_table d'hôte_ dinner was later than at the Clifton Hotel, which we had
missed. While waiting for dinner, we went again to Goat Island, and had
some splendid views of the Falls, the day being magnificent beyond all
description. Papa and William afterwards took a long walk to get a new
view of the whirlpool. Papa has made me dreadfully anxious all day by
going too close to the edges of the precipices; and as the rock is very
brittle and easily crumbles off, and as his feet often trip in walking,
you may suppose the agonies I have been in; at last I began to wish
myself and him safe in the streets of Toronto. I was not the least
frightened for myself, but it was trying to see him always looking over,
and about to lean against old crazy wooden balustrades that William said
must have given way from sheer rottenness with any weight upon them.
This is _such_ a night, not a single cloud; the clearest possible sky
and the moon shining brightly, as it did over the two Falls the first
night we were here. Papa calls me every minute--"Oh come, do come, this
minute; I do not believe you have ever yet seen the Falls!!!" To-morrow
we have one remaining expedition,--to go in a small steamer called the
"Maid of the Mist," which pokes her nose into the two Falls about six
times a day. The passengers are put into waterproof dresses. This I hope
to describe to you to-morrow, and shall despatch my letter before
starting for Toronto.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] My English maid.
[3] The Erie Canal is one of the three great means of communication
which existed previous to the introduction of railways between the
Eastern States and those that lie to the west of the Alleghanies; the
other two being the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio Canals.
Sections of these great works are shown on the map.
LETTER IV.
NIAGARA.--MAID OF THE MIST.--ARRIVAL AT
TORONTO.--TORONTO.--THOUSAND ISLANDS.--RAPIDS OF THE ST.
LAWRENCE.--MONTREAL.--VICTORIA BRIDGE.
Clifton Hotel, Falls of Niagara,
Sept. 20th, 1858.
I intended to have wound up the description of Niagara in the letter I
despatched to you two hours ago, but we returned home from our
expedition this morning only five minutes before the post hour for
England, so that our packet had to be hastily closed.
We had rather a chapter of accidents this morning, but all has ended
well. We went out immediately after breakfast, the weather being
splendid, though there was a high wind, and finding the mist driving
very hard, we decided on going over to the opposite shore across the
suspension bridge, rather than be ferried over to the steamer in a small
open boat, which can never, I imagine, be very pleasant in such a near
neighbourhood to the two Falls. William, however, remained on this side,
preferring the ferry, and we were to meet on the opposite bank and take
to the little steamer; but though our drive took half-an-hour and his
row five minutes, he was not at the place of rendezvous when, we
arrived, nor did he appear after we had waited for him some time. Papa
then went in a sort of open car down an inclined plane, contrived to
save the fatigue of a long stair. On getting to the bottom he saw
nothing of William, and in walking on the wet planks he slipped down and
fell on his side, and cut his face and bruised his eye; he says his eye
was within a hair's breadth of being put out by the sharp corner of a
rock. He walked up the long stair, being too giddy after his fall to
attempt the car, and he felt very headachy and unwell in consequence all
the morning. At last William made his appearance. There had been no
ferryman for a long time, and when he came he knew so little how to
manage the boat, that had not William rowed they would have been down
the river and over the rapids! At last we all four (Thrower included),
started down the inclined plane to the steamer, and were warned by
papa's tumble to take care of our footing. It might easily be made a
more pleasant landing-place than it is by means of their everlasting
wood. We got on to the "Maid of the Mist," and were made to take off our
bonnets and hats, and put on a sort of waterproof capuchin cloak and
hood, and up we went on deck. In one moment we were drenched; the deck
was a running sea, and the mist drove upon us much harder than pouring
rain. I went there with a cold, and if it gets no worse, shall think
fresh water is as innocuous as salt. It was quite a question whether the
thing was worth doing: the day was probably unfavourable, as the mist
drove on us instead of the other way, but some parts were very fine. We
returned to the same landing-place, as they most stupidly have none on
this side; so up we went again in the open cars, and on landing we had
our photographs done twice with views of the Falls as a background. They
were very well and rapidly done. We then drove William towards the Cave
of the Winds, which is a passage behind what looks from these windows a
mere thread of a waterfall, but is really a very considerable one.
Ladies, however, perform this feat as well as gentlemen, but they have
entirely to change their dress--it is like walking through a great
shower-bath to a _cul de sac_ in the rock. Circular rainbows are seen
here, and William saw two; he seemed to be standing on one which made a
perfect circle round him. A certificate was given him of his having
accomplished this feat. While he was doing this we bought a few things
made by the Indians and the Shakers, and then met William, and hurried
home in time only to sign and despatch our letters to England. We then
dined, and I am now obliged suddenly to stop short in writing, as my
despatch-box must be packed, for we leave this at half-past four for
Toronto.
_Rossin House, Toronto, Sept. 21st._--Our journey here yesterday was not
through as pretty a country as usual, and this part of Canada strikes us
as much tamer than anything we have yet seen in America. We changed
trains at Hamilton and remained there nearly an hour. Sir Allan McNab
has a country house in the neighbourhood, said to be a very pretty one,
and we shall probably go in the train to-morrow to see him. The
railroad, for some time towards the end of our journey yesterday, ran
along the shore of Lake Ontario. The sky was pure and clear, with the
moon shining brightly on the waters of the quiet lake. It was difficult
to believe that the immense expanse of water was not salt. It looked so
like the sea, especially when within a few miles of Toronto we saw tiny
waves and minute pebbles and sand, which gave it an appearance of a
miniature sea beach. Had I not been on a railway when I saw these small
pebbles, I should have picked up some for you, and I think you would
have valued them as much as your cornelians at Cromer. I searched for
them later, and never came up with such a pretty pebbly beach again.
_Montreal, Sept. 25th._--Unhappily this sheet has been packed up by
mistake for some days, and I have not been able to go on with my
journal, but I resume it this evening, for it must be despatched to you
the day after to-morrow.
We passed the 22nd and 23rd at Toronto, and had much pleasure there in
seeing a great deal of the Alfred O.'s, and their very nice children,
and it was quite touching to see the pleasure our visit gave them. We
had the sorrow, however, of parting from William, who left us on the
morning of the 23rd for the Far West. He went with Mr. Latham and Mr.
Kilburn, and it was a very great comfort to us that he had such pleasant
companions, instead of travelling such a distance alone. We had an early
visit at Toronto from Mr. and Mrs. W., friends of the O.'s: they begged
us so earnestly to remain over the 23rd to dine with them, that we
consented to do so. Toronto is a most melancholy-looking place. It has
suffered in the "crisis," and the consequence is that wide streets seem
to have been begun but never finished, giving the town a very disastrous
look. There is one wide handsome street with good shops, and our hotel
was an enormous one; but when this is said, there is little more to add
about it, for it looks otherwise very forlorn, and altogether the town
is the least inviting one we have yet seen in our travels.
In the course of our drive we had an opportunity of seeing the interiors
of some of the houses, many of which display considerable wealth; the
rooms being large, and filled with ornaments of every sort. The ladies
dress magnificently; a handsome coral brooch is often worn, and is
almost an infallible sign, both here and in the United States, of a tour
to Italy having been accomplished; indeed I can feel nearly as certain
that the wearer has travelled so far, by seeing her collar fastened with
it, as if she told me the fact, and many such journeys must have been
performed, judging by the number of coral brooches we see.
We did little the first day but drive about the streets. We drank tea at
the A. O.'s, and the next day they took us to see one very beautiful
sight; the New University, which is in course of building, and is the
most beautiful structure we have seen in America. Indeed it is the only
one which makes the least attempt at Mediæval architecture, and is a
very correct specimen of the twelfth century. The funds for building
this university arise out of the misappropriation (by secularising them)
of the clergy reserves; the lands appropriated to the college giving
them possession of funds to the amount of about three hundred thousand
pounds. Of this the building, it is supposed, will absorb about one
hundred and twenty thousand pounds, and they propose to lay out a large
sum to increase an already very good library, which is rich in works on
natural history and English topography. Dr. McCaul, who is the president
of the college, is a brother of the preacher in London.
We dined at the W.'s on the evening of the 23rd. Their house is very
large, having been lately added to, and the town being very busy,
preparing for an Agricultural Meeting, the upholsterer had not time to
put down the carpets or put up the curtains, and the night being cold,
we felt a little twinge of what a Canadian winter is; but the
drawing-rooms were exceedingly pretty,--the walls being very light
stucco, with ornaments in relief, and they were brilliantly lighted. We
were eighteen at dinner, the party including the O.'s, the Mayor, Dr.
and Mrs. McCaul, and Sir Allan McNab, who had come from his
country-place to meet us. The dinner was as well appointed, in all
respects, as if it had taken place in London. In the evening Mrs. W.
sang "Where the bee sucks" most beautifully. Papa encored it, and was
quite delighted at hearing so favourite a song so well sung. The
mayoress also sang, and so did another lady. The furniture of the rooms
was of American oak and black walnut, which are favourite woods; but we
did not much admire them. When we were leaving, Mrs. W. showed us her
bed-room, which was really splendid,--so spacious, and so beautifully
furnished; there was a bath-room near it, and other bed-rooms also of
large dimensions. We drove back to our hotel in the moonlight, so bright
and clear that it was difficult not to suppose it daylight, except that
the planets were so brilliant.
We took leave that night of the O.'s, as we had to make an early start
next day, and were very sorry to part from them. On the 24th, we were
off at eight in the morning by train to Kingston, arriving there early
in the afternoon. It is the best sleeping-place between Toronto and
Montreal. The road was uninteresting, though at times we came upon the
broad waters of the lake, which varied the scenery. We had an excellent
dinner at the station, and I ought to mention, that as we were
travelling on the Grand Trunk Railway, and on English soil, we had
first class carriages; there being both first and second class on this
line, but varying only in the softness of the seats. There was no other
difference from other lines.
Kingston is a prosperous little town on the borders of the lake, and the
hotel quite a small country inn. We drove out to see the Penitentiary,
or prison, for the whole of the Two Canadas,--a most massive stone
structure. I never was within prison-walls before, so that I cannot
compare it with others; but, though papa had much admired the prison at
Boston, he preferred the principle of giving the prisoners work in
public (which is the case at Kingston), to the solitary system at
Boston. We saw the men hard at work making furniture, and in the
blacksmith's forge, and making an enormous quantity of boots; they work
ten hours a day in total silence, and all had a subdued look; but we
were glad to think they had employment, and could see each other. Their
food is excellent,--a good meat diet, and the best bread. The
sleeping-places seemed to us dreadful little solitary dens, though the
man who showed us over them said they were better than they would have
had on board ship. There were sixty female prisoners employed in making
the men's clothes, but these we were not allowed to see. One lady is
permitted to visit them, in order to give them religious instruction,
but they do not otherwise see the visitors to the prison. There are
prisoners of all religious denominations, a good many being Roman
Catholics; and there are chaplains to suit their creeds, and morning and
evening prayers.
We walked back to Kingston, and on the walls observed notices of a
meeting to be held in the town that evening, to remonstrate against the
work done by the prisoners, which is said to injure trade; but, as we
were to make a very early start in the morning, we did not go to it.
We were called at half-past four to be ready for the boat which started
at six for Montreal. It was a rainy morning, and I awoke in a rather
depressed state of mind, with the prospect before me of having to
descend the rapids of the St. Lawrence in the steamer; and as the
captain of our vessel in crossing the Atlantic had said, he was not a
little nervous at going down them, I thought I might be so too. We had
first, however, to go through the Thousand Islands, which sounds very
romantic, but turned out rather a failure. There are in reality about
1,400 of these islands, where the river St. Lawrence issues from Lake
Ontario. The morning was unpropitious, it being very rainy, and this, no
doubt, helped to give them a dismal appearance. They are of all forms
and sizes, some three miles long, and some hardly appearing above the
water. The disappointment to us was their flatness, and their all being
alike in their general aspect, being covered with light wood. When this
is lit up by the sun, they are probably very pretty, as we experienced
later in the day, which turned out to be a most brilliant one. The
islands are generally uninhabited, except by wild ducks, deer, foxes,
raccoons, squirrels, musk-rats, and minxes, and also by partridges in
abundance. We have tasted the wild duck, which is very good.
About one o'clock in the day we lost sight of the islands, except a few,
which occasionally are scattered along the river; we had no longer
however to thread our way among them, as we had done earlier in the day.
Dinner was at two, but we were not much disposed to go down, for we had
just passed one rapid, and were coming to the finest of all, the Cedars;
but they turned out to be by no means alarming to an unpractised eye.
The water is much disturbed, and full of small crests of waves. There
were four men at the wheel, besides four at the tiller, and they had no
doubt to keep a sharp look out; we stood on deck, and received a good
sea in our faces, and were much excited by the scene. The longest rapid
occupied us about twenty minutes, being nine miles long. It is called
the Long Sault. The banks on either side continued flat; we stopped
occasionally at pretty little villages to take in passengers or wood,
but these stoppages told much against our progress, and the days now
being short, we were informed that the vessel could not reach Montreal
that night. There is a rapid a few miles above Montreal, which is the
most dangerous of them all, and cannot be passed in the dark. The boat,
therefore, stopped at La Chine for the night, and we had our choice of
sleeping on board or landing and taking the train for eight miles to
Montreal; and as we had seen all the rest of the rapids, and did not
feel much disposed for the pleasure of a night in a small cabin, we
decided on landing. We had tea first, with plenty of cold meat on the
table, and the fare was excellent on board, with no extra charge for it.
Before landing we had a most magnificent sunset. The sun sank at the
stern of the vessel; and the sky remained for an hour after in the most
exquisite shades of colouring, from clear blue, shading to a pale green,
and then to a most glorious golden colour. The water was of the deepest
blue, and the great width of the noble river added to the grandeur of
the scene. The Canadian evenings and nights are surpassingly beautiful.
The atmosphere is so light, and the colouring of the sunset and the
bright light of the moon are beyond all description. We made
acquaintance with a couple of Yankees on board, who amused us much. They
were a young couple, travelling, they said, for pleasure. They looked of
the middle class, and were an amusing specimen of Yankee vulgarity. The
lady's expression for admiration was "ullegant:" the dinner was
"ullegant," the sunset was "ullegant," and so was the moonrise, and so
were the corn-cakes and corn-pops _fixed_ by herself or her mother. She
was delighted with the bead bracelet I was making, and I gave her a
pattern of the beads. She was astonished to find that the English made
the electric cable. She and her husband mean to go to England and
Scotland in two years. I was obliged to prepare her for bad hotels and
thick atmosphere, at both of which she seemed astonished. She was also
much surprised that she would not find Negro waiters in London. They
remained on board for the night; and on meeting her in the street
yesterday, she assured us the last rapid was "ullegant," and that we had
missed much in not seeing it.
We arrived at Montreal at eight o'clock on the evening of the 24th, and
walked a little about the town. The moon was so bright that colours
could be clearly distinguished. We yesterday spent many hours on the
Victoria bridge which is building here across the river in connection
with the Grand Trunk Railway. It is a most wonderful work, and I must
refer you to an interesting article in the last _Edinburgh Review_ for a
full account of it. Papa had letters to the chief officials of the
railway, which procured us the advantage of being shown the work in
every detail by Mr. Hodges (an Englishman), who has undertaken the
superintendence of it--the plans having been given him by Stephenson.
The expense will be enormous--about a million and a quarter sterling;
almost all raised in England. The great difficulties to be contended
with are:--the width of the river--it being two miles wide at this
point; its rapidity--the current running at the rate of seven miles an
hour; and the enormous masses of ice which accumulate in the river in
the winter; rising as high sometimes as the houses on either side, and
then bursting their bounds and covering the road. The stone piers are
built with a view to resist as much as possible this pressure; and a
great number of them are finished, and have never yet received a
scratch from the ice, which is satisfactory. Their profile is of this
form. And this knife-like edge cuts the ice through as it passes down
the river, enabling the blocks to divide at the piers and pass under the
bridge on each side. The piers are built of limestone, in blocks varying
from eight to ten feet high: but in sinking a foundation for them,
springs are frequently met with under some large boulders in the bed of
the river, and this causes great delay, as the water has to be pumped
out before the building can proceed. The bridge will be an iron tubular
one; the tubes come out from Birkenhead in pieces, and are riveted
together here. We first rowed across the river with Mr. Hodges in a
six-oared boat; and the day being warm and very fine, we enjoyed it
much. This gave us some idea of the breadth of the river and of the
length of the bridge, of which it is impossible to judge when seen
fore-shortened from the shore.
[Illustration: Bridge piers]
We then mounted the bridge and were astonished at the magnitude of the
work. There is an immense forest of woodwork underneath most of it at
present, but they are glad to clear this away as fast as the progress of
the upper work admits, as if left till winter the force of the ice cuts
through these enormous beams as if they were straw. We could only
proceed across two piers at the end furthest from the town, but here we
had a very fine view of Montreal, lying at the foot of the hill from
which it takes its name. It has many large churches, the largest being
the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the tin roofs of the houses and
churches glittered in the sun and gave a brilliant effect. We returned
to the boat and rowed again across the river below the bridge, and here,
owing to the strength of the current our boat had to pursue a most
zig-zag path, pulling up under the eddy of each buttress, but our
boatmen knew well what they were about, as they are in the habit of
taking Mr. Hodges daily to the bridge and it was very pretty to hear the
warning of _doucement! doucement!_ from the helmsman as we approached
any peril. Mr. H. said that without the familiarity they had with the
river, the boat would in an instant be carried down the stream and out
of all control. The French language is much more spoken than the
English, there being a large body of French Roman Catholic Canadians
here and at Quebec. I say this to account for the _doucement_; but must
now leave this wonderful bridge, and tell you that after seeing it we
drove to the Bishop of Montreal's. We found him and Mrs. Fulford at
home, and sat some time with them, and they asked us to drink tea with
them, which we did. There was no one there but ourselves, and we passed
an agreeable evening with them, and came home by moonlight with the
comet also beaming on us.
_September 27th._--We went yesterday morning to a small church in the
suburbs where the bishop preached. We found Lord and Lady Radstock in
the hotel, and papa walked with him in the afternoon, and endeavoured to
learn something of the Christian Young Men's Association here. They
found the secretary at home, and from him learnt that the revivals of
religion here have lately been of a satisfactory nature, and that there
is a great deal of religious feeling at work among the middle classes. I
forgot to mention that on Saturday we met a long procession of nuns
going to the church of Notre Dame, which gave the place a very foreign
look. We went into the church for a few minutes. It was very large, part
of it was well filled, and a French sermon going on. There are a good
many convents here, and I shall try to visit one. The Jesuits are said
to be very busy. We hear French constantly spoken in the streets. We
went to church again yesterday evening, when the bishop preached on the
text, "Demas hath forsaken me."
To-day we took Lord and Lady Radstock to Mr. Hodges, who promised to
show them over the bridge, and since that papa and I have had a pleasant
drive round the mountain. From one part we had a good view of the Ottawa
river, celebrated by Moore, who wrote his Canadian boat song in a canoe
on the rapids of that river. The town of Ottawa has been named by the
Queen as the seat of Government; but after consulting her on the
subject, the inhabitants seem disinclined to take her advice. The views
were very pretty, and the day warm and pleasant. As we drove we
frequently saw on the walls, large placards with a single text in French
or English, an evidence of the work of the revival going on here. We
wound up our visit to Montreal by buying some furs, this being the best
place to get them: they are to be shipped from here in a sailing vessel,
and therefore will not reach London for some time, but notice will be
sent of their coming; so be on the look out for them some day. We are
off this afternoon for Quebec, where we hope to find some good news from
you all. So adieu, my dear child.
LETTER V.
JOURNEY FROM MONTREAL TO QUEBEC.--QUEBEC.--FALLS OF
MONTMORENCY.--ISLAND POND.--WHITE MOUNTAINS.--PORTLAND.--RETURN TO
BOSTON.--HARVARD UNIVERSITY.--NEWHAVEN.--YALE UNIVERSITY.--RETURN
TO NEW YORK.
Portland Maine, Sept. 29th, 1858.