'w. 
 
 ^ . 
 
 '> V • 
 
 
 r 
 
travels 
 
 IN 
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
•' av' .' ■ •j-v' "/T’P\^ 
 
 ' -/i - 
 
 ^ 'i . 
 
 
 ^-' ..^" iv'|2o / :- • i^:-: 
 
 f, V,: 
 
 Aj\^v;/:''-- .■ .r, V : ■ ■■■ ■ . 
 
 v>V/ 'X . - ,-... 
 
 ^ ■^'^■■'jrf . /I' 'rpt 
 
 
 
li 
 
'raii AITTHOK IX HIS 
 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 INTHK INTERIOR INHABITED PARTS 
 OF 
 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 IN THE TEARS and 179^. 
 
 In which is given an account of the manners and customs 
 of the Indians, and the present war between them and the 
 Foederal States, the mode of life and system of farming a- 
 mong the new settlers of both Canadas, New York, New 
 England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia j interspersed 
 with anecdotes of people, observations on the soil, natural 
 productions, and political situation of these countries. 
 
 Illustrated with copper-plates, 
 
 BrP. CAMPBELL. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 printed for the author, and sold by JOHN 
 GUTHRIE NO. 2. NICHOLSON STREET EDINBURGH, 
 
 MDCCXCIII, 
 

 
 r 
 
 di 
 
 CO 
 
 ii- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Jt may not here be improper to pre- 
 mise, that the following journal was 
 not originally intended for the public 
 eye, but merely for the author’s own 
 gratification and amusement ; but on 
 its being fhown to several of his 
 friends and acquaintance on his return 
 home, they requested he fliould pub- 
 lilh it, and thereby give to such of 
 his countrymen as had any thoughts 
 of emigrating to America, room to 
 judge for themselves. If he has so 
 far succeeded as to induce the wave- 
 ring to continue at home, and 
 direct those bent on leaving their 
 country to the proper object, all fiis 
 
( Jv ) 
 
 tioubles and rifks will be amply com- 
 pensated, and his views in this expe- 
 dition fully obtained. 
 
 The author set out from the High- 
 lands of Scotland, with an intention to 
 explore the interior inhabited parts of 
 North America, attended with an 0I4 
 faithful servant, a Dog, and gun, only. 
 As he travelled much in wildernefses, 
 and in birch baj'k canoes, through 
 lakes and rapid streams, where the mind 
 could not at all times be inattentive 
 to safety, and wrote in these canoes, 
 and on the stumps of trees occasionally, 
 as he went along, it is not to be sup- 
 posed under these circumstances that 
 arrangement of composition, the po- 
 lidi of language, and elegance of style 
 could be much attended to ; and as 
 these were, was he more at leisure, 
 beyond his reach, he made no attempt 
 afterwards to attain them. He is there- 
 
( ) 
 
 fore hopeful, that this fair and candid 
 state of facts, will screen him from the 
 attack of criticism ; and that the public 
 will make the proper allowances to a 
 person situated as he was, not bred 
 to literary pursuits, and engaged in 
 one perpetual round of hurry, bustle, 
 change of situation, and occasionally 
 consequent confusion, and not expect 
 from him that regular attention to 
 method, just arrangement of argu- 
 ment, and that precision, nor in fine 
 that correctnefs which are to be found 
 in the works of learned and studious 
 men, who have leisure and ability to 
 revise, correct, and improve the rough 
 manuscripts, before they send them to 
 prefs. 
 
 But notwithstanding of these ef- 
 forts of the author, with a view to 
 serve his countrymen, he fears they 
 must be all in vain, in tliat region which 
 
( vi ) 
 
 gave him birth, unlefs more effectual 
 exertions lhall be made, than is in the 
 power of an individual, to save it 
 from destruction ; for although it be 
 capable, with negative exertions on- 
 ly outlie legislature, to be rendered a 
 flourilhing country, and of great ser- 
 vice to the state, since every inhabi- 
 tant has innumberable resourses of 
 wealth furnifhed by nature at his door, 
 were they permitted to make the pro- 
 per use of them. But being deprived 
 of that by the impolitic salt laws, and 
 other opprefsions, must drive them to 
 despair, and ultimately tend to make 
 them seek an asylum in the wilds of 
 Ameiica. Even the humane law that 
 is now pafsing in the House of Com- 
 mons respecting the coal duty, unlefs 
 care lhail be taken to adapt it to the 
 circumstances of those remote corners, 
 by particular provisions suited to the 
 
( vii ) 
 
 nature of the case, will afford scarce a* 
 ny relief whatever, to the natives of 
 the north west coast of Scotland ; and 
 in some cases, like the salt laws, which 
 held out to view an appearance of in- 
 dulgence and exemptions to them, o- 
 perated in reality as the most effec- 
 tual check to industry, that could be 
 conceived, and as a snare for intrap- 
 ping the people to their own undoing. 
 
 Should the salt laws be repealed ; 
 or these, and the coal laws so modelled 
 as to be applicable to the state of the 
 country ; and Ihould the same thing 
 happen with regard to the laws re- 
 specting corn, and wool, and a few 
 other articles, which at present o- 
 perate in the most cruel and impolitic 
 manner upon the people, we might 
 then see that part of the country, 
 which at present exhibits only a me- 
 lancholy scene of misery and distrefs, 
 
( viii ) 
 
 become the seat of industry, wealth, 
 and happinefs; unlefs, as he fears, the 
 
 severity of landlords, may, in some in- 
 stances counteract even the most bene- 
 ficent intentions of the legislature. 
 All ideas of emigration to other coun- 
 tries, will then, and not till then, in- 
 tirely be abandoned. He leaves to 
 any one not rotten or corrupted by 
 minesterial influence, to judge whe- 
 ther attention to these domestic and 
 salutary matters, or to wars and pay- 
 ing subsidies to foreign princes, would 
 be most conducive to the happinefs 
 
 o t le people, and prosperity of the 
 Britifli empire 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 From Fort William in Scotlai\d^ to the city 
 St John, New Brunswick. - - J j 
 
 St JohnsRi VER and Town, to Frederick Town, i 9 
 
 From Frederick Town to the foot of the 
 Merrimashee River and back again^ - 
 
 From Frederick Town to Quebec, - - 86 
 
 FroTK Quebec / o Montreal, - - - _ 125 
 
 From Montreal /o Kingston - _ _ t -7 
 
 Frotn Kingston to Niagara, - - - - 163 
 
 From Niagara to the Grand River and 
 back again, - 
 
 From Niagara to the Genesee Country, - 216 
 
 The story of David Ramsay, - - _ - 226 
 
 From the Genesee Country to New John- 
 ston on the Mohawke River, - - _ 248 
 
 Method of finding out Bees in the woods, - 258 
 
 From the Mohawke River to New York, - 282 
 
 From New York to the Jersies and hack a~ 
 
 -----291 
 
 From New York to Frederick Town, - 296 
 
 From Frederick Town to St John and the 
 Kenebecasius, - _ - 310 
 
From St John to St Andrews. - •* - 348 
 
 ^rom St Andrews to Greenock in Scot- 
 land, --------- - 368 
 
 Account of the Action between the States of 
 America and Confederate Indians 
 on the ^th November 179 1, - - - 377 
 
 Reflections on the British Provinces in 
 America, with regard to their throwing 
 off their allegiance to the Mother Coun- 
 try, and their falling into the hands of 
 the Foederal States. ----- 385 
 
travels 
 
 I N 
 
 north AMERICA. 
 
 From Fort William in Scotland^ to, the city St 
 John’s, New Brunswick. 
 
 On the iith of June 1791 , 1 set out from 
 Fort William, and by easy stages arrived at 
 Greenock on the i8th. Agreed with Mr James 
 Hart, y'ttnior, owner of the brig Argyle, William 
 Willie, master, for my pafsage to New Bruns- 
 wick, in North America, at L.18 for myself 
 in the cabin, and L. 6 for my servant in the 
 steerage \ to be found in provisions and li- 
 quors. Here we were detained until the 
 2d of July, when we set sail, and found our- 
 selves next Monday off the harbour of Lam- 
 lafh in Arran. Pafsed by Ailsa, a high and 
 stupendous piked rock in the sea, inhabited 
 by Solan geese, and other sea fowl. Stretch- 
 
 A 
 
[ 2 ] 
 
 ing along the North Channel, could see Ire- 
 land on the south, and the coast of Kintyrc 
 on the north ; and by the time we entered 
 the strait between the Mull of Kintyre, and 
 the island of Rathring, the wind frefliened 
 straight a-head of us ; and about night-fall 
 began to blow very hard. We continued to 
 beat about all night; the sea ran high, and 
 the fliip pitched so as to have overturned 
 every thing inthe cabin. Our young pafsen- 
 gCrs, and my servant, became very sick ; but 
 I stood It out, which gave me good hopes of 
 making out the voyage without being sea 
 sick. The captain said he never saw a high- 
 er sea in that channel. The storm continued 
 all the night, and next morning we fell back, 
 and attempted to make the harbour of Camp- 
 belton, but could neither enter it nor any port 
 in Ireland. 
 
 After beating about the whole of that 
 day, we returned and attempted to make the 
 harbour of Lamlafli ; Imt with no better suc- 
 cefs During the third night we were tofsed 
 backward and forward on a tempestuous sea, 
 between the island of Arran and the coast of 
 a loway ; and next morning, the wind being 
 rather increased, we ran before it, under bare 
 poles, and made for the Fairly roads, where 
 ve anchored about two o’clock, a. m. 
 
t 3 ] 
 
 Here we lay until the 8 th, when at four 
 o’clock, p. m. we weighed anchor, and stood 
 for the South Channel ; and stretching along 
 the coast of Ireland, next morning we found 
 Ourselves off the harbour of Belfast. Conti- 
 nued our course along that coast ; and leav-^ 
 ing the Isle of Man on our left, had a fair 
 view of the entrance to Newry, Dublin, and 
 Waterford. 
 
 On the 12th we pafsed Cape Clear, the most 
 southerly point of Ireland, entered the Atlan- 
 tic Ocean, and bade adieu to all Europeaii 
 prospects. 
 
 Off this Cape were to be seen a good many 
 Solan geese, which were mostly of a grey, and 
 but few of the common white colour. 
 
 After losing sight of land, the only birds 
 we saw in the Atlantic, during our voyage, 
 ^ till we came to the coast, were those called 
 by mariners Sheer Water^ and Mother carries 
 Chkkensi The former Very much resemble, 
 and in my opinion are no other than a sort of 
 sea gull, with a pretty long crooked bill ; and 
 the latter a marine swallow. But so nume- 
 rous are these two kinds of birds in the At- 
 . lan^c Ocean, that there is scarce a part of it; 
 where they are not to be met with. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that these birds 
 Ihould be fond of grease^ a food they cannot; 
 be accustomed to > yet when any of it is 
 
t 4 3 
 
 thrown overboard, which the sailors some** 
 times do to attract them, they come close to 
 the Ihip to pick it up, and thereby become an 
 easy prey to the sportsman. 
 
 And as to the Buckers and Porpoises, large 
 scools of them would come around, and play 
 their gambols, very frequently within a few 
 yards, and sometimes under the bow of our 
 fhip. 
 
 OxV one of these occasions, the wind blow- 
 ing very frelh, and the fhip making great 
 way , one of our men, who had been formerly 
 on board a New England whaler, seeing a 
 scool of them coming about the fhip, seized a 
 harpoon, ran up the bowsprit, and placing 
 himself on the yard, struck one of them that 
 pafsed below him. The Bucker gave but two 
 or three plunges, when he got quit of the 
 harpoon, bent as crooked as an S, and sprung 
 away with redoubled fury. 
 
 We could easily mark his course as he 
 went along, by the blood streaming down his 
 sides, and the rest of the Buckers in full 
 chace of him. What came of him afterwards 
 I know not ; but the captain, and all the men 
 on board, said, they would never give up the 
 pursuit, until they would tear him in pieces. 
 On my mentioning afterwards in company 
 this circumstance, as very odd and singular, 
 a gentleman then present corroborated what 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 the seamen had affirmed, by telling me, that 
 he himself had harpooned a Bucket, and be- 
 fore they could get tackle about, and hawl 
 him up the ffiip’s side, the one half of him 
 was eaten by the rest. 
 
 Some days after this, these Buckets were 
 gamboling around us in the same manner, 
 and our harponeer, from his former seat, 
 struck another of them with a force that 
 drove the harpoon pretty deep into the body 
 of the animal. It appeared to be very large, 
 and of great strength ; for with one spring he 
 broke the harpoon, and made off, with the 
 head fixed in his body, leaving us to regret 
 the lofs of it ; which we did very sincerely, as 
 we had no other on board. 
 
 The principal amusement to be had in 
 crofsing the Atlantic, is ffiooting Sheer Water, 
 and Mother carries Chickens, and fifliing the 
 Suckers with harpoons, which come often in 
 great flioals about the Ihip, and frequently 
 continue for some time, seemingly in the 
 most sportive mood, and playing their gam- 
 bols round about the fliip, particularly if there 
 be a smart breeze, and a moderate swell of 
 the sea. Any person fond of such sport ought 
 to provide himself well with harpoons, gigs# 
 or grains, and he may depend upon having 
 many opportunities of using them during the 
 voyage. As to fifliing lines and hooks, mo^t 
 
^ips take care to be provided with them 
 
 ««= ... 
 
 n you enter the American coast, it is rare 
 you can mifs finding fifh of different kinds 
 NoTKtno material happened till the 3tst of 
 
 July, when wepame to the Azores, or Western' 
 Islands, subject to Portugal. " 
 
 I h^d^' “‘'“‘■‘'“g to the information 
 
 n9.d, produce wine p'rnn^^c 
 ees with r ■ lemons, and oran- 
 
 ges, with various other kinds of fruits Th ■ 
 
 Ti^west from 
 
 Theisland'ofFlora'sr^^^^^ 
 
 happened to be beefimL “r”" 
 
 ularmed at finding ourseW . ’ " 
 
 bold rocky co.ast“by the ft ce^he 
 but a gentleb^eeze springing"?,^ t 
 "-egot clear tf it and of otfr ft " to 7"“®’ 
 After we had left and hef 
 these islands, we saw " 
 
 hihes besides 
 
 mentioned ; such as Sharks 
 
 Pbins, Turtles, and Flyi" Kft "7^’ 
 
 ^te a curious sort of small fifli. The/sL^t^ 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 times spring out of the water like a flock of 
 birds ; and if crofsing over a ftiip, they 
 chance to strike against the sails or rigging, 
 they instantly fall down on deck, give one 
 fhake, and then appear quite dead. 
 
 As to their size, they are no larger than 
 a Herring ; and the reason afsigned for their 
 getting out of the water, and taking wing, is, 
 that they may escape the Dolphin, who, (as 
 an enemy,) pursues and devours them in 
 great numbers, and being an eye witnefs to 
 the following facts, I the more readily believe 
 it. 
 
 A Dolphin that kept company with our 
 fliip for a considerable way, darted as quick 
 as lightning through the water ; and when 
 my eye lost sight of him, I observed a Flying 
 Filh spring up, to avoid, as I supposed, the 
 Dolphin ; who finding himself disappointed, 
 immediately came back to his former station ; 
 along side of us. 
 
 At another time, being on deck, I saw a 
 Dolphin spring nine or ten feet perpendicular 
 above the the surface of the water, at one of 
 these filhes pafsing by on wing ; he struck 
 him with his head, and threw him down, but 
 did not catch him. Afterwards, I saw ano- 
 ther of these fifhes fly out of the side of a 
 high sea in a straight line acrofs the trough, 
 and into the opposite j but he was hardly out 
 
r 8 ] 
 
 of sight when a Dolphin appeared in full 
 chace of him, springing out of that spot from 
 whence he had come, and into that into 
 which he went. As we did not see him flj 
 out again, we supposed he was taken. 
 
 The Dolphin is said not only to be the 
 swiftest, but also the most beautiful of all 
 fifties, so variegated, that whether in water, or 
 out of it, he appears to the eye in a variety of 
 of the most vivid and brilliant colours. 
 
 There is another fifti in this ocean, which 
 mariners call the Ballocb Fijh, who has a natu- 
 ral propensity, as they say, when he finds a 
 man naked in the water, to seize his posteri- 
 Ois, and no other part ; which is perhaps the 
 reason for their giving him that name. 
 
 As we were coming towards the Banks of 
 Newfoundland, we saw the phenomenon 
 which mariners so much dread, a water spout, 
 about a league distant from us. 
 
 The day being cloudy and dark, prevented 
 my making any other remarks on it, than 
 that It had all the appearance of a thick dark 
 cloud, of a cylindrical form, whose lower end, 
 as it entered into the sea, terminated in a 
 small or ftiarp point, where it raised a huge 
 spray, which the wind drove to within half a" 
 mile of the stern of our fliip, 
 
 Thio phenomenon had scarcely disappeared, 
 when a scene more rare, though more natu- 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 ral, was presented to our view. A sccol of 
 Whales were observed a-head of us, and ma- 
 king straight tov.’ards us; immediately I load- 
 ed my gun with ball, and placed myself be- 
 tween one of the cat-heads and anchor, where 
 I was so firmly seated as to be in no danger of 
 being capsized. Tv/o of them came so near 
 the fliip, that I had a distinct view of them un- 
 der the water, and so close were they to one 
 another, that they seemed to touch. They 
 observed the fiiip, and pafsed her ; but imme- 
 diately got up in her wake, having their heads 
 and bodies down in the ’water, and their tails 
 above the surface, adjoining so closely, as if 
 they were chained ; so that they had every 
 appearance of being then in the very act of 
 copulation. 
 
 At the same time we had a view full as dis- 
 tinct of another pair, which came very near 
 us. Though they were not in the same pos- 
 ture as the former, yet they were in so spor- 
 tive and amorous a mood, as to be tumbling 
 round and over each other ; and however un- 
 couth their carefses might be, no two lovers 
 could* seem more fond. 
 
 They Copulate like land animals, and bring 
 forth in nine months, sometimes two at a 
 birth. Some of the mariners informed me, 
 that they have at dilTetent times seen an old 
 Whale and two young ones, swimming clou 
 
t I® ] 
 
 by hef side ; whence they judged they were 
 her own offspring. 
 
 We likewise saw a very large Turtle, appa- 
 rently asleep on the surface of the water, where 
 it lay niotionlefs, and vuthout any symptoms 
 of life ^ but on our approaching, was awaken- 
 ed by the spray of the flip. 
 
 August 20. Being then in latitude 43*^ 
 23, longitude 59° 25, w^as the most boiste- 
 rous day we had since we left the Fairly roads, 
 and what at sea they call a hard gale, but on 
 land a real storm 
 
 I STAYED on deck for a considerable time 
 during the continuance of this storm, with a 
 hold of the flirouds in each hand, admiring 
 the gi eat foice and power the one element 
 had over the other j tremendous billows suc- 
 ceeding and impelling each other, raised 
 by the wind, and running, (according to the 
 sea phrase) mountains high, with such awful 
 Tap and impetuosity, as can hardly be con- 
 ceived by any but those only who are accus- 
 tomed to the like sights. 
 
 The same day, and prior to making the 
 above remark, as I was sitting alone in the ca- 
 bin, casting up this day’s reckoning, I heard 
 an unusual noise on the quarter deck ; and 
 not knowing the cause or meaning of it, with 
 some degree of emotion I looked up the com- 
 r-amon door, which chanced to be open 5 and, 
 
I II ] 
 
 ill a moment, a high sea that rolled over the 
 fliip, came tumbling down the gangway into 
 the cabin, and involved me in darknefs. 
 I immediately ran up upon deck, and found 
 that the noise I had heard was occasioned by 
 the men running away from the sea, to pre- 
 serve themselves from getting wet, and not. 
 from any dread of danger. 
 
 Towards evening the storm abated, and 
 continued to do so more and more during 
 the night. The next day moderately calm, se- 
 rene, and warm. 
 
 The pleasantnefs of the day induced the 
 captain to order one of the crew to paye the 
 ihip’s sides ; that is, giving it a new coat of 
 tar with a brulh. Whilst employed in this bu- 
 sinefs, he was suspended along the fliip’s side, 
 down to the water edge, by a small rope, fixed 
 a-top to a tack’s-pin on the rails ; the other 
 end set round his posteriors s6 loosely, that a 
 sudden jerk of the fhip, then under sail, might 
 precipitate him in a moment into the regions 
 belo\^^ Yet far from being the least concer- 
 ned or afraid, he seemed as if he had been sit- 
 ting at his greatest ease. 
 
 I OBSERVED to him that I would not like to 
 be in his situation. He damned* his eyes if 
 he had not rather be in that position, than 
 on e’er a horse or cart on the best road in 
 Europe ; that the fliarp back of the one, and 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 heaving of the other, was extremely distref- 
 sing ; and if they came athwart a stone, and 
 ne’er a rope at hand to lay hold of, he might 
 be capsized and his brains knocked out. He 
 sang and whistled alternately, and gave him- 
 self no sort of trouble about it. 
 
 When he had finiflied the spot that he was 
 working at, and wilhed to be removed to ano- 
 ther, he called out, “ Shift my fheets and as 
 there happened to be none of the crew on 
 deck at the time, but the man at the helm, he 
 called out, “ Hoa, there. Bill sings !” (which 
 meant that Bill was calling.) This is owing 
 to the peculiarity of their phrases \ the words, 
 hallowing, or calling out, so common with 
 landmen, are not known or used among them. 
 For instance, if a man is sent" to the topmast 
 head to look out for land, velsels, or any thing 
 they are in hopes of seeing at sea, he is desir- 
 ed to sing out when any such thing is in view. 
 Accordingly, one of the crew came up, and 
 fliirted Bill’s flieets, as he desired, but so loose- 
 ly, that, had he not been his brother, I would 
 have been apt to suppose that he was indiffe- 
 rent if Bill fliould fill! into the sea r for which, 
 I rated him, and secured it properly with my 
 own hands. 
 
 August 22. Being in latitude 43° and longi- 
 tude 64°, we sounded, aud found bottom fifty- 
 five fathoms. Tais day we lay to for some 
 
[ 13 1 
 
 liours, duiirxg \'vliich we fiflied and caught 
 several Cod, some Tulk and Halibut. 
 
 August 23. We made land, Cape Sable, the 
 most southern point of Nova Scotia, bearing 
 N W. in latitude 43" 3 . longitude, 64° 
 
 Here we fell in with some American filhing 
 schooners, whom we saw catching fifli as fast 
 as they could hawl them m. One of them 
 
 hailed us, and alked from whence? wean- 
 
 swered from Glasgow. “ Ay, ay, returne 
 he, “ that is from old Scotland ; I have been 
 
 there.” . , ^ 
 
 In the afternoon, as we were entering 
 mouth of the Bay of Fundi, we observed a 
 large Shark, seemingly asleep, as he lay mo- 
 tionlefs on the surface. We made for him 
 ci-ith guns, and just as we were on the point of 
 firina he got under water and made on. 
 captain and crew judged him to be about se- 
 venteen feet in length. Here we caught se- 
 veral of the sort of filhes called Pollach. They 
 are of the size of an ordinary Salmon, and are 
 the same with those we in Scotland call over- 
 grown Seys. 
 
 We had not proceeded far, when we met 
 with and spoke a fine large top-sail schooner, 
 going on an eastward course. The two mas- 
 ters addrefsed one another with speaking 
 tr'umpets, by the word Hoa ! Our friend aflted 
 . what that island was which he had pafsed . 
 

 entrance ofthe Bay of Fundi !.y!? ' 
 
 even then but verv in^' 
 
 posed the caD-ain As we sup- 
 
 coasts than we who wf. 
 
 “d wholly trusted toorrir“' ’’"*‘'^’ 
 
 ded we had gone ou- r “ndu- , 
 
 'h'-ew us into a statHf f T 
 
 f ’ '1-teher we ftould prided”! 
 
 In 'lus perpleaty we remained f ®° 
 nutes; but at last afr>^ ' ^ 
 
 '^e'judgeditwouJd’be ours^d”' deliberation, 
 the schooner, in order tofoUow' 
 
 P'»a.i„n, which adordidr‘“ 
 schooner, observing us he 
 "'tth all the sail we could “? 
 
 caruie alongside of her. we 
 
 ters entered again unon t] 
 after several questiod and ! “™° 
 it came out in the enH u 
 
 for the sfme torl^o 
 'he other the information h “'' 
 hours before from the fith a few 
 
 om the filhmg schooner, at en- 
 
[ 15 3 
 
 ler.'ng the mouth of the Bay, a»d urged it as 
 an argument, to convince him of his mistake 
 as to his reckoning. But the gentleman posi- 
 tively insisted, saying, “ I am sure I am right, 
 and you, notwithstanding your information, 
 are wrong in your reckoning.” Whereupon the 
 latter, finding the former incapable of convic- 
 tion, says to him in broad Scotch, “ Well, 
 well, gaung ye your gate, and I’se gaung 
 mine.” And having said this, immediately 
 sang out, “ Helm alee! fore flieet and top bow- 
 line, jib and stay sail llieets let go wheeled 
 about, and continued his former course, due 
 north, for the Bay j which in the end proved 
 we were right, and that at this time the mas- 
 ter of the schooner had outrun his reckoning 
 by two or three degrees ; which was an unac- 
 countable mistake, in a run of fourteen days, 
 only from the West Indies. 
 
 Being becalmed and bewildered in fog 
 the two following days, nothing material hap- 
 pened till the 26th, about noon. A fine cleat- 
 day discovered to us that we had pafsed the 
 island of Grandaman, and several Icfser ones, 
 in the dark. 
 
 This sound abounds with Whales. One of 
 them got up in our w^ake, so close to our fiiip, 
 that all of us then standing on the quarter 
 deck, were almost suffocated with the filthy 
 rotten stench of his breath . ^ 
 
Solan Geese, of a larger size than those of 
 Gape Clear, or the western coasts of Scotland, 
 are very numerous here, and of different co- 
 lours ; some grey, and others white. 
 
 About four o’clock p. ni. we had a very sud- 
 den and unexpected change, from very fair to 
 very foul weather. As I was then sitting in the 
 cabin, on hearing, all of a sudden, the loud call, 
 of“ All hands on deck,” I was struck with no 
 little surprise ; and ran up to inquire into the 
 cause of it ; the mariners, pointing at a very 
 dark lowering cloud, which appeared at some 
 distance, said, it foreboded a storm, and would 
 soon burst with violence ; and then each fal- 
 ling to work in his proper department, with 
 all the speed they could, handing the top gal- 
 lant sails, and reeling the top sails, they 
 put the fhip in such trim as they thought ne- 
 cefsary for preparing her to ride out the storm 
 they dreaded. 
 
 The men, after trimming their sails, were 
 hardly come down on deck, when the heavens 
 darkened so much, that day seemed almost as 
 dark as night ; and instantly the lightning 
 began to flafh, the thunder to roar awfully, and 
 the rain to pour like a torrent ; but happily 
 for us the wind was moderate. 
 
 August 27. About ten o’clock p. m. 1 hap- 
 pened to be on the quarter deck, and beheld 
 the most beautiful scenery that can be con- ‘ 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 cbived, appearing in the west ; flalhes of light- 
 ning, so frequent as two or three in a minute, 
 not accompanied with thunder or storm ; and 
 at so great a distance as not to be dreaded ; 
 so that one could contemplate the scene with- 
 out emotion. 
 
 The firmament, illuminated by the frequent 
 fiafhes, appeared in all the variety and brillian- 
 cy of colour imaginable. It was the grandest 
 scene I ever beheld, and such as may be more 
 easily conceived than described ; but it was 
 of no long duration ; for a thick fog Coming 
 on, veiled it from our sight. 
 
 Much pleased with the singular grandeur of 
 this phenomenon, we retired to rest, in full 
 hope that the approaching morning sun w'ould 
 enable us to know where we were. But about 
 three in the morning the scene changed ; we 
 were suddenly awakened by the voice of the 
 mate, whose w^atch it wtis, singing out as loud 
 as he could, “ All hands on deck.” We sprang 
 out of bed, and were hardly on foot when 
 we found the fhip strike. She struck again. 
 All ran up to the deck except the captain and 
 T,who waited to put on our clothes. It occurred 
 to me -that I heard of people suffering much 
 by being naked on a similar occasion ; I 
 therefore resolved, whether Ave went to the 
 bottom, of were cast on a rock or a desert 
 
 c 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 island, my clothes fliould go along with me; 
 so I waited to put them on. 
 
 When we got upon deck, the fog was so 
 close and thick, that we could not see the flip’s 
 length from us. Her head had got on one of 
 the locks surrounding us, yet bore but lightly 
 on it ; and all the rest of her was a-float. All 
 hands set to work ; rhe sails handed ; the poles 
 and oars on board instantly laid hold of. We 
 pulhed so hard against the rock, that by the 
 help of these, we kept her from striking with 
 any force ; and our efforts were so far succefs- 
 ful as to fhove her head off from the rock ; but 
 her stern then was in danger of coming on 
 another. 
 
 We fhifted immediately to it, and by similar 
 efforts preserved it also. 
 
 When we got clear of this bold rock, we 
 sounded, and found fifteen fathoms water. W^’e 
 suffered no material damage, as the bow 
 of the flip was the only part that struck. 
 
 It happened to be low water at the time, 
 and fortunately for us, a perfect calm; and 
 the force of the tide, which drew us on the 
 rock, was greatly abated; yet not so much 
 but there was still a current, which was pref- 
 smg her on. But by the favour of a gentle 
 breeze springing up a-head,we got clear, though 
 not of alldanger; for the darknefs of midnight, 
 
[ 19 i 
 
 anJ continued fog, kept us still tinder the 
 dread of falling foul of another rock. 
 
 We continued in this dismal situation till 
 morning began to dawn, and the rising sun 
 dispersed the fog. 
 
 The breeze continuing in our favour, wc 
 soon made out Partridge island ; a small clump, 
 of about ICO yards over, lying in the offing of 
 the harbour of St John’s ; on which there is an 
 elegant light-house, which fliows afar off, and 
 directs mariners with safety into that pert. 
 
 Here a pilot came on board and took 
 charge of our fhip. 
 
 Betwixt the island and fliore there is a bar, 
 over which no vefscl can pafs but when it is 
 high water ; and as it was low water then, we 
 kept beating about till the tide made, in the 
 dufk of the evening, when we had depth enough 
 'of water to carry us over this bar ; and after a 
 fine pafsage, of fifty-six days from Greenock, 
 but fifty only from the Fairly roads, entered 
 the harbour with great safety. 
 
 St John’s River and T 'jwn. 
 
 When you enter the Bay of Fundy, and as 
 you proceed in it, your view on all sides is 
 bounded by the horizon. Underneath an 
 endlefs space of forest, of miserable spruce, 
 seemingly fit to be inhabited only by wild 
 beasts ; the soil so thin and poor as not to pro- 
 
t 20 ] 
 
 duce any t ing else ; tiie coast rocky, and In 
 appearance dangerous to a sti'anger ; but such 
 as are acquainted, can be at no lofs for a secure 
 harbour, wdth which the Bay abounds on all 
 sides, until you come to the famous harbour 
 of St John’s, about 150 miles from the entrance 
 of the Bay. This barrennefs of coast, lam in- 
 formed, is not peculiar to this province alone, 
 but prevails from the foot of the Mifsifsippi, 
 over all the coast of America, to the gut of 
 Canso on the east end of Nova Scotia. The in- 
 dustry, and the art of man, have given it a dif- 
 feient appearance in the cultivated parts, which 
 in former times, when in the rude state of na- 
 ture, and without an inhabitant, were as bar- 
 ten as those we are describing ; and there is 
 no doubt, but in procefs of time, the same 
 attention and cultivation, will render it equally 
 pleasing to the sight, and profitable to its in- 
 habitants. 
 
 The city of St John’s lies on the east side of 
 the grand river of that name, where it enters 
 the Bay of Fundy, situated on a broad point, 
 more than half surrounded by a Bay on the 
 eastward. The tOMm is well planned ; the 
 streets cut at right angles ; but from the iin- 
 evtmnefs and ruggednefs of the sloping ground 
 on V ich it is built, does not appear regular 
 to the eye. It consists of about five hundred 
 houses, all of timber, well painted. They have 
 
[ 2 : ] 
 
 a neat appearance, and some of them even ele- 
 gant ; generally consisting of two stories high. 
 The lliops, store, and wharfs, numerous and 
 commodious. They have two churches, alsQ 
 of wood ; the largest not yet fmifhed ; but 
 when it is, may contain a numerous congre- 
 gation ; and so well painted on the outside is 
 this church, that, without a strict examination, 
 any spectator would conclude it to be built of 
 stone and lime. 
 
 Opposite to St John’s lies the village of Car- 
 leton, on the west side of the river, on the bor- 
 ders of a beautiful bay, that ebbs dry at low 
 water; in which is built a timber weir, or what 
 in Scotland is called a yerr; wherein a great 
 deal of Herring, Gasparoes, Bafs, and Shed, 
 are caught, sometimes two or three hundred 
 barrels at a time. All the property of the in- 
 habitants, conform to the number of souls in 
 a family, fhare and fliare alike. And on the 
 other, or St John’s side, there is another large 
 weir, intersected with lefser ones within, of 
 which every inhabitant who takes the trouble 
 of repairing and upholding it, has right to a 
 fhare. And there are sometimes caught in this, 
 weir, more than the whole town will con- 
 sume, and find calks and salt to cure. 
 
 About a mile above the town, is a narrow 
 strait of only sixty yards over, which hems 
 this great body of water in between two high 
 
L 
 
 22 
 
 l“t)cks, and occasions a fall of eight feet at low 
 water ; but when the tide is in, it rises here 
 to thirty-two feet, and admits vefsels almost 
 of any burden to pafs and repafs. 
 
 At the foot of this fall, amazing quantities 
 of Herrings or Gasparoes, are- caught, with 
 what they call scoop nets ; which are nothing 
 but a sort of bag-net, tied to a hoop of the 
 ^me circumference with that used by farmers 
 ans in this country, for winnoMung their 
 corn affixed to a long pole, which they dip 
 m the water, and scoop up full of fiffi, throw 
 them a-ffiore, and then fall to it again ; and so 
 go on m this way, till either they tire of the 
 work, or have the quantity they wilh. And 
 at times are so succefsfufthat a man often cat, 
 ches twenty barrels in a day. 
 
 As this fifting is free to every body, many 
 Idle people flock to it from a distance to make 
 profit ; and even farmers to supply their otvn 
 ftmtues They have calks and salt ready on 
 
 Ihore cvheretn they pack and cure the fill, as 
 
 they hawl them in. 
 
 The Salmon fifliery at the town is no lefs ev- 
 tensive, and earned on with small nets twenty 
 
 esielp 
 
 pyy ofthe towm. is yearly let in teiLd 
 
 neeholders only have a rignt to draw for one. 
 
 ahle"rt 
 
 -ericxoi n- trouble j and ifoni 
 
f 23 ] 
 
 happens to draw a good lot, he may either fifh 
 it himself, or let it to another. One lot, called 
 The DeviVs Hole, has been let this year at 450 
 Salmon ; and I have heard several gentlemen 
 say, that they have known a net hold a hundred 
 Salmon of a day. 
 
 The fifh here are not scringed nor dragged 
 for, as in other places. The nets are set at low 
 water on the fhore ; both ends fixed ; that 
 without to a heavy stone or anchor, and the end 
 within, a-fhore, chiefly in the eddies, in the 
 same way that small trammels are put on the 
 sea fliores in Scotland for catching trout. 
 When the tide makes, and these nets become 
 R-float, the scools of fifh that pufli up the river, 
 strike with such amazing force, and in such 
 numbers, as to raise a considerable part of it 
 out of the water. So numerous are Sal- 
 mon here, that three thousand, I have been 
 told, were caught in a day in this way ; and 
 that the best fifh, unlefs of an extraordinary 
 size, will fetch in the market but a fhilling i 
 — the general run is but from ten to fifteen 
 pounds weight, though there are some of be- 
 tween twenty and thirty. 
 
 Besides these I have mentioned, there are 
 two other sorts of fifh, called Shed and Bafs, 
 caught here in vast numbers, generally weigh- 
 ing from three to five pounds. 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 On the banks of the bay, are found abun- 
 dance of Cod and Ground Fiih. The Salmon 
 and Herring, though of a smaller size, are said 
 to be as fat as those of Europe. The Gaspa- 
 roes are a species of Herring, which puili up 
 the rivers in May, and spawn in frelh water ; 
 are much larger, but of poorer quality. 
 
 On the whole, there can be little doubt, that 
 in course of time these filheries will be great 
 articles of commercial intercourse, as they are 
 already of considerable magnitude. 
 
 From this port they annually export be- 
 tween two and three thousand barrels of Sal- 
 mon, and as many Herring or Gasparoes. 
 Furs, to the value of L. 4000, of which six 
 thousand Moose Deer ilcins make a part. 
 Some of these animals are said to be fourteen 
 or fifteen hands high. Masts and spars for 
 the Britifh royal navy in the following pro- 
 portions ; one inch thick in every three feet 
 in length in masts ; one inch to every four 
 feet in spars or yards ; and one inch to two 
 feet in bowsprits. Last summer one spar was 
 fhipped on board the Lord Mansfield of 
 Greenock, of thirty-two inches square, and 
 128 feet long. On hearing of this extraordi- 
 nary stick, my curiosity prompted me to go 
 to the mjst yard to look at it ; but it was put on 
 board some days before ; so that I was sorry 
 at being deprived of the pleasure I expected 
 
■[ 25 ] 
 
 'alnioii 
 
 resai 
 
 Gaspj. 
 
 illi 
 
 water; 
 
 3t,tk 
 
 . gfjj. 
 
 ey arc 
 
 rt be- 
 fSaJ- 
 Moes, 
 idi si] 
 a pan. 
 burteei 
 
 ngpr> 
 
 :rjfe 
 
 tow 
 
 liield 1* 
 lare,® 
 stwol'- 
 
 from the sight of such an uncommon stick; 
 However, I saw several which were ninety 
 feet long, and thick in proportion. In Ihort, 
 there is no place upon the continent that 
 abounds more with these articles, so ne- 
 cefsary for our navy, nor where they are to be 
 had better in quality, or easier for transporta- 
 tion, than at St John’s. Lumber of various 
 kinds is to be got here. 
 
 Ships are built not only in this, but also in 
 different bays and creeks up the rivetj which 
 are of two, three, or four hundred tons burden^ 
 carpenter’s measurement, all of black birch. 
 
 1 HAVE been on board a fliip^ then on the 
 stocks, of three hundred tons, that had not a 
 stick of any other wood in her whole hulk ; 
 and another brig of two hundred tons, just 
 then launched, whose cabin and state rooms 
 were finifhed in the neatest manner 1 have 
 seen, all of black birch, equal in beauty to 
 mahogany; 
 
 These vefsels, when fitted for sea, are loaded 
 with lumber, and dispatched either to Britain 
 or the Britifii West Indies. If to the former, 
 often both fiiip and cargo are sold ; but if to 
 the latter, the cargo only. They take freight 
 from thence for Britain, whence, if the fiiip is 
 not sold there, die returns to her own port 
 
 jssonj 
 
 specie 
 
 .D 
 
c 26 i 
 
 again, laden with the various commodities of 
 that country. 
 
 It is the most fortunate thing in the world 
 for these new colonies, that the old ones fliook 
 off their allegiance to the mother country, as 
 they have a free trade with the Britifh West 
 Ladies, and supply them wuth lumber, which ' 
 the others, in consequence of their indepen- ^ 
 dency, are debarred from. * 
 
 September i. Leaving St John’s, I came to ' 
 the Indian house a little above the falls, where ’ 
 I went on board a small schooner, bound to 
 Frederick town, which lies about ninety miles 
 up the river. I 
 
 About a mile above this Indian house, the ^ 
 river is much narrower.- A ridge of high and ! 
 steep rocks of lime stone, on each side, confine 
 the waters ; though not so much but that vef- ' 
 sels may pafs and repafs wdth great safety ei- 
 ther at high or low water'. '' 
 
 Observing a little hut in the face of the 
 rock, I went a-fliore and took some refrelhment. 
 
 I had a fliort conversation with the landlord, 
 whose name is Lorine, a mason by trade, and 
 originally from Dumfries in Scotland. Ad- 
 joining to his house, (or rather cave,) in this 
 romantic situation, he built a lime kiln and ' 
 stOxe house; and having abundance of lime , 
 stone, from tire surrounding rocks, and large 
 junts of wood, carried down the river to him 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 at a small expence, he went on in burning 
 lime, by which, I was informed, he not 
 jIj only made a good living, but also realized 
 what might be deemed for him a consider- 
 able fortune. 
 
 jjj A LITTLE above this place the river widens 
 gradually, till it becomes equally broad with 
 many arms of the sea, or salt water lochs on 
 the west coast of Scotland. We proceeded up 
 the river this day but twelve miles, wdien the 
 wind died away into a perfect calm. 
 
 ’’ September 2. After we had pafsed major 
 Coffy’s beautiful seat, pkasantly situated on a 
 point, on t^e west side of the river, we landed 
 on a point of low land, where one man, and 
 three boys from eight to twelve years of age, 
 
 • were employed in mowing the rankest and 
 strongest natural grafs I ever saw^ 
 
 Here I was informed, that tw^o men coming 
 ■ down the river, attacked an old Bear and two 
 young ones swimming acrofs the river, which 
 they killed. 
 
 Another man, in his boat alone, met a Bear 
 swumming acrofs, struck him wdth his axe, 
 and wounded him ; but by the force of the 
 stroke the axe fell overboard. The wound 
 exasperated the Bear to such a degree, that it 
 was with the utmost difficulty the man could 
 keep him frorri boarding him, and in the 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 struggle bit one of his fingers; but at last, he 
 flioved oft his boat and got quit of him. ’ 
 
 1 HIS day we landed and dined at an inn kept 
 by one Roger, a Bostonian, who rents the place 
 from a settler, at L.27, los. currency. He 
 raises a great deal of hay on this lot, which 
 besides produces all sorts of grain. 
 
 Mr Roghr told me, that rather than throw 
 away his dung, he meant to lay it out on 
 his meadow ground ; though it yielded himal'- 
 1 eady two tons^e-r acre. He hoped by this im- 
 provement to make it return two and one 
 half tons at a cutting. And when I recom- 
 mended to him to lay his dung on his corn 
 rather than his grafs land, his answer was, that 
 
 It was rich enough already, and that dung 
 would spoil It. ° 
 
 Ev£ry mile we advanced np the river, oa 
 this days journey, the prospect was more a. 
 tended. The hnds appeared better and closer 
 inhabited ; the islands and flats on each yieU- 
 ng the most luxuriant and greatest quantities 
 natural grafs I ever saw; and the foggage, 
 for the most part, rich clover. 
 
 stroll .along with the landlord to two neigh- 
 ming farms, situated on a brae above fhe 
 MS One of these settlers told me, that he 
 Jd but one Cow when he came there, about 
 
six years ago, but that now he has twenty 
 head of black cattle, besides horses, poultry, 
 and hogs. 
 
 The returns in their new cleared land,he said 
 were not considerable, owing to weeds, which 
 the soil throws up when unfhaded by woods, 
 and exposed to the influence of the sun and 
 air. They are much pestered with Squirrels, 
 of which they have several kinds, and very de- 
 structive to grain. Here I first saw the flying 
 Squirrel, which is a curious animal, whose 
 wings pretty much • resemble those of a Bat, 
 and are smoother than any velvet. 
 
 Having viewed every thing that was to be 
 seen around this place, we returned to the inn, 
 and after dinner went on board the vefsel, 
 where I slept that night. 
 
 Next day we sailed up the river several 
 miles, but the wind slackening, we came a- 
 fliore. From thence I travelled by land, which 
 I preferred to going by water, as it gave me 
 an opportunity of seeing and knowing more 
 of the country. 
 
 This morning, in a field of Indian corn, I 
 Ihot a bird, whose colour, fhape, bill, head, 
 and eyes, convinced me that he was as per- 
 fect a Woodcock as was ever seen in Europe, 
 though somewhat smaller ; owing, as I sup- 
 posed, to his not being full grown. I ihowed 
 him to several gentlemen, and inquired if 
 
f 30 ] 
 
 they knew what sort of bird it was; but none 
 Could tell me, or acknowledge that they had 
 ever seen any of the kind ; but colonel Ting, 
 a good looking, jolly, hoary headed gentleman,, 
 who said it was a Woodcock; that he had ne- 
 ver seen any before in this country, though 
 he often had in the province of New York ; 
 and that he believed they were to be seen 
 there in all seasons of the year. Also fhot 
 two other beautiful birds, called Hei-ho, whose 
 plumage is beautifully variegated. They are 
 about twice the size of a Thrufli, and much 
 of that fhape. 
 
 After leaving colonel Ting’s place, I came 
 to one Squire Peter’s, who has an extensive plan- 
 tation on the same side of the river. I alkcd 
 several questions of this gentleman about farm- 
 ing, which he answered in a very satisfacto- 
 ry tnanner; among the rest, that they might' 
 cut two crops of hay in a season on the same 
 spot ; but as one cutting afforded them plen- 
 ty for their own use, it was not worth any 
 man s while to be at the trouble or expence of 
 making hay for sale, as it would only fetch 
 five dollars a-ton, making in sterling, about 
 twenty-one fliillings ; for a-ton of hay is 128 
 stone, of sixteen pounds, Dutch weight, each. 
 At this late, he would, after all his labour and 
 expence, hardly get twopence per stone. A 
 ton feeds a Cow for the season. 
 
C 31 ] 
 
 In this climate they have no more rain 
 than is absolutely necefsary. A tradesman 
 of Frederick Town told me, that he had 
 wrought there thirty-four days last summer, 
 and that of these he was only stopped from his 
 work one day by rain. 
 
 The islands and flats, which are numerous 
 and extensive, on each side of the river, yield 
 great crops of grain and roots of various- 
 kinds ; and an astonifliing quantity of grals 
 without any sort of manure. Some of the 
 old settlements in Maugerville have been cropt 
 annually for fifty years back, without so much 
 as one handful of dung to help the vegetation ; 
 and are at this day, and will probably be to 
 the end of time, as good as ever. 
 
 This, no doubt, is principally owing to the 
 river overflowing and flooding the land, and 
 enriching it in the spring ; but the upper- 
 lands on heights, such as are dry and un- 
 flooded by any water, will, in course of long 
 cultivation, require manure to make them 
 produce rich and plentiful crops. 
 
 Ihe schooner in which I first embarked, 
 bound to Frederick Town, being detained 
 for want of winds, and likely to make a tedi- 
 ous voyage of it, I lliifted from her on board 
 the post-boat, along with the other pafsengers. 
 We were all very social and happy. They 
 mostly continued on board; but I walked a 
 
[ 32 ] 
 
 great part of the way, and when a-head of 
 them, made excursions into the different plan- 
 tations in the -neighbourhood ), and, when 
 tired, returned to the boat. 
 
 In one of these excursions, many stories 
 were told me of the bears in this country ; 
 one of which, as being somewhat curious, I 
 fhall relate. 
 
 On an island, called Spoon island, which I 
 had pafsed a day or two before, there were se- 
 ven bears killed in one day. A gentleman 
 and his son, near a house in which I then 
 lodged, had been out working at hay, having 
 pitch forks and rakes j and seeing a monstrous 
 beai, quite close to the river, they prefsed so 
 hard upon him as to drive him into the wa- 
 ter. They then thought they had him se- 
 cure, as there was a boat near them, to which 
 they immediately ran; and having pur- 
 sued and come up with him, they struck and 
 pelted him with the pitch forks and fliafts 
 till they broke them to pieces. The exaspe- 
 rated monster now, as they had no weapon to 
 annoy him, turned the chace on his adversa- 
 ries ; and fixing his fore paws upon the gun- 
 nel of the boat, attempted to get in. They 
 did all they could to keep him out, but their 
 efforts were in vain he got‘ in. So that at 
 last they had nothing else for it, but either 
 to j'dmp out into the watei’^ or stay in the 
 
I 33 1 
 
 boat and be torn to pieces. They chose tl)e 
 former, and swam a-fliore. The Bear, now- 
 master of the boat, whence the enemy iiad bat- 
 tered him, was so severely galled with the 
 strokes and wounds he had received, that he 
 made no attempt to follow, but continued in 
 the boat ; otherwise he might, have soon over- 
 taken them, and have had ample revenge, 
 as he could swim three times faster than 
 they. 
 
 They immediately ran to the house for 
 guns, and when they came back, saw him 
 sitting in the boat, and dipping one of his 
 paws now and then in the water, and w^afli- 
 ing his wounds; on which, levelling their 
 pieces, they £hot him dead. 
 
 The landlord of the house I put up at, 
 when this story was told, Ihowed me one of 
 the paws of this Bear, which, on account of its 
 great size, he kept as a fliow; and added, 
 that he was as big as an yearling calf. So 
 that one may easily conceive the havock 
 and destruction committed in a country so. 
 much infested with such monstrous and ra- 
 venous animals, especially on Sheep, the sim- 
 plest and silliest of all creatures, which fall an 
 easy prey to beasts of far lefs strength and 
 size. Many of these harmlefs, yet useful 
 animals, were destro^M by Bears in this ve- 
 ry neighbourhood, where one ihan sustain- 
 
 E 
 
r 34 ] 
 
 ed the lofs of thirty of liis Sheep within a 
 fliort space ; and even young cattle often 
 were devoured, and carried off by them : yet 
 they prefer Swine, when they can get them, 
 to any other meat. 
 
 Going along with my landlord to view his 
 farm, and entering the fl<irts of the'w^ood, he 
 hollowed out pretty loudly, “ Canaan! Ca- 
 naan !” and presently a parcel of Sheep came 
 ikipping out from a remote corner, and sur 
 ■Ttiunding him, fawned upon him. He put 
 his hand in his pocket to see if he had any 
 salt to give them, but had none. 
 
 As I imagined it was queen Anne he called, 
 
 I looked very attentively among the flock to 
 see if I could discern the one he honoured 
 with the royal title ; and when I could not 
 see any one seemingly superior to the rest, I 
 afked him which of them he called queen 
 Anne. At which he laughed immoderately, 
 and mid me, that I was led into the mistake 
 oy his manner of pronouncing the word Ca- 
 naan ; which is universally used in this 
 country when they call in their Sheep. 
 
 ^ T'lis man hgd but few milk Cows, only 
 six in number ; but of an exceeding good 
 kind. I pointed out the one I thought best 
 of them, and aflted him vdiat lie valued her 
 at. He said ten pounds ; but was sure he 
 would not get near that monev for her. 
 
She would surely fetch it iu any part of the 
 ^ world I have been in ; and might be deem- 
 d ed a good Cow in any part ot England I 
 have seen. 
 
 This gave me an idea of the cattle of this 
 oo! country ; but I saw none that would equal 
 q! them during my s,tay in it. 
 p:: After satisfying myself with every thing 
 
 id necefsary to be seen in this part ot the river 
 fe St John, 1 left my coat in the boat, it being 
 i ; as warm and sultry as with us in Scotland, 
 in the heat of summer, and proceeded in my 
 cij waistcoat and trowsers twelve miles on toot, 
 ioo It being Sunday, I met a great many gen- 
 ic teel w^ell drefsed ladies and gentlemen go- 
 f ing to church ; some on horseback, and 
 I some, family-way, in carreols ; and all on the 
 canter, scampering away as if posting. 
 
 - I PROCEEDED Oil tlic road, w'hich had hi- 
 therto continued on the river side, but now 
 struck oif from it, and led into a thick wood; 
 on the edge of wdiich there was a house, and 
 a girl standing on the road side by it. I afked 
 her if this w'as the road to Frederick Towm, 
 and what distance it w^as from hence ? She 
 answered in German, that fire could not 
 speak Engliih. I then addrefsed her in that 
 language, but could not make my self under- 
 stood. Whether it was owing to the broken way 
 in which I exprefsed myself, or that it was a 
 
f 
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 very different dialect of that tongue ffe was 
 bred to, I know not ; but so it was, that af- 
 ter making several efforts on both sides, fte 
 went off, seemingly in confusion at not under- 
 standing me, and left me to pursue my jour- 
 ney ; but no sooner had I entered this dreary 
 wildernefs, than the many stories I had heard 
 of the Bears recurred to my mind, which 
 made me so apprehensive as to be at a stand 
 whether to return back or pufh forward. I 
 chose the latter. My dog, who was alont 
 with me, and to whom I trusted much, in 
 case of being attacked, kept ranging about 
 for game, and but rarely in my sight; so that 
 I had constantly to call on him to keep him 
 in, lest a Bear fliould spring out of the wood 
 on mem his absence; for (it being Sunday 
 as before said,) I left my g„n- along with 
 my servant in the boat, and began to cut 
 a stout stick with my pocket knife ; whilt 
 bent down at this work, .such svas my at> 
 prehension, that I kept constantly lookii 
 
 around me, lest a Bear Ihould seize me by tl, 
 posteriors. ^ 
 
 Arvea being fortified svith this stick, I pro- 
 ceeded on without any farther concern. Ld 
 een so well informed as I afterwards was, 
 
 I would have been under no such appre- 
 cnsion ; as tt is very rare that a Bea^ no 
 ay molested by m.111, will attack him, m- 
 
{ 37 1 
 
 lefs flie happens to have young cubs ; in that 
 case, it is dangerous to go near her den. But 
 no flie Bear \vould keep her young so near 
 a place so much frequented by her mortal 
 enemies, the human species, as that road 
 was. 
 
 This road did not lead above two miles, 
 when it came down again to the river side at 
 the Ferry, when I entered on board a large 
 scow to crofs to Frederick Town. 
 
 The first person I met with there was 
 the Ferryman, an Italian, which gave me. a 
 strange idea of the medley the inhabitants 
 of this part of the country are made up of ; 
 but he spoke pretty good Englilh, having 
 been here for several years, and pofsibly no 
 other man of his nation except himself ; nor 
 have I seen any Germans who understood 
 not Englilh, except the girl I lately men- 
 tioned. 
 
 I CROSSED the river in the scow, and arrived 
 in Frederick Town three hours before the 
 post-boat, wherein I left my clothes; paraded 
 backwards and forwards looking for its arri- 
 val. The people seeing me half naked, sta- 
 ved at me, and put many questions, which I 
 answered perversely, until the cold of the 
 evening after sunset made me borrow a great 
 coat from a Mr M‘Leod, landlord of th^ house 
 I put up at. 
 
L JO 
 
 September 4. Upon enquiry I was infor- 
 med that my relation lieutenant Dugald 
 Campbell, afsistant engineer, who resided 
 within five miles of Frederick Town, had paf 
 sed through it two days ago to visit his farm 
 on the Nafhwack river, about eighteen miles 
 rom hence; and was expected to return that 
 day by the same route. I waited his return 
 and took several strolls through that town 
 and neighbourhood, and viewed the gover- 
 nor’s mclosures and potatoe fields. 
 
 The soil is poor, and hasbeen long cultivated 
 by French and Indians. I, appears to be no- 
 thtng else than banks of sand thro™ out by 
 the river. But I am informed the back fields, 
 moie distant from the water, which I Imd 
 not time to view, are of good quality. 
 
 Thi governor’s house is situated about half 
 » mile from the center of the town, up the 
 nver, and near the middle of his farm. The 
 tmvn Itself is stretched on a flat and sandy 
 foundation along the river’s side, on a point 
 forming an obtuse angle. Many of the hou- 
 ses have a noble appearance ; but are scatter- 
 ed and detached from each other. 
 
 The barracks are surrounded with a piquet, 
 about fourteen feet high, put endwaysUthe 
 ground, so strait and close that a cat cannot 
 g« through ; and so firmly as to secure eve- 
 y withm, lilce a rampart. 
 
The river is broad and fliallow at this town 
 and the boats poled at crofsing. Here I saw 
 several Indians with their wives and children, 
 selling small baskets and birch bark canoes. 
 One of the women appeared to be a white 
 one. 
 
 September 5. Being informed, that my re- 
 lation Dugald was to be in town this day, to 
 settle some workmen’s accounts, I crofsed the 
 river in order to meet him, before he could 
 be informed of my arrival in this country. 
 
 I WAS ferried in a small boat, by a man 
 who called himself a Scotch Irifliman, the 
 greatest rap I as yet had met wdth. He said he 
 would ferry me on account of my being an old 
 countryman. Having promised him a six- 
 pence, at landing I gave him a quarter dollar 
 to change, w^hich he pretended to search for 
 through different houses, and coming back 
 without it, he said he would return me the 
 balance when I came back at night. He 
 used all the art and chicane in his power to 
 retain the money ; on which we were like to 
 come to blows. But when all fhifts failed 
 him, he put his hand in his pocket, and 
 brought out the change, and begged I would 
 employ him in re-ferrying me wdien I fliould 
 return. I told him that I would rather give 
 a {lulling to another than one copper to such 
 a rascal as he was. After parting with this 
 
C 40 ] 
 
 consummate knave, I fell in with a captain Ag-m, 
 new, son to the doctor of that name, who 
 overheard the dispute wuth the Scotch Irilh- 
 man, and told me he knew him to be a great 
 rascal. 
 
 This gentleman and his father bought se- 
 veral large properties in this country; and 
 though he had been over the different pro- 
 vinces of North America, and had seen ma- 
 ny parts of Europe, was bred in the south of 
 Scotland, and mostly resided in England, yet 
 he preferred this place to any he had ever 
 been in. He gave a high account of the cli- 
 mate and soil, and said the winter months, 
 to him, were the most pleasant of the whole 
 year ; particularly February and March. The 
 serenity and clearnefs of the fky and air, 
 and warmth of the sun, without a single cloud 
 to obscure it, were really delightful. Indeed 
 I have had the same account from almost 
 every body ; but they all agree, that while the 
 noithwest winds continue, the cold is extreme- 
 ly keen and penetrating ; and if person, 
 be not aware of it, he may ' get frost bitten. 
 But when the wind.fhifts to any other point of 
 the compafs, they may work or walk out as 
 lightly clad as we in Scotland do in the sum- 
 mer months. More agreeable weather I never 
 saw, nor felt such warmth as I have done 
 since I came to this place. 
 
This gentleman fhowed me a dwelling 
 house he is just now building, directly oppo- 
 site to Frederick Town, most pleasantly situa- 
 ted at the foot of the river where it enters in- 
 to the river Nalhwack. The former is a pretty 
 large river, navigable by canoes ; and has ma- 
 ny pleasant settlements on both sides of it for 
 forty miles up. 
 
 After viewing this gentleman’s rising man- 
 sion house, which has every appearance of 
 being a very handsome one, with under- 
 ground cellars of stone, and the rest of wood, I 
 went over his inclosures, and the low grounds 
 of his farm, and saw the manner in which 
 he carried on his improvements. 
 
 Among other particulars, he told me that 
 this country was very famous for Sheep. As 
 they were a beneficial stock, he meant to 
 have a pretty large flock, at least three score ; 
 and as the Ewes in this province are so prolific, 
 when well kept, as to bring forth two Lambs 
 at a time, his stock would SQon increase. 
 
 His property, which is very extensive, is 
 pleasantly situated, and at the same time ve- 
 ry advantageously for disposing of all its pro- 
 duce. The wood he cuts down to clear his 
 lands is purchased by the garrison for firing, 
 whereby he has a double advantage ; and all 
 the hay he can make, which in a little time 
 will amount to several hundred tons, will b-s 
 
i 
 
 r 42 I 
 
 bought up by the towui and garrison, wiiere he 
 also will find a ready market for many other 
 articles his farm or estate may yield. 
 
 After gratifying my curiosity, and viewing 
 every thing that was to be seen in this place, 
 the gentleman very politely ailted me to dine 
 with him ; which, for want of time, I decli- 
 ned ; and having thanked him for his civility 
 and politenefs, I parted with him, and walked 
 up a new road through a wildernefs of eleven 
 miles extent, to see the Highland settlements 
 on the river Nafiiwack, and came to the house 
 of a captain Shaw, a native of old Scotland, 
 
 and county of Invernefs, where I slept that 
 night. 
 
 September 6. Captain Shaw, at whose 
 house I was entertained very hospitably, is 
 married to a Yanky young lady, by whom 
 he has four boys and two girls. The mother is 
 bare headed, and s6 blooming and well look- 
 ing, that I supposed her to be a maiden, until 
 I heard the children call her Mama. I fell 
 into the like mistake often ; as all the m.arried 
 
 women here go bare headed, except when 
 drefsed. 
 
 ^ The captain, who is an intelligent gentleman, 
 being the preceding day employed with his 
 men, clearing and burning wood off his lands, 
 came home m the evening as black as a col- 
 ter. This, I find, is the general practice and 
 
employment of all the industrious gentlemen 
 farmers in this part of the eountry ; and in- 
 deed the state of their lands, and the produce 
 thereof fully evince their laudable attention. 
 
 After breakfast, and captain Shaw’s fliow- 
 ing me how he carried on his improvements, 
 
 I was conducted by him to another gentle- 
 man’s house, two miles from thence up the 
 river, a captain Symon’s, where we were told 
 several gentlemen were to dine that day, and 
 among the rest, my relation Dugald Campbell. 
 As we were going along, we ihot a couple of 
 Pheasants, beautiful birds, larger than a Moor- 
 fowl, and nearly about the size of a Heath 
 Hen. 
 
 Whejt we arrived at captain Symon’s, a 
 New England loyalist, we found my relation 
 there, who recollected me at first sight. 
 
 Being very desirous to see his farm, which 
 was but five miles farther up the river, with 
 every other settlement I could on the Nafh- 
 wack, captain Symon said, he would give me 
 a horse on condition of coming back by four 
 o’clock to dine at his house; to which we 
 agreed. Accordingly we set out, and on our 
 way, calledat a captain Archibald M‘Lean’s, 
 originally from Mull, a. captain French’s, to 
 whose daughter Mr M‘Lean was married, and 
 a Dr Drummond’s, brother-in-law to the en- 
 gineer my relation. 
 
r 44 ] 
 
 Here I met a lieutenant Dugald Campbell 
 of the king’s American Rangers, with several 
 other gentlemen, settlers in this place. On 
 our return, we found the above gentlemen, 
 and three or four more at captain Symon’s • 
 dined, played cards, supped, and smoaked to- 
 bacco. We had a very plentiful and genteel 
 dinner, but neither wine nor punch, as the 
 produce of these new settlements cannot as 
 yet afford this luxury. ^ 
 
 Our drink was grog, and rasp rum, served 
 up in wine decanters, and drank out of glafs 
 tumblers. I w^s alked several times if I 
 chose to have sugar, which I declined, as eve- 
 ry other person present did ; the rasps gave 
 the rum such an agreeable rehfli, as to make 
 it unnecefsary. 
 
 We pafsed the evening very agreeably; 
 three of the gentlemen and I slept here that 
 night; the rest went to their own houses. 
 
 Here I was told that the Highlanders 
 settled up this river, were in many respects 
 not a whit better than the real Indians ; that 
 they would set out in the dead of winter 
 with their guns and dogs ; travel into the’ 
 deep recefses of distant forests; continue there 
 two or three weeks at a time, sleeping at 
 night in Ae snow, and in the open air ; and 
 1 eturn with sleas loaded with venison ; yet 
 withal, were acknowledged to be the most 
 
[ 45 ] 
 
 prudent and industrious farmers m all this 
 province of New Brunswick, and lived most 
 ^ easy and independent. 
 
 The Salmon filhing on the rivei; is very 
 useful ; and angling, and Trout filhing is not 
 only serviceable, but delightful and amusing. 
 Captain Symon told me, that he knew two 
 Frenchmen, in one canoe, in the month of July, 
 ’ to spear in one night ninety-six Salmon, with 
 torch light. And one of these men told him 
 this was nothing to what he had seen, viz. that 
 ^ three canoes, in one of which he himself was, 
 f had speared at the same season of the year, 
 « seven hundred Salmon in one night. So that 
 If it was an easy matter for the first settlers here 
 : to catch, in the season, as many Salmon as 
 
 would serve their families, which every far- 
 mer here has hitherto done ; but since the 
 : country is settled, the Salmon fifliing on this 
 river is much upon the decline. 
 
 The engineer to whom I told the French- 
 man’s story, hardly thought it credible that 
 such a thing could happen on this river ; but 
 had not the least doubt that it might on the 
 Merrimafliee, which probably was the one he 
 meant. 
 
 The lands on many parts of this river, or, 
 as they are called here, creeks, are rich and 
 fertile; the flats extensive and easily improv- 
 ed; but they were pestered with a small black 
 
[ 46 ] 
 
 fly, which they call the Hefsian fly, that to- 
 tally destroyed their wheat, arid hurt some 
 other grain for two or three years back ; but 
 this yesLf they seem to think they are falling 
 off, and will soon be quit of them. This des- 
 tructive insect has, by degrees, over-run all 
 America, and but rarely continues above 
 three years in one place. 
 
 A MAN filhing in a canoe, is reckoned i 
 wretched fiflierman, if, when he spears a Sal- 
 mon, he wets himself, and goes afhore witt 
 the filh. , An expert hand pulls them into his 
 canoe until it be brim full, and then paddles 
 afhore to unload. When this is done, he falls 
 to work again, and continues till daylight, at- 
 tended with succefs. 
 
 Neither Wolves nor Bears are numerous in 
 this part of the country, and the Moose Deer 
 are banifhed to some distance ; but those fine 
 birds which they very improperly call Par- 
 tridges, being much more like Pheasants, or 
 Heath Fowl, or rather a species between the 
 two, are numerous here. 
 
 Of Pigeons, in the season, may be seen from 
 any eminence ten thousand flocks, or as far 
 as the sight can reach. They are smaller 
 than with us, and in some places caught with 
 nets, in the same manner I have seen the Ger- 
 mans catch Fieldfairs, who probably introdu- 
 ced that custom into this country. 
 
t 47 ] 
 
 The warmth of the sun, the serenity and 
 mildnefs of the weather continue, and astonifli 
 me, as I have never seen the like in any coun- 
 try I ever was in. It infeebles and enervates 
 me much, and evinces that I am not fit for en- 
 during a warmer climate ; yet the inhabitants 
 by no means complain, and tell me they have 
 often seen such weather for six weeks without 
 intermifsion. But in such fine weather as 
 this, a frost often sets in at night that often 
 spoils their potatoe crops ; I mean so as to stop 
 its growth, and hurt buck wheat and other 
 grain. 
 
 September 7 . Captain Symon conducted 
 me the length of captain Shaw’s, where 1 part- 
 ed with him and lieutenant Dugald Campbell, 
 one of the gentlemen who were with us last 
 night. 
 
 We proceeded to the Ferry, where I again 
 met with captain Agnew and a Hefsian officer, 
 who, I was told, w^as married to his sister. 
 The captain again aficed Dugald and me to 
 dine with him, before I fliould leave the coun- 
 try. 
 
 Having crofsed the Ferry and dined at 
 M‘Leod’s, we proceeded up the river five miles 
 to Dugald’s house, and on our way thither I 
 waited on general Carleton the governor. 
 
 As I had conceived a very good opinion of 
 this prcndjice from the specimen 1 had seen of it, 
 
[ 48 ] 
 
 and that I knew a great many people from the 
 corner of Scotland I had come from, were in 
 use for some years past of emigrating to the 
 American states j that many more were prepa- 
 ring to do the same ; that a Mr Simon Frazer 
 a young gentleman from Poictu, in Nova Sco- 
 tia, told me at Fort William, a few days be- 
 fore I set out from that place, on his way to 
 Greenock, that he was employed to engage 
 vefsels for sixteen hundred he had on his list 
 ready to embark for America ; and that eight 
 hundred more were preparing to follow the 
 next year, which I knew was not owing to 
 wantonnefs or desire of change of situation 
 on their part, but principally to the inhu- 
 manity and opprefiion of their landlords, who 
 either distrefsed them, or screwed up the rents 
 to a pitch they could not pofsibly pay. Of 
 this I could not be mistaken, as I knew many 
 of the people in this predicament, and some 
 of them I had seen wringing their hands, cry- 
 mg most bitterly, deploring their miserable 
 families, and the state they were reduced to. 
 
 Humanity fliudders and flirinks with horror 
 at the recital of their sufferings ; and as I 
 judged they would be as well here as in any 
 part of the States, I resolved to wait on his 
 excellency, general Carleton, the governor, I i 
 and know from him w^hat encouragement 
 i lese people might look for, did they come to ) 
 
I 49 ] 
 
 '<l|r , . 
 
 atii,. and prefer being .under the Bri- 
 
 tiih government, and king’s dominions, to 
 m United States ; and when I waited 
 
 sli question,' his answer 
 
 ^ was, “ That they fliould have every thing de- 
 pendent on him, such as lands, gratis, in any 
 ^ I one spot they wo,uld pitch upon, not occupied 
 '• already, in quantities proportioned to their 
 stock.” 
 
 He spoke of 500 acres to soqie, lefs or 
 more, conform to their capital and rank ; that 
 1 however desirous he would be of such a 
 a thing, he would not keep it for them, but 
 give it to the first settlers that offered. I told 
 him that I by no means desired he fliould, as 
 k 1 could not say whether they would accept of 
 |s it or not ; that all I could do was to acquaint 
 1'. such of them of it as intended to emigrate, on 
 ; my return to Scotland, and let them judge 
 . for themselves j that as I liked the country, and 
 i was partial to the BHtifli government, I much 
 wijhed that they would accept of his Excellen- 
 t cy’s proposal, rather than go to the States, as al- 
 ready said ; made my bows, and came away 
 ! for the engineer’s house, where I remained 
 some days, and visited severaJ families in the 
 neighbourhood ; captain Lee, an Engliflimam 
 Mr Gardener and Mr M‘Gibbon, Scotchmen-; 
 to all whom I was much obliged for their po- 
 litenefs and attention ; and preparing for my 
 
r 5° ] 
 
 journey, to the foot of the Merimafhee river, of 
 which I had heard so much, that, though dis- 
 tant 150 miles, I determined to see it, and 
 therefore engaged John and George M'Gre- 
 gors, two smart young men, born in the 
 forty-second regiment, whose father had 
 been a serjeant in that corps, and killed last 
 war, they being well acquainted with that 
 river, and the course 1 was to take. 
 
 Squire Lymon, of whose politenels and at- 
 tention to me I cannot say enough, came 
 here to wait on me, and he and the engineer 
 were kind enough to agree to go along with 
 me to see the settlements on the said river. 
 
 We therefore set out, crofsed at Frederick 
 Town, and proceeded up the river Nalhwack, 
 to Squire Lymon’s house, where we staid 
 that night. 
 
 This gentleman is of such rank, and so 
 highly respected in these parts, that he is de- 
 legated a member to the Provincial Afsembly, 
 and has the charge of carrying on the 
 public roads on this river, and opening a 
 communication between it and the Meri- 
 mafhee. From captain Lymon’s we again 
 visited captains French and M‘Lean, and 
 lodged at Dr Drummond’s. Here we staid 
 some days ; during which w^e dined in these 
 families. Went over the Doctor’s and engi- 
 neer’s farms, which are separated only by the 
 
small river Tay. They have a deal of inter- 
 val; deep, rich land, that never got, and I 
 suppose never will require manure. I was 
 astoniflied at the loftinefs of the timber grow- 
 ing thereon ; and I am convinced many of 
 the large pine trees would measure from 
 thren to four feet diameter, of which they 
 rarely make any other use than log canoes. 
 On these intervals sometimes two crops of 
 hay are cut in a season. 
 
 Here I saw a Beaver dam ; and as my Dog 
 made a great deal of work aboutit, we judged 
 some of the family had been at home, but 
 kept under large logs of trees that happened 
 to be there ; so that we did not see them. 
 
 In the pool, below these logs, were a good 
 many fine large Trout, swimming about at 
 their ease, and seemingly undisturbed, as if 
 no creature molested them, which gave us 
 reason to suppose, what has been often affirm- 
 ed by many, that the Beaver does not eat fifli, 
 but wholly subsists on the bark of trees. 
 Were it otherwise, the filli would not live in 
 the same pool with them. 
 
 This is the only running stream of any 
 magnitude I ever saw them settled in. Their 
 general method, (which I have seen in several 
 places down this creek,) is to dam up any low- 
 spot, through which a small brook of water 
 
[ 52 ] 
 
 glides 
 
 , by which a pool, or small fheet of 
 water may be formed. From this pool the 
 make canals in different directions, by which 
 they can lead considerable logs of trees to 
 form their dam.' The earth they take out of 
 these they use as mortar to fill the crevices 
 betwixt the logs, and stop the water. Their 
 broad flat tail they use as a trowel to batter it 
 up, as well as to form their habitations. 
 
 The natural sagacity of this creature is so 
 well known, and so fully described by other 
 travellers, that it is unnecefsary to enlarge on 
 It here. It is, however, worth remarking 
 that when a hunter falls in with any of those 
 dams, and wifhes to know if any Beavers live 
 m them, he cuts down a small slap in the 
 I e, and comes m a day or two to the same 
 
 P ace ; if they are there, he will find the slap 
 ipade up, ^ 
 
 An Indian who goes to look after Beavers, 
 ties up his Dogs, and will not allow any of 
 
 them to follow him, which if he did, and the 
 
 Beaver got hold of any one of them, he 
 WOU cut clear out whatever piece he got 
 o and so disable the Dog, and perhaps 
 render him uselefs ever after. 
 
 u ^ which is about four or five 
 
 me es broad, and between one and two thick, is 
 
 hio-l" many a delicious morsel, and sells 
 
 gh to white people j but, to me, it was too 
 
iucious, and appeared more of a gristly na- 
 ture than real fat. ' 
 
 It is said, that if one of them be caught in 
 a steel trap by one of the feet, he will cut that 
 off which is held, and thus get away. As 
 the trap only spoils the animal, and is of 
 no advantage to him that lays it, I find that 
 this method of catching them is disconti- 
 nued. 
 
 I HAVE seen a tree cut by a Beaver, and 
 was much surprised at the size of some of the 
 chips about it, some of which I took up, and 
 found them to be about half an inch broad, 
 and two lines thick ; and, by way of curiosity^ 
 fhowed them to sei^eral persons in that coun- 
 try, who said they had often seen many such 
 before. 
 
 They have four large broad fore teeth, two 
 above and two below. The Hares in our 
 country have 'teeth somewhat resembling 
 them. 
 
 In all parts of this creek are Pheasants and 
 Hares innumerable. Wherever I went I fell 
 in with them, and fhot some. 
 
 In autumn they can kill as many as they 
 please of the former. In this place where I 
 am now writing, Dr Drummond tells me, five 
 or six broods of them were hatched last sum- 
 mer, quite close to his house, and came mor- 
 nings and evenings to feed through his fields 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 and potatoe ground, of which he fhot fronl 
 day to day what served his family 
 
 A Gentleman in this neighbourhood also 
 told me, that the preceding year, two gentle* 
 men, from the river St John’s, had been upon 
 a visit to his family ; that next day being Sun- 
 day, and consequently an idle day, he and 
 they, to amuse themselves, went out with 
 their guns, took different routs, and strove 
 who fhould kill most Pheasants ; that when 
 they returned in the evening, and count- 
 ed their game, they had above forty of these 
 fine birds. 
 
 It is a practice, not uncommon in this 
 country, to catch Hares by the following con- 
 trivance. In winter, when all kind of her- 
 bage is buried under the snow, a tree is cut 
 down, which, m the course of their perpetual 
 ranging about all night for food, they find 
 out, and feed upon the buds and small branch- 
 es of It. When the sportsman finds this, he 
 places a number of gins around the tree, on 
 these branches ; by which it is no uncom- 
 mon thing to find eight or ten of them 
 caught against next morning. They are not 
 so those of Britain, nor so small as 
 
 a its, but seem to be a species between the 
 two, and are milk white in winter, but of a 
 deep brown in summer. 
 
From Frederick Town to the Foot of the Merima- 
 pH EE River and back again, 
 
 i 
 
 Having now got every thing ready for our 
 journey to the Meriinaihee, we proceeded up 
 the river Nafliwack, through the settlements 
 of the forty-second regiment, which is close- 
 ly inhabited on beautiful spacious flats on 
 each side of the river. 
 
 I FOUND them happily situated, each on his 
 own property, and glad to see one come so 
 lately from their native country. Their 
 greatest want, and what they complained 
 most of, was women for their young men ; 
 they be.fTged of me to recommend some 
 hundreds of them to come, and that they 
 would engage that they Ihould all get hus- 
 band, or masters, before they Ihould be 
 three weeks in the country, proportional to 
 their rank and age. 
 
 I MENTIONED to One that I was told every 
 winter they would set out to the distant fo- 
 rests, and continue there for two or three 
 weeks, and sleep on the snow in the same way 
 the Indians do. He said it was very true, 
 and that ne’er a winter since he settled on 
 
r 5<? } 
 
 that river, but he had a thousand weight of 
 Moose meat in his house, and that in general 
 they all were so ; that a good Moose would 
 weigh eight hundred weight, and a Kerra- 
 boo about four hundred. 
 
 I NOW found the information I had formerb 
 got of them to be well founded, as I could see 
 theyhad abundance of stock and crop to sup- 
 ply their wants. Their habitations and inclo- 
 sures neat, comfortable, and commodious' 
 One of them told me, that one of his gelds 
 produced thirty bulhels of bear for every one 
 sown, but that he had given it a little ma- 
 nure, as the soil is somewhat thin and sandy 
 
 they 
 
 rmed would return twenty-fold, which I 
 nd to be the average increase on this, and 
 
 John s river, in wheat, oats, and bear, when 
 no manure is given. 
 
 We called at several places as we went 
 along and d.ned at Mr Angus Mackimolh’s, 
 •he highest settler on this river. He h 
 
 1T/t originally from the coun- 
 
 venty-first regiment. His wife told me, they 
 had every necefsary of life abundance on 
 
 Ihth T ™ one thing 
 
 r S. h-ei that J 
 
 anTli^d ■ I, 'here was 
 
 an island m the gulf of St Jhaurence, opposite 
 
[ 57 ] 
 
 to the mouth of the Merimafhee river, where 
 it grew, and as flie understood 1 was going 
 that way, fhe earnestly entreated I would 
 bring her two or three stalks, or eows, as Ihe 
 called it, which {lie would plant on a barren 
 brae behind her house, where flie supposed it 
 would grow ; that flie made the same request 
 to severals going that way, but had not got 
 any of it ; which flie knew would greatly 
 beautify the place ; for, said flie, “ This is 
 an ugly country that has no heather ; I never 
 yet saw any good or pleasant place without 
 it.” 
 
 She was so decent a woman, and so earnest 
 in this matter, that I would go many miles 
 out of my way to procure it for her ; but as 
 the island Ihe mentioned, which produced it, 
 was several scores of miles from fliore, I had 
 no chance pf seeing it. 
 
 After dinner, our hospita.ble landlady ha- 
 ving furniflied us with a parcel of fine freih 
 .eggs for our journey, we set out, and encamp- 
 ed at night about the middle of the portage. 
 The men set to work, and in an instant hewed 
 down wood, and set up a fire ; cut the crops 
 of a species of ever green wood, which they 
 call varr, of a most agreeable and aromatic 
 odour, of which our beds were made, and co- 
 vered with our Bear Ikins. On this we slept. 
 We ranged upon the one side, with our soles 
 
 H 
 
/ 
 
 r 58 ] 
 
 to a fire, kept up all liight, and the men in the 
 same situation on the other. Got up very 
 early next morning, and ju'oceeded through a 
 large tract of hard woodland of good quality, 
 and easily cleared. 
 
 Descending on the opposite side we enter- 
 ed a valley, the immense pine trees of which 
 were the loftiest I had ever seen, and so nu- 
 merous, that I supposed the whole Britilh 
 navy might be supplied with masts and spars 
 from it. Many of the trees we supposed to 
 be from seventy to eighty feet high to the 
 first branches, and three feet diameter. One 
 tree in particular, the engineer supposed to 
 be four feet through. Crofsed two small ri- 
 vers, the- Nagudagun and Waametick, or Tax’s 
 riv'er, whicn last takes its name from an In- 
 dian chid: of the Meekmack nation, called 
 Pier Tax, who sometimes had resided on it, 
 -and fills into the Merimafliee below the eas- 
 
 tern portage. 
 
 Bctw£en nine and ten o’clock. a. m. we ar- 
 riv i_cl on the banks of the Merimafliee, jnit up 
 a fire and breakfasted. Coming througli the 
 wood this morning I Ihot a fine large Polecat, 
 or Martin, and a half dozen of Pheasants. While 
 we were at breakfast, \ve saw many Salmon 
 and Trouts jumping in the pool by us, and a 
 flock of large grey Ducks, resembling those 
 caiieu in Scotland Sheldrakes. 
 
After breakfast we returned our horses* 
 and embarked on board two canoes made of 
 birch bark, which is very common in this 
 country, and proceeded down the river on 
 our voyage. The river as we went along is 
 broad, ihoal, and of a clear gravelly bottom, 
 and rare to find a pool deep enough to come 
 over a man’s head of six feet high ; so that 
 we made very little use of- our paddles, but 
 poled as we went along. Pafsed many fine 
 islands and large links of deep, rich, interval 
 land. We made a considerable way this day 
 and encamped at night on an island. Slept 
 soundly at the root of a large tree till 
 about one o’clock in the morning. A heavy 
 Ihower then fell and obliged us to ])ut our 
 Bear ikin over us to secure us from it. We 
 continued our nap till an hour or two there- 
 after, when I, happening to be awake, heard 
 some strange animal call two' or three times 
 pretty close to us, and seemed coming to- 
 wards us. I gently put at the engineer, awa- 
 kened him, and aficed him what creature it 
 was. He, without giving an answer, instantly 
 sprang up, seized upon his gun, awakened the 
 men, and watched its coming ; but the night 
 being very dark, could not see him pafsing 
 by, calling now and then as he went along; 
 THey said, the call was that of a Moose Dcs 
 
t 6o ] 
 
 and resembled more the call of a young than 
 an old one. 
 
 From this place we set out very early 
 next morning, and pafsing a small island, we 
 heard a loud plunge in the water, which 
 drew our attention to that place, and found 
 it was occasioned by a Cow Moose, and Calf 
 crofsing from thence to the main land, with 
 such expedition that I had not time to turn 
 about in the canoe to fire at her before {he 
 got into the wood. I proposed to get aihore 
 and follow her ; but they said it was in vain ; 
 because being once started, Ihe would go a 
 great way before fhe would stop. 
 
 We landed upon a point to take breakfast. 
 Whilst the kettle was a-boiling. Captain Ly- 
 mon having hooks and lines in his pocket, 
 lopped a branch off a tree, with which he fiihed, 
 and caught more fine Trouts than we could 
 use. While he was at this work, I took a stroll 
 to t e wood, to see the soil and nature of 
 It. And wherever the wood was any thing 
 open, jhe grafs and weeds were breast high, 
 and obstructed my pafsing through it; which 
 aa ® tue return to our encampment sooner 
 than I otherwise would have done. 
 
 In these excursions I rarely ventured with- 
 t my ouble barelled gun loaded, so as to 
 be prepared for any wild animal I might 
 chance to fall in with. 
 
[ ] 
 
 All along the haiaks of this river, are seen 
 great quantities of hops growing spontaneous- 
 and as luxuriant as those cultivated in the 
 i most fertile part of England, and small onions, 
 
 ‘tt. - with which we used to season our fifli. In the 
 evening we arrived at avhouse built by a set 
 ■4 of w'ood cutters, em^doyed by a Mr Fraser, 
 k merchant on this river, where the small river 
 Wsj Kain falls into the Merimafliee. 
 
 The two brothers, John and George M‘Gre- 
 gors, whom I employed to accompany me m 
 ■c this expedition, were well acquainted with the 
 navigation and fiflieries on this river. The for- 
 mer was one of five fifliermen, who, with the 
 irii afsistance, of a few Indians, caught seventy 
 I tierce of Salmon in the space oi ten or tweb e 
 iji days ; they would have continued the fifhing 
 im longer, but rain came on and swelled the 
 , rivers, which induced them to give it up for 
 that season. 
 
 On the river Kain, the Salmon are so 
 plenty that many may be caught in a few 
 hours ; for the same young man afsured me, 
 that he has known 300 taken tnereon with 
 a net in one day, by placing the net at 
 the foot of a pool, and beating the filh down 
 the river into it. 
 
 Whilst our things were a-carrying to this 
 hut, where we encamped, I went a-filhing, 
 and was so succefsfial as to eaten many more 
 
r 62 ] 
 
 fine large Trouts than we had occasion for 
 therefore left some on the fliore, and threJ 
 several into the water again. 
 
 I OBSERVED, that there is a ^reat i . 
 mterval and good lands on both side, ! 
 tne nvcr as we came along. Having her. 
 deal floor to lie on, we went to bed and 
 
 *pt soundly and comfortably till mom,;' 
 
 Then setting out pretty early, we set up sait 
 both canoes, and alternately sailed m 
 ed, and paddled, till we came to a phcc 
 some miles below, where there „ 
 
 '■efsels, hoglheads. tubs ; for 
 
 nton, still uncarried alav h 
 
 boiled our kettles, and brL’kfasted.'VheTe' 
 
 V ^wC; •'-e " 
 
 - , Whose banks on earb ciWo 
 whT. j covered 
 
 with woods, mostly everoTppnc i 
 hard wnnri • • fai^eens, and some 
 
 naid wood intermixed. Many parts are 
 
 S’ TnSi*" P'“T -B 
 tbe“sugaries:'ftra™d:rofs'’“\“'“ 
 
 made on them Manv ^ 
 
 into this river below^th T 
 
 rived at ™ar- 
 
 Hom we saw an fr"’'''’" 
 
 -me smali, but Srnel' 
 
[ «3 ] 
 
 c^jOf dyii^g the quills is as follows : They pick 
 ^ up small pieces of cloth of every colour they 
 can find. These they scrape down as small 
 as they can, and boil separately in kettles, 
 d till the dye is extracted from the wool ; then 
 put in the quills in them. This dyes them, 
 jj||and gives them as fine colours as can be 
 1^' wilhed indeed I never saw any more bril- 
 liant. 
 
 The river Renow is broad, but ilioal at the" 
 "I foot, and seems to be a very beautiful little 
 one, where a neat and beneficial settlement 
 for a filhery mights be made. Here we put 
 ' up sails, and joined both canoes together for 
 our greater security, and that there might be 
 no danger of oversetting. 
 
 From this place down to the island of Bar- 
 naby, several miles below, the river is navi- 
 ' gable for small craft; and from thence to its 
 entrance into the gulph of St Laurence, for 
 thirty miles, for fliips of any burden. 
 
 The late Mr Davidson, al ^i: John Goodsman, 
 having obtained large grants of lands here, built 
 - adwellinghouse,some offices,anda store house. 
 The soil is rather thin and poor, as is common 
 in this country on the coast ; and the place 
 seems more eligible for carrying on the fifh- 
 eries, than for cultivation; for which purpose 
 he placed crofs nets on stakes fixed in the 
 channel of the river, to prevent the Salmon 
 
I 64 ] 
 
 from going up ; which occasioned many di'j. 
 putes and quarrels betwixt him and the In I 
 dians. He also erected saw mills on th 
 north east branch of the river, for manufac- 
 , taring the woods; and from thence exported 
 large quantities of fine planks, masts, spars 
 Besides the considerable trade he car- 
 ried on in different articles of timber, he 
 annually exported, caught on this branch of 
 the river, from twelve to fifteen hundred 
 tierce of Salmon. He was the first settler in 
 this place, and to him it was owing, that 
 many settlements there afterwards tool 
 place. He was a man of genius and great abi- 
 lities ; and though his views, as a schemer, 
 were said to be too extensive, yet he was in 
 such high esteem, and so well beloved, that 
 he was mad(j a member of the House of Af- 
 sembly, and deemed one of the ablest and 
 cleveiest men in it. The surveyor of the 
 customs told me, that in this river were Ihip- 
 ped in one year 3800 tierce of Salmon. 
 
 In the evening we arrived at the house of 
 Mefsrs James Fraser, and John Tom, mer- 
 chants on the island of Barnaby, w'here they 
 kept stores and different kind/ of merchan- 
 dise proper for the country ; fhip masts and 
 spars for government; deals and all other 
 kind of wood for foreign market. The fhip 
 Cochran, from Greenock, Robert Burn mas- 
 
[ 65 ] 
 
 ter, and a brig from Shelburn, v/ere just then 
 taking in their lading. 
 
 Mr Fraser is judge of the inferior court of 
 common pleas ; and this being a court day, 
 '“f several of the neighbouring gentlemen were 
 afsembled, and after the court businefs was 
 over, dined at his house. Though dinner 
 ^ was over with them before we arrived, yet as 
 they had not broke up, we had the good 
 ■k fortune of falling into their company, and 
 conversing with them on the state of this 
 part of the province, respecting improvements 
 in agriculture, filheries, game, "i^c. l£c. 
 
 K Besides Mr Fraser, and his partner Mr Tom, 
 
 ^ there were present on this occasion, Mr Nicol- 
 ! son an Iriflrman, collector and deputy survey- 
 or; Mr Reid a Scotchman; Mr Robeihot a 
 E Frenchman; squire Taylor, squire Wilson, 
 i Americans; Mr Laurence, Mr Andrew, an 
 Englifhman, a liner of masts and timber, for 
 which he has L. 200 a-year from this compa- 
 ny, besides bed and board ; captain Collick, a 
 hearty jolly fat Pensylvanian ; and Mr le Dernier, 
 thelheriff, a Swifs; a smart, lively, sensible little 
 man, once superintendant of Indian affairs, 
 who, having lived for seven years among the 
 Indians, acquired their language, and spoke 
 it with ease and fluency ; a great sportsman, 
 and perfectly expert in their manner of fifli- 
 ing, hunting, and calling in the game. 
 
[ 66 ] 
 
 We staid here all night, and next day 
 took a view of the company’s mast yard 
 stores, and every thing to be seen ' about this 
 place. Judge Lymon, after satisfying his cu- 
 riosity, went to visit Mrs Davidson, and 
 the saw mills. 
 
 The extent of this island is only 1 50 acres ' 
 very flat, all sandy, having little of any other 
 soil, and covered with young birch wood and 
 pines. When the French pofsefsed this coun- 
 try, It seemed to have been cleared land^ but 
 being uninhabited, it fliot out in wood. It 
 lies at the fork of the two branches of the 
 Merimafliee, about thirty miles from where it 
 enters into the gulph. The tide, which rises 
 here about six feet, flows up to Renow river 
 fourteen or fifteen miles above it. The land 
 on each side is level, or has a gradual and 
 easy ascent; the wood mostly pine and 
 irch ; though there are some spots of large 
 and hard wood. The river here is about a 
 quarter of a mile broad, of a muddy and san- 
 dy bottom; and having neither stones nor 
 
 rocks, seems to be as safe a navigation as is in 
 the world. 
 
 The settlements thereon are but few, and 
 none as yet above twelve miles from the 
 s. Every one has a right to fifh on his 
 own property to a certain extent of nets; and 
 
^ or none exercise this right without vast 
 advantage and profit. 
 
 jiji Mr le Dernier told me he had seventy 
 tierces of Salmon caught on his lot, with only 
 one set net of about thirty fathoms to the 
 [V back ; and many others were nearly in that 
 I proportion; but that his was among the best 
 , stations on the river. 
 
 Sweep nets have been tried, but did not 
 . (as they say,) repay them for the expence and 
 ^ trouble; so they gave them up, and continued 
 that kind of nets which gave no other trouble 
 than setting them at night, and taking the fifli 
 out of them in the morning. These are set 
 on poles, which are fixed in the bottom, and 
 standing upright. And I am informed, that 
 from this river 3000 tierces of Salmon, caught 
 in this way, had been fhipped two years ago; but 
 that last year and this have not answered so 
 well ; and that on the Restigufh river, which 
 falls into the bay of Chaleur, forty miles to 
 the northward of this, they catch a great ma- 
 ny more, and these of a larger size ; for it 
 takes only from twenty to twenty-five Sal- 
 mon of the latter river to make a tierce ; 
 whereas from thirty-six to forty of those of 
 the former are required to make one. 
 
 There are a great many streams of lefser 
 note in this part of the province, where a deal 
 of Salmon are caught. The mouths of the ri- 
 
1 68 ] 
 
 vers and all along the coast, abound with al- 
 most all the varieties of filh in the sea ; and as 
 for Lobsters and Oysters, they are so nume- 
 rous, as to become a nuisance, destructive to 
 the nets and the filh therein. Wild Geese 
 Brants, Ducks, and all the variety of water 
 fowl, are in such numbers, that a good sports- 
 man in a few hours may load a canoe with 
 them. 
 
 Mr le Dernier the fheriff, who is as inde- 
 fatigable and expert a sportsman as can be met 
 with in any country, told me, that he himself 
 annually lays up for winter store, two tierces 
 of Brant and Wild Geese, as many of Salmon, 
 and as many of Herring, besides other lift, 
 Moose, Keraboo, and other venison. The 
 latter need not be salted, as they are killed 
 in winter, and the frost preserves them; 
 but the Brant, which is like a lump of 
 butter for fat, and the Geese, are Ihot in Sep- 
 tember and October, and therefore require to I 
 be pickled to preserve them. When plucked 
 they are split on the back, and barrelled up, 
 and when''they have occasion to use them, 
 they are steeped in water for a night or two, to 
 thaw and carry off the salt, when they become 
 frcfh, sweet, and as fit to be roasted or stewed 
 as the day they were caught. 
 
 As the method of fliooting the Wild Geese, 
 hrants, and ot|ier sea fowl in this place, is 
 
C 69 ] 
 
 somewhat curious and uncommon, it will not 
 perhaps be amifs to give some account of it, 
 which is as follows ; 
 
 On any point of land between two creeks, 
 bays, or (which is best,) between two rivers, 
 the sportsman slips off a tree, a twig, or small 
 branch, the small end of which he fixes in the 
 sand,quite close to the water edge, to the height 
 of the bird he means to represent; near to it 
 he fixes two or three other sticks to the height 
 of the body; round these sticks he wraps 
 some sea weed, so as to resemble as much as 
 pofsible the wings and tail of the bird; and 
 the upper end of the stick, the neck and 
 head, I mean that which formerly adhered 
 to the tree ; so that to view it at a distance 
 it will very much resemble a bird. He 
 sometimes makes two or three of these de- 
 coys close to each other, which being seen 
 by the birds at a distance, as they fly along, 
 entice them to come on, and take a sweep 
 around, supposing them to be some of their 
 fellows. At a proper distance he makes a 
 pit in the sand, and around it places some 
 flirubbery or small bunches of the crops of 
 trees, to cover himself when he sits, that he 
 may not be seen by them. This is always 
 done on the windward side of the point, 
 which, for the most part, sea fowls are fond- 
 est of frequenting. A flock of them in pai- 
 
L 70 J 
 
 sing by, suppose these objects to be real 
 birds, and come close up to them ; on which 
 the sportsman fires, and if he happens to 
 kill one or two, he places them in the Avater 
 with a fharp pointed stick, one end of which 
 IS fixed in the sand, the other under ,he 
 chops of the bird, which holds up his head 
 as if alive, and the motion of the surge keeps 
 him heaving up and down, and front side 
 to Side ; so that now it is next to impofsible 
 to discover the deception. 
 
 Tm next flight that comes, alight close by 
 this one, on which he readily fires sitting 
 and every one he kills, he places close by the 
 
 ^ ^ manner with the first 
 
 hts he continues to do, till in a few hours 
 
 may have the full loading of his canoe or 
 a many as he choose, to carry home. n. 
 irds are so numerous in these bays and 
 oc s o them so frequently pafsing from 
 
 nd eZ“ “ “ -hich, 
 
 deed, the Indians are most expert. 
 
 in ,he™“” Moose Deer 
 
 m the rutting season, is as follows • The 
 
 Moose at night is fond of feeding on a sort 
 r grafs that ^rows at k 
 ponds oflake:. 
 
 anJiake rTr P™<i- 
 
 lake to lake, until he find by their track 
 
[ 71 ] 
 
 V 
 
 that which the Moose frequents ; he then 
 places himself in a proper situation on the 
 side of that pond or lake. He is provided 
 with a slip of birch bark, about a span 
 broad, which he rolls up in the form of a 
 funnel ; and when the proper time of night 
 comes, putting the small end of it to his 
 mouth, he blows through it, and gives the call 
 peculiar to this animal ; if the Moose is with- 
 ^ in hearing, he answers the call, and comes 
 rufhing through the wood with such rapi- 
 j dity and noise, that h.e is heard at a consi- 
 derable distance ; all the young sapplings, 
 i branches, or bufhes giving way to his 
 great strength in his career. If he is any 
 way doubtful, he stops and listens ; the sports- 
 man then calls and calls again, through his 
 birch funnel ; and if the Moose Bull does not 
 know the sound, though within gun Ihot, he 
 comes no farther. The huntsman finding 
 this, has recourse to another deception with 
 the same instrument. He blows in the 
 water, and makes it bubble up ; so as to re- 
 semble the water bubbling by the breath of 
 an animal feeding in it ; then putting his 
 fing.'ir in the small end of the funnel, he dips it 
 into the water and raises the full of it ; then 
 removing his finger, he pours it back again in 
 a small stream ; thus making a noise as if 
 a Cow Moose was pifsing. When the Bull 
 
f 72 J 
 
 liears this, he runs with such fury and force 
 that the sportsman, for fear of being trodden 
 down, is often obliged to step to a side, till he 
 dalh into the water, where he becomes more 
 visible by its reflection, and having now full 
 sight and time to take his aim, he fires and 
 kills him on the spot. 
 
 In winter they hunt them with dogs, when 
 the crust of the snow is so hard as to hold 
 up the dogs, while the weight of the Moose 
 sinks him to the bottom. When closely pur- 
 sued, and no pofsibility of escaping, he runs 
 about in a circle until he beat down the 
 snow and make a path, within which he 
 keeps to beat off the dogs, and often kills 
 some of those that happen to come within 
 this circle and his reach. His horns are of 
 an enormous length and thicknefs at the root. 
 
 I have seen one horn of a Moose Deer, which 
 I am convinced would weigh from sixteen to 
 twenty pounds. 
 
 The Keraboo is another kind of Deer, 
 much of the same colour with that of the 
 Moose, but not near the size. I have seen 
 man^ of their Ikins, which are of a very dark 
 gray ; but none of them alive. Their antlers 
 or horns are somewhat similar to those of the 
 red Deer. Ihey inhabit the coldest coun- 
 tries ; are numerous in Newfoundland, the 
 extensive country of Labrador, lower parts 
 
[ 73 3 
 
 of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, 
 but never farther south. They eat no grafs, 
 but live on the poorest and most barren 
 mofses. So that, by every information I 
 have had, 1 consider them to be the Rein 
 Deer of this country, but not domesticated as 
 those of Lapland and Rufsia are. 
 
 "I; They have a particular way of walking on 
 the snow, by which they sink no deeper than 
 stout Dogs, owing, as I have been told, to the 
 form of their hoofs, and to their manner of 
 s placing them when they run or walk in 
 iii deep snow. I have seen their tracks, which 
 A are as large as a Bull’s. 
 
 k The huntsmen therefore stalk them, much 
 :i; in the same way as they do Red Deer in Scot- 
 •ii land ; with this difference only, that the 
 ii Keraboo are fond of extensive plains clear 
 of wood, and herd together in droves. When 
 in the sportsman finds them in a plain of this 
 kind, he cuts a bunch of branches of young 
 il ' trees, which he carries before him to hide 
 him from their sight, and goes on so slowly 
 that his motion is not perceived by them ; 
 
 I and when he comes within ftiqt he fixes it 
 in the ground, and lays himself flat behind it ; 
 from this place he fires, and as he is covered 
 by the bulh, they do not see what occasions 
 the report. If he either mifses or kills dead, 
 they are not disturbed. He may there- 
 
 K 
 
r 74 ] 
 
 fore charge and fire again, while he conti* 
 nues to kill or mifs, as already said ; so that it 
 is not unfrequent to fire half a dozen of Ihots 
 in this way. But if he only wounds, and one 
 of them whistles, which is the sign of alarm 
 they set off in a gang; and ten to one if he 
 sees them more that day. 
 
 The Luservi and Carcaseu are of the Cat 
 kind, and much the size of a Lamb six 
 months old. The Lucervi is of a light grey co- 
 lour, and in figure a perfect Cat, with strong 
 broad paws, and very long fiiarp claws. They 
 have no tail, but a small stump of the size 
 and length of one’s little finger. They are ve- 
 ry numerous here, as I have seen a great ma- 
 ny of their /kins with merchants wherever I 
 went, They are not mischievous but when 
 attacked, and seldom attack Sheep, though 
 lull master of their strength. The real Wild 
 
 Cat is also here ; but not near in such num- 
 bcrs cis the forrner. 
 
 The Carcaseu, as I am told by some 
 people, IS still a larger animal ; his hue is jet 
 blacK, very hairy, fiiarp ears, with a rough, 
 bulky tail, somewhat resembling that of a 
 
 fi^ke so long, with fiiarp claws 
 like those of a Cat. 
 
 This animal has something of the Monkey 
 ni him, and plays many of his tricks. The 
 
II,. r 75 1 
 
 iso; following stories of his pranks are only a few 
 EBil' of many which are related of him. 
 
 A MAN who had been alone in the woods, 
 Jofi had occasion to go a start away from the 
 place at which he had encamped at night, 
 and thinking it troublesome to carry his 
 9; blanket and tomahaw'k along with him, left 
 i. them there until he Ihould return. The Car- 
 caseu had come in his absence and carried 
 away both blanket and tomahawk; when the 
 man returned, he mifsed them, and finding 
 no track about the place but that of the Car- 
 caseu, he followed it, and at a considerable 
 
 „ distance found the snow had been stirred and 
 
 h 
 
 heaped up ; he had the curiosity to examine it, 
 and there found his own blanket ; but the 
 tomahawk he never got. 
 
 ^ Another man, on the like occasion, being 
 in a similar situation, had left his blanket, 
 tomahaw'k and powder horn. When he came 
 back, he found his blanket had been burnt 
 to alhes in the fire he had left, and his pow- 
 der horn and hatchet a-mifsing. On looking 
 around him, he saw a Carcaseu in the next 
 tree, which he fired at and foot dead. On 
 examining it, he found his head singed, and 
 both his eyes burnt stone blind, which, was 
 owing to his putting the powder horn in the 
 fire, to see if it would burn,’'and staying too 
 near it till it blew up about his face; and 
 
[ 7^ ] 
 
 when frantic with the pain and blindnefs 
 he ran up the first tree he met, and dared not 
 come down in case worse fiiould befal him 
 And hence it is that sportsmen in this coun- 
 try are so very careful of leaving nothing of 
 value near a fire in the woods, lest this tricky 
 animal find it out and bum it. 
 
 A Mr Higginbottom, who had been a long 
 time an Indian trader in the Magdalen moun- 
 tain, which bounds lower Canada and this 
 province, told me he had once kft a pack of 
 Ikins in a forsaken solitary hut, which the 
 Carcaseu found out, untied the packages, and 
 carried off every one pf them. 
 
 That, to mislead and deceive the owner, 
 he raised the snow in heaps, he supposes in 
 a thousand parts about the place. That he, 
 Mr Higginbottom, ripped up a great many of 
 these in hop^s of finding some of the &ins 
 concealed under them, but never yet found 
 so much as one of them. 
 
 This strange mischievous creature is a great 
 pest to the Indians, who are expert enough in 
 making traps of various constructions, suffii 
 cient to hold all sorts of wild animals that fre- 
 quent the corner they happen to be in ; yet 
 fhould they make a chain of traps ten miles 
 long, and that the Carcaseu fell in with any 
 one of them, he wall range about until he 
 derriolilhes one and all of them, and seem? 
 
t 11 3 
 
 ^ uneasy while one is remaining. He hides the 
 ^ sticks of which they are composed, in such a 
 manner that it is the next thing to a miracle 
 to find out any one of them ; and how he can 
 remove logs of a considerable weight, is no 
 iefs surprising. 
 
 The Indians in New Brunswick and Lower 
 Canada call him the Black Devil', and as an 
 instance of their knowledge of his bad tricks, 
 when a merchant cheats or circumvents 
 it them in a bargain, they call him. a Carca- 
 tl seu. 
 
 » I DO not suppose they are numerous, as: I 
 have not seen above half a dozen of their 
 fkins and as 1 have not heard of their being 
 I; in the south, I judge them to be inhabitants 
 of a cold country only. 
 
 . Having set out on our way home from Mr 
 Frazer’s, who furniftied us very hospitably with 
 some provisions and necefsarics, we arri- 
 ved in the evening at a deserted house at the 
 foot of the river Renow, where it empties it- 
 self into the Merimalhee. We put up there 
 that night, and as it rained a great deal, we 
 deemed ourselves lucky to be under a dry 
 roof. 
 
 We proceeded up the river, and saw three 
 Moose Deer crofsing it ; a Cow and young, 
 and a Bull Moose ; and though the water 
 "^here they crofsed had been between three 
 
r 78 ] 
 
 and four feet deep, they treaded through wiri, 
 as much ease as if it had been but as m 
 inches; and as they had gone in some swt 
 
 of haste into the wood, it was thought need 
 Jefs to follow them. ® 
 
 On this day’s course I observed a great ma 
 By places where fithing cruives or rt, 
 
 could be built with veryhittletrou:,::'’:: 
 
 pence, and with a certainty' of succefs The 
 water spreads so wide as to be on many for* 
 not above four inches in the deepest oa„ 
 we could not get the canoe up wi.hom touch' 
 
 , , “ happen, as no doubt it will 
 
 when settlements take place in ,he count”’ 
 
 a ove, that cruivmg the river will be opposed^ 
 
 sEf =“■■■- 
 
 head s„ok’ in, ^ « *e 
 
 chatriufd itr 
 
 an V bo -7 ,1 forward at 
 
 anOThe" “<* ““™P' 
 
 2 1,! TE-, nnooth, and 
 
 tile gravel and beach so small . • i 
 
 stakes of wood mivhM 2 ’ 
 
 ’ be driven endwise into 
 
t 19 ] 
 
 '>551 the bottom, and so close, that the filh could 
 H not pafs. Many of the pickets, if not the 
 h: whole, would readily stand from year to year. 
 >t|t There is little danger of their being carried 
 away by speats during the fifhing season ; as 
 k generally the rains falling then seldom or 
 i); never swell the river to such a height as 
 I would endanger them ; or supposing any brea- 
 t ches were then made they could be soon re- 
 :■ paired. And in the event the whole of these 
 , pickets lliould be driven away by the ice and 
 jjj trees floating down the river, in time of the 
 frefhes, the trouble and expence of replacing 
 them would be but small ; as two men ha- 
 ving wood at hand could make up the 
 whole in a few days. 
 
 CoiMiNG up this grand and beautiful river, 
 . I observed several fine islands that escaped 
 my notice goin^ down, where cruives might 
 be made in the water in this way. Also 
 large intervals; and a vast extent of rich 
 lands, admitting of easy improvement, where 
 many hundreds, and even thousands of fa- 
 milies might find comfortable settlements; 
 so that, upon the whole, I think it as eli- 
 gible a place for a settlement as any I have as 
 yet seen in America. 
 
 The great risque would be, and which has 
 already hurt the lower settlements on this 
 river, that the vast abundance of fifli mi^ht 
 
t 8o 3 
 
 induce the settlers to apply more to the fiUj. 
 ing than to the cultivation of their lands. 
 
 On the small rivers Kain and Renow 
 they filh in the following manner ; At the 
 foot of a certain pool they place a net 
 acrolsj beat down the filh for a number of 
 miles from above, and then sweep the pool. 
 And changing in this manner from one pool 
 to another, they hardly leave a filh in these 
 small rivers, till the next speat bring up what 
 will supply their place. 
 
 The Rustiguich, which is a large stream, 
 falling into the bay of Chaleur, as already 
 observed, is filhed in a way that is a little 
 more curious. As the Indians have no large 
 nets of their own, and claim an exclusive 
 right to the filhing, they apply for the loan 
 of one to some white man who hasone, and for 
 which he is to get a proportional lhare of 
 the filh. When a proper net is obtained, 
 they place it acrofs a certain large pool, near 
 the foot of the river. Having done this, they 
 go with a number of canoes up the river, 
 sometimes eight or ten miles, each being 
 provided with a boiled Salmon in it; and 
 when they get up as far as they intend, they 
 lange their canoes in proper order fi'om side 
 to side of the river, and crumble out the 
 oiled Salmon as fast as they are able, till the 
 water appears white and muddy by it. They 
 
I 8l ] 
 
 *’>iitlien fall to work, and beat down the fifli 
 k'with their poles and spear fhafts, keeping 
 pace with the crumbled fiflr as they go along, 
 t: until they come to the large pool, at the foot 
 b of which the net is set, and then they scringe 
 Jut! the pool. 
 
 George M‘Gregor, on whose veracity I 
 could depend, told me, that he himself had 
 u, seen 900 Salmon taken out of that pool at 
 I one time in this manner, and that he got 
 thirty or forty of them from the Indians for 
 mending a few holes in the net. And his 
 account is corroborated by another man, 
 who told me, that upon another occasion, 
 he had seen 1100 taken out of the same 
 place in the like manner. Having encamped 
 and slept all night on the banks of the river, 
 we set out pretty early next morning, and 
 as we were going up, we made the same ob- 
 servations as the day before, in regard to the 
 soil and fiftiing. As I was travelling on the 
 banks of the river, I observed two Wigwams ; 
 I went in to see them, and found both of 
 them without an inhabitant. The families 
 had been then either fifhing or hunting. 
 The furniture of these temporary habitations 
 consisted of several difhes’ made of birch 
 bai'k, finely ornamented, and boxes of Por- 
 cupine quills, as 1 supposed for sale. Besides 
 these, I saw a root drying, which the Indi- 
 
 L 
 
r 82 j 
 
 ans use as a cure for many complaints, anrf 
 took a piece of it along with me. Thenanie 
 tliey give it, I think, is Calomet*. it 
 strong spicy taste, an aromatic scent, 
 heats the stomach almost as much as a drnn, 
 
 It IS either the root of the sedge, or some.’ 
 thing very hke it. 
 
 We arrived at the Portage and dined Idi 
 the canoes there, and proceeded on fo, 
 to the Naihwack river. shot three a 
 four pheasants ; and found a large Moo, 
 Deers horn, lately dropped off, by the side 
 o the path, which, I suppose, would weigl 
 above a stone weight. Having met out hot- 
 os about midway, we mounted and arriveil 
 an hour or two after night fall at the house 
 of our former landlord, Angus M-Intoft 
 With whom we staid that night. 
 
 Next morning, beginning to breakfast I 
 
 klu~f " ^ 
 
 did be I alhed him, when 
 
 ma e that cheese ? he answered, in 
 imng last. I observed to him that 1 had seen 
 many a farmer m my country who had three- 
 
 lo male” 
 
 nunil 'han that 
 
 h:Z Z he milked above an 
 
 hundred to m.ake that cheese. This I could 
 
 * Cj/avm aroma!:eus, I suppQse. 
 
ti r 83 ] 
 
 I ; 
 
 ‘ not divine, as I knew he had only four 
 ^ milk Cows, which I saw that morning, until 
 he began to slice it down, when, to my great 
 surprise, I found it to be a loaf of maple su- 
 gar, made in the form, and of the colour of 
 a cheese ; which proved what he had said to 
 be true, as he had pierced that number of 
 trees to make it. 
 
 ■ Here I saw the finest melafses I ever tasted, 
 *1 extracted from the same tree, far superior 
 to that made of the sugar cane, and nigh- 
 est to honey in taste of any thing I know. 
 
 Continued our journey. Called on Dr Drum- 
 mond, captain M‘Lean, and captain French. 
 
 ; The latter told me, that some years he caught 
 ten barrels of Salmon on a pool in the river 
 before his house, besides what served his fa- 
 mily, in one season ; but that yearly they are 
 turning fewer, as the settlements increase ; 
 and that the people destroy most of them in 
 the spawning time, as there is no attention 
 paid to prevent it in this province. 
 
 The gentlemen in this settlement have ve- 
 ry fine spacious farms, which in a few years 
 must turn out to a very great account. 
 
 ; Captain French, who holds one of these, 
 
 . rarely keeps a servant. He himself and son, 
 who is also a half pay officer, manage and ear- 
 * ry on the work without, while his wife and 
 daughters do the dairy, and that within. By 
 
C 84 ] 
 
 laudable attention and industry, he lives ' 
 affluence, and independent of the trouble and 
 expence of servants, while many of his bro- 
 ther officers who trust to them, get in dehf 
 
 become poor, and the next thing to ban^’ 
 ruptcy. 
 
 r “'Shbourhood of my good friend 
 
 Captain M Lean, was a farm to be disposed of 
 which, from the low price alked for it the 
 quality of its soil, and its pleasant situation I 
 was very near induced to purchase. It be- 
 onged then to a half pay ofEcer, whose father 
 
 sold State, and left him , 
 
 g d pofsefsion, which he was obliged to oc- 
 cupy or lose. His farm here consisted of 
 
 which could not be done but at a consider- 
 able expence, though lefs to him than i„ 
 
 with h ''* ^ P^ct o/it 
 
 with his own hands. There was an island 
 
 snnially cut twelve 
 tons of hay. More of the island could be 
 cleared at a small expence ; so that triple the 
 
 Besides this 
 
 usuall ^ pool in the river on which he 
 
 servM^h^^c^ -1 ^ of Salmon more than 
 
 and ^ ^ could have had, 
 
 was offered to me for fifty pounds. Hall- 
 
 pounds lefs than 
 ut as I was determined to eng.age 
 
in nothing of the kind till I fliould return 
 home, I declined it. The owner, whom I fell 
 in with next year, told me he sold it for that 
 money. I proceeded down the river, called 
 on Captain Shaw, lieutenant Dugald Camp- 
 bell, and in the evening arrived at Frede- 
 rick Town ; and next day w^aited again on the 
 governor, who confirmed what he had for- 
 merly said in regard to lands, with the additi- 
 on, that to some he would give even a thou- 
 sand acres, if their sto k was proportional to 
 it. He said, he did not doubt but I would 
 sec finer lands on the lakes and southern 
 parts of Canada, but it was much more out 
 of the world than any part of this province, 
 from whence every inhabitant had accefs of 
 seeing or hearing from the mother country 
 almost every day. 
 
 From the governor’s I went to the engi- 
 neer’s house, where I staid for some days, pre- 
 paring for my journey through the wilder-r 
 nefs and mountains to Lower Canada. 
 
From Fr£derick Town to Quebec, 
 
 T 
 
 ± WAS now to encounter a journey, the 
 dangers and difficulties of which would stag- 
 ger many, more accustomed than I was to 
 travelling in this country, and inured to the 
 'vays necelsary, through impenetrable forests, 
 a savage wildernefs, and mountains covered 
 with snow; and what I deemed little better 
 was, that I had to go from 270 to 300 miles, 
 ^y watei, through broad and rapid streams, 
 broken with stones and rocks, which made 
 It both unsafe and intricate to get up against 
 lem in a small birch canoe, that could hard, 
 y carry my Dog besides the poleman, or na- 
 vigator, and myself Of all this I was inform- 
 y ot leis, as well as by my nephew, the 
 engineer, who prefsed me much to wait un- 
 til next May, when I might, without any dan- 
 gei o eing overtaken by snow in the moun- 
 tains, get through with more safety; and 
 mentioned that lord Fitzgerald, who had un- 
 ertaken such a journey ayear or two ago, from 
 Frederick Town to Qiiebec, in the dead of 
 winter, was well provided with a small par- 
 y, snow ffioes, and every thing necefsary for 
 

 / ./ />//;-/// ,//// r / v//,/ /, ,U! fu.il . 1 
 . j^u t it iiVo',- <f /'\ ''ij/u, 
 
 .1 /i?//’.'.*'.' .'r fu.it . in I '/; ! /, / 
 
 .y Z..' /:•/.. 
 
 Hri;n ////,>.. 
 
 />•■/ W.V./ /;,/,/ /.n.r 
 i 7 I^utl f'.'/i. , . 
 
 Z^/// or .i. \ ‘t CJ.KAUEIi Ji't-IJR. 
 
 .). h. 7 n-.r !'/<.> .V A.’V// /l//y . 
 
 A’ j\Ano< 
 
 7/. S/)4ii^>’/iv (<jah\t€ ly m WuUef' . 
 
 /■I n'i/itwiQ Induui (<n'ii • 
 
 l7i.AiUeilmpLoaBi^ik<virrtd%^^ Both 
 
 O. Ati Jjhimn n^il • - 
 

[ 87 ] 
 
 such an undertaking j that he had large Dogs 
 to carry their provisions on tobagans on the 
 snow ; and that before he crofsed the moun- 
 tains, which there rise one above another, 
 for more than an hundred miles, he himself, 
 and two or three more who pufhed on, 
 thought it advisable to send back the rest ; 
 that by the time they descended into Cana- 
 da, their provisions were so far exhausted, 
 and their clothes so torn to rags by the bulh- 
 es, and no game falling in their way, that 
 they began to despond, and at length lost all 
 hopes of ever seeing a h*uman creature again ; 
 with these gloomy thoughts, they continued 
 for eight or ten days, still pufliing on, and 
 directed by their pocket compafses, until 
 providentially they fell in with the snow fhoe 
 track of an Indian, who had been hunting very 
 deep in the woods, which they followed, and it 
 led them to his Wigwam, and after they refrefli- 
 ed themselves there, that the Indian conduc- 
 ted them to Quebec. His lordftiip was about 
 a month on this journey, though he was 
 in hopes, when he left Frederick Town, of 
 making it out in half the time. 
 
 It is much easier travelling in winter in 
 the woods of this country than in summer, as 
 the snow covers the ground hemlock, and 
 most of the under brufh, swamps, creeks, 
 lakes, fallen trees, logs, which otherwise 
 
[ 88 ] 
 
 would obstruct the pafsenger, and retard his 
 progrefs more than any one who has not seen 
 it can conceive ; and though I had entertain- 
 ed some thoughts of making a straight course 
 as lord Fitzgerald had done, which I after- 
 wards understood no one had ever accom^ 
 plilhed but himself, yet on hearing of his di- 
 sasters, I changed my purpose, and resolved 
 to follow the course of the water, however 
 dangerous the rapid currents in many places 
 might be, as far as it would lead, and Ihorten 
 my pafsage by land through the mountains 
 and deserts to Canada, by the Ihort way that 
 lord Fitzgerald took, or at least meant to take. 
 
 I do not suppose the distance between Frede- 
 rick Tovm and Quebec to e^^ceed much 200 
 miles i but that which I was now to take is 
 above 400. I therefore got provisions and eve- 
 ry other necefsary ready, and engaged my old 
 conductor, George M'Gregor, who is one oj 
 the best canoe men in the province, and was 
 acquainted with a part of the way, to go 
 along with me. At the same time the engi- 
 neer, having occasion to visit the barracks 
 on Prefkeel, and at the Grand Falls, took the 
 opportunity of conducting me that length, 
 which is reckoned to be 180 miles of the 
 way. We accordingly set out on the 7th 
 of October, he in his own canoe, poled by 
 his servant, and I in another, conducted by 
 
[ 89 ] 
 
 George. My servant was obliged to travel 
 as far as he could by land. And when we 
 were under the necefsity of crofsing from 
 the one side of the river to the other, on ac- 
 count of the badnefs of the channel, or rapi- 
 dity of the stream, it was requisite to land 
 me while the canoe was sent for him, as it 
 could not carry us both at a time. 
 
 In this way we kept on our course, and on the 
 first day pafsed many spacious fertile islands, 
 averaged at about lOO acres extent each, flat 
 as a bowling green, mostly covered with the 
 loftiest hard timber imaginable, delightfully 
 situated, the soil deep and of the richest qua- 
 lity, the country closely inhabited ; and 
 when night came on we encamped in the 
 woods, in preference to going to any of the 
 neighbouring houses. The scent of our pro- 
 visions brought, as we supposed, some wild 
 animals about us ; but my faithful Dog kept 
 watch all night ; and he once barked so close, 
 that he seemed to have some large animal at 
 bay, which he durst not attack, probably a 
 Bear. Next morning we were told that one 
 had been lately seen about that place. Dogs 
 are very usefid upon such occasions, and few 
 people here go any distance into the woods 
 without one. 
 
 October 8. On our way this day, both 
 sides of the river continued closely inhabited j 
 
[ 90 ] 
 
 the face of the country descended with an 
 easy sloj^e, like that we had pafsed yesterday 
 but the islands smaller and fewer in number' 
 We saw several flocks of large black Ducks 
 with red bills, but they were so fliy as not to 
 allow us to come within Ihot. Towards eve- 
 ning the land became more precipitate, and 
 the mountains descended to the water’s edge. 
 We put up at a place called Paey York, in 
 which a Major Murray had once resided. He 
 had built a dwelling house, barn, and a large 
 grist and saw mill, and made several other 
 improvements; but as the land was so poor 
 
 as to yield no crop wwth while without ma- 
 nure, he left it, and had let his mills at 
 L.50 per annuvi ; but they unfortunately took 
 . fire last summer, and were reduced to afhes; 
 so that if he himself, or some other adventu- 
 rer, does not rebuild them, it is said he will 
 not get a sixpence for his property, notwith- 
 standing the considerable expence he has 
 been at. 
 
 October 9. The river, for a considerable 
 part of our way this morning, was entirely 
 confined with mountains, and there were no 
 settlements ; but further on it opened again, 
 and the country was inhabited. Towards 
 noon we fell in with a large party of Indians, 
 ho were encamped on the banks of the ri- 
 ver, making canoes, and preparing for going 
 
t 91 1 
 
 dovm the river with their wives and families. 
 Many of the daughters were handsome 
 buxom wenches, with lively exprefsive fea- 
 tures, all with their hair tied, and better 
 drefsed in their faflrion than any 1 had yet seen. 
 The engineer’s canoe being a little leaky , we 
 stopped here and got it repaired. Many of 
 the Indians spoke French, but scarcely a word 
 of Englifh; the engineer conversed with 
 them in the former language, as did my 
 friend George M‘Greger in their own tongue. 
 They said they were going to school, that is 
 to those parts where schoolmasters are placed 
 and appointed, to teach such of the Indian 
 children as their parents choose to send. The 
 master’s salaries are paid by government, and 
 the children are clothed and maintained at 
 the expence of government. There is one 
 of these schools at the grand lake behind 
 Majorville, another in the Kanabicaces, and a 
 third higher up the river, behind a captain 
 Artwood’s plantation. While the families 
 choose to remain with their children, tbaiy are 
 also fed and clothed in the same way. Eve- 
 ry Indian gets two suits of clothes, and two 
 blankets per annum, a pound of tobacco and a 
 pipe per week, and as much provisions, consis- 
 ting of flour, Indian corn, beans, pulse, and 
 pork, as serves him; yet notwithstanding theii 
 being thus amply provided, no sooner does 
 
r 92 ] 
 
 tlie fall of the year, and the hunting season 
 commence, than off they set, and range the 
 wildernefs far and near in quest 
 It is indeed their harvest, on which they 
 wholly rely for support ; but when at school 
 they, like many inconsiderate and idle scho- 
 lars, do not pay the proper attention, but with 
 this difference, that the latter are made to 
 apply by the birch, but the former are urged 
 by hunger only. I was told that some of the 
 most expert of them at hunting and fifhing 
 made flnft to draw from twenty to thirty gui- 
 neas in some seasons for peltry; and as govern- 
 ment supply them with clothes, had they 
 common prudence or management, (but of 
 e«her they have none,) they might live it 
 affluence, and in as much ease as people of 
 them Pandering disposition could willi,but 
 their profits mostly go in rum, of which 
 they are immoderately fond. 
 
 This morning, and the preceding night, 
 we met about three score of their canoes, 
 l^oaded with their families and furs, going 
 down the river, as they said, to school. After 
 staying for more than an hour with them, 
 and having got our canoes made tight, we , 
 pioceeded on our way. The river was here ] 
 so rapid, and ran with such amazing force, 
 that we were obliged to come out and walk j 
 "n land, before the canoes could be either 
 
C 93 3 
 
 dragged or poled up against the stream at 
 the edge of the water ; and if there had been 
 no such necefsity I fhould have deemed it 
 unsafe and dangerous to continue m them. 
 Cold Ihowers of snow and sleet came on. 
 We put up at a captain Artwood’s, an Ame- 
 rican gentleman, a facetious little fellow, who 
 gave us a great many songs of his own com- 
 posing, and repeated many agreeable pafsa- 
 ges of Thomson’s Seasons and other poems. 
 Captain Artwood affirmed, what 1 had been 
 often told by others, that this was the best 
 country of any for grafs, and inferior to none 
 for grain that the cattle often preferred pas- 
 turing in the woods, to the most luxuriant 
 open fields ; and that he himself had an hun- 
 dred pounds of tallow from an Ox fed m the 
 woods. This gentleman’s farm is situated on 
 a broad point of land, where the river forms 
 an obtuse angle, on which the French had 
 a fort before the Britiffi got pofsefsion of this 
 province, and had cleared a considerable 
 space about it. The remains of the pickets 
 and ramparts are still to be easily discovered. 
 The cause of the great rapids already men- 
 tioned, I judged to be a rise of one foot m ten, 
 for the space of a mile, which occasioned 
 their immense velocity. In crofsmg a large 
 and deep pool at the foot of the rapids, we 
 were very near being overset in the middle 
 
r 94 j 
 
 of the stream, by inadvertency. In paddlin? 
 through, I happened to lean too much f! 
 oiie side, which brought the water to ed<re 
 with the gunnel. My conductor aroused 
 
 my attention, by hastily calling to metotak 
 care and very alertly laid his whole weight 
 
 on the oposite side, otherwise we must hat 
 
 gone to the bottom. Such inadvertencies of. 
 en prove fetal in those miserable small vef' 
 
 Simmer 
 
 From captain Artwood’s we set out bydav 
 ■ght, and had gone but a few miles whm the 
 
 and the r' -a ' ““ considerable distance, 
 
 Ih Ss 2 C “aTbt- “ 
 
 vvuo Kept a public house. Here wp 
 -ere told that the preceding evening " 
 
 ^ and one of them drowned, one swan, 
 Crart 'he canoe, which 
 
 the one 'e*'" '« 
 
 anotW 7“” '«“™d with 
 
 another canoe and relieved him. The poor 
 
 man that was drowned had left a wife wd 
 
 “y« 
 
 the neo I ’7 -ind whose distrefs 
 
 satid t, u hcpiored very much ; but 
 ’ crop as would main- 
 
[ 95 ] 
 
 tain them two years at least. This was a fa- 
 vourable circumstance of a new and little 
 cleared settlement, notwithstanding of its 
 high situation. 
 
 This young man, the landlord’s son, fhew- 
 ed me the Ikin of a young Bear which two 
 hardy stout Dogs I had seen him have, had 
 killed a few nights before. He said the Bear 
 had come so close to the house that the Dogs 
 smelled and pursued him j that their barking 
 had brought him, and another person, out 
 with their guns ; that before they came up 
 he had betaken to a tree, on which one of 
 them went for an axe and cut it down ; that 
 when the tree fell, he ran away and often 
 beat off the Dogs in the chace j that in this 
 way they had continued for half a mile, and 
 got into the woods before the Dogs fixed 
 upon and held him ; that his cries, which the 
 young man said he believed could have 
 been heard a mile off, brought him and the 
 other man up ; that they stood with their 
 guns cocked, expecting every moment to be 
 attacked by the old Bears, who they were 
 sure would come to the young Bear’s relief, 
 were they within hearing ; that while the two 
 people faced and looked one way, they were 
 in dread of being seized behind from the 
 other; for this reason they continued 
 facing from side to sidc^ attentive to every 
 
J 
 
 L 90 
 
 quarter, and in full afsurance of being attarl 
 
 ed for half an hour, while the Dogs were kil' 
 
 ling the Bear; they could give no afsh,a„ce 
 
 to the Dogs on account of the darknefs of 
 the night. ^ 
 
 Afte« breakfast I proceeded by land a 
 good way on the water side. The habitations 
 continued close, the soil deep and fa,l|e 
 
 'vill become a plentiful and happy settlement, 
 oug rather far from market. They seem 
 to regard good soil more than distance " 
 extent m this part of the country 
 
 Towaans evening, while the engineer was 
 
 ianZ I 
 
 beZf Z- “ "■‘'"0 
 
 siderable quantity of Indian corn. The dav 
 inm f w- ’ 
 
 into a Wigwam to warm me ; the owner was a 
 Canadian Indian, who had served under gene- 
 a Burpyne last war, and had been wonnd- 
 
 Fre*" Z" ^ ^oke 
 
 French and a little Englilh ; he was an inti- 
 
 mate companion and very particular friend 
 
 of George IWGregor’s, they had been on ma- 
 
 ny hunting excursions together. George alk- 
 
 c un where his daughter was, and launched 
 
 out to me much in her praise. He said die 
 
 sc ool in the Kanabicaces and lived 
 
t 97 3 
 
 the schoolmaster’s house ; that flie was so 
 ^’’^'saucy as not to speak to him when he went 
 **^to see her, which is, no doubt, owing to the 
 ^^vretched masters, who teach them to despise 
 their parents j whereas a different conduct 
 ^ might have induced them to send many 
 '^^more of their children to school than they 
 do, which would be the means of civilizing 
 them, and rendering them useful members of 
 society. On my seeing the figures of a Bull 
 and a Cow Moose Deer on the birch walls 
 of his Wigwam, I requested the favour of 
 him to draw the Luservi and Carcaseu. He 
 looked for a bit of charcoal ; but on my gi- 
 ving him my black lead pencil, he seemed 
 S: to understand the use of it, and drew all 
 these very neatly, on the blade of a new and 
 } well poliflied paddle, which I found by me, 
 i and reached to him for that purpose. The 
 £ engineer once fhowed me a drawing upon 
 paper, made by an Indian, of two rivers run- 
 ] ning in different directions, which, he said, 
 
 , he had afterguards found, on a survey he him- 
 self had made of them, to be very exact. 
 The genius and mental powers of these people 
 are extremely lively and retentive. 
 
 Having given two hearty bumpers of rum 
 to this Indian, I left him, and we continued 
 our route, and in the evening encamped in 
 the woods. The night freezed pretty smartly. 
 
 N 
 
L 08 3 
 
 Next morning we set out early and pafsed seve 
 ral fine islands, on one of which I landed. 
 had been lately inhabited by Irldiam h 
 
 they had left It and gone Jscho^r xU 
 
 had raised a considerable quantity of Indi! 
 corn on It which they carried along i 
 he,n. Th. island, like all the other ph« 
 have ever seen the Indians res.de on fc, 
 
 anytime, was rich deep soil, and easily cW. 
 
 ed. My servant, who had hitherto walkrf 
 all along, had Ihot several Pheasants; snj 
 aving wounded a Mink, which is a bid 
 amphibious animal, lhaped like a Martin bit 
 much larger and as vicious, the Mink ™ 
 out on the over, and my Dog pursued hi! 
 when the Mink dived the Dog kept swin,’ 
 
 hey had several battles, and afforded us good 
 poi . At length both were much spent, and 
 my servant having compafsion on the Bog, 
 who was smartly bitten in several places, Ho, 
 he Mmk which his antagonist brought in 
 tiiumph afliore to his master. 
 
 ^ One of the Pheasants Ihot this day was oflhe 
 opruce ktnd, none of which I had ever seen 
 efore, and it differs a good deal from the 
 Birch species, and resembles much in Ihape 
 and size, and in the roughnefs of its legs, a 
 Grous or Moor Cock ; but as they chiefly snb- 
 
 ®t outhe buds of the spruce tree, their flelh 
 
[ 99 1 
 
 tastes very mucli of it, and does not eat so 
 well as that of the birch Pheasant. 
 
 My poor servant being now much fatigued 
 with hard travelling through rugged coarse 
 land for several days, I exchanged situations 
 with him, and walked on fhore in my turn. 
 
 In the evening we arrived at the military 
 port of Prefkeel. Lieutenant Thong, of the 
 sixth regiment, who commanded at this port, 
 and seems to be a genteel young man, came 
 very politely to wait on us, and alked us to 
 spend the evening in his apartment. While 
 the engineer was examining the barracks, and 
 settling some accounts with the workmen, I 
 took a stroll around the place to see it. The 
 country, as far as I could discern on both sides 
 of the river, is covered with lofty spruce and 
 pine trees ; the soil deep, but incorporated too 
 much with sand ; and yet it is cried up as 
 wonderful in the production of pulse of al- 
 most all kinds, and vegetables. For my own 
 part I could see nothing deserving such en- 
 comiums. The gardens below the banks on 
 which the barracks are built, seem to be deep 
 rich soil, but no other part attracted my parti - 
 cular attention. The troops have cleared a 
 good deal of the ground about the barracks, by 
 using the wood for firing ; but as the ground 
 is not kept in tillage, the young growth Ihoot 
 up again, and wiU become a thicket. 
 
r loo ] 
 
 This fort is situated on a point of land 
 the junction of the small but rugged river’rf 
 Prefed with that great and spacious one „f 
 s John, ftraous for Trout filhing. At tb. 
 place we pafsed the evening, and brealfeted 
 next mormng with Lieutenant Thong J 
 three other subaltern ofBcers of the sixtrdiftk 
 regiment, who had come to relieve him 
 _ The engineer having some directions to 
 give to the workmen, and a report to make 
 to the governor of the condition of the 
 arracks, and the works going on at this 
 place he remained behind me, and I pro- 
 ceeded, accompanied by my conductor 
 Geoige only, and my servant, who walked on 
 fliore as formerly. Before our setting out, I 
 was told that the river would become more 
 and more rapid as we advanced ; that it was 
 broken with stones and rocks; and was of a 
 wild and gloomy appearance, being hemmed 
 m on both sides by the precipices ; that the 
 way became more intricate, and was lefs 
 known; and the next fort distant about 
 eighty miles, and not a living soul to be seen 
 ^ all that space, unlels some few savages 
 Ihould be accidentally met with. This I 
 thought bad enough, but deemed no trouble, 
 fatigue, or even disaster, that could befalrae, 
 equal to the misfortune of being detained in 
 his province till next May, I therefore pulhed 
 
i loi 1 
 
 on, but promised to wait a day at the Grand 
 Falls in hopes the engineer would overtake 
 
 me there. 
 
 Towards noon some heavy fliowers of sleet 
 and rain fell, that mad« us very wet and cold. 
 We landed and struck a fire to warm us. The 
 evening having cleared up, we continued our 
 journey, and encamped at night at the root 
 of an old cedar tree. The wettest day that 
 is, a large cedar tree will furnifti any expert 
 hand with materials for putting up a fire ; its 
 bark for lighting, and its decayed lower 
 branches for fuel. The night freezed smart- 
 ly, and though we had chosen a convenient 
 spot to pafs the night in, we felt it extremely 
 cold. In the morning of the preceding 
 day, I had seen some appearance of good 
 land, but much more of bad. 
 
 October 1 3. A very cold blowing day. The 
 river broken and rapid; the canoe almost 
 constantly in danger of being driven on large 
 stones, rocks, or into strong currents, by the 
 high gusts of wind, and overset. I often ex- 
 changed with my servant to ease him, and 
 walked on land, and ftiifted from the one 
 side of the river to the other, for the 
 more easy travelling. Towards evening I 
 turned a point of land, and got considerably 
 a-head of the canoe, which at this time was 
 on the opposite side. I sat dov n to rest my- 
 jself, and to write my journal, and intended 
 
[ 102 3 
 
 rested here for double the time I judged the 
 canoe would hare taken, I became very uu 
 Msy, lest It was overset, and both the men 
 drowned ; but still I continued where I w^s 
 m hopes that I might have mistaken ,h^ 
 distance and the difficulty of getting up the 
 frequent and almost perpetual rapids ; mtil 
 
 of d™f I concluded, without a pofsibility 
 ou t, that some misfortune had befallj 
 em, and that it could be no other than that 
 
 could not swim, nor did I believe Georgecouid. 
 NOW found myself in a very disagreeable 
 
 (hot fn ^ 
 
 y gun, hungry, and much fatigued 
 
 h-ing travelled a good deal, and eaten no hi„g’ 
 
 m the morning but one slice of cold frosty 
 
 meat, and three days journey from any ho- 
 
 In th *'*,a^ sustain life. 
 
 mat u condition, I returned to 
 
 was ^ of my way to Prelkeel, and 
 
 was m great doubt if ever I could reach it 
 
 consiaenng the frosty nights, ruggednefs of 
 
 " as to'fiir impediment that 
 
 "as to fall in my way. I had notreturnedabove 
 
 half a mile, when, to my no small joy, I espi- 
 
 side of r 
 
 hat had detained thein 
 

 
[ 103 ] 
 
 was, that the pole of the canoe broke just as 
 I was getting out of sight. They had to land, 
 cut another pole, put up a fire, toast and peel 
 it, before it was fit for use This induced 
 me to resolve not to travel more by land 
 without my gun, powder, and fhot, steel, 
 spunge, and flint, for striking a fire, and a 
 piece of bread in my pocket ; and I determined 
 to cause my servant have the same when he 
 walked ; so that if the canoe fhould be lost, we 
 would at least have some means of support- 
 ing ourselves, be the next Indian or white 
 settlement at what distance it would. 
 
 We went some miles further on, and en- 
 camped at a pretty little river called Tabick, 
 in an old Wigwam, to which we retired. The 
 floor being dry, I supposed it unnecefsary 
 to put crops of trees as usual under me ; but 
 in this I was mistaken, as I found in the 
 morning my great coat frozen and sticking 
 to the ground, and that side next to it cold 
 as ice, and somewhat powerlefs until I walk- 
 ed a little, I always afterwards took care to 
 put bark, where I could find it, or crops of 
 trees under me to prevent the like. 
 
 Next day, though the frost continued, the 
 sun was warm and revived our spirits. I tra- 
 velled a good deal on land, and pafsed 
 through an Indian settlement on a spacious 
 plain at the foot of Salmon river. Over all this 
 
f 104 ] 
 
 the grafs, weeds, wild oats, bear or wheat 
 (I could not say which of the two last,) were 
 breast high, and rendered my pafsage through 
 them very difficult i the Indians had consider- 
 able plantations of Indian corn at this place. 
 They Ihewed me the ikin of a large Moose 
 Deer, a Buck, lately killed, which was then 
 drying. They admired my double barrelled 
 gun very much, and seemed to be quite un- 
 acquainted with guns of that kind. Large 
 logs of spruce, pine, and other timber, 
 amounting to, I suppose, a thousand tons, 
 stuck by some accident while floating in the 
 middle of the river, and admitted of my 
 crofsing over upon them dry. 
 
 I PASSED several high mountains this day, 
 and the banks of the river as we advanced, 
 became more rugged, wild, and difficult. 
 When night came on, we encamped as usual 
 at the root of a large cedar, and cut down 
 as much wood as kept up the fire all night. 
 A quantity of snow fell, which covered the 
 ground, and as we were under no sort of 
 fliade, disturbed our rest a good deal, as we 
 were unused to it. Next morning we saw 
 the tracks of several wild animals on the 
 snow, but could not say what they were; 
 these parts are so savage as to be fit for no 
 other living creature. The way was so rug- 
 ged that my servant was often oblige^l to 
 
- E 105 3 
 
 walk up to the middle in the water to avoid 
 thickets and fallen trees that obstructed his 
 pafsage. As we came along, my poor Dog 
 was so fatigued, cut, and bruised, that he 
 looked no more for game than we did, and 
 we wilhed for nothing more than to get on 
 where we might obtain ihelter and rest. This 
 was the severest day’s journey we as yet had 
 had, and a few more such would have cured 
 my pafsion for travelling the wilderneis. 
 
 We arrived in the evening at the Grand 
 Falls, and carried up our canoe and baggage to 
 the engineer’s bajracks, where we lodged that 
 night. The height of the hill on which the 
 barracks are erected is 130 feet perpendicular 
 above the landing place, and the length of 
 the portage from where you come out of the 
 river below the Falls, to the place you enter 
 it again above, is no more thap half a mile, 
 but the ascent is very steep. The barracks- 
 erected fcr the men and officers under the 
 direction and inspection of my friend, are 
 neat and commodious, and sufficient for the 
 accommodation of two companies. 
 
 The winter now seemed to be fairly set in 
 with frost and snow, though sooner than 
 usual. We kept on a rousing fire all night, 
 and slept comfortably on a dry deal floor. 
 By the negligence of the engineer’s servant 
 
 0 
 
[ ] 
 
 a Dog was allowed to carry away my W 
 and butter ; and had not my friend drawn 
 a part of his own rations, and given me 
 half of hrs pork, I (hould have been ' 
 y provided m the mountains which I had 
 to pafs. As I did not choose that my fai,h 
 ful servant Ihould suffer such distrefs hem- 
 a ter as he had hitherto done, though with 
 out a murmur on his part, I made i„„„w 
 If a canoe could be procured, and had the 
 good fortune to fall in with a little lively 
 Frenchman who spoke some Englilh, and 
 undertook to carry my servant in his canoe 
 and conduct me to Canada, at the rate of 
 
 a dollar day, and being found in provisi- 
 ons. 
 
 Having now every thing ready for my jour- 
 ney,! rose pretty early, and visited the Grand 
 Falls. It IS tremenduous to see an immense 
 body of water falling eighty feet perpendicu- 
 lar on rocks that make it rebound with a 
 noise hke thunder, and the spray rising high 
 m the air like a cloud. The rocks all aroun4 
 this place are of lime stone. 
 
 October i5. I set out from the Grand 
 Falls of St John’s river. The preceding night 
 and this day felt very cold ; much snow 
 on the ground, and the frost keen; the 
 country -level ; the hills at a great distance 
 torn the river, and the water smooth. Meet- 
 
 I 
 
ihg with no interruption, we made great 
 way. We put up at a Frenchman’s house, 
 'te who had a throng family, some lively and 
 *1: gay daughters, much better drefsed than the 
 generality of the common people. On his 
 seeing our canoes making for his port, he 
 tin? and two or three of his sons came veiy po- 
 iiiS: iitely to receive us and welcome us to his 
 Hi house. I alked if he would favour us with 
 ak lodgings for that night ; he answered with 
 much civility, if 1 could put up with such 
 ill; accommodation as his house afforded, I fhould 
 iti^ be extremely welcome to it. Here there- 
 ij( fore I pafsed that night, and was much cap- 
 tivated with the obliging turn and civility 
 )j, of the family, which formed a perfect con- 
 jj. trast to those, of the surly common Eng- 
 ■ lifli- Americans ; but the landlord, in perfect 
 character of the stock from which he origi- 
 nated, put no value on politenefs, which 
 came easy and cost him nothing ; but on 
 ‘ every thing else he did, and charged me 
 
 ' smartly for every article 1 had from him, 
 
 even "for lodging and potatoes, which no one 
 else I met with in that country ever did. 
 I bought 20 lb. of Moose meat, and a Muffle, as 
 it is there called ; in other words. Moose Deer 
 venison and chops ; which last is accounted 
 a great delicacy. I took a turn about the 
 farm conducted by the oldest son, who, as is 
 
[ io8 j 
 
 very common m this country, has a farm of 
 his own, but lives with his father h 
 I howed me one small plot of land on wiid 
 they had sown a single bulhel of wheat k. 
 May, and requested I would mark the stool 
 and stubble on it, which I did, and found the 
 mcre^eto have ^ exceeded any thing of the 
 
 kind I hatd any idea of He said they 
 of opinion they had reaped near fifty but 
 eis from that one sown. 
 
 After paying for my lodgings, and-everv 
 t mg I received, threefold, civility except- 
 cd, I bade the family adieu ; and as the day 
 was, cold, and the road good by the rive; 
 side, and the settlements close, I walked 
 much on foot ; and as the wind blew smartly 
 a-head, I could in many rapids keep up with 
 the canoes. I put up that night at an old 
 mans house, whose son was married to a 
 ^ daughter of the family I had last left; and 
 from the attention the young couple paid to 
 each other I conceived they had not been 
 long married, and on inquiry found it to be 
 only ten days. Here I bought some loaves 
 of biead; and what my entertainers fell Ihort 
 of my former host in joolitenefs, wus made 
 up by a much more moderate charge. 
 
 After leaving this man’s house, and pro- 
 ceeding, as formerly, on foot by the riverside, 
 to where a few miles farther on it branches 
 
[ 109 3 
 
 seciBingly into equal streams ; the Madawas- 
 I ^ ker comes from the north west, and St John’s 
 from the north east. The latter was our 
 course which w'e followed. 
 
 I HAD now pafsed all the settlements of the 
 Madawalker river, extending I think about 
 fifty miles. The land is deep interval, quite 
 flat, but dry, and of as rich a quality as per- 
 haps any in the world ; at least it is account- 
 ed most so in this province. But the m- 
 habitants labour under many disadvanta- 
 ^'4 ges that would be deemed by some unsur- 
 mountable ; such as a high situation ; a dis- 
 tance of one hundred miles from any o- 
 ther settlement, and 200 from market ; and 
 a six or seven months severe winter : yet they 
 b raise the strongest crops imaginable of wheat, 
 ill barley, oats, and vegetables of most kinds, (ex- 
 E cept Indian corn,) in great plenty. Onions, 
 u turnip, cabbages, and other garden stuffs, grow 
 p here in high perfection in the fields without 
 any manure, which I w'as told they do not use 
 on any occasion. 
 
 From the rapidity of the river in many 
 - parts, though it glides slowly along in other 
 parts, I fhould suppose this settlement lies 
 two perpendicular miles above the level of the 
 sea ; for I think there must be near one foot 
 in every 100 of rise including the Falls ; and 
 the settlement is about 300 miles from the sea. 
 If this in feet, there must be the same proper- 
 
C no ] 
 
 tlon in miles. They have magistrates who de- 
 cide all disputes among themselves. They have 
 very neat plantations, and every thing but mo- 
 
 ney; but where they could get that I am at a 
 lofs to know^ 
 
 We soon came up to a Fall which obliged 
 us to land and drag our canoes on Ihore on 
 the rocks, and enter the river above it. We 
 encamped in the evening in the woods, and 
 lay under the canoes, to Ihelter us from a 
 considerable quantity of snow that fell 
 through night. 
 
 The river being now much narrower, 
 smooth, and Ihelter ed from the wind by the 
 high wood on each side, we made great way. 
 My Dog having got some days rest in one 
 of the canoes, he went now by land, and 
 seemed by his hard barking to have fallen in 
 with a Bear, Luservi, or Carcaseu, which kept 
 him far 'behind. I went into an Indian 
 Wigwam to wait for him ; the master had 
 been out hunting, and there w^ere only two 
 squaws at home. They had several fine large 
 Trouts drying, which they had speared the pre- 
 ceding night ; and they fliow’^ed me a turnip 
 of uncommon size, which they had brought 
 from the Madawaficer settlements. My Dog 
 having come up I set out. 
 
 I remarked in this day’s route the dreadful 
 ^ ects of the thunder on the woods. I had 
 
 I 
 
seen in several other places plots of trees said to 
 have been struck down, but at such a distance 
 from me that I could not observe it accurately 
 myself ; but I was here within a few yards of 
 the spot it had struck upon, which is a circular 
 space of about twenty yards diameter, where 
 the trees grew very strong, and as close as they 
 well could, but not one was left standing. 
 •About two-thirds of them were torn up by the 
 roots, the others broken to fliivers, the stumps 
 split down to the ground, and the splinters 
 driven to a great distance. I Ihould imagine 
 the extraordinary force that occasioned this 
 devastation to trees so strong, and to so many 
 of them at once, would have even split rocks, 
 had these come in its way. 
 
 In pafsing up the river, we saw large flioals 
 of fine Trouts of about a pound weight each ; 
 they did not seem to be fiiy, as they would 
 pals up and down, quite c o e to the canoes, 
 without being in the least disturbed, and if 
 we had had spears, or hooks and lines, I sup- 
 pose we might have killed as many as we 
 pleased. 
 
 We now arrived at the lower end of the 
 lake ‘ Tamisquata, which is supposed to be 
 from thirty to forty iles long, and one 
 broad in the straitest part ; it is a spacious 
 fheet of water, of many broad and deep bays. 
 As far as my eye could reach on each side, I 
 
could see nothing but forests of pines of the 
 loftiest kind, interspersed here and there 
 with clumps of the stateliest birches imagi- 
 nable, that might supply the Britifh navy for 
 ever. 
 
 Here I observed a great number of aspen 
 trees, vulgarly called the quaking afi, be- 
 cause of the singular quality of the leaves keep- 
 ing in almost perpetual motion. The Indian 
 name of it is woman! s tongue, for they say if 
 one leaf be set in motion all the rest begin, 
 and then there is no such thing as stopping 
 them. 
 
 This province of New Brunswick is suppo- 
 ^sed to be 300 miles square ; and if a bird’s 
 eye view- were taken of it, it would be seen 
 that the thousandth part of it is not 
 clear, but covered either with wood or water, 
 At the end of this lake we threw away our 
 poles and took to our paddles. We had fif- 
 teen miles to go upon the lake before we 
 could get to the Grand Portage ; and to flior- 
 ten the way we had to crofs the lake twice, 
 and to pafs from point to point, lest we 
 Ihould be overtaken by any gust of wind, as 
 a gust would soon have overset us. We were 
 ail obliged to work hard, so that the paddle 
 w”as scarcely out of my hand for these fifteen 
 miles. Though we pufhed on for a;n hour or 
 two of night, in hopes of reaching the Por^ 
 
[ ”3 ] 
 
 we could not make it out, and the wind 
 ®^ iaving got up we were obliged to land. 
 
 We encamped on a very cold point, being 
 '^^'^*50 late that we could not see to choose a pro- 
 per situation to pafs the night in. When 
 ™'’'^'day light appeared next morning we saw the 
 Portage, which was not a mile off. Here we 
 tkfe landed, drew up our canoes, breakfasted at a 
 “''^^■'house which had been built by one Hegin- 
 ^i' bottom, and in which he resided for the con- 
 ll^S/veniency of trading with the Indians ; but 
 ®K|:having left it some time ago, it is now in a 
 decayed state. We struck up a fire, and af- 
 inSijter refrefhing ourselves, and packing our 
 auli;: provisions and little baggage, set out; and on 
 Totl'l October 20th ascended the Magdalen moun- 
 jfi tains, which bound the provinces of Lower 
 Canada and New Brunswick; and though 
 jj they are by no means high from their base, 
 jjiji are yet, by my calculation, three miles per- 
 Ig pendicular above the level of the sea ; and 
 which great height occasions, at this early 
 season of the year, more than their high lati- 
 , tude, their being covered with snow and 
 frost. The distance from this, or the length 
 
 of the Grand Portage to the foot of the small 
 
 Iff ^ 
 
 river De Cop, where it enters the great river 
 St Laurence, is reckoned to be but forty 
 miles; while that of the city St John, from 
 
 Ilk 
 
[ 114 I 
 
 whence I had come, is about 400 ; so that the 
 declivity to the north must be ten to one 
 steeper than the slope to the south, and the 
 mountains on the St Laurence side must be 
 piled one above another to this distance- 
 which indeed I found to be the case on my 
 travelling through them. 
 
 We had scarcely reached the top of the 
 first mountain, when my Dog, who was not 
 only a staunch and excellent j^ointer, but had 
 been bred and accustomed to all the kinds of 
 game found in the mountains and woods of 
 Scotland, fell in with the track of some Deer, 
 which he followed so far that he lost his tray, 
 and detained us a considerable time wait- 
 ing for him ; but on my recollecting that if 
 he once found our footsteps he would soon 
 overtake us, we proceeded, expecting he 
 Would come up with us, until we had gone too 
 far to return for him ; especially as we did not 
 know the spot from whence he went off from 
 us, or what course he had taken, and that by 
 that time he might perhaps be ten miles off. 
 My poor Dog, who had been my faithful com- 
 panion and friend, if I may use the exprefsion, 
 for years in all my hunting excursions and tra- 
 vels, kept me from my usual rest, and when be 
 did not appear next morning I despaired of 
 ever seeing him again. My servant, whnse 
 companion he was alftbat time, and to whom 
 
[ II5 3 
 
 afforded much sport, was almost crying for 
 But when he came up to us, after be,- 
 twenty-four hours absent, with inex- 
 '? prefelble joy at finding us, I believe each 
 
 r of us felt as much pleasure as the Dog him- 
 
 m 
 
 self- * 
 
 We had gone but a fhort way from thence 
 when the foremost called out, “ The sea, the 
 sea!” We all ran with eagernefs to see it, 
 when Duncan, which is my servant’s name, 
 exclaimed, “ What a happy sight the sea is ! 
 and now that we know where it is we will make 
 for it, and never part with it again and yet 
 when we were at sea he would not give one 
 mile of land for the whole ocean. I rejoiced 
 at the sight as much as I had done at seeing 
 land after being near two months on sea and 
 ' ® perfectly unaccustomed to that mode of life , 
 and as our guide steered only by the direc- 
 ts' tions he had received at setting out, and 
 :« could not tell us distinctly where we were, he 
 nil having never been farther up than the Mada- 
 ts: walker settlement, I resolved as my friend 
 
 ■is said, to lose sight of the sea no more. We 
 h stepped forward to the brow of a hill, and 
 m sat down, the men to rest, and I to contem- 
 aii plate the grand scenes now opened to my 
 Is view, which the situation I was in afforded ; 
 
 ® being three miles above the level of the sea, 
 
 and nothing to obstruct the sight. 
 
C Ii6 1 
 
 Here the eye and imagination had fuj 
 scope to roam undistur- ed ; the bustling of 
 sea port towns or crowded cities never was 
 dreamed of here ; no roaring stream to dis 
 turb, or purling rills to divert the thought' 
 no warbling of the scmgsters or feathered 
 tribe, to take up the^ attention, but every 
 thing still as night. I viewed with astonift. 
 ment the novelty and grandeur of the pros- 
 pect before me, which pofsibly very fewin 
 the world could equal. The opposite coast 
 of Labrador presented a long range of 
 mountains, the one raised on the other until 
 their towering summits were lost in the clouds. 
 The grand river St Laurence, with its nu- 
 merous isles, are no lefs striking; whose 
 breadth is said to be loo miles where it enters 
 tne gulf of that name, and its waters supplied 
 a ong a space of above 2000 miles by 
 the greatest streams, lakes, and bodies of 
 relh water .ever known. Forests of the 
 most stately kind, coeval perhaps with the 
 world, and extensive as the great continent 
 that sustains them, which have never suffered 
 immution since the creation, and fit to sup- 
 p y the world with Ihip timber to the end 
 of time; the gloomy wildernefs in which the 
 traveller is often lost has no end, and is in- 
 
 savage tribe as 
 
 prefer ihade to light. 
 
These and a thousand other objects that 
 my pen cannot do justice to, were then un- 
 der the eye from my commanding station, and 
 such indeed as ■would give full scope to geni- 
 us to exercise its descriptive powers, and 
 philosophy grounds for the most profound 
 reflections on the great vo les of nature, in 
 its rude state. 
 
 As the snow was not above a foot deep, 
 and had fallen before the f; ost came on, we 
 sunk through it in the mud often knee deep, 
 so that we had very bad going, and made 
 but little way. My foot oace slipped between 
 two logs ; and, but for a sudden jerk I gave 
 round, when I found myself falling, it would 
 have been snapped in two. My servant fell a- 
 crofs the stump of a tree, and broke one of 
 his ribs, and the little Cadian Frenchman 
 met with the like accident. We however 
 got through on the evening of the third day 
 after entering the Portage ; and though we 
 slept on frost and snovv every night, and 
 walked through mud and bogs' some part of 
 every day knee deep, we found no bad ef- 
 fects from it, nor did any of us catch the 
 least cold. My servant, who always carried 
 my gun, fhot as many Pheasants as we had 
 occasion for ; I always preferred a stout stick 
 or staff to help me through. The tracks of 
 wild animals were so numerous in the moun- 
 
[ ii8 J 
 
 tains, that at the root of almost every tree 
 were to be seen the marks of Moose, Rynd, 
 or Keraboo Deer; Wolves, Luservi,Carcaseus, 
 Foxes, Hares, and small vermin innume- 
 rable, with which last kind the woods seemed 
 to be swarming. 
 
 Ax the foot of the mountains, in several 
 parts, are extensive Cedar swamps, of a grea- 
 ter growth of timber than any of the kind 
 I had as yet seen, which no doubt was inten- 
 ded by nature for some useful purpose, 
 suitable to its magnitude, and to which it 
 may be applied some time or other. 
 
 Having now come to the foot of the litde 
 river De Cop, where it disembogues into the 
 river St Laurence 1 20 miles below Quebec, I 
 pufhed on to the first post house, where I disT 
 charged my attendants. They were to re- 
 turn acrofs the Portage to New Brunswick, 
 and I to proceed to Quebec. I paid the little 
 French Cadian ten dollars, and four gui- 
 neas to George M'Gregor, who is one of the 
 most obliging lads I ever was acquainted 
 with. He offered to return me a guinea, but 
 as I knew it was no more than he deserved 
 I did not aecept of it. The evening turned 
 very windy, accompanied with cold heavy 
 fhovpers of snow. I blefsed my stars for ha- 
 ving conducted me in safety out of the wil- 
 dernefs, and over such tremenduous moun- 
 
[ 119 3 
 
 rains ;_fliook hands with my friend George, 
 and wifhed him and his companion a safe re- 
 turn mounted the calafti, which had been 
 provided, and drove on through the long 
 but narrow district of the Camerascas on my 
 way to Quebec. 
 
 A CALASH is a two wheeled machine, with 
 an open box, resembling a cart, but having 
 a seat in it like a chaise : it is supported on 
 strong elastic leather straps, which give it a 
 spring, and make it far from being a disa- 
 greeable conveyance. The postmasters in 
 general supply every calafh with what the 
 French call a Wild Bull’s fkin, and we a 
 Buffalo hyde, which is large enough to co- 
 ver the greatest part of the box, and keeps aU 
 the travellers surprisingly warm, even in the 
 coldest weather. But for these fkins, and the 
 other furs used in this country, there would 
 be no standing the winter’s cold in these 
 open carriages. They are drawn by one or 
 two horses as there may be occasion; and 
 as they are made very light, go at a great 
 rate. 
 
 The country is so closely inhabited, that I 
 « judge there is a house and family within 
 twenty roods of each other ; so that there 
 are from twelve to sixteen families in the 
 course of each mile. The post houses are 
 placed at fhort stages, and obliged to pro- 
 
% 
 
 [ 120 ] 
 
 Vide vehicles at a call; so that a traveller miy 
 post night and day, if he thinks proper, at 
 the low rate of a pistarine, or French Ihilling, 
 per league; so cheap is travelling in this po- 
 pulous country. 
 
 In going through this district on a large 
 meadow of some miles extent, 1 observed a 
 method of securing the hay upon it, which 
 I think might be used to advantage in Bri- 
 tain in the case of meadows and corn fields 
 subject to be flooded with w^ater. Stakes 
 were fixed in the ground in a circular, or 
 rather an octogonal form, over which sticks 
 were laid acrofs, and upon these the hay 
 w^as made up in cocks, which raised it so 
 high as to secure it from the spring tides 
 which over ood these flat meadows. 
 
 All along the coast, fifliing wears for 
 catching Salmon were so close to each other, 
 that every f r.i er seemed to have one on 
 his own property. The number of barrels 
 which are annually exported from these fifli- 
 eries I have not acquired a sufficient know- 
 ledge of, but was told that it was very con- 
 siderable. About these meadows were the 
 greatest number of Wild Geese, Brants, and 
 Ducks I ever saw ; and the principal day of 
 hunting them by the natives was Sunday, 
 which they said was o ing to their being 
 idle from other works; and yet churches and 
 
[ I2I ] 
 
 j^laces of worfTiip are here very num6“ 
 rous. 
 
 Off the coast of the Caraerafkas, about a 
 mile’s distance from fhore, lies a long narrow 
 island, where, as well as in several other 
 parts in this river, a great many Porpulses or 
 Buckers are caught, which from what follows 
 seem to be a timorous sort of animal, and as 
 the manner in which they are caught is some- 
 what curious, a description of it may here 
 be attempted. 
 
 At the head of, and adjoining to this island, 
 is a large bank of sand, which ebbs dry at 
 low water, but when the tide is in, is cover- 
 ed to a considerable depth. On this bank 
 a low circular wear of wattlings is made, the 
 one end of which comes close to the land, 
 and at the other end a small space is left 
 open so as not to obstruct the fifh at enter- 
 ing. At considerable spaces or intervals all 
 along this circle long wands are stuck, and 
 so flexible and supple as to yield to the cur- 
 rent, which is here so strong as to keep them 
 always in motion. When the flood makes, 
 the Perpufses, which keep along the coast of 
 the island, enter by the open space, and pufli 
 directly forward towards the other end, when 
 lo ! they see the wand, a long white thing, 
 ftiaking and bobbing in the water before 
 them, which frightens them . much ; they 
 
 Q. 
 
[ 122 ] 
 
 turn about in haste, and fliift to a differeii! 
 quarter; but a similar appearance is before 
 them there also, ihaking and bobbing like the 
 former ; and on whatever side they turn, this 
 strange apparition seems to place itself 
 a-head of them. They continue in fright and 
 amazement, going about within the circle, 
 until at last the tide leaves them, so that thej 
 cannot get over the low wear, and the bank 
 ebbs dry. In this manner a great many of 
 them are caught, sometimes hundreds at a 
 time, from which considerable quantities of 
 oil are made and exported; and this forms no 
 inconsiderable article of commerce. 
 
 Besides these fifheries, there are others 
 about the island of Anticosti, where the ri- 
 ver is, from Cape Rosieres on the south, to 
 the coast of Labrador on the north, too 
 miles over. Near the middle lies that barren 
 island, which is supposed to be 120 mib 
 long, and thirty broad, inhabited by wild 
 beasts only, chiefly Bears, of which there are 
 a great many, some Foxes, Martins, and small 
 vermin. The Canadians and Indians resort to 
 this islandinwinter, to kill them for their Ikins, 
 an I are in general very succefsful. From 
 this place to Quebec the river gradually be- 
 comes narrower, a distance of 300 miles, so 
 that from that city to Point Levi it is hard- 
 ly a milg broad. About the island of An- 
 
[ 123 ] 
 
 ticosti, and many other parts of this spaci* 
 ous channel, are amazing Ihoals of white 
 Porpufses, glittering like silver ; and lower 
 down, a number of White Seals, and of the 
 Manati or Sea Cow, in all which the thher- 
 ies might be carried on to any extent. 
 
 When this country was first pofsefsed by 
 the French, the king granted awtiy the land to 
 the nohlefse, in large tracts from three to 
 twelve miles square, called Signiories ; such of 
 these as they were able to clear, were feued 
 by the Signiors in perpetuity to small far- 
 mers, at the rate of from 3d. to 2s. per acre 
 of quit rent conform to its quality. In all these 
 pofsefsions given by the Signiors it was sti- 
 pulated, that at whatever time the holders 
 were to dispose of their lands, the givers 
 themselves were to have preference upon 
 equal terms ; and were to be allowed a year 
 and day to consider whether they Ihould 
 buy them or not, so that they had it in their 
 power to keep the lands all that time in the 
 market. The Signiors being poor and ex- 
 travagant could clear but little land, of 
 course the settlements were but narrow 
 stripes all along the banks of the river; 
 but since this country is become an ob- 
 ject worthy the attention of the Britifli 
 government, and that they give grants of 
 the land, the settlements have become nu- 
 
C 124 j 
 
 itierous, and are extending into the woods 
 which in some places appeared to me to be 
 at the distance of ten or twelve miles back 
 from the banks of the river. 
 
 I ARRIVED in two days and a half at Point 
 Levi from the lower end of the Cameralkas, 
 a distance of 121 miles, which in this coun- 
 try is deemed but moderate travelling. Crof- 
 sed the Ferry in a large log canoe, the com> 
 mon Ferry boat to Quebec. 
 
From Quebec to Montreal. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION of this City is here unne- 
 cefsary, as it is already well known ; 1 will 
 therefore only observe, that it consists of a 
 higher and lower town ; is ill looking, and ir- 
 regularly built upon an uneven and rugged 
 point of land, formed by the junction of tli« 
 river St Charles with the great St Lau- 
 rence. The fortifications, though sufficient 
 to withstand the attack of an irregular ar- 
 my, do not appear to me to be strong ; as the 
 rock on the St Laurence side, which forms 
 a part of the walls of the citadel, is easily 
 scaled, and has neither guns or embrasures 
 on it. At the foot of this rock, and between 
 it and the river, is the narrow path, not 
 two feet wide, where General Montgomery 
 was killed last war ; and on the opposite and 
 St Charles side was General Arnold wound- 
 ed. On the latter occasion I was informed of 
 the following circumstance : That a party 
 
 of the Americans had entered the lower 
 town, and taken pofsefsion of a street and some 
 houses in it. How soon this was discover- 
 ed, a Captain Law, with a motley party of 
 
[ 126 ] 
 
 Blitilh and Canadians, was ordered to at- 
 tack them in the rear. After giving the ne 
 cefsary orders to his party, Captain Law" 
 marched to the attack; and having turned 
 the corner of a street, came suddenly and 
 unawares up to the breast of the Americans • 
 on looking behind him for his men, he 
 found that they had stopped ihort, and that 
 there were none in view ; as it was now too 
 late to return, he stepped boldly on with- 
 out seeming to be in the least dismayed, say- 
 ing, “ Gentleman, I have come to offer you 
 terms,” ‘ What terms ?’ replied the others, 
 
 “ Terms of surrender,” said he, ‘ To whom?’ 
 
 ‘‘ To me,” ‘ Why to you ?’ “ Because my party 
 IS just at hand, and I thought it a pity to cut 
 you all to pieces without first offering you 
 terms of surrender.” ‘ But we will not sur^ 
 render;’ and after a good deal of altercation, 
 pro and con, he told thqn, as they wmuldnot 
 be prevailed upon to accept of honourable 
 terms, not to blame him for the fatal conse- 
 quence that was waiting them, made his 
 bows, and offered to go awvay. ‘Oh! ho! 
 (said they,) tve are not to jrart with you so.’ 
 Why ? said he, ‘ Because you are our pri- 
 soner,’ “ That is against the articles of war," 
 said he. ‘ No’, “ Yes,” ‘ No,’ “ Yes.” Here 
 another altercation ensued between them, 
 and as neither side could convince the other 
 
t IZ7 ] 
 
 in this sort of minute warfare, the Ameri- 
 cans proposed to put the question to one of 
 their own party v.ho happened to be then 
 in one of the houses hard by, whose know- 
 ledge in these matters they deemed far be- 
 fore those then present. On their going in 
 to the house, Captain Law and that gentle- 
 man entered on the subject in dispute, and 
 as it was warmly supported on both sides, 
 and a man standing between captain Law 
 and the door with a drawn sword, threaten- 
 ing him, Major Nairn (known in his young- 
 er days by the name of Jack Nairn, former- 
 ly of Fraser’s first regiment of Highlanders, 
 and has, since the reduction of that regi- 
 ment, settled in that country somewhere 
 near the Falls of Montmorency,) who came 
 up to support Law^ with another party, nter- 
 ed the house, and seeing the sword drawn to 
 Law’s breast, called out in broad Scotcli, 
 which he always spoke, “ God’s marcy 
 maun, are yau gaun to kill the maun !” and 
 instantly ran him through the body. He then 
 threatened to put them all to the sword that 
 instant if they did not surrender, on 
 which they threw down their arms, and the 
 whole party were taken prisoners. 
 
 The fhipping of tins city, though almost 
 of 200 years standing, amounts at this day, 
 as I am informed, to no more than three vef- 
 
I 1 28' ] 
 
 sds, whereas that of the city St John in New 
 Brunswick, though but of eight years stand- 
 ing, consists of above sixty square rigged vef- 
 sels. Whether this is owing to the port of 
 bee being £hut up with the ice for near six 
 months in the year, and the dangerous navi- 
 gation of the river St Laurence, and the port 
 of St John’s being open all the year througij, 
 and its vicinity to the West India islands, or 
 to the spirit of the inhabitants, I know not ^ 
 but so it is that this difference exists between 
 them at this day. The trade of the city 
 of Quebec is carried on in Britifh bottoms. 
 Their exports chiefly consist of wheat, fkins 
 or peltry, fifli, oil, and some lumber. There 
 is just now in the harbour two fhips loaded 
 with fkins, bound for England, whose cargoes 
 are said to be worth L. 100,000 each, belong- 
 ing to the North West Fur Company of Mon- 
 tie.al. The quantity of wheat annually fliip- 
 ped, for Britain is very considerable, and yet 
 no sort of manure is ever used, as formerly 
 observed. The dung is laid upon the ice so 
 as to be carried off by the floods in spring. 
 The Canadians are perhaps the worst farmers 
 in the vvorld. If one of them happens to 
 have a spot in a field that produces nothing, 
 and has industry enough to drop a few carts 
 of dung on it, if the plough and harrow do 
 not spread it, it may lie there for him ; h? has 
 
[ 129 J 
 
 done his part when he took the trouBle of 
 putting it on the land ; spreading it is a la- 
 bour no one would subrnk to undertake- 
 Their horned cattle are perhaps the worst in 
 the world, and their Horses the best j the 
 ' former are ill made, big bellied, thin quarter- 
 ed, and poor as carrion, though at this season 
 they ought to have looked best. While the 
 latter are plump, round, well made, stout, and 
 full of spirit. I have seen Horses of many 
 nations, but none in my opinion for common 
 service equal to those of the Cameraikas in 
 Lower Canada. They have great quantities of 
 vegetables of most kinds. I have seen large 
 strings of onions sold in the streets not far 
 inferior in size to those of Spain or Portu- 
 gal. 
 
 In this town I fell in with a Mr Angus 
 M‘Donald who lives in the neighbourhood. 
 This young gentleman seems to have had a 
 chemical turn from his infancy, and by a 
 procefs, the materials for which can be found 
 in any country or place, he informed me 
 that he could make a composition for glafs or 
 soap manufacture, equal to any barilla that 
 ever came from the Mediterranean ; that the 
 operation is so simple that any one can make 
 it, and that when he discovers the secret of it, 
 our kelp in the west of Scotland would not 
 be worth the making I answered that if 
 
■ ^ 
 
 [ 130 1 
 
 his discovery would, on experience, turn out 
 to his expectation, it would make his fortune 
 and be of the highest utility to Great Britain' 
 as immense sums of money were annually 
 sent from thence to America for pot and 
 pearl afhes, and to the Mediterranean for ba- 
 rilla 5 but that I regretted the hurt it would 
 do to many a worthy gentleman in the west 
 of Scotland whose principal income was deri- 
 ved from kelp. He said that was no object to 
 him ; that these gentlemen were so opprefsive 
 to their people that they yearly banilhed great 
 numbers of them to American states, and that 
 they deserved a check. He is a very intellh 
 gent young man, and is just now concerned 
 in a patent obtained for the discovery of an 
 improvement in the making of pot and pearl 
 alhes. What may be the result of his chemi- 
 cal experiments time only can tell. 
 
 I HAVE been informed since I left that 
 country that this gentleman was employed 
 by Colonel Simcoe in making researches in 
 Upper Canada, and that he discovered two 
 fine salt springs fit to supply the whole pro* 
 vince with that necefsary article, besides ano- 
 ther mineral spring useful in manufacto- 
 ries. Salt cost a dollar the bufiiel at Niagara 
 when I was there, but now by this discovery 
 it will become cheap and plenty. 
 
[ I3I ] 
 
 As the winter was now fast approaching, 
 and that 1 wifhed to pufh on to the south as 
 far as I could before it Ihould set in, that I 
 might be enabled to begin my journey the 
 earlier next spring, I staid no longer in this 
 town than to see Wolte’s Cove where he 
 landed, Abraham’s Heights where the battle 
 was fought, and every other thing I judged 
 worth seeing about the place. 
 
 October 28. I set out in a carriole. The 
 post houses and stages from this city to Mon- 
 treal, a distance of 200 miles, the same as 
 those in the Cameralkas, and by easy stages 
 arrived at Trois Rivieres, or Three Rivers. ■ 
 
 On the 30th I set out again from the Three 
 Rivers and arrived the ist of November at 
 Montreal. As I approached towards the lat- 
 ter the land seemed better, and cleared to a 
 greater extent ; both sides of the river closely 
 inhabited, so much so that the churches and 
 grist mills were very numerous, which is a 
 sure indication of the population and fertility 
 of the soil. After leaving the Three Rivers I 
 fell in with a Scotchman dignified with the 
 title of Sieur Forbes, who kept one of the 
 post houses, an old man, formerly a private 
 soldier in the first seventy-first regiment, or 
 Fraser’s Highlanders, married to a Highland 
 girl, who lately emigrated from Morar in In- 
 vernefslhire. Here I dined, and was much 
 
[ 132 ] 
 
 piefsed to stay all night. She spoke French 
 fluently, but very little Engliili, so that (1,, 
 and I conversed in Gaelic. 
 
 Mrs Forb^ls, when flie found I could not 
 stay, directed me to the house of one Mackav 
 who I believe was also a soldier in the same 
 regiment. Ther^ 1 pafsed that night. This 
 manhas three stout young fellows his sons, who 
 had been for several years employed as clerks 
 m the North West Company of Montreal, and 
 settled at Detroit and Michilimakinac It is 
 necefsary for these clerks to acquire the Indian 
 language as soon as they can ; the more in- 
 telligent and expert they are at it, and the 
 more of these languages they can speak, the 
 fitter they are for their businefs ; for these 
 reasons they alsociate much with the Indians 
 and often have the squaws in keeping It’ 
 ™ld seem Mackay’s sons were not wanting 
 m that part of their duty, as there were three 
 of their children then living in the house 
 with their grandmother. When these chil- 
 dren gro'vv up, and are instructed in the 
 French and Engli/h languages, they become 
 very useful to the Company, as the Indians 
 look upon all the progeny of their women to 
 be of the same tribe of which their mothers 
 are ; and whatever the father may be, the he- 
 ^itage goes always in the female line, of 
 
f 133 3 
 
 
 h 
 
 course they are looked upon as one of them 
 selves and get preference in barter. 
 
 The country on both sides of the river 
 between Quebec and Montreal, a stretch of 
 200 miles as already observed, is flat, or so 
 easy a rise as to be scarcely perceptible, and 
 the hills at a greater distance than the eye will 
 carry, ij, The breadth of this spacious flat is ve- 
 ry great even on the south side, and so much 
 so on the north as to be unknown ; and were 
 it cleared of wood, and cultivated in the way 
 it will admit of, would maintain as many in- 
 habitants as all Scotland. 
 
 In the island of Montreal, of eighteen miles 
 long, are many spacious and fine farms, some 
 of which are pofsefsed by Englilhmen who 
 cultivate and manure their land as is done in 
 that country, and raise crops which astonilh 
 the natives, who now begin to follow their 
 example, and will soon, it is to be hoped, 
 spread over all the populous and extensive 
 province of Lower Canada. The price of 
 wheat this year is 3 s. 4d. Halifax • currency, 
 about 3s. sterling /(f’r bufliel; beef i^d. per 
 pound ; Turkies and Geese at from tenpence 
 to one fliilling each ; and in the market at 
 this season are to be found numbers of milk 
 white Pheasants ; and it is somewhat singular 
 that a white Pheasant never was seen in this 
 country until the last fifieen or twenty 
 
[ 134 ] 
 
 years, and from whence they had come is not 
 known, though now to be had in great plenty 
 On my arrival at Montreal I waited on Mr 
 Dunlop and Mefsrs Andrew and John M‘Gee 
 brothers, to whom I had letters of introduc- 
 tion, and committed a very uncommon blun- 
 der indeed. The former of these gentlemen 
 alked me to dine with him that same day, to 
 which I agreed ; this being in the morning I 
 returned home to my quarters to write let- 
 teis to Scotland. ^Vhen the hour of dinner 
 came I set out, but in place of going to Mr 
 Dunlop, where 1 ought to have gone, I dalhed 
 in to Mr M‘Gee’s without any ceremony, and 
 sat down in the parlour ; one of the Mr 
 M‘Gee’s very politely sat along with me, while 
 the other and some strangers were at dinner. 
 After waiting in this way for about three 
 quarters of an hour, I began to be a good deal 
 surprised that we were not getting a call 
 to dinner, ruminating on this in my own 
 mind, I recollected that it was with Mr Dun- 
 lop, and not with the Mefsrs M‘Gee that I was 
 to dine, and that the gentleman would sup- 
 pose I meant to soarn upon him for a dinner. 
 
 I started up on a sudden, struck my fore- 
 head with my hand with such quick emo- 
 tion and agitation that Mr M‘Gee supposed I 
 was out of my judgement, and alked the 
 cause of it seemingly wdth great concern; 
 
[ 135 ] 
 
 after giving two or three starts on the floor, 
 muttering curses all the while, and paying no 
 regard, while the confusion I was in lasted, 
 to Mr M‘Gee’s questions, I at last recollec- 
 ted myself, afked his forgivenefs, and frankly 
 told him the whole story, at which he laugh- 
 ed very heartily, and said I was not as yet 
 too late for Mr Dunlop’s dinner. I ran out 
 • of the house and in to Mr Dunlop’s as fast as 
 ' I could, who had despaired of me, and was 
 >1 half over with his dinner. I made many 
 !) aukward apologies and began to pick up the 
 fragments of his dinner. Mr Dunlop very 
 politely said there was nothing uncommon in 
 ir the. mistake, and begged I would think no 
 It; more of it. In this town I fell in with Mr 
 t;:. Alexander M‘Donald, priest, formerly from 
 K!) Knodart, a Mr Finlay Fifher, head schoolmas- 
 l(j ter, and a Mr John Fiflier merchant, from 
 p Breadalbane, and wns much obliged to these 
 ii: gentlemen for their friendfhip and atten- 
 iB' tion. 
 
 Ijj; The exports from this place in fur and 
 ^ grain are very Considerable. The Fur North 
 West Trading Company in this town have the 
 |. most lucrative businefs known in the mer- 
 cantile line belonging to Britain, and perhaps 
 ^ of any other country. This concern con- 
 sists of twenty-two fhares, and it is said each 
 fhare will draw' this year between L. 2000 and 
 
I 13^ ] 
 
 L.3000 clear gain. They employ a great 
 number of clerks and domestics to attend and 
 carry their goods to a great distance to trade 
 or barter with the Indians. One of the 
 clerks, a Mr M Kenzie, who is now a partner 
 penetrated as far as the south seas where it 
 ebbed and flowed, and from whence he had on- 
 ly returned a few months ago. I wiflied much 
 to have fallen in with tliis young gentleman, 
 but he was on board a ftiip on his way to 
 England when I was in Quebec. He had 
 five Canadians and one Indian along with 
 him, while on this arduous, and persevering 
 expedition, and which took him eighteen 
 months to accomplifh. He Has gone to qualify 
 himself in London in mathematics and in 
 astronomical observations, and is to undertake 
 the same journey again, and if he succeeds is 
 to publifh his observations on his return. 
 
iOjj 
 ij; 
 
 lVo?« Montreal fo Kingston, 
 
 iB: ■ ■ : : 
 
 ‘ / 
 
 Having got my little baggage on board one 
 ‘ of two battoes going together with merchant 
 goods to Kingston, I set out from Montreal 
 
 ■ on the 5 th of November in a carriole, and 
 pafsed that night at the house of a Mr John 
 Grant, a Scotchman, who has two large store- 
 
 ' houses at that place ; and though this gentle- 
 
 ■ man, from the situation of his stores and 
 * ' house is under the necefsity of keeping a 
 
 tavern, and though I dined, supped, and 
 breakfasted, and sat up very late with a Mr 
 is Rofs, originally from Rofsih ire in Scotland, 
 llisand one of the partners of the North West 
 kiFur Company of Montreal, and a lieutenant 
 M‘Donell from Knoidart, and drank a good 
 deal of Port and Madeira wine, yet he w'ould 
 accept of no payment for either myself or 
 servant, and procured a pafsage for us both 
 gratis in these boats to Kingston, a distance 
 of 220 miles,_a point of politenefs and atten- 
 tion to a stranger I. have not met with from 
 any gentleman situated as he was, in the 
 course of my travels in that country, and but 
 rarely indeed that I remember in any other. 
 
 s 
 
I 
 
 [ 138 ] 
 
 This gentleman. I found to be universally 
 known and well liked, has a most excellent 
 character, and of so active and obliging a 
 turn that it is said he is in a fair way of rea- 
 lizing a fortune, and is allowed on all hands 
 to be deserving of it. 
 
 The river from Montreal to Lafheen is so 
 rapid and rugged with stones and sand banks, 
 that the boats pafsing and repafsing betwixt 
 it and Kingstoii are generally drawn upatla- 
 Iheen, and all the goods stored there; andas 
 this large tract of country is fast settling above 
 to a great extent, Mr Grant’s large stores at tliii 
 place cannot mils to become a source of in- 
 dependent fortune to him. All the goods that 
 go up the rivers, and the produce that come 
 down, are landed here and carted to and from 
 Lafheen and Montreal ; so that it is already a 
 very public station, and must become more 
 and more so as the country advances in po- 
 pulation. These large flat bottomed battoes 
 carry in general from two to three tons bur- 
 den, some more some lefs ; they employ five 
 or six hands, and the charges amount to from 
 L. 12 to L. r 3 each cargo. Opposite Lalheen 
 is a large Indian village on the south side of 
 the river that will turn out three score of 
 warriors at a call ; they are quite civilized, 
 and carry on agriculture and trade in the 
 same manner as the white people. 
 
jjj On the 6th November we set out pretty ear- 
 Ijj ly, I in one battoe and my servant in another, 
 manned with six Canadians each boat. We 
 had very bad poling, owing to the boat’s run- 
 j^l^oing foul of large stones and banks under wa- 
 
 ter. Towards evening we crofsed the mouth 
 
 of the north river which falls into the St Lau- 
 
 te’ 
 
 rence, the opening of which is so broad as to 
 appear more like a lake than a stream of run- 
 ^ ning water, and not inferior in width to the 
 ' St Laurence itself. I have been informed 
 that this river runs out of Lake Superior; o- 
 thers say that it pafses it to the northward. 
 ' Be this as it will it has a vast body of water; 
 
 and the greatest part of the Fur Trade is car- 
 ® ried on by it. Mr M‘Kay’s sons, of whom I 
 have spoken already, and who had been often 
 there, gave me the latter account of it ; and 
 i added, that it pafses the head of another river 
 Kffi which falls into Hudson’s Bay ; that these two 
 iis streams pafs within half a mile of each other, 
 liTS and pursue their courses in opposite directi- 
 1 * ons ; that the traders could go from sea to sea 
 ip: by water in these two rivers, excepting in the 
 small neck already mentioned, acrofs which 
 they carry their canoes and goods ; that the 
 clerks and servants of the Hudson’s Bay Com- 
 pany, and those of Montreal, often meet about 
 the heads of tliese rivers, and encroach on each 
 other’s territories so much that it creates great; 
 
[ 140 ] 
 
 disputes among them ; what is more, they en- 
 courage the Indians to commit outrages on 
 each other, and strive who buys best. To- 
 wards the close of the evening we came up 
 to a small canal cut in a narrow neck of land 
 to avoid the opposite rapids that almost sur- 
 round it. 
 
 The boats stopt at the canal all night, and 
 I and my servant pufhed on for two miles 
 further, and slept at the house of a Yanky 
 loyalist, who had a fine large farm with a 
 considerable deal of flat cleared land about it. 
 I now pafsed all the French settlements, and 
 entered that occupied by Britilh and Ameri- 
 can loyalists ; and though it is but eight years 
 since the first tree was cut down in this dis- 
 trict, they do not fall much Ihort of having 
 as much of the land cleared as the French 
 who have been more than an hundred years 
 in pofsefsion. The cause of this immense 
 difference in the industry of the people, I sup- 
 pose to be more owing to the tenure of the 
 land, than to lazinefs on the part of the French 
 and inclustry on that of the Britifli and Ame- 
 rican loyalists. The former was given out, as 
 already observed, in large districts, to French 
 nobility, who feued out in small portions 
 such as they could clear of it, and no other 
 would be taken ; the latter on their owm 
 properties, who could not subsist without 
 
[ 141 ] 
 
 using every exertion of industry for the first 
 years, were impelled by a necefsity which the 
 others were not subjected to. 
 
 Next morning I proceeded by the river 
 side through a close inhabited country, until I 
 came to a point of land where the boats were 
 obliged to unload, and the goods carted for 
 some miles, to avoid rapids, in which the bat- 
 toes could not be towed when loaded. Here 
 I found that the Canadians had made free with 
 a bag of biscuit Mr John Fifher merchant in 
 Montreal gave me, and a fine roasted Goose 
 a Mr John M‘ Arthur had sent with me, so’ 
 that I had to provide myself in provisions as 
 I went along for the future. I travelled all 
 this day on foot, and slept at a lie^enant Fra- 
 ser’s, who had charge of another fhort canal 
 cut through a point of land like that formerly 
 mentioned. Opposite to this place called the 
 Cedars, is a large island in the river used as 
 a place of confinement for several American 
 prisoners taken .last war. From this island 
 some of the prisoners were daring enough to 
 swim down and acrofs this immense rapid 
 to a point of land below Jt, at three-fourths 
 of a mile’s distance : some of them were ta- 
 ken after landing, and others drowned in 
 the attempt. 
 
 From lieutenant Fraser’s I proceeded to the 
 foot of the river Raifson, where an Italian 
 
[ 14a ] 
 
 Count, on his return from Lake Superior, waj 
 encamped. He had three tents, some baggage 
 provisions, and a crew of ten or twelve Cana- 
 dians in one birch canoe, the largest I ever 
 saw of the kind. This small river is closely 
 settled for the space of twenty miles, mostly by 
 Highlanders ; and in many parts seven concef- 
 sions deep, as they are called'here, (/. e.) seven' 
 fanns deep, the one behind the other. This is 
 reckoned a very fine settlement j the soil ex- 
 tremely rich, and the average of the produce in 
 gram twenty fold. I put up at the house of a Mr 
 M‘Donald formerly from Ardnabee iuGlengary. 
 
 • , On the loth set out from the Raifson about 
 two hours before day-lighr; breakfasted at 
 the reverend Mr Beaton’s, also a Scotchman, 
 and from thence went to the house of a 
 Captain John McDonald who was then fi- 
 mfliing a new house said to have cost him 
 L.^1300 Sterling. Here I fell in with a Cap- 
 tain Archibald M‘Donald of the Long Saut. 
 Captain John McDonald prefsed me much to 
 stay that night, but as the boats were likely 
 to get a-head of me I could not. Captain 
 Aichibald M‘Donald being upon his way 
 home, he and I travelled in company^. We 
 put up that night in the house of Lieutenant 
 Miles M‘Donald, at a place formerly called 
 New Johnston, but now Cornwallis. Here the 
 stance of a town is lined out, and the place is 
 
very centrical for that purpose, being nearly 
 midway between Kingston and Montreal, 
 situated on a broad level point of land, where 
 the river takes a sweep and forms a bend 
 or an obtuse angle ; the country is closely in- 
 habited, and the farms to the eighth or ninth 
 concefsions back ; the soil deep, fertile, and 
 not difficult to clear. Mr Miles M‘Donald 
 was from home at a new farm he was clear- 
 ing, and Mrs M‘Donald, when I informed her 
 who I was, recollected to have seen me in 
 the house of Captain M‘Donald of Morar, 
 her father, with whom and family I had the 
 honour to be on the most friendly footing- 
 This lady received me with every mark of 
 politenefs and attention, which was the more 
 gratifying to me, as flie was the daughter 
 of my particular friend, and universally allow- 
 ed to be a most amiable as well as elegant 
 woman. I was further told fhe was allowed 
 to be the most elegant woman that appeared 
 at the afsemblies in Montreal the preceding 
 winter. Mr Beaty, who was then but lately 
 married to a sister-in-law of her’s, entertain- 
 ed Captain M‘Donald and me with much 
 hospitality with Port and Madeira wines, and 
 kept us up very late or rather early. I have 
 hitherto seen no punch drank in this country. 
 
 Next morning we bad adieu to the fa- 
 mily and proceeded on our journey. Called at 
 several houses on the way j the owner of one 
 
r 144 1 
 
 of which. Captain M‘DonaId said would cle 4 r 
 that fall L 200 of his farm, mostly in wheat 
 This part of th,e country is improving very 
 fast, and will soon be in a very flourilhing 
 state. Dined at a Colonel Gray’s, a Scotch., 
 man, who had served in his younger days in 
 the Dutch service, —himself a hoary headed 
 little man, and his wdfe a large fat Dutch 
 American lady. Stopped and drank tea at 
 Captain M‘Donald’s, who prefsed me much to 
 .stay that night, but having yet some hours of 
 day-light I could not think of waiting; on 
 which he gave me a letter of introduction to 
 a relation of his, a Mrs Huet, who lived four 
 or five miles further on, where Ipafsed that 
 night. 
 
 When you come to that part of the river 
 called the Long Sant, opposite to Captain 
 Archibald M‘Donald’s, the attention of the 
 traveller must be particularly arrested by 
 the immense body of water, and the awful 
 rapidity of its current, which some people 
 think nearly as novel and striking as the 
 Great Falls of Niagara. In the middle is 
 a long island, whose stately forests intercept 
 the sight in many parts of the opposite Ihorft 
 On each side of this island the branches of 
 the river are about half a mile broad, and that 
 which is now in view tumbles dowm with a 
 tremendous fury, that makes <he surge rise 
 
i 145 1 
 
 somewhat like the sea in h gale of wind. 
 
 ^ Here the poor Canadians undergo vast rilk 
 and trouble towing up their broad bottomed 
 and large battoeSj which teqmre the strength 
 of four or five men to haul on the painter, 
 which if not sound and well secured, and if 
 it once give way, the lofs of the boat is ine- 
 vitable (he must be either filled with water, 
 sunk in the stream, or dallied against the 
 stones and rocks on the (hore. I have been, 
 told that all boats and rafts of timber coming 
 ^ down the river hold by the south channel, 
 which is not so rapid and more safe thto 
 ® that which is now described j but in commg 
 up the river it is thought more tedious, and 
 k: on that account they rarely go by it. Mr 
 
 lit;. Huet was not at home ; he is one of the king’s 
 ffli surveyors in the province. Mrs Huet and 
 , fc a brother of her’s who happened to be then 
 ni' in the house entertained me with much 
 « civility, but as the boats were likely to 
 i,: get a-head of me, 1 set out by daydighf, 
 
 eg and called at a common farmer’s house to 
 get breakfast. They happened to be a Ger- 
 man family who scarce understood a word of 
 ig. Englifli, and were lately from the States, 
 g Here the little German I could speak was 
 of use to me, and sufficed to procure me 
 bread from one house and milk in another. 
 The scarcity of bread is owing to the water s 
 
[ 146 ] 
 
 being so low that the mills could not rtnj 
 the quantity required in the neighbourhood 
 Some miles further on, I was informed thi,!' 
 Lieutenant Malcolm M‘Martin with who^ 
 was formerly acquainted, lived in that „.i.h 
 bourhood. I sent an eaprefs for him T 
 was good enough to come and conduct mei.' 
 t le house of a Captain James Munro whore 
 sided some miles farther on. Wc met r 
 tain Munm at a new grist andsawmilll 
 was finilhing on a point of land thatprojec. 
 a little into the river, the water of whid sup. 
 phes the mdl by a cut in that point, and one 
 heel sets two saws and the grist mill.stone 
 
 a-gomg at once. These two mills were con. 
 rive and finilhed by a common German ar. 
 chitect who was never bred to it or to anr 
 niechanic trade whatever. 
 
 Captain Munro is originally from the north 
 of Scotland, has been a long time in this coun; 
 ry, and joined government in the late rebel- 
 lion. He now enjoys captain’s half pay besides 
 the office of fheriff; and is one of the Mem- 
 o the Land Board, appointed by govern- 
 ment for granting lands to such as he and his 
 colleagues in office find deserving. Captain 
 unro conducted me to his house, and en- 
 tertained me with a great deal of polite- 
 nefs, attention, and hospitality. We sat up 
 pretty late i and his son-in-law Mr Allan Pa- 
 
E 147 5 
 
 i terson, also a Scotchman, entertained us with 
 many interesting stories and anecdotes of a va- 
 , riety of Indian nations he had traded with for 
 several years. He (howed me an Indian tar- 
 , get made of Buflfaloe fkin, proof against dart, 
 
 . arrow, and even a mufket ball when it strikes 
 i it obliquely, made in the form of a cuirafse or 
 breast plate, and large enough to cover the 
 whole person when crouching or stooping 
 ' low, It was tanned to an amazing thicknefs, 
 and rendered tough and hard by some pro- 
 cefs only known to Indians. It was of a 
 light buff colour, very light, and quite 
 ‘‘ portable, with a large plumage of curi- 
 ^ ous feathers on the- middle of it. He said 
 “ that from Lake Superior there is a portage of 
 ' twenty-seven miles long, where every boat- 
 man and servant of the Fur Trading Compa- 
 E ny of Montreal is obliged to carry two hun- 
 dred weight of goods on his back j that some 
 li- of the Canadians were so remarkably good at 
 fi carrying burdens as to take the whole at 
 i: once, some at twice, and others at three times. 
 
 \ When they crofs this portage they fall in with 
 k a river or lake, where they have again water 
 carriage, and go on alternately from land to wa- 
 ter to a vast distance. Mr Paterson said, and 
 which I heard from several others, that 
 .part of this great continent abounds with 
 large plains, farther than the sight will carry t 
 
[ 148 ] 
 
 that one tn particular will take a man 
 days constant travelling to crofs; and 
 length, neither end of it is known ; that when 
 a man enters this plain, he will find the Bn! 
 faloes almost as numerous as the trees in the 
 forest feeding on rich grafs near breast hinh. 
 and if the sight would carry the kngthM 
 beieves ioo,ooo of them could be seen at 
 once. The ground is so level, that, hke the 
 ocean, the horizon bounds the sight. Evm 
 step you travel you meet with heads and 
 carcases of dead Buffaloes. When an Indian 
 
 W H them, he mounts 
 
 h Horse, with his bow and a case containing 
 several scores of arrows : he throws the rein! 
 loose about the Horse’s neck, who knows by 
 constant practice his rider’s intention, and gal- 
 ops w,,hallhis speed through the middle of 
 the herd of Buffaloes. The Indian fhoqts as he 
 goes along until he expends his last arrow, then 
 returns to pick Bp his prey, and from such as 
 he finds dead he cuts out the tongue and the 
 ump on the back, which he carries away with 
 lumi the rest of the carcase he leaves to Wolves 
 and other ravenous animals. A species of 
 Wolves in these parts are milk white, and 
 are arger than those of any other colour, or 
 any Dog whatever that he had seen. The 
 only fuel a traveller can have in these plains, 
 with which they drefs their victuals, 
 
is BufFuloe’s dung ; and when he is in want 
 of water he endeavours to fall in with a 
 path made by Otters going from one small 
 lake to another, by following which he is 
 sure to find it. The ground is so level 
 that you are just upon the brink of the lake 
 before you see that there is any such 
 thing. 
 
 An Indian, when he goes in quest of Ot- 
 ters in winter, makes for these lakes, which 
 are covered with ice and snow. He goes about 
 until he finds out every hole they may have 
 about the lake, all of which he fills up excep- 
 ting one, two, or three, most suitable for his 
 purpose. To these the Otters must have re- 
 course for air. When he has done this, he 
 sprinkles a little snow on the water, which dark- 
 ens it 5 when the Otter is just coming, the 
 sportsman finds the water and the snow agi- 
 tated ; and the animal not seeing what is be- 
 fore him, pops up his head through the snow, 
 on which the Indian strikes him with his 
 tomahawk, r-puts down his hand,~pulls him 
 out,— throws him aside, and watches the ap- 
 proach of the next, and serves him in the 
 same manner. In this way sometimes a do- 
 zen are killed in one pond. The price of an 
 Otter Ikin is, like penny pies, a bottle of rum; 
 no more is looked for or ever given ; though 
 in Canada they are a guinea, and in England 
 
[ 15 ^ ] 
 
 two guineas each. The expence of brings' 
 ing rum or any sort of merchandize two or 
 three thousand miles back, besides the rilk of 
 it, must surely be very great ; but the pro- 
 fits, now that the Company are firmly esta- 
 blilhed, are in proportion. Mr Paterson, and 
 a very smart young man his brother, lost, 
 during the first three years they were 
 employed in this trade L.3000, but in the 
 course of two years cleared this and as 
 much more real profit. But unfortunate- 
 ly his brother and the crew of the boat, with 
 its full loading of merchandize, were drown- 
 ed and lost o.n Lake Superior ; which indu- 
 ced him to give it up. 
 
 When two nations of Indians are at warwith 
 each other, the one to the southw'ard burns 
 large tracts of the grafs in these immense 
 plains ; and when the Buffaloes, who annually 
 emigrate from the south to the north, and 
 return in winter, meet with this burned land, 
 they proceed no further, but return. The 
 northern nations, who trust to the Buffaloe 
 for food and winter stores, are thus depri- 
 ved of the means of subsistence, and often 
 perifh vrith hunger. Mr Paterson, unfortu- 
 nately happened to have resided one winter 
 with a nation in this predicament; so that he 
 and those along with him w^ere reduced to the 
 necefsity of eating their own mogazines, and 
 
f I5I ] 
 
 I; 
 
 every fkin they could find, before the spring 
 opened, and permitted them to proceed to 
 a country where they could get game or pro- 
 visions. 
 
 Before I set out next morning. Captain 
 , Munro was good enough to give me a letter 
 of introduction to Colonel Butler, at Niaga- 
 ra; and Lieutenant M'Martin told me that 
 there was a Glenlochy woman whom I re- 
 membered to have seen a girl in that country, 
 married to a Captain Thomas Fraser some 
 miles farther up the river, on the way I 
 was to hold. When I came opposite to 
 Captain Fraser’s house, which was a little way 
 below, the road, m^ servant said that was 
 the place we had been directed to; but 
 on my looking about, and remarking the 
 good house, but a still larger barn of 
 two stories high, several office houses, bar- 
 r racks, or Dutch barns, the sufficiency and 
 s regularity of the rails, and extent of the 
 E inclosures, considerable flocks of Turkies, 
 Geese, Ducks, and Fowls, I said it could be 
 1 , no Highlander that owned that place,— that 
 ; the barracks or Dutch barns were foreign to 
 any Scotchman whatever,— that I had not hi- 
 therto seen any of them that had such a 
 thing,— and that he must be a German who 
 lived in that place. Still he affirmed this 
 must be it, agreeable to the directions we 
 
[ 152 ] 
 
 had; but I could not be persuaded, and 
 pulhed on to the next bouse, which was 
 then in sight. When I came up I aiked 
 for Captain Fraser’s, and was told 1 had 
 left it behind ; I therefore had to return. 
 When I came in, they took no sort of notice 
 of me farthei* than desiring me to sit down. 
 My trowsers being tom with the buflies, 
 and the rest of my drefs being in the like 
 situation, they supposed me to be a Yankj 
 come from the States. After sitting a 
 while in this way, nobody speaking to me 
 or I to them, Mrs Fraser happened to sit by 
 me, I looked full in her face ; and clearly re- 
 cognizing her features, I accosted her in 
 Gaelic, and afked her if Ihe had ever seen me 
 beforCi She could not sa.y whether or not. 
 This turned the eyes of every body in the 
 honse towards us : but on my alking if Ibe 
 had heard of or known such a person, na- 
 ming myself, fhe said fhe did, and knew him 
 very well ; but could not suppose that I vfas 
 him. On my saying I was, flie turned about 
 to her hulband; “ My dear, (said the,) this is 
 the gentleman whom I often told you vas 
 so kind to us when be was forester of 
 Lorn; and whatever disputes we and our 
 neighbours had when our cattle trespafsed up- 
 on the forest, he alw'ays favoured our family , 
 Captain Fraser on this instantly welcomed 
 
t 153 3 
 
 me to his house, ordered dinner arid venisoti 
 stakes to be got ready immediately. While 
 dinner was getting ready, Mrs Fraser Ihowed 
 me nine or ten large fat Hogs then lying 
 dead on the floor of her keeping house, and 
 said they, every fall, killed twenty such, and 
 two fat Oxen, besides other provisions, fot 
 their winter store. After dinner. Captain 
 Fraser treated me with Port wine until we 
 could drink no more, and prefsed rrie much to 
 stay that night ; but as the boats had pafsed 
 I could not wait. When he found that I 
 would be away, he ordered a couple of Horses 
 to be saddled directly. 
 
 I MENTION these circumstances and the re- 
 ception I met in this place, as it does honour 
 to human nature, and fliews how difficult it 
 is to foresee, when, how, or in what remote 
 place or period, one may meet the reward of 
 a humane or generous action ; 1 little expec- 
 ted when I befriended a poor widow woman, 
 with a family of children, in the north west of 
 Scotland, I fhould meet with any returns for it 
 in Upper Canada, She was but a young girl 
 when I had seen her, and emigrated to Ame- 
 rica with a brother of her’s, who, flie said, was 
 glad to hear of my being in this country, and 
 would go some hundreds of miles to see me. 
 She was but a fliort time in America when 
 
 u 
 
[ 154 ] 
 
 flie turned out a tall well looked woman, and 
 her present hufband became acquainted with 
 and married her, of which I am convinced 
 he has had no reason to repent. They have 
 a fine family of children, and I have been 
 told there is not a better mother, or more 
 prudent house wife in the province. 
 
 After bidding adieu to Mrs Fraser and fami- 
 ly. Captain Fraser and I mounted his Horses. 
 This was the first time I had crofsed a horse 
 since I came to Canada, and the second or 
 third time since I landed in America •, -Cal- 
 led at a tavern, drank more wine, for which 
 he would not allow me to pay one farthing. 
 Arrived two hours after night fall at his bro- 
 ther’s house. Captain William Fraser. These 
 two gentlemen, whose father was but poor, 
 and they young, when he emigrated from Stra- 
 herrick in Scotland, and unable to give them 
 the necefsary education, after they landed 
 in America entered into the Royal Cause, and 
 that of their country, when the rebellion broke 
 out; and by their own activity, aleftnefs, and 
 merit, they raised themselves to the rank of 
 Captains, got money and education by it, 
 and are now in very high esteem among all 
 their acquaintances. Captain Thomas said he 
 had six score of acres of cleared land. The 
 soil a clay loam, with three or four inches of 
 
[ 155 1 
 
 rich mold, black as jet on the top ; that his 
 average return of grain was twenty fold at; 
 least ; but said, when the clay underneath and 
 the black mold were incorporated together, 
 and the stumps out of the ground, he would 
 have still a greater encrease. Captain Wil- 
 ham said that his farm was much of the same 
 quality and extent. These two brothers were, 
 for some years prior to the rebellion, Indian 
 interpreters to the great Sir William Johun 
 ston, and had fine farms in his neighbourhood 
 on the Mohauke river. 
 
 Next morning I set out before it was 
 clear, and got a-head of the boats, — travelled 
 
 nine or ten miles before breakfast, came to a; 
 
 point of land where I was to go aboard, bur 
 before the boats had come I went into a little 
 cottage, and enquired if I could get breakfast ; 
 they told me I ftiould, if bread and milk 
 would serve me. The owner of this house 
 happened to be one Fraser, a Highlander, 
 who had been a long time a private in the 
 
 forty-second regiment, married to a young 
 
 American woman, had come from Albany 
 
 but the fall preceding, had brought a couple 
 
 of Cows with him, and put up a little ca- 
 bin and barn in this place, where he got a lot 
 of land. In the course of our conversation I 
 alked him what he had done since he camo 
 here. He said he had cleared nine or ten, 
 
[ 155 ] 
 
 acres of land, but that the wood was not thick 
 upon it ; and that he raised, (to be within the 
 mark as he exprefsed it,) ninety bufhels of 
 wheat, between sixty and seventy of Indian 
 corn, besides potatoes, and other things on 
 ^^bich he did not count. And what afsistance 
 had you to all that ?” said I ; ‘ None (answer- 
 ed he) but a hoe and axe, and what that woman 
 could give me,’ meaning his wife; but ad- 
 ded as he had not a boat to send it to market 
 he could get no sale for it. On my aikinghim 
 what I had to pay for my breakfast, he said 
 nothing for the bread ; that he had more of 
 it than would serve him for three years ; and 
 that I might settle with the wife for the milk, 
 as fhe and I pleased. I gave her half a dollar, 
 and but for the scarcity of money in the 
 j:)]ace, I am convinced none would h^ve been 
 accepted. 
 
 The boats arriving, I stepped on board, and 
 the water now becoming smooth, and more 
 like a lake than a running stream, the wind fa- 
 vourable, we put up sails, and made great way, 
 till late at night, when we put up at a poor 
 lame ragged man’s house with a numerous fa- 
 mily of small children ; but the wife buxom 
 and well drefsed. I and my Canadian crew 
 thre\v ourselves down upon the floor opposite 
 to the fire, and slept soundly till four o’clock 
 next morning, when we got up and set off in 
 fhe us ual way. The wind still favoured us,^n 
 
[ 157 1 
 
 we soon entered the thousand islands, which 
 never were, nor do I suppose ever can be 
 counted, by reason of their numbers, and for 
 which reason they were formerly called by the 
 * F rench, and now by the Britifh the Mille isles. 
 '' They are of very little value, and produce but 
 ' scraggy wood of uselefs pine. Here are innu- 
 ^ merable flocks of water Fowl, mostly of the 
 ' Teal kind. Such a diversity of creeks, bays, 
 channels, and harbours, 1 suppose are to be 
 ’ rarely met with in the world ; and if a crew be 
 not well acquainted with the direct course, 
 and if they once mifs it, they may chance 
 to be bewildered, and for days may not 
 ' find it again, 
 
 - After pafsing these islands we entered 
 f upon the lower end of Lake Ontario, and 
 about night fall arrived at Frontinac, or Ca- 
 trauquey, now called Kingston and put up at 
 Is the coffee house. On hearing that an Indian 
 a of considerable consequence lodged then in 
 ii the house, whose name was Captain Thomas, 
 15 I sent him my compliments, and if agreeable 
 ; made offer to join him ; his answer was that 
 : he would be happy at it. After I joined him, 
 he alked me very politely what I would 
 choose to drink ; I answered whatever was 
 agreeable to him. He then called for a small 
 bowl of punch, of which he took but very 
 little, excused himself by saying he had dined 
 
[ 158 ] 
 
 }n a private family, and drank too freely af, 
 ter dinner. We slept in the same room. He 
 was a tall handsome man, extremely well 
 drefsed in the Englilh falhion, and had no- 
 thing particular about him but a string of 
 small silver buckles hung down on his breast 
 fastened to his long lank black hair, from 
 each side of his head. He spoke French 
 fluently, but not Englilh enough to enable 
 us to converse freely in that language ; how- 
 ever he understood it better than he could 
 speak, and enough to make me enjoy his, 
 company very much ; his place of residence 
 is eight or ten miles above Montreal, in the 
 village already mentioned opposite Lafheeii, 
 In this village there are about lyo houses, 
 and an elegant stone church. What is sin- 
 gular in that place I am informed is that se- 
 veral of these houses, covered with bark 
 of water alh, and bafs wood, have stood so 
 for three score of years, and are now so close 
 covered witb mofs as to be perfectly water 
 tight. Captain Thomas is the principal man 
 
 in that place, has a fine house, and a squaw 
 
 every day elegantly drefsed ; he deals much 
 in the mercantile line, mostly in furs; and 
 can get on his credit at a call in any of the 
 principal mercantile houses at Montreal, two 
 thousand pound’s worth of goods. I saw him 
 pick up all the ikins worth buying from the 
 
:t;. inerchants in. this place. I was informed 
 !i;n there were twelve hundred pound’s worth of 
 lin /kins of his property seized last year, which 
 5|,he had hid in the woods, and meant to 
 1; smuggle into the States dominions, where 
 nil they give a better price than at Montreal. 
 
 White people practise smuggling of this kind 
 j^as well as Indians, and wdien detected, the 
 I goods are confiscated in the same manner, 
 j Kingston is situated upon a broad point of 
 I land, the Grand Lake Ontario on the south, 
 
 ^ and a creek on the east and north east runs 
 j three or four miles into the country, so that it 
 is surrounded with water on three sides. 'At 
 ^ the foot of this creek is a fine safe anchorage, 
 and on the /hore quays and wharfs are begin- 
 ning to be built; The whole point of about 
 two or three miles broad is clay lying on lime- 
 ^ stone, not high, but with an easy slop descen- 
 ding to the water. The limestone in this place 
 lies in curious strata level with the surface of 
 ^the ground, and cut fliort ; some in square pie- 
 rces, others in pentagons, hexagons, and poly- 
 figons, and many different flat sides j and is the 
 ‘^finest and most easily quarried perhaps in the 
 Hworld, and so fit for building as not to require 
 i the stroke of a hammer. The very beach 
 ^on the fliore is limestone, and so pounded 
 i that if a kiln were made close by it might be 
 : fiiovelled in and burnt into lime without any 
 
[i6o ] 
 
 further trouble ; yet notwithstanding the 
 materials for building with stone are so eas) 
 to be had here^ even on the very stance of 
 the houses, they prefer building them all with 
 timber. I never saw a prettier situation for 
 an inland town than this place. The coun- 
 try along the coast, and about the Bay of 
 Kenty, for fifty or sixty miles is closely inha- 
 bited, and in some parts three or four concef- 
 sions deep. The timber on this hat, but not 
 low point, is mostly of hard wood of a fine 
 growth and very stately, and useful for most 
 purposes. The town is in its infancy as yet, 
 but fast encreasing. It is well supplied with 
 provisions of all kinds from the fertile coun- 
 try behind it. It is a little surprising the stir of 
 trade that is in it already. I have been told 
 that above 6000 bufhels of wheat were bought 
 up and stored here the preceding year, and 
 that at least a fourth more would have been 
 so this one ; and so on in* proportion everj 
 succeedMg year. This is a very extraordina- 
 ry circumstance in a country not above eight 
 years settled. I have been also informed 
 that six score of Deer have been sold in this 
 town this same year, I see venison every 
 day in the market and prefscd upon the in-, 
 habitants to buy .; but the best only is 
 bought. 
 
[ i6i ] 
 
 Here I fell in with Lieutenant William 
 |.M’Kay, originally from the north of Scot- 
 itjjland, and Lieutenant Daniel of the twenty- 
 li,sixth regiment, an Irilhman, both going for 
 j(.;Niagara, with whom I lived in strict intima- 
 jj, cy and friendfhip afterwards while I continu- 
 lKU,ed in Canada. In this town there are two 
 jjjCompanies of foot and some artillery men, 
 kept for guarding the king’s -stores for sup- 
 I plying the troops of the forts on the Upper 
 lakes ; the troops were commanded by Cap- 
 tains Porter and Ingram. I met with a great 
 , deal of politenefs and attention from them 
 both ; with the latter I dined every day at 
 the mefs, when I was not otherwise engaged ; 
 ’^and the like civility from Mr Joseph Forsyth, 
 ' 1 ''' merchant, and Mr Neil M‘Lean, commifsary. 
 ^^ Here I staid for several days, waiting a fair 
 ^Vind to proceed in one of the king’s sloops 
 *to Niagara. 
 
 iffii November 23. I took a ride into the coun- 
 i® try along with Captain Ingram who furnifli- 
 ij-ed me with a Horse, and Lieutenant Daniel. 
 Ui We went through a thick wood for about six 
 i miles, pafsed several settlements newly begun 
 f!( in the middle of the wood, every one of 
 which was on limestone : I saw neither stone 
 p; nor rock in this neighbourhood of any other 
 rc quality. We returned by another road. 
 The wood mostly hickory, streight, and ak 
 
 X 
 
[ 162 J 
 
 most of equal thicknefs for forty feet to the 
 branches. The hickory nuts are very sweet 
 and very much resemble the walnut, but 
 are not so large, and much thicker in the 
 Ihcll. Here are great quantities ofchesnuts 
 also, and some butt nuts. On our return 
 we rode about a mile up the side of the 
 Grand Lake,-pafsed Parson Stewart’s house 
 and farm, who has L. 200 sterling salary, from 
 the Britifh government, and a fine farm of 
 200 acres, which lies on the side of the lake, 
 and large tracts of it clear. We crofsed 
 again from Parson Stewart’s along the summit 
 of this flat and charming point, to the house 
 of Sir John Johnston, wdiich is situated above 
 • the town and harbour of Kingston, and 
 commands a beautiful prospect. Near this 
 place, but a little more in view of the Grand 
 Lake, it is supposed the new governor of Uppe' 
 Canada will erect his place of residence and 
 fix the seat of government. If so, surely none 
 can be more suitable; every thing is inviting, 
 and it seems by nature intended for the em- 
 porium of this new country, capable of being 
 extended to a considerable empire. 
 
From Kingston to Niagara. 
 
 io!t 
 '« 
 tsi 
 
 ^ i>l ovEMBER 24. We got on board the Col- 
 ville, sloop, mounting two six pounders and 
 two swivels, Captain Baker, bound to Niaga- 
 ra ; Lieutenant Daniel, Lieutenant lVI‘Kay, and 
 myself pafsengers. The day was hazy, the 
 wind fair, but promised no continuance. We 
 pafscd several large woody uninhabited 
 islands. About nightfall the wind changed 
 ^ to streight a-head, — the captain, quite drunkj 
 ^ went to bed, the crew, little better, went to 
 ‘ rest, and indeed were almost uselefs when 
 “ sober, as they seemed to know scarce any 
 thing at all of their businefs ; no watch or 
 ® reckoning kept, but by an ignorant wretch 
 [s at the helm. The wind increased, and now be- 
 came a storm. In this way, beating to vnnd- 
 )lii ward, the night dark, and surrounded by 
 , land flioals and islands, our situation could 
 not be very agreeable. None of us knew where 
 we were, and in fear cf being a-ground every 
 moment. A man was ordered to sound, and 
 once sung out of a sudden, “ Five fathoms.” I 
 expected the next moment to hear her strike. 
 
[ i64 ] 
 
 The fliip ^yas put about, and the mistake ia 
 the sounding discovered to be owing to th 
 ignorance of the sailor, and the lines having 
 been entangled in the rails, as at the next 
 sounding no bottom was found; from these 
 circumstances I clearly saw, that if we escaped 
 being wrecked it would be a mere chance, 
 and it appeared that there was at least five to 
 one against us. I could not help contras- 
 ' ting this wretched drunken captain and his 
 cfew, with the sober, cautious, and attentive 
 Captain Wylie, who never went to bed any 
 night that had the least appearance of a gale 
 of wind. But drunk as this man was, before 
 he went to bed he ordered the main-sail to be 
 double reefed, and the fore-sail to be handed, 
 a precaution I was very glad to see. About 
 midnight a severe blast or hurricane to 
 heard coming on. The njan at the helm 
 sung out, which brought the captain and all 
 the crew on deck, who got all the sails handed, 
 and we now went under bare poles ; that done, 
 he again returned to bed, eternally bawling 
 out, “ Oh ! my poor family and with the 
 next breath, “ Let us all go to hell together.” 
 Thus we continued till day-light. The surge 
 ran very high, but not equal to that I have 
 
 seen on sea ; and as the wind blew very 
 and hard against us, we had nothing for 
 but to return back, and anchored about two 
 
[ i65 I 
 
 o’clock p. m. at the head of Carleton island 
 opposite to Kingston; but as several large 
 islands were between us and the town, they 
 could not see us, or know what had become 
 of us. The 25th, 26th, and 27th, we lay here 
 without stirring, the wind continuing a-head, 
 
 or calm. 
 
 On the 28th I went on Ihore on Carleton 
 island where the Britifh had a garrison last 
 war ; the barracks, dry ditch, and rampart, 
 are still remaining, but in a decayed state. A 
 Serjeant and twelve men are kept here to pre 
 serve the barracks from being burnt by the 
 Indians, and the Americans from taking pof- 
 sefsion of it, and the dismounted guns there- 
 on. The cause afsigned for our forsaking this 
 post, is said to be because it is doubtful whe- 
 ther these islands be within the Britifh or 
 American lines. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 29th, a fine 
 clear day, and a small breeze in our favour, 
 we weighed anchor, hoisted sail, and steered 
 for the lake ; but had gone but a ftiort way 
 when the wind again veering about a-head 
 obliged us to return and anchor in our for- 
 mer station. 
 
 On the 30th, Lieutenant Daniel, myselt, 
 and some of the crew, went on fiiore on the 
 main and south side of the lake, part of the 
 province of N«w York, to look for Deer, 
 
[ i66 ] 
 
 Pheasants, or game of any kind; but not ven- 
 turing to go rar into the woods, met with ncv- 
 thing worth mentioning. Returned on board 
 ivith a quantity of lire wood only. Next day 
 went on Ihore on one of the islands, where 
 my servant ihot two Pheasants and a Hare' 
 which helped our mefs. The day following 
 we returned to the same island and Ihot se- 
 ven Hares, saw some Mulk Rats, which I at 
 first supposed to be Beavers, and had a great 
 deal of trouble in stalking them, for which 
 there was no occasion, as they are a stupid ' 
 small animal of the amphibious kind. Dun- 
 can wounded one, but it escaped among 
 thick reeds, where we could not find him. 
 
 A day or two after this we killed three Ra- 
 coons, which we found in the trunk of an 
 old log. Lieutenant M‘Kay, who was well 
 acquainted with the kind, traced them to 
 the place of concealment. This animal is 
 very fat, and too luscious for my palate, and 
 resembles much the Badger in Scotland, but 
 has a longer and more bulky tail. 
 
 BncEMEER 7. The evening preceding, the 
 wind veered about by the west to the north, ac- 
 companied with heavy fliowers of snow, which 
 indicated a continuance from that quarter, 
 for which we were all night very anxious, but 
 durst not venture to set out till day-light, as 
 there were a number of islands and banks in 
 
lij. iv 
 iiiaiii. 
 
 nils; 
 
 hx 
 
 anil 
 
 bej 
 
 :yj 
 
 Hist 
 
 ESC2R 
 
 iii 
 
 iii!i 
 
 biB: 
 
 wk:; 
 
 da 
 
 lli iiUji 
 JjK. 
 
 )COllli.k 
 
 cfe: 
 
 eflofii 
 
 If 
 
 ok\‘ 
 
 #: 
 
 [ 167 ] 
 
 our way. The wind having kept steady, next 
 morning hoisted sail, and steered for the lake 
 under a smart breeze from the north ; all 
 sails were up ; went at the rate of five or six 
 knots an hour. No sooner night came on than 
 our good captain, in the usual way, filled him- 
 self stupidly drunk with grog, and retired to 
 bed, leaving the vefsel to be directed by as 
 stupid a crew. Mr M‘Kay, who had most 
 to say with him, sat up all night, in hopes of 
 having it in his power to keep him sober, but 
 it defied him, as not an hour pafsed during 
 the whole night but he must have a tumbler 
 of grog. 
 
 The 8. Last night continued to freeze 
 very hard, and this morning the smoke of 
 the hoar frost, when the sun got up, involved 
 us in fog, and drove away in thick columns 
 with the wind, which much obscured the 
 sight. One of the seamen got up to the top- 
 mast head, and swore we had outrun our 
 course twenty miles at least,— that we were 
 embayed,— that he could see land a-head and 
 pn each side of us. This kept us in great 
 doubt for the most part of the morning, and 
 made us fliorten our sail, until the sun about 
 mid-day dispersed the fog. We steered for 
 the south fhore, and soon discovered land, 
 when we found, that in pJace of outrunning 
 pur reckoning twenty miles, that we fell 
 
[ i68 ] 
 
 feort of Niagara thirty or forty miles. We had 
 now no dread but that the wind would fhift 
 to the westward, which, if it did, would drive 
 us back to Kingston, and oblige us to conti- 
 nue there for the winter and spring; but 
 fcxrtunately for us it still kept fair ; and more 
 by good luck than any thing eke, we landed 
 at the quay of Niagara about four o’clock 
 p. m. I must not here omit, that when 
 the day cleared up, we could see the spray 
 arising from the Falls of Niagara at the dis- 
 tance of thirty or forty miles, like a cloud 
 in the air, and driving before the wind to an 
 immense distance. Captain Baker told me 
 that he had often seen it at the distance of 
 sixty miles. On my landing, the day being 
 very cold, I went into Captain Baker’s house 
 to warm me, and there found a decent look- 
 ^ young woman his wife, with five beautiful 
 
 ^^^children, of whom thfe father seemed uncom- 
 
 1 
 
 monly fond ; and though their whole support, 
 and in a manner their existence, depend up- 
 
 on his life and industry, yet such is his love 
 for grog, that it would seem he would for- 
 sake them and every other consideration in 
 the world, for its sake ; at least that he would 
 not forsake it for them. 
 
 I CROSSED the river from the north to the 
 south, and put up at the only public house in 
 the place which is near the fort. 
 
 
 

 lies, 
 
 lett 
 
 H 
 
 itfc 
 
 iali' 
 hk 
 i k 
 
 leeii: 
 
 •# 
 
 ce,b 
 
 iictii 
 
 lew 
 
 ufei 
 
 kill' 
 
 Jffii 
 
 [ 169 ] 
 
 The fort of Niagara is built on the south 
 side, and within the American lines, on a 
 point of land at the foot of the river of that 
 name, where it disembogues itself into Lake 
 Ontario, and has the ^ole command of the 
 entry to that river. It is a pretty strong stuc- 
 cade fort with regular bastions, pallisades, pic- 
 kets, and dry ditch, sufficient against the at- 
 tack of any irregular army. On that side the 
 river there are no settlements nearer than the 
 Genesee country, which is distant about 100 
 miles. I crofsed the river to the north side to 
 see the filhing, and saw 1008 caught at one 
 hawl of a Seine net, mostly what is called here 
 Fijh, and a few Herrings ; the former 
 weighs at an average above two pounds, the lat- 
 ter has the exact fhape, scales, and colour of our 
 Herring on the coast of Scotland, but is con- 
 siderably larger and fatter in appearance, yet 
 has neither the taste nor flavour of our’s, and is 
 deemed inferior in quality to the White fifli. 
 I saw several other kinds caught here, par- 
 ticularly the Sturgeon, which is a bad 
 uselefs sort of fifh, excepting for isingiafs, 
 of which it is said a deal might be made 
 here ; many of them weigh from thirty to 
 forty pounds each. It may be thought 
 somewhat worthy of remark, that they eat no- 
 thing, and subsist wholly by suction, and have 
 not a bone but in the head. In place of a 
 back-bone, in common with other flfli, they 
 
[ 170 ] 
 
 have only a large sinew full of gristle, of 
 which the best isinglafs may be made 
 and yet this is a strong active fifti, and often 
 jumps high out of the w^ater. They are so 
 numerous in Hudsoh’s river in the State of 
 New York, that they are called in derision, 
 Albany beef. The fifliing here continues from 
 the middle of October to the middle of May, 
 and I have been told that 6000 have been 
 caught in a day. This is of great benefit to 
 the troops and inhabitants, who have stated 
 days in the week to fifh, during the season. 
 
 Opposite* the fort of Niagara, on a large 
 flat point, on the Canadian side of the river, 
 is a town lined out, and lots given grain to 
 such as will undertake to build on it, agree* 
 ably to a plan laid down by government, 
 which to me seems to be a good one ; half 
 an acre is allotted for the stance of each 
 house and garden, and eight acres at a dis- 
 tance, for inclosures, besides a large common- 
 ty reserved for the use of the town. Several 
 people have taken lots here already ; and no 
 doubt as the country advances in population, 
 so will the town in building. In the event 
 of the fort on the opposite side being given 
 up, it is said there is one to be erected on 
 this side, and the ground is already marked 
 out for that purpose. 
 
 On the opposite side of the lake, t a lace 
 called Torento, fifteen miles acrofs from Nla- 
 
ttl, ly 
 tlll^ 
 
 Jtk 
 
 lurii, 
 Nia 
 II ii 
 itej 
 U'! 
 
 ilf; 
 
 !a[K 
 
 icE 
 
 [lit i'i' 
 
 -, Is: 
 
 
 ii 
 
 [ 171 1 
 
 „ra is a ane bay and safe anchorage, where 
 fame people suppose the seat of the new gc^ 
 vernor will be erected, 
 
 about the head of the lake, westward to N a 
 
 gara, is all settled, and m some ^ 
 
 ® /- • j ’T'ViP 1*111(1 low « — tllC soil 3- 
 
 concefeions deep. The lana 10 , 
 
 deep sandy clay upon the coast hat far 
 
 back, clay and loam mixed, '"“h a fewjch- 
 
 es of rich black mold a-top, owing 
 
 ‘cl of different kinds, interspersed with wild 
 :trwalnut, chesnut, hickory, mapple or 
 
 sugar tree, aih, pine, a few “ j. ' 
 
 ety of others. The point on which the for 
 of Niagara is built is between twenty and 
 Irty feet deep solid earth and cl.ay mixed 
 which is easily seen and ascertained from the 
 per..endicular banus of th river and lake 
 
 adjoining to the fort, and for ^ 
 
 Jv along the coast on both sides of the ri 
 veJ No wonder then that such an amazing 
 
 deepnefs ofioilawhenafsisted by the power- 
 
 IT mys of a clear and unclouded sun m xati- 
 uideTs"^ ihould bring to maturity every 
 retmble common to temperate climates 
 sown or planted f: erein which is really t i 
 “se not only here, but m general all 
 
 this extensive tract of the country 
 
 Whext is rai 1) left here abow a day on 
 the gronna after reaping, and ofieii cariitd 
 

 home to the bam on the very day it ; 
 the ground is no sooner cleared of l! *■ 
 than tt may be, and often is immediaM 7°'’’ 
 ed down and sown with another and 
 alternately without using any sort 
 The richnefs of the soil and X" y ofT"'' 
 
 <Heeriver.“^at:in:ec:unf■''^-^ 
 
 reckoned 1400 miles. My funh“^i!' 
 ttky 
 
 na and fall hfonh Caroli. 
 
 or Charlestown in Sou h r 
 bark for Britain. Burherem 
 
 ineLion h ^ ^°'''^°^’^beingtoIdo% 
 
 , e sent me notice that I would not 
 
 bm mX/ “ "> 
 
 see Derr ’ u” *“ * *‘'hed to 
 
 that i m'’ S'™ but 
 
 hearing thriT" 
 
 vel 3nn -T ’ ^ tt too much to tra- 
 
 tht-'and”!. Detroit is from 
 
 couise 1 “ 'be same 
 
 for hi Tat J 
 
 «he of seeing one settlement. I 
 
!k *73 ] 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 "ijiij thought of continuing here all winter, and 
 %. how soon the spring fhould open to go by 
 the Genesee country, and from thence to 
 Jstnj, proceed by the Monongohela river to Fort 
 % Pitt, and if that ftiould be found too hazar- 
 dous, to go from the Genesee by the Susque- 
 Uijj hana river through Pensylvania to Philadel- 
 amj^ phia, from whence there is a sort of post 
 k,l4l road on which I could ride to Fort Pitt. I 
 te soon found that there was no way of going 
 tof from Detroit to Fort Pitt, or to any part of 
 IB, , the States, but through the middle of the seat 
 jjj, of war, where no white man or unknown 
 ipfe Indian dared venture. Some time after this 
 good friend Captain Brant was kind enough 
 ik. me an offer of some of his people, 
 
 acquainted with the way, to conduct me 
 
 roia would be attended 
 
 fatigue, and too great a rifk, improper 
 
 eii® take, on account of total ignorance 
 
 !tl ' walking on snow fhoes, for above 300 miles 
 ' of a wildernefs, through the fkirts of the seat 
 ! ^ar, where I and my party might be 
 ® knocked on the head while asleep the like 
 had often happened before; our track 
 P would discover us, and the course we must 
 Kl 3 take would be suspicious. These and many 
 liiii. such reasons against this expedition occur- 
 red ; so that I had nothing now for it but to 
 fc content myself m this place until the spring 
 a: fhould open, and then pursue the course al- 
 
[ 174 1 
 
 ready mentioned ; and sure enough I coul d 
 not have pafsed my time in a place more 
 agreeable. 
 
 I HAD hardly put up at the public house 
 here, as already observed, when Captain Colin 
 M‘Nab, and Captain Campbell of the twentv- 
 sixth regiment, though unacquainted with 
 either, came to call on me, and invited me to 
 their respective houses, with whom, and their 
 genteel families, I had the honour of being 
 on an intimate footing during my stay at 
 Niagara. Some Ihort time thereafter Mr Ro- 
 bert Hamilton, a gentleman of the first rank 
 and property in this neighbourhood, and now 
 one of the governor’s council, came also to 
 wait on me, and invite me to his house,— an 
 honour I readily embraced. He and Mrs Ha- 
 milton were so very obliging, as to go along 
 with me in their own slea, to see the Grand 
 Falls of Niagara. Mr Hamilton gave me the 
 following statement of the Falls, made a year 
 or two since by the geographers of the Foe- 
 deral States, which I suppose to be exact, 
 and now give to the public. 
 
 Measurement of the Falls of NiagarUy 
 
 The perpendicular height of the rapids a- 
 bove the Great Falls, with the height ofthe 
 perpendicular Fall, is as follows, taken by the 
 geographer of the United States afsistunts. 
 
[ 175 ] 
 
 Feet Inches 
 
 Perpendicular height of the rapids 
 above the Great Falls, ‘"57 
 
 Distance of the beginning of the 
 rapids above the pitch, is, on the 
 island side, 148 paces. 
 
 Perpendicular height of the Great 
 
 Fails is by true measurement, - 149 9 
 
 Total, 207 8 
 
 Projection of the extreme part of 
 
 the table rock is, ------ 50 4 
 
 Measured 8th December 1789. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION of these tremendous Falls 
 has been so often attempted by preceding 
 travellers, without giving the least idea ade- 
 quate to the grandeur of the scene, that, lest 
 I split on the same rock, I will not efsay it 
 here ; I ihall therefore only remark, that there 
 is an island of a mile or two long, and a- 
 bout a quarter broad, which divides the 
 stream about two-thirds over. This island 
 is clad with poor spruce pine, and so overrun 
 with Rattlesnakes, that it was dangerous for 
 any person to walk through it, until a par- 
 cel of Swine were put on it, which nearly 
 rooted them out. Flogs are so fond of Snakes, 
 that if once they get a hold, Ihould they be so 
 hard bitten by a strong Rattlesnake as to make 
 them squeel, which sometimes happens, yet 
 
C '76 ] 
 
 they hold fast until the Snake is devoured 
 It is said a Hog sometimes swells when se- 
 verely bitten by a Rattlesnake, but that a cre- 
 vice bursts open between the hoofs, through 
 which the venom is discharged, the swelling 
 subsides, and the Hog soon becomes as well 
 as formerly. 
 
 In this neighbourhood live a set of religi- 
 onists called Moravians, with long beards, ori- 
 ginally from Germany ; they emigrated to 
 this place from Pensylvania, They are a ve- 
 ry innocent, inoffensive, and industrious 
 people, that have many peculiarities in their 
 manner of worfhip and mode of living, 
 though of the Lutheran persuasion. In one 
 settlement in that province they have all 
 sorts of trades and manufactures, and have 
 every thing in common. There is a large 
 house or hall for the young women, apart, 
 in which they work, and another for the 
 young men in which they do the same. The 
 sexes are never allowed to see one another. 
 When a young man signifies a desire to mar- 
 ry, he and the first girl on the list are put in- 
 to a private room together, and continue in 
 it for an hour. If he agrees to marry her af- 
 ter this meeting, good and well ; if not, he will 
 not get another, and fhe is put the last on 
 the list,; so that all before her must go off 
 before fhe gets any other offer. And though 
 the parties had never seen one another be- 
 

 kit 
 
 thtj- 
 ia. ' 
 e, 1 
 pect 
 
 C 177 3 
 
 fore this meetings which is rarely otherwise) 
 they have no alternative, and must make up 
 their minds and acquaintances in that fhort 
 intercourse. ,If the parties are satisfied, and 
 they marry, a house is built for them in 
 the village where they live, and carry on bu- 
 sinefs for the good of the community at 
 large. There are as yet not above a score 
 of them in this neighbourhood, but many 
 more are expected 5 I have heard several 
 people say that they would like thein well as 
 neighbours, and the Quakers are particularly 
 fond of them on account of their tnild and 
 inoffensive dispositions, 
 
From Niagara to the Grand River and bad 
 
 again. 
 
 On the 9th of February Isetoutwitha 
 party of gentlemen in two sleas, on an ex- 
 cursion to the Grand River. Put up the 
 first night at Squire M‘Nab’s, and next day 
 dined at the house of one Henry, who had 
 only been here for six years-, and though 
 he had no subject to begin with, by great 
 attention and industry has acquired a consi- 
 derable property, and now afsociates with the 
 first people in the district. He has cleared se- 
 venty-five acres of land of the first quality, 
 and has stock and cattle in proportion. Put 
 up at night in the house of one Smith, who 
 came from the colonies two years ago, from 
 whence he brought a good stock of cattle, 
 which all perifhed the following winter for 
 want of provender, the general scarcity thatpre- 
 vailed all over America that yepr having affect- 
 ed this quarter, though one of the most fertile 
 in it* He told me that he regretted the lofs 
 of his team of Oxen, and twm fine breeding 
 Mares, more than all the rest of his stock; 
 and said, that poor as he was, he hoped to 
 

 
 or;. 
 
 tws 
 
 Ri\( 
 
 m 
 
 foB 
 iil B 
 
 ict. 1: 
 dofa: 
 
 eiijiK 
 
 seofs: 
 
 netilis^ 
 
 latrifii' 
 
 hen? 
 
 id tit 
 trfii® 
 
 |£»'i 
 
 [ 179 ] 
 
 become richer and happier on his own pro- 
 perty, than ever he was or could be on that 
 of another. When he resided in the colo- 
 nies he pofsefsed 200 acres, twenty-five of 
 which only were cleared, at L. 1 1 rent, and 
 L.3 taxes, and could only procure a lease of 
 two years endurance, which obliged him to 
 remove every third year; this, joined with the 
 heavy rent and taxation, induced him to look 
 out for lands where he knew he would meet 
 with no such incumbrances. The lands as 
 we came along, seemed extremely good, hea- 
 vy timbered, consisting of oak, walnut, ches- 
 nut, buttnut, hickory, mapple or sugar wood, 
 afh, pine, and a variety of others, all lofty of 
 their kind, particularly in that space which 
 lies between the long stretch of precipices, 
 called the Mountain, and the Side of the Lake. 
 This space is from one to four miles broad, 
 and from fifty to sixty miles long, from 
 Niagara to Lake Geneva ; it is in general a 
 deep clay soil, with black and fat mold of 
 some inches on the top. The lands on the 
 top of the stretch of precipices called the 
 Mountain, is of a much lighter soil, intermixed 
 with sand, thinly timbered, and all of oak, 
 but produces heartier wheat than the lands 
 below, though not in such quantities. I re- 
 \marked that the top of the Mountain would 
 make good pasture for cattle in its present 
 
state, particularly for Sheep, could they be 
 preserved from the Wolves. The Foxes here 
 are of various colours, black, red, and grey • 
 I have seen Ikins of each kind. They are 
 caught in traps, and I have been told of one 
 man who since last fall had taken about six- 
 ty in that manner. This Mountain begins 
 in the Genesee country, and stretches along 
 until it crofses the river Niagara at the 
 Grand Falls from thence in a serpentine 
 form to the head of the small lake, called by 
 the Indians, Ouilqueton, and known to the 
 white people by that of Geneva, and from 
 thence to the Bay of Torento, opposite to the 
 Fort of Niagara, on the north side of Lake 
 Ontario, a stretch of between two and three 
 hundred miles long. Though it is called the 
 Mountain it is no more than a ridge of ris- 
 ing ground about 300 feet higher than 
 the flat lands below it. The lands on the 
 Mountain appear to me to be the fittest 1 
 have as yet seen for a poor man to begin up- 
 on, as it requires scarce any clearing, there 
 being no more wood upon it than a suffici- 
 ency for rails, inclosures, and the necefsary 
 purposes of farming ; so that if he chooses he 
 may plough down the land the moment he ac- 
 quires pofsefsion of it. Clearing land of hea- 
 vy timber is both expensiye and tedious ; but 
 if one has sufficient stock tind patience to go 
 
[ i8i ] 
 
 through with it, he may be afsured of betng 
 amply repaid in the end. ^ 
 
 On the loth we set out early from Smith s 
 house, and pafsed through many fine farms 
 and rich land, keeping all along close by the 
 foot of the Mountain ; the timber the same 
 as the day before, extremely lofty and of e- 
 qual variety. A little before we came to the 
 head of the Grand Lake, we met a man with 
 a slea and team of Oxen. I alked him if he 
 had come from the head of the Lake ; he an- 
 swered in a twang peculiar to the New Eng- 
 landers, “ I viow niew you may depen I’s just 
 a-comin ‘ And what distance may it be from 
 hence ?’ said I ; “ I viow niew I guefs I do’no,-- 
 I guefs niew I do’no,-I swear niew I guefs it 
 is three miles he swore, vowed, and guef- 
 sed alternatelyi and was never like to come 
 to the point, though he had but that instant 
 come from it. Mr M‘Nab damned him for 
 an old Yanky rascal, that never gave a direct 
 answer in his lifetime, and was sure he had 
 only come from New England but that or 
 the preceding year at farthest. They rarely 
 answer in any other way. 
 
 • We proceeded on our journey, and in about 
 half an hour we fell down on the Grand Lake, 
 and drove along a fine beach until we came 
 to the neck' of land which separates the two 
 lakes, the Grand Ontario from the Geneva. 
 
r ] 
 
 This neck is a fine dry beach, five miles W 
 and from two to three hundred y ards broad - 
 on this neck there grows very long grafj* 
 \vhich the neighbouring inhabitants cut down 
 foi hay, and it is extremely useful to them 
 We now entered upon the Lake Geneva, 
 and drove along it on the ice. This lake 
 is a fine small Iheet of water, of a trian- 
 gular form, six miles one way and five the o- 
 ther. The snow was about ten inches deep 
 on the ice. Here I saw several Indians of 
 the Mefsefsagoe nation fifhing for Pickerel 
 Malkanongy, Pike, and other kinds of fift, 
 inhabitants of, and peculiar to this and other 
 Canadian -waters. The Mefsefsagoe nation of 
 Indians rarely cultivate any land, and whol- 
 ly subsist by fifliing and hunting, at which 
 they are more expert than their neighbours, 
 with whom they frequently, as well as with 
 the white inhabitants, barter fifli and veni- 
 son for other provisions. How soon I saw 
 them I requested of Mr M‘Nab, in whose ska 
 I was, to drive towards them. Their manner 
 of fifhing appeared to me somewhat curious. 
 The Indian provides himself with a small 
 spear, of two prongs each prong about six in- 
 ches long, with a fhaft of light wood, about 
 ten feet long. A little false or artificial filh 
 made of wood, so exactly formed and colour- 
 ed, that it is impofsible to conceive it to be 
 
asiiy other thing than a real filh, without hand- 
 ling it ; when in the water the deception is 
 not to be discovered. A little lead is put 
 into the body of this image to make it sink ; 
 a hole is made in the ice, into which the 
 fiflierman drops the image, suspended by a 
 small piece of twine, of about a fathom or 
 two long, so exactly fitted in the middle as 
 to make it balance ; he then lays himself 
 flat on his face at the side of the hole, which, 
 as well as himself, he covers with his blanket 
 so close that no light can get in from above ; 
 holding the twine in one hand and his spear 
 in the other he tugs and works the thread to 
 make his little fiih play, as if alive in the wa- 
 ter, which being observed by a ravenous fifh, 
 he makes at it to snap it up, and the others who 
 are not so, come from curiosity to see what 
 it is that makes this little fifli so sportive 
 and playful, and continue for some time 
 swimming about, which gives a fair oppor- 
 tunity to the Indian, who is ever watchful, to 
 strike them with his spear. In this way 
 they catch a great many fifh of different kinds. 
 I saw one man with about a score lying by 
 the side of his hole, of whom we bought or 
 bartered a few of the largest kind for a lo.af 
 of bread ; they seemed to weigh from two 
 to eight pounds each, and were as delicious in 
 taste and flavour as any I have met with. I 
 
[ i84 ] 
 
 looked through one of these holes, and when 
 closely covered with the blanket could easily 
 perceive the bottom, where I supposed it to 
 be twenty feet deep. 
 
 On the borders of Lake Ontario, and I 
 suppose on all the other great lakes in Canada, 
 a great deal of different kinds of iiih are 
 caught in frelhets in the spring of the year, 
 which the frost in winter confine to the bo- 
 dy of the lake, and from which they seem 
 anxious to be relieved : how soon the small 
 brooks are open from ice for their reception, 
 they pufh out in such numbers that one 
 would be apt to suppose, that none of certain 
 kinds stay behind, the one striving to get 
 a-head of the other. The inhabitants in the 
 neighbourhood are provided with small nets, 
 such as we call in Scotland or /me nets, with 
 three or four hoops in the body of each to keep 
 them open ; the small end, which is close, 
 is fixed to a stake uppermost in the middle of 
 the stream, the wider end, stretched down in 
 the water, is open with a wing extended from 
 each side to the opposite banks, which pre- 
 vents the fifli from pafsing any way but 
 through the hoops and body of the net; a 
 contrivance is made within that allows the 
 fifii to pafs easily through to the upper end, 
 out of which they cannot find their way 
 back. The nets are generally set at night» 
 
t >8s ] 
 
 I'tOlir; 
 
 t kmi: 
 “spni'i 
 coniut; 
 ni utiii 
 Wst 
 
 \ oiil 
 
 :onec 
 'kiiiM 
 rideiiE 
 ihmi 
 
 19 
 9 
 
 lostiir 
 
 i, St® 
 iriiijtES 
 
 IsiiiJ* 
 
 lilt till' 
 
 ;nlff 
 
 and raised in the morning often full of fifh. 
 I am of opinion that nets of the same con- 
 struction, but on a larger scale, might be used 
 to advantage in Scotland for catching Salmon 
 on small rivers. 
 
 How soon the Indian got the loaf of bread, 
 as before mentioned, he sliced the greatest 
 part of it down with his knife, and fhared it 
 with his neighbours. Here for the first time, 
 I tried on snow fhoes, and found I could walk 
 on them with great ease, so much so that I 
 am determined to have them, if ever I live 
 in a country subject to deep snow. After sa- 
 tisfying myself with every thing worth re- 
 marking of this Indian method of fifliing, we 
 mounted our sleas and drove on to the house 
 of a Mr Baisley, who keeps a fliop at the head 
 of the Lake Geneva, and trades much with 
 the Indians in peltry. He fliowed me a 
 great many Ikins of different kinds, among 
 the rest that of a black Fox whose fur was 
 extremely soft and beautiful, and of high va- 
 lue, supposed to be worth five guineas. The 
 Foxes in Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New 
 Brunswick, are chiefly red, few black or grey 
 to be found among them ; but in this part of 
 the country they are of all these colours. I 
 have seen some speckled red and grey. The 
 real black is very rare. We staid that night 
 with Mr Baisley who entertained us with 
 
 A A 
 
the highest hospitality. Here I was told of a 
 phenomenon that surprises every body 
 in that neighbourhood supposed to be a 
 vulcano, which makes at certain times a loud 
 report, resembling that of a great gun at a 
 distance. 
 
 The Indians only know the spot in which 
 it is, and from a foolifh notion or tradition 
 among them will not discover it ; they sup- 
 pose it is occasioned by the great spirit, and 
 how soon the white people find it out, that they 
 are to be extirpated the land, if not from the 
 face of the earth, and an end put to their race. 
 As this opinion prevails among them, no 
 inducement will make them discover it. Dr 
 Kerr of the Indian department, told me he 
 meant to search for it next summer, and flat- 
 tered himself he would find it out. What- 
 ever is the cause of this singular phenome- 
 non, it must be very deep in the bowels 
 of the earth, as no smoke ifsues from it, or 
 any crevice or opening to be seen about 
 it. 
 
 February ii. We set out from Mr Bais- 
 ley’s. For several miles on the way towards the 
 Grand River, the lands are so open as to have 
 scarce a sufficiency of wood for inclosures 
 and the necefsary purposes of farming ; but 
 towards the mountain, the wood becomes 
 thick and lofty, as is common in this coun- 
 
cettjiji 
 
 ikti 
 
 liscDr;, 
 
 lytk;: 
 
 :k 
 
 m 
 ks 1 
 Etk 
 
 IjffllE. 
 
 nesk! 
 
 Id did.’ 
 
 ft fS 
 itkw' 
 reiof 
 Fooik 
 
 iCiOl® 
 
 die®’- 
 
 0'^ 
 
 I 187 ] 
 
 try, for several miles along the mountain.' 
 The wood again thinned like that which we 
 entered in the morning. I however obser- 
 ved by the girding of the trees in several 
 parts as we went along, that the land was 
 granted away, though few settlements were 
 to be seen, and as we had plenty of provisi- 
 ons along with us, we stopped and dined at a 
 mill, the water of which was supplied from a 
 fountain in the hill, its source but a Ihort 
 space from thence. This mill was built at the 
 foot of a small precipice, over which the wa- 
 ter poured on the head of the wheel, which was 
 greatly admired by my fellow travellers, who 
 protested it to be one of the finest contri- 
 vances they had ever seen, and worth going 
 100 miles to see it, requested I fhould take 
 particular notice of it in my journal, but I told 
 them it was not new to me, though so to them, 
 as scarce a mill in my country but was served 
 with water in the same way. Here we saw 
 a beautiful young woman seemingly of ex- 
 quisite lhape and form, going on crutches, 
 occasioned by rheumatic pains in her haunch- 
 es. After refrefhing ourselves and horses we 
 proceeded on our journey through the 
 mountain. The snow was deep and no beaten 
 tract ; our carriages dragged heavily on. To- 
 v/ards evening we fell down on a gentleman’s 
 farm, where we stopped to warm ourselves, 
 
E i88 ] 
 
 and bait our Horses. The weather bein. 
 windy, accompanied with cold ihowers of 
 snow, we no sooner entered the house and 
 standing by the fire side, than our travelling 
 companion, a little French captain looked un 
 and swore it was the finest place for smoked 
 meat he had ever seen in all his life, and 
 that he was sure that piece which he’now 
 held in his hand must eat very well, at the 
 
 same time he handled several pieces which 
 
 hung near it. Our honest landlord instantly 
 took the hint, and told us if we would have 
 a little patience he would order venison 
 stakes, (of which he and every body in that 
 neighbourhood had plenty). We apologized 
 for what our friend said, to no purpose, the 
 hint was too broad to be parried. The stakes 
 came, on which we feasted most sumptuously, 
 and dined for the second time that day. No 
 sooner our repast was over than we bade 
 adieu to the family, mounted our sleas, and 
 drove on to the Indian vihage, alighted about 
 nightfall at the house of the famous Indian 
 cheif and warrior, Captain Joseph Brant. 
 This renowned warrior is not of any royal 
 or conspicuous progenitors, but by his abili- 
 ^ in War, and political conduct in peace, 
 as raised himself to the highest dignity of his 
 nation, and his alliance and friendship is now 
 courted by sovereign and foreign states. Of 
 
1 
 
 itdili there are recent instances, as he has had 
 
 within the last three weeks several private 
 letters and public dispatches from Congrefs, 
 soliciting his attendance at Philadelphia on , 
 tsijntjj matters of high importance ; but after con- 
 suiting Colonel Gordon, commandant of the 
 pkc* Britifti troops in this place, and all Upper Ca- 
 eat t nada, he excused himself and declined to ac- 
 sevti invitation. He just now enjoys a 
 
 lestt pension and captain’s half pay, from the 
 ^ jj Britilh government, and seems to keep quite 
 
 woi staunch by it ; but a person of his great po- 
 aietei' ^^'•^‘'al talents ought to be cautiously looked 
 
 bears no good will to the American States, 
 and seems to be much rejoiced at the drub- 
 bing their troops got from the Indians on 
 diia November, when, by the In- 
 
 dian account, 1300 of them 'were killed on 
 ow t the spot, but by the American, only 800, in- 
 iiKiiL eluding the wounded ; the former is nearest 
 the truth, and gains most credit here. By 
 tkte comparing the numbers brought to the field, 
 mjK with those that remained after the action, 
 not oil which is the surest w^ay to judge, their 
 i,tak lofs must have exceeded 1600; I saw a rnus- 
 :oinlj(t; Icr roll and returns of some of the compa- 
 iesid^ ^ics, and examined if there were any Scotch 
 fiieii J^mes among them, and could find none but 
 (jonii Campbell, which it would appear by 
 
 / 
 

 [ 190 ] 
 
 their Orderly Book was among those that 
 deserted, of whom there were a great many. 
 My reason for examining this so particularly 
 was, that I was informed the American army 
 were mostly made up of Scotch and Irilh 
 emigrants, to whom Congrefs promised free 
 lands at the close of the Indian war, in the 
 event they would engage in it. Captain 
 Green of the twenty-sixth regiment, who 
 held the Orderly Book, made the same re- 
 mark in regard to names, so that l am hap- 
 py that report was ill founded. 
 
 Captain Brant who is well acquainted 
 with European manners, received us with 
 much politenefs and hospitality. Here 
 we found two young married ladies, with 
 their hufbands, on a visit to the family, both 
 of them very fair complexioned and well 
 looking women. But when Mrs Brant ap- 
 peared superbly drefsed in the Indian fafliion, 
 the elegance of her person, grandeur of her 
 looks and deportment, her large mild black 
 eyes, symmetry and harmony of her expref- 
 sive features, though much darker in the 
 complexion, so far surpafsed them, as not to 
 admit of the smallest comparison between 
 the Indian and the fair European ladies; I 
 could not in her presence so much as look at 
 them without marking the difference. Her 
 < blanket was made up of silk, and the finest 
 
Vis 
 
 isa)|l; 
 
 liiiaij 
 
 S«;i; 
 
 e ij: 
 4 ; 
 mi 
 
 E(k 
 
 is:: 
 
 iuii. 
 
 ofc 
 
 6XI5!ii 
 
 ijl 
 
 kji: 
 
 it 
 
 tls 
 
 ip® 
 
 Englifh cloth, bordered with a narrow stripe 
 of embroidered lace, her sort of jacket and 
 scanty petticoat of the same stuff, which came 
 down only to her knees ; her gaiters or 
 leggans of the finest scarlet, fitted close as a 
 stocking, which fhowed to advantage her stout 
 but remarkably well formed limbs ; her mo- 
 gazines [Indian fhoes] ornamented with silk 
 ribbons and beads. Her person about five 
 feet nine or ten inches high, as streight and 
 proportionable as can be, but inclined to bfe 
 jolly or lusty. She understands, but does 
 not speak Englifli. I have often addrefsed 
 her in that language, but flie always answered 
 in the Indian tongue 
 
 They have a fine family of children ; I re- 
 marked of one fine looking boy, about eight 
 years old, that he was very like his mother ; his 
 father said he was so, and that he was glad 
 of it ; that he was a good scholar and a good 
 hunter ; that he had already fhot several Phea- 
 sants and other birds ; that he and two other 
 boys of the same age had been lately in the 
 woods with their guns, that they supposed they 
 had found the track of a Deer, which they fol- 
 lowed too far, got wet and turned cold ; that, 
 however, yourig as they were, they put up a fire 
 and warmed themselves, and returned home ; 
 that before they arrived their toes were frost 
 bitten, of which he was not then quite re- 
 
[ 192 ] 
 
 covered. I mention this circumstance to 
 fhow how early the young Indians are bred 
 to the chace. Another instance of their 
 being early bred to war is, that I myself saw 
 a i-LfHed barrelled gun taken by an Indian 
 boy from an American whom he fhot dead 
 in the action of the 4th of November last 
 and allowed to keep on account of his gab 
 lant behaviour. Tea was. on the table when 
 we came in, served up in the handsomest 
 China plate and every other furniture in pro- 
 portion. After tea was over, we were enter- 
 tained with the music of an elegant hand or- 
 gan, on which a young Indian gentleman 
 and Mr Clinch played alternately. Supper 
 was served up in the same genteel stile Our 
 beverage, rum, brandy. Port and Madeira 
 wines. Captain Brant made several apologies 
 for his not being able to sit up with us so 
 long as he wilhed, being a little out of order, 
 and we being fatigued after our journey went 
 timeously to rest; our beds, flieets, and Englilh 
 blankets, equally fine and comfortable. 
 
 Next day being Sunday', we the visitors went 
 to church. The service was given out by an 
 Indian in the absence of the minister, who was 
 indisposed, and I never saw more decorum 
 or attention paid in any church in all my life. 
 The Indian squaws sung most charminglyt 
 with a musical voice I think peculiar to 
 
themselves. After sermon I went to tlie 
 school house to converse with the master, 
 an old Yanky. As it was Sunday, the scholars 
 were not convened, so that I had not the 
 pleasure of seeing them. He teaches Englifli 
 and arithmetic only. He told me he had six- 
 ty-six on his list, some of whom had excel- 
 lent capacities for learning, and read distinct- 
 ly and fluently. After this I visited sevenal 
 houses in the village, and found the inhabi- 
 tants had abundance of the necefsaries of 
 life to supply their wants, and are better and 
 more comfortably lodged than the generali- 
 ty of the poor farmers in my country. Few 
 of the houses I saw but had two apartments, 
 deal floors, and glafs windows. They have a 
 deal of crop, and excellent cattle, inferior to 
 none I have seen in the province. The old 
 people attend farming, while the young men 
 range the woods for different sorts of game, 
 and supply the family with venison, of which 
 they generally have more than suffices ; the 
 overplus they sell to the white inhabitants 
 in the neighbourhood. I have seen many 
 loads of venison come in to the market of 
 Niagara, and it is rare to find in the season 
 a house without some. Here I fell in with 
 Mr Aaron Hill, a young Indian gentjeman, of 
 very agreeable looks and mild manners ; he 
 is eldest son of the renowned chief. Captain 
 
I 194 ] 
 
 David, whom every one that knew him al- 
 lowed to be the handsomest and most agree- 
 able Indian they had ever seen; he died 
 about two years ago, and, what would be 
 deemed very hard by many, the son does 
 
 not -succeed to the honours and titles of the 
 
 family, but they go in the female line to his- 
 aunt’s son. Captain Brant did all he could 
 to get the son, who seems worthy of his gal- 
 lant and amiable father, to enjoy the titles 
 but it would not do; the ancient laws' 
 customs, and manners of the nation could 
 not be departed from. This young Indian 
 was the best scholar at the university of 
 Cambridge, in New England, when he was 
 there. He writes a remarkably fine hand, 
 both in the Roman characters and Ger- 
 man text, a specimen of which he gave 
 me, and I now have in ray custody. I 
 remarked of the Indians in this part of 
 the Continent, that they never speak in a 
 hasty or rdpid manner,^ but in a soft, mu- 
 sical, and harmonious Voice. I am charmed 
 with the mildnefs of their manners when 
 friendly, but when enemies their ferocity has 
 no bounds. Dinner was just going on the 
 table in the same elegant stile as the prece- 
 ding night, when I returned to Captain 
 Brant’s house, the servants drefsed in their 
 best apparel. Two slaves attended the table, 
 
Jniiij, scarlet, the other in coloured 
 
 ^ clothes, with silver buckles in their fhoes, and 
 4;. every other part of their appa^ 
 
 proportion. We drank pretty free- 
 4^ Port and Madeira wines, as 
 
 4 observed ; but were not prefsed to 
 
 itjiji rnore than we chose. Our first toasts were, 
 King, (^leen. Prince of Wales, and all th^ 
 royal family of England ; and next, to the 
 brave fellows who drubbed the Yankies on 
 the 4th of last November ; all given by the 
 ’ ^ landlord in regular progrefsion. 
 
 « After dinner Captain Brant, that he might 
 not be wanting in doing me the honours 
 I of his nation, directed all the young warriors 
 btB to afsemble in a certain large house, to Ihow 
 untts me the war dance, to which we all adjourned 
 ofi^ about nightfall. Such as were at home of 
 the Indians appeared superbly drefsed in 
 their most Ihowy apparel, glittering with sil~ 
 neffi* the variety, lhapes, and forms, of 
 
 Kiji! their fancies, which made a dazzling appear^ 
 e, Jr ^tice j the pipe of peace with long white fea- 
 thers, and that of w^r with red feathers, 
 tleirfe ^tjually long, were exhibited in their first 
 5t|i2 dance, with fhouts and war hoops re- 
 sounding to the Ikies. The chief himself 
 held the drum, beat time, and often joined 
 m the song, with a certain cadence to which 
 they kept time. The variety of forms into 
 
I 19^ J 
 
 which they put their bodies, and agility with 
 which they changed from one strange posture 
 to another, was really curious to an European 
 eye not accustomed to such a sight. Several 
 warlike dances were performed, which the 
 chief was at particular pains to explain to 
 me ; but still I could not understand or see 
 any affinity, excepting in the eagle attack, 
 which indeed had some resemblance. After 
 the war dances were over, which took up 
 about two hours, as the whole exhibition 
 was performed in honour of me, being the 
 only stranger, who they v/ere told by my fel- 
 low travellers meant to publifli my travels on 
 my return home, which they judged of by the 
 notes I took of every thing I saw, though 
 in reality I had no such thing then in view, 
 I was desired by Mr Clinch to make a 
 speech, and thank them for their handsome 
 performances. As this could not be declined 
 without giving offence, I was obliged to get 
 up, and told them that I would addrefs them 
 in the Indian language of my country, and 
 said in Gaelic, “ That I had fought in many 
 parts of Europe, killed many men, and be- 
 “ ing now' in America, I did not doubt but I 
 “ would fight with them yet, particularly if 
 the Yankies attacked us.” My worthy 
 friend Captain M‘Nab explained in Englifh 
 jnjy speech, as did Captain Clinch in the la-; 
 
[ 197 3 
 
 dlan tongue ; at which they laughed very 
 heartily. 
 
 snjil No sooner the war dances were over, than 
 they began their own native and civil ones, 
 initli in which Captain Brant and I joined; he 
 ffl?; placed me between two handsome young 
 ifflfe squaws, and himself between other two; m 
 illsi this way we continued for two hours more, 
 [Cite- without coming off the floor, dancing and 
 m, singing. He himself sang to keep time all 
 
 le along, which all the rest followed in the same 
 
 cadence. 
 
 ^ The serpentine dance is admirably curious : 
 
 jjI one takes the lead representing the head, and 
 1 u the others follow, one after another, joined 
 r 'l hand in hand, and before the close of the 
 dance we were put in all the folds and forms 
 a Serpent can be in. After this, and every 
 * other dance peculiar to their nation was over, 
 
 ” we began to Scotch reels, and I was much sur- 
 
 “^'*1 prised to see how neatly they danced them. 
 
 ' Their persons are perfectly formed for such 
 exercise. The men, from the severity of 
 “ their hunting excursions, are rather thin, but 
 tall, streight, and well proportioned, extremely 
 iurf agile and supple. The women much fairer 
 in the complexion, plump, and inclined to 
 
 id' 
 
 be lusty. 
 
 Here w'e continued until near day-light. I 
 ^old Captain Brant that in my country at all 
 

 r 198 ] , 
 
 country weddings and frolics, it , 
 mary to kifs both before and after e 
 dance. He said i, was a strange ,1,;7 
 agteeable custom, but that it would never f 
 here; I suppose owing to the jealousy 
 
 men. I had brought two gall „s ' 
 
 entertam them, and he had order ” 
 bottles of Madeira wine from his „™ h„ 
 and would hardly allow the other geml,T’ 
 and myself to taste any other J 'T 
 my bemg in a manner under tie r 
 
 ofoften drtnkmg grog with 
 
 one young Indian were the only perl 
 
 sent ,n the least affected. As fL 
 
 could hardly get them to taste, howeve; 
 warm they might be with dancing. 
 
 H£N£V£r Captain Brant observed the 
 
 drahk hf'"" W 
 
 more ’ra W™ »» 
 
 said ite 7 ” '’“"S 
 
 aid he must turn oi*t of the company if he 
 
 dtd not take better care of wltatheLl!^^: 
 
 sed * ."'7'^’ ' remember I ever pat 
 
 eliy 
 
 • Z “"‘1 striking in 
 
 theZw’oA'he‘““ 
 
 wa. I , ^ people, in which 1 
 
 as aiso Ob, g 
 
 w om none of these things were 
 

 'i 
 
 r 199 1 
 
 iiew, looked on, and only engaged now and 
 ^ then in the reels. After pafsing the night in 
 this agreeable manner, and I being a good 
 deal fatigued with drinking and dancing, we 
 A; retired to rest. 
 
 Captain Brant fhowed me a brace of 
 double barrelled pistols, a curious gun, and a 
 'Kli silver hiked dagger, he had got in presents 
 ott; from noblemen and gentlemen in England, 
 when he was in that country on an embafsy 
 from his own and other Indian nations. 
 Each of the double barrelled pistols had but 
 koji one lock, the hammer of which was so broad 
 isj as to cover the two pans and two touch holes, 
 atuij, so that both {hots would go off at once; and 
 idjjj. when he had a mind to fire but one barrel at 
 5jjj. ■ a time, there was a slip of iron which by a 
 fitl-t covered one of the pans, so as 
 
 niHli! which was not covered would go 
 
 . off. 
 
 The gun, being once sufficiently charged, 
 would fire fifteen fliots in the space of half a 
 minute. The construction of this curious 
 piece was, as nearly as I can describe it, as fol- 
 ^ “If lows. There was a powder chamber, or ma- 
 gazine, adjoining to the lock, which would 
 hold fifteen charges, another cavity for as ma- 
 fltP ny balls, and a third for the priming, and by 
 ie«ii£ giving one twist round to a sort of handle on 
 itiij the left hand side, opposite the lock, the gun 
 

 [ 200 ] 
 
 would be loaded from these magazines, 
 primed, and cocked j so that the fifteen char- 
 ges could be fired one after another in the 
 space of half a minute, at the same time he 
 might fire but one or two fliots, lefs or more 
 of them as he chose. He said that there 
 was something of the work within wrong, so 
 that he could not get it to fire more than 
 eight fliots without stopping. He tried it at 
 a mark, and said it fhot very well. Of the 
 dagger, he said it was the most useful weapon 
 in action he knew ; that it was far better tLin 
 •a tomahawk ; that he was once obliged to 
 strike a man four or five times with a toma- 
 hawk before he killed him, owing to hurry, 
 and not striking him with a fair edge, where- 
 as he never mifsed a stroke with the dagger. 
 Others told me that they knew him to be not 
 over scrupulous or sparing on these occasions. 
 Another instance, he said, was, that he had 
 seen two Indians with spears or lances attack 
 a man, one on each side ; that just as they 
 pufhed to pierce him through the body, he 
 seized on the spears, one in each hand ; they 
 tugged and pulled to no purpose, until a 
 third person came and dispatched him. This 
 Could not be done to a dagger, of course it 
 was by odds the better weapon. 
 
 Mr Clinch, who is a young man of 
 liberal education, had served all last war m 
 
issi” 
 
 iikl, 
 
 itifflfe. 
 
 llR,j 
 
 it to; 
 
 t w 
 leit 
 iki 
 
 « 
 mti 
 I bn,: 
 
 'iibtb 
 
 :rolt‘ 
 
 If or: 
 ii E 
 
 pi::. 
 
 ;;tb 
 
 bitJii 
 10 pit 
 ipaicb- 
 
 '0 
 
 feajik' 
 
 if 
 
 Ttili 
 
 [ 301 ] 
 
 the Indian department, and was on many ex- 
 peditions along with Captain Brant ; they 
 put one another in mind of many strange 
 adventures, among others that of their ha- 
 ving once brought boys, and a number- of 
 women and girls, prisoners to Detroit, and so 
 served the whole settlement, which was much 
 in want of females. Their description of the 
 consequences gave me a lively idea of the 
 rape of the Sabine women by the first set- 
 tlers of Rome ; but the difference was great, 
 for here the former hufbands and lovers had 
 been killed. A taylor in this place told me 
 he was one of the boys captured on that ocr- 
 casion ; that his eldest brother and father had 
 been killed; the latter after he had been ta- 
 ken prisoner and brought a great part of the 
 way, had got fatigued and could not travel, 
 on which he was tomahawked by the In- 
 dians. 
 
 I CANNOT see how the necefsities of war 
 can warrant such barbarity to women and 
 children, independent of the cruelty fhown 
 to men and prisoners. Another story of 
 Captain Brant’s relating to hunting was, that 
 he. Captain Brant, and another, being on an 
 expedition with a large party to the south, 
 and nearly run out of provisions, and dread- 
 ing the consequences, had gone a-hunting 
 on horseback ; that they preferred small to 
 
 G c 
 
[ 202 ] 
 
 large game, as the small would be the exclu. 
 sive property of him who killed it, whereas 
 the great game must be equally divided 
 among the party. That they rode on through 
 the woods, and at last fell in with aW 
 
 flock 6f Turkies, and galloped after them V 
 
 hard as they could, until they obliged the 
 Turkies to take wing and get upon trees, when 
 the party alighted off their horses, and Ihot 
 seventeen fine Turkies, with which they re- 
 turned to camp. They all fliot with rises' 
 Lieutenant Turner, of the first regiment of 
 Continental troops, was the only officer taken 
 prisoner by the Indians in the action of the 
 4 th November 1791, who survived the 
 slaughter of his countrymen. He told me 
 that when he was prisoner among the Indi- 
 ans, he wms one day permitted to go along 
 with them to thewQodsonaflioqtingparty;that 
 how so6n they fell in with Turkies, the In- 
 dians pursued on foot as fast as they could 
 run, bawling and hallowing all the time to 
 frighten the birds, and when they had thus 
 got them upon trees, that they fbot many of 
 tnem. Seyeral other persons told me that 
 this was the surest way to get them. They 
 are so tame or stupid when they are in the 
 -trees, as to stand perhaps till the last of them 
 he killed ; whereas, on the ground, they are 
 fp qtjick-sighted and fleet, that in an instant 
 
tjlojtj 
 
 tViin 
 
 Ht), 
 
 leitki 
 
 H 
 
 raftl 
 
 enis;: 
 
 laikiia' 
 
 itllt 
 
 sfc;. 
 
 iiiji: 
 
 ifteis 
 
 nii^i 
 
 «» 
 
 IgtlE 
 
 EDtlll| 
 
 iltkJ 
 
 [ 203 1 
 
 they are out of sight. An old Turkey Cock 
 can outrun any man on the ground. Ano- 
 ther method practised, is that of watching 
 them on the ground until they get up to 
 roost in the trees in the evening, when 
 the sportsmen may flioot on until t e ast 
 
 in the flock be killed. 
 
 With Captain Brant I had a conversation 
 upon religion, introduced by him, indee , 
 and not by me. He said, that we were to d 
 every one that was not a Christian wou 
 go to hell ; if so, what would become of 
 the miserable souls of many Indians who 
 never heard of Christ? aiked, if I believed 
 so, and what I thought of it ? 1 told him 
 very frankly, that if all the saints and 
 priests on earth were to tell me so, I 
 would ' not believe them. With such as 
 were instructed in the Christian religion, and 
 did not conform to its precepts, I did not 
 doubt but it would fare the worse; that I be- 
 lieved it might be so with those of every o- 
 ther religion ; but that I supposed it was 
 a matter of no moment in the omnipotent 
 eye of the Creator of the universe, whether 
 he was worlhipped on Sundays in the church, 
 or on Saturdays in the mosque ; and that 
 the grateful tribute of every one would^ 
 be received, however different the mode ot 
 offering might be ; that e\ery man 
 
ZU4 J 
 
 only to account for those actions which l 
 knew to be wrong at the time ofcommi,,' ' 
 
 them; but for these, that surely a tiS 
 
 reckoning would come. He snoke Tf 
 Vtrgin Mary, and her hulhaldTo ert ' f 
 even of our Saviour, in a way that f 
 me to wave the subject. It however (I 
 the difficulty of converting these peoDle f** 
 the early prejudice of educaS'tfr 
 iscourses brought to mind a conversation on 
 tiaditionary record, that pafsedbetween Ofskn 
 
 ''C“n of Fingal, and P.atrick. the first Ch™ 
 
 p“ick to this 
 
 Patrick, I suspect the literary world are in a 
 mistake, as they suppose he could be no other 
 an the saint of that name wholiourilhed a cen- 
 tury or more later than Ofsian, of course .ha, 
 is said to have pafsed between them musihe 
 considered as fictitious and false, whereas nd- 
 her Ofsian himself, norany Gaelic tradition or 
 poem on record, everyet hinted at his being 
 e Patrick who converted Ireland, or the 
 sain t of that name. I therefore see no impro- 
 babihty in supposing that a Culdee, named 
 Patnck, might have known a little of Chris- 
 tianity, and have preceded the saint, and 
 a en in with Ofsian. The very expref- 
 sions that are said to have pafsed between 
 Gin aie obsolete, and evidently belong 
 \eiy remote period. The questions 
 
[ 205 1 
 
 „ut by ofslan ..ere natural for a deist, and 
 L quite in his own stile. I myself can repeat 
 them in the original language, and 1 never 
 vet heard a translation of them into any o- 
 ther. Since I am upon this subject, I cannot 
 help saying a word or two on that of Ofsian s 
 poems, which has given such subject mattei 
 of controversy to the literary world. The re- 
 proach, malice, and envy, they brought on 
 Mr M'Pherson on the one hand, and t le 
 rels with which he was crowned on the o- 
 ther, are both unmerited. To say that he was 
 the sole fabricator and author of these poems 
 is grofs calumny, and a glaring falsehood. 
 That Mr MTherson has a deal of merit "t ' lo 
 translation, every one must acknowledge; 
 but that he has done it such justice as to 
 equal the original, I flatly deny ; and if it is 
 true what I have heard afserted of Pope s 
 Homer, that the translation exceeds the origi- 
 nal the Greek will not, as a poet, come up 
 to the Celtic Bard, no more than M‘Pherson 
 does to Pope in their translations of the same 
 Greek author. Of thenvo translators M‘Pher- 
 son surely had the hardest talk. To follow Of-^ 
 sian in the sublimity of his style ; hisbeauti-^ 
 ful rounded periods on the one hand, his 
 plaintive melancholy strains, and the smooth- 
 nefs of his poetic language for the lofs of his 
 friends, on the other, I do not suppose it to 
 
zuu 
 
 have been in the power of the first ,en,'„. 
 ever the world produced, unlefs his hear I ' 
 Oihe Ofsian himself) as he went ali' 
 These poems are repeated with a pJainr'^’ 
 atr peculiar to themselves, that cann^^ 7 
 transfused into the Engliih tongue • and r 
 most solemnly say, that I never wal i„ j!" 
 
 1 e so charmed as with hearing them rep J 
 ed with a musical tone. To suppose!), ! 
 these poems were wholly fabrirat.a l 
 Wherson, and that he was indebted to ht 
 own genius alone, as many pretend to dot 
 orange scepticism indeed, win diecttr 
 has been so often affirmed by gentlemen of 
 
 It Would suppose a man to have the front 
 of the very devil himself to say what I am 
 
 -w about to afsert, were it no/a fact, wht 
 usands and thousands are still extant to 
 
 liesr /T f^hehood. From my ear- 
 best youth I remember to have heard these 
 
 poems repeated in their original language, 
 
 I vow to God and the world, that I L 
 T “ retranslation of any one 
 fcno M‘Pherson’s into Gaelic, to my 
 
 has 1 ^ 1 ^ persuaded there 
 
 transpired in the world, 
 was customary in the corner of the coun- 
 
'H,; 
 
 iriijj, 
 
 Toij 
 
 n 
 
 asii 
 
 IP 
 
 ^te 
 
 '^h 
 
 oalu; 
 
 WOli;: 
 
 tob; 
 
 tOSflii 
 DOi la 
 
 re 6 
 l.k 
 bvcb 
 ijiii 
 
 ) Oifiiii 
 
 friiiiis 
 
 lid- 
 
 r 2oy ] 
 
 try where I was born, when the people af- 
 sembled on any public occasion, particularly 
 at late-wakes, to place their best historian 
 in some conspicuous and centrical place, 
 where he could best be heard in the house, 
 but more frequently in a barn, where the 
 corpse was kept ; and after they w^ere tired 
 playing games and tricks peculiar to that 
 country, in which all the strength, agility, 
 alertnefs, and dexterity, were exerted to their 
 utmost, the best orator began and continued 
 till day-light, repeating Ofsian’s poems, and 
 recounting the atchievements of his race, 
 which exalted their minds and ideas to per- 
 fect enthusiasm. I myself, vi^hen a boy, was 
 present on many of these occasions, and I 
 well remember that I never observed a ser- 
 mon by the greatest devotee, or any other 
 discourse, picked up with half the .avidity 
 that the young people did these poems ; and 
 I have , different times gone on a Saturday 
 evening from school eight or ten miles off, to 
 a friend’s house to hear them repeated, and to 
 learn them. Not many years ago I sent a ser- 
 vant of my own forty miles to learn them, 
 from a man, who, for all I know, never spoke 
 a word of Englifh in his life ; at least my 
 servant did not. That in this way, I am fully 
 persuaded, these poems were handed down 
 from a very remote period, and from gene- 
 
[ 208 ] 
 
 ration to generation, till the present time; 
 And with the gradual decline of these manly 
 exercises and heroic poems, so did the spirit 
 of the people, which the rebellion in the year 
 1 745 much abated, and now the opprefsion 
 of their landlords and chiefs has crowned, 
 and put beyond all pofsibility of recovery, 
 excepting by leaving the country to their 
 opprefsors, lords, and masters, and setting out 
 for the Britifh dominions in America, where 
 alone they will find an asylum, free lands, a 
 fine climate, and the best government in the 
 world, superior to that of Old England, on 
 which the new Canadian law is founded, and 
 an amendment. 
 
 “ What may w^e not live to see!” 
 
 The man to whom I sent my servant to 
 learn Ofsian’s Poems, as already mentioned; 
 whose name was John M'Nicol, lived in Glen- 
 orchy, the property of the earl of Breadal- 
 bane, was the most conversant on that sub- 
 ject I ever met with, told me that there were 
 tw^o Fingals, and gave a long string of patro- 
 nimics to each of them. But that the son 
 of Comhall, and father of Ofsian, and grand- 
 father of Oscar, was by far the most renown- 
 ed, which partly accounts for a Fingal being 
 claimed by both the Scotch and Irifli, as the 
 hero of their respective countries. And as the 
 Caledonian Fingal made several excursionsinto 
 
[ 209 i' 
 
 ^'^[reland, it is very pofsible that the Irifii bards 
 ‘"^^night have blended the mild actions and 
 “^‘heroic deeds of that prince v^ith those of 
 '^their own nation, and ascribe them to the 
 ^'^!atter. I the more readily fall into this opi- 
 *^Vion, as I have heard poems in imitation of Of- 
 ^I’sian’s in the Irifli dialogue, but they were more 
 '‘^■full of bombast than those of the Gaelic. 
 Whether Mr MTheison fell in with this man 
 in the course of his researches in the High- 
 lands, I know not j but I am convinced he 
 could , not find a greater antiquarian in the 
 lift language, traditional history, and poems of 
 lati those times. I appeal to the reverend Mr 
 M‘Nicol, the opponent of the northern lumi- 
 nary, called the Bear, of whose partiality and 
 prejudice, now that he has dropt into the 
 iIjp grave, we fhall take no farther notice, for this 
 y; afsertion of his namesake’s, knowledge and 
 information, with whom he was well acquaint- 
 
 C w* - I 
 
 ir 
 
 But before I take leave of this charming 
 country, and the honours done by this re- ■ 
 
 nowned chief, and his warlike tribe of hand- 
 
 fill ^ 
 
 some young warriors, all of the Mohawke 
 
 fe' . • 1 • 
 
 nation, I must not omit saying, that it ap- 
 
 pears to me to be the finest country I have 
 
 as yet seen ; and by every information I have 
 
 had, none are more' so in all America. The 
 
 plains are very extensive, with a few trees 
 
 lit D D 
 
[ 210 ] 
 
 here and there interspersed, and so thinlr 
 scattered as not to require any clearing an 
 hardly sufficient for the necefsaries of th 
 fc-mer ;-thejoil rich, and a deep clay 
 The river is about loo yards broad, and navi 
 gable for large battoes to Lake Erie 
 space of sixty miles, excepting for about two 
 miles- of what is called here rapids, but in 
 Scotland would be termed fords, and in 
 ^vhich the battoes are easily poled up against 
 any little stream there may be. Abundance 
 of fhh are caught here in certain seasons, 
 particularly in spring ; such as Sturgeon, Pike' 
 Pickerel, Malkanongy, and others peculiar to 
 this country ; and the woods abound with 
 game. The habitations of the Indians are 
 ptetty close on each side of the river as far 
 as 1 could see, with a very few white people 
 interspersed among them, married to squaws 
 and others of half blood, their offspring. 
 The church in the village is elegant, the 
 school house commodious, both built by the 
 Biitifli government, who annually order a 
 great many presents to be distributed among 
 the natives ; ammunition and warlike stores of 
 all the necefsary kinds ; saddles, bridles, ket- 
 tles, cloth, blankets, tomahawks, with tobac- 
 co pipes in the end of them ; other things, 
 and trinkets innumerable, provisions and 
 stores ; so that they may live, and really be, 
 
iit;.as the saying is, as happy as the day is 
 ^.long. 
 
 ajjj, February 13. When Captain Brant found 
 lilj^that we would be away, he ordered his slea to 
 I be got ready, and after breakfast he and Mrs 
 Brant accompanied us the length of ten or 
 Ijj-, twelve miles, to the house of an Indian, who 
 Ijhad a kitchen and stove room, deal floors, 
 ijj and glafs windows, crop and cattle in propor- 
 tion, where we put up to warm ourselves, 
 j Captain Brant brought some wine, rum, and 
 ^ cold meat for the company ; after refrefhing 
 ourselves, we bade adieu to our hospitable and 
 renowned host, and elegant squaw, and pro- 
 ceeded on our journey along the banks of 
 the Grand River. The land seemed extreme- 
 *;ly good as we came along, — the first village of 
 • ^'''Indians, the next of white people, and so on, 
 alternately, as far as I have been, and, for 
 *^'-all I know, to the side of the Lake. The In- 
 ('“dians in this part of the country, seem to be 
 ii'-of different nations, Mohawkes, Cherokees, 
 ETufkaroras, and Mefsefsagoes. 
 k I CALLED at different villages or castles, as 
 k'they are called here, and saw the inhabitants 
 ilidiave large quantities of Indian corn in eve- 
 (li ry house a-drying, and suspended in the roofs, 
 . and every corner of them. We put up at 
 jfj the house of a Mr Ellis, who treated us very 
 ' hospitably. 
 
 I 
 
[ 212 ] 
 
 , February 14. We went a visiting for sj, 
 veral miles down the river side, and dined at 
 the house of a half-pay officer, a Mr Young 
 who had servecf last war as a lieutenant in the 
 Indian department, married to a squaw, sis- 
 ter to one of the chiet; of the Mohawke 
 nation who succeede.. Captain David. This 
 gentleman, of Dutch extraction, used me with 
 marked attention and hospitality. Mefsrs 
 Clinch, Forsyth and I, staid with him that 
 night, playing whist, cribbage, and other 
 games. 
 
 Here I for the first time played cards with 
 a squaw. Next morning he conducted us in 
 his own slea the length of Mr Allises. He 
 told us that a few days ago a Wolf killed a 
 Deer on the ice near his house, and Ihowed 
 us the remains of a tree, which before it was 
 burnt measured twenty-eight feet in cir- 
 cumference. 
 
 February 15. We set out from Mr 
 Young’s ; crofsed a, forest of about twenty 
 miles without any settlements, fell in with Mr 
 and Mrs Andrew Butler, a Mr Henry and liis 
 wife, and some sleas loaded with grain 
 going to mills. Here we all stopped to bait 
 our Florses at the side of a stream or creek, 
 put up a fire, and dined on such victuals as 
 we brought along with us, in a fhade put up 
 by some travelling Indians. I saw the track 
 
I 
 
 [ 213 ] 
 
 of Deer as « eame along, and ^'here one of 
 them was dragged m a hand slea, or tobagan 
 Z rhe snow. Mr and Mrs Burler rnvrted 
 our company ro rheir hor.se, to wh.chje 
 chearfully agreed. Mrs Butler is Y 
 
 well looking agreeable young lady, and 
 himself a good plain “f 
 We arrived about mghtla , a 
 frclhing ourselves with some tea, and some 
 
 ^Ifsesrf Port and Madeira wines, two card 
 
 fables were produced, cn which 
 till supper time. In this, as indeed in every 
 place we had been in, we were very gentee y 
 and hospitably entertained. 
 
 The woods through which we pafsed 
 the last three days, much the “ 
 
 formerly described, thick and lofty m the 
 valleys, but thin, fliort, and scattered, along 
 the Luntain. The land also.the same, cUy, 
 
 . with a black mold on the surface. The 
 
 only way to judge of the land in snow, and 
 the surest without any snow, is by looking 
 at the soil that sticks to the roots of new fal- 
 len trees, which can be seen every where, and 
 
 will clearly discover the quality. 
 
 This gentleman’s farm lies on a spacious 
 broad point, bordering on the Grand Lake, a- 
 
 , bout thirty miles from Niagara. A creek run 
 
 along one side of it, which in the spring and 
 fill is swarming with wild fowls. Geese, an 
 
r 214 ] 
 
 Ducks innumerable. The wood Duck , 
 
 « the most beautiful of the aquatic 
 frequently to be met with her^ thev 
 called from their perching on trees ^ “ 
 
 . Mr friend Captain Colin M‘Nab on k 
 
 veracity I can depend, told me that hi “ 
 others had once m the spring of ,h^ 
 gone a-lhooting to this creek j 
 
 Head of the lak!, where th taid™! 
 fourteen days; that notw.thstandinV ” 
 
 Imng mostly on wild fowl ,he ' f T 
 home about ,00; each of 'them ‘ 
 fowling pieces, which thev fired T ^ e™ 
 as they could be charged ^ ^ 
 
 M"Tnrw;"thfran'dt^J“r“'“"‘‘^^ 
 
 his amiable wife Called ™ 
 
 and dined a, c ■ “ ™J“'' Tinbrook’s, 
 
 were told 1^0, “ere we 
 
 from w ^ party of pleasure had gone 
 
 r- 
 
 niffhi- f K- 1, ’ ^ ^ that 
 
 hPNab inslci a appear. Captain 
 
 cul^ for ■" h-- 
 
 -icular friend ,1 et “f P^^' 
 
 furnilh m'c with r Sood enough to 
 
 c.unole, and a couple of 
 
good horses. This Mr John M‘Nab is a 
 gentleman of genteel and independent pro- 
 perty, — is a Justice of the Peace, which gives 
 him the title of Squire, and a Member of the 
 ^Land Board. After dinner we all set out, I 
 with Mr Johnston Butler, called at his fa- 
 ther’s the Colonel of that name, from thence 
 to Captain Clinch’s on Mefsefsagoe Point, op- 
 posite Niagara fort, from thence again in one 
 Carriage to the Cheapway, where we arrived 
 about eight o’clock at night, two or three and 
 twenty miles from the place we had dined 
 in. Here we drank tea, supped, played cards, 
 and danced until day-light. In the morn- 
 ing 1 took Mr Forsyth, Lieutenants Daniel and 
 M‘Kenzie, of the twenty-sixth regiment, into 
 my slea. Breakfasted at a Mr Birch’s house, 
 who has some saw and grist mills on a small 
 stream cut out from the side of the great ri- 
 ver. Stopped at the Grand Falls, and saw 
 them for the second time. Called at Mr Ha- 
 milton’s, and arrived in the evening at Nia- 
 gara. 
 
From Niagara to the Genesee Country, 
 
 IVIarch 4. '1792. The weather now be- 
 comirig fine, and the snow fast wearing away I 
 by the heat of the sun, in all exposed places, 
 and the fields and open ground totally clear 
 of it, I prepared for my journey through the 
 Genesee country, bought a couple of Horses, 
 and every thing I judged necefsary for the 
 occasion. 
 
 On the loth of March, I set out from 
 this place, after bidding farewell, and thank- 
 ing my good friends on each side of the ri- 
 ver. 
 
 2ef5re I take leave of Niagara, I must not 
 bmit to exprefs my obligations and acknow- 
 ledgements to my very particular friends, the 
 Mefsrs M‘Nab ; Mr Hamilton and family, Mr 
 Dickson, merchant ; DrsMore and Kerr; Mefsrs 
 Crookes and Forsyth ; Mr Clerk, storekeeper; 
 
 Mr Farquarson, commifsary; Mr Johnston, In- 
 dian interpreter; Mr Clinch, Captain Law, and 
 his son, and young Mr Alexander MNab. 
 Did I particularize every mark of atten- 
 tion and hospitality of these gentlemen to 
 
strangers, which I myself experienced to a 
 very high degree, and how many happy 
 nights I spent with them in that place, at 
 afsemblies, entertainments, and card parties, I 
 Ihould make a diffuse narration of it ; let it 
 therefore suffice to say, that I am extremely 
 sensible of their politenefs, and will always 
 make grateful acknowledgements. 
 
 I MUST also exprefs my obligations to Cap- 
 tain Campbell of the twenty-sixth regiment 
 and family. Colonel Gordon, Captains By grave 
 and Hope, Lieutenants Daniel, Doyres, Duke, 
 and to my travelling companion, and fellow 
 sufferer on the Lakes, Lieutenant William 
 M‘Kay. 
 
 I ARRIVED at an Indian village after night 
 fall, and put up at the house of one Hoff, who 
 (as the people here exprefs it,) keeps a tavern, 
 which is no more than what we call in other 
 places, a dram house; he lives with a squaw, 
 who it is said a little time before then had 
 on a quarrel between them wounded him with 
 a knife 
 
 The nth, set out from Hoff’s house ; my 
 guide one David Ramsay, a native of Scot- 
 land, who was well acquainted with the way we 
 were to hold ; and as the thaw had come 
 on some days before we set out, the brooks 
 and creeks were full of water, we had very 
 bad going, and often sunk in water, mud, and 
 snow, knee deep. Pafsed through two Indian 
 
[ 2i8 ] 
 
 villages, about four miles from that which 
 we had left. After pafsing the last of these 
 villages the snow was very deep. We mifsed 
 our way, and had to return two miles before 
 we came on the right line, and from the 
 faintnefs of the few prints of footsteps, Ve 
 had the utmost difficulty to make it out. 
 When night came on, we stopped, put up afire, 
 and slept on the snow. Next day proceed- 
 ing on our journey, the thaw stopped, a.nd 
 some frqsthad come on, a good deal of snow 
 had fallen the preceding night, so that our 
 going was as bad as formerly. We crofsed 
 several bad creeks, ourselves and Horses up 
 to the middle in water, in all muddy bottoms, 
 were obliged to wade through, as the Horses 
 sunk in it. Towards eveningwe came opposite 
 to the Indian village of Tonowanto, inhabited 
 by the Senekees. I meant to put up at this 
 village, but the creek was so high that we 
 could not crofs it. It is a considerable 
 broaA stream, which discharges itself into 
 Lake Erie above the Grand Falls. The land 
 on the banks of this river, seemed very good; 
 and from the appearance of the houses in 
 the village, the inhabitants seem to live 
 comfortably. We had the utmost difficulty 
 in making out the way as we came along, 
 but here met two men driving a parcel of 
 oxen to Niagara, which marked the way, so 
 
that xvd M^re no longer at a lofs for the 
 ^ course we were to hold ; also met a Dr Allan, 
 whom I had seen at Niagara, going with a’ 
 letter from Congrers to captain Brant, re- 
 questing him to go to Philadelphia on mat- 
 o®i of considerable importance regarding 
 the Indian war. It freezed now very hard, 
 
 li haunches, we were’ 
 
 much afraid of being frost bitten, and as we 
 could not crofs to the village, we found our- 
 . selves much at a lofs where to encamp at 
 m- night. Going on in this way for an hour or 
 •fj; two of night, looking for some place of fliel- 
 esi ter, we saw a spark of fire before us; at which 
 Iffii we rejoiced very much indeed. We made for 
 n, and found a small fiiadf of bark, and two 
 ;koi squaw's and a boy, who had put up the fire, 
 oi!E and taken pofsefsion of the best side of the 
 toja: Ramsay said, that we could not dis- 
 
 soi® Pi^te It with them, first come first served • so 
 ,,, that we were obliged to put up with the win- 
 which was then really cold. But as 
 Pjl^ the squaws were better lodged, and had 
 
 rir ^ permitted to join them, 
 
 ^^.,and slept along with them that niglit, they 
 ^ rolled up in their blankets, and I in my great 
 coat ; and as we kept on a rousing fire, and 
 ^^had some bafs wood bark , betwixt us and 
 ^ .the snow, we slept very soundly. I off»r- 
 . ed them a dram, but they would not take it. 
 
[ 220 ] 
 
 Ramsay said the women of several Indian 
 nations would not taste spirits; though there 
 are other nations that will, and even get 
 drunk, but this does not in general prevail 
 among them. The night freezed very hard, 
 and a deal of snow fell. Next morning, af- 
 ter boiling a kettle of water, and infusing 
 some tea and sugar in it, we drank it out of 
 the kettle, and proceeded on our journey. 
 The frost and snow that came on the preced- 
 ing day and night, dried up the brooks 
 and creeks, and made them more pafsable. 
 We had gone but a few miles on, when we 
 entered a plain of considerable extent, the 
 trees so thin and distant from each other, 
 that we could see half a mile on all sides. 
 Driving the Horses before us on this plain, 
 the one that had the bag of corn on, having 
 taken some fright, ran off, tore the bag, and 
 before we got hold of him, the greatest part 
 of the corn was lost, so that we had now to 
 keep them upon half allowance. Proceeding 
 on our journey, we came up to an Indian 
 bunting wigwam. A deal of Deer and Ra- 
 coon venison a-drying,and hanging about this 
 house. It continued to lay on snow most o 
 the day. Crofsing a deep swamp, ourselves on 
 Racoon bridges*, the portmantua Horse, 
 on wading through, fell acrofs a log, tumble 
 on his back, and wet all our provisions and 
 
 * Trees fallen acrofs the stream. 
 

 ftici, u 
 
 nk 
 
 :4oi; 
 
 :amei 
 
 Dtk 
 all: 
 irc®; 
 [ oftr. 
 
 tlitiii 
 
 m 
 
 lef- 
 
 aldfi- 
 
 \W 
 
 itf'- 
 
 KltlsJ 
 
 USii 
 
 nsf 
 
 I 221 1 
 
 tlotlies. We pufhed on to a fliade that 
 were told was about eight miles a-head of us^ 
 but before we reached it. an hour or two ot 
 night had come on, which fatigued us ^^ry 
 much, and me in particular, as I had walke 
 almost the whole way. The Horse could not 
 carry me except in very hard dry ground; 
 through swamps and bogs I was ® 
 walk. We at length made out the (hade, 
 put up a fire, and got our clothes and provi- 
 sions dried ; cut crops of trees for the Horses 
 to brouse on, and slept soundly. We set out 
 next morning after boiling our kettle as usu- 
 al, cametothe bank^ of a large creek, called the 
 Butter Milk Falls, where we had to unsaddle 
 our Horses, crofsed ourselves on the ice and 
 made the Horses ford it. Continued our 
 route to the fkirts of the thick wood in the 
 Genesee country ; stopped at an Indian wig- 
 wam. who had killed a Deer the preced- 
 ing day, the fkin of which he had then 
 stretched to dry upon the side of his wig- 
 wam. Here I got a little corn for my Horses, 
 which I had bartered for a loaf of bread, be- 
 ing wholly run out of that article, and the 
 Horses almost laid up. We now entered 
 what is called here, a plain, of six miles ex- 
 tent ; that is, where the wood is so thin that 
 you can see half a mile through it. We 
 came to a village of the Senekee Indians. 
 
r 222 7 
 
 llamsaj- could not make himself intelli?|i,’. 
 to them, as he only spoke the Mefsefclt 
 tongue, which they did not understand ° 
 
 IS lare. that the one nation understand the 
 anguage of the other. After pafsing ,1,;, 
 lage. we came down on a perfect flat, cover 
 ed with rank natural grafs, and not a tree on 
 tt. In a link of the Genesee river at the end 
 of this plain, when we came to the side of 
 the river, my baggage Horse being well ac 
 quainted, entered the river, to stvin, acrofs 
 w en fortunately old Ramsay got hold of him’ 
 and turned him back,- otherwise he and my 
 whole baggage would have been totally losf 
 
 the Horses. In the evening arrived at'X 
 house of Gilbert Berry, an Indian trader, who 
 
 tha?^ r '"'i™ “ here I stayed 
 
 Horsed ” 
 
 I mean^ m'K™' 
 
 meant to have gone up this river, and acrofs 
 
 to PM d“rr' S“»<3“'l'ana 
 
 Philadelphia, impracticable thus early in 
 
 the season, on account of the snow in the 
 
 and " T'’ ot'etflowingof therivei-s 
 
 and creeks ; or to go by the Mongahela river 
 or Pitt, as the Indians at war would be 
 m scouts scouring the country the way I 
 
r 223 ] 
 
 fliould hold ; and to wait here for two or 
 three weeks, until the snow fliould be off the 
 mountains and the rivers subside, I thought too 
 much, and therefore resolved to proceed by 
 the Mohawke, Albany, and New York, This 
 was unfortunately the worst time of the year 
 for travelling. Had I set out from Niagara ten 
 days sooner, before the snow began to difsolve, 
 or two weeks later, when it would have been 
 totally off the ground, I would have found 
 the matter much easier. By the round about 
 way I took from Niagara to avoid swamps, 
 I am convinced it could be no lefs than 100 
 miles, yet were there a streight road made, it is 
 believed it would not exceed sixty miles : the 
 country flat, and fit to be inhabited all the way. 
 
 This large tract of country extends to some 
 hundred miles on each side the Genesee 
 river, and belonged to several nations of 
 Indians, until of late that they sold all that 
 lies on the east side of the river to the Ho-^ 
 nourable Mr Robert Morris, and other mer- 
 chants m Philadelphia. Mr Morris sold 
 about a million and a half of acres of it 
 to Mr Pultney of London at, it is said, 72000I 
 profit. Mr Pultney committed the sale and 
 management of it to a Captain Williamson, a 
 Scotchman, and the latter has advertised the 
 sale of It in lots and townfhips. Hundreds 
 nock from the New England States and diffe- 
 
E 224 ] 
 
 rent parts of the coast to see it and purchase 
 parts of it, so that it is now fast settling 
 Some of those that purchased lands here last 
 year are now desirous to sell them again and 
 go for Canada, totally owing to its great dis- 
 tance from market. Captain Williamson 
 hearing that I had come to Niagara with a 
 view of purchasing a large tract of lands, 
 ■wrote me a letter from the Genesee, acquaint- 
 ing me that he had such a quantity of land 
 to dispose of, and launched out very much in 
 praise of the country ; but I wrote him back, 
 that if I fhould be inclined to buy lands 1 
 would have no occasion to purchase from 
 him, while I could get lands from the Britilh 
 Government in Canada for nothing. 
 
 The west side of the river Genesee is still 
 pofsefsed by the Indians, so that the wa- 
 ter only divides them and Mr Fultney’s set- 
 tlers. 
 
 Being desirous of seeing this country, Mr Ber- 
 ry was good enough to take a ride with me for 
 a considerable way up the country. We cal- 
 led at several houses as we went along, and at 
 one in particular, where there was a distillery, 
 at which was made the worst spirits I ever tast- 
 ed. Here are large stocks of cattle, and many 
 farmers of considerable property 5 and on each 
 side of the river large and extensive flats 
 without a tree or flirub upon them, and of the 
 
^ C 225 ] 
 
 ^'"^I'lchest soil I think I ever saw, but is evefy 
 '’'®*‘spring flooded by the freflies. The up'land 
 ^ifcon each side of these flats is thinly timbered, 
 *^With small crabs of black and white oak, 
 '’^SHichesnut, and poplar ; the soil thin and san- 
 dy» 
 
 ®tni From a hill which commanded a great 
 prospect as far as my sight could carry on the 
 tk(« Indian side of the river, the lands were flat, 
 uclu and not so much as a hillock in the whole 
 cW view, all covered with stately hard wood. For 
 tut; some days that I staid at Mr Berry’s house, and 
 jjifljj while I was exploring the country above, Da- 
 .jjm vid Ramsay gave me the following Iketches 
 of his life, which I here offer to the public. 
 
 fu 
 
 erift: 
 
 Ds,»: a p 
 
 id! _ j 
 
 tlisffi 
 
 ■id 
 
 £06 
 
 fClJ' 
 
 |iE' 
 
 '(f 
 
 rtj'r . 
 jtE' 
 
 b' 
 
"The Story of David Ramsay. 
 
 L>/avid Ramsay was a native of Scotland, bom 
 in the town of Levenin Fife. He was my’guide 
 through the wildernefs, from Upper Canada 
 through the Genesee country to the settled 
 parts of the province of New York. His sto- 
 ry, as given me by himself, was nearly in the 
 following words. It was and authenticated 
 and confirmed by numbers of people of my 
 acquaintance in Canada, New York, and most 
 other parts of America through which I tra- 
 velled. 
 
 “ I left my native country in the early part 
 of my life, and entered on board a transport 
 bound for Quebec in the capacity of a ihip’s 
 boy, and served the Britifh till the close of 
 the French war in 1-763, when I settled upon 
 the Mohawke River, in the province of New 
 York j I afterwards engaged with the Fur 
 North West Company of Montreal, to trade 
 with the Indians upon the upper lakes of Ca- 
 nada. After serving them for some time I 
 returned to the Mohawke country, where I 
 resided until a boy, a brother of mine, named 
 George, arrived from Scotland ; and having 
 the afsistance of this lad, I thought of trading 
 With the Indians on my own account, and 
 
Np! 
 
 tIJK 
 
 for that purpose purchased a large battoe at 
 Skennecktity, and procured credit to the 
 amount of 150I. York currency’s worth of 
 goods, and proceeded with these up the Mo- 
 hawke river to Fort Stanix. Crofsed the por- 
 tage down Wood Creek, to Lake Canowagas, 
 from thence down the river that empties it- 
 self into Lake Ontario, at Oswego ; and pro- 
 ceeded up that lake, the river Niagara, to the 
 Falls of that name. Carried my battoe and 
 goods acrofs the portage to Lake Erie ; from 
 thence to the river Sold Year, or Kettel Creek, 
 and proceeded up that river for sixty miles, 
 where we met tribes of different nations of 
 Indians encamped for the purpose of hunting, 
 and informed them of my intention of resi- 
 ding among them during the winter, and 
 erected a sufficient house of logs which I di- 
 vided in the middle by a partition ; the one 
 end I used as a kitchen, or place for drefsing 
 our victuals, and in the other I kept my 
 goods, and placed our bed. I continued bar- 
 tering my goods for furs till towards January 
 1772, when two Ibawa Indians came down 
 exprefs from Detroit to Niagara, carrying with 
 them a war belt, and publifhing, as they went 
 along, that it was the intention of the Ibawas, 
 Otowas, Potervatomies, and other western In- 
 dians, next spring to wage war against the 
 Britifh and the Six Nations. There was an 
 
[ 228 ] 
 
 btowa Indian from Detroit that hunted close 
 by the place where I lived, and upon the re- 
 turn of the Ibawa men from Niagara, they 
 remained two or three days with me. They 
 all visited me frequently, and behaved tome 
 with the greatest civility. Upon the depar- 
 ture of the Ibawa men, the Otowa Indian 
 came often to my house and boasted of the 
 great feats he had performed, particularly of 
 his having killed three Englifhmen like me, 
 and said he would think nothing of killino 
 lyie and my brother also, I told him that if 
 any Indian fhould offer to trouble me, I 
 would kill one and hurt another. The Otowa 
 Indian came frequently to my house for rum, 
 which he as frequently received, I always re- 
 peating ray former threat to him of killing one 
 a^d hurting another, fhould I be mollested. 
 About the 20th of February some families 
 of Ibawa Indians, and one family of the Mef- 
 sefsago^ Indians, came and resided in the 
 neighbourhood of my house. The Otowa 
 Indian formerly mentioned, accompanied by 
 the other Ipdians, used to come to my house 
 and demand rum, ammunition, clothes, 
 which I did not think prudent to refuse 
 them as their number then amounted to for- 
 ty. The Mefselsagoe Indian was a poor infirm 
 old man, and had a family of ten children to 
 provide for, and I haying compafsion for 
 
t 22^ ] 
 
 liim gave him snow {hoes and other necefsa- * 
 ries for the support of his family, and also 
 used to afsist him to carry home the venison 
 he killed. The whole Indians were in use 
 to afsemble'to the house of the Otowa Indian 
 and send for rum to me. One night the 
 Otowa Indian and his companion came to 
 my house for rum. I suspecting they had a 
 design upon my life, searched them and took 
 three knives from them, and sent them away 
 without giving them any. A few nights 
 thereafter the Otowa came to me for the loan of 
 a gun to fhoot a Deer he said he observed near 
 the house ; I suspecting him as formerly, im- 
 mediately got up out of bed, and pretending to 
 be intoxicated, made a great noise, at which 
 the Otowa went out of the house, and I fol- 
 lowed him as far as his hut, carrying with 
 me a large knife. I found there the whole 
 other Indians, and among the rest the old 
 Mefsefsagoe Indian, who upon perceiving me 
 hung down his head, and pretended to be 
 asleep. I frequently alked them what they 
 intended to make of a gun, as there was no 
 Deer to be seen, but never received a satis- 
 factory answer 5 I then returned to my own 
 house, as did all the Indians to their respec- 
 tive huts. The old Mefsefsagoe Indian fear- 
 ing the other Indians meant to kill him, and 
 having cause to suspect they would make an 
 
r 230 ] 
 
 attempt upon him that night, carried witJi 
 him two Deerfkins, his gun, and ammunition 
 and placed himself upon the road which led 
 to his dwelling, so as to intercept them if 
 they fhould come. He did not continue 
 long in this situation when he fell asleep, and 
 the other Indians coming upon him, took his 
 gun from him, and demanded the cause of 
 his being there. The Mefsefsagoe, afraid to 
 acknowledge the truth, pretended that he had 
 dreamed that the Senekee nation of Indians 
 that night were to kill all the Indians that were 
 there hunting, and that he had placed him- 
 self where they found him to intercept them. 
 Soon afterwards the old Mefsefsagoe, his fa- 
 mily, and all the families of the Ibawa In- 
 dians, left the place ; there only remained the 
 Otowa Indian, his companion, a woman, and 
 two children, the one of whom was nine, and 
 the other thirteen years of age. And being 
 tired of giving away my goods and rum for 
 nothing, and being also much exasperated 
 with the many insults I met with, resolved 
 to refuse them every thing they demanded, 
 and to repel force by force, while I was 
 able, whatever the consequences might 
 be. 
 
 “ Upon- the night of the 15th of February, 
 the Otawa Indian came to my house, and easi- 
 ly entered the outer apartment, where he a- 
 lighted a fire with straw, and as I knew tha 
 
'liffiinjk 
 
 'inttisj. 
 
 [ttpa'ij 
 
 Buitij 
 
 lelst^* 
 
 retenit 
 
 .eeiia! 
 
 tielii 
 lie la! 
 istoi 
 
 he could come with no other intention at 
 that time of night than to kill me, for which 
 cause alone he and the others staid behind 
 the rest, I stood with my spear ready to re- 
 ceive him. The Indian sought admittance 
 into the inner apartment, where I slept and 
 kept my goods, which being refused him, he 
 broke in the door with an axe, and oh his en- 
 tering, I who was ready waiting for him, struck 
 him with a spear on the breast, and follow- 
 ing ray blow from the inner to the outer apart- 
 ment, threw him down on the floor, and ram- 
 med him through; on this he called out that he 
 was killed. At this instant I received a violent 
 
 IMtis blow from behind, which nearly brought me 
 cs oti: to the ground, on which I turned about, and 
 
 idis struck that person with the lhaft of my spear. 
 ioD,i» By the light of the moon which flione 
 icnira bright, I saw another Indian coming to the 
 I door with a long knife drawn in his hand. 1 
 jdlii sprung out and struck him with my spear 
 gl 5 in the breast, and killed him also, I then re- 
 ;|jii turned and killed the one who struck me in 
 the dark. After this, I waited in expectation 
 j jjji that the whole tribe had returned, but after 
 iiffl! seeing none come, I under- 
 
 stood that it was only the family that staid 
 lofftli behind, who had a design upon me, that I 
 0 then killed. These I scalped according 
 to the Indian custom, and having dug a 
 
 II? 
 
t 232 ] 
 
 grave for them in the snow at the gable of* 
 my house, put them all in together ; at the 
 same time repeating, that they fliould never 
 more quarrel with me nor any other person. 
 The Indian children still remained, and be- 
 ing from their youth unable to provide for 
 themselves, would have inevitably periflied, 
 had not I sent for them*. 
 
 “ I still dreading that the Indians who were 
 formerly encamped in the neighbourhood 
 might return, and being unwilling that my 
 brother fliould be hurt, and being also afsur- 
 ed, that if any Indians discovered the chil- 
 dren with him> that they would conclude 
 what really had happened, I therefore removed 
 them and my brother to a small valley, a- 
 about a mile distant from the house, where I 
 erected a sort of ihade for them, and carried 
 provisions to them as they required. From 
 the top of one of the hills that formed the 
 valley, my brother could easily see my house, 
 and from its smoking, or otherwise, discover 
 whether or not I was in life ; and if I happen- 
 ed to be killed, I gave him directions to pro- 
 
 * Had not David been liumane and generous enough to 
 send his brother for them to his own house, his conduct and 
 behaviour to the children, clearly evince, that in killing the 
 Indians he was actuated by motives of self defence, and not 
 from a thirst of l^lood. 
 
[ 233 3 
 
 ^ 6eed with the children to Detroit, a distance 
 ’* of 150 miles*. 
 
 In about twenty days, the ice in the river 
 'P broke up, and I judging it high time for me 
 ^ to leave my present comfortlefs situation* 
 went for my brother and the children, and ha- 
 * ving put my furs and other goods, consisting 
 of five Christian packs, chiefly Deer flcins a- 
 '* board of my boat, proceeded with them for 
 i 3 Niagara, it being unsafe for us to go to De- 
 : troit as the war then raged there. We pro- 
 s ceeded down the river, as far as Long Point, 
 and the drift or floating ice having choaked 
 [ up the entrance to the Lake, we were forced 
 1 to go alhore and encamp at that place, 
 s Some days after this, being out in the creek 
 with my boat, I discovered two men in a canoe 
 £ coming towards, me. On their coming near, I 
 [j challenged them, and bade them keep off ; 
 (I but they laughed at me, and still came on, 
 p saying, that they came in a peaceable man- 
 ner, upon which we went to my Wigwam. 
 I aiked where they staid, and if there were 
 j; ^ny other Indians in the neighbourhood. 
 
 After these attempts on his life, and wliat ensued in con- 
 sequence of it, no man but David himself would thinlt of staV- 
 ^ ing alone in the plaCc j but it would seem, that David would 
 have faced all the Indians of America, and devils in hell, be- 
 ' fore he would abandon his property, which he could not then 
 carry away. He therefore slept in the house, and killed veriisdn for 
 his brother^ the children, and himself during the day. 
 
 G C 
 
[ 234 J 
 
 They answered none but them, and pointed 
 to a large pine tree, upon a height, nine or 
 ten miles off, and that there they resided. Af- 
 ter giving them a little rum, they went off 
 saying they would return next day to trade 
 with me. The wind blew very hard at south 
 west, which scattered all the ice in the bay, 
 and the day following I went out in the 
 morning to Ihoot Ducks. Whenicamea-ihore, 
 being wet, I stripped all off excepting my 
 fhirt and breech cloth, and hung them up to 
 dry. After breakfast my brother and the 
 two children went to gather juniper berries ; 
 i desired my brother to take his gun, and to 
 allow no Indian to come nigh him, but to 
 stand behind a tree, and fhoot any one that 
 would offer to approach him ; for that there 
 \vas no dependance to be placed in an Indian. 
 In his absence, about eleven o’clock, came 
 the two forementioned Indians, and sate down 
 in the Wigwam v/ith me, (the Wigwam, or 
 encampment, was a few poles set up and 
 covered with matts of flags, which the Indi- 
 ans in that country make, and carry about 
 with them in winter.) They alked me for 
 rum, I told them that it belonged to my co- 
 merade, and that I could not give any till he 
 came. I observed two canoes coming along 
 the lake, and alked to w'hom they belonged, 
 they' said that they vr’ere Milechiwack and 
 
I 235 ] 
 
 S Renauge’s canoes, (the names of two Indi- 
 ans.) I then afked them why they told me 
 the day before that there were none but 
 them in the neighbourhood ; they answered 
 that the woods were full of them. The ca- 
 noes landed ; the two men came into the 
 Wigwam, sat down, and alhed for rum. I an- 
 swercd as before. The two women, as custo- 
 mary, went into the wood and put up a fire, 
 
 ' cut some wood, and carried up their things 
 - to the fire, and laid their canoes bottom up- 
 wards. Then they came into my W igwam, and 
 the young chief of one of the tribes, took my 
 pot, that was boiling for dinner, off the fire, 
 
 ^ and gave it to the women to take to their fire 
 and eat. I begged of him to leave some for 
 it the children that were with me against they 
 it came home, but in an angry manner he told 
 me that I had victuals enough, and might 
 ml cook more. I then judged what they would 
 I be at, and put on my leggans and mogazines, 
 n and other clothing, and took the large knife, 
 ii I had formerly taken from the Indians I 
 S killed, and put it in my girdle. They alked 
 ^ me what I meant by that, I told them I al*- 
 j' ways wore it among Indians. Soon after my 
 brother and the two children came home, I 
 took them to the boat, and gave them some 
 I biscuit and dried venison, and alked them if 
 they wiflied to see what they had seen three 
 
[ 236 ] 
 
 weeks before. They afked me what that was 
 I answered, “ Blood.” They said, ‘ No.’ Then 
 I told them not to tell that I had killed th^ 
 people. They said they would not. Mj bro- 
 ther gave the Indians some rum, and I return 
 ed with the children. The chief alhed whose 
 children they were. I answered, that they 
 were the children of white people, going 
 to Niagara with me. He afked who they 
 were again; then I stood up and pulled 
 out the knife and struck it into one of the 
 poles of the house, and told them how I had 
 been used, and what I had done, and afked 
 them if they were angry. They said they 
 were not ; that those I had killed were not 
 Ibawas, but that they were Pannees, i. e. pri- 
 soner slaves, taken from other nations. They 
 then afked for more rum, which I gave 
 them ; then two of them went over to their 
 owm fire, and two of them staid by me, and 
 in a fliort time the other two come back, and 
 these that were with me went over to the 
 fire in the wood, and carried the children 
 with them, by which fhifting, it would ap- 
 pear they were laymg the plot they after- 
 wards very nearly effected. They demand- 
 ed my arms, and said that I had been drunk 
 and mad all winter. I told them that I 
 thought myself always fit to take care of my 
 own arnis, and putting myself in a posture of 
 
[ 237 3 
 
 defence, laid hold of my gun, ammunition,and 
 hatchet. After killing the first Indians, I cut 
 lead, and chewed above thirty balls, and a- 
 bove three pound of Goose fhot, for I 
 thought it a pity to fhoot an Indian with a 
 smooth ball. Ithendesired my brotherto carry 
 the things down to the water side, to be put 
 into the boat; but he being but twelve montns 
 from his father’s house in Scotland, but se- 
 venteen years of age, and unacquainted with 
 the manners of Indians was dilatory. I went 
 to afsist him, and the Indians, under pretence 
 of taking leave of, and fliaking hands with 
 me, seized upon me, threw me down, and 
 tied me neck and heels. One of them took 
 up my hatchet, and would have killed me 
 with it, had he not been prevented by ano- 
 ther of them. He then struck me with his 
 fist upon the face, which hurt me much, and 
 put an end to my great talking. They then set 
 me up, pinioned my arms behind me, and cau- 
 sed me go and sit down by the fire. One 
 of them watched, and took care of me, and 
 drank only one dram during the night, it 
 being customary among Indians, that one of 
 a party lhall always refrain from drinking, to 
 take care of the rest. My brother coming 
 to look for me, they seized upon him also ; 
 and I fearing they would kill him, called out, 
 f‘ That he was a boy ; that it was me killed the 
 
Otawas, and that they might afk the children 
 if it was not so.” They only tied him, and 
 placed him upon the other side of the fire 
 under the care of another of them who did 
 not drink any. They used frequently to un- 
 tie my brother, and send him and the Indian 
 who had him in charge, for rum, which they 
 brought in a brafs kettle that would contain 
 about three Englifh gallons. The chief and 
 his companion drank freely, and also made 
 me drink some out of a large wooden spoon 
 that would hold a pint. As I sat by the fire 
 tied, having only the Indian drefs on, 1 com- 
 plained much of cold, my fliirt being tore 
 down, and laid open ; my leggans were also 
 tore in the struggle, and my blood ran down 
 my belly and thighs from the stroke I recei- 
 ved from the Indian on the face, I .therefore . 
 requested of them to put a pair of my own 
 blankets about my Ihoulders to keep me 
 warm ; but the Indian that had the care of 
 me did not approve of this measure. Re- 
 nauge’s wife used to pafs by me, and raise 
 the blanket upon my fhoulders to keep me 
 warm. She also gave me a drink of water 
 when I was first tied; and if the Indian 
 that had the care pf me happened to 
 be out of the way, flie used to touch me 
 on the back with her knee, and tell me to 
 pray ; — that my time was fliort. She and 
 
r 239 ] 
 
 all the children went to sleep under the tree 
 where all the guns, hatchets, and other things 
 stood. Nican, Equom’s wife, kept walking 
 about all night. They had tied my hands 
 up to my neck, as well as pinioned my arms 
 behind me, and some of them accused me of 
 things I knew nothing of. I always appeal- 
 ed to one or other of themselves, that what 
 they alleged was not true. As my hands 
 were tied to my neck, it gave me great pain, 
 and I requested to loose them, saying, that 
 while my arms were pinioned behind, I could 
 make no use of them. Though I was sure 
 they were to kill me, I did not think much 
 about it, as I believed it was as good for me 
 to be dead as alive. What I regretted most 
 was, that I could not be revenged of them. 
 1 then desired my brother in broad Scotch, so 
 as not to be understood by one of the Indi- 
 ans who could talk a little Englilh, to bring 
 me one of the clasp knives from the boat, and 
 drop it by me, in order that I might get the 
 cords cut; but Nican, Equom’s wife, seeing him 
 go off for the boat, called out, “ To kill me di- 
 rectly, that my companion had gone for 
 arms to the boat.” On this I called him back, 
 so that I did not get the knife. The Indian 
 who had charge of me, told me, that John- 
 ston, meaning Sir William Johnston, superin- 
 4.endant of Indian affairs, would forgive an 
 
C 240 1 
 
 Indian for killing a white man ; but not me for 
 killing an Indian. He then drew out the big 
 knife, and turning up the coals of the fire; 
 afked me how I fhould like to be roasted 
 there to-morrow. I answered, “ Very well.” 
 They then gave me the spoon half full of 
 rum, of which I drank a little. The Indian 
 putting the knife to my breast, afked, “ If I 
 wifhed to see vermilion ?” (meaning blood ;) 
 which was saying as much, as that he meant 
 to kill me unlefs I drunk it off, which I there- 
 fore did. He made me drink two spoonfuls- 
 more in a very fhort space, but it did not 
 affect me. This rum was one-third water, mix- 
 ed for trading with. The Indian who had me 
 in charge and I, entered on a hot argument ; 
 upon which I stood up, and as I would not 
 yield, he seized me, and threw me down. In 
 the struggle, I grappled him by the breast, 
 so that he fell upon me •, I made a grasp at 
 the large knife, which he held drawn in his 
 hand, and by a sudden jerk wrested it from 
 him, gave him a brog, and wounded him in 
 the head and breast, .upon which he ran off, 
 as I did also. Another Indian pursued me, 
 seized and threw me down. I called to my 
 brother, who struck the Indian that was up- 
 on me, relieved me, and cut the cord that 
 pinioned my arms behind me. The Indian 
 was foundered by the stroke he received, and 
 
disabled from running off. I killed him, re- 
 turned, and killed the other two, one by one, 
 as they were coming to his afsistance. At 
 this time the women and children ran away, 
 excepting one boy, who seized upon a gun to 
 flioot me. I struck and killed him also. 
 What I drank did not disable me, but rather 
 made me more furious and alert than I other- 
 wise would have been. My left hand be- 
 ing severely wounded in wresting the knife 
 from the Indian, my brother bound it up 
 with a rag ; and on our way to the boat, I 
 broke the canoes to pieces, to put it out of 
 their power to follow me. I looked about, 
 (the moon was just then descending down over 
 the wood,) and I saw the wounded Indian 
 coming as hard as he could in quest of me. 
 I sculked by the canoe, and just as he was 
 running by, I sprung up, grappled him, 
 threw him down, and put my knee upon his 
 breast. He then begged his life ; but I, re- 
 membering what he told me a ftiort time be- 
 fore, that he would roast me upon the fire, 
 struck him with the knife, and killed him 
 upon the spot. I proposed to return to car- 
 ry the few things we had alhore with us, 
 but my brother opposed it, as I was lame 
 of the left hand, and could give no afsis- 
 tance. We therefore made for the boat, 
 which was a piece off the land, and wading 
 
 H H 
 
[ 242 ] 
 
 tlirough the water to it, I fell and wet all my 
 clothes ; when I got into the boat, I wrap, 
 ed myself in a Bear Ikin. Then, and not till 
 then, did the rum I had drank operate up- 
 on me. I fell asleep, and when I awoke I 
 was all over ice. We rowed till we got out 
 of sight of land, and then put up sail, and 
 made for Niagara ; but the wind having got 
 up a-head, drove us back. I then steered for 
 the south Ihore of Lake Erie, judging it safest, 
 and that the Indians on that side would not 
 hear what I had done, till the lake would 
 open, and be free of ice. The wind drove 
 us upon a bank, and the sea walked over us, 
 and wet every thing in the boat excepting 
 the guns and ammunition, which I took care 
 to preserve dry. Next day we got the things 
 alhore unpacked, :o dry them, but not 6o 
 much so as not to serve as ballast for the 
 boat. Here we made a Wigwam, to serve us 
 until such time as the lake Ihould be totally 
 free of ice, in a place where we supposed the 
 remotest from such as the Indians frequent, 
 and were in hopes they would not find us out ; 
 and if any of them came near us we deter- 
 mined to kill them. I however was here 
 but a few days when two Indians came ; and 
 as I supposed they had not heard of what 
 had happened on the other side of the lake, I 
 ^reated them in a friendly manner. They alk- 
 
[ 243 3 
 
 ed me if I had rum and ammunition ; and 
 when I answered that I had, they said they 
 would come next day, bring fkins, and trade 
 with me. I told them not to let any other 
 body know that I was there ; and that if any 
 more than them two were to come, that I 
 would not deal with or allow them to come 
 near me. They solemnly promised that they 
 would not, and that they would come alone. 
 However, as I did not choose to trust them, I 
 got every thing on board, and kept at some 
 distance from the fliore. The two Indians 
 accordingly came, and requested I would 
 land and trade with them; but upon obser- 
 ving other Indians sculking in the wood, I re- 
 fused to comply. On this the whole party 
 appeared, and threatened to fire at me in the 
 event I did not trade with them. By this 
 time I was pretty much out of reach of their 
 (hot, and proceeded down the lake, and some 
 davs thereafter reached Fort Erie. I told the 
 commanding officer of the Indians I had kil- 
 led ; upon which he confined me, and sent me 
 with a party prisoner to Niagara, where I 
 w^as again imprisoned.” 
 
 Here ends the information given me by 
 David in writing, our time not allowing him to 
 proceed any farther. My information from 
 others w^as, that though my friend David ac- 
 knowledged to have killed but eight Indians, 
 
I H4 J 
 
 yet that he really killed eleven ; but as I 
 give ample faith to his ovm narrative, and 
 as he in every other respect seemed’to be 
 a man of strict veracity, honesty, and integri- 
 ty, I disregard what others say, and trust to 
 his own account. On the Indians hearing 
 that David was at Niagara, they afsembled in 
 great numbers, and insisted upon his being 
 given up to them ; and on the Governor’s refu- 
 sal, threatened to set fire to the fort. They 
 became at last so clamorous, that the Gover- 
 nor sent a party, unkno^vn to the Indians, to 
 Montreal with David, where jhe was fifteen 
 months in prison ; and as no proof could be 
 brought against him in a regular trial, and 
 that every body knew he acted in self de- 
 fence only, he was liberated. And what is 
 strange, and what the like never was known 
 before, is, that he now lives in intimacy and 
 friendfhip with that very tribe, and the sons 
 and daughters of the very people he had kil- 
 led. They gave him a grant, regularly ex- 
 tended upon stamped paper, of four miles 
 square of as good lands as any in Upper Ca- 
 nada. 
 
 In the Genesee country, when with me, I 
 saw him write a letter in the Indian tongue, 
 to some chiefs then afsembled in Philadel- 
 jihia, at the request of Congrefs, directing 
 taem how to act in the matter under delibe- 
 
Ill 
 
 ii:i 
 
 
 S,>, 
 
 to: 
 
 tfi. 
 
 lop 
 
 ttjr. 
 
 du 
 
 1,15 
 
 p]eE 
 
 of in 
 in I 
 
 nifisi 
 
 ,dir* 
 
 infe 
 
 t 245 ' ] , 
 
 ration. I told him that it was In vain, as 
 nobody there could read it. He said that any 
 body could read the words, and that the In- 
 dians would know the meaning of them. 
 On another occasion I told him that I was in- 
 formed, as I really was, that when the Indians 
 got drunk, but only when drunk, that they 
 still threatened to kill him j at which he seem- 
 ed extremely displeased, and swore that if he 
 knew any one of them that dared threaten 
 him, he would be about with them yet ; that 
 it was he that was ill used, and not them; that 
 his goods were taken from him, and himself 
 threatened to be roasted. 
 
 David never was married ; nor do I think 
 he ever will. Skins to the amount of 150b 
 being seized upon him, which he, in common 
 with many others, was smuggling into the 
 States, has reduced him ; and at present he 
 has no other employment than that of car- 
 rying dispatches and money for gentlemen of 
 the fort and district of Nafsa, to and from any 
 place they may have occasion. His hones- 
 ty and fidelity is so well known, that he is en- 
 trusted with sums of money to any amount, 
 without requiring any token or receipt for the 
 same ; and I was told, when with me on his 
 way to New York, that he had seven or eight 
 score of pounds belonging to different people. 
 
[ ] 
 
 Sent for articles which he was to bring thein 
 from that city. 
 
 David was a staunch friend to the Britifli 
 during the last war ; and was well kriown to 
 those who were in high command, and had 
 ample recommendations and certificates of 
 his services from them. Scarce a cor- 
 ner of the Britifh Colonies or United States 
 but he is acquainted in. 
 
 The strange adventures of his life are so 
 well known, that I was told that he was offer- 
 ed 20ol. for a detail of them from a printer 
 in Albany. I put the question to himself. 
 He only acknowledged lool. from a printer 
 in New York ; but he declined to accept of 
 it, as he thought iit too troublesome. Yeti 
 know that he would have given it to me, had 
 we had time and leisure ; as he sat up a whole 
 night, when we were travelling, to givemewhat 
 I have already inserted, for which I consider 
 myself much obliged to him. 
 
 David told me that he never was in Britain 
 since he left it young but once, whenljelanded 
 in ^England, on his way to Scotland to see his 
 relations ; and knowing that a sister of his 
 was married and settled there in a respec- 
 table line, he waited on her ; but as he was in 
 the Indian drefs, though excellent of its kind, 
 fhe refused to acknowledge him for her bro- 
 ther j and as he did not know but his friends 
 
in Scotland might do the same, lie returned 
 to America, where he means to end his days : 
 and as the country is now fast settling in the 
 neighbourhood of the grant of lands he got 
 from the Indians, he is in hopes it will yet 
 
 j r i5 ^ 
 
 turn out to sood account tor him. 
 
From the Genesee Country fo New Johnston on 
 the Mohawke River. 
 
 ^NIarch 18.1792, I set out from Gilbert Ber- 
 ,ry’s house in Canawagas. Crofsed a deep creek 
 called Honia river, but fordable. The Horses 
 my servant rode, were almost at theswiming; 
 he got a tumble just as he was landing, fell 
 back in the water, and wet my little baggage. 
 Pafsed through several tracts of open wood- 
 land, very easily cleared, but sandy and light 
 soil ; and other tracts of close woodland of 
 deep and rich soil. Crofsed one swampy 
 creek of about sixty yards broad, where we 
 were obliged to wade through up to the middle, 
 lead the Horses, and break the ice with heavy 
 sticks at every step as we went along. In this si- 
 tuation I travelled the most of that day on foot 
 through the bad parts of the road, and on 
 horseback on the best parts of it only. Toward 
 evening came to the settlement of Conondac- 
 way, and put up at the house of Anthony San- 
 burgh, who keeps (to exprefs it in their own 
 words) a tavern. Sueh as keep what are called 
 in Scotland small tippling houses, would be 
 said here to keep taverns. Here I fell in 'hth 
 

 i' 
 
 ba, 
 
 m 
 
 Ci;:. 
 
 liSj- 
 
 % 
 
 rC; 
 
 li* 
 
 roifi’ 
 
 'dite 
 
 Ujlf 
 
 ititit 
 
 atjls 
 
 toft 
 
 tka 
 
 jft®, 
 
 nentif 
 
 sitii: 
 
 yifk' 
 
 
 [ 249 ] ' 
 
 Ceneral Chepin or Shepin, an agreeable fa- 
 cetious man who lives in that place, was good 
 enough to come and spend the evening 
 with me ; himself plain, homely, as any far- 
 mer, with clouted mogazines, breeches, and 
 clothes, but his wife and two daughters 
 extremely handsome and genteelly dref- 
 sed. Among several stories the General told 
 me of the Indians, one was, that in a conversa- 
 tion he lately had with an old Indian, he said, 
 
 “ What great things do you suppose the white 
 people are now about to do for us ? they are 
 to give us a smith to mend our guns, toma- 
 hawks, and hows ; that is a good thing ; and to 
 make us ploughs, but I am against that ; for if 
 we have ploughs we must work, and if we work 
 our squaw's will turn lazy ; whereas they 
 raise as much bread for us at present as serves 
 Us ; and to send us a man to teach us to pray ; 
 but I swear I’ll pray none ; but if they send 
 us a man to teach u^ to make rum, \^e’ll at- 
 tend him, and thank those that sent him.” 
 Another was, that on his once alking an old 
 Indian what was it that made them so fond of 
 war which the white people hated, he answer- 
 ed, “ That when he was a little Baboose*, that 
 their fathers had taught them to keep their 
 breasts always to the east ; that he, and one 
 and all of them, teaches the same thing to 
 their Babooses ; that from the east the white 
 
 I I 
 
 * Baboose is a child. 
 
C 250 ] 
 
 people came ; that the first sight that ever 
 was seen of them on these coasts, was so ma- 
 ny winters ago ; that they stopped in a bay 
 with a large canoe, came afhore in a smaller 
 one, and fhowed them some sick people they 
 had on board which they wifhed to get afhore 
 for the recovery of their health ; we hadcora- 
 pafsion on them, said he, and permitted them. 
 They then sought liberty to gather herbs in 
 the fields to be given them, which was also 
 permitted ; then to build a house for them ; 
 and after this was granted, they sought a small 
 spot to plant some corn ; and from that to 
 more, until at last he extended both his arms, 
 and said, they must have the full of all; 
 which signified that they must have all they 
 could grasp, and at length all America.” In 
 other respects he gave quite a similar account 
 of that recorded in history of the first land- 
 ing, and the most material proceedings since. 
 
 It is customary with the Indians where 
 any one of them has been killed, not to allow 
 any grafs to grow on that spot ; for that rea- 
 son every one that pafses by the place, tram- 
 ples and treads down the ground, to prevent 
 the grafs from growing ; and if any does grow, 
 they pull it out by the root, so as to keep it 
 alwmys bare. I have seen a spot where an 
 Indian was killed used in this manner.* 
 
 * A similar custom prevailed in the Highlands of Scotland^ 
 by erecting cairns of stones on the spot where a person had beea 
 
March 19. Set out from Conondacway, iii 
 company with General Chepin, who had come 
 four miles of the way to see a saw mill of his. 
 Pafsed by the head of Conondacway Lake, 
 said to be thirty miles long, and between one 
 and two miles broad. This lake does not a- 
 bound much in fifli. In this neighbourhood are 
 many Deer ; . and when the snow is deep, with 
 a hard crust upon it, any Dog could, in the 
 space of 200 yards, overtake and detain one ; 
 so that they are sometimes taken alive with- 
 out receiving any injury. Arrived 
 evening at a Captain Paterson’s, on the head 
 of Lake Geneva, said to be thirty-six miles 
 long, and as broad as the other. 
 
 Here I was told that the carriage of loow*. 
 of any article from Albany to this place 
 would cost two dollars ; but that there is a 
 piece of a canal talked of to be cut next 
 summer, of two miles long, which when fi- 
 nifhed will bring down the freight to half 
 what it is at present ; and when the country 
 is properly settled, there is no doubt but that 
 and several other things will be done for 
 
 their acconimoda.tion. 
 
 The 20th set out pretty early from Mr Pater- 
 son’s house. Crofsed a river which comes out 
 of Lake Geneva, and after a course of twelve 
 miles, falls into Lake Kieuga; and from thence, 
 
 killed. I myself added' many a stone to a cairn of this kind 
 z friend of mine had been killed* 
 
[ 252 I 
 
 by another river of that name, discharge, 
 Itself into Lake Ontario, In the eveninate 
 crofsed Kieuga Lake, a mile and a quarter 
 broad, on the ice. These three lakes run ™,a|. 
 lel to each other, south and north, and are aid 
 to be much of a length and breadth. After 
 crofstng this lake, I pur up at the house of" 
 gunsrmth, one Harris, who kept a tavern, and 
 who afsured me he could make a riffled barrel 
 led gun of iron to his liking, that would hit 
 an egg at a hundred and thirty paces, could so 
 
 a.^ Ihowed me the apparatus b, which the 
 riffles were made in the barrel. This man kept 
 me up till very late reading Paine’s Rights of 
 Man, of which he seemed very fond, arguing 
 and making commentaries on every pafsa?e 
 as we went along. ' 
 
 The 2 1 St, from Kieuga, set out pretty 
 early. Crofsed through a close wooded coun- 
 try of about- twenty miles extent, without 
 
 ut in that space but two, then newly 
 put up. The land as I went along seemed 
 to be the best I have seen in the Genesee 
 
 count!--, excepting the links of the river of 
 that name. Crofsed a creek of about loo yards 
 over, in which I was obliged to wade through 
 up to near the middle. Put up at the house of 
 one Burke, lately come from New England, 
 ongrefs has reserved in this neighbourhood, 
 
- [253 1 
 
 purchased from the Indians themselves, a 
 tract of land nine miles by twelve, for the Un- 
 indagoe Indians, and the like space for the 
 Kieugas, as a place of settlement and hunting 
 ground for them. General Sulivan, when 
 sent here last war against the Indians, had cut 
 down several hundred fruit trees they had in 
 their gardens and about their houses, which 
 is now very much regretted by the late pur- 
 chtiscrs* 
 
 The 2 2d, set out from Burke’s house. 
 Crofsed about twenty miles of a forest with- 
 out a single hut or habitation in all the way. 
 
 Here many tons of sugar could be made, 
 i do not remember to have seen so many 
 mapple or sugar trees in all my travels since 
 I left the province of New Brunswick, none of 
 which seemed ever to have been tapped. The 
 wood in this day’s journey is interspersed with 
 much hemlock spruce and cedar. Towards 
 evening I fell down on the Unindagoe creek, 
 a remarkable fine and spacious valley belong- 
 ing to the Indians, and part of the lands they 
 reserved for themselves. On seeing a hut on 
 the plain, I directed my course towards it, and 
 having come up, I called at the window to 
 some Indians whom I heard talking within. 
 A gentleman put out his head, and alked me if 
 I was going for the German Flats j when I an- 
 wered in the affirmative he came out, requested 
 
C 254 ] 
 
 I would walk in, and take the trouble of carry 
 mg a coaple of letters to that place ; that h' 
 resided there, and that his name Patrick 
 Campbell ; I answered that that was myname 
 also ; at which he seemed very much surpris- 
 ed, and said he never saw one of the name be 
 fore. He said he was born in this country 
 that his father had come last from Ireland! 
 but formerly from Scotland, and always paf- 
 sed as an Iriihman. He had been only on a 
 start^ here to trade with the Indians, who on 
 hearing that I was a Britainner. and had iust 
 then come from Canada, immediately came up, 
 fhook hands with me, and welcomed me to 
 the country in the most cordial manner; but 
 while they supposed me to be an American 
 took no sort of notice of me. This gentle- 
 man was a captain in the American army last 
 war, now a colonel of militia, a justice of the 
 peace, and keeps taverns at the Mohawke 
 ats. iere I staid that night with my 
 namesake, and was hospitably entertained. 
 
 he owner of the house, one Brown, farmed 
 the place from the Indians for 130 bulhels 
 or Indian corn per annum. 
 
 One of my Horses being nearly knocked 
 ly y the scarcity of prot-ender and bad- 
 ne.s of the way I had come through, I gave 
 them the next day’s rest to refrelh them. 
 
 Bo, rowed one of my landlord’s Horses and set 
 
aih 
 
 ft, 
 idr^ 
 riis 
 hi 
 ®. E 
 
 ffl®: 
 M]E 
 It tit 1 
 lujliti; 
 Wr fE 
 
 irijt 
 
 ffflfC 
 
 (feral 
 
 roBjii 
 
 cfii- 
 
 [o®i- 
 
 [ 255 ] 
 
 out with Colonel Campbell, who was good 
 enough to , go along with me to see the salt 
 works at the head of the Umndagoe Lake. 
 
 There are many salt springs at the head and 
 round about this lake, which is a beautiful 
 flieet of brakifh water, of about six miles 
 long and two broad. The land all around 
 this lake lies well, with an easy slope towards 
 the water; the soil rich and productive. A- 
 bout three hundred yards from the head of it, 
 the salt springs, of which the salt is made, if- 
 sues out of the foot of a steep bank thirty 
 feet high. Here are several other springs 
 whose waters are said to be twice as salt as 
 that of the ocean. Here are twelve kettles, 
 of forty gallons each, constantly kept boiling, 
 and make at the rate of twenty buihels a day 
 of beautiful small white salt. The water is 
 pumped out of the well, and conveyed by a 
 trough into the works and kettles ; and 1 sup- 
 pose there is water, in one well sufficient to 
 supply 100 kettles. There was 200 cord of 
 wood lying by the works ; and yet one of the 
 managers told me, it would not last them a- 
 bove six weeks, so that they must consume 
 much wood, and clear a deal of land in the 
 course of time. As the country is fast settling 
 this will become a considerable work, and 
 can easily supply the whole back settlements 
 of the extensive province of New York. 
 
C 256 J 
 
 When the spring opens, and the ice ofFtlie 
 lake, it swarms with Geese, Brants, and Wild 
 Ducks and Swans, which the inhabitants kill 
 in great numbers. 
 
 A SORT of Salmon Trout, Pickerel, and 
 Malkanongy, are so numerous, that with a 
 spear and torch in a canoe at night, they 
 sometimes catch a barrel of fiih in one night. 
 The woods on the banks of the lake abound 
 with Deer and other sorts of game ; so that 
 this part would make one of the most agree- 
 able places I have seen in this country for a 
 settlement. 
 
 On the Unindagoe river, a great many Sal- 
 mon are speared in the fall of the year, and 
 the cedar swamps abound with Pheasants. I 
 this morning heard them drumming on old 
 logs. The manner this is done is a little cu- 
 rious, and peculiar to that beautiful bird. 
 When the cock Pheasant happens by any ac- 
 cident to separate from the Hen, and wilhes to 
 call her to him, he perches on a large hollow 
 log of wood, of which there are many evety 
 where lying on the ground ; he then beats a 
 ruff with his wings, resembling that of a 
 drura,^ which is heard at a considerable dis- 
 tance, and apprises the hen of the place of his 
 abode, to which fhe presently resorts. This 
 they practise in the spring and fall of the year, 
 and is called drumming. 
 
i tilt it; 
 tinlulj! 
 
 mill, 4 
 
 iofEU 
 
 ts:V 
 
 in.- 
 
 ;ijL 
 
 i nii! 
 
 idoji; 
 lat k 
 
 ;arci 
 I; k: 
 
 life' 
 
 .CODSi- 
 
 iftitfi 
 
 [ 257 ] 
 
 We staid that night at the salt works, in 
 the house of one of the managers. The 
 water of these springs is perfectly clear, and 
 only discoverable from any other by the 
 taste. While boiling the water, they hold 
 a pretty long iron ladle in the bottom of 
 each kettle, into which all the sediments fall, 
 which they now and then throw out, other- 
 wise, if left in the kettle, it would discolour 
 the salt, and make it look brownifti, and not 
 so fair ^as v^hen it is turned out. By con- 
 stant use, the ladle gets a hard crust of this 
 stuff on it, which will require to be burnt out 
 every twelfth day, by putting the ladle in 
 the fire, and when properly heated the crust 
 falls off in scales, and leaves the iron as clear 
 as ever. 
 
 The ^4th, returned from the salt pans with 
 Colonel Campbell, to my former quarters at 
 Brown’s house, where I had left my Horses. 
 The Colonel paid for our night’s quarters at 
 the salt springs, and would not allow me to 
 . be a sixpence out of pocket, and treated me 
 while I staid with him at Brown’s ; so that I 
 had only to pay for my Horses. This 
 gentleman seems not to be a niggard of any 
 thing he has, and treated me with much ci- 
 vility and friendfhip. 
 
Method of finding out Bees in the Woods. 
 
 In autumn, a man sets out to a distance from 
 any habitations, takes with him his Dog for 
 a companion, and his gun, as no man is safe 
 in the woods without bothj a blanket to lie 
 on at night, a tomahawk, Bees 'wax, vermi- 
 lion, a pocket compafs, a watch, and a little 
 honey. He proceeds in the woods until he 
 comes to the largest growth of timber he can 
 find i there he stops and puts up a little fire ; 
 on a flat stone in this fire, he puts a little Bees 
 wax, and on another stone hard by, he drops a 
 little honey ; around this honey he sprinkles ver- 
 milion; he then takes hisstandatalittledistance, 
 and is sure if there arc any Bees in the neigh- 
 bourhood, the smell of burnt Bees wax will at- 
 tract them. As soon as they come, they begin 
 to drink of the honey, and on their approach, 
 they unavoidably tinge themselves with some 
 particles of the vermilion, which adheres a 
 long time to their bodies and wings. He 
 next fixes his compals to find out their course, 
 which they keep invariably stfeight when 
 
 
t 259 1 
 
 they are returning home loaded. By the 
 ^ afsistance of his watch, he observes how long 
 those who are marked with vermilion are of 
 returning. Thus pofsefsed of the course, and 
 in some measure the distance, which he can 
 easily guefs at, he then follows the first that 
 comes, and seldom fails of coming to the tree 
 where they are lodged ; this he marks, and 
 takes his own time to cut it down. It is as- 
 ■ tonilhing what a quantity of honey some of 
 those trees will contain. 
 
 By this patient method, near a dozen of 
 hives have been discovered in a season by 
 one person. 
 
 It is said. Bees never cast or swarm until 
 there be not room enough for them in the 
 body of the tree. Bears are very destruc- 
 live to the hives, where they can come at 
 them. The trees are for the most part cut 
 down with a saw, to prevent the Bees from 
 ndaiili being disturbed by the chopping of the axe. 
 Jes* In the house in which I now am, there is 
 
 itte’ a large trunk of a tree, said to contain as 
 
 much as half a dozen of ordinary hives, stand- 
 on to ing by the side of the wall within. 
 
 nsel«' THE25th, I setout from Onandago. Crofsed 
 
 ifliidi this fine valley of about a mile broad, and 
 
 jBJfj fell in with a man going the same route all 
 
 the way to Albany, who was somewhat 
 . $ 1 ^ acquainted in the way. Ascended a hill 
 
r 260 j 
 
 thinly clad with wood, mostly white oak 
 which I observed is light timber, and thin’ 
 
 ly scattered every where. grows on 
 light soils. There were some new habitations 
 here and there in the hill as we came along- 
 and for the first eighteen miles, I hardly saw 
 a stone that was not of the lime kind. Here 
 for the first eight miles, fine grazing f,™, 
 could be made at very little ezpence, as the 
 wood IS so thm as tp require very little clear- 
 ing. In the remainder of tfie way to Cano- 
 waga, the wood was close, abounding with 
 maple. Stopped at the house of an Indi- 
 an who keeps a tavern. This man, how soon 
 e understood I had come from Canada, 
 made no hesitation, when the American, my 
 travelling companion, was not present, to dis- 
 close his mind to me. Made many inqui- 
 ries about the Canadian Indians ; and if any 
 of them M^ere going to the southward next 
 summer ; meaning if they were going to war, 
 along with the southern Indians, against the 
 Americans ; and added, whether they did or 
 not, that many Indians from this part of the 
 country would ; which fhows how ill disposed 
 they are towards the Americans, notwith- 
 standing of their living in their territories, 
 and their attachment and good wilhes to- 
 wards the Britilh. This Indian was a smart 
 handsome fellow, spoke good Englift, kept a 
 
4 
 
 3S^.., 
 
 k 
 
 ft:, 
 
 :oiti 
 
 tkiE 
 
 iflOig 
 
 WtE 
 
 (!»,£ 
 
 DlllBE' 
 
 i 
 
 bili 
 
 mniii 
 
 [ 261 1 
 
 good house and accommodation for the pub- 
 lic. With an Indian in this village I saw a 
 beautiful Peacock. Proceeded on our jour- 
 ney ,~-crofsed the Onido river, and arrived af- 
 ter nightfall at the Indian village of that 
 name, situated on a spacious flat plain, and 
 put up at the house of an Indian who kept a 
 tavern. Here there was a beautiful young 
 woman, half blood. Her hair, eyes, and eye- 
 brows jet black, and Ikin milk white. She 
 and her hulband slept in the far end of the 
 house. An old squaw slept in a bed near the 
 fire, where I and my servant were stretched on 
 the bare floor, with our soles to the fire. After 
 we had lain down to rest, a drunken Indian 
 came in, made a hideous noise, leaping and 
 capering about, which made me fear he 
 would fall down or trample on my head. 
 After continuing a while in this way, he 
 sprung into bed with the old squaw, who did 
 not seem to feel so warm as he did ; made a 
 noise, got out of bed, and sat by us at the 
 fire side. Her gallant soon followed; on 
 which (he returned to bed, where he still pur- 
 sued her ; and in this way the farce was kept 
 up for some time, alternately leaping in and 
 out of bed, until the Indian in the other 
 end of the house got up and turned him 
 out of the house, and freed us all of this dis- 
 atgreeable guest. 
 
C 262 ] 
 
 Here I got good hay for my Horses. 4 
 little Canadian Frenchman, who lives always 
 with this family, served as an interpreter. ^ 
 
 March 25. Set out from Onido; breakfast, 
 
 ed at Whitestown, a new settlement ; from 
 
 thence to Fort Scouler; from that to German 
 Flats town, where we put up that night. In 
 the country about Fort Scouler and German 
 Flats town, the Mohawkes and six Indian na, 
 tions lived prior to the last war. 
 
 The 26th, after riding a few miles farther 
 on, I came up to the head of the German 
 Flats, a spacious plain, of a triangular form, 
 two miles broad, through which the Mohawke’ 
 river slowly glides, principally inhabited by 
 Germans, who still retain their primitive lam 
 guage. I heard a great deal of the industry of 
 these people, but saw little of it, as the plains 
 and flats on each side of the river are only 
 cultivated, and not an acre of the rising 
 ground adjoining these flats to be seen clear; 
 whereas, with a little attention, the woods be, 
 hind their houses, if cleared, would make' 
 good pasture for their cattle; but they seem- 
 ed to be contented with what their grandfathers 
 had done, and will not be at the trouble to 
 clear more. And yet their stock is but small ; 
 
 I have not seen above half a dozen of milk 
 Cows about any one house as I came along. 
 
 
I CALLED at Colonel Campbell’s house, and 
 delivered my letters, and understood that if 
 I was to stay a week, I Ihould have free quar- 
 ters ; but as it was pretty early in the morn- 
 ing, and I did not choose to lose time, set 
 out on my journey. Lodged that night at a 
 ferry. The ice came so thick down the river, 
 that it could not be crolsed. The land thin 
 and stony, particularly on the east side of the 
 road. 
 
 The 27th, crofsed the river early in the 
 
 morning. Breakfasted at Captain — -’s 
 
 house, who kept a tavern, and where I got re- 
 markably fine oats for my Horses ; I do not 
 know that ever I saw any to exceed, and rare- 
 ly to equal them. He said the seed was but 
 twice sown since it came from England, and 
 that w'hen standing it was about six feet high ; 
 rhat, but for a storm that happened two or 
 three weeks before it was cut, which battered 
 it to the ground, he supposed he would have 
 forty buftiels for every one sown ; and not- 
 withstanding of that, and what it suffered, he 
 hoped it would turn out twenty fold. The 
 plains on each side of the river are but small, 
 and the land back from that thin, stony, and 
 mountainous. The thaw having come on, with 
 a little rain and south wind, the ice gave way 
 in some parts of the river ; in other parts it 
 stopped and dammed up the water, which 
 
[ s64 3 
 
 overflowed the whole flats, and when it siib. 
 sided, left the lands covered with large junks 
 and flakes of ice, which obstructed our way 
 and made it tedious and disagreeable to get 
 through. My fellow traveller said that the 
 road led through a certain field, then covered 
 with water ; and as we supposed it not deep, 
 we puflied on to the far end of it, when we 
 found a creek in front which we could not 
 get over; but before we got back to where 
 we entered the field, the flood made so ftst 
 that my Horse had to swim two or three 
 strokes before we got to dry land ; and af- 
 ter getting through a rugged woody preci- 
 pice, we made out a public house, kept by 
 a German, where we put up to refrelh our- 
 selves and feed our Horses. The landlady, 
 a young, chearful, well looking woman, hear- 
 ing from my fellow traveller, and judging 
 by mine and servant’s language, that we were 
 Scotch, accosted me in Gaelic, and alked if I 
 understood that language ; when I answered 
 in the affirmative, flie seemed very happy. 
 The whole family and other strangers that 
 were there, all Dutch, looked with amazement 
 on hearing her and me converse in an un- 
 known language. 
 
 She was born in this country, of Scotch 
 Highland parents, of the name of Fraser, from 
 Straherrick. I knew two uncles of her’s 
 
 
■1 
 
 iineij 
 
 I 
 
 toiv 
 
 nigt;- 
 piiik 
 Ml i|r 
 orsti k 
 ootiij'i 
 ivels!,: 
 giiaf 
 jaelltL 
 
 tJieriffi 
 
 )Dversi: 
 
 
 [ 265 ] 
 
 Captains of that name in Canada who were 
 extremely obliging to me when there. 
 
 After leaving this place, I encountered 
 still greater rilks, crofsing small log bridges 
 over ditches, that were afloat with the flood, 
 In one of these my horse fell twice through, 
 and I had to wade up to the middle, alter- 
 nately in snow and water ; and endeavouring 
 to return, night came on before we could 
 extricate ourselves out of this difliculty ; and 
 had not a farmer seen us, who lived hard by, 
 and had the humanity to come down to the 
 water side to direct us what way to hold, it is 
 hard to say how we might have fared. We at 
 length made out this man’s house, where we 
 staid that night. He entertained us very 
 hospitably, and with much civility, and char- 
 ged but moderately, though he was a Dutch- 
 man. He said he had only come two years * 
 ago from the Jersies,— held his farm on fliares, 
 that is to give the landlord half the produce, 
 deliverable on the ground where it grevr. 
 The landlord is obliged to furnifli half the 
 seed, and to manufacture his own quota, viz^ 
 the one half. He told me he sowed about forty 
 bulhels of wheat and rye last year, and that 
 the return would be about fifteen seeds. 
 
 The up-land in this neighbourhood is poor, 
 ^nd but from the great salubrity of the climate 
 
 LI, 
 
f 266 ] 
 
 the produce must be in proportion. It is but 
 drofs in comparison to the soil of Cana- 
 da. Here the land, both high and low, « 
 thin soil, sandy, stony, and hilly. 
 
 March 29. Set out from the farmer’s 
 house who relieved us the preceding night 
 from the swamps and creeks, occasioned by 
 the overflowing of the river, and breakfas- 
 ted at a miller’s house, a jolly Dutchman, 
 who directed me to Albany-Bulh, near 
 New Johnstone, where many of my coun- 
 trymen resided, eight miles north of the 
 Mohawke river. I was sorry 1 could not con- 
 veniently go to Cherry Valley, but was fhown 
 where it lies, twelve miles south of the Mo- 
 hawke ; which I could easily see from a rising 
 ground as I went along to New Johnstone. 
 In this village I dined and baited my Horses, 
 
 ' and called on a Mr John Grant, who keeps 
 a store, and has a potafli work, and explained 
 the whole apparatus of it. From this place 
 I proceeded to the house of a John M‘Vean, 
 with whom I had been well acquainted in 
 Scotland before he left that country, and 
 was much trusted and employed by myself; at 
 first sight he thought he knew me, but I 
 addrefsed him in the German language, which 
 if not spoken, is partly understood by every 
 one in this neighbourhood ; this disconcerted 
 him much, and made him suppose that he 
 
 
1 
 
 inCK 
 
 t. F: 
 eoh'f 
 
 
 [ 267 ] 
 
 had been mistaken ; I afked him in that lan- 
 guage if his name was M‘Vean, and if he 
 understood German; he answered in En- 
 glilh, that his name was M‘Vean, but the 
 devil a word of German he could speak. I 
 then alked him in the same language, if Mr 
 M‘Vean could speak Gaelic, he understood 
 me well, and said he could speak Gaelic ; and 
 instantly turned about to his wife, and said 
 in that tongue, seemingly with a great deal 
 of surprise in his countenance^ that he never 
 saw any one so like the head forester of 
 Mamlorn, (by which appellation I was well 
 known in that country,) as that Dutchman 
 was. At length, after some conversation in this 
 way, with a great deal of surprise on his part, 
 and amusement on mine, I discovered my- 
 self, by alking “ What would you say if it was 
 the forester himself?” ‘ In troth I believe it is,’ 
 said he ; of which discovery we were both e- 
 qually happy. I staid that night with my 
 friend M‘Vean ; and next morning, his wife 
 often reminded the children to look after 
 the Cows, and take care they fliould not steal 
 into the bulh ; even the endlefs forests are 
 here termed the bufh. I afked why ftie was so 
 anxious about the Cows getting into the bufh ; 
 and if fhe was afraid they would stray and 
 could not be got. “ By no means, (said fhe,) 
 but they are so fond of the sap of the sugar tree. 
 
' [ 268 3 
 
 that one drunk out of the trough that held 
 it, until (he died of it. 
 
 March 30. Hearing that a daughter’ofmy 
 friend Mr McIntyre of Glenoe, the chief of 
 that name, resided in the neighbourhood, I 
 directed my course towards her house, and 
 found that fhe and her hufband, a smart de- 
 cent young man of the same name, lived ve- 
 ry happdy on a fine farm he had lately pur- 
 chased. Here I took up my head quarters 
 while I staid in these parts, and was enter- 
 tained with a great deal of friendfhip and 
 hospitality by both. Mr M'Intyre is to erect 
 a grist mill, on a creek well adapted for that 
 purpose, that intersects his farm. He has 
 entered into partnerfliip with a merchant of 
 New York, by whose afsistance he is also to 
 commence a potafli work. Great quantities 
 of pot and pearl afhes are made in this dis- 
 trict, much to the advantage both of the far- 
 mer and manufacturer, as it pays the farmer 
 the whole expence of cutting, gathering, 
 clearing, and burning the woods, in his 
 land, and the latter has the profit of the 
 making and the sale. These are advantages 
 they do not enjoy in upper Canada, as the 
 merchants do not deal in that article j so that 
 the farmers get no sale for their afhes, of 
 course they, gather none excepting for mak- 
 ing soap for family use. Among my countr)'- 
 
 
t 269 ] 
 
 men here, I have seen many .acres of newly 
 cleared land, of which they told me the alhes 
 paid the whole expences. The soil is pretty 
 good, but stony, the situation high, and the 
 ground uneven, full of knolls, with very few 
 level spots to be found in it. The farmers 
 seem to be at more pains to clear and cul- 
 tivate the knolls, than the dales, the former 
 being more productive for the first years, 
 whereas the latter are too rich, and fhoot out 
 more rank in straw than in grain ; but in 
 progrefs of time, there is little doubt but they 
 will change their system of farming, and 
 give a preference to the latter. The knolls, 
 they say, are better adapted for wheat, peas, 
 and potatoes ; the dales for Indian corn, hemp, 
 and hay. They scarce make any use of dung, 
 but leave it in heaps about their doors. Barn, 
 stable, and Cow house are under the same 
 roof. The wood is neither thick nor leafy, and 
 chiefly consists of maple, pine, hemlock, and 
 beech. The Wolves were here very trouble- 
 some, but now that the inhabitants have 
 got Slow Hounds, the Wolves are banifh- 
 ed. 
 
 The Scotch inhabitants in this neighbour- 
 hood, hearing that I had come to Mr M’ln- 
 tyre’s house, came from all quarters to wel- 
 come me, and invite me to their houses. I ac- 
 cepted many of their invitations, and found 
 
the pebple in general well lodged and pofsefo 
 ed of every necefsary accommodation. They 
 live in intimacy and friendfliip with each o- 
 ther ; and in every political afsembly carry 
 any point they can agree about, and elect one 
 of their own number to afsefs them with the 
 taxes necefsary for supporting the State. The 
 manner of raising these taxes is as equitable 
 as can be. Congrefs afsefses every province 
 with a proportional quantum ; the legislative 
 council of the province lays a stated propor- 
 tion on every district ; the people of the dis- 
 trict on a certain day afsemble, and one man^ 
 well acquainted with thd ability of every in- 
 habitant, is elected to subdivide the quota 
 among them; these afsefsors are put upon 
 oath to do justice between man and man, and 
 to proportion the burden according to 
 their abilities and stock. Tax gatherers are 
 next appointed to collect the money, who are 
 accountable to the Treasury of the province 
 for their intromifsions. I was present at one 
 of their meetings ; their proceedings were re- 
 gular, but took up more time than was ne- 
 cefsary. Near the village of New Johnstone 
 is the seat of the late famous Sir William 
 Johnstone, Baronet, of w'hom the inhabitants 
 speak to this day with the highest gratitude 
 and respect. He died a year or tw'o before 
 the breaking out of the war. He was a man of 
 
] 
 
 laitss,^ 
 
 fsefe:>-. 
 
 ' 7 -‘ 
 
 sefsois; 
 snnuE 
 irdea ! 
 
 Tai 
 tki 
 urr of; 
 'rasp 
 rocdiif 
 timilii 
 o/fe, 
 ®usii‘ 
 nuietf 
 Hjifsp 
 irofi^' 
 fie# 
 
 [ 271 ] 
 
 unbounded power in this part of the country. 
 Affability and generosity were his distinguifh- 
 ed qualities. He had a large, property in 
 land, and was to the Indians, as well as to 
 the Scotch inhabitants, a father and a friend. 
 To him they looked up for relief in all their 
 distrefses and wants. He kept a squaw *, sis- 
 ter to the famous Captain Joseph Brant, by 
 whom he had several children, male and fe- 
 male, now in life, to each of whom he 
 bequeathed at his death 1500I. besides leav- 
 ing a large sum to the mother, who now lives 
 at Niagara. It is said the sons are somewhat 
 wild, savour a little of the Indians, but that the 
 daughters have the mild dispositions and man- 
 ners of the Europeans. One of them is well 
 married. I have often been in her house, and 
 very genteelly entertained. She is the best 
 dancer I think I have ever seen perform. 
 Her hulband, a particular friend and coun- 
 tryman of my own, is surgeon to the Indian 
 Department m the district of Nafsa, with a sa- 
 lary of about 20g1. a-year from Government. 
 To crofs the breed of every species of crea- 
 tures is deemed an advantage, but I am con- 
 vinced it can be to none more than to the 
 human species ; as I do not remember to have 
 seen an instance where a white man and an 
 Indian woman did not produce handsome 
 
 * Now called old Mifs Molly. 
 
and well looking children : thousands of ex, 
 amples of this kind might be given. The fa, 
 mous and handsome Captain David, and the 
 present Mr Brant, afford striking instances of 
 this kind, and of whom I have spoken al- 
 ready in another place*. 
 
 They retain the exprefsive features, the fine 
 large black eyes, hair, and eyebrows of the 
 Indian, with a much fairer tint of Ikin, which 
 are easily discernible to the third genera- 
 tion, if not longer. 
 
 Sir Willi A ivr lived in great splendour in 
 this place. In his family were slaughtered loo 
 fat Hogs and twenty-four Oxen annually, and 
 every thing else was in proportion. 
 
 Sir William was wont to say that he was 
 born in Ireland, but that his father, when a 
 boy, came from Glencoe, in Scotland ; and that 
 he deemed himself of that country. The 
 Johnstones, or as they are called in the Gaelic 
 language, the M‘Ians of Glencoe, now M‘Do- 
 nalds, were anciently a very warhke race, and 
 in times of barbarism not the least so of their 
 neighbours ; but it is somewhat singular that 
 scarce a one of them who left their country 
 early in life, and ifsued out into the world to 
 pufh their fortunes, but made a distinguiflied 
 figure in it. Their vein of poetry was such 
 
 ^ The greatest warriors, and most conspicuous characters 
 among the southern Indians, now at war with the Aiueiicans^ 
 are half blood. 
 
1 
 
 
 
 i;;.' 
 
 Ulilj- 
 
 JMF:;^ 
 
 lurka 
 
 3Dt ttS! 
 
 .inScii 
 
 tiait! 
 
 ;caik 
 
 Glencf. 
 
 ‘IjUi 
 
 :tkte 
 
 oldtk 
 t into 
 ideafe 
 
 ' COBJpi^'' 
 
 [ 273 1 
 
 tllat any one of them who could not com- 
 pose extempore in rhyme, was deemed a bye 
 leap; but that practice, which was then much 
 in use, and ihone very conspicuous in them, 
 is now discontinued, and their genius in that 
 line is no better than others. 
 
 Sir William had the distribution of the 
 king’s gratuities and stores to the Indians, 
 and his manner of ifsuing them was very 
 different from what is now practised. 
 
 When an Indian came for his presents, he 
 was carried into the store* and allowed to 
 choose for himself, which pleased him mighti- 
 ly, and he often went off with a few trinkets of 
 little value. At present I have seen saddles, 
 bridles, given to Indians, who never had 
 crofsed a Horse, and many other things gi- 
 ven in the same way ot as little utility to them; 
 and the first use the pofsefsers made of them, 
 was to dispose of them to the first bidder at 
 half value. 
 
 .Sir William was so remarkably beloved, 
 that if he had been in life when the war 
 broke out, it was supposed the whole inhabi- 
 tants of the back parts of the province of 
 New York would have risen in arms along 
 with him. 
 
 His son. Sir John, was more distant, and 
 not so affable in hiS manners, and of course 
 was not so well liked ; however, the greatest 
 
 MM 
 
r 274 3 
 
 part of the young Scotch settlers, besides 
 some Irifli and Germans, adhered to his for- 
 tunes; and he raised a corps of the smartest 
 liveliest, and most useful troops in the Briti/h 
 service. Their sufferings were very great- 
 they were often obliged to eat Horses, Dogs’ 
 and Cats, and yet were never heard to com-' 
 plain, if they could distrefs their enemies. 
 They and the Indians went hand in hand; 
 former^ led on by asonofCoIonelBut- 
 ^ gallant young officer, who was killed 
 ^ war ; and the latter by the intrepid 
 
 Captain Brant; 
 
 This chosen corps, — this band of brothers, 
 was rarely known to be worsted in any lldr- 
 inifh or action, though often obliged to re- 
 tire, and betake themselves to the wildernefs, 
 when superior force Came against them. 
 
 Sir John’s corps and Butler’s rangers were 
 very distrefsing to the back settlers; their 
 advances and retreats were equally sudden 
 and astonifhing ; and to this day the Ameri- 
 cans say, they might as easily have found out 
 a parcel of Wolves in the woods, as them, 
 if they once entered it; That the first notice 
 of their approach, wms them in sight ; and 
 of their retreat, their being out of reach. 
 These two bodies were chiefly made up of 
 Indians and Scotch Highlanders, who adher- 
 ed closely to their country’s cause, and such of 
 
[ 275 1 
 
 them as survived the .war, are now settled in 
 k Canada. I have known many of them, 
 
 [j both officers and soldiers ; and the account 
 .. they gave of the fatigue and sufferings they 
 underwent, is hardly credible, were it not 
 confirmed by one and all of them. 
 
 ' March 31. Here I was informed that 
 my old friend Angus Cameron, who had ser- 
 ved me for several years in the capacity of 
 under forester, when I had the charge of the 
 fine Deer forest of Mamlorn, was living in 
 that neighbourhood. He was a very smart 
 lively young fellow when with me, and for 
 whom I had a particular regard ; and I well 
 knew that he always entertained the same 
 sentiments for me ; I therefore resolved to 
 set out for his house before he ffiould hear 
 of my being in this country, in order to en- 
 joy the pleasure of taking him by surprise. As 
 he had not seen me for near twenty years, 
 I judged he would not know me at first 
 sight. 
 
 He pofsefses a farm of about 156 acres of 
 very good land, all his own property, with 
 grain, utensils, and cattle in proportion. Mr 
 M‘Intyre was good enough to go along with 
 me, and to tell Cameron that I was a Dutch- 
 man from the Mohaw'ke Flats, come to in- 
 quire if he had any Oxen to dispose of. 
 
C 276 ] 
 
 A LARGE fur cap I had brought from Ca 
 nada, and had on at the time, disguised 
 so much in the eyes of my friend, that he 
 supposed me to be a Frenchman or a Dutch- 
 man. I accosted him in German, and aiked 
 him if he had any oxen to dispose of He said 
 that I must change my tongue, and speak to 
 him in Engliih or Lochaber German, otherwise 
 he would give me no answer. Mr Mdntyre 
 afked him in Gaelic, if he knew me; he an- 
 swered, not ; “ Why then, (says the o’rher,) he 
 says he knows you.” ‘ The fellow is a d-. d 
 liar, (says Cameron,) he never saw me in his 
 life ; but let him be what he will, he speaks 
 more languages than one.’ On saying this he 
 put on such a curious inquiring face, that I 
 could not help smiling, which he observed, 
 and then came up to me and examined my 
 clothes and took off my cap, and knew me ; 
 a discovery at which we both exprefsed equal 
 pleasure. 
 
 Here I staid that night, and talked over 
 our adventures in the forest of Mamlorn, and 
 how many fatiguing days and nights we had 
 spent ii3 the bare mountains and Ihealings 
 of Scotland, where we slept wrapped up in our 
 j^iaids ; the cnaces we had with two tine large 
 Heer Gray Hounds I kept, and the Deer we 
 had killed ; at which my friend sighed deeply, 
 and said, he withed he had been still in these 
 
[ 277 1 
 
 hills. It is not a little singular that this man, 
 who, while in Scotland, never handled an 
 axe, spade, plough, or had done any sort o 
 work, but go about with his gun, fhould to- 
 tally lay it aside, and betake himself to the 
 necefsary occupations of a farmer when he 
 
 came to this country ; and notwithstanding 
 ^ % 
 game being plenty about him, never fired a 
 
 ihot at a Deer but one since he came to Ame- 
 rica. Very fortunate for him he did so ; for 
 he now makes out very well, and enjoys abun- 
 dance of the comforts of life on his own pro- 
 perty, from which, he says, no other can 
 dispofsefs him. His wife and children told 
 me, that he often cursed the country, be- 
 cause there was no rain in it ; that when a 
 plump fhower happened to fall, he would run 
 out of the house, stand under it until he 
 would get drenched to the fkin, and say what 
 a pleasant thing rain was. Among other old 
 stories, he reminded me of a time wc had 
 •been in the forest, and night coming on, we 
 retired to an uninhabited hut, where we were 
 in use of keeping a small chest of provisions, 
 for the benefit of such of us as fhould be un- 
 der the necefsity of pafsing the night in the 
 mountains, and rising before day, to inter- 
 cept the Deer before they fhould get into 
 the nursery or sanctuary, to which they al- 
 ways retired early every morning during the 
 
r 578 I 
 
 hunting season. At this time there happened 
 to be no provision in our little magazine, ex- 
 cepting a small portion of oat meal ; and as 
 we had not fhot any thing that day, we had 
 recourse to it. I desired Cameron to bake a 
 couple of oaten cakes for us to eat ; he swore 
 he never baked one in his life, notwith- 
 standing his being bred from his cradle in the 
 wildest forest and mountains of Lochaber. 
 I insisted on his trying it, as otherwise we 
 must fast. He at length with much reluctance 
 did, but to no purpose ; he went so aukwardly 
 to work, that I thought I could do better 
 myself; I therefore begun, but could not 
 make it out. We alternately set to work, 
 but with no better succcfs ; so that we were, 
 after all our endeavours, obliged to eat our 
 meal in dough, without ever beingput toafire. 
 It however served us for the time, and when 
 our repast w^as over, we threw ourselves down 
 on a sort of bed of heath, and slept as soundly 
 as if on down. Got up by the dawn, ascend- 
 ed the hills before it w^as clear day, and at sun 
 riseeachhadfliota fine Hart ; Cameron wound- 
 ed another, which our Gray Hounds run down 
 and caught. The best of these was sent to iny 
 constituent, the Lord of the Manor, the second 
 to his factor or steward, and the third I re- 
 served for myself. In this way I spent seven 
 years of my youth, and prime of my li^i 
 
r 279 1 
 
 void of all care but that of my charge, which 
 indeed was more a pleasure than a trouble to 
 me. On the eighth I gave it up, on a slight 
 misunderstanding with the factor, who I am 
 very far from suggesting was more to blame 
 than myself ; and from his high honour and 
 worth, great understanding and personal 
 qualifications, I have been always more ap;: to 
 think the fault must have been more on mine 
 than his side of the question ; but a few years 
 thereafter, the same thing happened to 
 himself, on some misunderstanding with his 
 noble constituent, of whose ancestors he was 
 lineally descended, and whose family he had 
 served through a long period of fifty years in 
 the same station, with equal honour to him- 
 self and benefit to his employers, and to the 
 regret of his numerous acquaintances, many 
 of whom wgre of the first rank and charac- 
 ter, excepting one lady, which tempts me to 
 use the words of the poet*. 
 
 It, however, was fortunate for me that I re- 
 moved. The change of situation made me al- 
 ter my idle mode of life. I betook myself to 
 farming, traded a little by sea and land, by 
 which I made out so well as now to be ena- 
 bled to give up all businefs, and gratify a 
 pgifsion for travelling, and seeing as much of 
 the world as my little finances will admit of. 
 
 * Mankind, sinct Adam, have been woman’s fools, 
 
 Women, since Eve, are still the devil’s tools. 
 
[ 28o ] 
 
 April 2. This being the day appointed 
 for electing their afsefsors and tax gatherers, 
 I went along with them to New Johnstone, 
 where I saw between fifty and sixty Scotch- 
 men afsembled there on that occasion. They 
 were happy to see one so lately come from 
 their native country ; brought me along with 
 them to a public house, where we spent the 
 evening. Some were drefsed in their High- 
 land plaids and bonnets. They were much 
 surprised at the account they heard of the 
 rise of rents in their mother country ; and 
 aiked why the people had not come over 
 here rather than submit to be over-rated. 
 They blefsed their stars that they had left 
 Scotland, while they had something left to 
 pay their way. Even my friend Cameron, 
 who was with us, regretted only that he 
 wanted the beautiful sight of the Highland 
 hills, considering the happy days he had 
 spent among them in his youth. There was 
 scarcely any oiie of them who did not invite 
 me to their houses, to some of which I went 
 and spent five or six days among them very 
 agreeably. They in general pofsefs lands of 
 their own, and live comfortably and happy. 
 As the soil is inferior to that of Upper Canada, 
 I recommended to them to go to that country* 
 and told them they would be much happier 
 there under the Britifli government. Many 
 
iip of them said they had heard so from almost 
 i|t every person; and that they had a mind to 
 iji go and see it, as they could get their farms 
 itj here disposed of, and could get lands there 
 i». for nothing. Some of them had very fine or- 
 [i chards, and made a great deal of cyder. Here 
 - it was that I first saw a cyder mill in this 
 country. 
 
From the Mohawke River to New York, 
 
 April 6. I set out from Mr M'Intyre’s 
 house in Albany-Bufli, within two miles of 
 New Johnstone, and proceeded by the north 
 side of the Mohawke river, through much 
 barren, sandy, and stony soil, in which, how- 
 ever, there were many orchards. I saw one 
 large spot of about six acres, planted with 
 young fruit trees, so sandy and barren to ap- 
 pearance, that I %vas surprised it could answer 
 the purpose. I put up at a house on that 
 side the river, about twenty-five miles from 
 that I had left in the morning. The coun- 
 try here is hilly on both sides, a little way 
 out from the river. 
 
 April 7. Crofsed the river in a flat bot- 
 tomed boat to Skenectedy, a small town built 
 on the south banks of the Mohawke river, 
 seventeen miles higher up than Albany. The 
 town consists of several hundred houses, some 
 of w^ood, and others of brick, with some 
 regular streets, merchants and tradesmens 
 i^ops, and but little trade. The country 
 

 [ 283 1 
 
 5s, ciose to it as barren as can well be, and pro^* 
 ducing little besides a few stinted fir and 
 pine trees. From this town to the half way 
 house, a stretch of ten miles, all a poor san- 
 !ii; dy bottom. 
 
 Here I fell in with General Peter Ganswarth, 
 and rode in company with him to Albany ; 
 a stout handsome man, who is High Sheriff of 
 the place. He told me that the land on 
 ' each side the sandy ridge we had come along 
 from Skenectedy is good, and the country 
 ‘ well settled. I put up at the city tavern, the 
 sign of the Arms of the United States. 
 
 I STAID here two days. The city of Albany 
 is about a mile long, stretched on the west 
 
 ■ side of Hudson’s river, a few miles below 
 
 ■ where the Mohawke falls into it. The hous- 
 ^ es are mostly of brick, many of them very 
 * neat, but not high built. They have a new 
 
 built goal, that is handsome, and even elegant, 
 S' and strong ; it is the most fhowy building 
 about the place. 
 
 ft From this city are exported to New York, 
 t annually, a great deal of grain, lumber, pot, 
 l)t and pearl afhes. 
 
 The flats on the banks of the river are a- 
 Jk bout a mile over, and are now overflowed 
 b with frefhets, which is the case every spring, 
 jff They have about thirty sloops belonging to 
 t the town, and some scows with sails, that 
 
C 284 ] 
 
 Kvill carry 6 ach two thousand bufhels of 
 wheat. On the river side, there are seve- 
 ral wharfs, where vefsels of upwards of 100 
 tons may load and unload. The whole 
 inhabitants of the back parts of the wide 
 and extensive province of New York, and part 
 of the new State of Vermont, send the pro- 
 duce of their land to this town, where they 
 are supplied with merchant goods, and all the 
 necefsaries they want ; and as these countries 
 are fast settling, this city in a little time must 
 be a place of considerable export and import, 
 
 The city is built very irregularly on the 
 side of a sloping hill, in some parts steep, and 
 full of gullets. It has one fine broad street well 
 paved, that runs about half way through the 
 middle of the town, but the buildings on 
 each side have not the least uniformity. 
 
 The soil sandy, and thinly timbered with 
 poor pine and miserable oak. At the city 
 tavern I fell in with a Mr John M'Intyre, a 
 Scotchman, lately married to the daughter of 
 a rich merchant in New York, who owns 
 some salt springs, and a large tract of land in 
 the Genesee country. 
 
 This gentleman invited me to his house, 
 which was on my way to New York, and I 
 chearfully accepted of his invitation. 
 
April 9. I went along with Mr M‘Intyre 
 from Albany to his house, twenty-five miles 
 below that place. The land as we came along 
 was in most parts barren, thin, and sandy, ex- 
 cepting one small valley, through which a small 
 river glided slowly along, like what we call 
 the strath of a glen in Scotland, with low hills 
 on each side. This is a beautiful spot, and 
 abounds with fruit trees and orchards. After 
 pafsing this valley. We ascended a high hill, 
 of a thin and stony soil, partly clear and in- 
 habited, and which commands a fine pro- 
 spect of the country all around. Near the 
 summit of this hill, where four roads meet, is 
 Mr MTntyre’s house, with his store and pot- 
 alh work. The farmers carry their alhes to 
 the store, for which they are paid at the rate 
 of one fliilling, York currency, per bufliel. 
 Here I staid two or three days, and Mr MTn- 
 tyre was good enough to go along with me 
 to the town of Hudson. On our way thither, 
 1 was surprised to see a good deal of new 
 cleared land, so thin of soil, stony, and bar- 
 ren, as not to seem worth the clearing, and 
 yet he said it would yield good crops for 
 the first years. It however Ihowed, that all 
 the good land in the neighbourhood had been 
 formerly taken up, and that none now re- 
 mained but this kind, which in any other place 
 I had been in, would not have fetched one 
 
V 
 
 [ 286 J 
 
 fliilling thehundred^cres for cultivation; but 
 here land is not to be got without purchase, at a 
 pretty smart rate. Came through one beauti- 
 ful valley of old cleared land, mostly laid out 
 for hay. F rom this valley to the river side op 
 posite to the town of Hudson, is all grafs land 
 cleared for some time back. ' 
 
 Crossed the Ferry to Hudson ; this tom 
 IS now inhabited mostly by New England- 
 men. ^ 
 
 The Catlkill mountains were in view to the 
 westward all this day. They appeared to be 
 high and rugged, and covered to the top 
 with wood. In the town there are some 
 good new brick and timber houses, and se- 
 veral wharfs ; and some vefsels of conside- 
 rable burden are built here annually. The 
 plains on the river side are narrow, being 
 little more than half a mile over, and are just 
 now overflowed by the frelhets. I put up 
 at the principal inn kept by one Gordon. 
 
 There are numbers of Quakers in this 
 neighbourhood. The women of this religion 
 can be easily discovered by the plainnefs of 
 their drefs, — much the same as in Britain. 
 They use nothing gaudy, such as ribbons, 
 lace, yc. to ornament their persons, whereas 
 those of any other persuasion drefs very gay. 
 fa Qiiaker contracts debt that he is unabk 
 to pay, if he is a liar, a drunkard, a cheat, or 
 
•'ItfUt' 
 
 
 IS 
 
 cb 
 
 «• 
 
 :is 
 
 n 
 
 wi, 
 
 te 
 
 DC& 
 
 rff 
 
 Eft 
 
 b'i)! 
 
 iJi: 
 
 ti'i 
 
 L 
 
 lu^ 
 
 t 287 ] 
 
 guilty of any mids^meanour whatever, he is 
 turned out of the community, and no longer 
 deemed a brother, which he considers as the 
 highest punilhment that could have been in- 
 flicted on him. A merchant here told me if 
 a Quaker took goods on credit, and did not 
 pay them about the time he promised, that by a 
 complaint to the Rector, Intendant, or Head of 
 the Society at the place, he would be forced 
 to pay, if it Ihould be with his last penny, and 
 that he would be turned out of the commu- 
 nity in the event he did not. I suppose 
 their religious tenets, in point of morality and 
 decency, to be the best in the world, and they 
 in that respect come nearer the Scotch Pres- 
 byterians, than any other clafs of men what- 
 ever. 
 
 As my Horses were much fatigued, I a- 
 greed with Captain Hatchway, master of the 
 packet to New York, a distance of 130 miles, 
 to carry myself, my servant, and Horses, at a 
 dollar for each Horse, another dollar for my- 
 self, and half a one for my servant, I find 
 ing forage and provisions. And as the vefsel 
 was not to set off till next day, I took a walk 
 to a neighbouring hill, from whence I had a 
 prospect of the country around me, as far as 
 my eye could carry. On the east side I could 
 see the country to be pretty closely inhabi- 
 ted, each farm having a clump of wood by it 
 for fuel. The wood appeared to me to take 
 
[ 288 ] 
 
 up three-fourths of the ground, though it Is an 
 
 old settled country ; and I could discover ten 
 times as much wood on the west side, towards 
 the Catfkill mountains. They have a consi- 
 derable fifliery here, of a sort of Herring, cal- 
 led Ellwives, for two or three weeks in May or 
 Juney and they exported this last year to the 
 W^est Indies, 4000 barrels, all caught in 
 seines. 
 
 This little town flouriflies fast ; and though 
 but of eight years standing, they have re- 
 gular streets and some genteel houses ; and be* 
 longing to the place there are four (hips, fif- 
 teen brigantines, and twelve sloops. I could 
 not find that New York had double that 
 number of square rigged vefsels. The trade 
 of this little town to the West Indies is con- 
 siderable ; they export lumber. Horses, hay, 
 and grain ; and import molafses, of which 
 they make a good deal of Yanky rum. I 
 have seen a vefsel here loaded with hay, 
 bound for Charlestown in South Carolina. I 
 am told the southern provinces are not pro- 
 ductive in that article. 
 
 The 15 th we set sail very early with a 
 quarterly wind. Pafsed several stores said to 
 be full of grain, — Newburgh and New Wind- 
 sor, small villages, where General Walhington 
 had his head quarters during a part of last 
 war. Nine miles below the latter, the high 
 
Aoi* 
 
 Ulij, 
 
 iktti 
 
 'tsliii' 
 
 k 
 
 k 
 
 4 
 
 iiiii 
 
 iil 
 
 si!: 
 
 B,£ 
 
 U 
 
 tbC: 
 
 ft 
 
 Up 
 
 i 
 
 f- 
 
 . ^ 
 
 i 
 
 C 289 1 
 
 lands commence, and they continue for fifteen' 
 or twenty miles more. Here the river enters 
 between high rocks, and precipitate moun- 
 tains, that are bold and rugged to the water’s 
 edge, and to a person in sailing through, 
 forms a wild, romantic, and picturesque scene. 
 After pafsing three or four of these moun- 
 tains, you come to West Point, where the re- 
 mains of several small forts are still to be seen, 
 and the old barracks, occupied by a few' 
 invalids. These forts were built on pointed 
 knolls and rocks, of difficult accefs for cannon 
 to be brought against them. 
 
 The river here is hardly 100 yards broad, 
 but said to be extremely deep. After pafsing 
 West Point, you come to Fort Montgomery, 
 rendered memorable by the death of the brave 
 Colonel Mungo Campbell ; and (as the Ameri- 
 cans say,) by the fall of 1100 Britifh troops 
 along with him. When you pafs Fort Mont- 
 gomery, you arrive at Stony Point, and leave 
 the high lands behind you. A little farther 
 down, the river becomes a mile broad. The 
 country closely inhabited upon the east 
 side. Pafsed Fort Wafhington, and all the 
 other forts on this celebrated river. Oppo- 
 site to Fort Wafhington, is a ridge of a long 
 rugged and precipitate mountain. On our 
 coursedown this river, we pafsed several fine vef- 
 f els, principally sloops, and saw one large sco\y 
 
 0 0 
 
If 
 
 I 290 ■] 
 
 loaded with grain coming down. We out- 
 sailed all the vefsels we fell in with on our 
 pafsage. The captain told us none on the ri- 
 ver could keep up with the packet, that Ihe 
 sailed within four and one half points of the 
 wind. Had a fine view of the country, better 
 it is said than if we had come along the road 
 on either side of the river, and arrived at New 
 York, a little before daylight on the morning 
 of the 1 8th April. 
 
From New York to the Jersies and hack 
 again. 
 
 o offer a description of this town would 
 be idle ; I fhall therefore only say the wharfs 
 were crowded with vefsels, mostly small craft, 
 the markets extremely well supplied with 
 every necefsary of life, and the inhabitants 
 seemed to be doing well, excepting such as 
 suffered by the late great failures occasioned 
 by the speculation of Colonel Dewar and Mr 
 M‘Comb, said to have failed for three mil- 
 lions of dollars. 
 
 Here I was told that the Indians, how soon 
 the spring opened, were daily committing de- 
 predations about Fort Pitt, and the banks 
 of the Ohio ; that t ey had driven so many of 
 those that settled in that part of the country 
 towards the coast, that the lands had risen to 
 an unusual height by the concourse of people 
 that flocked from the back settlements to it ; 
 that by the last accounts they had killed, 
 even that early, 350 of the peaceable inhabi- 
 
[ 292 ] 
 
 tants, including men, women, and children • 
 that two families in particular, which they 
 named, consisting of ten each family, were 
 all killed, not one escaped the slaughter. 
 
 Another gentleman told me that a brother 
 of his was attacked, wounded, and some of 
 his party killed, in a boat going down that ri- 
 ver ; but that they had kept up such a well 
 directed fire against the Indians, as to beat 
 them off and get quit of them ; that for 
 these, and many such reasons, it would be in 
 vain for me to think of going hy the Ohio •, 
 but as I knew I would be better informed at 
 "Philadelphia, I staid but four or five days in this 
 place ; and after seeing every thing about it, 
 said to be worth while, I set out for Philadelphia, 
 Crofsed at Foul’s Hook, and pafsed through the 
 Jersies to Elizabeth Town. Such parts of this 
 province as I have seen, is an old settled close 
 inhabited country, but the soil thin and poor 
 in comparison to that of the back countries. 
 Here I fell in with a Mr Donald Stewart from 
 Appin, who had gone the preceding year, with 
 a fhipload of emigrants from Scotland to North 
 Carolina, where he resided all that winter. He 
 had been for some time in Philadelphia, and 
 afsured me that the accounts there of the de- 
 predations of the Indians in the back countries 
 were every day increasing, and that it was in 
 vain for me to think of going by that routes 
 
t 293 ] 
 
 my hopes and expectations of exploring the 
 back settlements on the Ohio, which my mind 
 i*"** was much bent upon, being now frustrated by 
 Indian war, was a great disappointment; 
 but as I could not now help it, and having no 
 pafsion for going coastwise, arid a vefsel being 
 next day at New York, ready to sail for Bri- 
 tain, in which he was to take his pafsage for 
 Scotland, I resolved to change my route, and 
 ■' return with him to New York. 
 
 While at Elizabeth Town, in the house 
 ^ of Mr Robertson merchant, a Scotchman, 
 his clerk, Mr Mitchel, informed me, that a 
 man who lived a little out from the town, 
 K had the Ikin of an immense large Ser- 
 itfefi pent ; that he was acquainted with him, and 
 plfii would go along with me to see it. We ac- 
 Se cordingly went, and the man who had it was 
 lolj; one Pit, a poor carpenter, who had got the 
 ()ilt!i; Ikin by his wife. Her father bought it for 
 y twenty dollars, and very few in the neighbour- 
 jjjjf hood knew of their having such a curiosity. 
 |j55 The wife having got it from her father, would 
 jy part with it on no account ; and said they 
 kept it always concealed, in hopes that some 
 time or other it would be the means of pro- 
 curing them a livelihood, by going about 
 with it as a fliow, in the event they turned 
 poor and reduced to make use of that lliift 
 , for maintenance.. 
 
[ ‘^94 ] 
 
 Mr Mitchel could not prevail on them to 
 fliow us the Ikin, until he told them that I 
 and Mr Stewart, who was along with me 
 were not natives of this country, and that we 
 were going off that very day for Scotland, 
 and that it would not be heard in this country 
 what we would say of it; for that reason he 
 produced the Ikin, and he and his wife, whose 
 property fhe deemed it to be, gave the fol- 
 lowing account of it. “ That some time af- 
 ter General Bradock’s defeat near Fort Pitt, at 
 the commencement of the last French war in 
 this country, when he himself, and seven or 
 eight hundred men were killed, or rather 
 slaughtered by the French and Indians, 
 (General Walhington was in this action, and 
 is said to have given his opinion decidedly 
 against the mode of procedure,) seven sol* 
 diers were hunting in the woods, and heard 
 a rustling noise descending down a sort 
 of hill hard by them ; they waited to see 
 what it was, as it seemed coming towards 
 them ; at the moment it came in view, it 
 raised its head seven feet from the ground, 
 on which four of them fired, and disabled 
 it from proceeding any farther ; the other 
 three fired afterwards and killed it. When 
 they came up to it, it proved to be an im- 
 mense large Serpent, of the horn kind. They 
 cut it along the back and Ikinned it ; that it 
 
[ 295 1 
 
 ws then twenty-four feet four inches long, 
 ijjji and four feet four inches broad; that the 
 j horn was ten inches long ; but when I saw it 
 ^ it was so Ihrunk in as not to be above twen- 
 ty-two feet long, and about as many inches 
 I broad ; the scales on the lower part of the 
 
 V * j 
 
 1^ belly were very broad, but those on the sides 
 ' and back not larger than a sixpence. It was 
 dark coloured on the back, and light or yel- 
 ■ low on the belly, and much resembled in 
 lhape and colour that of another horn Snake 
 ' I had seen of about seven feet long. The 
 wife told us that it was said an Indian child 
 and Dog were found in its belly.” 
 
 I HAVE not seen any body that ever heard of 
 - a Serpent of its size having been seen in this 
 country. It is pofsible that by living on the 
 carcases of the dead bodies slain in that 
 :ciiE action it became overgrown, and the monster 
 it was when killed. It had the marks of the 
 in' 1 balls in the fkin. 
 
 er i Here I sold one of my Horses at twenty-five 
 Icoi dollars, just the one half of what he cost me. 
 
 The other I sold on my return to New York 
 [5ji; in the same way. 
 
From New York to Frederick Tow. 
 
 JlERE I staid a few days, and as it was ear- 
 lier in the season than I wiftied to return to 
 Scotland, as already said,I proposed to go in the 
 stage to Boston, but was told I might remain 
 there some months before an opportunity would 
 offer from Boston to either St John nr flali- 
 fax ; and a vefsel being just then af New York 
 readj to sail for St John, I embraced that op- 
 portunity as the surest way fpr me, agreed with 
 the master for my pafsage, ^ndon the 30th A- 
 pril stepped onboard, and arrived at St John the 
 1 2th of May. ' I remained there but a few days, 
 when I proceeded up the river St John’s to 
 Frederick Town, and staid at the engineer’s 
 house for a month, waiting a vefsel that was 
 to sail for Britain. 
 
 While in this place I made the following 
 remarks on what I observed while in the States. 
 
 There is reason to suppose that the inha- 
 bitants of New York are more attached to 
 Great Britain, than those of any other part of 
 the American States. A gentleman in that 
 town told me the following instance, of 
 which he was an eye witnefs. Two years 
 ago, a French frugate had put in there, the 
 officers of which waited on the late General 
 
[ 297 ] 
 
 Malcolm, and signified a desire of going to 
 see a play. The General went along with them, 
 and out of complaisance to the officers, re- 
 quested the manager that the musicians 
 fhould play Malbrook, a lively French tune, 
 before the play began. Accordingly th^ 
 band was desired to play that tune. Qn the 
 galleries hearing this, they called out for God 
 Save the King. The General desired the 
 musicians to go on j but in an instant, God 
 Save the King resounded from all parts of the 
 house ; but the General still persisted, which 
 put the house in an uproar, and the musicians 
 were so pelted with apples, oranges, and o- 
 ther things, that their instruments were like 
 to be broken to pieces about their ears. One 
 of them, a German, who got a cut on the brow, 
 went up to the General, and told him in half 
 Englifli half German, “ nat his cop had been 
 slachen, (that is his head broke ;) and swear 
 
 nout, (d d himself,) if he would play any 
 
 more Malbrooks, for all the Tenerals in AmeriqueT 
 The band were compelled to desist, and 
 play God Save the King, which they had 
 no sooner done than the house resumed its 
 tranquillity, and were told, they might now 
 play Malbrook, or any tune they pleased. I 
 observed to him , that it must have been you 
 Tories that began that businefs ; “ By no 
 pieans, (said he,) we would not have taken it 
 
i: 298 j 
 
 upon us ; it all proceeded from themselves •” 
 meaning the Whigs, and old friends of the late 
 rebellion. This was but a sorry instance of 
 their attachment to their French allies. 
 
 I FELL in with several well informed gentle, 
 men in that city, who did not hesitate to say, 
 that they never would be right or easy until 
 connected with Great Britain, in some fliape 
 or other, and the sooner that was brought a* 
 bout the better. 
 
 In this province, and I believe over all the 
 United States, they have more canvafsing in 
 the election of Members to the Provincial 
 Alsemblies, and Congrefs, than prevails in 
 the choice of Members to the House of 
 Commons, in any part of Britain, with polh 
 tical publications, letters, answers, replies, 
 and rejoinders, couched in severe terms a- 
 gainst the opposite party. On these occasions 
 the succefsful candidates who enjoy the e- 
 inoluments of office, extol their indepen- 
 dence ; while the opposite faction reprobateit, 
 particularly the measures pursued; but on 
 account of the fhare they themselves bore in 
 attaining the former, they are more severe 
 on the latter. If the act of parliament refer- 
 red to in the declaration lately publifhed in 
 the American Gazette by Sir John Temple, 
 the Britifh Consul General, takes effect, by 
 putting the old navigation act in force, 
 
f 299 1 
 
 ^hich prohibits any produce of America 
 to be imported into Britifti ports, excep- 
 ting in Britifh bottoms, owned by Brit A 
 subjects, navigated by a Britifti Capmin, 
 and two-thirds of the seamen to be Britifh, 
 under the penalty of confiscation of ftup and 
 cargo, it will disconcert them much, and in- 
 crease the discontent. The interest of the 
 Southern States are so diametrically opposite 
 to that of the Northern ones, that it is not 
 likely their union will be of any long dura- 
 tion. 
 
 The foreign ''ommerce of the Southern 
 Provinces, is already carried on in Britifh bot- 
 toms ; they have no fhipping of their own ex- 
 cepting small craft ; so that thi^ act, though 
 put in force, will not affect them in the least ; 
 while the New England States, who may be 
 justly called maritime,, and are the coasting 
 carriers of the Northern Provinces, and much 
 interested in foreign commerce, will complain 
 much of such a measure, and probably aim 
 at retaliation, by imposing a duty on goods 
 carried in Britifh fhips, equal to a prohibition. 
 
 This matter, like most others, will no doubt 
 be warmly contested in Congrefs j and if the 
 Northern States carry the point, it will be 
 very distrefsing to the Southern ones; but, on 
 the contrary, if they lose it, they may burn 
 their capital fhips, or let them rot in' their 
 docks, and there will be an end, in all pro- 
 
[ 300 ] 
 
 bability, of ever America having a navy. 
 It will be extremely difficult to enact a law 
 congenial to the whole, or strike a medium 
 between them; so that it is probable, ere long, 
 this great empire will be divided into two se- 
 parate Governments and Independent States 
 It Britain fhould foment a misunderstanding 
 of this sort, then would the be umpire be- 
 tween them, and have no cause to regret the 
 lofs of her American colonies ; and be soon 
 reimbursed by their commerce, 'in the treasure 
 the expended in attempting to subdue them ; 
 each state would then court her alliance 
 and friendlhip, and be emulous who Ihould 
 enjoy it most. . 
 
 This matter is not so difficult to bring a- 
 bout as some may suppose. If Britain but 
 gives the proper encouragement to the settle- 
 ment in Upper Canada, by cutting a canal, 
 to avoid the rapids of the river St Laurence, 
 fromJMontreal to Segotchy, and the lower end 
 of the Thousand Islands, the navigation to and 
 from that city may become easy and unexpen- 
 sive ; the settlements would increase with such 
 amazing rapidity, as in a few years to cope 
 with the one hall of America, and make it 
 even difficult for the whole to gain any ad- 
 vantage over it. The situation of Canada is 
 such, stretched along the back parts of almost 
 every province in America, as makes it easy 
 
^ [ 301 1 
 
 y to give afsistance from Detroit, Niagara, 
 Kingston, and Montreal, to whatever corner 
 of the States they choose ; and one or two 
 ^ hundred thousand pounds, I have been well 
 I afsured, would mould that venal court of le- 
 ^ gislators to any fhape fhe pleased. Nor is it 
 easy to foresee the lofs on the part of America, 
 to be thus divided; the contrary seems evident, 
 as it would make the diversity of interests, and 
 '' ' the present unweildy mafs, more compact and 
 reconcileable ; unlefs they may think it would 
 make them weaker and more dependent 
 on their old friends of Great Britain ; who 
 iEi may be presumed, would feel her interest 
 in giving them every advantage in trade , 
 fe-- they pofsibly could expect, more than Ihe 
 . iif gives even to Portugal, the most fatoured 
 nffiji nation, which, it is well known, would have 
 
 ciiii 
 
 pcrii 
 
 nitltt 
 
 wn 
 
 ■JBli' 
 
 ofCis 
 
 jfiiiJi 
 
 been converted into a province of Spain, but 
 for the protection of Great Britain, which 
 might form an interest and friendlhip, tbat 
 nothing fhort of a miracle could difsolve, and 
 by a treaty of offensive and defensive alli- 
 ance, procure independence for, and a free 
 trade to South America ; and thus both coun- 
 tries together, might be enabled to give com- 
 mercial laws to all Europe, “ and confident 
 against the world in arms.” There is not 
 an intelligent man in America, nor do I 
 suppose in Britain, but knows this to be 
 
C 302 ] 
 
 the interest of both nations ; and nothini- 
 but inattention in the ministry of the iatter 
 power, and the blindnefs which the late sue- 
 cefs and independency of the former, keeps 
 them from bringing it about. 
 
 Though several Members of the States, have 
 large personal properties, in negroes, stock, and 
 crops, few have any considerable indepen- 
 dent fortunes, and few, very few indeed, if 
 imy, can boast of having a wool sterling 
 annum, of landed property, payable in caih. 
 The rents are paid mostly in stock and pro- 
 duce 5 so that one and all of them must sell, 
 truck, or barter, and become partly brokers 
 or merchants. The laws of the country 
 make it improbable that ever there ihould 
 be men of considerable landed property a- 
 mong them, as the whole estate, both real 
 and personal, of every individual, is at his 
 death divided among the children, lhare and 
 Hrare alike : when thus parcelled out into small 
 jportions, none can be of great extent, excep- 
 ting when a family are few in number, which 
 rarely happens. 
 
 The virtues and enthusiasm they exhibited 
 in acquiring their independence, have totally 
 subsided, and given way to interest ; perso- 
 nalities, and a taste for grandeur and Ihow 
 tiow prevail ; and Esquire, and Honourable, 
 have taken place of the humbite citizen and 
 
I [ 303 1 
 
 iots; ^ virtuous farmer ; so that they must have eafh 
 tistriii to support their dignities and new acquired 
 uliti), honours in some fhape or other, 
 ftiti If the Britifh ministry had paid half the at- 
 Ixi tentionto this quarter of the world, and expend- 
 Eisijjg; ed the one-third of what they have done in their 
 jnocked pretensions to maintain the balance 
 of power, by supporting the Turks in Europe 
 against Rufsia, they would in all probability 
 , ' have succeeded better, and the public would 
 have been no losers by it ; and if such a 
 sum as 10,329!: 15s, Sterling, voted by 
 ^ ' Parliament for the purchase of merchandise 
 ■ ■ to be given in presents to the inhabitants of 
 Nootka Sound, were to be laid out, and conti- 
 nued annually for a few years, in cutting a 
 canal in Upper Canada, to facilitate the na- 
 vigation of that charming country, the 
 le 6S! public would soon by its commerce feel the 
 flii good effects of it in a tenfold degree, com- 
 cifi pared to that for which the above sum was 
 cfMr intended. 
 
 [reJtffi The forces in Canada are at present as fol-. 
 ini lows, viz. 
 
 Six battalions of regulars, 
 jitiff Ten ditto, Canadian Militia, 
 fiituk Twelve ditto, Britifli and American loy- 
 ijte alists. 
 
 *[ A Corps of Artillery. 
 
 [lldli! 
 
 0 ■ 
 
[ 304 ] 
 
 Five hundred workmen and artificers, re- 
 gularly officered, under military laws and re- 
 gulations, to work at roads, bridges, ijc. 
 brought lately there by Colonel Simcoe, the 
 Governor of the new province of Upper Cana- 
 da ; so that the two provinces will turn out 
 above twenty thousand men in arms on fliort 
 warning, and double that number in cases of 
 emergency. 
 
 If any disturbances arose in the United 
 States in which Britain fhould take a part, and 
 that fhe would as liberally reward such as 
 would join her, as fhe had done on the last 
 occasion, thousands would flock to her stan- 
 dard who were against her before. 
 
 The Britifh dominions in America exceed 
 in extent, the fifteen United States collective- 
 ly, and enjoy almost every climate, but that 
 of the torrid zone. 
 
 The superior fifheries, furs, mast and 
 spar trades of Britifh America, if hands e- 
 nough were in the country to make the 
 proper use of them, might be put in ba- 
 lance with the rice, indigo, and every luxuri- 
 ous article of the States. They have wheat 
 and grain of all kinds, staves, lumber, pot 
 and pearl afhes, hemp, flax, maple sugar, 
 and soap in common with the colonies. 
 The great superiority the colonies have, 
 and will to the end of time, is their teni' 
 
t 305 ] 
 
 perate sea coast, and population, which 
 the northern parts and frozen sea coast of 
 the Britifh States, though much more ex- 
 tensive, never can admit of. But strange as 
 it may appear, yet true it is, that Nova Sco- 
 tia and New Brunswick have built more 
 scjuare. rigged vefsels within these seven years, 
 and have now nearly as many as all the Uni- 
 ted States together, and will soon be the car- 
 riers of all America, especially to Britain and 
 the Britifli West Indies, in the event that 
 the old navigation act is continued in force. 
 There is as much oak in Upper Canada, were 
 there an easy communication by canals to 
 convey it to sea, and as much black birch in 
 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, not inferior 
 to the oak in quality, as would supply all the 
 dock yards in Europe with fliip timber, fci 
 100 years, if not for ever. 
 
 There is just now finiihing, within a few 
 yards of where I write, a pine log canoe, three 
 feet broad within the gunnel, and from twen- 
 ty-six to twenty-seven feet long; and this 
 log is by no means to be compared in bulk 
 with those of solid oak trees I have seen in 
 Canada. The gentleman that owns this canoe 
 has another of about eighteen feet long, 
 made out of the same tree ; the former will 
 carry at least a ton and an half weight, and 
 the latter in proportion. The common fer- 
 
[ 3 o 6 i 
 
 ry-boat from Point Levi to quebec, is a W 
 which carries twenty people at once ; I and 
 
 my servant sat with ease side by side on the 
 seat within her. 
 
 The bird’s eye maple, the curled maple and 
 black clouded birch of New Brunswick ’and 
 black walnut of Upper Canada, will admit of 
 as fine a polifli and glofs, and is equal for 
 household finifliing and furniture, to any per- 
 haps in the world; and were they generally 
 known in Europe, there is little doubt of 
 their soon becoming articles of commercial 
 intercourse. In the Governor’s house, the 
 Chief Judge’s house, in Colonel Allan’s hoiose, 
 and other gentlemen’s houses in New Brun- 
 swick, I have seen most beautiful specimens 
 of each kind peculiar to that country. I 
 have seen gun stocks in Upper Canada of 
 the clouded maple, whose light and deep 
 fiiades were so variegated, as to exceed the 
 roots of any heather I ever saw in Scot- 
 land ; and yet so prevalent is custom, and the 
 desire of emulation, the bane of all society, 
 that many of the gentlemen here, who can- 
 not well afford it, have mahogany furniture 
 in abundance, and despise what can be got 
 at their doors, and at no expence but the 
 workmanfhip. The Chief Justice of New 
 Brunswick is an exception to this, as I have 
 not seen a bit of mahogany in his elegant 
 

 “%;i; 
 
 S 
 
 reiil 
 
 N 
 
 tk'iv 
 
 ot 
 
 lolt; 
 
 te; 
 0 tk:; 
 
 ¥• 
 
 seli|i 
 
 aitt: 
 evers? 
 iiffli 
 me of; 
 
 lojajt. 
 
 ffkfi 
 
 spec: 
 
 iKtittk 
 
 tfei' 
 
 ink 
 
 and commodious new house; but he is a 
 man of a very enlightened understanding and 
 the best informed 1 met with in my travels 
 in that country ; and Mrs Ludlow, his lady, 
 seems to be among the mildest and most ami- 
 able of her sex. The Chief Judge, an Ame- 
 rican bred and born, was high in the law de- 
 partment at New York, and a staunch friend 
 to the Britilh government, is now justly re- 
 warded for his loyalty by his present office, 
 worth yool. Sterling per annum, besides a fine 
 farm, to which he has considerably added by 
 purchases ; and though the farm is not above 
 six years standing from the first trees being 
 cut down on it, he can raise from seventy to 
 eighty tons of hay annually, and live on it ; 
 and his present salary equal to as many half 
 thousands in other parts of the world. 
 
 With Colonel Allan I went to see a fine 
 island of 230 acres, which he rents from the 
 Marichet Indians for 100 dollars annum, on 
 a lease of 999 years, on which he has carried on 
 some improvements. On one plot of seventeen 
 acres he had nine in rye, and eight in winter 
 wheat, the rankest and finest crop I ever saw 
 in any country I ever was in. The former was 
 the seventh succefsive crop, and the latter the 
 third, without his ever laying on a single 
 fiiovelful of manure ; and yet the rye was at 
 that time, 20th June, near six feet high, anc] 
 
t 303 ] 
 
 tlie wheat above half that height. Captain 
 Lee was along with us, and understands form- 
 ing inferior to none I have met with in this 
 province. He was partly bred in that line in 
 England, and much so in America, before and 
 after the late rebellion. He said he had not 
 seen any thing like it, and does not doubt 
 but it would return at the rate of thirty fold 
 at least, in the event the wheat was to stand 
 till ripe, but that it ran a great ri/k of lodging 
 from the weight of the crop. This island in 
 the river St John’s, is 100 miles from sea. 
 We saw another plot, of about twelve acres, of 
 spring wheat, on the main land, raised also 
 without manure, which Captain Lee suppos- 
 ed would nearly equal that of the island. 
 This may stagger the belief of farmers in 
 Great Britain, but it is far from being very 
 uncommon in this country. I was at a 
 French farmer’s house, in a settlement called 
 Madawq/kas, near 200 miles still higher up this 
 river, who told me that he was convinced 
 that he had then in his barn forty-five 
 bufhels of wheat from one bufliel sown, 
 but as it was not then threlhed out he would 
 not say with certainty. These people never 
 make use of any manure, not even to their 
 gardens, though they produce cabbages, 
 onions, beets, pompions, and quaflies, to 
 
[ 309 1 
 
 great perfection; and yet I am convinced 
 this settlement is two miles perpendicular a- 
 bove the level of the sea, as has been already 
 Wiiiiji observed on my going up that river the- 
 preceding year. 
 
 The time being now drawing near, that the 
 vefsel I meant to take my pafsage in for Scot- 
 land, was to sail from St Andrews, I pre- 
 pared for returning to that place by the 
 ‘N/s way of St John; and. after bidding adieu, 
 and thanking the engineer and family, whose 
 Itsii house was my home while I resided in this 
 iliiR part of the country, the Chief Judge and la- 
 
 ah dy. Captain Lee, and his amiable family, 
 
 Cap; Mefsrs M‘Gibbon and Garden, on the river 
 tbii St John, Dr Drummond, Captains M‘Lean, 
 eliefh Lymon, and French, and Lieutenant Dugald 
 faffea; Campbell on the river Nalhwack, all of whom 
 jjm, ; have a claim to my respects, and best thanks 
 issk fo’* hospitality, attention, and polite- 
 
 .jjjll,, nefs to myself, while I had the pleasure of 
 being in their respective parts of the pro- 
 
 s i» 
 anel® 
 yoi' 
 tep 
 ote«' 
 
 ymce. 
 
From Frederick Town to St John and the 
 Kennebeckasius. 
 
 I SET out from Frederick Town on foot; and 
 walking through Maugerville along the river 
 side, I fell in with a gentleman travelling the 
 same way. As we were conversing along, I heard 
 a great noise in a house at some distance, on 
 which I stopped to listen, and told the gentle- 
 man that there were some people fighting in 
 that house ; at w^hich he smiled and answered, 
 “ That he knew the place well; that it was a 
 house of worfhip, where a number of reli- 
 gious fanatics afsembled at all hours of the 
 night and day ; that no body preached, eve- 
 ry one prayed for himself, and the louder 
 they roared, the more sincere and devout 
 they were supposed to be ; so that the one 
 vied with the other who ihould bawl out 
 loudest.” When we had come nearer, I 
 was struck with amazement at the hideous 
 noise they made, and vrhich could be heard 
 at a considerable distance ; I a/ked him if -he 
 supposed they would permit me to go in to 
 see them , he said I might, provided I beha-* 
 
T«r,j; 
 
 % 
 
 vet:. 
 
 
 3 K 
 
 lypie 
 
 anil; 
 
 cerea 
 
 »tk 
 
 loiiiil 
 
 conP 
 
 atii 
 
 colli’ 
 
 ifedt: 
 
 :eio? 
 
 iridflU' 
 
 [ 3H ] 
 
 4 ■ 
 
 ved properly, and did not laugh, or offer' to 
 ridicule them in any fhape ; that they would 
 not prevent me, or give me the least trouble; 
 thus encouraged, I went in, and found they 
 consisted of about three score persons, of 
 both sexes, all on their knees, and in tears, 
 every one praying for himself, as already said, 
 and bawling out, O Lord ! O Lord ! which 
 were the only exprefsions I understood of 
 what they said. After standing for a few mi- 
 nutes in the house, my hair almost standing 
 on end at the horror of the scene these 
 miserable people exhibited,! returned,and just 
 as I was pafsing the window of their apart- 
 ment, some one called out, that the devil was 
 among them; upon which they all gave a yell, 
 louder and more horrible than any Indian 
 war hoop I had ever heard ; and if the devil 
 himself was to fliow his physiognomy in all the 
 frightful grimaces ascribed to him in the 
 middle of them, every door bolted, so that 
 none pofsibly could escape his clutches, their 
 screaming could not have been louder or more 
 horrible. I returned to the the road with 
 deep imprefsions of the deplorable effects of 
 fanaticism on the human mind, where it 
 gets a hold, and found the gentleman there « 
 waiting for me, and proceeded on my jour- 
 ney, and arrived in a few days at the city St 
 Johns. 
 
[ 313 ] 
 
 It however revived in my mind a story I 
 was told that happened in the Jersies, much 
 about the time I was there, and seemed 
 well authenticated, of a set of religious en- 
 thusiasts, who were in use of afsembling in 
 a certain house of worihip, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Elizabeth Town, and whose 
 tenets run much on the notion of the de- 
 vil being fond of money. This article in 
 their creed was admited by all, as also that 
 he made much more use of money to bribe 
 Christians, than Indians, which was clear 
 from the former being greater worfhippers of 
 the Golden Calf, than the latter, wholly owing 
 to his machinations. A wiser head than the 
 rest suggested the idea of bribing the de- * 
 vil himself with money, to prevent his work- 
 ing on the pafsions of any of their sect. The 
 scheme was highly applauded, and approved 
 of as the best that could be devised, and 
 the projector of it, himself, requested to set a- 
 bout collecting sums of money, adequate to 
 the businefs, which he had the humanity to 
 do without losing much time, lest the de- 
 vil fhould be at work on them in the interim ; 
 and to inforce his arguments, he told them, 
 
 1 that each man’s lliare would be placed to his 
 own account ; and as they all knew the devil 
 was not to be put off with a trifle, he hoped 
 they would contribute accordingly. 
 
[ 313 3 
 
 *o(ij||5j 
 Mp, t i( 
 Touk 
 
 mi{; 
 
 dkiljj 
 
 ®!».v 
 
 tk» 
 
 Iwa:, 
 
 Contributions went on liberally, and no 
 inconsiderable sum was collected, with which 
 he went off, with the consent and approbati- 
 on of all concerned, to bribe the devil, as al- 
 ready said ; but whether he found him worse 
 to please than he expected, and did not get 
 his businefs effected, was not known when 
 I was there, but so it was, that he had not 
 returned, though he had then been two or 
 three months away upon that businefs. 
 
 It was affirmed that some respectable 
 people were concerned in this plan, though 
 they are now afliamed to acknowledge it, and 
 deny their having contributed any money 
 towards it. 
 
 of fe; 
 
 raoM': 
 id tlicis 
 
 dkf^ 
 iW 
 j raft' 
 
 The diversity of principles, and religious 
 opinions in this country, is great. But 
 when they give no disturbance to the state, 
 the legislature takes no notice of them ; and 
 in the course of time the most fantastical of 
 them generally falls into disuse, and goes to 
 pieces of itself. 
 
 Being informed by several respectable 
 people in this place, who launched out in 
 great encomiums on a tract of land called 
 the Kenebecasius, that it was among the best 
 parts in the province, and fittest for new 
 settlers, the easiest land to clear, and for 
 raising stock with least trouble, I thereupon 
 
1 314 ] 
 
 resolved to go and see it, and accordingly set 
 out, in company with a Mr Thomson, mer- 
 chant here. The first sixteen miles of the 
 way to the French village, is timbered with 
 pine and spruce, the land uneven, knolly, bar- 
 ren, and interspersed with many small lakes, 
 in which however are abundance of Trout j 
 yet there are several new settlers stretched 
 along the sides of the road, who have 
 a year or two ago begun to clear this 
 poor and forbidding soil, which had no- 
 thing to recommend it but its vicinity to 
 the city of St 'John, and to a large meadow, 
 consisting of some thousand acres, formerly 
 overflowed by the sea, but now barricadoed 
 out, the joint property of Mefsrs Heason, 
 White, and Symons, who got grants of it 
 before there were any thoughts of set- 
 tling the country with loyalists. This im- 
 mense tract of meadow produces such a 
 quantity of hay, that the city and all the 
 neighbourhood consume only a small portion 
 of its produce, and it is sufficient to supply 
 ten times the demand. The remainder of it 
 is pastured, or the grafs allowed to decay up- 
 on the swmrd. 
 
 The French village is so called from some 
 of that nation being settled there previous 
 to the close of last war, and who removed 
 
1 
 
 t 315 ) 
 
 from it to Madawafkar, when a part of the 
 difbanded Britifli army and of the American 
 loyalists entered and took pofsefsion of this 
 country. It is situated on the banks of the 
 little river Hammond, a beautiful broad, 
 lhallow, and smooth stream, gliding through 
 a narrow valley in the form of a glen, in 
 • which a good many Salmon are speared. 
 The flats on each side of this river are but 
 small, the hills well timbered with hard wood, 
 'ei mostly beech, birch, and maple. The soil 
 thin, dry, and in many parts stony, and not 
 so inviting for cultivation as many other 
 
 i«r parts of the country. 
 
 . After dining at this village we proceeded 
 on for about eight miles further, to the house 
 Ak of one Thene, a Scotchman. From this place 
 inj^ we crofsed a broad sound to the island of 
 i'k Darling, on which Mr Thomson has a good 
 3ff|t farm, and where he was then building a fliip 
 tJec of between two and three hundred tons bui- 
 . den. Pafsing this sound I observed the water 
 'jjig muddy, and intermixed with some uncom- 
 mon substance, that floated along with it. I 
 II inquired the cause, and was told it was the 
 spawn offifli, and that here a great deal of 
 Herrings or Gasparoes, Bafs, Shed, and some 
 Salmon, were annually caught in seines and 
 * . i trammels. This island, of six or seven miles 
 
 ^ Jong, abounds with timber for fliip building, 
 
[ 3i<> ] 
 
 and as I am informed, could be bought ex. 
 cepting this farm of Mr Thomson’s, for 500I* 
 The soil good, fharp, and fit for cultivation' 
 the wood of the hard kind, thin, but strong 
 and lofty, and from its vicinity to the city 
 of St John, and the easy conveyance by wa. 
 ter, could be transported thither, and sold to 
 good advantage for fuel and Ihip timber. It 
 is customary in this province, at least in such 
 parts as I have seen of it, to permit a Ihip 
 builder to enter the woods, cut down and carry 
 off whatever parts suit him, on his paying 
 the land owner at the rate of a Ihilling, or 
 quarter dollar, per ton, and these lakes, and 
 the different arms and creeks of this fine ri- 
 ver, are quite adapted for navigation. Many 
 fhips and vefsels are annually built on its 
 borders, at the above rate for the timber. A 
 Captain Smith of this town, lately launched a 
 brig of 200 tons, the cabin of which is fi- 
 nifhed with black birch ; equal to any mahq- 
 gany in appearance : he has two fhips on the 
 stocks, one of which is of 400 tons burden, 
 all built of black birch ; indeed there is no 
 other tirnber used in this province in fhip- 
 ping of any kind. The durability of this 
 timber is such, that in clearing lands, logs 
 have been found of it in the vvoods, over 
 ■which trees of considerable size had grown, 
 Q'lid though the outside was rotten, and 
 
crumbled away into dust at the first touch, 
 yet in the heart it was found to be sound, 
 and hard as ever, which leads some people to 
 suppose, that its decay is alrnost proof against 
 time itself. At the head of this lake, there 
 are large intervals of land, and spacious mea- 
 dows, that produce more natural grafs for 
 hay than the inhabitants can make use of; 
 but such as they do cut, and win in the sea- 
 son, they only carry off when frozen, and on 
 the ice. In time of frefhets, it is flooded over, 
 and appears as one large fheet of water; at 
 this time, and in the fall of the year, large 
 flocks of Wild Geese, Brants, and Ducks, re- 
 sort to it, and aflbrd to such as live in the 
 neighbourhood, a great deal of sport. After 
 Mr Thomson had set; led hisbusinefs with the 
 fhip carpenters, and I had taken a cursory view 
 of his farm, we returned with Mr Thene a- 
 crofs the lake, (at least a mile over,) in the 
 same log canoe in which we had gone to his 
 house, and w'e were treated with every at- 
 tention and great hospitality. 
 
 Next day, Mr Thene was good enough to 
 mount his Horse, (though very unwell at the 
 time,) and go along with me until he delive- 
 red me over to another Scotchman, wdio li- 
 ved about ten miles farther up the river Ke- 
 nebecasius. Here I was treated with equal at- 
 tention and hospitality, as in that which I had 
 
t 318 ] 
 
 left. On our way to this gentleman’s house, 
 whose name is Guthrie, Mr Thene Ihowed 
 me some grist and saw mills of his, and a farm 
 he had lately bought. That on which he 
 lives, seems to be a very good and extensive 
 one ; it lies on the side of a hill, descending 
 with an easy slope to the side of the lake. The 
 situation, soil, meadows, filh, and fowls, hills, 
 and dales, navigation, and timber for Ihip 
 building, make the neighbourhood of this lake 
 pretty eligible for a settlement, and there is 
 little doubt in a few years but they will make 
 nut pretty well, and be in a flourilhing way. 
 
 We crofsed the river Kenehecasius in a ca- 
 noe, sw'am our Horses, as the scow was out of 
 order, and could not ferry them. Mr Guth- 
 rie brought me through his farm, of which I 
 did not think much, being too dry, and partly 
 .on the side of a mountain of too steep an as- 
 cent, and rather over stony ; but Mr Guthrie 
 told me the stones were all on the surface, 
 and that none were to be met with below it. 
 Pie having a very mechanical turn, Ihowed 
 me a grist mill he mostly built with his own 
 hands. He lived near twenty years in the 
 West Indies, made money, retired here, mar- 
 ried, and settled on this farm. After dinner, 
 he was good enough to go along with me to 
 rhe, house of a Mr Symon Baxter, a few miles 
 
farther up the river, and prefsed me much to 
 pafs a night with him on my return. 
 
 As the story of Mr Baxter is not very 
 common, I cannot help being somewhat par- 
 ticular. He is a Yanky, bred and born in 
 the heart of New England, and as he says 
 himself, of Scotch extraction, his grandfather 
 having emigrated from that country, after 
 the rebellion in 1715, in which he had been 
 engaged. It would seem attachment to the 
 old sovereign, and loyal blood of the family, 
 ran in the grandson’s veins, and made him em- 
 bark early in the late troubles on the king’s 
 side. He was taken in arms with Burgoyne’s 
 army, and permitwd by a pafs of the Commif- 
 sary of prisoners to go to see his family ; he 
 had not been two hours at home when his 
 house was surrounded by several scores of the 
 enemy, on which he immediately flew to 
 arms, bolted his doors, and being strong in 
 body and mind, enterprising and bold, dared 
 any soul of them on their peril to set fire 
 to the house, which they threatened, and 
 would not surrender but on promise of good 
 usage, and being delivered to those from 
 wdiom he came ; this being promised him, 
 he gave himself up, but he no sooner was 
 in their power, than some of them flew at 
 him with dra\vn swords and bayonets, prick- 
 ed him in the breast in several places, of which 
 
[ 320 ] 
 
 he still retains the scars, with threats to run 
 him through the body, put a rope about his 
 neck to hang him, and if any of them could 
 be got to undertake the office of hangman, 
 would be instantly tucked up, but as one of 
 this stamp could not then be procured, he 
 was carried' along, and permitted to ride one 
 of his own horses. He had gone but a Ihort 
 way when he was dismounted, and another 
 put in his place, and the rope, which was still 
 about his neck,- tied to the Horse’s tail, and in 
 this way dragged along. From the Horse’s tail 
 he wms ffiifted and fastened to that of a cart, 
 into which he was not allowed to enter. In 
 this way he continued for three day’s march, 
 and when they came to the end of their 
 journey, and that none could be got to hang 
 him, they fell foul of him with sticks, clubs, 
 and butt end of mulkets, until he was almost 
 killed. He was then thrown into prison, where 
 he was confined for eighteen months, and, 
 when relieved, made off for this country, and 
 the place he now lives in. His two eldest sons, 
 who staid at home, and did not tread in the 
 footsteps of the father, now enjoy his old pro- 
 perty, and live comfortably on it in New 
 England. Mr Baxter is the most succefsful 
 farmer in raising Stock and clearing land in 
 this province ; this I have heard from othera, 
 before ever I saw him. He told me that 
 
raita'i)^. 
 
 ijBhi? 
 
 lisfe; 
 
 bis; 
 
 rtkk 
 I iksi: 
 
 ulib!H‘ 
 
 iwiilu" 
 
 ntilb' 
 
 liniO' 
 
 'tiiitt' 
 
 enjoffe 
 
 Ij OI--' 
 
 clfli’'' 
 t tot''' 
 
 r 321 ] 
 
 when he landed in St John he had but two 
 dollars of" cafh in the world 5 got a large grant 
 of land from government, on which he now 
 sits in ease and affluence, has about 150 acres 
 of cleared land, twenty milk. Cows, with their 
 followers. Oxen, Horses, breeding Mares, and 
 a stock of 1 00 Sheep. In one clear field of 
 interval, in the front of his house, he cuts a- 
 bout 100 tons of rank grafs, called here Ty- 
 mothy, or En^li/h bay, at the rate of two tons per 
 acre ; he has 200 acres more of the same 
 kind of interval, besides a deal of up-land 
 that is not as yet cleared. Of his fheep he 
 gave the following account ; that in spring 
 1786, which is now six years ago, he bought 
 four Ewes in Lamb, and states the produce 
 
 as under, viz. 
 
 Sheep. 
 
 Sold, --- - 27 
 
 Killed, 72 
 
 Given to his daughter, - - - - 3 
 
 Killed by accident, ----- 3 
 
 Remaining on the farm, - - - 102 
 
 In all, 207 
 
 He says his Sheep have annually twins, and 
 can rear them well ; of this I had ocular de- 
 monstration, as I could hardly point out one 
 Ewe in his flock that' had not two good 
 
 Lambs by her side ; that such as he sold, 
 his bargain was always twenty fliillings foy 
 
 s s 
 
t 322 ] 
 
 eacli Ewe, in the event fhe was to have t^o 
 Lambs at once ; but if only one, to give back 
 five fhilhngs of that price ; but that he never 
 yet was required to return any of it. After 
 we had returned to the house from viewing 
 his meadow grounds, and some improvements 
 he was carrying on in his farm, he alked me 
 if I would drink tea, and said that he was ve- 
 ry fond of a kind of tea he found on his pof- 
 sefsion. He then brought a small balketfiil 
 to fliow me, and Mrs Baxter being present, 
 he added, that his wife could not drink of it 
 because it was found at home-, but if it had 
 cost two dollars the pound, Ihe would be very 
 fond of it ; that his reason for preferring it to 
 any other, was her’s for hating it. Though this 
 was apparently in joke, it had in some measure 
 some reality in it. I requested the home-got 
 tea to be made for him and me, but Ihe and 
 her daughters drank souchong. Ladies here, as 
 well as in other parts of the world, are taxed 
 with being governed by a pafsion for trifles 
 of this kind, more than by reason j and to be 
 in the falhion, and supposed to be pofsefsed 
 of a good taste, is with them an object of the 
 first magnitude, to which the good of their 
 families, and all other considerations whatever, 
 must give way. Unfortunate the man who 
 is chained to a wife of this description, and 
 

 
 ikiaij. 
 
 soifefii: 
 
 ta}^ 
 
 itUtffl 
 
 JUtffi:; 
 
 :noiip’ 
 
 itlir>- 
 
 MseJiff' 
 
 leiBiiS 
 
 itlie|«r- 
 
 ia:e A®; 
 is (Is^* 
 
 C 523 ] 
 
 bound to such thraldom, as to be obliged to put 
 up with it ; he may truly say with the poet : 
 
 ** The world is a cheat, all things (how it, 
 
 I thought so once, but now 1 know it.” 
 
 Next to Mr Baxter’s is a Captain Smith, a 
 sea-faring gentleman, on whose farm a very 
 genteel new house was then finifhing. A 
 few miles farther on than Captain Smith’s, 
 I entered on the burnt land, which extended 
 as far as I could see on each side of the river. 
 It would appear the wood in this part of the 
 country had caught fire a few years ago, 
 and burnt to the ground, as many of the 
 burnt stumps are still standing, and logs, in a 
 decayed state, lying on the ground ; the young 
 ftioots in some parts still thin, and so weak 
 and slender that any ordinary workman 
 could clear an acre of it in two days. The 
 soil fharp, but thin and light, and I have no 
 doubt productive enough. For the space 
 of seven miles I could see no inhabitant. The 
 cattle ranged at large through this young 
 wood, in wild grafs, up to their horns, which 
 would afford summer pasturage for many 
 hundreds, free of all charges but the herding. 
 Next to this uninhabited tract is Major Stud- 
 holm’s, who holds a large tract of land. I 
 called at this gentleman’s house, but he being 
 unwell at the time, could not fhow me any 
 thing but such as was about his house, which 
 
[ 324 ] 
 
 is situated on the side of a barren hilJ, with a 
 large mill stream hard by it ; he has, however, 
 a deal of interval land on the banks of the 
 river, which seems to be of middling good 
 quality j his whole farm is of the burnt land, 
 and easily cleared. 
 
 From Major Studholm’s I proceeded to 
 Pleasant Valley, up the same river, from thir- 
 ty to forty miles up from the lake Kenebicasi- 
 us. This valley justly deserves its name, 
 and consists of 24,000 acres, surrounded by 
 high hills, or rather low mountains, with two 
 beautiful small streams, abounding with 
 Trout and some Salmon, gliding through it, 
 which meet at a point of land formed by the 
 junction of these two small rivers at the west 
 end of this spacious flat. Having a letter of 
 introduction to Mr Lenard, who purchased 
 a large tract of land in this valley, I directed 
 my course towards his new and genteel house, 
 and was received with much politenefs and 
 hospitality. 
 
 Here I staid that night, went over a con- 
 siderable part of his farm, which is situated 
 on an interval point of land, where these 
 two small rivers meet, and is navigable for 
 flat bottomed boats to his door, excepting 
 when the waters are very low in the heat of 
 summer. In the front of the house is one 
 clear field of sown grafs, consisting of about 
 
[ 325 3 
 
 sixty acres, free of stumps, which most of the 
 fields I have seen in this Pleasant Valley are. 
 Mr Lenard told me that he had a natura 
 meadow of wild hay of vast extent, about 
 two miles, of which he permitted the neigh- 
 bouring inhabitants to carry off as much as 
 they pleased; that he had pasture enough 
 in his woods for several hundred head of cattle, 
 of which he made no use whatever; that he 
 had 200 Sheep, twenty Milk Cows with their 
 followers. Some Mares, Oxen, and Horses, and 
 that he thought these enough on one farm. 
 This fine farm, and large stock of cattle, he 
 would give on ftiares to any good man that 
 would take it. What is meant by a farm 
 given out on fhares, which is customary all 
 over America, is. The proprietor gives over 
 a farm, stocked with all sorts of cattle, seed 
 corn, and farming utensils, for a certain term 
 of years agreed upon, generally three years ; 
 every thing given out in this way, is num- 
 bered and valued much in the form of stil- 
 bows in Scotland. At the end of the three 
 years, or lease, of whatever endurance it may 
 be, the tenant returns to the proprietor the 
 same number and kinds of cattle, farming 
 utensils, and quantum of sown land, with the 
 buildings and fences in proper order. The 
 produce of the farm, during that period, is 
 equally divided between them ; that is, the 
 
[ 326 ] 
 
 one half of the butter, cheese, woo/, 
 poultry, Pigs, Sheep, Horses, and black cattle' 
 belongs to the tenant, the other half to th ’ 
 proprietor, which is all he has in lieu of 
 
 rent and interest of money; yet it general. 
 
 ly turns out to good account to him if tj, 
 pasture is tolerably good, he gets at the rate of 
 about forty pounds of butter, (sixteen ounces 
 
 tothepound,)foreachCow,ashisproportior 
 
 during the season, and one Lamb from every 
 Sheep; the produce of the Sheep, grain, an^ 
 small articles, are divided annually, and that 
 of the breeding Cows and Mares once in the 
 three years. They have many other ways of 
 letting land here, but rarely for a money rent. / 
 Sometimes a proprietor has a farm with a 
 little cabin, barn, and some small portion of 
 cleared land on it, which he lets to a tenant 
 for a term of years, on condition of his clear- 
 ing and sowing two or three acres annually 
 on It and frequently gives a yoke of Oxen to 
 enable him to carry on the work; this is 
 continued from time to time, until the farm 
 becomes large enough to be stocked with 
 cattle, and given out on fhares ; but more 
 
 I ov^er to one of his sons. If 
 
 le has only daughters, the property is to be 
 divided among them at his death, but never 
 efore it. There is no such thing as tocher, 
 or any compensation whatever given with a 
 
I 3^1 1 
 
 wife here, during her father’s lifetime* ex-^ 
 cepting in very rare instances. A good farmer 
 makes up a farm for every son he has in this 
 way, or by purchase, and often sees them all 
 settled around him on their own properties 
 in his lifetime. Children deem themselves 
 bound to work to their fathers like indented 
 servants, until they attain the age, the sons of 
 twenty-one years, and the daughters eighteen, 
 at which periods they are free, and may act 
 for themselves. This practice prevails ; but 
 whether by law or custom, I know not. 
 
 As every farmer who emigrates to Ameri- 
 ca goes there with a view of bettering his own 
 condition, or that of his posterity, I would 
 recommend to all such as have but small pro- 
 perty, to engage in a farm on lhares, before 
 he undertakes to sit down and clear land of 
 his own ; he will thereby be furnifoed with 
 as much clear land as will support his family, 
 will become acquainted with the manage- 
 ment of Oxen, handling the axe and imple- 
 ments of farming used in that country ; and 
 if he has industry, and tolerable management, 
 he can raise stock enough from his proporti- 
 on of the produce of the farm, to enable 
 hini to occupy lands of his own, on which 
 he and his posterity may sit in ease and af- 
 fluence to the end of time ; and if he fixes 
 jn either New Brunswick or Upper Canada, 
 
r 328 ] 
 
 he may depend on meeting with thousands 
 who will be glad to employ him on these 
 or such like terms ; but if he Ihould prefer 
 any part of the States’ territories, which I am 
 sorry to find many of my countrymen do for 
 want of information, he will find the mat- 
 ter not so easy. The United States are so 
 crowded with inhabitants for several hundred 
 miles from the coast, that a great many of 
 them emigrate to the Britilh colonies, the same 
 as those of Britain and Ireland do to theirs ; so 
 that a new comer may wander about a long 
 time, and spend a great deal of money, be- 
 fore he gets a place to sit down on, without 
 paying too dear for it ; and his ignorance of 
 their mode of working or farming, is such 
 as will deter them from employing him; 
 whereas it is quite the reverse in the two pro- 
 vinces already mentioned. Any person that 
 alks for land, will be supplied gratis by go- 
 vernment ; and thousands, were they to ar- 
 rive at once, might depend on finding em- 
 ployment in the manner above <et forth, 
 from the inhabitants, who are greatly at a lofs 
 for hands to w'ork their farms and give 
 near double wages to that which is given in 
 the States. This is not all ; by an act lately 
 canvafsed, and much contested in Congrefs, 
 winter 1791—1792, regarding whether the 
 whole militia of the United States Ihould be 
 
^ c 329 ] 
 
 I® made subject to military laws, and put under 
 fcj' the immediate command of the President. 
 Sitj It pafsed in the affirmative, 28 against 27, 
 carried only by the casting vote of the Presi- 
 llj dent himself; so that he may order the whole 
 ijjjf or any part of them to any corner of the 
 United States, on whatever service he pleases. 
 
 2 Every new comer is immediately enrolled in 
 j ... the militia, and if called on service must 
 jjj,, turn out ; the Committee will no doubt take 
 care, that in the event there fhould be but a 
 . few wanted, that the lot ffiall fall on the stran- 
 gers, rather than on any of their own connec- 
 
 - tions ; if he refuses, he is instantly laid up in 
 
 prison, or tarred, feathered, and driven out of 
 the country. A gentleman afsured me, that 
 he knew a man whose son was a militia 
 
 luiV 
 
 man, called out last April, to go against the 
 ' Indians, who offered lool. and a good Horse 
 ■ to any one that would go in his place, yet 
 could not get one, so disagreeable was that 
 service to the people ; if thus to them that 
 are well acquainted with Indian wars and 
 manners, it must be much more so to the 
 natives of Britain and Ireland; and no lefs 
 so to be compelled to turn out against their 
 own countrymen, friends, and relations, 
 which they will, in the event any dispute 
 lhall ever arise between the States, and the 
 Britiih subjects in America ; and of the 
 
[ 33 ^ ] 
 
 two, I fliould suppose any man of spirit, 
 and not lost to all sense of honour, gratitude 
 to the country that gave him birth, besides 
 his finding it to his account to be the friend 
 of his friend, rather than his enemy, would • 
 of course choose to be a Britifli subject, where 
 he will get lands for nothing, be airiong his 
 countrymen, and run no rifk of being ever 
 molested by the Indians, tarred, or feathered. 
 
 The American land of Canaan, to which they 
 emigrate in great numbers yearly from the 
 coast, is supposed to be in the South Kentuc- 
 ky, in the middle provinces, the Genesee 
 country, and in the north, the river St John 
 in New Brunswick ; and from all these, ex- 
 cepting Kentucky, which is at too great a 
 distance, they fly to Upper Canada, which is 
 now deemed the paradise of the new world. 
 The soil is clay and loam intermixed, seem- 
 ingly in equal proportions, and generally 
 from ten to thirty feet deep. The way to 
 observe this is by paying attention to the 
 banks waflied by the lakes and rivers, and to 
 those of the creeks and brooks in the more 
 remote and inland parts. 
 
 After all, though these be no doubt very 
 great advantages, and what are not to be 
 had in any other part of the w'orld I ever 
 heard of, yet the farmer who can live com- 
 fortably in his owm country, and can rear 
 
 ♦ 
 
his family as becomes his rank in life, would 
 do wrong to leave it for any othet country 
 in the world. But such farmers as are so 
 distrefsed by their landlords with over rack- 
 ed rents, and other opprefsions, as likely 
 to be brought to beggary and ruin, these, and 
 these only, ought to try such justified expe- 
 riments as rnay better their conditions. 
 
 Mr Lenard is an American loyalist, who had 
 served last war in the Commifsary Depart- 
 mant, and is now well rewarded for his loyal- 
 ty, by a yearly salary, besides his being paid, 
 in common with other loyalists, for the lofs of 
 his former property. 
 
 Mr Lenard told me of a curious mound 
 of the plaister of Paris that was in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and as I signified a great desire 
 to see it, he was good enough to conduct me 
 to a gentleman’s house who lived near the 
 place, whose son went along with me to ihew 
 it. This mound, which appeared to me very 
 singular, is in several pyramidal or spiral 
 forms of various dimensions, some high and 
 some low, such indeed as excite curiosity, and 
 almost defy conjecture ; I fliall however ha- 
 zard one, that it was occasioned by a volcanic 
 eruption, from a neighbouring bank, thrown 
 up in small parti cles^ little larger than the 
 culm of pit coal, or the drofs of charcoal, and 
 lighted close to the place from whence it 
 
C 332 ] 
 
 came, among large trees, whidr had been af- 
 terwards burnt at the conflagration that hap- 
 pened to the other woods in that corner of 
 the country, as large burnt logs and stumps 
 are in great numbers to be seen rotting about 
 it. In these pyramids are deep cavities or 
 chasms, perpendicular from the top to the 
 bottom, formed as if trees had been stand- 
 ing in the place when that eruption hap- 
 pened. 
 
 I AM informed the plaister of Paris is to be 
 found in several other places of this pleasant 
 valley, and if ever any manure is to be used, 
 ■which no doubt will through time, it must 
 turn out to great account to the inhabitants for 
 that, purpose, exclusive of the use they make 
 of it at present in finifliing and whitening 
 their dwelling houses; but as the Bay of 
 Fundi abounds with the plaister of Paris, it 
 can never become an article of commerce in 
 this place, so remote from sea. 
 
 The Agricultural Society of Philadelphia, 
 who have got several fliip loads of the plaister 
 of Paris from Nova Scotia, have publilhed in 
 their Transactions, that it is equal to that im- 
 ported from France; and as this is of the 
 same quality with that, it must be of the like 
 utility to such as use it. 
 
 This pleasant valley has advantages not 
 common to be met with in other places, 
 
C 333 3 
 
 from the salt springs, and the above mention- 
 ed plaister of Paris, which is deemed to be 
 among the first stimulants to vegetation. It 
 is a centrical situation between the city St 
 John and the fine grazing country of Cum- 
 berland ; yet the salt springs can be of little 
 advantage, as, from St John, salt imported 
 there from the West Indies can be bought at 
 an easier rate than I suppose it can be made 
 here ; yet some of the inhabitants, I am told, 
 when it happens to be scarce, boil a little for 
 their own immediate use, rather than be at 
 the trouble of going for it to St John: so 
 that this appears to me to be as eligible a si- 
 tuation for a settlement as I have met with 
 in this province, and perhaps as much so as 
 any in North America. 
 
 In the counties of Cumberland, Northum- 
 berland, Westmoreland, Windsor, and Corn- 
 wallis, round the head of the Bay of Fundi, 
 are large dairies, kept on the plan of those of 
 the counties of the same names in Old Eng- 
 land, from whence the inhabitants came at 
 the close of the war before last. I have been 
 told that several farmers there have three or 
 four score of Milk Cows, and some many 
 more, and sell annually as many firkins of 
 butter. 
 
 The salt marlhes, level as the sea, on which 
 the cattle pasture, and which supply the hay 
 
r 334 ] 
 
 for winter, are of considerable extent, in 
 some parts two miles broad and thirty niiJes 
 long. From these ' fine grazing counties, the 
 towns of Halifax, Port Campbell or Rosway, 
 Annapolis, Royal, and Digby, in Nova Scotia 
 and ckj St John, New Brunswick, are chiefly 
 supplied with beef, butter, cheese, and pork, 
 in great abundance, the former sometimes 
 so low as three coppers a pound ; and from 
 thence cargoes are now sent to the New- 
 foundland Bank fifiieries, at as easy a rate as 
 it can be brought from the New England 
 
 States, the cheapest and most plentiful in A- 
 
 merica. The up-lands from these spacious 
 flats and salt marflies, are timbered with spruce 
 and pine, and so poor, thin, and barren, as to 
 produce very little grain. From the produce 
 of their dairies alone, the inhabitants live in 
 greataffluence; but as I never was there I speak 
 only from information : however, one thing 
 I know is, that a friend of mine, rrierchant in 
 St John, had been through these countries 
 ast summer, buying the above articles for 
 the Newfoundland market, in preference to 
 procuring them from Boston, or any part of 
 the New England States ; and as merchants 
 rarely mils to find out the cheapest and fit- 
 test commodities for the markets to which 
 they are bound, is a proof of their being 
 
both plentiful and reasonable in that quai> 
 ter. 
 
 After satisfying myself with every thing 
 worth seeing in this place, I took a stroll 
 with this young gentleman through several 
 fields, some of which had been succefsively 
 cropped for six years, without any manure 
 ever being used, and free of stumps, and le- 
 vel almost as a bowling green ; the former is 
 an advantage rarely to be met with in new 
 lands, and the latter but on intervals. These 
 plaguy stumps are a great nuisance, and oc- 
 casion much inconveniency ; and yet many 
 good farmers told me they were more an eye- 
 sore than any thing else ; but one thing I 
 know, is that once they are rotten, and turn- 
 ed off the land, no part of the ground pro- 
 duces better crop than where they stood. 
 
 Large stumps of oak, pitch pine, hemlock, 
 and black birch, will stand twenty years be- 
 fore they are quite rotten; whereas white 
 pine, spruce, beech, white birch, poplar, and 
 several other kinds, decay in from six to ten 
 years ; and young wood, such as is to be met 
 with in this delightful valley, and over all 
 the burnt land, may be turned out in a year, 
 or in two or three at most, which is the cause 
 of the fields being so clear of them. I re- 
 turned to Mr Lenard’s house, and dined in 
 
[ 33 ^ ] 
 
 the usual genteel and hospitable stile of that 
 amiable family. 
 
 After dinner, the conversation turned on 
 sea-faring matters, which introduced the high 
 compliment paid by Admiral Don Langara 
 to the Britifli nation, on his getting ready to 
 leave Admiral Rodney’s Ihip : it happened 
 to be the duke of Clarance’fc duty, who was 
 then on board as a midlhipman, to get a boat 
 and hands ready for his departure j when 
 Prince William Henry came up, drefsed in his 
 midftiipman’s uniform, and told Don Langara 
 that his boat was ready, he exclaimed, “ No 
 wonder Great Britain fliould have dominion 
 of the sea, they deserve it, when so high a 
 character would serve in so low a station.” 
 Mrs Lenard alked what station the prince was 
 then in ; I answered, in that which her two 
 sons now were, which must have been very 
 gratifying to any lady whatever, but to none 
 more so than to an American loyalist. 
 
 Being nowprepared to return to St John, and 
 as I wifhed to go by a different route from that 
 by which I had come, Mr Lenard directed 
 me by a Ihorter road, lately lined out through 
 the wildernefs, unfrequented, and uninhabi- 
 ted but by one man, who lived about ten or 
 twelve miles from hence, and the next set- 
 tlement from that man’s house, was above 
 twenty miles farther on, and by the direction 
 
[ 337 1 
 
 he gave me, I made no doubt of making it 
 out, trusting at the same time a good deal to 
 my’ pocket compafs. I therefore mounted 
 my little Horse, ascended the first mountaai 
 that bounds this pleasant valley, crofsed 
 descended to a solitary glen, that fidls down 
 on the opposite side, about five miles from 
 that which I had left. The untrequented 
 path was difficult to make out, and so boggy 
 that I had to alight and lead my Horse 
 through. The place was truly romantic, and 
 still as night, rarely the chirping ofa bird to 
 be heard, and finding myself in a very defence- 
 lefs state, I began to be apprehensive lest 
 some savage man or beast fliould find me in 
 this forlorn situation, and take advantage of 
 it ; and wifhed I had brought^ny servant, gun, 
 dog, or pistol along with ire, which I left 
 at St John. I now began to reflect how un- 
 guarded men in genera l are when no danger 
 is in view, and how little they think of 
 it until it is past recovery. I cut a stout 
 stick with my knife, and being thus fortified, 
 I proceeded on with great confidence. I walk- 
 ed the greatest part of the way up one hill and 
 down another, and came through several 
 of the most romantic glens I had ever seen. 
 The evening was still and soft, and the Mos- 
 quetoes so troublesome, that I was under the 
 uccefsity of holding a bufli in my hand to 
 
beat them off from my own and Horse’s eyes * 
 yet these plaguy insects did not prevent me 
 from admiring the scenes which were beau- 
 tiful and delightful. From the summit of a 
 mountain I could see a long way round. 
 The fire had not consumed the wood on the 
 top of the mountains, which now appeared 
 like stately old planting, while that which 
 was burnt in the valleys, was wholly a young 
 growth, and had a pretty effect on the 
 sight. 
 
 The suit being now nearly set, and de- 
 scending a mountain, I saw on the face of an 
 opposite hill something like as if it had been 
 inhabited ; here the path became more dif- 
 ficult to make out than formerly, owing to 
 very rank ferns and underwood, through 
 which it led. It was with a good deal of 
 difficulty 1 made out the place, and when I 
 came up to it, I found only a small Cow and 
 Hog pen, but no appearance of a house; from 
 this I judged that it was the place I had 
 been directed to, but that the man had left 
 it and gone to some other place, I could not 
 tell where. Here I hallowed out, but no- 
 body answered ; I proceeded, and had gone 
 but a fhort way when I found the path di- 
 vide ; one led straight forward, while the o- 
 ther descended to a valley which I could see 
 for about a mile below j this last happening 
 
[ 339 1 
 
 to i>e the most frequented, I kept by it 
 until I came to the links of a small strearn 
 that glided slowly through, and on the banks of 
 which some natural hay had been cut and car- 
 ried off to some other place. Here the path 
 failed, and did not appear to go any farther ; 
 
 I therefore alighted, and left my Horse feed- 
 ing along with a Mare and Foal I found 
 there,— crofsed the river on logs, traversed 
 the opposite side, found where some ground 
 had been cleared, and a little buck wheat, 
 Indian corn, and potatoes had been sown and 
 planted *, but no house or habitation was to 
 be seen. Here I hallowed out again, but to 
 as little purpose, -nobody answered. I return- 
 ed acrofs the same logs,— got to my Horse,— 
 mounted him, and meant to make the best 
 way I could, while the least light remained, 
 along the road I had lately struck off from. 
 
 I now saw that I was to be out that night, 
 and not a little dreaded being attacked by 
 a Bear, Lucervi, or Carcaseu, in the event I 
 was to fall asleep ; and if the road I was to 
 follow fhould fail, as that in which I now 
 was did, that I would be obliged to leave my 
 Horse in the woods, and make for the next 
 inhabited place, by the help of my pocket 
 compafs. While I was wholly occupied with 
 these thoughts, I heard the jingling of a 
 Cow bell, in a bufh hard by ; I alighted, and 
 
C 340 ] 
 
 went to see if any of them had the appearance 
 of having milk; two of them had. I now 
 judged that it was probable somebody would 
 come to look for them, however late it might 
 be. It was now turned dark ; I went to the 
 highest knoll m the neighbourhood, and hal- 
 lowed out again as loud as I could, and, to 
 my no lefs surprise than joy, I was answered 
 by a human voice at some distance; we soon 
 drew nigh each other, and wdien ^ve met, I 
 found that it was the landlord of the house 
 I had been directed to coming to look after 
 the Milk Cows, as I had conjectured. With 
 him I staid that night, and was very civilly 
 treated. His house was a miserable little 
 hovel, covered with bark, and so low that 
 I could not stand upright in it. I slept 
 on the floor, and was much troubled with 
 Mosquetoes. He told me he had come to 
 live here at the desire of Mr Lenard, for 
 the accommodation of any pafsenger that 
 might be going that way ; that he w'as pro- 
 mised a large tract of land, and expected 
 1000 acres; and though he had been there 
 very little more than a year, he would not 
 sell his land for left than fifty pounds ; but in 
 a little time afterwards he came down to 100 
 dollais, which is no more than twenty-five 
 pounds Halifax currency ; and though it was 
 at a considerable distance from any other habi- 
 
[ 341 1 
 
 tation at the time, it was a great bargain at tha't 
 price, as it was well adapted by its situation foi 
 a considerable settlement. The land is good, 
 lies well for cultivation, and is easily cleared. 
 He said he could easily clear an acre of it in 
 two days, and in some parts in one ; the wood 
 was very young, mostly of the burnt kind. 
 
 I afked him about game; he said Bears were 
 not troublesome; that the great game, such as 
 Moose and Kerraboo Deer, had been totally 
 banifhed ; that he had Ihot but one of the for- 
 mer all last winter, but that he might kill in 
 the fall of the year as many Pheasants and 
 Hares in snow as he chose. 
 
 The number and diversity of objects which 
 presented themselves to the eye in the pre- 
 ceding day’s excursion, as well as in many 
 others, must have naturally created a very ra- 
 pid succefsion of ideas, more indeed than my 
 memory can retain or pen describe ; I fliall 
 therefore only say on the whole, that not- 
 withstanding the trouble, riik, and charges, 
 unavoidably attendant on such a ramble as 
 mine, through rapid streams, lakes, and wil- 
 dernefses, the pleasure of having seen them, 
 and so much of nature in its rude state, re- 
 pays them all. A certain portion of hardfliips 
 and difficulties are necefsary for giving zest to 
 enjoyments. Without them life is apt to be- 
 come insipid ; and we see those, who, indepen- 
 
t 342 ] 
 
 dent of any effort of their own, have every eii* 
 joyment at their command, are perhaps of all 
 mankind those who have the least. The 
 Indian prayer ^ often recurred to my mind 
 in these excursions, 2. e. To pray to the Great 
 Spirit to protect me in my travels,-to give 
 me a bright sun, a blue fky, dear untroubled 
 waters, lakes, and rivers ; and I doubt not it 
 was as well heard from the deepest recefs- 
 es of the wildernefs here, as if I was kneeling 
 before the altar in St Peter’s church in Rome, 
 or that of our Lady at Loretto. 
 
 I Set out from this man’s house, whose 
 name was Smith, early after breakfast, that I 
 might have plenty of day before me to make 
 out the next settlement, which I suppose was 
 at least twenty miles off; and took his direc- 
 tions for finding the road. The path was 
 much better and more easily made out 
 than the preceding day. I cr'ofsed several 
 high mountains and deep valleys, some of 
 which were so remarkably gloomy and so- 
 litary, that I again became apprehensive 
 I fhould be attacked by some wild creature; 
 
 ■I alighted and cut a stout stick, with which 
 I thought myself so secure, that I went 
 on chearfully, without the least concern, and 
 towards evening came dowm on the banks 
 o the beautiful small river that runs through 
 t e French village. Here I dined and fed 
 
i 343 1 
 
 my little Horse, who was a good deal fatigu- 
 ed with the up and down hills, and the badnefs 
 of the road ; I set out from this place, and ar- 
 rived at the city St John about nightfall. 
 Here I staid fot about three weeks, in the 
 coffee house kept by one Charles Macpher- 
 son, originally from Athol, in the fhire of 
 Perth, in Scotland, where I was very well 
 used, and had an opportunity of conversing 
 and afsociating with the strangers and gentle- 
 men that frequented it every night. 
 
 Before I leave St John I must acknowledge 
 my very particular obligations to Mefsrs Al- 
 derman, Campbell, and Stewart, merchants, 
 from whom I had the highest marks of 
 friendfhip and hospitality, Mr William Pagan, 
 also merchant, and Capta’n Charles M‘Lean, 
 mariner. These gentlemen are of the first 
 character and respectability in the place. 
 
 In this province and wintry cold cliiAate, 
 but fertile soil of New Brunswick, I found the 
 country flourifli, and the inhabitants do very 
 well, excepting the Britifh half pay officers ; 
 who, it would seem, had neither foresight, 
 industry, nor prudence. The first object of 
 their care when they entered on the lands 
 granted them by government, was to build 
 a genteel house, in which they could- enter- 
 ^in their friends in a becoming stile ; 
 fiefore that convenieney was finiflred, and 
 
C 344 3 
 
 a small garden cleared, their money was 
 expended, and now, as the only expedient, 
 recourse must be had to the merchant for 
 credit, to whose fliop they then became 
 thralled, until the next term’s half pay fell 
 due. The debt always increasing, and no 
 pofsibility of paying it, a moon-light flitting 
 is thought of, put in execution, and away 
 they set to Great Britain or Ireland, damn- 
 ing the country, and in vindication of them- 
 selves, giving out that the devil could not 
 live in it. Others of them judged the best 
 thing they could do, was to take to themselves 
 a wife ; never considering how they and 
 their children were to be maintained ; there- 
 fore the most delicate American ladies were 
 singled out as the ofnly mates, and fit compa- 
 nions for their beds, to pafs the long winter 
 nights with. For that purpose, a gentleman 
 drefsed himself out in his regimentals, pow- 
 dered from the eyes to the rump. With such 
 a figure, genteel addrefs, and profefsions of 
 eternal love, no lady of the least tender feel- 
 ings could withstand his solicitations, or re- 
 fuse his hand ; a cottage with such a dear 
 creature was preferable to a palace with one 
 not pofsefsed of such accomplifhments. A 
 match was thus made up ; the lady brought 
 home, :Ud the honours of the table with a 
 becoming grace, and fhowed away while thq 
 
[ 345 ] 
 
 credit lasted ; when that failed, the miserable 
 property, or rather wildernefs, as there was no- 
 thing done on it of value, but a house built, is 
 mortgaged to the merchant : Away they set 
 to the States, saying, like those single men 
 who went for Britain or Ireland, that the 
 devil could not live in it. It is said if you 
 take a wife from hell, flie will bring you 
 back if fhe can ; the case is here in point 
 with the ladies in question, as it must be a 
 hell on earth to any man of spirit to hear 
 his party, and the side he espoused, king and 
 country, almost daily abused ; and there is 
 little doubt if there were any disturbances to 
 arise between Great Britain and the States, 
 but fhe would prevail on him to engage in 
 the service of her country, in preference of 
 his own. This had been too much the cas^ 
 last war, and may be so againi 
 
 Some of the gentlemen of the last descrip- 
 tion, who still continue on their farms, and 
 have had industry enough to make out two 
 or three Milk Cows, have now to milk them 
 with their own hands, lay by the milk, make 
 the churn, muck the byre, sweep the kit- 
 chen, and do every menial but requisite of- 
 fice that the family require. My lady was not 
 brought up to such drudgery, and her nerves 
 are too weak to milk the two or three Cows, 
 which .eyer of them it may happen to be, 
 
 X X 
 
C 346 ] 
 
 but rarely more ; it is enough for her to 
 take up cream for the tea, rock the cradle, 
 and look after the children ; and as he can- 
 not get himself out of debt, so as to afford to 
 keep a single servant, male or female, old 
 or young, he must do all the drudgery him- 
 self, or let it alone. To this humiliating 
 state, these dear creatures have brought 
 themselves ; whereas the poor soldiers, that 
 had not a fhilling in the world when they 
 entered on their lands, have now in general 
 from four to eight Milk Cows, with their 
 followers, and supply the markets with the 
 produce of their farms, live more comforta- 
 bly than their officers, and as happy as they 
 can wilh. 
 
 The gentlemen of the American loyalists 
 are of a very different description. They 
 are all men brought up either to the law, 
 or to some mercantile or mechanic businefs, 
 or farming, to which they severally applied 
 on their entering into this country, and make 
 out in general very well ; yet there are even 
 some exceptions among them ; some of them 
 made money, cleared a deal of land, sold it 
 after being pretty well improved, went off 
 for the States, and spent their all there; a few 
 have returned back again, and declare this 
 to be the most productive soil, and best place 
 for a settlement they have seen in Amen* 
 
[ 347 3 
 
 ca. It is clear to myself from what I have 
 seen of it, that it is not owing to the land, 
 soil, or climate, that any resident in it does 
 not do well, but totally to their own mis- 
 management. 
 
From St John to St Andrews. 
 
 Being desirous of seeing St Andrews, Pas- 
 macjUtidy, und Chailotte County on the west 
 borders of this province, which bounds it 
 and the New England States, I set out in the 
 packet sloop. Captain Magiston ; and though 
 the distance from thence to St Andrews be 
 but seventy miles, the calms were so fre- 
 quent, and the little wind there was so much 
 a-head, that w^e were four nights on the way. 
 This coast is intersected with deep and small 
 bays, and excellent harbours. In the Bay of 
 Pasmaquady and offing, are said to be as ma- 
 ny islands as there are days in the year ; 
 Grand Monnan is from eight to ten miles 
 long, and from two to three miles broad ; 
 Deer Island about four miles every way ; 
 and others of every degree and proportion 
 lefs. On the Deer Island 500 Deer had been 
 killed in one winter, but now there are none. 
 Moose Island, which is also pretty large, and 
 supposed to be within the Britiili lines, has 
 been taken pofsefsion of by the Americans. 
 Though this has been represented to the Bri- 
 tilh ministry they de^m it as nothing,* and 
 
 But if this had bern done by the French to the Dutch, 
 Our ministry would have roused heaven and earth with their 
 
[ 349 ] 
 
 will give themselves no trouble about it. It 
 is inhabited by a band of Yanky smugglers, 
 that carry on a contraband traffic with the 
 colonies on each side. 
 
 The Bay of Pasmaquady, betwixt these 
 islands and St Andrews, is from seven to 
 eight miles one way, and from ten to twelve 
 the other. In the islands are many inhabi- 
 tants, that live mostly on fiihing; they bait 
 their hooks with small Herrings, and their 
 method of catching them is somewhat curi- 
 ous ; the darkest nights are best for their pur- 
 pose : The filhers place a torch of lighted 
 birch bark, fixed in a cloven stick, in the bow 
 of the canoe or small boat, and row backwards 
 and forwards through wherever they suppose 
 the filh to be, who, upon seeing the light, 
 spring up to the surface, break and play about 
 the light ; a man is then ready with a bag or 
 scoop net, and scoops them up until he fills 
 his canoe, or has as many to bait his hooks 
 as he chooses. 
 
 I ONCE alked a parcel of these islanders that 
 came into St Andrews to sell filh, if they 
 were then getting any : they said not ; that 
 the moon was so bright they could get no 
 bait, so that they are only got in dark nights, 
 as already said. 
 
 From St Andrews I went in a boat with 
 some ladies and gentlemen of that town, to 
 complaints, and would go to war directly to revenge such an 
 insult to our allies; 
 
/ 
 
 [ 350 ] 
 
 an Indian sacrament held within the New 
 England States ; the service was given out 
 by a French priest, lately arrived in Boston 
 from South America, where he officiated a- 
 mong the natives of that part of this great 
 continent, which it was supposed qualified 
 him for the office he now undertook. He 
 was a decent looking middle aged man, and 
 spoke Englifli pretty well, but not the Indian 
 tongue of this part of the continent. The 
 Indians built a large hall for the occasion, 
 from fifty to sixty feet long, neatly enough 
 made up and covered with bark. In one 
 end of it he had an altar and an Host, and 
 used an uncommon deal of forms and cere- 
 monies, no doubt intended to strike these sa- 
 vages with the more awe in the exhibition 
 of the scene. The Indians w'ere bred by the 
 French in the faith of the church of Rome, 
 when they were in pofsefsion of the greatest 
 part of Nova Scotia, and still continue in the 
 exercise of that religion, and much attach- 
 ed to that nation. To this place the Mara- 
 fhet Indians of the river St John, and those 
 that inhabit the northern and back parts of 
 the New England States resorted, drefsed in 
 their most Ihowy apparel, but made a mise- 
 rable appearance in comparison to the war<- 
 like tribes in Upper Canada. The hoods and 
 caps of the squaws were however among the 
 
t 351 J 
 
 finest I have seen, made much in the form of 
 a grenadier’s cap, ornamented with silver, and 
 beads of various colours. The priest himself 
 had on the most fhowy garment I ever saw, 
 embroidered and inwrought with gold and 
 silver, from the crown of the head to his 
 heels, in a vast variety of forms and figures ; 
 but whether he is a man whose propensity 
 for travelling and for seeing the world had 
 made his profefsion the.^ instrument of indul- 
 ging it, or whether he was one who had 
 committed some crime in his own country, 
 which banifhed or made him forsake it, is not 
 known here ; but so it is, that the French 
 Consul at Boston would not see him, proba- 
 bly on account of his not being satisfied in 
 these points. 
 
 This priest and Indians put me in mind of 
 a story I have been told which seemed to be 
 well authenticated of the Micmac Indians, 
 who inhabit the Bay of Chaleur, and the ri- 
 ver Merimafliee in the Gulf of St Laurence. 
 
 These Indians were, like their neighbours 
 the Marafhets, instructed by the French in 
 the Romilh religion, and much attached to that 
 nation. On heariirg that the French had 
 taken part with the Americans in the late 
 war against the Englifli, and judging thereby 
 that they would invade and endeavour to 
 Recover their lost pofsefsion in Canada, and 
 
[ 352 ] 
 
 this part of the country, they formed a plan 
 of surprising and killing all the Englilh sub- 
 jects in these parts, to facilitate the conquest 
 of the French ; this having come to the ears 
 of their priest, who was an Irifhman, he con- 
 vened many of them, and exclaimed against 
 such a horrible attempt ; and told them in 
 plain terms, that he would send every man of 
 them to hell who fhould be guilty of murder, 
 or embrue his handspin Christian blood, that 
 when they wmuld be roasting in the incefsant 
 fires of hell they would feel the just reward 
 of their atrocity, deceit, and murder. These 
 threats of their priest frightened them a 
 good deal, and deterred them for a time; 
 but as they were still sanguine for the plot, 
 the expedient they now fell upon to counter- 
 act his threats, was first to kill himself, and 
 thereby put it out of his power to send them 
 to hell, that they might then with impunity 
 go on with the intended mafsacre. This be- 
 ing resolved upon, and every thing ready to 
 put it in execution, a squaw had compafsi- 
 on on the poor priest, and informed him of 
 it just time enough to betake himself to a 
 boat and set off for Halifax ; had he gone by 
 land they would have soon overtaken him, 
 and done his businefs in the woods ; but his 
 going by sea put him out of their reach. On 
 his arrival at Halifax he told \^'hat the Indians 
 
t 353 1 
 
 were about. The country was alarmed and 
 precautions taken to prevent it. The priest 
 was handsomely rewarded with a salary of 
 two or three hundred pounds a-year, and 
 enjoy^ his former office among the same In- 
 dians. 
 
 Having heard many contradictory and va- 
 rious accounts of the boundary line between 
 the Britifh Colonies and American States, as 
 settled by the treaty of peace, some informed it 
 ran due east, some due north, some due west, 
 and others again said it ran in all the in- 
 termediate points of the compafs, so that not 
 the least reliance could be made from heai- 
 say of what course it took from the sea, I 
 •was therefore resolved to satisfy myself in 
 that particular, and set out in a boat up 
 the Scudiac river, which is that which divides 
 them. This river is in many parts a mile 
 broad, and navigable fifteen miles for vefsels 
 of considerable burden. The land on each 
 side is like that on all the other parts of the 
 American coast, poor, thin, barren, and un- 
 productive, timbered mostly with spruce and 
 small pine ; but, like that also, the farther 
 you go back in the country, the better and 
 deeper the soil, always covered with hard 
 and lofty wood. I put up at the house of the 
 Reverend Mr Dun M‘Coll, a Methodist preach- 
 er, a very pious and good mail, which I 
 
r 354 ] 
 
 made my head quarters while I staid in this 
 part of the country, and received much at- 
 tention and hospitality from my country- 
 man and his wife. ^ ' 
 
 Next day after my arrival, I went to see 
 what IS called the Falls of the Scudiac, but 
 they are no more than rapids, the water bel 
 mg hemmed in between rocks into a narrow 
 space, which turns it into froth. In these 
 whirlpools a considerable deal of Salmon, 
 Herring, or Gasparoes, are caught in the sea- 
 son with scoop nets, which the filher dips in- 
 to thebodyofthe eddies and caves of the rock% 
 where the water is in such a froth as to prevent 
 the fhh from seeing it; here he ranges it a- 
 bout until he feels a filh touch either the 
 hoop, bag, or pole, and scoops it up, I saw 
 one Salmon caught in this way ; the water 
 was too low for the filh to get up to the 
 place fittest for the purpose. I returned to 
 Mr M'Coll’s that night, and next morning en- 
 gaged an Indian with a birch canoe to pro- 
 ceed along with me up the river through the 
 wildeinefs. There are no settlers above the 
 Falls on the New England side, but two fa- 
 milies, and these are twelve or fifteen miles 
 up , nor on the Britilh side, but four or five, 
 and these near at hand. We had gone but a 
 Ihort way past the Britilh settlements, when 
 paddling up by the side of long reeds and 
 
[ 355 i 
 
 buflies, I heard an Indian hoop some space 
 a-head of us. I answered, by making a like 
 hoop, which is customary when one party 
 hears another, or wifhes to be heard m the 
 ■wildernefs; that instant some wild animal 
 made a plunge in the water among the reeds 
 quite close to us ; the Indian immediately 
 stopped, and made a sign for my gun, which 
 I had in my hand ; and though I wifhed to 
 have taken a ihot myself, the canoe was so 
 small, and my back bemg towards the place 
 the animal was in, I could not turn about on 
 my breech or knees, without endmgering 
 our oversetting, so that I handed my gun be- 
 hind me to him : he no sooner gOt it than he 
 made the Ott^r Cali, and had not repeated it 
 but two or three times when an Otter answered 
 by a like call. In this way they continued for a 
 
 . few minutes, calling and answering,but the Ot- 
 ter found out his companion, and had the pre- 
 caution not to come out from among the reeds; 
 while the Indian stood ready with the gun 
 cocked to his eye, and though he never had 
 a double barrelled gun in his hand before, he 
 understood at first sight how to handle it. 
 The Indian was so attentive that they could not 
 stir a reed which he would not observe. At 
 length he got sight of one of them, and fired, 
 but the powder having got damp it hung fire , 
 
[ 350 1 
 
 he however hit the Otter, but after searching ' 
 for it a long time with my Dog among the ; 
 bullies, we could not' find it. I aiked him ' 
 whether it was an Otter or Beaver ; he said 
 there were two of them, an Otter, and his |) 
 squaw. 
 
 Wf; pioceeded up the river, and came to a ,‘i 
 small laice. Aftei palsing this lake, the river 
 became flioal, full of large stones and rocks. 
 
 T[ he Indian was obliged to pole up by the 
 sides, and the current was so rapid that the 
 water sometimes came in over the bow and 
 gun U:1 of the canoe. We pafsed an Indi- 
 an encampment, and several islands, two or 
 three of which seemed to be pretty good 
 land and fit for cultivation. The water now 
 became so llioal and rapid that m several 
 places we \vere obliged to land, and carry 
 the canoe over rocks. Having proceeded in 
 this way, for I suppose fifteen miles, through 
 ugly streams and gloomy wildernefses, and 
 rain having come on, I got myself wet; and 
 sitting in a small canoe, in which I could not 
 stir, or even look about me without the riHc 
 of oversetting, I turned tired; and finding by 
 my compals that the course I steered was 
 ivssHvard, and having thus attained the prill- 
 cipal oli{e.ct of my voyage, I resolved to go 
 no farther than the first Falls, which were but 
 
t 357 1 
 
 a few miles a-head. We came to a landing 
 place where there was a birch canoe and 
 some lumber on the river side ; here I land- 
 ed, got under a large tree to Ihun a ftiower 
 of rain, and having found a path, and been 
 told by the Indian that there was a house in 
 the wood a fhort way above, I followed the 
 path, and about a mile fiirther on 1 came up 
 to a house, around which there was a conside- 
 rable quantity of new cleared ground. On 
 my entering tliis house, I found it inhabite4 
 by one Baillie and his family, a man of great 
 activity and industry. After partakmg of 
 this man’s dinner, which was a small piece of 
 pork, and a large parcel of kidney beans, of 
 which I eat pretty heartily, and going 
 through his extensive farm, I returned to our 
 canoe, and continued our course back again. 
 Baillie told me that a surveyor, by order of 
 Congrefs, had been lately there, exploring and 
 ascertaining the course of that river, which 
 they deemed to be the boundary line ; Aat a 
 few miles above his house the river divides 
 into two branches, the one comes from the 
 north west, and the other fi'om the south 
 west ; that the former is the largest stream, 
 but that as far as 1 went, he gave the same 
 account of its course as I did; that is, that 
 it comes in general from the southward of 
 
[ isS ] 
 
 west ; so that by this surv’eyor’s report, and 
 by my own observation, I find the account 
 I in general had in St John, totally erro- 
 neous, as well as a map I have of the United 
 States, lately publilhed in Boston ; and though 
 this map is deemed the best made out of the 
 States’ territories, nothing can be more false 
 than Its representation of the Britilh lines. 
 If the south west branch of the Scudiac is to 
 be the boundary, the Britilh lines run far 
 down on the back of the northern parts of 
 the New England States, towards the head 
 of the Penobscote river. But it appears to 
 me to be no object to either Britain or Ame- 
 rica, which of Scudiac branches are to be 
 held as the boundary line, the intermediate 
 space, and the neighbourhood of that river, 
 being so barren that no use will be made of 
 it, at least for some centuries to come, if ever. 
 
 Being not prepared to stay out a night in 
 the woods, and now so late as to have scarcely 
 time -to be back with day-light, I returned 
 through the islands, in some places by a dif- 
 ferent channel from that in which I went 
 up. Pioceeding along, the Indian observed 
 a Muilc Rat fifhing among some reeds, which 
 he pointed out to me, and desired I fliould 
 be ready to fire at him, but the Mufic Rat ha- 
 ving seen us, dived and disappeared; and not- 
 
 / 
 
[ 359 3 
 
 withstanding the Indian having often re-* 
 peated his call, we never saw him more. 
 
 Having now come to the place from 
 whence we set out, and paid a dollar to the 
 Indian for his trouble, agreeably to promise, 
 
 I travelled for two miles farther on, on foot, 
 to Mr M‘Coll’s house. » 
 
 In this neighbourhood I found a great 
 many settlers, who had sold their lands in the 
 United States and come here to live, where 
 they were in a very thriving condition. 
 
 Next morning 1 set off, and arrived in the 
 evening at St Andrews, where I stopped but 
 a few days, when I set out with Lieutenants 
 M'Dougall and M‘Kay, to see their settle- 
 ments on the Macadevi river, from thence 
 to Captain James Campbell, at Harbour le 
 Tongue. With these gentlemen I pafsed 
 eight days, principally with Lieutenant 
 M‘Dougall, who was so obliging as to go 
 from thence along with me to see the settle- 
 ments on the Digidequalh river, w'here we 
 resided some days -with Captain James M‘Do- 
 nald, originally from Uist, but now an Ameri- 
 can loyalist. Here, as well as in every place 
 we had been in, we were treated with mark- 
 ed attention and hospitality. 
 
 The plantations on this creek are the neat- 
 est I have seen in this country ; the inhabi- 
 tants, mostly difbanded soldiers from High- 
 
[ 36 o ] 
 
 land regiments, have cleared a good deal of 
 land, and have stock and crops in proportion, 
 and in a fair way of being in flourilhing cir- 
 cumstances. In this place, as well as in eve- 
 ry other part of America I have either seen 
 m- heard of, every year old Quey takes the 
 Bull, and brings forth young when two years 
 old; so that their stock increases with a rapi- 
 dity unknown in many other parts of the 
 world, particularly in that corner I had come 
 from. 
 
 After bidding adieu to our kind host and 
 respectable family, my good friend Lieute- 
 nant M'Dougall, to whose civility and friend- 
 fhip I was much indebted, parted from me, 
 went home, and I proceeded to the house of 
 a Captain Alexander M‘Crae, who resides a- 
 bout a mile from St Andrews. Captain 
 M‘Crae was originally from Kintail in Rofs- 
 I3iire, but now, like Captain M‘Donald, an A- 
 merican loyalist. They both emigrated Avith 
 their families from Scotland some years prior 
 to the breaking out of the late American war 
 in North Carolina, but at the commencement 
 of the war they both embarked in it, and 
 raised each a company of their namesakes and 
 followers for the Britifh government. Captain 
 M‘Crae was so active in procuring men, and 
 useful in other lines, that he was offered a 
 Majority all at once ; but as he was totally un- 
 
[ S6i ] 
 
 acquainted with military matterSi and sup- 
 posed the duty of a Major to be so intricate that 
 none but such as were bred early and long 
 in the army were fit to discharge, he for the 
 present declined it, and said he would in the 
 mean time be contented with a Captain’s 
 commifsion, and when his services merited 
 promotion, he made no doubt of obtaining 
 it ; the company was instantly given him, but 
 in respect to promotion he was mistaken, 
 and without regard to merit or sufferings, 
 people of superior interest were on all occa- 
 sions preferred to him. 
 
 Captain M‘Crae now entered on his new 
 profefsion in the Light Horse, and was en- 
 gaged in all the broils, suecefses, and disasters, 
 that happened during the war in the sou- 
 thern provinces; and he being a bold, daring, 
 intrepid man, at the head of a small band of 
 chosen friends and faithful followers, ruflied 
 into the heat of every action or Ikirmilh; but had 
 the misfortune of never escaping out of any one 
 of them unhurt, and now bears the marksof sa- 
 bres, swords, balls, and bayonets. His left arm 
 having been broken in two or three places, he 
 has totally lost the use of it, and it now hangs 
 powerlefs by his side. He told me that once 
 he was taken prisoner in Georgia, and his 
 life despaired of through the severity of his 
 wounds ; that Sir Archibald Campbell, then 
 
 z z 
 
[ 3^2 ] 
 
 commanding the King’s forces in that pro- 
 vince, wrote such strong letters in his fa- 
 vour to the commanding officer of the A- 
 merican army in that quarter, that they sup- 
 posed him to be a man of higher rank and 
 consequence than he ever was ; and Sir Ar- 
 chibald requested he might be supplied with 
 all the money he ffiould call for, and obtain 
 every chirurgical afsistance that could be 
 given, until he fhould have an opportunity 
 of sending money, and his own surgeon to 
 attend him : that in consequence of that 
 letter, every attention that could be wiftied 
 was given him ; that the first people in the 
 place often waited upon him, offered him 
 money, and every service in their power: 
 that they spoke of Sir Archibald with such 
 applause and admiration, that they were on 
 the eve, and publicly spoke of giving up the 
 province, and joining the Britifh cause. 
 When the news came of his being superseded 
 in the command by General Provost, they 
 said that Provost was an old wife, with whom 
 they would have nothing to do. 
 
 Captain M‘Crae is confident from his 
 knowledge of the people, and what he heard 
 them declare, that had Colonel Campbell 
 continued in the command, that province 
 would not have held out ten days longer, and 
 that North and South Carolina would soon 
 
t 363 1 
 
 ^ave followed. The infatuation that atten- 
 ded the Britilh cause, on that and many o- 
 ther occasions, cannot well be accounte or 
 
 but by a planetary influence, that brough 
 
 disgrace upon every one in high coniman 
 that was engaged in the war, , 
 
 Archibald Campbell, General John Campbell 
 in Pensicola in the South, and Genera M ean 
 in the North. Is it not a little singular that 
 these three were from the poorest and most 
 remote corner of the Brmlh empire ? and 
 does it not verify what the great Lord Cha- 
 tham said, “ That he sought for merit every 
 “ where, and found it in the heathy moun- 
 » tains of the North ?” to which might be ap- 
 pUed, what Ulyfses said of Ithaca, “,’Tis a 
 » barren clime, but breeds a generous race. 
 
 The coast from the foot of the river . 
 John to the river Scudiac, is so full of inlets, 
 creeks, bays, and harbours, of various forms 
 and dimensions, that I suppose, if a line^v 
 drawn along the water’s edge it 
 found to consist of a stretch of several hum 
 dred miles in length. The whole of this ex. 
 tensive fliore is covered with kelp ware,^and 
 yet never an ounce of kelp was made here, 
 or ia any part of this country. 
 
 It often occurred in going along these 
 bays, that it would be a good speculation to 
 bring a parcel of kelp-makers from ScotlaniJ. 
 
E 364 3 
 
 to this country. The undertaker would re 
 quire to indent every one of them for six 
 months at least; otherwise they would aJf 
 forsake him on coming to this country. He 
 might cut the sea ware wherever he pleased • 
 no one would challenge him. The perpetual 
 sun would make his labour so productive, 
 t at he could afford to pay the pafsage of his 
 men, and at the same time allow them high- 
 er wages than they get in their own country: 
 as here they could work six months in the 
 year, without being stopped in all that time 
 ten days by bad weather ; whereas in the 
 Hebrides, and west coasts of Scotland, where 
 most kelp is made, it is rare to see six days 
 
 work go on wdthout being interrupted with 
 rain. 
 
 fiequently happens that servants are not to 
 be had here for love or money ; and whei^ 
 any happen to be got, they rarely engage but 
 from month to month. The extravagance of 
 their board and wages is such, as to equal, if 
 not exceed, all the benefit that can accrue 
 from their labour ; which deters most people 
 from carrying on works that would otherwise 
 be found very advantageous. Every day-la- 
 bourer must have beef, or what he likes bet- 
 ter, pork, twice a-day, tea or chocolate, half a 
 mutchkin of rum for grog, and half a dollar of 
 money j,er day. The undertaker would run 
 
[ 365 ] 
 
 no rifk of being troubled with solicitations 
 from his people for returning to their own 
 country, as they could Ihift for themselves ; 
 his only difficulty would be to keep them 
 from tunning away, and engaging with o- 
 thers before their time ffiould have expired. 
 Ships he could have at St John to carry his 
 kelp to Britain, at 2I. sterling ton; and if 
 kelp were to sell any thing near to what we 
 have seen it in Britain, I am perfectly sa- 
 tisfied that whoever ffiould, try this experi- 
 ment would find it answer probably beyond 
 his expectations. I suggested this plan to a 
 Scotch gentleman in St Andrews, who seemed 
 clearly to see the utility of it, and told me 
 some time thereafter that he was determined 
 to try it ; but since I returned to Britain, I 
 find kelp has fallen so low in price that it 
 will not answer ; but whenever it rises to its 
 former standard, it surely may. 
 
 This new town of St Andrews is prettily 
 situated, on a spacious point of land, with an 
 easy slope towards the water, and environed on 
 three sides by the river Scudiac and the Bay 
 of Pasmaquady. It has a good anchorage and 
 bar harbour, with two outlets, the one to the 
 north west, and the other to the south or 
 south east with a low^ wmody island in front, 
 of about a mile long, which makes it very 
 safe mooring. This small town is in its 
 
[ 3^6 ] 
 
 infancy ; yet has a smart trade in fhip build- 
 ing, lumber, and fifli, of which Mr Robert 
 Pagan, a Scotchman, is the life and soul. 
 To his activity and enterprising spirit his 
 country is indebted for this colony. He 
 built this year, besides other vefsels, one of 
 four hundred tons, copper bottomed, that has 
 ten state rooms, intended for the West India 
 trade to London. This fhip, as well as all 
 others built here, is of black birch. This 
 settlement is at present in a prosperous state ; 
 but it is feared it will not continue long so, 
 on account of the American States being at 
 liberty to export their lumber to Britain on as 
 low a duty as those of our own Colonies ; and 
 as their country is full of people, and labour 
 cheapj they can undersell us in our ovnx 
 markets. Of this the merchants of New Bruns- 
 wick. Nova Scotia, and those of Greenock, 
 that trade in these articles in that country, 
 complain much ; and speak of addrefsing the 
 Britifh government on the subject. Unlefs 
 their grievances are redrefsed, it is probable 
 the people will leave this country, which, as 
 formerly, will become a desert, and settle 
 somewhere else ; as without a trade in lumber, 
 this town or county cannot subsist. If the 
 Britifh ministry were to pay due attenti- 
 on to the prosperity of our own Colonies, they 
 would prohibit any lumber from the States 
 
t 367 1 
 
 to enter their ports, until such time as the 
 Colonies were well peopled, and the trade es- 
 tablilhed on a stable footing ; whenever that 
 happened, their ports might then be opened 
 to the Americans, as well as to our own people, 
 which would create emulation and a rivah 
 {hip between them. Temporary inconveni- 
 encies ought to be put up %vith for the sake 
 of future and permanent advantages. 
 
From St Andrews to Greenock in Scotland. 
 
 Every thing being now ready for our de- 
 parture for Scotland, and after bidding adieu, 
 and thanking my worthy friend Captain 
 M‘Crae, and his kind family, with whom I lived 
 most of the time I had been in this corner 
 of the country, Mefsrs Robert Pagan, John 
 M‘Kenzie, and Daniel M‘Master, merchants, 
 and several other gentlemen in the place, on 
 the 4th of November 1792 I stepped on 
 board the Friendfliip brig, of St Andrews, of 
 230 tons burden, loaded with lumber ; a new 
 vefsel, built by Mr Colin Campbell of this 
 place, for the use of, and by desire of his cre- 
 ditors. 
 
 In pafsing through the islands, in the 
 mouth of the Bay ofPasmaquady, we saw vast 
 flocks of Sea Gulls and Marrats, which in- 
 dicated the great quantities of fifli with which 
 these sounds abound. Cod w^ere so abundant 
 here last summer, that it was said Newfound- 
 land Banks could not exceed it for fifhing. 
 We pafsed Grand Mannan at night, and found 
 ourselves next morning near the entry of the 
 Bay of Fundi j but had we met with contra- 
 
[ 3^9 ] 
 
 ry winds that detained us for some days beSit- 
 ing about. After we had been a little way 
 out from the Bay in a thick fog, we saw a 
 Humming Bird which kept flymg about the 
 Ihip for some time, also some land Hawks, 
 one of which followed us for several days, 
 and perched on the mast, yards, and Ihrouds, 
 when tired to rest itself It once caught a 
 Mother Carries Chicken nearly as big as it- 
 self, and brought it on board, and rather than 
 part with it, allowed itself to be taken alive. 
 We kept it for about a vreek, when it was 
 killed by some accident. Nothing particular 
 happened until we came to the Newfound- 
 land Banks, when the equinoxial gale overtook 
 us, and blew a violent storm ; such indeed as 
 none on board had ever experienced the like, 
 excepting one sailor who had been on board 
 the fleet that accompanied the Ville de Paris 
 when flie was lost ^ and as we had been in the 
 very place on the same days of the year that di- 
 saster happened, we dreaded not a little to 
 meet with the like fate. The'fliip was put in 
 the best trim pofsible ; top gallant masts, and 
 all the yards were struck, to enable us to wea- 
 ther this storm, which continued with very 
 little intermifsion for about a week ; great 
 part of the time we could put up no fire or 
 cook any victuals. Our situation was very dis- 
 agreeable, scudding before the wind with bare 
 
poles. For two weeks after we had rode out 
 the storm we could not say where we were 
 and kept a fliarp look out in hopes of fal- 
 ling in with some homeward bound West India 
 man, who could tell us something about it ; 
 but we saw no vefsel until we eame within two 
 days sail of the south west end of Ireland, 
 when we fell in with an American ftiip three 
 days out from Liverpool, on her way home to 
 New England. It being then Ihir weather 
 we immediately launched out a boat, sent 
 her a-board the fliip to learn from her where 
 we were. Two days thereafter we fell in 
 •With an Irilh smuggler hovering on the coast, 
 waiting for night and a fair wind to land and 
 discharge her cargo ; we spoke her, when fhe 
 told us that from the mast head w^e could see 
 land,w'hich was very pleasant tidings to us. No- 
 thmg particular happened farther for four 
 days, when vre landed safe in Greenock, after 
 a tedious pafsage of forty-one days. 
 
 During the tiresome days I spent at sea on 
 my pafsage home, I had time to examine the 
 jottings and memorandums I had picked up 
 in my travels, containing anecdotes of singu- 
 lar persons, which I wrote upon separate pie- 
 ces of paper, and did not insert them in my 
 journal. Among these the following, selected 
 fiom a great number, appeared to me so in- 
 teresting or entertaining, that I thought them 
 
[ 371 J 
 
 not undeserving a place here ; especially a? 
 they tend to illustrate the manners ot the 
 people, and the circumstances of the country 
 which is the subject of these memoirs. 
 
 The manner in which the famous Indian 
 chief Pontinac tooh the Fort ot p)etroit, is as 
 follovN"^. He beyig a great adherent to the 
 French interest for a long time after the Bri- 
 tilh had wrested Canada from the crown of 
 France, had formed a plan to retake Detroit : 
 to effect this purpose, he, with his whole na- 
 tion came, under pretence of hunting in that 
 neighbourhood, and encamped near the fort, 
 and continued there for a considerable time. 
 It was at length agreed among his tribe to 
 have a fhinty match in a plain near the fort ; 
 of this he sent notice to the governor, and 
 said that a large bet was depending. On the 
 day appointed the whole Indians came, di- 
 vided themselves into two parties, and began 
 a furious contest. The garrison were at first 
 on their guard; but seeing the game continu- 
 ed for a long time, made them suppose there 
 was no ill intended, and the officers came out 
 to see the sport. One of the Indians struck 
 the ball over the rampart into the fort, and' 
 another of them was permitted to go in for 
 it and take it out, and to continue the decep- 
 tion this was done three or four times, till 
 the people were quite off their guard. When 
 
[ 372 ] 
 
 the Indians discovered this, the ball was 
 struck in again, on which the whole rufhed 
 in, in a body so thick that it was impofsible 
 to fliut the gates, and made all within priso- 
 ners. 
 
 After keeping pofsefsion for some consider- 
 ble time, the troops w^ere ransomed, and a 
 handsome gratification given Pontinac for 
 giving up the fort. 
 
 Here now again the Britifii were in pofsef- 
 sion of Fort Detroit, but still Pontinac was 
 difsatisfied, and being yearly in expectation 
 of an army from France to retake Canada, he 
 formed another plan to take the fort. For 
 this purpose he came again with his whole 
 tribe and encamped in the vicinity. Sent 
 notice to the Governor, that as the French 
 ■ had been amusing them yearly with promises 
 of befriending them and retaking Canada, all 
 of which they failed in, and gave him every 
 reason never to believe them more; he 
 therefore wiflied of all things in the world to 
 be in friendfliip and alliance with their great 
 father the king of England, for whom he had 
 the highest respect and veneration, and re- 
 quested that the Governor would be good e- 
 nough to draw up a treaty of amity and friend- 
 fliip, and even of offensive and defensive al- 
 liance if he chose it, most to his own liking, on 
 any terms he thought proper, and that he and 
 
[ 373 ] 
 
 all his chiefs would confirm it, and come into 
 the fort on any day he would appoint, to sign 
 and sanction such a treaty. He told his sto- 
 ry so speciously that the Governor had not the 
 least doubt of its sincerity, drew up a trea- 
 ty and appointed a day for him and his chiefs 
 to’come into the fort to sign it. Some days 
 previous to this meeting the Governor gave a 
 Deer Ikin to a squaw to make him a pair oi 
 mogazines ; when ftie returned with them he 
 was so well pleased with their make, that he 
 handsomely rewarded her, and desired her 
 to make another pair in the same way. S e 
 answered that one pair was enough. Tins 
 surprised the Governor a good deal, who alk- 
 ed her reason for saying so ; Ihe refused to 
 give any but that fhe supposed one was e- 
 nough, carried away the Ikin, and went oft 
 with a downcast look, seemingly in a thought- 
 ful musing manner. The Governor upon 
 ruminating on what the squaw had said, and 
 as these people rarely waste words uselefsly or 
 say more than enough, thought flie must 
 have had some reason for it, he therefore sent 
 for her to come and speak to him. When 
 file came he recalled to her memory what 
 file had formerly exprefsed, and begged to 
 know her reason for having done it. She re- 
 fused to give any for a considerable time, but 
 that (he thought so. At last he prevailed by 
 
I 574 J 
 
 fair words, promises, and bribes; ihe told him 
 that if ihe was to discover it fte would be 
 burnt, but that her gratitude for his kindnefs 
 was such that Ihe could not be easy and see 
 him sacrificed-, and that he and all his peonle 
 were to be killed on the day appointed L 
 their meeting; that for this purpose all the 
 chiefs had cut their guns fliort, so that they 
 could be hid under their blankets, and were 
 to have them charged and primed, their 
 knives on, and every thing ready for fdlina 
 first on him and his officers, and then on the 
 men, on a certain signal to be made by Ponti- 
 ac, when they were to meet in the Council 
 Chamber, and still added that Ihe would be 
 burnt ahve, m the event it was known that 
 1C was Ihe that discovered it ; for that reason 
 the most inviolable secrecy Avas necefsary in- 
 respect to her, which- the Governor solemnly 
 promised to observ^e. To guard against this 
 dreaafiil attempt he ordered all the garrison 
 out to excercise on the parade without'the 
 ort, twi^,e a day for about a week previous 
 to the meeting ; this, with a view to deceive 
 the Indians and his own |>eopIe ; but the 
 night preceding the meeting he told his offi- 
 cers of the whole plot, and put them on their 
 guard, and ordered them to have every thing 
 ready for defence, and none to be out of the- 
 garrison or look over the ramparts. The 
 
I 375 ] 
 
 next day when the whole Indian chiefs en- 
 tered the gate, they saw the garrison standing 
 ready under arms. Pontinac afked the Go- 
 vernor why he had his young men armed 
 and all on the parade. The other answered, 
 that it was on account of their health, that it 
 was much better for them than to be loiter- 
 ing in their barracks ; and as Pontinac knew 
 it was customary for them to be so, he palsed 
 on without any further alarm. When they en- 
 tered the Council Chamber and seated them- 
 selves, Pontinac began a speach in the most 
 friendly terms and highest afsurance of affec- 
 tion and friendlhip for the Englifh. At that in- 
 stant a large pai'ty of soldiers with fixed bayonets 
 ■entered the room, and the officers drew their 
 swords, the whole party without came to the 
 door also and made a great noise with their arms. 
 On seeing this Pontinac turned as pale as linen, 
 but continued his speech, and when he had fini- 
 flied it alked the meaning of all this. The Go- ' 
 vernor then drew his sword and taxed him, with 
 his treachery, and told him if any one of them 
 was to stir hand or foot that that moment he 
 and all his party would be sacrificed, and not a 
 single man of them would escape the slaugh- 
 ter. Pontinac still protested innocence un- 
 til he and his chiefs were desired to throw 
 aside their blankets, which they were obliged 
 to comply with, and discover what they had 
 
[ 376 3 
 
 Concealed below them. When this was done 
 it was in vain to deny the plot. Pontinac 
 and all his chiefs sued for mercy, and pro- 
 mised the most inviolable attachment to the 
 Englifh if their lives fhould be spared. The 
 Governor through too much humanity and 
 lenity forgave them, and dismifsed them 
 without any punilhment. The use they made 
 of it was instantly to invest the fort, and conti- 
 nued to blockade it the whole winter until the 
 place was relieved by the arrival of a fhip 
 with stores, and a reinforcement from Nia- 
 gara next May. I saw several people who 
 know the squaw, and said fhe is still alive 
 at Detroit, that the Governor gave her a pen- 
 sion for some years, but whether it is still 
 continued or not they could not say. 
 
Account of the Action between the States of K- 
 MER.ICA and the Confederate Indians, on the 
 November 1791- 
 
 The account of the action which took 
 place between the troops of the States of A- 
 merica, coininanded by General St Claii, and 
 the confederate Indians, in the Miami terri- 
 tories, on the 4th November i 79 ^» "which has 
 been slightly mentioned (page 202,) is, by the 
 best information I could procure from In- 
 dians and white people that were in the ac- 
 tion on each side of the question as fol- 
 lows, viz. 
 
 Genera! St Clair’s whole army consisted 
 but of 2500 men. In this number were in- 
 cluded two or three hundred Kentucky mili- 
 tia, who, after having gone a considerable 
 way with the army into the Indian country, 
 became restive, and would go ho farther. At 
 the time of their departure from the army 
 on their return home, chefe happened to be a 
 considerable store of provisions, with a small 
 convoy, coming foreward for the troops, and 
 for fear the Kentucky militia fliould seize on 
 it, the General detached the first regiment of 
 
 B B B 
 
^continental troops, to guard and escort it to 
 his camp» This reduced St Clair’s army to 
 2000 men. 
 
 The Indians had in the field 1 300 men, 
 -about 300 of which were out a-hunting to 
 procure provisions for the rest, so that they 
 had but 1040 in the action. In the night 
 between the third and fourth of November, 
 the old chiefs and experienced warriors had 
 the utmost difficulty to restrain the ardent 
 young warriors from afsaulting the camp, at 
 night ; nor were they able to keep them from 
 sallying, and carrying off" several scores of ox- 
 en and horses. But no sooner day light ap- 
 peared in the morning of the 4th, than they 
 attacked and afsaulted their enemies in all 
 quarters at once, many of the Indians pene- 
 trating into the middle of the camp, slafii- 
 ing away on all sides with their tomahawks, 
 as they went along : but as the Indians never 
 make a regular stand, they were beat back, 
 but instantly turned about and kept up a 
 perpetual fire from behind trees and logs, 
 which galled their enemies severely from 
 quarters they could not see where. Sallies 
 were made by the white people frequently, 
 with succefs in beating back the Indians; 
 but no sooner the party returned to the main 
 body than the Indians were at their heels. 
 In this w'ay the action continued irom day- 
 
[ 379 3 
 
 light to nine o’clock in the morning, when St 
 Clair’s army was reduced to one third ^ ^ 
 number he brought to the field. He then 
 ordered a sally to be made to gam the mam 
 road ; wh^n this was obtained they gave way 
 on it, and it now became a perfect rout. 
 Had the Indians understood his intention 
 was to retreat, they would have prevented it, 
 and neither he himself, nor perhaps any one 
 of his army would have escaped. Another 
 circumstance favourable to him was, t at t le 
 Indians after their retreat, attended more to 
 plundering the camp than to the pursuit ; yet 
 a few of them are said to have followed the 
 chase for ten miles. General St Clair’s army 
 had six pieces of cannon and two howitzers, 
 yet not a (hot was fired out of either; but 
 they were intended for a different purpose 
 which the court of St James’s was apprised 
 of not many months thereafter 
 
 * In the baggage taken by the Indians after that action, 
 papers were found, which they immediately sent to the com- 
 Lnding officer at Detroit. Some of these bore General St 
 C air’s private Instructions from Congrefs, that how soon 
 S beat the Indians, he ffiould attack Fort Detroit for 
 ' hich purpose alone the cannon and howitzers were sen • 
 Though this did not puplicly transpire while I was in^t 
 peighbourhood, yet it privately did, and there 
 doubt its authenticity, as the cannon were not so J 
 
 charged, and uselefs if they ffiould, against Indians sculkmg n 
 
 % wood behind trees and logs. 
 
C 380 ] 
 
 T„. Americans had thirty mile. 
 from the field of action to their next post at 
 Fort Jefferson, and no doubt had run the 
 greatest part of the way. in which they threw 
 away all their firelock « nr.ri c ^ 
 
 •; ; t-iocjcs and accoutrements. 
 
 Next morntng when they mustered up the 
 remains of their army at this fort, by some 
 accounts there were but 300, by others joo : 
 and one officer who was present told 
 me there were but 175, There were about 
 sixty officers killed and wounded, and as 
 ffiere were but three officers tg a company, 
 11 must have been nearly the whole. I 
 have heard of Bunkers hill, Brooker mill. 
 Brimston hill, and Jew’s Burying ground,’ 
 but such slaughter as this unfortunate array 
 underwent, the annals of history, I believe, 
 will rarely instance. The preceding year the 
 Indians were victorious in two actions, where- 
 m It was said they had killed six or seven 
 undred of the Americans, which no doubt 
 helped to give a spur to their exertions on 
 this last occasion. Lieutenant Turner told me 
 t at at one time they were so galled from a 
 certain quarter, and could not see those that 
 id It, that he himself and between thirty 
 «nd forty others puflied on to beat them olf, 
 in only saw one Indian, who, it would seem, 
 had not perceived their approach until they 
 were near him. He sprung off with such a-^ 
 
[ 381 ] 
 
 gility and speed, from tree to tree, in a tra-, 
 verse way, that though they all fired at him, 
 he got off and did not seem to have been 
 touched with their (hot. 
 
 I ASKED what was the matter with hini 
 that he did not run a^s well as the rest. His 
 answer was, that there was not an officer in 
 the army, but he could run with ; which J rea- 
 dily believed, as he is a very handsome gen-, 
 teel looking young man of twenty-two years 
 of age, and six feet two inches high, very 
 athletic and active ; but that he had carried a 
 wounded companion two or three miles on 
 his back : that on his way he fell in with a 
 pack Horse, on which he mounted the 
 wounded officer : that he ran along with 
 them, but that the Horse outstripped him ; 
 and gave the following account of the man- 
 ner in which he was taken, viz. 
 
 That after the Horse had left him he was 
 pulhing along the best way he could, and al- 
 most blind with sweet, and out of breath, a- 
 bout five miles from the seat of action, seven 
 or eight Indians in the pursuit came up with 
 him. On seeing the stoutest of them stop to 
 dispatch him, the rest scoured past. But 
 when the Indian took up his tomahawk to 
 blow out Mr T’s brains, he seized upon, wres- 
 ted it out of his hands, and threw it aside ; 
 pn which the Indian drew his knife, which 
 
[ 382 ] 
 
 Mr T. also wrested from him, grappled with 
 and dafhed him to the ground. All this 
 happened before the other Indians were out 
 of sight, who on seeing their companion 
 down turned back. By this time Mr T. al- 
 lowed the Indian to rise. On the Indians co- 
 ming back they took up their tomahawks to 
 kill Turner, but the Indian he had overcome 
 interposing, desired them to desist, and said 
 that he was a brave fellow and deserved his 
 life. Mr T. said that he was perfectly collec- 
 ted all the time, and that he knew his only 
 safety was to spare the Indian’s life ; which in 
 the end proved to be so. They brought him 
 back through the field of action, made him 
 carry a very heavy burden of the trophies of 
 the field, and ordered him to strip some of 
 the dead and carry more, which he refus- 
 ed. They brought him from thence to 
 the village where he was afterwards as well 
 used as he could wilh, and once had gone 
 out on a hunting party with them, and was 
 permitted to visit a French village that was in 
 the neighbourhood *. After being three 
 
 A 
 
 * There are several French settlen[ients apd villages whose 
 inhabitants formerly had spread out from the district of De- 
 troit in the heart of the Indian territories. They trade with and 
 seem to live on the most amicable terms with them. These 
 French make as, much red wine as serves themselves, and a- 
 bundance of rice grows spontanious in their sw’amps j perhaps 
 no country in the world exceedi» it in productions of various' 
 
[ 383 3 
 
 weeks in this way with the Indians, he was 
 permitted to go onhis parole to Detroit, under 
 a promise of returning from thence, two 
 eight gallon cags of rum, some powder and 
 fliot, for his ransome ; that done he might 
 go to his own country or wherever he pleas- 
 ed, but a Frenchman guarantied his imple- 
 menting these terms. Mr T. amply perfor- 
 med them, and returned more presents to 
 the Indians than he was engaged for. He gave 
 a high account of his reception from the Bri- 
 tilh officers at Detroit. From thence he had 
 come to Niagara, where he and I lived for 
 three weeks together. Mr T. in the Philadel- 
 phia gazettes, which I fhowed him, was re- 
 turned in the list of the killed in that action, 
 which no doubt greatly distrefsed his friends 
 and relations; but when they afterwards 
 learned of his being still in life, and that he 
 had been permitted to return to the Britifh 
 settlement, they sent an exprefs with a letter 
 to Colonel Gordon at Niagara, requesting that 
 he would be good enough to find him out, 
 and supply him with money, cloaths, and e- 
 very necefsary, to draw upon them for the 
 
 kinds*, but its distance from sea and market exceeds ico» 
 miles, yet there is water communication by small rivers, and 
 the Mifsisippi to the sea on the south, and by other small ri- 
 vers, the Lajics of Canada, and the river St Laurence in the 
 
 east. 
 
amount, and that it W'ould be most gratefully 
 honoured. On the receipt of this letter, Co 
 lonel Gordon sent for Mr Turner to acquaint 
 him of it, and upon Mr T’s return from Co^ 
 lonel Gordon to me, he exprefsed such joy 
 at his friends hearing of his being in life, 
 and felt such felicity as unfortunately deran- 
 ged his understanding, and was never more 
 liimself, while he continued in that place, 
 and I am extremely unhappy to hear that he 
 was no wise better on his return home, or 
 after his arrival at Philadelphia. The Indians 
 lost in that action as follows, viz. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Savanese, - _ 3 
 
 Delawares, - - 4 
 
 Hurons, - _ - 3 
 
 Mingoes or five 
 known how many. 
 
 So that they did 
 men in that action. 
 
 Men* 
 
 Ottowas, 1 
 Chipawas, f ■■ 4 
 Pottawamas, j 
 Miamis, - - 2 
 
 nations some, but not 
 
 not lose above twenty 
 
Reflections on the British Provinces in Ame- 
 rica, with regard to their throwing off their 
 allegiance to the Mother Country, and theif 
 falling into the hands of the Foederal States. 
 
 It is supposed by many people in Britain, 
 and they do not hesitate to say, that how soon 
 our American Colonies find themselves strong 
 enough, they will throw off their allegiance 
 to the Mother country, and become inde- 
 pendent, or prior to that event, fall into the 
 hands of the American States. But these as- 
 sertions and ideas proceed totally from want 
 of information. The example of the Foederal 
 States, who now pant for a connection with 
 Great Britain, and to have a free trade with 
 our West Indian islands, from which they are 
 totally excluded, is enough to deter them for 
 ever. The Britifti Colonies are so sensible of 
 the advantage they derive from a free trade 
 with Britain, the Britifh laws and Govern- 
 ment, the protection of its navy to their 
 Ihipping and trade, no duty paid, no land tax, 
 no cefs, nor any public burden imposed, no 
 grievances whatever, have many felicities in 
 that line no country in the \frorld enjoys, and 
 c c c 
 
C 386 ] 
 
 many others unnecefsary to enumerate here 
 that were they millions strong, their first and 
 last wilh would be a continuation of their 
 connection with Great Britain. The examples 
 of the Foederal States as already observed 
 would operate so powerfully as to preclude all 
 idea of the remaining Britifli colonies ever 
 wilhing for a change. 
 
 In regard to their falling into the hands 
 of the States of America, I will venture to say, 
 that while the Britifti keep pofsefsion of the 
 out forts, that were the whole power of 
 Congrefs, which is not so very great as some 
 perhaps suppose, over such a free and inde- 
 pendent people (that think for themselves,) 
 as the inhabitants of the United States are, 
 were levelled against Canada (even in its 
 present state,) and an attempt made to con- 
 quer it, it would be attended with no lefs 
 disgrace and disaster, than that which had 
 lately befallen the Britifli arms in endeavour- 
 ing to subdue themselves. The Canadians 
 would take fire to a man at such an attempt, 
 to which the recent sufferings of the loyal 
 Americans, some of whose fathers, brothers, 
 and nearest relations were killed (or hanged,) 
 in cold blood, \vould give such an additional 
 spur to their resentment, as ivould make it 
 nearly if not as bloody to them as that in 
 which they are now engaged with the In- 
 
[ 387 ] 
 
 dlans, and end in the like disaster to them- 
 selves. 
 
 The rifk and difficulty of carrying pro- 
 visions and stores through a wildernefs of 
 some hundred miles, and that distant from 
 resources and supplies of all kinds would be 
 subject to embarrafsments easily foreseen, but 
 ill to surmount, and liable to the fate of Bur- 
 goin and his army, in every corner the attempt 
 could be made on that province. “ Whoever 
 seeketh to attain unto this end by crooked 
 cunning, will find that by this left handed 
 wisdom he will at least lose his way,” nor is 
 it likely that such an attempt will be made, 
 while it is well known that half a dozen of 
 Britifli frigates, and as many bomb ketches, 
 could lay every ^town of note in America 
 in afhes in one day. 
 
 To explain this article it may be necef- 
 sary to mention that all the old fortifications 
 were erased to the ground, and not a gun 
 now mounted in that whole continent but 
 such as are in the pofsefsison of the Britifli. 
 
 T / AT / s. 
 
ERRA 7 A. 
 
 page I line ii for monday read day, 
 p, 15 1. 24 for Grandaman r Granmanan», 
 
 P. 41 1 ^ for NaJhnjoack r St John. 
 
 p. 43, 45 and 47 for Symon r Lymon. ,4 
 
 P. 7 2 1 . 1 8 for lengtjj r weight. 
 p. 57 1. 13 for the X a. 
 
 P. 99 1 . 8 and 9 for port r fort. . , J?. 
 
 P. rill. 15 for come r hen. 
 p. 133 1. 24 tor young r little^ 
 
 P. ib. 1 . 27 for glad r he. 
 
 P. ib. 1 . lb. for r 
 
 P. 160 1 . 18 for buJJjels r holh^ 
 
 P. 232 i. 14 for him r 
 
 P. ib. note 1 . 2 insert after the word house, they. 
 
 must ha^e star^ed!^'* 
 
 P. 268 1 . 4 for Glencoe r Gleno. 
 
 P. 269 1 . 20 for leafy r lofty y 
 
 P, 272 1 . 21 and afterwards, for M^Jons r MAans. ■ 
 P. 276 last line for still r 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER^ 
 
 Place the portrait of the author to front — 
 The large plate — - — — 
 
 The small plate — — ~ 
 
 The table of distances at the end. 
 
 Page. 
 
 I 
 
 86 
 
 102 
 
•n. «/.rc ;« the Britifh Provinces in North America, to which Letters 
 
 fjBLE of the Dista Distances, hy later Measurements, are 
 
 ^ay he ^onveye^ ^hrou,^ Z2^T, h. aU Letters aleU 
 found to be greater than m tins u , 
 
 u 
 
 rJ 
 

 V T 
 
 r'S 
 
 -;i 4 ;v* j ua 4 w*i>vy 
 
 > '*« .y.i’i •„ i ,^'siftC; »i4ViV. Y/.a-i’.-r'.'- r ' 
 
 . /'i/ii^ . . 'f '. 
 
 'i 
 
 
 /I : 
 
 M ■ 
 
 
 t 'fS:' 
 
 fe. r 
 
 W 
 
 :!' 
 
 -1«f ■ - 
 
 
 
 ' 'if'\ 
 
 ' : . ^:A >J:l»:^, ,:gi 
 
 :S:'B !'-' • 'T| 
 
 • ;v : ; 
 
 :i 
 
 ' ‘ a-* '■ 
 
 ■: ^^ > :? 
 
 
 -t- 
 
 : ’■"‘^ - -V \iVi^ 
 
 '■ f- Lii. '.V 
 
 .- • ^^,-^Zf 
 
 i^.<: -«■ > 
 
 . C; ' 
 C/' 
 
 
 ■ ' 'fr 
 
 • •* •- . ' ;vt j :c-;; 'v^ 7 r 7 wrs,' 
 
 : 'S. ■ ;'. !''"’a-^-^ — ■ 
 
 .-■ :•,*% B 9 - '{U.); ';a ; 
 
 . '■•■I 
 
 •p.fo ;p'-e 
 
 1 »7 ■ f r ?“ ^ 7 ^' 7 i ■ 
 
 il, 7 ' li*#* yvX i'-ii; :^:)2 ‘itQ- v>s ^ ' i 
 
 3-’; p:' ;;'^;ip : 
 
 i>'4’ Si, fcxj.' Lij .T.-rS' ;;Tr r^.~> ■^■'". ■ , 
 
 ' ^ ' p :»j;v 4 Rf.. ,gi,; ,;)isi’.j*.; :' 
 
 . '-Vn 
 
 ■;:<-'.-v\> /ood ' 
 
 QO ^ kg^ ‘irf-] ;^-._) ^ ... f 
 
 ^ • ** 7 --* Vf ^ ~ -XT 
 
 ‘ >1 .. . -v' ' 
 
 Ppl;' ;ClC |c£.d OQO 
 
 ~ 'f ' ' • • r--' ^‘- '^ *^^‘ .' Lrz‘zecu 
 
 ■',; 'si^. !>«? fee? 'ei 7 *E? ’~^ 77 T';j“ 7 Tr^^ '■*".■“ — 
 
 j^arief 
 
 '^e* |c3^ }=a^i'^' 
 
 ■n Wn K.., K Tf-o rrr^ — --r— «__ — .. -- i-: ■.*• , . ■.... r '•• 
 
 ~‘‘ ' ' ''**** I iniiipiiupafi »■ I *’ ,•*-■> -• J. I^-.X (y O.i. . i J,^-* "'.r 
 
 --m ,rx .7 • 
 
 ■\ :•■;?'■• • T -V V- wi ■:?>;• i '. t--.- ■ ‘ \f . , *' •- -r. 
 
 
 -y-y.yi.i 
 
 
 ■'■ ' >.r ■ >-.. . ' . ■■ ■ 
 
 
' vV.' • ■ 
 
 '• ' .■• . ■ . -■' •, 
 
 : , • f> 
 
 y: 
 
 f;: ' 
 
 :;;-S 
 
t: 
 
 i*: 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 J