GIFT OF 1 PBQF>G;AaKnFQIO Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/forestscenesinciOOheadrich ^^yr/^ ^/^Jj , FOREST SCENES AND INCIDENTS. FOREST SCENES INCIDENTS, IN THE WILDS OF NORTH AMERICA; BEING A DIARY OF A WINTER'S ROUTE VROM HALIFAX TO THE CANADAS, AND DURING FOUlt MONTHS' RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS ON THE BORDERS OF LAKES HURON AND SIMCOE. By sir GEORGEiHEAD. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXXVIII. F 1013 \%5% LONDON : Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. PREFAC E TO THE SECOND EDITION. That extensive tract of forest land which intervenes between the British possessions in New Brunswick and the Canadas, notwith- standing it derives considerable importance by being intersected for the most part by a line of water communication, extending from the Bay of Fundy to the banks of the St. Lawrence, has hitherto rarely been described by travellers. It is, nevertheless, a route that, sufficiently facile by the help of canoes in the season of summer, yet presenting formidable obstacles to progress during winter, has been continually resorted to, for a long series of years, not only in time of peace, but in time a 3 ivil6VG47 VI PREFACE TO of war with America, by the Indians or half- breeds, hired by our Provincial Government to convey the mail-bags monthly between Halifax and Quebec. And these men are occasionally accompanied, although j'arely, by those individuals not disinclined to share the hardships and the difficulties of the way. Such obstacles, however, have been recently overcome by her Majesty's 43rd Regiment, who, animated by a becoming zeal for the public service, and eager to hasten to the point of colonial warfare, have, during the present winter, successfully made their way overland from Halifax to Quebec, and thereby accomplished an end, which, regarded as the performance collectively of a considerable body of men, may be esteemed a remarkable military operation. And it is the more in- teresting in the present posture of our Cana- dian affairs, as a question relating to the prac- THE SECOND EDITION. Vll ticability of moving troops between Halifax and Quebec, now, and, if need be, on a future day, during the season of winter. For, since the gigantic St. Lawrence, both in spring and at the commencement of winter, hurls along with its impetuous tide those enor- mous masses of ice that render the gulf dangerous till early in summer, and for many months in the year obstruct the navigation altogether, the overland route above alluded to affords the only certain and uninterrupted communication, independent of the way by the United States, between Quebec and England. A minute and faithful account of the above-mentioned winter's route will be found in the following pages; — from Halifax by way of Annapolis to Digby, and thence, after crossing the Bay of Fundy, from St. John's by Fredericton to Presque Isle : thus far the Vlll PREFACE TO travelling being accomplished in sledges, or sleighs, as they are called in the country. Thenceforward, from this small military fort, situated on the right bank of the River St. John's_, the journey was completed along the beds of rivers, by the help of snow-shoes, over the surface of snow, lying on an average four feet deep, and through aline of country which forms^ for an extent of several miles, a part of that territory between the province of New Brunswick and the American dis- trict of Maine, still remaining at issue under the disputed question of the boundary-line. The locality, therefore, even on this latter account alone, is worthy of some attention. Whatever in future may be the result of this tedious matter in litigation, it is at least some consolation to reflect that the long-pro- tracted delay in arriving at a settlement has been absolutely unavoidable. It is, in fact. THE SECOND EDITION. IX solely attributable to the indefinite terms of the original treaty. For, thirteen years sub- sequent to the ratification of that document, in 1783, the commissioners who met under its provisions at Passamaquody Bay, actually broke up in October, 1796, without being able to determine even which of two streams was truly intended as the river, whose source was made the point of departure whence to com- mence their very first operation. And since the sources of the St. Croix and Connecti- cut rivers are laid down as definite points in the said Treaty of 1783, no wonder, even without any further consideration, that fertile elements of doubt and difliiculty have since obstructed the path of those individuals doomed to determine the doubtful orio^in of streams spreading^ like the branching horns of a stag, in manifold directions through the forest. a5 X PREFACE TO For the above reasons, notwithstanding the question at issue has already remained fifty-five years in abeyance, the delay is still perfectly compatible with good wishes and intentions on the part of both govern- ments, and the American President was doubtless unequivocally sincere when, the other day, he expressed a similar friendly sentiment on the subject in his Message to Congress. A speedy settlement is, in fact, the real interest of both countries. For the present race of settlers, American and British, being owners of a soil disputed between their respective nations, are by procrastina- tion liable to fall every day more and more into collision. And it is obvious, unless the important question be soon adjusted, not only that the rights of proprietorship on the line will be thrown into inextricable confu- sion, but that mutual jealousies and animosi- THE SECOND EDITION. XI ties will continue to increase among the bor- derers, and territorial differences assume progressively a more serious aspect, till the amicable relations of two great nations may at last be rendered actually liable to be dis- turbed by the trivial personal bickerings of inconsiderable land-owners. It never can, I think, be made a matter of question but that it was certainly the inten- tion of the Treaty of 1783 to concede to England free communication by a route which appears pointed out by nature as connecting her respective provinces on the shores of the Bay of Fundy and the River St. Lawrence ; a consideration, at the time the treaty was made, comparatively unim- portant to the [Americans, and a British right still farther implied by our having, at any rate, ever since remained in possession. But, nevertheless, this aforesaid chain of Xll PREFACE TO water transit, comprising a part of the St. John's river_, the whole of the Madawaska river, and the Lake Tamasquatha, forms a portion of that territory which now, under present circumstances^ is called into question. May, therefore, the liberal spirit of both Governments make atonement for verbal inadvertence, by according due weight to the real intention of the treaty. And it is earnestly to be hoped, that, by a conven- tional adjustment established on the basis of amity, even though individuals of either na- tion receive indemnification, if need should be, the important question of our line of demarcation may be at any rate speedily brought to such unquestionable issue, as may for ever ensure peace and good will between England and America. One word only now remains to be said with regard to the present volume ; since no THE SECOND EDITIOX. Xlll material alteration, in fact none other than verbal revision, has been made in this edi- tion. While any other course would have interfered with the character of a mere simple narrative, it would also be at the same time quite unnecessary. For, consist- ing chiefly of the delineation of the great features of nature, calculated to arrest the attention of the traveller amid the solitudes of the forest, it reasonably in consequence follows, that such remarkable places, such unchangeable objects, as were originally in the first instance described, are now to the full as consistent with topographical accu- racy as if the same country had been visited more recently, — nay, were it only even a few months a2:o. George Head. Athenjeum, London, January 22nd, 1838. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER. ACCOMPANYING THE FIRST EDITION. That the journal, the substance of which is contained in the following pages, was never originally intended to meet the public eye, is literally and strictly true. — This fact, in justice to myself, I offer without further comment. And the few years that inter- vened since the period to which it imme- diately relates, had very nearly the effect of suppressing it altogether. But, dwelling with pleasure on the recollections of a coun- try becoming now more interesting every day^ and animated by leisure to revise those details written on the spot, which brought the sylvan panorama back to my memory, I found, upon reflection, that there really was much in North America to be described XVI ADVERTISEMENT. wholly distinct from time or period ; perfectly unalterable by change of scene and lapse of vears. And I was further induced to ima- gine that, trifling as my own personal adven- tures might be, as far as they related to myself, still, that the sort of life it was my lot to lead was so unusual, and had in itself so much of the novel and the curious, as not to be wholly uninteresting to the plain reader and the lover of nature. Thus influenced, I have dwelt upon the details of the forest life ; while, on the other hand^ I have glanced over the account of the beaten roads in a brief and cursory manner ; not wishing to de- scribe what was already sufficiently known, what has been, and will be again^ no doubt, delineated by abler hands. Still the form of a diary, which I had adopted, required that all parts in my journey from Halifax to Lake Huron (a distance of more than 1200 miles) should be duly noticed; nor could any, as an integral part, with reference to the whole, have been, at all events with pro- priety, omitted. ADVERTISEMENT. XVll If, in this trifling production, I have ever been induced to venture upon matter not strictly conformable with its title, it has been owing to the intimate connexion of such matter with my subject, and the irresistible inclination I felt at the moment. It is now submitted to the world without any preten- sion. The anecdotes have been chiefly gleaned in solitude, and under some disad- vantages quite unnecessary to relate. But the selection has been such as will, I trust, present to the reader at least a simple and faithful compilation of '* Forest Scenes and Incidents in the Wilds of North America/' George Head. Cabshalton, Surrey, 29th May, 1829. CONTENTS. PAGE A few days* residence at Halifax .... 1 Journey from Halifax to Presque Isle , . .19 Journey from Presque Isle to Riviere de Cape . 108 Journey from Riviere de Cape to York (now Toronto), Upper Canada .... 146 Residence in the Woods 781 Summer Journey from Lake Simcoe to Quebec, by the Falls of Niagara and the Rapids of the St. Lawrence 320 Concludins: Remarks on Emigration . . . 351 FOREST SCENES AKD INCIDENTS, A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE AT HALIFAX. It was in the latter end of the month of November, when I disembarked, after a rough passage from Fahnouth, at Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, and the passage of the river St. Lawrence being already- closed for the winter, it became my duty to undertake a journey over land to the Cana- das ; I therefore made my arrangements to set out as soon as snow should fall in suffi- cient quantity to put the roads in good order for travelling in a sleigh. As my stay was not likely to exceed a few days^ I went to a B )C A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE sort of hotel and boarding-house, the only description of inn in the place. The weather, on my arrival, was fine, clear, and generally sunshiny, but accompa- nied with extremely sharp frost, which had already frozen the ponds in the neighbour- hood to a thickness of several inches. Al- though now on the other side of the Atlan- tic, I found myself as it were in an English town, among English people, and every thing else much more English in appearance than one would expect to meet with so far distant. But the groups of native Indians were alone sufficient to remind me that I was breathing the air of another hemisphere. These people attracted my earnest attention, for my imagination had painted in high colours the interesting spectacle of man in a state of rugged nature, wild as his native woods, and combining with human intelli- gence the physical strength of the brute creation. It was not, therefore, without con- siderable disappointment, that I saw a few squalid miserable-looking beings, straggling AT HALIFAX. 3 in idle listlessness about the streets, and in- ferior in point of appearance to the wander- ing race of gipsies in England. One man, with his squaw and a little boy, were by far more tidy and clean than any of the rest. It was on a market-day, and the parents were both sitting down on the ground with things to sell. The man had the skin of an otter and some partridges, and the woman baskets neatly manufactured of birch bark. The little boy was using a bow and blunt arrow very dexterously, by shooting at a halfpenny set up on the top of a stick, which he hit at a distance of twenty yards several times suc- cessively. The dress of the man consisted of a close-bodied coat of coarse blue cloth, made to lap over in front so as to serve at the same time the purpose oi waistcoat and breeches, and from his girdle hung a squirrel skin pouch, in which he carried his tobacco, &c. Instead of shoes, he wore mocassins, made of soft leather, to fit like a stocking, and on his legs pieces of blue cloth, reaching from the knee to the ancle, sewed on tight with an b2 4 A FEW DAYS* RESIDENCE overlap outside the seam, and evidently in- tended to remain on till they fell off of them- selves. His hair, never touched by shears or comb, vras as coarse as the mane of a cart- horse, perfectly black, straight, and ex- tremely thick. On such a head, however, he had contrived to stick a coarse felt hat and, by way of being particularly smart, he had tied round it a piece of scarlet ferret, and part of a dirty shirt made its appearance about his throat. The squaw wore the same sort of mocassins and leggings as her hus- band, and a short blue cloth petticoat, reach- ing from the hip to the middle of the leg. Her gown, or rather jacket, hardly reaching . the petticoat, was carelessly fastened in front, ^nd was made of one of those flaring bed curtain patterns of cotton, full of large red and yellow flowers, birds, pitch-forks, hay- stacks, and cottage scenery. Over her shoul- ders was thrown a filthy blanket, confined by a skewer instead of a brooch ; a bad substi- tute, for the blanket seemed ready to tumble oflf. Her long black hair was smoothed AT HALIFAX. 5 straight backwards, and tied, in a club nearly as thick as a man's arm_, with a leathern thong. The toilet of both the Indian and his squaw had been completed with abundance of grease of the most rancid description, with which their faces were shining. These two people were in their holiday dress, while others, with scarcely any covering, were grovelling on the ground, or reeling in a state of intoxication about the streets. In Halifax a fair specimen of the North American Indian is not to be met with. Far removed from his natural hunting country, and attracted by the civilized population with- in narrow peninsular limits, he has sunk into idle debauched habits; and the deleterious effect of cheap rum has destroyed in a very great measure his energies. But the natu- ral strength of their constitution overcomes even these disadvantages. Indians are to be seen at all times in the winter, even under a temperature below zero of Fahrenheit, lying about the streets asleep and drunk, in the open air, with head, hands, feet, and t> A FEW DAYS RESIDENCE bosom bare ; and such is their hardihood, that they are almost proof against being frost- bitten. The slow increase of their population, proceeding as it naturally does, without any sort of restraint, is a sufficient testimony of the numbers who perish in the seasoning. Many are the infants, no doubt, who, like blossoms from a tree, fall under the rigours of a few hours' frost ; while those who arrive at maturity become fortified by a moral prin- ciple, which teaches them to consider the en- durance of cold and hunger as the extreme of virtue and heroism. The life and habits of the Indian no doubt counteract the increase of his species, for the climate has indisputably a prolific tendency, and there are proofs which might be mentioned, sufficient to establish that fact beyond all contradiction. They are a cowardly race of people, and submit them- selves readily to Englishmen, who surpass them in bodily strength as to running, wrest- ling, and other gymnastic exercises. When they quarrel and fight among themselves, they pull hair and scratch, having no notion of making use of their fists. AT HALIFAX. 7 Besides their strength of constitution and capability of bearing hunger and fatigue, they possess one faculty altogether wonderful — that of being able to travel point-blank across the forest to any given point, let it be an hundred miles off, or farther still; guided solely by an intuition almost supernatural, or by an acuteness of observation such as the human sense would hardly be expected to attain. That a people living continually in the woods should direct their incessant at- tention to the motions of the heavenly bodies, and profit largely by experience, is no matter of wonder ; but we have still to learn how it is that by night, or enveloped in fogs by day, they are able to proceed without the help of sun, star, or compass. It is by the texture of the bark of the trees_, rendered coarser on the side opposed to the prevailing winds, that they determine their bearings, although the differences they thus reason upon are so delicate as to be quite imperceptible to an European eye. We know that the acuteness of the senses increases with the intensity of 8 A FEW DAYS* RESIDENCE their action, and of this there is no want of instances ; that of the shepherd, who learns to distinguish the inexpressive countenances of never so many sheep one from another, the touch of the blind, &c. ; but there is cer- tainly no sense which has been brought to a perfection so nearly allied to animal instinct as the one in question ; in fact, the intellec- tual powers of the Indians being wholly unexercised in any other way, the result is, that such is their confidence in themselves, that they are at all times ready to travel alone without the slightest apprehension, and lie down to rest in the woods wherever they may happen to be benighted. The climate of Halifax does not admit of a ready comparison with that of England, though their summer, which lasts about four months, is not so much hotter as their winter is colder. They have no season like an English spring, nor does their autumn resemble ours.* : * In order to give a better idea, the following re- marks may be useful, to which I should premise that AT HALIFAX. 9 I had remained very few days at my hotel, when the weather became overcast, with in- the weather and temperature in the neighbourhood of Lake Huron, which will be described in the ensuing journal, is not far different from that at Halifax, though the range of the thermometer in Quebec is considerably higher in summer and lower in winter. Remarks on the Climate of Halifax, Nova Scotia. To begin with the months of Jiilij and Augusts These are the hottest of all, the sun being usually powerful and oppressive. • The uniform heat is greater than ours, although a single day in England is now and then nearly as hot as any of theirs. In September, the evenings become cold, with frosts,, increasing in severity to the end of the month. In October, the temperature falls perhaps to 25° of Fahrenheit, with rough gales from the north-west, sweeping the frozen continent, and answering to our easterly winds. The weather however is variable, some days still being very warm. In November, a succession of bright sunshiny days generally prevails, and that month is to the Nova Scotiau the best in all the year. The fresh frosty air and bright sun have acquired for that season the appellation of the Indian summer. The variation of temperature towards the end of the month is very great ; sometimes as much B 3 10 A FEW days' residence dications of an approaching fall of snow, which, soon beginning to descend in soft as 40" in the twenty-four hours. Some days are close and foggy ; others clear and intensely cold. In December, the snow before the middle of the month begins to lie on the ground, the average tempe- rature being about 20°. January may be called the coldest month ; the aver- age temperature being from 10° to 14°. It drops some- times 10° or 15° below zero, and remains so for three or four days together. February usually commences with extreme cold, the temperature seldom ranging above 12°. Snow-stormS" are violent and frequent. The sun, however, before the end of the month, shows gradually his increasing power, and icicles are seen hanging from the roofs of houses in sheltered situations. In March, clouds of hail and sleet sweep along the streets with a force hard to be withstood by man or beast. Cold must be endured in all its variety. On one day the ground presents to the eye a surface of deep fresh snow, to wade through which nothing but sheer necessity would drive a man abroad. Before night perhaps a fog sets in, with a rapid thaw. Heavy rain succeeds, and torrents of water and melted snow rush down the steep streets towards the sea. The compact mass or cake of ice with which the whole surface of the ground in the town is covered now begins to make its i AT HALIFAX. 11 broad flakes, continued for many hours, till it lay on the ground to a very considerable appearance, and walking becomes even more disagree- able and dangerous than ever. This mass of ice is full two feet thick, and it cracks into fissures, which form, as it were, the beds of little rivers, which discharge the melted snow into the sea. In April the weather is severe and variable. Large quantities of snow fall during the month, but the heat of the sun in the middle of the day is too great to allow it to lie long on the ground. Hardly two days are alike. Sometimes the snow is deep and fresh, at others soft and sloppy ; and again covered with a crackling- coat of ice. Then the north-west wind rages, and calls forth the powers of the young and active to make way against its force. In the month of May, the weather has but little im- proved. The snow falls heavily at intervals, and, melted by the increased power of the sun, mixes with mud till the streets are like a bog, and would be considered in any other part of the world impassable. The variations of temperature are excessive. Keen frosty winds and a warm sun acting together try the weaker constitutions. Nevertheless, rheumatic people do not complain. Those subject to pulmonary attacks suffer considerably. In the month of June the sun begins to be really powerful, and in the early part is now and then as hot as at any time of the year. Yet, the summer has not 12 A FEW DAYS' RESIDENCE depth. The next morning it had drifted so as to render many parts of the town im- passable till a way was cleared ; and the shopkeepers and their boys, in fur caps and red nightcaps, with canvass sleeves over their arms and broad shovels in their hands, were to be seen every where hard at work throwing aside the snow accumulated before arrived, and the trees are only beginning to tshow the first tinge of green. Floating islands of ice, which in- fest the coast at this season of the year, influence the climate most considerably. Till these gradually recede, and, becoming porous, sink to the water's edge, the weather is never settled and warm. For in the hottest day, whenever the wind happens to blow from the sea, it drives before it a dense chilling fog, like a moving pillar, over the town. There, while it rests, the change of atmosphere is violent in the extreme. The very eyes feel wet and cold ! And the sea-breeze, which in England invites the invalid to the coast to inhale its freshness, drives the Nova Scotian within the walls of his house. This evil however is of short continuance, for the ice-islands, on whose gelid surfaces these damp fogs have been engendered, melt by degrees, and, dis- persing themselves over the ocean, cease for the re- mainder of the year to interfere with the sun's dominion. AT HALIFAX. 13 their dwellings. It had covered the doors and lower windows of some of the houses, so that the people were obliged to burrow their way like moles into daylight ; and one wondered now, at the very beginning of a winter, how the quantities of snow likely to fall during the season could ever be disposed of. The day was particularly fine after the storm ; every body seemed busy and ani- mated, and servants were running backwards and forwards with bells, straps, buckles, and harness of all sorts^ to prepare for sleigh driving. At an early hour the first heavy sleighs, laden with wood, coal, and other articles of merchandise, were to be seen laboriously ad- vancing through the deep fresh snow, which becoming by degrees trodden towards the middle of the day, the fresh painted, lighter vehicles were allured from their summer's rest. Then damsels with pretty chins wrapped in fur, bade a short adieu to mammas (not here required by custom as chaperones) to take a seat beside their anxious beaux ; till smiling 14 A FEW days' residence faces, tingling bells, and trotting horses were encountered in every corner of the town. Now came the time to look about one : hardly a third part of the space in the street was pass- able ; and as the sleighs came dashing by, one thought oneself lucky, at the expense of a jump up to the hips in a snowbank, to escape being knocked over once in every five minutes. Some of the drivers were good, others bad, but all drove fast, so that, notwithstanding people were obliged by law to have a certain number of bells about their sleigh, the eyes of Argus were insufficient to protect a foot- passenger, who, after all possible pains to get out of the way of the carriages, gained nothing more by way of thanks than snow- balls kicked in his face off the heels of the horse. I observed one young man, evi- dently an inexperienced driver, in the act of passing a corner, while he and his fair partner were flying forwards in the original direction long after the horse had completed his turn ; and such was the centrifugal mo- tion of the sleigh, that an old Woman was AT HALIFAX. 15 knocked down, and the horse completely overcome and brought to the ground by its violence. Casualties seemed to be perpetually occur- ring to grave personages, and some of them sufficiently ridiculous. I saw an old gentle- man carefully poking his way across a steep street with creepers (spikes made to buckle under the sole) on his feet and a pointed walking-stick in his hand, when his heels w^ere in a moment knocked from under him by an urchin in a box placed on iron runners, who shot down like a flash of lightning from the top of the hill to the bottom. I picked him up as, covered with snow, he was puffing with rage and growling vengeance against the author of his misfortune. But the old gentleman was not likely to be gratified ; for the boy had passed like a meteor, and the moment of collision, together with the point of contact, were the only data by which the sufferer could determine whence he had come and whither he was gone. It was quite astonishing to see how the 16 A FEW days' residence young people preserved their equilibrium over parts of the streets covered with ice. The town, built on the side of a hill, con- sists of long streets, parallel to the harbour, with others remarkably steep crossing them at right angles. These latter, in some places where the snow had drifted away, were co- vered with a coat of hard ice, along which the young women especially were venturously running and sliding, in groups of three or four at a time, all holding by each other's arms, down such declivities as apparently to put their necks in serious danger. Waggon loads of frozen pigs were exposed for sale, quite hard and stiff, and in a fit state to keep till the spring. They had an unusu- ally uncouth appearance ; for their mouths were generally open, and the last services seemed never to have been properly paid to the defunct. Their limbs were not arrano^ed with decent regularity, and they appeared to have given up the ghost in the act of squalling and at full gallop. Some were placed stand- ing at the doors in the streets, like rocking- AT HALIFAX. 17 horses before a toy-shop^ upon their four legs, just as if they had been alive. This mode of keeping a pig for a winter without giving him a grain of any thing to eat, or being subject to his noisy, ill-mannerly conduct, — nay, to be enabled to eat him piecemeal without even the trouble of cutting his throat, is indisputably one advantage of a cold climate. But frozen meat, on the other hand, disappoints the epi- cure, being generally tasteless and tough. Notwithstanding the day was extremely cold, an auctioneer established himself at the corner of a street out of doors, and was haranguing a crowd of eager-looking buyers who had assembled about him. Altogether, the appearance of the town after the snow set in, was, from the novelty of the sur- rounding objects, particularly lively and in- teresting to an European. But while winter brings with it festivities to the inhabitants of Halifax, the sufferings of sea-faring people form a sad reverse. It is indeed an appalling sight to see, in hard wea- ther, a vessel beating up the harbour of Hali- 18 RESIDENCE AT HALIFAX. fax in the teeth of a north-wester. Perhaps from the West Indies ! * * * On she glides slowly and gloomily through the black waves, her bows and quarters so heavily en- crusted with ice, as to be quite disfigured, and weighed down by her head in the water; the sailors, meanwhile, with frost-bitten hands and feet, hanging upon the glassy ropes and rigging, and contending manfully against an unrelenting snow-drift. A few days only have elapsed, probably, since the same men, now exposed to the dangers of an iron-bound coast, and a temperature, perhaps, of forty degrees below the freezing point, were broiling under a tropical sun : a change, it might be thought, utterly beyond the power of human nature to withstand. 19 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX TO PRESQUE ISLE, On the 7th of December a heavy fall of snow, which had lasted the two or three preceding days, induced me to make immediate prepa- ration for my journey. I was happy to leave my hotel, kept by a worthy olJlady whom I seldom saw. She had prescribed herself a course of the warmer liquors, and had nearly abdicated her authority in favour of the ser- vants of the house, a set of noisy screaming black women. I separated a few necessary articles of equipment from my baggage, the remainder of which I made arrangements to send to Quebec by the first spring vessels. I hired a sleigh to take me and my servant as far as Annapolis, a distance of 132 miles, for which I was to pay twenty pounds, or eighty dollars, including the expenses of the return of the horse and driver to Halifax. December 8th. — At nine o'clock in the 20 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX morning my vehicle came to the door. The snow l^y more than a foot on the ground ; besides which, it was still falling heavily. The wind, also, was full in our faces. I had provided myself, according to the custom of the place, with snow-boots made of Brussels carpeting, which buttoned over my boots, reaching above my ancles, with soles of rough felt. I was further fortified by a good great- coat and a fur cap with large flaps to cover the ears. The driver had no sooner got into his small seat in front, and urged his horse into a sort of shuffling walk, than it was quite evident that the animal was at the full extent of his pace, considering the heavy draft; and we accordingly travelled at an ex- tremely slow rate, being full three hours and a half in performing the first fifteen miles. The soil in the neighbourhood of Halifax is poor and rocky ; and the black granite rocks and scrubby trees, which showed their tops through the snow, looked desolate in the ex- treme. Land, notwithstanding, in the neigh- bourhood, sells high ; for people, so soon as TO PRESQUE ISLE. 21 ihey scrape together a little money by farm- ing, flock to the seaports, and reverse the usual order of life by finishing with com- merce instead of retirement. Passing through Sackville, (a small cluster of wooden houses,) we left the extremity of the basin, or arm of the sea, parallel to which the road had hitherto led, and completed a heavy tedious drive of Mteen miles at Mitchell's Inn. The inns in the country are known only by the names of the landlords, to the great dis- couragement of the profession of sign-paint ers. The people were not at all uncivil ; the} allowed me to shake the snow off my clothes in the passage, and proceed unmolested as far as the fire in the parlour ; but nobody seemet! at all inclined to stir, till, in answer to my repeated entreaties, "Mother," said the great girl of the house, in a fretful tone, — ^' Mother, don't you hear how the man is calling for something to eat ?" and then the mother did begin to move herself, and presently a heavy pile of toast and butter was placed before me, together with tea and beef-steaks. The inn 22 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX looked like a neat English farm-house. The room was skirted with deal wainscoting, and the furniture was made of the woods of the country. Some articles of birch-wood bore an excellent polish, and those of bird's-eye maple very nearly resembled satin-wood ; but the sudden and severe changes of climate had warped them all grievously. A few articles of mahogany also had shared a simi- lar fate. And this evil is universal all over the country, in the best houses as well as the worst. No matter how thick the walls, the tables and chairs always suffer by the weather. The sides of the room and mantelpiece were ornamented with trumpery prints of the four quarters of the world in allegory, and plaster of Paris casts of George the Third, Queen Charlotte, and a green parrot with a cherry in his mouth. Every thing looked English, and though a Yankee twang rang in the noses of the country people, giving a marked and provincial accent, yet it was hard to believe one had travelled upwards of two thousand miles to detect so slight a differ- J TO PRESQUE ISLE. 23 ence* between the people of each side of the Atlantic. Two country fellows came into the inn while I was eating, and placed themselves at a small table in a corner of the same room. They called for rum, which was given them in a vinegar cruet. Glasses were brought, and then, each passing the back of his hand across a mighty useful set of teeth, hobbed and nobbed the other; and, repeating the ceremony, their little bottle was empty. Cramming their large paws into their breeches' pockets, the girl of the house was called to a committee of finance, and, at their request, replenished the cruet. This second dose made them sneeze a little, but it was despatched in as short a time as the first. The water now stood in both their eyes. They paid for the rum ; hardly a word was expended in conversation, and about five minutes of time had elapsed, when they were out of the house, and again on their way. The Nova Scotian peasant, as to his gene- ral appearance, cast of countenance, and ac- 24 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX cent, so much resembles the inhabitant of the United States of America, that a stranger would not perceive the difference. They have the same tall, bony, athletic figure ; the keen, penetrating, inquisitive eye; — they guess and they calculate, and adopt very many of the same provincial phrases and expressions. They are a fine healthy, hardy race of men, in point of stature certainly exceeding Eng- lishmen. But the transparent glovr of youth is of shorter duration. Innumerable minute wrinkles, especially about the eyes, appear at a very early period ; perhaps more attri- butable to the increased exercise of those particular muscles, which are brought into a state of contortion by the sensation of cold, or the dazzling light of the sun shining on snow for so many months in the year, than from any positive effect produced upon the constitution. It is, however^ very well known^ that the teeth decay particularly soon, and this, most probably, is owing to the cold. They do not suffer by rheumatism, or any other disease of that sort. As to clothes, they TO PRESQUE ISLE. 25 n more precautions than we do. Flan- nel is even more rarely worn. The man, for instance, who drove my sleigh, sat on his cold perch in front, with no other defence from the weather than an ordinary great-coat, such as soldiers wear ; without boots upon his legs, or gaiters ; merely shoes and worsted stockings. While the horse was baiting, I took an op- portunity of paying a visit to him in the stable ; where he was standing in his harness, with the door open behind him, and a rack- ful of miserably bad hay before him. The building was ill contrived for the purpose of keeping out the wind, had the door been shut ; and altogether it was a most comfort- less abode for a poor horse. While I was there, the driver came in from the house, and, without rubbing him down, led him out into the yard, and commenced putting to. We went fifteen miles to Rolls's inn, where the horse was baited again ; and then proceeded twelve miles more to Burdon's inn, where we put up for the night. It was late when I ar- rived, and as I was dreadfully cold (for it had c i 26 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX snowed the whole of the day), nothing could equal the hospitable appearance of the fire, which was burning in the room. Enormous logs were piled on each other upon the hearth, with a profusion one is quite unaccus- tomed to in England. Beef-steaks were again produced, with tea. I had a clean comfort- able bed, and the next morning was ready to start at an early hour. December 9th. — I proceeded seven miles to Standridge's inn, where I breakfasted. The road was hilly. The day had cleared up, but it was extremely cold. On both sides of the road, during the whole of the way from Halifax, one could not help remark- ing the small proportion the cleared land bears to that uncultivated. The trees which, in the neighbourhood of Halifax, are scrubby and stunted, now began to assume a different character, being of much larger growth. Thirteen miles to Graham's inn, Horton town- ship, over a hilly road. Horton was the largest village I had yet seen, small as it was compared to an English one. Having baited, TO PRESQUE ISLE. 27 I proceeded fourteen miles to Sharp's inn, Cornwallis township, over a road tolerably- level. Here I put up for the night. The infancy of the country, as regards cul- tivation, is most striking; the plough had barely nibbled the edges of the forest, con- fininor itself to the borders of lakes and rivers. And it has been truly enough remarked, that by the proportion v^^hich the seams of a coat bear to the cloth ; that which exists between the cleared and wooded surface of the land maybe exemplified. Industry seemed to pre- vail every where, without any apparent ves- tige of pauperism. The landlords of the inns were usually occupiers of land ; and home- made cheeses and cider, both of an excellent quality, were generally produced at table. December 10th. — Ten miles to Crane's inn, Aylesford township, over a level road. Fifteen miles to Parker's, Wilmot township, over a level road. On this stage I passed the country seat of the Bishop of Nova Sco- tia ; a building of very humble elevation, and not exceeding, in point of appearance, a very c2 28 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Hioderate description of English farm-house. Eight miles and a half to Lennard's, Wilmot township, over a level road. And here I put up for the night. The vi^eather had changed considerably. For more than a couple of hours, before arriving at the inn, the snow was slushy and soft, in consequence of a very rapid thaw. I had barely got under cover, when, rain began to fall heavily, and continued till late at night. The bearing of the people at the inns to- wards a stranger is somewhat difficult at first to understand. They are most of them, as I Lave observed, occupiers of land as well as innkeepers ; so, not resting a sole reliance on their inns, they seem to imagine that by ad- mitting a traveller, they confer a favour on liim instead of themselves ; at all events, they treat him as their equal. In England, it must be confessed, that civility, however gra- tifying it may be, is paid for at a good price. Here, though one does not get it, it is not charged for in the bill, and nobody thinks of giving a farthing to the servants, who, in fact, i TO PRESQUE ISLE. 29 are most frequently the children of the people of the house. December 1 1th. — This morning, on getting into my sleigh, I found the driver beating his hands on his sides, with a short lighted pipe in his mouth. The wind had changed again, and the air was keen and sharp. The frost had set in for some hours, and the roads were improved to a very great degree. Instead of crawling on at the heavy tiresome rate we had hitherto done, a crack of the whip set the horse off at a running trot, which he kept up nearly the whole of the stage, equal to nine miles an hour, as we went over a level road to Spur's, Annapolis township. The road, for the most part, passed through a low level, calculated for feeding cattle, from the abundance of meadow and marsh on both sides. Passed the Annapolis river, which is here about the breadth of the Thames at Staines. We passed it by a bad wooden bridge. Proceeding along its bank, we ar- rived at the town of Annapolis. The road was, in many places, exceedingly bad and 30 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX rough ; for large pieces of rock protruded themselves above the soil ; and against these the runners of the sleigh occasionally came in contact with considerable violence, the snow not being of sufficient depth to protect them. The roads, hardened for so great a part of the year by frost, are little attended to during the short period of summer ; be- sides, the soil is rocky, so that a natural road exists sometimes for many yards together. Throughout the greatest part of the province, deficiency of the material cannot be pleaded in excuse for the bad state of the roads, for good hard granite is in great plenty. Plaster of Paris is found in large quantities in the neighbourhood of Annapolis. Annapolis, which is one of the largest towns in the province of Nova Scotia, would hardly merit the name of a town in England, but rather of a good-sized village ; but it may be observed, that while the natural features of the country are on a larger scale, the different grades of society exist on a smaller. Captains and colonels of militia are to be met with TO PRESQUE ISLE. 81 carrying on the trade of publicans, and that not unfrequently ; and the members of the house of assembly, (the colonial parliament,) instead of, as with us, rolling into their metro- polis on easy springs, here make their entree without stile or pretension, jolting in country- built buggies,* or, perhaps, bumping side by- side on ambling long-tailed cart horses. My sleigh was now discharged, having arrived at Annapolis, and I went to Mrs. Crawley's inn, where I was comfortably- lodged. I found it by no means an easy mat- ter to procure a vehicle for my journey to Digby, a distance of twenty miles, from which place I was to embark to cross the Bay of Fundy to the town of St. John's. I found myself driven to the necessity of making a * These country gigs possess, nevertheless, nearly the advantage of springs, owing to the body being slung upon pliant poles, spliced on in continuation of the shafts ; and the_Jconstruction is at the same time so extremely simple, that no damage can in probability happen to them, which may not be readily replaced by means of an axe and a few yards of cord. 32 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX bargain, an operation not to be effected at Annapolis without a good many words ; and as every body to whom I applied myself 1 knew, that, as a matter of course, I must go forward, they all hung back, and " tried con- fusions" accordingly. Some objected to the heavy draft, owing to the soft state of the snow, others had work for their horses on their farms, and so forth. At last I came to terms with a man, who said that he would have to send in for his horses, which were several miles from the town ; and I agreed to give him four pounds to take me the twenty miles to Digby. I had no sooner, however, concluded the bargain, than the cattle were forthcoming, never having been out of his stable, and he was as eager to be off as he had appeared before indifferent to the under- taking. Several other proprietors then came and offered me their sleighs at a more reason- able rate ; however, it was too late. I accepted an invitation to dine with an old gentleman, a Mr. . He was more than eighty years old, had served under General TO PRESQUE ISLE. 33 Wolfe, and made it a rule to invite to his house all gentlemen in the public service who might happen to pass through the town. He was so perfectly deaf, that it was utterly impossible to converse with him^ except by means of a few thirsty interpreters, who drank his port wine, and made themselves otherwise serviceable on social occasions. The old gentleman commenced after dinner to give toasts, after which he called upon his guests in turn for others. Then we were asked to give ladies, and after that, senti- ments. And all in such quick succession, that, finding it impossible to do justice to the part I was called on to play, I made as speedy a retreat as I could, and sought the quiet of my inn. December r2th. — The weather was ex- tremely unsettled, and a thaw had come on in the nighty so that when I started, the snow was sloppy, and the roads in consequence very heavy. The sleigh was drawn by two horses working abreast. The way was also hilly ; and without an extra horse, it would c 3 34 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Lave been impossible to proceed. Indeed the thaw had been so rapid, that the ground in many places was almost bare> and I occa- sionally felt the runners of the sleigh grind- ing on the bare earth for several yards toge- ther^ when it required the utmost power of the horses to advance. As it was, they were knocked up before we had gone eighteen miles. On leaving Annapolis in the morning, we proceeded nine miles to I>itman's, where I breakfasted. This was a small house, on the banks of Moose River, which is a stream emptying itself into the Annapolis river. We then proceeded nine miles to Harris's (making eighteen miles), where we put up for the night. We went seven miles out of our way, the direct road being by way of a horse ford over Bear River. December 13th. — The frost had set in be- fore the morning, and when the sleigh came to the door, the air was extremely sharp and cold. We had a rough hilly drive to the town of Digby, and a chilling fog added a blacker hue to the large forest trees on each TO PRESQUE ISLE. 35 side of our narrow route. I was therefore the more gratified by the sudden appearance of a splendid sun, setting forth to the great- est advantage a rich sea-view, ornamented by a display of magnificent rock and woodland scenery. The Bay of Digby is an outlet of the Bay of Fundy, which latter is remarkable for its dangerous navigation, caused by the strong currents and extraordinary swell of its tide, which has been frequently known to rise to a height of sixty feet. Close to the town appears a fine sandy beach, and a regu- lar succession of bluff rocks extend them- selves from the head of the bay on both sides towards the sea ; and on these, shoals of cor- morants, as w^ell as other descriptions of the larger wild fowl, are seen sitting during the day. The bay is circular, and the rocky cir- cumference converging towards the sea, two large corresponding masses of rock overhang each other, forming natural barriers, which leave a narrow passage between, so that ves- sels enter at once into smooth water. As the road on its approach to the town was circuit- ous, I had the more leisure to admire the 36 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX pleasing change of scenery. So few people had occasion to travel on the road I had passed, that solitude and desolation added to the rigors of winter, and the brilliant wood-- fires at the inns were the sole comfort and solace of my journey. The long continued exposure to severe cold day after day was a great trial to my patience, though the effects were by no means otherwise injurious. On arriving at the town, I found the only inn full, and was therefore under the necessity of re- turning three miles on the road I had already travelled, and I put up at a neat little inn, re- commended at least by its name, which was ** Pleasant Valley." The person who kept the house was a widow, from whom I experienced extreme kindness and attention. Her daug^h- ters were well-behaved and exceedinelv pretty, and the house was managed altogether with such quiet regularity, that I blessed my stars for the good fortune which had esta- blished me in such quarters during the un- certain period of my sojourn in the neigh- bourhood of Digby. For the next point in my journey was the TO PRESQUE ISLE. 37 town of St. John's, in New Brunswick, to- wards which I was to cross the bay of Fundy in a small packet which was plied backwards and forwards, and at as regular intervals as the difficult navigation would admit. The distance across is thirty-six miles ; but owing to the violent currents, swell of the tide, &c., the passage is never attempted unless with a fair wind and moderate weather. The packet when I arrived was not in the harbour, not having returned from its last trip to St. John's ; I therefore made arrano^ements to be informed so soon as she might arrive ; and, secure on this point, I made myself quite easy, under all circumstances, at the prospect of being wea- ther-bound under the roof of my kind hostess and her fair daughters. I had the pleasure of seeing what industry and good manage- ment could effect in the country ; and a house more tidy and scrupulously clean I never entered in any part of the world I ever visited. I went to a large piece of water in the neigh- bourhood, where I amused myself by skating for a few hours before dinner, which was 38 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX served in a room warmed by an excellent coal fire, and furnished with every sort of English comfort. My landlady was provided with preserved fruits of every description afforded by the soil, and these are sufficiently numerous. There are currants and raspber- ries, gooseberries, cranberries, strawberries, apples, pears, and quinces ; and of these she was so liberal, that I could not satisfy her kind intentions. She pressed me to eat more of them ; " for," said she, stirring my fire at the same time, *' you will be both cold and hungry before you arrive at Quebec." I thanked her heartily for her good-will. I was led involuntarily to think favourably of a country, in a state of Georgic simplicity ; where a man can build a house in a week,* where, by the help of his gun and fishing im- plements, there is no chance of his starving ; where, for five shillings an acre, good land maybe purchased, capable of growing wheat, buckwheat, barley, oats, maize, rye, turnips, potatoes, &c. I had seen the facility with which the countrymen wielded tho axe, and TO PRESQUE ISLE. 39 had been surprised by the simple mode of bringing the land first into cultivation. It seemed to me almost incredible, that corn could be grown in a forest of stumps for seve- ral succeeding years^ merely on the strength of the land, without amendment, except the ashes of the burnt trees; that by merely scratching the surface with a light plough, it could be prepared for the next crop ; and that agricultural operations could be carried on with success for a period of ten or twelve years, till the roots of the trees rotted out of the ground of themselves. What if the life of the husbandman be a laborious one ? If a man be obliged to work hard for his bread, so long as he has youth and strength, and breathes the air of a bracing climate, why should he not ? The neighbourhood of Digby appeared to me particularly eligible ; for the town was a thriving little sea-port : boats of a large size were built in her docks, and the sea abounded with several good sorts of fish. A small spe- cies of herring afforded the inhabitants almost 40 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX a staple commodity. They are extremely delicate, and are salted in great quantities every year. They have gained the nick-name of Digby chickens, and are exported to dif- ferent parts of the province in barrels. December 14th and 15th. — The packet not having arrived in the harbour from St. John's, I chiefly amused myself by skating during the day. I also unpacked my gun, and took a w^alk towards the forest ; but the snow lay too deep on the ground for walking without snow-shoes, with which articles I was not as yet provided ; neither had I any dog. December 16th. — I received intelligence that the packet had arrived in the harbour ; but upon inquiry learnt that there was no chance of her'sailing, unless the wind should happen to change. December 17th to 21st. — The wind still contrary, and the frost steady and sharp. Both these days I made an attempt to shoot wild-fowl, but without much success. As I was following a large cormorant I had winged, over a salt-water creek which the tide had TO PRESQUE ISLE. 41 left dry, I sank into a bog of blue mud, con- siderably above my knees. In ^ye minutes the mud was frozen as hard as a stone upon my clothes, so that I had much difficulty in walking. Fortunately I was not wetted to the skin, or I might have suffered from the accident. As it was, I was obliged to be thawed when I got home, before I could take off some of my things. As soon as I had dressed I went to the house of a man about a mile distant, to see a dog which had been se- verely wounded by a species of lynx or wild cat, which the natives call the loup-cervier, or, as they pronounce it, lousiffee. The dog was of the Labrador breed, extremely power- ful, and of enormous stature. Notwithstand- ing his shaggy coat and his ferocity, he very nearly lost his life in the conflict, by the teeth and talons of the creature, although the latter was so inferior in point of size ; so much so as not to exceed perhaps ten pounds weight ; and it made its escape, after a struggle of three or four minutes, just as the dog's master arrived to his assistance. The above de- scription of beast is very scarce. 42 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Wolves and bears are in sufBcient numbers through all parts of the forests. As to the for- mer, they are shy and cowardly ; for there are enough of deer and other smaller animals to appease their hunger and moderate their fero- city. When they are met with, it is generally singly, or in parcels of two or three together, trotting sluggishly along. But while the wolves lead an independent roaming life, the bears keep nearer to the cultivated land^ and in consequence are not on the most neigh- bourly terms with the farmers. Whenever one is heard of in the neighbourhood, a posse comitatus sally forth with guns and dogs to destroy him. They wage a continual war with the poultry and pigs ; and a large bear has been known to enter a farm-yard, seize a heavy fat hog in spite of his remon- strances, and carry his noisy prisoner in his fore-paws out of his stye, clambering over rail-fences, and effectually making his escape, notwithstanding the clatter and bustle of men in pursuit of him. Now and then a countryman, armed with a club or a pitch- fork, has ventured to bring one to single TO PRESQUE ISLE. 43 combat in the woods ; but then he should be, as they call it, '* pretty considerable smart," or the bear will whip his weapon with a jerk out of his grasp and come immediately to close quarters, in which case Bruin is pretty sure to floor his opponent. However, they generally run away from a man, and are only at all formidable when they happen to have young to defend. December 22nd. — I was aroused before daylight by the intelligence of the wind hav- ing changed ; it was some time, notwithstand- ing, before the packet heaved anchor, and it was nearly noon before we set sail with a fine breeze out of the bay. The wind was fair, but we were opposed by a violent head cur- rent, which caused a short chopping sea. The day was foggy, so that we could but just dis- tinguish Partridge Island as we passed it, which is about a couple of miles from St. John's. A fort and lighthouse are built upon it. In about six hours from the time of leav- ing Digby, our little sloop (one of thirty-six tons) cast anchor in the harbour of St. John's. 44 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX On landing, the difference of climate between the latter place and Digby was very percep- tible. In the first place, full half a foot more snow lay on the ground, and the inhabitants themselves estimate a fortnight's difference in the seasons. The town, is a good deal smaller than Halifax ; and the extreme width of the streets, and the irregular form of the houses, give it a very unfinished appearance. As there was no choice of inns, I went to an hotel of the same description with that in Halifax, and kept by an old widow, who re- ceived me with looks as cold as the climate she lived in, — not interesting herself in the least about me, or caring at all whence I had come or whither I was going. It seemed to be with her, as with many others of her de- scription in the country, (if one were to judge by their looks on arriving at their houses,) entirely a matter of caprice whether one was to be admitted or not. She gave me the worst bed-room she had, and dreadfully cold it was. Different people, at the stated hours of eat- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 45 ing, were in the habit of assembling them- selves from various parts of the town. One or two chewed tobacco ; all spit on the car- pet ; and there was one big man who, I was told, was a lieut.-colonel of the militia. He had a way of eating which I shall never forget. Closing his teeth upon his knife, he drew it through his mouth, so as to threaten its enlargement up to his ear; it was pretty wide as it was, and as he filled it as full as it would hold, a sympathetic jerk of his goggle eyes marked always, by their involun- tary vibration, the precise moment when each large morsel passed down his throat. After tea, a great basin of hot water was brought to the hostess, in which she washed the tea- cups and saucers ; and then, having deposited her china in a cupboard, she left me and the rest of the gentlemen by ourselves for the evening. The frost set in at night with great severity, and I found the house miser- ably cold. December 23rd to 25th. — Sorely against my will I sojourned these three days at 46 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Mrs. 's. Neither entertained nor instruct- ed by my companions, I was most anxious to get away at the expense of cold, solitude, or any other inconvenience. Fortunately, most of the party attended only at their meals, and, having daily business to occupy them in their shops, (or stores, as they call them,) they came in with the first dish and disappeared as soon as the cloth was removed, being obliged, in fact, to eat against time. Indeed, they used admirable despatch, and by blow- ing into their soup, and picking bones with their fingers, they contrived to make dinner a very short business, at the same time de- vouring full as much as they paid for. The next point in my journey was the town of Fredericton, situated on the river St. John's, and at a distance of eighty-one miles. The usual winter route was all the way upon the ice of the river, but the season was hardly as yet sufficiently advanced to depend upon its strength ; for however severe the frost may be, the effect of springs and currents is so great, that in large sheets of water there are TO PRESQUE ISLE. 47 many particular places most deceitfully un- sound, long after the surface generally has attained considerable thickness. Nor can any period or degree of intensity of frost suf- fice to render the travelling upon the rivers perfectly free from accidents, owing to the insecurity of the ice ; for the confined air is continually subject to burst its way from un- derneath, leaving chasms, which, becoming immediately lightly skinned over with a new coat of ice, deceive the traveller by their ap- pearance, and give no warning whatever till the surface breaks in under the horse's feet: and these air-holes, as they are called, are met with at times, no matter what the thick- ness of the ice may be. The weather was particularly severe, and seemed to indicate the established setting in of the winter, and I agreed with a man for the hire of a two-horse sleigh from St. John's to Fredericton, and to set out the next morning. I was to pay seven pounds on my arrival at the latter place. December 26th. — It was with much satis- faction that I heard a favourable report of the 48 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX state of the river, although it was added, that the passage was frequently exceedingly diffi- cult, owing to the roughness of the ice and the circuitous routes which in many places were indispensably resorted to. I had pur- chased a buffalo apron, or two skins of the animal sewed together and lined with baize, — an article of the greatest use and comfort : it was my friend by day and by night. Of a substance warm as sheepskin, and of ve large dimensions, my knees and feet were defended from the weather during the many hours I was necessarily exposed in open carriages; and it supplied the insufficiency of covering in the beds and places where I lay down to rest at night. My sleigh came to the door early in the morning ; and when I left St. John's the ther- mometer stood at 12'^ Fahr. The driver occupied a small seat in front, and was a rough-looking fellov,^ both in dress and coun- tenance. He wore a huge cap made of the skin of a fox, and the brush was sewed across the top of it fore and aft, like the cone of a^ TO PRESQUE ISLE. 49 helmet. A black stump of a tobacco-pipe was in his mouth. He had a close-bodied coat on his back, made of a blanket, with a sash of red worsted round his waist. Crack- ing his short whip, he urged the horses through the streets at their best speed, which it soon became necessary to slacken ; for the first stage was remarkably rough and hilly. We proceeded very slowly till we ar- rived at an inn^ called Poverty-hall, where we baited. We had now arrived on the banks of a small river which empties itself into the river St. John's. As soon as the horses were ready to start, I got into the sleigh tolerably refreshed, and the broad scorched face and replenished pipe of the driver were sufficient, had I any fears on his account, entirely to dissipate them. The perspiration of the horses was frozen upon them, but they looked healthy notwithstanding. We now prepared for a drive on the river ; and at first making our l^ay slowly over fragments of broken ice and congelated heaps of snow, we came at last to D 50 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX a sudden dip, and then were carried away forwards with a launch upon the bed of the river. The wind had cleared away the snow, and the ice was nearly bare. The driver rattled his horses on at a brisk gallop, till they by degrees settled down into their fastest trot. The sound of the runners upon the ice and of the horses' feet, together with the perfect indifference with which the driver treated repeated loud cracks, which were distinctly audible, was to me altogether new. Still the motion was agreeable, and the labour of the horses so light, that there was very much to be pleased with ; so^ finding that he whose business it was to judge of the soundness of the ice was satisfied, I very soon left off" thinking about it. We proceeded this stage of eleven miles to Gidney's all the way on the river, which is in most places about three quarters of a mile broad. Thence ten miles more to Wurdon's : five miles of this road, through the forest^, were particularly rough and bad. We then began to descend, and reached the ice again at Lyon's Creek, which is an arm of Belleisle TO PRESQUE ISLE. 51 Bay. As we passed along the creek, the wide expanding shores of the bay appeared in front of us : it is about twelve miles long and three broad, and, owing to the sweep- ing gusts of wind which incessantly pass over its surface, it presented to the eye an uniform sheet of clear ice ; and here we were roused to life and animation by a brisk and long-continued gallop, both the horses laying their ears back and biting at each other all the time. After the dull, heavy drag of the first part of the stage through the wood, the change of pace and of scene altogether was in a great degree enlivening ; while the quick jingle of the bells and the excitement of the horses invested with a deeper hue the purple cheeks of the driver, who sat on his seat singing, and, with his whip under his arm, striking fire for a fresh pipe ; — and thus we spun along till we came to Wurdon's. And now we had arrived at the St. John's river, upon a course of water communication ex- tending in a direct line towards the river St. Lawrence, nearly 300 miles. d2 52 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX A dreary rugged desolation had hitherto marked the features of the path I had travelled, — a heavy uninteresting same- ness everywhere pervaded the landscape ; but now^ the scene was varied by bays and creeks, and hour after hour the wide differ- ence in climate and general appearance be- tween North America and England became more and more striking. Certainly there are no two countries more thoroughly different. An interminable extent of forest land, co- vered with snow during a long and rigorous winter, presents in itself a gloomy view of inanimate life ; a melancholy stillness, totally unlike the cultivated face of nature under a more genial climate. It is true, that the slow but increasing process of agriculture may work important change; the axe may level the forest with the earth, and the cheering beams of the sun, admitted to its hidden recesses, may dissipate the masses of snow which now feed the piercing winds of winter : but the greater the extent of land laid bare, the greater contrast must necessa- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 53 rily show itself; as rivers, lakes, rapids, and waterfalls everywhere becoming developed, demonstrate an increased scale of grandeur truly worthy of admiration. We travelled eight miles farther to Gold- ing's, the track being the whole of the way on the river. The cold was very intense, and u covering of six inches of snow lay on the ice. The average breadth of the river, sub- ject here to considerable swells and torrents, was about half a mile ; but it was often much wider, and a degree of wildness and irregularity added interest to the appearance of the country as I proceeded on my journey. December 27th. — The weather this morn- ing continued extremely cold ; but we started early, and proceeded along the ice on the bed of the river fourteen miles to Dale's. We saved three miles by leaving the river on our right and pursuing our course over- land. The tide is here remarkably rapid, and there are a number of lakes in the neighbourhood : of these, the Grand Lake is thirty miles long and nine broad, and is dis- tant about three miles. 54 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX Having baited, we proceeded nearly four miles up the river, when the ice exhibited an appearance not very encouraging. Large serpentine tracks of water were to be seen in many parts, and heaps of broken ice, forced up by the strength of the current, lay ranged on each side in considerable profusion. From some country people whom we met, we were told that the passage was not safe ; but that the road on the opposite bank was already sufficiently broken to render it tolerably good. The driver, therefore, bore away for the shore, which we were some time in reaching, being obliged to go out of our way frequently to avoid the weak and unsafe places. At last, when within about a couple of hundred yards from the land, there seemed a clear sheet of ice, over which the driver urged his horses at a brisk trot ; when all at once the ice suddenly gave way, and down went the horses' heads foremost into a hole. We were going so fast, that I was flung out a long way clear of the water; and as soon as I could get up, I ran back to render assistance. One of the horses had already scrambled out, but TO PRESQUE ISLE. 55 the other was lying on his side in the water, with his head stretched out over the forward end of the hole, and supporting himself by his cheek and the strength of his neck on the ice. The hole was nearly round, and the diameter rather more than the leno^th of the horse ; but as the ice about it was full a foot and a half thick, the sleigh had jammed at the other end, and his hind quar- ters were supported by the breeching. The poor creature lay without struggling, al- though the day was bitter cold, and he had sunk so low, that his head only was above the surface of the water. In this dilemma the driver, having freed the other horse from his harness, slipped a noose of rope round the drowning animal's neck, upon which we pulled till he seemed nearly strangled : and this operation is called in the country, very properly, "choking." Whether it was that he floated by means of the air thus forcibly retained in his lungs, as the driver asserted, or whether our united eflbrts caused him to rise, I cannot say; but so he did; and we 56 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX had not continued to tug long, before out he slipped on his side, and, after a few kicks and struggles, stood frightened and shiver- ing once more on his feet. We got to the shore after all with some difficulty ; for the ice was broken away for so great a dis- tance from the edge of the river where we attempted to land, that it was with very great labour that the horses could drag the vehicle over the hard snow and shingle which ob- structed their progress. Although the poor horse had been nearly a quarter of an hour in the water, and the other also was perfectly wet from the accident, both soon recovered themselves, and before we had gone a couple of miles were quite as well as ever. The above may be cited as an instance of the hardihood of the North American horse, of which less care is taken, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, than in England. The cold, severe as it is, seems to agree with them very well^ and they are continually kept standing out of doors, without mercy, after being violently heated. The fact perhaps is, TO PRESQUE ISLE. 57 that the cold partly allays the tendency to in- flammatory attacks, and a striking instance of this occurs with regard to flesh wounds. Horses frequently receive injuries between hair and hoof from the calk or spike of the frosted shoe, so severe as would be reckoned a serious accident in England; however, they are worked invariably without bad conse- quences, and few of the farmers' cattle are to be met with whose hoofs do not show a succession of scars, which remain till pared away in process of time, at the bottom, by the blacksmith. Many of the horses of the country have good blood, being the progeny of stock formerly imported by the Duke of Kent ; and others of good substance and action are now and then brought from the United States. The hay is bad everywhere — like Irish hay, dried without being allowed to heat, and then thrown into a barn or stacked under an open shed. Notwithstand- ing all these disadvantages, to which it may be added, that the stables generally are miserably protected from the weather, horses d3 ^ JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX now and then imported from England, very- soon become perfectly reconciled to all their difficulties, and thrive as well as the rest. We travelled very slowly, slipping and jolt- ing for about six miles on a road parallel to the river. We were obliged to cross over two very bad wooden bridges, formed of loose logs laid close together, which the horses' feet at every step threatened to displace. These streams formed a communication be- tween the river and lake Macquancup, which lake is about five miles long and three broad. The distance of this stage from Dale's to Tilley's is nine miles. Major's Island, situ- ated opposite the latter house, is about three miles long and one broad, and the property of a man who, with three of his tenants, lives upon it. A few hundred acres only are cleared. Having baited at Tilley's, we. proceeded ten miles more to Pelley's, the road all the way being on the bank of the river. It be- came, however, better and better as we ap- proached the town of Fredericton, and we met many more people on the road than TO PRESQUE ISLE. 59 usual. Although it was quite dark when we arrived at Pelley's, the driver was inclined to proceed ten miles more to Fredericton, the road to which place lay all the way on the bank of the river. We did not come upon the ice till we had arrived nearly opposite the town, — not from the apprehension of its being unsafe, but from the quantity of snow which lay upon it, (it was more than a foot deep,) and would have added so much to the labour of the horses. No snow had fallen, as we were informed, during the period we had been on our way from St. John's, not- withstanding it lay so much deeper on the ground here than at the latter place. I had suffered dreadfully from the cold during this day's journey ; and as the people at the inn were in bed and the fires low when we ar- rived, nothing remained but to ask permis- sion to go to bed too. A sleepy black wo- man ushered me into a comfortless apart- ment, where the bedclothes and my own buffalo skin together were quite insufficient to restore warmth. Every five minutes I lamented my want of covering, while a 60 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX powerful inclination to sleep urged me to patience in the forlorn hope of rest. The thermometer was about 10° of Fahrenheit. December 28th. — Daylight no sooner ap- peared than I eagerly sought relief; and dressing myself as quickly as my benumbed fino^ers would allow, I went down stairs to the apartment below, where the fire was just beginning to blaze. I had suffered not only from cold during the night_, but from hunger; but now all my miseries were dissipated with the smoke which went up the chimney, and a solid meat breakfast put me completely to rights. Afterwards I took a rapid walk, and on returning to the inn found a card lying on my table from the managers of a subscription assembly, which was to be held the same evening in the town. As a few days' halt for the purposes of equipment for my jour- ney was indispensable^ I did not hesitate to accept the invitation, and took measures to hire a sleigh to take me to the assembly- room, about a mile frcm the inn. Soon after I had dined at an early hour, I got into the sleigh, and in a very few minutes TO PRESQUE ISLE.- 61 was conveyed at a rapid pace to the assembly- room, which I found remarkably well lighted, and garnished with ladies, both old and young, with the usual proportion of card-players, &c. Most of the gentlemen wore boots with heavy iron heels, the noise of which, as they paraded the room in threes and fours between the dances, produced a prodigious effect, and created a wonderfully military appearance. jAs to the young ladies, they were, as in most parts of the world under similar circum- stances, all in their best looks and extremely engaging ; but the time of all others when they made the most impression was at a late hour in the evening, at the general rush into the cloak and bonnet rooms. Hitherto matters had been conducted with- out any very striking difference from similar festivities at home; but now the jingling of the bells of the sleighs outside the door, and the preparations of the ladies within, began to savour of novelty. All wore snow boots, or list coverings for the feet and ancles, which were buttoned, or laced, or tied, some- thing after the manner of a half-boot ; and 62 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX heaps of these were distributed, by the person who had them in charge, to their fair owners ; who all at once, within very small space, began to put them on. All these snow boots required fastening, and to fasten them it was indispensable to stoop. Some ladies had chairs, but most had not ; so that the variety of attitudes in which the female figure was on that occasion displayed, I shall not readily forget, — much less the dilemma in which I found myself when surrounded by so many- fine forms, and standing in the midst, I was unable to stir an inch to the right or left, back- wards or forwards, without the imminent risk of disturbing their equilibrium. But they equipped themselves with great rapidity ; and laden with shawls, plaids, and calashes, sleigh after sleigh received its burden, and away they went with bells jingling and the white smoke from the horses' nostrils reflect- ing a glare of light from the lamps of the carriages. December 29th. — I employed myself this day in procuring several necessary articles for my ensuing journey. I had now eighty- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 63 three miles to Presque Isle, the ultimate point passable by any sort of carriage ; the usual route from thence to the St. Lawrence being along the bed of the river St. John's, which is so wide and exposed to the force of the wind, that the depth of the snow is by far too great to pass in any other way than on foot by the help of snow shoes. The traffic, too, is very inconsiderable, as the fatigue of such a mode of travelling deters people from attempting it ; and the communication is kept open by a line of small log-houses, occupied by settlers, to whom grants of land have been ceded for the especial purpose. There is a very small military station at Presque Isle : and across the desolate track above men- tioned, extending for upwards of 150 miles, the post bags from Halifax to Quebec are conveyed monthly by half-breeds or native Canadians, who are from time to time ac- companied by those persons whom urgent business may, though rarely, induce to undertake the journey. It was for this route that it was now ne- cessary to equip; for after leaving Frederic- 64 JOUBNEY FROM HALIFAX ton there was no town- nor village at which the required articles could be procured ; namely, a couple of tobogins, two tobogin bags,acanteen,havresac, some pairs of mocas- sins, two pairs of snow shoes for myself and servant, together with other trifling things. A tobogin is a small sleigh, drawn by men, of very simple construction, and capable of con- veying from 100 to 140 pounds of clothes or other baggage. It is made of quarter-inch plank, about a foot and a half broad and eight feet long; the forward end is bent upwards^ so as the more readily to pass over any obstructing body. A set of small holes are bored on each side ; and the tobogin bag when full is then laced tightly on the ma- chine by means of a cord. The whole thus forms a compact mass, so secure that it may be tumbled and tossed, dragged among stumps of trees, and rolled over and over in the snow, and after all be not a whit the worse at the journey's end. On beaten roads dogs are frequently used to draw them. As to the mocassins, the common ones, generally worn by the country people, are TO PRESQUE ISLE. 65 made of ox hide ; and those of a better de- scription, of the skin of the deer. The hide of the moose deer furnishes the very best, but they are scarce ; as the animal, equal in size to the Russian elk, is of a race nearly extinct ; a few only are killed every year in the spring, when there is a glassy surface or crust over the snow hard enough tobear the hunters on their snow shoes, while it breaks in under the heavy creature, which is thus easily tracked by his foot-marks. The mocassins intended for travelling are of a much larger size than the common ones ; for, besides other cover- ings, the foot is wrapped in a piece of blanket cut for the purpose, about fourteen inches long and eight wide, and then thrust into the mocassin, which is secured firmly by long thongs of soft leather passing round the ancles. As the upper part of the mocassin is composed of loose flaps, by this method the foot has an excellent protection, and is kept warm and fit for the day's journey, either with or without snow shoes. A moderate-sized snow shoe, being a light wooden frame of an oval shape, is about forty 66 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX inches long, and eighteen in extreme breadth, and its weight is about two pounds. The whole surface within is formed of a net-work of thong, like that of a racket, but rather stouter. A small square aperture, about the size of a man's hand, is left in the net-work, into which the toes sink at every step, by which means the foot is prevented from slipping back, and a purchase is given to step from, while the snow shoe, forming an artifi- cial platform, remains still on the ground. The foot is in no way confined to the machine, except by the toes, by which it is lifted, or rather dragged along at each step. Although less previous practice than one would at first imagine is necessary to walk on snow shoes, still a novice commences a journey under very considerable disadvantage. Indeed, so certain is the effect produced by the exercise upon persons not trained to it, that the Cana- dians have a name for the complaint it brings on. They call it the " mal a raquette" which is a violent inflammation and swelling of the instep and ancles, attended with severe pain and lameness. A journey on snow shoes TO PRESQUE ISLE. 67 cannot, at all events, be undertaken under greater disadvantages than by a person newly- arrived in a strange country and climate, fresh from a sea voyage. Much is said by the natives of the superiority of such a mode of travelling over any other; but, in spite of all their wonderful stories, a very little prac- tice will put an end to the pleasing anticipa- tion of a journey on snow shoes (unless a very short one) by way of amusement ; and I never saw anybody who, after reasonable trial, was not most heartily glad to kick them off his feet, and at the same time to make up his mind to walk during the re- maining days of his life without their assistance. There was a large Canada stove in the kitchen of the inn, or hotel, where I had taken up my abode, which was, during the day, a favourite resort for the country people and other customers of the house ; and a talk- ative noisy set was constantly kept up by the comers in and goers out. Among the most regular in attendance was an old Indian, who, 68 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX leaving his squaw to take care of the wig- wam, which was in the neighbourhood, made this kitchen his morning lounge — his club as it were, where he heard the news, saw how the world was going on, and drank as much rum as the different visitors were in- clined to give him. To this man I intro- duced myself, and, as he spoke English, and understood it very tolerably, I made an ap- pointment with him the next morning. He agreed to come to me at the inn, where I was to treat him with plenty of rum, so as to make him feel quite comfortable, and then we were to take a walk together, he on his snow shoes, and I on mine, as far as the wig- wams, a few miles out of the town, where I was to have the honour of being presented to his squaw and family. Novelties, there- fore, after much cold, stupid travelling, ap- peared at last to be on the point of arriving. December 30th. — The old Indian was true to his appointment, and before nine o'clock I had scarcely finished my breakfast, when he walked into my room, saying, " May be TO PRESQUE ISLE. 69 master has got a little rum." Thinking that whiskey probably would do as well, I filled a large wine glass which was upon the side- board, and he drank it without coughing or sneezing. Eternal friendship beamed from his small deep-set black eyes, the fire began rapidly to extract the odours of his toilette, and he drew himself closer and closer towards me, while he commenced a narration relating particularly to his own address and bravery during the late Ameri- can war. The glass of spirits had not been evidently the first he had swallowed that morning, for his story was frequently delayed by the slaver which flowed from his mouth, and the indolent paralysis of his tongue. A buck-shot received from the enemy, and which remained in his thigh, was the leading topic of his conver- sation, and as his language became more and more indistinct, his gesticulations were proportionably violent as he described his manner of crouching, advancing, and firing upon the foe. I endeavoured to quiet him. 70 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX and remind him of the purpose of his visit, by showing him my snow shoes and patting him on the shoulder with heavy thumps, in order to bring him to his recollection. But his subject interested him so warmly, that he would not listen to reason. He raved about his scars and his cuts, and, **Look ye," said he, '* Indian man show master the buck- shot." At the same time drawing aside the flap of his close-bodied coat of coarse blue cloth, he exhibited a thigh so tough and stringy, as to be, one would have thought, quite shot proof; notwithstanding there lay the object of his boasting, quite visible under the skin. The exhibition was the more simple, inasmuch as he wore no breeches. At last I got rid of him, when, very fortu- nately for me, he encountered the landlady, to whom, in the presence of the little world of the inn, he insisted upon showing, d-pro- pos to nothing, the buck-shot. This so en- raged her, that with a posse comitatus of her maids, black and white, they, by the help of TO PRESQUE ISLE. 71 brooms and mops, turned him forthwith out of doors into the street. And now, by the help of some men who were outside, we at last induced him to make a virtue of neces- sity. So, finding that the doors of the house were shut against him, that he could get no more rum from any body on the spot, and having obtained a promise from me of a liberal quantity so soon as ever he should have acquitted himself of his undertaking, he began with great gravity and silence to tie on his snow shoes, and, lighting a short black stump of a tobacco pipe, which he took out of his pouch, he commenced walking away with long strides^ without looking be- hind him, and leaving me to follow as well as I could. My snow shoes had been on some time, while I waited with impatience the drunken dilatory loitering of this savage: but now the pace he was going obliged me to exert myself to the utmost to keep up to him Puffing and smoking, he walked on, and his gaunt sinewy frame was continually gaining ground on me, when the point of my snow shoe, catching in the snow, tripped me 72. JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX lip. As I found it in vain to rise imme diately, from the manner in which my feet were hampered, I was obliged to call out to my« guide. He returned to my assistance, but, with very great difficulty, I had con- trived to get upon my legs before he came up. And this accident occurred three or four times in the first mile, after which I began to acquire the little practice neces- sary to keep upon my feet. Still I found the labour so much greater than I had imagined, that I was almost inclined to wish I had remained at Halifax till the spring, to have proceeded then by the St. Lawrence to Quebec. But now it was too late; here I was, and on I must go, coute qui coute. We had left the road at the outskirts of the town, and had proceeded in a straight line for nearly three miles, when some smoke, which appeared rising at a little distance, marked the situation of the wigwams we had come to see. There were twenty or thirty of them ; and I soon found myself arrived at the didce domum of my old guide. A wigwam is like a bundle of hop-poles, TO PRESQUE ISLE 73 as they are piled in England during the summer ; that is, it is shaped like a cone, and a little larger than an ordinary tent. It is formed of long poles, the ends of which are placed on the ground in the circumference of a circle, the points being brought together and confined at the top,. It is thatched from the bottom to within a couple of feet of the top, with the boughs of the spruce fir, and large strips of birch bark ; so that, in order for the smoke to escape, an aperture is left at the top, through which no snow enters, from the current of air passing upwards. Rain is not calculated upon in the winter. The wigwam within-side, rude as it is fashioned, is exceedingly w^arm^ and not par- ticularly incommoded with smoke ; for, from its figure, the greater quantity of air being* at the bottom, and becoming heated by the fire, a current is created of sufficient force to oppose the smaller quantity towards the top. The fire is made in the middle, and the whole family sleep with their feet towards it. The old Indian was rather out of hu- 74 'JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX mour and sulky ; for he had not forgiven the treatment received from the landlady of the inn ; but now arrived at his own fire- side, his heart began to warm again, and I saw, by his gestures, that he was relating to his squaw his own troubles and our adven- tures during our walk from the inn. The squaw seemed to be many years younger of the two, and she was sitting on the ground busily at work, ornamenting a pair of mocas- sins with coloured porcupine quills. Her mo- ther, a very old woman, was swinging a child, bound up, like an Egyptian mummy, in swad- dling clothes, strapped down fast and tight on a board, and suspended on a peg from the upper part of the wigwam. Whenever the child cried, a touch on the board with her hand set it swinging, so as to answer fully the purposes of a cradle. A boy of about ten years old was making a wooden spoon out of a piece of maple, which he hollowed for his purpose with a large, broad, square-pointed knife. There were also a little dog and a cat, both of a lean and starved appearance. As TO PRESQUE ISLE. 75 to furniture, there was none, except a rusty gun, a rum bottle, and a tin saucepan. The family sat upon logs of wood, and slept in their clothes, such as they were. Although. the day was exceedingly cold, the inside of this hut was warmer than the room of any house. My guide took me into some of the other wigwams, where we found very few men at home. The women were invariably employed very busily, some working at their needle, others making brooms, small baskets of birch bark, and other trifles of the same sort. I was, however, very soon satisfied with what I saw, and prepared to return alone to my inn, happy to leave the dirty wigwams, glad of the opportunity of walking more leisurely home, and not at all sorry to get rid of a drunken companion. There is nothing, perhaps, which proves the resources of the country more than the dissipated and improvident habits of the na- tive Indian. With no other dependence than a ten shilling Birmingham gun, a little coarse gunpowder, and some Bristol shot; his fish- e2 76 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX ing implements, and a coarse home-made bow and arrows ; he relies upon chance each day for his food. If successful, he gorges ; some- times he fasts ; to-morrow never enters into Lis head ; and whenever, and as often as he possibly can, he gets thoroughly drunk. In spite of all this, the forests and rivers supply him continually with food in sufficient pro- fusion ; and a rooted antipathy to every sort of labour, together with his wandering habits, have hitherto set at defiance all efforts to reclaim his race. If, therefore, the idle and improvident find the means to provide themselves against the wants of nature, surely the hard-working and industrious have even a better prospect of success. I walked back to my inn^ but not without difficulty. I found my way by the foot-marks which remained on the snow, but I felt dis- appointed at the result of my first day's prac- tice on snow shoes. December 31st. — Having now every thing ready, I had to make the best of my way to Presque Isle, so as to arrive there about the TO PRESQUE ISLE. 77 same time with the postmen, on their way to Quebec. I preferred accompanying these men to hiring an Indian as a guide, and had at first determined to wait at Fredericton till they ar- rived in the town from St. John's. Growinof impatient, however, I determined to start the next morning, and at all events to leave Fre- dericton, and get to Presque Isle as quick as I could. I accordingly engaged a two-horse sleigh from a French inhabitant, who agreed to take me the eighty-three miles, and return with his horse and sleigh at his own expense to Fredericton for eight guineas. January 1st. — It was nearly noon when the man made his appearance with his sleigh, a tardiness which but ill accorded with the state of the roads. With the river on our right, we proceeded along its bank through snow sa deep and untrodden, that with the greatest labour and difficulty we advanced, literally speaking, at a ploughing pace. We reached the house of the owner of the sleigh, where we baited. We then proceeded on our jour- ney, and crawled on six miles more, and put 78 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX up for the night at Upper French Village. It was near seven o'clock when we arrived, and we had been nearly all the time since noon going sixteen miles. The house we were now in for the night was very particularly dirty and comfortless. There were two beds in the room, one for the host, his wife, and four children, the youngest of which was not more than a few weeks old, and the other was appropriated to me. The driver and my servantlay on the boards before the stove^ which was a Canada one, and too powerful for the size of the room. The heat all night was quite suffocating, though the wea- ther certainly was not warmer than 20° of Fahrenheit. The bed I slept in had green stuff curtains, full of dust; and the sheets were of some soft spongy material which, if clean, at least felt otherwise, and for the first time since I had been in the country^ I was tormented with fleas. It was impossible to get a wink of sleep; for besides my own grievances, there were other causes of disturbance. The child cried incessantly in spite of all the woman TO PRESQUE ISLE. 79^ could do to pacify it. It had, I believe, no- thing at all the matter with it, but seemed^ from sheer frowardness^ to imagine that the little world of our miserable apartment was made for itself. Sometimes the good wife sat up in her bed with the little animal hugged up between her chin and her elbows, hushing and rocking herself and it; and then she patted its back, and it still cried. Then ten times I dare say in the course of the night, out of bed got the poor husband, who stood for several minutes at the stove, displaying a pair of lean bare legs, and an extremely short shirt, and stir- ring something in a saucepan with the broken stump of an iron spoon — a picture of obedi- ence and misery ! Then he got into bed again. Then came a long consultation, and almost a quarrel about what was best to be done^ Then the grand spec ific was administered, but all without effect. At last the other children awoke, and the youngest of these began to cry too : and the mother said it was the big one's fault, and b eat her. So off she went, and we had a loud concert, till, what 80 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX with the noise of the children, and the heat,, and the dirt, and the fleas, I felt ready to rush out of doors and roll myself in the snow. But every thing must have an end, and so at last the children were all tired out, and by degrees grew quiet ; and in the morning I found I had been asleep, and got out of bed determined to be off as soon as I possibly could. January 2nd. — It was before sun-rise when the sleigh came to the door_, and I got into it, happy to exchange the fusty exhalations of this room, for the piercing cold of a Canadian winter's morning. We proceeded ten miles to Ingram's, by a road equally bad with the one we had travelled the day before. The snow was just as deep, and the way not more broken ; therefore our pace was still a slow walk, occasionally delayed by drifts, through which the cattle could only make their way by courage and floundering on with all their might. Sometimes they stopped short, and with distended nostrils, and eyes expressive of fear, they seemed inclined to give it up alto- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 81 gether. But they were both high-spirited animals, and we were indebted to them for overcoming difficulties which a person less experienced than the driver would have hesitated to set their faces to. Occasionally, during this stage, we en- countered some little ravines, or precipitous gullies, which crossed the road, and formed small creeks or outlets of the river. There were several of these which it was necessary to pass, and at the bottom of each was a rude wooden bridge without side-rails, and scarcely broad enough to permit three horses to pass abreast; notwithstanding which, we went over with our pair always at full gallop r much to my annoyance at first, till I found that the cattle possessed quite as much sense as their driver, and sufficiently understood what they were about. The ravines were so steep, that in order to ascend one side, it was abso- lutely necessary to rush down the other to gain an impetus ; and the distance from the top to the bottom was about 150 yards. The bridges were composed of pine logs laid E 3 82 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX loosely together, which made a rattling and a clatter as the horses' feet came upon them. The Frenchman drove with long cord reins, without any contrivance to prevent them falling down the horses' sides, and the rest of the tackling was of an equally simple fashion. The cattle were indeed but barely attached to the vehicle ; a matter of little importance during the former part of the journey, but now deserving a little more consideration : for the horses, so sure as thev arrived at the yerge of each ravine, seemed to take all sort of charge upon themselves, while the driver, yielding to circumstances, sat still upon his seat. Up went their heads and tails, and, like a pair of hippogrifs, down they went with a dash till they reached the bridge, when, closing together, laying back their ears, and cringing in their backs, they rattled over the logs at full gallop, and up the opposite bank, till the weight of the vehicle brought them to a walk. Now came the turn of the driver ; and as he was perfect in all the words which frighten horses, he used them with such TO PRESQUE ISLE. 83 emphasis, jumping out of the sleigh at the same time with considerable activity, while the animals dragged it through the deep snow, that he contrived to keep them to their collar till they had completed the ascent. Some address was required to prevent be- ing thrown out of the vehicle by the violence of the motion. It was absolutely necessary to retain fast hold of the side ; and then the thumps and jerks were such as cannot be readily imagined. Nothing, in fact, can be worse than the motion of a sleigh on a rough road. There is a grinding sensation which threatens the breaking up of the whole ma- chine. It feels as if parting in the middle and going asunder. The jolts inflicted by lumps of hard snow and other obstacles, maybe com- pared to the blows of a short chopping sea upon a boat making head-way against wind and tide. The bones rattle by the concus- sion, as one helplessly submits to discipline as rigid as an unfortunate infant, when violently shaken by a passionate and drunken nurse. Our sleigh was dragged heavily along, while the horses frequently came to a stand-still. 84 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX The whole of the distance of this stage, the forest abounded with shumac and hemlock trees; the former well known as an orna- mental shrub in England, and the latter a stately species of fir growing to a large size, with a remarkably small leaf, and the wood particularly adapted to purposes which require it to remain under water. The greater part of the way from Fredericton, the ice would very probably have been sufficiently firm to have borne our sleigh, but we were advancing into inhospitable regions, where the traffic becoming less and less, the road was but little beaten, and the bed of the river had not been used at all. Houses were now so scarce that the country seemed altogether deserted ; not a bird was to be seen, except now and then a solitary woodpecker : the only species left to its winter habitation. Had a fall of snow increased our difficulties, recourse must have been had to our snow-shoes. The horses were in a continual foam from dead pulls, and floundering out of holes formed under the snow by roots of trees having rotted out of their sockets. The cold was intense, and TO PRESQUE ISLE. 85 the icicles on their noses, and under their bel- lies jingled like beads or bugles. We were obliged to walk during the greater part of the way. Having, however, arrived at Ingram's, we baited, and with as little delay as possible pro- ceeded onwards on our journey. With equal toil and difficulty the horses completed eleven miles more to Maclachlan's, the whole of which distance I was obliged to walk by the side of the sleigh. We baited again, and the driver, anxious to proceed notwithstand- ing the fatigue of the horses, brought them out once more. They very soon became quite knocked up ; it was perfectly dark, and the cold intense. Although we had only travelled four miles from the last house, we had been for many hours during the day exposed to the weather, and after all, having started before sun-rise, had only completed twenty-five miles. However, by good for- tune, a light appeared at a little distance from the road, which we found proceeded from a log-house, where the driver proposed 86 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX to remain for the night. With all the feelings of cold and dreariness that surrounded us, and leaving the man to settle and arrange all matters of etiquette with the owner of the house, I followed and submitted myself to his arrangements. But I need not have put myself to much uneasiness, for in that part of the country matters of this sort are soon settled. I was rather surprised to see the driver enter the house quite as if it were his own. He hardly said *' how do ye do" to the master and mistress, who were quietly drinking their tea ; but, throwing a large log which he had dragged in with him upon the fire, and taking a key which was hanging upon a nail in the wall without asking for it, he disappeared for the purpose of putting up his horses. I felt that I was in a private house, and said some civil speech expressing myself obliged by being permitted to remain under the roof for the night. But I was quite at cross purposes ; and I might just as well have reserved my apologies for future occa- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 8T sions. At present I had quite enough to do to answer the questions which were put to me about myself and the " old country." I found I was a welcome guest, and as the fire blazed up prosperously, I looked at the boards in front of it as at my place of repose for the night ; for the people had not a bed to give me. As countries become more civilized, the social feeling is proportionably restrained ; and hospitality and barbarism are, it is said, generally met with together. Still humanity is consoling, which, flowing from the heart, offers shelter to the stranger, who elsewhere might seek it in vain. The circumstances of the country induce a necessity for the exertion of hospitality ; for in a climate' so severe, and where houses of public entertainment are not everywhere to be met with, common consent establishes a reciprocity of accommodation, where to remaia out of doors all night would be the cost of life. In fact, a man cannot be said to be master of his own house so as to exclude the visitors whom chance may throw in upon him. Without any other fastening 88 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX than a latch to his door, a dozen strangers probably enter one after another, each drop- ping down to rest before the fire, and taking up their quarters for the night without the ceremony of asking leave of any body. The poorest person is not the least welcome, nor in the exercise of hospitality, is any regard paid to condition and appearance. The people have enough to answer their own wants, and, secluded from the world in a manner, are remunerated by the news they occasional!}^ receive from the passing tra- veller ; indeed it is a question, which of the two is the best off, thepennyless guest or the host himself; who perhaps cannot, in his own house, walk across his bed-room after nine o'clock at night without the risk of disturbing some great fellow stretched out and snoring before his fire, and who, if he happen to be trodden upon, will swear as loudly as if the whole house belonged to him. My landlord and his wife were both ex- tremely civil, good people. They had cows, pigs and poultry, and all the requisites of a TO PRESQUE ISLE. 89 smairfarm; and finding by degrees, in the course of the evening, that my stock of pro- visions ^was expended, they thawed and set before me a frozen goose, which I thought excellent. They listened with great appa- rent satisfaction while I related to them various little incidents of my journey, such as I thouo^ht would amuse them ; and havinof in return for their goose filled them as full of news as I could, I prepared to stretch my- self on the boards before the fire. With my feet towards the hearth, I wrapped myself up in my buffalo skin, and, laying my head upon a log of maple, I listened to the crackling of the large pieces of wood freshly heaped upon the flames, till I fell sound asleep. I did not awake till the morning ; and how my landlord and his wife got to bed, although they slept in the same room, I really cannot tell. In the morning I had seated myself on my wooden pillow before the happy pair had arisen ; but the ceremonies of the toilet were quickly performed by all parties, and a warm break- fast completed the preparations for the en- suing day's journey. 90 JOURNEY FROxM HALIFAX , January 3rd. — It was scarcely daylight when we were quite ready to proceed ; for the snow lay so deep on the ground, and the diffi- culty of getting forward was consequently so great as to make our progress quite un- certain. Sitting in the sleigh was now out of the question ; the horses had quite enough to do to draw it when empty. Proceeding at a rate not more than three miles an hour, the driver led the horses ten miles to Phillips's, which house is situated on the banks of the river. Having baited, we got on fourteen miles more, walking all the way, and arrived at a house, where, as it was now quite dark, we put up for the night. I got here a very comfortable clean bed. We performed the last three miles of the stage on the ice of the river, which was tolerably clear of snow. About a couple of hours before sunset, a considerable change took place in the weather, which, during the whole time since I had left Fredericton, was intensely cold. It became suddenly mild, and before nine o'clock a rapid thaw set in, attended with rain and sleet ; the rain, how- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 91 ever, lasted for a very short time, and was succeeded by a thick fall of snow. This event seemed entirely to mar our further progress; for labour greater than the poor animals had already encountered did not ap- pear practicable. Should the worst come to the worst, I was now only eighteen miles from Presque Isle, and expected every hour to fall in with the postmen. I felt rather anxious on this head, as I did not much like to trust to an Indian as a guide. January 4th. — At daylight this morning the snow was still fallino^ in o-reat abundance, so that, what with the state of the weather and of the horses, our doom seemed fixed for this day at least ; we therefore voted expe- dient what was unavoidable, and granted the poor animals a boon which it was not in our power to withhold from them,— that of a day's rest. Bad as the travelling was, it were bet- ter than remaining in our present quarters; where, neither quiet nor comfort being within my reach, I had been more satisfied with fatigue. The driver established himself 92 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX by the side of the fire, where, by the aid of his pipe and a bottle of rum, which he had not forgotten to bring with him, he at first began to listen to the conversation of the other persons in the room, and by degrees became a talker himself, till he made himself so per- fectly happy and comfortable that he seemed not to care at all which way the world went. There were four or five men in the small room we were in, some belonging to the house, and others weather-bound like ourselves; and these fellows had all got the best places at the fire, drinking and smoking. As their voices became elevated, unfortunately the imagina- tion flagged, and they became a noisy set, from whom there was neither entertainment nor information to be derived. Therefore I had nothing to do, but listen- ing with anxiety to the howling of the wind, which was blowing clouds of snow against the windows, to reflect what a forlorn place I was in. I determined at all risks to leave it at daylight the next morning. I walked back- wards and forwards, and fidgeted, — all to no TO PRESQUE ISLE. 93 purpose. Whenever I opened the door of the house to look out to windward, I was greeted by the execrations of the whole crew within, — perhaps not without reason, for the wind made balloons of the women's petticoats, and filled the room with a whirl- pool of snow, which it took one's whole strength to close the door against, while every time the weather seemed worse and worse. But at last, about the middle of the day, things began to mend : it suddenly be- came brighter, the snow ceased to fall, the change grew more and more evident, and finally the sun himself gladdened the scene with his presence, while, flying before him, the heavy full-charged snow clouds in rapid suc- cession rolled away to leeward. As the sky grew clearer and clearer, all our countenances lightened up also ; and I had not been long engaged in reading the congratulatory looks of the driver, who was now in a humour to be pleased with any thing and every thing, when the door opened, and two men on foot, of a tempest-driven appearance, with their clothes and caps covered with snow, having each a 94 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX pair of snow-shoes slung at his back and a large white leathern bag across his shoulder, entered the room. Waiting for a moment on the threshold, they shook the loose snow off their feet by striking the hinder part of the calf of each leg with the great toe of the op- posite foot very rapidly, — a Canadian fashion, as common as making use of a mat in Eng- land, and which becomes so much a habit, that the Indians never enter a room, even in summer, without going through the motion. These men were received with evident marks of cordiality by every one in the house, and I discovered, to my great satisfaction, that they were the identical persons I expected to meet with, — the postmen in charge of the Quebec mail-bags to Fredericton, whom, on their re- turn from the latter place after delivering their present charge to the postmaster, I had made up my mind to engage as guides. They were both native French Canadians, one having, to all appearance, a little — or not a little — Indian blood in his veins, being, as is very common in the country, crossed with the savage. I lost no time in commencing a nego- TO PRESQUE ISLE. 95 tiation, which I completed by agreeing* to give them fifteen pounds as guides from Presque Isle across all that tract of country necessary to be traversed in snow-shoes ; that is to say, along the course of the river St. John's by the Madawaska settlement and lake Tamasquatha to the shores of the St. Law- rence ; and they were to draw my baggage on my two tobogins. As they had no other means of delivering over the mail-bags of which they were in charge, they proposed, after going to Fredericton and returning as quick as possible, to rendezvous at the house of a Mr. Turner, at Presque Isle, which place was, as I have already observed, eighteen miles distant. It was uncertain when they would be able to arrive there, for it depended upon their getting rid ofthe mail-bags, though I had a reasonable expectation of not being detained long from the known powers of these men as pedestrians. At all events, they had no sooner completed the arrangement than they prepared to quit the house, and, after having lighted their pipes and taken a dram a-piece, they bid us all farewell, and proceeded on 96 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX their journey in high spirits, keeping up a long light trot till out of sight. These mat- ters being now well off my mind, and the weather appearing once more settled, the house, its inhabitants, and the prospects of my journey assumed " coideiir de rose,'' January 5th. — When we started, at day- light in the morning, the country was en- veloped in a thick fog, — so dense, that we were unable to distinguish any object at more than twenty yards distance ; at the same time it was so intensely cold, that our clothes were, in the space of an hour, frozen stiff with ice. I set out walking though the state of the roads was better than could be expected, considering the quantity of snow which had fallen, and now lay lightly on the surface; still, however, the travelling was bad enough, so much so, that the horses fell several times during the stage, notwithstanding the ex- tremely slow pace at which they proceeded. All these roads, or rather tracks, are ori- ginally made by the simple operation of chopping down the trees with the axe, gene- rally in the winter season, so that stumps are TO PRESQUE ISLE. 97 left standing in the ground, for a consider- able number of years, when they rot and leave a hole. Sometimes the horses, in going along, blundered over some of these stumps barely covered with snow, so that the bottom of the sleigh would have been staved in had we been in it. Now and then their fore-feet sank in altogether, and the poor animals would pitch forwards upon their noses : they were so frosted and be- spangled with hoar and ice, that it would have been difficult to say, ten yards off, what description of creatures they were, How their driver got them back, I do not know. I had left off my shoes on leaving Frede- ricton, and had adopted mocassins instead. Though I felt great advantage from the change in walking through the deep snow, this day I experienced an inconvenience which I had not anticipated ; for the hard stumps of the trees were in some places so treacherously covered with snow, that I re- peatedly struck my toes against them so hard as to put me to considerable pain : at this F 98 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX the driver was much amused ; for, said he, ** Monsieur, we call dat in dis country, de dram." He contrived, by habit, to avoid such accidents. Within a few miles of Presque Isle, we came to some places where bullocks had been employed to break the road, and their tracks were visible where they had been driven backwards and for- ward sfor that purpose. It was quite dark when we came to the end of the day's journey, and I had had nothing to eat since daylight ; so that I was rather exhausted when I arrived at an old crazy house, the residence of Mr. Turner. I begged for something to eat, and a few slices of fat pork fried up with chopped potatoes were set before me. I thought, at the time, that nothing I had ever eaten tasted so well ; and the repast being Yery soon con- cluded, I began to look a little about me, and at the people in the apartment I was in. I was particularly amused with the appearance of Mr. Turner. My host was, I believe, an American, — a tall, withered, thin man, about sixty years of age, with TO PRESQUE ISLE, 99 extremely small legs and thighs, narrow shoul- ders, long neck, and back as straight as a ramrod. Innumerable short narrow wrinkles, which crossed each other in every direction, covered his face, which was all the same colour — as brown as a nut; and he had a very small mouth, drawn in and pursed up at the corners. His eyes were very little, black, keen, and deep set in his head. He hardly ever spoke ; and I do not think that while I was in his house I ever saw him smile. He was dressed in an old rusty black coat and trousers, both perfectly threadbare, and glazed about the collar, cuffs, and knees, with grease ; and he sat always in one pos- ture and in one place, — bolt upright on a hard wooden chair. He seemed to me the picture of a man who, from want of interest in the world, had fallen into a state of apathy ; — and yet that would seem impos- sible, considering that Mr. Turner was the chief diplomatist in these parts, — the repre- sentative of the commissariat department, charged with the duties of supplying the I 2 100 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX garrison at Presque Isle, — a man of bigli importance in his station, invested with local authority, and in direct communication and correspondence with the higher powers at Quebec. Notwithstanding all this, the ener- gies of Mr. Turner's body and mind were suffered to lie at rest : for the garrison con- sisted of a corporal and four privates, mak- ing in all five men, to supply whom with ra- tions was nearly his whole and sole occupa- tion ; and so he gradually sobered down into the quiet tranquil sort of person I found him. A daughter, a fine, handsome, boun- cing girl under twenty, with sparkling black €yes and an animated countenance, seemed to bear testimony to days gone by, when af- fairs were somewhat more lively ; but the contrast now was sufficiently striking; for, without regarding her, anybody, or any- thing, he kept his place and attitude, sitting always close to the stove. There was a small square hole in the cen- tre of the door, as there generally is in all Canada stoves, made to open and shut with TO PRESQUE ISLE. 101 a slider as occasion requires : this he kept open for a purpose of his own ; for by long practice he had acquired a knack of spitting throuo'h this little hole with such unerrino- certainty, by a particular sort of jerk through his front teeth, that he absolutely never missed his mark. This accomplishment was the more useful to him, as he was in the habit of profusely chewing tobacco, — all the care he seemed to have ! — and he opened the door of the stove now and then, to see how the fire was going on. I had been indebted to Miss Turner for my supper, and she made arrangements to prepare an apartment for me in the house, to which when I retired I found I had made an exchange very much for the worse. The house was ill-built, and my room so miser- ably cold_, that to sleep in it seemed a forlorn undertaking. Several panes of glass were cracked, and others entirely out of the windows, while the ceiling and walls were also out of repair. They had no bed to offer me, and a hay paillasse was the substi- 102 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX tute. This I drew as near to the chimney as I could, as soon as Miss Turner had con- signed me to my meditations. Wrapping myself in my buffalo skin, I attempted to go to sleep ; but that was quite impossible, and I never remember to have suffered so se- verely from the cold, while I was in the country, as on that night. I had no ther- mometer; but the temperature, I am sure, was some degrees below zero. On getting up in the night to mend the fire with the tongs, the iron froze to my fingers, so as to feel quite sticky, — an effect of cold I have subsequently experienced on several occa- sions. I passed a very miserable night, some- times walking about the room and beating my sides with my arms, and then trying in vain to sleep by the fire. January 6th. — It was no sooner daylight, than I left my room in search of the apart- ment where I had passed the evening, which was, owing to the power of the Canada stove, quite of another temperature. Mr. Turner and his daughter made their appearance^ and TO PRESQUE ISLE. 103 breakfast was prepared. This refreshment, though great, was not sufficient to remove tlie degree of cold with which I was suffer- ing, so I prepared myself for a walk on my snow-shoes. I had heard no more of my guides since I had concluded ray bargain with them ; therefore was obliged to await with patience their arrival : nothing else would have induced me to remain so long at Presque Isle. Mr. Turner resumed his place on the wooden chair, and the morning was clear and frosty when I set out. My snow-shoes were now more useful than ever, for their weio^ht increased'the labour of walkino;, and so restored what I had so much need of — warmth. As soon as I had tied them on, such was the dreary, desolate state of every thing around me, that I never felt more undetermined what course to pursue. The river St. John's, with a covering of four feet of snow on the ice, pursued its course through a ravine at a little distance from the house. The forest, on both sides of its 104 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX banks, reached the waters edge; and a small square patch of cleared land was all that pointed out to the eye the dominion of Mr. Turner. I descended the bank and crossed the river, entering a little way into the forest. All was silence and solitude ; animals and birds seemed to have deserted the country, — except the squirrel and the woodpecker, and these at times I could hear a long way off. The squirrel followed me as I went along, chattering and jumping from tree to tree among the branches ; — a man of pleasure, eager in the pursuit of the novel and the curious ! — while the wood- pecker, like a steady man of business, ham- mered and rapped away, less easily allured from his daily occupation. I rested and listened. There was no wind ; even these small sounds pervaded large regions of space ; and, at intervals, the creaking of the old trees, and the heavy lumping fall of the clotted snow through the branches, ren- dered the contrast with animated nature still more dismal. I left the wood, and proceeded TO PRESQUE ISLE. 105 along- the bed of the river, which was of considerable breadth ; and here I walked for upwards of an hour, without seeing a track or footmark of any sort. Had I not known that I was within a short distance of a human dwelling, nothing that I then saw could have led me to conclude that such had been the case. When I returned to the house, I found that the guides, whom I engaged on the 4th, had arrived soon after my departure, having travelled a great part of the night ; and they, Miss Turner, and my host, were about to sit down to a mess of fried pork and potatoes, then hissing and sputtering on the top of the stove. I was well pre- pared to join in the repast, and we all sat down together. — The society now seemed to be receiving a tone ; and though Mr. Turner still persevered in not saying a word, his daughter's features had received a polish from her office of cooking, and her eyes increased in brilliancy to no small degree of intensity. The guides were boisterous vulgar fellows, who joined loudly in the con» 106 JOURNEY FROM HALIFAX versation, roughly intruding upon their neighbours with elbows and shoulders. I frequently withdrew my chair to make way for them ; but hints were entirely thrown away upon men so nearly related to the abo- rigines of the country. They, in fact, knew no better, and speaking bad French, in a haughty imperious tone, seemed determined to assert a miserable independence, though it was really curious to consider that these fellows were not only servants but slaves, — rather, beasts of burden and draft, for they were the next morning actually to harness themselves and draw my baggage over the snow. With this reflection, I left them to enjoy their prerogative of independence, and became a listener as well as Mr. Turner, whose apathy nothing could disturb, and who still showed no other symptoms of animation than to spit into the fire through the little square hole, and now and then to rout about in his pocket to find his tobacco-box. The day flagged heavily, and night at last came, when, profiting by past expe- rience, I lay down on the boards before the TO PRESQUE ISLE. 107 Canada stove, having taken early possession of what I fancied to be the warmest position for the night. The rest very soon followed my example ; Mr. Turner and his daughter retired to their several apartments ; and at eight o'clock all the house was quiet. January 7th. — A delay on the part of one of the Canadians prevented our setting forward this day on our journey ; I never remember to have been so anxious to get out of any house I ever was in in my life, ^s this. To be impatient was of no avail. The half-bred Canadian had disappeared on a visit to his dam Sycorax, or on some other expedition in the neighbourhood, no matter to me whither : we could not go without him, and that settled the question. Late in the evening, however, he returned, with a small bag of provisions he had been to fetch. As he lifted up the latch, at the first glimpse of his ugly face, feeling all the joys of liberation, and heartily tired of being where I was, in the joy of my heart I exclaimed to myself, '^ Sic me servavit Apollo r 108 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. January 8th. — Early in the morning a large mess of fried pork and potatoes was bubbling on the stove, and the party speedily assembled to partake it. I was happy to find the diet agreed with me, seeing little chance of get- ting any thing else for some time to come. The tug of war had now arrived^ and the guides set about busily to prepare for our march. They cut leathern thongs with their knives, tied knots with their teeth, over- hauled the snow-shoes, mocassins, and tobo- gins, and very soon put every thing in perfect order. It required but little time to load the tobogins. All the small articles were put into the tobogin bags, the larger things were wrapped up in the blankets and buffalo skin, and then altogether they were laced round with cord, so compact and JOUBNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE. 109 tight, and fastened to the tobogin, that no accident could possibly disturb them. When the tobogins were ready, the men passed a broad strap of leather, to serve as a sort of collar, each over his breast and shoulders. To this a rope being fixed, both men were ready in harness, and able to draw their loads with arms perfectly at liberty. Our snow- shoes were now all on, and at nine o'clock in the morning we marched away in single file, following the leader. We wended our way down the ravine towards the river St. John, which we im- mediately crossed; but the ice, which I had walked upon the day before, fortunately with impunity, not being considered safe^ we were obliged to pursue our course through the wood, in a line parallel with this river. Stumps of trees and fallen logs here presented impediments which added to the difficulty of travelling at this the very beginning of our journey. And thus we proceeded about four miles before we were enabled to go upon the river. Besides myself and ser- 110 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE vant, three other travellers had joined us at Mr. Turner's. Our party, therefore, consisted of seven persons, all of whom, with the ex- ception of the guides, were perfectly unac- customed to walking on snow-shoes. I had hitherto imagined myself matched in a fair handicap with men each about to pull a laden tobogin after him, and therefore it never en- tered into my imagina^tion that these fellows could beat me in pace with such odds against them ; but here I^ found my mistake, and now saw plainly that the advantage of prac- tice was far more than equivalent to the weight of draft of a little machine, which, slipping lightly and easily over the level sur- face of the snow, very slightly impedes the progress of persons accustomed to draw it. On these fellows walked, v/ithout looking at all to the rear, and we all followed in a string, the more extended the farther we went. Added to the weight of the snow-shoes them- selves, they became clogged with ice ; for there was much water between the surface of the river and the snow, which froze immedi- TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. Ill ately, and produced a most heavy incum- brance. From the time we started, nine o'clock in the morning, we continued to walk incessantly till half-past four, the guides oc- casionally halting in order to collect the party together, and allow time to break the ice which adhered to the snow-shoes, by beating it off with short sticks with which we all provided ourselves for the purpose. Our rate was less than two miles an hour, al- though we laboured hard to proceed, so clogged and impeded were we by the weight of the snow-shoes. We went on without meeting a single person over a tract presenting no change to the eye ; — one uniform white expanse of snow bounded on each side by a heavy black wall of forest-trees. However, at last, at half-past four, the grateful appear- ance of a small patch of cleared land was hailed with infinite gratification, and, one after another, we entered the small log- house which was to be our place of rest for the night. This dwelling was of the most simple contrivance : we were altogether 112 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE in one room : a fire composed of enormous logs blazed on the hearth, and a cord went across the ceiling, or more properly the roof, for ceiling there was none^ above the fire. On this cord the mocassins and stock- ings of all the party, quite wet from the springs we had occasionally passed over, were suspended, and no one seemed to usurp more authority in the establishment than another. The host and his family took mat- ters very quietly. Their furniture was such as could not be very readily destroyed, cor- responding with the walls of the house, which consisted of entire pine-logs, the interstices of which were filled up with mud and moss. Being arrived and under shelter, the state of rest from fatigue was most particularly grateful. As to comfort, I had the means of making myself dry and warm, and not being at all the worse for my day's work, I could appreciate the homely fare which was pre- paring for us, consisting of salted pork and sliced potatoes. We had travelled only ten miles, according to the computed distance from ]Mr. Turner's TO R^^VIERE DE CAPE. 113 at Presque Isle ; but the measurements taken from point to point, at a time when the ice was perfectly sound, were necessarily very much exceeded in a journey thus undertaken at the very beginning of the season, when it was impossible to pursue the nearest and most direct course; the ground traversed, therefore, was probably much more than the measured distance, and, in fact, admitted of no comparison with it. I had felt little inconvenience from the wet during the morn- ing, which had hardly penetrated the cover- ings of my feet and legs ; but a very few mi- nutes after arriving in the house, the warmth of the fire caused the glass slippers to thaw_, and I became thoroughly soaked. Although the dwelling of a Canadian peasant deserves not much praise, too much cannot be said of his fire. An enormous log, so big as to require the strength of two or three men with levers to bring it in (called by the Canadians the '^ buche,") is laid at the back of the hearth : a large one lasts full forty-eight hours, and ours this night was a brilliant specimen. So that my lodging at least was 114 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE good, and I slept soundly on the boards wrapped up in my buffalo skin. January 9th. — It was no sooner daylight than the room was replenished with tobacco smoke, which formed, the preceding evening, a cloud so dense as to render it difficult to distinguish a face across the apartment. I jumped up and found the guides anxious to proceed, so I got my breakfast as soon as I could, and that was with little delay enough, for a slice of pork toasted at the end of a fork was all I had any chance of procuring : nor had I any tea. On starting, we found that more snow had fallen in the night, which, although it lay soft and light^ caused the walking to be, if anything, worse than before. We passed over many places where water under the snow froze immediately from the intense cold, and encrusted our snow-shoes with an additional heavyweight of ice. Par- ticularly under the heel a large lump was con- tinually forming a material impediment, caus- ing one or other of the party to halt every ten minutes, in order to get rid of it. At TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 115 every eifort the foot felt as if chained to the, ground, such was the tug required to bring along the laden snow-shoe; and as the shores of the river were now gradually widening, the feeling of disappointment was added to our labour by the deceptive idea of distance. The eye was unceasingly directed towards some bluff point, which, after an hour's hard fagging, seemed not much nearer than before ; such was the effect of the dark colour of the trees, contrasted with the white- ness of the snow. A powerful wind opposed our progress, and one seemed separated by interminable space from headland after head- land, gasping, as it were, under a sort of spell-bound influence, such as a disturbed dream brings to the imagination. We had nearly completed fourteen miles to a small log-house, where we were to pass the night, when my servant fell up to his middle into an air-hole, which the fresh snow had covered over so deceptively, that, had there been a hundred more such in our path, we had no means whatever of avoiding them. 116 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE Fortunately the hole was small, so that he supported himself by his arms till we pulled him out, with no other injury than a wetting, of which alone the consequences would have been serious from the intense cold, had we not immediately afterwards arrived at the house. After this occurrence, affairs seemed to take a new turn : I had compoun- ded for a long and a hard walk over the ice, but had not thought much about tumbling into holes : however, as to measures of pre- caution, reason went to convince me that it was to no purpose to think on the subject, but quite as well to leave the matter to chance ; hoping for a ducking rather than a drowning, should it ever be my own lot to break in. We passed the evening much the same as that of the day before, for the guides smoked tobacco, as well as a few other people, settlers in the vicinity, who had temporarily added to our numbers One of these entered into conversation with me, and requested me to take charge of a letter to his friends, for his relations lived. TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 117 he told me, in the town of Ayr, in Scotland ; and whether his letters had miscarried, or from other causes, he could not say, but he had heard no tidings of them for a very long time. I readily undertook to take care of his letter, which the poor man imme- diately set about to prepare ; but the way he commenced operations was too ludicrous to allow me to look on without being amused at the difficulties he had to contend with. First he seated himself on the ground in a corner of the room ; his desk was a plate supported on his knees ; his paper as bad as well could be ; his ink newly thawed, and quite pale ; his pen, pulled out of a wild goose's tail, oily ; his own hand as hard as the bark of a tree, and his broad black thumb, smashed by the blow of a hammer or an axe, had no sort of bend in it. Yet, with such odds against him, he produced a folded epistle, of which I took charge, and subsequently transmitted to its address. The difficulties attending the interchange of letters, between settlers in the colonies and 118 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE their friends at home, are well worthy the attention of those desirous to promote emi- gration. The greater the facility of corre- spondence, the more the stimulus to indivi- dual adventure receives strength. Epistolary intercourse being kept up, the objections to foreign residence more resemble prejudices : withheld or delayed, they become solid, un- deniable objections, that then render an emigrant really an exile. January 10th. — When we started this morning the light was just beginning to dawn, and we had a heavy day's work before us, before we could arrive at any habitation ; however_, there was no remedy, but to push on with the rest. The guides to-day seemed particularly considerate, and, as if to give us every assistance, instead of driving recklessly on a-head, as they had been used to do, leav- ing us to follow as well as we could, and grumbling whenever they halted to collect the party, they now slackened their pace with great apparent good-humour, and we all went on close together. However, we had not TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 119 travelled more than half an hour before they proposed that we should all walk first by turns. And their object by this arrange- ment clearly was, in case any of us should break, in through the ice, to give us, with themselves, a fair chance of a preference. This was reasonable enough, and, although they had undertaken to be our guides, we could make no objection so far to become theirs ; and so it was settled that we were to exchange places every half-hour. The labour was a good deal increased by being the first to break the way, and one thought of nothing else but being relieved from the task. The snow-shoe makes a large track, so that the second man has a surface to walk upon pressed down by the first, who, of course, has by far the hardest work of all. Thus we fagged on, careless of conse- quences ; for the depth of the snow upon the bed of the river made it quite impossible to pick our way. Our guides prescribed the course from point to point, according to their notion of the safety of the ice, and the line 120 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE being once determined on, we had only to advance straight-forward, and trust altoge- ther to good luck. Long circuitous paths became thus indispensable, and the danger of breaking in after all certainly was not trifling. In the mean time we progressed heavily and slowly, hardly saying a word to each other, except when, at the expiration of each half hour, it became necessary to exchange places with the leading man. And this was. not all, for the clouds which had been all the morning unusually dark and lowering, seemed to bear strong indications of an approaching snow storm. At this junc- ture, one of the party, a strong, and appa- rently athletic young man, began to complain of lameness in his knee, which had swollen and had become very painful. Still, how- ever, we w^ent on, and it grew darker and darker, till a heavy fall of snow, driven by a powerful wind, came sweeping along the desert track directly in our teeth ; so that, what with general fatigue, and the unaccus- tomed position of the body in the snow-shoes, TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 121 I hardly could bear up and stand against it. The dreary howling of the tempest over the wide waste of snow rendered the scene even still more desolate ; and with the unmitigated prospect before us of cold and hunger, our party plodded on in sullen silence, each, in his own mind, well aware that it was utterly impracticable to reach that night the place of our destination. But, in spite of every obstacle, the strength of the two Canadians was astonishing; with bodies bent forward, and leaning on their collar, on they marched, drawing the tobogins after them, with a firm, indefatigable step ; and we had proceeded a little more than seven hours, when the snow-storm increased to such a pitch of violence, that it seemed impossible for any human creature to with- stand it : it bid defiance even to their most extraordinary exertions. The wind now blew a hurricane. We were unable to see each other at a greater distance than ten yards, and the drift gave an appearance to the surface of snow we were passing over, G i 122 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE like that of an agitated sea. Wheeled round every now and then by the wind, we were enveloped in clouds so dense, that a strong sense of suffocation was absolutely produced. We all halted : the Canadians admitted that fartlier progress was impossible; but the friendly shelter of the forest was at hand, and the pines waved their dark branches in token of an asylum. — We turned our should- ers to the blast, and comfortless and weather beaten sought our refuge. The scene, though changed, was still not without interest ; the frequent crashes of falling trees, and the cracking of their vast limbs as they rocked and writhed in the tempest, created awful and impressive sounds ; but it was no time to be idle : warmth and shelter were objects con- nected with life itself, and the Canadians im- mediately commenced the vigorous applica- tion of their resources. By means of their small light axes, a good-sized maple-tree was in a few minutes levelled with the earth, and in the mean time we cleared of snow, with large pieces of bark ripped from the fallen TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 123 trees, a square spot of ground. The fibrous bark of the white cedar, previously rubbed to powder between the hands, was ignited, and blowing upon this, a flame was produced. This being fed, first by the silky peelings of the birch bark, and then by the bark itself, the oily and bituminous matter burst forth into full action, and a splendid fire raised its flames and smoke amidst a pile of huge logs, to which one and all of us constantly and eagerly contributed. Having raised a covering of spruce boughs above our heads, to serve as a partial defence from the snow, which still fell in great abund- ance, we sat down, turning our feet to the fire, and made the most of what was, under circumstances, a source of real consolation. We enjoyed absolute rest ! One side of our square was bounded by a huge fallen tree, which lay stretched across it. Against this our fire was made ; and on the opposite side, towards which I had turned my back, another very large one was growing, and into this latter, being old and decayed, I by degrees G 2 124 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE worked my way, and it formed an ad- mirable shelter. The snow was banked up on all sides nearly five feet high, like a white wall, which resolutely maintained its position, not an atom melting before the fierce crack- ling fire which blazed up close against it. The Canadians, who had provided them- selves much better with provisions than I had, were soon busily employed cooking broth in a saucepan. I had relied upon being able to put up with the fare I might meet with, not taking into consideration the want of traffic, and distance from the civilized parts of the province ; owing to which, the scanty provisions of the inhabitants, although pro- vided with a sufficiency for themselves, were not enouo'h to allow them to minister to the wants of others. And I now saw the guides pulling fresh meat out of the soup with their fingers, and sharing it liberally with my servant, whom they admitted into their mess. The poor fellows, seeing that I had nothing but a piece of salted pork, toasted at the fire on a stick, offered me TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 125 a share of their supper, but this I felt my- self bound to decline. My servant had fewer scruples, and consequently fared better. In return for their intentions I gave them a good allowance of whiskey, which added to their comfort and increased their mirth. One by one they lighted their tobacco-pipes, and continued to smoke ; till, dropping off by degrees, the whole party at last lay stretched out snoring before me. Large flakes of snow continued to fall, and heavy clots dropped occasionally upon the ground. Our enormous fire had the effect of making me so comfortably warm, that I deferred the use of my buffalo skin till I lay down to sleep, and, had it not been for the volumes of smoke with which I was at times disturbed, and the pieces of fire which burned holes in my clothes wherever they hap- pened to fall, my lodging would have been, under circumstances, truly agreeable. I sat for some time, with a blanket thrown over my shoulders, in silent contemplation of a scene alike remarkable for its novelty and its dreariness. 126 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE The flames rose brilliantly, the sleeping- figures of the men were covered with snow, the wind whistled wildly through the trees, whose majestic forms overshadowed us on every side, and our fire, while it shed the light of day on the immediately surrounding objects, diffused a deeper gloom over the farther recesses of the forest. And thus I remained without any inclination to sleep, till it was near midnight. A solemn impres- sion, not to be called melancholy, weighed heavily upon me. The satisfaction with which I regarded fatigue already gone by, was hardly sufficient to inspire confidence as to what was to come ; and this reflection it was, perhaps, that gave a colour to my thoughts at once serious and pleasing. Distant scenes were fancifully brought to my recollection, and I mused on bygone days, while my eyes were involuntarily attracted by the filmy, wandering, leaves of fire^ which, ascending lightly over the tops of the trees, for a moment rivalled in brightness the absent stars, and then — vanished for ever ! * * * I TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 127 )ecame overpowered with sleep, and, wrap- ping my buffalo skin around me, sank down to enjoy for several hours sound and uninter- rupted repose. I slept heartily till day-light, when I awoke feeling excessively cold, and found the whole party sitting up. The snow had ceased to fall, the sky had brightened, and intense frost had set in. The guides were busy in preparation, and anxious to move on. January 11th. — Having breakfasted pre- cisely as I had supped the night before, I was soon, together with the rest, under way. On beginning to move I found my limbs stiff with cold, and my ancles especially felt very uneasy. The day broke with a clear sun, and the uneven ridges of drift which lay in our path diversified our walk with a pro- portion of hill and dale. Nothing could equal the sparkling whiteness of the snow, disposed, as the sun mounted in the sky, in every form and figure. As I passed over its surface, supported by my snow shoes, in some places where it lay from ten to twenty 128 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE feet deep, there was a vivid novelty in the scene which aroused the exhausted spirits, while the cheering influence of the sun gave a new tone and elasticity to the wearied limbs. We had walked for six hours, when we arrived at Salmon river, a distance of twenty-two miles from the house at which we had last slept. My limbs felt uneasy and I was restless. Our host was a veteran soldier, whose allotment of land was, as he told us, 105 acres. Towards the evening the weather changed to a thaw, with a sleet nearly amounting to rain, but, before nine o'clock, the wind chopped round again to the nw., and the frost set in again as severely as before. January r2th. — Early in the morning we proceeded along the bed of the river to the Grand Falls ; the ice all the way being ex- tremely dangerous, not only from the effect of adjacent springs, but from the rapidity of the current, which in this part is very great. One of our guides this day met with a serious ducking : the ice broke in under him, and he fell into the water. The day was intensely TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 129 cold, not only with a severe frost, but a keen piercing m ind ; and we were a considerable distance from any house. We were imme- diately summoned to make the best of our way to the bank of the river, where we all assisted to kindle a fire; but, in spite of our best activity, the man's feet were a little frost-bitten before he had the benefit of the warmth. At a moderate distance, his compa- nion rubbed the parts affected with snow till the circulation returned ; and, in a little more than half an hour, he was able to proceed with- out further injury. We now pursued our way with the utmost caution, the state of the ice being more and more precarious, imtil we ar- rived at a track which, leaving the river, pro- ceeded up a steep acclivity. Here we found ourselves^ after a walk of four hours, at the house of a serjeant stationed at the Grand Falls, where, as at Presque Isle, there was a small, military establishment kept up for the sake of the communication. As it was about noon when I arrived, I immediately got my dinner, being treated to the old fare of G 3 130 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE salted pork and sliced potatoes, — a repast which had, at least, the advantage of occu- pying little time. As I was anxious to see the Grand Falls, situated about a mile and a half from the house, I tied on my snow shoes, and, accompanied by the Serjeant, proceeded on the way towards them. On arriving there, I was amply remune- rated for my trouble, by the magnificence of the spectacle; not that the fall was on a scale of grandeur to excite wonder, for it is not larger, perhaps, than the fall of Foyers, in the neighbourhood of Inverness, in Scotland ; but the garb of winter gave a character to its features unusually bril- liant and pleasing ; for the vaporous mist which arose, as from all cascades of any degree of magnitude, was so increased by the intense cold, — the condensation was so extremely rapid, — that it is difficult to describe the effect it produced. Volumes of cloud rushed upwards, propelled from the abyss with most extraordinary force, like steam from the valve of an engine. The TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 131 cascade was bounded on each side by craggy- rocks disposed in huge disjointed fragments, and the tops of these were covered with snow, affected by the action of the spray in a singular manner, having received, by the constant impression of its finer particles, an appearance exactly resembling sculp- tured marble. The dead white snow had been coloured with a yellowish tinge, and seemed like fleeces of wool hanging over the rocks, or drapery arranged in the softest and most elegant foldings. The more dis- tant the more soft they appeared, and all were fringed at the base with icicles ; some of these, especially those nearest to the cataract, were of an enormous size. The boughs of the trees in the vicinity were laden with small ones, like beads of crystal ; and altogether the prismatic rays of the sun were reflected with magnificent splendour. The scene was charming; for the day, though piercingly cold, was particularly bright, and a clear dark-blue sky enlivened the whole to a great degree. One gazed with ■ 132 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE delight as upon fairy grottos and the works of magic. Without snow shoes it would have been impossible to approach ; as it was, I do not know whether I stood upon snow supported upon the rocks, or clinging toge- ther by adhesion between the clefts. But this consideration presented itself only after I had been contented and gratified with the spectacle, and found myself standing in an advanced position, where I was hailed by the Serjeant. I was very glad to get back, retracing my steps with great caution, and I fancied several times that the snow felt much softer than it ought to be. I returned to the Serjeant's house, where I lay down on the boards before the fire as soon as I arrived, in order to get as much rest as I could ; for I was uneasy at the thoughts of the mal a raquelte, which I feared, from the aching sensation about my ancles and insteps, I should not escape. January 13th. — We left the Serjeant's house very early in the morning, which broke clear and cold. We walked a little more TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 133 than two miles, and then came upon the river, along which we pursued our track. Not a particle of a cloud was to be seen, and that morning's walk exhibited a loveliness of nature peculiar to the Canadian climate, and sufficient to dissipate every sensation of pain and weariness ; a rare combination of frost and sunshine, such as, without being seen and felt, can hardly be imagined. The wind was hushed to perfect stillness, and, as we w^alked along, our hair, our seven days' beards, the edges of our caps, our eyebrows, and even our eyelashes, were as white as a powdering of snow could make them. In the mean time, the warmth of the sun gave a sensation of peculiar purity to the air. We continued all the way on the river, till we completed fifteen miles from the Serjeant's house wliere we had slept, and arrived at the Grande Riviere. We were now at the Madawaska settlement, composed altogether of French Canadians ; a narrow strip of a village, where we sought the house of an aubergiste, Rouen Croix, where I was 134 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE gratified and surprised to find I was to be treated to a bed. Being now perfectly lame, I was delighted to hear that I had done with the snow shoes, at least for a day or two, and that for twenty-one miles the snow was suffi- ciently beaten to bear a horse and sleigh, which were to be had in the village. I of course lost no time in engaging one; and, considering the state of extreme necessity I was under, it is worthy of remark, that I found no inclination in the owner to cheat me. I agreed to pay fifteen shillings for the twenty-one miles, — a sum by no means exorbi- tant in the state of the road. I was much re- freshed by a good mess of soup, with the meat in it, besides other ingredients I did not stop to inquire about: with all, sundry pieces of packthread excepted, I was perfectly well satisfied, for I was well persuaded of the possibility of faring much worse. January 14th. — When the driver made his appearance with the sleigh, I found it to be of a different construction from any I had hi- therto seen, and better calculated to pass over I TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 135 deep snow. It was, indeed, nothing more than a wooden box, having the runners or sliders so low, that the vehicle was dragged along as much on its own bottom as upon them. The snow was so deep that it was quite as much as the horse could do to get on^ stumbling and floundering at every step, while the driver walked by the side of the sleigh_, driving with long reins. The whole apparatus was so bad, that I would ten times rather have walked ; but I had hopes of re- covering from my lameness by rest, and sub- mitted to every inconvenience for the sake of being able to start sound once more. Certainly I was in a helpless condition, and the roads within the limits of this small set- tlement were so partially broken that the sleigh was overturned five or six times in the course of the morning. On these occasions I lay still and suffered myself to be righted together with the vehicle each time, as the shortest way, lame as I was, of helping my- self. After all, it was a tedious slow drive, and I should have been overturned much 136 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE oftener if the driver's strength had not been frequently applied on one side of the sleigh to prevent it. The twenty-one miles were at last accom- plished, and when we arrived at the house of an aubergiste, the only spare room was already full of people; so that we were obliged to apply elsewhere, and were finally received into the house of an inhabitant, David Dufour, where two travellers had already established themselves. The room was exceedingly small, but there was no other, and this was to con- tain these two persons, ourselves, and the host and his family. The latter consisted of a wife and six children, all of whom were dreadfully afflicted with the hooping cough. As I was provided with some good mutton broth, I had not much to complain of till night ; but then the crying and coughing of the poor children was very bad indeed. The noise, however, did not deprive me of sleep; and I awoke in the morning refreshed and even eager to undertake the day's journey. January 15th. — A party of persons had col- TO KIVIERE DE CAPE. 137 lected for the purpose of proceeding with our guides towards Quebec ; and so we all started to walk together. It was with very great satisfac- tion that I now saw my snow shoes tied fast on the outside of the baggage on the tobogin,hav- ing already suffered so much by their weight; however, I very soon found that the relief had come a little too late, for I was completely lame, and could not move a step without con- siderable pain. I contrived, notwithstanding, to keep up tolerably well with the party to the end of the day's journey, which was twenty- four miles. About a mile from the house where I slept we took our leave of the St. John's river, upon which we had travelled for so many miles, and, turning to our right, pur- sued our course along the Madawaska river, which empties itself here into the former. The picture of our caravan is now totally changed. A dozen persons of various descrip- tions had joined our party, some at the end and some at the beginning of their respective journeys. They pelted each other with snow- balls, and sang and whistled, smoking and i 138 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE hallooing. A few were hobbling and limping, being quite sick of walking, and fit for no sort of fun whatever. The guides procured dogs to draw the tobogins, and several of these great creatures, from the coasts of La- brador and Newfoundland, were loose, and followed in our train. The noise of the party frightened a Caraboo deer from his lair, and urged him, unfortunately for himself, to cross over the ice of the river just in front of us. Immediately there was a general hullabaloo, and men and dogs all at once gave chase. 1 quite forgot I was lame, and made a tolerable run too, and to my surprise found that the dogs had^ come up with their game, which had entangled himself by the horns in the branches of a fallen tree. There they pinned him, till one of the Canadians despatched him with his axe ; and we had one of his haunches the same night cut into steaks for supper, which, although tough, were well-flavoured. Although we had proceeded the whole of the morning without snow shoes, it was, ne- vertheless, extremely bad walking. The TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 139 traffic in the neighbourhood of the settle- ment had caused a beaten track to be made ; but the snow lay so deep on the ice, that of necessity men in snow shoes were the first to pass along it, until, pressed by their feet, it by degrees assumed a surface capable of bearing people without them. Still it was so soft, that the foot very frequently sank in deep enough to occasion a tumble. Every man walked on as fast as he could, without taking account of his neighbour; so that the fatigue of keeping up with the party was not a little increased by running to make up the lost way. But anything was better than having show shoes tied to one's feet ! Having now walked twenty-four miles, we put up for the night in the house of a veteran soldier, who had received his allotment of land on the line of communication. January 16th. — Our party had dispersed themselves during the night in other houses in the neighbourhood; but at an early hour they were all collected in readiness to proceed. We had a journey of twenty- 140 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE one miles this day before us, and I was now so very lame as to make it a serious under- taking. We had, besides, two days more to travel on foot, before we could by possibility meet with any sort of vehicle. The consi- deration of a speedy end of the journey was a great inducement to proceed, and I deter- mined to go on as long as I could. Our first six miles was along the ice of the Madawaska river ; when, the ice being considered unsafe, the track frequently turned off into the forest along the bank. Having passed the head of the river, we came to Lake Tamasquatha, which is about fifteen miles long, and from three to six broad. Our track lay over this lake, but when we went upon the ice, we found the travelling much worse than on the river; for the wind blew violently against us, and it was as much as ever I could do to keep within any reasonable dis- tance of the guides. All following one after another, the foremost men almost vanished from the sight, and appeared like little black dots on the wide waste of snow ahead. TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 141 Some, however, were behind me, more tired than I was, though I never took the pains to inquire about them. At last we arrived at the house of Mr. Long, situated at the extremity of Lake Tamasquatha, and on the banks of that portage^ which extends from thence, without any interruption of water communication, to the high road to Quebec. I had no sooner arrived than I threw my- self down on the boards under a full impres- sion that I should be quite unable to proceed the next day. We here found a new set of travellers, who had established themselves in the house ; and these being reinforced by our numbers, a confusion of tongues prevailed in the room which set at defiance all descrip- tion. We had thirty-six persons in it, be- sides six or eight large dogs belonging to the tobogins. We were obliged to lie on the ground like so many pigs. My next neigh- bour was a major in the army, whom I never * Portage is a French Canadian word, signifying the land over which it becomes necessarj' to carnj the loads from one river or lake to another. 142 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE saw before and have never met since ; he seemed more fatigued than I was, and did nothing but groan all night. The dogs dis- turbed us ; for they ran about and trod upon us ; they growled ; and twice before the morning there was a battle-royal among them, with the whole room up in arms to part them by throttling and biting the ends of their tails. What with the noise, and the shout- ings and swearing in bad French, we were in a perfect uproar. For this xxjvoij.a'/ioL the natural remedy, of course, would have been to turn the dogs out ; but the masters would not allow it, as the former were of too much use by far on a journey. The gabble of tongues, the smell of tobacco smoke, and the disturb- ance altogether, was really dreadful; and there was, besides, a truckle-bed in the room, on which two women reposed, — the mistress of the house and her sister. These females were not silent ; and, no matter who slept, some were sure to be awake and talking. I quite lost all my patience ; sometimes I struck at the dogs as they galloped over me, and I shook TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 143 one Canadian by the collar till he roared, who in the scuffle had trodden on my lame ancles without remorse. The only satisfaction I had was to think that the pain I was in would alone, without the noise, have prevented me from sleeping. January 17th. — At an early hour this morning we commenced our journey over the portage, and, after travelling the whole day, I arrived, in a state of extreme pain and fa- tigue, at the place where we were to pass the night. We crossed several ravines, and climbed steep acclivities. Both my feet were now swollen to a great size, attended with inflammation so acute as to resemble exactly determined gout. The Canadians told me I had certainly got the mal a raquette ; what- ever it might have been, I lay awake all night in the miserable log house where we had put up, thinking how unlucky I was to have arrived within nine miles of the end of my journey on foot, without being able to accom- plish the little that remained. January 18th. — Nine miles were now be- I 144 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE fore me, and if I could complete that distance the journey was done. The usual prepara- tions for departure had no sooner commenced than I felt it quite impossible to remain where I was, although I could scarcely stand upon my feet ; but as my servant was still strong and able, I relied on his assistance, and set forward. I never was put to so severe a trial in all my life. The exertion of walking, and the twists I met with in the holes made in the hard snow by the feet of former travel- lers, were absolute torture ; so that now and then I was obliged to lie down for a few- seconds in the snow to recover myself. The cold was so intense, that almost as soon as I was down I was obliged to get up again, and a piece of bread in my coat-pocket was frozen nearly as hard as wood. My servant stayed by me whenever I lay down on the snow, and helped me to rise_, and to him I am in- debted for performing the short distance of that day's journey. I was eight hours on the way ; but at last reached the village of Ri- viere de Loup, where I entered a small public- TO RIVIERE DE CAPE. 145 house in the true spirit of thankfulness at having accomplished an undertaking of which I had several times despaired. But I remained there a very short time : I found that I was only six miles from Riviere de Cape, where there was a good inn, and that it was possible to procure a conveyance to take me there. Beset as I was with a set of boisterous com- panions, I ordered a sleigh to be got ready immediately, into which I made a last effort to crawl, ready to endure anything in the world so that I could but exchange the pre- sent for civilized quarters. At Riviere de Cape, I was gratified by the kindest atten- tion from my hostess_, who placed before me the first comfortable meal I had seen for a long time. She provided me with a good arm-chair^ and many other seasonable indul- gencies; and it is remarkable, that all pain left me that very evening. Never was a change more complete brought about within a few short hours. To think of both past and future created agreeable sensations, and H 146 JOURNEY FROM PRESQUE ISLE. the comfortable adage, " Forsan et hcec olim meminisse juvahit,^' rushed forcibly to my mind. The apartment and furniture ap- peared elegant, my landlady seemed lovely as Hebe, my journey on foot was — thank Heaven! — completed, and the refreshing silence of the house added to the many comforts with which I was now surrounded. 147 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. I WAS now on the high road to Quebec, and on a spot where the river St. Lawrence breaks upon the view in splendid magnifi- cence. A chain of mountains bounds the opposite side, and a long narrow island^ called VI ale de Lievre, is situated mid-channel. The river is here twenty-one miles across, and appeared to be frozen over some miles from the shore. It is at this part quite straight, and the eye commands a reach of very considerable length. I hired a post cariole, or small sleigh drawn by one horse, to take me hence to Quebec. I made a good breakfast, had been kindly treated, had slept well, and felt rejoiced to be relieved from the ragamuffins whose society I had participated so long, when I and my servant got into the vehicle. The road was well h2 143 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE beaten and good ; the horse started off at a sort of shambling run, a pace they all learn from hiofh calks and the continual habit of movino^ through snow ; the bells jingled merrily ; the sun shone bright with an intense frost ; and I was not only so much recovered as to be perfectly free from pain, but the scene al- together produced a buoyancy of spirits, the total reverse of the heavy-heartedness with which I had only the day before, like an over- driven ox, performed my journey. Although the weather was by far too severe to make travelling in an open carriage agreeable, the contrast made up for everything. If it was €old, I was well wrapped up ; my lameness was getting better every hour, and I was sure at least of being well housed. The boy who drove me was a curiosity, — a little wizened ape, hardly twelve years old; but he smoked, and swore, and cracked his whip with all the grimace of a French pos- tilion. A huge fur cap almost extinguished his small face ; and he wore a close-bodied coat, with a red worsted sash round his waist. TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 149- He had not proceeded far, when he stopped at a house ; when I inquired what detained him, *'C'est mon pipe. Monsieur!" Nor would he stir without '* mon pipe ; " and I was kept waiting several minutes while the people of the house were lighting it. At last he got it, and_, giving a few hard whiffs, cracked his whip^ called the horse all the names he could think of, and chattered away and grumbled in bad French, as if he felt his consequence hurt by the manner I had treated him. Chaaging sleighs at conve- nient distances, I posted this day sixty miles to Lislet. The charge was fivepence a-mile : nothing was demanded for the driver, which^ I suppose^ gave him the air of independence he assumed, nor was there any other ex- pense on the road. I found the delays ia changing horses considerable. The manner of driving in Canada is singu- lar enough; for, instead of perpetually flip- ping the horse with the whip, as in England, they reserve it for greater occasions, — set^ tling the balance of an account of errors by 150 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE an unmerciful flogging, which lasts some seconds, and serves till the driver's patience is again exhausted. The horses are generally high couraged; but all seem crippled, owing to the manner in which they are shod, and the rough ground they at times travel upon. Changing at short stages, I travelled the whole of an intensely cold day, the sky being quite clear and free from clouds. As even- ing came on, the glowing tints which suf- fused the bleak landscape were particu- larly beautiful, — such as a winter sunset in Canada can alone produce. The glaring sun became magnified as he touched the horizon. A deep fiery red was reflected from bright tin spires, and blazed from the glass windows of the scattered white houses in the distance. The snow sparkled with purple and varying prismatic colours ; while large fragments of ice, scattered here and there, completed a picture of winter in all its intensity. J ar- rived at Lislet half frozen, having travelled some time after dark. January 20th. — I posted this day fifty-one miles to Point Levi. A fall of snow in the TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 151 night made the roads very heavy, so that, although I started early in the morning, it was past ten at night when I arrived at the auberge, — an uncomfortable passage house, situated close to the banks of the river St. Lawrence, and opposite to the town of Quejpec. The whole of the 111 miles I travelled on this and the preceding day was through a fiat country, nearly parallel with the river. I now heard accounts by no means prepossessing of the mode of crossing over to Quebec, and of the state of the ice ; but I was tired, and it was too late to make particular inquiries ; so, as soon as I had procured a little refreshment, I went to bed, where, after I lay down, I could very plainly hear the roaring and splashing of the water. January 21st. — In the morning, on look- ing out of my window, which commanded an immediate view of the Great St. Lawrence^ there a mile and a half wide, I saw it frozen on each bank at least three or four hundred yards from the shore, and the channel filled with pieces of ice driven forward and back- ward by the eddies of an impetuous tide ; 152 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE these were rising one above another, twist- ing round and round, sinking, labouring, and heaving, by the action of a current running at the rate of seven knots an-hour. Sometimes there was a space of clear water, wherein enormous flakes, of a superficies of three or four thousand square yards, would glide by ; huge lumps, as big as a stage coach and all its passengers, would roll over and over, and tumble in various directions, now and then sinking altogether, and after- wards rising several yards a-head ; large masses would meet, and drive against each other with a tremendous crash, piling flake upon flake, and presenting a most awful spectacle, — the more interesting, as it was my business to cross over that very day : and how that was to be done, I could not possibly, at the moment I have attempted to describe, determine. However, on holding a consultation with my host, I found, that the passage was certainly difficult, but, nevertheless, quite practicable ; that it would probably be attended with considerable delay, but that there was very little danger. Thus TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 1^3^ much was satisfactory, and I further under^ stood that slack water (it was now about half tide) would be the time to attempt to get over. There was more ice on the river than had been for the two years last past, owing to a continuation of weather more than ordinarily severe, so that it was expected every day ta set ; and, whenever that took place, sleighs of all sorts would be able to drive across. Above all, I was recommended to lose no^ time in engaging a log canoe, unless I chose to wait for the chance of the ice setting. Having^ no sort of wish to remain where I was, I found out a man who agreed to take me across for thirty shillings, after a hard bargain, in which he exaggerated the - danger, and multiplied difficulties to suit: his purpose. I met him by appointment on- the bank of the river, about one o'clock, where he had his canoe in readiness to re- ceive me, being attended by five Canadian boatmen, his comrades. The canoe was nothing more than fourteen or fifteen feet o€ h3 154 JOURNEY FROM BIVIEEE DE CAPE an entire tree rounded at both ends alike, and hollowed by the adze. A piece of rope, six or eight feet long, Avas fixed at the head, and a similar piece at the stern. Each of the men carried an axe stuck in his sash, and a paddle in his hand ; and thus equipped, they dragged the canoe from the shore along upon the ice, chopping away the last six or eight feet (where it became unsound) with their axes, till the head of the vessel was brought close above the water. The tide was now nearly at the ebb, and its rapidity, of course, much abated ; still the ice was continually in a state of violent motion, and presented a very formidable ap- pearance. I got into the canoe with my servant, and, according to the direction of the boatmen, who were chattering, arguing, and swearing on the subject of their plan of pro- ceeding, we both sat down at the bottom of the canoe, in midships. And here we waited in readiness for a launch. A large flake now floated by, leaving a clear channel of perhaps one hundred yards across, and this was the TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 155 signal to begin. I had nothing to do but to sit still. " Tenez firme ! " they all cried at once, and without farther warning they pushed the canoe off the ice plump into the water with a splash. The fall was about two feet, and she was no sooner in than every one of the fellows, with uncommon activity, was on board and each in his place, paddling with eager haste_, in order to avoid a large piece of ice which was bearing down hard upon us, and to gain a frozen surface right a-head. Succeeding in the attempt, they with equal adroitness jumped out of the canoe upon the ice, and, seizing the ropew^hich was fixed at the head, drew her by main force out of the water, and, three at one side and three at the other, they pushed her along, running about a hundred and fifty yards across, till a second launch into clear water called again for the paddles. We were less fortu- nate in this effort than in the one preceding, for we were splashed all over, and the water almost immediately froze hard on our clothes. But we had not time to shake ourselves, for 156 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE a large quantity of loose ice, which appeared just to have risen up from the bottom of the river, was bearing down upon us in a very formidable manner. The men paddled, and strained, and abused each other, but all would not do, and we were in a very few seconds hemmed in and jammed on both sides by a soft pulpy mass, together with which we were helplessly carried away by the current side wise from the point we were endeavouring to reach. I could not help admiring the determination and address of the men at this moment; for they jumped out, above their knees in water, sometimes up to their hips, while they used their ut- most strength to drag the canoe forward by the rope. Although the surface gave way continually imder their feet, letting them down upon the large slabs of ice which were floating underneath, they managed, by pull- ing and hauling, and with their axes occa- sionally cutting and breaking away the ob- structing blocks which stood in their way, to get free of all impediments, and gain once more a channel of clear water. TO YCRK, UPPER CANADA. 157 While this was going forward, it was extremely annoying to be perfectly helpless in the midst of so much bustle and energy. The fellows frequently shouted ^* branlez ! nacre Dieu, hranlez ! " by which they meant that we should rock the canoe from side to to side as we sat, to prevent her freezing on to the ice; which disaster was only to be avoided by keeping her in continual motion. If this had taken place, the consequences might have been serious, as the day was intensely cold, and we must have floated away with no great chance of assistance. However, by the skill of the men we avoided the catastrophe, and the thirty shillings were certainly fairly earned, for they were three or four minutes at this spell in the water, sometimes up to their knees, and now and then nearly up to their middle. It might seem almost incre- dible that men are able to work at all upon ice so unsound as not to afford a surface capable of supporting the weight of the body ; but on their part there seemed to be no sort of apprehension of absolute danger, owing to the vast thickness of the floating 158 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE substance, a comparatively small part of which was, as they knew, that which ap- peared above the water. And there was invariably a lower stratum upon which they were received and supported as often as they sank in. Such was the manner of making the pas- sage across the river St. Lawrence, at the season of the year and under such circum- stances as it happened to me to undertake it ; and I have only to add, that the time occu- pied in going across was somewhat more than an hour, and that the varieties already cited followed each other in rapid succession, till the moment of our disembarkation at the opposite shore. At one time we were in clear water ; the next moment struggling through con gelated heaps of melted snow ; then|rapidly driven along over sheets of ice, and pushed over obstructing blocks which opposed our progress in ridges seven or eight feet high. The Canadians were, how- ever, indefatigable. Every obstacle, as soon as encountered, was surmounted in a mo- ment. They were active as ants. All was 159 energy, spring, and bustle. Hard ice was hewn down with the hatchets. They were in the canoe and out of the canoe, paddling and cutting, pushing with the boat-hook, and hauling on the rope, all with instantaneous impulse, and appliance of strength in differ- ent ways and with the most effective success. But notwithstanding all, it was with un- mixed satisfaction that I found myself at last safely landed in the town of Quebec. Although I had nearly recovered from my lameness, the cold had made me very stiff, so that, in spite of the sun, the keen air had such an effect upon my limbs, that on getting out of the canoe I was scarcely able to move. The water with which I had been splashed had incrusted me in a coat of ice ; and I was as much like an armadillo as a human being, when I crawled heavily up the steep, narrow, dirty street which leads from the lower to the upper town, bending my steps towards Sturch's hotel, where I was shown into the public room, well warmed by a Canada stove, and full of dif- ferent sorts of people. k 160 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE January 22nd to 31st. — The weather was all this time exceedingly severe, seldom above zero of Fahrenheit, and now and then several degrees below it. I was one day much amused by observing the effects of cold upon the faces of the people in the streets when the wind blew exceedingly hard, and there was what the Canadians call a ** podre"*, or a sprinkling of the finer particles of the snow from the tops of the houses in clouds which add a lively pang to the keenness of the frost. Indeed the effect is truly ludicrous. The moment a man happens to encounter the gelid volume, he stares aghast ; the water bursts from his eyes ; in one instant he shows every tooth in his head, if he has any ; and his features become distorted and agonized. Nothing so miserable is to be seen, except the unfor- tunate dogs harnessed in small sleighs, and made to draw barrels of water, which^ owing * The Canadians have a way of their own of pro- nouncing French : thus, la hache they call la haivche, and so forth. TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 161 to tlie cold, smokes as if it were boiling, through the town. The ice set in the St. Lawrence, and the ** Pont" was formed on the 31st; an event which had not taken place for two years before. In a very few hours it was com- pactly wedged together, and covered with horses and sleighs in great numbers, and of the heaviest description. This may seem extraordinary, but it is a well-known fact, and very easily accounted for. For the masses of floating ice have previously at- tained a very great thickness, and are continuing to grow bigger every hour, as they are carried about in the stream by the current, the rapidity of which alone pre- vents their adhering long before. Sticking together at first by twos and threes, they jostle more and more every tide, till at last a general jam for a moment takes place ; and a moment only does the business. The intense frost effects adhesion, and the water below splashing up between the interstices of the joints effectually fixes and rivets the whole. What from the thickness of 162 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE the ice itself, and its being supported by the water, no weight can well be too great to put upon it. As soon as the ice has stopped, the river presents to the eye a wild and noble spectacle. The moment is natu- rally one of conflict and convulsion; and the throes and struggles of the impinging bodies are truly tremendous. Small islands of ice, pressed on every side till they give way, break in the middle, and cracking into fragments, these become hurled one upon another in all sorts of grotesque forms ; so that, " when the hurley-burley 's done," the whole surface of the river becomes covered, as it were, with little hills, houses, and vil- lages. Objects that resemble all these are raised, as by the contrivance of magic, in the space of a few minutes. Some are of such considerable magnitude, that through the whole winter a circuitous track is taken to avoid them. And thus, although the inhabitants may immediately avail them- selves of a passage, it is nevertheless neces- sary to break a road. Like any other desert track, a way must be cleared of impediments; TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 163 however, as blocks of ice are easily cut through, much time is not required to put everything to rights, and then crov^ds of persons flock to each side, eager to avail themselves of the first opportunity of cross- ing over. The state of the river immediately before the setting of the ice is, of course, growing- worse and worse every day, until the com- munication, as regards traffic, may be said to be impeded altogether. The forming of the pont^ therefore, is hailed by the inhabit- ants of both sides with a joyous welcome : by the country people, owing to the prospect of bringing their produce readily to market ; and by those of the town, from the hopes of a reduction in the prices of the articles, the natural consequence of the event. The next point of my destination was the bay of Penetangushene, an outlet of Lake Huron, where it was at this time the object of Government to establish a naval and mili- tary post. And as the place to which I was going was far removed in the woods, it was indispensable to make previously some pre- 164 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE parations in the way of equipment. To this end, I purchased a good buffalo apron, in addition to the one I had before, and some articles of warm clothing. I also provided myself with powder and shot, having brought with me from England a good double-bar- relled gun of Joseph Manton's, which had been dragged over the snow with the rest of my things on the tobogins. Thus accoutred, I felt quite ready to leave ^' the flaunting town," its split logs and hot stoves, to ex- plore the ruder regions of the north-west. February Istv — I posted to Riviere St. Jaquetiere, where I slept. The whole journey was extremely unpleasant, owing to the fre- quency of the cahots, or trenches in the snow which lay across the road. The driver never pulled up his horses, but seemed to me to rattle over them with unnecessary ra- pidity, and at the imminent risk of breaking the sleigh. February 2nd. — Posted to Trois Rivieres. February 3rd. — Posted to a small place within nine miles of Berthier. February 4th. — Posted to Montreal. As I TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 1G5 intended to remain two or three days in the neighbourhood, I ordered a sleigh to take me the next morning to St. John's, a small town situated on the River Richelieu, between Lake Champlain and the River St. Lawrence, and distant twenty-seven miles from Montreal. February 5th to 7th. — Early in the morn- ing of the 5th, I crossed the St. Lawrence in a sleigh^ over a track as well beaten as any part of the streets ; the large slabs of ice which had been removed, as well as heaps of snow, forming a wall on each side for a great part of the way. Turning to the right, the road continued along the bank for about three miles through the neat village of Prairee; thence leaving the river, through a flat country, with inns at short intervals during the whole distance. Having then reached the river Richelieu, I arrived at St. John's, where I was hospitably received by Sir Thomas Brisbane, under whose roof I remained until the morning of the 8th. February 8th. — Having returned to Mont- real, I made arrangements to leave it the next day, and hired a sleigh with two horses L 166 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE to take me to Kingston. The appearance of Montreal is superior to that of Quebec ; the equipages, especially, seemed much bet- ter appointed. Indeed, a well-built sleigh is a remarkably handsome vehicle. In shape like the Britska, of a dark colour relieved by scarlet, and covered with a profusion of rich black bear-skins, it has a striking effect in contrast with the pure white snow. The cold was this day more than commonly severe, and for the first time I perceived an effect of the low temperature, by no means unusual. My clothes, on taking them off, braces, waistcoat^ &c., were so charged with electric fluid, that they crackled and snapped, pro- ducing sparks of fire in abundance. Even the comb which I passed through my hair created a similar effect. February 9th. — The driver of the sleigh made his appearance much later than he had promised, but was accompanied by the owner, who, by way of apology, told me that I had '' the best span of horses in Montreal " for my journey. A ** span of horses " means a pair driven abreast, and is one of tlie many TO. YORK, UPPER CANADA. 167 American expressions current in this part of the country. Indeed there is so little bar to the communication along this part of the frontier, that a great similarity consequently exists in accent, manners, and general ap- pearance, between the inhabitants on both sides. The road led occasionally along the bank, and now and then on the bed of the river ; which, owing to the very rapid cur- rent, was at parts open in the middle, the channel being full of small islands and rocks. Although the air was piercingly cold, the sun shone forth with great brilliancy, showing signs of his increasing pbwer by the icicles which, in many warm and sheltered situa- tions, already fringed the eaves of the houses. As I started late, I proceeded no farther than Point Clair, where I put up for the night. The landlord, a civil, bustling man, replenished the fire, and w^as extremely active. He said he '^ abhorred a bad fire," and added, '* I guess you'll like a glass of sling after your cold drive." I discovered that " sling " meant gin and water ; so a glass of sling I took, and then went to bed. 168 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE February 10th. — I travelled this day to Point Boudet, along the banks of the St. Lawrence, which here presents an interest- ing appearance — that of a mighty stream tearing its way through a channel which bears the strongest marks of some grand convulsion of nature. The foaming rapids, the heavy roaring of the waters, the huge slabs of ice ripped from the summits of the rocks, whose black desolate-looking points formed a striking contrast with the over- powering whiteness of the snow ; — all these were objects which irresistibly riveted the attention. One beheld, as it were, with all the accompaniments of nature's sublimity, a contest of the two elements, wherein every inch of ground was furiously disputed. I afterwards passed these rapids on my journey back to Quebec, as I shall have occasion to describe. The inn at Point Boudet, where I put up for the night, was situated close on the bank of the river, and extremely tidy and comfortable. February 11th. — I proceeded this day to Cornwall, the weather being piercingly TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 169 cold, with a bright sun. The same man, the servant of the owner of the sleigh, and a Scotchman, drove me all the way from Mont- real, and had hardly spoken a word the whole journey. But there was abottle of " whuskey" which he kept under the seat, just within his reach, to which he now and then had recourse; and to-day, as the weather was cold, and the sun shone bright, he took a sup from time to time as he felt inclined ; rather often, at every three or four miles perhaps, — till he began to fidget in his seat, and look round to me, as if at last he had got something to say. There- fore I asked him, a-propos to nothing, whe- ther he thought he would be able to wear the kilt in Canada? '' Na,'* said he, '' the flies wad nap a body." I thought it was rather odd he should be thinking of flies at a time when the frost was biting so particularly sharp ; but still he insisted upon it, that the flies, of the two, were the worst ; and he suited the action to the word with such energy, that I could not doubt his veracity. J tried to engage him further in conversation, r 170 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE but that was impossible ; for he was a High- lander, who, speaking very little English when he left his own country, had been de- prived of the small portion he then under- stood, by a residence of three years in Mont- real, where his fellow-servants all spoke French. This quite petrified his genius, and spoiled him as a linguist altogether. February 12th. — It was remarkably cold when we started in the mornings and Dou- gall, whether owing to the effect of the whiskey the day before, or the melancholy appearance of the empty bottle, relapsed into his former taciturnity. We travelled twenty-six miles along the bank of the river, and put up at an inn close to the water. February 13th. — I travelled twenty-two miles to Prescott, which is opposite to the American village of Ogdensburg. The river here, about half a mile wide, was frozen quite across. Some people at the inn were conversing on* the subject of a lot of cattle which had been stolen, and which it seemed certain had been driven over the ice to the American side. TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 171 February 14th. — I travelled this day forty- two miles to Guananaqui, the road chiefly being out of sight of the river. The weather was fine and clear, but so cold that the bay horses mio;ht have been mistaken for iron- grey, so powdered over were they with frost- February 15th. — I had now twenty-four miles to proceed to Kingston, where I arrived early in the day. I went to Thibodo's hotel ; a large, cold, rambling house, the landlord of which was extremely attentive and civil. February 16th. — As I had proposed to re- main a day or two at Kingston, I walked out on the ice to see the ship St. Lawrence, which was here frozen in on all sides, quite hard and fast. Two seventy-fours, a frigate, and some gun-boats, were building in the dock-yard ; and the above-named three-decker, mounting 108 guns, two brigs, and a sloop, were in a state of complete equipment. At Kingston, the gigantic features of the river St. Law- rence are particularly striking ; for here, a^; a distance of several hundred miles from the sea, its expanding shores are seen tracing I 2 I 172 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE the limits of Lake Ontario. This mao-nificent fresh-water sea was frozen round the edges to an extent nearly as far as the eye could reach ; the waters in the distance appearing like a narrow black line in the horizon. The ship lay close to the town, with which a con- stant communication prevailed, as the officers and men were living on board just as if she had been at sea. Sleighs of all descriptions were driving round ; country vehicles, with things to sell, and others ; and two ladies, who had driven themselves in a light sleigh drawn by a pony, were holding a conversa- tion under her bows with a gentleman in a cap, which conversation, from its earnestness, seemed to contain warmth enough to thaw the icicles hanging from the cabin windows. Numbers of people were walking, and the snow was so trodden all round the ship, that it was really difficult to believe that a depth of water sufficient to float a three-decker lay under one's feet. I found, on returning to my inn, that a ball was to be held in the house in the evening. TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 173 and that my bed-room, moreover, had been determined on as one of the card-rooms. The assembly was held in a large corridor, or wide passage, with doors opening into little rooms on each side ; of which latter, mine was one. The company, which was numerous, assem- bled very early, and soon commenced dancing with high glee. Pulling, romping, turning round and round, &c., being the order of the day, the noise of tongues and feet was " pretty considerable loud." What with the good spirits of the young ladies, and the good humour of the old ones, it was past three o'clock in the morning before the house was clear of its guests, when^ the beds having been all taken down for the occasion, I betook my- self to a mattress spread for me on the floor. February 17th. — My landlord gave me for dinner some steaks of a moose-deer, killed in the neighbourhood ; the meat was of a fine, wild flavour, although extremely coarse and tough. February 18th to 22d. — I left Kingston for York in a two-horse sleigh, which I hired 174 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE to take me thither. I was five days on the road, leaving ten miles for the last day's journey. The owner of the sleigh drove it, an honest-looking, healthy fellow, who wore a good coat, and had the appearance of a substantial yeoman. He told me that he had lived eighteen years on his present farm of two hundred acres, for which he had originally given three hundred dollars. The road during the journey was heavy^ from a recent fall of snow ; but the prospect was enlivened from time to time by views of Lake Ontario, along the shore of which we were travelling. There were several small lakes on the way. Among them, Rice Lake ; so called from the wild rice which grows about it, and which is of a good quality enough, although small and of a broyy^nish colour. I met a couple of Indians dragging along by a long strip of bark, which served as a rope, a porcupine^ which they had shot. The woods hereabouts abound with a large de- scription of woodpecker, the size of a small TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 175 fowl, with black body and scarlet head, called by the natives cock of the wood. When within ten miles of York, the volume of condensed vapour proceeding from the Falls of N iagara then perhaps forty miles distant, was dis- tinctly visible. The day was quite clear, without a cloud in the sky. On arriving at York, I was disappointed at first sight of the capital of Upper Canada, which, although covering a large space of ground, was extremely straggling and irre- gular ; and the inn was not by any means prepossessing. I was shown into a co|d dirty room, without any appearance of com- fort, or even the cheering abmidance of fire- wood I had been used lately everywhere to meet with. They gave me a dry, black, and tasteless beef-steak for breakfast, which I finished as soon as I could, in my eagerness to get out of a disagreeable apartment, and make myself warm by exercise. It being the season of the year when '* the presents," as they are termed, are given to the Indians, these people were walking about the streets 176 JOURNEY FROM RIVIERE DE CAPE in crowds, all in their holiday apparel^ and animated by anticipation of what they were to receive — blankets, blue cloth, guns, powder and shot, &c. ^ I could not help remarking the great difference between the Indians here and those in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The former are altogether a finer race of men_, in countenance, carriage, and general appear- ance, more robust and athletic, their faces broader and flatter, and of a deep copper colour. Streaks of red paint ornament their cheeks ; the most fashionable bijou of their toilette being a silver ring in the nose, with a bead of the same metal appending to it. A look of health about the women causes many of them to appear beautiful in spite of their flat noses. They have good teeth, and their eyes, of brilliant black, receive addi- tional lustre from parallel streaks of red paint down their cheeks, which seem, from their breadth, as if laid on by the fore-finger. According to this method of rouging, Art may fairly be said to enter into competition TO YORK, UPPER CANADA. 177 with Nature ; where mtermediate stripes of natural skin are always left as a sample of the original. I remained in York till the 25th ; during which time my stay was rendered agreeable by the friendly hospitality of Mr, Cruick- shank, a gentleman of respectability in the town. I understood that the station of Pene- tangushene, whither I was going, was still an establishment quite new, and that some of the public officers were already there, hutted on the spot ; but that no buildings of any sort had yet been erected ; more- over, there was no house at all anywhere within thirty miles of the place. I was rallied on the nature of my future life and occupa- tions, which, indeed, seemed likely to be sufficiently rural. I hardly knew sometimes what to think of it ; but I bought a sack of potatoes and some rice, and prepared to start on the 25th, with Mr. Cruickshank, who, having a wish to see the new establishment, proposed to accompany me. i3 178 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. On the 25th of February I left York, with Mr. Cruickshank, in a two-horse sleigh, on our way to Lake Huron. The snow was soft and the draft heavy ; however, the horses were good, and we travelled thirty miles to the village of Newmarket, which lies about a mile out of the road on the right hand, and ar- rived a little after dark. We were hospitably entertained by Mr. Peter Robinson, who pro- vided us with a good supper and comfortable beds. Our host, as well as being a contractor with Government, was an agent of the North- west Company, and held, moreover, sundry provincial appointments. Added to this, he kept a shop in the house where we now were, plentifully stocked with all manner of com- modities, particularly such as were suited to the wants of the Indians : it was, in fact, the great mart to which all those in this part of the country resorted, for the different RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 179 articles of which they stood in need, — flour, cheese, blue cloth, cottons, hardware, guns, powder and shot ; besides all sorts of milli- nery and ornament for the squaws, such as flaring gown-patterns, beads, and rings for their noses. February 26th. — We started very early this morning ; for, as it was our intention to cross Lake Simcoe, we had every reason to expect the ice would be in a bad state, and the draft consequently heavy ; for during the last few days the sun had been extremely powerful for the time of year, and the snow^ always slushy after the middle of the day. When we set out, the morning was clear, and the frost had been hard in the night : the snow was crisp and slippery, and we had what might be called an agreeable drive, a distance of eleven miles, along a very good road to Holland river, which empties itself into Lake Simcoe. There was a sort of pub- lic-house, called the Landing, established at the spot where we had arrived, being the point from whence the river was considered 180 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. navigable in the summer. Here we baited the horses, giving them no more time than was absolutely necessary, owing to the un- favourable reports of the state of the ice in the lake, from which we were now about nine miles distant. Holland river afforded to me a novel appearance : instead of the rocks and bluff headlands of the St. Law- rence, this little stream presented more peaceful and tranquil objects to the eye, and seemed to offer an assurance of calm and sequestered retreat. Jhe channel was frozen quite across; narrow, with a profusion of reeds on each side ; the whole breadth being, perhaps, three or four hundred yards. The sun shone bright, and the dry rattling flags, which the breeze set in motion, brought a more genial season to the recollection. Our sleigh was soon brought out, and, being launched down the sedgy bank, the horses were put-to; and, having bid adieu to the last house we were likely to see for a distance of thirty-six miles, we pursued our course along the frozen surface of a stream where RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 181 Fauns and Satyrs might have held their sum- mer revels. But the lively green of spring soon faded in the imagination, opposed to the realities of winter. The snow lay deep on the ice, and, being melted by the sun, the draft was so exceedingly heavy, that the horses could proceed only at a foot's pace, and the sleigh sank so deep, that the water frequently reached the bottom of the carriage. We had overtaken a party of English ship- wrights at the public-house we had just left, who, having been previously employed in building small boats for the navigation of the lake, were on the way to join the new station at Penetangushene Bay, whither we were going. These men followed in our train, and, as we travelled slow, they were enabled to keep up with us on foot. Pursuing the course of the river for about nine miles, the channel by rapid degrees became broader, till a wide sheet of snow appeared a-head, and we found ourselves upon the verge of Lake Simcoe. Inclining to the left, we skirted it, cutting off its lower extremity, IB^ RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. and making directly for Kempenfeldt Bay. We then bore about three or four miles up the bay, and put up at a log-house, newly erected on the north bank, almost close to the water's edge. This log-house was built for the purpose of the communication to Penetangushene. It was very late when we arrived, and we had travelled thirty-six- miles from Holland River, in all forty-seven miles that "day. The driver was provided with food and clothing for the horses, which were scarcely defended from the weather by the miserable hut allotted to them as a stable. They were, I believe, the first pair of horses ever there. They were lit- tered down with the boughs of the spruce- fir and a quantity of moss collected close to the spot. As for ourselves, our fare was equally simple. We made a roaring fire, and roasted some potatoes^, to eat with cold meat, with which we had taken care to pro- vide ourselves ; and this repast occupying but little time, the whole party, shipwrights and all, each measured his length on the RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 183 floor before the fire. I now began to think I had* had enough of all this, and I did ear- nestly long to be once more in some place, no matter where, that I could call my home. However, I fell asleep, and continued so some hours, when I awoke, owing to the cold, and found that one of my neighbours, who felt, I take it for granted, cold too, had de- prived me of my buffalo skin, which was tightly wrapped round him, while the fellow was snoring as happily as if it belonged to him. The harder I tugged, the harder he held on and snored ; and, as he was a thick-set, strong fellow^ I had the more difficulty to recover my property. However, I jumped up, and, invoking the spirit of Archimedes, I placed my foot on his ribs to such advantage, that by one violent, de- termined pull, I thoroughly uncased and rolled him out on the floor. February 27th. — We had already ad- vanced thirty-six miles from the house on the banks of Holland River, the nearest human habitation worthy of bearing the 184 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. name between the spot where we were and the town of York ; and the road we were now about to travel was newly cut through the forest, so that it was as bad as it could well be. To assist the communication, however, a hut at the distance of twenty- miles had been erected, where we intended to pass the night. The way was not better than we had anticipated, — if any thing, worse ; and we owed much to the assist- ance of the shipwrights, who were able aux- iliaries : a dozen stout, good-humoured fel- lows, who helped us out of all our difficulties, and went on whistling and singing as if they were going to a fair. When we reached the hut, we found it consisted of nothing more than a few boughs ; it was oblong in form, having one of the long sides open to the weather. Fortunately there was but little wind, nor was the night very cold ; so we made a large fire, and lay down in our clothes before it, as we had done the night before. February 28th. — The road was still miser- ably bad, but with the assistance of the ship^ RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 185 Wrights we were enabled to reach Yeo River, a distance of ten miles. We were frequently obliged to take the horses out of the sleigh for two or three hundred yards together, while the men drew it over trees which lay across the road, roots which had not been re- moved, and other such impediments. When we reached the ice of Yeo River, we got on a great deal better, although, as at Holland River, the melted, slushy snow lay very deep. The banks were sedgy, and I observed fre- quent hillocks or small mounds of snow, the habitation of the musquash, a species of large water-rat, having a long fur, which serves to make a good coarse felt for hats. We pur- sued our course till we came upon Gloucester Bay, and from thence we reached that of Penetangushene. We advanced up this bay about three miles^ keeping the shore close on our left hand^ till at last a small piece of cleared land, and the signs of human habi- tations, held forth to us the signal that the hour of rest was now come. Here, then, I was arrived ! My residence 186 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. was in this very spot to be established, I could not tell for how long. As it was growing late, no time was to be lost : a column of smoke was to be seen ascending on the other side of the brow which over- hung the beach, and to that I of course made my way. It was at three o'clock in the afternoon when I got out of the sleigh. The distance we had travelled in the day was, ten miles through the forest, and I think fifteen over the ice, — in all^ twenty- five miles. On stepping out of the sleigh I was immediately wet through, owing to sink- ing half way up my legs in melted snow. The driver wishing to get back again the same evening to Yeo River, urged me to have my things taken out of the carriage, and was anxious to hurry me to make up my mind where I would have them depo- sited. All places were then alike ; so, desir- ing my servant to strew some spruce boughs on the snow a few yards within the forest, my baggage was placed upon them, and I left him to watch every thing, while I set p RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 187 forth towards the place where I had seen the smoke. On entering the wood, I ascended a steep acclivity, which I had no sooner surmounted than I found myself amongst a parcel of small huts, made up of a few poles thatched over with spruce boughs, scattered here and there ; and from two or three of these it was that the smoke issued. There was not such a thing as a log-house to be seen; but f observed, that one of the huts was rather better finished than the rest, and a further distinction was allotted to it by a flag, placed upon the roof. It was evident, that none of them could have been long erected, the snow was so excessively deep, and the foot-marks so few ; however, I made my way immediately towards the one with a flag, where I found Captain Collier, of the navy ; and I had no sooner entered and in- troduced myself, than I received a very cor- dial welcome. Captain Collier immediately afforded me the assistanceof acoupleof men to build me a hut ; and^ as it was necessary at it should be ready for me to sleep in the 188 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. same night, I went back to the place where I had left my servant with the bag-gage. I told him where I would have the hut built ; and, leaving him to superintend the works and remove the things, I returned to Captain Col- lier, where I was regaled with a fine piece of boiled beef, which I was hungry enough to think excellent, though from its toughness it would hardly remain upon the fork. Captain Payne and Lieutenant Elliot, the other offi- cers appointed to the establishment, had as- sembled at the Commodore's hut, and with them I remained till nearly seven o'clock, when I left the party to attend to my own affairs. I had directed my hut to be erected on the summit of the brow which rose close from the bay ; and when I returned to the spot I found my servant busily arranging my differ- ent articles of property in an edifice which, if not equal in splendour to the renowned palace of Aladdin, had been, at least, completed nearly in as little time. By the help of a few poles and cedar boughs, I had now, such as it was, a house of my own. There were RESIDENCE IX THE WOODS. 189 at least two sides with a back part, and the front was open; but a brilliant fire was blaz- ing before it, big enough for the kitchen of the London Tavern, and in itself a world of comfort. The plan of the hut was not of my own contriving ; it was such as local expe- rience had determined upon, and of the fol- lowing description : the front, where the fire was burning, was six feet high and eight feet broad ; but the roof dipped towards the extreme end^ which was only four feet high ; and the length was exactly ten feet. The snow had been well cleared away from the bottom, and, being banked up, it helped to support the poles which formed the frame- work. A bundle of spruce boughs laid across the extreme end, with a sack of potatoes for my pillow, formed my bed ; and if I had no door opposite, all the cold that got in neces- sarily passed through the fire and smoke. My baggage, — that is, a very small valise, a gun case, and some other little packages, — was easily disposed of within these narrow limits^ and every thing was perfectly ready for my repose soon after dark. My servant 190 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I had got attached to the shipwrights' mess, — a noisy set of fellows, crammed altogether within very small compass, and among them some singers, the sound of whose voices I used frequently to hear at night as I sat by myself. March 1st. — Early this morning I pro- vided myself with one of the workmen's axes, and began^ by way of practice, to cut down trees ; and there were many ways of turning this exercise to account. Of all things, I was the most anxious to keep the smoke out of my hut, and contrived various methods for the purpose, but unfortunately- all without effect ; so not succeeding in my first object, I set about making a bedstead. To this end I got four short, upright, forked pieces, upon which I placed poles across, tying them with strips of the bark of the bass tree, wove in longwise and across, so as to make a tolerable substitute for a ticking, on which I might lie before the fire high and dry ; on this I placed a mat- tress of spruce boughs, and altogether, with my buffalo skin for a covering, I rested com- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 191 fortably. — The bass tree has a remarkably tough, stringy bark, which rips easily from the trunk, and is so strong and flexible, that it serves all common purposes of rope. The wood, at the same time, is almost as soft as a cabbage-stalk, and very white. My time was so much occupied, that I was hardly sensible of the progress of the day, and I went on chopping and working till late in the afternoon. In the evening a gang of Canadian axe-men arrived from York to place themselves at my disposal ; and this event, in the infant state of the establishment, was a great relief to me. Log-buildings were the first desiderata, in order to get ourselves under cover and to provide for the reception of stores, utensils, &c., such as in the uncertainty of events might at any future period arrive. These men hutted themselves before night, and some provisions, which had been brought with the party, were well thatched over with cedar boughs for temporary security. My own comestibles were scanty ; I generally relied upon being able to fare where others could, and had not provided myself nearly as well 192 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. as I might. My baggage, witli the excep- tion of the very small proportion brought with me, was at Halifax, to be forwarded by the first ships in the spring to Quebec ; and as to seeing a particle of that, I might rest quite contented I should not before the mid- dle of June at the soonest. With most orna- mental articles of dress I could just now very well dispense ; but I felt fortunate in having with me my double-barrelled gun, which had been dragged over the snow on the tobogins, and was quite ready for the birds of the country, so soon as ever they might make their appearance. None of the feathered tribe were yet to be seen, except some wood- peckers, and a few packs of snow birds, or '' sna fools," as one of the shipwrights, who was a Scotchman, used to call them. March 2nd. — Early in the morning opera- tions for buildinglog-houses were commenced. I decided at once on a spot for my own resi- dence, — on the top of the brow, close above the bay ; and all the trees which stood in my way I intended one by one to chop down, and so go on improving in beauty the front of my RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 193 dwelling till the spring should embellish the ground with flowers and verdure. The logs for my house were soon ready, and the work began : the dimensions were twenty-one feet by eighteen. As I was at work close to the water's edge, I found a large iron pot with three short legs. As it lay there without an owner, I felt the value of the services it was capable of perform- ing, so desired my servant to remove it to my hut; and his ingenuity, by its assistance, provided me the same evening with a very good loaf of bread. He placed the iron pot on hot embers, having laid a large piece of tin, taken oifone of the packages, over the mouth as a lid, and upon this he had strewed more embers. The loaf was supported in the middle of the vessel, between the two fires, ipon cross sticks, and in this way a tolerably food oven was constructed. The Canadians were now all busily em- ployed in a work — that of erecting log-houses -the simplicity and rapidity of which afforded edifying lesson; and the facility altogether K 194 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. of rearing a house from the ground to its summit appeared to be truly astonishing. To the Canadian labourer, accustomed to the use of the axe from his childhood, the felling a tree is the act of a few minutes. He can drop it whichever way he pleases, divesting it of its limbs and adapting it for its place in the wall of the building with equal dex- terity. Standing upon the fallen tree, with his foot in such a position as would appear liable to be split to the instep at every blow, he strikes directly under it boldly and care- lessly, thus making a large notch which enters, perhaps, half the thickness of the tree quite perpendicular. When the trees are all notched, nothing remains but to lay them in their places one upon another, or ' the raising" as it is called. This done, the house is finished^ and the tenant walks in, — happy if he has a door with a latch ready, and a window-frame with half a dozen panes of glass in it. Nothing then remains, but to plaster and calk with mud and moss pro re natd. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 195 By occasionally overlooking the men at work, and by working as - hard as I could myself, I found the day pass quite agreeably, and was fatigued enough always before night. One of the huts in our knot was that of an officer, who commanded a detachment of Canadian fencibles; another, that of Captain Payne, of the royal engineers ; besides the Commodore's, with the red flag. But each of us had separate objects to employ his time ; so that for a few days we saw very little in- deed of each other. Captain Collier, espe- cially, was generally absent all day, employed in surveying the shores and taking the sound- ings of the bay. March 3rd. — The weather, fortunately, was exceedingly fine, and the soft deep snow diminished sensibly under the influence of a brilliant sun. At the same time it was quite impossible to keep the feet dry, and I was wet through the whole of every day. This, however, did me no manner of harm ; nor did I ever hear of any one of our party being otherwise than in perfect health, which was K 2 I 196 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. the more fortunate as we had no doctor among us. I have no doubt that the warmth kept up by the additional covering worn un- der the mocassins, which I have somewhere before described, was the means of counter- acting the ill effects of the wet ; and I believe that so long as the feet can be kept warm^ no harm will ever ensue from damp : it is the cold which does the mischief The most de- licate subject is not afraid of a warm bath ; nor ever complains of having been wet through, though he be half an hour in water up to the ears ! I worked all day with my axe, and had al- ready let in a fine view of the bay, which was about a couple of hundred yards below me. My labour was repaid by every tree that fell ; I improved in the use of the axe, and the whole aspect of things seemed more cheerful. Still I had no bed other than the spruce boughs which I strewed on my newly made bedstead ; so that there was good room for improvement, and a great deal to be done towards completing my little establishment. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 197 March 4th. — The weather this day was much milder than usual, and the sun con- tinued to shine all day. March 5th. — A rapid thaw took place this day, attended with slight showers of rain. I was gratified by the appearance of a couple of crossbills, whose arrival I greeted as the harbingers of spring. The little creatures had probably flown a great way, being so tame from fatigue as to allow me to approach within three or four yards of them. The temperature was now nearly warm, and the weather seemed to be thoroughly breaking. Large ponds of clear water began to cover all parts of the bay, and the snow was so wet and slushy as to make walking intolerably bad ; at the same time it was so deep that it was difficult to make any progress without snow-shoes. A pair hung up in my hut, but I had a horror of them ; and as I had no im- mediate object to induce me to visit distant spotS) I waited till a change in the surface of the ground should render locomotion more practicable. Now there was a prospect 198 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. of this. A hard frost would lay a crust upon the snow, when I might walk as far as I pleased : and this reflection was not a little agreeable. In the mean time my log-house was finished, and at a very little distance from my hut; but, as the weather was warm^ T grew so fastidious as to determine not to move into it before it was well covered with shingles, — a sort of covering for the sides and roof, of the same kind, but more effectual than weather boarding. As there were no trees quite fit for making these in the immediate neighbourhood, I gave directions to one of the men to go through the woods the next morning in order to 'find some that would answer the purpose.— In the evening, much to my gratification^ a sharp frost set in. March 6th. — In the morning the aspect of the country was altogether and totally changed. The snow was covered with a glassy coating of ice, and the whole of the bay was nearly frozen over. The pools of clear water th^ day before were so large and nume- rous, that an uninterrupted communication RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 199 from one to the other presented itself to the eye ; and as there was no wind in the nighty the ice upon them was clear and good. P Instead of my mocassins, I put on a pair of shoes, to which I had been for a long time unused, and going down to the bay, sat down upon a large stone to put on my skates. It was a lovely morning ; the sun shone quite bright, while the frost was remarkably keen^ In a very few minutes I was carried rapidly along towards the opposite shore. The glow of exercise, the lively rattle of the skates, and the sensation produced by the fresh air, combined to embellish the novelty of the scene before me, as I ranged with unlimited freedom over the clear ice that extended all across the bay. Every object around me was unexplored, while I had the means of being conveyed, as l^yt were on wings, from one to the other. I had been confined for many weeks, either sitting still half frozen in a carriage the whole of the day, or, since my arrival in the forest, com- pletely weather-bound. For a long period I had never been thoroughly warm, only barely i 200 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. able to subdue cold, and had seldom during the whole day felt a dry stocking on my foot. My blood was now in full circulation, and the interest I felt in every thing around me was so great, that the sun had nearly reached the tops of the trees before I thought of returning to my dwelling. I had looked almost into every quarter of the bay, which was about seven miles long and from two to three across, and was at last quite tired when I discovered an object which attracted my attention. There was, at a distance on the ice, what appeared to be a mound of earth thrown up, — an appearance, under present circum- stances, not to be readily accounted for ; so I made towards it that I might see what it was. As I approached within a few hundred yards, I thought I perceived it move a little, and, halting for a moment, I saw that that was really the case. It was of a light-brown colour ; but the figure was so indistinct, that while I watched it attentively I could not de- cide what it could possibly be. A bear would have been blacker, and I knew of no living RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 201 creature of these regions answering its de scription. But, whatever it might be, there it was, and it was therefore necessary to be a little cautious, as I had no arms, in approach- ing it. I stood for some seconds thinking what I should do, and had almost determined to go home for my gun, when I saw the hide which caused all my speculation thrown sud- denly aside to make way for the head and shoulders of an Indian, who protruded his rough matted locks into daylight from under it. This solved the problem in a moment, and I saw that the man had been employed in fishing, and had so completely enveloped himself in a large buffalo skin that no part of his body, head, feet, or hands, were to be discovered. He sat over a square hole cut in the ice, with a short spear ready to transfix any fish which might be attracted by his bait. The hole was about a foot square, and the bait was an artificial fish of white wood, with leaden eyes and tin fins, and about eight or nine inches long. The ice where he had cut it was about three feet thick. K 3 202 RESIDENCE IN TH!^ WOODS. Being within a few yards of him, I com- menced a parley by signs, for he did not ap- pear to understand a word of English ; but he seemed to wish me anywhere else, and to be much annoyed at being interrupted in his occupation. As my object was to pa- cify him, I gave him a small ball of twine I had in my pocket, and with this he was highly gratified ; much more so, however, by my skates, which he viewed with marks of great astonishment. He looked narrowly at the straps which bound them to my feet; but when I made him acquainted with their use, there were no bounds to his delight : at the same time he kept his own interest in view ; for he tried to persuade me to give him a piece of a red shirt of flannel which I wore, to make a bait with. This I refused, by shaking my head and saying '^ No, no!" rather loudly ; but he kept on entreating, taking^ hold of a corner of the collar with his finger and thumb. I persisted in refusing, and kept him off. But he was not so easily answered, and offered me his knife, giving me RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 203 to understand I might cut it from what part of the garment I pleased. So, shaking him by the hand and patting his shaggy locks, I skated away, leaving him to pursue his occu- pation for the rest of the evening. On my return home I found that some cedar trees, fit for the purpose of making shingles, had been fixed upon in a part of the forest near the water's edge ; that they had been felled, cut into lengths, and removed by means of small hand sleighs purposely pre- pared for them, and that the operation of split- ting had already been commenced. These shingles are pieces of wood as I may have already observed resembling tiles, with which the roofs and sides of the better sort of houses are covered. As to houses, it may be gene- rally remarked, that in these wild parts of the country, talking of a house, one composed simply of logs is understood, and if the idea of a more civilized dwelling is intended to be expressed, a frame house is the term made use of, which means one made with beams and rafters in the regular way. But to return 204 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. to the shingles. They are by far better than weather boarding, in which, if a single nail by accident becomes displaced or loose, the evil extends more or less the whole length of the board_, while the shingle, being smaller, fits close, and is less liable to warp. March 7th. — The frost continued, and the cold increased to a very low temperature, the effect of which, upon the extended sheet of ice which covered the bay, was somewhat re- markable. It cracked and split from one end to the other with a noise which might have been mistaken for distant artillery ; but this, when it is taken into consideration that the sheet of ice was of fifteen or sixteen square miles area, and three feet thick, may be easily imagined. Nor was this all; I was occa- sionally surprised by sounds produced by the wind, indescribably awful and grand. Whe- ther the vast sheet of ice was made to vibrate and bellow like the copper which generates the thunder of the stage, or whether the air rushing through its cracks and fissures pro- duced the noise, I will not pretend to say; RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 205 still less to describe the various intonations which in every direction struck upon the ear. A dreary undulating sound wandered from point to point, perplexing the mind to imagine whence it came, or whither it went, whether aerial or subterraneous ; sometimes like low moaning, and then swelling -into a deep-toned note, as produced by some^olian instrument : it being, in real fact, and with- out metaphor, the voice of winds imprisoned on the bosom of the deep. This night I listened for the first time to what was then perfectly new to me, although I experienced its repetition on many subsequent occasions, whenever the temperature fell very sud- denly. The weather being so excessively severe, I had added an extra covering of spruce boughs to my hut, by means of which, and the profusion of logs which I heaped upon my fire, I was better defended from its effects. Nevertheless, I was oblio^ed to rise before daylight, and heap on eight or ten more, which lay ready for the occa- sion, each of them as big as I could conve- niently lift. 206 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. March 8th. — The air continued intensely- cold, so that, in spite of the sun, the most violent exercise was necessary to preserve warmth. In the mean time my log-house, a palace compared to the hut I was in, was to be ready before night, and the whole of the day I felled trees, cut them into logs, haul- ing them in, and piling them up in my new parlour ; and the next morning I was to take possession. I lay down to rest on my spruce boughs at night, satisfied with my day's work, and pleased with my intended change of dwelling. March 9th. — I rose in the morning exhi- larated by my projected movement, and the weather at the same time seemed to smile upon my operations ; for the wind having changed to another quarter, the warmth of the sun so mellowed the air, that it was pos- sible to stand still and look at surrounding objects without feeling inconvenience from the cold. I got every thing ready, and my packages were soon tied together and distri- buted in separate burdens on the snow at the outside of my hut. My servant, with two or RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 207 three of the Canadians, had arrived to carry them oflf, when an Indian, who carried a pair of snow-shoes in his hand, as if he had just concluded a long journey, unexpectedly made his appearance. After some fidgeting, he produced an official letter, from under his shirt, which he had brought from York. The cover was just strong enough for the service it had to perform, being worn through and through at every corner. I opened my letter and read my instructions to leave the establishment at Penetangushene, where I was, and return by the road I had come to Kempenfeldt Bay, and there await further orders. ^' Ibi omnis effuaus labor T Not a green leaf then should I probably ever see on the banks of Lake Muron. My new dwelling and my avenues were to be aban- doned. The wood I had piled with my own hands I should never stay to burn, and all that now remained was to make preparations for immediate departure. The Indian had also brought letters for Captain Collier and Capt. Payne, conveying similar instructions. 208 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. The whole establishment was to be broken up, and all parties were to return nearer to- wards Quebec. On communicating together, we agreed to start at the same time the next morning. The Canadians immediately were employed in making hand-sleighs for the conveyance of the baggage of the party over the ice, and as far as the state of the snow, on the road through the forest, might permit. March 10th. — The morning broke with a dry sparkling frost, and an hour after sun- rise, the whole party was ready. The hand- sleighs were laden, each to be drawn by one man, by means of a double trace crossing over the breast. We bid adieu to the huts and the log-houses, and Captain Collier, Lieut. Elliot, and myself, together with the Cana- dians and shipwrights, walked away over the ice, the same way we had come, towards the mouth of the bay. After walking some distance, I was enabled to skate for a few miles, and regretted I had not made the ex- periment sooner, for the ice became so rough RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 203 that it was then impossible. The hand- sleighs passed lightly over the hard surface, and the men who drew them were in most jovial spirits. They whistled, sang, and ran races with each other along the ice, over- setting some of the sleighs, and breaking others, till a few miles' walk brought them to a more moderate tone of merriment. Such is the natural love of change, that we are made happy by it without knowing why or wherefore ! But these men were doomed to receive before long a serious lesson, and lament the waste of strength, which they would have been wiser to reserve for the end of their walk. From the sleighs broken in these frolics, the loads were transferred to others, and the delay occasioned by the accident was in each case made up by a hard run to catch the party _, who went, not like a troop of dragoons, according to the powers of the slowest horse, but on the contrary^ as if every body had entered into a quiet sort of de- termination within himself to walk away from his neighbour if he could. And thus, with- 210 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. out giving or taking compliments, every body made the best of his way. This wsls all very well, so long as the solid rough ice afforded a firm and not a slippery foot- ing, but we came at last to the edge of the forest, where the road was altogether differ- ent. The surface of the snow was here so ex- ceedingly uneven, owing to the soft weather which had prevailed for some days before, that it was now utterly impossible to pull the hand-sleighs along. During the gambols of the English ship- wrights, the Canadians had kept together, going all the while a steady pace ; and now, for the first time, they and all the party halted. Liberte, a Canadian, a man in whose face the extremes of health and ugliness were com- bined, was the first at this juncture to prepare opposition to the dilemma. Liberte was evidently, in blood, half a savage ; either by the father's or mother's side, he was the son of an Indian. His constitution was strong as that of a bear. Heedless of cold, a known and tried pedestrian, his short, thick figure RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 211 betokened incalculable strength, and his swarthy features showed a tinge too dark and fixed to be discomposed by common causes. He had suffered grievously from the small- pox, and he had only one eye, the other hav- ing been gouged * out about two years before by the thumb of a friend in a drunken squab- ble. This man was in a moment on his knees unpacking the things in the sleighs and tying several of the bundles together, till he made a load as large as himself. This, with the assistance of the other men_, he placed on his shoulders, steadying it at the same time by a broad leathern, belt which bore on his fore- head. Leaning his head backwards while the knot was fixing, as soon as all was ready, with the strength of a two-year-old bull, he darted forward with a plunging effort, sup- porting nearly the whole of the weight * The American practice of ^' gouging " may not be generally known; it is particularly simple, and very particularly cruel. The combatant first twists his an- tagonist's hair firmly round his fingers, and having done so, takes advantage of the strong purchase thus afforded, and then — pokes out his eye with his thumb. 212 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. upon his broad, thick neck; and then, at a strong shuffling trot, he soon advanced many paces away from the party on his route through the forest. A very small por- tion of time was sufficient for the foregoing operation, and the rest of the Canadians, fol- lowing the example of Liberte, were not less expeditious. The English shipwrights, too, did the same with their baggage ; but, being less accus- tomed to this mode of carrying burdens, they took necessarily some more time to make their arrangements. They made their hand- kerchiefs serve for the forehead strap, and coatrived to divide the articles among them- selves, so as to leave none behind ; but not- withstanding, things were quite changed since the commencement of the journey. They grumbled and swore whenever one by accident ran against the other, making him trip or discomposing his load. They were now no longer the same reckless boisterous crew, but whenever by accident their cords grew loose and required tightening, they RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 213 asked for assistance, and addressed each other in a civil modulated tone. They strained hard to keep up with the Cana- dians, and, being strong athletic fellows, were not left far behind, although they la- boured grievously to maintain their place in the line of march. At last it became abso- lutely necessary to keep the men together, for which purpose one of the Canadians was sent a-head to desire those in advance to mo- derate their pace ; for, unused as the English shipwrights were to a description of labour commonly adopted by the native Canadians in the country, it was soon evident that little progress would be made that day. And^it was with great difficulty that, with the fre- quent delays to adjust the loads, and the very slow pace at best travelled, we were able altogether to reach the uninhabited hut where I had slept on my journey up, ten miles from Yeo river. Our party took pos- session of this, while the Canadians and shipwrights repaired to another, which the former had made on their way to Penetan- gushene, and which was close by ours. It SH RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. was impossible to sleep a great part of the night, owing to the noise they made. The men, it appeared, were carousing; and their loud peals of laughter were only interrupted by the songs which they^ one after another, were called upon to sing. English and Canadians were unusually harmonious and friendly, and so we allowed them to follow their own devices, hoping that by and by the anticipation of another day's journey might bring them to reason. March 11th. — We had twenty miles to go this day to Kempenfeldt Bay, and the travel- ling was not particularly bad. We were all ready at an early hour, although the ship- wrights were far from lively. They argued about their loads, and the manner of securing them ; for some of them were indeed very heavily laden. This was not all ; for very few were quite sober. Those who were sober, were ill. One looked half asleep, an- other's eyes seemed starting out of his head ; and all, it might fairly be said, were setting off under most unfavourable auspices. Nature seemed to be sinking within them, and they RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 215 Stopped to rest every quarter of an hour. Big drops of perspiration stood on the fore- heads of those who lagged behind, while the foremost, heedless of every thing but them- selves, left them to plod on alone. Thus, during the first two hours of the march, short as the journey was before us, it was by no means evident how long its accomplish- ment might take, owing to the large bundles, and the former evening's jollification. But by degrees the iron frames of these men overcame all their ailments ; they rallied, and cheered up, till some even joined in chorus with the Canadians, who sang as they travelled, and made the forest ring with the sound of their voices. We arrived at Kempenfeldt Bay in very good time. Cap- tain Collier, Lieut. Elliot, and myself, took possession of the log-house where I had slept on the night of the 26th of February, and the men were disposed of in another building of the same description, which had been erected close by for the purpose of de- positing stores belonging to the navy. Lieut. Elliot was kind enough to lend me a ham- 216 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. mock, of the use of which I availed myself with the more readiness as I had been sleep- ing every night in my clothes for a long time. The advantage^ however, was purchased at some cost, for I had a severe fall, by which I not only cut my head, but demolished a good watch. The latter was at the time the most serious evil of the two. March 12th to 14th. — The weather during these three days was clear and cold ; and as the bay was covered with good ice, I was en- abled to skate over a considerable extent. All parties were waiting their instructions, and I felt in such a state of uncertainty, that I was for the time rather indifferent to every thing. Letters were, however, at last received, which decided the fate of my companions. They were ordered to York, while a private com- munication gave me reason to expect that I should have to remain a considerable time where I was. March 15th. — At an early hour this morn- ing. Captain Collier, Lieut. Elliot, and the whole party of shipwrights, were ready for their journey to York, leaving me in sole RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 217 possession of the log house I was in. I accompanied the party to the beech and a little way. over the ice, when, wishing them a good journey, I returned back alone to my solitary detiiesnes. The fire had been neglected in the bustle of departure, and had got low ; remnants of packages and rubbish lay strewed about ; my Canadians were at work at some dis- tance in the woods ; and nothing disturbed the loneliness and silence of the place. The building consisted of a single room of six- teen feet by twelve. The sides and roof were rude logs laid one upon another, and calked in so insufficient a manner, that the sky was visible in more places than I was able to count. The door, of thin deal, was too ill fitted to fill its frame, and the remain- ing light which entered the apartment passed through a small window containing four panes of green inferior glass. — A gloomy feeling invariably envelopes the mind, upon finding oneself suddenly deserted, as it were, and alone. Without stopping to think why, the very act of saying '* good bye," and turning south while I 218 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. a friend or acquaintance walks away to the north, is always sufficient to produce this sensation in a slight degree, and now, at this instant I did indeed feel inclined to despond. But a remedy, the best of all others, imme- diately suggested itself. I seized my axe, and, by a couple of hours' hard work in the woods, reaped the benefit of my prescrip- tion. Returning to my house through the snow, I found my servant had put everything in order. The fire was replenished, and my simple repast was nearly ready. What was to be done ? I had no books ; and if I had, my house was too cold to sit still in. Read- ing, therefore, was out of the question. I fashioned a couple of forked boughs with my axe, and fastened them with a cord in a warm place over the fire, to support my gun, which I had taken out of its case^ and put together ; and, confiding in the private communication I had received, I resolved to fancy myself settled at least for some time to come in my present abode. The house of the Canadians was about 150 yards from RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 219 mine ; and with these men, my servant, whose services I seldom needed, resided. When I wanted his assistance, I opened my door, and shouted. If the wind hap- pened to set the right way, my summons was heard, — if not, I was obliged to wade through the slushy snow, to fetch him. Rising soon after daylight, I immediately breakfasted ; dined at noon, and supped at sunset. To prepare these meals cost little trouble ; my toilette less ; and the wood for my fire I chopped and piled myself; keeping the latter always alive both day and night. I began to make a bedstead, such as I had at Penetangushene, and spread moss and spruce boughs before the fire to dry, intend- ing to make a bed whereon I could lie undressed, so soon as the bedstead was finished ; for I had, besides my buffalo skin, four small blankets, as many sheets, and a strong rug. These arrangements took up nearly the whole of the day, and served to banish the apathy which, in the morning, had almost rendered me incapable of any tcupation. 220 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. March 16th. — Before noon I had perfectly finished my bedstead, and heaped upon it as many spruce boughs and moss as I considered necessary, confining the whole by a long cord made ofstripsofbarktied together, and wound round and round till the whole was tight and compact. It was soft withal to lie upon. This done, I first laid on my buffalo skin, then my sheets and blankets — and all was ready. A large bundle of spruce boughs also, confined with strips of bark, made a good pillow. Hav- ing thus provided for my rest, I took my gun off the newly arranged hooks over the fire, and sallied forth into the forest, in hopes of find- ing anything to shoot, no matter what, that would come in my way. The snow was frozen hard, but the top, thawed by the sun of the morning, was so soft, that sometimes I sank in up to my knees. Walking was exces- sively heavy and difficult, and the solitary appearance of the woods moderated my expectation of success. I wore mocassins <luring my walk now, as I did at all other times, except when obliged to wear shoes for the purpose of skating. The tracks of RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 2*21 squirrels were abundant, and I saw also some woodpeckers speckled with white and scar- let; and I perceived on the snow the track of a larger bird, which, as it was quite fresh, I followed for a good way. It turned back- wards and forwards and round and round, twisting about the trees in such a manner that I had much difficulty to follow the track, and was on the point of giving up the pursuit, when I heard the sound, close by me, as of a pheasant rising into a tree. Turning round, I saw the partridge I had been pursuing, sitting on a bough, and shot him. An un- sportsmanlike act, certainly ! but to be justi- fied, not only by present circumstances, but by the stupid disposition of the bird, which nothing can persuade to fly. A pound of any sort of fresh meat was a prize not by any means to be neglected. This was a beginnings in the way of partridge shooting. With game in the woods, there was an end of solitude ; wherefore, blowing upon the feathers of the bird, and minutely examining his wounds- and plumage, I put him into my pocket, with the intention of having him, ere long,. 2*22 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS, twirling at the end of a string- before my fire. There are two sorts of these birds in this part of the country. The birch par- tridge, such as the one I had just killed, and the spruce. The former is the larger of the two, and the size of an English grouse. The bones are very slight, and the flesh white, and so extremely delicate as to render it impossible to carry it suspended by the head. The body literally tears off by its own weight and the motion. The spruce partridge is a little smaller than the birch ; the flesh, much firmer and darker coloured, bears a strong flavour of the spruce fir. Both sorts perch on trees, and are fringed to the feet with feathers. I pursued my walk, in the course of which I shot also a squirrel and a woodpecker, fol- lowing the course of a ravine, at the bottom of which the snow lay in some places unusually deep. Here and there, in parts more ex- posed to the sun, a stream might be detected gurgling through its deep, hollow channel, while the crackling surface, and the icicles which crowned the points of protruding RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 223 rocks, bore evidence of the severe alterna- tions of temperature. On the summit of the banks, in the warmest and most sheltered spots, the ground was already quite bare, and the green points of the early succulent plants were preparing to burst forth into their first leaves. The buds, too, on some of the trees, were distinctly visible. Thus, while the snow was distributed all over the woods in unequal proportion, so as to con- fine one's progress within small limits, the increasing power of the sun continued to diminish every day more and more the mass, giving additional strength to the consolatory hopes of approaching spring. March 17th. — This was a very tempes- tuous day. An unusually high wind hurried along clouds of small drifting snow, which penetrated the sides and roof of my house from top to bottom. Not a dry place was to be found in it ; and upon my table, which stood close to the fire, I could write my name with my finger in the covering of snow which, like powder, lay upon it. The temperature, too, was exceedingly low. I 224 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. Finding it impossible to stay in the house, I took my axe and went to the most shel- tered spot that I could find in the forest, where I worked, without stopping, till I made myself warm, when I returned home to dinner. The partridge served me for supper the evening before, and now the squirrel and woodpecker were put before me in a pudding. The squirrel, being well peppered, tasted like a rabbit, and, I believe, was perfectly good eating, some- thing, however, told me that it was not right to eat the little animal, nor could I overcome my scruples. For the woodpecker, I had no compunction, nor was it necessary that I should ; the colour of his flesh was sufficient protection, as black as that of an owl — abso- lute carrion ! besides being lean and stringy. I consoled myself, however, by thinking that I was only a loser by the weight he carried on his bones, which was so little, that it did not much signify. March 18th.— This day I walked out again with my gun. I saw a flock of twenty or thirty birds about the size of fieldfares, su t RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 225 or a little bigger, and somewhat resembling them in flight and action. They kept to-^ gether on the tops of one tree after another,, and on my pursuing them were very shy^. and persisted in keeping out of distance. At the same time they were extremely noisy, and some of them were always chat- tering, while others whistled. I got near enough to see that their plumage was chiefly blue, and at last shot a straggler, as he flew over my head. I found he was a blue jay, a bird resembling the English jay in shape, and having also a similar black mark on the aws. New sounds and new colours now tended to enliven the solitary scene around me, as each feathered stranger thus established his summer residence in the neighbourhood of ly dwelling. The forest was day by day ore embellished by their brilliant plumage. t was beautiful to see the birds welcoming the budding leaf by a happy return from their long winter's banishment. The eye followed their flitting track through the air, L 3 I 226 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. * while the ear listened to notes lovely in themselves, and till then unheard. March 19th. — This day I went out shoot- ing", but, owing to the violence of the wand, was actually obliged to return home. Indeed it was a service of danger to walk, for the dead branches, from the tops of the trees, tumbled about my ears so frequently, that I had great difficulty to avoid them. The gale produced serious effects on every side. Some large decayed limbs fell, newly broken, to the ground, while others, long since severed and suspended among the boughs of their neighbours, now loosened their hold. The crash of trees falling around was so frequent as to be really astonishing. Indeed, in calmer days I have often reflected on this subject. Even in the finest weather, hardly a quarter of an hour passes in a North American forest, when, if one listens, a tree is not heard to fall to the ground ; so often, as^ apparently, ill to accord with the extended duration of vegetative life. But the event is reconcileable hy analogy with human existence. Some- times the sweeping hurricane, like a virulent K RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 227 disorder of our race, levels the tenants of the forest prematurely with the earth; — but Time ever stalks abroad, closing days and nturies. And here, in the dense assem- lao'eof the woods, where such unnumbered multitudes exist, though these instances of mortality be at all times occurring, each fall, with reference to the numbers within hear- ing, is but as the village bell that daily tolls unregarded, the knell of more short-lived man. * * * Having returned home to my house, such as it was, I had scarcely arrived when a snow-storm set in_, which lasted the whole of the day. I had but little occasion for a candle in the evening: if I had, it would not have been possible to keep one burning. My blazing, companionable fire afforded light for all present purposes, and I heaped on a pile of maple logs sufficient to set the tempest at defiance ; for winter seem- ed to have recommenced in all its rigours. March 20th. — Very early this morning I was awakened by a scratching at my door ; and on listening attentively, distinctly heard the feet of some animal which evidently had i 228 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. an intention of making its way into the bouse. It put its nose to the bottom of the door, snuffling and whining from eagerness, after the manner, as I thought, of a dog. Con- ceiving it might possibly be either a bear or a wolf, without stopping to put on my clothes, I seized my gun, which was ready loaded over the fire, and keeping my eyes upon the door, which was of such very thin deal, and so im- perfectly fastened by a wooden latch, that I could place no confidence whatever in its strength, I remained still a moment or tw^o, not making up my mind exactly what to do. My window was fixed, and the glass so bad, that light would barely pass through it. As to distinguishing any object on the other side, that was quite impossible. There was many a hole in the house of which I might have availed myself, but it was scarcely daybreak^ and therefore too dark to discern anything without. So I threw a small log or two upon the fire to blaze up, thinking it best to re- main where I was, even in case the creature might happen to break into the house, when I should be sure to have a fair shot at it. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS'. 229 Scarcely a minute had elapsed from the very beginning, before I concluded, from the sound, the perseverance, and total absence of fear of the animal, that it must be a dog» and nothing else ; so I opened the door very little and with extreme caution, and disco- vered, to my surprise and satisfaction, that I was right; for a dog it was; and in an in- stant, a brown, rough water-spaniel bounced into my room, overjoyed at having reached a human habitation. To account at once for the circumstance : — My house was but little removed out of the line of march of the North- west traders ; to one of which persons, as I afterwards discovered, the dog belonged ; and, having lost his master, had wandered through the forest, till he came by chance to my dwelling. , Happy to have a companion, — an honest friend, — whether from the clouds or else- where, no matter, — I greeted him with a most cordial welcome; and wishing his former master, whoever he might be, all sorts of worldly prosperity, my only hope was, that he might never show his face in my neigh- I 230 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. bourhood ; and I put a string round the neck of the dog. The poor fellow was, on his part, just as happy to see me as a dog could well be. He frisked and jumped, wagging his tail, and licking my hands, while his elo- quent eyes, plainly as letters engraved on brass, besought me to make trial of the merits of one ready, on his part, to execute a bond of allegiance. I showed him my gun, holding it down low to his nose ; upon which, as he held his head back, a sagacious glance of re- cognition ratified the treaty. Calling imme- diately for my servant, I got my breakfast; not forgetting my new guest. I had nothing for myself butbread and salt pork, which I shared with him. He ate voraciously, having been, apparently, a long time without food. I tried all the names of dogs, in order to see to which he answered best ; and at last fancied that he attended most to that of Rover. So Rover, at all events, I determined to call him. To sportsmen, at least, it may be readily- imagined that no time was expended in use- less preparation, before we sallied forth together, without farther ceremony, in quest RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 231 of game, into the forest. The snow in the woods was crisp from the night's frost; the sun was just rising in a clear sky. I, that yesterday had no resource but to track a poor unfortunate bird by its footsteps, had now my gun on my shoulder, my dog before me, and the best of a fine day unexpended. The haunts of a description of game, of which I was totally ignorant, were evidently familiar to my dog; and as he quartered his ground from right to left, I felt the most eager interest and curiosity in the pursuit. I had walked about half an hour, when he suddenly quested ; and on going up to him, I found him at the edge of a swamp, among a clump of white cedar trees, on one of which he had evidently treed some description of bird ; for he was looking stedfastly up into the tree, and barking v/ith the utmost eagerness. 1 looked attentively, but nothing whatever could I discover. I walked round the tree, and round again, then observed the dog, whose eyes were evidently directly fixed upon the object itself, and still was disappointed by perceiving nothing. In the mean time. 232 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. the dog, working himself up to a pitch of impatience and violence, tore with his paws the trunk of the tree_, and bit the rotten sticks and bark, jumping and springing up at inter- vals towards the game ; and five minutes had at least elapsed in this manner, when all at once I saw the eye of the bird. There he sat, or rather stood, just where Rover's eyes were fixed, in an attitude so extraordinary and steady, with outstretched neck and body drawn out to an unnatural length, that twenty times must I have overlooked him, mistaking him for a dead branch, which he most closely resembled. About twenty feet from the ground he sat on a bough, eight or ten feet from the body of the tree. So, retreating to a little distance, I shot him. This done, I pursued my way, and in the course of the morning killed four more partridges, which I came upon much in the same way as I did upon the first. My larder was now hand- somely stocked with game. The snow was as usual very soft in the middle of the day, so that I never was otherwise than quite wet through about the feet and legs. To have a RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 233 Louse of my own, however, and the advan- tage of an excellent fire, by far more than compensated for other inconveniences, and I felt a growing interest in everything about me. March 21st. — During the whole of this day the weather was particularly mild, but the hard night frosts continued to preserve the vast quantities of snow, with which the ground and the ice in the bay were covered. I went out again with my dog for a few hours in the morning, and brought in some more partridges. Atone of these my gun flashed three times without his attempting to move, after which I drew the charge, loaded again, and killed him. The doo- all the time was barking and baying with great perseverance. There is no limit to the stupidity of these partridges, and it is by no means unusual, on finding a whole covey on a tree in the au- tumn, to begin by shooting the bird which happens to sit lowest, and then to drop the one above him, and so on till all are killed ; this has very often been done. March 22nd. — ^I'he Canadians for the last 234 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. few days were employed in making a landing- place or wharf for boats of pine logs, and had been put to inconvenience from the want of a file to set a large cross cut saw ; so I had despatched Liberte across the lake, to New- market, in order to purchase half a dozen at Mr. Peter Robinson's shop. It was a long- way to send for a few files, forty-seven miles thither, and forty-seven back, in such weather, particularly as the snow on the bay was so very deep and slushy that nobody but such a being as Liberte would have ventured to go across, the danger of breaking into holes at this season of the year being very great. However, this day^ back he came, having made the journey in a very short time, though I do not recollect the precise number of hours he was on his way. Liberte gave me the files, and at the same time produced a large piece of the flesh of a bear which some In- dians, whom he had met on the way, had given to him. It was a great lump of black- looking meat, very much like horse-flesh, without the least particle of fat about it; however, as I knew it was usually eaten in RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 235 the country, notwithstanding the appearance, I felt not the least objection to make an ex- periment, and had it for dinner the same day. But there was something so very dis- agreeable in the taste, so extremely fusty, as if it had been kept in a close cupboard, or a hot pocket, that, with all my inclination to dine on fresh meat, I could not eat an ounce of it. Nor could my servant touch it. Rover had no scruples of any sort, and ate the whole. March 23rd to April 2nd. — The weather was very mild during the whole of this pe- riod, although the frosts at night were regular and severe. There seemed to be really no end to the snow, which was however, on the whole, decreasing. I contrived with my gun and my axe to employ my time, and to set ennui and blue devils at defiance. I com- menced preparations for the coming of the wild fowl, of whose numbers I heard exag- gerated histories from the Canadians ; and in the sequestered spots at the edge of the bay, I cleared away trees to let in a sufficient view of the water, and, with the branches. 236 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. I made ambuscades in those places most likely for their resort. And this was an ob- ject in which I was so much interested, that it took much time and labour to carry it into execution. But I worked hard and regularly in order to have my operations finished be- fore the breaking up of the ice in the bay, which event I expected to take place in about ten days, and then, it was said, the wild fowl would come pouring in by thousands. I had already seen a great many flights of both ducks and geese, but all so remarkably high in the air, as to make it evident they were bending their course to some point very remote. April 3rd. — The day was dark and cloudy. Alternate showers of snow and sleet pene- trated the sides of my house, which was nearly as full of holes as a sieve. A little rain fell towards the evening, and the general unsettled appearance of the weather held out reasonable expectations of a speedy break up of the frost. April 4th. — Shortly after daylight, in the morning, I heard a chattering of birds close RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 237 to my house, as loud and incessant as if a thousand parrots had perched upon the neighbouring trees. I hurried on my clothes, and taking my gun in my hand^ was out of doors in the space of two or three minutes. The day was unusually soft and mild, and there was a fog so dense that I could only see a few yards before me. It was quite spring weather, and the snow was thawing as fast as it possibly could. I soon perceived that a flock of wood pigeons had settled themselves all round about me, thouo'h I was surprised at the note so little resembling that of any sort of pigeon I had ever heard. In- deed I can think of no better comparison than the one already chosen. As I ap- proached towards the busy gabbling which directed my course, the first that struck my eye were perched on the branches of a dead old tree, which was literally laden with them; They stuck all over it as thick as they could possibly sit. I no sooner caught sight of them than they immediately rose, and this movement was the sio-nal for leoions of ethers, which I could not see, to do the same. 238 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. It was unlucky that the fog was so thick, or the sight must have been grand ; there seemed to be enough to carry me away with them, house and all. I shot at them as they rose, but I was rather too late, and only killed four. However, I no sooner loaded my gun, than I perceived the stragglers flying about in circles, and settling themselves in the dif- ferent trees. I therefore continued the pur- suit, and before breakfast bagged in all twenty-two birds. This description of wood pigeon which visits the country in such pro- digious flocks, is about the size and colour of the English dove-house pigeon ; the bill is however longer, and the form of the body more tapering and slender. On the wing, the tail being also long, their shape and flight exactly resemble that of a hawk; and, like a hawk, they twist and turn among the branches of the trees with astonishing strength and rapidity. Towards the middle of the day, the sun broke out through the fog, and it became hot. The ice in the bay, covered with watery slushy snow, now began to put on an appearance of totally breaking RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 239 up. It had melted away entirely round the edges, and in some places twenty yards or more of clear water intervened between it and the shore. April 5th. — A sudden change in the wea- ther took place, and it became much colder, with frost. This day I received a communi- cation from York, by which I understood that I might for some time consider myself settled where I was, and of this I was by no means sorry, — many a situation less accord- ant with mv taste mio-ht have been devised for me. Some of my Canadians were to be dismissed, and the man who brought my let- ter had received orders to remain here and to place himself at my disposal. This man was accompanied over the ice, which was now unsound and extremely dangerous, by a respectable Scotchman, a Mr. F , who brought with him his wife and a young child. Mr. F had been persuaded to proceed thus far on a speculation, founded on the hopes of a military establishment being to be formed on the banks of Lake Huron, where he intended to commence business as 240 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. a publican, but he no sooner arrived than he discovered, that, w^hether owing to bad ad- vice, or otherwise^ he had already, *^ in taking the Red Cow, made a devil of a bull." He appeared a sober, industrious man, and I really pitied his forlorn prospects ; for, hav- ing been induced to leave a more eligible occupation, he had now gone too far to re- cede. Nevertheless he commenced felling trees for his log-house instanter^ in the mean time taking up his abode in the house with the Canadians. Those who were to depart had already gone off in high spirits, at a time when, certainly, although the frost had tem- porarily improved the state of the ice, a heavy gale of wind, had it chanced to set in, would probably have broken up every atom of it, and drow^ned the whole party. April 6th. — A tempestuous day with showers of sleet; towards the evening rather warmer, but still windy. Mr. F , in despite of the w^eather, persevered at his labour. He was a strong, able fellow, and the precision with which the long slashing cuts of his axe foUow^ed each other in the RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 241 same identical line, was extraordinary to look at. April 7th. — A cold and rainy day. April 8th. — The weather again warm and foggy. April 9th and 10th. — Cold windy weather. April 11th. — Large cracks now began to appear in the ice, traversing across and the whole length of the bay. By its extreme thickness it nevertheless held together most obstinately. Nearly the whole surface was covered with water. It was now perfectly impassable. I killed a bird about the size of a jackdaw, and very like one, except that he was only grey close round the eyes. I also shot a woodpecker, about as large as a dove, with a black mark on the jaws and a bright scarlet spot on the poll. Large patches of ground, quite clear of snow, now appeared in the woods in those places the most exposed to the sun. I discovered a quantity of wild leeks just shooting up out of the earth, of which I gathered a good many. I was unfortunate M 242 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. in this, my first essay on vegetable diet^ for they heated me to such a degree, that I was for some time afraid they had possessed some deleterious quality; but the intolerably high flavour of the plant quieted my apprehen- sions. I was in a burning fever, at the same time quite sure that I had eaten nothing but leeks. Though they abounded all over the woods, for a long time afterwards 1 was too well satisfied with my first dose ever to try another. I shot some partridges, also a striped squirrel, a harmless little creature, somewhat less than the English squirrel. April 12th. — The length of the days being considerably increased, the forest assumed every hour a more vernal appearance. Still none but the earliest trees, and those only in the warmest situations, were in forward bud. Relentless winter had not as yet loosened the ice, which bound up the waters in the bay, and every night destroyed the hopes that each morning created of an event now most wofuUy protracted. I had walked this morning, with my gun RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 243 on my shoulder, some distance from my house, considerably farther than I had ever ventured before, having come upon a spot so clear from snow, as to induce me to extend my ramble, as the day was fine, without thinking of my return. Trusting only to my footsteps, and neglecting all other means of precaution, it was not till I began to attempt to return home, that I perceived I was bewildered and unable to find my way back. I grew very eager, and hurried backwards and forwards in the hopes of being able to retrace the path by which I had arrived at the spot where I was, but to no purpose ; at last I came quite to a stand still, and very soon was completely puzzled. Very uncomfortable reflections im- mediately suggested themselves, not at all cal- culated to assist the dilemma, and these were not much relieved when, having climbed to the top of a high tree, I could see nothing but the waving summits of trees in all directions. I began to think of my own folly, and the change in my life and prospects thus effected within the space of a few short minutes. I might, by m2 214 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. good fortune, find my way back, but should I take a wrong course, the long odds were cer- tainly against me. Not to make a bad matter worse, I thought it as well to sit still and think a little, being moreover as near the summit of the tree as I could venture, without the immediate chance of breaking my neck. Having observed the highest spot of ground, and taking the best observation I could of the direction of this point, I descended and made towards it, notching the branches as I went en with my knife. Then making choice of the highest of the trees, I climbed to the top, where I received payment in full and com- pound interest for my trouble, by catching a glimpse of the ice in the bay. I very joyfully made towards it, marking the trees in my way V:S before, and, having arrived at the shore, found I was not more than three miles from my house, to which I bent my steps as straight as possible ; so much so as to toil pretty hard in clambering: over the trunks of the huo^e trees which impeded my progress, and floun- dering through the deep snow. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 245 These exertions brought to my mind indis- pensable reflections relating to the scanty way I had provided myself with clothes, for I had not calculated upon the extra wear and tear to which my manner of life subjected my wardrobe. What with working with my axe, moving and piling heavy logs, and such sort of occupations, I had been for some days past very much out at elbows: and when I got home, after this morning's adventure, the state of my dress was a matter of serious con- sideration. In climbing the trees, I had really left parts of my things sticking on the branches, from the eagerness with which I went up and down, and now that I came to take a cool survey of myself^ I found that I was literally in rags, and that too without a tailor to help me. I had_, however, needles and thread in abundance, which nothing but sheer necessity could induce me to use ; but the time was come, and I employed myself upwards of two hours in the evening, by the light of the fire, in cutting out patches, and sewing them on as well as I could. 246 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. April 13th. — I shot one of the large species of woodpeckers, in size rather larger than a carrier pigeon, with a bright scarlet crest, called by the Canadians, *' cocks of the wood." The Indians apply the scarlet feathers of this bird to many articles of ornament. This day I was very near losing my servant, who had been amusing himself, during my absence from home in the morning, by standing upon the large slabs of ice, which, having broken off from the main body, were floating at the edge of the bay. And he ferried himself about, as on a raft, with a long pole; but the piece he was upon split in the middle, and he had a hard struggle for his life, being per- fectly unable to swim, and away from all manner of assistance. He was severely bruised, and drank more water than was of service to him, so that he was very ill the rest of the day. April 14th. — I had it in contemplation some days past, to make my way through the forest to the head of the Notawasorga River, on objects connected with the duty on which RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 247 I was engaged ; and as the weather seemed to-day to favour the expedition, I applied to the Canadian, Libert^, to accompany me thither as a guide. I have already described the land communication from Kempenfeldt Bay, through the forest, to Lake Huron. Another road had, however, been cut, by which the land journey was considerably shortened, but it was in a rude state, being merely a track where the trees had been par- tially felled by the axe, and the stumps even of these very imperfectly removed. This road, making a portage of eight miles, led from the end of Kempenfeldt Bay, straight to the Notawasorga River. Thence stores of all descriptions were in the season to be trans- ported in batteaux, or flat-bottomed boats, down the river, a narrow sedgy stream, to Lake Huron, and there put on board the two government schooners appointed for their conveyance across the lake to the upper port of Michilimackinac. Thus the line of trans- port all the way was, from York, now Toronto, by land to Holland River, communicating 248 EESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. with Lake Simcoe. From Holland River, by water, to the head of Kempenfeldt Bay, an outlet of Lake Simcoe. By land, across the aforesaid portage of eight miles, to the Notawasorga River, and thence by water to Lake Huron. The log house in which I was living was about three miles distant from the head of the bay ; but to this former point no road had yet been cut, and I started with Liberte, first keeping along the shore of the bay till we reached a track that led to the head of the said Notawasorga River. As Liberte possessed, in common with the Indians, the faculty of crossing the woods to any point he wished, he proposed to make a straight line in this instance, instead of keep- ing along shore ; but having but recently ex- perienced the sensation of being lost, I had no wish to run any unnecessary risk. The distance we had to go and return was cer- tainly only twenty-two miles, but the Cana- dian, whatever his confidence in himself might be, had neither ideas nor words to make me at first feel sure enough of his skill to RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 249 trust him. When he described the rough sides of the trees as the means by which he determined his bearing, to my view the rough sides of the trees seemed to point half round the compass, and to this objection, urge it how I would, he could say nothing explanatory or convincing. However, during our walk along the track, he related to me so many journeys he had undertaken by himself in this way, that my curiosity at last predominated, and I determined to allow him, on our return, to strike at once home- w^ards through the forest. Although he had not the means of communicating to another person his faculty of finding his road, so as to make himself at all intelligible, he spoke very reasonably on the subject of another talent, known to be possessed in a great de- gree by the native Indians ; that of tracking a man or any animal over all sorts of ground and among dry leaves. And this he accounted for to my mind very satisfactorily as follows : — The forests in North America are without brambles or underwood, and the soil, being M 3 250 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. little more than rotten wood, is a compost which takes the impression of a foot like dough. It is different in England, for there the little fibrous roots, creeping through the soil, interlace each other, and form as it were a springy frame-work rising under the foot of a man, or even of a horse, and thereby prevent their leaving by their weight even the smallest impression. The trunks of trees also, which lie about in profusion, and are chiefly covered with thick moss, most ma- terially assist the pursuit, for no animal can proceed without passing over them, and leaving vestiges of its progress by rubbing off the moss. We walked a good pace till we reached the point of our destination, and having re- mained there a short time, so as to satisfy myself as to the objects I had in view, we commenced our return. Leaving the track, we plunged at once into the recesses of the forest, and were immediately out of sight of the road altogether. Liberte was now in his proper element, and, though I followed him RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 251 as fast as I could, I was often obliged to call out to desire him to moderate his pace. The ground was very unequally covered with snow. In most places it was quite bare, in some we were obliged to wade above our knees, and, in particular parts where it had drifted^ we were driven out of our line in order to go round. The huge trees which, after flourishinof for ao:es, had been blown down in their declme by the high winds, crossed our path with such frequency, that the opera- tion of climbing was repeated as often as during a walk through a country enclosed by stone walls in England. But a large tree is not so easily passed as a wall, the passage over it being generally only practicable where the trunk is of large dimensions. And a tra- veller has no choice, for the roots and branches extend too far on each side to make it worth while to go round, even when they do not come in contact with those of other fallen trees ; and several of these frequently lie ex- tended in the same direction. Liberte, from long practice, vaulted over them with great ease and alacrity, and I, with more difficulty. 252 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. followed him as well and as fast as I could. But it was impossible to avoid stopping every now and then to observe the stupendous bulk of some of the trees, the great age of which had rendered them most truly objects of admiration. Their magnificent outline, and the tranquil gloom of the forest altoge- ther, was indescribably impressive and grand. In these wild haunts, neglected, though subservient to the purposes of man, nature seems to have held for ages her undisturbed reign. Where I stood, perhaps the foot of a civilized being had never before trodden. I contemplated a vegetative world, following, in regions of unlimited space, the laws of creation to maturity, and then sinking in every stage of natural decay, till all mingled again with its parent earth. Here, a tree lay pros- trate on the ground perfect in its form and covered with thick moss. Attempt but to pass it and the feet sink deep in rotten wood, while the strength of an infant's arm might scatter its vast yielding bulk in dust over the land. There what teas a giant pine, now a low green mound, sunken by gentle degrees RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 253 to the very level of the earth, recalled to the mind the time, when, after a few more short years, all remaining traces of its existence should be obliterated, till, like those which in preceding ages had passed away, it should become confounded together and mixed with the soil. The varying duration of animal life, the return of seasons, the orbits of the planets, — even the eccentric course of comets are de- fined, and familiarized with our ideas of time, by the inquiring spirit and science of man; but the tree still rears its head towards the heavens in defiance of his research, and tra- dition and conjecture alone mark the span of its existence. Generations after generations of the human race have fallen one after an- other into the grave, yet in this enlightened ao-e where is the man who can count the years of the gnarled oak? Who can mark the day when it burst its acorn w^ith more certainty than he can define the period when yonder stream first bubbled from the caverns of the earth ? How grand is the design of 254 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. nature presented to the view in these pro- found forests of North America ! A conti- nent abounding in images, not only calcu- lated to magnify ideas of time and space, but exalt in the imagination the Creative power, whose wise ordinances thus hold in preparation a vast field for the unborn mil- lions destined at some future, perhaps not distant day, to inhabit a country, commen- surate in its gigantic features with the ever expanding powers of modern improve- ment. The Canadian continued his line with de- termined precision, without adopting any visible means of precaution^ till we arrived at spots in the neighbourhood of my log house, which I had visited before and were known to me. We were about an hour's walk from home when we came to a wigwam, where an old Indian and his squaw were roasting part of the flesh of a porcupine be- fore the embers of a fire. The meat, trans- fixed by a long straight stick, was thrust down within a little of one of its ends, which RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 255 rested on the ground, while the squaw sat at a distance from the fire and turned it round by the other end. I was anxious to try a morsel, which was readily given to me, but it tasted so much of smoke, that I could per- ceive no other flavour in it; besides, it looked very bad indeed. I observed the way the Indian had made his fire. He rested the ends of three or four logs, of about six feet long, upon two very short ones, placed across and parallel to each other, and then set fire to the long ones. So soon as the latter were burnt through in the middle, he continued to keep the lighted ends together till the whole were consumed, then replacing them with fresh ones. The old Indian was ex- tremely persevering in his demands for some- thing to drink, and I had nothing to give him but a dollar, which he looked at with much discontent. I had no less coin, and it was more than would have been necessary, under other circumstances, to have contented him ; but to these people, the present hour is every thing ; and one single glass of li- 256 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. quor, then and there received^ would have purchased the post-obit of even a larger sum of money. April 15th. — This morning the weather appeared to have changed altogether. The ground was covered with snow which lay about four inches deep. The sun, however_, came out with considerable force, and it was melted 'and thoroughly disappeared before one o'clock. The ice in the bay still held together, although nearly covered with water. I shot a bird, called by the natives a robin, the size of a blackbii*d, and in colour like the redwing, with a yellow bill. April 16th. — The weather cloudy but warm. On going out this morning I met with several small green snakes, which were perfectly harmless. There is not, I believe, any sort of noxious reptile in this part of the country. The snakes rapidly increased to such numbers, that in a very few days it was perfectly impossible to pursue a morning's walk without treading on one or more of them. Where the sun shone warm, they RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 257 were sometimes to be met with as numerous as earth worms in England, after a shower of rain. April 17th. — A strong wind having set in in the night, blowing directly out of the bay, I perceived in the morning all the ice broken in pieces, and floating towards the lake. It was moving slowly away, and a considerable extent of water was already uncovered. This was a joyful sight, for of all things a sheet of water conveys the most lively impressions to the mind, and, confined as I was from the impassable state of the ice to the shores on one side of the bay, the barrier was no sooner removed than I felt a sensation of liberation, which seemed to be participated by the turbulent waves them- selves, as, just risen from their bondage, they rallied as it were and held council together, bubbling and fretting in their eagerness to press on the rear of their retiring enemy. The wind chased the chilly field before it, split into mammocks, and every minute re- tiring farther from the sight, till, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the lively change 258 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. was altogether perfect, and Kempenfeldt Bay, long the type of dreary winter, now became a lovely basin of pure water. And, as if to add to the gratifying occurrence, the ice had no sooner disappeared, than the wind lulled, and the sun beamed forth to embel- lish the natural beauties of a spot in them- selves very much above the common order. As the evening advanced, it was beautiful to see the enormous pines with which the banks were fringed, reflected in the water, while the winding shore presented a pleasing va- riety of sandy beach and bluff, rocky head- land. Nor were the animal creation insensi- ble to the moment : the large fish leaped in- cessantly high out of the water, and it was scarcely dark before a flock of wild fowl flew round and round in circles, lowering themselves by degrees, and then each, one after another, dashing heavily into the fa- vourite element. A sportsman can readily comprehend how animating it was to listen to the wild sounds which now broke upon the ear, as the feathered troop held gabbling conversation together, and, diving and splash- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 259 ing by turns, commenced every now and then a short flight for the sake of a fresh plunge in the water. Everything now was new ; Nature had thrown off her homely winter's garb, and began to unveil her beau- ties. My enjoyments were from that day increased, — fish also and fowl were added to my resources. It seemed wonderful to think there should be so few among our poorer classes with energy enough to break the chains of poverty, and visit a land where pauperism is yet unknown, where youth and strength supply the cata- logue of human wants, and where industry must meet its sure reward. The exuberant abundance of wood for fuel renders the fire- side of the peasant, during the long evenings of winter, a solace equal to that of many a wealthier citizen of the world, and as his children, with united strength, drag in each log to the hearth, he rejoices in the clearance of the encumbered earth, when those of the civilized world pay dearly for the enjoyment of warmth. An emulative feeling stimulates the industry of his constitution. The rat- 260 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. tling clank. of a neighbour's axe, the crash- ing fall of a heavy tree, seem to demand responsive exertion on his part, and give rise to an energy _, which, even if the tinkling frosty air at his fingers* ends fails to remind him that he has work on hand, quickly rouses within him the spirit of active labour. The work of his young children is of value, far exceeding the expense of their maintenance, and he lives in the happy consciousness of being able to leave them an inheritance of peace, if not of affluence. With facilities of water carriage, fish in abundance, and fuel, by the help of his gun he completes the necessaries of life. The partridge and wild pigeon supply him with variety in food, and afford also recreation and amusement. It was long after dark when I returned to my house from the banks of the bay, and the night had far advanced before the various sounds had ceased, as the different descrip- tions of wild fowl settled themselves in their new domain. April 18th. — I had made preparation for the wild fowl, by forming ambuscades in se- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 261 vera! places on the borders of the bay ; and to one of these I made my way this morning an hour before daylight. The wild fowl re- mained in the middle of the bay, but I shot a large sort of kingfisher, slate-coloured, with a black crest, and as large as a pigeon. Going home I mistook the head of a small animal, which I saw protruded from a hole in an old tree, for that of a pole-cat. I took a stick from the ground and killed it, when, to my mortification, I found it was a flying squirrel with four young ones. The snow might now be said to be en- tirely dissipated in the woods, excepting in the ravines and places where the drift was extraordinarily deep. I was aroused in the night by the yelping of a wolf out of doors, close by my house. As I listened, I heard the sound again farther oflT, and so on by degrees till he went quite away. The beast, no doubt, having received intelligence of the breaking up of the ice, had come to meet with his prey on the shores of the bay. My dog was in the room, but took no notice of the noise, which he must have heard. 262 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. April 19th. — I was up a^ain before day- light, and with better success. I killed nine wild fowl of different sorts before breakfast, not one of which could I eat, for the flesh m was black and fishy. I saw a canoe paddled by a couple of Indians advancing slowly along-shore, and hailed them, but they were at first unwilling to attend to me, although I succeeded at last in bringing them to a parley ; they had two or three large fish in the bottom of their canoe. I made signs that if they would come a little way with me I would give them some- thing to drink, and that I wanted to buy the fish. One of them, a very old man, appeared to assent to my proposal, and, taking the fish by the gills, accompanied me to my house. In my way thither I called at the Canadian's house for Liberte, who spoke the Indian lan- guage as well as his own. I was soon owner of a large salmon ; and after proper time had elapsed, for a bargain takes time all over the world, though not before the eyes of the Indian began to roll in his head from the liquor I had given him to drink^ he agreed RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 263 to terms for some other articles I proposed to purchase. And I bought of him the canoe, which he had left with his friend at th water's edge, and a fish-spear. For the fish- spear, the fish, and the canoe, I paid him nine dollars, quite as much as the things were worth. When we returned to the canoe, the friend seemed to have no objection to the bargain ; but as I saw that he regarded with curious looks the- happy state of the old man, I o'ave him drink enouo;h to make him also equally stupid. Then, tying up the old man's nine dollars securely in the bosom of his coat, I left both to complete their adven- tures in each other's company, and never saw them any more. I was now ready to go out the first calm evening and spear fish with Liberte, who told me he understood the art perfectly well. The present day, however, would not answer the purpose ; for the slightest possible ripple on the water makes it impossible to see the fish under the surface. Libert^ undertook to col- lect the bark of the birch tree in sufficient quantity for our expedition, whenever the 264 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. weather should turn out perfectly favourable, and he examined the canoe, to see that no- thing was wanting. April 20th. — I breakfasted very early on the remainder of my fish, which had been cut into large pieces, and broiled on the embers. It was a large sort of salmon trout, but nei- ther firm nor high-flavoured. Under circum- stances, it was thankfully received for better. I went out in quest of wild fowl, and shot several ; among them a species of black duck. The wild fowl generally are much more fishy than in England, with the exception of this latter species. I saw a troop of saw-bill divers, which had taken possession of a small inlet close to the shore, where their piebald colour and pert crests looked most inviting. Some craggy land overhung their position, which I gained unperceived, when they were all below me in a lump ; twelve, or upwards, within thirty yards, and in deep water. On firing, they disappeared like witchcraft. Not one was hit; and they were so long under water, that I could hardly recognise the flock when they re-appeared at a great dis RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 265 tance. In my hurry to load again, I found I bad lost my powder-horn ; to me then a \evy serious misfortune. I had no means of replacing it, otherwise than by the wretched substitute of a measure cut out of a piece of wood^ and a small bag, which I made of squirrel skins. April 21st. — The evening turned out re- markably fine, and the water was as smooth as a looking-glass. Every thing was ready for my fish-spearing expedition, the pre- parations for which were extremely simple. The fish-spear consisted of a straight handle about fifteen feet long, to v^hich a couple of barbed iron spikes, of sufficient size to pierce a moderate sized salmon, were affixed. The birch-bark, for the purpose of liglit, was prepared in pieces three or four double, each the size of a large quarto book ; and one at a time of these was stuck in a cleft pole five or six feet long, placed at the head of the canoe, overhanging the water in such a manner that the blazing bark might shine upon it. It was no sooner dark than I went N 266 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. to the water's edge, where Liberte and another Canadian were ready with the canoe. As he held the vessel to the shore I steadied myself by his shoulder, stepped in cau- tiously, and took my seat in the middle. The canoe w^as a very egg-shell, cranky as a washing-tub, and, more fitted to carry ghosts than men, while Liberte was as ugly as Charon himself. A boy of twelve years old could have carried it, notwithstanding it was to hold three of us. We had an estab- lishment of tinder and matches, and pieces of fat pork cut in slips served as candles. As soon as we embarked, the men pad- dled along shore towards the head of the bay ; and when we came near some small streams which set into the bay, we stopped, i.nd the men, having there struck a light, kindled the birch-bark in the cleft pole. Crackling like soft fat, the unctuous matter produced a clear flame, which lighted up the watery depth beneath us to the bright- ness of day. Whenever the soft ashes which fell occasionally from the fire caused a ripple, it for a moment confused the objects RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 267 unclerneatli_, but otherwise at a depth of ten feet every thing was clear and resplendent. The slightest form was distinctly visible, — every pebble, even the beetle tliat crawled on the ground. We passed some perch lying close to the bottom, and soon after- wards a rapid quiver of the water announced the presence of some larger fish. Liberte now became animated^ and pointing his spear in the proper direction, made signal to the man in the stern to give way. He struck once, twice, without success ; but the tliird time brought a large fish up on his spear. It was a sucking carp ; a worthless prize, full of bones^ and very watery. How- ever we pursued the remainder of his com- rades, and killed two more. We now advanced nearer the head of the bay, and at the same time saw two other lights pro- ceedins: from the canoes of Indians who had visited the neighbourhood, and were pursuing the same occupation with ourselves. All of a sudden Liberte again sounded an alarm, and off we were again in pursuit of a fish^ which I could not for along time see: N 2 268 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. a fine salmon-trout, but of a nature infi- nitely wilder than the carp. We chased him like lightning, turning and doubling in his wake, till I was obliged to hold both sides of the canoe to keep myself from being thrown out into the water. However, I caught sight of the fish every now and then, when he was for a moment still ; then he made a dart, and all again was obscure. We were some minutes after him, having lost him, and come upon him again, but finally he eluded our pursuit, and made his way into deep water till the glimmer of his silver sides was lost in the distance, being entirely obscured by the lurid yellow gleam that, becom.ing by rapid degrees more and more opaque, confined to very narrow limits our subaqueous prospect. I changed places with Liberte with some risk of being upset, and then I took the spear, kneeling down in the head of the canoe. We had regu- larly replenished our lights, which burnt out every five minutes or thereabouts. We went back to the place where we left the carp, and found them again. I struck at RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 2G9 I em several times, but without success*, found it not only difficult to strike an object, from the refraction of the water, but impossible, even had I judged the distance correctly, to drive the spear, by its long bending handle, straight forward. I saw some perch close to the bottom, and I speared one of them. In about ten feet water, I found it necessary to aim a foot at least below the object. I had however no diffi- culty to hit the perch aforesaid, as they were not in motion. I also saw lying at tlie bottom a hideous looking fish, yellow with black spots, the body like that of a snake, with a large head, about a foot and a half long, and somewhat in form resembling-" the small fish found under stones in running streams in England, and ♦called the miller's- thumb. I speared him, and found him so strong, that I verily expected he would have broken the handle of the spear. He was what the Canadians call a cat-fish. In writhing he had a knack of twisting his supple body like an eel round the spear^ and with the force that, considering his 270 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. size, was quite surprising. He was, of course, not eatable. We remained out upwards of a couple of hours, when, having expended all our lights, we returned home. Besides the salmon, carp, and perch I have mentioned, there were other sorts of fish in the bay. Among the rest, one or two sorts of bass, a fish thick in shape like the bream, and a small fresh- water herring, such as I have seen taken out of Lough Neagh, in the north of Ireland, and where they are called pullen. A small craw-fish was not unfrequent. The fish here however, it must be confessed, are like all their fresh- water brethren, of inferior quality. April 22nd. — The weather was now very fine, though the trees bore still their winter appearance. It was past the middle of the day, when sitting on a bank above the water's edge, close to the place where I had missed my powder-horn two days before, I espied it lying at the botton of the water, on the verge of a cleft rock. The water was quite smooth, and in the part where it BESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 271 lay, nearly six feet deep : it appeared to be resting so precariously above the cleft, that the slightest touch might put it out of sight. So, as there was nothing else to be done, I took off all my clothes, and taking the water a few yards away from the place, swam round so as to have it between me and the shore; then diving, I managed to get hold of a piece of projecting rock with one hand, while I secured my prize with the other. The water I was surprised to find by no means cold, considering it had been so short a time released from its covering of ice. It was, in fact, warmer than at the same sea- son of the year it is in England. April 23rd. — My neighbour, Mr. F , whose arrival I mentioned on the 5th, had in a very few days, by the help of his axe, settled himself in a very comfortable log- house, a few hundred yards distant from mine. He came to me this mornino^ to re- quest me to lend him my canoe to cross the lake to the landing at Holland River, on his way to York. I could not spare my canoe, it was so important an article of my esta- 272 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. blishment; nor did I like to refuse the request, so I determined to go myself and to take him with me. I had several reasons for going to York. Among the rest, my clothes were so torn to pieces that it was almost a matter of necessity to procure a refit; and Liberte, together with Mr. F., who was an able hand at a paddle, would, both together, man the canoe. Mr. F. intended, I believe, to take his wife with him ; but the present plan did not admit of it, for the canoe would hold no more than three persons. The lady was not pleased at remaining by herself at home, and threw obstacles in the way, which the husband overruled, and the voyage was determined on for the next day. April 24th. — At about two o'clock in the afternoon we all got into the canoe — Mr. F., Liberte, and myself. And the two former, at the head and stern, with each a paddle, pulled hard and steadily, so that, keeping in shore all the way, we were soon clear out of the bay. But we had no sooner got com- pletely off the lee of the land, than we found the wind, which was against us, much stron- I^ESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 273 ger than we expected ; so much so, that it would have heen unsafe to attempt to stretclr across the lake. We therefore kept in shore* for about a dozen miles, and then hauling- the canoe on the land, made a fire, before which we broiled some fish, and then lay- down before it for the night, which was for- tunately, though windy, perfectly dry. April 25th. — At daylight we launched the canoe, and, stretching across the lake,, landed at a house situated on the opposite bank, where I got a very tolerable breakfast ; and embarking again, we had not been more than an hour on our way before the wind be- gan again to blow so fresh that we could not proceed. Although we were a very little way from the mouth of Holland River, we found it impossible to reach it, the waves were so rough. Therefore, in order to wait till the weather should be more calm, we hauled the canoe again on shore ; and there we remained on a bare, unsheltered point of land, with the wind blowing a full gale, till six in the evening, when, finding there was N 3 274 RESIDENCE "IN THE WOODS. no chance of favourable weather, we crept a little way along shore, and prepared again for a bivouac. We were very near the mouth of Holland River, but the small bay which it was indispensable to cross, was too rough for our cranky little vessel. April 26th. — We were in the canoe again at daylight, and in good time in the morning reached the landing where I had embarked on the 26th of February. This was my first voyage in a birch canoe. The weather was certainly against us, but we had been nearly two days going less than forty miles, and had slept two nights out of doors into the bar- gain. I had taken my gun with me, and as the weather was very good and the river quite smooth, I shot a few birds on the way. One, a sort of reed-sparrow, the size of a thrush, and of a rich, dead-black plumage; the shoulders of the wings a brilliant scarlet, tempered off with yellow. Its chirp is par- ticularly musical ; it clings by its feet to the reeds, and has a bobbing motion of its head and tail when on the wing ; the bill is quite RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 275 black, very thick at the upper part, and sharp as a needle at the point. The inhabitants give this bird the sobriquet of '^ Field Officer." I also shot a dwarf bittern, in all respects like the common English bittern, as to shape, colour, pea-green legs, &c., except as to its diminutive size. As soon as I got out of the canoe I walked eleven miles to Newmarket, where I went to the house of Mr. Peter Robinson, who was kind enough to endeavour to procure me a conveyance to York. April 27th. — Although I was now in the town of Newmarket, I found it by no means an easy matter to procure a horse, or indeed any other sort of conveyance. I, therefore^, made up my mind to start on foot the next morning. April 28th to May 3rd.— Having walked thirty miles to York, I went to the house of Mr. Cruickshank, where I fared sumptuously during my stay. With regard to myself, nothing had transpired, nor could I get any information relative to the period I was likely to remain in the woods ; nevertheless, having 276 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. cased myself in buckram, by the assistance of an honest tailor, I became, as far as dress could make me, a better man than I was be- fore. Having determined on returning on my way to Kempenfeldt Bay the next morn- ing, 1 desired Liberte to meet me at New- market, and hired a horse to be ready at an early hour. May 4tli. — Mr. Cruickshank accompanied me on horseback to Newmarket, where we both put up at Mr. Peter Robinson's house. Mr. Cruickshank also undertook to supply me with a good staunch batteau, then lying in Holland River, to take me to Kempenfeldt Bay, and keep there for my use so long as 1 should remain. Mav 5th. — Liberte and I walked tooether from Newmarket to the landing at Holland River, where I inspected the batteau. It was a sound boat, but very heavy ; and as I had not seen Mr. F , since I left him at this very spot, he having remained at York, there was nobody but Liberte and I to paddle her. I had never had a paddle in my hand, but knowing how to handle an oar, and being RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 277 anxious to get on, I resolved not to delay. Besides, the wind appeared tolerably favoura- ble, and we bad a small sail. So, fastening my canoe, which I left here during my journey to York, astern, we both embarked. The wind helped us a good deal ; but our course was not straight, so that we had a good deal of hard pulling, which made me very tired, not being used to it. However^ before sun- set, we arrived at the same house on the banks of the Lake, where I had breakfasted on the morning of the 25th April. I was shown into a room with a good fire, which, as the even- ing had set in rather cold, was by no means disagreeable ; and I prepared to take my supper. Before this meal was produced, which, by the way, consisted of nothing more than rashers of bacon and fried eo'o^s, the arrival of an Indian and his canoe was announced; and in a few minutes after, Mrs. F , the lady whose husband had left her at Kempen- feldt Bay, entered the room. Determined not to remain at home by herself, and, as it appeared, resolved to follow her husband to 278 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. York, she had arrived thus far under the care of an old Indian, who brought her across the Lake in his canoe. No sooner had she come into the room, than, by the way she pulled out her pins and placed her feet upon the fender, it was evident, that she felt her- self perfectly at home wdiere she was. I very soon perceived that American customs were likely to prevail, and that unless chance might throw in a third person to in- terrupt the tete-a-tete, we were inevitably doomed to pass the whole night in the same apartment. This proved to be the case, for our landlady positively disposed of us in se- parate beds in opposite corners of the same room. Here we remained till the morninof. I had nothino^ to do w ith the usages of other countries, but really could not help thinking the proceeding altogether rather strange. I was awakened early in the morning by the busy sounds of a farm-house. The mis- tress was up, and the maid, and the children, and each had something or other to do. One split logs for the fire, another scrubbed the boards, while the landlady, regulating the RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 279 motions of her troops scolded and encouraged by turns. She herself undertook to whip out the fowls. These, which had taken posses- sion of the kitchen, were making their exit with all possible reluctance ; cackling, flap- ping their wings, overturning pewter plates, and finally, after raising all the dust they could, bolting out of the window. May 6th. — The Canadian Liberte and I pursued our voyage early in the morning, and with the assistance of our sail crossed the lake. We then had a great deal of hard pulling. However, soon after mid-day we hauled the batteau on shore, made a fire, and broiled a large fish I had purchased of the Indian in the morning, after which, being refreshed, we re-embarked, and arrived at my log house, at Kempenfeldt Bay, late in the evening. May 7th aad 8th. — Wishing to explore the woods on the other side of the bay, at sunrise I got into the batteau, taking my gun with me, and being provided with pro- visions for the day. When I had crossed over, I sent it back, appointing one of my 280 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. Canadian axemen, who served as boatmen, to call and take me home at sunset. I ram- bled about all day, visiting one beautiful and picturesque spot after another, folio wing- particularly the course of a small stream un- usually romantic. Sometimes the stillness of the scene was interrupted by a cascade : a little farther the sound of the rivulet which produced it died away upon the ear, as its banks widened into those of a placid lake. Coming suddenly upon wild fowl every now and then, I was the more allured to proceed onwards, and I shot several of different sorts, as well as a few partridges and pigeons. I was at a considerable distance from the bay and had arrived at a sequestered spot, where a basin of resplendent water, almost circular, was sheltered all round by magnifi- cent pines. Here my dog suddenly barked, and, turning round, I saw an Indian, carrying a canoe on his back, approaching the place where I was. He was accompanied by his squaw, and she led by the hand a fine ani- mated little savage, a boy about six years old. A half-starved dog, as wild as a fox, RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 281 accompanied the party. This animal no sooner saw me, than he ran crino-ino^ and yelping to the rear, with his tail between his legs, nor could he be prevailed upon, lor many minutes, to advance a step nearer. The Indian had broug^ht his canoe to this little lake for the purpose of fishing, and I very readily made him understand that I was anxious to witness his operations. In a few seconds the crazy toppling bark was in the water, the squaw holding it by the head while the man got in with his fish spear, and then stepping in carefully herself, she sat down in the stern with her paddle. The man stood upright, an attitude requiring extreme nicety of balance, considering the cranky nature of these birch canoes. They, are really the most ticklish of all possible ves- sels. Empty, they are altogether above the water, and do not draw literally more than a couple of inches. When laden, by a not un- usual accident a man is frequently thrown overboard out of the vessel, which slips from under him without upsetting, or taking in a 282 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. drop of water. The squaw paddled gently and steadily round the margin of the basin, while the man occasionally struck at fish with his spear. In a few minutes he had taken four or five, for he hardly missed a blow. The direction in which he pointed his spear, and the animated gestures accompanying the action, were signals readily understood by the squaw, and she regulated the course of the canoe and its rate accordingly. And this was done with the utmost silence. The child, meanwhile, was left on the bank while his father was pursuing the fish, and I tcrok him by the hand endeavouring to engage his at- tention, but he took not the least notice of me, following the canoe with his little eager eyes, as if already longing in his heart for the privileges of manhood. Every time his father hit a fish, the little fellow could hardly contain himself with joy. The fish were now brought on shore, and a fire was kindled. The poor lean cur now had ventured within a few yards, urged by starvation, for the sake of the entrails of the RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 283 fish, which, on being thrown to him, he de- voured with a voracity really melancholy to see, for he must have been without food a long time. The fish was cut into junks, and broiled on the embers, and the dog eat the bones as well as the heads and tails. All was then divided into shares, one for the Indian, anothfir for the squaw, and the third for the child, whom they called " Cawhee; " and each mess was put into a small vessel made of birch bark, out of which they fed themselves with their fingers. The great utility of the bark of the birch tree is very remarkable. Not only are the canoes in which the Indians trust themselves on lakes sufiBciently boisterous, some miles from the shore, made of it, but also all sorts of small cups and dishes. Besides, it burns like pitch; splits into threads which serve for twine ; and the filmy part, near the out- side, may be written upon in pencil, making- no bad substitute for paper. The family had no sooner concluded their repast, than the man took the canoe on his back, and the squaw, having made a bundle of the things, 284 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. followed, leading the little boy, and they were very soon out of sight and hearing. I made my way again towards the bay> and as I came upon the banks, a white headed eagle was soaring high in the air. As he floated magnificently above me, I plainly distinguished the relentless ferocity of counteriance that marks his race. Dis- playing his expanding wings, now and then he shook his quills with a noise like the flut- ter of a silken flag in a gale of wind, and then he stretched his neck towards the earth as if in defiance of its inhabitants. I fired at him, but the shot glanced from his shield of feathers, and in a few seconds dropped harmlessly into the water. Returning to the spot where I had ap- pointed to meet the batteau, I found it al- ready there, and, pulling across, it was almost dark when I got home. May 9th to 18th. — The weather, during these days, was cold and windy, with frosts generally during the night. Vegetation seemed backward, nor was any tinge of green as yet visible on the trees. Working RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 285 in the forest with my axe on some days, and on others traversing the woods in quest of game, time passed over my head rapidly. I fell in with an Indian who had three vounc: beavers alive. The little thins^s were the size of pointer puppies of hwe weeks old, and were just beginning to eat. I felt much inclination to buy them, but the care they required was more than I had it in my power to bestow ; I therefore, although with re- gret, left them to their fate, which was, no doubt, to be speedily eaten by the Indian and his family. May 19tli. — About three o'clock in the aFternoon it began to snow heavily, and the ground was covered the rest of the day. My Canadians asserted that they had never remembered snow so late in the season. May 20th.-^This morning the ground was still quite covered with snow, but towards the middle of the day the sun made his appearance and speedily melted it. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the noise of a parcel of wolves, yelping close to my house. I was well acquainted with the 286 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. sound, having once kept a tame wolf for some time, and upon listening it appeared that whatever their object was, they intended re- maining in my neighbourhood. [ accord- ingly immediately dressed myself, and tak- ing my gun from the hooks over the fire, I loaded one barrel with ball, and calling my dog with me, stole as quietly as I could out of the house. The moon shone bright, and I could have distinguished an object a long way off; however, when I came towards the place where 1 had "heard them, not above a hundred yards' distance, I could see nothing at all. I had some trouble to keep in my dog, for he was anxious to follow them ; how- ever, I kept him still, and remained so my- self, and in a few minutes I heard them again, yelping just as they did before, about the same distance from me, quite in another di- rection. Thither I immediately posted, and was again disappointed ; and they repeated the same manoeuvre several times afterwards, till it was quite evident that I had no chance whatever of getting a shot at them. They no doubt saw me, and instinctively kept out RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 287 of shot ; so, before I returned to my bed, I gave them a halloo, upon which my dog dashed forward towards them with the most eager alacrity. I was afraid of mischief, and called him back, but Rover was gone, and I called and whistled in vain. He was absent more than five minutes, and came back panting like a badly broken pointer from coursing a hare. I had always believed that dogs had an instinctive dread of the wilder animals, but the above is an instance to the contrary. This dog, a water spaniel, not above the common size, hardly able to throttle a fox, certainly had no fear, whatever respect he might have paid to a wolf in close quarters ; experience at least told him that his enemy would run, for he pursued at a reckless rate, probably sure of never over- taking his game. May .2 1st. — Flies, for the last few days, had been making their appearance in increas- ing numbers ; they were already exceedingly troublesome, so much so that the Canadians began to wear gauze veils, with which they were all provided during their hours of work. 288 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. Tliis was a precaution which was never sug- gested to me, and, even if it had, probably nothing short of woful experience would have convinced me of the necessity of using such things. However, matters looked really serious when I found that the tough skins of my labourers were, an insufficient defence ; and I called to mind what the hmhlander had told me in the winter, "that the flies wad nap a body," with a regret that I had listened without drawing a moral from the tale. This day, in addition to those before arrived, a small black fiy came in clouds, so as to give me neither peace nor rest. The summer, which I had with such eagerness anticipated, was not, I found, about to dis- pense pleasure without alloy, and the attacks of these winged vermin were a grievous evil. The sun shone clear and hot^ and they pitched upon my face in thousands. They got into my eyes and down my throat, and my temples were covered with speckles. They were so voracious that they suffered themselves to be killed where they were, rather than take the trouble to fly away. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 289 With my hands I swept them off by hun- dreds, and legions returned to the charge, so as to torment me almost out of my life. All the morning it was impossible to attempt to shoot, and to drive them away was the whole occupation of the day. They were of the size of a large flea. Their sting fortunately was not venomous. As the day declined they were less numerous, and two hours before sunset they wholly disappeared. Upon no occasion was I ever more disheartened than by the grievance thus endured. It seemed to threaten to demolish all those little com- forts which not only relieved solitude, but even had hitherto rendered my life agreeable. My enemies had no sooner retired, than I took up my gun despondingly, hoping to ob- tain at least a few moments' tranquillity. Going to the margin of the bay, I perceived a large flock of wild fowl on the water swim- ming along close in-shore, and I sat down, with my dog by my side, to await their ap- proach. But a little villain of a squirrel, on the bough of a tree close to me, seemed to I 290 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. determine that even now I should not rest in quiet, for he sputtered and chattered with so much vehemence that he attracted the at- tention of my dog, whom I could scarcely control. Meanwhile the birds were coming nearer and nearer, chasing the water insects on their way, stretching forward their necks, splashing, flapping their wings, rubbing their backs with their polls, quacking, flut- tering half up out of the water, and then, with a comfortable wriggle of the tail, sitting quietly down again. With my thumb on the cock of my gun, I prepared for a double shot ; but the ** vagrant inattention " of my dog was truly mortifying ; he kept his eyes fixed upon the squirrel, now so noisy as to be quite intolerable. With my hand I made a motion to threaten the latter, but the little beast actually set up his back and defied me, becoming even more passionate and noisy than he v/as before : till, all of a sudden, as if absolutely on purpose to alarm the game, down he let himself drop, plump at once, within a couple of yards of Rover's nose. RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 291 This was too much for any four-footed ani- mal to bear, so Rover gave a bounce and sprang at the impertinent squirrel, who, in one second, was safe out of his reach, cock- ing his tail and showing his teeth on the identical bough where he had sat before. Away flew all the wild fowl, and my sport was completely marred. I excused the dog's error, but my gun went involuntarily to my shoulder to shoot the squirrel. At the same moment I felt I was about to commit an act of sheer revenge, on a little courageous ani- mal which deserved a better fate. Appa- rently aware of my hesitation, he nodded his head with rage, and stamped his fore paws on the tree ; while in his chirruping there was an intonation of sound as if addressed to an enemy for whom he had an utter con- tempt. ''What business," I could fancy he said, " had I there, trespassing on his do- main, and frightening his wife and little family, for whom he was ready to lay down his life? Could I not find, within these wide woods, one other spot without the pale o 2 I 292 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. of his small limited estate ? There he -would sit in spite of me and mine, — nay make my ears ring with the sound of his war whoop, even till the spring of life should cease to bubble in his little heart.** * * * And thus he succeeded in driving me away from the spot. I left him singing the song of triumph, and ever after, as far as I was concerned, in full and complete possession. May 22nd. — I was in my house rather later than usual this morning, busy in pre- paring a sort of mask of linen for my face, in order to resist, if possible, the attacks of the flies. For some time I had been think- ing of this, but not having any gauze or mus- lin that would do for a veil, I had hardly yet imagined a suitable substitute. Now I could no longer delay. My clothes being full of holes, the flies had read me such a lesson, as by acute reasoning and pointed arguments to prevail against farther procrastination. As I was just beginning my work, my attention was attracted by the latch of my door being lifted up, and at the same moment two very RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 293 I . their smiling looks, to ask admittance to my dwelling. Even in these uncivilized regions there was nevertheless a spirit of flirtation in their manner, which has existed no doubt through- out all ages, even from the day when, up- wards of two thousand years ago, Galatea threw a hard apple at the head of the Ro- man poet. The minds of both being evi- dently made up to pay me a visit, it ap- peared they were undetermined which of the two ought to walk in before the other ; and so the one pushed forward her friend by the shoulders. She that was first therefore could not help being pushed, and, being pushed, how could she help being first? Not much time meanwhile was expended on the thresh- d, for their scruples, whatever they might have been, were thus speedily adjusted, and, tripping lightly into the room on tip-toes, with a cautious step, they commenced an inquisitive survey of everything I had. My double-barrelled gun seemed most to attract their attention. Bound in chivalry to do the 294 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. honours of my house, I was equally atten- tive and civil to both, and such civilities on my part had of late been but little in de- mand. In the wilds where I had lived, gal- lant speeches, compliments, &c., had been frozen up, as it were, like the music in Baron Munchausen's French horn_, and now became thawed and burst forth all at once, so that I continued to hold with both young ladies an intelligible conversation. Although neither could speak a word of English, and I was equally ignorant of their language, their quickness of apprehension was such, that I was readily understood. One of them took the needle, and sewed the strings to the mask I had been making. This very much amused them both, and they recommended me to rub my face with grease, by way of a certain defence against all sorts of flies. Disagree- able as it may seem, I resolved, in case of the failure of my present plan, to follow their advice. After a sufficiently long morning visit, as my guests seemed at last anxious to depart, I accompanied them to the edge of the bay, RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 295 where they both stepped into their canoe, and gaily paddled away towards lake Sim- coe. There, as I understood, they had left, during their present morning's excursion, en- camped on the borders of the forest, a party of their copper-coloured relatives. They were, it seemed, without other company, and disappeared round a point of land between the spot on which I was standing and the head of the bay. They waved their hands as long as they were in sight. I knew no- thing of their history, and I regretted that I might never see them again. Such, indeed, was the case I In dress and appearance they were supe- rior to any I had seen of their race, and in face and figure seemed to me really beautiful. They had silver ornaments in their ears, a necklace each of blue beads, and scarlet serge was applied to various purposes of or- nament instead of riband. May 23rd. — During the last two days the trees had changed considerably, owing to the warm weather ; now, for the first time, they might fairly be said to be green. Seve- 296 RESIDENCE IN THE WOOES. ral boat-loads of stores arrived from York, across lake Simcoe, for the post of Michili- mackinac, and were landed at the head of the bay. May 24th. — For reasons connected with my duty, I resolved to change my residence to the head of the bay, and therefore set the Canadians at work there to make me a log:- house. I spent a great part of the day on the spot, not only in determining the situ- ation, but in waiting to see the first logs laid on the ground. May 25th. — As I was out shooting I saw a loon swimming towards a point of land where I could easily conceal myself, so I re- paired thither for that purpose. The loon, commonly called the great Northern diver, is so cautious and wary, and at the same time so quick in turning himself under the water, that, though I had shot at several, I had never been able to kill one. He is covered with small spots like a starling, and is the size of a large goose. He has a wild, anxious gait as he is swimming, constantly turning his head from side to side, as if to be J RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 297 upon his guard against an enemy ; and his cry is as wild as his looks, for it exactly re- sembles the whooping of an owl. I had arrived at the place, and the bird was ap- proaching. Now and then, as he came on, he stretched his long neck for several se- conds under the water, looking for small fish ; and when he had nothing better to do, he turned his head round, in order with his bill to tickle his tail. At last I felt myself sure of him ; and, choosing the latter attitude as the one in which he was the most exposed, I let fly when he was within thirty yards of me. My gun went quick as lightning; but the loon was still quicker, and_, scrambling over out of sight, came up again in a few seconds perfectly unhurt_, and whooping as if to mock my attempt upon his life. I never again shot at one of these birds. The Indians shoot them frequently ; which is very sur- prising, considering that their guns are of coarse Birmingham manufacture, and their powder very indifferent. They kill, never- theless, extremely long shots, putting in a o3 298 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. large quantity of powder and very little shot ; and they have a way of enticing the loons by a call and a red rag at the end of a stick, which they practise with great success. May 26th. — My new log-house was not finished, but I resolved to move my quarters, as the day was fine, at once ; and so, having put all my things into the batteau, I intended to walk along-shore through the wood, when I saw an Indian passing by in his canoe, and hailed him. He was making his way towards the head of the bay whither I was goings and I asked him to take me on board, — not so much for convenience as from curiosity. He pulled in-shore immediately, and was amused at my request, seeming particularly entertained at the clumsy manner in which I got in. His family consisted of the squaw, a little girl of about ten years old, another of six, and a third of four ; and as I was just going to sit down in the bottom of the canoe, the squaw gave me a hard pull by the coat, and, removing a dirty blanket, uncovered the features of a little infant, bound, after their RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 299 fashion, very securely upon a board : and this made the fourth child of the party. The squaw was going to remove it to where she sat in the stern, but I gave her to understand that I would nurse it as we went along ; and I took hold of the wooden frame and laid it on my knees. It was admirable to see how well the little thing was secured from harm, and how quiet and contented it seemed in its state of im- prisonment. Protected from the weather by clothes in numerous folds, a circular piece of wood formed a guard for its head, and alto- gether it was the same as taking hold of a fiddle, so tight was it bound upon its wooden frame. With its arms and legs in a state of confinement, the little being could only move its wandering eyes, which, together with its tiny trembling lips, told the tale of its tender age. I could not help considering the mode of treating the infant savage, of which I had an example now before me^ more worthy than I should have imagined of being placed in comparison with that adopted among civi- lized people ; and certainly, whatever may be 300 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. said against it, it possesses some advantages over our mode of nursing. During the first few weeks of infancy, when the very bones have not acquired their proper consistence, and the unclosed skull hangs a dead weiofht upon the body, the Indians bind, as it were, the tender plant to a stake, to be protected in its growth from that violence of motion, those twists and strains, which with us con- fessedly lead to some of our most dreadful disorders. Here was a child happy as it could be, and as warm, without a pin in its whole dress to torment it, capable of enjoy- ing exercise, and of being moved from place to place over land and water, without the slightest stress upon its pliant limbs. The canoe, paddled by the squaw sitting in the stern, glided quietly along within a few feet of the shore ; and the Indian stood up all the time at the head looking out for fish. The sun shone bright upon the water, nevertheless I could not discern one, although he struck at some several times on the way. He killed three bass, turning round the spear each time to the squaw in order that she RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 301 might extricate the fish. The least unsteadi- ness on his part might have precipitated the whole party, children and all, into the water ; but he kept his balance with such extraor- dinary certainty, that I very soon lost all apprehension of the possibility of such an accident, and we arrived at the head of the bay, where we all got out. The Indian and his family were on their route to Lake Huron, and they had now eight miles to travel to the Notawasorga River, all which distance it was necessary to carry the canoe. He immediately commenced prepara- tions to take it on his back, and for this pur- pose he fixed a broad strip of birch bark to the centre thwart, making the ends fast to each opposite gunwale. The thwart then rested on his shoulders, and, having placed a piece of bark doubled under it to prevent its galling, he contrived to lay the greater part of the weight of the canoe on his fore- head by means of the strip of bark, which at the same time kept all steady. The canoe, once poised, was nearly horizontal, and on he marched, caring little for the weight. Before 302 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. he set off, however, the squaw stuck his gun and the fish-spear under the thwarts, and then made up her own bundle. She carried this, much in the same way, by means of a forehead strap ; and on the top of all the little As(r[xd)rrjg rode upon its board, having been first safely tied by the little girl with strips of bark, so that it could not possibly fall off. The three children brought up the rear, and the whole party soon disappeared. May 27th. — I went out in the evening to spear fish with one of the Canadians. He speared eight fish of different sorts, one of them a remarkably fine salmon trout. I found my canoe very leaky for want of the proper sort of turpentine for paying the seams. It was of so delicate a frame that it required notjonly the greatest care on my part, but more than I could bestow from, want of ex- perience and knowing how to handle it properly. It was inevitably approaching towards its end, and as I saw that in a little time it would be good for nothing, and as the batteau was too unwieldy for my purpose, I was obliged to think of supplying its place ; RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 303 therefore I resolved to set about making, with the assistance of the Canadians, a log-canoe. May 28th. — I went out into the woods to look for a tree suitable to the object I had in view, and very soon pitched upon one, — a fine white pine, its girth, between three and four feet from the ground, eleven feet three inches. I began immediately to cut it down with my axe, and was some time about it, working very sharply, a good deal tormented all the while by mosquitoes, for the tree grew in a low, swampy place, where there were a great many. I killed a few oc- casionally upon my face and wrists, though I was too eagerly employed to care much about them. At last the tree fell to the ground, and I left the spot, when I soon found that I had reason to repent my visit to the . mosquitoes ; for their bite was so acrid and poisonous, that before the middle of the night I was in a state of actual misery, and felt a degree of inflammatory itching, so intense that, bemoaning my hard fate, I was forced to exert my utmost resolution to en- 304 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. able me to endure it. My eyes were closed, and my wrists knotted and swollen to double their natural size. May 29th.— I got up in the morning a hideous figure, as far as the only piece of locking-glass I had, a circular bit of about a couple of inches diameter, fixed in the lid of a little box, could inform me. My eyes were both black, and my cheeks puffed out ; but the pain and heat were gone. These mos- quitoes are attached to particular situations in the woods : they like wet, swampy places, and remain there till some unlucky person visits them ; otherwise they do not go out of their way to infest people. This little bit of natural history I have ever since re- membered. May 30th. — I had happened to break one of the iron spikes of my fish-spear. This day I met an Indian in the woods, who spoke English tolerably well ; so I asked him if he had one that he could sell me. He said, *' No ; but may be me make one very good :'* and so we went together to my house to get RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 305 the old one, and at the same time he took hold of my double-barrelled gun, and began to examine that. It had met with a trifling accident, — a small piece of wood having been split off between the lock and the bar- rel ; and the moment he saw it he said, ** Master, Indian man mend that too." As I intended to stand by him all the time to pre- vent his doing mischief, I told him he should. He accordingly set to work with great inge- nuity. He forged the iron of the spear in my fire, beating it with a hammer against a large stone ; and made a very neat splice to mend the gun-stock, which he cemented with a sort of glue, made by boiling the bones of fish, which he carried in his pouch. I tried to get him to explain how he found his way in the woods ; but^ like the rest of these people, be the question stated to them how it may, their ideas are too limited to reason upon an operation of the mind. He told me of a beaver dam, as it is called, in the neighbourhood : a work erect- ed by the animals for the purpose of rearing 306 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. their young, and where they live in consi- derable numbers. It was about four miles ofFj on a small river which crossed the road I had travelled towards Lake Huron ; so that I understood, by the direction he gave me, exactly where to go. I was very curious to see the work of these wonderful creatures, and would have taken the Indian immedi- ately with me as a guide, but he could not stay. In the evening I went by myself, and, w^hen I came to the river, I followed the banks till I had nearly, as I thought, arrived at the spot. There appeared what I fancied the remains of an old wooden bridge, made of the trunks of small trees, and broken in the middle. The stream w^as moderately rapid, and immediately below the bridge there was a turn in the river, so that it formed a still pool of rather large dimen- sions. I pursued the course of the river for some distance farther, but, finding no signs of the beaver habitation I had come to see, I returned home. Upon talking to the Canadians, I found that the identical bridge RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 307 which I had taken for the work of man was literally that of the beavers. The little colony- had been deserted by them for some years, therefore the remains only of their works were then to be seen. The structure was wonderful : the work was carried on under the water as well as above it ; and the trees were of such a size, and laid with such in- genuity one upon another so to oppose the current, that one would have thought that nothing short of human skill and science could have contrived it. May 31st. — I went to see the Canadians at work. They were employed in making a sort of wharf, with pine logs, to facilitate the landing of the boats. There was an old man among them, an English Canadian, called Mr. Weiler; a steady character, so very grave and void of everything like fun, that he was a continued source of merriment to the rest, while^ on his part, nothing dis- turbed his tranquillity. The men had all on their veils, and the flies were buzzing in vast quantities about them, while Mr. Weller's 308 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. face alone was without any sort of covering*. Accordingly, I gave him directions to trim the pine that lay in the swamp where I had been so miserably stung, and calling him immediately away, accompanied him to the spot. In a moment the mosquitoes were at their post^ and I could hardly preserve my gravity, as I began, by flattering his skill, to propose to him to fashion the tree into the form of a canoe. He readily acceded to the undertaking, and I left him hard at work. In about a couple of hours I returned to see how he was going on. As the day was ex- cessively hot, the situation had one advan- tage — that of being cool. Long before I arrived, I heard the l)lows of Mr. Weller's axe falling steadily one after another, and as I approached him, there he was, without coat, waistcoat, or hat ! His shirt-collar was open, and he was slashing away just as if there was no such thing as a mosquitoe in North America, although they were swarm- ing about his head like bees, and absolutely standing on his hair. *'You are a little RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 309 troubled here with mosquitoes, Mr. Weller," said I. So he drew himself up to answer, and after spitting out the little bits of wood that had flown off the point of his axe into his mouth, — " Yes," said he, " they are pretty considerable thick, but they don't hort me much with their bills, if they didn't keep on whizzling so about a body's head :" and then he looked at his large fore-finger, and seemed to be thinking:. He told me ** he had been married thirty-five years, that his wife was much respected, and did a great deal of bu- siness." "What business?" said I. " What business ? *' said he, " why she rides." Still I was in ignorance, till I found, that for an old woman to ride, meant the same as to say that she practised the profession of a mid- wife. And so I left Mr. Weller, who worked the remainder of the day without making the least complaint. June 1st. — One of the men brous^ht in an animal, which he had killed in the woods, called a wood-chuck, or ground-hog, about the size of a Chinese pig half grown, and 310 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. resembling a guinea-pig in shape and species. They burrow in the ground, are particularly fat, and so slow of foot as to be easily over- taken. They are said to be good eating. I shot a bird a little smaller than a thru«h, with a red breast and head, and back of a bright blue. The weather was now mode- rately cool^ and similar in its variety to that in England at the same time of year. Mr. Weller finished the canoe before sun- set, and she was brought down to the water and launched. But she was so lopsided as to be quite unserviceable in her. present state. To remedy this was found to be no easy matter. Large chips were cut off with the broad axe, which produced various changes of her position on the water; but the changes were all wrong, and do what we would, we could not lay her quite horizontal. Besides, the wood was green and heavy, and she sunk by far too low. Finally, we nailed a small slab of cedar on her side to produce an equilibrium ; but, after all, she looked so extremely awkward, and the case was so hopeless, that I was not only obliged to aban- RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 311 don her altogether, but was at considerable additional trouble to fill her with large stones and sink her, for she looked so ugly that I could not bear to see her. So I was again obliged to have recourse to my birch canoe, the seams of which one of the men contrived to pay tolerably well with turpentine^ and she became again fit for service. The wild fowl had now nearly all departed, and spearing fish was almost my only amuse- ment. The partridges too were gone. In fact, the birds had all begun to breed. In- stead of my gun, therefore, I generally car- ried my axe in my hand, by means of which I made myself tired enough to feel comfort- able during the very short time I sat still. One or other of the men was frequently bringing in fish caught in various ways, by angling, trolling, &c. I had plenty for breakfast and dinner. With reference to past times, therefore, a comparison naturally suggested itself in favour of the present hour. I found the solitude of my life every day less irksome ; and an additional source of interest rose up more and more in the 312 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. objects around me. In cutting down trees I had learnt to make them fall which way I pleased, and I was continually thus en- gaged, increasing the natural beauties of my demesnes, and removing every obstacle which blocked up my favourite paths. I extended my walks, by marking the trees in a particular way, as I went, so that I could wander far from my home and in perfect confidence of not losing my way. June 2nd. — The weather to-day was clear and warm. I walked a long way from home, and pursued a straight line, over ground altogether new to me. I came at last to a ravine, where an unusual extent of open space presented itself, covered in every di- rection with lovely verdure. The charred trunks of the trees bore testimony of the cause, and it was evident that the part of the forest I was in had been destroyed a few years before by fire. Thus, the large trees were consumed, and the ashes had consequently given birth to a rich growth of shrubs, now wearing the cheerful green of spring, and enlivened by a profusion of RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 313 wild flowers creeping out of the earth, and disposing themselves around in the delicate arrangement of nature. In this sweet shrub- bery there was the birch and maple, a token of improved soil, while wild currant and gooseberry bushes, in rich abundance, tufted the banks of a little stream of clear water. I naturally stopped to look about me, and sat down, quite delighted at so charming a spot. Beautiful birds were drinking and splash- ing themselves in the water, and gaudy butterflies, of a very large size, fanned the soft air with their yellow and black wings. At this moment, a little blazing meteor shot like a glowing coal of fire across the glen ; and, for the first time in my life, I saw with admiration and astonishment, what in a moment I recognised to be the greatest of Nature's beauties of the feathered race — that resplendent living gem, the hum- ming bird ! Buzzing like an humble bee, which it exactly resembled in its flight and sound ; like an humble bee, it sprang through the air, by a series of instantaneous impulses, p 314 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. tracing angle after angle, with the velocity of lightning; till poised above its favourite flower, all motion seemed entirely lost in its very intensity; and the humming sound alone certified to the ear the rapid vibration of wing by which it supported its little airy form. I was never more excited to wonder than by this little creature, so unexpected was its appearance, and so much more did it resemble a splendid shining insect than a bird. The place I was jn seemed Fairy Land complete, and it were matter of regret that Uvqog tJ fjLaXspoL yuaSos, the voracious jaw oj jftre, did not more often effect such advan- tageous results as these changes of scenery in the neighbourhood of my dwelling. It is remarkable, however, considering every In- dian and traveller usually lights his fire against the trunk of some prostrate tree, and leaves it burning, that conflagration is not more general and frequent. As it is, few summers pass away without instances of accidental combustion, (one, indeed, of late years was, by the way, most serious and fatal RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 315 "in its consequences,) when volumes of smoke proceeding from a spot distant and unknown, envelope in thick fog the in- habitants of the settled parts of the coun- try. People, however, on these occasions, apathetically pursue their daily avocations without inquiring from whence the winds have wafted the gloomy curtain, although the air to an unusual degree is obscured and darkened. June 3rd. — This evening, as the weather was particularly fine, I went out in my birch canoe to spear fish, and narrowly escaped a serious accident. Having taken one of the Canadians with me as well as my servant, I was kneeling down in the bow of the canoe, where lay a large heap of pieces of birch bark split into the proper shape for replen- ishing the light in the cleft pole which over- hung the water. We went on paddling round the maro^in of the bav, till I had taken two or three fish. But, some how or other, just as we happened to be making across from one point to another, and were in deep water, p 2 f316 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. a little bit of the fire fell unluckily among the magazine of combustibles, and the whole in a moment was in a blaze, together with my check linen shirt, for I had on neither coat nor waistcoat. I soon extinguished the fire which was destroying my shirt, but not before my hair and eyebrows were a good deal singed ; and working on^ by very great exertion I put out the fire altogether. But my hand and right arm were blistered, and I was very near giving up the point, and jump- ing out of the canoe to swim ashore. The whole business occupied but a very few seconds from the time that the fire was blazing twice as high as my head as I knelt, till, like an expended Catherine wheel we were left glimmering in the dark on the water. The fishing was quite put a stop to for the evening, and as it was too late to procure fresh lights instead of those which had been consumed or spoiled, nothing was left to do but to paddle home. June 4th. — I saw two very pretty Indian damsels busily employed, broiling fish over a RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 317 fire they had made on the margin of the bay. Each of them carried a gun, and their canoe was fastened to a large stone. A fish spear was lying in the canoe, also a large salmon trout, which apparently had been just taken. They were gaily dressed, and their cheeks marked with stripes of red paint as if they were prepared for some festivity. I proposed to buy the fish, but they were so unaccount- ably shy that I could not prevail upon them to listen to a word I had to say ; nor by sign or hieroglyphic could I make the least im- pression. They ran into the forest, leaving the fish to broil by itself. So I went away, and left them to their repast. Afterward I discovered that they were living under the protection of one of the gentlemen of the North-west Company, and that, notwithstand- ing the extreme propriety of conduct for which I had given them credit, they were in fact no better than they should be. After this, I was in the interior of the forest, and I chanced to sit down. My dog was with me, but had wandered away, for I 318 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. had not my gun, and took therefore little pains to restrain him. Presently I heard the sticks crack close behind me, and thought it was he, but a moment afterwards saw a large long-legged wolf, which had passed within a few feet of me. With his head and tail low, he was going a lurching, stealthy trot. When I saw him he had got about ten yards from me ; he did not look behind him or quicken his pace, but leaped easily over a fallen tree, and was immediately out of sight. Had I my gun with me, instead of my axe, I could have readily shot him. June 5th to 15th. — The weather, during the whole of this period was very like that of England ; variable, but equally temperate in the extremes. The voracity of the flies, however^ was beyond all controul. They were a very plague. Different sorts were ushered into existence, and in a few days re- placed by others; bands of unconquerable guerrillas, which harassed and tormented me without mercy. There was a day fly, and a night fly; for the mosquitoe shouldered RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. 319 his arms as soon as the others went to rest, making up in his weapon, his deficiency in numbers. So bad, indeed, are the mosqui- toes, that I have no doubt whatever, that were a man to be exposed to them for the space of an hour without his clothes, they would absolutely sting him t death . Boat-loads of government stores now ar- riving, as well as those of the North-west Company, on the way to Lake Huron, the margin of the bay began to be a scene of active bustle. The house of the Canadians, a member of whose mess my servant had been long since enrolled, was crowded with casual lodgers, and it was with difficulty that I could now keep my own house to myself. I had been in the habit of doing as much as I could for myself; and as I lived almost wholly on fish, I very often cut it into junks and broiled it with my own hands. Still my servant had quite enough to do, for he washed my clothes, baked my bread, cut birch bark in the woods for lights, went out fishing, and led a life, not solitary like mine, 320 RESIDENCE IN THE WOODS. but joyous in the extreme. Too much so, though his habitual sobriety as yet resisted the deleterious spirits, called whiskey in the country, which the new-comers dispensed amono^ the Canadian labourers. Lonsr after I retired to rest at night, I now heard bursts of carousal and jollity, with a regret to think that in the total change of affairs, my days of tranquillity so soon had passed away. 321 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC, BY THE FALLS OF NIAGARA AND THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. June 16. — This morning I received letters from York announcing my liberation, and conveying to me instructions to proceed thi- ther on my way to Quebec. The intelligence gave me great pleasure, and I immediately commenced active preparations for my de- parture. Little, indeed, I had to prepare, and that little was most willingly under- taken. Mr. F who had returned some time since, with his wife from York, now hearing qf my intended movement, came to me to volunteer to take a paddle in the bat- teau, to which T acceded. The wife again remonstrated : however we left her behind ; and this arrangement Mr. F was, I found, upon any reasonable excuse, always ready to agree to. The man who was the bearer of my letters p 3 322 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM had received directions to take charge of some stores which had been forwarded to Kempenfeldt Bay, and he had brought with him his wife and a little infant child. They had slept out-of-doors the night preceding, where the woman and baby both suffered severely from the flies. The poor child's head was indeed miserably swollen, and the good looks of the mother were entirely de- stroyed by red knobs all over her face. No wonder the poor creature was in a peevish humour, for besides her sufferings, and the loss of beauty, the most severe trial of all was disappointment ; as she had been quite deceived in the accounts of the place to which her husband had brought her. As I was to be off in two hours, I gave up my house with a good grace to her immediately, but in return she abused every thing in it, so that I was happy to keep out of her way ; and more happy still, when, with Mr. F and one of the Canadians, just before step- ping into the batteau, I saw, for the last time, her poor husband at the extremity of LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 323 his wits to find argument to satisfy her re- monstrances, and whip away the flies with a little green bough at the same time. It was about four o'clock when we went on board ; the evening was delightfully fine, and the little wind that blew was directly in our favour. We hoisted our small sail, which became gently distended before I lost sight of a few honest faces who came to the water's edge to witness my departure. " Bon voyage " was more than once repeated, I am sure, with sincerity, — yet more than once I was recalled from my musing by the rude twitch, with which something or other on which I had heedlessly seated myself, was jerked from under me. Such moments of sudden excitement are invariably succeeded by seriousness ap- proaching to melancholy, as if the mind stood convicted of error in having yielded to the delusion of happiness ; and now, even amid the eager anticipation of change, aided by the exertion of active preparation, the colours of the rainbow were forgotten, while the shower alone presented itself to the senses. 324 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM New scenes of life were before me, and I was at that moment commencing a journey, which would probably finish, before any dis- tant period, in England. I was leaving a spot, where, however I might have accom- modated my habits to circumstances, if I had suffered no real grievances, I had unques- tionably enjoyed but few solid comforts. Variety was before me ; transition from place to place, from object to object; I was again to mix in that general intercourse with the "world, without which the choicest gifts of Providence are vapid ; and still, in spite of all this_, it was not without feelings of real regret, amounting to a depression of spirits, that the well-known trees and points of land on each side of the bay, one after another, receded from my view, and gradually, in suc- cession, became lost in the distance. Such is the natural attachment to any spot, how- ever rude, which can be called home ! All the difficulties and inconveniences of my life were in a moment forgotten, and my heart whispered adieu to each particular object, as to a friend or acquaintance with whose image LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 325 the association of happy hours was intimately blended. Let those learn, and many there are who might profit by the lesson, who, having within their possession home and its enjoyments, know not how to appreciate the blessing, that it is possible to fly to the forest without finding solitude, and that a lonely uncultivated spot is in itself capable of creat- ing an interest sufficient to dispose the con- tented mind to true happiness. We were soon at the mouth of the bay, and making a good passage across Lake Sim- coe. The sun had set, and as we skirted the shore the fire-flies sparkled in glittering swarms among the boughs of the trees which averhung the water's edge. Hitherto I had not seen any of these insects in the country, and I thouo'ht them laro;er and more brilliant than any I had met with in other climates. The wind, which had been all along very gentle, now became quite lulled. The men accordingly took to the paddles, and, keep- ing in-shore, pulled on at a steady rate ; and so \ye proceeded smoothly during the silent hours that passed away, while the whooping 326 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM of the night birds, and the croaking of deep- mouthed frogs, bore sole testimony to the existence of animated nature. June 17th. — As the pale light of morning gleamed upon the lake, large water-hawks, the colour of herons, were to be seen upon their chosen station, and from the craggy- stump of a decayed tree, watching for their prey with eyes intently fixed upon the water. And kingfishers, the size of pigeons, slate- coloured, with black heads, would plump like stones in pursuit of the small fish that ap- peared upon the surface. As the day broke we approached the mouth of Holland River, disturbing various sorts of wild fowl as we passed along the banks, till the ruddy light of the sun shed a glowing hue upon the surrounding objects. It was a fine summer's morning, and I was regretting that my gun was packed up, al- though we had very few miles to proceed to the landing, when a fine mallard, which had risen out of the reeds, made its flight sud- denly over our batteau. Terrified at the unexpected encounter, he turned suddenly, LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 327 and at the same instant the report of a gun sounded close by us. Nothing of life re- mained as he fell, hurled by the impulse of his flight, with increased velocity upon the water ! There was something so unlooked for in the fate of the bird, that it was really a subject for reflection; when a canoe, with two young smart squaws in it, darted past us, and one of these immediately picked it up. Thev wore men's hats, of shinino; coarse felt, and jackets and petticoats, of glossy blue cloth, ornamented with red serge. And I immediately recognised my two friends, whom I had seen a few days before broiling the fish in the woods at Kempenfeldt Bay. Their protector, the North-west gentleman, was I do not know where, while the damsels were pursuing this roaming life, more me- morable perhaps on account of its economy than its morality. Here was an establish- ment wherein the means of conveyance was provided, — the poulterer's and fishmonger's bills paid, and all at the cost of a bark canoe, a Birmingham gun, and a fish spear. Brick* dust from the town of Newmarket served 328 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM the purpose of rouge, and sturdy blue cloth superseded the more flimsy articles of mil- linery. The men, who had been paddling all night, ■were jaded and tired, and the squaw who had killed the mallard, having loaded her gun, took her seat opposite to her companion ; and they pulled their canoe along at an astonishing rate, twisting and turning with great velocity and skill. They were parti- cularly diverted at the appearance of our batteau, which was a heavy unwieldy vessel, and, being in high spirits and full of mis- chief, they amused themselves by quizzing the men ; first passing us like a shot, then dropping astern and going round us, till, see- ing some object which attracted their atten- tion, they left us in eager pursuit towards the lake_, and we saw them no more. Having breakfasted at a house on the banks of the river, I would have hired a horse, or any sort of conveyance, to enable me to proceed ; but that was altogether out of the question : so, leaving my servant with the Canadian who was to carry my baggage. LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 329 I set out on foot, on my way to York. As I was not averse to walking alone, I went silently off, while Mr. F and the host were driving a hard bargain for a pig. The day became intolerably hot, and at the end of twenty-five miles I came to a house which looked so comfortable that I resolved to rest for the night ; and here, after the rough life I had been leading, every thing looked par- ticularly neat and tidy. On the way I picked up a land tortoise, as it was walking slowly across the road, not far from the river. Soon after I arrived, my servant and the Canadian came in with my baggage, but Mr. F not having brought his negotiation to a con- clusion, remained behind. June 18th. — I walked twenty-two miles, the remainder of the way to York, along a wide earthy road, well fenced off on each side by the American rail fence, but where traffic and a good even layer of stone were altogether wanting to bring it towards per- fection. Although Summer had now re-esta- blished her reign, a heavy sameness pre- vailed over the face of the^country, and in 330 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM the short space between the road and the forest, the naked stumps of trees standing in the ground gave a desolate appearance to the fields on either side. I saw a number of yellow birds^ such as I had not met with in the woods. The com- mon English marten is to be seen here, which builds in hollow trees, and forms its nest of the minute fibres of roots so strongly ce- mented together, as to make a compact ves- sel as tight as a China cup. June 19th to 27th. — Previously to pro- ^ceeding to Quebec, I proposed to myself to visit the Falls of Niagara, and having heard of a vessel about to sail for Fort George, I engaged a passage on board. Her departure was postponed from day to day, during which time my stay was made agreeable by the kindness and hospitality of Mr. Cruick- shank, at whose house I resided. June 28th. — The distance from York, now Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada, to Fort George, at the mouth of the Niagara river, is thirty miles. At six in the evening I went on boarJ the Jane, a schooner of fifty LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 331 tons, and we immediately set sail. There was so little wind that we were all night on Lake Ontario, and' the berths in the vessel were so bad, that, as the night was mild and fine, 1 preferred lying on the deck in my clothes, to occupying the best of them. June 29th. — At nine o'clock in the morn- ing we arrived at Fort George, when Mr. Bisset was not only kind enough to invite me to remain at his house during my stay, but lent me a horse to ride to the Falls of Niagara, now sixteen miles distant. No time was expended in delay, and so soon as I had breakfasted, my foot was in the stirrup. I was scarcely out of the town, when I was surprised and pleased at the totally different appearance of the country, to that df any part of North America I had yet visited. That the road to the Falls of Niagara is one of considerable traffic, and better, in conse- quence, than other roads in the country, is not to be wondered at : but I could really fancy myself transported to a cultivated country in Europe, and on the high road to- wards some opulent city. As I rode parallel 332 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM to the Niagara river, which rolled its course on the left hand below me, through a rich ravine, whose elevated banks were covered with ornamental trees and shrubs, I called to mind the banks of the Garonne in the south of France, to which the country bore a striking resemblance. The rich diversity of foliage which prevailed on every side, was a kindly relief to the eye, long over- whelmed by the prevalence of the dismal black pine, but now dwelling with grateful delight on the wild peach, cherry, sassafras, hiccory, aspen, and sycamore, disposed on either side of the road in tasteful succession, and according to the abundant variety of nature. The roar of Niagara already was distinctly audible, and I saw the cloud of vapour, which, hanging over its verge, like a white pillar in the heavens, points towards the chief wonder of the earth ! I rode on till I game to the inn where 1 was to leave my horse, and taking a guide with me, proceeded on foot. We descended towards the river, crossing some fields LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 333 covered with high dry grass, with a rich bot- tom of clover and thyme. My guide cau- tioned me to beware of rattlesnakes, which he said were numerous just where we were. None, however, did I see or hear. On our way towards the Table Rock, we were less than a mile from the Falls, when a sight burst upon the view which I was not prepared to expect — that mighty, rolling mass of water, which, above the cascade, rushes onwards, furiously foaming with a velocity tremendously increased to its verge ; for the Niagara River, hurried through its lacerated channel, spreads itself over an in- clined plane of considerable declivity and magnificent expanse. For the space of a mile before it reaches the Falls, islands and shoals obstruct its course, and black rocks protrude their rugged summits in defiance of the surge — monuments to man of an event which the brief span of his memory has failed to record, — that jarring shock, when the river yielding its rived banks to the torrent's force, first bounded from the verge of the preci- pice ! When, with impulse instantaneous. 334 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM the stupendous cataract, generated in the convulsion of conflicting torrents, first thun- dered into being ! With the strongest anticipation of a spec- tacle, the very grandest of Nature's vronders, I was, on my arrival, utterly unprepared for the splendour of the reality. When I reached the Table Rock, the volume of tumb- ling waters, their deafening sound, their un- ceasing descent, the reverberation of the mass below, driving to the very skies its steaming vapour, — all combined to produce unusual sensations of astonishment and awe. Chaos seemed before me ! My ears were confounded ; my sight was dazzled by whirling eddies, — yet the ever-during liquid arch preserves from generation to genera- tion its uniform, palpable figure. Particles, myriads upon myriads, for the very minutest portion of a second, remain suspended each in its place, and there perform each its momen- tary ordained function in the scale of creation. Thus is eternity to the human imagina- tion, wonderfully, infinitely divisible ! Below, and within a very few yards of LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 335 the abyss, a heavy stillness pervades the whole surface of the river for a wide extent, as if paralysis succeeded the violence of the shock ; but the milky whiteness of the water bears ample testimony to the laboured heavings of the current underneath, which thence hurries along in an overpowering stream towards Lake Ontario. At a distance of five miles from the Falls, the celebrated whirlpool, attracting the largest floating bodies within its vortex, holds its unceasing struggle with the stream, which becomes af- terwards gradually more and more placid. At Queen's Town, four miles farther, the water is still extremely rapid; but after a short distance, and before it empties itself into the lake, it glides along in quiescent and tranquil course ; nor does any unusual turbid appearance convey the slightest idea of proximity to the cataract pf Niagara. June 30th. — As it was now my object to proceed to Quebec, by the rapids of St. Lawrence, I engaged a passage in an Ame- rican schooner of fifty tons, which was proceeding in ballast to Sodus, a port 120 336 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM miles distant on the American side of tlie lake, there to take in cargo, and sail forth- with to Kingston. July 1st. — I got on board at six o'clock in the evening, and we immediately weighed anchor. The berths and accommodation were uncommonly good. The weather was mild and temperate, and we had a gentle favourable breeze. July 2nd. — At five o'clock in the afternoon we made the port of Sodus, after an extreme- ly pleasant passage. Sodus is a neat coun- try village, situated at the head of a beautiful bay, which forms an excellent harbour for small vessels in all weathers. The shores of the lake are hereabouts remarkably bluff, and as the eye glances from the craggy sum- mits of the cliffs along the wide expanse of waters which wash their base, there is no feature in the whole prospect which serves to disting-uish this noble fresh-water lake from the ocean itself. The short light green wave reminded me of the Bristol Channel and other inland seas. Having landed, 1 went to the Troopville Inn, kept by Captain Wick- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 337 ham, of the United States Militia, and here I was to remain till the vessel was laden. An unexpected delay, however, seemed likely to take place, for on the 4th of July, the next day but one, was to be celebrated the festival of American Independence, on which occasion a country ball was to be held at Captain Wickham's house, and as a matter of course, business would stand still. July 3rd. — The vessel had now nearly half her cargo on board; and I prevailed upon the master to lend me his boat, in which, attended by a couple of stout Yankee sea- men, I passed the evening in rowing about in the bay of Sodus. A finer piece of water can hardly be imagined. The most delicate shrubs fringed its banks to the water's edge, and the winding shore broken by creeks and inlets, furnished store of incessant variety. We were at one time struggling over shoals and through reeds, then breaking forth again into a wide expanse of clear water, where turtles were to be seen in great numbers, floating on the surface. These creatures were extremely wild, always disappearing Q 338 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM long before we approached them. Their egg-shells were lying about the sand on the shore in great quantities. July 4th. — Captain Wickham, and all his family were in the greatest possible bustle the whole of the morning, in making prepa- rations for their company. In the mean time I walked out for a few hours over a country, under a degree of cultivation such as I had not seen for a long time, and where the fields_, hedges, and stiles made me almost fancy I was in England. On my return, the people of the house, without intending to be uncivil, were extremely rude; nor could I prevail upon them to prepare anything for my dinner. I got a piece of a cold meat pudding, out of which my predecessors had made so judicious a selection, that very little remained but bones and pieces of fat. However, there was soon something else to think about, for the people began to arrive, — young farmers, dressed in coats of glossy blue cloth, with broad white buttons, and rosy damsels, in white calendered gowns, sOmewhat rumpled by having been packed LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 339 too closely in their carts or whiskeys. Some came in these carriages, and others on foot, till a large room below was quite full, and they all began to dance. The fiddler sat on a chair placed upon a large table, playing country-dances, and roaring out the figure. There was not an old person in the room to direct the flock, which was noisy and riotous beyond measure. About three o'clock I went down to the water's edge, where there were a great many small vessels made fast to the wharf; and, as they impeded the landing of people from small boats, those parties which were making their way to the ball by water, clambered up and walked on shore over a plank, which w^as laid down for the purpose. As I was looking at the people landing in this way one after another, a tidy little woman, not more than thirty years of age, and very smart, was passing the plank, when her foot slipped, and she fell into the water between the vessel and the wharf, and I had a great deal of trou- ble to pull her out, for she was out of her Q 2 340 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM depth, and I made several snatches at her without effect. With the first good hold, however, I succeeded, but not before her breath was almost gone ; and I supported her on my knee, to allow the water to run out of her mouth. At this moment, her little daughter, half as old as herself, — so much for early marriages_, — who had just heard of the accident, came flying across the vessels, -and seizing her mother by the shoulders^ '^ Mother, mother," said she, '* how came you ■to fall in ?" The poor woman's speech had ^ot returned, and the more she gasped for breath, the more the little girl persevered in shaking her, repeating her question with a froward animation and eagerness, expressive of the truest affection. In a few minutes, the woman was quite well, and lamenting her wet clothes. About twelve o'clock at night, the party for the most part broke up, and the company began to move off, each damsel generally on her way homewards from the ball under the chaperonage of her partner. Some of the LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 341 young people, however, perhaps because they were more fatigued, or having farther to go, lay down in pairs on the floor at the end of the room, to rest themselves till morning. Before one o'clock, not less than a dozen of the young ladies and their gallants were in this manner recumbent, — and it was all considered proper. " What Mrs. Grundy would say " is another matter. July 5th to 6th. — It was unfortunate that the gentlemen whose business it was to load the schooner were among the principal beaux at the ball the night before, and still more unlucky, that afterwards, in consequence of their exertions, they required an entire day to recover from the fatigue. Consequently the schooner lay at the wharf the whole of the morning of the 5th, quite deserted, — without even a boy in a red night-cap to answer interrogatories. The festival of In- dependence comes only once a-year, and people of all sorts appear to make the most of it. At last, early on the morning of the 6th, barrels were seen trundling merrily to- wards the water's edge ; and before three in 342 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM the afternoon, we sailed with a favourable breeze out of the harbour. Before sunset we were quite out of sight of land, and to all appearance as much at sea as if in the middle of the Atlantic. The master of the vessel, as night came on, determined to lay- to until the morning. Had we made the is- lands called the False Ducks before dark, we should have stood on for Kingston Harbour. July 7th. — At daylight we proceeded on our voyage, and anchored, at nine o'clock in the morning, at Kingston. I heard that Co- lonel Phillot of the Royal Artillery was just about to leave Kingston, in a batteau, for Montreal, and it was proposed to me to ac- company him ; an arrangement which suited me in every way. So, having breakfasted on shore, we were all in the batteau and ready to depart before eleven o'clock. Our batteau was a large flat-bottomed boat, pointed at both ends alike, and manned en- tirely by French Canadians The wind was favourable, and we had a large sail to assist us ; so that we very soon had an opportunity of hearing a genuine Canadian boat-song. LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 343 In these melodies there is a vast deal more noise than music, nor of all that I heard these men sing during the voyage, did any bear the slightest resemblance to those I had heard before. The refrein of one of our boatmen's ditties I happen to recollect. It is as follows : iEfeE&S —W- ^3- :± Sommes nous au mi - lieu du bois. .m — 5- m ■- -^- Sommes nous au ri - vage The above they roared out without mercy, in full chorus, and one at a time sang each verse in solo. The subject treated of the hardihood of the Voyageurs, the troubles and diflBculties they encounter^ without for- getting jtheir skill and bravery in surmount- ing them. We had a pleasant voyage down this noble river, where the " Thousand Islands" present a beautifully romantic prospect of land and water, but wild as if 344 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM a recent deluge liad inundated the country. We went about thirty miles, and put up for the night at an inn adjoining the shore. July 8th. — We proceeded down the river as far as Prescott. July 9th. — The rapidity of the stream was now so considerably increased, that we might well have expected to encounter the Rapids_, towards which we were quickly advancing. At last the roar of the Rapide Plat was dis- tinctly heard ; a heavy sullen sound like that of the sea ; the surface of the water, gliding onwards with extreme velocity, being level and smooth in the current, though at the same time full of little eddies and whirlpools. And so we glanced along till suddenly the watery precipice of several feet appeared below us, and then, down at once we pitched into the Rapid. ''A terre,'' ''A' large;' was now the cry, as the steersman gave di- rections to the men to keep the head of the batteau on or off the land ; and every man tugged hard, and worked with great anima- tion, till we were through the rough water and again in tranquillity. We afterwards LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 345 passed the Longue Saiit, through a channel so full of rocks and shoals that no vessel but a flat-bottomed boat can possibly live in it. Now we seemed on the point of being dashed against the land ; again, snatched away by some unseen eddy into another direction, we were twisted through a watery gulf, and car- ried across a bubbling field of waves and breakers, till once more in open space the lessening roar of waters died upon the ear, and the beauties of the surrounding scenery burst upon the sight. As our batteau was shooting along at a most rapid rate, we came suddenly upon a point of land where three deer had stepped down to the water's edge to drink. The timid creatures stood quite still and looked at us as we passed within a very few yards of them, — of so little importance, amid the noise and crash of torrents, was a boat with near a dozen men in it ! Although none of the considerable Rapids can be passed without a severe struggle for a boat, even one of large size, there is, I believe, little or no real danger, at least acci- q3 346 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM dents are seldom heard of. It is an under- taking which most men might, perhaps, encounter once in their lives, for the sake of curiosity, but very few would, I am sure^ repeat the experiment for pleasure. The scale of things is infinitely large^ and the expanse of water so great, that cascades, whirlpools, and bubbling eddies, change places with each other in the uncontrollable variety of an obstructed torrent. Although the line of direction remains always the same, the effect produced by back currents and the under stream is so uncertain, that boat after boat submits, as it were, to the caprice of fate, and, like feathers in the air, two together can hardly ever possibly follow the same identi- cal course. We proceeded this day as far as Cornwall, where we put up for the night. July 10th. — Having, under various vicis- situdes, passed Lake St. Francis, the Coteau du Lac, and the Cedar Rapids, we were carried along not only by the rapidity of the stream, but by the assistance of our sail. The wind was against us, but had now be- come favourable ,* at the same time the LAKE STMCOE TO QUEBEC. 347 gath ering clouds seemed to portend a thunder- storm. As we had not many miles to proceed to the town of Cedres, the men pulled hard, and we made all way possible; meanwhile the sky grew blacker, till it seemed in the horizon almost to touch the water, and the wind, too, increased very considerably. The tempest was thus hanging on our rear as we flew before it, and we arrived at Cedres only just in time to run into the inn before the first big drops, which were plenteously fall- ing a few hundred yards behind us, had overtaken our batteau. It was a severe storm, and lasted a good while. We took advantage of the opportunity, however, to despatch our dinner ; and in about a couple of hours, the weather having by that time quite cleared up, although the evening was advancing, we re-embarked, intending to pass the night at La Chine. I observed that the men took a little more time than usual to arrange themselves in their places ; though in a little while all seemed right, and we were drifting with great velocity towards the 348 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM verge of the Cascades' Rapid. Not before this critical moment, and when it was too late to stop, we first made the discovery that half the men were quite drunk, and the steersman the worst of all the party ; so we were obliged to snatch the oars from all of them, and do as well as we could for ourselves. I never saw a more cowardly set of rascals than the boatmen. They absolutely cried till they roared, and were as helpless as a parcel of children. In the mean time we got into the middle of the Rapid, which sufficiently ill- treated us; however, by pulling hard and holding water, we kept the boat's head right, and managed to get through at the expense of a good wetting. But we had wandered altogether out of our course, and fairly lost our way upon the river, which now became extremely wide, and was, moreover, divided by the intervening land into several chan- nels : and thus we pulled on at a venture till it grew quite dark. We then found ourselves on the opposite bank of the river, and gave up all hopes of crossing over back again to La LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 349 Chine. At last we entered the mouth of the Chateaugay River, and found out a miser- able house, where we passed the night in our clothes, among swarms of mosquitoes, dirt, and all sorts of untidiness. July 11th. — Glad enough to leave this place, we crossed the St. Lawrence and landed at La Chine before six o'clock in the morning. Here I got a comfortable breakfast, and, being within nine miles of Montreal, I hired a calash to take me thither, — a high, clumsy-looking buggy, fur- nished with head, apron, &c., and built ap- parently with little regard to weight. The wheels were excessively high, and there was a small seat in front for the driver, who rested his legs on the shafts across the horse's rump. A stout grey cob, nevertheless, dragged along the ponderous vehicle at a very good pace, and I arrived at Montreal in time to take my place in the steamer, or smoke-boat, as it was then called by the sailors, which was to move at two o'clock the next morning for Quebec, — the passen- 350 SUMMER JOURNEY FROM gers to be all on board at eight o'clock. I dined at a table d'hote, and went on board. July 12th to 13th. — We arrived so late at night at Quebec^ that none of the passengers went on shore on the 12th ; but on the morn- ing of the 13th I landed under a very dif- ferent temperature than prevailed on the day when I had last crossed the river among the ice, in the log-canoe. On that day, in the winter, the thermometer stood at least twelve or fifteen degrees below zero of Fahrenheit ; it was now at ninety-five in the shade. Having obtained a passage for England on board a transport ship of 200 tons, the crew of which consisted only of six men and a boy, we weighed anchor on the 29th ; and, after tacking about for twenty-four hours in a fog off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, among a parcel of other ships, all ringing bells and beating drums, and after weather- ing a stiff gale on the Banks of Newfound- land, we eventually made a good passage, and reached soundings on the 27th August. Nevertheless, as it turned out, we were con- LAKE SIMCOE TO QUEBEC. 351 siderably wrong in our reckoning; for at daybreak on the 28th the master discovered the land then in sight to be the island of Guernsey, although he had previously made up his mind that it was the Lizard. We lay- to for the night off Portland light-house, set sail the next morning, the 29th, and I landed safely at Portsmouth about noon. 352 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. To have lived in North America v\^ithout forming a favourable estimate of the compa- rative advantages possessed by the poor of that country with those of our own, is quite impossible ; nor can it be wondered at, that the condition of the labouring classes should be better in a land where the inhabitants bear an opposite proportion to the cultivated soil. At the present day, while Nature points out to the dense population of Europe an expanse where her surplus numbers may spread themselves abroad to any degree of extent, the art of man seems to second her efforts, by divesting locomotion of its diffi- culties; and a question obtrudes itself more and more every day on the mind, on contem- plating the face of the universal globe, — why the human race should continue to be ON EMIGRATION. 353 distributed with such extreme inequality upon its surface ? Without presuming to determine on the expediency of a general system of emigra- tion, it may not be amiss to urge one or two brief remarks, founded on local observation, on some of the objections which at first sight appear to be arrayed against it. First, as regards the severity of climate, which does, in fact, render age, state of family, constitu- tion, &c., very important considerations to persons intending to adventure upon the life of a settler; although, practically, all these have been extremely over-rated and exagge- rated. To a traveller^ the difference of tem- perature, under all the disadvantages to which he is subjected on his route, such as being obliged to inhabit houses hastily raised, huts, &c., and constantly, from his unsettled habits, ill protected from the wea- ther ; these circumstances, I say, form no fair criterion as to the effect of the temperature on the constitution. It is, in fact, quite as imreasonable to institute any sort of compa- 354 CONCLUDING REMARKS rison between the new comer and the settled inhabitant, as to compare the life of a soldier in the field with that of a citizen in his warm dwelling. Every climate is unhealthy where men are ill protected from the weather ; on the con- trary, being well housed and provided with fuel is more than an equivalent for severity of cold. To the hardiest animals Nature assigns the warmest habitations. As to the human race, in appreciating the value of warmth, compare the peasantry of England and Ireland. Why are the poor of the latter country more robust, although more ill fed, than our's ? Because the walls of the mud cabin are impervious to the weather, and its inmates are well provided with fuel. The cottage of the English pauper is on the con- trary a straggling, ill-contrived building; his fuel scanty, and the consequence, — rheuma- tism, — the endemic disease of the country. Taking, therefore, into consideration the abundance of firewood in the North Ameri- can colonies, it must appear that the climate ON EMIGRATION. 355 is a healthy one, and that no experience, founded on well-conducted experiment, has hitherto controverted the fact. But if, on the one hand, too rigid objec- tions have been urged against the climate, there is another point towards which per- haps^ too little attention has been directed ; namely, the very opposite interests existing between the emigrant and the colonial land- owner ; and this, notwithstanding that such consideration is of very great importance as to any general system of emigration, if such were ever to be either actively promoted or indirectly encouraged. It certainly does appear, as a general principle, unquestion- able, that the emigrant should not be in any way subjected to men who have objects of their own in locating the country at variance with his interest. In a country where land exists to such an unlimited extent, its value must, of course, almost entirely depend upon its cultivated or uncultivated state, also upon its proximity to the already settled parts of the country ; so that an emigrant cannot possibly enrich himself by clearing his own 356 CONCLUDING REMARKS land, without at the same time adding a value to his neighbour's property, and that in a proportion of which here we can form little idea. Upon this principle it is that at present motives of personal interest have, to say the least of them, an indirect influence upon the locating of emigrants in the coun- try. Some men are encouraged to leave their own homes, unfitted by age and consti- tution to endure the change of habits and climate ; others, for want of sound disinter- ested advice when they arrive in the country, meet with difficulty after difficulty, till they become embarrassed and in debt, and finally fall victims to misery and misdirected specu- lation. To a healthy, but severe climate, none but the young should venture, — children, and men and women under five-and-twenty. In after age, the change of climate is in itself a trial to the he alth; and as Nature decrees in vegetative life, so man himself must be transplanted early, or the experiment will not thrive. Nevertheless, supposing the case of an infirm person making the adven- ON EMIGRATION. 357 ture, it is not impossible but that he may advance the interests of the colonial land- owner, in whatever degree he may mar his own : inasmuch as the land-owner can always find a way to turn the labour of the settler to advantage. Sure enough it is, that so long as one man can be found to sow, another will appear in due course to reap. Within the enormous stretch of the Bri- tish North American colonies, spots eligible in all respects for the purposes of the emi- grant everywhere abound — that is, a good agricultural position_, not too far removed from the cultivated lands. The growth of the pine points out the poor land, — that of the birch, maple, and the harder woods, is a sufficient indication of the richer soil. But the first object of the emigrant, surely, is to reach the place of his future domicile, at as little expense as possible, both of time and money. Now if the colonial land-owner yields to motiv es of self-interest, he will naturally be led to determine upon a position for him, be it ever so remote, so long as it is best calculated to advance his own interest or 358 CONCLUDING REMARKS that of the particular part of the country he happens to live in. To this cause, which does, in fact, prevail in some degree all over the country, the Fur companies contribute a considerable share, many persons, in differ- ent ways interested in their operations, hav- ing an additional object in locating settlers in distant points along their thread of settle- ment, for the protection of the voyageurs and the encouragement of the trade. While men emigrate in driblets, unsup- ported by disinterested advice, and without the means of establishing themselves inde- pendently at once on their arrival, there are many ways by which any speculative land- jobber may enrich himself at their expense. Let a case be supposed, for instance. A rich inhabitant has ten thousand, acres to locate, and he divides the whole *^ block" into a hundred lots, of a hundred acres each, out of which he disposes of eighty lots, reserving to himself twenty lots, or two thousand acres. Now, he takes care that these two thousand acres shall be so intermingled and entangled with the rest of the land as to present little ON EMIGRATION. 359 desirable patches, which every tenant, as he rises in the world, would be desirous to pur- chase, andthey are accordingly doled out as required at an exorbitant rate; and thus a heavy profit is exacted out of the hard labour of the emigrant, not only to the great detri- ment of the individual, but the discourage- ment of emigration in general. Such partial instances tend directly to bring any thing like system into disrepute, which never can have its full force till means are devised to secure to the settlers themselves that increase in the value of land which arises out of the act of location, and in the present state of things very generally finds its way into the pockets of the colonial land-owners. Against this description of persons col- lectively these trifling and general remarks are by no means intended to convey to the public an unfavourable opinion, they being a set of men, I verily believe, as honourable in their dealings as others in any part of the known world ; but we are not to expect too much of human nature. '' Ships are but boards, pilots men ;" and people will not 360 CONCLUDING REMARKS forget their own interests, nor neglect their lands, their roads, and their bridges, called upon so often as they must be to become judges in their own cause, and to determine the point whether the settler shall mend the land, or whether the land shall mend the set- tler. Were a system of emigration once to be set on foot, which could confine and se- cure to the parties concerned the enormous increase in value of the land in the surround- ins: neiorhbourhood of the locations, it mioht very probably ere long go alone and help itself; and I am not sure but that, upon the principle of extending our parochial esta- blishments to North America, as far as re- gards the young and able dependant upon public bounty, something like a modification of our present poor-laws, applicable both to England and Ireland, might be contrived. In the mean time, whatever future policy on the subject may direct, there must be always prejudices to be encountered peculiar to our- selves as islanders ; for, instead of being inured by degrees, like our continental neigh- bours, to visit distant parts, the **cras ingens N ON EMIGRATION. 361 iterabimus aequor," appears, as it were, a constant placard, which, no matter whether the traps and spring-guns be real or imagi- nary, equally serves to protract the com- mencement of enterprise and limit the extent of an Englishman's peregrination. But voluntary emigration must be worthy of some consideration, if only as a means of disposing of that surplus population which the temporary pressure of circumstances at times creates : it may be well to regard it as the safety-valve in extreme cases, at the pre- sent moment particularly, as regards the ex- isting state of Ireland, and before the opera- tion of the disfranchisement bill can produce its ultimate effect. My own abstract opinion can be worth but little ; nevertheless, having had an opportunity very lately of visiting almost every county in Ireland, the result of my reflection is, upon observing the state of the poor, that there are no people in the w^orld better calculated for a life in the North American forests than the Irish peasantry ; none with less cause to reo:ret the change, — 362 CONCLUDING REMARKS a change, from the too narrow limits of a scanty, insufficient farm, for the unbounded range of space ; none whose buoyancy of spirits, hardihood, love of enterprise, and frugality, more eminently qualify them for the undertaking. Besides, the disposition of the people has indisputably evinced of late years a tendency to emigrate, even enough to have already acquired sufficient force to be regarded as a political evil. Irish labourers are in the habit of flocking every summer to our shores, in search of work and better wages than they can earn in their own country. To look a little deeper into the consequences of this fact, is it at all unreasonable to come at once to the ultimate conclusion, that the spirit of enterprise once stimulated will continue to advance, and that men, becoming by degrees habituated to leave their homes and reap the advantages of employing their labour in dis- tant parts, will by degrees find objections to foreign residence gradually diminish, every year, till in the end the Atlantic becomes no greater obstacle than the Irish Channel was ON EMIGRATION. 363 in the beginning? If the emigration of the Irish to England be not an indication of advance upon the more distant range of the North American colonies, it is at least con- solatory to reflect, that inasmuch as the necessary provision for an annual expense, trifling as it may be, must be met by cor- respondent habits of economy — such habits being seldom retrogressive — it follows that such tendency to emigrate in the mean time mainly contributes to increase the stock of industry and moral virtue in a country sadly in w^ant of an exciting cause. THE END. William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. V N *> THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY.'AND TO- $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. AUG ffeSlWB AHfi 24 1Q» .2:ul'58MRi / / RSCD LD / JUL ft -WW / «*•»*• lyoo / / / / / M ?67^ t7 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY