The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1881-12-23
The Canadian bitant.
T.. Fd, rer In December atlantic.

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The inhabitant i. model of thrift. He
grows his own tobacco, makes his own
"beef" moccasins, and manufacturers his
own whisky. His wife spins the wool out
of which is made retonne du pays, kind OF
frieze, in which he clothes himself. His
house Is the picture Of neatness. The out
side is whitewashed at least twice year,
the inside is swept and garnished until 1t is
as bright as new pin. The floor of pine
boards is scrubbed and sanded every day.
The walls are hung with pictures, somewhat
gaudy as to color, Of the Pope. st. Cecilia,
St. Joseph and st. Anne, and photographs of
the parish priest and Of the children who
are away in New England or Minnesota
Over the fire place, in which huge logs blaze
In winter time, hangs the family fusil. the
old flint lock sire carried under Montcalm.
and now used to kill an occasional bear. and
10 fire a feu de joie on st. Jean Bap,iste
day and other great occasions. Near 1t are
medals brought from Rome by the priest or
Bishop, and the rosary that has come down
as an heirloom in the family. The house is
decorated with sampler work of saints and
angels, for which the women are famed. A
cruciiix hangs above the fusll, and i'm settle
ments near a church the house Is always
supplied with holy water. The patriarch of
the family sits in the ingleneuk, putting
blasts of smoke from his long pipe up the
believing chimney, and sporting the togue,
an oldfashioned red nishtcap with bril-
liant tassel, which his fathers before him
wore under the ancient regime. The good
wife, in mantelet of calico, skirt Of home
spun blue, and neat Norman cap, Is at the
spinning wheel, the eldest daughter, soon to
clearing, is weaving her linen outfit at
hand loom. The pot in which the pea soup,
the staple dish, is made is gurgling ON the
fire: smaller pot contains the pork; and in
the Gulf parishes the tiatude, composed Of
alternate layers of pork and Goldfish, Is still
the piece de resistance. The bedrooms are
furnished with old-fashioned bedsteads, COW
cred with patch quilts of cunning and
PntlGhb WoIhhGhships bUby arc PIT
lures of the Madonna and st. Ignatius, and
small plaster figure of the great Napoleon,
meditating with folded arms on the cliffs of
st. Helena; a bough of palm blessed at
Easter tide; holy water, a specific against
lightning; and the snowshoes on which the
inhabitant visits his little kingdom of so or
100 arpents in the long winter season. The
housewife bottles an infinite variety of pre-
serves in the fall, raspberries, blueberries,
huckleberrics, blackberries and other wild
fruits -nich the bush and the swamps yield
in abundance; and in the spring the naples
furnish sweet harvest of sugar. When the
defricheur comes in from the woods on 4
cold evening, he fortifes himself with
draught Of tile mordant whisky; the bless
ing of God Is asked on the more substantial
repast, and he falls TO, valiant trencher-
man, with an sppctite as keen as an axe.
The bon homme gets out his rosin and his
bow, the lads and lasses come In from the
farm houses, and as LongfelIow
has 1t Of the Acadians in Evangcline:
a1siS tHc oth iuan sings 10 LUc vibrant
sound of his fiddle.
'Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres' find lie
Carlton de Dunkerque'
The dances Of the olden time still hold
their own in the country districts. The CO.
tillons, the gigues, the galopades, the minuets,
etc, the daness roundes and ancient ballads,
the Claire Fontaine" and |" En- Rsulant," :"
are ever new. At 10 o'clock the grandfather
puts away his fiddle and reverently gives his
blessing to the company, which now dis
perses to be up and At work by the first peep
In the morning.