Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
97 r
NEW WORLD NOTES.
Kelso :
Printed by Riitherfurd & Craig
NEW WORLD NOTES:
BEING
Account ot Journewngs anb Sojournmgs
in Jlmcrka mtb
JOHN CLAY, JUN.,
KERCHESTERS, KEI.SO.
K E L S O :
J. & J. H. RUTHERFORD, 20, SQUARE.
1875.
E
168
- -CS
PREFATORY NOTE.
HE papers forming this volume appeared in print
before being collected together in their present
shape. The first thirteen of the series were pub-
lished in the North British Agriculturist, a journal which
exercises a wide and beneficial influence on Scottish agri-
culture; and the remainder first met the public eye in the
columns of the Kelso Chronicle, a local newspaper of old
and high standing. They were written at intervals of a
somewhat busy life, and now appear with little altera-
tion on their original form. Having been written amid
the interferences of many other claims on the attention,
and in "free and easy" phraseology, the author is
conscious that they are open to criticism on the score
of literary finish ; but he trusts the general reader will
find some things in these pages to awaken his interest,
increase his knowledge, and stimulate thought.
J. C.
KERCHESTERS, July, 1875.
CONTENTS.
Paijt
I. VIRGINIA i
II. (SECOND PAPER) ... ... 9
III. (THIRD PAPER) ... ... 16
IV. ILLINOIS 27
V. CHICAGO 36
VI. IOWA 4z
VII. NEBRASKA 51
VIII. THE GOLD MINES OF COLORADO 61
IX. EMIGRATION TO THE WEST ... ... 71
X. ONTARIO 83
XI. Bow PARK ... ... ... ... ... ... 90
XII. ONTARIO 100
XIII. THE BACKWOODS ... m
XIV. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ST. Louis 121
XV. NIAGARA FALLS 128
XVI. "OUR WESTERN HOME" ... 140
XVII. NIAGARA FALLS TO OTTAWA 148
XVIII. OTTAWA 156
XIX. THE RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE AND
MONTREAL 165
XX. SARATOGA ... ... ... ... ... ... 175
XXI. SARATOGA TO SCOTLAND ... ... ... ... 191
NEW WORLD NOTES.
i.
jjHE writer of this and some following articles
visited America during the summer of 1874.
He stayed over three months in the country,
and during that time travelled over a considerable portion
of the States and Canada. As a matter of course, it was
but a cursory glance he obtained of that immense contin-
ent, of whose size some estimate may be made when it is
kept in mind that the above State is nearly equal in extent
to the United Kingdom. He went there with no in-
tention of settling, but more through curiosity to see a
country he had read and heard so much about, to see
its people and their institutions ; and in travelling
through it, he made a few notes upon the land, agri-
culture, and inducements for emigration to that immense
and, as yet, but partially-developed continent. Such
notes he has much pleasure in placing before the public,
in the hope that they may help to guide any who
2 New World Notes.
\
at the present moment are turning their attention to that
great country, or that they may afford some information
to others who have no intention of leaving their native
land. They are the simple observations of a farmer
from the banks of the Tweed, and may be taken for
what they are worth.
The State of Virginia was originally settled by
Englishmen, and is one of the oldest and first consti-
tuted in the Union. It is bounded on the east by the
Atlantic, and possesses many fine harbours and shel-
tered bays, formed by the rivers Potomac, Rappahan-
nock, and James. Norfolk, perhaps the finest harbour
in the world, is situated at the bottom of the estuary
formed by the latter, and is rapidly becoming an im-
portant place through its shipping and railway interests.
Between Virginia proper and West Virginia, the
Alleghany Mountains run. They are, more correctly
speaking, good-sized hills, never rising much over 4000
feet above the sea level, are richly wooded, and
abound in iron and coal mines, both most important
items as regards the welfare of a country. Taking a
bird's-eye view, the State is in general flat, well-
wooded, and beautifully watered with, in some cases,
navigable rivers. It is intersected by various lines of
railway, which will, no doubt, soon be increased. The
roads are numerous, and perhaps of the worst descrip-
tion we ever came across. However, the inhabitants
appear to get along with them, such as they are. The
forests of Virginia are still large, and will turn out pro-
fitable. They consist largely of pine, oak, and hickory,
which are increasing rapidly in value ; and as most
Virginia. 3
part of the State is within easy reach of the seaboard,
they cannot but prove a profitable investment. In our
idea, it is not how much land is cleared, but how much
is yet to clear of its virgin wood, that constitutes the value
of a farm. The cleared parts of the land in Virginia are
poor, and worked out through the culture of tobacco ;
while the forest land, over and above the value of the
timber to cut, is virgin soil. As, for instance, on a
farm which we rode over, there were 250 acres of
impoverished cleared lands, and 150 acres of wood.
The price paid for the whole place was 400 sterling,
payable in three yearly instalments. The planter or
proprietor had been in possession for three months,
and had already contracted to deliver wood of more
than the value of the whole estate. He had to cut and
deliver the logs at a distance of three or four miles,
which, no doubt, would incur considerable expense.
Yet there stands the fact, that in a short time he ex-
pected to redeem the price of his estate from the wood-
lands alone, before the whole cash was due. Of
course, such a bargain is not met with every day, and
no doubt he was a shrewd, business man who made
such a purchase.
Of the climate, we cannot speak so definitely as we
would wish. The white man cannot both work and
thrive during the heats of summer ; and, at the same
time, in any parts we visited, fever and ague were less
known than in many of the Western States. The
summers are undoubtedly very hot. The winters are
not unlike our own at home. The negro appears to
be the natural labourer. He can stand the hottest
4 New World Notes.
sun in fact, he luxuriates in it ; -while the white
man is forced into the shady verandah. Of the pre-
sent state of agriculture little can be said but that it is
in a most backward state. The soil is light, sandy,
and easily worked. The implements used are most
primitive, and at best they only scrape the land with
the plough. Indian corn, the principal cereal, is
planted in rows of a yard apart, and each particle of
seed is dropped at a distance of a yard along the row.
It is worked through the summer, not unlike our tur-
nip break. Through the latter part of the summer
the leaves are gathered off the stalk, and saved for
fodder, on which the horses and cows are fed in winter
time. In the fall, the corn cobs are plucked off and
the stalks left standing. A small plot of tobacco is
cultivated, while the garden is generally well looked
after water melons and grapes being the principal
products. Round the house generally an orchard is
found, with apple and peach trees at intermediate dis-
tances. Instead of cropping all their land each year,
they only work from one third to a half each season.
Thus, if a man has a plantation of 100 acres, he
cultivates from 30 to 50 acres, leaving the remainder
to go to waste with weeds and brush. It is natural to
the soil to grow pine, and if cultivated land is left
alone for ten years, it grows up into a pine forest.
Such, then, is an example of the agriculture of the
State. What stock they have is of a most miserable
description, except in horses, which are light, active,
wiry, and well adapted to the nature of the soil.
They are suited to any kind of work, from ploughing
Virginia. 5
to following foxhounds, which is a great sport here in
the fall.
The Virginian planter, as a rule, is a rough-looking,
ill-dressed individual. Perhaps never did we see such
a difference as between the ladies and gentlemen of
this State. The former are perhaps the most beautiful
and accomplished class we ever met to have been
brought up in the circumstances. The latter, although
there are some noble exceptions, are, as a class, boorish
and ill-educated. Curiosity is a remarkable feature of
their nature. The first afternoon we spent in Virginia
was at a small town on the east side of the State, not
far distant from the fruitful and rich bottom lands of
the Rappahannock and Mataponi. It was a Saturday,
and most of the neighbouring farmers had driven up in
their waggons to buy provisions for the ensuing week.
It is a custom m those parts among black and white
to take a holiday on the last day of the week, no
matter how busy or how important their work may be.
This is an idle afternoon ; ere long we were sur-
rounded by a crowd of eager inquirers. What were
our intentions ? How much money had we ? Were
we going to buy land ? And so the string of ques-
tions went on, and were answered, only to be cross-
examined by another fresh party. Every other man
here wants to sell his plantation. They are a poor
-class, and it happens thus. Before the war and it
only requires a man to visit Virginia to judge of the
horrors of a civil war those men were all slaveholders
to a large extent. Their great profit was raising slaves
for the Southern market, for the cotton plantations of
6 Neiv World Notes.
South Carolina and Tennessee. Many of them lived
like little princes, and owned slaves to the amount of
100,000 dols. This was their wealth, as we in Scot-
land are rich in flocks and herds, but
" The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold"
in the shape of war, freed the slave, and spoilt their
property. All their spare cash and some of them
had no little of it went at that time also. Thus
they were left helpless ; the nigger, or, as they call
him in Virginia, the d d nigger, for the most part had
left the cursed land of slavery. Those who remained,
having once tasted the sweets of freedom, cared not for
work as long as they could keep life in them by any
other means. The imperious planter was thus without
labour or means. Brought up without knowing what
work was, they were fast, hand and foot. With a
slave to wait upon them, to fan them while asleep, it was
a mighty change to shift for themselves. It was like
setting an exotic of the rarest kind, fostered up under
glass, away to the field to take its chance among the
wild flowers that luxuriate there. Like these, some
never took root, but died away ; others are gradually
becoming acclimatised ; but from what we have seen,
they are so demoralised, both master and slave, that
they will not do much good for this generation at least.
It is the fate of war, and yet with all their faults no
one who visits that land can but be sorry for them.
They are a generous and hospitable class, and will
share their last morsel of bread with a stranger who
may happen to be within their gates. But Virginia and
Virginia. 7
all the Southern States have a worse evil to contend
with than the mean and demoralised white. He is a
man of quick improvement and rapid intellectual growth
when placed beside the freed slave. The former will
die out or be supplanted by fresh blood in a generation ;
not so fast with the nigger ; naturally a man of low
attainments, long years of slavery have made him worse.
Brought up to work through the fear of the lash,
totally uneducated, and taught to hold loose and im-
moral ideas by their masters, was it a matter of surprise
that the nigger should hang himself on a rope of his
master's and his own construction ? Was it a wonder
that, after so many years of hard toil and degradation, he
should drink too much of the spirit of freedom, and
hunger very sorely after the fleshpots ? It is a just
retribution. The tobacco and cotton planters of the
generous South may complain of their hard lot in
having the uneducated, vicious negro put politically, and
in many respects socially, on a level with themselves ;
but they must remember who it was that produced this
calamity who it was that fostered up the system of
slavery so rudely destroyed by an all-powerful Creator.
They are reaping a judgment for their evil ways ; and
yet they were only the principal actors in the great drama
of slavery. The politicians of the North added their
support and moral influence to the trade in human
blood. However, we must make a halt, as we do not
intend to enter upon the great question of slavery in
the States. Such is the State of Virginia at present,
with its demoralised planter, its vicious and lazy la-
bourer. The great question is, Can the negro be
8
New World Notes.
made a good and useful labourer ? It struck us for-
cibly that, under an Englishman's guidance, he appears
to work far better than with his former master.
II.
(SECOND PAPER.)
AR at any time is a terrible calamity. A civil
war such as rent the United States of
America can only be realised by those who
saw it. Four years of constant fighting would try the
very strongest people in the world ; nay, would so level
and demoralise them that at least half a century would
require to elapse before their recovery. Not so with
the Americans. Ten years have passed, and the war in
most parts of it is a matter of history. But on approach-
ing Virginia visible traces crop up of the great struggle.
It was destined, from what cause it is hard to explain,
to be the great battle-field, the arena where brother was
to rise up against brother. The thousands of graves
that cover the mortal remains of many a brave and
patriotic man, the battered houses, the ruins of splendid
mansions, the unfenced state of the land, the once rich
and fruitful clearings now covered with pine growth are
terrible monuments of the death-struggle the American
people engaged in from 1860 to 1864. On every class
IO New World Notes.
such a state of affairs had its effect, but in this parti-
cular part none suffered so much as the planters, the
great, slave-holders of Virginia. As we said in the
preceding paper, these are fast disappearing. They are
being supplanted in a great measure by a large intro-
duction of English blood. In fact, the British settler
is now a great institution, and the element to which the
old Virginian looks for the renovation of his fruitful
country. But notwithstanding the large ingress of
Britishers to the State, it is a matter of doubt whether
such an experiment for we can look at it only in that
light at present is to be a success. For ourselves, we
think it has been as yet a failure in a very great mea-
sure, not so much owing to the country itself, as to
the class who compose the emigrants. What is
wanted in Virginia is a class of good steady agricul-
turists, who know what it is to work and turn their
hand to anything, who have before their arrival there
experienced what it is to make their living by farming.
Such a class has not as yet found its way to Virginia.
There are some, and wherever they have gone, as a
rule, success has followed their efforts. But the great
majority of what are called middle-class emigrants is
made up of clerks, who are dissatisfied with their
masters at home, and who scarce know the difference
between a spade and a plough ; shopkeepers who know
as little ; retired army and navy officers, whose pecu-
liarities are well known ; younger sons of our country
gentry, who, too proud to work, leave their homes
brimful of conceit, and who do not take well with a
colonial life, where ofttimes they have to polish their
Virginia. 1 1
own boots and wash their own clothes. Perhaps it is
the saddest spectacle imaginable to see large numbers of
the latter roughing it. Sent out with a small modicum
of ready money, this is soon spent in riotous living
either at the bar of a country store, where whisky of
the vilest description is doled out at 10 cents a glass, or
in some other questionable manner. It is one of the
cruellest and most heartrending actions, first to bring
up a lad in the greatest luxury, and then, when he
grows up, to slip him away to a distant shore, there,
with neither ideas nor resources, to- take his chance
among the roughs of society. Of such-like Virginia
has more than enough. Is it, then, matter for wonder
that the failures overweigh many times the successes ?
Men of caution are required here more than anything ;
men who will not try to improve too fast, who will
only invest part of their money at first and keep the
remainder in hand ; for once he has to borrow, no
matter how good his security, the interest charged is
ruinous, as the credit of the agriculturist is at a low
ebb. A settler must make up his mind to go quietly
and slowly on for a year or. two, keep his eyes open,
gather experience at every turn, and there is but little
doubt he will meet a fair share of success. In going
to that State, or any part of the Union, it is wise either
to go out with a band of colonists, or join a colony of
some years' standing. What has been the great secret
of success among the Germans on the Western Prairies
but the ability they have to stick together ? So it is
in Virginia. A large number of emigrants settle down
near one another. They have their own society, and
12 New World Notes.
can help one another in a time of need. At other
points you find the settlers few and far between, and
for the most part dissatisfied and discouraged. By all
means let a Britisher settle as near as possible to his own
kinsfolk ; for, however clever he may be, he is none
the worse of their advice and support. While Virginia
is suited to the emigrant with capital and education, it
is as unsuitable to the labourer without either means or
learning. It has been asked, Why do not some of the
immense number of labourers who daily proceed from
this country to the American shores find their way to
some of the Southern States ? The answer is this,
that there the labour market is already supplied.
Throughout the South, there are five millions of niggers,
who, for the most part, are labourers. Virginia has
her share, and perhaps more than enough. He receives
about 50 cents, or 25. per day. Is it likely that for this
miserable sum, any stout German, English, or Irish
emigrant will be induced to try his fortune in the sunny
South ? No, there is but one labourer for the South,
and that is the nigger. He is there, and is daily on
the increase at least so say statistics and it is not
likely he will ever be removed. With education,
with fair dealing, and with proper management, much
may be made of him. With a superfluity of coloured
labour, the cry is not for more of his commodity, but
for capital and brains wherewith to employ it.
Coming to the point, the question to be asked runs
thus : Is Virginia a land of promise to the middle-class
emigrant ? Candidly, we think it is. But a short time
we remained there, yet enough we saw of it to con-
Virginia. 1 3
vince us that for a certain class it is a suitable and pro-
fitable part. It is not a paradise, nor can dollar bills
be picked up like leaves from the trees. It is, how-
ever, a fine country ; the soil, and more especially the
bottom lands, are rich, and very susceptible of improve-
ment. It is well watered by the purest of spring water,
and beautifully wooded. There are difficulties also in the
way. The roads are deplorable ; the fences are worse.
Yet those are matters incident to the beginning of every
new country, for although this State has been settled
for nearly 300 years the work of improvement is to begin
afresh, with this difference from a virgin country, that
much of the soil is poor and exhausted, but there is still
left a boundless extent of fresh and good soil, and a
large extent of bottom land that is practically inexhaus-
tible. One fact, however, remains to be mentioned on
this subject ; it has no mean enemy to contend with in
the grog shop, a passion for which has been carried
from home by the British settlers, or, as in many cases
they might be termed, the unsettled British. Broken
down in health, the Englishman not unfrequently
blames the climate, but the true reason will be found
in the fact that he is too free in drinking of spirituous
liquor. No constitution, however strong, will allow a
man to indulge freely ; and it is absolutely necessary
for any person going to those parts to become very
temperate, if not a teetotaler altogether. Throughout
other parts of the Union, it is the fashion of many to
jeer at Virginia bad climate, fever and ague, not fit
for any Englishman, and far less for a Scotchman, say
they. It is not so bad as that -, let a man live there
14 New World Notes.
carefully and temperately, and there is little doubt the
climate will have no more effect upon him than in the
State of New York.
The price of the land itself varies very much, run-
ning from r up to f 10 per acre. Good land, within
easy reach of a railway, a moderate quantity of wood
on it, with a good house and out-buildings, which
generally consist of a stable and a large tobacco barn,
can be bought from 2 to 3 sterling. An ordinary
estate that is, one not raised in value by being near a
town, or some other fortunate circumstance is pro-
curable at the price the buildings upon it are valued
at. In fact, pay for the house accommodation,
and the land is all but thrown into the bargain. In
the making of all bargains, either at home or abroad,
much depends upon the parties who are concerned in
the purchase. The first duty in buying an estate is to
find out if the title is valid, and if there are no mort-
gages upon the land. Such facts can be ascertained at
the register-office, in which are the title-deeds. Mort-
gages upon land are most correctly kept, and except such
deeds are entered there, they are of no value in a court
of law. The second and great duty lies with the
settler himself in choosing a suitable position. No
greater error is made than that of buying low-priced
land which has few or no advantages. A few pounds
are ill-spared upon a plantation which is near to market
and other conveniences. A third duty is never to buy
land without residing some time in the country, for
once you buy you are fixed for some years, at least till
you get your land improved. All improved lands sell
Virginia. 1 5
readily and well. These are a few of the facts con-
cerning the purchase of land. Many others are to be
found out on arrival at the spot. The emigrant to
Virginia should remember the old motto that " there's
luck in leisure " keep in mind that he is not wise
above his fellow-men, and a man is never better paid
in any of the colonies than by having a year's trial of
colonial life before investing his money.
III.
lirgittia.
(THIRD PAPER.)
JONDAY the 2 5 th day of May, 1874, will be
long remembered as commemorating a new
era in the history of the above State. Rich-
mond, one of the most picturesque and beautiful cities
of the Union, had put on her best attire to receive the
British settlers who in their loyalty had determined to
honour their Queen in a strange land, and at the same
time they had gathered together with the intention of
forming a British association to protect their interests,
and to help any emigrant who should fall among
sharpers on his arrival. Three or four hundred Eng-
lishmen from all parts of the State had gathered towards
the rendezvous on the days previous to Her Majesty's
birthday, which happened on Sunday the 24th ; but it
was not till the Monday morning that the streets
became crowded and the presence of the British ele-
ment was thoroughly distinguishable. At nine o'clock,
amid the roar of cannon from the hill which is
crowned by the capitol so famous in the civil war, the
Virginia. 1 7
British boys cheered to the echo, and made the walls
ring with a true hurrah, when it was announced that
a telegram had been sent to congratulate our noble
Queen on the attainment of her fifty-fifth birthday by
her subjects in Virginia. For, be it remembered,
although there are many Englishmen in this State, few
if any are as yet American citizens, owing to the un-
settled state of political parties in the South. At
twelve o'clock, within the House of Delegates, a great
assemblage of British faces gathered round the Speaker's
chair, which for the time being was occupied by Captain
Jackson, who, after a few remarks, called upon Mr, St
Andrews, an English resident, to address his fellow-
countrymen. It was a stirring address, and not un-
frequently raised the enthusiasm of the meeting to an
overwhelming height. After he concluded, the British
Association was formed upon a firm and sound basis.
In the evening, the proceedings were continued by a
banquet and ball in the Exchange Hotel. The former
was attended by about 350 ladies and gentlemen, and
was one of the gayest scenes we ever saw. The
speaking was of the highest class, and excited the
audience so much towards the finish, that the wildest
confusion prevailed, till at last the scene closed with
three tremendous cheers and shouts for Queen Victoria,
which, no doubt, astonished the good citizens of Rich-
mond, and had no effect upon the object they were
intended to honour. Yet there is something noble and
heart-inspiring to see with what a reverence our country-
men look back to the old homes and haunts of their
youth. Far away, they still remember the green lanes
1 8 New World Notes.
of Norfolk, the wolds of Yorkshire, the heather hills
of Scotia, the verdant fields of the Emerald Isle, the
sweet country villages, the church with its modest
spire aye, perchance, the old churchyard with its
tombstones o'erhung with ivy, beneath which lies the
dust of their ancestors. The man is to be honoured
who looks back with pride to the land of his birth ;
and I found in Virginia that, although away to seek
their fortune in another clime, the British settlers did
not disparage the old laws and customs of Great
Britain, while they looked with a great hope and
earnest expectation to the land of their adoption. Next
morning, at breakfast, we got placed alongside an
aristocratic-looking Englishman, a man evidently of
some mark. After the usual morning congratulations
and some cursory remarks upon the preceding day's
celebration, said he, " I reckon you are not long on
this side of the Atlantic?" We answered in the
negative, and so the conversation was carried on, till at
last we began to discover that we had some mutual
acquaintances. He invited us to go down to his plan-
tation and see what was being done in the way of im-
provement. But he was not going to start till the fol-
lowing day, so we had to remain in Richmond, and it
may not be uninteresting to give some account of how
we spent the 'day.
To begin with, it was " everlastingly hot," and
light-coloured garments were the order of the day.
Most of the forenoon was spent in looking about the
city. Richmond, unlike the large majority of new
world cities, is built on hilly ground, which adds much
Virginia, 19
to its beauty. It stands on the east side of the James
river, on the other side of which Manchester, also a
considerable place, is situated. It is laid out in squares,
with broad, fine streets, lined with trees, which provide
a most welcome shade to the side-walks. It was a
busy place during the war, being the seat of the Con-
federate Government, and is surrounded by a system or
forts and earthworks which were considered nearly
impregnable. Large tobacco manufactories, flour mills,
&c., give the place a more than local importance, and
at this point some of our finest cigars are produced, as
well as some of our vilest smoking mixtures. Some
very inferior goods are manufactured at this spot. It
is a most extraordinary sight to see the tobacco sales.
Every barrel is sold by one auctioneer appointed by the
commission agents, and no little speculation is indulged
in. The people of Richmond are not unlike the Eng-
lish. The Virginians, as a rule, are lineal descendants
of the British, and have little or no foreign blood in
their veins. Every person has a military air, and you
can scarce converse with a man but he has had, di-
rectly or indirectly, some connection with the army.
Generals, colonels, and majors are as thick as the fallen
leaves of autumn, and like them they are considerably
faded in person and purse.
In the afternoon, we started for the Holy wood
Cemetery a mixture of park and burial-ground. It
is a most beautiful place, a fit res ting-ground for the
dead. One portion of it is set aside for the soldiers killed
in battle. Fifteen thousand brave men lie mouldering
there, shorn down in the fight by their brothers. Oh,
2O New World Notes.
terrible thought ! civil war, a war between brethren, a
death-struggle betwixt children of the same blood !
Standing among those graves, we longed for the day
when " men shall beat their swords into plough-shares
and their spears into pruning hooks." But it is past,
and, like fire, it has cleansed the land, and generations
yet unborn will feel the good effects of the burning
scourge. Luckily for us, this was a great commemora-
tion day in other words, an annual day of mourning
is held by all the inhabitants for the soldiers who
perished during the war. It was about three o'clock
when we reached the scene, and already an immense
crowd was gathered. The first object that attracted
our attention was a huge pyramid built of granite,
rough and rude. There was no aspiration to high art>
but the rugged pile, partially covered with the trumpet
vine and other creeping plants, is a fit memorial for
those who lie around. At the base were seated a
large number of ladies and gentlemen, sheltered from
the rays of the sun. At five o'clock, a battalion of
Virginia volunteers marched on to the ground, headed
by a splendid band, whose martial strains raised the old
fire in the bosom of many a veteran. At this time the
crowd reached its height, about 10,000 people being
present. It was a great sight to see them all seated on
the ground dressed in their summer garments, a bouquet
of a tasteful description in each hand. It is the habit
to strew the graves of the soldiers with flowers. Most
of those are numbered, a few have private tombstones,
but, monument or no monument, each had its flower
to deck it gaily, or a wreath woven by some fair hand.
Virginia. 2 1
No nobler or more touching sight could be witnessed
than watching those people quietly and orderly paying
-i tribute to their departed friends. Here might be seen
the mother, the widow, the daughter, the brother, and
many a father mourning for those who had gone to
" That undiscovered country,
From whose bourne no traveller returns."
Many also of the private graves were decked artistically
with flowers and evergreens. The whole of the
cemetery is intersected by walks, pleasantly shaded by
magnificent trees. One of the sides is skirted by the
James river, which makes a series of small falls oppo-
site. The scenery here is most picturesque. The
water, as it comes rushing wildly over the rocks, the
beautiful wooded islets that stand amidst the foaming
stream, the majestic trees of the virgin forest that fringe
the river's side, the very fact of Nature being left alone
in her glory, renders the aspect of this romantic spot
enchanting beyond measure. The gloaming was with
us before we left this delightful place, much pleased
indeed to have seen a whole city mourning over their
departed friends.
Leaving next morning by the Richmond and Dan-
ville Railroad, we reached Amelia Courthouse, the
depot where our friend Mr. B leaves the train.
Entering a spring waggon, drawn by a very fine pair
of mules, and driven by a nigger boy, we started for
the plantation, a distance of some seven miles. At
first the road was a fair one for the country, but the
latter part was over a track through the forest, scarcely
22 New World Notes.
formed, not even straight, round about the trees as best
the driver could, while, at some points, a stump, 2 feet
high, had to be managed the best way possible. The
bad access to this plantation is its worst evil. Seven
miles of a macadamised road is a mere nothing the
same distance of such as described above is a serious
obstacle, and will take no little expense to put right.
At last, after considerable jolting, we reached the farm-
house. It stands in the midst of a grove of trees that
are seldom equalled for elegance, even in Virginia. To
the south and west, orchards, some newly planted,
others in full bearing, add much to the amenity of the
place. In the background, the stables, barns, log-
shanties, the abode of the niggers, cottages for the ac-
commodation of guests, and other offices are situated.
The ice-house stands here also, and is of most simple
construction. A pit, some ic or 12 feet deep, is dug
into the sandy soil, and roofed over like a house ; the
object here being to let as much air as possible into it,
while preventing the rays of the sun from entering. Ice
is the simplest and greatest luxury that can be obtained
in such a hot climate.
This estate was bought about two years ago. It
contains about 1200 acres, of which 600 are cleared,
the remainder being woodland, of which much is virgin
forest, consisting of different varieties of pine, red and
white oak, hickory, &c., and is indeed very valuable.
The soil is sandy, except the bottom lands, which are
alluvial deposit, and extraordinarily rich and fertile. No
small proportion of the plantation consists of those deep
and inexhaustible flats, and it is to these that the pro-
Virginia. 23
prietor has turned his attention in the first place. The
total cost of this estate was somewhere about 2700, or
455. per acre, a sum which would scarcely place the
house and outbuildings there when they were first
built ; but even suppose these had deteriorated to
half the sum, 1350, the land with all the wood upon
it cost little over i per acre. There is little doubt
such land in England would command an annual rent
of 453. per acre, and with the generous climate of
Virginia, its producing powers are considerably en-
hanced above the same quality of soil in Great Britain.
The labourers employed are all coloured men, with a
white " boss," or steward, to direct them. From the
experience gained here, they work very satisfactorily
when properly looked after ; mules do the ploughing
and carting, while oxen haul wood and other heavy
burdens ; the former are considered superior to horses,
and a first-class one costs about 40.
Mr. B., like a wise general, did not strike out into
great improvements at first, but went at them slowly,
and watched narrowly what effect they had. He
began first and tried to grow some grass, as well as
Indian corn, wheat, turnips, and mangolds. The grass
was a capital pasture, the Indian corn was just appear-
ing, and the turnips were only begun to when we visited
the place. The latter were merely an experiment, as
their culture had not been tried before in this State.
As a rule, root crops, except potatoes, do not thrive so
well as in our country. Then, the bottom land was
next looked after, ditching and draining being the prin-
cipal improvement required here. Already ico acres
24 New World Notes.
had been cleared of the undergrowth which through
neglect had risen up on this fertile soil, and had been
planted with Indian corn.
Fencing is actively carried forward. A steam saw-
mill had just been erected previous to our visit, and as
wood is superabundant, the whole place will soon be
enclosed, the plan being to enclose the estate with a
ring fence, and then divide it, and fence the enclosures
as they are required. In three years' time, it is expected
all the cleared land will be improved, and after that the
forest land can be cleared, the wood sold, and a virgin soil
will remain. Ultimately, or whenever it is practicable,
Mr. B. intends turning his attention to the feeding of
sheep and cattle, which are easily managed, and entirely
free from disease of any kind such as pleuro-pneu-
monia and foot-and-mouth disease. The bottom lands
are intended for grazing in summer, and the uplands,
which are of a drier nature, are to be kept in a regular
rotation, something on this course i, green crops or
fallow ; 2, winter oats ; 3, hay ; 4, grazing \ 5, wheat ;
6, Indian corn farm-yard manure, crushed bones, and
plaster to be applied as fertilisers. On paper this looks
a very feasible plan, and, as far as the experiments have
gone, success has followed them.
Above all, it requires men of capital, with practical
heads ; and as the above planter has both, Virginia and
its soil will get a fair chance of being properly tried.
He told us that he calculated on spending other three
or four thousand pounds to finish his contemplated im-
provements of fencing, ditching, draining, and building.
Such a sum will work a mighty change, and will make
Virginia. 25
the estate one of the most elegant in Virginia, bringing
back reminiscences of former times to the old inhabi-
tants.
Altogether, with the single exception of being far
from a railway, which in course of time is sure to come
nearer as the country gets settled and more productive,
this plantation is a most desirable place to live at. The
land here is your own, and the proprietor has no fear
of that bugbear which troubles the English farmer, of
being turned out at the end of his lease from the spot
where perhaps he has spent the best and happiest part
of his life. Far from us would it be to state that the
planters of this country will make more money than his
brother farmers at home ; but then as time with its cease-
less roll speeds on, the landed property of Virginia is
still owned by the proprietor, while the Englishman may
toU all his life and be turned to the door at the finish,
with perhaps a fair amount of money , but there is a
pleasure in standing upon soil and exclaiming " This
is my own ; no one can take it from me/' Such is the
lot of the farmer in America, whether in Virginia,
the prairies of the West, or among the forests of
Canada.
The climate is hot indeed, very hot somewhere
about 90 degrees in the shade the days we spent there ;
but it is a dry atmosphere, very unlike our moist, wet
climate, and the evenings are most delightful. Sitting
one night in the verandah, enjoying the cool breeze that
had risen up after the great heat of the midday sun, we
watched the sun sink over the western horizon. It
was a glorious sight, as it descended with a bright ruddy
26 New World Notes.
glow, tinging the tops of the magnificent trees with a
golden hue. As if in an instant darkness came. The
sweet gloaming, so peculiar to our temperate climate,
was awanting, but instead, the clear, transparent light
of the moon shone down in all its glory. The song-
sters of the forest, so silent through the day, began to
warble forth, and all nature became alive. The wind
gently sighed through the leafy trees, the fire-fly flashed
its phosphoric light from every plot of grass, the hoarse
note of the bull-frog, as it came floating through the
air from some swampy spot not far distant, adds much
to the concert. The melancholy notes of the -whip-
poor-will sound strange to our ears, and bring back
memories of the cuckoo and its deceptive wail. Such
a medley of Nature's voices is never heard except in
the forests of the west.
It was in visiting such spots, and seeing such scenes,
that we spent not a few happy days in the State of
Virginia, visiting among the hospitable natives, staying
in the log shanty of some bold but generous and hos-
pitable young Englishman, or luxuriating in the house
of a well-to-do British settler, surrounded by all the
comforts so peculiar to the middle class in this our
native land.
IV.
Illinois.
N the ist of June, we took leave of Richmond,,
and started westward by the Ohio and Chesa-
peake Railroad. The road passes through
the middle of the State of Virginia, crosses the rich
valley of the Shenandoah, and runs through the Al-
leghanies, past the White Sulphur Springs, on towards
the Ohio, where the traveller takes a boat at a place
called Huntington, and sails from thence down the
river to Cincinnati. One day sufficed us for sight-seeing
at the latter place, and, leaving behind the vine-clad
banks of the Ohio, we continued our journey to St
Louis, the great centre of the West. Four or five
days were profitably spent here visiting its schools, its
factories, its public parks, viewing the broad Mississippi,
on whose waters float those enormous steamers, familiar
to all readers of books upon American travel. One
day was spent in visiting the Valley of Flowers, which
is situated some ten miles further up the river than the
city. This is a most fertile valley, running westward
from the Mississippi. It is about ten miles long and
five broad. If one could imagine a land flowing with
milk and honey, or a Garden of Eden, this would be
28 New World Notes.
the spot. The general aspect is most inviting. The
quiet homesteads, so neat and clean, surrounded by rich
vineyards and flourishing orchards, the fine clumps of
oak that dot the land at intervals, the splendid fields of
wheat and Indian corn, the regularity of the fences,
the fine pastures and heavy crops of hay, all bore evi-
dence to the prosperity and wealth of the farmers.
Tn,e wheat crop was expected to average 100 bushels
per acre, and the quantity of hay about 250 to 300
stones. But we hasten on ro our subject in hand.
Starting from St Louis on the morning of the loth of
June, we crossed the river by the new bridge to East
St Louis, which is situated in the State of Illinois,
and took the train to Springfield. The road runs
alongside the river, past the mouth of the Missouri
to Alton, a thriving town of 40,000 or 50,000 inhabi-
tants. Then it strikes through perhaps the best farmed
land in the States. Thirty years ago, this was wild
prairie land, and could be bought for about 55. per
acre ; now it is all settled, and can only be purchased
from 10 to ,15 per acre not a bad speculation for
the original buyers. The soil consists of a deep, dark
loam, rather of a sandy than a heavy nature, and is practi-
cally inexhaustible. Several parties stated they knew
portions of land that had been cropped with wheat for
over twenty years, and up to this time had yearly im-
proved. The prairie of Illinois is flatter than that of
some of the other Western States. It is a perfect
plain, with a gentle elevation from the banks of the
streams and rivers which intersect it at all points. This
abundant supply of water is very valuable. Where
Illinois. 29
there is no stream, wells need only be sunk from
twenty to thirty feet, and a copious supply is obtained.
From these it has to be raised, an operation performed
by most ingenious pumps, driven on the windmill
principle. Nor is it entirely destitute of trees. Along
the sides of the creeks timber is abundant, while
throughout the whole State belts of forest are fre-
quently met. The osage orange, a plant of the same
nature as our hawthorn, grows in great luxuriance, and
has been turned to account for fencing, for which
purpose it is admirably adapted. In settling those
Western prairies, the want of wood for fencing was
severely felt by the earlier settlers, but the cultivation
of the above plant has done much to remove that diffi-
culty, and now the whole of this State is marked by
hedgerows as trim and more serviceable than ours at
home. Coal is found in considerable quantities, and
supplies fuel for the inhabitants, who have no wood on
their farms. It is of good quality, being of a soft
nature, and burns readily. With the osage orange for
fencing, and a sufficient supply of coal for burning, this
State is nearly independent of wood, except for build-
ing houses and barns ; stones are not readily found.
In talking about fuel, we may mention that Indian corn
cobs that is, the part of the plant on which the grains
grow, and from which they are stripped before being
sent to market are often used to supply the place of
coal and wood, and burn excellently.
The climate is very fine. The southern part of the
State is in the same line of latitude as Virginia and
Kansas, while the northern part touches the colder
3O New World Notes.
climates of Iowa and Michigan and New York. But
the mildness of the winters is proverbial, while gentle
breezes make the heat of summer more pleasant than in
other parts of the Union. It is also free from those
terrible storms that sweep across some other portions
of the prairie, their violence being broken by the belts of
woodland. No better proof of the fine winter enjoyed
by the State can be found than in the fact that cattle and
sheep can find their food all the year round in the open
field. During some years they may need a little hay,
but during the season of 1873-4 no extra food was
given to stock.
The products of this State are principally Indian corn,
wheat, and Timothy hay. In travelling along the rail-
road, the eye is struck with the enormous fields of
Indian corn, which, by the way, is a most graceful plant.
Twenty miles may be traversed, and little else can be
seen but the latter plant. It is planted in rows about
three feet wide, each plant being about the same dis-
tance apart, and it is worked on the same plan as our
turnips are. The machinery for its cultivation is very
perfect, combining lightness and stability in a manner
our agricultural implement makers would do well to
follow. But while the above crops occupy the largest
proportion of the State, no mean area is taken up with
grazing lands, to which more attention is turned year by
year, and it is not improbable that most money is to be
derived from them at present. These are entirely used
for the raising of Shorthorn cattle and the fattening of
bullocks brought from the stock-raising regions of
Colorado, Kansas, and Texas. As considerable atten-
Illinois. 3 1
tion has been paid and not a little written upon those
feeding farms of Illinois, it may be interesting to give a
description of one of the largest of those we personally
inspected. We left Springfield one wet morning (which,
it may be remarked, was the only day we had a sem-
blance of rain the whole time we were out West, ex-
cept an occasional thunder-shower), proceeding by the
Toledo and Wabash line. We left the cars at Berlin,
a pushing little village, consisting of a hotel, three
stores, and a livery stable.
Scarcely had we left the station when a Yankee,
with that peculiar eye to business so notable among the
race, accosted us with these words, although he knew
not where or wherefore we were going " I guess,
stranger, you will need a buggy to drive out to country ;
I am the boy to fix you up." Thanking him kindly,
we walked away, much to the astonishment of the
inhabitants ; and after a trudge of some five miles
through mud of the most tenacious character, we
reached Grove Park, the farm residence of the Brown
Brothers. The house stands amidst a grove of magni-
ficent oaks that would cast into the shade the brave old
trees that adorn our forests and parks at home. It is
built of wood, and is most complete as far as comfort
requires. Behind is situated the garden with its vines,
apple and peach trees, water melons, sweet potatoes,
and other vegetables. Not far distant stands the stables
on the one side, while on the other are some sheds and
boxes for the accommodation of young stock ; but as
a whole the buildings are poor, although, no doubt,
they may be quite equal to the requirements of the
32 New World Notes.
place. The father of the present proprietor bought
most of the farm for 55. per acre. By some additions,
the acreage has been raised to 3000 acres, and the value
per acre has increased during that time to about 15.
At present the taxes amount to a little over 200.
Since it was bought no small amount of money has been
spent in improvements. It is all fenced, in the first
place in the second, the prairie was broken up, and
cropped for a series of years with Indian corn and wheat,
before being laid down with artificial grasses. When
we were there, the last fields had been sown down,
and, with the exception of something like 100 acres
kept in Indian corn and hay, the entire place is under
grass, which is of the richest nature. It consists of
blue grass (which appears to take the place of our rye-
grass), white and red clover, and Timothy. The great
advantage of this system is that it gives little trouble,
and few labourers are required. It is divided into
large enclosures, either by woods, fences, or osage
orange hedges. Through the farm various streams
run, and it is so arranged that each enclosure has a
plentiful supply of water. In case of a severe drought,
the above have been dammed at several points, so that
there is no fear of any lack of water even in the driest
summer. Altogether, the arrangements about this place
are most complete, and say a great deal for the father
of the present proprietors, who laid the foundation of
these improvements.
The stock upon this farm consists entirely of cattle.
In the first place, a herd of Shorthorns is kept, among
which are some animals of considerable merit. A
Illinois. 33
three-year-old bull, Summit Airdrie, by the i5th Duke
of Airdrie, is an animal that would grace any show-
yard. He is directly descended from the Duchess
blood, which is the most popular in America at present.
Some valuable cows of the same strain, and a few par-
ticularly sweet yearling heifers, are also a part of this
herd, which numbers about 50 head, A biennial sale
is held for the disposal of the surplus animals, and, as
a rule, large prices are realised, making it a profitable
business. All the stock, except some of the more
valuable animals on the male side, live outside winter and
summer. The younger animals receive some attention,
the calves being allowed to suckle their mothers till
they are nine months old. After being weaned, they
are left very much to themselves, and certainly they are
as blooming as any stock we ever saw. Being allowed
perfect freedom, they get plenty exercise, which de-
velopes the muscles, and gives them a finished appear-
ance at an early age. It may be remarked that in
winter the herd are kept in a large park that surrounds
the house, and which is well sheltered by enormous oak
trees. But it is a novel idea to an old countryman to
think of valuable Shorthorns, with the most fashion-
able pedigrees, lying out in the field the whole year.
To complete the stocking of this farm, 800 Texas
cattle are fattened yearly. The system followed is
this : Every fall one of the brothers proceeds to
Kansas city and selects a herd from the cattle that are
brought there from the stock-raising regions of Texas.
The cattle, as a rule, are about five or six years old,
and are possessed of enormous long horns, not unlike
c
34 New World Notes.
the Spanish cattle exhibited at Smithfield. They are
very bony, with large frames, and capable of carrying
a large amount of beef when properly fattened. About
i zoo Ibs. gross weight is above an average, although
in good seasons that figure is sometimes touched. Last
year the cost of those animals home to Grove Park
was about 3, IDS. per beast; that is a low price, be-
cause, owing to the depression in trade, lean stock were
cheap and easily bought. On their arrival, they are
put out to the pastures, and allowed to remain there
till the month of August, when they are sent to Chi-
cago at the rate of 100 per week, to be sold and make
room for a fresh supply. During the winter hay is
supplied in stormy weather, but last season none
was needed, owing its peculiar mildness. A little
hard weather is not objected to, as it strengthens the
constitution, and in a general way they thrive better
afterwards. In this respect they are like to our Che-
viot and blackfaced sheep, which are always the better
of a little snow during the winter. These cattle, when
sold, bring about 10 each, thus leaving a handsome
profit.
About 20 horses are kept for riding and other pur-
poses ; all the herding is done on horseback. Two of
the brothers and three men are the only individuals
employed, and they manage the stock, fences, dams,
crops, haymaking, &c., quite easily. The labour is
thus reduced to a minimum. The Brown boys ap-
pear to know their business, and the great secret of
their success is that they look after it themselves.
In conclusion, our impression is that the State of
Illinois. 35
Illinois is the finest in the Union in an agricultural
point of view. It possesses the best soil in fact, the
richness of it can scarcely be imagined except by those
who have seen it ; it has a plentiful supply of water ;
and with St Louis on the south side and Chicago on
the north, it is unequalled for markets ; while its rail-
way system is perfect. At the same time, the climate
is. all that can be desired. As a field for emigration
little can be said, as already it is fully settled, every
inch of land being taken up. Desirable farms cannot
be purchased below 12 or 15 per ^cre, but when
you do purchase land in this part, there is the satisfac-
tion of knowing that it is of the best quality. It takes
a large capital to buy a holding in those parts ; but
whatever is the price paid, there is little fear but that
it will turn out a good speculation, as the advance on
real estate during the last few years has been enor-
mous, and will continue so as long as the tremendous
flow of emigration goes on to these western States.
V.
Chicago.
|HO has not heard of Chicago, the great City
of the West ? What has it do with agri-
culture ? might be the next question. We
will answer that in the following article. In the year
1830 this place got its name, was surveyed and laid
out for a city by Mr. James Thompson, the original
map being still in the recorder's office. At that time
about one hundred individuals lived in a perfect hamlet
situated upon the shores of Lake Michigan. It was a
most unlikely place for a large city. The situation
was a perfect morass, and at this present time the
foundations of the dwellings are only ten feet above
the level of the lake. During the year 1837 a charter
was granted, and the population had increased to 5000.
So it went on until at the present time it is believed
there are resident in the city 500,000 people. For
growth it is not equalled in the page of history. In
the short space of forty-four years, a howling wilder-
ness has been transformed into a magnificent city, with
broad streets and substantial edifices, and with a popu-
lation more than equal to that of Liverpool, and con-
siderably above the last census returns of Glasgow.
Chicago. 37
One day, while driving with a friend through the
city, we asked him to take us round the confines of
the fire of 1871, which covered an area of two miles
long by one in breadth. After doing so, he took us
to a point where we could get a view of the town as
it stretches away from the shores of Lake Michigan
into the boundless prairie. He pointed out the places
where the great destroyer began, where it ravaged
most furiously, and where it died out after a long
struggle for life. In the space mentioned above scarce
a dwelling was left. There was one notable excep-
tion. A house built of wood, but surrounded by a
miniature forest and beautiful gardens, escaped from the
jaws of the fire. Round and round it raged, and by
a miracle both the splendid trees and the house with its
piazzas and shingle roof remained untouched. By its
side no blackened and unseemly ruins were now to be
seen ; no spectral walls, broken and effaced, stood amidst
heaps of rubbish and debris. Instead, splendid stores,
costly mansions, wondrous hotels, handsome churches
with graceful spires, well-paved and cleanly streets,
filled with anxious multitudes, met the eye. What had
been a mass of smouldering ashes on one October
morning, 1871, is now rebuilt in the short space of
three years in a more substantial and lasting way.
This fact speaks volumes for the inhabitants of Chicago,
and is the best proof of their tremendous energy ; and
it also says much for the people of England, who sup-
plied a great part of the money to rebuild the business
part of the city. The wonders of Chicago lie not in
its classic associations. It has no museums, no picture-
New World Notes.
galleries full of old masters, no monuments erected to
the great departed, no history of sieges it has withstood,
no battered walls to show the tourist. Its newness is
its greatness. Its commercial interests are its wonders.
Of these latter some conception may be gained from the
following figures, showing the shipments of agricultural
and other produce from this point in 1873 :
Shipments of flour and grain equal to 98,935,413
bushels, estimated value . $63,500,000
Live stock ... ... . 57,000,000
Product of cattle and hogs ... . 30,500,000
Product of dairy ... ... . 3,500,000
Wool and hides ... ... . 15,000,000
High wines and alcohol ... . 7,500,000
Seeds and brown corn . 2,000,000
Other commodities ... . 1,000,000
Total
... 180,000,000
The manufacturing interests of the place are also
large, but mostly connected with the agricultural in-
terest, from which the whole prosperity of the place is
derived. It would be useless to go further into
statistics, and we shall content ourselves with giving a
short account of one of its industries, the pork-packing
business.
On a sultry afternoon, we started to see one of the
establishments in which this business is carried on. As
it happened, this was the only place running at the time,
as most of the houses stop during the summer on ac-
count of the heat. But the owner of this establishment
had procured a patent machine, by which he forced a
draught of cold air upon the carcases of the hogs and
froze them as if it had been winter, so that he was able
Chicago. , 39
to kill, dress, and cure all the year round. It was
one of the least of the packing-houses, but in many
respects it was said to be the best planned. It had
cost altogether about 20,000, was built entirely of
wood and roofed with shingles. By a gangway, the
pigs are forced up to the level of the floor of the third
storey on to a large platform capable of accommodating
200 or 300 at a time. About 20 of these are driven
into a lesser enclosure, inside of which stands a man,
who catches hold of one of the pigs by the hind legs and
fixes a chain round them. Above him stands another
person, who, by means of a pulley worked by steam,
raises the unfortunate and squealing animal up to a
certain height, and places the animal which is attached
to the end of the chain upon an iron rail fixed to the
roof of the building, and along which it runs, and thus
conveys the pig a distance of some twelve feet to a third
party stationed on a level with the first. He grasps
the struggling beast (in some cases they are felled
beforehand by the first man, and remain motionless) by
the fore-legs, and gives it the death-thrust in a most
business-like manner with a two-edged knife. The
pig's head being downwards, it bleeds freely, and is
very soon in the land of forgetfulness. After death,
and sometimes before it, the carcase is dropped into a
large cauldron full of hot water, and capable of holding
about 20 at a time. On each side of this stands a man,
who keep stirring the contents about with a long pole.
From this the carcase is raised by machinery on to a
table, where it is scraped and the head is all but severed
from the body. Again they are hoisted up on to a
4O New World Notes.
continuation of the rail, and passed round to a man who,
with three motions of his knife, takes out the whole
entrails. This was a very clever performance. It was
quite refreshing to watch the earnest countenance of
the labourer as he plied his knife most assiduously, no
smile breaking over his face. He gutted pigs at the
rate of two per minute. The inside portions are con-
veyed into another apartment, where a staff of men and
boys sort them, not a single part being wasted. In
this side room are placed a range of huge boilers for
manufacturing all the fat, cuttings, &c. Having been
gutted, the carcase is passed along to another person,
who washes it thoroughly with cold water. By his side
stands another, who cuts off the head and gives the
body a last finishing touch. From here it is run along
to other men, who chop it in two and take out the back-
bone. It is then sent away to its place and allowed to
cool. In winter time the carcases can stiffen any place,
but in warm weather they are slipped down into a
chamber situated in the second storey, and cooled
through the action of air blown by fanners from a
mixture of ice and salt water. By this process they
soon stiffen. Here all the ribs and other bones are
cut out. Allowed to remain in the freezing atmosphere
as long as necessary generally twelve hours, they are
next sent down to the under storey, which is also kept at
a lower temperature. Arrived there, the hind hams are
cut off and put into a trough of boiling water, while
the middle and other parts are laid upon rails and al-
lowed to dry for 24 hours. They are then salted,
and allowed to remain in the salt for 20 days or there-
Chicago, 4 1 '
abouts. In summer time they have to be turned. In
winter this is not necessary. The last process is pack-
ing the ham and bacon into boxes, and then the pork
is ready for the market. At this particular establish-
ment they manufacture, if such an operation can be
described by that word, about 700 per day. This is a
large number in our eyes, but what must it be to see
5000 per day put through the same process ? One com-
pany in Chicago kills at the rate of 30,000 per week
during the winter months.
Altogether, about 2,000,000 of hogs were slaugh-
tered and packed during season 1873-74 in this city.
It is a most interesting sight to look at those te battues"
among hogs, and shows forth in a marked degree the
ingenuity of the people. We took particular notice of
the people employed at this sort of work, and with the
exception of the foreman, who is a Scotchman, every
man was of Irish birth or extraction. They appear to
thrive well amidst the dirt and stench of the estab-
lishment. Of all the cities in the States, Chicago is the
most pushing and business-like. Perhaps there is too
much excitement, too much seeking after the "almighty
dollar j" but when we consider the terrible losses the
inhabitants suffered three years ago, no wonder they
work hard to get their wealth back again.
VI.
fotoa.
|HE State of Iowa is situated between the 4Oth
and 43d deg. north latitude, and between 90
and 97 deg. west longtitude, being about 200
miles long from north to south, and rather more from east
to west. The broad Mississippi and the mighty Missouri
bound it on either side, and before the days of rail-
roads were the great highways for commerce, and even
yet a good trade is done by the steamers that ply upon
their waters. But their usefulness has been much im-
paired by the splendid railway system that has been
developed of late years in the State. Four roads strike
right across from one river to the other, and those are
intersected by many other branch railways, which are
yearly increasing. The prairies of Iowa differ from
those of Illinois in a marked degree. Those of the
latter are level, and stretch away for miles and miles
without a single elevation. They are flat to a fault,
and in some cases have scarcely enough decline to drain
the surface, while those of the former are of a rolling
nature. This is the prairie of the imagination, rolling
away like the billows of the ocean, forming what are
known as " land waves." It seems as if, at some time
Iowa. 43
long past, a terrific wind had swept across the face of
the country with such awful violence as to blast the
very trees and raise the soil into the form of a tempest-
tossed ocean, when in a moment the elements had been
stopped and left the land in its undulating state.
Streams of all sizes, sunk deeply into the soil, flow
slowly but surely through all parts of the State, finding
their way either eastward to the Mississippi, or westward
to the Missouri. They drain the land and supply
water to man and beast, a point of no little value out
on these treeless plains. The soil is of a dry, sandy
nature, well adapted to the cultivation of Indian corn,
and especially wheat, which is grown in large quantities
and with much success. In fact, there is no other
State so well suited to the rearing of the wheat plant
as the above. The soil is not only suitable, but the
climate is favourable, neither too much heat nor cold.
Grass also appears to flourish, and no little space is
covered with hay and artificial pastures. In this re-
spect it is behind Illinois. It wants that deep, loamy
black soil, and, although the bottom lands and hollows
are very rich, yet, as a whole, it will not compare with
its sister State. Yet there is something very taking in
the general aspect that attracts the eye of the traveller.
There is the rolling prairie, with its meandering streams,
in most places broken up and planted with Indian corn,
or sown with wheat ; at other points good fields of hay
or rich luxuriant pastures, great in red clover and Ken-
tucky blue grass, are met. Sometimes the cars run
through a track of prairie land in its native state, over
which vast herds of cattle roam and gather their food
44 New World Notes.
from the grass called blue-joint, which grows in the
greatest profusion in the low grounds, and which can
be cut and made into hay without difficulty.
Every now and again the iron horse steams through
a village, for it is the fashion out in these parts that the
railway occupies the centre of the principal street of
whatever place of any importance it honours with its
presence. These villages are, in truth, " sweet Au-
burns." In their simplicity consists their beauty.
Built of wood and whitewashed, they have a neat and
clean appearance, while around each one is an ample plot
of ground a home for the peach, the plum, the apple,
and vine. Yes ! out on yon western prairies, not long
since the home of the red man, the bison, and prairie
dog, there are rising up simple villages like unto those
that once adorned the landscape of England and stood
amidst the hills of old Scotland. As we see our hamlets
depopulated, and the population in our country districts
grow mournfully less, the old country traveller over
the plains of the great West cannot but mark the
rapidity with which a village springs into existence, with
its stores, its churches, its hotels, its schools, its private
houses, and the eternal grog-shop a feature that could
well be spared. The homesteads, as a rule, are poor,
the house being a mere cabin, and the barns and
stables of the cheapest order on account of the high
price of wood and the general poverty of the first
settlers. Here and there may be seen a well-built
dwelling-house, with good out-buildings surrounded with
cotton-wood trees 20 feet high and ten years old, and
fields enclosed with osage orange fences. Such a place
Iowa. 45
is, however, the exception, and is probably the home of
some farmer who has migrated from the Eastern States.
The climate of this State is against it in some re-
spects. Its winters are severe, and it is subject to
storms and considerable quantities of snow. These
facts are serious drawbacks to its wealth as a stock-
raising country. The seasons are well defined, and, as
regards the health of its inhabitants, it will bear favour-
able comparison with any of its sister States. Fever
and ague, the pests of many parts of the Union, are
scarcely known here. The general appearance of the
men, women, and children prove the statements of re-
ports published. The heats of summer in a country
so far from any temperate influence are great, but they
are rendered less unpleasant by the delightful breezes
that are wafted across the prairies. The evenings are
cool, and heavy dews often fall in the silent hours of
the night. There is also abundance of rain to promote
vegetation. Its products are various. As we said
before, wheat is perhaps more at home here than in
any part of the United States. The cool evenings and
frosty nights are congenial to this plant. Indian corn
is also largely cultivated, but it is rather far from market
to leave much pay, and is turned to account for feeding
stock. In the season of 1873 this article got so low
that it paid to burn it rather than send per rail to
market. This year there is a better prospect. Barley,
oats, flax, and potatoes also grow well. Fruit of all
kinds grows in the greatest profusion, and no one has
any need to seek far for it. Timber is very scarce
even the creeks are badly supplied but coal is found
46 New World Notes.
in great abundance. The absence of trees is due to the
fires that annually sweep across the prairies, for when
planted they grow well, and both the soil and climate
appear to suit the English larch. It may be remarked
that great advantages are given to settlers who plant any
portion of their homesteads with trees, as it is the
policy of the Government to make those tracts of land
not only to provide wood for building purposes, but
also to secure shelter from the terrific winds which sweep
across the plains periodically. The raising and feeding
of stock, notwithstanding the difficulties it has to con-
tend with from the severe winters, is largely followed,
and yearly increasing. It is this system of management
that looks most like paying. The country is specially
adapted for sheep, with its dry, friable soil and natural
shelters. No little money is yearly derived from the
manufacture of dairy produce, a species of farming that
yearly gains in favour. It is, of course, difficult to
judge what style of agriculture is most advantageous to
a certain part ; but one fact we are sure of, in regard
to the State of Iowa, that it will never be able to com-
pete with the State of Illinois in raising and feeding
stock. From all accounts, the winters will not allow
stock to remain outside without artificial food ; and as
the fact brings in the question of manual labour, it
cannot have the same advantages as those parts of the
Union where cattle and sheep gather their own food
all the year round. Notwithstanding the above hind-
rances, statistics state that last year the amount of wool
exported was 2,300,000 Ibs., while there were shipped
per rail from the State 130,000 live cattle, 500,000
Iowa. 47
hogs, 30,000,000 Ibs. of dressed hogs, and 78,000
sheep. The above numbers are derived from the rail-
way returns. The amounts sent per river boats were
not ascertainable.
Already the most part of this State has been taken
up either by actual settlers or outside speculators. The
Homestead Law, made in the interests of emigration, en-
titles every man who intends to settle to a grant of 160
acres on condition that he remains on it and cultivates
it for five years, after which he is entitled to the deeds
of possession. Such offers, of course, are rapidly
taken advantage of, and every man, whether he be a
farmer, a tailor, a shoemaker, a mason, or a jack-of-
all-trades, at once proceeds to secure his Government
grant. Compliance with this law is very easy ; erect a
hut either of sods or with lumber, plant some Indian
corn and reap it, are sufficient to satisfy the Govern-
ment, even if the settlers live some distance away and
practise a trade or profession. Such is the substance
of the above law, which offers such inducements to set-
tlers, and has drawn immense crowds of all sorts and
sizes of people to the Western prairies. Whether there
is any great quantity of land to dispose of under this
enactment in the above State, we cannot positively say.
However, there are still available large quantities of
railroad lands. When the railways were projected and
laid across those plains, there were few or no inhabi-
tants either to travel by them or supply freight. With-
out the iron horse and its waggons there was little
prospect of the inland portions of the country being
settled, for though there is no doubt about the fertility
48 New World Notes.
of the soil, what was the good of corn and wine if
there was no outlet ? The Government very wisely
placed before any companies formed for the promotion of
railways certain advantages. They gave them a free
grant of half the lands on each side of the line for a
distance of twenty miles outward from the railroad.
The land was surveyed into square miles, or 640 acres.
The companies became possessors of every alternate
section on condition that they formed the roads. At
some points they got the whole lands adjacent to the
railways, but this system was not much followed,
because it allowed speculators to come in and buy up
large portions with the intention of waiting for the rise
of real estate. While the companies owned half the
sections, the other half was still procurable under the
Homestead Laws, but instead of 160 acres only 80 acres,
or one-eighth part of a square mile, was allowed to the
settler. In the State of Iowa, those free grant lands
near to the railroads are being rapidly taken advantage
of, and the country is becoming populated very quickly.
In our journey across the State, we passed through the
lands of the Iowa Railroad Land Company, which lie
in the middle region of the State, and comprise an area
of 1,500,000 acres. There are other companies having
lands for disposal, but we travelled by this line, as it
was the most advantageous by which to secure a view
of the country and judge of its merits. As the free
grants are being taken up, railroad lands are getting into
demand. Many people prefer to buy land near a rail-
way rather than go further west away from civilization.
or go back twenty miles from a railway, where pro-
Iowa. 49
duce has to be sent a long way before shipping it.
Thus, many people with a little money are pushing out
to those lands, and securing a section either for present
or future use. The general price is from 155. to 255.
per acre. For the latter sum very good land, situated
advantageously in regard to a railway depot, can be ob-
tained. It is, of course, unfenced, and has to be
broken up and improved, which is a matter of some time.
Farms of from 40 acres and upwards can be bought,
and either paid in cash or bought on credit prices pay-
able in so many years. The emigrant who takes up
land under the Homestead Law has only to build his
hut (which can be made of sods), buy a pair of horses,
mules, or oxen, and procure some seed corn, and his
farm is commenced , a cow and two or three pigs are
added by-and-bye to the live stock. His first two
or three years are attended with hard struggles ; but
patience and perseverance, not always found in the
settler, generally prevail against all obstacles. At pre-
sent we do not speak further upon the advantages and
disadvantages of emigration to those parts, as we
intend in a future article to discuss this subject more
fully. But the capitalist and we do not class him
an emigrant proper who can buy his 640 acres,
and has money to stock, fence, and otherwise im-
prove, is very soon an independent man. He cam
easily live comfortably on his farm. It is not so
much what a man actually makes over and above his
food and clothing. It is the natural increase of real
estate. It is hard to say what land worth i per
acre at this date may be worth ten years after this,
50 New World Notes.
especially after the soil has been broken up and im-
proved.
The above State has many advantages, but it has
also not a few obstacles to contend with. The rail-
way system is very good, but markets are no little
distance away. Chicago is the nearest point, and as
freights are high such bulky materials as Indian corn
and wheat do not leave a large profit when the car-
riage is deducted. Here the capitalist has the ad-
vantage over his poorer neighbours. He can turn his
Indian corn into beef, mutton, pork, or wool, and thus
reap a greater benefit.
As stated before, the winters are very severe, but
some moderation may be expected when the popula-
tion increases and the country is well cultivated and
covered with trees. As a State, it cannot be com-
pared to that of Illinois, Indiana, or Missouri ; but we
must keep in mind that these are fully settled, and the
price of land is very much greater. Iowa has still
some openings for the emigrant class who intend to
make their living by the pursuit of agriculture for the
farmer with his 1000 or 2000, as at some points
the company owns solid tracts of land, and can sell
any quantity.
VII.
JEOGRAPHICALLY this State occupies a
most central position in the American con-
tinent. It lies between the 4Oth and 4jd
parallels north latitude, and i9th and ayth degrees of
longitude west from Washington, and is bounded on
the north by Dakota, on the south by Kansas and
Colorado, on the east by Iowa and Missouri, and on
the west by Colorado and Wyoming. The Missouri
forms a natural boundary on the east and part of the
north side ; while the Platte, a considerable tributary
of the above, although not navigable, flows nearly
through the centre, and acts as an enormous drain for
the larger part of the State. In schoolboy days this
was the "desert" of the American continent, and even
yet, in many respects, it could still be designated by
that name. With the railway came civilization. The
Union Pacific Railroad commences at Omaha, and fol-
lowing the course of the Platte River to North Platte
City, it leaves the main branch, continuing along the
southern tributary of the above to Julesburg, then it
follows a small creek from there to Cheyenne City in
the Wyoming Territory. The western terminus of the
52 New World Notes.
road is at Ogden, where it connects with the Central
Pacific. Our experience of this State was wholly con-
fined to railway travelling, with one or two exceptions,
when we struck across the prairie for a few miles to
see the quality of the soil, and get some idea of how
the first settlers of those wild regions fare. Time did
not permit further investigation. The soil can be
judged from the cars, especially where there is a cut-
ting, and no little information can be gathered from the
free and easy Western boy with his bowie knife and
revolver, who very frequently takes advantage of the
train that passes along the route each day with its
freight of passengers principally bound for Denver,
Utah, and San Francisco. Speaking of the soil, the
valley of the Platte, which the road follows for 350
miles, is fertile, although not equal to the Eastern
States, and in some places it is apt to be flooded.
Out from the river sides the land may be divided into
two classes table land, or, as the natives term it, high
table land, and rolling prairie. The bottom lands are,
no doubt, very rich, being mostly alluvial deposits of
a sandy nature, and mixed with lime in a small degree,
but the others are far from being of such quality as
Iowa and Illinois. One hundred and fifty miles west
from Omaha the soil is fair, but after that it is con-
siderably mixed with alkali, and is of inferior quality.
The further west one goes it deteriorates. While the
larger portion of the State is not well adapted to arable
farming, it is of great use and value for raising stock
wherever water is to be found in any quantities, and,
as a rule, a sufficient supply of that precious liquid can.
Nebraska. 53
be had at intervals. At present the great value of this
State lies in its powers of raising cattle and sheep.
This business has been largely gone into, and promises
to pay well. The climate, on which depends the suc-
cess of this branch of agriculture, is in many ways
suited to it. Although an inland State, and far from
softening influences, the climate is temperate, and not
subject to those great extremes so marked in many
-other places. Statistical tables, if they can be fol-
lowed, show the temperatures of the seasons to be
thus : Spring, 49 degs. ; summer, 74 degs. ; autumn,
5 1 degs. ; winter, 3 1 degs. During the summer months
the falls of rain is large. From April to October 2o*/
inches is the average ; from October to April some-
where about 9 inches is the rainfall. Thus, at the
season when rain is most required, it falls liberally.
The snow does not come in large quantities. Cattle
live comparatively well all the year round with the
aid of a little hay. Terrific storms sometimes sweep
across the prairie, which is sheltered by no trees. The
violence of these outbreaks is tremendous. The Go-
vernment are trying all means in their power to stop
this evil by inducing settlers to plant trees, in the hope
that they will break the force of the winds. The
prairie is subject to fires, which sweep everything be-
fore them. The Indian difficulty does not interfere
with the peace of the inhabitants, at least along the
line of rails. A part of the Pawnee tribe dwell in
contentment near to Columbus ; they are a dirty race.
They do not care for work, and to beg they are not
ashamed.
54 New World Notes.
The products of this State are the same as Iowa.
The soil is not so well adapted for wheat. It grows
Indian corn readily in the bottom lands. The prairie
is specially suitable for sheep, being of a dry, friable
nature, with good shelters. Wood is scarce, and coal
exists in thin seams, and is not worked to any ad-
vantage. On either side of the State plenty of fuel
is found. The grass of this region is principally short,
stunted buffalo grass, thinly planted. In the lower
grounds hay can be procured to provide against a
stormy winter. For the sale of produce, Nebraska
has not to depend entirely upon Chicago and St Louis,
but finds a ready market for its goods in the mining
regions of Colorado and Utah. Much of the wheat
and corn finds its way westward to those regions, in-
stead of going east.
The lands of this State are practically unbroken yer.
Nearly the whole State is subject to the Homestead
Law, with the exception of the grants held by the
Union Pacific Railroad Company, who are at present
selling those as far west as North Platte City. Along-
side the route the railway company have the usual
grant of twenty miles wide on each side, and here the
homestead grant is 80 acres instead of 160. This
company owns some of the best land in the State,
especially the bottom lands of the Platte River. No
doubt, the best lands are worthy of some attention,
and will be rapidly occupied, for settlers are trooping
out in large numbers in search of homesteads ; but the
present wealth of this State lies in its enormous tracts
of grazing land, extending to many thousands of
Nebraska. 5 5
square miles. These are free. A person selects his
ranche, obtains a sure supply of water, and he may
rest undisturbed for many years to come. Already
enormous herds of cattle roam across those prairies,
so lately the home of the red man, but stock-raising
may be considered as yet in its infancy. Many cattle
of an inferior class are seen from the railway. One
morning, while steaming along, the train was stopped,
or nearly so, out on the open prairie. A herd of
cattle, numbering at least 5000, had lain down on the
track through the night, and the herdsman had been
unable to lift them from their lair; so, after much
touting of the whistle and ringing of the engine bell,
the long-horns moved slowly off the track. The cattle
on those prairies are not unlike the old Spanish cattle,
but they are being rapidly graded with shorthorns.
Sheep are being introduced, but as yet no definite re-
sults have been obtained. Mexican ewes, crossed with
merino rams, have succeeded to a certain degree with
some parties. There is an opening for the sheep far-
mer, as both soil and climate are suitable. Foot-rot
an objection of great weight in many of these Western
States, owing to the dry nature of the winter, and the
amount of lime impregnated in the soil is seldom
troublesome. The great objection is the fires that
sweep across and devastate whole regions at once.
The advantage, to our mind, in sheep farming, if this
danger can be avoided, is that wool is easily conveyed
to market. Like the vast sheep pastures of Australia,
the profit is to be principally derived from the above
product. While an income is made from this source,
56 New World Notes.
the flock will go on increasing, and granting that little
is got for the live animal, yet the keep does not cost
much ; in fact, the only expense is the labour, and the
erection of a few corrals to protect flocks from the
wild animals, such as wolves, that infest rhe prairies.
Many people laugh at the idea of stock-raising in those
regions, but for ourselves we are convinced that it is
no dream. It is not every one who can be a stock
farmer, but at this moment there are men living along
the line of the Union Pacific who own many thousand
dollars worth of live stock, which is imperceptibly but
gradually increasing in value. Twenty or thirty thou-
sand cattle away in Nebraska are equal to a good few
thousand pounds when valued at 505. each. Talking
of sheep, it must be kept in mind that wool is not so
much below the price of our own at home. At the
same time, as emigration advances westward which it
is as sure to do as that the earth goes round the sun
live stock of all kinds will advance in value ; and as the
Cheviots and Lammermoors supply with stock the
feeding farms of the Merse and Lothians, so those
Far West prairies, that stretch away from the Missouri
to the Rocky Mountains, the vast plains of Nebraska,
Colorado, Kansas, and Texas, must, as a natural con-
sequence, supply the rich feeding soils of Iowa, Illinois,
Indiana, and the other Eastern States.
A remarkable fact connected with these Western
prairies is the rapidity with which villages spring into
life. The station, then a hotel, a store for all manner
of goods, from jumping-jacks to ploughs, a bar and
billiard saloon, a church and school, a lumber-yard and
Nebraska. 57
flour mill, are the first commencement. In a short time
all manner of people gather about, and the real estate near
at hand is picked up by speculators. Along the line
many such places are found. They owed their birth
to the steam engine, and many of them are now con-
siderable towns of five years old. The town of
Columbus, situated ninety miles west from Omaha, is
one of those places which have sprung into life within
A few years. Before the railroad crossed to California
it was a small village, but since it has grown into a town
of i coo inhabitants, and has three or four hotels, twice
as many drinking saloons the curse of those regions
three churches, very fine public schools, a courthouse,
and a weekly newspaper. Society at such a place is
yet unformed. The inhabitants are more or less mi-
gratory, and a great number live in hotels or boarding-
houses. Life in a "Western hotel throws light upon
many aspects of humanity. Persons of all nationali-
ties and of all trades and professions gather together.
Where they come from it is difficult to say. Here
may be seen the doctor and the minister, the artist and
house-painter, the bricklayer and joiner, the dry-
goods man and grocer, the farmer and speculator, and,
amongst many others, the gentleman at large, who is
apt to borrow ten dollars and never pay them back. All
these collect round the same board. The swell, in
his pantaloons and surtout, the mason with his sleeves
tucked up, ready for either stones or bread and butter.
Yes i it was rather a surprise to find the above, with
his sleeves tucked up, living in the largest hotel the
place could boast of, quite at home and regardless of
58 New World Notes.
everyone. Everybody is a gentleman out here, or at
least thinks himself such. The fare is plain and sub-
stantial, and the waiting is performed by damsels from
the Green Isle, who trip about as unlike fairies as pos-
sible. One afternoon, while staying there, we took a
drive across the prairie. Leaving the Platte River be-
hind, we gradually ascended from the bottom on to
the table land. It was a curious sensation driving
over the unbroken wilds no trees, no fences, nothing
but endless grassy plains. Continuing due north, we
crossed a stream called Cedar Creek, bordered by a
few stunted trees, and reached shortly after a divide or
watershed. From here a good view of the surround-
ing country is obtained. Cedar Valley consists of a
rich alluvial soil, and runs a long way through the
prairie. Most of it is under cultivation, the fertility
of the land drawing there the first settlers. Far away
as the eye can reach are the wigwams of the Pawnees,
who own a large reservation in this part. Around,
freely dispersed among the stunted buffalo grass, are
enormous sunflowers, otherwise termed the prairie-
flower. In some places there is a perfect mass of
yellow ; at other points the rosin weed grows in large
quantities. It is said that wherever it appears the land
is of good quality. Returning, we met a farmer whose
language soon betrayed his origin. f( The soil can't be
bate" was the answer to our first question. Sixteen
years ago this Irishman, braving the dangers of a fron-
tier life along with a few others, had pushed out thus
far, and taken up two or three hundred acres of land ;
a log cabin, patched with lime, served for his habita-
Nebraska. 59
tion ; two tables, a cupboard, four chairs, an American
stove, and two beds were the furnishings of his dining-
room, kitchen, and sitting-room ; a small pantry and
an upstairs garret composed his dwelling-house. One
curtain is all the outside accommodation. In it stand
his horses, his cows, his pigs, and his implements.
This is an Irishman's shed, all holes and corners ; still,
he looked a most happy man. He owns his patch of
200 acres of fair good land, and supports his own
family and two aged relatives. The latter fact said not
a little for him. A well of pure cool water stood beside
the house, and a drink of it out of a gourd was most
refreshing. The crops were good. Indian corn planted
a month previous was already 18 inches in height; 75
acres of wheat looked well ; while his patch of potatoes
was being destroyed as fast as the Colorado bug could
demolish them. In addition to the land, he owned 200
cattle, which grazed upon the prairie summer and
winter. He sells a cast each year. This was one of
the few Irishmen we met who had raised himself above
the position of drawing water and hewing wood. Still
nearer our starting point our guide conducted us to a
mud cottage. Do not imagine this such a hovel a&
might be found in Ireland or the Highlands of Scotland,.
but a nice comfortable house with two rooms. The
walls and divisions are made of sods and plastered
inside, while the roof is formed by thin deals and rough
sods laid on the top of them. The above is not the
worst dwelling in the world, and the expense is very
little somewhere about 3, besides the man's labour
in making it. Our drive was a delightful one; a cool
60 New World Notes.
breeze swept across the prairies, and dispelled the fierce
heat of summer. The crops looked beautiful, and
every one had a joyous look and kind word.
Not long after we left this region the wheat harvest
was gathered. A short interval, and a cloud of grass-
hoppers rested in their flight upon those fair regions,
and left not a green thing standing. Those farmers
whose prospects looked so bright were swamped in a
single day, and for a time at least serious distress was
felt among a large class of those settlers who have
made Nebraska their home. This is one of the diffi-
culties and a very serious one it is that the inhabi-
tants of those regions have to contend with, and, as a
rule, emigrants have no spare cash laid aside for a rainy
day. The result is, that most of those people whose
prospects were so flourishing in June and July would
-have a hard ordeal to pass through during the winter
-months, and little to start with in the spring.
VIII.
[JEN or twelve years ago, Denver, the capital of
Colorado, was but a village of rough wooden
cabins, containing about 3000 inhabitants.
To build those houses, such as they are, lumber had
to be brought from the Missouri river, a distance of
700 miles across the prairies, as well as most of the
necessaries of life. At that time, also, western society
was in a curious state. Might was pretty much the
only right, and the revolver and bowie knife the judges
between man and man. Murder was common, and
robbery stalked openly through the streets. There
was no law, no police, no religion, and little morality.
To check this course of crime and ensure the life of
respectable citizens, a secret committee was organised,
who kept a sharp look-out upon the brothels and gam-
bling hells, and the suspicious characters who infested
them. Many a curious tale is told of the operations of
this self-constituted court, who sat during the dead
hours of the night, and not unfrequently a corpse
swinging in the wind in the grey dawn of the morning
was the only remnant of the criminal brought before
them. Time wore on, and with it a railway found its
62 New World Notes.
way, via the Smoky Hill Fork, to this point, and
changed its aspect. The iron horse, as it came rolling
into the town, turned confusion into order, and insti-
tuted the reign of law and justice. Denver is now a
lovely city, with a population of 30,000 inhabitants.
The streets are wide and spacious, and lined with costly
stores and large hotels. But although every man
carries his revolver for its day is not yet past still the
stranger is free from being molested that is to say, if
he behaves himself in a proper manner. The question
will not unnaturally arise What has caused, first, this
city to be here at all ? Why did people continue to
flock to such a notorious place ? What brought a
railway here through a country with no inhabitants but
the red man, who neither cultivates corn nor wheat, nor
raises stock of any description ? The answer is simple,
and found in one short word Gold. Up among yon
Rocky Mountains the precious ore is found. To this
El Dorado men from all parts of the world hastened, re-
gardless of expense or danger, braving the journey
across the treeless plains, where water was scarce, and
ofttimes mixed with alkaline salts, so that neither man
nor beast could drink it and live. No matter about the
difficulties, the Yankee, inquisitive and speculative, the
impetuous Englishman, a few canny Scots, the calculat-
ing German, the irrepressible Frenchman, the dark,
fiery Italian, the wily Jew, and the "heathen Chinee" all
gathered here, and vied with each other in their race for
gold. The above city, standing on the South Platte,
about twelve miles from the base of the Rocky Moun-
tains, became the depot for supplying the mining dis-
The Gold Mines of Colorado. 63
tricts. Taking the train from this point, we reach
Golden City, at the base of the Mountains, which rises
abruptly from the level plains, and at the entrance to
Clear Creek Canon. Here we change carriages and
enter the cars, which run upon a narrow guage railroad,
the rails being laid 3 ^ f eet apart. Leaving the plains,
we enter a canon or gorge, up which a road has been
formed by blasting with nitro-glycerine and powder the
rocks on one side of the stream, along whose banks the
foot of man never trod till then. The debris was built
into a bulwark or wall, on which the rails for the
narrow guage road were laid. The gradient rises at
the rate of 170 feet per mile, and up this steep way the
small engine and diminutive cars proceed at the rate of
nine or ten miles per hour. The scenery is the wildest
we ever saw. Far above, the beetling rocks hang omi-
nously over the little stranger and its living freight.
At some spots the precipices rise perpendicularly up to
a height of three or four hundred feet above the stream.
Along the face great rents are seen running through the
rocks, and some of the pieces do not appear too securely
fixed. Where any soil has found a resting place
pine and cedar trees drag out a bare existence. The
spectacle is very impressive, and not easily forgotten.
As we looked up to the rocks, at some places nearly
closing overhead, an involuntary shudder passed over
us, while the gloom of the afternoon cast a melancholy
look over the scene, and damped our ardent spirits. In
this sterile pass no living animal appears to have taken
up its abode, save the human beings whose thirst for
filthy lucre has brought them hither. The train runs
64 New World Notes.
round sharp curves, while every fresh turn produces
new pictures of wildness and desolation. A few feet
below, the stream rushes wildly down the gorge over im-
mense boulders, placed there by the operations of the engi-
neers, or detached from the main body by the action of
the weather, and which only make the waters rage more
impetuously down their course. Near the top of the
stream the canon widens into a valley, and the moun-
tains become less rugged. Here begins regular habita-
tion. A log or wood hut of the most miserable
description ofttimes a pit dug in the hillside, and made
into the shape of a house with sods meets the eye.
This is the dwelling of the gold-hunter, who works in
the following manner : A water-course is made parallel
to the stream, from fifty to a hundred yards long. It
is two feet wide and one foot in depth, and is enclosed
on the sides by boards, while the bottom is also of wood,
but notches are nailed on to it at short intervals. The
waters of the creek being dammed, they are turned into
this course. And it may be well to explain that, when
the streams come rushing down the mountain sides, they
bring with them a large quantity of sand, which contains
particles of gold. Thus, as the waters flow through
those narrow flume boxes, as they are termed, the sand,
and more particularly the gold particles, rest behind the
impediments placed to catch them. The water is turned
into its natural course, and the sediment collected. The
latter is washed and washed, till at last gold, pure and
undefiled, is left as the workman's trouble. Men at
this business, with reasonable luck, can earn from zos.
to 303. per day. A colony of pig-tailed Celestials are
The Gold Mines of Colorado. 65
employed by a company at this process, and are said to
be capital and industrious labourers. Towards evening,
we reach the depot at Black Hawk, and from thence
take a 'bus to the hotel situated in Central City, about
one mile up the creek. Next day was spent in examin-
ing the mines and their surroundings.
In the year 1858, about ten years after the discovery
of gold in California, the same precious metal was
found amid the sandbanks of the South Platte River
near to Denver. A pioneer, named Gregory, made
his way over the mountains to the place where Central
City now stands, and struck upon the lode named in
his honour. A rush took place, Denver grew, and
the top of Clear Creek received a population, who were
content with very humble buildings. But the place
has increased, and now, perched like eyries amid the
rocks, stand hotels and boarding-houses, some schools,
one or two churches, and large numbers of unseemly
buildings, that cover the mouth of pits. A system of
streets could not exist, and long stairs reach up to
houses above from those below. There is a bus}
sound about the place. The tinkling of bells from
the trains of mules that draw the waggons, the dull
sound of the stamping mills, the excited looks of the
passing crowd, betoken a stirring place. The moun-
tains above are wild and sterile, no vegetation save a
few stunted bushes, but, on the other hand, immense
piles of rubbish at the shaft mouths and prospect holes
freely interspersed over their sides, meet the eye of the
stranger, while to the practised eye the precious streaks
of rich mineral are visible.
66 New World Notes.
There are two ways of finding gold viz., " Placer"
and " Lode" mining. The former of these methods
is largely practised in California, and to some advantage
in Colorado , but the latter, although requiring large
capital, labour, and machinery, is found to be the most
profitable in this district. The term "placer" is ap-
plied to those modes where gold is found amid sand
in the rivers and streams, or lying in deposits amongst
the same material in the gulches of the mountains. To
this class of mining the descriptions of the method we
have given above is applied. But the lode mining oc-
cupies the inhabitants of Central City for the most part.
These lodes or veins run through the mountain from
south-west to north-east, from 2 to 10 feet in width,
are supposed to lie to a distance of 3000 feet below
the surface, and are enclosed on each side by a wall
of solid granite. The seams are distant from each
other about fifty to one hundred yards, and are exactly
parallel. The general way is to sink a shaft to some
depth, as near the surface the ore is not of good
quality, although what is brought to the surface gene-
rally pays the sinking. The best parts are selected,
and the hauling up is performed by steam power. The
Bobtail lode, which is the richest vein yet discovered,
is reached by a tunnel run through the mountain side
from the principal street, through which the ore is
brought to light by small trucks and ponies, and thence
conveyed to the factories by mules and large-sized wag-
gons. The ore when brought out of the bowels of
the earth resembles quartz, is of a light grey colour,
and sparkles in the sun. The inexperienced at once
The Gold Mines of Colorado. 67
take the particles which flash back the solar rays to
be gold, but not so ; they are only pyrites. The gold
is invisible. The real article is here, although unseen,
but the difficulty is to extract it. Many processes are
in operation, and fortune after fortune has been spent
upon erecting factories, which now only stand as monu-
ments of the mad folly that tempted their originators
to build them. The depot at Black Hawk is one of
those speculations which cost about 150,000 dollars,
and ruined more than one party. Perhaps the simplest
and most primitive of those modes is the stamping pro-
cess. The raw material is thrown into a trough, and
immense stampers allowed to fall on it, and grind it to
pieces. Through the above a stream of water is al-
lowed to run, carrying away the particles of sand,
gold, &c., with it. The water runs over copper
plates amalgamated with quicksilver. To these the
gold, or part of it, sticks, while the sand runs away.
When the water is stopped, the residue upon the cop-
per is relieved from it by indiarubber sponges and
quicksilver. It is then put into a small furnace. The
silver evaporates, and the precious metal is left. It is
calculated that at least 70 per cent, is thus obtained.
The refuse which runs away is concentrated outside
by a simple process, is heaped up, and left for another
time, when some ingenious person may find out a
process whereby to secure the remaining 30 per cent,
without much trouble and expense. Good ore is too
plentiful at present to think about working the poorer
material. The most complete and successful process
is to be seen at the Black Hawk Smelting Mills,
68 New World Notes.
where all the richest of the ore is manufactured.
The quartz is piled upon a small platform of wood,
and set on fire. It burns easily, as the stone is largely
charged with sulphur. It is therefore allowed to
smoulder away of its own accord. It is then placed
in a retort, and allowed to remain there for some time.
It then goes through various processes of smelting and
burning, till at last it is brought to the dividing room,
where the different congruents are separated by the aid
of chemicals. We regret that we are unable to ex-
plain the outs and ins of the above process ; but the
officials, although most courteous, do not care to en-
lighten strangers very fully. In this place some idea
of the richness of the stone may be approximated,
becauses it produces not only gold but silver, copper,
iron, arsenic, vitriol, and sulphur. There are many
other such mills working with indifferent success. The
above is the only one that can claim to have prospered.
The company who work it have made an enormous
sum of money, and have placed the poor miner at a
serious disadvantage, as they hold the reins in their
hand. Why some other parties have not started one
on the same principle is a mystery to our mind.
When there, we met a body of capitalists who were
thinking of erecting a mill as like the one above as
possible. Gold ore is measured by the cord of 128
square feet. A cord is worth, in its raw state that
is, of average quality from 100 to 150 dollars. Ore
taken from the Bobtail or Gregory lodes may easily
sell at 300 dollars for that quantity.
To show the wealth of this wild and sterile region,
The Gold Mines of Colorado. 69
it may be mentioned that on either side of the gold
mines lie deposits of silver. Copper is also found in
considerable quantities, and coal is plentiful on the
plains round about Golden City, while six miles from
Central are the famous Idaho Hot Soda Springs. There
the soda water comes boiling out of the mountain side
at a temperature of no degs. Fahrenheit. This is one
of the most picturesque watering-places imaginable.
Lying cradled among the rugged mountains, it has a
delightful climate, and to it many a person far spent
with consumption has come, and gone away as if
brought back from the verge of the grave to renewed
life.
It was indeed a strange scene at those mines. No
more miserable picture of human depravity can be seen
than there. Every one has the " yellow fever,'' and,
infuriated with a terrible thirst for the filthy lucre,
those men who inhabit yon regions are worse than
savages. They make money fast, and it goes as
rapidly. Far from any humanising influences, all the
bad passions incident to mankind are fostered in their
bosoms, and, what is worse, a man, however sober
and industrious he may have been, catches the infection
on his arrival there. Out among yon gulches of the
Rocky Mountains, which nature has made so rich,
men have gone mad, have turned the church into a
dancing casino, the reading-room into a gambling hell.
Up among yon mountains, more rugged than the Alps,
where twenty years ago the foot of man scarce ever
trod, the home of the grizzly and the resting-place of
the eagle, there is one universal cry
70 New World Notes.
" Gold, gold, gold, gold !
Bright and yellow, hard and cold,
Molten, graven, hammer'd, rolled ;
Heavy to get and light to hold :
Hoarded, battered, bought and sold,
Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled ;
Spurned by the young, but hugged by the old
To the very verge of the churchyard mould j
Price of many a crime untold ;
Gold, gold, gold, gold!"
All the while those mines have had a great influence
upon agriculture. Previous to the discovery of gold
in California in the year 1848, that fertile land, now
so famous for its wheat, was lying unfilled by the
hand of man. Men, hungering and thirsting after
riches, crossed the prairies, right over the Sierra
Madre, and reached the object of their desire. So,
ten years later, a rush took place to the above El
Dorado. New countries were opened up. While gold
was found, the immense agricultural resources of the
great West and California were ascertained. " All is
not gold that glitters," and those streams of men, eager
for the fray, and brimful of expectation, found much
tinsel and great disappointments in store for them,
after wandering so far in search of the great god.
They had no alternative but to settle down upon the
nearest piece of land, and gain their living by a more
certain, though slower and less exciting process. Thus.
last summer it was calculated that 20,000 or 30,000
people were on their way to Denver and its neighbour-
hood in search of a fortune. The mines are already
too crowded, and those people, being for the most
part unable to return for want of means, will have to
The Gold Mines of Colorado. 71
settle down to the more peaceful employment of agri-
culture upon the plains of Colorado, Nebraska, or
Kansas.
IX.
(Emigration to the cHcst.
F there is one idea greater than another that
takes hold of the traveller through America,
it is the vastness, the immense scale upon
which everything is made by Nature in that continent,
and nowhere more so than in crossing the prairies,
those immense plains that stretch from the Mississippi
to the Rocky Mountains, from the Gulf Mexico to the
regions of eternal snow. Here every clime is met with,
from a tropical heat to a Polar cold. For the most
part, the seasons are distinctly marked, and even in the
Northern States and British North America the heat of
summer is very great ; while down as far South as
Kansas the winter is intense and severe. Already we
have described at some length the State of Illinois,
Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. These are but a por-
tion of the immense tract of country designated by the
general name of the Great West. But we believe they
offer a fair example, and from them may be imagined
the general aspect of the other States. It is unneces-
sary to dwell upon the richness and fertility of the soil.
A person who has not travelled personally over the
country can only approximate the immense agricultural
Emigration to the West. 73
wealth that lies undeveloped in that region. Agricul-
ture, as practised in those regions, is in a most unsatis-
factory state, with a few exceptions. The original
settlers are a poor class, who have a hard struggle to
make ends meet, and, as a consequence, tax their land
to the utmost. In such places as Illinois, it is nearly
impossible to exhaust the soil. Land cropped with
wheat for twenty years successively has improved year
by year. But all the soil is not like the above, nor is
the amount of bottom land very extensive, so that if the
system is not changed, the very richest land in course
of time must become unproductive if it is not fed ; even
the straw, instead of being turned into manure, is
burned. Such a circumstance owes its existence to the
fact that the farmers have not cash to buy stock, nor
are they able to erect barns and curtains for the same
reason. In passing through the Eastern and Southern
States, it is found that the soil is very much exhausted,
and the inhabitants are beginning to see the folly of not
keeping stock to enrich their land. Another cause why
farming is in such a rough and backward state is no
doubt to be found in the men who are engaged in it.
In first beginning to cultivate their homestead, necessity
forces them to a certain course, and they appear to be
content to follow it up ; so that in the older settled pans
there is little or no improvement upon the commencement,
while there are few really practical men who make their
living by the plough. As far as we could judge, few
men who know anything about agriculture in this country
follow it up on reaching the New World, while men
of all trades and professions grasp at the grand idea of
74 New World Notes.
being landlords. From this cause many failures are
heard of among the emigrants who go west.
The Government of the States, by the policy it has
followed, has more than realised its anticipations of set-
tling the West. The famous Homestead Law holds out
a glittering prize before the intending emigrant. But this
was not enough. It was clearly seen that men might
go to the prairie, take up their 160 acres, break it up,
and cultivate it ; but to what good, if the produce was
of no value ? Man cannot live on bread alone, and,
although the settler might raise corn and meat enough
to keep in life, money must be had to clothe him and
meet sundry expenses. The great railway schemes
were put in motion. The States and territories were
surveyed and laid out into sections of 640 acres each.
A company was organised. On condition that these
parties would construct a railway through an almost
uninhabited region, the Government contracted to grant
such persons every other section of land for twenty
miles on each side of the route. Thus, most of the
lines that intersect Iowa have such grants. The Union
Pacific has for sale over 12,000,000 of acres. The
Kansas Pacific has also a large grant. The policy of
giving the railway companies half of the land adjoining
their lines was to get the country fairly settled, not to
allow leviathan speculators either from England or the
Eastern States to buy up enormous stretches of land,
and deal them out at leisure. Outside the radius of the
railway lands 160 acres is the Government grant, while
within it 80 acres is the portion allowed to the emigrant
free of all charge, except the registration and some
Emigration to the West. 75
other small fees. The railway companies may sell as
much as they like to one party, but the Government
section can only be taken up by eight different persons,
who are bound to a residence of five years. This
clause is not very strictly enforced, and a man can
easily make good his claim by constructing a mud hut,
living there for two or three days annually, and sowing
an acre or two of Indian corn or wheat. Thus, out
west, every man, whatever his trade or profession^.
takes up a Government grant on his arrival. With
such prospects, little wonder that thousands of men and
women have hurried out to those broad prairies, burn-
ing with ambition and high hope, filled with the grand
idea of a farm a property to themselves such as a
fabulous sum could not procure in the Old World.
But how often have the glorious day-dreams vanished
before the stern reality. The first years of a frontier
life are perhaps the most trying that can well be
imagined. To succeed, a man must be blest with in-
domitable perseverance, great endurance, and perfect
sobriety ; for among those wild districts not the least
enemy to contend with is the demon whisky ; and with
all these qualities he may not succeed. What can the
poor settlers of Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Min-
nesota do when their crops have been totally destroyed
by the grasshoppers or locusts ? Or what will be the
result of the fires which last fall swept across portions
of the stock-raising regions ? The grasshopper plague
is a fearful calamity ; most of the new settlements are
subject to it, while as a country becomes more fully
populated the scourge disappears. With such calami-
76 New World Notes.
ties before their eyes, it would appear reasonable for
men to halt before proceeding to the frontier and face
such difficulties. Yet the stream goes on ; and last
summer, when trade got slow in the Eastern States,
which is at present the manufacturing portion of the
country, and people were thrown out of work, many
came back to Europe, but not a few proceeded west to
those regions where " free land for the landless " is
found. Shorter hours and less work a great idea
among the labouring classes both at home and abroad
finds few advocates on yon homesteads. From sun-
rise to sunset is the stereotyped rule, with one hour for
the midday meal ; in fact, all through America, the
agricultural labourer has both hard work and long
hours. And not only has the emigrant to those
western regions to contend with nature and harder
work, but he is also subject to many snares. Land
agents, and others of that class, ofttimes hold out
glorious pictures fortunes for a trifle, and such illu-
sions which not unfrequently turn out gross frauds.
Men are brought with the expectation of seeing a per-
fect paradise, and only view a howling wilderness. No
more pitiable picture can be seen than a homeless emi-
grant, with perchance a wife and family, and nothing to
support them. It is a sad affair, and such cases are
often met with. No man should ever venture into a
new country without sufficient means to meet a rainy
<iay. Money, also, is extremely difficult to obtain on
any terms, for original settlers have not the reputation
of being good payers, for the simple reason that they
have not the wherewithal. Although cent, per cent.
Emigration to the West. 77
is unknown, yet twenty or twenty-five per cent, is quite
commonly paid for accommodation. A gentleman told
us that he got the latter return for some capital he had
lent a farmer. Our natural inquiry was to ascertain
the means brought into play to extract such an enor-
mous revenue. It appeared the bargain was executed
in kind. The lender, instead of giving the borrower
money, supplied him with twenty cows on condition
that he returned him forty such animals at the end of
four years. It was a novel plan, and caused us no
little thought. But on further examination, we found
it to be a common practice in the district. With these
and many other difficulties to face, it is wonderful to see
the happiness and contentment that reigns over all.
Trials are soon forgot and a fresh start made. But it
would be useless to hide such facts, and, notwithstand-
ing their truth, it must be conceded that emigration to
the west has, on the whole, been a great success, and
that there the working man who is steady and in-
dustrious has a fair field and a good return for his
abilities. We must not look at narrow consequences,
but at broad results. We must consider that thirty
years ago Illinois, and fifteen years ago Iowa and Mis-
souri, were in the same condition as Kansas and
Nebraska are at present. We conversed with men who
had faced the first difficulties of settling in those parts ,
we enjoyed their hospitality, saw their comforts and
easy independence, and came to the conclusion that,
while a hard battle had been fought, a great victory had
been won. No more independent class of people than
the Illinois farmers can be imagined, and those of Iowa
7 8 New World Notes.
are fast following in their footsteps. The more a
country is populated, its prosperity increases. It is not
the immediate gain an emigrant reaps ; it is the ultimate
benefit that is his reward. Take, for example, an agri-
cultural labourer who leaves his country at the age of
forty, and has a moderate-sized family who can do a
little for themselves. They go out west, and take up a
homestead near a railway. The man will get his 80
acres. A house is built at little expense, and the land
broken up and seeded. Their stock of money may be
.spent, but both the man and his family can procure
something at least to do not far from home, because, as
a rule, near the railroad routes some men farm on a
larger scale than the emigrant. No doubt, he will have
the difficulties enumerated above to contend with, but
through patience and perseverance he conquers them,
and at the end of ten or fifteen years his own property
is not only, keeping him, but probably the male members
of his family also own and cultivate farms of their own.
The question comes to be asked, What would have
been the position of the man if he had remained at
home ? The answer is not far to seek. We see every
day among our aged and infirm farm-servants the pro-
blem solved. As in all other accomplishments, true
progress lies more in the man than the means. Crossing
the prairie one day, we struck up an acquaintance with an
Irishman and a Scotchman, who in conversation turned
out to have come West about the same time. A wild
" body " the former proved to be. After some preli-
minary remarks, he began an oration upon the griefs of
down-trodden Ireland, trodden down by the English,
Emigration to the West. 79
kept poor by the taxes, and all the old story so familiar
to our ears from Irish lips. This man, who had left
his native country thirty-three years ago, was as vehe-
ment as ever against the English rule. After this, he
attacked the Protestant Church. Argument was use-
less. After he had finished, we ventured to ask him
how much money he had made in his sojourn in
the land of his adoption ? " Not a cent.," was the
reply, and forthwith he began to abuse America also.
Now, mark the contrast. The Scot, a native of Auch-
termuchty, had emigrated about the same time, had
saved money, bought land fifteen years ago for 125. per
acre, which, with improvements, was now worth 8 or 10
a remarkable increase, but quite possible. We only
quote this anecdote to show the dispositions of different
men, and as an example of success and the opposite.
Far be it from us to depreciate the one country and
extol the other. It is admitted on all hands that Irish-
men do not succeed well as emigrants. They are too
excitable. Nor is the Scotchman the most successful.
The Germans are the best settlers in fact, they are by
far the most superior citizens the Union possesses.
Their great success upon the prairies lies in the fact that
they emigrate in colonies. Union is strength, and the
philosophical Germans band themselves together, and
settle up a whole district, so that they are able to con-
front any intruders, and, at the same time, assist their
poorer brethren. In this lies the true success of Western
emigration.
Society in those western regions is as yet in an un-
settled state, but life and property are quite safe and
8o New World Notes.
sure. The people themselves are generally a rough-
and-ready class ; but it is a remarkable feature that
in commencing a village, the school is the first build-
ing erected, while the church follows soon after. This
speaks well for the dwellers in those regions. In visit-
ing the State of Nebraska, nothing struck us so much
as the provision made for the education of the young.
By the Act which incorporated this State with the
others of the Union every i8th section, or otherwise
one-eighteenth part, of the whole lands of the State
were appropriated for educational purposes. The
schools at Omaha, the principal town of Nebraska,
are upon a large and enlightened scale. The High
School is a noble edifice, where education of the highest
class is provided. Those in the villages and country
districts are far in advance of the population. The
originators of this great scheme must have had in their
minds the well-known lines
" A little learning is a dangerous thing,
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring."
They must also have known that a nation's greatness
consists not in the present, but in the generations yet
unborn ; that the mind is the measure of the man, not
the amount of manual labour he can perform with his
hands. When necessity is the mother of invention,
when steam and water power, and all kinds of ma-
chinery, have to supply the place of human hands, is
it not the greatest benefit that can be conferred on a
country to give her sons and daughters an education
that will do them credit in any station of life, and help
Emigration to the West. 81
them, with the use of a logical mind, to plan and con-
trive every action of their daily life ? It has been
urged by many who are enemies to emigration, among
other objections, that the social advantages of the
people the settlers had to rise and grow up with were
humble. In that opinion we partially concurred, but
the mist has been removed from our eyes on this sub-
ject. The education of the young, which at the bot-
tom is the great society-former, is not only equal, but
is in advance of the old country. We may have, and
no doubt we have, finer institutions for our higher and
wealthier classes ; but give us a well disciplined and
liberally educated middle and lower class, for those
are the stamina of a country's back-bone. It is those
classes that rule a country's destinies, and it is well
they should be taught in their infancy the way they
are expected to follow.
On the great subject of stock-raising, which pro-
perly should be included in our article, we do not
enter. Our time was too short to judge of its merits
so minutely and correctly as to give a positive opinion.
Of its advantages and disadvantages we are convinced
in our own mind, but it would be a dangerous subject
to offer many suggestions upon, having only spent a
week in the great stock-raising regions of Nebraska and
Colorado. Some parties have gone out to those wide
and extensive plains, spent a fortnight or three weeks,
and then, coming home, offer the wildest suggestions,
and have ofttimes stated as facts what have turned out to
be entirely untrue. Men such as these may be pos-
sessed of wonderful insight. This danger we wish to
82 New World Notes.
avoid ; and therefore, rather than mislead a single
person, leave without remark a subject so wide, and
one that requires actual experience before it can be
written upon.
X.
(Ontario
ilRITISH NORTH AMERICA has an area
of 3,500,000 square miles, the United States
contains in round numbers 3,000,000, while
the continent of Europe is about 3,700,000. Our
colony is a big place in most senses of the word. It
lies in the region of the temperate zone, and both its
soil and climate are adapted to wheat and grass grow-
ing. Of this immense tract we only traversed the
above province, and that in a cursory and imperfect
manner. Ontario is the most populous and, at the
present moment, the richest part of the Dominion.
The 43d degree of latitude runs through the south part,
and as it is nearly surrounded by the immense lakes
Ontario, Huron, and Superior, it has a capital climate
in many ways. The general aspect of the country is
pleasing to the eye. On leaving the western prairies,
with their far-stretching and treeless plains, the traveller,
on entering Canada, meets a finely-wooded country,
undulating, yet with not the semblance of a hill,
while pure streams meander through the forest ocean,
which is diversified with clearings and neat homesteads.
The blackened stumps, standing amidst corn and hay
84 New World Notes.
fields, look strange, and the fences, constructed of tree
roots after they have been extracted from the soil, are
stranger still to the old country traveller.
We entered Canada during the still hours of night,
and on our first glance from the platform of the Pull-
man car early one morning, while yet the sun was low
in the eastern horizon, imagination carried us back to
Virginia. There were the glorious forests ; the trees
were larger and more stately ; small rivers and murmur-
ing streams ran slowly through the thick woodlands,
and were soon lost to view. The soil is not unlike
that of the late slave-raising State, being mostly of a
light, friable description, but it bore evident traces of a
more skilful class of agriculturists. Yet it did not
come up to our expectations, and certainly the crops
were far below our anticipations. The wheat had a
sickly look, while oats and pease were fair and gene-
rally healthy-looking. The pastures were stocked with
well-bred cattle, mostly cows, and not unfrequently
sheep met the eye a sight always pleasing to a Scot-
tish agriculturist. Towns and villages had a healthy,
business-like look about them. Well laid out, clean,
and comfortable, with an air of great solidity, are their
distinctive features, and further acquaintance justified in
a marked degree first impressions. At some parts the
country has quite a cleared appearance, and it is then
that the traveller sees the real strength of this thriving
province. The homesteads of the farmers convey at a
glance to the practised eye the wealth of the population.
Southern Ontario for it is of that part we speak in
this paper is blessed with perhaps the most indus-
Ontario. 85
trious, frugal, and honest class of farmers that can be
well imagined, and perhaps, next to the dwellers upon
the rich prairie of Illinois, they are the most indepen-
dent and well-doing class of men we met in the New
World. The houses are substantially built, ofttimes of
stone and lime; the out-houses, always of wood, are
large, commodious, and well planned ; the fields are
well fenced and carefully cultivated ; while the garden
a home for all vegetables and pleasant fruits gets
its due and proper attention. There the rose, the
glorious flower of old England, luxuriates in a most re-
markable manner, and fills many a well-stocked garden
with a fragrant perfume. The grape forms frequently
a trellis over the porch, and apple orchards can only be
termed miniature forests, so extensive is their culture.
We have mentioned that our first glimpse of this
country reminded us of Virginia. In some respects
they are much alike. The soil, the forests, the brooks,
and the general landscape of each agree in many parti-
culars, but the mode of agriculture, the buildings, and
more especially the people, are totally different. Per-
haps nowhere on the American continent do you find
so many useless characters, much given to that otium
cum dignitate which begets no money, who swear at
large, and pay noisy devotion to the Bacchanalian god,
as in the former. Even on the western prairie, where
life is gained by a harder race after the world and its
vanities, there are a considerable number of that class
of men, best designated by the general term loafer,
who, in fact, try to gain a livelihood by all means but
the true and honest way of hard work and a just re-
86 New World Notes.
ward. In Canada such are happily nearly unknown.
You meet there a people in many respects like the
Scotch a broad-chested, open-faced, and intellectual
class of men, possessing much of that common sense
and caution so peculiar to the inhabitants of the mother
country. Scotland may claim Canada as her own
peculiar child. There are rising up a hardy race of
people, who, righting with a stern climate, appear to
thrive all the more on account of its severity. By
them a country possessed of many drawbacks has been
turned to very great usefulness, for not only are they
agriculturally a great people, but commercially, in pro-
portion to the population, they stand higher than any
other nation. A steady, unflagging zeal pervades the
whole people. No spasmodic efforts mark their course,
but gradual and sure wrestling up the path of great-
ness with an ultimate success and victory. They are
emphatically a people who do not stick at trifles, and,
to use a common phrase, know well how to " knock
doors out of windows." With all their prudence,*
caution, and industry, contentment and happiness mark
the whole nation. It contains few grumblers. Social
life swims smoothly on, while religion has a proper
place in the minds of all. Drinking, the bane of old
Scotland, has partially, and perhaps more than the
Canadians are willing to admit, found its place among
their customs, but praiseworthy efforts are being di-
rected against this source of evil.
No doubt, much of the country's well-being is due
to its splendid system of Government. Here there is
liberty, true individual freedom, a Legislature compara-
Ontario. 87
tively pure, one that curbs the strong and fosters the
weak. No country in the world has attained such a
perfect system of justice. The State is trammelled by
no ecclesiastical disputes ; but it watches with a fatherly
care the education of the young, its commercial interests,
as well as the advancement of agriculture. In this
latter respect our rulers at home might take a lesson,
and deal out in a fair-handed manner justice to the
farmer community. This article does not admit of an
explanation of Canadian politics : suffice it to say that
its members of Parliament are chosen by all respectable
citizens, and that they work truly for the country's
good.
In the climate the prosperity of Canada has its
greatest enemy. A generous summer of seven or eight
months, followed by a stern and severe winter of four
or five, makes up the year. It is a remarkable in-
stance of a hunger and a burst. Like the snake, who,
after a vigorous search, surrounds his prey, and, de-
vouring it, lies down to sleep ; so the Canadian farmer
has a never-ceasing fight through the summer, followed
by a quiet dosing winter, when hard elements close up
with an iron grip the face of nature. The working
man glories in fine warm weather, luxuriates in big
wages, and then relapses into a low state of spirits with
the appearance of winter's snowy coat. Many men
laugh at this circumstance, and make light of it ; but
we met too many parties well able to judge, men who
made their living by the sweat of their brow, mechanics,
farmers, or others, who could tell a sad tale of the
effects of a Canadian winter. No doubt, much can be
88 New World Notes.
done during the winter months, but with all that traffic
and all manner of works are stopped by its oppressive
foot. The climate has its effect upon the race of
people, and as in the Old World the temperate zone
produces the conquering nations of the earth, so in
Canada there is found the hardiest, most prolific, and
indomitable people of the New World.
As we have said above, agriculture practised here is
far advanced. Rough, no doubt, as it looks to the
old country farmer, Southern Ontario is kept like a
garden in comparison to the other parts of the Do-
minion, and most parts of the United States. The
nature of the people helps the system, and thorough-
ness is a distinctive feature in all their operations. The
days of backwood life have nearly passed away, when
wheat was the universal rule, because it was the only
cereal that would pay. Straw, instead of being burned,
is turned into valuable dung, and the advantage of arti-
ficial manures is becoming impressed upon the mind.
Necessity forces this plan upon the farmers, for the
soil of Canada, in a general way, will not stand severe
cropping. It is most susceptible of kind treatment,
and gives back tenfold the money expended on it.
The crops most generally cultivated are Indian corn,
wheat, oats, and pease, while a large breadth of hay
is annually cut. Purely arable farming is most in
vogue, but fruit farms occupy no mean space of
ground. Of late years cattle-rearing and feeding,
cheese-making, and such like industries, have been
largely followed. Stock-farming is receiving much at-
tention from the farmers of Canada, and as far as cattle
Ontario. 89
are concerned, their efforts have been most successful.
The severe climate does not suit sheep so well, and as
yet little trouble has been taken with them. Most people
were surprised at the dimensions of Mr. Brown's levi-
athan herd at Bow Park, and some went so far as to
doubt the possibility of collecting above 300 first-class
shorthorns, with herd-book pedigrees, in the short space
of five years. To those unbelievers we say, take a trip
across to Canada, and see for yourselves what the
energy of Canadian farmers can do for themselves ;
for not only can a lesson be reaped from such places
as Bow Park, but from many others, such as the im-
mense fruit farms and cheese factories that abound in
Southern Ontario the garden of British North
America, as far as that immense continent is opened up
to agricultural enterprise. Our eyes were opened in
many ways while across the Atlantic 5 but, speaking
from an agricultural point of view, we were most sur-
prised, first, by the rich fertile prairie lands of Illinois,
and, second, by the splendid herd of shorthorns at Bow
Park a sight worth travelling many miles to see.
XL
Jlarh.
|T was our pleasure to spend a few days with
the Hon. George Brown at his farm, and it
may not be uninteresting to give a detailed
description of this interesting place.
Bow Park farm lies in the heart of the western penin-
sula of the Province of Ontario, in the very garden of
Canada. It consists of 900 acres of the most fertile
soil, mostly alluvial deposit, with the Grand River, a
noble stream, almost surrounding it. Nearly 800 acres
are arable, in the highest state of cultivation, and the
balance is in ornamental timber, beautifully interspersed
over the estate too much so for our ideas of Scotch
farming but if it retards the plough at certain inter-
vals, it adds elegance and good shelter. Brantford, a
flourishing and rapidly increasing town of 10,000 in-
habitants, is but three miles distant, and the Great
Western and Grand Trunk Railways have both sta-
tions in close proximity. The river is navigable up to
the farm, and by this route manures are laid down
upon the land at any point for a nominal sum. At
the same time, a capital macadamised road traverses the
farm, and direct communication is made between the
Bow Park. 91
farm buildings and every field. The enclosures are
large and squarely laid out, well fenced and watered,
and sheltered on one side or other by a strip of wood,
while throughout enormous trees have been left stand-
ing for ornament. As stated before, the soil is mostly
alluvial deposit from the Grand River. On the higher
lands, there is a considerable portion of sandy soil
resting on a clay subsoil, well adapted for cultivating
Indian corn and wheat. Magnificent crops of man-
golds, beets, and turnips are raised on the bottom or
low lands.
At present the farm is entirely devoted to the rear-
ing of thorough-bred shorthorns, long wool sheep, and
Berkshire hogs, for which it is admirably adapted.
The farm buildings have been erected specially for the
business carried on, and are very complete and exten-
sive. They are all of wood, but put up in the most
substantial style, with careful regard to ventilation,
drainage, and economy of labour. The great barn is
220 feet long, by 48 feet wide, and 45 feet high ; un-
derneath is a root cellar, the full size of the building
and 8 feet high, with concrete floor, and capable of
holding 20,000 bushels of turnips, mangolds, and car-
rots, which are annually stored in November for winter
consumption. A building is attached at the centre, on
the west side of the barn, 60 feet by 30 feet, with cut-
ting, grinding, and steaming machinery, and a 2o-horse
boiler and steam-engine to drive it, to pulp turnips, cut
firewood, pump up water, &c., &c. The stable is 180
feet by 20, with 24 stalls, and a large hay-loft above.
The cart and implement shed is 200 feet by 24 feet
92 New World Notes.
wide, with a granary above the entire length of the
building. The sheep-house is 350 feet long by 20
feet wide, and the hay-loft occupies the whole of the
second storey.
The soiling system is strictly adhered to, and the
cows suckle their calves. There are three great short-
horn houses for their calves and heifers, each of them
270 feet long by 34 feet wide. Up the centre runs a
passage 8 feet wide, and on each side a row of boxes,
10 feet by 12 feet each. There is an outside door to
each box, opening into a yard the full length of the
building, about 100 feet wide, into which the cows and
their calves are allowed for two or three hours daily in
fine weather. The bull-house is 270 feet long by 20
feet wide, with a passage up one side, and the remainder
divided into boxes, with a yard to each box and a door
leading into it. The calving-house is 80 feet by 20.
The calf-house is 200 feet by 24, with a passage up the
centre, and boxes on each side for the calves when
they are taken from their dams. The hog-house is
170 feet by 24, with a passage up the centre, and pens
along the sides for 100 Berkshires. The hogs have the
liberty to go into a yard where plenty of water is con-
stantly at hand, so that they can wallow in the mire as
much as they please in warm weather. There are at
present about 220 thorough-bred shorthorn cows and
heifers, and over 60 bulls, with registered pedigrees,
besides some very fine grade stock and milch cows.
There are also 60 Cotswold sheep of a fair class, 50
as fine Berkshires as ever stood on four legs ; and
about 30 mares and horses, all young, and of a good
Bow Park. 93
average class. All the stock was in capital condition,
very sweet, nicely groomed, well fed, but not over fat,
except the pigs, which are enormous.
The wonderful health of these animals is almost in-
credible ; but still it is fact, that since the commence-
ment of the herd, five years ago, only three cows have
died from disease, and one bull, who, however, was
unwell before he came home.
Foot-and-mouth disease, pleuro-pneumonia, and other
ills so common to our English herds, are absolutely un-
known here, and may it long continue so. Among the
shorthorns are scores of magnificent animals that might
stand up in any show-yard of either Great Britain or
the United States, and we give this impression not as
our own alone, but also as the opinion of Mr. Page,
the celebrated auctioneer, at the great sale at New York
Mills last fall, and who is one of the most acute judges
in the world, as well as being a most correct painter
and sketcher of animals. Many, indeed, of the im-
ported animals have been prize-takers in the highest
competition fields of Great Britain and the United
States.
The published catalogue of the shorthorns on the
estate is a volume of 260 pages, with the pedigrees in
full length of each animal, as well as a short history
of the sires as far back as the izth or i4th in many
cases ; and in the list will be found Booth's and Bate's
pedigrees of the highest character. Among the for-
mer are found Mantalinas, Madrigals, Frills, Phillises,
Fames, Princess Royals, Genevas, Placedas, Waterloo
Plumes, Mr. Torr's G tribe, Mr. Booth's Bellona
94 New World Notes.
tribe, &c. ; and among the latter are fine specimens of
the Barrington, Roan Duchess, Mazurka, Craggs,
Blanche, Lady Welbourn, Sanspareil, Cambridge, Rose
of Sharon, Cambridge Rose, Isabella, Towneley, But-
terfly, Sidonia, Rosamond, Duchess of York, and
other much-prized families. It would be impossible
to characterise the breeding stock ; suffice it to say,
that the young heifers are very elegant and shapely,
especially a red roan Mazurka heifer of the greatest
quality. The first bull on the catalogue, King of the
Ocean, is an animal of extraordinary quality, has a
noble carriage, is a fine toucher, carries his beef well,
and as for his back ribs they are perfection, but his
head and horn are rather coarse. His stock on the
heifer side are unequalled, but his bulls slightly retain
the coarse head. King Richard (26523), a Booth bull,
is the sire of this animal. Lord Barrington, now un-
serviceable through an accident, got by Duke of Brailes
(23723) ; Duke of Barrington 4th, got by 9th Duke
of Geneva (28391); Imperial Caesar, got by Royal
Broughton (27352), and bred by Hugh Aylmer, Nor-
folk, England, are among the few imported bulls at
Bow Park, and from these British readers can judge
of the purity of the stock as regards pedigree. The
herd has not yet been five years in existence, but it is
already the largest and most valuable on this continent.
The surplus stock is mostly disposed of at half-yearly
sales by auction on the farm to purchasers from all
pans of Canada and the States. As yet only bulls
have been sold, as Mr. Brown has been working up
his herd, although the prices have rapidly increased
Bow Park. 95
%
with die gradual improvement and the extended know-
ledge of the herd's merits.
With the exception of two or three hoars' ran daily
in a yard or paddock in fine weather, all the short-
horns are kept systematically in their several boxes.
They are fed five times each day, and watered once in
winter and twice in summer; each animal is well
groomed each day. The food is all cot or ground,
and in winter steamed. It is distributed by one man
from a low, large box-cart, drawn by a horse up the
centre of each house, and the water is supplied from a
barrel in the same manner. One man is able to look
after thirty animals, and do everything that is necessary.
We suggested to Mr. Brown a railway for carrying the
food, but on account of the hard frosts in winter this
is impracticable, as well as introducing water by pipes
into each box.
The supply of green food commences in die spring
with winter rye in the first week of May, which lasts
usually for five weeks or thereby. This is followed
by oats, peas, and tares, drilled together, on the first
possible movement of spring, which furnishes a very
large supply of succulent food from the middle of June
to the middle of August. As soon as the rye is
cleared off the earth is again ploughed, and Indian com
planted in drills of 27 or 30 inches apart, five or six
grains being dropped every 15 inches, which grows
most luxuriantly, and takes the place of the tares and
peas. This corn, which is called the Ohio Buck-
Tooth, grows to the enormous height of 12 or 14 feet,
and as much as 36 tons of rich succulent green fodder
96 New World Notes.
has been cut from one acre of it at Bow Park. The
cattle, we are told, eat this ravenously, and it is the
sole green food until winter sets in, when it is chopped
up with pea straw and hay, and steamed, along with
2 Ibs. of Indian meal to each animal. Two feeds of
this mixture, a small feed of pulped turnips, and about
5 Ibs. dry meal and linseed cake are the daily food of
the full-grown animals. It takes about 5 tons of
chopped food to serve the 300 animals. All those
rules of feeding are carried out to the letter, so as to
keep the animals in a healthy state and in proper con-
dition.
In like manner to the rye-land, the tares are fol-
lowed by a second crop of Indian corn, and even the
first cuttings of the Indian corn have been followed in
favourable seasons by catch crops of rape and yellow
turnips. From the ist of May to the 2oth July, the
day on which we write, or nearly twelve weeks, the
entire herd at Bow Park has been fed from 23 acres of
green rye and under 30 acres of beans, oats, and tares.
On the land from which the rye was cut, the second
crops of Indian corn and Hungarian grass are already
well advanced and healthy looking. Of course, to
crop any land in this manner requires liberal manuring ;
and Mr. Brown has found out that the kinder he is to
his soil he gets the greater increase. The cattle make
a very large quantity of farmyard manure, and he buys
annually a large quantity of straw from his neighbours at
about 8s. per ton of 2000 Ibs. This is found to be
the cheapest manure that he can apply, and is the great
foundation of every crop. Fifty tons of gypsum, de-
Bow Park. 97
livered by boat at i6s. per ton, and superphosphates are
also used. About seventy tons of linseed cake are also
consumed -, but Indian corn is again found to be the
cheapest artificial food, as large quantities are annually
raised upon this farm. The variety raised for grain is
the Canadian or yellow corn.
The labour employed upon this farm is necessarily
large. About thirty-five men and boys in summer and
twenty-two in winter are employed. They are kept
mostly in boarding-houses, and fed just about as well
as at the "big ha'." They receive about 35 in hard
cash. Some women are also employed, and receive
about as. per day, and find their own food. Our own
wages will compare favourably with these, as clothes
are much dearer here than in Great Britain. The only
advantage is that they are better fed than they would
be at home. They work ten hours per day the gene-
ral custom in the country being for farm servants to
begin at sunrise and labour till the sun goes down o'er
the western forest. Will it pay ? is the great impor-
tant question now to be asked. Without going into
figures or a long explanation, we answer in the affirma-
tive ; at the same time, we attribute the profitableness
of the place to Mr. Brown's ability more than anything
else, and the wonderful selection he has made of ani-
mals, some of great value having been bought very
cheap. On the other hand, it depends much upon the
price of shorthorns for the next few years. If they
keep at the present prices, there is no doubt a mine of
wealth at Bow Park.
Enough, we think, has been said about the hard
G
98 New World Notes.
statistics of the farm, and quite sufficient to give readers
an idea of this model farm, which, we maintain, is the
best college a student of agriculture can attend, where
he can both live and learn. And, in conclusion, let us
give a short description of an afternoon spent at the
Indian farm, which is situated on the west side of the
property. It is a romantic spot, clad in its native gar-
ments, for the unholy axe has never touched it since
Mr. Brown bought it from its Indian proprietors.
Mrs. Brown, a sister of the Nelsons, whose name is a
household word all over Scotland, and who herself is
one of the most accomplished and pleasant ladies we
have met in America, along with the family, accom-
panied us ; also, a Mrs. Ball, a sister of Mr. Brown's,
well knowti for her good deeds in Canada. Leaving
the carriage, we entered an oak copse of great luxuri-
ance, and it was no easy matter for the ladies to pene-
trate it. From that we passed down into a glen, but
here an ox path made the way more easy. We made
acquaintance with the mosquitoes at this point, and they
kept us in action, ourselves as strangers getting a special
benefit. Wandering through this wooded glen, luxuri-
ant with bushes and fragrant with perfume from a
thousand odoriferous plants, we find ourselves upon a
glade from which the hay has just been led away. It
is a little paradise : around it is a perfect labyrinth of
bushes. The graceful sumac fills up many a space,
and all is interwoven by vine plants of great growth,
which are covered with bunches of grapes now a good
size. At intervals the wild plum, cherry, and apple
stud the fence. All is left as Nature made it. Below
Bow Park. 99
runs the river Grand, deep, slow, and muddy, but hid
from our eyes by a perfect network of vine trellis
hanging upon the oak, walnut, and cotton wood trees.
Many such glades as this are found; the peeps through
from one to the other are very attractive. There is a
peculiar softness about this sylvan scene. It is even-
ing, and all Nature is alive. The song of birds and
the graceful motion of the squirrel add much to the
works of Nature ; while the ethereal sky, calm, serene,
and tinged with the glow of the retiring sun, added a
glory to our walk that summer's eve. The merry
laugh of children rings through the wood, which not
long ago re-echoed the fierce whoop of the Red In-
dian, and it reminds us of many a happy day spent in
youth on the banks of the silver Tweed with its beau-
tiful wooded landscape. Such is an imperfect picture
of the farm and the home life of the Hon. George
Brown, the proprietor of the Toronto Globe, and the
first man in Canada as a politician, journalist, and, may
we add, agriculturist.
XII.
Ontario.
|T. CATHERINE'S is a beautiful town, pleas-
antly situated upon the Welland Canal, dis-
tant some ten miles from the Falls of Niagara.
It has been termed the " Saratoga" of Canada, and is
famous for its springs, supposed to contain all the heal-
ing attributes of Siloam's Pool. It is also a business
place, and is the centre of an important agricultural
district. Here we get a glimpse of Canadian farming
as practised in the peninsula lying betwixt Lakes Erie
and Ontario, whose broad and expansive waters make
the extremes of winter and summer more temperate
than in other parts of the Dominion. By a strange
coincidence, which it is unnecessary to relate, we had
made the acquaintance of a most respectable citizen of
the above town, and in company with him saw much
and gained no little information. He was originally a
native of Oldhamstocks, East Lothian. His father
was a small farmer and miller near that spot, paying
a yearly rental of 52, IDS. to a landlord who shall be
nameless. Being an ardent reformer, he voted for the
Liberal candidate in 1832. This enraged the landed
potentate so much that he took all manners and means
Ontario. 101
to hurt his tenant, who, however, by his lease, was
entitled to sublet the farm, which he did in 1837.
Three years before the expiry of his tack he sailed for
America, and after a most tempestuous voyage, and a
long time spent upon the canals, he and his family
reached Canada, where they throve and did well.
Our friend was one of those jovial, industrious Scotch-
men so often met with in quiet-going places, who, un-
like the rolling stone, gather much fog in the shape of
gear, and we suspect the mouse will not often leave
the meal chest of such with a tear in its e'e. In fact,
this was a man of no mean attainments, with a con-
siderable deal of common sense, and a vast amount of
Scottish humour, a blacksmith to trade, now a mill-
owner and a large grain dealer. One afternoon we
drove for some distance alongside the Welland Canal,
which connects Lakes Erie and Ontario. They were
making part of it new and enlarging the remainder, so
as to allow ships drawing 12 feet of water to proceed
the whole way from Chicago to Quebec. This is a
great work, and is expected to cost about 15,000,000
dols. Our companion, along with three others, had a
section to make, and was in hopes of reaping some gain.
Labourers on this canal were receiving 55. a-day. A
man with two horses and a waggon was paid 133. for
his services. Those rates were below the general ave-
rage, owing to the depression of trade throughout the
States last summer, which caused a considerable quan-
tity of labourers to come across to Canada. From
here we drove past Port Dalhousie, which is situated
at the mouth of the canal, on the Lake Ontario side.
IO2 New World Notes.
Here our friend owns a very complete flouring mill.
Leaving this spot, we went to see a fruit farm, with-
an orchard of 45 acres, containing above 2000 apple
trees. They are planted in lines equi-distant in every
way, and each of them on maturity is expected to yield
five barrels, worth about 6s. per barrel. In planting
an orchard very frequently a peach tree is introduced
betwixt the apples. Being of a rapid growth, it bears
well for a year or two, so that when the apples are
sufficiently strong it is cut down, and is of no further
use. The varieties mostly planted in this neighbour-
hood are the Baldwin, the Spit/enberg, and the Rhode
Island Greening. No pruning is required, and the
labour is thus small. Seldom upon this peninsula is a
crop missed, but sometimes apples have been so plen-
tiful and of so little value that the pigs have been let
loose in the orchard to consume the falling produce.
On this farm, along with trees, were seen some good
wheat and oats, and about the whole place there existed
an air of ease and comfort. Through all this district
fruit-growing is much practised by the inhabitants, and
pays very well. The following afternoon we drove
down to another farm situated on the shores of On-
tario, and spent the night. The place was 225 acres
in extent, and divided by rail fences into four equal
enclosures, three of which were cropped with hay and
one with wheat. The latter would average 25 bushels
per acre. The hay was calculated about 150 stones to
the acre, valued at 3 per ton of 2000 Ibs., which is a
large price, considering the labour employed one man
and three boys, with a little help at busy seasons, do
Ontario. 103
the work. The hay land is only once cut, the second
crop being allowed to die down and manure the land.
The boys employed were sent from England, and were
happy and contented with their lot. Most of the class
sent out have been saved from a life of crime and vice,
and exported to Canada to gain their livelihood amid
its forests and virgin lands. The system has succeeded
well, and some of the country's best farmers and citizens
have arisen from among these poor lads, who find a
genial home and a good example amid the Canadian
farmers. Land in this region is very valuable, ranging
from 10 to 20 per acre; most of the land is entirely
free from stumps, but on each farm there is generally
found a piece of virgin forest, which is of considerable
value.
Within less than a week after having visited the
town of Toronto, with its fine harbour, magnificent
University, and generous inhabitants, and having stayed
three days at Bow Park, we arrived one bright fore-
noon at Ingersoll, a town situated upon the line of the
Great Western Railway. Canadians associate Ingersoll
with cheese, and here may be seen in full swing the
factories for producing that valuable article. It is a
nice little town of three or four thousand inhabitants,
depending for its trade upon a district entirely given up
to agriculture. Here we met by chance one of three
brothers who had gone from the Kelso district as poor
men, but at the present moment rank among the
wealthiest and most respected citizens of the district ;
in fact, their father was for many years a servant to
the writer's grandfather. With him we had a look at
IO4 New World Notes.
the surrounding district and cheese factories. Co-
operation among farmers is demonstrated to be of great
and mutual advantage in the making of cheese. A
farmer in a central position erects a factory. To this
point the neighbours send their milk, or the manufac-
turer sends for it. The first place of business we
visited, 1,100 pounds of cheese is made per day. The
milk, which generally arrives night and morning, is
weighed by a patent machine, and from thence run by
a spout into a cistern 10 feet long, 3 feet broad, and 16
inches deep. After this is filled, it is heated from be-
low by steam, and raised to a temperature of 82 degs.
The rennet is then added, and forms the curd. Then
the temperature is raised to 98 degs., after which it is
allowed to cool till it gets sufficiently acid. In warm
weather from three to five hours is sufficient for it to
remain in the tanks. In colder seasons it sometimes
remains much longer. The whey is run off into
another cistern, and is used for pig feeding as required.
The custom in this respect is, that if a farmer drives
his milk to the factory, he gets his whey home with
him ; while, if the manufacturer sends for the milk,
he keeps the whey as payment for driving. The dry
curd is then removed to a large box, and there worked
up, salted, and at last placed in boxes ready for press-
ing. Before this operation, a muslin cloth is placed
round it. After pressing, the top of the cheese is
smeared with a thin coat of butter, a substance made
from the skimmings of the whey. It is placed in a
drying house, and before being sent away is put into a
small box made of thin pieces of wood. Cheddar
Ontario. 105
cheese is made on a slightly different principle. The
whey is taken from the curd while it is yet sweet.
Being exposed to atmosphere, the acid is allowed to
form on the dry curd, which is ground down into
small particles and then pressed.
It is calculated that 10 Ibs. of milk forms i Ib. of
cheese. This article is worth, on an average, 12 cents,
per Ib. The manufacturer receives 2 cents, as com-
mission for making it, so that for every 10 Ibs. of milk
a farmer sends to the factory, he receives 10 cents., or
about one-halfpenny for every pound of milk. This
is considered a capital price, and pays the producer and
the manufacturer well. The system is upon a sound
basis. The farmer's milk is most correctly weighed
upon its arrival, and the amount marked into a book.
At the end of the season, the manufacturer sells his
stock of cheese at the highest possible price, deducts
his charge for making, and then divides the money
among his supporters on the data that every TO Ibs. of
milk produces a pound of good cheese. It is found
that the above quantity of milk produces rather more
than the pound, so that the owner of the factory has a
slight balance in his favour over and above his com-
mission. This style of doing business is a good proof
of what co-operation can do if judiciously managed.
The Canadian holdings are generally small, and cheese-
making at each separate farm would be a round-about
and laborious process. Under the above system, it is
reduced to a cheap and effectual method of money-
making. It is also of immense value to agriculture by
the manner in which it enriches the land. Under the
io6 New World Notes,
old regime of no stock and constant cropping the land
was greatly impoverished, and although virgin soil can
stand much, yet it is possible to tax it too severely.
By this system of dairy farming, manure is made upon
a cheap style, while the pasture lands are much im-
proved. Slowly but surely the Canadian farmers are
realising the value of artificial manures. It is a necessity
with them, and there is no class of men who will so
readily follow up the idea when it fairly fills their
mind. In a country like Canada, where every farmer
owns his land, there will be little fear of avaricious
landlords getting the better of improving tenants.
There every man will reap the benefit of his own
energy. In driving through the country the crops do
not look large to the eye of an old country farmer.
The wheat crop is inferior. Pease and oats are a
large crop, while hay is also good. The houses are
neat and well built, with good furnishing. The out-
houses are not extensive, and are put up in a temporary
manner. The gardens appear to receive much atten-
tion, and vegetables of all kinds, along with various
fruits, grow very luxuriantly. There is a look of easy
independence and contentment ; and as we entered In-
gersoll towards evening, it made one imagine what
" sweet Auburn" must have been in its balmy days.
The neat villas on the outskirts of the town, the broad
streets, shaded by the dark green foliage of graceful
trees, the elegant churches o'ertopped with modest
spires -, then in the centre the large stores well stocked
with goods, the rattle of the street cars, the toll of
the locomotive's bell, all betokened signs of activity
and prosperity.
Ontario. 107
Next morning, at six o'clock, we left Ingersoll, and
proceeded to Woodstock, a sister town upon the same
railroad, about the same dimensions, but not so pic-
turesque. Some breakfast was obtained in the prin-
cipal hotel, a pretty rough shop, and an hour was
spent in a place which appeared to serve as an office,
luggage-room, bar-room, and sitting-room. A con-
stant stream of people flowed out and in towards the
bar, and swallowed eye-openers, cock-tails, and mint
juleps, and went their way without a word. The day
was spent in driving round the neighbourhood. The
heat was very great ; the Canadian sun had no mercy ;
and even with the shelter of the buggy's leather top
the perspiration poured from us, although clad in light
summer garments. In this district the roads are good,
the country undulating more than usual, and. intersected
with clear streams ; the soil is rich and well farmed,
while the clumps of virgin forest add beauty and di-
versity to the landscape. It was more like an old
country scene than any we met, only the woodlands
were more extensive and grander. The houses of the
farmers are in many cases stately mansions surrounded
by orchards and grassy lawns, ofttimes a croquet green.
Towards midday we stopped at one of these and got
a hospitable reception, for Canadian farmers are un-
equalled in this line, and give you what they have
without remark or apology. There is no indelicacy
in stepping in upon them unawares. You are wel-
come to what is before them. Take it or want it.
Here our lines had fallen in pleasant places. A fine
drive through evergreens leads up to the front. Round
io8 New World Notes.
the house is a verandah, over which luxuriant vines
creep, and while bearing good fruit, add a pleasant
shade, which is much needed in this hot climate. In-
side the furnishings were complete, and would compare
favourably with any old country house of the first
rank. Two or three hours were pleasantly spent ; for
the owner was a Scotchman, who, leaving his native
county of Ayrshire fourteen years ago, had settled
here, and was a most enthusiastic admirer of his
adopted land. He was a shrewd man, and had gathered
gear, like most of his brethren. Another stage brought
us to a house of less pretensions, yet quite as hospitable
was the entertainment, and in as free and easy a man-
ner. The farm buildings are also good, consisting in
general of a large barn, a stable, byre, and some small
courts. Canadian farmers thrash their grain in the
field by a travelling machine, convey the produce
straight to the depot, carting the straw either into the
barn, or leaving it in the field until it is needed. The
appearance and utility of the farms are much impaired
by the small irregular fields they are divided into, and
it is to be hoped, as the fences are not permanent, being
mostly of split rails, that this fault will be remedied in
time, and that large square enclosures will be the rule.
The absence of labourers' cottages is a remarkable fact.
No doubt, an answer is found, so far, in the fact that
very few married men with families are employed upon
farms, as they prefer to take up a lot for themselves,
either by buying or renting a piece of ground, or pro-
ceeding to the backwoods and claiming a free grant.
Yet it must be said that whatever the other advantages
Ontario. 109
the agricultural labourer reaps in Canada, he has to put
up with greatly inferior accommodation, and work much
longer hours under a severe and trying climate, than in
the old country. From sunrise to sunset, under a
broiling sun, or with thermometer standing at zero, is
not an improvement upon the hours at home. Wages
at i per week, with board, is no doubt above our
rates ; but it must be remembered that the price of
clothes and other materials are at least 50 per cent,
above home prices. Even calculating the wages at that
rate, which is far above the sum paid at Bow Park, the
model farm (35 per annum, with board, being the
rate there), we do not hesitate to affirm that at least
our Border agricultural servants would change for the
worse, considering the high rates now paid here. The
emigration of English farm labourers is a move in the
right direction, taking away a surplus population, and
stirring up a class of slovenly and careless farmers ,
but there is little fear at the present moment of either
the States or Canada drawing upon our supplies as
long as we keep pace with the times, and allow our
wages to be regulated by the natural laws of supply
and demand.
The country through all this section is of the very
first quality, and the crops were better than most other
districts, especially oats and spring wheat. Hay was
fair, and was being cut during our visit on the i4th of
July. Dairy farming is coming generally into opera-
tion, and at every turn we saw large tins full of milk
upon stances near the wayside ready to be lifted by the
cheese manufacturer's cart as it went its afternoon
no New World Notes.
rounds. In fact, this system is becoming very general
throughout Canada, as cheese is very dear, and growing
daily a more popular food. The climate and many
other circumstances are very favourable to its produc-
tion. Land is valued from 10 to 12 per acre in
this region, and, at the price, is not unworthy of the
attention of the Scottish agriculturist who, with a few
thousands, has a good opening, and we venture to say
will make more than at home upon an average-sized
farm at least, our friend from the land of Burns
made no secret of his success by changing to the New
World. The society of Canada is of a high order ;
it is perhaps not so polished, but, as far as we were
able to judge, intellectually it is above that of our own
country.
XIII.
ORTH WARDS from the city of Toronto
about 150 miles is situated the region known
as Muskoka, which has lately been devoted
by the Government of the Dominion to encouraging
immigration. Here may be seen a specimen of the free
grant lands of Ontario ; and thither, on the morning
of the 1 8th of July, we directed our steps, accom-
panied by the Hon. Arch. Mackellar, Minister of Agri-
culture for the above province. The Northern Railway
proceeds from Toronto through rather a wild and poorly
cultivated country to Lake Simcoe, a beautiful sheet of
water, on whose shores stands the town of Barrie, a
thriving place, owing much of its importance to the
lumber trade. Leaving this spot, we pass over a
bridge that crosses a canal connecting Lakes Simcoe
and Couchiching. Soon after we pass through the
Indian settlement of Rama, where some degenerate
red-skins dwell in peace ; and here we enter the back-
woods proper, those vast forests that stretch away for
hundreds of miles northwards, never interrupted except
where some lake or river intervenes. As the train
slowly and not very steadily runs through the woods,
ii2 New World Notes.
the traveller notices the damage done by the fires that
ofttimes sweep through the forest, leaving the blackened
branchless trunks as the sole monuments of its remorse-
less power. At Washago the terminus of the road is
reached. We leave the cars and take the stage to
Gravenhurst, situated at the foot of Lake Muskoka.
The road is good, considering that five or six years
ago there was but an Indian trail to mark the path.
Along most of the route a tremendous fire has raged
at some recent date, and little else is seen but rocks
and boulders, leafless trees intermingled with brush,
and at some intervals productive pieces of land, but
such are few and far between. At one point the
scenery is taking, as the stage passes through a deep
rocky glen, whose sides are covered with creeping
plants and overtopped with immense pines. It is a
wild country hereabouts, and utterly valueless for agri-
cultural purposes, although here and there a clearing
has been made, evidently to little purpose, as many of
the places seem deserted. This part of the road is
only fourteen miles, and, after three hours' hard work,
the Lake of Muskoka is reached. Close by a wooden
pier stands a house for the use of immigrants. There
were two Norwegian families in it when we saw it, and
they looked comfortably well. Immigrants, when they
first arrive, get the use of this abode before they fix
upon a location. They get the use of the place, but
provide their own food. Embarking on board the
neat steamer Nipissing, she steams away from the wharf
up the Lake of Muskoka, a picturesque sheet of water,
studded with rocky islands of all shapes and sizes,
The Backwoods. 1 1 3
wooded to the water's edge with pine and cedar trees.
It was evening, and the scene was exquisite. The
water is so calm, and sends back, clear as the original,
the fleecy clouds that seem suspended in the blue azure
sky of heaven ; then it reflects the dark green trees
that fringe the water's edge. This lake is not unlike
some of our Scotch ones ; it has more islands, but it
wants the glorious mountains that rise majestically from
the sides of the Scottish lochs. If it had a Ben Lo-
mond or Schiehallion to rear their heads far above it,
the landscape would be unequalled ; yet it is in some
respects a fairy place, and especially at a spot some ten
miles from our starting point, where we enter the river
Muskoka, a dark, deep stream, guarded by dense forests
on each side. Many a sudden curve is here ; and as
the steamboat winds her way slowly up the stream,
fresh pictures meet the eye at every turn. It is a ro-
mantic sail up that stream, and brings to mind many a
story of Indian warfare and trapper life. It seems as
if that beautiful verse taken from "The Graves of a
Household" had been penned in such a spot as this
" One 'mid the forests of the west
By a dark stream is laid,
The Indian knows his place of rest,
Far in the cedar shade."
The traveller is enchanted with the scene, and ere he
is aware of it the steamer has turned round a sharper
corner than usual, and floats up to a wharf near to the
town of Bracebridge, and just below a series of falls.
The river rushes wildly over the rocks, and empties
itself into a broad expansive pool. Jumping into a
waggon provided for us, we took a drive through the
H4 New World Notes.
town and out some distance into the country while the
boat was discharging some cargo. Bracebridge is the
largest town of the Muskoka district, and contained
last census 916 inhabitants. It bears many marks of
newness. Its houses are all of wood, being rather scat-
tered and roughly built. Yet if we remember cor-
rectly, it supports either two or three weekly papers,
along with lots of stores and grog shops. Outside
the town we saw land being cleared and made ready
for cropping. It was of good quality. At one point
were the remains of an old beaver dam, long since de-
serted by those industrious animals, who flee from
civilisation faster even than the Redskin. But they
had made a barrier across the stream, and through ages
that are long past, the sand that comes down with the
water at each freshet has been stopped by this impedi-
ment, and now there is left a fine level meadow con-
sisting of rich alluvial deposit. Lucky is the man in
those regions who possesses such a piece of land. But
the captain's whistle was sounding impatiently, so, hur-
rying back, we get aboard, and steam away down to-
wards the lake. The evening falls, and by moonlight
we thread the intricate way up the lake to Port Carling,
when, passing through a short canal with a loch in it,
we enter Lake Rosseau, a lake similar to Muskoka, at
the top of which stands a hotel, kept by a genius called
Pratt, a sort of Yankee-Canadian if such a hybrid can
exist but a capital landlord, and ready for any emer-
gency. At twelve o'clock this point is reached, and
after some scheming on mine host's part, the guests are
accommodated with beds in the hotel, which is lathed
The Backwoods. 115
but not plastered, and requires little artificial ventil-
ation.
On the Sunday we took advantage of a sail in the
steamer down Lake Rosseau, and from thence up Lake
Joseph, to deliver the mails and land a party upon one of
the numerous islands that stud the latter lake. During
the evening after our arrival, a sermon was preached
in the hotel by a minister who had been camping in the
neighbourhood. Early the following morning we leftfor
Parry Sound, a lumber station situated on the shores of
Georgian Bay. A waggon, drawn by a pair of horses,
serves for a stage coach, mail cart, and other purposes,
such as carrying flour, salt, and tobacco to the inhabi-
tants on the way-side. The road, a Government one,
runs through the forest as straight as a perfect labyrinth
of picturesque lakes will allow it. Those sheets of
water are seldom of great size, on the average about a
square mile, but they lend a diversity to the scenery,
and are famous places for fishing and duck shooting.
The road itself is, without doubt, the worst we ever
travelled over, what with rocks and boulders, miry
places, and corduroy. The latter expression may, no
doubt, puzzle the reader. In passing through a morass
or spongy piece of ground, the Canadians, instead of
macadamising it, cut down small trees and lay them
close together, so that vehicles may pass over in safety.
This is, no doubt, easy work for the road contractors,
but pity the poor travellers over it. The waggon,
generally without springs, goes jolting along, giving
those unaccustomed to such travelling rather a painful
sensation. To add to the sufferings of the journey in
n6 New World Notes.
this respect, the sun, nearly direct overhead, sent down
its powerful rays, while not a breath of air disturbed
the close atmosphere. The mosquitoes in myriads
buzzed about, and gave us the full benefit of their
company. On either side of the route at short inter-
vals are small clearings, consisting of two-thirds soil
and one-third rock, and dotted thickly with blackened
stumps. The soil at no point is very deep. Close by
the* roadside stands the home of the settler, generally ;i
log shanty, in some cases a frame-house of good dimen-
sions. Entering several of those abodes, they vary
much with the circumstances of the owner. Some are
clean and well kept, others dirty and squalid ; but, as
a rule, they possess a certain degree of comfort. The
ground already cleared has not a favourable appearance,
and there is little to show for the labour spent. The
first point a settler aims at on taking up his free grant
is to build a log shanty. And here it may be ex-
plained that every head of a family having children
under eighteen years of age can obtain a section of land
extending to 200 acres, and any person over eighteen
years of age, but with no family, can obtain 100 acres,
on condition of settlement. These lands are protected
from seizure for debt incurred before taking possession,
and for twenty years afterwards. These are, no doubt,
very favourable terms. To proceed, the house being
erected, a condition upon which the land is held, the
settler next clears away all the brushwood and under-
growth, which is gathered into heaps. The trees are
then felled, and this part of the business being generally
done in winter, when the snow lies deep upon the
The Backwoods. 117
ground, a stump of three or four feet is left. The
trunks are stripped of their branches, which are also
heaped. When dry weather comes these are burned.
The logs, if not disposed of for lumber purposes a
rare circumstance, except on the banks of a stream
are next gathered together. The neighbours assist at
this operation, and "logging bees'' are great days in
the backwoods something like the sheep-shearing times
in the pastoral districts of Scotland. The trees are
also burned. The land is now clear except the stumps,
which are the bugbears of those new-cleared farms.
Oats are generally scattered among them, and har-
rowed in by oxen without grubbing or ploughing.
Those animals are preferable to horses or mules for
rough work, as they are more docile, pull steadier, and
require less food, or, at least, food of an inferior de-
scription. Grass seeds are also sown. The first year's
crop is generally a good one. Hay, consisting of
Timothy and red clover, is cut for five or six years in
succession, or even longer, till the stumps can be ex-
tracted. If the trees have been hardwood, the roots
are easily taken out ; but if they have been pine, they
are difficult to get out. After this operation the land
is ready for the plough. Altogether, it is a great ex-
pense clearing forest land ; and, as far as we could
judge from our limited experience, it will leave little
remuneration in Muskoka. The southern part of On-
tario is a garden in many respects. When the land
was cleared there, a deep good soil was the reward of
the bone and sinew spent on felling and clearing away
the trees and stumps. The northern part is wild and
1 1 8 New World Notes.
barren. Rocks and stones may do for the tourist, but
not for the agriculturist. The lumber trade at present
gives employment to a large number of hands. Not
only are many needed for the mills, the felling and
hauling of trees, but much food is required for both
man and beast. In this way a capital market is found
for the oats and hay produced. But the lumber can-
not last for ever. When the inhabitants have no ex-
terior help to depend upon, it will be a hard struggle
to keep life in among those wild regions. For English
or Scotchmen it will not suit. Irishmen may thrive
better ; but the men to succeed there are Norwegians,
Icelanders, and such like people who have come from
a poor district and been accustomed to a simple and
frugal style of living. Such a class of immigrants the
Canadian Government are wisely encouraging to settle.
The lakes are a most providential circumstance, supply-
ing any amount of fish. Fruit of various kinds also
grows in great quantities.
Towards three o'clock, after eight hours' jolting in-
the waggon, and having travelled a distance of twenty-
four miles, we reached Parry Sound, a sweet village
opposite to an island of the same name, which is now
possessed and inhabited by the Ojibeways, a quiet,
peaceable tribe of Indians, who, along with their land,
receive a bounty from the Government. In the even-
ing we sailed over the narrow strait to their abodes.
The first wigwams visited were placed upon an islet
romantically situated betwixt the mainland and the
larger island.
As we landed, the stolid Indian smoked his pipe,.
The Backwoods. 119
the squaw worked industriously at her moccassin, the
children scarce appeared to heed us, although at times
their curiosity appeared to overcome them. The only
creatures visibly affected were two young bears, who
clambered up the nearest trees, and looked on at a safe
distance with silent admiration, or, perchance, disgust \
a huge fire of pine branches blazed forth in front of
the chief wigwam, and lit up the whole scene with a
weird, strange light. The waters of the lake gently
laved the shore, while ever and anon a birch canoe
skimmed along the water at a rapid rate. Those Red-
skins are a mysterious people, and difficult to under-
stand ; but they were civil and kind, and, through an
interpreter, we had a long harangue with some of the
tribe. In their way they are big gentlemen, and love
an idle life. Here they dwell in peace. The Canadian
Indian is not such a noble-looking man as those who
inhabit the prairie, but they enjoy peace and justice.
The Dominion Government have tried to preserve the
race, while their neighbour's policy has been to extirpate
and demoralise their red brethren.
Our intention was to leave Parry Sound next morn-
ing by steamer ; but, as it was not expected for three
or four days, there was no remedy but to retrace our
steps. So we commenced our return journey in the
blessed waggon over the corduroy. The monotony of
the ride was only marked by intenser heat and a more
vigorous onslaught on the part of the mosquitoes. On
Wednesday we embarked once more on board the
steamer, and, threading our way amidst the numerous
islands, which looked more beautiful than ever in the
i2O New World Notes.
morning sun, every tree glistening with dew, we reached
the foot of Lake Muskoka. Thence, taking the stage
to Washago late that evening, we stood once more in
our hotel at Toronto. Much of the pleasure of our
trip was due to our companion. He was a gentleman
of great acuteness and versatility, with an immense
fund of anecdote. The weary hours upon the rough-
set waggon were beguiled with many a story of back-
wood life. In fact, he was full of humour, mixed
with keen sarcasm, which, no doubt, adds much to his
immense popularity. It was also a very instructive
journey. It gave an old-countryman an insight into the
nature of the trials undergone by the original settlers in
Canada. What a work must have been performed to
clear first the trees and then the stumps from the land.
The person who goes to Canada in the hope of shorter
hours and less labour falls into a deep mistake. It is
emphatically a country not adapted to idlers ; but while
its lands are not so rich, it appears to give birth to a
most energetic class of men. In conclusion, it may be
mentioned that the school system in those Free Grant
Districts is very perfect, and perhaps nowhere in our
travels did we see so many children to take advantage
of the education provided all but free of expense.
XIV.
public Schools of St.
|N Great Britain the necessity of a proper school
system has begun to dawn upon the people.
Our statesmen are realising the fact that edu-
cation on a liberal scale must be provided for the lower
classes, who, day by day, are gaining ground in our
country, and promise ere long to take the lead in ruling
its destinies. In America this great fact was foreseen
by its early inhabitants. They saw that a country's
prosperity lay in the manner in which the youth were
prepared for their future life, and now it is an idea
fixed into the mind of the nation, that however rude
and uncultivated a parent may be, he sends his children
to school, with the hope that at a future day they may
rise above the position of their sire. In St. Louis an
example of a nearly perfect school system is to be
found. At this point people of all nations are to be
found, something like ten different languages being
spoken by the inhabitants. To unite this Babel into
one mass is a difficult task. To mould all these people,
or rather their descendants, into one community, re-
quires some thought and generalship. A remedy of an
easy nature is found in the Public Schools, where the
English language is taught. Having nationalised the
122 New World Notes.
system of education, the next object was to provide suffi-
cient accommodation and teaching for the rapidly-in-
creasing population. That this has been attempted and ac-
complished in a most satisfactory style we can answer for.
We visited one of the Public Schools, and it may be as
well to explain that there are three grades. In the first
place, the Normal for the education of those who intend
making teaching their profession ; second, High schools
for pupils who continue their studies further than the
third class namely, the District Schools of which
we intend principally to speak. Every citizen's child
is entitled to education in these seminaries free of
charge, the only expense being the provision of school
books. The education provided is of a high class,
being more inclined to the practical than the theoretical.
It rests on a basis like the following :
Reading and Writing the mastery of letters.
Arithmetic the mastery of numbers.
Geography the mastery over place.
Grammar the mastery over the word.
History the mastery over time.
All grades of society send their children to be taught
here. There are some people who object to this mix-
ing of classes the high and the low. No doubt, there
are many private schools where a different system is
followed. Those can only be patronised by the rich ;
but, as a rule, sensible people are content with the Free
Schools. A great feature, and one on which much
stress is laid, is the fact that boys and girls are taught
together. They sit in the same school-room, and re-
ceive the same lessons. We mention such a circumstance
The Public Schools of St. Louis. 123
because the same course is not followed throughout the
whole States. But it is nearly general out west, where
the system of public education is founded upon a more
enlightened basis. The superintendent of the St. Louis
schools, in his report, argues at some length that the
moral tone is more healthy, and that it is a more natural
order of things to have co-education of the sexes than
a separation. A Board of Directors, elected by the
population, manage the affairs, and the funds are pro-
vided by taxation, interest from property, and Govern-
ment grants. The Laclede National School, which we
inspected, is a fair sample of the above. It is situated
in a poor part of the city, where the population is
densely packed, and consists principally of Germans.
The children were clean, healthy, and cheerful looking,
and in a perfect state of discipline. It was play hour
when we arrived, and we saw them pass into school
from the ground. This school, which is on the same
plan as about a dozen others, is a square building, three
storeys high, and on each floor are situated four rooms
of the same size, 27 feet broad by 32 feet long, and 14
feet in height ; also, necessary closets for hats and
cloaks. The large rooms are lighted by four windows
each, two in the back part of the room and two at the
side ; whilst the teacher's desk is placed against the
inside wall, so that the pupils do not face the light.
In the second and third storeys, the rooms on each
side of the central passage are divided by sliding doors,
and thus they can be made into one large hall for such
exercises as singing. In winter-time the rooms are
heated by pipes, and in summer the greatest attention
124 New World Notes.
is paid to ventilation. Altogether, as a building, this
is a model school, and can accommodate about 700
children. Twelve teachers are employed, one for each
room, and these are supervised by a principal. The
above are all females, or rather ladies, at least their
looks and manners would entitle them to be called such,
and another reason, every woman out west considers
herself a lady, and would resent any other name ; but
we mean that those teachers would be considered such in
Great Britain, where society is marked by various and
wide lines of demarcation. It is believed that members
of the weaker sex are the most proficient teachers, and
there are many reasons for this. Women, as a rule, are
of a quick perception, and have a deeper insight into
human nature than men ; and they have more influence
over the young mind, especially over boys, who ofttimes
fear a single glance from their eye more than the lash
of a schoolmaster ; at least, it is a fact that through all
America they are employed not only largely in the
schools, but also in many of the other public depart-
ments. The discipline and thorough order we wit-
nessed, at any rate, proved the efHcacy of woman's rule
in the Laclede School, with its noble-looking principal
and intelligent staff of assistants. The salaries paid may
be mentioned to enlighten the natives of this country :
Principal
1 Assistant
2 Do. .
2 Do. .
6 Do. .
i Do.
... 400 per annum.
... 150
... 280
240
660
13 1830
The Public Schools of St. Louis. 125
It thus cost about 2 123. per year for teaching alone,
not counting the other expenses incident to a school,
such as interest on money invested, expenses of manage-
ment, and other items, which will cost nearly as much,
and raise the total for each pupil to about 5 per head.
There are grades of teachers, as will be seen from the
above list, and it is a fact worthy of notice that to the
two junior classes the best teachers are allotted, the
third highest teacher takes the senior class, and so on
downwards. In this case the labourers are worthy of
their hire.
The great idea here is to get, in the first place, strict
discipline, not by the rod, but by gentler means ; and
in the second, to have the children thoroughly grounded
in spelling, and to have a perfect knowledge of the Eng-
lish language. If those habits are once attained by
scholars, they can accomplish most other tasks after-
wards. We found children of seven years old spelling
the most difficult words in the English language. A
thorough system is kept up. Children have twelve
rooms to go through, and it takes about seven years
before they reach this point. Generally, at the age of
fourteen they are considered perfect, as far as national
education is concerned. After this they can enter
upon a wider field of study in the Normal or High
Schools.
The attendance upon the Public Schools is large, and
is daily increasing. Six years ago 17,000 pupils were
enrolled ; at present about 40,000 are in attendance,
which is a most remarkable increase. About 800
teachers are on the staff. These are the numbers for
126 New World Notes.
the year ending in 1873, and during 1874 the progress
would be in the same ratio as in those byegone. As
stated above, the average cost to the city for educating
each pupil is 5, and the average salary to every
teacher, male and female, high or low, is about 150,
nearly equal to the amount paid our ministers of the
gospel.
Education here, while embracing all the useful
branches of learning, and notably excluding in its
primary courses the dead languages, is purely unsec-
tarian no Bible, no religion those weighty matters
are left to the parents, the ministers, and the noble
array of good Samaritans, who make the Sunday
Schools of America one of its wonders j but, on the
other hand, morality of the strictest kind is engendered
in every young mind, whether they be Jews or Gentiles,
"Lutherans or Roman Catholics. It is admitted on all
hands that a proper education is one of the foundations
upon which a country should rest. In our country the
general belief is that religious education should accom-
pany the secular duties. " Give us the Bible," ex-
claimed some of our wiseacres while electing boards to
take charge of our lately nationalised schools, "and
we are sure to have an improvement throughout the
country." But we might ask, What has been the result
of this system of religious teaching in our Parochial
Schools since the days of John Knox ? Has it im-
proved the moral tone, the religious sentiment, of our
people, and more especially of our country population ?
Has it not, instead of that, removed the responsibility
from off the shoulders of the proper parties, the
The Public Schools of St. Louis. 127
parents and the ministers, whose duty it is to look after
the spiritual welfare of the community. Those dwellers
upon the Mississippi, away upon the western prairies, saw
the error of such a policy, and while they organised a
proper tuition for the young, as regards religion, they
escaped those conflicts which are apt to arise on such
subjects in a mixed community. The State does not
provide an Established Church ; the schools are ham-
pered by no religious differences. It is this fact that
makes those schools so popular, and brings all classes
to their doors. Religion belongs to the sphere of the
heart, of the spirit, and the less generally said about it
the better. Different people have different opinions.
They do not ask one man to pay for the support of a
doctrine he does not believe ; in fact, one which he
looks at with contempt. Morality, the mainstay of
social life, can exist without parading religion.
In conclusion, the schools of America are one of its
wonders. Some of our stiff-necked School Boards and
rebellious schoolmasters would do well to take a lesson
out of their book. They do not mean strife, but edu-
cation upon a simple, enlightened, and thorough system.
XV.
fliagava Jails.
|N the forenoon of the i st of July, we reached
St. Catherine's, a beautiful watering place
situated on the Welland Canal, and some ten
miles distant from the world- renowned Falls, and took
up our quarters in a first-class hotel, kept by a gentle-
man who has relations in the Kelso district, and
knows it well. It was a holiday, an annual one, held
in commemoration of the confederation of all the separate
provinces of British North America into a grand and
glorious dominion a scheme planned and perfected
through the ability and indomitable perseverance of the
Hon. George Brown. Circumstances detained us a
day at this place, and, having nothing in particular to
do through the afternoon, we sauntered down to a
public park to see the games and other performances.
The "Highland fling" and the "sword dance" were
being performed as we entered the place. Then came
throwing the caber, and all manner of Scotch games,
till at last we imagined ourselves about Blair Athole
instead of standing upon Canadian soil. It was one
of the pleasantest afternoons we ever passed, and we
left much delighted with the loyal feeling that appears
Niagara Falls. 129
to dwell among the people. Scotland may look upon
Canada as her own peculiar child. The hardy sons of
the mountains are her greatest citizens, and have made
her commercially the greatest country in the world in
proportion to the population.
Next forenoon we started for Suspension Bridge
Depot, a station situated about two miles below the
famous cataract upon the Canadian side. No sooner
Janded from the train, and being dressed in knicker-
bockers (evidently a style of dress not common in those
parts), than the omnipresent 'bus and cab men salute
us " Take you cheap, sir." " Only a dollar to the
Falls, my lord," exclaims a slick Yankee Jehu. It was
in vain to tell them we could exist for two miles upon
our own pair; they evidently meant business, and stuck
with the pertinacity of an Italian beggar to their suite.
At last they dropped off, and went back to salute the
next unfortunate wanderer. Five hundred yards up
the side, and just at the first bend of the river, we got
alongside of an old Scotch gentleman, who turned out
to be a native of Dumfries, and who, although he had
lived for thirty years within one hundred miles of Nia-
gara, had never yet visited it. Talking away, as if we
had known each other for twenty years, we proceeded
slowly up the high road which runs along the brink of
the mighty stream. At this spot, and, in fact, for a
number of miles after it leaves the Falls, the river flows
through a narrow pass, the waters being of a light blue
colour, with streaks of foam all over their bosom. The
sides of this ravine, if it can be so called, are very steep
and abrupt, rising to the height of 300 feet from the
130 New World Notes.
river-side. This narrow gulph is spanned at the depot
by a railway suspension bridge, also adapted for pas-
senger traffic, and about half a mile below the Falls by
a carriage and foot-bridge of the same character, and
of great beauty in an architectural point of view. It
was standing near the latter we realised the magnifi-
cence of the great scene. In the fore-ground were the
Falls, the rushing rapids, and the dark green woods
along the banks of the river and Goat Island. Some
cynics had drummed into our minds that Niagara was a
delusion, a mere hallucination, ranted upon by brain-
stricken tourists. With these ideas in our head, we
came in the full expectation of being disappointed. But
when the beauty of the surrounding scene, the rush of
mighty waters, the deafening noise, the clouds of spray
that rose into the air between us and the sun, the gor-
geous rainbows that spanned across the Falls, came up
before the eye and scattered to the wind the pictures
of our fancy, it was then that we confessed in our own
mind that the Niagara of reality was greater than that
of the imagination. No one can gather at first glance
the splendour of such a scene. There is something so
fascinating that the eye rests upon the object it first
catches for a considerable time. So we caught at first
the American Fall, and there we feasted our sight till
the eye was satiated. Then it followed round by the
wood-fringed brink of Goat Island to the Canadian
Fall, the famous Horse-Shoe, and then burst upon the
traveller the real glory of the scene, as the waters came
wildly, like the waves of a tempest-tossed ocean, and
were hurled with tremendous fury over the precipice
Niagara Falls. 131
into the fathomless gulph below, and as the spray rose
cloud after cloud into the warm air of the Canadian
summer, turned into a thousand diamonds by the
rays of the bright sun, we felt that no picture of
this great sight can be overdrawn. There are many
scenes of great beauty, from the heather hills of the
Scottish Highlands, with their picturesque lakes, to the
rugged Alps ; from the Rocky Mountains, with their
eternal snow, to the Rhine, classic with castles and
romantic with many a heroic legend ; but is there
another Niagara ? No ! Standing upon yon bridge,
and gazing upon yon rolling waters, the tourist looks
upon the greatest water-fall in the wide, wide world.
That afternoon we went back to St Catherine's, re-
turning to the Falls the next evening, and took up our
abode at the Clifton House a large and rather anti-
quated hotel, situated upon the Canadian side, and com-
manding from its windows a very fine view of the
whole scene. After tea, we wandered down a steep
path to the place where the ferry boat starts for the
American side, and then away -up the river side amid
rocks, boulders, and bushes to the foot of the great
fall. Here the banks, which consist of immense stones,
with trees, shrubs, and flowers of the most beautiful
description freely interspersed among them, ascend with
A steep incline for some distance ; then suddenly they
rise perpendicularly to a distance of 100 feet, at some
places hanging dangerously over the adventurous pedes-
trian who clambers over the pathway below. Those
cliffs are of a curious formation, being in some places
of hard rocks, among which the remnants of a former
132 New World Notes.
world are distinguished by the fossils that are embedded
therein. Spar and other stones are also picked up,
from which small trinkets are made, and vended at
fabulous prices to passers by. Petrified moss is also
plentiful, and with diligent search fine specimens can
be obtained. Among those cliffs grow plants of all
kinds, such as the grape, honeysuckle, and a curious
species of ivy. It was a dark, dull night, and we
stood looking upon the foaming waters as they fell
with a cannon sound, sending up one continuous cloud
of spray. They have an awe-inspiring feeling, and
their grandeur grows upon the gazer. It was a fitting
time to moralise to look back on the great past, and
try to pierce the brooding darkness of futurity. But
ever and anon the strange sound brought the thoughts
back to the mighty work before us the emblem of a
great eternity, the proof of a mighty and all-powerful
Creator. Darkness had covered the scene with her
mantle before we were able to draw ourselves away,
so fascinating were the whole surroundings, and the
hotel was reached with no little difficulty. Sitting that
evening in the piazza, enjoying the cool air, and lolling
luxuriously in a rocking chair, we saw a flash of light-
ning gleam across the clouded sky ; then bursts the
thunder-cloud, drowning the sound of the Fall. It was
a wild and fantastic panorama, as flash followed flash,
lighting up with a vivid clearness the whole surround-
ings. For a moment it was there ; the dark surging
waters, the pillar of spray, the museums and monster
hotels ; then all was darkness once more. For an
hour the storm raged with tremendous fury. Niagara
Niagara Falls. 133
looked more terrible than ever, more fierce in its con-
vulsions, and more fantastic in its wild leaps.
Next morning the thunder-clouds had rolled away,
and had left the air more cool and pleasant, while the
heavy rain had laid the dust. This was the 4th of
July, the anniversary of the declaration of American
Independence ninety-eight years ago, a fact duly notified
by the liberal supply of bunting on the other side. The
forenoon was spent in making a call upon a gentleman
who lives in a delightful house that overlooks the wild
rapids before they make the grand leap, and in visiting
the famous burning spring situated on the edge of the
rapids about one mile above the fall. This is a most
wonderful freak of Nature. A well bubbles up at the
water's edge, and from this proceeds a flow of gas
which burns most brilliantly. There is a cylinder
placed over the well which receives the gas, this passes
up a pipe, and a light being applied, a bright flame
lights up the darkened room which has been con-
structed over the spot to give- the phenomenon more
effect. A piece of cloth being placed over the top of
the tube, the flame still continued burning, and did not
injure the handkerchief which was used. Then we
asked them to lift off the cylinder and apply the flame
to the water itself which was bubbling up ; this had
the same effect a fire on the top of the liquid. Next
we drank the water, which has a slight taste of sulphur.
Emptying the glasses, the flame is applied to the inside,
producing a fire inside the tumbler for a few moments.
Altogether, this is a most wonderful sight, and well
worthy of a visit.
134 -A 7 ^ World Notes.
The previous evening we had made the acquaintance
of a lady and gentleman and their daughter. Such an
operation is an easy matter in American travel ; there-
is none of that stiffness peculiar to this side of the
water. But it is seldom that such pleasant and ac-
complished companions as the above turned out to be
are met even by chance in the New World. With
them we spent two of the happiest days it was our lot
to pass on the other side of the Atlantic Ferry. In
the afternoon we started in a carriage and pair, driven
by a decent old Canadian, who had evidently seen
better days, for the American side. . In the first place,
we crossed the suspension bridge fare for each, 50
cents. ; carriage and driver extra. Passing by the In-
ternational and Cataract Hotels, which do not com-
mand a good view of the Falls, we pass over a bridge
on to Goat Islands fare same as above. This island
is 75 acres in size, and divides the river, thus forming
two falls the American and the Canadian, or Horse
Shoe Fall ; the former falls a distance of 164 feet,
while the latter makes a leap of 158 feet. It is covered
with a variety of trees, which grow luxuriantly and to
a great size ; wild flowers and creeping plants are freely
intermixed ; while curiosity-vendors, from fat squaws
to limbless men, are nearly as numerous as the tourists,
and it looked as if every pleasure-seeker had his own
particular attendant. The drive round is most delight-
ful, and at some parts we descend and get good views
of the Falls. From here the stranger can realize the
enormous volume of water that pours over the Horse
Shoe Fall, as you can stand upon the brink, and with
Niagara Falls. 135
the support of an iron railing, look down into the
chasm below. The Fall is exactly in the form of a
horse shoe, extends round the circle about 300 yards,
and at the centre of the concave the heaviest body of
water is gathered, supposed to be about 25 feet in
depth as it falls over the brink into the immense pool
below, which has never been fathomed. From Goat
Island we pass by bridges on to the Three Sister Isles,
which lie in the centre of the wild roaring rapids. In
our idea these rushing waters, as they come racing to-
wards the Falls at railway pace, breaking here and
there over long lines of rock, and carrying everything
before them, are as wonderful and majestic as the
cataracts themselves. Many an accident of a fearful
character has happened here. Either through fool-
hardiness or carelessness the deceptive current is ap-
proached ; too late the mistake is discovered, and then
follows one of the most terrible scenes imaginable, such
as no pen can picture. T^at relentless current gives
back no life ; it has no pity, nothing but stern reality.
It was difficult to break away from such a fascinating
scene ; and, to tell the truth, a terrible feeling crossed
the mind sitting upon the furthest isle a feeling that
tempted one to cast his lot in with the surging waters,
and banish in oblivion the cares and toils of life. Such
a wild fancy crosses the mind, but only for a moment.
Leaving here, we recross to the mainland, and, driving
through the village, proceed about two miles down the
river side to the whirlpool, to have a look at it and the
rapids above. Reaching there, we pay that everlasting
50 cents, and, entering an elevator, descend from the
136 New World Notes.
bank to the water's edge, some 200 or 300 feet below,
and there view the rapids and whirlpool. The latter
is rather an immense eddy. The waters come rushing
down a narrow gorge, and racing past the outlet of the
stream, which takes a quick turn at this point, whirl
round in a wide circle. There is little or no suction,
but it is said that the waters in the centre are 1 1 feet
above the level of the sides. The wildness of the
rushing river as it comes dashing through the gorge,
the comparative calm of the whirling eddy, the wood-
fringed and vine-clad banks, make the scene very at-
tractive and sublime.
At last we got back to our hotel after a most de-
lightful afternoon. It would be impossible to go
much further into this subject. We have sketched, in
a rough and imperfect manner, a part of the time we
spent at this wonderful spot. Further we did not
intend to write, but we may be excused in relating an
adventure that befel us at this spot, to show the temp-
tations and snares laid for travellers. On the Monday
following, I had 'gone up to the station to see the
excellent and accomplished friends who had been my
companions for the last day or two away by the train
to catch the boat that crosses Lake Ontario to Toronto.
While waiting there, a young man of prepossessing
appearance, evidently an Englishman, accosted me, and,
as a matter of course, I returned the salutation in a
cordial, friendly manner. A long conversation fol-
lowed, in which he inquired how long I had been
across the Atlantic ? What boat I had come by ?
Then he told his simple history. How he had fallen
Niagara Falls. 137
into bad health, and was travelling to regain his strength.
" 'Twas pitiful ; 'twas wondrous pitiful." At last he
told me his name, and asked me what cognomen I
travelled under. So I told him in my unsuspecting
innocence. From this we began to talk of future plans.
His coincided with mine so exactly that the next proposal
was that we should club together, and share our joys
and our sorrows. The train drew up to the platform
shortly after, and I bade adieu to my pleasant com-
panions, not without a sigh of regret, but bearing in
mind the hope that we expect to meet some day in the
land that Scott has immortalised ; that at some future
date we shall view together the hallowed scenes of
Melrose, Abbotsford, and Dryburgh. I turned to
look for my new friend, whose kindly words and suave
expression were quite refreshing to see. He was gone ;
so I followed down to the hotel, expecting to see him
there. Just half way I met another well-dressed young
fellow, who came up in the most consequential style,
exclaiming, " How are you, C ; d it, I am
glad to see you, old fellow." Mildly I hinted he must
have mistaken his man. " Don't you remember me
coming across in the 'Queen' last April?" "Can't
say I do ; by the way, perhaps you were a steerage
passenger," was my reply. This was a poser. How-
ever, he was equal to the occasion, and began to explain
that he remembered he was sick most part of the time,
and also that he had shaved his beard off since then.
A thought flashed across my mind, and I remembered
that some people have green in their eye. After some
hesitation, I owned my mistake, and shook hands, cor-
138 New World Notes.
dially expressing my stupidity in not recognising him
sooner. I asked him about his travels and adventures,
and so we began to talk of Western society and the
gold mines of Colorado. I took up the tale, and com-
menced to tell an adventure that befel me at Denver
City. He was eager to hear it. Like the Jew, I had
fallen among thieves, cardsharpers in fact, and there
was no Samaritan to help me. However, said I, in
conclusion, one of the swindlers will bear the mark of
a pistol shot all his life. Then grasping Mr Miller, as
he designated himself, by the coat neck, with an iron
grip, I told him, in a confidential tone, that the next I
came across would be shot as dead as cock robin. He
slipped from my hand like an eel and fled, for he
looked a coward at bottom. Not long after, I saw
my first friend and the above gentleman cross the water
to the American side. Some of the cabmen, who were
watching the scene, were not a little amused at the
summary way in which I treated the swell young man.
In conclusion, Niagara Falls left vivid impressions in
many ways -, but while it is one of God's mightiest
works, it has been turned to account as a place for
carrying on swindling on the most gigantic scale.
Cardsharpers, pickpockets, and all such like, not ex-
cepting the hotel-keepers and hackneymen, vie with
each other how to make most money out of the unsus-
pecting sight-seer. Cabmen have the first innings, and
when they get a chance swindle you most unmercifully.
In your walks men with curiosities for sale spring up,
as if by magic from the windows of museums, where
everything is exhibited and sold, from mummies to live
Niagara Falls. 139
buffaloes, young ladies smile and bow, and ask you
to look at their fancy ware with the most betwitching
airs, while their hands are itching for your dollar bills.
Three-card-monte men, smooth faced and close shaven,
are ever hovering round, like the eagle, ready to pounce
on their prey. The best way to go to Niagara is to put
so much money in your pocket, make it last as long as
you can, and then depart in peace.
XVI.
"(Dur
HE river Niagara, after it leaves the Falls,
rushes wildly for five or six miles through
a narrow channel guarded by a wall of rock
on each side. At some places magnificent rapids are
formed, and career madly through the chasm. At
Lewiston, the stream, although swift, is calm, and
renders navigation practicable. Nine miles more, and
the broad green waters of the Niagara river find a rest-
ing place in Lake Ontario. Close by the spot where
the stream mingles with the placid lake stands the town
of Niagara, beautifully situated on a piece of ground
that slopes away from the shore. It is a considerable
place at least it covers a large area of ground but in
driving through it there are signs of decay : grey hairs
are upon its head. The grass growing in the midst of
streets where no green thing should flourish, the un-
occupied houses, the dilapidated appearance of many
others, the indolent gaze of the inhabitants, all tell a
tale that from here the glory has departed former
greatness is passing rapidly away. There is a reason
for everything, and the cause of this once flourishing
town's decay is the result of its former inhabitants'
" Our Western Home" 141
stupidity. The Welland Canal is a great source of
business. When that great project of connecting
Lakes Erie and Ontario was mooted, it was proposed
to make this the starting point from the latter lake ;
but no ! the wise men of the place would not have it,
and, as a matter of course, little trade falls to its lot.
Yet there are some signs of life. Not far from an
old-fashioned fort on the Lake shore stands a magnifi-
cent hotel, a great resort for gay Southerners from the
warm and relaxing climes of Louisiana and Tennessee,
who come north during the intense heat of summer to
enjoy the comparative cool atmosphere of Canada. It
is a fascinating place, with ball-rooms and billiard
saloons, a spot where life passes away like a day-
dream. But it was not to see nor taste of this luxurious
life that we visited the decaying town of Niagara.
Here, on the southern outskirts of the town, stands
" Our Western Home," a refuge for girls, conducted
by Miss Rye, who periodically visits England, and
brings over with her a batch of girls from the " Rye
Home," the workhouse, and other places of refuge for
outcast and orphan children situated in London. After
a short stay at this health-giving spot, they are dis-
persed throughout the dominion of Canada, among its
well-to-do and industrious farmers, either as servants,
or, in many cases, as adopted children. It may be
asked, Who is Miss Rye ? Perchance, the reader may
have read of Florence Nightingale, the heroine of the
Crimea ; of Baroness Burdett Coutts, whose princely
gifts and earnest work have done much to enliven and
cheer the spirits of her humbler brothers and sisters ;
142 New World Notes.
of Miss Clugston and her convalescent Homes ; or of
the many other ladies who are labouring for their fel-
low-creatures. To this noble band Miss Rye belongs,
who, giving up all the frivolous vanities of fast-fleeting
life, work with all their heart and soul for suffering
humanity: not with a flourish of trumpets, but in a
quiet, unassuming manner this lady conducts her work.
Being absent from home, we did not see the lady her-
self, but a worthy lady superintendent guided us through
the " Home." The work has now been in operation
for above three years, and already 1200 orphan children,
all females, have been received from London, and
thence despatched to comfortable homes. Our visit
was made on the 3d of July, and at that time only 30
girls were in the Home, being all that remained of 160
brought out in the month of April. Entering the
house, which is a large square building, we were con-
ducted to the schoolroom, where the children were en-
gaged in writing on slates. There they sat, quietly
working away at their task, every one looking a perfect
picture of health. The matron told the history of one
or two, for each one of them appeared to have some
remarkable coincidence connected with their former life.
Then she pointed out girls that had come covered with
diseases of the most loathsome character, but had been
restored to health by proper treatment and the genial
air. Amongst the number was a solitary boy, who
was found one morning at the door of a London refuge
and taken up for dead. But not so. He now flourishes
under the care of Miss Rye. He is a bright-eyed boy,
between two and three years old, and shook us by the
Western Home" 143
hand firmly and heartily on being introduced to our
notice. He is a noble specimen of an English child,
with a broad, massive head. May this waif only grow
up to be a protector to other foundlings ! Yes, gazing
upon that motley group, the tears began to trickle down
the cheeks, and our thoughts turned to Thomas Guthrie
and his ragged schools ; to the crowded cities of Great
Britain, with their sins and their sorrows. Looking at
some of those girls, the simple yet pathetic words of
Tom Hood flashed across the mind
" Who was her father ?
Who was her mother ?
Had she a sister ?
Had she a brother?"
Some of their lives, young though they were, would,
no doubt, have formed a strange and stirring tale ; but
sitting in the Home they looked contented, and ap-
peared to be happy as the day was long, within sound
of the mighty Niagara, but far from the land of their
birth. Following the matron, she guided us up stairs
to the dormitories and it may be mentioned that the
house was originally an old prison, with a court-room
in it, which has been converted into the principal sleep-
ing room. The beds are of iron, with straw mattresses
and clean coverings ; in fact, all through the house
cleanliness is the most important point sought after,
and certainly it is attained. To this circumstance, no
doubt, the wonderful health of the inmates is attribut-
able. Out of twelve hundred children who have passed
through the Home, only three have died in it a very
small number considering the state of health some are
144 New World Notes.
in on arrival. In one of the small sleeping rooms, we
were shown three children confined there for misbe-
haviour. They were called before us one by one. The
first was a round-faced, fine-looking girl of sixteen sum-
mers, strong and active-looking. Her fault was decep-
tion of an incurable character. She had been sent out
and returned several times, but was to have another
trial. The second was a young red-haired child, with
a wild eye. Her faults are not great as yet. Third,
and lastly, was one of those creatures of humanity, so
ably described by Dickens, and yet we cannot recall
any of his masterpieces to whom she might have been
compared. She looked a perfect little virago, with a
shock head of sandy hair, a narrow forehead, eyes that
looked out from beneath a heavy brow, and of what
colour we were unable to decern. Her nose was good,
but the lips were thin and sarcastic ; all over the face
betrayed the worst passions that can belong to a bad
woman. Being called before us, she appeared to have
a feeling of shame a false one, we doubt. She had
torn a new dress, only a fortnight old, nearly off her
back, and there she stood with her eyes fixed on the
ground a terrible example of human depravity. She
attempted to speak once or twice, but the matron
stopped her, and she stood with sullen indifference as
we got her history recounted. We are glad to say
that this is the only case that has fairly beat those per-
severing women, and their idea was to send this rebelli-
ous sinner back to England before she reaches the age
entitling her to freedom from Miss Rye's restraint, and
have her placed in a reformatory. Passing down stairs,
" Our Western Home" 145
we had a look at the dining-room and box-room. In
the latter are stored all the articles of clothing belong-
ing to the girls when they are despatched from Eng-
land, and which are kept for sending them out to their
future abodes. While staying in the Home, they wear
clothes kept there for the purpose, so that they go to
their future residences with a full supply of clothing.
From thence we were taken to Miss Rye's private sit-
ting rooms, which command a view of the town, and
look forth upon the blue waters of Ontario. A piano
and a well-stocked bookcase are the principal furnish-
ings. All about the rooms, from the pictures on the
walls to the books upon the table, savoured of that
great word Charity. " Faith, hope, and charity,
these three, but the greatest of these is charity."
Considerable expense is incurred to keep the above in
working order. With each child Miss Rye receives a
sum of 8 from the parish authorities, or some such
parties, who place the girls in her hands. A bonus is
allowed by the Canadian Government, while, if we mis-
take not, a few private individuals subscribe to the
" Home." In this way sufficient means are raised to
make all go smooth in a financial way.
The system of emigration being carried out at " Our
Western Home" is, without doubt, a bold experiment.
There is no question about the kindness and considera-
tion with which the children are treated while under
the immediate eye of Miss Rye or her assistants ; but
their safety, physically and morally, is not so certain
after they leave her care to be servants in families or
take the place of adopted children. Practically, the
146 New World Notes.
child, when taken by the Canadian farmer, is little
better than a slave if he wishes. To obviate such a
state of affairs, considerable judgment is required in
placing the child with thoroughly respectable parties.
To help her in this part of the work, Miss Rye has
associated herself with some of the foremost citizens in
Canada, who act as trustees along with her, and do all
in their power to forward the work. The character
of the applicant for a child is thoroughly investigated.
He or she is bound to answer a number of questions,
among which they have to give the name of the Mayor
or Reeve, in whose township they dwell, as well as
that of the minister whose church they attend. From
these parties, as a rule, the true character of any appli-
cant can be correctly ascertained. The preliminaries
being satisfactory, an indenture is entered into between
the applicant, Miss Rye, and two of the most respected
men in the neighbourhood of Niagara. The indenture
provides for the child being properly educated in all
branches of knowledge and religion, that she shall re-
ceive wages at the rate of 128. per month from the age
of 15 to 17, and i6s. per month from 17 to 18, after
which she is free to go and do as she likes.
There will be, no doubt, many cases of hardship in
this system ; but, as far as we were able to judge per-
sonally, and on the assurance of some of the most in-
fluential men Canada possesses, the treatment of those
pauper children is generally kind and considerate in
their new homes. It is the interest of Canadians to
treat those females in a proper manner, for women
servants are very scarce. But, supposing this system
" Our Western Home" 147
is not without its drawbacks, one thing is certain, that
it is more successful than the results obtained at home
in our upbringing of pauper children. Those who
know the farmers of Ontario, who have dwelt in their
pleasant homes, and witnessed the position the servant,
and more especially the female one, takes, will come to
the conclusion that these outcasts will fare better than
in the work-houses and reformatories of the old country.
Separated from any contaminating influence, the mind
must be directed for the better if there is left in it a
single spark of truth and honour. Whether it be a
success or not and we humbly give forth the opinion
that it is there is no one but admires Miss Rye for
her disinterested labours in the work of the Great
Master. Time, with its ceaseless roll, will perfect a
system yet in its infancy. Meanwhile, we wish it only
a fair field and no favour.
XVII.
fttagara Jails to (Dttatoa.
JFTER a fortnight's sojourn in the province of
Ontario, we returned to the famous Falls.
The city of Toronto was left one bright
afternoon at two o'clock. A swift steamer plies across
the bosom of Lake Ontario, and, entering the river
Niagara, proceeds up that picturesque stream to Lewis-
town, where navigation stops. An omnibus connects
with the boat and the railway cars, and, as a matter
of course, good pay is exacted for the ride. The
train runs along the top of the precipitous banks that
enclose the foaming waters of the river 300 feet below.
The rapids are seen to perfection, and as we come near
the end of our journey, the Falls meet the eye of the
traveller. From the depot, we proceeded to the " Ca-
taract" House, standing on the brink of the American
Fall. It is a big hotel, but evidently the glory has
departed from this hotel and its neighbours that stand
hard by it. For the last few years a systematic course
of fleecing tourists has been in vogue, and people
rather than be swindled stay at home and keep their
cash. There were no lack of loafers, no scarcity of
ambitious cabmen or porters ; but there was no stir,
Niagara Falls to Ottawa. 149
and, although the very height of the season, the mon-
strous halls looked blank and desolate. A band at
night tried to cheer up the quiet scene, but scarce two
hundred of an audience blessed their spasmodic efforts
in a hotel that can accommodate six to eight hundred
people. Next forenoon was spent in visiting Goat Is-
land, and at midday, taking leave of that fascinating
spot, and shaking the dust from our feet as regards
hotel keepers, hackney men, fancy goods merchants,
cardsharpers, and such like, bade adieu to Niagara Falls,
with its roaring waters and glorious scenery. Nature
has formed there a theatre more gorgeous in its aspect
and greater in its work than at any other spot on
earth. But alas ! some guardian spirit is required to
protect the lover of Nature. Scarce have you sat
down to enjoy the scene than some human eagle
pounces upon you as a lawful prey. To enjoy scenery
requires the mind to feel as if it were alone in drink-
ing in the beauties of the situation.
Into the dusty cars once more. Right east through
the State of New York, through the Genessee valley,
the famous wheat-producing region, to Rochester, a
town of 60,000 inhabitants, noted for its flour mills,
nurseries, and gardens. Here the Genessee river forms
a fall a pigmy in comparison to Niagara yet it would
be a famous affair in Great Britain ; but as we rushed
across the bridge that stands above it, no thundering
sound was heard nor falling water seen. The mills
had drained the whole supply, and now these falls only
exist in winter when water is plentiful. The road
continues through a fruitful country, and now and again
150 New World Notes.
the reaping machine is seen at work, for the hay har-
vest is finished and that of the wheat begun in this
neighbourhood. Towards eight o'clock, the engine
and its freight approach Syracuse, our present destina-
tion. It may be asked, What took us there ? A
year previous to our visit, a gentleman from that city
had visited Kelso, and was charmed not only by its
surroundings and scenery, but also by one of its citi-
zens, whose hospitality knows no bounds. Armed
with a letter of introduction, we left our route by a
hundred and fifty miles on an earnest invitation from
the above party to let him have his revenge, as he ex-
pressed it, upon his Border friends, and great was the
reward of the detour. On the platform at the depot
stood a short, stout man, with an intellectual face,
with rather an English expression ; grey locks covered
a noble head, one that denoted a turn for philanthropy
and good deeds. That was our host, and without de-
lay his house was reached, and a generous reception
from its inmates was the result, such as made a stranger
feel at home. His house stood in one of the most
fashionable streets in the city, removed by some dis-
tance from the centre. That street, like many others
in Syracuse, was a sight in itself. Broad and ample
was the carriage way, while no less commodious were
the side walks, but shaded by virgin trees that reared
their mantled heads, spreading branches up in mid air.
Back some 100 or 150 feet from the street were the
houses, while the space between was green with well-
cut grass. Magnificent trees studded the lawns, add-
ing shade and beauty in summer, shelter in winter.
Niagara Falls to Ottawa. 151
Here, also, might have been seen the grape growing
up a trellis : the rose bloomed forth, and sent its
aroma through the air. The cool breeze of evening
sighed amidst the leafy trees, and many a rare creeping
plant twined its arms round the trunks and branches
of the trees, or up and over the verandah that encircles
the house. After the scorching heat of the sun, after
the din and excitement of cars, with the remembrance
of the mosquito that infests the backwoods of Canada,
and follows the traveller with a terrible pertinacity, and
burying his proboscis in the most inviting place, away
from the loafers of the Falls, this house was the dearest
spot a very paradise to us. Sitting in the verandah
after the evening meal, a feeling of satisfaction stole
o'er the mind a pleasure heightened by the conversa-
tion of our host, who travelled through our land with
an observant and careful eye. There was an inter-
change of ideas. A sensible and cultivated American,
not given to big talk or vituperative eloquence, told his
estimate of Britishers ; while a patriotic Scotchman de-
claimed upon the dwellers on Uncle Sam's estate.
The next day Saturday the 25th July was spent
profitably and well. Good arrangements beforehand
lead to fruitful results. Our host was a silversmith,
and carried on a large trade in a very unpretending fac-
tory to appearance, but well-planned inside. " Great
is Diana of the Ephesians" is his motto. His works
were standing, so we could not inspect the various pro-
cesses. During a dull trade, an opportunity had been
taken to fix up the workshop ; but the trade of Syra-
cuse lies neither in silver nor gold, but in salt. Look-
152 New World Notes.
ing back for half a century, the present site of the city
was a howling wilderness a forest of luxuriant growth
which, when the city was laid out, was turned to
account for beautifying the streets and public parks.
From the salt springs all its wealth and prosperity
flow, and as the Erie Canal and a trunk railroad pass
through the centre of the city, it is likely to go on in-
creasing. There is a legend told that De Sota and
his followers, while exploring the Ohio Valley, heard
from the Indians that far inland, nearer the rising sun,
was a lake whose shores were covered with silver, and
whose wavelets cast upon the beach untold treasures.
Enticed by the brilliant description, they set out to seek
this El Dorado. After toiling through forests, over
mountains, and crossing mighty streams, they reached
the Lake of Oneida, and found it was salt instead of
silver that existed.
The Indians in the vicinity treated them kindly, and
soon they began to intermarry. But the hot-headed,
fiery Spaniards could not rest, and were continually
quarrelling among themselves, till the Redskins, tired
of their feuds, rose up one night and murdered them
all thinking, no doubt, it was the best method of pre-
serving peace. This was the first discovery of the
above valuable article. For many years it was utilised
at the village of Salina, about a mile west from Syra-
cuse. At this moment the works stretch for many
miles around the city, and an immense trade is carried
on. The supplies are derived from springs, some of
them being of great depth. The Government own
them, and pump the water for the manufacturers, who
Niagara Falls to Ottawa. 153
pay a slight percentage upon the quantity supplied,
which just covers the expense of the pumping. Two
systems of manufacturing are followed. First, through
the sola, or evaporation system, by the rays of the sun ;
second, by evaporating the water through artificial heat.
For the former process immense shallow tanks are used.
The water is conducted through wood pipes from the
reservoirs to these, and the salt is crystalized through
the intense heat of the sun. This is the cheapest way,
but the process is slow, and can only be relied on dur-
ing the height of summer, whereas the latter can be
used at any season. Eight millions of bushels are an-
nually shipped from here to various points in the
Union. Hard by the saline springs are also others
of great medicinal value, and largely resorted to by
the inhabitants.
In the afternoon we had a long drive. In the first
place, round by the University, a noble building crown-
ing a hill that throws its shadow over the city below ;
then through the grounds of a wealthy merchant, a
wonderfully sweet and artistically laid-out place.
Looking down from these points, Syracuse is seen
to great advantage. In a level basin is the city laid
off into squares, each street lined with splendid trees,
while beyond lies a placid lake j and then, as far as
the eye can reach, on every side an undulating land-
scape, covered with numerous clumps of dark green
forest, which are again relieved by the fields of golden
grain. Leaving here, our driver strikes out into the
country for five or six miles, passing up a long
straight road, the continuation of a street, on each side
154 New World Notes.
of which handsome villas are built, but scarce visible
at some points from the dense foliage. The surround-
ing neighbourhood, clad in all the gay garments of
summer, is beautiful. Rich in agricultural resources,
with a varied and picturesque landscape, the farmers
looked contented and happy. It is only an example
of many an inland town met with in the Eastern States,
combining energy, industry, and a certain degree of
stability in its trade and commerce.
On Monday, shortly after noon, accompanied by
our kind friend, we left for Cape St Vincent, and pass-
ing through a flourishing country, intersected with
streams that give immense power for manufacturing,
and of considerable value as an agricultural district, we
reached the latter point towards evening. From here
we take a ferryboat, evidently built a century ago, and
fit for a museum, in comparison to other American
river boats, that plies across the broad waters of the
St. Lawrence to Kingston, a town on the Canadian
side, without apparently any life but that imparted by
its grog shops. Next morning at 5.30 the " Corin-
thian," a steamer of the first class, came alongside the
pier, and ere long she was steaming swiftly down the
St. Lawrence, and soon entered among the far-famed
Thousand Isles that stud this portion of the river as it
leaves Lake Ontario. These islands number in all
1800, and occupy about forty miles of the stream.
They vary in size from a few square yards to an area
of several miles, and their rocky surface is covered
with stunted pines and cedars. The morning of our
passage was dull and cold, marring the beauties of the
Niagara Falls to Ottawa. 155
scene. The big steamer winds her way gracefully
through the rock-bound straits, for at places there ap-
pears scarcely room to pass. Ever and anon new
scenes present themselves, while frequently a boat or
graceful canoe glides from one islet to another. Nearly
every one of them appears to be inhabited by pleasure-
seekers, for tents are seen at all points, and half-dressed
campers peep out from their temporary dwellings at
the passing steamers. Many a romantic story, many a
legend, is told of those wondrous isles. Imagination
can fancy them the natural abode and battle-field of the
Redskins, and so they were. Then at a later day they
offered secure retreat for insurgents and outlaws, for
the labyrinth of channels defied pursuit. Around these
rocky shores fish are found in abundance, and wild fowl
frequent them at certain seasons in large numbers.
Unfortunately, with the weather being so unpropitious,
we did not realise the beauty of the scene so much as if
the sun had cast his genial rays upon it. At eleven
o'clock we landed at Prescott, and after three hours'
delay took the train to Ottawa, reaching that point at
five o'clock in the afternoon.
XVIII.
(Dttatoa.
JHE city of Ottawa stands upon a river of the
same name, contains a population of 30,000,
and is the capital of British North America.
It is a thriving place, owing much of its prosperity to
its lumber trade. To a tourist the chief attractions
are the Parliament buildings, the saw mills, and the
Chaudiere Falls. Our abode for the time was the
Russell House, a mighty poor hotel for the capital of
the Canadas. On the night of our arrival we called
upon the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, Premier of the
Dominion, whose acquaintance we had made some days
previous at Hamilton. After a half hour's chat, he
arranged to call at the hotel the next morning ; at the
same time inviting the writer and his Syracuse friend to
dinner in the evening. Punctual to a moment the next
morning came the Premier, and guided us to the Parlia-
ment buildings. Before entering the main portion of the
buildings, he conducted us to the place that is meant
for the library. It is a round building with a dome
1 20 feet high, on the top of which is an area or look-
out. After toiling up the narrow staircase scarce
finished, and which exercised our Yankee friend con-
Ottawa. 157
siderably, whose build resembled the famous Falstaff,
the view well repays the trouble. Situated upon a
natural eminence, a perfect panorama stretches away on
all sides. Below is the dark river that makes a giant
leap over the falls, and then slowly wends its way
through the forest ocean. On its bosom float immense
rafts, some of them acres in size, with houses erected
upon them for the comfort of the voyageurs who guide
them down the stream to the great St. Lawrence. On
either side of the river stands the town, rather straggled
and poorly built at some parts, but the country sur-
rounding it is most beautiful, and the scenery diversified
a rolling country clad with magnificent trees, a vast
green waste as far as the eye can reach, the dark foliage
of the pine trees being relieved by the lighter hues of
the hard-wood varieties. Through the calm air of the
summer's morn rose the shouts of the raftsmen as they
steered their unwieldy vessels down the stream, the
great highway of commerce in this region. Descending
from here, we passed through the committee rooms to
the House of Commons, a large room, expensively
fitted up, and well arranged for both the members and
the public. From there we proceeded to inspect the
library, which is temporarily accommodated in another
part of the structure before being removed to its proper
place. At present it contains 72,000 volumes. In the
year 1850, the original collection was totally destroyed
by fire, and the above number has been collected since.
We also had a look at the Senate room, the dining
rooms, the heating and ventilating apparatus, and other
points of interest, through which Mr. Mackenzie con-
158 New World Notes.
ducted us personally, and took great pains to point out
all the details. There are altogether three buildings
the centre one for the Houses of Parliament, and two
wings for offices. The style is Gothic, and not well
suited to the purpose, as the windows are consequently
small. Many of the rooms, and especially the passages,
are dark and dingy. Outwardly the appearance im-
parted by this mode of architecture is most imposing.
The cost, when they are finished, will be nearly one
million pounds sterling. A considerable quantity of the
stone used for the corners and other fine work came
from the State of Ohio ; some quarries close at hand
supplied material for the rubble work.
About noon, after having done the Houses of Parlia-
ment in a perfect manner, the Premier's secretary took
us to some of the monster lumber yards that line the
river side. The largest visited was conducted by a Mr.
Gilmour, who employs 1 50 hands, and where 950 logs
are daily manufactured by means of steam. Four large
saws, along with various others for lighter work, are
employed. The logs are drawn up from the water by
steam, and nearly every other operation is managed
by machinery. Scarcely from the time that the raw
material leaves the water, in which it has perhaps lain for
two or three seasons, till it is cut up into boards, lathes,
or shingles,' is any manual labour bestowed. The rate
at which everything is done, and the regularity of the
whole works, also astonish the stranger. The men
employed are nearly all French Canadians, who are
considered the most expert woodsmen in the world.
Our next visit was to a planing mill, where windows,
Ottawa. 159
doors, and flooring are manufactured. Necessarily
there is considerable waste from these processes, which
is utilised in making pails and matches. It is nearly
impossible to describe the making of those articles, but
certainly it is wonderful how machinery has been
turned to account in every department. About 2400
pails and 12,000,000 matches are made per day. It
took considerable time to inspect those enormous works,
which are situated on the Quebec side, where most of
the population are French Canadian. In crossing the
bridge back to the principal part of the town, the
spectator gets a capital view of the largest of the Chau-
diere Falls, about 150 yards above. It is a wild foam-
ing cataract, leaping some 40 feet over the rugged
rocks. On either side of the falls slips have been made
to bring the rafts down, as it is impossible for them to
jump down with the stream. The rafts are so arranged
as to divide into separate portions. Five or six logs
are floated down at a time, and, having run down the
slips into the immense area of calm water below the
falls, are once more connected with a monster raft, and
floated away down the stream. It is said to be very
exciting work shooting those rapids, but the pleasure,
if any, was not enjoyed, as time did not permit more
than a look at the raftsmen as they skilfully guided
their vessels over the slides.
At 6.30 we went to dine with Mr. Mackenzie at his
own residence, or rather at the house of Mr. Scott,
the Secretary of State. The Premier's house had
been burned down some weeks before, and he had
borrowed, for the time being, a brother minister's resi-
160 New World Notes.
dence, who was spending some time at his farm. It
was a house of no great pretensions, but inside a lady
and gentleman did the honours with the most unassum-
ing grace. Amidst all the labours, the many anxieties
and countless troubles connected with the government
of such a vast place as British North America, the
Premier had still time on his hands to entertain a
" brither Scot." Some twenty or thirty years ago, a
stone mason left Perth to push his fortune in Canada.
It may surprise our readers to know that that man was
Alexander Mackenzie, now, after a hard struggle up
the ladder of fame, Prime Minister of the Dominion
a noble example of self-help and indomitable persever-
ance, and a proof of how intellect and steadiness rise
above all obstacles in those western lands. Some men
grow famous, and more especially as regards politics,
in the New World through trickery and irrepressible
cheek; but you see in the present Premier of Canada
not only a great orator, a man of broad views and
liberal ideas, a party leader second to none, but, above
all things, an individual of sterling honesty and earnest
sincerity; and by those latter qualities he commands
the confidence of the Canadian people, and has at his
back a strong majority in Parliament. Such, then, was
our host. After dinner the conversation turned upon
literature, as the forenoon had been engaged in discuss-
ing the operations and prospects of the Government, as
well as the system under which the country is ruled.
The ballad poetry of Scotland, and, in particular, the
poetry of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, first
formed the subject of conversation. Then we turned
Ottawa. 1 6 1
to Byron's works, which the Premier thinks are the
most intellectual and brilliant in the English language,
excepting those of William Shakespeare. Never can
we forget the enthusiasm and beauty with which our
host quoted that marvellous passage from the " Giaour,"
respecting the present aspect of Greece :
" He who hath bent him o'er the dead,
Ere the first day of death is fled
The first dark day of nothingness,
The last of danger and distress,
(Before decay's effacing fingers
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers,)
And mark'd the mild angelic air,
The rapture of repose that's there,
The fix'd yet tender traits that streak
The langour of the placid cheek,
And but for that sad, shrouded eye,
That fires not, wins not, weeps not, now
And but for that chill, changeless brow,
Where cold Obstruction's apathy
Appals the gazing mourner's heart,
As if to him it could impart
The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon
Yet, but for these, and these alone,
Some moments, ay, one treacherous hour,
He still might doubt the tyrant's power j
So fair, so calm, so softly seal'd,
The first, last look by death reveal'd !
Such is the aspect of this shore ;
'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more !
So coldly sweet, so deadly fair,
We start, for soul is wanting there.
Her's is the loveliness in death,
That parts not quite with parting breath ;
But beauty with that fearful bloom,
That hue which haunts it to the tomb
Expression's last receding ray,
A gilded halo hovering round decay,
The farewell beam of Feeling pass'd away
Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth,
Which gleams, but warms no more its cherish'd earth ! "
L
1 62 New World Notes.
This is, no doubt, one of the most magnificent passages
in the English language, so true to life and full of feel-
ing that it almost makes one see the very image before
him, and mark how beautifully the illustration fits the
subject in hand. Greece, the land of ancient learning
and art, of romance and chivalry, is grovelling in the
dust. A death-like shadow has been spread over her,
and yet remnants of a former greatness are left behind
to remind us of the land which gave birth to so many
great and glorious men in the brave days of old. The
poetry of Byron is something extraordinary, when
viewed from the place from which it emanated. And
turning from this point to his life, a good deal of talk
ensued upon his unhappy marriage and the conse-
quences that flowed from it. The less said about the
scandals connected therewith the better; for no one
can but remember the terrible mess the authoress of
" Uncle Tom's Cabin" got into by committing some
of her marvellous secrets connected with that subject
to paper.
Next in order of conversation came the Patronage
Bill, which was then stirring up the rigid Presbyterians
of old Scotland. Since that time patronage has been
abolished, and the surmise of the Premier's, that it
would harm the very persons it was intended for, is
gradually becoming apparent. Naturally, while speak-
ing about the right of patrons, the position of the Free
Church of Scotland was mentioned. The secession of
that body from the Old Kirk of Scotland Mr. Mac-
kenzie regards as one of the most wonderful religious
events of the present century. He is himself a Baptist,
Ottawa. 163
and, of course, thoroughly sympathises with our dis-
senting bodies as do all Americans for the New
World appears to flourish under the doctrine of the
Church and State being entirely separate. Canada has
no Church Establishments, but she has plenty of
churches, and hundreds of workers, both in the kirk
and Sabbath school, and supported by voluntary aid
alone. We do not hesitate to say that the religious
requirements of the people are more earnestly looked
after than in the old country, with its elaborate system
of churches depending upon State support, but which,
to our mind, appear to be a hot-bed for Erastianism
and Ritualism. Let us shake off this viper which is
hanging round the neck of our religious structure.
Great and good men, no doubt, belong to it ; but it
must be evident to all impartial minds that a Church
supported by voluntary aid is doing most good for the
cause of humanity. Nor is it fair to ask any man to
support a Church he cares no more for than the man
of the moon. The practical common sense of those
Canadians led them to see the effect of religious Estab-
lishments, and the result at the present moment is that
all the Protestant bodies of the Dominion are united
and working as one for the great cause. The Premier
evidently knew well the events of 1843 and the ten
years' conflict that preceded it, and he spoke in terms
of almost veneration of the great heroes of the fight
Chalmers, Candlish, Cunningham, Guthrie, and others ;
not forgetting, as the late Dr. Buchanan evidently did,
the mighty genius of Hugh Miller, the stone mason of
Cromarty. Yes, he remembered Miller, for did he
164 New World Notes.
not belong to the same class of men ? Both stone
masons, they knew geology well : one has fallen, as
it were, in the field of battle ; while the other, more
steady, and, perchance, more practical, flourishes
amidst the forests of Canada. Altogether, our visit
to Ottawa was a very happy and instructive one, and
our evening with Mr. Mackenzie most enjoyable.
Among other things, he is a man of most retentive
memory, with great conversational powers, the logical
points of which are relieved by numerous anecdotes.
The general observation he has is very wonderful.
He grasps all political subjects with a determined
power, and states his opinion shortly and concisely.
He is well read in all kinds of literature, and he men-
tioned a fact worth recording, which also shows the
extent of his observation, that, as far as he had read,
he believed, in regard to illustration, that the late Rev.
William Arnot's (of Edinburgh) discourses were the
best examples of how sermons could be made out
of stones, and great lessons drawn from the Book of
Nature.
XIX.
uhc Jlapibs ot the St. |atorena anb
Montreal
N the 30th of July, at 7.45 A.M., Ottawa was
left by rail, and about eleven o'clock we
had again reached Prescott. Fifteen minutes
later, and the splendid steamer Bohemian drew grace-
fully alongside the wharf. Time and tide wait for no
man, and in a short while the steamer loosed away.
On the pier stood the portly figure of our friend the
silversmith, and as it grew less and less, distance lent
no enchantment to the view. He waved his handker-
chief to the big boat, but as she swiftly descended the
stream we saw him no longer. A feeling of loneliness
crept over us. He was a most enjoyable person to
travel with, so full of fun and humour, and he knew
the neighbourhood of Kelso very correctly, so power-
ful and characteristic had been his observation while
visiting it. To meet a man of this kind, and enjoy
three or four days' fellowship together, is indeed a
pleasure. Not only are there many subjects in com-
mon, but reliance can be placed upon the opinion of a
person who, having seen both the Old and the New
1 66 New World Notes.
i
World, can judge correctly of their various merits and
failings. Yankees, as a rule, think their own land far
ahead of all others ; and why blame them so severely
as some critics do for holding such an opinion. Our
Syracuse friend looked upon his native land with the
greatest pride and veneration ; yet, having seen anti-
quated England, he gave us credit for our industry and
steadiness, our tenacity to old ideas a grand feature in
any nation; while he admired our Government, with
its stainless reputation for honesty and justice. Like
sensible Americans, he was quite aware of the potori-
ous state into which the administration of the laws are
falling in the United States. Bribery and corruption
on the most gigantic scale have taken hold of all the
rulers, from the President downwards. The judges,
under the system of holding their posts for only four
years, try to do their best in gathering gear during that
short time, so that the largest purse generally is victori-
ous in a law case. Contracts are manipulated in the
most extraordinary fashion, and, as a general rule, the
building of a State or court house costs three times
what it should do. Our straightforward and honest
friend admitted these facts, while we were not loathe
to give Americans their due for their remarkable
energy and foresight. After meeting with such men
as the above, one comes to the conclusion that a
Yankee at home is in many respects a "jolly good
fellow."
Once more upon the broad St. Lawrence, with its
light blue waters. In mid-stream here and there a
wooded islet is met. Along the banks small villages
The Rapids of the St. Lawrence. 167
and neat farm houses are seen, but the scenery other-
wise is tame. But apart from the landscape, the great
pleasure of this trip is the sensation of being carried
over the foaming rapids in the monster steamboat.
With the exception of Niagara Falls, the tourist in
those western parts hears more about the Thousand
Isles and the Rapids of St. Lawrence than any other
sights. The weather did not let us see the beauties
of the former scene, but in the latter the reality was
greater than the imagination. The first great rapid is
called the Long Sault, nine miles in length, with a velocity
of nearly twenty miles per hour. Before entering it
one can scarcely imagine the wildness of the current.
It is when the steamer is in the midst of the foaming
waters, which present to the eye the appearance of a
storm at sea, that one can conceive the danger and
grandeur of our passage. If the pilot happened t;o
make a mistake, one can only fancy the consequence
of such a calamity. Enormous power is used to steer
the bulky vessel, and seldom or never does an accident
of any moment happen. But to the uninitiated it is a
most exciting passage down those wild roaring rapids.
Further down the stream, after having sailed through
Lake St. Francis, we next enter the Cedar Rapids,
named from the trees of that description which line the
water's edge. While the boat sails swiftly on her way
the passengers see before them some ugly rocks, to
which the boat appears to be hastening with all possible
speed. It is a moment of almost agony. There she
goes, right on to them. No doubt, faces grew pale
and the nerves were shaken but so earnest was the
1 68 Neio World Notes.
writer upon the rocks in mid-stream that he heeded
nothing else. Nearer still, and then, as if by magic,
the course is changed, and, before one can turn about
to look, the vessel has passed the dreaded object, and
proceeds swiftly on her journey. Just below those
rapids a branch of the Ottawa river joins the St. Law-
rence. Near to the junction stands the picturesque
little village of St. Anne's, a great summer resort, and
rather noted from its connection with Moore's " Cana-
dian Boat Song," a most touching piece
" Faintly, as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time}
^ Soon as the woods on shore look dim,
We'll sing at St. Anne's our parting hymn.
Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near and the daylight's past.
" Why should we yet our sail unfurl ?
There is not a breath the blue wave to curl ;
But when the wind blows from off the shore,
Oh ! sweetly we'll rest our weary oar.
Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past.
" Ottawa's tide, this trembling moon
Shall see us float o'er the surges soon ;
Saint of this green isle ! hear our prayers,
Oh, grant us cool heavens and favouring airs.
Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past."
Just before reaching Montreal the Indian village of
Caughnawaga is passed. Then come the La Chine
Rapids, the shortest and wildest on the route. A
broad calm sheet of water lies below them, and some
two or three miles still further is the City of Montreal,
the commercial capital of British North America. Be-
Montreal. 1 69
fore reaching the landing stage, the steamer sails quietly
through one of the arches of the Victoria Bridge, a
magnificent structure, one of the younger Stephenson's
many triumphs. It is a mile and a quarter long, and
rests upon twenty- four piers, so constructed as to with-
stand the pressure of the ice that lodges annually be-
hind it during the winter months. The sun was sink-
ing in the horizon as we approached the dock, and lit
up the tall spires of the numerous churches with a
blaze of golden hue, at the same time changing the
dark green foliage of the trees into a rich purple. Ere
long we were seated at supper in the St. Lawrence
Hall, a substantial hostelry of no mean pretensions.
Montreal stands upon a rich and fertile island,
formed by the branches of the Ottawa river. It is
nearly thirty miles in length and ten broad. On the
south shore stands the city, with a river frontage of
three or four miles, while to its rear stands the Mount
Royal, a mere hill, but dignified with the name of
mountain. Founded in 1642, Montreal was originally
a French settlement, and to this day visible traces of
their occupation is seen in the narrow lanes and streets
met with in the older portions of the place. Of later
years a more liberal and enlightened policy has marked
the inhabitants broad expansive streets and elegant
buildings are its characteristics. It is eminently a well-
built city in comparison to many others we visited. It
is a substantial and steadily increasing place. We spent
one day in it. By a strange coincidence we remember
it in one respect rather vividly. Our cash was all gone.
Money goes like snow before a west wind in those
170 New World Notes.
popular routes of travel. A letter of introduction was
presented over the counter of a large insurance office.
The head of the business was not at home. We
opened the letter, showed it to the clerk, and explained
our object in as few words as possible, but it was of
no use. He only shook his head with an incredulous
leer. It was no joke ; money must be had at any
price. To frighten the fellow, empty a shooting-iron at
him, as the Yankees say, were the first thoughts ; but
discretion is the better part of valour so we shook the
dust from our feet, and departed without committing a
breach of the peace. In calmer moments such treat-
ment appears natural enough. The letter of introduc-
tion might appear to the said party to have either been
forged or stolen, and it takes great caution to be exer-
cised, as the New World has a fair share of swindlers.
Yet this was the first place our credit or honour had been
suspected. The dollars were obtained at last through
a gentleman who had far less proof of our identity.
With this exception, nothing remarkable happened.
Before breakfast, the morning after our arrival, we
went to see the Bousecours Market, where, just as the
day breaks, hundreds of the French peasants may be
seen flocking with their garden produce, poultry, and
other articles for sale ; whole cart-loads of fruit were
there, and chickens out of number ; while vendors of
curiosities and trinkets were found incongruously along-
side butchers and bakers. Some distance from this
spot stands the Notre Dame Cathedral, and to this
point streams of people were wending their way. En-
tering the door, the peasant reverently dips his finger
Montreal. 171
in the holy water, and crosses himself devoutly-, others,
like ourselves, were drawn through curiosity, and it
was no uninteresting sight to sit and watch the crowds
of pious Catholics ; for, to give them their due, they
looked sincere as they came, counted their beads,
breathed a prayer, dropt a coin into the plate, and then
retired quietly into the street. But when some peni-
tent sinner approached the confessional, and disappeared
for some time, to lay his sins and misdeeds before a
man no higher in intellect than himself, and from him
expect forgiveness, a feeling of pity came over us.
How such a revolting doctrine can lay hold of people
is past comprehension. A Unitarian minister, a man
of fine intellect and poetic feeling, accompanied us, and
expressed his profound contempt for such a proceeding.
One can sympathise with the holders of many doctrines
of various kinds that would be called far from orthodox
in Presbyterian Scotland ; but it is difficult to have any
feeling but one of the greatest disgust for this peculiar
tenet of Roman Catholicism. After breakfast, we pro-
ceeded to the Church of the " Gesu," another Roman
Catholic edifice of singular beauty both outside and in-
side. It is in the form of a cross, and the frescoes
and pictures are said to vie with those of the European
Cathedrals. After visiting various other churches and
colleges for they appear to be the correct places for
tourists to look at in Montreal we directed our steps
to the Grey Nunnery, where 500 old people and chil-
dren are looked after by 80 nuns. The wonderful
order and cleanliness of this place are among its re-
markable features, and speak volumes for the good
172 New World Notes.
ladies who undertake the work of nursing the old and
training the young, for inside that building age and
youth are seen in their greatest extremes. At twelve
o'clock the pious nuns offer up their midday paternos-
ters. In a large hall, on each side of which are rows
of seats, strangers are admitted to witness this perform-
ance. Up the wide centre passage, the nuns, dressed
in the garb of their order, walked two by two, bowing
low as they entered the doorway. When they were
all inside the room, they knelt down on the bare
stones that form the floor. A bell with a jingling
sound pealed forth all the time while they were en-
gaged at prayers. It was a sad sight as they gave
vent to their pent-up feelings in low yet deep tones.
Then, when all was done, they retired slowly through
the door-way back to their duties. These nuns are
mostly middle-aged to appearance, and have a cold
ascetic look. That they have noble traits in their cha-
racter no one can doubt, for it requires a great amount
of self-denial to give up all the world and its vanities
for the cloister, and a life of constant watching over
the aged and infirm. As we passed through the
churches and convents belonging to Roman Catholics,
not only seeing but hearing from various sources of the
enormous wealth possessed by that Church, it must be
obvious what a power over the mind their religion exer-
cises. It is wonderful to see the thousands who give
up under its control not only all earthly pleasures, but
also much of their means, to advance its doctrines.
Might we Protestants yea, the good Presbyterians of
Scotland not take a lesson from their book ?
Montreal. 173
The afternoon, which was wet and disagreeable,
was spent in walking round the mountain which lies to
the north of the city ; but, as the sun did not put in
an appearance till our return, the magnificent view
which is obtained from it was not enjoyed. Next
morning, getting on board the train at six o'clock, we
crossed the Victoria Bridge, and proceeded to Rouses
Point, a station at the head of Lake Champlain. Here
we enter a splendid steamer named the " Vermont,"
which proceeds rapidly down the lake. The scenery
is tame at first, but half-way down it improves. The
mountains of Vermont on the one side, and the Adi-
rondacks on the other, form a fine background to the
dark rich woods and steep rocks that border the shore.
At some parts a level meadow stretches' away some dis-
tance from the lake's side. A neat cottage, nestled
among some trees, stands in the midst ; but it is like
an oasis in the desert, for a fruitful soil is a rare
commodity, the land being generally covered with
stunted trees. Towards the southern end of the lake
the scene grows more picturesque and taking. Before
entering a narrow passage, resembling a canal more
than a lake, we pass the old Fort of Ticonderago,
situated upon a bold headland of rock. The boat then
proceeds slowly down a narrow passage overgrown
with tall grasses and enclosed with frowning rocks,
till Whitehall is reached, where the passengers again
get aboard the cars and proceed to Saratoga, which
place is reached by six o'clock at night. Space has
not allowed us to describe at length the passage down
the above lake. It is a most enjoyable one, and brings
174 New World Notes.
back to memory the Scotch lochs with their numerous
islets and imposing mountains. Such is Champlain,
studded in some parts with rocky pine-clad isles,
guarded by the rocky eminences of the Adirondacks
and wood-clad summits of the Green mountains, that
rear their lofty heads into mid-air.
XX.
Saratoga.
HE thought of loneliness is doubtless romantic,
but the stern reality brings no such feeling
in its train. To be alone amidst a bustling
crowd, amidst people with strange faces and different
purposes, produces a sensation in the mind far from
pleasant. So I felt on landing from the train at Sara-
toga. Up to this moment in all my wanderings,
whether through the forests of Virginia, across the
broad ocean-like prairies, amidst gold hunters, or the
more staid dwellers in Canada, some one, either by
chance or through letter of introduction, had come to
hand, and been the sharer of my toils and pleasures.
Such a fact has led me to use the plural number
throughout these papers. But on leaving Montreal,
no such fellow-creature turned up, and, truth to tell, I
little cared for companions, for it gave infinite pleasure
to think of the past and look forward to the future.
Many passengers crowded the boat that sailed swiftly
through Lake Champlain, and with not a few I passed
a civil word or two. Even one, after a fair number of
whiskies straight, opened his heart to tell me a dodge.
Said he u Everybody who goes to Canada buys an
176 New World Notes.
umbrella : the heavy tariff charged by our Govern-
ment is saved, for personal effects are free from custom
duties." So far good, but this sharp Yankee had in-
vested in a couple of the said articles, and was made to
pay for one by the dutiful custom-house officers. Thus
at the railway depot I was alone. Hotel runners, 'bus-
men, and others had failed to disturb the even tenor
of my mind, and my baggage check having been de-
livered to an expressman, I shaped my course for the
Grand Union Hotel. Arrived there, no bed is to
spare, although it can accommodate near 2000 guests.
It is Saturday, and " all the world and his wife" have
come to Saratoga. Exactly opposite the above house,
on the other side of a broad magnificent street, stands
the Congress Hall, the oldest and perhaps the most
aristocratic hotel at this fashionable watering-place.
Just in time to get a room about six storeys high, but
what matters it in those places of luxury to be up in
the sixth floor ? No stairs to climb here. Constant,
from early morn to late at night, a huge elevator runs
up and down for the accommodation of guests. Of
these American hostelries I have spoken more than
once; but the hotels at Saratoga " whip creation," as
far as I have seen. No one can imagine the luxury of
living in such places, and the most fanciful tale of the
" Arabian Nights" can only lead one to imagine the
gorgeous richness of their furnishings. The mag-
nificent drawing and retiring rooms, the ball-room,
large, airy, and tastefully decorated, the billiard saloon
with its bright lights and well-made tables, the table
that is crowned with every delicacy of the season, the
Saratoga. 177
band that daily discourses sweet music, are things of
wonder to a stranger. But it may be asked, What
reason for all this splendour ? Here is the answer.
Springs of water water that gives life to the sickly
and invigorates the weary one. At Saratoga there
well up in all directions streams more prized than any
others in the State. Looking back upon its history,
General Burgoyne here surrendered to the army of
patriotic Americans who fought the mother country for
their freedom. Now more peaceful is this spot ; but
instead of the hardy backwoodsmen who fought under
George Washington, we find their descendants flocking
to receive the water of life. A century has elapsed
since those days of war ; but if the mighty dead rose
and saw the occupants of the present, got a glimpse of
their dresses and equipages, methinks their hair would
stand on end. That evening found me sitting in the
ball-room of the hotel watching the gay and giddy
crowd. Seated in a quiet corner behind a row of
elderly young ladies, on whom the popular eye was
not directed, I could gaze with impunity upon the pass-
ing scene. What a phalanx of beauty was there }
Ladies of all sizes and ages, from the six-year-old, pre-
cocious and sharp, to the elderly matron, thronged the
hall all intent upon enjoyment. Girls and boys are
here turned into ladies and gentlemen long before the
natural time. " It is a fast life out here, stranger,"
said a gold miner to me one day ; and " a short one,"
remarked a laconic bystander a fact too true over all
Uncle Sam's estate, and nowhere more clearly demon-
strated than in that ball-room. The youth of America
H
178 New World Notes.
for by far the largest proportion of visitors belong to
that class come here, not to receive benefit, but seek-
ing gaiety and excitement. They can endure under a
false energy the whirl of the ball-room for any length
of time. Next morn behold them at the spring, hav-
ing been brought from the hotel some hundred yards
distant in a carriage, pale and worn. Thus far I had
been moralising, a state of mind engendered by the cir-
cumstances. Looking by chance towards the door, the
eye fell upon the well-known, massive figure of Dr.
N , a dentist of the highest standing, from New
York. " Fortune favours the brave." Not alone
after all. It was but the work of a moment to rush
up and grasp his hand, and then look up to his
astonished countenance. This was the man for me.
He knew everybody and about everything. So, after
some conversation, he began to point out the beaus and
belles among the number a Miss Wall, who brought
out the immortal Grecian bend. She is perhaps one of
the handsomest women one can see, and, although re-
port says she has seen twenty-six for the eighteenth
time, the bloom of youth, whether it be artificial or
otherwise, has not faded. Many other distinguished
parties were there poets, preachers, railway kings,
and rascals who had grown famous through their in-
famy. Before retiring, we took a stroll through the
streets and other hotels. Night during the months of
July and August is a most enjoyable time. After the
burning heat of the sun, the pleasant breeze that sighs
amidst the trees is perfect bliss. Such crowds were
there, all promenading up and down in light summer
Saratoga. 1 79
dresses, and no hats to shield the head ; so dry is the
atmosphere that no danger is feared.
The next day was the Sabbath, not in the sense we
look upon it in Scotland. Church-going had few ad-
vocates at Saratoga. In place of a sermon came the
Sunday morning edition of the Neiv York Herald^ per
special train, for the welfare, either spiritual or physical,
of its inhabitants. But, apart from this, the first com-
mandment, and the one most rigidly observed, whether
Sunday or Monday, is to visit the spring and drink
deep of the waters. So before breakfast, we turned
our steps to the Congress Spring. Under a canopy,
down below the level of the soil by some two or three
feet, are five or six boys termed dippers, who most in-
dustriously plunge a set of three tumblers fixed in an
iron stand into a spring that boils up with great force.
The bystanders help themselves to a glass of water.
The boy, relieved of his burden, places empty glasses
in his stand, and gives another dash at the spring. For
hours, from early morn till late at night, this process
goes on. To this water all are free the merchant
prince, the nigger shoe-black, the man-servant and the
maid-servant stand side by side. A continual flow of
visitors keeps up the whole forenoon. Towards after-
noon it grows less. While the waters are nominally
free, it is the custom to give the dipper boy a small
fee, something like a penny per glass, but that is op-
tional. The astonishing capacity, the tremendous im-
bibing powers of crowds who attend this spot, is mar-
vellous. Fifteen tumbler men, now nearly all gone to
their grave in this part of the world, would stand
i8o New World Notes.
aghast and watch the people drinking at those springs.
Twenty-five to thirty glasses per day is a common dose
for a strong man, and generally that quantity is taken
before dinner. At the same time, the glasses contain
rather less than our ordinary tumblers. These waters,
when first tasted, are a little unpleasant, but the taste is
soon acquired, and before leaving, I preferred them to
any other liquor Saratoga could produce , in fact, so
fascinated did we get that every day the doctor and I
made a round of the principal springs. Of these the
Congress is the most popular; but among other famous
ones are the Hawthorn, the Clarendon, the various
Geyser springs, situated about a mile from the .village,
and the High Rock, which is perhaps the most interest-
ing of them all. From the centre of a conical piece
of rock about three feet high there bubbles up a strong
icy stream, which sends its overflow down the sides
of the miniature mountain like a stream of lava. This
water contains some sediment in it, of what character I
do not recollect, but which forms a species of rock,
leaving always an outlet at the top for the overflow.
Sunday at Saratoga is given evidently much to drinking,
eating, promenading, and lolling in a rocking-chair under
the shade of the broad piazza; and as you must follow
the example of the Romans when at Rome, so we did
as other people, and passed a quiet day, taking a walk
during the forenoon to the Geyser springs, and spent
the remainder of it in watching our neighbours.
Through the evening, we had the doctrine of spiritual-
ism talked over with two ladies whom the doctor was
acquainted with. Now, it would be out of place here
Saratoga. 1 8 1
to enter into the peculiar opinions held by the believers
m this doctrine, but certainly the tenets advanced by its
advocates are rather astounding to a Presbyterian who
has been brought up under the rigid rule of Free
Kirkism. Nor is it easy to fathom the views of Spi-
litualists, for every member of that body has a separate
idea of his or her own ; for it is females whose minds
are most largely charged with faith in the revelations
produced through mediums and clairvoyants. In as
few words as possible, let us relate some instances of
spiritualistic revelations. The doctrine lies in the be-
lief that the spirits of the departed of fathers and
mothers, brothers and sisters, relations and friends, of
kings and conquerors long since forgotten can appear
to human mortals through the agency of mediums.
Thus, to illustrate : a gentleman whom we met at
Saratoga had just returned from spending a week with
the Eddies of Vermont. Far away from the busy
scenes of ordinary traffic and travel live a family in
the country district of Vermont. Farmers by profes-
sion, mediums by nature and inspiration, are the three
brothers and like number of sisters, who compose this
curious family. Seances are held every evening in a
room lighted by one solitary candle. The brothers
and sisters all go into a trance, and the spirits appear.
The latter are very fastidious, sometimes never appear-
ing, at others coming in crowds. An apparition, a
mere shadow at first, appears upon a platform ; then
gradually, in the uncertain light of the candle, it fills
out to the form of a human being, and stands before
the audience, who have come either to seek peace, or
1 82 New World Notes.
unravel the dark and bloody mystery. Many ques-
tions are asked of this spirit, and answers are freely re-
turned. Of the present and the past they can speak.
In respect of the future, they are but as mortals ; but
there are some curious scenes at these seances. Some-
times a party of Indian braves appeared, decked with
feathers and war-paint, and danced as only the red
man can, whooping and yelling to their hearts' content.
It is supposed these warriors have returned from their
happy hunting grounds to have a look at their de-
scendants of the present day. In another case a widow
saw, or imagined she looked upon, her departed hus-
band, whom in her innocence she thought had gone to
that great land of forgetfulness. But not so ; there
stood her husband, dead some three or four years. A
scene followed such a remarkable instance of spiritual-
istic power. In another case a father saw a beloved
daughter, and talked long and eagerly to her, but she
vanished, promising to return, which she never did
while the relater of the story stayed at the place. Bur
from one of the ladies who kept us company during
the evening, we got a more vivid example than from
any other person I ever met. Some five or six years
ago her husband died. Every September, on a par-
ticular day, she proceeds to a medium, who has the
marvellous power of recalling her husband's spirit back
to earth, and through the medium she holds a limited
conversation with her late departed one. " Ah ! sir,"
she said in a pathetic and sincere tone for she was a
lady in all senses of the word " it is a comforting doc-
trine to look across that dark river, and know that the
Saratoga. 183
dearest ones are safe and happy." "But," inquired
I, "do you really believe it is your husband ?" Such
a look of scorn met my question that I proceeded no
further on this tack, but commenced inquiry upon the
future state, as revealed to her and others. From
rather a confused description, it would appear that a
spirit, on leaving the body, has certain states to go
through before reaching its ultimate dwelling place.
While in the first stages of its new life, it can return
to the regions known as earth, its former abode ; so
that believers in this doctrine hold the opinion that our
ancestors see all that goes on that, in fact, as I write
at this present moment, relations and friends watch the
operation according to the doctrine of the Spiritualists.
Such, then, is an outline of some of the peculiar ideas
held by a large mass of people in America and else-
where, but more particularly among the New Englanders,
who are originally descended from the Puritans of
England. To my own mind, it is most astonishing
that such a doctrine has got hold of a large number of
sensible people ; for, while I despise the belief, I am
far from depreciating some of the master minds who
place implicit confidence in mediums. Nor would I
laugh at them. Spiritualists believe in God, but they
look upon Christ as a man, certainly a most extraordi-
nary manifestation of human nature, but yet a human
creature. (This would seem to identify the system
with one of the many forms of ami- Christ of which
we read in the scriptures.) But, apart from all the
doctrinal points involved, the manner in which the so-
called spirits appear at once raises suspicion. If they
184 New World Notes.
are proper spirits sent from God to do good, why not
appear in open daylight, instead of in dark rooms, from
recesses of walls, and mysterious closets. Some time
last winter the spiritualism of the Homes of Phila-
delphia was proved a hoax. I think the rest will soon
follow. You may hear of strange apparitions, of won-
derful feats performed by mediums, but, as far as I
inquired, I never saw any benefits flowing from them.
From Christianity much good is derived in various
ways ; at the same time, not much danger is to be
expected from the above. The religion of America,
which at the root is strong and healthy, has more to
fear from the disgusting doctrines of Free Loveism,
Bible Communism, Shakerism, and Mormonism.
Monday forenoon was spent in visiting a lake some
four miles distant, on whose waters ply miniature
steamboats accommodating pleasure-seekers who wish
a sail on its placid waters. It stands in the midst of
fertile farms we might almost call them gardens for
they are well farmed, and used mostly for producing
vegetables for the epicureans at Saratoga. On our way
home we witnessed some flat races. The first charge
was 43. to enter the ground, then 45. to reach the
stand, and for a payment of 8s. the spectator witnessed
some sham racing betwixt horses more fit for cabs than
a racecourse. After dinner we watched a hog perform,
which was infinitely more exciting than the perfor-
mances by the noble horse. Educated Ben was a
phenomenon a perfect prodigy. He could tell the
time, make up accounts, and play cards most correctly,
and, at the same time, he was about the ugliest, ill-
Saratoga. 185
bred animal I ever saw ; yet the showman, who termed
himself Professor, had his pupil well trained. The
evening was spent amid the ballrooms, for strangers
can pass almost without interruption from one room to
another, and the principal hotels have " hops " every
night. Tuesday was a regular roaster. It was de-
cidedly hot just such a day as made a person wish
to be for ever in a cold bath ; and if there had been
no springs, sherry cobblers, claret punches, lemonades,
cocktails, and other miscellaneous drinks would have
been in request. Towards noon we walked out into
the Indian camp, which stands on the outskirts of the
town. Twenty years ago, when the Doctor first
visited this spot, about a thousand Redskins dwelt in
the neighbourhood. Now, scarce a tenth of that num-
ber drag out a miserable existence by selling twisted
sticks, bead-work, and baskets. Civilisation has killed
them, and soon the Indian camp at Saratoga will be a
matter of history. It stands amidst a grove of stately
trees, but no wigwam is there. A civilised house,
made of wood, shelters the son of the forest. Curio-
sity leads many visitors there, but they find nothing
romantic. In the form of a square stand the dwel-
lings, while before the doors are benches on which
are set the trinkets and fancy wares palmed upon
unsuspecting sightseers by fat old squaws, or beautiful
half-bred girls, at five times their real value. More
accurately speaking, most of the so-called Indians are
but half-breds, a cross betwixt the French Canadian
and Redskin. While the ladies of the camp sell fancy
goods, the gentlemen attract strangers to their archery
1 86 New World Notes.
ground, or for the sum of twenty-five cents, give you
twelve shots with an air-gun at marks suspended from
the trees. This is the manner in which the remnants
of a great people gain their living amid usurpers.
Alas, poor red man ! thou canst not live among the
tents of thy white brother. They have more cunning,
they have firewater, they bring smallpox, they bring
strength in their train, and the odds are all against
thee. No longer now thy light canoes skim over the
mighty Hudson, nor does the deer that haunts the
wooded recesses of the green-clad Alleghanies fear thy
arrow. The vast prairie still maintains a few wandering
tribes, but smallpox and firewater have reached there
also. The hunter kills the bison, and both you and
your game are doomed to destruction. I have seen men
who crossed the prairies in 1849, when the gold fever
broke out in California. They described the red man
as a noble specimen of humanity. Thousands of bisons
roamed at large. To the first dwellers the Indian said,
" Welcome, stranger ! " It was not till the unholy emi-
grant, the scum of creation, thirsting for gold, for drink,
and imbued with deep passions that had been nurtured
amidst the haunts of vice, began to cross those fertile
fields, little heeding the rich country, but looking for-
ward to the veins of yellow gold that run through the
mountains of the Pacific slope ; then strife arose as
they hurried on, the red man found his horses stolen,
his wife and daughter ravished. A man of war, he
resented the injury, and since total extermination has
been the policy of his conquerors. But we diverge.
That afternoon found us listening to the band that dis-
Saratoga. 187
coursed sweet music to the guests at the Congress Hall
each day after dinner. There one could sit, hear the
music, read the papers, and smoke a cigar, for the ladies
do not object to the perfume of the soothing weed.
Evening came, and with it a cool, refreshing breeze.
Towards nine o'clock the scene was very brilliant.
The cool, delightful evening had brought out all the
fair sex dressed in their best. Ye gods ! there was
dress enough and to spare. It would have needed one
more experienced than either the Doctor or myself to
estimate the value in dollars of silks, satins, and jewels ;
but it was rumoured, whispered amidst the crowd, that
a fair lady had arrived some days previous, whose
luggage was contained in forty large-sized trunks.
Whether it be true or not, on good authority I was led
to believe that many ladies come to watering-places
such as Saratoga, and have a fresh dress morning and
evening for a month at a time. From what I saw I
can thoroughly believe it, although it looks incredible
on paper. This rage for dress has a tremendous hold
of Yankee ladies, and certainly, as far as personal ap-
pearance is concerned, they need it less than the females
of any other country. Sitting in the verandah of yon
hotel at Saratoga, one has ample opportunities to judge
of this circumstance. People of all nations are gathered
there Britishers, French, Germans, Cubans, Italians,
and Jews ; but from the crowd you detect at once
those who are born Americans. In no land does a
nation lose its leading features so soon as in the New
World. As if they passed through a grinding mill,
all nations are mixed up together in a marvellously short
1 88 New World Notes.
time ; in less than a generation different nationalities are
merged into one great distinct race, -with the English
language as its mother tongue. Well, to continue : in
that heterogeneous crowd at Saratoga, it is not difficult
to single out the ladies who own America as their
native land. They have a rich yet soft expression, with
rather a pale complexion, which failing is rectified by the
use of paint and powder. The figure is very perfect,
the shoulders being well-sloped, and the arms fitting
neatly into the slender waist. These, combined with
an erect, graceful carriage and charming address, strike
a stranger in a tender part. With all those natural
charms, the young lady of young America goes in
heavily for effect, and dress is the principal tool brought
into play to accomplish the end, and yet I would not
like to say affectation is a feature in their characters.
They are so frank, so generous, and yet so jealous.
I sat beside an elderly young lady in the gay saloon.
As every belle entered she had a piece of biting sarcasm
to entertain me with. Nothing so quickly or thoroughly
arouses a lady's feeling as seeing another who is better
dressed. In England they say women bother men ;
but away across the Atlantic, the reported paradise for
the female sex, with a few notable exceptions, such as
Salt Lake City, they torment one another, and perhaps
it is a pleasure in its way. But at Saratoga aye, in
in these very ball-rooms we get a glimpse of another
feature of American society. The shoddy throng
those gay rooms. Who are the shoddy ? And, to
tell the truth, that is no easy question to answer. They
are the people who have sprung up in a day the
Saratoga. 189
petroleum emperors, the coal goddesses, the tobacco
princes, and the girls with oil springs ; or, in other
words, shoddy, in its chrysalis state, means a coal-
viewer in Pennsylvania, a tobacco merchant in Rich-
mond, a cotton speculator in New Orleans, a gold-
miner in Nevada, a manipulator of State contracts, a
genteel robber of the public funds, a corn lord in Chi-
cago, or an owner of oil springs far in the wilds of
Canada. Rapidly, after it gets a fair start, does it
burst forth from the dreary winter of life into a more
active creature, and puts on showy, butterfly wings.
Shoddy, in this latter stage, whether you meet it in
river boat, by Highland loch, or amid Romish antiqui-
ties, is a vulgar man with a more vulgar wife, clad in
gay garments and studded with costly jewels, who
boast much and talk large, and guess England is a
mighty mean place in comparison to the States at the
same time letting it be known that they have made the
grand tour of Europe. Too often we in this country
judge of America and Americans by such samples as
the above. From these and such like the magnificent
band of shoddy is sprung. Totally uneducated, but
with loads of dollars, they come to copy the aristocracy
for free America has its aristocrats and, having
spent their gold and shown off their gaudy persons,
think themselves equal to their refined and accom-
plished neighbours. In such a place as the United
States, where life has many ups and downs, mighty
fortunes are made in a year or two ; so that the iron-
worker of Pennsylvania may be driving four-in-hand
down the public street of a fashionable watering-place
190 New World Notes.
five years hence. The tremendous rise in iron and
coal, the discovery of petroleum, the gold mines, and
other causes, have made men wealthy whether they
will or not, so that you meet the above class in every
hackneyed route. You find them among the wooded
valleys of the Blue Mountains, close by the roar of the
Niagara Falls, in the big steamboats of the St. Law-
rence, at the New England watering places, and they
have all the same characteristics vulgarity, and coarse-
ness of manner and feeling.
Such, then, is life at Saratoga. Next morning we
left, and great was our regret at leaving so soon. It
is a most enjoyable place, and more especially to the
man who has plenty of dollars to spare for if you
have luxury be sure the money will slip away.
XXI.
to
|N leaving Saratoga for New York, the tourist
can either proceed the entire route by rail,
or take the boat at Albany and sail down
the far-famed Hudson River, the Rhine of America.
Preferring the latter journey, I left Saratoga by rail on
the morning of the 5th August at 6.30 A.M., and shortly
after eight o'clock was on board the magnificent steamer
" Chauncey Vibbard." This was one of the finest
river-boats in the New World, and certainly for speed,
beautiful state-rooms, luxurious saloons, well-appointed
tables, and pleasant company, it will be difficult to beat.
Slowly we leave the wharf, then, answering to the
strokes of the monster paddles, the big boat lifts her
bow more proudly every revolution. To sail down
the Hudson is worth many miles of travel. On leav-
ing Albany, the river widens out considerably. On
each side is a wooded bank, cleared at some parts, on
the top of which stand romantic villas and Swiss -like
cottages. In front of these are neat gardens filled with
bright-hued flowers. Ofttimes, on a sandy slope not
far off, is a vineyard, green and luxuriant, supplying
the owners with grapes and wine. The mountains,
192 New World Notes.
whose sides are covered with trees, form a majestic
back-ground. Here the dark green pine is mixed with
the more delicate-coloured hardwood. Opposite a
place called Catskill the mountains are most picturesque
and grand, while the light and shade produced by the
clouds and sunshine overhead gave to their wooded
sides a beautiful appearance. So distinct was the
phenomena, the very shadows appeared to walk along
the mountain side. So on we go the live-long day,
past many romantic spots, hallowed not only by the
touch of Nature, but by incidents that occurred during
the war of Independence, when young America pur-
chased her freedom from Great Britain. At certain
points the river is confined in narrow limits by high
rocky cliffs that rise perpendicularly from the water.
The scenery is very impressive, and one feels that the
steamer is passing too quickly to allow the tourist to
drink in the beauties of the situation. Even amidst
the most sterile rocks trees and shrubs have gained a
footing. The mixture of deep green and grey colour
of the rocks blends well with the waters of the Hud-
son. Nearer to New York the scenery grows less
wild ; but more splendid houses amidst parks and
wooded demesnes line the sloping banks. About six
o'clock I have landed from the boat, and not long after
stand at the clerk's counter in the Fifth Avenue Hotel,
New York City. Back again to my starting point
after over three months' continuous travel, it seems more
like home. Next day was spent in making calls, and
thanking kind friends for services performed. That
same afternoon I went out to the country residence of
Saratoga to Scotland. 193
my Border friend, Mr. James Buchan, of whose noble
qualities and successful career I made mention in a for-
mer article. It was a pleasure that cannot be expressed
in words to stand once more below his roof, and re-
ceive the kind greetings and hearty welcome from all
the members of his large family. His third son, who
had just returned that morning from Europe, was
there also, and right glad was I to converse with one
who had so lately returned from my mother soil, and
had appreciated the romantic Border land and the homely
hospitality of its inhabitants. In honour of his return,
the fatted calf had been killed friends and relatives
were gathered to the festive board and all went merry
as a marriage bell ; aye, and more, for it was
" On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined,
No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet."
Yet amidst all our frolics, there was time to listen to
an old Border tale, related with graphic power by our
patriotic friend. The afternoon following, we had a
drive through the Central Park, returning towards
evening to Westchester. The day had been hot and
sultry, but towards evening a breeze had sprung up.
The house was situated not far from Long Island
Sound, and had the benefit of the sea air. It was a
quiet secluded place, a glorious spot to escape from the
din and bustle of the city. A well cultivated garden
stood behind it, with a pasture for the bovine race still
further back; not far away was a range of stables,
where a native of Hawick held high office, whose first
thought was his horses, then his dogs, for he still re-
N
194 New World Notes.
tained a soft side for Dandle Dinmonts and well-bred
Skye terriers. As the sun sank lower and lower in
the western horizon, silent Nature appeared to awake
to life ; and when the moon with unclouded majesty
began her round, all seemed gay and cheerful. From
a salt marsh came the hoarse note of the bull-frog, the
songsters of the forest poured forth a melodious song
of praise, the fire-flies danced about from tree to tree,
even the mosquito stopped biting for two or three
hours, and buzzed but feebly, just enough to let us
know he was still alive and ready to bite when wanted.
At this pleasant spot, and amid kind friends, passed the
evening swiftly away, the last upon American soil.
Next morn at an early hour, I was again passing
down the streets of New York, dirty and disagreeable,
for it had rained during early morning. By one o'clock,
I waved a last good-bye to some friends who accom-
panied me to the good ship " Italy," 6000 tons burden,
and looking back on the generous reception I had met
with at their hands and many others, I had good rea-
son to be thankful that Providence had been so kind.
In going to any country, I care not where, the first
duty is to be civil, and act like a gentleman -, and, while
you may think as you like about many things, it is well
not to criticise either the manner or institutions of a
strange people too harshly at first. Thus, while I went
along, opinions upon various subjects got fixed in the
mind, but I was careful not to express too strongly any
such ideas as were calculated to hurt the feelings of a
single person. A long may it not be the last adieu
to thee, fair land, with thy generous people ! Great
Saratoga to Scotland. 195
thou art at present. What thy future will be no man
can tell, so enormous, rich, and varied are your natural
resources.
But the steamship proceeds on her ocean passage
slowly and surely. Visions of sea sickness fly away
on a calm ocean. No striking event happens to dis-
turb the even tenor of our way. About mid-ocean a
western lawyer, who had never left his native wilds,
alarmed the cabin passengers by telling them that we
had narrowly escaped collision with a raft of pig-iron.
By good luck, the watch detected the unwieldy craft,
and our otherwise doomed ship was steered clear of
the impending danger. Our passage was favourable,
but perhaps we had the stormiest lot of first-class pas-
sengers aboard that could well be imagined. It was a
mighty queer crowd; so different from the company
on the outward passage. They were gathered from
all ends of the earth, and although there is always a
mixture at public tables, yet methinks the occupants of
the first cabin on board the " Italy" were the funniest
lot I ever saw, whether in England, Ireland, or Ame-
rica. The captain of the vessel was a gruff matter-of-
fact Scotchman, not saying much, but evidently like the
pitman's parrot, a d 1 to think. On his right
hand during meals sat an American General, whose
equilibrium was much disturbed by the sea voyage.
On his left he was supported by a lady and her hus-
band, who belonged to the English army, and whose
special object of hate appeared to be the purchase sys-
tem. Further down the table on the right sat a red-
haired gentleman, whose puns and sallies kept the
196 New World Notes.
company in amusement. He had fought for the South
in the terrible conflict, and was now broken down by
disease and rheumatism. Then came an engineer,
who had left Canada in disgust. Next to him sat a
Virginia planter, whose language was of the choicest
description that is to say, when the quid of tobacco
that he kept chewing in his mouth allowed proper arti-
culation. He was an Englishman by birth, and was
the tallest swearer I ever met. His sole luggage was
a tooth-brush in his watch-pocket, a collar inside his
hat, and an empty carpet bag. He was fond of
brandy and soda, in which he was joined by a doctor (?)
from western wilds and pastures green, who, at last,
succumbed to delirium tremens, and being locked up in
his cabin, he did not enjoy any more of his favourite
medicine. Another party, a hybrid between a Malay
and an Englishman, who shared the drink and often
paid the piper, got such a fright at his noble patron,
the doctor's imprisonment, that he became teetotal at
once. Among others were actresses of various grades,
from a prima donna down to a dancing girl, who had
visited some spots far from reputable amidst gold mines
and gambling hells. And there were ladies there of
the highest culture, who were crossing the Atlantic
Ferry to make the grand tour of Europe. Men of
gentlemanly feeling also graced th'e table. A news-
paper correspondent, who had mixed among all classes
of society, and knew the freaks of fashion perfectly,
preserved a contemptuous silence, and smoked his
hookah in perfect ease; A tailor from Philadelphia
strutted consequentially the quarter-deck, and made
Saratoga to Scotland. 197
love vigorously to a fair steerage passenger. An un-
married female, rather past the bloom of youth, con-
fided her love affairs with the most refreshing in-
nocence, and showed to her confidants the likeness of
her future hope. Happy man ! none but the brave
deserve the fair. But look, ye bachelors ! upon the
other side of the question. There was a man a
quiet, inoffensive man on board that boat, who had
a wife in every sense of the word. His duties were
legion. He dressed the children, three promising in-
fants, who roared frantically when not getting their
own way. Then he fed them at meals, walked them up
and down the deck, while my lady sat and superintended
the operation with loving grace. If I had been in the
place of that man, I would have gone straight to In-
diana, or some of the States where divorces are got
for a mere trifle. Well, there were others French,
Italians, Germans, Jews, and a solitary Scotchman, who
never told any person his name, and so went on his
way rejoicing when the boat anchored in the Mersey
late in the evening of the zoth August. Once more
the splendid docks, the palatial buildings, the busy
streets of Liverpool seven or eight miles of the river
side covered with docks, at some points three tier deep,
is a sight worth going to see, and tells very truly of
England's commercial wealth.
Some days after, just as the sun had tinged the top
of Cheviot with a purple hue, I stood in a field situated
upon Haddon Rig. There was a whirr of reapers as
they mowed down the golden grain. The joyous
laugh, the merry voices of many workers broke upon
198 New World Notes.
the ear as they gathered up the sheaves neatly laid off
the machines. Overhead the lark poured forth his
morning matin as if inspired with the cheerfulness of
those below him, and as he mounted higher, more dis-
tant, yet as sweet, came back his joyous note, till at
last, rising far into the blue vault of heaven, he is lost
to view, and his prayer is no longer heard. Far
stretching on every side was a magnificent landscape,
such as seldom meets the eye of any traveller. Oft
had I looked upon that scene, yet never till then did I
realise its true grandeur, its romance, its richness, its syl-
van softness. Eastward, down the valley of the Tweed,
round by Twizel and Norham's castled steep, is a rich
expanse of country the merse of Berwickshire, well
watered and thickly wooded, covered with fine farms,
neat homesteads, and splendid houses, the home of
many an honest hard-working agriculturist, and thickly
populated with a peasantry second to none in Great
Britain. No hills back up that view the deep blue sea
laves a low and rocky shore ; but, as the eye travels
round the northern horizon, it gazes on the purple
hills of Lammermoor. Here the heather blooms, the
blue bell luxuriates, the streams that wind down many
a lovely glen are filled with trout, and peace and plenty
mark its inhabitants. As the spectator looks across the
valley of the Tweed to those hills, he sees a castle that
looms up like some mighty landmark. These warlike
towers are silent now ; the warriors of ancient days are
supplanted by a more peaceful race. Around it lie well-
cultivated fields, whose crops are ready for the sickle.
A mist that hung o'er the river was being dispelled by
Saratoga to Scotland. 199
the warm rays of the sun. Then what a panorama lay
before one, as, looking westward, you gaze upon the
ducal castle of Floors, surrounded by tall oak woods
and grassy lawns a place which, for natural situation,
can scarcely be beat. The classic Tweed flows betwixt
it and the old ruin of Roxburgh Castle, famous in
Border history. There lies Kelso, with its ancient
abbey, its steepled kirks, its sheltered situation : and far
away up the course of the Tweed is triple Eildon, at
whose base lie Melrose Abbey, Dryburgh, and Abbots-
ford a glorious country, the birthplace of many a
legend given to the world by the mighty genius of
Scott. The green grassy hills of Cheviot bound this
vast scene on the south, and as I look from point to
point, from place to place, memory wanders back to
many a day when up thy stream with rod in hand I've
sent the deadly lure o'er the unsuspecting trout ; when
autumn came oft have I roamed across heather-clad
hills, down grassy glens, or turnip fields, with gun in
hand and dog at heel, following during the live-long day
after grouse, wily blackcock, or the innocent partridge.
Yet again, fancy leads me back to many a winter scene
upon the creaking ice, when curling stones roared loudly
in our ears. But to me this glorious Border land has
more than a passing charm. It is home, sweet home.
Readers, can I add anything more ? But, let me quote
the famous words Scott puts into the mouth of the
Last Minstrel, and I have done :
" Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land !
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,
2OD New World Notes.
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,
From wandering on a foreign strand !
If such there breathe, go, mark him well ;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell ;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim ;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, nnhonour'd, and unsung.
" O Caledonia ! stern and wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child !
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires ! what mortal hand
Can e'er untie the filial band
That knits me to thy rugged strand !"
FINIS.
KKLSO: PKINTKD BV UUTHEUKURD &. CRAIG.
WORKS PUBLISHED BY
J. & J. H. RUTHERFURD,
SO, SQUARE, KELSO.
Just Published,
BORDER BREEDS OF SHEEP,
BY JOHN USHER, STODRIG, KELSO.
WITH AN APPENDIX.
Special Edition, price 8s 6d, post free, containing the
following first-class Photographs :
The Author.
Group ol Blackfaced Ewes.
Blackfaced Tup.
Group of Border Leicester?, and
Scene on the Tweed at
Mertoun.
James Archibald, Duddingston. Border Leicester Tup (Mertoun).
Blackfaced Tup Lamb. j Border Leicester Shearling Tup
Scenery of the Cheviots. (Mr Lees').
Group of Cheviot Gimmt-rs. [ Andrew Paterson, Mertoun.
Bel ford Old House. i Border Leicester Ewe (Mer-
Thomas Elliot, Hindhope. toun).
Cheviot Tup (Mr Elliot's). Late William Aitchison, Lin-
Cheviot Yearling Tup (Mr j ' hope.
Archibald's).
Editions with fewer Photographs, prices 5s 6d and 2s 6d, are
also ready.
Just Published, price 3s,
LIFE AND TIMES OF
WILLIAM THOMSON,
Late Farmer, Over-Roxburgh.
BY HIS SON, THE REV. J. THOMSON, HAWICK.
"We have read this volume through without stopping a
pretty sure sign that it lias some 'glamour' in it. The book
is full of splendid bucolic pictures real photographs of Border
rural life as it was half a century since." Sunderland Times,
July 9, 1875.
2
J. & J. H. Rutforfurd'a Publication*.
FARM
BUSINESS BOOKS
PRF.PAl'.ED BY
J.&J.H.RUTHERFURD '
KELSO.
THE FIELD AND STACK-YARD BOOK.
The object of this book is to help farmers to keep an accurate
account of the grain e^rown, thrashed, and sold ; the whole
being so arranged as to shew the size of each nekl, the number
of stacks obtained from it, the time when thrashed, the amount
of good and of light urain produced, the date and manner of
disposal, the price and net receipts, also the yield per acre of
each field : all these seemingly intricate details being attained
with great simplicity.
PUICES Made of the best paper and Stoutlv Half-bound
Calf, 6s (postage 6d) and 83 6d (postage lOd).
Supplementary to tiit field and Stack-yard Dual; is issued
THE BARN & GRANARY STOCK BOOK,
For the Steward or Manager's keeping -shewing what has be-
come of the Corn ; the Stock on hand, &c. a record and voucher,
in fact. Prices, stoutly half-bound in calf, 3s (postage 4d) and
5s Cd (postage 7d).
WORKERS' TIME AND WAGE BOOKS.
Drawn up for Weekly Accounts Drawn up for Monthly Accounts
the most useful for small farms
Is each and upwaids.
the most useful for large farm.s
Is 6d each and upwards.
Drawn up for FOUTNIOHILT ACCOUNTS, 1/6 each and upwards
REAPERS' TIME AND WAGE TABLE.
On a Sheet for Harvest Labour. Price, post free, 6d.
Various Special Stylet of Time and Wage Books and Tables.
. <C- J. H. Rutlierfurd's Publication*.
NEW SERIES OF
LIVE STOCK BOOKS.
Lately prepared,
SHEEP (System for Hill Farms), with KEY. Large oblong 4to
size, price 4s 6d (postage od).
SHEEP (System for Arable Farms new and greatly improved
issue), with KEY and PRINTED HEADINGS. Large ob-
long 4to siae. Prices, 5s (postage 5d) and 10s 6d (post-
age 8d).
CATTLE (do.), with KEY and PRINTED HEADINGS, and Sur-
' PLEMENTARY PAGK8 FOR S\VINE ACCOUNT. Foolscap
folio size, price 4s 6d (postage 6d).
SHEPHERDS' MONTHLY RETURN SHEETS, Is per Doz.
In preparation (arranged by an eminent AgriculturitL
of tlie District),
A SUGGESTIVE SYSTEM OF
BOOK-KEEPING,
Suitable for using with J. <fe J. H. Rutherfurd's Farm Books.
Now Ready, oblong 4to,
SHEPHEEDS' and HINDS' ENGAGEMENT FORMS.
Each book consists of 24 Forms with Counterfoil. Post free for
Is 2d, in stamps.
Laldy Published, icith Portrait of the Autlior, price Is 6V,
HINTS TO STOCKOWNERS,
BY WILLIAM ROBERTSON, V.S., KELSO.
4 J. <{; /. If. Putherfurd's Publication*.
RUTHERFU RD'S
MAP OF THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES,
(ROXBURGH, BKRWICK, SKLKIRK, and part of NORTHUMBERLAND),
Carefully compiled by J.BARTHOLOMEW, Edinburgh, F.R.O.S.,
from the Ordnance Survey Plans, on the scale of one-third
of an inch to the mile. For beauty of engraving and
geographical accuracy, this Map surpasses any County
Map of the District ever yet published it forms an ex-
cellent HUNTING MAP, Price, Mounted on Cloth, done up
with a sketch map of the District, &c., in a handy case for
the Pocket, 2s. Gd , with an accompanying Epitome of
country information for the use of tourists, anglers, and
sportsmen, 3s.
Just Publistted,
RUTHERFURD'S GUIDE AND TRAVELLING MAPS
OF THE BOEDER COUNTIES.
A T o. /., Price Sd,
"BERWICKSHIRE, in Covr, with 7 pages of Letterpress
J) Notes.
No. II., Price 8d,
"ROXBURGHSHIRE, in Cover, with 7 pages of Letterpress
n Notes.
Xo. ///., Price 6d,
in Cover, with 3
Notes.
" Most excellent Maps." Scotsman.
SELKIRKSHIRE, in Cover, with 3 pages of Letterpress
U Notes.
J. li J. H. Rutherfurd arc Agents. \>\ special appointment, for the
sale of Ordnance Survey Maps and 1'lmis.
Parishes, Kstates, and Farms Extracted, Airanged, and Mounted
in any style.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
*orm L9-Series 4939
Ml
/\ 001 2oy > *