NEWFOUNDLAND, — TTS— rapMcal Position, Resources, &c., — AND- — THE- CRSD CITY OF THE HINDUS, WO LECTURES DELIVERED BEFORE THE Y. M. 0. A., — BY— HEliER BUDDEN, QXJJEBSSIC. • ■ ■ ^^ ■ » I PRICE, 25 Cents. QUEBEC : PniNTKD AT THE " MORNINa CHRONICLE! " OMlCK. 1880. *:-■■ . ■■V :m -■■ >i .i.i f .^ ■.'-.-S., NEWFOUNDLAND, —ITS- Olimate, Geograpliical Position, Resources, &o., -AND— BElSTi^RE©, — THE— SACRED CITY OFTHE HINDUS. ► •-^^•« ♦- 1 TWO LECTURES DELIVERED BEFORE THE Y. M. C. A., — IIY- H E B E R B U D D E N , QXJ3S383EC. > -♦ ♦ -4^-« ^ «^ QUEBEC ; rniNTED AT TUB " MORNING CHROSICIiK '" Of JICE. 1880. f'C2/(a7 & 383RI3G3F' SIC3STC3E3E OP THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND, CLIMATE, RESOURCES, GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION, &c. Ladies and Gentlemen, , In presenting to yc ir notice this evening, a briet description of the Island of Newfoundland, I do not wish to take credit for anything of a literary character, but mere- ly to string together such facts as have been gathered from a residence in that Island during a number of years, with such extracts as I found necessary from different authors who have written on the above subject. If I shall be the means of enlightening even one individual, I shall consider myself amply repaid for my trouble, as really so little is known concerning this noble Island, that one would ima- gine it existed somewhere in the South Seas, instead of being within three days' sail of the port of Q uebec. I shall commence by telling you that Newfoundland is situated east of the Gulf and River Saint Lawrence, which separate it from the American Continent on its western side, its north being bounded by the Straits of Belle-Isle, which arc about from ten to twenty miles wide ; its eastern and southern shores being washed by the great Atlantic. It lies between the latitudes of 46«' 87" and 51° 40" North, and the longitudes of 52«» 41" and 59« 31" West. It is the nearest to Europe of any part of America, the distance from St. John's to Port Valeutia, on the West Coast of Ireland, being 1,656 miles, Bouchette states its extreme length measured on a curve, from Cape Race to Grigiiet Bay, at 419 miles ; its extreme width, IVom Cape Ray to Cape Bonavistii, at about 300 miles ; and its circuit at little short of 1,000 miles. Its area comprises about 30,000 square miles. The discov<3ry of this large Island has been ascribed to difterent persons, but I believe it cannot be disputed that it is due to John Cabot, a Venetian, who fell in with that portion of the coast called Bonavista. while on a voyage of discovery, on the 24th June, 1407, and without making any stay here, coasted along the Contineni of America, until he found himself in 38^ North, when being short of provisions, he returned to England, taking with him from Prince Edward Island (then called tSt. John) three of the abori- gines. Of course it will be necessary to be very brief in all these particulars, for time will not permit of my enlarging on them. I may state that Cabot gave it the name of Bac- calaos, being the Indian name for codlish. In 1534 Jacques Cartier arrived at Cape Bonavista, and on his return to France, was most liivorably received. About this time several attempts were made to coloni/o Newfoundland. «' Master Robert Home, a merchant of London, with divers other gentlemen," sailed in 1536, thinking to winter there ; but the crew^ were nearly starved to death, and compelled to resort to the most loathsome expedients, and would have perished had they not met with a French ship laden with provisions, which they seized and brought to England. Henry VIII, of England, satislied the French claims for indemnity, by paying for the seized vessel. Europeans, when they first began to form their lishing establishments, found on the Coast a considerable number of natives belonor- ing to a particular tribe of Red Indians. This color, which they exhibited still more decidedly than the races on the Continent, is ascribed to the use of a vegetable juice, with which their whole body was anointed, but it has been pretty well established that it was a speciee of red ochre which they used. A quantity of the latter material was found in nearly all their wigwams, so that no doubt their color may be ascribed to the last mentioned article. Thoir intercourse for sometime, as indeed usually happens, was friendly, and they mixed I'atniliarly with the strangers, aiding them in tho3e pursuits which were congenial to their own habits ; soon, however, quarrels arose, and as they were an exceed- ingly jealous people, there may have been cause for this passion being aroused by the incautiousness of the whites, who, in their turn, accused the red men of stealing the materials for the fishery and even its produce. The settlers, who were generally men of fierce tempers, and armed with powerful weapons, carried on the contest in a manner pe- culiarly ruthless, hunting and shooting the natives like deer. It is recorded that several attempts had been made to open up a friendly intercourse with those tribes, and in 17 GO under Governor AVall, an attempt was made by one Scott and others, which was attended with signal failure for both were killed together with their companions. In 1827, we find that an institution called the Boethic, from a native appellation of the people, had been formed with a view of again trying the possibility of oi>ening a friendly intercourse, should any of the tribe be found remaining. To forward the humane intentions of this body, McCormack, who on a former occasicm had visited the interior, set out this year with a party of Micmac In- dians, and ascending the lliver Exploits, crossed the coun- try to the head of White Bay. At about half way thither, at a portage called the Indian path, he found vestiges of a family who had evidently been there in the spring or summer of the preceding year. They had possessed two canoes, had left a spear shaft 18 feet long, with fragments of boats and dresses, and had stripped a number of the birch and spruce trees of their rinds, the inner part of which they used for food. Further on he came to the re- mainii of a village consisting of eight to ten Wigwams, each 6 capable of containing six to twenty persons. There were pits to preserve the stores, and the relics of a vapor bath. On the banks of a beautiful sheet of water called Red In- dian Lake, several clusters of huts were found, but all had been deserted. There was a canoe twenty feet long which appeared to have been driven on shore. Wood repositaries for the dead were framed with great care, the bodies wrapped in skins, vf ith which were a variety of small ima- ges, yodels of canoes, arms, and culinary utensils. The party ascended the River Exploits, continuing to hnd sim- ilar traces of habitations, but long abandoned. There were fences to entrap deer extending in a continuous line at least thirty miles, which must have required some five hundred men to keep them in repair, but all is now relinquished and gone to ruin. Thus ended this philan- throphic search prosecuted at the expense of that benevo- lent society, began with hope and expectation and ending in disappointment. There was another tribe of Indians occupying different parts of the interior called Micmacsoi hunting Indians. Their sole study seemed to be the des- truction of birds and beasts, whose cries they imitated with superior skill, and on whose flesh they existed. These exhibited a considerable mixture of French blood, and had been converted to a form of the Roman Catholic Relijjion, and were visited by a priest of that persuasion, at the dif- ferent settlements, once every summer. I should have stated that Mr. McCormack had already crossed the Island in 1822, and his journal is of such an interesting nature that I cannot forbear making a few extracts from it. His route lay through the central portion of the Island, from Trinity Bay on the eiist, to St. George's Bay on the west coast, as he considered this to be the direction in which the natural characteristics of the interior were likely to be most decidedly exhibited. Having secured the services of an Indian as companion and made all necessary prepar- ations for such an arduous undertaking, he embarked at St. John's for Trinity Bay on tho 30th August. Alter having travelled some ton days without anything worth recording having happened, he says " On looking back towards the sea-coast, the scene was magnificent. We discovered that under the cover of the forest, weliad been uniformly ascen- ding ever since we left the salt water, and then soon arrived at the summit of what we saw to be a great mountain ^i.dge that seems to serve as a barrier between the sea and the interior. The black dense forest through which we had pilgrimaged presented a novel picture, appearing spotted with bright yellow marshes, and a few glassy lakes in its bosom, some of which we had passed close by with- out seeing them. In the westward, to our inexpressible delight, the interior broke in sublimity before us. "What a contrast did this present to the conjectures entertained of Newfoundland ! The hitherto mysterious interior lay un- folded before us — a boundless scone — a vast basin. The eye strides again and again over a succession of northerly and southerly ranges of green plains, marbled with woods and lakes of every form and extent, a picture of all the luxurious scenes of national cultivation receding into in- visibleness. The imagination hovers in the distance, and clings involuntarily to the undulating horizon of vapor in the far west, until it is lost. A new world seemed to in- vite us onward, or rather we claimed the dominion, and were impatient to proceed to take possession. Fancy car- ried us swiftly across the Island. Obstacles of every kind were dispelled and despised ; primitiveness, omnipotence, and tranquillity were stamped upon every thing so forci- bly, that the mind was hurled back thousands of years, and the man left denuded of the mental fabric which a knowledge of ages of human experience and of time may have reared within him. But to look around us before we advance. The great external features of the eastern portion ot the main body of the island are seen from these com- manding heights. Overland communication between the 8 bays of the east, north, and south coasts, it appears, might bo easily established. The chief ol)stacles to be overcome, as far as regards the more way, seem to lie in cros- sing the mountain belt of twenty or forty miles wide on which we stood, in order to reach the open low interior. The nucleus of this belt is ex- hibited in the form of a semi-circular chain of insulated passes and round-backed granite hills, generally lying N.E. and S.W. of each other in the rear of Bonavista, Trinity, Placentia, and Fortune Bays. To the southward of us, in the direction of Piper's Hole in Placentia Bay, one of these conical hills, very conspicuous, I named " Mount Clarence." Our view extended more than forty miles in all directions, the high land, it has already been observed, bounded the low interior in the west. "We de- scended into the bosom of the interior. The plains which shone so brilliantly are steppes or savannas composed of fine black compact peat mould, formed by the growth and decay of mosses. They are in the form of extensive, i^ently undulating beds, stretching northward and southward, with running waters and lakes, skirted with woods lying between them. Their yellow-green surfaces are sometimes uninterrupted by either tree or shrub, rock or any irregu- larity, for ^ore than ten miles. They are chequered everywhere upon the surface by deep beaten deer-paths, and are in reality magnificent natural deer parks, adorned with wood and water. Our progress over the savanna country was attended with great labor and con- sequently slow, being at the rate of from five to seven miles a day to the westward, while the distance walked was equivalent to three or four times as much. Always inclining our course to the westward we traversed in ever direction, partly from choice in order to view and examine the country, and partly from the necessity to get round the extremities of lakes and woods, and to look for game for subsistence. We were nearly a month in passing 9 over one savanna after another. Our attention was arrested twice by observing the tracks of a man on the savannas, after a minute examination, we concluded that one of them was that of a Micmac or Mountaineer Indian who had been hunting here in the preceding year, and from the point of the foot being steep, that he was going hiden with fur to the Bay of Despair. Being now near the centre of the island, upwards of one hundred and ten miles from the most inland part of Trinity Bay, about ninety miles of the distance being across the savannas, we had not yetseena trace of the Red Indians. It had been supposed that all the central parts of the island were occupied by those people, and I had been daily looking out for them. They were, however, more likely to be fallen in with far- ther to the westward. While surveying a large lake on the S.W., we descried a faint column of smoke issuing from amongst islands near the south shore, about five miles dis- tant. The time we hoped had at last come to meet the Red Indians. It was too late in the day to reconnoitre ; and my Indian went in pursuit of a herd of deer in another direction, we having no provision for supper. At sunset he did not meet me at the appointed wood in a valley hard by ; nor did he return by midnight ; nor at all. I durst not exhibit a fire on the hill as a beacon to him, in sight of the strange encampment. At day break the slender white column of smoke was still more distinctly seen. There were human beings there, and, deserted as I was, I felt an irresistable desire to approach my fellow creatures whether they should prove friendly or hostile. Plaving put my gun anu pistols in the be.st order, and no appearance of my Indian at noon, I left my knapsack and all encumbrances and descended through thickets and marshes towards the nearest part of the lake about two miles distant. The white sandy shore formed of disintegrated granite, was much trodden over by deer and other animals, but there 10 were no marks of man discernible. The extent of the lake was uncertain ; but it was apparent that it would re- quire two days at least to walk round either end to the nearest point on the opposite shore to the occupied island. 1 therefore kept on my own side to discover who the party was. By firing off my gun, if the party were Red Indians, they w^ould in all probability move off quickly on hearing- the report, and they having no fire-arms my fire would not be answered ; if they were other Indians, my fire would be answered. I fired— by and by, the report of a strange gun travelled among the islands from the direc- tion of the smoke, and thus all my doubts and apprehen- sions were dispelled. The report of this gun was the first noise I had heard caused by man except by my Indian and self for more than five weeks, and it excited my peculiar feelings. In about an hour my Indian unexpectedly made his appearance. He stated that having shot a stag about two miles from our encampment and getting benighted he had slept in the w^oods. Soon afterwards to my great delight, there appeared among some woody inlets in front, which precluded the view of the other side of the lake, a small canoe with a man seated in the stern paddling softly towards us, with an air of serenity and independence pos- sessed by Indians. After a brotherly salutation with me, and the two Indians kissing each other, the hunter proved to be unable to speak English or French. They, howeveri soon understood one another ; for the stranger, although a mountaineer from Labrador, could speak a little of the Micmac language, his wife being a Micmac. The moun- taineer tribe belongs to Labrador, and he told us. that he had ceme to Newfoundland, hearing that it was a better country for hunting thnn his own, and that he was now on his way from St. George's Bay to the Bay of Despair to spend the winter with the Indians there. He had left St. George's Bay two months before, and expected to be at the Bay of Despair two weeks hence. This was his second 11 year in Newfoundland ; he was accompanied by his wife only. My Indian told him that I had come to see the rocks and the deer, the beaver, and the Red Indians, and to tell King George what was going on in the middle of that country, lie says St. George's Bay was about two weeks walk from us if we knew the best w^ay ; and invited us over with him in his canoe to rest a day at his camp, where he said he had plenty of venison, which was readily agreed to on my part. The Island on which the moun- taineer's camp w^as, lay about three miles distant. The varying scenery as we paddled towards it amongst a num- ber of inlets, all of granite and mostly covered with spruce and birch trees, was beautiful. His canoe was similar to those described to have been used by the ancient Britons on the invasion of the Romans. It was made of wucker wood, covered with deerskins sewed together stretched on it, nearly of the usual form of canoes, with a bar or beam across the middle, and one at each end to strengthen it. The skin covering, flesh side out, was fastened or laced to the gunwales with thongs of the same material. Owing to decay and wear, it requires to be renewed once in from six to twelve weeks. It is in those temporary barks that the Indians of Newfoundhind of the present day navigate the lakes and rivers of the interior. They are easily car- ried, owing to their lightness, across the portages from one water to another, and, when damaged, easily repaired. His wigwam was situated in the centre of a w^ooded islet at which we arrived before sunset. The approach from the landing-place was by a mossy carpeted avenue formed by the trees having been cut down in that direc- tion for firewood. The sight of a lire not of our kindling, of which we were to partake seemed hospitality. . The wigwam was occupied by his wife, seated on a deerskin, busy sewing together skins of the same kind to renew the outside of the canoe, which we had just found required it. A large Newfoundland dog, her only companion in her 12 husband's absence, had welcomed us at the landing-place with signs of the greatest joy. Sylvan happiness reigned here. His wigwam was of a semi-circular form, covered with birch rind and dried deer-skins, the fire on the lore- ground outside. Abundance and neatness pervaded the encampment. On horizontal poles over the fire hung quantities of venison steak, being smoke dried. The hostess was cheerful, and a supper of the best the chase could afford was soon set before us, on sheets of birch rinds. They told me to " make their camp my own," and to use everything in it as such. Kindness so eloquently ofi'ered by these people of nature in their solitude, com- menced to soften those feelings which had been fortified against receiving any comfort except that of my own administering. The excellence of the venison and of the flesh of the 3"oung beavers, could not be surpassed. A cake of hard deer's fat with scraps of suet toasted brown intermixed, was eaten w4th the meat ; the soup was the drink. Our ho.stess after supper sang several Indian songs, at my request ; they were plaintive, and sung in a high key. The song o^ i feftnale and her contentment in this remote and secluded spot, exhibited the strange diversity there is in human nature. My Indian entertained us in- cessantly until nearly daylight with stories about what he had seen in St. John's. Our toils were for the time for- gotten. The moimtaineer had occupied this camp lor about two weeks, deer being 'very plentiful all round the lake. His larder, which was a kind of shed erected on the rocky shore for the sake of a free circulation of air, was in , reality a well stocked butcher's stall, containing parts of some half a dozen fat deer, also the carcasses of beavers, otters, musk-rats, and martins, all methodically laid out. His property consisted of two guns and ammunition, an axe, some good culinary utensils of iron and tin, blankets, an apartment of dried deerskins to sleep in, and with which to cover his wigwam, the latter with the hair off, 13 a collection of skins to sell at the sea-coast, consist- ing of those of beaver, otter, martin, miiskrat, atid deer, the last dried and the hair otf, also a stock of dried venison in bundles. Animal ilesh of every kind in steaks, without salt, smoked dr\^ on the lire for forty-eight hours, becomes nearly as light and portable as cork, and will keep sound for years. It thus forms a good substitute for bread, and by being boiled for two hours recovers most of its original qualities. This lake is nine or ten miles in length by from one to three in breadth, joined by a strait to another lake nearly as large, lying S.E., called Burnt Bay Lake, and is one of the chains of lakes connected by the East Bay River of the Bay of Despair, already noticed as running through Serpentine Lake, which forms a part of the grand route of the Indians. We left the veteran mountaineer much plei^sed with our having fallen in with him. He landed us from his canoe on the south shore of the lake, and we took our departure for the w^est- ward along the south side Winter w^as now setting in and on the morning of the 26th October we found three feet of snow on the ground. Our provisions were exhaust- ed, nor could we get through the snow to look: for game. Our situation was truly miserable. The snow having shrunk a foot at least, from a thaw, we left our wretched encamp- ment, and after a most laborious walk of six or eight miles through snow% thickets and swollen brooks, and passing many deer scraping holes in the snow with there hoofs to reach the lichens underneath without however, being able to get w^ithin shot of them — we not only reached the lake to the w^estward, but to our gi-eat joy also discovered, in consequence of meeting with some of their martin traps, the encampment 9f the Indians of whom we had been told by the mountaineer. The country now became moun- tainous, and almost destitute of wood. Deer became more numerous. Berries . were very plentiful, and mostly in high perfection, although the snow had lately covered 14 them; indeed, the partridge berries were improved and in many places were literally red with them. The winter had now fairly set in. The ponds were all frozen over The birds of passage had deserted the interior for the sea- coast, and the grouse had got on their winter coats ; many hardships now awaited the traveller. The western terri- tory is entirely primitive. No rocks appear but granitic. The only soil is peat, which varies in quality according to situation. In the valleys some patches are very similar to the savanna peat in the eastward. But as the peat ascends, it becomes shallow and lighter until it terminates at the summit of the mountains in a mere matting. Lichens oc- cupy every station on the peat among the other plants, and on the bare rock As we advanced westward the aspect of the country became more dreary, and the primitive features more boldly marked. Painted mountains of coarse red granite standing apart, lay in all directions northerly and souther- ly of each other. Most of them are partially shrouded with iirs. bald and capped with snow. At the extreme south end we had to ford a rapid river of considerable size running to the southward, which from its position we in- ferred was " Little River" and which discharges at the south coast. We travelled over hills and across lakes about twenty miles, fording in that space two rivers run- ning north-easterly, and which are the main source branches of the River Exploits. This large river has therefore a course of upwards of 200 miles in one direct- tion, taking its rise in the S.W. angle of the island, and discharging in the N.E. part. We encamped at night at the southern extremity of what is said by Indians to be the most southern lake of the interior, frequented by the Red Indians, and through which was the main source branch of the River Exploits. The distance to St. George's Har- bor is twenty-live miles or upwards, which part of the journey must be performed on foot, because no waters of any magnitude intervene. For nearly twenty miles west- 16 ward of this lake, the country is very bare, there being scarcely a thicket of wood. About eighteen miles west of the lake, from the summit of a snowy ridge which defines the west coast, we were rejoiced to get a view of the expansiv'e ocean and St. George's Harbor. Had this pros- pect burst on us in the same manner a month earlier, it would have created in my mind a thousand pleasures, the impressions of which I was now too callous to receive ; all was now, however, accomplished, and I hailed the glance of the sea as home, and as the parent of everything dear. There was scarcely any snow to be seen within several miles of the sea-coast, while the mountain range upon which we stood, and the interior in the rear, were covered. This range may be about two thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the snow capped mountains in N.E., are higher. The descent was now very precipitous and craggy. A rapid river called Flat Bay River, across which we were to ford, or, if swollen, to pass over upon a raft, flowed at the foot of the ridge. Upon the immediate banks of Flat Bay River there is some good birch, pine and spruce timber. The soil and shelter are even s*^ good here, that the ground spruce (Tanus Canadensis) bearing its red ber- ries constitutes the chief underwood, as in the forests of Canada and Nova Scotia. On the afternoon of the 2nd November, we reached St. George's Harbor. The iirst houses we reached, two in number, close to the shore, be- longed to Indians. They were nailed up, the owners not having returned from the interior, after their Fall hunting. The houses of the European residents lay on the west side of the harbox, which is here about a mile wide, and near the entrance ; but a westerly gale of wind prevented any in- tercourse across. Having had no food for nearly two days we ventured to break open the door of one of the houses, and found what we wanted, provisions and cooking uten- sils. This happened to be the chiefs house, and the pro- vident man had a stock of halibut, eels, dried codfish, seal 16 oil, and two barrels of maize, or Iidian corn flour A party of Indians arrived from the interior, male and female, each carrying- a load of furs. Our land- lord was among them. Instead of appearing to notice with displeasure his door being broken open, and house occupied by strangers, he merely said, upon looking round and my offering an explanation, "suppose me here, you take all these things." We crossed the harbor and were received by the residents with open arms. Having now crossed the island, I cannot help thinking that my success was in part owing to the smallness of my party. Many together could not have so easily sustained themselves ; and they would have multiplied the chances of casaulties, and thereby of the requisition of the attendance and deten- tion of the able. It is difficult to give an idea of or to form an estimate equivalent to the road-distance gone over. The toil and deprivation were such that hired men, or followers of anv class would not have endured them." Such is the description of the Island given by Mr McCormack, and I am very sorry that his A'ery interesting narrative had to be so much curtailed, but time would not permit of my dwell- ing longer on this part of my subject. The principal town on the Island of Newfoundland is St. Johns, it being the capital and the seat of the Legislature. It is situated about 60 miles to the eastward of Cape Race, a point well known as being the first land made by vessels coming across the Atlantic. The entrance to the harbor is singu- larly beautiful, the headlands being bold, rugged and lofty, and much admired for their picturesque grandeur. The one in the north called Signal Hill, attains an eleva- tion of 700 feet above the sea level. It is a magnifi- cent Harbor and affords anchorage for vessels of the largest burthen. The town is built chiefly on the side of a hill, and there are a number of fine buildings, the principal ones being the Government House, Parliament Buildings, the Protestant and Roman Catholic Cathedrals, the latter 17 being a most imposing ediKce, with a number of lesser note. The population i« ostimated at 30,000, this may include some of tne small out-ports near the capital. It is the seat of an Anglican and also of a Roman Catholic Bishopric, but a large majority of the population are Roman Catho- lics. The Anglican Cathedral is a very fine building, but it has never been completed. In 1816, St. Johns was al- most destroyed by fire, and the inhabitants were reduced to extreme distress, relieved only by the prompt assistance of the neighboring colonies, and of the citizens of Boston, in the United States, by whom they were gratuitously supplied with food. The loss is said to have been up- wards of .£100,000, and 1,500 people were driven in the most inclement season of a Newfoundland winter, to seek refuge, on board the shipping in the harbor, and failing that, to find shelter where they could. But the misery of the unfortunate people, rendered more acute by the brief season of high prosperity whi^h they had enjoyed during the war had not reached its climax. On the .seventh of November in the following year, another calamitous fire broke out in St Johns, by which thirteen merchant establish- ments were totally consumed. The value of the property ohus d.estroyed was estimated at .£500,000, and on the 21st of the same month 56 of the remaining houses were burnt to the ground. In 1847, the town was again destroyed by fire. Harbor Grace is the second town of importance having a population of about 6,000 souls. It is also the seat of a Roman Catholic Bishopric, is very flourishing, has wide streets and a number of fine buildings. It is situated in Conception Bay, about 60 miles from St. Johns by land. There are a number of smaller towns and villages, but time will not permit of my particularizing them. The population of the whole island according to the census of 1869 amounted to 146,526, classified as follows : Roman Catholics, '61, 040; Church of England, 55,184 ; Wesleyan, 3 18 28,990 ; other sects 1,322. Newfoiiudlaud has never been considered by outsiders an agricuUural country, but we will see what a Ibrmer governor, the bite Sir Gaspaid Le- Marchant says about it. In his report to Earl Gray in 184b, he shows that NevvfoundUuul has not the inhospita- ble climate and barren soil which has long been supposed peculiar to the place ; he says : " At present it will l)e scarcely considered necessary to adduce arguments or proofs, as to the capal)ility ol' the soil oi' Newlbundland for agricultural purposes ; as a general principle it may be safely laid down that in no case where due skill and indus- try have been employed, have they failed to repay the husbandman's toil. Farms have been successfully culti- vated in the districts of St. John's, Trinity, Bouavisla, St. Mary's, Conception Bay, Placentia, Burin and Fortune Bay. And in every part of the Island, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and turnips have been produced of the best qual- ity. It may be said without fear of contradiction, that in no instance where industry and skill have been used in clearing and cultivating the soil of Nevvfoundlaud, has it failed to make an ample recompense. But the Newfound- landers are so engaged in the iisheries that they neglect this most important branch of industry and in consequence have to import most of their breadstuffs from Canada and the United States, and their vegetables from Edward Island and Cape Breton, Irom whence also comes their supply of cattle, sheep and horses. The climate is different in the Northern and Southern districts and the West coast is more sheltered and therefore milder than the the East coast. ThG weather thouiyh severe is less llerce than that of Canada, the Autumn certain, and the winter a series of storms of wind, rain and snow. Snow does not lie long on the ground, and the frost is less intense than in Western Canada. Winter lasts from the beginning of December until the middle of April. January and February are the coldest months in the year. Severe gales of wind extend 19 iilnuu; \\w coast, tho coklost IVom the Norlh-West. The laud or wt^steily wind ar«^, naturally drier than the Easterly, which sweep over the; Atlantic lor three Iburths of the year, and cause considerable evaporation IVom the ocean over the banks. In NewIou?idland as in Canada, the land or AYcsterly wind in winter is bitterly cold, in summer it is pleasantly warm. During- a long winter the brilliancy oF the Aurora Borealis and the splendid lustre oi' the moon and stars j^'ive pi'culiar beauty to the atmosphere. The most remarkable leature connected with Newfoundland is Ihe foo's on its banks and neiuhboriuGT shores. The ibi>-s oi' the St. Lawrence arc attributed to the coldness of the Gulf waters, which is believed to be constant a few feet below the surface as well as at great depths ; every gale of wind brings this cold water to the surface, hv which the temperature of the air is reduced below the dew point, at which suspended vapors are pr(;cipitated and become visi- ble. Those on the banks of Newfoundland are most pro- bably caused by the cold deep water flowing from the Pole to the Equater, being forced to the surface in consequence of the interruption given by tho banks to its southward course. The surface water on the great banks is many de- grees colder than rhat of the neighboring sea, and much less so than that of the Gulf stream, which is within a short distance. The water of Trinity Bay has been des- cribed as "bitterly cold" even in the middle of a w^'lrm Jiily, and so singularly clear, that when the surface was still, the shelHish clinging to the rocks, crabs and lobsters crawding on the bottom, iish and myriads of cea creatures floating in its depths, were nearly as visible to a depth ol 30 or 40 feet, as in the air itself. The fogs on the banks and even in the Gulf, are sometimes so dense, that in fine al- most calm weather, with the sun shining over head, two vessels pass each other unseen, while the voices of persons talking can be heard from either ship. The fog appears to be on the surface of the water, for when near land, an 20 observer from the masthead may descry it quite distinctly, while on deck no object within a few yards distance is visible. In May and the beginning of June, fogs are most prevalent. These fogs do not appear to be injurious to health. The longevity of the inhabitants is indeed the best proof of the salubrity of Newfoundland, in no country is old age attended with greater bodily vigor and mental animation. There are instances of lishermen 100 years of age, being actively engaged in the arduous duties of their calling. In 1829, Martin G-alten was living in Placentia Bay ; he was more than 100 years old, in excellent health, and caught with his brother that year nine quintals of iish. Seventy years previously he had piloted Captain Cook into Pla- centia Bay. In the same place lived Nancy Libeau, mother of four living generations. A Mrs. Tait died there in 1819, aged 125 ; she was wuth her third husband at the siege of Quebec by general Wolfe. In 1842 a woman died at Torbay aged 125, and before her death she sent for a doctor to see what was the matter with her child^ the said child being then 90 years of age. I merely mention these facts to prove the salubrity of the Island. The vegetable productions differ but little from those of the adjacent continent. Some oi the timber in the interior is of considerable size, and consists of the balsam, spruce, black spruce, white spruce, black larch, red pine, birch, mountain ash, and the Lombardy poplar. Birch and elm trees are scarce, but the Canadian yew and willow thrive well and attain a large size. There is an immense variety of recumbent and trailing evergreens, and the berry-bear- ing shrubs clothe every swamp and open tract, the whor- tleberry, cowberry, hawthorn, partridgeberry, strawberry, raspberry, and a small kind of prickly gooseberry, — carpet the soil in desert places. Wild currants, both black, white and red are plentiful, biit the flavor is rather harsh in comparison with the domestic frait. The apple, pear and plum do not arrive at great perfection on the east side of 21 the island, but cabbages, caiililloAvers, })voroli, lei luce, spinach, cross, beet, parsnips, ])eiins, celery, thrive well, but are not grown in large quantiti»'s. Jioses are to be Ibund in great variety, also violets, ])ut strange to say ino- dorous. In the tribe oi'lilies, Sir U. 15onny<'astle remarks that Solomon in all his glory exceedcul not the bejuity of those produced in this unheeded wilderness. IVrenials thrive ln»tter than annuals', on accounts of th(» shortness of summer. The Pitcher Plant or lady's saddle with its large handsome purple ilowers, is the natural production of the swamps. The leaves are tubular or pitcher shaped, and always iilled with about a wine glass full of the purest water ; the receptacles are lined with inverted hairs, which prevent the escape of insects, many of whom find their graves in the pitcher and are supposed to serve for the food of the plant. The leaves expand and shut according to the necessities of the plant, and the pitchers are of so strong a texture that they bear heat enough for some minutes to boil water in them. The animal kingdom is represented by the deer, wolf, wild cat, fox, hare, martin and dog. Birds are numerous in the interior, among which I may mention the hawk tribe, owls in amazing numbers and variety, particularly the snow white and light grey ; the raven, crow, blue jay, two kinds of woodpeckers, black bird, martin, the yellow willow wren, thrush, sparrow, w4th various other species of the winged tribes. Ptarmi- gan are in abundance ; and are easily captured in winter, a pole with a piece of wire at the end being the only wea- pon required. By means of this instrument the birds are pulled off their perches, and easily taken. Of water birds there are the Canada and snow goose, teal, brown duck, widgeon ; these frequent the interior ponds. Of sea birds I may mention among others, the gull, cormorant, eider duck, sea pheasant, ice bird, noddy, loon, puffin and razor bill. In winter many Arctic birds frequent the coast. It is a strange fact but nevertheless true, that there is a total 22 absence of venomous reptiles in Newfoundland ; even toads frogs and lizards which are abundant on the neighboring continent, are unknown. The seal abounds around the island, and are taken on the ice in thousands. The cries of the young seal, are like those of a child in extreme agony, and are sometimes between a shriek and a convul- sive sobbing. These cries seem to bo the amusement of the young seals, when left alone on the ice ; and the same cry is used to express enjoyment or pain, fear or defiance. The young seal is of a dirty white color. The common seal is of a yellowish grey or brown, with yellow spots, be- come v,"hite from age, and is from three to live feet long. The hooded seal is of a dark grey color with many irregu- lar shaped spots and blotches of considerable size, seven or eight feet long, with apiece of loose skin on its head, which can be inllated and drawn over the eyes, and is nearly ball proof. It has the power of distending its nostrils, which gives it a formidable appearance. The harp seal is so named from the old male animal having, in addition to a number of spots, a broad curved line of connecting blotches proceeding from each shoulder, and meeting on the back above the tail, something like an ancient lyre. The female has not the harp ; she leaves her young on the ice, and re- turns from fishing to nurse them. The fishing or catching of seals is an extremely hazardous employment ; the vessels are chiefly from 100 to 300 tons burden, with crews of from 30 to 80 men each, provided with lire arms &c. to kill the seal. In former times none but sailing vessels were era- ployed in sealing, but steamships have almost entirely taken their place, and instead of trips of 1,000 to 6,000 seals being taken, 10,000 to 35,000 are frequently brought in. These seals are worth at St. Johns on an average of three dollars, so that it is a mine of wealth to the Island. In the beginning of March, the vessels leave on their voyage and work their perilous way to windward of the vast fields of ice, until they arrive at one covered with the animals of 28 which they are in quest, and which is termed a seal mea- dow. The seals are attacked by the fishermen, or more properly speakini^ hunters, with fire-arms, or generally short heavy batons, a blow of which on the nose is instant- ly fatal. The hooded seals sometimes draw their hoods, w^hich are shot-proof, over their heads. The large ones frequently turn on the men, especially when they have young ones beside them, and the piteous cries and moans of the latter are truly distressing to those who are not ac- customed to the immense slaughter, which is attended with so great profit. The skins with the fat surrounding the bodies, are stripped off altogether, and the carcasses left on the ice. Those who winter on the coast of Labrador say that the young seal is excellent eating, but I can vouch myself for the quality of the flippers, having frequently partaken of them. The pelts are carried to the vessels, whose situation during a tempest is attended with fearful danger ; many have been known to be crushed to pieces by the ice closing on them. Storms during the dark nights among vast icebergs can only be imagined by a person who has been on a lee shore in a gale of wind ; but the hardy seal hunter seems to court such hazardous adventures. The whale, porpoise and grampus abound, The banks of Newfoundland swarm with almost every variety of the finny tribe, of which the smaller sorts serve as food for the cod. The incredible shoals of lance, a small silvery eel-like creature, the armies of migratory herrings, the hosts of capelin, which are met with in their several seasons, cause the .iea to boil and glitter in their rapid paths, producing the effect of currents, upon the bosom of the tranquil deep. The locusts that darken the air, in the countries subject to their devaetation, are not to be compared in numbers to the periodical journeyers of the Newfoundland seas. The capelin is from three to seven inches long, with a slight elegantly shaped body, and when seen in the sunlight, glitters like silver. This beautiful little fish, in June and 24 early in July, crowds into the shores of Newfoundland in countless myriads to spawn. Wherever there is a strip of beach at the head of a bay, every rolling wave strews the sand with thousands of capelin, leaping and glancing in the sun, till the next wave sweeps them off and deposits a fresh multitude, the white foam and the glittering colors of the fish, form a beautiful sight. Mr. Anspach who resided in Conception Bay, thus describes the arrival of a capelin shoal, " It is impossible to conceive much more describe, the splendid appearance on a beautiful moonlight night, at this time. Then its vast surface is completely covered with myriads of fishes, of various kinds and sizes, all actively engaged in pursuing or avoiding each other, the w^hales alternately rising and plunging, throwing into the air spouts of water ; the codfish bounding above the waves, and re- flecting the light of the moon from their silvery surface ; the capelin, hurrying away in immense shoals, to seek a re- fuge on the shore, where each retiring wave leaves multi- tudes skipping upon the sand, an easy prey to the women and children, who stand there with barrows and buckets ready to seize upon the precious and plentiful booty ; whilst the fishermen, in their skiffs, with nets made for that pur- pose, are industriously employed in securing a sufficient quantity of this valuable bait for their fishery. " There are several varieties of codfish on the Newfoundland shores, but the seyiish of Norway is tha best eating, and some- times weighs from 20 to 30 IVjs These are taken some- times in nets, at other timos caught with hook and Hne, the bait either being capelin or squi( , the latter a cuttle fish. Sometimes when food is so abundant the codfish will not bite ; they are then taken with a jigger or plum- met of lead, armed with hooks, r.nd drawn quickly up ani down in the water, by which the codfish is attract- ed and struck with the hook as h? swims round the jig- ger, this mode is deemed objectioaab' ^ as more fish are wounded than caught. The cod ronstitiites the wealth of 25 the island, notwithstanding the myriads which have been taken during the last two centuries, it seems as abundant as when the banks were first visited. Salmon lishing is ibllowed during the summer by several families ; the her- iiig fishery is increasing, and the capelin is used for the food of man as well as for bait for the cod : of 22 kinds of mackerel known only one frequents the Arctic regions. The yellow mackerel, which abounds in the Gulf of the St. Lawa'ence is supposed to cross the Atlantic from the African coast. Herrings appear in vast quantities, but the best are taken on the coast of Labrador. The lakes and rivers in the interior contain excellent fish, so that the in- habitants possess at least abundance of this description of food. It has been stated that the fisheries of Newfound- land are to England more precious than the mines of Peru or Mexico ; and in truth, if we consider the vast quantities offish annually drawn from the banks and adjacent coasts, it will be found that as the mere representative value of gold, their worth far ex( eeds that of the precious metals, to say nothing of the importance of the subject in a mari- time, commercial and political point of view. "With re- gard to the minerals of the island, I may mention coal abounds in large quantities. The coal fields are evidently a continuation of the coal strata in Nova Scotia, Cape Bre- ton and New Brunswick. At eight miles from the Gulf shore a bed of coal known to the Micmac Indians, was seen, of three feet in thickness and of excellent quality. The extent of the coal field is estimated at 25 miles long by 10 broad. As population increases in the island these mines will l)e found of great value, and tend much to its improvement. These mines have never been worked and coals are imported chiefly from England, Scotland and Cape lire ton. Copper, Lead and Gypsum are found in paying quantities, and within a few years, an enormous amount of lead and copper ore has been shipped to the United Kingi^ 4 26 dom. The Hon. C. F. Bennett, the pioneer ( I may say ) of mines has, I am informed realized a large fortmie in mining-, having persevered for a number of years, encoun- tering untold diiiiculties, Up to the year 1832, the Govern- ment of Newfoundland had been administered by Naval Officers, but in that year a constitution was given to the colony. Sir Thomas Cochrane the then Governor, being authorized to form a legislative body, to consist of himself a Legislature and Executive Council of seven members, of his own choice and fifteen representatives to be chosen by the inhabitants of nine districts into which the Island was to be divided, to form a House of Assembly. In 1888, the first Local Parliament was opened ; and in 1884, Sir Thos. Cochrane was relieved by a successor, Captain Prescott the last of the Naval Governors of the Island, vv^hose ad- ministration ceased in 1840. In 1852, the inhabitants be- gan to clamor for Responsible Government, but it w^as not granted them until 1854, w^hen a communication was re- ceived from the Home Office stating that " Her Majesty's Government had come to the conclusion that they ought not to withhold from Newfoundland these institutions and that civil administration which under the popular name of Responsible Government had been adopted in all Her Majesty's neighboring possessions in North America ; and that they were jirepared to concede the immediate appli- cation of the system as soon as certain preliminary con- ditions had been acceded to on the part of the Legislature." The press of Newfoundland is well represented, issuing as it doer some half dozen daily, tri-weekly and weekly newspapers The first published was the Royal Gazette, which I believe is still in existence. It first appeared in , the year 180G. These papers are conducted with a variety of talent ; they severally represent all interests and classes, all political opinions, and all the varieties of religious faith and feeling ; and whether for good or evil, they exert con- siderable influence on the minds and actions of society- 27 Having given you a very brief description of this Island, comparatively so little knowni, I shall conclude in tho words of Montgomery Martin, by saying that " Newfound- land willi its commanding position, fine harbours and salubrious climate was tabooed ( for a time ) as a barren and inhospitable island, totally unfit for the habitation of man, and capable only of maintaining a few fishery estab- lishments. These misapprehensions are now passing away, the truth unwarped by prejudice, unvarnishi^d by exagger- ation, is gradually becoming understood, and the results of an improved and improving system ot legislation are shown in the progress of this ancient and truly lirilish colony," BEISr^A^KES J THE SACRED CITY OF THE HINDUS. Ladies and Gentlemen, In the year 1866, there arrived in Queb'^c, on a visit to myself, one who had spent some twenty-five years in India, but more especially in the City of Benares. I refer to the Rev. M. A. Sherring, L.L.B., who had been sent from England, by the London Missionary Society, to preach the Gospel in that land. I have no doubt he will be remem- bered by many here, having delivered one or two exceed- ingly interesting lectures on India, before the Literary and Historical Society of this city. I was so much interested in his history and description of Benares the Holy City of the Hindus, that I was convinced it would be equally interesting to such as I see gathered here from time to time. The early history of Benares is involved in much obscurity. It is, indisputably, a place of great antiquity, and may even date from the time when the Aryan race first spread itself over Northern India. Although such a supposition is incapable of direct proof, yet the sacred city must, undoubtedly, be reckoned amongst the primitive cities, founded by this people. When it was first built, and by what prince or patriarch, is altogether unknown. But of its great antiquity, stretching back through the dim ages of early Indian history, far into the clouds and mists of Vedic and pre-historical periods, there is no question. It is certain that the city is regarded by all Hindus, as coeval with the birth of Hinduism, a notion derived both from tiadition and from their own writings. Allusions 30 to Benares are exceedingly abundant in ancient Sanskrit literature ; and perhaps there is no city in all Hindustan more frequently referred to. For the sanctity of its inhabi- tants — of its temples and reservoirs — of its wells and streams — of the very soil that is trodden — of the very air that is breathed — and of every thing in it and around it, Benaros has been famed for thousands of years. The Hindu ever beholds the city in one peculiar aspect, as a place of spot- less holiness and heavenly beauty, v^'^here the spiritual eye may be delighted and the heart may be purified ; and his imagination has been kept fervid from generation to gener- ation, by the continued presentation of this glowing pic- ture. Believing all he has read and heard concerning this ideal seat of blessedness, he has been possessed with the same longing to risit it as the Mohammedan to visit Mecca, or the Christian enthvisiast to visit Jerusalem ; and having gratified his desire, has left the memory of his pious enter- prise to his children, for their example, to incite them to undertake the same pilgrimage, faithfully transmitting to them the high ambition which he himself received from his fathers. Benares is a city of no mean antiquity. Twenty-five centuries ago, at the least, it was famous. When Babylon was struggling with Nineveh for suprema- cy, when Tyre was planting her colonies, when Athens was growing in strength, before Rome had become known, or Greece had contended with Persia, or Cyrus had added lustre to the Persian Monarchy, or Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of Judea had been carried into captivity, she had already risen to great- ness, if not to glory. Nay, she may have heard of the fame of Solomon, and have sent her ivory, her apes, and her peacocks to adorn his palaces ; while partly with her gold he may have overlaid the Temple of the Lord. Not only is Benares remarkable for her venerable age, but also for the vitality and vigour which, so far as we know, she has constantly exhibited, while many cities and nations 31 have fallen into deca}' andt perished, her sun has never set ; on the contrary, for long ages past, it has shone with al- most meridian splendour. Her illustrious name has de- scended from generation to generation, and has ever been a household word, venerated and beloved by the vast Hindu family. Mr. Sherring says : " Notwithstanding her destruction by fire, applied by the hand of Krishna, which may or may not be true, and the manifestations, in her physical aspects, of repeated changes, shifting of site, and resuscitations, yet, as a city, no signs of feebleness, nor symptom of impending dissolution, so far as I am aware of, is apparent in any of the numberless references to her in native records. As a queen, she has ever received the willing homage of her subjects scattered over all India ; as a lover, she has secured their affection and regard. And now, after the lapse of so many ages, this magnificent city still maintains most of the freshness and all the beauty of her early youth." For picturesqueness and grandeur, no sight in all the Avorld can surpass that of Benares, as seen from the river Ganges. Macauley's graphic descrip- tion of her appearance towards the close of the last century is, for the most part, applicable to her present state. He speaks of her as a city, which in wealth, population, digni- ty, and sanctity, was among the foremost of Asia. It was commonly believed that half a million of human beings was crowded into that labyrinth of lofty alleys, rich with shrines, and minarets, and balconies, and carved oriels, to which the sacred apes clung by hundreds. The travel- ler could scarcely make his way through the press of holy mendicants, and not less holy bulls. The broad and stately flights of steps which descended from these swarm- ing haunts to the bathing places along the CTanaes, were w^orn every day by the footsteps of an innumerable multi- tude of worshippers. The schools and temples drew crowds of pious Hindus from every province where the Brahmini- cal faith was known. Hundreds of deyotees came thither 32 every month to die, for it was believed that a happy fate awaited the man who should i)ass from the sacred city into tlie sacred river. Nor was superstition the only motive which allured strangers to that great metropolis. Com- merce had as many pilgrims as religion. All along the shores of the venerable stream lay great lleets of vessels, laden with rich merchandize. From the looms of Benares went forth the most delicate silks that adorned the halls of St. James and of Versailles ; and in the bazaars, the muslins of Bengal, and the sabres of Oude were mingled with the jewels of Grolconda and the shawls of Cashmere. The district of Benares is situate on both sides of the river Ganges, in the territory denominated the north west province of Bengal. It lies between Latitude 25 "^ 7" and 25° 32" Longitute 82'^ 45" and 83" 38", and has an area of 974 square miles. The principal products of the district are sugar, opium and indigo. According to the census of 1848 the population amounted to 741,42G, of whom 670,000 w^ere Hindus and 65,376 Musselmans. The City of Benares is in the province of Allahabad. The Ganges here forms a fine sweep of about four miles in length, and the city is situated on the northern bank of the river. It is about three miles in length by one in breadth, rising from the river in the form of an amphithA •i/f'' Ji/V: J: ■% "" -A■;^^■.^ ,...,. -;„!-,,>;.■ /■ i; •V^i ■^ ■■'I \ ■■'".''■ -€,;>Vi; - '-4' <''•>: , .:.:-V J iV.i ■ >.