gather from an _Observer_ of December in that year, that Lake Ontario,
according to its wont, had been occasioning alarms to travellers. An
address of the passengers on board of Capt. Sinclair's vessel, after a
perilous passage from Prescott to York, is recorded in the columns of
the paper just named. It reads as follows: "The subscribers, passengers
in the _Lady Maitland_ schooner, beg to tender their best thanks to
Capt. Sinclair for the kind attention paid to them during the passage
from Prescott to this port; and at the same time with much pleasure to
bear testimony to his propriety of conduct in using every exertion to
promote the interest of those concerned in the vessel and cargo, in the
severe gale of the morning of the 4th instant (Dec. 1820). The manly
fortitude and unceasing exertions of Capt. Sinclair, when the situation
of the vessel, in consequence of loss of sails, had become extremely
dangerous, were so highly conspicuous as to induce the subscribers to
make it known to the public, that he may meet with that support which he
so richly deserves. The exertions of the crew were likewise observed,
and are deserving of praise.--D. McDougal, James Alason, G. N. Ridley,
Peter McDougal."
This was probably the occasion of a doleful rejoinder of Mr. Peter
McDougal's, which became locally a kind of proverbial expression: "No
more breakfast in this world for Pete McDoug." The story was that Mr.
McDougal, when suffering severely from the effects of a storm on the
Lake, replied in these terms to the cook, who came to announce
breakfast. The phrase seemed to take the popular fancy, and was employed
now and then to express a mild despair of surrounding circumstances.
In 1820 a Traveller, whose journal is quoted by Willis, in Bartlett's
_Canadian Scenery_ (ii. 48), was six days in accomplishing the journey
from Prescott to York by water. "On the 3rd of September," he says, "we
embarked for York at Prescott, on board a small schooner called the
_Caledonia_. We performed this voyage, which is a distance of 250 miles,
in six days." In 1818, Mr. M. F. Whitehead, of Port Hope, was two days
and a-half in crossing from Niagara to York. "My first visit to York,"
Mr. Whitehead says in a communication to the writer, "was in September,
1818, crossing the Lake from Niagara with Dr. Baldwin--a two and a-half
days' passage. The Doctor had thoughtfully provided a leg of lamb, a
loaf of bread, and a bottle of porter: all our fare," adds Mr.
Whitehead, "for two days and a-half." We have ourselves more than once,
in former days, experienced the horrors of the middle passage between
Niagara and York, having crossed and re-crossed, in very rough weather,
in the Kingston Packet, or _Brothers_, and having been detained on the
Lake for a whole night and a good portion of a day in the process. The
schooners for Niagara and elsewhere used to announce the time of their
departure from the wharf at York in primitive style, by repeated blasts
from a long tin horn, so called, sounded at intervals previous to their
casting loose, and at the moment of the start. Fast and large steamers
have, of course, now reduced to a minimum the miseries of a voyage
between the North and South shores; but these miseries are still not
slight at the stormy seasons, when Lake Ontario often displays a mood by
no means amiable--
"Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
Up from the bottom turned by furious winds
And surging waves."
It is some consolation to reflect, that with all the skill and
appliances at the command of English engineers and shipbuilders, it has
been found hitherto impossible to render the passage from Dover to
Calais a luxury; nor possibly will that result be secured even by the
enormous ferry-steamers which are projected. In 1791, twenty-four hours
were occasionally occupied in the passage from Dover to Calais. "I am
half-dead," writes the learned traveller Dr. E. D. Clarke, at Calais, to
his mother; "I am half-dead with sea-sickness: twenty-four hours'
passage from Dover."
Again, the mode in which the first Lake steamers were made to near the
landing-place in the olden time, was something which would fill a modern
steamboat captain with amazement. Accustomed as we are every day to see
huge steamers guided without any ado straight up to the margin of a quay
or pier, the process of putting in seems a simple affair. Not so was it,
however, in practice to the first managers of steamboats. When the
_Frontenac_ or _William IV._ was about to approach the wharf at York,
the vessel was brought to a standstill some way out in the harbour. From
near the fore and after gangways boats were then lowered, bearing
hawsers; and by means of these, when duly landed, the vessel was
solemnly drawn to shore. An agitated multitude usually witnessed the
operation.
In the _Gazette_ of July 20, 1820, we have the information that "on
Saturday evening, a schooner of about sixty tons, built for Mr. Oates
and others, was launched in this port (York). She went off," the
_Gazette_ says, "in very fine style, until she reached the water, where,
from some defect in her ways, her progress was checked; and from the
lateness of the hour, she could not be freed from the impediment before
the next morning, when she glided into the Bay in safety. Those who are
judges say that it is a very fine vessel of, the class. It is now
several years," continues the _Gazette_, "since any launch has been
here; it therefore, though so small a vessel, attracted a good deal of
curiosity." This was the _Duke of Richmond_ packet, afterwards a
favourite on the route between York and Niagara. The _Gazette_ describes
the _Richmond_ somewhat incorrectly as a schooner, and likewise
understates the tonnage. She was a sloop of the Revenue cutter build,
and her burthen was about one hundred tons. Of Mr. Oates we have had
occasion to speak in our perambulation of King Street.
In an _Observer_ of 1820, we have the first advertisement of the
_Richmond_. It reads thus: "The _Richmond_ Packet, Edward Oates,
commander, will commence running between the Ports of York and Niagara
on Monday, the 24th instant (July), as a regular Packet. She will leave
York on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9 o'clock a.m., precisely;
and Niagara on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 10 a.m., to the
24th of September, when the hour of departure will be made known to the
Public. The _Richmond_ has excellent accommodations for Ladies,
Gentlemen and other Passengers, and nothing will be omitted to make her
one of the completest and safest passage vessels of the class in
America, being manned with experienced mariners. Rates of passage: After
Cabin, 10s.; Fore Cabin, 6s. 3d. Children under twelve years,
half-price. Sixty pounds baggage allowed to each passenger; above that
weight, 9d. per cwt., or 2s. per barrel bulk. For freight or passage
apply to John Crooks, Esq., Niagara; the Captain on board; or at the
Subscriber's store. Ed. Oates, York, July 17, 1820."
Captain Vavassour, commandant at Fort George, presented Capt. Oates with
a gun and a set of colours. The former used to announce to the people of
York the arrival and departure of the _Richmond_; and a striped
signal-flag found among the latter, was hoisted at the Lighthouse on
Gibraltar Point whenever the _Richmond_ Packet hove in sight. (For a
considerable period, all vessels were signalized by a flag flying from
the Lighthouse.)
Two years later, the _Richmond_ is prospering on the route between York
and Niagara. In the _Gazette_ of June 7th, 1822, we have an
advertisement of tenor similar to the one given above. "_Richmond_
Packet, Edward Oates, master, will regularly leave York for Niagara on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Niagara for York on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, from the 1st of June until the 1st of
September." The advertisement then goes on to say: "Edward Oates
respectfully informs his friends and the Public, that his Packet shall
leave York and Niagara on the above days, either in the morning or
evening, as the wind and passengers may suit; and that passengers may
depend on a passage on the above days. The superiority of sailing and
accommodation for ladies and gentlemen are too well known to the public
to make any comment upon. York, June 1st, 1822." By the following year,
however, the _Richmond's_ occupation was coming to an end. Steam on the
route between York and Niagara had its effect. From the _Gazette_ of
Jan. 16, 1823, we learn that Mr. Oates is about to dispose of his
interest in the _Richmond_; is virtually about to sell the vessel. In
the paper just named we read the following advertisement: "Auction.
Fifty Shares, or three-quarters and two sixty-fourths of that superior
vessel the _Richmond_ Packet, will positively be sold by auction, at the
Town of York, on Saturday, the 25th instant, together with all her
tackle, apparel, stores and furniture; an inventory of which may be seen
on application to R. Coleman, Esq., York; Mr. Edward Oates, Niagara.
N.B.--Terms of sale: one-third down; the remainder in two equal payments
at three and six months, with approved endorsers. York, Jan. 6, 1823."
In a _Gazette_ of this year we have a pleasure boat offered for sale at
York, apparently a bargain. In the number for May 15, 1823, is the
following advertisement: "Pleasure-boat to be sold: built of oak, an
extremely fast sailer, and in every respect a complete vessel of the
kind. It is rigged with jib, foresail, mainsail, and driver. Original
cost, upwards of forty guineas (and not more than four years old). It
will now be sold, with everything belonging to it, at the low price of
fifteen pounds currency. Enquire at the _Gazette_ Office, York. 7th May,
1823."
As the _Richmond_ Packet filled an important place in the early marine
of the harbour, it will be of interest to mention her ultimate fate.
While engaged, in 1826, in conveying a cargo of salt from Oswego, she
was wrecked near Brighton, on the bay of Presqu'isle, towards the
eastern part of Lake Ontario. The Captain, no longer Mr. Oates, losing
his presence of mind in a gale of wind, cut the cable of his vessel and
ran her ashore. The remains of the wreck, after being purchased by
Messrs. Willman, Bailey and Co., were taken to Wellington, on the south
side of the peninsula of Prince Edward county, where the cannon which
had ornamented the deck of the defunct packet, and had for so many years
daily made the harbour of York resound with its detonations, did duty in
firing salutes on royal birthdays and other public occasions up to 1866,
when, being overcharged, it burst, the fragments scattering themselves
far and wide in the waters round the wharf at Wellington.
Just as the _Richmond_ disappears, another favourite vessel, for some
years distinguished in the annals of York harbour, and commanded by a
man of note, comes into the field of view. "The new steamer _Canada_,"
says the _Loyalist_ of June 3, 1826, "was towed into port this week by
the _Toronto_, from the mouth of the river Rouge, where she was built
during the last winter. She will be shortly fitted up for her intended
route, which, we understand, will be from York and Niagara round the
head of the Lake, and will add another to the increasing facilities of
conveyance in Upper Canada." The _Loyalist_ then adds: "Six steamboats
now navigate the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, in this Province,
besides the _Canada_, and a boat nearly ready for launching at
Brockville." We shall presently hear much of the career of the _Canada_
and her commander.
The _Toronto_ (Capt. Shaw), named above as towing the _Canada_ into the
harbour, was a steam-packet of peculiar make, built at York. She was
constructed without any difference of shape at the bow and stern, and
without ribs. She was a shell of successive layers of rather thin boards
placed alternately lengthwise and athwart, with coatings, between, of
stout brown paper pitched. She proved a failure as a vessel for the Lake
traffic, and was speedily taken down the river, where she was also
unfortunate. We hear of her in the _Loyalist_ of June 17, 1826. "By a
letter," the Editor says, "received from Kingston we are sorry to hear
that the steamboat _Toronto_, on her first trip from that place to
Prescott, had unfortunately got aground several times, and that in
consequence it had been found necessary to haul her out of the water at
Brockville, to be repaired. The damage is stated not to be very great,
but the delay, besides occasioning inconvenience, must be attended with
some loss to the proprietors." The Editor then adds: "The navigation of
the St Lawrence, for steamboats, between Kingston and Prescott, is in
many places extremely difficult, and requires that the most skilful and
experienced pilots should be employed." In the same number of the
_Loyalist_ is an advertisement of the _Martha Ogden_, a United States
boat. "Notice. The steamboat _Martha Ogden_, Andrew Estes, master, will
ply between York and Youngstown during the remainder of the season,
making a daily trip from each place, Saturdays excepted, when she will
cross but once. Hours of sailing, 6 o'clock in the morning and 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. To accommodate the public, her hours of departure from
each place will be changed alternately every week, of which notice will
be regularly given. This arrangement will continue in effect, weather
permitting, until further notice is given. Passengers wishing to cross
the river Niagara will be sent over in the ferry-boat free of charge.
Cabin passage, two dollars. Deck passage, one dollar. Agents at York,
Messrs. M. and R. Meighan. June 13, 1826."
The _Frontenac_ is still plying to York. In 1826 she brings up the
Lieut.-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, from Kingston. The _Loyalist_
of Saturday, June 3, 1826, duly makes the announcement. "His Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor arrived here (York) on Wednesday afternoon, on
board the _Frontenac_, Capt. McKenzie, from Kingston. His Excellency
landed at the King's Wharf under a salute from the Garrison. Major
Hillier and Captain Maitland accompanied his Excellency. On Thursday
morning, his Excellency embarked on board the _Frontenac_ for Niagara."
The following week she brings over from Niagara Col. McGregor and the
70th Regiment. The _Loyalist_ of June 10, 1826, thus speaks. "We have
much pleasure in announcing the arrival in this place of the Head
Quarter Division of the 70th Regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col.
McGregor. They landed from the steamboat _Frontenac_ yesterday morning,
and marched into the York Garrison." The _Loyalist_ then proceeds to
eulogize the 70th, and to express satisfaction at the removal of that
regiment to York. "The distinguished character of this fine regiment,
and the honourable testimony which has been given of their uniformly
correct and praiseworthy conduct, wherever they have been stationed,
affords the most perfect assurance that from the esteem in which they
have so deservedly been held, during a period of more than thirteen
years' service in Canada, their stay at this Garrison will be rendered
highly satisfactory to the inhabitants, and, we should hope, pleasant to
themselves." It was on this occasion that many of the inhabitants of
York beheld for the first time the impressive sight of a Highland
regiment, wearing the kilt and the lofty plumed cap. A full military
band, too, which accompanies only Head Quarter Divisions, was a novelty
at York; as previous to this year Niagara, and not York, was regarded as
Military head quarters. The Pipers increased the excitement. The band of
the 70th displayed, moreover, at this period further accessories of pomp
and circumstance in the shape of negro cymbal players, and a magnificent
oriental-looking standard of swaying tails surmounted by a huge
glittering crescent bearing small bells.
In the down-trip from York, the same week, the _Frontenac_ took away a
detachment of the 76th Regiment. "The detachment of the 76th Regiment,"
the _Loyalist_ of June 10 reports, "under command of Lieut. Grubbe,
embarked on board the _Frontenac_ yesterday, on its destination to join
the regiment at Montreal. Lieut. Grubbe takes with him," the Editor of
the _Loyalist_ says, "the cordial regard of the inhabitants of York; and
the exemplary conduct of the detachment under his command has been such
as to merit from them their best wishes for their future
prosperity."--During the same week the steamer _Queenston_ had arrived
at York, as we learn from the following item in the same _Loyalist_ of
June 10: "The Rev. Mr. Hudson, Military Chaplain, who accompanied the
Lord Bishop from England, arrived here in the _Queenston_ on Tuesday
last. Mr. Hudson is appointed Chaplain to the Garrison at York." (In
August, 1828, Mr. Hudson must have been in England. We read the
following in the _Loyalist_ of Oct. 11, in that year:--"Married, on the
12th of August last, at Crosby-on-Elden, Cumberland, by the Rev. S.
Hudson, B.A., the Rev. J. Hudson, M.A., Fellow of St. Peter's College,
Cambridge, and Chaplain to the Forces at York, in Upper Canada, to
Barbara Wells, second daughter of the Rev. Thomas Lowry, D.D.") In the
_Loyalist_ of July 29, in this year (1826), we hear of "the new steamer
_Niagara_, built at Prescott, John Mosier, captain." This new steamer
_Niagara_ was in reality Capt. Mosier's schooner _The Union of
Wellington Grove_, turned into a steamer. Some error had been committed
in the build of the _Union_, and she suddenly capsized in the river near
Prescott. Capt. Mosier then cut her in two, added to her length thirty
feet by an insertion, and converted her into the _Niagara_ steam-packet.
Her arrival at York is announced in the _Loyalist_ of July 29, and her
return thither from Niagara with American tourists on board. The
_Loyalist_ says: "The new steamboat _Niagara_, built at Prescott, John
Mosier, captain, arrived here (York) on Monday last, the 24th instant.
She proceeded the same day to Niagara, and returned on Tuesday
afternoon, with a number of American ladies and gentlemen making the
Northern tour. This arrangement," continues the _Loyalist_, "of visiting
York twice on the route round the Lake will be continued, we hope, as
the number of persons travelling at this season of the year, having an
opportunity of seeing York, will tend to enliven the town. The
_Niagara_" it is added, "is a handsome and well-built boat, with a
powerful engine, and most excellent accommodation for travellers." A
_Loyalist_ of the following month (the number for Aug, 12, 1826) reports
the _Niagara_ as bearing another kind of freight. She has on board, for
one thing, 60 hogsheads of tobacco. "The steamboat _Niagara_, Capt.
Mosier, arrived in port on Monday last from Prescott _via_ Niagara. On
going on board," says the Editor of the _Loyalist_, "it afforded us much
pleasure to find that her cargo consisted in part of sixty hogsheads of
Leaf Tobacco for the Montreal market, the produce of the western part of
the Province. The cultivation of this article of consumption," continues
the _Loyalist_, "is attracting the attention of the farmers in the
Western District, and a large quantity of it will be offered in the
market this year. The next season it will be very much increased. The
soil and climate of that part of the Province is represented as being
well adapted to the growth of the tobacco plant, and the enterprise
which is exhibited to secure the advantages thus held out, gives fair
promise that the article will before long be added to the list of the
staple productions of our country, and afford not only a sufficient
supply for home consumption, but also form an important item in the
schedule of Canadian exports."
In the same number of the _Loyalist_ we hear again of Capt. Richardson's
new steamboat, the _Canada_. We read of her first passage across from
York to Niagara, thus: "The new steamboat _Canada_, Capt. Richardson,
made her first trip to Niagara on Monday last, and went out of the
harbour in fine style. Her appearance reflects much credit on her
builder, Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the machinery, manufactured by Messrs.
Wards of Montreal, is a specimen of superior workmanship. The combined
excellence of the model and machinery of this boat is such," says the
_Loyalist_, "as will render her what is usually termed 'a fast boat.'
The trip to Niagara was performed in four hours and some minutes. Her
present route, we observe, is advertised from York to Niagara and the
Head of the Lake. In noticing this first trip of another steamboat,"
continues the _Loyalist_, "we cannot help contrasting the present means
of conveyance with those ten years ago. At that time only a few
schooners navigated the Lake, and the passage was attended with many
delays and much inconvenience. Now there are five steamboats, all
affording excellent accommodation, and the means of expeditious
travelling. The routes of each are so arranged that almost every day of
the week the traveller may find opportunities of being conveyed from one
extremity of the Lake to the other in a few hours. The _Niagara_ and
_Queenston_ from Prescott, and the _Frontenac_ from Kingston once a
week, and the _Canada_ and _Martha Ogden_ between York and Niagara and
the Head of the Lake every day, afford facilities of communication which
the most sanguine could scarcely have anticipated at the period we speak
of. Independent of these boats, it must be mentioned that the _Cornwall_
on Lake St. Louis makes a trip every day from Coteau du Lac to Cornwall;
the _Dalhousie_ runs between Prescott and Kingston twice a week and
conveys the mail; the _Charlotte_ and _Toronto_ once a week from
Prescott to the Head of the Bay of Quinte; thus affording to every part
of the country the same advantages of convenient intercourse. These are
some of the evidences of improvement among us during the last few years
which require no comment. They speak for themselves, and it must be
pretty evident from such facts as these, that those who cannot, or will
not, see the progress we are making, must be wilfully blind." (The
closing remark was of course for the benefit of contemporary editors at
York and elsewhere, who, from their political view of things, gave their
readers the impression that Canada was a doomed country, going rapidly
to perdition.)
From the _Loyalist_ of Aug. 19, 1826, we learn that "the steamboat
_Niagara_, on her trip from York to Kingston, had her machinery injured,
and has put back into Bath to repair." In the same number of the
_Loyalist_, we are told that the proprietor of the _Frontenac_ had
fractured his leg. "We regret to hear," the _Loyalist_ says, "that an
accident happened last week to John Hamilton, Esq., the proprietor of
the steamboat _Frontenac_. In stepping out of a carriage at the Falls,
he unfortunately broke his leg." In a _Loyalist_ of the following month
(Sept. 2, 1826), we hear again of Sir Peregrine Maitland's movements in
the _Frontenac_. The _Loyalist_ says: "His Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor and suite arrived in town (York) from Kingston
yesterday morning, on board the _Frontenac_, and after remaining a few
hours, proceeded to Stamford." The next _Loyalist_ (Sep. 9, 1826) speaks
of an expeditious trip made by Capt. Mosier's _Niagara_. "The Steamboat
_Niagara_, Capt. Mosier, made," it says, "her trip last week, from York
to Prescott, and back again, in something less than four days, touching
at the ports of Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville, going and returning,
independent of the usual delay at Prescott. The distance is nearly five
hundred miles."