THE WHIRLWIND.
The 19th of April came, and our little harvest was all safely housed.
Business called Moodie away for a few days to Cobourg; Jenny had gone to
Dummer, to visit her friends, and J. E---- had taken a grist of the new
wheat, which he and Moodie had threshed the day before, to the mill. I
was consequently left alone with the children, and had a doable portion
of work to do. During their absence it was my lot to witness the most
awful storm I ever beheld, and a vivid recollection of its terrors was
permanently fixed upon my memory.
The weather had been intensely hot during the three preceding days,
although the sun was entirely obscured by a blueish haze, which seemed
to render the unusual heat of the atmosphere more oppressive. Not
a breath of air stirred the vast forest, and the waters of the lake
assumed a leaden hue. After passing a sleepless night, I arose, a little
after daybreak, to superintend my domestic affairs. E---- took his
breakfast, and went off to the mill, hoping that the rain would keep off
until after his return.
“It is no joke,” he said, “being upon these lakes in a small canoe,
heavily laden, in a storm.”
Before the sun rose, the heavens were covered with hard-looking clouds,
of a deep blue and black cast, fading away to white at their edges, and
in form resembling the long, rolling waves of a heavy sea--but with this
difference, that the clouds were perfectly motionless, piled in long
curved lines, one above the other, and so remained until four o'clock in
the afternoon. The appearance of these clouds, as the sun rose above the
horizon, was the most splendid that can be imagined, tinged up to the
zenith with every shade of saffron, gold, rose-colour, scarlet, and
crimson, fading away into the deepest violet. Never did the storm-fiend
shake in the face of day a more gorgeous banner; and, pressed as I
was for time, I stood gazing like one entranced upon the magnificent
pageant.
As the day advanced, the same blue haze obscured the sun, which frowned
redly through his misty veil. At ten o'clock the heat was suffocating,
and I extinguished the fire in the cooking-stove, determined to make our
meals upon bread and milk, rather than add to the oppressive heat. The
thermometer in the shade ranged from ninety-six to ninety-eight degrees,
and I gave over my work and retired with the little ones to the coolest
part of the house. The young creatures stretched themselves upon the
floor, unable to jump about or play; the dog lay panting in the shade;
the fowls half buried themselves in the dust, with open beaks and
outstretched wings. All nature seemed to droop beneath the scorching
heat.
Unfortunately for me, a gentleman arrived about one o'clock from
Kingston, to transact some business with my husband. He had not tasted
food since six o'clock, and I was obliged to kindle the fire to prepare
his dinner. It was one of the hardest tasks I ever performed; I almost
fainted with the heat, and most inhospitably rejoiced when his dinner
was over, and I saw him depart. Shortly afterwards, my friend Mrs. C----
and her brother called in, on their way from Peterborough.
“How do you bear the heat?” asked Mrs. C----. “This is one of the
hottest days I ever remember to have experienced in this part of the
province. I am afraid that it will end in a hurricane, or what the Lower
Canadians term 'L'Orage.'”
About four o'clock they rose to go. I urged them to stay onger. “No,”
said Mrs. C----, “the sooner we get home the better. I think we can
reach it before the storm breaks.”
I took Donald in my arms, and my eldest boy by the hand, and walked with
them to the brow of the hill, thinking that the air would be cooler in
the shade. In this I was mistaken. The clouds over our heads hung so
low, and the heat was so great, that I was soon glad to retrace my
steps.
The moment I turned round to face the lake, I was surprised at the
change that had taken place in the appearance of the heavens. The
clouds, that had before lain so motionless, were now in rapid motion,
hurrying and chasing each other round the horizon. It was a strangely
awful sight. Before I felt a breath of the mighty blast that had already
burst on the other side of the lake, branches of trees, leaves, and
clouds of dust were whirled across the lake, whose waters rose in long
sharp furrows, fringed with foam, as if moved in their depths by some
unseen but powerful agent.
Panting with terror, I just reached the door of the house as the
hurricane swept up the hill, crushing and overturning every thing in
its course. Spell-bound, I stood at the open door, with clasped hands,
unable to speak, rendered dumb and motionless by the terrible grandeur
of the scene; while little Donald, who could not utter many intelligible
words, crept to my feet, appealing to me for protection, while his rosy
cheeks paled even to marble whiteness. The hurrying clouds gave to the
heavens the appearance of a pointed dome, round which the lightning
played in broad ribbons of fire. The roaring of the thunder, the rushing
of the blast, the impetuous down-pouring of the rain, and the crash
of falling trees, were perfectly deafening; and in the midst of this
up-roar of the elements, old Jenny burst in, drenched with wet and half
dead with fear.
“The Lord preserve us!” she cried, “this surely is the day of judgment.
Fifty trees fell across my very path, between this an' the creek. Mrs.
C---- just reached her brother's clearing a few minutes before a great
oak fell on her very path. What thunther!--what lightning! Misthress,
dear!--it's turn'd so dark, I can only jist see yer face.”
Glad enough was I of her presence; for to be alone in the heart of
the great forest, in a log hut, on such a night, was not a pleasing
prospect. People gain courage by companionship, and in order to reassure
each other, struggle to conceal their fears.
“And where is Mr. E----?”
“I hope not on the lake. He went early this morning to get the wheat
ground at the mill.”
“Och, the crathur! He's surely drowned. What boat could stan' such a
scrimmage as this?”
I had my fears for poor John; but as the chance that he had to wait
at the mill till others were served was more than probable, I tried to
still my apprehensions for his safety. The storm soon passed over, after
having levelled several acres of wood near the house, and smitten down
in its progress two gigantic pines in the clearing, which must have
withstood the force of a thousand winters. Talking over the effects of
this whirlwind with my brother, he kindly sent me the following very
graphic description of a whirlwind which passed through the town of
Guelph in the summer of 1829.
[Footnote: Written by Mr Strickland, of Douro.] “In my hunting
excursions and rambles through the Upper Canadian forests, I had
frequently met with extensive wind-falls; and observed with some
surprise that the fallen trees lay strewn in a succession of circles,
and evidently appeared to have been twisted off the stumps. I also
remarked that these wind-falls were generally narrow, and had the
appearance of a road slashed through the forest. From observations made
at the time, and since confirmed, I have no doubt that Colonel Reid's
theory of storms's a correct one, viz., that all wind-storms move in a
circular direction, and the nearer the centre the more violent the force
of the wind. Having seen the effects of several similar hurricanes
since my residence in Canada West, I shall proceed to describe one which
happened in the township of Guelph during the early part of the summer
of 1829.
“The weather, for the season of the year (May), had been hot and sultry,
with scarcely a breath of wind stirring. I had heard distant thunder
from an early hour in the morning, which, from the eastward, is rather
an unusual occurrence. About 10 A. M., the sky had a most singular, and
I must add a most awful appearance, presenting to the view a vast arch
of rolling blackness, which seemed to gather strength and density as
it approached the zenith. All at once the clouds began to work round in
circles, as if chasing one another through the air. Suddenly the dark
arch of clouds appeared to break up into detached masses, whirling and
mixing through each other in dreadful commotion. The forked lightning
was incessant, accompanied by heavy thunder. In a short time, the clouds
seemed to converge to a point, which approached very near the earth,
still whirling with great rapidity directly under this point; and
apparently from the midst of the woods arose a black column, in the
shape of a cone, which instantly joined itself to the depending cloud.
The sight was now grand and awful in the extreme. Picture, to your
imagination a vast column of smoke, of inky blackness, reaching from
earth to heaven, gyrating with fearful velocity--bright lightnings
issuing from the vortex; the roar of the thunder--the rushing of the
blast--the crash of timber--the limbs of trees, leaves, and rubbish,
mingled with clouds of dust, whirling through the air;--you then have a
faint idea of the scene.
“I had ample time for observation, as the hurricane commenced its
devastating course about two miles from the town, through the centre of
which it took its way, passing within fifty yards of where a number
of persons, myself among the rest, were standing, watching its fearful
progress.
“As the tornado approached, the trees seemed to fall like a pack
of cards before its irresistible current. After passing through the
clearing made around the village, the force of the wind gradually
abated, and in a few minutes died away entirely.
“As soon as the storm was over, I went to see the damage it had done.
From the point where I first observed the black column to rise from the
woods and join the clouds, the trees were twisted in every direction.
A belt of timber had been levelled to the ground, about two miles in
length and about one hundred yards in breadth. At the entrance of the
town it crossed the river Speed, and uprooted about six acres of wood,
which had been thinned out, and left by Mr. Gait (late superintendent of
the Canada Company), as an ornament to his house.
“The Eremosa road was completely blocked up for nearly half-a-mile, in
the wildest confusion possible. In its progress through the town the
storm unroofed several houses, levelled many fences to the ground, and
entirely demolished a frame barn. Windows were dashed in; and, in one
instance, the floor of a log house was carried through the roof. Some
hairbreadth escapes occurred; but, luckily, no lives were lost.
“About twelve years since a similar storm occurred in the north part
of the township of Douro, but was of much less magnitude. I heard an
intelligent settler, who resided some years in the township of Madoc,
state that, during his residence in that township, a similar hurricane
to the one I have described, though of a much more awful character,
passed through a part of Marmora and Madoc, and had been traced, in a
north-easterly direction, upwards of forty miles into the unsurveyed
lands; the uniform width of which appeared to be three quarters of a
mile.
“It is very evident, from the traces which they have left behind them,
that storms of this description have not been unfrequent in the
wooded districts of Canada; and it becomes a matter of interesting
consideration whether the clearing of our immense forests will not, in a
great measure, remove the cause of these phenomena.”
A few minutes after our household had retired to rest, my first sleep
was broken by the voice of J. E----, speaking to old Jenny in the
kitchen. He had been overtaken by the storm but had run his canoe ashore
upon an island before its full fury burst, and turned it over the flour;
while he had to brave the terrors of a pitiless tempest--buffeted by the
wind, and drenched with torrents of rain. I got up and made him a cup of
tea, while Jenny prepared a rasher of bacon and eggs for his supper.
Shortly after this, J. E---- bade a final adieu to Canada, with his
cousin C. W----. He volunteered into the Scotch Greys, and we never saw
him more; but I have been told that he was so highly respected by the
officers of the regiment that they subscribed for his commission; that
he rose to the rank of lieutenant; accompanied the regiment to India,
and was at the taking of Cabul; but from himself we never heard again.
The 16th of October, my third son was born; and a few days after, my
husband was appointed paymaster to the militia regiments in the V.
District, with the rank and full pay of captain. This was Sir George
Arthur's doing. He returned no answer to my application, but he did not
forget us. As the time that Moodie might retain this situation was very
doubtful, he thought it advisable not to remove me and the family until
he could secure some permanent situation; by so doing, he would have a
better opportunity of saving the greater part of his income to pay off
his old debts.
This winter of 1839 was one of severe trial to me. Hitherto I had
enjoyed the blessing of health; but both the children and myself were
now doomed to suffer from dangerous attacks of illness. All the little
things had malignant scarlet fever, and for several days I thought it
would please the Almighty to take from me my two girls. This fever is
so fatal to children in Canada that none of my neighbours dared approach
the house. For three weeks Jenny and I were never undressed; our whole
time was taken up in nursing the five little helpless creatures through
the successive stages of their alarming disease. I sent for Dr. Taylor;
but he did not come, and I was obliged to trust to the mercy of God,
and my own judgment and good nursing. Though I escaped the fever, mental
anxiety and fatigue brought on other illness, which for nearly ten weeks
rendered me perfectly helpless. When I was again able to creep from
my sick bed, the baby was seized with an illness, which Dr. B----
pronounced mortal. Against all hope, he recovered, but these severe
mental trials rendered me weak and nervous, and more anxious than ever
to be re-united to my husband. To add to these troubles, my sister and
her husband sold their farm, and removed from our neighbourhood. Mr.
---- had returned to England, and had obtained a situation in the
Customs; and his wife, my friend Emilia, was keeping a school in the
village; so that I felt more solitary than ever, thus deprived of so
many kind, sympathizing friends.