One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for
ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the
most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which
will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable
situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's,
breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many
conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their
fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly
adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the
period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their
own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the
hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour
required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who
has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and
if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of
employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a
wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be
exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can
expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees
piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest
construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down.
Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter
is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great
for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the
influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons
causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter.
Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their
stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong
vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet
chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of
these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes
are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the
vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly
annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and
evening. Sleep is completely driven away when they make an attack, and
they produce the most uneasy sensation.
The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication
between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating
medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange,
difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of
agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which
ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and
sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the
ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels
and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops
materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the
formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the
Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive
sowings are sometimes necessary.
The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our
American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great
advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for
the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant
employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the
mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when
labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer
can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their
victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile,
and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and,
of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce
extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very
superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained
there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not
only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden
vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is
found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much
better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of
the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may
be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This
assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues
that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly
character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which
the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future
provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour
of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all
vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there
must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light
as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount
of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt,
brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own
tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered.
And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited
space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn,
good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant
in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages
counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former
with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They
must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must
make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess
land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange
for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess,
they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a
shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before
they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations
cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they
are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation
will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says
Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider,
before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and
integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of
his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain
means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave
scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and
whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to
suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing
with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the
spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of
his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or
three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been
unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the
forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which
require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all
these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be
disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have
entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would
often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before
them, in every part of America, examples of men who must have encountered
and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before
they attained a state of comfortable affluence."--_Quart. Journ. Agr._
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