_Journey from Galt to Goderich—Farmer from Roxburghshire—Female
Worth—Improved health of Scotch Farmers—Visit Captain
A * * *—Humming-birds—London Family in the Bush—Guides—Avon
Accommodation—German Settler—Notices of Nature._
Having letters from some friends in Scotland to a relation of theirs
near Galt, who had formerly farmed in Roxburghshire, I was anxious to
deliver the letters personally, and set out at six o’clock in the
morning in search of his residence, which was difficult to find, from
not being named. On enquiring the way at an old man on the road, we got
certain information in broad Scotch; and in the course of conversation,
he told us he thought Canada a rough bit at first, but he now liked it.
Calling at a house to ask the way, a man said it was one thing to put a
question, and another to answer it. Seeing the individual was in a state
of brutal intoxication, I walked to the waggon, followed by the poor
wretch, vociferating disgusting oaths, who seemed exasperated by the
silence and contempt with which he was treated. I afterwards learned he
had a short time before beat his wife out of the house, and was
considered on the high road to ruin.
We at length found the object of our search, Mr T——, walking in his
fields with Mr R——, whom I had seen at Kingston. Mr T—— had only reached
Canada the year before, and was not perhaps fairly set down. The farm he
had purchased was mostly cleared, and he was summer fallowing a
considerable extent of land, which was well ploughed, and laid off into
regular ridges. He had bought all the manure in the neighbourhood at
about sixpence per load, and was laughed at for having done so. The
house was built of wood, and two beds were standing in recesses in the
apartment where we breakfasted. Mrs T—— apologized for the mean
appearance of her house, which I assured her was unnecessary, as I found
few in the country so good, and its shining cleanness imparted more
interest to me than the highest glitter of British fashion. She was in
excellent spirits, and entertained us with many particulars of her
journey from Scotland. Arriving at Montreal when cholera was raging in a
dreadful manner, and her husband being in a delicate state of health, no
time was lost in pursuing their route. In passing up the St Lawrence
with her family and luggage, the boat admitted water so freely, that she
was forced to walk by the river side with an infant on her back. The
population being panic-struck at the havoc cholera was making, shut
their doors on emigrants, who, they imagined, had introduced the disease
into the country, and she was under the necessity of baking bread for
her family with her own hands, and firing it under a tree. After
relating many particulars of their first settlement, she concluded by
stating, that in Scotland she had three maid-servants constantly at her
own command, here she had no servants, and was happier without them. On
remarking it delighted me to find her in such excellent spirits and
pleased with her situation, as the change from the old country to Canada
appeared more trying for ladies than gentlemen, she replied with
animation, “O no, sir, ladies can manage their own department here, but
gentlemen require assistance in theirs.” Mrs T—— spoke with so much
good-humour and feeling, that it would have been rudeness to have
maintained an opposite opinion; and without investigating which of the
sexes in the middle ranks of life undergo the greatest privations at
first settlement, observation convinced me females get sooner reconciled
to their duties, and discharge them with better effect than males. Much
as I have ever esteemed my countrywomen, they never appeared to so much
advantage as in Canada, where their energies had been fully called forth
and developed by the new circumstances in which they were placed, and
their exertions induced me to regard many of them as heroines. Emigrants
are desired to bring out wives to Canada, and I add my testimony to the
justness of the recommendation. In almost every case that came under
notice, my countrywomen appeared calculated to stimulate their husbands
to industrious exertion, and some, under divine Providence, Seemed to
owe almost all they possessed to their fair partners.
One great source of rejoicing to Mrs T—— was her husband’s improved
state of health since his arrival in Canada, which she attributed to
climate. But were I to judge of the matter, I would assign his change of
circumstances as the more likely cause of his better health. Land in
Scotland is almost always occupied on lease of 19 years’ endurance, and
perhaps there is no situation more trying than a tenant with an
over-rented farm. In nine cases out of ten he cannot get quit of his
lease, or a modification of rent; if he rise early or toil late, the
fruits of his labour go to the proprietor of the land, and year after
year he finds his funds diminishing, with ultimate ruin in prospective.
Under such circumstances I have known individuals become drunkards,
others gamblers; some have sunk into a premature grave, and but few
minds remain in full tone, and still fewer constitutions. To escape from
such a situation, and reach Canada, where the present may be said to be
without care, and futurity so brilliant, must be a perfect Elysium and
restorer of health. It is but justice for me to say, that I am
altogether unacquainted with the circumstances in which Mr T—— was
situated in Scotland, but if like many of his profession, his improved
health may be regarded as an effect of his improved prospects.
We reached Captain A——’s, in the township of Blenheim, in time for
dinner, having passed through miles of forests, in which a track could
scarcely be recognised. The general appearance of the place had an air
of neatness, although it was only fifteen months since the first tree
was felled. He had already cleared about 30 acres, and reaped a
luxuriant, though mildewed, wheat crop. Oats, potatoes, and Indian corn,
were advancing towards maturity. Here, for the first time in Canada, I
saw crops injured from luxuriance, and only two or three instances of
such afterwards came under my notice.
The residence of Captain A—— was within 50 yards of a rivulet which
joined the Nith, the space between the house and the stream being
occupied as a garden, in which the taste of the family had begun to be
displayed in cultivating flowers. The house was a log cottage of
considerable dimensions, one longitudinal half of which was occupied by
a kitchen and sitting room; the other half consisted of sleeping
apartments, which I did not number. The door opened into the kitchen, in
which every thing was clean and neat, and which communicated with the
rest of the house. The interior walls consisted of unbarked trees,
against which an extensive library was placed, occupying one end of the
sitting room. When retiring for the night, we were conducted up a stair
into a kind of garret, where we were told we must sleep. At this time I
had not seen much Backwood life, and my looks, perhaps, betraying
astonishment, Captain A—— laughed heartily, and reconducted us to an
apartment below, where I reposed for the night, on a more comfortable
bed than any I afterwards met with in America.
Next morning, I arose before any of the family, and while walking up the
banks of the stream, ere the sun had peeped over the forest, enjoyed an
excellent opportunity of observing the humming-bird of the country.
Upwards of a dozen of these lovely creatures were feeding on the
blossoms of a plant growing near the river, the celerity of their
movements in examining and passing from flower to flower excited
admiration, and when moving to a distance, the eye could not follow
their rapidity of flight. A copious formation of dew had taken place in
course of the night, which draggled their beautiful plumage in
fluttering amongst the leaves, and they frequently retired to a fallen
tree to trim their feathers. They seemed regardless of my presence, and
plied their task within a few yards of me. They do not, like the bee,
rest on a plant when examining a flower, but thrust their long bill into
the heart of the blossom when suspended in air, and in this position
excite the noise from which they take their name.
Captain A——’s family consisted of eleven children, the eldest of whom
seemed about seventeen years. He had moved in the best society of
London, and in consequence of a sudden reverse of fortune, came to his
present situation, and at once placed his family in the bush, without a
servant or any one to assist them, and they bake, cook, wash, and do
every thing for themselves. Mrs A—— is a sensible woman, reconciled to
her situation; and her household and family matters testify to her
excellent management. Two sons, handsome, genteel-looking youths, about
fifteen or sixteen years of age, chop trees, and perform all sort of
farm work. The young ladies seem equally active in their department. I
was anxious to see the cows milked, but unfortunately they had strayed
in the woods, and could not be found while I was there. It requires a
considerable degree of heroism in people like Captain and Mrs A——,
accustomed to the gaieties and luxuries of London life, retiring to the
woods of Canada without a servant or any thing like their former notions
of comfort, and whatever may have been the impelling motive for the step
they took, their perseverance merits applause. It was an interesting
sight to see a young and genteel family so situated and happy in their
new position, and the pleasure experienced during my visit at Lamotte,
was an ample recompense for crossing the Atlantic.
In my progress through Canada I had witnessed female devotion of the
most exalted character, which circumstances prevent me noticing, but the
same reasons do not apply to the youths of this family, and I trust they
will pardon the liberty I take with them. Two slender and accomplished
boys, in a part of the world blighting to their first budding hopes and
enjoyments, inuring themselves to the hardest manual labour in support
of their parents, and infant brothers and sisters, is a picture of
disinterested virtue worthy of being delineated by an abler pen. I trust
their exertions will be crowned with success, and that a portion of
time, which can be spared from furnishing food, will be devoted to the
moral improvement of the younger branches of the family. What a source
of comfort these youths must be to their parents, whose precepts must
have had no small share in forming their character, and their conduct
may be instanced as illustrative of the advantages of parental care, in
a selfish point of view, where nobler motives do not exist. Their mode
of life may be different from that of their schoolfellows in England,
but in mature age they will look back with delight on their past
labours, and in all probability, great will be their reward in this
life, and greater in that which is to come.
After partaking of breakfast, we bade adieu to Lamotte, when the little
members of the family clustering around, reminded me of the
humming-birds seen in the morning, and I could not refrain from stealing
a kiss from a curly-headed child, whose soft blue eyes were innocently
fixed on the departing strangers. On our way to the Goderich road, we
were accompanied by Mr T. A——, mounted on horseback, with an axe over
his shoulder, to act as guide, and cut a way for the waggon. As he rode
before us, with his slender figure dressed in a clean neat jacket and
trowsers, snow-white shirt, with exposed collar and broad-brimmed straw
hat, I would at one period have thought him ill-adapted for a
Backwoodsman, but having, in course of my wanderings in the wilds of
Canada, witnessed the advantages of cultivated minds and habits, his
appearance was a source of pleasure, while I meditated on his probable
career in life. We fortunately did not require much of his axe services,
and parted with him at the end of five or six miles, where the road was
good. About two miles farther, the road seemed to terminate at a
log-hut, the inmate of which told us a waggon had never penetrated
beyond his dwelling, and would have difficulty in reaching the Goderich
road, distant four miles. He offered to be our guide, and provided
himself with an axe to clear the way. We had before this time commenced
walking, from the badness of the roads, and found considerable
difficulty in getting the waggon through the bush, when at length its
progress was arrested. In this dilemma a person approached, and said it
was impossible to proceed in our present route, and offered to show us
through the only passage. We were conducted many miles of footpath, till
we at last reached the wished-for road. I felt pleased with our bush
guides, one of whom was from Yorkshire, the other from Ireland; they did
not take advantage of our situation by stipulating for reward, but
seemed to act alone from friendship, and I bestowed on each a trifling
gratuity.
We dined at a tavern on Smith’s Creek, newly erected, good of its kind,
and a little after nightfall reached one on Avon Creek kept by an
intelligent Irishman. On retiring for the night, we were conducted to a
shanty thirty or forty yards from the tavern, consisting of one
apartment, containing three beds, one of which was already occupied,
another was destined for our waggoner, and the third for my friend and
self. This hovel did not even contain a seat, or any kind of furniture,
except the fore-mentioned beds, and the door was without a fastening;
the roof was of bark, and the rays of the moon shone through it and the
sides of the building, which bore a stronger resemblance to a bird-cage
than a human habitation. The beds were boughs of trees, put together in
the manner of a camp stool, with a netting of bark connecting the
frame-work. The feeble glimmer of a small candle fixed near the door,
prevented me seeing the bed-clothes, but the bed felt as rough and hard
as the corduroy roads over which we had travelled in course of the day.
On lying down for the night, the farmer’s saying to Mr T. A——, this is a
rough country for a gentleman, recurred to my memory; and in a few
minutes the chirping of a thousand crickets lulled me to repose.
Next morning I called our waggoner at daybreak, and, while the horses
were attaching, examined a grist and saw mill which were erecting by the
river side. We breakfasted on very poor fare at a tavern kept by a
German, who was one of the first settlers on the road, having been five
years in his present situation. He expressed himself satisfied with his
lot, having 1000 acres of land, and had only sixteen in his own country.
I remarked that he perhaps held too much land; when he told me he had
nine sons, to each of whom he meant to give 100 acres, and retain the
same extent for himself. His wheat crop this year consisted of sixteen
acres, and was almost entirely destroyed by mildew. We dined at Van
Egmont’s tavern, which is a wealthy-looking place for the country,
containing a store of miscellaneous goods, large barns, and a tolerably
good garden. We travelled five or six miles after nightfall to Goderich.
From Smith’s Creek to Goderich, a distance of about sixty miles, nearly
two-thirds of the road is corduroy or crossway. Occasionally a tree has
been left standing in the centre of the road, as if for the purpose of
attracting notice. These trees are generally rock-elm of the finest
description, but as others equally good could be found a few yards from
the road, those on its centre ought to be removed as interruptions.
The soil of Captain A——’s farm in Blenheim is a rich soft loam of easy
cultivation. The land of this township, and the adjoining one, Wilmot,
which we passed through, is loam of excellent quality. The wood is
chiefly maple, interspersed with elm, oak, cherry, and beach. On our way
from Lamotte to the Goderich road, we saw what is called a wind-fall in
the forest, or havoc of a whirlwind, where the decaying trunks of trees
were scattered in wild and mutilated confusion. Many single trees were
lying up and down, with large masses of earth raised by, and adhering
to, the roots, termed cradle-knolls, which, in some places, were so
numerous as to resemble graves in a churchyard. The soil in the township
of East and North Hope seems considerably inferior to that of the two
mentioned, and a great deal of bad land is afterwards met with,
consisting of swamp and wet clay, covered with stunted wood of various
kinds, and partially settled by poor looking people, lodged in miserable
hovels. I was grieved to see human beings had set themselves down on bad
soil, while so much of good quality remained unoccupied, and which would
have better rewarded them for the labour of clearing. It is perhaps the
policy of some to fix settlers on bad soil, in the first instance, as
the good will be sure to attract others. One person told me, with
seeming self-satisfaction, that his consisted of an inch or two of black
mould on top and fine white clay below.
Chess was plentiful in all situations on the Goderich road; timothy the
prevailing grass, a few plants of cocksfoot, with narrow leaves, and
white clover, were occasionally seen.
A deer was observed standing on the road for some time, at no great
distance from the waggon, and suddenly bounded off into the forest.