[Catharine Parr Traill] ———— ————...

AMONG the numerous works on Canada that have been published within the last ten years, with emigration for their leading theme, there are few, if any, that give information regarding the domestic economy of a settler's life, sufficiently minute to prove a faithful guide to the person on whose responsibility the whole comfort of a family depends— the mistress, whose department it is "to haud the house in order." Dr. Dunlop, it is true, has published a witty and spirited pamphlet, "The Backwoodsma

Departure from Greenock in the Brig. Laurel .—Fitting-up of the Vessel.—Boy Passenger.—Sea Prospect.—Want of Occupation and Amusement.—Captain's Goldfinch. Brig. Laurel , July 18, 1832 I RECEIVED your last kind letter, my dearest mother, only a few hours before we set sail from Greenock. As you express a wish that I should give you a minute detail of our voyage, I shall take up my subject from the time of our embarkation, and write as inclination prompts me. Instead of having reason to complain

Arrival off Newfoundland.—Singing of the Captain's Goldfinch previous to the discovery of Land.—Gulf of St. Laurence.—Scenery of the River St. Laurence.—Difficult navigation of the River.—French Fisherman engaged as a Pilot.—Isle of Bic.—Green Island.—Gros Isle.—Quarantine Regulations.—Emigrants on Gros Isle.—Arrival off Quebec.—Prospect of the City and Environs. Brig Laurel , River St. Laurence. August 6, 1832. I LEFT off writing, my dear mother, from this simple cause;—I had nothing to say. On

Departure from Quebec.—Towed by a Steam-vessel.—Fertility of the Country.—Different Objects seen in sailing up the River.—Arrival off Montreal.—The Rapids. Brig Laurel , St. Laurence, below Montreal, August 17, 1832 IT was after sunset, and a glorious evening, when we left Quebec, which we did in company with a fine steam-vessel, whose decks and gallery were crowded with passengers of all descriptions. A brave sight she was to look upon; ploughing the bright waters which foamed and sung beneath

Landing at Montreal.—Appearance of the Town.—Ravages of the Cholera.— Charitable Institutions in Montreal.—Catholic Cathedral.—Lower and Upper Town.—Company and Conversation at the Hotel.—Writer attacked with the Cholera.—Departure from Montreal in a Stage coach.—Embark at Lachine on board a Steam-vessel.—Mode of travelling alternately in Steam-vessels and Stages.—Appearance of the Country.—Manufactures.— Ovens at a distance from the Cottages.—Draw-wells.—Arrival at Cornwall.—Accommodation at th

Journey from Cobourg to Amherst.—Difficulties to be encountered on first settling in the Backwoods.—Appearance of the Country.—Rice Lake.—Indian Habits.—Voyage up the Otanabee.—Log-house, and its Inmates.—Passage boat.—Journey on foot to Peterborough. Peterborough, Newcastle District. September 8, 1832. We left Cobourg on the afternoon of the 1st of September in a light waggon, comfortably lined with buffalo robes. Our fellow travellers consisted of three gentlemen and a young lady, all of whom

Peterborough.—Manners and Language of the Americans.—Scotch Engineman.—Description of Peterborough and its Environs.—Canadian Flowers.—Shanties.—Hardships suffered by first Settlers.—Process of establishing a Farm. Peterborough, Sept. 11, 1832. IT is now settled that we abide here till after the government sale has taken place. We are, then, to remain with S——— and his family till we have got a few acres chopped, and a log-house put up on our own land. Having determined to go at once into the bu

Journey from Peterborough.—Canadian Woods.—Waggon and Team.—Arrival at a Log-house on the Banks of a Lake.—Settlement and first Occupations. October 25, 1832. I SHALL begin my letter with a description of our journey through the bush, and so go on, giving an account of our proceedings both within- doors and with-out. I know my little domestic details will not prove wholly uninteresting to you; for well I am assured that a mother's eye is never weary with reading lines traced by the hand of an ab

Inconveniences of first Settlement.—Difficulty of obtaining Provisions and other necessaries.—Snow-storm and Hurricane.—Indian Summer, and setting-in of Winter.—Process of clearing the Land. November the 20th, 1832. OUR log-house is not yet finished, though it is in a state of forwardness. We are still indebted to the hospitable kindness of S——— and his wife for a home. This being their first settlement on their land they have as yet many difficulties, in common with all residents in the backwoo

Loss of a yoke of Oxen.—Construction of a Log-house.—Glaziers' and Carpenters' work.—Description of new Log-house.—Wild Fruits of the Country.—Walks on the Ice.—Situation of the House.—Lake, and surrounding Scenery. Lake House April 18, 1833 BUT it is time that I should give you some account of our log-house, into which we moved a few days before Christmas. Many unlooked-for delays having hindered its completion before that time, I began to think it would never be habitable. The first misfortune

Variations in the Temperature of the Weather.—Electrical Phenomenon.— Canadian Winter.—Country deficient in Poetical Associations.—Sugar- making. Fishing Season.—Mode of Fishing.—Duck-shooting.—Family of Indians.— Papouses and their Cradle-cases.—Indian Manufactures.— Frogs . Lake House, May the 9th. 1833. WHAT a different winter this has been to what I had anticipated. The snows of December were continually thawing; on the 1st of January not a flake was to be seen on our clearing, though it lin

Emigrants suitable for Canada.—Qualities requisite to ensure success.— Investment of Capital.—Useful Articles to be brought out.— Qualifications and Occupations of a Settler's Family.—Deficiency of Patience and Energy in some Females.—Management of the Dairy.—Cheese. —Indian Corn, and its Cultivation.—Potatoes.—Rates of Wages. August 9, 1833 WITH respect to the various questions, my dear friend, to which you request my particular attention, I can only promise that I will do my best to answer the

"A Logging Bee."—Burning of the Log-heaps.—Crops for the Season.— Farming Stock.—Comparative Value of Wheat and Labour.—Choice of Land, and relative Advantages.—Clearing Land.—Hurricane in the Woods.— Variable Weather.—Insects. November the 2d, 1833. MANY thanks, dearest mother, for the contents of the box which arrived in August. I was charmed with the pretty caps and worked frocks sent for my baby; the little fellow looks delightfully in his new robes, and I can almost fancy is conscious of th

Health enjoyed in the rigour of Winter.—Inconvenience suffered from the brightness of the Snow.—Sleighing.—Indian Orthography.—Visit to an Indian Encampment.—Story of an Indian.—An Indian Hunchback.—Canadian Ornithology. Lake Cottage, March 14, 1834. I RECEIVED your affectionate and interesting letter only last night. Owing to an error in the direction, it had made the round of two townships before it reached Peterborough; and though it bore as many new directions as the sailor's knife did new b

Utility of Botanical Knowledge.—The Fire-Weed.—Sarsaparilla Plants.— Magnificent Water-Lily.—Rice Beds.—Indian Strawberry.—Scarlet Columbine.—Ferns.—Grasses. July 13, 1834 OUR winter broke up unusually early this year: by the end of February the ground was quite free from snow, and the weather continued all through March mild and pleasant, though not so warm as the preceding year, and certainly more variable. By the last week in April and the beginning of May, the forest-trees had all burst into

Recapitulation of various Topics.—Progress of Settlement.—Canada, the Land of Hope.—Visit to the Family of a Naval Officer.—Squirrels.— Visit to, and Story of, an Emigrant Clergyman.—His early Difficulties. —The Temper, Disposition, and Habits of Emigrants essential Ingredients in Failure or Success. September the 20th, 1834. I PROMISED when I parted from you before I left England to write as soon as I could give you any satisfactory account of our settlement in this country. I shall do my best

Indian Hunters.—Sail in a Canoe.—Want of Libraries in the Backwoods.— New Village.—Progress of Improvement.—Fire-flies. HAVING in a former letter given you some account of a winter visit to the Indians, I shall now give a short sketch of their summer encampment, which I went to see one beautiful afternoon in June, accompanied by my husband and some friends that had come in to spend the day with us. The Indians were encamped on a little peninsula jutting out between two small lakes; our nearest p

Ague.—Illness of the Family.—Probable Cause.—Root-house.—Setting in of Winter.—Insect termed a "Sawyer."—Temporary Church. November the 28th, 1834. You will have been surprised, and possibly distressed, by my long silence of several months, but when I tell you it has been occasioned by sickness, you will cease to wonder that I did not write. My dear husband, my servant, the poor babe, and myself, were all at one time confined to our beds with ague. You know how severe my sufferings always were a

[The following Communications have been received from the Writer of this Work during its progress through the Press.] THIS spring I have made maple-sugar of a much finer colour and grain than any I have yet seen; and have been assured by many old settlers it was the best, or nearly the best, they had ever met with: which commendation induces me to give the plan I pursued in manufacturing it. The sap having been boiled down in the sugar-bush from about sixteen pailsful to two, I first passed it t