The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-24 00:00:00

CONVEYANCE OF T.ROOPS iN CANADA

Although the release of Messrs. Mason and
Slidell and the more recently modified and tempe-
rate tone of Mr. Seward's despatches to this coun-
try, have removed all present fears of war, the
measures for putting the Canadian frontiers and
defence by the
s, and arms have not
been relaxed, and a description of the difficulties
transmissionprovinces in
of a
troops,
fit statesh ships,
of
overcome by the earliest parties of troops will not,
therefore, be without interest. A pioneer party was
in the first instance appointed to travel over the
route by which it wasproposed to forward the troops
to Riviere du Loup, to judge of its practicability,
and to organise means for butting and feeding them
on their journey. From the journal of an officer who
accompanied this party, and who, indeed, seems to
havebeen
factstlie a lifesantod soulthe
difficulty
we gather several
important
of forwarding
troops in large numbers through an almost unset-
tled country in the depth of winter. The party,
which consisted of 17 persons, left Halifax on the
28th Dec., with the intention of proceeding, via St.
John's, New Brunswick, up the St. John River by
Tour du Lac and St. Francois to Riviere du Loup.
Their first stage—from Halifax to Truro by rail-
road—ran chiefly through a spruce and pine forest,
and was performed by the party in a violent snow-
storm, no incident breaking the monotony of the
journey, which was accomplished at a very steady
paee‘of 13 miles an hour. The violence of the snow-
storm increasing effectually prevented any further
progress for the night; in fact, by the evening the
railway was snowed up and impracticable. At
Truro, the principal subject of remark was the faci-
lity with which good horses for transport could be
obtained, 300 or 400 being easily procurable at an
average price of £2O each. A peculiar mode of esti-
mating a horse prevails in this town. A horse at
Truro is rated by weight, as a 9cwt. horse, or an
newt. horse, as the case may be, on the principle
that it requires weight to move weight. Early in
the morning the party left Truro in five sleighs.
But here their difficulties began. A plunge of the
horse into a deep snowdrift broke the pole of the
sleigh. When this accident was remedied they
found that the gale of the previous day had swept
the snow from the roads, piling it into drifts here and
there, and leaving so many pitfalls for the sleighs.
Over this clean-swept road the sleighs, loaded, could
not be drawn, so that the travellers had to walk the
chief portion of the road, every now and then quitting
it and going across country, ruthlessly pulling down
the snake fences, and receiving every assistance
whose loyalty was conspicuous
route by the ready serviee they
afforfromded. the
e inhabitants,
wholeT iies
These
b
r a
ve-hearted colonists followed
with the party for miles, digging through snow-
drifts, tearing down their own fences, cutting
through the brushwood, and doing everything in
their power, although working on Sunday, a cir-
cumstance entirely foreign to their usual habits.
Notwithstanding such assistance, the party met
with one upset during the day and broke two poles,
one of which was replaced by a rail from the next
snake fence and the other by a borrowed one, and
at dusk they arrived at Folly village, having taken
61 hours to travel 13 miles. Here, worn out with
fatigue, and judging it foolish to dare the dangers
of the snowdrifts in the dark, they halted for the
night. Next morning found them early in the
sleighs, as they had to cross the snows of the Cobe-
quid Mountains. On this day the drifts were deeper
than those encountered the day before, and without
the same opportunity of avoiding them, the road
running through the forest and over the mountain.
Just before arriving at Spencer, a tremendous drift
for a long time barred further progress. This they
had to trample down before the sleighs could be
dragged over it, and this labour both to man and
horse was such as to necessitate a halt at Spencer.
At West Chester the changed their sleighs, and
resolved to make a bold push onwards to Amherst,
and if possible by travelling all night to reach
Moncton btyhellpaar.mty separated, only seven facing. next day. At West Chester,
however,
the midnight drive through the snow to Moncton,
the rest preferring to remain where they were.
Without further incident the seven reachedMoncton
in time to catch the only daily train for St. John's,
N. 8., and after spending 61 hours in travelling
only 92 miles they arrived at their destination.
Four days had thus been spent in gretting from
Halifax to St. John's, the whole distance being 260
miles, of which 106 miles were performed in sleighs,
and the remaining 154 by railway. At St. John's
the party found the inhabitants in a state of enthu-
siastic loyalty. " The people there had turned out,
and converted public buildings into accommodation
for 3,000 men ; the corporation had fitted up quar-
ters for 500 men at their own expense, the Volun-
teers mounted sentry over the buildings, and the
citizens offered to take the oineers into their own
houses rather than they should soffer any inconve-
nience in finding lodgings. After a stay of four days
at St. John's the party, now reduced to six, started
at 11 a.m., with the thermometer marking 10 deg.
below zero, for Fredericton. There was a bitter and
cutting wind blowing, and the effect of it on the
travellers was most painful. For the first part of the
road the sleighing was excellent, but at the Hovels,
halfway between St. John's and Fredericton, one of
the sleigh drivers, having paid too vigorous a devo-
tion to a bottle of brandy, split the party into two,
one half proceeding and the other getting on as they
could. About 10 p.m. the cold became so intense as
to freete the moustachios of the travellers to their