CANADA.

This extensive tract of country is situated in North America, between the 42d and 51st degrees of north latitude, and between the 61st and 81st degrees of west longitude from London. It is computed to extend from east to west about 1400 miles, and from north to south from 200 to 400 miles. In the year 1791 it was divided, by an act of the British parliament, into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.

The province of Lower Canada lies between the 45th and 52d degrees of north latitude, and the 63d and 8Ist of west longitude. It has on the north the desolate country of the Esquimaux or New Britain, and Labrador, though it is not separated from them by any definite boundary; and as it does not extend on the north side of the St Lawrence to the sea, it is also in this quarter bounded on the east by Labrador and the Esquimaux country. On the east it is bounded by the Gulf of St Lawrence, the river St John, and part of the Labrador coast, now annexed to the government of Newfoundland; on the south, by New Brunswick and the territories of the United States, namely, the district of Maine, the province of New Hampshire, the state of Vermont, and the state of New York; on the west, by a line which separates it from Upper Canada, commencing at a stone boundary on the north bank of the Lake St Francis, in St Lawrence river, thence north to Ottawa river, which it ascends to its source in Lake Temiscaming, and from thence due north, as far as the boundary of the province extends in this direction. Lower Canada is divided into the superior districts of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, and the inferior districts of Gaspć and St Francis. By the act of 1791 the province was divided into the following twenty-one counties, viz.
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The provincial act of the 9th Geo. IV. subdivided the counties, for the more equal representation of the inhabitants, as follows, viz.
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The minor divisions are, 1<√, The seignories, or the original grants of the French government under the feudal system, which, in the year 1721, were again partitioned out into parishes. The limits of these last, however, have not been very strictly adhered to, portions of ancient parishes having been from time to time constituted into new ones. 2<√, The townships or grants of land made by the English government, since the year 1796, in free and common soccage.

The following are the boundaries of Upper Canada: On the east it is bounded, since the year 1791, by Lower Canada; on the north-east, by the Grand or Ottawa river, which is the common boundary between it and the lower province; on the north, by the territories of the Hudson’s Bay Company; on the south and south-east, by the United States of America, although the common frontier between these two states is far from being well defined. It is merely an imaginary line, beginning at the village of St Regis, on the St Lawrence, in the 45th degree of north latitude, passing up the middle of this river, through Lake Ontario, the Niagara river, and Lake Erie, and continuing thence through the middle of the water communication, into Lakes Huron and Superior, along the middle of the chain of lakes which leads to the Lake of the Woods, and from thence due west to the river Mississippi.^[1. This is the boundary fixed by the treaty of 17ÍĨ3, when the country was little known, and it is therefore erroneous, the Lake of the Woods being to the north of the sources of the Mississippi. A line drawn due west from this lake would never strike the Mississippi. ]

The treaty of Ghent, issued in 1814, provides for the revision of this boundary line; and commissioners were accordingly appointed, on the part of Great Britain and the United States, to determine, by a scientific survey, various points in the circle of 45° north latitude. They agreed in ascertaining these points in 1818, after which this, with other questions respecting the boundaries of the British colonies and the United States, was submitted to the king of the Netherlands, who pronounced an award in 1830, and proposed new astronomical observations on the parallel of45°, which was not thought necessary. The question, therefore, remains undecided, and can only be settled by mutual compromise and concession; and, considering the little importance of the disputed territory, it is not likely to raise any serious difference between the two enlightened states who are parties in the controversy. On the west and north-west no limits have been assigned to this country; and it may be supposed, therefore, to extend in this direction as far as the Pacific and Northern Oceans.

Upper Canada is divided into eleven districts, namely,
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These again arc subdivided into twenty-six counties, namely.
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These contain 273 townships, exclusive of Indian lands, and certain other portions that are reserved for the crown and the maintenance of the Protestant clergy. The quantity of land in each township is computed by Bouchette, in his valuable and elaborate work on Canada, to amount, on an average, to 61,600 acres, making the whole amount to 16,816,800 acres, of which 7,000,000 of acres are granted in feu and common soccage, 4,805,400 are reserved for the crown and clergy, and 5,011,400 still remain to be granted.

The country of Canada is intersected by mountainous ridges, which extend from the coast far into the interior, and between these lie extensive valleys, which are generally pleasant and fertile. On the southern shore of the St Lawrence, a ridge of heights rises near the eastern extremity of Lower Canada, which runs close to the river for upwards of 100 miles, and forms its rugged banks as far as Cape Tourment, about thirty miles below Quebec. Here the ridge, taking a direction west-south-west, terminates on the river Ottawa, about thirty-eight leagues above its confluence with the St Lawrence, extending westward from Cape Tourment along the course of the river about 300 miles. The tract of country lying between it and the St Lawrence, which may be estimated at from fifteen to thirty miles in breadth, is beautifully picturesque, well watered, and level. Towards the west, more especially, it may be considered, both in respect to population, soil, and skilful cultivation, as the choicest part of the province.

That part of Canada which lies on the north side of this ridge is comprehended within the Ottawa river on the north-west, the 81st parallel of west longitude, and the 52d of north latitude. It is intersected by another and higher range of mountains, which runs into the interior in a north-west direction, at the distance of about 200 miles from the former ridge, and which forms the height of land by which the tributary streams of the St Lawrence are divided from those that fall into Hudson’s Bay. Of this extensive wilderness, which has been but imperfectly explored, all that we know is, that it is covered with immense forests, whose dreary solitudes are only interrupted by hunting parties of wandering savages.

On the south side of the river St Lawrence, a ridge commences nearly 100 miles below Quebec, taking a southwest direction; and opposite to this city it is about ten leagues distant from the river. The intervening country is a fertile and well-cultivated level, with several insulated hills, or rather rocks, of a singular form, and thinly covered with small trees near their summits. The same chain, continuing in a south-west direction, crosses the boundary line between Canada and the United States to the west of Lake Memphremagog, and proceeds in the same course until it meets with the Hudson river. The tract between this ridge and the St Lawrence, with the exception of some occasional ridges, is nearly level, and, from the richness of its soil, is covered with populous and flourishing settlements.

Beyond this ridge, at about the distance of fifty miles, is another and a higher ridge, generally denominated the Land’s Height, as it divides the tributary streams of the St Lawrence from those which flow towards the Atlantic Ocean; and its summit is also supposed to constitute the boundary line between the territories of Great Britain and the United States. This range of mountains commences near Cape Rosier, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and, running into the interior in a direction nearly parallel with the course of the river, and with the former chain, it terminates upon the eastern branch of the Connecticut river, being in length nearly 400 miles. The country lying between these two ridges varies in its quality and fruitfulness, according to its peculiar situation. From the 45th degree of north latitude, which is the boundary line between Canada and the United States, to the river Chaudière, within a few miles of Quebec, there is a tract of excellent and fertile land, divided mostly into townships, many of which are settled and under cultivation. This part of the country, both from its luxuriant soil, and from the great advantage of its being contiguous to the United States, and its comprehending the main roads and principal points of communication between the two territories, will probably become the most flourishing portion of the province. From the river Chaudière eastward to Lake Temiscouata the land is broken, irregular, and of an indifferent quality, interspersed, however, with some good and productive tracts, of which the returns would amply repay the expenses of cultivation. From Lake Temiscouata eastward to Cape Rosier, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, the country has been but partially explored. But it appears generally to be of a rugged and mountainous character; and such parts of it as are known exhibit an appearance of sterility which holds out no encouragement to the labours of the farmer. On the banks of the St Lawrence, however, some fertile spots are to be found, on which settlements might be established with advantage. On the south side of the ridge, down to the shores of Gaspe and Chaleur Bay, the country is generally barren and mountainous, interspersed with occasional spots of excellent land, some of which, especially those on the shores of Chaleur Bay, are well settled. They contain about 3000 inhabitants, most of whom, being employed in the fisheries, bestow comparatively little attention on agriculture.

That portion of Upper Canada which has been laid out into townships extends from its eastern frontier along the northern shore of the river St Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake St Clair, and the communication between it and Lake Huron,in length about 570 miles; and its breadth towards the north varies from forty to fifty miles. Throughout the whole of this tract the soil is excellent, and is not exceeded by any other part of the American continent. It generally consists of a fine dark loam, mixed with a rich vegetable mould; but it is so happily varied as to present situations adapted to every species of produce. For about 170 miles from the eastern frontier of the province, to the head of the Bay of Quinté, on Lake Ontario, the land is spread out into an almost uniform level of great beauty, which rises only a few feet from the bank of the St Lawrence. It is well watered in almost every direction by numerous streams, which are generally navigable for boats and canoes, and which, at the same time, present the most desirable situations for the erection of machinery. From the Bay of Quinté, about forty miles from the eastern shores of Lake Ontario, to its western extremity, runs a longitudinal ridge of no great elevation, and of inconsiderable breadth. Another ridge, called the Queenstown Heights, extends eastward along the southern shores of Lake Ontario, between these and Lake Erie, into the state of New York. This range never rises in any part more [7:6:57] than 160 yards above the level of the lake. The country which lies between the two lakes of Ontario and Erie, and which extends round the western extremity of Lake Ontario to the Bay of Quinté, comprehending the Newcastle, the Home, and the Niagara districts, is watered by a number both of large and small streams. The land throughout is uncommonly rich and fertile, and already contains a number of flourishing settlements. A road leads from York, near the western extremity of Lake Ontario, and the capital of Upper Canada, to Lake Simcae, which is forty miles long and twelve broad; and along this road a great number of emigrants have been settled.

The remaining part of the tract we have been describing, which extends along the southern shores of Lake Erie, from the river Ouse to the lake and river of St Clair, is a complete level, abounding in the most advantageous situations for settlements; and those places which are already occupied and under tillage equal any part of either province for the plentiful crops and thriving farms with which they abound. That portion of the country which lies between Lake Erie and Lake St Clair is perhaps the most delightful in the whole province. The fertility of the soil, the diversified and luxuriant scene which everywhere opens to the view, the excellent fish which abound in the rivers, and the profusion of game to be found in the woods, combine to attract a continual supply of new settlers to this highly favoured tract.

“It may be observed of this extensive country,” says Bouchette, “bordering the north shore of the river St Lawrence from Pointe-au-Baudet to Lake Ontario, the southern side of that lake, and of Lake Erie up to Lake St Clair, and of the communication between it and Lake Huron, a distance little short of 570 miles, and stretching northward from the water to a depth varying from fifty to eighty miles, that it is composed of a soil which, for richness, variety, and its fitness for all the purposes of agriculture, may challenge competition with the choicest tracts of the new world.” ' Mr Richards, also, who in 1830 was appointed commissioner by the British government to inquire into the state of the North American provinces, makes the same report respecting Upper Canada. He observes, that the general character of the soil between Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, is chiefly alluvial deposit, with less stone than elsewhere, and only of inferior quality where swamps or sand predominate, being in all other respects of as fine a quality as any in America or in the world.^[2. See House of Commons Papers, Report of Mr Richards, colonial secretary, respecting the waste lands of the Canadas, and emigration. Ordered 13th September 1831. ]

This thriving portion of Canada presented, at the conclusion of the last war, a vast and almost impenetrable forest; but a military road, with other roads branching off in various directions, having been constructed, the lands were rendered accessible; and they were soon afterwards occupied by settlers, chiefly disbanded soldiers, and emigrants from Scotland. These settlements, which were begun in 1815, are now flourishing; and the whole tract has been laid out in townships about ten miles square, and containing 61,600 acres each. The settlement of the country to the westward of Port Talbot, nearly midway between Niagara and Detroit, commenced in 1802, when it was an uninhabited wilderness. Roads were laid out for about eighty miles along the lake; and the land was let out in farms of 200 acres, and is now densely filled with inhabitants. Settlements were soon after extended along the roads opened through the wilderness of the Long Woods; and the town of Amherstburgh, 785 miles above Quebec, and 1100 from the mouth of the St Lawrence, arose on the banks of the Detroit, which runs with an uninterrupted navigation from Lake St Clair into Lake Erie. More recently the settlements have extended northward towards Lake Huron; and the Canada Company, incorporated in 1826, have contracted with government for a large tract of country, commencing in north latitude 43°, extending about sixty miles along its eastern shores, and comprehending, with another portion, about 2,000,000 of acres, payable in fifteen years, by yearly instalments of L.15,000 each. By the activity and resources of this company, the town of Guelph was founded in the wilderness, on the banks of the river Speed, a tributary of the Ouse, and about sixty miles north-west of the extreme point of Lake Ontario. In the course of a few years seventy-six houses arose; the town has since greatly increased. The town lots, of one quarter of an acre each, which sold at first for twenty, have since risen to forty dollars, and the lands in the vicinity from 7s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. and 20s. per acre.^[3. See J. Macgregor’s excellent work on British America, which contains abundant information respecting these interesting colonies. See also Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada, by a Backwoodsman, an admirable work, abounding in lively description and accurate details. ] This company have opened roads in various directions through their lands. The town of Goderich has been founded at the mouth of the river Maitland, which falls into Lake Huron; and in the space of six years has this territory, heretofore the haunt of wild beasts, of Indians, and fur traders, been laid open and settled by the energies and commanding resources of this company, by which obstacles have been removed with a rapidity which could never have been the result of in- ‘ dividual exertion alone. The land in this tract is equal to any in the province; it possesses numerous streams, capable of driving any given quantity of machinery, whether for mill, manufactories, or farming purposes; and these streams, running into Lake Huron, connect the country with the great lakes, and the chain of internal navigation which, at the distance of 1500 miles, terminates in the estuary of the St Lawrence. Another advantage in this far western district is, that there are no lands reserved by the crown, or for the clergy, which, lying uncultivated for years, seriously obstruct the general improvement of the country, and the progress of settlers.^[4. See Backwoodsman, p. 23. ]

Along the Ottawa river, which is the boundary of the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, settlements are rapidly extending; and the land is in general remarkably fertile, consisting, along the banks of the river, of rich alluvial grounds, and of natural meadows extending in luxuriant pastures, and rising as it recedes into gentle ridges, with a dry soil. Settlements have now advanced 160 miles from Montreal, although in the townships beyond Hull, which is 125 miles above that town, they are few and thinly scattered. The remotest colony is situated on the northern shore of Lac des Chats, which is formed by the Ottawa; and, notwithstanding its distance from the other flourishing settlements on the river banks, its rapid prosperity is almost certain, from the richness and fertility of the farms. Grenville, which is ninety-five miles lower down, was settled in 1829; its inhabitants already amount to 1858; and the progress of all those settlements will be greatly accelerated by the improved communications, which are now nearly completed, to the remotest parts of this newly settled country. In 1828 a liberal provision was made for this purpose by the legislature; and in 1819 a steam-boat began to ply on the Ottawa as far as Hull, which renders the communication with [7:6:58]Montreal easy and expeditious, and is of unspeakable advantage to those rising settlements.^[5. See Bouchette’s Topographical and Statistical Descript ion of the British Dominions in North America, vol. i. chap. ix. ]

Beyond these cultivated tracts of Upper Canada, ending at the settlement of Goderich, with the exception of one or two military stations, the posts of the Hudson’s Bay Gompany, and the small settlements which have been established by Lord Selkirk on Red River, the vast regions from Lake Huron to the Pacific, and the extensive tracts which stretch far to the northward, are covered with immense forests, the haunt of wild animals and of wandering savages. But these regions, though they have never been explored by the Europeans, are known to spread out into valleys of a rich and fertile soil, more especially in the country skirting the south-western shore of the Ottawa river. They are also watered by many streams, some of a large size, which flow both into Lake Huron and into the Ottawa river. The course of these rivers is not, however, sufficiently known to be traced with accuracy on the map. In those unexplored countries all sorts of timber are found in the greatest profusion. The oak, beech, walnut, ash, hickery, maple, elm, pine, sycamore, birch, and many other sorts, grow to the largest dimensions, which is the best proof of the fertility and vigour of the soil in which they have taken ro.of.

The rivers and lakes of Canada are stamped with a peculiar character of grandeur. The great river St Lawrence issues from Lake Superior, and, flowing successively through Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, falls into the ocean after a course of 2000 miles. Its course is through a long and narrow valley, in which also are contained the great lakes from which it derives its ample stream. This valley seems to have taken the form of the immense collection of waters of which it is the depository: it is closely encompassed on every side, except on that through which the river makes its way to the sea, by different ranges of mountains, which completely encircle the great lakes, at the distance, in some points, of not more than sixty miles, and, shutting them up from the interior, form the dividing ridge between the tributary streams of the St Lawrence and those which flow north and south into Hudson’s Bay and the Mississippi. The prodigious volume of water which the St Lawrence rolls into the ocean, and the extent to which it is navigable, give it the pre-eminence over all the other great rivers of North America. Its breadth at its mouth may be reckoned ninety miles; and at Saguenay river, 260 miles higher up, it is still eighteen miles broad. It is navigable with safety for ships of the line 400 miles from its mouth; and to Montreal, 160 miles farther up, with very little difficulty, for ships of 600 tons burden. For vessels of a larger size the navigation is intricate and dangerous. The St Lawrence is diversified by numerous islands, and its shores alternately present the pleasing view of flourishing settlements, and of sublime and picturesque scenery.

The tract of country which the St Lawrence drains of its waters is confined, on the north, and more especially on the south, by ranges of mountains which run along its whole extent; so that there is no adequate space for the formation of such immense tributary rivers as pour their waters into the Amazons, the Plata, and the Mississippi. It will accordingly be found that the main stream of the St Lawrence is not increased by such vast accessions from the tributary waters of the territory through which it flows, as those last-mentioned rivers. The principal rivers which it receives from the north are the Ottawa, the Masquinongé, the St Maurice, the St Ann, the Jacques Cartier, the Saguenay, and the Manicoagan.

From the south it receives the Salmon river, the Chateaugay, the Chambly or Richelieu, the Yamaska, the St Francis, the Becancour, the Du Chene, Chaudière, and Du Loup. Of these the Ottawa and Saguenay are important rivers, and bring a great accession to the stream of the St Lawrence. The Saguenay is a broad, deep, and uncommonly rapid river. At its mouth it is only one mile broad, but is said to be of unfathomable depth, attempts having been made to find the bottom with 500 fathoms of line, but without effect. About two miles higher it has been found to be from 130 to 140 fathoms deep. The Ottawa is also a large and important river. It has its rise from several lakes in Upper Canada, and, rushing over a bed of remarkable declivity, falls into the St Lawrence a few miles above Montreal.

No country in the world contains such immense depositories of fresh water as Canada. Its lakes are not only numerous, but they are unequalled in magnitude by those of any other country in the world. Lake Superior, which is of a triangular form, is 480 miles long, 420 broad, and it is remarkable for the transparency of its waters. The southern and most valuable part of the north-western coasts of this lake belong to the Americans; the northern shores are wild, rugged, and barren; but the regions which lie westward in the parallel of Lake Superior abound in fertile and well-watered lands, in which are to be seen forests, savannahs, prairies, and salt marshes. The passage to Lake Huron is interrupted by the rapids or falls of St Mary; but it is said that all obstructions would be easily removed, and that at a small expense the navigation between Lake Superior and the lower lakes could be laid open. Lake Huron is 250 miles long and 120 broad, without comprehending a branch of it called Georgia Bay, which is 120 miles long and fifty miles broad. The Strait of Mickillimackinnak affords a deep and safe navigation into Lake Michigan, which is in the American territory; but as it is connected with the great chain of the Canadian lakes, it may be stated to be in length 400 miles, including Green Bay, a branch of it, and fifty broad. Lake Eric, which is connected with Lake Huron by the river Detroit, extends from South-west to north-west 231 miles. It is sixty-three and a half in breadth where it is broadest; and its breadth is in other parts from thirty to fifty-five miles. From the north-eastern extremity of Lake Erie, the communication to Lake Ontario is by the Niagara river, and is thirty-six miles in length. The lake is about 180 miles in length, and forty to fifty broad. Both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are navigated by sloops, schooners, and steam-boats, and other smaller craft, which frequently encounter heavy seas, as on the ocean. On the former there are at present (1832) 100 sail of American vessels, seven steam-boats, and eight sail of British small vessels.^[6. See Parliamentary Report, by Richards, p. G. ] These lakes vary greatly in depth. Lake Superior is 900 feet deep; Lake Huron 860; Lake Erie is only from sixty to seventy feet deep; while Lake Ontario is 452 feet deep. From this view of their various depths it follows that the bottom of Lake Ontario is as low as most parts of the Gulf of St Lawrence; and that the bottoms of Lakes Huron and Superior, from their vast depths, are on the same level with that of Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St Lawrence. There are, besides, the smaller lakes of St Clair and Simcae, the first about thirty miles long, and nearly of the same breadth; and the latter forty miles long and twelve broad, and flowing by the river Severn into Lake Huron. In the interior the country is covered with numerous smaller lakes, which are so connected that, by the help of short portages and other expedients, a navigable communication[7:6:59], by means of canoes, is carried to the Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and onwards to the distance of several thousand miles in the remote regions of the north-west country.

The navigation of the river Niagara, which is about thirty-two miles, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is interrupted in the middle by the falls, which have been celebrated by all travellers as one of the greatest wonders of nature. This great fall is occasioned by the configuration of the country, which is one vast plain, extending from the Ohio and Lake Erie westward beyond the Mississippi, and eastward to the Allegany Mountains. This plain, after passing Lake Erie for some distance to the north, rapidly descends 340 feet to another plain, in the level of which lies Lake Ontario, which is less elevated than Lake Erie by 330 feet; and it is from the higher level of Lake Erie that the river Niagara is precipitated with such tremendous violence into the plain below. The rock over which the Niagara falls is in the form of an irregular semicircle, about three quarters of a mile in extent. The river is here divided into two by Goat Island, the extremity of which is perpendicular, and in a line with the precipice over which the water is precipitated. The cataract on the Canada side is called the horse shoe, from its peculiar form, or the Great Fall; and the other the American Fall. The latter is 1140 feet wide, and 162 feet high; the former 2100 feet broad, and, in consequence of the greater declivity of the bed of the river, eleven feet less in height. Several miles above the fall, the river is from two miles suddenly compressed within the breadth of a mile; the velocity of the current is increased from three to eight miles in the hour; and the bed of the river declines fifty feet in half a mile; the current is fearfully accelerated until the river reaches the fall, when the whole vast volume of waters inclosed between lofty and rugged banks is hurled over the perpendicular height into the vast and terrific gulf beneath. The numerous travellers who have visited Niagara have exhausted their fancy in attempting to convey, by appropriate images, an idea of the majesty and terrific grandeur of this great phenomenon of nature. But, as Captain Hall remarks, “all parts of Niagara are on a scale which baffles every attempt of the imagination to paint, and it were ridiculous, therefore, to think of describing it. The ordinary materials of description, I mean analogy, and direct comparison, which are more accessible, fail entirely in the case of that amazing cataract, which is altogether unique.” The falls are viewed from a jutting shelf of the rock, called Table Rock, which is on a level with the edge of the cataract; but the grandeur of the spectacle is still more striking on the British side, below the falls, at the bottom, the descent to which is partly down the less steep part of the bank, and partly by a spiral ladder, from the bottom of which a kind of path leads, among rocks and under the precipitous banks, to the crescent or great Horse Shoe Fall. “Here,” says Mr Macgregor, in his late excellent work on British America, “we have the grand outlet of these great lakes, which contain nearly half of all the fresh waters on our globe, thundering over a terrific precipice, having for a short distance a smooth green surface, but quickly raging in impetuous, broken, foaming grandeur, as it hurls into the vast unfathomable abyss below.” The precipice over which the cataract rolls projects about fifty feet beyond its base, and hence the waters descend in the form of a crescent, within which it is customary for travellers to enter thirty or forty yards. Mr Weld, who visited Niagara in 1796, was among the first travellers who ventured under the cataract, and to within six yards of the sheet of water which rushes into the gulf below. Captain Hall also took his station under the cataract; and both travellers experienced the greatest inconvenience, and even some risk, from the violent tempest and whirlwind which always rages at the bottom of the cataract, arising from the air carried down by the cascade, and forced under the water, rising up again in tremendous gusts, and driving upward incessant deluges of the spray.^[7. For a more particular description of this fall, the reader is referred to Chateaubriand’s Recollections of America, p. 184; Volney’s View of the Climate and Soil of America, &c. chap. vi.; Weld’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 123-129; Ileriot’s Travels ; Howison’s Sketches of Upper Canada, Letter vii. p. 91; Captain Hall’s Travels in North America, vol. i. chap. vi. This last traveller’s account is more accurate and detailed than descriptive. ]

It has been remarked by those who reside in the neighbourhood of the fall, that the rock over which the water is projected is crumbling down, and that the fall is gradually receding towards Lake Erie. It was stated to Captain Hall, that within the last thirty or forty years it had gone back forty or fifty yards. It was long supposed that this effect was produced by the violent attrition of the waters on the rocky bed of the river. But Captain Hall suggests a different and more satisfactory explanation of the fact. On examining the structure of the rock, he observed that the different strata of which it is composed are laid horizontally on each other. The top stratum is a compact calcareous rock, but downwards the strata become softer, until, at about a hundred feet from the top, the rock crumbles to pieces under the touch; and being rapidly worn away under the action of those violent blasts which continually rise from the roaring abyss beneath, the upper part of the rock is gradually undermined, and at last breaks down under the immense load of waters which it has to sustain; and thus it is conjectured, and with plausibility, that the falls have been at one time much nearer Lake Ontario, that they have been travelling for centuries to their present position, and that in the course of some thousands of years they may reach Lake Erie. On the 30th December 1828 a large portion of the rock fell, by which the horse-shoe form of the falls was changed to an angular form, though it remained fully as romantic as before. The appearance of Niagara, and the surrounding country, has been entirely changed by the progress of cultivation. There are two excellent hotels near the falls, the windows of which command a view of the cataract, though not the best. At the village, of Manchester, mills, forges, trip-hammers, &c. are erected close to the rapids, which turn the wheels of the mills and forges; and thus the scenery has exchanged its original character of wildness and grandeur for the tamer aspect of civilized life.

In Canada, the opposite extremes of heat and cold are felt in all their excess. The greatest heat experienced during the summer is from ninety-six to a hundred and two degrees of Fahrenheit in the shade; but the usual summer heat is about eighty or eighty-two. In the winter the thermometer is sometimes sixty degrees of Fahrenheit below the freezing point, although it never continues above one or two days at these extremes; and it is not above once or twice in a season that this excessive cold is felt. In the winter of 1790 the mercury was frozen at Quebec.^[8. Macgregor, vol. ii. chap. vi. ] The medium temperature of winter may be estimated in general to be from twenty degrees above to twenty-five degrees below zero. The pure air and cloudless sky which always accompany this intense frost make it both pleasant and healthy, and render its effects on the human body much less severe than when the atmosphere [7:6:60]is loaded with vapours. In the vicinity of the sea, towards the eastern coast of Lower Canada, fogs are frequently brought from the Gulf of St Lawrence by the easterly wind. But to the westward they seldom prevail, and even at Quebec they are almost unknown. In Canada, the spring, summer, and autumn are comprehended in five months, from May to September. The rest of the year may be said to consist wholly of winter. In October frost begins to be felt, although during the day the rays of the sun still keep the weather tolerably warm. In the succeeding month of November the frost increases in rigour, and one snow-storm succeeds another until the whole face of the country is covered, and the eye looks in vain for one solitary spot of verdure whereon to rest. These storms are generally accompanied by a violent tempest of wind, which, driving along the snow with immense velocity, renders them tenfold more gloomy and terrific. The most severe snow-storms occur in November. They generally come from the north-cast, from the frozen regions of Hudson’s Bay and Labrador. This gloomy and disagreeable weather frequently continues to the middle or latter end of December, when the atmosphere clears; an intense frost succeeds—the sky becomes serene, pure, and frosty, and of a bright azure hue, and this cold and clear weather generally lasts till the month of May. The snow covers the ground to the depth of several feet, so that wheelcarriages can no longer be used. Their place is supplied by cañoles, a sort of sledges, which, being placed on iron-runners, resembling in their form the irons of a pair of skaits, pass over the hardened snow without sinking deep. Those carriages are generally light open vehicles, drawn by one horse, to which the snow, after it is trodden for some time, and hardened by the frost, offers very little resistance. In these vehicles, the Canadians travel in the most agreeable manner, and with inconceivable rapidity. So light is the draught, that the same horse will go in one day eighty, and sometimes ninety miles; and the inhabitants of this cold climate always take advantage of the winter season, when they can travel so easily and expeditiously, to visit their friends who live at a distance. Covered carioles are sometimes used to protect the travellers from the weather; but, in general, open carriages are preferred.

About the beginning of December all the small rivers are completely frozen over and covered with snow. Even the great river St Lawrence is arrested in its course, and from the beginning of December till the middle of April the navigable communication is interrupted by the frost. During this period the river from Quebec to Kingston, and between the great lakes, except the Niagara and the Rapids, is wholly frozen over. The great lakes are never entirely covered with ice; but it usually shuts up all the bays and inlets, and extends many miles towards the centre of those inland seas. In Lake Superior, which is farthest to the north, the ice extends seventy miles from the shore. It is seldom that the river is frozen over below Quebec; but the force of the tides is continually detaching the ice from its shores, and those immense masses are kept in such constant agitation that navigation is rendered quite impracticable. In some seasons, though rarely, the river is frozen completely over below Quebec; and this happens when large masses of ice come in contact, and fill the whole space between one side of the river and the other, in consequence of which the whole becomes stationary. If this takes place at neap tides, and in calm weather, the intense frost gives it solidity before it can be dcranged by the rising tides; and when it has stood some days, it remains firm and immovable, till it is dissolved and broken up by the warmth of the April sun. When the river is frozen over, it is of great advantage both to the inhabitants of Quebec and to those of the adjacent country, as it affords an easy mode of transporting into the ' town all sorts of bulky commodities, such as fire-wood and other produce. It thus reduces the price of those necessary articles in Quebec, while, by diminishing the price of carriage, it opens to the produce of the most distant parts of the country a quick and easy access to all the most eligible markets.

The snow begins to melt in April, and the thaw is so rapid that it is generally gone by the second or third week. Vegetation then resumes its suspended powers; the fields are clothed with verdure, and spring can scarcely be said to exist before summer is at hand. In Upper Canada the winters are much shorter than in Lower Canada, nor is the cold so intense. The spring opens, and the labours of the farmer commence six weeks or two months earlier than in the neighbourhood of Quebec. The climate is not liable to the same extremes either of heat or cold, and the weather in autumn is usually favourable for securing all the late crops.

The wild animals of Canada are the same as are gene-. rally found in North America, and consist of the American black bear, which, though occasionally feeding on berries, at other times preys on the flocks and herds; buffaloes, stags, and clks; foxes, which are numerous, and are smaller and of a more delicate form than those in Britain; hares, martens, rabbits, wild cats, ferrets, weasels, and large squirrels of a grayish hue. The marshes, lakes, and pools swarm with otters, of which the white and the black are highly valued; and the beaver is found in the deep recesses of the wood: a curious animal, between a hare and a rabbit, frequents the swamps. The wild animals in the uncultivated parts of the country are still numerous; but they gradually diminish, and some of them finally disappear, with the progress of cultivation. The feathered races are numerous, such as are common generally in North America. Many species have never been classed, and many are not distinctly known, although Rennaut, Wilson, and Audubon, have greatly extended our knowledge of American ornithology. Among the principal birds in Canada may be reckoned the vulture, the eagle, the hawk, the owl, ail of different species; the wild turkey, the wild goose, the wild duck, the swan, found near the most unfrequented lakes and marshes; pelicans, cormorants, cranes, grouse, ptarmagan, partridges, wood-peckers, pigeons, pheasants, snipes, plovers, the bittern, the yellow bird, the magpie, gulls in great variety, the martin, the American thrush, with numerous species of singing birds. Rattle-snakes arc found in Canada, as in other parts of America, from four to six feet in length; water snakes, and others quite harmless, with a variety of smaller serpents; also lizards and land tortoises. Mosquitoes, sand flies, and other insects and reptiles, are exceedingly annoying during the heat of summer, especially in uncleared land, near marshes, or among the woods. All the lakes and rivers abound in a great variety of fish, such as salmon, eels, which are held in great esteem, mackerel, herrings, shads, smelts, turbots, sturgeons, trouts, mullets, carp, and cat-fish. There are many fish for which there is no European name, such as the pipe pickerel, ιnaskanonge, black and white and rock bass, sucker, &c. But the pride of the Canadian waters is the mackinaw trout, which seldom weighs less than twenty, sometimes fifty, and in some rare instances ninety pounds weight, and for richness and flavour far exceeds any fish we know.

The soil of Canada is favourable to all the agricultural productions of England, namely, wheat, oats, barley, flax, hemp, &c. The average produce is from twenty-five to thirty bushels an acre. In the western parts tobacco is very commonly grown, and the produce of an acre is from [7:6:61]1000 to 1200 pounds. The forests abound in the finest and largest trees, adapted to all the purposes of ship-building or carpentry. Among the principal timber trees, the pines claim the first rank. Some species grow to the height of 120 feet, and they afford squared logs of forty solid feet. Besides these, the fir, the larch, the oak, the cedar, the beech, the ash, the birch, the maple from which sugar is made, the white walnut or hickery, and many other varieties, are produced of an excellent quality and of the largest dimensions. Many varieties of wild fruits abound. Vines are to be found growing spontaneously. Cranberries are plentiful, of a fine quality, and as large as cherries; raspberries and strawberries are abundant; also whortle berries and blue berries; and black and red currants, gooseberries, juniper berries, and two or three descriptions of cherries, grow wild. The climate of Upper Canada is more mild than that of Lower Canada. To the west of Niagara the finest apples, pears, prunes, nectarines, melons, grapes, and various other fruits, come to perfection.

The trade of Canada, while it was in possession of France, was inconsiderable, being confined chiefly to peltries. A few ships were occasionally built; and seal oil, flour, and peas in trifling quantities, were also exported. Ginseng, which grows wild, was also sent to France, and thence to China, to the annual value of about L.20,000. The following is an account of the annual value of the exports prior to the year 1759 :—
[table]

The annual expenses of the government laid out chiefly in the formation of a line of forts from Quebec to New Orleans, to hem in the British settlements, increased from L.16,663 in 1729, to one million sterling prior to 1759. The principal trade was in furs, in pursuit of which the woods and interior deserts were traversed by bands of resolute adventurers, and agriculture was neglected and despised. But after the conquest of Canada by the English, the cultivation of the soil, the natural and most profitable employment in a new colony, attracted the attention of the settlers, and pulse, Indian corn, biscuit, oak and pine timber, deals, masts, and bowsprits, spars of all denominations, staves, wheat, flour, peas, pot and pearl ashes, pork, beef, and butter, were exported to Great Britain and the West Indies, in exchange for manufactured goods of every description, tea, rum, sugar, molasses, coffee, tobacco, salt, and coals. With the extension of cultivation and the increase of inhabitants the trade of Canada gradually extended.
[table]

This trade employed seventy vessels belonging to Great Britain, and her subjects in the different colonies of North America. Not more than twelve vessels were engaged at this period in the fisheries of the St Lawrence, and about six were sent to the West Indies. In the course of the next ten years the trade appears to have greatly improved, and the number of vessels employed in 1775 was increased to ninty-seven, containing 10,841 tons. In the succeeding ten years the number of vessels which entered the St Lawrence was diminished to fifty-seven. It is likely, however, that there must be some inaccuracy in this account, as the trade had increased in the mean time.
[table]
[table]

In the course of another period of ten years, about the year 1795, not less than 128 vessels were employed in the commerce of Canada. This increase was occasioned by the scarcity of grain which prevailed at that time in Britain, and in other countries of Europe. To supply the augmented demands from thia, quarter, there were exported from Canada in that year 395,000 bushels of wheat, 18,000 barrels of flour, and 20,000 ∙cwts. of biscuit. The high prices which were procured for those necessary articles gave a powerful stimulus to industry in all its branches, and, by increasing the capital of the colony, gave it the means of carrying on a more extended commerce. The following is an account of its exports and imports:
[table]

In 1799 and the three following years large exportations of grain took place. In 1802, 1,010,000 bushels of wheat, 38,000 barrels of flour, and 32,000 cwts. of biscuit, were sent abroad; and the number of vessels engaged in the trade of the colony was 211, the aggregate burden of which amounted to 36,000 tons. Agriculture in Canada has since been greatly extended, and the surplus produce has of course increased, so that we find the exports amounting for 1807 to L.813,900, and the imports to L.467,294. In 1808 the exports had increased to L.l, 156,060, and the imports to L.610,000. Since this period the colony has been progressively advancing, and its population has been recruited by swarms of emigrants from Europe, to whom these new colonies present a sure asylum from want. It is estimated that 56,000 emigrants arrived in Canada in the course of the year 1831. The value of imports of 1830 had increased to L.l,771,345, and that of the exports to nearly a million.

The trade of Canada, from the period of its conquest by Great Britain, was regulated by the strict maxims of colonial monopoly. The St Lawrence was rigidly closed against the entrance of all foreign vessels, nor was any Canadian vessel allowed to enter a foreign port. But the prosperity of the colony during its infancy was not materially obstructed by these restrictions, as the mother country offered at all times an ample and advantageous outlet for its surplus produce. After the United States had achieved their independence, their vessels were excluded from the ports of the British colonies; and Canada was rewarded for its loyalty by the exclusive privilege of supplying the West India islands with lumber, and provisions, namely wheat, flour, biscuits, beef, pork, &c. In this manner, as the colony was originally injured for the supposed benefit of the mother country, one colony was by this enactment injured in order to benefit another colony. The neighbouring country of America is the natural resort of the West Indies for lumber and provisions. The voyage from New York or from New Orleans to Jamaica is not above 1000 or 600 miles, while from Quebec or Montreal the distance must be above 2000 miles; the freight of lumber and provisions, which makes a great part of the expense, must be greatly enhanced by the length of the voyage from Quebec, and still more if the articles are shipped from the United States to Canada, and thence reshipped for the West Indies. The effect of this regulation therefore is greatly to raise the price of these necessary [7:6:62] articles to the West India planter, to increase the expenses of sugar cultivation, and to lay the proprietors of Jamaica under contribution for the profit of the Canadian husbandman or wood-cutter. The annual expense of these restrictions to the West India planters is estimated by themselves at L.1,392,353, which is, according to the same estimate, 5s.6^d.of additional cost on everyhundredweight of sugar; and thus the wisdom of monopoly cannot compass, nor does it indeed aim at, any higher end than to benefit one part of the empire by injuring another. By 3 and 6 Geo. IV. these regulations were so far relaxed that the wheat and lumber of the United States were allowed to be imported directly into the West India islands on payment of certain duties; and an act passed in 1831 repealed all the import duties on provisions and lumber imported from the United States into Canada, and gave to these colonies all the advantages of a free trade. It does not appear, however, that the Canadas ever had a sufficient supply of lumber and provisions for the demands of the West India islands. The natural intercourse between these islands and the United States was indeed greatly interrupted by those restrictions, and the countervailing restrictions of the United States. Still considerable supplies have always been imported from the latter country. Of late years, indeed, owing partly to the retaliations of America, the trade was occasionally obstructed, and large supplies of lumber and provisions are received from Canada, to the benefit of the wood-cutters and husbandmen of that country, and to the proportional injury of the West India planter.

With a view also to the improvement of her colonies, the mother country consented to sacrifice an important branch of her own trade with the north of Europe. Her commerce with those countries, namely, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, consisted in the exchange of her manufactures for their rude produce; and among her imports from Norway, Sweden, and the countries contiguous to the Baltic, timber was a staple article. The exchange was conducted on fair and liberal principles; it was mutually advantageous to both countries, and gave rise to an extensive and flourishing trade, which employed about 428,000 tons of British shipping. In 1809 the duties on timber imported from our North American colonies were entirely repealed; while the duties on timber imported from the north of Europe were largely increased, and, by successive additions, were raised to L.3. 5s. per load. The repeal of this duty greatly augmented the importation of Canada timber, and the general trade of the colony with Great Britain.

But this extension of the colonial trade was purchased by the sacrifice of the timber trade with the north of Europe, which now almost entirely ceased, under the withering influence of prohibitory duties.^[9. Edinburgh Review, No. lxxxvi. State of the Timber Trade. ] Canada profited in this manner exactly as Great Britain was injured. For the supposed benefit of the colony, the mother country was compelled to buy the inferior timber of a distant country, at a high price, in place of the timber of Norway, of a better quality and at a lower price; and thus, here as everywhere else, we recognise the evil genius of monopoly stunting the natural progress of trade,—swelling out certain branches of it to an unnatural growth, and rooting up others. It maybe also in this case doubted whether monopoly has been even subservient to its own immediate ends, and whether the undue encouragement given to the wood trade of the Canadas did not tend to obstruct rather than to promote the progress of the colony. In all newly settled countries the great and the natural employment is agriculture, which generally absorbs all the capital, and all the superfluous hands which can be procured. The consequence is an ample and continually increasing supply of subsistence; a great demand for labour, and high wages; and a constant and rapid increase of inhabitants. Thus the colony advances in population and in wealth; cultivation is spread over its desert wastes; there is a great demand for labour, and ample means for its support; and all classes of the community enjoy ease and comfort. But there would be no demand for labour, nor any high wages, unless the fund for paying these wages were previously procured; fornoonewould seek to purchase if he had notwhere-withal to pay the price; and hence it is evident that agriculture, by providing the fund for the support of labour, namely, a surplus supply of subsistence, is the spring of all this prosperity; and that, the more abundantly its produce increases, the greater will be the increase of inhabitants, and the more rapidly will the colony advance to wealth and greatness. In this case, then, the undue encouragement given by the British legislature to the wood trade of the Canadas, by diverting the industry of the country from agriculture to less beneficial objects, is calculated to retard the growth of the colony, and to render it less rich and populous than it would have been under a more free and liberal policy. The clearing of the country is not aided, as might at first be supposed, by the efforts of the Canadian wood-cutter or lumberer. It is only the tallest and the finest trees which he selects, and not one in a thousand is esteemed suitable to his purpose; while it is the practice of the farmer who clears the land for cultivation to consume all the trees on the spot. The author of the Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada (the Backwoodsman), though he argues strongly in favour of the existing monopoly, states, among the other pernicious effects of the trade, that “it draws the cultivators from their legitimate occupations, and makes them neglect the certainty of earning a competence by a steady perseverance in their agricultural pursuits, for a vision of wealth never to be realised.”^[10. Backwoodsman, chap. vii. ] Mr Macgregor, in his late valuable work on the British colonies, though he is decidedly in favour of the forced exportation of timber from Canada, observes that “the trees cut down for the timber of commerce are not of the smallest importance in respect to clearing the lands, although I have heard it urged in England as an argument in favour of the timber trade.”^[11. Macgregor’s British America, vol. ii. chap. vi. ] In another part of his work, which treats of Prince Edward’s Island, he observes: “The timber trade has been for many years of some importance, by employing a number of ships and men; but as regards the prosperity of the colony, it must be considered rather as an impediment to its improvement than an advantage, by diverting the inhabitants from agriculture, demoralizing their habits, and from its enabling them to procure ardent spirits with little difficulty, which in too many instances has led to drunkenness, poverty, and loss of health.”^[12. Ibid. vol. i. chap, iv∙ ] It is a general remark, that in all cases where the new settlers have been diverted from agriculture by the timber trade, or the fisheries, or any other object, the progress of the colony has been retarded, just as the Portuguese and Spanish colonies in Brazil and Peru were impoverished by the mining speculations of the early settlers. It is agriculture which is the true mine of wealth all over the world; and it cannot be neglected for other objects, however plausible, without impairing the national prosperity.

The timber trade is attended with other disadvantages. The wood-cutters are generally of dissolute habits, and in every respect an inferior class to the quiet, industrious, [7:6:63]cultivator of the soil. Macgregor gives a very unfavourable account of their morality and mode of life, fi After selling and delivering up their rafts,” he observes, “they pass some weeks in idle indulgence, drinking, smoking, and dashing off in a long coat, flashy waistcoat and trousers, Wellington or Hessian boots, a handkerchief of many colours round the neck, a watch with a long tinsel chain and numberless brass seals, and an umbrella.” After squandering their money, they return to the woods before winter to resume their laborious pursuits. The life of a lumberer thus alternates between dissipation and extreme hardship. He spends the winter in the depth of the forest, under the imperfect shelter of his wooden habitation; and in the spring, when the rivers are enlarged by the melting of the snows, he is engaged in floating the timber which he has collected down the swelling stream. The water at this time is extremely cold, yet he is day after day wet in it up to the middle, from the time that the floating commences, until the timber is delivered to the merchants, which seldom occupies less than a month or six weeks. This constant immersion of the body in those snow-water floods undermines the constitution; it occasions severe rheumatism and other disorders; and at last terminates in general debility and premature old age. In no view, therefore, in which it can be considered, is this trade deserving of any especial favour.

Furs have been a staple article of the Canada trade from the first settlement of the colony. These were procured from the Indians by the coureurs des bois, who penetrated into the remote wilds of the interior, in exchange for shot, brandy, red cloths, knives, hatchets, trinkets, and a few other articles of European manufacture, and were brought to Trois Rivières and Montreal. The French afterwards carried on this trade by means of licenses granted to a limited number of gentlemen and old officers, and any interference of others was forbidden on pain of death. From twenty to thirty canoes, each carrying from six to seven men, were employed in procuring supplies of furs; and they were usually accompanied in their return by fifty or more canoes of Hurons and Ottawais, who descended to Montreal, in order to sell their cargoes to more advantage than at Michillimakinnak. The fur traders are exposed to many perils and hardships. It is only in bleak, wild, and snowy deserts, which abound in animals requiring a thick covering to protect them from the inclemency of the seasons, that furs of any value are to be found; and the fur trader has to brave the dangers of savage tribes, inland seas, deep and trackless forests, cataracts, and rapids. He has to make his way through the ice and the snows of winter, and amid every species of annoyance in summer from the attacks of musquitoes and other varieties of tormenting insects. All these hardships however are voluntarily endured by private adventurers, by whom, after the conquest of Canada, the fur trade was carried on, aided by the cmireurs des bois. Among these rude adventurers in the interior of the desert, and beyond the reach of legal authority, jealousies and quarrels, followed by scenes of violence, frequently took place, until they were at length associated, by the exertions of the late Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and formed into the famous North West Company of Montreal. By this company the fur trade has been prosecuted with extraordinary vigour; and a spirit of enterprise has been infused into its numerous servants, under the influence of which they have surmounted fatigue and danger, and penetrated to the remotest extremities of the continent. The American expedition of Captains Lewis and Clerk, who ascended the Mississippi, and, crossing the Rocky Mountains, penetrated to the Pacific Ocean, has been already fully detailed by these enterprising travellers. Since this period the bold adventurers of the North West Company, eagerly embracing every opportunity to extend their trade, have established a line of stations or forts from Canada to the mouth of the Columbia on the Pacific Ocean. There is from Canada, in a north-west direction,an imperfect water communication for about1500 miles into the American wilderness to Cumberland House, a fort and storehouse of the North West Company. This communication is carried on from the St Lawrence, through the great Lakes Erie, Huron, Superior, the Lake of the Woods, Winnipeg Lake, and by intermediate rivers, occasionally interrupted by rapids, through which the light craft employed in this service are pushed by the unrivalled skill and courage of the Canadian boatmen, or by cataracts, past which the boats must be carried for several miles. At Cumberland House the river Athapescow, descending from the Rocky Mountains, runs into one of this series of lakes. This river is ascended to its source in small boats; and a land journey across the great mountainous barrier which divides the streams that flow westerly into the Pacific from those that flow eastward into the Atlantic Ocean, brings the travellers to the head waters of the Columbia, on which they embark, and descend the stream to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean. In this perilous journey, of from 4000 to 5000 miles, they are exposed to many moving accidents by flood and field in travelling between the distant stations of the company, and frequently to the hostility of the savage tribes scattered over the desert. Courage, calmness, and presence of mind, are qualities that are greatly in request among the traders. They always carry with them the formidable rifle, with which they take a certain and deadly aim, depending on it as they do both for safety and for food. They are thus equally prepared to trade or to fight with their savage customers, and to pay them for their furs either in gold or lead. After Lord Selkirk established his colony on Red River, to which, from the beginning, the North West Company showed an inveterate hostility, long, obstinate, and bloody contests took place between these rival traders. Regular hostilities were carried on, lives were lost and prisoners taken; and in one encounter in the desert, far without the precincts of legal authority, about twenty or thirty of Lord Selkirk’s men lost their lives. This violent opposition was terminated in 1821, by the coalition of the rival companies, namely, the Hudson’s Bay and the North West Company.

The home trade of the Canadas daily increases with the improvement of the interior, and it is greatly facilitated by the continued water communication through the great lakes and the St Lawrence to the ocean. The possession of this great natural outlet presents also other advantages. If it were duly improved by the construction of canals, where it is interrupted by cataracts or rapids, the route from the interior to the sea by the St Lawrence would be more expeditious and less expensive than either by the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico or by the Hudson to New York, which are the other two main outlets of the American continent to the ocean, as maybe seen from the map; and both of which are now connected by canals with the Ohio, a tributary of the Mississippi, and with the great chain of northern lakes; and in this case Canada would become a great depot for the produce of the interior, and Quebec might in time rival New York or New Orleans as an emporium of foreign trade. The navigation from the ocean to the extremity of Lake Superior, a distance of nearly 3000 miles, is only interrupted by the falls of St Mary, between Lake Huron and Lake Superior; by the cataracts and rapids of Niagara; and by numerous rapids on the St Lawrence, above Montreal, which render the ascent extremely laborious and difficult. The navigation between Lakes Huron and Superior is at present of no importance[7:6:64], the adjacent country being a desolate wilderness, and the difficulties could besides be surmounted at a very small expense. The navigable communication between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, interrupted by the falls of Niagara, is restored by the Welland Canal, which connects the two lakes. This canal is forty-one miles and a half in length, and is of a size to admit schooners of ninety or a hundred and twenty tons burden, which are the largest vessels that navigate the lakes.^[13. Hall’s Travels in North America, vol. i. chap. vii. Macgregor’s British America. ] Lake Ontario is of a lower level by three hundred and thirty feet than Lake Erie, and the intervening height has been surmounted by a series of thirty-seven locks. The locks are a hundred feet long and twenty-two feet wide. The depth of water is not less than eight feet, and can easily be augmented other two feet. To obviate the obstructions in the St Lawrence above Montreal, various canals have been completed, and others are now in progress. The Lachine Canal, cut across the south corner of Montreal Island, immediately above Montreal, is nine miles long, twenty feet wide, and five deep. It cost L.130,000, on which capital it yielded a return of four per cent, in 1830. Another canal, about forty miles above Lachine, has been begun by government, that will cost L.180,000. But of all the works for facilitating internal intercourse in Canada, the Rideau Canal, so named from the river of this name, and undertaken at the expense of Great Britain, is the most singular and expensive, with the least likelihood of ever being useful. The distance between Kingston, on the cast end of lake Ontario, and Mdntreal, by the St Lawrence, is about two hundred miles, the route being almost a straight line; but the navigation is rendered tedious and dangerous by rapids, though it is not entirely interrupted. All that is wanted, therefore, to perfect the communications between the two places, is a ship canal, cut along the banks of the St Lawrence, round the rapids which impede the navigation; and this really useful work could have been effected at a comparatively moderate expense. But the object of the Rideau Canal is not to improve this natural communication by the St Lawrence; it purposely avoids it; it goes out of the straight course, and takes a new, circuitous, and much longer route from Kingston, through the comparatively unfrequented interior country, to the Ottawa river, about eighty-five miles above its entrance into the St Lawrence; and thence, by other canals, where the Ottawa is interrupted by falls and rapids, the communication is completed to Montreal; the distance being from Kingston a hundred and thirty-five miles to the Ottawa river, and onwards to Montreal by this river a hundred and twenty-four miles; altogether two hundred and fifty-nine miles.^[14. See Bouchette’s Description of Canada, vol. i. Appendix, p. 498, Table of Distances of Post-towns. ] The estimated cost of this canal, and the other canals on the Ottawa river, necessary to complete this roundabout route, is L.975,722; and a farther sum of L.25,624 beyond the original estimate of L.693,448 for the Rideau Canal was applied for in 1831 to the treasury; with other suggestions that the canal should be made to pass in the rear of Montreal, at an additional expense of L.117,270. The lords of the treasury, however, refused to sanction an estimate not submitted to parliament, “unless,” they add, “the actual and indispensable necessity of such works should be made out more clearly than at present.”^[15. See House of Commons Papers, copies of correspondence relative to the canal communications of Canada. Ordered to be printed February 1831. Also correspondence relative to the same, laid before the House of Commons 3d February 1832. The following is an estimate of the expense of these works. [table] See also Report of a Committee of the House of Commons in 1832, discouraging any farther outlay of the public money in this scheme. ] The Rideau Canal, it appears, goes fifty-nine miles out of the direct route, its object being not so much to promote commerce, as to secure a navigable communication between the upper and lower provinces, for the transportation of troops and stores, in the event of a war, when the route by the St Lawrence would be interrupted by the hostility of the Americans;^[16. "The Rideau Canal, it will be observed, purposely takes such a roundabout course, that there is little chance of its being used for commercial purposes in time of peace, though in war it would become the great channel of intercourse.” (Hall’s Travels, vol. i. chap, viii ) ] and for this visionary project, which is confessedly of no present utility, but is merely intended to guard a remote colony against distant and uncertain evils, have the rulers of Great Britain, with a profusion unexampled, laid out a million sterling in the wilds of Canada. Is a war, however, it may be asked, so probable an event as to justify this lavish expenditure in precautions against it? On the contrary, no two nations can have fewer causes of difference; and the peace that now happily prevails between them requires only to be followed up by a wise, prudent, and friendly policy, to be cemented into a lasting union. But these formidable preparations for war arc not favourable to the continuance of peace. They breathe a hostile spirit, and are calculated to raise the alarm and jealousy of the Americans, when they see their late enemies, the moment they have brought one miserable contest to a close, busily engaged in preparations for another. It is in vain, besides, for Great Britain to contend on the other side of the Atlantic against the rising superiority of the American power; and a new war with the United States, if such a calamity should ever again befal the civilized world, would unquestionably expose Canada to the danger of invasion and conquest, though we were to expend the whole revenues of Great Britain in precautions for its defence.^[17. There could not be a better commentary on the nature of this undertaking than Captain Hall’s exposition of its advantages. “This military canal,” he observes, “will require a considerable sum of money; but probably there never was any expense better bestowed. For the cost of transporting ordnance and other stores by the direct route of the St Lawrence, up the Rapids, is so enormous, that the saving of a few years in this item alone will repay the whole outlay.” Captain Hall’s notions of economy seem to be rather singular. He would lay out a million sterling at present for the mere chance of saving the same sum thirty or forty years hence. For eighteen years we have been at peace with the Americans, with whom, if wise counsels had ruled the country, we ought never to have been at war; and there is not the slightest probability of any new quarrel. Is it wise therefore to make the people of Great Britain, already so heavily burdened, contribute a million sterling to an undertaking which is only to turn to account in the event of a war? We may add, that this canal was opened in May 1832. ] The [7:6:65] Rideau Canal does by no means supersede the necessity of a ship canal along the St Lawrence; for, says Captain Hall, the capitalists of Upper Canada and Montreal will still “be desirous of constructing a ship canal, by which they may sail directly up and down the St Lawrence.” There is no doubt that, with the increasing trade of the country, a work of such obvious utility will yet be completed; and in this case the Rideau Canal, constructed at an expense of about a million sterling, will be a sort of spare canal, to be kept in reserve until it shall be brought into use by the calamity of an American war.

For a long period after its original settlement the colony of Canada was neglected by the court of France, and its administration was left in a great measure to the discretion of individuals. In 1663 it was raised to the dignity of a royal government, and from this period its governors were appointed by a regular commission from the king. Its inhabitants amounted to about 7000, who, possessing the advantages of a free trade and of regular government, began rapidly to increase; and in 1714 their numbers had risen to 20,000. The colony would even have increased more rapidly; but, by the rashness of its governors, it was engaged in almost perpetual hostility with the native tribes, by whose continued incursions the attention of the settlers was diverted from agriculture to war. Under these disadvantages, however, its population had increased in 1759, when it was conquered by the English, to 70,000. The conquest of a country must be regarded as a serious evil, even in circumstances the most favourable; and the revolution which took place in consequence of this event in the government and political institutions of Canada tended for some years to retard its progress. The change of allegiance from one sovereign to another was rendered as easy as possible to the inhabitants, by the lenient measures of the conquerors. Their laws were allowed to remain unaltered. They were secured in the undisturbed possession of their lands under their ancient tenures, and in the free possession of their religion. All religious property was respected, and every concession was made by the British government in favour of the peculiar customs and manners of its new subjects. Under this judicious management the country soon began to improve; and in the year 1775, its population, including the new settlers in Upper Canada, who could not amount to above some thousands, had increased to 90,000. In 1814, according to a regular census, the province of Lower Canada contained 335,000 inhabitants. Of this number 235,000 may be reckoned native Canadians, descendants of the original French settlers. The remainder is composed of emigrants from various nations, chiefly English, Scotch, Irish, and American. In 1825 the population amounted, according to a census taken at that time, to 423,030; and this enumeration was rather under than above the truth, as it was in many cases evaded by the people, from a fear that it was preparatory to a poll tax, or to the militia service or statute labour, which subjects all males from sixteen to sixty years of age to certain troublesome duties. Since this period the population has received great accessions from emigration, as well as from the increase of the inhabitants at home; and the population in 1832 cannot amount to less than between 500,000 and 600,000.

The following table, extracted from Bouchette’s elaborate work, shows the rapid progress of population in Lower Canada at various times, from the year 1676 to 1825 inclusive, as taken from the authority of Charleroix, La Potheraye, and public documents.
[table]

As far as we can judge from the imperfect enumerations which we can obtain, the population of the province has gone on increasing in a varying ratio, doubling itself at some periods every twenty-five years, and at others every twenty-nine or thirty-one years; but more recently in a far shorter period. The chief cities of Lower Canada are Quebec, containing 30,000 inhabitants; Montreal, containing 20,000; and Trois Rivieres, containing between 2000 and 3000.

In the year 1783 the settlers of Upper Canada were estimated at 10,000, of which the numerous frontier posts and garrisons constituted by far the greater part. After this period the number of settlers was augmented by a great accession of loyalists and disbanded soldiers, and by emigrants from the L τ nited States and from Great Britain, so that in the year 1814 the inhabitants of the province had increased, according to the most accurate returns, to 95,000, in 1824 to 152,000, in 1829 to 225,000; to which, if we add the natural increase since that time, with the additions made by emigration, the population of Upper Canada, excluding the Indians, the coureurs des bois, or wanderers in the woods, a lawless race, and the hois brulés, or half-breeds, may be estimated at nearly 300,000 souls.^[18. Macgregor, vol. ii. chap. xv. ] Since the year 1793 the progress of this colony has been particularly rapid. In that year a solitary Indian wigwam stood where the town of York, the capital of Upper Canada, is now built. In the succeeding spring the ground was marked out for the future metropolis of the country, and it now contains 2500 inhabitants, and is fast increasing. The other towns are Kingston, begun in 1784, possessing an excellent harbour, well adapted for a naval depot, and containing between 4000 and 5000 inhabitants; Johnstown, Cornwall, with several smaller villages.

The population of Lower Canada consists, first, of the French, who constitute one half of the whole inhabitants; the other half consists of Scotch, Irish, English, American loyalists, and Germans; the first two, after the French, being the most numerous, and forming probably three eighths of the population. In Upper Canada the French do not constitute any thing like the same proportion of the inhabitants, who are mostly emigrants from the united kingdom, English, Scotch, or Irish. There are besides other native races in Upper Canada, such as the coureurs des bois, already mentioned, who are seldom seen west of the Lakes. They were originally a sort of pedlar fur traders, outlaws from all the privileges of the church and from civilized life, and of wandering and dissolute habits. With them sprung up another race called the bois brulés, or half-breeds from Canadians and Europeans, and Indian women. They are of very fierce habits, and are capable of committing the most atrocious crimes. The remnant of the Indian tribes scattered over the Canadas are in a state of such deplorable wretchedness as to claim the compassion of every feeling mind, and yet it is difficult to suggest any plan for their relief. Their misery seems to be the necessary result of causes over which we have no control. The qualities which enable the savage to gain a precarious subsistence amid woods and wastes are of no use to him in crowded cities or [7:6:66]amid cultivated fields, and all attempts to train him to the industry and arts of civilized life have invariably failed. He is selfish and indolent, and addicted to the grossest vices; and hence, like some animal taken out of its natural element, he is completely helpless in a community of Europeans, and, sinking into poverty and want, his race gradually decays. This consequence at least has followed from the progress of cultivation in all parts of America.

The European settlers, namely, the English, Scotch, and Irish, import their native manners into Canada, and retain most of their previous habits and ideas; modified, however, by the new connections which they form, and by the circumstances in which they are placed. The habitans, or French peasantry, retain the customs and manners of their ancestors in the mother country during the reign of Louis XIV. They are a happy, contented, and rather indolent race; frugal, but not enterprising; clumsy and tardy in their modes of agriculture, and averse from all improvements. “Contented,” says Macgregor, “to tread in the path beaten by their forefathers, they in the same manner till the ground; commit in the like way the same kind of seeds to the earth; and in a similar mode do they gather their harvests, feed their cattle, and prepare and cook their victuals. They rise, eat, and sleep at the same hours, and, taking for truths all the priests tell them, observe the same spirit in their devotions, with as ample a portion of all the forms of the Catholic religion, as their ancestors.” They are lively in their dispositions, being fond of dancing, fiddling, and singing, in which, after vespers on Sunday, they think it no sin to indulge, but always without disorder or drunkenness. They are polite and courteous in their address, and never meet one another without putting a hand to their hat or bonnet rouge, or moving the head. They are strict in their morality, the women from natural modesty, and the men from custom and a strong feeling of propriety; and are withal very hospitable, more especially the wife of a Canadian, who seems to anticipate the wishes of her guests; and, if any thing is wanted, regrets it with such a good grace as to dclight those whom she entertains.

In the population of Upper Canada there is a much larger intermixture of emigrants, not only from Europe, but also from the United States; many of them the refuse of the country, who have fled for their crimes to the adjacent colony of Canada. These licentious characters, there is reason to believe, have brought the morals of the Upper Canadians into disrepute, from the more frequent occurrence of crime among them than among their neighbours in the lower country, though the general state of morals cannot be fairly inferred from the crimes of lawless individuals. There cannot in general be a more industrious race than the colonists of Upper Canada, whose only motive in leaving their own country is to improve their circumstances, and who trust entirely to economy and industry for realizing their views. The wood-cutters and boatmen have been reproached, and justly, for their dissolute habits; but many of these resident inhabitants of the woods are now as correct in their conduct as the other settlers. The Canadian boatman or voyageur is naturally polite and cheerful; thoughtless in his way, and freely spending his money, singing, smoking, and enjoying whatever comes in his way, thanking “Le Bon Dieu, la Vierge, et les Saints,” for everything.

The laws of England, both civil and criminal, were introduced into Canada after its conquest in 1759; and the criminal code of Britain, which freed the Canadians from the tyrannical modes of procedure to which they were formerly exposed, was generally considered as a most important improvement. But the civil code of England was not re ceived with equal satisfaction. The inhabitants were attached by habit and prejudice to the ancient system by which property was regulated; and by the act of 1774, therefore, that system was restored. That act vested the government of the country in a council composed of certain individuals chosen by the sovereign. It also granted a free toleration to the Roman Catholic religion, and confirmed the right of the clergy to receive their accustomed dues and rights from such as professed that religion, to the great scandal of the British Protestants, who, in the true spirit of intolerance, termed this wise and enlightened act of policy “a wicked and abominable act, that authorizes a bloody religion, which spreads around it wherever it is propagated, impiety, murders, and rebellion.” The toleration of the Roman Catholic religion was favourable to the peace and improvement of the colony, as it banished religious discord, by placing all parties upon an equality, and giving to no dominant sect the power of oppressing the others. Under this act the government of Canada was administered until the year 1791, when Mr Pitt introduced a new act, commonly called the constitutional act, which extended to Canada the advantages of the British constitution. By this act the country was divided into two provinces, and each province into districts and counties. A constitutional government was established, consisting of a governor with an executive council; and a legislative council and a representative assembly, corresponding to the upper and lower houses of parliament in Great Britain. The legislative council of Lower Canada is appointed by the king, and consists of not fewer than fifteen members; the representative assembly consisted formerly of fifty members, which were increased to eighty-four by an act of the provincial legislature passed in 1828. The lower province was by the act of 1791 divided, as already mentioned, into twenty-one counties, and afterwards, by the 9th Geo. IV., for the more equal representation of its increased population, into forty counties; and the first provincial parliament elected according to the new scale of representation assembled in December 1830. The members of the legislative council are appointed for life. Those of the assembly for the counties are elected by forty-shilling freeholders, or for the towns by five pound freeholders, or ten pound annual renters. There exists no disqualification for any office, or for the exercise of any political privilege, on account of religious tenets. Some years ago a Jew was elected a representative of one of the towns, and being expelled by the illiberality of the assembly, was re-elected, and again expelled. Bills passed by the two houses become laws when agreed to by the governor, though in certain cases the royal allowance is required, and in others reference must be had to the imperial parliament. The local legislature has the exclusive right of raising a revenue for the internal expenses of the colony. The financial affairs of the province went on smoothly until the year 1821, when a serious misunderstanding arose between the executive and the legislative assembly, respecting the appropriation of the provincial revenue, amounting to L. 140,000 per annum. Of this sum the crown claimed the right of distributing L.38,000 under the Quebec acts of 1774 and 1791. This claim was resolutely opposed by the provincial parliament, and the province was agitated by a violent contest which arose on the subject during the administration of Earl Dalhousic. It was at length decided, by a parliamentary committee to whom the matter was referred by the British ministers, that though the legal right of appropriating the revenue might be vested in the crown, yet, for the interests of the colony, it ought to be placed under the control of the provincial assembly. The concession of this and other points re-established the peace [7:6:67]of the colony. The executive government consists of a governor, who is generally a military officer and commander of the forces, a lieutenant-governor, and an executive council of seventeen members, appointed by the king, and exercising an influence in the affairs of the province similar to that of the privy council in the affairs of England. The governor has the power to prorogue and to dissolve the assembly. The net revenue of Lower Canada, derived from crown lands, import duties, &c. after deducting L.34,597 payable to Upper Canada, amounted to L.109,294.^[19. Macgregor’s British America, chap. vii. ] The revenue of Upper Canada, arising from crown lands, from public works, of which the revenue is greater than the interest expended, from shares in the bank of Upper Canada, from import duties, &c. is estimated for 1832 to amount to L.80,000; the expenditure to about L.40,000, being L.40,000 for the redemption of the public debt, which amounts to L.192,750.^[20. Backwoodsman, 117, 118. ] The constitution of the upper is on the same model as that of the lower province. There is a legislative council consisting of seventeen members, and a house of assembly consisting of fifty members. The revenue arises from some trifling duties levied under the 14th Geo. HL, and from an allowance made for duties levied at Quebec on articles consumed in the upper province; and the appropriation of this revenue was, as in Lower Canada, the cause of a misunderstanding between the legislative and executive branches of the government.

It was found impossible to change the existing laws and customs of the country without occasioning serious evils and great dissatisfaction to the French inhabitants, who were the most numerous. The feudal tenures, therefore, by which property was held at the time of the conquest, are confirmed; and the French laws, namely, the code termed the Coutume de Paris as it existed in 1666, and the edicts and declarations of the French governors in Canada, affect all property, whether real or personal, in the seigniories, or the lands which were appropriated at the time of the conquest in 1759; and by the constitutional act of 1791, even lands in the townships, granted in free and common soccage, are subject to all the incidents of the Coutume de Paris. The Canada tenure act of 1826 declares that “the law of England is the rule by which real property within the townships is to be hereafter regulated and administered.” The lands in Lower Canada originally possessed by the French settlers (the seigniories, either held en fief or en roture) are still held according to the old feudatory system of the mother country, to which the seigneurs, and the habitans or French tenants, are most pertinaciously attached, and the English as strongly opposed. Various attempts have been made in the legislative assembly to set bounds to the privileges of the seigneurs, but always without success, owing to the ascendency possessed by the French party in that assembly. The seigneurs generally let their lands in lots of about seventy acres, and are entitled to certain fines and services from their vassals, from which they derive their revenue. In the event of a sale, a sum of money equal to a twelfth part of the price is payable to the seigneur; and he has also the right, within forty days after the sale, to take the property sold at the highest price offered; a right, however, which is seldom exercised. In the event of new lands being granted, a fifth part of the whole purchase-money is payable to the seigneur, which, if paid immediately, entitles the purchaser to a deduction of two thirds of the fine. The vassals are also bound to grind their corn at the lord’s mill; and this condition is found on many occasions to be exceedingly irksome. The seigneur is entitled to receive a tithe of the produce of all the fisheries which are established within the bounds of his seigniory. He has also the privilege of felling the timber which grows in any part of his seigniory, for the purpose of erecting mills, repairing roads, or constructing new ones, or for any other purpose of general utility. Many proprietors of seigniories have acquired wealth from these revenues, as the sales and transfers of landed property have of late years become numerous. The king of France was the feudal lord of the Canadian seigniories, and the king of Great Britain succeeded to his privileges, several of which, such as the fifth part of the purchase-money on the sale of an estate, the committee of the House of Commons, in their report on the affairs of Canada in 1828, recommended the crow n to relinquish.

In Canada there is, properly speaking, no established religion. But the Roman Catholic religion, which is professed by four fifths of the inhabitants, is fully protected in all the immunities and privileges which it possessed under the French government. All the lands which then belonged to that establishment, and the twenty-sixth part of the grain raised on farms cultivated by Catholics, are secured by law to the church. One seventh part of all the lands in the townships are reserved in Low er as well as in Upper Canada for the support of the Protestant establishment. But the revenue derived from these tracts of waste is of little consequence, and is at present totally inadequate to its intended purposes. It would be wiser policy to dispose of these lands to those who w ould cultivate them, and to provide for the Protestant church from another source. The 7th and 8th Geo. IV. accordingly authorize a sale of these reserved church lands, not exceeding in either province one fourth part of the revenues. In Upper Canada these lands are reserved, according as the act has been construed, exclusively for the use of the Episcopal establishment, although by far the greater number of the inhabitants are Scotch presbyterians, and are supported by the voluntary subscriptions of their respective hearers. But it is now intended to abandon this system, and to place on an equality all the different modes of faith professed by the people. Education was for a long time neglected in Canada; and among the French, or habitans as they are called, few who have passed the middle age of life can either read or write. But the spirit of improvement is now general, and there are colleges and schools both at Quebec and Montreal, at which instruction is received in the higher as well as the elementary branches of education. The Catholics have, besides, four other seminaries; and schools have been established in every parish, and almost in every settlement of L0w er Canada, which are open to all, without any distinction of religious creed. In Upper Canada there is a university, the rules of which require every student on his admission to subscribe the thirty-nine articles of the Church of England. And in this case, as in that also of an Episcopal establishment for a presbyterian population, the bigotry of the mother country has marred the fair order of a rising community. Grammar schools and elementary schools have been established in all the counties and settlements of Upper Canada.

The Canadas form one of the great outlets to the over-J flowing population of Europe; to which of late years' crowds of emigrants have been attracted by the demand for labour which prevails in this, as in all other countries with an abundance of waste land. But it ought to be well understood, that it is only the labourers who will hereíìnd an asylum from want. In the crowded communities of the [7:6:68]old world the wages of labour can scarcely procure the necessaries of life. In the new world labour is scarce, and wages high; and to the emigrant who has labour to dispose of, the advantage of removing from the one country to the other is obvious. But to the merchant a new colony presents no peculiar advantages; and the old world, with all its varied accommodations and luxury, is the natural abode of the rich. A labourer in Canada always earns more than will support his family; and if he is prudent and sober, he soon saves as much money as will purchase a farm. He then, after some years of toil, attains to independence; he is a proprietor of the soil, from which he draws a sure supply of food, and the surplus he exchanges for other comforts or luxuries. It is highly necessary that the emigrant should acquire exact information respecting the new country which is hereafter to be his home, and that he should also be careful to make the best arrangements fot his voyage and his comfortable settlement in his new country. There arc many recent works on this subject from which all these particulars are to be learned, and from which we have thrown together the following brief hints.^[21. See Macgregor. Statistical Sketches of Upper Canada, by a Backwoodsman; in which we have, within the compass of 120 pages, a brief, clear, comprehensive exposition of the subject of emigration, combined with an exact knowledge of detail. See also The Canadas, by Andrew Picken, containing the present state of the Canadas, from original documents furnished by John Galt, Esq. ]

First, those who are wanted in Canada are mechanics and artizans of almost all descriptions, millwrights, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, millers, and all the ordinary trades that are required in an agricultural, commercial, and a partially ship-owning country.^[22. Statistical Sketches, by a Backwoodsman. ] One great object of the emigrant is to reach the colony as quickly and as cheaply as possible ∙, with this view he should go out in the months of zipril or May, when he may expect a more favourable passage than in July or August. No heavy articles of wooden furniture ought to be taken across the seas to Canada, as articles of that description can be procured in the back country for less than the cost of their transport from Quebec and Montreal. “Clothes,” says the Backwoodsman, “more particularly coarse clothing, such as slops and shooting jackets, bedding, shirts (made, for making is very expensive here), cooking utensils, a clock or time-piece, books packed in barrels, hozicry, and, above all, boots and shoes (for what they call leather in this continent is much more closely allied to hide than leather, and one pair of English shoes will easily outstand three such as we have here), are among the articles that will be found most useful.” All sorts of ironmongery, as well as gardening and the iron parts of farming tools, are found of great use. Fishing and shooting tackle might also be taken; and small quantities of seeds, particularly those of the rarer grasses, as lucern, trefoil, &c. which, if not used, can be always sold at a high price. It is a great point with the emigrant not to loiter about after he has landed, but to proceed with all possible expedition to his destination. He ought not, however, to be rash in choosing his land, as he may be taken advantage of in many ways. It is the practice for the older emigrants to sell cleared lands at a high price; and the new emigrant discovers when it is too late that these lands were quite exhausted, and that it will cost him more to restore their fertility than to reclaim the wilderness. From the inquiries of the parliamentary committee on the subject of emigration, it appears that adults may be sent to Canada at an expense of L.4; persons under fourteen years of age for L.3. 10s.; children under ten for L.2. 10s.; and under six for L.l. 10s. In 1830 sixty-five able-bodied men emigrated from Wiltshire, and, including 20s. or 30s. given them upon landing, to defray their expenses up the country, where work is plentiful, their whole expense amounted on an average to about L.6 a head. In the great colonizing experiments made under the orders of government in 1823 and 1825, the average expense of transporting, locating, and supporting the families for fifteen months, amounted to L.22. Is. 6d. per head. These settlers, who were mostly Irish, “from being absolutely pennyless,” says the Backwoodsman, “ are now in the most comfortable and independent, and many of them in even what may be called affluent circumstances.” Any future settlement of emigrants might, however, be made at less expense; and, if properly conducted, might be ultimately repaid with interest. On this well-understood condition of repaying the expense incurred, the lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada is at present settling many toavnships with emigrants.^[23. See Picken’s work on the Canadas. ] We subjoin, from papers laid before parliament, an account of the number of emigrants to British America in the following years :—In 1828, 12,034; in 1829, 13,307; in 1830, 30,574; in 1831, 49,383. In 1832 the numbers in proportion have been still greater.

The original discovery of Canada is involved in ob-: scurity. It is ascribed by sonic to the Spaniards, who, not finding the precious metals in the country, arc said to have instantly quitted it in disgust. According to other accounts, John and Sebastian Cabot visited this country in 1497, and were followed by various other adventurers in the beginning of the subsequent century. In 1534 Jacques Cartier arrived at Newfoundland and surveyed the coast. He returned in the following year, and, entering the St Lawrence, ascended the river to the spot where Montreal now stands. It was not, however, till the year 1608 that a colony was established in this country by the French, and that the foundation of Quebec was laid. From this period the new settlement continued to maintain a precarious existence, amid the complicated evils of misery, want, and savage warfare. It was supported by supplies of provisions and of troops from France, until it began to take root in the country, and to extend itself higher up the river to Montreal. The colony, from the period when it was first established, had not been managed on any just or fixed principles. Its administration was chiefly committed to the discretion of trading companies, whose sole object was immediate gain, or to military governors, who involved the colonists in dangerous wars with the savages. In the year 1663 this system was changed. The colony was constituted a royal government, and its governors were appointed by the king. At this time the European inhabitants amounted to only 7000. λ r arious causes, however, concurred to retard the progress of the colony. By the continued inroads of the savages, the settlers were kept in continual alarm, and the wars between Great JBritain and France extended their destructive effects to their colonies. The treaty of Utrecht in 1712 gave peace to Canada, and enabled the governor, Μ. de Vaudreuil, to direct his sole attention to the improvement of the province, the trade and agriculture of which continued to prosper under his wise, firm, and vigilant administration. But war again breaking out between Great Britain and France, the colonies were involved in hostilities. It had been the policy of France to hem in the English settlements in North America by a chain of forts continued from Canada through the interior as far as Louisiana. The jealousy of the English being kindled [7:6:69] by this and other circumstances, it was resolved, in the course of the war, which was begun in 1755, to send an overwhelming force to North America, for the purpose of expelling the French from that quarter of the world. The army which was sent out was divided into three corps, one of which, under General Wolfe, was to advance against Quebec; another, under General Amherst, the commander-in-chief, was to attempt the reduction of the forts at Crown Point and Ticoderago; and a third that of Niagara. General Wolfe landing above Quebec, carried the heights of Abraham, and defeated the French under the Marquis of Montcalm, who, along with Wolfe himself, was killed in the action. Quebec submitted in a few days, and soon afterwards Montreal and the whole country, which was finally ceded to Great Britain by the peace of 1763. Its prosperity was considerably retarded by this revolution, by the change of its administration, and by the intolerance of its Protestant conquerors, who viewed the Catholic religion with jealousy and dislike. But wiser counsels prevailed at home. The Catholic religion was confirmed in all its rights and privileges; the French laws were retained; the original inhabitants, thus conciliated, became the faithful subjects of their new sovereign; and when all the other American colonies rebelled against the tyranny of the mother country, they submitted to the imposition of the stamp act, and even took up arms to defend the country against an inroad of the American forces under Generals Montgomery and Arnold. Since this period the colony has advanced in an even tenor of prosperity, with little worthy of notice in its history, until the year 1812, when a new war broke out between the United States and Great Britain, and the frontier of Canada again became the scene of military operations. In the summer of that year the American forces under General Hall entered Upper Canada, and were completely defeated, and the greater part made prisoners, by General Brock. Another strong body of American troops collecting on the Niagara frontier, passed over into Canada in November, and were completely defeated on the heights of Queenstown by General Brock, who was unfortunately slain in the action. The Americans renewed their attempts on the Niagara frontier with no better success than before, and at the same time the British were repulsed in an attack on Sackett’s harbour. In January 1813 General Winchester was made prisoner, with 500 of his troops; whilst the British were defeated at Ogdersburg; and in the end of April the Americans burnt the town of York, and remained masters of the Niagara frontier. But they were soon afterwards defeated near Burlington, and obliged to retreat. To counterbalance these successes, an attack on Sackett’s harbour by Sir G. Prevost completely failed; the American commodore captured all the British vessels on Lake Erie; and General Proctor was defeated near Detroit. The British were consequently obliged to retreat towards Burlington, and an American army advanced in three divisions towards Montreal. One of these divisions, amounting to 7000 troops, was defeated by the Canadian militia; and another division being repulsed, the whole American army fell back to Sackett’s harbour and Plattsburg, and finally retreated within their own territory. The campaign of 1814 was decidedly favourable to the Americans. They were repulsed at first in attempting to invade Canada. But the capture of Fort Erie by General Brown was an important success; whilst Sir George Prevost, who attacked Plattsburg with a force of 11,000 men, was repulsed with great loss; and the British squadron fitted out on Lake Champlain was completely defeated by the American force under Commodore Macdonough. The British were making great exertions to recover their ascendency both by sea and land, when the treaty of Ghent, signed in December 1814, happily terminated the war. Since this period no event has occurred to interrupt the tranquillity of those countries. Under the administration of the Earl of Dalhousie the disputes which arose between the executive and the legislative bodies gave rise to a temporary agitation; but by timely concession all ground of offence was entirely removed under the administration of Sir James Kempt. (f.)