I procured the stout charger whose quality of endurance I had well
tested on a former occasion. True to our time, we took the road, such as
it was, and, after an hour's hard riding, reached the river at the point
where several fine mills and a fishery bring constant grist to the
worthy monks of St. Sulpice, who are here the lords paramount of soil
and stream.
The fishermen appeared divided into two watches or squads, one of which
was actively casting for the shad, the other more pleasantly employed in
cooking them.
We took our stand upon a green point elevated a few feet above the river
it projected into; in front ran the Sault, or leap, raging like the
ocean when lashed by a gale, and churning amongst reefs of rock.
Opposite to us, at a distance of some half mile, stood a couple of very
spacious stone-built mills, their lofty substantial walls pierced by
numerous narrow windows, and surmounted by steep red roofs, high over
which waved a grove of noble trees: this was _l'ile Jesu_, and the stand
whence we surveyed this scene the Isle of Montreal.
Whichever way we cast our eyes, up or down the stream, its course was
vexed and its mood chafed more or less; but before, and close upon our
right, was the wildest turmoil; and over an eddy of this, from off
temporary platforms of planks, the fishermen flung down the stream their
round landing-nets, as far as the eighteen-foot pole to which these were
affixed would permit, then painfully dragged them back against the
current, sometimes laden with fine shad, but oftener coming home empty,
to be again leisurely cast back.
The sameness of this movement, the softness of the turf, and the
difficulty attending conversation, had gradually lulled our little party
into a pleasant reverie; when, on a sudden, we were startled by faint
cheers borne on the downward breeze: we all sprang upon our feet in an
instant, and, looking upwards, caught sight of a monstrous bed of
timber bounding towards the Sault.
This was the very chance we had desired and were waiting for, and
intensely was my sight directed towards it. On the very centre of the
raft a tall pole was elevated, surmounted by a fanciful flag; at its
foot the Pilot, or _Conducteur_, was stationed, motioning the course
suggested by his glance at the state of the fall, towards which the mass
was hurried with a rapidity each instant seemed to accelerate; and, in
obedience to his directions, the active _rameurs_ were seen tugging at
the oars, and straining each sinew to the uttermost.
Involuntarily we approached the very edge of our stand, to watch as
closely as possible the first plunge of that great raft down into the
boiling breakers, from whose abyss a crew of Titans could not now have
turned it. Quickly it neared the awful leap; at a signal from the
watchful pilot, the foremost half of the crew abandoned their useless
oars; and, running nimbly along the timber, rallied in a group about
their standard, waving their caps, and braving the wild roar of the
water with as wild a cheer. Suddenly the fluttering pennon drooped
against the mast, then rose erect above it; the loud hurrah was lost,
and headlong down they sank.
The heavy mass, loosely bound together, now writhed and bent about like
a net of twine cast upon an angry brook, whilst the concussion produced
by the clashing timbers sounded like a discharge from a battery. I drew
short breath as I looked upon the men emerging from the foam, and again
actively running to quarters to resume the heavy oars.
If the raft goes down unbroken, they guide it so as to preserve the very
strength of the stream, until the diminished pace again demands their
labour; but if any timbers are severed from the parent bed by the leap,
as is frequently the case, the sternmost gang leisurely dart their
pile-headed poles of an almost unwieldy length into the stray logs, and
thus drawing them quickly back again, secure them in their places
preparatory to the next fall lying on their perilous path.
I felt monstrously excited when, roused by the cry of the near
_voyageurs_, I rose for the first time to witness a scene to which I
feel my pen can do but little justice; from the first glance at the
timber-ends emerging past a leafy turn in the up-stream, and bounding
onward with a momentary increase of impetus, until the strong raft
becomes but as a bed of straw upon the torrent. Then there is the
desperate plying of the oars, their hurried abandonment, with the
in-gathering, of the bold crew clinging together with cheers round their
bright flag, until the leap is made, and the assailing waves rise
boiling about and above them.
One of the descending rafts, for we were favoured with several, parted
in nearly two halves within the rapids: luckily no one had been left out
of bounds; for, as the fishermen assured us, the strongest swimmer is
never seen alive after his first plunge into these frightful eddies.
Having abided our time, we purchased a fine shad, which we took to a
near cottage, where the mistress cheerfully set about _boucan_-ing it
for us; that is, roasting it over the fire in the smoke of the wood.
With this, some brown-bread, and a glass of water, we made an excellent
luncheon; then, after taking a considerable circuit, re-entered
Montreal, and crossed at once to the island _par excellence_.
At half-past eight P.M. of the same evening I was put on board the
"British America" steamboat, a fine large-class vessel, having a
heavily laden schooner in tow.
As we swept down before the river-front of the city, I was struck with
the appearance of the steep tin-roofed houses and many little domes
glancing back the moon's rays; when, turning to regard St. Helen's, the
blaze of a port-fire arrested my attention; the flash of the gun
instantly succeeded, whilst, amidst its prolonged echoes, rose the
contending notes of drum and bugle. It was just nine o'clock; in a few
moments all was again calm and still, the last spire of Montreal quickly
retreated in the shades of night, and the low banks of the St. Lawrence
stretched away far and wide before us.
After a couple of hours' walk on deck, where two or three ladies and
gentlemen were promenading with the quick, active step that at once
proclaimed them English, I felt sufficiently wearied by some eighteen
hours actively passed on foot or in saddle, to calculate on a sound
sleep.
About midnight a devil of a row awakened me; I listened, and heard a
rush overhead like a burst of cavalry, the trampling of horses, the
yelling of dogs, together with the loud voices of many men in high
contention. What the mischief can have come to us? thinks I.
A stray waiter, whom I discovered discoursin' a friend in the pantry,
was at last made sensible of my calls, and from this youth I quickly
learned our whereabout.
We were lying at Sorrel, the country-residence of the Governor, Lord
Aylmer; and the noise was occasioned by the shipping of his lordship's
stud for Quebec, whither the family had removed from this summer abode,
to await and receive the commission about to supersede him in his high
office.
Finding that the din was not occasioned by an infall of the aborigines,
but was only a peaceful taking in of freight, I dismissed my waiter to
his friend and pantry, and "addressed me again to sleep."
_Sunday, 7th._--About noon arrived at _Trois Rivieres_, a very pretty
little town, which, being Sunday, was thronged with the rural population
of the vicinity attending church.
Numbers of these persons were pacing along the river-bank upon sturdy
little ponies, and in the harbour were many _bateaux_ filling with them,
before re-crossing the St. Lawrence: their dress was invariably neat
and picturesque, and their physiognomy, though somewhat heavy, was
gentle and pleasing. These _bateaux_ were shaded with the branches of
trees, and decorated with wild flowers, and when moving off with their
freight had quite an Arcadian appearance.
From this place to St. Anne's, the north bank of this river might be
sketched for the same side of the Mississippi as viewed from New Orleans
to Baton Rouge; a natural levee runs along at about the same elevation,
on a like dead level; directly behind this bank are scattered similar
poor-looking tenements, badly built, and half painted; and, at a certain
distance in the rear of these, rises a melancholy-looking forest of
half-naked trees, with not a single rise or gap along the hazy line of
the horizon resting upon them. The glowing heat of this calm day also
favoured the illusion, which was certainly in all its points the most
perfect imaginable: it would require very little to persuade a man
landed here on such a day that he was in Louisiana.
The river again becomes interesting about the junction of the Richelieu.
The banks are once more broken and of irregular heights. Numerous
churches, having domes and spires like the _befrois_ of Normandy, only
that these are roofed over with pure tin, shoot above each wooded knoll;
and the stream whirls and boils amongst reefs of irregular rock, some
hidden, others visible, moving at a great pace for the ticklish
navigation.
At three P.M. the Heights of Abraham hove in sight, and our prospect
grew in interest with every moment. Next rose a forest of tall masts
along the shore; away upon our right was Point Levi, with its soft
wooded brow; and above our heads upon the left glistened tower and town,
with the grim batteries hanging over the precipice.
As we drew closer, the ruins of the Chateau formed an object of striking
interest, and gave added effect to the approach to this most picturesque
capital; an object of interest which I hope will soon be removed by his
Majesty's loyal and liberal parliament for Lower Canada, and a new
edifice erected, in a style becoming to their taste and worthy such a
site.
The valley of Montmorency, with its long straggling suburb, soon opened
to our view; and the river assumed the appearance of a lake encircled
by mountains, and bounded at its eastern extremity by the Isle of
Orleans.
I was perfectly enraptured with air, earth, and water: freshness and
beauty reigned over all; there was not a cloud in the sky or a spot on
the landscape one would have desired blotted out; and, taken as a _coup
d'oeil_, I do not hesitate to say this was by far the finest I ever
beheld.
Sunday though this was, there was much bustle in the harbour. Little
dwarfish steamers were flying across the channel in opposite directions;
long boats, laden with sea-worn emigrants, were rowing from the shore
back to their respective ships.
It was pleasant to look on these poor people coming back from a first
attendance at the altars raised, by their predecessors in exile, amidst
a wilderness now made, by the industry Heaven has blessed, so glorious.
How cheering in their eyes must have been this sunny view of the land of
their adoption! How must their hearts have leaped within them as they
pressed for the first time its shores, and heard once more the sound of
the church-going bell, and kneeled in gratitude before that type of
salvation which they came to bear yet deeper within the bosom of the
desert, themselves the hardy pilgrims of a new crusade! their _haches
d'armes_, their stout wood-axes; their lances, the goads of the patient
steer; their artillery, the plough and harrow; their advance, the
progress of industrious hardihood; their bloodless victory, a blessing
to the field they win, a glory to the banner under which they strive:
braving peril, toil, and exile for a country to be made holy by their
triumph, and consecrated at once to freedom and to God!
It was impossible to contemplate unmoved this rustic chivalry, this
banding of men of every European tongue for a common purpose, so
pregnant with good for themselves and for their posterity.
Let the healthful tide roll on, here is boundless space for all comers;
and ages must pass before willing toil shall fail to find present
employment, cheered by the prospect of ultimate independence.
About five P.M. we were landed. In company with Captain W----s, U. S. A.
I ascended the mountain; and, as our time was limited, we had no sooner
secured good quarters at the hotel than we sallied forth to survey the
works, which are, I understand, of the strongest and most perfect
description, sufficiently guaranteeing Quebec against all surprisal for
the time to come.
The finest view is that offered from the Signal-tower.
The city, Point Levi, the winding river, with the Isle of Orleans, lay
clearly spread beneath our feet as in a well-designed panorama, with
such light and shadow as the artist is seldom favoured with, except in
imagination.
Coming down from the fort, I was happy enough to encounter Captain
Doyle, driving a right London-appointed tilbury. He had been to the
hotel in search of me, and now, dismissing his boy, installed me in the
vacancy, and set off at once for the field of battle on the Plains of
Abraham.
Our first pull-up was by a little potato-field, memorable as the spot
where the gallant Wolfe fell. A broken column of black marble had just
been erected here by Lord Aylmer: a tribute honourable to the taste of
the gallant soldier living, and which will henceforward worthily mark
the spot where the young victor died.
After viewing over the battle-ground, with the ascent from Wolfe's Cove,
we turned back to the city and drove to the Chateau, or rather to its
ruins. We walked through the blackened hall out upon the still firm
floor of the gallery, or balcony, overlooking at a giddy height the
lower town. From this we strolled through the hanging-garden of the
Chateau, which is laid out on terraces cut from the face of the
precipice, and hedged in by a range of cannon of the largest calibre.
Took coffee with Doyle in a chamber, which, although placed at a
somewhat unfashionable altitude, commanded a prospect worth all the
labour of a threefold flight. Finding it a hopeless task waiting for
night, that is, for darkness, went home and to bed, a little wearied,
but more delighted, leaving directions to be called at five A.M. having
arranged with Captain W----s to ride at that hour to the Falls of
Montmorency.
_Monday, 8th._--In saddle by half past five A.M. with a morning that
made these narrow, dusty streets look both cool and clear. The
market-folk were already in motion from the country, having light carts
filled with the articles they supply to the _bourgeoisie_.
Crossing a long wooden bridge, whose toll was collected by a sturdy old
invalid soldier, we entered, soon after, a perfect French village of
interminable length, closely flanking the highway, and possessing a very
large and well-built church, fronted, after the fashion universal here,
by a couple of spires, with a large dome in the centre, all coated over
with bright tin, and so glittering famously in the morning sun.
A tolerable road brought us in ten miles or so to the object of our
early gallop. Hitching the horses beneath a near shed, we roamed about
looking how best to descend; until discovering a ladder planted against
the face of the precipice, we took to this, and going down it about
seventy feet, were landed upon a table-rock exactly on a level with the
torrent, and at the very point whence it makes its down leap into a bay
of the St. Lawrence, a portion of it being arrested, and turned to the
ignoble use of a wool-carding mill, which abuts on the very edge of the
cataract.
I have no sort of doubt that, had I been brought hither before seeing
Niagara, I should have felt duly impressed by its grandeur, which is
unquestionably of a character sufficiently striking to inspire a much
less sensitive admirer of the sublime in nature; as it was, this fall
only brought fresh to my recollection the scene I had looked upon the
year before, no feature of which can ever be effaced by any other
object.
At this day I can find no adequate language wherein to dress my
impressions of that wonder. Of Montmorency I only know that I felt,
whilst viewing it, as though other doings of Nature might be found every
way fellow to it: that such things, in fact, were existing elsewhere, or
might be.
But Niagara in its greatness makes all else little. It stands,
incomparable and alone, a time-defying monument of creation as first
called from chaos; one feels that the waters of the deluge may have
risen above it and subsided, leaving it unaltered. It is possible to
imagine all other worldly things either changed, or within the scope of
mutation and the power of Time. You feel that with most earthly things
you have a right to speculate, to calculate on their endurance, to
control and to direct them: but never so with old Niagara. Its aspect
awes man into nothing, it mocks at his dreams, and defies alike his
wisdom and his power.
Certain points on this Montmorency road afford, I fancy, the finest view
of Quebec. Two sides of the city are presented, with its close streets,
and bright-roofed buildings, rising irregularly tier over tier, and
crowned by the formidable lines of defence over which the cross of Old
England waves proudly in the breeze. Opposite swells the softer outline
of Point Levi, sprinkled with pretty cottages, and separated from the
mountain by a narrow channel. As a foreground, the smooth bay lies
spread between, and over all bends a sky without a cloud, glowing in the
colour of the early morning sun.
With this scene before us, we rattled back at a merry pace, reaching our
quarters by a little after eight A.M. We found horses here awaiting to
carry us to the Chateau to breakfast, an attention of Captain Doyle's
which, after a hasty toilet, we availed ourselves of.
My steed, who had probably an eye to his own breakfast rather than to
mine, made a bolt for the stable just as we gained the house; I strove
to persuade him to take me to the door by the only means I
possessed--patience, civility, and a stick: but he would not be 'ticed;
I lost my patience, forgot my civility, and broke my stick, yet he
fairly bullied me, till, finding my saddle turning, I left him to go his
own way, and ungraciously ceded the point in dispute.
After breakfast, my American soldier companion being naturally
solicitous to witness guard mounting, I accompanied him on to the
parade, and had the pleasure of seeing the 79th Highlanders come on the
ground, with the band and pipes playing alternately. It was really quite
refreshing to see this fine corps in such order; the men were uncommonly
good-looking fellows, and fairly shook the ground with their measured
tread.
Of all our soldiers no arm attracts the notice and admiration of
strangers so much as the Highland corps; the striking colours of the
costume, its picturesque arrangement, the waving of the gay plaid and
plume, together with the strange wild skirl of the bagpipes, lay hold on
the imagination, and are at the same time so unlike the military array
of any other country, that no comparison is ever suggested as a
drawback.
It was no easy matter to tear oneself away from the hospitalities
tendered from every quarter here; but finding that after this night no
boat was to sail until Wednesday, and having pledged myself to be at
Montreal on that day, I even buckled on the armour of resolution, and,
making a virtue of necessity, broke away in time to join Captain W----s
on board the steamer, at ten o'clock P.M. Within a quarter of an hour
after we left the wharf, making a sweep downwards in order to take a
large brig in tow from her moorings in the stream.
This chance and the correspondent delay, afforded us an opportunity of
viewing the city from various points. The night was lovely, and the deep
shadows of the towering mountain, with each salient angle made bright by
the silver moon, formed a picture altogether enchanting.
The ruins of the Chateau, with the rays of bright light streaming
through its open roof and many windows over the blackened broken walls,
became, however, my chief object of admiration.
I trust the good citizens of Quebec, having been afforded this
opportunity, will erect a pile here worthy the site; a castellated
building would perhaps be the style best adapted to this, and would come
well in with the river line of defence, whose strong curtain runs
parallel with the terrace, from which the windows of the Chateau look
perpendicularly upon the streets two hundred feet below.
At Wolfe's Cove we approached close under the wooded heights, where we
took in tow a second brig; then sheering out, began painfully to ascend
the current with a dead head-breeze, and having these monsters yawing
about on each quarter.
Our Titan steamer groaned, and heaved, and strained, as though but
sulkily submitting to this added charge, and doing the master's work, in
the spirit of Caliban, under the spell of a higher intelligence.
_Tuesday, 9th._--Find that during the night our progress continued
painfully slow; indeed, only that the wind lulled, we could not have
stemmed the rapids; but when above the Richelieu we made better way,
arriving at Trois Rivieres about noon, with a fine fair breeze blowing
up the stream.
The brigs were here cast loose to make the best of their way whilst we
took in a supply of wood. Meantime, Captain W----s and I took a stroll
about the town, which in itself is pretty, and agreeably situated. All
this day the breeze continued favourable, and consequently our pace was
tolerable. How long we should have been with a head-wind, it is
impossible to say.
_Wednesday, 10th._--I was this morning on deck by four A.M. and was
well repaid for my early rising. We were some thirty miles distant from
Montreal, as our pilot informed me: the land on either side was low, but
soft, verdant, and well wooded, with the prettiest-looking villages
dotted along from point to point. At times, three or four of these, with
their triple-spired churches, were at once visible as we slowly steered
through groups of islets of every form and size, but all of a colour of
unequalled purity.
I cannot wonder at the rapturous language used in the description of
these places by the sea-wearied discoverers who viewed them for the
first time in the summer season; for even I, with no such spur to
imagination, find it difficult to stick to sober prose when recalling
the luxuriant growth of these isles of the far North. It would appear as
though Nature, aware that the possession of beauty is with them
extremely limited, had resolved, by way of compensation, to render their
short-lived loveliness surpassing.
At last was seen, high towering over all, the rounded top of the fairest
of the hundred isles of the St. Lawrence, St. Helen's; and, shortly
after, the glittering domes of the city of Montreal gave warning that
our up-voyage was drawing to a happy conclusion.
_Thursday, 11th._--This morning took a farewell stroll over St. Helen's,
which, on a surface of a mile in length by half a mile in breadth, has
all the attractions Nature could devise scattered with a most liberal
hand. It is shadowed and scented by a hundred sorts of odorous shrubs
and flowers. The groves are filled with birds of beautiful plumage; the
graceful blue bird, the enamelled hummer, and the cardinal, with his
hood of the brightest scarlet, are for ever on the wing in pursuit of
the shad-fly. The pert woodpecker climbs the trees, and along the shores
sits the contemplative heron, watching the rapids flowing by, which are,
during certain seasons, absolutely alive with fish.
In short, I cannot imagine a more perfect summer abode in such a
climate. The aromatic air wafted into one's window on a morning here,
made it a delight to open it. The chamber I occupied looked out upon the
grassy rampart and over it, affording a sight of the city in its best
aspect, and the noble river dividing us from it. Close opposite to my
window was a winding path, completely shaded, which led from the fort
to the little harbour where the island fleet lies moored; which fleet
consisted at this time of an Indian canoe, the soldiers' large
market-boat, and the officers' cutter. Some one or other of these were
almost constantly on the wing between isle and main; and really it was
worth while, once a day, to take a sniff of the fishy atmosphere of the
hot city, in order fully to appreciate the advantages of the cool pure
air of _la belle ile_.
At four P.M. after having taken leave of my island friends, whose
attentions had rendered my stay here so delightful, I set off with my
old comrade W----w, and Mr. E----r, who had decided upon accompanying me
as far on my way as St. John's. We found the La Prairie steamboat quite
crowded with the farmers of the continent, on their way home from the
market of Montreal: amongst these were some French; but the majority was
composed of lowland Scotch and Irish, with a fair proportion of
Highlanders.
During our short passage I passed to and fro, below and above, amongst
these various specimens of my fellow-subjects, but was at last fairly
brought up by the look and gestures of a couple of men engaged in close
argument.
The one was a person well stricken in years, with fine white hair
straying beneath the broad leaf of his decent beaver hat; he had a keen
small eye, well covered by a pair of thick grey eyebrows; with features
much wrinkled, but full of intelligence: he was slightly humpbacked, and
otherwise bent by the weight of years.
His antagonist was a low, square-built fellow, with a set of blunt
features, quick sparkling little eyes, a ruddy complexion, and a broad
low brow, over which was set, with a somewhat jaunty air, a blue bonnet.
Both were evidently Scotch; the younger disputant, by his high shrill
tone and peculiar pronunciation, a true Celt.
I soon discovered "the Glasgow body" was engaged in giving a lecture to
the sturdy mountaineer upon the absolute folly of seeking to uphold
exclusively the Gaelic tongue: the Highlander, who was head-vestryman in
his parish, having, as it came out, lately advertised for a clergyman
who could officiate in that ancient language. It may readily be supposed
that between such disputants the argument was a warm one.
The Glasgow elder, slow, precise, and very energetic withal, insisted
that the land they stood upon was no strangers' land; that they were not
expected, like the Israelites of old whilst in a condition of bondage,
to hold themselves a people apart; that the English tongue and English
laws were lawfully theirs; and that those were the wisest men and the
best subjects who learned the first in order that they might neither be
ignorant nor forgetful of the last.
The hielan' man admitted, frigidly enough I thought, the present
supremacy of English law and language, but insisted that the
congregation upon their settlement absolutely needed a Gaelic pastor to
preach the word, and no other; for, although all of them understood the
Gaelic, full one half knew no word of English!
"More shame for them!" exclaimed the Glasgow man; "what for don't they
learn it? Puir prejudiced bodies that they are!"
"What for no?" retorted quickly the nettled Highlander: "why, because
they just prefer their ain: and I can't say I wonder at it all; for I
know baith, and must aver, Mr. Dalgleish, that my preference is wholly
for ta Gaelic, which is a finer language, and a petter and older
language, and of a petter and an older nation by far."
"Hoot tout!" coolly responded old Glasgow; "Ye're just daft on thae
points, Duncan M'Nab: why, man alive! yer' nae people at hame, much less
here, where you are as the least plash flung from the paddle-wheel below
us to the braid stream on which it drops to mingle with its waters; a
lesson ye may tak profit by. Ye've neither country, nor laws, nor
government that owns yer tongue on the whole face o' God's airth, if
ever ye had either; whilst the laws and language o' England are at this
time universal! ay, sir, universal, or at least mair sae than any one
tongue ever yet was since the Lord made men strangers to their fellows
at the confounding o' Babel."
"Ta Gaelic was spoken before tat day!" sharply bolted out M'Nab, "and
was spoken since tat day by a bigger nation tan England ever was, or
ever will be! Tak tat, now, Mr. Dalgleish!"
"Well now, see, Duncan M'Nab," continued the cooler Lowlander, in a tone
provokingly unmoved; "that, I'm thinking, must be a matter o' doubt,
rather than well-authenticated history; and before I either anger ye by
contradicting it, or wrang my ain sense by allowing you the benefit o
't, I'll just seek counsel o' this gentleman, who evidently has a
feelin' in our argument, although he taks no part in it by words. What
say ye, sir?" he added, directly appealing to me; "shall we allow
M'Nab's folk the credit o' havin' given a language to the world more
universal than the English tongue?"
"I think you may, my good friend," replied I, thus engaged to speak, and
in no way willing to spoil the controversy; "and this without losing any
advantage by such an admission, seeing, that if the Gaelic were once so
general, I don't think it a matter of credit or congratulation to its
people that it is now extinguished, or only kept alive by the patriotic
prejudices of a few clansmen in the Hielans and by the ignorance of my
own countrymen in portions of Ireland."
"Ha!" cries Glasgow; "that's a hit, sir, and one that didna' occur to my
mind! Now, M'Nab, how say ye to this? Why the deevil didna' ye keep yer
ground that time ye had it all yer ain way, and no be lettin' strangers
win it clean frae ye?"
"Ta' Gaelic was ta language o' Wallace and o' Bruce, and of Cyrus, who
came before them," urged the Gael, hotly, "and who will say thae were
easy to beat?"
"Who ever said that a Hielanman was easy to beat?" here cannily put in
Glasgow: "not that I altogether allow Cyrus, or Wallace, or Bruce to ha'
bin Hielanders; though I won't say that they didna' speak Gaelic: but
fac's are ill to argue down, and the real fac' o' this matter is, M'Nab,
that here Lowlander and Hielander are a' alike English, and it is not
our duty alane, but our interest, to foregoe all thae hame prejudices,
that have wrought us harm enough, and lang enough, without importing
them here, to be left as an evil legacy to our children to keep them as
strangers to ane anither."
"Look here, Mr. Dalgleish," demanded M'Nab, "do you admit your belief in
election and free grace?"
At this I fairly bolted off the course; but in a few minutes after,
whilst preparing to land at La Prairie, my old Glasgow-man sidled along
by me, with an inquiry as to my pursuit and my name, in order, he added,
that he might remember our pleasant argument, whispering in my ear as we
separated,
"Hielanmen are aye weel enough in some particulars, sir; but they're
just fairly eat up wi' pride and superstition, and fu' o' prejudices. At
hame or abroad it's aye the like; they're of a race that can only be
improved by amalgamation and time. I wish you a very pleasant passage
hame, sir, and a good evening to you!"
Returning his civility, I was here separated from my elder. In about
half an hour after I was about to quit the hotel, in the extra we had
engaged for St. John's, when my Hielander, whose warm heart I had won by
some honest commendation of his native country, ran up to me to shake
hands, saying with a loud laugh,
"Ta old man was a good man, and a well-educated man; but a Glasgow is
always a Glasgow; sell his web or his waens for ta money, and carein' as
little for either kin or country as does ta cuckoo. God bless you, and
if ever you should see Ben Nevis again, think on Duncan M'Nab that will
see it no more."
Away ran the active Hielander, after his party, who were proceeding by
the shore road, and in a few minutes my companions and myself were
jolting at the rate of three miles and a half an hour over the ruts of
La Prairie.
It is really surprising to observe how these sons of the Celt adhere to
their native tongue, and preserve every early custom that is in any way
practicable.
In the mountains of North Carolina there exists a colony of Sutherland
Highlanders, two-thirds of whom speak no English, and who possess
negroes who only know Gaelic; even within thirty miles of Philadelphia I
stumbled upon a family in the third generation, or rather I ought to
say, found the three generations together. The children tottering before
the doors had, as had their fathers before them, a duck-puddle to wade
in, with a dung-heap "quite convanient" to sun themselves upon in common
with the pigs and fowls, and they were all lisping the Gaelic tongue
with the most unsophisticated ignorance of any other whatever.
On one or two occasions I considered our present journey about to be
concluded by an overturn into the canal, along whose bank we rolled most
critically, as we neared our harbour; we were, however, landed in due
time all safe, and procured a very good supper.
_Friday, 12th._--Left St. John's with a couple of gentlemen in canoe for
Ile aux Nois, there to abide the coming of the steam-boat. The heat was
intense, but our canoe-men were a pair of lusty old lads, Canadians, and
they pulled us up stream merrily at the rate of six miles an hour,
keeping close beneath the trees growing out of the lake, here a narrow
channel merely.
We found Fort Lennox garrisoned by a party of the 32nd regiment, under
the command of Major Swinburne, who was resident here with his family.
The fort is regularly and well built, and the defences are in excellent
order, save that the facing of the ditch, being of wood, is tumbling in
at most points, to the great danger of the foundation. As this place is
considered worthy a garrison, it would be as well that this ditch should
be faced with stone, in a way becoming the other defences, all of which
appear to be built in the best manner, and are in good preservation.
At three o'clock _P.M._ the steamer was announced in sight, and we
hastened to the little wharf where the captain always lands to show his
clearance; a matter of form which is strictly observed.
The inhabitants, at least the civilians, were all assembled on the
wharf, for this arrival was the event of the day. The little group was
composed of two or three officers' ladies, with their families. Amongst
these I noticed one pretty black-eyed English girl, who I fancied looked
after the boat as it left the shore, and was whirled alongside the
steamer, with a mournful glance, wherein I read the word home written as
plainly as I ever read it in a book.
"I wish you were returning to your home, my sweet girl," replied I, in
the same language, "and that I might be your escort; you should be well
and honestly guarded, at all events."
In a moment I was for ever sundered from this object of my
commiseration; yet had my eyes only been as expressive as hers, all I
have set down here might have been read therein.
Away we sped along the winding lake, turning from shore to shore, now
visiting one pretty landing, now another; a mode of proceeding that is,
amidst such scenery, perfectly delightful.
_Saturday, 13th._--Breakfasted at Whitehall, and took the middle line to
Albany, traversing a wild sterile country, over bad roads and worse
bridges, until we reached Sandy-hill, where the noble Hudson bursts upon
the view.
From this point to Albany the river is never lost sight of; and a
grateful sight the beautiful stream afforded to a sun-dried,
half-smothered traveller, to turn from the dusty track and contemplate
its cool waters and pleasant groves.
I sincerely pity the heart to which a drive, at such a season, through
this valley of the Hudson, brings no gladness. Talk of the beauties of
the river from New-York to Albany, when, after all, it is here they are
to be found; here where its waters are seen flowing between banks at
times richly wooded, towering high and bold; then sinking suddenly, as
they sweep for miles a continuous line of natural meadows, whose rich
fringe of waving grass drinks for ever of the passing stream.
In many of these places the country puts on a park-like appearance, and
you travel by hill and dale and glance down trim-looking slopes, dotted
with irregular clumps of ornamental trees of the finest foliage and of
all kinds, from the graceful silver ash and the umbrageous butter-nut,
to the tall sombre-looking pine, and the wide-spreading elm.
The river itself is as changeful in its aspect as the lovely country
through which it flows; in places its whole breadth is occupied by a
stony bed over which it leaps along, forming for a mile or so a gentle
uniform rapid. At the next turn it is seen freed from all impediment,
moving majestically and slowly through deep-cut banks, or circling round
some little islet won from the neighbouring plain.
During our journey we crossed the canal which runs near the river
frequently, and the Hudson itself twice, by fine covered bridges.
We also passed through several pretty towns; Schuylersville, a beautiful
romantic site; Mechanicsville, a bustling thriving place, with a
considerable population, and where I noticed a great number of young
girls of an appearance remarkably neat. It was Saturday afternoon,
labour was passed for the week, and the street and neighbourhood
presented an appearance most creditable to the operatives who are here
congregated in a lovely neighbourhood.
By the time we reached Waterford it was dark: here we crossed the
Hudson, near the Cohoos' Falls; and at Troy were ferried over, back
again, coach, horses, a waggon, and a couple of oxen, in a schow, or
flat boat, by torchlight.
From our last landing-place to Albany runs a well Macadamized road of
noble proportions, and on this our wearied horses appeared to gain
fresh courage, for they trotted along nimbly, setting me down at the
door of the Eagle shortly after midnight.
_Sunday, 14th._--Down the Hudson to New York, where I rested for a few
days, intending to embark from this port; but finding the ships of every
line crowded, and likely to be crowded for some time to come, I decided,
in company with an excellent voyaging companion, who had resolved upon
sharing my fortunes, to proceed to Philadelphia, and sail from that
place, in the Algonquin packet-ship of the 20th inst. which promised
equal comforts with fewer candidates; the length of the Delaware making
Philadelphia less popular as a packet-station.