, are alike to be censured for not having organized a volunteer force in Muskoka and Parry Sound, where such excellent physical material exists for its foundation. One great fault in the architecture of the shanty, was its being built with the floor nearly on the ground level, so that, espioially alter the sinking of the logs, where the snow melted in