CONTENTS—Father Picquet—Provision of Forts in Upper Canada just
before Conquest—Frontenac—Milk—Brandy—Toronto—The Several Forts—
Detroit—British Garrisons—Grasping Rebels—Efforts to Starve out
Loyalists in Canada—Worse Treated than the Acadians—Efforts to
Secure Fur Trade—The Frontier Forts—Americans Conduct to Indians—
Result—Conduct of British Government—Rations for Three Years—
Grinding by Hand—“Hominy Blocks”—“Plumping Mill”—The Women—Soldier
Farmers—The Hessians—Suffering—The “Scarce Year”—Charge against
the Commissariat Officers—Famine—Cry for Bread—Instances of
Suffering—Starving Children—No Salt—Fish—Game—Eating Young Grain—
Begging Bran—A Common Sorrow—Providential Escapes—Eating Buds and
Leaves—Deaths—Primitive Fishing—Catching Salmon—Going 125 miles to
mill—Disconsolate Families—1789—Partial Relief—First Beef
Slaughtered in Upper Canada—First Log Barn—A Bee, what they Ate
and Drank—Tea Introduced—Statements of Sheriff Sherwood—Roger
Bates—John Parrott—Col. Clark—Squirrelly Swimming Niagara—Maple
Sugar—How it was made—Women assisting—Made Dishes of Food—Pumpkin
Loaf—Extract from Rochefoucault—1795—Quality of Grain Raised—
Quinté Bay—Cultivation—Corn Exported—The Grain Dealers—Price of
Flour—Pork—Profits of the Merchants.
MODE OF PROCURING FOOD.
We have seen with what spirit and determination the loyalists engaged in
the duties pertaining to pioneer life; how they became domiciled in the
wilderness and adapted themselves to their new and trying situation.
Thus, was laid the foundation of the Province of Upper Canada, now
Ontario. Upon this foundation was to be erected the superstructure. Let
us proceed to examine the circumstances of the first years of Upper
Canadian life. And first with respect to _food_.
Father Picquet visited the Bay and Lake Ontario, from _La Présentation_—
Ogdensburgh, the year of the Conquest. He speaks of his visit to Fort
Frontenac, and remarks, “The bread and milk there, were bad; they had
not even brandy there to staunch a wound.” By which we learn that the
French garrison had a cow, although she gave indifferent milk; and that
even brandy for medicinal purposes could not be had. The missionary
proceeded to Fort Toronto which was situated upon Lake Simcoe, no doubt
ascending by the bay Quinté and Trent. Here he found “good bread and
good wine” and “everything requisite for trade” with the Indians. The
cession of Canada to the British by the French had been followed by a
withdrawal of troops from many of the forts, around which had clustered
a few hamlets, specks of civilization in a vast wilderness, and in most
places things had lapsed into their primal state. And, when rebellion
broke out in the Colonies of Britain, there were but a few posts whereat
were stationed any soldiers, or where clustered the white settlers.
There were a few French living at Detroit, and at Michilmicinac, and to
the north-east of Lake Huron. We have seen that during the war, refugees
found safety at the several military posts. The military rations were
served out to these loyal men in the same proportion as to the soldiers,
and when the war closed the garrisons continued to dispense the
necessaries of life to the settlers upon the north shores of the lake,
and St. Lawrence.
For ten years, after the terms of peace was signed between England and
the Independent States, the forts of Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, and
Michilmicinac, with the garrison on Carleton Island, remained in the
possession of the British troops. To this the grasping Americans warmly
took exceptions. Although it would have been next to impossible to
supply these places with provisions for troops of their own, they
nevertheless wished to dispossess the Royal troops; we learn that the
object was to starve out the refugees who had found shelter upon the
borders, and who would be depending for years to these forts, for the
very necessaries of life. In this, their cruelty exceeded that practised
towards the Acadians. Having driven away the loyalists and dispossessed
them at home, they would have followed them to their new wilderness
home, there to cut off their supplies and leave them to perish. They
wished to obtain possession of the forts not only to glut their vengeful
feeling against the tories, but to secure the traffic carried on with
the Indians. Dreams of aggrandizement floated through their avaricious
minds. It was regarded an excellent stroke of policy to turn the current
of the fur trade from the St. Lawrence, and starve out by degrees the
refugees, and the French who would have none of _their_ “Liberty.” Hence
their desire to get possession of the frontier forts. But it was
destined that this valuable traffic should never come into the hands of
the United States; or rather it should be said, the Americans had
determined to pursue a course which would completely alienate the Indian
tribes from them. Under such circumstances no possession of the forts
could have turned the trade from its natural channel by the St.
Lawrence, across the continent to New York.
The British Government never desired to stint the loyal refugees and the
disbanded soldiers. At the close of hostilities it was determined that
both alike, with their families, should receive while traveling, and for
a period of three years, such rations as are allowed daily to the
private soldier. And the Commissariat Department was instructed to make
the necessary provision to have transported to each township by batteau,
what should be requisite. Dépôts were established, in addition to the
different garrisons, in each township, to which some prominent and
trusted refugee of their number, generally a half pay officer, was
appointed as Commissary, and at which ample provisions of the specified
kind, as well as certain implements, it was ordered should be stored, to
be dealt out with regularity and fairness to each family, according to
the number of children. In some of the townships two batteaux were
provided to bring the provisions from Montreal. Besides the food thus
obtained, they were often enabled to freely supply themselves with game
of different kinds. The greatest trouble of all was to get the grain
supplied to them, ground into flour. According to Carroll and Croil, the
townships upon the St. Lawrence, were supplied with steel mills for
grinding grain; but no word of such indifferent convenience for the
settlers of the Bay, has by us been received; the settlers had to get
the grain crushed as best they could. Various modes were adopted to do
this; but in all cases the work was done by hand. Sometimes the grain
was crushed with an axe upon a flat stone. Many prepared a wooden
mortar, by cutting a block, of suitable length, about four feet, out of
the trunk of a large tree, oak or maple. Sometimes it was the stump of a
tree. In this a cavity was formed, generally by heating a piece of iron,
and placing it upon the end. In some quarters, a cannon ball from the
Garrison was used. By placing this, red hot, upon the wood, a hollow of
sufficient depth could be made. These mortars, sometimes called “Hominy
Blocks” and sometimes “Plumping Mill,” varied in size; sometimes holding
only a few quarts, sometimes a bushel, or even more. The pestle or
pounder, was made of the hardest wood, six or eight feet long, and eight
inches in diameter at the bottom end; the top sufficiently small to be
spanned by the hand. The pestle was sometimes called the stamper; and
the stump or block, with the pestle, was called the stump-mortar.
Generally, it was by the unaided hand that the grinding was done; but
after a time a sweep pole was arranged, similar to a well pole, and a
hard weighty substance being attached to the pole, much less strength
was required to crush the grain; at the same time a larger quantity
could be at once done. The work was generally done by two men. The grain
thus pounded was generally Indian Corn, and occasionally wild rice. To
crush wheat required much more labor, and a small mortar. The bran was
separated from the flour by a horse-hair sieve, one of which generally
served a whole community, as they were possessed only by a few. This
rude method continued for many years, especially in those townships
remote from the flouring mills. Frequently, an individual would possess
a large mortar, that would be used by a whole neighborhood. Mr. Diamond,
of Belleville, a native of Fredericksburg, remembers when a boy, to have
accompanied his father “to mill.” The mill was one of these larger
mortars which would contain a bushel of grain when being ground, but
which would hold, even measure, two bushels. The grain was crushed by a
sweep with a weight attached, of ten or twelve pounds.
But grinding grain in this rude manner, was very frequently done by the
women; and was but one of the difficulties attending the production of
meal. It was a hard task to prepare for use the corn supplied by
Government; but when that supply was cut off, and the settler had but
his own raising, it became much worse. Elsewhere we have seen the
difficult process by which seed was planted, and the fruit of the soil
reaped, and then thrashed. It had been thought by the Government that
three years would suffice to give the settler ample time to reap
sufficient grain for their sustenance. In most cases, industry and a
right application of labor, enabled the farmer to accomplish what was
expected of him. But the habits which some of the soldiers had acquired
during the war, were highly detrimental to regular industry. When the
three years’ supplies were discontinued, many found themselves
unprepared to meet the requirements of their new condition. It is said
that some of them entertained the belief that “Old George,” as they
familiarly called the King, would continue to feed them, for an
indefinite period of time, upon the bread of idleness. The Hessians, who
had settled in the fifth township, who had no idea of pioneer life, were
great sufferers, and it is stated that some actually died of starvation.
Again, there was a considerable class who had not had time to prepare
the land, and reap the fruit of the soil, prior to the supplies being
stopped; or who could not procure seed grain. These were likewise placed
in the most distressing circumstances. The fearful suffering experienced
in consequence will be mentioned under the head of the “Scarce Year.”
Notwithstanding, that Government supplied the settlers with provisions
for three years, and also with spring wheat, peas, corn, and potatoes
for seed, and took steps to furnish them, first with one mill at
Kingston, and then a second one at Napanee, at the expiration of the
three years, there were many unprepared. The mills were almost deserted,
and the hearts of the people were faint because there was no grain to
grind, and famine began to rest upon the struggling settlers, especially
along the Bay Quinté. It has already been said that with some of the
disbanded soldiers, there was some degree of negligence, or, a want of
due exertion to obtain home-raised grain before the Government supplies
were discontinued; also, that there was a certain number, who came with
their families two or three years after the first settlement, who were
not entitled to get Government rations, and who had not had time to
clear the land. Many of these brought provisions with them, but the long
distances traveled by them through a wilderness, allowed no large
quantity of stores to be transported. And within a few months, or a year
their store of food was exhausted. But the greatest evil of all it is
averred, was the failure on the part of the Commissary Department to
bring up from Lower Canada, the supplies which were required by those
yet in the service, and who rightly looked to that source for the bread
of life. And, it has been alleged that some who had charge of military
stores forgot this public duty, in their anxiety to secure abundant
supplies for their own families. And a spirit of cupidity has been laid
to the charge of one or two for retaining for private use the bread for
which so many were famishing. At this remote period it is impossible to
arrive at positive conclusions relative to the matter. We can only
examine the circumstances, and judge whether such a thing was likely. Of
course the Commissary officers, whose duty it had been to distribute
food in the several townships, would not be likely to disburse with a
hand so liberal, that they should themselves become destitute; yet the
fact that such had food, while others had none, would naturally create
an erroneous impression. But the famine was not limited to the Bay
region; although, being remote from Montreal, it was here the distress
was most grievously felt. Throughout Lower Canada the pinch of famine
was keenly experienced. Even there, in places, corn-meal was meted out
by the spoonful, wheat flour was unknown, while millet seed was ground
for a substitute. Still more, the opinion is given, that the accusation
against certain parties is contrary to the spirit which pervaded the
refugee settlers at that time. That they had laid up stores, and looked
indifferently upon the general suffering, is contrary to the known
character of the parties accused. In after days, as at the present time,
there were aroused petty jealousies, as one individual exceeded another
in prosperity. Family jars sometimes rise to feuds, and false surmises
grow into untruthful legends.
The period of famine is even yet remembered by a few, whose memory
reaches back to the immediately succeeding years, and the descendants of
the sufferers, speak of that time with peculiar feelings, imbibed from
their parents; and many are the touching stories even yet related of
this sad first page in the history of Upper Canada, when from Lower
Canada to the outskirts of the settlement was heard the cry for _bread!
bread! bread!_
The year of the famine is spoken of sometimes as the “scarce year,”
sometimes as the “hungry year,” or the “hard summer.” The extreme
distress seems to have commenced in the year 1787. With some, it lasted
a part of a year, with others a year, and with others upwards of a year.
The height of the distress was during the spring and early summer of
1788. But plenty to all, did not come till the summer of 1789. The
writer has in his possession accounts of many instances of extreme
suffering, during the famine, and for years after, through the ten
townships. A few will here be given, as briefly as may be possible.
One, who settled in the Sixth Township, (who was subsequently a Member
of Parliament for twenty years,) with wife and children, endured great
suffering. Their flour being exhausted he sent money to Quebec for some
more flour, but his money was sent back; there was none to be had. The
wife tried as an experiment to make bread out of some wheat bran, which
was bought at a dollar a bushel. She failed to make bread, but it was
eaten as a stir-about. Upon this, with Indian Cabbage, or “Cale,” “a
plant with a large leaf,” also wild potatoes or ground-nuts, the family
lived for many a week. In the spring they procured some potatoes to
plant, but the potatoe eye alone was planted, the other portion being
reserved for food. One of the daughters, in her extreme hunger digged up
for days, some of the potatoe rind and ate it. One day, her father
caught her at it, and seized hold of her arm to punish her, for
forgetting the requirements of the future, but he found her arms so
emaciated that his heart melted in pity for the starving child. Others
used to eat a plant called butternut, and another pig-weed. Children
would steal out at night with stolen potatoes, and roast them at the
burning log heap, and consider them a great treat. One individual has
left the record that she used to allay the pangs of hunger by eating a
little salt. But the majority of the settlers had no salt, and game and
fish, when it could be caught, was eaten without that condiment. Even at
a later date, salt was a scarce and dear article as the following will
show: “Sydney, 20th November, 1792—Received from Mr. John Ferguson, one
barrel of salt, for which I am to pay nine dollars.” (Signed), John
German. Often when fish or game was caught, it was forthwith roasted,
without waiting to go home to have it dressed. As spring advanced, and
the buds of the trees began to swell, they were gathered and eaten.
Roots were digged out of the ground; the bark of certain trees were
stripped off and consumed as food. One family lived for a fortnight on
beech leaves. Everything that was supposed to be capable of alleviating
the pangs of hunger, whether it yielded nutriment or not, was
unhesitatingly used; and in the fifth township some were killed by
eating poisonous roots. Beef bones were, in one neighbourhood, not only
boiled again and again, but actually carried from house to house, to
give a little taste to boiled bran, until there remained no taste in the
boiling water. In the fourth township, upon the sunny side of a hill,
was an early field of grain, and to this they came, from far and near,
to eat the milk-like heads of grain, so soon as they had sufficiently
grown, which were boiled and eaten. The daughter of the man who owned
the field, and gladly gave to all, still remains with us; then, she was
in the freshness of girlhood; now, she is in the autumn of a green old
age, nearly a hundred. She remembers to have seen them cutting the young
succulent grain, to use her own words “as thick as stumps.” This young
grain was a common dish, all along the Bay, until it became ripe. One
family lived several months solely on boiled oats. One day, a man came
to the door of a house in Adolphustown, with a bag, and a piece of
“calamink,” to exchange for flour. But the flour was low, and the future
doubtful, and none could be spared. The man turned away with tears of
anguish rolling down his face. The kind woman gave him a few pounds of
flour; he begged to be allowed to add some bran lying on the floor,
which was permitted, and he went his way.
There were, scattered through the settlements, a few who never were
entirely out of provisions, but who had procured some from Lower Canada,
or Oswego. Many of these, even at the risk of future want, would give
away, day after day, to those who came to their door, often a long
distance, seeking for the very bread of life. A piece of bread was often
the only thing to give; but thus, many a life was saved. These poor
unfortunates, would offer various articles in exchange for flour or
food. Even their lands—all they had, were offered for a few pounds of
flour. But, with a few execrable exceptions, the last loaf was divided;
and when flour was sold, it was at a fair valuation. A common sorrow
knit them together in fraternal relationship. The names of some are
handed down, who employed others to work all day for their board, and
would give nothing for their famishing ones at home. One of them also,
sold eight bushels of potatoes for a valuable cow. In some instances,
families living remotely, forsook their houses and sought for food at
Kingston. One family in Thurlow, set out for Kingston, following the bay
shore on foot. Their only food was bran, which, being mixed with water,
was cooked by the way, by heating flat stones and baking thereupon. As
before stated, the settlers of the fifth township suffered fearfully,
and it is stated, that some of them actually died. Mr. Parrott says,
that he has heard it stated that persons starved to death. And the
extraordinary statement is found in the M.S. of the late Mr. Merritt,
that one old couple, too old to help themselves, and left alone, were
preserved providentially from starvation, by pigeons, which would
occasionally come and allow themselves to be caught. The fact is stated
by others, that pigeons were at times, during the first years of
settling, very plentiful, and were always exceedingly tame. Another
person remarks, that although there was generally plenty of pigeons,
wild fowl, fish and partridge, yet, they seemed to keep away when most
wanted.
One family, four in number, subsisted on the small quantity of milk
given by a young cow, with leeks, buds of trees, and often leaves were
added to the milk. A barrel of bran served a good purpose for baking a
kind of cake, which made a change on special occasions. At one time,
Reed, of Thurlow, offered a three year old horse for 50 lbs of flour.
This family would, at one time actually have starved to death, had not a
deer been miraculously shot. They often carried grain, a little, it is
true, to the Napanee mills, following the river, and bay shores. And
when they had no grain, articles of domestic use were taken to exchange
for flour and meal. A woman used to carry a bushel and a half of wheat
ten miles to the Napanee mills, and then carry the flour back.
Ex-Sheriff Ruttan says of his father’s family, with whom his uncle
lived, “We had the luxury of a cow which the family brought with them,
and had it not been for this domestic boon, all would have perished in
the year of scarcity. The crops had failed the year before, and the
winter that followed, was most inclement and severe. The snow was
unusually deep, so that the deer became an easy prey to their rapacious
enemies, the wolves, who fattened on their destruction, whilst men were
perishing for want. Five individuals, in different places, were found
dead, and one poor woman also, with a live infant at her breast; which
was cared for and protected.” “Two negroes were sent to Albany for corn,
who brought four bushels. This, with the milk of the cow dealt out day
by day in limited quantity, kept them alive till harvest.” “The
soldiers’ rations were reduced to one biscuit a day.” Referring to other
days after the famine he says: “Fish was plentiful”—the “fishing tackle
was on a primitive plan; something similar to the Indians, who fixed the
bait on part of the back bone of the pike, which would catch these finny
tribe quite as expeditiously as the best Limerick hook; but our supply
was from spearing by torchlight, which has been practiced by the Indian
from time immemorial; from whom we obtained a vast deal of practical
knowledge.”
Roger Bates, near Cobourg, speaking of the first years of Upper Canada,
says that his grandfather’s family, living in Prince Edward for a while,
“adopted many ingenious contrivances of the Indians for procuring food.
Not the least simple and handy was a crotched pole, with which they
secured salmon in any quantity, the creeks being full of them.” He
removed to the township of Clarke, where he was the first white settler,
and for six months saw no white person. “For a long time he had to go to
Kingston, 125 miles, with his wheat to be ground. They had no other
conveyance than batteaux; the journey would sometimes occupy five or six
weeks. Of an evening they put in at some creek, and obtained their
salmon with ease, using a forked stick, which passed over the fish’s
back and held it fast. Sometimes they were so long gone for grist, in
consequence of bad weather, that the women would collect together and
have a good cry, thinking the batteaux had foundered. If their food ran
short, they had a dog that would, when told, hunt a deer and drive it
into the water, so that the young boys could shoot it.”
The summer of 1789 brought relief to most of the settlers,—the heaviest
of the weight of woe was removed. But, for nearly a decade, they enjoyed
but few comforts, and were often without the necessaries of life. The
days of the toiling pioneers were numbering up rapidly, yet the wants of
all were not relieved. Those whose industry had enabled them to sow a
quantity of grain reaped a goodly reward. The soil was very fruitful,
and subsequently for two and three years, repeated crops were raised
from a single sowing. But flour alone, although necessary to sustain
life, could hardly satisfy the cravings of hunger with those who had
been accustomed to a different mode of living. It was a long way to
Montreal or Albany, from which to transport by hand, everything
required, even when it could be had, and the settler had something to
exchange for such articles; beside the journey of several weeks. Game,
occasionally to be had, was not available at all seasons, nor at all
times; although running wild, ammunition was scarce, and some had none.
We have stated that Government gave to every five families a musket and
forty-eight rounds of ammunition, with some powder and shot, also some
twine to make fishing nets. Beef, mutton, &c., were unknown for many a
day. Strangely enough, a circumstantial account of the first beef
slaughtered along the Bay, probably in Upper Canada, is supplied by one
who, now in her 90th year, bears a distinct recollection of the event.
It was at Adolphustown. A few settlers had imported oxen, to use in
clearing the land. One of a yoke, was killed by the falling of a tree.
The remaining animal, now useless, was purchased by a farmer upon the
Front, who converted it into beef. With the hospitality characteristic
of the times, the neighbors were invited to a grand entertainment; and
the neighborhood, be it remembered, extended for thirty or forty miles.
A treat it was, this taste of an article of diet, long unknown.
The same person tells of the occasion when the first log barn was raised
in Adolphustown, it was during the scarce period. The “bee” which was
called, had to be entertained, in some way. But there were no
provisions. The old lady, then a girl, saw her mother for weeks previous
carefully putting away the eggs, which a few hens had contributed to
their comfort; upon the morning of the barn raising, they were brought
forth and found to amount to a pailful, well heaped. The most of the
better-to-do settlers always had rum, which was a far different article
from that sold now-a-days. With rum and eggs well beaten, and mixed with
all the milk that could be kept sweet from the last few milkings, this,
which was both food and drink was distributed to the members of the bee,
during the time of raising the barn.
Tea, now considered an indispensable luxury by every family, was quite
beyond the reach of all, for a long time; because of its scarcity and
high price. Persons are yet living who remember when tea was first
brought into family use. Various substitutes for tea were used, among
these were hemlock and sassafras; there was also a plant gathered called
by them the tea plant.
Sheriff Sherwood, in his most valuable memoirs, specially prepared for
the writer, remarks, “Many incidents and occurrences took place during
the early settlement which would, perhaps, at a future day be thought
incredible. I recollect seeing pigeons flying in such numbers that they
almost darkened the sky, and so low often as to be knocked down with
poles; I saw, where a near neighbor killed thirty at one shot; I almost
saw the shot, and saw the pigeons after they were shot.” Ducks were so
thick that when rising from a marsh “they made a noise like the roar of
heavy thunder.” “While many difficulties were encountered, yet we
realized many advantages, we were always supplied with venison,
partridge, and pigeon, and fish in abundance, no taxes to pay and plenty
of wood at our doors. Although deprived of many kinds of fruit, we had
the natural production of the country, strawberries, raspberries,
gooseberries, blackberries, and lots of red plums, and cranberries in
the various marshes all about the country, and I can assure you that
pumpkin and cranberries make an excellent substitute for apple pie.” Mr.
Sherwood refers to their dog “Tipler,” which was invaluable, in various
ways, in assisting to procure the food. He also speaks of “Providential”
assistance. “After the first year we raised wheat and Indian corn
sufficient for the year’s supply for the family; but then we had no
grist mill to grind it; we made out to get on with the Indian corn very
well by pounding it in the mortar, and made what we called samp, which
made coarse bread, and what the Dutch called sup-pawn; but let me tell
you how we made our mortar. We cut a log off a large tree, say two-and-a
half feet through and about six feet long, which we planted firm in the
ground, about four feet deep, then carefully burnt the centre of the top
and scraped it out clean, which gave us a large mortar. We generally
selected an iron-wood tree, from six to eight inches through, took the
bark off clean, made the handle to it of suitable length, this was our
pestle; and many a time have I pounded with it till the sweat ran down
merrily. But this pounding would not do for the wheat, and the
Government seeing the difficulty, built a mill back of Kingston, where
the inhabitants, for fifteen miles below Brockville had to get their
grinding done. In our neighborhood they got on very well in summer, by
joining two wooden canoes together. Three persons would unite, to carry
each a grist in their canoes, and would perform the journey in about a
week. But in winter this could not be done. After a few years, however,
when some had obtained horses, then a kind Providence furnished a road
on the ice for some years until a road was made passable for sleighs by
land. And it has not been practicable, indeed I may say possible, for
horses with loaded sleighs to go on the ice from Brockville to Kingston,
fifty years past.”
Roger Bates says that “the woods were filled with deer, bears, wolves,
martins, squirrels, and rabbits.” No doubt, at first, before fire-arms
were feared by them, they were plentiful and very tame. Even wild geese,
it would seem, were often easily shot. But powder and shot were
expensive, and unless good execution could be made, the charge was
reserved. Mr. Sherwood gives a trustworthy account of the shooting of
thirty pigeons at one shot; and another account is furnished, of Jacob
Parliament, of Sophiasburgh, who killed and wounded at a single shot,
four wild geese and five ducks. These wild fowl not only afforded
luxurious and nutritious diet, but their feathers were saved, and in
time pillows and even beds were thus made. Mr. John Parrott, of Ernest
Town, descendant of Col. Jas. Parrott, says, “there were bears, wolves,
and deer in great abundance, and there were lynx, wild cats, beavers and
foxes in every directions; also martins, minks and weasels beyond
calculation.” In this connection, we may record a fact related by Col.
Clark, respecting the migration of squirrels in the early part of the
present century across the Niagara river, from the States. He says, “an
immense immigration of squirrels took place, and so numerous were they
that the people stood with sticks to destroy them, as they landed on the
British shore, which by many was considered a breach of good faith on
the part of John Bull, who is always ready to grant an asylum to
fugitives of whatever nation they may belong to.”
MAPLE SUGAR.
“Soon the blue-birds and the bees
O’er the stubble will be winging;
So ‘tis time to tap the trees
And to set the axe a-ringing;
Time to set the hut to rights,
Where the girls and boys together
Tend the furnace fire o’nights
In the rough and rainy weather;
Time to hew and shape the trough,
And to punch the spile so hollow.
For the snow is thawing off
And the sugar-thaw must follow.
Oh, the gladdest time of year
Is the merry sugar-making,
When the swallows first appear
And the sleepy buds are waking!”
In the great wilderness were to be had, a few comforts and luxuries.
Sugar is not only a luxury, but is really a necessary article of food.
The properties of the sap of the maple was understood by the Indians,
and the French soon availed themselves of the means of making sugar. To
the present day, the French Canadians make it in considerable
quantities. At first, the settlers of Upper Canada did not generally
engage in making it; but, after a time a larger number did. The maple,
the monarch of the Canadian forest, whose leaf is the emblem of our
country, was a kind benefactor. In the spring, in the first days of
genial sunshine, active operations for sugar making were commenced.
Through the deep snow, the farmer and his sons would trudge, from tree
to tree, to tap them upon their sunny side. The “spile” would be
inserted to conduct the precious fluid into the trough of bass-wood,
which had been fashioned during the long winter evenings. A boiling
place would be arranged, with a long pole for a crane, upon which would
be strung the largest kettles that could be procured. At night, the sap
would be gathered from the troughs, a toilsome job, and put into
barrels. In the morning a curling smoke would rise from amidst the thick
woods, and the dry wood would crackle cheerily under the row of kettles,
all the sunny spring day; and night would show a rich dark syrup,
collected in one smaller kettle, for the more careful work of being
converted into sugar. Frequently the fire would be attended by the
women; and the men would come to gather the sap in the evening. In this
way many a family would be provided with abundant sugar, at all events
it had to serve them for the year, as they felt unable to purchase from
the merchant. In another place, we have related how a few made a
considerable quantity of sugar and sold it all, to pay for a farm, doing
without themselves.
The absence of various articles of food, led the thoughtful housewife to
invent new made dishes. The nature of these would depend in part upon
the articles of food most abundant, and upon the habits peculiar to
their ancestry, whether English, Dutch or some other. The great desire
was, to make a common article as tasty as possible. And at harvest time,
as well as at bees, the faithful wife would endeavour to prepare
something extra to regale the tired ones. There was, for instance, the
“pumpkin loaf,” a common dish. It consisted of pumpkin and corn meal
made into a small loaf, and eaten with butter. Another dish which seems
to have been derived from the Dutch, was Pot Pie, which was always, and
is even yet in many places, made to feed the hands at bees and raisings,
and even was generally made to grace the board on a wedding occasion. We
cannot give the space, if we felt prepared to speak, of the several made
dishes commonly in use among the older Canadians of Upper Canada. Many
of them are truly excellent in taste and nutritious in quality. They are
often similar to, or very like the dishes in the New England and Midland
States.
This subject will be concluded by giving a few extracts from
Rochefoucault who wrote of what he saw and learned in Canada in 1795,
and who may be regarded as quite correct.
He says, “It is asserted” (by Simcoe) “that all Canada, produces not the
necessary corn for the consumption of its inhabitants, the troops are
supplied with flour from London, and with salt meat from Ireland.” But
Simcoe then thought that Canada was capable not alone of feeding her
inhabitants, but of becoming the granary of England, and receiving
commodities in Exchange. Speaking of Forty Mile Creek, he says: “Before
it empties itself into the lake, it turns a grist mill and two saw
mills, which belong to a Mr. Green, a loyalist of Jersey, who, six or
seven years ago, settled in this part of Upper Canada.” “Land newly
cleared yields here, the first year, twenty bushels of corn. They plough
the land after it has produced three or four crops, but not very deep.
The price of flour is twenty-two shillings per hundred weight, that of
wheat from seven to eight shillings per bushel. Laborers are scarce, and
are paid at the rate of six shillings a day. Wheat is generally sown
throughout all Upper Canada, but other sorts of grain are also
cultivated.” “Mr Green grinds the corn for all the military posts in
Upper Canada.”
Approaching Kingston by water he remarks that “on the left is Quinté
Bay, the banks of which are said to be cultivated up to a considerable
extent. The eye dwells with pleasure once more on cultivated ground. The
country looks pleasant. The houses lie closer than in any of the new
settled parts of Upper Canada which we have hitherto traversed. The
variegated verdure of the cornfields embellishes and enriches the
prospect, charms the eye, and enchants the mind.”
“This district not only produces the corn requisite for its own
consumption, but also exports yearly about 3 or 4000 bushels. This
grain, which, in winter, is conveyed down the river on sledges, is
bought by the merchants, who engage, on the arrival of the ships from
Europe, to pay its amount in such merchandise as the sellers may
require. The merchants buy this grain for government, which pays for it
in ready money, according to the market price at Montreal. The agent of
government causes part to be ground into flour, which he sends to the
different ports in Upper Canada, where it is wanted; and the surplus he
sends to England. The price of flour in Kingston is at present (12th
July, 1795) six dollars per barrel. The district of Kingston supplied,
last year, the other parts of Canada with large quantities of pease, the
culture of which, introduced but two years ago, proves very productive
and successful. In the course of last year, 1000 barrels of salt pork,
of 208 pounds each, were sent from Kingston to Quebec; its price was
eighteen dollars per barrel. The whole trade is carried on by merchants,
whose profits are the more considerable, as they fix the price of the
provisions which they receive from Europe, and sell without the least
competition.” Indeed, the profits of the dealers must have been immense.
They sold to the military authorities at a rate which would remunerate
them when the provisions came from England; and when the farmers of
Canada began to raise grain to sell, they bought it, or exchanged
merchandise for it, upon which they fixed the price, and continued to
sell the flour at the same price to the military authorities.