L 1 5 R ARY OF THL UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS J C669S V.P I .H.S. L .rr*: SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH DBSCRIPTTVE OF SCENES IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES ITPPF.R A.ND LOWER CANADA, NEW-BRUNSWICK, NOVA SCOTIA DlRIKfl THR SUMMER AND ArTCMH Of 1834. OY r T. COKE t iHE 45th RBcmewi Wand'nng from -linio to clime observant strayM, Their manners noted, and their states survey'd POPB WO V O L I' M r VOL. If NEW-YUUlv nUl.lSHKD BY J. & J. HARPER, NO. 82, CI.IFF-STREET. THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLrR^ iHk^mi f ikh THE UNITED STATE?. M DtCC XX.Mll. '^\ f/7 CONTENTS OF VOL. 11 CHAP. I. TAGC Auburn Priion — Cayuea Lake — Ilhaca — Falls — Violent Storm — Journey of Disasters 1 — 15 CHAP. II. Seneca Lake — Fulton — Jemirna Wilkinson — Revolution- ary Grants — Geneva — Labourers' Wix^es — Rochester — Death of Patch — Patient Traveller — The Ridge-road — Lockport— Fine Works— Buffalo— Tribe of Indians . 1 3—37 CHAP. III. Cross the Niagara~Chippewa Battle Ground— Old Squaw's perilous Descent — Loss of a Vessel — Walk under the falling sheet of Water — Levelling System — City of tlie Falls — Bridge over tlie Rapids — Burnin{r Spring — De- vil's Hole — Rapid Mode of Sight-seeing — Bro^ck's Monu- ment — Fort George 4S— 46 CHAP. IV. Arrive at York — Emigrants, miserable Condition of— Brandt — Lake Ontario — Kingston — Rideau Canal — Hulks — Lake of the thousand Isles — Prescott — Meeting unceremoniously Dispersed — History of a Yankee Set- tler — Descend the Rapids — Irish Emigrant — Inoquois Indians — Montreal — Charcoal Doctor 47 — 60 CHAP. V. Island of Montreal — Su Helen's — Cathedral — Convent- Election Riots — Disaffection of the French Canadians — Disturbed night — Steamers — Clucbec — Cape Diamond — Wolfe and Montcalm — Jesuit's Barracks — Singular Inscription — Falls of Montmorenci 61--7J CHAP. VI. Descend the St. Lawrence — Pleasures and Miseries of a Water Excursion — Yankee Pedlar— Night's Lod^in^ — Journey across the Temiscoutu Poitas-e — Royal Mail- Brother Jonathan's Thorn — Hospiial)Ie Settler — Perse- vering Veteran — Narrow Escape — Cheating Landlord — Militia Captain — Grand Falls — Crowded Bed — Reach Fredericton 74 — JW IT CONTENTS. CHAP. VII. FAOF Government House— Colleg:e~Spirit of Equality — Lum- berers — Uuit-rents — Roads — Monsieur Audubon — Mi- litia—Disputed Boundary 95 — 104 CHAP. viir. Prorord down tlie St. John's — Improvements — Exported Timber— Falls of St. John— Bay of Fuiidy— Di^by Strait — Annapolis — Seeond-liand Coach — tiariiiloua Old Woman— -CajX! Blow-me-down — Windsor College — Furious Tides — Qualitv of Land — Mr. Uniaike — Napoleon— Calamitous Fire— Halifax 105—190 CHAP. IX. Races — Mason's Hail — Harlwur — Citadel — CoUecfe — Church" s — Theatre — Prince's Lodije — Shubtnacadie Canal — Negroes — Ameriain Forests— Mr. Prescott — Wellin-jton Pyke — Learned Coachman 121 — 13* CHAP. X. Fof^ n 1 --i.istport — Cool Shop-brn- '^'v ^ Mrrw's Li;;ht-lioiisr — Rou:;h Sailor — Inter< -ion — Gale <.f Wind— Boston— Wallack— 1 ' ; ^ an- kee — Falls on the Sj)icket Creek— Six-m-liand— Con- cord — Prison — Lake Winnipiscoo^ec — Fat Passen^er- Lnmp Trinnning - 133-114 CHAP. xr. Bartlett — Cold Weather— Notch of the White ^ tains — nestniclion «jf die WillcyFamily — Avn of earth — Landlord's Di.strcss — Disappointment — As- cend Mount Wxslungton 146 — 155 CHAP. XIL Wet ^tornin:: — Wcather-houml Travelers — Old l^T ' < • the Mountain — Colonel and Road Surveyor — M' licr — Green Mountains — Burlington — Poliii. , Murder of Miss M'Crae — Drunken Coaclnuan — j>ai>- sajjc of the Hudson — West Point — Military Academy — Capture of Andr<- — Arrive at New York — Banks of Newfoundland — Land at Liverpool 154 — 171 APPENDIX, No. I. Declaration cflp'^l'^p'^ndcnce 17.3 — 165 VPPENDIX, No. II. Certificate Oi Ai.Ku.j.iury's Interment 1-4 APPENDIX, No. III. Capture and D«ath of Andre 186 SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. CHAPTER 1. Stceet Auburn I m * * * * * Dear lovely bow'rs o{ innoctnee and cast. Goldsmith. For those rebellious here their pris'n ordained. MlLTO.N. The most pernicious infection, next the plagac, is the smell of the jail, where prisoners have been long and close kept. Bacon- Hearing that the board of health had issued an order that no visitors should be admitted into the prison until the cholera had subsided, a precaution taken in conse- quence of its having broken out in the Sing-Sing prison on the Hudson, we much feared that wc should be dis- appointed in not attaining the object for which we had visited Auburn ; fortunately, however, Mr. B. had in- troductory letters to Dr. Richards, president of the Theological Seminary, through whose interest we ob- tained an order for admittance at mid-day on the 7th of August. The prison is situated on the outskirts of the village, surrounded by a wall 2000 feet in extent, varying in height from 20 to 35 feet, according to the situation of the shops in which tlic convicts are employed. The cells where they are confmed during the night have a singu- lar appearance (something like a large pigeon box, or VOL. II. A. 2 A SUBALTERN 6 FITILOUOH. honey-comb), being in five stories, with galleries, and the windows in an outer wall at the distance of five or six feet from them, so that no convict can attempt effecting his escape through their medium. It is, in fact, a house within a house. Each prisoner has a separate cell 7 feet in length, 7 in height, by 3 1.2 in width, with a small shelf for holding his bible, and a canvass cot, which, in the day time, is reared up against the wall, and, when lowered down at night, rests upon a small ledge, and covers the whole extent of the cell. A strong grated door admits a free circulation of air, and the works of the lock are so contrived as to be two feet from the door, and entirely out uf a convict's reach, if he even succeeded in breaking one of the iron bars so as to admit a passage for his arm. A keeper always patrolling the galleries during the night with cloth shoes acts as a check upon the prisoners holding any discourse. The building was perlectly clean, and free from that tainted atmosphere which generally pervades a prison, the cells being white-washed once a fortnight, as a preventive against the cholera, though when there is no necessity for such a precaution they are thus cleansed only from five to six times during the warm season. FromthecelKs we proceeded into an open square, formed by the keeper's house, prisoner's apartments, and work- shops, where a part of the convicis were employed in stone-cutting, and making an addition to the building of another fh'e-story row of cells, to be erected in the place of a wing constructed upon the old principle of confining a certain number of prisoners in one large room, by which means they had free intercourse with one another, a system found very injurious to their reformation. It was almost impossible to imagine ourselves in a j)rison amongst a set of hardened desperadoes, when walking through the shops where they were working with an alacrity and attention to their business which were truly surprising. Every trade has its own particular shop, with one keeper as a superintendent ; and here the good effects of discipline are seen. In the blacksmith's shops, for instance, were forty or fifty athletic men wielding their sledge hammers with the power of the Cyclops of FURLOUGn. 3 old, and all armed with weapons which, in one minute, would shiver the strongest barrier to atoms ; yet only one superintendent was with them, sitting at his ease upon a chair ; and not any instance is upon record of an at- tempt at making a forcible escape. The prisoners are not allowed, upon any pretence, to speak to one another, and only on business to a turnkey, who can easily ob- serve if any conversation takes place, as they are gene- rally placed with their faces in the same direction. The weavers were the most numerous body, there being nearly one hundred sitting at their looms in a row, and forty tailors, whose occupation is considered the most unhealthy, from the position requisite for the perform- ance of their work. They are not permitted to look at any stranger who enters the room ; hut I observed se- veral squinting at us out of the corners of their eyes when the keeper's back was turned. The most superior specimens of workmanship, of every description, are turned out of these shops, and are contracted for by merchants and storekeepers residing in Auburn ; a sys- tem most injurious to the industrious mechanic, who can- not make a livelihood in the vicinity of the prison, being underworked by the convicts, whose labour is contracted for at various sums from '25 to TjO cents, (one to two shil- lings) per diem, the tailors at the former sum ; those trades which derive assistance irom a saw-mill, turning- machine, &c., which are worked by water (introduced from a stream that washes the southern wall of tlie pri- son) at 30, tool-makers at 40, and blacksmiths at 50 cents a day. A few invalids and convalescent convicts are employed in winding at 15 cents. There were only two stocking makers, who were employed solely in working for the convicts. The contractors are not even permitted to give any orders to the workmen, and any instructions they wish to give are through the mechanic turnkey who superin- tends each shop. In any instance where the latter may not be acquainted with the trade, the contractor may give the necessary directions in his presence. The looms, jennies, tools, &c., appeared throughout the prison in the highest order, and business was carried on in each shop in a more workmanlike style than without the walls. The morning work commences at six o'clock in summer, break fa.->t between seven and eight, dinner at twelve (half an hour being allowed for each), and the labours of the day cease at six in the evening. The prisoners, being formed into as many companies as there are gal- leries of cells, are marched to thetn with the lock. step in the most orderly manner, eacn man inclining his face towards the keepers who accompany them, so that he may be observed, if he attempts to iipeak. As he passes thrtiugh the mess-room, adjoining the kitchen, he stoops slightly, and taking up his supper, without breaking the line of march, enters his cell for the night, being locked in by the turnkey of the gallery. The mess-room was particularly clean, with platters and tin cans neatly ar- ranged on wooden tables, so narrow that the convicts sit only on one side of them, with their faces in the same direction. They are waited upon by some of their fel- low, prisoners ; and, in case any one has more food than he requires, he raises his right hand, when a portion is taken from his plate and given to some one who elevates his left hand in token he has insufiicient. The rations arc ample, being 10 oz. of wheat, 10 oz. of Indian meal, 14 oz. of beef or 12 of pork ; with 2 1.2 bushels of pota- toes to evf^ry hundr'-d rations, and half a gill of molasses per man, which is added to the mush, a kind of hasty pudding made of Indian meal, and boiled in coppers. The cooks were employed at this article of food when we vi- sited the kitchen. I tasted some, and should imagine it to be very wholesome and nutritious. The bread was heavy and sad, but it had a good flavour. If a convict is unruly, or discovered speaking, he receives summary punishment, by having a certain number of stripes with a cane on his back. Sueh a measure is, however, but seldom required. A false wall or passage round each room, with slits at intervals, through which a keeper may look unperceived, and where he stations himself if he suspects a convict, acts as an excellent check upon any conversation. I peeped through them into various shops; and the prisoners were busily employed in dead silence, when the keeper was at the distance of 100 feet. A SUBALTERN S FtTRLOUOH. 5 The work appears to conduce much to their health, there being only six in the hospital, out of 667 prisoners ; and a few days previously there had not been a single patient. Visitors are not admitted either into the hos- pital, which is in an upper story of the prison, or into the women's apartment, who are all confined together and work but little, as no compulsion could be used towards them, and, as to talkmg, all the art of man could avail nothing for its prevention. Altogether the prison is a most interesting sight, and should be visited by all tra- vellers. A considerable revenue now arises from it to the State, so that convicts, instead of being an expense as formerly, are here a profit. Many who enter with- out any trade are taught one, by which, when released, they may gain an honest and ample livelihood ; and numbers who have been sent into the world again have thoroughly reformed their former vicious habits. We saw one poor man, a sailor, who had become deranged since his imprisonment, and after a partial recovery was allowed to do what he pleased with regard to work. He had made several large models of ships, which stood in the square completely rigged; and another man, who had the use of one hand only, employed his time in carv- ing rude figures of the most grotesque kind, afterwards gilding or paintng them. No one, in short, wa^ allowed to be completely idle. The Ciovernmont frequenily par dons those who appear to hav« been misled, and by their conduct show an ^clination to become good citizens ; and only for very'^erious otiences are any sentenced to imprisonment for life, the majority being for periods of five and seven years. The entire establishment is su- perintended by a governor, called " Agent and Keeper," with a salary of 1000 dollars, a deputy keeper at 600, and the other keepers 850 each ; about forty olficers are employed as keepers, turnkeys, guards, d:c. When the prison is open for the admissif)n of visitors (which was the case always until the appearance of the cholera in the State, j 25 cents (one shilling) is charged for each person. The keeper said that the convicts felt deeply the loss of their chewing tobacco, which is not permitted within the walls of the prison, and to which excellent re- A* gulation much of the cleanliness is owin^. From the iuspect(jr's report it appears that " the frequency of par- dons ha.s arisen principally from the want of room in the prison, by the rapid accumulation of convicts ;" and it is much to be regretted that ten or twelve acres were not enclosed within the wall in place of three or four, so that the building might be increased to any extent. I think the steady and excellent beliaviour of the pri- soners may arise, in a great measure, from so many of them being confined for n short space of time, two-thirds bein;^ sentenced to a period not exceeding seven years. There is a Sunday school, which those only attend who wish it ; and they are instructed gratuitously by the young men of the town aw\ the 'I'heological Seminary. The Chaplain takes opportunities of visiting them in their ceils after divine service on that day, also in the hos- pital, and whenever time will allow, to nlford them reli- gious instruction, and give advice with regard to their future conduct. One of the main objects to be gained is to wean them from intemperance, a habit which the prison discipline has entirely eradicated from most de- termined dnmkards, who have thus been restored to the world as sober and industrious men. By comparing the returns from the Auburn prison with those furnished by other penitentiaries and gaoLs in the Union, the salutary effects of the system above detailed over that practised where solitary confinement night and day is etiforced without work, and over any other mode of punishment as yet devised, have been most satisfac- torily proved. If I might venture to propose any amend- ment in the system, it would be to make a larger pecu- niary allowance tlian the present one (two dollars, I think) to the liberated prisoners ; as instances are on re- cord of men having been guilty of theft, a few days after their dismissal, from actual want. The village of Auburn itself is tastefully built, within two miles of the Owasca Lake, whose outlet washes the prison wall. Its rapid rise is somewhat retarded by the quantity of work turned out by the convicts: yet at the same time a large sum of money is necessarily in cir- culation amongst the contractors for furnishing rations A. 8UBALTEBN S rCRLOUCH. 7 (which are at the rate of about 21 dollars (4/. Is. Qd.) per annum, each prisoner), and for payment of the arti- cles received from the prison, which are retailed at a great per centage. Proceeding to the village of Cayuga, situated near the northern extremity of a lake of the same name, we em- barked in a steamer which plies upon the lake, and crossed to the opposite side, touching for some more pas- sengers at a village connected with Cayuga by a bridge exceeding a mile in length, over which the western road passes. The extreme length of the lake is 40 miles by 2 at its greatest breadth. The scenery is tame and un- interesting, until towards the southf.rn end, when it as- sumes a more pleasing appearance, the banks becoming high and craggy in some places, and in others cultivated to the waters 's edge. LJut throughout there is an over- powering quantity of dense forest, with an intervening space of eight or ten miles between villaires. For the last few miles, the face of the country presented a sin- gular appearance, being broken every hundred yards, or thereabouts, with narrow and deep ravines, formed by the heavy rush of water from the hills in the spring of the year. In some, the rock was rugged and bare; in others the grass had sprung up again, or, where the ground more easily yielded to the force of the torrent, there were long and heavy undulations, like the swelling of the sea. At the head of the lake, entering a coach again, after a drive of two miles across a plain which had once formed part of the lake, we arrived at the pretty town of Iihaca, containing 3'iOO inliabitants, surrounded on three ,sideR by hills varyif)g from 600 to 800 feet in height, with their slopes and summits partially cleared and cultivated. The plain between the town and the lake is so densely covered with forest that the water is not visible from the former : and in many places it is so boggy and unsound that no houses can be built upon it. Two adjoining squares in the town, encircled with a wooden railing and a grove of trees, are quite occupied by churches, there not being fewer than seven of them. The Clinton House, in the vicinity of those squares, at which we put up, is n A SUBALTERN 8 FUBLOUGD. one of the handsomest buildings of the kind in the States, but its bar-room is one of the dirtiest. There are many factories and mills in and about Itha- ca, on the small streams which pour their waters into the lake. A rivulet within a mile of the town forms two of the prettiest Falls imaginable. The lower one, about 80 feet in height, falling over a series of small rocky ledges, appears like so many flakes of snow upon the dark masses ot stone ; and, where the sun strikes upon the foam, it glitters like the sparkling frost on a Decem- ber's morn, after the preceding day's thaw. The other Fall, 2(>0 yards higher up the hill, exhibits more water; but the fall is not quite so high, nearly one-third of the stream being diverted through a tunnel 90 yards long in the solid rock, above the lower Fall, for the purpose of turning several mill-wheels ; and in course of time the latter cataract will be reduced to a few gallons per minute, like the Passaic at Patterson. In our land of small rivers, the cascade formed by the quantity of water conveyed to the mills would be considered of some mag- nitude, and an object of no small interest. 'J'hese Falls certainly vie with those at Trenton in point of beauty, though so very dissimilar in their formation ; the latter are almost subterraneous, while the former rush over the brow of a hill, between large impending crags, crowned with thick dark tbliage, with scarcely a passage worn down the rockv ledge for their foaming waters. Like Trenton, too, they have acquired a melancholy interest from similar causes ; a highly accomplished young lady being drowned at each place within these few years, when visiting the Falls in company with their friends and relatives. Not wishing to return up Cayuga Lake, and in fact having made a point of never returning by the same road when it could be avoided, we hired a carriage with two excellent horses, and at a quarter to three in the after- noon, on the 9th of August, departed from Ithaca, as- cending a steep and long hill for two or three miles. While enjoying a most extensive and charming prospect t'rom the summit, we encountered one of the heaviest storms of wind and rain I ever experienced. After strug- A SUBALTEKN S FLTILOUGH. 9 gling against it for a quarter of an hour, we succeeded in gaining an open shed by the road side, already filled with half-drowned pedestrians and equestrians, who were; seeldng shelter from the pitiless peltings of the storm. Such an arrival as ours, witli a carriage loaded with heavy trunks, a pile of carpet bags and hat-boxes^u'ith umbrellas, water-proof cloaks, and great coats innumer- able, would have attracted the curiosity of less inquisitivi people than ihorough-brcd Yankees. Five or six inmates of the shed busied themselves with ex|imining the ivory Chinese handle of Mr. B.'s umbrella ; and a person, whom they designated as " Doctor," dressed in a thread- bare, shabby-genteel, frock coat, of blue cloth, with n collar originally black velvet, but which, by wear and tear of weather, had been transformed into a nondescript colour, observed that " tiiey carved cleverly in New York." The patent leather hat-box soon fixed then- attention, and, my answer not satisfying them that it was not made of wood, they took it out of the carriage and minutely inspected it both within and without. The pa- tent boxes of the carriage wheels next became subjects for their conjectures and guesses ; they had evidently seen none before. At this time we were joined by a most consequential person, — the landlord of an adjoining tn- rern, whose curiosity had been excited by the crowd in his shod. Some one asked him whether he had ever seen such " mortal curious things in a carriage before ;" he answered, " Yes ;*' and just glancing at one of the fore wheels, '* but these are those poor Yankee things ; I have been a teaming these fifteen years, and would never wear one of them ;" then turning to a hind wheel, " why here, this box is clear gone, the wheel will come off the first heavy lurch you have, and you'll be cast adrift." For once, curiosity proved of service, it being very evident that the first heavy jolt would throw the wheel from the carriage. Another by-stander, a black- smith, and old weather-beaten man of sixty, whom the inn-keeper addressed as " Uncle Jack," said he would render it secure in five minutes, and carried the box awav to his forge, which was " but a few rods up the road." The rain had now subsided, though we were still threat. 10 A subaltern's fublouoh. ened by thick dark clouds. The doctor and a corapa- nion, one of thesteam-brethrcn also, took their departure on their poor and sorry animals, with their small black saddle-bags stowed with phials and cayenne pepper. The pedestrians commenced their wet and floundering journey anew throu^^h mud and mire ; the landlord re- turned to his bar, and we alone were left to await " Uncle Jack's" pleasure, who spun out his five minutes to three quarters of an hour ; and then, having reported all right, we also once mope pursued our route towards the setting sun, over a road where there was no road, over bridges where it would be much safer to ford the stream, and through a country rich only in stones and stumps ; v here land would be no bargain at half a dollar per acre. Half an hour before sunset, when we pained the summit of a long dreary hill, the great orb of day burst through the clouds in all his setting glory, and the thin vapours were seen rising from the woods and valleys beneath us, and floating gradually away before the fast subsiding gale. The road, too, at the same moment improved, running over a firm earthen track ; the driver cracked his whip, and, smiling, observed that '* we should be in by an hour after sun-down yet." The horses trotted merrily along : we threw aside our wet cloaks and coats ; while every tiling to us wore a different appearance, and we now saw some beauty in the vast and endless forests which encircled us on every side, save here and there a solitary patch of cleared land, the effects of the industry of some hardy settler, who, one would almost imagine, had quarrelled with the whole world by seeking so se- cluded a spot ; but we were now in a humour to be pleased with every thing. Our gleams of sunshine and good fortune were only transitory ; for in a few minutes we aeain dived into the dark, thick pine forest, whose rairged branches and tall straight trunks had but a few minutes before formed so fine a contrast against the lighter foliage of some other natives of the grove. Ascending higher ground, too, we were once more enveloped in the heavy damp clouds, and, as night set in, the road became worse, and the ha- bitations of men and ail signs of cultivation disappeared. A svbaltern's fvklovgh. 11 Neither the coachman nor ourselves had ever travelled in the direction we were moving ; so alike uncertain whither we were going, but trusting to chance and good fortune, we renewed our journey, grumbling against America and its miserable roads, and arriving at the fol- lowing conclusion — that to move out of the common coach route, to leave the turnpike road which was pass- able, and to attempt exploring new and undescribed scenery by striking out a line of road for ourselves, would J never answer any end, and was in itself almost impracticable, — that, for the future, we must be content with tlte old well-worn track of former tourists, and visit no places but those notified in the "Stranger's Guide," or " Northern Traveller." Tourists, however, are al- ways in search for some incident which may be rather out of the common way, and which may vary some little the dull pages of their diary ; and we too should have been satisfied had the fair and chaste moon shone brightly on us, laying open to our view some of the dark recesses of the dense forest, or the dreary depths of the vast ra- vines beneath us. But we had not a spice of the true romantic spirit in us ; we preferred a warm supper and a good dry mattress, in a comfortable inn, to weathering it out in an unknown country, where we might be half drowned ere gulden Phot'bus again walked forth from his chamber in the East. At nine o'clock, from the cold breeze which swept past us, and from the streak of light along the horizon, as if the clouds, having nothing to cling to, were compelled to rise from earth, we knew that some large slieet of water was nigh, and shortly after- wards saw Seneca Lake, like a narrow stream lying far beneath us. We were doomed, however, to still farther disappointments; nor was it until an hour past midnight, after having trudged about eight miles on foot through deep and muddy pools, that we reached a small inn, at the head of the lake, wet, weary, famished, and conse- quently out of humour. Afler much knocking at doors, and shaking of windows, we succeeded in rousing the landlord from his lair. In half an hour's time, he spread out before us a *' rudes indigestaque moles" of apple-pye, new cheese, sour beer. 18 A sibaltern's puqlocgu. heavy Indian bread, and port wine, which savoured strongly of logwood and brandy ; but our appetites had been well sharpened by our wanderings, and we were in no humour to find fault. Sitting by the cheerful wood fire, we already began to laugh at the misfortunes and slow progress of our journey, having been more than nine hours performing a distance of twenty-one miles. Excellent beds being provided, in a few minutes the trou- bles of the past, fears and anticipations of the future, were alike forgotten. A subaltern's fublough. 13 CHAPTER II. The souls of Usurers after their death Lucian affirms to be metempsychoscd, or translated into the bodies of asses, and there remain certain years, for poor men to take their pennyworth out of their bones. Peacmam on Blazonino. Such guides set over the several con£rregations will mistcach them, by instilling into them puritanical and superstitious prin- ciples. Walton. You take a precipice for no leap of danger, And woo your own destruction. SUAKSPEARE. On the morning of the 10th of August, cmi)arking on board a steamer, we left Watkins, JeiVersonvilie, Seneca Head, or Savoy, as we heard the small village, where we had passed part of the night, severally called. Though commanding a much finer situation th;m Ithaca in every respect, with a canal running past it which connects the water of lake Erie and Seneca with the Susquehannah River by the Chemung Canal, yet there are not above twenty frame-houses in the settlement, arising from the mistaken policy of the proprietor of the land, who will scarcely sell a rood under a New York price ; whereas, if lie gave away every other lot for building upon, the increased value of the remaining lots would make him more than an adequate return. The head of Seneca Lake, like that of Cayuga, is black marsh, overgrown with bull-rushes and reeds. Several large streams, with fme water-falls enter it a few miles from the village, of which the Hector, 150 feet in height, and those at the big stream Point 13(5, are the most worthy of observation. We considered ourselves fortunate in meeting with a gentlemanly, well-informed person in Captain Rumney, an Englishman, the proprietor of the " Seneca Chief," the only steamer which plies upon the lake. He pur- chased the right of steam upon these waters for a mere* VOL. II. B. 14 A subaltern's fuflough. trifle, from ex-governor Lewis, to whom it had been sold bv Fulton, who possessed originally the exclusive right of steam navigation on those inland waters of the State of New York, which did not interfere with the interests of neighbouring States, as the Hudson does with the communication to Vermont and Lower Canada. This charter was granted to Fulton for a term of thirty years, six of which have not yet expired; before the lapse of that lime the present j)ossessor may expect to realize a considerable fortune. The profits arise prmcipally from towing the Erie Canal boats to the different ports in the lake, the traffic on which wdl be much increased by the Chemung and Crooked Lake Canals, now nearly complet- ed. The charge for towing vessels from one to the other extreme of the lake, a distance of forty miles, is six dol- lars, and it is perfi»rmed in a few hours. At lLa})eley's Ferry, a few miles down the lake on the western bank, are tkc remains of a pier from which the celebrated Jemima Wilkinson jiroved the faith of her fol- lowers. She had collerted them for the purpose of seeing her walk across the lake, and addressing thein, while one foot touched the water, enquired if they had faith in her, and believed she could reach the opposite shore in safety ; for, if they had not faith, the attempt would \)C vain. Upon receiving the most earnest assurances of their belief that she could pass over, she replied •' that there was no occasion then to make a display of her power, as they bdieved in it ;" and, turning round, re-enlercd her car- riage, and drove off, to the chagrin of thousands of idle spectators, and to the astonishment of her numerous dis- ciples. Captain Rumuey, who was acquainted with her during her life-time, described her as a tall, stately, and handsome woman ; but of rather a masculine appearance. In her costume she much resembled a clergyman, having her hair brushed back, wearing a surplice and bands, with a Quakers' hat. She was a nativeof Rhode Island, and during the Revolutionary war formed an attachment with a British oiTicer, who subsequently deserted her. In con- sequence of this merciless treatment, she suffered a vio- lent attack of fever, and for some days lay in a deep trance, though the medical men affirmed she might have easily A subaltern's furlough. 15 roused herself from it had she onlj the wish to do so. It is supposed that at this time she was engaged in laying the deep plot which was so successfully carried into exe- cution on her recovery, by staling that, " Jemima Wil- kin:son having died, the angels in Heaven had disputed wiio should enter her body, and visit the earth as the Universal Friend of Mankind, — as the Saviour of the World ; that she (now calling herself an angel in Jemi- ma's body) had been apj)ointed to fill the body of the deceased, and was come u[)on earth to preach salvation to all. Many believed in her, and, a sect being soon formed, she quitted Rhode Island, and settled near Crooked Lake, a few miles to the west of Seneca, where her followers, some of whom were men of independent fortune, purchased a large tract of land for her ; the deeds of her farm being drawn up in the name of Rachel .Mellon, a relative who inherited the estate after Jemima's death, six years since. Upon all her plate, carriage, 6cc., the letters U. F. (Uni- versal Friend) were inscribed. She observed the Jewish Sabbath, but preached on Sundays to the nunterous visit- ors who were attracted to her house by mere curiosity. She was well versed in the Scriptures, and possessed a remarkably retentive memory ; but, in other respects, was an illiterate woman. The creed of her sect is the Metempsychosis ; but since her departure the number of believers has considerably diminished, the present head of the Society, Esther Plant, not having surticient tact to keep them united. In Jemima's life-time, so jealous were her disciples of due respect being paid to her that no answer would be returned to enquiries after "Jemima," but only if designated as the " Friend." All the points of land in the lake (save one, which has a singular bush formed by the hand of nature into the exact representation of an elephant) are occupied by small villages, which possess excellent harbours, during heavy gales up or down the lake, and have above 20 fath- oms of water within 30 feet of the shore. This one ex- ception is theproperty of Esther, who will not part with it upon any terms. The entrance to the Crooked Lake Canal is at the village of Dresden, a German settlement, eight miles west of which is Jemima's house. On thQ 16 A 6UBALTERN*S Fl'RLOUGH. Opposite shore in Seneca County is Ovid, situated "ii .i pretty eminence, overlooking the water ; also Lodi, Bru- tus, and various other classically named places. These names, it appears, were bestowed by the Government on townships, distributed among the Revolutionary soldiers, which extended originally over a large tract, from the borders of the lake, almost as far east as Utica The veterans were soon, however, over-reached, and induced to dispose of ilu.'ir lands to some schemmg and designing speculators, who re. sold tiiem most advantageously to the present possessors, persons of resju-ciability ; and the same land which would not then bring a dollar in the market will now produce from tif) to 40 and » ven HO per acre. The soil is a strong loam," and well ada|)ied for wheat. Seneca is, however, an Indian nanje, although it might naturally be sup|>oscd to have the same origin, in imitation of anti«juity, as the neighbel)bly bottom being visible in a calm day at the depth of 30 feet. Being principally sup- plied by springs, the ice ujxm it never becomes so thick as to impede the navigation ; during the severe fro>i <>\ 1831, a thin sheet formed on some parts, but was bro- ken up by the first light breeze which ruflled the watrr. The town of Geneva possesses a beautiful situation ujk.u a rising bank at the northern extremity of the lake, with terraced gardens apj)roaching to the water's edge, and many pretty villas scattered around. About a mile fron. the town, on the borders of the water, are some extensivf glass works, which however have not been worked during the last year, the owner having failed to a great amount, through mismanagement in his farming speculations. When I he works were first established, they occui>ied a narrow space in the midst of a forest where fuel was plen- tiful ; but the ground is now so well cleared about the town that a cord of wood, measuring 4 feet in height and S in length, costs a dollar and a quarter, (more than 5s. sterling.) An opinion prevails, from an appearance of the strata at the head of the lake, that coal mav be found. FURLOUGH. 17 when required. Geneva is altogether a pretty spot, and contains one particularly fine street, in which is the col- lege, a dull, heavy-looking building, with castellated walls and other tasteless appendages. But the private residen- ces equal any in the State. Proceeding on our journey at mid-day, on the 11th. we passed through a fine rich country, chequered with heavy crops of every grain. The apples appeared perfectly ripe, and the peach-trees were every where loaded with fruit. The soil evidently increased in richness the far- ther we proceeded to the west, and the cultivated lands about these parts produced from 16 to 25 bushels of wheal per acre, bringing generally a dollar per bushel of 60lb., being always sold by weight. The buildings on the farms are commonly wood, though bricks are nearly as cheap, selling froniii to 4 dollars per thousand, and from their superiority, both as to safety and durability, will probably become more and more general. The prefe- rence given to wooden ones at present arises from the lit- tle time required to erect them, and their being habitable immediately. Farming labourers' wages are not so high as one would be led to supj>ose from the price of other trades' labour; they receive generally about 12 dollars a month and their board. In harvest time however a good cradler will earn a dollar and a half per diem, and be found in provisions also. The threshing niachine be- ing generally used in these parts will much tend to lower the price of labour. At one farm by the road side, we saw men employed in carrying wheal from a field into an adjoining barn, where it was immediately transferred to the threshing-machine, and forthwith despatched to market. The poorer class who wish to avoid expense, labour, and loss of time, send their wheat to persons who keep machines for letting out, and who retain a small por- tion of the grain in lieu of a pecuniary remuneration for their trouble. The irround in the vicinity of Can:indaigua, fifteen miles from Geneva, was kept in a stale of cultivation by the Indians, prior to General Sullivan's march through the country fifty years since, when the whole western part of the State of New York was in possession of the B* 18 A SUBALTEBN's Ft'RLOlTGH, Six Nations, of whom now scarcely a vestige remains. The town is at the outlet of the Canandaigua Lake, and in an unhealthy situation, owing to the water being damm- ed uj) near the outlet for the purpose of supplying a null- wheel, thus forming a large wet marsh, which produces a deadly fever in the autumnal months. Endeavours have been made by actions at law to compel the mill pro- prietur to lower his dam, or to surround it with a bank to prevent the water overflowing the country, but hitherto to no purpose. The town consists of one principal street, two miles in length and about 151) feet in breadth, with gardensand locust trees in front of the houses. It is gene- rally considered the handsomest place in the State, though, in my ujiinion, not etjual to Skaneateles. From Canandaigua, we travelled over a hilly and sandy road, running parallel with the canal, and under its great embankment over the Irondequoii Creek. This imniense work, for a distance of two miles, averages a height of seventy feet above the plain across which it is carried. The banks being clnetly of sand, great caution is necessa- ry in watching and puddling any small crevices which may appear. Two years since, the water forced its way through the embankment, and, rushing down upon the road and plain beneath, swept away every thing which opposed the tury of its course. The lesser sanrJ-hills at this ti me present evident marks of the furious torrent which passed over them. At sunset, descending a hill, we entered upon a flat, marshy plain, on which the town of Rochester is situated. It has more the apj)earance of a town in a new world than any I visited, and nothing can be more miserable than its appearance from a distance. An open space has been merely burnt in the forest, and the town ha.s been run up without any attempt at getting rid of the innu- merable stumps of trees, which even make their appear- ance in the outer streets of the })lace. It is, in truth, a city in the wilderness, and cannot be healthy, so long as it is surrounded by such dense, dark forests. The trees in America are not felled so that the stump remains level with the ground, as in England, but according to the con- venience ot the woodman, who generally strikes the trunk A SUBALTER^-'S FURLOUGH. 19 about three feet from the root. Where a thick forest has thus been cut down, the desolate appearance the face of the country presents can be scarcely imagined : — large blackened trunks, and arms partly consumed by fire, lie encumbering the ground till they decay, or are again consigned to the fire by some more industrious far- mer than the generality of the Americans. At Rochester however nothing of this kind has yet taken place, though it is the most thriving town in the State. The softer kinds of wood, such as birch and beech, decay sufficiently in six or seven years to admit of being knocked up, but hemlock and pine will scarcely be afTected by the seasons of half a century. Crossing the Genessee River, we entered the principal part of the town, and drove to the Eagle, situated in the main street, a fine hotel with excellent rooms and an at- tentive landlord. The town has risen in an incredibly short space of time : twenty years since was a wild unin- habited tract where 14,000 people now earn a livelihood. Its rapid rise originated from the Erie Canal passing through the town, and the Genessee affording so preat a water-power to the extensive flour, cotton, and other mills on its banks. The canal crosses the river by a fine aqueduct 300 yards above the Falls, where the celebrat- ed leaper, Sam Patch, took his last and fatal descent in 1829. The Falls arc over a {)eri>endicular ledge of rock, 97 feet m height : with that descent however he was not satisfied, but had a platform erected to the height of 25 feet, on a small island which divides it, and in the pre- sence of thousands of spectators precipitated himself into the gulf beneath, from which he never re-appeared. Many ladies who were the innocent spectators of his death, little imagining there could be any risk, as he had already made a similar descent from the Falls of Nia- gara, fainted when, after anxiously awaiting some seconds for his reappearance above the surface of the water, they at last discovered by the shriek of horror which arose from the assembled crowd that they had been in- strumental in the destruction of a fellow. creature ; and every one regretted, now it was too late, that such an exhibition had been encouraged. The unfortunate man, 20 being intoxicated when he ascended the platform, did not preserve the proper position for entering the water ; and his death doubtless arose from the great shallowness of the stream, it being ascertained that there were only fifteen feet of water to resist the impetus of his weight falling from such a lieight. It appears to signify but little how men immortalize themselves, and Sam Patch has rendered himself immortal, at least in America, by more innucent means than most of his ambitious brethren. The scenery about the Falls is uninteresting, and but little worthy of notice, though a large body of water forms the cataract. The banks of the river are high and contracted, and covered with extensive ranges of mills. Judge Rochester, whose family resides »n the neigh- bourhood, was the great proprietor of the land upon which the town is built ; he was a man of considerable influence in the State, and stood a contest for governor with De Witt Clinton. Many of the streets are well laid out, and contain excellent buildings ; the arcade, hew- ever, in which is the post-oflice, is but a second-rate structure, the plan of the whole ill-arranged, and making a poor figure for so flouri:ass over a series of falls with a declination of 60 feet in a mile, until they reach the grand cataract, where the perpendicular descent on the Canada side is 158, and on the American 164 feet. An island of consi- derable extent divides the river into unequal portions, the Canada or Horse Shoe Fall (so called from its shape) being 1,800 feet in length, and the American but 900. The river, for some distance before arriving at this spot, takes an easterly direction, when, the Falls being passed. It suddenly diverges at right angles and pursues a north- erly course towards Lake Ontario. The formation of the Horse shoe can lie very naturally accounted tor by the greatest rush of water being in the centre of the river, and by attrition wearing away the rock, so that the Falls are slowly retiring towards Lake Erie. In process of time, some 10,000 years hence, 1 suppose, by a moderate calculation, the upper lake will be drained, and a.'ucces- sion of rapids only will intervene between Huron and On- tario. 1'he lust time any quantity of rock gave way was about two years since, when nearly a quarter of an acre fell from the centre of the Horse fcfhoe, with such a tremcnduous crash as very sensibly to aflect the ground upon which the hotel stands, and the cottages in the im- mediate vicinity. Neither the heavy autumnal floods, the melting of the winters' snow, nor breaking up of the ice, make any sensible difierencein the colour or quanti- ty of the vast body of water which flows down from the upper lakes. To fall into the rapids at Chippewa, or ven- ture within a mile of the great cataract in a boat is con- sidered by the peasantry alnjo^t inevitable death. Many instances are on record of men and boats being carried over it, from attempting to cross the stream too rashly within the sweeping influence of the rapids. Neverthe- less 'tis said, and I have heard it gravely asserted by some people (though they were not eye-witnesses certainly,) that an old squaw once ran the gauntlet of both rapids k 32 A subaltern's rURLOUGII. and falls in her birch canoe, and rising again, amongst the bubble and foam of tlic boiling abyss, .she sliook her long di-sljevelled locks awhile todiscover whereabouts she was, and then swam ashore unscatiied, untouched! But — " Credat Judteus Apella, Non ego." She must have been on*»of the witches of old, taking a bath or a jaunt in her sieve for pleasure. Had we but arrived a few hours sooner, we would Imve witnessed llie destruction of a scow, which, laden with a horse, twelve hogs, two or three sheep, and a dozen cords of wood, had struck a;^ainsl the pier, in making the entrance to the Chip|)ewa Canal, and .«el, with the un- fortunate animals left to their fate, wai» carried over the centre of the vast Horse Shoe, scarcely a vestige of the wreck ever re-appearing. 1 walked for a mile along the beach in search of fragments of the vessel, but did not observe any of its timbers exceed six feet in length, al- though many of them were nine inches in thickncs.«, and in no instance was there any portion of two planks still connected. The only sheep which appeared again above water, and which was driven ashore perfectly dead at the Ferry, nearly halfa mile below the Falls, was dread- fully mangled. The bones of its legs were broken and even cruslicd, as if they had been placed in a vice ; but a hog, which lay near it, showed no outward signs of injury, and only bled profusely at the mouth. The wood which has passed the Falls at various times has been collected in small rocky inlets, and at the head of the backwaters, with the edges rounded off per- fectly smooth by the incessant tossing it received before it floated out of the attractive power of the Falls. Even A subaltern's furlough. 33 the natives of the stream do not appear proof against their influence, as numerous dead fish are always to be found on the sides of the hanks near the Ferry. The grandest view of the deop gulf into which the river descends, is from Table Rock, a large projecting slab on the Canadian side, formed by the under stratum, which is of a soft substance, being washed away. Two guides live within a few paces of it, and each has erected an en- closed spiral stair-case, from his wooden shanty down the side of the rock, to the loose shelving bank 80 or 90 feet beneath, along which there is an easy path to the foot of the cataract. Having with two of my fellow travel- lers expressed a wish to walk behind the falling sheet, we were provided with oil-skin dresses, having first di. vested ourselves of our usuai apparel. Our new gar- ments were by no means the most comfortable which could have been devised ; they had been made fur men of all sizes, shapes, and dimensions, from Daniel Lambert down to the " anatomie vivantr :" and I was some time arranging matters, so that I might have a chance of retain- ing possession, when the furious hurricane should inflate them like the bags of ii*^olus. The shoes had evidently visited the water two or three times daily for the last half-dozen years at lea.st, and, having been as often ex- posed to the sun, had become nearly as hard and intlexi- ble as sheet iron. To crown all, we had each a glazed hat, and, thus e<|uipped, we descended the stair-case, and, gaining the sloping bank, descended for 70 or 80 paces under the overhanging rock, until within a short distance of the dense cloud of spray, and dark semicircular en- trance, when a council of war was held with regard to ulterior movements. The day was stormy, and inclined to rain ; the wind blew in strong gusts up the stream, making the waves to curl up in wreaths of foam, and cast such a dismal gloom over every thing around us as to render the appearance of our undertaking far from in- viting One of the party backed out, assertin:? that his lungs were weak, and a friend had told him " there was a difficulty in breathing behind the Fall," so that he would not attempt to explore the dark recess : a second said that he •' decidedly would not go any farther, that there 34 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGn. was nothing whatever to see, and that mere braggadocio only went behind, so that they might talk about it after- wards." I was thus left in the minority, but, as Falstatl' gays, *' Honour pricked me on," and, being resolved ' see all that was to be seen, I boldly told the guide ■ lead the way, and, witii a caution to kei.-p my head down, we entered the thick mist, boring our way slowly through it in the dark. The path was at first over a narrow ledg< of rock, only a few inches in breadth, and atlbrding bm a very insecure footing ; the guide however graspe«i oi of my hands firmly, while with the other I took hold the rough projections in the rock. The wind, whi< equalled a tornado, blew the water against my face m such torrents that I could scarcely see ; but I felt nodif- ficulty in breathing. After proceeding 30 or 4(» feet bo- hind the sheet of water, the wind moderating a little, th' water descended in a more j)erpen(iicular stream, and ni\ surprise almost ai i unted to disaj)j)ointment when th< guide stopped, and said we had arrived at " Termination Rock." I scarcely credited that we had advanced 15(t feet, and made an attempt to pass the 7i€ plus ultra, b found it utterly impracticable, the rock becoming i« abrupt to atford either a footing or a firm hold to the hands. Until this point the path is about 25 feet above the level of the water, and the base of the curve, between the great body of the falling sheet and rock, is about 40 feet. The guide here told me to look up ; but the water dash- ed with such impetuous violence against my face, and the light shone so dimly through the watery medium, that I made the experiment but thrice. While I amused myself with shouting at the extent of my voire, the guide was making the best use of his tinv3 in securing a quantity of the eels which abound amongst the loose stones. I could scarcely, however, hear myself ; so, despairing of having^ any effect upon the ears of my friends in the open air, I rejoined them but a trifle wiser than when! entered, and felt rather hard pressed for an answer to their oft repeat- ed enquiries of "Well, what did you see ?" and their jests upon my half-drowned appearance, as I stumbled over the stones, pumping the water out of my shoes at every step, and my hair adhering to my cheeks in long straight 35 lines. Having resumed my habilaments, the following certificate was handed to me, so that hereafter no one might venture to doubt my prowess: " This may certify that Mr. Coke, British Army, has passed behind the great falling sheet of water to Termi- nation Rock. Given under my hand at the office of the General Rejj^ister of the names of visitors at the Table Rock, this 15th day of August, 1832. "John Murray." And on the reverse, as the medallists would say, the fol- lowing exquisite morceau : — "Niagara Falls." The following was suggested by paying a visit to the " Termination Rock," 153 feet behind the great falling sheet of water at the Falls of Niagara, on the Otb of August 1828 : — " Look up ! look up I the spray is dashing — Roaring waters foaming sweep ; O'er our heads the torrent's clanliing, Hurling grandeur down the steep. Oh, mortal man ! beneath such splendour, How triflitiiT, empty, vain, and poor! Prepare, then. Sinner, to surrender All thoughts unhallowed or impure. Tremenduous is the pcenc around us; Oh, maik how wild the waters ring I Terrific columns, hright, surround us : Grand are thy works, O God, our Kinf»-." David M. Days Prints Buffalo. Two days afterwards, tliose gentlemen who had de- serted the cause on the previous occasion proposed to I pass in rear of the Fall, and, wishing to ascertain the appearance of it in a clearer state of the almo.^phere, I , accompanied them, and was much gratified with my se- \ cond trip. The vast curved sheet over head now looked beautifully white and glaring, presenting an elfect simi- lar to that of the sun's rays upon ground glass, which render surrounding objects dim, and Is too dazzling to gaze long upon. Thesmilinggreen verdure of the banks, with the deep blue sky reflecting on the smooth surface 36 A suhaltekn's ruKLorcu. oftheriverinthedistance, and the brilliancy oftheAmeri. can Fall, seen through the thick spray at the entrance of this watery cavern, formed a strange contrast to the turbulence of every thing within. Though there was scarcely a breath of air without, yet the wind blew in the same heavy gusts behind the Fall as on the preceding day, and, u[)on our return to the atmosphere, we were puslnd out by the force of it so rapidly as to impress those persons standini; without with the idea that we were escaping as fast as possible from the Fall. I might be said to be scudding before it under bare poles ; for, the guide's wardrobe being too scanty for our party of four, each of us was under the necessity of di'^pensing with certain portions of the requisite dress ; and it fell to my lot to obtain only a pair of the afore-mentioned torturing shoes, a hat four inches less in circumference than my head, and a short frock coat of oil -skin, and thus equipped, a r Lcossois, I encounteretl the fury of the storm. 1 should pronounce the undertaking |»erfcctly safe for a man of the most delicate lungs, and even for ladies possessed of moderate nerves : one of the latter, with whom I have the pleasure of bemg acquainted, penetrated as far as Termination rock, and I behave this is not a solitary in- stance. Any one who can make up his mind to walk out in a heavy thunder-shower, accompanied by a stiff gale of wind, may as safely venture in rear of the Falls. With proper caution, there is no real danger ; the first sight of the enormous column of water, as it descends from the mountain (Niagara being derived from two In- dian words signifying ''coming from above," or *' from a mountain,") may raise fears, which, however, become dissipated on further acquaintance. The hotel, and 100 acres of ground, have been lately purchased by a company (of which, I believe, the Brit- ish Consul at New York is the head,) who purpose found- ing a city, which is to be commenced immediately, un- der the name of the "City of the Falls," or "Clifton" — I forget which. The hotel, which is to be pulled down, may be well spared, without loss in any respect. It was not only a dirty and uncomfortable place, but I felt my English blood almost boil in my veins when I found A subaltern's furlough. 37 myself sitting in company with two servant women at the table d'hote, at the same time that their mistress oc- cupied a place at the other end of the table. I could have very well accommodated myself to such neighbours in the States, but never expected to have found the level- ling system introduced into the liritish provinces to such an extent. After being exposed to it during every meal for three days, I crossed the river to dine at the Ameri- can village, where the hotel was much more comfortable, and kept by no less a personage than a general. This, however, was no novelty ; for in such a nursery for mi- litias, volunteers, and citizen guardsmen, as the States, a man need not think himself in the slightest degree hon- oured by being waited upon by a general othccr. The company of s|)eculators intend erecting grist-mills, store-houses, saw-mills, and all other kinds of unorna- mental buildings, entertaining the most sanguine hopes of living to see a very populous city. The die then is cast, and the beautiful scenery about the Falls is doomed to be destroyed. Year after year will it become less and less attractive. Even at this time they were surveying and allotting, and proprietors were planning one front of their house upon the Falls, the other upon Lundy's Lane, and meditating the levelling some of the rock, so as to form a pretty little flower-garden. It would not much surprise me to hear, before many years h-ive claps- ed, that a suspension bridge has been thrown across the grand Horse-shoe to Goat Uland, so that the ynod peo- ple of Clifton may be the better enabled to watch the pyramidical bubbles of air rising from the foci of the ca- taract. 'Tis ^ a pity that such a ground \ as not re- served as sacred in perpetuuin ; that the forest trees were not allowed to luxuriate in all their wild and savage beauty about a s|)ot where the works of m.;?i will ever appear paltry, and can never be in accord nice. For my own part, most sincerely do I congratulate inyselfupon having viewed the scene before such prof a.ition had taken place. The small manufacturinjr ton n of Man- chester (what a romantic name and what associations!) upon the American Bank, at present detracts nothing from the charm of the place, the neat white- washed VOL. U. D. 39 A subaltern's FrRLoi(ai. houses beinij interspersed with trees unci gardens : but when once the rod and yellow painted stores, with their <^rcen Venetian blinds, tin roofs, and huge smoking chim- neys arise, farewell to a great portion of the attraction Niagara now possesses. A ferry-boat, half a mile below the Canadian Fall, crosses to Manchester, landing the passengers within fifty yards of the American one, where the water is precipitated over a flat perpendicular rock 300 yards in breadth. The prosperity of this village has been much retarded by two causes, one from its lialtility to destruc- tion, being a frontier settlement; and the other — by no means an uncommon cause in the rnitcd States, — the extravagant price demanded by an individual, the great proprietor, for a grant of the water privileges allowed by the Rapids. Two or three hundred yards from the bank above the Ferry, and at the entrance to the village, a wooden bridge has been thrown over the Rapids to a small island on which there is a paper mill, and con- nected with Goat Island, which is of considerable extent, and divides the two falls. 'JVuly the men who were employed in the erection of this bridge must have been in full })ossossion of Horace's cps triplex, for a more pe- rilous situation could scarcely be imagined. A slip of a workman's foot would precipitate him into the Rapids, whence he would pass with the rapidity of lightning over the Falls. It was constructed at the expense of General Porter, an American ollicer of distinction, during the late war, and appears strong and firmly situated. The piers are of loose stones, confined toi-ether by a wooden frame or box, and the floor of planks twelve feet in width. — There was one erected previously at the upper end of the island, and out of the great power of the Rapids, but it was continually subject to injury from the drift-ice, whereas in its present situation the Rapids render th*" ice harmless, by breaking it before it arrives so low the bridge. Goat Island is thickly covered with tree- ; but a road has been formed round it, and across it, to a position on the opposite side, from which the Canadian Fall is seen to great advantage. Another platform (for it can scarcely be called a bridge) has been constructed I A subaltern's furlough. 39 upon some detached masses of stone, called the Terrapin Rocks, which extend into the stream nearly 300 leet, and to the very verge of the cataract. The platform projects 12 or 15 feet beyond the last rock, so that a per- son standing at the end can look down into the foaming abyss. The situation apparently is not a very secure one, for the end is utterly unsupported, being merely up- held by the superior weight of the timber upon the last natural pier. A large party of us walked to the outer extremity ; but observing upon what a slight thread we were trusting ourselves, and the idea of the stage being overbalanced by our weight, and launching us all into the cataract and the next world, occurring to our minds, we soon retreated to a more secure position. It has been estimated that upwards of 100,000,000 of tons of water pass the Falls in an hour, of which at least two-thirds fall over the llorse-shoe. The centre of thi^ Fall is particularly grand, the water falling in so thick a body that it descends nearly 50 teet in an unbroken .sheet of the most vivid green. At the upper edge, where it begins to descend, the dark thin ledge of rock over which it is precipitated is distinctly visible, and gives the water in that part a beautiful and deep blue tinge. The noise of the Falls is not near so stunning or so loud as the descent of so large a quantity of water might be sup- posed to produce. Some writer (Captain Hall, I believe) has compared it to that of the surf at Madras ; the simi- larity of sound struck me, but I thought the roar of the waves breaking upon the sandy beach, even in mod- erate weather, much greater than that of Niagara. 1 have heard the former in calm evenings at the canton- ment of Poonainallee, a distance of fourteen miles ; but the latter was very indistinct at nine or ten. My bed- room at the hotel was only 400 yards distant from the river, and I thought the noise of the Falls, at night, much resembled that of boisterous and windy weather, and just sufficient for producing a most soporific effect upon me. Frequently I sat down upon the banks of the stream with my eyes closed, racking my brain in vain to discover what the .sound of the cataract did really resemble. — When the wind was blowing from the Falls towards me 40 A SUBALTERI^'s FURLOUGH. at the distance of two miles, it was like that of a v.i quantity of Hour-mills at work, or large manufactories in the immediate vicinity. And then it appeared as if m:- meroiis carriages were driving at a furious rate along k road, and more than once 1 started up on my feet ascertain who were coming. At times the noise won rise and fall as if the water were affected bv some C' of wind or a heavy swell; the next moment the sounom the appearance on a clear, sun-shining, n day, when only a light mist rises and curls gracel; like the smoke of a distant hamlet, or as the sun vei l towards the western horizon a beautiful rainbow is s' dancing in the spray, or when a strong breeze allow- to rise for a few Ceet above the upper level of the Fall, and then sweeps it along within a few feet of the earth. A subaltern's furlough. 43 It sprinkles thd traveller, at the distance of half a mile, with a bounteous summer shower. My time was so limited that I could spare only four days for Niagara, during which time my eyes were scarcely fit for any other object but the Falls, and I part- ed from them with as much regret as if bidding larewell to an old friend, frequently turnmg round, when advanced many miles upon my journey, to gain u last glimpse of the lipht pillar of spray. " What an idea Mr. must have formed of them!" thought I, musing as I moved onwards. Ho was an old fellow-traveller I had met by chance at Butfalo, and, seeing him step into a coach after breakfast, 1 had the curiosity to ask him where he was bound to. "To the Falls," was his reply. " And how long do you intend staying there?" — "I shall return in the evening;" and verily I met him eight hours afterwards half way back to the hotel from which he had started. He had hurried down to Manchester, 14 miles distant, peeped at Goat Island, pulled across the Ferry, toiled up the zig.zag road, peered over Table Rock, and, throwing himself into another coach, hastened back by the Canada shore, and could now enjoy the satisfaction of telling his friends that he had seen the Falls, or use the laconic words of the Roman, " veni, vidi." An hour's drive brought us to Queenston Heights, upon which there is a monument of freestone 130 feet higli, with the following inscription over the entrance door : — " Upper Canada has dedicated this monurncnt to ihe memory of the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. C. B., Provisional Governor, and Commander of the Forces in ihe Province, whose remains are deposited in the vault beneath. Opposinrr the invading enemy, he fell in action, near tiiese heichts, on the l;Uh of October, 181 J, in the 43d year of liis age, revered and lamented by the people whom he governed, and deplored by the sovereign to whose service his life had been devoted. 44 We obtained a fine view from the summit of furl^ George and Niagara, with the vast expanse of blue wa- tars of Lake Ontario, and York (the capital of Uppt Canada) on its northern shore. Part of the scalfuldiii- above the upper gallery has not yet been removed, being intended to place some time or other a statue "i fcJir Isaac on the pedestal at the summit. The spot whcr*- he fell is near three poplar trees at the back of the vil- lage ; he was shot while leading on his troops to attack the Americans, of whom a small detachment liarl cross( i the river during the night a short distance above ll: Ferry, and succeeded in ascending the heights, whei' surprising the British sentry, they lay in ambush un' the main body etfected a landing opposite the villagf . The British army moving fjrward to attack the lattf r were warmly received, at the same time that iheir rc.i was gained by the party from the heights. In this atta- the British commander fell, and with him the position until ti)e arrival of a reinforcement from Fort Georg' seven miles distant, under General Sheatle, who atlackc the enemy in their position on the heights so impetuousi; that the rear of a column was pressed by the front ovr the precipice to whose verge it had retired. Numbci met a terrible death by being dashed against the rock- or, falling stunned into the river, JiOO feet below, wer* lost among the eddies. The ferryman told me that sorii- few gained the American shore by swimming, but tho- few must have been powerful men who could stem suci> a streain, divided as it is between its natural course and the backwater which runs up with nearly as much rapi- dity on the Canadian side as the stream flows toward the ocean on the American bank. The village of Queen - ston is a miserable-iooking place, but previous to the conflagration in 1812 was of some importance; the in- habitants, however, taking warning from their misfor- tunes during that period, removed to more distant parts of the province, where they might hope to retain more peaceable possession of their property. Lewiston, a mile from the Ferry, on the opposite side of the river, though not possessing so fine a situation, promises to become a flourishing village ; but presenting A subaltern's furlough. 45 no object of interest, excepting the remains of Fort Gray upon the river's bank, I recrossed the Niagara, and ar- rived by sunset at Newark, Fort George, or Niagara, (as it is severally called,) at the junction of the river with Lake Ontario. The first mentioned was the original name, but it v/as changed by law in 1798, and of late years has been more generally known as Fort George by the military and Niagara by the provincialists. As the Americans have a garrisoned fort of the latter name on the opposite bank, it creates much confusion and occa- sions frequent mistakes amongst travellers. Crossing the common, a crown reserve which is used as a race-course, my eyes were once again greeted with the sight ol St. George's banner, and the athletic figure oi" a IJighland sentinel, pacing to and fro on the broken ramparts of a fort near the entrance to the town. A few minutes brought us to the best hotel, where, though the landlord used his utmost endeavours bmcivility and attention to render us comfortable, yet still ifbuld not resist drawing secret and inward comparisons between the Ainerican and Canadian hotels — comparisons, indeed, which were far from favourable to the latter ; and I began to find my British prejudices in favour of the infallibility of every thing Canadian already wavering. The town occupies a pretty situation on the margin, and about twenty feet higher than the lake, which has so much encroached upon it by the waves undermining the banks, that batteries which were thrown up but a fev/ years since, as near as possible to the margin of the wa- ter, for the laudable purpose of annoying the enem\ 's fort on the opposite peninsula, have now nearly disap- peared. The common above the town is intersected with the breast- works and redoubts of the English and Ameri- cans, as each party alternately had possession. The most extensive of them, dignified with the appellation of Fort George, contains some low wooden decayed bar- racks; and another below the town, in a still more mouldering state, is named Fort Mississagua, from a tribe of Indians, the original possessors of the tract of country between it and Fort Erie, thirty miles distant. These works, which are now rapidly crumbUng into dust, and 46 A subaltern's FrRLOUGII. possess but the shadow of their former irreatncss, migjht witli some trifling expense be aijain rendered formidable. At the present time they are only put to shame by the neat, white appearance of the American fort Niagara, '.vhicli being built exactly opposite the English town, and not ^00 yards distant, might annoy it by a very ellective bombardment. During the late war it was rendered al- most useless, being surprised by Colonel Murray during the night, when the oflicer in command of the garrison liad retired to his j)rivate residence two miles distant, and the royal salute fired for the capture first conveyed to him the news of the loss of his post. It was built by the French so far back as 172.5, passed into the hands of the British by the con however, in a few years will destroy the drowned fores' and a quantity of valuable land may then be reclaimed 1 . small embankments. The whole work was completed i.' an expense to the Imperial Government of 700,000/ X subaltern's furlough. 51 In the event of war with our neighbours, it will be found invaluable for the transportation of military stores and troops from the lower to the upper province, without be- ing subject as heretofore to captures from the American force upon the St. Lawrence, or to running: the gauntlet of the batteries upon their bank of the river. Like the Erie, in the Slate of New- York, it will also encourage settlers along the whole line, as an outlet is now opened for the produce of their farms. Two steamers were ai this time continually running between the Ottawa and Ontario, and the traffic of heavy boats also appeared con- siderable. Several large hulks of vessels of war, built during the last war to cope with those of the Americans on the stocks atSackelt'sIlarbour, and which were never launched, are now fast falling to di'cay in the Navy-yard at Kingston. A seventy-four had lieen sold two or three months pre- viously for '^.5/., and a few days before our arrival a heavy squall of rain, accompanied by lightning, had split the St Lawrence, of 120 guns, down the centre, and, the props giving way, the vessel broke into a thousand })ieces, co- vering the ground all around with a heap of ruins. Ere long the remaining four or five frames will meet with a similar fate, as they are in a very advanced state of decay, partly owing to the want of proper care, and being run up hurriedly and of unseasoned timber. There is also the Commodore's House (his flag, by the bye, was at tliis time flying on a cutter stationed in front of this squadron of hulks,) and some fine marine barracks in the Navy- yard. The ground rises abruptly in rear of them, and forms a shelter to the capacious bay in front of the town. On the summit of this elevated land a fort of consider- able extent was repairing; it occupies an excellent posi- tion for defending the entrance to the harbour and the narrows of the St. Lawrence. The new Barracks in the town are also fine substantial buildings enclosed by a loop-holed wall, and erected at the opposite extremity of the bridge to the marine barrack. The land in the vicinity of Kingston is rocky, and in favourable seasons makes but a poor return to the farmer : there was even on the 25th of August, the morning upon which we quitted the town, so severe a frost as to cut 62 1 SUBALTERX'S FURLOUCH. down many of the vej^etables. Grand Island, 24 mil« v length, extends from Kingston to tlie village of Frencl town, where the lake oi'the Thousand Isles commenet These isles are of every intermediate size, from a sma». barren rock three vards in diameter, with a solitary pine growing out of a cleft in it, to one of seven miles in length jMirtially covered with a cokl soil. Although thescencry in those parts where the river from being contracted amongst the islands for some distance suddenly exjKiiids again into a broad lake, is ratlier jiretty, yet generally it is rery tame and uninlci eating, the hank.*? bi'ing low and thickly covered with pine, and bearing scarcely any symptoms of civilization. Hrockville, upon the English bank, r)0 miles from Kingston, is the prettiest town and situation I saw in Upper Canada. It is on tlie side of a hill, rising gnidually from the St. Lawrence, with the Court-house and three churches on the summit, and the princi})al street running jiarallel with the water orna- mented with a tine row of trees. Tiie country on tho bank below the town becomes better cleared and culti- vated, witli pretty hamlets and farm-houses, which are well opposed to the dense dark forests on the American sliore We arrived at Prescotl, 72 miles from Kingston, early in the evening; but the inn was in so dirty a state, and tlie whole town presented such an uninviting aspect, that we were induced, in spite of the necessity of subjecting our baggage to the scrutiny of a custom-house ofiicer, to cross the river to Ogdensburgh, immediately opposite, in the Slate of New- York, wliere we ibund a comfortable hotel. This town, which much differs in cleanliness of appearance from its Canadian neighbour, contains about 1200 inhabitants, and is situated at the mouth of thedatk marshy waters of the Uswegatchc, which, flowing from the Black I^ake, eight miles distant, unites here with the deep blue St. Lawrence. The remains of the barracks, originally buih by the French, and occupied by the Bri- tish prior to the cession of the town in 1793, but burnt in the subsequent war. are seen on the point of land formed by the junction of the two streams. Prescott contains from 800 to 1000 inhabitants; and A sttbaltern's furlofoh. 53 being the head of the small craft navigation from Mon- treal, and the foot of the sloop and steam navigation with Lake Ontario, much business is carried on in the for- warding- of goods and travellers, and a vast deal more in the smug-gling line. Endless are the disputes and broils on account of the seizure of a steam-boat which plies between the two towns every ten minutes for the convenience of passengers, who are not unfrequently well supplied with contraband goods. Broad cloths and English goods of every description being much cheaper in the Canadas than in the United States, the summer shoal of Vankee travellers unite pleasure and business in their tour to see the Falls of Niagara and the fortifi- cations at Uuebec, by ordering their stock of apparel for the year at Montreal, tlius evading the froniier duty. Many of the mercantile houses in Prescott and Ogdcns burgh are connei'ted. I had some conversati.m with a storekeeper who sat next to me at the tabic crhntc in tlie latter town, and, walking into a warehouse in Prescott the following day, found him busily employed there. He said he had another establishment on the opjjosite side of the river. Fort Wellington, a mud redonbt of considerable strength, is half a mile below Prescott. There is a. large and strong block-house in the interior, but the bomb-proof barracks have fallen in under the great pres- sure of earth upon the timber roofs. During the time the last war was so unpopular, in certain parts of the United Stfltes, that meetings of a favourable tendency to the British look place in many of the principal towns, a numerous party of the inhabitants assembled at Ogdens- burgh for the purpose of drawing up a remonstrance against the proceedings of the American government. The force in Fort Wellington, not aware of the circum- stances of the case, and observing a large crowd assem- bled about a house in which the meeting was held, fired two or three shot amongst the traitorous orators, who speedily dispersed, postponing their discussions upon the subject sine die. The weather had now begun to be rather chilly, and we passed the evenings in sitting with our host, who was an original in his way over the wood tire He was a native of one of the New England Stales, and migrated early in life, as one half of the voung men do in that ymrt of the country. "As soon as lie knew the points of the compass," to use his own expression, he "cleared out from his native village, and bore off to the westward to pioneer his way throui,'h the woods " Chance brought him to the banks of the St. l^awrence, where, finding there was an opening, he establisiied a tavern, and realized a small fortune After the laj)Se of some years, lie revisited the pliice of his birth; but the aj)pearance of every thing, h id changed Scarcely any one knew liiin ; all his olil s'hoolfellows, with the exception of one in each family. *' 10 look after the old folk." had gone oil into the OkK> country, and, in two hours, liaving satislied the curiosity of every one, he determined upon returning to Iiis old haunts My friend putting several questions to liim re specting elections for president, senators, and slate repre sentalives, for two good hours " by Shrewsbury clock ' did he bold forth upon the constitution. My head was still runnini: uj)on what he liad said al>out Fort Welling- ton so uncivilly dispersing the meeting at whicli he was present, and the French barracks at the mouth of the t)8wegTitche Once or twice 1 made an attempt to gain .Hoine more information u]X)n the subject, as being more in my way. but all my eribrls at putting in a word and chunrjing the subject, when the old man stopped to take breJilli or cough, were received with "Stop a bit — I'll tell you — 1 aim tfol through yet;" and, truly, at last 1 began to despair of his ever getting through My friend's at- tejition to his lecture, and the com])linients lie paid tin; old gentleman, so warmed his iieart that he produced stomebeer (a most vile composition,) than which, lie said •there was not better in the old country." 1 tasted it ; and my friend, imprudently recommending it, could not es''.apo without hnishin;^ the tankard, mine host encour- aging him the while, with •a'int it good? — you a'inl finished it yet." After a detention of two days we succeeded in meeting with a bateau, which was proceeding down the St. Law- rence, a mode of travelling we considered preferable to a ▲ subaltern's furlough 55 heavy coach over a bad road. The boat had arrived the preceding evening at Prescott with lifty Irish emigrants, after a passage of SJ- days from Montreal, and was re- turning with a cargo of 100 barrels of flour from the Cleveland mills in Ohio, which, after payment of a duty of one dollar per barrel, at the Coteau du Lac, wliere i! crosses the frontier, is rated as Canadian flour, and flnda its way to England in British vessels. The bateau was a strong-built craft, from 40 to 45 feet in length and 7 or 8 in width, and being heavily laden, so much preparation was made by nailing skirting-boards round the bulwarki to j)revent the spray damaging the cargo that J imagined we had emb'irked upon rather a dangerous undertaking. We set sail, however, with a flne, ten-knot, westerly breeze, aud dashed through the water at a spanking rate The (yew consisted of four men to work the oars, when their use was required in a head wind, and a captain or steersman, who guided the boat with a long and broiid scull Tliey were all French Canadians, lively as usual and polite in their attentions. Though good sailors and navigators, they are but clumsy seamen in fresh water even, and in making sail, which consisted of a main- sail only, with the foot of it stretched along a boom, a haul-yard or rope of some description becoming jammed in the block, our captain lay out upon the yard-arm to set it free. His rig diflxTed much from our notions i»f what a Jack Tar's dress should be, being a brown frock-coat which reached to liis knees, coarse gray trowsers, a rusty old hat upon his head and his feet en cased in a pair of Indian mocassins. The whole com- plement of navigators, captain included, were longer in setting our solitary piece of canvass than it would have occupied the crew in reeflng topsails on board of a man ol-war. Our steersman bore the character of being the steadiest and most able pilot upon the river, having been accustomed to the navigation of it for twenty years. Ho t.»ok the vessel down the first Rapid with sail set which is considered rather an unusual thing, and so verr sligiit was the inclination of the water that we began to think, if such were the far-famed Rapids of the St. Luvf- rencc. that the whole afiair was a complete bugbear. 56 Passing sufficiently close to Crysler's farm on the left bank to see the riddled uilt after the (iothic style <( architecture The dimensions of the interior are 255 by \'M feet, and it is capable of containing- 12,000 people, there beiiiir Iw- galleries on>ach side of it. Tlie vaulted rocjf is support etl by eighteen columns, stained in bad imitation of'iirar ble, and, with u^reat want of ijood taste, has been che(|uer- 6(1 with alternate black and \vhite stripes, which detrac much fVom its beauty. At the south end. there is a larg stained wintlow. re|)resenting the ascension of our Sa- riour, but in my opinion executed in too gaudy a style to be pleasing: briirhl greens, and yellow, which are the predominant colours, neither have a good efl'ect, nor do they throw a soft and mellowed shade over the body of the church. I was shown through the convent of Grcv Nuns by a garrulous veteran of the 2b'th regimeijt, who had joined A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. tJV his corps in Canada in 1785, and the Hospital in 1791, havini,r lot>t his left leg b}' accident. His recoUeciionsof EnL-'land were indeed very faint; he had an indistinct idea that it was not so well wooded as America, that turnpike roads were more ircneral, and that the population was rather thicker upon the ground, but nothinir farther. He asked me if I was acquainted with Mr. Walter of Lon- don, and Mr. So-and-so of Liverpool ; and though by his own account lie was a native of some viliagc in Hereford- shire, 1 overheard him telling one of tlie nuns that he came from the same town as myself and was well ac- quainted with my family ! The Hospital or C on vent (for it is known by both name s) is situated between the St. Lawrence and a deep, dirty creek, over which a stone arch was erecting, so as to cover it in, the prevalence of the cholera haxingbeen partly attributed to the un- whohsome effluvia arising from it. It is a large, heavy pile of building, and has been much augmented of late years: the Chapel was also now enlarging by means of funds transmitted from France, and, when 1 entered it, the fat old superior and two of the sisters were planning im- provements, assisted by a host of carpenters and masons. All religions, s.cts, ;ind nations, are alike admitted ; and but lately tiierei)re.f thr latt- war, as originatinju' in pure loyalty to their sovereign, but rather in a desire to d( fend their own propi rty. and lecause they would pieler being the spoilt and iiidulgod chih'ren of Erigland to fallinj^ under the dominion of tlie United States, which would shortly inundate them with a torrent of speculators and enterprising men. as well as lay a few taxes upon their shoulders. I had crrssed the frontier with tlje expecta- tion of finding one of the happiest and most loyal nations in the world ; but, as far as my judgment went, found it far otherwise. To me the Canadians apprar( d utterly devoid of that spirit of enterprise which disfinL'uishes the English and American settlers ; and, thouL'h three-fourths of the inhabitants of Lower Canada (or nearly 3C)0,00()) are of French descent, they are almost confined to the original settlements, along a narrow strip on the banks of the St Lawrence, where they have impoverislicd the soil by their slovenly system of farming. Leaving Montreal at 8 o'clock in the evening, I lost i Fiew of the scenery below the town, and of Sorell at the A subaltern's fURLOUOH 67 mouth of the Chamblee or Sore 11 River, where the Go- vernor-Gem ral usually passes some of ihe summer nunths. But the recollection of our two hours' stay there is well impressed upon my memory. It was about miciniirht wlien we arri\ec], and the few passengers (only sixtem in number) had early retired to their berths. The ves?el was scarcely moored alongside the pier ere 1 was awakt d frcro asound sKep by the violent ecnamsof stmepoormaa whom tht'crt'U were carrying osl.ore, just attacked by the cholera. 1 hud been sulleiing- much the preceding week from an illness which at one time threatmed to take a dangerous turn, and had not yet n covered from the ell'icts of it. I shall never forgtt the misery I endured the re- mainder of that night ; I threw myself off my C( t, and walked the upper dick in the cold night air, while the •creams of agony still rung in my ears, and paced up and down until dawn of day, 1 y which tinie I had mustered up all my stoicism, and was prepared for any event. A naturally good constitution, however, in a few days ena- bled me again to ui.dergo almost any fatigue. The steamers on the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, are superior to those even on the An erican waters which had so much surprised me. The "British America" and "John Bull" are fitted uji in amagiiificent style, and are complete foating draw ing-roonis. '1 he di- mensions of the latie'r are on the grandest scale, being 188 (e-et in hngtii by '0 in breadth, the wings included, and about I'^OO tons burden. Its name is well merited. having towed six vessels, two of them of 350 tons, from Quebec up to Montreal, at enetime. The traveller may really experiencesomelhmglikecomfort on lourd ofthen\ there not being the crowd e f passt ngers, ror t lie scramble for meals, to which he is so accustomed ir.\he States. The country lelow the town of Trois Rivieres, atth« mouth of the St. Maurice, becomes more diversified, af- fording occasional views of rising hillsbelow Quebec, and long streets of housi s with while roofs and wal's, which when first sen^n at a distance on the lofty banks of the rivei, may be easily mislak* n for a large encampmet.t. Th» Fiench settlers usually paint the roofs white, as tcndine; to preserve the shingles of which they are constructed. 68 A subaltern's furlough. and also to repel the heat of the sun's rays. I have seen many washed in this manner from thr foundation to the ridire-pole. and the chimney painted black: 1 always thounrlii they bore a close nstniblance to a nej^ro woman deck'-d out in fier best bib and tucker. After passing the mouth of the( liaudiereHiver,over \>hich a fnel ri( «:e of one arch is thrown, and entering Wolfe's Cove, the ship- ping- and fortress of Quel ec begin to open out from behind a promontory ; and few places can boa>t of so inaL'^nifieent an approach. The bold craggv rocks of Cape l-inmond, crowned with the impre'.'^nahle fortress, stand in buld re- lief against the sky; nuuMTous shij)S lieat their anchorago in the broad and smootli river, iifU) feet beneath. Itlween the citadel and joint I^'vi ; and in the distance a loftv range of blue hills form a line background to a level and thick ly-poj)ulated country. For some time tlie old and pi( tures(jue buildings oidy of the lower town at the water's edge are visible; nor until within the distance of half a mile fr»>m Point Levi does the ujper town, with its nu- merous glittering spires and convent roofs. bcLMti to show itself on tlje (»j)posiie side of the citadel, or the more pro- minent object, the castle of St Ix'wis. the residence of the ( iOvernor-( ieneral. It is supported upon the eflge of the precipice by large buttres.-^es under the foundation of the outer walls of the building, and almost overhan*:s the houses at the margin of the water. BiU ttW these favour- able impressions are dispelled upon enteiing the dirty narrow streets of the lower town : nor Avas it until after much perseverance that we obtaiied accommodation of a very inditferenl Kind in the upper town. The principal hotil had been closed, without any consideration for the comfort of a few travellers, as soon as the cholera broke out, the landh^rd finciing that he was a loser by keeping the establishment oj)en. 'J'he ca))ii;il of Lower Canada occupies tlie tonirue of a peninsula formed by the junction of the St. Charles with tlie St. T^a wrence, and contains upwards of tiO.OdO people The upper town is encircled by a strong wall j;earlv three miles in extent, w ith batteries at intervals, and is entered by five gates, the principal one from the harbour being at the summit of a steep and winding road up the side of the ▲ subaltern's furlouoh 60 rock. The lower town is built in some phicrs upon piers, and laml reclaimed f oni the ri\er: in ethers by unc'er- minirig the base of the rock. Instances have occurred (onerurint: my retid* rice in America) of 'arge j oitions of it giving way and rushing down upon the n of"? of the hoiists trom a h( ight of two or three hiindnd fit I. Thecit.idel.whicli is the great lion efthe place, occupies a large } roporiion of tie up| er tcwn, ni d is siti attd upon the highest part of Caj e L lan ond, a hard but brittle rock with quartz crystals interspersed. 1 he stone, howevtr, is not of a lit quality for the fort fications, and fl e male- rials used in their consiniction art* brought by the St. Lawrence from Mentieal totiie foot of an inclined plane, whiih l;as been coi simcted fr( m the river into tiie in- terior of the citadel, and hoisted Uji the railway by n.eans of machinery. ( Jrcat ;.ddit ons were making within the fortress, but tiie old Fr» nch walls, erectt d during the time of Mcntca'm, and which theeiifiint ers were facing a lr« sh, were yet firm. Much yet remains to be done in the in- terior, and even on the e.xtt-rior works on the lace towards the j)laiiis of Abraham. An obelisk has lately been erected by the officers ( fths ^arrison to the men ory of Wolfe and Montcalm, in fiont of the govirnmeni gaidens. It is ()5 feit in height, but bears no inscrijnion. r.or even tlie names of the hi roes in whosi'honour it was erected. '1 he plaitisupon which loth fell lie about a mile to the west of the citadel, frem which the ground risis and falls in small and abrupt undulations. The field of action is yet open, and used as a race-course; but the rock against which the Hiitish gt neral reclimd, when dyiig (near a r» doubt which may le even now traced out on the borders of the plains,) wasdesiroyt d by blasting with gunpowder smu- time since, the Vandalic proprietor of the irarden in which it was situattd com- plaining that his fences were in u red by the cuiiosity of risilors. There is a figure of Wulfe carved in w ood, and jEiStin»d at the side of a horse at an angle cf a ttreet about 12 feet from the ground, which has always been considered an excelK nt likmess. 'I'he Cuneial appeal sin rather a strange costume for a warrior, a doubli breasted red frock coat w ith yellow facings, cocked hat, yellow top- 70 A subaltern's furlough. boots, white breeches, and white shoulder-belt for his sword ; his position — one arm a-kimbo, and the other ex- tended as in the attitude of givini^ ordeis. The spot where General Mont^romery was killed inhisattack upon Ciuibec on the nioht of tl e 31st of Dectmler, 1775, is wiliiin a few pacts (fthc foot of the inclined plane, and his r. mains were interred, until I8lK(\\h(n tliey were re- moxed to New- York.) n«ar the ijate (f St. Levis. I'he.lesuits' (*on\ent. w hidi rext it( d to ihe Crownsome years since, is now occupiid liy a reiriment of ir.faitry, and inakesan « xct Hint and capacious barrack. AV hritwas tlie f iln rs' pit asure-jjaidm in olden times is now the pan'de frround. In other r< spects, it appfy the taste of any moderate man. And really Niagira. the great climax of every thing grand in a ca- taract, gives one a sad distaste for all future sii,rhts of that des(Ti[>tion No one. unless he is bltssi-d with the happy talent of forgetting thinirs as soon as he has seen them, should venture near another fall for at least a twelve- moith after he has seen that at Niagara. If he does, it is ten to one that he annoys his friends who act as chape- rons up;)n the occasion, by showing the most perfect in- dililrence, or something even apj)roaching to sovereign cont.-njpt, at the siirht. At Monlmorenci tlie Fall it.self is every thing: tliere are no grand accompaniments. The water shoots in a sheet about \'Z0 feet broad overa precipice to the depth of 24J feet, and then rolling onwards a few hundred vardi unites with those of the St. liQwrence. The banks on each side of it are smooth and precipitous, with their summits crowned with trees, and a mill is perched on high upon the verge of the Fall. 'J'h«'re is, however, a fine view of Cluebec, and the i.'^le of ( )rleans which forrag the eastern side of the noble harbour, from the junction of the rivers, i )ne of my companions and myself thought proper to ford the Montmorenci below the Falls, where it is I5vH) T'et broad, to the ruins of a large saw-mill upon the opposite side, for the purpose of a.*?certaining the dep'h of water and forming some idea of the dilfi'iilty of the heroic Wolfe's enterprise when he stormed the French batteries under a heavy tire. In twenty-five minutes wo gained the opposite bank, having narrowly escaped being washed off our legs several times: but our wounded fee^ (owing to the sharp edges of rocks,) with cramped and stidMegs for the next fjrty-eight hours, gave us ample cause to repent our undertaking. The mill, which wai the most extensive in the proyince, had, by some strange accident or neglect, b -en consumed by fire a few monlhi previous, though a sufficient body of w.iter could have been thrown upon it to have almost w.ished away the entire building. A broad and deep water-course conduclj a powerful stream from above the Falls aloni,'- the summit of the bank unlil immediately above the mill, when li FURLOUGH. 73 rushes down an inclined plane of 300 feet in length, with amazing power upon the wheels. From it, conductors were so arrang-od as to lead the water throughout the building in case of necessity, but all appeared to have been of no avail in staying the destruction. Several acres of ground were covered with the timber which had been prepared for exportation. Wolfe's Cove also was so dense- ly covered with it that it was like one huge raft; and, notwithstanding thirty or forty vessels were taking in, it made no perceptible diminution. » VOL U 74 CHAPTER VI, The wind it was fair, and Uic moon it shone Serenely on Uic sea, And ihc vessel it danc'd o'er the rippling wates, And moved on gallantly. Old Uallap Where cliffs, moorB, marshes, dcailatc tlic view, Where hiiunls ilic liiltein, and w hero screams the mew. Wilt le pmwls the wnlf, where rolled the ser]»cnt li««, Shidl solemn f.uies and halls nf justice rise. And towns shall open (.dl of structure fair) i'o brijrht'ning pros])ects and to purest air. Savage. Prbviods to ihe appearance of the cliolera, a steamer plied between Quebec and Halifax in Nova Sculia, but, owinfr to the lonsj cjiiaraniine imposed upon vessels arriv- ing at the latter port without a l^ill of tlealth, the pro- prietors declined making any further trips until Uuebec should be pronoiniced free from infection. This was a most un»jxj)ectfd impediment to the tour 1 liad meditated throui^h the Eastern provinces, and the uncertainty of the lcn!T;lh of voyage in a sailing^ vessel was such that 1 came to the resolution of makinuf an overl.uid journey through the dense foiests, or paddlinu^ myself in a canoe down the rivers into New-Brunswick. My time, too. being very limited, it was necessary that I should either pursue that course or lay aside all thoughts of seeing any thing fur- ther of the British Provinces. My friends attempted to dis- suade me from the undertaking, on account of the lateness and unhealthiness of the season, and the weight of a hair would almost have turned the scale, when I fortunately became acquainted with Mr. Reid (a gentleman from Georgia,) who having much the same olject in view as myself, we agreed to make the journey in company. Hav- ing, therefore, laid in a small stock of provisions, a bot- tle of laudanum, a whole box full of opium pills, with a suitable quantity of eau-de-Cologne and eau-(h'- vie, as a pre- caution against the cholera, w-e set sail with a light wes- terly breeze down the broad St. Lawrence at mid-day on A subaltern's furlough 76 the 3d of September. As the weather appeared settled and pleasant, we j)rcrerred taking an open pilot-boat to travcllinjT in a carriage over a hundred miles of rough road, and at considerable additional expense, the owner of the land conveyance having the conscience to demand fif teen dollars (3/. sterling) per diem for the trip. Being ebb tide, we glided rapidly past the isle of Orleans, where those huoe floating masses ol timber, the Columbus and Baron Renfrew, were put together, and, by the time the flood had set in, were thirty-eight miles from Quebec, when, not having sufficient breeze to stem the tide, we came to an anchor. The sun had set some time, but it was a mild and pleasant eveninir, with a bright moon shin ing overhead, and every star in the heavens so clearlr reflected in the smooth mirror upon which we lay that indeed we should have been insensible to the charms of nature, had we not been delighted with our situation Tlj inking that music would well accord with the time and place, 1 produced a flute from the depths of my port manteau; and having in my earlier days learned the gamut, ''God save the King,'" "the British Cirenadiers,' and a quick step or two, favoured my companion and tbe pilot with a solo. Thougli, probably, not equalling the strains of Orpheus, it had some eflfect upon the crew of a schooner which lay at anchor about two cables' length abeam of us. A deep and hoarse voice immediately hailed us across the water to come a little nearer to them, followed when we spurned their invitation (rather rudely I must confess,) by a most authoritative ordtr 'lo strike up * Hearts of Oak,' or they would board u.s.'' Now, having no ladies in our company, as was the case with the old story of Dr. Young and the guardsmen upon the Thames, we had no plea for consentinjT ; so sounding Britons, strike Home," we boldly defied them to mortal combat. Not knowing, however, with what force they had A contend, they contented themselves with saluting us ^[{\\ a broadside of most mellifluous *sea-phrases. and firing at intervals half a dozen rounds of small arms, well loaded with powder. Although the night was so lovely, I cannot say that w© by any means passed a comfortable one The boat 7C A SUBALTERN S rimLOUf.H harin^ no deck, and being too narrow in the beam to admit of rcclininq- at full lenmh on the tliwarts, we uero obliged to sleep in a sitting posture on the bottom, with the back of our heads against tho edge of a seat, and ac- cordingly each of us awoke in the morning with a neck as stiff as that of a raw niilitia-nian in his patent leather stock upon the first training day. Getting early under weigh, we be^at slowly down against a head wind, and passed the quarantine station off a rocky island 45 miles from Quebec. A drizzling rain coming on at midday, and increasing to torrents, accompanied by a heavy gale towards sunset, rendered us in a most miserable plight The river was now ten miles in breadth, and, a heavy »ea rising, my companion became very unwill. The pilot soon followed Jiis example ; and 1, not doubting but that it must be the cholera, busied myself in searci. ing for the laudanum, brandy, and (jpium pills, which as is ever tht^ case when things are most required, were not found until the whole contents of my portmanteau had been turned out upon the wet deck. All my fears, however, respecting cramps in the legs, and otheralarm- ing" symptoms, were quite unnecessary. " Parturiunt montcs ; nascetur ridiculus mus :" the upshot of all was— they were only troubled with that very common com plaint, or ra'' - I '"nild call it, worst of all miseries — sea-sicKnes.- A thick iv^ tjiwiiiii;^^ on at dusk, with flood tide, the pilot informed us thnt, not knowing whereabouts the land lay, he dare not veiiture to run in-shore on account of the rocks, and that we must pass another night on board; and the prospects of such a night too ! For some minutes wc endeavoured to prevail upon him to run on; but. finding he would not hazard any thing, we began to make the ne- cessary preparations for weathering it as well as possible. I drew on two pair of trowsers, a seal-skin cap and hat. two coats, and a seal-skin jacket, with hood like that of an Esquimaux, which I had purchased at Quebec; and, as the anchor was again let go, quietly sat down, and most patiently endured the pitiless peltings of the storm. At intervals, during the night, I fell into a slight doze, but by degrees the heavy pitching of the boat would cause A subaltern's furlough 77 my head to strike ai,^ainst a thwart, or touch the bottom of the vessel, in which the water was now from four to six inches in depth, and awake me — for the purpose of goings through tlie same motion again at the expiration of another quarter of an hour. When the morning dawned the weather had not moderated in the slightest degree ; but with heavy hearts and drenched clothes wfc agaiii got under weigh. For my own part I was so en- cumbered with the weight of my heavy apparel that, had the boat swamped, I should have gone to the bottom like a lump of lead ; my companion, being an indifferent sailor, could scarcely raise his head, and the only active service I could perform was to sit at the bottom of the boat, wrenching the rain out of my cap and jacket, or take a turn at baling out the water. And when this last occupation had ceased, the three of us huddled ourselves into the stern-sheets, about 4 feet by 3i, for mutual warmth ; and with chattering teeth sal there, for all the world like so many dripping fowls upon a perch during a shower of rain. We did not make the land round Kamouraska Bay. ninety miles below Quebec, until we had been exposed to thr full fury of the storm for twenty-four hours. In another hour we landed, and were soon coirifortably stowed away in a little French inn, busily emjiloyed in overhauling our wet ])ortmanteaus, and inspecting the state of our stock of pr«n-isions. The report upon them was about a.s ft^llows: the biscuit and salt had dissolved in the water ; the cheese re([uired a place in the oven for an hour or two ; the meat had been rolling about at the bottom of the boat tbroughout the night; my companion's •laret-coloured over coat, which he had bought at a slop shop in Gluebeo, was three shades lighter; and the notes and sketches I had been takinir the preceding day were were no bad representation of the state of the heavens during the storm. The uncertainty whether we could carry our baggage ihrouLfliout the journey had occurred to us before leaving Q,uebec,and we had resolved to leave it if anywise cum- bersome, with some villager, retaining only sufficient clothes to fill a knapsack, which v;ccould ourselves carry. O' 78 A subaltern's furlough. Upon inquiring at Kamouraska, we met with a Yankee pedlar who was returning with his cart to the States, and would travel 55 miles upon the same route as ourselves. He volunteered to carry our trunks for four poimds, with a proviso that we should walk by his side; alleLringat the same time that it was imjjos.xilde to perform the journey under three days. " We miirht have seen roads." he said, "but we had never seen the Temiscouta Portage;" ami, as to making a bargain of us, he would not carry the purt- manteaus for twice the sum. if his own business did not compel him to go that way ; and, furthermore, as the track was very dreary, lie wished some pleasant company Fortunaiflv we had no occasion to close with this f/iAm- terestcd oHer, a by-siander offering to furni.'^h two carts for the same sum, aiTirming that one could not carry tho two small portmanteaus. The cluigrin of our ^'ankec friend at losing so good a bargain was very evident, not- withstanding all his assunmces that his only desire was to sec us safe to the end of the journey, and prevent our being imposed on. Me took his leave of us, saying that the man whoofTered toaccomjwny us neitlier knew what lie said nor what he was un(!ertaking ; and, tinally, that we should not travel the 55 miles agreed upon under four days, and that the (lies in the wooids would bite our ears of]', if w I' did not tie them on x\ ith a strong handkerchief We also experienced much dilficulty in replenishing our commissariat department, and Cduld obtain only a loaf of bread and a cold shoulder i f mutton — a short supply for se\'en days, which we calculated our journey would last. But our severest loss was not discovered until we were on the point of starting; tlie pilot had appropriated our whole stock of brandy, Consisting of two bottles, to his own use. On the Gth of September, with two guides, to whom the cart belonged, we pursued our route down the course of the St I^wnence, the road passing along a narrow and thickly settled belt of ground, which had apparently once been in the channel of t-he river, judging from the nature of its soil and a rocky ranre of hills running parallel with it on the outer side of the cultivated lands. Tho ivcenery was strikingly fine and bold, and numerous ships, 79 tacking to and fro with an adverse wind, rendered it a most enlivening scene, until our arrival at the Terais- couta PorlafTe, nineteen miles from Kamouraska, when we struck off to the southward, and ascending some high ground for ever lost sight of the St. Lawrence. The road was, however, still passable, and, though our progress was but slow, there was nothing as yet to warrant the pedlar's alarming accounts; while the log huts though presenting a most miserable exterior, would at least shel- ter us from the threatening storm. When the rain, however, began to descend, and night set in, we made several fruitless applications for admission: one said there was too many of us ancfther referred us to his neighbour a little farther on ; and a third had a sick per- son in the house. At last we bade adieu to enjoying a night's rest within doors, and approaclied the dark and apparently impenetrable wall o! the tall forest, when de- scending a sjiiall ravine, with a rivulet at its bottom, we spied out another log hut, though scarcely distinguisha- ble amongst the blackened stumps. Considering it as our last hope, we made so pathetic an appeal that we were all admitted. The tenement was but a very small one, and occupied by an old couple of about sixty win- ters, with thvir niece, about fifteen years younger. The room into which we were ushered was scarcely seven feet to the ceiling, and blackened by the smoke of years. A straw mattress and a blanket occupied one corner of the room ; the square iron stove, two chairs, a couple of stools, and an oM wooden shelf, with an oil-skin hat, and a lamp suspended from the haft of a knife stuck into a crevice between two logs, formed the rest - bled. After enjoying a cheerful cliat over the fire for some hours, and attending to tlie gesticulations of our host, who, as he sat on a corner of the bed with a thick red Kilmarnock cap upon his head, related anecdotes of his life to a group which would have furnished a fine study for any of the old Dutch arti.^ts, we were shown into a room containiuLT a single bed for the accommoda- tion of Mr. Reid and myself, who went dinnerless and 90 A subaltirk'b furlough •Tjpperloss to bed, lest our provisions should fail us when most required. Atdayli<(l»t the following morning, after an early meal apon our hreadand mutton, (|ualified by a draught of cold water, we prepared for anotiuT day's fatigue, tendering some trifle by way of remuneration to our hostess for tho night's lodging. We had some difficulty in prevailing upon her to accej)t it. and, when once accepted, the old lady in the warmth of her heart would insist upon crarrk- ming our pockets with wood nuts. With many expressiont of thanks and wishes for a ^'ood journev from the worthy C0U])ie, we crossed the small stream (tbe (Jreen River, J think.) and entering the forest lo.st nearly all semblance of a road. The trees had been certainly cut away, so as to afford a passage from six to nine feet in width, but the Btumps had been left standing, and, where a marsh \\-as to be crossed, that horrible invention " corduroy ' had been resorted to. Frecpiently a d.'cayed timber gave way un der the weight of the horses, which floundered up to the top of their backs in black wet soil. In other places the road was floating on the surface of a deep pond ; and then for a mile or two we had some little variety in clamber ing up hills over huire ma.-^ses of rock, or stumbling up the bed of a torrent. Now and then, indeed, cutting away the windfalls (as the Americans term the trees which aro blown down by a gale of wind) afforded us a short respite from the jolting, but during that time we had to ply our ajces unremittingly. Mr. Heid liad tnken chnrge of the first cart, and the Canadians walking alonirsidt.' of us in their large mud boot.-, for some time 1 atteni])ted to derive advantage from my companion's misfortunes, and learn to steer clear of them, but generally found mvself deposited in a much deeper and worse hole, or brought to a stand ■till by a large piece of rock ;_so, despairing of bettering my condition, I calmly awaited the shock, and setting myself well against it in my seat, and compressing my lips, I plunged into the midst of every thing up to the axletree, with my loose portmanteau tossing about, and flaying my legs at a most unmerciful rate. The self-same aliominabh; flies, too, the Yankee had so glowingly described, added to the pleasures of the journey by tearing pieces of flesh i subaltern's furlough. 81 from our cars, as thonn-h each of them had been provided with a pair of tlic best Sheffield forceps. Having endured this patiently for three hours, durins^ which time we had advanced just so many miles, we could bear it no longer, nnd dismounting- we proceeded on foot. By mid-day we arrived at the river St. Francis, a small stn-am which i« involved in the boundary question between Great l^ritam and the United States, where we met the royal mail upon its way from Halifax. The letter bags were fastened upon a dray or low sledge drawn by a single horse, which wai moving quietly along, cropping what little gras.-* grew by the road-sir each other, yet flowing in opposite directions. 00 A subaltern's yURLOUOH the Ponufxe. The banks had continued a liiindred feet in height, and covered with a dense pine fonst, hut we fre- quently passed groups of woodsmen bivouackini^ by their hres at the water's edge after their day s labour had ceased. Thix)wingpart of the baggage over my slioulder, I walked up to the hut, through whose small window the bright light of the wood fire could be seen blazing cheerfully, and knocking at the door walked in, and found a family of seven, who welcomed me most hospitably. My compa- nions followinir me, we joined the circle, and, after enjoying a bowl of excellent milk, asked the settler's history. He had been a comrade of the veteran upon the lake, and had been settled there at the same time, when his nearest neighbour livtd at twenty miles' distance. He had now one within six miles, but considered it no advantage, and would nither that people did not settle so near to Iiim, as he should then have no fear of quarrelling. Part of his house iiad been washed away by the freshets during the spring of the previous y«.-ar. aiuf, although it was 20 feet above the level of the river, the water had stood 5 feet 5 inches in his kiiclicn. which was the only room he had remaining. This summer, too, the bears had destroyed 13 sheep and 4 hogs of his stock, but he liad yet 23 sheep ren.aining, and two cows. The only neighbours, howerer, he did not appear, in anv manner, to approve, were the Americans, whose boundary was within five miles. He said that he had been over amongst some of them latelv. and told them that they had belter be silent upon tli- subjectof the boundary question now, forlhat New Bruns- wick had a governor who had just beenmo.st satisfactori ly arranging the same kind of a dispute in the East Indies As the night was advanced, wishing to obtain a few hours sleep. I tlirew my wet great coat upon the floor before th' blazing hearth, as the most comfortable Wrth I could s< lect ; but the settlers wife would so positively insist upon Mr. Reid and myself taking possession of the only bed ;n the room, upon which, she asserted, " she had just Maced new blankets for our. express comfort,'' that I wa«5 cmpelled most reluctantly to relinquish it. while the sc llerandhisson went out and sought a nights rest amongst he straw in tlie stable I had heard from the boatman 91 on the Madawaska River that the house was not celebrat- ed for its cleanliness, and a sight of the bed convinced me that there must be very substantial reasons for its fame havins" spread throuo"!! a hundred miles of nearly unin- habited country : so I walked out of the house with the intention of sleeping in the open air, and thus avoid giv- ing any affront to our hostess, but the mist rose so thick and cold from the water, and remembering the story of the bears, I thought it more prudent to undergo a night's tortures within doors. On returning into the house, I found my friend already between the far-famed blankets . the boatman had taken up my comfortable position on the hearth ; the children were lying upon a bed at the foot of ours, and the settler's wife sat in a chair watching tlie fast-dying embers. I was si^mewhat puzzled to dis- cov(^r how Mr. Keid had contrived to turn in : for I had no idea of risking myself otherwise than in my clcihes. and. after considerable mana uvring. took an opportuni- ty, when the settler's wife turned Iier head, to spring in. and strouL-^ly intrench myself up to tbe chin between the coverlid and upper blanket. My friend had taken up a smiilar strong position, and was almost choked with at- tempting to smother liis laughter. We were not such old soldiers, liowever, as to outmana-uvre the enemy in this manner : for swarms of light infantry poured down upon us in every direction ; and most stoically did we bear their attacks for the short time we were awake, but the fatigues of the day soon caused us to be unconccious of every thing that was passing. Towards morning I was awaked by some heavy weight upon my feet, and at first, took it for a visit of the night-mare ; but arousing my senses a little, and feeling it move, 1 was convinced it must be one of the children ; so out of gratitude for our accommodation I could not remove it, but endured the evil, until rising to de- part upon our voyage I discovered that it was a large black dog, which had favoured us with his company. Two hours brought us to the mouth of the Aroostook River, and Stobec, a small Indian village on the opposite bank Landing where we saw a bark canoe drawn uj; on the beach, we fortunately met a stati' officer, wlio had been up the Aroostook to check some aggressions of the 92 A bubiltbrn'b furlough. American lumberers in the forests on the disputed terri- eory, and was now on his return to Fredericton. Wa proceeded in company through a fertile and from this time well-inhabited country, with fine bold scenery at every turn of the stream, and at nitrht arrived at Wood- stock, about sixty miles below the Falls and half a miU from the river, where we found a comfortable little inn. kept by an American. The division of the counties, which had only lately taken place, had not been publicly stated more than three or four days, and Woodstock, which had formerly been in the county of York, was now the capital of the m-w-formed county of Carleton. At present, it is but a small \illai;e,thouLrh doubtless, ere many years hav« ^Kissed, it will be one of the most consiilerable towns in the province, beinir situated in the most fertile part, and already |)Ossessinir a lari^^e a-^'ricultural populMiiun. Per- sons anxious for |)Osts under ^^overnment. and tu i stablish themselves with the earliest foundation of the town, were riockiriiT in from all directions; no fewer than three sur- yeon^andfourattorneys hadalrcady arrived, though there was neither fee nor food for one of them. The small and formerly quiet village had already divided opinions and clashiu*} interests, and numerous little jealousies and bickerings had arisen. It is a straggling place, settled party upon a creek near the river, and partly upon tho high ground where the inn was ; so each party wished to establish their own spot as the site of the capital, and de rive the advantaire of having the public buildiiiL^s there The evening gu'\from the American garrison of floui ton, only fire miles distant, can be distinctly heard at Wood stock ; and. as we were descending the river on the 11th of September, we caught a glimpse of Mars Hill. up>on which the boundary monument has been erected. Larg« as the St. John's River is. it is rendered utterly unnavi- gable by the numerous rapids, where, in many places, the depth does not exceed three feet. The beach everv where >vas strewed with fine timber, which had been left by the falling of the spring freshets, and which could not now arrive at the port of exportation before the ensuing year, and flat-bottomed provision-boats can with difficnltt reach Woodstock on the 3d day from Fredericton Th»j A subiltirn's ?urlotjgh. 93 scenery throucrhout the St. John's, is of a superior order to the generality of that in America, and becomes bolder and more beautiful as the river nears the ocean: but the land decreases in fertility in an equal ratio every succeed- ing mile below Woodstock. The Falls of the Pokeok ai its junction with the St. John's seen through a wooded and rocky chasm, and an Indian village with some fine drooping elms upon a bold undulating country a few miles lower down, arc exceedingly picturesque objects. With the exception of Woodstock, it cannot be said that there is any settlement which can come under the denomination of a village between the Green River and Fredericton. a distance not sliort of 220 miles. In many parts, as at Madawaska, a narrow riband of farms extends along the banks of the St. John, and stretches back from a quarter to a mile inland Three or four tribes also of Indians have their sirange-looking collection of bark-buih wig-wams huddled tOL'-ether upon the hcadlunds formed bytlu^junction of the Tobique andother tributary streams: the chiefs; house is usually distinguished from the rest liy having a flag-staff alongside of it, or the roof being rather more elevated. The costume of the females struck me as much gayer than that of the tribes I had previ- ously seen in the Canadas. Their dress here was gene- rally of brilliant and gaudy colours, with their black hats encircled by a broad silver band. I'he men, who appeared to subsist chiefly upon fishing in the summer season, had the same heavy and forbidding countenances I had ob- served amongst the Seneca and Irroquois tribes. I was informed, however, bv officers of the army, and agents who had superintended the annual distribution of pre- sents from the British government to the tribes upon the borders of Lake Huron, that fine athletic warriors of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, with noble features, used to attend upon those occasions with one side of their face painted sky blue, and tlie other chequered with vermil- ion and bright yellow : but all whom I saw fell very far short of the natives of Bengal and Pegu both in stature and countenance. At ten o'clock on the night of the ninth day from our leavinqr Q,uebec, we arrived at Fredericton. 350 miles M i. 8VB1LTERN 8 FURLOUGH. distant, rejoiced beyond measure thatonr futig^uing expe- dition was at an end. Tlie cramping attitude of sitting •rouched at the bottom of the canoe for si.xteen hours, during four successive days, without being able to change lliat position, lest the heavily-laden and frail vessel &hould capsize, was irksome and overpowering in the extreme But, when our troubles and ve.xalions w ere over, as usual we laughed heartily at all our adventures ; and, taking it all in all, 1 may fairly say that I enjoyed this journey more than any other portion of my travels on the conti- nent of America. Our provisions had been rather short, and the bread on the Ith or r>th day became so exce«ossessing and benevolent countenance, with a sharp eagle eye and prominent fea- tures. The militia were called out for three days' traininer. and the battalion which assembled at Fredericton 1000 strong was comj)osed of line athletic men. Only 200 of them were armed, and about the same number had cloth- ing and accoutrements. There was also an African company, who had decked themselves very gaily, and carried the only drum and fife in the field. They ap- peared quite proud of their occupation, not being ex- empted, as in the Tnited States, from the performance of military duty. The prc^vince could, in case of emer- gency, furnish 20,000 men, (but, unfortunately, there are neither arms nor clothing for one-tenth of that number,) and six troops of yeomanry (tavalry. The Fredericton troop made an exceedingly neat and clean appearance, being well clothed and partly armed ; and in active ser- vice, in such a country as New Brunswick, would prove of very essential utility. In case of immediate aggres- sion from their neighbours, the province must for some time be intrusted to their care alone, there being only six weak companies of regular infantry in three distant de. tachments, with a frontier of 200 miles in extent, and a province of 22,000 square miles in charge, while the Americans have two garrisons close upon the boundary line (at Easti>ort and Houlton,) and an excellent military road nearly completed to Boston. The New-Brunswick- ers have already given ample proof that they are well qualified as soldiers to undergo any hardships and pri. vations. During the last American war the 104th regi- ment was entirely raised in this province, and made a march unparalleled in the annals of English history, and 101 only equalled by that of the Russian campaign in 181 2 throu<,'h tlie extensive forests to the Canadas in the depth of a severe winter. No troops ever behaved belter in the field, and the corps was nearly annihilated at the storming of Fort Erie. Many Americans settle in the province, and are always the most enterprising and mo- ney-seeking men ; many too are prevented naturalizing by an oath of allegiance, or some similar form, which the law requires to be taken in a Protestant church ; and, being considered as aliens, they pay a fine of thirty shil- lings in lieu of performing militia duty. That one party at least in the United States care little for embroiling themselves with Great Britain, in order that they may have a pretext for invading her colonies, may be gathered from the following paragraphs in the American Quarterly Review of June, 1832 : " If then a war should ever again arise between the United States and Great Britain, the policy of our country is obvious — tiie Acadian Peninsula must be ours at all hazards, and at any cost of blood or treasure. Were this once gained, the rest of the colonies would fall almost as soon as we might please to summon them." . . . . " For this pur- pose, a fortress, capable of sustaining a siege until it could be relieved, should be erected upon the upper val- ley of the St. John's" (^vhich is debatable ground) "and connected with the settled country by a military road and a chain of fortified posts." ....*' As Americans, we cannot fear the final result of any contest that may arise. The relative strength of the two countries is continually changin;^, and becoming more and more favourable to us." This language, which savours so strongly of con- fident assurance, arises from a discussion upon the bound- ary in dispute between the State of Maine and New Brunswick. The article proves how fully alive the Americans are to the value of the disputed ground, sls an annoyance in a military point of view to their rival, which has already been almost cut off from the protec- lion of the Canadas by concessions of the British Govern- ment, who have ever lost by treaty what they gained by the sword. It is a ditTicult matter to glean the full merits of the case, each party so pertinaciously adhering I* 10« to Its own interested statement. So fur back as the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, when the boundary Hne was at- tempted to be settled between Acadia, tlien under the dominion of the French, and New England under that of the mother country, an undecided question arose respect- ing the true river iSt. Croix, each party maintaining that stream to be the correct one which threw an additional tract of country into its territory. The same question was mooted with ecjual results in 1783, when time had wrought a wonderful change upon the face of atlairs ; tha^ which had formerly been New England was now a free and independent state; and that which had been a French settlement was now New Scotland, paying alle- giance to Great Britain. In the treaty of London, in 1794, the 5th article directly stated, " Whereas doubt'^ have arisen what river was trvly intdidcd under the name of the river St. Croix," that question should be re- ferred to the final decision of commissionei-s. Again, in 1814, an article was framed in the treaty of Ghent, agreeing upon commissioners being appointed to survey the boundary line which l>ad been described in former treaties. At this time the question might have been decided ;*the resources of the United Statt-s were exhausted, and they would gladly have made peace upon any terms, now, that tranijuillity was restored upon the continent of Europe, England could turn its undivided powers airainst her more implacable enemy. But the hif'h-minded British Commissioners yielded too easily to American chicanery, and, granting what could not be proved above a century previous, permitted a stream to be called the St. Croix, and that branch of it the main one, which at once deprived them of the strongest argu- ment in their favour, and, to use the expression of a nautical man with whom I was conversing upon the sub- ject, "Now, they have let fly the main sheet, and are snatching at the' rope's end." No person endowed with common sense could imagine for a moment, upon inspec- tion of the map, that the British Commissioners, in the treaty of 1783, would have consented to the territorial possessions of the United States approaching within thir- teen miles of the St. Lawrence, and so deeply indenting A subaltern's fublougu. 103 into the British provinces. The Kennebec, to the west- ward of the present St. Croix, was the national boundary between the EngUsh and French in the 17lh century, and it is affirmed by many that the Penobscot was the origi- nal St. Croix. In the commission, dated September 1763, appointing Montague Wilmot, Esq., Captain-General and Governor of Nova Scotia, the western boundary of that province is described as having " anciently extended and doth of right extend as far as the river Pentngonet, or Penobscot ;" and the whole country to the eastward of that river was in actual possession of the British at the treaty of 1783. De Monts, the celebrated navigator or- dered out by Henry IV. of France, in 1603, to explore the coast of Nova Scotia, had the honour of giving name to the river where he wintered, which has been the sub- ject of so much controversy. It is not probable that such an experienced seaman would risk his vessels amidst the drift ice opposite the present town of St. Andrews, when so many safe harbours were scattered along the coast to the south-west. The boundary line is defined in the late treaties as passing up the centre to the source of the St. Croix ; thence due north until it strikes the hi^Iands, which divide the waters running into the Atlantic Ocean from those which pin the St. Lawrence ; thence along the said highlands to the north-westernmost head of the Con- necticut River, and down along the middle of it to the 45th degree of north latitude. The commissioners dif- fered so materially in the determination of these highlands (upwards of 100 miles in a direct line) that, in conformi- ty with the treaty of Ghent, reference was made to the King of Holland, as umpire, who decided the matter to the disapprobation of both parties, giving the British so much of the territory as would mclude the mail road from Quebec to Halifax, and to the Americans a fortress built by them within the British frontiers near Lake Cham- plain, the most vulnerable point of the State of New York. At this very day the settlement of the question appears as far from adjustment as it was a century since. The United States would no doubt lay aside all claims, were an equivalent in the long sighed-for free navigation 104 A subaltern's furlough. of the St. Lawrence offered to them. Maine lias com- mitted various acts of sovereignty upon tlie debatable ground within the lafet few years in granting lands, allow- ing her citizens to lumber upon the Aroostook River, and even opening a poll on the St. John's, a few miles above the Madawaska settlement, the several candidates for magisterial offices addressing the people from a cart. Soon, most probably, the American standard would have been ffying upon the ramparts of a fort had not, fortu- nately for the Hritish interests, Sir Arcliibald Campbell arrived from Kngland at this critical period to assume the reins of government, and, with tliat firmness and active decision which are so charastcristic of him, pro- ceeded in person upon a tedious journey 400 miles in extent and seized some of the aggressors. The [)rinci. pals absconded into Maine, and the authorities of that State interceded for the remission of the punishment justly awarded to those who were captured. The intriniic value of the few thousands of square miles involved in dispute is triffing, but they are inestimable when viewed with regard to the future prosperity and retention of the British provinces. A subaltern's furlough. 105 CHAPTER VIII. It is a most beautiful country, being stored throughout with Doany goodly rivers, replenished with all sorts of f.sh. Spenser. Keep me company but two years, Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue — Farewell. SUAKSPEARE. A little fire ia quickly trodden out, Which, being sutfered, rivers cannot quench. Ibid. On the 22(1 of September I embarked in a small steam- boat in company with Captain C, an old Burman friend, whom I was so fortunate as to fmd stationed at Frede- ricton, and who kindly ollcred to accompany me on a short tour tiirough the province of Nova Scotia. We proceeded down the beautiful river St. John, (whicli re- ceived its name from being discovered by De Monts on the 24th of June, 1604, the day of St. Jo'h^^e Baptist), and 30 miles below Fredericton passed iheembouchure of a small rivulet, which forms an outlet to the waters of the Grand Lake and its numerous tributary streams. At Newcastle, and on the borders of the Salmon Bay, at the upper end of the Lake, coal has been found in abun- dance ; but that hitherto discovered is of an inferior quality, and the works, for want of demand, are on a very limited scale. , V After crossing the mouth of the Kennebekasis Rivet and entering Grand Bay, which is interspersed with nu- merous islands, we were enveloped in a dense fog, aiwi, landing a few miles farther, at the Indian village-^ mile above the Falls, proceeded on foot into the town of St. John. For three days it had been obscured by fog, while with us all had been sunshine and heat, the fog not extending more than ten miles up the river. During the first day we saw nothing of the town beyond the curb- Btones of the pavement, or the steps up to the doors of 106 A subaltern's furlough. the houses ; but a heavy shower of rain, which came on while we were groping our way through the streets in search of the barracks and thorouglily drenched us, dis- pelled the fog, so that the following morning the sun rose bright and clear. The town, containing nearly 11,000 inhabitants, is built upon a rocky and irregular |)romontory, formed by the harbour and the river which liere empties itself into the Hay of Fundy. Tlie principal streets are broad, well paved, and neatly laid out, with excellent private dwellings, and some elegant stone public edifices. The corporation in a most spirited manner are laying out large sums of money in beautifying ond levelling the streets, though much to the inconvt nience of jjrivate in- dividuals, whose houses at tl»e bottom of some hills have been blocked up by these improvements to the attic win- dows, so that a passer by may peep into the first or se. cond story. On the summit of the hill again 20 feet of solid rock liave been cut away, leaving the dwellings perched on high, and allowing the occupants a view of little else save sky and the occasional roof of a lofty house. The barracks, a fine extensive range of build- ings, with ^me small batteries overlooking the sea and commanding the entrance to the harbour, occupy an elevated and pleasant situation in front of the town, whence in clear weather the opposite coast of Nova Sco- tia can be seen across the Bay of Fundy. Every thing about St. John's presented the air of a flourishing place, and numerous vessels were uf>on the stocks in the upper part of the bay, where the tide rises to the height of 30 feet. In point of commercial imj>ort. ance it is the capital of New Bruns\'^ck, and upwards of 400 square-rigged vessels enter the port annually, ex- porting more than 100,000 tons of square timber. From Miramichi more than 300 vessels sail with even a greater quantity of timber tlian from St. John's ; and from St. Andrew's, which ranks as the third sea-port, from 150 to 170 vessels with 25,000 tons of timber. In addition to these there are several minor ports, and from the whole collectively about 11,000 seamen are employed in the trade of the province. It appears by returns made in tho A subaltern's fxjulough. 107 year 1824, when the trade was rather brisker than at present, that 324,260* tons of square timber were ex- ported from the various sea-ports, exclusive of spars, lathwood, and deals. St. John's possesses most of the lumbering trade from the western coast of Nova Scotia, and, the duties upon English importations being lighter than at Halifax, it absorbs much of the traffic which would otherwise flow to that city. This and the adjoin- ing province of Nova Scotia, under dillercnt regulations, might have been still grt-atcr nurseries for British seamen than they are; their intere^jts upon several occasions have been neglected by the mother country, who, by the treaty of 1783, granted to the United States participation in the fisheries, and a general permission to take fish at the dis- tance of a cannon-shot from the coast. Tnis permission has been much abused by their trequently running in- shore at night, entering the bays to set their nets, in many instances forcibly preventing the Britisli fishermen from carrying on the fishery, and destroying the fish by throw- ing the olfal overboard, while the provincialists carry it ashore. These rights tiicy forfeited by the war of 1612, but the renewal of them at the peace was strangely per- mitted, with the most injurious effects to the cdlonios. The immediate vicinity ol the town, and for an extent of some miles up the river, is such a mass of rock, co- vered only here and there with stunted pine, as almost to deter any emigrants from penetrating into the interior, or at least to give them a very poor opinion of their adopted country. The only ricli or fertile tract I saw was a narrow strip of land about a mile in width, running between two ridges of rocks away fiom the bay, and which had been reclaimed from the bed of a river or large inlet. By some people it is imagined to be the course of the St. John's previous to its bursting through the ridge of rocks which create the Falls. The opening through which that river passes is in the narrowest part called the "split rock,'' and not more than 40 yards in width ; a quarter of a mile higher up the stream is a se- cond pass, trom 150 to 200 yards wide, above which the * Cooney's History of Part of New Brunswick. 108 A 8Ubalter:<'s furlough. river expands into a capacious bay. The great rush of the tide is such, and it rises so rapidly, that the water at the flood is some feet higher below the split rock than above it, and renders it impassable, except at high wa- ter, for half an hour, and the same fall is formed at tlie ebb tide, when it is again passable for the same time at low water. Boats frecjuenily venture too far, not aware of the time of tide, and are lost in the whirlpools and eddies; one, containing three men, had been lost the day before we visited them, the most powerful swinnner not beinj:: able to gain the shore. The noise from thum caii be distinctly heard at the distance of some nules, and the harbour, a mile below them, is covered with tlouting froth a foot in thickness. A lew years since an engineer olTi- cer proposed undermining or blasting the rocks, which vary from 50 to 100 feet in lieigiit, and thus opening a passage for the free admission of the tide ; but the project was opposed by the landholders some miles above the town, who represented that the river would thus be drain- ed and rendered loo shallow for navigation. Leaving JSt. John's in a steamer on the tMth, with the sea as smooth as a lake, but llie vessel rolling heavily, we passed out of the beautiful harbour by Partridge Island (the (juarantine station at the entrance, which, being high and rocky, is an excellent breakwater and shelter to the harbour in easterly gales,) and steered for the Nova Scotian coast, forty miles distant. The lofty heights in rear of the city, the various Marlello towers and light- houses on Partridge Island and the headlands, the batteries and barracks rising upon a gentle acclivity from the har- bour, with the ruins of old Fort Howe frowning from a rocky precipice over the city, which is built upon several eminences, form a picturesque scene when viewed from the Bay of Fundy. In five hours we entered the strait of Annapolis (or Digby, as it is t'requently called,) which is about a third of a mile in width, with high lands iVom 500 to 600 feet in height upon either shore. A violent tide rushing through it into the Bay of Fundy renders it next to an impossibility for a vessel to beat against a head wind into the Basin of Digby, one of the finest summer harbours A subaltern's furlough. 109 on the American continent, and in wliich the whole Brit- ish navy might ride with salety. Were batteries thrown up at the entrance of the strait, the passage would be rendered utterly impracticable at any time. In winter, however, it is rendered unsafe from the vast quantities of ice which drift down from the Annapolis River. Several wigwams were erected ujjon the sandy beach by the In- dians, who, with their rifles, assemble throughout the summer for the purpose of shooting porpoises in the basin ; and, by afterwards disposing of the oil which they extract, they manage to make a tolerable livelihood. We saw several paddling about in their canoes, who ap- peared very expert, and were informed it was no uncom- mon thing for them to kill at a single shot. The basin is also celebrated for its chickens (a species of herring;) but of late years their number has considerably decreas* ed, owing to the numerous wears, which destroyed the young fish. The small town of Digby, which owed its origin to the fisheries, is prettily situated on a light gra- velly soil at the water's ai^^Gy about three miles from the entrance of the strait. After passing an hour or two there, we pursued our course up the basin, which for its whole extent is divided from the Bay of Fundy by only a narrow chain of hills, between whose base and the mar- gin of the basin there is a strip of about a n.ile in breadth of well-populated and cultivated land. Near the head of the basin, at the inllux of the Moose River, are the re- mains of an iron foundry which was commenced in 1825, by the Annapolis Mining Company, with a ca[>ital of one hundred shares of 100/. each, and afterwards increased to double the amount, but failed through improper manage- ment, and is now mortgaged for a trifling sum. There was a fine field open for their undertaking, nearly all the minerals throughout the country being reserved by the Crown, and granted for sixty years by the late Duke of York to Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, who have only opened some coal mines at Pictou on the northern coast of the province. We arrived at Annapolis, situated ten or twelve miles up the river of the same name, early in the afternoon. Though formerly a town of so much note, it has now VOL. II. — X. IIO A subaltern's KlRLOUGII. dwintlled down into a place of inconsiderable importance, not contuininfr more tlian loOO inhabitants. From the year 171:2, when Nova Scotia was coded finally to (Jreat Britain by the treaty of Utrecht (which took place two years after the concjuest of the country by tieneral Ni- cholson with the forces of Queen Anne,) until 1749, it was the capiiul of the province, but in that year the seat of government was transferred to Halifax. From the first exploration of the country in 1003 by De iMonts, who built a fort tlicre cind named it Fort Royal, until 1712, it chan^'ed masters oigLl times, bavin;; been re- stored to France by treaty every successive time it was taken by the English. The old fort is yet extant upon a point of land firmed immediately below the town, by the junction of a small stream w ilh the Annapolis river, nnd is occupied by a detachment of infantry from Hali. fax. An old block. house, and a sf]uare brick building within the ramparts, bear such outward signs of antifjuity that one might almost imagine them to be coeval with the original French settlers. The principal part of the town runs in one street, parallel with the river above the fort; but to the eastward of it, on the land side, there is a continued succt'ssion of neat private residences for nearly a mile, all of which have gardens prettily laid out, and eren quickset hedges. These last immediately attracted our attention, being the first I had seen in North Ame- rica, though, at this time, I liad travelled 2000 miles in it. The orchards are extensive and numerous, much cider being made in this part of the province, and I could have fancied myself in an English village, had it not been for the negroes with whom the street swarmed, and whom I should never have expected to see in such numbers eo far to the north. On the morning of the 25th of September we left An- napolis, pursuing our journey to Bridgetown, fourteen or fifteen miles distant, where we crossed to the right bank of the river and followed its course over a poor and ex- ceedingly light soil. The township of Ailsby, fifteen miles in length, prc>duces only a crop of rye and Indian corn in three or four years, and then lies by for pasture for a length of time. A subaltern's furlough. Ill The day was stormy, with heavy rains, and the coach only a second-ham! American one, with " Western Mail, New York and IloboUen," upon the doors; neither was it water-proof, the canvass curtains hanfjini^ down in long shred.s, and llappini; to and fro with the winil. The horses too were poor s|H'ciinens of the Nova Scotian steeds, three out of the four hcinij lame ; the coachman iiowever was perhaps one shade more professional in his appear- ance than tiiose in the States. I attempted to kill tmie by readini^ Bulwer's Eii^^ene Aram, but was incessantly in- terrupted, when devourini; one of the most interesting chapters, by a prosing little woman, eighty years of a;?e, with snow-white hair, rosy cheeks, bright black eyes, and a set of teeth which would not have disgraced a Hrahmin. She was the very picture; of good health, but most unfor- tunately my neighbour, and apparently took a great fancy to me, as the fidl benefit of her colloquial powers waa bestowed upon me in some such interesting conversation as " Aye, these barrens are very dreary, but you will soon come to the scttiemont : — no^v there's a pretty inter- vale — this is a j)oor territory." Near the village of Ailsby we passed in sight of Cler- mont, the pretty country residence of the Bishop of Nova Scotia, and a few miles farther entered the Cariboo Swamps. It is the source of two rivers, the Annapolis and Cornwallis, which rise within a few paces of each other by ti»e road-side, and flow to the ocean in opposite directions, one em()tying itself into the Basin of .Minas and the other into the Basin of Digby. It was formerly a favourite huntiuir ground of the Ind.ans, but {e\v of the aniiuils from which its name is derived are now to be found in any part of the country. Every one forms some ideas of a place before he visits it, and mine were fully realized throughout this day's journey. After leaving the swamp we entered dense forests of pine, unvaried by a solitary habitation for many miles, and the few small clearings were plentifully covered with Nova Scotiau sheep, alias large black stones; but at Kentville, where we passed the night, the coimlry assumed a more fertile appearance, and our road continued within sight of the large prairie and rich dikes 112 A suualtehn's furlough. of Cornwallis and Horton. A long range of hills, from 1000 to 1200 feel in he ght, commence just beyond the village of Gaspereaux, which derives its name from a poor description of herring which run up a smull stream in shoals during llw spring, and are caugiit in such va^t quantities tliut the tishermen frequently allow the poor people to take them away gratis. They also form a con- siderable article of trade with the West Indian inlands. The rivulet winds up rather a pretty and fertile vnllev, twelve milos in length, between the village and the moun- tains, and has its source from a lake at the head. The yiew of Cape liloinidon.or Ulow-me-down (as it is nowsig- nificantly calU-d, from the heavy gusts of wind which pre- vail off its blutf point,) with the Basin of Minas and the opposite shore, is a fine and extensive one when taken from the high part of the llorton Mountains over which the road passes. For the first time in America, I saw a drag chain used in tlieir descent, but the road was excellent; and thoui,'h closely packed with eight peo[)le inside, and only two seats, we travelled the ten miles in an hour and ten minutes. Making a circuitous route of six miles in twenty, we crossed the Avon, about 180 yunls wide, and arrived at Windsor to breakfast. If a bridge were constructed across the river at this town many miles of mountainous country would be avoided. We were informed that one was in meditation some years since, and that the abut- ments of it were actually commenced, but the work was abandoned for some unknown reason. A long wooden pile of building, with a flat roof, occupies an eminence one mile from the town, with twenty-five windows in each story, which, consequently, might be reasonably supposed to be a cotton mill ; but, not being in the vicinity of any water, I came to the conclusion that it was a barrack : my loquacious neighbour however set me to rights by inform, ing me that it was the college. It certainly exhibits a strange architectural taste, though quite a modern building, the institution having been founded on'y thirty years. At this time there were twenty-one students, who are eligi- ble at the early age of fourteen, on account of young men entering so early in life. They are required to wear the A suhaltern's furlough. 119 cap and gown, but little attention appears to be paid in this re.s|)cct to the rules of tiie college. 1 saw some very unacadoniically-dressed young men in green shooting jackets, standing at the hotel door, smoking cigars and surveying eacii passenger as he stepped out of the coach. The only mark of scholastic garb they wore was the square cap and tassel ; and one of them crossed the street with his gown f(jlded up and carried under one arm and a large stick under the other. The qualifications of the president are, that he must have taken a degree either of iM. A. or Bachelor in Civil Law at Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. There are twelve divinity scholarships at- tached to the college by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, each scholar enjoying 30/. per annum for seven years. The object being that people may be induced to educate their children for the ministry of the Church of England, there are also four scholar- ships of 20/. tenable only for four years. At the foot of the hill upon which the college is erected is a large sub- stantial stone building, used as a preparatory academy. It was built at an expense of (5000/., and has also twelve divinity scholarships of 30/. attached to it, which are held cither for seven yearsor until matriculation, and, as well as those at the college, are nominated by the bishop and appointed by the society. Windsor, equally with every Nova Scotian town which I visited, impressed me favourably with the province. The streets are clean, and the houses have a respectable and pleasing appearance, superior to the Canadian villa- ges. The towu is situated uj)on tlie margin of the Avon, where it is 1100 feet broad, and is the great jiort for the exportation of gypsum, of which nearly 100,000 tons are carried annually to the United Slates for the purposes of farming ; but it is very little used in the province as a ma- nure, either not suiting the soil, or being improj)erly ap- plied. The whole fa^e of the surrounding country is scarr- ed with quarries, and the lofty banks of the river St. Croix, a few miles distant, are composed of the same mineral, and are nearly as white as th«^ clifts df Dover. It does not lie in a comjiact body, bui is intermixed with red and blue clay. After exportation, it is ground fine in a mill K* 114 jL subaltern's furlough. and scattered over the land by the hand in about the pro- portion of five bushels to the acre, answering well upon a dry sandy soil, and showinj^adark mark upon the grass, which springs up in the parts where il has been scallered. It is also said to prevent that bane of the farmer, the rust in the wheat, which are supposedlo be occasioned by the thick fogs of iNova Scotia. When we arrived at Windsor and walked to the piers, where the vessels were heading with gvpsuni, the bed of the river had a most singular appearance. As far as the eye could reach, only a thick bed ot yellow mud was visible, and the keels of the ves- sels were 40 feet above the level of a small fresh-water brook, which flowed in a narrow gully through it. The height of the tide increases in an unaccountable manner as it approaches the N. 10. along the whole coast ofiNorth America. At New York common flood does not average more than 5 or (> feet ; at St. John's it is from 20 to 25, at Windsor about 35, and, increasing in rapidity as the ba- sin becomes narrower, it rises near Fort Cumberland and Truro to the astonishing height of 75 feet in the spring tides. The captain of a vessel assured me that he had cast anchor in twelve fathoms' water in Chigneclo Basin, and had walked round l:is craft at low ebb. The crops throughout our journey appeared in a most deph)rable state ; in many parts they were yet green, though it was now the 2bth of September, and some were entirely destioyed by the frost, which had been capricious in the extreme : one field was probably quite destroyed, and the farmer at work cutting it for winter fi^dder, while the next was yet in a flourishing state. Owing to the lateness of the spring, and the early September frosts, it seemed probable that the farmer's yearly labours would receive but a poor return. Winter wheat is not sown in consequence of being liable to be thrown out of the ground at spring by theeflfects of the severe frosts in winter, and spring wheat is raised with difiiculty in some parts of the province. The crops in good upland vary from 16 to 25 bushels.* The other grains, however, grow well, oats yielding 25, rye 16, and barley 20 bushels. Indian corn * Halliburton's history of Nova Scotia. lis produces from 25 to 30 bushels, but it requires long heat, and the climate of Nova Scotia is too treacherous to be trusted long with impunity ; this year 1 do not recollect seeing above two crops which promised to repay the far- mer. The land is admirably calculated for potatoes, an average produce being 200 bushels per acre ; and the rotation of crops, after breaking up the green sward, is to commence witi: oats, followed by potatoes the second, and wheat the third year, when again potatoes, then wheat, accompanied by Clover and Timothy seed. Few farms are divided into fields which receive a prescribed treatment in turn, but remain in grass until the failure of the crops in>licates the nee -ssity of change; wheat and oats are generally sown in April, Indian corn between 10th of May and 5th of June, barley and buck- wheat 1st of June, and turnips 10th of July. Mowing usually com- mences the last week of July, and reaping the same time in August, but this season the hny was not stacked as late as the 9ih of October. Tiie following return was made a few years since under authority of the local gov- ernment : Quanlity of land in Nova Scotia, exclusive of Cape Broion, 9,904,HH0 acres, of these 6,119,939 have ^een granted, but l,78l.29,i have been escheated, leav- ing at the disposal of the crown 5,656,233 acres. Of the above quantity three parts is prime land, four ditto good, three inferior, and two incapable of cultivation : this is exclusive of lakes and land covered with water. The horned cattle are well shaped; but the horses, though hardy, are of a mi\(^d Canadian, American, and English breed, and have fallen oif of late years. When the Duke of Kent was governor of the province he used his utmost endeavours, by the importation of several Arab horses, to introduce a good breed, and partly succeeded ; but since then the best horses have been drained ofTby pur- chasers from the States. New Brunswick produces a superior breed in swiftness and beauty. A celebrated horse in that province, some few years since, took a sleigh upon the ice from St. John's to Fredericton, a distance of 76 miles, in six hours and a h.ilf. A useful pony, rivall- ing the Siielland in diminuliveness, and varying from 5/. to 71. in price, is in common use amongst the young peo- ple of i\ova Scotia. It is imported from Sable Island, an almost barren sand, 35 leaijues from ihe coast, Uj)on\vbich a few ponies of a larger l)reed were landed many years since as food for shipwrecked seamen, but, their numbers increasing too rapidly for the extent of herbage, many have been withdrawn, and a humane establishment has been instituted there ut an expense of 800/ per annum. From the same return which is quoted above it a|)pears that tiio cultivated land in Nova Scotia amounts only to l,*J9'J,0(»y acres, though the first crop after ckaring the ground always repays all expenses of labour and pur- chasing seed, the expense of felling and clearing away the wood being from 25 to 80shillmgs per acre; for cutting, heaping, burning, and fencing, 3/. I observed that here, as in the Slates, the sickle was but little used, the cradle scythe doing its work more expeditiously. We changed our coach at NVindsor for one of larger dimeu'iions, and, the Halifax races commencing the fol- lowing day, we had an addition to our party rth all its inhabitants, both horse and foot, who were either grouped upon the ramparts or brow of the citadel hill or listening to the military bands who played between the heats on the plain below. The scene was rendered more enlivening bv the numerous gay uniforms of the rifle brigade, Wth and 9()th regiments, which, with de- lachments of artillery and engineers, composed the gar- rison. The races had been set on foot by the ofTicers of the army and navy upon the station, many of whom carried olF the palm of victory in competition with pro- fessional jockeys. They were more suitably equipped too for running a race, according to an Englishman'* notions of dress, than the provincialists, who cut rather aa outre appearance riding in their shoes and loose trowsers. Many of the races were well contested, and the sports were kept up with great spirit for three days. A captain and subaltern became field ojicers on the course, owing to the treachery of the ground which gave way under the horses when they were making nearly their last spring to gain the winning-post. A midship. VOL. II. — L. 122 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. man merited by his perseverance what he could not gain by the fleetness of his s^eed, as he ran for almost every stake, from the cup down to the saddle and bridle. The grand stand consisted of a few pine boards loosely tacked together, and was altogether a most frail and tottering erection, and prior to trusting one's life in it, it would have been a matter of prudence to have insured it. We had one or two false alarms of •' coming down," from boys scrambling upon the roof, or gentlemen of heavy weight venturing upon the floor ; but, the generality of the ladies preferring to witness the races from their own carriages, the show upon the stand was limited to about a dozen or eighteen people. All booths for the sale of spirituous liquors were prohibited near the course, but the law was evaded by the proprietors of contiguous fields letting them for the erection of tents, which proved of some service in attracting all those who had an inclina- tion to be disorderly away from the peaceable portion of the assemblage. Wo dined at the public ordinary the same afternoon, held in the Mason's Hall, a room of noble dimensions, but rendered glo >my by the ceiling l^ing painted in most deplorable tasie f»f a deep black colour, varied here and there with a streak of white, a compass, a rule, an eye, and other strange devices of the craft. I could compare the general effect only to that of a storm about to burst over the heads of thj company, and it certainly much marred tiie beauty of the ladies w!io attended the ball in the ^ame room ih;; followin';: evening. The cup, which had been made at New York, was produced after the cloth was removed for presentation to the winner, a ci- tizen, and I believe the only one who entered a horse for the rices. The peninsula upon which Halifax stands is formed by the harbour, called Chebucto, and the north-west arm, which branches off at Point Pleasant, three miles below the city (the entrance being guarded by redoubts and Martello towers), and runs almost parallel to the harbour, approaching within a mile of Bedford Basin. Melville Island, where the American prisoners of war were confined, is situated under the rocky and lofty i A subaltern's furlough. 123 wooded bank a short distance from the entrance, but only a few old houses and a mill now remain upon it. The harbour is about 16 miles in length, and from 1 1-2 to 2 in breadth, terminating in Bedford Basin, which would alone furnish a safe anchorage for the whole British navy, the entrance to it not exceeding 800 yards in width, when it expands to a noble sheet six miles by four. The approach from the sea is well protected by the fortifications at York Point, some miles below the city, and George's Island opposite the lowest extremity of it. M'Nabb's Island of 1100 acres, purchased a few yeard since for 1000/., protects the shipping from the fury of the Atlantic. The peninsula rises rather ab- ruptly from the water, the streets being laid out parallel with the harbour from north to south ; but they are much confined by the citadel on the summit of the hill, and the crown reserves around it. The city is consequently much compressed in width, and occupies only a narrow strip of land, being about two miles and a half in length by a quarter of a mile in width, and ail the cross streets are inconveniently steep, but the corporation were as actively employed as at St. John's in levelling and mak- ing them more commodious. The buildings are nearly air of wood, there not being more than 150 stone houses out of 1000. At the last census, in 1^28, the popula- lion was 14,439 souls, the incrciise since the peace being but trilling. During the war it was the great British naval depot of North America, and the dock-yard esta- blishment gave life and employ to the city ; but a few years since a great portion of it was transferred to the Bermudas, as being central between the North American colonies and the West Indies, and the harbour not being liable to be closed by the ice during the winter months. There are great objections, however, to Bermuda, on the score of the climate, which destroys more naval stores in one year than Halifax would in half a dozen. The admiral and commissioner divide their time of residence equally between the two stations, and were on the point of sailing for Bermuda when we quitted Halifax. The citadel, which is raised upon an old fort of smaller dimensions, will not be completed for some years ; the 124 A subaxtebn's fuhlough. work is carried on chiefly by the soldiers of the garrison, who receive yd. per diem extra while eiiipk)yed during the summer months. The position is a commanding one, £iiid a fine prospect is aflbrded iVom the ramparts. The barracks at present occupied by the troops are of wood, with very little to recommend them, except some tine mess-rooms, and a library instituted by Lord Dalhousie, when Governor of the province. A hre would prove of infinite ^ervice towards beautifying the city, by destroy, ing both them and a great proportion of the private dwelling houses. Those even which are built of sub- stantial materials are principally of the shaley iron stone rock of which the i)eninsula is formed, and which con- tains such a quantity <>'' the ore that it oozes out in long streaks down the walls, and gives them a most lugubri- ous and prison-like ajipearance. Some of the public edifices are of a handsome freestone, and the Province Building, as it is called, situated in an open square, sur- rounded by an iron railing, and the interior prettily plant- ed with locust-trees, would not disgrace tlie capital of Great Britain. It contains rooms for the Council, House of Assembly, and all the provincial ofiices. Its external dimensions are 140 feti in length, 70 in width, and 4*J in height ; but the colonists do not appear to feel much pride about the grandeur of it, and their approbation of it is smothered in complaints of the extravagance of the cost. They have another source of lamentation in Dalhousie College, which occupies one end of the parade, where the guards mount daily, and which was commenced in 1820, but not comj)leted for want of the necessary funds. Ii is, also, a handsome freestone building, but unoccupied. Part of it, from humane motives, had been fitted up by the Governor as a cholera hospital, as veil as the levee room at Government House ; but fortunately neither of them was required. The latter is situated near the lower extremity of the town, but rather too near a burial ground. There are only two churches of the Protestant episcopal religion, St. Paul's and St. George's, the latter a plain circular wooden edifice, bearing a close resem- blance to the Coliseum : besides these, the Catholics and dissenting sects have six chapels. The number of pia* A subaltern's furlough. 135 ces of public worship, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, appeared far less in the British provinces than in the United States. On the banks of the river St. John, the great turnpike of New Brunswick, and along which much of the population is scattered, there was barely a church in every 30 miles ; and though on our route to Halifax they exceeded in number those in the sister province, yet still they were comparatively few to those in the States. The provincialists are exempt from all tithes, the ministers of the Church of England being supported by the Society for Propagating the Gos- pel in Forci'^n Parts, from which they receive an annuity of about 200Z. sterling (nearly 250/. currency^. The Society also allows 25/. for each new church, and one was pointed out to me which had been actually erected for that sum. In addition to the twenty-one clergymen thus paid, they have also many schoolmasters and cate- chists in Nova Scotia, upon salaries from 15 to 20 and 30/. per annum. The followers of the church of Scot- land are the most numerous of the various denominations in the province, there being by the last oflicial return 37,225; of England, 28,(559 ; of Rome, 20,401; Bap- tists, 19,7'JO, and only three Jews, who, as the American saying is, are no matrli for any one in Yankee land, or the countries north of New York. We attended the theatre one evening to witness the performance of " Sim|)son and Co.," and the " Poor Sol- dier;" but almost took alarm at the box office, which was in a damp corner on the ground floor behind a green curtain, where we received some dirty play bilK, not broader than the riband of a lady's bonnet. The inte- rior of the house well corresponded with it. We managed to obtain seats in the front box, from which an active man might have almost leaped over the people's heads in the pit on to the stage. Altogether it was much like pertorniing in a sentry-box; we were so close to ihe performers, that a darkened eye- brow or rouged cheek could be easily detected, and the prompter's voice was heard in every sentence; yet, spite of these objections, the good citizens were flattering inemselves thai Fanny Kemble would extend her engagements from the Statea 126 A SUB.VLTEB>('s FUKLOUGH. to the capital of Nova Scotia. The house was very thinly atiended, but the heat was so oppressive that in half an hour we were glad to beat a retreat to our quar- ters, where I was again, for the second time during my travels, confined to my bed by indisposition for two days, but was happily surrounded by military friends, who soon set ine on horseback attain. I gave the band-box of a theatre the full credit of inducing if not of producing my indisposition. We enjoyed many pleasant rides towards Point Plea- sant, and the pretty private residences near the city, and passed an entire day in visiting Rockingham, where Prince's Lodge, formerly the Duke of Kent's country seal, is moulilering into dust, and in making the circuit of Bedford Basin. The road winds prettily along the margin of the water through a thick grove of birch and forest trees, crossing innumerable rivulets which pour their tributary streams into the bat-in from the rocky and but thinly inhabited country with which it is surrounded. The lodge is a large wooden building six miles frcm the city, without any claims to architectural beauly, and, from its numerous large sosh windows, may be likened to a conservatory or a lantern, there certainly being a greater proporti(»n of glass than timber in the front. The grounds have been laid out tastefully, and the situation is exceedingly beautiful, overlooking the broad expanse of the basin, from the edge of which it is about *M)0 yards. After the Duke's departure from the province, the pro- perty came into the possession of Sir John Wentworth, the Lieutenant-Governor, who allowed it to fall into its present ruinous and forlorn state. Not a vestige of the double tier of verandahs remains; the balcony and pa- rapet railing are hanging in the most doubtful su.^pense ; and, when we expressed a wish to see the interior, the old soldier in charge said that he would not insure us against either vanishing through one of the flr.ors or be- ing buried under the failing roof. The old guard-hous^e has been converteii into the stables of a comfortable inn, the scene of many garriiioo • ic-nics and citizens' Sunday parties. VVe continued our route to the village of Sackville, at A aUBALTERN's FUHLOUGH. 127 the head of the basin, three miles farther, where there is a small military post for the apprehension of deserters ; and struck into the forest by a bridle path, over the same rough and hilly country to the village of Dartmouth on the opposite side of the harbour. The Shubenacadie Canal, which was designed for the purpose of connect, ing the Basin of Minas with the harbour, and thus di- verting part of the trade of the western towns of the pro- vince from St. John's in New Brunswick, has its com- mencement in rear of the village. The original estimate of the expense of finishing the entire work was 75,000/., the canal being 5:3 miles in length, and 60 feet in width at the surface, with suthcient depth of water for vessels of eight feet draught. I'he locks were to be 90 feet in length within the chambers, and 19 1-2 feet in width, in- order that steam boats might tow vessels of considerable burden from Halifax into the Bay of Fundy, and thus save them the long circuit of a dangerous coast. The lejijislature at the commencement made a grant of 15,000/., and the heaviest expenditure would be upon the first section of 1200 yards, at an estimate of 23,000/., the canal being raised by seven locks into Dartmouth Lake at an elevation of 70 feet above the level of the sea. Thence, with but short exceptions, it would run through a connected chain t)f lakes, into the Shubenacadie (de- rived from Shuben, sii;nifying a '* river," in the Micmac language, and Acadie. the original name of the pro- vince), which Hows into the Basin of Minas, that great reservoir of rivers (receiving the waters of not fewer than eleven powerful streams). Owing to an error in judgment the work has entirejy failed, and the canal, now under mortgage to (jovernment for 25,000/., is in as forlorn a state as the Prince's Lodge. Instead of the expenditure being entirely confined to the first section, which would have opened a communication with the lakes, it was spread out in portions through the whole sections, not one of which was completed, the original estimate falling far short of the requisite funds ; and, all attempts to increase the stock proving fruitless, the work was laid aside, and the scheme is apparently abandoned. The locks are of fiiie substantial masonry, their bottoms 198 ▲ subaltern's furlough. composed of excellent inverted arches ; but, many of them being in an unfinished state, the frost and heavy rains are already committing great havoc. It was stated that Colonel By, the engineer of the Rideau Canal, had lately surveyed' the works, and had given in an estimate of 75, ()()()/. for the completion ; but here, as in the other British jjrovinces, that same sad waiit of a spirit of enter- prise is very aj)parent ; and the chances arc that the ShubcnacadieCtuml will be in statu quo a century hence. VVe had an opportunity while at Halifax of seeing some of th(! provincial militia. They were well equipped in every respect, and appeared to take some pride in making a soldier-like appearance. They had lately been engaged in several sham fights with the garrison, and the skirmishing over several miles of rough ground had instilled such a martial spirit into them, that they were parading voluntarily to perfect themselves in military exercise. The province can muster 22,000 infantry, but no cavalry as in New Brunswick. There is a settlement of negroes a few miles from Ha- lifax, at Hammond's Plains, the commencement of the military road laid out by JSir.Iohn Sh(;rbroke, in a direct line to Annapolis, through the dense forest, which lessens the intermL'diate distance nearly one-third. Any one would have iniaginttl that the Government would have taken warning from the trouble and expense it incurred by granting protection to those who emigrated from the Stales during tl e Revolution, 1200 of whom were re- moved to Sierra Leone in 1792 by their own request. Again, when 600 of the insurgent negroes, the Maroons of Jamaica, were transported to Nova Scotia in 1796, and received every possible encourngement to Thecoma good subjects, by Ixring granted a settlement at Preston, and being employed upon the fortifieations at Halifax, yet they too soon because discontented with the climate, and, being unwilling to earn a livelihood by labour, were removed in Ib'OO to the same colony as their predeces- sors, after costing the island of Jamaica more than 45,000/., and a large additic-nal sum to the province. Notwithstanding all this, when the runaway slaves were received on board the fleet otf the Chesapeake during A subaltern's furlough. 129 the late war, permission was granted to them to form a settlement at Hammond's Plains, where the same system of discontent soon arose. Many of the settlers jjrofess- ing they should prefer their former well-fed life of slavery in a more congenial climate, and earnestly petitioning to be removed, were sent to Trinidad in 1821. Some few of those who remained are good servants and farmers, disposing of the produce of their lands at the Halifax market ; but the majority are idle, roving, and dirty vagabonds. In 1S27 the population of Nova Scotia was 12;^j^^48, of which number 3U()0 were negroes. After spending ten very agreeable days, we letl Halifax with regret ; the society and manners of the inhabitants are so thoroughly English, from the rapid succession of new comers and the gaiety attendant upon a place pos- sessing so large a garrison, that a temporary abode there for seven or eight years might be comparatively desir- able. It was now the latter end of the first week in Oc tober, and the frosts had taken very visible effect upon the forests, which for the first time I began to think most beautiful. The bright and pleasing tints of the various trees exceeded any thing I had ever seen or could have imagined. I hud been rather disappointed at the first appearance of the American forests, and thought them rather insignificant than (jtherwise ; lor, with the excep- tion of the stately hemlock, which I should crown queen of the grove, they produce no trees which are to be com- pared to the wide-spreadinir, graceful banian of Ilindos- tau, or the gigantic teak and thingan of Pegu. It is in the autumnal months only, when the vast variety of vivid tints is brilliant beyond conception, that the American forests can outvie those in the land of eternal summer. The growth of all the primeval forests through which I passed in various parts of the continent, and on the dis- puted boundary of New Brunswick, which had never been invaded by the woodman's axe, was usually small ; and nowhere did I see trees wliich bore such marks of anti. quity as the oaks and yews of England, where " the monarch oak Three centuries he grows, and three he stays Supreme in state, and iu three more decays." 190 A subaltern's FTTRLOrCn. Each tree, as it attains its prime, begins to decay, and, soon dying, falls prostrate to enrich the soil from wliich it sprung, and the whole surtaco of the ground is thickly furrowed with the small undulations of the decayed trunks — the burial-place of their former grnndeur. At this|season, however, it appeared as if some painter, in a frealf of fancy, had dabbed his brush into all theditferent hues of his colour box. and rubied each on the paper carelessly and thoughtlessly, yet without arrangement had j)rf>duced a most perfect picture. After the first sharp frost tiie maple becomes of a bright crimson ; the birch a dull and the walnut a glittering yellow ; the sumac a deep pink or damask, and more brilliant than the red beech : the oak soon follows with its brown and In- dian red. The light green of the willows is pleasingly contrasted with the heinlock and pine, which, with the evergreens, retain their dark foliage; and each tree in succession assumes nn appearance which is entirely un- known in our English groves, presenting, " as the ranl-.B asrond Shade above* shade, a woody theatre Uftlatehest view/' The hemlock is not a native of the Nova Scotian forests, and there is but little oak and cedar, which latter is much used in the adjoining province for making trunks, answer- ing the same purj»ose as the Chinese camphor-wood for expelling vermin from linen. After visiting the Sherbroke Falls, in a deep romantic dell, nearly excluded from the rays of the sun, upon the pleasing little stream which runs through Kentville, we visited the settlement of Cornwallis, and proceeding three miles farther, sent in our cards to Mr. Prescott, a gentle- man residing on the margin of the Basin of Minas, with a request for permission to walk through his gardens. He very kindly accompanied us, pointing out the various exotics he had introduced into the province, and which were in a most thriving state. Apricots, grapes, and peaches, were ripening in the open air, and had a most delicious flavour, probably heightened by their being the first we had tasted since leaving P^ngland. The privet and quickset hedges, with some acacias, as well as various A subaltern's furlough. 131 European trees, were flourishing as if they were indige- nous to the soil, and scarcely any of his numerous expe- riments in gardening had failed. His house, which was situated between Horton on the opposite side of the Corn- wallis River and the great Wellington Dyke, had been built on what, twenty years previously, was a compara- tively barren flat, but, by mixing several thousands of loads of the marsh soil with the red sand, he had pr(Wuced a rich and excellent earth. We varied our road on our return to Kentville by visiting the Wellington Dyke, which was thrown up a few years since at an expense of 20,000/., and reclaimed 600 acres from the Basin of Mi- nas. This fme arm of the sea is so discoloured by mud, from the furious violence of the tides, that the marsh continues increasing from the great deposits, and enclo- sures are mude whenever a sutiBcient quantity will repay the vast expense consequent ui)on an embankment. These enclosures were made so far back as the French era, and previously to their expulsion from their rich farms, and transportation to the back settlein'.nls of Mississippi and Louisiana, under the pretext of tlieir exciting the Indians to acts of hostility against the English and refusing to take the oath of allegiance. The d} kes, which niquire frequent repairs, had been much damaged by the inroads of the sea between the interrneaiaie time of the expulsion of the rightful owners and the settlement of that part of the province by people from tlie State of Connecticut. Previous to the war of IToG. the Acadians exported wheat to Boston, but tlie dyked lands appeared more in use for hay and grazing at the poriod when we visited tliem. The Wellington has produced as fifty bushels of wheat to the acre, and is rich enough to bear cropping for a cen- tury without manuring. But the dyked lands of Windsor, consisting of 2544 acres, are considered the most product- ive in the province. Morton, also, contains about 4000 acres of an excellent quality. Assessments, proportioned to the expense of keeping the embankments in repair, are made annually on the occupiers ; at the Grand Prairie, where there are more than 2000 acres, it amounts to about Is. 6d. per acre, but in more exposed situations it is somewhat higher. All the rivers flowing into the ba- 193 A subaltern's FIJBL0T7GH. sin furnish a vast quantity of this fertile land ; the Canar affords 2000 acres, of which the Wellington Dyke is a part. The highest part of this embankment is where the road crosses the river by means of it, and it is there about 40 feet above the level of the water, and CO in width, but on the marsh and level ground it varies from 12 10 15 feet in thickness, and from 8 to 10 in height. Aboi^aux, or sluices, must necessarily be constructed acnjss the creeks, with swinging gales for the purpose of letting off the Hoods at ebb and closing at Hood-tides. Tiie upland in this portion of the province is strong and rich, but the mountain poor and cold. Tliat which is composed of alluvial deposits from rivers and brooks, swollen by the rains in the spring and autumn, is in con- siderable quantities, and called '' intervale," a new-coined American term. The following morning wc were on the road again to Annapolis, with a learned coachman, who favoured us with a dissertation on the pronunciation of French in general, and the derivation of many of the Nova Scotian names of places from that language. Such as that Cape Blow-me-down was corrupted from Blo-mon-dong, which he gratuitously taught me to pronounce with the true nasal twang, and instilled into me that " llave-a-chjuice River," which llows into the basin near the above cape, and " Knock. me-down Street" in Halifax, were only vulgar denominations for what originally bore more dignified titles. A subaltern's furlough. 133 CHAPTER X. God's benison go with you, and with thoso That would make good of bad, and friends of foes.' Shakspmrx. How calm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour, when storms are gone; Wiien warring winds have dii-d away, And clouds, beneath the glancing ray, Melt oft*, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity I MooRE. Neither good Christians nor good arguers. Atterbury. With feelings consequent on separation from a compa- nion whose sentiments so exactly tallied with my own, and whose society had made this part of my expedition so ploasfint, I b^de adieu to St. John's on the mornin<< of tiio lOih of Octob'ir. Tho weatlier was in melancholy harmony with my feelings ; for when I entered the steamer the sky was bright and clear, with a fresh south- easterly breeze, and only a dark line like that of a bold and distunt coast to be semi low down upon the horizon; this gradually increased to a bank of clouds, its upper extremities tinged with yellow by the morning sun, and then by degrees approaching us more rapidly, and in huge rolling masses, it shortly enveloped us in a dense damp fog. The sun, however, gaining the ascendancy, gradually broke through thin portions of it with a dazzling light, and in forty or tit'ty minutes the whole was carried away to leeward by the heavy and increasing gale. I had never before witnessed this, the usual approach of the fog from the banks of Newfoundland. After a run of sixty miles along an iron-bound coast, we arrived at Eastport, in Maine, one of the United States. The approach to it is pretty, the channel winding amongst numerous rocky islands within the British lines. There is a house upon one of the last of these islands (if a small VOL. II. M. IM A subaltern's fvblougii. barren rock, 100 yards in length, deserves such a name) which was erected at a great expense by one of the reve- nue officers. Midway between it and the town is the boundary, an imaginary hne running through the centre of the river St. Croix and part of Passamaciuoddy Bay. The first object, which is suj)ereminently apparent from the deck of a vessel, is the huge star-spangled banner, which, rivalling a ship's topsail in capaciousness, floats above the red roof and glaring white walls of the barracks, on a rocky hill overlooking the town. The town itself is quite an American one, containing 'JUOO inhabitants and four places of public worship. The streets as usual are regularly laid out as per compass and rule, and most of the private houses white as the driven snow. The land- iug-place is the most inconvenient that could have been devised ; we arrived at low water, and the vessel's deck was consequently some twenty feet below the level of the quay; whoever wished to land was therefore under the necessity of clambering up a perpendicular, slippery, and wet ladder, with staves eighteen inches asunder : even one or two of those were missing, so that the scaling of it was utterly impracticable for a lady, aiid a gentleman would find it no eayy task. There were two parties, the asccmling and descending, who wished to gain possession of it; a fat, choleric New Brunswicker, who had been terribly alfecied by the gale, volunteered to pioneer the way for the rest of us, and by dint of perseverance once arrived halfway up the ladder, when he received such a thump on his head from the heavy heel of a porter, who was descending with a trunk, that he rejoined us by that rapid mode which sailors call ''hand over hand," and then awaited patiently until the long stream of passengers and their baggage had reached the quarter-deck in safety. As soon as I set foot again on the land of calashes,* politics, India-rubber shoes, and vile rocking-chairs, I en- tered a bookseller's shoj», which made a far greater display than any I had seen in Montreal, Quebec, or Halifax, supplying not the immediate neighbourhood only, but a great part of New Brunswick with literature. The care- * Lo:>6e bonnets, of a light green or dark blue colour, worn by American females. A subaltern's furlough. 135 less, tooth-pick manner, however, so characteristic of his countrymen, with whicli the young: gentleman behind the counter, with a forage cap set carelessly on one side of his head, answered one or two of my questions, and then walked away to make his dog open the door for the amuse- ment of some children, was quite sufficient to disgust any man who might entertain even more charitable opinions of the Americans than myself He was doubtless aware that I had just landed from the British provinces, and so thought tit to treat me with what he considered a specimen of republican sang froid. I observed that there was a more bitter feeling existing between the two nations along the whole extent of frontier than in the interior of the two countries, though nearly one-third of the inhabitants on each side of the boundary line made a livelihood by carrying on a smuggling trade with the other. If loyalty to England consists in hatred to America, I would then give the Canadians, and the borderers of New Bruns- wick, the full credit of being superabundantly supplied with that very excellent quality. The town, whicli was taken by the British and kept in possession during the last war (the principal American trade during that period being carried on at Lubec, a few miles distant on the main land,) is situated upon the southern end of Moose Island, four miles in length, and connected with the continent by abridge at the northern extremity. The harbour is an extensive and safe one, extending many miles up Passamaquoddy Bay, and land- locked by the numerous islands. Some salt works have been established near the town, and conducted so as to evade much of the duty by importing the mineral from England, vi:i St. John, and boiling it in the States, the duty upon the coarse mineral being comparatively small to that upon English salt. There is also a foundry for the melting of scrap or old iron, conducted upon some- what similar principles. Neither sailing-packet nor coach departing for the south-west during the ensuing twenty-four hours, I pro- ceeded in the steamer to St. Andrews, a sea-port of con- siderable importance on a peninsula of New Brunswick thirteen miles from Eastport. The scenery up the bay is 186 A subaltern's furlough. fine and bold, the Shamcook Hill rising in roar of the town to the height of 1100 feet, the only paper-mill in the province being situated upon the small river which flows near it, and bears the same name. When we ar- rived within two miles of the town, the tide was half ebb. and, the night being stormy and dark, the steamer ran its keel deep into the mud. After remaining there sulh- cientlv long to exhaust all our sttx-k of |)atience, we took to the boat, and, landing up'>n the beach near a light-house, sought our way, drenche«i with rain, and covered with mud, to the liotel. The light-house (lucusa non lucendo a^ain!) shows no light, the establishment necessary for trimming lamps, watching, «Scc. putting the third port in New Hrunswick to the expense of :iO/. |)er annum, which was deemed loo extravagant a sum for the benefit of 300 inward and outward bound sail annually, was accordingly reduced, the light being removed to another situation, 300 yards from the point against which it is intended to warn mariners. The present beacon is merely a common lantern placed in a pigeon-box bow-window, protruding from the secon^^ story of a house, where its dim rays are exhibited at an annual contract of 15/., though it can barely be distinguished from the light in any other win- dow in the town. The steamer had reached her customary anchora^' ground during the night, but was high and dry at the usual time for sailing, having drifted from her anchors by the heavy gale. The rain still continuing to pour down, I resolved to return by water to Eastport, in pre- ference to taking the American coach frc^m Robbinstuwn, opposite to St. Andrew's; and, having a few hours to spare, I walked throuirh the town despite of the storm. It is one of the neatest in the provinces, contains from 1500 to 1800 inhabitants, and has a considerable trade with the West Indies. As the name would almost imply, the population is chiefly of Scottish descent, but the influen- tial people of every class were absent at Fredericton, subpcpned as witnesses in a trial of libel upon a revenue officer by the editor of a newspapc. While busily engaged in taking a sketch the morning after my return to Eastport, the blue Peter and loosened A subaltern's furlough. 137 topsail of tho Portland packet by chance caught my eye. Leaping fence and ditch, I soon gained the inn, where I found the landlord bustling about in sad distress at my absence, the Captain having already sent twice in search of me. In a few minutes more I was on board the " Boundary" schooner of 150 tons, with 45 passengers, and seventeen of that number in the small cabin. Our skipper was a hale, weather-beaten, healthy-looking sailor, a native of New Brunswick, but a naturalized American, so that he might be qualified to command the vessel. He was quite an oddity in his way ; I asked him one evening, for want of something better to talk about, when I came upon deck, whether he thought we should have any more wind during the night. "I shall be able to tell you more about it in the morning," v/as his gruff reply. In less than five minutes a lady tottered up the hatchway. "Will it rain, Captain?" "You had better apply to the clerk of the weather, ma'am ; he's able to tjell you more about it than I," said the roui^^h old tar. Standing out of the bay by Grand Manan Isle, we found a heavy head swell upon the sea from the gale of the preceding days, which caused the usual commotion amongst the fresh-water sailors. Our little vessel, how. ever, cut hor way gallantly through it until the second day, whnn, the weather moderating, she glided gracefully and smoothly upon her course. All the passengers were again alive; the gentlemen congregated in the cabin, discussing the well-worn and hackneyed subject of poli- tics, and the merits of the several candidates for the presi- dential chair. Jackson, Clay, and Wirt, were in turn abused, ami, the morals of all being called into question, the argurnent somehow or other branched off at a tan- gent, and. settling down into one upon religion, continued with but little intermissinn for ten hours, and was re- sumed with as much vigour the following day. All the disputants were very conversant with the Scriptures, but I was so unc'iaritable as to doubt whether such know- ledge had not been acquired more for the sake of religious discussion than through any pure religious feeling. As were their tenets, so were their scriptural readings, varied and numerous ; the pros and cons followed in rapid sue- 138 A subaltern's furlough. cession, and apt quotations were at every one's finp^ers' ends. The ladies, in number live or six, most of whom were young and pretty, passed the evening with their cabin door oi)en, singinc: with good voices, in full chorus "the Death of Sir John Moore," " L-a-w, Law," and several English and Scotch ballads. Their stock being exhausted in an hour or so, like the gentlemen in the morning, they were then " se'iHed with a rolin^ious qualm. And on a Hudden sung the hundredtli psalm," in which one gentleman attempted to join them, his voice chiming in at intervals, ever a bar in rear or advance of the rest, with a most ineffable twang, producing a sound approaching nearer to that of a cracked trumj»et at a puppet-show than any thing I can imagine. The remain- ing nine gentlemen, proof against the charms of the sy- rens, were arguing thf merits of various kinds of tooth picks ; whether metallic, goose quills, i>ins, chips o^ wood, or the point of a jack-knife, were the best; after a warm dissertation upon so interesting a subject, the palm was awarded to the chips of wood, the singing gentleman, with an upper row (by his own acknowledgment) of false teeth m his head, vowing he would "give 1000 dollars for a handsome set." On Sunday, the 14th of October, we were off Manegin Isle, the scene of action between the ** boxer" and ** En- terpri!»e"in 1813; and the piis>:engers, having requested a Nova Scotian Calvinistic preacher to favour us with a discourse, had all assembled upon tlie flour barrels with which the deck was covered. A heavy squall coming on, when every one was wrapt in deep attention, nearly threw the schooner upon its beam ends, and dispersed the meeting in a most unceremonious manner ; some rolling away to leeward, and others down the compan'on ladder, did not make their appearance again until we arrived in port. The wind freshened to a stiff gale offshore to- wards sunset, and rather unfavourable for making Port- land Harbour, where the Captain intended touching to land a part of the passengers, including myself; but the others, who were bound for Boston, ascertaining that it was a fair wind for that port, proposed carrying us there A subaltern's furlough. 139 and defraying our expenses back to Portland. All agreed to this arrangement excepting myself, who would not consent to being taken a circuitous route of 200 miles when the vessel was within three miles of its destined port, and merely to please a party of people to whom time was an object of no importance, and who would not put themselves to the slight inconvenience of a few hours' delay to please me. After holding on for about an hour, and perceiving that the general opinion must be that I was both obstinate and unaccommodating, I relented, and agreed to proceed to Boston ; but, when the depu- tation applied to the rough old seaman, he answered, to my infinite satisfaction, that " he had never sailed for Portland without making it.'' The wind however haul- ing still more a-head, and a short high sea rising, into which the schooner plunged so heavily that she could only carry the foresail, while she made as much lee as head-way, the old skipper was reluctantly obliged, two hours before midnight, to bear up for Boston. Running along the coast, in sight of numerous light-houses (there being seventeen in a hundred miles,) in nine hours we entered Boston Bay, after a long passage of three days from I'lastport. Having seen all the lions during my previous visit, there was nothing to detain me beyond one day, which I passed in strolling about the city. Washington's statue was encircled as filthily as ever, and the city guards were marching about as before in their strange half cavalry half infiwUry uniform. One novelty there was, — the Tremont Theatre was open, and I attended to witness Waliack's pnrf^rmance in the "Brigand" and "Rent Day." Thf> last time I bad seen the former, was in the Amateur Theatre at Calcutta, where the characters, with the exception of that performed by the "Star" of the night, were much better sustained, and the scenic arrange- ments altogether superior. There were many incongru- ities, such as a young mnn apparently twcnty-five years of age, dressed as a dandified rulfian, talking of his ac- quaintance with the old Stcv/ard twenty seven years before. I never saw the character of an English peasant properly dressed or personated by an American actor. 140 A SUBALTBRn's FURLOIGH. Of our yeomen they make idiots, and of our servants inso- lent clowns. When a talented performer appears upon the American boards, he shines nlone, unsupported, and the piece goes off dull and irksome during his absence from the stage. Greater support is certainly given to the drama in America than in England, and still it can boast but of one or two able native performers. Some of the scenery, from the brush ol' a Mr. Jones, possessed consid- erable merit, and I thought the interior of the house supe- rior even to those of New York and Philadelphia. The ladies, of whom there was a very large attendance, paid a complimentary tribute to Mr. Wal lack's excellent act. ing by displaying a lung line of white handkerchiefs, which were constantly applied to their eyes ; but the male part of the audience showed no outward and visible signs of approval, and an Englishman entering the house at the close of some beautiful scene would have almost imagined that it met with their disap|)robation. Walking into the capacious and finely cari)eted saloon, 1 read a notice over the door, *' resj>ectfully retjuesling gentlemen not to wear their hats in it." .Mine was in my han«l immediately, but not seeing an other individual of the si.xty or seventy per- sons who were present conforming to the rule, 1 resumed mine forthwith, for the sake of uniformity. Early the following morning I passed through Stone- ham and Reading ; and walking on as was my custom, in hopes of seeing something worth sketching, while they "shitted horses." I fell in company with a man who was proceeding in the same direction. After answering his queries, whence I came, whither I was bound, and passing a few cursory remarks upon thecholera and the weather, I cross-examined him with regard to the quality of the soil, and wliat kind of a harvest had been gathered during my absence. One of his answers was unique and des- criptive. *' Wli^ sir, turn a goose into a ten acre lot of it at spring, and it will come out at fall thinner than it went in; it could not get its bill between the stones to pick up the grasshoppers, and there are plenty of them.'' The country certainly did not promise much, but the apple trees were weighed to the ground with the over powering load of fruit. We crossed the rapid and shallow A subaltern's furlough. 141 stream of the Merrimac, nearly 200 yards in width, three miles beyond Andover, where there are the fine buildings of an extensively patronized theological seminary. At the vilhige of Methucn, seven miles farther, 1 walked to view some falls on the Spicket Creek during the time the letters were sorting, and was well punishecl for breaking the vows I had made not to look at any thing in the shape cf a cataract for another twelvemonth, so surfeited had I been with them. Upon a moderate calculation, about a hatful! per minute contrived to escape over a rocky ledge thirty feet in height, from a dam which diverted tiie main body of the stream to two large grist mills. We had six-in-hand throughout our journey over tole- rably good roads, with a light load, and I never saw men more expert at their business than coachmen on the 260 miles road between Boston and Burlington. It was ra- ther amusing to witness the manner in which they restrain- ed the horses when descending a steep hill, wrapping the reins of the leaders round their arms up to the elbows, using their feet to those of the wheelers, and then, lean- ing back on their seat, with the whip thrown upon the roof of the coach, they tugged away with both hand and foot. By sunset we arrived at Concord, the capital of New^ Hampsiiire, situated upon a light sandy soil on the west- ern bank of the iMerrimac, which is navigable for boats to Sewall's Falls, a few miles higher. The town, con- taining about 2000 inhabitants and five churches, consists of two streets running north and south, each more than a hundred feet wide, and a mile in length, with a row of large drooping elms on each side. The houses are of a pretty style of architecture, with double verandahs sup- ported by light colonnades, and may vie with those of Northampton on the Connecticut River. The State House, a fine granite building with two wings, the roof surmounted by a light tower, dome, and globe, with a pro- digious golden eagle to crown all, is situated in the cen- tre of a grass square 155 by 100 paces, with iron railing in front and rear. I never entered one of the State Cap- itals but 1 found some additions or alterations making in the prisons, and, though not a Howard, I generally pryed 142 A subaltern's furlough. into all. The Americans have an excellent system of admiting visitors to these institutions, upon payment of a trifling sum, usually a shilling' sterling, which is sufhcient to keep away mere idlers, the incurious, and the old ac- complices of the prisoners, and to j)roduce an income from which salaries are allowed to extra keepers, whose time is occupied in attendance upon visitors. In the Con- cord prison, sixty males (five of tliem for life) were con- fined, and one female, who, according to the keeper's ac- count, was a more troublesome and mutinous subject than all the rest together. It was conducted partly on the Auburn system, but fell far short of it in interior econo- my and indeed in every other res|)ect : the shops, cells, and kitchen were not equally clean, nor were tlie priso- ners under the same discipline and good management. When at work, the prisoners are allowed to converse upon subjects connected with their trade, the keeper acknowledging it would be an improvement if total silence could be insisted ujK)n, but stating that some communica- tion between them was indispensable (at Auburn however, it is not permitted). The articles which they manufac- ture are not disposed of according to contract, but by the warden, with the same injurious effects to the industrious artisans in the neighbourhood as at Auburn. The trades were few, being shoe makers, blacksmiths, carriage ma- kers, and stone masons: these latter were employed in erecting an additional wing to the prison, to contain three tiers, or 120 of the honey-comb cells in use at Auburn. Heretofore, from two to eight prisoners have been confined during the night in a large, badly ventilated cell, with a solid iron door, and a narrow loop hole to admit a breath of air and ray of light. This free intercourse in their cells has been the cause of several attempts to regain their liberty. The use of the lash has not been intro- duced, the refractory being punished by solitary confine- ment ; but, when the latter is adopted to the extent of the Auburn system, it is difficult to see how the former can be dispensed with, or, if so, what will be the means used to keep up the necessary discipline. From Concord we waded, on the 18th of October* through 18 miles of white sand, to breakfast at the village A subaltern's furlough 143 of Sandbornton, leaving the Shaker settlement at Canter- bury three or four miles to the right. Some of the houses were similar to many I had observed in the British pro- vinces, being built without any foundation, and merely resting like a large box upon the levelled ground, or on a piece of rock at each angle, and, from all appearances, very liable to be blown over by the first heavy gale. Such a fate had befallen one I saw in Nova Scotia, which was literally topsey turvey. The road was carried over the apex of every sugar-loaf hill between the manufac- turing town of Meredith and Centre Harbour upon Lake Winnipiseogee, when a circuit of half a mile would have taken it upon nearly a dead level. The latter village is situated at the western end of this lake with the long name The sheet of water is twenty three miles in length, and varies from two to five in width, and is so studded with islands as to warrant the assertion of the country people that there are as many as there are days in the year. Tlic dominion of the sovereign of some of them would not however extend over more than five square feet of solid rock, nine inches above the surf-ice of the water. A steamer was upon the stocks, intended for the navigation of the lake; and it was in contemplation to form an inland communication with the tide waters and Connecticut River, by Scpiam Lake, two miles to the north west. Baker's Hiver, and a ciiain of ponds. It is 472 feet above the surfnce of the Atlantic, and 272 above the Merrimac, at the junction of their waters. A magnificent view is said to he air)rded from the summit of Red Hill, 1500 feet in height, three miles from Winnipiseogee, but the scenery was too wooded and had too great a same- ness for my taste. The road circled round the base of the hill, which appeared at a distance, with the sun shining upon it, like burning lava, so brilliant were the autunmal tints of the trees. Dense forests of pine stretched far away upon every side and at the base of the Sandwich mountains, 3000 feet in height, whose summits were thick- ly enveloped in clouds. The narrow stream of the Bear Camp, with which the road ran parallel, was choaked up with misses of timber which had been cut the preceding winter, and floating down towards the Saco, had been 144 A SUBALT£RN*S FURLOUGH. left by the falling of the waters. In many places, for the distance of a quarter of a mile, we could not obtain a glimpse of the stream, such a perfect and solid bridge had been formed over it by the logs. Heavy rain set in at sunset, and, to add to our misfor- tunes, we were detained two hours at a small inn near Tamwoith for the Dover coach, which brought an addi- tion of a fat gentleman, who, weighing at least twenty stone, occupied a third of the interior of the two horse vehicle in which we were to proceed. When our coach- man saw his new passenger squeezing hmiself edge-ways out of his late conveyance, he exclaimed with a shrug of his shoulders, in great astonislnnenl and alarm, *' My eye! a'inl lie a burster ? it might well be late ; we shan't see the end of our journey this night." Preferring exposure to the rain to being crushed to a mummy with five insides upon two seats, I took my place with the coachman, who found it no easy task to steer us safely between the large stumps which lined the narrow opening, misnamed a road, through the forests of Norway pine. The darkness of the night was rendered nxjre gK><>my by the thick f<»liag<- of tlie trees , so, while the coachman attended to the in- tricate navigation, he requested me to '* fix" the lamps, the oil and wick being of so bad a quality as to fully oc- cupy me in trimming and snuffling throughout thirteen most dreary miles. After twice breaking down, both of which accidents were placed to the credit of the fat man and his carpet bags, M-e succeeded in reaching Conway, seventy. three miles from Concord, by half-past nine o'- clock, after a fatiguing and rough journey of eighteen hours. A subaltern's furlough. 145 CHAPTER XI. Hm nature this rough naked piece designed To hold inhabitants of mortal kind ? Satagi And from the hideous crash distracted flies Like one who hears his dyin^c infant's cries, Near, and more near, llie rushing; torrents sound, And one great rift rui.s through the vast profound, Swift as a shooting meteor, groaning loud. Like deep-rolled thunder through a rending cloud. Ibid. The year was now so fn.st upon the wane, the days shortening, and the weather so intensely cold, that it re- quired no small stock of resolution to enable one to desert a warm bed at a quarter to three in the morning, and en- counter a keen north-wester. In four hours we arrived at Bartlett, sixteen miles from Conway, when I walked out with my sketch-book while breakfast was preparing, for the purpose of attempting an outline of the fine moun- tain scenery, but could not command my pencil, and soon found my way back shivering to the house, where 1 esconcodmyself ina corner by the bright kitchen fire until the coach was once more rendy to start. We were now hemmed in by lofty mountains, between which the road wound, preservinga level alongthcrig'u bank of the Saco, istrong mountain torrent, which, notwithstanding the en- croachments made upon it with strong embankments, on- ly allowed sufficient space for a single carriage to pass in many places between the rocky barrier on the one hand and its impetuous waters, a considerable depth beneath, on the other. Numerous broad water-courses, which bore the marks of great periodical inundations when they are swollen to gi^'antic rivers, descend to it from the moun- tains' tops, being, as a gentleman who was by chance my fellow-pnssenger with great pathos expressed it, "as the veins and sinews to the human constitution." All vestiges of cultivation ceased from Bartlett until the seventh mile, when we arrived at a small farm in a solitary but pretty .<.pot, which had been nearly carried away by the floods VOL. II. — X. 140 A BUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. SIX years previously, with a loss of land of the value of 2000 dollars to the proprietor. Another hour's drive brought us to the Notcli of the White Mountains, when I alighted from the coach with a request that my baggage should be left at an inn ei«;ht miles farther, and sat down by the road side to admire the awfully grand and sublime spectacle which the Notch presents. The day which had been so cloudly and cold in the early part became more favourable, and the sun darted its invigorating rays through the clouds, resting on the sum- mit of the bleak and precij)it()us rocks with which the val- ley is bounded. 15y degrees the light vapours arose, melting into air, or floating away gracefully and majes- tically, and laid open a scrne which would defy the pen- cil of any artist to delineate faithfully. The Notch, as the term implies, is a narrow pass, six miles in length, at the southern end of the White Mountains, the loftiest of which. Mount Washington, is ()'^i4 feet above the level of the sea ; but on each si; and the valley, choked up with trees uptorn by the roots, remnants of bridges, build- ings, and huge masses of rock piled upon each other in the greatest disorder, presents what might be almost ima- gined as the wreck of nature. A melancholy and inter- esting story is connected with this storm, which will for years to come be the cause of thousands making a pil- grimage to the White Mountains. I give it ai related to me bv one who. though not an eye-witness, was in the immediate vicinity at the time it uccured; it was as fol- lows: — A farmer of the name of Willey, with his wife, five children, and two labourers, occupied a house with a small farm at the upper end of the valley. They were much esteemed for their hospita])le attentions to travellers, who overtaken by night, sought shelter at their hearth, which was the only one in the Notch, their nearest neigh- bours being at the farm aforementioned, six miles distant The hills at that time were thickly overgrown with forest- 1. subaltern's rURLOUGH. 147 trec'S and shrubs; nor had any thinn^ ever occurred to make them suspicious of the safety of their position, un- til the descent of a small avalanche, or slide of earth, near the house in the month ofJune, IS'ZO, so terrified them by the havoc it caused, that they erected a small camp in what they deemed a more secure place, half a mile lower down theSaco. The summer had been unusually dry until the beginning of July, when the clouds collecting about the mountains poured forth their waters as thoug-h the flood- gates of the heavens were opened, the wind blew in most terrific hurricanes, and continued with unabated violence for several days. On the niirht of the 26th of the month, the tempest increased to a fearful extent, the lightning flashed so vividly, accompanied by such awful howling of wind and roarinir of thunder, that the peasantry ima* gined the day of judofment was at hand. At break of day on the '27th, the loftv mountains were seamed with the numerous avalanches which had descended during the ni?ht. Every one felt anxious respecting the safety of the family in the valley, but some day^^ elapsed before the river subsided so far from its extraordinary height as to allow any incjuiries to be made. A peasant swimming his horse across an eddy was the first person who enter- ed the Notch, when the terrible spectable of the entire face of the hills having descended in a body presented it- self The Willeys' house, which remained untouched amidst the vast chaos, did not contain any portion of the family, whose bodies, after a search of some days, with tlie excejytion of two children, were discovered buried under some drift-wood within 200 yards of the door, the hands of Miss Willey and a labourer grasping the same fragment. They had all evidently retired to rest, and mos^t probably, alarmed by the sound ofan avalanche, had rushed out of the house, when they were swept away by the overwhelminiT torrent of earth, trees, and water. The most miraculous fact is that the avalanche, descending with the vast impetuosity an abrupt declivity of 1500 feet vrould give it, approached within four feet of the house, when suddently dividing, it swept round, and, carrying away an adjoining stable with some horses, it again form- ed a junction within a few yards of the front. A flock 148 A BUDA'.TEKKS rCRLOUOH. of sheep Avhicli had sought j>heh« r under tlie \ec uf tlio house were saved; but the family had fled from the only spot where any safety could have h"en found, every other part of the valley beini,^ buried to the deptli of several feel, and their camp ovemlielmed by the larirest avalanche wliich fell. A person standing in rear of the house can now with case step upon the roof, the earth forming such a perpendicular and solid walL A small avalanche was seei. descending from one of the mountains some days after the above occurrence. The thick pine forest at iirst moved steadily along in its up- right position, but soon began to toiler m its descent, and fell headlong down with redoubled fury and violence, fol lowed by rivers of tloating earth and stones, which spread over the plain, carrying devasaiion far and wide. The Jong litat of summer had so dr id and cracked the ground that the subsequent rains foun .' easy admission under the roots of trees, which, loosened -y the violence of the wind, required but little to set the wl ole in motion. There was no tradition of a similar descei i 'laving ever taken place , but, upon a close examination, traces of one whicli had evidently occurred more than a century before could be discovered amongst the forest A chance stone rolling dov n the mountain's side, and a partridge starting up from .inder my feet during the time I was occupied in sketching, brought an unvoluntary shudder over my limbs, and the very idea of an avalanche descending and interring me alive caused me to hurry through my work and pursue my progress out of the lonely valley. The ground ascends gradually to the gap. which is twenty feet wide, between lofty barriers of solid rock, the Suco and road both passing through this space, which was widened by blasting twenty-two years since. Previous to that time the road passed over the suuimit of the rocks, at so precipitous a i>itch that the farmers were obliged to carry their produce on its way to Portland over that part of tlieroad themselves, assistingtheir horses by means of ropes and the bridle up the ascent. A new sleigh, formed of two young pine-trees, in a few minutes ejiabled them to pursue their journey. The Saco rises in a small flat opposite T. Crawford's inn. half a mile far- A subaltern's rURLOUOH 149 ther. from which to E. Crawford's, where I found my bairgan-e. was four miles through an almost impenetrable fo rt'Si. There being no other visitors at this late season, my evenings were passed by the fire-side in listening to my host's lenirthy stories about hunting the cariboo, moose, deer, bears, and partridges, with which the mountains abound, and which he went in pursuit of with a gun of four feet barrel; or in sympathizing with him in his dis- tress at what he considered his sole property being poach- ed upon by no less a person than the proprietor of a rival hotel, which was opened within three-quarters of a mile, and, displaying a gaily painted sign of a lion (like a snarling cur) and an eagle, looking unutterable things at each other from opposite sides of the globe, had already, attracted numerous quests. Mine host stated the merits of his case witli great elocjuence, and. from his having been the original guide, surveyor, and maker of the road up the mountain, he had some right to look upon the new comer iu thcjight of an interloper. The spirit of rivalry had. however, proved of some service, having incited him to make considerable additions to his own house, all of which were run up with true American expedition. The white pine was growinu: in the forest in January, and in June formed an inhabit. -d house, the planks, which cost only five dollars per thousand, being kiln-dricd as soon as thev came from the saw-mill. After waiting most patiently two days for the clouds to clear off. anfl afford me a sight of the lofty mountains, 1 resolved to take my departure the following morning, with- out attaining the grand object of my journey. Upon awakinir on tbe 21st of October, after a violent stormy night, 1 found the window of my room thickly encrusted with frost. In an instant I sprang out of bed, and, seeing a clear blue sky, hurried on my dress, tumbled down stairs head foremost, minus hat. slock, and boots, but with pen- cils, paper, rubber, and board in hand, and throwing back the door of the bouse, rushed into the open air to seize the lonnr-wished-for sketch, when, lo and behold I thick dark clouds hung more heavily about the mountain's brov/ than even on the preceding days. The wind, too, cut tflO 1. subaltern's furlough. like a razor (that of the briny gods upon the equator, I mean,) so 1 darted up stairs again into my berth, and, burying my head under tlic clothes, blamed myself for not having selected a room which had one window at least towards the mountains. My host, however, consoled me at breakfast with the news ih it the wind was blowing the clouds away, and that my wi lies would be gratifn-d in the course of the day; but, U]k< i my proposing to ascend Mount Washington, which w is thickly covered with snow, the guide said that "he wouid not go up for a five-dollar bill, for that it would requirt two men lo hold my hat on" I therefore satisfied my clin.bing propensity for that day by ascending Mount Deception, wliich is well named, and atlcrds ample fatigue for unambitious travellers. The prospect tliat the ensuing day would bring more moderate weather induced me to prole ng my stay for the pur|»05e of ascending the loftiest. Mount ^\'ashinL:ton is m irly in the centre of a con- tinued range running from lorih to south, each of which is named after ilie president j of the I'niled States in suc- cession : but, as usual, one political parly of the people will not consent toCieneral J.ickson's name beingaggran- dized or immortalized in th range of White Mountains The height oi the principal of this chain above the waters of the Coniieciicut Kiverat J.ancaster, 300 miles from the sea, is as follows; Washingl »n, 5t>49 feet ; Adams, 63^2; JetTerson, 5'2^0; Madison, 50 {8; Monroe, 4931 ; Q.nincy, 4470; Pleasant, or Jackson, 1338. T. Crawford's house is 635 higher than the \\'illeys', and 345 higher than E. Crawford's, which is 1009 feet above the Connecticut. Avalanches have descended from all the summits, and continued for a great distance along the level ground, tlie largest (which is from Mount Jackson) being upwards of four miles in length. At half-j.ast four, on the morning of the 22d of Octo- ber, I .<4et oir in com|iany with a guide for the foot of Mount Washington, leaving the selection of the road to my steed, which, having served a loni: apprenticeship, car- ried me safely through the Huckleberry s\Aainps and forest for six miles. We were detained a few minutes by some windfalls, which the guide cleared away with his 151 axe ; and after fording two small creeks, and the broad bed of the Ammonootuck River four different times, we arrired at a place where the road being impassable for horses, we tied them to a tree and commenced the ascent. The guide favoured me with brief advice upon the thesis of" Festina lente," and, profiting b}-- his hint of not com- mencing the journey at too rapid a pace, I led the way up a rough and steep path, which admitted of our walk- ing only in Indian file. It became excessively precipi- tous at Jacob's Ladder, 100 feet in height, which is formed of smooth angular stones, and could not be ascend- ed except by assistance from the roots of neighbouring trees. The lower part of the mountain was covered with deep moss and forest, which diminished in growth as we ascended: th»' beach and mountain-ash gave way to spruce, which dwindled at every step, and at the cape of a long projecting ridge called the " Camel's Rump."' it did not grow more than six inches high, the branches shooting out in long horizontal fibres, inclined towards the baee. as if seeking shelter from the strong gusts of wind which sweep dovn the mountain's side. At Table Rock, two miles from the base, all vegetation ceased, excepting a few occasional patches of cranberries and coarse grass, which, half a mile farther, gave place to sharp glittering frag- ments of rock, partly overgrown with grey moss. All natural landmarks ceasing, small fragments of loose stones have been erected for the guidance of people who may be enveloped in the clouds. After climbing up one or two steep pitcbes, we gained the summit at a quarter past eight, having been an hour and three- quarters in the performance of three miles from the base. The view from it is most extensive, nearly one hundred mountain tops rising bt-neath the feet like the billowy swellings of the ocean ; but it did not, I must confess, altogether answer my expectations, nor, to my taste, wa? it equal to that from Mount Holyoke. where all was richness and life. Here was an unvaried view of moun- tain and dale alike covered with forest, the small settle- ments but indistinctly visible from such an altitude, and scarcely relieving so dark a mass. The course of the rapid Connecticut was marked out by the light morning im A 9UDALT1RN 8 FURLOUOH mist floatincf over it ; the green mountains of Vermont were visible eighty miles' distant in the west ; and a long streiik of light, far away upon the eastern horizon, appeared to point out the waters of the broad Atlantic; but the sun shining briL'^htly upon the surface of the va- pours in the valleys rendered a|>pearances so deceptive that it was difficult to distinguish between them and the numerous lako6 with wliich that portion of the country abounds. The summits of all the White Mountains, excepting that of Washinirion, which has a short llat ridge with a sliirht peak at each end, are rounded olf. and com])Osed of loose fragments of granite, which, at the distance of some miles, assumes the white appearance from which they take their name. The intense heal of the American summer usually thaws the snow upon them by the end of August, but this year it was found, during that month nearly ten feet deep in the ravines U])on the eastern side. and for several days had again covered the last mile of the ascent with a fresh coat. The walk had so heated me that when I s;il down on the cold rock, to jtartake ol our bread and cheese breakfast, with ice in lieu of water (the spriuirs being frozen.) the keen air almost made my blood, which had been accustomed to warmer climes, freeze in my veins, the thermometer standing three de- grees below the freezing point at nine o'clo(?k, with a cloudless sky. The Ammonoosuck liiver, rising in a small pond between the summits of Wasliington and Madison, rushes down the declivity for 40()0 feet, with a tumultuous uproar, and, taking its course j)ast E. Craw- ford's house, flows into the Connecticut a lew miles below Batti. 1 found the descent more difficult, though more rapid* than the ascent, mv feet slipping from under me several times )ipon the icy surface, and causing me to shoot far- ther ahead than my own free-will would hare dictated The guides have a great source of profit in the beavers with which the mountains abound, each skin producing a dollar. They take many hundreds of them in the autumn, by meant of traps composed of a larch tree, with a transverse one upon it. set along the sides of the A subaltern's furlough 153 path at forty yards' distance from each other, and baited with meat. In two hours we gained the hotel, nine miles from the summit, and taking one of the common dear- borns or wagons which was passing a few minutes after, and performed the duty of the mail in those rough roads. I proceeded thirteen miles through an uninhabited dis trict to Bethlehem, the settlement of some new religious sect, and arrived at Littleton the same eveninir 164 A subaltern's furlough CHAPTER XII. I had as lief be a Brownist as a politician. bUAKSIt^KE. Once more upoodle," and thus made my triumph complete. " 1 rode out early the following morning to the iron- works at Franconia, about six miles distant. They are the pr()j)crtv of a company, and produce a metal of soft, tough quality, considered superior to any in the States. The ore isfound in considerable (juantities in the hills, three miles distant, and supplies another foundry in the imme- diate vicinity; b(»th establishments, however, are uj)on a small scale. 'l^irsuing the Plymouth road for seven miles, I entered the Franconia Ni)tch, a continuation of the White Mountains' range, and visited the " Prohle of the ( tldiMan ol the Mountain,'" which is a most singular lusus naturae. An exact representation of the human features. .IS seen in profile, is most correctly delineated by the liand of nature upon the brow of a bare rock nearly 1000 feet in perpendicular height. No art could improve the ef- fect, nor could any attempt be made to assist it; for, the proHle being seen perfect only from one point, the slight- est deviation from that spot throws all into a confused mass. 'I'he upper part of the rock, too, upon which it appear, is so overhanirini; and free from shrubs for nearly '^^JO feet that all access to it is inipraoiicable. One branch of the Pemigewasset River, which subsequently takes the name of the Merrimac, rises in a small pond at its base, and opposite to Mount Lafayette, which is 4300 feel in height. We set of the same afternoon in a mail cart drawn by one horse, over a hilly road and a good farming country, to the Connecticut River which we crossed to Waterford in the State of Vermont Walking into a small tavern at 156 seven o'cloek, during the time our solitary horse was re- lieving, we fount] a fine portly landlord, sittinir with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper by the blaze of a cheerful wood-fire. " Good evening. Colonel." said the driver; "tarnal cold weather this." "Aye," answered the gallant olficer, rising from his arm-chair to make room for us, and resembling a trundling hogshead of ale in colour and shape, as he moved towards the bar; "you are here sooner than I calc'lated; I're been at work fixing the road till sun-down, and making it as easy for you as 1 could by throwing dirt on it." So, in truth, it j)roved; for we could scarcely move two miles an hour through this marsh of his creation. 1 liad fre- quently taken notice of this novel method of making or repairing a road in these parts of the Slates. The art consisted in tirsi turning the ground up with a common plough, which was followed by a slightly-curved, broad boar^, edged with iron, and a long handle attached, which, upon being elevated by the person who had the guidance of the'inachine, penetrated the loose earth, and scooped itself full, when, being aij^in depressed, the load was moved by a yoke of oxen to that part of the road which required repairs, and not unfrequently was it emp- tied into a deep rut filled with water. The Americans in general are not much given to wasting time, labour, and expense, upon the highways. During a journey of 1500 miles J did not see a solitary labourer employed upon them. Three hours' cold drive over the same miserable roads took us by six o'clock on the morning of the 25th to Ca- bot, nine miles from Danville, where we had passed the night. Thence passing the pretty falls of the \Vinooskie, which rushed over a fu rest -crow^ned precipice by the road side, we continued along the tourse of the stream to Mont- pelier,the capital of Vermont, containing '^OlK) inhabitants, and situated in a retired valley about half a mile wide, encircled by lofty hills, and at the jimction of the Onion and Winooskie rivers. It was a day of election, and the State-house, a shabby-looking edifice occupying one side of a square, was crowded with the inhabitants, amongst whom a great sensation had been created by the 15^ proposed removal of tlie seat of government to Burling- lon on Lake Champlain, tliirty-eig^ht miles distant. Six horses took us rapidly from Montpelier along the margin of the Onion liivcr, a narrow stream, but subject to heavy and sudden Hoods. The preceding year all the mills and factories at Middlesex, through which we passed, were carried away by the waters, and in many instances rough gravel-beds, or plains of white sand, had been left in exchange for rich and fertile meadows. One house was pointed out to me as having floated three-quarters of a mile from its original position, Avilhout much apparent injury; another had been left by the retiring of the wa- ters on its gable end, and many had been swept away with all the proprietors' goods and chattels towards Lake Champlain. Not a bridge escaped uninjured: we crossed one, constructed entirely of thick planks, upon a similar principle, and with similar success, to the sloop "Experi- ment'" at Washington. Symptoms of yielding to passing carriages early appeared, and the centre was now strengthened and sujiported by strong props from the bed of the river. The coachman pulled up for a few minutes to enable us to take a peep at the natural bridge near Bolton, the road passing within a few feet of the deep chasm at whose base it is formed. Appearances plainly demonstrate that the ridge Avhich appears on each bank was originally connected, forming the dam of a large lake, and that the bridge was caused by the waters forc- ing the barrier, and the falling masses of rock becoming wedged in the narrow space. Four or five miles farther is seen the loftiest of the ( Ireon Mountains, known by the nameof the Camel's Rump, from the form of its summit, which however bears a much closer resemblance to the Li- on Couchant at the Cape of Good Hojie. The whole jour- ney from Montpelier was delightfully pleasant, and through a most romantic valley, from a quarter to a half mile in width, bounded by abrupt limestone rocks, which rose at intervals, with the lofty range of the Green Mountains in their rear. Extensive farms of rich alluvial soil occu- pied either side of the Onion River, and numerous pic- turesque villages were scauered over the face of a hilly and wooded country. VOL. II. — o. IS8 The sun had set ere we arrived within a view of tht buildings of the University of Vermont, whicii crown the eminence at the entrance to Burlinirlon. My limited time would not admit of a stay of any duration, but it ap- peared, en passant, a neat, pretty town, built on a light, sandy soil, lisiuL'' trradually from the Lake. Taking the steamer which touched at ten o'clock the same night on its passage from St. John's, on the Sorel River, we proceeded down Chamj)lain, with a cabin full of fiery, hot-headed Clayites and Jacksonmen, each espousing the cause of his favourite candidate so warmly that sleep was out of the question for any of the non-combatants. Fa- tigued with the length of my day's journey, 1 retired ear- ly to my berth for the purpose of inviting the drowsy god; but, the war of words waging louder and louder, I reliti(|uished it, for the sake of learning whether any individual could possibly broach any thing new upon the subject. The only instance that occurred was in the person of a tall, broad-shouldered Kentukian, some six feet two inches in height, who, to my infinite satisfaction, put an end to the* discussion, and dispersed the entire conclave, by saying to a little Clayman, "You are a nreity sample of a white man, now a'int you? I wish J nad a tallow-candle here to grease your head, and I would swallow you whole.*' The man of Cloy, though little in body, was great and spirit, and, nothing daunted, drew himself up to his utmost height, which did nut exceed five feet three, and bustling up to the tall Keniuckian he an- swered, with a warlike shake of his head, " You would find me a bitter pill, I guess." The several disputants, however, slunk off to their cots before the wrath of the western giant, and in a few minutes more, all electioneer- ing animosities appeared buried in temporary obliNion, or superseded by the long and deep-drawn breath ^^hich is- sued from their respective berths. We passed the classical spot of Ticonderoga, the scene of so much bloodshed, at break of day, and arrived with- in a mile of Whitehall by eight o'clock, when, the river becoming too narrow for the steamer, the passengers walked to the town over a fiat, swampy ground, and im- mediately after breakfast embarked in a packet-boat, on 159 the Champlain and Hudson Canal. The piers were covered with people, who assembled to witness the start- infr of the opposition coaches and boats, which, as usual •jlsewhere, were exerting themselves to ruin each other. A steamer gained a quarter of an hour's start, but six liorses towed us through the water at a half canter, and we overtook it upon the point of entering a lock, when it again gained a few minutes by leaving it full of water. Any one would have imagined that all the passengers had some great stake at risk, so laboriously did they toil at openinir the gates, and exert themselves to gain upon their rival. The road running parallel with the canal, I st'.'pped into a coach which was pursuing the same route, my baggage in the hurry being thrown ashore most unceremoniously. The steamer's progress through the water being impeded by having her paddUs under the centre of the vessel, she was soon left far in the rear. Two miles beyond the long straggling village of Fori Anne, we entered upon tiie military road constructed by General Burgoyne for the transportation of his batteaux and artillery, on the march from Quebec upon the Hud- son in 1777, two months previous to his surrender at Saratoira. Portions of it are at this time in an excellent state of preservation, though upon the marshy ground it is formed of the trunks of trees a la corduroy. It takes nearly a direct line for the town of Sandy Hill, below which the British General threw a bridge of rafts across the river, and took post at Saratoga on the opposite bank. At the last-named town, twenty jniles from Whitehall, we gained the first view ofthe Hudson, which is here about 200 yards wide, and bounds, murmuring between high and well-cultivated banks, over a succession of shallows, with a descent of seventy feet in a quarter of a mile. Descending the hill into Fort Edward, two miles farther, an aged pine tree, wliose summit has been blasted by the lightning, is seen within a few yards to the right ofthe road. By the side ofthe spring at its foot, the melancholy murder of Miss M'Crae was perpetrated by the Indians who accompanied Burgoyne's army in the disastrous expedition of 1777. Thi9 young lady, who resided at Fort Edward, ivai both 160 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. l)eautiful and hi l-"!!!)' accompli^shed, and was contracted in marriage to a rerug-ee otiic.er of the name of Jones, in the I5ritish service, who, anxious that the union should take place, despatched a party of Indians to escort lier to the British camp. In opposition to the wishes and entreaties of her friends, she willingly entrusted herself to their charge, but had proceeded only thus far upon the journey when they were met by another party, sent upon the same errand. A di.spute arising about the promised reward (a barrel of rum), she was slain in a fit of savage passion by the chief, from whose hands she was snatched, and her scalp carried to her ai,'ouized lover, u ho was anxiously expecting the return of the parties, as a testimony that they had not failed in jmri pi-rformance of their commis- sion. It i.^- said that the otiicer died soon after of a broken heart. The American.s at that time indu.r> IS'.T) . . 18t»7 lyib 1829 So. caicuiiiunj^ lent, upwards of one-lilih have dej^rrtid and one-fourth have been tried by courts-martial during the lust year in- cluded in the above return ; and, taking that of the low- est year one in nine have deserted, and one in six have Been tried by a military court ! The general average gives the number of desertions in nine years equal to the whole army, and that of courts-martial equal to it in four years. Desertions from the Englir^h troops on the American frontier, I am sorry to say, are not unfrequent but they are extremely insignificant when compared with the above. That ihe present standing army of the United States is too small for even checking the preda- tor}' incursions of the Indians is evident from the cir- cumstance that, at the breaking out of the war with the Sac and Fox Indians, near the Illinois territory, imme- diately after my arrival in America, a placard, address- ed " to the Patriotic Young Men of New-York."' ANtis posted in every conspicuous part of that city, staling that DesertidUi. Courts Martial. Cist, in dollars. i'A)^ 1093 58,077 Nil ii7r> 70,39s HKi I'JO*^ 07. KS r):^r> 111.-, r>9393 si^ 9'.»1 01.341 s-JO 1 nr, 0.».137 il)*>'i 90,820 ji.s utmost ex- 1 ' ' •) 2 tile armv at 0000. which i.v A subaltern's furlough, 165 500 volunteers were " required for immediate service upon ihe north-west frontier." I could not asceitain whether any such soldiers of a day composed part of the force which proceeded upon service, but nearly an entire division of which deserted to Upper Canada when their more dreaded enemy, the cholera, appeared amongst the ranks. I twice saw the cadets at drill, but their long hair, dirty grey uniform, and want of erect military carriage, were sufficient to mar the appearance of the finest body of men in the world under arms. The words of com- mand, too, were issued in such a draulinp- careless tone of voice, that the movements were necessarily performed in a similar manner, — devoid of all smartness and preci- sion. The interior economy of the establishment, how- ever, is said to be well conducted, and strict discipline is enforced by Colonel Thayer, the present gentkmanly and able commandant. Though the soldierlike appear- ance of the cadets might not have exactly come up to my expectations, yet, if ever the two nations are so unf )rtu- nate as to meet again in hostile array, the good eflects of this institution will be apparent in the polished manners and information acquired there by the American officers. In former campaigns, generals have been called from the rear of tluir counters to assume the command of armies, and men who could not even sign their name from the plough to head divisions. Owing to the scattered state of the forces, it was my fortune to become acquainted with only few military and naval officers : hut the uniform at- tention and kindness 1 experienced from all was such that I should feel proud in being enabled to render similar courtesies to any one bearing a commission from the Unit- ed States. We embarked in the afternoon of the 28th of October in the gigantic steamer, the " North America," which shot through the Highlands at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. I should have had all the New-Yorkers up in arms, and inveighing against me in no measured terms, had I ventured to express anything like disappointment at the scenery of the Hudson. But so it was, and my expectations were not realized : because, as at the Falls 166 of the Mohawk, its beauties had been much overrated. I had fTencrally heard the Hudson compared to the Rhine, and many, indeed, professed to think it superior; but my want of taste (I should imagine) wouUl no more admit of such a comparison than it would that New-York and London should be mentioned in the same breath. Tlic scenery between Albany and West-Point is not in any ways remarkable; the IliLrhlands, when taken sepa- rately, liave nothing interesting, and no single reach of the river possesses any particular beauty. 'J'he rocky hills, covered with a thin and low growth of trees, aj»- proach to the water's etigr, without any signs of cultiva- tion (»r habitations to give the scenery life. The tout ensemble is all that is pleasing, and the numerous crag- gy precipices towering one above another alone possess any claims to the picturesque. I had kept the Hudson in reserve, as a kind of bonne bouche, previous to my im- mediate departure for England, expecting that I might see it to the irreatest advantage at a late season in the year. For this hint I was indebted to the great Amri can novelist, and shall make a short extract from il "Spy" as being more graphical than any thing I can compose upon the subject, and as exonerating me from the trouble of penning a laboured description. " To be seen in their perfection, the Highlands must be })assed im- mediately after the fall of the leaf 'I'he picture is thrn its chastest keeping; for neither the scanty fdiage whi the summer lends the trees nor the snows of winter ai < present to conceal the minutest object from the cy Chilling solitude is the characteristic of the scenerv nor is the mind at liberty, as in March, to look forwai' to a renewed vegetation that is soon to check, without improving the view."' After passing the Highlands, the river expands into several fine bays, and the shores assume a more fertib appearance. In turn we rapidly passed the extensive pile of buildings of Sing-Sing state prison, conducted on a similar system to Auburn, and Tarry-town in the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow, of Sketch-book memory, with Tappan upon the opposite side of the bay of that name. A pas. genger pointed out to me a spot upon the road which wine A Subaltern's furlough. 16t dnWrt the side of a hill from the Highlands into the little Tillagre of Tarry-town, where the tree formerly stood under which the three militia-men were playing at cards, when Major Andre rode up, and, losing his usual presence of mind, was captured; one of the three men is yet living. I perfectly agreed in the old passenger's remark, as he Avas relating how he had played under the very tree when a child, "that Andre was too much of a gentleman and too honourable a man foi the undertaking." I believe that the Americans generally sympathized in his fate, and that great efforts were made by Washington to capture Arnold, and thus save Andre. Thoucrh it must be allow- ed that he suffered accordingto the rules of civilized war- fare, yet still I am one of those who think, considering all the circumstances of the case, that Andre might have been well spared, and such an act of mercy would have added another ray to the lustre of Washinirton's name. Andre's remains were removed at the latter end of the reign of George III. from the valley in rear of Tappan, to a vault in Westminster Abbey.* The Palisadoes, a range of perpendicular flutted rocks, like the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, extend along the right bank of the river, to the height of 200 feet, and exclude all prospects of the interior for 20 miles below Tappan. The opposite side is also hi^rh ground, but inter- spersed with villages and cultivated lands. The evening had set in by the time we npproached New- York, where the long lines of streets, running in a direct line from the river, brilliantly lighted witii gas, and steamers momen- tarily passing us, which left a long fiery, comet-like train (tf sparks from the many chimneys of their timber fed furnaces, presented altogether a fine Vauxhall effect. In three hours and a half from the time we had left West- Point, we landed at New- York, Hfty miles distant, though a flood-tide had been making against us during the greater part of the time. The " Champlain," in which I embarked at Albany, performed the entire trip of 144 miles in little more than nine hours, including fourteen stoppages to land passengers, being an average speed of nineteen n^iles per hour. * Vide Appendix III. 168 A subaltern's furlouoh. The city had now resumed its wonted gaiety ; the cho- lera panic had ceased ; the citizons had reiiirnod to their customary occupations, and Broad way was ai^ain tlironi^a-d with carriages and the battery with loungers. The theatres were re-opened; the witty auctioneer was again punninc^ to a crowded room ; and an Italian company had established themselves, bidding fair to supersede the pef- formers of the drama in public opinion ; in short, all car« appeared to liave vanished with the pestilence. It now only wanted two or three days to the commencement of the quadrennial election, and new squibs or caricatures were hourly teeming from the press, llickory-lrees, em- blems of the Jackson party, were planted in many streets of the upper part of the city, and were as often cut down during the nii:ht by the advocates of Clay. 1 saw one, nearly GO feet in height, brought across the East River from Brooklyn, accompanied by a grand display of boats, colours, and music, and afteruards planted with much ceremony uj)on one of the quays. Every one assured me that party sj)irit had not run so high since the republic had been acknowledged, and 1 can certainly testify that the whole country was in a perpetual state of ferment from the day of my landing until that of my embarka- tion for England. There is generally a break in the weather in the month of October, which, from being cold and boisterous, be- comes mild and genial as spring during several days, and is termed *' Indian summer." It continued during my stay in New- York, nor could any thing be more delight- fully pleasant than it was. The few days I had to remain ashore were passed in visiting Staten Island and the sur- rounding country, which I had omitted during my former visit. I also attended the Bowery Theatre one evening to witness the performance of a new national drama, en- titled " the Cradle of Liberty," in which, as uj^ual, all the wit was upon one side, and levelled point blank at the Brhish. Patriotic sentiments were received most enthu- siastically, and one — " the proud flag of England shall be lowered never again to rise" — created most tumultuous ap- plause. The plot throughout was, however, a most meagre production, and the composition replete with plagiarisms, from the opening scene to the fall of the green curtain. A aVBALTlRN's FVRLOUOH. 169 At sunset, on the 1st o( November, 1832, the packoi- ^hip, " North America," of (520 tons, in which I had en- gag-ed a passage, was clear of Sandy Hook, and standing out to sea in a thick haze before a southerly wind. The London and Havre packets were in company, but our swift sailing run them liull down in a few short hours, and we met not a single vessel from that time until wo entered the chops of the channel. "."Scun-ely any thing can exceed the comfort and attention teperienced on board the American packet ships, where the cabins are fitted up in a costly and elegant style, and the dinner-table is loaded with a profusion of delicacies. When in addition to these recommendations there is a g-entlemanly Captain and an agreeable party of passengers (as in this instance,) even the most misanthropic being might live with few regrets during a voyage across what has now become a mere ferry. Late on the 5th day we were on the banks of Newfoundland, with a heavy swell, and thirty-five fathoms water. The wind lulled for a fe\r hours, as if in order to enable us to heave to under our main-topsail and take thirty cod-fish, when a north- westerly G^le springing up, with sharp squalls and rain, we scudded before it, and on the Nth day were in sight of the high lands round Bantry Hay and Cape Clear, Ireland, 301)0 miles from our startinir post* The weather now becatne serene and beautiful, and, had not the dead calm which succeeded the gale threatened to frustrate all our expectiuions of making the shortest pas- sage upon record, we could with pleasure have remained a week or two in the same .situation. I never experienced a more delightful and sudden transition. The days were more mild and genial than in the month of May; the sun set with all the softness and mellowed tints of an Italian clime; and, on the night of the 15th of November the northern lights illumined the heavens with an unusual brilliancy. The heavy gale had swept away the dim blue haze which generally hangs over the land, and the bold and picturesque coast of the south of Ireland stood forth with all its Iranscendant beauties. All around us, save a dark line to windward, presented one placid and glittering sheet of long unbroken billows. Our ship was rolling VOL. II. — p. 170 ▲ SDBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. lietlessly upon th»' smooth surface of the waves, just be youd the verge of the lust puff of the sea breeze, and the number of ve^-sels around us heurly inert ased, tlieir wel: 611ed canvass ri^jing ahove tliedark ripj)le ^s condition. In my eyes our sister isle never wore half so lovely an appear- ance, and 1 fell something like pride at her being seen to such advantage by the many strangers on board ; but, as if coy and bashful, she soon drew a lliiek veil ovcf her charms, or, in other words, true Fnglish weather set in The Ion g-d read td south-ea.^terly wind, wilii its usual con- comitant — a druse fog. succeeded after the expiialion of two most delightful days. After braiinga few hours to windward in order to wea- ther the Caj)e, we were enabled to bear up the channel with s'udding-sails set. and were oil' Holyhead \hr follow- ingeveniiig. when time again hung heavily on our hanard to the hiL'hesl dvgree. The wind yeered ahead during the two fo!l« -wing days, which time barely sufficed to beat to the mouth of the Mersey, a distance of fifty miles ; n 'r did we land amongst the ha- xy and dark buildings of Liverj)Ool until tlie 19.ii day from our leaving New-York bay : a fourth of this our short passage had been most provokingly swallowed up by the few miles of the Irish channel. " You might easily pass muster as one of us; for I •hould never have imagined you to be the countryman of A SDBAl.TEr.N S FURLOUGH. 171 i.'sesturdy fellows," said an American fellow-passenger to me, as we were pushing our way through the dens« •rovvd on the quay the following morning, and tscorting our baggage to the ('ustom House, where it was passed in due time ; and after the payment of half a crown for "specimens of minerals" (videlicet, a lump of Schuylkill coal, cedar from the tomb of Washington. sj)linter from the vessel which was carried over the Falls of Niagara, and part of Termination Rock from under them, with divers other such valuable relics,) I was soon again trundling rapidly in a good coach along the smooth roads and amid the well cultivated lauds of the broud-shoulder- ii(LSiOn9^. Old England. APPENDIX I The Colonics ha (.'(ihmit's ; and a commiUn* consistinp of JifTcrson, Joiin Adams, Dr. Franklin. Slicrman, and R. Livingston, was a|ii)oinl('d to prepare a 1)( claration. The first two were seleeled as a sub-eonimiltce. Mr. Jeffer- son, who was al this time only tliirty-three years of age., and by profession a lawyer, had the merit of drawing np this important doeument, a few changes only being snggesl ed by Adams and Franklin. After a discn.ssion of tliree da} s duration, in which some unimportant alterations were mauc by (.'ongress, il received their approbation on the 4tli ol July, 1770. and was proclaimed from the steps of the Staii" House in l*hiladel[thia, where the assembled. It did noi, however, receive the signatures of the memlnrs until thc^d of August, being previously aullientical* d only by those of the President and Secretary. Iktwccn tlie 4lh of July and this day many new members, amongst ubom were Carroll, Taylor, Thornton. I'lymer, Hush, Snnth, and Hoss, took their seats in the house, and afl'ixed tlieir names tf) the de- claration, though they were not present al the discussion Hancock, an opulent nu-rchant of H(»stoji. was President ci the Congiess, though nuiny men of more transcendent abili ties were in tlial body ; hut he had gained popularity in tl Provinci's, from the circtunstance of (ieneral Gaye bavini: issued a proclamation, offering a free pardon to all persons who should lay down their arms, excepting only from such pardon Jolm Hancock and Samuel Adams. The average length of the Pries of the fifty-six eigneri was sixty-five years, and a remarkable difference is to be observed between the longevity of the New England dele- gales and of those from the more unhealthy Stmes in the south. Taking the fiist fift(( n from the New Kngland list, there avarage age at the lime of their death was >eventy-six, while that of the ten delegates from (Georgia and North and South Carolina was fifty. The deaths of Jefferson and John Adams, who had Ixjlh filled the presidential chair, form an epoch in the annals of American history; they both (x^curred on the 4th of July, J<^2t), within three hours of each other, and on the fiftieth anniversary of the day upon whicli they had been fellow-labourers in the ^'ork of drawing up the celebrated document. To this may be added that Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died on the 4lh of July, lh8l: thus does this singular coinci- dence add a melancholy interest to that day of which, it appears, the Americans think they can never be too proud. Oh&rles Carroll of Carrollton, the' la.'-t of this long list ol APPENDIX. 176 patriarches, has sunk into his grave within these few months, at the advanced age of ninety-six years. A copy of the original draft is given in the following pages as produced fmni the study of Mr, JefferFon, and also another of that one which, liaving received a few amend- ments from the tieneral Congress, was circulated through- out the United States, and was everywhere received with the greatest enthusiasm. It was also proclaimed at the head of the army which was then lying in the vicinity of New-Ycrk, and only a short time previous to the disastrous defeat of the Revolutionists at Flathush and the heights of Brooklyn on Long-Island. The fac-smiile of the signatures has been taken from an authenticated copy of the original document preserved in the State-paper Office at 'N^ asliin^ton. The pen with which the signat'ires were made is still to he seen in the library of one of the literary societies in Massachusetts. IN CONGREwSS, July 4, 1776, THE UKANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEBK UNITED STA-fES OF AMERICA. Mr. Jefferson's draft as reported by the Committee. Jh amended by Congress. " A Declaration by the Rcprc- " A Declaration by the Repr«- gRntiitivos of the Uiiiied Slates scniaiives of the United Statefi of America in Genera/* Congress of America in Congress asstm- assembled. bled. " When in the course of hu- man events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which luive con- nected tlum witli audiluT, and to assume among the powers of the Not altered. • The words expunged from the original draft are diatingulahed by ttaJUos, ar« the words that were introduced by Congress. 17G APPENDIX •Rrih ihc separate and equal sta- tion to wJiirh the 1 iws of nature and of n:iiui«'s God tmillc ihtm, a decent respci-t for the ojtinions of m:\rikind requires tli.vt they should declare the causes which impel iht-m to the se|^riition. " We hold these truths to l>c self-evident, — that all men are created equal ; that ihty are en- dowed hy their Cn-utor with inherent and in.dienaMe riehls; that anioM!^ ihisi; arr life, liNriy, anti the pursuit of liaj>piness ; that, to secure thfse riijiits, gov- ernments arc insiituti'd omons» men, derivin*: th« ir just powers from the constni of iIm^ governed; that, whenevrr any fonu of tjov- crninent Im'couus dtstrurtivc of these ends, it is the rifjiii of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new governnKnl, laying its foundation on such prinfiplfs nnd fir^ani/.ing its powers in such form ns to them shall seem most lik« ly to etTccl their s,»ffty and happiiirss. Pru- dence ind«cii will dictate that governments Ion? r«'Ml'li«h*d should not !»' and transitni ingly nil fX|>< i .. ..■ - •• •.. that m iiikind arc more disi)o*ed to sulfir, while evils are sulT< ra- ble, than to riq;hl themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long tram of abuses and usur- pation*;, begun at a dislin^uis'ied ptriod, and pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a des'^ to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right — it is their duty — to throw otT such government, and to providu i )w guards for their future security. Such has l>een the patient suflsr- ance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which con- " We hold these truths to self-cvidt-ni, — that all men ;i ci cated equal ; that iht y are ei - . dowcd by their Creator witli I certain inalienable rights; ih" amons these are lite, liberty, > the pursuit of hiippmcss ; thai secure these rii^hts, governmt t ' > are institutud among men, dim ing their just powers from '' consent ot the f;overn« d ; tl whenever any Jorm of «iov( . ment Ixcomes destructive these ends, it is the ri::lil of people to alieror to abolish it, v to institute ne ;*Ylent.s Inne*'stfd>liRhed shouhi • are more dis|vtse«i to sutler, %\ 1 evils ore suft'crable, than to r themselves by alKilishing il fonns to which they are ac(M - tomed. Rut \ ' ' r abuses and n invariably il. , ', • cesa design to reduce tiiem m absolute despotism, it is 'i right — it is their duty — to throw off such government, and to pro- vide ne-'' guards for the, r fu^'"* security. Such has been th'- tient sufferance of these Colci and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of goverr.- APPENDIX. 177 strdins them to erpun^e ihoir for- mer systems of government. The history of ihe j)resrnt King of Great Britain is a history of w»- remitting injuries an'i usurpa- tions, amonf!^ which appears no solitary fad to coutradiil the uni- form tenonr of the rest, but all kavein direct object the estaljlisli- ment of an absohite tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which tre pledge a faith ijtt unsullied btj false- hood. ment. The history of the present Kinir of Great Britain is a liisto- ry of repeated injuries and usur- pations, all having in direct ol)ject the estabhslmieni of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. "He has refused his assent to laws the most Avhfdt some and ne- cessary for the j)ublic good. " He has forbidden liis govern- ors to pass laws of inuncdiate and pressing importance, unless stjspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and when so suspended he has Utterly neglected to attend to them. Not altered. Not altered. " He has refused to pass other Not altered, laws for the accommodation of large districts of ptvipic, unless those penple would relinquish U»e right of representation in the Legislature; a right inesliniable fo them, and formidable to ty- rants only. "He has called together legis- Not altered, lative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the defX)sitory of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. ♦* He has dissolved representa- " He has dissolved representa- fire houses repeatedly ant/ con- tive houses repeatedly for oppos^ h'n»ia//t/, for opposing with manly inc; with manly firmness his in- flrmness his invasions on the vasions on the rights of the poo« rights of the people, pie. 178 IPPKNDIX. "He has rrfusrd for a Inn^ Not altered, time nficr such dissolutions to ca\ ISO others to Ih> elfCleiJ, where- by the h'ijislaiive |io\vers, incapa- ble of auriihiliilion, hnve returned to the people at lar^e for their exercise, the State remaining, in the mean time, ex[M)Sfd to the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within. "He has endeavoured to pre- NotaJterrd, Tcnt the population of these Slates; fnriliat pur-p-iseohslruct- inir tlie laws for the naturalira- tion of foreigners, refusing to pass oilicrs to encotirage their migrations hither, an«l raisin*; the conditions of new appropriations of lands. " He has suffered the ndminis- "He has li^hlng oar most valuable laws, and altering fundumenUiily ihft forms of our governments ; for suspendiii'j; our own Legishv- tures, and deilaring tiieinsi Ives invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. unacknowledged by our laws, givirig his assent to th« ir acts of pretended legislation for quarter- ing large bodies of troops among us ; for jirotecting by a mock trial from punishment for any niurden w hich they should commit on the inhabitaiHs ot the&e btiUcs ; for cutting oft" our trade with all' parts of the world ; for imposing taxes on us w ithout our consent ; for depriving us in many casts of the benefits of trial by jury ; f(.r transporting us beyond siasio be tried for pretended offences; for aiHilishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and en- larging its boundaries, so as to render it at onee an ex.imjile and fit msnuineni for intn ducing th* same absohne ride into thc8« Colon'us; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fun- damentally the fornl^• of our governments; for suspi nding ottr own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all case* ■whatsoever. "He has abdicated govi-rn- wient here, trilhdratrinf; his gor- trnors, a}id d< during: us out oj his uWcgiance and prvttctivn. "He has plundered our seas. Not altered, ravaged our coists, burnt our towns, and dcslroyed the lives nf a- people. " FTehas abdicated irovernment here hy dtclariw^ us out of his pro- tection and udg'ng ivuraguinsl us. "He is at this time transport- ing large ariniesof foreign merce- naries to coiuplete the works of d«alh, desttlalion, and tyranny already bcirun, with circumstan- ces of cruelty nnd perfidy un- worthy the head of a civilized na- ttun. " Fie is at this time transpon- insrlarj^o armies of foreign meiee- naries to complete the worKs of death, desolation, and tyranny aire idy beirun, with circumstan- ces of cruelty and perfidy scarct/y paralleled in the moit barbarous agi'S, and totally unworthy th« head of a civilized nalion. 180 APPENDIX. "lie has conslraincd our id- low citizens takoti raptivc on ihc high seas lo bear mins u^ainsl Uieir couuLry, to Ih;coiuc liic cxe- culio.icrs of their friends nnd bretliren, or lo fall ihciuseivcs by their iiands. Isol akert«cL " He has endeavoured to bring on the inhabiinnis of ihc froii- ciers the merciless Indian sava- :jes, whose known rule of war- tare is an uiidistiui^uislied de- •iruptiiin of all a^^i s, sexes, and .iuiKliii.in <»/*■ txiiieiice. " He hns excited domestic inaut- rections among us, and has indwi- voured to briny on the iuhnbitanlK of Uie fri»niitgts, sext*, i\nd coniUliuns. '* lie luu txcitcU Lr« asonahle insurrections of our fellow-ciii- xcns with the allurements of for- feiture and continuation of uur property. "He has wn^rd war aijainsi hunvin nature iiM If, violatmg ii« most sacred rights of liJe, and liberty in the jxrson.s of a distant people who n«ver urttiided hnn, captivating and carrynig thiin into slavery in anoUier Itemi- iphere, or lo incur miserable death in their transport^iiion ihiihtr. This piratic. il warfare, ihe opprobium of Infidel jkiw- ars, is ihc warfare of the Chris- tian KinjT of Great Britain. — Determined to keep open a mar- ket where mbm should l>e bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for supj)ressiiif: every legislative attempt lo prohibit or to restrain this execrable com- merce. And, that this assem- blage of horrors mi^hi want no Act of distinguishing die, he is now exciting those very people to ' rise in arms among us, and lo Eurchase that liberty of which he as deprived them by murdering the people on whom he has ob- U'uded Uicm, ihus paying off for* 8iruck out. Suiick uuu APPENDIX. 181 tncr crimes committed aj^ainst the LIBERTIES of onc pcopIc with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another. " In every stage of these op- pressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humbled terms; our repeated petitions have been answei'cd only by re- peated injuries. '* A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to free. Future ages will scarcely be- lieve that the hardiness of one man (hlventured, within the short com- pass of tiotlve years only, to lay a foundation so broad and so undis- guised for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in principles of freedom. " Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time lo time of attempts by their legis- lature to extend a jurisdiction over these our Stales. We have reminded tlieni of the circumstan- ces of our eini-^ration and settle- ment here, no one of which could warratU so strange a pretension ; these were eftcledat the expense tf our own blood and treasure, unas- sisted by the wealth or the stren;;th of Great Britain; that in consti- tuting indeed our several forms of government we had adopted our common king, thereby laying a foundation for perpttual league and amity icith them; but that submis- sion to their Parliament was no part of our constitution, nor ever in idea if history may be credited; and we appealed lo their native justice and magnanimity, as well as to the ties of our common kin- VOL. 11. — Q. Not altered. "A prince whose character ia tlius marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a frte people. "Nor have we been Avanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned ihem fmrn time to time of attempts by their legis- lature to extend an itmcarrantable jurisdiction over us. Wc hare reminded them of the arcum- stances of our emigration and settlement here ; we have appeal- ed to their native justice and mafrnanimity, and we have con- jured them by the ties of our com- mon kindred to disavow these usurpations, wliich would inevita- bly interrupt our connexion and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must therefore acquiesce in the necessi- ty which denounces our separa- uon, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 182 APPBNDIX dred, to disavow these usurpa- tions, whioli %rtre likely to inter- rupt our •onnixion and corres- pondence. Tht y t(X) have been deaf to tlie voice of justice and consanpuinity, and, when occa- sions have been piven them by the regular courxe of their laws of re- moving from their couucib the dis- turbers of our harmony, they have by their free election re-established them in power. »'It this very time too, they are permittint; their chief ma^strate to send over nut only soldiers of our common blood, biU Scotch and foreign uurcenariet to invade and destroy us. These facts have i^ven the lait stab to ai^onizing affection, and manly spirit bids u* to renounce for tvtr these unfielinff brelhrni. HV vuiyt endeavour to forget our former love for them, ami hold iheni ns wc hold Ujc rest of mankind, enomirs in war, in peace friends, HV might have beer^ a free and a crrtal pt( pie to- gether ; but a communication of ^andeur and of frmfom, it teems w 6f/otr .''•;»" ili.rnity. looi)le of t}»ese CoUmiis, soumsUy publish and declare that these united Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and indtfendent aiates ; that they are absoLedfrom all allesiance to the British crown, ctnd that all polHical conn-.xion he- ticttn them and the state of Great APPENDIX. 193 In be jrtr and iixdt^tnitnl States, and that, as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract Alliances, establish commerce, flm\ to di> all other acts and ihuigs which independent States may of rig-ht do. •' And, for the support of this l>t*''bratioTi, we, &c. Britain, is, and might to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab- lish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which indepen- dent States may of right do. "And for the support of this Declaration, xcith a firm reliancf on the protection of Divint Provi- dmce, we, &c. APPENDIX II 'I, Ji.MK5 TiioMrsoN of the City of Quebec, do testify attd declare that I served in the capacity of an assistant en tjineer, durin. miglit be easily taken by surprise. A correspondence had for some time been kept up, under a mercantile guispj between Andre aud Arnold, whose assumed names were Anderson and (iuslavus, the Vidturc sloop of war proceed- ing up the Hudson for tlie purpose of facilitating the com- munication, but not approaching so close lo West-Point ae lo excite suspicion. A personal interview being necessary, Andre landed fr«)m the ship on lh(.' nighl of the 21st of Sep- tember, ITSO, and had an interview with Arnold upon the fiirm of a p«Tson named Smith, wlio had brought him ashore. Daylight dawning, while the parties were in con- ference, ,\rnold propo.sed that .Andre should remain con- cealed imtil the following night, when the boatmen refused to accompany him, the Vulture having dropped some dis- tance down tlie stream, in consequence of a gun having been brought to bear upon her during the day. Andre had thus no alternative but to proceed to New York by land, and receiving a pass from Arnold, he laid a.side his military uniform for a suit of plain clothes, and set out on horseback in company with Snjith for the British lines. Having pass- ed all tlie American guards and outposts in safely, his guide parted from him, after giving all the necessary instructioni with regard to the route he was to pursue, and he was de- scending the hill into Tarry-town when one of three militia- men, who were playing at cards by the road-side, seized his bridle. Losing his usual presence of mind, instead of pro- ducing his pass. Andre asked "where they belonged;" and being answered, "To below" (raeaniiig New York) not APPENDIX 187 suspecting deceit, he replied, "So do 1." When he disco- vered his mistake, he offered some bribes to the militia-men, which they resolutely refused, and, searching his person, all the requisite information respecting West-Point was found in Arnold's hand-writing concealed in Andre's boots. When carried before the officer commanding the American outposts, he still gave his name as Anderson, and his cap- ture was imprudently reported to Arnold, who, throwing himself into a boat, took refuge on board the Vulture; knowing tliat he had escaped, Andre then threw aside all concealment, but would only divulge those things which could implicate himself. A court-martial, of which Gene- ral Green was president, Lafayette and Lord Stirling two of the members, adjudged liim to be a spy, and to suffer death, according to the established rules of warfan> upon the following day. Sir Henry Clinton exerted himself to have Andre considered first as under the protection of a tlag, then as a prisoner of war, and even Arnold gave certificates tending to exculpate him ; but in vain. Andre himself, dreading disgrace alone, wished to have the death of a sol- dier, not that of a criminal, and addressed the following letter to Washington: — " Buoyed above the terror of death by the consciousness of a life devoted to honourahle pur- suits, and stained with no action that can give me remorse, I trust that the request I make to your Excellency at this serious period, au'l which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected. Sympathy towards a soldier will surely induce your Excellency, and a military frit nd, to adapt the mode of my death to the feelings of a man of honour. Let rae hope, sir, than it aught in my character impresses you with esteem towards me, as the victim of [)oliey and resent- ment, 1 shall experience the o[)eration of th(jse feelings in your breast, by being informed that I am not to die on a gibbet." lOven this, his last recpiest. was denied. Washington consulted his t»fficers, and 'tis said that, but for one of them, it would have been granted. Andre was executed in hii twenty-niiuh year at 'raj)pan on the 2d of October, nine days after his capture; and Arnold received the commission of Brigadier-general in the British army. Washiugton had laid a deep plan for carrying him off from the midst of the troops in New- York, which was to be executed by a Ser- geant Major Champe, a Virginian, who deserted for that purpose; and, but for an unforeseen accident, Andre would have been saved. Andre's fate excited universal sympathy, both in England and in America; he was young handsome, talented, and possessed a chivalric disposition, somewhat !§8 APPENnx. touchr