aass____l-_ijocL^_ Book_ T's'V J^ THE '^ C A N A D A S : COMPREHENDING Copog;rap]^ical formation CONCERNING THE QUALITY OF THE LAND, IN DIFFERENT districts; and the fullest general information: for the use of EMIGRANTS AND CAPITALISTS. FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS FURNISHED BY JOHN GALT, Esq., Late of the Canada Company, and of the British American Land Association. SECOND EDITION. <. PUBLISHED BY EFFINGHAM WILSON, royal EXCHANGE. 1836. LONDON : Printed by W, Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. -?. ^O TO JOHN GALT, Esq. F.R.S. S^c. 8fc. Sfc. Dear Sir, Independent of any consideration of the assistance you have afforded me in the present compilation, and of the feelings of private friendship, it is proper that a work of this kind should be inscribed to you, from the services you are known to have rendered to Canadian Colonization. Of the extent and value of those services — services which will hereafter connect your name with the history of this interesting colony, — it is to be hoped, for your own sake, that the public at home may yet become as fully aware, as the settlers are in those parts of the province where the effects of them are more particularly felt. Colonization, as a means of relief to an over- populated mother country, has of late assumed an importance which every year seems to augment. To have formed associate bodies for the efficient pro- 17 DEDICATION. motion of such an object ; and to have laid down and brought into operation principles of management, for the settlement of large tracts of wilderness country, the soundness and Hberality of which, as connected with prosperity, have been amply proved by ex- perience, — are public services deserving a praise, that well may be put in honourable competition with an extended literary fame. That your known talents for business and public undertakings, may yet be attended with some measure of reward to yourself, is the earnest wish of Dear Sir, Yours most sincerely, ANDREW PICKEN. Regent's Park, East, 16th May, 1832. ADVERTISEMENT. This book is presented to the public with great confidence by the compiler. He claims no merit for himself, but it will be difficult to find a recent work, in which so many official and authentic documents are brought together respecting any country. The size of the work may seem to offer something like a contradiction to this asser- tion, but a very cursory inspection will convince the reader, that the materials from which it has been compiled are of no ordinary stamp. Indeed, had it not been owingr to the circum- stances, of two great public bodies, as well as the government, being interested in collecting the information, which the compiler has been so fortunate as to obtain access to, it could not have been within the means of an individual to accu- VI ADVERTISEMENT. mulate such a variety of important and, to emi- grants, necessary knowledge. In addition to the valuable papers and reports to which reference has been made, and the numer- ous publications quoted in the course of the compilation, the compiler has great pleasure in acknowledging his obligations to private sources, and, besides Mr. Gait, particularly to Nathaniel Gould, Esq., Deputy Governor of the British American Land Company, for the use of his very shrewd and interestinsf remarks in the notes which he made in his travels in the two Canadas. The Huron Tract, in the Upper Province, having lately been strongly recommended as an advantageous spot for settlement, the compiler applied to the Canada Company for access to a Report of an Inspection of great part of it made by their order, as he is informed, and transmitted to them; but for some unassigned reason the Directors declined allowing a sight of any docu- ments which they had not themselves printed. CONTENTS. Introcuction Page 1 Topographical Sketches : — Part I, — Lower Canada Part II. — Upper Canada 39 109 Travellins: to the Canadas :- Part I.— The St. Lawrence . 203 Part II.— By New York, Albany, &c. . 225 Part III. — Expenses, Distances, &c. . 250 General Considerations for Colonists, &c. . 287 Commissioner's Report . . • . 296 Appendix . . • . • . i INTRODUCTION. The subject of emigration, or rather colonization^ and all the enquiries connected with it, is, from the circumstances of the country at home, becoming daily of increased interest to all classes of the community. The employment of capital, not less than the employ- ment of labour; the relief of distressed trades, of overpeopled districts, of individuals and their families struggling vainly without hope, and of overflowing manufactures seeking a market and a beneficial re- turn ; all are connected with it, and with the effects that grow out of it in a new country. It is not there- fore to be wondered at, that the public should not be easily satisfied in their enquiries upon a subject, which, in times like the present, comes so home to the busi- nesses and bosoms of a large and enterprising class of individuals. As the interest of the subject rises above those, classes by whom it has hitherto been looked upon merely as an ultimate relief from pressing distress, and extends to persons in better circumstances, who begin to enquire carefully into the state and pros- pects of those new countries, which open such a field for industry or adventure, — either with ideas of set- tling there themselves, or with a view to the profit- 2 INTRODUCTION. able investment of capital in connexion with colonial companies formed at liome, — a species of information comes to be required, more particular and authentic than the hasty opinions of publishing travellers, or the brief reports of settlers in the vi^oods. In order as much as possible to meet this object, and yet to confine the information given to a price that shall be within the reach of the ordinary emigrant, the present has been undertaken ; upon the plan of se- lecting, compiling, and condensing, from every source deemed authentic, all the practical information and accredited opinion, which has been given upon the whole subject, both in evidence before the Com- mittees of the House of Commons, and in every other shape in which that information seems to be worthy of entire reliance. In this point of view, a large portion of the present compilation has been devoted to condensed topographical sketches of as much of Lower and Upper Canada, as seemed to commend themselves to the enquiries of proposed settlers, or purchasers of land, either at home or in the colonies, — a species of information, which appeared to the editor to be of the first importance, both for general and particular guidance. In compiling this part of the present publication, the compiler has, in reference to Lower Canada, made free use of the valuable topo- graphical dictionary contained in the large work of Colonel Bouchette, the able and indefatigable Sur- veyor-general ; and upon the upper province, parti- cularly that where the lands belonging to the Canada INTRODUCTION. 3 Company are situated, and the contiguous parts, he is indebted to original reports of inspections, and other documents, kindly furnished him by Mr. Gait, some of which he has given verbatim as he received them. The intelligent reader who is disposed to look comprehensively at a subject of such present as well as prospective importance, may also observe, that in the arrangement of his facts and the selection of his documents, as well as the correction of many vague opinions, he has been largely indebted to the com- municative industry of the latter gentleman, whose accuracy of knowledge of Canadian colonization, and power of observation upon all its details, need no eulogium in this place. Upon all matters of state- ment or calculation, the editor has uniformly spoken from authority where compression was deemed neces- sary, or rather has preferred giving the documents themselves wherever they seemed sufficiently con- densed and general for a popular publication, in- tended to comprehend as much matter as possible, that should be merely useftd. Before, however, proceeding to the usual particulars, a few general observations will naturally be expected. Confining, for the present, the field of emigration from the United Kingdom to his Majesty's domi- nions in the two Canadas, what sort of jaersons should seriously think of so important a step, has often been matter of considerable discussion. Upon this subject, however, we are furnished by nature with one general lule, which, unhappily for this country, is becoming B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. daily and imperatively more extensively applicable; namely, the great rule of necessity^ which to minds of any decision, placed in circmnstances but too com- mon, soon precludes all controversy. It is the feel- ing of the necessity of the case, arising from a fair view of a man's situation and prospects in the old country, — that is, in general, that impelling principle of self-preservation, which is too powerful to admit of long deliberation, or a plain question between subsist- ence and want, — which is not only the speediest decider between a balance of evils, but which, in its operations in new circumstances, is the best stimu- lant to exertion, and the surest safeguard of success. This great law of the natural sense, is now fast begin- ning to apply, not only to the peasant and the arti- zan, who in too many cases see nought before them in tliis densely-populated country, but the melancholy consummation of the parish work-house, and the pauper's grave, but, to a vast number who have been otherwise situated, on whom the crowded mart of overdriven industry of all sorts, has shut every door of decent employment at home, and left them no choice between personal labour, of an unwonted species, in another land, with a view to an ultimate independence, and the last state of degradation and misery where they are -, with the bitter aggravation, in such an alternative, of being perfectly miable to help themselves. This rule of necessity, naturally divides itself among three classes, all of whom feel it equally urgent, but not with the same degree of hope in refer- ence to emigration. INTRODUCTION. 5 The first and most numerous is composed of those, who, as mere labourers, and standing at the bottom of the scale of society at home, would be happy to go to any spot, where they could procure a subsistence by physical exertion. Though there is no doubt that, as far as individuals are concerned, this class ought to be the first to emigrate, yet the situation of such per- sons is rendered so completely helpless, by their entire destitution, and so formidable even to a colony from their numbers, that they become more the proper objects of the care of others than of them elves *. The operation of the feeling of necessity itself, then, ought to be checked, in reference to the helpless orders, by such regulations, even in the supply of labour beyond the Atlantic, as may prevent destitute families from throwing themselves in shoals upon a new country, without even the means of their own conveyance to those inland settlements where their labour may procure them present subsistence. Upon this subject, the Committee of the House of Commons, in the course of their enquiries, make in their Third Report a very important and obvious dis- tinction, which ought to be impressed at home, as well upon the poor man himself, before he suffers himself to be decoyed on board ship by low and mer- cenary agents, as upon bodies of individuals who are interested in the removal of the helpless. This dis- tinction is, between Emigration and Colonization. The former in its simple sense, is mere change of * See paper A, in the Appendix. 6 INTRODUCTION. place, whereas colonization in all its consequences ought to be the real and only object of the removal from the old country ; for, as the Report expresses it, were the Government at home, or parishes for their own relief, to transfer men to the Canadas who have not the means of becoming industrious colonists, such would only have the effect of a bridge thrown across the Atlantic, for thousands to hasten to the other side to glut the market for labour, extensive as it is — to embarrass the frontier towns, as has already been done, with the starving poor of the old country; while the victims of ignorance themselves, unable to proceed to where their labour was available, were left to die in the wilderness. It is therefore a general rule, applying most of all to that class which is strongest goaded by necessity, that no man ought to leave the old country, without the means, not only of paying his passage to the Canadian shores, but of subsisting until he reaches the settlements up the country, where he may be enabled to commence ac- tual colonization, in its simplest form, by the disposal and exertion of his own labour *. To the second, and a better class of persons, at least in reference to intelligence and handicraft ac- quirement, namely, men reared to manufactures of all sorts, who cannot procure employment at home, there is no rule will apply so generally as the great rule of necessity in favour of emigration ; if such persons * For further opinion vipon the emigration of this class, see paper B, in the Appendix. INTRODUCTION-. 7 can only save or procure the means of support until they reach the place where they can be paid for their labour. Some controversy having been maintained as to the rationality of advising persons, accustomed to sedentary and in-door employments at home, to go where they shall be set to chop trees in the woods, and this occasioning many to waver in their resolves, in spite of the strongest feelings of the necessity of the step, this subject may require a few further remarks. If the experience of persons who have followed the sedentary employment of weaving may be taken as generally applicable on this point, we have the fullest satisfaction in the evidence given before the Com- mittee of the House of Commons, in the Report just referred to. In the year 1827, during a time of great distress, the urgency of their circumstances had caused the weavers of the AVest of Scotland to form tliemselves into numerous societies, for the promotion of associated plans of emigration, in connexion with which they earnestly applied for the assistance of Government. On this occasion, delegates from them were examined before the Committee, and stated, that the anxieties of the weavers to emigrate to Canada were enhanced by the favourable reports daily received from those of their own class who had already been settled there. Various letters from persons who had formerly been weavers, but who had emigrated for some time, were laid before the Committee ; but the substance of them will best appear in the following- questions and their answers. — {Vide Examination of 8 INTRODUCTION. John Tait. — Third Report, Minutes of Evidence^ p. 106.) * Are the weavers aware of the nature of the labour of a new settler ? ' ' They are 'perfectly aware of the great hardships they must encounter in the first two or three years.' ' Do you think they will make good fellers of heavy wood, and that they will be able to stump up roots and clear land ? ' ' A good many of them have been accustomed to out-door labour ; and during last summer a good number were employed in breaking stones — a species of labour harder than that of felling trees ; and if they can exert themselves in one way, they will do it in another.' The editor of a Glasgow newspaper examined. — (76. p. 90.) ' Have you any knowledge as to the state of those parties now in Canada ? ' ' I have ; I know that many who went over to Canada, in a state of utter destitution, in 1820, are now in a state of comparative happiness ; many of them have written to their friends desirous of coming over, telling them that they certainly en- countered great hardships for eighteen or twenty months, but that after that time they found that their situation got progressively better, and that they would gladly endure five times the amount of hardship, in order to be placed in the situation in which they now are.' INTRODUCTION. 9 As the subject is raised to apply to a third, and su- perior class at home, the answer to the question of who should emigrate? becomes more complicated, and is more involved in considerations of acquired habits, associations, and mental wants affecting hap- piness, which only the strong feeling of necessity^ resulting from an appalling balance of evils, can in many minds overcome *. * And j;et the feeling of necessity itself, arising from the pres- sure of the severest distress, though affording, perhaps, the best general rule for the expediency of emigration, has not always been sufficient to overcome the prejudices entertained in some parts of the country against the step. It appears by the evidence of a magistrate of the county of Nottingham, (the Rev. Mr. Beechey,) given to the Committee before mentioned, that in 1819, during a time of the severest distress, ' many artificers in those days, who had lived in absolute luxury and comparative affluence, were reduced to such an abject situation that they worked as common labourers for tenpence a-day, and submitted to this drudgery sooner than accept colonization.' This prejudice arises very much, however, from the operation of the poor-laws, which tends gradually to degrade the poor, and deprive them of all manly spirit and self-dependence. The same witness adds, — ' I am also of opinion that the same feeling still exists, and will probably prevail in other places where the poor know- as well as they do in Nottinghamshire that they are, under the present laws, entitled to parochial support.' The infer- ence drawn by this intelligent philanthropist is still more in- teresting, and illustrative of human nature. ' I think,' he adds, that when a family becomes actually pauperised, both in the parents and in their progeny, which is constantly the case, we appear in our legislation to want some provision beyond a work-house, or a prison; and I leave it to the judgment of the Committee to consider whether there may not be a class of paupers to whom colonization might be proposed^ 10 INTRODUCTION. To the mere agriculturist, who is accustomed to farming employment at home, and has some means left to prosecute his fortune, colonization in Canada is more a matter of choice and speculation ; and, when adopted, will well repay the industrious and enter- prising emigrant. The man, however, whose habits are to be broke up, and whose pursuits are to suffer a total change by such a step, yet who is goaded on by the strong hand of necessity, will find, from the reports of all men who have tried it, that the first hardships of making a settlement, in a country which presents such an inexhaustible field of exertion and enterprise as Canada, is as nothing compared to the appalling prospects, particularly for large families, that await the declining and the friendless in an overpopulated country. Upon a subject of this kind, however, which ap- plies to men of broken fortunes or narrow means at home, and refers to habits of mind and disposition as various as the features of the face, opinion will of course be as various and it will be difficult to point out any general rule upon the subject ; unless the accompanied with a condition, that, if rejected, these paupers should not become in future entitled to parochial relief.' — (Vide Minutes of Evidence, ^c, Third Repo7't, p. 401.) It should be added, however, that the colonization, against which the Nottingham artificers entertained such prejudices, was that to the Cape of Good Hope, — Canada not being then so well known and appreciated as a field for emigration. A few, however, did consent to go ; and, after being supplied with every necessary, were shipped to Algoa bay. The result is well known. INTRODUCTION. 11 feeling of necessity itself, in a mind of some decision, is sufficiently strong to overcome all obstacles to the undertakings and a resolute self-denial and perse- vering industry in the execution., comes into active operation, to ensure ultimate comfort and inde- pendence, as it no doubt will do. As to persons who have been accustomed to city comforts and city excite- ment at home, the question of the expediency of emi- gration, as far as their own feelings are concerned, is one of the mind, still more than even the habits ; therefore, the mind itself is the most competent, from its own consciousness, to give the answer. To some minds, the mere feeling of conscious prosperity and prospective independence, is sufficient to make labour itself an enjoyment, and petty inconveniences a sub- ject of mirth rather than spleen ; while to others, these latter things are subjects of constant murmur and harassment. Upon this point we have the following opinion, in reference even to the greatest preliminary hardships of the worst provided settlers, by the son of the well-known Colonel Talbot, the celebrated colonizer on lake Erie, Upper Canada, whose experience and opportunities of observation well entitle him to be heard on any part of this snb- ject. * It is a grievance of no inconsiderable magnitude,' says he, ' to be compelled, after a day of severe labour, to stretch one's weary limbs on the bare ground in the cold month of November, and to be protected from the " fierce North- wind, with liis 12 INTRODUCTION. airy forces," and from the chilling frost, only by a miserable hut, with a fire sufficiently near it to counteract, in some degree, their benumbing effects. But the hope of independence is sufficient to sustain the mind under privations still greater than these ; and he, who can bring himself to think, when lying down to rest on the bare earth, that the day is not far distant when he may happily repose on a more inviting couch, without one anxious thought respect- ing the future prospects of himself and his family, regards these transient sufferings with a kind of feel- ing nearly allied to actual pleasure. He sees the time fast approaching, when the wilderness to him shall be "a fruitful field, and the desert shall blos- som as the rose;" — when the productive soil shall gratefully yield an ample reward to his toils ; — and when the hardships of his situation shall, by the blessing of heaven on his exertions, gradually disap- pear, and leave him in possession of health, plenty, and independence. While indulging in such pleasing visions, the wooden pillow of a new and industrious settler becomes softer than bolsters of down , and his solitary blanket feels more comfortable that sheets of Holland *.' These considerations will apply well to the feelings of a still better class of persons, whom the vicissi- tudes of life in this commercial country are daily re- ducing to circumstances and prospects, which they and their families well may look upon with dismay. * Talbot's Five Years^ Residence in the Canadas, vol. i. p. 118. INTRODUCTION. ^^ To such individuals, the prospect of losing caste in their own country, of descending beneath and being avoided by their former equals ; of incurring, in sliort, the common consequences of misfortune, in respect to social intercourse and estimation in arti- ficial life, — presents often an evil more terrible to a proud mind than the want of bread itself ; and rouses, in its most imperative form, the high resolves and deep determination which grow out of the most ur- gent operation of the great principle of necessity. To liide their heads in the wilderness, therefore, and sub- mit to contend with the evils with which Nature sur- rounds the first intruder upon her domain, rather than further grapple with ills that seem more intensely galling, and are certainly mixed with less ultimate promise, has been the resolve of not a few deter- mined minds, and, where there are any means left to begin the world on the other side, is a disposition which can hardly miss the reward of activity, and the triumph of its own perseverance. These are the sort of persons whom the late clever engineer Mactag- gart designates as those who have been * badgered and abused' at home, but who, in spite of all their misfortunes, having a little cash left, if their minds are unbroken and their frames healthy, make, after all, the best settlers in Canada. It is for persons of this sort, as well as all who, possessing intelligence and minds disposed to enter- prise and activity, with some little substance that they cannot make a safe or hopeful use of at home, that 14 INTRODUCTION. we more particularly design the information and opinion collected or condensed in the following pages. These we give as far as convenient in dif- ferent shapes, that individuals may be better enabled to form a judgment, both as to the difficulties to be encountered, and the nature and extent of the pro- mised advantages. Particulars as to these, however, will be more fully given in the latter part of the volume, and in the shape of statement or quotation in the Appendix. As the evils of home to the better classes of whom we have been speaking, are chiefly those of the mind and habits, including the incessant cares, fears, despondency, and harassment, which are incident to a life of narrow circumstances, or com- mercial vicissitude ; the evils to be endured in such a place as the Canadas, after the first difficulties are surmounted, seem chiefly to assume the shapes of mental and social privation, with unwonted field em- ployment, and in general a certain rudeness and rus- ticity, as well as loneliness of life, to which some minds take with tolerable facility, while others never can thoroughly bend into it. To these last, therefore, the occupations, as well as the rewards of coloniza- tion, only gives them a new modification of that con- stitutional discontent, which to many is the common burden and curse of existence. But this disposition, however common, is very difl'erent from the clear- headed, a priori perception, manly resolution, and heroic perseverance of stronger minds, which, in cases such as that of Mr. Philemon Wright, the American, INTRODUCTION. , 15 (see Appendix,) Colonel Talbot, on lake Erie, the Highland Chieftain M'Nab, on the Ottawa, and a hundred others now prospering in Canada, have been the foundation of such marked colonizing success. To persons to whom colonization in Canada is, to a great degree, matter of choice, the consideration of time of life is, by all writers, allowed to be one of the most important. AVere young inen of the handi- craft class more generally to train themselves for putting forth their exertions in the extensive field of a new country^ much misery would be saved to themselves and their descendants. But man is a gambler in his own fortune ; and, while life is young and hope is fresh, he would rather take his fate among the vast array of blanks that appear around him, for the barest chance of the solitary prize that occasionally turns up to his competitors, than betake himself to a country where the very nature of things makes the advantages sure, and almost present. So it is with persons in the better classes of life, — buoyed up by hope, they struggle on from disappointment to disappointment, until the rational emigrant who has gone before, tells him at last that it is now too late. The next common consideration of the highest im- portance is, with reference to making provisions for growing families. At home, every one knows, there is not a more difficult problem that an anxious parent has to solve, than, what he is to dowith his children? Unless, then, he possesses some peculiar advantages 16 INTRODUCTIO-V. for placing them eligibly in the world, few contem- plations can be more melancholy than their probable career, left to struggle with the overwhelming com- petitions of overpeopled society. It is these consi- derations that often make the elderly parent seek an asylum for himself, and a field for the independence of his family, among the echoing forests of the Ca- nadian wilderness. To all these classes, however, and particularly to a restless scheming sort of men who have dabbled in many of the artificial employments of the old country, it is important to observe, that while in England there is an endless variety of profession and occu- pation, in Canada there is, properly speaking, only one ; or at least, that, excepting for a few of the simplest artisan employments, farming, and farming only, should be looked to as the staple profession of all who mean to emigrate. The plans and enterprises that are connected with farming, and the raising of a new settlement, will always commend themselves to an active mind, but they bear no proportion to the staple concerns of the clearing of land and the raising of produce, to which a steady and rational mind ought to give its first attention. Though the various shades of folly, as to emigration, that grow out of the vices and discontents of an old country, ought to be discouraged, boili as to their wild plans and extra- vagant hopes, yet it seems, after all, to be a general rule, in respect to this interesting field of human exertion, that any, or ' every individual,' as Howison INTRODUCTION. 17 expresses it, ' who to youth and health joins persever- ance and industry, Avill eventually prosper.' ' Mechanics,' adds the same observer, ' cannot fail to do well in Upper Canada ; for, when not em- ployed in clearing lands, they will find it easy to gain a little money by working at their professions ; and they likewise have the advantage of being able to improve their dwelling-houses, and repair their farm- ing utensils at no expense *.' The sort of mechanics recommended for emigration by the Canada Company, — even to Upper Canada, in which the wants of the population may be supposed to be more limited than in the Lower Province, where there are several cities — are ' working artisans of almost all descriptions, particularly blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, and plasterers ; masons, coopers, millwrights, and wheelwrights, get high wages, and are much wanted.' ' Industrious men, adds the Company, ' may look forward with con- fidence to an improvement in their situation, as they may save enough out of one season's work, to buy land themselves, in settled townships.' "With respect, however, to another shade of the merely clever classes, the opinion of Mr. Talbot, * Howison's Upper Canada, p. 239. See also an excellent description of the proceedings of a new settlement, and of Andrew Gimlet, a carpenter, in I\Ir. Gait's ' Bogle Corbet,' vol. iii. p. 31 — 142, &c. See in this book, Appendix Paper C, an interesting account of the early proceedings of Mr. Wright and his associates, in the township of Hull, published at the expense of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. _ C 18 INTRODUCTION-. formerly quoted, is mucli to the point. He says, * with respect to the emigration of yomig men of talent and enterprise, but of no particuhir profes- sion, I think it my duty, most decidedly to urge upon their choice the preference that is due to the king- doms of Europe, and especially to that of Great Britain. For they who imagine that any other part of Canada, than the cities of Montreal and Quebec, is favourable to their views of literary, scientific, or commercial advancement, are of all men the most dreadfully deluded. I have heard of many such persons, who have recently arrived in the province, and I feel sorry to say, that I am not able to men- tion a single exception in which they have not been compelled to resort to the use of the axe, or to some other office which they consider equally degrading*.' Mr. Talbot's book, however, was published in 1824. since which the reader may allow for some slight degree of change. Further, as a matter of choice and speculation, there is no class to whom colonization in the Canadas presents more manifest advantages than persons of small capital, — small, independent incomes, with large families, whom they are naturally anxious to see settled in life ; particularly if such persons and their children are at all wilhng to engage heartily themselves in active employments, for the sake of freedom from despondency, and future comfort. Undoubtedly, to persons accustomed to artificial * Five Year's Residence, vol. ii. p. 247. INTRODUCTION. 19 circumstances, and possessed of the feelings of gentle- men, farming occupations, in a new country, imply many sacrifices ; yet, it ought to be recollected that, after all, field-labour, and the tilling of the ground, are the original and most natural employments of man, and even age and the fixed habits of artificial life cannot altogether destroy the relish with which the healthy mind returns to these, almost at any period. In confirmation of this, we have the uni- form testimony of most travellers and residents in the new country, and the letter of a half- pay officer, who, with his family, had emigrated from Wales, and settled in Upper Canada, to Captain Basil Hall, speaks as strongly to the point, as any that we have met with. ' Even a person not brought up to labour, and under many disadvantages,' he recommends to the step he had himself taken ; particularly, if the person had ' a good heart,' and was ' of an indus- trious turn, and will turn his hand to anything, he will soon better his situation. For example,' he adds, * while in England, on half-pay, nearly all my income went for food ; here it nearly all goes for clothing of British manufacture. My family is supported with respectability and comfort, having abundance of all the necessaries of life within my farm, and my pay enabhng me to supply all other requisites. Here we can keep the door of hospitality open without inconvenience, and fiind leisure to visit our friends, and enjoy ourselves in a pleasant way, keeping a pair of good horses, sleighs, &c. &c. c 2 20 INTRODUCTION. ' Persons with families, as they have the most urgent reasons to migrate, so they will always make the best settlers. Their children can assist mate- rially in the mode of farming pursued on wild land, and may do so without its being looked upon as a degradation. If they are well educated, there is little doubt of their advancement in the professions ; and if not, they will be always sure of a provision by farming, as their parents may, with a moderate outlay, acquire property for them. As British goods of almost every description are now brought down to a moderate price, gentlemen coming out will do well not to stock themselves with more than they want for their own use, as they will find their money more useful than superfluous articles of any description ; and such, with an income of from fifty to two hundred pounds a year, with prudence, may live in the most comfortable and respectable way here, being able, by means of a farm, to supply the table with abundance, and to enjoy themselves at their leisure, in as good society as can be found in most country towns in England. Indeed, were it not for the differences of fences, occasional dissight of old stumps, or dead standing trees, and now and then " I guess," a person in this neighbourhood can hardly fancy himself in a foreign country. ' It is a great error, and to be lamented, that most gentlemen from the old country, as the United Kingdom is called, bring too much of theirnative prejudices with them here ; by which means, they INTRODUCTION". 21 often expend much money uselessly, and frequently get into difficulties ; and I have known some wholly fail from such imprudence. It is from such that unfavourable accounts of this country originate. I think it should be a rule for persons coming to a new country, always first to follow the customs of that country as closely as possible, reserving their improvements till they get firmly established, and see good reason to apply them. It should generally be an object for gentlemen, if they settle in new townships, to endeavour to get near another, or others, of character, already settled ; as, by this means they will have a good chance to be set in the right way, and thereby saved from much imposition, besides the pleasure of having at hand a friend, and society suited to their taste. As land may be bought at very easy rates and price — seven, and even ten years, allowed to pay it in, — it will be preferable for a gentleman, or any person with small means, to purchase near settle- ments, or on main roads, as they will thereby avoid many difficulties I had to contend with.' — Letter^ &c. in Hall's North America, vol. i. pp. 333 to 335. * A settler in this country,' says another, writing to the same intelligent traveller, * though he may have an income, must do all he can to assist in getting on the work ; and he must come here with the full determination to become a farmer to all intents and purposes. The lady must be a good economist and housekeeper; and if she is willing, contented, 22 INTRODUCTION. and reasonable, she will have it in her power to save her husband many an hour of anxiety and pain. * Try to surmount all difficulties ; and as there is always constant employment for both head and hands, never for a moment let your mind dwell on your apparent unpleasant situation ; look forward with hope, and all will go on well, no danger.' — Ih. p. 320. ' Half-pay officers under field rank,' Mr. Talbot also says, ' who have large families and are chiefly dependent on their pay for their support, will find this county a very advantageous place of retreat. They are exempted from personal labour in the field, because they are enabled by the receipt of their money to have their estates cultivated by hired men ; and thus they continue in the same sphere of life, with regard to their non-professional emjjloyments, in which they had been accustomed to move, though they cannot mix with the same agreeable society.' — Five Years' Residence^ vol. ii. p. 246. Upon deciding in favour of colonization, the next question for the individual is, as to the quarter or spot to which he shall emigrate. In this important inquiry, w^e take it for granted that the intending emigrant decides in favour of either of the Canadas ; as the general question with reference to the various parts of the world to which the attention of the super- abundant population of the United Kingdom has been directed of late years, is too wide a subject to be considered here. But the comparative nearness INTRODUCTION. 23 of the Canadas to tlie mother-country ; the known salubrity of the climate, and their being peopled in general by persons of European habits, who differ but little from those of the emigrant ; must ever make this the first country looked to for the choice of British subjects. In addition to these important consider- ations, the known richness and productiveness of the soil, which has been abundantly proved of late years ; the facilities afforded of water communication, throughout the whole tract of country, by means of its noble rivers and extensive lakes ; the comparative nearness of all parts of it to markets and home asso- ciations, and its rapid progress of settlement by indi- viduals from the same country, and prosecuting simi- lar pursuits ; — all these considerations give Lower and Upper Canada a preference in the mind of the enter- prising colonist with capital, as well as in that of the anxious, and industrious poor man, which every day's experience seems to increase. * The colonies in North America/ says the official paper published by authority of the Commissioners for Emigration, ' to which emigrants can with advan- tage proceed, are Lower Canada, Upper Canada, and New Brunswick. From the reports received from the other British colonies in North America, namely. Prince Edward's Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton, it appears that they do not contain tlie means either of affording em- ployment or wages, to a considerable number of emigrants, or of settling them upon land.' — In- formation, p. 8. 24 INTRODUCTION. Witli regard to the preparations for emigrating, when the mind is made up, all that need be said upon this part of our subject, comes within small compass, and is soon disposed of. The great and general preparation, applying to the poorest class upwards, is the gathering together of as much money as can possibly be mustered; for this, of course, commands the greatest number of advantages. Mattresses and bedding will be required for the voyage, and these will, of course, be a most valuable species of luggage to carry afterwards to places of settlement ; but clothing, and most other goods necessary in the in- terior, can be purchased in Montreal, &c., much about as cheaply as in England, and suitable qualities are better understood. Gentlemen, however, to whom luxuries for the table, &c., are of some importance, such as sauces, pickles, &c., had better furnish them- selves before their embarkation, as the carriage of these on the other side will be quite the same as from the frontier towns. To every class, however, who intend to work, and this must include nearly the whole, there is one spe- cies of preparation, which, when it can be made, will be found of the utmost benefit to the^ industrious settler. That is, some little acquaintance with one or more of the* useful trades, a hint that is well illus- trated by Mr. Gait, in his ' Bogle Corbet,' where he makes a smart lad, who had gone to the woods with- out any handicraft knowledge, and had only been accustomed to the duties of a domestic servant, attend for a time ' a blacksmith, a carpenter, and a tailor INTRODUCTION. 25 alternately, twice in each week during the winter/ even after his arrival in Canada. * I do not mean,' adds Mr. Gait, speaking of this plan, ' that all young persons who come to the colo- nies should be fully instructed in any trade ; but, were emigration conducted on proper principles, instead of encouraging the helpless to come abroad, and then leaving them to shift for themselves, I would have them prospectively prepared by some instruction in handicrafts. It is the want of it, as I had by this time seen, that makes the privations of the woods greater than they would otherwise be.' —vol iii. p. 136. With respect to the port whence the emigrant ought to proceed, there is no other rule but to take the one nearest to where he resides in the United Kingdom, as this being the most convenient, will be found generally the cheapest. From all ports, such as Liverpool, London, Hull, Greenock, Cork, &c., there will be found, every spring, vessels going out in ballast to the Canadas for timber, whose interiors are fitted up for emigrant passengers. In reference to proposed emigrants of the poorer sort, who may have friends in America whom they wish to get near, and who may have little acquaintance with the geo- graphy of that part of the world, there is one point of the utmost importance for them to attend to, namely, when they arrive in any port wliere they mean to embark, to seek out the Agent either for the Canada Company already appointed at all the principal ports, or of the Agents of the British American Land 26 INTRODUCTION. Association, hereafter to be established ; and when they have found tliese gentlemen, to enquire par- ticularly /or the place where their friends live^ men- tioning as near as they can the district, county, or township, as, for want of such enquiries, persons itrnorant of the vast extent of British America, have often taken passages for a totally different quarter, and never reached their friends for months or years after their landing. The Agents already established by the Canada Company are — Bristol — Messrs. Acraman. Dublin — John Astle, Esq. Greenock — Messrs. Robert Ewing and Co. Omagh, Londonderry — George Buchanan, Esq. Glasgow — Messrs. Gilkison and Brown. New Ross, Ireland — Messrs. Watson and Graves. Great Yarmouth — Mr. Anthony Morgan. Norwich — Mr. Isaac Lenny. The different ship-owners and brokers in the Canada trade, at the several out-ports, will generally be ready to give proposed emigrants every informa- tion in their power; and poor persons, having the good sense to make their enquiries in a respectful, intelligent manner, and never in any case to apply to other than respectable gentlemen, will always meet with proper attention, and be saved from imposition. All other preliminary information, particularly cal- culated for settlers of the poorer class, may be found, in official form, in the following paper, published from authority, by the Commissioners for Emigra- tion, and calculated for this present season. 27 INFORMATION, published by his Majesty's Com- missioners for Emigration, respecting the British Colonies in North America. Colonial Office, 9th February, 1832. ' The object of the present notice is to afford such information as is likely to be useful to persons who desire either to emigrate, or to assist others to emi- grate, to the British Possessions in North America. ' In the first place, it seems desirable to define the nature of the assistance to be expected from Govern- ment by persons proceeding to these colonies. No pecuniary aid will be allowed by government to emi- grants to the North American colonies; nor, after their arrival, will they receive grants of land, or gifts of tools, or a supply of provisions. Hopes of all these things have been sometimes held out to emigrants by speculators in this country, desirous of making a profit by their conveyance to North America, and willing for that purpose to delude them with un- founded expectations, regardless of their subsequent disappointment. But the wish of government is to furnish those who emigrate with a real knowledge of the circumstances they will find in the countries to which they are going. ' No assistance of the extraordinary extent above described is allowed, because in colonies where those 28 INTRODUCTION. who desire to work cannot fail to do well for them- selves, none such is needed. Land, indeed, used formerly to be granted gratuitously ; but when it was taken by poor people, they found that they had not the means of living during the interval necessary to raise their crops, and further, that they knew not enough of the manner of farming in the colonies to make any progress. After all, therefore, they were obliged to work for wages, until they could make a few savings, and could learn a little of the way of farming in Canada. But now, land is not disposed of except by sale. The produce of the sales, although the price is very moderate, is likely to become a con- siderable fund, which can be turned to the benefit of the colonies, and therefore of the emigrants ; while yet no hardship is inflicted on the poor emigrant, who will work for wages just as he did before, and may, after a while, acquire land, if land be his object, by the savings which the high wages in these colonies enable him speedily to make. * These are the reasons why government does not think it necessary to give away land in a country, where, by the lowness of its price, the plentifulness of work, and the high rate of wages, an industrious man can earn enough in a few seasons to become a freeholder by means of his own acquisitions *. ' The land which is for sale will be open to public competition, and of course, therefore, its price must depend upon the offers that may be made ; but * See a series of papers D, in the Appendix. INTRODUCTION. 29 it will generally not be sold for less than from 4s. to 5s. per acre ; and in situations where roads have been made, or the ground has been partially cleared, the common prices lately have been 7s. 6d., lOs., and 15s. Further particulars will be best learned upon the spot, where every endeavour will be made to meet the different circumstances and views of dif- ferent purchasers. * Although government will not make any gifts at the public expense to emigrants to North America, Agents will be maintained at the principal colo- nial ports, whose duty it will be, without fee or reward from private individuals, to protect emigrants against imposition upon their first landing, to ac- quaint them with the demand for labour in different districts, to point out the most advantageous routes, and to furnish them generally with all useful advice upon the objects which they have had in view in emi- grating. And when a private engagement cannot be immediately obtained, employment will be afforded on some of the public works in progress in the colo- nies. Persons newly arrived should not omit to consult the Government Agent for Emigrants, and as much as possible should avoid detention in the ports, where they are exposed to all kinds of im- positions and of pretexts for keeping them at taverns till any money they may possess has been ex- pended. — For the same purpose of guarding against the frauds practised on new comers, and of prevent- ing an improvident expenditure at the first moment so INTRODUCTION. of arrival, it seems very desirable that individuals who may wish to furnish emigrants with money for their use in the colony, should have the means of making the money payable there, instead of giving it into the hands of the emigrants in this country. The Commissioners for Emigration are engaged in effecting general arrangements for this purpose, and due notice will be given to the public when they shall be completed. Agents for emigration have been appointed at St. John's, St. Andrew's, and Miramichi in New Brunswick; and at Quebec and York in Canada. The Agent at Quebec is A. C. Buchanan, Esq. ; at St. John's, A. Wedderburn, Esq. ; at sSt. Andrews, G, N. Smith, Esq. ; at Miramichi, J. Cunard, Esq. ; the name of the Agent at York has not yet been reported to the Colonial Department. On this whole subject of the manner of proceeding upon landing, it may be observed, in conclusion, that no effort will be spared to exempt emigrants from any necessity for delay at the place of disembarka- tion, and from uncertainty as to the opportunities of at once turning their labour to account. * After this explanation of the extent of the aid to be expected from government, the following statements are subjoined of the ordinary charges for passage to the North American Colonies, as well as of the usual rates of wages and usual prices in them, in order that every individual may have the means of judging for himself of the inducements to emigrate to these parts of the British dominions.* INTRODUCTION. SI PASSAGE. * Passages to Quebec or New Brunswick may either be engaged inclusive of provisions ; or exclusive of provisions, in which case the ship-owner finds nothing but water, fuel, and bed-places, without bedding. Children under fourteen years of age are charged one half, and under seven years of age one third of the full price ; and for children under twelve months of age no charge is made. Upon these conditions the price of passage from London, or from places on the east coast of Great Britain, has gene- rally been £6 with provisions, or ^3 without. From Liverpool, Greenock, and the principal ports of Ireland, as the chances of delay are fewer, the charge is somewhat lower ; this year it will probably be from £2 to £2 10s. without provisions, or from £4: to £b including provisions. It is possible that, in March and April, passages may be obtained from Dublin for 355., or even 30^. ; but the prices always grow higher as the season advances. In ships sail- ing from Scotland or Ireland, it has mostly been the custom for passengers to find their own provisions ; but this practice has not been so general in London ; and some ship-owners, sensible of the dangerous mistakes which may be made in this matter through ignorance, are very averse to receive passengers who will not agree to be victualled by the ship. Those who do resolve to supply their own provisions, 32 INTRODUCTION. should at least be careful not to lay in an insufficient stock ; fifty days is the shortest period for which it is safe to provide, and from London the passage is sometimes prolonged to seventy-five days. ' The best months for leaving England are certainly March and April ; the later emigrants do not find employment so adundant, and have less time in the colony before the commencement of winter. The names of vessels proceeding to the North American colonies, and the addresses of their brokers, may be learnt at all ports of the United Kingdom, including the port of London, by j^ersoiml application at the Custom- House of each port. The officers of cus- toms, however, will not be able to answer written inquiries on the subject ; and persons residing inland, who may require information of this nature, must depute the inquiry to some one at the port where they wish to embark. Many ships are advertised in the public newspapers. ' Various frauds are attempted upon emigrants, which can only be effectually defeated by the good sense of the parties against whom they are contrived. Sometimes agents take payment from the emigrant for his passage, and then recommend him to some tavern, where he is detained from day to day, under false pretences for delay, until, before the departure of the ship, the whole of his money is extracted from him. This of course cannot happen with agents connected with respectable houses ; but the best security is to name in the bargain for passage a par- INTRODUCTION. 33 ticular day, after which, whether or not the ship sails, tlie passenger is to be received on board and vic- tualled by the owners. In this mannei: the emigrant cannot be intentionally brought to the place of em- barkation too soon, and be compelled to spend his money at public-houses, by false accounts of the time of sailing; for from the very day of his arrival at the port, being the day previously agreed upon, the ship becomes his home. ' The conveyance of passengers to the British pos- sessions in North America is regulated by an Act of Parliament (9 Geo. IV. c. 21), of which the follow- ing are the principal provisions : ships are not allowed to carry passengers to these colonies unless they be of the height of five feet and a half between decks, and they must not carry more than three pas- sengers for every four tons of the registered burthen ; there must be on board at least fifty gallons of pure water, and fifty pounds of bread, biscuit, oatmeal, or bread stuff, for each passenger. When the ship carries the full number of passengers allowed by law, no part of the cargo, and no stores or provisions, may be carried between decks ; but if there be less than the complete number of passengers, goods may be stowed between decks in a proportion not exceed- ing three cubical feet for each passenger wanting of the highest number. Masters of vessels who land passengers, unless with their own consent, at a place different from that originally agreed upon, are sub- ject to a penalty of ^20, ecoverable by summary D 34 INTRODUCTION. process before two Justices of the Peace in any of the North American colonies. *■ The enforcement of this law rests chiefly with the officers of his Majesty's Customs ; and persons having complaints to make of its infraction, should address themselves to the nearest custom-house. ' Besides the sea voyage from England, persons pro- ceeding to Canada should be provided with the means of paying for the journey wliich they may have to make after their arrival at Quebec. The cost of this journey must, of course, depend upon the situation of the place where the individual may find employment, or where he may have previously formed a wish to settle ; but to all it will probably be useful to possess the following report of the prices of conveyance, during the last season, on the route from Quebec to York, the capital of Upper Canada. From Quebec to Montreal (180 miles), by steam- boat, the charge for an adult was 6s. 6d. ; from Montreal to Prescot (120 miles), by boats or barges, 7^. ; from Prescot to York (250 miles), by steam-boat, 75. The journey, performed in this manner, usually occupies ten or twelve days; adding, therefore, lis. for pro- visions, the total cost from Quebec to York (a dis- tance of 550 miles) may be stated, according to the charges of last year, at ^1. lis. 6d. Persons who are possessed of sufficient means prefer to travel by land that part of the route where the river St. Lawrence is not navigable by steam-boats, and the journey is then usually performed in six days, at a INTRODUCTION. 35 cost of £6. It must be observed that tlie prices of conveyance are necessarily fluctuating, and that the foregoing account is only presented as sufficiently accurate for purposes of information in this country ; leaving it to the government agent at Quebec to supply emigrants with more exact particulars, accord- ing to the circumstances of the time at which they may arrive.' These remarks are admitted to be very judicious, and coming from the Colonial OiSce in Downing Street, reflect credit on the information and intelli- gence of government. It is, however, to be observed, that the pamphlet, published by authority, from which this extract has been made, cannot, in its other parts, be entitled to so much praise, as the prices of labour, as well as of agricultural produce, are ever more or less variable. But with caution, they are nevertheless worthy of consideration, inas- much as they may be said to supply medium points, below which prices may be found sometimes to fall, and in like manner to rise above them. It is, how- ever to be noticed, that the Emigration Board has chiefly in view the offer of advice to poor emigrants, in the publication alluded to, and in so far it merits special approbation, but emigrants of a better class stand scarcely less in need of counselling, though it must be of another sort. The only thing to be added to what has been suggested on the subject of preparation for emigration, D 2 6 INTRODUCTION. in reference to disengaged young men of the labour- ing class, is thus simply expressed by Mr. Pickering, an intelligent, practical farmer from the West of England, who emigrated in 1824, and has spent several years in Upper Canada. * I would recommend,' he says, ' those that intend to marry, to bring out wives with them, if they can get good ones. Women are wanted ; and, although there is no very great scarcity, there are more males than females, which is the reverse of England; therefore it would be a pity to increase the number of the latter, already unavoidably doomed to re- main single; and besides, generally speaking, a man will find a woman of his own country more congenial to his habits and taste, as a wife, than any other. This is not a bad country for single females to come to as house servants ; they will get from 205. to 30s. a month ; and, if steady, industrious, and deserving, may probably soon (if they choose) becomp the mistress of a house of their own. Strong, handy boys will get the same wages per month, and board. * The inducements held out by Canada to men of capital, combined with skill, are great, and equal to any country. Money can be invested in almost every kind of property to advantage, if done with judgment: — ^in purchasing land, particularly near towns and villages that must increase ; in building houses, mills, &c. ; in establishing breweries on a moderate scale ; in distilleries, furnaces, and forges, INTRODUCTION. 37 and all manufactures.' — Emigration or no Emi" gratio7i, Appendix^ p. 126. In respect of comforts for tlie voyage, besides taking care that lie has due and healthful accommo- dation in the ship in which he takes his passage, such considerations will naturally suggest themselves to the common sense of the intelligent and provident emigrant, however poor, according to his means, and the necessities of his previous habits, in encounter- ing the discomforts' of a voyage across the Atlantic. Poor passengers are now pretty well protected from imposition, if they go in respectable vessels : we, however, think the following suggestions of a late intelligent settler in the township of Perth, Upper Canada, worthy of quotation, — sea-sickness, and its concomitant sufferings, on first leaving their native shores, having more effect upon the spirits, and perhaps the success, of emigrants, than is generally supposed. — ' In some ships,' says this reverend colonizer, * you may find abundance of good and wholesome food for the passengers, but in others, it is scarcely fit for hogs. Even when the captain engages to find provisions, as sickness may be expected, pas- sengers would do well to carry a few necessary articles along with them, such as currant-jelly, gooseberry -jam, raisins, gingerbread, eggs, cheese, butter, tea, sugar, &c. A few simple medicines should also be at hand, and all should take physic whenever they come ashore, even though they 38 INTRODUCTIOX. should not be sick. For want of this precaution, many are laid up with a flux, for months after they arrive, and most of the children that die, are carried off by that disorder.' — Be.lCs Hints to Emigrajits, p. 165 *. On arrival at Quebec, the emigrant will receive every necessary information from Mr. Buchanan, the Government Agent, and the only general advice he requires is not to suffer himself to be persuaded by any one to linger in that city or Montreal, but to proceed at once, either into the interior, or to the Upper Province. In the mean time, the study of the following geographical and statistical account of the two provinces, with particulars of the advantages or disadvantages of the several localities and town- ships, will the better enable him to form a choice, both as to the rout he shall take, and to his future settlement, in a country whose superfices is so ex- tended, and whose several points and situations for industry form so many temptations to the enter- prizing mind. * See also paper E, Appendix. GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRA- PHICAL SKETCHES. PART I. LOWER CANADA. The proposed settler in any of the Canadas will find the importance and benefit of making himself familiar with the map of both provinces, that he may have a clear idea in his mind, not only of the general shape of the country, but of the relative situations of the principal places, in order fully to understand the comparative advantages and disadvantages of those localities among which he may have to make a choice for the stage of his future exertions. Presuming upon his knowledge in this respect, we shall, in that part of our subject so important to proposed settlers, namely, topograpliical sketches of the different divi- sions of this extensive country, avoid, as much as pos- sible, those minute descriptions of situation and those repetitions of unfamiliar names, which are so embar- rassing at first to the English enquirer. In order further to assist the emigrant of substance in forming his choice, before descending to the particulars of the two Canadas respectively, we shall commence, by a few comprehensive observations, to give him some general idea of the natural and present state of the 40 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. whole country from the mouth of the St. Lawrence ta the great Lake Huron, beyond which there is scarcely any settlement in Upper Canada. The lower part of the St. Lawrence, near the Gulf, as the stranger enters this great river, consists, both north and south, of a wild country but little settled, except by fishers and lumberers. To the north, that vast and wild mountainous country, which extends from the Saguenay River considerably up the St. Lawrence eastward, round the coast and the gulf, until it joins the great tract of Labrador, is generally styled the Domaine ; and, excepting the solitary and picturesque settlement of Portneuf, a small trading port, situated about 40 miles below the Saguenay River, for the convenience of the fur-traders of the inte- rior and those connected with the fisheries on the coast, hardly a human habitation is to be seen to relieve the gloom of dark pine-woods and bold mountains. On the south side of the river, at its mouth, is the inferior district of Gaspe ; above that, the superior district of Quebec embraces both sides of the St. Lawrence, and possesses, besides, the advantage of the important river Chaudiere and its branches intersecting the country from a great distance to the south ; and above this, the district of Three Eivers, — so called from the same number of considerable streams flowing also into the chief recipient of the Candian waters, — in- cludes an extensive tract of territory, which, parti- cularly towards the south, and meeting the inferior district of St. Francis, will be found most eligibly situated for the purposes of settlement. The district LOWER CANADA. 41 of Montreal lies next, higher up the St. Lawrence, on both sides also of that river, distinguished by its ex- traordinary facilities of water-carriage and internal communication, as may be seen from the slightest inspection of the map. This extensive district, the most inland of Lower Canada, meets the United States territory to the south, by the counties of Huntingdon and Bedford, lying on both sides the river Richelieu, at its confluence with Lake Champlain, —joins the province of Upper Canada at Point-au- Baudet, on the St. Lawrence, as may be seen on the map by a double dotted line running from thence northward to the Great Ottawa River, and includes the island and county of Montreal, which, together with the Isle of Jesus, lying to the north of it, occu- pies that lake- shaped space of land and water which is formed by the confluence of the two great rivers just alluded to. The reader who is seeking some general acquaint- ance with this extensive country, will here observe, that from the imaginary line on the 45th degree of north latitude, which divides Lower Canada from the terri- tory of the United States, all the rest of the country westward and south, along the St. Lawrence, the Lake Ontario, as well as at the east side of the waters of the Niagara, the south of Lake Erie, and round to the western side of the great Lake Huron, belongs to the States ; and that Upper Canada stretches west- ward along the northern side of the St. Lawrence, and the Lakes Ontario and Erie, and is inclosed on that side by the eastern limb of Lake Huron ; by the 42 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. French River, which unites the latter portion of the great lake with the smaller Nipissing Lake, far to the north, and in a country hardly known as yet ; and by the Grand Ottawa River, which, flowing from the latter lake, bisects this extensive country northward, until it enters Lower Canada and joins the St. Law- rence at the island of Montreal. Here it may also be mentioned, that all along the banks of the St. Lawrence in Lower Canada, particularly to the south, where the land is good, — from the seaward county of Gaspe westward to the inner boundary of the province, and along the same river in Upper Canada to the north, as well as the borders of the Lakes On- tario and Erie, — the frontage is settled, more or less thickly, and partly cleared, to a distance inwards from these frontier waters of several miles ; and that the lands in all parts are of course enhanced in value as well by these natural advantages and the thickness of population and local improvements in their neighbour- hood, as by the more common quality of the natural productiveness of the soil. When the proposed settler or purchaser of land in the Canadas has made himself acquainted with the general geographical form of this part of the country, he is thus better prepared for studying or referring to those topographical and statistical particulars, the knowledge of which is so necessary and useful to the intelligent emigrant. To return to Lower Canada: the first thing, upon inspecting the map, that will strike the enquirer who is anxious to decide where he shall set himself down, LOWER CANADA. 43 and at the same time save himself the toil and ex- pense of travelling, is the manifest advantages of its geographical position, with reference particularly to that important advantage, the contiguity of markets for the produce of the land. But here it may be pro- per to remark, that however important the proximity of a shipping market may be to the merchant, it is a thing that ought to be but a secondary consideration with the emigrant. In all parts of the country, mer- cantile stores are to be met with, and it is at these stores, properly speaking, that the settler is to seek his customer. The fact is, that the little crop of the settler is not worthy of being sent, on his own account, to the great emporiums, and it should suffice with him to find a purchaser for liis produce in the nearest store -keeper, rather than incur the risk and expense of being himself the sliipper to the sea-ports, with the cost of agency there. This observation deserves the more attention, as the distinction between the market suitable for the settler and that for the purchaser of his produce is not suffi* ciently considered. When the merchant speaks of the advantages of the proximity of markets, he merely adverts to the places miost eligible for disposing of the produce he has purchased up and down in the country, but not of that market which the settler should frequent. It is but of late, no doubt, that the store-keepers in the interior of the country may be said to have become generally speculators in produce for the dis- 44 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. tant sea-port markets: but tliose rude and simple times are fast wearing away when the trade of the country was a kind of barter — money is daily becom- ing more plentiful, and the country store-keepers, in most places, are now ready to give cash for the grain which, in former days, they received in payment of debts, or in exchange for other commodities. It is, therefore, most earnestly entreated that the emigrant will not allow himself to be swayed so much with considerations respecting the export markets as near or far off, as an individual, a respectable store- keeper, in the neighbourhood where he may settle, is of far more importance than a general market ; for he will find in the store-keeper a satisfactory purchaser, who will take upon himself all the risk and chance of sending the produce to the remotest emporia, or to places where it becomes an object of competition for export. The comparative advantages offered by the Upper and Lower Provinces however, as they apply to dif- ferent classes of emigrants, will be more fully noticed in a later portion of this book. Meanwhile we shall proceed to describe briefly the several districts, counties, and townships in both ; and for the sake of clearness, as well as the avoiding of technicalities, shall commence our general notices at the very mouth of the St. Lawrence, and proceeding gradually along its course into the interior, pursue the same plan of progressing westward, when we come to speak of the great divisions of the upper province. LOWER CANADA. 45 To begin with the exterior small district of Gaspt?, being the seaward peninsula of the province lying between the St. Lawrence to the north, and the Bay of Chaleurs and New Brunswick to the south, and nearly surrounded by the waters of the former river and the gulf of the same name. This tract is bounded at its inner or western side by the greater district of Quebec, and, possessing so much coast seaward, has been chiefly resorted to from its great facilities for fishing; its greatest breadth, from north to south, is about 90 miles. Besides its extensive coast, the interior of this district is intersected by numerous rivers falling into the gulf of St. Lawrence and the bay of Cha- leurs, as also with small lakes almost innumerable, which, together with the rivers, abound in fish in great variety. The face of the country, says Bouchette, is, gene- rally speaking, uneven ; in some parts it is decidedly mountainous, and the valleys, which are often irre- gular and broken, are occasionally intersected by deep ravines ; but the mass of the lands is, nevertheless, perfectly adapted to agriculture. With the exception of some of the higher hills that are thinly clad with a diminutive growth of timber, the country is very well wooded, the forests chiefly consisting of maple, beech, pine, larch, white cedar, spruce, and hemlock ; but there is a scarcity of oak, and what there is, is inferior in size and quality*. The timber trade of this district * As in our notices of the qualities of the land in the dif- ferent townships, we shall have frequent occasion to specify the 46 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. has only commenced since 1815, and yet we are in- formed, by the same author, in 1825 and 1826 about 60 sail of vessels were engaged in the trade from hence, and the vast quantities of pine timber growing in certain parts of the district render this branch of trade susceptible of great augmentation. The timber trade of Gaspe, however, is surpassed by that of its fisheries all along the coast, the chief of kinds of timber found growing on them, as miderstood to indi- cate the nature of the soil, we give from Mr. Stuart's little book, published in 1820, the following general rules upon the subject : — ' The oak and chestnut generally grow on dry ground ; the latter more especially on ridges. ' The black oak and chestnut grow on a sandy and poor soil, as do the various species of the pine, including the hemlock. ' White and red oak, blended with other woods, bespeak a strong and lasting soil. ' Beech and white oak lands seem most favourable for wheat. ' The maples and black Avalnut, particularly the latter, where it grows in large clusters, point out the richest soils ; generally low and somewhat damp in a state of nature, but only requiring clearance to become abundantly dry. ' Amongst the underwood, the prickly ash and spice-wood promise the best. ' In a general view, the largest, tallest, and thickest woods denote the most fertile soils.' — Stuart's Emigrant's Guide, p. 60, &c. An opinion begins to prevail that the species of wood found on the land indicates also the condition of the soil, several in- stances having occiu'red of timber of a different kind rising, after that which had been previously removed ; as if nature herself gave the example of a succession even in her most per- manent crops. LOWER CANADA. 47 which is the cod ; which, with the whale, herring, and sahiion fisheries, employ about 2000 persons, and 20 square-rigged vessels, besides 50 smaller ones in the summer exportation. The productiveness of these branches of industry has caused the population of this district, about SOOO souls, very much to neglect agriculture, although there is much good land in it. The district also abounds with hme, particularly at Gasp6 bay, the north shore of which, as given in evi- dence before the Committee on the Crown Lands of Lower Canada, ' is, from its entrance, including cape Gaspe upwards, a series of capes and precipices of the best limestone.' This bay, and particularly the bay of Chaleurs, says the Commissioners' Report, ' are sus- ceptible of the most improved agriculture.* * Indubitable indications of coal mines,' says Col. Eouchette, *have been traced in the vicinity of Gasp^ bay, on the shores of which, and in the bay of Chaleurs are found a variety of pebbles, such as cornelian, agate, and jasper, susceptible of the highest polish, and rivalling in beauty the precious stones of the same description from India.' At and near Perce, in certain spots, the capes appear to be partly of variegated marble, and are composed of marine petrifactions. The district of Gaspe is divided into two coun- ties, Gasp^ and Bonaventura, and nominally sub- divided into ten townships internally, and seven seigniories along the coast. But a small portion of the whole is settled ; no part of the district has yet 48 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. been erected into parishes ; the few roads in the interior are bad and only of the bridle sort, that is, such as may be travelled on horseback ; and there is, indeed, but little internal communication through a district consisting of 7289 square miles of super- ficies. Though the soil is in many parts considered well adapted to the culture of hemp, as well as corn and roots, agriculture of all sorts has as yet been so much neglected, for the coasting and timber employment, that the country is almost destitute of mills and every convenience for such pursuits. The advantages of situation will no doubt render this district of immense importance hereafter, in the several respects of its fisheries, its timber trade, and its cultivation. As to climate, though situated up- wards of a degree north of Quebec, it is not said to be much, if at all, more rigorous than the more southern parts of Lower Canada. ' The thermometer,* we are told, ' ranges from f^ in winter, to 80 in summer, in the shade, the severity of the cold being generally tempered by the waters of the expansive bay, and the heat of summer moderated by a regular lake and sea breeze in the morning, and land wind at night.' DISTRICT OF QUEBEC, &c. The next division of country higher up on the same side of the St. Lawrence, and making part of the district of Quebec, including the city, is that LOWER CANADA. 49 tract which lies eastward of the Chaudiere river, and between it and the district of Gaspe just spoken of. The frontier part of this section of Lower Canada runs along the southern bank of the St. Lawrence, to an extent of 257 miles, from the point where the Chaudiere joins the former river, to the line- boundary of Gaspe district lower down. This section of coun- try meets also, at its southern extremity, the range of highland, called Mars-hill, which is understood to form the line of separation between Lower Canada and the United States territory, the nearest point of which is about 62 miles inland from the St. Lawrence. The superficial extent of this large tract of country is, according to Bouchette, about 18,800 square miles, and its population about 65,500 souls. Like its neighbouring district, it is well watered by numerous rivers and small lakes, which also abound with a variety of excellent fish. The face of the country, though abounding with extensive valleys and flats, is generally rather hilly, yet less so than the bold mountainous tract on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence. ■ Like the rest of the lower province, this district is divided first into counties, which are next sub-divided into seigniories or townships. Li order, however, that the reader may understand the nature and mean- ing of several arbitrary divisions of this country, a few general observations will here be necessary. Lower Canada, having originally been a French colony, its first inhabitants were French, and their E 50 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. descendants are its present chief occupants, under the general name of Canadians. Speaking a provin- cialism of the French language, and professing the Roman Catholic religion, the Canadians still manifest an attachment to the laws and customs, the institutes of which were originally brought from the mother country ; and since the province fell by conquest into the hands of the English, by the liberal policy of the British government their laws have been but little disturbed. One of the most remarkable of these laws affecting property in this province, is the tenure by which the lands were originally granted to the first settlers, and by which they are still held by the present possessors. That tenure is founded on the usages of the feudal law, or rather is strictly feudal itself, the lands granted being held by the seigneurs, or lords of the soil in feu, or en Jiefe, that is, in vassalage to the crown, under a condition of homage or service ; and again the portions conceded by the seigneurs to their tenants or vassals, called tenanciers, or censitaires^ are held by the latter under the seigneurs, en roture, that is, not as freeholds, but subject also to some par- ticular conditions of service to him, as well as to a small annual rent in money or in produce, which forms the income of this feudal chief, who is con- sidered somewhat like the ancient Lord of the Manor in England. The original grantees or seigneurs of the land naturally settled themselves on the frontier spots LOWER CANADA. 51 along the banks of the St. Lawrence, as well as on several of the larger interior rivers ; hence all these parts are already granted and occupied in seigniories, while it is only the interior country which, since the accession of the British, and the settlement of the law, has been laid out in townships for English colonists. As emigrants from the United Kingdom are seldom disposed to settle among the Canadian French and under their laws, however advantageous this step might often be for educated persons possessing capital, as hereafter to be noticed, wo shall, in our topographical notices of this improving province, pass entirely over these frontier settlements, and describe as we are enabled only the internal townships about which emigrants from England m.ay be sup- posed to be interested. Some of the counties of this province are entirely granted in seigniories and fiefs. Most of them how- ever have portions inland, which remaining ungranted at the time of the conquest, have since been laid out by the Legislative Assembly as townships for settlers from the mother country. The counties as they occur in each district which have any part surveyed as townships*, we notice for the sake of reference in * A township inland is usually a square tract of laud, ex- tending ten miles every way, and containing about 61,000 acres, exclusive of an allov/ance made in the suneys of five acres in every hundred for highways. These townships are subdivided into eleven ranges of land, each range containing 28 lots, and each lot 200 acres. Thus the inland townships contain 308 lots of laud, of 200 acres each, exclusive of an allowance for e2 52 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, alphabetical order ; with the townships also in the several counties, we in general pursue the same plan. highways. Of these lots 220 are granted or sold to settlers, and the remaining 88 reserved in every township for the Crown^ and the support of the protestant clergy, under the name of Oown and Clergy Reserves, a term that will be frequently re- peated in the course of our notice of townships. The lands thus reserved, remaining in general in a wilderness state, have been found, in most cases, a great hindrance to improvement ; but in Upper Canada the Crown reserves have been sold by the government to the Canada Company. Townships, however, having been surveyed and laid out upon mathematical principles, and in straight lines, without reference, excepting on the banks of large rivers, to natural boundaries, these imaginary or mere measurement boundaries of all kinds, have been a fruitful source of dispute and litigation, and are a frequent subject of complaint with the settlers. ' All classes of people in Canada,' says Mactaggart, ' but the Lawyers, lament the manner in which the townships have been laid out and surveyed. The surveyors are become perfectly ashamed of themselves. Let a law be passed as soon as possible,' adds this spirited observer, ' that the townships be laid out according to their natural boundaries ; let all concession lines be run ac- cording to the order of nature ; and give all settlers deeds of their lands, that their progeny may know them a thousand years hence.* ' The fanciful blazed lines of straightness formed by the surveyors,' he adds, ' are only made to bewilder, proving often roads of ruin in the wilderness.' — Vide Three Years in Canada, vol. ii. p. 96. A township fronting a river or lake, is generally surveyed so as to be, as near as possible, nine miles broad in front by twelve miles deep inland from the lake or river. Thus it will contain about 67,200 acres, exclusive of the allowance for highways ; which, formed into twelve ranges of 28 lots, will make 336 lots of land, each lot, as usual, containing 200 acres. Of these lots 240 are grantable to settlers, and the remaining 96 are reserved or the Crown and Clergy. LOWER CANADA. 53 The situation of these several counties and townships the reader will be at little loss to find on the map ; and proceeding thus, the first county to be noticed in this district is called Beauce. The County of Beauce on the Chaudiere, is 68 miles in length, and its average breadth is 21 miles. It contains 1987 square miles, is uneven and moun- tainous — well watered, principally by the Chaudiere, du Loup, and la Famine rivers. It is also intersected by numerous roads, the chief of which is the new Kinnebec road, which forms the most direct and shortest communication from Quebec to Boston in the United States. This County sends two members to the Canadian assembly, and, besides seven Seig- niories, contains nine townships, of which the fol- lowing is the brief description, viz. Cranbourne, 45 miles from Quebec, well watered by the rivers Des Fleurs and Guillaume, and lakes Etchemin and Petit Lac. The land is in general of good quality, particularly the part between the main branch of the river Etchemin and the lake of that name, which consists of an excellent upland soil. There are 40,000 acres of land in this township un- located, and the price offered lately for clearing land is 505. per acre. DiTCHFiELD, bordering on the east side of Lake Megantic, and lying between the townships of Spald- ing to the north-east, and Woburn to the south. Tliis township seems only to be projected, and we have as yet no authentic account of its soil or capabilities. 54 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Frampton, situated at the rear of the Seigniory of St. Joseph and Ste. Marie, on the Chaudiere, and lying between tlie townships of Cranbourne to the south- east, and Buckland to the south-west. This township is situated at the commencement of the mountainous tract, separating the waters of the St. Lawrence from those of the St. John, and presents very different ap- pearances on its near and farther sides. A part of it to the south-east is intersected by a chain of mountain- ous uplands in many places impracticable for roads. The uplands are well wooded, principally with maple and birch, and are susceptible of cultivation to a higher degree than the valleys which, thougli in general possessing a moderately good soil, are in their natural state rather swampy. The upland soil is a strong white or yellow clay, producing excellent crops of wheat and other grain. The grass, in the valleys which are cultivated, is very fine, causing the butter made in this township to have a superior re- putation at Quebec. The surface of the land is ge- nerally much encumbered with loose stones, which adds to the cost of cultivation, and in the valleys are found considerable quantities of potter's earth. The whole is well watered, and on the branches of the Etchemin, as also the streams communicating with the Chaudiere, are numerous excellent mill seats, and two small lakes on one side abound with trout. This township is well settled by several exceedingly re- spectable proprietors, and there are consequently numerous roads through it. There is also one corn- LOWER CANADA. 55 mill, one tavern, one pearl-ashery and two pot-asheries, a good portion of breeding live stock, and the popu- lation at the last survey amounted to 263 souls. This township is spoken of as superior in soil and situation to the neighbouring ones of Buckland, Cran- bourne, and Standon, yet there is no village as yet, though it contains about 60 houses. The quantity of unsold or granted land we are not able, with any accuracy, to state. Jersey, a triangular- shaped tract, but only pro- jected as a township, lying between the rivers Chau- diere and du Loup and bounded on the south by Marlow. Of this township no particular description is yet transmitted, and the ungranted lands amount to 33,000 acres. Marlow, lying to the south of the above and near to RiSBOROUGH, another projected township, of which we have also no particular description, more than of its neighbouring township of Spalding, lying to the east of the Chaudiere, and reaching to the province boundary line westward. The next county in this district is Bellechasse, running inland from the St. Lawrence to the south- east boundary of the province. Its front breadth on the St. Lawrence is 19 miles, its average breadth 17, and its depth about 35 miles. It sends two members to the assembly, and contains a population of nearly 15,000. Its surface is uneven, and rather moun- tainous, particularly as it recedes inwards towards the 56 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. States. The soil nevertheless produces abundance of good timber, and is of course susceptible of cultivation, being pretty well v^atered. The inhabitants are nearly all French Canadians ; and passing over a chain of flourishing Seigniories fronting the St. Law- rence, we come to the following four townships, viz. Armagh, traversed to the south-west by the river Du Sud. Soil not very good, but meadow-land between the hills. No part settled. Buck LAND. The surface of this township is much varied : in many places rising into swelling uplands, with the intervals rather swampy. Yet the soil is, we are told, in general, excellent, and even the wetlands are by no means of a bad quality. The rear and south-east centre of Buckland, however, is moun- tainous and barren, entirely unfit for agricultural purposes. Still the other parts are well timbered and watered, with many good situations for mills, and much meadow-land along the borders of the streams. Only one fourth of this township has been surveyed, which is now the property of William Holmes, Esq. of Quebec. Population about 30 persons, and lands ungranted, 20,000 acres. Standon, lying to the south-east of the former. A rough hilly country and very indifferent land. The good parts of the land at the rear of Frampton are already granted, but there is a part between the river Etchemin and the lake, near the south angle of the township, which is said to be excellent upland, and well calculated for settling. LOWER CANADA. 57 Of the next county, namely, L'Islet, running southward also from the St. Lawrence, being almost entirely occupied with French Canadians, and divided into Seigniories, we do not think it necessary to give any particular description. It contains only one township, situated as usual in the rear of the Seigniory, which is called AsHFORD, and the soil is not spoken of as very good, though susceptible of cultivation, and at present bearing pine, beech, maple and spruce. It is tra- versed by rocky cliffs, and watered by small streams. The next county is Kamouraska, fronted, like the others, by prosperous Seigniories, along the St. Law- rence, &c., and possessing many inland recommen- dations. The lands left for free soccage amount only to three projected townships, the first of which is called Bungay, — of which we have no account. IxwoRTH, situated at the rear of the Seigniory and to the south of the river Quelle. Here there are 32,000 acres ungranted and unlocated ; but no more than 1200 acres of this township have been surveyed, the whole of which is said to be most excellent land, and has been granted to Matliew O'Meara, and part of it is in a forward state of cultivation. On the re- mainder of this township is a large quantity of good pine timber, much of which is transported by the river Quelle to the St. Lawrence, and thence to Quebec. 58 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. WooDBRiDGE, Iving between the two former, but as yet unsurveyed. Another county in this district is Lotbiniere, meeting also the St. Lawrence, the land of which is described to be in general of excellent quality, although it is less abundantly watered than most others. As this county is entirely distributed into Seigniories, and occupied by French people, we do not think it necessary to give any further particulars regarding it. The county of Megantic, in this district, and lying north of the lake of the same name, skirts the boundary line of the United States to the south, and runs along the Chaudiere to the west. This inland county is entirely free of Seigniorial grants, and divided into townships. The population that has as yet spread over it consists of English, Irish, Scotch, and Americans, without any native Canadians ; it there- fore may require a more particular description. Its extreme length is 65 miles, its breadth 28 ; it is divided into sixteen townships, and contains 1465 square miles. The surface of this county, says the official surveyor, is mountainous and broken, pre- senting, hov/ever, large swells of excellent land and meadows ; and, notwithstanding the irregularity of its surface, it possesses considerable advantages in its soil and timber. It is well and conveniently watered by streams and lakes ; and towards the lake, which gives name to the county, the scenery is de- LOWER CANADA. 59 scribed as beautiful. It is traversed in cliief by Craig's road, along which are the principal settle- ments, as we shall have occasion to notice when particularizing the townships, the first of which, in alphabetical order, is Adstock, adjoining Tring and Thetford, and not yet surveyed. Then Broughton, which, though rather mountainous, contains, we are told, much land of a good quality, at present much stocked with beech, maple, birch, elm, and other useful timber, besides abundance more of an inferior quality. There is good grass land in the hollows, and many of the inferior swells, if culti- vated, would produce good grain crops. The town- ship is moderately watered, and some roads have been made at the expense of the government by an act of the provisional parliament. A Mr. Hull re- ceived a grant of 22,000 acres in this township, who has made some progress in forming a settlement, and cultivating some part of it, besides erecting some mills. The population, however, in 1829, was only 75, and there was still unlocated 12,400 acres. CoLERAiNE, as yet only a projected township, lying to the south of Thetford, and to the west of Tring, and watered by lake St. Francis, besides some smaller lakes and streams, Dorset, on the west side of the river Chaudiere, and encompassed on the other sides by various lands still unsurveyed. The most inferior part of this large township is along the rocky bank of the river Chau- 60 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. diere, and the rest is said to consist chiefly of fine rises of good land, very fit for tillage, and every where favourable for the culture of hemp and flax, which are well known to require the best soils, though no settlements are as yet made on it. The usual valuable timbers at present grow upon this township, which is admirably watered throughout by lakes and rivers, and on the banks of the streams are some fine breadths of the best meadow land. The whole belongs to the heirs of Simon M'Tavish, Esq., who, no doubt, has an agent for it at Quebec. Gayhurst, on the Chaudiere — projected. Watered by the Eugenie, &c. Halifax. Soil generally very good. Low to the north-east, and a few swamps here, but rises and is uneven towards the south. The south-east half has been granted, but none of it is cultivated. Ungranted, 7200 acres. Intersected, in part, by Craig's road. Population, 15. Inverness, — next the former. The land to the south is of a superior quality, and the rest above me- diocrity, except an extent of swamp of about 8000 acres to the northward, which is covered with hem- lock, spruce fir, and cedar ; excellent timber on the dry lands. Watered by lake William, and several small rivulets. Ungranted in 1828, 15,500 acres. Population, 117. Saw mills, 7. Ireland, — betwixt Halifax and the former. Land to the north-west is of a good quality ; the south- east, a series of rugged hills, with small lakes and LOWER CANADA. 61- swamps in the intervals. The north-west quarter has been surveyed and granted, and is partly inha- bited by a few settlers. The whole is well watered, and Craig's road passes through it. Above 14,000 acres yet ungranted. Population, 181. Corn mills, 1 ; saw ditto, 1 ; taverns, 1. Leeds. The land generally very good, except in the north-east quarter, where it is poor and stony. AVell wooded, and watered by several branches of the Becancour, and intersected by Craig's road. Con- siderably settled and cultivated of late. Population 173. Saw-mills, 2. Ungranted lands, 5,225 acres. Nelson, lying between the former and the aug- mentation to Lotbeniere. The land is low, but tolerably good, and well watered. Towards the south-east end are some rising grounds, much su- perior to the opposite side. The limber is maple, beech, birch, and pine, besides basswood, cedar,, spruce, hemlock, &c., on the low and moist ground* No part of this township was lately under culti- vation. OuLNEY, — projected only, as yet. Shenley. This, like some of the above, is rathes an irregular tract than a township, between Dorset and Tring. The surface is irregular in some places, though in some parts the soil is moderately good. Wooded, but not well watered. No part of the tract under cultivation. Somerset, to the north-west of Halifax and In- 62 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. verness ; lying low, but in general of a tolerably good quality. Well timbered and watered. Thetford, between Brougliton and Ireland. — Though generally mountainous, this township has a few intervals of good land ; but that to the south- east is very indifferent, lying upon a bed of stone. Well watered, and but little wood. Tring, between Broughton and Shenley. A good deal of land fit for tillage in this tract, and some ex- cellent timber. Very well watered. Population, 10 persons. Win SLOW, between Gayhurst and Stratford; not surveyed. In the county of Quebec, which is mostly granted in seigniories and fiefs, the only townships are Stoneham and Tewkesbury, lying contiguous to each other in the interior, and subdivided many years ago, yet still but indifferently settled. Great part of the surface of both is mountainous, rocky, and unfit for cultivation ; yet there are some scanty patches of tolerable land in the vallies, and the part extending towards the river Jacques Cardiere is chiefly arable. Population, 70 persons. DISTRICT OF THREE RIVERS. The district of Three Rivers, lying next higher up the St. Lawrence, and including in its original LOWER CANADA. 6S. enumeration the greater part of the townships in the inferior but fertile district of St. Francis, towards the south, is stil] more important to the enquirer as a field of extensive future settlement. It extends, like the former, to both sides of the St. Lawrence, along which, and its principal rivers, it is settled in seignio- ries ; but in its interior portion, towards the south, it is surveyed into townships, well intersected by roads and rivers ; and from the quality of the land, the mildness of the climate, and the local advantages, is of great interest to land purchasers and settlers. The surface of the country, south of the St. Lawrence, is level near that river, until it approaches the townships in the neighbourhood of Ascot, where it rises into broad swells, and in some parts becomes mountainous. Near the St. Lawrence and the frontier rivers the soil is light and sandy, but receding inwards it becomes infinitely better. There are also several villages in the townships, and the streams and lakes will be noticed in speaking of the counties and townships. On the St. Lawrence, south and west of the river Becancour, including also the main branches of the St. Nicolet and the St. Francis, is the county of Dmmmond in this district, which is entirelv laid out in townships to the number of 19. The extreme length of this county is 66 miles, its breadth 47, and it con- tains 1,674 square m.iles ; sends one member to the provisional parliament. The first township in alpha- betical order is the inland one of Acton, between Roxton on the Yamuska and 64 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Grantham. The land is level, and lying rather loWy with wooded swamps. About one half has been granted, but no part settled. Arthabaska, on the Nicolet, south of Bulstrode, not settled. Many parts of the land good where it is high, but the lower lands swampy. Aston, and its augmentation on the Becancour, and to the rear of the seigniory of that name. On the abovenamed river, and the river Blanche, the banks are picturesque, the lands are rather high, but inward they descend into a low flat. The soil is in general good, and promises to be very productive by cultiva- tion. Oak, elm, pine, beech, birch, maple, &c., grow near the rivers, with which it is well watered. A few set- tlers in the front ranges. A road leads into the southern townships. Above 26,000 acres as yet ungranted. Bulstrode, inland, and south-east of the Becan- cour. In general level and low, with numerous swamps and brules, particularly towards the centre, but some few places higher land. The swamps and low lands are in some places of a sandy soil, and in others a black mould. There is only one settlement which is on the Becancour, and contains 40 souls. Chester, to the rear of Arthabaska. The soil very fit for the purposes of agriculture, and the ad- vantages, in point of locality, considerable. Well wooded and tolerably well vvatered. Craig's road traverses it diagonally. Ungranted, 4,975 acres.. Population, 10 persons. Durham, on the inland part of the St. Francis, and LOWER CANADA. 65 between Acton and Ely. The land is in general good, presenting several extensive and improvable tracts. Wooded like the others, and watered by nu- merous small rivulets. This township contains two bridges, one over the Black River, and the other over a ravine formed by the St. Francis. The Drummond- ville road runs also through it, on which there are several settlements. There are two saw-mills, and many excellent mill seats on the Black river. Po- pulation, 367. Grantham, on the west side of the St. Francis, on which river tlie ground is high, but broken into ravines. Quantities of iron ore is found in the neighbourhood of the stream. Large extents of the land in this po- pulously settled township produce fine luxuriant na- tural grass, which, drying upon the ground when ripe, is little inferior to good hay. Several respecta- ble proprietors living in Montreal and Drummondville hold lands here, and to about 30 Canadian families portions of it liave been sold, on credit, by a Mr. Richardson, at 5.9. per acre. There is both a post road, between Quebec and Boston, running through this township, and another road from Drummond- ville ferry to Wickham higher up the St. Francis, which also passes through it. There are also two bridges, a village, (Drummondville,) two Roman Ca- tholic churches, two schools, two corn-mills, three saw-mills, four tanneries, four pot and four pearl asheries, two taverns, a carding and a fulling mill, and the population is about 400. Though there is F 66 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. much good land in this township, that through which the chief road passes is flat, sandy, and but little suited for cultivation. Ham, between Weedon and Tingwick, possesses land that might be brought into cultivation with much advantage. The surface is diversified by swells rather than hills, which are covered with wood, and in several places the low grounds are swampy. HoRTON, to the west of Bulstrode, is a small irre- gular tract, with the Nicolet running through it, and contains only one settler. KiNGSEY, on the east bank of the St. Francis, and between Shipton and Warwick. The front on the river, where also a road runs, and the side next to Shipton, are of the best quality of land, and are already settled to a population of above 300 persons. The parts adjoining Warwick and Simpson are low and swampy, covered with cedar and other woods- Several branches of the Nicolet also water this town- ship advantageously, and from the fertility of the soil and other circumstances, it is likely to thrive and be- come populous. The family of Donald Maclean hold a part of this township. Ungranted, 12,100 acres. Simpson, north of the former, is low and level, with very few swamps, and is of a good quality for the cultivation of grain of all sorts. Lying also on the St. Francis, a few settlers, amounting to a population of 35, have planted themselves on this side next the road ; and several branches of the Nicolet, by which it is also watered, present some good mill seats. LOWER CANADA. 67 Stanfold, on the Becancour, between Somerset and Bulstrode, is low and extremely swampy, with but little land fit for cultivation. Ting WICK, between Chester and Kingsey, not surveyed. Upton is of an irregular figure, on the St. Francis, to the north-west of Acton and Grantham. The land is in general fiat and low, with extensive swamps covered with tamarack, alder, and cedar. There is a road through it, which is settled however to the amount of 277 persons ; and here, and by the side of the St. Francis and other streams, there are a few spots of tolerable land. Warwick, on the Nicolet, north of Tingwick, a poor, and excepting the first three ranges, a perfectly sterile tract, thickly covered with spruce and hem lock. Wendover, near Simpson. The land near the St. Francis is best and will admit of cultivation, but a short distance thence it sinks into low deep swamps, where the soil is chiefly sand and gravel. AVicKHAM, on the St. Francis, between Grantham and Durham. The land is generally level, but the interior and rear are swampy and but little capable of cultivation. Near the river, and also towards the two beforementioned townships, the land is more elevated and considerably better in quality, and might soon be made to produce most sorts of grain. The liigh road between Quebec and Boston leads through this township, and the mail passes once a week. F 2 68 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Hence there are settlers to the amount of 256 of a population, with one corn and one saw mill. WoLFSTOWN, on the upper branches of the Nicolet, and between Ham and Ireland. The north-west half of this township is moderately good, but the south- east is a mere chain of rocky heights of no use. WoTTON, to the west of the above, — unsurveyed. The county of Nicolet, on the St. Lawrence, con- sists chiefly of seigniories and fiefs on that river and the Nicolet. It contains only two townships in the rear of these, viz. Blandford, to the west of the Becancour. Tlie land is generally level, with many good savannas, and the soil for the most part good. This township is well watered by several small streams and lakes besides the above, but having been but lately granted in free soccage, there is no road through it, but a winter one 15 miles in length. About 600 acres, however, have been cleared along the Becancour, and a saw-mill erected. Maddington, lower down the same river, which separates it from the townships of Bulstrode and Aston. The land is low in the interior and towards the south, but more elevated towards the west and south-west. There are many savannas, and the soil in general is tolerably good. In some places it is of a superior quality, in others rocky and bad. In the urveyed parts contiguous to the river, the land is as good as that of Aston. Only one settlement, how- ever, of 12 persons, is made near the Becancour. A LOWER CANADA. 69 winter road runs tlirougli it, and there are several good situations for mills. The next county in this district is that of St. Mau- rice, lying on the north of the St. Lawrence, and along the river of the same name, including the town of Three Rivers, and the well known falls of the St. Maurice. This county is chiefly remarkable for its iron mines and its numerous and extensive forges and founderies ; in which are manufactured the stoves, potash-kettles, and every kind of large cast-iron work used in the provinces. These employ nearly 300 persons, the overseers and model-makers are English and Scotch, and the workmen chiefly Cana- dians. There is much good land along the lofty banks of the St. Maurice, but it having been originally granted to the lessee of the forges is not yet con- ceded to settlers. The rest is chiefly held in seignio- ries and fiefs, as usual in Lower Canada, and there are only three townships laid out in the interior, viz. Caxton, lying between the lands belonging to the forges of the St. Maurice to the south-east, and the other township of Hunterstown ; the seigniory of St. Etienne, &c., being in front towards the St. Lawrence. This township having attracted the attention of the provincial government, two good roads have been opened through it and many bridges built, whereby a direct communication is opened to the St. Lawrence by water, namely the river du Loup ; the value of the land is greatly enhanced, although as yet there are very few settlers. In general the land is low, with a 70 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. few thickly wooded hills, and in most places through which the roads have been cut, it is described to be of the best quality, with maple, birch, beech, and ash — some savannas, and cedar spruce, &c., on the lower parts. HuNTERSTOWN, joining the former, is described by the surveyor as a tract of very little value, being a continued stratum of rock lying very near the sur- face ; and towards the rear it rises into broken and almost mountainous ridges, but generally well wooded. New Glasgow, not surveyed. The important county of Sherbrooke, divided entirely into townships, and occupying great part of the interior district of St. Francis, remains next to be noticed. It has the county of Megantic in Quebec district to the east, Drummond in its own district to the north, and the province line dividing it from the United States to the south. Its extreme length is 68 miles, its breadth 57, and it contains 2786 square miles. It contains three villages, the chief of which, Sherbrooke, may be called the county town, and is the seat of the district court of St. Francis. This county sends two members to the provincial parlia- ment, is well watered by the St. Francis and numerous other streams and lakes, and already contains a po- pulation of between 5 and 6000 souls. The face of the country in the vicinity of Eaton and eastward, is generally level to tlie ridge of highlands towards the head of Connecticut ; to the west, in the vicinity of LOWER CANADA. 71 Orford, the land is uneven and broken, and presents high ridges. The soil and timber are described as generally of good quality, and the country in every respect possesses considerable advantages from its locality, and the numerous roads which run through it, which are skirted, for the most part, by flourish- ing new settlements. The chief route from the St. Lawrence to the United States passes through the village of Sherbrooke. From the importance of this large tract, it is likely hereafter to be subdivided into several counties. At present it is laid out into twenty-nine townships, which in alphabetical order are as follows : — Ascot, advantageously situated on the upper parts of the St. Francis and between Compton and Eaton. In every point of view, says the surveyor-general, this is a desirable tract. The land is of exceedingly good quality, and so well varied as to answer all the pur- poses of the farmer. It is both well watered and contains considerable facility of inland carriage by water, as well as presenting numerous sites for mills, some of which have already been taken advantage of. Settlements on a very large scale have been made here, and several farms by the sides of rivers have attained a degree of flourishing superiority, which shows their improvement to have been very rapid, as no part of the land v/as granted prior to the year 1803. The majority of the settlers here, as well as in most part of the neighbouring townships, are native Americans, who have taken the oath of alle- 72 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. giance to the British Government, and wlio, adapting their operations to the nature and quality of the ma- terials they have to work upon, make much better farmers than the Canadians. This township contains two villages. Sherbrooke, occupying an elevated situation on both banks of the Magog, at the forks of the St. Francis, contains 75 houses, a population of 350, two churches, and is con- sidered the emporium of the township trade, on its transit to the St. Lawrence, which consists chiefly of pot and pearl ashes, horses, horned cattle, and some sheep. Lennoxville is the other village, situated about three miles south of the former, and contains one church, 20 houses, and a population of 120. A rich mine of iron ore much impregnated with sulphur lias been discovered on a farm near Sherbrooke, and a mineral spring near the centre of the township. The cultivation of hemp has been found productive, and the distillation of whiskey from potatoes is a source of much profit. Whole population of the township about 1000 — 2 corn-mills, 3 saw-mills, 2 each pot and pearl asheries, 5 stores, and 3 taverns. Auckland, lying at the southern extremity of the county, between Emberton and Clifton, near the boundary line, is uneven and rugged, in some places mountainous, and in others sinks into swamps. The level and dry tracts have a soil moderately good, and some portions are rich enough for the cultivation of hemp. Well watered, and a sort of footpath runs through it, by which the Indians make their way to LOWER CANADA. 73- the Cliaudiere. The north half has been granted, but no part of the whole is as yet settled. Brompton, west of the St. Francis, between Orford and Ely, is to the south, uneven, rocky and untract- able, but in the north part and by the river, the land is of a fair quality, and fit for good crops of grain. It is watered by a lake and several streams besides the St. Francis, and on the latter river several settle- ments have been formed which are doing well. Po- pulation, 255. Bury, lying between Dudswell and Hampden. Of this township only one quarter has been surveyed, but the land is reported to be of a moderately good soil and very susceptible of cultivation. The timber is butternut, maple, basswood, beech, ash, &c., and it is watered by small streams. An intended road into Vermont, and joining Craig's road, has already been marked and blazed. Chesham, projected only. Clifton, between Auckland and Eaton. The surface is mountainous and broken, yet is the soil generally good, as indicated by the best sort of trees. Watered by two or three rivers and many streams falKng into the St. Francis. Some roads, but not ra- pidly improving, and one bridge. A population of 88 ; and the settlements are chiefly on the road to Eaton, and on the Salmon river. There are some swamps in different directions which might be drained with facility, and there is much unexceptionable soil. There are 2 pot-asheries, a pearl-ashery, a corn-mill> a saw-mill, and a school. 74 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Clinton, a very small township, is most agree- ably situated at the south extremity of the lake Megantic, The soil, in general, is of the very first quality, exhibiting many large patches of luxuriant pastures. Although this small tract abounds with good situations, where the land is fit for any species of agriculture, and is well watered by the Arnold, and other streams falling into the lake, no part has yet been settled. CoMPTON, joins Ascot and Clifton, and the land is in no respect inferior to that of the former township. In various parts, it has many wide spread- ing but gentle rises of most excellent land, thickly covered with the best woods ; is completely watered, and through the most cultivated parts roads have been opened, and bridges thrown over the river, which are kept in good repair; so that an eligible com- munication is formed with the main road to Quebec, and the state of Vermont. Numerous flourishing settlements skirt the banks of the rivers, which, with the thriving industry of a population already exceed- ing 1200, are fast introducing commerce, and confer a comparative importance upon this increasing town- ship. There are not less than 7 saw mills, 2 corn do., 1 carding do., 1 fulling do., a pot-ashery, a pearl do., 2 store?, 2 taverns, and a school, Croydon, on the province line — not surveyed. DiTTON, between Marsden, Hampden, and Em- berton, is irregular in its surface, some places rising into large eminences ; but, in general, the soil LOWER CANADA. 75 is moderately good, and timbered well. It is inter- sected by several streams that fall into the St. Francis, and the south-west quarter has been surveyed and granted, but no part settled. Ungranted, 33,000 acres. Drayton, lying in the rear of Auckland and Emberton, is bounded, on the south, by the main branch of the river Connecticut. This township has neither been surveyed nor granted, but the quality of the land may be inferred from the fact, of above 20 families from the United States, having already taken up a settlement on it. The lands occupied by these persons form one of the points of dispute between his Majesty's government and that of the States. It is watered by several streams, as also Back lake : there are some roads, and two bridges, and the principal settler, a Dr. Taylor, has 100 acres cleared, a good house, and a distillery. Population, 60. DuDSWELL, between Weedon and Bury, in many places uneven in surface, and in one place rises to a considerable mountain, that stretches westward into Wotton, the top of which, being flat table-land, wholly free from trees or underwood, causes it to be called the Bald Mountain. A great variety of good timber in this township, and where the land is level, it is applicable to the culture of grain. The St. Francis, with other streams, provide a complete irrigation, but only one quarter of this tract has been laid out, and some farms have obtained considerable 76 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. prosperity. A line of road, pursuant to an act of tlie Assembly, is now in progress through this township, which will much benefit it. Eaton, between Newport and Ascot, east and west, is of a uniform and favourable quality generally, although the north-west part is rather low and swampy, and the other parts may be called hilly, being a series of bold swells, whose bases may be traced by the sources of numerous small brooks with which this tract is sufficiently watered : much of the soil is stony, and occasionally sandy. ' Towards the north-west,' says the surveyor, ' at an angle with the horizon of between 60 and 70 degrees, masses of granite are occasionally met with on the surface, as well as large masses of alluvial rocks, some having the appearance of vitrifaction. Slate of good quality is also abun- dant, and some blacklead ore has been found. A great part of the west half has been settled : there are some middling roads ; about 9000 acres are already cleared, and the population is above 800. The town- ship is already divided into 2 parishes, in each of which there is a Protestant church. There are not less than 6 saw-mills, 3 corn do., a carding and a fulling do., 2 taverns, a tannery, a pot-ashery, a pearl do., and a distillery. Ungranted, about 3100 acres. Emberton, between Ditton, Auckland, and Dray- ton, and watered by the Margalloway, as yet only projected. Garthby, north-east of Weedon, and nearly divided by the lake St. Francis, only projected. LOWER CANADA. 77 Hampden, an irregular tract between Marston, Ditton, Ling wick, and Grey hurst, — projected as a township. Hereford, between Drayton and Auckland, east and west, and on the boundary line south of Clifton. The surface is uneven, and, approaching the Connecticut river, rather mountainous, yet the greater part of the land is tolerably good, and, in general, applicable to agricultural purposes. It is well watered by the subsidiary streams of the Con- necticut, on which, to the south of the township, about 26 families are settled. It is well adapted for grazing, and some settlers on it keep 30 head of neat cattle, besides horses and sheep. The Here- ford mountain is in the north-west part; there are 2 King's highways through the township, 4 bridges, the timber is various, and in general good ; there are 2 schools, to a population of 160, 2 saw-mills, a corn do., and a pearl- asher)'. Flax and hemp grow luxuriantly, and there are above 16,000 acres of land ungranted, and unlocated. LiNGwicK, to the north-east of the unsurveyed townships of Stratford and Hampden, and south-west of Bury and Weedon, is similar, in the quality of the land, to the level district of Duds well. It is watered by several streams that run into the St. Francis ; the west half has been surveyed and granted, but none of it as yet settled. Marston, on the west side of the lake Megantic, and between Clinton and Hampden, is watered by 78 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. several streams and small lakes, besides the principal one in its front, near which are some good meadows. The land, though irregular in surface, hilly, and in many places very stony, is mostly of a moderately good soil. One quarter of this township has been granted, but no part as yet settled. The scenery near the lake, from which the land rises gradually, clothed with rich verdure, and groups of stately trees, is described as enchantingly romantic. The water abounds with fish, and the country is the resort of almost every species of game. Ungranted, about 44,000 acres. Melbourne, on the St. Francis, and between Durham and Brompton, is well timbered and watered •and already contains several large settlements; there are some good roads in progress, and 7 bridges have been laid over the several streams. The land is described as of quite a superior quality ; a large extent of it is the property of the Honourable John Caldwell, which, though very valuable, is yet in a state of wilderness. Roads are projected through the part along the St. Francis ; there are already several saw-mills at work in other parts, with pot and pearl asheries, and the population at survey was 526. Newport, between Eaton, Ditton, and Bury. The land is in many parts uneven in surface, but the general tendency of the soil is good, and even the swampy land is described as fit for culture. The North river runs nearly through the middle of this township, from the banks of which the land rises in LOWER C AX AD A. 79 a series of gentle swells to the north and south. Besides that river, there are numerous small streams running into it, and also into the Newport, which traverses the south-west angle. This and its oppo-' site angle are hilly ; none of the rivers are navigable, and the roads that are as yet made through it ; are in a bad state. The timber on this township is of a good sort ; about 1000 acres of the land are already cleared ; the population is about 100, with acorn and a saw mill, a pot and a pearl ashery, and 15,000 acres still un granted. Slate has been obtained in this township in great abundance, and blacklead ore has also been found. Orford, on the Magog, between Ascot, Hatley, and Brompton, and near the village of Sherbrooke, is rough and mountainous in surface, and, though containing some good timber, is almost entirely unfit for tillage. It is well watered, but has no regular roads, although one is projected, which must be a thoroughfare. There is a high chain of mountains runs through this township. Still, from its situation, it has a population of 242, who raise some grain, and feed a large quantity of cattle. Shipton, between Melbourne, Windsor, and King- say. The land of this township is of a pretty uni- form and superior quality, being decidedly the best of all within the district. It is exceedingly well watered by a large branch of the Nicolet, as also by several rivulets flowing from the uplands into the St. Francis. Here the Nicolet is navisfable for boats and scows 80 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. hence to the St. Lawrence, and, with the St. Francis, now forms an excellent water-conveyance. The roads in this important township are not yet complete ; yet there are 2 villages, Richmond, and Interior, 1 Protestant church, 4 corn-mills, 2 carding, a fulling, 2 cloth, and 7 saw-mills, besides 3 tanneries, a hat manufactory, and more other indications of increasing industry and importance, than there is here space to enumerate. The population, last survey, was 917, while there were 1800 acres un granted. Stoke, on the east bank of the St. Francis, be- tween Windsor and Dudswell, is well watered by the streams meeting that river; the wood good; and though a few swamps, or wet lands occur, in some places the soil is of first-rate quality. There are several large extents of most luxuriant meadows on this as yet neglected township, on which there are no roads, and 7000 acres remain still ungranted. Stratford, between Winslaw, Garthby, and Ling- wick, projected. Wee DON between Ham and Lingwick, only pro- jected. Westbury, a small, triangular-shaped township, containing httle more than 12,000 acres, lies be- tween Stoke, Eaton, Dudswell, and Bury. The east side is rough, swampy, and inferior land, but to the west it is much better, and capable of tolerable production. Well watered, the population 56, with a corn and a saw mill. Whitton, between Adstock, Stratford, and Gay- hurst, projected only. LOWER CANADA. 81 Windsor, on the St. Francis, wiih Wotton in its rear, is a fine tract of land, the soil excellent and varied, so as to be fit for the cultivation of almost any- kind of produce. The best sorts of timber grow upon an undulating surface of land, which is inter- spersed by a few swamps, and the whole is sufficiently watered. But little of this excellent land, however, has yet been settled, no mention is made of anyroad; the population is stated at 151, and there is 1 corn-mill. DISTRICT OF MONTREAL. The next great division of Lower Canada, lying higher up the St. Lawrence, is the large district of Montreal, embracing the Island, Seigniory, and County of that name, and extending to a considerable distance on both sides of that river ; also border- ing the upper province on the Ottawa, in the angle between it and the former, as well as to an immense extent on its northern side. This district in its general character is low and level, especially the settled parts. There are, however, a few isolated mountains in the southern section of it ; and towards the province line which forms its southern boundary, it assumes a bolder outline, and is in some parts even mountainous, particularly in Hemmingford, Bolton, and the vicinity. On the northern side of the St. Lawrence, there, is a ridge of mountains crossing the Ottawa at the Grand Calumet, and north of this 82 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ridge tlie country is more or less hilly and uneven, until it meets the Hudson's Bay territory. An excellent soil, in general ; a salubrious and temperate climate ; most favourable locality for the purposes of commerce, and numerous public roads traversing it in every direction, make this extensive tract of country most interesting as well to the settler as to the land speculator and commercial man. Like the other districts of Lower Canada which were at first settled by the French, its frontier parts next the chief rivers have been granted in seigniories, excepting along the Ottawa, on which a great num- ber of townships has been laid out for English settlers, which, as well as those in the rear of the seigniories, it shall be our business to describe as far as they have been surveyed. It need scarcely be added, that these townships are daily becoming more important from their local situation, as the country around becomes settled. The district is divided into 9 counties, which contain 70 seignio- ries, 6 fiefs, and 59 townships. The counties stand in alphabetical order thus :— Acadie. La Prairie. Beauharnois. L'Assomption. Berthier. Missisqui. Chamblay. Montreal. Lachenaye. Ottawa. Acadie county, in the ancient county of Hunt- ingdon, lying between the river Richelieu and the St. Lawrence, and bounded on the south by the LOWER CANADA. 83 province line, contains only one township, with two seigniories, and two islands in the river on which it is. It is only 22 miles long, and 20 broad ; and the population, which is nearly 10,000, is about one-half Canadian, and the 'other half consists of Americans, English, Irish, and Scotch. But our chief business is with the township of Sherrington, which is an irregular-shaped tract between Hemmingford and Chateauguay, on the river La Tortue, with which, and several smaller streams, it is conveniently watered ; the soil and timber much diversified, but almost the whole un- exceptionable as to quality, with the latter of which it is in general well covered. To the north- east there are many swamps, some of which are thickly grown with black ash, others with cedar. To the south-west, the land rises in many places into eminences, and the soil is various. The chief river is not navigable for boats, but rafts are brought down to the La Tortue mills. There are two roads, and about the 8th and 9th ranges is a small and thriving settlement of English families, besides a number of Canadians who are settled on it. A principal land- owner in this township, Mr. Langue- doc, has commenced the cultivation of hemp, and erected a hemp-mill. Population, 3125. Beauharnois county, west of the former, and on the St. Lawrence at the boundary-line, with the river Chateauguay running through it, is a triangular section, whose extensive frontage to the St. Law- G 2 84 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. rence, as well as its agreeable climate and large population, give it great advantages. Besides its seigniory of the same name, extending 6 miles on St. Lawrence, and a tract of Indian lands, and an Indian village to the west, it contains several parishes and improving villages, the principal of which are Beauharnois, St. Regis, and Dundee, and others in townships immediately to be noticed. It sends two members to the Provincial Assembly, which are elected at a village called St. Clement ; its length is 55 miles, and its breadth 22 ; the population is above 14,000, one-third of which is composed of native Canadians, and the remainder is Scotch, Irish, Americans, and Indians. Its first township is GoDMANCHESTER, on the lake St. Francis, or part of the St. Lawrence, and the boundary-line : it is bounded in the rear by the river Chateauguay, which separates it from^ the neighbouring township of Hin- chinbrook. This is in point of soil, timber, climate, situation and local advantages, a most valuable tract ; and is 14 J miles in front, by an average depth of 7 miles. The lands on the borders of the lake, and the river, in the rear of this township, are low, and in many parts contain excellent meadows, but ascend as usual towards the interior into large swells of hard timbered land. Many Scotch settlers are mixed among the Canadians in front along the lake, while the Irish emigrants are settled towards the centre. The village of Godmanchester, on one of the forks of LOWER CANADA. 85 the river a la Guerre, and built on government land, contains a population of 82. Though this promises to be an huportant township, and is rapidly increasing, but little attention has as yet been paid to the roads. Population in 1828, 1413 — lands improved, about 2500 acres — 5 saw-mills, a corn- mill, with pot-asheries, &c. &c. Hemmingford, on the boundary-line beside the former, has been laid out for close settlements, a number of which have been located, and some of the farms are in a thriving state. The surface of this township is very uneven, having several high ridges, and on the north-east and north-west sides are several large cedar swamps, yet there are many tracts of superior land. The high lands are well timbered, and the whole is watered by the Montreal and small streams. The roads are more numerous than good, — the population consists of 150 families, of whom 70 are from Ireland, 19 from England, 11 from Scotland, 24 from the United States, and 3 from Germany. This townsliip is distinguished by a mountain, called Hemmenyard mountain or Covey's hill, which rises 1100 feet above the level of the St. Lawrence. Population, 980 ; — 5 saw-mills, with corn-mills, &c. &c. HiNCHiNBRooK, also on the boundary-line, and beside the former. The surface is somewhat uneven, but the soil though rather light, and often stony, is generally good, with the exception of a few swampy tracts. Here there is a village bearing the name of 86 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the township, as also another called Huntingdon, lying partly in this, and partly in the neighbouring township of Godmanchester, which last is chiefly occupied by Irish families to the number of 125 persons. Of the whole population, besides 78 Irish families, 79 are from Scotland, 15 from England, and the rest from the United States and Germany ; the whole amounting to 1214 persons. The roads are but indifferent, though often covered with waggons; the settlers are chiefly along the river Chateauguay, where there are gentle slopes, and fine meadows. Vast quantities of fine timber have of late been cut from this township, and rafted down the Chateauguay ; there are 7 saw-mills, 2 corn-mills, &c. Berthier county lies north of the St. Lawrence, which fronts it, in the old county of Warwick, and it contains several islands in its chief river. It con- sists of 8 seigniories, 5 fiefs, and only 2 townships in the interior, bordering the waste lands of the crown, one of which is Brandon, on which there are hardly any settlers, though the lands up to the 9th range, to the amount of 40,000 acres, are described as of excellent quaUty ; the rest towards the north-west, are uneven and moun- tainous. A good road is much wanted here, and is partly made. The timber is generally good, and in many places the pine is fit for masting. Population on the lake Maskinonge, 20 persons. KiLDARE, to the westward of the former, and also bounded on the north by the waste lands, is L0W::R CANADA. 87 well watered by L'Assomption, and other rivers, is eligibly situated, and contains, at least as far as the 9th range, a quantity of excellent land. Beyond this the surface is mountainous. Some good roads pass through this township, with bridges and other improvements; and some Canadian settlers, on the 5th and 6th ranges, are described as flourishing and happy. The lands here are conceded on terms similar to those of the seigniories. Ungranted, 874 acres. There is in this township a remarkable cavern which has been discovered by the Canadians. The county of Chamblay on the south side of the St. Lawrence, and bounded on the south-east by the river Richlieu, formerly called Chamblay, is entirely laid out in seigniories and fiefs. The county Lachenaye, on the north side of St. Lawrence, which bounds it in front, contains two townships in the rear of as many seigniories, viz. — Kilkenny, a small township, in which a few Irish emigrants have promiscuously set themselves down ; is well watered, and though in most parts un- even and mountainous, contains much good land, particularly along the North river, which flows through it. No roads as yet. Wexford, beside the former, not yet surveyed. The small county of La Prairie, between the St. Lawrence and the river Richlieu on the south-east side of the former, is entirely laid out into seigni- ories, &c. The county of L'Assomption, on the north side of 88 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the St. Lawrence, contains, behind the seigniory of St. Sulpice, 2 townships, viz. — Chertsey, not yet surveyed, but beyond a chain of mountains running through it are 3 leagues of rich meadow land, and the rest covered with good hard timber. On the mountains are several small lakes abounding with fish. Rawdon, between Kildare and Kilkenny. Though the face of the country is uneven and in some parts mountainous, the soil is described as generally fit for the cultivation of grain. It is more than usually well watered, there are several good roads through it, and numerous bridges laid across the streams by the settlers, who are chiefly emigrants from Ireland. There is a strong chalybeate spring on the fourth range near the river Blanche ; and another medicinal spring on the next river. Population, 850. Pot- asheries, 8, saw-mills, 4, and corn-mills, 3. Un- granted, &c., 10,400 acres. The county of Missisqui, in the old county of Bedford, on the south province line, is a small county on the north end of the lake Champlain, 30 miles in its longest part and 14 in breadth. Besides the seigni- ory of St. Armand, it contains 3 townships, viz. — Durham, exactly in the rear of the seigniory so named, is from its situation and the quality of the land a valuable tract. The upper lands are rather hilly and well timbered, but on the more level parts the soil is in general a rich black mould But little swampy land, well watered, several good roads, and nearly LOWER CANADA. 89 "wholly settled. A village, called Frost village, having a church and methodist chapel, with 25 houses, is in this township. The population, 2,121, 2 saw-mills, corn, carding, and fulling ditto, &c. &c. Standbridge, between the above and St. Armand. A great variety of surface and timber ; the west part rather low and marshy, but to the east higher, and composed of a rich black and yellow loam with a little sand. Well watered by the Pyke river and its branches, which work several saw and corn mills. Is intersected by several roads, — well settled on the north-east side, population 1800, 1 village, a school, 9 saw-mills, 4 corn ditto, &c. &c. Sutton, between Brome on the north to the pro- vince line on the south. The land in general good and but few marshes. Sufficiently watered and some roads, the population 825, with grist and saw mills &c. &c. Bog and mountain iron-ores are found here, and there is 1 forge. The county and island of Montreal is granted in -seigniories, as is also the counties of Richlieu, Rouville, St. Hayacinth, Vaudreuil, and Vercheres. We therefore pass on to the counties of SheiTord and Stanstead, joining each other in the south part of this district and near the boundary line ; which are both laid out in townships, and which we take to- gether alphabetically as follows. Barford, between Hereford and Barnston, is not a full township, nor is it settled, although the land is described as excellent, the timber good, and the L.oFC. 90 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. whole tract being well watered promises to become valuable. Barnston is next to it and on the province line. The land a succession of hill and dale, with some swamps, but the chief part of it good for the growth of grain, &c. It is well watered and roaded, and the population, settled chiefly on the western side, is above 1600. There is ungranted, &c., 5387 acres, and there is on the township several schools, 4 saw and 2 corn mills, &c. &c. Bolton, to the west side of the lake Memphra- magog, is uneven and mountainous in surface, being crossed diagonally by a chain of heights from which flow streams that water it well. Being early laid out as a township it has a population of above 1000, with 4 schools, 5 saw-mills, 1 corn ditto, two taverns, several pot and pearl-asheries, &c. &c. The lands on the low parts are tolerably good, but those to the east are the best, presenting some fine settle- ments. Brome, between the above and Durham, and on lake Brome, in which part the land is partly settled and is good ; but great part of the whole is so moun- tainous as to be unfit for culture. On the north- west side the surface is rugged and high, but here grows some good timber, and there is found bog and mountain iron-ore in great quantities. Still that part which is susceptible of culture is well settled, for the population amounts to 1314 ; there are 5 schools, 7 saw-mills, and other public erections corresponding. LOWER CANADA. ^| Ely, between Acton to the north and Stukeley to the south, is well watered, and few settlers are in it. The land is of a fair quality, and if cultivated promises fertility ; and the low parts, though rather wet, is of a good soil, producing some of the best kinds of hard black woods. Ungranted, 2800 acres. Farnham, between Standbridge, Durham, and Brome, is watered throughout by the inferior branches of the Yamaska. The land is of good quality generally, although there are several indifferent tracts, and there are large swamps to the north-west. Nearly all the land is granted ; and along the banks of the streams are some good patches of settlement. There are se- veral roads; — the population 835, 2 churches, 6 schools, 1 village, 4 corn, 3 carding, and 3 fuHing mills, 13 saw-mills, 9 pearl-asheries, 4 pot ditto, with distilleries, a brewery and other public factories, show its prosperity. Ungranted and unlocated lands, 1272 acres. Granby, to the north-east of the former. The land is generally of a useful quality, principally composed of a blackish loam, over which there is in some places a layer of fine vegetable mould. The timber is also of the best sorts, and it is watered much as the former township, but hardly yet known for settlement. Hatley is in the county of Stanstead, between Ascot and Compton, and east of the lake Memphra- magog. The quality of the land is very variable, for the surface is irregular, and in many places hilly. The soil, however, to the east and north-east is good, to 92 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the west, it is superior ; but in the middle it is in- different, the surface beingrugged and swampy. There are some extensive settlements towards Ascot and Compton, as well as on the borders of the lake. The whole is well watered, there are many roads mads through it ; it contains the village of Charleston to the north-east, which has a Protestant church, a school, a brewery, and a distillery, with 115 inhabit- ants in the village. The population of the whole is above 1500 ; there are 8 schools, 11 saw-mills, 7 corn do., 6pot-asheries, and other public conveniences cor-- responding. Ungranted, &c. 12,641 acres. Milton in the county of Shefford, between Granby and Upton. The surface lies low, and in many places runs into swamps, so that it is inferior to Granby, though there is abundance of good grass land. PoTTON in Stanstead, on the province line until it meets Lake Memphramagog, is mostly hilly and un- even in surface, yet contains several good patches. There are several thriving settlements on the river Missisqui, which, with its tributaries, waters it well ; as also on the banks of the lake, where the land is particularly good. The roads are but indifferent ; though the population amounts to 804, with 3 carding- mills, 4 saw-mills, and other erections to correspond. Bog and mountain iron ores are found here. RoxTON in Shefford, bounded in front by that township, and in the rear by Acton, is watered by branches of the Yamaska, and contains but few set- tlers. The southern half only has been surveyed ; the land is rather wet, yet producing some of the best LOWER CANADA. 93 species of hard black wood, seems of a good quality, and not unfit for tillage. Ungranted, &c. 12,000 acres. Shefford, in the same county, and south of the above, is uneven in surface, and, towards the west^ mountainous. Though the uplands and high ridges are too stony to be of much value, the soil is de- scribed as in most places exceedingly rich, and the timber of the best species. Watered by several branches of the Yamaska, as well as other streams, and intersected by many roads communicating with the neighbouring townships. Some fine settlements are in the south-east part, and the banks of the rivers display many good breadths of grazing land. It is against this township, that it has one-seventh more than any other laid out in crown and clergy reserves, which stand greatly in the way of the improvement of other parts. The village called Frost Village con- tains 25 houses, and 120 souls. The population of the whole is 951, with 2 churches, 8 schools, 4 saw-mills, and proportionate public erections. Stanstead, in the county of the same name, to the east of the lake Memphramagog, and between the province line on the south, and Hatley on the north, is superior to any of the adjacent townships in the advantages of its locality, excellence of soil, and quality of timber. It contains many large swells of land, some of them of considerable elevation, clothed with the best sorts of hard woods, while the lower parts are covered with abundance of common timber; 94 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The south and easterly parts are well settled, and those along the lake are delightfully situated, and in a promising state of improvement, being surrounded by well-stocked gardens and orchards. There are 2 villages, Georgeville at Copp's Ferry on the lake, and Stanstead near the province line, the last of which contains a population of 200. The stage road from Quebec passes through this township, and there are others which are inferior. Population, 3371, Pro- testant church, 1, schools, 15, saw-mills, 18, carding do. 7, com do. 9, foundery 1, &c. &c. Stukeley, in the county of Shefford, between Bolton and Ely. The land in some parts is rather above the medium quality, although the general surface is broken and uneven. Watered by streams flowing from the hills that stretch across it, as well as by some small lakes. Population, 275. Again crossing the St, Lawrence, we have to no- tice specifically the three remaining counties of this district, all lying on the northern side of the river, viz. Terrabonne, Two Mountains, and Ottawa, great part of which, particularly the two last, is laid out in townships. The first of these, namely. The county of Terrabone, with its seigniories stretching back from the St. Lawrence, or rather the Riviere des Prairies and the Isle Jesus, beside Mon- treal, to the northern boundary of the province, contains Abercrombie, in the rear of the augmentation of Mille Isles, and adjoining the township of Kilkenny LOWER CANADA. 9$ formerly noticed. The lands generally uneven and traversed by rocky ridges, the soil light, and in many parts stony and sandy, yet there are throughout some tracts of good land and meadows. Well watered generally. Howard, beside the above, not surveyed. The county of Two Mountains, between the above and the more westerly county of Ottawa, contains six townships ; viz. Arundell, in the rear of Harrington, not sur- veyed. Chatham, fronted by the Ottawa river, and of course in a highly favourable situation, is nine miles in breadth and twelve in depth. Up to the seventh range behind its frontage, the lands are generally level, with a few gentle acclivities, usually named maple ridges, intermixed with extensive natural meads, affording excellent pasturage, and occasional small cedar swamps. All this land is calculated to pro- duce hemp and flax, and the best sorts of grain. Beyond the seventh range, towards the rear, the sur- face becomes broken and uneven, being traversed in several parts by mountainous rising grounds, among which, however, there are mixed many intervals of rich soil. The hills are in several parts barren, par- ticularly on the west side, bordering Grenville, yet the timber, of which considerable quantities have been already felled, is of a superior description. Besides the North River, — which enters the township at the fifth concession, and down which the timber cut from it is 96 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. floated to the Ottawa, — it is watered by eight or nine small lakes, near its rear, as also by the West River, which is navigable for six miles through it ; as well as by numerous small streams. On the first range, in par- ticular, the settlements along the public road are nu- merous and flourishing, as well as partly on the second range. Beyond the fourth, and up to the eighth range, (in which are situated several blocks of crown and clergy reserves,) it remains almost a total wilderness^ thus precluding the few settlers in the rear from all communication directly with the great river in front. Besides the public road along the front, near the Ottawa, which is the main route from Montreal to the upper townships, two other roads bend some dis- tance towards the rear, and one reaches as far as the twelfth range, which ends at Chute Mills. The in- habitants of this tract are English, Scotch, Irish, Americans, and a few Canadians, amounting in all to a population of 1073, who have two public schools, well attended. There is one village of twenty-one dwelling-houses, called Davisville ; and linen cloth is made in the township to some extent. There are 3 saw-mills, 2 stores in the village, 4 taverns, &c. In the rear of the neighbouring seigniory of Ar- genteuil, which separates it from the Ottawa, is a smaller tract, called Chatha:\i Gore, the front portion of which only, to the extent of four ranges, has been surveyed. This tract is distinguished by several beau- tiful lakes, which make the country round picturesque and romantic. Tliese abound in fisli, particularly LOWER CANADA. 97 lake Bouchette, whose waters are remarkably clear, and afford plenty of fine salmon -trout. The land is, in general, fit for cultivation, being a clayey, sandy Joam, and for the growth of wheat and Indian corn is not to be surpassed, notwithstanding the moun- tainous character of the surface and the intermixture of rock with the soil in some parts. The timber is chiefly maple and beech, with other varieties ; there are three middling roads leading into the seigniory in front, and the settlers, who have some good farms along the sides of the lakes, are all Irish, and of the church of England. Th^ whole population is about 400, having one church, a well attended school, with pot and pearl ash factories, tanneries, and other public erections. Grenville, with its augmentation, also on the Ottawa, and next higher up than Chatham, namely, to the west of it, and bounded in the rear by the waste lands of the crown, and La Petite Nation, is chiefly remarkable for its canal, which has been formed at great expense along the river to avoid the dangerous rapids of the Long Sault, the Carillon Kapids, and another, which, in front of this township^ form one of the many interruptions to its navigation. The surface is in general mountainous, yet some of the lower hills aff*ord good land for tillage, with many small valleys between, where the soil is excellent. In many parts the soil would produce hemp and flax^ but it varies from the richest clay loam to the poorest fox-land. An extensive valley runs through the east H 98 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. part of the augmentation, along the Beaver Meadow Creek and Rouge River, from which several other valleys diverge, which offer the best situations for settlers. Besides these rivers, with which, including the Kingham and the Calumet, the township is well watered, there are many lakes which are well stored with trout. On the Calumet is abundance of superior limestone, as also a black-lead mine, which has partly been worked. The timber in these valleys is elm, maple, birch, tamarisk, witb some cedar, ash, pine, and hemlock, and the soil is chiefly argillaceous, and mixed occasionally with a siliceous rock. The loads are in various directions up to about the seventh range, and of as various goodness. The best settle- ments are on the eastern section, and the whole town- ship seems peculiarly adapted for the breeding of cattle from the manner those already introduced have thriven. There are 970 acres under cultivation, and 100 of pasture. There is a military establishment on the canal, which chiefly consists of the staff corps, and there is a village with 50 inhabitants, and a school with 40 scholars on the second range. The whole population, including the augmentation, is 1875, who have 3 saw-mills, 3 pot-asheries, 1 corn- mill, 1 pottery, &c. &c. Harrington, lying in the rear of the above, only projected. Howard, in the rear of Wentworth, and only projected. Wentworth, just in the rear of Chatham, is ge- LOWER CANADA. S9 nerally mountainous, and esteemed unfit for arable purposes, particularly in the rear of the three first ranges, where the land is of a tolerable quality, but as yet entirely unsettled. This township, however, produces excellent timber for naval purposes and in great abundance, and has the advantage of easy con- veyance for it by the North River, with which, with other streams and several small lakes, the whole is watered. The last county in the Lower Province is that of Ottawa, stretching westward, and northward along the north bank of the grand river of that name^ from the seigniory of La Petite Nation east, which joins it to the former county, up to the Temiscaming lake, and then bounded by the Hudson's Bay territory in the rear. Many townships are laid out along the grand river, which separates this county from the territory of Upper Canada, with which an imperfect commu- nication is formed by a line of bridges thrown across the rapids, between Hull on the one side, and By Town on the other ; but none of these being sur- veyed higher up than Clarendon, we shall proceed to notice them as they stand in their order along the bank of the river from La Petite Nation northward. The first of these is — Buckingham, between the before-mentioned sei- gniory and Temple ton above it ; is well watered in the surveyed parts, namely, up to the fifth range, by the river Au Lievre, and its streams running into the Ottawa in front. The maior part of the first range L.oFC. ' „9 100 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. on this and the other townships on the grand river is overflowed in the spring and fall by tliat great stream spreading considerably beyond its ordinary banks, which prevents buildings being erected near it, yet, by its copious irrigation of the soil at these reasons, leaves, when the waters recede, most whole- :Some and rich pasturage. From the river backwards to the fourth range, the surface of the land is low, and generally level, with several gentle slopes of fertile land, covered with large and well grown timber. Beyond this, north, the surface rises, and is often steep and abrupt. There are several very eligible sites for villages in this township, particularly in two places near a basin, into which the river Au Lievre discharges its waters. But some lands granted by letters patent to the late Captain Eobinson, as well as the crown reserves on the second range, being still unsettled, and left in a state of nature, consi- derably retard the general improvement of the town- ship. As far back, however, as 1827, Mr. Beglow, a large proprietor, living on the spot, had cleared -about 400 acres, and erected a saw-mill on the river. The roads are as yet bad ; the whole population is 266; there are 2 saw and 1 corn mill, with a pottery, a pot-ashery, and a tavern. Templeton, next to the above, and bounded in the Tear by the partly surveyed township of Portland. Approaching the Ottawa the land is low, but the •soil is tolerably good, and in many parts backwards, which rise from the front in fertile swells, it is of an LOWER CANADA. lOlC exceedingly good quality. Norway white and yellow pine are abundant in the fore parts, besides spruce, cedar, bass wood, and balsam, and in the rear it is chiefly timbered by elm, birch, beech, maple, &c. The settlements made here are chiefly in the south-west quarter, along a road which has been opened by the commissioners in front of the township; but these are as yet few, the population being only 60, and the road is by no means in good order. It is, however, exceedingly well watered by several streams and long narrow ponds or lakes. There is one pot-ashery and a pearl do. Portland, in the rear of the above, is watered by the river Blanche, and, imperfectly surveyed, is re- ported to be mountainous and rocky. Hull, next on the Ottawa above Templeton, and owing its present prosperity to the exertions of the celebrated Philemon Wright and his associates extends 16 ranges in depth, and contains 82,429 acres. Of this large tract Mr. AVright, in 1806, obtained a grant by letters-patent of 12,000 acres, of which, between 5000 and 6000 are now under culti^ vation; and to this enterprising American and his family, in reward for his great industry and manage- ment, there have also been granted 5000 acres in thft neighbouring township of Templeton, besides nearly as much in Lochaber, so that his property and power are immense in this part of the country. As this township has been more particularly inspected than any of the others on the Ottawa, and as its charac- iO^ TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. teristics are more or less that of those above and below it, a more particular description, at least of what remains to be granted and located of it, is deemed of importance. The front of this township, says Boiichette, is, generally, a plain, undulated by gradual swells as far back as the highlands in the sixth range, which traverse it in a curvilinear direction almost parallel with the Ottawa. Beyond these, the surface rises into more fre- quent and abrupt slopes, though by no means unfit for tillage, and becomes a rich grazing country. The general features of Hull are mountainous, and about its centre there runs a range of hills from east to west, the highest of which rises to 900 feet above the level of the river. The excellence of the timber growing upon this hilly land, and the slopes descending behind the range as well as towards the front, shows, how- ever, the richness of the soil, and the swamps are said to be but few and of small extent. The oak growing here, of which there are 4 species, is fit for naval purposes, and of the pine, of which there are not less than 10 species, much is of large dimen- sions. Of the birch, there are 5 sorts; the maple, 6 ; the beech, 2 ; the ash, 2 ; the elm, 2 ; the cherry, 3 ; and the willow, 6 ; making in all, even as far as has been yet observed, 42 species of forest trees and shrubs. An iron bed, of great richness, has also been discovered here, but has not yet been opened. There is also a lead mine on the Gatineau River, from which the Indians have brought down quantities of ore, but LOWER CANADA. 103" owing to the reluctance of these aborigines to speak of discoveries of this nature, its site has not been pub- licly ascertained. In this township, as well as along the Ottawa above it, there is abundance of the finest marble, which is chiefly on the Gatineau river ; and upon it, there is also the best sort of limestone, besides granite, that is found among the ranges of rocks in the interior. These particulars are given briefly, in order to indicate what is likely to be found also in the neighbouring townships, when as well known as this is. The whole is well watered by the above river and by numerous lakes, which are found in the chain of highlands in the interior, some of which lakes are extremely beautiful, and abound with trout. Mr. Wright* has, at great expense and labour, opened several roads both towards the interior and for the facility of communication along the shores of the river through the lower townships to Montreal, from which Hull is distant 120 miles. There is also the village of Wright, pleasantly situated on the south-east angle of the township, which contains a handsome church, with a steeple 120 feet high, a comfortable hotel, and several other public edifices. The population, which is rapidly increasing, consisted, originally, almost entirely of Americans, and in 1828 amounted to 1066. There are 3 schools, 2 tanneries, * For a further account of the proceedings of this enter- prising individual, see Appendix. 104 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 12 lime-kilns, 2 brick-kilns, 4 saw-mills, 2 distilleries^ and other manufactories to correspond ; and the lands still ungranted and unlocated amount to 21,250 acres. Eardly, next higher up the Ottawa, or rather on the lake Chaudiere, formed by it in this place, is- indented, in its frontage, by two large bays of the; lake, into which two small rivers discharge their streams, with others of inferior size, plentifully water- ing the front ranges of the township. It contains also some small lakes in the interior, but no con- siderable rivers, and being but thinly settled, even in front, has no regular roads. Hilly ground com- mences along the sixth range, from which, to the margin of the lake, the country is, in general, level, or rises into rich and gradual swells of excellent land. Large tracts of fine land are yet ungranted in this township, which, says Bouchette, ' if placed under the superintendence of an active agent, may, in time, become a settlement of interest and conse- quence.* By the last report of the population, it only amounts to 156 persons, which are chiefly from the neighbouring prosperous township of Hull. There is 1 school, and 19,590 acres of land still ungranted. Onslow, higher up the Ottawa, or, rather, the lake Chaudiere, which is an expansion of that river, is re- markably rocky and uneven in surface, with little land that is likely to tempt the settler. It is well watered, but there are no roads, and only 31 persons settled on it, with 1 saw-mill. ^Bristol, next above the former, is but little settled^ LOWER CANADA. 105 and hardly known, nor has it any roads. Popu- lation, 33. Clarendon is the next, and 150 miles from Mon- treal. It is the last township up the Ottawa that is partly settled, having 98 souls upon it, with a corn- mill, a saw-mill, and a pot-ashery. It is described as very well watered, but little more is known concern- ing this remote township. It would not be doing justice to a district of country that seems destined, at no distant period, to become most important, were we to close this brief account of these partially known townships without some notice of the interesting river Gatineau, which, rising in some large lakes far in the interior, traverses Hull as before-mentioned, and falls into the Ottawa about half a mile farther down, namely, in the western front of the township of Templeton. This wide, and, in the upper parts, rapid river, is navigable for steam- boats nearly 5 miles from its mouth, and above that, becoming rapid for about 15 miles, and turning seve- ral mills, thence is navigable for canoes, &c., to a distance, it is said, of 300 miles, traversing an immense and interesting vale, full of natural riches, and abounding in views of the wildest and most ro- mantic scenery. Mr. M'Taggart, civil engineer in the British service, having explored a considerable portion of this remarkable vale, speaks in the highest terms of its general capabilities ; and in his zeal to see it cleared and made use of, makes a curious suggestion, viz., that 106 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. our Government should, for a time, transport the con- victs thither for that purpose, observing, that here they would be quite apart from the rest of the inhabitants of the colony, and, if placed high enough on the river, it would, on account of the intervening woods, be per- fectly impossible for them to escape. * It embraces/ says lie, ' an area of 25,000 square miles, perfectly distinct from all lands of location, ranging between the 46° and 48° of north latitude, and may average about 300 feet above the level of the ocean. It is covered with a dense wilderness of trees, generally of the hard wood kind, oak, beech, maple, butter-nut, &c., which are of the very best quality. The snow falls in the beginning of December, and generally vanishes with the month of March. It is subject to two floods in the spring, like the Ottawa.' Speaking of his convicts, he adds, ' As the local situation also is excellent with regard to Upper and Lower Canada and the interior, it might become a place of great im- portance and utility to the mother country*;' and Bouchette speaks of it as a most promising quarter for the cultivation of that important article of British commerce — hemp and flax. * Our ignorance of this river,' adds the latter author, ' is partly explained by the common report of its course ; because, for up- wards of 100 miles before it joins the Ottawa, it flows parallel with, and but at a short distance from it, so that no Indian traders have found it worth their while to make establishments on it. This river has * M'Taggart's Three Years in Canada, vol. ii. p. 262. LOWER CANADA. 107 been wholly unfrequented by tlie lumber- dealer, on account of the great rapids and falls near its mouth, at one spot said to be 100 feet perpendicular. It is supposed that the Gatineau will present one of the finest pieces of river navigation in Canada after passing the heights near its mouth. The variety of minerals known to lie on the banks- of this river renders it an object of still higher interest *.' As for the upper northern banks of the Ottawa, belonging to this province, but not yet surveyed, the goodness of the land and their prospective importance may be inferred from the fact of their being the chief resort of the winter lumberers, who cut down from thence and float down the rivers those enormous piles of fine timber which make so great a branch of Canadian commerce with the mother country. * Bouchette's British Dominions in North America — ^Topo- graphical Dictionary, article Gatineau. GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. PART II. UPPER CANADA. The reasons wliy we have been so minute in our topographical notices of Lower Canada, are, first, because it being far a thicker peopled country than the Upper Province, and its consequent increasing importance causing it to be better surveyed, we are more amply furnished with the means ; second, because the closer a productive country is settled, the more valuable in general becomes its land, the more interesting of course is all information con- cerning it, and the more numerous its advantages to the local improver ; and third, because, by the pro- posed formation of a public association in England, namely, the British American Land Company, the best lands of its numerous townships are likely soon to be taken up, for the purpose of their disposal under favourable terms to individuals for the encou- ragement of well-regulated emigration, and the facilitating of local improvement in that quarter. The Upper Province, however, though a younger colony, more remote from the coast, less settled as yet, and far less improved generally, — possessing, however, a rich soil and a fine climate, and many 110 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ready advantages particularly to the poor industrious raan, — besides being at present the favourite spot for common emigrants — we shall give some general sketch of its geographical position, as well as such particulars of its soil and local advantages as the docu- ments we are in possession of enable us to do, so far as these would seem to be of interest to the intelligent inquirer. In running the finger along the map, the first thing that strikes the inspector, in reference to Upper Canada, is its great extent of water frontier; first, at its commencement along the northern side of the St. Lawrence, and betwixt it and the Ottawa; second, along the same side of lake Ontario, namely, for 230 miles ; third, along lake Erie for 350 miles more ; and, fourth, northerly along lake Huron, &c., and then easterly in the rear, for a distance that cannot be easily named. The reader knows that the grand river Ottawa, with the Nipissing lake, the French river, and a great limb of the lake Huron, bounds it to the north; and that internal to these there are various other smaller but important lakes, as lake Simcoe, Balsam lake, Trout lake, Rice lake, Eideau lake, and a number of others already known and named ; besides, no doubt, many others lying in that vast unexplored tract, which stretches north from lake Simcoe, and the chain of lakes east of it, to the banks of the Ottawa, and the Nepissing lake far to the north. Upper Canada is generally a level country, with UPPER CANADA. Ill a remarkably rich soil, and well watered by nu- merous rivers, yet is not entirely without occa- sional ridges or ranges of elevated or table-land, none of which, however, at all deserve the name of mountains. The first of these is a ridge of this description, which, commencing about the boundary line that separates this from the Lower Province, and running westerly between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, traverses the townships in the rear of Osnabruck, Williamsbury, and Matilda, in which last township the river Petite Nation takes its source, at the distance of 5 miles only from the St. Law- rence ; thence dividing the source of one of the great branches of the Rideau at about ten miles dis- tance from the former river, it becomes at length, after traversing the townships of Bustard and Crosby, lost in level at no great distance farther inland. Several other low ridges traverse the country, mostly westerly, as if they were a continuation of the above, and become the head of numerous streams, until arriving at the northern borders of the Balsam lake, where the chief of them assumes a higher elevation than usual, they again stretch towards lake Simcoe, and help to diversify the general monotony of the face of the country. There is another ridge of elevated land, which beginning at that arm of the sea called the bay of Quinte, extends westerly along the shores of lake Ontario, approaching that lake in some places, as 112 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. in the township of Hamilton, at a distance of not more than nine miles. This ridge, stretching a little northerly, passes the rear of York at a distance of 24 miles from tliat capital, thence bending again, south and easterly, round the head of the lake, it joins the Burlington and Queenstown heights, until still running easterly, now along the south shore of the lake, it enters the United States territory beyond the Niagara. Inspecting carefully any good map, the inquirer will perceive, in running his eye along the north shores of the St. Lawrence and the Ontario, that the majority of the rivers on this side of these ridges, which join that river or the lake, are short and small, excepting those that join the lakes inland ; while a number of streams, which run north until they join the Ottaw\a, are long, and flow through a considerable extent of country. As the short front rivers have no great fall towards the St. Lawrence or the Ontario, no more than the land has from the moderate heights before-mentioned, — as in fact, the ilescent on both sides of the frontier heights is only about four feet to a mile ; and as on the lake side of the ridge the distance is greatly shorter than on the north towards the Ottawa, the question immediately arises how this can be. The difficulty is, however, at once solved by the remarkable fact, ' Ascertained and established,' says Bouchette, ' by the engineer employed on the Eideau canal, — namely, that the UPPER CANADA. 113; level of lake Ontario is about 130 feet higher than that of the Ottawa river ; therefore is the descent from the table-land, before-mentioned, so gradual and imperceptible on both sides.' The largest and most populous of the towns in Upper Canada, and called the key to the province, is Kingston, advantageously situated at the head of the St. Lawrence, and entrance of the great lake Ontario. Its population is now about 5,500 souls; it is a military post of importance, as well as a naval dep6t, and from its local position and advantages,. is well susceptible of fortification. It contains noble dock-yards and conveniences for ship building. * Its bay affords,' says Howison, ' so fine a harbour,, that a vessel of an hundred and twenty guns can lie close to the quay,' and the mercantile importance it has now attained, as a commercial entrepot between Montreal below, and the western settlements on the lakes above, may be inferred, among other things, from the wharfs on the river and the many spacious and well-fitted warehouses behind them, as well as the numerous stores, and mercantile employes within the town. The streets are regularly formed upon that right-angular plan, which is the favourite in new set- tlements, but they are not paved ; and though the houses are mostly built of limestone, inexhaustible quarries of which lie in the immediate vicinity of the town, and are of the greatest importance to it and the surrounding neighbourhood, there is nothing in the least degree remarkable or interesting in the appear- I 114 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ance of either the streets or buildings. The opening of the Rideau Canal here, which with the intermediate lakes forms a junction between the Ontario and other lakes above, the St. Lawrence below, and the Ottawa opposite to Hull in its rear, with all the intervening districts and townships, will immensely increase the importance of this place ; and its convenient hotels already afford comfortable accommodation to the host of travellers, that are continually passing between the upper and lower provinces, as well as to and from the states on the opposite side of the river. Appended to this important place, and at successive points on the St. Lawrence, as the traveller proceeds from the Lower Province, are the several towns of Cornwall, Johnstown, Prescot, Elizabeth Town^ and Brockville, besides a continuance of small villages on the same thoroughfare road along the river. Of these towns, Cornwall and Johnstown, standing close to the river, contains each nearly 100 houses, built of wood, with a church, court-house, &c. Prescot, now called Fort Wellington, is important as being the chief stage between this port and Montreal, from which it is distant 130 miles, and between which coaches run every day, except Sundays. From the position of this place, however, as at the head of the Montreal boat-navigation, and at the foot of the sloop and steam navigation from the lakes, it must soon in- crease in extent, as it will rise in importance. The next place of expected importance in this near end of the province, is the inland town of Perth, UPPER CANADA. 115 pleasantly situated in the district of Bathurst, and tovsTiship of Drummond, on a small branch of the Kideau, called the Tay river, and occupying a position nearly central between the St. Lawrence to the south, and the Ottawa behind. This village was founded in 1815, by British emigrants, chiefly from Scotland^ many of whom are now we are told at the head of excellent farms, possess comfortable habitations, and reap the fruits of their perseverance and industry. Near the centre of the town is a hill, on which a court-house, a jail, and two churches, have been erected. The streets are sixty-six feet wide ; the to\vn contains between one and two hundred buildings, some of them finished in an olegant and commodious manner, and the whole population may be about 400 souls. The relative situation of this place with the surrounding country, and the Rideau canal in its neighbourhood, with its other advantages, as com- municating by tolerably good roads, with By-Town on the Ottawa to the north, and Kingston on the St. Lawrence to the south, besides its being placed in the midst of a fertile country, all give good promise of its future prosperity and importance. By- Town before-mentioned, situated on the south- ern bank of the Ottawa, a little below the Chau- diere falls, and opposite to the flourishing village of Hull in Lower Canada, stands upon a bold eminence, surrounding a bay of the grand river, and occupies both banks of the canal, which here meets it. Laid out in the usual manner with wide streets crossing at right i2 116 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. angles, the number of houses are already about 150, most of which are of wood, and many built with much taste. Three stone barracks, and a large and commo- dious hospital, built also of stone, stand conspicuous on the elevated banks of the bay ; and the elegant residence of Colonel By, the commanding royal en- gineer on that station, delightfully situated on the same elevation, commands a prospect over the river, and its falls, and rapids, that is scarcely to be equalled among the variety of the Canadas. EASTERN SECTION. The first, or eastern section of the Upper Province^ in which all these towns are situated, consists of the whole of that tract, or tongue of land lying between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, and bounded above, that is on the west, by the next higher district called Newcastle, includes five districts, — viz.-the Eastern, the Ottawa, the Johnstown, the Bathurst, and the Midland. The whole of this section presents almost unexcep- tionably a table level, of moderate elevation, with a very gentle depression as it approaches the different streams with which it is bounded and intersected. The soil is in general rich and fertile, though with a consider- able mixture of moist and marshy spots, and consists chiefly of a brown clay and yellow loam. In the upper part, along the shores of the Ontario, and about the bay of Quints, it is still more clayey, and rests UPPER CANADA. Il7 upon a substratum of bluish limestone, wliicli some- times penetrates through the soil above the surface. The timber in the forests is large and lofty, the trees chiefly consisting of white pine, white and red oak, maple, beech, birch, hickory, basswood, ironwood, butternut, and poplar, with a lesser quantity of ash, elm, and cedar. Along the banks of the St. Lawrence and upwards, as well as on the Ottawa in the rear, the land is w^ell, if not thickly settled, the most populous being of course along the former from point Au Baudet to the head of the bay of Quinte. The particulars of the nature and quality of soil in the several townships, with the advantages or disadvan- tages of situation, we are enabled to give from esti- mates made according to directions of the provincial government, at the quarter sessions, by the magistrates assembled. Perhaps few national documents are more deserving of attention, for although it may be said that they are founded on opinion, it is the opinion of the most intelligent body of men in the country. They exhibit also an estimate of value, but circumstances have so changed in the province since, that it would no longer be of any use to quote the prices. EASTERN DISTRICT. The first of these is the eastern district, com- mencing at the boundary line of the province at the east, and running along the north bank of the St. Lawrence, until it meets the next district of Johns- 118 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. town, above the township of Matilda. It is divided into twelve townships in two ranges, whose advan- tages and disadvantages are described as follows^ be- ginning with — Lancaster, being the first next the boundary line, and fronting the St. Lawrence. Soil. — Clay and loam : generally low land, but productive. Advan- tages. — Saw and grist mills. Dundas Street passes through it. LocHiEL, in the rear of the former. Soil. — Hear part of this township rich ; front part, low land and stony. Advantages. — Watered by the river de Lisle, and river de Grass. Grist and saw mills. Charlotte NBURGH, next higher up than Lancas- ter, and also fronting the St. Lawrence. Soil. — Much the same as Cornwall. Advantages. — Well watered; several grist and saw mills. Dundas Street passes through it. Kenyon, in the rear of the former. Soil. — Loam and clay; fine soil. Advantages. — Well watered, but few mill-sites, not valuable. Cornwall, next higher up the St. Lawrence than Charlottenburg. Soil. — Red loam, clay, and stony. Advantages. — Dixon's, Chisholm's, Cline's, Fraser's, and Link's mills, different branches of the river Aux Raisins. Dundas Street runs through the centre of this township. RoxBORouGH, in the rear of the above. Soil. — Generally black loam and clay ; some part to the west is stony. Advantages. — Watered by the north branch of the river Aux Raisins, and several creeks. UPPER CANADA. 219 OsNABRUCK, the next higher on the St. Lawrence. Soil. — Front part sandy ; in the rear a good soil of loam and clay. Advantages. — "Watered in front by the St. Lawrence, river Aux Raisins ; Hoople's creek has Crysler's mill, and Louck's mill. Finch, at the rear of Osnabruck. Soil. — Good; the front part black loam ; the rear sandy. Advan- tages. — A branch of the Petite Nation river runs through it. Several mill-sites. WiLLiAMSBURGH, ncxt above Osnabruck on the St. Lawrence. Soil. — Much the same ; some parts stony. Advantages. — Watered in the interior by creeks. Grist and saw-mills. Winchester, at the rear of Williamsburgh. Soil. — Loam mixed with sand. Advantages. — Petite Nation river, and branch of the Castor river runs through it. One mill-site. Matilda, above Williamsburgh on the St. Law- rence. Soil. — Black loam, clay, and sand; gene- rally productive. Advantages. — Watered by the St. Lawrence in front ; one branch of the river Petite Nation runs through the rear of it. Two grist-mills on the St. Lawrence. Mountain, in the rear of Matilda. Soil. — Mixed loam and clay. Advantages. — Branches of the Petite Nation river runs through it. One saw-mill. To these particulars we are enabled also by the kindness of Mr. Gait, to add the following original 120 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. REPORT on the Townships of the Eastern Dis- trict, by Duncan M'Dowell, Esq., Deputy- Surveyor of the Province. Sir, Glengarry, llth September, 1S27. In the eastern Ottawa, Johnstown, and Bathurst districts, lands have frequently been sold for from 155. to 2O5. per acre, and some particular lots from 22s. to 255. per acre ; sales at that price were more common from the year 1814 to ]820; those were times that cash was in greater circulation ; the price of land greatly depended on the state of settlement, mills, roads, &c., in the townships in which the lands were situated. Since that period money became scarce and the sale of land not so frequent, and the average price since, is generally from 125. Qd. to 155. per acre : individuals who were in distress had to sell their lands for what they could get, and the price of that class of people was from 55. to 75. 6d. per acre, and it is by that description of persons that the greater quantity of lands were sold, as they did not sell their lands for what they were worth, but for what they could get. I shall mention in this report the situation and state of the Canada Company's lots in the eastern districts, with such other information as I think may be inte- resting to you for the information of the Company, and shall, without delay, send you a similar one of the Ottawa, Johnstown, and Bathurst districts, in case that they may prove more satisfactory than those I formerly sent you. UPPER CANADA. 121 TownsliiiD of Lancaster is well settled, and the lands generally good ; the lots belongmgtothe Com- pany, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the 9th concession, are rather of an indifferent quality ; *the soil is very light and sandy ; they are in the vicinity of a settlement convenient to mills and a road leading to them. This township fronts the river St. Lawrence, the river Bo- datte, and river Del isle, and a nmnber of other smaller streams run through it ; the river Delisle passes within a mile of the Company's lands. I am of opinion that from 95. to 10s. per acre would be a fair price for lands in that tract, and that more from its local situation than the quality of the land : those lots are occupied by squatters, with the exception of No. 5 ; Samuel M'Dowell occupies No. 6 ; Malcolm M'Niel occupied and made improvements on No. 4, but left it lately ; Alexander M'Dowell occupies Nos. 2 and 3 : no timber fit for market was taken olf those lots, and I believe that no timber fit for that purpose grew on them. Few sales, of late years, have taken place of uncleared land in Lancaster ; there are but very few lots in it without a settler on it ; but during the period above stated such lots as were sold, and were good, sold generally from 15s. to 20s. per acre. The principal road through the province, called Dundas Street, goes through the interior of this township. Township of Lochiel is well settled, the lands ge- nerally good : the lots belonging to the Company are mostly such as were rejected by the discharged soldiers 122 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. and emigrants who settled on the Crown reserves tinder the superintendence of the Quarter- Master- General ; but some of those lots are good land for Canadians, who, by their mode of clearing, make the swampy lands the best for tillage ; the river La Grass, and several small streams which empty into it, runs through it, and the river Delisle crosses the south-west corner. On those rivers there are grist and saw mills ; the road leading from Cornwall to the Ottowa in Hawkesbury passes through it, and several roads are cut across and lengthways through this township which are convenient to the Company's lots. A number of the lots marked as belonging to the Company have been granted to emigrants and dis- charged soldiers by the Quarter-Master-General's de- partment ; the following are the lots granted : — 2d concession, north half, No. 6, granted to Duncan M'Tavish. whole of No. 11, granted to Lt. Angus M'Dowell. south half No. 13, granted to Allan M-'Dowell. 3rd ditto, north do. No. 11, granted to John M'Dowell, pri- vate, G. Regt. 4th ditto, south do. No. 7, granted to John M'Caig, No. 17, S.i 9th ditto, do. do. No. 2, granted to Donald Lothian. do. ditto, do. do. No. 4, granted to M'Tavish. whole of No. 8, granted to Duncan M'Pherson, and widow M'Intyre. No. 10, granted to Peter M-Dougall. No. 14, granted to M'Intosh and Ca- meron. No. 16, squatted upon by James Dayly, who sold his improvements to Thomas M' Donald for UPPER CANADA. 123 £lb, wlio is now in the possession of it. No. 38, granted to M'Gillivray : this lot only contains 100 acres, although reckoned 140 acres in the Company's book ; from 15s. to 20s. has often been given per acre for lands in tliis township. Mr. M' Do well, of Point Fortune, sold 2000 acres at 20s. per acre, bearing interest until paid, besides several others who sold lands at the above stated price. I believe no timber has been taken by lumber-men from the Company's lands in Lochiel since sold to the Company. Township of Roxborough. A great portion of this township are clergy reserves, and some of it granted to New England loyalists. Part of the front conces- sions are very partially settled. In this settlement there is a grist and saw mill. The north branch of the river Aux Raisins, and a branch of the river Petite Nation, called the Pean, rises in Roxborough ; a great part of it is swampy. The 9th concession, which belongs to the Canada Company, is generally good ; the road from Cornwall to the settlement on the Petite Nation in Plantagenet passes by the east side of that concession ; its local situation is favourable, as the intercourse of the settlers that may be there will be by the Petite Nation down the Ottawa to Montreal. So much of the Company's lands being in a block will be an induce- ment to people to purchase, as in such a tract a com- pact settlement may be formed. With the exception of the streams already mentioned, there are but very few streams in this township ; it is poorly watered ; and it is a matter of course, where there are so few settlers, 124 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. that little has been done to roads. I think that about 10s. per acre is a fair price for lands in this concession. I have heard of no sales of any consequence in this township. Some elms were taken off the Crown reserves before they were sold to the Company. Township of Finch, generally, is excellent land, thinly settled ; a great part of it was granted to the sons and daughters of New England loyalists, which fell into the hands of speculators, a circumstance that operates much against the settlement of this township. The river Petite Nation runs through it crossways, and a branch of it lengthways called the Pean river; little has been done to roads, and the settlers suffer much inconveniency in that respect. Mr. Crysler built an excellent mill, with a number of saws in it, on the Nation, near the rear and centre of the township, and is also to build a grist-mill in the same place, which will be a great benefit to this part of the country, and encourage settlement in this as well as in the neighbouring townships. No lands of any consequence have been sold in Finch, except what Mr. Crysler bought from the descendants of New England loyalists, which he bought for a mere trifle ; he values those lands from 15.9. to 255. per acre. The greater part of the oak as well as the pine, upon the Crown reserves, fit for market, has been taken off" the Crown reserves, before they were sold to the Company, by lumber-men : the soil on which white oak grows is generally deep black soil, with a clayey bottom, which is reckoned the best of land, and the tJPPER CANADA. 125 latter timber grows on light sandy soil. Good lands- in this township, in my opinion, even in these hard times, are worth from IO5. to 12s. per acre. North half, lot 23, in the 3rd concession, which is marked as be- longing to the Company, has been granted to Hugh M'Phee by the Quarter- Master- General's department. Township of Winchester is generally good land ; some parts of it swampy, but good Canadian land, or such land as Canadians reckon good : large grants were made to individuals, and the remainder to the descendants of New England loyalists, which they generally sold for a trifle to speculators. Winchester is very thinly settled, only 11 or 12 settlers in it, who labour under great difficulties for want of roads, and are a great distance from a grist-mill. Telaboch's saw-mill is in the south-east corner of this township ; Mr. Mackel is building, or is about building, a grist- mill on iot No. 18, in the 3rd concession, on the Nation, which, when in operation, and Mr. Crysler's- grist-mill on the Nation in Finch, will very greatly benefit the settlement of Winchester, and increase the value of property in this as well as in the adjoining townships. The Nation in winter answers the purpose of a good road, as well as a navigation in summer ; and as the time very probably is not far distant when there will be a canal between the head of the Galloup rapids in Edward sburgh, seven miles below Prescott, and the south branch of the Petite Nation in Mountain, when that important communication takes place, it will benefit the townships along the Nation in that 126 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. direction, in many instances at present not thought of. Notwithstanding the inconveniences that the settlers have at present to encounter, still from the good quality of the land generally in A¥inchester, and its local situation, and the great advantages to be derived from such a river as the Petite Nation running through it, I am of opinion, even now, good lands in it are worth from IO5. to 125. per acre. Almost all the oak and pine timber fit for market has been taken off the Crown reserves, long before they were sold to the Canada Company, by lumber-men, who destroyed all the corner posts of lots for fear of being detected in plundering, by which means a great many of the Company's lots cannot be ascertained. Few sales of lands have taken place in this township : the heirs of the late Richard Duncan, Esq., and the heirs of the late Hon. Thomas Fraser, own a great part of it ; the heirs of the former sold several lots for 10s. per acre, and the latter value theirs at 20s. per acre. Fousaint Saint and Robert Gray, squatters, occupy lot No. 11 in the 3rd concession. Township of Mountain generally is excellent land: great tracts were granted to individuals, and the re- mainder to the descendants of the New England loyalists. In the front of this township, along the Nation river, is a fine thriving settlement ; tolerably good roads for so new a country. On lot No. 18, in, the 3rd concession, there is a good saw-mill on a stream which empties into the Nation. A number of the Company's lots are in the vicinity of this mill. UPPER CANADA. 127 There is a grist-mill convenient to this settlement in Edwardsburgh ; the oak timber fit for market has long since been taken away by Imnber-men. The heirs of the late Colonel Thomas Fraser own a great deal of lands in Momitain, who sold a few lots for 20*. per acre, and value the rest at the same price : as the lands in this township are owned by persons who are independent, and others who are needy, the former sell their lands for what they think they are worth, and the latter for what they can get. From the future benefit to be expected from such a river as the Nation running through it by the contemplated im- provement of its navigation, and by having a water communication between the St. La\vrence and the Nation in Mountain, I am of opinion that lands in this township are well worth from IO5. to 125. 6d. per acre even in these hard times. David Frelie, a squatter, occupies lot No. 21 in the 1st concession. Township of Wiliiamsburgh, fronting the river St. Lawrence, is well settled by such loyalists who served during the first American war with the United States. Along the river the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th concessions, very few settlers ; 5th concession is well settled ; the 6th, 7th, and 8th concessions, are partially settled ; the lands in this township are generally good ; the block, owned by the Company, in the latter concession, is good, and within 2 J miles of the Petite Nation in Winchester, and near Telaboch's saw- mill, in the 2nd concession, which is on a small stream which enters into the Nation, on lot No. 18; and when Mackel's 128 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. grist-mill is built on lot No. 18, in the 3rd conces- sion of Winchester, on the Nation, and Mr. Crysler's erist-mill is built on the Nation in Finch, whoever settles in that block will not suffer much incon- veniency in that respect. And a great inducement to purchasers to buy lands from the Company, where the Company have several lots together, is, that a compact settlement can be immediately formed, and the settlers assist each other, and will, by that means, sooner have the advantage of better roads. The local situation of this block is good, it being so very con- venient, and so near to the Petite Nation, and also within 9 miles of the St. Lawrence. I am of opinion that 12s. per acre would be reasonable for lands in this block. I have the honour to be. Sir, Your obedient Servant, Duncan M'Dowell, Greenfield. OTTAWA DISTRICT. The Ottawa District is exactly in the rear of the former, and having its north front on the Ottawa, is laid out into eleven townships, which are described to the Quarter Sessions as follows, beginning with Hawkesbury East, and Gore; the first west from the boundary line, and fronting the Ottawa. So27— rough, stony, and gravelly. Advantages. — Fronts on the Ottawa. Hawkesbury West, next to the above, and on UPPER CANADA. 129' the Ottawa. Soil, stony and gravelly. Advantages. — Well situated, and pretty well settled. Caledonia, in the rear of the above. Soil. — One. quarter of this township consists of good land ; the rest is low and marshy. Disadvantageously situated. Alfred, next higher up the Ottawa. Soil. — Poor ; alternate sand and clay. Advantages. — Fronts on the Ottawa. Plantagenet, still higher up, fronting the river. Soil. — Sandy, with some clayey land. Advantages. — Fronts on the Ottawa, and is well situated, having the river Petite Nation running through it. Clarence, next westward, on the Ottawa. — Soil. — Light, sandy. Advantages. — Fronts on the Ottawa river, and has 2 small mill- sites. Cambridge, a rear township behind Clarence^ Soil. — Very light, sandy. Advantages. — Very well watered. Cumberland, above Clarence, on the river. Soil. — Light or sandy. Advantages. — Well watered^ and has 2 saw-mills. RussEL, in the rear of the above. Soil. — Lights sandy. Advantages. — Well watered, and has good mill-sites. Gloucester, on the Ottawa, and next above Cumberland. Soil. — On the front of the Ottawa, river, and in the rear of the township, the land is clayey; on the front of the Rideau, the soil is gravelly. Advantages. This township has two fronts, one on the Ottawa, and one on the Rideau* 130 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. OsGOODE, in tlie rear of the above. Soil. — Rich, black, and gravelly. Advantages. — It fronts on the east side of the Rideau river. To the above we can append from the same source another. REPORT on the Townships in the Ottav^a Dis- trict, by Duncan M'Dowell, Esq., Deputy-Sur- veyor to the Canada Company, Glengarry^ 2\st September, 1827. Sir, The price of lands in the Ottawa district have been from 15s. to 20s. per acre, in townships tolerably well settled, and some lots have even been sold from 22s. 6d., to 25s. per acre, but these were choice lots, and in particular situations, possess- ing local advantages. Cash has always been in greater circulation in this district; the people, generally, are industrious and enterprising — they are a mixed population, composed of Americans, Scotch, Irish, and Canadians : the former shew the others a good example in clearing their lands ; the latter description of people, who, by their industry and perseverance,, get on as well as the Americans, are much more economical in their way of living, and lay up what the others would lay out in luxuries. The farmers in this district had always the advantage of a good market at their doors for every article of produce, ty the lumber-men, and those at work at the Gren» UPPER CANADA. 131 ville Canal, on the other side of the Ottawa, oppo- site to Hawkesbury ; and the farmers here, generally, showed their prudence more than in some other parts of the country, by avoiding the lumber, and only sold their produce to those who were at work at it, generally double the Montreal price, at least. Although the lumber-trade ruined other parts of the country, it benefited the farmers of the Ottawa dis- trict, as it was generally people from other parts that carried on that business there, and had to depend upon inhabitants of this district for their supplies of provision and forage. Township of Hawkesbury, eastern division front- ing the Ottawa, is thinly settled along the front ; the north- east comer of it commences at the foot of the Long Sault rapids, which are 12 miles long. All the goods and stores brought to the settlements up the Ottawa, above the Long Sault, are carted up on each side of the river to the head of the rapids ; but this will soon be at an end by the completion of the Grenville Canal. There is a tolerable good road along the river, in front of this township ; the river Lagrass runs through the interior, back from the Ottawa : there are only three settlers, two of which are in the 3rd concession^ and one in the 7th concession ; in the 3rd concession, there is a saw-mill ; with the exception of the front road, and a road which leads from Lochiel, through the south-east corner of East Hawkesbury, along the river Lagrass, to Lower Canada, there is no other. The lands are generally k2 132 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. good, as well as low and level ; a great portion of East Hawkesbury is owned by absentees ; the late Colonel Clause's family own 5000 acres, besides large grants to others: this is a circumstance which operates much against its settlement ; hardly any lands have been sold back from the Ottawa, excej)ting one lot, sold by Colonel Clause at 15s. per acre, who valued all the rest at 20s. per acre, and a lot sold by a man of the name of Falker, for 10s. per acre. The local situation of Hawkesbury is favourable, but from the great tracts of it owned by absentees, some of whom value their lands high, and will not contribute towards making of roads ; this circumstance will greatly discourage many individuals from settling in it, as they would for a long time have to labour under great difficulties, regarding roads, mills, &c. The oak and pine timber has almost entirely been taken away by lumber-men, before the Crown reserves were sold to the Company, some of the concession lines in East Hawkesbury have not been seen, and several of those now are hardly visible, and many of the corner- posts decayed, and destroyed by lumber-men, by which means a number of the Company's lots can- liot be ascertained. This circumstance alone pre- vents sale of lands ; a number of people went there in order to examine some of the Company's lots, but were obliged to return without being able to effect their purpose. Under all these circumstances, I think 10s. per acre a fair price for lands in East Hawkesbury, in the concessions back from the river. UPPER CANADA. ^33 Township of Hawkesbury, western division -.—ex- cellent land, well settled, by an industrious class of people, Americans, Scotch, Irish, and Canadians: all seem to be trying to excel in industry, and learnmg from each other something before to them unknown. This township fronts the Ottawa ; the road from Corn- wall to Hawkesbury runs through from north to south, while the mail from Cornwall to it is brought once a week. There are several cross roads, cut across in different directions through it. This town- ship is remarkably well with respect to mills, dis- tilleries, shops, &c. ; besides the Ottawa, however, there is no stream of any consequence in it, except- mcr the one on which Mr. Mears's mill is, which enters the Ottawa on lot No. 12. The Crown re- serves have mostly been granted to emigrants from Scotland, under the superintendence of the Quarter- Master-General, and it is only the lots rejected by those people that now belong to the Company, ^vhich lots are generally swampy; such lands, how- ever, the Canadians are fond of clearing, and make certain kinds of swamps the best for tillage. Lands have often been sold for from 15.. to 20.. per acre ; and some from 22.. 6rf., to 25.. per acre, paid by instalments. Mr. Wilkinson, of Cornwall sold several lots of 200 acres in this township to difterent persons, none less than 20.. per acre, and some from 22s. 6d. to 25.. per acre, bearing interest until paid. The heirs of the late Colonel Archibald M'Dowell sold several lots for 20.. per acre. The late Mr. 134 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Chisholm of Montreal, and several others, sold lands there, from 15s. to 20s. per acre. I am of opinion, that good lands in West Hawkesbury are worth generally from 17s. 6d. to 20s. per acre. Township of Caledonia, some of it good, a great portion of it swampy, thinly settled, badly off with respect to roads ; there is a road which crosses it, leading from Hawkesbury to the Petite Nation in Plantagenet ; there are no mills in it, and no streams of any consequence. Mr. Tradewell's seignory is in front of it; between it and the Ottawa, the extensive swamps in it is much against its settlement. The swamps in Caledonia are generally such lands as Canadians are partial to, and good for cultivation, when cleared in their way of clearing, and completely drained. This township has not been completed in survey, by which means a number of the Company's lots cannot be ascertained. I am of opinion, that from 9s. to 10s. per acre is a fair price for lands in it; almost all the oak and pine have been taken away by the lumber-men, before the Crown reserves were sold to the Company. Township of Alfred, fronting the Ottawa : the lands generally swampy, but good lands for Canadians, or such as they make good by their mode of clearing. There is a beech ridge in the centre of a light, sandy soil; the' first concession, fronting the Ottawa, has long since been granted to the New England loyalists, principally owned by absentees. A few squatters are settled along the Ottawa in front ; the only road in UPPER CANADA. 135 this townsKip is the Chester road, which crosses it about the centre, and leads from Mr. Tradewell's seignory to Plantagenet, and Chesee's mills on the Nation, which road is only passable for cattle in. winter, but a great deal is intended to be done to it this summer, as there is money and labour subscribed for its improvement. There are no streams of any consequence in Alfred excepting Horn Creek, which empties into the Nation, and the creek called river Dezemacane, which enters the Ottawa above the north-east angle of Alfi-ed. I believe no sales of land have taken place in Alfred ; and excepting lots along the Ottawa, I think Irom 9s. to IO5. per acre a reasonable price ; the oak and pine fit for market •were taken away, before the Crown reserves were sold to the Company, by the lumber-men. Adam Curly, a squatter, occupies lots No. 1 and 2, in the 2nd con- cession fronting the Ottawa. Township of Plantagenet, fronting the Ottawa, tolerably well settled : a good deal of this township is light, sandy soil, and part of it swampy, but some good lands in it. There are several roads leading to this settlement ; the road from Cornwall to Cluny mills, and road leading from the rear of Hawkesbury, and the road leading from Mr. Tradewell's seignory, which passes through Alfred, and called the Chesee road, and several other roads betw^een the inhabitants ; but these roads are, without exception, bad, except in winter. On the Nation, Mr. Chesee has built excel- lent grist and saw mills, which benefit this greatly. 136 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The local situation of Plantagenet is very favourable, the Ottawa in front, the Petite Nation running through it lengthways and crossways, besides Bear brook, Horn creek, and Scotch river. Bear brook runs through the interior of Cumberland and Clarence, and enters the Nation at the south-west corner of Planta- genet. Horn creek, which runs through Alfred, and enters the Nation at the eastern boundary, and Scotch Tiver, which runs through Plantagenet rear, and enters the Nation at the south-east angle of Plantagenet. On those streams timber is rafted down to the Nation in high- water. The Nation, with little interruption, is navigable for boats during the summer, and answers the purpose of a good road in winter : the two front concessions were granted at the formation of the settle- jment of this county ; the principal part of them are owned by absentees ; there are not any settlers along the Ottawa, excepting a few squatters ; lands have heen sold in this township from \0s. to 20.9. per ^cre; Mr. Gesop sold a block of 400 acres, for 11*. Sd. per acre, cash down. Alexander Eraser, Esq., sold, two years ago, a block of lands (500 acres) for 12s. 6d. per acre, payable by instalments, bearing interest ; and a year ago, a block of 500 acres for 12s, 6d. cash down ; also sold another tract of 500 acres for 12s. 6d. per acre, payable by instalments, bearing interest; and this year sold a block of 400 acres for 20s. per acre ; and several others sold lands from 10s. to 15s. per acre. Lands are generally .valued in Plantagenet, in convenient situations, from UPPER CANADA. 137 12s. 6d, to 205. per acre (that is to say good lands) ; almost all the oak and pine timber, fit for market, has been taken away by the lumber-men, before the Crown reserves were sold to the Company. I am of opinion that good lands in it, according to its situation, are worth from 10s. to 12s. per acre. Plantagenet rear : — the lands generally indifferent, great deal of spruce swamps, and rough, uneven (pine) lands, light, sandy soil, only one settler in it; the road from Cornwall to Plantagenet front passes through it ; no lands have been granted in this town- ship, except the surveyor's per centage, and 5000 acres to the late Honourable William M'Gillivray, who built a saw-mill on his property on the Scotch river, which is the only stream of importance in it, on which limber is rafted, in high water, down to the Nation. No sale of lands has taken place in this township as yet ; almost all the oak and pine timber in it, fit for market, has been taken away by the lumber-men. I am of opinion, that from 7s. to 8s. per acre is a fair price for lands in Plantagenet rear. Township of Clarence, fronting the Ottawa ; the greater part of tolerably good land; there are a few settlers along the front on the banks of the Ottawa ; the concession fronting the Ottawa has been granted to the New England loyalists at the formation of this settlement : very few settlers have as yet settled back from the river. There are no roads in Clarence ; the inhabitants find the benefit of the navigation of the Ottawa, as a steam-boat 138 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. passes and repasses tlieir doors twice a week, and when the winter sets in, the river then serves as a good road. The transport up the river on the ice is immense. In Clarence there are no mills ; a fine stream called Bear brook runs across it towards the rear ; on this stream there are a number of mill- sites, and timber is rafted down Bear brook in high water ; and also serves as a good road in winter, for the lumber-men to bring them their supplies of pro- visions and forage. A great deal of the front of Cla- rence, the concession fronting the Ottawa, belongs to Mr. M'Kindly, who purchased from the New England loyalists ; he values his lands at 20^. per acre ; he has sold several lots for from 1 5s. to 205. per acre. From the circumstance of there being little or no settle- ment back from the Ottawa, and the greater part of the lands having fallen into the hands of such people as will take no pains in the settlement or improve- ment of the country in which their lands lie, and others who located their lands on condition of per- forming settlement duty, who, rather than comply with the conditions, sell their lands generally for a trifle to speculators, this will impede the settlement 'of Clarence, and will of course operate against the sale of lands for what they are really worth. The local situation of this township is very favourable : I am of opinion that lands are worth from 9*. to 105. per acre. Almost all the oak and pine timber fit for market has been taken off the Crown reserves before they were sold to the Company. UPPER CANADA. 139 Township of Cumberland, fronting the Ottawa: the greater part of the lands in it good ; some exten- sive swamps, but such swamps as Canadians reckon the best of land. There are but few settlers in Cumberland, and those principally along the river ; some are settled back in the interior. There are no roads in it, but the settlers who are near the river feel the less inconvenience, having so good a naviga- tion at their doors, and a steam-boat passing and repassing twice a week ; and when winter sets in, the Ottawa serves as a good road. There is a good saw- mill on lot No. 5, in the concession fronting the Ottawa : besides this river, there is a fine stream running through the interior, called Bear brook, on which there are several mill sites : timber is rafted down Bear brook in the spring, in high water, dowa to the Nation ; it also makes a good road in winter. A great portion of the front concession belongs to Mr. M'Kindly, who sold several lots for 205. per acre, and values the rest at the same price ; and the proprietors sold lands in this concession from 15s. to 20s. per acre. Lots No. 1, 2, and 3, fronting the Ottawa, are good lots, and near the saw-mill, they are occupied by squatters. A great part of the lands, back from the Ottawa, have been granted to such persons as will not take any pains to contribute towards the improvement of that part of the country in which they live, and a number of those who located their lands on condition of performing settlement duty, rather than perform it, have sold their lands to 140 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. speculators for a trifle. The local situation of Cum- berland is extremely favourable ; the lands belong- ing to the Company in it, fronting the Ottawa, in my opinion are worth 205. per acre, and good lands back, from 9s. to ILs. per acre ; the oak and pine timber fit for market, the greater part of it has been taken away before. The Crown reserves were sold to the Canada Company. Township of Gloucester, fronting the Ottawa, also fronting the Rideau : — great deal of good land in it, and some extensive swamps, but such as Canadians are partial to, and make good lands of for cul- tivation; there are a number of settlers in the 1st concession fronting the Rideau, and two or three along the Ottawa. Besides the Ottawa and Rideau, there are several streams running through Gloucester — Green's creek runs through it from the interior, and enters the Ottawa ; and Bear brook, which runs across the south-east corner of it, enters the Nation in Plan- tagenet; and Belling's creek, which enters the Rideau ; on the latter creek there is a saw-mill. From Gloucester timber is rafted down in high water across Cumberland, and Clarence, and part of Plantagenet into the Nation. From Gloucester on the Rideau, there is a communication by land to the east of Johnstown and Bathurst districts, but the route to the former is a circuitous one. The local situation of Gloucester is very favourable, and possesses many advantages, having so good a navigation in front, on which a steam-boat plies twice a week. The UPPER CANADA. 141 river Rideau being the western boundary, from north to south, on which there is so much money to be laid out on the improvements of its navigation ; and it being in the immediate vicinity of the very promising village of By-Town, at the head of the steam-boat navigation through which the canal will pass, and where there will be a military depot — the great circu- lation of money that will circulate by carrying on such pubHc works in its immediate neighbourhood, will make this a very promising township. In this township, the three concessions, fronting the Ottawa and Rideau, — on the latter of which 2 saw-mills are erected — have been granted to the New England loyalists and their descendants. The Company's lots along -the Rideau are good and well situated, — Nos. 7, 13, 19, and 27 : the former is at a place called the Black rapids, where there will be a dam. across the Rideau, and locks for the canal, and the latter opposite to Long Island, where there will also be locks, and is in the immediate vicinity of a saw-mill. This is a place in my opinion calcu- lated for a village, being nearly at the head of Long Island rapids ; there is still deep water for nearly 24 miles up the Rideau from the head of the rapids. The late Honourable Colonel Thomas Fraser sold several lots in Gloucester for 205, per acre, and his heirs sold lands there for the same price, but value the remainder higher. I am of opinion that good lands on the Rideau are worth 25s. per acre, and, back from the Rideau, are worth from 10s. to 12s. 14'2 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 66?. per acre; that is to say, good lands. Almost all the oak and pine timber fit for market has been taken off the Crown reserves before they were sold to the Company. '• Township of Cambridge : — generally light, sandy soil ; some large swamps, and some good lands in the south-east and south-western parts of it : there is not a settler in it, and of course no roads. The local situa- tion of this township is good: the Petite Nation runs through the greater part of it crossways, and a branch of it called the Castere river ; both those rivers, at the time of the year that the navigation closes, answer the purpose of good roads. Mr. Crysler's mills on the Nation in Finch, and Mr. Loucks's saw-mill in Russell, on the Castere, will afford great advantages to settlers that may settle in Cambridge. This township was granted to New England loyalists ; large grants were made in it to individuals. A family of the name of Ranken, who are now in the United States, own 5,000 acres, and the Kuylu family as much at least. Only every second concession line has been surveyed in Cambridge, and even those very diiEcult to trace, and a number of the corner-posts destroyed by lumber-men, who almost stripped it of all oak and pine on it fit for market, before the Crown reserves were sold to the Canada Company. I know of no sale of lands having taken place in Cambridge ; and I am of opinion that from 7s. 6d. to 10s. per acre is a fair price for lands in this township. Township of Russell : the lands generally indiffer- UPPER CANADA. 143 ent, large swamps in it with white sandy bottom; there is only one settler in it, a Mr. Loucks, who tiiilt a mill on the Castere river : there are no roads in it; it is well watered by the Castere, which forms into several branches. This township has lately been located by emigrants from Scotland, and militia-men who served during the last war with the United States. Russell has almost been entirely stripped of all the oak and pme fit for market, by the lumber-men. I do not know of any sale of lands in this township, and I am of opinion that from 6s. to 7^. 6d. per acre is a fair price for lands in it. ; Township of Osgoode, fronting the river Rideau : the lands are generally good ; three or four families moved into it last winter ; the three concessions next Rideau have been granted to the New England loyal- ists : the few settlers in it suffer much for want of roads, mills, &c. but Loucks' saw-mill will in winter be of some relief to them ; when the Castere which runs through Osgoode freezes, the settlers will be able to get boards from there. In this township I would jecommend to the Company to lay out a sum of money to assist in cutting a road across it from south Gower to the south-west corner of Gloucester on the Rideau ; and in my opinion the sum the Company would give should not be less than forty pounds. If that sum was well laid out, it would open a communication by land from the settlement of Gloucester through Osgoode to the eastern and Johnstown districts, greatly faci- litate the settlement of Osgoode, and bring the 144 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Company's lands into immediate demand. Having the Rideau and canal in front, and a road through the interior, are circumstances which will greatly increase the value of lands in this township ; the local situation is very favourable ; the Castere river forms several branches in Osgoode, and runs through a great part of it. A great deal of oak and pine timber has been taken off the Crown reserves, before they were sold to the Canada Company ; and I am of opinion that some oak has been taken off the Company's lands there last winter. I do not know of any sale of lands in Os- goode, excepting good lands along the Rideau. I am of opinion that from lOs. to 13s. per acre is a reason- able price for lands in it. I enclose you herewith an offer from Matthew Taylor for 8s, per acre for lot No. 4 in the 1st concession of March. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, Duncan M'Dowell, Greenfield, JOHNSTOWN DISTRICT. The Johnstown District, next above the Eastern, on the St. Lawrence, is laid out into eighteen town- ships, and the Inspectors describe them as follows :-^ Leeds. — Soil, indifferent ; advantage of a stream of water. Lansdown. — Soil, indifferent; indifferently situ- ated. UPPER CANADA. 145 YoNGES. — Soilf good; advantageously situated. Elizabeth Town. — Soily good ; advantageously- situated. Augusta. — Soil, good ; advantageously situated. Edv^ardsburgh. — Soil, good ; advantageously si- tuated. North Gower. — Soil, good ; Advantages, mid- dling. South Gower. — Soil, good; Advantages, mid- dling. Oxford. — Soil, good ; advantageously situated. Marlborough. — Soil, good; advantageously si- tuated. WoLFORD. — Soil, good ; advantageously situated. Montague. — Soil, middling; advantageously si- tuated. Elmsley. — Soil, indifferent ; advantageously si- tuated. KiTLEY. — Soil, indifferent; Advantages, indif- ferent. Bastard.— So27, good ; advantageously situated. Burgess. — Soil, indifferent; Advantages, indif ferent. North Crosby. — Soil, good; Advantages, indif- ferent. South Crosby. — Soil, good ; Advantages, indif- ferent. 146 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. MIDLAND DISTRICT. The Midland District, next higher up the north side of the Ontario, and lying between the former and Newcastle, is more or less settled to a consider- able distance back, and there are laid out in it 28 townships ; the first of which, above Johnstown dis- trict, and on the lake, is Pittsburgh, being the easternmost frontier town- ship in this district. — Soil, some very good land, but the greater part indifferent. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the St. Lawrence, with the Rideau canal passing through it. Kingston is the next higher up on the St. Law- rence. — Soil, generally good, but some parts rocky. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the St. Lawrence. Continuing to take, first, the frontier townships, the next higher up is Earnest Town, near the former on the frontier. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. Fredericksburgh, also in front. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. Adolphus Town, higher up. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. UPPER CANADA. 147 Richmond. — Soil, front five concessions generally good, the rear bad. Advantages ^ well situated on the Nappanee river. Marysburgh, next higher up, being peninsular land. — Soil, generally good, with the exception of some swamps. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte, and lake Ontario. Hallowell, next west of Maryburgh, on the frontier of the lake. — Soil, generally good. Advan^ tages, well situated on the bay of Quinte, partly. Sophiasburgh, next westerly from Hallowell, and having the Ontario in front. — Soil, generally good, with the exception of some swamps. Advantages^ well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. HiLLiER, higher up the lake than the former. — Soilj generally good, with the exception of some swamps. Advantages, well situated on the waters of lake Ontario. Ameliasburgh, above Hillier, and the western- most frontier township of this district. — Soil, gene- rally good, with the exception of some swamps. Ad- nsantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. Loughborough, the first easterly township behind Pittsburgh. — SozZ, better than Portland; second range of townships. Portland, next higher, in the rear of Kingston. — Soil, middling, containing swamps and lakes ; second range of townships. L 2 148 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Camden East, in the rear of Kingston and Rich- jnond. — Soil, generally good. AdvantageSy second range of townships, situated on the Nappanee river. Tyendinaga, west from the above, and fronting the bay of Quinte. — Soil, generally poor. Disad' vantages y not well situated. Thurlow, next higher, west, and also fronting the bay. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well situated on the waters of the bay of Quint6. Sidney, the most westerly in the district on this range. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well si- tuated on the waters of the bay of Quinte. Bedford, the most easterly of its range, and behind Loughborough. — Soil, not very good ; third range of townships. HiNCHiNBROOK, iiext proceeding westward, and behind Portland. — Soil, not very good ; third range of townships. Sheffield, next to the west, and behind Camden. — Soil, not very good ; third range of townships. HuNGERFORD, wcst of Sheffield, and behind Rich- mond. — Soil, generally reputed bad ; second range of townships. Rawdon, behind Sidney. — Soil, front six con- cessions generally good, rear part bad. Advantages, Marmora road runs through the township; second range o townships. Marmora. — Soily not very good ; third range of townships. UPPER CANADA. 14^ Lake. — Soil^ and value unknown. Madox. — Soz7, generally good ; third range of townships. Elzevir. — Soily bad; third range of townships. Kaladar. — Soil^ bad ; third range of townships. Kenebec. — Soil, bad ; third range of townships. Palmerston. — Soil, and situation unknown. 150 CENTRAL SECTION. The central part of the upper province is divided at present into two large districts, and embraces that extensive tract of country lying west of the Midland district, to an extent of 120 miles of frontage along the Ontario, and reaching back northwards all the way to the Ottawa, the French river, and lake Huron on the northern boundary of this province. This section is distinguished as containing the metro- politan town of Upper Canada, namely York, which we shall have occasion to notice when we come to speak of the Home District, as also for its numerous and extensive lakes in the interior, as may be observed by inspecting the map. To speak first of THE NEWCASTLE DISTRICT. Lying west of the midland district before noticed, and well watered by the Rice, Balsam, Trout, and other lakes in the interior, as well as by the Otan- abee river, part of the Trent, &c. It was on certain townships in this district, that the celebrated coloni- zing experiments in 1823 and 1825, under the con- duct of Mr. Peter Robinson, were made, as re- ferred to in the second document here given. Twenty-eight townships have aheady been sur- UPPER CANADA. 151 veyed along the frontier for several ranges, and we give in the first place the report of them, made to the provincial Magistrates in Quarter Sessions : vh. — Darlington. — Soil, generally good ; taken up by absentees, lying on lake Ontario. Clarke. — So?7, generally good, taken up by ab- sentees, lying on lake Ontario. Hope. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well watered, contains a village with good mills. The ad- joining townships are well settled. It lies on lake Ontario. Hamilton. — Soil, nearly one half of tliis township is bad land, the rest good. Advantages, centre of the district, a country-town, a village, good mills, well watered, and lies on lake Ontario. Haldimand. — Soil, more than half bad land. Ad- vantages, well watered, but no good flour-mills ; lies on lake Ontario. Cramahe. — Soil, more than half bad land. Ad- vantages, well watered, but no good flour-mills ; lies on lake Ontario. Murray. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, lies on lake Ontario, and head of bay of Quinte. River Trent in the rear ; few mill advantages. Seymour. — Soil, good. Advantages, second range of townships from lake Ontario, the river Trent runs through it, with great mill advantages, not settled. Percy. — Soil, good ; few mill advantages ; second range of townships ; partly settled. 152 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Alnwick.— So?7, bad ; rear township on Rice lake ; not settled. MoNAGHAN. — Soil, generally good. Advantages^ thinly settled ; navigable waters on the east side. Asphodel. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, north of Rice lake and river Trent ; well watered ; tolerably well settled. Otanabee. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, north of Rice lake ; well watered ; tolerably well settled. Cavan. — Soil, good. Advantages, well settled ; well watered, with mill advantages. Manvers. — Soil, very bad. Disadvantages, not settled ; large grants ; not well watered. Cartwright. — Soil, better ; not settled in large grants ; better watered. Maripoda. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, not settled, but well watered. Smith. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, great water. Fenelon. — Soil, little known. Disadvantages, very remote ; not settled. Ops. — Soil, good. Advantages, not settled, but well watered. Emily. — Soil, generally good. Advantages, well settled ; well watered. Verulam. — Soil, not very good. Advantages, well watered, but not settled ; remote. Harvey. — Soil, not good. Disadvantages, not well watered ; not settled ; remote. UPPER CANADA. 153 Burleigh. — Soil, not good. Disadvantages, not well watered, not settled, remote. DouRo. — Soil, good. Advantages, well watered, but thinly settled. DuMMER. — Soil, not very good. Disadvantages^ badly watered ; not settled ; remote. Methven. — Soil, bad. Disadvantages, cut up with lakes and rivers ; rocky ; remote. Belmont. — Soil, not very good. Advantages, well watered, near the iron works, not settled. To this brief report, we are enabled to add the follor/ing interesting detail, also from the original minutes taken in December 1827. MINUTES. Inspection of the Newcastle Dis- trict made by Mr. John Smith, Junr., Deputy pro Surveyor, at the request of Mr. Galt. On entering the Newcastle district the traveller can- not but be surprised, that the only mode of crossing the river Trent is by a scow in summer, and on the ice in winter, which, at certain seasons, is not without danger. A regular ferry is kept here, which pays the nominal rent of lOl. currency to the Provincial Government ; the tolls are at the rate of threepence- halfpenny for every foot passenger, and eightpence for man and horse. Notwithstanding the great pro- portion of passage is taken by the steam-boats, the tolls at the ferry, for the season, amount to upwards 154 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ©f 150?. currency. As the travelling in the four winter, at least equals that of the eight summer, months, were a bridge erected and a moderate toll imposed, the proceeds would not only meet the interest, but soon repay the principal; after wliich they might be applied to the improvement of the road (Dundas Street), which for ten miles to the westward is in a bad state. The only objection I have heard urged against a bridge is, that the ice floating down with the spring floods would endanger it. I am assured, however, by old residents, that the ice banks before it reaches the mouth of the river, and that it does not drift off into the bay of Quinte, but honeycombs and sinks. A tolerable road, on the line of which the land is generally inferior, skirts the bay of Quinte from the Trent to the Carrying Place, about five miles distant ; at this point it branches to the westward until it join Dundas Street, and eastward into the county of Prince Edward. At the Carrying Place the steam-boats are met by the York stage. At the first settlement of the country, the only mode of communication to the settlements above, was by boats which crossed from the head of the bay of Quinte, by this portage (about 1 mile) to the lake Ontario, and thence coasted its shores ; hence the name of the Carrying Place. The portage is laid out on either side in building lots. On the lake side, flat rock is met with, while on the side next the bay of Quinte is a high sand- bank which extends UPPER CANADA. 155 some distance to the westward. On either hand the land differs materially, and to the west is very low and swampy. At one point the waters of lake Ontario and the bay are separated only by two miles of low wet land. It would appear that, at some period, there has been an open communication. There is a small village at the Carrying Place, with an Episcopal church, at which, for some years, a resident missionary has officiated. In this neigh- bourhood the Canada Company holds no lands, unless at Presqu'ile bay, which have been already inspected. Proceeded direct to Cobourg, and thence to Peter- borough, by the route of the Rice lake. The situation of Cobourg is healthy and pleasant. It stands immediately on the shore of lake Ontario, on lots 16 and 17 in concession B of Hamilton. In 1812 it had only one house ; it now contains upwards of 40 houses, an Episcopal church, a Methodist ehapel, 2 good inns, 4 stores, several distilleries, an extensive grist-mill, and the population may be estimated at about 350 souls. The trade of Cobourg is increasing rapidly, more through the spirit and enterprise of its merchants, than its natural advan- tages. In alluding to its deficiency in the latter respect, the want of a harbour, and the break in its communication with the back country, caused by the Rice lake, are particularly meant. It is, however, to be observed, that the formation of a harbour is now proposed, as will be seen by the accompanying 156 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. minutes, and that the Rice lake, by means of the extensive streams which pour into it, along which settlements are forming, promises to become the channel of a great addition to its inland trade. The following has been mentioned to me as the present state of the trade of Cobourg, viz, : — IMPORTS. 200 tons of Merchandize. 600 barrels of Salt. 250 do. bulk of Foreign Goods, &c. EXPORTS. 5000 barrels of Flour. 500 do. Pork. 150 do. Potash. 200 do. Sundries, such as Lard, Beef, Butter, Whiskey, &c. The adjoining townships are of a fertile soil. An excellent road leads from Cobourg through the centre of the township of Hamilton to the Rice lake. A large sum (1 believe 600/. currency), borrowed from the bank of Upper Canada, on the responsibility of the magistrate of the division, has been judiciously expended on this road, in the course of the summer. It is expected that the amount of taxes in absentee lands, which is to be levied next year, will meet the expenditure. On both sides of the road the Canada Company hold lands, in general of a good soil ; those nearest to Cobourg being the most eligible for im- mediate sale. It is now proposed to open a branch road from this to meet the Cavan road near the head of the Rice lake. The line selected will serve those lots belonging to the Company which lie in the 6th and 7th concessions of Hamilton, from the 20th lot westward. UPPER CANADA. 157 The soil of Hamilton is generally a sandy loam. On the western part of the township it is clayey. "Very extensive ridges horder the Rice lake, which jfrom their being bare of timber, are called the Rice Lake Plains. The soil is a mixture of sand and clay, in various proportions, according to the eleva- tion: on the high-lands sand prevails, and vice versa. The whole is, in general, capable of cultiva- tion ; but, from a want of wood and water, it is said, would answer best for sheep-walks. In most parts the plough could at once be used. The large grants, held by absentees in Hamilton, have prevented the settlements extending beyond the fourth concession, excepting on the western boundary, and a few on the Rice lake. The following sale has come to my knowledge, viz. : — Edward ElHs and Co., of London, by their Agents Forsyth and Richardson, of Montreal, to David Sidey. No. 16 in 5 con. Hamilton, 200 acres at ]5«. per acre; 25Z. down, and the rest in 5 annual instalments, with interest. The sale was made in the course of the summer; the lot is good, and on the Cobourg Toad. The township of Monaghan and Otanabee, which are divided by the Otanabee river, form the northern shores of the Rice lake. Otanabee, though it has an excellent soil in general (loam upon clay), has been but very partially settled. This is mainly to be attributed to its distance from, and difficulty of 158 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. access to market. These objections are now removed ; the roads on all sides being improved, and grist and saw mills built in the township (lot 13 on 6th con- cession), as also at Peterborough. From the Co- bourg road a ferry is established across the Rice lake, whence a road runs from Banister's Landing, northerly, mitil it branches on 13th lot between 10th and 11th concessions ; eastward, through a settlement to the mills, and thence to Asphodel ; and, northerly, with scattering settlements on the line to Peterboro*. There are numerous swamps in the township, and sandy plains skirt the Rice lake shore. The settlers in Otanabee are chiefly from the lowlands ; the rest are highlanders and a few English. The road through Otanabee to Peterborough is improving. The town-plot of Peterborough is in the north- east angle of the township of Monaghan. It is laid out in half acres, the streets nearly at right angles with the river ; park lots of nine acres each are re- served near the town. The patent fee on each is 8^ provincial currency, and office fees and agency will increase it 15s. or 20s. more. The settlement commenced in 1825, at which time it formed the depot of the emigration under the Hon. P. Robinson. The situation is most favourable, being on an elevated sandy plain, watered by a fine creek, which discharges into the river below the town. The country round is fertile, and there is great water- power on the town-plot, on which mills are now being built by the government. These mills are on an ex- UPPER CANADA. 159 tensive scale, being calculated to pack 40 barrels of flour ; and the saw-mill to cut 3(K)0 feet of boards per diem. A very substantial frame bridge has been thrown across the Otanabee river at this place. There are now upwards of twenty buildings in Peterborough, in- cluding one store, which does an extensive business, and another now being built. There is a medical practitioner, and two clergymen resident here (Epis- copalian and Roman Catholic), and a school, to which the government allows a liberal aid. The township of Smith is a peninsula formed by the Mud or shallow lakes v^hich divide it from Ennis- more and Harvey, and the Otanabee river, which separates it from Douro. The soil is a loam ; in the north-east angle it is rocky. The settlement was commenced, about nine years ago, by a small body of Cumberland miners, who were located by govern- ment on either side of the Indian portage, from the Otanabee river to Mud lake. This is about seven miles over, and the road is tolerably good. To these emigrants, on depositing a sum of money, I believe, in the proportion of 10/. to each head of a family, a free passage was afforded ; the money was returned when their settlement had been completed. These settlers are now independent farmers, al- though at first several had their own exertions alone to depend upon. The principle of a deposit, in all cases where aid is given to emigrants, is well worthy consideration. It 160 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. is a guarantee for their good intentions, a guard against a fickle disposition, and a reserved fund in the time of need for the emigrant. Since the period spoken of, many emigrants from the north of Ireland, and more lately from the south, have settled in Smith. It is in general vi^ell settled to the 7th concession, and on Mud lake to the 11th concession. Canada Company lands, within this range, are the most eligi- ble for immediate sale. Several families, under the superintendence of Mr. Robinson, have been located as far back as the r2th and 13th concessions. The lakes and other waters, bordering on Smith, abound with the maskinonjee and bass, and Clear lake, (between Douro and Smith,) with salmon trout to the weight of 30ib. and 401b. The canal, which has been spoken of between the bay of Quintfe and lake Simcoe, it is supposed will cross the penin- sula near the base. Several of the miners informed me, that being in search of a salt-spring, they had discovered on the 27th, in 10th concession. Smith, C. C, a spring, which in smell and taste, resembled that of Gollsland. The townships of Douro, Emily, and Ennismore, or the Gore of Emily, have for the most part been settled by the emigrants of 1825. The soil of Douro is calcareous ; there are large swamps scattered through the township ; the best lands are at a distance from the waters^ and particularly on the eastern boundary ; and the most eligible lots for sale, are those approximating to Peterborough. Mr. UPPER CANADA. 161 Robinson's emigrants are located on the front third of the township ; the rest has been located by militia- men chiefly, scarce one of whom has performed the settlement duties required. The lands will, of course, revert to the crown, and as the localities are daily im- proving, will no doubt be speedily settled. The set- tlers are exerting themselves in opening roads. The township of Dummer, which lies to the east- ward of Douro, resembles it in soil. The front is generally good, the rear rocky. There is no settle- ment in this township as yet ; the most eligible lots for immediate sale are those on the front. A large creek called the Squaw-kone-gaw, takes its rise in a small lake within fifty or sixty rods of a bay of the large lake on the Otanabee river. They are separated by a rocky ridge, at the highest not more than six or seven feet above the level of either lake, and as the rocks rise abruptly on either side, a ravine is formed, down which part of the waters of the Otanabee find a passage in the spring flood. Were it at any time to become an object (for the sake of mills, &c.), by- throwing a dam across the Otanabee river, at 25th in 4th concession of Douro, a certain supply of water might be at all times diverted down the Squaw-kone- gaw ; and this again might be regulated by a sluice- dam on the ravine, which it is believed is on 30th lot in 6th concession, Dummer, C. C. This very extraordinary connexion of waters, is met with in other parts of the province. I would instance M 162 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the Salmon rivers and the Moira, which leave the same lake in Sheffield ; and the Gananoqui and Cata- raqui creeks, which flow from the same lakes on the line of the Rideau canal. The township of Ennismore, or Gore of Emily, is generally of an excellent soil, loam upon clay. A large proportion is taken up by reserves and surveyor's land, the remainder by emigrants of 1825, chiefly from Kerry, and who are doing well. The nearest mills are at Peterborough. Emily is settled, through a few of the first conces- sions, by emigrants from the north of Ireland, thence to the rear by those of 1825. The roads are yet new but improving ; in the latest settlements but partially opened. The soil is generally good, sandy loams in the hills, on the flats and in the valleys clayey loam ; the township is for the most part level, and has nume- rous swamps, especially towards the rear, and on the line of Pigeon creek, which traverses the township. Beaver meadows are frequent in this, and are also met with in the other townships in this range : they are very serviceable to the new settler. There are two good saw-mill sites in this township ; one reserved by government on south half 18th and 19th in 8th con- cession; a second on 6th in 10th concession. A small grist-mill is being built on 19th in 4th concession. It is probable, however, that excepting for the home use of settlers, the produce will be generally taken to Peterborough, from the excellent mills there and other UPPER CANADA. 163 conveniences. To that place a road lias been opened, and the magistrates of Hamilton having lately granted 30^. to aid the inhabitants, it will soon be improved. By the hne of Pigeon creek, the settlers in Emily may pass by water to Mud lake, within seven or eight miles (by a good road) of Peterborough, and by this route many of Mr. Robinson's emigrants, and their provisions, were conveyed. There is such an advantageous line of water com- munication in that direction, that the whole produce of the back country may be expected to pass by Pe- terborough ; hence all lands in the situation relatively favourable may be considered the most valuable. Ops is one of the finest townships in this part of the country ; the soil is loam upon clay ; it is, in general, level: the north-east angle of the township has ex- tensive swamps. The Scugog river, a very fine stream, navigable for boats, traverses the township, by means of which settlers may proceed to Mud lake, with only one portage of one quarter mile, at what is called the Pau-boo-kaije-wenum rapid. At one place in the township the river is very rapid, and having a descent of from twelve to fourteen feet, would afford an excellent mill site. In a southern direction, by the Scugog lake, from which the river issues, water communication may be had in spring and fall through the townships of Cartwright and Reach, within seven- teen or eighteen miles of the Big Bay, in Whitby, on lake Ontario. The township was actually sur- M 2 164 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. veyecl in 1S25, and thrown open for location on the principle of actual settlement. Many locations were made, but it is to be feared that from the want of roads and mills, the conditions of settlement will, in very few instances, be performed. There has been much said against the system of demanding fees on grants of land in tliis province, which would have never found utterance had a proportion been ex- pended in opening roads, building mills, &c. Such improvements would ensure a more speedy and satis- factory settlement than any penal conditions annexed to grants of land. A waggon road has been opened for about nine years from Port Hope, following the boundary line between Hope and Hamilton, Cavan and Monaghan, to Emily and Smith. The line of road is broken by- ridges and swamps, at which places much labour will be required to make it good. It is at all times passable. Cavan was first settled in 1817. At this time scarce a lot remains unlocated (except reserves); the soil is generally good, sandy loam upon the west ; on the east inclined to clay ; in the front rather light. Those lots next Monaghan are the most eligible for immediate sale. The township is well watered, and possesses numerous sites for saw-mills. There is already built, and at work, 1 grist and saw- mill on E. j 12th in 4th con. ; 1 grist mill on 10th in 4th con. ; and another on 14th in 9th con. There are 5 stores and 2 distilleries in the township. The mills UPPER CANADA. 165 are used for the home consumption only, the surplus wheat being sent to market at Port Hope. The majority of the inhabitants of Cavan are from the north of Ireland, the remainder English, and from the south of Ireland. The first, it is believed, are Presbyterians, but attend the Episcopal service in the absence of a clergyman of their own. The Episcopal church stands on 12th in 10th con. ;. a missionary has been resident from the first settle- ment of the township. There are six schools scat- tered through the township, with from twenty-five to forty scholars each. The clearings are large and in good order ; frame barns are numerous, but the dwel- lings are yet of logs. Monaghan was settled at the same time as Cavan, chiefly by English. The soil is loam upon clay. The township is generally well settled, with the ex- ception of some large grants on the 13th con., and on the Rice lake. It is well watered, but without mill sites, except at Peterborough. In this, as in all the adjoining townships, the timber for the most part remains uninjured ; the roads are yet new, but the inhabitants are making exertions to improve them. There are two families in this township whose exer- tions and success deserve mention. Both came out with limited means about eight years since. The Rutherfords, from Jedburgh in Scotland, had, in 1826, about fifty head of horned cattle, besides grain and meadow land. 166 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Smitlison, from Yorkshire, raises, upon the average, sixty acres of wheat every year. JOHN SMITH, JuN. Dep. Pro. Surveyor. CoBOURG, 14th Dec. 1827. THE HOME DISTRICT, Like the last, to which it lies westward, and stretches up along the southern banks of the eastern limb of lake Huron, is chiefly known on its frontier near the Ontario, and round lake Simcoe, which, with the streams that flow into it, well waters it m the interior. Much of this tract is settled by the Dutch, who are exceedingly industrious, and congregate chiefly about the township of Markham, which, says Mr. Talbot, was when he wrote the most improved part of tlfe district. The new townships of the home district, says the same writer, are almost wholly peopled by Enghsh, Scotch and Irish ; and the old ones, which are those along the shores of the Ontario, by Ame- ricans. The rivers in this district abound with fish, more than most others, particularly salmon, which are spawned in the river Credit, and transmitted to every part of the western country. The lands on the shores of the Ontario, are said by Mr. Talbot to be of bad UPPER CANADA. 167 quality, but improve inwards, particularly round the Siracoe lake, and the climate in winter was, when that author wrote, considered unusually severe near the latter lake. This district contains, however, the seat of the provincial government, which, as a town, will require, for the sake of the emigrant traveller, some general description. York is well situated on the north side of an excellent harbour on the lake, in latitude 43° 33' north, and longitude 79° 20' west. It contains the public buildings of the province, viz. : — the house of assembly where the provincial parliament generally holds its sittings, the government house, the provincial bank, a college, a court-house, a hall for the law- society, a gaol, an episcopal church, a Scots kirk, a Baptist chapel, a garrison near the town with barracks for the troops usually stationed here, and a battery which protects the entrance of the harbour. Kegu- *larly laid out under survey as usual, the streets of this town are spacious, the houses mostly built of wood, but many of them of brick and stone, and the population amounts now to between four and five thousand. ' Being the residence of the chief officers of government both civil and military,' says Bou- chette, ' many of the conveniences and comforts of pohshed life are to be met with. Several newspapers are there printed weekly.' ' The lands of the adjacent townships for several miles round,' continues the surveyor-general, ' are in 168 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. a high state of cultivation, so that the market of the town is always well supplied. Immediately in the rear of the town is a very good road, called Yonge- street, that leads to Gwilliamburg, a small village 32 miles to the northward, and thence 5 miles more to Cook's bay, from which by lake Simcoe there is a communication to lake Huron. This being a route of much importance was greatly improved by the North-west Company, for the double purpose of short- ening the distance to the upper lakes, and avoiding any contact with the American frontiers. The land on each side of it for a considerable depth is very fertile, and many settlements are already formed, where some of the farms are in a good state of culti- vation.' There are also several other roads diverging from this metropolitan town, particularly one along the borders of the Ontario on the frontier, running through villages called Bellville, and Coburg to Port Hope, a small town in Newcastle district, and thence passing on to Kingston at the lower end of the lake. The front of all the townships between these towns, that is, all along the lake, are, with few exceptions, well settled ; and the whole of this central section, including the neighbouring district of Newcastle, contained, of inhabitants, in 1828, 36,264 souls, being 10,363 more than it had in 1824, and making an increase in the course of four years of 40 per cent, upon its population. In the reports of townships obtained at the desire of UPPER CANADA. 169 the corporations, the home district seems to have been omitted, but we are further enabled by Mr. Gait to give the following, which apply as well to this as the more western districts, viz. — Remarks on the quality^ probable value, situation^ and advantages attending the lands generally to the westward of York, by Mr. Patrick Strange. All the respective townships commencing at Detroit^ from thence running in front on lake Erie through the western, London, and Niagara districts, I have visited as far as fort Erie, or at least Black Rock. I found the inhabitants in the western section to be composed of Americans generally ; there are many French Canadians settled in the vicinity of Detroit, who possess excellent farms. There are great im- provements on the front townships on the river St. Clair, opposite the American shore ; the settlers gene- rally are composed of a mass of all sorts, and many have taken possession of lands without any authority, particularly those who cannot be countenanced bv our government as being not even aliens in this colony, but traitors to both the United States and this country. They are composed of Scotch and Irish emigrants who resided in the States during the late war, and are living from hand to mouth in small huts, enjoying merely what they can raise from their toil and labour on the land they possess. All along through Talbot's settlement, so called. 170 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. there are settled various descriptions of persons, through whose active industry, and the colonel's strict attention and ambition to settle the lands under his control, they have worked wonders in way of settle- ment; but still their circumstances are contracted other than that of their lands, and indeed in conse- quence of the want of markets to vend their produce, and the extraordinary charges imposed on them for such merchandise as they require in barter for their produce ; they, in consequence, are selling off their well-settled farms for a trifle, and purchasing in other parts of the colony more convenient to markets. There are no reserves, either crown or clergy, on the concession north and south of Talbot-street, from the commencement to the ending thereof; there are some leases made for reserves in the front townships al- luded to, but very few in any of the rear townships. The townships of Burford, Oxford, Dorchester, Westminster, Delewarr, Lobo, Caradoc, London, Nissouri, Zora, and all other townships in the second and third range in the district of London, are in- creasing in value and population. The township of Norwich is also situated in the second range, generally inhabited by Quakers and other industrious settlers, many of whom have come in from the United States since the late war, and are lessees on crown and clergy reserves. The townships of Lobo, London, Nissouri and Zora, in my opinion, border on the un- surveyed lands which I understand are purchased by UPPER CANADA. I7l the Canada Company ; and if the lands so purchased are of equal quality with the surveyed lands in ques- tion, they are not inferior to any description of land in Upper Canada, being well watered, well wooded, and the soil of the most luxuriant quality. In coming to a review of the district of Gore, I find that the chief of the reserved land is laid out in blocks adjoining east and west Flamboro', Eramossa, and Nichol. I have crossed the township of Nassi- guaya and Eramossa to the crown block in question, andfound the country in rapid progression throughout, and the price of land enhancing daily, as the old settlers in the district of Niagara and other places are selling off their old improved farms, and are now purchasing in these once remote townships. The townships of Erin, Garafraxa, Mono, Adjala, Esquesing and the new survey of Trafalgar. I have visited all these townships, have the reservations of crown and clergy lands regularly classed out, and will command sale in a short time, as the population therein is wonderfully augmenting. The old survey of Nelson and Trafalgar and other old townships, such as east and west Flamboro', Beverly Glanford, Binbrook, &c. &c. &c., should be subject to the reservation regularly classed also ; but I have reason to believe that they are chiefly disposed of by lease or promise, and consequently do not come under the disposal of the Company. The townships of Ettibocoke- Toronto — the Gore 172 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. of Toronto, Chinguicoucy, Caledon, Albion, Tecum- seth, Gvvilliamburg AVest, King, Vaughan, and West- York — are all subject to the usual reservation of Crown-land ; but the chief of such lands therein, as are worth any considerable value, are leased, or other- wise disposed of: though, in my humble opinion, there is not one out of ten occupying these lands, or who pays either rents or taxes thereon, but have got their names merely inserted on the plans and books of office for a trifle, merely for tlie purpose of destroying and taking away to the Quebec market the stave-timber growing thereon, without any inter- luption of Government whatsoever. The district of Niagara, being the first settlement in the colony allotted to military claimants, New England loyalists, and other persons, having adhered to the unity of the empire during the old revolution, and being so granted to that description of people, by Land Board certificates, prior to the establishment of a regular councilin the colony, the usual reservation of Crown and Clergy lands was, in consequence, unknown ; and, until this day, I am solely at a loss to be acquainted with the lands, if any, set apart for such reservations in that district, but am confident that a number of blocks of land have been reserved as glehe lands, all of which have been disposed of by Government, by licenses of occupation, and are valuable. The land in tliis district is in great esti- mation by many, as being well settled and contiguous UPPER CANADA. 173 to markets ; but should I possess all the uncultivated lands in the district of Gore, and have a means of keeping them back from being disposed of for ten years, I would be sorry to barter acre for acre with that of the Niagara land now in a state of cultivation, as, in my estimation, the land is more durable, the settlement more progressive, the waters for machinery more prevalent, and the natural resources likely to follow from enterprise and industry, are such as materially augments its value, very particularly the intended establishment of the Canada Land Com- pany. The more remote class of townships, surrounding lake St. Clair, the Bear Creek, and those generally surveyed by contractors, on certain per centage, in the western country, are lessened much in value, in consequence of the remarkably low price which land therein has been offered for sale by those concerned in such contracts. In fact, I have known lots of 200 acres, sold by such characters, in the remote townships, for a barrel of pork each, and frequently for Is. to Is. 3d. per acre, in way of trade. Should I be furnished with a scale, from your office, of the land returned to the Company, I could, of course, give my opinion to you of the probable value thereof, particularly if I can be made acquainted with the mode or regulation of payment which may be required, and the description of persons to whom the land in question is most likely to be sold. I do, 174 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. therefore, take the liberty of ieavmg tlie subjoined blanks for an opportunity for you to insert such townships, or specific lots therein, as you may deem proper, leaving the probable value to my estimation, which you may rest assured I shall willingly and cheerfully render you my unfeigned concurrence in every respect, as far as lies in my power. I shall, if you think proper, draught a rough sketch of the eastern division of the colony, as far as I have a knowledge, as soon as possible, — it is for the home district reserves, which are chiefly situate in the town- ships of north and east Gwilhamburg, Georgiana, Erock-Reach, Scott, Uxbridge, Pickering, Whitby, Darhngton, with a few in Scarborough, Markham, Whitchurch, and Vaughan ; the value thereof is to be proportioned to the respective places wherein the land may be situated. The townships of King, and the old survey of West Gwilliamburg, are valuable and worthy of notice. The remote townships in the county of Simcoe are still unsettled, and, conse- quently, no price can be properly apportioned to their value at present. I believe there are no Crown reserves in the township of York returned to the Company ; and I am at a loss to know if the Com- pany has purchased such Crown reserved lands as are laid aside in the rear of Westminster, the township of Howard, the township of Blanford, Seymore, and other school reservations throughout the province, the Gore of Toronto, and the Mohawk woods' reser- UPPER CANADA. 175 vation in the Bay of Quintey, which has been oifered for sale, some time since, for public purposes : all the reservations in these townships are valuable, and, in my opinion, should be returned to the Canadian Company in the general schedule, if not already done. I remain, with great respect, sir. Your obedient humble servant, Patrick Strange. 176 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. THE WESTERN SECTION, Or division, of the upper province, embraces, in general, all that tract of country lying between the head of the lake Ontario to the east, and the eastern side of lake Huron to the west, part of the Home dis- trict and the Indian territory to the north, and lake Erie to the south, situated between the parallels of 42° and 45° 30' north latitude. The extreme length of this tract, north and south, namely, along the whole eastern shores of lakes Huron and St. Clair, with the rivers that connect them with lake Erie, is 216 miles, and its breadth east and west, at its widest part, is about ]95 miles. It is chiefly settled about the head of the Ontario, and along the north shore of lake Erie ; and its population, in 1828, is given at 64,157. The salubrity and comparative mildness of the climate, with the general fertility of the soil of this large tract, are well known. Its surface is uniformly nearly level, excepting a few solitary eminences, and a sort of ridge of land which rounds the head of the Ontario a little inland, and traverses the Niagara district, as before mentioned. This ridge, however, if it deserves the name, does not in general exceed an altitude of 100 feet, although at some points it rises to above 300 ; and the whole tract presents, in general, to the eye vast forests of a great variety of UPPER CANADA. 177 lofty trees, upon level, and sometimes swampy land. * In the heart of these dense woods, and on the borders of rivers,' says Bouchette, * extensive plains suddenly present themselves, that lay open to view a beautiful area of natural meadow, often expanding several thousand acres in extent, and delightfully relieved by occasional clumps of lofty pine, white oak, and poplar, agreeably clustered in the various vistas of the plain.' Before we descend to the particulars of the soils of the townships with which we are furnished, we quote a few general remarks from the same authority. * The variety of soils, and the diversity of their com- binations, observable in these four districts/ adds the surveyor- general, ' are by no means so great as might be expected in so extended a region. The whole tract is alluvial in its formation, and chiefly consists of a stratum of black, and sometimes yellow loam ; above which is deposited, when in a state of nature, a deep and rich vegetable mould, the sub- stratum, beneath the bed of loam, being generally a tenacious gray or blue clay, which in some parts appears at the surface, and, intermixed with sand, constitutes the super- soil. This species, and a sandy loam, highly fertile in its properties, are of more frequent occurrence in proceeding from the western district eastward, and appear to predominate in the districts of Gore and Niagara. The almost total absence of stones or gravel within the greatest arable N 178 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. depth, is a peculiar feature of the generality of lands in the upper province, which has been felt as a serious inconvenience by the inhabitants in the pro- gress of their rural improvements, whatever may be its probable advantage as facilitating some of the operations of husbandry. There are, however, nu- merous and extensive quarries of limestone to be found in most of the townships of these districts, that supply the farmers with excellent materials for build- ing ; the price of the quarried limestone fluctuating from bs. to 15s. the toise. Freestone is also found, but in small quantities, and generally along the shores of the lakes*.' This section of the province is divided into four districts, namely, the Gore, the Niagara, the London, and the Western. The whole is well-watered by five considerable rivers and their numerous branches, namely, the Thames, the Ouse, the Welland or Chip- pewa, the Big Bear, and the Maitland. To begin with the first of these districts, namely, THE GORE DISTRICT, Lying at the southern head of the Ontario, and between the York and Niagara districts ; the London district, and the Indian territory, lying on its rear towards the west. Much of this tract belongs to * Vol. i. p. 92. UPPER CANADA. 179 the Canada Company, who have built nearly in its centre the town of Guelph, upon a small river called the Speed, a remote branch of the Ouse or Grand River. This important and rapidly rising town, which is likely to become the capital of the district, was founded by Mr. Gait, for the Company, on St. George's day, 1827, and already contains between 100 and 200 houses, several shops, a handsome market-house near the centre, a school-house, a printing-office, and 700 or 800 inhabitants. There are also several taverns and a very neat hotel with a ball-room ; a large grist-mill and saw-mill ; 2 dis- tilleries ; 3 places of worship : — the Roman Catholic church of St. Patrick has a steeple. The great curi- osity, however, of this place was, for it is now fading, the approach, an avenue of 7 miles in length, about 150 feet wide, with a wall of stupendous trees on each side. — An American lad on first turning into it from the dark forest, exclaimed, * What an almighty place 1* In the neighbouring township of Dumfries, belong- ing to the Honourable Mr. Dixon, is the town of Gait, founded by that gentleman, some years before the Canada Company was thought of. It is about 18 miles from Guelph ; it was named in compliment to the gentleman of that name ; who since, by his en- larged views and enlightened plans, still followed in a degree by his successors, has so materially contributed to the prosperity of these new settlements, and to the late success of the Company. Though this town is as yet but in its infancy, and will always probably be n2 180 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. secondary to Guelph, * its situation,' says Mr. Bou- chette, ' is peculiarly eligible, and cannot fail to attract many settlers of respectability and capital.' Several other villages are already raised on this district, particularly along its chief road, or mail rout, from York near the lake, to the Niagara district; such as Ancaster, Grimsby, St. Catharine's and Dun- das. The last of these is well situated for a frontier town, lying at the bottom of Burlington bay, and the utmost head of the lake Ontario, but, as well as the others, is yet small. Ancaster in the township of that name, and situated also as well as numerous good settlements on this mail rout, which is well known by the name of Dundas Street, — contains nearly 400 inhabitants, a church, &c., and its situa- tion is described as being very eligible, and the country round most picturesque and agreeable. The whole of this district is subdivided into fifteen" townships, whose respective advantages, or disad- vantages, are briefly described by the Corporation inspectors as follows : — Trafalgar. — Soil, clay and loam. Advantages^ this township fronts lake Ontario, mill-streams, and highways, &c. Equesing. — Soil, principally sand, clay in some parts. Disadvantages, lying i^ rear of Trafalgar, and want of highways, mills, &c. Erin. — Soil, principally black sand. Disadvan^ tages, lying in rear of Equesing; want of roads, mills, &c. UPPER CANADA. 181 Garrafraxa. — Soil, black sand. Disadvantages^ similar to Erin. Eramosa. — Soil, black sand. Disadvantages ^ sim- ilar to Garafraxa. Nassagiijveya. — Soil, black sand. Disadvantages^ similar to Eramosa. Nelson. — Soil, clay and sand. Advantages, front- ing on the lake similar to Trafalgar. Flamboro' East. — Soil, clay and sand. Ad- vantages, fronting on lake Ontario and Burlington bay. Flamboro' West. — Soil, clay and sand. Ad- vantages, fronts on Dundas Street and Coote*s Para- dise ; mills, highways, &c. Beverley. — Soil, clay and sand. Disadvantages, want of mills, roads, &c. - Ancaster. — Soil, principally sand, clay in places. Advantages, highways, mills, &c. Barton. — Soil, clay and sand. Advantages^ fronting Burlington bay ; roads, mills, &c. Glanford. — Soil, principally clay, sand in places. Disadvantages, lying in rear of Barton; want of roads, &c. Binbrook. — Soil, clay. Disadvantages, lying in rear of Saltfleet ; want of roads, mills, &c. Saltfleet. — Soil, clay and sand. Advantages, fronting lake Ontario, highways, mills, &c. 182 TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. THE NIAGARA DISTRICT Is situated next to the above, and for an inland tract enjoys one of the most favourable geographical positions that can well be conceived. Forming in shape nearly an oblong square, it lies between the ends of the two great navigable lakes, with the Niagara junction river and its celebrated falls on its eastern frontier ; the Ouse, or Grand river, tra- versing great part of it, and a splendid canal passing through it, forming a commercial junction between the lakes. Lying also on the American frontier by the Niagara, and opposite to the head of the great Erie canal, which here begins an uninterrupted water communication with New York itself, the commercial importance of this tract must in progress of time, and with the gradual settlement of the upper province, greatly and rapidly increase. Besides the towns and villages already built on this fertile district, it has immediately opposite to it, on the east side of the Niagara, the thriving villages ,of Buffalo and Black Rock, with Lewestown and Yongstown farther down near the Ontario. Fort George, or Niagara, on the shore of the lake, and at the mouth of the river of the same name, hav- ing an excellent harbour, and being the seaport, as it may be called, for this side of the country, exhibits, UPPER CANADA. 183 in general, the bustle and gaiety of the frequent arrivals and departures of steam-boats, sloops, and other vessels. These vessels are constantly passing from and to every part of the lake and the St. Law- rence, as low down as Prescott. Being directly on the frontier, this town is liable to depredation or hostility in the event of war, and, accordingly, in 1813, when in a flourishing condition, was by the American troops under General M'Clure, barbarously burnt to the ground. Notwithstanding this disaster, however, it has gradually been rebuilt, and now con- tains about 1500 inhabitants. It is protected by a fort, garrisoned by a strong detachment of mihtary, whose presence contributes greatly to the cheerful- ness of the place. Neat houses, numerous shops, several respectable taverns, and two weekly news- papers, published here, with a market held once a week, for the accommodation of the neighbouring farmers, sufficiently attest its present importance and prosperity. Seven miles south of the above, and at the foot of the romantic heights of the same name, which have become famous in Canadian history, as the scene of a battle wherein General Brock fell, is the village of Queenstown, pleasantly situated on the Niagara, and opposite to the American village of Lewiston. The monument built to the memory of the gallant general and his companions, on the loftiest part of these heights, forms a prominent object to the numerous voyageurs, who are constantly arriving at 184 TOPOGHAPHICAL SKETCHES. this portage, in elegantly fitted up steam-boats, from York and Kingston, to view tlie neighbouring falls of the Niagara. The village contains a church, a court- house, large government stores, and a population of between 400 and 500 inhabitants. Four miles west of Queenstown, is the village of St. David, on a small stream called Four-mile creek, and on both sides of the Welland river at its mouth, and ten miles from Queenstown, is Chippewa, con- taining barracks, a small fort, and about 200 inhabitants. At the head of the Niagara river, on the same main road, and 16 miles distant from Chippewa, is Fort Erie, a small village with its fort situated on a rising ground, opposite the American vilWes of Black Rock and Buffalo. Other villages and hamlets occupy this district with various degrees of promise, particularly the brook at the head of the Welland canal. But we pass on to the inspection descriptions of the townships, of which there are 15 as follows. Grimsby. — Soil, clay and yellow loam. Advan- tages, fronts on lake Ontario, and the front all settled ; a small village at the Forty Mile Creek, with two grist-mills, and three saw-mills. The southern part has the Twenty Mile Creek running through a small part of it, where there are mills and a small village. Disadvantages, most of the unsettled lands wet, and a great deal of swamp. Caistor. — Soil, principally hard clay. The Chip- pewa Creek, or Welland, runs through it. Disadvan- UPPER CANADA. 185 tages, badly watered -, a great deal of bad land ; flat, wet, and swampy ; thinly settled, and far back. Clinton. — Soily clay, yellow and black loam. Advantages, fronts on lake Ontario, has several saw- mills, and one grist-mill. Disadvantages, badly watered ; deficient in mill-streams. Gainsborough. — Soil, principally clay. Advan- tages, fronts on Chippewa Creek ; Twenty Mile Creek runs through a part of it : has two grist and five saw mills. Z)m- the beautiful neighbourhood of West Point, formerly mentioned, as also New- burgh, Kingston, Katskill, Hudson, and other vil- lages, the scenery, through the remainder of the journey up to Albany, is more varied, with flat, forest and mountain ; yet still is of a character exceedingly likely to interest the traveller from Europe. The steam-boats plying on this river are much larger than any usually seen in England, being six and seven hundred tons burden, and so splendidly fitted up, that like those on the St. Lawrence, sailing above Quebec, they are often named by travellers floating palaces, and are spoken of as more fitted for voluptuaries, than for cool, calculating republicans. The captains have regular counting-houses in these splendid hotels ; there are dressing-rooms, where a barber is kept in attendance for the comfort of the passengers ; liquors are kept of all sorts, and in * Personal Narrative, p. 93. ALBANY. 229 general, an abundance of pure ice ; and tlie cooking is reported by Englishmen to be excellent. These vessels carry from 100 to 300 passengers daily throughout the season, and some sail at the rate of more than twelve miles an hour. The fare by these fine vessels is remarkably moderate, and still more so by the others that are more fitted for poorer travellers, as we shall have occasion hereafter particularly to slate. These last conveyances are commercial vessels, called tow-boats, which are dragged by relays of horses, and travel night and day ; and the company to be met with in their cabins, consists of farmers and their wives, store-keepers, and other traders, with a slight mix- ture, occasionally, of American captains and colonels, besides numerous ' squires,' the usual nam^e given in America to men who have been constituted local justices of the peace. As the Hudson is the great outlet for American citizens, travelling in summer to rusticate at the Katskill mountains, or to be fashionable at the Saratoga springs, beyond Albany — as it is also the proper route from the States, for tourists, and emigrants travelling to the British Colonies, this river is not only one of the most fre- quented in the States, but by the company to be found on it, affords to the observing and the inquisitive excellent opportunities for obtaining information, and studying character. 'Albany,' says an intelligent Englishman, lately in this quarter, \^hose original descrijotions we are per- 230 TRAVELLING, mitted the use of, 'is the seat of government of the State of New York, and is a well-situate and well-built town, and one of the oldest in the country. In the neighbourhood are many Dutch families, descendants of very old settlers ; even in the town are some re- mains of Dutch buildings — the gable built to the street. The principal street is very wide, and too steep to be comfortable, but its elevation makes the upper part very pleasant ; at the top of it, in the centre, is the Capitol, where meet the Assembly, the Senate, the Supreme Council, and the County Court. From the rotunda at the top, is a fine view of a beautiful country on the other side of the river. The building itself has not much to boast of ; the State Library in it almost provokes a laugh, but perhaps what I saw was only a small portion of it. There are about 20,000 inhabitants. We are now losing sight of the black population ; they form a very insignificant portion of the inhabitants here. ' There was rather a want of labourers. Wages at this time (the middle of summer), a dollar per day. The population is active and stirring, and the place is the focus of a great trade ; it is the grand resting- place, in transitu, between New York and the Western States, by reason of the two canals, the Champlain and the Erie. The trade of this city Jias varied much ; it is the place of an immense tran- sit, but some of the merchants say, that the western traders find it so easy to proceed to New York by tlie" steam-vessels, when they have reached Albany, KATSKILL. 231 that their business is much interfered with. For my own part I should doubt this. Between the 20th of April and 1st of September 6000 canal-boats entered inwards, and as many proceeded outwards. * No building here struck me as worthy of remark ; the museum was trumpery in the extreme. A great many coaches start from hence. By one line, Buf- falo, 296 miles distant, may be reached in less than three days.' The hotels in this city are of the first description, and are in summer crowded with company going down to Saratoga springs, or on their way to either of the Canadas. Besides these celebrated springs, and the town of Balston near, there are several other places in the vicinity of Albany wliich the curious tourist is recommended to visit. As he sails up the river from New York, there is, first, the romantic object of Pine Orchard House, which stands like an eagle's nest perched on the summit of a rock in the Katskill Mountains near the village of Katskill, at an elevation of about 2600 feet above the level of the river below. In particular, however, there is Moun- tain House, a fine hotel, built on a lofty spot on the same mountains, about thirteen miles from Katskill town, and thirty from Albany, for the accommodation of those who wish to visit the scene of Washington Irving's celebrated story of " Rip Van Winkle." From the Notes of a gentleman who lately travelled to Upper Canada by this route — namely, Nathaniel Gould, Esq., of London, — with which we have been 232 TRAVELLING. liindly favoured on the present occasion, and which we shall have occasion to quote more than once, from the fresh and important information that they afford, we extract the following interesting description of his visit to these mountains, as giving a graphic idea of American roads and scenery : — ' I got a carriage and excellent pair of horses to proceed to the Pviountain House, called thirteen miles, for one dollar and a quarter, being the regular stage fare ; I was the only passenger in the boat that stopped here, and the preceding boat had filled two coaches with parties proceeding to the hotel. For four or six miles the country undulates — much as in Sussex, which it partly resembles, from the young growth of timber, where left uncleared, being like hop-pole plantations. At seven miles we come to the half-way house, and here begins a most severe ascent. We had overtaken the other coaches, and most of us got out to walk. For myself, I walked all the remaining distance. The road, though ex- tremely bad, must have been an expensive under- taking to the owner of the house. It is through a pine forest, the land not worth a gift. Here, for the first time, I saw what has since been common enough with me — a sample of corduroy road. It is made of trunks of trees laid closely together across the road : it is the common mode of making roads through swamps or wet forests in America, Canada, and Russia, in fact, in all new and wooded countries. The darkness had gathered upon us, and I was so MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 233 exhausted with fatigue that I found myself alone. The wood-robin, with a tone like a blackbird, and the " fFhip poor JVill " were very numerous : the latter appears to me be a species of goat-sucker, night- hawk, or fern-owl. We passed two small lakes, where the bull-frogs broke the stillness of night. We arrived long before the carriages, and made our- selves comfortable for tea. * As a view of the sun rising from this eminence is among the principal objects of curiosity here, we got to bed as soon as possible. The whole household was stirring before three o'clock ; but a dense fog obscured everything. We looked down upon a sea of clouds, having precisely the appearance described by balloon travellers, and although it was perfectly fine and dry during the day v^ith us, we did not see the valley or the river till six in the evening, when a small patch was visible ; we afterwards found that the day had been clear below us, although the clouds had looked lowering. I was surprised here at seeing lightning proceeding out of a light fleecy cloud. This house has been built by a Company to attract visitors ; it is very large, and built with great show ; it had last season between 400 and 500 visitors at one time ; the expense of building, (although it is all of wood, and cut on the spot), and the road to it, must have been great ; the landlord tells me not more than 30,000 dollars, or under 7,000/. Both house and country are well worth visiting — the situation romantic — placed on the edge of a tabla 234 TRAVELLING. rock, 2580 feet above the river, surrounded with mountains covered with pine forests, and intersected by tremendous ravines ; it is kept by Mr. Webb, an Englishman, of pleasing manners, and attentive to his guests. It is said that Round-top, the most elevated situation in the neighbourhood, is 3700 feet above the level of the sea, but I should much doubt the correctness of this. Waggons were hired for the ladies, and the gentlemen walked through the wood to the Falls or Cascades ; the scenery is very pic- turesque, in style more like the Falls of Fyers in Scotland than any others I have seen ; the first fall is 176 feet, the second 80, after which is a con- tinuation of falls and rapids for a considerable dis- tance. Imm.ense masses of shelving rock overhang the abyss ; I threw myself on one of them, as Col- lins's description of danger occurred to me — '' Or throws him on the shelvinjr steep Of some huge hanging rock to sleep." ' The superstratum is of a much harder nature than the under, which is continually mouldering away, leaving the surface rock overhanging to a great dis- tance ; this is the case at most of the great falls in America and Canada, so that the shute of water may be passed behind. The quantity of water here would be insignificant, were it not that a man who has erected a small house, with refreshments for visitors, confines it by a dam, which he opens, and lets down water in sufficient quantity when he is paid. We MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 235 went to the bottom, and stood on what is called " Rip Van Winkle's Stone," whilst the dam was opened ; we afterwards went behind the water. — The effect of the cold air rushing against the face and breast is curious, and is the same, in a less degree, as that pro- duced at the Falls of Niagara. ' The guide fired a gun repeatedly ; the reverbera- tion was grand. Cooper, in his novels, has occa- sionally described it ; the sound was sent back from the highest part of the mountains, about 16 miles off. The gun was four feet three in the barrel, smooth, but with a rifle sight ; the bore 36 balls to the pound ; cost 16 dollars. He says he is" sure of a buck at a hundred yards : it put me at once in mind of " Long Carabine," in Cooper's novel. * The whole of this district is original forest, not worth clearing ; indeed it is a wonder how the trees find root in it ; many of the largest are seen in all the forests, either lying down in various states of de- cemposition, or standing dead ; scorched with fire at the foot, or blasted with lightning at the top. There is a great variety of trees here, and some magnificent flowering shrubs. Eagles are seen floating above, and wolves, bears, and deer, are in the neighbouring forest; the latter frequented the two lakes, but are getting shy as visitors become more abundant. An old fox -hound, kept at the hotel, got on the trail of one, and was absent above two hours. In the lakes are cat-fish, but no eels above the falls. I copied the 236 TRAVELLING. English names from the guide's book, and to my surprise there were only nine in the twelvemonth. ' On the sides of the two small lakes the trees are dead or dying ; some had fallen, and others had been cut down, leaving the ground in a state very similar to our timber mosses in Scotland and Ireland, when the bog is removed ; and as more trees fall, the water seems to encroach, and the bog earth to cover the decayed trees, till in process of time it becomes peat moss. That Scotland, Ireland, and the north of Eng- land, now so destitute of trees, were once covered like this country, cannot be doubted ; but there is in this country in some degree the appearance of newness — I mean that the country does not appear old enough in its formation of superstratum, to exhibit such con- firmed mosses as the Old World. The strong anti- septic quality of moss-water does not exist, though the colour is nearly the same. I well remember, a few miles from Killin, in Perthshire in Scotland, the commencement of a moss in a similar manner. When at Dunkeld, the head forester of the Duke of Athol mentioned to me a tradition that the Romans had burned the forests when they could advance no farther ; the appearance of fire is certainly not un- frequent in the trees dug out of the bogs.' As the springs of Saratoga, about sixteen miles above Albany, are not exactly in the route of the traveller to Upper Canada, and are pretty well known by report to tourists, we shall only mention, that . SARATOGA. 237 they were originally discovered by the Indians, or rather by the animals who resorted to them, as one of the salt fountains, or 'licks,' as they are called, which are found in several parts of the Ame- rican continent, and are particularly abundant in Upper Canada. These springs are strongly impreg- nated with salts and iron in different proportions, and with other combinations : and of the waters of one of them, called ' the Congress,' and at present the most fashionable, an astonishing quantity is bottled, and sold all over the states. The original natural spring, called the Bound Rock Springs rises from an orifice in the top of a conical rock, five feet high, and is the greatest curiosity of the whole ; though now fashion, even of Yankee formation, has thought proper to desert it. The English tourist, who has time for observation, will probably find the fashion, such as it is that reigns here, a greater curiosity still, though as much to be respected in its way, perhaps, as the same equivocal power is in our own aristocratic country*. * The following amusing particulars of this American Chel- tenham, we cannot avoid giving also from Mr. Gould's clever Notes formerly quoted. 'The town,* he says, *is of recent erection, and is a collec- tion of immensely large wooden hotels and boarding-houses, three stories high ; the Congress Hall is a large good-looking house, with a row of seventeen columns rising from a terrace or gallery 21 feet wide to the eaves, and forming an excellent pro- menade sheltered from the rain or sun; the length of its front is about 200 feet, with wings of 70 feet ; the columns twined round with some large-leaved creepers give an excellent effect. r 4 •% 238 TRAVELLING. Balston, eight miles from the above, ha« also a number of springs, rather more chalybeate than saline in quality, and has of late years set up as the rival of Saratoga. Next this town is Shenectady, sixteen miles from Albany* ; a respectable town on the Mohawk river, with a seminary of education called Union College, and containing not less than 7000 inhabitants. At the confluence of the Mohawk This description will do for many others of the hotels. This house sometimes "manages" to accommodate from 400 to 500 visitors. I afterwards found that a large hotel, with a large room, is one of the first requisites in the " location" of a town that is intended to be large. The charges of hving at these hotels are from eight to ten dollars per week. It is true that the bed-chambers are, compared to the size of a man, about as large as a lion's cage in a menagerie. Those who resort to the *' springs" appear to make the most of their time ; the early hours at Cheltenham are remarkable, but here they " out- Herod Herod." From three o'clock in the morning, pad, pad, pad, go the heels of the water-drinkers, along the gallery, much to the annoyance of more quietly-disposed patients; the water is drunk in larger quantities than at any of our Spas. I heard of one bulky old gentleman who was recommended to " drink plentifidly ;" accordingly, on the morning of his arrival, he was np with the earliest and drank with the thirstiest ; but in the evening, finding himself " much out of sorts," he went to a physician, the "smart" man of the place to whom he com- plained of " beitig heavy.'' " Perhaps," said the medical gen- tleman, "you have not taken sufficiently of the Congress,?" " Oh, yes, pretty considerable," was the reply. " How many glasses ?" — " I kept no particvdar account ; but about 35 I guess." — "No wonder then, my good sir, that you feel a little heavy," said the physician.' * See note F. Appendix. MOHAWK FALLS. 239 river with the Hudson, there is also a pretty village, or rather town, called Waterford, containing about 1400 inhabitants. Near this place, besides the town of Troy on the Hudson, is a sight well worthy the notice of the tourist, particularly if he be an amateur in cataracts and cascades ; namely, the cahoes, or great falls of the Mohawk. At these falls the river is about a fourth of a mile wide, and runs like an immense canal in a deep channel, with perpendicular sides of rock from 50 to 120 feet high. The fall is entirely across the breadth of this channel, and in one leap over a rounded declivity of 60 feet or more. Not far from hence, the great Erie canal is carried over this river in an aqueduct of 748 feet in length*. As Albany is the head-quarters for all travellers and tourists proceeding from the States, either to Upper or Lower Canada, or to the Eastern British Colonies, we shall add a few particulars regarding both of the principal routes to these provinces. To travellers from Britain, proceeding only to the Lower Province, this route has several recommendations, and the remainder of the journey, until the St. Lawrence is reached, comprehends many points of interest, and includes much agreeable scenery. Following the traveller by the latter route, at Albany he will proceed in a stage to Sandy-hill, a small town where the Hudson takes a turn west- ward, and where it is joined by a canal which unites * See note G. Appendix. 240 TRAVELLING. that river with the southern end of Lake Champlain, at another tov,'n called White -hall. From hence, that is from Sandy-hill, he may proceed by one of two routes, either by White-hall to Ticonderogo, farther on ; or, taking the stage to the left, to the town of Caldwell, situated at the extremity of Lake George, he may there take- a steam-boat, which will carry him straight on to Ticonderogo, before mentioned, and thence down the whole length of Lake Champlain. This route is recommended to those who have a taste for natural beauty, as the scenery on the small lake George is described as exceedingly interesting. The historical interest connected with Ticonderogo, Crown Point, and other spots on the borders of Lake Champlain, is well known, and the English traveller will have little chance of remaining ignorant of the particulars of it, if there be any Americans in his company on the route. At Butlington Bay, where he will stop, on the right side of this delightful lake, stages are to be found, which will convey travellers across the country to the southern borders of the British provinces, or to Boston on the American coast. Proceeding on down the lake, the traveller enters Lower Canada, at the Isle-au-Noix, at the head of the Richlieu, or Sorell river ; from thence he is conveyed to St. John's, down the river, and now crosses by the stage to the St. Lawrence, which he meets at the Canadian town of La Prairie, oppo- site to the island of Montreal. Returning to Albany, the conveyance from it to DIFFERENT ROUTES. 341 Upper Canada, is either by coaches which run from it to Buffalo, at the head of the Niagara river — which, at greater expense, make the distance in about three days — or by the great Erie Canal, which is much more tedious, but a much cheaper mode of convey- ance, and better suited for emigrant families of the poorer class, particularly if they have families and some luggage. Besides this, there are coaches called extras, exceedingly convenient for tourists, which may be had for any distance ; and travelling by which is the nearest to posting in England, of any mode to be had in America. The comparative cost of these different modes of conveyance, we shall give as we are enabled, further on. The tow-boats, for poorer travellers, go up to Troy, above Albany, where they meet the Erie Canal, but the usual mode for travellers is to take at Albany one of the stages to the town of Shenectady, on the canal, by which some distance is saved, and they can then proceed by any of the com- mon routes. To the traveller who can afford the difference of ex- pense it is recommended to proceed no farther on the canal than to Utica, eighty miles from Albany ; and if he wishes to see a new country in every stage of progress from wild forest to those staring examples of upstart and rude improvement, which make so common a feature of American scenery, he will strike of at Utica by coach, and proceeding through Anan- dago. Auburn, and Geneva, return to the canal at the populous town of Rochester. Thence leaving the 242 TRAVELLING. canal again, he will pass through Batavia, another rising town, and reach Buffalo, in a comparatively short time, and by a route of some interest. To return to the bustling town of Shenectady, con- taining Union College, and constantly busy with boats and coaches, the traveller is towed along the canal at the rate of about three miles and a half an hour, on the average. ' The canal for the distance of twenty-six miles,' says Captain Basil Hall, ' winds along the base of a low and prettily-wooded bank on the south side of the Mohawk river. Our perpendi- cular height above the stream may have been thirty to forty feet, by which elevation we commanded a range of prospect both up and down, of great extent and variety. The Mohawk is studded with many islands, and long projecting, flat, wooded points, lying in the tortuous reaches or bendings of the stream. The vigour of the spring tints had not yet yielded to the withering effects of the fierce summer. Be the case as it may, I cannot conceive a more beautiful combination of verdure ; and as the wind- ings of the canal brought us in sight of fresh vistas, new cultivation, new villages, new bridges, new aqueducts, rose at every moment, mingled up with scattered dwellings, mills, churches, all span new. The scene looked really one of enchantment*.' The cabins in the canal barges are described as comfortable ; but the low bridges under which they have constantly to pass incommode the passengers * Hall's North America, vol. i. p. 119. UTICA. 243 on deck, by obliging them frequently to move. Pass- ing an Indian village, called Coughnawaga, and also the little Falls of the Mohawk, the traveller comes to Utica, which, for the sake of the tourist, may require a word of description. ' Utica,' further says the Notes with which we have been furnished, ' not very long since a wilderness, is now a " smart," bustling, large town, with a " con- siderable" of business and population, the latter being above 6,000. It is a genuine Yankee town, the lads all spry^ with a bit of the steam-engine in their com- position, and an eeliness of look in their exterior ; they are, in fact, the very people that travellers speak of, and very different from the steady in- inhabitants of the German Flats : they are an active, shrewd, guessing people, calculating how far a thing is likely to pay quickly, and then increasing outlay as the speculation succeeds. This is the sort of peo- ple that continue spreading themselves over the new western countries ; nowise nice about a particularity of location, if there is a prospect of getting on ; even the fever and ague, a sore drawback in this district, and indeed in nearly all the new settled countries, does not deter them.' Near this place is also to be seen the Trenton Falls, which are worthy the atten- tion of tourists, furnished, as usual in America, with a Bar, or drinking-place, in one of the most romantic situations on the cataract, ' to the utter ruin,' says Captain Hall, ' of the unhappy sublime and beautiful.' As the route along the canal from this place to the r2 244 TRAVELLING. next town on it, named Syracuse, is described as *flat and unprofitable,' we follow the tourist, wlio diverges through Anandago and Brutus to Auburn, remarkable as containing the flimous state prison for solitary confinement, in which our last informant found about 600 prisoners. Travellers will visit this prison, if possible. It is an imposing building, standing on five acres of ground. The punishment, as is generally known, is a kind of solitary, dumb working employ- ment, — for although the prisoners work within sight, not a word is allowed to be spoken ; and after their labours they are led back to their separate cells of seven feet long by seven feet high, and only three feet and a half wide, and a space of ten feet to the air. To this horrid place none are sent for a shorter period than three years and a day, while some are doomed to its cells for life. The village is described as pretty, and the road near it is Macadamised, — a very unusual gratification to a traveller in America. This interesting route leads, aftervvards, over the end of a beautiful sheet of water, forty miles long, named the Cayugua lake, by a wooden bridge of a mile and a quarter in length ; after which the traveller reaches the Seneca Falls, or, more properly. Rapids, on another lake named after the sage ; and thence, passing through the newly set-up town of Waterloo, makes a halt at the beautiful town of Geneva. Not less delightfully situated, than pretty in itself, this town seems to differ from most American villages by the neat cottage-style of its houses, and the numerous GENEVA. 245 gardens, and the profusion of flowers and shrubs with which they are ornamented. Here broad streets, and the evidences of weakh, cause this place and its vicinity to be viewed with pleasure by the passing traveller. This, for many miles, the reader will observe, is the Genessee country ; and in all the inns along the road, says Mr. Gould's Notes, are advertisements of lands for sale, many stated as being good, to the west of Genessee river, at three dollars per acre ; one-third to be paid for in grain, stock, horses, &c. ; of the re- mainder, five per cent, to be paid in advance, and the balance in ten years, three years of it without interest. Large tracts of land are purchased by companies of speculators, and thus sold out. Canandaguia, a little beyond Geneva, and 29 miles from Rochester, is situated upon a cultivated slope, at the foot of which is a lake, several miles in circum- ference, and encircled with pretty cottages and rich forests. This town is about a mile long, consisting of one broad and picturesque street, with two rows of poplars on each side ; and having a beautiful church at one end, with other public buiklings. The popula- tion of this place is 2,000, and of its general appear- ance Dr. Howison says, ' It is difficult for description to do justice to its surpassing beauty and fascinating elegance.' The country here is very fertile, and well cleared. Passing Fort Hill, on the crown of which is the re- mains of one of those ancient circular fortifications, which are to be found both in Upper Canada, near the 246 TRAVELLING. Rice Lake, and various other parts of Northern Ame- rica, and the origin of which is still a subject of much controversy, the traveller arrives at Pittsford, and next gets back to the Erie canal, at the remarkable town of Rochester. Rochester, which has recently risen out of the wil- derness, is 85 miles from Lewistown, on the Niagara ; and, from various causes, is the theme of most tourists travelling this way. ' As this place,' says our Notes formerly quoted, ' in its rise, progress, and pre- sent extent, is one of the wonders of the world, it will require a more minute description than I have thought necessary in my notice of most other places I have visited. Although now called the fifth town in the state of New York, containing above 11,000 inha- bitants, not one adult, is a native of the place the first child born in it was in the year 1810 ; of its present population, about 5,000 are under fourteen years of age. * This town owes its greatness and its celebrity to superb waterfalls on the Genessee river, to the grand Erie canal passing through it, and its proximity to lake Ontario, to which sloops can approach within two miles and a half ; by these water- conveyances it has cheap transport to the great western lakes, to Canada, and to Albany, and New York. The Erie canal crosses the river on a well-built aqueduct of stone, 800 feet long on ten arches. It is 218 miles from Albany and 8 from lake Ontario. The canal, which is fed from the river, is 501 feet above the ROCHESTER. 247 level of the Hudson near Albany, where the tide reaches ; it is 270 feet above lake Ontario and 64 feet below lake Erie. There are two falls of the river, one of 12 feet, the other of 97 feet, which must, before they were obscured by building, have been a most magnificent sight. The river is about 400 feet wide, and now supplies, through canals from the high level, 20,000 cubic feet of water per minute, equal to 38,400 horses' power. The fall on the river, within two and a half, is 226 feet. There are three bridges across the river, the longest of which I found to be about 480 feet ; it is carried on a level over the river about 480 feet, and then rises at a considerable angle to cross a canal and towing-path. In American lan- guage, this is called " w^ater privilege," and a noble privilege it is to the proprietors. I was informed at one of the factories that a fifty feet frontage of the river pays 3000 dollars, or 67 5Z. for the location, for which a supply of water from the canal or race is granted ; and, from the nature of the situation, it is possible to use the same three times over.' The principal object, however, that travellers admire here is Clyde bridge in the neighbour- hood, which. Dr. Howison visited when passing this way, and speaks of with his usual enthusiasm. He says, ' I next strolled about two miles out of town, that I might survey Clyde bridge, or rather the ruins of it; for half of this magnificent structure fell several weeks before I arrived at Rochester. The bridge which was built of wood, and consisted of a single arch, was 248 TRAVELLING. thrown across the Genessee river, for the purpose of opening a nearer route between Canandaguia and Lewiston. ' * Clyde bridge, when entire, formed a piece of archi- tecture which was altogether unrivalled by any thing of a similar kind in Europe or America. The span of the arch was 352 feet, and the height of its summit above the surface of the river 196 feet. The bridge itself was 718 long, and 30 wide; and though the whole structure contained more than 130,000 feet of timber, it was completed by twenty workmen in the space of nine months. ' The road I took led me to the edge of the cliffs that confine the Genessse river. This stream roared ninety feet beneath me ; and a half arch stretched far above my head, as it were " suspended in mid air ;" while on the opposite cliffs, heaps of planks, shattered beams, and massy supporters, lay in horrible confu- sion, being the remains of tliat part of the structure which had fallen. Nothing can exceed the exquisite, the elegant, proportions, and the aerial magnificence, of that half of the bridge which is still entire. Its complicated architecture, the colossal span of its arch, its appalling height above the surface of the water, and the noble scenery around, fill the mind with astonishment. A little way up the river, the lesser Genessee falls rush over broken rocks ; while the woods which bound the prospect on all sides, and darkly overshadow the hoary cliffs, communicate a wildness to the scene, that makes the imaginative GENESSEE COUNTRY. 249 spectator almost believe that the bridge above him has been raised by the spells of a magician, rather than by the hands of man ''^.' During all this long route, the scenery presents the same characteristics as that of the partly cleared and settled tracts of Upper Canada, — namely, long portions of monotonous, if not gloomy forest, partial patches of cleared land, and lonesome log-houses ; staring newly-raised villages and towns, with all their half completed improvements, lively bustle, trade and warehouses ; magnificent lakes and beauti- ful peeps of wild scenery ; and more variety of aspect and effect, than any description could convey an idea of. From Rochester to Lewiston on the Ame- rican frontier, the road is dull, but on crossing the Niagara, the view of the stupendous falls makes up for everything, and, to some minds, the leisurely contemplation of this awful scene seems to make them acquainted with new secrets in, and to give them new sympathies with, nature. * Upper Canada, p. 286. TRAVELLING. Part III.— EXPENSES, DISTANCES, &c. As the cost of travelling and of living, at the several ports of the Canadas, or the route towards them, is a matter of importance, particularly to emigrants of the poorer class, as well as, perhaps, to tourists and tra- vellers for pleasure, we have collected together, and put in a tabular form, as much information upon this subject, as well as that of the relative distances of places, as seems necessary to satisfy inquirers. In the first place, though the passage from England is, to poor persons, generally stated now at 3/., or under, that of a better class of persons, who take the cabin of ships, is by no means so liable to a general rule ; but is in every case determined entirely by the nature of the accommodation that the ship-master can offer, and other circumstances. Passages, therefore, including the general run of the cabin provisions, are, excepting as relates to the regular packet-ships, ob- tained at all prices, from 10/. to 20/. a head; and the terms and accommodations for individuals and families are entirely regulated by the pains-taking inquiries and good sense of the several parties. In all cases, however, where provisions are stipulated for by pas- PASSAGE OUT. 251 sengers, the run of the ship should by no means be trusted to, particularly when sea-sickness, &c. may be naturally expected; for however well-intending the captain may be, the habits and wants of sea-faring men are not of a nature to qualify them to judge of what is necessary or proper for land-reared people*. When the emigrant arrives at Quebec or Montreal, he will be enabled to board and lodge in the best hotels or boarding houses for a dollar a day, or about 30s. a week. All shades of prices under this will be taken at lower houses, as persons can afford it ; but all classes of intended colonists, who require to economise, cannot be too frequently warned against suffering themselves to be persuaded by the cupidity of those with whom they lodge, as is often done, to linger any time in the frontier towns ; and thus waste their time * Though, upon the subject of preparation for emigration, we have already, in the Appendix, given, from several authorities, the most ample directions, the following suggestions of Mr. MGregor, the latest writer on this point, seem so rational and valuable, that we still add them in this place, ' Farmers or labourers going to America,' he says, ' should carry out with them, if their means will admit, as much clothing, bedding, and linen as may be necessary for four or five years ; some leather, one or two sets of light cart harness, two or three spades or shovels, scythes, sickles, hoes, ploughsj traces, the iron-work of a plough and harrow, of the common kind used in Scotland; the cast machinery for a corn fan, cooking utensils, a few door hinges, and a small assortment of nails. Furniture, or any other kind of wooden work, will only incommode them, as what may be necessary can easily be procured, at moderate rates, in America.' — British America, vol i. p. 456. 252 TRAVELLING. and spend their money to no purpose. Here it is certain they will obtain no information of any value about land, &c., compared to what they will meet with up the country, or back into the interior, or what they may previously know themselves, by studying the to- pographical reports in this book. With respect to emigrants in general, they will be surrounded on the wharfs, &c. by land agents and other scheming persons, who, by false representations, will endeavour to persuade the stranger from his in- tended route, into the United States behind. Such persons should, on no account, be listened to; and indeed all representations made by native Americans should be received by British emigrants with great suspicion ; for it is the trade, as it is the boast, of those who are prowling about, under various cha- racters, to cheat, for their own profit, a British subject. As for the advantages held out by the United States, not at present to go into the particulars of the sub- ject, to the ordinary emigrant they bear no propor- tion, in real value, to those before him in either of the Canadas. This point, however, and all other matters of inquiry, will be settled at once, by reference to Mr. Buchanan, the Government agent, at Quebec ; Mr. Davidson, the Canada Company's agent, at the same place ; Messrs. Hart, Logan and Co., Montreal; or any other intelligent gentleman con- nected with the colonial interests, who will always be willinor to give advice and information to the well- GENERAL CAUTIONS. 253 With respect to travelling to the Upper Province, to those persons who are not under the care of the Canada Company, and may wish to join their friends, the only general direction necessary is, that they take care to make themselves well acquainted with the situation of the spot they mean to go to, to avoid unnecessary trouble and expense, and particularly to save land -carriage, where water-carriage can be had. Pickering relates that he met poor emigrants meaning to go to Talbot Street, on the borders of Lake Erie, who instead of going by Queenston, Chippawa, and that lake, by water, where themselves and their lug- gage would have been set down within eight miles of their destination, they had, for want of that geogra- phical knowledge which we have so much insisted on, suffered themselves to be persuaded to go to Burling- ton, at the head of the Ontario, where they would have to drag their luggage a good hundred miles across the ill-made roads of a new country. Upon the general subject of the expense of pro- ceeding to the more western districts of the Upper Province, we have the following information, pub- lished by authority of the Canada Company, as suited to the circumstances of emigrants with small means, who will, in general, find it their interest to put them- selves under the protection of a public association; and the judicious arrangements of the Canada Com- pany, and the inducements they hold out to in- dustrious colonists are well known. ' From Quebec to Montreal, steam-boats ply daily. 254 TRAVELLING. during the summer ; and the pasasge on deck is one to one dollar and a half, or 4s. 6d. to 6s. 9d. sterling. From Montreal to York, in Upper Canada, or to any place on the shore of lake Ontario, through means of the arrangements already mentioned to have been made by the company, emigrants recommended to the agent in Montreal will be conveyed for five dollars, or 22s. 6d. sterling each, exclusive of provisions, which may cost from two to three dollars more ; so that from the port of embarkation in the United Kingdom, to the seat of government in Upper Canada, the whole expense may he estimated at about ten pounds each for adults^ and six for children. * No heavy or cumbrous baggage ought to be taken, — household furniture, iron utensils, implements of husbandry, — in short, all articles of considerable bulk or weight will cost, in freight and carriage, more than the expense of replacing them in Upper Canada; besides the trouble of their conveyance, the risk of damage, and the danger of articles carried from Eng- land or Ireland being found unsuited for use in America. The baggage of emigrants should consist only of their wearing apparel, with such bedding and utensils for cooking as may be required on the voyage ; and any articles of clothing not intended to be used at sea, ought to be packed in water-tight cases or trunks, not exceeding eighty or ninety pounds in weight. ' The journey or inland voyage from New York to lake Ontario, and especially to lake Erie, is per- formed in less time than from Montreal : and emi- CANADA COMPANY. 255 grants recommended to the Company's agent at New York, will obtain passage-tickets at the same rate as from Montreal, being five dollars each ; but the passage from the United Kingdom to New York, is more costly than that to Quebec, besides that passengers are not permitted to land at New York, until security be given that, for a specific time, they shall not become burdensome on public charity ; so that the route by the St. Lawrence, although more circuitous, and perhaps tedious, is certainly the most eligible for those emigrants who have large families, and who wish to proceed at the smallest possible expense.' But to those who mean to purchase lands from the Company, all care upon the subject of travelling ex- penses is obviated by a liberal and proper arrange- ment, which is published for the information of emi- grants, as follows : — 'The Company's agents, on the arrival of emi- grants at Quebec or Montreal, will, for the season of 1832, convey them,yree of expense, to York, or the head of lake Ontario, which is in the vicinity of their choicest lands, provided the emigrants pay a first in^ stalment in London, Quebec, or Montreal, of two shillings an acre, upon not less than one hundred acres ; and the Company's agents, in all parts of the Upper Province, will give such emigrants every in- formation and assistance in their power. Should emigrants, on arrival at York, not settle on the Com- 256 TRAVELLING. pany*s lands, the money paid by tliem will be returned, deducting tlie actual expense of conveyance.' To emigrants, however, with other views, either with reference to the Lower or Upper Province ; to proposed travellers, tourists, or others ; as the question of expense in general, and of, in particular, the com- parative expense of proceeding to either province by the way of St. Lawrence, or New York, the Erie canal, &c., maybe cf importance, we subjoin as gene- ral a view of the subject as we have been enabled to condense into the annexed form. TRAVELLING FARES. In the Camadas, above Quebec. By Steam-boais. Cabin with Deck or Number From Quebec to Montreal, ^°'''^- ^'""^s^- °^^^"^^- time SO hours, average £ 1 10 ]0 180 From Montreal to Quebec, 24 hours, average . .15 7 6 Freight* of goods per ton upwards, to Montreal, 1 Os. Freight of goods per ton dovv'nwards to Quebec, 7s. 6d. * Between Montreal and Quebec, there are two Companies in the carrying trade, who oppose each other so strongly, that they have been known to carry passengers in the cabin, and board them elegantly for 7x. 6rf., while deck passengers were conveyed the whole 180 miles, for Gd, — Vide Pickering, p. 117. TRAVELLING FARES. 257 Palim Deck or Number ^^'"°- Steerage. of Miles, These rates, however, vary- occasionally*. Pickering states that he came clown from Montreal to Quebec, in the John. Molson steamer, leaving at eight o'clock, and arriving at three the second morning, and boarded for . . ^0 18 0. .0 0..180 Also higher up, viz.^ from Montreal to Prescott, through La Chine, Lake St. Louis, Coteau du Lac, Lake St. Francis, and Cornwall, by steam and stages, in nearly two days, without board . . '. 1 16 0..0 0. . 127 From Prescott to Mon- treal, downwards, by do. 1 11 6. .0 0.. From and to the above places, if the traveller chooses to risk himself on the cele- brated rapids, in a batteau, or Canadian boat, which shoots at great speed down the St. Lawrence, and is an interesting sail to all whose nerves are good, the passage may be had for a dollar . . . . 0. . 4 6. . By the Durham boats, or batteaux, common emi- grants may get from Mon- * From competition, and therefore no^xed rates can be given. S 258 TRAVELLING FARES. Cabin vrith Deck or Number Board. Steerage. of Miles. treal to Prescott, for one dollar a head, without board, (time four to five days,) or one and a half dollars, say . . . £0 0. . 6 9. . 127 Between Prescott and King- ston 15 0. .0 0. . 62 Between Kingston and York, (or Niagara). . . .2 0. . 13 6. . 166 Between Prescott and Nia- gara . . c . . 2 10 0. .0 0. .230 Between York and Niagara, across the lake in four hours 10 0. . 4 6. . 36 But by Durham boats, which is the cheapest mode of making the journey, tlie total expense for an emi- grant family, from Mon- treal to York, including provisions, Mr. Buchanan states at about 3/. 15s .0 0. . 0.. 355 By New York and Albany, to Upper or Lower Canada^. From New York to Albany, in the large steam-boats — the whole passage often made in 11 or 12 hours — the board only costing a dollar additional . .0 9 0. . 0. , 150 "" ^e paper H; Appendix. TRAVELLING FARES. 259 Cabin without Deck or Number Board. Steerage, of Miles. From * New York to Albany, in towed boats . . '£0 4 6..0 From Albany to Utica, in ditto, ditto . . . . 9 0. . 0. . 108 From t Albany to Rochester, through Utica, in fifty-three hours, is 13 6. . 0. . 269 From Rochester to Voungs- town, on the Niagara .0 4 6..0 0. . 80 Children under 12 years of age, half-price, infants gratis. Baggage, above a moderate quantity, 4s. 6d. per cwt. From Albany to Montreal, in Lower Canada, by stage and steam, travelling in the best manner, and in- cluding living, may be stated in round numbers, at 4Z 0. . 0. . 200 From Albanv to the Falls of *In this species of conveyance, tlie passenger carries his own provisions, and it may be calculated as taking 24 hours. f ' At Albany, you take the canal boats, which are drawn by horses, those who wish for comfort, will go by the packet- hne, the charge is very reasonable, 2|- cents per mile, and boarded; the merchant-line does it at 1 cent per mile, and charge for meals, or you may take your own. It cost me, to travel near 300' miles, with five aduhs, three children, and near two tons of luggage, 9^. 15*. 7d: — Cattermole. p. 72. This was from Albany to Rochester, 269 miles, and seems to have cost thus, about 30s. a head, for the men, 15s. a head for the children, and 20s. for the baggage. s 2 260 TRAVELLING FARES. Cabm with Deck or Number Board. Steerasre. of Miles. Niagara, through Utica, or Syracuse, and thence by coach, round by Au- burn, Geneva, &c., to Ro- chester ; and thence by Batavia to Lewistown, or Buffalo, on the Niagara, by boat and stages, with living, in the best man- ner, about 4/. 10s. . .0 0..0 0..365 But for emigrants proceeding to the Upper Province, as the comparative cost by the routes of New York, and the St. Lawrence, is a matter of im- portance to the poorer class of emigrants *, we add what Pickering, who travelled both ways, states it to have cost him ; viz. : Passage by New York, to Upper Canada. From Liverpool in steerage . . <£ 4 Provisions for nine weeks . . ,309 To Albany in steam-boat, two trunks, and provisions . . . . .069 From Albany in canal-boat, to Buffaloe, provisions, &c. . . . . .206 By schooner to any part of the Canada shore, or Lake Erie, or Ontario, three dollars, provisions one dollar . . . . 18 Waiting for conveyances, and incidental ex- penses, four dollars . . , . 18 ^U 4 * See also p. 34, Introduction. TRAVELLING FARES. 261 Passage by Quebec to Upper Canada. From Hull to Quebec, in the steerage . £4: Eight weeks' provisions (only six in coming) 3 4 From Quebec to Montreal, in steam-boat, two dollars ; to Prescott, in Durham boats, two dollars ; to Queenston, in steam-boat, four dollars ; and provision for three weeks, while coming up, four dollars .2140 £9 18 From each of these amounts, may be deducted about IZ., as the passage-money out, by either route, need not be calculated at this time at more than 3/., and in some cases less. As the objects of curiosity to tourists and travellers^ by either of these routes, and of interest to the colo- nist in either province, are too numerous and exten- sive to be particularly noticed here, we have col- lected, from various original sources, the following particulars of the great public works of Canada ; the lakes, distances, &c., beginning with certain measure- ments of the Erie Canal, the Falls of Niagara, &c. THE ERIE CANAL. On a marble tablet^ which is placed on the front of the upper lock of the Erie Canal, where it crosses the ridge between Rochester and Lockport, is the following inscription, which may be deemed authentic. — ' The Erie Canal, 363 miles in length, was com- 262 THE ERIE CANAL. menced 4tli July, 1817, and completed in tlie year 1825, at at expense of about 7,000,000 dollars, which was contributed exclusively by the state of New York.' Transcribing^ this for the sake of clearness, viz., Length of the Erie Canal, from Albany to Buffaloe .... 363 miles. Number of locks, each 90 feet long, by 15 wide 83 Rise and fall of the canal, by means of these locks 688 feet. Real fall from Lake Erie, to the tide of the Hudson River Width of the canal at the surface Width of the canal at the bottom Number of aqueducts The longest at Rochester, across the Genessee River, is . . . The next across the Mohawk River, is . And the third longest, at the Little Falls on ditto, is . . . . . 170 „ FALLS OF NIAGARA. Extent of the Horse-shoe Fall, on the Bri- ^eet. tish side 2,100 Breadth of Goat Island, between it and the American Fall . . . .980 American Falls in breadth . . . 1140 504 >» 40 ?» 28 j» 18 804 feet. 748 »» The whole extent .... 4,220. . .... or full three-quarters of a mile. ■ FALLS OF NIA- -■^■.";T i^£ > ■^:\'%»^J^;=L^