I 
 
u> 
 
THE 
 
 EMIGRANT'S NOTE BOOK 
 
 AND 
 
 GUIDE; 
 
 WITH RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, 
 
 DURING THE LATE WAR. 
 
 " The wise and active conquer difficulties 
 By daring to attempt them. Sloth and folly 
 Shiver and shrink, at sight of toil and hazard, 
 And make the impossibilities they fear," 
 
 7* 
 
 BY LIEUTENANT J. C. MORGAN, H. P. 
 
 LATE SECOND BATT. B. M. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Published for the Author, 
 v BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
 
 1824. 
 
 C<7 
 
LONDON ; 
 
 SKACKELL AND ARROWSMfTH, JORNSOX'S-COITST, 
 FLEET-STREET. 
 
 
SIR GEORGE COCKBURN, M.P. 
 
 KNIGHT GRAND CROSS 
 
 Of the Military Order of the Bath, 
 
 LORD COMMISSIONER OF THE ADMIRALTY, 
 VICE ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE, 
 
 MAJOR GENERAL OF MARINES, 
 i&C. &c. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 In addressing one who has devoted 
 himself to his country, — and who ranks so 
 high in a service, as conspicuous for its can- 
 dour as for its gallantry, — it would be an 
 insult to offer the language of flattery and 
 adulation : it would likewise ill accord with 
 my own feelings. Even were I here to 
 allude to particular actions, and attempt to 
 hold them up to the admiration of the world 
 — from my total inability to do justice to the 
 
IV 
 
 task — I should incur the charge of vanity 
 and presumption. Permit me^ therefore, Sir, 
 in the plain and simple language of truth, 
 to assure you of my gratitude, and more 
 particularly, for being allowed to dedicate to 
 
 you this humble effort of my pen. With 
 
 every sentiment of respect, 
 
 I have the Honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 J. C. MORGAN. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 If 
 At the commencement of the late 
 
 war with the United States of America, 
 the first and second battalions 
 of Royal Marines, under the com- 
 mand of lieutenant-colonels Sir Rich- 
 ard Williams, and Sir James Malcolm, 
 Knights Commanders of the Bath, 
 were recalled from the north of Spain, 
 and after being properly recruited 
 and equipped, were dispatched for 
 the coast of America, in the early part 
 of the year 1813. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 The Islands of Bermuda was the 
 first point of rendezvous ; and here 
 we arrived on the 23d May, after a 
 passage of six weeks, in his Majesty's 
 ships Diadem, Diamede, Fox, Nemis- 
 ses, Success and Romulus, armed 
 en flute, and Mariner armed transport. 
 
 The events which occurred in the 
 voyage, were such as occur to other 
 people, similarly situated, and there- 
 fore need no particular description. 
 
 I shall consequently only observe, 
 that my companions were just such 
 as a man would wish to be embarked 
 with, for a long voyage, and to those 
 friends — 
 
 " Well pleased I turn'd 
 Regardless of the storms which raged without." 
 
 A brief sketch of the Bermudas 
 may, however, amuse the fire-side 
 traveller, who may peruse these 
 pages. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 This cluster of Islands, which the 
 Bermudians insist on being exactly 
 365 in number, contains not more 
 than 20,000 acres, generally very 
 light land, and of no extraordinary 
 fertility. 
 
 They are situated at a great 
 distance from any other island or 
 continent, in 32 N. latitude, and 
 63 W. longitude ; 4,500 miles from 
 the Land's-end, Cornwall ; 3,500 from 
 Madeira, and 500 miles E. of Charles- 
 town, South Carolina. 
 
 They appear to have received their 
 first name from John Bermuda, a 
 Spaniard, who discovered them in 
 1552, and were afterwards called the 
 Summer Islands, from Sir Geo. Sum- 
 mers, who was shipwrecked upon 
 them in 1609. 
 
 Finding them deserted bv the 
 Spaniards, he took possession of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 them, and they have ever since 
 remained in the hands of the English. 
 
 The inhabitants had formerly a 
 small traffic in vegetables, with the 
 West Indian Islands, likewise in a 
 particular description of hat, made 
 of the Palmetto tree, then generally 
 worn in warm climates. Cedar is at 
 present their principal staple com- 
 modity, and these trees they cultivate 
 with the greatest care and attention ; 
 their property and consequence being 
 generally estimated by the number 
 of slaves and cedars they possess. 
 
 These two commodities likewise 
 constitute their children's fortunes. 
 
 With the latter, the Bermudians 
 build their far-famed, fast sailing 
 schooners, with which they drive a 
 considerable trade between North 
 America, and the West Indies. 
 
 During the late war, Bermuda was 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 one of the principal rendezvous for 
 the English Fleet, in that quarter of 
 the world, although the passage to the 
 anchorage, through a long reef of 
 rocks, is one of peculiar danger in 
 bad weather. 
 
 Tobacco and arrow root are like- 
 wise cultivated in these islands, 
 which, from their numbers, afford 
 numerous harbours and bays, for 
 small craft, in all directions through 
 the plantations. 
 
 Here the cedar, the palmetto, the 
 wild thyme, tamarind, cocoa nut, and 
 bahama trees, with various others, 
 decorate the vallies, whilst a thousand 
 variegated shrubs and flowers "dis- 
 pense native perfumes," making the 
 imagination almost fancy itself in 
 fairy land. 
 
 The most remarkable of the fea- 
 thered creation are the Tropic blue 
 
X JPREFACE, 
 
 and red birds, or Virginian Nightin- 
 gales, of beautiful plumage, but 
 whose notes are far inferior to those 
 of the English Thrush. Likewise 
 the little Humming Bird, of exa^usite 
 beauty, whose beak is nearly the length 
 of his body, and whose whole frame 
 is very little larger than a Queen Bee. 
 
 The domesticated part of the fea- 
 thered tribe are, however, not so se- 
 cure from harm as those who roam 
 free and unconfmed ; such incredible 
 swarms of rats harbour in the cre- 
 vices of the rocks, as renders the 
 greatest care necessary, to prevent 
 every unfortunate fowl from being 
 carried off by these midnight ma- 
 rauders. 
 
 The principal Islands are Ireland, 
 where there is a naval depot and 
 dock-yard, St. George's, St. David's, 
 Somerset, Long, Bird, Cooper, and 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 Nonsuch. The capital town is St. 
 George^s, which contains about 2,000 
 houses, and is defended by several 
 forts. 
 
 Provisions were exorbitantly high 
 in the Bermudas during the war, and 
 in this respect it was a wretched 
 quarter ; for above all the natural 
 beauties of a country, in a time of 
 scarcity — 
 
 " There is a pleasure in a good sirloin 
 Which starvelings only know." 
 
 In the midst of this general priva- 
 tion of eatables, however, I remem- 
 ber drinking some very fair claret, at 
 3s. the bottle. 
 
 The village of Hamilton is finely 
 situated on the shelving shore of an 
 extensive bay ; and about two miles 
 from this place, " The army of the 
 coast !" was encamped and organized. 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 The two flank companies, with one 
 wing of the 102d regiment, and the 
 second battalion royal marines, formed 
 the first brigade under the command 
 orLieut. Colonel Napier. The second 
 brigade consisted of the first battalion 
 royal marines, and a detachment of 
 foreign light infantry — this was com- 
 manded by Lieut. Colonel Sir Richard 
 Williams, and each brigade had a 
 company of royal marine artillery 
 attached to it, under Captains Park 
 and Parry. 
 
 The whole force, amounting to 
 about 2,400 men (subject to the di- 
 rections of Admirals Sir John War- 
 ren and Sir George Cockburn), was 
 placed under the command of Major 
 General Sir Sydney Beckwith, an 
 officer of experience in the Peninsula, 
 and who had with Lieut. Colonel 
 Napier particularly distinguished him- 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 self in the battle on the heights above 
 Corunna, where the latter, (then 
 Major of the 50th) was dangerously 
 wounded. His life was however hap- 
 pily spared to his country and his 
 friends, through the humanity of a 
 French drummer, who finding him 
 on the field bleeding and senseless, 
 bound up his wounds, and carried him 
 to Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, 
 who, I have understood, presented 
 him with a medal for his conduct. 
 
 I am anxious to believe the facts 
 were so, because such actions do 
 honor to the country, and to the pro- 
 fession of the individuals who per- 
 form them, to whatever nation thev 
 may belong. God forbid that it 
 should be supposed by any of us, 
 that British soldiers and sailors are 
 alone capable of performing great 
 and honorable actions, or that I 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 should refuse my humble offering of 
 praise and admiration, to a humane 
 and gallant enemy, for such actions 
 as these.* 
 
 Of Lieut. Colonels Williams and 
 Malcolm I shall here say but little — 
 to do them justice would from me 
 appear like flattery, and an attempt 
 to do less is not in my nature. In- 
 deed no panegyric is necessary — 
 the General Orders and Public Dis- 
 patches of their Commanding Officers, 
 and the especial mark of their So- 
 vereign's approbation, in conferring 
 upon them the Star of the Military 
 
 * ¥/~hen Sir John Moore was informed that the 
 50th regiment, under Majors Napier and Stanhope, 
 had expended all their ammunition, his reply was, 
 " The 50th have their bayonets, "' and on seeing (he 
 admirable way in which they immediately after- 
 wards made use of them, he exclaimed in a pa- 
 roxysm of delight, " Well done the 50th — well 
 done my Majors." 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 Order of the Bath, afford ample 
 proofs of their meritorious services. 
 
 Such was the " army of the coast," 
 and such were the principal officers 
 by whom it was commanded. 
 
 It is not my intention to enter into 
 a detail of our operations in Mary- 
 land, Virginia, and Carolina, because 
 there were no fighting matches of 
 sufficient importance to interest the 
 general reader. Any thing like a 
 description of an action, since the 
 battle of Waterloo, would be non- 
 sense, and those who have read over 
 and over again, the history of the 
 18th June, 1815, until their eyes ache, 
 would think any thing less than 
 20,000 men and 20,000 horses put 
 hors de combat, a mere bagatelle. 
 
 Now, as our whole army would 
 scarcely, I suppose in their idea, 
 have been more than a breakfast for 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 the Cuirasseurs, I shall merely state, 
 that we were employed from June 
 until the middle of September in 
 landing, up to our necks, on the Ame- 
 rican coast, and in embarking again 
 in the same comfortable manner. 
 During one of these excursions, I re- 
 member well being very nearly taken 
 prisoner, and that having as great an 
 aversion to this as ever Mr. Shandy, 
 senior, had to " saps, mines, blinds, 
 gabions, palisadoes, ravelins, half 
 moons,' and such trumpery," I con- 
 trived to escape. 
 
 By our attacks upon Norfolk, 
 Hampton, Queenstown, Occacock, 
 &c. &c, the American Government 
 was obliged to keep several thousand 
 men moving in double quick time, up 
 and down their own coast, from the 
 Delaware to Cape Hatteras, a dis- 
 tance of several hundred miles, who 
 
PREFACE. XV 11 
 
 would otherwise have been on the 
 frontier of Canada. 
 
 In September, as was before ob- 
 served, we left the North Coast of the 
 United States, and many will remem- 
 ber with considerable interest the 
 events of the three preceding months 
 — many will not be able to do so, from 
 very evident causes. 
 
 After remaining a short time at 
 Halifax, the two battalions of Marines 
 with the Artillery, received orders to 
 embark for Quebec, where they ar- 
 rived in October, and were afterwards 
 employed in the defence of Upper 
 and Lower Canada until the conclu- 
 sion of the war. 
 
 How they conducted themselves 
 during this time will be best seen by 
 the following extract from a General 
 Order, issued by the Commander in 
 Chief and Governor General, on the 
 
XV111 PREFACE. 
 
 breaking up of the first battalion, for 
 the service of the Lakes. — 
 
 " The Commander of the Forces 
 in complying with the orders of Go- 
 vernment, in this disposal of the bat- 
 talion of Royal Marines, considers it 
 an act of justice to that valuable and 
 respectable corps to declare his entire 
 approbation of the correct and steady 
 discipline that has uniformly characte- 
 rized the Royal Marines, since their 
 arrival in Canada. 
 
 " The first battalion, under Lieut. 
 Colonel Williams, in the exact and 
 diligent discharge of the duties as- 
 signed to it, in the occupation of the 
 most critical and important position 
 on the frontier, has evinced, in a man- 
 ner highly honorable to the corps, the 
 talent and judgment of the Com- 
 mander, the intelligence and vigilance 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 of the Officers, and the tried fidelity 
 and discipline of the corps. 
 
 " The second battalion, under 
 Lieut. Colonel Malcolm, afforded an 
 opportunity of manifesting its gallan- 
 try, and devotion to the service, in the 
 assault of the Fort of Oswego," &c. 
 
 By this General Order, Sir R. 
 Williams and Major Mortimer, with 
 the Staff of the first battalion, were 
 directed to proceed to Halifax, to 
 which place Sir J. Malcolm and 
 Major Stirling, with the Staff of the 
 second, had been previously ordered. 
 They were all afterwards engaged in 
 the attack upon Washington and 
 Baltimore, as will be seen by refer- 
 ence to the Public Dispatches of 
 Admiral Sir George Cockburn, and 
 Major General Ross. 
 
 Having remained in Canada with 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 the detachments of the first and se- 
 cond battalions, commanded by Major 
 Dougal Stuart Dalzell, and Major 
 George Peebles,* I had various op- 
 portunities of becoming acquainted 
 with the two provinces ; and to the time 
 thus passed, I now look back with an 
 extraordinary feeling of interest. 
 
 In the hey-day of life, when our 
 actions are actuated by the warmer 
 and kindlier influences of our nature, 
 many things occur which make a 
 lasting impression upon the mind. 
 Before the wisdom of the world has 
 made us acquainted, and assimi- 
 lated us in a lesser or greater degree, 
 
 * The first of these officers was severely wounded 
 at the battle of Alexandria — the latter (Major 
 George Peebles) when a Lieutenant, commanded 
 the Marines at the storming of Fort Amsterdam in 
 the Island of Curuaso, and for his conduct on that 
 occasion he was promoted to the brevet rank of 
 Captain in the Army. 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 with the tricks and chicanery of 
 mankind, we breathe as it were in a 
 peculiar world of our own, and it is 
 then, that the prominent character of 
 our nature is displayed. 
 
 When the fire of our youth becomes 
 damped by the influence of time or 
 early misfortune, we become mere 
 creatures of habit, and remain so 
 until the last hour of our existence ; 
 but, although the fire and animation 
 of our youth may have died away, 
 the warmth of its early impressions 
 and recollections still remain the 
 same in our hearts. 
 
 " Time but the impression stronger makes, 
 As streams their channels deeper wear." 
 
 Actuated by these feelings and sen- 
 timents, in the Autumn of last year I 
 again embarked for Canada, intend- 
 
XX11 PREFACE. 
 
 ing to settle with my family on the 
 tract of land to which I am entitled 
 by the Government regulation. A 
 succession of bad weather in the 
 Channel, however, occasioned our 
 being nearly as long between Graves- 
 end and Portsmouth as is often occu- 
 pied in the whole passage to Quebec, 
 and this, with other circumstances, 
 obliged me to leave the ship, and give 
 up my projected emigration until the 
 ensuing season. 
 
 Those who have experienced simi- 
 lar disappointments, will readily ima- 
 gine with what reluctance I gave up 
 the hope of proceeding, after having 
 made all my arrangements. 
 
 In order to relieve myself from the 
 ennui occasioned by this delay, I have 
 since occupied my time in preparing 
 the following pages for the press. 
 
PREFACE. XX111 
 
 Whilst in America I kept a rough 
 note book of dates, distances, and 
 events, &c. &c, this has enabled me 
 to effect my object with greater faci- 
 lity, and I trust the Work with the 
 Map, will be found useful to the 
 emigrant, and not uninteresting to 
 the general reader. 
 
 For any defects of the head which 
 the critic may observe, I make no 
 apology, because apology is out of 
 the question, where the intention is 
 to do right. For any errors of the 
 heart no apology or excuse could 
 make amends. 
 
 I therefore give it to the Public 
 with all its faults, trusting, that there 
 is nothing in it that will either dis- 
 grace my Nature, my Profession, or 
 my Country. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 2, line 1,for " which " read " of which*" 
 
 66, end of line 21, read " I.»" 
 
 — - 81, line f, for " western " r<?#d « N.W, or inland.'* 
 — — 1T9, line 21, for " way " read * weigh," 
 
 195, line 6, in motto of chap, xii, for (i force" read 
 
 "tide. ; > 
 — — 347, line I, /or (C exlcaim "read '* exclaim. 1 " 
 
r 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 " Breathes there the man — with soul so dead, 
 Who never to himself has said, 
 
 This is my own, my native land^ 
 Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, 
 As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, 
 
 From wandering on a foreign strand. 
 If such there be — go mark him well." 
 
 Nature — all-powerful Nature — 
 reigning in the hearts, and influenc- 
 ing the actions of all men — makes 
 them cling with affectionate regard 
 to the country where they first drew 
 the breath of life : it matters not 
 where that country may be, whether 
 under the torrid, or the frigid zone. 
 
 B 
 
" I prefer/' said a French officer, 
 on returning from foreign service, 
 " my native fields to every other 
 place — not because they are more 
 beautiful, but because I was there 
 brought up — the spot on which we 
 past our infant days possesses a 
 secret charm, an inexpressible en- 
 chantment — no other on the face of 
 the earth can equal it." 
 
 Would the Indian, in his native 
 wilds, whilst exposed to the scorch- 
 ing heat of a summer sun, or the 
 cold and frosts of a North American 
 winter, sigh with regret, that he was 
 not across " the Great Lake," in the 
 countries which he has heard, are 
 rolling in luxury and ease ? Oh, 
 no ! The parching sun, the chilling 
 snow storms and the freezing blasts, 
 are all alike indifferent to him. He 
 hunts during the day with unwearied 
 
perseverance, or on the borders of a 
 solitary stream, — patiently waits until 
 he obtains sufficient to supply the mo- 
 derate wants of nature. Contentedly 
 ignorant, and feeling no wish, or am- 
 bition for more than his hunting 
 grounds afford, he lays him down to 
 rest, beneath the wide-spread canopy 
 of Heaven, a stranger to all those in- 
 quietudes and miseries, which his 
 more refined and civilized fellow- 
 creatures are hourly subject to. 
 
 " We were born upon this spot, 
 our fathers are buried here , shall we 
 say to their bones, rise up, and go with 
 us to a strange land ?" — Such was the 
 observation of a Canadian Indian 
 Chief, to one who was pressing him 
 to leave his patrimony, and such will 
 be the feeling of every man. But, 
 alas ! " the race is not always for the 
 swift, or the battle for the strong/' 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 and a variety of circumstances may 
 occur to make men, whose hearts 
 beat warm with affection for their 
 country and their kindred, — abandon 
 them for ever. 
 
 Misfortune, in various shapes, 
 treading close upon their heels, in 
 spite of every mental and bodily 
 exertion, may ultimately succeed in 
 driving them from that station, which 
 they had endeavoured respectably to 
 maintain. — Indeed, " when I reflect 
 upon man ; and take a view of that 
 dark side of him, which represents 
 his life as open to so many causes of 
 trouble ; when I consider how oft we 
 eat the bread of affliction, and that 
 we are born to it, as to the portion 
 of our inheritance; when one runs 
 over the catalogue of all the cross 
 reckonings and sorrowful items with 
 which the heart of man is over- 
 
 
charged ; it is wonderful by what 
 hidden resources the mind is enabled 
 to stand it out, and bear itself up, as 
 it does, against the impositions laid 
 upon our nature.* 
 
 Surely, surely then, it would be far 
 better for him, who has struggled 
 in vain against the tide of adversity 
 in this country, to retire to some re- 
 mote corner of the earth, where he 
 can live dependant only upon the 
 Almighty and himself, than to 
 breathe a sort of second-hand exist- 
 ence, in the very source of painful 
 recollections, and where he would 
 most probably see his children grow- 
 ing up around him totally unprovided 
 for. 
 
 To such a man, and to others who 
 choose to emigrate, and who possess 
 
 * Sterne, 
 
firm and patient minds, and are of 
 persevering and industrious habits; 
 an emigration to either of the British 
 Colonies in North America, presents 
 many advantages. 
 
 He will find that the difficulties of 
 settling in a new country, will only 
 prove an incitement to labour, whilst 
 the hope of future ease and enjoy- 
 ment, daily more and more cherished 
 by increased sources of happiness, will 
 act as a stimulant to unwearied exer- 
 tion. And finally, through the bless- 
 ings of a beneficent Providence, on 
 whom every thing around teaches him 
 to look with greater veneration, his 
 laudable efforts will be crowned with 
 well-deserved success. 
 
 It is, however, lamentable to re- 
 flect on the delusive hopes and 
 chimerical ideas, entertained by the 
 far greater proportion of emigrants. 
 
Daily observation, and their own let- 
 ters sufficiently show, that of the many 
 thousands who annually leave Great 
 Britain and Ireland for Canada and 
 other countries ; very few, compara- 
 tively speaking, form any thing like 
 even a common rational idea of the 
 country to which they are going, or 
 of the difficulties they have to en- 
 counter. 
 
 The voyage they admit is disagree- 
 able, and perhaps dangerous,— but 
 what then? When they arrive at 
 this " Land of Promise," this Land 
 " flowing with milk and honey," they 
 imagine they are to sit themselves 
 down where they please, and to be 
 fed, nobody knows how — perhaps, by 
 the birds of the air ; who, as well as 
 the beasts of the forest, are to be 
 placed by nobody knows who, en- 
 tirely at their disposal. 
 
8 
 
 All alike, — young and old, — inva- 
 lids, and those in perfect health, fancy 
 that a change of climate and country 
 are alone necessary to enable them to 
 realize all those gay dreams of com- 
 fort and happiness, which they have 
 fondly pictured to themselves. 
 
 But the man who seriously thinks of 
 emigrating, should strictly examine 
 his own charater, and if he has sense 
 enough to form an opinion on the sub- 
 ject, and should be conscious of any 
 feebleness of mind or body, let him 
 give up all idea of it ; for he may rest 
 fully assured, that unless he possesses 
 a large capital, he never can succeed. 
 
 The incurable slave to expensive 
 habits, would be equally unfortunate ; 
 the simple economy necessary for 
 such an undertaking, and the se- 
 cluded life of a settler, would make 
 him weary of his existence ; his lands 
 
9 
 
 would be thrown up in despair, and 
 inevitable ruin would be the result, 
 
 It is not such as these that are 
 wanted in an infant colony, or who 
 can ever, with the least chance of 
 success, hope to succeed as settlers. 
 But time and industry must and will 
 provide amply for the enterprizing, 
 and those really suited for such an 
 undertaking, — should they escape 
 those heavy afflictions to which we are 
 all subject in every part of the world, 
 and which it is totally out of our 
 power to prevent. 
 
 b 3 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 " It is a long lane that has no turning." 
 
 Old Proverb. 
 
 New South Wales, the Cape of 
 Good Hope, the British Provinces in 
 North America, and the United States, 
 being the countries which have re- 
 ceived the greatest accession of 
 strength from emigration since the 
 year 1815, we will pass them rapidly 
 before us in review, and endeavour to 
 glean some information from their pe- 
 culiar advantages and disadvantages. 
 
 We will commence with New 
 South Wales, and its sister colony 
 
12 
 
 Van Diemen's Land, as the farthest 
 removed from our personal observa- 
 tion. First then, the climate of this 
 part of the world is represented as 
 most favourable to the cultivation of 
 the soil ; and we read, that nature has 
 here with a liberal hand, spread 
 abroad for the advantage and admi- 
 ration of the emigrant, every blessing 
 that can either cheer his heart, or 
 please his imagination. 
 
 We will admit all this to be rea- 
 lity, and that for the agriculturalist 
 with a large capital, who can afford 
 to take with him from this country, 
 such servants as he may require in 
 his family, it presents many advan- 
 tages. It should, however, be borne 
 in mind by the generality of emi- 
 grants, that until the close of the 
 year 1822, the Commissariat stores 
 were almost constantly open to re- 
 
13 
 
 ceive supplies at a stated price for 
 the use of the convicts. This afforded 
 to the settler from the first formation 
 of the colony, to the period above- 
 mentioned, a safe, and certain market 
 for his cattle and corn. 
 
 The great advantages of this to 
 him, is so evident, that it would be a 
 useless waste of time to point them 
 out, — it therefore only remains for me 
 to remark, that the system of receiv- 
 ing supplies from persons indiscrimi- 
 nately is now discontinued, and that 
 the establishments are now furnished 
 by contract. Although the Govern- 
 ment is benefited by this measure, the 
 majority of the free population are left 
 in a great degree to the mercy of the 
 contractors, and the consequence is, 
 — every description of produce has 
 fallen in value at least fifteen per cent. 
 — I do not, however, mean to say but 
 that even subject to this deprecia- 
 
14 
 
 tion — the prices pay him for his trou- 
 ble. 
 
 The permission given to erect distil- 
 leries, will, it is true, cause an extra- 
 ordinary consumption of grain, and 
 the increased export trade of the 
 Colony will afford another relief ; but 
 these, I apprehend, cannot compensate 
 to the generality of emigrants for the 
 loss of a Government market, at all 
 times open to receive their pro- 
 duce. 
 
 2ndly. — Instead of leaving it op- 
 tional for the free settler to employ 
 any number of convicts he may re- 
 quire, and be able conveniently to 
 provide for; by a late regulation, 
 every person receiving a grant of land 
 from Government, is obliged to take 
 one convict for every 100 acres, and 
 these he is required to clothe and 
 support. To those who have ample 
 means at their disposal, such a regu- 
 
 
15 
 
 lation may not be a very serious dis- 
 advantage. They can so arrange as to 
 keep their own domestic servants taken 
 from this country immediately about 
 them, and the convicts employed, im- 
 proving the more distants parts of 
 their estates. But to those, whose 
 capital will not allow them to take 
 working men from hence, the idea of 
 being surrounded even in the bosom 
 of their families, by convicts alone, 
 must be somewhat appalling. 
 
 Besides, the mind having constant- 
 ly before it the perpetrators of every 
 kind of atrocity, must become fami- 
 liarized with crime, and it is frightful 
 to reflect on the natural influence of 
 all this, upon the youth of both 
 sexes. 
 
 "The employment of men convicted 
 for forgery, as schoolmasters for the 
 children of settlers, cannot be contem- 
 plated without apprehension, but 
 
> 
 
 16 
 
 whether from habit or necessity, I 
 found these apprehensions had sub- 
 sided even in quarters where they 
 might have been supposed most 
 strongly to prevail. Another and 
 striking instance of the insensibility 
 to the consequences of such superin- 
 tendence, occurred in the enquiry that 
 took place before the magistrates at 
 Paramatta, into the conduct of Mr. 
 
 : upon that occasion, it appeared 
 
 that his eldest son, a youth of six- 
 teen years of age, was allowed to be 
 instructed by his convict clerk, in the 
 suspicious and dangerous art of imi- 
 tating the hand-writing of individuals. 
 This fact was stated without any he- 
 sitation or regret by his father to the 
 Magistrates, in the course of their en- 
 quiry into the authenticity of certain 
 returns that had been copied by the 
 son, and transmitted to Governor 
 Macquarrie. The statement fortu- 
 
17 
 
 nately attracted the notice of Mr. 
 Justice Field, who did not allow it to 
 pass without a suitable rebuke.*" 
 
 From convict labour not much can 
 be expected, and the emigrant who 
 settles at a distance from a Govern- 
 ment station, will find enough to do 
 to keep such people in any kind of 
 subjection. Although he may be 
 willing himself to put a hand to the 
 plough, or the flail, he cannot be in 
 all places at once, and with such 
 drones forced into his hive, he may 
 ultimately see all his industrious ef- 
 forts, for the good of his family, frus- 
 trated. 
 
 In such a situation he cannot leave 
 his home to enjoy the sports of the 
 field without great personal danger, 
 either from the convicts or the abori- 
 
 * Commissioner Bigge's report. 
 
18 
 
 gines of the country. His mind must 
 be kept in constant anxiety for the 
 safety of his family. During his ab- 
 sence, theft and murder may be com- 
 mitted, or revenge for imaginary in- 
 juries may destroy all his hopes of 
 future comfort and happiness. 
 
 Even in the principal towns, no 
 man appears to be secure, if we may 
 judge by the report of Mr. Commis- 
 sioner Bigge to Lord Bathurst. He 
 says, when speaking of Hobart Town 
 in Van Diemen's Land. " It is un- 
 fortunate that at this settlement, 
 where there is abundance of stone to 
 be procured, so few stonemasons 
 should have been sent from Sydney, 
 and that bricks should have been so 
 much used in the construction of the 
 public buildings, as well as in those 
 of individuals. From the bad quality 
 of those generally made at Hobart 
 
19 
 
 Town, it is found necessary to secure 
 them from the effect of sea air and 
 moisture by plaster ; and it has been 
 universally found that stone buildings 
 afford a greater security against house- 
 breakers than those built of brick. " 
 And again, "A constable was attached 
 to my own residence in the town of 
 Sydney, although it had also the pro- 
 tection of a military sentinel towards 
 the street ; but it was not considered 
 safe, unless it was protected on both 
 sides" 
 
 The annual police reports sufficient- 
 ly attest the necessity of these pre- 
 cautions ; but, if the King's Commis- 
 sioner requires a soldier, and a con- 
 stable to guard him in a garrison town, 
 the seat of Government, and where we 
 should suppose the police to be best 
 regulated, it may be very naturally 
 asked, what chance has the emigrant 
 
20 
 
 in a distant part of the Colony, of 
 avoiding depredation and annoy- 
 ance? 
 
 Every man whose heart is not to- 
 tally depraved or senseless, must in 
 some degree participate in the misery 
 or happiness of those around him. But 
 how much more susceptible of these 
 feelings must he be — who after bidding 
 farewell to his early connections, and 
 landing upon a distant shore, — finds 
 himself settled for the remainder of his 
 life, where, independent of all other 
 difficulties, he has seldom the satis- 
 faction of seeing any person, except- 
 ing those of his own family, on whom 
 he can place the least confidence 
 Desolate, indeed, must be his situa- 
 tion, for which no superiority of soil 
 or climate can sufficiently compensate. 
 
 The usual charge for the passage 
 of each person to New South Wales, 
 
21 
 
 or Van Diemen's Land, is 751. in the 
 cabin, and 35/. in the steerage, half 
 price being charged for children un- 
 der fourteen years of age, and about 
 21. per ton freight for goods, or any 
 considerable quantity of baggage. 
 The Guildford, Captain Johnson, an 
 able navigator and highly respectable 
 man, has run from England to Cape 
 Van Diemen in ninety days. This is, 
 however, a voyage by no means to be 
 calculated upon, and the emigrant 
 may think himself fortunate if he ar- 
 rives in four months, from the time 
 the ship gets clear of the channel. 
 
 " The experience of many years 
 has now established the safety as 
 well as ease, with which the voyage 
 to New South Wales may be per- 
 formed. No ships have arrived in a 
 disabled state in consequence of dis- 
 asters at sea, and none have occurred 
 
22 
 
 in that part of the voyage where they 
 are most to be apprehended, viz : in 
 Bass's Straits. The principal causes 
 of delay have arisen in cases where 
 ships have attempted to keep too near 
 the west coast of Africa before 
 they have passed the Equator, or 
 when they have arrived on the wes- 
 tern coast of New South Wales in 
 the months of December, January 
 and February. In the first of these 
 events they have generally repaired 
 to the Island of St. Helena for a fresh 
 supply of water ; and in the latter 
 some inconvenience has been sus- 
 tained from its exhaustion, and from 
 the delay in making a passage through 
 Bass's Straits against easterly winds, 
 or in rounding the south-west Cape 
 of Van Diemen's Land."* 
 
 * Commissioner Bigge's report. 
 
23 
 
 Should the emigrant be a family 
 man, this part of the subject should 
 occupy his most serious reflection. 
 The inconvenience of a long sea 
 voyage to women and children, may 
 be evident to many, but the pain 
 and misery to which they will be sub- 
 ject, if invalids on board ship can 
 be only known by experience. 
 Should he see those for whom he is, 
 as it were, beginning life again, suf- 
 fering under a continuance of illness, 
 he will probably regret that he had 
 ever subjected them to it, instead 
 of deciding on some country nearer 
 home, which he might have reached 
 with half the expence, and without 
 half the inconvenience to himself or 
 his family. 
 
 The sum requisite for an emigration 
 to New South Wales or Van Diemen's 
 Land, together with the Government 
 
24 * 
 
 regulation, that no person shall pro- 
 ceed to those colonies, and receive a 
 grant of land unless he possesses 500/. 
 presents an insurmountable obstacle 
 to the poorer class of emigrant 
 farmers. In a few instances, how- 
 ever, it is possible for a man of good 
 character to ultimately overcome this 
 difficulty. Respectable parties occa- 
 sionally go out, who are willing to en- 
 gage a steady farming man, who under- 
 stands his business ; and if he serves 
 them faithfully and diligently for the 
 term of years agreed upon, he may 
 obtain such a recommendation as will 
 — when aided by his own local know- 
 ledge of the country — obtain for him a 
 grant of land of greater value probably 
 than the one he might have had — if he 
 had gone out in the first instance with 
 money in his pocket. 
 
 In such a population, honest men 
 
25 
 
 of every description must indeed be 
 valuable, and there can be no doubt 
 but that working men and mechanics 
 would more readily, and on terms 
 more advantageous, — find employ in 
 New South Wales and Van Diemen's 
 Land, than in either of the countries 
 above-mentioned. 
 
 To him, however, who has moved 
 in a more elevated station in life, who 
 after bufFetting the storms of adversity 
 in this country is only anxious in 
 quietude and retirement to devote 
 himself to the welfare of his family, 
 and those serious reflections which 
 press more and more upon us, as we 
 approach the final period of our ex- 
 istence, New South Wales is not 
 the country, neither can it possibly be 
 for many years to come. 
 
LETTER III. 
 
 Ride out, ride out, 
 
 The foe to scout. 
 
 Mount, mount for Branksome every man. 
 
 Lay of the last Minstrel. 
 
 A few months previous to the emi- 
 grations to Algoa Bay, several letters 
 were addressed to the editor of one 
 of the daily journals on various sub* 
 jects, they were well written, but 
 the grand finale of them all was, 
 " Colonize the Cape." 
 
 For every complaint, whether pub- 
 lic or domestic, in church or state, 
 this was to prove the sovereign re- 
 c2 
 
28 
 
 medy, and the burthen of the song, 
 again and again, was " Colonize the 
 Cape." 
 
 Now, although the writer was no 
 doubt actuated by the best and 
 purest motives possible, in his endea- 
 vours to draw the attention of the 
 public to this land of the Hottentots ; 
 still it does not appear that in most 
 respects his predictions have been 
 verified. 
 
 The geographical situation of the 
 Cape of Good Hope with the East 
 Indies and New South Wales, gives 
 it many very important advantages, 
 and no extraordinary discernment is 
 necessary to perceive clearly, that 
 from this circumstance alone, the 
 colonies at the Cape, in opposition to 
 every obstacle, will continue to in- 
 crease in wealth and population. 
 
 Aigoa Bay, however, does not ap- 
 
29 
 
 pear intended by nature to be the 
 entrepot of a great colony. It is an 
 open roadstead, and in blowing wea- 
 ther, ships can only remain at anchor, 
 when the wind is from one particular 
 point of the compass. In cases of 
 accident they have a run of 500 
 miles to Table Bay the nearest place 
 of safety. 
 
 The great Fish River, instead of 
 being navigable for many miles up 
 the country, has a bar at its entrance, 
 and the colonists up its banks, have, 
 in consequence, no ready outlet to 
 the sea. These are serious disadvan- 
 tages, and such as cannot be over- 
 come for many years, particularly as 
 they have no inland water communi- 
 cation with Cape Town, the capital 
 and seat of government. 
 
 It is true that it is a country at pre- 
 
30 
 
 sent, but little known; and that 
 many situations may be found better 
 suited for settlers than Algoa Bay, 
 but the following objections may 
 alone be sufficient to deter many from 
 emigrating to the Cape of Good 
 Hope. 
 
 The colony is governed by the 
 Dutch laws, which existed previous 
 to its surrender to this country in 
 1806. These laws have not yet been 
 sufficiently translated and distributed 
 to give the English residents a correct 
 idea of them. It is bad enough to 
 find ourselves in a strange land, 
 amongst a people speaking a language 
 we cannot understand ; but to be 
 subject to laws so very opposite in 
 their bearings to those we have left 
 behind us, and to which we have 
 from our infancy been taught to look 
 
31 
 
 ~with admiration and respect, will 
 very probably produce a distaste for 
 every thing else. 
 
 Although the government of a coun- 
 try may be conducted in the most cor- 
 rect and admirable manner ; still, if it 
 be in any shape military or despotic, it 
 is hostile to the feelings of Englishmen. 
 
 They see in power thus exercised, 
 danger in the distance ; but should it 
 merely prove a phantom of the imagi- 
 nation, it is surprising that even this 
 should not be sufficient to alarm those 
 of hardier mind and firmer purpose, 
 than the generality of emigrants. 
 
 It may be said that these objections 
 will equally well apply to Lower Ca- 
 nada; this, however, is not the fact. 
 It is true three- fourths of the inhabi- 
 tants of the Lower Province speak 
 French, but they enjoy that first of all 
 
32 
 
 privileges, a trial by jury, with a legis- 
 lative council and House of Assembly. 
 
 The colonies, at the Cape, appear 
 likewise liable to floods and rains of 
 the most destructive kind, whilst the 
 CafFres taking advantage of their dis- 
 tress, often pour down upon them in 
 hordes, and sweep away before them 
 all the cattle of a district. 
 
 The following letter will show 
 clearly the situation they were in at 
 Graham's Town, in October, 1823. 
 
 Grahams Town, Cape of Good Hope, 
 October 81, 1823. 
 
 " A calamity of the most afflicting 
 nature, both in its detail and conse- 
 quences, has just befallen this settle- 
 ment. A flood, the result of ten 
 days incessant rain, has desolated the 
 face of cultivation, and blasted all 
 
33 
 
 the prospects of industry for a long 
 time to come. Indeed, so extensive 
 is the rain, that it will be utterly im- 
 possible for the colonists to retrieve 
 themselves, without assistance from 
 the country, and the adoption of the 
 most lenient and indulgent measures 
 of the colonial government. 
 
 " There is scarcely a habitation left 
 tenable throughout the district of 
 Albany. The whole extent of tillage 
 in the district is more or less damaged, 
 highly cultivated enclosures have had 
 the whole of their upper soil swept 
 entirely from the surface, while the 
 force of the waters has left large 
 gulleys and chasms throughout them. 
 — Banks and fences of every descrip- 
 tion are prostrate. — The gardens 
 planted on the banks of rivers for the 
 convenient access to water have uni- 
 versally suffered ■ many are totally 
 c3 
 
34 
 
 destroyed, and the fruit trees torn 
 up and carried away by the flood. 
 
 " In short, the whole occupied and 
 cultivated face of the district, pre- 
 sents a frightful picture of desolation 
 and defeated industry. 
 
 " In addition to this awful visitation 
 of Providence, the rust has again at- 
 tacked the corn, making our fourth 
 season of fruitless and abortive til- 
 lage, — whilst the Caffres in uninter- 
 rupted predatory incursions are gra- 
 dually withdrawing all the cattle from 
 the district, to the increased gloom 
 of that melancholy prospect of mi- 
 sery and privation before us." 
 
 The assertions in this letter, as to 
 the distresses of the colony, have 
 been fully verified by other sources of 
 information; and I leave the reader 
 to draw his own inference from it. 
 
35 
 
 Here, as in the United States of 
 America, the curse of slavery holds 
 in subjection thousands of the human 
 race. — Slavery!!! — that word, which 
 even to write, makes the heart turn 
 sick, and which, — to the indelible dis- 
 grace of our nature, gives to any ruf- 
 fian who has the means — the power 
 of purchasing the flesh and blood of 
 his fellow creature— here likewise 
 sheds its baneful curse upon the land 
 and upon its people ; and Slave — 
 Slave, — is a word common in every 
 man's mouth ! 
 
 The expences attending an emigra- 
 tion to the Cape of Good Hope, will 
 be about two-thirds of what is neces- 
 sary for New South Wales and Van 
 Diemen's Land. The length of the 
 voyage, about the same proportion of 
 time. If the emigrant has made up 
 his mind to proceed so far, probably 
 
36 
 
 he had better again consider the sub- 
 ject, and if he can make the neces- 
 sary arrangement, decide on going 
 on to one of those colonies. He will 
 there have far greater advantages, and 
 be equally free from annoyance. 
 
 It can make but little difference if 
 a man has his throat cut, or his house 
 fired ; whether it be done by a party 
 of Caffres, Indians, or runaway con- 
 victs ; excepting, perhaps, as the 
 latter may have had some previous 
 experience in such matters — they may 
 be able to accomplish their purpose 
 more expeditiously and effectively. 
 
 What are the first and principal 
 objects all emigrants hope to obtain 
 by leaving their native country ? — In- 
 dependence and comfort; but how 
 can a man be independent, whose 
 property is at all times subject to the 
 inroads of a party of savages ? — and 
 
37 
 
 what proportion of comfort can he 
 possibly enjoy, who cannot leave his 
 home unarmed at any hour he pleases, 
 or retire to rest, without a brace of 
 loaded pistols under his pillow ? 
 
 This sort of life may do very well 
 for the soldiers of disbanded regi- 
 ments, and half pay officers of every 
 service : it would keep alive the re- 
 collection of old times, and a dra- 
 goon saddle, or a cartouch-box would 
 be considered as good a pillow as one 
 made of down. — A foray by moon- 
 light occasionally, or the sound of 
 the enemy's war whoop, — would lead 
 to a better acquaintance and more in- 
 timate connexion with his neighbour, 
 and inspire a greater zeal and deter- 
 mination to establish himself in op- 
 position to every obstacle. 
 
 This, however, is not what the 
 generality of emigrants require, and 
 
38 
 
 although a man does not deserve 
 either house or land, or any con- 
 nexion in life, if he is afraid to defend 
 them in times of need ; still, the less 
 he has occasion to show his valour in 
 this way, the better. 
 
 He will doubtless find himself much 
 happier where he can drive his team 
 afield, under the convoy of his dog 
 and his cow-skin whip, than in a coun- 
 try where even a long gun in the bow, 
 would be scarcely found protection 
 sufficient — for himself or his pro- 
 perty. 
 
LETTER IV. 
 
 '« The wise and active conquer difficulties, 
 By daring to attempt them ; sloth and folly 
 Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard, 
 And make the impossibility they fear." 
 
 As a leader of emigrants, there are 
 few, if any, who can equal a Mr. Boon, 
 who explored Kentuckey in 1760. 
 " Since that period he has constantly 
 formed the advanced patrole of civili- 
 zation, as it is a maxim with him that 
 a country is too thickly peopled as 
 soon as he cannot fell a tree from the 
 forest into his own inclosure. He is 
 now on the Missouri."* 
 * Hall. 
 
40 
 
 Could this old Backwoodsman's 
 span of life be prolonged, he would 
 doubtless, in time, cut his way to 
 the Pacific Ocean, and not cry out 
 " Othello's occupation's gone," whilst 
 a stick remained standing on the 
 whole continent of North America. 
 
 He may, indeed, exclaim with 
 Ceesor of old, " Veni, vidi, vicip for 
 thousands and tens of thousands have 
 fallen beneath the power of his arm. 
 
 The character of this extraordinary 
 man, reminds me of a passage in an 
 application from a party of settlers in 
 Massachusetts Bay to the Virginia 
 Company, in the* year 1617, where 
 they say, " that they were well wean- 
 ed from the delicate milk of their 
 mother country, and inured to the 
 difficulties of a strange land. That 
 they were knit together in a strict 
 and sacred bond, by virtue of which 
 
41 
 
 they held themselves bound to take 
 care of the good of each other, and 
 of the whole. That it was not with 
 them as with other men, whom small 
 things could discourage, or small dis- 
 contents cause to wish themselves 
 home again." 
 
 I shall now offer a few general ob- 
 servations on Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick and Newfoundland, with 
 a word or two about that first of all 
 lands of promise, Poyais, which al- 
 though last, is not least in the estima- 
 tion of some people. 
 
 The territory of L'Arcadie, as it 
 was called by the French, formerly 
 extended a distance of 300 leagues 
 in length from New England to the 
 Gulph of St. Lawrence, and back to 
 the province of Lower Canada and 
 the American States ; but this range 
 pf territory has been, since its r pos« 
 
42 
 
 session by the English, divided into 
 two separate governments, Nova Sco- 
 tia and New Brunswick, 
 
 Jacques Cartier, the French navi- 
 gator, having in 1535, explored and 
 surveyed the Gulph of St. Lawrence 
 and the whole of this coast, conveyed 
 the first correct idea to his native 
 country of Canada, and the advan- 
 tages of a trade with the natives of 
 all that part of the continent of North 
 America. 
 
 There does not appear to have been 
 any permanent settlements establish- 
 ed in either of these countries, until 
 the year 1604, when a squadron was 
 fitted out by De Montes, Governor of 
 Canada. Taking the command in 
 person, he founded St. Croix and 
 Port Royale, now Annapolis Royal, 
 in a bay towards the south-west coast 
 of that territory. 
 
43 
 
 The English at that time claimed 
 from the discovery of the Cabots a 
 prior right to the whole North Ameri- 
 can Continent, they therefore dis- 
 possessed the French settlers, and 
 James the First gave a grant of 
 L' Arcadia to Sir William Alexander, 
 Secretary of State for Scotland. He 
 called it New Scotland, or Nova 
 Scotia, and this honor appears to be 
 the only advantage of any importance 
 he derived from it, for in 1630 it was 
 again given up to France. 
 
 Continual jealousies and disputes 
 with the colonists of New England 
 once more brought the Arcadians into 
 difficulty in 1654, when Oliver Crom- 
 well sent out Colonel Sedgwick to 
 reduce it, and it was confirmed to 
 England the following year. " But 
 Sir William Alexander having sold in 
 1632 his right of property in the soil, 
 to. M. Claude de la Tour d'Ounay, a 
 
44 
 
 French protestant ; M. St. Estienne, 
 son and heir of the above Claude de 
 la Tour, came over to England in or- 
 der to make out his claim, and had 
 the property surrendered to him. 
 This La Tour sold his right to Sir 
 Thomas Temple, who was governor 
 as well as possessor of the soil, until 
 1662, when Nova Scotia was deli- 
 vered up by Charles the Second, an 
 equivalent of ten thousand pounds 
 being stipulated for Sir Thomas Tem- 
 ple, but never paid."* 
 
 By the treaty of Breda in 1667, it 
 was again given up to France, and 
 continued under her government until 
 1 690, when the inhabitants again be- 
 came subjects of Great Britain. In 
 1697, by the treaty of Ryswick, the 
 French took possession of it. Soon 
 after the war between that country 
 
 * Russel. 
 
45 
 
 and England, the New Englanders 
 aided by four men of war from the 
 mother country, finally reduced it in 
 1710. Several ineffectual attempts 
 were afterwards made to recover it 
 by the French in 1745 and 1746, but 
 by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, — 
 Nova Scotia was fully confirmed to 
 the crown of Great Britain. 
 
 \ ' Though the French inhabitants du- 
 ring these hostilities had not actually 
 taken up arms, they had lent such 
 assistance to the enemy as was utterly 
 inconsistent with their political situa- 
 tion, — and as made the necessity of 
 peopling Nova Scotia with British sub- 
 jects fully evident. The peace which 
 necessarily left a great number of 
 men without employment, by the dis- 
 banding of the troops and laying up 
 of the ships, was favourable for such 
 a project; and the ministry offered 
 
46 
 
 particular advantages to all persons* 
 who chose to go and settle in this 
 extensive, and in many places fertile 
 territory. 
 
 " Every soldier, sailor and work- 
 man was to have fifty acres of land for 
 himself, and ten for every person he 
 carried over in his family. All non- 
 commissioned officers were allowed 
 eighty for themselves, and fifteen for 
 every person belonging to them ; en- 
 signs 200 ; lieutenants 300 ; captains 
 460, and all officers of higher rank 
 600, together with 30 for each of 
 their dependents. 
 
 "The land was to be free of all 
 taxes, for the first ten years, and never 
 to pay above one shilling for fifty 
 acres : Besides these encouragements, 
 the government engaged to pay the 
 charge of the passage, to build houses, 
 to furnish all the necessary instru- 
 
47 
 
 merits for fishery and agriculture, and 
 to defray the expenses of subsistence 
 for the first year. 
 
 " In consequence of this liberal 
 offer, 3,000 families, chiefly Germans, 
 embarked for Nova Scotia in 1749, and 
 three regiments of soldiers were sent 
 to protect them from the natives, and 
 garrison the new settlement. 
 
 " That settlement was founded on 
 the SE. side of the Peninsula, at a 
 place which the Indians formerly 
 called Chebucto, but which the Eng- 
 lish named Halifax, in honour of the 
 nobleman by whom it was projected, 
 and by whose wisdom and spirit it 
 was carried into execution."* 
 
 Since 1749 the population has in- 
 creased wonderfully, and the woods 
 of Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick 
 now contain many thousands of set- 
 * Russel. 
 
48 
 
 tiers, who are cutting away after the 
 manner of Mr. Boon, who has been 
 before noticed. 
 
 In my passage from Halifax to 
 Quebec, I remember being particu- 
 larly struck with the romantic beauty 
 of the scenery in what is called the 
 Cut of Canso, which divides the Is- 
 land of Cape Breton from the main. 
 We were seven days beating through 
 this passage of seventy miles, the 
 widest part of which, is very little 
 broader than the Thames at London 
 Bridge. The village (if the straggling 
 huts of the settlers may be called 
 one,) at the entrance, bears the name 
 of Canso; and a few miles farther on, 
 the late Sir John Warren had an es- 
 tate, which, in a few years, will, it is 
 supposed, be of great value, from its 
 situation, and the quality of the timber, 
 This passage is, in some places, so 
 
49 
 
 exceedingly narrow, and the shores 
 so amazingly bold and high, that the 
 bowsprit of the Success frigate, was 
 often very nearly coming in contact 
 with them, and in several instances 
 the appearance of the immense woods, 
 apparently towering above the mast- 
 heads of the ship, excited in us all 
 surprise and admiration. 
 
 " Luenburg* was founded by 800 
 Germans from Halifax ; at first it did 
 not promise much, but by the unremit- 
 ting exertion of that warlike and indus- 
 trious people, it is now rapidly advanc- 
 ing toward prosperity. It is but 
 justice to say that the Germans make 
 excellent settlers, they have fertilized 
 all the countries under the English 
 dominion, to which chance has con- 
 ducted them. By their patient la- 
 
 * Russel. 
 D 
 
50 
 
 bows Nova Scotia now produces ex- 
 cellent flax, which, independent of its 
 fishery and its utility, as a naval and 
 military station, will in time render it 
 a valuable acquisition to Great Bri- 
 tain." 
 
 Frederick town is the capital, and 
 St. John's the principal sea port of 
 New Brunswick. 
 
 Newfoundland was discovered by 
 John Cabot, a Venetian mariner in the 
 service of Henry VII. of England, — it 
 is upwards of 300 miles long, and 200 
 broad ; but although many have at- 
 tempted to succeed in cultivating the 
 soil, instead of depending on the fish- 
 ery, none appear to have effected the 
 object they had in view. This, there- 
 fore, is no very desirable country for 
 the emigrant, but still it would be pre- 
 ferable to Poyais under the Cacique 
 M'Gregor, or any other Cacique. 
 
51 
 
 I feel no inclination to lend myself 
 to either party, the Honduras Bay- 
 men, or the Poyais "holders;" and I 
 take it for granted that no man, in his 
 senses, or capable of judging much 
 beyond which is his right-hand and 
 which is his left, would lend himself 
 to the speculations of a party of ad- 
 venturers, to whom of course in the 
 first instance, power would be law. 
 
 It is an odd thing that people 
 should be found so utterly devoid of 
 common sense and feeling, as to place 
 themselves and their families in a 
 country like Poyais, under the des- 
 potic government of a few men, total 
 strangers to them, and of whose abi- 
 lity to conduct the affairs of an in- 
 fant colony they cannot possibly form 
 anything like an idea. 
 
 I do not mean to say that those 
 who choose to strike out from theold- 
 d2 
 
52 
 
 fashioned, beaten track in life, which 
 their fathers have trodden before them, 
 are to be deterred by common difficul- 
 ties, I would rather point to the text 
 chosen for the head of this letter; 
 but, still I set so high a value upon 
 constitutional law, such as I have 
 been accustomed to see exercised in 
 my native country, that unless the 
 leaders of this said Poyais settlement 
 were well known, as being fully equal 
 to the task of mildly and properly 
 executing despotic power, &c. &c, I 
 should feel no inclination to follow 
 them. 
 
 Unless a man has certain positive 
 advantages before him, why should 
 he subject himself to the certain mise- 
 ries of such an undertaking as set- 
 tling on the Mosquito shore, whilst 
 the British provinces and colonies in 
 North America and elsewhere are 
 
53 
 
 open to his exertions and enter 
 prize ? 
 
 It does not, however, appear to be 
 generally understood that the Black 
 River was actually occupied by the 
 English for several years previous to 
 1786. — By the resolutions of the 
 House of Assembly of Jamaica in 
 1782, we see that Colonel Despard 
 (then Captain Despard,) who after- 
 wards terminated his career upon the 
 scaffold — "with a small undisci- 
 plined and inferior force, attacked and 
 took the Spanish Garrison at Black 
 River, on the Mosquito Shore, made 
 between seven and eight hundred of 
 the enemy prisoners ; and rescued 
 hundreds of our fellow subjects from 
 captivity, and restored them to their 
 possessions/' 
 
 In consequence of this and other 
 services, it appears that he was soon 
 
54 
 
 afterwards appointed by the Governor 
 of Jamaica, a colonel of provincials. 
 It was, indeed, considered of such 
 importance that he received the thanks 
 of the Indian chiefs on the coast, of 
 the governor, council, and assembly of 
 Jamaica, and also of the King himself, 
 through Lord Sydney, then Secretary 
 of State. 
 
 Black River, with the settlement 
 upon it, and the adjacent islands on 
 the Mosquito shore, remained in the 
 possession of the English until 1786, 
 when they were given up to the Spa- 
 niards in return for privileges granted 
 by that power to British subjects in 
 the Bay of Honduras- — At this time 
 there were upwards of 2,000 people 
 including slaves, settled in the ceded 
 territory, the greater part of whom 
 were removed to Honduras. 
 
 Whatever may be said to the con- 
 
55 
 
 trary by those interested in the Hon- 
 duras trade, and by those who know 
 nothing at all about either the cli- 
 mate or the soil, and yet on either 
 side pretend to point out its advan- 
 tages and disadvantages, — to gull the 
 unwary, or to prevent a rival settle- 
 ment in that quarter — there can be lit- 
 tle doubt — but that if this settlement 
 of Poyais, had its origin in an act of 
 the government, and was supported 
 like the emigrations to Chebuctoo Bay 
 in 1749, to which we have alluded, 
 it would succeed — even in opposition 
 to all the efforts of the mighty mo- 
 narch of the Mosquito shore, who, I 
 apprehend, with all his household 
 troops, cuirassiers, and lancers, would 
 very soon be made to cry out with a 
 greater man than himself, " Save him- 
 self who can,"* by a third part of the 
 
 * Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo. 
 
56 
 
 force sent to guard the first settle- 
 ments in Nova Scotia. 
 
 The following extract from Rus- 
 sel's America will show more clearly 
 how this country, of which we have 
 lately heard so much is situated, and 
 the opinion entertained of it in 
 1778. 
 
 " A territory, however, no less 
 neglected, claims our notice before 
 we quit this part of the American 
 continent. Between the sea and the 
 Spanish provinces of Honduras and 
 Nicarague, extending from Cape 
 Honduras to Port St. Juan, lies a 
 country inhabited by a free people, 
 whose attachment to the English has 
 long been remarkable, and who per- 
 mit no other Europeans to visit their 
 coasts. 
 
 This space takes in 150 leagues of 
 the shore, and forms an obtuse angle 
 at Cape Gracias a Dios, having one 
 
57 
 
 of its sides exposed to the North, the 
 other to the East. — The general name 
 of Mosquitos is given to all the nations 
 or tribes who occupy this tract, as 
 well as to those who inhabit the in- 
 ner space, between the coast and the 
 higher chain of mountains, which 
 form the Spanish Frontier, and their 
 country in like manner, is known by 
 the name of Mosquito, on the Mos- 
 quito shore. 
 
 " Of all the tribes, the Mosquitos 
 are the most numerous, as well as 
 the bsavest. They muster about 15 
 or 1,800 warriors. Their country, 
 properly so called, is about Cape 
 Gracias a Dios, near the mouth, and 
 on the banks of the Great Cape 
 River. It is one of the most healthy 
 and beautiful spots in the world. 
 Here are settled about thirty English 
 families, who have begun plantations 
 d3 
 
58 
 
 of sugar on the lands given them by 
 the Mosquitos. 
 
 "The government of this people is 
 perfectly republican, they acknow- 
 ledge no kind of permanent authority. 
 In the wars which they carry on 
 against the Spanish Indians, and 
 which must obstruct their population, 
 they choose as their commander the 
 most brave and experienced of their 
 warriors; he who, on former occa- 
 sions, has given proofs of his pru- 
 dence and valour. After the war is 
 over, his power ceases. 
 
 "The Mosquitos are distinguished 
 into two sorts — the Red, and Blacks 
 or Sambos. The first are the original 
 inhabitants of the country; the se- 
 cond, the descendants of about fifty 
 negroes, whom a Portuguese Cap- 
 tain had brought from Guinea, and 
 was carrying to Brazil ; but who ren- 
 
 Kft* 
 
59 
 
 dered themselves masters of the 
 vessel, and threw all but one man 
 overboard. The assistance of this 
 man, however, was insufficient to 
 enable them to navigate the vessel; 
 which left at the mercy of the winds, 
 was driven upon Cape Gracias a Dios, 
 where the crew fell into the hands of 
 the Mosquitos, among whom the ne- 
 groes lived for some time in a state 
 of servitude, and afterwards became 
 the partners of their dangers and 
 toils. 
 
 "The Portuguese mariner was so 
 much like a Spaniard, against whom 
 the animosity of the Mosquitos is im- 
 placable, that his life was with diffi- 
 culty spared ; and after he had been 
 a slave for two years, it was deter- 
 mined to sacrifice him at the funeral 
 of the master to whose lot he had 
 fallen, that he might serve him in the 
 
60 
 
 other world. Luckily, the Portu- 
 guese had but one eye. He repre- 
 sented to the general assembly of the 
 nation, which was convened upon the 
 occasion, that a one-eyed man could 
 be of service to nobody in the other 
 world, as it was difficult to see clear 
 there, even with two. His argument 
 succeeded, the Mosquitos not only 
 granted him his life, but also his 
 liberty, with a wife; and the sur- 
 name of, ( the Man who knows a 
 great deal.' 
 
 " The Mosquitos are divided into 
 four principal tribes, under the pro- 
 tection of the English government, to 
 which they submitted themselves 
 early in the last century. They con- 
 sider the governor of Jamaica, to 
 whom this submission was made, as 
 the greatest Potentate upon earth. 
 Their enmity against the Spaniards, 
 
 ' — •" — 
 
61 
 
 by whom their ancestors were driven 
 from the fertile possessions near the 
 Lake of Nicaragua, goes as far back 
 as the conquest of Mexico, and their 
 friendship for the English is as old 
 as the first expeditions of the Bucca- 
 neers, against their common enemy. 
 
 " Like all uncivilized nations they 
 have but few wants, and are very in- 
 dolent ; ' I am not hungry,' is their 
 common saying, when they do not 
 choose to work, nor do they even 
 labour except when this need is very 
 sensibly felt. Then they go to hunt, 
 fish, or to catch or harpoon turtle, an 
 exercise at which they are very dex- 
 trous ; or otherwise they hire them- 
 selves to the English settlers to cut 
 mahogany, or to build canoes, which 
 are sold at Jamaica for the purpose of 
 fishing. Rice, cacao, indigo, to- 
 bacco, and other valuable produc- 
 
62 
 
 tions, might be cultivated to advan- 
 tage in this country. At present, 
 England receives from it tyger and 
 buck skins, dying woods of several 
 kinds, gums and balsams, sarsapa- 
 rilla, tortoiseshells, and zebra wood 
 for the cabinet makers ; but those 
 only in small quantities. All the free 
 tribes, both inland and upon the 
 coast, are allies of the Mosquitos, 
 and of the English. 
 
 " Besides this settlement, so unrea- 
 sonably neglected, we find another 
 English colony about twenty leagues 
 to the East of Cape Honduras, at the 
 mouth of Black River, by which name 
 it is generally known. This place 
 was, during sixty years, the asylum 
 of the log- wood cutters, when driven 
 by the Spaniards from the forest of 
 East Yucatan. There they waited in 
 safety, until such time as their enemies 
 
 -**£*?'-■' JflU 
 
63 
 
 retired ; and as those expulsions were 
 frequent, and always unforeseen, the 
 ships that went to load with wood in 
 the Bay of Honduras, chose first to 
 touch at Black River, in. order to get 
 intelligence, and determine, in con- 
 sequence of it, the manner of pur- 
 suing their voyage. 
 
 "Wood-cutters, sailors, deserters, 
 and adventurers of every kind fixed 
 themselves insensibly in this place. 
 They received merchandise in re- 
 turn for the fruits of their industry, 
 and soon established a lucrative trade 
 with the Spaniards in the inland parts. 
 The last treaty of peace, which 
 secured to the wood-cutters the un- 
 interrupted enjoyment of their forests, 
 far from making Black River be de- 
 serted, has given more activity to the 
 settlement. 
 
 "The sea coast here is sandy, gene- 
 
64 
 
 rally low and swampy, with mangrove 
 trees ; but higher up among the rivers 
 and lagoons, the soil is more fertile, 
 and produces many plantains, cocoa- 
 nut-trees, maize, yams, and other ve- 
 getables The passion for drinking 
 rum has made the colony begin the 
 planting of sugar-canes. The rivers, 
 as well as the lagoons, are extremely 
 well stored with fish, and the forests 
 are filled with deer and game. On 
 the shores they catch the finest turtles 
 from March until September. Be- 
 sides this fishery, which is very ad- 
 vantageous, the Black River settlers 
 cut mahogany and zebra wood, and 
 gather a great deal of sarsaparilla. 
 
 "A colony so well situated, though 
 neglected by government, cannot 
 fail of increasing. It is one of those 
 plants which, placed by the hand 
 of chance in a corner— flourish, mul- 
 
 • ■ ■ •■—»•■ 
 
65 
 
 tiply, and bear fruit of themselves with- 
 out the attention of the gardener." 
 
 Such is Russel's description of the 
 country called Poyais ; a description, 
 no doubt, highly coloured, particu- 
 larly in that part of it which states it 
 to be, " one of the most healthy and 
 beautiful spots in the world." 
 
 Granting it, however, to be all 
 this, and judging from the result of 
 similar attempts in various parts of 
 the world; we have, certainly, no 
 reason to expect that whilst the en- 
 terprize, and the promised advan- 
 tages, remain with one individual, 
 unauthorised, unacknowledged, and 
 unsupported by the government, it 
 ever will succeed. 
 
 It is not to the climate, the soil, 
 the geographical situation, or the 
 person, at the head of this Poyais 
 scheme that I object, it is to the 
 
66 
 
 system of making the interests of the 
 many subservient to the good of 
 the few. 
 
 Poyais may very probably present 
 a^s many advantages to the emigrant, 
 as any of the other countries to which 
 we have alluded, when first settled ; 
 and of Sir Gregor M'Gregor I know 
 nothing, excepting by common re- 
 port; — common report, what is it? — 
 if it is once resolved to sacrifice a 
 man's character who has struck out 
 from the common track of life — " it 
 is an easy matter to pick up sticks 
 enough from any thicket where it has 
 strayed to make a fire to offer it up 
 with." 
 
 How many brave men has common 
 report made cowards of ? How many 
 good men has this many-tongued 
 monster transformed into villains, 
 therefore feel no inclination to discuss 
 
67 
 
 the conduct or merits of Sir Gregor 
 M'Gregor; for what man can place 
 his hand upon his own heart, and 
 say that he is himself altogether what 
 he ought to be. 
 
 But as I have professed to devote 
 these few pages principally to those 
 who are looking round the world for 
 some spot, where they can live upon the 
 fruits of their industry, free and un- 
 disturbed — I shall conclude this 
 letter by the following observations, 
 and leave the reader to form his own 
 conclusions. 
 
 We will suppose that some sort of 
 law will be administered in Poyais, 
 not altogether military, but civil ; to 
 these the emigrant of course, on tak- 
 ing possession of his land, makes 
 himself amenable. These laws may 
 be good or bad, just as it happens — or 
 according to the ability of the law 
 
68 
 
 giver, who, by the way, must neces- 
 sarily be just the person who will 
 take care to secure the power in his 
 own hands. 
 
 Now should the emigrant in Poyais, 
 through a dulness of intellect, not 
 see things so clearly as the Cacique 
 wishes him; or should he, inadver- 
 tently, transgress these laws made not 
 by his own concurrence, but by the 
 cacique, and by him declared ab- 
 solute — he must abide the conse- 
 quences. 
 
 If he is sentenced to be hanged, 
 who can he appeal to for a reversion 
 of his sentence? The Cacique is as 
 absolute in his small way, as the 
 great Mogul; and, if he chooses to 
 put the law in force, nothing but a 
 general turn-out can prevent him. 
 
 In any of the British colonies, 
 should the governor be guilty of any 
 
69 
 
 arbitrary stretch of authority, he is 
 amenable to a higher power for his 
 conduct ; but, in Poyais, there is 
 no one higher than the despotic head 
 of a despotic government. 
 
 Let the emigrant, therefore, bear 
 in mind, that in Poyais he will be 
 subject to laws not made by himself 
 or his representative, and that these 
 laws may be either good or bad ; if 
 good, so much the better for all par- 
 ties ; if bad, and he dares to give his 
 opinion of them, he will, I imagine, 
 stand a very fair chance of promotion, 
 over the heads of his fellows. 
 
 When he is kicking his heels, in a 
 very uncomfortable manner, upon a 
 stage fifty feet high, between this 
 world and the next, — however much 
 he may regret ever having placed 
 himself out of the pale of protection 
 from the government of his native 
 
70 
 
 country, it will then be of no service 
 to him. He may appeal to Heaven, 
 and prepare for his departure ; but 
 nothing can save him, if the Cacique 
 be determined to exercise the despotic 
 power he possesses. 
 
LETTER V. 
 
 (s England, with all thy faults, I love thee still.' 
 
 As I have no wish to enlist myself 
 with those who have already suc- 
 ceeded in detaching from the bosom 
 of their mother country, so many 
 thousands of her sons and daughters ; 
 I leave others, when writing on emi- 
 gration, to eulogize the United States 
 of America. 
 
 For the honour of my country I 
 am bound to think, that there are but 
 few — a very few amongst us, excepting 
 those deceived by the grossest mis- 
 
72 
 
 representations, who would array 
 themselves under a foreign state, add 
 to her strength in peace by their in- 
 dustrious efforts, or in the event of a 
 war between the two powers, take 
 the field under her banners ; and call 
 this becoming patriots in their old 
 age.* 
 
 There have been certainly traitors, 
 and renegadoes in every age and na- 
 tion, but I will not believe that many of 
 my countrymen would willingly throw 
 themselves in the way of becoming 
 out-casts of this description. 
 
 Excepting such men as can publicly 
 ask — what is country ? and answer it 
 by saying, 9 the soil, of this I was 
 only the occupant —the government? 
 I abhorred its deeds and its principles. 
 
 * I am thus become a patriot in my old age. — 
 Birkbeck's Letters from the Illinois. 
 
73 
 
 the church ? I did not believe in its- 
 doctrines, and had no reverence for 
 the clergy. The army ? — No — 
 the law ? — We have the same laws 
 here with some omissions and some 
 improvements," &c. &c. Excepting 
 such men, or those egregiously de- 
 ceived by false statements, and those 
 who are totally unacquainted with 
 the British Provinces in North 
 America, very few would emigrate 
 to the United States. 
 
 Men possessed of superior intellect, 
 it is true, choose to hold up America 
 to the admiration of the world, and 
 by their conduct and writings, en- 
 deavour to induce others to think and 
 act as they profess to do on the sub- 
 ject ; but whilst they are so employed, 
 as it were, offering a premium for 
 desertion, may it not be asked, are 
 
 E 
 
74 
 
 they not prostituting those abilities, 
 disgracing themselves, and dishonour- 
 ing their country ? — I leave them to 
 settle the question with their own 
 consciences ; for myself, it is suffi- 
 cient to show the emigrant, as clearly 
 as my humble ability will permit, a 
 British Colony, where he may enjoy, 
 at least, as much liberty, indepen- 
 dence, and comfort, as he would in 
 the United States of America ; where 
 the people are, at least, equally 
 happy, industrious, and brave, as 
 the people of the United States ; and 
 where riding the rail, gouging, and 
 rifling, with all the minor etceteras of 
 liberty and equality, are altogether 
 unknown. 
 
 Liberty and equality, these are the 
 high sounding phrases which the 
 American dins in the ear of the stran- 
 
75 
 
 ger,even in the midst of slavery exer- 
 cised by himself. 
 
 The same man, who in his boasted 
 republican pride would pretend high 
 offence at being required to drink the 
 health of the king of England, would, 
 in his despotic brutality, turn round 
 and chastise his slave, probably for 
 merely holding his horse by the curb, 
 instead of the snaffle. 
 
 Slave, did I say? — in a country 
 where we hear so much about liberty, 
 equality, and the rights of man, we 
 naturally suppose that personal 
 slavery is altogether unknown. In a 
 country where all men profess to be 
 equal, we are led to imagine that no 
 portion of the human race can be put 
 upon aJevel with the brute creation. 
 In short, in a country where liberty 
 is the universal theme, we think it 
 e 2 
 
76 
 
 probable, that its principles may be 
 fully understood, and its attendant 
 blessings properly appreciated. 
 
 But what is the fact ? let us see 
 her great admirer, Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 " I want language," he says, " to 
 express the loathing I feel for per- 
 sonal slavery; practised by free men 
 it is most detestable ; it is the leprosy 
 of the United States, and a foul 
 blotch which more or less contami- 
 nates the entire system, in public and 
 in private, from the president's chair, 
 to the cabin of the hunter ;" and yet, 
 just before, he tells us that, " Liberty 
 is no subject of dispute or specula- 
 tion among us Back-woodsmen, it is 
 the very atmosphere we breathe." 
 
 Now as I hate tyranny as cordially 
 as Mr. Morris Birkbeck, let me not, 
 in deciding upon a new country, 
 
77 
 
 choose one in which slavery exists ; 
 for it is a perfect farce to talk of 
 liberty in a strain as if all the rest 
 of the world were totally ignorant of 
 its blessings, in a country where the 
 eye constantly turns upon objects de- 
 graded merely on account of their 
 colour; or of law, where there is 
 one for the white, and another for 
 the black man ; indeed, where such 
 things are, it is an insult to proper 
 feeling and common sense, to talk 
 about the rights of man, or a superior 
 knowledge and enjoyment of rational 
 freedom. 
 
 When divested, therefore, of the 
 false colouring which some people 
 have given it, America does not pre- 
 sent itself in all that purity, or enjoy 
 all that liberty and equality, which 
 the American would fain make all the 
 rest of the world believe it to possess. 
 
78 
 
 From the writings of several It 
 would appear, that of the many 
 thousands who settle in the back 
 woods of America, not one of them 
 ever think of bettering their condi- 
 tion by crossing into Canada. If we 
 are to form an opinion upon what 
 they say on the subject, we should 
 conclude that " the beautiful prairies," 
 the " loveliness of nature," and her 
 bounties, so superabundantly and 
 especially bestowed upon the United 
 States, were fully sufficient, together 
 with the superior liberty they enjoy, 
 ("to imitate which is forgery,") to 
 keep them within the American 
 boundary. 
 
 But, alas, how fatal to all this is 
 the reality ; there is no man who has 
 passed from Montreal to the head of 
 the Great Lakes, who will not re- 
 member seeing thousands of Ameri- 
 
 _ 
 
79 
 
 cans settled within the Canadian 
 boundary. Previous to the late war, 
 and since the peace, vast numbers of 
 emigrants from the United States have 
 taken up lands and distributed them- 
 selves throughout the whole of Upper 
 and Lower Canada, and they still 
 continue to do so. 
 
 Surely this fact speaks volumes, for 
 if the government of America, its 
 soil, and climate, are so vastly su- 
 perior to the British Provinces, why, 
 in the name of Yankee independence, 
 do so many hundreds and thousands 
 leave it ? 
 
 For the emigrant, therefore, who 
 has no inclination for " liberty and 
 equality" in a land of masters and 
 slaves, or to sever himself for ever 
 from his native country, his early 
 connexions and friends, either of the 
 British colonies of Nova Scotia, New 
 
80 
 
 Brunswick, or the Canadas, is far 
 preferable to the United States of 
 America. 
 
 The emigrant, in a movement of so 
 much importance as that of choosing 
 a new country, where he will have to 
 await what farther portion of good or 
 evil providence may have in reserve 
 for him, will do well to consider and 
 reconsider the subject. For me it 
 now only remains to give such parti- 
 culars of Upper and Lower Canada 
 as may probably prove useful to those 
 who have already decided upon 
 settling in that country. 
 
 Should the recollections of eld 
 friends and circumstances connected 
 with the places through which we 
 shall pass (in our line of march of a 
 thousand miles from the sea) occasion 
 me to digress occasionally, I doubt 
 not but the liberal reader will readily 
 
81 
 
 forgive me. Why, however, should 
 I attempt to apologize, I am but a 
 plain man, and had better proceed in 
 my own way. 
 
 The emigrant who has ample means 
 at his disposal, and who resides in 
 any of the western counties of 
 England, should proceed by way of 
 Liverpool to New York. The ex- 
 pences of this route will be greater 
 than by Quebec, but this disad- 
 vantage will be more than com- 
 pensated, by the great additional 
 comfort. 
 
 The distance from London to 
 Quebec is 3,000 miles, from Liver- 
 pool to New York about 2,000, and 
 as the sea voyage is the worst part of 
 the undertaking for a family man, the 
 convenience of the latter route is 
 evident. 
 
 Should he live at any considerable 
 e 3 
 
82 
 
 distance from Liverpool, a con* 
 veyance, suited to his family and cir- 
 cumstances, may be purchased, in- 
 stead of travelling by coach, which 
 would be found equally expensive 
 and more inconvenient. This vehicle, 
 on his arrival at that port, can be 
 shipped on board the packet, and will 
 be found serviceable on the other 
 side the Atlantic. The heavy bag- 
 gage, and in fact everything but such 
 articles as are absolutely necessary 
 for the voyage, should be insured, 
 and shipped in another vessel direct 
 to Montreal, which place they will 
 most probably reach by the time he 
 arrives with his family. 
 
 He will find the packets fitted with 
 every consideration for the comfort 
 and accommodation of passengers, 
 and ready to sail on the 1st, 8th, 16th, 
 and 24th of every month. Messrs. 
 
83 
 
 Cropper and Benson, the agents, 
 will furnish every information respect- 
 ing them. The charge for each cabin 
 passenger is thirty-five guineas, half 
 price being generally demanded for 
 children under fourteen years of age. 
 The steerage passage is about half the 
 expense of the cabin, and is provided 
 accordingly. The chaise freight will 
 be at the rate of thirty shillings per 
 ton measurement, and 10/. for him- 
 self, the same for his wife, and half 
 as much for each of his children will 
 be found amply sufficient to bear all 
 the expences of the cabin passenger 
 up the Hudson to Montreal. 
 
 No person, whether he embarks at 
 Liverpool or London, unless he has 
 some positive advantage before him, 
 should take out any kind of mer- 
 chandize, if he does he will assuredly 
 
84 
 
 repent it ; independent of anxiety and 
 inconvenience, he will in nine cases 
 out of ten, find that from the want 
 of a previous local knowledge of the 
 country, he has purchased just such 
 articles as are not wanted, and con- 
 sequently, should he wish to turn 
 them into cash to enable him to com- 
 mence operations, he must sell them 
 at a loss. 
 
 If he has a capital to spare for this 
 purpose after he has established him- 
 self, and become in some degree 
 acquainted with the general imports 
 of the colony, and the wants of his 
 immediate neighbourhood, he can 
 then send home with his small ven- 
 ture of pot and pearl-ash, an order 
 for the proceeds to be returned him 
 in goods fit for the Canadian market. 
 By this arrangement he will secure a 
 
85 
 
 double advantage, in which, if he has 
 any previous knowledge of trade, he 
 will soon find his interest. 
 
 No person has the least occasion 
 to take out with him any kind of 
 agricultural implements — every de- 
 scription of instrument for cultivating 
 the earth may be purchased at Mon- 
 treal, for the price they will cost if 
 taken out from England. A few of 
 the superior kind of carpenter's tools 
 may probably cost a little more ; but 
 clothing is all the emigrant need be 
 at all desirous of taking from this 
 country. 
 
 The route I have just mentioned 
 from Liverpool to New York, must 
 only be undertaken by the wealthier 
 class of emigrants — others with more 
 confined means should embark from 
 the nearest port, from whence they 
 can ship themselves direct for Quebec. 
 
86 
 
 From the river Thames the charge 
 is nearly the same to that city, as 
 from Liverpool to New York, but the 
 accommodation and the table pro- 
 vided is inferior, the Liverpool 
 packets being fitted expressly for 
 passengers. The poorer class of 
 emigrants may get out to Quebec for 
 61. each, in ships which are occa- 
 sionally entered out for passengers 
 only ; for this, they are provided with 
 beef, biscuit, and rum, but their 
 bedding and every other requisite for 
 the voyage they must themselves pre- 
 pare previous to going on board. 
 
 Although ships go up as far as 
 Montreal, 180 miles above Quebec, 
 still from the great delay at the latter 
 place, and occasionally in working 
 up the river St. Lawrence afterwards, 
 it will be much better for him to 
 engage his passage to Quebec only. 
 
87 
 
 On his arrival he should if possible, 
 so contrive as to move from the ship 
 to the steam vessel, instead of going 
 on shore, where he will incur expence 
 and a loss of time, which he may 
 afterwards find of greater conse- 
 quence. The length of voyage from 
 Liverpool to New York is generally 
 from twenty to forty days, from Lon- 
 don to Quebec from thirty to sixty, 
 and from Quebec to Montreal, in the 
 steam vessel, about a day and a half, 
 in a sailing vessel it may be three 
 weeks. The passage in the steam 
 vessel is about 21. each person in the 
 cabin, U. in the steerage, and for 
 this sum an excellent table is pro- 
 vided. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that the 
 river St. Lawrence is impassable from 
 about the beginning of November to 
 the end of March. The ice during 
 
88 
 
 that period either stretches entirely 
 across the channel, or floats about in 
 such formidable shoals as renders na- 
 vigation totally impossible ; added to 
 which, late in the season and very 
 early in the spring, bad weather and 
 gales of wind are frequently en- 
 countered after making the banks of 
 Newfoundland. Indeed, here, the 
 Heavens appear eternally shrouded 
 in gloom, and the waves perpetually 
 agitated. 
 
 The Island of Anticoste, in the 
 Gulph, has proved fatal to many, but 
 there are now two solitary beings 
 stationed upon it by government, 
 whose duty it is to furnish every as- 
 sistance in their power to any unfor- 
 tunate people who may be wrecked 
 upon the coast. 
 
 When the celebrated Captain Cook 
 was under the command of Admiral 
 
89 
 
 Saunders in this quarter of the world, 
 he minutely surveyed the whole of 
 the gulph and river, since which time 
 it has gradually become better known, 
 and although it still is, and always 
 will be, a dangerous navigation, but 
 very few accidents occur. 
 
 The emigrant who has never been 
 to sea before, must constantly bear 
 in mind that the same providence, 
 which shows itself daily in a thou- 
 sand instances of wonderful inter- 
 position in his native country, is 
 equally willing and able to protect 
 him whilst exposed to the perils of 
 the ocean. 
 
 Cowardice, although perhaps in 
 some cases, a constitutional infirmity, 
 is still a disgrace to any man, but 
 more especially to him who has pro- 
 fessed to set all personal hazard and 
 
90 
 
 difficulty at defiance. Let him rest 
 fully assured that the greater portion 
 of what is generally considered dan- 
 ger, bears no affinity to it if looked 
 manfully in the face. 
 
 When the Success, Trooper Frigate, 
 Captain Barclay, in which I had my 
 passage from Halifax to Quebec, was 
 nearly lost in a gale of wind in the 
 night at the entrance of the gulph, 
 I went below to inform my sleeping 
 friends in the ward-room of their situ- 
 ation. My valued friend, Lieutenant 
 John Hewitt, of the corps to which 
 I have the honour to belong, imme- 
 diately took a view of the rocks, 
 and then seeing clearly that it would, 
 in a few moments, be all right, or all 
 wrong with us, he began to draw on 
 his inexpressibles, and to dress him- 
 self with great minuteness. " My 
 
91 
 
 fine fellow," said I " I think you may 
 dispense with your drapery, and pre- 
 pare to swim for your life." " My 
 good friend,' ' replied he, with admir- 
 able sangfroid, "let us by all means go 
 on shore decent, for how do we know 
 who we may be introduced to ? " 
 
 Those who were on board the Suc- 
 cess, Fox, and Nemesis Frigates, 
 will remember, that had we struck 
 upon the rocks that night, the great 
 probability is, that not one person 
 could have been saved; and, indeed, 
 those on board the Fox, having 
 been exposed to greater danger than 
 ourselves, will well remember the 
 circumstance to which I have now 
 alluded. Although I do not mean to 
 assume to myself a greater share 
 of fortitude than other people, let 
 me not live or die like a coward. 
 
92 
 
 li Gracious powers ! which erst 
 have opened the lips of the dumb in 
 his distress, and made the tongue of 
 the stammerer speak plain, when I 
 shall arrive at this dreaded page, 
 deal not with me then with a stinted 
 hand."* 
 
 Sterne. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 
 When I think of death as a thing worth thinking of, it is 
 with the hope of one day pressing some hard fought and well 
 contested field of battle, and dying with the shouis of 
 victory in my ear, that would be worth dying for, and more 
 it would be worth, having lived for. 
 
 Claverhouse in Old Unreality. 
 
 There is not in nature a more beau- 
 tiful scene than the Harbour of Que- 
 bec and the surrounding country 
 presents, immediately after passing 
 the Island of Orleans. 
 
 Here, at the distance of 130 leagues 
 from the sea, the St. Lawrence 
 shrinks from the breadth of three 
 
94 
 
 leagues to that of a single mile, and 
 although the long line of settlements 
 on the left shore may have gradually 
 prepared the mind for some place of 
 importance, still it will be taken by 
 surprize on falling as it were suddenly 
 upon a new world. 
 
 The Upper Town rises magnificently 
 a considerable height above the level 
 of the river, whilst the lower divided 
 into wharfs and spacious warehouses, 
 and standing on ground over whicli 
 the tide, until these few years, regu- 
 larly flowed, conveys at once an idea 
 of commercial prosperity and inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 The fortifications are formidable, 
 and present many a dark and frown- 
 ing battery, one in particular, com- 
 pleting, commands the harbour and 
 Lower town. 
 
 The palace and several other 
 
95 
 
 buildings hanging tottering over a 
 perpendicular rock, gives to the city 
 of Quebec an appearance of more 
 than common interest. But however 
 much we may feel gratified in con- 
 templating this noble entrepot of our 
 North American possessions, the eye 
 turns with more pleasing satisfaction 
 to the wild and romantic scenery 
 which surrounds it. The celebrated 
 fall of Montmorenci, the number- 
 less cascades rushing from the woods 
 and tumbling down the rocks, toge- 
 ther with the little village of Point 
 Levi, with its whitened cottages 
 scattered amongst the green foliage 
 of the trees, presents a scene upon 
 which the contemplative mind will 
 dwell with incessant delight. 
 
 The Island of Orleans, which is 
 twenty miles long, and well culti- 
 vated, demands more than common 
 
96 
 
 attention, from its having been occu- 
 pied by the English army during the 
 operations against Quebec. 
 
 Here it was that the gallant Wolfe 
 planned that brilliant attack, the suc- 
 cess of which soon after covered him 
 with immortal glory, and finally led 
 to the conquest of the whole country. 
 
 As a farther proof, if any were 
 wanting, that amiability of disposition 
 is not incompatible with public duty, 
 or with the character of a hero, and 
 that minds capable of forming and 
 executing enterprizes of the greatest 
 daring, are susceptible of the mildest 
 and kindest impressions, General 
 Wolfe declared, that he would rather 
 have been the author of "Gray's 
 Elegy in a Country Church Yard" 
 (which had just then made its appear- 
 ance) than the conqueror of half the 
 world. 
 
97 
 
 Seated near the stone on which 
 that truly great man sat, when his 
 gallant soul took its flight for the 
 realms of eternity, amidst the glorious 
 shouts of " Victory, and they run," 
 I readily gave myself up to that ele- 
 vation of soul, a portion of which 
 even the coldest hearts mast feel, when 
 conscious that they are upon ground, 
 sacred to valour, and where the bones 
 of so many fine fellows have long 
 ere this, mingled with the dust. 
 
 Whilst enjoying this intellectual 
 feast, I beheld in imagination the gal- 
 lant Wolfe, struggling with the innu- 
 merable difficulties he had to en- 
 counter previous to the action, which 
 immortalized him for ever, and en- 
 rolled his name amongst departed 
 heroes- Then through the gloom of 
 night I beheld innumerable boats, si- 
 lently wafting upon the bosom of the 
 
98 
 
 tide, the troops destined for the attack, 
 the final overthrow of the enemy, 
 and the routed Frenchmen flying 
 within the walls of the city, to avoid 
 the lightning of the Scotch clay- 
 more. 
 
 Time rolled on, and I beheld the 
 brave Montgomorie, vainly endea- 
 vour to storm the Lower Town, and 
 perish in the attempt, the arrival of 
 the British Squadron, and the conse- 
 quent raising of the siege. 
 
 The Marquis de Montcalm, the 
 French General, and his second in 
 command, were both mortally wound- 
 ed in the battle of Quebec, about 
 a thousand of the enemy, including 
 a great number of Officers, were 
 made prisoners, and almost an 
 equal number were killed in the 
 battle, or in the pursuit. 
 
 The wreck of their army unable 
 
99 
 
 to keep the field, retired first to 
 Point au Tremble, and afterwards 
 to Trois Rivieres, and Montreal* 
 The loss of the English in num- 
 bers was inconsiderable; both the 
 killed and the wounded did not ex- 
 ceed 500 men. But the death of 
 General Wolfe was a national mis- 
 fortune, and accompanied with cir- 
 cumstances sufficiently interesting to 
 merit a particular detail. 
 
 He first received a shot in his 
 wrist, but wrapt a handkerchief round 
 it, and encouraged his men to ad- 
 vance, without the least discompo- 
 sure. Soon after, he received a shot 
 in the groin, which he also concealed : 
 even when the fatal bullet lodged 
 in his breast, he suffered himself 
 unwillingly to be carried behind the 
 ranks. Still his anxiety for the 
 fortune of the field continued under 
 f 2 
 
100 
 
 all the agonies of approaching dissolu- 
 tion, and when told that the French 
 army was totally routed, and fled on 
 all sides— "Then," said he, "I am 
 satisfied," and immediately expired, 
 in a kind of transport of departing 
 joy, which gave to his dying counte- 
 nance an air of exultation. 
 
 Wolfe at the age of thirty-five, 
 united the ardour, the humanity and 
 enlarged views of the hero, to the 
 presence of mind, and skill of the 
 commander. He needed only years 
 and experience, to place him on a 
 level with the greatest generals of 
 ancient or modern times. 
 
 Montcalm, the French general, 
 was scarcely his inferior. Though 
 less fortunate in the last scene of 
 his life, he made the most perfect 
 dispositions that human prudence 
 
101 
 
 could suggest, both before the action, 
 and during the engagement. * 
 
 The ride from Quebec, to the fall 
 of Montmorenci, (a distance of six 
 miles), is exceedingly interesting, 
 the whole line of road being covered 
 with pretty little villages, and de- 
 tached farms, the rural neatness of 
 which, cannot fail in exciting admira- 
 tion. 
 
 The Canadians, naturally a happy 
 people, partake in a great degree the 
 animation of countenance, and the 
 light hearted vivacity of manners of 
 the natives of Old France. 
 
 With plenty of land to cultivate, 
 the man who lives by the produce of 
 the earth, depends only on the Al- 
 mighty and himself, and this feeling 
 of real and perfect independence, 
 
 * See Russel's History of America, and Gazette. 
 
102 
 
 making him happy and content, 
 influences every thing around him, 
 and the stranger consequently feels 
 himself to be amongst the simplest, 
 and the happiest people in the world. 
 
 There can be no recollection more 
 gratifying than that in travelling to 
 the very outpost of civilization in this 
 extensive country, nothing like dis- 
 tress is to be seen, no man soliciting 
 aid with his hat in his hand, or asking 
 indiscriminate charity. 
 
 In the principal cities and towns, 
 where the idle and the profligate 
 congregate together, and endeavour 
 to find some easier way of procuring 
 a subsistence than by cultivating the 
 land, such things are ; but in districts 
 removed from those sources of evil* 
 although there may be poverty in 
 abundance, positive distress, such as 
 we daily meet with throughout all 
 
103 
 
 the countries of Europe, is altogether 
 unknown. 
 
 The falls of La Chaudiere, and 
 Montmorenci, in the neighbourhood 
 of Quebec, are objects of great 
 interest to travellers in British North 
 America, and have consequently been 
 often described. 
 
 The latter with the river, derives its 
 name from the French General, Mont- 
 morenci, who resided near it, and 
 whose Indian Servant being called 
 after his master, was precipitated over 
 them in his canoe, when in a state of 
 inebriety. It has ever since been 
 called the leap or fall of Mont- 
 morenci. 
 
 Should the emigrant, by any una- 
 voidable circumstance, be detained a 
 few days at Quebec, he should avail 
 himself of the opportunity, and visit 
 
104 
 
 both these falls. In his walk, or ride, 
 he will see an abundance to interest 
 him, and he may glean some informa- 
 tion that may be useful in forwarding 
 his future views. 
 
 If he is an old soldier, and fond of 
 his profession, with all its right and 
 left ramifications, he may feast him- 
 self to his heart's content ; and will 
 return much more gratified than if he 
 had shut himself up, mind and body, 
 heart and soul, within the walls of 
 the city. 
 
 The emigrant on arriving* at Quebec 
 will be 230 miles from the settlements 
 on the Ottawa River, 300 miles 
 from Perth, and 550 miles from the 
 Niagara frontier. These distances 
 will appear immense, but as regular 
 water conveyances are now esta- 
 blished the greater part of the way, 
 upon terms proportionably reasonable 
 
105 
 
 with the voyage from England, the 
 expenses will not be found so serious 
 as may be imagined. 
 
 It will probably be more advisa- 
 ble, however, for the settler with 
 small means to pitch his tent upon 
 the Ottawa, which he can reach at 
 such a small comparative expense, 
 thirty shillings for each person be- 
 ing fully sufficient to pay the carriage 
 from Quebec to the mouth of that 
 river ; about thirty miles above 
 Montreal. 
 
 The latter place being the principal 
 commercial depot of the interior of 
 Canada, will at all times afford the 
 settlers in the neighbourhood a 
 better market for their produce, than 
 they can possibly have higher up the 
 country. This will alone, in most 
 cases, equal the advantage of the 
 superiority of climate, which the 
 
106 
 
 Upper Province enjoys ; and the sav- 
 ing of expence and time, the two 
 essentials of the greatest consequence 
 to the emigrant, will go a great way 
 toward building him his log hous^ 
 upon the Ottawa. 
 
 Another reason for giving the 
 preference to the settlements which 
 strike off from the river St. Law- 
 rence, in Lake St. Louis, and those in 
 the neighbourhood of Perth, and 
 the river Rideau, is that in the event 
 of another war with the United 
 States of America, the grand channel 
 of communication with Kingston, our 
 great naval depot upon the Lake 
 Ontario, will branch off at the 
 Ottawa River, a route running at a 
 considerable distance from the 
 American frontier, and preferable, 
 for a variety of reasons, to the St. 
 Lawrence. . 
 
107 
 
 This is a consideration of the first 
 importance, and the settler should 
 be especially anxious, whether here, 
 or in the Upper Province, to obtain 
 a grant of land as free as possible 
 from the chance of annoyance from a 
 future enemy. From such inroads the 
 back settlements in the Lower Pro- 
 vince, above Montreal, are perfectly 
 secure, being well defended by Forts 
 Coteau du Lac, and Wellington, 
 with a long line of rapids on the St. 
 Lawrence, and Montreal at the foot 
 of Lake St. Louis. 
 
 The nearest point of the American 
 territory, is at least fifty miles distant 
 from the Ottawa, and from Perth on 
 the river Tay. 
 
 All this will be more readily under* 
 stood by reference to the map, where 
 the boundary line will be seen running 
 from the Portage, on Lake Superior, 
 
108 
 
 through the Lakes Erie, and Ontario- 
 down the St. Lawrence, to latitude 
 45, and on to the Connecticut river, 
 from thence it follows the highlands, 
 which separate the waters running 
 into the St. Lawrence and Atlantic, 
 until it reaches the boundary between 
 the United States, and New Bruns- 
 wick, due north of the river St. Croix. 
 
 The divisional line which divides 
 the two Provinces of Ifpper and 
 Lower Canada, strikes off a little 
 below the Point au Bod6t, in lake St. 
 Francis, about thirty miles above the 
 mouth of the Ottawa, and runs north- 
 erly across to that river, and up it to 
 its source on Lake Tomiscaming, and 
 then due north to the Hudson Bay 
 boundary 
 
 Although it may be optional for the 
 emigrant to settle on either shore of 
 the Ottawa, and consequently in 
 
109 
 
 either Upper or Lower Canada ; still 
 as the seat of government for the 
 Upper Province is at present York 
 Town, upwards of 300 miles distant, 
 if he settles on the Ottawa at all, he 
 had better choose the eastern shore 
 of that river. The great mass of the 
 population are agriculturalists, but if 
 the settler on the Ottawa, or in the 
 other districts of Lower Canada, had 
 to depend solely upon the growth of 
 corn, the long winter of six months 
 would be fatal to him. It would in- 
 deed be extraordinary, if he could by 
 his exertions in the summer, produce 
 enough to support him in idleness, 
 whilst the whole face of the country, 
 lakes, and rivers, are covered with 
 impenetrable ice, and snow, and vege- 
 tation dormant. 
 
 This however is not the case, for no 
 sooner are the snows well hardened 
 
110 
 
 by a few frosty nights, than the 
 emigrant must set to work, heart, 
 and hand, to clear away for the en- 
 suing spring. The timber thus felled, 
 will find a ready sale, either on his 
 own ground, (provided it is on the 
 borders of a stream), or Montreal, 
 where he will likewise get a better 
 price for his pot and pearl ash, than 
 in the upper country. 
 
 The very great importance of the 
 latter articles of commerce, has in- 
 duced me to add, in the appendix, 
 instructions for their manufacture, 
 and the emigrant will do well to turn 
 his most serious attention to this 
 source of profit, immediately he com- 
 mences clearing away his land. If 
 properly managed, the pot ash pro- 
 duced by the lops and tops of trees, 
 he is preparing for sale, and the 
 underwood on the ground he is clear- 
 
ill 
 
 mg immediately round his house, 
 will repay him all the expenses in 
 building it, ' 
 
 Whiskey is likewise now becoming 
 a profitable article of exportation, 
 and the Upper Canadians are likely 
 to succeed in raising tobacco, equal 
 to the produce of Maryland and 
 Virginia : indeed, in a country where 
 Melons are brought to maturity in the 
 open air, without the aid of super- 
 ficial heat, there is no reason why it 
 should not become a staple com- 
 modity of the very first importance. 
 
 All kinds of vegetables which 
 thrive in Europe, may be produced in 
 Canada ; but the great heat of the 
 summer, and the cold in winter, re- 
 quires more care and judgment in their 
 cultivation. This is now more essen- 
 tial than it was, previous to the rapid 
 increase of the population, and the 
 
112 
 
 consequent alteration in the face of 
 the country ; at that time the winds 
 were less variable, and fair and foul 
 weather less intermixed. 
 
 In Lower Canada the wind gene- 
 rally throughout the summer, blows 
 either from the eastward, or westward, 
 and in almost all storms, the upper 
 range of clouds are observed to be 
 moved by a westerly wind. In the 
 winter the easterly inclines more to 
 the north-east, and the westerly to 
 the north-west. 
 
 This season of the year, instead of 
 being passed in idleness, is in fact to 
 the new comers, the one in which the 
 greatest activity and industry is ex- 
 erted. To the traveller the echoes of 
 the woodman's axe resounding in 
 every direction, strikes upon the ear, 
 like a distant fire of musketry. 
 
 But to those capable of looking be- 
 
113 
 
 yond the short scene of their own 
 existence, the falling crash of sur- 
 rounding forests, and the rapid march 
 of civilization, appearing as it does 
 to outstretch the bounds of human 
 possibility, will occasion a thousand 
 extraordinary ideas connected with 
 the future, to rush upon the mind, 
 affording abundant matter for serious 
 contemplation, and reflection. 
 
 In a very few years, comparatively 
 speaking, the whole extent of country 
 from the Pacific, to the Atlantic 
 Oceans, will become the great high- 
 way of industry and commerce. 
 
 When the river Columbia attracts 
 the attention of wealthy American 
 settlers, and they have permanently 
 established themselves, it will become 
 the Mississippi of that quarter of the 
 vast American Continent. 
 
 That government has quietly and 
 
114 
 
 almost unobservably taken formal 
 possession of the entrance, and have 
 lately employed a detachment in 
 establishing military posts in that 
 direction. 
 
 A more ready communication for 
 the trade of the interior with India 
 and China, will thus be opened, of 
 which the Columbia will become the 
 grand entrepot ; and to say that a city 
 will be founded here, which will in a 
 very few years rival New Orleans, is 
 an assertion probably borne out by a 
 mere reference to the map. Its situa- 
 tion will there be seen, as well as the 
 advantages which, to a trading colony, 
 California, and the whole north-west 
 coast of America presents. As a 
 convenient reference, I shall merely 
 add that the mouth of the Columbia 
 river lies in latitude 46° 22' N. and 
 longitude 123° 51' W. 
 
LETTER VII. 
 
 " The land has peace, freedom, and liberty of conscience. 
 And what would you more?" — Old Mortality. 
 
 The honour of having discovered 
 the country, now called Canada, is 
 given to the Cabots j but Jacques 
 Cartier, a celebrated French naviga- 
 tor of the fifteenth century, first ex- 
 plored the Gulph of St. Lawrence in 
 1534, and carried off from Gasp6 two 
 natives of the country round Quebec, 
 who the following year served him as 
 
116 
 
 interpreters. He arrived on the 8th 
 
 September in his boats at the Indian 
 village of Stadacone (where the city 
 of Quebec now stands) searching for 
 some place to lay up his vessels for 
 the winter, and at last determined on 
 the river St. Charles. Soon after his 
 squadron, consisting of the Grand 
 Hermione of 120 tons, the Petite 
 Hermione of 60, and the Emerillon 
 of 40, joined him from the lower end 
 of the Island of Orleans, where he 
 had left them. After laying up the 
 two largest, he proceeded in the 
 Emerillon towards Montreal, but left 
 her at the upper end of Lake St. 
 Peter, and reached Hockelaga (now 
 Montreal) on the 2nd October. 
 
 On the 11th he again arrived in 
 the harbour of St. Croix, a name he 
 had given the mouth of the river St. 
 Charles in honour of the Saint, whose 
 
117 
 
 anniversary is celebrated on the day 
 his vessels arrived there. 
 
 On the 3rd May, 1536, he seized 
 on the two Indians whom he had 
 taken with him the former year, and 
 also the Indian Chief of Stadacon6, 
 and on the 6th made sail for France, 
 leaving one of his vessels dismantled 
 in the St. Charles for want of hands, 
 twenty-five of them having died 
 during the winter of some unknown 
 malady, and on the 10th July he 
 arrived at St. Maloes. 
 
 Four years afterwards a person of 
 the name of Robertual was appointed 
 governor of Canada, and settlers 
 were sent out. Cartier was made 
 captain -general of the vessels em- 
 ployed on the expedition, but Ro- 
 bertual fixed on Cape Breton for a 
 settlement, where Cartier remained 
 seventeen months, and then returned 
 
118 
 
 to France with a ruined fortune, and 
 died soon afterwards. 
 
 In 1588, his nephews, Delaunay, 
 Chaton, and Jacques Noel, obtained 
 an exclusive privilege to trade to 
 Canada for twelve years as an indem- 
 nification for the losses their uncle 
 had sustained; but this order was 
 revoked a few months after it was 
 granted. 
 
 This brief outline of the Canadian 
 account of the discovery of the coun- 
 try, will, doubtless, excite a strong 
 feeling of sympathy and commisera- 
 tion for the misfortunes and fate of 
 him who, after penetrating so far up 
 the St. Lawrence in opposition to in- 
 numerable difficulties, finally died of 
 a broken heart, on beholding all 
 those hopes and expectations he had 
 so fondly cherished, withering in the 
 gloom of inactivity, or blighted by 
 
 
119 
 
 the chilling blasts of cold indifference. 
 A river bearing his name falls into 
 the St. Lawrence, about forty miles 
 above Quebec, and to those travel- 
 ling by land to Montreal, forms one 
 of the most picturesque scenes of 
 nature in Lower Canada. 
 
 The hill from which it is first seen, 
 is crowned with woods, whose 
 variegated verdure, clothes the steep 
 and rugged descent to the river, 
 " deepening the murmur of the fall- 
 ing floods," which rush with head- 
 long impetuosity over a winding 
 valley of rocks into the St. Lawrence. 
 
 At a distance may be seen that 
 great and noble river, rapidly mov- 
 ing toward the ocean, bearing away 
 upon its bosom the superabundant 
 produce of the immense territory 
 through which it has flowed On its 
 banks the whitened cottages of the 
 
120 
 
 Canadians, scattered at unequal dis- 
 tances, complete a scene of rural 
 beauty, and of wild and uncultivated 
 nature; to which no description of 
 mine can do adequate justice. 
 
 When I first contemplated the ex- 
 traordinary beauty of the prospect of 
 which I have now but vainly endea- 
 voured to convey a correct idea, I 
 was not aware that an object of still 
 greater admiration was soon to pre- 
 sent itself* Do not, however, ima- 
 gine that, like the novelist, I am about 
 to introduce to your notice a fairy 
 sylph, or a spirit of the waters ; or 
 that, like the writer of a romance, I 
 shall attempt to make some " dead 
 men rise to push us from our stools." 
 
 No ! it was an object of far greater 
 interest than any old dry bones 
 that ever made himself amenable to 
 the White-boy act, by leaving his 
 
121 
 
 home at unseasonable hours, in order 
 to frighten honest men out of their 
 senses. No, it was in fact, the 
 prettiest girl in all Canada, who, at 
 that time, lived in the neighbourhood, 
 and whose agreeable naivete, aided 
 by the scenery around her, had well 
 nigh tempted me to strike my colours 
 and lay up my weather-beaten hull 
 in the Jacques Cartier river for the 
 remainder of my days. 
 
 My time however was not yet 
 come, and although this blue- 
 eyed maid of the village might even 
 have rivalled Sir Walter's lady Helen, 
 for — 
 
 Ne'er did Grecian ehisei trace, 
 A nymph, a naiad, or a grace 
 Of finer form or lovelier face. 
 
 still, as making love with sighing and 
 dying was not exactly my forte, I 
 escaped the greatest danger I had 
 
 G 
 
122 
 
 ever encountered of making a fool of 
 myself. 
 
 There is an excellent stone-bridge 
 thrown over the river, for the pas- 
 sage across which, a toll is required : 
 but this is evaded by the country 
 people during the summer, by a ford 
 about half-a-mile lower down, and 
 nearer the River St. Lawrence. 
 
 The City of Quebec, the first per- 
 manent settlement in Canada, was 
 founded in 1608 by Samuel Cham- 
 plain, a gentleman of birth and edu- 
 cation, who accompanied De Montis 
 in his expedition to Nova Scotia; and 
 it soon became the centre of the 
 French power in America. 
 
 The settlers, however, do not ap- 
 pear to have increased much in num- 
 ber, for in 1626 they had only three 
 establishments. This arose from its 
 trade having been up to this time in 
 
123 
 
 the hands of an exclusive company, 
 whose chief object was to enrich 
 themselves by the fur trade, instead 
 of creating a national power in Ca- 
 nada. Cardinal Richelieu, who at 
 that time governed France, and whose 
 ideas were more liberal than those of 
 his age, as well as more magnificent 
 than those of common ministers, 
 chose to employ a more numerous 
 association, composed of men of 
 greater property and credit. 
 
 To this company the government 
 gave the disposal of all the settle- 
 ments that were, or should be, formed 
 in Canada ; together with the power 
 of fortifying and governing them ; 
 and of making peace or war, as should 
 seem most conducive to their interest. 
 The whole trade, both by sea and 
 land, was secured to them for the 
 term of fifteen years, except the cod 
 g2 
 
124 
 
 and whale fisheries, which were left 
 open to all. The fur trade was se- 
 cured to the company for ever. 
 
 Further encouragements were add- 
 ed to these. The king made the 
 company a present of two large ships 
 of war, manned with a crew of 700 
 sailors; and he granted them the 
 extraordinary privilege of conferring 
 titles of honour; of creating dukes, 
 marquisses, and earls or counts, with 
 the royal letters of confirmation on 
 the presentation of Cardinal Riche- 
 lieu, grand master, head and superin- 
 tendent of the commerce and navi- 
 gation of France. Ecclesiastics, 
 noblemen, and others, associating 
 themselves in the company, might do 
 it without derogation of their rank or 
 character. Twelve of the members 
 were created nobles, and all the na- 
 tives of Canada were, to all intents 
 
125 
 
 and purposes, to be reputed natives 
 of Old France. 
 
 The company were allowed the 
 privilege of sending and exporting all 
 kinds of merchandize, duty-free ; 
 and every person who had exercised 
 any trade in the Colony for the space 
 of six years, was entitled to exercise 
 the same in any town in the Mother 
 Country. The last favour was of a 
 very singular nature : — all goods ma- 
 nufactured in Canada were permitted 
 a free entry into France ; a privilege 
 which gave the workmen a vast ad- 
 vantage over those of the Mother 
 Country, loaded with a variety of 
 oppressive taxes. 
 
 In return for so many advantages, 
 the company, which had a capital of 
 an hundred thousand crowns, engaged 
 to carry over to the Colony, in 1628, 
 the first year of their privilege, two or 
 
126 
 
 three hundred artificers, of such trades 
 as were most wanted; and 16,000 
 persons of all conditions, before 
 the year 1643. They were to lodge, 
 maintain, and furnish them with all 
 necessaries, for three years ; and then 
 to make an equitable distribution 
 among them, of the lands that should 
 be cleared, according to their respec- 
 tive wants; furnishing each family 
 with a sufficient supply of grain to 
 sow its allotments for the first year. 
 
 But fortune did not second the en- 
 deavours of government in favour of 
 the new company to such a degree as 
 to enable them to fulfil their engage- 
 ments. The first ships which they 
 fitted out were taken by the English, 
 who had commenced hostilities against 
 France, on account of the siege of Ro- 
 ■chelle.* 
 
 * Russel's America. 
 
 
127 
 
 They dispossessed the French of all 
 their settlements in Canada, in 1629, 
 but through the influence of Cham- 
 plain, who pointed out their importance 
 to the council of Lewis XIII., they 
 were restored the following year by 
 the treaty of St/ Germain. 
 
 The colonists appear to have, been 
 reduced to great privation and misery 
 during the next two-and-thirty years, 
 by the bad management of the affairs 
 of the company, and a war with the 
 Indians. In 1662 they made a vo- 
 luntary surrender of all their privi- 
 leges to'the king ; and from this moment 
 the French settlements gradually im- 
 proved in trade and population. 
 
 In 1745 there were 83,000 French 
 colonists, dispersed, or collected on 
 the banks of the River St. Lawrence. 
 About the head of the river, and what 
 is called the Upper Country, there 
 
128 
 
 were 8,000 more, who were rather 
 engaged in trade and hunting — than 
 agriculture.* 
 
 Until 1759, Canada, like the other 
 countries and colonies of the Old and 
 New World, was subject alternately 
 to peace and war, and their conse- 
 quences, — good or evil. These, it is 
 not necessary to particularize in a 
 small tract intended for the informa- 
 tion of the generality of emigrants. 
 In 1760, therefore, the conquest of 
 the whole of New France was com- 
 pleted by the English ; and under the 
 name of Canada, it has ever since 
 remained annexed to the Crown of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 * RusseL 
 
 
LETTER VIII, 
 
 ** I remember," said my Uncle Toby, sighing again, " the 
 
 story of the Ensign and his wife —and particularly well, 
 
 that he, as well as she, upon some account or other, (I for- 
 get what) was universally pitied by the whole regiment t 
 
 ———but finish the story thou art upon." 
 
 Sterne. 
 
 On the afternoon of a clear Octo- 
 ber day, in the year 1813, after a 
 heavy march of twenty-eight miles 
 along the margin of the St. Law- 
 rence, and passing the rivers St. 
 Anne and Batiscan, — we halted at 
 the small town of Trois-Rivieres. 
 
 Our orders to await here the arri- 
 val of the steam-vessel from Quebec, 
 g3 
 
130 
 
 afforded an opportunity for a careful 
 inspection of the battalion ; —and as 
 the war had now assumed a threaten- 
 ing aspect in the Upper Province, 
 and the Americans were moving in 
 great force upon Montreal — the ap- 
 pearance of 600 men, who had seen 
 some service, excited extraordinary 
 interest amongst all classes of the 
 Canadians. 
 
 It must not, however, be imagined, 
 that in the groups of people who 
 hailed our arrival as an interposition 
 of Providence in their favour, — were 
 those capable of bearing arms in de- 
 ence of their country; — oh, no!— 
 the old,— the feeble, — the women 
 and children, were all that remained. 
 i — The young men had nobly re- 
 paired to their posts, — regardless of 
 danger, and animated by those feel- 
 ings which alone occupy the hearts 
 
 . 
 
131 
 
 of men when called upon to] defend 
 all that is dear to them in life. To 
 their assistance we were hastening, 
 anxious to relieve a body of brave, 
 but undisciplined volunteers, from the 
 chance of being overwhelmed by the 
 superior force of the enemy. 
 
 Surrounded by their relatives and 
 friends, we were the following morn- 
 ing assembled in the Stockade Bar- 
 rack, when my attention was rivetted 
 by the appearance of a man, appa- 
 rently ninety, — who, although his 
 silvery locks bespoke extreme old 
 age, — still carried himself bravely, 
 and as would have well become one 
 half a century younger. 
 
 He was dressed in tartan plaid, 
 and I observed him mark with the 
 keenness of a soldier, the appearance, 
 and every movement of the men.— 
 His eyes, bright and animated, be- 
 
132 
 
 spoke the enthusiasm of his soul ; 
 and nothing more was necessary to 
 convince me,— that in this remote 
 spot,-— in the woods of North Ame- 
 rica, so many hundred miles from his 
 Highland home, — I had met with a 
 " Hero of other days." 
 
 Little did I imagine what after- 
 wards proved to be the fact,- — that in 
 the tall, venerable figure before me, 
 I contemplated one of the few re- 
 maining followers of Prince Charles 
 Edward. 
 
 A Scotchman, a gallant friend now 
 no more, stopping with me close to 
 his elbow y desired the drums to beat 
 " the yellow-haired laddie,"— and in 
 an instant we observed him struggling 
 to suppress his emotions. 
 
 Soldiers and sailors on foreign ser- 
 vice are soon known to each other; 
 useless ceremony is thrown aside, 
 
 
133 
 
 and man meets man at once, — either 
 as friend or foe, — with those senti- 
 ments and feelings, which of necessity- 
 are unknown in private life. These, 
 therefore, produced from my compa- 
 nion an observation in Gallic ; and 
 the return was immediately — a hearty 
 shake of the hand ; whilst the counte- 
 nance of the veteran brightened into an 
 expression of melancholy satisfaction. 
 " Sir/' said I, " I am tempted to 
 wish I was a Highlander myself, 
 since you certainly appear to possess 
 more genuine national feeling toward 
 each other, than any other people 
 under the sun." " It may be so," 
 replied he, " I always meet a coun- 
 tryman with pleasure, particularly^ a 
 Highland soldier ; — but the delight I 
 at this moment experience, proceeds 
 from those well-known sounds, con- 
 nected as they are with the recollec- 
 
134 
 
 tion of my early days, — my favourite 
 yellow-hair'd laddie : — to me your 
 notes strike upon the ear, as the 
 voice of a long-lost friend." 
 
 He could say no more ; — for in 
 spite of himself, the rising emotions 
 of his heart choked his utterance ; 
 and the manly tears which quickly 
 came to his relief, and rapidly stole 
 down his furrowed cheek, made me 
 regret that I had incautiously touched 
 that finer chord of sensibility which, 
 —fixed upon the most acute sensa- 
 tions of pain and pleasure, — vibrates 
 upon the soul of man, — lifts him, as it 
 were, above himself, — and calls into 
 action the strongest and best feel- 
 ings of our nature. 
 
 We were now sufficiently known to 
 each other to enter freely into con- 
 versation ;— and as it afforded the old 
 soldier an opportunity to 
 
135 
 
 " Shoulder his crutch, and shew how fields 
 were won," 
 
 we soon learned the leading circum- 
 stances of his life. 
 
 Born in the Highlands of Scotland 
 he had assembled with his Clan, un- 
 der the banners of Prince Charles 
 Edward, and followed him, " thro' 
 weal and woe," until his final dis- 
 comfiture, and disastrous retreat from 
 the field of Culloden. 
 
 With great difficulty he succeeded 
 in making his escape to the Colonies, 
 and after a variety of adventures, 
 when General Wolfe commenced the 
 siege of Louisburgh, he joined the 
 English army as a volunteer, — here 
 by the bursting of a shell he was 
 severely wounded ; but soon reco- 
 vering, he again joined the Brigade 
 of Highlanders before Quebec. 
 
 After the entire subjugation of Ca- 
 
136 
 
 siada, he settled in the neighbour- 
 hood of that city ;■ — and, finally, 
 pitched his last tent, in his wearisome 
 march through life, in the spot where 
 we had now the gratification of see- 
 ing him, in the winter of his days, — 
 like an aged oak in the midst of the 
 forest, — and surrounded by three or 
 four generations — sprung up imper- 
 ceptibly around him. 
 
 After a long conversation on sub- 
 jects deeply interesting to him — Scot- 
 land — and the war — we parted, 
 promising to call at his cottage the 
 following morning. The reader will 
 easily imagine that in this we were 
 punctual, and that — we found every 
 thing in the true style of " my Un- 
 cle Toby." Indeed, the picture was 
 finished to the life, by the actual ap- 
 pearance of another Corporal Trim, 
 who, with the precise soldier- like 
 
137 
 
 step and attitude of his worthy pro- 
 totype — handed round a horn of wel- 
 come, with — " I was, your Honour, 
 once a soldier myself; indeed, I was 
 bred and born one, — for I was brought 
 into the world in the English camp, 
 before Louisburgh." 
 
 Nothing more was now necessary 
 to convince us, — that in reality we 
 had found Captain Shandy, the 
 friend and patron of poor Lefe- 
 vre, — of all who needed support and 
 assistance, — and his generous mes- 
 senger of comfort to the distressed. 
 With this enthusiastic idea, in the 
 warmth of our feelings we again took 
 each of them by the hand, and freely 
 indulged in the delusion of the mo- 
 ment. 
 
 Whilst the venerable figure and 
 manner of the old soldier every mo- 
 ment inspired greater interest and 
 
138 
 
 esteem, the Trim-like countenance 
 and action of the Corporal provoked 
 me to ask him several questions pri- 
 vately, relative to his affair with 
 Bridget; and whether his friends, 
 Dr. Slop and Obadiah, were still in 
 the land of the living. 
 
 My Uncle Toby, however, drew 
 our attention to his armoury; and I 
 was obliged to defer the pleasure I 
 was promising myself. 
 
 Over the chimney were arranged, 
 with great care, a Scotch claymore, 
 —-a common English broad- sword,— 
 a halbert, — a Highland dirk and shot- 
 belt, — a brace of pistols, and a mus- 
 ket and bayonet, — together with a 
 variety of weapons of attack and de- 
 fence, commonly used by the Ameri- 
 can Indians. In the centre was 
 painted on a fancifully-carved tablet, 
 *' We are loaded, and ever ready for action : M 
 
139 
 
 a motto well suited to the spirit of the 
 garrison, and in an instant I added 
 underneath : — 
 
 ** Small in number, but of war-proof valour." 
 
 " There," said the veteran, with 
 indescribable pain and pleasure in 
 his voice and manner : — a there, you 
 see the arms we carried in our youth ; 
 but, alas ! I am now too old to fight, 
 and too old to run away ; therefore, 
 I am told I must remain at home :— 
 but, should our home be attacked, 
 then be assured we will again to 
 arms, and do our duty, as we best 
 can : and," rejoined the Corporal, " I 
 am by your side whilst there's a drop 
 of blood in my body." 
 
 In the conversation and coun- 
 tenance of the veteran, we read the 
 history of an age, during which one 
 or two generations of men had been 
 swept from the face of the earth, 
 
140 
 
 " time flew on rapid wing," and the 
 distant appearance on the lake of 
 the steam-vessel destined to convey 
 us nearer the scene of action, was 
 scarcely sufficient to remind us of the 
 necessity for an immediate separation. 
 His parting blessing was bestowed 
 with that warmth and sincerity which 
 stamps the remembrance of it more 
 strongly upon my mind ; and his last 
 admonition,— " Be brave, my chil- 
 dren, and never fear death, " was a 
 sentiment worthy of the man who had 
 fought and conquered with the im- 
 mortal Wolfe, and who, even at the 
 verge of the grave, could feel like a 
 hero. 
 
LETTER IX. 
 
 How lustily your sons endure the hour 
 
 Of wintry desolation; and how fair 
 
 Your blooming daughters greet the op'ning dawn 
 
 Of love-inspiring spring. 
 
 Progress of Liberty 
 
 The town of Trois Rivieres is 
 situated near three branches of a river, 
 which falling near this place into the 
 St. Lawrence, gives it its name. 
 
 This place was formerly the prin- 
 cipal depot of the fur traders before 
 Montreal had grown into its present 
 magnitude and importance. — Here 
 they carried on an extensive and ex- 
 
142 
 
 ceedingly lucrative trade with the 
 Indians, who descending in their ca- 
 noes laden with furs, took back in 
 exchange, brandy, rum, and gunpow- 
 der, &c. &c. 
 
 These advantages have, however, 
 long since passed away, and the com- 
 mercial inhabitants of Trois Rivieres 
 now depend chiefly on the trade of 
 the town and its vicinity for their 
 support. — They have an iron foundry 
 in the neighbourhood, where vast 
 numbers of stoves are cast, these be- 
 ing an essential article in Lower 
 Canada during the winter.- — There 
 are likewise two churches, and 
 several convents, into one of which 
 we attempted to penetrate, but the 
 good Lady Abbess was inexorable; 
 she might probably be apprehensive 
 that the colour of scarlet was in reality 
 what the blind-man had represented 
 
143 
 
 it to be in his opinion, " Like the 
 sound of a trumpet," which might, 
 perhaps, have disturbed the religious 
 exercises of its inmates. I must con- 
 fess that I am too great a friend to 
 freedom, and lover of nature, particu- 
 larly in its fairest form, to admire this 
 unsocial and unnatural practice of 
 shutting up for life in the gloom of a 
 cloister, and hiding as it were " un- 
 der a bushel, " the most beautiful 
 work of the Creator. 
 
 The man who first invented such 
 a system ought to have been tried 
 by a court martial of Amazonians, 
 and drummed out of existence. 
 
 In the revolutionary war in 1776, 
 the Americans formed a very daring, 
 and not ill laid plan, for the surprize 
 of the English forces at Three Rivers ; 
 which had it been attended with all 
 the success it was capable of, might 
 
144 
 
 have been ranked amongst the most 
 considerable military achievements 
 of that nature. 
 
 The British and Brunswick forces 
 were at this time much separated. 
 A strong detachment was stationed 
 at Three Rivers, under the command 
 of Brigadier General Frazer. Ano- 
 ther, under Brigadier General Nesbit, 
 lay near them on board the transports. 
 A greater than either along with the 
 Generals Carleton, Burgoyne, Phil- 
 lips, and the German General, Rei- 
 desal, were in several divisions by 
 land and water on the way from 
 Quebec. The distance from Soiel 
 was about fifty miles, and several 
 armed vessels full of troops, higher 
 up than Three Rivers, lay full in the 
 way. 
 
 In the face of all these difficulties, 
 a body of about 2,000 men, under a 
 
145 
 
 Major General Thompson, embarked 
 at Sorel in fifty boats, and coasting 
 the south shore of Lake St. Peter, 
 arrived at Nicolet, from whence they 
 fell down the river by night, and 
 passed to the other side, with the 
 intention of surprizing the forces un- 
 der General Frazer. 
 
 Three Rivers was at that time a 
 long village rather than a regular 
 town, and the design was, that it 
 should be attacked a little before 
 day-break by a strong detachment at 
 each end, whilst two other parties 
 were to be drawu up in readiness to 
 cover or support them. 
 
 If this plan had succeeded, the 
 destruction of all those vessels lying 
 near the shore was meditated. 
 
 The concurrent circumstances ne- 
 cessary to give effect to this design 
 were too numerous to afford any 
 
 H 
 
146 
 
 strong confidence of success. It was 
 one of those bold undertakings which 
 might have been productive of great 
 advantage, but which was of too 
 perilous a nature for any thing less 
 than the most desperate situation of 
 affairs to justify. 
 
 They missed their time by about 
 an hour, which, though they had 
 passed the armed ships without ob- 
 servation, occasioned their being dis- 
 covered, and the alarm given at their 
 landing. 
 
 They afterwards got into bad 
 ground, and were involved in other 
 difficulties, which threw them into dis- 
 order and confusion. In this state they 
 found General Frazer's corps prepared 
 to receive them, having landed several 
 light six-pounders, which played upon 
 them with great effect. Whilst thus 
 engaged in front, General Nesbit 
 
147 
 
 landed his brigade from the transports 
 in their rear. 
 
 Nothing was now left but a retreat, 
 the accomplishment of which was 
 more to be hoped than expected. 
 Between Generals Nesbit and Frazer's 
 corps they were driven for several 
 miles through a swamp, which they 
 traversed with inconceivable toil. 
 The British troops at length grew 
 tired of the pursuit, and the woods 
 afforded them the wished for shelter. 
 The first and second in command, 
 with about 200 others, were taken 
 prisoners. The loss of the British, as 
 may be imagined, was but trifling. 
 
 This was the last effort the Ameri- 
 cans made of any importance in Ca- 
 nada during the war. 
 
 The steam vessels which navigate 
 the St. Lawrence lay too for a short 
 time at Trois Rivieres, to take m -a 
 h 2 
 
148 
 
 farther supply of fuel. A description 
 of this mode of conveyance is unneces- 
 sary, steam vessels having now be- 
 come pretty generally known through- 
 out Europe. Mr. Malsham, of Mon- 
 treal was the first to establish them in 
 British North America, and it is only 
 a proper tribute of justice to acknow- 
 ledge, that the tables provided, and 
 the accommodations in all of them, 
 are most excellent. 
 
 The earlier in the summer the emi- 
 grant reaches Montreal the better. 
 To those who intend to rent or pur- 
 chase a cleared farm, it is not of so 
 much consequence, but to him who 
 purposes taking up a grant of land, 
 it is absolutely necessary that he 
 should be at Montreal, if he intends 
 to settle in the Lower Province, and 
 at Kingston if in the Upper, by the 
 middle of July. 
 
149 
 
 He will then be able to obtain pos- 
 session of his land, and build his log- 
 house before the setting in of the 
 winter. This period of the year in 
 Lower Canada is from the 15th of 
 November to the 15th of April. 
 In the Upper Province agricultural 
 labour may be prosecuted during se- 
 ven months of the year. About a 
 month from the renewal of vegeta- 
 tion in both provinces, the apple- 
 trees are in blossom, and the verdure 
 of the wheat fields and meadows wave 
 in the wind. All sorts of grain are 
 sown in the spring, the wheat first, 
 which generally ripens in four ino'ntlis 
 from the time of its being put into 
 the earth ; there is, however, another 
 kind, a bearded wheat, which is fit 
 for the sickle in three months, the 
 time oats require. 
 
 In the Upper Province wheat is like- 
 wise sown in the fall as in this country. 
 
150 
 
 I shall now attempt to give an idea 
 of the geographical situation, laws, 
 and government of the Lower Pro- 
 vince, and for the observations I have 
 to offer in this letter, I am principally 
 indebted to a brief account of Canada, 
 published annually in the Quebec 
 Calender. 
 
 The public institutions of Upper 
 Canada being modelled agreeable to 
 the British* will not require any par- 
 ticular description. 
 
 The name of Canada was originally 
 applied by Europeans to all the land 
 on the south western shores of the 
 Gulph of St. Lawrence * and on both 
 sides of that river from its mouth to 
 some distance above Quebec. 
 
 The River St. Lawrence itself was 
 called "La Grande Riviere du Ca- 
 nada," the name was afterwards ex^ 
 tended to all countries explored by 
 adventurers from the settlements 
 
151 
 
 along the river. The whole "of the 
 French possessions in North America 
 were afterwards comprehended un- 
 der the name of New France, 
 
 Canada, as it is understood at the 
 present day, is bounded to the east 
 by the Gulph of St. Lawrence, and 
 the country on the Labrador coast, 
 annexed in 1 809 to the government of 
 Newfoundland ; to the north, by the 
 territories of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany; to the west, by undefined 
 boundaries, but which may be sup- 
 posed to extend (by virtue of occu- 
 pation by the fur traders, and the 
 discoveries of M'Kensie) to the 
 Pacific Ocean. To the south it is 
 bounded by unexplored countries, 
 and by the United States of America, 
 the Michigan territory, the State 
 of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, 
 
152 
 
 Vermont, New Hampshire, the dis- 
 trict of Maine, and by the British 
 Province of New Brunswick. 
 
 The whole of this extent of country, 
 as far as it was then explored, was 
 from 1774 to 1791 under the govern- 
 ment of the Province Quebec. In 
 1791 it was divided into Upper and 
 Lower Canada, by a line which 
 strikes off near M'Ghie's Point in Lake 
 St. Francis (or Point au Bodet,) which 
 has been alluded to in Letter VIII. 
 
 Lower Canada lies between the 
 45th and 50th degrees of north lati- 
 tude, and the 62d and 82 d degrees 
 of west longitude, from Greenwich. 
 The eastern half of this province is 
 mountainous, and generally uncul- 
 tivable. On the south shore of the 
 St. Lawrence the mountains do not 
 recede considerably from the river 
 
153 
 
 until about sixty miles below Que- 
 bec, they then run in a south wester- 
 ly direction until they reach Lake 
 Champlain. 
 
 On the western side of this lake 
 they extend north-westerly, in the 
 direction of the Great Rapids of the 
 St. Lawrence. They can hardly be said 
 to leave the river until they reach 
 Quebec, from whence they extend in 
 a western and southern direction, and 
 again appear in sight of the moun- 
 tains on the south shore, toward the 
 above rapids. 
 
 The countries lying within these 
 mountains (comprising an extent of 
 above 200 miles from East to West, 
 and 180 from North to South, at the 
 broadest part) is level, with the ex- 
 ception of the isolated mountains of 
 Montreal, Beliel, and Chamblay. 
 
 Nearly in the middle of this tract 
 h 3 
 
184 
 
 of land* flows the St. Lawrence* va- 
 rying from a mile to upwards of 
 twenty miles in width, navigable for 
 vessels of 300 tons burden, 600 miles 
 from the sea, 
 
 On the north, the waters of the 
 Ottawa* L'Achigan, the St, Maurice* 
 the Batiscan, the St. Anne, and the 
 Jacques Cartier, empty themselves 
 into it ; and on the South, the Cham^- 
 blay* the Yanaska, the St. Francis, 
 the Nicolet, the Besancour, and the 
 Chaudiere. 
 
 All of these in Europe would be 
 considered rivers of great magnitude* 
 and the sources of all, excepting 
 the Ottawa and Chamblay, lie consi- 
 derably to the east of their embou- 
 chures. They have generally high 
 banks* along which the soil and 
 growth of timber is inferior to that of 
 the country farther back. All of them, 
 
155 
 
 excepting where they are nearly on a 
 level with the St. Lawrence, have a 
 second bank at some distance from 
 that which now contains their waters. 
 The same thing is observable of the 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 The waters of none of these rivers 
 are clear, excepting the St. Law- 
 rence itself, which, before its junc- 
 tion with the Ottawa, is as transpa- 
 rent as any in the world. 
 
 The soil on both sides of the Saint 
 Lawrence, in the western portion of 
 the tract of country above described, 
 is for the most part clayey, without 
 stones, — excepting here and there 
 globular masses of granite lying on 
 the surface. 
 
 Newly cleared it is invariably 
 covered with a dark mould, produced 
 by dissolved vegetable substances. 
 As you approach the mountains the 
 
156 
 
 soil is more light and loamy. These 
 lands are the easiest cleared, and are 
 at first very productive; toward 
 Quebec the soil is poorer, frequently 
 stony and shingley, and there are 
 large tracts of sandy soil, covered 
 with only a very slight coating of 
 vegetable mould. 
 
 The mountains generally consist of 
 granite, though there are throughout 
 the country extensive strata of lime, 
 and not unfrequently stones having 
 the appearance of volcanic eruption. 
 
 The part of Lower Canada in cul- 
 tivation, — consists of from one to ten 
 leagues back on both banks of the St. 
 Lawrence, and the rivers which fall 
 into it. There are also settlements 
 along the boundary of the United 
 States, from the River Connecticut 
 to St. Regis, the rest of the country 
 to the very tops of the mountains is 
 
157 
 
 covered with timber of a species and 
 growth congenial to the soil. 
 
 The landholders in the Lower Pro- 
 vince are mostly Canadians, or of 
 Canadian extraction, very few of 
 them hold upon lease, but are the 
 owners of the soil, subject only to a 
 very small annual rent to the Seigneir 
 or person holding immediately from 
 the crown, and the fine of a twelfth 
 on a change of proprietor by sale, or 
 act equivalent to a sale, — one-fourth 
 of which twelfth is usually deducted 
 upon prompt payment. 
 
 The other conditions are by no 
 means burthensome according to the 
 existing practice. They consist 
 chiefly in having their corn ground at 
 the Seignorial Mill, paying one- 
 fourteenth for grinding — and in mak- 
 ing and repairing the highways 
 passing through their land, and assist- 
 
158 
 
 ing in the bye-roads necessary for the 
 use thereof. Lands held by Catholics 
 are likewise subject to a tythe of a 
 twenty- sixth part of all grain for the 
 use of the curate, and to assessment 
 for the building and repairs of churches 
 and parsonage houses. 
 
 There are no people on the face of 
 the earth more strongly attached to 
 their religion, laws, and customs 
 than the Lower Canadians. During 
 the late contest with the United 
 States of America, their loyalty and 
 attachment to the government and 
 people of Great Britain, were exem- 
 plified in athousand instances. Their 
 conduct atChrystlers Chataguay, and 
 La Cole Mill, sufficiently established 
 their character for personal bravery 
 and self-devotion to the cause for 
 which they fought. 
 
 The 104th regiment raised in New 
 
159 
 
 Brunswick, the Nova Scotia, the Ca- 
 nadian, and Glengary Fencibles, the 
 Canadian Voltigeurs, and one or two 
 other Corps raised in Lower Canada^ 
 were of the greatest service during the 
 war. — They proved themselves on 
 every occasion worthy of their colours> 
 and fully justified the opinion formed 
 of their courage, and discipline. 
 
 This character may likewise very 
 justly be given to the Militia of the 
 Upper Province, who suffered severely 
 on the Niagara frontier, particularly 
 in the affair of Lundy's-lane, in 1814, 
 where a battalion of incorporated 
 militia sustained the brunt of the 
 action for a considerable time, in a 
 style that would have done credit to 
 regular troops. 
 
 The commanding officer of the 
 corps was a captain of the 8th regi- 
 ment> who held a brevet rank, with 
 
1 60 
 
 the local one of lieutenant-colonel 
 whilst detached, — and I well remem- 
 ber an anecdote told of him at the 
 time, too good to pass unnoticed. 
 This gallant son of the Emerald Isle 
 having been severely wounded in the 
 action,— made the following laconic 
 report of his situation to the lieu- 
 tenant-colonel who commanded the 
 8 th. 
 
 Dear , 
 
 I was shot through the head ycster- 
 diay morning, but they tell me I am 
 doing very well, and I think so my- 
 self. A plague on that villainous 
 salt-petre, I think it will be the 
 death of me at last. 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 The sovereign legislative authority 
 
161 
 
 is in His Majesty and the two Houses 
 of Parliament. This authority is 
 again limited by the capitulations and 
 its own acts, — the most remarkable 
 of which is the Act 18 George III. 
 chap, xii., confirmed by 31 George 
 III. chap, xxxi., which declares that 
 no taxes shall be imposed on the 
 colonies but for the regulation of 
 trade, and that the proceeds of such 
 taxes shall be applied to and for the 
 use of the province, in such manner 
 as shall be directed by any law or 
 laws which may be made by his 
 majesty, his heirs, or successors, by 
 and with the advice and consent of 
 the legislative council and assembly 
 of the province. 
 
 The provincial legislature erected 
 by the aforesaid Act of 31 George 
 III. chap. xxxi. (1791), consists of 
 his majesty acting by the governor 
 
162 
 
 or person administering the govern- 
 ment of Canada, — of a legislative 
 council of not less than fifteen mem- 
 bers, appointed by his majesty for 
 life under some exceptions, — of a 
 House of Assembly of not less than 
 fifty members, elected for four years, 
 by British subjects resident within 
 the province, %nd possessed for their 
 own use and benefit in the country of 
 real property of the annual value of 
 forty shillings sterling ; in the towns 
 of the yearly value of five pounds, or 
 paying rent to the amount of ten 
 pounds. It is empowered to make 
 laws for the " peace, welfare, and 
 good government of the province," 
 such laws not being repugnant with 
 the above Act. 
 
 The governor in his majesty's name 
 assembles, prorogues and dissolves 
 the two houses, but they must be 
 
 MB 
 
163 
 
 called together once in every twelve 
 calendar months. All questions 
 arising in the two houses are decided 
 by a majority of the members pre- 
 sent. The governor gives, withholds, 
 or reserves for the farther signification 
 of his majesty's pleasure—the royal 
 sanction to all bills proposed by the 
 two houses : — laws assented to by the 
 governor may be disallowed by his 
 majesty within two years. His 
 majesty cannot assent to any Act or 
 Acts affecting the employment of the 
 dues of the clergy of the Church of 
 Rome, or affecting the establishment 
 of the Church of England within the 
 province, — the provisions made for 
 the same, or the real enjoyment, and 
 exercise of any religious form or 
 mode of worship. Neither in creating 
 penalties, burthens, disabilities, or 
 disqualifications on that account; 
 
164 
 
 in granting or imposing any new 
 duties in favour of any minister of 
 any particular form of worship — or 
 affecting the prerogative touching the 
 granting of the waste lands of the 
 crown—without such Acts having 
 been thirty days before both houses 
 of the British parliament, and nei- 
 ther of the houses having addressed 
 his majesty not to sanction the same. 
 The laws in force are first the Acts 
 of the British parliament which ex- 
 tend to the colonies. — 2ndly. Capi- 
 tulations and treaties; 3rdly. The 
 laws and customs of Canada, founded 
 principally on the customs of Paris, 
 the edicts of the French kings, their 
 colonial authorities and the Roman 
 civil law ; 4thly. The criminal law of 
 England as it stood in 1774, and as 
 explained by subsequent explanatory 
 statutes; 5thly. The ordinances of the 
 
 < 
 
165 
 
 governor and council established by 
 the Act of that year ; and 6thly. By 
 the Acts of the provincial legislature 
 since 1793. 
 
 These laws are executed in his 
 majesty's name, and by virtue of 
 his commission and instructions, 
 by the governor — and his inferior 
 officers, all of whom he appoints 
 (with a few exceptions) during plea- 
 sure. The governor likewise pos- 
 sesses all those powers and preroga- 
 tives, which his majesty may legally 
 enjoy, and delegate to him. 
 
 The Judiciary, consists of a chief 
 justice of the province, and three 
 puisne justices for the district of 
 Quebec. A chief justice and three 
 puisne justices for Montreal, a pro- 
 vincial judge for Three Rivers, and 
 one for Gaspee. The police is ad- 
 ministered by the magistrates, &c. 
 
LETTER X. 
 
 And soon a score of fires, I ween — 
 From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen ; 
 Each with warlike tidings fraught ; — 
 Each from each, the signal caught ; — 
 Each, after each, they glanc'd to sight : 
 As stars arise upon the night. 
 
 Lay of the Last Minstrel 
 
 Montreal is an extensive, well- 
 built city, situated on the north shore 
 of the River St. Lawrence ;• — on an 
 island of the same name, (about 
 twelve leagues long, and four in 
 width) which is exceedingly fertile, 
 abounding in corn, fruits, romantic 
 scenery, and handsome country-seats ; 
 
168 
 
 aided by the mildness of the climate, 
 when compared with Quebec, it is by 
 far the most agreeable residence in all 
 Canada. 
 
 Every article of luxury or comfort 
 that money can purchase, are to be 
 obtained in Montreal. Fleets of 
 ships, many of them upwards of 300 
 tons burden, are here to be seen load- 
 ing and unloading their cargoes at 
 the distance of 600 miles from the sea. 
 Respectable libraries, and other pub- 
 lic institutions, — with a theatre, and 
 indeed nothing appears to be want- 
 ing that can either contribute to the 
 wants or amusement of its inhabi- 
 tants. These amount to more than 
 25,000 Canadians and Americans, &c. 
 They have two good markets, well 
 supplied, at moderate prices. The 
 hotels and boarding-houses are, in- 
 deed, excellent; and in the latter, 
 
169 
 
 the respectable traveller who pur- 
 poses remaining a short time in Mon- 
 treal, will find no difficulty in pro- 
 curing good and comfortable quarters, 
 at a moderate expense. 
 
 Montreal may be considered as the 
 grand entrepot to the Upper Pro- 
 vince ; and the merchants here drive 
 a most extraordinary and profitable 
 trade, with the people of both pro- 
 vinces, as well as with the different 
 nations of Indians, in the North-west, 
 and Western divisions of this exten- 
 sive country. 
 
 A more particular description of 
 Montreal is unnecessary ; because the 
 emigrant will, if he is prudent, not 
 remain longer here, than is absolutely 
 requisite to make his arrangements. 
 In a great city, he will find his money 
 fly like the wind, and his time will 
 likewise be too valuable to be thrown 
 
170 
 
 away; he will therefore do well to 
 move on as soon as possible. 
 
 Should he purpose taking up a 
 g-rant of land in the Upper Province, 
 on his arrival at Montreal, if he has 
 much luggage, he had better probably, 
 immediately engage a batteaux, (or 
 flat-bottomed boat, suited to the na- 
 vigation) to convey him to Kingston. 
 It is totally impossible to say posi- 
 tively, which arrangement will be the 
 most prudent for prosecuting the 
 voyage up the St. Lawrence, — whe- 
 ther a batteaux, or a passage in the 
 steam- vessels ; as it must depend 
 entirely upon the number of his 
 family, weight of baggage, and other 
 circumstances,— of which he alone 
 can form a correct opinion. 
 
 To avoid leading any one into error, 
 I shall merely give a general account 
 of the route, noticing as we pass, the 
 
171 
 
 several towns and villages on the 
 right and left (N. & S.) shores of the 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 From Montreal to Lower Lachine, 
 the river is a continued rapid, over 
 which no boats but the batteaux can 
 pass with safety. These are forced 
 along the edge of the current, by the 
 main strength of the boatmen, who 
 use long poles shod with iron, pro- 
 vided for that purpose. Four or five 
 hours will be occupied, in advancing 
 to this place, although only nine miles 
 from Montreal; but in coming down 
 to that city with the current, half 
 an hour would be more than sufficient 
 to run that distance, without the aid 
 of either oars or sail. 
 
 The- canal, which is cutting from 
 
 Montreal to Upper Lachine, wilL 
 
 however, do away the necessity of 
 
 passing these rapids, and conse- 
 
 i 2 
 
172 
 
 quently, materially facilitate the con- 
 veyance of goods to the settlements 
 on the Ottawa, and the Upper 
 Province. There is a steam vessel 
 now employed navigating the Ottawa, 
 and Lake St. Louis, which will con- 
 vey passengers and baggage to the 
 foot of the Split Rock Rapids, about 
 six miles below the village of Cedars. 
 Lake St. Louis, although a small 
 lake, when compared to others of 
 North America, would in Europe, be 
 considered a magnificent piece of 
 water. The country around it is 
 indeed beautifully picturesque, and 
 the " green mountains of Vermont," 
 although seventy miles distant, are 
 here visible, towering to the clouds. 
 When viewed from the northern 
 shore of the lake, they may be 
 compared to the Pyrenees, for 
 variegated grandeur and sublimity. 
 
173 
 
 The Indian village of Cocknawaga, 
 lies immediately opposite Upper 
 Lachine, and the glittering spire 
 of the church of Point Clair, will 
 be seen on the right ; the emigrant 
 may here, if he pleases, call to his 
 recollection "the Canadian boat 
 song." 
 
 a Ottawa tide, this trembling moon, 
 
 "Shall see us float over thy waters soon," &c. 
 
 The Canadians have an odd way of 
 covering the spires of almost all their 
 churches, in the Lower Province, 
 with a sort of polished tin, which 
 has a very pretty effect, and is visible 
 for several miles, above the green 
 foliage of the trees. 
 
 The village of Cedars stands very 
 pleasantly on the north shore of the 
 river ; and I remember it with greater 
 satisfaction, from having received the 
 
174 
 
 most hospitable attention in 1813, 
 from Colonel Murray* who at that 
 time commanded the 5th battalion of 
 militia. It was the same night that 
 general Wilkinson passed Fort Wel- 
 lington with the American army, 
 and as the alarm guns were fired at 
 the Coteau du Lac, and the beacon 
 at that post was seen flaring through 
 the moonlight, — 
 
 " like a blood flag in the sky," 
 
 the old women and children were 
 nearly frightened into fits; but the 
 militia under their venerable com- 
 mander, (who had passed his youth in 
 the regular army) pushed on at mid- 
 night to the Coteau. 
 
 After the departure of the garrison, 
 the uproar increased ; alarming re- 
 ports were spread ; and it appeared 
 as if the place was on the point of 
 
175 
 
 attack, by the ghosts of these 5,000 
 invincible Yankees, who were in 
 reality fifty miles distant. So com- 
 pletely had that wild eyed monster, 
 fear, taken by the nose every soul in 
 the village, and so strenuously did 
 this infernal demon, pull away at the 
 common 'larum bell of their senses, 
 that, to them, the thought of sleep, 
 conveyed an idea little short of 
 instant death, and a speedy prepara- 
 tion for the next world, was the order 
 of the day. 
 
 The Coteau du Lac, is eleven miles 
 farther on ; this was a military post 
 of considerale importance, during the 
 war. The 2nd battalion, R.M. formed 
 part of its garrison in the winter of 
 1813, with the 103rd regiment, who 
 were the following year unfortunately 
 blown up, in the disastrous attack 
 
176 
 
 upon Fort Erie. The whole effective 
 strength of the regiment, about 600 
 men, went into action that night, 
 under their gallant commanders, 
 Colonels Scott and Drummond, who, 
 together with almost every officer 
 and man, a few minutes afterwards, 
 fell victims to an unforeseen, and 
 unaccountable explosion. 
 
 The same night, captain Alexander 
 Dobbs, R.N. C.B., who was co- 
 operating with a party of seamen, 
 and marines, was knocked backwards 
 whilst gallantly advancing to plant 
 the scaling ladders, by a cannon shot, 
 which having several times bounded 
 from the earth, struck him directly 
 on the forehead. He was carried from 
 the field senseless, but, however 
 much he feels the effects of it, I am 
 happy to say, he still lives, and is 
 
177 
 
 ready and willing to shew as bold a 
 front as ever, to the enemies of his 
 country. 
 
 Whilst on the subject of narrow 
 escapes, I may perhaps be permitted 
 to record another, which occurred 
 under my own immediate observation. 
 
 In the attack upon Norfolk, in 
 Virginia, it became necessary for the 
 second battalion to change its position, 
 by a retrograde movement. I beg 
 the reader will not think that the 
 marines are in the habit of retreating ; 
 excepting out of this world, into 
 another : their character in this re- 
 spect, is, I ljK)pe, pretty well under- 
 stood, I shall therefore proceed. 
 
 In this movement, a cannon shot 
 from the water battery, on Crany 
 Island, struck the ground close be- 
 hind Captain Steele, RM., rose 
 again, and passed directly between 
 i 3 
 
118 
 
 his thighs, knocked him down,— 
 dead, it was supposed; but although 
 he was likewise severely wounded ; 
 he also, I am happy to say, lived to tell 
 the story, and is now barrack master 
 of the royal marine artillery. 
 
 To be serious, however, this is 
 queer work after all, for tenpence a 
 day, and your rations. 
 
 A mile and a half in advance, of 
 Coteau du Lac, is Point M'Donald, 
 which derives its name like a great 
 many other places in Canada, from 
 the proprietor. This is the head of 
 the Cedar, and Coteau du Lac 
 rapids, which the emigrant will find 
 the worst part of the navigation 
 between Montreal and the Upper 
 Province. 
 
 It will take him, even with a 
 fair wind across Lake St. Louis, 
 three days to get his batteaux to 
 
179 
 
 McDonald's, forty-six miles from Mon- 
 treal ; should he be a steam vessel pas- 
 senger, he will have to cart his baggage 
 from the Cedar's to McDonald's Point, 
 where he can convey it across Lake 
 St. Francis, as far as Cornwall. 
 
 During the late war, a strong party 
 of seamen, for the service of the 
 lakes, halted at the Coteau du Lac, 
 in their way up the country. They 
 had been previously supplied with a 
 complete fighting apparatus, and with 
 ammunition in abundance, but a 
 haversack to hold their "prog" as 
 the nautical term is, and a canteen for 
 the "liquor of life" was omitted, 
 amongst the other articles of equip- 
 ment. 
 
 The next morning, the blue petre 
 was hoisted, as a signal for getting 
 under way, and "toe a line," the 
 word of command, was as promptly 
 
180 
 
 obeyed, as might be expected under 
 all the circumstances. It is true they 
 complained loudly of the cursed 
 straps across their shoulders, a mus- 
 ket and bayonet, with forty round 8 
 of ball cartridge, being no joke, and 
 that such infernal trumpery, was only 
 fit for a soldier, and a disgrace to a 
 blue jacket. " Give me a cutlass, v 
 cried one, "give me a boarding pike," 
 roared another, and "give me my 
 grog," vociferated a third ; however, 
 iC toe a. line," being again whispered in 
 their ears, by the soft murmur of the 
 boatswain's mate, order was restored 
 to the Blues, and they amused them- 
 selves in silence for a few moments, 
 drawing up in their own minds, a de- 
 claration of war against every un- 
 fortunate pig between the Coteau du 
 Lac and the falls of Niagara. 
 
 Four days' rations of rum, soft 
 
181 
 
 bread, and beef, were now distributed 
 from the commissariat store, but this 
 only produced a new difficulty. 
 
 The rum it is true, could have been 
 easily stowed away, but the beef and 
 bread, — what was to be done with 
 that? There was no sea chest, no 
 canvass bag, no haversack ; one tried 
 the top of his hat, another his P. 
 jacket, and another, more ingenious 
 than the rest, was for slinging it over 
 his shoulders, in the seat of his old 
 trousers. Now this appeared to be 
 an excellent idea, but — ■ 
 
 " Hope told a flattering tale," 
 
 for behold, one of them had accident- 
 ally found a still better plan, and was 
 seen hoisting his in the air, upon his 
 fixed bayonet. The thought — 
 
 " flew like lightning 'long the line," 
 
 and was acted upon immediately by 
 all hands. 
 
im 
 
 The cry of " shove off 5 ' " shove 
 off" now became universal, and was 
 at length complied with, by the com- 
 manding officer ; 
 
 " Oh ! it was a goodly sight to see," 
 
 when they extended themselves, after 
 the manner of naval tactics, for at 
 least three-quarters of a mile, all 
 along the margin of the bay, and a 
 party of Indians encamp'd a short 
 distance from the Fort, staring with 
 astonishment, shook their heads, and 
 very wisely concluded, that if the 
 war was to be carried on in that 
 manner, it would very soon be all up 
 with the Yankees, 
 
LETTER XI. 
 
 " That is all which is worth caring for, which distin- 
 guishes the duath of the brave from the ignoble. "j 
 
 Old Mortality. 
 
 Point au Bodet, nine miles from 
 M' Donald's, is generally the first 
 stage for the Canadian boatmen, but 
 should they have a fair wind across 
 Lake St. Francis, they invariably 
 make the best of it, and push on as 
 far as the River Raisin, Camerons, 
 or even to Cornwall, a distance of 
 thirty- seven miles from the Coteau. 
 
 A small party was stationed at 
 
184 
 
 M'Ghie's Point, (Point au Bodet) 
 whilst general Wilkinson's army lay 
 in the Salmon River, and three gun- 
 boats were kept constantly cruising 
 on the Lake, until the winter, as a pre- 
 cautionary measure against Fort Co- 
 teau being surprised by the Americans. 
 
 Glengary, the first settlement after 
 passing the boundary of the Upper 
 Province, is a sufficient specimen of 
 what may be effected by industry and 
 perseverance. The majority of the 
 people in Glengary speak Gallic. A 
 French Canadian, or an Englishman, 
 will here find as much difficulty in 
 making himself understood, as he 
 would in Otaheite, or any other out- 
 of-the-way part of the world. 
 
 Here are the Donald M'Donalds, 
 the M'Kenzies, the M'Niels, the 
 M'Dougals, the M'Kinnons, and the 
 M'Phersons, the Scots, the Frazers, 
 
185 
 
 and the Camerons — indeed I am half 
 inclined to think that there is not a 
 braw hinny, " that ever wore bottom- 
 less breeks," who could not in this 
 said district of Glengary — if he was 
 disposed to take a stretch across — 
 find either his cousin or his namesake. 
 A Highland friend of mine, whilst 
 quartered at Cornwall, discovered in 
 one old woman, the person who had 
 nursed him in his infancy. It was a 
 droll scene enough, for the " gude 
 wife n had no sooner clearly ascertain- 
 ed that her foster bairn was actually 
 before her, than making a most affec- 
 tionate spring, she caught him round 
 the neck, and half smothered him 
 with caresses and imperial mackaba. 
 He had on one or two occasions after- 
 wards, a very narrow escape of being 
 brought to close quarters in a similar 
 manner, in spite of the sharp look out 
 
186 
 
 kept by him upon the old lady's move* 
 ments. 
 
 The entrance of the River Raisin is 
 in a deep bay on the Canadian shore. 
 The block-house at the entrance will 
 be seen when about three miles above 
 M'Ghie's; and the passage from hence 
 to Cornwall will afford ample matter 
 for pleasure and observation. 
 
 After passing Cameron's, the Indian 
 village of St. Regis, on the south 
 shore, becomes an object of much in- 
 terest. Here the boundary falls into 
 the St. Lawrence, and from this point 
 upwards, runs in the centre of that 
 river, and through the lakes. 
 
 As this line had never been cor- 
 rectly described, commissioners were 
 appointed by both powers at the ces- 
 sation of hostilities for that purpose ; 
 and the British executive have spared 
 no expense or exertion for effecting 
 
187 
 
 this desirable object, and a perfect 
 survey of the Upper Lakes. This is 
 absolutely necessary, because in these 
 immense inland seas, tremendous 
 gales blow with incredible violence, 
 and the numerous shoals and small 
 islands, scattered in every direction, 
 make the navigation sometimes both 
 difficult and dangerous. In several 
 parts of Lake Ontario there are no 
 soundings, but by the great efforts 
 made to keep the ascendancy upon it 
 during the late war, this lake is better 
 known than either of the others. 
 
 St. Regis was occupied by the 
 American army during the winter of 
 1813. General Wilkinson, after the 
 defeat of his rear division at Christ- 
 ler's farm, having crossed his army at 
 Cornwall, and given up all hopes of 
 reaching the Lower Provinces by the 
 River St. Lawrence. 
 
 
188 
 
 Excepting the innkeeper, and Mon- 
 sieur Joseph Marcoux, the Catholic 
 missionary, the inhabitants of this 
 village are all Indians, or of Indian 
 extraction. The church and houses 
 are commodious and well built, and 
 the priest appears to have adopted 
 every means in his power to civilize 
 the people, but whether they are 
 more happy in consequence, is a ques- 
 tion not so easily ascertained. The 
 St. Regis Indians have advanced far- 
 ther in civilization, than any other tribe 
 in this part of North America; but 
 generally speaking, those who have 
 had much intercourse with their neigh- 
 bours verify the old and true proverb 
 — "Evil communications corrupt good 
 manners" — which may be well ap- 
 plied in this instance. 
 
 Instead of becoming better, many 
 of them exchange, for their native 
 
189 
 
 hardihood, simplicity and bravery — 
 indolence, pusillanimity, and all the 
 vicious inclinations and habits of the 
 Europeans — very few of them imbib- 
 ing any of their virtues. 
 
 The Indians of the six nations, in 
 the neighbourhood of Lake Huron, 
 and Michilimacinac, are however a 
 very different race of men, and the 
 name of Tecumseth will be held in 
 veneration as long as Canada exists. 
 
 Of all the chiefs attached to the 
 British army during the late war, none 
 could equal Tecumseth. He stood 
 pre-eminent, and it is the opinion of 
 many who knew his character, that 
 he had a head and a heart capable 
 of planning and executing the boldest 
 actions imaginable. He fell mortally 
 wounded in a skirmish with a party 
 of American riflemen, in October, 
 1813, when his services in the field, 
 
190 
 
 and his powerful influence over a 
 strong body of Indian warriors, were 
 of the greatest importance in the 
 defence of Upper Canada, 
 
 The Indian chief Norton, likewise, 
 rendered very valuable assistance to 
 the British cause in Canada. After 
 the cessation of hostilities he came 
 with his wife and family to England, 
 — was introduced to His present Ma- 
 jesty, who conferred upon him the 
 local rank of Major in the English 
 army. After a short stay, however, 
 in this country, he returned to Cana- 
 da, and now passes his life in retire- 
 ment, near York— his literary ac- 
 quirements affording him the princi- 
 pal source of amusement. 
 
 Mrs. Norton has considerable per- 
 sonal attractions, and possesses a 
 mind and manner, that would do 
 credit to a more exalted station. 
 
191 
 
 Sackanaigh (alias Black Bird) is 
 another chief who made himself con- 
 spicuous during the late war. He is a 
 nephew of Tecumseth's, and appears 
 to inherit a great deal of the bravery 
 and warlike genius of his gallant rela- 
 tive. 
 
 When Capt. Miller Worsley, R.N. 
 in September, 1814, arrived at Michi- 
 limacinac, on Lake Huron, with a 
 few seamen in boats and canoes, from 
 the Nottawasaga River, where he had 
 been obliged by the superior force of 
 the Americans to destroy H. M. S. 
 Nancy, he found the port blockaded 
 by Commodore Sinclair with two 
 heavy schooners. 
 
 With that spirit of enterprize so ab- 
 solutely necessary in carrying on the 
 war upon the lakes, he immediately 
 determined upon attacking them with 
 the crew of the Nancy, and a party 
 
192 
 
 of the Newfoundland Regiment, un- 
 der Lieut. Bulger of that corps, who 
 were placed under his directions by 
 Colonel M'Dowal, the Commandant. 
 
 In this affair Sackanaigh, the Indian 
 chief, accompanied Capt. Worsley as 
 a volunteer, and evinced great gal- 
 lantry. 
 
 When closing in upon the vessel 
 under her fire, Sackanaigh was ob- 
 served with his tobacco pouch, and 
 with an apparent devotional feeling, 
 spreading a small portion of the con- 
 tents upon the lake, and to pour over 
 the boat's side a quantity of rum. 
 Whether this was intended to invoke 
 the " Spirits of the Waters," I know 
 not, neither is it of any consequence, 
 for it was evident that the spirit was 
 a good one, under whose influence he 
 acted. After returning his rum bottle 
 to its station, " Now," said he, " we 
 
193 
 
 shall take her;" and, with the deter- 
 mination that it should be so, he was 
 immediately afterwards one of the first 
 to leap on board the enemy. 
 
 By reference to the Gazette it will 
 be seen, that the action was crowned 
 with the success it deserved — that 
 Capt. Worsley, like Capt. Barclay 
 and his crews on Lake Erie, with 
 British seamen, " behaved like British 
 seamen ;" and that the conduct of the 
 officers and men of the Newfoundland, 
 commanded equal praise and admira- 
 tion. 
 
LETTER XII. 
 
 • u The current turns 
 
 Beneath them, from its onward course; 
 Some mightj, unseen barrier spurns 
 The vex'd tide, all foaming back ; 
 And scarce the oars, redoubled force 
 Can stem the eddies whirling force." 
 
 Laila Rookh, 
 
 As the emigrant to Upper Canada 
 may perhaps feel inclined to become 
 a naturalized Indian, should a proper 
 opportunity occur, I shall give a 
 short account of the ceremony of 
 initiation, as performed during the 
 war. 
 
 k2 
 
196 
 
 Each person who intended pro- 
 posing himself to the Indians, pro- 
 vided a trifling present, a gun being 
 the most valued ; but above all things 
 a bottle of rum. 
 
 With these he repaired to the spot 
 where the Indians were encamped, 
 and having told them the object of 
 his visit, by means of an interpreter, 
 a consultation was held by the chiefs, 
 and principal warriors. This ques- 
 tion however was soon settled, after 
 drawing the cork of the rum bottle, 
 that liquor having a very powerful 
 influence in all their deliberations. 
 
 An oration was now delivered by 
 one of the chiefs, generally expres- 
 sive of their wishes, that their adopted 
 brother should lead the life of an 
 Indian warrior, and concluded with 
 observations similar to these : " That 
 as the Great Spirit has for some wise 
 
197 
 
 purpose sent you across the wide 
 lake to become an Indian, we hope 
 that you will raise the hatchet of war 
 with us against our enemies, and that 
 you will teach us to revenge on them, 
 the injuries we have sustained, &c." 
 The name was then given to each, 
 the presents offered in return, and 
 the war dance commenced. 
 
 During this part of the ceremony, 
 the whole party made one of the 
 most hideous yells imaginable, called 
 the war whoop, and instructed the 
 newly initiated in the use of the 
 tomahawk, &c. &c. At length the 
 repeated pledges between this august 
 family, drained to the very dregs the 
 unfortunate bottle, which, now no 
 longer affording them either pleasure 
 or profit, (like a minister who has 
 lost all influence) was kicked from 
 
 mii 
 
198 
 
 one side to the other, regardless of 
 all former favour and affection. 
 
 The Canadian Indians are never 
 known to molest the settlers in any 
 way ; indeed, excepting in the coun- 
 try above Lake Ontario, very few 
 are to be seen, and those perfectly 
 inoffensive. Unlike the Caffres at 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and the 
 aborigines of New South Wales and 
 Van Diemen's Land, there is no- 
 thing disgusting, or even disagreeable 
 in their appearance, and many of the 
 women are exceedingly pretty. 
 
 The men have been represented as 
 most outrageously jealous, but I do 
 not believe that they are more so 
 than any other people. It is how- 
 ever a melancholy fact, one that will 
 scarcely bear reflecting upon, and 
 " one that will melt even lawyers to 
 
199 
 
 pity," that the American Indian has 
 no more idea of a Lord Chancellor, 
 than he has of the chief officer of the 
 Inquisition ; and knows no more 
 of a suit in Chancery, than he does 
 of the North-west passage. 
 
 Poor devil, he does not even know 
 the meaning of crim. con.; totally 
 senseless to all the charms of briefs, 
 and refreshers; he actually lives, 
 moves, and has his being, without 
 the assistance of " letters and mes- 
 sengers," or even one solitary six-and- 
 eightpenny, to inform him that black 
 is not white, and vice versa. 
 
 Now where people thus destitute, 
 are left to follow their own ideas of 
 right and wrong, it is not to be won- 
 dered at, that they should act 
 promptly upon the impulse of the 
 moment. I would therefore most 
 strongly and seriously advise the 
 emigrant to Upper Canada, to con- 
 
200 
 
 stantly bear in mind the tenth com- 
 mandment. If he does not, his blood 
 be upon his own head, for he will be 
 scalped to a certainty. He may rest 
 fully assured that the only law offices 
 of the crown, introduced to his 
 notice, will be a scalping knife and a 
 rifle gun ; and the only brief, a round 
 piece of lead, which will find its way 
 through his Court of King's Bench 
 in as short a time, as a suit in charge 
 of one of those — who are — all — all — 
 honourable men! ! ! God forgive me 
 ****** 
 
 But I have compared one of those 
 pillars of the state, a lawyer, to a 
 scalping knife ; now I must beg one 
 moment to explain, or I may bring 
 down to the charge such a host of 
 bashaws with one, two, and three 
 tails, as will not be very easy for me 
 to withstand. How shall I begin? 
 Why indeed should I attempt it? 
 
201 
 
 The honourable and respectable mem- 
 bers of the profession, will rest fully 
 assured, that this comparison can in 
 no possible way apply to them ; but 
 the worthless and the valueless, those 
 who persuade the poor man still 
 farther to impoverish himself, by ad- 
 vising him to pursue, what they know 
 to be merely a vain shadow, those 
 who pervert the truth, and under the 
 protection of their official situations, 
 their gowns, and their big wigs, 
 insult misfortune, and hold up to 
 the ridicule and contempt, of a 
 pitiless world — men far better than 
 themselves. If any such should read 
 these observations, and think the cap 
 fits — they are welcome to take it, and 
 wear it, and to enjoy it, until they are 
 called upon in due time to receive that 
 reward, which,, from the nature of 
 their services, they so richly deserve. 
 k 3 
 
202 
 
 In war, the American Indians sup- 
 ply the place of light cavalry, in ha- 
 rassing a retreating enemy ; but their 
 war cry, or war whoop, as it is gene- 
 rally called, is only heard in perfec- 
 tion by those, who, in the dead of the 
 night, fall into an ambuscade, and 
 these worthies are closing in upon 
 the party pell mell. Steadiness, 
 however, is all that is necessary, as 
 from want of discipline they have 
 then no chance of success. A volley 
 or two, well and closely applied, will 
 be found amply sufficient to make them 
 take to their heels, and " the devil 
 take the hindmost,'' will very soon 
 afterwards be the only word of com- 
 mand for the runaways. 
 
 " Waybadan payshik shemagonish 
 kitchie Manneetoo, nee wee waybenan 
 nee yoe, Matchee Manneetoo," is 
 part of the dead war song of one of 
 
 =^_. 
 
203 
 
 the tribes, and for music, it is only 
 necessary to make the most horrible 
 noise the human voice is capable of 
 producing, and the original air is hit 
 to a nicety. 
 
 We will now move on to Cornwall, 
 a respectable town on the Canadian 
 shore of the St. Lawrence. This 
 may be considered the foot of the 
 great rapids of Upper Canada, and 
 consequently will become in a few 
 years a place of considerable wealth 
 and importance. The inhabitants 
 indeed, deserve every good that can 
 befal them, and my memory must fail 
 me in all things, when I forget their 
 kindness and hospitality. The Mac 
 Leans, the Andersons, the Frenchs, 
 and the Woods, in fact almost every 
 individual inhabitant, appeared to vie 
 with each other, in their generous 
 
204 
 
 efforts to contribute to our comfort 
 and accommodation. 
 
 Although Cornwall is at present 
 only in its infancy, the town is nearly 
 a mite in length, and the church 
 which stands about the centre, is neat 
 and respectable. There are several 
 excellent houses in the place, and the 
 neighbourhood is improving in a 
 most extraordinary manner, hundreds 
 of emigrants having settled near it, 
 in what are called the back conces- 
 sions. 
 
 If the emigrant should by any 
 chance, remain a short time at Corn- 
 wall, he will be much gratified by a 
 walk upon the line of road leading to 
 these settlements. He will be not a 
 little astonished at the extraordinary 
 prospect on all sides of him, and may 
 probably see his interest in establish- 
 
 .. W - f- . , , ■ 1 rf.n - 
 
205 
 
 ing himself here, instead of prose- 
 cuting his journey farther up the 
 country. The greater part of the 
 settlers are Scotch, but a few English 
 and German are intermixed. 
 
 Mr. M'Donald, the catholic priest, 
 appears to have greater influence 
 over them than any other person. 
 He took the field with the Glen- 
 gary men in 1813, and fully proved, 
 that as well as teaching them how 
 to deserve their homes, he could 
 likewise set them an example how to 
 defend them. 
 
 From McDonald's Point to Corn- 
 wall, (thirty-six miles) the navigation 
 is uninterrupted by rapids, and a 
 regular daily communication with 
 Montreal, is constantly kept up by a 
 mail-coach, which passes through 
 Cornwall in its way up and down the 
 country. 
 
 
206 
 
 The next village is Mill-rush, on 
 the north shore, five miles farther in 
 advance, where there is a small rapid ; 
 indeed the St. Lawrence, from Corn- 
 wall upwards to the head of the Long 
 Sault rapids, is a continuance of 
 difficult navigation, of which it is 
 scarcely possible to convey an idea. 
 Although the Long Sault, the Coteau 
 du Lac, the Cedars, the Cascades (or 
 Split Rock) and the Montreal rapids, 
 are great obstacles in the passage up 
 the St. Lawrence : they afford a most 
 extraordinary display of romantic 
 scenery. 
 
 In passing down the river, the roar 
 of the rapids being heard at a great 
 distance, appears to the passenger 
 who has never before gone through 
 them, as if the batteaux was hurrying 
 toward some fall of water equal to 
 Niagara. When they become visible, 
 
207 
 
 the velocity of the current soon car- 
 ries him into the midst of them. 
 
 It would be no specimen of cowar- 
 dice in any man, if he then felt more 
 than a common sense of danger, as 
 should the boat broach too, or fall 
 with her broadside to the current, 
 nothing can save her from being 
 swamped, and her passengers from a 
 watery grave. To prevent such an 
 accident, on approaching the rapids, 
 the sail is lowered, and the boatmen 
 rest on their oars ready to pull, right 
 or left, as occasion may require. 
 
 In this manner, whilst surrounded 
 by a thousand whirlpools and dan- 
 gerous rocks, the batteaux is hurled 
 forward by the mere force of the cur- 
 rent, at the rate of fifteen miles an 
 hour. In fact, you may be said to 
 ride full gallop over danger, which 
 
208 
 
 even to look at from the shore, appears 
 more than commonly appalling. 
 
 The Cascade, or Split Rock Rapid, 
 is the most dangerous; and here in 
 1815, a few of us had well nigh taken 
 our departure for " that bourne from 
 whence no traveller returns." There 
 is an old proverb, which might per- 
 haps be one way of accounting for the 
 escape of some of the party, but I 
 hate proverbs that take up the subject 
 so quaintly, and shall therefore pass 
 on to describe how the service had 
 like to have been deprived of one 
 lieutenant, three Serjeants, one drum, 
 and sixteen full privates, of his ma- 
 jesty's royal marine forces. 
 
 We had passed all the rapids above, 
 with perfect safety ; but on approach- 
 ing the Split Rock, where the river 
 rushes with frightful velocity round a 
 point of land, and forces itself into a 
 
209 
 
 narrow channel ; our pilot appeared to 
 have either lost all confidence in him- 
 self, or to have taken too strong a pull 
 at the Commissary. 
 
 The batteaux was flying like lights 
 ning, in the direction of an immense 
 vortex, caused by the recoil of the rush 
 of the river — large enough to swallow 
 a-line-of-battle ship. 
 
 The pilot fancied he had time to 
 make the passage on the right, but 
 finding this scarcely possible, he en- 
 deavoured to regain the channel on 
 the left. 
 
 Seeing what this manoeuvre would 
 end in, and that I should never live to 
 tell the tale, I look'd through the sky- 
 light of his mind, and clearly saw that 
 he gave himself up for lost, and was 
 calling upon all his red letter friends 
 in the almanack for assistance. 
 
 Now, I should have venerated him 
 
210 
 
 for this on any other occasion, but in 
 the present instance it had quite a 
 different effect ! — it was like a starving 
 man, instead of taking the trouble to 
 catch the fish, waiting in the hope of 
 seeing them jump out of the river, 
 ready fried. 
 
 In fact, I saw clearly that it was 
 necessary " to be up and be doing," 
 instead of looking for a miracle to 
 deliver us ; and consequently ordered 
 one of the Serjeants, a native of Lom- 
 bardy, and a very brave and powerful 
 man, to put the pilot out of the way, 
 seize the oar, and assist in navigating 
 the batteaux. The laying Jean 
 Jacques along quietly at the bottom 
 of the boat, was to him but the 
 operation of a moment, and another, 
 brought us close in with the enemy. 
 
 " Je suis perdue," cried the Cana- 
 
211 
 
 dian in an agony of fear ; " Je suis 
 perdue ;"* but it was no such thing, 
 for we contrived to take the shock 
 upon the quarter of the batteaux, and 
 in two minutes — after a momentary 
 glance to the bottom of the infernal 
 gulph, and although the boat had 
 half filled with water, and the oars, 
 knapsacks, &c. were washed over- 
 board — all hands jumped on shore, 
 safe and sound, at the foot of the 
 rapid. 
 
 * I am lost— I am lost. 
 
LETTER XIII 
 
 " Eh ! Sirs ! ye're sair alter'd hinny, your face is turn'd 
 pale, and your een are sunken, — and your bonny red and 
 white cheeks are turn'd a' dark and sun-barn'd. 
 
 " O weary on the wars !— many's the comely face they 
 destroy." 
 
 Old Mortality. 
 
 From the head of the Long Sault 
 rapids, there are but one or two tri- 
 vial obstacles in the passage of the 
 river, all the way to Kingston. The 
 first stage by land is Ault's Inn, 
 fifteen miles from Cornwall; or 
 Haine's Inn, a few miles farther on, 
 both of them affording very good 
 accommodation. 
 
214 
 
 A short distance in advance is 
 Matilda. In this settlement there are 
 a great many of Colonel Sir W. 
 Johnson's corps, who took up arms 
 for the mother country in the revolu- 
 tionary war with America, and were 
 afterwards given lands on the north 
 shore of the St. Lawrence, from Glen- 
 gary to Prescot. 
 
 The margin of the river upon which 
 they were thus distributed, is now 
 almost entirely cleared, and the in- 
 tervals between each family are ra- 
 pidly filling up by their numerous 
 offspring. This is by far the most 
 interesting settlement in British 
 North America, if we properly asso- 
 ciate the misfortunes, the adventures, 
 and the characters of those who com- 
 pose it. Captains Anderson, French, 
 Robinson, M'Donald, M'Clean, and 
 the two Frazers, are still living, and 
 
215 
 
 never omit an opportunity of paying 
 every hospitable attention to strangers. 
 The emigrant will, on his arrival 
 here, be about 120 miles from Mon- 
 treal, and 300 from Quebec. Au- 
 gusta, Johnstown, Brockville, and 
 Gananoqua on the Canadian, with 
 Osnaburg and Hamilton on the Ame- 
 rican shore, are the only villages or 
 towns visible from the St. Lawrence, 
 until the emigrant reaches Kingston, 
 eighty-five miles farther, on Lake 
 Ontario. 
 
 He will find tolerable accommoda- 
 tion at all these places, should he 
 travel by land ; but the passage by 
 water will be found much more agree- 
 able from the head of the rapids. 
 
 The Canadian boatmen, five of 
 whom generally constitute the crew 
 of a batteaux, are guided entirely by 
 the wind, as to the distance they go 
 
216 
 
 each day, it being perfectly immate* 
 rial to them where they lay too for 
 the night. After cooking their sup- 
 pers they sleep in their boats, and a 
 common tent will therefore be found 
 of the greatest service to the emi- 
 grant in his passage up the river. 
 One good enough for the purpose 
 may be purchased in this country 
 for £2., and will afterwards be found 
 of twice that value, either to be cut 
 up into boat sails, or to transmogrify 
 into an elegant real, mock Turkey 
 carpet, for his very best drawing 
 room. 
 
 Great numbers of emigrants have, 
 within the last ten years, settled in 
 the concessions (as the New Town- 
 ships are called), at the back of 
 Johnstown, Preseot, and Brockville. 
 
 The latter place was named in re- 
 membrance of General Brock, who 
 
217 
 
 fell on the 18th Oct., 1812, whilst 
 gallantly leading on his men to the 
 charge, in the battle of Queenstown. 
 He was buried at Fort George, and 
 as a proof how much he was beloved 
 in Canada, and how sincerely his loss 
 was felt by the people, and how 
 anxious they are to perpetuate his 
 memory, it is only necessary to re- 
 mark, that Brock is now a christian 
 name common amongst them for their 
 children. 
 
 Fort Wellington, in the village of 
 Prescot, lies immediately opposite 
 Osnaburg. The former was a post 
 of considerable importance during 
 the war, the river being here not 
 more than three quarters of a mile 
 broad, and frozen over during the 
 winter, ten minutes is sufficient for an 
 invading army to cross the frontier. 
 
 In 1812, Lieut. Colonel M'Donald, 
 
218 
 
 the Commandant, was in the constant 
 practice of exercising the garrison 
 upon the ice, between Fort Welling- 
 ton and the Osnaburg batteries. His 
 repeated appearance for this purpose 
 only, lulled the Americans into an 
 idea of security, which was no sooner 
 clearly ascertained by the British 
 officer, than he determined on a coup 
 de main. 
 
 After making the necessary ar- 
 rangements, the garrison, with the 
 militia of the district, paraded as 
 usual on the ice, moved forward in 
 double quick time, and in less than 
 half an hour, were in full possession 
 of the place. A treaty was then 
 agreed upon, by which the Osna- 
 burghers bound themselves not to 
 admit an American force within the 
 precincts of the town, during the re- 
 mainder of the war, under the pe- 
 
219 
 
 nalty of having it blown about their 
 ears by the guns of Fort Wellington. 
 
 When General Wilkinson descend- 
 ed the St. Lawrence, in the November 
 of the following year, with 5000 men, 
 in thirteen gun boats, and 300 scows 
 and batteaux, he landed his cavalry 
 and a strong detachment of infantry 
 at Johnstown, having passed Fort 
 Wellington in the night, under a fire 
 from the garrison. A few days after- 
 wards, however, instead of attacking 
 the Fort as was expected, he again 
 pursued his route toward the Lower 
 Province. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Morrison im- 
 mediately followed him with a corps 
 of observation, consisting of de- 
 tachments of the 89th, 49th, Cana- 
 dian Fencibles, and about fifty Indi- 
 ans, with two light six pounders, and 
 a few Royal Artillerymen, in all 
 l 2 
 
220 
 
 about 900 men. Captain Mulcaster, 
 R. N., was ordered by Sir James 
 Yeo, the naval Commander in Chief, 
 to co-operate, with the small vessels 
 and gun-boats from Lake Ontario. 
 
 On coming up with the rear-guard 
 of the Americans, they harassed 
 them with great success, until the 3d 
 December, when the American Gene- 
 ral Boyd faced about near Christlers 
 Farm, (a name from henceforth me- 
 morable in Canadian history), with 
 about 2,500 men, determined to try 
 their mettle ; but after a severe action 
 of two hours, he was defeated, with 
 a severe loss in killed and wounded. 
 Two highly respectable and gallant 
 young Canadian officers, fell in this 
 affair, Captain Nairn, and Lieutenant 
 De Lorimer. 
 
 It must at all times be a gratifying 
 task, to record the actions of the 
 brave, whether friends or foes, let me 
 
 * 
 
221 
 
 therefore not forget to mention also, 
 the American General Codrington, 
 who fell, mortally wounded, at the 
 head of his brigade, whilst conspicu- 
 ously mounted upon a white horse — 
 he was making every exertion to se- 
 cure the success of the day. 
 
 Would to God that the two nations 
 could for ever remain at peace with 
 each other ! — Would to God it were 
 possible for ever to avoid again rous- 
 ing up those feelings of hatred and 
 enmity, which make men, speaking 
 the same language, enjoying the same 
 laws and customs, and sprung from 
 the same fathers, so anxiously en- 
 deavour to destroy each other. 
 
 War with any nation on the Conti- 
 nent of Europe, is preferable to a war 
 with America. The appearance of a 
 thousand men lying wounded in the 
 field after an action, if they speak a 
 
222 
 
 language foreign to our ear, will not 
 excite half that sympathy felt for one 
 wounded American. It is true we 
 hear their groans, and it will be no 
 disgrace to a man, if his heart inwardly 
 bleeds at witnessing their agony 
 whilst administering to their wants. 
 But this is nothing — in America after 
 an action, sounds of distress strike 
 upon the ear, which immediately an- 
 nihilate every feeling of animosity. 
 
 Take up a man mortally wounded, 
 speaking as we speak, and thinking 
 as we think, he will, as it were na- 
 turally, rest his head upon your 
 shoulder, as upon that of a brother. 
 He will talk to you of his family and 
 of his home, and whilst the film of 
 death is fast spreading over his eye, 
 he will endeavour to express his gra- 
 titude, by faintly pressing the hand 
 held out to his assistance. 
 
223 
 
 The last sentence, the last request, 
 
 quivering upon the lip (every word of 
 
 which is felt and understood), will 
 
 force upon the mind a thousand 
 
 thoughts and sensations not possible to 
 
 be described ; and I am not ashamed 
 
 to confess, that so situated, I have 
 
 called upon the Almighty to shower 
 
 down the curse of eternal perdition 
 
 upon all those, who either in their 
 
 madness or their folly, had occasioned 
 
 the war between the two countries. 
 
. *\AM. . 
 
LETTER XIV. 
 
 " Thae whigamore bullets ken unco little discretion, and 
 will just as soon knock out the life of a psalm-singing auld 
 wife, as a swearing dragoon. 5 ' Old Mortality. 
 
 Twenty-four miles below Kings- 
 ton, the Gananoqua River falls into 
 the St. Lawrence. There is a good 
 inn here, and on an eminence is a 
 block-house, which was attacked in 
 1812 by a detachment of American 
 light troops, who were repulsed. In 
 this affair an old lady in the neigh- 
 l 3 
 
226 
 
 bourhood was seriously wounded near 
 the hip by a musket-shot, whilst as- 
 sisting in the defence of the place ; 
 and if this heroine is still in the land 
 of the living, the emigrant who has 
 an introduction to her will observe, 
 that in consequence of this unman- 
 nerly ball, striking her so hard upon 
 the tender, she is no longer able — 
 
 " To trip it on the light fantastic toe." 
 
 In short, he will see that her dancing 
 days are over, and that in these 
 "piping times of peace" she must 
 now content herself, like Donna Clara 
 of Saragossa, in shouldering her 
 crutch to " show how fields were 
 won." 
 
 During the war, Gananoqua was 
 the rendezvous for the flotilla of gun- 
 boats, under the command of Captain 
 C. C. Owen, R.N. employed convoy- 
 
 
227 
 
 ing the brigades of batteaux up and 
 down the River St. Lawrence. The 
 Lake of the Thousand Islands is just 
 below Gananoqua, and upon one of 
 them, on the 4th of Dec. 1814, I was 
 obliged to take up my quarters for 
 the night. I had left Kingston Hos- 
 pital on leave of absence for the 
 Lower Province, having been pre- 
 viously an invalid on board H.M.S. 
 Princess Charlotte, (now the Kings- 
 ton) for several months. To the 
 friendship and kindness of Captain 
 Edward Collier who commanded her, 
 1 consider myself indebted for the 
 preservation of my life ; and no words 
 of mine can convey anything like an 
 adequate sense of the gratitude I feel 
 to him, who, in the hour of extremity, 
 afforded me every comfort, with that 
 generosity and kindness of heart, so 
 conspicuous in his character. 
 
 
228 
 
 I left Kingston in company with a 
 son of Colonel M'Donald of Matilda, 
 who had been serving with the Nova 
 Scotia Fencibles as a volunteer, and 
 I remember our batteaux was manned 
 by invalid soldiers of the 103d regi- 
 ment. The first night we arrived at 
 a small island above Gananoqua, 
 which the emigrant will observe on 
 his left, in passing up the River St. 
 Lawrence. Seven or eight men, em- 
 ployed in rafting timber from the saw 
 mills, up to Kingston dock-yard, had 
 already taken possession of the only 
 log hut, which was divided into two 
 rooms. One of these was occupied 
 by the family, so that when my party 
 of six, was added to the number, it 
 became very little better than the 
 celebrated black-hole of Calcutta. 
 Sleeping in the boat, in the open air, 
 would have proved a fatal experiment, 
 
229 
 
 the winter having set in ; we there- 
 fore wrapt ourselves in our buffaloe 
 skins for the night, determined to 
 make the best of it. 
 
 At day-break the following morn- 
 ing, we were awoke by our fellow 
 navigators, who appeared in great 
 apprehension of being obstructed in 
 their passage up the river by the ice, 
 which now began to float down the 
 stream in solid masses, or to spread 
 its brittle barrier across, from shore 
 to shore. Having nearly the same 
 prospect before us as the lumber-men, 
 we started as soon after, as possible, 
 and reached Down's Inn, at Ganano- 
 qua, by ten o'clock. Here we ex- 
 pected to find some Canadian, or 
 Indian, capable of piloting the bat- 
 teaux down the river, and through 
 the great rapids, as far as Cornwall, 
 where I purposed remaining a short 
 
230 
 
 time, after leaving my friend McDo- 
 nald at Matilda. In this, however, 
 we were disappointed, and were 
 obliged to proceed without a pilot, 
 still indulging the hope of reaching 
 Matilda, where one might possibly 
 be found, for the remainder of the 
 voyage. 
 
 This was only a plan, and like many 
 other plans, appeared to be formed 
 merely to be frustrated. As we ap- 
 proached the Lake of the Thousand 
 Islands, where the river divides into 
 numerous channels, we saw clearly, 
 that the odds were nearly a thousand 
 to one, against our being able to carry 
 it into effect. We were likewise well 
 aware that had the ice intercepted us 
 in our course, we must all have either 
 died from want ; been frozen to death 
 in the batteaux, or perchance have 
 been taken prisoners by the Ameri- 
 
231 
 
 cans. One of these disasters had 
 very nearly happened ; for when com- 
 pletely bewildered as to which was 
 the proper channel, with the evening 
 fast closing in upon us, one of the 
 soldiers was suddenly taken very ill, 
 and the rest of the party (excepting 
 Mr. M'Donald) being invalids, ap- 
 peared totally incapable of bearing 
 fatigue or exertion. In addition to 
 other difficulties, the wind which had 
 hitherto favoured us, now died away, 
 and the only chance of escape there- 
 fore, appeared to be, putting the boat's 
 head round, and getting clear of the 
 islands. 
 
 There is nothing like necessity to 
 make people, in cases of life and 
 death, exert their strength and in- 
 genuity ; and as necessity was com- 
 manding officer on this occasion, 
 the lame, the sick, and the convale * 
 
232 
 
 scent manned the oars, and gave 
 weigh cheerily against the current. 
 This severe labour however, soon ren 
 dered another of the soldiers perfectly 
 useless, and the remainder in a short 
 time after, were in a situation nearly 
 as deplorable. 
 
 We lay upon our oars, anxiously 
 listening to catch some sound of 
 human habitation, but darkness had 
 already spread her sable wing over 
 the whole face of nature, and nothing 
 was to be heard through the stillness 
 of the night, but the wild rush of 
 the river round a distant headland, 
 when Providence — whose extraordi- 
 nary interpositions are so often mani- 
 fest, especially in the lives of most men 
 moving about the world — afforded 
 us that relief of which we had began 
 to despair. A feeble light, suddenly 
 glimmering through the woods on the 
 
233 
 
 Canadian shore, gave us renewed 
 hope ; with renewed strength we 
 directed our exertions toward it, 
 and after a severe struggle against 
 the current, succeeded in making a 
 landing close to the light. 
 
 The settler, whose solitary taper 
 had served us as a beacon, came 
 down to the beach, and assisted in 
 removing the sick men into his house. 
 Our worthy host possessed a humane 
 disposition, and his wife was like- 
 wise a kind hearted creature; they 
 therefore immediately busied them- 
 selves in preparing the best supper 
 their humble means afforded, and 
 after partaking of it, we once more 
 rolled ourselves in our blankets and 
 buffaloe skins, hoping to enjoy some- 
 thing like comfortable repose. 
 
 But as before, we were here like- 
 
234 
 
 wise all in one room, and as the sol- 
 dier who was taken so seriously ill in 
 the early part of the night, had now 
 become much worse, the necessity of 
 constantly attending to him, pre- 
 vented the possibility of closing my 
 eyes the whole of the night. It was 
 in vain that I wished for sleep — 
 
 " Great Nature's second course 
 
 To steep my senses in forgetfulness." 
 
 " The dread of being again awaked, 
 was always uppermost in my imagi- 
 nation, and so incessantly stept in 
 between me, and the first balmy pre- 
 sage of repose, as to rob me of the 
 whole sweets of it."* 
 
 The next morning, the ice had ap- 
 parently set in for the winter, and we 
 
 * Sterne, 
 
 , 
 
235 
 
 were consequently obliged to give 
 up all idea of proceeding farther 
 down the river, in a batteaux manned 
 by invalids. We therefore returned 
 it to the storekeeper at Gananoqua, 
 and the sick men, I gave in charge of 
 the medical officer at that post. 
 
 The two following days and nights, 
 it blew violently, again breaking up 
 the ice, and in consequence a bat- 
 teaux from Kingston, belonging to 
 the house of M'Kay and Kirby, made 
 its appearance. The former being 
 on board, very kindly offered a pas- 
 sage for myself, servant, and baggage, 
 which I gladly accepted, my friend 
 M'Donald having gone on to Matilda 
 by land the day previous. 
 
 The Hon. George Markland, Cap- 
 tain Cartwright of the Canadian 
 Fencibles, Lieutenant Coleman, R.N* 
 
236 
 
 and an officer of provincial light dra- 
 goons were of the party, and from 
 them I received every attention, and 
 was safely landed at the place of my 
 destination. 
 
LETTER XV. 
 
 Ontario's ample breast is still, 
 And silence walks the distant hill, 
 And summer barks are gently gliding 
 "Where lately yonder war towers riding 
 Seem'd like leviathans to load 
 The bosom of the groaning flood. 
 
 Hall's Canada. 
 
 We have how advanced very nearly 
 eight hundred miles into the interior 
 of British North America, and have 
 been guided all along this extraordi- 
 nary line of country, by the marks of 
 civilization and improvement. But, 
 if the interest, and astonishment, of 
 the emigrant, has been excited by what 
 
238 
 
 he has already seen, how shall I de- 
 scribe his feelings, when he arrives 
 at what may very properly be con- 
 sidered, the source of the mighty river, 
 which has borne him this immense 
 distance from the ocean ; and to 
 which the most magnificent in Europe 
 are in comparison, but mere rivulets 
 and summer streams. 
 
 As the batteaux strikes in between 
 two small islands, under the heights 
 of Point Henry, he will be presented 
 with a distant prospect of Lake On- 
 tario, two hundred miles long, and 
 sixty miles in width. Above him, on 
 his right, he will observe Fort Henry, 
 the principal land defence of the town 
 and harbour of Kingston ; and on 
 rounding the point upon which it 
 stands, he will see the dock-yard and 
 naval arsenal upon Point Frederick, 
 with the old sea lions laying along 
 
239 
 
 the wharfs, tame, harmless, and mo- 
 tionless. 
 
 The hulls of the fleet, upon which 
 the safety of Upper Canada in a great 
 measure depended, during the late 
 war, now lie basking in the sunshine 
 of public favour and protection, like 
 the remnant of officers, seamen, and 
 marines, who once composed their 
 crews. In order to convey some idea 
 of the magnitude of the British navaj 
 force and power in this inland sea, it 
 is only necessary to observe, that had 
 the late war with the United States 
 continued another year, we should 
 have had one ship of 112 guns, two 
 ships of 74, one of 64, one of 44, two 
 of 24, three of 18, and two of 10 guns, 
 with from 30 to 40 gun-boats. The 
 American naval force would have 
 been no doubt fully equal, as their 
 facilities of equipment were much 
 
240 
 
 more numerous. The French had a 
 military post on Point Henry in 1672, 
 which they called Fort Frontinac, 
 from the governor, whose name was 
 likewise given by them, to the Lake 
 Ontario. The River St. Lawrence, 
 was at that time called the Cataraqui, 
 or Iroquois, and this name it still re- 
 tains in several of the maps. 
 
 Kingston is a place of extraordinary 
 importance in the warlike operation 
 for the defence of Canada; and as 
 such, landed property in the town, 
 and its immediate vicinity, is of great 
 value ; indeed, for nearly one hun- 
 dred miles, to the right and left of it, 
 there is now very little land remaining 
 worth having, to be obtained by grant 
 from the crown. 
 
 The late war did more for King- 
 ston, and the country round it, than 
 fifty years of the quiet sort of life the 
 
241 
 
 inhabitants enjoyed previous could 
 have done. The vast sums circu- 
 lated by the public establishments, 
 past into the coffers of the merchants, 
 who again distributed a portion of 
 them in the neighbourhood. Many 
 fortunes were made by the persever- 
 ing and industrious, and since the ces- 
 sation of hostilities, these have neces- 
 sarily tended to the general improve- 
 ment of the country. 
 
 There can be little doubt, but that 
 in the event of another contest with 
 the United States, Kingston being 
 the naval depdt of the upper country, 
 will be the grand point of attack, 
 should that power gain a tempo- 
 rary ascendancy on the lakes; but 
 as long as the Upper Canadians 
 are true to the cause, and as long 
 as Forts Henry, Frederick, and the 
 town, are well garrisoned, " the 
 
 M 
 
242 
 
 tug of war" may last for ever, with- 
 out the Americans having the least 
 chance of success. 
 
 From Kingston to York, a dis- 
 tance of one hundred and forty miles, 
 thousands of settlers are now, not 
 only establishing themselves around 
 the margin of the Lake Ontario, but 
 all the way to Detroit, two hundred 
 and sixty-five miles farther in ad- 
 vance. In this part of Upper Canada, 
 there still remains tens of thousands 
 of acres of unappropriated land, open 
 for the occupation of settlers. The 
 land above York is much easier 
 cleared than is the lower districts of 
 the Upper Province, and the climate 
 better suited to agriculture. A par- 
 ticular account of the settlements 
 above York is unnecessary, as the 
 generality of emigrants, will now be 
 quite far enough from home, both for 
 
243 
 
 their pockets and their future views, 
 in establishing themselves in Upper 
 Canada. 
 
 Throughout the Upper Province, 
 from Matilda upwards, a certain 
 smattering of Yankee gentlemantility 
 will be observed, not a little amusing 
 to the new comer. " You are pretty 
 tolerable this morning, Squire, 1 
 guess." " I thank you Mister, I cal- 
 culate I am." " Mister," said a Ser- 
 jeant of a working party; " Mister, 
 will you help the gentleman at the 
 other end of the log, I guess it will 
 be a main considerable sight heavier 
 to fix than they calculate " — and so 
 on ; for it should be recollected that 
 the familiar terms of Tom, Dick, or 
 Harry, are generally swallowed up in 
 the more refined " Squire," and 
 i( Mister," of their neighbours over 
 the water. These and other eccen- 
 m 2 
 
244 
 
 tricities however, in the character of 
 the Upper Canadians, may probably 
 be accounted for in that importance 
 which every man naturally attaches 
 to himself, who feels that he is only 
 obliged to Providence and his own 
 exertions for all the comfort he 
 enjoys. This feeling, in fact, must 
 influence all classes of society ; and 
 where a man in better circumstances 
 than the generality of those who com- 
 pose the society in which he lives, 
 sees that each person belonging to it 
 is perfectly independent, not only of 
 him, but of all the world, he cannot 
 but regulate his conduct accordingly. 
 This may occasion in a great measure, 
 that familiar address and intercourse 
 which will at first appear so perfectly 
 extravagant and ridiculous. Should 
 it be said that this peculiarity of man- 
 ner has its origin solely in the inter- 
 
245 
 
 course between the subjects of the 
 two powers, I can only reply, that / 
 hope this ivill be the only consequence, 
 of having such hordes of emigrant 
 Americans, spread over every part of 
 Upper Canada in the event of another 
 war. Experience teacheth knowledge! ! 
 In Canada, as in every other coun- 
 try, society is cursed with a propor- 
 tion of those grumbling croakers, 
 who in passing through life, see no- 
 thing but what excites in their hearts 
 every kind of miserable feeling. For 
 them, nature pours out in vain her 
 bountiful horn of plenty; and to 
 them, the land although covered with 
 waving corn, and the richest fruits o 
 autumn, is but a dreary wilderness. 
 No sooner has the emigrant arrived in 
 the neighbourhood of the new settle- 
 ments, than he will probably be at- 
 tacked by some of these dogs in the 
 
246 
 
 manger, who would willingly make 
 him as wretched and as unhappy as 
 themselves. 
 
 They will tell him that he ought to 
 have remained in England, that the 
 land is barren, the climate horrible, 
 and the people thieves. That they 
 have toiled in vain to make the former 
 bring forth its increase ; that the ex- 
 tremes of heat and cold is worse to 
 live in than purgatory; and their 
 French Canadian neighbours worse 
 than any devils. But let the emi- 
 grant rest fully assured that the very 
 contrary is the fact, and that those 
 who express such opinions, are ex- 
 actly such people as we have alluded 
 to, in considering who ought, and who 
 ought not to decide on emigrating. 
 
 Can it be rationally expected, that 
 those whose occupations have kept 
 them confined in large cities and 
 
247 
 
 manufacturing towns, should all at 
 once become good husbandmen? 
 That those who scarcely know a 
 plough-share, from a plough coulter, 
 should all at once be able to till the 
 ground with the same advantage as 
 regular bred farmers ? Certainly not, 
 and it is folly to expect it ; but as 
 the mind of man is actively alive on 
 all occasions to find some plausible 
 excuse, for every kind of mental, and 
 bodily incapacity, so these people 
 abuse the land, and the climate, and 
 the inhabitants, for what, in fact, 
 arises solely from their own want of 
 resolution, knowledge, and experi- 
 ence. 
 
 These observations are, however, 
 not necessary as cautions to the emi- 
 grant farmer. He will see in passing 
 up the country, that the soil of Ca- 
 nada, is equal to any in the world : 
 
 
 
248 
 
 but that of those who occupy it, and 
 who profess to cultivate it, from their 
 peculiar situation and previous occu- 
 pation, a great number are about the 
 very worst farmers he ever saw in his 
 life. 
 
 As a sensible man, he will not allow 
 any gloomy picture presented to his 
 view, by such people, to produce in 
 his mind a dread of the future. Be- 
 fore he embarks, he will do well to 
 consider seriously, what he is about 
 to undertake, and to gather every 
 grain of useful information, to enable 
 him to decide how far it is desirable 
 for him to emigrate ; but when he 
 has decided, and is arrived in the new 
 country which he has adopted as his 
 future home, let no childish vapour- 
 ing then shake him from his purpose. 
 Let him rather cherish the determi- 
 nation to persevere, and trust in 
 
249 
 
 Providence, for enabling him to over- 
 come all obstacles. Let him con- 
 stantly bear in mind that — 
 
 " The wise and active conquer difficulties 
 By daring to attempt them. Sloth and folly 
 Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard, 
 And make the impossibilities they fear." 
 
 M S 
 
LETTER XVI. 
 
 «' Don't attempt to succour me if you see me go down, 
 but keep at the head of your men ; get off as you can in 
 God's name, and tell the King, and the Council, I died in 
 my duty." 
 
 Claver house, in Old Mortality. 
 
 About sixty miles above Kingston 
 is Sandy Creek, a small village and 
 Inlet, on the American shore of Lake 
 Ontario. On the 30th May, 1814, a 
 division of British seamen and 
 marines appeared ofT this place in 
 pursuit of a convoy, laden with stores 
 for the American fleet, in Sacketts 
 Harbour. 
 
252 
 
 Although the entrance of the creek 
 was scarcely pistol shot across, and 
 completely commanded by sand hills ; 
 yet the capture or destruction of these 
 stores was considered to be of such im- 
 portance as fully to warrant an at- 
 tempt to cut them out ; accordingly 
 the boats pulled in, leaving the Cleo- 
 patra mounting one long twenty-four 
 pounder, and a sixty eight-pound car- 
 ronade amid-ships, at the entrance, to 
 cover their retreat in case of accidents. 
 
 The Americans, however, had had 
 ample time to prepare for their recep- 
 tion : with a force consisting, of part 
 of a rifle regiment, a strong body of 
 Indians, and militia, their command- 
 ing officer took possession of the 
 sand hills, and a line of hedge, which 
 enfiladed the shore. 
 
 From this position they kept an 
 incessant, and destructive lire upon 
 
 
253 
 
 the British detachment that had 
 landed, and was forming upon the 
 beach ; and it soon became evident, 
 that the capture of the convoy was 
 not possible, whilst defended by 
 numbers so superior, and so advanta- 
 geously posted. 
 
 It being absolutely necessary to 
 recover possession of the sand hills, 
 in order to secure a retreat; the 
 marines under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant Thomas Sherlock Cox made 
 the attempt with the bayonet, but 
 were repulsed ; this officer with 
 his gallant companion Lieutenant 
 M'Veagh, of the same corps, (who 
 accompanied him from the squa- 
 dron, as a volunteer) being mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 The Americans now advanced in all 
 directions, and either killed, wounded, 
 or succeeded in taking prisoner, 
 
254 
 
 every man of the division, consisting 
 of nine officers, and two-hundred of 
 the best men in the fleet ; in this they 
 were activelysupported bythe Indians, 
 who seeing the fate of the marines, 
 rushed down upon their victims, with 
 their usual horrible shrieks. Poor 
 Cox who was down, and totally inca- 
 pable of resistance, called to a marine 
 to protect him from their merciless 
 tomahawks, and at the hazard of his 
 own life, this man undertook the 
 charge, and bravely stood by him, 
 until he was himself felled to the 
 earth by the butt end of a rifle. At 
 this moment, however, an American 
 officer came up — " who have we 
 here ?" cried he ; " is this a commis- 
 sioned officer ?" " He is a lieutenant of 
 British Marines," replied the prisoner; 
 " then I will protect him myself, and 
 see that he is properly taken care of " 
 
<Z55 
 
 said the American ; which generous 
 determination he carried into effect, 
 and for it I earnestly pray — that 
 should the chance of war at any fu- 
 ture time throw him into the hands 
 of an enemy, under similar circum- 
 stances, he may meet some one ready 
 to shelter and protect him, and to re- 
 turn a ten-fold portion of the kindness 
 shown by him on this occasion to my 
 lamented friend. 
 
 The Americans carried Lieutenant 
 M'Veagh, to Sacketts harbour, where 
 he died a few days after, and was 
 buried with military honours. But 
 the wounds of Lieutenant Cox were 
 immediately seen to be decidedly mor- 
 tal ; he was therefore only removed 
 to a house in the neighbourhood. 
 Here the naval commanding officer, 
 now his fellow prisoner, whose natu- 
 ral contempt of all danger, when put 
 
256 
 
 in competition with the good of the 
 service, had led him to decide on the 
 attack, soon after visited him. " This 
 is an unfortunate affair €ox," said he. 
 u It is " replied my friend, " but it is 
 only what might have been expected." 
 " If you thought so," rejoined the 
 other, *' why did you not give it as 
 your opinion?" " Because," replied the 
 expiring hero, " I would rather die, 
 as I am about to die, than have said 
 a word to induce you to retreat." This 
 was indeed a reason worthy of the 
 gallant heart that uttered it, and 
 which on all occasions of the kind, 
 had prompted him to act with the 
 same conspicuous bravery. 
 
 Although only in the twenty-fifth 
 year of his age, he had seen much 
 service in various parts of the world ; 
 particularly when belonging to his 
 Majesty's ship Neried, Capt. N. Wil- 
 
 
257 
 
 loughby, in the East Indies ; where 
 he was severely wounded, and taken 
 prisoner by the French in 1809. 
 
 Besides the recommendation of 
 having seen service, he possessed 
 the highest and noblest ideas of 
 honour, and devotion to the service 
 of his country ; indeed, if in his last 
 moments he had felt regret at the 
 early fate that had befallen him, it 
 would have been, that he fell in a 
 paltry skirmish; the particulars of 
 which would be scarcely known in his 
 native country — that instead of dying 
 in action, amidst the animating shouts 
 of victory, he was doomed again to 
 be severely wounded, again to fall 
 thus wounded into the hands of the 
 enemy, and at last to die, " un- 
 honoured and unsung." 
 
 Unhonoured did I say ? all those 
 who knew him, will cherish, and 
 
258 
 
 revere his memory, and will be proud 
 to imitate his conduct ; — but " as the 
 young and verdant olive which a 
 man hath reared with care, is fair 
 and flourishing, when the sudden 
 blast of a whirlwind roots it out 
 from its bed, and strikes it in the 
 dust ;" so has he fallen, and a humble 
 solitary grave, covered with green 
 sods, in this obscure village, on 
 the borders of Lake Ontario, now 
 shelters the mortal remains of one, 
 who, had he been spared to his coun- 
 try, and his friends, would by his 
 future actions have deserved a monu- 
 ment of everlasting fame. 
 
 Poor Tom ! my brave, my gallant 
 friend ! how true was the mournful 
 presentiment of my mind, when 
 seated by the side of my couch, you 
 administered that relief, which you 
 were yourself destined, a very few 
 
259 
 
 hours after to require from the huma- 
 nity of strangers ; when you kindly 
 took my hand, bade me be of good 
 cheer, and said that all would soon 
 be well ; I already felt in imagination 
 the near approach of death, and would 
 have given worlds for the chance of 
 meeting it by thy side but although 
 within hearing of the musketry, whose 
 distant vollies sounded upon my 
 shattered nerves, like the death-knelJ 
 of every hope in life — I could not suc- 
 cour thee, — I could not rescue thee. 
 An inscrutable Providence had or- 
 dained it otherwise, and I was 
 doomed to feel an aching void, nearest 
 to my heart, which no other ob- 
 ject, time, or circumstance, can ever 
 alleviate or remove. 
 
 Stranger, — he was my friend, in the 
 truest, and noblest sense of the word ; 
 and if I have one regret, beyond that 
 
260 
 
 of having lost him, for ever, it is, 
 that I cannot here do justice to his 
 memory. 
 
 Though years have rolled over my 
 head since this disastrous affair, 
 and these years too, have been years 
 of much bitterness, and mental suf- 
 fering ; this painful remembrance 
 still remains the most deeply rooted 
 in my mind, and in my heart, and I 
 now fondly anticipate the time, when 
 during the remainder of my life, I 
 shall be able annually to visit his 
 grave, to plant and nourish over it the 
 evergreen laurel, the brightest emblem 
 of valour, and finally to cause myself 
 to be laid in death, near him, who, in 
 life, I valued as a friend, more than 
 any other person on the face of the 
 earth, 
 
LETTER XVII. 
 
 ■Hail ye Sons 
 
 Of rural toil, — ye bloomiog daughters f — ye 
 Who, in the lap of hardy labour rearM 
 Enjoy the mind unspotted! — 
 
 Progress of Liberty. 
 
 The emigrant on his arrival at 
 Kingston, should again take a seri- 
 ous review of his means. He will 
 now have been quite long enough in 
 Canada, if at all observant, to be able 
 to form some idea of it. Upon these 
 gleanings of information, and his re- 
 sources, he must himself decide on the 
 ultimate extent of his journey, as it is 
 
262 
 
 totally impossible for any person to 
 decide for him. One man may do well 
 in one place, and be totally unfit for 
 another, and it would be perfect non- 
 sense for any person to say to such, 
 and such individuals, " so far shalt 
 thou go, and no farther." I do not 
 pretend to such extraordinary know- 
 ledge, and therefore shall only endea- 
 vour to afford such general informa- 
 tion, as may assist the emigrant in 
 coming to a correct, and advantageous 
 conclusion, as to what part of the 
 Country is best suited to his own 
 peculiar circumstances, and situation. 
 It is a common practice in both the 
 provinces, to let cleared, or as they 
 are called, improved farms, upon 
 shares, viz. the whole farming stock, 
 and implements being provided by the 
 landlord, he receives in return, as 
 rent and payment for hire, a half, or 
 
263 
 
 one third, of every kind of produce. 
 This is in some cases an advantage to 
 a respectable man, who wishes to 
 farm in the immediate vicinity of a 
 large town, and who has but a small 
 capital to commence with. On arriv- 
 ing at Quebec, Montreal, or Kingston, 
 the emigrant will see numerous ad- 
 vertisements, for the letting of farms 
 of this description, as well as several 
 for sale, or to be let, without the 
 stock, &c. &c. after the same manner 
 as in this country. In cases of sale, 
 the principal is generally allowed to 
 remain on mortgage for several years 
 the interest, and a small installment 
 annually, being only required from 
 the purchaser. Should he arrive at 
 either of those places late in the 
 year, and see any desirable property 
 to be let on advantageous terms, he 
 had perhaps better take the opportu- 
 
264 
 
 nity of settling himself immediately. 
 This need not interfere with his ulti- 
 mate views, which can be promoted 
 more advantageously, after residing a 
 year or two in the country. 
 
 By such an arrangement, he will 
 gradually become acquainted with the 
 climate, soil, and advantages of the 
 different districts, and whilst his 
 rented farm is producing a sufficient 
 support for himself, and his family, 
 he can take some convenient oppor- 
 tunity of making a journey of obser- 
 vation. Should he have any one in 
 his family, capable of managing in his 
 absence, he might even take up his 
 land, build his log-house, and clear a 
 sufficient number of acres for their 
 support, before he removes them 
 upon it. 
 
 To the generality of emigrants who 
 arrive early in the spring, I should 
 
265 
 
 however say, " lose no time in taking 
 up your land, and settling upon it, in 
 the first instance, in preference to 
 every other." 
 
 As in every other country newly 
 settled, the emigrant to Canada must 
 expect to meet difficulties in the edu- 
 cation of his family. In Montreal 
 and Quebec, there are seminaries for 
 the youth of both sexes, equal to any 
 private schools in England. At Corn- 
 wall, Brockville, Kingston, and York, 
 schools are likewise established, but 
 from the comparative smallness of 
 these places, the advantages they 
 present are far inferior. - 
 
 In religious matters likewise, the 
 Upper Canadians are in some of the 
 newly settled townships, equally un- 
 fortunate ; in fact, a very short time 
 since, whole districts were totally 
 destitute of every kind of scholastic 
 
 N 
 
266 
 
 assistance, or religious instruction. As 
 this presents rather a frightful pros- 
 pect, it requires the serious considera- 
 tion of the emigrant, who possesses re- 
 spectable means for providing nearer 
 the principal towns for the mental 
 and personal comforts of himself and 
 his family. 
 
 The generality of emigrants how- 
 ever, must make up their minds to ex- 
 perience many privations, and diffi- 
 culties for a few years, and these 
 among the number. They need not 
 on this account be dispirited ; hun- 
 dreds and thousands whose views 
 and hopes are similar to their own, 
 will soon establish themselves around 
 them. They will not long be debarred 
 the gratification of publicly returning 
 thanks in the company of others 
 equally obliged, to that great omni- 
 potent Power, who has led them in 
 
267 
 
 safety through the perils of the deep, 
 and who now, in the immense forests 
 of a new world, spreads over them the 
 shield of his almighty protection. 
 
 The emigrant must constantly 
 nourish serious and religious reflec- 
 tion, he must, in all things, 
 
 " Look through nature, up to nature's God, 
 
 in order constantly to maintain that 
 resolution of heart, so necessary for 
 one, thrown as it were entirely upon 
 himself.^ I care not of what persua- 
 sion he calls himself, for this is of little 
 moment, provided he possesses that 
 quiet satisfaction of mind, arising 
 from the consciousness of feeling as 
 
 * To have made this the habitual sentiment of our 
 minds, is to have laid the foundation of every thing 
 which is religious. The world from thence becomes a 
 temple, and life itself one continued act of adoration. 
 
 Dr. Paley. 
 
 k2 
 
268 
 
 he ought to feel, and of acting as he 
 ought to act, toward all mankind, as 
 far at least, as the real infirmities of 
 his nature will permit him. " Pure 
 and undefiled religion is of no sect, 
 whatever garb it wears, and whatever 
 may be the denomination of the sin- 
 cere, and faithful believer in Christ, 
 let us in him acknowledge a Brother. 
 Hearts may agree, though heads differ ; 
 there may be unity of spirit, if not 
 of opinion ; and it is always an advan- 
 tage to entertain a favourable opinion 
 of those who differ from us in religious 
 sentiments. It tends to nourish 
 Christian charity." 
 
 The average number of emigrants 
 landed at Quebec the last nine years, 
 exceed 7000 annually, a great pro- 
 portion of whom are settled in the 
 Scotch settlements on the Tay, and in 
 
269 
 
 the neighbourhood of Glengary. Oil 
 the Rice Lake below York, several 
 naval officers have taken up their 
 grants, and are actively clearing away 
 their land. The following official 
 letter will show to officers of the army 
 and navy, the grants to which they 
 are entitled, in virtue of their services 
 and commissions. 
 
 Downing Street, Colonial Department. 
 Sir, 
 
 I am directed by Lord Bathurst to 
 acquaint you in reply to your letter 
 of the that government do not 
 
 give any encouragement to military 
 and naval officers, proceeding as set- 
 tlers to North America beyond a 
 grant of land, proportioned to their 
 rank in His Majesty's service, which 
 they will receive on applying to the 
 
270 
 
 governor of the Colony, according to 
 the undermentioned scale.- — 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel 1200 Acres. 
 
 Major - - 1000 
 
 Captain - - 800 
 
 Subaltern - 500 
 
 subject always to the conditions of 
 actual residence, and cultivation of 
 the land assigned to them, within a 
 limited period. Passages are not 
 granted by government, 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 This does not mean that the officer 
 shall be bound to reside during the 
 whole of his life upon his land, but 
 that he should actually be in North 
 America in the first instance, and 
 perform the location duties of his 
 grant, before he is entitled to the fee 
 simple of it from the Crown. No 
 
 
271 
 
 comment is necessary on the justice 
 -of this measure, because nothing is 
 more baneful to society at large, in 
 any country, than large tracts of land 
 held by non-residents : in Canada if 
 this system was encouraged, the most 
 valuable districts would soon fall into 
 the hands of land speculators, who 
 would in consulting their own private 
 interests, sacrifice the happiness and 
 prosperity of the community at large. 
 
 In every district is a land board, 
 whose duty it is to attend to the 
 settlers who make application, the 
 Secretary or some official person being 
 always in attendance, to give such 
 information as may be required. All 
 these things are necessarily much 
 better arranged now, than they were 
 immediately after the war, between 
 America and this country. 
 
 I happened to be at Montreal, when 
 the first party of Scotch arrived for 
 
272 
 
 the new settlement of Perth, and 
 never shall I forget the joyful, and 
 happy countenances, of the whole 
 group. They had been long enough 
 in smooth water, to recover from the 
 effects of the voyage, and 
 
 " Hope the great nurse of life/' 
 
 had evidently administered the balmy 
 cup of pleasing anticipation. Already 
 in idea, had they taken possession of 
 their land, already had they sown their 
 crops, and already had a bountiful Pro- 
 vidence granted them independence. 
 
 It was in fact a gratifying sight, 
 and in a sincere wish for their welfare, 
 I remember shaking one or two of 
 the party heartily by the hand, and 
 bidding them welcome to a country, 
 where I was sure they would soon 
 become useful members of society, 
 deserving all the assistance, and pro- 
 tection of the government, which in re- 
 
 ..- 
 
27 3 
 
 turn, they would be ready and willing 
 to defend at a future time, should cir- 
 cumstances render it necessary. 
 
 The township of Perth was first 
 settled in 1816, under the superinten- 
 dance of Lieutenant Colonel McDon- 
 nell, an officer who had distinguished 
 himself on various occasions during 
 the war, and it was first occupied by 
 disbanded soldiers, and emigrants 
 from Scotland. The latter however 
 soon became the most numerous, and 
 the townships of Richmond, Lanark, 
 North Sherbroke, Ramsay, and 
 Beckwith, have all since been parti- 
 ally located and settled* 
 
 A reference to the map will show, 
 that the direction of these new settle- 
 ments is nearly due north, toward the 
 Ottawa River, and it should be fully 
 understood, that it is through this line 
 of country, that the great military 
 n 3 
 
274 
 
 road is making, which is to connect 
 Kingston with Montreal. From the 
 ready communication which the small 
 inland Lakes, rivers, and canals, afford 
 between these places, from the cha- 
 racter and description of the people, 
 and from every other circumstance, 
 I consider these districts or the vici- 
 nity, by far the most desirable for 
 those who wish to settle in the upper 
 province. 
 
 The steam vessel which runs from 
 La Chine across Lake St. Louis, will 
 take emigrants up the Ottawa, and if 
 they purpose settling in either of the 
 above townships, they will find it 
 much better to proceed up that river, 
 as far as point Nepean, which is about 
 twenty miles from Richmond, than to 
 go by the way of the St. Lawrence, 
 to Brockville. 
 
 ■IMBIMli 
 
LETTER XVIII. 
 
 forests wild 
 
 And Oceans multitudinous unfold 
 
 Their wonders to his gaze! — Then why should man 
 
 Creep like a reptile, —fearful to explore 
 
 The page of human knowledge? 
 
 Progress of Liberty. 
 
 It should be especially borne in 
 mind, that an elevated spot, near a 
 river, or lake, is preferable to all others; 
 indeed no great progress can be made 
 in a new country where there are no 
 roads,unless the settler has a water com- 
 munication with the districts already 
 
276 
 
 cleared. He should be most anxious 
 on this account, and if he can obtain 
 a point of land, he will find it prefer- 
 able to a bay. 
 
 To those who know nothing about 
 the woods of America, and the West 
 Indies, it may appear perfectly ridi- 
 culous to say, that the greatest pest in 
 Canada are the Musquitos, but such 
 is the fact. I have often been lost 
 in amazement, at the patience of the 
 settlers, in the back concessions and 
 bays, in the months of July, and 
 August, when myriads of these insects 
 attack them without mercy, night 
 and day. A thousand times have I 
 wished for the same volume of curses 
 of the good Bishop Enulphus, with 
 which the enraged Doctor Slop 
 damned the unfortunate Obadiah, to 
 excommunicate these blood thirsty 
 intruders, but it was of no avail, and 
 
277 
 
 in spite of all the philosophy I could 
 muster, I have more than once been 
 fairly beat out of the field. ' 
 
 That part of the country which is 
 tolerably clear of wood, as well as 
 headlands, running into lakes or rivers 
 are free from this annoying pestilence* 
 the constant breeze, either soon 
 entirely destroys, or obliges them to 
 shift their quarters, to places of greater 
 security. 
 
 In Quebec and Montreal, however, 
 musquitos are very little known. 
 Olive oil rubbed over the parts ex- 
 posed is a preventive, but which by the 
 way I am inclined to think, must be 
 all over the body ; indeed, if I was to 
 use the traveller's privilege, I should 
 say, that a thorough bred Yankee 
 musquito would bite through a two 
 inch board. If the emigrant is obliged 
 
278 
 
 to pass a night in a bay, amongst these 
 gentry, he had better close the doors 
 and windows, and smoke four or five 
 cigars: this sort of fumigation will 
 very soon make them dance about 
 merrily, and join in a sort of baccha- 
 nalian concert, after which they fall 
 to the ground senseless, and remain 
 in that state, until the rays of the 
 morning sun, calls them to new life, 
 and the traveller from his repose. 
 
 The most general complaint in 
 Upper Canada is fever and ague, 
 and very few new comers, who settle 
 above Cornwall, are fortunate enough 
 to escape the particular attentions of 
 this great patron of the shakers. 
 
 Very soon after taking up his 
 land, if it be in a swampy or low 
 situation, and exposing himself to the 
 heat of the sun by day, and the fogs 
 
279 
 
 by night, he will find himself taken by 
 the hand by this powerful demon of 
 the woods and lakes. He may indeed 
 think himself lucky, who avoids his 
 greetings; for with fear and trem- 
 bling, I remember he well nigh shook 
 the soul of me out of its skeleton habi- 
 tation. 
 
 I found it was of no use trying to 
 give him the cut positive, after he 
 had introduced himself; or by 
 riding full gallop into the woods to 
 avoid an interview, neither of these 
 would do ; for like a determined 
 highwayman, he stopped me in my 
 career, tumbled me in quick time 
 out of the saddle, and threatened my 
 very life, for having attempted to 
 escape him. 
 
 After being afflicted with this 
 complaint for several months, I was ►- 
 
280 
 
 at last cured by eating a double 
 ration of venison steaks for breakfast, 
 a very comfortable sort of remedy, 
 which I beg leave to recommend, in 
 preference to any thing that can be 
 administered, by any of those worthy 
 gentlemen, who bleed for their coun- 
 try. 
 
 Whilst speaking of the faculty, with 
 all due reverence I trust, I must not 
 forget to notice, the great scarcity of 
 medical men throughout the whole 
 of Upper Canada ; it is no uncom- 
 mon thing to see an M. D. A. L 
 making a journey of thirty or forty 
 miles, to enquire after the health of his 
 patients ; his cutting and carving 
 apparatus, with the contents of a 
 small chemist's shop, crammed into 
 a leathern bag, banging away upon 
 the ribs of his favourite Rosinante. 
 
281 
 
 There is a kind of dysentery expe- 
 rienced by some people in the Upper 
 Country, occasioned by drinking 
 the lake waters »' These are all per- 
 fectly fresh, but flowing, as they do, 
 through «uch an immense extent of 
 country, they become impregnated 
 with the vast quantites of decayed 
 vegetable substances, swept away in 
 their course. This however, is in 
 reality of no consequence, as there are 
 plenty of good springs ; and indeed 
 even if there was not this advantage, 
 that man deserves to be shot, who 
 would drink bad water alone, in a 
 country where good whiskey is to be 
 had for eighteen pence per gallon. 
 
 There is no other complaint pre- 
 valent in Upper Canada; the inhabi- 
 tants of the lower province, are as 
 robust, and as healthy, as any people 
 in the world ; the stoves, and wood 
 
fires, which are kept burning night 
 as well as day, during the whole 
 of the winter, give them a pallid 
 sickly look ; but the emigrant will 
 not be long in the country before he 
 sees that they are quite the contrary. 
 
 When he sees them running along 
 by the side of their sleighs over the 
 ice with their bosoms open, and 
 exposed to all the inclemency of the 
 weather, he will begin to think that 
 habit alone could not produce such 
 extraordinary hardihood ; but that 
 nature has given them a thickness of 
 skin, and a constitutional vigour, 
 suited to the climate of the country 
 in which they live. 
 
 The traveller who passes through 
 Canada for the first time at this season 
 of the year, will begin to feel some- 
 what nervous, when his driver instead 
 of rounding a deep and circuitous bay 
 
283 
 
 tipon terra firma, urges his horses 
 with the greatest sang froid, right 
 over the bank of the river or lake, 
 and makes directly across the ice for 
 some land mark in his route, pro- 
 bably ten, fifteen or even twenty 
 miles distant, over a depth of water 
 sufficient to float a seventy-four gun 
 ship. Two horses abreast will move 
 him, and three others, with their 
 light baggage, along at the rate of 
 nine miles an hour. 
 
 Like every other description of 
 difficulty, the cold experienced in 
 Canada has been represented as 
 much more severe than it really is, 
 indeed some people imagine it to be 
 almost beyond human endurance : the 
 fact is, that although the cold at night 
 and at the dawn of day, in the depth 
 of winter is terribly severe, for those 
 exposed to its effects, still to those 
 
284 
 
 who are able to remain within doors 
 until day-light, and provide against 
 it, by good wood fires, it is a per- 
 sonal inconvenience not worth think- 
 ing of for a moment. I remember 
 several persons, who for two or three 
 winters in Upper Canada, scarcely 
 ever wore a great coat during the day, 
 and in this description of the climate 
 I shall be fully borne out by the evi- 
 dence of many. Those who know that 
 country, will remember the extraordi- 
 nary brightness and warmth of the sun, 
 which in Canada shines for several 
 hours almost every day, throughout 
 the year, apparently anxious to make 
 all the reparation possible to the 
 animal creation, for the tyranny 
 exercised over the vegetable world. 
 
 They will likewise recollect that 
 this North American winter, so 
 much dreaded by Europeans, is in 
 
285 
 
 fact the happiest, merriest season of 
 the year. 
 
 (i A wrinkled crabbed man, they picture thee, 
 Old winter, with ragged beard as grey 
 As the long moss upon the apple tree ; 
 Close muffled up, and on thy dreary way 
 Blue-lipped, an ice drop at thy sharp blue nose 
 Plodding along through sleet, and drifting snows. 
 They should have drawn thee by the high-heaped hearth, 
 Old winter ! seated in-toy great armed chair, 
 ***** 
 
 Tasting the old October, brown, and bright." 
 
 Excepting those who have newly 
 taken possession of their lands, and to 
 whom every day at that time will be 
 more precious than as many weeks 
 three or four years afterwards, every 
 person in Canada enjoys a certain 
 portion of recreation and pleasure 
 during the winter. At the very first 
 appearance of Old Grey Beard, they 
 begin to prepare the sleighs, and 
 carrioles, for visiting their neighbours 
 
280 
 
 and friends, probably many miles 
 distant. 
 
 The careful housewife then begins 
 to anticipate a holiday, and once 
 more wrapped in her best bear-skin 
 cloak, surmounted by a fur bonnet 
 large and ugly enough for half a 
 dozen people, she shines forth in 
 all her glory, ready and willing to 
 share in all the pleasures of her lord. 
 Indeed during this universal holiday, 
 ^the better half of man " relax from 
 their constant attendance upon do- 
 mestic operations, and for the time, 
 appear armed at every point, with all 
 the gad-about propensities of the dear 
 creatures on this side of the water. 
 
 Apropos.— The Indian ladies wear 
 long blue cashmere pantaloons, with 
 petticoats of the same kind, reaching 
 no lower than the knee ; a dress in 
 some cases becoming and interesting j 
 
287 
 
 this although a serious and very valu- 
 able piece of information, obliges me 
 again to remind the emigrant of the 
 command, " thou shalt not covet, &c." 
 During the war, it was no uncom- 
 mon thing to see an hundred sleighs 
 and trains, in one continued line cross- 
 ing the different lakes and rivers, be- 
 tween Quebec and Kingston, and 
 the weight of six hundred men, in 
 close column, with two pieces of 
 artillery, horses and ammunition 
 carts, made no more impression 
 upon the ice, than it would upon 
 Hounslow Heath. Although this great 
 highway affords such facilities to the 
 emigrant, who in the first instance 
 takes a cleared farm, to move about 
 the country, still he must not decide 
 on the spot, for ultimately settling 
 himself, without first seeing it during 
 the summer. He will find the woods 
 
288 
 
 so full of hard frozen snow, and ice, 
 as to render it totally impossible for 
 him to form any correct idea of the 
 quality of the land, and although 
 the height and size of the timber, 
 is some criterion, as the best and 
 finest always grow on the richest 
 soil, still, he cannot possibly ascer- 
 tain whether it be swampy or not. 
 He should therefore take care to see 
 it at a more favourable season of the 
 year, before he either completes his 
 purchase, or decides upon the dis- 
 trict in which he purposes taking up 
 his government grant. 
 
 The Canadians have an odd way of 
 attaching to the necks of their horses, 
 what is termed a choke halter. In 
 cases of accidents on the ice, imme- 
 diately the horse falls into the river 
 or lake, the driver, who generally 
 manoeuvres so as on the first appear- 
 
289 
 
 ance of danger to save himself, pulls 
 hard upon the choke halter, which 
 prevents the water rushing into the 
 lungs, and with singular dexterity, and 
 small assistance, he very soon after 
 extricates the animal from his perilous 
 situation. 
 
 The settler who resides near the 
 water is not only enabled to supply 
 his family with fish during the sum- 
 mer, but even in the winter. This is 
 effected by making holes through the 
 ice, over which he takes his stand at 
 night, with a lanthorn, or torch, and 
 as the fish rise to the surface, and re- 
 main stupidly gazing at the light, the 
 fisherman strikes them with his spear, 
 or entangles them with a net prepared 
 for the purpose. 
 
 Although the woods produce a vast 
 variety of birds,— from the majestic 
 eagle to the little wren, the only one 
 o 
 

 290 
 
 of its kind, possessing peculiar beauty 
 that I observed, was the Canadian 
 woodpecker, (picus erythrocephalus) 
 which is considerably larger than the 
 English bird of that name, and of a 
 variegated grey colour, with a top- 
 knot of glossy crimson. This is be- 
 lieved by some to be a superior bait 
 for the Masquinonge. There is a pe- 
 culiar kind of owl in Canada, not 
 more than half the size of the English 
 owl, with plumage something similar 
 to the woodpecker, excepting the 
 colour of the top-knot. 
 
 The woods likewise abound in 
 squirrels, rabbits, hares, foxes, ra- 
 coons, deer, ferrets, weasels, &c. &c. 
 but the flying squirrel is by far the 
 most interesting of all the wild inha- 
 bitants of the forest. Nature has 
 given these little creatures, a thin skin 
 from their fore to their hind legs, 
 
291 
 
 which they extend at pleasure, and 
 thus prepared, fearlessly throw them- 
 selves from the tops of the highest 
 trees, and spreading their slender para- 
 chutes, gently alight upon the ground, 
 at a very considerable distance. In 
 the country above Lake Erie, wolves 
 have been known in very severe sea- 
 sons to leave the forests, and attack 
 the sheep folds of the settlers, but as 
 they are generally not larger than a 
 common sized dog, and immediately 
 fly at the approach of man, this dan- 
 ger may be easily avoided. In the 
 settled districts such an event is never 
 apprehended, as these animals as well 
 as every other description of creature, 
 supposed to be constantly at war with 
 the human species, are seldom seen 
 excepting by hunting parties of In- 
 dians. Beavers, — the most sagacious 
 brute inhabitants of the new world, 
 o 2 
 
292 
 
 are now scarcely ever to be met with. 
 Man, the great tyrant of the earth, 
 is gradually approaching their most 
 solitary haunts, breaking up their 
 peaceful communities, and towns, and 
 driving the wreck of the inhabitants 
 into the trackless regions, nearer to 
 the pole. From the unerring rifles 
 of the hunters, very few, if once seen, 
 ever escape, and as their skins are 
 eagerly sought after by the fur traders, 
 the Indians pursue them with great 
 anxiety and perseverance. 
 
 i 
 
LETTER XIX. 
 
 long may discordant broils, 
 
 Be severM from thy shores ; may howling War, 
 Blow its dread blast, far, far from thee, 
 While thy bold ramparts tow'ring o'er the wave 
 Shall bid thy foes defiance ! 
 
 There cannot, possibly, be more 
 gratifying reflections for all those who 
 think of settling in Canada, than that 
 positive distress, and absolute want, 
 are scarcely known in either of the 
 Provinces ; excepting as I before ob- 
 served in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of large towns ; and that capital 
 
 
294 
 
 and other crimes, are likewise very 
 rarely heard of; throughout both the 
 Canada's not more than half-a-dozen 
 civilians have been executed, or 
 even condemned these last twenty 
 years. In passing through the coun- 
 try, from Quebec to Michilimac- 
 kinac, not one house in a hundred 
 will be found at any hour of the 
 night, for which a wooden latch is not 
 considered a sufficient protection. 
 v It may be said that there are no 
 locks and bolts, because they are 
 difficult to be obtained ; but I sup- 
 pose it would not require a very great 
 conjuror to manufacture a wooden 
 bar, in the midst of a forest ; and as 
 these, even are seldom used, it is only 
 fair to conclude, that such precautions 
 are unnecessary. 
 
 The emigrant may therefore settle 
 in any place he pleases in perfect 
 
295 
 
 safety ; and if near a river, or lake, 
 his canoe, his dog, his fishing tackle, 
 and his gun, will afford a pleasant 
 relaxation from the constant toil of 
 clearing and cultivating the earth; 
 it will likewise relieve him from that 
 stupefaction of intellect, which the 
 dull monotony of a life passed en- 
 tirely in the woods, cannot other- 
 wise fail of producing. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe, 
 that there are no game laws ; he 
 may go out as often as he pleases, and 
 kill as much as he can, without any 
 other person than himself, and his 
 family feeling at all interested in the 
 matter. What is called game in this 
 country, is difficult to be obtained in 
 some parts of Canada, from the thick- 
 ness of the underwood; but wood- 
 pigeons are to be had in abundance. 
 
 
 
296 
 
 There is likewise plenty of water fowl, 
 and fish of every description ; the 
 largest, which is called by the Indians, 
 Maskinonge, is good eating, and 
 appears to be the only inhabitant 
 of the waters, of any size, peculiar to 
 North America. 
 
 In speaking of the immense forests, 
 inland seas, and rivers of Canada, it 
 may appear a proper association of 
 ideas, to talk of wild beasts, croco- 
 diles, and rattle- snakes — but these 
 are things long since passed away, 
 like the days before the flood. It is 
 true, that the younger generation 
 of the bear tribe are sometimes in- 
 troduced into the markets of Que- 
 bec and Montreal, on the top of the 
 cabbage waggons, and passed into 
 " durance vile," at the rate of 15s. 
 per head, but their "- very grave* 
 
 ^m 
 
 - 
 
 p p 
 
 i 
 
 

 297 
 
 and reverend" fathers, are now very 
 seldom seen, on the Canadian side of 
 the Hudson Bay boundary. 
 
 On one occasion, I remember hear- 
 ing of a stately old gentleman of this 
 description, who by some chance or 
 other, strolled into the neighbour- 
 hood of a church, and after roaming 
 about for some time, at length popped 
 his head in at an open window, and 
 from thence, took a review of the 
 congregation, with great apparent 
 satisfaction. This however proved no 
 joke for poor bruin, for in conse- 
 quence of the masterly directions 
 immediately given by the clerk, and 
 the finely executed manoeuvres of the 
 congregation, his retreat was cut off, 
 and his life made to pay the forfeit 
 of his temerity. 
 
 The emigrant has therefore no- 
 thing to dread in Upper, or Lower 
 o 3 
 
 
298 
 
 Canada, neither the natives, the 
 beasts of the forests, reptiles, or 
 insects of any kind but the musquito, 
 and these are as common in any other 
 thickly wooded country, as they are in 
 Canada. A man may here with per- 
 fect safety take his dog, and his gun, 
 and make a coasting voyage in his 
 canoe, of several days, in any direc- 
 tion; he may likewise without, the 
 least chance of molestation, join a 
 hunting party of Indians, strike with 
 them into the woods, and not return 
 until tired of the sport. 
 
 If he is surrounded by people who 
 are poor, when compared to the 
 wealthier settlers of New South Wales, 
 and Van Diemen's Land, he has the 
 satisfaction of knowing, that they are 
 honest, humane, and brave; and there- 
 fore, that they deserve to be happy. 
 
 In Canada, although we hear very 
 
 

 /■%■ 
 
 " #■■ #1 
 
 299 
 
 little about liberty, there are no 
 slaves; the emigrant will here find 
 no hordes of Caffres, ready to sweep 
 away his cattle, or destroy his corn, 
 and all the fruit of his labour, when 
 ripe for the sickle. Here are no 
 cut throat housebreakers, laying wait 
 to destroy him and his family, if 
 he ventures to move out unarmed, 
 or to plunder his property should he 
 not be upon the spot to defend it ; 
 indeed, here he will have nothing to 
 fear, whose conduct evinces a proper 
 respect for himself and for the laws ; 
 these being the same as those he has 
 left behind him, and written in the 
 same language, cannot be misunder- 
 stood. 
 
 The trial by jury, that great foun- 
 dation of the liberty of the subject, 
 secures to him the most valuable of 
 his rights and privileges, This is a 
 
 
 
9* 
 
 ? - O, 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 blessing of which the emigrant to the 
 colonies, to which I have just al- 
 luded, as well as to the cape, is de- 
 prived, and although there can be 
 no doubt but that this, and other 
 privileges, already enjoyed by the 
 Canadians, will be granted to all, in 
 due time, still, why should he subject 
 himself even for a moment to such 
 privations, and a military govern- 
 ment ? Why should the man, who 
 seeks not riches, but quiet indepen- 
 dence, go four times the distance, 
 to a land principally inhabited by the 
 very outcasts of society, or to one 
 nearly as far, over-run with Caffres. 
 
 The merchant who merely makes 
 a temporary residence, in either of 
 those colonies, may, for the ultimate 
 object before him, readily submit 
 himself to many things ; but his situ- 
 ation is far different from that of the 
 
 f* 
 
 * 
 
301 
 
 emigrant, who leaves his native coun- 
 try for ever. He begins life again 
 as it were, with renewed vigour, and 
 with renewed hopes ; anxious only 
 for the welfare of his family, and in 
 quietude and retirement to move 
 on "toward that bourne from whence 
 no traveller returns." 
 
 To such a man, I say, that the Bri- 
 tish Provinces in North America, and 
 especially the Canadas, possess ad- 
 vantages superior to all the other 
 countries which we have noticed ; 
 and that in Canada, although he 
 must not hope to accumulate a for- 
 tune in money, he may in a few 
 years obtain, and enjoy unmolested, 
 that inestimable blessing of a benefi- 
 cent providence, a full and perfect 
 independence. 
 
m 
 
 ? 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 POT AND PEAKL ASH. 
 
 To show the emigrant the vast im- 
 portance of these two great staple 
 commodities of the Canadas, it is 
 only necessary to give a rough esti- 
 mate of the quantities imported at 
 Liverpool only, from Quebec and 
 Montreal, between July 1st. and Sep- 
 tember 30, 1823. 
 
 This period I selected without any 
 kind of reference either to the season, 
 or the yea*? and which may be either 
 good or bad, according to circum- 
 stances. 
 
304 
 
 Number of 
 Barrels. 
 
 Total Ave- 
 rage Weight. 
 
 Lowest Ave- 
 rage Price. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 10,922 
 
 32,766cwt. 
 
 40s. pi'cwt. 
 
 £65,532 
 
 A considerable portion of the above 
 was no doubt manufactured in the 
 states bordering upon Canada, and 
 sent down to Montreal by the Ameri- 
 cans, the river St. Lawrence afford- 
 ing them a greater facility for getting 
 their ashes and timber to market, 
 than their own inland water commu- 
 nications. This circumstance, how- 
 ever, does not lessen the importance 
 of the subject to the emigrant. In a 
 country like Canada, where a long 
 winter prevents industry in the field, 
 he will find it of the most essential con- 
 sequence, as during severe weather, 
 instead of exposing himself in clear- 
 ing his land, he may be advanta- 
 geously employed manufacturing his 
 potash. 
 
305 
 
 In the observations which I shall 
 offer, in order to show the most easy 
 manner of procuring this article, I 
 shall endeavour to use only such 
 terms, as may be easily understood 
 by all those who know but very 
 little of chemistry ; these pages being 
 intended more especially for the 
 guidance and instruction of those, 
 who, possessing a fair proportion of 
 common sense and ingenuity, with a 
 great deal of perseverance and indus- 
 try, are anxious to turn these quali- 
 ties to the best advantage. 
 
 In the first place, the emigrant 
 must bear in mind that no sooner has 
 he taken possession of his land, than 
 it is necessary for him to make such 
 arrangements for preserving every 
 particle of inferior timber, under- 
 wood, and weeds, which he has occa- 
 sion to remove from the spot where 
 

 306 
 
 he intends erecting his log house, as 
 shall, when manufactured into pot- 
 ash, fully repay him for all his time 
 and labour. Every kind of vegetable 
 when burned will produce potash ; 
 but unfortunately so few emigrants 
 know this, or any thing at all about 
 the manufacture of it, that these 
 sources of profit and advantage are 
 thrown away, or totally neglected. 
 For instance, a man takes up a grant 
 of land, and seeing himself in the 
 midst of a forest, has no idea of the 
 value of any part of the timber, but 
 of those trees, which from their size 
 and quality, he naturally concludes 
 are worth sending to market. The 
 consequence is, he begins cutting 
 away, totally regardless of every 
 other object, but that of getting his 
 land ready for the plough. All the 
 underwood, inferior timber, &c. &c 
 
 
 
 
 
 V. 
 
307 
 
 he removes to a distance out of the 
 way of his present operations, where 
 it is left to rot, or probably it is 
 thrown into the stream and allowed 
 to float away with the current. 
 
 In thousands of instances this is 
 the case, and I have been often struck 
 with the extraordinary ignorance dis- 
 played by many on this subject, who 
 were professedly capable of taking 
 charge of parties of settlers to Ca- 
 nada, and other countries. 
 
 I do not mean to say that every 
 man, whatever may be his views and 
 station in life, is an ignoramus if he 
 does not know what pot and pearl 
 ashes are : that would be nonsense ; 
 but I think those who intend emigrat- 
 ing to a new country, and more espe- 
 cially those who take charge of the 
 interests of others, ought at least to 
 know, what the exports and imports 
 
308 
 
 of that country are: and this very 
 enquiry will lead them to consider 
 how far any of these can be made 
 available to their own peculiar in- 
 terest, or to the advantage of those 
 under their charge. 
 
 To the Canadians these great 
 staple commodities must continue to 
 be for many years a source of extra- 
 ordinary profit; and the short dis- 
 tance between Quebec and the Euro- 
 pean markets, will always ensure a 
 a ready sale for all they can manu- 
 facture. 
 
 As we before observed, every kind 
 of vegetable that is free from sea salt, 
 will, when burned, produce potash in 
 greater or lesser degree; and the 
 following table given by Mr. Kirwan, 
 will shew the proportions contained 
 in some of them. 
 
309 
 
 Names of the Vegetables. 
 
 Stem of the Maise. 
 Large Sunflower . . 
 Twigs of the Vine 
 
 Box 
 
 Sallow 
 
 Ash 
 
 Oak 
 
 Aspen 
 
 Beech 
 
 Fir... 
 
 Fern in August..., 
 
 Wormwood 
 
 Fumitory 
 
 Product 
 
 Product 
 
 in Ashes. 
 
 in Alkali. 
 
 88,00 
 
 17,05 
 
 57,02 
 
 20,00 
 
 34,00 
 
 5,05 
 
 29,00 
 
 2,26 
 
 28,00 
 
 2,85 
 
 23,05 
 
 3,09 
 
 13,05 
 
 1,05 
 
 12,02 
 
 0,74 
 
 5,08 
 
 1,27 
 
 3,04 
 
 0,45 
 
 36,46 
 
 4,25 
 
 97,44 
 
 73,00 
 
 319,00 
 
 79,00 
 
 The above was produced from 
 lOOOlbs. weight of each of these 
 vegetables, and the result was, 1st. 
 that the potashes from different 
 vegetables have different colours. 
 2ndly. That the quantity of alkali* is 
 not by any means in proportion to the 
 quantity of ashes in the vegetable : 
 and 3rdly. That ashes require very 
 different proportions of water to be- 
 come exhausted by lixiviation, (or 
 soaking.) 
 
 Salt. 
 
310 
 
 Names of 
 
 Weight 
 of the 
 
 Produce 
 
 Weight 
 of 
 
 Produce 
 
 
 the Vege- 
 tables. 
 
 Vegetable 
 burnt. 
 
 in Ashes. 
 
 Water 
 employed. 
 
 Pot Ash. 
 
 Colour. 
 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 oz. 
 
 dr. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 oz. 
 
 dr 
 
 ST. 
 
 
 Box 
 
 800 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 216 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 Bright lead ore. 
 
 Oak 
 
 915 
 
 12 
 
 
 5 
 
 124 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 12 1 Brownish grey. 
 
 Beech 
 
 887 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 66 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 Coffee with milk. 
 
 Elm 
 Ash 
 
 981 
 1018 
 
 11 
 24 
 
 
 1 
 
 ] 
 6 
 
 216 
 300 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 3 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 36 
 
 Greyish white. 
 Reddish grey. 
 
 Aspen 
 Fir 
 
 Sallow 
 Vine Twigs 
 
 648 
 730 
 800 
 800 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 22 
 
 27 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 12 
 
 
 5 
 7 
 5 
 4 
 
 120 
 
 80 
 
 200 
 
 276 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 / 
 7 
 5 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 18 
 
 Deep black. 
 Light black. 
 Light brownish grey. 
 Whitish grey. 
 
 Turnsole 
 
 100 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 33.3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 Milk-white somewhat 
 
 Maize 
 
 440 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 612 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 56 
 
 yellow. 
 Ash coloured. 
 
 M. Chaptal, when Director Gene- 
 ral of the Gunpowder and Nitre 
 Works of France, ordered some ex- 
 periments to be made in the depart- 
 ment of Vosges ; and the following 
 was the result. 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 1 Olbs. of ashes of broom yielded 2 5 potash, 
 
 J Olbs. ditto of fern 3 5 
 
 1 Olbs. ditto of heath... 1 12 
 
 lOlbs. ditto of roots of pine 2 9 
 
 lOlbs. ditto of maize straw 4 3 
 
 Instead therefore of all this timber, 
 underwood and weeds, which is ap~ 
 
311 
 
 parently useless, being thrown away, 
 it should be cut into convenient 
 lengths, and carefully stacked, until 
 the emigrant can commence burning 
 it into ashes. These stacks should 
 be formed in different places, so that 
 he may not have far to carry his 
 timber, in forming each of them, and 
 where he may burn it on the spot. 
 Some dig holes in the ground for the 
 purpose of carrying on this part of 
 the operation : but the preferable 
 way is to select such situations as are 
 sheltered as much as possible from 
 the wind, and to add the fuel to the 
 fire very gradually. By keeping the 
 entire burning mass well stirred, every 
 particle will be reduced to ashes, 
 which cannot be so easily affected by 
 the former method. 
 
 Unless the emigrant is careful to 
 perform this part of the operation 
 
312 
 
 effectually, he must not hope to make 
 good potash ; and when he reflects 
 that all that timber not worth sending 
 to market, all weeds, every unpro- 
 fitable vegetable, with the lops and 
 tops of the best of his trees, may thus 
 be made to produce a certain return 
 in money, for the trouble and ex- 
 pence of clearing his land, he surely 
 will not omit to avail himself of the 
 opportunity thus afforded him. 
 
 We will now look to the second 
 part of the process. The emigrant 
 must prepare two, or more wooden 
 troughs, according to his circum- 
 stances, &c. &c. it matters not how 
 rough they are, provided they be water 
 tight ; six feet by six feet, and five feet 
 deep will be a convenient size, but of 
 course the magnitude of the utensils 
 used must be in proportion to the ex- 
 tent of his means, &c. The man who 
 
313 
 
 has not ingenuity sufficient to knock 
 a few plain boards together, as above 
 described, may rest fully assured he 
 will make but a very sorry settler in 
 the woods, where he will be thrown in a 
 great measure upon his own resources, 
 These troughs must be raised for 
 convenience the height of a common 
 water pail, and placed by the side of 
 each other, care being taken to ascer-r 
 tain that the supporters are fully able 
 to bear the weight intended for them. 
 The emigrant should now spread a^ 
 thick layer of stout rushes over the 
 bottom, then a layer of ashes, then a 
 layer of rushes; and so on, alternately, 
 until the trough is two thirds full : 
 the water must then be poured in to 
 the brim. The more care taken in 
 spreading the ashes and rushes, the 
 more easily, and effectually, will the 
 water penetrate ; near the bottom, a 
 p 
 
314 
 
 tap-hole must be bored to let out the 
 lees, at the expiration of about forty- 
 eight hours, they must then be passed 
 through a strainer for boiling. 
 
 I have observed many Americans, 
 and Canadians, in the back-woods* 
 use large sugar hogsheads, instead of 
 such troughs as I have described, but 
 these are very inconvenient. Chaptal 
 says, when speaking of the manufac- 
 tories in France — " I have seen manu- 
 factories of pot-ash, where the steep- 
 ing-vessels each contained two thou- 
 sands five hundred pounds of ashes ; 
 this size appeared to me too large, it is 
 difficult to effect in them a perfect lixi- 
 viation ; this inconvenience is but very 
 partially remedied, by the practice of 
 wetting the ashes as they are deposited 
 in the vessel." Some people content 
 themselves with pouring cold water 
 upon the ashes; but if the emigrant has 
 
315 
 
 a copper, or large boiler of any kind, 
 he will find it more to his interest to use 
 water as hot as possible; the ashes 
 will be better soaked, their saline 
 quality will be easier extracted, and 
 a considerable time will be saved in 
 this part of the operation. 
 
 As many casks, &c. as the emigrant 
 can provide, will now be necessary 
 to contain the lees, and the remaining 
 part of the process is exactly similar 
 to the manufacture of common salt in 
 this country ; in fact all those who 
 have seen an English saltern, have 
 seen just what a pot and pearl ash 
 manufactory, on an extensive scale 
 should be in the woods of Canada. 
 The emigrant who happens to be 
 in the neighbourhood of one, would 
 do well before he embarks, to take 
 every opportunity of observing the 
 principles upon which common salt 
 p 2 
 
316 
 
 is produced. In one day he will 
 derive more information, and under- 
 stand the thing more clearly, than he 
 would from reading a whole volume 
 of written instructions. 
 
 Merely once soaking the ashes, 
 will not be sufficient to extract from 
 them all their alkali, or saline quality; 
 more waiter must therefore be poured 
 upon them ; and these second lees 
 should, when again heated, be poured 
 upon the new ashes, instead of plain 
 water ; it matters not what sort of water 
 is used for this purpose, provided it is 
 not impregnated with sea salt. Some 
 manufacturers indeed prefer putrid, 
 or stagnant water ; and say that a 
 greater proportion of pot-ash may be 
 obtained by using it. 
 
 In order to try the strength of his 
 liquor, the emigrant may, if conve- 
 nient, provide himself with an aero< 
 
31? 
 
 meter,* and by it, when he finds that 
 his lees have acquired the strength of 
 fifteen degrees and that he has pro 
 vided as much as he can conveniently 
 preserve, he may employ himself 
 during the bad weather, in the winter* 
 extracting the salt or pot-ash. 
 
 In some of the northern depart- 
 ments of France, where the forests 
 cover a great part of the land, almost 
 all the inhabitants of the country 
 manufacture the ashes. The women 
 and children collect decayed wood 
 and burn it; the cinders are lixiviated, 
 in warm water, and the evaporation 
 is conducted in small kettles which 
 
 * This instrument, however, is not at all neces- 
 sary, as practice, and common observation will 
 «>on enable him to judge sufficiently correct, -as 
 to the strength of the liquor. 
 
 MfilUKHHittltii Ml 
 
318 
 
 do not contain more than one hundred 
 pounds of this liquor. In the southern 
 departments of France, where the 
 wood is scarcely sufficient for domestic 
 uses, the ashes are bought at private 
 houses, and are manufactured in 
 works built for the purpose. 
 
 The emigrant may purchase every 
 discription of iron kettle, in Canada, 
 as cheap as in England ; but the 
 shallower they are* in reason* the 
 better. The method of using these 
 kettles is as simple as the first part 
 of the process ; all that is necessary 
 is to fill them with the lees, place 
 them over a fire, and keep them boil- 
 ing; as the liquor evaporates, more 
 lees must be poured into them, until 
 it obtains the consistence of thick 
 paste or honey ; care must then be 
 taken to prevent it from adhering to 
 the sides of the kettle or boiler, by 
 
 mwaimmm&M: :rv 
 
319 
 
 keeping the contents well stirred with 
 a piece of iron. When it assumes a 
 solid shape, on cooling in the air, 
 and can be moved in the kettle, by 
 the iron bar, it is then pot-ash fit 
 for the market. 
 
 I will not here enter into a parti- 
 cular description how to make pearl- 
 ash, because the generality of emi- 
 grants cannot proceed, with any ad- 
 vantage, beyond the first operation of 
 making the pot-ash ; a slight know- 
 ledge of chemistry, with one or two 
 good works on that particular branch 
 of science, being indispensably ne- 
 cessary ; I shall therefore merely add, 
 that pearl-ash is pot-ash whitened 
 by calcinaton or burning, and that it 
 fetches a proportionably higher price 
 in the market. Added to the above, a 
 few observations on the subject of pot- 
 ash, by M. Chaptal will, I trust, show 
 
 !^.-fl 
 
320 
 
 the emigrant the great advantages thd 
 manufacture of it presents ; advantaged 
 which, although derived from so sim- 
 ple a process are unfortunately little 
 understood, and of which so few, 
 comparatively speakings avail them- 
 selves. — / 
 
 " When it is intended to clear a 
 forest, the establishment of a manu- 
 factory for pot-ash is almost always 
 advantageous ; as it is the only means 
 of applying, to a profitable purpose, 
 the small wood, which will not serve 
 for others uses ; and this is the origin 
 of the immense quantities of pot-ash, 
 which are manufactured in America. 
 In France, Where this combustible is 
 much less abundant than in countries, 
 less advanced in civilization, and the 
 manufactures consequently less nu- 
 merous, immense forests are still 
 found where cultivation is impossible, 
 
321 
 
 ewing to the want of a market. Ma^ 
 -nufactories of pot-ash have been es- 
 tablished in some ; and might without 
 inconvenience be established in others 
 if the manufacture was superintended 
 in such a manner as might ensure a 
 good return. 
 
 " The herbaceous plants are, of all 
 vegetables, those which produce the 
 most ashes ; shrubs furnish more than 
 •trees, leaves more than branches, 
 and the branches more than the 
 trunks. The husks and fibres of cer- 
 tain esculent (eatable) plants ; as 
 the stalks of the French, and the 
 large bean ; the melon, the cucumber, 
 the cabbage, and artichoke, produce 
 richly the pot-ash; the leaves of 
 tobacco, which form the refuse in 
 the manufacture of snuff, the stems 
 of the sunflower, the maize, and the 
 potatoe, and other rich resources £ 
 p3 
 
322 
 
 fern, heaths, the fruit of the horse- 
 chesnut, brooms and thistles, may be 
 a great assistance in supplying a ma- 
 nufactory of pot-ash. When it is in- 
 tended to manufacture it from the 
 plants of the field, it is necessary to 
 cut and gather them with care, so 
 that no earth may remain adhering to 
 them, or communicate impurities to 
 the alkali. The pot-ash most esteemed 
 in commerce is in general that which 
 has a yellowish appearance. 
 
 "When the vegetables have been 
 imperfectly burnt, there remains an 
 extractive principle which injures the 
 quality. Pot-ash is very soluble in 
 water ; when pure it attracts moisture 
 from the air and deliquesces. Its 
 taste is sharp, acrid and resinous, and 
 it has a slightly empyreumatic odour. 
 . Although pot-ash is of the most 
 extensive use in the arts, and the 
 
323 
 
 manufacture of it might be established 
 in almost every part of the Empire, 
 in order to use the ashes of our 
 hearths, the unprofitable vegetables, 
 or the timber of forests when the means 
 of cultivation fail ; yet is this species 
 of industry known only in a few of 
 our departments. I have attempted, 
 to encourage this trade in the forests 
 of Lozere and of Aveyron, and had 
 to this effect formed an establishment 
 of this kind at Saint Saviour, near to 
 Meyrueis. This establishment pros- 
 pered during six-years ; but the revo- 
 lution occasioned the annihilation 
 of it." 
 
 He then goes on to describe potash 
 as the material which forms the base 
 of the manufactories of soft soap, of 
 glass, and of saltpetre, and that his 
 government ought to " endeavour to 
 give a popularity to this kind of ma~ 
 
 • 
 
324 
 
 hufacture. I say popularity, because 
 the materials of the manufacture are 
 every where found, and it is only re- 
 quired to procure a tub, a small 
 bucket, and an iron boiler in order to 
 manufacture potash. This portable 
 apparatus may be fixed any where, 
 and at a small expence, and it would 
 be particularly advantageous to make 
 it known in mountainous countries, 
 where it would furnish a very useful 
 branch of industry to the inhabi- 
 tants." 
 
 I shall conclude this by observing 
 that thesfe ashes before being subject 
 to the operation of lixiviation, which 
 1 have described, may be sold to the 
 pot-ash manufacturers for, from six- 
 pence to ninepence per bushel, ac- 
 cording to their quality, 
 
 The emigrant will soon be able 
 to judgie for himself, as to which plan 
 
325 
 
 it is most desirable to adopt ; but in 
 either case, if he is careful in making 
 the most of these ashes, the produce 
 will, as I before observed amply 
 repay him the first expences, of 
 settling on his grant, and of clearing 
 his lands afterwards. 
 
 MAPLE SUGAR. 
 
 Thrown as the emigrant must be, 
 almost upon his own resources, it is 
 absolutely necessary that he should 
 know how to manufacture sugar, 
 beer, bread, &c; and in fact he should 
 be armed at all points ; and excepting 
 for his farming implements, and what 
 he absolutely cannot make himself, he 
 ought not to go beyond the bounds of 
 his own grant for assistance. His 
 Jand, and his own ingenuity, ought to 
 
326- 
 
 produce him every necessary, until 
 he is well settled, and can afford to 
 pay for the labour of others. 
 
 The following brief observations 
 will show him how to procure sugar ; 
 which article he must otherwise pur- 
 chase by a sacrifice of time and 
 money. 
 
 Early in the spring, the maple trees, 
 with which the Canadian woods 
 abound, are bored with a large auger 
 in order to extract the sap, which for 
 about a month flows in very consi- 
 derable quantities. After making the 
 hole, a small piece of the tree is 
 scooped from below upwards, so as to 
 form a convenient channel for the 
 sap, which is again assisted by a 
 little wooden spout, to drain it away 
 from the body of the tree into pans 
 or troughs, placed at the foot for the 
 purpose. These are emptied every 
 
327 
 
 night, and at the end of the season, 
 by the simple process of boiling and 
 skimming, it is manufactured into 
 sugar. A little milk thrown in when 
 well boiled will materially assist in 
 clarifying it ; it is almost needless to 
 observe that in rainy weather, very 
 little can be made, and that a warm 
 sun materially assists the flow of the 
 sap. A good tree will give three 
 pounds of sugar each year ; some of 
 the settlers will bore upwards of a 
 hundred ; the produce of which will 
 sell in the market, for threepence, or 
 fourpence, per pound. 
 
 Present Prices of Provisions, Cattle, and $er- 
 vants* Wages in Canada. 
 
 2d. to 3d. per lb. 
 8d. per Ik 
 
 
32$ 
 
 TJheesc - Od. per lb. 
 
 Flour - 4 dollars per barrel. 
 
 Wheat - 4 shillings per bushel. 
 
 Indian Corn 2 do. do. 
 
 Potatoes - 1 do. do. 
 
 A good Cow 20 dollars to 30. 
 
 A good Horse 60 do. to 100. 
 
 A Sheep - 8 shillings. 
 
 A Farming Servant about 5 dollars per month. 
 
 Woman Servant 3 do. do. 
 
 Dollars, dollar notes, English gold coin, and 
 American gold eagles, are more generally used 
 throughout the Canadas, than any other descrip- 
 tion of money. The currency is regulated by the 
 Halifax standard, so that eighteen shillings Eng- 
 lish, are equal to twenty Canadian. 
 
 ROADS AND DISTANCES. 
 
 from Quebec to Michilimackinac. 
 
 miles. dif. 
 
 From Quebec to Montreal 180 180 
 
 _ to Coteau du Lac 225 45 
 
 ^ r-,,- to Cornwall 266 41 
 
 Carried forward 266 
 
S2d 
 
 miles. dtf; 
 
 brought forward 266 
 
 From Quebec to Matilda 301 35 
 
 ; — ■- — . to Augusta 335 38 
 
 to Kingston 385 50 
 
 ^— ; - to Niagara, £ 
 
 or to York 3 
 to Fort Erie 
 
 - . , to Detroit 
 
 r-- to Michilimackinac 1 107 3 1 7 
 
 1 107 miles 
 
 525 
 
 140 
 
 560 
 
 35 
 
 790 
 
 230 
 
 From Quebec to Halifax. 
 
 miles. difi 
 
 From JPointe Levi to the Portage 110 110 
 
 Across the Portage to the > 146 3 g 
 
 Lake Tuniscanata ) 
 
 From thence to the Forks } jgy 4 \ 
 
 of Madawaska $ 
 
 - — ~ to the Great Falls 227 40 
 
 , to Fredericktown 351 124 
 
 * to Saint Johns 430 79 
 
 — to Halifax 619 189 
 
 619 miles. 
 
330 
 
 N.B. This journey of 619 miles was performed 
 on snow shoes in the winter of 1812, by the 104th 
 regiment, and by Captains Barclay, Finnis and 
 Worsley, &c. R.N. ; and the following winter by 
 Captain Edward Collier, R.N. and Lieutenant 
 Alexander Phillips, R.M. with a party of volun- 
 teer seamen and marines, for the Lakes. 
 
 From Quebec to Boston, (UnHed States ) 
 
 miles. dif. 
 
 From Quebec to St. Giles's 30 30 
 
 — to Ireland 60 30 
 
 — to Shipton 90 30 
 
 . to St. Francis 106 16 
 
 — — to the Forks i 
 
 •} 
 
 A-o< ' > 28 M 
 
 to the Boundary ? , . g . g 
 
 Line £ 
 
 to Sheffield 169 23 
 
 to Linden 188 19 
 
 to Haverhill 223 35 
 
 to Dartmouth ? O ~o qq 
 
 v- 
 
 College 
 to Boston 364 111 
 
 364 miles. 
 
 mI 
 
331 
 
 From Quebec to Albany, (United States.) 
 
 miles. dif. 
 
 From Quebec to Montreal 180 180 
 
 __i to Lapraire 189 9 
 
 to St. John's 203 14 
 
 to Isle aux Noix 217 14 
 
 ' — to Windmill Point 229 12 
 
 to Savage Point 235 6 
 
 to John Martins 241 6 
 
 i to Sandbar 255 14 
 
 to Burlington 269 14 
 
 1 to Dr. Smiths 339 70 
 
 to Sheensborough 347 8 
 
 to Fort Anne 359 12 
 
 to Sandy Hill 369 10 
 
 — to Fort Edward 371 2 
 
 to Dumont's Ferry 383 12 
 
 to Ensigns 391 8 
 
 to Stillwater 397 6 
 
 f to Waterford 407 10 
 
 _ to Flats (Albany) 419 12 
 
 419 miles* 
 
332 
 
 OSWEGO, 
 
 ^n the American shore of Lake On* 
 tario, has always been considered a 
 military post of some importance, 
 and is now one of the principal sta- 
 tions on the northern frontier of the 
 State of New York, It was taken 
 by assault on the sixth of May, 1814, 
 by the second battalion of Royal Ma- 
 rines ; the flank companies of de 
 Wattevilles, a company of the Glen- 
 gary Fencibles, and a body of seamen 
 from the fleet. I mention it, because 
 this affair proved fatal to Captain 
 Holtaway of the marines, and to 
 Lieutenant de May of the grenadiers 
 of de Watteville's. 
 
 The former had an extraordinary 
 presentiment of what was to happen 
 to him, and so strongly had this idea 
 taken possession of his mind, that he 
 
333 
 
 requested me (as his subaltern) on 
 the night of the fifth, to explain to his 
 company the state of their accounts. 
 " I wish it," said he, "m case of acci- 
 dents." I complied with his desire, 
 and endeavoured to rally him into 
 better spirits ; but it was of no avail, 
 he felt assured of his fate, and pre- 
 pared to meet it as if it had been his 
 inevitable doom. 
 
 We had attempted to land during 
 the afternoon of the same day, but 
 from bad weather coming on, the 
 signal had been made for the boats 
 to return on board, and it was under- 
 stood that the attack was deferred 
 until midnight. The night however 
 passed without any thing particular 
 occurring, the weather having con- 
 tinued unfavourable; but the morn- 
 ing presented us with a cloudless sky, 
 a calm and quiet lake, and the last 
 brilliant sunshine which many a 
 
334 
 
 brave fellow was doomed to look 
 upon. It presented likewise my 
 friend Captain Hoitaway labouring 
 under the same impressions as the 
 night previous. 
 
 A short time before the signal was 
 made for the i( troops to prepare to 
 land," he addressed me with great 
 earnestness — he reminded me that it 
 was not the first time that he had 
 been exposed to an enemy's fire, 
 and that he hoped I knew him too 
 well to suppose that he was afraid of 
 any thing that could happen to him. 
 He said he felt strangely, as he had 
 never felt before on such an occasion ; 
 but that he trusted he should never- 
 theless do his duty. At his request 
 I again assembled the men, and made 
 each of them sign his accounts. I 
 did so without a remark, because I 
 saw his heart was set upon it ; and 
 although I commiserated his feelings, 
 
335 
 
 I enjoyed the idea, that in a few hours 
 I should have the pleasure of rallying 
 him upon his credulity, and gloomy 
 impressions. The event however 
 proved otherwise. 
 
 The signal was made to land, and 
 the boats pulled in bravely upon the 
 enemy's shore, boat cheering boat 
 with loud huzzas, such as no man can 
 form an idea of, who has never heard 
 them on similar occasions, and such as 
 will ring in the ears of him who has, (if 
 he be really and heartily fond of his pro- 
 fession) for the remainder of his life. It 
 was a struggle who should be the first on 
 shore, many of the men landing breast 
 high in water, and Captain Holtaway, 
 sword in hand, amongst the number. 
 In less than ten minutes, however, the 
 marines having formed in column, 
 were ordered to advance in double 
 quick time upon the enemy ; and at 
 the foot of the glacis, Captain Holta- 
 
336 
 
 way fell mortally wounded at the 
 head of his company. He was dead 
 in an instant, a musket- shot having 
 struck him on the temple and passed 
 directly through his head.* 
 
 Lieutenant de May was mortally 
 wounded previous to this movement, 
 hopes however were entertained for 
 some hours that his life might be 
 saved, but as the ball, which had 
 lodged near the eye, could not be 
 extracted, mortification ensued, and 
 he died two days afterwards, He 
 was a native of Switzerland, a very 
 fine young man, and as this was the 
 
 t Captain Hoi taway particularly distinguished him- 
 self under Lieutenant Colonel Torrens in the defence 
 of the Island of Anhalt in the Baltic, which was at- 
 tacked by the Danes on 27th of March, 1811. The 
 garrison consisted of marines, (the greater part of 
 whom afterwards joined the second battalion in Spain) 
 and a few seamen. They repulsed the enemy in three 
 successive attacks, and ultimately totally defeated 
 them with a loss of two of their divisions, who were 
 obliged to surrender at discretion. 
 
337 
 
 first service he had ever been upon, his 
 fate excited very great commiseration. 
 
 Captain Mulcaster, who commanded 
 the Princess Charlotte, received a 
 severe grape-shot wound in the groin, 
 whilst gallantly heading a storming 
 party of seamen. He was in the 
 battle of Trafalgar with Lord Nelson, 
 and was second in command under 
 Sir James Yeo, during the most event- 
 ful period of the naval war upon the 
 Lakes. On one occasion in particu- 
 lar, when the Wolfe sloop of war, 
 which bore the commodore's flag, was 
 dismasted by the Americans, Captain 
 Mulcaster, in the Royal George, 
 hastened to her relief, and bore the 
 brunt of the action for the remainder 
 of the day. 
 
 Five other officers were likewise 
 wounded in the assault of Oswego. 
 Captain Lidergrew of de Watteville's; 
 
338 
 
 Lieutenant John Hewitt of the 
 Marines, who climbed the flag-staff, 
 and struck the American colours. 
 Captain Popham, R.N. ; Lieutenant 
 Griffin, R.N., and Mr. Richardson, 
 Master of the Royal George. 
 
 Lieutenant - General Sir Gordon 
 Drummond commanded on this occa- 
 sion, and Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson, 
 Inspecting Field Officer of Militia, 
 (who was second in command in the 
 action at Chrystler's Farm) and Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Smelt of the 103d re- 
 giment, who were passengers in the 
 fleet* landed with him as volunteers. 
 
 LA COLE MILL 
 
 was attacked on the 30th of March, 
 1814, by a strong force of the Ameri- 
 can army under General Wilkinson. 
 
339 
 
 The enemy s advance was led by the 
 celebrated Major Forsyth, who by 
 his marauding excursions, enterprise, 
 and great personal bravery, had made 
 himself the complete Rob Roy 
 M'Gregor of the American States, 
 bordering upon Canada. His gal- 
 lantry was however of no avail on 
 this occasion, for whilst making an 
 ineffectual and desperate effort to 
 carry the Mill, he was mortally 
 wounded, and with him fell every 
 chance the Americans had of success. 
 The posts of La Cole and Burton 
 Ville were commanded by Major 
 Hancock of the 13th regiment, and 
 the force under his orders consisted 
 of part of that regiment, the grena- 
 dier company of the Canadian Fenci- 
 bles, a company of Canadian Volti- 
 geurs, and a small detachment of the 
 first battalion of Royal Marines, com- 
 
340 
 
 mandedby Lieutenants Caldwell, and 
 Burton. 
 
 PLATSBURGH. 
 
 Beyond the recollection that every 
 man on board the British squadron 
 did his duty, in the action with the 
 Americans on Lake Champlain, I 
 have no wish to remember any parti- 
 culars relative to that unfortunate 
 affair. That this fleet, as well as that 
 under Captain Barclay on Lake Erie, 
 was sacrificed unnecessarily, appears 
 to be generally believed ; and under 
 this impression, the loss of such men 
 as Captains Downie and Finnis, of the 
 R.N. and of Captain Anderson of the 
 marines, with their gallant but ill- 
 fated companions, is the more to be 
 lamented. The conclusion of the 
 general order of the 24th of Novem- 
 
1 
 
 341 
 
 ber, 1813, alluding to the action on 
 Lake Erie, may be very justly applied 
 likewise to Captain Downie and the 
 crews on Lake Champlain. "De- 
 prived," it says, " of the palm of vic- 
 tory, when almost within his grasp, 
 by an overwhelming force which the 
 enemy possessed in reserve, aided by 
 an accumulation of unfortunate cir- 
 cumstances, Captain Barclay and his 
 brave crews, have, by their gallant 
 daring, and self-devotion to their 
 country's cause, rescued its honour 
 and their own, even in defeat." 
 
 That the British army at Platsburg 
 was disgraced by orders which com- 
 promised its honour for its safety, is 
 likewise pretty weH understood ; and 
 that there were very few, if any, of 
 those who composed it, who felt vastly 
 obliged for this kind consideration, 
 will be also fully credited. I have 
 Q3 
 
342 
 
 no wish to enter upon a subject so 
 degrading, and as I was not at 
 " Platsburgh Races," as this cele- 
 brated retreat is sarcastically termed, 
 I may be well excused from the task. 
 To contemplate and to describe great 
 and glorious actions, which do honour 
 to my country and the service, must, 
 as I before observed, be at all times 
 gratifying, and such reflections tend 
 to ennoble the soul ; but to record 
 events, such as that to which I have 
 now alluded, I leave to the historian, 
 whose duty it is, for the information 
 of bosterity, to faithfully note, not 
 onty the good, but the bad, the noble 
 and the ignoble. 
 
 The discussion of this affair would 
 likewise lead to the general conduct 
 and character of Sir George Prevost, 
 who is now dead. It is one thing to 
 attack a man whilst living, and 
 Another to gallop over him when he is 
 
343 
 
 no longer able to defend himself. In 
 the first case he has the power to 
 publicly contradict any statement 
 affecting his character, and perhaps 
 prove it to be false ; and ivhat is more, 
 he can resent it : but when he is gone 
 to a more severe tribunal to answer 
 for his conduct, then let us remember 
 that unless his faults were of the heart 
 as well as of the head, mercy is more 
 honourable than severity. Let us re- 
 flect that many a man, who cuts but 
 a very indifferent figure in public life, 
 would perform all the duties of a 
 more retired station, with honour and 
 credit, because it is suited to his 
 capacity and his feelings. 
 
 That the disasters to which I have 
 alluded, as well as the extraordinary 
 result of the attack upon Sackets 
 Harbour in 1813, and the defeat and 
 capture of General Proctor's division, 
 near the Moravian village, are to be 
 
344 
 
 attributed to the indecisive measures 
 of the Governor General, is univer- 
 sally admitted ; and it is to be re- 
 gretted that Lieut. -General Sir Gor- 
 don Drummond, who commanded 
 in the Upper Province, or some other 
 officer, able to wield the vast machine 
 of war with effect, had not filled the 
 situation. Indecision, however, and a 
 too great attention to the minutiae of 
 dress and parade, which could not be 
 of the least possible service in the 
 field, were his principal faults ; for to 
 the best of his ability I believe, the 
 wish of Sir George Prevost was to 
 do his duty ; and after passing forty 
 years of his life in the service, in dif- 
 ferent parts of the world, it is surely 
 only fair to take all his actions into 
 the account, instead of condemning 
 him as one, who had no previous es- 
 tablished claims upon the considera- 
 tion of his country. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 " If when I was a school-boy, I could not hear a drum 
 beat, but my heart beat with it, was it my fault ? — Did I 
 plant the propensity there ? — Did I sound the alarm within, 
 or Nature ? " — Sterne. 
 
 I take this for my motto, because 
 on looking over what I have here 
 written, a thousand sensations and 
 recollections, intimately connected 
 with it, are awakened in my mind 
 and in my heart. Old times, 
 and old friends, appear before me in 
 
346 
 
 retrospect, and that ardent, passion- 
 ate affection for the service which I 
 felt in my boyhood, I find still glow- 
 ing warmly in my bosom. How far 
 this feeling may have influenced me 
 in my allusions to military affairs, is 
 not for me to decide ; but I shall be 
 amply satisfied if this small work, 
 should be the means of rescuing from 
 oblivion, the name of even one brave 
 man, or of imparting to his friends 
 and relatives, one moment of consola- 
 tion. 
 
 Now, reader, I have very nearly 
 finished my book, and if there be much 
 in it, not exactly consistent with your 
 idea of things, take out your pencil 
 quietly, like a sensible man, and note 
 <iown your observations in the mar- 
 gin ; but if there be much in it you 
 decidedly object to, do not fly into a 
 passion, do not I pray you, throw it 
 
347 
 
 behind the fire, and exlcaim, " Let 
 him go to the devil;" for, in the lan- 
 guage of the inimitable Sterne, I 
 must remind you, that " it is a 
 cruel journey to send me upon, and 
 that I have had sufferings enough 
 without it." Remember, that " It is 
 one thing for a man to march bravely 
 on, with drums and trumpets, and 
 colours flying about his ears, — 'tis 
 one thing I say, brother Shandy, to 
 do this, and 'tis another to describe 
 the miseries of war." 
 
 It is one thing for a man on enter- 
 ing the lists for literary fame, to be 
 knocked down the first blow, and 
 well belaboured afterwards by every 
 merciless critic, who chooses to turn 
 upon him ; and it is another to be as 
 perfectly indifferent to all this, as the 
 old woman's eel, which in her idea, 
 from being likewise quite used to it, 
 
348 
 
 felt no more the operation of having 
 his skin stripped over his ears, than a 
 young onion. In short, gentle reader, 
 it is one thing for a man to presume 
 on having written a very clever book, 
 full of very clever things ; and it is 
 another, to make no pretensions to 
 anything of the kind. 
 
 It is upon this last principle that I 
 have ventured to build my hopes of 
 success ; and having now launched 
 my bark, my first venture, upon an 
 ocean, where I must expect northern 
 storms and periodical tempests to assail 
 me — gentle reader, and still more 
 gentle critic and reviewer — I bid ye 
 all farewell. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON : 
 SHACKELL AND ARROWSMITH, JOHNSON'S COURT. 
 
 - IBM